Would you support a language tax?

Would you support a language tax on the model presented in the OP?

  • Yes, maybe not in the details, but at least in principle.

    Votes: 3 27.3%
  • No.

    Votes: 8 72.7%
  • Other answer (please explain).

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    11

gerryh

Time Out
Nov 21, 2004
25,756
295
83
Here in Canada it's tougher because, unlike in Ireland where they actually still control their land at least, here they control but a fraction of it.


Who are "they"? The indians? They can't even feed themselves without the ROC's help. They control dick all, and the languages that truely matter and are a part of Canada's heritage are taught in school.....English and French.
 

Machjo

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 19, 2004
17,878
61
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Ottawa, ON
Who are "they"? The indians? They can't even feed themselves without the ROC's help. They control dick all, and the languages that truely matter and are a part of Canada's heritage are taught in school.....English and French.

Don't you love colonialism.
 

FiveParadox

Governor General
Dec 20, 2005
5,875
43
48
Vancouver, BC
Re: Aboriginal Languages

The problem of Aboriginal Canadians not being able to feed themselves (which is absolutely not the case for the majority) is one that needs to be addressed by Her Majesty’s Government for Canada, as those Aboriginal Canadians (whether or not they hold special status under some constitutional provision or treaty) are nonetheless Canadians, and therefore deserve the entire protection of the Government just as are other Canadian persons. Whether it’s added resources that need to be considered or a comprehensive restructuring of the reserve system as a whole, Aboriginal hunger would be an issue that needs to be solved—rather than one that should be used as fodder to oppose Aboriginal rights.

Even once the reserve system has ended (which it one day must), I doubt that Aboriginal languages would be taught in schools—and this would not be a case of racial discrimination, or at least not that I would see. I would consider it to be a case of demand. There is, of course, going to be a much greater need for English and French classes, particularly when there is a restrictive budget with which to fund these classes. I could foresee Aboriginal languages being taught as university courses, alongside the huge selection of other languages that are taught post-secondary.
 

gerryh

Time Out
Nov 21, 2004
25,756
295
83
I could foresee Aboriginal languages being taught as university courses, alongside the huge selection of other languages that are taught post-secondary.


They already are, as well as in a number of High Schools at least, depending on the location in the country. But Machjo would prefer to ignore this little fact.
 

Unforgiven

Force majeure
May 28, 2007
6,770
137
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They usually teach it as a second-language because most Irish can't speak it. They actually care about trying to revive their culture.

Here in Canada it's tougher because, unlike in Ireland where they actually still control their land at least, here they control but a fraction of it.

Have you checked APTN for something that might lead you to what you want to learn? I think if there is a market for it, then that's probably the way it will be distributed.
 

AnnaG

Hall of Fame Member
Jul 5, 2009
17,507
117
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wow. Perhaps resources are hard to find for some things, but look at these pages for Anish:

Ojibwe Language and the Ojibwe Indian Tribe (Chippewa, Ojibway, Ojibwa, Ojibwemowin)

Resources on the Anishinabe

Community Resources : Anishinabe Learning, Cultural & Wellness Center : Introduction : Turtle Mountain Community College

NativeWeb Home

I think people are fed up with being taxed heavily and see little product for their money. Chase people away from books with taxes, and they turn to the web. It's killing the newpaper business and it will put a major dent in the book industry.


I'd been looking for a quality self-instruction book for he Algonquin language for a month now almost. Nada! Nothing! Zilch!

More recently, I tried to find some quality self-instruction books for inuktitut. Again, nothing.

This is a shameful state of affairs. In English and French, we have libraries full of books, translated, original, fiction. non-fiction, on every topic imaginable. Yet, for Canada's Aboriginal languages, we can't even find a simple friggin self-instruction book so that we can teach ourselves the language?! What the hell does the government do with this money?
 

AnnaG

Hall of Fame Member
Jul 5, 2009
17,507
117
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pretty well every province out there already offers first nations languages.... we sure as h*ll don't nbeed another tax to fund teaching what are basically dead languages.
lmao They aren't dead languages. They are more like specialised languages. Certain people speak them. Kind of like a religious language or air force language. Not everyone speaks them.
 

AnnaG

Hall of Fame Member
Jul 5, 2009
17,507
117
63
ROFLMAO...is this the best you can do? What do you expect the Irish to teach in their schools? Huron? Blackfoot?:roll:
There's an awful lot of Irish people that can't speak Gaeilge. It's still taught, but English is the most common language.
But anyway, what is your point? That people shouldn't learn another language?
 

