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Air Canada fined for no French
- Thread starter Chaos
- Start date
My entire family is born, raised and lives in Québec, except for my grandfather, he was born in Scotland.
They all speak french and english. For you to say "no one speaks english" is pretty rash.
Were you in or near the big cities, or in the countryside?
Air Canada is a country-wide service. It should always have someone handy that is bilingual since Canada has 2 official languages to serve.
I am in no way saying everyone in the company needs to learn french, but making sure there are at least 1 or 2 people around at all times to accomodate would be a good way to avoid situations such as the one linked in OP.
I wonder what would happen if I tried to speak to a police officer in french. I could totally pull it off since my full name on my drivers license is 100% french (dual composed names lmao). Also I wear a helmet with "100% Québecois" written on it haha.
Would he/she have to call the station and have a bilingual officer come to the scene? Or send a translator?
strictlye
Well-known member
wow, thats a cash grab by that guy. It's not the first time he sued them. Everytime I fly with them they have bilingual reps. He must have caught them in an off day. What do you do if the 1 french attendant calls in sick, do you cancel the flight and re book 400 people? Of course not.
True that! I was just there and ppl seemed more annoyed than me because I can't speak French. I pay at the gas station and everything was in French, there is no option. I can't even find my way to a receipt option.
This guy looks like he is up to no good
I have found that to be true when passing thru Quebec on the main highways.But once off the beaten path,Quebec and it's people are wonderful to be with.We stayed in a b&b in Hudson a few years ago and we had a blast.Stopped at the tourist info center at the NB border for a map and ended up wanting to punch the person behind the counter in the crotch!
True that! I was just there and ppl seemed more annoyed than me because I can't speak French. I pay at the gas station and everything was in French, there is no option. I can't even find my way to a receipt option.
This guy looks like he is up to no good
"Thibodeau filed a similar language complaint against Air Canada in 2002 and won. "
For all we know, he might have gotten someone that didn't speak the level of French he liked.
this has Douchemonkey written all over it.
Next.
Air Canada does require at least one bilingual (French/Eng) agent on flights, but doesn't always have enough BL agents to accomplish it ... it's a staffing issue mostly ... anyone they hire these days is required to be BL, whereas the people with the most seniority (ie. been there 20-30 years) are usually the ones who are uni lingual. Since its unioned up the *******, the company has to favour the one's with seniority. As a result, some planes are staffed without a BL agent. Not much AC can do.
The two opportunists reported in the linked article provide a fantastic argument for abolishing language laws in this country. The guy who got a Sprite instead of a 7-up (OMFG CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!?!?!? I would die) seems to speak English well enough to ask for a soda. Suing over being barely inconvenienced isn't exactly a "Canadian" trait. While these two people are despicable, the judge is just as much at fault, and should slap him/herself for ruling in their favour. The whole story makes me sick.
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Ive been to Montreal once, and I can also say no one speaks English! It was hard to do any ****ing thing over there, not only did no one speak english (or pretend to not speak it). Like give me a break I couldnt even order a pepperoni pizza from Pizzahut there, "pepperoni pizza" isnt that hard is it?.....Not only did no one speak it, I got attitude for not knowing french...Personally I will never go there again unless I have too because of that bad experience, unless I go with someone that speaks french.
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Here's my biggest issue with it. If he were genuine about his complaint, he would have sued for a $1, and make it a matter of principle, but he asked for $500k (as what I heard on the radio this morning). Not exactly an altruistic number, is it.
Now, in my experience, Quebec is funny about language. In extremes, I've been treated very well with English, and I've been treated very poorly with my then fluent Parisian French. In the latter case, they saw me as a non-quebec'er. It didn't matter what I spoke, nor how much efford I put into it.
Now, in my experience, Quebec is funny about language. In extremes, I've been treated very well with English, and I've been treated very poorly with my then fluent Parisian French. In the latter case, they saw me as a non-quebec'er. It didn't matter what I spoke, nor how much efford I put into it.
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Yep, they also like to see u make an effort to speak french too.
My 1st time in Montreal, we asked a Hotel worker for directions. He know we were from out of town, so he should know we do not know french. So we had a friend w/ us who was from France and he started to speak with the guy. You know what's weird, he started to speak to our french guy in English.
Give me my "Freedom Fries"
Montréal being my hometown, I apologize for the crummy experience you have had.
I always take my girlfriends to Montréal when I go visit family and they always say "Don't leave me alone, i can't speak french".
To prove to them that an english-only person can easily maneuver around town, I make them do all the talking when it comes to ordering food, doing/seeing attractions, etc...and they always come out surprised with "Oh wow, it's much more english-friendly than I thought".
I literally shut my mouth and make them figure it out.
The best was when my ex was ordering at Subway and was trying to say the english name of the sandwich with a french accent, and then the sandwich artist just said "So you want a grilled chicken on white?". Bahahahaha, priceless!
JohnnyP636, let me know when you're heading there again. I'll come along and be your translator/intimidator. :lol:
True, but then without the defeated French settler's help, we probably would not have won the Canada-US war. We'd be United States territory.
This is THE MOST FALSE STATEMENT EVER MADE ON THIS SITE.
That is the EASIEST thing to do in Quebec.
But the only ones offering are the visitors who speak english, not the local ppl
daught
Well-known member
If you walk in to any place that is not native English and you expect them to speak it they will most likely treat you like crap. I find it downright rude to expect someone to speak English. A simple "Sorry I dont speak xxx, do you understand English?" will take you very far across the world. Speaking slowly and patiently will get any point across.
I have yet to encounter a person that refused to talk to me in Quebec. Sure they responded in French but it's not that hard to understand and they were definitely helpful.
I have yet to encounter a person that refused to talk to me in Quebec. Sure they responded in French but it's not that hard to understand and they were definitely helpful.
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