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April 7, 2020

Mr. Dach: I do note that at the risk of raising the ire of the opposition House whip and perhaps severe penalties, I was thinking, as I listened to other speakers, that language is really important, that pronunciation is important, and that Canadian language is absolutely very important. I must say that I cringed every time I heard the word “mobile” in this House repeated time and time again because we may often listen to American television and hear things about mobile phones or mobile homes. But the pronunciation “mobile” is American, and mobile phones and mobile homes are what we own and what we live in in Canada. So I was suggesting perhaps, in my mind, an amendment – I’m only thinking about it; I’m not actually proposing one right now – a subamendment, what might have been, in order to get us on the right track as far as language goes and actually speak in terms of Canadian language, that any time a member of this Assembly mentions the word “mobile,” they’d be fined $75, and that fine would apply to pay for the fee of one individual who wanted to file an application.

An Hon. Member: I’m waiving the fee right now.

Mr. Dach: There you go. There you go. Just an idle thought as I was sitting here listening to other speakers. But it is truly something that I think we should be aware of in this House, and that is the pronunciation of words that reflect what actually our language is in this country versus the American pronunciation, which we should avoid. Just a thought, a pet peeve. Much to the relief of my whip I won’t actually proceed to a formal subamendment proposal, but please be aware of that, and I hope that we take it to heart when considering how we pronounce words that are going to be repeated in public by people listening to us as speakers in public service. I hope that I’ve made a bit of a dent in the mobile world and we’ll hear people in Canada talking about mobile homes and mobile phones instead of the other way.