jimf

If speaking French is a requirement of a particular job yes. The reality is that is a pretty rare requirement though.

dbd33

In Guelph I see signs everyday "hiring bilingual customer service staff", since French is not commonly heard in Guelph I assume the jobs are for firms that sell across Canada. I expect there are firms in Calgary that sell across Canada. Any federal job in Calgary will go to a bilingual candidate if all else is equal, RCMP officer, federal prosecutor, for example; this is the direct commerical advantage, and a huge one in those fields, of being bilingual.

dbd33

It's not that one would speak French at work, just that the person who speaks French gets hired and the one who does not, does not.

Former Lancastrian

Not if wanting to join the Federal Govt. Bilinguals win over everyday as opposed to a unilingual even if working in Alberta.

Canuck74

First of all CAQ are separatist. This is Canada where the majority speak ENGLISH. If the francophones want a separate country let them move to France. At the end of the day rest of Canada are sick to death with the Francophones constant complaining.

jimf

Yes niche federal government related jobs will have a bilingual requirement. In reality such a requirement is not needed in practice in places like Calgary but it does illustrate the extent to which ROC has indulged Quebec in the past to be now lumbered with the cost of such provision.

In a continent of nearly 400m people, the vast majority of whom speak English, a pocket of 8m French speakers is something of an irrelevance.

dbd33

Rather than seeing it as indulging Quebec, the ROC would do well to reflect on the civilizing influence of the French language and culture, limited as its influence on Alberta might be.

In my view the fuss the ROC, at least some parts of it, makes over Quebec elections is completely out of proportion. Quebec governments come and go, referenda come and go, it doesn't make any difference to anything except for briefly legitimising a display of prejudice. Maybe the City of Calgary should put Midol in the water supply.

scrubbedexpat133

If they did gain independence then Canada should insist that it keeps the land on the south shore of the St Lawrence to keep the Atlantic provinces as part of the country and to facilitate shipping.



Interestingly the French here are always moaning about French first yet seem to dislike Quebec more than most. They get quite upset if you jokingly suggest moving to QC

Former Lancastrian

Dont bother with the South Shore for shipping Halifax, Saint John, Sydney and St Johns could handle the container ships. CN rail regulary moves stuff by train from Halifax to the rest of Canada via the US thereby avoiding Quebec. Theres another question to be answered who owns the rail lines

Atlantic Xpat

I live in an Atlantic province that is seperated from the ROC by some ocean. We feel like part of the country. OK, there is lingering malcontent about being sold out by Britain in 1949 and being forced to join Canada, and newfound (no pun intended) resource wealth fuels murmuring about independence as the Republic of Newfoundland. But, no-one really believes this is possible/likely, no more than I believe it is for QC.

Former Lancastrian

But dont you already have your own Republic of Newfoundland flag
http://www.heritage.nf.ca/pwg.html

scrubbedexpat133

What about trucking?? The East is heavily dependent on Southern ON for goods from there and the US via the GTA. You are not allowed to enter the US with a Canada to Canada shipment. Even if you were their hours of service are different than ours ie less drive time and less flexible rest provisions so would be a pain and increase costs.

Although I did read not so long back there is a study being done to put a toll road in from the NB border near St Stephen across Northern Maine to somewhere near Sherbrooke QC (bugger ) They might have to rethink and build it all the way to Cornwall ON (more chance of platting fog)

Novocastrian

At the end of the day (this is Souvy's thread after all) every one is sick to death of comments like that.

Novocastrian

Which would you recommend? For Calgary for example?

Je suis simplement curieux.
Ich bin einfach neurig.
I'm just curious.

jimf

As I said previously French is a decent enough choice for anyone as a second language. For someone who's primary goal in life is to work for the federal goverment it would be an excellent choice.

At work native English speaking Canadians are in a minority. Native French speaking Canadians are non existent. Chinese would be the best match to the poorest ESL speakers.

Portugese or Spanish would lead to some interesting trips with work.

Mrs jimf is fluent in French and German but hasn't found any particular use for them here. She goes out of her way to use them for interests sake. Her Russian and Italian are a bit rusty now but wouldn't be much use here either anyway.