Mar 29, 2019
If you say you want to get rid of religious symbols in public spaces, get the fucking cross out of the National Assembly
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If you say you want to get rid of religious symbols in public spaces, get the fucking cross out of the National Assembly
A Unilingual Province in a Bilingual Country
A Unilingual Province in a Bilingual Country
“Red House, Winter,” by Lawren Harris 1925, Art Gallery of Ontario (Pinterest). —ooo— A Unilingual Province in a Bilingual Canada Although these are not the most recent figures, the population of Quebec is 8,164,361. 77.17% are francophones 7.45% are anglophones (599,225) (2011 Canadian Census) 14.15% are allophones 44.46 speak English and French (2016 Canadian Census) (See Language…
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Shortly after the contentious Bill 22 passed final reading, hundreds of public sector workers gathered at the University of Calgary to protest job cuts, pension changes and what supporters called "vicious cuts" to post-secondary education.
AUPE president Guy Smith said the gathering should serve as a warning that public employees are prepared to go the distance if things don't change.
"We're here to tell Jason Kenney, 'hey, you lied to us, because you said you weren't going to touch front-line services,'" he said.
"Well, here we have an example where hundreds of front-line positions are being cut. So I don't know what else we can expect from this government. They've been arrogant, aggressive, and they've lied to us.
"I think all Albertans should start getting concerned by that."
Public sector employees say they are increasingly worried about the future of their pension plans, after the Alberta government introduced legislation Monday to lock in pension assets from all public sector pension plans under the management of the Alberta Investment Management Corporation, or AIMCo.
"We think it is sort of tantamount to theft," said Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) president Gil McGowan.
Alberta To Return Indigenous Sacred Objects
Alberta To Return Indigenous Sacred Objects
The ECOreport looks at Bill 22, Legislation enabling Alberta to return Indigenous Sacred Objects
By Roy L Hales
When Alberta introduced Canada’s first reparation Act, in 2000, it prompted the quick return of of 251 sacred objects. There have been approximately 40 addition agreements since then, resulting in the return hundreds of objects to the Blackfoot First Nation. The “new” Bill 22 appears to…
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Monument to Multiculturalism by Francesco Pirelli in Toronto; four identical sculptures are located in Buffalo City, Changchun, Sarajevo, and Sydney (Photo credit: Getty Images)
Canada is an officially multicultural society, but its official languages are English and French, with the exception of Quebec.
An Overview
Immigrants to Canada enter an officially bilingual country, by virtue of the Official Languages Act (Canada) of 1969 and the Official Languages Act of 1988.
The Official Languages Act of 1969
Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism
Canada became an officially bilingual country under the terms of the Official Languages Act (Canada), signed on 9 September 1969. Passage of the Official Languages Act (Canada) was the culmination of an inquiry conducted by the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, established by Prime Minister and Nobel laureate Lester B. Pearson PC, OM, CC, OBE, sometimes called the Laurendeau-Dunton Commission. André Laurendeau, the editor-in-chief of Le Devoir, Quebec’s leading newspaper, and Davidson Dunton, the President of Carleton University, co-chaired the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. The findings of the Commission indicated that French-speaking Canadians were at a disadvantage and lived on a lower income than English-speaking Canadians and Italian immigrants. (See Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, Wikipedia.)
Laurendeau & Dunton
Laurendeau & Dunton
The Official Language Act (Quebec) 1974
Canada’s two official languages are French and English. However, since 1974, by virtue of both the Official Language Act (Quebec) (Bill 22) the children of immigrants who choose to live in Quebec must attend a French-language school. Bill 22 was replaced by (Bill 101) or Charter of the French Language, a stiffer language law passed in 1977 by the Parti québécois (Parti Quécébois in English). Under Bill 22 and Bill 101, only children born to a Quebec English-Canadian parent and a French-speaking citizen could attend an English-language school. This law was amended to include an English-Canadian parent born outside Quebec.
