Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
With respect to sharing any new type of political structure with Ottawa, I think people in Gatineau are leery for a variety of reasons. First of all, there is a perception that Gatineau and the Quebec is an afterthought and even a dumping ground for stuff that Ottawa doesn't want in its backyard. And also that we are simply seen as a source for the four Ss: sex, ski, sand and suds.
I think most in Gatineau would rather run their own affairs as opposed to being Ottawa's "rump" even more than we are perceived to be at the moment.
If one looks at what happened to places like Vanier under the old RMOC and then the new city of Ottawa (huge social housing concentration leading to a disaster for the established community), much of Gatineau has great potential for this type of mess but on a much larger scale.
There is also of course the question of bilingualism within any shared structure, and the perception that Ottawa talks the talk on bilingualism but doesn't walk the walk: lots of bilingual signage à la RUE/STREET but frontline bilingual services are often non-existent or hit and miss at best. My kids picked up just by themselves at a very young age that unless you are in a federal museum or a caisse populaire, when you go to Ottawa you gotta speak English.
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Is Gatineau paranoid they'll lose all their autonomy if they cooperate with Ottawa on transportation and transit issues?
Isn't the concentration of social housing in Overbrook?
And seriously, I cant imagine how Gatineau would ever become a huge swatch of social housing.
And I object to your last sentence. As a francophone I am pleasantly surprised how often I can get french service in Ottawa (public and private sector) but I can admit It's not consistent. There's a limited number of bilingual workers around and a huge chunk of them are in the federal public service.
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