Monday, December 6, 2010

Is Yves Michaud a Racist?


Imagine a government that legislates that right-handedness shall be the official policy of the state and that while left-handers will be tolerated, it's up to them to adapt to a province that is officially right handed.
The government's rationale is that since over 80% of the population is already right-handed, it makes for a more cohesive society if we were all the same.

And so the government requires that everybody who works in public must be able to use the right hand. Machinery should be built for right-handers alone and lefties are told that they must become ambidextrous, if they want to succeed in this province.

Most lefties sadly acquiesce, they use their right hand in public but switch back in the privacy of their home. Every time they rise up and argue for left-handed rights, the extremists come out to defend the government's policy.
These extremists are so radical that they believe that left-handedness should be driven out of children from the time they enter school. They tell lefties who complain that they should consider moving out of the province.

Now imagine a referendum, where this policy will be enshrined, the province will become even more radically right-handed.

The referendum fails by the narrowest of margins. The Premier, the sponsor of the failed referendum,  rails that it's those nasty left-handers that voted NO in the referendum, that they are to blame. If one would count only the votes of right-handers, the referendum would have been successful!

Years later,  a certain politician gives a radio interview where he expresses shock and dismay, that 95% of left-handers voted 'NO' in the referendum.
'How can it be that left-handers so massively rejected the right-hand manifesto?' He wonders aloud.

He meets a leader of the left-handed rights movement in the barbershop and chastises him for his community's rejection of the will of the majority.
"We are left-handers. Why on Earth would we vote against our own interests?" answers the leader"

"To show solidarity and respect for the majority, that's why!" snorts the politician.


And so meet Yves Michaud, a man who believes ethnics and anglos have an obligation to vote as francophones do, because...well....errr..... that's what he wants!

For those unfamiliar with Mr. Michaud, he is a longtime separatist of the old school. A good buddy  of René Lévesque, it was he who provided an alibi when the then Premier ran down and killed an unfortunate vagrant in the middle of the night, backing up Lésveque's story that he wasn't drinking that night. Hmmmm.....
Of course the police conveniently forgot to administer a Breathalyzer test on Levesque and the whole affair was hushed up rather conveniently. Hey, it's Quebec....

Michaud bounced around a bunch of government jobs, courtesy of Lésveque, for the next decade, but after losing a pile of dough in an investment scheme, which he blamed the banks for, he became a crusader, known as Robin des banques, insisting that bank directors become more accountable.

In 2000, Michaud, furious about how the vast majority of Jews (and other ethnics) voted in the referendum, made some injudicious comments on a radio show, complaining that Jews acted as if they were the only people to suffer a holocaust.
 He complained that in Jewish areas of Montreal, absolutely nobody voted in favour of the referendum, nobody at all. According to Michaud the reason for this phenomenon;
"There are three reasons for this: the first is a rejection phenomenon. They reject us completely. The second is that there is a feeling of hatred. The third is that they have understood nothing of what they said."  
A couple of days later he re-iterated these remarks in an ad hoc submission before the Estates General on Language. He nastily accused the B'nai Brith of being extremist and anti-Quebec and his tone as well as the content of his remarks enraged politicians of all stripes. Many in the Parti Quebecois were sensitive to opening themselves up to charges of racism.

This was the trigger of the so-called Michaud Affair

Lucien Bouchard, the new sovereignist Premier, had enough of the radical Michaud and looked to dump him from the party as well nixing the possibility of him running as PQ candidate in Mercier riding.

The next day, in the National Assembly, Bouchard ordered his caucus to support a motion of censure put forward by Lawrence Bergman, a Jewish Liberal member of the Assembly. 
"That the National Assembly condemns, without nuances, clearly and unanimously, the unacceptable remarks made with regard to ethnic communities, particularly in respect of the Jewish community maintained by Yves Michaud at hearings of the Estates General on French in Montreal, December 13, 2000" LINK

And ever since, Michaud has been wearing been the goat horns of a denounced racist. It hasn't been easy for him, he's remained heart-broken and bitter over the label of a racist.

Michaud soldiers on, trying to have that resolution overturned with the aide of a large group of supporters which has been mobilized to help rehabilitate his 'good' name and force the National Assembly to reverse the condemnation.

The rehabilitation of Michaud has become a cause celebre, with supporters painting him as modern day Alfred Dreyfus, the wrongly convicted and betrayed French military officer.
In the finest tradition of Emile Zola's J'accuse!, letters and books have been written in his defence.

But is Michaud guiltless?

The essential question remains... Were Michaud's statements racist?

I think I have to quote Robert Libman, ex mayor of the predominantly Jewish Montreal suburb of City of Côte Saint-Luc, who called Michaud "a sovereignist dinosaur".

