Bilingual Today, French Tomorrow:
Trudeau's Master Plan and How It Can Be Stopped
J.V. Andrew
Richmond Hill, ON: BMG, 1977
137 pages
This review now appears, revised and rewritten, in my new book:
The Dusty Bookcase:A Journey Through Canada'sForgotten, Neglected, and Suppressed Writing
Available at the very best bookstores and through
Related posts:
But what about "Red Maple--How Canada Became the People's Republic of Canada in 1981"? That sounds pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteSadly, I've yet to come across a copy. That said, the description provided by Winnett Boyd in the Forward to Bilingual Today, French Tomorrow has me sold:
Delete"In his book, RED MAPLE, Kenneth McDonald traced the phenomenal growth of government under Prime Minister Trudeau to its logical conclusion - complete state control of Canada's economy and Mr. Trudeau's emergence, in 1981, as Premier of The People's Republic of Canada."
Boyd later wonders whether the country isn't destined to have "the worst of both worlds and become La Republique [sic] Populaire de [sic] Canada."
I suppose it's too much to hope for a revised second edition.
If you can't find a copy, I can't imagine who can. I always wonder, with things like Superstorm Sandy, if we lose the last paper copies of things, in people's flooded basements in Queens.
DeleteTruth be told, I haven't looked very hard. However, after Bilingual Today... I'm keen to track down every BMG title I can find.
DeleteMove to NB and you will see every word spoken in the book come to life.
ReplyDeleteI know New Brunswick well. Jock Andrew's predictions for the province are every bit as accurate as those of his BMG stablemate Kenneth McDonald - which is to say not at all. In this respect, both have something in common with Uri Geller and Jeane Dixon.
DeleteUsed to be three or four copies in every used book store in central Ontario when I was living there. I read it years ago and the only thing that turned out to be accurate was the belligerence of Ottawa bus drivers.
ReplyDeleteHaving lived in Ontario for most of my life, I have gotten more and more French shoved down my throat. When Quebec enacted it anti-English law, bill 101 in 1977 nothing was done to counter it. Instead, in the 1980s liberal leader David Peterson and NDP leader Bob Rae saw the 5% of people as French speaking as away into power wanted Ontario to be officially bilingual. To keep from losing votes from everyone else, we were told we were racist if we opposed to this. Since then, I have seen ads by all three levels of government posted in largely speaking areas only in French. As well, many English schools are being closed as more and more French ones open up. I've seen ads to encourage English speaking parents to send their children to French schools. It would seem like the plan here is to get the majority of the population able to use French comfortably so that there won't really be any need to have anything in English. When they can get this happening in all provinces, then there will be debates as to whether Canada should continue being officially bilingual and how much it will cost to do so. There will then be more and more pressure to do away with all bilingualism. And, since the majority of Canadians will be comfortable enough using French, it will be English will be eliminated as an official language.
ReplyDeleteWell, we found the book's target audience. The paranoid and easily intimidated.
Delete