America apologies over Canadian chips and gravy slur
STAFF at the American embassy in Canada have had to apologise for a party invitation they sent out featuring a leading figure from Canadian history carrying a plate of chips covered in cheese and gravy.
The dish - known as poutine - is looked down on as a staple fast food in French-speaking Quebec, where some nationalists take offence at what they see as unfair treatment by the country's English-speaking majority.
The e-mailed invitation to a Canada Day party showed Samuel de Champlain, the French explorer who founded Quebec City in 1608, holding a plate of poutine.
Jean-Paul Perreault, leader of the Imperatif Francais group, said the invitation was an outrage and demanded an apology from Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He said Foreign Minister David Emerson should resign.
"If they wanted to make a joke it's a really bad joke and if it wasn't a joke, well, it's worse," he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., saying it was equivalent to using a hot-dog to promote English-speaking Canada.
"It was not intended to offend anybody and we apologize if it offended anyone," said an embassy spokesman.
The full article contains 197 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
-
Last Updated:
04 July 2008 10:03 AM
-
Source:
n/a
-
Location:
Burnley
