The NDP, led in Quebec by the indomitable "UNCLE TOM" Mulcair is joining forces with separatist forces to protest the Quebec government's proposed Bill 103, the law that will replace Bill 104, struck down by the Supreme Court as illegal.
That law closed a 'loophole' whereby students who didn't qualify for English education could skirt the law by attending an unsubsidized private English school for as little as one year, thus earning qualification for public English education, the next year.
The law that closed this loophole was deemed too harsh and the Quebec government was given a year's reprieve to write a kinder and gentler law.
That they did, but Bill 103 can hardly be labelled kinder and gentler, it is, if anything, much harsher and just as likely illegal.
That being said, for militant language and separatist groups, it's not enough. They are pushing for the use of the "Notwithstanding Clause" to nullify the Supreme Court's decision, something the government is loathe to do as it might present Quebec internationally as repressive.
"They ask us (PQ) to do what they did not want to do when they were in power, aware of the impact on the international stage. When you say you want to make a country, you're not going to walk around saying you're going to bully, in some cases, fundamental freedoms. The whole debate is here. It is the protection of the image of Quebec abroad, "she said.
Nowhere in the NDP literature or any web site (that I could find) is there any mention that they are taking part in this coalition, but as you can see, the NDP logo appears prominently under the advertisement for the big 'spectacle' to be held to protest Bill 103 on September 18th.-Christine St. Pierre Minister of Education LINK(French)
I wonder if any journalist will put the question of whether the NDP supports the use of the Notwithstanding Clause, in relation to Bill 103, directly to Mr. Layton?
We don't need to ask Uncle Tom, he is always front and center, when it comes to shafting Quebec Anglophones..
In joining the coalition, the NDP shares company with the Bloc Québécois, Parti Québécois and Québec Solidaire. Federal separatists, provincial separatists and communist separatists. Wonderful company!
What's more interesting is that the NDP has placed its logo besides the Réseau de Résistance Québécoise and Jeunes Patriotes du Québec, two radical organizations who have either engaged or hinted at violence.
Going down the list we can find the usual suspects of sovereignists, unionists and language militants, not many surprises except for the NDP, who's logo, complete with the Canadian flag, seems a bit out of place.
By the way, I was a bit put off by the inclusion of the Commission scolaire de Montréal, A PUBLIC ORGANIZATION, paid for with tax dollars.
Here is the complete list of members of the the "coalition against Bill 103"
Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal
Mouvement national des Québécoises et Québécois
Commission scolaire de Montréal
Bloc québécois
Parti Québécois
Québec solidaire
Nouveau parti démocratique
Conseil de la souveraineté
Revue de l’Action nationaleLes Intellectuels pour la souveraineté
SPQLibre
Rassemblement pour un pays souverain
Mouvement souverainiste du Québec
Réseau de Résistance québécoise
Jeunes Patriotes du Québec
Mouvement pacifique pour l’indépendance du Québec
Comité action indépendantiste et culturelle québécoise du Cégep du Vieux-Montréal
Mouvement Montréal français
Mouvement Montérégie français
Mouvement Laurentides français
Mouvement Lanaudière français
Impératif français
Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec
Confédération des syndicats nationaux
Centrale des syndicats du Québec
Syndicat de la fonction publique du Québec
Fédération autonome de l’enseignement
Union des artistes
Mouvement des cégépiens pour le français
Comité souverainiste de l’UQAM
Mouvement des étudiants souverainistes de l’UDM
Mouvement étudiant pour le français-UQAM
I wonder how Canadians outside the province of Quebec, feel about the NDP's decision to join in this anti-English, coalition of separatists.
How low can the knee-dippers sink, trolling for votes?
Mississauga Guy said...
ReplyDeleteGee, Editor, if I didn't know better, I'd swear you're trying to goad me into this conversation. Congrats, it worked!
I've only carried a political party membership once for one year. That was the Canadian Action Party, founded by Paul Hellyer, an M.P. from the late 1960s who was finally tagged out in a rundown between the PCs and the Liberals. It was a fledgling federal party that was looking for ideas and people. They have yet to win a seat in parliament, and considering the anti-Israeli stand they took at a meeting of theirs a few years ago after the mind and management of the Party moved to Vancouver, I dropped them like a sack of lead.
