Alberta, wake up !!!

[doctorftf]

Safety first in workplace, s'il vous plait


By Licia Corbella

This is news? A Canadian didn't get hired because he wasn't bilingual?

That rather common occurrence is garnering headlines across the country.

Isn't news supposed to be something out of the ordinary?

Want a job with the federal government in Ottawa? Pardonez moi? Oh, you don't speak French? Ha! Shut the door on your way out, s'il vous plait.

How about this: You're a skilled labourer and you want a job with a large manufacturer in the interior of Quebec.


Well, guess what? Not only are there no English signs in francophone parts of the province but there are likely no English-only jobs.

In Alberta, a Quebec ironworker was fired from his two-day-old job with Suncor Energy in Fort McMurray because he didn't pass a required English test. How do you say, "too bad, so sad" in French?

Or perhaps, more importantly, how would Carol Rioux do at communicating impending danger to the colleagues working around him in the highly dangerous workplace of oil field refineries?

That should be the real question.

Brad Bellows told Renato Gandia of Fort McMurray Today (a Sun Media paper) that Suncor feels "a bit stung by the criticisms" since the dismissal is not discriminatory or just about individual safety. "It's a matter of safety for everyone. We need to have clear and quick communication. It's very critical to safety."

But the pressure has been relentless. Alberta's International and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Guy Boutilier is getting involved, sticking his nose (that's nez, en francais) where it doesn't belong.

What's next, the prime minister getting personally involved every time a unilingual Albertan doesn't get a desk job for the feds in Ottawa?

Rioux's union is accusing Suncor of attempted union busting and giving preferential treatment to foreign-born workers. There is no evidence of that. The foreign workers just happen to speak better English than Rioux.

His union is also vowing to launch a complaint with the Alberta Human Rights Commission.

But ask yourself this question: Could you imagine the reverse making news in Quebec?

Mais non, bien sur!

Licia Corbella, licia.corbella@calgarysun.com

[doctorftf]

Safety first in workplace, s'il vous plait


By Licia Corbella

This is news? A Canadian didn't get hired because he wasn't bilingual?

That rather common occurrence is garnering headlines across the country.

Isn't news supposed to be something out of the ordinary?

Want a job with the federal government in Ottawa? Pardonez moi? Oh, you don't speak French? Ha! Shut the door on your way out, s'il vous plait.

How about this: You're a skilled labourer and you want a job with a large manufacturer in the interior of Quebec.


Well, guess what? Not only are there no English signs in francophone parts of the province but there are likely no English-only jobs.

In Alberta, a Quebec ironworker was fired from his two-day-old job with Suncor Energy in Fort McMurray because he didn't pass a required English test. How do you say, "too bad, so sad" in French?

Or perhaps, more importantly, how would Carol Rioux do at communicating impending danger to the colleagues working around him in the highly dangerous workplace of oil field refineries?

That should be the real question.

Brad Bellows told Renato Gandia of Fort McMurray Today (a Sun Media paper) that Suncor feels "a bit stung by the criticisms" since the dismissal is not discriminatory or just about individual safety. "It's a matter of safety for everyone. We need to have clear and quick communication. It's very critical to safety."

But the pressure has been relentless. Alberta's International and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Guy Boutilier is getting involved, sticking his nose (that's nez, en francais) where it doesn't belong.

What's next, the prime minister getting personally involved every time a unilingual Albertan doesn't get a desk job for the feds in Ottawa?

Rioux's union is accusing Suncor of attempted union busting and giving preferential treatment to foreign-born workers. There is no evidence of that. The foreign workers just happen to speak better English than Rioux.

His union is also vowing to launch a complaint with the Alberta Human Rights Commission.

But ask yourself this question: Could you imagine the reverse making news in Quebec?

Mais non, bien sur!

Licia Corbella, licia.corbella@calgarysun.com

Hey Alberta, are you gonna get rid if this clown Guy Boutilier? How did this yahoo ever get in to the legislature to begin with? Watch him closely.

[Smaug]

Guy Boutilier is wasting taxpayer money. Alberta is English. There are more people who speak fluent Ukranian than fluent French ... including Boutiliers current boss.


Alberta went through the "French Immersion phaze" because of idiots like Boutilier. And all that was accomplished was a gigantic waste of school funds. The generation that went through French immersion could not string three words of French together three years after leaving high school.

[C.Morgan]

Safety first in workplace, s'il vous plait


By Licia Corbella

This is news? A Canadian didn't get hired because he wasn't bilingual?

That rather common occurrence is garnering headlines across the country.

Isn't news supposed to be something out of the ordinary?

Want a job with the federal government in Ottawa? Pardonez moi? Oh, you don't speak French? Ha! Shut the door on your way out, s'il vous plait.

How about this: You're a skilled labourer and you want a job with a large manufacturer in the interior of Quebec.


Well, guess what? Not only are there no English signs in francophone parts of the province but there are likely no English-only jobs.

In Alberta, a Quebec ironworker was fired from his two-day-old job with Suncor Energy in Fort McMurray because he didn't pass a required English test. How do you say, "too bad, so sad" in French?

Or perhaps, more importantly, how would Carol Rioux do at communicating impending danger to the colleagues working around him in the highly dangerous workplace of oil field refineries?

That should be the real question.

Brad Bellows told Renato Gandia of Fort McMurray Today (a Sun Media paper) that Suncor feels "a bit stung by the criticisms" since the dismissal is not discriminatory or just about individual safety. "It's a matter of safety for everyone. We need to have clear and quick communication. It's very critical to safety."