While none of Michaud's statements can be construed as antisemitic, per se, his tone was certainly nasty.

He puts forward the disturbing notion that ethnics and anglophones 'owe' a certain measure of respect to the francophone majority and as such have an obligation to act as the francophone majority, especially when it comes to voting.

At best this attitude is paternalistic and at worst, racist.

While Michaud is shocked and dismayed at the massive rejection of sovereignty by anglos and ethnics, I remain surprised that even one person from these communities voted YES.

What sane left-hander, would vote for a right-handed agenda that discriminated against them

There is a certain rage that exists in the sovereignty camp against anglos and ethnics who are blamed for the failure of the last referendum. Jacques Parizeau summed it up rather succinctly in his referendum night speech when he blamed the loss on "money and the ethnic vote"(with 'money' a clear euphemism for Anglophones.)

That rage is based on the concept that minorities shouldn't have the right to confound the will of the majority. Minorities should vote in the best interest of the majority, and unlike francophones, forgo their own selfish interests.

That being said, I must say that I do feel some sympathy for Mr. Michaud.
He seems genuinely hurt and humiliated by the charge of racism and true racists aren't particularly troubled by such condemnations.

But until he understands why left-handers will never vote for a right-handed agenda, he is doomed to arrive at his faulty conclusions.
Espousing his opinion that we are somehow wrong and unfair by voting in our own best interest, is patently foolish and supposes that only francophones have that right.

That may not be racism, but it certainly is wrong.

58 comments:

  1. Mississauga Guy wrote:

    It's because of rationale like this that I left Quebec 26 years ago. My desire to leave manifested over 36 years ago, but I was still in high school and wanted to complete my education, courtesy of heavily subsidized tuition fees by the Quebec Government, before leaving.

    Hey, why not? My parents certainly paid more than their fair share of taxes into this fettered, festering and rankling fascist society. Premier Goldilocks has proven what this society is by showing he can't handle the most rabid of these nationalist xenophobic fascists. First, he creates a $5 million commission on "accommodation" to allow the most hatful, vitriolic bigots to air their impudent views about everthing that isn't «pur laine».

    If there was some possible way to do so, these cukoo birds would legislate us to breathe, snore and make love in French.

    We badly need a federal political party that puts Quebec back in its place!

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  2. First off, I absolutely love this article. The Right-handed/Left-handed analogy is bang on!

    Sadly the issues in Quebec have less to do with its politicians, and everything to do with its people.

    This province has been burning time and money ever since the PQ first came into power, but we keep electing them. This province’s politicians (all of them) have done little or nothing positive to improve our society (in the short or long term) and have done everything to inhibit our advancement as a “society”. We’ve basically been “spinning our wheels” but have gone nowhere for far too long, and why?

    Conclusion; Politics in Quebec is poisoned because the people have allowed for it to get this way, or maybe even want for it to be this way...

    The National Assembly is controlled by those who wish to keep Quebec in disarray and until the people move to change this reality, we are all stuck dealing with this reality.

    I am an allophone Montrealer, born and raised. I can speak, read and write 4 different languages, yet I don’t feel as though my ancestral heritage or culture has diminished at all. I am very proud of both my Canadian and Ancestral heritage.

    I am of the opinion that the government should concern themselves with how to use our tax dollars in the most cost effective way for the benefit of ALL THOSE who pay into the system (ie, healthcare, education and infrastructure), leaving matters of culture & heritage where they belong… out of politics and in the home for it’s people to manage by themselves!

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  3. Chénier dit: We need an real leader to put the Québec on the world map again. To propul the Québec as a real country !

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  4. Yes, he is a racist, like most separatists. And like most extremists he is blinded to reality.

    Why would the Jewish people, who have been oppressed for thousands of years, be against oppressive laws? I don't know, maybe they're afraid of having a repeat holocaust?

    It amazes me that people such as this can rise to stations in government that require some level of intelligence.

    I love how the PQ wants to remove religion, and religious symbols, from government but then claim the Cross is allowed because it is part of “Quebec tradition." I'm sorry to those who don't agree, but this is all racism, plain and simple.

    And if you vote for a racist then you are either a racist as well or an idiot (or the other candidate is a bigger racist!).

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  5. Great post. I can relate as both an Allophone of Quebec, and a leftie living in the world of righties (as a kid, I was schooled to write with my right hand by my teachers and some family members, but guess what, that initiative was as effective as bill 101 that put me in a French high school - it ticked me off more than it made me write with my right hand).

    Your leftie analogy is spot on. The separatists can’t accept that in a democratic setting, Allos and Anglos voted Non in a Stalinist proportion. The blame the non-Francophones for being “un-democratic” instead of admitting that what they were offering could NOT have received anything other than a big Non from non-Francophones.

