I was commenting to a die-hard Liberal supporter how I would encourage my daughter to learn German or Spanish instead of French. He was shocked and suggested she would be foreclosed from federal civil service or politics. .... !!! [Precisely.]
Posted at 2007-08-10 07:07:12 [PermaLink]"Though she boasts about using recycled toilet paper ..."
Ewwww!
""Though she boasts about using recycled toilet paper ..."
Ewwww!"
Ahem ... I think what the writer meant is toilet paper made from recycled paper, not previously used toilet paper to make more toilet paper. ;-)
However, I do second your "Ewwww!" for all the eco-hypocrites, famous or not, who pay lip-service to the environmental cause but who indulge in eco-unfriendly practices.
Oh-oh ... my previous comment should be under the "Ecopocricy" thread. Apologies.
Posted at 2007-08-10 10:21:20 [PermaLink]"But my life and that of several hundreds of thousands of others has shifted to a land of greater opportunity."
But those hundreds of thousands of others never took the time, despite the fact they were born and bred in Québec, to learn the language of the majority...thereby depriving themselves of a future here.
That may sound a bit cruel, but be assured, Montréal's anglo community and institutions are something I DO value a great deal.
That said, official bilingualism is bullshit and forcing it upon high level bureaucrats as the price of maintaining their jobs is utter nonsense.
Finally, Pierre Bourgault was absolutely wrong about everything; Québec nationalism ultimately served no other purpose than that of subsidising the economic development of both Toronto and Ontario.
Both he and that other old coot Réné L. should be granted a post-humous Prix d'Excellence by the Toronto Chamber of Commerce!
Me too, Gabby. That's twice that's happened to me in the last couple of days. How's that possible when you get to the comment field from the link at the bottom of the specific article?
Posted at 2007-08-10 10:35:18 [PermaLink]Gabby:
I know it's the wrong thread but with respect to: "Ahem ... I think what the writer meant is toilet paper made from recycled paper, not previously used toilet paper to make more toilet paper. ;-)"
Remember the eco mantra - reduce, REUSE, and then recycle. Maybe Dan was correct after all. As for me, I'll stick to newspaper and glossy magazines.
John P. is absolutely right. All the Quebecois have done is destroy any positive future they might have had with their stupid intransigence. Having taught at the University of Montreal for a quarter of a century I can attest to the fact that all textbooks in real subjects such as science and technology are in English. Furthermore the whole modern infrastructure in Quebec is powered by English.
The sad fact today is that few speakers of English in Canada are aware of the benefits their language gives them. The anglosphere which includes about 100 million of the best and brightest of the Indian sub-continent is a burgeoning cornucopia of inventiveness and creativity such as the world has never known. Working as I did in an outpost of francophonie I can attest to the poverty of ideas and innovation there. The danger for Canada is that the present civil service is run by Stephane Dion clones, know nothing social science graduates unemployable even in Quebec, whose knowledge of and ability to use English is minimal.
Quebec is a welfare state and a drain on the rest of Canada. Quebecois need to be told that 24/7 instead of being pandered to.
BTW when was the last or first time you ever heard a Quebec politician or soi disant intellectual say anything positive about the ROC?
I'm not so sure that talk of "recycled toilet paper" doesn't belong in this thread. :)
Posted at 2007-08-10 12:16:09 [PermaLink]Quite agree with 'Millie Woods' on her assessment of Québecois graduates entering the civil service.
The province's social science graduates are largely daft, and have a uniformity of thought so moribund and stifling, that even The Church educated intellectuals of the 50s would be appalled. We need engineers, accountants, economists, and trades-people, not loopy lefties with MAs in *political philosophy*.
And Québec nationalism has done nothing but eviscerate the economy, handing its best assets on a platter to neighbouring provinces.
"Quebec is a welfare state and a drain on the rest of Canada. Quebecois need to be told that 24/7 instead of being pandered to."
Quite agree again. Québec has the potential to be a "have" province, but it needs to do a RADICAL economic about-face if this is ever going to happen.
Giving gov't subsidies to archaic industries and an outmoded manufacturing sector just prolongs the agony, encourages mediocracy and staves off the inevitable rendez-vous with the new globalised marketplace.
Assuming that Quebec did separate, Man, would they be in for a rude awakening!! Who the hell would pander to them, China? ROFL...
Posted at 2007-08-10 14:23:14 [PermaLink]