More Pavilions at Folkfest

I was in court in Toronto once and an elderly Chinese gentleman had an interpreter even though he had been in the country for 30 years. The judge looked at him and said "I bet if I said 60 days you'd understand me just fine".

What's wrong with him speaking his first language? I was able to understand the interpreter just fine.

Wow, looks like everybody was insulted over language issues, all around. And as usual the real issue -- which was about immigration law -- will be completely diverted by a politically-correct debate about whether somebody was being a "racist" during the exchange. In other words, the Left wins -- by default -- and immigration law becomes secondary.

Are there insensitive "bull-in-a-china-shop" White-guy Senators in Texas? Absolutely. Does that mean that the U.S. should not enforce its border and immigration laws? Absolutely not. There should be no causal connection.

Would this senator like to sub in at the next hearing in Kweebec ?

I was able to understand the interpreter just fine.

I was better able to understand the Senator.

Nice to hear someone sticking up for our culture instead of the Squaters & Colonists.
Tired as well of us giving in to these people who show so much contempt for the society they beifit from.

We had a major kerfuffle in the Alberta legislature a few years ago when a dipper MLA tried to address the legislature in French.He probably made his point, but he was defeated in the next election I think partly because the language thing did not resonate with the electorate. Democracy is such a bother! Does anyone know if members of the 'National Assembly' in Quebec City are allowed to address the assembly in English?

After 23 years of residence in a Country, an immigrant interested in becoming an American would conceivably be interested in learning the spoken language of that Country. If, however you are trying to influence laws to perpetuate a de-facto invasion of illegal Mexicans into a State which Mexicans are taught that rightfully belongs to Mexico, you are epitomizing the failure of the US federal government to enforce national sovereignty, safeguard social systems from impoverishment, develop rational immigration policies, and to prevent the (host-cultural) slow death from recolonization.

I'm praying for a moment when one of Canada's immigrants is testifying before a govt committee in their first language ... the squirming from our elected politicians would be of EPIC proportions, and NOT ONE would dare say what this Texas state senator had the balls to say. That state senator - and any Canadian politician who followed his lead - would be guaranteed electoral victories for life for merely stating what WE THE PEOPLE all believe! That old guy has courage to say what he said; wish we had hundreds of elected officials just like him.

BTw, as an aside, at the Edmonton Folk Festival there are only food pavilions - no ethnic pavilions. The Folk Festival is a purely 'white bread' affair and barely a handful of dark-skinned people are in evidence. Our ethnic pavilions are at Edmonton Heritage Days, held a couple of weeks earlier and at a much larger locale (I think its the largest ethnic festival in Canada, and very much worth a visit for the dancing, costumes, and especially the food - I love Afghan bolani and wait all year for a sample). Just a point of information.

It is important to keep in mind what the bill under discussion was all about. A small number of cities in TX announced that they would be "sanctuary cities", meaning that they were not going to enforce immigration laws no matter what. In essence, they were saying that they fully intended to undermine the rule of law. The bill under discussion simply makes it illegal for TX cities to prevent any official from enforcing immigration laws. It does not require enforcement, merely prevents cities from outlawing enforcement.

Some people, including the group seen testifying, have advanced distortions suggesting that the bill under discussion is some kind of crackdown and, of course, they are using irrelevant personal sob stories and ethnicity-hustling arguments to bolster their opposition.

These kind of testimonies are dog-and-pony shows and nothing about them is left to chance. The testifying group deliberately chose someone to testify in Spanish and, you can bet, the Spanish was part of their strategy. At the very least, it slows down the proceedings.

Fun fact: one of the "sanctuary cities" was Houston, the fourth largest city in the US. The Houston mayor, Bill White, was the major proponent of Houston as a sanctuary city and was recently eliminated as a candidate for TX governor. Despite the complaining from the usual suspects, the State Senator in the video will be viewed very favorably by most Texans for denouncing the testimony in Spanish.

Incidentally, I haven't seen anything in the media to suggest the testifier's claim to have been in the US for 23 years is factual. His hesitation in response to the Senator makes me wonder if the testifier is not actually someone who spent part of the last 23 years in Mexico and part in the US and that is why he is not comfortable speaking in English. If he hasn't spent most of the last 23 years in the US, then it suggests he has no real loyalty or commitment to the US and so he has no business testifying about US laws.

Good for the senator!

ricardo @ 12:55, that is part of the lefty liberal game of obfuscation.

I think most everybody is missing the point here. The gentleman testifying brought an interpreter when he did not need one. He was reading from a prepared statement which he could have read from just as easily had it been in English and vetted by his translator. I had the same reaction as the Senator - why do I have to listen twice as long to a prepared statement just because this person, who speaks in English, wants to make a political statement. It was indeed an insult to the Senators because it considered their time less valuable than whatever political point the person was trying to make.

If the Senator had interrupted during the question and answer portion, when the person was having to think and respond in English when Spanish was his most familiar language, I might agree that he was out of line. But he did not, and he should be judged by what he did.

Complex issue and a lot of screwy politics involved.

FYI, I wrote an article about one of the characters (who happens to live in Texas) you can read it here -- the immigration issue is mentioned halfway through:
http://ricardostories.wetpaint.com/page/Prophet+or+Agent+Provocateur

"I was better able to understand the Senator."

Of course you were. English is your first language.

This fellow made a huge mistake. He could have easily read his statement, second language or not, and it would have been seen in a better light. Broken English is much more sincere than second-hand English. When responding to questions he could have had the interpreter as a backup.

Instead, he comes across as someone who's gaming the system, disrespecting those he's speaking to. If I emigrated to Japan, and went to a meeting speaking against a Japanese law, I would do so in Japanese. Certainly if I had spend 23 years there.

