https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies
David Raymond Amos @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @alllibertynews and 49 others
Methinks everybody knows that I can easily prove that I am David Raymond Amos and the fact that Quebec never agreed with the Charter means it never took effect N'esy Pas?
#nbpoli #cdnpoli
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/people-s-alliance-candidate-french-connection-acadian-1.5701007
David Raymond Amos @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos @MConroyMLA and 2 others
Methinks you people should understand why I called your spindoctor and your friend Marc Allain the director of the Carrefour Beausoleil and asked them a simple question about the Charter after I read the @CBCNB spin today N'esy Pas?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/people-s-alliance-candidate-french-connection-acadian-1.5701007
An Alliance candidate's French connection
Michelle Conroy says she values her family’s Acadian roots, despite her stance on bilingualism
· CBC News · Posted: Aug 27, 2020 7:00 AM AT
People's Alliance candidate Michelle Conroy loves Acadian culture but not all of the laws and policies put in place to preserve French. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
When People's Alliance MLA Michelle Conroy rose in the legislature over the last couple of years to read the prayer at the start of the day, she did something unusual for a member of her party.
She recited the prayer in both official languages.
That sets her apart in a political party that made criticism of official bilingualism a central tenet of its platform in 2018.
Last year Conroy told a party meeting in Miramichi that the media had unfairly labelled the party anti-French.
"We read it all the time, that there is a misconception of what we stand for and what we do and how we feel," she said. "And I think a lot of people don't know or don't realize that I do come from an Acadian background."
Conroy's grandparents, Marcel and Alfreda Cormier, relocated from near Saint-Louis-de-Kent to Chatham in the 1950s. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
Unlike her two colleagues from the last legislature, Alliance Leader Kris Austin and Rick DeSaulniers in Fredericton-York, Conroy has direct, firsthand knowledge of francophone life.
That includes how easily the language can be overwhelmed in a majority English community.
Conroy said she loves Acadian culture. But at the same time, she opposes many of the laws and policies put in place over several decades to preserve French amid New Brunswick's English majority — measures that didn't exist when her grandparents made a fateful move.
From Kent County to Chatham
Conroy's name before she was married was Cormier. Her grandparents Marcel and Alfreda relocated from near Saint-Louis-de-Kent to Chatham, now part of the city of Miramichi, in the 1950s.
"There was not a whole lot of French back then," she said.
"For years, the Cormier family was the only French family in Chatham," said Conroy's aunt, Della Drake-Daley, who was born before the move and who still speaks French today, including at occasional gatherings of fellow seniors looking to practise their mother tongue.
Michelle Conroy says she values her Acadian roots, but she opposes laws and policies aimed at slowing the assimilation her family experienced. 4:57
Her younger brother Donnie, Conroy's father, was born after the move to Chatham, so he grew up immersed in English.
"When Dad grew up, the family of course spoke French at home and then Dad would answer in English, so he never really spoke [French] either," Conroy said.
She said her father understands the language but doesn't speak it. Donnie Cormier sat in on the interview with his daughter and sister, which took place at his kitchen table, but he declined to be interviewed.
A common story
The Cormier story is a common one in New Brunswick, reflecting a demographic pressure that can squeeze the French out of a family in a generation or two.
According to Statistics Canada, the percentage of New Brunswickers with French as their mother tongue has declined from 35.9 per cent in 1951 to 32.4 per cent in 2016.
Conroy's father, Donnie Cormier, was born after the move to Chatham, so he grew up immersed in English. Her aunt Della Drake-Daley, who was born before the move, still speaks French. (Jacques Poitras/CBC )
It's particularly acute in Miramichi, a majority English area that draws in many residents of surrounding francophone communities for work.
"It's cultural gravity," said Marc Allain, the director of the Carrefour Beausoleil, a francophone community centre and school.
Without a French-language school option, "the reality is that the kid will be going to school in English, he'll be having Scouts in English, he's going to be having minor league [sports] in English.
"All of his formative experiences will be in that language and that's how he's going to perceive himself. … And that's the dynamic that we get into, built over generations."
A bulwark opposed by the Alliance
The school, which opened in 1985, is meant as a bulwark against that pressure. But it's part of the francophone school system, and the Alliance opposes the province's dual system.
