Quebec wants to make sure Vancouver Games to be bilingual

[SpongeG]

Quebec wants to make sure Vancouver Games to be bilingual


QUEBEC — Quebec Premier Jean Charest said Wednesday the province is paying close attention to the presence of French at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.


“This is a real preoccupation for Quebec and we have worked closely with the organizing committee on this issue,” Charest told reporters after meeting with Gordon Campbell, his British Columbia counterpart.


“This is a sensitive issue and Mr. Campbell is aware of its importance,” Charest added.


full article :

http://www.vancouversun.com/Quebec+w...824/story.html

[mr.x]

And we've been telling Quebec to ante up English signs for the last 30 years....the official languages of this country are French AND English.

[GeeCee]

You should know full well that it doesn't work both ways, mr. x..

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Quebec wants to make sure Vancouver Games to be bilingual


QUEBEC — Quebec Premier Jean Charest said Wednesday the province is paying close attention to the presence of French at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.


“This is a real preoccupation for Quebec and we have worked closely with the organizing committee on this issue,” Charest told reporters after meeting with Gordon Campbell, his British Columbia counterpart.


“This is a sensitive issue and Mr. Campbell is aware of its importance,” Charest added.


full article :

http://www.vancouversun.com/Quebec+w...824/story.html

Charest should go stick his nose somewhere it belongs - like Montreal's mafia run political scene.

to Richmond for not caving to the Language Police (and yes, Canada has them) on the Richmond Olympic Oval.

[NetMapel]

French is already an official Olympic language plus Quebec gets the whole Granville island during the game. What more do they want ?

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by NetMapel

French is already an official Olympic language plus Quebec gets the whole Granville island during the game. What more do they want ?

They want to take over Canada.

[Chikinlittle]

I don't believe Granville Island is all Quebec during the games. I believe that Bridges restaurant is Swiss house, and that Atlantic Canada house will also be on Granville Island. I didn't personally know of Quebec, so there's at least three on Granville Island, and maybe I don't know of even more... ?

[SpongeG]

coca-cola house will be on granville island in the GI hotel

besides all the countries setting up houses there will be corporate houses alll over the place too

[ue]

I'm sorry, Canada is just too large a country, and Quebec is too far away for it to have presence (at least a lot) in Vancouver. Realize that this country is large, and not everybody is English/French. Vancouver, for example, would make more sense being bilingual to a Asian language like Mandarin or Japanese.

[flight_from_kamakura]

like i think i mentioned before, it'll probably make economic sense to go ahead and make sure that there's appropriate signage and support in french, not only for quebec, but for europeans too. probably wouldn't hurt to do so in a number of languages actually, affixing temporary signage in japanese and mandarin, along with french and maybe spanish, say.

[ozonemania]

Charest's statement about French at the 2010 Games is more a message for his constituents than for us, or the Games. It is politics; he is just telling Quebeckers that his is looking out for their interests in this national event.

I wouldn't read too much into it.

[Jacques]

Originally Posted by edmontonenthusiast

I'm sorry, Canada is just too large a country, and Quebec is too far away for it to have presence (at least a lot) in Vancouver. Realize that this country is large, and not everybody is English/French. Vancouver, for example, would make more sense being bilingual to a Asian language like Mandarin or Japanese.

Lame excuse Quebec is too far, it is still part of Canada, its like saying Nunavut is way to far north to be part of any input in the Olympics.
for all the ones who's right to negate french language, they ought a remember this Country establish that Canada has two official language, English and French or vice versa.
After living here in Vancouver for over 32 years, I find it appalling that there is still so much animosity pertaining to the issue of French in Canada.
I was born in Quebec, yet I have lived more than 2/3 of my life as an English speaking person, how many immigrants settling in this Country still to this day have not learn English or french, they basically managed to learn the basic to become citizen of this awesome country then when back to their little district or ghetto, such as the Jewish area of Montreal, or the little Italy of Toronto and the east Indian district of Vancouver and not to forget lastly the area of chinese city of Richmond, it makes sense to have diversity, but at this point I am quite burned out with all foreigners telling me or my children how french is such a bad thing, get with the sign of the times, french speaking people are not all from Quebec, they are from as far as the Congo and Switzerland and Vietnam, tolerance from English people would make our Country a much viable place to live the day this animosity would cease.
Many people seemed to have forgotten that the right to speak french is encroached in our laws, as a Canadian of french speaking decent I have made an effort to be accommodating in English, how many of the complainants have even made the same effort to learn french with a poor result to validate that it too hard and they gave up, if one give up so easily I wonder what English speaking people will do when in 20 years time, when mandarin might well be a current language spoken here and in many major city and place around the world with 78 different dialect and 5 intonation for the same vowel.
FYI: my kids speak fluently English and French and are enrolled in mandarin classes. My brother in Alberta has five children who speak only English, yet we both came from a true french background, it is a shame to grow up and have kids dismiss an opportunity then to let such a gift die.
language no matter its origin could be a true benefit and not a deterrent to the diversity it offer in this Country.
FYI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec