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  6. "We need an real leader to put the Québec on the world map again. To propul the Québec as a real country !"

    Oui et l'homme de la situation c'est Gilles,notre chef unificateur!
    Vive Gilles!

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  7. "Oui et l'homme de la situation c'est Gilles,notre chef unificateur!
    Vive Gilles!"

    The man is a fraud. Unfortunately, the rest of the Canadian taxpayers will be supporting this idiot for years to come with his gold plated pension. Ironic, isn't it, that we have to support a man who has done nothing but impede the progress of the country and has used his office to embarras the country as a whole.

    On the article. Well done.

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  8. My off-topic comment, again.

    I the world, there are a number equipments and machineries that are designed to be operated with the right hand. Photography cameras, for example. Long-range rifle is another example. So much so that it is very hard - if not impossible - for a left-handed to be a sniper in the military or police.

    So to relate to the analogy, yeah, in some fields one really need to be right-handed to be able to work.

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  9. tl/dr

    Michaud is wrong because he is a seppies.....thats it.

    You see, one sentence.

    No need of a wall of text to explain why or how he is wrong here, silly sir.

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  10. YOU Wrong because you're a federalist zealot !

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  11. To Chenier at 9:52

    When was Quebec on the world map? Delusions of grandeur.

    To Anonymous at 10:37

    Like I said, anyone who supports a racist is a racist.

    To Anonymous at 12:51

    Great post. I see you worked hard on creating a deep, rich and thorough argument. I also see that you learned English in the Michaud supported education system that is desgned to keep the population unilingual and stupid.

    Next time try to add the discussion instead of useless anonymous name calling.

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  12. Pourquoi poser cette question: raciste ? C'est une question qui ne fait qu'agiter les pauvres d'esprit. Ceux qui ont des idées différentes qui ont touché tout le monde dans l'univers. Tout le monde au Canada connaît "la loi 101 depuis 25 ans déjà". Alors, pour discuter intelligemment la souveraineté qu'avez vous donc à proposer monsieur l'Éditeur de plus sophistiqué et de moins belliqueux. Vous êtes un agitateur. Les gens de ce pays finiront par payer cher les agitations que que vous offrez de votre genre. Saurez-vous vous défendre ?

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  13. The word racist is always used here the word RAPIST. The Quebec Nation has the right to their language and their culture without always being accused of prejudice. Of course, other minorities live with them, with the exception they are not nagging them like the Anglophones from the West. If you dislike them so much get out of Quebec. Nobody ties you down. Bill 101 is in existence since 25 years, you were wearing a diaper !

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  14. to ano: 2:11 Nice, using threats, typical separatist extremist lingo. Will u be able to hide yourself when the time comes.

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  15. The population of Quebec is not unilingual, but monocultural. Everyone speaks English, whether they want it or not, this is something else. On the other hand Kingston, Ontario has bilingual signage and NOBODY SPEAKS A SINGLE WORD OF FRENCH. As always, it is a one-way street...

    ATTENTION! Les Québécois veulent être maître chez eux et avoir l'avantage et le plaisir de vivre et d'évoluer chez eux en français.Au début, bien sûr les anglophones étaient d'une dureté inimaginable avec eux, les Anglais les ont tenus dans la misère (L'époque de la Noirceur).
    Ces choses-là ne s'oublient pas, et toutefois si vous voulez aujourd'hui les choses différentes, il aurait fallu parler, lors de la promulgation de l'Acte de Québec en 1774 et/ou agir différemment. Depuis, ce peuple, cette Nation a évolué est devenue indépendante, i.e. possède son gouvernement, ses transports, ses systèmes d'éducation et ses tribunaux etc... La loi 101 protège leur langue et je les félicite. Les Basques et 6,750 autres langues ont des difficultés de survivre. L'ONU offre des programmes pour leur venir en aide. Alors c'est un droit légitime que de protéger sa langue, qui d'ailleurs est mentionné dans l'hymne national en Français: ton front est ceint d'un fleuron glorieux (fleurs de lys de la France) PROTEGERA NOS FOYERS ET NOS DROITS!!

    ALLEZ EN PAIX ET NE NOUS IMPORTUNEZ PLUS !!!

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  16. La population du Québec s'entend bien avec des cultures qui échangent, comme les gens d'Haiti,du Senégal, du Maroc, du Congo, de la France et de l'Algérie. Ils possèdent le français en commun, savent comment faire affaires et à Montréal, les gens font des fêtes de quartier, ce qui est très amical. --Oui les Québécois sont chaleureux, ont l'esprit de création, du jeu, des chansons, de la dance et savent se régaler, et faire profiter leurs talents. Sans eux, le Canada est d'un teint blâfard, d'un air ennuyeux, sans caractère et d'une convention morne et insipide.

