By the way i' an Anglo who want to dominate French the way i do English which happens to be my second language.. and i think i'm doing great!! i can speak to my husbang grand mother who do not speak or understand a word in English and has never been outside of wonderful quebec... i on the other hand enjoy when i am in an english enviorment with my hubby and can say what i want without anyone understandig.... bottom line i love both language and continue to learn French...

Don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say that one of the main justifications (if not the main one) for not/never speaking French in Quebec is “well, we’re in Canada after all”.

And many newcomers to this country in particular obviously feel they have done their part to integrate to their new home by learning English (only), despite the fact they have chosen to settle in Quebec.

I refer to them as “patriotic Canadians” because their Canadian-ness is usually what they hide behind when people rag on them from not even knowing the basics of French. Sorta counter-productive, if you ask me, but the irony of what they’re doing is completely lost on them I guess…

Don’t get me wrong. I’m no more pleased about this than the rest of you about this scenario, but I can’t say that I haven’t been expecting it. Having moved to Quebec some years ago, I’ve actually had a front-row seat for the show put on by our patriotic Canadians living in Quebec who like no better than to antagonize our French-speaking compatriots by never lowering themselves to utter so much as a bonjour or a merci.

Now, these guys were pretty low-key after Oct. 30, 1995. Now, that was a heckuva close call and the teary-eyed Canadian patriots were in shock. Actually, it took them a while to get their collective heart-rate back to normal. Maybe, just maybe, the Frenchies weren’t bluffing after all.

But now, 1995 is a dozen years behind us, so why bother with French?

And although anybody with half a brain who’s ever travelled to a foreign country knows it only takes a few days to master the basics of another language (please, thank you, yes, no, how much is it?, basic numbers), no one over said that this had to apply to our patriotic Canadians working in shops on Rue Ste-Catherine (that’s St. Catherine Street, in case you didn’t understand.)

So from the people in your province who actually do love Canada, thanks a lot les amis. We hope you enjoy your new life in Brampton or Calgary a few years down the road when you inevitably leave us all behind, complaining that the French thing in Montreal was just sooooooo unbearable.

What is being suggested here is that an English speaking resident of Montreal, who hasn't drunk the Kool-Aid of language fascism in Quebec, should be prohibited from working. There are still many Quebec born individuals who only speak English: Why should they be condemned to poverty? This is again another example wherein French Quebec four legs are good, but walking upright on two legs is bad.

Last year, La Presse did a similar investigation where they send reporters into a bunch of downtown businesses, pretended to be speak only French and noted whether or not people were able to serve them. In all but a couple of cases, clerks and store owners were able to serve them in French.

That, to me, seems like a far less sensational way to approach the same issue. But it didn't raise nearly as much of a fuss.

What really irks me most about the Journal's "investigation" is that it is wholly manufactured. There's no actual evidence presented that would suggest that a significant number of unilingual anglophones are being hired to deal with the public. It's also completely unrealistic: how many unilingual anglophones can't even say more than "Bonjour," which was the whole premise of this reporter's charade? Even anglos who can't carry a conversation in French can recite numbers, basic greetings, etc.