Why is Quebec the only mainly “French” province?

[le calmar]

Originally Posted by Luisito

I have made it a point to speak French anytime I go to government offices here in Manitoba.

I am curious to know how well it usually goes when you try that?

[jd3189]

Originally Posted by theman23

Yeah.

Unless the OP doesn’t know how to operate a computer and is having his grandkids post messages for him, it’s a pretty damn stupid question to ask.

I could have done that, but I wanted to read what people here had to say about it.

I will say that I tried researching the reason why French isn’t as prominent as it once was in Louisiana and parts of the US that the French were present in ( like Missouri, Detroit, etc). Based on the responses so far, it seems that there has been a historical suppression of French everywhere on the continent.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Acajack

BTW Chad, I forgot to mention it but I thought your post on here was really good too - you have an impressive grasp of our country's history. I did not know that side of you.

I wanted to congratulate him too, but he has me on ignore, so I'll have to count on you to relay the message by quoting this.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by lio45

I wanted to congratulate him too, but he has me on ignore, so I'll have to count on you to relay the message by quoting this.

Let this be an opportunity for you two to kiss and make up!

[Northern Light]

Some excellent posts here!

Particular shout outs to Chad and Acajack.

***

An interesting addendum to this I think is the explosive growth of French in Toronto, even as its become more diverse.

French immersion is busting a the seams.

The French language school board(s) are adding multiple new schools.

A French-language university will open next year.

GO Transit (the commuter rail system) went bilingual a couple of years ago in announcements and in signage.

My understanding is that the TTC (Toronto's subway/streetcar/bus system) will likely approve bilingual signage shortly.

I'm hearing French spoken around more and more.

Its interesting in that my family is 1/2 Francophone, originally from Quebec, I grew up speaking the language, and took it through HS.

I was technically fluent'ish...... (slow communication with forgiving family and reading Le Monde, L'Express and La Press only get you so far); my ability to keep up with fast-talkers was always poor, as I really thought in English and translated, anything but the simplest of sentences.

But I digress, my point was that when my mother came to Toronto in the '40s she couldn't speak English and there was definitely a discriminatory culture against the French.

She became fluently bilingual and held her French, for which I am grateful; but watching the change over the decades in attitudes and trajectory of language is fascinating.

By the time she was working age, French was accepted in Toronto, but not promoted.

By the time I was a teen, it was promoted, but not in high demand.

Today, French is becoming a much larger fact of Toronto's day to day existence.

Toronto is unlikely to ever be a French city per se.

But I would place bets on it having over 500,000 French speakers within 2 decades.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by le calmar

I am curious to know how well it usually goes when you try that?

A couple years ago, I needed to try to get my username back for the registration of my company's domain name. It's a corporation with a provincial charter. GoDaddy.ca which is the site we used to register it back in the day asked us for documents; we had to prove we were the corporation that did register the domain name at the time, so we supplied the original of the corporation's certificate of incorporation, a 100% official Government of Quebec document. (Which is what they wanted.)

They replied "this document seems to be written in some strange foreign language, we cannot do anything with it; please have it translated into English by a certified translator, at your own expense, then re-submit that translation, and we can move on with your file."

I didn't have the free time back then to go 7up Air Canada Guy on their case so I dropped it, and haven't been able to re-take control of my own domain name since.

In fact, this reminds me - I'll try again and won't let them get away with this this time.

The one document that they demand - our Certificate of Incorporation - I HAVE that document - it is an official document that has been emitted by the government of the second biggest province in the country in the one and only official language of the second biggest province in the country - I swear I'll ram it down their throat as is, I'm not going to pay a fucking translator.

[ReeceZ]

Originally Posted by lio45

A couple years ago, I needed to try to get my username back for the registration of my company's domain name. It's a corporation with a provincial charter. GoDaddy.ca which is the site we used to register it back in the day asked us for documents; we had to prove we were the corporation that did register the domain name at the time, so we supplied the original of the corporation's certificate of incorporation, a 100% official Government of Quebec document. (Which is what they wanted.)

They replied "this document seems to be written in some strange foreign language, we cannot do anything with it; please have it translated into English by a certified translator, at your own expense, then re-submit that translation, and we can move on with your file."

I didn't have the free time back then to go 7up Air Canada Guy on their case so I dropped it, and haven't been able to re-take control of my own domain name since.

In fact, this reminds me - I'll try again and won't let them get away with this this time.

The one document that they demand - our Certificate of Incorporation - I HAVE that document - it is an official document that has been emitted by the government of the second biggest province in the country in the one and only official language of the second biggest province in the country - I swear I'll ram it down their throat as is, I'm not going to pay a fucking translator.

GoDaddy is an American company, so of anything, it simply demonstrates a private American firm's intolerance to other languages, as opposed to the opression of French within Canada.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by lio45

They replied "this document seems to be written in some strange foreign language, we cannot do anything with it; please have it translated into English by a certified translator, at your own expense, then re-submit that translation, and we can move on with your file."
.

I totally believe your story, but have a hard time believing that's the type of wording they used!

