A Québécois Pure Laine reaching out to Anglos and Allophones
2012/12/02
The Ununited States of Canada
Stephen Harper once said that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada (read about it here). The "united" part of that statement always felt awkward to me... more like wishful thinking than reality. Apparently, I'm not the only one.
A week from today, Canal D [in French only] will present Les états-désunis du Canada [Google translation], a documentary that sheds a light on separatism outside Québec. A trailer has been creating a buzz on the web for the past two weeks. Click below to see it.
I heard before that "the Québécois are whiners", but isn't it ironic that the only ones whining in this clip are from Alberta? "We keep hearing that you can get daycare for $7 a day. We can't get daycare for $7 an hour!... here in Alberta. You have cheaper, even free, university tuition. Our students are paying up to $9,000 a semester I think. In Québec, they have an advantageous proportion of medical personnel to population that they care for, compared to us. How do they do it? Well... they take our money!"Of course, not all Albertans are alike. I wish those complaining would realize that if they were willing to pay the same amount of taxes we do as a society, they could very easily afford all the programs they envy us.
A middle class family man who tackled his second language with his will and his wits. "Studying in your second language is the amazing opportunity to take a step back, observe two cultures and realize why you appreciate them both."
No comments:
Post a Comment