Saturday, April 18, 2015

Montreal is a French city

I have noticed over the last five years or so that Montreal has become more French than ever. Growing up in Montreal in the 80's, it was possible to feel like you lived in an English city. All three elementary schools that I attended were completely English. There weren't any French immersion programs, that I can remember.

You could live in the suburbs and feel completely separate from the French language. We had two English television channels (we didn't have cable) and there were several English radio stations. You could go shopping and never have to worry about whether you could speak French or not.

It's quite fascinating how language laws work in Quebec. If you are born in Quebec and both of your parents were born here and attended English schools, then you have the golden ticket to attend an English school. You are then in a situation where you might only learn a very limited amount of French beginning in grade 4. This is not a fact - don't quote me on this as I don't know many people with children in the English school system! But when I look back on my own education, I can honestly say that I don't have any recollection of French class until grade 4 (9 years old). I've been told that these days the majority of English kids are in French imersion at school. In fact, I don't know a single English kid that not enrolled in immersion.

I started speaking French when I was about three years old. I had a couple of French neighbours. I am sure I didn't understand what they said, but I think I picked up a few words! Then when I started daycare (or the Garderie as I called it) I believe the workers were French, and so were many of the children. However, we also watched The Finstones every day at twelve p.m, so it was a mixed bag.

I basically spent an hour a day learning French for eight years. Other than that hour a day, my entire life was spent in English. All of my friends and family were English, all of the t.v shows and movies I watched were in English, all of the music I listened to was in English. I only spoke French when I needed to, like maybe at the grocery store or something.

It's strange, but my life hasn't really changed all that much. All of the above still applies, minus the fact that I no longer spend an hour a day learning French! I have tried to watch t.v shows and movies in French, but find that I just can't understand it well enough for it hold my attention! I'm one of those rare people who speaks  French better than they understand it!

These days I find that Montreal really does seem more French. I can vaguely recall going to free outdoor concerts and maybe hearing some English now and again. That never happens these days. In stores you are greeted with a "bonjour/hi". Back in the 90's you were sometimes greeted with just "hi". That doesn't happen anymore.

Also, the western section of Montreal, known as the West Island, has always had a reputation of being predominantly English. Growing up in the 80's and 90's I felt that to be particularly true. These days I'm becoming more and more aware of changes. The shopping centre, Fairview, for example has changed a lot over the years. Back in the 90's you would hardly ever hear French being spoken. Today, you'll hear it much more.

I think what I find most striking about the cultural scene in Montreal, is that the really fun/happening places do tend to be French. When I was in my 20's, I must confess that I sadly ended up on Crescent Street most of the time. I guess knowing it had a reputation for being English was kind of attractive to me. Until I realized that the reason it was English was because of all the Americans coming up here to get drunk due to our young drinking age (18 instead of 21). And they weren't really heading to the bars for some dancing and friendly chit chat. They were there to get drunk and get laid, and Montreal girls had a reputation of being easy.

There are areas downtown where you will hear English spoken on the streets. Old Montreal is somewhere you will hear English being spoken, but that is mostly due to tourists. You will hear English being spoken in the western part of downtown near St. Catherine Street (Atwater to McGill) but that's because there are at least three English colleges there! Dawson College, McGill University, and Concordia University. Which explains why there are some pubs around Crescent Street.

But many of the happening places in Montreal tend to be around St. Denis, Plateau, St. Laurent Blvd. That's where you find really funky and cool local bars and cafés. And they tend to be completely French. Try speaking French when it's your second language with locals that speak Quebecois while listening to blaringly loud music. Not easy at all!

My mother claims that Montreal has always had divisions, some areas English, some areas French. She's been living here as an Anglophone since the early 1950's!!! Can you imagine seeing Montreal change that much in your lifetime? She claims that in the 50's Montreal was actually a fairly English city! She said that she worked at Eatons (a department store that closed down in the 90's) and wasn't even asked if she spoke French. She served customers in English and there was never any problem at all. She said that she didn't even think about whether Montreal was an English or French city. It was just a big city, where she lived. Speaking English (and some French).

