Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Danny Williams Bashes Quebec

Here's an excerpt of a speech given by Danny Williams at the Canadian Club in June, bashing the province of Quebec pretty good. It's easy to see where he gets the reputation either as a spoiled child or a great defender of his province, depending on your political perspective.

Please note that the speech was much longer, you can see the entire version over at CPAC in English or with French over-commentary.
Since Danny Williams gets in some pretty good licks, let me play devil's advocate and offer some form of rebuttal on a number of points that he makes.

Let's tackle the big issue, the Churchill Falls hydro-electric deal of 1969 that left Newfoundland holding the very short end of the revenue stick. That one-sided deal works decidedly in Quebec's favour and Williams is absolutely foaming at the mouth in describing what he refers to as Quebec's absolute "greed' in it's refusal to re-negotiate in order to give Newfoundland a more equitable split of the profits.

Let me ask you this;

Would Quebec be a publicly traded corporation, instead of a province, do you think it would feel compelled to re-negotiate towards a lower proportion of profits?
Why on Earth?

Any CEO who would entertain such a proposal, would be laughed out of a job.  Giving away money for no good reason would invariably get him/her fired and probably sued to boot, by enraged shareholders.

Newfoundland made a bad deal. Period. It was their own fault.

The deal was rushed into by Joey Smallwood because he feared that the Newfoundland company involved,  Churchill Falls (Labrador) Company (CFLCO), would soon be bankrupt. Eric Kierans, the Anglophone cabinet minister in the Bourassa government who did the deal for Quebec, described  the absolute desperation on the side of Newfoundland to do a deal, any deal. What did they expect?
Five years after the deal was consummated, the Newfoundland government was so pleased with it, that it bought out Brinco's share for 160  million dollars. When the price of power skyrocketed in the mid-seventies, everything changed. It was then when the Newfoundland government realized their glaring error in capping the price of the electricity and making a deal that would bind them to the same price for 65 years, the height of stupidity!

Let me put this question to you. Regardless of whether you have business experience or not, would you make a deal to sell a product for 65 years at a fixed price?
Would a hot-dog vendor agree to such a deal?
Would the Girl Scout organization enter in to such a deal vis-a-vis the sale of their cookies?

The Churchill Falls hydro-electric deal is not an example of Quebec greed, but rather a story of the most incompetent provincial government in the annals of Canadian history!
The deal remains a painful reminder to Newfoundlanders and Labradoreans, how stupid their leaders were. Danny Williams talks about the deal as if Newfoundlanders weren't even in the same room where the deal was brokered.
"It is not difficult to feel aggrieved when one has the distinct impression that the politicians of the day, as well as the lawyers, had the wool pulled over their eyes good and proper. If they weren't hoodwinked, they had to have been incompetent or part of a deal to swindle the province. Isn't it better to think that they were naïve?" -Audrey Manning
Now defenders of Newfoundland will argue that Quebec's refusal to grant Newfoundland a right of way to transport its power across Quebec is the root of the problem, but to believe that Quebec should have acted any differently is a bit naive.
What idiot would allow a direct competitor the right to transport his product across his territory
without exacting the maximum amount of compensation available? It just makes sound business sense, as is borne out by history.
Now today, the rules have changed, the USA demands that this practice not be allowed, and access to a transportation grid be open to all producers. But Quebec continues to put up regulatory roadblocks to defend its monopoly. Good for them!
Again, if Quebec was a business instead of a province, wouldn't it do the same. Perhaps that's Newfoundland's problem, running a business as if it is a government. 

Why should Quebec compromise with Newfoundland when that province has tried every trick in the book to abrogate a deal that it agreed to freely?
Why should Quebec cooperate, for Newfoundland's benefit, while being subjected to the kind of virulent attacks as typified in the above video?

Now before we go on to to general issues, I'd like to point out that Mr. Williams, either misspoke or misled the audience in declaring that Quebec 'makes' $2.3 billion dollars on the Churchill Falls power as compared to the 50 million that Newfoundland 'makes.'
He is talking about gross sales as opposed to profit. When a company takes in $2.3, it doesn't 'make' that amount. There are expenses to be deducted. The real figure is debatable, but in January of this year Williams himself claimed the amount was somewhere around $1.7 billion dollars. LINK
That's a lot of money just the same, but the Premier knows his figures and shouldn't have put forward an inflated figure as fact.

Today,  Danny Williams is screaming that Quebec is a bloodsucker in relation to other provinces in the Canadian federation. It's probably true, but it's also a case of sour grapes.

 In this speech, he goes off about the equalization payments and the 60% portion that Quebec receives, only because his province, flush with oil royalties is being cut out. Newfoundland has always received a higher percentage of the equalization pie per capita, than Quebec.
When his province was sucking at the federal teat, Danny Williams didn't complain about Quebec. The real problem is that Newfoundland, as a 'Have' province, now wants to stiff paying into the fund, because it is no longer a beneficiary. Disgusting!

Now Williams goes on to make more ridiculous statements, including the one that the Bloc Quebecois is somehow affecting the national agenda, an idea stupider than wood. The Bloc has about as much influence on federal policies as the Tooth Fairy. Do you think Gilles Duceppe can call up Stephen Harper and ask him to screw Newfoundland as a favour, or in return of political considerations?

William's second assertion about Quebec cabinet ministers wielding too much power is cleverly worded in the past tense.  Why?
The truth is rather inconvenient.  Because of the Bloc presence in Ottawa, Quebec has less power and influence than ever.

Mr. Williams howls and barks but in the end is nothing more than a toothless pit-bull. Scary at first, but laughable once you know the truth.

