Hacker News Reader

Comment by vasco | Hacker News Reader

You seem like you think about these issues and are not pro nationalism ideals but you type this:

> proud Canadian-Italian

Why are you proud of your nationalities? Seems weird in the face of the rest of your comment.

To be clear I'm upset about these policies because they stamped out the ideals of Montreal and have strangled the city, turning it from a truly global capital to a provincial backwater that's now more renowned as a great place for Americans to get in some underage drinking.

My National ideals, and those of the majority from Montreal, are multilingualism and multiculturalism. Runs against the ideals of the ROQ (Rest Of Quebec) and it's disheartening to see my city suffocate under rules written up by people and for people who are not actually from the city

Thanks for answering! It seemed like a contradiction but I understand your point of view.

> My National ideals, and those of the majority from Montreal, are multilingualism and multiculturalism.

Those are Anglo-influenced globalist ideals. The Francophone world is decidedly not multicultural. It’s proud of French history and culture and dedicated to protecting it.

London or Toronto are like the Android ecosystem. An eclectic if often inelegant free for all. Paris and Montreal are like iOS: carefully curated and strongly opinionated.

During its ascendency as a global capital, Montreal was a decidedly multicultural and multicultural metropolis. One that native Montrealers (read: those with deep roots here) try to cultivate.

But today's Montreal is the result of heavy-handed, paternalistic social engineering driven by an external government over the past 40 years... And is a shell of its former self. One that is going to be further hollowed unless these laws are reversed.

While I'm not OP, I can earnestly say I'm proud to be Canadian. We are a liberal multicultural democracy, with beautiful natural vistas and nice people and I am proud of that fact. I'm proud of the imagined Canadian identity of polite and hard-working. Are there thing I don't like? Sure, but I think having full-throated pride for "Canadian values" is not a bad thing. And I also think by doing so, I can try and reclaim this from being political/partisan. Especially after the Canadian flag has been used so heavily in political protests, I think it's all the more important to re-affirm that being proudly Canadian is not a partisan decision.

I suspect it's more of a standard disclaimer to signal that he isn't anti-Canadian.

I.e., "I'm on your side, so I mean this with love..."

Part of proud multiculturalism is being proud of the piece you contribute to it.

Yeah, I just struggle with the pride part personally, I would say I'm proud of my achievements but not my culture. Parent clarified though.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com