dbd33

Mildly so. I don't think the idea that Chinese-Canadians promote their language and culture to the exclusion of others would be controversial here, home of the Pacific Mall, but maybe it is in Vancouver. I don't see any need to be turned into a strident harridan by the post but then perhaps London7 wasn't.

montreal mike

I am not sure whether I am to be amused at this thread or puzzled as to why some here took offence.

It is pitiful that Annette has to now resort to stating the obvious. The obvious being that the emphasis is on the irony and that a few posters read into her comments and took issue at what they think was said, as opposed to what actually was.

Then you have the resident armchair psychologist feverishly at work who has, with sheer brilliance, provided an instant psycho-anal-ysis and has determined her deeper motives and mindset.

Bravo!

Rather childish in my opinion and essentially futile.

Bleech

Just another typical British Expats thread if you ask me.
Someone says something flipent, gets jumped on, called a racist, a biggot, a serial killer, a child snatcher and worse still a Daily Mail reader Even though they try to back up their posts they can't win.
Throw her in the lake and see if she floats I say

anabella

I would expect every single one of us in this forum to be open minded and far, far away from being racist. Aren't we all (or our partners) immigrants after all?

And that's besides my point.. Aren't we all human beings regardless of where we were born? Who are we to look down on people that often aren't as fortunate as we are? We are more alike than different, all of us

Rich_007

That's the last thing I expect from BE. It's just ranters central.

My Sun-reading friend above is pissed again, another regular Saturday nite at Bleechville Towers mwahaaa. And I'm laughing cos he left his crate of beer over here and I'm supping it (rather quickly I might add).

Rich.

montreal mike

I see no racism of this thread and it is a flight of fantasy to imagine otherwise.

As to looking down on those who often are not as fortunate as we are, well I see no evidence of that either.

And, realistically speaking, I do not expect everyone at this forum to be open minded as you would suggest. In fact some of the allegations made above prove exactly this.

Bleech

No beer for me tonight mate, just chilling out BC style

AnnetteM

Really? And where exactly in my posting did I ("she") infer that Canada should be British? Oh, maybe it was the mention of the "English" language - which just happens to be one of our official languages. Bigoted, right. Strange mind you have. Very quick to lash out with accusations and insults but not savvy enough to back up any of it.

montreal mike

Annette .. I just re-read your comments. Carefully. And you are 100% right. You never wrote or remotely infered that Canada should be British or English-speaking. My understanding of your comments is that on your particular transit system you hardly heard, or hear, any English being spoken.

Now that doesn't mean to say that the immigrants in question do not speak English. All it means is that they speak their native language.

As to being a minority well in Quebec the English are a minority and always will be. So I am used to it. I have been here some 44 years and when I first came over most newcomers were from the UK and continental Europe. That has all changed dramatically. Most immigrants now come from South America and Asia.

In any event, English will remain the predominant language for many generations. It is a fact of global life. Plus, this country has two official languages as you point out.

AnnetteM

I've managed to learn some rudimentary Cantonese, and a little Japanese, enough to get by with a lot of gestures! Also French, of course, which I started out with at school, albeit reluctantly in those days but it has been a great advantage at times. When we first came to Canada, we had to demonstrate that we could communicate well in either one of the official languages, and they don't have that requirement any more. Which I think is a shame as we could share so much more if we could all communicate. There was recently an interesting series on one of our radio stations where they talked to the children of immigrants from various countries, and it became clear that they had many disadvantages when English was not spoken at all in the home, so that when they started school they had to take ESL classes. Teenagers of Chinese descent were interviewed, and gave a stunning insight into prejudices amongst their own race and the fact that their families discouraged them from associating with anyone outside of that race. So difficult for them in high school and their social scene and lead to a lot of friction in their own families. That's what I think is such a shame because communication is the key to harmony, I believe.

Only been to Montreal once in all my years in Canada, and I loved it there, would love to go back one day. You are lucky to live in such a beautiful province, mind you BC has a much better climate!

montreal mike

I have met quite a few immigrants in my days. Those from the West Indies and the Indian subcontinent have of course no difficulty with English. But I have met others from Vietnam and North Africa, plus those from places such as Chile and Venezuela. Those I met were either fluent or were all learning English and were enthusiastic about it. Common sense would dictate one learn the only world language that counts: English. Those who discourage their kids from associating with Anglos and thus not practising their English are plain stupid.

Kinda reminds me of prehistoric backward Quebec (some 30 years back) where supposedly all one needed was French. One could do anything in French. Truth be told this was never really the case. Today Quebec is now in the modern age and thus French Quebeckers are far more fluent in English than ever before. Not that they love the lingo. But more so because they need it.

As to the Montreal climate well I am used to it. From time to time some bitter cold winter days as compared to the West Coast but at least we don't have that much rain. Alas, Summers lately have become very hot and humid. In the sixties it wasn't this way.

Toronto is even worse with the smog.

Turquoise

Ah, Annette! Welcome to Vancouver, where PC has taken over to the point of lunacy! There was nothing racist in your posts, some people need to ******* chill out.
You are expected to watch your mouth in case you offend someone, yet , as someone said, the Chinese and Japanese can't stand each other, they both hate the Koreans and Taiwanese and etc, etc, etc. It somehow seems okay for them to hold these view points but god help you if YOU say something that can even be remotely thought of as being racist ! I can't tell you how many times I've heard and had East Indian and Asian people, etc make degrading/racist comments about each other and us! (Just before I left Van my friend broke off his relationship with his Korean girlfriend- her parents would not tolerate her dating a "foreigner". They recounted stories however, of how racist they felt white people had been towards them! Somehow, it did at times seem like it was okay for them to have these viewpoints, but like I said, if the situation were reverse, look out!)
I lived in Van for over ten years before I left and I know where you're coming from. PC run amok.
(I'm now in the Uk - and whoa, are things heating up here! )

getoutofbritainquick

Nice one Mark, mind you we are looking at houses in Fraiser Heights so may join them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

getoutofbritainquick

.............. or you can protest every day outside the hospital on Lakeshore!

getoutofbritainquick

I Second that one, more diverse nationalities more choice of restaurants! One of our key factors with relocation is choice of good varied cuisine.

Can't be bad?

The world is getting smaller.