Former Lancastrian

There was pie in the sky talk a few years ago about BC & Alberta joining the neighbouring US states and seperating from Canada.
Its the usual children throwing toys out of the pram if they dont get their own way.
http://www.separationalberta.com/faq.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta_separatism

Souvy

If it did happen, which it won't, other provinces would perhaps follow suit.

AB doesn't need confederation. Not this week, anyway.
The Newfs have lots of new money. For now.
BC isn't part of planet Earth, let alone Canada.

Sorry for the slow response. I'm down to one hand today.

Alan2005

I think it would be fun watching Canada break up into small pieces.

Former Lancastrian

Saskatchewan & Manitoba plan to seperate.
Err whats Saskatchewan & Manitoba and where is it

Atlantic Xpat

Another DIY injury then Reg?

jimf

To be bi or tri lingual would be quite an asset admittedly. Not such an asset if one of the languages is French though.

Former Lancastrian

Im happy if the person presenting me with a Canadian passport can speak either English or French however realizing all travellers cannot speak.

dbd33

In Canada it's a huge benefit. Also in France.

Alan2005

Yeah, I see his point as well.

jimf

In old and new france a benefit no doubt yes. I've heard many languages spoken in Calgary - french would be right down at the bottom of a usage table. French is a decent enough choice to learn as a second language but it's rather fanciful to believe that being a french bi lingual speaker trumps all else.

Alan2005

Learning a second language has benefits beyond just the contexts in which you use the language. It doesn't matter which one.

dbd33

The child who has most benefitted from being bilingual in English and French has done so in Vancouver. That's in Canada so it's no surprise to me that it's been a great advantage. Surprisingly, the one in London reports using French on and off, though the biggest benefit to her of bilingualism has probably been that it simplified learning Italian.

dbd33

Yes. Speaking French in Canada offers that as well as the direct commerical advantage of being hired ahead of people who don't speak French.

Former Lancastrian

Being able to speak other languages is always an asset. I applaud people who are multilingual.
Here is where I have some reservations about bilingualism.
As we all know the Fed Govt is bilingual and employs both unilingual English or French employess and for those who speak and write both languages a bonus of $800 a year.
Using say Winnipeg that has a very large German speaking population in the Steinbach/Winkler area how do the Fed Govt deal with these persons or say Vancouver with Mandarin or Cantonese. Do they rely on the goodness of employees that speak these languages to do it for free or should the employees say compensate us or we will withdraw our services thereby forcing you to pay for interpretation services which Im sure wil cost more than paying these employees.
The bonus works out to about $2.20 per day where an interpreter in my area is about $25 per hour and guaranteed a minimum of 3 hours work.

jimf

True which is why I said French was a decent enough choice to learn as a second language. It's readily available as a taught subject and fairly straighforward for English speakers to pick up as well as having moderately interesting cultural associations. That is rather different from making a case that fluency in French is a huge benefit to anyone. I've never seen a job advertised in Calgary that stated a requirement for fluency in French. No doubt they exist but it would certainly be a niche requirement.