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. _

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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

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