Live Your Life In French And Leave Me Alone

The Township of Russell, which includes Russell, Embrun, Marionville and Limoges has been debating forced bilingual signs for several months. The Mayor of Russell, Ken Hill, who speaks a barely passable French is leading the charge.

Why?

Why would someone who is not sufficiently bilingual like Hill, who would probably not pass a French proficiency exam to get a job in the Civil Service be so interested in passing a bylaw that in effect FORCES businesses to post bilingual signs?

As I drive through this quaint town located about 30 miles or so from Ottawa, I see many French only signs, many English only signs and quite a few bilingual signs.

So what’s Ken Hill’s problem?

Why do a band of Franco-Ontario language zealots think it is their due to FORCE merchants to post ONLY bilingual signs?

These French language bigots favored by Ken Hill argue that it isn’t just English ONLY signs that they oppose, but French ONLY signs too.

What a load of crap!

I know of no English speakers who are offended by French ONLY signs. So what’s the big deal?

The big deal is that the ethnocentric Franco-Ontario language bigots do not want to see English individual rights. It is they who are saying that we will make it illegal (with the help of Hill the Quisling) for the English language to be used without the accompanying French language of equal size and stature.

Mayor Hill, who wants to appear to be as moderate as possible, but in reality is not, made a huge show of turning the question of FORCED bilingual signs over to the Russell Chamber of Commerce for them to review.

The Chamber members met. They talked. They debated. And then they told the mayor and his council that they opposed FORCED bilingual signs.

That was not the answer the mayor anticipated or wanted to hear.

So how does mayor Hill respond to the Chamber finding? He sweeps it away as if it was meaningless, and proceeds with his council towards passing the bylaw FORCING businesses to post bilingual signs.

What’s next? What happens when a French client enters a store owned by a unilingual English speaker and demands to be served in French? Will that storeowner be forced to hire French speakers to accommodate French clients who won’t speak English?

The issue in Russell, and other nearby Ontario communities where there is a significant French presence, which already have FORCED bilingual sign bylaws is far greater than just language rights.

IT’S ALL ABOUT INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM!

It is also about being free from intimidation and coercion from vicious pipsqueak minorities using power they don’t have, to bully the majority, which refuses to use the power it does have.

It’s about the sickness of official bilingualism that is pervasive throughout all of English Canada, where less than 3% of the TOTAL Canadian population are French speakers (excluding the Nation of Quebec), who set the agenda and call the shots.

So what are we going to do about it?

I don’t give a rat’s ass what language someone wants to speak, read, write and post. I couldn’t care less in what language someone wants to educate his or her children.

But I care an awful lot when someone wants to FORCE me to be like them.

In a political meeting I attended the other day, it was mentioned that perhaps the English speaking community should start behaving like the French speaking community and have English ONLY healthcare clinics amongst other things.

I would hate myself if I ever stooped to that level.

But – a full-fledged English boycott of all French owned establishments in the towns that FORCE bilingual signs is something I would promote to get the point across loud and clear.

There is just so much bullying a majority will be willing to absorb before it says enough is enough!

With the economy going the way that it is. With patently unfair and discriminatory hiring policies that openly discriminate against English speakers in English Canada, the point of English pushback might be closer than most people think.

English speakers throughout Canada pay for virtually everything the country’s French communities enjoy. Without BILLIONS of English dollars flowing into racist Quebec, Quebec is bankrupt.

Without BILLIONS of English dollars flowing into French language activism and social programs in the rest of Canada, Canada’s French speaking communities would literally disappear overnight.

When Harper decides to drop the Writ and call an election, I will run as an Independent Candidate in Stormont, Dundas and South Glengarry to put an end to this nonsense.

I no longer want to be bullied by the minority. And neither should you.

If you want to know how you can get involved and help make a difference, click on the red link under my signature.

TOGETHER: LET’S WIN BACK CANADA!

Best Regards . . . Howard Galganov