Friday, August 19, 2011

Weekend Update Volume 33

Quebec versus Florida- Vehicular Homicide 
Most Montrealers are familiar with the horrific hit and run incident that cost the life of a Laval teenager last September. 15-year-old Rona Mansourian was killed when an unlicensed scofflaw ran a red light while speeding, passed three cars, struck the girl and fled the scene. The teen was thrown into the path of a bus and died of internal injuries in hospital. Link

The 23 year old driver was a serial offender, driving without a valid license while awaiting trial on a fraud charge.
According to the placard held by a protester in the picture on the right, the driver, Robert Bélanger, just 23, has already had quite a few problems with the law.
You can imagine the surprise and fury of the family when the prosecutors recommended a five-year sentence (free in 1½ years?) Even the judge commented that it wasn't harsh enough..... Link 

Robert Bélanger, will be sentenced on SEPTEMBER 2.

Now lets compare this sad story to that of a Floridian (with no prior criminal record at all) who killed three Montrealers while driving drunk. Kenneth Jenkins, 28, drove the wrong way up highway I-95 in Florida and collided with a car full of vacationers.
At the trial, the judge was not amused and handed down a real sentence.
Guess how many years he got?  9 years, 18 years, 24 years or 33 years?
Read the story, it's interesting. LINK

Distracted bus driver "no big deal" according to union.  

Ah, those cell-phone cameras, they'll do it to you every time. As you can see in this video, a Gatineau bus driver was caught in 'flagrant delit' filling out paperwork while driving.

 

Now these type of incidents are certainly not isolated to Quebec. You can go on YouTube and find many idiot bus drivers driving while texting, talking on phones or what not.
What is interesting in this story is the reaction of the bus driver's union who took an unconventional avenue of defence.
Now all unions defend their members, it's to be expected. In this case I'd imagine the union would claim that the driver was  just having a bad day and made a mistake for which he shouldn't be crucified. If the driver had a good record it would be trotted out as an excuse for leniency.
But that's not the position the union took and that is what makes the story stand out.

A spokesman for the union claimed that the driving filling out paperwork isn't that big a deal, "After all, women drive while putting on makeup and teens send text messages while driving all the time.."
The union rep went on to say that the real culprit in all this was not the driver, but rather the passenger that filmed the incident. Claiming that the driver's privacy rights were violated, he went on to demand that the transport company ban anyone from filming on a bus.LINK{Fr} LINK

Hapless mayor reassures Montreal over falling  concrete.
How jittery are Montrealers over falling bridges and raining concrete? Very....
When a piece of concrete hit a car passing under a viaduct in northern Montreal, the mayor rushed to the scene to calm fears.

After a quick inspection engineers discovered that the grapefruit size piece of concrete didn't fall off the bridge. LINK
A beaming mayor assured cameras that citizens should feel safe that the bridges were intact. What he failed to warn citizens was what the police told him, that it was probably some nutbar who threw the concrete at the car driving below.

That's right! Nothing to worry about!

At any rate the mayor needn't have rushed to the scene, it was very unlikely that the bridge was falling apart.
You see the viaduct was built by Canadian Pacific, not the province or the city and as such is probably one of the safest bridges in the city......

Quebec Communist movement losing steam ?

For the past couple of years, The Quebec Communist Party (Yes it still exists) has been holding a summer 'training' session at the chalet of the Khadir family in the Eastern Townships. Once again, Amir's wealthy capitalist father, (a bit of a contradiction for a communist) opened his home this last weekend to a celebration of Communist and socialist values, with the traditional slagging of Canada, the United States and you know which other country.

According to the pictures posted on this year's affair it was a modest  attendance falling off dramatically from last year. In fact you can count the amount of participants using nothing but your ten fingers. Last year's event would have required toes as well.
Check out the story and picture gallery! HERE

Funny Quebec accent leads to vicious assault.

Quebeckers visiting France have long had the locals sneer and mock their Quebecois accent, but this is the first I ever heard of things turning violent.
A report from Dublin tells the sad story of a young French doctor on loan to a local hospital asking two Quebeckers for a cigarette in a local bar. An ensuing argument over the Quebecois' accent led to an altercation that sent the doctor to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
LINK 

Minister not amused by mystery shoppers.
Minister lectures language commissioner
"Heritage Minister James Moore doesn't agree with the federal language watchdog's decision to spy on Ottawa businesses. 
Moore, who oversees official languages, said his government believes it's important to protect and promote both English and French in Canada, but in this case, Official Languages commissioner Graham Fraser has overstepped his mandate.
“It is not the federal government's business to police the language in which private businesses communicate with their customers,” Read the story
Gilles Duceppe gets job with CBC, then gets fired

"With his party’s stunning defeat in the last federal election, which included losing his own seat, behind him, former Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe is poised to become a weekly commentator on Radio-Canada, the CBC’s French-language division." Link
"You are getting sleepy. You will hire me. You will give me money."
It seemed that Gilles Duceppe endless pursuit of the federal gravy train had struck paydirt as it was announced that he secured an on-air job at the CBC French division. This coupled with a $140K Parliamentary pension (indexed) for life would assure that Canadians across the country would continue to fund the propagation of separatist ideology over the public airways.
Radio-Canada's mandate has always been to foster Canadian unity by providing an Canadian optic on the news and entertainment. But for the last forty years, the public broadcaster has been a hotbed of separatist sentiment and while Canadians in the ROC shook their heads in disbelief at the announcement of the Duceppe job at Radio-Canada, here in Quebec it made perfect sense.
Then on Thursday, the shit must have hit the fan in the Ivory Tower of Radio-Canada offices in east-end Montreal with senior management reconsidering the decision. Duceppe was unceremoniously dumped citing blah, blah, blah, reasons. Perhaps mindful of the Conservative governments latest blast at the English CBC, when Minister Vic Toews publicly rebuked the public broadcaster for refusing to air a most-wanted terrorist list, with the un-stated threat that there would be funding consequences, the CBC also reconsidered that decision. Perhaps the CBC and Radio-Canada's journalistic independence is not as strong as we are led to believe, as they remain mindful of the old dictum, that it's unwise to bite the hand that feeds you. Read a rant in the National Post

Minister backs down over Arab immigration
Quebec Immigration minister, Kathleen Weil, did an about face and has announced that the government has abandoned the idea of restricting immigration from North Africa (a euphamism for Arab Muslims)
In April, during a presentation on the orientations of Quebec in immigration for period 2012-2015, Mrs Weil had said that she favoured more diversity as to the provenance of the immigrants.
This is in reaction to reports that Arab immigration to Quebec from North Africa had reached 37% of the total.
Mrs Weil noted on Wednesday that the plan to place limits based on 'geography' lacked "social acceptability" and public support for the plan was just not there. LINK{Fr} 

Vermont town proposes to accomodate Quebec tourists
The town of Burlington, Vermont announced a proposal in city council to encourage local business' to encourage Quebec tourists by offering some services in French.
The proposal is not binding, but asks everyone to try just a little bit to make the town a tourist destination for unilingual Quebeckers.
As you might guess, the francophone press in Quebec greeted the news with enthusiasm and likely approved of this 'reasonable accommodation." LINK{FR}

Not everyone in Vermont is pleased over the proposal. Read a humorous blog piece written by a local. Burlington City Council Proposal to Make BTV a Québec Colony

By the way, does anybody see the irony in this story?
The Quebec francophone press gushing over a language accommodation wherein they applaud the concept of merchants attempting to serve customers in the clients own language?

54 comments:

  1. "Vermont town proposes to accomodate Quebec tourists"
    Really funny. It must be some sort of Friday's joke.
    Les kébékuo' MUST understand that, if they want to live in this world (and they MUST live in it, whether they like it or not, want it or not, feel it or not, wish it or not), they MUST speak English.

    Of course, if you read unreliable, trashy newspapers like "Le Pourboir" or "La Fesse", you will read that 'Vermont wants to become a French-only State' or 'Burlington is fed up with English" or 'Vermont asks to become a part of Quebec to support the independence cause' and pornography like that.

