From: CZ94@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA (CZ94000)
Newsgroups: can.politics,can.general,soc.culture.canada
Subject: Re: Legalized Discrimination in Quebec
Date: 16 Dec 92 15:39:23 GMT
Organization: McGill University

In article <1992Dec15.211830.1@uwovax.uwo.ca> 4224_5201@uwovax.uwo.ca (John LaRocque) writes:
>In article <BzBnDI.3qw@ireq.hydro.qc.ca>, beaurega@ireq.hydro.qc.ca (Denis Beauregard) writes:
>>
>> The right way of writting Lynne is Line or Lyne.  A taste of englicization?
>>
What makes one form right and another wrong?  I hope we're not
going to have another bureaucracy to make sure that parents
give their children only officially-approved names.
>
>Even now unilingual anglophones still earn more than unilingual
>francophones (from that Toronto Star piece I posted a month ago)

The la Presse piece I posted about a month ago said that unilingual
francophones earn more than bilingual anglophones.  I don't want
to start a war of figures, just to point out you can't always
believe what you read in the newspaper.
>
>>  We needed
>> a law to get that.  Before depicting the state as oppressive, just check
>> what it was before.  And not a damn anglo protested before the law, not
>> a damn one.  Now, they pretend to be more civilized.  Oh, what a big step

You're exaggerating, Denis.  Nick auf der Maur likes to brag about
how he took part in a sit-in at a Montreal restaurant to protest
its English-only menus.  One of the leaders of the "McGill francais"
movement was an anglo (his name escapes me at the moment).  I'm sure
there are other examples, but I didn't live here at that time.  This
is not to deny that much of the English-speaking community in Quebec
was excessively complacent about the situation here at that time.
But "not a damn one" reflects your distorted view of reality.
>
>the BALLS to say "Nous sont Quebecois" and "Maitres chez nous".

Tous ensemble: "je suis, tu es, il est, nous SOMMES, vous e^tes,
ils sont".  :-)  :-)
>
>
>> What about this one?  In a report about NB, a few years ago, they shown
>> a panel in English only for a store in a francophone communauty.
>> The head office of the company has decided not to advertise in French,
>> even in a store was deserving a 100% French-speaking town.  How would
>> you deal with this one?  Boycotting the store?  Boycott is a sign of
>> fight and war.  Writting letters?  Having a law?  What would YOU do????

I don't see what would be wrong with boycotting the store.
>
>Complacency is the death of all communities. A good way to protest is to
>ask for everything in FRENCH ONLY. That should confuse the businessman. If
>he wants business, he will have to cater to his customers. And that means
>accomodating the French. Even in Montreal, they have shopkeepers who are
>completely fluent in French and ready to serve you. Is that too much
>to ask.
>
I agree.  The storekeeper should be trying to satisfy the customer,
including by speaking the customer's language, whenever possible.
How do you feel about Anglo-Quebecers doing the same thing?  When
Reed Scowen suggested that they should ask to be served in English
in stores, he was denounced, not only in the French media, but also
in the Gazette.

Tom Box
CZ94@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA
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