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  17. "Sans eux, le Canada est d'un teint blâfard, d'un air ennuyeux, sans caractère et d'une convention morne et insipide"

    I think Canada would manage just fine without Quebec's "contribution" of "character" and "culture". In the very least, they'd save themselves some 8 billion $$$ a year. And with that, they'd finally get rid of the bad apple. It'd be like killing two birds with one stone. Not too shabby.

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  18. J'anticipe un leader pour le Québec, quelqu'un qui pourra mener à bien les intérêts de la Nation. Il serait profitable de faire accéder au vote les Québécois hors du Québec aux élections (comme à Donastia) et de leur donner une place au lieu de les abandonner. Les Québécois hors Québec ont peu de service en français, mais peuvent jouir de bilinguisme dans les services fédéraux. Quant à la façon dont ils sont traités, c'est autre chose.... ils sont très mal traités.

    Le marché européen pourrait devenir un stage à franchir ainsi que la stabilisation des efforts économiques à redevenir plus fort que jamais. Les syndicats sont actuellement des embûches difficiles à franchir sur le plan national, mais les Québécois sont venus à bout de tellement, ils sauront surmonter les épreuves.

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  19. "If you dislike them so much get out of Quebec"

    Les anglos représentent la minorité a problèmes du Québec même si ils sont les mieux traités parmi toutes nos ethnies.La preuve est qu'ils persistent a demeurer chez-nous.

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  20. "The population of Quebec is not unilingual, but monocultural. Everyone speaks English"

    There may be a high percentage of bilingual Francophones in Montreal, but travel off the island to the boondocks and you will encounter mostly unilingual French speakers.

    Quebec is not a monoculture. Twenty percent of the population is not Francophone!

    "On the other hand Kingston, Ontario has bilingual signage and NOBODY SPEAKS A SINGLE WORD OF FRENCH."

    Then it is high time to get rid of the French on the signage. If Quebec is going to discourage or forbid English and other languages on signs, then the same thing should be done with French in all other provinces. What is good for the goose is good for the gander.

    We need a referendum across Canada regarding the abolition of the Official Languages Act.

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  21. "J'anticipe un leader pour le Québec, quelqu'un qui pourra mener à bien les intérêts de la Nation."

    Unfortunately, the leaders who would be most appealing to the sensibilities of the Quebecois, such as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, died many decades ago.

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  22. To ano 3:42 there is a few christian left in somalia, i guess in ur retarted way they are the best treated minority based on that single fact. Man u have to be the biggest racist idiot, on par the rednecks of this world.

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  23. “Quebec is not a monoculture. Twenty percent of the population is not Francophone!”

    I don’t like the 20% thing. The 80% Franco / 20% non-Franco statistic is often used to beef up the case for the French language. Even tough it is a real statistic, it is not very applicable to many people living in Montreal as it includes about 3.5 million people from the Regions with whom an average Montrealer has nothing to do with. This goes especially for Montreal Allos and Anglos, to whom the famers living up north are as abstract as the famers in China (yet none of us is required to submerge ourselves the Mandarin or Cantonese culture).

    For all intents and purposes, the life of an average Montrealer is limited to the island of Montreal, a city which is 50% Francophone, and 50% non-Francophone. So there is an even split between the two, and 2 main languages are spoken, along with many more “ethnic” languages in the mix. Making French the language of every business transaction, every workplace exchange, every small and mundane conversation is not only utopian, it’s also condescending.

    And for those who insist on the 80% statistic, why stop there? Why not zoom out a little and include the whole of Canada, where English clearly dominates? Why not zoom out a little bit more, and include the US? Or why not zoom in, and count only Montreal with its 50/50 split.

    Why does the argument have to be limited to the arbitrary and subjective administrative borders of the province of Quebec? Why can’t it be limited to the actual reality and life of the people concerned?

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  24. What I like most about these racist francophony bigots in the liberals, conservatives, BQ, PQ, NPD…in Quebec and Ottawa, is that are at least equal opportunity racists. Think about it for a minute, they just don’t hate English speakers. They hate Jews, they hate anyone who doesn’t have a french last name. Let’s give the bigots some credit, at least they are consistent is their hatred for anyone not ”pure laine” We, Weee, ST.

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  25. ‘ATTENTION! Les Québécois veulent être maître chez eux et avoir l'avantage et le plaisir de vivre et d'évoluer chez eux en français. Au début, bien sûr les anglophones étaient d'une dureté inimaginable avec eux, les Anglais les ont tenus dans la misère (L'époque de la Noirceur). Ces choses-là ne s'oublient pas, et toutefois si vous voulez aujourd'hui les choses différentes, il aurait fallu parler, lors de la promulgation de l'Acte de Québec en 1774 et/ou agir différemment. Depuis, ce peuple, cette Nation a évolué est devenue indépendante, i.e. possède son gouvernement, ses transports, ses systèmes d'éducation et ses tribunaux etc... La loi 101 protège leur langue et je les félicite. Les Basques et 6,750 autres langues ont des difficultés de survivre. L'ONU offre des programmes pour leur venir en aide. Alors c'est un droit légitime que de protéger sa langue, qui d'ailleurs est mentionné dans l'hymne national en Français: ton front est ceint d'un fleuron glorieux (fleurs de lys de la France) PROTEGERA NOS FOYERS ET NOS DROITS!!’

