Path: utzoo!lsuc!mnetor!philmtl!tremblay
From: tremblay@philmtl.philips.ca (Michel Tremblay)
Newsgroups: can.general
Subject: Re: Canada: Minority rights
Message-ID: <635@philmtl.philips.ca>
Date: 3 Aug 89 18:53:12 GMT
References: <28119@watmath.waterloo.edu>
Reply-To: tremblay@philmtl.philips.ca (Michel Tremblay)
Distribution: can
Organization: Philips Electronics Ltd. -  St. Laurent  P.Q., Canada
Lines: 33

In article <28119@watmath.waterloo.edu> Stewart.Clamen%clamen.avalon.cs.cmu.edu@watmath.waterloo.edu writes:

>A French-speaker
>Quebecker can no more post a bilingual sign (be it in English,
>Chinese, or Swahili) than an English-speaking Quebecker.

>A previous poster from the Toronto area noted that there are many
>bilingual signs in Toronto (Greek-English, Chinese-English, etc.).
>Such signs can no longer be legally displayed in Quebec.  (I should
>make a point to visit Montreal's (shrinking) Chinatown next time I am
>home.  It will probably be hard to find, since no Chinese characters
>will be able to be displayed outside.)


False. Only COMMERCIAL signs of non-ethnic merchandise are not allowed.
All ethnic shops and institutions may post in french and a language
of their choice. For inatance an english book shop can post in english, 
a Chinese restaurant in Chinese.
Any shop (ethnic or not) with 5 employes or less may use bilingual
signs.

>I would like to take
>exception to your demographics, though; I thought it was closer to
>10%, maybe a lot have left in the past few years. :-) Also, let us not
>forgot those classified as "Allophones" (another 10% ?), recent

5% English:    mother tongue is English
9% Allophones: immigrants whose mother tongue is neither English or French
86% French:    mother tongue is French.

Michel J. Tremblay	tremblay@philmtl.philips.ca

Ha ce qu'on se marre ici!