Quebec, the French Language, and Quebecois Identity

[MonctonRad]

Speaking of intersectionality, at this very moment, as I type, there is an advert across the base of my SSP page from my (anglophone) health care corporation (the one I work for), written in French, offering a $1000 reward for anyone who makes a successful referral of a licensed nurse practitioner to join the corporation.

How utterly Canadian!

[New Brisavoine]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Karl Tremblay has been number one on Twitter trending in Canada overall since last night.

Followed by:

Osama Ben Laden
Cocaine
Hamas HQ

Here it's:
80 M (soccer)
#TahitiGate (the Mayor of Paris's political scandal)
France Inter (the anti-Semitism scandal affecting this left-wing public radio station)
Nazareth (Christmas?)
#Tsahal

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by New Brisavoine

Here it's:
80 M (soccer)
#TahitiGate (the Mayor of Paris's political scandal)
France Inter (the anti-Semitism scandal affecting this left-wing public radio station)
Nazareth (Christmas?)
#Tsahal

I recently saw #HidalgoDémission pop up in mine.

[New Brisavoine]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I recently saw #HidalgoDémission pop up in mine.

She's been unfavorably compared to the mayor of Montréal yesterday. Apparently the mayor of Montréal apologized for something extremely minor, whereas Anne Hidalgo refuses to apologize for her trip to the South Pacific paid by tax payers.

She's unlikely to resign though. In France the left gets a free pass in terms of corruption, especially the Parisian left, all in the name of "the good guys fighting for bicycles and against cars in cities". Besides, the French state is totally passive. Macron couldn't give a fig about the sorry state of Parisian streets and parks. I know no other European country where the national government would tolerate this level of mismanagement of their capital city.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by New Brisavoine

She's been unfavorably compared to the mayor of Montréal yesterday. Apparently the mayor of Montréal apologized for something extremely minor, whereas Anne Hidalgo refuses to apologize for her trip to the South Pacific paid by tax payers.

She's unlikely to resign though. In France the left gets a free pass in terms of corruption, especially the Parisian left, all in the name of "the good guys fighting for bicycles and against cars in cities". Besides, the French state is totally passive. Macron couldn't give a fig about the sorry state of Parisian streets and parks. I know no other European country where the national government would tolerate this level of mismanagement of their capital city.

Anne Hidalgo is sometimes said to be the model (mâitre or maîtresse? à penser) for Montreal mayor Valérie Plante.

The comparison is not always made in a complimentary way.

[Ozabald]

Originally Posted by New Brisavoine

She's been unfavorably compared to the mayor of Montréal yesterday. Apparently the mayor of Montréal apologized for something extremely minor, whereas Anne Hidalgo refuses to apologize for her trip to the South Pacific paid by tax payers.

She's unlikely to resign though. In France the left gets a free pass in terms of corruption, especially the Parisian left, all in the name of "the good guys fighting for bicycles and against cars in cities". Besides, the French state is totally passive. Macron couldn't give a fig about the sorry state of Parisian streets and parks. I know no other European country where the national government would tolerate this level of mismanagement of their capital city.

Perhaps Ottawa is a good example with the mismanagement through the National Capital Commission (NCC). LeBreton Flats being a prime symbol of this mismanagement.

[New Brisavoine]

Originally Posted by Ozabald

Perhaps Ottawa is a good example with the mismanagement through the National Capital Commission (NCC). LeBreton Flats being a prime symbol of this mismanagement.

The streets of Ottawa are fine and well managed compared to those of Paris. Here in Paris the situation on the ground (in terms of street maintenance and cleanliness) is worse than Mexico City. And I know because I lived in Mexico City. Parks are also fast approaching the decrepit state of parks in Mexico City (but streets are already worse than the streets in the central areas of Mexico City).

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by New Brisavoine

The streets of Ottawa are fine and well managed compared to those of Paris. Here in Paris the situation on the ground (in terms of street maintenance and cleanliness) is worse than Mexico City. And I know because I lived in Mexico City. Parks are also fast approaching the decrepit state of parks in Mexico City (but streets are already worse than the streets in the central areas of Mexico City).

Some streets in Ottawa can be quite rough to drive on due to the effect of the freeze-thaw cycles on the asphalt caused by very cold and very warm weather. There are better and worse ways to manage this but generally all cities with continental climates have this challenge.

But other than that, yes most Ottawa streets and parks are not generally filled with garbage and other junk. With a couple of exceptions.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by lio45

A good real-life example of the “two solitudes” yesterday evening. I had about two hours of driving to do (Montreal-Sherbrooke). Listened to English CBC news first (it was the hour), then decided I preferred music. I’m picky so when looking for music I always change stations often in search of half-decent stuff. Cowboys Fringants music is of course very expected. Even on two stations simultaneously. Even on three. After a while though, I couldn’t help but notice every single music station without exception was playing their stuff only, so obviously this was 100% not normal (I did vaguely remember their singer had some cancer), and I was sure he had passed — and turned out to be right.

By contrast, a couple years ago, English CBC seemed to think the cancer/passing of some guy from some band I had never heard about, was somehow national news. That also struck me at the time.