He tries rather lamely to draw Ontario into the Newfoundland/Quebec fight, as if that province has some sort of real stake.
The truth is that Ontario couldn't give a shit about Newfoundland or Quebec and his attempt to widen the battle is so transparent that it is laughable. 

Mr. Williams holds himself and his province up as 'holier than thou,' but nothing could be further from the truth.

His hasn't come clean on a number of issues dealing with Hydro-Quebec.
Like his secret negotiations with his sworn enemy concerning the development of the Lower Churchill. You'll hear more about that in a future post.

Newfoundland and Labrador have nothing to teach Quebec (or any one else) about honesty. Sanctimonious lectures by Williams about morals and fairness are a joke, considering that his province has the worst reputation for honesty and that it is home to the greatest and largest organized scam on the Canadian taxpayer ever, all backed by the Newfoundland government itself. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!
You'll hear more about that in a future post.

To all of you who believe that Williams is some sort of a savior, you are wrong. He has ridden the oil boom to prosperity and has taken credit for it all.

The reality is that he's a bad manager and poor decision maker, which unfortunately is something that's all too typical in Newfoundland leaders. His rants fall on deaf ears not only in Quebec but across Canada. When Danny Williams talks, people listen with amusement. His rants are colourful and entertaining, but so sanctimonious they leave people laughing. He has burned too many bridges and taking down the Canadian flag was something that remains unpardonable.

Sadly, he is the very essence of a Newfie joke.

62 comments:

  1. I agree with 99% of what you say. The simple, painful and brutal truth is that Newfoundland made an incredibly stupid decision. It now must suffer the consequences. The people of Newfoundland can thank Joey Smallwood (who they chose to keep elected for 23 years, by the way) and his advisers and government. What you are seeing here is rationalization and self-deception. It is simply easier and less painful to blame "bad" Quebec then admit that "stupid" Newfoundland screwed up. I still can't believe what a colossal error the deal was. What made Smallwood and company think that the price of ANYTHING would stay the same for 65 years? Let alone a natural resource and source of power. Tell me one thing that is the same price today as it was in 1945? Haven't they ever heard of inflation on the rock? The Toronto guy.

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  2. Mississauga Guy said...

    Wow, Editor, but you're in a Newfie dissing mood! No doubt, though, Joey Smallwood was at times Joey Smallmind, and it was he who was the kingpin in that awful deal of 1969. He was a pork barrel politician, but so was Maurice Duplessis--as blatant a one as they came!

    Some of what Danny Williams said, though, made sense. Quebec gets far more in Equalization payments than it should. Their hydro rates are artificially low, university tuitions are artificially low (for their own only, of course), and too many people who don't deserve $7-a-day daycare, are still getting it. Take away these artificially low rates and voilà! Quebec can lessen its subsidies, raise more revenue and therefore need less in Equalization payments.

    Will they do this? NO WAY! Why make their citizens pay more when they can suck on the fed teat? I would think though that the feds can take it to Quebec and reduce their Equalization payments because Quebec ISN'T taking care of the full potential of raising income, and nobody is forcing it to. Too bad, really, because Quebec is capable of raising more revenues, but why do it when the suckers in Ottawa sre still willing to do if for a separatist society?

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  3. "...Too bad, really, because Quebec is capable of raising more revenues, but why do it when the suckers in Ottawa sre still willing to do if for a separatist society?"

    Faites comme nous,établissez de bons contacts a Ottawa.C'est la clé du succès.Cependant je ne crois pas que vous soyiez en mesure de trouver meilleur homme que notre chef,Gilles le magnifique.Nous n'avons trouvé aucun équivalent du coté anglais.

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  4. Correction, Mississauga Guy said...

    Dartagnan, you're absolutely right in your strategy, and I'm very confident on the English side we can find some sneaky Pete. I don't want someone like Gilles Duceppe, I want someone more refined--maybe me!

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  5. Mississauga Guy also said...

    Actually, Dartagnan, I've been writing this for some time: Canada needs a political party that caters to (ohhh...how I hate this term) "English Canada". We need a party that puts the Real Canada first and Quebec's greedy self-interests second. It's about time the dog wags its tail instead of the dog being wagged by its tail!

    It's no use bending over backwards for Quebec anymore. Harper gave Quebec everything on a silver platter and was thanked with one whole constituency more than the election before. For one extra seat in Parliament, he paid far too high a price, and why should he knock himself out anymore?

    Ignatieff? I don't trust him as far as I can throw him or spit into a Texas tornado! I think he should be thrown into the tornado! He was escalated to the Red Mantle much the same way the Kremlin did so within their red brick walls. Michael Ignatieff is an opportunist that wants his name in the history books (or more like he can include himself in his next book). Last one whose ego superceded himself was a fellow named Brian Mulroney, and you saw how well he did in the end--from 169 to 2 seats in 1993!!!

    Oh, and I'll be Mulroney was relishing Williams' rant. He was furious with [ex NF Premier] Clyde Wells for overturning his predecessor's ratification of the Meech Lake Accord (Brian Peckford).

    Mully the Bully put the blame squarely on Wells when one little Indian from the Manitoba legislature named Elijah Harper was just as responsible from preventing the ratification of the Meech Lake Accord. Mully the Bully chose his battle in fear of alienating the First Nations people. Anyway, Wells had two choice words for BM (and that could also mean bowel movement!)

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  6. Dépêche de la dernière heure: Un hurluberlu remplace la page wikipédia portant sur les langues officielles du Canada par ''Quebec nazi Act'', une enquête sur le sujet. Voir http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/National/2010/08/24/001-wikipedia.shtml#commenter
    Que dire de plus ? Il y a des paranoïaques de ce site qui travaillent aux Services correctionnels du Canada ?

