Monday, January 24, 2011

Hate and Violence are Not Quebec Values

The recent vandalism of five Jewish institutions and the decision by Quebec National Assembly guards to deny entry to Kirpan bearing Sikhs into a Parliamentary committee meeting has invariably brought out the tedious refrain in newspapers across Canada that Quebec is a place of monumental intolerance. Link
For many, its easy to confuse linguistic intolerance with religious intolerance and while Quebec does officially discriminate against English, it has nothing to do with religion.
Understandably, this distinction is lost in the rest of the country, but in Quebec anglophones and minorities should be able to make the distinction.

That is why it is galling that two prominent Anglophone  newspapers, the Montreal Gazette and the community based The Suburban ran editorials repeating the nonsense that Quebeckers are religiously intolerant.
Now before one writes off The Suburban as a lightweight newspaper, "one that is worthy of wrapping a bloody pig in," (as René Levesque described it after an unflattering article) let us not underestimate the newspaper's profound influence in the western neighbourhoods of Anglophone Montreal.
"If the state is the protector and the state grants supremacy of one group over others, then the logical outgrowth is that the “others” – the minorities – are marginalized.  Not by overt assertion, but by subliminal seduction. And young minds are the most affected.
It opens the door to any person with a gripe against society, or frustrations with their own lives, to take it out on others. The others. “Les autres.” It is about the demonization of those who are different in order to soothe our frustration with ourselves. It makes hate easy and, sadly, satisfying." read the entire article
Shades of Jan Wong, who years ago blamed the three Montreal serial killings at Concordia, Dawson and Ecole Polytechnique on Bill 101 and "decades-long linguistic struggle".

It's always easy to arrive at illogical conclusions when ones draws inference from facts which are not facts.
The Suburban is somehow making a connection to the antisemitic acts of vandalism with language policies related to making French the predominant language of Quebec society.
The logical conclusion of that premise is that the perpetrators were angry francophones, whose 'young minds' were conditioned to hate, by the state.

However, if history repeats itself, there is little likelihood that the vandals were francophones.
Sorry to burst the Suburban's balloon, but almost all antisemitic acts of this kind are perpetrated by young disaffected Muslims, and religious intolerance, rather linguistic intolerance is the prime motivation.

If language policy (which doesn't exist elsewhere) is the driving force behind violent acts against minorities, why is it that Quebec has the lowest rate of hate crimes in Canada? As I wrote recently, in 2008, there were 271 hates in Toronto compared to 38 in Montreal. LINK

British Columbia is the hate capital of Canada and if one would ascribe to the Suburban's logic, perhaps we should blame the violence on Canadian 'multiculturalism.'

Most hate crimes are related to religious fanaticism, poverty, disaffection and ignorance. That plays out across the country, regardless of language.

If statistics prove anything, it is that Quebeckers are more tolerant than Canadians, something that Quebec bashers will find hard to swallow.

The Suburban does a disservice to the Jewish community it serves by telling readers that hate crimes are related to Bill 101 and language, when clearly evidence proves the opposite. Hate crimes in Quebec remain so isolated that any statistical conclusions are impossible to reach and all we can say with certainty is that these crimes occur significantly less in Quebec than in Canada.

The Suburban owes an apology to all Quebeckers.

As for the Gazette, the assertion of its editorial board that those in favour of barring the kirpan from public facilities are 'shameful,' and by inference intolerant, is unacceptably arrogant.
"There is certainly no reasonable justification for banning the wearing of kirpans by Sikhs in public venues, including the National Assembly building or the Parliament buildings in Ottawa,....
"Although it is a knife, the kirpan is not held as a weapon by its wearers but rather as a symbol of their faith, much like a crucifix by Christians or a star of David by Jews."  A shameful violation of religious freedom
Repeat after me, "This is not a knife!..this is not a knife!
The assertion that there is no reasonable justification to ban the kirpan is opinion, not fact. 
The Gazette's belief that the issue is settled reminds us of warm-mongers who tells that there can be no reasonable debate over global warming and that anyone with a contrary opinion is wrong.

It's nothing short of nonsense for the Gazette to equate an eight inch pointed dagger with a tiny crucifix or a Star of David, worn around the neck. These religious symbols cannot be used as weapons, the dagger, well.....
Should somebody attempt to board an airplane with a pointed eight inch stiletto-shaped crucifix, I would hope he would be enjoined from flying. If a person attempted to enter Parliament wearing a massive Star of David with razor sharp edges that could be used like a Ninja throwing star, I would hope that he'd be barred from entering as well.
It's the sign of a weak argument when unjustified comparisons are made.
I may venerate my AK-47 assault rifle as a religious item, but that doesn't make it less of a weapon and I'm sure the Gazette editorial board would not board an airplane where a passenger would carry that sort of 'article of faith' (See, we can all make illogical comparisons!)

The fact is, the kirpan is an article of faith that is also a weapon, it is as simple as that.
To fulfill its religious function, the kirpan must remain a functioning weapon.
If kirpans were just 'symbols', they could be fashioned into innocent plastic toys or they could be miniaturized to the size of an ordinary crucifix and thus rendered harmless. Even at full size, sharpened and pointed, they could be rendered safe by welding them within their sheaths. 
But alas, that is not what what is called for. In order to fulfill its function, the kirpan must be a real-live weapon, religiously sanctioned to be used in the defence of good. 

To pretend otherwise is just closing one's eyes to the truth.

The argument that the kirpan does not pose a potential danger because Sikhs do not consider it as weapon is patently self-serving, untrue and decidedly beside the point.

Should 'intent to use' really be a criterion for allowing weapons in public?

By the way, it's not as if Sikhs have never used the kirpan as a weapon. While rare, it has happened and it has happened in Canada.

In Montreal, a 13 year-old Sikh pulled out his kirpan and threatened other students. Link
Of course, all of this was hushed up in youth court, such is the reality of our politically correct society which denies nail-clippers on airplanes, while allowing religious daggers.

The case of a Toronto man being stabbed by a kirpan is also considered a simple aberration by defenders and not germane to the debate.  Kirpan attack in Brampton renews concerns.
If one could make the argument that Sikhs in general are somehow more  pacifistic than the average Canadian and that non-violence was a hallmark of their society, one could add some weight to the argument that the Kirpan is harmless. Unfortunately, such is not the case at all. 
Sikh radicals, (all wearing kirpans) were responsible for the worst terrorist act in Canadian history. The bombing of Air India was not the random act of just one deranged Sikh, but rather a widespread conspiracy of real terrorists.

