Xref: utzoo can.politics:1971 can.francais:68
Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!alberta!gilles
From: gilles@alberta.UUCP (Gilles Simon Dionne)
Newsgroups: can.politics,can.francais
Subject: Re: Notwithstanding clause -- truly a sad day for Canada
Message-ID: <560@cavell.UUCP>
Date: 19 Dec 88 21:16:36 GMT
References: <1988Dec13.133220.28851@lsuc.uucp> <4321@hcr.UUCP> <809@auvax.UUCP> <230@electro.UUCP> <2521@looking.UUCP>
Reply-To: gilles@cavell.UUCP (Gilles Simon Dionne)
Distribution: can
Organization: U. of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Lines: 24

In article <2521@looking.UUCP> brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton) writes:
>The decision to use the famous notwithstanding clause to me marks one of
>the worst events in Canadian political history.
>
>
>The sign law was stupid and the courts agreed.  You should be able to
>have a sign in Japanese, Swahili or rot13 code if you want to.  Certainly
>in one of Canada's official languages.
>
>Brad Templeton, Looking Glass Software Ltd.  --  Waterloo, Ontario 519/884-7473

   I don't want to start a flame war over this( I'm not even sure if I
support Bourrassa's action concerning this ) but ,let me ask you Brad, how
would you feel if half the signs in downtown Toronto(or Kitchener-Waterloo)
were in Swahili only? Would you not be bothered by the fact that the
merchants didn't have the decency to advertise in your language(English)?
Before Bill 101 that problem existed in Montreal. I know you can always avoid
buying in those stores to show your disapproval, but if there are a large
proportion of the available ones, you may not have the choice. Now Bill 101 may
have been going overboard as far as
French only signs were concerned, but this is what it was reacting to...


                                   Gilles