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  7. Williams devrait se taire, lui qui s'était vanté d'avoir voté au référendum de 1995 alors qu'il était étudiant à Mc Gill mais non résident du Québec. De toute façon, le Québec s'est fait avoir avec le Labrador par l'Angleterre qui était juge et partie dans le dossier ! Un contrat est un contrat (c'est la loi qui le dit)!

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  8. Dartagnan said...@August 24, 2010 7:23 AM

    "Gilles le magnifique.Nous n'avons trouvé aucun
    équivalent du coté anglais"

    That's because, in English, what Gilles does
    is called treason and an English Canadian
    behaving in such a despicable manner would be
    treated as a scumbag by his fellow Canadians.

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  9. À Anonyme août 24,2010,9:16 am: Trahison ? Lorsqu'on n'est pas d'accord avec vous, c'est de la trahison ? Vous n'avez pas inventé la démocratie et la liberté d'opinion, ça m'apparaît clair ! Une belle conception de la diversité encore une fois ! L'arroseur arrosé.

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  10. @Dartagnan

    Why do you keep alternating between Dartagnan and Anonymous? You're not fooling anyone.

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  11. treason -(Government, Politics & Diplomacy)
    violation or betrayal of the allegiance that a
    person owes his sovereign or his country, especially attempting to overthrow the government.

    Gilles works to overthrow the government of
    Canada (in Quebec). He does this through:

    sedition - Conduct or language inciting
    rebellion against the authority of a state.

    You'll note both Gilles "gifts" are illegal
    in just about every country on the planet.
    Imagine an U.S. state governer annoucing he
    was removing the state of ---- from the union.
    He'd be locked up in 24hrs.

    In Quebec you call it a polical choice. Try
    to remember to the rest of Canada, it shows a
    lack of character to be disloyal to ones
    country.

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  12. Dartagnan, it IS treason, and only in Canada is it overlooked.

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  13. Interesting,

    If you check you will see that Danny Williams is a multi-millionaire and is also a Rhodes Scholar with both politican science degree and law degrees. This rather flies in the face of the statement " The reality is that he's a bad manager and poor decision maker," I doubt if he was he would have ascended to the level of success he has. He does not even take a provincial salary as it is donated to Charity.

    In essence, Danny Williams is a politician who doesn't really give a shit ( he can afford to) about his pension or any other political capital. I note Gilles, Harper and every other f'king useless politician in this country just want to put in their six years so they can obtain their lovely indexed pension at your expense. Danny Williams, contrary to the editors opinion is the only politician in Canada who speaks his mind and I holds the best interests of the people he represents.

    Yes, Newfoundland made a bad deal and Joey Smallwood was in idiot for making it so. I note, however, that Quebec has went back to the trough on several occassions, the last about the road project that went overbudget and they want more infrastructure money from the feds to cover the shortfall (isn't a deal a deal). Quebec has been at the trough since the equalization system was started. Quebec has never contributed a f'king dime to the running of anything outside of Quebec and in fact receives all their federal tax money back plus the Equalization on top. Does Alberta who has paid out more than 21 billion per year to the other provinces have low cost day care, subsidized univeristy tuition and the myraid of other social programs that Quebec enjoys but other people pay for. This, of course set up by lower than normal hydro revenues by way of subsidies in order to cook the books on the real Quebec income which would disqualify them from Equalziation. Williams is right, that is not smart, it is out and out fraud commited against the other provinces in Canada.

    When Quebec stops receiving welfare from the other provinces and making even a minimal contribution, then you in Quebec can have your say. Until this time keep you gogs shut as you are nothing but welfare bums.

    Sorry, buts that is the way most people in the West think about Quebec and unfortunately they have it right. Figures simply don't lie and they are what they are. All this equalization doled out to Quebec and your idiot Prime Minister (premier) has the audacity to finger Alberta, Saskatchewan and the West in general as polluters in Cophenhagen. Nice guy, Mr. Charest. Wonder why he won't allow an inquiry into the construction sector in Quebec where construction rates are 35% higher than in any other province for similar work. It doesn't take a rocket scientest to figure out why he won't call an inquiry as the fickle finger would no doubt be directed back to the PLQ caucus members themselves.

    The Official Languages Act brought to us by the commie PET has cost this country well in excess of 300 Billion dollars (some say closer to 700B) over the last forty years. This all to appease the greedy separatists in Quebec who by the way make sure that Quebec is unilingually franco and discriminate with open laws agains their anglo minority. The OLA is a f'king waste of time as it has produced absolutely no meaningful results. Another federal program to appease Quebec,

    In reality Canada would be far better without Quebec. Reed Scowen in his book "its time to say goodbye' hints that he standard of living would increase by 15 to 20% in the ROC if Quebec were to leave.

    So, to the pequistes, bonne chance.

    If Quebec wants to stay in Canada then they should do say as an equal partner to the other provinces and get off the platform on entitlement.

    Like the rant, didn't think you would.

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  14. Anonymous of today 08:32 said:

    "Williams devrait se taire, lui qui s'était vanté d'avoir voté au référendum de 1995 alors qu'il était étudiant à Mc Gill mais non résident du Québec."

    If by Williams you mean the NL Premier, when did he study at McGill?

    http://www.premier.gov.nl.ca/premier/bio.htm

    Please check your facts. He never studied at McGill. He went to Memorial, Oxford and Dalhousie instead.

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  15. "Faites comme nous,établissez de bons contacts a Ottawa.C'est la clé du succès."

    If you consider taking welfare from other hard working Canadians a sign of success. I believe the word is "backslider".

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  16. "Until Trudeaus charter is repealed, until Bill 101 is repealed, until these treasonous BIGOTS LIKE Duceppe and many others in Ottawa are booted off the hill, this country will continue to go down the toilet."