Religious violence is problematic amidst the large Sikh community in British Columbia and just recently threats by Sikhs against Dosanj Dosani were made in relation to him attending a certain parade.
"Violent incidents at two Sikh temples this month in Brampton, along with a controversial decision over the weekend to allow photos of leaders from banned terrorist groups onto a float in the annual Vaisakhi parade in B.C., have marred the image of the Sikh-Canadian community, according to one group.
I don't want to give the idea that Sikhs represent a clear and present danger to Canadian society, but they are certainly not deserving of this type of an accommodation based on their record of non-violence." LINK
"On April 16, 2010, the day prior to the annual Vaisakhi Parade held in Surrey, B.C., one of the parade organizers issued a statement indicating should Dosanjh and BC Liberal backbencher Dave Hayer choose to attend the parade, their safety could not be guaranteed."  LINK
"...Dosanjh, a moderate who has distanced himself from such fundamentalist views, is a longtime critic of Sikh extremism who was severely injured in a February 1985 beating by a suspected member of the International Sikh Youth Federation, a banned terrorist group....
...This is intimidation and I don't believe in this day and age a Canadian parliamentarian should have to put up with these nonsensical threats." LINK
Read;
Extremist Sikh Violence in British Columbia: Why Must It Always Boil Down to This?
High Spousal Abuse in South Asian Marriages 
Surrey Sikh parade's martyrs float angers mayor

I haven't included the above links to humiliate or denigrate the Sikh community, just to underline that a measure of violence has been brought over to Canada from the old country. While not all Sikhs are violent, the vast majority of violent Sikhs are religious purists that wear the kirpan.

That the Canadian Parliament grants Sikhs the right to carry kirpans is more an act of political expediency than anything else. The Sikh community represents almost 2% of electors and the community directly controls the election of over half a dozen federal seats. Coming out against the kirpan would be the kiss of death to any federalist party and this is the real definition of an accommodation. 

The kirpan is banned in Denmark and France and there have been several court cases in states of the U.S. involving the legality of wearing the kirpan in public places.
The kirpan is barred in the European Parliament as well as the Indian Parliament where a Sikh member of Parliament was kept from serving because of his refusal to relinquish his kirpan. After being re-elected he reluctantly complied.
Is the Gazette prepared to brand all these countries and institution "shameful?

The Gazette has every right to advocate for the kirpan accommodation, but branding those opposed to that accommodation as 'shameless' or intolerant and casting aspersions on our character should be condemned.

It seems that Canadians have more good sense than the Gazette and the scads of other Canadian newspapers who hold that the kirpan is not a weapon.

The comments board in relation to a CBC story  entitled Ban kirpan from Parliament: Bloc  generated  an amazing 550 comments within just 48 hours, the vast majority agreeing with the Bloc Quebecois view of the kirpan rather than the view of the Gazette. Imagine that! The majority of Canadians actually agree with the Bloc Quebecois!

Here's a sample followed by the score of readers who agreed or disagreed with the comment
"C'mon politicians, get your act together and quit folding for one group over another. This is not the way to achieve a sense of fairness amongst Canadians." Agree- 31 Disagree 1

"I say issue a kirpan, silver bullets, a sharpened cross, a veil, a taser, and a light sabre to everyone entering for question period. Let things sort themselves out." Agree- 29 Disagree 1

"Ya just gotta admire Quebec and how they protect their culture, language and civil laws. Unlike the rest of Canada with the Jack Layton's and Dalton McGimpy's who will sell out for any popular or trendy politically correct notion." Agree- 33 Disagree 4
"If it's a weapon, it should not be allowed on planes, in parliament, or in any other location where weapons are not permitted. I'm all for religious freedom, but why should they be allowed to take a weapon where they would not be allowed for anyone else, when we as Christians are not even allowed to take our prayers into a school?" Agree- 41 Disagree 3
"We are living in a multi polar and multi faith world. the sooner we learn to live with this fact the better it is." Agree- 8 Disagree 31
"I wonder if the commenters that believe religious freedom should prevail with the Sikh knives would also support the religious freedom of people in Saskatchewan not to perform gay "marriages". Agree- 29 Disagree 2
"The Prime MInister of Australia, when faced with a similar predicament recently, stated that it was immigrants, not Australians, who had to adapt to the Australian way of life. If that was unacceptable, they had the right to exercise a great Australian freedom - leave. I suggest that Sikhs in Canada follow that same line of reasoning." Agree- 105 Disagree 2
This sampling is a fair representation, I invite you too check out the comment section yourself, under the story, it makes for some interesting reading!  Link

The Gazette owes us all an apology for arrogantly calling us 'shameful' for believing that daggers have no place in Parliament, airplanes or schools. 

71 comments:

  1. Editor, sorry, but no. In Quebec, if you are not of the ilk of the majority, you're labelled «un des autres». I won't be quick to blame the ilk of the majority for the synagogue vandalism, but I thought the late Pierre Péladeau summed it up quite well about 15 years ago when he said "Jews take up too much space" in his newspapers. Then he subsequently qualified what he said to mean Anglophone Jews. Enough said.

    Also, a few years ago, I saw on the local Montreal news when I was in visiting a story about vandalism, sabotage and arsen in the Val David area to Jewish summer cottages. A local was interviewed in French and he almost condoned the action because "they" are not friendly people. You'd say "hello" to them and they would not answer back. Gee, that's reason for destroying the properties of Jewish people, now isn't it?

    I personally used to work at one of the Pascal's hardware stores when that family business was thriving and they employed young Francojackasses who made anti-Semitic remarks at me and others. I reminded them they're being paid by their Jewish employer, but that didn't seem to deter them. Similarly, I had friends working at the one Steinberg Beaucoup, Sam Steinberg's one foray into the hypermarket concept started by a former company cally Hypermarché. Older readers of this blog may remember those days. Beaucoup opened in Carrefour Laval in 1974, and Hypermarché opened a couple of years earlier nearby. All of Pascal's, Steinberg's and Hypermarché are all now part of Quebec lore; in fact, Centre 2000, the home of Hypermarché was levelled several years ago and all that's left of it is the deteriorating asphalt slab (read parking lot) upon where it once existed.

    So much for my history lesson. While Sam Steinberg enthusiastically embraced the Francophone community, there was plenty of anti-Sematism being spewed in that locale as well. Lots of interfaith dating, too!

    Being a secular Jew who went to after-public-school Hebrew school three afternoons a week, I observe some of my religion within the portals of my home, or in the HOMES of other friends and family and at temple/synagogue. I take certain religious holidays off from work as vacation days, and a pine tree with lights, ornaments and tinsel is a Christmas tree--not a holiday tree.

