Toronto, Sep 29 (IANS) Canadian opposition leader Jack Layton has promised support for a new visa office in Mumbai and official status for the Punjabi language in Canada if he becomes prime minister after the Oct 14 polls. Jack, whose New Democratic Party (NDP) has fielded a record 14 Indian Canadian candidates to woo the million-strong community, said his party will also roll back a newly passed immigration bill that the community finds discriminatory.Wait a minute, but I though Layton is running for a Prime Minister of Canada, not India. So I thought, Canada, not India should be a priority nation for his government. And I thought, immigrants come to Canada to become Canadians, not to lock themselves up in linguistic and cultural ghettos.
India will be a priority nation for his government if it comes to power and he will visit New Delhi at the earliest, Layton told IANS in an interview.
Layton supports Could there be a better proof that multi-cult is all about importing voters? Layton seeks to outdo the Liberals, to unite all the "anti-Harper" forces behind him and to become the next Prime Minister. He knows what needs to be done to perpetuate his party's rule once elected. So he doesn't bother to hide his intention to use the multi-cult scheme to further dilute, take over and destroy traditional Canada.
Update as of Oct.6 2:55 ADT: An unnamed NDP spokesperson contacted Stephen Taylor by e-mail to inform him that the story is not true. The following retraction was later published by the author of the article:
In India, an “official’” language does not become a “national” language. The acceptance of a language by the government makes it “official”, not a national language.Still, I don't believe that granting "some kind of recognition" to a language spoken by a certain immigrant community is a good idea. Especially when immigration regulations clearly require prospective immigrants to be fluent in either English or French. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
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So my use of the word “official” might have been confused with the word “national” by some people. But that was not my intention.
All I wanted to know from Jack Layton was whether he will give some kind of recognition to the Punjabi language as it has been here for about a hundred years. Not the status of a national language.
Jack also didn’t promise anything except say that he will support any idea of such a recognition if his party is voted into power.
If a hospital or a business wants to accommodate its Punjabi clients by providing services in their language - they are free to do just that with absolutely no need to get the government (and the taxpayers' money) involved. But when it comes to "some kind of recognition" of a community language by the government - expect affirmative actions, hiring quotas, token jobs and so forth. I think we have more than enough of that kind of abuse already.
5 comments:
I realize that you probably don't like ANY government pamphlets or services to be offered in ANY language other than English but you have misunderstood what the reporter asked and Jack's answer.
In India, they have two National Languages (English and Hindi) this is equivalent to what we call Official Languages (English and French). There are 21 other Official Languages in India which DO NOT get the same recognition or services that the National Languages do.
We already offer services (ie translation in courts or hospitals) when it is needed and we offer important government publications in multiple languages (immigration documents, tax returns, etc.).
Jack was confirming that we would likely need to increase the number of publications available or ensure there are Punjabi translators available in areas where many Punjabi speakers live. Which to the ear and experience of the India-based journalist is similar to the Indian definition of official language.
So I am sure that you would prefer that no services or material be offered at all but let's be clear. Jack did not say what you are claiming he said.
If some entity (a business, a municipality etc) wants to publish their brochures in Punjabi - they don't need Jack Layton for that.
What we are most likely to see is multilingual services made mandatory, with other abuses such as affirmative actions to follow. That's definitely not something I'd like to see happening in Canada.
And yes, I believe that people who choose to come to another country should take their time to learn the language of the country in which they settle, rather than establishing an ethno-cultural ghetto.
Well other conservative bloggers have had the integrity to correct their postings because in fact the story is not true. Criticize the NDP for the policies they have that you don't like (no doubt there are many) but at least have the integrity to be fair and accurate in your postings.
Where does it say that the story is not true? Do you happen to have a link to that web page? I checked the NDP site - nothing there. (Maybe I just wasn't looking hard enough?) Neither did I find any correction on a page where I saw the link in the first place; nothing except a comment by one of the readers that "‘THAINDIAN NEWS’ may have made it up".
If you can provide a link to a source which confirms that Jack Layton did not "reply in the affirmative when asked whether he would support demands that Punjabi, which the latest census says is the fastest growing language in Canada, be given official status", then I'll correct the story.
Stephen Taylor has posted the email from the other explaining the confusion:
http://www.stephentaylor.ca/2008/10/english-french-and-punjabi/?disqus_reply=2883326#comment-2883326
I did see a posting that bourque had linked to that was posted by Brad Lavigne from the NDP but the link no longer works.
In it, Brad said that they journalist was working to fix the headline.
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