Will we ever see a Unilingual Prime Minster in Canada?

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by bc-chris

might be a dumb question, but is the pm allowed to be an immigrant?

I do not believe there is, nor should there be, IMO.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by bc-chris

might be a dumb question, but is the pm allowed to be an immigrant?

Not a stupid question, but yes, the PM can be an immigrant. There isn’t a legal requirement to be born a Canadian citizen to be become the parliamentary leader in Canada. In fact, some our first PMs were not natural born Canadians.

Our official head of state isn’t even a Canadian.

[Flashpoint]

Why is it a barrier? Just go learn it. It’s nothing like being south of the border and being black.

It’s kind of like saying “it’s a barrier that the PM has to be able to read”. Most people in this forum could probably learn French (or any other Latin based language) in a couple of months of hard study and practice.

I can’t say I see this as a problem. I’d say it’s more troubling to have ignorant people or fanatically religious people in office.

[Itse]

At least 3 spoken languages is kind of expected from world leaders. If high level international diplomacy is part of your job, less than that will make you a bit underqualified to be honest.

Merkel speaks fluent Russian and English, Putin speaks English and German, Macron speaks English, Spanish, German and some Chinese, Sánchez speaks English and French, Xi Jinping speaks English and Russian, Boris Johnson speaks French, Italian and Latin (got to love those classic boarding schools)...

[TheScorpion]

Does Trudeau speak a third language? Does Biden speak even two? Trump can barely speak one. I feel like that requirement is more something we see in Europe.

Elizabeth May was a party leader for quite some time. She is from Connecticut, I believe.

I believe as of right now everybody in Parliament is required to speak both, right?

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Itse

At least 3 spoken languages is kind of expected from world leaders. If high level international diplomacy is part of your job, less than that will make you a bit underqualified to be honest.

Merkel speaks fluent Russian and English, Putin speaks English and German, Macron speaks English, Spanish, German and some Chinese, Sánchez speaks English and French, Xi Jinping speaks English and Russian, Boris Johnson speaks French, Italian and Latin (got to love those classic boarding schools)...

I am always impressed even when I meet ordinary people from Britain that can speak French fluently. I sometimes even wonder if more native English speakers there are truly bilingual than in Canada.

[SebC]

For everyone who thinks there should be an intelligence requirement for running for office, perhaps the bilingual "requirement" provides just a tiny bit of that.

[Major Major]

It's not discrimination, it's a qualification. It would be like asking if anyone without a University Education will be PM. Saying that it's discrimination that people without a University won't become PM would be ridiculous.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by the_only_turek_fan

The opportunity to learn French is not available to all.

What about those from rural communities?

What about new Canadians?

I think this has been well explained by others, but put simply: on the path to becoming PM, yes, it is.

Not every PM starts bilingual, I imagine not many do, but they learn it.

No different than any job with qualifications, and probably one of the least costly qualifications to obtain for a job that high profile.

Anyone can learn a second language at some point in their life, should they choose to.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

was Joe Clark bilingual? Was Kim Campbell?

edit, apparently Lester Pearson could not speak French

Joe Clark was my MP. He was fluent in French.

[GGG]

I would think people with political aspirations know they have them at least in their twenties. (This may or may not be a good thing). So if you are 20 you have 20-30 years to become fluent enough before you would be wanting to run.

Seems like a reasonable thing to spend time on.

[Boreal]

Originally Posted by the_only_turek_fan

The opportunity to learn French is not available to all.

What about those from rural communities?

What about new Canadians?

Yes it is.

The Duo Lingo App

Free.

No excuses.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by Major Major

It's not discrimination, it's a qualification. It would be like asking if anyone without a University Education will be PM. Saying that it's discrimination that people without a University won't become PM would be ridiculous.

The university education is an even bigger barrier and I’m definitely sure it shouldn’t be a requirement for a Member of Parliament or Prime Minister.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by Boreal

Yes it is.

The Duo Lingo App

Free.

No excuses.

Who has ever gained fluency in a language using just Duolingo? Come on.

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by the_only_turek_fan

The opportunity to learn French is not available to all.

What about those from rural communities?

What about new Canadians?

lol, I am from rural Alberta and I am fluent in French. Are people from rural communities supposed to be too stupid to speak more than one language?

[MarchHare]

Of course Canada will have a unilingual Prime Minister. Once Justin Trudeau converts the country to Sharia Law, which right-wing Twitter has spent the last five years insisting will happen any moment now, we'll all be speaking Arabic.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

Of course Canada will have a unilingual Prime Minister. Once Justin Trudeau converts the country to Sharia Law, which right-wing Twitter has spent the last five years insisting will happen any moment now, we'll all be speaking Arabic.

Reminds me of that idiot who attacked Jagmeet at a townhall telling him we don't want his Sharia. That video surfaces on reddit every year or so.

A Hall of Famer in the Karen rankings IMO.

EDIT: Bah, can't find the original but here's a young turks newscast about it:

Spoiler!

[AltaGuy]

Why won't Liberal Party MPs use "Islamic terrorism", "French", and "Sharia Law" in the same tweet?

Exactly. You do the math.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

lol, I am from rural Alberta and I am fluent in French. Are people from rural communities supposed to be too stupid to speak more than one language?

Of course not, but the opportunity to learn through school can be very limited depending on where you live. For instance my brother lives not far outside Edmonton and the school his kids attend does not have a French teacher at all and cannot offer French instruction. Even if the school did there is a good chance the teacher is not bilingual so the quality of instruction would be barely passable. Sure there are ways to learn, but not necessarily in the school system. It goes both ways too. I grew up in rural Alberta and there is a sizeable Francophone population in some of the nearby communities. To the point that French is the predominant language you hear in those towns and some people would struggle to communicate in English.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

Sure there are ways to learn, but not necessarily in the school system.

And I'll gladly say that I don't want a prime minister who was only able to learn through small-town Alberta rural school system.

If they can't learn French because their school didn't offer it, how can we trust that they learned any of the other 1000s of topics we hope a prime minister was able to learn?