How low can the NDP go???
Gee, they never defended English language rights in Quebec....and now they want to pretend that the French language in Quebec needs defending...
The NDP is trying to brand itself as the defender of French language rights in Quebec.
The party’s deputy leader, Thomas Mulcair, introduced a private member’s bill that would amend the Canadian Labour Code to ensure both federal institutions and businesses operating in Quebec are obligated to give French precedence as the working language.
“Why is it that a woman who works in a chartered bank has fewer linguistic rights than one who works for a (provincially governed) caisse populaire?” Mulcair asked. “Why can an employer demand knowledge of a language other than French, if it isn’t required to do the job?”
Mulcair said he’s not looking to take any rights away from francophones outside Quebec or anglophones inside Quebec. He is only looking to ensure the majority of Quebecers can work in their mother tongue and that’s “a good thing” for Canadian unity, he said.
Francoise Boivin, president of the party’s Quebec wing, said the bill shows the NDP is the only federalist party truly representing the interests of Quebecers.
posted by GayandRight @ 9:31 PM
7 Comments:
Bad enough that the municipal (outside of the West Island) and provincial governments in Quebec hardly ever hire bilingual anglophones or allophones, but the federal institutions hardly hire anglophones or allophones already without more language restrictions.
I'd love to jump on your "boo-hoo, I'm an anglo in Quebec and I'm so oppressed" bandwagon. But first, would someone please explain in a coherent way how this bill does, in fact, take rights away from anyone.
Also, if there is a party which seeks to keep the country together and can steal votes from the separatist Bloc, isn't that great news?
It's the hypocrisy....the french language doesn't need defending; it's the english language that needs help in Quebec. This is simply pandering at its worst...and does nothing to hold the country together...
Fred,
Your an anglo, like 98% of north americans and you don't live in Quebec. If you were part of a linguistic minority, surrounded by english on all sides, you might feel differently about the need to protect your rights.
If it changes the minds of would be Blos voters, then it's good politics in my view.
BTW, pandering at it's worst is when the Conservatives cut arts funding right before an election to please their base.
I take that last comment back.
Pandering at it's worst is when Diane Finley refuses "safe haven" to Kulen the gay Malaysian man. She sent him home to fifty lashes and a twenty year prison term as punishment for his "acts against the order of nature". All that she did to pander to bible thumping loonies of your political stripes.
Anonymous -- Sounds to me like the bill takes away freedom of choice from business people. In an anglophone community, a business person should be free to hire whomever he want to serve his customers -- this pretty much says he can't, that he must hire Francophones. I see it as an unecessary intrusion into the private sector -- and something that will precipitate additional antagonism in bicultural communities. LS
Firstly, it relates to businesses in the federally regulated areas. Inter-provincial transport, telecommunications and chartered banks. It's design to protect the franco in Rimouski who works for Telus and gets a new anglo boss who insists that communications in the office transpire in English. The french guy, who doesn't need english to serve the company's needs shouldn't be held back from promotion because he doesn't speak english to please the new boss.
The anglo in B.C. who got a french speaking boss might also feel threatened; though it's less likely to happen.
It doesn't say he has to hire a francophone. You clearly haven't read it or haven't understood it.
The host of the greek radio show in T.O. had better speak Greek, but if he doesn't understand english he won't understand the office memos.
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