Blog Post #7 - TRANSLATION? AT WHAT COST?
It seems the Ottawa city manager has recently been forced to have to deal with a group of "Franco-Ontarian" hard liners who have decided they want to try and force / bully the city into spending thousands of dollars to have the City's entire 900 page (300,000) word preliminary budget translated into French so that perhaps four French people who are perfectly able to read English can feel warm and fuzzy and just as comfortable as a bug in a rug just knowing it is has been translated into French. There seems to be no extremely valid reason to waste thousands of tax dollars doing this other than to be able to say the this tiny minority was able to force its will upon -- everyone -- else. You know, just like the FPTB are forcing their will upon everyone in practically all government agencies right now, and also how they are doing the reverse and forcing their majority will on the minority English speaking people in the province of Quebec as well. Something they have been doing for decades now.
I am -- ever so slightly -- exaggerating about the four readers of course but... REALLY ?
Here is the -- part of the article describing the bullying tactics used .. opps I mean to say, here is part of the ... Droit article written --
which has been roughly (very roughly :) Google translated [with my additions in orange and in square brackets]
Google Translate -
I
talked about in my column last Friday of the preliminary budget of the
City of Ottawa which is only available in English on the City's website.
But
on the same site, the City states that "this report is available in
English only and could be translated, in part or in full on
demand". Then added that this request should be directed to the Manager
of Finance, Tom Fedec. [I hesitantly admit that they should not have said it could be made available but, can we all just imagine the grief the city would have received had the web site flat out said, "it's not available in French and WILL NOT be made available in French?"
Mais non... Cest une situation "non gangnant"
or rather, "a no win situation."
A situation, incidentally, that is similar to how the French complained that the new auditor general could not speak a word of French. "NOT EVEN A WORD" one minister shrieked. Mon dieux.
Then, when the AG did learn, and attempt to use, the little French he had learned, a very rude young minister told him not to bother as his -- not up her selfish standards -- attempts were "wasting everyone's time." Lovely... ]
So, I asked for via email to Mr. Fedac a full translation of this preliminary budget. His response was that the city does not produce the full budget in French given that the document is much too large. [Perhaps, Mr. article writer, you could have offered to pay the thousands and thousands of dollars it would cost for this request of yours to be done in order to appease such a tiny number of people, and which, if you didn't pay, would no doubt have a huge direct affect on the very budget you are referring to]
Mais non... Cest une situation "non gangnant"
or rather, "a no win situation."
A situation, incidentally, that is similar to how the French complained that the new auditor general could not speak a word of French. "NOT EVEN A WORD" one minister shrieked. Mon dieux.
Then, when the AG did learn, and attempt to use, the little French he had learned, a very rude young minister told him not to bother as his -- not up her selfish standards -- attempts were "wasting everyone's time." Lovely... ]
So, I asked for via email to Mr. Fedac a full translation of this preliminary budget. His response was that the city does not produce the full budget in French given that the document is much too large. [Perhaps, Mr. article writer, you could have offered to pay the thousands and thousands of dollars it would cost for this request of yours to be done in order to appease such a tiny number of people, and which, if you didn't pay, would no doubt have a huge direct affect on the very budget you are referring to]
So
we told the French taxpayers to make the request, [ah yes, good ol bullying tactics. You and your clan seem so well versed in these tactics] and when they did it,
[mais oui] they are sent to pasture. [oh, do you mean "sent to pasture" in the same way that all the English speaking people in the province of Quebec have been "sent to pasture" for last several decades now whenever they ask for, or request any similar things in English in the province of Quebec? That kind of "sent to pasture?"]
And Mayor Jim Watson will have the nerve to
repeat that official bilingualism in the City of Ottawa is not necessary
since the practical bilingualism works very well ... [I guess he learned this "doublespeak" from Marois and all the other lovely FPTB in the province of Quebec. The old, Marois style ... "Don't worry, your rights (as an English person in the province of Quebec) will be fully protected" false promise.]
A
little upset by this unacceptable response from Mr. Fedec, I invited
readers of this paper to request a complete translation of the
preliminary budget. [I'll bet you did, you.. you... you go_get_em Mr. take_charge_kind_of_guy, you.]
