Professional athletes MUST address their fans in French.

[Asher]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/st...1.html?ref=rss

Habs defend Koivu's French

The Montreal Canadiens are defending team captain Saku Koivu after his poor French was criticized at a "reasonable accommodation" commission hearing.

In his testimony at the Bouchard-Taylor commission hearings in Quebec City Tuesday, lawyer Guy Bertrand used Koivu as an example of how Quebec is forced to make "unacceptable" linguistic accommodations that threaten French.

When called to speak in front of fans at the Bell Centre, Koivu speaks English, even though Quebec's Bill 101 enshrines the right of Quebecers to be spoken to in French, Bertrand said.

The comments appeared to irritate many Canadiens who said they play hockey, not politics, adding that the game is not about language.

"That's their business," said coach Guy Carbonneau.

"As long as they speak English and understand me, that's all I'm asking."

The players are role models, but they aren't expected to be ambassadors of the French language, Carbonneau said.

After team practice Wednesday, Koivu tried out his modest French on reporters and said he wishes it was better.

"We can say bonjour, comment ça va," he said.

"I'm not saying that I'm perfect, and I wish that I did speak French."

Koivu dismissed suggestions that his poor French reflects on his commitment to Montreal.

"I've helped, in a lot of ways, the community and I've done a lot of things on the ice, and I guess that's more my way of helping the community and showing how much I love Montreal."

Not speaking French isn't a problem within the team, said francophone player Mathieu Dandenault.

"It's more political, because they're trying to make a big deal out of nothing. Bottom line, you step into this dressing room, it's English. It's not a big deal, and besides, everyone in this dressing room speaks three languages," he said.

Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois suggested Tuesday that Canadiens players who don't speak French should perhaps take lessons to learn.

The related story:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/st...ation1030.html

Language accommodations hurt French, lawyer says
Guy Bertrand tells commission that the future of French language is at stake

A well-known Quebec lawyer has told provincial hearings on so-called reasonable accommodation for religious minorities that the French language is threatened by linguistic accommodations.

Guy Bertrand said in Quebec City Tuesday that English and multiculturalism are threatening French.

Bertrand said immigrants who come to Quebec must accept the French language and integrate into the French majority.

"No people on earth, no citizens, and dare I say — no commission can remain indifferent or insensitive to the need to protect the French fabric in North America," said the well-known lawyer, who was a founding member of the Parti Québécois in the late 1960s.

"The Québécois nation has to be protected and enhanced through the birth of an independent French state, that will decide alone what kind of accommodations will be made for minorities and immigrants, according to values and principles that are universally recognized," he said in French during his presentation at the Bouchard-Taylor hearings.

Commission co-chair Charles Taylor told Bertrand the hearings are related to religious accommodations for minorities and are not about language. "I don't think that you are talking about the same thing in your comments," he responded.

Bertrand insisted linguistic accommodations are at the heart of the issue, and cited the example of Canadians'captain Saku Koivu, who recently spoke English while addressing a full house of fans at the Bell Centre, even though Montreal is a French-speaking city, he said.

That's an example of the private sector not respecting the linguistic rights of Quebecers as enshrined in the province's Bill 101 on language, Bertrand said.

On Tuesday, the Bouchard-Taylor commission on reasonable accommodation also heard from Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who said Quebecers would be more welcoming of immigrants if they returned to the Catholic fold.

"If Quebecers would be more aware of their own Catholic identity, it would help them to value better, you know, the presence of others and the strong identity of other religious groups," Ouellet told the commission.

He said that religious education in the classroom is a Quebec tradition that should be upheld.
Muslim community seeks more respect

The Quebec City hearings also heard from members of the region's small Muslim community, who spoke out in defence of their practices and rights.

Muslims deserve more respect from old-stock Quebecers, said Papa Camara, a Quebec City resident.

"Every day I hear on the radio and the TV people speaking against Muslims. And that's why I wanted to come here and say to people, 'Stop talking about, against Muslims.' Because we are full citizens, and we want to participate in the country. We are not destroying the country."

Camara told CBC News he is considering leaving Quebec because of the attitudes he encounters.

Public response to the Bouchard-Taylor hearings has been overwhelming, compared to other regions where sometimes fewer than a dozen people have shown up to speak in front of the commission.

More than 470 people asked to make presentations at the Quebec City hearings, necessitating a second public forum, scheduled for Tuesday night.

Oi, Quebec...what an embarrassment to this country.

[SlowwHand]

Le français peut se pencher.

[Thoth]

Ugh.

When does the ROC get it's referendum about booting Quebec out of Confederation?

[Lancer]

merde

[DinoDoc]

I'd lern a few phrases in Cajun to randomnly spout at any Frenchman.

[Lul Thyme]

To be fair, this is the personal opinion of one guy who has no official position of power, political or otherwise, and was given at a public hearing.

Pretty much everyone else in the article at least mildly disagreed with him.

Same with the second article, this is just a bunch of citizens expressing their minds at public hearings.