I figured being a fledgling party, they may encourage independent thinkers. Had they grown in popularity, they likely would have been like all the other parties--a composite of Quislings serving the whims of their leaders as opposed to serving the best interests of their constituents.
Sadly, the NDP is just another example of the tail wagging the dog. They're so desparate for votes they'll sell their souls to the devil the way Dr. Faustus did in that book of Christopher Marlowe's several centuries ago. Thomas Mulcair would rob his own mother and kick his father in the gonads for a vote.
The silence of the other parties is deafening as well. Harper opened a can of worms with his "Quebec is a nation" speech, and Ignatieff is already an individual I wouldn't trust as far as I can spit in a Texas tornado or throw him!
Ignatieff was not brought to the mantle of leadership by a party convention, he was whisked in there by the top executiveship of the party. Ignatieff will be spending the rest of his political life serving those who got him there in the first place and to hell with the rest of us. What's good enough for the Liberal Party executiveship will be good enough for the country else they'll do to Ignatieff what they did to Dion. Within the next ten years, Justin Trudeau will be the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and the "old guard" will have exhausted itself. I don't expect any miracles by that guy either, believe me.
Anyway, as usual, I digressed with my rant on the kosher aspects of the Liberal Party, but let's face it, there really is no party representing the common herd, so when it's all said and done, the NDP is just following the "success" formula of the others hoping they get their votes any which way they can.
As usual, the politicians never fail to disappoint and this is why voter apathy is growing here and in the United States as well. There really is a democratic deficit out there. Sadly, if it doesn't somehow correct, this bad political situation will only get worse. Look at what Quebec is becoming...
Now that you bring up this issue, I am wondering. What can we do to raise this NDP issue in ROC? Come election day, I wonder what their consituents in other provinces will say, given the fact that NDP aligns itself with hardcore separatist movement?
ReplyDeleteJe suis un Québécois pure laine et j'ai toujours voté Bloc.Je dois avoué que Tom est de plus en plus sympathique.Est-ce que le NPD serait réellement un parti démocratique.Ça y'est mon coeur balance maintenant entre Jack et Gilles.
ReplyDelete"The whole debate is here. It is the protection of the image of Quebec abroad, "she said."
ReplyDeleteTout le débat repose sur : Est-ce que les anglos vont continués a remplire les coffres du PLQ ?
Voila la vraie question.
No-one should be surprised at the NDPs anti-English language position. They are identical to the liberals, conservatives, bloc heads and pq parties. All of these scum bags have supported the racist, bigoted anti-English language laws in Kebec, bills 22, 178, 101…for decades. These are the same scum bags who support the enforcement of bilingualism outside Kebec (proper native spelling) while making sure the English language and culture continues to be wiped out in Kebec. Yes these same hypocrites, scum bag politicians that fund anything the French demand outside Kebec. This really tells you where this country is headed. Lies, spin, propaganda, revisionist nonsense and the politicians all support and fund this. Nice eh? Way to go Ottawa.Some democracy.
ReplyDeleteIt is time to take out Gilles Duceppe, the leader of the Losership: http://shebbeare.com/Top20CountdownOfBlocQuebecoisGreatestHits.pdf
ReplyDeleteMississauga Guy said...
ReplyDeleteTroy, the machinations of the NDP are what the other parties and independents can use as ammunition against the NDP, if they choose to. This should actually work in the favour of independent candidates and fringe parties because it's not as if the mainstream parties are doing anything to defeat the machinations of the Quebec government against minorities, even the so-called federalist party holding the mantle of power in Quebec City as I write.
To the pur lainer of 9:02AM: OK, all you've done is tell us the sky is blue and the grass green. I don't imagine every pur lainer shares your sentiments, but perhaps enough do to keep Uncle Tom in his parliamentary seat. Isn't that the objective of his exercise?
To Anon @ 10:33AM: Excellent point. As long as the English speaking communities on the West Island keep voting for the PLQ, the status quo will stand. Richard French, Clifford Lincoln and Herbert Marx will the last honorable members of the PLQ who didn't abandon the principles of their constituents and themeselves. If the Equality Party couldn't do better than one performance that didn't even have a final curtain call, it's time to write another play, but if the Anglophone community is going to sit with their thumbs up their rectums, they get what they deserve. Voter apathy + a democratic deficit = Bill 103. That last equation should respond as well to Anon @ 12:08PM.
