Should the Quebec Government Determine Coaching Hires?

The Montreal Canadiens recently fired head coach Jacques Martin and replaced him with interim coach Randy Cunneyworth, but the Quebec government is outraged with this hire because of his inability to speak French in a part of Canada where French is most common.

The Quebec province's culture minister expects the Habs to correct the situation and hire a coach that can actually speak French. She expects that this is a temporarily move and that a more French-speaking head coach will be hired as soon as possible.

Response from Montreal fans is slightly less critical than it usually is when government steps into the hockey world. However, most, if not all, Canadiens fans can speak French, although I knew a few people who were fans but didn't speak the language at all. So I'm a little upset at this situation but I'm not shocked that this came out of the blue.

What right does the Quebec government have to determine who can be the Canadiens' head coach or not? I mean, do all their head coaches and assistant coaches have to be able to speak in French to have the job? Can't they just play hockey?

Something about this issue disgusts me. I don't think that what language you speak should disbar you from leading the team. This is entirely outrageous and people should not have to listen to the government to determine who their next head coach should be. If he can lead that team and get some good wins, which they need, then he should be the coach, no matter if he's French-speaking or not.

One columnist compared the Canadiens to FC Barcelona, a team that expects its player to learn the Catalan language and whose slogan is "More than a team." I think learning other languages is going over the line a bit. Sometimes, they're just here to play hockey and nothing else. In FC Barcelona, it's a little different because there are few English-speaking people over there and it's not like Montreal, where there is a large variety of English-speakers with the French-speakers.

Here's an idea I think the Canadiens should try. I understand that French is the main language in the city, but how about try doing a translator? There are many people all over the country, like Hideki Matsui in baseball, who use translators to talk to the media or other people of note because they don't understand the other language as well as they do their own. There's at least one thing to work with. My only other option is do hire another coach who can speak French, which I think the Canadiens will do eventually, but not right away.

All in all, I don't think there's going to be an issue after a while. The Canadiens always understand what the Quebec government wants and I think the Cunneyworth hiring will be just temporary. After all, his job title says interim coach. By the end of the season, there'll be a new coach in place who can speak English as well as French, and that will please the Quebec government. But seriously, the government also needs to respect what the Canadiens do in their organization, because they're having trouble scoring goals and winning games.