"Although
Canada is an officially bilingual country, a large majority of Canadians do not
speak a word of French"
1)
I did know about the "P.E.T." translation and have giggled
childishly for years driving up to the P.E.T. Aeroport (fart-port)...
2) ....However,
yes
it is a character flaw of most Anglo Canadians, and with a modest
amount of effort to learn French by Anglos, would have eliminated a lot of the
tensions and problems we have had for over 400 years. Unfortunately Canadians
would prefer to be just in awe of multilingual countries like Switzerland or
more selfishly would rather learn Spanish so they can mannerly order
"cerveza" from the hotel pool bar on their next all inclusive one
week vacation.
The
cultural and historical significance of French among Anglo Canadians is sadly
below the efforts of say Netflix binge watching or playing Tetris on your
expensive latest iPhone during your 1.5 hr commute on a GO train (think of all
the time you could have to learn French....or just putting that time to use
better, like learning Canadian history - another topic that Anglo
Canadians don't spend an ounce of effort on nor feel they need to know).
In a
country so much to be thankful for yet its institutions are becoming less and
less identifiable to a point we have to ask ourselves "what do we stand
for?' (large groups are out there to oppose or ignore the Queen, bilingualism,
Canadian history, CFL, CANDU reactors, etc), it is sad to see this part of
Canadiana, and the efforts to learn both official languages, appear like an
annoying mosquito on a clear cottage day for Anglo Canadians.
Of course,
in Canada we have to be tolerant and respective of all cultures, celebrate
diversity.... unless it's Quebec, Natives or Americans....then the rules don't
seem to apply, especially in the media.
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