When the first Trudeau government passed the Official Languages Act in 1969, nearly all fluently bilingual Canadians lived along this ribbon of land. They still do.
[…]
Bill C-232, introduced by New Brunswick NDP MP Yvon Godin, would require all future Supreme Court nominees to be able to hear cases in French or English without the aid of official translators. All three opposition parties voted in favour of this distortion of reason, democracy and unity; only the Tories opposed it.
Where are our talk radio guys? I think the Honourable Member from Filibuster should be invited to explain himself.
h/t to Francesc0, who writes – “I’m hoping it’s a wedge issue with which the Opposition hopes to force an election.”
Yup. You go, go, go with this one, Mr. Ignatieff.
Keep it up and they won’t have to worry about Quebec separation as it will become separation from Quebec.
http://www.newstalk1010.com/news/565/1117895
“What galls me,” says retired Supreme Court justice John Major, “is that people like Bob Rae and Ignatieff vote for it.”
It’s shocking for a former justice of Canada’s highest court to make such a direct statement about current politicians but Major is clearly annoyed at the passage of Bill C-232 in the House of Commons.
Justice Major argues that legal competency and not linguistic competency should be the standard for appointing judges, it’s an argument backed by the government but rejected by all three opposition parties, including the Liberals which is why Major is critiquing Rae and Ignatieff directly. “Bob Rae is a trained lawyer, he was a Rhodes Scholar, he’s an intelligent man, he knows the pros and cons of all this and he should have known better. And Ignatieff is the leader of the opposition who supposedly has the interest of the whole country but he’s pandering to this New Brunswick motion.” The pandering in Major’s view is that there will be very few completely bilingual judges or lawyers west of Manitoba.
Yes vell, you haf no rights in zis room! Maybe you can study human rights in german as a modular unit in Berlin!
Cheers
Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
After a brief argument with a law student who told me that symbolism is indeed the reason why it’s so awesome to have French/English bilingual judges and that my suggestion of translators violates a person’s charter rights, I told him that I refuse to speak to him again unless he uses French.
He said I was being stupid ’cause I can’t speak French. Well, okay, so it sounds like I’m stupid for demanding something symbolic that he thinks is super duper important.
Then I asked him if I’m a second class citizen for only having one official language, and he said no, because I can learn French, still.
THIS is why lawyers are so roundly hated.
I fail to see how official bilingualism has benefited the majority of Canadians. It costs billions, decreases fair representation in key government careers and decreases national unity. What is the upside?
Lawyers don’t think lawyer jokes are funny, and no one else thinks they are jokes.
Trudopianism can only be washed away with blood IMO.
It is finally coming to a head. After years of dormant baby boomers not paying attention, only to the big “M” – as in “me”, “money”, and “mine” – now they are starting to realize the seriousness of it.
But alas, too late, Canada is too anemic and politically correct to challenge this farce of justice.
Bon Appétit!
Official bilingualism is wedge issue in this county. Bring it up anywhere and you will have 10 people with 11 opinions about it.
Trudeau knew that when he enacted the legislation, it is a tool to be wielded to advance those who are power hungry and desire a name for themselves.
We have friends who have their daughter in French Immersion with the sole purpose of her getting a job in the civil service or in high level government. Not sure what else their plans are, as they also have posters in their home with UN markings emblazoned all over them.
I just don’t understand how the left thinks…that is probably a good thing!
Official Bilingual policy is just the first level of the multi-cult industry and the curse of Trudeau.
Notice how Ralph does not have any Liberal Party affiliation on his site. Iffy on Iffy i guess.
As I posted at Jack’s on the same subject, they are just telling those in the west to piss off and separate. Thanks for the invite.
I think we’ll take them up on it if they are able to turn this into law.
Official bilingualism is nothing more than a tool of oppression aimed at Western Canada. A stroke of genius really along with the oppressive CWB. Trudeau really hit his stride when he thought up this little bit of evil. McKenzie King would’ve been proud.
The true irony of this is that Quebec is not officially bilingual. Do provincial court justices have to be bilingual? Anyone know the answer?
I think it is a dumb bill. If the Supreme Court Justices really needs to speak French or English then force them to take a crash course and start learning the language. It is not hard to learn French or English in the Ottawa area if you try. A bill like this may not allow the best candidates for Justices to be approved. (BTW, if you ever go to question period or see a session of parliament in Ottawa, every chair has a little translation phone that you can use so if you don’t understand French or English, you get the translation and it seems to be pretty good to me. I’m sure the translators for the Justices are pretty good.)
