The “R’’ word: New twist on language debate gŏđŏ
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es, French words are bigger than English words. Suggesting the displays were disre- spectful of Anglophones, he asked, “Are you aware of what impact this has on people who come to town?” Mayor René Berthiaume flatly rejected the suggestion the town was intolerant. In fact, “Hawkesbury is a perfect example of what Canada should be,” he declared, not- ing that 77 per cent of its residents are bilin- gual and 80 per cent are francophone. Businesses have provided services in both official languages for decades, he contin- ued. “I don’t see us as being a racist town.” Andrews countered that equal-sized let- ters for both languages on signs “would
send a better message.” But Berthiaume said signs have not been raised as an issue at town council. He noted that francophones have complained about the inability to receive service in their moth- er tongue at certain local businesses. Ironically, Andrews’ comments come as l’Association canadienne-française de l’Ontario has resumed calls for mandatory bilingual commercial signs in Hawkesbury, saying that the primarily francophone town has been overly anglicized. At the same meeting, town council de- cided that when streets signs are replaced, French accents be added to accurately re- flect the names.
RICHARD MAHONEY richard.mahoney@eap.on.ca
HAWKESBURY | The sign language debate took a twist Monday night when a m an co m plained that French was m ore preva- lent than English in Hawkesbury busi- nesses. “I was told Hawkesbury was racist,” Robin Andrews said during the question period at Monday’s council meeting. Andrews, who lives in Fredericton but is also a taxpayer in Grenville-sur-la-Rouge, complained that in some private business-
Robin Andrews
Passing the kid test
Water and sewage work Champlain Township has begun the process of improving water and sewage facili- ties in L’Orignal and Vankleek Hill. An engineering firm, WSP Canada Inc., has been retained to prepare plans for work on the L’Orignal water standpipe and to prepare a pollution prevention and control plan for a Vankleek Hill wastewater pumping sta- tion. Such plans are required by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, public works director James McMahon reminded council. A sum of $220,000 had been set aside in the township budget for the L’Orignal job but the municipality figures it will need another $75,000 to finance that work. McMahon also told a water and sewage ser- vices committee meeting that the township has a new water meter reader gun as the previous device was outdated. He also informed the committee that the Vankleek Hill meters are over 20 years old and will eventually need to be replaced because they will no longer provide an accurate reading.
It never rains...
Photo Richard Mahoney
While the finishing touches had not yet been completed, a new play structure in Vankleek Hill was already being tried out by local children last week. The Mill Street park equipment is accessible to the handicapped, although some council members wonder how a person in a wheelchair will be able to manoeuvre through the mulch. La flotte mise à jour Le conseil de Grenville-sur-la-Rouge a approuvé l’achat d’un tracteur d’un montant de 80 925$ pour le service des travaux publics. Les Équipements R. Masan avait sou- mis la plus basse soumission. La somme requise sera prélevée à même le fonds de roulement, remboursable sur une période de cinq ans. Au même moment, la muni- cipalité a procédé à des appels d’offres en vue d’acheter deux véhicules, un camion pour le service des travaux publics et un véhicule utilitaire pour le service d’incendie. Les véhicules remplaceront des camions qui ont beaucoup d’usure et de kilométrage.
Photo Richard Mahoney
The recent dry spell came to a sudden and very damp end Tuesday night as the region was drenched in a downpour. In the aftermath of the deluge, basements, ditches and sections of fields were temporarily flooded. However, the forecast calls for dry and hot weather for the weekend.
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