Vive Le Quebec libre

I am an English speaking Canadian who is in favour of separating Quebec from the rest of Canada, or what I would call Canadian independence.

For most of the last 35 years Canada has been ruled by Quebecois politicians and others catering to the constant whining and complaining of the Quebecois who really do not know what they want, other than to complain. One Quebecois comedian once stated that the dream of the Quebecois is "un Quebec independant dans un Canada uni."

In the last referendum 30% of those who voted in favour of independence thought they would continue to send representatives to Ottawa, use the Canadian dollar and carry a Canadian passport after independence.

All the references to hisorical injustices posted here by people speaking French and Spanish are childish. History, and nation building, is built on injustice, and the injustices perpetrated by French and Spanish speaking governments and people are at least as numerous as those perpetrated by governments speaking English. Need I mention Algeria, Viet Nam, Corsica which was stolen from Italy, the massacre of the native populations of Latin America......................Atom bomb testing in the South Pacific and on and on

Hi Candy!
If you use an international keyboard this is one way to type french accents ;)
http://www.mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au/la/lote/french/materials/accents.htm
Anyway, don't worry, I will not bear you a grudge for not typing the accent; I know it's not handy with an international keyboard ;)

------in shops and restaurants people usually spoke to me in French, I answered in English, they continued in French....both parties using their native language and understanding each other!

I'm sure they understood you ;) In spite of everything, you know, only some quebecers are perfectly fluent in english (mainly in Montréal) and they simply refuse to speak it in Québec. I hope you didn't interpreted that as rudeness of their part and then....after all, it's fair and square ;)
The most important is to understand each other.


Steve K

The main difference between us is that I have always to make the effort to speak english while you don't speak french. See what I mean? Yet I thought this country was bilingual? No need to say more...Then don't be surprised of not understanding our mentality. Maybe the fact we speak french and that we will NEVER accept to be assimilated is like a red rag to a bull to you, but you have to get used to this state of affairs. Instead of always blowing their own trumpet many english-canadians should learn the history of Canada so as to understand the cultural gap between Québec and them.
Sorry, I don't recognize myself in your description. Indeed I have never complained without justification and we don't owe you anything (quite the opposite actually). Well, I suppose this makes part of the array of prejudices that bombard your society ("Lousy french", "stupid french-canadians", "Speak White" etc...)?

By the way, Corsica was not stolen by France.
France bought Corsica from the Republic of Genoa just like the USA bought Louisiana from France.

In any case, thanks for supporting Québec separatism! All together we can do it ;)

"hope you didn't interpret".

Sorry, I'm a bit tired.

Hi Sébastien
I did it!!
No no, I certainly didn't think the people in Montréal were rude, far from it. I just meant it was great that we could communicate. (A few people spoke to me in English too). I know some native English-speakers can be pretty arrogant about their language, and I find the same thing sometimes here in Europe. I live in Germany (English teacher) and a lot of Germans go over the border into the Netherlands and talk only in German without asking if it's OK, 'because all Dutch people speak German'. (I'm quite sure they don't). Do you mean in Québec City that people refuse to speak English, or in the province as a whole? Do they get many tourists?!
It was funny being in Ottawa too, where everything (or practically everything) seemed to be in English and French. It was a nice reminder of how similar English and French are in terms of vocabulary - I saw a statue with the words 'Reconciliation - Réconciliation' on it! So much English comes from French! :-)

"hope you didn't interpret".

Sorry, I'm a bit tired. >>

Sébastien, I grudgingly forgive you for this horrendous mistake!! ;)

Sebastien,

I hesitate to say that your self-satisfied arrogance is typical. I will just say that it is common.

How do you know I do not speak French. In fact I am fluent in French. I studied in France for three years (Diplome de L'Institut d'Etudes Poltiques de Paris), regularly read, love the French language and particularly enjoy listening to audiobooks in French including most recently Proust, Maupassant, Montaigne, and Choderlos de Laclos.

I understand your mentality quite well. You build up this image of English Canadians saying "Lousy french", "stupid french-canadians", "Speak White" etc...because it satisfies a need you have to nurture a sense of victimhood.

As for the history of Corsica,

" France found itself granted Corsica in 1768 by the Treaty of Versailles. The armed resistance opposed by the Corsicans of Pascal Paoli ended with their defeat at Ponte-Novo the 8th of May 1769. "

Italy was the successor state to Genoa, so Corsica was essentially stolen from Genoa, or what eventually became Italy.