    Get a copy of "Fearful Symmetry" by Brian Crowley and you will see what has really happened over the past 40 years.

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  17. Reply to Anon at 12:28 pm;

    I agree with what you say. Quebec contributes absolutely nothing to Canada and extracts a great deal. Canada (perhaps not the Quebec Anglophones) would be much better off without Quebec. In contrast Alberta gains nothing from confederation. No study shows Alberta being not richer if it was independent. Some studies say an independent Alberta would have a standard of living 40% higher! It seesm to me we have some bizarro logic at work here. Maybe it is Alberta that should want to leave while Quebec should be desperate to keep its sugar daddy - the Canadian taxpayer - in its pocket. The Toronto guy.

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  18. "Some studies say an independent Alberta would have a standard of living 40% higher!"

    21 Billion per year divided by about 3,724,000 + 5637.00 per man, woman and child in Alberta. Would buy a lot of day care and subsidized tuition, now wouldn't it. As it stands this has been going on for years. The cost ot the Alberta taxpayer are monumental. Worse yet that it has been predicated on the West by the dishonesty of Quebec. SK was robbed by Harper and his bunch of assholes two years ago of nearly a billion dollars with their false promises of excluding non renewable resources from the equalization formulae (campaign promise during last election). Guess what, a lie to the West again. BC has similar gripes. Manitoba plays the same game as Quebec with their hydro so they get 2.1 billion per year in Equalation from their supposed rich neighbors to the West.

    The f'king liberals and cons have bought a lot of votes at the expense of Western Canada.

    Had a similar thing been done to quebec the cries of discrimination against francos, and the threats of separation would have never stopped.

    The whole system is a joke and Quebec is likely the worst offender with dairy quotas etc etc etc, grants to Bombardier....Remember the F18 Contract which was ripped away from Bristol aerospace in Winnipeg, to be given to Bombardier whom had the a higher bid. (who was Chretien's son in law?)

    The language debate where 40% of positions in the federal civil service are designated bilinigual and only 13% of the country is unilingual franco. What a bunch of BS. Bilingual offices in Medicine Hat, AB with associated language training all brought to us on account of Quebec and the pandering of Ottawa to Quebec.

    As I said to the editor, people in glass houses shouldn't through stones.

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  19. Here is a quick summary of Quebec and thier lot in Canada. I guess they are all wrong, heh?

    http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/l_ian_macdonald/2010/08/05/14936321.html

    and

    http://www.macleans.ca/homepage/magazine/article.jsp?content=20070319_103229_103229

    The Quebec GDP is rated 55th out of the 60 states and provinces in North America. Down there with missisipi in the US.

    Quebec has the 9th worse investment climate in Canada according to the Fraser Institute.

    The Quebec debt is overwhelming due to the rampant spending on programs they can't afford but which are politically unwise to curtail or reduce. According to Quebec finance themsleves.
    The debt as a ration of GDP is now over 90%, Right up there with Greece, Ireland and Japan. All in extreme trouble. For instance the QC debt is about 160 billion for 7 million people SK is about 4 Billion for 1 million people. If you rationalize the numbers for population Quebec's debt is about 6 times worse than SK per per capita. I don't think SK has funded day care or subsidized university tuition. No breaks on Hydro either.

    http://www.finances.gouv.qc.ca/documents/Autres/fr/AUTFR_dettegouvquebec-Mars2010.pdf

    Tell me all of this is just plain hogwash and Quebec bashing.

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  20. "The whole system is a joke and Quebec is likely the worst offender with dairy quotas etc etc etc, grants to Bombardier....Remember the F18 Contract which was ripped away from Bristol aerospace in Winnipeg, to be given to Bombardier whom had the a higher bid. (who was Chretien's son in law?)"

    Sorry about that, I think it was Mulroney as the PM at the time but I am not sure. And the company awarded the contract was Canadair which of course was controlled by Quebec interests at the time. I believe, however, under liberal direction Bombardier has received a lot of subsidies (again who was Chretien's son in law)

    Don't want to distort facts.

    excusemois, je ne suis pas parfait tout le temps.

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  21. ''N’oublions pas non plus que le Québec avait déjà en travers de la gorge l’attribution du Labrador à Terre-Neuve en 1927 et qu’il n’a jamais reconnu le tracé des frontières tel qu’alors établi par le Conseil privé britannique.''

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  22. Je lis toutes vos diatribes contre le Québec et les Québécois, je ne comprend pas pourquoi vous tenez tellement à garder le Québec au sein du Canada s'il vous dérange à ce point. Expliquez-moi, je suis un Français venant d'arriver à Gatineau.

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  23. Dartagnan: "je ne comprend pas pourquoi vous tenez tellement à garder le Québec au sein du Canada s'il vous dérange à ce point"

    Don't be daft.

    Not too many Canadians want Quebec in the confederation. They are simply stuck with it because Quebec's secession would disrupt the geographical continuity of the country. Quebec knows it and takes advantage of it.

    If Quebec were on the outskirts of Canada, it would have been booted out a long time ago. Canada wouldn't tip toe around it like it does now - it certainly wouldn't turn a blind eye to aberrations like 101.

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  24. @ 3:42 PM:

    The fact is that many people in the rest of Canada are fed up with Quebec, its inequality and its constant demands, and would like to see it leave.

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  25. "jamais reconnu le tracé des frontières tel qu’alors établi par le Conseil privé britannique.''"

