Bilingual Traffic Fines
There seems to be no end of nuisance, costly challenges relating to Canada's bilingualism law. The official recognition of Canada's two founding languages requiring all federal government documents be printed in both French and English, and services provided in both languages on request and/or when population numbers are seen to require that extra expenditure, is a tedious, tiresome sop to francophones.
In Alberta, where one would least expect to have a demographic of francophones incapable of understanding or speaking fluent English, a lawsuit has been brought by a man who was charged with failing to make a left turn safely. The ticket issued to him was deemed to be invalid because Alberta traffic laws have not been presented in both official languages. The only province in Confederation to have enacted its own bilingualism law is New Brunswick.
The Province of Quebec has never thought it useful to accommodate English-speakers by courteously providing translations for French-language signage. English-language rights in Quebec are simply a non-issue for the provincial government; it focuses solely on its hysterical insistence that English shall not be permitted to dominate French, and for that reason language police are famously employed to enforce French-dominant signage law.
The Supreme Court of Canada has seen fit to reject an appeal from the Alberta government which was ordered to cover the $120,000 legal bill of Gilles Caron over the $54 traffic ticket issued to him - in English only. The argument of the Supreme Court was that Mr. Caron's expenses were too onerous, and the province's judicial resources were not, and it made no sense to them to abandon the trial before the issue was fully resolved.
Justice would not be seen to have been done; it was therefore in the public interest to permit the judicial proceedings to reach their natural conclusion. And he will now be compensated when at a future date he will take his case to the Court of Appeal of Alberta. And for the mischief that the law permits this man to undertake under the guise of his lawful and rightful demand to be served in the language of his choice, the taxpayer picks up the tab.
Just as the taxpayer picks up the enormous cost of translating every official bit of paper, of legislation, or court transcripts in recognition of official bilingualism at the federal level on behalf of a population of which the majority has never been, never will be satisfied with their place in Confederation. Where in the Province of Quebec the voters handily give a majority to a federal party sitting in Parliament, dedicated to secession.
And where its provincial counterpart seems set to take over the reigns of provincial government yet again and plans to provoke another vote to secede from Confederation. But not without garnering as many massively 'entitled' benefits as it can on the way.
In Alberta, where one would least expect to have a demographic of francophones incapable of understanding or speaking fluent English, a lawsuit has been brought by a man who was charged with failing to make a left turn safely. The ticket issued to him was deemed to be invalid because Alberta traffic laws have not been presented in both official languages. The only province in Confederation to have enacted its own bilingualism law is New Brunswick.
The Province of Quebec has never thought it useful to accommodate English-speakers by courteously providing translations for French-language signage. English-language rights in Quebec are simply a non-issue for the provincial government; it focuses solely on its hysterical insistence that English shall not be permitted to dominate French, and for that reason language police are famously employed to enforce French-dominant signage law.
The Supreme Court of Canada has seen fit to reject an appeal from the Alberta government which was ordered to cover the $120,000 legal bill of Gilles Caron over the $54 traffic ticket issued to him - in English only. The argument of the Supreme Court was that Mr. Caron's expenses were too onerous, and the province's judicial resources were not, and it made no sense to them to abandon the trial before the issue was fully resolved.
Justice would not be seen to have been done; it was therefore in the public interest to permit the judicial proceedings to reach their natural conclusion. And he will now be compensated when at a future date he will take his case to the Court of Appeal of Alberta. And for the mischief that the law permits this man to undertake under the guise of his lawful and rightful demand to be served in the language of his choice, the taxpayer picks up the tab.
Just as the taxpayer picks up the enormous cost of translating every official bit of paper, of legislation, or court transcripts in recognition of official bilingualism at the federal level on behalf of a population of which the majority has never been, never will be satisfied with their place in Confederation. Where in the Province of Quebec the voters handily give a majority to a federal party sitting in Parliament, dedicated to secession.
And where its provincial counterpart seems set to take over the reigns of provincial government yet again and plans to provoke another vote to secede from Confederation. But not without garnering as many massively 'entitled' benefits as it can on the way.
Labels: Culture, Government of Canada, Politics of Convenience
posted by Pieface | 6:01 PM
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