What about other qualifications? Support your local restaurants

Is Brigitte Pellerin serious? She calls all non-bilingual Canadians lazy, equates being bilingual with an engineering degree and refuses to acknowledge that francophones are surrounded by English in North America, giving them a clearer advantage on the path to bilingualism than their anglophone counterparts have.

She is right, though: In Canada, we do have two official languages even though the francophone population outside of Quebec is only about four per cent.

Regardless of the reasons why more lazy Canadians are not bilingual, the relevant question is “Should bilingualism supersede better experience and qualifications?” Pellerin answers “yes.” The followup question should be: “How is that in the best interest of all Canadians?” Chris Kelly, Ottawa

Re: Why would you open a business in a pandemic? In Ottawa, restaurateurs take calculated risks, Oct. 8.

I admire the determination and entrepreneurial spirit of the people mentioned in this article.

I would imagine that it is hard enough to operate an existing restaurant, let alone opening a new one during the pandemic. Opening a new restaurant in the current economic condition must be fraught with risks and made more challenging given the restrictions imposed because of COVID-19.

However, from what I have been reading in the news,

I have the notion that many local restaurant owners are very resilient, creative and motivated in ensuring the survival of their business. Supporting your favourite local restaurants is one way of helping them weather these extraordinary times.

Dono Bandoro, Ottawa