    Quebec was part of Canada and Newfoundland was a British possession. Canada and Newfoundland were both members of the British Commonwealth in 1927. So, the decision on boundary was made in 1927 as you say. Newfoundland did not become a province until 1949 at which time the ruling came into effect with regards to the boundary. In essence this is done and Quebec (as Dorion indicated in the 70's) has no claim to this land. You should revise all your maps to indicate the real boundary and not the one which Quebec at times indicates. Lower Canada ceded Laborador to Newfoundland which they had perfect right to do.

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  26. À M. L'Éditeur, excusez-moi de retranscrire dans le même article un commentaire, mais j'aurais aimé lire les propos de certaines grandes plumes.

    Dépêche de la dernière heure: Un hurluberlu remplace la page wikipédia portant sur les langues officielles du Canada par ''Quebec nazi Act'', une enquête sur le sujet. Voir http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/National/2010/08/24/001-wikipedia.shtml#commenter
    Que dire de plus ? Il y a des paranoïaques de ce site qui travaillent aux Services correctionnels du Canada ?

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  27. To the Editor:

    I wrote the comment about "The Nazi Act of Quebec" and I was referring to Bill 101, not the Official Languages Act. There are significant numbers of people who refer to Bill 101 in this manner. Too bad if Quebec nationalists don't like it. I do not work for any correctional services in Canada, but would it matter if I did?

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  28. "Je lis toutes vos diatribes contre le Québec et les Québécois......"

    Obviously, you didn't read my diatrables closely enough:

    "So, to the pequistes, bonne chance.

    If Quebec wants to stay in Canada then they should do say as an equal partner to the other provinces and get off the platform on entitlement."

    As to why, research the links I provided and there you will find your answers.

    Quebec n'est pas un bon voisin pour l'autre regiones au Canada. Pour le profitez des tout le monde en Canada, Quebec devrait prendre le porte plus vite.

    Vous me comprendrez maintenant?

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  29. To Anon@ 4:58

    "The Nazi Act of Quebec"

    Are you saying it was who you bombed Wikipedia???

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  30. To the Editor:

    Perhaps I should have been clearer. I wrote the following comment on your blog thread entitled: We Will Not Be Quiet:

    "Quebec nationalists create pathetic websites like that of the Universite Laval in a feeble attempt to justify racist language laws like Bill 101 (The Nazi Act of Quebec)."
    August 22, 2010 11:53 AM

    I don't work for Corrections Canada and I didn't bomb Wikipedia, but I stand by what I said on this blog.

    The commentor who reported the Wikipedia incident is actually the one who is paranoid...as if there is only one person in the country who refers to the language laws in this way.

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  31. Le message est bien compris 4:59 PM. Si tu habites le Québec, cela veut donc dire que l'on peut compter sur ton vote lors du prochain référendum ? Pourquoi alors ne pas se donner un objectif ambitieux. Chaque Anglais du Québec désireux que la province devienne un pays doit convaincre un Anglais ou un immigrant anglicisé de faire de même. Cela sera grandement apprécié, car 61% des francophones ont voté Oui en 1995. Et si le pays n'existe pas actuellement c'est dû, comme tu le sais, à l'argent et au vote ethnique (anglophone et allophone).

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  32. I'm sorry for the misunderstand. Je voulais seulement vous montrer comment des appellations douteuses comme celle de ''Nazi'' et autres fabulations peuvent aller loin. Utiliser des mots comme cela sans en mesurer la véritable portée démontre et de l'intolérance et du relativisme qui en vient à minimiser les effets du IIIe Reich en Allemagne. Les Québécois ont voté une loi (Loi 101) de façon démocratique. ''Premièrement, la loi fût adopté à l’Assemblée Nationale en 1977 par le gouvernement du Parti Québécois. Le Dr Camille Laurin est celui qui a conçu ce projet de loi, le plus important jamais adopté. À cette époque, la situation de notre langue était extrêmement menacée. Partout à Montréal et même en banlieue ( là où la population francophone variait entre 90% et 100%) les magasins affichaient uniquement en anglais. En ville, la langue de travail était l’anglais, même les communications écrites avec toutes les compagnies se faisaient en anglais. Le problème de cette situation était que 85% de la population de l’île de Montréal était francophone. Alors, vous comprenez, que nous devions agir et ce rapidement.

    La loi 101 était simplement un moyen que nous nous donnions pour protéger ce que nous étions et sommes encore aujourd’hui : des Québécois.

    Maintenant, il est temps de définir ce que contient cette loi qui est mal comprise par les Canadiens. En premier, elle dit que tous les enfants qui ont des parents francophones doivent aller à l’école française et ce du primaire jusqu’au Cégep. La loi dit aussi que tout affichages ou communications des compagnies doivent se faire en français, que tous les services publiques doivent être en français. Cette loi affirmait que la langue de travail doit être le français et la chose la plus importante, la loi dit que la langue officiel du Québec est le français. Aussi, cette loi faisait en sorte que toutes personnes issus de l’immigration doivent fréquenter l’école française.'' M. Champagne (http://www.thecanadapage.org/Sep2Fr.htm)

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  33. @ Anonym 5:50PM

    Tres bien tu comprendez moi, mais, je suis desole, que je ne sera pas aider a vous avec vos prochaine vote comme je ne suis 'habitant pas en Quebec. J'ai mes pieds dans l'ouest. C'est possible que si ce vote etant pour tout du Canada que nous peuvent aidons vous. Aussi, je doubte un spectacle en tout cas comme Mme Marois ayant un gros peure des Quebecois qui faites votez 61% contre l'independiste, selon sondage du Leger dernier mois pour le Gazette et Le Devoir. Bonne chance a tout les separatistes avec leurs reves. J'espere plus vite pour tout le monde au Canada.

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  34. To Anonymous at 6:40 PM:

    "...de l'intolérance et du relativisme qui en vient à minimiser les effets du IIIe Reich en Allemagne. Les Québécois ont voté une loi (Loi 101) de façon démocratique."

