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CDP -- A funny, not really!

Ok so this morning on CBC radio there was this outrage because one of the bosses at the Caisse de Depot & Placement du Quebec (You couldn't have a more francophone institution) is apparently uni-lingual anglophone.  What's worse is that he's lived in Quebec for many years (I just cannot remember how many years).  My assumption was that this was a storm in a tea cup, this guy is a specialist in some kind of exotic derivatives and there and therefore employing him was the right thing to do.  

Guess what I was wrong, he's actually the head of human resources for the real estate arm of CDP.  This division has something like 3,000 employees about half of which are francophone (the real estate arm of CDP invests on a global basis).  This means that the entire HR department for this division runs in English (when the boss speaks English everyone else speaks English).  Turns out the head of HR cannot speak to half the firm's employees, and the guy has been living in Quebec for some years (so clearly doesn't care about French if he never bothered to learn it).

Also lets be honest, HR is not the most specialized business in the world, find one that speaks French should not be that hard.  It shows how stupid some decision can be sometimes.  On a more global basis the whole French thing (I'm kind of for this BTW) has been getting bitch-slapped of late!  First, the latest Supreme court appointee is unilingual anglophone (Not so much a problem -- all they see is written) and the newest auditor general is also a anglophone (from New Brunswick where French is as prevalent as in Quebec), which is a huge problem (both BTW promised to learn French; but since they are both in their mid-50s, and very busy with their day jobs, the likelihood that they would learn French is slim to none), because he interacts with the public at large.

You expects this kind of outcome out of the Federal government (the Conservatives have been particularly bone headed of late), but from one of Quebec's premier institution -- no, you don't.  

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