AnnaG

Hall of Fame Member
Jul 5, 2009
17,507
117
63
Who are "they"? The indians? They can't even feed themselves without the ROC's help. They control dick all, and the languages that truely matter and are a part of Canada's heritage are taught in school.....English and French.
I don't need gov't help to feed myself. I am not the only one. There are lots of Okanagan bands that don't rely on gov't funding. Get a grip and quit thinking with your head in that dark place. Jeeez, Gerry.
Don't control anything? lmao You've been living under a rock, I think.
 

gerryh

Time Out
Nov 21, 2004
25,756
295
83
There's an awful lot of Irish people that can't speak Gaeilge. It's still taught, but English is the most common language.
But anyway, what is your point? That people shouldn't learn another language?

my point is that we shouldn't have to spend anymore money teaching stone age languages to a limited number of people stuck in the past.

I don't need gov't help to feed myself. I am not the only one. There are lots of Okanagan bands that don't rely on gov't funding. Get a grip and quit thinking with your head in that dark place. Jeeez, Gerry.
Don't control anything? lmao You've been living under a rock, I think.

They "control' things like a spoiled child "controls" a household, and it is past time to put that "spoiled" child in it's place.
 

Machjo

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 19, 2004
17,878
61
48
Ottawa, ON
GerryH, how would you feel if we just relagated English and French to university departments, as if they were just bones to be preserved in a museum?

The First Languages are a fundamental part of Canada's culture and heritage, and seeing that the history of the residential schools is still fresh in the minds of many still alive today, I'd hardly call it 'stuck in the past'.

I remember meeting one First Nation whose mother refused to teach her Inuktitut because in school sh'ed been taught that her languages was bad!

I also remember not long after the Oka Crisis, one woman on TV saying how her father refused to teach her his language because when he was at school, the nuns woudl stick needles through pupils' tongues for speaking the language.

Essentially, we're dealing not with the natural death of languages, but rather psychological scars left behind as a result of attempted cultural genocide by violent means and cultural propaganda in the residential school systems, supported by our vry own government.

But hey, Gerry, if you want to believe that the sooner the savages are assimilate to our superior and modern high-tech-military culture, go right ahead.
 

Machjo

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 19, 2004
17,878
61
48
Ottawa, ON
wow. Perhaps resources are hard to find for some things, but look at these pages for Anish:

Ojibwe Language and the Ojibwe Indian Tribe (Chippewa, Ojibway, Ojibwa, Ojibwemowin)

Resources on the Anishinabe

Community Resources : Anishinabe Learning, Cultural & Wellness Center : Introduction : Turtle Mountain Community College

NativeWeb Home

I think people are fed up with being taxed heavily and see little product for their money. Chase people away from books with taxes, and they turn to the web. It's killing the newpaper business and it will put a major dent in the book industry.

I do see your point, and this thread was intended more as a brainstorm. I must say though that I can't learn a language on-line. I'd need a book myself.
 

Unforgiven

Force majeure
May 28, 2007
6,770
137
63
my point is that we shouldn't have to spend anymore money teaching stone age languages to a limited number of people stuck in the past. They "control' things like a spoiled child "controls" a household, and it is past time to put that "spoiled" child in it's place.

You raise a good point. Perhaps a little rough in delivery but still.

There isn't anything wrong with learning these old languages but it shouldn't come from some government hand out. People who understand them to a high degree are still around and even if they were abused when younger, they aren't abused now. If someone chooses to dwell in the past and use it to be a victim today then they are welcome to it.

On the other hand if they choose instead to revive a surviving language, and market that to interested people then there are all sorts of loans, grants and help to get them started and bring them along business wise.

That isn't buying into a hightech military culture, it's working hard to succeed with the tools available.

When I traced my roots back, my ancestors were enslaved, conquered and plenty of them slaughtered and the rest forced to assimilate into the dominating culture.
Out of curiosity, how much does everyone here owe me and when can I expect payment in cash?
 

Machjo

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 19, 2004
17,878
61
48
Ottawa, ON
I understand your point, Unforgiven, but we can't deny that a language functions like a monopoly to some degree. For it to work, everyone needs a common one, and that's not far different from other natural monopolies. Canada has anti-monopoly laws to protect against monopolization in the economy. Why does the government not just let the market decide when it comes to monopolistic industries? Why does this not apply to language?

Let's face it, the more people speak a language, the more advantaged that language is compared to another.
 

