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
|
No comments:
Post a Comment