Bilingualism is not something unique to Canada. A lot of countries are bilingual or trilingual and this is how these countries create common ground and develop into nation states. India is a very good example of this (and there are many other examples). If you go to Ireland every sign is in two languages; Gaelic and English because like India (with Hindi and English) it is part of their heritage and background.
> they also have posters in their home with UN markings emblazoned all over them
And you call them friends?
I too had a friend. She gave my 5 and 7 year old kids a B-day present – a US GI bunker set with two modular AR-15 and 50 cal machinegun (IR sight, silencers, magazines, camo net, radio, ammo belts, pineapple grenades etc)
Year later when they asked for the real toys and I got a PAL, she visited us and screamed ‘No, don’t tell me you have guns in your home?!’.
End of story: never heard from her again. Guess she was not really a friend.
As I have repeatedly argued, 3/9 Justices are from Quebec already. This is to ensure both language representation and an understanding of Quebec’s civil law system (which differs from the rest of Canada’s common law system). This, coupled with the likelihood that anyone with Supreme Court aspirations is more likely to be bilingual should ensure more than sufficient representation of both languages on the bench.
In my opinion, we have the GG for ‘symbolism’; we have the courts to interpret and enforce the law.
That said, I don’t object to expecting members of the Supreme Court to take a few language courses to develop at least a basic understanding of the language they do not speak.
This was just another stunt by supposed “Parliamentarians” to try to get the Government’s goat. No matter to them that it has real consequences. Hopefully, the Senate will actually apply some sober second thought, particularly with regard to how this legislation will impact those parts of Canada not named Quebec, Toronto or Northern New Brunswick.
We should look on the bright side, though. Messers Ignatieff and Layton have just further reduced, however slightly, the chances of their socialists getting elected outside of Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver.
Just for sylvanguy, a lawyer joke sent to me by a lawyer friend (I know, I run with a bad crowd).
Having already downed a few power drinks, she turned around, faced him, looked him straight in the eye and said, “Listen here good looking. I screw anybody, anytime, anywhere, your place, my place, in the car, front door, back door, on the ground, standing up, sitting down, naked or with clothes on, dirty, clean . . . It doesn’t matter to me. I’ve been doing it ever since I got out of college and I just love it.”
Eyes now wide with interest, he responded,
“No kidding. I’m a lawyer too. What firm are you with?
*
speaking of fiberal hypocrisy… check out the
new & improved mark “the mouth” holland…
a dancing bear who would kneecap his own
grandmother for a thirty second soundbite
on ctv… having the gall to toss out weasel
words about restraint.
*
Why?
“Our legal fates will be in the hands of people whose first qualification for their job is their ability to interpret legalese in both official languages”
And the small clique in Ottawa/Montreal will further solidify their stranglehold on power in Canada.
I believe Trudeau hated “Anglos” even though he was a half-breed,and his motorcycle/German Army helmet escapades in Montreal during the War indicate his true feelings for the ROC. He’d rather appear to side with Nazis than volunteer to fight “England’s War”.
The OFA was meant to permanently place Quebecers in a privileged position,and make the West second class citizens.
We’ll have to E-mail our MP’s about this latest attempt to stack the cards against the ROC,although in the case of those with Toronto/Montreal/Ottawa Liberal MP’s, our protests will fall on deaf ears.
Ici Radio-Canada presents: PET Cemetery.
L’Iggy-Pot is offended.
Kick him again.
…-
“Iggy slams Tory MP over ‘black and blue’ threat
Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff denounced Tory MP Garry Breitkreuz for a press release in which Breitkreuz compared police chiefs to a “cult” and suggested Liberal MPs should leave their own boss “black and blue.””
“Toronto pot rally disrupted by gun fire
A peaceful protest at Toronto’s Dundas Square to legalize marijuana turned into a free-for-all with hundreds of scrambling people after a man fired a gun into the air.”
http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWS/home.html
“Official” bilingualism exists in Quebec!