    There might be some people who might be willing to accommodate les kébékuo' and might be willing to fork out money to accommodate them or might be enrolling on French courses all year long, but this is the reality, not a fairly tale, and my good sense of reality tells me that it will never happen. Never ever.
    So, suck it up.

    WESTALLOPHONE++

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  2. "...altercation that sent the doctor to the hospital..."

    Hahahahahahaha!La prochaine fois,ce docteur évitera de commenter notre accent et en tant que médecin,il devrait éviter la cigarette XD

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  3. Readers;

    I have repaired the link in the first story about the drunk driver.

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  4. "...and my good sense of reality tells me..."

    Il y a quelques semaines que je lis vos commentaires.Je ne crois pas que vous soyez une référence fiable en ce qui a trait au jugement.Avec votre discours de raciste,vous ne me semblez pas tout a fait impartial.Les américains ont le sens des affaires.La preuve : Nous passerons quelques jours de vacances au Vermont l'été prochain et laisserons quelques dollars(can) au passage.

    Bravo les Vermontois!

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  5. - I'm sure Belanger was feeling depressed that day like Dr. Turcotte was. So I guess it's all good.

    - Unions seriously need to vanish. All they breed now is greed and corruption.

    "Quebec Immigration minister, Kathleen Weil, did an about face and has announced that the government has abandoned the idea of restricting immigration from North Africa (a euphamism for Arab Muslims)
    In April, during a presentation on the orientations of Quebec in immigration for period 2012-2015, Mrs Weil had said that she favoured more diversity as to the provenance of the immigrants.
    This is in reaction to reports that Arab immigration to Quebec from North Africa had reached 37% of the total.
    Mrs Weil noted on Wednesday that the plan to place limits based on 'geography' lacked "social acceptability" and public support for the plan was just not there"

    - We see what's going on in Europe and this is how we handle it.

    - The irony is throuhg the roof in Vermont.

    "Hahahahahahaha!La prochaine fois,ce docteur évitera de commenter notre accent"

    - Spoken like a true ignoramus. God forbid a person should act civilized and turn the other cheek when a moron does nothing but mock their accent.

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  6. " We see what's going on in Europe and this is how we handle it."

    Hein ???!!!???

    Pourriez-vous élaborer un peu plus sur ce commentaire?Si possible bien entendu.

    Merci.

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  7. "Unions seriously need to vanish. All they breed now is greed and corruption."

    Oh, so true..
    I'm reminded of the two SQ officers who were filmed sleeping in their patrol car on a highway U-Turn. Once woken up by the driver who decided to stop and film the scene, they decided to give him a ticket. I wonder what their punishment was... (none)

    As for the Vermont thing, if they decide (by their own will, and not by some ridiculous law) to change to better accommodate french people (for financial reasons), that's their choice. I don't see why any of you have anything to say against this, it's called freedom. Again, nobody is forcing them to do anything, so what's the problem?
    If I had a business with a large number of italian customers, I might want to learn italian to serve them better. It won't change the level of service received by anyone else.
    And anyways, since when is more knowledge / culture bad?

    What's bad is when a government decides in which language you will speak, do business, learn, and send your kids to school.
    Vive le Québec Libre? - no not quite that free.

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  8. "If I had a business with a large number of italian customers, I might want to learn italian to serve them better. It won't change the level of service received by anyone else."

    Exactly, if you had a business, you would do this and that. Perfectly acceptable. But why involve the council?

    I probably wouldn't bat an eye if it didn't involve the French language. But with the French there's a history, one which the Burlingtonians might not have followed too closely. If they did, they would be reluctant to set any precedents.

    Some people can't be given an inch, for they will move up a yard. The Quebecois unfortunately fit this category.

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  9. Well you're free to think what you want, but I can assure you that we're not all extremists.

    If the city council saw a potential in attracting more french people, then good for them. In case you missed it, all changes are entirely voluntary.. It's a suggestion, not a law (like we have here). The city wants to increase their revenue, what's wrong with that?

    You said it yourself, your only issue comes from some kind of personal issue with the french language. Stop thinking this province is all Pierre Curzis. The extremists are just more vocal, since they have nothing better to do. The rest of us are busy getting on with our lives, in whichever language it might be.

    As for "Some people can't be given an inch, for they will move up a yard.", I agree with you, but again, only for the small percentage of extremists. You know, we're not all like that idiot who sued air canada over his english seven-up. Many of us think that is ridiculous.
    This whole thing is in another country though, so it's not going to change anything here.

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  10. "Hein ???!!!???

    Pourriez-vous élaborer un peu plus sur ce commentaire?Si possible bien entendu"

    Haven't you heard the major economic, political, cultural, and societal issues that are going on throughout Europe right now? The Dutch just ditched multiculturalism and are calling for major restricitons on immigration. Le Front National Francais, a party dedicated to restoring the cultural face of France is leading in the polls ahead of Sarkozy. France has banned the burqa and if the FNF get elected they are likely to take hard stances on immigration and multiculturalism. A secretly filmed recording was released a little while ago of hundreds of islamists coming weekly from many parts of France to pray in the streets of Paris (which is illegal), blocking streets and preventing people from moving around at will with private security. In fact the traditional French people held a "Pork and Whine" rally in the streets shortly after to protest these prayers but it might have been banned I'm not sure. Italy has banned the burqa and is considering limitations on immigration based on their assesment of multiculturalism as a failure. Angela Merkel also called out the failings of multiculturalism, Sarkozy too. Or check out Sweden and their problems with islamic extremists. In Olso last year ALL of the 41 non-domestic rapings were committed by non-western immigrants. The British National Party and the UK independance party are gaining traction and are discussing a 5 year immigration freeze if elected. Geert Wilders, a man taking a strong stance agaisnt militant Islam, was just acquitted of his supposed hate speech trial which was a huge victory for free speach. He also has just been elected in the Netherlands. Germany is reviewing immigration and multiculturalism based on the fact that large Turkish communities have expressed their loyalty to Turkey and not Germany. Economic strife in Greece and Ireland (Portugal is next). 3 referendum results by the French, Dutch and Irish peoples on constitutional matters within the EU (forget which) were completely ignored by the self-righteous douchebags at the head of the union. The UK now has Sharia banks because Islamists are not allowed to deal with banks that charge or earn interest according to their religion. Britain now has 85 active sharia courts ruling on everyday matters according to the laws of sharia. I'm sure there's more but I can't think of any. Don't forget about the numerous violent terrosrist attacks throughout Europe and Russia over the past decade.

    Just google or youtube Nigel Farage, Jean-Marie Le Pen, Marine Le Pen, David Cameron (particularly on multiculturalism), Geert Wilders (A little harsh but I don't think he's racist), Nick Adams, Daniel Hannan, Richard Dawkins, Pat Condell (sarcastic and harsh but certainly not racist). They all have interesting takes on immigration, multiculturalism, and religion. And of course there's Dr. David Duke. He's a little nutty on the zionism thing but his points on immigration, culture, multiculturalism, and racism make decent sense.

    These people are speaking up and are basically waving the finger to political correctness, which is a very good thing I think. You may not agree with everything they say but at least they got balls and aren't afraid to sacrfice votes to have their true opinions heard, unlike our good for nothing "leaders". And their opinions are shared by a large if not majority percent of their respective populations.

    These things are hapening right now, and there are world leaders exclaiming that mass immigration and multiculralism is an epic fail. Multicultural Canada is now accepting a record number of immigrants and politicians are asking for more. I have nothing agaisnt immigration (I'm half Italian) but it's just getting out of hand.

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  11. "so it's not going to change anything here."

    Pas certain.

    Plusieurs Québécois vont prendre conscience,qu'avec un peu d'argent,il est possible de faire communiquer son interlocuteur dans la langue de son choix.Finalement,la bonne vieille méthode américaine.

    ReplyDelete
  12. "Hein ???!!!???

    Pourriez-vous élaborer un peu plus sur ce commentaire?Si possible bien entendu"

    I'd love to answer you but I've been censored

    ReplyDelete
  13. There we go

    You're the man Editor ;)

    A gentleman and a scholar.

