The French Connection

The other day, I wrote a rant entitled "Speak English" and received some comment on it that I'd like to address here.

I said that if the British had held their ground after the Plains Of Abraham victory and denied the French the right to use their own language, we wouldn't be saddled with bilingualism today. I said bilingualism was forced down our throats and it was nonsense. I also said it was something that I, grudgingly, would have to live with.

The commenter guessed that I was from Canada (I am, and I am damn proud of it) and proceeded to tell me how many Francophones lived in Canada, bilingualism was not forced down our throats, and by being bilingual, it just showed how well multiculturalism worked in and for our country.

This is all well and good, I suppose, but I beg to differ.

We have always had French speaking people in our country and I will concede the fact that they indeed did take a large part in the founding of our country. Unfortunately, they lost the war and I am old enough to believe that the spoils go to the victor. The British blew it and we have been paying the price ever since. If Germany had won, do you think we'd be speaking English today? Separation is not a new idea thought up by the Bloc or Parti Québécois. Three days after Confederation they were already making noise about wanting to separate. After 139 years, you'd think we would have smartened up and let them go a long time ago.

Maybe the French do make up a 'distinct society', but so then do the Germans, Hungarians, Poles, Slavs, Italians, Finns and Norwegians that came here in droves as far back as the French did. The difference here is that none of these nations demanded their own language, schools, religion or political stripe. The French did and still do. Sorry, but I always thought that one could not have a National Assembly unless one first had a nation for it to assemble in. So how do the French get away with this?

The other, aforementioned nations created a melting pot for Canada, where people took from one culture and gave to another. I spoke German at home until I had to go to school, and then spoke English grudgingly. I can still speak German at home, but in the real world, English rules and French, once the language of the world, is reduced to third place at best. I believe a melting pot is preferable to a multicultural society any day. All nationalities seek out their own kind to keep their language, customs and traditions. There is nothing wrong with this. But in the grand scheme of things, English still overrides other languages and is used worldwide. Even the French pilots of Quebec and France use English to get their landing instructions.

While De Gaulle may have cried "Vive le Quebec" during his visit here, even the true French claim our French-Canadians are more 'French' than they are. Why do they insist on calling themselves 'French-Canadians' anyway? Aren't we all Canadians, first and foremost? I have never heard anyone describing themselves as 'Italian-Canadian', 'Nigerian-Canadian', 'Japanese- Canadian' or 'Argentinian-Canadian'. They all well could, but they see themselves as Canucks first with origins going back to their homeland. Many of them have been born here and have no real ties to the country their parents or grandparents came from, so why do the people of Quebec, many of whom I venture to say, couldn't find France on a map, insist that they are so 'French'?
Let's take a look at the 'language police'. What gives these guys the right to measure French vs English on signs posted in Quebec? The French must be at least twice as large as the English. How ridiculous is this? For all the back bending we have been doing to make these idiots feel right at home here in Canada, they seem to be rather ashamed of the their English roots. If you want to tell me this country was founded by two nations, then you damn well better recognize the other nation. We Anglos have to do it. PET forced it upon us, so where is the reciprocal respect?
When it gets down to them trying to rename Sears, Eaton's and Wal-Mart into something more 'French', it has gone beyond ridiculous. Yet they try. When this whole thing started to happen, they could see the mass exodus of businesses from Montreal, but this still didn't give them a clue.

I must say though, that the people of Quebec are pretty sharp. They know the Parti Québécois will never form a government, yet they keep electing these guys just to get the extra money the rest of us send to keep them in Confederation. Quebec, as a 'have province' receives far more money back in allocation funds than it donates to the greater good, and still they cry poverty each and every year.

Let's try this. Let Quebec go. They can have all the land they came into Confederation with back. The rest of the province resorts to Aboriginals and the Inuit. They still have all the maple syrup and dairy products they can flog to their good buddies, the Americans. They can even insist they will not deal with the Americans unless they too speak French. Let's see how far they get.

They also cannot use our money, they should revert to francs. Their birth certificates will help them obtain the passport they will require to visit Canada. Their labour unions will no longer get preferential treatment when bidding on jobs in Ontario and the rest of the country. Within 2 years, they will be back on bended knee, begging to be let in again. And this time we can do it right and tell them that Canada speaks English only. They can speak French all they want at home, but the time to assimilate is upon them and they damn well better get used to it.

We pay these morons to sit on Parliament Hill and work toward the destruction of our country. They'll take the money, but don't want to give anything back. In my books, this is treason.

During the war years, though some French-Canadians served, in general they were against conscription. Sorry, if it's good enough for the rest of the country, it should be good enough for you too. You don't want to serve when needed, don't ask me to protect your sorry butt. I guess this shows how French they really are. If not for the Allies of WW II, France would be speaking German now. And they are as grateful as the French-Canadians for all the English speaking countries have done for them. It really is sickening when you look at the big picture.

I know I'll probably get a lot of flack over this rant, but you know what? I don't care. I'm tired of the whining and crying. I'm tired of trying to keep you snivelers happy. I'm tired of you taking my tax money and using it to try to split the country. And I don't think I'm alone.