The Montreal–Philippines cutlery controversy was an incident in 2006 in which a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

-born Canadian boy was punished by his school in Roxboro,

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, for following traditional Filipino etiquette and eating his lunch with a fork and a spoon, rather than the Canadian tradition of a knife and fork. In response to the media coverage of the affair, a protest was held outside the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

and the Philippine Ambassador to Canada, José Brillantes, described it as an "affront to Filipino culture." Some commentators saw it as an example of prejudice,

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

and a culture clash, especially since the

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

had previously expelled a

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

student for carrying a

kirpan The kirpan is a curved, single-edged dagger or knife carried by Sikhs. Traditionally, it was a full-sized sword but modern Sikhs have reduced the length to that of a dagger or knife due to modern considerations based on societal and legal chang ...

(Sikh dagger).

Timeline

The boy, Luc Joachim Gallardo Cagadoc, was born in 1998 to a Filipino family in Manila. The Cagadocs migrated to Canada the same year for job opportunities. In April 2006, schoolteacher Martine Bertrand, who was assigned a role of school lunchroom monitor at École Lalande, sanctioned the then seven-year old Luc on ten separate occasions for what the school called "disgusting" and "piggish" eating habits: using a

fork In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods ei ...

to push his food onto a

spoon A spoon is a utensil consisting of a shallow bowl (also known as a head), oval or round, at the end of a handle. A type of cutlery (sometimes called flatware in the United States), especially as part of a place setting, it is used primarily for ...

before eating it. The school board countered that the boy was punished only for disruptive behavior. The boy's mother, Theresa Gallardo Cagadoc, pursued a formal apology and reported that school principal Normand Bergeron told her in a telephone conversation that in Canada, one should eat with Canadian manners ("Madame, you are in Canada. Here in Canada you should eat the way Canadians eat."). The story first appeared in the ''West Island Chronicle''. According to the Montreal-area newspaper, when Cagadoc questioned Bergeron about punishing students for their table habits, Bergeron replied that Luc must be moved to another table if he continues to "eat like a pig" as it was their manner of how they discipline students. In a ''Chronicle'' article, Bergeron expanded on his comments, claiming that Luc was sometimes disruptive, which was the reason for his sanctions and not his fork and spoon habits:

n my conversation with (the mother)I said, "Here, this is not the manner in which we eat." ... I don't necessarily want students to eat with one hand or with only one instrument, I want them to eat intelligently at the table ... I want them to eat correctly with respect for others who are eating with them. That's all I ask. Personally, I don’t have any problems with it, but it is not the way you see people eat every day. I have never seen somebody eat with a spoon and a fork at the same time.

Later reporting alleged that Luc was warned that he was tardy at the table, and so he reverted to the spoon-feeding method to save time. Luc said that he was separated from his lunchmates any time he ate that way. Bergeron was subsequently restrained from speaking on the issue by the

; spokesperson Brigitte Gavreau stated that board policy was that students could eat with any utensils. A score of protestors outside the Canadian Embassy in

appealed for "respect for

cultural diversity Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, the global monoculture, or a homogenization of cultures, akin to cultural evolution. The term "cultural diversity" can also refer to having different cu ...

" and affirmed "we eat with a spoon and we're proud."Protesters accused Canadian school of discriminating Filipino boy
May 5, 2006 (from website of Sun.Star network of local newspapers in the Philippines) The item was quickly picked up worldwide, especially in Filipino newspapers and websites. A

security guard A security guard (also known as a security inspector, security officer, or protective agent) is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets (property, people, equipment, money, etc.) from a variety ...

was assigned to the

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

, a

police cruiser A police car (also called a police cruiser, police interceptor, patrol car, area car, cop car, prowl car, squad car, radio car, or radio motor patrol) is a ground vehicle used by police and law enforcement for transportation during patrols a ...

went on duty, and the school principal received a death threat. Fo Niemi, the Cagadocs' lawyer and the executive director for the

Center for Research-Action on Race Relations The Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR) is a Canadian, non-profit civil rights organization committed to promoting racial harmony and equality. The organization functions as a service for victims of discrimination through activit ...

(CRARR), had to actively discourage people from the Filipino community from protesting in front of the school board. France Pilon, the assistant director of the school board, said that Luc's parents were repeatedly invited to meet with school officials, but declined, reportedly on legal advice. Pilon also said that Luc's parents have instructed him to eat apart from other students. The case was brought to the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal for formal mediation.Incident might have been a mistake
, ''Montreal Gazette'', May 8, 2006
13 June 2006 . ''Montreal Gazette''. In the meantime, Luc was transferred to a different elementary school.
''The Manila Mail'', January 15, 2007.

Commission ruling

In 2008 the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission ruled that Bertrand's reprimand was an isolated incident, and found no evidence that Bergeron was biased. It found that Luc was disciplined for unsafe eating behavior, not for his cutlery etiquette. The commission concluded that Luc was

clowning around ''Clowning Around'' is a 1992 Australian family film that was shot on location in Perth, Western Australia and Paris, France. It was based on the novel ''Clowning Sim'' by David Martin.Albert Moran, ''Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series'', A ...

by stuffing a large amount of

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

into his mouth, and that the reprimand was for his own safety.Canada ’spoon’ row seethes
''Manila Mail'', October 18, 2008 The commission concluded that it was discriminatory for Bertrand to have asked Luc if people in "his country" washed their hands before eating.Cutlery controversy back on the table
, ''The Asian Pacific Post'', November 19, 2008 In November 2008 it was reported that CRARR had asked the Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission to review its decision, alleging anomalies in process that possibly prejudiced the commission's decision. The principal's newspaper comments were allegedly ignored. Theresa said that the human rights commission had interviewed representatives from the school board, but not Cagadocs. Theresa was reportedly considering an

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

to the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal, a quasi-judicial body, while members of the area Filipino community wanted to take the case to court. In April 2010 the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal mandated that the school reimburse the Cagadocs CDN $17,000 in moral and punitive damages. The Tribunal stated that the school principal shared blame for not implementing an intercultural education policy.'Spoon-and-fork boy' wins $17K in damages in Canada
/ref>

References

External links

"School won't apologize in Filipino fork dispute"

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

.
"Montreal boy's silverware choice sparks protest in Philippines."

.
"Board seeks mediation in food fight."
13 June 2006 .

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

.
"Incident might have been a mistake."

. 8 May 2006.
" Filipino boy gets support in lunch flap"

. 6 May 2006.
"Boy who ate in traditional Filipino way going to human rights group".

. 5 May 2005.
"Filipino table etiquette punished at local school"
Montreal West Island Chronicle (via

archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

). 19 April 2006
"Filipino mom to ask for public apology."
Montreal West Island Chronicle (via archive.org). 26 April 2006. *''Knife? Fork? Spoon" Not necessarily.'' at * {{DEFAULTSORT:Montreal-Philippines cutlery controversy 2006 in Quebec 2006 in the Philippines Controversies in Canada Dining etiquette Filipino-Canadian culture History of human rights in Canada History of Montreal Race and law Canada–Philippines relations Anti-Filipino sentiment

Timeline

Commission ruling

See also

References

External links