    ATTENTION! Quebec is NOT a concrete nation state. The so called ‘Quebec Nation’ is an airy-fairy concept designed to appease the Quebecois delusions of grandeur. Actually, Quebec is a province in Canada. Quebec belongs to ALL Canadians. The Quebecois live in CANADA. The Quebecois must respect the fundamental rights of Anglos Canadians. If you don’t respect Anglos and their rights, how do you expect them to respect you? It’s very simple idea for you to understand, no? You cannot win the support of Anglophones and Allophones by treating them as second class Canadians. As such, they probably don’t care about your desires and dreams to be ‘masters at home’ (how quaint) and live in a French only xeno-land. You want to live in a French only milieu? Go ahead, move back to France, no one is stopping you. This is Canada and you can’t build your French fortress here. Your ancestors lost the war and aligned themselves with Britain and Canada. Your fate was sealed long ago. Get over it. If you abuse the rights of Canadians with the aim to break apart Canada, you will eventually pay the price for your selfish, treasonous ways. Oh how I wish I could be Prime Minister for a day.

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  26. "Les anglos représentent la minorité a problèmes du Québec même si ils sont les mieux traités parmi toutes nos ethnies.La preuve est qu'ils persistent a demeurer chez-nous."

    Parfaitement d'accord avec vous et avec notre prochaine gouvernement Péquiste : C'est-a-dire de limiter les immigrants anglos et favoriser l'arrivée de futurs concitoyens aptent a communiquer avec les Québécois dans leur langue.
    Qui dit anglos au Québec dit minorité jamais satisfaite même si nous sommes gentils avec eux .

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  27. "You cannot win the support of Anglophones and Allophones by treating them as second class Canadians."

    Vous êtes des citoyens de seconde classe même les Américains sonr daccord avec nous.Wikileaks même mentionne votre complexe d'infériorité et ce n'est pas la faute des Québécois si vous n'avez pas de culture.

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  28. "ce n'est pas la faute des Québécois si vous n'avez pas de culture."

    English speaking Canada has plenty of culture and it was on display at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver last winter. We had a lot to showcase, and it wasn't necessary at all to include the tacky, unknown artists from Quebec - they made the shows less appealing to the international audience.

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  29. "La loi 101 protège leur langue et je les félicite. Les Basques et 6,750 autres langues ont des difficultés de survivre."

    Don't compare yourselves with the Basques. They are infinitely more distinct than you could ever hope to be. They are an indigenous people and they are one of the oldest cultures in Europe. Their language is unlike any other.

    French, while on the decline, is hardly an endangered language. It is spoken in many other countries around the world. Most of these are Third World, and Quebec is well on its way to joining their ranks.

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  30. PART 1:

    Everyday I watch the news, read the papers, and honestly, *DAILY* there are stories about corruption, racism (spewed by Quebecois) and the overall backwardness of Quebec in every possible sense. Yes, every place has its problems, but these are rampant in Quebec and have gone unchallenged and unchanged for decades! I feel anger, but most of all I feel frustration.

    Then it just hit me, and I drew a parallel of Quebec with the Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV episode called "The Crooked Road" (see: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508276/)

    Quebec is EXACTLY like that small backwater town, where the police and judges are corrupt committing acts of crime against their own citizens and outsiders. They do whatever they want, going against the law, and the only authority to appeal to is....the same people committing the corruption! It is madding, trapped in a region where the powers that be who are supposed to be there to protect and aid you, are your tormentors!

    I just saw segment on CFCF-12's CTV News tonight about a woman who's child has a severe mental disability, has had him diagnosed and assessed by several psychologists, has all the documents, and meets the criteria above and beyond to receive disability assistance from both levels of government. Canadian government immediately approved her, even going as far as retro active coverage. Quebec's Regie du Rente? Refused her claim, just "because". No explanation. Well, I have one. She is ANGLOPHONE, part of "Les Autre".

    (continued in PART 2...)