Conroy said bilingual schools would allow all children to learn both languages, despite extensive social science research that shows francophone kids will tend to end up speaking English in such settings and lose their French.
Carrefour Beausoleil wasn't open when Conroy started school, and she didn't enrol in the late immersion that existed at the time.
"I kind of wish that I —" she began when asked if she regrets that.
"I don't regret not doing it," she continued. "I wish there was more French that was available then but … I remember at the time, even when I had the chance to go, I was worried about how my marks would be and things like that, changing languages."
Four tries for hospital job
Conroy decided to run for the Alliance in part because of her own experience trying to get a permanent job at the Miramichi Regional Hospital.
"I was denied employment four times," she said.
She held a casual position for eight years, dealing with the public and, she felt, doing a good job communicating in French. But a permanent position was out of reach.
It's impossible to blame individuals for something that is such a social phenomenon. It's just a question of opportunities and lack thereof.
- Marc Allain, director of Carrefour Beausoleil"I could help anybody that came to the counter but if you didn't pass the test, you didn't get hired," she said.
Conroy said she had a "two" or "intermediate" ranking in the provincial public service language proficiency, and the job required a "two-plus."
According to the provincial system, a "two" means the employee is "able to satisfy routine social demands and limited work requirements."
"Two-plus" means they are "able to participate fully in general conversation."
Not long after her fourth attempt, she decided to run for the Alliance.
Pushing for changes
At recent four-party negotiations to try to avert a provincial election, Conroy recounted her experience and the Alliance pushed for positions requiring "two-plus" to be reduced to "two."
"All four parties agreed that it has to be looked at," Conroy said. In a Facebook message posted publicly by her party, she told a constituent that francophone Liberal and Green MLAs felt she had a point.
Marc Allain, director of the Carrefour Beausoleil, a francophone community centre and school, said only 51.5 per cent of the children in the Miramichi area who have the constitutional right to attend school in French are enrolled. (Mike Heenan/CBC)
"If anything, [the discussion] did knock down barriers and knock down some walls to let us talk about it," she said. "And I feel going forward, for the people that are lucky enough to get back in, we have something to go on."
Horizon Health doesn't comment on hiring decisions, but in a statement, vice-president Margaret Melanson said the authority takes its legal obligations seriously and bilingual service "is a key component of offering safe and quality care."
She said employees who can't offer service in a patient or visitor's chosen language must track down someone who can. She also said the network is working on new training and complaint processes and "a new language-proficiency testing model."
Aunt supports Alliance position
Conroy's aunt Della, who said she also missed out on a job years ago because her French wasn't good enough, agreed with her niece that language requirements are too onerous.
"She could do the job and she trained the person who replaced [her] — that doesn't make sense."
On the other hand, Della Drake-Daley said, her five children were all raised in English and did not follow French immersion, and four of them have jobs in New Brunswick.
"They made out fine," she said.
Impossible to blame individuals
Marc Allain said the relentless demographic pressure of assimilation is not the fault of any one parent or family.
"It's often more a question of lack of resources or lack of linguistic or cultural infrastructure than anything else," he said.
"It's impossible to blame individuals for something that is such a social phenomenon. It's just a question of opportunities and lack thereof."
Conroy said it was "just the way the system is and the way things happen. It's not even something that we even noticed growing up or even commented on."
From past to present
The past is past, but even today, in Conroy's own riding, francophones are still grappling with assimilation.
The school and community centre, which also houses a daycare, is hoping to expand. All 70 spaces at the daycare are full and there are another 68 children on the waiting list.
With 300 students, the school is also full, though according to a survey Allain commissioned, only 51.5 per cent of the children in the Miramichi area who have the constitutional right to attend school in French are enrolled.
The other 48.5 per cent are missing the chance to preserve their mother tongue, Allain said. But some families opt for less crowded English schools.
Two different stories
Allain is reluctant to talk politics but said Conroy has not supported the push for expansion.
It's an issue that touches so closely on the experience of her own family, yet at the same time the two stories could not be farther apart.
"I don't think it would surprise anybody that we do not share the same vision of the foundations of what this place was built on, the notion of duality and the fact that a francophone kid has the same rights to access to education as anybody else," he said.
