XPost: calgary.general, can.general, can.politics
XPost: edm.general, hfx.general, mtl.general
XPost: tor.general, van.general, wpg.general
From: bill.g@sympatico.ca
Carter wrote:
> Bill wrote:
> >
> > Carter wrote:
> >
> >
> >>Bill wrote:
> >>
> >>>gapope@vcn.bc.ca wrote:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>"Peter Benyk" wrote:
> >>>>"B> Where did you learn your history-in a quebec school?
> >>>>"B> Canada was the result of the English kicking the shit out of the
French on
> >>>>"B> the PLains of Abraham.
> >>>>
> >>>>If the English so kicked the shit out of the French, why did they feel
the need
> >>>>to make so many constitutional concessions to them?
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>There were no concessions made to the french until 1982 (A hundred
> >>>and fifteen years after confederation.) and the concessions were made
> >>>by a frenchman to accommodate frenchmen. That's the only reason.
> >>>
> >>>Otherwise the only official language of the federal government would
> >>>still be English. That PM stabbed Canada in the back.
> >>
> >>What a load of unadulterated bullshit. Get some education, learn
> >>about your country so you won't look like a bigoted fool.
> >>
> >>Canada has had two official languages, English and French, ever
> >>since it became a country.
> >>
> >>Carter
> >
> >
> > Grow up and stop trying to shit the troops.
> > French was never an official language of Canada!
> >
> > The Federal government always worked in English because
> > this is an English country.
> >
> > Why do you suppose the French always used the fact that
> > the Army was English as an excuse not to have to fight for Canada?
> > That's the reason for the french only providing one sixth, per capita,
> > of the number of troops that the rest of Canada provided in the 1st
> > great war? (5% of the total troops)
> >
> > You want to learn a little of Canada's history. You've been listening
> > to much to the Quebecois.
> >
> My God, it's been a long time since anyone as ignorant as you
> showed up here. You must be more than one person because one
> person couldn't possibly be that ignorant.
Sure sure we've all heard that shit before! Now tell us something that you
can
substantiate!
This is a little flash back to the way things were.and the expectation then
of
giving
the french a proportional share in federal positions.
To bad they went all to hell with the situation and now most of the
supervisors and key
posts in everything federal are filled with francophones.
NOVEMBER 24, 1977
Meeting the Threat at Home and Abroad
AN ADDRESS BY The Honourable Barnett Danson, M.P., MINISTER OF NATIONAL
DEFENCE
CHAIRMAN The President, Peter Hermant
MR. HERMANT:
What are these rights that Quebec wants? We know what the separatists
want--and nothing
we can say or do is likely to change them. And we know what the moderates--
the
Quebecois majority--want; at least we know what they've been telling us for
years.
1. They've said they want a fair share of federal jobs at all levels and
equality in
our government for their language. In Quebec they want an equal chance for
the
better-paying jobs, in business, industry and finance. They've said they
want
more
control of immigration to Quebec. They want to keep in touch with other
francophone
countries. They want to preserve and develop their culture. In short, they
want, like
everyone else, to feel both secure and free.
Can we, the English-speaking majority, help them achieve this? Can we do it
without
endangering our unity as a nation? I think, I'm sure, we can. I think we
will,
though
we've still some way to go. But I think we've already come a very long way.
Twenty years ago, even fifteen years ago, the French-Canadian who came to
Ottawa came
to a foreign country, a country that didn't understand him and didn't want
to.
He had
to conform to foreign customs. He had to work in a foreign language. If he
wanted to
write to another French-Canadian in his government, his letter had to be
translated
into English, answered in English, and then translated back into French. He
was made to
feel inferior even if he spoke his language well. He couldn't get ahead
unless
he gave
up his French identity, which our constitution guarantees, a situation
which,
if
reversed, we anglophones would not tolerate for a moment. Even then, he
always
worked
at a disadvantage, because public servants are judged mainly on how they
express
themselves. So the most capable French-Canadians seldom sought a federal
career, and
then we said that French-Canadians weren't capable.
All this has changed. Now French and English have equal status throughout
the
federal
government. Francophones, now 27 per cent of our population, make up 25 per
cent of our
public service. Their share of jobs is still too low in some cat
gories--administrative
and foreign service, technical, scientific and professional--but the catchup
rate for
the past five years is dramatic. At the top, francophones hold 20 per cent
of
executive
positions and their present rate of increase should take them to parity in
the
early
80s without sacrificing the merit principle.
It's sometimes said that the military is hidebound, but I think the armed
forces
illustrate this transformation. During the war I served with a brigade that
was half
French-speaking, and I managed to become a reasonably effective NCO and
officer--thanks
to training manuals written in English. But if that wasn't easy for me, what
about my
French-speaking comrades, who had to use the same training manuals that I
did?
Even up
to the 70s, francophone recruits in the armed forces had to take their basic
trades
training in English. Their failure rate was 45 per cent, compared with 10
per
cent for
English recruits!
Now we give training in French for half of our 96 different trades and the
francophone
success rate has shot up to 90 per cent. We have seventeen units and a
destroyer in
which the language of work is French, and another seventeen French units are
proposed.
All reports and forms and manuals are published in both languages. We handle
enquiries
and provide services in both languages. We have French-language newspapers
and
magazines in our messes and French-language books in our libraries. I might
add, one of
the most distinguished Canadians, one of the most distinguished soldiers in
our
history, our recently-retired chief of the defence staff, General Dextraze,
is
an
outstanding son of French Canada of whom we should all be proud.
We haven't accomplished these changes in the armed forces without some
misunderstanding, a feeling that maybe the change has gone a little too far
too fast.
Well, nobody in the service gets promoted who isn't qualified, but
everything
else
being reasonably equal, yes, some francophones get the nod in categories
where
they're
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--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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