    In other words, I'm not looking to homogenize anyone's religion, rituals, garb and articles, but there is a time and place for everything. A kirpan is a weapon, and it's not appropriate for women to cover all but their eyes. It's also not acceptable for women to go out bare breasted in public notwithstanding the won constitutional challenge a few years ago. Our society was founded upon Christo-Judaic standards. I've seen CTV reporter Janis Mackie Frayer having to cover her head while reporting in Iran or other Islamic states. Why? It's appropriate within the confines of their society--it may even be the law!

    Now entering America can mean having a border official touching your gonads, or a woman's breasts! Talk about the appropriateness of that!

    As for your references to Jan Wong, I agree with you. I think she missed the boat in the article you mentioned. If I recall the Concordia incident, it was committed by a Russian professor, the Dawson incident was caused by a South Asian fellow (Indian/Pakistani) and the École Polytechnic incident was a mysogenistic Francophone.

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  2. If it looks like a knife and cuts like a knife it likely is a knife. No amount of rhetoric about the religious symbolism and/or political correctness will change this fact. Knives are banned from certain areas (airplanes etc) in our country and allowing them to be carried by a certain individuals on relgious grounds is hypocracy. This debate is ridiculous when one considers issues such as gun control legislation in this country. As much as I disagree with many issues in Quebec, they have it right on this issue. NO

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  3. @ Mississauga Guy

    Val-David is a ghetto, to we want to have ghettos in Canada? Imagine if every community would live like this. what would be the point to have an education minister, culture minister, etc?

    Living into a society mean to integrate a little bit, don't you think?

    BTW, much more francophone got killed in Canada just because they were french than jews got killed because of their origins... The point is: it's not black and white as you might say.

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  4. As a Jew in Montreal I can say without a doubt that Quebecoise are a generally racist bunch. This was recently confirmed to me by a black friend who has worked in Ontario, the US and now Montreal. He stated that he has never felt so much racism from colleagues and the general public in his whole life as here in Montreal. (just imagine Chicutimi!)
    Everyone is racist to a certain extent, but I think the Quebecoises are on a different level. They are sooooooo racist they don't even understand that saying something like Bon-Juif, or Les Autres is meanspirited.

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  5. @ BlueWhiteRed

    1) So racist that the we have the 2nd biggest Hasidim community in America.

    Unlike Brooklyn, Montreal hasn't seen any serious conflict between Hasidim and non-Hasidim; the biggest problem has to do with parking, minor zoning violations and Outremont borough councillors who don't like the looks of sukkot. Source: http://www.urbanphoto.net/blog/2009/12/13/hipster-hasid-bike-war-in-brooklyn/

    2) I have meet a palestinian and he told me that the biggest racist on the planet were Israelis. They killed his family...

    My comments 2) were just to make you realized that we need FACTS!!!

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  6. "but almost all antisemitic acts of this kind are perpetrated by young disaffected Muslims, and religious intolerance, rather linguistic intolerance is the prime motivation."

    It wasn't the Muslims that targeted Jewish stores for the labelling on their imported products that didn't meet linguistic standards. It was also not the Muslims that whined about how the Jews own everything but everyone else is supposed to foot the bill for kosher items. As I recall, these were Quebekkker sentiments during the Accomondation talks, which by the way, attacked the Muslims and other immigrant groups in this province fairly equally.
    And what about Herouxville? Would you not label this as religious intolerance? I would argue that stereotyping any group as evil or unwanted is both racist and intolerant of culture and religion.

    Teaching an entire society to view minorities as 'others' only serves to dehumanize the latter to the perception of the former. It's a classic trick, immensely popularized in Germany, and other places, through the 1920s and 30s.

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  7. "I have meet a palestinian and he told me that the biggest racist on the planet were Israelis."

    Ouch!!!

    Et j'ajouterai ceci:


    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario/not-a-racist-kkk-costume-a-mistake-says-former-cop-who-wore-blackface/article1785697/

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  8. "And what about Herouxville?"

    And what about Campbellford,Ont.

    C'est pas le genre d'endroit ou j'irais prendre une bière ou deux avec quelques amis Français.

    (voir lien dans l'autre post)

    Wow!On parle ici d'agents de la RCMP.

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  9. "(voir lien dans l'autre post)

    Wow!On parle ici d'agents de la RCMP."

    Right. 'Cause the cops in Quebec are angels incapable of sin.

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  10. Enfin ! some people have the guts to be different in Canada. Why not ! if you don't want a knife on your neighbour, say it !
    If you don't want to see guns and guns around you, say it !
    Only the wishy-washy Anglophones are not on the right side, as usually !
    If French "Canada" wants to live in French and without guns, or knife I congratulate them to be opinionated. They show they care to be a Nation with qualities and they demand respect.

    Why not! unlike the rest of Canada who has become the bedroom of the world. The rest of Canada has no principle, like the liberal party.

    Remember that people who come here with no skills are in great number. The feds are paying a pension to those alians, who never contributed. The only condition is to live here 10 years, and when they reach 65 of age they collect ! They don't speak a word of English, nor French.

    Continue to fight for your cause of English, this era is the one of the fools, the English fools.

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  11. I think the anti-French sentiment in the RoC is of a different nature than the anti-Anglo and anti-Ethnic sentiment in Quebec. The anti-Quebec sentiment in the RoC is the one of being fed up with petty, obnoxious, and childish behavior. It is a kind of normal reaction to an individual or a group of individuals who act a certain way.

    In Quebec, the anti-Anglo sentiment is rooted in jealousy and an inferiority complex. The Quebec sentiment borders on obsession.

    Whereas an average Canadian can live in the RoC without even taking a minute out of his day to think about Quebec or the French language, a Quebecois will think about an Anglo and the English language all the time. An average Canadian might voice an anti-Quebec opinion when prompted (and then move on with his day), whereas a Quebecois needs no such prompting and can spend days dishing it out.

    In the midst of this are Allophones. Those in the RoC do as all other Canadians do - they pay Quebec no mind. The ones in Quebec are used as pawns. They are expected to “integrate” with the Francos, but to also obey their new masters. And they are expected to “integrate” not only on the functional level, but on the emotional level as well.

    Read this excerpt from a friend of JF Lisee (whether it’s a real or an imaginary friend, and real or imaginary stats that he cites in his blog entry, we don’t know, as is usually the case with Lisee). Notice that in the tone of the statement of this mysterious "McGill professor", a "Francophone" and a "federalist", it is clearly implied that those Anglos and Allos who are fluent in French are still not satisfactory members of this society, because they are not completely submerged in the “Québécois culture”. Enjoy.