Are you referring to Gord Downie and The Tragically Hip?
If you were a unilingual francophone I wouldn't at all be surprised if you had never heard of The Hip.

I've seen Les Cowboys twice in concert with the last time being in Rouyn-Noranda. The death of Karl Tremblay is a huge loss for sure.

[P'tit Renard]

Originally Posted by New Brisavoine

The streets of Ottawa are fine and well managed compared to those of Paris. Here in Paris the situation on the ground (in terms of street maintenance and cleanliness) is worse than Mexico City. And I know because I lived in Mexico City. Parks are also fast approaching the decrepit state of parks in Mexico City (but streets are already worse than the streets in the central areas of Mexico City).

Curious..are you referring to central Paris, and which arrondissements are these dirty streets in? Also which parks in particular are decrepit?

Maybe because our expectations in North America are so utterly low, but that's just not the impression we got when we were in Paris.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by New Brisavoine

Here it's:
80 M (soccer)
#TahitiGate (the Mayor of Paris's political scandal)
France Inter (the anti-Semitism scandal affecting this left-wing public radio station)
Nazareth (Christmas?)
#Tsahal

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/20...jusquen-france

See last paragraph

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by lio45

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/20...jusquen-france

See last paragraph

Burn!

It's been pointed out by some that the death of the "Green"? Power Ranger on the same day got quite a bit of coverage in the ROC's media!

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Acajack

It's been pointed out by some that the death of the "Green"? Power Ranger on the same day got quite a bit of coverage in the ROC's media!

What? The Green Power Ranger is dead???

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

What? The Green Power Ranger is dead???

OK, he died but it was a year ago. Guess the info got mixed up. Still got way more national coverage in Canada than the death of Karl Tremblay the Cowboys Fringants guy.

(I actually consider all of this to be normal, given the cultural spheres that exist, even though their existence is often denied.)

[BIMBAM]

Originally Posted by Acajack

OK, he died but it was a year ago. Guess the info got mixed up. Still got way more national coverage in Canada than the death of Karl Tremblay the Cowboys Fringants guy.

(I actually consider all of this to be normal, given the cultural spheres that exist, even though their existence is often denied.)

While the coverage is undoubtedly less as you say, I learned about Karl Tremblay passing from the English CBC website yesterday, and there is a second article about it on the website again today, so it is being covered. These two musical spheres are definitely real, but Les Cowboys Fringnants was definitely one of the Francophone bands even I sometimes listened to and new about as someone firmly entrenched on the Anglophone side of the musical divide, so they were at least somewhat known.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by BIMBAM

While the coverage is undoubtedly less as you say, I learned about Karl Tremblay passing from the English CBC website yesterday, and there is a second article about it on the website again today, so it is being covered. These two musical spheres are definitely real, but Les Cowboys Fringnants was definitely one of the Francophone bands even I sometimes listened to and new about as someone firmly entrenched on the Anglophone side of the musical divide, so they were at least somewhat known.

I think they were so big that even many people who generally tune out francophone music at the very least couldn't help but know they existed.

Probably similar to Beau Dommage in the 70s which I think was a familiar name to many anglos in Montreal even if they didn't necessarily listen to them.

To be perfectly honest, even to many francophones Karl Tremblay wasn't really a household name, though he still was known to everyone as "le chanteur des Cowboys Fringants" so instantly recognizable by his picture and voice of course.

Note that the Vegas Golden Knights were in Montreal playing the Canadiens last night. Their social media account posted at least one obvious nod to the Cowboys (maybe more) during the course of the game. Not sure who was in on that and how they pulled it off as it was related to the action on the ice.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Acajack

(I actually consider all of this to be normal, given the cultural spheres that exist, even though their existence is often denied.)

It's a two-way street of course: no one here has any clue who "Chandler Bing" is, and the passing of the actor didn't really make the news in the franco world.

(My Anglo ex turned me into a fan of Friends, but I'm the exception to the rule. Humor such as Friends' can't be translated, so it's not a product that can be exported outside the Anglosphere.)

[thewave46]

Originally Posted by lio45

It's a two-way street of course: no one here has any clue who "Chandler Bing" is, and the passing of the actor didn't really make the news in the franco world.

(My Anglo ex turned me into a fan of Friends, but I'm the exception to the rule. Humor such as Friends' can't be translated, so it's not a product that can be exported outside the Anglosphere.)

I thought you’d be more a Matthew Perry fan just by the fact that a young Mr. Perry beat up a young Justin Trudeau in grade school.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by thewave46

I thought you’d be more a Matthew Perry fan just by the fact that a young Mr. Perry beat up a young Justin Trudeau in grade school.

And Matthew Perry has remained my hero to this day.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by lio45

It's a two-way street of course: no one here has any clue who "Chandler Bing" is, and the passing of the actor didn't really make the news in the franco world.

(My Anglo ex turned me into a fan of Friends, but I'm the exception to the rule. Humor such as Friends' can't be translated, so it's not a product that can be exported outside the Anglosphere.)

I always recognize that francophones can be quite clueless about anglophone culture.

The difference with (many) ROCers is that francophones don't generally pretend they aren't clueless about the other solitude's culture, or claim it is part of their culture even if they don't know anything about it.