    ReplyDelete
  14. ATTENTION READERS:

    My apologies. I was remiss in checking the SPAM box which contained at least 10 comments. If JASON hadn't complained that he'd been censored, it would still filling up.
    I have taken off pre-screening and your comment should appear immediately. Because of this I haven't been in the habit of checking the SPAM folder.
    If your comment has caught my attention as offensive I will remove the content, but leave a trace with a message."This post removed by blog administrator"

    If you don't see your message within a few minutes and no reference to a removed message, your comment is lost or in the SPAM folder. (I have no control of how comments make it in there)

    Send me an email and I'll fix it up. anglomontreal@gmail.com

    Those messages that I've restored appear chronologically where they should have been and not at the end . I know this screws things up as most people just check the latest messages.
    Once again , my apologies.

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  15. Attention Jason,

    Jean-Marie Le Pen et sa fille,Marine sont des prétendus fascistes,certains vont jusqu'a prétendre qu'ils seraient amis avec certains membres ou ex-membres du parti Québécois.

    Auriez-vous des affinités avec ce parti (PQ) qui n'est pas très chaud a l'idée même du multiculturalisme?

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  16. Petit ajout:

    Auriez-vous des affinités avec ce parti (PQ) qui n'est pas très chaud a l'idée même du multiculturalisme,version canadienne?

    ReplyDelete
  17. @ Anonymous at 9:37 AM:

    "Il y a quelques semaines que je lis vos commentaires.Je ne crois pas que vous soyez une référence fiable en ce qui a trait au jugement.Avec votre discours de raciste,vous ne me semblez pas tout a fait impartial.Les américains ont le sens des affaires.La preuve : Nous passerons quelques jours de vacances au Vermont l'été prochain et laisserons quelques dollars(can) au passage."

    "Bravo les Vermontois!"

    Liar!!! You're actually "Press 9" and you have been following this blog for over a year and making posts under a vast array of different aliases. Your comments stand out like a sore thumb.

    You despise Americans (or their mindset as you have stated in the past) and refer to them as "Amerlocs." If they knew how you really feel about them, they wouldn't let you cross the border into their country.

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  18. "If they knew how you really feel about them, they wouldn't let you cross the border into their country."

    Même pas au Vermont ou j'ai de la famille?

    ReplyDelete
  19. "Même pas au Vermont ou j'ai de la famille?"

    Who knows if you have family in Vermont? You bend the truth all the time.

    If you do have family there, and they knew what you are writing, they wouldn't like you either.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Louis 'Cave' Préfontaine is Press 9 or often Anonymous depending on the day, his 'talent' for writing is distinct, and the style of 'if it ain't QCois it's CRAP' writing easily recognisable.

    On our Walk for the Abolition of Bill 101 Page:
    https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=256821994344547 (happening next Friday BTW, 3pm, Lionel-Groulx Metro Station, just E of the entrance) Louis attacked everyone, even francophones, and in the end it was unanimously decided that this individual was an enemy of Quebec itself (as are most Militant Sovereigntists).

    The Border Officers under the direction of Homeland Security in the USA are aware of his identity, and I an assure you that his attacks on English speakers within Quebec have not gone without notice.

    Chris Grondin, is also fellow RRQ member (QC terrorist organisation, wannabe FLQ reprise) which Louis claims to be part of. Grondin and Louis are under investigation by the Montreal Police (the former for assault at our last rally against Bill 101), for (now-banned) FB Hate Pages directed against myself and my family (even my daughter) posting our home address and phone numbers, while inciting others to harass us and intimidate directly. Traces were placed on about 30 telephone harassment calls and these Chumps shall see justice shortly.

    I recommend readers do as most Quebeckers do (peu importe la langue parlé), ignore his comments completely. On FB we just block him outright, and you'd be surprised how he goes on and on arguing against people who don't even read his drivel.

    As mentioned in your previous post, Editor, the Separatists and their dream is dead or so irrelevant now that they cannot force the hand of the Federal vote anymore, that is why there is so much fractionnement now, with even Legault abandoning this movement all together, a die-hard ethno-nationalist. They have become so desperate, they have to attack what they consider `soft targets' Anglo activists - however their actions have gone beyond acceptable debate, thus two incidents are currently open with the Montreal Police, and the head of the Quebec Milita has already been arrested back in April of this year (court date set at 775 Gosford, 29th August) for uttering death threats.

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  21. "Jean-Marie Le Pen et sa fille,Marine sont des prétendus fascistes,certains vont jusqu'a prétendre qu'ils seraient amis avec certains membres ou ex-membres du parti Québécois

    Auriez-vous des affinités avec ce parti (PQ) qui n'est pas très chaud a l'idée même du multiculturalisme,version canadienne?"

    If they have affiliations with the PQ that's their business. French pride is a beautiful thing and if that brings them closer to their Quebecois cousins good for them.

    Le Pen doesn't seem faschist to me. It's a slur campaign if anything. I think the traditional French have the right to dictate terms on their own native lands. And for now it seems like the French like Le Pen. Anything to get rid of Sarkozy

    But I've definitely given up on the idea of multiculturalism and am comfortable with a certain form of a free Quebec.

    ReplyDelete
  22. "Louis 'Cave' Préfontaine is Press 9 or often Anonymous depending on the day, his 'talent' for writing is distinct, and..."

    Thank you for your kind words Hugo but i'm not Louis Préfontaine,sorry.

    Better luck next time

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  23. > But I've definitely given up on the idea of multiculturalism and am comfortable with a certain form of a free Quebec.

    I've got news for you Jason, you've been living in a "certain form of a free Quebec" since the Quiet Revolution. And what you consider a destination, others consider a starting point whose ultimate dénouement is a theme park for unilingual supremacy.

    ... and to think, all of this because unilinguals elsewhere have a problem with a town that's always been and will always be bilingual.

    > Funny Quebec accent leads to vicious assault.
    Now that’s called standing up for Quebec!

    > Moore, who oversees official languages, said his government believes it's important to protect and promote both English and French in Canada, but in this case, Official Languages commissioner Graham Fraser has overstepped his mandate.

    I smell a lawsuit waiting to make it to the Supreme Court.

    > But for the last forty years, the public broadcaster has been a hotbed of separatist sentiment and while Canadians in the ROC shook their heads in disbelief at the announcement of the Duceppe job at Radio-Canada, here in Quebec it made perfect sense.

    That’s probably because English Canadians think most CBC programming is lamentably drab (with notable exceptions). Now as a francophone, try to imagine the last 75 years without Radio-Canada. Yes there are linguistic and cross-border cultural reasons for this, but it doesn’t change the comparative disparities between our national broadcaster’s two language services. And while many on both sides of the language divide might justifiably say that the people at CBC and Radio-Canada (irrespective of language) live in ivory towers disconnected from reality, R-C occupies a more prominent position than CBC does. Some might argue that Radio-Canada succeeds at the broadcaster’s mandate far more than does CBC.

    As for Gilles being all too ready to suck the federal teat yet again… many other seppies have done it before him, so I must admit I’m one of those francophones who also doesn’t get what all the kerfuffle is about. Yes, he’s a seppie. Yes, he’s riding the gravy boat. But really how is that different from Michaëlle Jean (turncoat?), Adrienne Clarkson, René Lévesque, or Pamela Wallin? The Corpse just happens to be a launchpad for good schmoozers.

    > Vermont town proposes to accomodate Quebec tourists
    … or as one commenter on the Radio-Canada article put it, good job profiling your clientele, Burlington; now where’s a similar bilingual resolution for Montreal?

    > A beaming mayor assured cameras that citizens should feel safe that the bridges were intact.
    Hey, Dubya told us to go shopping right after 9/11. I’d say Gerry’s got a ways to go to beat that.

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  24. @Apparatchik

    "a town that's always been and will always be bilingual"

    That's funny, I didn't know it was bilingual from 1642 to 1760.
    As for the future, who could predict the exodus of hundreds of thousands of anglophones fifty years ago?