    “C’est bien de parler le français, mais si l’on s’en tient à une conception purement véhiculaire ou fonctionnelle de l’apprentissage d’une langue (plutôt que culturelle), on va produire des individus qui maîtrisent le français, mais qui n’ont souvent aucune idée de la culture qui s’y rattache – et pas seulement la québécoise… J’ai constaté quand j’enseignais à McGill combien de jeunes gens anglos ou allophones qui parlaient très bien le français n’avaient aucune culture française. A peu près comme si des apprenants en espagnol ignoraient tout de Garcia Marquez, Vargas Lllosa, Garcia Lorca, Fuentes, voire Cervantes. Or, dans un contexte nord-américain de domination anglaise, on peut présumer que les référents culturels anglo-américains, eux, n’auront aucune difficulté à s’imposer…”

    http://www2.lactualite.com/jean-francois-lisee/les-non-francophones-atteints-de-quebecitude/7170/

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  12. And Editor, maybe it's time you have a talk with your webmaster.

    Posting on your blog can be very, err... cumbersome.

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  13. "Only the wishy-washy Anglophones are not on the right side, as usually!"
    "Why not! unlike the rest of Canada who has become the bedroom of the world. The rest of Canada has no principle, like the liberal party."

    You know they say deliberate generalization is the trait of a weak and closed mind.

    "Remember that people who come here with no skills are in great number"

    There are people here with no skills who were born here. By your logic should we deport them?

    "who never contributed"

    Immigrants built this country. Get a clue.

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  14. "Remember that people who come here with no skills are in great number. The feds are paying a pension to those alians, who never contributed. The only condition is to live here 10 years, and when they reach 65 of age they collect !"

    How many Quebecois are collecting welfare, funded in no small measure by payments from the rest of Canada? The only condition is that they are born in Quebec, and they can collect welfare for the duration of their adult life.

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  15. @dski

    "...on peut présumer que les référents culturels anglo-américains, eux, n’auront aucune difficulté à s’imposer…”

    Note:
    Cette phrase débute avec "On peut présumer..."

    On peut présumer aussi que très peu d'anglos peuvent vous nommer trois pièces de William Shakespeare,un titre de Charles Dickens ou même a savoir qui était henry miller.

    S.V.P Évitez de confondre marketing de masse et culture.

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  16. To Editor:

    -"Hate and violence are not Quebec values?"
    -"Its easy to confuse linguistic intolerance with religious intolerance"

    Whoah, excuse me?

    There are times I wonder if you aren't just playing Devil's Advocate to spark interest and debate. Or perhaps feel the occasional siding with the Quebecois separatists (whilst holding your nose) will make you seem more balanced and fair, thus more plausible when you have other points to debate. You're certainly NOT obtuse or ignorant, quite the opposite, which makes me wonder if in cases like this if you were addressing a different audience (i.e. no foaming at the mouth racist, intolerant Quebecois), well, we'd be hearing a different story.

    I'm sorry, but you CANNOT have linguistic intolerance without religious intolerance. Intolerance is intolerance. It's like telling me you have a friend who profusely hates black persons, to the point they're violent against them, but saying they're not a really a racist and certainly wouldn't pre-judge or discrimination a person of any other race or culture. You may as well be saying... It's easy to confuse racial intolerance against blacks with racial intolerance towards Jews. How can you be openly intolerant of persons because of the language their born with, but not persons because of religion their born with?

    The point is the successive governments of Quebec, the figurative parent of all Quebecers, has taken over from the Church. That so-called parental figure is teaching its "children" intolerance and racism towards Anglophones is not only acceptable, but necessary! Generations of people have been taught they're more valued and important members of society than the rest...les Autres. Does this lesson not transcend itself from language but to religion as well? THAT ANYTHING AT ALL that is different is lesser, or more to the point, a danger? Something that needs to be put kept down to make sure the Quebecois stay on top?

    And as for your title statement, intolerance (which you fully admit exists) leads to hate. Hate eventually leads to violence.

    The Suburban is dead right.

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  17. "...Intolerance is intolerance..."

    Même l'intolérance au lactose?

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  18. The anonymous at 2:34 is a swell anti-French, prefer to give his money to foreigners. He is a third class whore who sticks to the English and has no brains.

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  19. "And as for your title statement, intolerance (which you fully admit exists) leads to hate. Hate eventually leads to violence"

    Nous ne sommes pas intolérants envers les anglos,la preuve : Nous vous tolérons.

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  20. Anglo Buster:

    Franchement, j'ai le droit de mépriser vos sales opinions et de diriger ma pensée sur ce qui est méprisable, sans me faire donner une leçon par des fainéants comme vous tous. Je trouve les Anglos en général "bêtats", parce qu'ils ont peur des opinions franches et ouvertes des francophones, comme celle ci-haut mentionnée qui ne désire pas d'arme ni de couteau, ni de voile dans la province de Québec. La France fait la même chose et ce ne sont pas des gens sans opinions. Les Français sont en général des gens difficiles à diriger par ce qu'ils ont des opinons. Ils ne votent pas comme tout le monde, i.e. comme le font les Canadiens Anglais. Bon voilà!

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  21. It’s difficult to accurately gauge whether or not hate and violence are Quebec values, based on these recent events. The kirpan issue alone tells us nothing conclusive, nor do the attacks on synagogues. However, after 40 years of vitriolic ethnocentric Quebecois nationalism, we probably can infer a thing or two about hate and violence in Quebec. I mean, how can anyone be faulted for seeing Quebec as an intolerant (and occasionally FLQ violent) society? How can people be wrong to worry that overt hate and violence could easily happen again or be the next logical step in the anti-English pogrom?

    I think the article in the Suburban newspaper was right. Successive Quebec governments have systematically taught Franco victimization/entitlement and racial intolerance for decades, and anyone watching the situation knows it. I've never seen the Quebecois take responsibility for their discriminatory actions and the ensuing image of prejudice they have cast over the province. If the critics are all wrong about Quebec, and Quebec is not really the place of intolerance that people have come to believe it is, then Quebec has an enormous public relations problem. Could it be that the Quebecois are completely misunderstood by the ill-willed RoCers?

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  22. @EyeWitness

    Well, remebered history?

    Anti-french pogrom did happened in Canada. Most of the province banned french education during a 100 years and more.

    Read back the report Of Lord Durham On the Affairs of British North America [1839]. Did the french people did anything similar during Canadian history? No, those are facts.

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  23. Anonymous at 19:18:

    Please tell us which province(s) or territory(ies) ban French education - even partially - as of 24 January 2011? To be honest, I do not know.

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  24. All these trite and insipid comments posted in FRENCH ONLY are akin to dogs barking madly outside, while intelligent human beings are engaged in intellectual conversation and debate.

    I'm not just commenting on your comments being posted stubbornly in French (let's have a common language in these debates!) but that they're childish responses towards good and valid points.

    Does that infuriate you hard line separatists refusing to comment in English? Well GOOD. Good dog. Stop barking.