You'll "learn" from these just about anything you want to learn.

[SlowwHand]

Translation:

Originally posted by Lul Thyme
To be fair, the French have a long and storied history of being sucking cowards.

[Ninot]

The french press sucks.

[SlowwHand]

I assume the French press are French. Of course they suck.

[Ninot]

no, they are Quebecois. But yes, that still means they suck.

[SlowwHand]

They're the Canadian version of a cajun.
I would say coonass, but that offends some people.

[Thoth]

cajuns orginaly came from Canada. :

[Ari Rahikkala]

He should speak to the Finns in Quebec in their own language

[Pekka]

It's pretty ridiculous, because he does speak English, it is enough. I mean French might be, and most likely is, his 4th language after native one, English and Swedish. SO this dude says no no, you must speak my language as well. That ******* should just learn English and speak it.

This douche is only making things worse for himself. First of all, Koivu has learned French. He says that he still sucks at it and doesnt' want to speak to media with French, to avoid embarrasment. But he speaks French to the kids in the hospitals he visits and so forth, because they don't mind his akward skills. Oh, he does that all the time, being a captain of the NHL team, so he represents the team everywhere and goes to all these charity events. Not only that, but since he just recovered from having a cancer, he established his own foundantion, and has already given over 2 million euros to the places Quebec has. On top of that, he has played his whole career in there, because he is loyal like that and likes the place. He is a hot commodity, so it's not like he has no other choices.

Then when you realize that he really is a class act and not a douche jock, gives his time to people who ask it and volunteers for stuff, is loyal to Montreal as well as the national team in here, playing injured and everything, it makes you think. What kind of a douche is this politician guy? He will only alienate himself, because the fans love Koivu. It's not like he can shake his position with his comments, he can only shake his own position by doing it. On top of that, the talk about hsi wife being a French speaker... isn't true! She is also a Finn, with very questionable French skills so even that was a lie.

[The Vagabond]

to protecting the French language in Quebec.

But to do so more efficiently they must gain their independence. It's a pity the referendum held to that effect some ten years ago failed.

All this just manifests the scale of the defeat the French suffered in the real game of colonization: just a tiny island of francophones in an ocean of anlgophones, hispanophones and lusophones.

[Heraclitus]

Free Quebec lol

[Wezil]

Originally posted by The Vagabond

All this just manifests the scale of the defeat the French suffered in the real game of colonization: just a tiny island of francophones in an ocean of anlgophones, hispanophones and lusophones.

Take your head out of your ***. You'll make more sense.

Compare the french situation in Quebec with that in Louisianna (their brethren). Where did their culture survive best? Yes, Quebec in Canada has been so hard done by.

Moron.

[Kontiki]

The French were defeated. They need to live with that.

[Dauphin]

I'm amazed that there is a 'right' to be spoken to in a particular language.

I think I would be saying "Pardon my French" a bit too much if I was addressing a crowd that would only listen to my French linguistic skills.

[CrONoS]

Is that free troll thread?

Nice +1!

[Lul Thyme]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
Translation:
To be fair, the French have a long and storied history of being sucking cowards.

Do you really believe this Slow?

How much of this is just posturing?

When you dig deep in you, this is the kind of stuff that comes out?

If not, what are you trying to achieve by representing a retard bigot?

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Thoth
cajuns orginaly came from Canada. :

Why couldn't you treat yours as we do ours then?

[Riesstiu IV]

We pick on the French too much when they have helped us out a lot in the past. I mean, they sold us 530 million acres of land for only 15 million dollars! And they gave us an awesome statue too.

[-Jrabbit]

I can never tell whether French Canadians are champions of their heritage or just self-loathing idiots. But this kind of situation tends to clarify that question.

There's a big difference between requiring French text on commercial products and requiring French skills in individual people.

[-Jrabbit]

d/p

[Ninot]

Yeah but see, the thing is, and this has been proven through survey, the Montreal Canadiens are the single most recognizable entity in Quebec. More people could probably tell you that Saku Koivu is the captain than could tell you who our premier is. So people get their panties in a bunch about him more than they should.

[-Jrabbit]

Then they should make the "reasonable accommodation" of requiring all Habs players and coaches to speak French. All others to be traded or fired.

[Thoth]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
Why couldn't you treat yours as we do ours then?

Politics. There are a lot of votes to be bought by pandering to Quebec.

[Lul Thyme]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit
I can never tell whether French Canadians are champions of their heritage or just self-loathing idiots. But this kind of situation tends to clarify that question.

There's a big difference between requiring French text on commercial products and requiring French skills in individual people.

Again, this was an individual speaking at a public forum.

People using this to "prove" something already have their mind set anyway.

Don't tell me you think I couldn't get much worse about any topic in any region of the world.

[The Vagabond]

Originally posted by Wezil


Take your head out of your ***. You'll make more sense.

Compare the french situation in Quebec with that in Louisianna (their brethren). Where did their culture survive best? Yes, Quebec in Canada has been so hard done by.

Moron

It looks more like a signature.