In the fight for French in Quebec, there are heroes and zeros.
The “hero” of the week is called Jean-Denis Garon. The member for Mirabel complained of being greeted with a “Hello/Hi!”, and a “Next/suite!” in an SAQ branch at the Jean-Talon market.
But the “zero” of the week is called Tucker Carlson. The former Fox News host claimed that Anglos were “forced” to leave Montreal, which was emptied of its Anglo heritage.
What a week
Clearly, we have just had a strange week. Last Thursday, the management of the SAQ reprimanded its employees to remind them that “Hello, Hi” was banned in this state-owned company. Think about it for two seconds: it makes no sense for someone to speak to you bilingually in a business that belongs to the government of a state where there is only one official language, French. And I absolutely do not agree with Geneviève Pettersen, columnist at 98.5 fm, who said that “It’s a storm in a teacup. It’s petty politics.”
As Jean-Denis Garon told me in an interview at QUB: “If we are not proud of our language, who will respect us?”
Speaking of respect, another member of the Bloc Québécois, Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, published a surprising photo on Facebook: a restaurant which proudly displays “Service in French available”. As if it was a favor this company was doing us. And where was this poster? At the PFK in Chicoutimi!!! On Talbot Boulevard!!!
That’s why I burst out laughing when I heard Tucker Carlson’s stupid statements. The ex-Fox News host was touring Alberta and he said, “I’m going to say the most controversial thing. I witnessed when Montreal was emptied of its Anglo heritage. I am not anti-French, I make it clear, not at all. But I’m Anglo and I have friends in Montreal, and within a generation it was over, they were forced to leave. They were all like, ‘OK, I guess we’ll go to Ontario.'”
Carlson goes on to lament that no one revolted, saying, “My grandfather built this city, I’m not going anywhere!” And why didn’t anyone revolt, according to Carlson?
“No one said that, because no one could say out loud what was really happening: a series of hostile acts directed against you because of things you didn’t choose, like who you were at birth. Once you let that happen, you have no future.”
What a redneck! While he was in Alberta, he was not interested in the fate of French speakers outside Quebec who do not have the beginning of Anglo rights in Quebec?
And he has the nerve to tell us that he is not “anti-French”? Montreal’s missing Anglo heritage? He’s going to tell that to Michael Rousseau of Air Canada…
Zeros in Paris
Ah yes, in closing, I received a press release from French television TF1, announcing to me that Lara Fabian was participating in a new Talent show. And what is this new show called? Dream Team.
One thing is certain, in France, they “watch” their French.
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