Janet Bagnall Needs Math Lessons

Janet Bagnall is by far my least favourite Montreal Gazette columnist. She's even more annoying than the Gazette's in-house separatist, Josée Legault, who's vapid missives are about as interesting as is a 100 page PQ policy paper.

Mizz Bagnall is the Gazette's resident whining womens libber, who is ever prepared to blame men, successful men, unsuccessful men, male politicians, rich and successful nations run by men, big companies run by men, big government run by men, male bullies and finally, men in general, for all the world's ills.

Her latest missive, Blame the U.S. and France for Haiti's woe is true to form, with 'Blame' being the central theme of yet another column that would get a 'F" from any journalism professor in the country.

In her heavily 'borrowed' piece from assorted journalists and activists, she blames the United States, France and the World Bank for all of Haiti woes. It's the interfering and scheming western world that sought to enslave, rape and dominate this island paradise which has led Haiti down the path of mediocrity.
What else is new?

While proffering all sorts of facts and figures, Mizz Bagnall seems to have little understanding of the math involved.
Here she complains, pirating citing an article in the ultra-left wing THE NATION, that Haiti is saddled with a burdensome debt load.

"Haiti spent $57.4 million to service its debt, Richard Kim reports, a sum that dwarfed the $39.2 million it was given in foreign aid for education, health care, and other services...."

58 million dollars does not "dwarf" 40 million by any stretch of the imagination, perhaps a billion would. Using the 'dwarfed' adjective gives the false impression that there is a wide gap between what Haiti owes and what it gets from the international community. It's a sin of omission not to include in this aid number, donations provided by NGOs, private charities and church groups. (not all aid comes in cash from sovereign governments)

While Mizz Bagnall intimates (quoting Mr. Kim) that this 58 million dollar debt is crushing, it is anything but. Using the figures that she quotes herself, the total amount of debt comes out to under eight dollars per Haitian per year, not a game changer, even for the impoverished Haitians. If you subtract from this number a revised aid figure that accounts for all foreign aid, there isn't any gap at all.

"An economically "reformed" Haiti has seen its 1990 per-capita GDP of $617 fall to $425 by 2004."

This statement is the one I object to the most. Why use outdated statistics (2004) other than to mislead? In 2009 Haiti's per capita GDP was US$660. Link
It's funny how you can make figures dance according to your own agenda. One could safely conclude that Haitians income rose by more than 50% since 2004.

Let's put this whole debt issue into context. The Haitian national debt is somewhere between 600 and 700 million dollars. This number reflects the fact that $1.5 billion of debt has been written off by the international community, quite recently. The money that Haiti does owe, is a relatively small amount even considering Haiti's impoverished condition. It's probably that small because no legitimate banker in their right mind would ever lend the country a dime. At any rate, when apportioned to the 9.6 million Haitians, it works out to less than $70 of debt per person or about one and a half months of salary. By contrast each Canadian owes approximately one and a half years of salary, as their portion of our public debt.

"No sooner had Haiti's slaves declared their freedom and established Haiti as a republic, than France imposed reparations of 150 million francs - under the threat of a trade embargo. Haiti had to borrow from the U.S. to pay the French. It took Haiti until 1947 to pay off about60 per cent of the loan, valued in 2003 dollars at more than $21billion."

Even if it's true, so what? The debt was paid off in 1947. What have they done since then?

Many countries have overcome hardship and adversity and lived through circumstances much worse than Haiti. Germany and Japan are example of countries that have emerged from the dust heap, their people humbled and discouraged, their homeland reduced to a pile of rubble after World War Two, to emerge as powerhouse nations in just twenty or thirty years.

"When the International Monetary Fund extends a helping hand to Haiti,as it did this week, strings are usually attached. According to information posted by Kim, the IMF's conditions include switching from domestic consumption to exports, devaluation of local currency, a sell-off of public goods and services, and a reduction in the salaries and size of the civil service. Haiti's public-sector employment is the lowest in the region at less than one per cent."

Like all apologists, shilling for struggling nations in need of cash, Mizz Bagnall repeats the complaint that the World Bank imposes harsh rules and restrictions as a condition of securing a loan.
I don't know which world she lives in, but in this one, bankers always exact conditions when lending money.
Does she honestly believe that the World Bank imposes these conditions in order to be cruel and vindictive?

Without conditions, is there any doubt that the money would go down the same sinkhole as before? The Haitian economy is so badly mismanaged and corrupt, that any rules would be a positive step.

Haiti ranks 150th out of 180 countries in terms of business climate. It takes over three years to get a construction permit. Does Mizz Bagnall really think we should give them carte blanche?
Here's a report on the basket case that Haiti is:
Doing Business in Haiti

The logical conclusion of Ms. Bagnall's column is that out of guilt, we should send gads of money to Haiti and leave them to sort things out.

It is without a doubt, the very worst of ideas and one that would insure that future generation of Haitians will be doomed to live in the same misery and squalor as Haitians find themselves in today.

Sometimes, Mizz Bagnall, the fault lies within. Sometimes blaming others is not helpful.
What Haiti needs is more interference, not less.
If ever there was an example of a country in need of an intervention, it is Haiti. The United Nations should step in, dissolve it's government and create a trusteeship.

It isn't something new, the UN has run mandates before. For the sake of future generations of Haitians, the world organization needs to take this drastic step.

Like drug addicts and alcoholics that have hit bottom, sometimes an intervention is the only reasonable course of action. Anything else is time, money and effort wasted. Lives are at stake.

Sometimes, you just have to take stock of yourself.... and stop blaming others.....

