September 27, 2009
British Columbia, a province with only 1.5% of its population made up of
French-speakers, is getting a huge boost of spending to promote the French
language because of the winter Olympics to be held next year. The Federal
government is desperately trying to show the world how bilingual Canada is and
no expense is being spared to create that illusion. Bilingual French-speakers
are being recruited from Quebec and New Brunswick & all sorts of programs are
hurriedly put together that the Feds hope will give the world the impression
that Canada is indeed bilingual. Another report also said that two-thirds of the
participants are coming from Quebec. Why is this so? Are we now giving French
athletes from Quebec priority participation in the Olympics?
Alastair has been very hard at work gathering information on what is being done
and reporting on how effective the huge amounts of money spent have been. Here
is his report:
Kim,
1. It will be recalled that earlier on I challenged the Canada-BC Agreement on
the promotion of official languages, the title being misleading since it only
deals with Francophones. Thanks to Dot Fuhrman I subsequently received an
amendment which changes the title to simply Promotion of Francophone Minorities
in BC. The Agreement has cost taxpayers a total of $2.8 million over 2 years.
$750,000 from the Feds and $750,000 from the BC government per year.
2. The Nanaimo Francophone's Bonjour Program is, so far, off to a slow start.
After their glossy brochure issued last year, plus other fanfares, it now seems
like a damp squib. So far only 4 hotels and one B&B, out of a total 23, have
responded with service in French available. When I called at the Howard Johnson
Hotel and asked what service they have for French visitors, it took them a long
time to find anything and eventually I was given 2 pieces of paper with
information in French. I have sent letters to the 4 main hotels suggesting a
multilingual service. I have also sent you a copy of the 4 Categories for
availability of French. I also confirm that I have visited many businesses and
few are interested in the Bonjour Program.
The manager of a predominant and popular restaurant told me that they wanted
nothing to do with providing any service in French. Likewise a popular coffee
shop takes the same attitude. Another big hotel (the Dorchester, a Best Western)
showed little interest.
So far, I have only seen 2 decals on windows, one on a French cafe and one is on
the Post Office window, which is to be expected. The Post Office now has an
employee at the main counter who is bilingual. The decal simply says ...."Francais/English"
.
I now wonder whether the Nanaimo Francophones will accelerate their Bonjour
Program nearer the Olympics.
3. Saturday 11th July saw the first British Heritage Festival to take place in
BC. This was at our large Beban Park recreation complex. It was a great success
with approximately 2,000 people attending. It was self supporting with no
funding from any government. The organiser tells me that he is already planning
for a larger Festival next year. Francophones take note !!!. (Kim’s comment –
once addicted to the government funding teat, they are not likely to want to
come off – welfare breeds welfare!!)
4. The Nanaimo Francophones have recently received yet another government grant
of $60,584 for the Official Language Community Program. Their fiscal report for
2008 shows in part:
"Gifts in Kind" comprising goods and services, unspecified .............$226,129
Grants and Government contributions ..........................................
$222,293
Total..........................................................................................
$448,422.
Where do they spend this money I wonder, because their current newsletter reads
in part.......Due to government funding cuts in the Arts & Culture areas the NFA
faces serious funding challenges.
Their Board of Directors have suggested that a garage sale will help. There are
no cuts as far as I can see. The $449,422 above is about the same amount
received in previous years.
Another announcement (a surprise) is that they will be starting courses in
English. Level 1 next month, October. (Kim’s question - are they suggesting that
the 1.5% French-speakers are not already bilingual? Amazing!!!)
5. I recently visited our museum, now relocated in the new Conference Center. It
is nicely done until I arrived at a large area all about hockey. All the hockey
history and displays have descriptions/signs etc. predominantly in French.
English is always on the right or below, contrary to the guidelines on the
display of official languages. This in an English speaking city, for goodness
sake!!
Upon departure visitors are asked to write their comments on "small" slips of
paper. I had no hesitation in expressing my dismay for the predominance of
French in the hockey section. I have since been told that this is only
temporary. Oh yeah, and for how long is “temporary”?. A weak excuse.
Like many departments these days they are not flush with money and it is
obviously an expensive operation to install and then remove this whole hockey
area. Maybe the Feds are helping out?
6. I have been in touch with the Central V.I. Multicultural Society and obtained
a copy of their Annual Report and Fiscal Report for 2008. No funds are shown
going to the Francophones. They seem to concentrate on assisting new immigrants
to settle here with employment, all done in English. I believe French speaking
immigrants are handled by the Nanaimo Francophones.