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  31. PART 2 (continued from above)

    I experienced the same discrimination with the company I worked for when I needed to take a sick leave when my father was dying of cancer last year (incidentally they're one of the largest companies in Canada). Their head office is out west, and all provinces deal with them. For some reason Quebec, and only Quebec, has their health service offices in Rimouski. I was going through and diagonised with major depression, and asked for English forms to fill out when French-only forms were given. Well...all hell broke loose, because I dared asked for something in (gasp!) *English*. I was told because of Bill 101 I was not allowed to have English forms, nor could they communicate with me verbally or written in English. When I finally agreed to have a friend translate the forms for me, they then insisted I absolutely must fill out the answer (pages and pages of details and intricate personal questions) in FRENCH ONLY. Funny, because they understand English, and not only that, you'd think if need be they could have their offices out west translate. I wasn't in any condition to take a French proficiency exam here and they damn well knew the mental anguish and pain I was going through. You would think there would be some level of sympathy...nope, it's time to torment "the Anglophone" and put him in his place. I reported the incident to the head office out west, but apparently once someone is in Quebec, they have no control, it's all handled by their Quebec division. So, like the couple in that Alfred Hitchcock story that were abused by the authorities and had no higher level to appeal to, so was I....in Quebec.

    I've lived my entire life in Quebec, and I've come to the conclusion the only way out of this is to finally LEAVE this province. Sadly I lost any and all faith there is hope here. I'm sure the Quebecois racists will applaud as their continued soft ethnic cleansing program is running fine and well. I'm just another one of those those maudit Anglais to push out. Well, fine...now I think it's about time Canada do the same and push out all the Quebecois biggots from Canada. Let's see how well they do without transfer payments from the rest of the country and live in their isolated racist little bubble cut off from the rest of the planet. Forgot about changing this province, it is no longer a province. It's a communist little backwards country that for some reason, is still annexed (ironically!) to the freest country in the world. It's no longer about saving Quebec, it's about saving Canada from Quebec.

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  32. @ anonymous dushbag 2.43pm

    Just because you can't speak English doesn't mean Canada has no culture. Who got nominated for 3 Grammys this year? I'll answer that because you probably never heard of Arcade Fire, a Montreal ENGLISH band that went platinum with there second album this year. I'm not saying that French Canada has no culture, but it pales in comparison. You're just incapable of seeing, I mean hearing, that fact because you don't speak the language of the majority.

    When Americans talk about Canadiens having no culture, they are talking about French canadiens as well. You think Americans distinguish between French and English Canada? Half of them can't even find Canada on a map. The fact that you think insults to Canada don't include Quebec points to your lack of intelligence and inability to comprehend reality. On the other hand, I bet you're happy to rejoice every time Canada wins on the world stage because you believe it is really Quebec that did all the winning. Stupid, stupid, stupid.....

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  33. "When I finally agreed to have a friend translate the forms for me..."

    Il serait plus simple pour tous si vous appreniez le Français,non?Trop compliquée?

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  34. "I've lived my entire life in Quebec..." and never learned French...Am i stupid doctor?

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  35. A l'enfoiré 8:01

    La moitié du groupe est d'origine américaine et ce groupe a été formé par une...Québécoise.Vous avez dit stupid?

    http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcade_Fire

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  36. To anonymous @ 8:47 and 8:52 PM

    I am functional in French (written, spoken and read) but it is NOT my mother tongue or what I am most comfortable with. I get by, but I struggle. Now when one of your parents is dying of cancer, and you're clinically depressed because of it, it is NOT the time to PUNISH ME for speaking English (as a matter of fact, when is there a right time?). The forms had intricate questions, it wasn't simply "name", "age", "height", "employee id". It was a psychological profiling questionnaire with them asking for essay-type replies to each one.

    Last time I checked, there were no formal laws forbidding access to French forms, or disallowing one to fill out a questionnaire in French. Hah, imagine if that happened in Canada. There would be such outrage in La Belle Province I'm sure there would be violent backlash against anyone English standing on the streets!

    It's never about learning or speaking French, it is about BEING FRENCH. No matter how much I improve my French, or how perfect my accent is (and that is flawlessness at present!) I will never be accepted in Quebec. I am part of Les Autre. That disgusts me.

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  37. ‘Il serait plus simple pour tous si vous appreniez le Français,non?Trop compliquée?’
    Spoken like a heartless nationalist douche bag. Let’s flip your arrogant statement around to say it would be easier if you learned to speak English, and accepted the fact you live in Canada where English is an official language. Until further notice, you are a Canadian citizen just like everyone else. You have a social contract with all other Canadians and have the responsibility to be respectful of the laws and the rights of other citizens. The English saying ‘what goes around comes around’ was intended as a reminder for people like you.

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  38. Mississauga Guy to Apple IIGS / Mitch...

    As mentioned above, it's reasons like your tribulations I left Quebec in the mid-1980s, and the more I read of stories like yours, the more I'm positively reinforced I did the right thing.