    As for the guy who keeps copy-pasting "Kebec (original native spelling)" why don't you be consistent and spell Montreal Montréal, which is the original French (it's not a native word) spelling as can be seen on New France-era maps?

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  25. > That's funny, I didn't know it was bilingual from 1642 to 1760.

    Good point. It's been bilingual for the latter 2/3 of its existence, and we're supposedly pining after the first third, that pseudo "golden age" where metropolitan France pretty much prevented us from doing most commercial activity that competed with the motherland (I guess that fur trade wasn't just something they thought would look quaint in a history book one day...).

    > As for the future, who could predict the exodus of hundreds of thousands of anglophones fifty years ago?

    The same way nobody could predict the exodus of about a million francophones to New England from the mid-19th to early 20th century. Sure, these exoduses might be unfortunate. But what do you want me to singlehandedly do about them?

    > As for the guy who keeps copy-pasting "Kebec (original native spelling)"

    I was unaware that the natives spelled their languages using the White man's alphabet before the White man encountered them and taught it to them. But that won't be the first thing I say that'll be misinterpreted on this blog this weekend... ;-)

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  26. The Editor has picked a good composite of events that clearly indicate why Quebec has fallen behind the 8-ball. The justice system has always taken a lackadaisical, nonchalant approach to serious crimes, and especially drunken driving.

    Paul Rose has been free as a bird for decades after killing a man (Pierre Laporte). Karla Homolka is living free and easy in Quebec (she would have been hounded to this day in Ontario, and rightfully so notwithstanding having served her rather liberal sentence for killing her sister and two other women), and René Lévesque's drunken driving escapade was nicely covered up.

    Ontario finally took a tougher stance on drunken driving, and Florida so much more. A vehicle becomes a weapon when the driver is drunk. That leads to the preoccupied bus driver. Again, because he didn't kill someone due to his negligence means he did little wrong. How would the incident be judged had he injured or killed someone?

    As for the railway underpass, where did the clown who dropped the grapefruit-sized piece of concrete obtain it in the first place? I'm sure he didn't carry it some long distance. It was probably laying on the ground nearby and this sick joker committed his sick prank on impulse.

    The fact the SRC THOUGHT about hiring Duceppe makes me sick when I think how Don Cherry got in hot water for saying tame stuff like eye visors in hockey are worn by "Europeans and French guys". Mild stuff compared to Gilles Proulx's impudent rants of "tête carré" this and "tête carré" that on Mario Dumont's political talk drivel.

    I have another title for your "French vs English" or "Weekend Update". How about "Weekly Tales from the Cesspool"? North America's cesspool, that is!

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  27. > […] Karla Homolka is living free and easy in Quebec […]

    Remind me again what hand the Quebec government and people had in the plea bargain that got her off comparatively lightly? As far as I know, the Criminal Code is applied Canada-wide, federal prisons aren’t controlled by the provincial legislatures (no matter which province they’re located in), and Homolka and Bernardo lived (and committed their crimes) in Ontario. Not to mention the malaise exhibited when the media informed us she’d be living here.

    > The justice system has always taken a lackadaisical, nonchalant approach to serious crimes, and especially drunken driving.

    This kind of tough-on-crime populist high-horse rhetoric smacks of the same conservative disingenuousness we periodically see on conservative TV it’s clichéd. Go take a look at some recent cross-country crime statistics [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_canada] and then tell me that Quebec is more causally connected and more highly correlated with crime than any other province.

    We’re far from squeaky clean – we commit some types of infamous crimes with greater frequency than other provinces. But we’re not the Shelbyville to your Springfield. Far from it. “Quebec bad, RoC good” is just as binary and immature as the separatists’ “Quebec good, RoC bad”.

    > […] the preoccupied bus driver. Again, because he didn't kill someone due to his negligence means he did little wrong. How would the incident be judged had he injured or killed someone?

    He would have been made into a social pariah and all the populist call-in programs would be denouncing similar acts of carelessness, real or apprehended, by bus drivers elsewhere in the province and country.

    > where did the clown who dropped the grapefruit-sized piece of concrete obtain it in the first place? I'm sure he didn't carry it some long distance.

    I personally love Hazel, but is she able to guarantee that there are no grapefruit-sized rocks located within reach of any troublemaking schmo in Mississauga? What if one of those jumbo jets out of Pearson misses its takeoff and lands in your backyard?

    > The fact the SRC THOUGHT about hiring Duceppe makes me sick when I think how Don Cherry got in hot water for saying tame stuff […]

    You’re a washed up politician hoping to salvage the populist career you’ve built over the last two decades. The media where you live is desperate to give airtime to anybody who could drive ratings and make the right noises about whatever commentary you’re presumably expected to provide. I happen to passionately dislike his political orientation, but the man isn’t a terrible speaker and objectively speaking, he doesn’t put together ideas any better or worse than Elizabeth May, Jack Layton, or any of the recent Liberal and Conservative leaders and pundits.

    > I have another title for your "French vs English" or "Weekend Update". How about "Weekly Tales from the Cesspool"? North America's cesspool, that is!

    Eyeroll. Sigh. Yawn. Puh-leeeeease.

    ReplyDelete
  28. @Jason the montreal anglo

    I enjoy most of your comments, especially on French language laws/issues, they are amusing. However, I thought this has to be said on the immigration subject you went on and on about:

    Your statements are pathetic. And Im surprised no one has retorted to your endless blabbering. Maybe coz arabs or other immigrants don’t read this blog ?;)

    “immigration from North Africa (a euphamism for Arab Muslims)”
    A euphemism? Really? Are the words arab muslims offensive, embarrising, or unpleasant? Maybe that’s because they are what they are: N. Africans (maroc, tunis, and Algeria). Not Lebanese, Iraqis, or Yemenis. In addition to geography, you need some vocab lessons. In case you missed the obvious, N. Africans immigrate here in overwhelming %numbers due to the sole reason and pitiable reality: they are francophone, period. Oh and by the way, maybe 1% of them have good English skills (otherwise they wouldn’t come to Quebec, ha!) And FYI, not all n. Africans are Arab, nor are they all Muslims (although granted, the majority are).

    you wrote:
    “- We see what's going on in Europe and this is how we handle it.”
    Personally I don’t think multiculturalism works either. But to suggest the we go the route of Le Front National Francais, Geert Wilders, and the likes is jus t sheer non-sense. Canada doesn’t work that way. Firstly we are a country of immigrants. We are not French, English, or Germans etc… These countries have had their cultures and languages for hundreds and even a few thousand years (doesn’t justify some of their peoples racists rants and actions towards immigrants and multiculturalism). For Canada, we are ALL immigrants. Therefore your argument is flawed from the beginning.
    Secondly, no matter how conservative immigration policy becomes in Canada (to your liking) and no matter how skewed our demographic picture looks, its all about economics. Canadians don’t have babies, they have careers. They earn money and want to enjoy life a little. Woman work and couldn’t be bothered with raising a family. We need babies to populate this country and pay taxes and our pensions, and need the immigrants to work in dollarama, kfc, and petrocanada stations (are you gonna do it?)

    You wrote:
    "... and there are world leaders exclaiming that mass immigration and multiculralism is an epic fail. Multicultural Canada is now accepting a record number of immigrants and politicians are asking for more. I have nothing agaisnt immigration (I'm half Italian) but it's just getting out of hand."

    What does that mean, “…I have nothing agaisnt immigration (I'm half Italian) but it's just getting out of hand” so when you your paisano side of the family and presumably scotch/Irish (whatever) side came here in droves, it was ok. But now you have reservations?

    Maybe your just another racist xenophobe, can’t stand the site of ‘too many immigrants’. You love Chinese restaurants or eating a falafel, yet can’t stand the thought of too many Chinese or Arab immigrants ‘taking over’ your city, and so you s*it on multiculturalism. If you really wanted a solution, then you and your peers should have 5 babies per family (oh, but wait, maybe your gay ), then maybe you have something to talk about. But to me your statements are racist, but with a twist, a Canadian twist: a watered-down, polite, passive-aggressive, politically correct male Canadian racist rant.

