Tory goes to summer school
Conservative leader John Tory is spending the week in Quebec with his wife Barbara Hackett to attend an intensive, French language boot camp.
One of the early knocks against Tory was his inability to speak French.
Ontario has a large Francophone and French-speaking population and having a working knowledge of both official languages is considered a political prequisite for political leaders in this province – though as has often been jokingly observed, Jean Chrétien was always did well here and was never hurt by his inability to speak either language well.
Premier Dalton McGuinty and NDP leader Howard Hampton are comfortable speaking either French or English (though Hampton’s accent is a bit rough) but, the thinking went, Tory would suffer to some degree because he couldn’t directly reach an important constituency.
Tory has been working on his French since winning the Conservative leadership. He spent two weeks in Quebec last year, spends some time during the year on French studies and has been encouraged recently, his staff say, by the fact he’s been approached by people following speeches he’s given in French, or after radio or television interviews, and told he’s “improving.�
While Tory is now able to communicate key messages in French, it may be more important if he wins credit from the Francophone community in the election campagin next fall for making the effort to learn French.
July 24th, 2006 at 3:43 pm
So, John Tory thinks by learning some extra French will impress the Francophone community enough to vote for him. Wow! he really thinks very little of the Francophone community to think they would vote for him because he learned a little more of their language.
July 24th, 2006 at 6:55 pm
It’s interesting that Tory believes that because he learns some French that Francophonie people would vote for him, solely based on that fact. Does he actually think that would sway votes, that people wouldn’t look at the neo-Cons platform, or lack thereof.
July 24th, 2006 at 6:56 pm
jwallace:
While this topic is mildly interesting, as has been your other two, why are you avoiding the major topics that affect all Canadians: the crisis in Lebanon, is a good example.
July 25th, 2006 at 8:58 am
I agree….I watch it off and on each day…I want to know more how Canadians feel about what is going on there and I worry about the spread of violence in the east. Right now this is the biggest news item that could affect our country perhaps equal to global warming…yet nobody is talking about it. Its like a huge volcano brewing away – waiting to errupt – getting larger each and every week – more countries getting involved, the entire East is upset, neighbour against neighbour, country against country. Instead of sending every possible weapon to kill as many or do as much destruction as possible — why not send every possible person, pamphlet , icon, whatever, of love and peace and understanding to tamp down this firepit, stop stirring up the bees nest…violence begets violence. We are all on a journey on this earth for only so many days…why live miserably?
July 25th, 2006 at 10:03 am
Wow Phantom, I read the same article as you and you know, I did not find anywhere where it stated that Mr. Tory thought he would win over votes by learning French as you assert. In fact if you actually read the article it states that he wants to be able to communicate to his Francophone constituency. The writer of the article notes that perhaps this will gain a few votes for his consideration of reaching out and learning a new language.
I believe that his thinks very highly of the Francophone community by trying to learn their language and reach out to them. Mr. Tory has been front and centre since being elected, while the same cannot be said for Priemier McGuinty, the reason in my opinion is that Mr. Tory is confident in his platform and his beliefs, and Mr. McGuinty is not, if fact I feel that his own party is embarassed of him and what he may say. I believe he is a bumbling idiot.
Now as far as speaking about other major topics, I believe that we need a balance on heavy news and current local news, and that’s just what the write Mr. Wallace does each week. You just prove you can’t please all of the people all of the time.
July 25th, 2006 at 10:27 am
The Lebanon crisis clearly is creating ripples around the world including here in Ontario. Just as clearly, it’s an important topic. In the past I’ve tried to stick to provincial politics, which I cover for Osprey Media newspapers, but it might be worthwhile to broaden things on occassion, particularly if we take a look at the local and international implications of broader issues. Thanks for the suggestion Phantom.
July 25th, 2006 at 12:37 pm
Q Says:
July 25th, 2006 at 10:03 am
Q: I re-read the article as you suggested. However, I stand by my initial comments. If you would re-read it, perhaps you would see what I was referring to. a) being bilingual is considered a prerequisite for leadership (and potentially being Premier). b) Thinking was Tory would suffer to some degree because he couldn’t directly reach an important constituency. c) While Tory is now able to communicate key messages in French, it may be more important if he wins credit from the Francophone community in the election campagin next fall for making the effort to learn French. Re-read my post from July 24 at 6:55 pm, then look at c) above, especially the second part.
