Editor:
Re: French wait lists persist, Sept. 7.
Again? Still? Forever? Early-immersion spaces are awarded through an online lottery?
Why do parents in this great country with two official languages have to jump through hoops to have their children given the privilege to learn our second language?
Our children now have children who have children, etc. We are asking these same questions still. In a parent/teacher forum, we heard: “We don’t want the French language shoved down our children’s throats.” Shock.
Our Canadian children are as smart and deserving as European children. They learn English from Grade 2 on and become fluent in a second language quickly.
Teaching the French language here in elementary school would finally do away with the elitist, frustrating French-immersion program and give all children a tremendous benefit.
Heidi Bumann, Surrey
Languages no barrier
Editor:
Re: Two options to unite Canada, Sept. 6 letters.
To the gentleman who is concerned with countries and languages and who only wants one official one:
Countries such as Switzerland, Belgium and Spain are multilingual. If they can manage three or four languages, surely we can manage two.
As for the Quebecoise, as he says, needing to be isolated, this could get pretty lonely, for if only the women (québécoises) are isolated what about all the men (québécois)? Especially when it gets cold during those icy winters…
I am proud of our official bilingual status and of our non-official multilingual country, plus I wish the First Nations in Canada the best of luck in re-introducing the youth to the varied and rich languages they are blessed with.
Lynda Hornby, White Rock
• • •
With all due respect to letter-writer Albert Opstad, I’m still trying to figure out what his thinking is and why he suddenly brings up the subject of uniting Canada.
Maybe I’m the one who has been asleep, but from what I’ve been reading and listening to in the media over the last two years, uniting Canada is not the important issue for us at present.
I do not intend to even respond to the suggestion that Quebec should be turned into a ‘reserve’.
At one time, yes, Western Canadian alienation brought about talk of separating and joining the United States. But right now with the terrible example of the presidential election in America, who in their right mind would consider it for one moment?
Whether or not I trust the present Liberal government, they’re harmless in comparison.
Alison Smith, Surrey
• • •
I’ll pass on the letter writer’s comment that a country with two official languages is not an unified country, but I perfectly object to what follows, namely that the Québécois – I corrected the misspelling – buy out a reserve to speak French, as if they did not already own their land.
Secondly, the author of this offensive comment to Québécois implicitly denies the rights or existence of French Canadians born or living outside of Quebec.
Is there not an etiquette in your newspapers in regards of disrespectful comments? If you considered this ‘Speak White’ comment just an opinion, I wonder why you did not, at least, add a disclaimer, or better, a note on the history of Canada, formerly Kanada.
Genevieve Loslier, White Rock
• • •
As I read letter-writer Albert Opstad’s opinion, I thought he must be joking.
Who in the world would choose joining the U.S.? Half the people there want to leave as it is.
Maybe you should move. Go south, my son. You don’t deserve us.
Patricia Seggie, Surrey