Listening to apologists like Janet Bagnall will only exacerbate the hopeless situation.

SAQ Conspires With Union to Raise Salaries 30%

If there's anything unionized employees of Quebec's liquor monopoly, (Société des alcools du Québec) learned from their ill-fated strike four years ago, it's that it's a lot better to cooperate with their employer than fight.

Throughout the three month strike the employer managed to operate about 10% of it's 400 retail locations with management personnel. The stores operated at full capacity with customers seemingly unaffected, except for the longer drive, lineups at the checkout and the diminished selection. Customers were inconvenienced but not to the point of supporting the strikers, after all booze is booze and those in need will make the effort and suffer the inconvenience. Amazingly the SAQ made more money during the strike then before or after, thus providing us with the lesson that the SAQ has too many locations and employees.

At any rate, the days of confrontation between the union and the SAQ is over. A brand new collective agreement calls for a massive raise for employees.

On Thursday morning Jean-Luc Mongrain (TVA) interviewed representatives of both management and the union and it was as if they were brother and sister, singing in harmony.

Mongrain has a very particular way of interviewing. While remaining deferential and polite, his acerbic and well researched inquiries are to the point and quite disarming.

Throughout the interviews, Mr. Mongrain continued to pound home the point that the new deal provided an experienced SAQ cashier/clerk a salary of, wait for it---- $28.71 an hour.

No it's not a typo, $28.71 an hour for punching the cash register and pointing the way to the Chablis aisle.
What are the qualifications for this job? A high school diploma.
A first year medical resident, a doctor, is paid about $20 an hour. A clerk in your average retail store makes between minimum wage and $12 an hour.

How good is the salary? Well, during the negotiations, the union was offered performance bonuses which they promptly voted against. After all who needs to work hard for a small bonus when you're already making $29 an hour?

Both the union and the company representatives tried to explain away the increase based on a pay equity settlement which was mandated by law and with which they had no control over.
The pay equity law forces companies to match salaries in categories of jobs that are traditionally manned by females to those of comparable male dominated groups. To read more about the ridiculous lengths that this law goes to, read my post.

And so the SAQ employees who man (or woman) the registers got a big salary boost because of the interpretation of law that declared the women discriminated against, in terms of renumeration.

But a closer look and a rigid application of the law shows that employees did not qualify at all for this pay equity settlement.

The law provides that when a certain job description or type is occupied by over 60% females, those employees (both male and female) are subject to the pay equity legislation and may be eligible for compensation (an investgation is required.)

But in the case of the SAQ, the cashier/clerks group comprises of only 57% females and thus does not qualify for pay equity!

When pressed on the issue, an SAQ spokesman spokeswoman, Isabelle Merrizi explained that even though the employees didn't technically qualify, the number of woman in the catagory was growing and that within a couple years would breach the sixty percent line. They decided as a company to face the issue early. Arrrggghhh!!!!!!

What company in the world would make such a stupid decision? Could you imagine a boss in private industry doing the same?

The whole story stinks to high heaven.
Instead of giving the employees a pay equity settlement based on future projections, wouldn't a prudent employer just hire an equal number of men and women and maintain the status quo?

The fact, that the SAQ is increasing the amount of woman in this category is in itself discriminatory. Isn't it against the law to announce beforehand that more women than men will be hired?

The truth is that the bosses at the SAQ don't really care. They are lazy and don't want another strike, they had to work too hard during the walkout. Working the register is something they hadn't bargained for and they'll do anything to avoid it in the future, including giving away the candy store.

The SAQ produced $800 million in profits for the government last year. If that profit fell to $750 million, it's no skin off management's nose. Nobody ever gets fired for non-performance and hey, labour peace has a price....

Latent Racism in Quebec a Sad Reality

What can you say when even those who write newspaper articles in sympathy and support for Haitians and their plight, descend into antisemitism without even thinking about it. The reference below is from an article in the Quebec daily LE SOLEIL, that reinforces the stereotype that Jews are exploiters of the poor, a myth that is so ingrained in Quebec culture that it even passes unnoticed by editors, who should keep this kind of stuff out of their newspapers.

"...On one certain Christmas Eve, I volunteered to bring the poorest families in Montreal-Nord, some of those famous food baskets that we received from generous donors. I remember entering an apartment, as big as my hand, where two or three families lived in close proximity, their many young barefoot children dressed only in underwear and who threw themselves upon the gift boxes as if they were full of treasures. I also remember that the living rooms were small sewing workshops, where women spent long hours sewing clothes for Jewish entrepreneurs from Saint-Laurent Boulevard and who were obviously underpaid with cash paid under the table........" -Victor-Lévy Beaulieu, Trois-Pistoles

Of course the writer offers nothing but assumptions in his piece, assumptions that are unfortunately widely shared in Quebec society. The fact that the article made it to print without any editor asking if the writer verified his facts that the Haitians were working for a Jew or if they were underpaid or if they were paid under the table, but whatever, it must be true!

Imagine if a Toronto paper wrote a similar piece in which the writer described a scam in which government departments had been defrauded by unscrupulous companies and then went on to speculate without any proof at all, that the companies are run by Quebec Francophones... OUCH!!!!

Most of us older types remember the rampant racist generalizations that were made about all ethnicities and religions when we were young, regardless of our own heritage.

You know the ones - Jews are cheap and dishonest, Blacks are indolent, Spanish people are lazy, Chinese people-inscrutable. etc. etc. etc.

