Marois: English must fall back

[Wezil]

French is clearly stagnating,

He finally gets to the point.

i.e. without Bill 101 Quebec would become a pays basque français within two generations.

It will happen eventually. The PQ can continue to do their best to drive everyone but the french out so they can get their real vote and possible finally hoodwink the province into separation (the point of this sort of legislation). However, separate or part of Canada, French as a working language among a sea of English is ultimately doomed.

[Drake Tungsten]

get totally disgruntled at the "racism" or "intolerance" of a nation mandating public education to be in its official language?

Quebec isn't a nation. If you want to be intolerant and bigoted towards English speakers without blowback from the rest of your English-speaking country, then separate. Stop whining about how oppressed you are and do something about it, you pussies.

[notyoueither]

Isn't it amazing how some people are just fine with oversea military operations and funding of military coups in the name of their values (liberal democracy and market economy) but get totally disgruntled at the "racism" or "intolerance" of a nation mandating public education to be in its official language?

French education is available to any who ask for it in most significantly populated parts of Canada.

The main problem I have heard of wrt Quebec's policies re education is that the PQ wants to use schools as a means of... forced indoctrination. The problem with this as policy is that the children of peole who are not entitled to English education may be put at disadvantages for the rest of their lives.

You are correct. It does not sit well in a liberal democracy that children be used for political ends.

[Dr Strangelove]

If only 10% of the population is English speaking then how is it that one can't buy a bagel in French in Quebec? The implication is either that the statement is a gross exageration or that the French speaking population prefers to do business in English.

[Wezil]

Montreal, where the dirty anglos live, is the problem for the PQ.

[Ben Kenobi]

Bill 101 dooms french to cultural extinction. I have no problems with French, I think french is a beautiful language, and at least for someone who is deaf, a much easier language than English, simply because the phonemes and the spelling is a 1-1 relationship.

Bill 101 is an abomination in any country with free speech. I would love to use more french and converse with more french speakers, but cramming it down people's throats does absolutely nothing for anyone, least of all french speakers to give them confidence that their language will propagate.

[Riesstiu IV]

It must be terrible to have such a large swath of your nation populated by Frenchmen.

[KrazyHorse]

If only 10% of the population is English speaking then how is it that one can't buy a bagel in French in Quebec? The implication is either that the statement is a gross exageration or that the French speaking population prefers to do business in English.

There are some neighbourhoods in Montreal in which it might be possible to get a job as a clerk without being able to speak French very well.

Basically, this is a bunch of xenophobic fearmongering. Par for the course, as far as the sovereigntist/French supremacist movement is concerned.