Hey Candy! I haven't realized you live in Germany (Which city?).

--------Do you mean in Québec City that people refuse to speak English, or in the province as a whole?

In Québec city (Yes, the downtown of Québec city is highly touristic), where I live, numerous persons are still unilingual but will always be disposed to give tourists a hand. This is why we can't say that people "refuse" to speak english ;) For instance, my mother is unilingual (though she speaks a bit english) whereas my father who was raised in Montréal is perfectly bilingual.
Actually, in Montréal the demo-linguistic situation is quite different from the rest of Québec. Even though the vast majority of people in Montréal are francophones, many are quite bilingual. But saying 'Bonjour' goes a long way. People really appreciate the effort and will often switch to english much faster :)
What's more, since Montréal is very cosmopolitan and has a lot of immigrants living there, it's easy to get around with English. But there are also people who don't speak much English, so It can be useful to know some French. If you ask a question to a person and they answer in french....they aren't necessarily trying to be rude...they just might not know how to speak english. This is sometimes misunderstood by some american tourists who complain about how mistreated they were by those damn french who don't want to speak english :))

"It was a nice reminder of how similar English and French are in terms of vocabulary"

You're right! I have heard that more than 60% of the English vocabulary derives from French and Latin ;) (Please, correct me if I say anything wrong)


Hi Steve K

At least we have something in common. I'm a student in political sciences at Université Laval in Québec City and last year I spent a year in France in Sciences-Po as you did (et oui! L'IEP de Paris, rue Saint-Guillaume). Maybe we have already met before, who knows?
Sorry, I don't think I build up a caricatural image of the english-canadians. What I say is just the truth and you know it. I haven't created disagreeable expressions such as "lousy french, "speak white" etc...and I don't think I exaggerate when I say that a lot of english canadians despise us and would be delighted to see the french face of Canada erased from their national memory. Having spent several months in Ontario I perfectly know what they think about us and
be sure that I totally reject the label of victim. Anyway, I understand it suits many people to always caricature the quebecers as awful groaners to blow away all their credibility to become independent.

Sebastien,

Your impression of English Canadians is the result of the lense that you see them through. Learn to take people as they are and you will find fewer unpleasant caricatures.

I studied at Sciences Po, Rue St. Guillaume before you were born, graduating in 1966.

One thing that does have to be said, though, is that when natively English-speaking Canadians are taught French, they are generally taught Parisian French, rather than the natively spoken variety used in Quebec, which we shall denote Québécois French, which has the effect of making natively English-speaking Canadians sound funny if they try to actually *use* their French in Quebec.

Steve K,

"""" France found itself granted Corsica in 1768 by the Treaty of Versailles. The armed resistance opposed by the Corsicans of Pascal Paoli ended with their defeat at Ponte-Novo the 8th of May 1769. " """"


Yes, but you forgot to mention the english let the corsicans without any help.

Yes, but you forgot to mention the english let the corsicans without any help. >>
Aah, of course it had to be the fault of 'the English'. Who else? I'm only surprised you didn't call them 'the Anglo-Saxons'. No doubt this was part of the devilish English ('Anglo-Saxon') plan to destroy all other languages and cultures, especially the 'Latin' ones.

Hi Sébastien! I live in Düsseldorf, a largish city on the Rhine, near Cologne. My partner is also an English teacher - he grew up mostly in Nepean near Ottawa, then went to university in Edmonton, and lived in Vancouver for a few years. I didn't go to Québec city, but I hear it's lovely.
I think 60% of English coming from French and Latin is perhaps a little high - I would say around 50% myself. But I'm not really sure - perhaps someone on the forum knows??
We're lucky (my partner and me) that there's a never-ending demand for English lessons here in Düsseldorf. There are a lot of 'new economy' companies here whose staff need to speak English often at work, and our jobs seem to be recession-proof! (Unemployment is very high in Germany these days - slightly over 10%)

I never said the english were evil, about the corsican history. I just said : "you forgot to mention the english let the corsicans without any help."

Because English told to P Paoli, they would help him in the case he needed. They did not because they were not interested about Corsica. Not the case for example with Gibraltar.

Are you paranoiac?

Are you paranoiac? >>
On this forum, yeah, sometimes....
check out some of the threads and see why!

El C,

I know i have read some, but it is just historical fact. When i wrote this, i just spoke about history. I never said there was a better country.

No you merely insinuated it...