City's English-only ruling concerns foreign investors.City's English-only ruling concerns foreign investors Because it was the first larger city to do so, Sault Ste. Marie Sault Sainte Marie — pronounced "Soo Saint Marie" (IPA /su seɪnt məˈɹi/) — is the name of two cities on the Saint Marys River, which forms part of the boundary between the United States and Canada. took most of the heat for the rash of English-only decisions in Ontario prior to the collapse of the Meech Lake Accord Meech Lake Accord, set of constitutional reforms designed to induce Quebec to accept the Canada Act. The Accord's five basic points, proposed by Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa, include a guarantee of Quebec's special status as a "distinct society" and a commitment to . However, there was also Thunder Bay Thunder Bay, city (1991 pop. 113,946), SW Ont., Canada, on Thunder Bay inlet of Lake Superior. The city was created in 1970 by the amalgamation of the twin cities of Fort William and Port Arthur and two adjoining townships. , the largest city to have such a resolution adopted by its council. Both cities lost some convention business and the decision also caused concern in the investment community. P.R. Charbonneau, general manager of the Thunder Bay Economic Development Corporation, says concerns were raised by clients in Eastern Canada Eastern Canada (also the Eastern provinces) is the region of Canada generally considered to be east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces:
A few firms from Quebec looking at investing in the city felt uncomfortable because of the vote, he says. One went ahead and invested, while the other did not. Charbonneau doesn't know if the language issue was the key factor in the firm's decision not to invest. Currently, he says, "I think the issue has pretty much gone away." Charbonneau notes that one of the largest manufacturers in the city, Can Car, owned by the Lavalin Group of Montreal Of Montreal is an American indie pop band formed in Athens, Georgia, fronted by Kevin Barnes. It was among the second wave of groups to emerge from The Elephant 6 Recording Company. , continues to have excellent relations with the city. Overseas clients such as those from Hong Kong Hong Kong (hŏng kŏng), Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent to Guangdong prov. were also concerned over the level of tolerance in the city because of the English-only vote. Charbonneau says they were concerned about whether or not they would be accepted into the community. However, that concern appears to have been answered, and the English-only policy is not known to have discouraged any foreign investment. Even though he opposed the English-only resolution, Mayor Jack Masters John Gerald (Jack) Masters (born September 27, 1931 in Fort William, Ontario) is a former Canadian politician. He served as mayor of the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, and as a federal Member of Parliament. says it was intended to give an economic message to the provincial government. That message was that the city did not want to implement mandatory provincial policies, in this case the French Languages Services Act, without having the province pay for it. Masters says the whole debate appears, in a strange way, to have brought more understanding between Quebec and Thunder Bay, because it initiated a dialogue. TOURISM Lynn McCreadie, executive director of North of Superior Tourism, says the English-only decision received an unfortunate amount of media coverage. However, she says, in general tourism was not affected by the controversy. McCreadie says, "I don't see now where it's really an issue." |
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