It's crazy how some English speakers refuse to listen to us when we say we can't be served in French in Quebec. They completely deny it!
We had good proof of this on Monday in response to my column entitled: The whiners of English.
At radio station CJAD, a presenter stated bluntly that he had never heard anyone say they couldn't be served regularly in French.
If it weren't so sad, we could almost laugh about it.
- Listen to Sophie Durocher's editorial on every day of the week QUB :
NOT A “SMALL OFFER”
“She decided to make this little affair a sign that French is not respected in Quebec.” So moderator Aaron Rand brushed aside my Jan. 8 column in which I said that Jean-François Lisée was at Club Med in Charlevoix could not be served in French.
But it’s not a “little thing,” damn it! We don't get answers in English in Westmount or Greenfield Park, but actually in Charlevoix!
While interviewing Jean-François Lisée about his misadventure in Charlevoix, Aaron Rand was taken aback when the former Parti Québécois leader revealed to him that it was not unusual for him to be unable to be served in French in Montreal.
“I sit here and shake my head. I can't believe that's the case. I can think of an isolated case here or there, but when you say it's a widespread situation… I don't mean that I don't believe in it… but I've never seen or heard that someone say You, this happens regularly!”
When they heard this, they at CJAD were so upset that the title of the segment with Jean-François Lisée is titled “It's not unusual that I can't be served in French in Montreal,” as if it were amazing news. We're making headlines, my friends! Breaking news!
The title of the show is “Montreal Now,” but they don’t even know what’s happening “in Montreal,” “now.”
Apparently Aaron Rand has never heard of Serge Denoncourt and Manuel Tadros, who couldn't be served in French at the Tim Hortons on Sainte-Catherine Street.
Apparently Aaron Rand has never heard of me appearing in the Jewish! was treated in English!
- Listen to the Durocher-Dutrizac meeting with Sophie Durocher QUB radio :
MORE ENJOYABLE?
The show's co-host, Natasha Hall, was equally condescending towards Lisée. “It seems like a simple incident in a tourist resort that caters to tourists,” she said of the monolingualism at the reception and ski shop at Club Med. “It wasn't throughout the hotel,” she added, trying to downplay it . “These are people who haven’t been to Quebec for a long time. Couldn’t we be more lenient and give them time to learn the language?”
Every time a French speaker complains about being delivered in English, an Anglo immediately brushes aside his statements (which keep piling up) and says they are just “anecdotes”.
How many anecdotes turn a situation into objective reality?