    You forget that the Nazi party in Germany was initially elected democratically. I knew a couple who were children in Germany during WWII. They lived in Quebec but moved out immediately following the passage of Bill 101 because it reminded them of the anti-Semitic laws that were passed in Germany prior to the war.

    It wasn't necessary to provide all of the little details about Bill 101. I lived in Quebec for 47 years so I am intimately familiar with the language laws. Thank God I live in Ontario now.

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  35. Si vous n'êtes pas assez intelligent pour faire la distinction entre l'histoire de l'Allemagne nazie et la Loi 101, que voulez-vous que je vous dises mis-à-part d'aller rencontrer des survivants de l'Holocauste pour leur demander qu'ils vous racontent leur expérience... Ne répandez pas trop ces conneries, on pourrait rire de vous.

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  36. 7:19 PM, je suis bien content d'apprendre qu'après avoir vécu au Québec pendant 47 ans vous vivez maintenant en Ontario. Cela fait toujours plaisir d'apprendre une si belle nouvelle. Mais vous devez tout de même avouer que la loi 101 n'arrive pas à la cheville des lois qui ont été en vigueur pendant près d'une centaine d'années dans toutes les provinces canadiennes-anglaises.

    Lois qui interdisaient tout enseignement du français dans les écoles et qui ont menées à l'assimilation accélérée des parlants français de ces provinces. Il s'agit donc d'un ethnocide programmé par votre race. Donc, pour être logique, si au Canada il y a une race qui doit être traitée de ''nazi'', c'est bien la race canadienne-anglaise.

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  37. "You forget that the Nazi party in Germany was initially elected democratically."

    A very good point !!!! Of course 101 is a mainstay of the Quebec government be they PQ of PLQ. A raison d'etre as they say. The separtistes need a cause for their way of thinking and aligning the people. Language is the spearhead of their campaign to put fear into the average Quebecois head. The sky is falling, Canada is becoming anglicized. Go see the ridiculous articles under anglicization on vigile.net. A nation (as Quebec refers to itself) that oppresses the freedoms of their own people is not long to be in existence.

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  38. A few comments;

    The Nazi party wasn't democratically elected in Germany. Hitler was appointed chancellor by a senile Hindenburg with only a minority of seats in the Reichstag.

    To the people from out west who complain about getting a raw deal from Ottawa and Quebec, you are right, but as with Quebec Anglophones, I can only say you guys haven't developed political parties and institutions to represent your views and interests. I have slammed Quebec Anglos for this and in fairness it also applies to western Canadians too. A block Alberta party perhaps?

    Finally it is refreshing to hear and read that many Canadians have come to the conclusion I arrived at about 35 years ago - that Quebec is simply more trouble then it is worth. When I first said that, it was like saying a kind word for Goering during the London blitz. But many Canadians have now come around to my viewpoint.
    The Toronto guy.

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  39. Formez un parti défendant vos intérêts et arrêtez de fabuler avec vos histoires d'oppression, de nazisme, de Frankenstein... Ça frise le ridicule ! Le Labrador à été donné à Terre-Neuve après un arrêt du Conseil privé (vous connaissez: être juge et partie à la fois, ça ne fonctionne pas en droit). Le contrat d'approvisionnement à été signé. Ce n'est sûrement pas avec son ''Québec bashing'' que Williams va le réouvrir. Par contre, le Québec n'a jamais signé (Ni PQ, Ni Libéraux) la Constitution canadienne... Ça ne vous dérange pas, chers démocrates du dimanche ? Voulez-vous rouvrir le dossier constitutionnel ?

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  40. "...In reality Canada would be far better without Quebec. Reed Scowen in his book "its time to say goodbye' hints that he standard of living would increase by 15 to 20% in the ROC if Quebec were to leave..."

    Désolé de vous décevoir mais lorsque nous quitterons le Canada,l'alberta imitera le Québec et partira elle aussi.Peut-être même formeront nous une nouvelle alliance.Que deviendrait votre pays sans les 2 provinces les plus puissantes?

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  41. Mississauga Guy here...

    Maybe I didn't get the first word in on this blog, but I may get the last (I hope). My late mother, MSRIP, used to tell me two things when I ranted about Quebec (since the age of 16):

    1. "Put up and shut up". I rebelled against my mother big-time for that one. She always extolled the virtues of her disdain against communism and the lack of freedom of speech in the Russia from where our ascendants fled. I felt these language laws were doing to us what sweet motherf--ker Russia (and Poland) did to my ancestors.

    2. "There is no perfection anywhere". This is true, but Ontario is much, much closer to excellence if not perfection than the Quebec I ever lived in was. Sadly, my mother passed on just 5½ years after I moved away from Quebec forever, but I certainly made it beknownst to her Ontario was a far better place to live than Quebec before her time came.

    The acid test came just over a year ago when my girlfriend of 12 years moved in with me. She lived in Chomedey her entire life until last year. I thought for sure I'd have to make a few trips into Montreal because she'd be homesick. NEVER HAPPENED. She fell in love with Mississauga IMMEDIATELY, AND SHE IS VERY HAPPY TO BE HERE!

    We did go back to Montreal for the last few days of June leading up to Canada Day, mostly because I wanted to visit an elderly aunt and uncle of mine. I figured my girlfriend and her daughter could use a visit, but neither missed Chomedey at all, except for family. Damn good idea, because my aunt passed away 3½ weeks later (and I came back to Montreal for the funeral). THAT trip was draining for obvious reasons, but I'm more glad than ever we made that trip in late June.