    ReplyDelete
  29. "...now where’s a similar bilingual resolution for Montreal?"

    Pas nécessaire,Montréal est la 3ième ville la plus appréciée auprès la clientèle touristique internationale,juste a coté de Barcelone et Sydney.

    http://inside-digital.blog.lonelyplanet.com/2011/06/22/is-this-the-worlds-best-summer-city/

    ReplyDelete
  30. @ diesel (1)

    I normally adress people when I'm spoken to in an extremely polite manner. But you sir are making nothing but wild assumptions, analyzing everything I say out of context, and follow up with a slew of absulutely false accusations and insults.

    First of all, Le Pen and Wilders are on their native turf and can govern how they please if their people support it (remember democracy?). Funny how everyone defends the pride of the native american indians (which is fine) on their indigenous soil and yet European pride and culture on THEIR soil doesn't seem to be quite as important to defend and is treated as faschist racism.

    I personally couldn't give a shit if whites are a minority here, because I accept that we live on stolen land. My concern is that its being done too fast and integration is gonna become extremely sloppy resulting in ethnic ghettos much like in Europe. And I'm kind of tired of the we're all immigrants line. Yeah it sounds very nice but the truth is is that the cities that form the Canadian nations were built up by peoples of European ancestry under judeo-Christian values. Immigrants yes, but immigrants of similar cultural traits. It's been that way for the past couple hundred years. Then after WW2, more Europeans came in and built our nation up even more. It's unfortunate that natives died in the process but I won't be made to feel guilty for something that every single race on Earth has done before several times over. Now, we're bringing in hords of immigrants from nations that, historically, come from cultures that haven't really mixed well with our cultures in the past, so integration needs to be done very steadily and carefully, which it isn't.

    ReplyDelete
  31. @ diesel (2)

    I also have a small concern over the survival of the uniqueness of "white" (peoples of European ancestry) culture. Oh my God! I must be racist! Imagine the nerve to defend my own heritage. "Whites" represented 12% of the world's population and now it's at 9% and dropping reasonnably quickly. Every part of the world has its own unique races and cultures that they get to develop in their own part of the world (India, China, Japan, Middle East, African countries), and yet every single "white" country gets flooded with mass immigration and multiculturalism which slowly dilutes its uniqueness over time. Now I ask you, how is it racist to think that this isn't fair, when everybody gets their own unique culture and space, and we're forced to mold into some hybrid culture? Poeple say it enriches our culture, which, if you think about it, is extremely insulting, as in it implies that our culture is lacking and needs to come in contact with superior cultures to make ours better. I have nothing against people of other races, but I have many friends of Indian descent and I don't see how the fact that they're Indian enriches my life at all.

    As noble as you try to appear, I don't think you realize how on a general basis, most people aren't past ethnic prejudice. Nobody acts on it because they know its wrong but they still think it. And that's where behaviours get misunderstood. A prejudice is simply your first impression of an individual. First impressions are part of human nature. You know how when you go for a job interview you clean up and dress nice to make that good first impression? Well guess what? That's a prejudice on your employers end. Not a racial one but a prejudice nonetheless. So there's nothing inherintly bad about prejudice, so long as you don't act on it without giving the other individual a chance to express their character, which is what SHOULD be judged. I look mixed so people can't quite tell what I am when they're around me and feel free to assume I'm of their ethnicity. When I'm around francos they talk down on most ethnicities, not that they hate them, but just feel they're watering down the cultre. Anglos talk down about francos and arabs mostly. And my own Italian family talks down about anglos and francos even when I'm there. People prefer being with their own kind, that's just the way it is. It isn't necessarily racist, it's just human nature (animals are the same). Go check out any public high school cafeteria and you'll see how nicely the ethnic clics are divided.

    As for the having babies comment, you do know that there are ways to encourage breeding instead of replacing a population with immigrants right?

    I never expressed hatred for any group. I presented events that are happening around Europe (which are all accurate look them up) because somebody asked me what I meant by a comment. It's not my fault Muslim activists are involved in many of them, I didn't put them there. And I stand by that original comment. We're handling our immigration the same way it's been handled in Europe and look at the mess they're in. That's all I was implying.

    Either way I don't care what you think. I know who I am and what I'm not. Personally you're reaction is that of every person that takes even the slightest mention of ethnic relations from a white person as a chance to hit that ever so popular racist button

    ReplyDelete
  32. @Anonymous 1:58 PM

    C’est bien, quoique ces chiffres viennent d’un sondage (hyper officiel) mené sur Twitter et Facebook. J’apprécie néanmoins leur mention honorable.

    Mais il me semble tout à fait raisonnable de croire que si l’on s’attend à ce que nos amis anglos se dé-Rhodésianisent et assument avec fierté leur appartenance au Québec, la souche francophone blanche du « rest of Quebec » se doit elle aussi de faire preuve d’une plus grande reconnaissance du fait anglais qui nous entoure et qui finalement fait partie intégrante de la réalité québécoise.

    N’oublions pas qu’il s’agit aussi de la langue majoritaire du pays, du continent, et des échanges mondiaux (et le sera du moins encore un certain temps).

    Le français ne serait menacé que par l’indifférence des francophones existants qui le laisseraient tomber en désuétude. Mais on n’est pas nuls au point d’oublier une langue par le simple fait d’en tolérer une autre. Si francos et anglos se partagent la même ville depuis 250 ans, partager une pancarte devrait être facile comme bonjour. Si notre tolérance et accueil sont réellement légendaires, affichons-les dans tous les sens du terme.

    ReplyDelete
  33. "Mais on n’est pas nuls au point d’oublier une langue par le simple fait d’en tolérer une autre."

    L'enjeux m'apparaît trop important pour prendre le risque.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Dommage.

    Et doublement dommage que l'on s'obstine sur l'affichage. Surtout lorsqu'on constate la proportion de gens qui sont déjà bilingues (dont bon nombre parfaitement) chez nous. Il s'agit simplement de refléter à l'écrit ce que nous sommes à l'oral.

    Si on veut que le RoC reconnaisse la réalité distincte du Québec, peut-être faut-il que le Québec reconnaisse et respecte *à part entière* la réalité et la diversité de sa propre population.

    Ce qui est bon pour minou est bon pour pitou.

    Je te laisse néanmoins le soin d'y réfléchir davantage.

    ReplyDelete
  35. "Et doublement dommage que l'on s'obstine sur l'affichage"

    Je ne vois aucune obtination,la loi est totalement intégrée a notre société.La modifier ou la faire disparaître serait vu par la majorité comme un recule de notre Nation et un geste totalement innacceptable.

    6.5 millions vs 350 millions.Nous ne sommes pas stupides a ce point.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Jason the anglo.

    If it wasn't the flood of immigrants to Quebec. There would be no significant anglo community in Montreal. Interesting, your concerned about the survival of the "white race" just like your pur laine quebecois are concerned about the survival of their pur laine way of life. Maybe we should make a bill 101 for whites as well.

    Maybe now you know how the natives felt went the English French and other europeans "founded" their lands.

    The reason there is immigration to the so called white countries is because the whites are too busy spreading feminism and not pro creating. Then when immigrants refuse to assimilate to pop culture and letting their women also become all lady gaga like there is a outburst from those who talk about womens rights. Especially the "white" men who are the one that get screwed 1st under anti male divorce laws.

    Also its very convenient to talk about a white race. Back in the day there was not talk about common whiteness between eastern and western europeans. Even southern europeans were considered OLIVE. Its only when the nordic and western europeans numbers and economic dominance came under threat that a new "white" race included slavs and southern europeans. For the most part even Jews were not considered part of the white race even though the ashkenezi DNA is mostly white. It wasn't long ago that the Irish immigrants were considered undesirables by the majority of the American population.

    Jason, if you think only "whites" can be politically incorrect. Just watch some of the responses you going to get. There was some scumbag named the Toronto Guy who had similar views.

