What is the method behind CBCs madness when they barred the leaders from the Green party and the People’s alliance, according to CBC radio the reasons that they denied the leaders from the green and the People’s alliance party was because CBC radio was of the opinion that neither of these two candidates French was good enough to have on air.
This is interesting because how do you actually judge one’s competence in a second language what are the benchmarks that they are using to determine what is competent and what isn’t. The problem seems to be that it appears that CBC radio has used two different types of criteria is to determine fluency in French. From a Francophone perspective David Alward is in affected ineffective when he is discoursing in French. David Alward when he is reading from a script creates the illusion that he is somewhat fluent French but when you listen to him read his French script it is obvious that he does not comprehend what he is reading. When Alward speaks French without a script his deficiency in the language stands out. In this respect Alward, when he is trying to express his thoughts in French he is no better than the leaders of the Green and People’s alliance party. It is always difficult to speak and express one’s thoughts accurately when one isn’t familiar with the language.
So the question is once again asked. Why is Alward allowed to participate in the French debate who skills are at par with the other two leaders that CBC has identified as not being fluent enough to be allowed to engage in the public debate on CBCs airwaves?
Had CBC tried to exclude Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois from the English debate in Québec because of her limited fluency in English. Had CBC radio Québec refused her participation in the English debates the people of Québec would have gone up in arms against CBC.
So why then is CBC radio giving Premier David Alward preferential treatment. If the leaders of the respective parties feel comfortable enough to debate the issues in their second language than they should be allowed to do so.
David Alward originally declined to attend any debates with anyone on the issues of very Harper like strategy, however recently Alward reversed his decision and is now going to partake in this September 9 debate however party president Jason Stephen did say that they did not agree in allowing the Green and the alliance parties joining in the debate.
There has to be more behind this story, which will not be revealed to the public until after the elections.
The Left Eye 