http://tinyurl.com/3oz9no

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... "We can obviously rejoice in the fact that, during the past 30 years, the francization of the workplace and retail businesses has progressed, in Montreal as well as in the rest of Quebec," according to a pre-conference open letter published ... in several French-language newspapers.

It was co-signed by 20 other officials from a cross-section of groups ranging from the Conseil du patronat du Québec, which lobbies for the province's big employers, to the two largest union centrals, the Fédération des Travailleurs du Québec and the Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux.

"From a standpoint of logic and on a strict economic basis," the letter stated, "francophone clientele - even downtown - is simply too important to ignore" and the ability to provide service in French "is uncontestably an indispensible ingredient in business success."

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http://tinyurl.com/45nma5

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Francophone Quebecers tend too much to communicate with anglophone store clerks in English rather than French, Premier Jean Charest suggested yesterday. Six of every 10 people surveyed on Montreal Island said they usually respond in English whenever greeted by a shop employee in that language.

"I think that's too much," Charest told reporters.
The Liberal leader was wrapping up a one-day round of consensus-building over measures intended to increase the use of French in Montreal.

Held at the Palais des congrès, the event attracted more than 200 participants and yielded an almost unanimous consensus that francization rules under the Charter of the French Language should not be extended to businesses with fewer than 50 employees ...

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As usual, Quebec petty politics seem to be staying abreast of the colossal events that are sweeping the world. You would think that the premier's concern would centre around the fact that shoppers, whether English or French, are probably not shopping so much these days as the middle class dwindles under the current economic threats they face. But it's business as usual when trying to garner votes amongst the segment of our population that has been conditioned to scapegoat their minorities in turbulent times.

But aren't there thousands of anglophone malls in North America? Why do you insist on anglicizing (or just smearing) the few that haven't succumbed to consumer totalitarianism yet?