"Eeeny-meany-miney-moe, Catcha nigger by the toe..."
"Wops, Spicks, Shvartzes, Poofters, Hymies...."
It wasn't pretty, but happily, those days are gone.
Francophones had their own myths and expressions about others as well, but are much slower to shed these archaic and hurtful stereotypes.

There was a time when Anglos would describe getting cheated as being "Jewed." Today that term has largely disappeared, only a brave and foolish soul would dare use the term at work or in mixed company.

But in Quebec today, it is still acceptable to use the term "BON JUIF"(a good Jew) to describe a Jewish person who has acted decently or one who had done them a good turn.
It infers that the rest of the Jews are.......well, not so worthy, to be polite.

We all went through a process of purging our own language, prejudices and preconception. Polite society taught us which terms and preconceptions were no longer acceptable and although it seemed stupid at the time, in hindsight, it set us straight.

There needs to be some sort of similar process in Quebec...

Quebec: We Don't Want More Haitians.

No one can deny that Quebeckers have been the most generous Canadian donors in relation to money raised for Haitian relief. In fact, the Quebec telethon in support of Haitian relief was more than twice as successful in terms of per capita donations as compared to that of the Canadian effort.

It's quite understandable, the Canadian Haitian community is almost exclusively a Quebec affair, as more than 90% of them live in Quebec and even more specifically, Montreal. Because of this close relationship there is a strong desire to help the earthquake ravaged island.

That being said, there are voices in Quebec, growing louder and louder, that are demanding that immigration from the stricken island be limited to family reunification (including orphans) only, and that the disaster not spark any sort of mass immigration.

Here's a particularly nasty article (in French) concerning this very question entitled "Non à l’immigration haïtienne"

Interestingly, Ottawa has seemed to back up that point of view, declaring that they won't loosen rules that would expand the definition of 'family' to include a wider circle of eligible immigrants.

The Feds remain sensitive to the fact that if they allow an influx of Haitians, they will end up in Montreal and it would quite rightly be an intrusion into Quebec's sphere of responsibility.

Canada and Quebec have had immigration agreements since 1971, but in 1978 the "Cullen-Couture Agreement" gave Quebec the absolute right to select it's own immigrants under it's own criteria.

Ever since then, the most important criterion to becoming a Quebec immigrant was the ability to speak French. Unfortunately there weren't a lot of Frenchman and Belgians who wished to come to Quebec. Of those who did, many returned home, citing discrimination (if you can believe it!). Suffice to say, there's no love loss between Quebeckers and Frenchmen from Europe.

And so Quebec was left with the choice of seeking immigrants from Haiti, various African banana republics and from the Arab countries that had a French colonial past, including Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria (known collectively as the "Mahgreb,") as well as Lebanon.

Most of these immigrants moved to Quebec with little understanding of democracy or modern western beliefs. They were poorly educated and few had skills that could be put to use in modern society.
To the utter frustration of Quebeckers of all stripes, the immigrants failed to integrate into mainstream society and insisted on maintaining their customs, religion and traditions and worst of all- their apartness.

Notwithstanding that the immigrants spoke French and were absorbed onto the French side of the English/French divide, they largely remained apart and disconnected from mainstream society.As in the case of Europe, they have settled into ghettos and created their own little home away from home, or country within a country.

While immigrants claim that their failure to succeed is based on unequal opportunity and discrimination, most Quebeckers believe that the problem is the immigrants failure to adapt to the realities of modern Quebec.

Quebeckers have also largely come to believe that it is they who are slowly being assimilated, instead of the immigrants.

The disillusionment over the immigration influx, is reinforced by alarmist news reports indicating that certain districts of Montreal are out of control and under the influence of immigrant street gangs. Coupled with Arab immigrants refusal to give up their veil and religious orthodoxy in the name of Quebec secularism, a clash of culture seems to be brewing.

Many are calling for a moratorium on immigration, lest Quebec turn into Holland or France, where ethnic and religious conflict has exploded with increased immigration.

Positions are no doubt hardening and the concept of 'Reasonable Accommodations" (the policy of making cultural allowances for immigrants) is all but dead, whether the politicians realize it or not.

Quebeckers are taking a serious look at the benefits versus the cost of immigration, with the tide turning decidedly against a policy of open doors.

And so, immigration is the new hot topic in Quebec. The issue transcends traditional linguistic and language alignments and is explosive on so many different levels because many see it as the defining element of a future Quebec.
More next week.....

Quebec Debt Growing Out of Hand

Quebec debt is piling up faster than one can imagine. I found this nifty tool over at the Montreal Economic Institute website. The province is piling up debt at a rate of 9 billion dollars per year, $25 million per day, $17,215.27 per minute, or $287.00 per second.

The federal government is piling on debt at a rate of $153 million per day.

Quebec's population is about 7, 800,000 people and divvying up the debt means every Quebeckers owes about $27,630. Wow! By the way, that debt is going up that a rate of $1,100 a year!

Add to that debt, about $15,000 more, which represents each citizens portion of Canada's debt and the average citizen's debt load is over $42,000

Here's a link to the Canadian Taxpayer's Federation's Debt Clock.

Bad as it is, we better off than the Americans, who owe an average of $40,000 at the federal level. Add state debt to that and the average American owes well over $50,000.

That  being said we are in a much worse position than any state or province.
Our ability to repay the debt is severely hampered by the fact that we are the poorest province (per capitia) in Canada. Although the Americans owe more than us, they generate a lot more income and even though they owe more money than us, are really in a better financial position.

An excellent conservative Quebec blogger named DAVID is particularly adept at deconstructing  numbers. Even if you don't speak French, his well prepared charts transgress the language barrier.  Here is the LINK.

