A US Politician Said Canada's French-English Divide Makes It Less 'Successful'
The congressman had a hot take on "why nations fail."
If you're big into the French-English language debate or the Canada vs. U.S. debate, you might want to click out of this article and go listen to some Jean Leloup or something because it could rile you up. Republican U.S. Congressman Glenn Grothman went off on Canada at a House session on November 16 and brought into question the country's success compared to the States.
Grothman used part of his half-hour speech to discuss "why nations fail," saying, "I never felt Canada was quite as successful as America [...] because to a degree their elections pitted the French speakers against the English speakers."
Cue the Québecois fury in 3...2...1.
"In these countries that fail, the elections are a contest of one ethnic group against another," continued the congressman.
In one fell swoop, Grothman dissed Canadians AND Quebecers which is quite an impressive feat — regardless of whether or not you agree with the Wisconsin Republican.
The language debate was one of the hot-button issues in the recent Canadian federal election. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who declared himself as a "proud Quebecer" on several occasions and who is fluently bilingual, might take exception to Grothman's comments.
Then again, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet didn't help ease those assumptions about Canada when tweeting about how "examples of contempt against the French language continue to multiply," on Thursday.
But, hey, while there is indeed a polarizing language debate in this country, at least no one's attempted to storm Parliament over an ideological cause.