As someone who taught ESL for four years, I am very bothered by people coming into the country and not learning one of the two official languages. There should be no excuse as there are more ESL services and materials available than before. It also bothers me when immigrants who have entered the country legitimately must slog through the legal process and then see others who haven't get a pass. Completely unfair.

Just my quick thoughts.

O Cisco, O Pancho?

Deport, deport, deport!

This was an intentional politicized spit in the face to the Americans at this hearing. These activists know exactly what they are doing and the results it will bring within the media and their own communities, which is who they are really pandering too.

This was a staged propaganda event, if the Mexican squatter was serious about appealing to the senators, he would have apologized and changed to broken English immediately after the rebuke to garner favour for his case. They were not his target audience.

itobo writes, "The gentleman testifying brought an interpreter when he did not need one."

Perhaps he didn’t bring an interpreter: Canadian schools and courts provide—at taxpayer expense—interpreters of all kinds. As I watched this charade, I was thinking of the unnecessary, make-work, “shovel-ready!” project for the interpreter.

And, itobo, I agree with you: I think the person making the presentation was quite competent in English.

If unilingual Quebec—WHAT an ugly, entitled stepsister, to the ROC’s pre-prince Cinderella!—refuses English speech rights to its citizens, it’s about time that the rest of the country followed suit and became unilingual too: English only. This double standard is one of the despicable fictions of our ridiculously PC “Deranged Dominion”.

The utter waste that undeserved, taxpayer money and the arrogance the PC dispensation breeds in a critical mass of our citizens are decaying us from the inside out. Enough is enough. (The silver lining of the Vancouver debacle is that more and more citizens are finally getting really riled at the dangerous games being played by certain elements of our community: “Bad moon rising . . . I hear the voice of rage and ruin”, indeed. But the good guys will turn their rage to better purposes than ruin: like maybe reclaiming our “true North, strong and FREE”!)

I enjoy the reaction of US news people when they hear our leader break into French during a speech. Some of them are completely taken aback. I know I feel insulted when someone gives a speech in Calgary, and their opening comments are in French.

coach >

"I enjoy the reaction of US news people when they hear our leader break into French during a speech"

I hear you there. I get pissed off whenever I land in Calgary from a long trip and customs greets me in French first. It’s like F*uck you to me, and I would love to return the sentiments but I can’t say it or they’ll tear my baggage apart. Bastards!

I suppose the big difference here for the Americans is that the PM visiting isn’t pretending to be an American and wanting something for nothing like this Mexican knob already squatting on their land.

...the reaction of US news people when they hear our leader break into French during a speech...

Does our PM make speeches to American senators in French? Was portable bi-lingualism a concept embodied in Canada's constitution? Do those soup-can labels in Calgary really need turning?

Does the testifier in the video really want to garner the favour of the committee he is addressing?

If someone addresses me in French, in English Canada, I will ignore them until they start speaking English.

Tough S**t if it bothers them.

Three words: "Remember the Alamo."

Texans have HISTORY with Mexico. Bad history.

Funny you never see that mentioned -anywhere- these days, eh? Unmentioned subscript glaringly missing from all news regarding Mexicans behaving badly in Texas.

Knight 99:
I hear you there. I get pissed off whenever I land in Calgary from a long trip and customs greets me in French first. It’s like F*uck you to me, and I would love to return the sentiments but I can’t say it or they’ll tear my baggage apart. Bastards!

What I've done in situations like this is to answer back in Ukrainian. I've dealt with some very annoying snivel servents in Ottawa that would speak to me in french when I knew damn well that they spoke English. I'd speak in Ukrainian until they switched to English at which point I would too.

Haven't tried it when coming through customs yet although I did get the last customs person pissed off when I checked off I was bringing animal products and soil back with me from Florida as I had some seashells that still had sand stuck to them.

by the time I was in Canada 35 years I could speak engerish only

Multiculturalism as an official Canadian policy is a complete failure in our nation building. Here we have a country that resembles more the United Nations than a country.

If folks coming here want to retain all they had and be what they were where they came from first and a Canadian second - then buy a one-way ticket back to the shit-hole they came from. They can have it all there.

Great news for this fellow, apparently there's a country nearby where you can speak Spanish all the time.

The Phantom >

Agreed, Mexicans have no valid ancestral claim to Texas as they vehemently proclaim. They were a blip on the historical radar. Most people think of the “Six Flags” Amusement Park when they hear the term.

Here is the historical face of Texas:

http://www.lsjunction.com/facts/6flags.htm

I understood his spanish perfectly.

He said " Look here,we deserve all the benefits of America,give them to us,and we'll tell you what else we want later,loco pollo hombres"

Comparisons between Canada and the US on language are irrelevant. Canada is officially an English-speaking country*, the US is not.

Not having an official language is at the heart of the matter here for Americans. But - and here's where the lack of an official language is a double-edged sword - this also means that Spanish (or any other language) has no status any US official is obliged to recognize.

That Texas Senator might have been more on the mark if he'd simply said: "Thanks for your testimony. However, I didn't understand a word of it. Have a nice day anyway."

* Officially a French-speaking country too, of course.

While this is in the United States and I couldn't give a rat's ass what happens in that country as it's there country and none of my business, I do have to say that I'm sick of Brad Wall, the SaskParty, and the NDP flooding Saskatchewan's Borders with foreingers who's sole purpose is to take a job from a Saskatchewan youth or to take a post-secondary position from a Saskatchewan citizen, or to take a place in a hospital line from our parents and grandparents... we have a choice and I choose Saskatchewan people first... no more immigrants... no more SaskParty/NDP.