I know, because I left because of it. I read, wrote and spoke french when I left. French from France, not “joual” or Quebecoise. Talk about putting “tete caraille” across your forehead. To the non francophone that’s “square-head” in their way of endearment to “les maudits englaise” who were “billigual”. To be truthful, not all Quebecers think this way and about 30% hardcore sepratists (like our religion of peace co-travellers, exist to the detriment of those who just want to raise their kids and earn an unfettered living free of government interference – any government)
Mr Duceppe is wasting away in Quebec, looking for a means to reconstitute his raison d’etre with his fellow Quebecers – separation. So, he’s travelling outside his political sphere now to drum up excuses to separate and keep his job at home. We should oblige him and show up wherever he speaks to blow him kisses. Chuck Loonies at him, he’ll have somone come pick them up.
The liberals are using this new bill as a wedge issue to play the “mom-knows-best” role and will then “save Canada” by supporting this capitulation to the nanny-state, run by Liberals – becaue they just know what is good for us and Quebec. Remember ADSCAM that peculiar Quebec contribution to “democray” run by not only the Liberal Party, but the Liberal infiltrated civil service as well. They are everywhere, just like the Cosa Nostra. Witness Mr Charest’s “problems” with public trust re construction unions run by the construction “gangs” CNTU and the QFL. They are all communist front organizations. Look ’em up. Greece wrote just as large, with an underground economy and an elitist government utopia overseeing it all. One wonders from the ROC how such a large, resource endowed province with 7 million people could need $8 BILLION more dollars from outside the province to run itself.
The Liberals will wrap themselves in the Trudeaupian flag (spit!)and claim to speak for Canadians, keep Quebec in Canada so that the ROC tax-slaves can continue to prop up the little socialist utopia in Quebec, that Mr McGuinty is fast drivng Ontario to as well.
jt – nice post; I agree with the unions in Quebec and elsewhere.
A comment to those who say – oh, take a few French lessons..and you’ll be OK. No you won’t; you can’t be bilingual with a few lessons and expecting a trained lawyer at his adult age to learn a new language – and a new language well enough to be able to read and ask questions in a very complex situation with specific legal terminology – is outrageous. It would take years; not a few weeks, not a few months but years..if then.
Appointing our judges on the basis of language rather than merit is a violation of our legal rights – and of course, ends up that the key governance of Canada is in the control of the population of that small strip of land in Quebec, while 80% of the Canadian population are barred from such roles in government.
Far better to have bilingualism than more doctors….
Not,
If you need a wise Hispanic woman to help out, write Sonia Sotomayor c/o US Supreme Court, Washington DC.
ET
“”” It would take years; not a few weeks, not a few months but years..if then.”””
my first language was dutch, if I were to re-learn it today, I would still have to switch to english for complex issuse
I’ve come up with a novel idea to support Quebec separation: I’ll be looking up Duceppe’s riding association and sending a check to support the BLOC.
I’ll also demand that he run candidates out here in “da west” so I can vote for the BLOC and should they become the government, then turn around and decide to separate with all ties that bind firmly in hand.
Uh, nope. I want you to separate Mr Duceppe, leave, good bye, auf vedesehn, and not “aux revoir” – because I don’t wish to see you again. The ROC can then get on with dealing with that other socialist basket case – Ontario.
Thinking some more on the situation – I think that I’ll donate to the McGuinty Liberals so that they can continue to drive Ontario in the same direction that Quebec is going – BROKE.
We’ll just separate from THEM!
From Wikipedia:
–“Bilingual Today, French Tomorrow”:
Trudeau’s Master Plan and How it Can be Stopped
This was a controversial 1977 book by Jock V. Andrew, a retired naval officer, which alleged that Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s policy of official bilingualism was a plot to make Canada a unilingually francophone country by instituting reverse discrimination against anglophone Canadians.
Well I guess Jock saw the future clearly.
There will be a revolt someday in this country, It may not happen in our time Or whoknows it may but this country is fed-up with pandering to Quebec & the french. Whats next? you cant speak hindu so you dont qualify? We are bending over again & again to appease minority groups.
Iam sorry i do not mean to sound Hatefull or pregidous But english speaking canadians are just fedup with it all.
Lets not forget also that the Ridings in this country were realigned by Trudeau & Chretian to relflect the Liberal way & vote.
‘Nother PET Cemetery Report: English only.
Scandal Iffy-Liberals.
Liberal Iffy’s caucus unity blasted(Nice MSM Word).
Humpty-Iffy has fallen.
