What really destroyed my morale was when I looked at the comments on anglophone news sites. It didn't seem like such an isolated perception from a small group of individual anymore. It seemed like the vast majority of commenter either failed to see a value for french or were downright hostile and claiming that it was *better* that there wasn't much -- that there was too much in fact.

Welcome to Canada! Canada doesn’t care about french and would rather see it vanish.
Want more proof if it? Here are more than 1600 proofs of that.

There are misguided people everywhere and sometimes we get unlucky.

What really destroyed my morale was when I looked at the comments on anglophone news sites. It didn't seem like such an isolated perception from a small group of individual anymore. It seemed like the vast majority of commenter either failed to see a value for french or were downright hostile and claiming that it was *better* that there wasn't much -- that there was too much in fact.

It wasn't just bad luck all of a sudden, but just the logical expression of a prior in the population.

At the risk of sounding delusional, I want to believe that these comments are biased and not representative of the true feeling of my compatriots.

Your post felt like an unexpected gift in that regard.

This wasn't the Vancouver Olympics during those ceremonies, it was the Canadian Olympics. They brought in East Coast fiddlers, Nikki Yanofsky, William Shatner and Simple Plan, but apparently decided against having too much French. That's my problem.

And I never said either ceremony was an overall failure.

My argument is simple: The Vancouver Olympics tried to showcase Canada to the world, and they failed in this very important point during the opening and closing ceremonies.

Now back to Vancouver -for a few facts that I forgot to mention:
There are approx. 225k, or let's say 250k (with bilinguals like me added perhaps to that group?) French speakers in BC...given my previous point of Geography, and the lack of persons to immerse themselves in French with (poor Furlong, he tried, but I know was a bit poor in FR, sorry) it should not be hard to understand by the Games, run by BC-centric organisers have a little more Shatner than Bublé (trying for an oxymoron with a twist of geographical reversal) in the mix.

BC license plates state now, instead of 'Beautiful BC', 'The Best Place On Earth' - so Vancouverites and they boys in Victoria have not been holding back on their pride for some time now, so why should they (like they care what a jealous yank journo in Dallas thinks?). BC, and especially our grandest City, hosted our most fruitful Olympics - respect that with all the good intentions and not as a slight to the Franco-Canadiens.

Veuillez prendre en note que je ne suis pas francophobe, je blogue en français et je partage, vers un côté de la famille, les mêmes racines que la majorité ici. Je suis né à Vancouver, et ma soeur Monique et moi aussi, nous sommes allés à l'école bilingue.  Je veux que nous améliorons notre société au Québec; non pas seulement pour faire des accommodations raisonnables aux nouvelles arrivées dans la province, mais pour donner du respect à la minorité anglophone qui vit ici depuis des siècles. Le mal traitement dont j’ai vécu à la Caisse de Dépôt est un cauchemar absolu, mais ce n’est pas isolé à cette organisation gouvernementale exclusivement, et existent dans  certaines sociétés privés aussi au Québec. Je resterai toujours positif, parce que je suis un Champion pour le Canada, and Quebec is included in my country. Mais, il faut que ces extrémistes ultranationalistes soient mis en règle afin de laisser le Québec se progresser, car à mon avis, c’est leur faute que la province est en déclin tranquille (à cause de deux referendums, et maintenant $47 Milliards perdus à la CDPQ).

For the woes of trying to be a Bilingual Anglophone and trying to break into the govt in QC, please read: http://www.sqlservercentral.com/blogs/hugo/archive/2010/02/15/first-public-hearing-against-quebec-s-pension-fund-manager-the-beginning-of-proof-multiple-laws-were-violated-before-sabia-took-over.aspx

Really? A SINGLE voice?

What about this?:

Gil Lebreton, Dallas Star-Telegraph

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/02/28/v-print/2003874/in-these-olympics-canadians-only.html

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- After a spirited torch relay ignited pride in every corner of the country, the Olympic Games began and quickly galvanized the nation.

Flags were everywhere. The country's national symbol hung from windows and was worn on nearly everyone's clothing.

Fervent crowds cheered every victory by the host nation.

But enough about the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
(...)

There is no earthly event that reinforces that notion as well as an Olympic Games. For all of the latter-day Games' inherent commercialism, that ideal persists. I truly believe that.

It persists, despite the overwhelming chauvinism of the past two weeks.

They showed us Canadian Games, all right. And in most cases, nothing but Canadian Games.
Yes, every host nation cheers lustily for its native Olympians. But never in my experience to the extent that we saw here, where the rest of the world's athletes were little more than drink coasters at the party.

(...)

I'm still mystified that Canada fans were able to grab what seemed to be 98 percent of the tickets at the hockey venue. Olympic crowds have always been more inclusive.

(...)

Canada wanted to hold a party, and the Canadians did. The gold medals only seemed to fuel them.

Team Canada hockey jerseys became the uniform of the streets. Maple leafs were either hanging or on clothing everywhere.

One thing I never saw: a simple flag or shirt with the five Olympic rings. Not anywhere. After 15 Olympics, that was a first.

I didn't attend the '36 Olympics, but I've seen the pictures. Swastikas everywhere.

No political reference is meant, just an Olympic one. What on earth were the Canadians thinking?

An Olympic host is supposed to welcome the world. This one was too busy being (their word) "patriotic."

"Now you know us, eh?" chief organizer Furlong said.

We thought we did two weeks ago. Now, I'm wondering if Canadians can even recognize themselves.

Nice party. But so 1936.

I don't know what you're talking about with the "them represent us" thing. The issue is that the ceremonies give people the impression that Canada is an English country with a small French minority, that the Olympics are an English event that provides some translation into French.

The ceremonies made francophone Canadians (whether they live in Quebec or not) feel like they were an "and them", not an "us".

In response to other posts:
Why is French an official language? Because we are founding members of Canada, we developed many parts of this country, but most importantly, we are still here and still contributing to the development of this awesome country. Je suis Franco-ontarien de descendance acadienne, et j'en suis fier.