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Montreal-Philippines cutlery controversy


The Montreal–Philippines cutlery controversy was an incident in 2006 in which a seven-year-old Canadian boy from a Filipino family was punished by his school in Roxboro, Montreal, for using his cutlery according to traditional Filipino etiquette.

In response to the media coverage of the affair, a protest was held outside the Canadian embassy in Manila, 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, White nationalism and a culture clash, especially since the school board had previously expelled a Sikh student for carrying a kirpan (Sikh dagger).

In April 2006, the boy was punished on ten separate occasions by the school lunchroom monitor at École Lalande for what the school called "disgusting" and "piggish" eating habits: using a fork to push his food onto a spoon before eating it. The school board countered that the boy was punished only for disruptive behavior. The boy's mother pursued a formal apology. She reported that school principal Normand Bergeron told her in a telephone conversation: "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 (the boy's mother) questioned Bergeron about punishing students for their table habits, she says he replied that, 'If your son eats like a pig he has to go to another table because this is the way we do it and how we’re going to do it every time.'"

In a Chronicle article, Bergeron expanded on his comments. He claimed that the boy was sometimes disruptive, and that was the reason for his being punished, not his fork and spoon habits:

[In 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.


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