That's about all for the time being.
Alastair.
Letter Editor, sent 09-20-09
Vancouver Sun
Re: Bilingual Olympics
I thought this Olympics, hosted by British Columbia, primarily funded by British
Columbia and located in British Columbia was British Columbia’s Olympics. So why
is it being used to showcase Canada in general and B.C. in particular as being a
functioning bilingual entity when this is not born out by fact?
How can Canada be a bilingual country when the unrestricted use of English in
Quebec is against the law? When every aspect of Quebec’s language law (Bill 101)
is designed to suffocate the growth and visibility of the English language? When
Quebec’s only official language is French?
Why are Canadians in the ROC (Rest of Canada) being forced to support a hugely
expensive French immersion education program & French services program for the
ROC when Government stats show the French residency to be just 3% outside Quebec
when there is no comparable English immersion in Quebec?
Is it not disingenuous of B.C., the Federal Government and Quebec to use the
up-coming Olympics to (falsely) present to world visitors that Canada is a
functioning bilingual country? Vanoc and the B.C. Government have had to
(import?) French speakers from Quebec to support this charade for heaven’s sake!
.
Al. C. Johnson
French Quarter set for Granville Island
Part of Granville Island will become a lively French Quarter
celebrating francophone culture during the 2010 Olympic Games -- with tourism
exhibitions, street entertainment, a farmers' market and a long lineup of
French-Canadian entertainers.
By The Vancouver Sun
September 24, 2009
Part of Granville Island will become a lively French Quarter celebrating
francophone culture during the 2010 Olympic Games -- with tourism exhibitions,
street entertainment, a farmers' market and a long lineup of French-Canadian
entertainers.
Place de la Francophonie 2010 will operate Feb. 10-28 next
year with the help of a $1.7-million federal grant, Heritage and Official
Languages Minister James Moore announced Wednesday.
Support for the estimated $3-million project will also come
from the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee, several Canadian provinces and
from food and beverage sales at the pavilion.
The federal investment in the Granville Island showcase is
part of a larger effort to promote francophone culture during the Games, Moore
said. In addition to the latest grant, the federal government announced last
week it would contribute $7.7 million for translation, bilingual signage and
medal ceremonies language services during the Olympics.
"The Games are officially bilingual and many Canadian athletes
will be francophones so respecting the official languages and having projects
like this is invaluable," Moore said.
Place de la Francophonie will be within walking distance of
Vancouver athletes' village and Moore expects it will encourage Games
participants and visitors to enjoy Vancouver and spend money while getting a
strong flavour of francophone culture.
Jean Cote, who heads the corporation that will operate Place
de la Francophonie, said funding problems caused by the recession forced
organizers to scale it back significantly.
"The recession came at us like crazy, but at the end of the
day, we have sufficient funding and we're back on track with a tremendous
facility," he said.
The pavilion will operate under four tents near the False
Creek Community Centre -- with a main entertainment stage, a food showcase, a
tourism exhibition and a sports bar where it will be possible to watch live
events.
Vanoc, which will contribute about $250,000 worth of
value-in-kind support for the facility's entertainment programming, has been
criticized for not doing enough to incorporate French into the 2010 Games, but
Moore feels the organizing committee has come "an incredibly long way" since its
early days when it held press conferences with no one who could speak French.
"There will always be critics and nothing will ever be perfect
-- that's just the nature of these big massive displays of organization," he
said. "But with these kinds of investments and projects, there will never have
been an Olympics that will be more respectful of the French and English fact of
Canada and the ."
The first roster of artists to perform at Place de la
Francophonie includes musicians The Porn Flakes, singer-songwriter Pierre
Lapointe, singing group Mes Aieux, country-folk musicians Cowboys Fringants, and
singers Daniel Lavoie, Damien Robitaille, Ariane Moffatt and Gregory Charles.
bconstantineau@vancouversun.com
© (c) CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.
Kim’s comments: so not satisfied with having created a French-only province, we
are now going to create French quarters in English-speaking provinces? Most
linguistic groups create their own little corner e.g. a Chinatown or a Little
Italy but the French must get government assistance to do this? Is this what
they call being a “vibrant culture”?
PS: If anyone receiving our newsletter have problems with the format, please
contact me & I might be able to use a different format so that you can read the
newsletter without having to scroll back & forth.
Kim
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