Why I Love Election Day

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

That sounds incredibly common-sensical, what does emperor Harper think about it?

[Griffin NoName]

Up here, employer-funded health care is a white-collar perk and not the usual for non-specialist blue-collar jobs, but the government health care is generally adequate, if going downhill fast (miraculous cures are to be had, but the cost of said cures and the resulting limited availability of equipment, specialists and pharmaceuticals necessitate long lineups). A little money to private healthcare outfits, and those times can be sped up. It's increasingly two-tiered, at the cost of the public health care system.

That's interesting. My son told me there was no private healthcare in Canada. 

[Aggie]

That's interesting. My son told me there was no private healthcare in Canada.  

He's in Quebec? They are better for providing public services than some provinces. According to wiki, they're the highest taxed jurisdiction in North America, and will also be getting about $7.4 billion from the rest of Canada in the next year.  Rich provinces give money to less well-to-do ones, up here.

That sounds incredibly common-sensical, what does emperor Harper think about it?

Hell, I'd get hollered at by both sides for voicing that sort of opinion.  

[Griffin NoName]

He's in Quebec?

Yes. Do they get rich by speaking not quite French?

[Aggie]

Ayuh, distinct society and all that.  They get coddled a little, in the eyes of the f*cking Anglos...

[Griffin NoName]

They get coddled a little, in the eyes of the f*cking Anglos...

? who are you calling the F word Anglos? Moi?

[Aggie]

Nono.... just a Québécois term of endearment for any English-speaking Canadian (Anglophone), or so I've heard it said.  I think actual Anglos may not get cussed out in the same manner.

[Griffin NoName]

Uhuh! All clear.

[Opsa]

They must get cussed out in French. 

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

With some frequency English speaking whites are called Anglos by Hispanics in the US. The tone isn't pejorative but descriptive (as in, those who speak English as opposed to us that speak Spanish), different from the term 'gringo' which has a pejorative origin*.

Perhaps while certain terms aren't politically correct the use isn't necessarily loaded, for instance it is common to refer to someone who is dark(er) skinned as 'El Negro' and that doesn't imply a pejorative use, although sometimes the associations are in themselves offensive as the common use of the term Indio (for indigenous peoples) that implies a low cultural level. In context, some people uses the term gringo without ill intention even if it is politically incorrect.

[Aggie]

I would suspect that 'Anglo' alone is not a pejorative in Quebec, but from what I've heard, outside of the major centres English-speakers can be discriminated against, and many folks will flat-out refuse to speak English, and/or are not even close to fluent in it. In Montreal, it's much more of a mishmash of languages.  I've heard many panhandlers know how to ask for money in at least 3 languages.

I've not been out that way, so it's all hearsay for me.

[Griffin NoName]

English schools have to speak French* half the time. So my grandchildren's one speaks English one week, French the next.

If a meeting has more than 7 people, then they have to speak French.

Crazy laws. From our perspective.

*actually of course not even French, but the wierd Quebec French

[Aggie]

Road signs in English are also banned, I think. Quebec is allowed to get away with some things no other province would, but their beer is fantastic enough that I'll forgive them.  It may be the best place to hide out when the Yanks come for our oil. 

[Opsa]

We'll come for your beer too, if you keep bragging about it! 

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

*actually of course not even French, but the wierd Quebec French

From what I understand?  The Quebec are far more French than anyone who hails from actual France...