And nearly 80 of you have requested. [imagine that]
So
that, on the morning of Friday, someone at the City prepared a generic
French response sent to all French taxpayers who have requested by
email. Everyone has received the same answer. And here it is:
"Thank
you for your email regarding the preliminary budget 2015 the City of
Ottawa. Please note that all documents are not translated systematically
into French for various reasons. Regarding the translation of the draft
budget 2015, it is 900 pages in length with an average of 350 words per
page, an estimate of 300,000 words in total. It is estimated it would
take three months translation service to translate the document. The
budget would be adopted before the translation is completed. (...) If
specific parts of the report on the preliminary budget interest you,
please let me know and I will bring in terms of our resources. "
It is signed: Tom Fedec
"* some answer. [yes, it is "some answer." It is also THEEEEE answer that the MAJORITY TAX PAYERS ---
of this province who would end up having to pay those extra thousands and thousands of tax dollars for this insane request while they give up even more services and so on just to appease you and your tiny flock,
--- would expect him to reply with]
First,
what does that mean, "all documents are not translated systematically
into French for various reasons"? Why? And why these documents are not
written in French while they are in English? Would it be a question of
money? [uhmm err.. Yes... You got it Mr. article writer. That's correct. It is a question of money. PLUS, it's not a practical idea either. Not to mention the ridiculous fact that you are trying to tell Canadians that there are people living in this country [Canada] that CANNOT function in [ENGLISH?] the main common language of the very country they live in?] Uhmm, Do you think if you went to say, Russia, you would find natural born Russian citizens there who couldn't speak Russian? Just askin...
Second,
we say we estimated it would take three months to translate this
document. OK. So why has not started his translation or the version in
French there ... three months? Would it be a question of money? [Ding ding ding ding. Right again Mr. article writer. These counsellors spent months hammering out the subtleties of this budget while also trying to figure out ways to keep costs down so that the "tax payers" (remember them?) would not have higher tax rates with less and less services. Have you heard of or, heaven forbid, had to directly deal with wait times in hospital emergency rooms lately?]
And
finally, what does Mr. Fedec say when he invites taxpayers (and I
stress the word "taxpayers") Francophones to request specific parts of
the budget, if they wish, and it will bring to the the resources? [Under that warped logic Mr. article writer, If ALL TAX PAYERS are to get what they want then let me be first, if you please. I want a brand new hockey arena in my local park. I also want my garbage picked up 3 times a week and my streets plowed twice a day in the winter. Oh and reduce my tax bill by 18% if you please... Etc etc etc.. Suffice to say that EVEN -- YOU -- Mr. Article writer, must get the drift. There is NO POSSIBLE WAY to give every tax payer -- every -- thing -- they desire just because, they (like you and your tiny clan) desire it.
Please try to be reasonable Mr. article writer. You know, reasonable, just like your kin are when it comes to the "English TAX PAYERS" in that other province.]
What resources? Human resources or financial resources? Or both? Because in both cases there is question of money. [I am sure you MUST be getting it by now. YES, money. That's right... OUR MONEY. The money that comes from the English speaking majority in this city / slash / province -- and might I add.. country]Please try to be reasonable Mr. article writer. You know, reasonable, just like your kin are when it comes to the "English TAX PAYERS" in that other province.]
In
fact, Mr. Fedec - even the City of Ottawa - could sum up his long
answer in seven words: "forget it, bilingualism costs too much." [Well, that seems to be what the FPTB in the province of Quebec are telling the rest of Canada anyways. Oh wait, they have gone one step further and actually been so bold as to use the following nine words "BILINGUALISM IS A NUISANCE in the province of Quebec" to "sum things up" from the FPTB perspective. YIKES... ]
This is what I take from that response. Hence why I find it completely unacceptable. [Yes, the RoC finds this forced unilingual French ONLY situation in the province of Quebec UNACCEPTABLE ALSO. But, something tells me you have little to zero concern for the plight of English speaking people who are being repressed and treated like "second class citizens" in the province of Quebec though. And I wouldn't hold my breath in anticipation of any articles you would write in their defence.]
The French taxpayers pay the same property tax that the English taxpayer. So why did he not entitled to the same services? [Uhmmm actually no, they don't "pay the same taxes" Mr. article writer. Their tiny numbers make up such a small percentage of the population in Ottawa, Ontario that their input would not even contribute enough to purchase the envelopes it would take to contain all the translated budget documents you and your clan wish for the city to waste thousands of dollars on in such a useless way. Now, if you REALLY -- want to go there -- Let's just say it would be ditto for the English speaking property tax payers in the province of Quebec -- TIMES 10 -- since Quebec receives much of it's sustenance (Canadian tax payers money) from the 80% non French tax payers in this country.]