But the pressure has been relentless. Alberta's International and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Guy Boutilier is getting involved, sticking his nose (that's nez, en francais) where it doesn't belong.

What's next, the prime minister getting personally involved every time a unilingual Albertan doesn't get a desk job for the feds in Ottawa?

Rioux's union is accusing Suncor of attempted union busting and giving preferential treatment to foreign-born workers. There is no evidence of that. The foreign workers just happen to speak better English than Rioux.

His union is also vowing to launch a complaint with the Alberta Human Rights Commission.

But ask yourself this question: Could you imagine the reverse making news in Quebec?

Mais non, bien sur!

Licia Corbella, licia.corbella@calgarysun.com

Hey Alberta, are you gonna get rid if this clown Guy Boutilier? How did this yahoo ever get in to the legislature to begin with? Watch him closely.

He is just another of Stelmach's gang of status-quo tories.

Hopefully Alberta gets the gumption to boot that tired old party out soon.

[doctorftf]

Guy Boutilier is wasting taxpayer money. Alberta is English. There are more people who speak fluent Ukranian than fluent French ... including Boutiliers current boss.


Alberta went through the "French Immersion phaze" because of idiots like Boutilier. And all that was accomplished was a gigantic waste of school funds. The generation that went through French immersion could not string three words of French together three years after leaving high school.

How did this clown (Boutilier) get elected to office to begin with, and why's he still there? Who in Alberta voted for this a..h...? Keep an eye on him, he's up to something.

[Knave]

How did this clown (Boutilier) get elected to office to begin with, and why's he still there? Who in Alberta voted for this a..h...? Keep an eye on him, he's up to something.

Fort McMurray. For 11 years before going to the Leg, he was an alderman and served two terms as Mayor. That's likely where he gets his base of support.... but I may just be grasping.

[Smaug]

He is just another of Stelmach's gang of status-quo tories.

Hopefully Alberta gets the gumption to boot that tired old party out soon.

Get that party of yours to adopt my Citizen's Corporation idea, and you will get a lot more people looking your way

Hey, Aberhardt won an election promising a $ 25.00 social credit "dividend". And that was when the Alberta government really did not have the wherewithal to deliver. The fact that the corporation idea has a right leaning philosophical bent will go completely un-noticed by your average lefty, but so what? They will see the benefit to themselves.

Add even a small percentage of the lefty vote to the right wing conservative vote, and those tired old tories will start loading their drawers.

[dpwozney]

How did this clown (Boutilier) get elected to office to begin with, and why's he still there? Who in Alberta voted for this a..h...? Keep an eye on him, he's up to something.

Fort McMurray.

Fort McMurray is not in the district of Alberta.

[C.Morgan]

How did this clown (Boutilier) get elected to office to begin with, and why's he still there? Who in Alberta voted for this a..h...? Keep an eye on him, he's up to something.

Fort McMurray.

Fort McMurray is not in the district of Alberta.

Did they move it or something?

[dpwozney]

How did this clown (Boutilier) get elected to office to begin with, and why's he still there? Who in Alberta voted for this a..h...? Keep an eye on him, he's up to something.

Fort McMurray.

Fort McMurray is not in the district of Alberta.

Did they move it or something?

Something. See the map shown <a href=http://www.collectionscanada.ca/confederation/023001-2101.9-e.html>here</a>.

[Fabulous Fred]

How did this clown (Boutilier) get elected to office to begin with, and why's he still there? Who in Alberta voted for this a..h...? Keep an eye on him, he's up to something.

Fort McMurray.

Fort McMurray is not in the district of Alberta.

Did they move it or something?

Something. See the map shown <a href=http://www.collectionscanada.ca/confederation/023001-2101.9-e.html>here</a>.

You should use a smiley emoticon.... I thought you were serious for a moment!

[C.Morgan]

How did this clown (Boutilier) get elected to office to begin with, and why's he still there? Who in Alberta voted for this a..h...? Keep an eye on him, he's up to something.

Fort McMurray.

Fort McMurray is not in the district of Alberta.

Did they move it or something?

Something. See the map shown <a href=http://www.collectionscanada.ca/confederation/023001-2101.9-e.html>here</a>.

That map be some 100 years out of date.

I understand you have some interpretations and such, but the reality is Alberta is a province and while the boundary is a political line, it is a very real one.

[HeywoodFloyd]

How did this clown (Boutilier) get elected to office to begin with, and why's he still there? Who in Alberta voted for this a..h...? Keep an eye on him, he's up to something.

Fort McMurray.

Fort McMurray is not in the district of Alberta.

Why do you keep saying this stuff if every time we ask you something on it you ignore the question?

[Hailey]

I'm actually very surprised that a politician would want to make an oil company decide differently.

These are safety sensitive positions and if they are not wanting to have someone on site for safety reasons that must be honoured in my view.

Is the Alberta government going to accept responsibility for the financial costs of a serious injury that results from deficits in communication?

The oilfields are crying for people and they would have a legitimate reason for saying no to someone.

In my opinion it would both a kindness and a legitimately astute business move to offer some kind of assistance prior to re-testing but that's hardly a requirement by law.

[HeywoodFloyd]

You should use a smiley emoticon.... I thought you were serious for a moment!

Oh he is serious. He'll spam the board with this stuff then run away when you call him on it.

I predict he will not be posting in this thread anymore.