Hi Larry.
-> LP>'Francophone issues' would be the usual expression.
-> LK> All of that sounds way too close to telephony for my own taste!
We do some strange things with the English language! But in Quebec, yes,
I know that's a very big issue and the use of those terms is one way of
labelling warring parties. Not good for either side.
Everyone who lives in Quebec is considered a 'phone' of some sort: there
are Francophones (native language is French), Anglophones (native
language is English), and Allophones (everybody else).  The terms are in
widespread use and reflect the fact that the sovereignty debate is
conducted through language-related skirmishes, such as provincial
regulations about what school a child may go to (depends on the language
of the parents, but is weighted in favour of making children go to
French-language schools).
The French-Canadians have been described as 'insufficiently oppressed'
and I'd go along with that assessment.  IOW, they talk a good grievance,
but they're living well.
In the 1995 referendum, >3 million voted Yes to an (obviously
deliberately) obscure question about negotiating something unstated with
the government of Canada. It wasn't actually a question about separation
per se.  After the referendum, it was revealed that quite a large
number of these Yes voters (it may have been 30%; I don't recall)
thought they'd still be electing federal representatives to Ottawa - so
they were obviously not thinking that Yes meant complete separation.
But even more people voted No, although there were many irregularities
in counting the vote (the Quebec provincial government isn't
bothering to look into these irregularities).  In areas thought likely
to vote No, the ballot counters were instructed to regard as spoiled any
ballot with an 'X' formed with the slightest imperfection, such as one
stroke of the X being more heavily drawn than the other.  This led to
many, many ballots being rejected as 'spoiled' in areas where No was
the most likely vote.
There is also evidence that the Quebec provincial government was
planning to stage a coup as soon as they thought they could get away
with announcing that they'd gotten a majority of the votes.  For
example, they had already sent a letter to the armed forces stationed
in Quebec (who are of course Canadian government employees) that they
should be ready to swear allegiance to the new government of Quebec as
soon as there was a Yes vote.
They haven't been brought to book for this.
Then they wonder why the rest of Canada doesn't love them to the same
degree that they love themselves.
--- PCBoard 15.2
(1:134/10)
---------------