Re: GG: Gould's francophonie...

[Elmer Elevator <bobmer.javanet@RCN.COM>]

Yeah, what Hele said ...

I'm not Canadian so I didn't want to show too much ignorance, but that was
my take, too -- that in Gould's time, there was no dual-language culture in
Canada. This was the close of the Bad Old Days, of tremendous
discrimination, bigotry and hostility between the two language cultures.
People who spoke both languages fluently were rare in any Province. except
possibly parts of Quebec where French was spoken at home, but the schools
were only teaching in English then. We need more Canadians for more details,
but bilinguilism as something we commonly associate with Canada is very new.

Official government bilingualism -- in government and Parliament, on
commercial packages and literature, requirement for RCMP recruits, etc. -- I
think only dates to the 1980s.

Elmer

-----Original Message-----
From: h m <tohele@hotmail.com>
To: F_MINOR@email.rutgers.edu <F_MINOR@email.rutgers.edu>
Date: Friday, April 25, 2003 5:28 PM
Subject: Re: GG: Gould's francophonie...


>Canada wasn't officially bilingual until the Trudeau era ... many
>years after Gould left school. I also think (correct me if I'm wrong)
>that during his life he had fewer fans in Quebec than elsewhere
>in Canada. That's changed now of course, and French CBC has
>presented many radio programs about him, including interviews
>with people who knew him well.
>
>Incidentally, I think the older Gould wouldn't have left Toronto
>at all for SARS - just hunkered down at home with his scores and
>some good books.
>
>Best,
>
>Hele Montagna