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Great White North
French speakers must get French education
2005-04-01
OTTAWA, March 31 (UPI) -- The Supreme Court of Canada has denied francophone residents of Quebec the right to educate their children in English. The court's ruling accompanied a judgment easing the regulations for English-speaking residents. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reports that the high court ruled that the majority in Quebec -- French-speakers -- have no right to education in the minority language.
Under Quebec's Bill 101, English-speaking children could only go to English-language schools if their parents had received most of their education in English Canada. The court's ruling allowed both immigrants and native-born English-speaking Canadians greater access to English-language schools.
Mance Bourassa, one of the French-speaking parents challenging the law, told the CBC she should have the same right English-speaking parents have to choose the language of her children's education.
Gee, and here I thought Canada was a free country. My mistake.
Posted by:Steve

#11  phil_b has got it right. The backstory here is that immigrants to Quebec (and they are many) have little inclination to become native French speakers. The schooling law is about forced assimilation for recent arrivals and not about keeping the natives on the reservation. Quebecois culture is bomb proof. It's four hundred years old and is in zero danger of going away.

The truth is, you co-exist with the Quebecois, often very happily, but you are rarely assimilated. It is a remarkably insular culture that is a throwback to 17th century France.
Posted by: Classical_Liberal   2005-04-01 10:17:22 PM  

#10  Three years ago, I drove up to Quebec Province to a little town named Victoriaville with a friend who was competing in a pentathlon. Quebec was eerie...fewer people spoke English there than in Paris! When we arrived, we struggled to make our way around the event and communicate thru pidgin Franglais and sign language. Suddenly a pair of teachers at the only English school in town made their way thru the crowd and introduced themselves...they were delighted to have some Merkins to practice their English with. It turns out Kent was the first American ever to participate in this event. We were treated like rock stars...(except the quebeqois athletes who used French seulement to plot their strategy against Kent.) I remember my Quebec visit fondly. And they did not hate English, either.
Posted by: Seafarious   2005-04-01 9:02:42 PM  

#9  This is great. Now the Anglo Canadians can be blamed by the Quebecois for keeping them down by making them learn frog. Those clever Anglos. Bwahahahaha.

Barb, Quebec is too much of a frog colony now. The best thing to do is probably keep pushing them in that direction so they'll realize what a mistake it is and assimilate voluntarily.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2005-04-01 7:59:32 PM  

#8  It's true children under 5 have a propensity to learn languages but learning a language is not the same as being literate in that language. You could spend enough time in Spain to learn Spanish but that doesn't mean you could read and write it.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2005-04-01 7:28:30 PM  

#7  Maybe Deacon but kidz under five can learn in just about any language. The so called age of linguistic genius.
Posted by: Shipman   2005-04-01 5:29:02 PM  

#6  Crazy, it actually does help to teach very young chuldre (the first 5 years) in their native language. If they don't become literate in their native language first, usually only spoken at home, studies show they will not become literate in English. As silly as it sounds I have seen it in action and I believe it to be true.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2005-04-01 5:13:01 PM  

#5  CF - It actually cut the bi-lingual ghettos these kids were sent into. They were pushed into English-immersion programs (like all previous LEGAL immigrant generations) and are doing much better in school - the Aztlan, Raza, bi-lingual and open-borders wingnuts hate it
Posted by: Frank G   2005-04-01 10:09:16 AM  

#4  Didn't California have a law (might still have it... I dont know) where immigrants (and illegal aliens) from Mexico and Centra/South America had to be taught only in spanish for the first 5 years or so? Or perhaps it was a proposed law...

It was a windfall for the Teachers union (had to hire lots of spansh speaking teachers).

I remember thinking that it would be a real pisser if you were from Brazil (language: Portugese).
Posted by: CrazyFool   2005-04-01 10:04:22 AM  

#3  The issue here is Quebecois getting swamped by immigrants who choose to educate their children in English. The equivalent is immigrants to the USA who refuse to learn English.
Posted by: phil_b   2005-04-01 9:51:25 AM  

#2  
Gee, and here I thought Canada was a free country
Good one, Steve! Silly you.

Maybe the best option for all concerned is for all English speakers to move out of Frogistan-lite. And for all Quebec schools to teach ONLY Phrench.

Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2005-04-01 9:50:04 AM  

#1  Pigeons coming home to roost. The Quebecois were so adamant about making French the official provincial language, now they're stuck with it even if it cuts their kids off from better paying jobs and entry into the best colleges.
Posted by: anon   2005-04-01 9:45:20 AM  

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