    Don't you think it's time a federal political party should be created to put Canada, the English language majority first and an ungrateful, bitter and vengeful Quebec second? None of the current federal parties have the gonads to do it!

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  39. Quebec is Canada's waste dump and now it's time throw out the trash. This trash has been infesting Canada for such a long time, which is why the whole country smells of BQ, PQ nonsense (because we have to listen to your hate filled garbage almost on a daily basis)and Canadians are stuck paying for federal separatists and their golden pension fund.

    You know, not too long ago I was advocating for ways to better improve Quebec, but now I see that it is Canada that needs to be fixed, not Quebec. Quebec is a quasi-Communist society bent on committing cultural genocide against "les autres" and the ROC is stuck funding this ethnic cleansing. Well you know what you fuckin petits kkkebekua? WE'RE the majority and this is OUR country and it's time that WE take back this country from Quebec after many years of being hostage. Quebec can separate (except the GMA of course) and become the Zimbabwe of North America.

    I'm so glad I left that rigid province not too long ago...FOR THE REAL CANADA!!!

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  40. "I'm so glad I left that rigid province not too long ago...FOR THE REAL CANADA!!!"

    J'imagine que votre départ doit être considéré par les Québécois comme une perte inestimable.Hmmm...
    Le vrai cacanada ou les faux États-unis?

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  41. To the idiot Anon above me...

    Each province is distinct from one another. If you actually left Quebec for once in your life, you will realize this. I've been to Manitoba, and it is way different than Ontario and say..New Brunswick. Language is not culture and until Quebec realizes this, its reputation will never recover.

    My reason for leaving Quebec was not to blow any damage to the Quebecois (although I would have if I had the political power to do so). It was because I wanted to live in a place where my language and culture is respected and warmly welcome and I'm treated equally regardless of ethnicity, skin color or what have you. I didn't get that feeling in Quebec. I speak French fluently and I still didn't seem to fit in with the majority, simply because I wasn't a Quebecois de souche pur laine. Although to be fair, Montreal is way better than other part of the province when it comes to linguistic discrimination. Bottom line, I moved to the Real Canada because I'm accepted here 100% for who I am, linguistically and ethnically.

    Mon petit kkkebekois, you should settle in other parts of this wonderful country just so you see for yourself how king-like Francophone minorities are treated here, instead of constantly being fed separatist second hand sources. Come out here out West, and enjoy the Real Canada (thanks to MG for coining the term).

    It's really amazing how much clearer the Quebec situation becomes once you analyze it from an outside perspective.

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  42. "...Mon petit kkkebekois, you should settle in other parts of this wonderful country..."

    J'ai déja un pays très beau et j'y suis très bien ,pas besoin d'arpenter le canada pour trouver le bonheur.

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  43. Toronto est a l'image du Canadien moyen c'est-a-dire : Avide d'argent et de reconnaissance mais malheureusement sans âme,aucune.

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  44. 'Toronto est a l'image du Canadien moyen c'est-a-dire : Avide d'argent et de reconnaissance mais malheureusement sans âme,aucune.'

    You are wrong. You are parroting seppie lies and sound like a complete idiot. How could Toronto have no soul, or culture for that matter? Toronto is a sophisticated, cosmopolitan city with a multitude of cultural influences. Go on; keep trash talking Canada you tiresome Quebecois drone. The more you do, the more you set the stage for your own demise. The shiny happy socialist society you so smugly cherish is financed by Canadians. Without the benevolence of Canadians, you could never pay for your indulgences. The irony in all of this is that you are financially dependent on the very souls you despise. Every time you take our money, you undermine your integrity and sell your souls to the devils you fear. Hilariously pathetic!

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  45. "Toronto est a l'image du Canadien moyen c'est-a-dire : Avide d'argent et de reconnaissance mais malheureusement sans âme,aucune."

    Of course the individual city of Toronto is representative of the second largest country in the world that spans 10 provinces and 3 territories. Every Canadian is like Torontonians, yes. Just like every American are like New Yorkers. Or like how every quebecker are like Montrealers, you know, 50% non-french and 80% non separatist? Right? See how stupid you sound? Try not to speak if you can help it.

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  46. Here's a joke for all the seppies

    Q: How many countries are there in North America?

    A: 3. Mexico, USA and Canada. XD Hilarious!

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  47. "Toronto is a sophisticated, cosmopolitan city with a multitude of cultural influences..."

    Et un taux de criminalité digne de Chicago sa compétitrice.Un regroupement de ghettos qui n'inspire aucune confiance. La plus belle ville du canada est sans contredit Québec.

    Il est tout a fait normal que les canadians doivent contribués a maintenir les atouts de la plus belle province au canada et a l'Est du continent.

    Vous avez un très bon sens de l'humour.Merci de nous faire rire en ces temps de morosité.

