a toddler. -

remain lodged in my brain

4s

imersion-c’est la vie

MY FOUR-YEAR: OLD son has just come face to
face with the new political reality of Canada. We

enrolled him in a kindergarten French immersion

program.

After last month’s Tory
convention, any

_ anglophones. who aren't

enrolling ‘their children . in
French immersion are either

negligent or. ‘not paying at--

tention.

A bilingual. . elite has
emerged in. Canada.’ ‘Kids:
who don’t parlez le francais
in the future are going to be
left out of.the action.

at French-Canadian on

ier's.Side, but; we

were. a: imilated into main-
streans-” English - “Canadian
culture. ‘T- quickly : unlearned
any Fretich I'd. ‘picked up as
‘Today, what
pathetic few phrases of
French I do know are strictly
from the Peter Sellers
school. ,

The only traces of the
language of Quebec which

. SETTLER’S

_DRY SINK.
One hundred

every home.
had one.

: This fine example
boasts slim ;
panelling In the
doors, a deep-
rimmed sink
area and dove-
tailed cutlery

» drawer,

a

‘ ‘Canada,

Where croftsmanship ts

i

are the rich repetoire of
curses that I picked up in the
cradle. Can’t go into any of
that here....

In my adult life, I have
nat y always felt: sym-
pathetic to the impulse in
Quebec ‘to preserve the
language ‘and culture,
because I know how easily it
can be lost.

Language, in particular, is
a fragile thing. I have a

. Czechoslovakian ‘friend who

met up. with some of his old
buddies recently and found
that after a decade in
speaking English,
he could barely understand
people talking,in his native
tongue!

My own mother is “a
perfect example. She admits
she can’t carry:on a conver-
sation in French any longer,
and she was raised in a total-

»

11) - 260 W, Esplanade Street, North Vancouver
(2 blocks west of the Seabus) 980-1524

2 te

traditional jotnery in salid
Northern Ontario white pine.

Now aleo acallable in solid oak. $ 1 0 50 0

4 100 years behind the times.

ly French commimity. .
When my (first two
children reached school age
-- this was in the late 1960s —
the thought never crossed
my mind of enrolling them in
anything like French immer-
sion. I was so convinced
Quebec was going to
separate that learning
French seemed roughly as
futile as learning Swahili.
* Inthe years since then,

the nationalistic wave in

Quebec -has risen, broken,

and now it is washing up with
a sizzle onthe beach. =

' Another. generation. from .
now, the battle: Might be re-—
fought, but in the immediate
future there seems-to be lit-.
tle -doubt,:that ‘Quebec -will
remain an integralelement —
in the Canadian mosaic.

democracy, I am-:still: uptight

about the imbalance. that. oc-

curs. in a country ‘of
million people . when: six
million of them — the

citizens of Quebec — _try to”

gain legal and political ‘con-

trol over Canada’s fate equal ..
to the rest of the population.

combined.

There were two other
reasons why, the idea of sen-
ding my. youngest child to
French i immersion. didn’t Sit

Riviera victims aided

THE FITNESS Group at the
Exercise. Place i in West Van-
couver is” offering a free
membership: for all those
members of: the) Riviera .
health club.on Lonsdale who
were locked out when the
firm closed down. ~°

After reading the
“Riviera” article in the North
Shore News, Sally Wilicock,
consultant for: ‘the Fitness
Group, said, “We felt badly
for those customers at
Riviera.

Crafted with

$695.°

“It’s only a temporary
measure,” she said.

“We don’t want to take’.

away Riviera’s customers if
the company is going to con-

. tinue on. the North Shore,”

Wilcock said.

For information’ on the

free summer membership for

Riviera patrons, call 926- -
8588 or visit 1731 Marine |
Drive, West Vancouver. _

cng ney pa ces
* list goo: vp hea vitaroint
oe

and & Lonsda

Open Fri. till 9 pm_

very well with me until now,
when the politics of it has
become so clear.
_ were: . ;

SA definite® sense thatthe:
"14-year-old, |
federal bilingual program is,
a fantastic ciyil service. boon-.
“doggie; 0" s.

” #And - all that | ‘could ‘be’ he he’
_ hoped for. out of West Coast
‘Asa passionate believer in.’.

Yes.

BRON

as
s

*

These |,

$4" billion | - ri

,we have
ino acias

War ras se oe |

‘synapse OR RAEN

Q, North Van

. Surrey West End | Burnaby |
“400th St. and. 1789 Davie Vancouver TheBay.
King George Hwy. at Denman 1104 W. Broadway Lougheed Mall
' Burnaby . Detta . Langley Victaria ©
Miidiegate Mail Scott 72 Centre 20234 Fraser in the Bay
7165 Kingaway _ 7260-120th St. Highway

Official vitamin consultants to
B.C. Lions .& Vancouver Whitecaps

988-3454

is -to- have a eat
making it at. ‘the