“In the Yukon legislature, Yukon Party MLA Steve Nordick called on fellow MLAs to remind Bagnell to base his vote on what his constituents want.
“This house urges Yukon’s member of Parliament to support the wishes of a vast majority of his constituents — in other words, repeal the long-gun registry,” Nordick said this week.”
…-
“[Liberal] Yukon MP torn over long-gun registry
Yukon Liberal MP Larry Bagnell says he does not want to support the long-gun registry but he might be forced to do so by his own boss, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.
This week, Ignatieff said the next parliamentary vote to scrap the long-gun registry will be a whipped vote, meaning all Liberal MPs will have to vote for the party’s position or face discipline.
That is putting pressure on Bagnell, who has long opposed the firearms registry but said he may have no choice when the matter next comes to a vote.
“This has always been a hot issue. It was here when I first got elected,” Bagnell told CBC News on Tuesday.
“I may not have a choice, but I’m certainly going to continue to try and see what my options are up to the day of the vote.””
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2010/04/21/bagnell-gun-registry.html
http://www.bluelikeyou.com/2010/04/21/speakers-decision-not-sexy-but-still-important/#comment-80211
> Yukon MP torn over long-gun registry
That’ll teach them not to vote liberal.
I speak French (born and raised in Qc) and now live in Alberta. And I decline any service in French, when offered to me. How’s that for a slap in the official bilinguism’s face? When in Rome, I do as Romans do.
Bye, bye Larry. Kiss your pension good bye and that publicly funded salary you get. Sniff. I’ll be sorry to see that happen, you’re such a nice guy.
Your responsibility is to your constituents, Larry, first and foremost, not to that rent-seeking, johnny-come-lately “unelected” Party leader who is only here to put in the time for his own lack of a publicly-funded pension, over your political carcass.
Him or you Larry, what will it be?
What we are seeing is not pragmatism but sentimentalism (that’s my being charitable). I see no point in throwing the baby out with the bathwater because he cannot burble in French though his parents, aunts and uncles are English-speaking.
Sad thing is, Larry Bagnell isn’t that bad of a guy. Kind of a goofy, go-along to get-along guy, but it works.
I really hope he votes his conscience and the wishes of 97% of Yukoners.
I have heard it said that Quebec civil law is based on the “code Napoleon”. Since Quebec became British twenty odd years before Napoleon was born, how did this come about?
Minuteman ….because they are THAT slow…. always were … always will be.
A millstone around the neck of everyone that is forced to try to live with them.
As I argued on another thread, for those billions spent on bilingualism, it’s still very difficult for a family to have their kids educated in French. Access to French schools is almost non-existent for the average Joe. In my view, bilingualism in Canada is just a tool to balkanize Canadians.
That said, judging from the per-capita spending on Education in Canada, and the quality of students graduating from Canadian high schools(relatively speaking); I’m sure access to French for every Canadian student would just result in Canadian schools graduating illiterates in English and French.
I asked before: why don’t all Canadian kids have access to a bilingual education?
I believe all Canadians should demand reasonable access to French immersion for all Canadian kids. It should be our right!
Minuteman, it simply means that Quebec is a Civil Law, as opposed to a Common Law, jurisdiction. Napoleon sponsored a comprehensive revision of the French Civil Code, which is still the basis of French law. Quebec may have subsequently adopted the revised French code, or it may have adopted parts of it into its own code. The English Common Law is the basis for provincial and Federal law in the rest of Canada.
Canadian courts often follow the reasoning of British courts, and often cite British decisions in the case law. It is done for the simple reason that Britain has more commerce and a larger population, so more legal issues are addressed – why reinvent the wheel?
I suppose (don’t know) that Quebec does the same thing with French law.
“..the practical impact will be to give bilingual francophones an influence over the Charter and courts out of all proportion to their percentage of the national population”
That sounds like a deathknell. Are there any lawyers out there that can explain further?
I always speak French in Quebec. you see, I do for French what Jean Cruton does for English,
I make Borat Dion sound positively fluet in English. so I get service in English almost immediately rather than them have to suffer my French.
mon dieu , what is with this Anglais?
Yes. India has more than a thousand languages, 1,576 in fact, yet they have English as one of their official languages. The English language is spoken as a first or second language by more people on the planet than any other language. English is also the most commonly studied second language by those with other mother tongues.
