Path: utzoo!mnetor!philmtl!uunet!van-bc!tacitus!clh
From: clh@tacitus.tfic.bc.ca (Chris Hermansen)
Newsgroups: can.francais
Subject: Re: Sault Sainte-Marie officiellement unilingue anglophone
Keywords: Sault Sainte-Marie Kapuskasing
Message-ID: <149@tacitus.tfic.bc.ca>
Date: 8 Feb 90 20:45:33 GMT
References: <1990Feb5.182925.2005@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu> <90521@looking.on.ca> <13266@watcgl.waterloo.edu> <91140@looking.on.ca>
Reply-To: clh@tfic.bc.ca (Chris Hermansen)
Distribution: can
Organization: Timberline Forest Inventory Consultants, Vancouver BC
Lines: 48

In article <91140@looking.on.ca> brad@looking.on.ca (Brad Templeton) writes:
>Does anybody have the text of the resoltion?  My Canadian news wire is
>broadcast based and doesn't pass on this sort of thing.  The only way to
>get the facts is to look at the text of the resolution.   The mayor has
>said that people should read the text, since the media have sensationalized
>things.  (Which I believe most readily)

I would suggest that, from the brouhaha in, eg, the Globe yesterday
(Mulroney & Peterson engaged in public name calling? Deguelement!!)
that the WORDING of the pronouncement must have been somewhat inflammatory.
For example, if the pronouncement were simply a matter of service cutbacks,
would they have been reported on in this fashion?  Not likely.

And how to describe the little daisy chain of addle-pated officials bobbing
up in other communities to add their voice of dissent, except as, oh, say,
"neo-facist knee-jerk jingoism" or some such thing.

There's only one way francophones can take this, and that's as a figurative
slap in the face.  I find it quite surprising, given that many of the
towns must derive some financial benefit from francophone tourists;
surely they must be concerned about the ramifications of all of this!

>
>In particular, does the resolution stop anybody from doing something?
>Or does it just say that the official language of the city government is
>english?   If so, what does that mean for a french speaking person in
>Sault Ste. Marie?
>

Impolite or insensitive behaviour never "stopped" anyone from doing anything,
it just made it a whole lot less fun.

>Let's get some facts.

I think the facts are pretty obvious; there are a lot of pissed off people
out there.  The only possible way to resolve the problem is for the councillors
to publicly `clarify' the situation, but this will just make them appear
even more lickspittle than they already do.

Je me souviens, baby.

Chris Hermansen                         Timberline Forest Inventory Consultants
Voice: 1 604 733 0731                   302 - 958 West 8th Avenue
FAX:   1 604 733 0634                   Vancouver B.C. CANADA
uunet!ubc-cs!van-bc!tacitus!clh         V5Z 1E5
clh@tfic.bc.ca -or- Chris_Hermansen@mtsg.ubc.ca

May you work in an interesting place.