Is this true?

[barrett 0]

its not the team, its these polititions in Quebec and you won't have to speak french to play for the habs.

No you won't have to speak french. But you'll have to read it on menus, store signs and your kids sure as hell will have to speak it. Unless you went to an english school in Quebec your kids MUST go to a french school regardless of wether it is private or not.

Are you serious? What the hell is the point in that?

[hunterphfr 12]

They initially only made french mandatory in public schools. People immediately began sending their kids to private schools to learn english so the government put a stop to that. The government will partially subsidize private education but only if they follow the provinces tightly regulated rules. It can be difficult for athletes or business men with families. Some athletes have left their families at home when they played for Quebec or asked to be traded. The french don't care whose rights they violate in order to protect their language.

[thejackal 46]

its not the team, its these polititions in Quebec and you won't have to speak french to play for the habs.

No you won't have to speak french. But you'll have to read it on menus, store signs and your kids sure as hell will have to speak it. Unless you went to an english school in Quebec your kids MUST go to a french school regardless of wether it is private or not.

Are you serious? What the hell is the point in that?

having been a product of that law, i can honestly see the point in the US, where english in the only official language. however, i still have a hard time understanding why, if both english and french are the offical languages of canada, there isn't a choice offered. quebec has a history of putting itself before canada as a nation, even though the referendums do not back that up. i find that disgusting.

[hunterphfr 12]

Rule has changed a little bit now it is as long as the parent went to an english school in Canada. Immigrants, athletes and NAFTA visa holders are sol.

[D aka speck 0]

At what point do we simply regard Quebec as it's own nation?

Or just give them back to France.

Or just educate them on hockey's true history...

the sport was actually invented in Scotland in the 1800's.

Not France, or Canada, or, for that matter Santa Claus' back yard.

As a U.S. citizen...

I want to ship Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to Quebec.

The 2 biggest proponents for a language called "ebonics".

Careful what you wish for...

Imagine "O' Canada" in French or ebonics.

That attorney is a total douche-bag.

[hunterphfr 12]

O'Canada was originally written in french.

"O Canada" was first sung on June 24, 1880. It was proclaimed as Canada's national anthem on July 1, 1980, one hundred years later. A well-known composer named Calixa Lavallée composed the music. French lyrics to accompany the music were written by Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier.

No english until 1906.

[B-Nads 0]

You guys make us sound like we're a bunch of trouble starters annoying the rest of the world. Our language is about the only thing we managed to keep from our culture and we should do everything we can to keep it. Without some of those laws, we'd be "americanized" in no time and with such few newborns and so many immigrants, our language is in real danger.

Nobody gives a damn if you speak french or not when playing for the habs. What people don't appreciate about Koivu is that he's been here for more than 10 years and he never even publicly said a word in french until tonight. People would like the Habs captain, who was captain for 7 years, to make an effort an say a couple of words in french, just for the principle. What didn't help Saku here is that romanian Lucian Bute, IBF's new World Champion and awesome boxer, started to give interviews in french only a year or two after moving here (he's Romanian) He now speaks a very good french and many people appreciate his efforts. I know Saku is probably just shy or something but some people can't understand that.

Many of us would like Quebec to be independant and not belong in a country where we're the only "marginals". 1995's referendum was the closest we got, the motion to decide whether Quebec should secede from Canada was defeated by an extremely small margin: 50.58% "No" to 49.42% "Yes". The defeat was due in most part to the ethnic vote, immigrants usually love the sound of Canada. It was hard to accept for the separatists.

It may be hard for you guys to understand but we managed to keep our language for hundreds of year under english domination and we'd like to continue this way. All about proudness. Sure, some politicians here are just looking for trouble and will cry for anything, it happens. It's a very small minority and gives us a bad image. Like the Shane Doan affair, who gives a damn if he said "fuckin frog"? We can take that, that's not a racist comment imo...

And B-Nad, i sure hope you moved from Quebec but on the other side, we're always looking for smartasses englishboys like you to drop the gloves.

Actually, smart-ass, I was born and bred in la belle province - my wife and kids are here too - my wife is a French teacher, my children go to school in French, even though they CAN go to school in English - the fact is I have more faith in my ability to teach them proper English than the QEP and their new Reform can in the public system...and I could as easily type this message to you in French if I so desired, so you might want to keep your gloves on...that way your hands will stay clean as you pull your foot out of your mouth. ;) Ah, the lovely rantings of Parizeau - English money and the ethnic vote. You might want to practice what you preach, though - marginalizing people from Quebec who aren't French mother tongue is no better than French being marginalized by the rest of the country.

In any case, this is a hockey discussion that touches on some politics. The politics of this province are hard enough to understand if you are an inhabitant of it. The sad fact of the matter is the fans of Les Habitants are known to be among the most critical, disrespectful, inconsiderate, and ignorant of all the fans in the NHL. Whether that is a political thing or simply due to being spoiled for so long with first dibs on Quebec hockey players is moot - the fact is Koivu is being paid a lot of money to play for this team and has given a great deal to the city and the fans - if they cannot appreciate that and let the man live his goddamn life without harping on him for not being comfortable speaking French in public then maybe they should come up with something more constructive to do - like finding new names for the master plan of political independence from the rest of the country while still syphoning money from it. Now, by all means, drop your gloves. :P

[Hidious 0]

First of all, B-Nads, my intend was to argue with you in a friendly way...maybe the expression "smartass englishboy" is not very friendly i admit :P I hope it's the same for you.

Ah, the lovely rantings of Parizeau - English money and the ethnic vote. You might want to practice what you preach, though - marginalizing people from Quebec who aren't French mother tongue is no better than French being marginalized by the rest of the country

About Parizeau and the referendum: i was not expressing any opinion about it. I was stating facts trying to explain other members the situation about Quebec's independance disires. Blaming the ethnic vote may be percived as an opinion to you but to me, it's a fact. It's hard to deny that the very small margin between the Yes and the No was due to the ethnic votes. I don't think i'm being racist here, it's just the way it was.

The sad fact of the matter is the fans of Les Habitants are known to be among the most critical, disrespectful, inconsiderate, and ignorant of all the fans in the NHL.

I agree with everything here except ignorant. Fans here know a lot more about hockey than anywhere else. And i'd add passionate.

In any case, this is a hockey discussion that touches on some politics

While the original post and the situation in the media is a political situation (because of some bad politicians) my post has nothing to do with politics. It's about respect. Like i already said, it's not a big deal that Saku doesn't speak french in public. But not speaking french after 10+ years make me think: Does this guy really care about Montréal, about people, about the fans? I now know that the answer is yes because he speaks french with sick kids in hospitals, he speaks french with Carbo too. It's just shyness in public. But that's were, to me, the debate is. Everything else about politics and such is just f***ing bullshit to me too.

About dropping the gloves... A friend of mine moved to Alberta and joined a beer league. Each and every player wanted and tried to drop with him until he did, 3 games later. They all wanted to try "the damn frog". :lol:

[B-Nads 0]

Hah - nice...I used to teach at a French school in Alberta - all the French guys there wanted a shot at the big English teacher - same shit, different pile.

Being a Habs fan myself, I won't argue the passionate point. My comment on the ignorance was not regarding knowledge of the game, so much as behaviour - I honestly feel that the between the fans and the local media we will be hard pressed to build and maintain a contending team here - and that's not even touching the taxes.

As for the smartass comment - no harm done. I've been called worse. Now, had you called me a tete-caree I would hunt you down and choke you with your mullet / coupe Longueuil - lol.