Bill 22 was a Law to promote the French language in Quebec (Loi pour promouvoir la langue française au Québec). It superseded Bill 63 passed in 1969, when l’Union Nationale leader Jean-Jacques Bertrand was premier of Quebec. Premier Bertrand was in office from 1968 to 1970. Bill 63, presented by Jean-Guy Cardinal, Quebec’s Minister of Education, in 1969, allowed parents to enrol their children in either French-language or English-language schools. L’Union Nationale, founded by Maurice Duplessis ceased to exist in 1970s after the Parti libéral du Québec, led by Robert Bourassa, won the 1970 election.
Quebec’s Official Language Act (Quebec), or Bill 22, made French the only official language of Quebec. Bill 22 was voted into law a mere five years after Canada became an officially bilingual country. For Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, the Charter of the French Language was a “slap in the face.” (See Charter of the French Language, Wikipedia.) Robert Bourassa lost the 1976 provincial election to Parti Quécébois founder and leader René Lévesque, whose government passed Bill 101, or the Charter of the French Language, a stricter enactment of the Bill 22.
The Charter of the French Language
Education Unilingual posting
The main purpose of Quebec’s Bill 22 and Bill 101 was to ensure that the children of immigrants to Quebec enrol in French-language schools. Given its rapidly decreasing birthrate, Quebec started transforming immigrants into Québécois. This movement started in Saint-Léonard with the closure of an English-language school attended primarily by the children of Italian immigrants. People protested, at times violently. Bill 63 gave citizens the freedom of choice, causing indignation on the part of a sizable group of French-speaking Québécois.
http://www.panoramitalia.com/en/arts-culture/history/saint-leonard-conflict-language-legislation-quebec/2325/
http://larevolutiontranquille.ca/en/the-bill-63.php
However, the Charter of the French Language also required that Quebecers live in visibly French communities, hence unilingual posting and penalties for “offenders.” Its chief agency is the Office québécois de la langue française, established in 1961 by Quebec Premier Jean Lesage PC, CC, CD. Related agencies are the Conseil supérieur de la langue française, the office regulating toponymie, the naming of places. and other groups. Quiet Revolution. The Charter of the French Language, la Chartre de la langue française, was introduced by Camille Laurin.
The Referendums: 1980 & 1995
Quebec held two referendums on a renegotiation of Quebec’s ties with the government of Canada, or souveraineté-association (sovereignty-association). The first took place in 1980, two years before Quebec failed to sign Constitution Act of 1982. The second was held in 1995 but the result was too close to represent a clear “yes” or “no.” More than 49% of the population of Quebec voted “yes.” The response of the Federal government (Ottawa) was the Clarity Act. The Clarity Act “was passed by the House on March 15, 2000, and by the Senate, in its final version, on June 29, 2000.” (Wikipedia). The Quebec Government’s response was the Act respecting the exercise of the fundamental rights and prerogatives of the Québec people and the Québec State, passed two days after the Clarity Act.
Remedial Measures
The Official Languages Act (Canada) of 1988
The Clarity Act of 15 March 2000
The Québécois nation motion of November 27, 2006
The Québécois nation motion, a parliamentary motion tabled by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2007 was approved by the House of Commons of Canada on Monday, November 27, 2006. The English motion read: “That this House recognize that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada.” I am quoting Wikipedia.
In French, the motion read: “Que cette Chambre reconnaisse que les Québécoises et les Québécois forment une nation au sein d’un Canada uni.” (See Québécois nation motion, Wikipedia). This does not differ much from the souveraineté-association concept put forward by the Parti Québécois.
Bill 101 has been deemed unconstitutional and an infringement of Human Rights, but it has not been rescinded and schools are filling up with French-speaking Quebecers.
