Xref: utzoo can.politics:1983 can.francais:79
Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!alberta!ncc!myrias!sjl
From: sjl@myrias.UUCP (Stuart Lomas)
Newsgroups: can.politics,can.francais
Subject: Re: Notwithstanding clause -- truly a sad day for Canada
Message-ID: <726@myrias.UUCP>
Date: 20 Dec 88 22:00:42 GMT
References: <560@cavell.UUCP>
Distribution: can
Organization: Myrias Research, Edmonton
Lines: 38

From article <560@cavell.UUCP>, by gilles@alberta.UUCP (Gilles Simon Dionne):
> 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.
> 
> 						... 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.

Gilles has missed the point. The law Bourassa intends to maintain requires
that:
	1) Commercial signs must be in French, and
	2) NO OTHER LANGUAGE MAY BE USED IN ADDITION TO FRENCH

Point 1 is not unreasonable, and the Supreme Court has ruled that it is within
the rights of the Government of Quebec to have such a law.

Point 2 violates both the Canadian and Quebec charters of rights, and by using
the notwithstanding clause Bourassa is explicitly ignoring both of those
charters.

It is not the requirement for French that is causing the problem!
Bourassa could have required French without violating the Charters. He could
even have required that French appear first, and that it be twice as large.
The problem is that he has disallowed every other language, and this is not
acceptable to speakers of English, Spanish, Ukranian, Vietnamese, and every
other language that we purport to encourage in Canada.

C'est une chose d'etre fier. C'est une autre d'etre mechant.

Stuart Lomas
alberta!myrias!sjl