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  25. @Captain english

    Le Canada est un pays avec deux langues officielles et le Français en fait partie.
    Pas si intelligent que ça le "captain redneck".

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  26. "Le Canada est un pays avec deux langues officielles et le Français en fait partie.
    Pas si intelligent que ça le "captain redneck"."

    Yes, and English is one of those two official languages.

    I have nothing against French (reading it, writing it, or speaking it) it's just common sense if you're on an English blog site that you respond in English. By the same token, if I were on a French blog, you can bet I would be replying in French.

    You guys are just replying in French to be oppositional. That's childish. If you have trouble and struggling with English that's another story, but I don't think that's the case.

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  27. "Why not! unlike the rest of Canada who has become the bedroom of the world. The rest of Canada has no principle,"

    I see, so a society of principle, according to you, is a closed off homogenous environment of incestuous, retarded cultural development, too phobic to be a part of anything or anyone too foreign to its day to day experience.

    Why even bother to argue 101 from a protectionist standpoint when you are obviously such a phobic racist?

    I would loathe to suffer from the kind of inferiority complex that creates small-minded, intolerant, mal-adjusted human beings such as yourself.

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  28. Happy Robbie Burns day! I'll pass on the haggis though, thank you. Interesting how the first PQ cabinet's house leader was the famous poet's namesake. Politics makes strange bedfellows.

    OK, that special day of the year has been saluted by yours truly, and an infamous namesake remembered. Also to be saluted for an eloquently written commentary belongs to Apple IIGS at 3:25PM, yesterday afternoon.

    Apple pointed out the open and publicly encouraged and legitimized rhetoric by successive Quebec governments. Reed Scowen also described the rhetoric as encouraged by successive Quebec governments.

    What Apple forgot to mention was this "linguistic intolerance" gets even finer than linguistic. The «Québécois pur laine» are not only intolerant of those not of their own kind IN QUEBEC, but they are also quite intolerant of their own kind OUTSIDE QUEBEC.

    I personally got acquainted with a Franco Ontarian from North Bay who told me he got into fisticuffs with those who were supposedly of his ilk on the other side of the Ottawa River. In Michel Gratton's book "French Canadians", ISBN 1-55013-438-8, Gratton, born in Vanier, Ontario, an Ottawa suburb, wrote openly about the terrible mistreatment he received not only from his fellow students at seminary boarding school he eventually attended on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River, but from the faculty as well.

    I many years ago learned of the deficient love loss Acadians have for the self-proclaimed motherland of Francophonism, «le Québec»! Those who were born outside the "perimeter" for lack of a better term are referred to as "vendu".

    Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. After all, there are those within the black community who discriminate between lightly pigmented black skin and darker skin. There are sects within the Jewish community who consider secular Jews (like myself) as not even Jewish, and even scoff at more observant Jews who don't follow their exact doctrines and rituals. I can't help but think the open racist rhetoric of the Quebec government has created a monster. My only hope is this monster is, and will continue to swallow itself whole.

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  29. @MGuy

    To the Francos from outside Quebec disparaged as “vendu”, you may add French speaking immigrants from other parts of the world that speak French closer to the European version. Even white French and Swiss expats themselves are discriminated. They are hated for speaking the “sophisticated” and “refined” French. To this bunch of “French-speakers”, you need to throw in the Anglos and Allos who are fluent in French, but they are not “of the ilk” (see my post from yesterday)

    Reed Scowen touches on this phenomenon in his “Time to Say Goodbye”. Being fluent in French, he was still considered an “Anglophone” and was thanked was his services in Quebec Government on account of his “background”.

    The Quebecois racism goes beyond language. It is purely ethnocentric. To the pure laine Quebecois, the only people worthy of co-opting are the immigrants willing to come here and live in French ONLY and in strict adherence to the Quebec Model. Essentially, those useful idiots who don’t even realize that even though they are patted on the backs when they’re watching, but are still derided as “ethnics” behind their backs.

    I picked up Reed Scowen’s “Time to Say Goodbye – Building a Better Canada Without Quebec” yesterday, and I couldn’t put it away last night. I’m almost done reading it, and when I’m done, I’m sending Mr.Scowen an email to thank him for his book. It’s a must-read for all Canadians.

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  30. @adski

    Vous n'auriez pas un petit mot gentil pour vos compatriotes Québécois ce matin?Vous pourriez nous dire,par exemple :Bravo et merci de représenter le Canada aux prochains Oscars avec le film de Denis Villeneuve (incendie) a titre de meilleur film étranger.

    Chose certaine,nous,nous sommes très fiers.

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  31. “Vous n'auriez pas un petit mot gentil pour vos compatriotes Québécois ce matin?”

    No, for a very simple reason - I do not have any "compatriotes Québécois" - in a sense that I don't think of my friends as "compatriotes", and I don't pay too much attention to their ethnic origin. The bond I have with my friends is based on everything EXCEPT race, language, or ethnicity.

    I function in 3 languages, according to the need, not according to directives from the central planning committee (read: Assemblée nationale). I do not subscribe to the Quebec Model as I don’t believe that “social justice”, although a very noble concept in theory, can be imposed through central planning. Social justice is more of a function of day to day relations between people, and in this aspect, the gov’t of Quebec is doing much more damage than good, as it sets people against each other.

    As a fairly individualistic person, I also don’t subscribe to the Quebec collectivist vision. In fact, I am part of a community whose members used to leave a collectivist society en masse.

    So no, I am not your (your=plural) compatriot, and I am not part of your “nation”. I am simply a resident of the nation-state of Quebec, where I live as a Canadian. And that’s a good thing. To me, being part of your nation would be too much a burden. It would almost be like a full time job – being vigilant, denouncing language law offenders, constantly looking out for threats to the French language and culture, being constantly worried that any day now the “Ethnics” will outnumber us and we will lose our privileges. I would also feel cut off from the rest of the continent, which functions in a completely different language than the one I would have subscribed to.

    Being part of your “nation” would be suffocating and claustrophobic.

    So thanks but no thanks, frère. Look for “compatriots” elsewhere.

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  32. @adski

    Saviez-vous que j'ai un beau-frère pure-laine que je suis incapable de supporter.Il est blanc,n'a aucun accent distinct et pourtant j'aimerais le voir disparaître dans un lac de piranhas.
    L'attitude Adski,l'attitude!Voila la question.

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  33. To adski:

    Good post, but most unfortunate Quebec society has become this way. On the other hand, I think the vindictive ways of Quebec governments is starting to come back to haunt them and those who seek a homegeneous society.