    ReplyDelete
  37. "The reason there is immigration to the so called white countries is because the whites are too busy spreading feminism and not pro creating"

    Sans les considérations économiques,quels sont les avantages de contribuer a la surpopulation planètaire?Serait-ce que le Canada est un des derniers pays ou l'on peut respirer?

    Dépêchons-nous de le surpeupler!

    ReplyDelete
  38. @11:12,

    There is a difference between overpopulation and keeping a stable population. Besides when the baby boomers retire at their peak. instead 5 workers for every 1 retiree, you will get 3 workers for every 1 retiree. Add to the fact that they are exporting both blue and white collar jobs offshore.

    ReplyDelete
  39. "Besides when the baby boomers retire at their peak. instead 5 workers for every 1 retiree, you will get 3 workers for every 1 retiree."

    Not to mention that the baby boomers, through over-consumption and lack of forethought, have messed things up for many future generations.

    http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/71/generation-fcked.html

    "By blowing their children’s inheritance on 80 percent of the UK’s luxury good purchases, from SUVs to cruises and anti-wrinkle creams, Britain’s baby-boomers seem hell bent on ensuring that, even without coming resource shortages such as Peak Oil, their offspring will be the first generation in living memory to have a lowered standard of living."

    ReplyDelete
  40. ...to Apparatchik:

    As usual, you miss the point! The Criminal Code is indeed under federal jurisdiction. What appauls me is nobody is disgusted in Quebec with how she aided and abetted her psychopathic husband in those three horrendous murders, her own flesh and blood included. Then again, the French language media was probably more engaged in words on signs and the Montreal Canadiens' latest trade rumors. (How many times was it rumored Vincent Lecavalier was coming to the Canadiens?

    "...then tell me that Quebec is more causally connected and more highly correlated with crime than any other province."

    Rare is the time in Toronto I hear of murders that were the result of "settling of accounts", i.e., mob hits. Sadly, though, Toronto has become high on murders between rival street gang members, but the crime rate in Toronto and area is still much lower than in Montreal and area. Motorcycle gangs in Ontario are way lower than in Quebec. Haven't you ever heard Yves Lavigne speak on the subject, or read any of his books or articles?

    "You’re a washed up politician hoping to salvage the populist career you’ve built over the last two decades."

    HUH? I'm not a politician at all...at least an unpaid one! My closest foray into "politics" was being elected onto the board of directors of my condo complex. I was its president for a while, too! That's my life in politics...at least so far!

    Anyway, App'chik, my point is Quebec has very lax laws. It's Canada's head office for organized crime, corrupt politicians, esp. Duplessis (even if he's been dead for 52 years), and several industries run by organized crime, esp. construction. Lévesque was never even CHARGED with vehicular manslaughter despite the fact he wasn't wearing his glasses as he was supposed to while driving, and he was drunk, too. COVER-UP!

    Has anybody been held responsible for the bridge collapses since 2000? Was anyone hurt or killed ever compensated?

    Despite admonishing McLean's for their article on Quebec, the French media then went on to build on McLean's story with stories of their own. Sorry App'chik, but while Ontario has its share of crime and problems, having lived half my life out here and the other half in Quebec, Ontario is in way, way better shape than Quebec can HOPE to be, and that's EXCLUDING the language nonsense.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Haha, the separatists can't even manage to count themselves properly, it'll probably be hard to win a referendum..
    LCN says: "Plus de 400 souverainistes..." (at some conference on the future of racism in quebec)
    La Presse says: "Plus de 300 souverainistes.."
    ref: http://tvanouvelles.ca/lcn/infos/national/archives/2011/08/20110821-115524.html
    http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/politique-quebecoise/201108/21/01-4427641-plus-de-300-souverainistes-a-la-premiere-assemblee-du-nmq.php

    Also, this is what a typical separatist looks like:
    http://tvanouvelles.ca/archives/lcn/infos/national/media/2011/08/20110821-115524-b.jpg

    Let's go Jean-Guy!
    On va les avoir les maudits anglais!

    ReplyDelete
  42. "Haha, the separatists can't even manage to count themselves properly..."

    Voici un petit conseil pour votre prochain lien avec plus de 200 caractères.

    Très facile a utiliser.

    http://tinyurl.com

    ReplyDelete
  43. Qui a déja vu une chemise brune en action?Beaucoup de ressemblances dans l'expression avec un certain Hitler...Achtung!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkRro0UfUFE

    ReplyDelete
  44. @Jason the Montreal Anglo (2:03 - 2:04)

    Wow, thank you for that robust reply.

    Yes Le Pen and Wildres can govern as they please. We cant, wont, and will never emulate them. That’s all my point is there.

    Comparing us to Europe, (ethnic ghettos)… not the same. We don’t have the same issues and problems immigrants and society has in Europe. You need to be reminded of the historical implications of immigration to Europe: many immigrants in uk, france, etc come from countries who were colonized by them. Colonized for decades and centuries, and sometimes in the most savage and humiliating ways; today, it would be most unacceptable and even criminal. I believe that some of the problems Europe is facing with their immigrants, are of their own doing – you reap what you sow. Im proud to say that we never had a situation where immigration backfired as a result of problems we planted in a country that we colonized for a hundred years.

    We are Canada. Our models always prevail. Our banking system, our healthcare, our political system, and yes even our immigration. We are the envy of the world. We have our flaws and problems (Quebec’s sad history is one), like everyone else… but time and time again, our ways, as boring as they may seem, have proven to come out on top. Our passport is the most valued in the world. the food we eat is the highest quality. Our professionals are among the best trained. Our house prices DON’T collapse, think about that for a minute.

    Too fast and sloppy integration: the beauty of Canada is that the second generation, kids born in Canada to immigrant parents, or when the kids arrive at a young age, they integrate incredibly well in Canada. The majority graduate university, speak perfect English and/or French and end up with good jobs and careers. However, in Europe, yes they are segregated by class, ghettoized, and even marginalized regardless of the 1st/2nd/3rd generation status.

    Your tired of the line ‘were all immigrants’ well, ‘built by european ancestry under judeo-christian’ blah blah is tiring as well. Times are a changing.. and there are some new players in the world, not to mention how we have become globalized and how technology has changed things.

    Its not racist to defend our ‘whiteness’ In fact I welcome that. but the European way is cufked. The ‘Its not fair’ line works for the UK, France, germany, etc. but Canada, USA, Austrailia are not the same.

    Ethnic prejudice is an inevitability, since the beginning of time and till the end. As for you not culturally enriched with Indian (whoever) friends. I disagree, I believe you intrinsically are, you just don’t know it. If you travel globally or do business in other countries, you will see the difference. I don’t know you but im quite certain that if you went to Singapore and on a work trip, you will simply know more about cultures, languages, nationalities, etc., than the average person; simply because you’re from Montreal (whichever Canadian city).

    Encouraging breeding… that doesn’t work. The women’s lib movement killed that hope. Countries with negative population growth problems have been trying many things for the last few decades. it doesnt look good.

    “We're handling our immigration the same way it's been handled in Europe and look at the mess they're in.” We’re NOT in the same mess. And we have many similarities in the recent immigration movement (non-whites going to western countries). However, Canada handles immigration differently, the country is way larger, we have a smaller population, Canada is wealthy, our economy is sound, and many other reasons.

    The racist button thing, I like that one. Frankly I’m with you on that one, I don’t like it myself. Im half dutch half irish. That button gets pushed on me sometimes just for mentioning white Canadians don’t have kids and the white race is disappearing. I swung at you coz your comment doesn’t make sense, it sounded like:“I aint racist, but I don’t want no more foreigners”

    Its been fun.
    Mark

    ReplyDelete
  45. > What appauls me is nobody is disgusted in Quebec with how she aided and abetted her psychopathic husband in those three horrendous murders, her own flesh and blood included.

    Nobody?! I can tell you that found the story of those murders particularly horrendous. Many people I know did too. Also, don’t discount the fact that by the time Karla moved to Quebec over a decade had passed since the trial. Maybe there wasn’t a huge uproar; you might consider whether time and distance might not have played some kind of factor in your perceived collective Quebec response.