If, Tory was such a front and centre kind of guy (as you suggest) and knowing he was entering politics, wouldn’t you think he would have learned French before hand. Instead of scrambling to do it now. It’s not like he was unaware of the large Francophonie community before he announced his intention to run for the leadership of his party. Now, he belatedly attempts to learn French in an effort to win votes; it almost seems like desperation on his and his party’s part.
Hopefully, that helps to clarify things for you.
July 25th, 2006 at 12:40 pm
Thank you for you reply, jwallace.
July 25th, 2006 at 12:56 pm
Q Says:
July 25th, 2006 at 10:03 am
Mr. McGuinty is not, if fact I feel that his own party is embarassed of him and what he may say. I believe he is a bumbling idiot
Q: Would you please clarify this statement: including where you found information that the Liberal party is embarrassed by Mr. McGuinty?
Now as far as speaking about other major topics, I believe that we need a balance on heavy news and current local news, and that’s just what the write Mr. Wallace does each week. You just prove you can’t please all of the people all of the time.
Q: Please read jwallace’s reply to me. The current crisis in Lebanon has ramifications for Canada and Ontario, which does make it current local news.
July 25th, 2006 at 3:14 pm
Phantom, I did re-read the article, and stand by my intial reponse to you. No where does it state that Mr. Tory thinks by learning French he can win votes. Actually he is trying to communicate his platform to his constiuents. It states that since being elected he has been learning French and if researched he was probably learning French before being elected. Should one be penalized for trying to better themselves, simply put no! I hardly call learning and studyingfor over three years scrambling to learn now. Also it takes quite a while to learn a new language, and in politics sometimes chances come before being totally prepared as was the case with Mr. Tory’s election. This would be called being proactive. Mr Tory has been front and centre touring his province that last few years. And can Mr. McGuinty say the same, no he cannot.
As for my comments on Mr. McGuinty if you read it sates that it is my opinion, can’t get any clearer than that! Why else would a party leader not have enough fortitude to meet with his constiuents and to make non staged public appearances. Also I advised that Mr. Wallace tries to balance on heavy news and non heavy news. I would consider this past article non heavy and what you would prefer to have him write about as heavy. So I was correct in my previous statement.
July 25th, 2006 at 4:16 pm
Q: To state that Mr. Tory is not learning French to elicit some votes from the Francophonie constituency is naive in the extreme. If your saying that Mr. Tory’s election as leader was a surprise, then perhaps, you require some further research, because he was considered the front runner, from the time he entered the leadership race. Knowing that he was going to attempt to become the party leader (because no one enters unless they think they can win) should he not have begun studying French sooner. Yes, I am aware that it takes a long time to learn a new language, but, one is able to learn one more quickly, if one totally immerses oneself in the language for an extended period of time.
It is interesting that because Mr. Tory has been campaigning around the province, as if the election campaign is already happening: doesn’t mean that Mr. McGuinty has to follow suit. If Mr. Tory was that confident in his platform, he shouldn’t need to campaign this long before the actual election period.
When a Premier or a Prime Minister has something to announce, it is a staged event: is nothing new.
July 26th, 2006 at 8:32 am
No where did I state that that Mr. Tory is not trying to elicit some votes, that is how onegets elected by receiving more votes than that of their competitor. I am aware that Mr. Tory was the front runner for the leadership race and have suggested that he has been learning french since then. By you statement that to learn the a new language more quickly one must totally immerse themself for an extended period of time. To do that anyone would have to give up everything else in order to do so. That is not reasonable, what is reasonable is that someone is trying to better themselves.
Take the politics out of it for a minute, why must we bash someone for trying to better themselves, or getting ahead? Are we really that small minded?
Why must a leader wait until an election is called to travel his domain in order to reach out to the people. I think that it is wonderful someone wants hear what we have to say for a change instead on sitting in some some in Toronto thinking what it is we want or need. The fact that someone feels so strongly about what they stand for that they are willing to travel to get the message out is what politics is all about, rather than staying in localized area hardly speaking to anyone. I just find it odd that our Premier hasn’t been more in the public eye as one would expect, and I would feel this way regardless of their affiliated party.