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  48. Nothing like the usual nationalist zealots to comment on the ROC, of which they only have old cliché and know nothing about it. Racist is what they are, they cry like little girls when a redneck does or say the same exact thing towards them, that they themselves say or do to the ROC.
    I vote we send them to the saguenay and declare the saguenay independent. That would be a good riddance.

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  49. To Stephan, yeah u got it right, they know nothing about the ROC, all they know is the good old crap spewed out from 40 years ago by the seppies, they have know nothing of the ROC. They keep repeating it, here is the short list, and all of them are wrong:
    Toronto has no culture.
    Canada has no culture, and r just americans disguise.
    no french is spoken outside the borders of Qc.
    All province are the same single mass of un cultured canadian, indistinguishable from each other.
    The west island is 100% english, and u cannot get served in french.
    Quebec has culture, canada does not.

    All usual lies, but that even moderate nationalist believe in a small part, and there lies the problem, repeat a lie often enough, and people start believing in it.

    And when u have Normand Lester working at RC for 20years+ and many others like minded in the media, those lies are refelected in the media in some way.
    The good news there is a movement to the right appearing and shaking the othordoxy of the social-nationalist-separatist church, things may finally be moving away from that stupidity. lets hope (check reseau liberte quebec) it's worth getting involved.

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  50. "Et un taux de criminalité digne de Chicago sa compétitrice.Un regroupement de ghettos qui n'inspire aucune confiance. La plus belle ville du canada est sans contredit Québec."

    Are you a total idiot? Where is there corruption and organized crime as rampant as in Quebec in the balance of Canada. For christ sake read what you write sometime and think before your spew your verbal diarhhea.

    Are all separatists as f'king stupid as you. Of course, you have been brainwashed into the silly idea that Quebec is a distinct nation within Canada which is really quite laughable.

    La plus belle province en canada = le province de soc cas.

    What a joke.

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  51. "Every Canadian is like Torontonians, yes. Just like every American are like New Yorkers..."

    Yeah right!Torontonians?Mouhahahaha!Please don't compare toronto with New-york.New-york is the real international city.

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  52. "Are all separatists as f'king stupid as you?"

    No.Some of those are very clever.

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  53. Anonymous said...
    ""Every Canadian is like Torontonians, yes. Just like every American are like New Yorkers..."

    Yeah right!Torontonians?Mouhahahaha!Please don't compare toronto with New-york.New-york is the real international city."

    My entire post was nothing but a big sarcastic rant, captain miss-the-point.

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  54. "My entire post was nothing but a big sarcastic rant, captain miss-the-point."

    Sorry but i'm French and i'm not able to catch the subtility of english,not yet.By the way,welcome to the sarcastic club.

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  55. "Sorry but i'm French and i'm not able to catch the subtility of english,not yet.By the way,welcome to the sarcastic club."

    Ah then my bad. I'm dating a Quebecoise so I know that my English sarcasm gets lost on her sometimes lol. Guess it'a a language barrier thing. But yeah my post wasn't to compare New York to Toronto but to demonstrate how saying Toronto is representative of all of Canada is as ignorant as saying New York is representative of all the US.

    Il y a une mentalite qui doit disparaitre chez les Quebecois, et c'est que les anglais sont tous pareils. Believe me, we're not. We vary culturally from province to province and all add a unique piece to the cultural landscape of Canada, and my friend, Quebec is one of those pieces. The hostility that once enslaved our two peoples needs to stop, and quite frankly us English have given up on the hostility. Have you ever seen one massively recognized anti-french activist recently? And I mean a real one that you judge to be so and don't think so 'cause Pauline tells you to. English Canadians, for the most part, adore French Canadians and the language. But the forever belly-aching and lying from the PQ needs to end. They're so good at spinning in fact that they have the nationalists convinced that Charest is the English Canadian champion of Quebec and that his agenda reflects ours. Are you kidding me? NOBODY likes Charest. Quit listening to the dirty scum politicians that emerge from Quebec's rectum and start listening to your English brothers that are here and ready to work on making Quebec the best it can be.

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  56. "Are all separatists as f'king stupid as you?"

    "No.Some of those are very clever."

    You refer third person to the smart ones that you claim...Where does that leave you. Etes vous d'accorde avec moi. FOOL

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  57. "I'm dating a Quebecoise so I know that my English sarcasm gets lost on her sometimes lol"

    Mistake number one...

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  58. FROM ED
    EDITOR,
    We seem to inherited a whole raft of anonymouses posting in English and French. It's impossible to tell who's who. I suggest to them that they do as I do, begin your post with a nickname so people will actually read it, knowing you're not a troll.
    Editor, speak kindly about Yves Michaud. remember Jesus said, "As surely as ye do unto the least of My creatures................." Ed

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