    Thankfully, notwithstanding the Quebec government programming, the immigrants, wherever the come from and whatever languages they speak, seem geared they're coming to Canada, to North America. It is the Quebec government who lives the dream they're coming to Quebec and Quebec only. Scowen mentioned it that way in his book, describing it as a "social contract" between the newcomers and the "host" government. Trouble is, Quebec gets special treatment, and MY objective of a Canada-first-Quebec-second party is to do away with the special treatment Quebec gets. It's federal jurisdiction for 12 other jurisdictions in Canada, and the experiment of giving Quebec a special invitation to handle immigration has failed.

    Immigrants are NOT buying into this so-called "social contract" to a great extent, and those that do subsequently learn they are not bound to it and do their own thing eventually. They get access to free French lessons, a worthwhile idea, and they're obliged to send their children to French school, and that's about the extent of it. Many who come already know English or find ways to learn English between TV and radio, attending public functions in English and by other means.

    In the end, many of them end up better equipped for the job market then their hosts! Too, the Quebec government strenuously pushes, practically coerces new immigrants to do their banking at caisse populaire as opposed to a federally chartered bank and shopping at Quebec-based businesses and Francophone professionals (yet Jacques Parasite chooses the "English" Jewish General Hospital for his recent hospitalization).

    Actually, there is no such thing as an "English" facility of any kind left in Quebec. All are obliged to provide service in French, but it's just that those that used to be "English" now only provide services in English as the community needs arise. For some, as the Editor has presented, even THAT is too much! Case in point: The Lindsay Rehab on Hudson Ave. in the Côte des Neiges area.

    I think Michel Gratton's book is in other ways as good as Scowen's book except for a couple of boring chapters in the middle.

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  34. "Vous pourriez nous dire,par exemple :Bravo et merci de représenter le Canada aux prochains Oscars avec le film de Denis Villeneuve (incendie) a titre de meilleur film étranger."

    The movie that has received the most Oscar nominations is "The King's Speech," which details the ascension to the throne of the King of Quebec, King George VI, and his brave struggle to overcome a stuttering problem.

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  35. "The bond I have with my friends is based on everything EXCEPT race, language, or ethnicity."

    Vous êtes vraiment un être exceptionnel.Bravo!
    clap clap clap clap...

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  36. ""The bond I have with my friends is based on everything EXCEPT race, language, or ethnicity."

    Vous êtes vraiment un être exceptionnel.Bravo!
    clap clap clap clap... "

    Just the fact that you sarcastically degarde this statement shows the small-minded mentality of the nationalist Quebecois. Should I suppose that you'd call me a fag, or a sellout, or a colonial, or a stupid Hanglish if I said that I wanted all races and both genders to live in peace and harmony?

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  37. Non,je dirais simplement: Miss Univers,sort de ce corps?

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  38. "Just the fact that you sarcastically degarde this statement shows the small-minded mentality of the nationalist Quebecois..."

    Peut-on qualifier ce commentaire d'absurde généralité? C'mon Jason!Vous me décevez.

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  39. "The bond I have with my friends is based on everything EXCEPT race, language, or ethnicity."

    Et si nous parlions des points que vous avez en commun...Vous êtes tous anglos?Non?Vraiment?Quelle surprise!

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  40. Adski is full of shit. What yoyo you are ! Nobody said anything so ugly than you about the French while you think they are racist !
    Live and let live !
    They want to live in French, and know English better than you, adski tart !

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  41. "Live and let live !"

    Agreed. But wait a minute. It's not me telling others in what language to work, communicate, do business, commerce, etc...

    “They want to live in French”

    I have no problem with this. As long as they leave ME alone.

    “and know English”

    Who? The Quebecois?

    “In the US and Canada combined, English is the first language of 98 percent of the population – there are only 6.5 million people who can’t speak any English in this vast area, and 4 million of them are in Quebec”

    Reed Scowen, “Time to Say Goodbye”.

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  42. to adski:

    Yes, let live!
    If people want to live in Spanish,Mandarin, Urdu, Bangalin, Portuguese, Italian or else ! What do you care !
    Leave those Quebecois alone for C... sake and put a soap in your ugly mounth. Your judgment is working with stats, and with a rationale which is out of order and not with caparable ideals. All the French sites know how you are !!!!
    Minorities have the right to protect themselves, asswhole get that in your D... head !

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  43. "If people want to live in Spanish,Mandarin, Urdu, Bangalin, Portuguese, Italian or else ! What do you care !"

    I don't care. Why would I?

    Why do YOU care in which language people communicate, work, display signs, do business, shop, interact?

    It's you who has to answer the very questions that you're posing to me.

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  44. What perplexes me is that this is a non-issue that I have never even heard about except here. If it is so important, so cut-and-dry, then where is the debate in the US, the UK, Australia, South Africa, Argentina, the Middle East, Sweden, etc? Or even in India itself?

    My very-reasonable educated Quebecois father-in-law embarrassed us a couple of Christmases ago in Australia in conversation with my extended family where he started into a tirade against Muslims and Sikh's. It was pure mis-reading the crowd and a culture-clash of attitudes. This was no more acceptable in Australia than a tirade against blacks or Jews and drew gasps of shock at open intolerance. He was hushed in French by his daughter in deep embarrassment, and you could see the look of surprise on his face "what? It is politically incorrect to criticise Muslims and Sihks here? What about September 11?".

    I have friends who are Sikhs. I have actually visited the Punjab (the sikh home state). Sikhs are secular and open people. They play in our sports teams, drink in our pubs, are involved in our local communities. My mate wears a little gold piece of jewelry around his neck one in the shape of a kirpan, on in the shape of a comb, and wears a bracelet.

    So if this question is a simple matter of logic (and it may be ... Australian Sikhs may be treated with more tolerance and thus more open to entering a conversation about when not to wear it), why is this only an issue in Quebec? Might it have anything to do with Quebec being intolerant, ethnocentric and xenophobic?

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  45. "...Reed Scowen, “Time to Say Goodbye”"

    So adski,Say goodbye and please take the 401 ASAP!

    Plus capable de lire des osties de racistes comme lui!Reed Scowen le gourou des "rejects" incapables de s'adapter a leur environnement.

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  46. "Reed Scowen le gourou des "rejects" incapables de s'adapter a leur environnement. "

    Reed Scowen:
    -Graduate of Harvard and London School of Economics
    -Successful entrepreneur prior to entering politics
    -Fully bilingual
    -Former MNA for the NDG district.
    -Delegate general for Quebec in London, New York and Washington
    -Executive Director of the Price Control Program (AIB) and the Task Force on Canadian Unity in Ottawa.
    -Author of two books on Canadian politics

    If he is a "reject", then what is your definition of success?