Then there’s the humongous waste of money being spent on resurrecting and preserving various Native Indian languages. I’ve been told by school administrators in areas with large native school populations that the kids couldn’t care less about learning their native language.
Get with the program folks. The English language is the common bond between almost all nations on the planet. Life sucks, but that’s an indisputable fact.
Of course legal expertise should be the primary factor in the appointment of judges to any level of court in this country. Political correctness makes for bad decisions.
More on the universal influence of the English language.
Posted by: minuteman at April 21, 2010 5:20 PM:”I have heard it said that Quebec civil law is based on the “code Napoleon”. Since Quebec became British twenty odd years before Napoleon was born, how did this come about?”
————————————————-
“Civil Law
Definition
Civil law is the kind of law that evolved from Roman law, based on a written “civil code”. This was adopted in France after the French Revolution in 1789. Called the Code Napoléon, it covered only matters of private law:
• The legal attributes of a person (e.g.: name, age of majority)
• The relationship between individuals (e.g.: marriage, adoption, parentage)
• Property (e.g.: possession, land boundaries)
• The legal institutions governing or administering these relationships (e.g.: wills, sales, leases, partnerships)
Through plain language and the specific nature of each regulation, civil codes are intended to be easy to understand and apply. It does not rely on precedent to the same extent as common law.
Civil law is used in many countries in Europe as well as in Quebec.”
————————————————-
“The Civil Code
A civil code sets out the organizing concepts, principles, rules and ideals of law. The development of a bilingual civil code for Canada East (still called Lower Canada in its title) began in 1857, and was intended to reconcile the problems that had developed from the mixing of British common law and the Custom of Paris. It also abolished the seigneurial system.
Inspired by the 1804 Code Napoléon, the Civil Code of Lower Canada was enacted in 1866. It had four books governing:
• Persons
• Property and its Different Modifications
• Acquisition and Exercise of Rights of Property
• Commercial Law”
———————————————————————————————————————-
“The Civil Code of Lower Canada remained unchanged until 1955, when changes began to be made. By the late 1980s, it was realized that a major revision was required. A new Civil Code of Quebec came into force on February 1, 1994. It contains ten books:
1. Persons (e.g.: basic individual rights, residence rules, privacy))
2. The Family (e.g.: marriage, parentage, adoption)
3. Successions (e.g.: wills, inheritance, estates)
4. Property (e.g.: possession, land boundaries, right-of-way)
5. Obligations (e.g.: contract law, civil liability (tort law), sales, leasing)
6. Hypothecs (i.e.: mortgages and the sale of land)
7. Evidence (e.g.: burden of proof, rules of evidence)
8. Prescription (i.e.: statutes of limitations)
9. Publication of Rights (e.g.: registration of property)
10. Private International Law (governs the resolution of legal issues involving persons outside Canada)
This new code integrates some concepts from common law. It is still under debate as some of its regulations fall under the sphere of the federal government as determined by the British North America Act, 1867 (now renamed Constitution Act, 1867) and Constitution Act, 1982.”
———————————————————————————————————————-
SOURCE: http://www.canadiana.org/citm/specifique/lois_e.pdf
New France – 1750
http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/newfrance.htm
Canadians gripe a lot about bilingualism but it never becomes a galvanizing election issue. Why is that?
I think it is because for most Canadians it is an “Ottawa” issue. They don’t live or work in Ottawa so they think bilingualism is irrelevant to their daily lives. They are wrong. Bilingualism has produced a civil service that draws most of its workers from the narrow spectrum of central Canadians who are bilingual. Most of them are French-Canadians. That means day-to-day government decisions are made by people whose life experience reflects a central Canada/Quebec bias. Sure they will fact find and seek input from the rest of the country but they don’t really understand how the rest of the country lives.
To govern a country as large and diverse as Canada, you need a public service that reflects the varied interests of the entire country. That means having decision-makers in place who understand regional viewpoints. When bilingualism is the over-riding qualification for government jobs, unilingual Canadians from outside the central Canada bilingual belt need not apply. Most Canadians are therefore disqualified for government employment, (except for the army where white, unilingual males are still welcome). So bilingualism does have an adverse effect on the lives of all Canadians.
So why aren’t more of you in the West and Atlantic Canada pissed about this? Why don’t you make it an election issue?
Trevor, Thank you. That was most interesting.