A study shows that French is on more signs but the greeting of clients in French only is on the decline. Seems the ubiquitous Montreal greeting “bonjour, hi!” is Not Okay with the OQLF.
Updates from June, 2012 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
-
-
A Guardian UK writer writes admiringly about our student movement.
Friday night’s demo has been peaceful while the Tour la Nuit was also held on some of the same streets.
A demo is planned Saturday, 2 pm, Jeanne-Mance Park.
-
STM’s put up a pictorial history of our metro cars (Facebook, but open) to mark the arrival of the first public sample of the new MPM-10 trains, AKA the Azur, viewable at Berri-UQÀM as of June 8. Some journalists and transit boffins have already seen the new train at a transit conference currently in town.
Looking backward, Archives de Montréal has an album about horses at work in the city.
-
exolstice
How hard would it be for them to just have all the seats lining the walls facing outwards thus maximizing the number of seats and the amount of standing/walking room? Instead they have whole sections with ZERO seats to give passengers the feeling that they’re really just cattle, or seats at an angle that are so close together that it’s impossible not to bump the person in front of you with your knees unless you’re 5 feet tall.
-
Kate
Remember these trains will be open from end to end, unlike the current version where you’re blocked from moving from one car to another. People will presumably move to whichever area suits their needs.
But I’m a little concerned about the shortage of seats given demographic forecasts of an aging populace.
-
ant6n
I’m a little bit concerned that the train fits people along its whole length, but the number of doors is reduced (3 instead of 4). Hopefully they will be wider so that two people can comfortably exit next to each other, and that people can reach the doors even in a crowded metro, otherwise boarding capacity will be reduced, causing potentially longer dwell times, causing potentially slower average train speed, causing reduced capacity with the same number of trains. But maybe that’s not an issue.
-
-
Dennis Markuze, long known for his abusive online persona Mabus, was given a suspended sentence Friday after pleading guilty to issuing threats via internet, charges laid last August after police realized. Regular reader William Raillant-Clark, whose complaint last year pushed police to investigate, is quoted.
-
More Magnotta stories: the suspect was living in London not long ago where he sent a lurid letter to the UK Sun – which describes him as a “baby-faced weirdo” – admitting to killing cats and stating he would kill a person soon. They also mention he has no criminal record, which conflicts with news from Toronto that he’d been up for sexual aggression and fraud. Lots more gruesome details with random WORDS in CAPS on the Sun site.
The Sun tries to manufacture a little extra frisson by claiming Magnotta could be in the UK. It’s not impossible, but most sources are saying he’s being sought in France.
The Journal also notes that it was just a fluke that garbage men didn’t pick up the suitcase in Snowdon that later proved to have a torso in it, which led police to link the grisly Ottawa postal finds with the suspect’s apartment in Snowdon.
-
Ephraim
The entry in Encyclopedia Dramatica is getting worse and worse as time goes on. Don’t read it if you have a weak stomach, because some of the details not being relayed about the video are in there and it’s pretty disgusting.
-
Bill Binns
Lets hope he gets caught and extradited back to Canada so he can serve a few years and then be back out on the street when doctors pronounce him “cured”. Maybe he will move back into the same building.
-
ant6n
@Bill
Hey, better than your American system of not extraditing, not having a trial; but rather a drone strike that may or may not kill the correct person. -
elleanon
@Bill – cured? I assume that you’re referring to the mental disorder defence? This guy probably can’t get away with that. They would have to show that due to his mental state, he was unable to appreciate the nature of his actions or unable t determine that the action was wrong. The fact that he a) loaded this on a gore site and made references to killing again and being unable to satiate the taste for blood suggests he understands the nature of his actions, b) boarded a plane to Europe and is evading capture and taunted authorities (“I’ll kill again”, blahblah)suggests that he understands that it is wrong. Then again, no one knows what’s going on in his mind, so I’m speculating, but I doubt he’ll get off. He’ll be put away as a dangerous offender.
From the criminal code: “16. (1) No person is criminally responsible for an act committed or an omission made while suffering from a mental disorder that rendered the person incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of the act or omission or of knowing that it was wrong.”
-
Bill Binns
@Elleanon – Mostly I was thinking of the doctocr that killed his children that is either out or getting out soon. Also, Karla Homolka who pretty much represents the Canadian justice system to me. Didn’t the bus decapitator get out a while ago too?
-
elleanon
Yes, Bill, both the MD and Vince Li (Greyhound guy) successfully used that defence in front of the courts. Homolka did not – she pleaded guilty and was convicted of manslaughter. The plea for a reduced sentence had to do primarily with the fact that she was willing to give up information against Bernardo, not because she claimed to be a battered wife. Can’t speak about the MD (don’t know the case well enough), but Vince Li has a confirmed case of severe schizophrenia and had delusions that incited him to act the way that he did including travelling across the country and killing the victim (he believed that Tim was a force of evil and intended to kill him) and all his behaviour during that time is consistent with that delusion. And no, he didn’t get out. He’s allowed some supervised leave, that’s it. If you google Chris Summerville and Vince Li you’ll find an interesting interview with Li that may help shed light on his mental state and why he was found not criminally responsible, within the framework of the legislation I posted previously. You’ll also see that he himself asserts that she should be kept locked up, now that he is medicated and understands what he did.
I can go into a lengthy essay about WHY this defence is allowed, but it’s not the place. I would simply refer to you read up on it. And I will add this: it’s a very sad myth that the mental disorder defence is a “get out of jail free card”. In fact, the grounds of one’s release are very subjective, depending on a psychiatrist’s professional opinion and one can stay institutionalized longer than they would have had they gotten prison time. You’re not given 20 years and you’re out — you can stay there your whole life. A family friend was killed in the 70s by a man with schizophrenia. He never got out. He died institutionalized a few years ago. They felt that despite treatment he was still too dangerous to release.