Hugo S., you can write volumes about the injustices of duh Bloc but it isn't going to stop separatists and others who feel disassociated with the mainstream federal politicians from voting for duh Bloc. Their presence hasn't helped Quebec one iota, but the aforementioned are not being better served by the mainstream M.P.s.
I would suggest to everybody and go to YouTube and listen to some of what Jesse Ventura, former independent governor of the State of Minnesota has to say about independent politicians.
Sadly, too many voters base their voting on how their daddy voted Party X and I'm voting for Party X, so there!
I’m not surprised that the NDP is part of this. After seeing Jack Leyton next to Marois, Duceppe, and Khadir at the 2008 New Year's edition of TLMEP, nothing will ever shock me about the NDP under the current leadership. Leyton spent most of his TLMEP airtime bashing Harper, which is OK because that’s what opposition leaders are supposed to do. But in that company? Surrounded by separatists, on a show hosted by self-proclaimed Quebec nationalists and Canada bashers? The company Leyton picked for his attacks on Harper was hardly appropriate for a federalist politician.
ReplyDeleteSo I was not in the least surprised to see Leyton marching side by side with Khadir under a Movement Montreal En Francais banner at the 2010 SJB parade.
http://www.montrealfrancais.info/node/2029
I just shrugged my arms and proceeded with my day, as if nothing happened.
What shocked my profoundly though was to see mayor Gerald Tremblay there at that parade, under that MMF banner, next to none other than Mario Beaulieu. Smiling and relaxed. Waving his little flag.
http://www.montrealfrancais.info/node/2029
Tremblay is hardly an infallible guy. He’s susceptible to kick backs and corruption like any municipal politician. But I always gave him credit for being non-ideological. He never talked of language, culture, values, nation, “ethnics”, Anglos, Francos. As far as I knew, he was a city administrator, free of ideology, elected thanks to the massive support he received from Anglos and Allos who didn’t want separatist crackpots like Harel or Bergeron governing our city.
So I was unmoved by Leyton, but I wasn’t pleased to see Tremblay next to a MMF/SSJB language extremist that any mayor of Montreal who thinks seriously of his city should stay away from. Not only stay away, but maybe even openly criticize. Tremblay thought otherwise. Sad. Something is rotten here. Big time.
Wow! Je ne sais pas si vous,les anglos, êtes conscients de la pression que représente cette liste d'organismes mais une chose est certaine, c'est qu'ils ne lâcheront pas prise.Je ne voudrais pas faire partie de la minorité anglo par les temps qui courent.Ça va chauffer...
ReplyDeleteI will be sure to circulate this in SK, MB and the west where the NDP (CCF) were born. Now they are in favor of discimination which is somewhat odd for a political party that should be the opposite. Mulclair is a typical politican..he wants to be re elected in his seat. That really says it all. The next time I hear of sicko Jack in the Box talking about rights I will throw up. Hypocrites, all of them..
ReplyDelete5:25 PM, pas juste par les temps qui courent. J'ai l'impression que ça va être pour un bon bout de temps. Il y a des gens qui disent que la communauté anglaise est foutue, que son avenir est derrière elle.
ReplyDelete"Mulclair is a typical politican..he wants to be re elected in his seat..."
ReplyDeleteN'est-ce pas le même phénomène pour M.Harper?
Depuis quand un gouvernement fédé finance-t-il a 50% un colisée?Du jamais vu.
"I wonder how Canadians outside the province of Quebec, feel about the NDP's decision to join in this anti-English, coalition of separatists."
ReplyDeleteSelon plusieurs intervenants sur ce blogue,de plus en plus de Canadiens seraient en faveur de l'indépendance du Québec et que les autres s'en fout carrément.Alors,ou est le problème?
J'ai remarqué beaucoup de négativisme dans votre façon d'interprèter les faits.
Exemple:"anti-English, coalition of separatists."
Je dirais plutôt : Pro-Français Souverainistes ou encore Nationalistes.