Out of the ten provinces, Quebec families bring home the least money both before and after taxes and we owe the most...Ughhh!!!!....

Here is a link to the US Debt Clock which is quite fascinating...

Hampsteader Nikki Yanofsky to Sing Olympic Theme

Congratulations to 15 year old  Nikki Yanofsky who has recorded CTV's Official Olympic theme song.


She is a born and bred Anglo Montrealer, from Hampstead, Quebec's most Anglo community.



Nikki is a singing sensation who is breaking out across the continent and the world. I'm sure this gig will make her even more popular!

Give it a listen.

Here's a YouTube link if you'd like to hear more

Return of Haitians to Montreal Controversial

Last week fate would conspire to find me crossing paths with many returning Canadian Haitian refugees.
Our company was holding a regularly scheduled, semi-annual meeting in the Wyndam Hotel (formerly the Dorval Hilton), out by Montreal's Trudeau airport, which was set up as the primary processing centre for those airlifted out of the stricken island.

On the Friday before our convention, we received a call from the hotel asking us to move around some rooms and halls that we had booked, to accommodate the Red Cross, which would be setting up operations on the same floor we had booked.

On Monday morning, I walked by an impressive array of official vehicles strewn around the parking lot and entered the hotel lobby, past Montreal police and private security officers who were manning the entrance, enforcing the policy that reporters not be allowed inside.

A temporary desk had been set up immediately inside and it was the first time in my life that I came face to face with those wearing the distinctive Red Cross vest that we are accustomed to seeing on television at various disaster scenes.

The  situation in the lobby can only be described only as surreal, as hotel guests, convention goers and airline personnel rubbed shoulders with returning Haitians, bedecked in Red Cross blankets that they clutched around their shoulders over the summer clothing that they arrived in.

While the Red Cross and civil defence personnel attended to the bewildered Haitians who were waiting to be processed, people checked in and out of the hotel as if nothing was unusual.

Most of the people who returned from Haiti had family in Montreal and somewhere to go (Montreal is home to a vast majority of Haitian Canadians.) As soon as a bus would disembark the refugees, most would be picked up and be whisked away by family or friends. From what I could judge, it was an extremely well organized affair.

Some of the returnees stayed overnight, awaiting connections to other parts of the country and I chatted with many in the lunchtime buffet line, the lobby or the halls as they and their children whiled away the hours on couches, waiting for final travel arrangements to come through.

Most of the adults were quiet and subdued and spoke in muted voices, their painful ordeal over, but tinged with sadness and survivor's guilt. This contrasted sadly from what I know of Montreal Haitians, who are usually garrulous, smiling, boisterous and of extremely good cheer.

As we attended to our business and moved from room to convention room, we mixed with the little children who were colouring in books or completing jig saw puzzles provided by the Red Cross, oblivious to the life changing event they had overcome.

I was loathe to take photos of individuals, as it seemed somewhat infringing.

Our company meetings are usually upbeat, motivational and somewhat fun. As you can imagine, the situation put quite a damper on things. That being said, those who were returning to Canada were the lucky ones. For one woman who had lost most of her family and with whom I rode up the elevator (and heard her story in less than thirty seconds,) it was the only saving grace.

After two days we became used to (or blasé) seeing the Haitins arrive. It was no longer strange that people were going on with their own lives, oblivious to their plight. The lobby bar was full and conducting normal operation with well-heeled men and women joking and laughing over white wine and scotch while watching the unfolding events before them in the lobby. Ironically the barman was Haitain.

Some of my colleagues were from the outer reaches of the province and many had never seen so many black people in one place at one time. At first they were distant, but soon warmed up to the refugees, Haitians are an endearing people.


It is hard to resist the children, especially the little girls in their dreadlocked hair. By the end of our convention, many of our people were inquiring about adoption!

Everybody fell into a routine, the aid workers, the hotel staff and guests. Food was plentiful as hotel staff delivered tray after tray of delicious looking salads and sandwiches to the refugees and their aid workers. I shudder to think what the cost is, of the operation which includes dozens of agencies, all vying to put on their best performance.

News trucks and reporters dutifully showed up at the arrival of each new planeful of refugees and conducted interviews outside the front door with willing participants before closing up shop, only to repeat the same scene the next day.

The Haiti issue has Quebec buzzing. Everyone is sympathetic and wishes to offer aid. The Francophone telethon, held on the same day both Canada and the USA held their own,  raised almost seven million dollars which compares favourably with the take of sixteen million dollars raised in the the English Canada telethon.

But all is not rosy. The issue of taking in refugees who are not Canadian citizens is contentious. There are all sorts of points of view, many contradictory.

Tomorrow, I'll review the various positions being debated. It isn't pretty at all.

CBC's Anti-Israel bias Shines Through

One of the biggest success stories in the relief effort in Haiti is the achievement of Israel, the tiny nation of seven million that beat out all other nations in erecting a complete field hospital in Haiti. The country dispatched 220 military doctors, nurses and support staff and erected a fully functioning field hospital within 24 hours of leaving Israel (It's a 16 hour flight to Haiti.) The hospital brought along all the modern diagnostic equipment it needed and commenced treating injured Haitians almost immediately. The sophistication of the operation is unmatched, the unit has already conducted surgical procedures via video conferencing with surgeons at a an Israeli hospital outside Tel Aviv.

The paediatric unit delivered it's first baby which a thankful mother named Israel. LINK

News organizations all overt the world took notice and reported on the Israel effort, which is proving embarrassing to other larger nations, and news organizations that are used to bashing Israel. Some of the videos below have been blocked in Arab countries out of sheer humiliation.