It's called being second-class citizens. And this is a crass injustice. [Oh my good lord. Ya know what Mr. article writer? If I close my eyes REAL TIGHT your use of the phrase "second class citizens" leaves me 100% positive that you MUST BE referring to the English speaking Canadians who live in the province of Quebec.
Yes, that's it, isn't it? That's who you have been referring to all along, It's the English speaking people in Quebec who you are fighting for, right? It's them, isn't it Mr. article writer. The second class English speaking Canadians in the province of Quebec, right?
If you REALLY WANT TO KNOW what "a crass injustice" looks like or what being treated as a second class citizen is all about then, check out this video and see how the English language and English speaking Canadians are treated in the province of Quebec CANADA
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At what cost?
We (the tax payers) are already seeing the price of many things rise within the this budget. This alone should demonstrate to you Mr. article writer that everyone is bending over backwards trying to keep the tax hike at just a 2.5% increase.
And secondly...
This tiny group of residents who live in a city that resides within a country which has English as the common language of the land is trying to tell the majority to shell out thousands and thousands more tax dollars under the pretense that this tiny group of people cannot function enough in the language -- of the very country they live in -- to be able to understand the city's budget?
This is crazy.
Ya know, whenever these types of insane requests are made with the added finger pointing and negative misuse of the phrase "second class citizens" I can't help but be reminded of ALL THE HYPERBOLE that exists on the...
OTHER SIDE.
Things like the reverse type situation you see in this video where an English resident (you know "English" as in, the people that make up the majority in this country, or more importantly the majority -- 96% of the population in the province of ONTARIO -- for this example) makes a request that their local politician reply to questions, at his town meeting, in the main common language (ENGLISH) of the very country they are in, only to have the alderman in question -- not only refuse to answer in English -- but then, turn around and accuse the man of being provocative? REALLY???
Then, you look at how few comments and reaction (or input) there is on these forums where the people actually have the opportunity to HAVE A SAY and a VOICE when it comes to their objections or concerns about this kind of TOTAL INSANITY, and it makes you sad to see that there are a total of maybe five, and none seem to drive home the point of how ridiculous this actually really is ...
PS: This type of -- WASTE OF TAX MONEY -- also makes a good case against the idea being pushed by these tiny very vocal groups to make Ottawa an "officially bilingual" city.
Why? Because if they get their way and Ottawa is forced to declare itself "officially bilingual" then this enormous cost / slash / waste of all tax payers money becomes -- MANDATORY --
Please take a moment to go to this link and let others know what -- YOU -- THINK
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/taxes-recreation-fees-climb-in-citys-draft-budget
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Addendum --- This just in...
See update here
http://tinyurl.com/mlm8ho4
Click -- dismiss, then click translate when you are taken to the page
It would seem that Mr. Article writer has found a way to waste thousands of dollars of tax payers money after all.
Yes, he has. He has cajoled (opps I mean to say, sent out a request) which was dutifully answered by a group of "12 young francophone" students attending the University of Ottawa (students who btw MUST already have the ability to read such a thing as an English city budget -- in English -- just to be able to even attend the so called "bilingual" University of Ottawa.)
How stupefyingly wasteful this is as a way to make a point.
I sincerely hope that some elderly person, who no longer can benefit from some service that gets cut off as a result of YOUR inane and childish tactics, does not break a hip and suffer immeasurable pain as a result of YOUR bullying style, money wasting idiotic tactics.
You sir, and those like you (ie: our old pal Michel Thibideau), do an enormous disservice to the majority French people in this country as you make ALL OF THEM appear to be just as unbelievably selfish and uncaring as you and Michel obviously are.
Who knows, perhaps it will be THEM (the good, kind -- supposed majority -- French people in this city who see how idiotic and wasteful your requests really are) who will be the ones to come out against you.
That would sure drive the point home and prove that the majority of French people don't see things as selfishly and narrow mindedly as you folks, -- supposedly from the tiny minority -- who claim to represent them, do.
Just sayin... :-)
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