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The story of Ian Potter will surprise no one in the federal public service, where the blessings of official bilingualism have stalled many a career, tormented many a soul, fed many an absurdity.

To grow up in a government town is to have heard it all: anglos (mostly) sent for months of daily language training, kept awake at night by the prospect of failing, only to take on jobs where they hardly use the newfound French; being bypassed in competitions by the bilingually less competent; intensive language instruction as careers and brains are winding down.

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Yeah, j’accuse alright. This is every day in the cubicled banlieues of official Ottawa or — be precise now! — “the National Capital Region.”

Potter was the vice-president at the National Research Council who spent the last 16 months in one-on-one French language training — in his hometown of Edmonton, no less — only to resign after at least $90,000 was spent on instruction. And the thing is, he broke no particular rule.