    Don't get me wrong, I do have my missives in Montreal, like Schwartz's and St-Viateur bagels and friends in addition to family. Those squeaky white cheddar cheese curds in Quebec are also better than the facsimiles offered in Ontario--cheaper too! Sadly, I'm getting to the point where the fat and salt in that treat is getting dangerous. Actually, a colleague who just got back from Quebec City brought that offering for a number of us. Very nice colleague (but I will reimburse him)! We can always import the curds if worse comes to worst.

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  42. "To the people from out west who complain about getting a raw deal from Ottawa and Quebec, you are right, but as with Quebec Anglophones, I can only say you guys haven't developed political parties and institutions to represent your views and interests."

    Are you that naive...The west represents less than 18% of the vote in Canada. We watch the election results and in the past after the polls closed in Ontario it was all over for the election and time to go to bed. I think in the end, it will be the West to separate well before Quebec as the West doens't receive handouts from Ottawa. Contrary to that they donate a great deal. F'king freight rates were even fixed to favor the east. Any block party in the West would have minimal impact unless it was a separatist party. Stay tuned to the Wild Rose Party in Alberta who are increasingly gaining momentum. Never say never.

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  43. "sans les 2 provinces les plus puissantes?"

    Well you are right about one province but dead wrong about the other. The Quebec debt and social programs will cause its eventual undoing as in Greece. Just a matter of time and if interest rates increase as the evenutally will, the process will accelerate. Bon voyage mon ami. Vous etes fini et aussi le culture de la Quebecois avec toi. Au revoir.

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  44. "Formez un parti défendant vos intérêts et arrêtez de fabuler"

    Well, I guess we could go back further in time. Seems to me that France and their compatriots were soundly defeated by the British. Usually when you lose the war the rules going forward a made by the winners.

    Not something I wanted to bring up but in reality Quebec is really not a founding partner but a loser to the winner.

    EOS

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  45. Mississauga Guy: Reading through several of the stories you've posted here, it's almost eerie how much you sound like me. I'm an anglophone (I hate that term, I'm just a Canadian citizen!), with family roots in this province going back a few generation. Never lived anywhere else but here, but I absolutely *loath* the situation in Quebec. I have for years, and guess at what age I started ranting about it? Yep, honestly, I remember it being about my mid-teens...around 16!

    And yes, I do rant about Quebec constantly, to friends and family, and been told exactly things you mentioned. Often more frustrating is I'm told if I can't do anything do change the situation here (hateful and racist language laws, among other things) I shouldn't complain about it. Or I should just shut up and leave. Lately, or rather for at least the past 20 years, the latter has been a dream of mine. I find living in this province has affected the quality of daily life and making it very difficult to find any peace or happiness. There isn't a day that goes by where I don't see something on the news, or read something in the paper, or encounter a bitter or spiteful nationalist that remind me WHY I can't stand living in this place. The only thing keeping me from leaving tomorrow morning is two of my close family members live in Montreal...so I feel somewhat trapped. Don't want to stay, can't leave...yet.

    Incidentally, guess where I grew up? Not just Laval, but Chomedey, Laval! I went to Souvenir elementary, Western Laval, Chomedey Polyvalent High (when they were English schools). My mother still lives in Chomedey, same house I grew up in. I've been on the island of Montreal the past 15 years. My father recently passed away from cancer. Oh, and did I mention he was denied a potentially life saving experimental medical study? Why you ask....well, of course it HAD to be translated into French before the English doctors were allowed to receive it in Quebec. Delayed the damn thing several months, until it was too late. Apparently the French language is more important than saving a person's life. As if I didn't hate this province enough before.

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  46. Mitch said...@August 25, 2010 2:01 AM

    " " I could've written most of your first two
    paragraphs myself. Where I disagree with some
    federalist posters here is, and maybe I
    missed the vote, but when did we agree to
    give a bunch of bigots/facists control of
    a huge chunk of CANADIAN territory if they
    can trick enough people? Remember, they are
    the MINORITY in Quebec.

    If someone is opposed to Canada they are
    quite free to emmigrate but Canada should be
    indivisable (like every other country on the
    planet).

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  47. @Anonymous 10:35AM

    Every country is divisible. There are two many examples of breakups to cite just from the last couple of decades.

    The funny thing about Quebec is that many here claim that Canada is divisible, but Quebec isn't. Why? Because Quebec is a "nation” and Canada isn't. To these people I say - if you want to separate, face the prospect of partition. Bring it on. We'll slice this place up and down and carve out federalist enclaves, and leave them the regions for their Francophonie d'Amerique.

    @ Mississauga Guy

    Off topic, but you do realize that the most brutal atrocities against your ancestors in Poland were carried out by Germans, not Poles. Yes, I realize that there is quite a bit of Anti-Semitism in Poland (I come from there), but the wide-scale (almost industrial) slaughter of the Jewish population in Eastern Europe was perpetrated by people you fail to mention.

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  48. adski said...@ August 25, 2010 11:00 AM

    "Every country is divisible"

    No, they're not. Ask any American (just one
    example). It's against the law.

    "There are two many examples of breakups to
    cite just from the last couple of decades"

    True, but how many were peacefull?

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  49. C'est vrai qu'ils ont le nazi facile.A ceux-la je conseille d'aller louer quelques documents vidéo traitant de la seconde guerre mondiale.Peut être sauront-ils vraiment a quoi ressemble une véritable extermination avec la méthode Allemande.Ils sont vraiment pitoyables.

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  50. Fot today's Anonymous at 11:56:

    Canada is unique in the world that it has the legislation of the separation of the country, in the form of the Clarity Act. Legally, if all criteria are met, a province can go its merry way. However, one of the criteria is the negotiation between governments, that has to involve the aboriginal people. In practical terms, it is almost certain that the Aboriginal people of Quebec will not go with independent Quebec. That may end the view that Quebec is indivisible.