    > Then again, the French language media was probably more engaged in words on signs and the Montreal Canadiens' latest trade rumors.

    Actually, if you actually consumed French-language media even semi-regularly, you’d know Joyce Napier interviewed Karla not long after her sentence was up. The interview, done in French, aired on Radio-Canada (I suggest you look it up). No such interview in English. I wonder why.

    > […] the crime rate in Toronto and area is still much lower than in Montreal and area […]

    Oh spare me your holier-than-though WASPy insinuations before I hurl. Montreal is far from crime-free, and might have somewhat more crime in certain areas, but the days of Toronto the Good vs. Sleazy Montreal are largely over. Comparing Toronto to some pristine lily-white virgin and Montreal to some used whore is disingenuous at best and perhaps so self-serving it’s not even credible. See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Toronto] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Canada#Statistics_Canada_data]. “The province with the lowest crime rate in 2006 was for the third straight year Ontario with 5,689 per 100,000, followed by Quebec with 5,909 per 100,000 […] Quebec City, Trois-Rivières, and Saguenay have the lowest crime rates of any city and are all located in Quebec. The three northern territories have higher per capita crime rates than any province.”

    > HUH? I'm not a politician at all […]

    Apologies; I copy pasted over part of that passage and the remainder of that paragraph. The gist of the message was along the lines of ‘you’re a washed up politician; what else do you do?’ (as in, put yourself in his place and tell me you’ve got better options for someone with his profile) and was not intended to refer to you specifically. I regret the omission, as well as the subsequent misunderstanding. Mea culpa.

    > […] my point is Quebec has very lax laws.

    Perhaps our justice is comparatively laxer with certain kinds of criminals. We try to put the emphasis on adaptation/reintegration to the greatest possible extent, rather than lock ‘em up and throw away the key in all cases. It must be a societal decision we’ve made, just like Canada as a whole did away with capital punishment. I’m sure some Sharia judges take exception to our high cohabitation rate as well, but I guess that’s just how we roll… and despite our many faults, it hasn’t brought the gloom and doom foretold by some islamists. I look at our cultural liberalism on justice and family law as proof that our society can manage just as well with the spirit of such liberalism on such things as language and culture.

    > Has anybody been held responsible for the bridge collapses since 2000? Was anyone hurt or killed ever compensated?

    I’m sure there have been disciplinary and monetary sanctions. I don’t know if the victims or their families have been compensated.

    (1)

    ReplyDelete
  46. > Despite admonishing McLean's for their article on Quebec, the French media then went on to build on McLean's story with stories of their own.

    The thing with MacLean’s is that like many other political arguments, its attempt at journalism could have been a slam dunk had they done an exhaustive study, comparing us with other provinces and arrived at a conclusion more scientifically. We also have a tradition in this province of airing out our dirty laundry and cannibalizing those actors who grace our sociopolitical stage – a practice most prim and proper WASPs would find as shocking as they’d find savage.

    > […] while Ontario has its share of crime and problems, having lived half my life out here and the other half in Quebec, Ontario is in way, way better shape than Quebec can HOPE to be, and that's EXCLUDING the language nonsense.

    While I agree that the language nonsense is a severe sore point, I’m going to need you to quantify the rest of your very comparative statement.

    > Je ne vois aucune obtination,la loi est totalement intégrée a notre société.

    Je ne peux que manifester mon plus profond désaccord.

    La loi 101 n’est pas du tout à l’image de la société montréalaise – grande ville cosmopolite, bilingue, et ouverte sur le monde, moteur économique du Québec, et endroit où vit plus que la moitié de la population de la province.

    Ailleurs au Québec, cette même loi n’a pas changé grand-chose car les communautés anglophones étaient déjà en déclin (pour ne pas dire moribondes).

    > La modifier ou la faire disparaître serait vu par la majorité comme un recule de notre Nation et un geste totalement innacceptable.

    Bof… il y a moins d’un siècle, un Québec laïc aurait été perçu comme un recul inacceptable pour la race canadienne-française. Ce n’est pas parce que certains faits sont incommodants qu’on devrait ne pas s’en souvenir. Heureusement on ne peut contenir à jamais le désir universel de liberté de chaque être humain.

    Une société tolérante de tout et de tous est préférée (et à mon avis, préférable) à une société qui tolère certains avantages indus pour une seule partie de sa population. C’est pour cette raison que la révolution tranquille a eu lieu. C’est pour cette raison que le Québec se devait de devenir une société tolérante et libérale. Et c’est pour cette même raison qu’une politique de bilinguisme, tôt ou tard, prendra sa place au rang des valeurs de tous les Québécois. La liberté unit. La peur divise.

    (2)

    ReplyDelete
  47. > 6.5 millions vs 350 millions.Nous ne sommes pas stupides a ce point.

    Et pourtant, pour certains parmi nous, deux, trois, et même cent « NON » valent moins qu’un seul « OUI ».

    Certains parmi nous ont également préféré sacrifier notre prestige et statut de métropole du Canada pour mettre en œuvre une francisation éclair, unilingue et exclusive (sans tenir compte ni rien faire pour arrêter l’hémorragie économique précipitée qui s’ensuivit).

    Certains parmi nous semblent oublier que malgré quatre décennies de manigances tant fédéralistes que séparatistes, ce « grand projet » ne monte que rarement au-dessus des 40% à 45%... mais insistent qu’il faut tout faire pour « réamorcer le débat » une énième fois, peu importe l’instabilité culturelle, économique et sociale d’une telle « réamorce ».

    Certains parmi nous voient d’un œil romantique les combats et périples de certains autres peuples (ceux-là véritablement appauvris et écrasés) et s’improvisent en révolutionnaires de salon et tiennent des discours pompeux de « décolonisation ».

    Ces « patriotes » qui se disent à l’image même de la tolérance québécoise « militent » aujourd’hui pour que les immigrants nouvellement installés au Québec s’engagent (de préférence par serment) à défendre nos coutumes, nos pratiques et notre langue.

    Ces mêmes chauvinistes semblent oublier que leurs propres ancêtres, vaincus en 1759, n’ont pu rester dans la colonie qu’est devenu le Québec qu’en vertu du fait qu’ils aient accepté implicitement de devenir des sujets loyaux de la couronne britannique (à moins de se prévaloir de leur droit de retourner en France dans les 18 mois suivant la conclusion du traité de Paris (février 1763)).

    Dans le fond, quel enfant devenu adulte bien équilibré s’identifierait si intimement aux pratiques culturelles héritées d’une mère pourtant si lointaine (voire absente) lorsqu’elle était dans le portrait? Quel enfant devenu adulte songerait à continuer avec autant de fierté et verve les traditions d’une mère qui l’a ensuite écarté en faveur de sucre et profit ailleurs?

    Non c’est vrai. Nous ne sommes pas stupides, ni obstinés. Manifestement, on aurait raison de dire qu’un certain contingent parmi nous est véritablement désaxé.

    (3)

    ReplyDelete
  48. "La liberté unit..."

    Hmmm...Pas sûre,Fouillez un peu dans vos archives et dites-moi qu'il avait unité entre les anglos et les Québécois a Montréal durant la période pré-101.

    ReplyDelete
  49. ...to Apparatchik:

    1 of 2:

    You're doing it again. You're lumping me in with these so-called "WASPy" nuances and WASPs altogether.

    First of all: I AM NOT A WASP!

    Second of all: Either you haven't been to Toronto in over 25 years, or you're just very close-minded. While it's true Toronto at one time could easily be labelled a "WASP nest", that moniker is now well over three decades obsolete.

    Toronto is probably the best example of how an ethnic mosaic can thrive and survive, not just in Canada, but the entire world! Toronto has the biggest Italian population in the world outside of Italy--IN THE WORLD! Toronto is second only to Melbourne, Australia for the biggest Greek population outside of Greece in the world. The Chinese population in the Greater Toronto Area has now exceeded that of of San Francisco and even Vancouver, a.k.a. "Hongcouver"! Furthermore, an all-Chinese shopping complex in Mississauga features a huge mosaic work of art featuring NINE dragons on the slab--the only nine-dragon mosaic in existence outside of Asia! London, Paris, Rome, New York, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Sao Paulo all of Africa and Oceania don't have such a thing. The Jewish population has almost doubled in Toronto over the last 40 years (many having left Montreal), and we have far more Latin and South Americans, Africans, Filipinos and other ethnics than Montreal and Quebec will EVER have--including from Francophonie member nations!!!