CBS TV: Israeli IDF Hospital The "Rolls Royce" of Medicine in Haiti

FOX TV: Israeli IDF Field Hospital in Haiti

BFM- TV (FRANCE) L'hôpital de campagne israélien en Haïti

Mirror.co.uk ( England) Haiti earthquake: Medic's gift of life to crushed tot - video

How did the CBC (and Britain's BBC) cover this amazing achievement? Silence.....
The anti-Israel bias precludes them from reporting positively on Israel and particularly on the Israeli military.

Read a hilarious send-up written in Britain's Telegrapgh.co.uk entitled Israel builds a field hospital in Haiti. Anti-Zionists not fooled!

Worse the CBC ran this outrageous propaganda piece showing Gaza children preparing aid for Haiti "in solidarity."

 Palestinians have become experts in staging contrived photo ops that a sympathetic left-wing press publishes without much journalistic scrutiny.

Here the children are being filmed donating some junkie toys and little money, all meant to tug a heart strings.  A sign written in Arabic and English reminding everyone of the 'siege.' is an obvious attempt to show themselves as heroic victims alongside the Haitians.

If the Gazans were truly trying to send a message of solidarity to Haitians, perhaps they should have included French in the message, instead of the English. Even an idiot CBC editor can see through the ridiculous charade and that the caption that was obviously meant for the press.

Did any reporter ask officials exactly how these toys are to be delivered and by whom? Not to put too fine a point on it but Gazans are not exactly in a position to ship or receive goods to and from anywhere.....

Most likely the junk was re-distributed right after the photo op took place and the money returned to sender.

Nice story CBC!

French vs. English Volume 8

Blogger Demands Anglos Help Haitians in French?
For resident Anglo bashing fruitcake, Louis Prefontaine (who's got quite a following of like-minded twits,) a Facebook group called Montreal-Answering Haiti's cry for help is an outrageous abuse because the group is misrepresenting itself by including "Montreal" in it's name. According to Mr. Prefontaine Montreal is officially French and an English group is an affront. "Helping Haiti is okay, but not at the expense of denying our language and our values."

Calls for boycott of Montreal Catholic Church & the Red Cross
The Catholic church in Quebec has come onto the radar of French language zealots for running church affairs bilingually and offering services in English. This has upset Hélène Pelletier-Baillargeon who wrote in Le Devoir that it's time to boycott the collection plate. With just 6% of Francophones attending church services regularly, the only new worshippers are immigrants who prefer services in English. She demands that the Church adhere to the written and the spirit of Bill 101, the Quebec language law, notwithstanding that the law doesn't apply to religious institutions.

Another complainer advises Quebeckers to boycott the Red Cross's Haiti fund because the organization advertise job vacancies in English only on their bilingual web site. All the jobs were for positions outside Quebec.

The Brick Offers $25 to complainer
The Brick furniture store offered an enraged client Laval resident $25, because it sent out a English only circular to his house in error. The complainer was insulted by the offer and brought the matter to the attention of the easily offended Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal and it's president Mario Beaulieu. He too was furious and asked the rhetorical question, "Is a Quebeker's pride worth a mere $25?" I guess it is...because he then invited readers to phone the store and complain in order to receive their own $25 hush money.

Defenders of the Faith organizing
Following the lead of the Mouvement Montréal français and the newly-minted Mouvement Montérégie française, a similar group is forming in the Laurentians to the put the brakes on the inexorable encroachment of English in the hereto linguistically pure expanses of cottage country north of Montreal. Fifty odd people are to hold a founding conference in the lovely town of St.Eustache later this month. The usual gang of suspects will attend including Mario Beaulieu, president of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal.

Quebec artists group will no longer hype sovereignty in public

A recent poll of members of the l'Union des artistes (UDA) indicates that the majority are against their union taking a public stance in the debate over sovereignty.

This doesn't mean that the majority don't support sovereignty, 58% of respondants admitted to supporting the option while 18% declared themselves opposed. 28% decided to duck the question completely and offered no opinion.

The likely reason is that the artists feel punished by Mr. Harper's $40 million cut in their subsidy two years ago and wish to avoid baiting the bull in the future.

95% of members who were asked, favoured the UDA to demand that Ottawa increase significantly the cultural and communication bugdet and 82% were in favour of Ottawa repatriating the power to administrate these funds to Quebec .

Language zealots disapprove of French classes
It's hard to come to terms with the reaction of French language nationalists to the English- Montreal School Board decision to serve up exclusively French only classes in order to keep up enrolment.
There are approximately 14,000 English students attending schools run by French school boards, despite the fact that the students are eligible for an English education under Bill 101. Most of these families are from mixed French/English marriages or couples. It is these students that the EMSB would like to repatriate and is willing to offer French only classes to accommodate those parents who want their children to have a French education.

The EMSB is facing a continuing decline in it's enrolment and is looking to stem the flow in which ever way they can. The enforcement of Bill 104 robbed the school board of about 500 students a year and is a contributing factor to the loss about 900 students a year, resulting in school closure after school closure. Since 2001, the board’s enrolment has dropped by more than 5,000.
A spokesperson for the Mouvement Montréal français thinks its a bad idea to allow the English school boards the right to run French only schools within their system."It will poach students and therefore weaken the French school boards." (read-strengthen English school boards)

General Wolfe gay?

For sovereignists and nationalists the Battle of the Plains of Abraham is an obsession that is all-encompassing. Quebec historian Jacques Lacoursière recently told an audience that it was a possibility that Wolfe was a homosexual. His evidence- Wolfe remained engaged throughout his adult life without ever getting married and that on the eve of the great battle, he wrote a letter to his mother, instead of his fiancée. Arggh!!.....

