City applies French charter “humanely”
Although the city should be constrained by the reformed French language charter to only communicate in English with those who have a historic right to receive services in that language, practical application of this rule has proven difficult. People are on their honour not to look at the English‑language side of the website unless their grandparents were already here and speaking English in 1890.* The city’s commissioner of the French language says she’s committed to a humane application of the law – but “Il faut être ferme. La diversité et l’inclusion ne peuvent pas servir de prétextes pour ne pas apprendre le français.”
A footnote here says the mayor recently became a chevalière de l’Ordre de la Pléiade, an honour accorded to prominent people who promote French in their work.
*exaggerated for effect
Uatu 10:20 on 2024-07-15 Permalink
Someone better check out if that lady held at knifepoint by the naked dude in her kitchen addressed him in French.
jeather 10:25 on 2024-07-15 Permalink
Getting services — or reading a website — in English is orthogonal to learning or being able to speak French.
Kate 10:34 on 2024-07-15 Permalink
Uatu, believe it or not, that crossed my mind. She was described as a PhD student from Victoria, and she wasn’t sure what he was asking her for. But he was also described as confused so his diction may not have been the best.
Ephraim 11:21 on 2024-07-15 Permalink
The now require you to call l’Agence de mobilité durable de Montréal if you need to do anything related to traffic/parking. They have a 3 to 4 minute message that you have to go through if you want to speak to someone in English attesting to the fact that you have a right to service in English. Seriously, who has the time to listen to this message EVERY TIME you need to report someone parked in a handicapped spot, blocking a driveway, blocking an alleyway….. EVERY TIME.
Blork 12:28 on 2024-07-15 Permalink
It’s downright Orwellian. Not so much in the “1984” way, but in the satirical comedic way of some of Orwell’s other writings. He’d have a field day with this stuff about publishing things in English but people aren’t allowed to read it.
It brings to mind things like the following excerpt from his 1950 novel “Coming up for Air,” which satirized the “inner-outer suburbs” such as the fictional “Ellesmere Road.” In the excerpt, a resident of Ellesmere Road ponders the coming assault just prior to the Blitz:
“Funny how we keep on thinking about bombs. Of course there’s no question that it’s coming soon. You can tell how close it is by the cheer-up stuff they’re talking about in the newspapers. I was reading a piece in the News Chronicle the other day where it said that bombing planes can’t do any damage nowadays. The anti-aircraft guns have got so good that the bomber has to stay at twenty thousand feet. The chap thinks, you notice, that if an aeroplane’s high enough the bombs don’t reach the ground. Or more likely what he really meant was that they’ll miss Woolwich Arsenal and only hit places like Ellesmere Road.”
Kate 12:51 on 2024-07-15 Permalink
Coming up for Air was published in 1939. I wouldn’t normally fuss about a correction like this, but it makes a difference that Orwell wrote it before WWII, not after. He was writing at the time, not in retrospect.
Blork 13:21 on 2024-07-15 Permalink
Oh right. I don’t know why I thought it was 1950. Regardless, the satire of (likely government-sponsored) press talking about bombers not being a threat because they fly so high is still reminiscent of the idea of publishing content that half your population is not allowed to read and therefore will not read. As in, both are similarly detached from reality.
Blork 13:32 on 2024-07-15 Permalink
It’s like the government saying “don’t worry, we’ve saved French because most anglos aren’t allowed to read our English web pages.”
Kate 13:55 on 2024-07-15 Permalink
Even more to the point, newcomers aren’t allowed to read English. Allophones can’t be allowed to drift to the anglo side.
Daniel 13:57 on 2024-07-15 Permalink
Uatu, thanks for making me laugh once again. 🙂
EmilyG 14:02 on 2024-07-15 Permalink
Maybe beside the point, but I just finished reading Coming Up For Air last night. Quite a coincidence to see mention of it here.