    So much for the "WASP nest" of yestermillennium!

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  50. ...to Apparatchik:

    2 of 2:

    As for that French language interview with Karla Homolka, it was featured in the English news. I don't think the English media wanted to entertain her and appall its audience more than the audience was already appalled--furthermore, when she got out of jail, her intention was to move back to Ontario, but the government and population would have been all over her and to be sure, would have kept an eye on her every move. She probably would have faced complete disdain and endless scorn as well, so she chose to, as Terry and his sister Susan Jacks used to sing, live in the cracks and holes of Quebec, where evil grows. Oh, and BTW, App'chik, I'm not implying evil only grows in Quebec, but there would be few cracks and holes in Ontario where Homolka could hide...or most of the Real Canada for that matter.

    You wrote: "I’m sure there have been disciplinary and monetary sanctions. I don’t know if the victims or their families have been compensated."

    WELL? Is it one, or the other? You're sure, but you don't know? That makes ZERO sense! You can't suck and blow at the same time! Only Jack Layton can...but not for long. In the end, he'll either he'll throw the Real Canada under the bus or Quebec...one or the other...that is, if he lives to fight another day. If not him, then Mulcair will be handed the honours...and I KNOW which way HE'LL go!!!

    As for Sharia law, ask me if I give a half s--t about it! Ontario made it clear Sharia has no place here. GOOD! Ontario lives by secular law, as does any real democracy!

    You wrote "We try to put the emphasis on adaptation/reintegration to the greatest possible extent, rather than lock ‘em up and throw away the key in all cases."

    The problem is, Quebec, and Canada for that matter, is far too lax. A 23-year-old joker with no driver's license and a record longer than our four arms combined gets a virtual tap on the knuckles, while a fellow with no criminal record in the U.S. will get 33 years for virtually the same crime. APP'CHIK, WAKE UP! A drunk driver is more dangerous than a maniac with a gun in hand statistically, and don't point out how one gun maniac in Norway recently killed 77 people...he was the exception, not the rule. Trouble is, every one of these gun nuts makes the news, very few drunk drivers do. Why? Sadly drunk driving mishaps occur every day of the week. Gun nuts who kill en masse rarely occur, but every damn one of them that does makes the news.

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  51. Tout n'était pas rose (loin de là), mais on n'était pas tous à couteaux tirés non plus. Et ce n’est certainement pas la loi 101, aussi draconienne qu’elle est, qui fera l’affaire.

    Ce que je retiens d'après nombreuses discussions avec ma parenté âgée (autant celle du côté franco qu'anglo) c'est qu'une atmosphère qu’on pourrait appeler indifférence-tolérance-solitude semblait régner. Il n'y avait pas de réelle intégration telle qu’on la comprend aujourd’hui, mais que c'était parce qu'aucun des groupes (y compris les allos) n'avait d'intérêt à "s'intégrer" ni à intégrer les autres. Bien que les trois groupes se côtoyaient de façon superficielle, l'heure était au tribalisme, et c'était le modus vivendi que tous semblaient l'accepter, tant bien que mal.

    Vous saurez en lisant mes commentaires ailleurs sur ce blogue que j’ai des origines francos, anglos, et allos. Mes grands-parents immigrants quant à eux ont osé s’établir, au bout de quelques années, dans un quartier ouvrier à légère majorité « canadienne-française » et échapper au ghetto ethnique tricoté serré qu’ils jugeaient trop renfermé. Leurs idéaux un peu trop avant-gardistes (pour l’époque?) leur ont coûté cher : récriminations, préjudices, insultes, et maintes invitations à retourner « chez eux ». À bien y penser, certains confrontations étaient peut-être inévitables, quoiqu’elles n’avaient pas à être aussi acrimonieuses.

    Au moment d’inscrire leur premier enfant au primaire, ils ont vécu une expérience assez intéressante. Malgré plusieurs supplications de la part de mes grands-parents, les autorités administratives de la CÉCM (secteur francophone) ont catégoriquement refusé d’inscrire leurs enfants à l’école publique francophone du coin, préférant maintenir leur clientèle homogène. Au fil des années, d’autres immigrants sont venus s’installer dont bon nombre qui voulait inscrire leurs enfants chez les francos (aucune disposition législative pour « forcer » qui que ce soit à faire des études dans une langue ou une autre à l’époque) ; c’était théoriquement le libre choix. En pratique, tous, sauf rare exception, ont été refoulés à l’école anglophone du coin par ces mêmes autorités francophones.

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  52. C’est ainsi que bon nombre d’immigrants un peu partout à Montréal – même ceux qui en principe tenaient à s’intégrer à la communauté francophone – ont fini par trouver leur compte chez les anglos. Vous comprendrez pourquoi bon nombre parmi eux étaient abasourdis pendant les années 1960 et 1970 à voir ces mêmes canadiens-français revendiquer la francisation et l’école française obligatoire à tous les immigrants. Peut-être s’étaient-ils laissé emporter par les vents de la nouvelle religion nationaliste qui soufflait sur le Québec.

    Alors oui, Anonyme, une fouille honnête de mon histoire familiale révèle certains aspects peu palatables, même à l’égard des francophones, groupe souvent malmené mais qui n’est pas aussi propre que certains cherchent à faire croire. Mais comme on dit en anglais, ça tranchait pareil par tous les bords. Si l’objectif poursuivi par la loi 101 était simplement d’assurer que les immigrants apprennent à parler français et que les francophones puissent être servis en français, je crois fermement qu’on aurait pu en arriver par législation beaucoup moins draconienne et fort plus sensible à (et soucieuse de) l’importance de maintenir l’égalité et l’équilibre linguistique de notre métropole.

    À mon avis, la loi 101 n’a pas fini par nous unir. Malgré les tournures que veulent en donner certains nationalistes, tournures qui passent souvent immanquablement par des mots tels « affirmation », « peuple », « nation », et « extinction », on peut vraiment faire mieux. Ça sent fort la revanche de 1759. Ça nous donne l’air capricieux, et peu importe que l’on soit fédéraliste ou indépendantiste, une telle loi (sa mouture actuelle, du moins) ne saurait suppléer à un ordre politique et constitutionnel qui arrivera peut être un jour ou peut être jamais.

    Ce qu’il nous faut, c’est du monde qui aime parler notre langue, pas du monde qui est contraint à l’utiliser. À 6 millions contre 300 millions, si notre langue ne peut pas se tenir debout sans support artificiel, elle devra nécessairement connaitre le même sort que notre sainte mère église.

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  53. > You wrote: "I’m sure there have been disciplinary and monetary sanctions. I don’t know if the victims or their families have been compensated."
    WELL? Is it one, or the other? You're sure, but you don't know? That makes ZERO sense! You can't suck and blow at the same time!

    Actually, turns out you can. It’s possible to go after the engineers and contractors for having lacked professionalism, even stripping the original engineers responsible if found negligent by their professional order. It’s also possible to slap dollars onto that same punishment.

    To summarize, there’re actually 3 possible levels of liability involved: professional, civil, and criminal. As far as I know, those responsible could (and in many cases to my knowledge have) been found responsible professionally. I don’t personally know of any civil/criminal trials, however, consistent with part of your statement.

    > Ontario lives by secular law, as does any real democracy!

    Some people believe that all man-made law is a joke too, which brings us to your next comment:

    > A 23-year-old joker with no driver's license and a record longer than our four arms combined gets a virtual tap on the knuckles, while a fellow with no criminal record in the U.S. will get 33 years for virtually the same crime.

    Dura lex sed lex. Just goes to prove how arbitrary man-made law and societal “value judgments” really are.

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