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  47. @l'Australien

    Tu vis a Montréal tu dois lire le Français enfin je l'espère,sinon demande a ton beau-père de traduire.

    http://desourcesure.com/dss/2009/06/laustralie_estelle_raciste.php

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  48. Scowen is no guru of rejects. He is probably the most honest public intellectual in this country.

    He wants this country to wake up.

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  49. "So adski,Say goodbye and please take the 401 ASAP!"

    In case you missed it, the point is for Canada to kiss Quebec goodbye. I can survive here, and even if Quebec were to separate, I might continue living here as a Canadian expat, provided that I can maintain my present conditions. (and please, don't say to me: "see, Quebec can accommodate you, why are you complaining?" I'm not complaining about my personal situation, I'm complaining about the degradation that my country is subjected to because of this parasitic province)

    But Canada deserves better. It needs to wake up and realize that Quebec is already gone, that it is already a nation-state, and that Quebecois "federalists" are no different than Quebecois separatists. In fact, Quebec “federalists” are worse.

    Canada needs to excise the cancer and live a long time. Quebec needs to go, or learn to co-exist with other provinces on equal basis. In other words, the cancer can be either cut out, or forced into recession.

    The status quo is not an option. For Canada, the status quo is equivalent to living with cancer.

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  50. Something that has to do with freedom and respect.

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  51. Your cancer business, why don't you shove it. It's not funny to compare with cancer. You as anglos you are giving us the French hell and you cannot take it you are a simple minority in QC.
    Well, you have to speak French in certain areas, you are "la minorité la plus choyée du monde" and you are constantly bitching man !
    I don't care about people like you, QUebec is separated, it's in your head you want to get rid of them. Live Quebec if you are so happy, get the f..... out of there, and please stop comparing cancer to politics, you are showing a poor judgment from grammar school.

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  52. You are not showing your credentials at all buddy. You must have been doing all this by correspondence.
    ------------------------------------------------


    Graduate of Harvard and London School of Economics
    -Successful entrepreneur prior to entering politics
    -Fully bilingual
    -Former MNA for the NDG district.
    -Delegate general for Quebec in London, New York and Washington
    -Executive Director of the Price Control Program (AIB) and the Task Force on Canadian Unity in Ottawa.
    -Author of two books on Canadian politics

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  53. @adski

    Si vous aimez tant le Canada,que faites vous donc ici dans la seule province la plus déconnectée du canada?Vous êtes stupide ou maso?

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  54. Racism exists in Australia, Europe, the US, Canada, etc...But nowhere else in the western world is racism state-sanctioned and institutionalized. No other liberal democracy has citizens so naive and so controlled by the elites. In no other state is there is this level of obsession with culture, language, and ethnicity. In no other western country does the majority of the population support state-sanctioned discrimination.

    Also, there is not other federation in the world in which one parasitic unit found a way to hijack the entire federation and put it on its knees.

    Quebec is something unique in the sphere of liberal democracy. It’s a toxin that needs to be neutralized. It either needs to reform, or it needs to be left to fend for itself and die alone somewhere on the outskirts of western civilization.

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  55. @AngloBuster

    Je parle bien le français et j'aime vivre au Québec. Merci pour votre condescention.

    Mais cela ne change que je vis les différences culturelles dans ma vie quotidienne. Mon point de vue est valable.

    My job is not to defend Australia, nevertheless your quoted article takes a facile and sensationalist view. Australia accomodates immigrants extremely well, far better than Quebec. Melbourne, a city of 4 million, is only a bit larger than Montreal and has a Vietnamese speaking population of 250,000 and Chinese speaking population of over 200,000. That is before Indonesians, Malays, etc. Before Indians and Arabs, etc. Certainly before we start talking Greeks and Italians and Jews that we would not even really consider immigrants.

    And it certainly does not change the fact that "reasonable accomodation" is not an issue in Australia. Afterall "reasonable accomodation" requires a narrow definition of your culture. If we set it narrowly enough we could ask ourselves if we should accomodate the French from France and their love of Grapefruit Juice on breakfast menus. The Sikhs blend into Australia easily, they play cricket, they drink, they are gregarious and social, they fit in well, and a discussion of "reasonable accomodation" around sikhs seems ludicrous to me.

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  56. "...No other liberal democracy has citizens so naive and so controlled by the elites..."

    Que faites-vous du "tea party" et de George W.Bush?Des milliers de lettres de menaces de mort contre Obama annuellement?Si un peuple se fait manipuler dans le monde c'est bien les américains...Désolé!

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  57. Pas de leçons a recevoir.Êtes-vous bien certain de lire correctement le Français?Si vous voulez aider l'humanité c'est pas le travail qui manque chez-vous.

    Tapez racist Australia,j'en ai pigé un au hasard...

    "Le problème du racisme est récurent en Australie. Il y a quatre ans, plus de 5000 personnes rassemblées sur une place de Sydney avaient attaqué des jeunes d'origine arabe en scandant des slogans nazis [voir L'Humanité du 13 décembre 2005]. Conséquence d'une violence accrue depuis les attentats de Bali en 2002 où de nombreux Australiens ont été tués. Le pays, qui n'a abandonnée qu'en 1972 sa "politique de l'Australie blanche" (sans se défaire totalement des privilèges accordés aux blancs), se retrouve à nouveau face à ses vieux démons depuis quelques semaines. Depuis le week-end dernier, des milliers d'étudiants indiens défilent dans les rues pour protester contre la vague d'agressions racistes sur les universitaires au cri des "Honte à l'Australie !" et brandissant des pancartes telles que "Le racisme est plus dangereux que la grippe porcine". Lundi, la marche de protestation pacifique s'est conclue par l'arrestation de 18 manifestants à la suite d'affrontements avec la police. Les protestations ont débuté à l'hôpital Royal de Melbourne où un jeune étudiant de 25 ans Savran Kuman Theerthala est dans un état critique après avoir été poignardé par un groupe de jeunes armés de tournevis"

    Le jour ou cela arrivera ici,je change de pays.
    Vous pouvez aussi utiliser Google translate.

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  58. Like I said it is not my job to defend Australia, which is not free from racism. Certainly Australia is a more violent society than Quebec with bar-fights almost part of the culture. But as I said, your source is far from balanced. The Cronulla riots were in a large part originated by street-gangs (one of which was of children of Lebanese immigrants) fighting over the ownership of a particular beach.

    Australian hidden racism more comes in the form of politicians trying to garner the xenophobic vote by victimising “boat people” arriving on leaky boats most of whom are Afghan immigrants.

    Australia has had problems accommodating high levels of migration like anywhere else that has taken as many. Australia had a population in 1950 of 7 million and today is over 22 million. That increase has almost entirely been via immigration. So what does that mean the average Australian is? “Pure lain”?