Now put the politics back in, one simply doesn’t give or want to give Mr. Tory any credit because of his party, and you know what; if the Ontario public don’t think he is the right man for the job or if the Francophone community aren’t impressed with his learning of their language then it will be reflected on election night. However the fact still remain the the Premier of our Province has not been front and centre in the political eye as indicated by his lack of leadership in resolving the Caledonia issue to name just one. If he had been a real leader I would be saying what a great job he has done regardless of his political party. That is what we need more or, more handshaking and recognizing of leadership and decision making and solutions, rather than figer pointing and scapgoating.
Your opinion is yours which I respect, however don’t agree with. I think you read things into what is actually trying to be relayed which strays from the original point trying to be made. But that’s what politics and this good old life are about, having differences of opinions and still being able to accomplish things. Thanks for the banter.
July 26th, 2006 at 8:52 am
Why doesn’t Mr. Tory learn how to speak Martian? Need I say any more.
July 26th, 2006 at 3:18 pm
What’s Dalton supposed to do? Order the OPP to shoot a couple of Native protestors. I guess that kind of political interference within the law enforcement/justice system is how the Tory, Tory would handle it!
July 26th, 2006 at 3:37 pm
Well Johnny, first of all Mr. McGuinty should find a resolution since it is possible government land that the Native protesters are disputing. I would hardly call what has taken place in Caledonia as a couple of Native protesters. What has happened is wrong and in some cases criminal such as tearing down of hydro etc. There needs to be a resolution! I doubt that Mr. Tory would interfere within the justice system. What one man may or may not have done cannot be the party as a wholes fault.
Perhaps you would handle things differntly so lets have your answers then, rather than your smart alec comments and attempts to stir the pot shall we. Or perhaps you don’t have any and that’s why you feel you need to attack Mr. Tory.
July 26th, 2006 at 7:58 pm
Henco Industries wanted to build 250 homes on land that the First Nations (Six Nations) say was stolen from them more than 200 years ago.
Apparently. the province says aboriginals gave up the land in 1841 to make way for a new highway, an agreement a Six Nations spokesperson said “was only meant to be a lease.�
The Six Nations filed a land claim suit over the area in 1999.
Many say that this dispute is only a microcosm of a national problem. Where First Nation’s in Canada have been ignored by the federal government in resolving its land claims.
Maybe Henco Industries could have picked a less troubled location. But having said that, didn’t Dalton compensate Henco?
I don’t think Mr. Tory would have ordered in the snipers. But I think it’s misinformation and misleading to say the Premier just sat on his hands.
July 26th, 2006 at 9:26 pm
Q: Where to begin to reply to your latest comment. Firstly, yes, my opinion, is my opinion. The reason we post in this forum is to express what we think for others to read and comment on. That’s the purpose of the site. We don’t have to agree with what’s written or we can, it’s our choice. But, I am not or did not read into the article. Mr. Tory is learning French specifically to elicit votes from the Francophone communities. He is NOT learning French in order to better himself (as you stated). If, his desire was to learn French for recreational or any other purpose. He wouldn’t be spending his time learning it now. Since, he doesn’t need to better himself. Especially, since he former incarnation was as a businessman and lawyer. Ultimately, you cannot take politics out of the matter.
Mr. McGuinty is not roaming around the province, because he is running the government. Just because the Legislature is in recess (closed) doesn’t mean Mr. McGuinty is on holidays. I am unaware of any Premier that travelled the province to hear what people had to say, they rely on their MPPs for that information, because they are the people who people usually go to with their problems. Mr. Tory can travel because he is leader of the Opposition and as such, when the Legislature is in recess, he has the time to travel. This is typical of all leaders of the Opposition.
You cannot separate the person from his/her party; even more so when that person is the leader of the party.
To say that Mr. McGuinty hasn’t demonstrated any leadership in the Caledonia affair, is blatantly incorrect. The reason there was/is any negotiation occurring is because of Mr. McGuinty. The province purchased the land involved in the dispute (Henco), and is holding it in trust, until the negotiations are complete. To infer that the hydro outage is because of the natives, is incorrect. The police are investigating and haven’t laid blame or responsibility on anyone. Also, let’s not forget that the Federal Government actually has the responsibility of negotiating with the natives. It is even though Mr. Harper states otherwise. How can one complete negotiations when one party refuses to step up and assume their responsibility in the situation? Ultimately, there does need to be a resolution, but it has to be a lasting one, not an interim measure.