    Regarding the United States, there is nothing in their Consitution says that a state can not secede. There is a court ruling that says that a state can not unilaterally secede, but not on the secession itself.

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  51. Troy said...@August 25, 2010 2:31 PM

    "Regarding the United States, there is nothing
    in their Consitution says that a state can not
    secede"

    The US constitution grants no "right of
    secession". An amendment would have to be
    ADDED to grant that right. They are not
    that stupid (civil war part deux anyone).

    As far as the clarity act, to assume the
    populations involved would peacefully go
    along with whatever some weasel politician
    says is extremely optimistic.

    Remember the circumstances of the last
    referendum for example:

    Bullshit question number 2
    stolen federalist votes (still not counted)

    Just for a second, assume the seps won.
    Would Canada negotiate? Would Jean Cretien have
    been allowed to negotiate on behalf of Canada.

    Two French Canadians in a room deciding the
    fate of Canada for everyone. A recipe for
    disaster!

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  52. "Two French Canadians..."

    Pourriez-vous s.v.p arrêter de nous traiter de canadians.Vos insultes a répétition ne vous mèneront nulle part.Soyez plus respectueux ou continuez avec nazi.

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  53. D'Artagnan, have you gone outside of Canada recently? If you have, then you do have a passport. Can you tell me the word printed on the cover of your passport, under the Coat of Arms? Now please open your passport to page 3. Please let me know what is written in the entry for Nationality/Nationalite.

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  54. It is highly unlikely that Dartagnan has ever been outside of Canada or even outside Quebec. This would explain his small-mindedness, ignorance and xenophobia.

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  55. Reply to anon at 11:16 pm:

    There are many things Albertans could/can do to develop political parties and institutions. Why not a provincial separatist party? And/or a federal one? Even within the current federation Alberta could do a lot to acquire more control and power for itself. For example all provinces have the right to form their own provincial police forces and to control them. Quebec and Ontario do this. Why not an Alberta provincial police force? Get rid of the Ottawa ruled mounties. Why couldn't Alberta form its own pension fund like Quebec does and use that money to help investment in Alberta? Alberta's economy is quite distinct from the rest of Canada and it could develop some nice niche financial markets, possibly challenging Toronto's Bay street hegemony. It would be nice to see Canadian Western bank take down the big five a peg or two. This is a right within confederation it could exercise. Why doesn't it use more authority in the area of immigration as Quebec does? There are many other examples. Albertans complain a lot but like Quebec Anglos do very little for themselves. It baffles me why Alberta puts up with stuff like bilingualism, the N.E.P., huge transfers of its wealth to deadbeats like Quebec and the Maritimes when the province of Alberta could be one of the most prosperous independent countries in the world. The Toronto guy.

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  56. Stop talking about the old Churchill deal as though it is a legitimate contract. Smallwood, as a secret major shareholder in BRINCO, was in a mojor conflict of interest, making all of his dealings on behelf of a party to said contract illegal. Read John Crosbie's memoir, he was there to see it all happen. If this was a corporate contract, he would have been put in jail. Instead, the contract gets put to the Supreme Court of Canada. Guess how many Newfoundlanders have ever been on that court ... and then count how many Quebecers have thus served. "To see the truth, all you have to do is read your history." Harry Truman

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  57. Danny Williams is exactly "right"! Quebec is making a mockery out of the Rest of Canada funding $7.00/day daycare while many in the rest of the country pay beyond $25.00 a day per child. And now the "newbie" "free" Canadian subsidized (those awful English Canadians) in vitro fertilization treatments well over $40,000.00 for 3 attempts for Quebec couples wanting their own genetically made "Quebec baby" (adoption isn't good enough) in their French Disney Land socialist utopia "pretend" country (funded by another "Canada"). Quebec takes 60% of federal equalization transfers..yet has the highest taxes provincially in Canada...how come??? Is some of the money going to Quebec corruption and secret Swiss bank-accounts??? The rest of Canada has only 40% of federal equalization transfers to divide up for the other "less distinct" (sarcasm) 9 provinces and 3 Territories. Quebec uses "extortion, threats and the ransom card of separation if they don't get what they want. Quebec is a leech on Canada and it's time that Canada has their own referendum to throw Quebec the hell out. Canada might go through a phase of readjustment when they dump Quebec..but short term pain will amount to long term gain once we pitch Quebec out of Canada!

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  58. Time for Quebec to get its hind end booted out of Canada. They're like a spoiled teenager claiming to have their own apartment yet Daddy (Canada) pays their bills. Canada and Canadians deserve better than to always be "used" by Quebec who is nothing more than a pond-scum "taker". Ciao Quebec and don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out!

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  59. Sorry the truth isn't "Quebec Bashing"..that is too convenient for Quebec to keep "claiming" that just to shut up critics from telling the blunt honest truth about them.

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  60. Canada and Canadians are waking up to the corruption and devious greed and self absorbed agenda of Quebec. Where is all the money going? 60% federal transfers (billions $$$$)??? Is there a payola system in hidden world bank accounts for Quebec elites? What's really going on with the rifling of Canadian's tax dollars sucked up by pig Quebec?

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  61. Danny Williams has just exposed Quebec for the "user" it is plain and simple. Quebec people use Canadians to fund their exorbitant entitlement mentality and life styles. They have the nerve to spit in the face of English Canada and English inside Quebec while ripping us off. Enough is enough and Williams just called a spade a spade.

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  62. Editor's Note:
    The last 5 comments all came from the same individual and were posted at the same time. It is a classic example of "Comment Bombing"

    WE ARE UNAMUSED!

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