Once Bill 101 came along, she said that things started changing. That was almost 40 years ago. This is how Bill 101 is explained by thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/bill-101: "Introduced by Camille Laurin, Bill 101, Charte de la langue française (1977), made French the official language of government and of the courts in the province of Québec, as well as making it the normal and habitual language of the workplace, of instruction, of communications, of commerce and of business. Education in French became compulsory for immigrants, even those from other Canadian provinces, unless a "reciprocal agreement" existed between Québec and that province (the so-called Québec clause)."

When Bill 101 came along, many of the English people in Montreal left. A lot of them went to Toronto. They seemed to take a lot of the head offices away with them too! Montreal was officially a French city after that. In my opinion, it just keeps getting more and more French. English schools are still closing down while French ones keep getting built. Hospitals serving English communities have slowly been disappearing. There is one hospital for the West Island. There has even been talk about only receiving service in a hospital in French.

When the PQ government was elected a few years ago, things in Montreal started to get much worse again. The language police were out in full force, aiming to silence all the English in the city. They didn't want any bilingualism. They wanted people to be greeted by just "bonjour" in stores. No English. They tried to fine a restaurant for using the word "pasta" on their menu instead of the French word "pate". This became known as "Pastagate". Most people think that the laws are ridiculous, but the sad truth is that nobody is doing anything to change this.

I was in Paris a few years ago and was shocked by how much more English you see in the city compared to here. It's not an offensive language there. You see it everywhere. But no one seems to care.

Right now we have a Liberal government, but make no mistake, it's all run by French people. The separatists don't disappear just because a new government is elected. As we speak, there are still language police patrolling the streets looking for offensive English words on store fronts or being spoken in stores.

Just the other week a games store in Montreal was under attack because it sells some games that don't have a French version. They were told to remove all games from their shelves that don't have a French version. The store owner said that many games come from the United States and that there is a strong demand for them. To remove those games would basically force him to have to close his business.

Another story that happened recently, was that a man tried to buy a Daniel Tiger toy for his daughter at Toys R Us, but was told that he couldn't buy it because it wasn't supposed to be on the shelf due to the fact that it is an English toy. Apparently head office made a mistake and they were sending them all back. So he had to order it from Amazon instead. 

Another interesting change that I've seen over the last twenty years is how street names are pronounced. In the 90's we used to call St. Laurent Blvd "St. Lawrence", and Notre Dame was pronounced to rhyme with lame not lamb. Boulevard St. Jean was called Saint John's boulevard. Also, some names of streets have been changed, like Dorchester became Réne Lévesque. Recently they changed 20 Métro names to add the proper French syntaxes in front of them.

Another change that doesn't necessarily relate to Montreal, but to as Quebec as a whole is that if you call up RAMQ (healthcare) they will not serve you in English - or at least - they will test your language skills to determine if you really can't communicate in French at all. There is no "press 9 for English" in the menu, it only comes at very end after a half minute of silence! A similar thing happens if you call Hydro Quebec. All of the options are in French. Only when you get to the very end do you find out you can press "0" or whatever for English.

One thing that hasn't changed, and never will, is that bus and Metro workers are Francophone. They will not provide assistance to you in English. They will simply say "Je ne parle pas Anglais". In fact, a few years ago there was a joke going around that there would be signs in the metro saying that if you couldn't speak French you'd have to walk instead.

I'm a liberal, open minded individual, and I can appreciate that cultures want to hold onto their heritage and preserve their language. I can appreciate that it's difficult to be a small population of French right next door to the United States which is mostly English. Or being part of Canada which is also mostly English. But I have a huge problem with the way that they try to silence the English!

In Montreal there are neighbourhoods devoted to other ethnicities, like Greek, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Indian, Aboriginal, Polish, Jewish (Hebrew), etc. All of these places are allowed to put store signs outside in foreign languages. In China town all the stores have Chinese writing on them! And yet, it is illegal to have any English stores! There are immigrants here from the United Kingdom, where English is the prominently spoken language. A place rich with history and culture. And yet, in Quebec it is against the law to display it's native language in public. I find that disgusting. It's sad to say, but I don't think I'll be able to live in this place much longer. I prefer Vancouver where being English isn't considered an obscenity. Where I don't have to worry about feeling afraid to ask for help in a store because my French isn't good enough. Where if I have an accident and have to interact with a paramedic who refuses to speak English to me I could die because we aren't communicating properly. Where there aren't any free outdoor festivals where you will hear English spoken on the stage. Where you can't participate in contests because most won't deal with Quebec due to the language issues (it costs more money to run contests in Quebec).