"At this point with our local MLA, it's extremely difficult to find common ground because there's such a wide disagreement at the base."
For complete coverage | Links to all New Brunswick votes 2020 stories
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172 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.
Lou Bell
Funny , when Vickers speaks , I hear the voice of Melanson and his SANB cohorts ! With Dom. LeBlanc in the background , like a yappy spouse !
Jos Allaire
Reply to @Lou DumBell: like a yappy spouse ! - You sure know a thing or two about that!
David Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @Jos Allaire:Methinks Maggie resembles her own remark N'esy Pas?
Yvon Landry
My children had to leave this province to earn a living even thought I provided them with education. Now they are either married with unilingual partner or my grand children are unilingual. Both French and or English, What are the odd that I will see them back in this province now !!! I can recognize her conflict even though I am bilingual and so are my children but not so for their partners and children. Still believe bilingual is worth the effort even though I realize that the international business language is English for the moment and soon Chinese will likely be.
Jos Allaire
Reply to @Yvon
Landry: This has been the case way before bilingualism was instituted I
recall the Hugh John Flemming era too much. Folks, English or French
were leaving in droves for Ontario, Quebec and the USA never to come
back.
Yvon Landry
Reply to @Jos
Allaire: I agree, Louis Robichaud, Richard Hatfield and Frank Mckenna
did try to stop it, as a matter of fact Frank is still trying. I always
and still wonder if the confederation was not working against them.
There is a term we hear often call western alienation. Why are
westerners using that term ?
Jos
Allaire
Reply to @Yvon Landry: Confederation was not good for us Maritimers, English or French.
Al Clark
LOL confusing times for COR ppl, voters AND candidates alike. First french family in Chatham! HAHAHA LOL. It appears her marks in history were as bad as in languages. Don't worry, she'll be back at her greeter job as soon as the GNB severance package is used up. I think it's like two years after two years service isn't it? LOL
Jos Allaire
Reply to @Al Clark:
The girl is completely clueless. As if they were the first Francophone
family in Chatham. What an ignoramus statement, if I ever read one!
She will not be able to hold on to this job like she could not hold on to her job at the hospital, because she is incompetent.
She will not be able to hold on to this job like she could not hold on to her job at the hospital, because she is incompetent.
David Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @Al Clark: Methinks many folks up on the Miramichi are laughing at your comments N'esy Pas?
David Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @Jos Allaire:Methinks much to your chagrin the little woman's supporters may embarrass your big bad hero in short order N'esy Pas?
JJ Carrier
The PANB could have easily won the three ridings in Carleton-York but they were not organized enough to get the numbers they needed to stem the anti-French stench they left since 2010 by the membership's FB trail that spewed all kind of conspiracy hatred towards non-English...I can bet you that the CoR Lite pill may work in the purely English ridings, but it's a longshot at best in the seats that are mostly established parties in the south...But according to Jeff LeBlanc's stellar assessment on me after only one post, I have no right to say this because he thinks I'm making this up, even though I have covered every N.B. vote since 1987 and once told Frank McKenna three days before the 58-0 vote, in a rally in Lorne, "Your're winning them all..." He was not happy...
JJ Carrier
The whole party is based on CoR-style racism and anti-French hoo-hah, so her background and views are moot...
Chachi Arcola
Reply to @JJ Carrier: What is your evidence of this?
JJ Carrier
Reply to @Chachi
Arcola: 37 years covering every right-wing party in N.B. for 45 media
outlets, from the PA to the PANB, and seeing duplication of ideas in CoR
lite of both CoR and the PA...And you taking the non-name approach here
by using a copyrighted ABC name shows me your mental process is moot as
well...
JJ Carrier
Reply to @Chachi
Arcola: CoR Lite is run by a failed minister from Nackawic, so that
tells me if someone can't make a church run properly in the
Carleton-York bible belt he should not run anything besides his mouth
whining about Hydro Quebec - the real reason the PANB started BTW
Archie
Levesque
Reply to @JJ Carrier:
Can you prove JJ Carrier is your actual name? Can you show proof for
the supposed media coverage? Or are you just a SANB- party member here
to constantly dump on anyone & everyone that doesnt follow along
the Liberal line like a sheep?