Chronology of the Language Laws
Constitution Act, 1867: Section 133, but no official languages
Laurendeau-Dunton Commission
Official Languages Act of 1969
1969: Act to promote the French Language in Quebec (Bill 63) http://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/charte/reperes/Loi_63.pdf
1974: Official Language Act of 1974 (Bill 22) FR & EN http://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/charte/reperes/Loi_22.pdf
1977: Charter of the French Language (Bill 101) EN http://www.canlii.org/en/qc/laws/stat/rsq-c-c-11/latest/rsq-c-c-11.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Commission_on_Bilingualism_and_Biculturalism
1988: Official Languages Act of 1988 http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/O-3.01/FullText.html
—ooo—
Temporary Conclusion
Bill 115
http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/after-24-hours-of-debate-english-education-bill-becomes-law-1.564054
Bills allowing education in English in Quebec have been passed. One such bill is Bill 115, passed in 2010. However, I am excluding discussion of Bills making access to English-language schools from this discussion because I need to close this post. All I will write is that Bill 101 has been amended six times and that Bill 115 facilitates an English language education.
Bill 101 is problematical in that it is at cross-purposes with the Official Languages Act of 1969 and the Official Languages Act of 1988. It is also at cross-purposes with a finding and recommendation of the Laurendeau-Dunton commission: greater prosperity for French-speaking Canadians.
We live in a world where business is often conducted in the English language, which does not mean that one has to unlearn French. I know people who spent a lifetime being impeccably French in an English-language milieu.
Immigrants to Quebec have to attend French-language schools, which seems perfectly acceptable. Quebec needs Québécois. But this does not and should not preclude learning English. English is taught in French-language schools. Why should Quebecers isolate themselves.
Learning other languages is not necessarily detrimental to mastery of one’s mother tongue. Québécois live in French-language milieu. No one has to leave that milieu. In fact Quebec offers two milieu: a French-language milieu and an English-language milieu. In this regard, Montreal is la crème de la crème.
In the 1960s and early 1970s, Quebec built the Manicouagan Reservoir and there is further untapped wealth in Northern Quebec. Moreover Quebec has large enterprises, such as Bombardier, SNC Lavalin. These have offices abroad.
My kindest regards to all of you.♥
Félix Leclerc sing “L’Écharpe” (The Scarf)
© Micheline Walker 26 April 2015 WordPress
Quebec's Language Laws Canada is an officially multicultural society, but its official languages are English and French, with the exception of Quebec.
Judge Strikes Down Re-Enacted B.C. Legislation Curbing Teachers' Collective Bargaining Rights
"On January 27 [2014], a British Columbia judge ruled that Bill 22, the Education Improvement Act, a law limiting teacher collective bargaining on class size which re-enacted the provisions of Bill 28 – a statute that had previously been declared unconstitutional – likewise violated the guarantee of freedom of association in s.2(d) of the Charter. Concluding that there was no basis for distinguishing the new legislation from the old, the judge declared Bill 22 void, and ordered the government to pay the British Columbia Teachers' Federation $2 million in damages."
"Although the B.C. government has expressed its intention to appeal the ruling, the decision is likely to have some immediate impact because negotiations for a renewal collective agreement are currently underway between the [British Columbia Teachers' Federation] and the government."
Lancaster House, February 26, 2014: "Judge strikes down legislation re-enacted by B.C. government curbing teachers' collective bargaining rights, and awards teachers' union $2 million damages"
The Tyee, January 27, 2014: “BC court rules in favour of teachers' union on Bill 22,” by Katie Hyslop
The Globe and Mail, February 28, 2014: "On wages, B.C. teachers are pushing a tough sell," by Gary Mason
March 2nd 2012 in the afternoon, BC students are conducting a provincial wide walkout in support for the teachers and our public education, to protest against Bill 22, and to show that students really do care about what is going on. Participate tomorrow in the walkout for the right reasons. Show up at the Art Gallery downtown. For more information visit the facebook page here Follow @BCStudentsWalk on twitter for updates! Hashtag: #BCStudentsWalkout