[ReeceZ]

I am bilingual and fluent in French, although I don't use it as often as I would like and am probably a bit rusty. But I will say, I have such a hard time understanding a heavy Metropolitain French accent when it's spoken in a quick manner (it literally is a heavy-sounding accent the way words are pronounced), but I have zero problems conversing with a French-Canadian, who's accent just sounds normal and crystal-clear to me, no matter what speed it is spoken in

[lio45]

Originally Posted by ReeceZ

GoDaddy is an American company, so of anything, it simply demonatrates a private American firm's intolerance to other languages, as opposed to the opression of French within Canada.

No, we're talking about their Canadian operations here.

It would be like GoDaddy Poland asking you for your Certificate of Incorporation in that country, then you're supplying them with that exact official Warsaw-issued document, and since it's in Polish, and you're helpless to change that as it's the only language in which the Polish government will ever issue a Certificate of Incorporation for a Polish-incorporated company, GoDaddy Poland decides to reject it because their parent company is American and they want it in English.

If you decide to do business in other countries, it's on you to adapt, not on them. I'm 100% sure I couldn't get away with buying revenue property in Poland then breaking/completely ignoring a lease on the sole grounds that it's not written in a language that I, the landlord, can understand.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by lio45

No, we're talking about their Canadian operations here.

It would be like GoDaddy Poland asking you for your Certificate of Incorporation in that country, then you're supplying them with that exact official Warsaw-issued document, and since it's in Polish, and you're helpless to change that as it's the only language in which the Polish government will ever issue a Certificate of Incorporation for a Polish-incorporated company, GoDaddy Poland decides to reject it because their parent company is American and they want it in English.

If you decide to do business in other countries, it's on you to adapt, not on them. I'm 100% sure I couldn't get away with buying revenue property in Poland then breaking/completely ignoring a lease on the sole grounds that it's not written in a language that I, the landlord, can understand.

Could the fact that they have a ".ca" address simply be a front to have access to the Canadian market, and they simply run everything out of somewhere in the SF Bay area of California anyway?

[ReeceZ]

Originally Posted by lio45

No, we're talking about their Canadian operations here.

It would be like GoDaddy Poland asking you for your Certificate of Incorporation in that country, then you're supplying them with that exact official Warsaw-issued document, and since it's in Polish, and you're helpless to change that as it's the only language in which the Polish government will ever issue a Certificate of Incorporation for a Polish-incorporated company, GoDaddy Poland decides to reject it because their parent company is American and they want it in English.

If you decide to do business in other countries, it's on you to adapt, not on them. I'm 100% sure I couldn't get away with buying revenue property in Poland then breaking/completely ignoring a lease on the sole grounds that it's not written in a language that I, the landlord, can understand.

Right. We don't know how they operate in other countries. However I suspect that this type of scenario would be played out elsewhere, based on their actions here. And I will also presume that the American headquarters is ultimately responsible for the actions of it's international branches (everything works up the chain to Scottsdale, AZ), with each branch representing it's parent company. So yeah, I believe the blame for the intolerance in Canada in this particular case lies with the American headquarter parent company, who need to straighten this out as it is unacceptable.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Could the fact that they have a ".ca" address simply be a front to have access to the Canadian market, and they simply run everything out of somewhere in the SF Bay area of California anyway?

Maybe they do, but that's no excuse. Operating in Poland with a ".pl" address goes hand in hand with the obligation to accept, whenever you ask that one of your Polish customers provide you with an official government-issued document, to satisfy yourself with said document being in Polish, even if you are going to be treating it in California (which is your right...)

And yeah, of course, I've slightly paraphrased, but that was what they meant!

[ReeceZ]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Could the fact that they have a ".ca" address simply be a front to have access to the Canadian market, and they simply run everything out of somewhere in the SF Bay area of California anyway?

They are based in Arizona. But otherwise yes, spot on.

[Apey]

Originally Posted by Franco401

This thread is gonna be like 20 posts answering this very Google-able question followed by 50 pages of vitriolic discussion about equalization, distinct culture and Bill 21. Mods get ready.

Can I get an Amen on that! Couldn't have said it better myself! Sitting here on the sidelines with a six pack, pop-corn, waiting for the mud slinging to begin!

[Acajack]

Canada can be a strange country sometimes.

The first house my wife and I bought, about 20 years ago, was in Gatineau, Quebec. But because we had both been living in Ontario, our financial contacts were mostly in that province and our mortgage was held at the main downtown Ottawa branch of a major (big 5) Canadian bank.

Like many first-time buyers we had arranged for the bank to "handle" our property taxes for us. In that they'd add a bit to every mortgage payment, hold it in trust for us (making interest off it all year of course) and then they'd pay the city when the tax bill came in.

We even arranged for the city to CC the bank on our property tax bill, and it said so on the bill: "a copy of this bill has been sent to your mortgage lender".

Anyway, quite some time afterwards, we get this legal document from the Ville de Gatineau saying that our property taxes are in arrears, and that they'll sell our house if we didn't pay, blablabla...