DurkaDurka

Internet Lawyer
Mar 15, 2006
10,385
129
63
Toronto
GerryH, how would you feel if we just relagated English and French to university departments, as if they were just bones to be preserved in a museum?

The First Languages are a fundamental part of Canada's culture and heritage, and seeing that the history of the residential schools is still fresh in the minds of many still alive today, I'd hardly call it 'stuck in the past'.

I remember meeting one First Nation whose mother refused to teach her Inuktitut because in school sh'ed been taught that her languages was bad!

I also remember not long after the Oka Crisis, one woman on TV saying how her father refused to teach her his language because when he was at school, the nuns woudl stick needles through pupils' tongues for speaking the language.

Essentially, we're dealing not with the natural death of languages, but rather psychological scars left behind as a result of attempted cultural genocide by violent means and cultural propaganda in the residential school systems, supported by our vry own government.

But hey, Gerry, if you want to believe that the sooner the savages are assimilate to our superior and modern high-tech-military culture, go right ahead.

So Canadian citizens should carry a collective guilt for past wrong doings and rectify if by paying another tax on books in order to support liberal "feel good" legislation?
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
75,301
548
113
Vernon, B.C.
I would support a language tax, but not the type suggested. How many interpreters are at the public trough because immigrants refuse to learn to speak understandable English? I think the cost of the interpreters should be defrayed by the ones requiring the service. Give all immigrants a year to learn to speak English and if they still require and interpreter after that time add a percentage or two to their income tax.
 

Unforgiven

Force majeure
May 28, 2007
6,770
137
63
I understand your point, Unforgiven, but we can't deny that a language functions like a monopoly to some degree. For it to work, everyone needs a common one, and that's not far different from other natural monopolies. Canada has anti-monopoly laws to protect against monopolization in the economy. Why does the government not just let the market decide when it comes to monopolistic industries? Why does this not apply to language?

Let's face it, the more people speak a language, the more advantaged that language is compared to another.

Because there is one domanant culture, English. Like a lot of things, you have to get started. That means that you pick a spot and get started. It's ridiculous to try and teach all languages at once to someone who is learning their first language.
English is the most widely used language on the planet, and so that's what we teach in Canada. In some places it's French and in most parts of Canada, either one is taught after the first one.

If some language comes along that is much better at describing and conversing then it will soon take hold and eventually become official. So if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

This is not to say that no one is allowed to speak any language they wish, just that they can pay for it and do the work themselves if they want to learn it.

Attempting to provide nation wide government support for every language there is, plus the one's people choose to make up on the spot to get a grant for it, leaves no money for anything else. What is the point of that?
 

Machjo

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 19, 2004
17,878
61
48
Ottawa, ON
So Canadian citizens should carry a collective guilt for past wrong doings and rectify if by paying another tax on books in order to support liberal "feel good" legislation?

Hey, it was a brainstorm. Give me a break.

Now I've come up with a better idea. If we give First Nations money, we cry nannystatism. Yet of course it's fine to have an Official Languages Act, subsidizing English and French through the roof. So how about this:

We don't subsidize the First Nations languages, but neither do we subsidize English and French. Thsi woudl mean scrapping the Official Languages Act; cutting all government spending on public schools and universities and instead giving parents vouchers; allowing schools to teach the second-language of their choice (no more compulsory French or English); allowing schools to teach the First Nations language of their choice; cutting all funding for English and French programmes for immigrants, and instead giving them a language education voucher in the language of their choice (sure most would likely choose English, but it's the principle of no more linguistic nannystatism).

Essentially, make all language equal legally. No subsidy to any of them and the free market decides.
 

DurkaDurka

Internet Lawyer
Mar 15, 2006
10,385
129
63
Toronto
We don't subsidize the First Nations languages, but neither do we subsidize English and French. Thsi woudl mean scrapping the Official Languages Act; cutting all government spending on public schools and universities and instead giving parents vouchers; allowing schools to teach the second-language of their choice (no more compulsory French or English); allowing schools to teach the First Nations language of their choice; cutting all funding for English and French programmes for immigrants, and instead giving them a language education voucher in the language of their choice (sure most would likely choose English, but it's the principle of no more linguistic nannystatism).

Essentially, make all language equal legally. No subsidy to any of them and the free market decides.

I don't think that abolishing english and french as the official languages would be the way to go but i can somewhat agree with giving parents/students the option of learning a second language of their choice, provided their is qualified instructors to teach it and a demand for it.