Just to be clear here. These people being denied their "rights" to English education, are they immigrants or not? That changes the whole matter. The Toronto guy.
ReplyDeleteNot necessarily. Francophones - even whose family arrived here on Jacques Cartier's ship - also denied rights to English education.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the NDP also wants like too many others to kick Quebec out of Canada???
ReplyDeleteUncle Tom can only rejoice in seeing his former boss squirm with unease. Meanwhile Jack is wringing his hands with delight at having his Lieutenant continue the duplicity of the NDP.
ReplyDeleteFrom today's Gazette:
http://tinyurl.com/39u3yze
Anonymous said...@September 9, 2010 7:03 PM
ReplyDelete"J'ai remarqué beaucoup de négativisme dans votre façon d'interprèter les faits.
Exemple:"anti-English, coalition of separatists."
Je dirais plutôt : Pro-Français Souverainistes ou encore Nationalistes"
More accurately - Coalition of ignorant bigots
and opportunistic weasels. Societies bottom
feeders.
DD
I readily admit, I have not been in this place too long. Therefore, I simply can not understand the mentality of the separatists because what they are doing is counter intuitive and is not helping their cause.
ReplyDeleteIt is in human nature the will to better himself. As the world is entering a more global lifestyle, the opportunities to do so are more available, however the competition is also more severe. It is a fact of life that English is really the common language between world communities and societies. There is no need to deny it. I have been literally around the world and English is the language I use.
Now, facing that fact, it seems that the separatist communities prefer to sacrifice the betterment of their lives than go with the flow the world goes. In other word, just like the Editor wrote, they prefer to live in mediocrity fully in French than being able to communicate in English to better themselves.
In economy, Bill 101 directly caused many Canadian companies to move out of Montreal. BMO, RBC, Sun Life to name a few. In sports, rather to have a unilingual French team with only-God-knows quality than a contender for the Cup. In education, rather have their own children limited in choice than prepare them for them best education they can get.
(On a side note, once again, congratulations to McGill for being rated as the BEST university on the land. That makes my McGill class ring looks a bit shinier. Take that, UoT, UBC! Don't have to mention UdeM or Laval because they are way below.)
Anyway, as I witness in Asia the capability to communicate well in written and spoken English is essential. Countries like India, Malaysia and the Phillipines have an English tradition so they are quite set. China, Vietnam, Thailand on the other hand need to increase their English to be able to play in the global economy. In China, people learn English by the thousands. To do that, they use arenas or even small stadia as their classrooms.
Now in that global trend the separatists try to hold the tides and to ignore the reality. That will not last long, IMHO. The global trend today is different than it was in the 1970s. The assumption to live happily in an isolated French land will not be valid anymore. In fact, I believe that French is still thriving in Quebec, ironically, because Quebec is still part of Canada.
@Troy
ReplyDeleteUn autre anglo suffisant qui vit ou a vécu a Montréal et ne connait absolument rien du Québec et des Québécois.Très représentatif de cette race d'anglos qui croit en une monoculture dominante.Vraiment pitoyable.Est-ce que nous vous empêchons de concquérir le monde?Alors c'est quoi votre problème?Vous n'avez jamais entendu l'expression : Vivre et laisser vivre?
"that French is still thriving in Quebec, ironically, because Quebec is still part of Canada."
Et avec l'aide d'individus incultes et limités tels que vous je suppose?
Le NPD a compris une chose: Au Canada,il est essentiel d'avoir une bonne relation avec le Québec.C'est nous qui décidons qui sera élu a Ottawa.Harper l'a compris depuis longtemps mais il a les mains liés.
ReplyDeleteOn est tout de même parvenu a lui faire cracher que nous formions une Nation Francophone.Bravo Steph!Tu es sur la bonne voie.
Paris Guy sais: ''t is in human nature the will to better himself. As the world is entering a more global lifestyle, the opportunities to do so are more available, however the competition is also more severe. It is a fact of life that English is really the common language between world communities and societies. There is no need to deny it. I have been literally around the world and English is the language I use.'' Mais franchement, il ne faut vraiment pas se prendre pour un idiot avoir des propos comme cela ! Vous n'avez jamais songé apprendre un peu de la langue de vos pays hôtes durant vos voyages ? Une belle ouverture d'esprit sur l'anglais et non sur le monde mon cher, nuance assez importante s'il y en a une. S'il-vous-plaît ne confondez pas votre manque de curiosité !