It's very unfortunate, because it's a great city. I've been to many parties and meet up groups and everyone is from somewhere else. It's really beautiful how accepting people are. We are a warm group of people here, no matter what our language or colour. Ultimately, we all get along! We work together, we live together, we sleep together, we party together. I just wish the laws would relax a bit. We welcome in all kinds of different cultures, allow them to wear their traditional religious clothes, allow them to build religious buildings, and yet, when it comes to English, there is blatant discrimination! It's just not spoken about because the rest of Canada isn't like that. If a person has a problem with how things are here, they are told that they should just leave!  But when you were born here, and all of your family and friends are here, your house is here - your whole life is here, it's not so easy to just pack it all up and leave!









Dyson DC78 Review

I recently had the chance to try out a brand new Dyson DC78 and thought I'd share my thoughts on it in case anyone is shopping around for a new vacuum and likes to read reviews first!

When I first saw it, I thought it looked pretty cool. Very space age, or bling, I don't know but it looks fancy anyway.

I was cleaning for a friend and was a bit short on time, so I didn't spend time analyzing all the intricate details of the machine. I just wanted to start vacuuming and figured I'd find out about everything along the way!

So I plugged it in and got to work. The first thing I noticed was how cool the floor brush is. It swivels in a very efficient way so that you can really get into hard to reach places without having to switch to the crevice tool all the time. I liked the way the machine moves, it follows you around very easily and effortlessly. The pole is quite light, so it's also very easy to whip around quickly.

Once I'd vacuumed most of the floors I needed to switch to a tool to remove cat fur off of furniture. I reached for the lint brush tool initially because it was on the pole and seemed like the right choice. I did not like this tool at all. First of all, because the suction is so strong it was impossible to use without pulling the trigger thing to release some of the suction. I did not like having to hold this trigger the whole time, I found it tiring! The tool itself also seemed to leave little annoying lines all over the couch, due to upraised plastic bits on the tool.

I then discovered a little turbine head with little wheels in it. This was a fantastic little tool! I used it on a few chairs to get cat fur off, and it was awesome! It just glided along and sucked all of the fur off the chair completely effortlessly!

I did not like the crevice tool. I don't like the way that it is a combo tool with the brush attached. I kept accidentally bumping it or something and then the brush would come down and I'd have to fix it. I just found that to be annoying. Minor, I know, but worth mentioning.

I then attached the turbine head for the carpeted basement. I can't say I was hugely impressed with it. It did an adequate job, but as it isn't motorized I didn't really feel like it was penetrating the carpet. I also found it small and it took a long time to vacuum the  room. I would be very curious to go back over it with a heavy duty motorized upright vacuum cleaner to see what was left behind!

My favourite tool was the animal brush thing. Sorry, I don't know what it is called! It looks like my cat brush, but had holes to suck the fur into the machine. Wow, I used it on a cat tree and it was phenomenal! Absolutely amazing! I've struggled for years trying to find the best way to vaccum these annoying towers of fur and this tool does the trick nicely!

As for the noise, I found the machine to be fairly quiet. It got noiser when using the various attachments, but with just the floor tool it was not necessary to war ear protection.

Let's talk about suction! Well, Dyson like to boast about how great the suction is on their machines, and I have to say, this machine seriously sucks!!!! In a good way, obviously! It had such strong suction that when I placed it to my hand to test it, it almost hurt it was so strong! I've never felt such strong suction in a machine, honestly.

About the floor brush tool. After using it for several minutes it became apparent that it was "snow plowing" all the cat fur, which made for a very messy floor brush. I had to remove it and vacuum it about a dozen times during the cleaning of the house. And while the suction is fantastic, for some reason it just doesn't easily suck the fur right off of the bristles! So I had to manually remove them and then put them into the sucking hole. Time consuming and annoying.