Earl Jones to be Free Next Year?

Last October, based on information that I developed, I wrote a piece indicating that Earl Jones would be taking a plea and that a sentence of between ten and twelve years would be imposed.

While some were sceptical, that scoop was confirmed in court last week when Earl Jones pled guilty and both prosecution and defence recommended a sentence of eleven years. The judge will formally confirm that sentence next month. In the meanwhile Earl Jones was hustled off to prison to await the falling hammer.

It's always nice when a lowly blogger scoops a national newspaper;

"In a surprise move, Jones and his lawyer chose to circumvent a lengthy trial and end the six-month saga that has left the formerly high-flying financial adviser a shadow of his once-dapper self. " The Montreal Gazette

The Montreal Gazette shouldn't be surprised, here's what I wrote last October;

October 5, 200

"Victims of Earl Jones will be disappointed that they won't get to see the fraudster face his accusers in a court of law.
Negotiations are underway for a plea agreement between Jeffrey Boro, Jones' lawyer (shown on the far left in the photo) and crown prosecutors....
....The crown is demanding a sentence of 12 years while Jones' lawyers are holding out for 10 years..."  LINK

For those victimized by his crime, the eleven year sentence will unfortunately translate into a mere 700 days in prison.  That's because Earl Jones will benefit from the current penal regulation that provides for parole after just one-sixth of a sentence, for first time offenders who have committed a non-violent crime.

You can circle November 17, 2011 as the approximate date at which time he will be set free. The date takes into consideration that time served before sentencing counts as double. It appears that Mr. Jones will spend just one Christmas in jail.

At any rate his lawyer, Jeffrey Boro cleverly shifted the spotlight away from his client by casting aspersions on the banks as being either complicit or incompetent in their failure to properly monitor transactions in the various trust accounts that Mr. Jones ran.

If you are a bilked customer, don't get your hopes up pursuing the banks for restitution.
The banks aren't going to pay up voluntarily and a long, painful and extremely expensive judicial process is ahead if they want to pursue justice. Each case would also have be tried individually.

As for Mr. Boro playing the harp for poor little Earl Jones- I don't buy it and you shouldn't either.

I said it then and I'm repeating it again.

Mr. Jones has been paying his legal bills. Mr. Boro is not a legal aid lawyer and charges several hundred dollars per hour. The legal bill in this case likely ranges between $50,000 to $100,000.

Who's paying and where is the  money coming from?

Until the question of how Mr. Jones paid for his defence is addressed, the nagging possibility of a secret stash of cash remains on the table.

There is a distinct possibility that Mr. Jones may enjoy his retirement a lot sooner and a lot better than his victims.

While Canada Prepares, Israeli Field Hospital Already Treating Patients In Haiti

It's hard to accept that Canada's vaunted DART unit has already been upstaged by an Israeli army field hospital which began operations Saturday. Israel, a country one-fifth the size of Canada and located thousands of kilometres farther away from Haiti than Canada is giving our military a powerful lesson in planning, logistics and execution. The hospital is the largest and most sophisticated unit to deploy in Haiti so far.

"The Israeli hospital, located in the city's football arena, is equipped with operating theaters, intensive care units, laboratories, an X-ray facility and pharmacy, which were carried in by El Al cargo. A third of the medical team of 40 doctors, 20 paramedics and nurses plus technical staff are reservists who volunteered for the Haiti disaster relief team. Working flat out, they will treat 500 patients a day." DEBKAfile

The Israeli aid delegation landed in Port-au-Prince on Friday night. About 220 military personnel are in the delegation, which includes 120 medical personnel. An Israel Defence Force airplane loaded with equipment landed shortly after.

Watch a video report on the field hospital HERE

Aside from the medical team the Israelis have also deployed three search a rescue teams made up of rescue officers, security officers, and the famous Oketz canine unit which utilizes dogs in order to find survivors.

Perhaps Canada should give the Israeli military a consulting contract on how to deploy quickly and how to do disaster relief properly.
While Canada is a short 3½ hour flight from Haiti and it's military is in possession of a couple of giant new C-17 transport airplanes, little seems to have been accomplished except for the evacuation of Canadian nationals.

In the meantime the eight hundred soldiers scheduled to leave for Haiti are cooling their heels in their base in Valcartier, Quebec, while the Israelis are already hard at work.

Are Toronto Maple Leafs Fans Really this Sad?

Where are all the Leafs fans?
Apparently,  they must be in the upper reaches of the Air Canada Centre, because they're not down below in the ritzy seats.

Here's a screen grab of the scene in the Air Canada Centre in a recent game between the Leafs and the Flyers. This isn't a view of the dying seconds of another familiar loss, it's actually quite the contrary.

This was a good game where the Leafs ended up winning by a score of 2-0, so it's puzzling to see all these empty seats in the rich people section down by the ice. By the looks of the picture, you couldn't be faulted in assuming that the game was being played in Phoneix.

I noticed this phenomena a couple of times before, it's not an aberration.  Check it out on TV yourself the next time the Leafs are playing at home.

This screen grab was taken at the start of the second period and it seems that the rich folks are in no hurry to get back to their seats.

Perhaps a stint a the bar is more important than the game. Dunno.....

This couldn't happen in any other Canadian city, that's for sure!

Leafs Nation- FOR SHAME!!!! Are you real fans????

Burlington Airport Looking Better and Better

Used to be that only cheapskate Quebeckers would cross the border to use the airport in Burlington Vermont.