ReplyDeleteC'est décidé..Tommy a mon vote.Enfin un fédé qui se tient debout!Quel parcours politique ce grand homme.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/education/201009/09/01-4314050-la-loi-103-pourrait-accelerer-la-chute-de-charest-selon-mulcair.php?utm_categorieinterne=trafficdrivers&utm_contenuinterne=cyberpresse_B13b_education_563_section_POS1
"Maybe the NDP also wants like too many others to kick Quebec out of Canada???"
ReplyDeleteNo!Kick anglos out of Québec
Et c'et pourquoi ils auront mon vote.
As you can tell from the anonymous comments
ReplyDelete@4:17 PM, 6:09 PM, 7:07 PM, and 8:49 PM we
have a problem in Quebec and I think I've
got the solution.
The feds need to pass a law making it
illegal to vote unless you've graduated
high school.
That oughta gut the PQ and BQ vote.
DD
@DeeDee
ReplyDeleteVous êtes un grand démocrate,vous devez vous ennuyez de George W.
The two greatest faults with democracy are:
ReplyDelete1.Political parties - these actually have the
effect of limiting (a voters) choices/options.
2.The vote of a TSTV (to stupid to vote) is
equal to the vote of a PHD. As most societies
have more TSTVs than PHDs political parties
pander to the lowest common denominator.
DD
We're are not anti-english! We are just trying to protect our language and culture. Please, try to understand. Anglophones can stay anglopones, your culture is as important as any other. Why are you so hateful?
ReplyDeletePeace.
Hatefully? Try reading the comment by the zealots you associate with, the destruction of Quebec English community is their stated goal, protecting French my *ss.
ReplyDelete"...illegal to vote unless you've graduated
ReplyDeletehigh school."
Et que dire des vieillards complètement stone qui,systèmatiquement, mettent leur X toujours a coté de la feuille d'érable?Vous savez la même feuille d'érable qui se retrouve sur leur chèque de pension?
Anonymous said...@September 13, 2010 8:01 AM
ReplyDelete"Et que dire des vieillards complètement stone
qui,systèmatiquement, mettent leur X toujours a
coté de la feuille d'érable?Vous savez la même
feuille d'érable qui se retrouve sur leur
chèque de pension?"
If you're asking about English Quebecers over
65 you'll find most graduated high school
(education being recognized as important for
generations).
A recent stat showed 60% of French Canadians
in Quebec don't think education is important
today. That is seriously wrong!
In any case, you could delay implementation
of the new law to allow those who actually
wanted to continue voting to "catch up".
DD
@ Dartagnan:
ReplyDelete"Et que dire des vieillards complètement stone qui,systèmatiquement, mettent leur X toujours a coté de la feuille d'érable?Vous savez la même feuille d'érable qui se retrouve sur leur chèque de pension?"
What about the fleur-de-lys on their cheques from the Regie des Rentes du Quebec (Quebec Pension Plan)?
Speaking about NDP...
ReplyDeleteThe King of Darkness himself now calls out Jack Layton for the hypocrisy of his party, particularly on Uncle Tom's action.
http://www.blocquebecois.org/Bloc.aspx?bloc=08b219cd-0244-410f-b1a6-ce7783114721
"Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteJust to be clear here. These people being denied their "rights" to English education, are they immigrants or not? That changes the whole matter. The Toronto guy."
It doesn't change the matter at all, Francophones from French speaking countries are entitled to French Education from coast to coast at present. Quebec's official languages are French and English and these children born of immigrants are canadian citizens that if their parents first official language is english, should be entitled to english school.
yes the pur lainois will be say its not, but even the quebec flag has the representation of a white cross that represents England. That flag says it all. dada r baap
It sad to see everyone getting bent out of shape over the political bulls#@t that goes on in our great country. The anger & bitterness on both sides will never stop as long as our leaders in the Quebec or Federal Government keep corrupting peoples minds with their crap. We arrest people involved in organized crime but not our corrupt governments. The difference between our governments & the Mafia is that the mafia is somewhat honest.
ReplyDelete