Have you seen the video of Stephane Dion's interview with CTV? The one where he didn't understand the question? If you would like to view it then go to this link:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=mv-5biChVrA
This is so incredibly ridiculous. I am an English teacher and I know exactly why Dion ends up having trouble with this question and it has nothing to do with him not being able to speak English, but the way that the question is phrased makes absolutely no sense. Here is the question that Steve Murphy asked him: If you were prime minister now, what would you have done about the economy and this crisis that Mr. Harper has not done?
What the hell kind of question is that? I think you ought to go back and learn your own subjunctive tense Mr. Steve Murphy of the CTV news. This is like saying, "If you lived in the White House now, what would you have done about the Watergate scandal?" It simply doesn't make any sense. I think it was worded in that way to purposely trip up Dion because in French this doesn't properly translate. Even the English version of it barely makes sense. They basically want Dion to explain what he would do if he could become prime minister right now in the present tense and then go back in time to succeed where Steven Harper has failed in terms of the economic crisis. Dion obviously tries to make sense of it and concludes that Murphy must mean "If you were prime minister now then what would you do about the economic crisis." Present tense. Of course Dion is not entirely sure though. Steve Murphy is trying to ask, "If you had been prime minister, rather than Steven Harper, then what would you have done differently to avoid the economic crisis." Past tense. In reality, the question comes across as a jumble between past and present tense. No wonder Dion stumbles over it!! Learn your English Steve Murphy! Now everyone is bashing Stephane Dion because they believe him to be stupid and unable to speak the English language. Watch the video, decide for yourself. On another note, in recent french debates, Steven Harper wasn't exactly elegant in his attempts to 'parle le francais' either. It is mandatory in Canada that federal election candidates are bi-lingual and Harper is only just a smidge over that borderline but besides a few Francophones who took offense to his accent, not many others seem to be noticing.
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