July 26th, 2006 at 9:28 pm
Johnny Says:
July 26th, 2006 at 8:52 am
Why doesn’t Mr. Tory learn how to speak Martian? Need I say any more. lol. Better yet, Klingon.
July 26th, 2006 at 11:49 pm
Wouldn’t that mean that Mr. Tory-Tory would be spending the summer circling Uranus with the other Klingons?
July 27th, 2006 at 12:01 am
While it is nice that Mr Tory is learning our other “official language” in order to appease that other 23% of our population, I think that to learn French is a waste of time.
French is going the way of Latin. No words can be added to that language without the permission of the Legislature in Paris. The language is no longer dynamic. Anything that cannot evolve will eventually become extinct.
Rather he should learn Spanish, as that would stand him better stead in this hemisphere, either that or the language of the most prevalent of the Refugee peoples that are taking advantage of our soft immigration laws.
The only place where French is spreading is in Canada because the Feds in their infinite wisdom have dictated that all government employees should speak that language, whether they work in Sandspit BC, Montmagne PQ or Dildo Nfld.
Go figure, our government is setting emphasis on us being required to learn something that everyone else realizes is Dying Out.
The only difference between Latin and French is that Latin has real classic liturature.
July 27th, 2006 at 6:51 am
Anole, you may be right about the french language dying out…but its not because of why you say so (Paris not allowing words to be added). True, the language is legislated quite heavily in Paris, but one would probably be more correct in labeling the french language ‘dead’ because of its increasing obsolescence in the western world. Most notably because of the increasing dominance of english. The two largest native french speaking areas in the western world, Quebec and France, are completely surrounded by large powers that prefer to use english for international communication (english canada and the USA for quebec, and the UK, Germany, netherlands, belgium, and spain for France). So I think this is more the reason why the language could be considered ‘dead’ or at least not as useful. In any case, if you go to France, you better get ready to speak it. The language is as vibrant as ever within the country.
I for one am happy to see the canadian goverment see to it that their employees are bilingual. Last time I checked, Canada was still officially a bilingual country. If anything, this adds to a national identity in a postive manner. We are not viewed as unilingual morons throughout the world, even though much of canada does in fact fall into this category. For some reason we get away with the image though and people respond to it.
I also have no idea what ‘the difference between French and Latin is that Latin has real classic literature’ means.
July 27th, 2006 at 11:11 am
As previously stated, French is an official state language, there is a French Language Services Act in Ontario and 542,340 Francophones live in this province. I think it shows shades of his federal aspirations more than anything else but it certainly wouldn’t hurt for Mr. Tory to know French while serving in politics in the Province of Ontario.
July 27th, 2006 at 1:35 pm
As an English speaking Canadian, I have always felt that Canada’s first language should be one of First Nation, after all, were they not here first? We are the invaders…it should not be English 1st and French 2nd…how egoistic of us to even think that way. Mr. Tory should be touring the lovely First Nation reservations and picking up some traditional words from them….I am sure that would open his eyes a bit.
July 27th, 2006 at 1:39 pm
among the worlds well of unremarkable people….
July 27th, 2006 at 3:28 pm
Anole:
Your rant against French being one of the official languages of Canada is old and only demonstrates your bias. French is one of the founding languages of Canada (other that First Nations). Yes, I am aware that the French were defeated by the English at the Plains of Abraham. But, in the infinite wisdom of the founding Fathers, they allowed French to continue to be spoken and French law to be used.
While French in France is heavily legislated, the French spoken in Canada is a Colloquial form of the language, which is still very vibrant within Quebec and other parts of Canada. Having two official languages is not a hindrance to Canada. It helps demonstrate our openness to others. In case you are unaware, a large number of refugees freely choose to settle in Quebec and learn French.
It is debatable to say that French is dying out, or simply evolving. And as to your comment that “The only difference between Latin and French is that Latin has real classic liturature(sic),” makes absolutely no sense. French has a lot of excellent classic literature. If you meant that Latin is a classical language, I would point out to you that French is as well.
July 27th, 2006 at 4:10 pm
The truly wonderful thing about having French as our third language is – that it distinguishes Canada from the U.S. of A. — how great is that !
July 27th, 2006 at 4:27 pm
I agree, rose, having more than one official language demonstrates how Cosmopolitan Canada is and how out of touch the American model really is.