As for emptying the canister, I did not enjoy this in the slightest! First of all, it wasn't super apparent right away how to actually remove the canister. I have used many canister vacuums, and I can usually figure this out quite quickly. Not so in this case. And as this is a brand new machine, and not mine, I did not want to risk damanging it in any way. So I grabbed the instruction manual to see how to do it. The manual is kind of ridiculous! It's full of all kinds of weird pictures and no descriptions! I figured out that I needed to push a button with a strange picture on it in order to release the canister from the main body.

Emptying the canister was not easy or fun. My friend has a small garbage can so the canister would not fit in it. I released the bottom to let the debris fall out and it spilled all over the garbage making a bit of a mess. I ended up having to get a plastic bag to put the canister in it in order to empty it without making a mess. There isn't actually a proper handle on top of the canister, just a small loop to grip. The canister is quite big, so I found it akward trying to hold it and empty it.

While the canister itself is quite large, there doesn't seem to be a large capacity in the machine. There is a giant filter or something that takes up three quarters of the space, leaving only a few inches of free space for dirt! The "max" line, is at the bottom of the canister! I had to empty the canister five times while cleaning the house (there are several cats) and the cat fur got caught inside the canister almost every time. So I had to stick my hand inside to get it out. Some of it was really stuck and my fingers couldn't reach inside to get it. I suspect my friend will have to use a knife or something to get all the way in, or take the canister apart. I would imagine the top part comes off. What a messy nightmare!!!

Conclusion: Overall, it's a great machine. It's fairly quiet. It's very easy to manoever and get into tight spots with. It has very strong suction. It has a fantastic selection of tools. But not all tools are great. The lint brush tool is rather useless. I don't like the combo brush/crevice tool. The brush tool kept falling down over the crevice tool and I had to re-adjust it several times. The extendable wand was rather short. I'm only 5,4 inches tall so it didn't affect me but I can't imagine using it if you are 5,10 or taller. You would have to bend over a bit, I would think. I hate the trigger thing you have to use on the handle for some of the tools that require less suction. It tired my hand out using it. Ok if you are young, but if you are older and arthritic, you really won't be able to use it for long.

The main issue, apart from the above complaints, is the price. If this was a $200 machine I'd probably get one, if only to have all those great attachments. But as it is an $800 machine after taxes I probably wouldn't get one.

Finally, I actually did buy a vacuum recently! I spent a month researching vacuum cleaners and finally decided upon the Sebo K2 canister vacuum. It's my first bagged vacuum cleaner, and so far I'm loving it! It was $399 before taxes, so a lot cheaper than Dyson. It's very quiet, and has a dial so I can reduce suction if needed. The lower the suction, the quieter the machine. Which is great if I have to vacuum at night, it's so quiet. It has a very long hose. Very long cord. Good suction. The floor head is great, it's flat on one side so the cat fur doesn't get caught up in all the bristles. It has a full length crevice tool which sits inside the machine. The lint tool is on the canister, out of the way. The brush tool sits on the wand. Emptying the dirty bag couldn't be easier! It just slides out, and it comes with little caps so I can seal the bag so no dust escapes at all. The bags are pretty cheap, about $3 a bag.

After spending the last 9 years using bagless vacuum cleaners, it's such a treat to have a bagged machine!!! I was constantly having a big mess to clean after emptying them, there was fur and dust flying out of it every time. I was always having to wash all the filters, or bang them to get the dust out. It was a filthy horrible chore that took a lot of time. With this machine, I'll have to replace the filters once a year and that's it. It also has a 10 year warranty on certain things.

At this point, especially after playing around with the Dyson yesterday, I feel that I would rather just pay the extra money for bags and filters rather than have to deal with that whole disgusting process of emptying the nasty canisters! I have cats and have to vacuum around the litter boxes. When I empty the canisters and have to pull debris out, I am actually physically touching the dusty litter particles! Plus all the dirt and dust. It's not hygenic to be touching it!