Brucie,
You are right of course about Quebec, it should never have happened as Canada is supposed to be a bi-lingual country, and I suppose if they had to change all the signs in Quebec to bi-lingual then would have to do it in all other provinces and territories and that would be a huge expense. I am not a french speaker but have travelled widely in Quebec, not only to the tourist attractions like Montreal and Quebec City. I have been to Riviere-du-loup, Trois Rivieres, Cap-du-la-Madeleine, Ste Anne du Beaupre , Berthier de Mer. Bromptonville, Magog, Charlesbourg and similar places and I have always found people who can speak english, sadly the opposite is not true. Quebecers are expected to speak english in Ontario and elsewhere. Being a French province I don't blame them for trying to preserve thair language and their culture, I just think they went a bit overboard with the signage question, as we say in Ireland - Tir gan teanga = tir gan anam. (A land without language is a land without soul).

The situation in the north of Ireland is different in that the nationalists want only civil rights, they want democracy, they want to be treated as equals, they don't want any favouritism whan applying for a job, they just want a fair chance of being hired based on what you know and not who you know, and the knowledge that being a catholic will not hinder your chances in any way.

By the way - Quebec is a beautiful province and I will be there again this year July 9th to 12th.