[giallo]

I see no problem with displaying as many languages as possible at this Olympics.

[ErickMontreal]

Here we go again...

BTW I did never hear a damn word of french west of Montreal, Quebec is french, Canada is english, we all ought to get over it and move on!

Weither you like it or not, that's the way things are in Canada.

Frankly, I do not really care about the bilingualism thing in Vancouver, I do blame Trudeau for that faillure.

Seriously, the funniest thing is the fact Quebercer are by far the most bilingual in Canada, does not work both ways.. yeah right !

[vancityrox]

Im from Montreal, just moved to Vancouver and iI have to say that this is awesome.

The signage for the Olympic Games should obviously be in English and French. I thought it was already!

Also to people that are so ignorant to say that French shouldnt belong in the Olympics cuz Quebec is so far...thats so sad! Canada is bilingual. The fact that i learned French and English in school in Quebec shows how much pride i have in our languages. Maybe the rest of Canada do the same for French like i did for English. Its only fair!

When you go to any store in Vancouver you will always see english and french on the products. As much as the games are in Vancouver, Its really representing all of Canada not just Vancouver. Just like we have all these pavilions from different provinces being put into Vancouver.

Canada represent!

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by ErickMontreal

Here we go again...

BTW I did never hear a damn word of french west of Montreal, Quebec is french, Canada is english, we all ought to get over it and move on!

Weither you like it or not, that's the way things are in Canada.

I don't really think that's true.

The Olympics are Canadian and should be French-English bilingual. That should go without saying.

[ErickMontreal]

Originally Posted by Andy6

I don't really think that's true.

The Olympics are Canadian and should be French-English bilingual. That should go without saying.

Oh well, you are likely right, that's the outcome of being overwhelmingly tired of either fighting or complaining in regard to this issue.

[Metro-One]

Here we go again...

BTW I did never hear a damn word of french west of Montreal, Quebec is french, Canada is english, we all ought to get over it and move on!

Weither you like it or not, that's the way things are in Canada.

Frankly, I do not really care about the bilingualism thing in Vancouver, I do blame Trudeau for that faillure.

Seriously, the funniest thing is the fact Quebercer are by far the most bilingual in Canada, does not work both ways.. yeah right !

Well, I do agree that French should be a part of the Vancouver games.

That being said it is silly for someone from Quebec to expect people in BC to speak French.

We do have it on our packaging, and yes we do learn it in school, but after school it has very little use in our lives along the west coast, and like any language, when you don't use it, you forget it.

Quebec is thousands of KM away from Vancouver, in comparison France is closer to Egypt and Iraq then Montreal is to Vancouver.

Many people, such as myself, found it more useful in our daily lives to learn japanese and Mandarin then French after our mandatory French classes were over.

If people in Quebec wish to learn English, then that is their own choice, I honestly don't care if they didn't, but don't blame people in Vancouver for not being fluent in French. Do I know a good chunk of nouns in French, yes, but do I ever need to speak it in my daily life, no.

Also, French is a minority in Canada, and usually minorities tend to learn the language of the majority as well, not the other way around. is that right or a good thing, probably not, but that is just how the world works.

Also, unlike other areas in Canada, French culture has never been directly a large portion of BC's history. Spanish exploration and claims actually played a larger role in BC's early history then French. Even Russia played a small role in BC's early history. And of course there has been a huge British, American, Chinese, Japanese and Indian (and of course Native) influence directly on BC's history, but never really French besides being part of the Union of Canada. That is not to say French culture has not played a part in BC, for the entire world is connected, but not as much as the nations listed above IMO when it comes to direct interactions.

[vid]

Peux tu dire, «There are more pressing issues than this» ?

[LeftCoaster]

Yeah! Like Stephen Harper in China, or Tiger Woods marriage or Paris Hilton and whoever she happens to be blowing these days.

Come on guys! A little sophistication please...