    Perhaps as a result of Australia being a nation of migrants xenophobic sentiment in Australia is extremely uncool (it does not mean it does not exist). You know we had our own referendum in 1999, also about identity issues. It was for a “republic”. That is to say exiting the British Commonwealth and becoming the Republic of Australia. Getting the Queen off the back of our coins, the union jack off our flag, leaving the commonwealth.

    It was kind of the opposite of the Quebec referendum. The opposite of “Quebec au Quebecois”. The opposite of more narrowly defining our country and identity. Instead it said “The majority of Australia is not descended from the English, so why should the definition of Australia as a nation include it?” It says “How does this association represent the Australians that were born in Greece?” It says we are a society not defined by those that founded us, but one that is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural. We have not even defined yet what it really means to be Australian.”

    So in Australia the equivalent of the clique du plateau and CEGEP History teachers: the thought-leaders, the educated people, the students, the revolutionaries, the journalists, the musicians are all “republicans” that are busy imagining a new radical future for Australia that makes us our own country in terms of cultural identity. One that is open and allows the Australians of different descents a place without assimilation or having any “holy-cows” in our culture like even our language. It is all open to challenge. Yesterday was Australia day, and if you look at Australian Newspapers on-line you will see many articles with refreshed calls from prominent Australians to re-open the debate.

    How opposite is that to Quebec? You can see how within that environment wanting to bash Sikhs and talk about “reasonable accomodation” is uncool and “backwards”.

    But further, talking about Sikhs, lets imagine that Quebec was a society of immigrants and the Sikhs came already speaking French, and played Hockey as well as Quebecois kids. Imagine they come to the local junior hockey club fund raiser BBQ's with Tikka Kebabs to sell, and the Quebecoises are all asking for the recipe for the marinade so they can make it at home. That after the hockey the Sikh men are the first to buy a round of beers at the bar. That their kids are happy with the rough-and-tumble in the school yard. Then imagine you go overseas and see that Sikhs are being victimized and central to the question of “reasonable accomodation”. You too would be “This is surely based on ignorance, intolerance and xenophobia. Have these people even met a Sikh before? Or is it just because they wear long beards and funny hats?”

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  59. "...Or is it just because they wear long beards and funny hats?"

    Non car nous aimons tous le père Noel,le problème est leur couteau de 6 pouces a la ceinture.

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  60. Anon 4:28PM: “You as anglos you are giving us the French hell”

    First of all, I am not an Anglo. Secondly, I must ask – how are Quebec Anglos giving the French hell? How can you even say that, 33 years into the reign of Bill 101 that pushed half a million Anglos out of the province in which they were born?

    Anon 4:28PM: “you cannot take it you are a simple minority in QC”

    I don’t think that’s the problem. I think the problem is that you subconsciously know that you are a member of an irrelevant continental minority, so you rationalize and justify your virtual, 101-created, reality. You try to nurture your denial by desperately looking for minorities in your own backyard in order to make yourself feel like a member of some majority. But you’re not finding anyone willing to admire and worship your culture and your language, so you’re left feeling desperate and cheated. Cheated because after all, 101 created a virtual reality for you 33 years ago in which you are a “maitre”, so why doesn’t it feel like you are a maitre? Because in the real reality, you are not.

    ----

    Australian Montreal: “Like I said it is not my job to defend Australia, which is not free from racism”

    Racism exists everywhere, but so do social norms. A deeply flawed and racist Australian would still have enough common sense not to spew out his views when he sits down with others to dinner. ESPECIALLY, if he is in the company of strangers, people he JUST met. A Quebecois, au contraire, will feel free to dish it out. And that’s on account of the social norms that exist in this society. Or should I say, the lack of any norms.

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  61. Google translate ne vaut pas de la merde, mettez-vous cela dans la tête. Une machine n'est pas un traducteur qui transforme une idée (ou/et philosophie) et non du mot à mot imbécile, imbécile, imbécile.

    Prière d'écrire la langue (ou pris comme adjectif) la première lettre sans une majuscule:
    la langue française, le français.

    Ecrire avec la majuscule lorsqu'il s'agit d'une personne : un Français, un Anglais, un Québécois.

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  62. Nevertheless, they may be open to negotiation on how ceremonial their kirpan is (in terms of size and whether sharpened) if you speak to them. Locking them out of a discussion before it starts does not seem fair or in the right spirit.

    Incidentally here is a little clip which pretty clearly indicates the relationship Sikhs feel with Australia. It is subtitled in English for sing-along which should make it easy enough for Francophones to understand. ("Fair dinkim" is Australian slang for "true" or "genuine")

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5LZcvXha-U&feature=related

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  63. quoi? tu crois pas que je parle francaise, parce que un article etait pas correct? Et donc j'ai utilisé Google translate? Va shier, man.

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  64. "...Ecrire avec la majuscule lorsqu'il s'agit d'une personne : un Français, un Anglais, un Québécois..."

    Merci pour le conseil mais vous êtes a des années- lumières du sujet.En passant l'académie FFFFrançaise est la pire ennemie du FFFrançais.
    Mettez vous ça dans la tronche!

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  65. "...quoi? tu crois pas que je parle francaise, parce que un article etait pas correct? Et donc j'ai utilisé Google translate? Va shier, man..."

    Oups!L'australien a de petites variations d'humeur?On se calme le kangourou man!

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  66. On dit chier monsieur, cela s'écrit avec un "ch. Comme dans l'onomatopée: Chut !!

    Vos étroncs sont anglais et incomplets, Anglo Buster, le mot buster est archaique, provenant des années Jackie Gleason.Idiot !

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  67. Thanks for sharing, I will bookmark and be back again
    ----------------------------------------------------------
    Australien de l'Immigration

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  68. Wonderful blog & good post.Its really helpful for me, awaiting for more new post. Keep Blogging!
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Australien de l'Immigration

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  69. To all the separatists: In some way, I really wish you could live in a 100% French, 'Pure Laine' society, isolated from the rest of the world, if that would make you happy and shut you up. However, I doubt it would: you'd then turn on each other to find another source of displeasure to replace your current hate targets.

    Think about the root of extremist / totalitarian thinking: believing you can build a perfect society in an imperfect reality, by only eliminating the 'Others' that don't fit some arbitrary criteria of perfection (class, race, culture / language, etc.). It's not about marching around in military uniforms doing an intimidating salute and creating blunt and disturbing propaganda material. When non-separatists describe separatists or their goals in such terms, it's the former that is being referred to, not the latter. Sure, you separatists obviously don't go around as armed gangs beating the shit out of English people, but you certainly don't think they're anything but a 'problem' to be 'eliminated' to make your life somehow 'close to perfect'... I dare you to try to break out of that mental short-circuit for a moment. Perhaps you'll start to see the light...

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