No service in French downtown – QMI
QMI maintains that half the establishments downtown can’t serve you in French and even that a worker at the new Uniqlo store said outright she doesn’t speak French. With a footnote explaining how to denounce businesses to the journalist.
Blork 12:03 on 2020-11-13 Permalink
Actually, the story says that in half the establishments they made an initial greeting in English (“Hi”). That doesn’t mean they couldn’t switch to French, although it says “in some cases” they couldn’t.
By front-end loading that “half” statement it does make it appear that half of the stores were unable to provide service in French, which is completely false.
What a city. Colloquially we all love to brag about how multi-lingual we are and how people switch languages with each other back and forth in conversation, etc. and wow, doesn’t that make us sexy and sophisticated. Until you let a few words of English slip out in a store and then here come the pitchforks.
Kate 12:56 on 2020-11-13 Permalink
I doubt Mathieu Bock-Côté and Richard Martineau are among those who brag about our cosmopolitan sexy sophistication. They would’ve fit in here 80 years ago as grim pastors of Roman Catholic churches, enforcing the commandments, grilling young mothers on why they hadn’t done their duty and had another baby this year, and demanding their flock vote Union Nationale. Except those two are among those who “do not have the faith, but will not have the fun.”
Ex Herb 12:59 on 2020-11-13 Permalink
Perhaps “a backyard to play in” isn’t enough for kids, and it isn’t enough for the French language either?
Jack 13:47 on 2020-11-13 Permalink
We are being set up for Simon Jolin-Barette’s legislation. This media campaign is in full swing in the French language press. In my view this has little to nothing to do with the French language, it is about politicians using wedge issues to maintain electoral edges. I’m guessing that some punitive measures against English or English institutions are in order. Why because it makes CAQ’s base feel good.
Uatu 14:45 on 2020-11-13 Permalink
It also distracts from 1000 avg cases of covid in the past few weeks
Jack 15:34 on 2020-11-13 Permalink
https://www.lapresse.ca/debats/opinions/2020-11-13/langue-francaise/en-attendant-simon-jolin-barrette.php
Yes the entire french language awaits.
Kevin 11:33 on 2020-11-14 Permalink
They’ll play off the public’s ignorance.
I just don’t know if they plan to ban francophones from English establishments, or if they will cut funding by two-thirds to match the bigot’s definition of anglophone.
Douglas 01:46 on 2020-11-15 Permalink
It’s like the scene in Mad Men. The separatists walk into the elevator, say a few things about the french language, and the anglos turn to them and say “we don’t think about you at all”.