From: steven@spxtech.qc.ca (Steven C. Potter)
Newsgroups: can.politics
Subject: Re: the rights of steve p
Date: 27 Jul 92 20:15:35 GMT
Distribution: can
Organization: Securiplex Technologies Inc., Montreal, Canada
X-Bytes: 3279


  N.B. Stephanie, Do not take this personally. It is intended to be
       illustrative.

From article <1992Jul27.711.8241@dosgate>, by stephanie.fysh@canrem.com 
 stephanie fysh :-

> Sorry, Steve, but it looks to me like you *were* told your children
> would be "expected to attend French school."  And I completely fail to
> see how this harms them.  If you use English at home, take your kids to
> English movies, read English books and newspapers, they are *not* going
> to lose their language.  Instead, they will end up *truely* bilingual,
> able to function fully in both French and English.  A "second language"
> is *not* the same thing at all.
> 
> I've been staying out of this one until now, but I'd hate to have you
> think that silence means full support.
> 

  "expected to attend" is hardly the same thing as being "forced to
  attend whether you like it or not. We also have a number of laws
  restricting the use of English. You must not think that you can be
  a fully legitimate member of the English community in Quebec - you
  and your family must be assimilated." !!!!!

  Whether it harms them or not is not the issue.

  With all the support in their own language that you have suggested they
  will not be receiving part of their education in their own language. This
  means that their parents will have difficulty understanding what they are
  doing in the classroom; their parents will have difficulty communicating
  with the school staff; their exposure to English literature and points of
  view - in the classroom - will be totally non-existent; they will have a
  Franco-Quebec view of history; need I continue?

  Whether they should be "truely bilingual" or "functionally bilingual" or
  even "unilingual English" should be, until the children are old enough to
  decide for themselves, mostly the concern of the parents - NOT the
  government. If the government feels a need to ensure a certain level of
  proficiency in a language they could try to legislate it into the school
  system's curriculum! >:-[  )

  Perhaps you would be happier if they closed the English school system
  down altogether?

  Perhaps they should test all Quebec residents for French proficiency - 
  anyone found to be "linguistically inadequate" could be sent back to
  school or forced to move out of the province?

  Where DO YOU draw the line?

  Where DO YOU draw the line?
  ==========================

  I know full well that "silence does not mean full support". - In fact,
  silence can be blamed for much of the problem!

  People keeping their mouths shut until something affects them or their
  families personally are in very large part to blame for the existence
  of restrictive legislation like Bill 101!

  So long as not too many people are directly affected or make too much
  noise they can go one more step...


  I do thank you for crawling out of the woodwork.

  I hope I have provoked you into taking a stronger stand on something.

-- 
  ///==================================================================\\\
  ||| Steve Potter:         steven%spxtech@CAM.ORG                     |||
  ||| Expertise/Experience: Computer Systems Engineering / Real Ale /  |||
  |||                       Politics in Education in Quebec            |||