Given the reality of the new security situation at Montreal's Trudeau Airport and the long lineups and endless delays, a leisurely drive and hassle free border crossing might be the right recipe to avoid the uncertainty that travelling to the States through Trudeau airport's new U.S terminal can be.

The hour and three quarter drive from Montreal is definitely worth it when flying to a destination that is served directly by the airport or if travelling in a group. On a trip to Orlando a family of four can easily save over a thousand dollars.

Direct non-stop flights are available to New York City (La Guardia & JFK), Washington D.C., Orlando, Detroit, Atlanta, Newark, Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland and Philadelphia.

I fooled around with the fare calculators at both Air Canada and Jet Blue and created a mythical vacation trip to Orlando (Dysneyland,) for 2 adults and 2 children.
The trip left on February 24th and returned one week later. I picked the date at random, so it may or may not be typical. Although the departure and return date were fixed, time of departure was based on the lowest fare or best travel deal.

Both airlines had non-stop flights, each taking about three and a half hours. Air Canada wanted a whopping $4,500 for the trip while JetBlue wanted only $1,200 (after currency conversion,) for a difference of about $3,300. WOW!

Air Canada did have a much cheaper alternative at $2,115, but you had to fly to Toronto first, which tacked on another 2 hours of travel time, each way. Even with all the extra travel time, Jet Blue was still over $900 cheaper!

Check out the Burlington Airport web site.

How to Be a Good Quebec Citizen

Here's two pieces written by Réjean Labrie, from Québec City, the first one  Qu'est-ce qu'être patriote en 2010 (How to be a patriot in 2010.) I picked it out to reprint because I thought it was kind of corny. 

"Patriotism is a sense of shared belonging to a country, a homeland. It's a sentiment reinforced by a set of common values. It drives us to feel love and pride for one's country. A revival of the affirmation of a Quebec identity begs the question: How can we manifest the commitment to our country on a daily basis? How can we demonstrate our commitment to our great motherland?

• Buy locally- (Quebec products, stores, restaurants).
• Vacation in Quebec rather than outside the border.
• Fly a Quebec flag in your yard.
• Embrace Quebec culture: entertainment, music, theatre, visual arts, literature, comics, dance, television, newspapers, magazines, etc..
• Encourage debate within your entourage about the need to create an independent country
• Write letters to the editor to defend the cause of Quebec.
• Work to improve the quality of the spoken and written language.
• Have more than 2 children for survival of our people.
• Participate in events with a nationalist flavour: Fête St. Jean, Moulin à Paroles, traditional events such as storytelling evenings and peaceful demonstrations to defend the cause of Quebec.
• Speak spontaneously to your neighbours, people who you meet in public, store cashiers, people sitting next to you, these are our brethren. Remember the ad: "We're 6 million, we should interact."
• Restrict the influence from outside Quebec. For example, don't seek approval in France or the United States.
• When addressed on the street, answer in French.
• Demand to be served in French, everywhere

And you, gentle reader, how do you translate your love of our Quebec homeland, on a daily basis, your faith in the realization of your dream?"

Here's the second piece "On the Slippery Slope to Anglisation" (Sur la pente glissante de l’anglicization)

"You'd be surprised to see how easy it is to succumb to Anglicization without realizing it and this despite a conscious effort to resist the temptation.
 It happens a thousand times a day;

• When reviewing a product label  in a store, your eye is attracted to the English and you continue to read on.
• You attend a movie shown in English because the theatre is close to home,  rather than going to the theatre that presents the French version.
• When news breaks, you watch CNN instead of RDI and LCN.
• You rent a movie and buy the latest volume of Harry Potter in English rather than waiting a few weeks to read the French translation.
• You read an instruction manual in English, "to practice".
• On a bilingual store display in Montreal, you look at the English instead of focusing on the French.
• You watch your favourite TV series in English because the French version is only coming out next year.
• You "forget" to set up your video equipment to display in French.
• When you visit YouTube, you fail to click to view the page in French, "to go faster."
  

And that's how, without quite realizing it, we end up spending too much time in the language of Mordecai rather than that of Felix. It is a question of determination and a little risk of becoming too much. That everyone to remain vigilant and to show determination in her choice to live as possible in French..."

While the writer isn't aggressive or particularly offensive and clearly writes from his heart, it's unfortunate that  he uses an offensive euphemism for the English language- "the language of Mordecai." which of course refers to Mordecai Richler, who is reviled in nationalist circles for writing disparagingly about Francophones in many of his Montreal books, particularly in "Oh Canada! Oh Quebec! Requiem for a Divided Country."
The term is pejorative because it links the English language with a hated stereotypical personality as opposed to "the language of Felix,"which refers to Felix Leclerc, a Francophone personality who is revered. The phrase is as offensive as "Shylock" and when the phrase is used, the writer is using code to say that English s oppressive and contemptuous.

Reading the two articles made me a little sad to think that such incredible paranoia exists among some Francophones. There's nothing wrong with Francophones demanding public services in their own language as well as being served in French when shopping or conversing with strangers in public, at work or even in private.

That being said, the author's second article begging Francophones to reject English unequivocally rather than becoming bilingual is more than sad, it's downright backward. If Mr. Labrie wants to live exclusively in a Quebec Francophone world, that is his prerogative. For those Quebeckers who want to live in the rest of the world, English is a necessity. Becoming proficient in a second language is not just a question of schooling. One must practice what one learns and one of the best learning tools is watching television, movies and reading books in the language to be learned.