But like I said, the facts of this case are far different than Li. He fled the country and is taunting police, which doesn’t suggest that he’s unaware that what he did was wrong.
-
Bill Binns
Well, I guess it works on some level. Montreal has fewer murders all year than some American cities have during a bad weekend. Kind of creepy that you could be standing at a bus stop next to a convicted serial killer though.
-
elleanon
I agree. Luckily, in most cases of serial killings like Pickton, Olson and Bernardo we generally take care of putting them away for near forever. Hopefully the evidence from this case was well processed and he’ll go away forever, too.
-
Kevin
Heck, some American cities have more murders than Canada does all year…
-
Bill Binns
@Kevin – I felt far safer walking the streets of Managua and San Salvador at night than I did in New Orleans. Detroit, Miami, Memphis, Houston, Washington DC, they are all like something out of a post apocalyptic movie.
-
-
Viger, which has been closed due to CHUM construction for months, is set to reopen Saturday, and the Ville-Marie tunnel, closed for emergency repairs after Tuesday’s downpour, is supposed to be reopening about now (but isn’t – that article changed after I posted that, and Andy Riga confirms the eastbound tunnel is still closed).
-
FECQ’s Léo Bureau-Blouin has finished his term as president, and the position is now filled by Éliane Laberge, lightly profiled here in Le Devoir.
-
Today’s Magnotta news is that his victim was a student from China called Lin Jun, who had been reported missing.
-
Ephraim
It’s awful news. So sorry for this man’s family.
-
Kate
Yep, it’s a family’s worst nightmare – your son goes away with hopes to improve himself, but never comes home.
-
alanah 23:54 on 2012/06/01 Permalink
“suivant-next”
wkh 00:07 on 2012/06/02 Permalink
What’s sad is if the english schools taught french properly this wouldn’t be an issue….
Kevin 00:50 on 2012/06/02 Permalink
@wkh
You could say the same about French schools.
Or we could just eliminate this useless bureaucratic department and tell the zealots to eff off and start respecting people.
Ian 06:45 on 2012/06/02 Permalink
Maybe if we said bonjour hi, but the bonjour part twice as loud.
Kate 06:58 on 2012/06/02 Permalink
: )
Bill Binns 08:57 on 2012/06/02 Permalink
@Ian – LMAO! I’m going to try that.
Steve Quilliam 09:00 on 2012/06/02 Permalink
Let’s abolish the OQLF and give their budget to the students, maybe it could be enough to solve two problems at the same time ?
Alex L 11:04 on 2012/06/02 Permalink
Some of these comments made me realize that indeed we may have two solitudes, even here in Quebec.
Kate 11:36 on 2012/06/02 Permalink
Explain, Alex L?
I guess my feeling is I’m seeing in some windows a lot of angst about the Grand Prix and bringing tourists to town this summer, and in others, folks with a determined desire to make everyone say “bonjour” and persist in communicating in French, even in parts of town where, in summertime, it simply makes good sense to say “bonjour, hi” to possible customers because they’re likely to be from outside Quebec and more comfortable with English.
If you’re running a business it pays to speak your customer’s language. I totally think anyone serving the public here ought to be able to do so in French, but I also see that it’s realistic to signal that you’re happy to speak English or French (or for that matter another language, if you’re in an ethnic business or neighbourhood) if you hope to make a sale or keep your customer happy.
Jack 15:54 on 2012/06/02 Permalink
@Alex L imagine a senior civil servant telling you that essentially they would be happier if your mother tongue disappeared.The frustration you hear is simply based in the fact that 800,000 people can’t and won’t disappear. Montreal is our city too, we built it and love it as do our french speaking brothers and sisters.The “Two Solitudes” metaphor was coined by a Nova Scotlan who wrote it when he taught a L.C.C., it is no longer relevant.
Kate 18:46 on 2012/06/02 Permalink
Weirdly, the “two solitudes” thing comes from Rilke, but he wasn’t thinking about Quebec when he wrote it.
Robert H 20:03 on 2012/06/02 Permalink
Les droleries D’Ian! :-D
@Jack, unlike you, I think the two solitudes metaphor is still all too relevant for Canada, especially outside of Quebec and all too often within it. However I cannot argue with the rest of your comment: the strength and the contribution of the anglophone community was critical to shaping the city of today, and the legitimacy, the importance of its continued presence is indisputable.
qatzelok 09:01 on 2012/06/03 Permalink
For a list of some of the contributions of the Anglo profiteers to Montreal’s history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Livre_noir_du_Canada_anglais
Kate 09:22 on 2012/06/03 Permalink
qatzelok, those are hardly unbiased texts.
Several things occur to me. It’s not my business, but I’m curious about your own ethnicity – mention it if you like, but I’m not really asking. I’ve run into self-hating anglos before.
Also, what do you think Quebec’s anglos ought to do? Someone like myself, born here, am I supposed to leave? Supposed to take a vow to never speak English again? Supposed to self-immolate on the parterre of the St-Jean-Baptiste Society HQ?
William 11:15 on 2012/06/03 Permalink
I wrote an article about “Bonjour-Hi” for the uninitiated… lol http://fuckyeahquebec.com/post/15185634513/bonjour-hi-decoding-day-to-day-bilingualism
Kevin 11:44 on 2012/06/04 Permalink
@Kate
Those would all be good first steps. :)