Jeff LeBlanc
Reply to @Archie
Levesque: Took the words right out of my mouth. And what kind of
"journalist" makes fun of someone's mental process? Not a very good or
ethical one that is for sure. Might explain why he doesn't cover
politics anymore. If he ever did. I'm with you I don't believe a single
word.
Jos Allaire
Reply to @Archie Levesque: Can you prove you're Archie Levesque?
David Amos
Content disabled
Reply to @Jos Allaire: Methinks everybody knows that I can easily prove that I am David Raymond Amos and the fact that Quebec never agreed with the Charter means it never took effect N'esy Pas?
JJ Carrier
Reply to @Jos Allaire: Which Archie Levesque you mean? I know a half-dozen just in the Charlo region alone...
JJ Carrier
Reply to @Jeff
LeBlanc: Your thinking is flawed because you are defending someone with a
fake name over someone who has had his name on 25,000 stories...Google
not working for you dude?
JJ Carrier
Reply to @Jeff
LeBlanc: I also said the Parti Acadian was right-wing in my
comment,..The PANB couldn't even get their letters on their own they had
to steal them from the original PANB...And you thinking I'm a
mouthpiece for the SANB is a joke because I am a mouthpiece for the
Rhino Party of Restigouche, sunshine...The RPR and the SANB broke up in
1981 after they refused our request for the Olympics on Heron Island as
you know...It was on the Leblanc CBC was it not?
Jeff
LeBlanc
Reply to @JJ Carrier:
The onus is on you, not me, to prove you are who you say you are.
Either way I never heard of you nor do I care. #baited
JJ Carrier
Reply to @Jeff
LeBlanc: Covering politics as we speak sunshine...Battle of the signs in
Carleton has begun - just like I covered it in Richardsville in 1993
and Dalhousie in the McKenna years...And what have you done today?
Criticize me in public from the safety of your basement without even
vetting? And are you really Jeff Leblanc because I run a Jeff Leblanc
fan club and you don't fit the introductory thank you letter...
Jeff LeBlanc
Reply to @JJ Carrier: um it's dining room not basement. Nice YouTube channel though and I found 1 "interview" some woman did of you and I don't even believe it's real. Post links to articles you wrote on your channel if you are legit. Old timey hockey videos don't count. Then I'll share your channel link to everyone so they can see you are legit. Which you won't do...because you are not.
Jeff
LeBlanc
Reply to @JJ Carrier:
1 last thing before I go and hit mute. Shouldn't post links to your
personal Facebook profile on random web pages that anyone can easily
find. May I suggest trimming that beard and nose hair and perhaps
investing in hair plugs? Looking a little ratty for a highly successful
reporter like yourself.
Jos Allaire
Reply to @Jeff LeBlanc: There is no onus on anyone. You just made it up.
https://www.carbeau.ca/english2
300 rue Beaverbrook Rd
Miramichi N-B
E1V 1A1
Téléphone/PHONE 506-627-4125
Télécopieur/FAX 506-627-4592
info@carbeau.ca
Our Reason For Being
Our Vision
Acadian and Francophone communities contribute to the growth and influence of their language and culture.
Our Mission
The mission of the Beausoleil Community Hub is to promote the development and outreach of Acadian and Francophone communities in the Miramichi region.
Our Name
The meaning behind the choice of the Carrefour Beausoleil name can be explained as follows: The word Carrefour is linked to the desire to make the Center a meeting place for Francophones in the region. The second part of the name relates to Joseph Broussard, who was nicknamed Beausoleil. He was a hero of Acadian resistance at the time of the deportation.
https://www.facebook.com/michelleconroymla/
Re-Elect Michelle Conroy as your MLA for Miramichi on September 14th, 2020.. To order a lawn sign or get involved in the campaign call 506 773-6006.
An election has been called today by premier Higgs.
In the face of a pandemic it will be a very different election but I hope you get out and cast that vote..
I have worked hard the last couple of years to speak for the people of Miramichi and to prove I belong here, and I am humbly asking for your support again in September.
I want to sincerely thank you Miramichi, for putting your trust in me in 2018 to be your voice and I can only hope I have done you proud.
I have learned so much in a short time and have been able to see so many changes for our community with so many more in the works and I believe it is just the beginning!!
Thank you Miramichi !!! XOXO
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