The latest position "de jour" pushed by language nationalists is the notion that  Quebec Francophones don't  need to learn English at all, because while it's nice to speak a second language, like Spanish or English, it's entirely unnecessary.
This attitude permeates the snobby language nationalists and sovereignist elite, the school system and government itself. It's dangerous nonsense.
And so the level of English language training in Quebec is pitiful, with high school graduates unable to hold the most rudimentary conversions in English. All this is fine until the student takes their first foreign field trip and are shocked to learn that worldwide, almost nobody speaks French and that it's the kids who speak English are the ones who are advantaged.

The saddest part in all this is, is that Francophone Quebeckers have an incredible talent for language.

Francophones have the ability to speak accentless English, a feat no Anglophone can mimic in French. I once interviewed a young lady for a job in our company and spoke to her in English because it was clear from her accent that she was an Anglophone. Halfway through the interview I asked her how her French was and she blushed. I switched to French only to find that she was a Francophone to begin with. Wonderful! Last week I listened to the Marc Garneau (the former astronaut, now a sitting MP)  being interviewed on the radio and was stunned by his faultless and accent free command of English.

Discouraging Francophones from exploiting a natural gift is criminal.
Those who watch English media to improve their command of English are to be commended. I don't understand how watching a dubbed version of "The Bachelor" contributes to the strengthening of the French language.
Since when does learning a second language diminish one's mother tongue. Hockey players who spend their whole career in the Anglophone communities have zero problem slipping back into French when they return to Montreal to play the Canadiens.

Let the language fanatics do what they wish with their lives. Encouraging people to avoid English is akin to the Southern plantation owners keeping their slaves barefoot, pregnant and stupid.

Come to think of it, the advice offered by the writer is eerily familiar to that rejected doctrine pushed by the Catholic Church on Quebeckers for 350 years- Pump out babies, remain faithful and avoid contact with outsiders.
Hmmm. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Porter Airlines-Another Advertising Gaffe

People rave about Porter Airlines service.

Too bad the advertising agency they use embarrasses them so often.

Here's an ad that appears in Tuesday's edition of the Montreal Gazette;

Here's another advertisement by Porter appearing last year.

The Myth of the Anglicization of Montreal

The Myth of the Anglicization of Montreal

"While we obsess over the legality of the language of  signage, Montreal English speakers  are taking the city, district by district, based on institutional  bilingualism imposed on us by our cowardly politicians.  They are laying the foundations of a future Anglophone metropolis in the heart of Quebec, dispossessed of it's native  language."  Louis Prefontaine, Quebec language zealot

According to Mr. Prefontaine and other language nationalists, the island of Montreal is in danger of becoming anglicized, in part because of the increased and unchecked expansion of English signage.

I must live in an alternate universe, a bizarro world, one in which the island of Montreal is living an opposite reality. It's a world where English signage, both outdoor and indoor is disappearing at an astonishing rate.


Last week I was idly waiting at the takeout counter in an Italian restaurant when my eyes were attracted to the occupancy sign issued by the City of Montreal. Every restaurant and bar has a similar sign denoting what the legal capacity of the premises is.

What surprised me was that the sign was bilingual. "Cette etablisment....This establisment..." I looked closer and saw that the date of issue was 1979. It figures, it's been at least twenty years that the City of Montreal abandoned English officially.  In fact stores, offices, buildings, government and public offices have all abandoned bilingual signage.
The law does provide for English on signs (as long as the font is 1/3 the size of the French) but most places don't bother.


If English was ever to make a comeback, it would likely be in the west island communities on the island of Montreal, where Anglos and allophones make up an outright majority.

 I happened to be in a shopping centre in just one such community, Dollard Des Ormeaux and decided to investigate the state of English signage. If there was to be a breakthrough, it would be here. 

Despite it's name (for a Francophone hero) the town boasts just 16% Francophones, the rest of the residents being Anglophones, with a smattering of Allophones (aligned with the English community.)
The shopping Centre in question was the Galeries des Sources, previously known as the "West Island Mall" a name that was changed after being declared politically incorrect.

A tour around the parking lot of didn't show much English. In fact it I didn't find a word!
To all intents and purposes the mall could have been located in Lac St. Jean!


Perhaps those English conspirators were hiding the English signs inside, far from the passing purview of language inspectors travelling down the adjacent Highway 40.


I took along my trusty IPhone camera, in the hope that the inside would offer an oasis of English, hopefully much to the chagrin of Mr. Prefontaine et als.


Alas it was not to be. 

I used the entrance that took me past "Bureau en Gros" and  the "Super  C" supermarket. 


Guess what? Not a word of English.

You'd think that with 85% of the clientèle preferring English, they'd make some effort to provide some signage. 
It was however, not the case. These are not mom and pop organizations, they must be aware of where the store is located. Can it be that they have made a province-wide decision not to post any signs in English?

Perhaps it's the other stores in the mall (as Mr. Prefontaine alleges,} that are flaunting the spirit and the letter of the sign law, Bill 101.

To be fair there were a couple of signs that were either bilingual or had English added in a decidedly inferior position, but not many.

Finally....Finally .....Finally...... A unlingual English sign!!!!

Yessir! An English sign, advertising an English book in an English Bookstore. Tut! Tut! Tut!.  Call in the language inspectors!

Hold on a second.....Aren't bookstores immune from the sign laws?

My tour of the mall confirmed to me the utter nonsense that is spouted by nationalists that there is a movement towards English signage in Montreal.  I defy you to take a tour anywhere in Quebec and show me where English signage is on the upswing.

As they say on the Discovery Channel---

"This Myth is Busted!!"