So I call the city and called the bank. The city told me the bank had ignored all of their bills and letters.

And the bank told me... "Yeah, we got all of these things from the city in your name, but because they were in French we couldn't understand so we just threw them in the garbage". (Not the exact wording but that was basically it.

So in the latter part of the 20th century, a major Canadian bank branch in downtown Ottawa, Canada's capital, located (I just checked) 500 m from Quebec territory, was totally befuddled by correspondence in French that had a heading that said something like: VILLE DE GATINEAU - COMPTE DE TAXES MUNICIPALES.

[Apey]

Originally Posted by ReeceZ

Right. We don't know how they operate in other countries. However I suspect that this type of scenario would be played out elsewhere, based on their actions here. And I will also presume that the American headquarters is ultimately responsible for the actions of it's international branches (everything works up the chain to Scottsdale, AZ), with each branch representing it's parent company. So yeah, I believe the blame for the intolerance in Canada in this particular case lies with the American headquarter parent company, who need to straighten this out as it is unacceptable.

When I was younger I was always frustrated with issues/problems like this. But now having worked for several American companies with there own Canadian branches it makes more sense now! But in the long run trying to be customer service personal and telling the customer that you can't do anything/hands are tied by corporate policies, is just crazy to me!

I would always go above and beyond to teach or tell the person what the need to do, or who to talk to, or say! Or what ever it would take to at least get them to a person that would help them or at least could do something more then me! The piss poor excuse I was trained to say "sorry I can't help you, it's against company policy" kinda thing was just so infuriating, especially if they are paying for a service and are calling in for help!

Sorry for the rant! But I think that was 30+ years of customer service experience, where you get paid to do nothing to help the customer as it's affecting someones bottom line!

[thurmas]

Originally Posted by jd3189

My view of Canada has always been dominated by French culture. My extended family who lives up there are all concentrated in the Montreal area and I haven’t been to any other provinces aside from Quebec up to this point. There’s also the idea that Canada advertises itself as a bilingual nation, with importance stressed on both English and French.


However, from what I gather culturally ( in media, this forum, etc), most of the provinces outside of Quebec are English-based. What’s the story behind that?

Because France lost Quebec in the battle on the plains of Abraham to the British and the British controlled British North America well into the creation of the Dominion of Canada. Simple history do some reading crikey!

[p_xavier]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Canada can be a strange country sometimes.

The first house my wife and I bought, about 20 years ago, was in Gatineau, Quebec. But because we had both been living in Ontario, our financial contacts were mostly in that province and our mortgage was held at the main downtown Ottawa branch of a major (big 5) Canadian bank.

Like many first-time buyers we had arranged for the bank to "handle" our property taxes for us. In that they'd add a bit to every mortgage payment, hold it in trust for us (making interest off it all year of course) and then they'd pay the city when the tax bill came in.

We even arranged for the city to CC the bank on our property tax bill, and it said so on the bill: "a copy of this bill has been sent to your mortgage lender".

Anyway, quite some time afterwards, we get this legal document from the Ville de Gatineau saying that our property taxes are in arrears, and that they'll sell our house if we didn't pay, blablabla...

So I call the city and called the bank. The city told me the bank had ignored all of their bills and letters.

And the bank told me... "Yeah, we got all of these things from the city in your name, but because they were in French we couldn't understand so we just threw them in the garbage". (Not the exact wording but that was basically it.

So in the latter part of the 20th century, a major Canadian bank branch in downtown Ottawa, Canada's capital, located (I just checked) 500 m from Quebec territory, was totally befuddled by correspondence in French that had a heading that said something like: VILLE DE GATINEAU - COMPTE DE TAXES MUNICIPALES.

I never understood on why banks in Ontario allow mortgages to include payments of municipal taxes through them. My first mortgage with TD, I was obligated to. I prefer to pay my own bills thank you.

Ottawa is a strange land; I'm better served in French in Toronto. So many frustrated public servants in Ottawa... It's like they refuse to speak French from pure stubborness.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Acajack

So I call the city and called the bank. The city told me the bank had ignored all of their bills and letters.

And the bank told me... "Yeah, we got all of these things from the city in your name, but because they were in French we couldn't understand so we just threw them in the garbage". (Not the exact wording but that was basically it.)

I totally believe it, but that's still mindblowing incompetence.

1) They know your name. (It's on those letters in Klingon that you received. They can see you're a customer.)
2) They know you have a mortgage with them. (On a building in Poland, for the example.)
3) They can see you have an in trust account linked to that mortgage. They can see there's $2,738 sitting in it. They know this means they are in charge of paying your taxes for you on the mortgaged Polish property.
4) They open a weird letter from the City of Warsaw, "blah blah Municipalski Taxski blah blah $2,738" and they throw that into the recycling bin with a clear conscience (it's unreadable garbage, can't blame them).
5) They let that $2,738 which sits in your in trust account - an account that was created for the sole purposes of them handling the payment of your municipal taxes for you - continue to sit there.

Yeah, I think I'd change banks, honestly.