Wednesday, October 19, 2011

OCCUPY WHAAAT?.......

Canada's cadre of professional demonstrators couldn't resist the call to bring the Occupy Wall Street project to a city near you, but what exactly they were protesting is not particularly clear, even to them.

Canada had nothing to do with the conditions of manifest greed and stupidity that brought down the once mighty US economy. The mortgage debacle, the housing collapse and the related liquidity crisis passed us by, but not without collateral damage.  Of all the western economies, Canada weathered the storm the best.

With all our complaining, our country seems to be run pretty well.

Interestingly, Anglo Montrealers participating in the OCCUPY MONTREAL demonstrations were vastly over-represented as compared to francophones. I don't really have an explanation for that.

At any rate, I downloaded a bunch of pictures of the protesters in Montreal to see what was on their mind.

It seems that the protesters were divided by several different agendas, the largest was the anti-capitalist set, those who wish to re-write the rules of economic order.....
These are the nasties, who had some pretty aggressive signs. Amir Khadir, dressed very appropriately as Lenin's kid brother, let lose a rant in television interview, reminding viewers that capitalism doesn't work anymore.


Then there were the unions, who took advantage of a demonstration to push for a greedy agenda that wasn't entirely in sync with the spirit of the event. Front and center were the Air Canada stewardesses, postal workers and the striking McGill University support staff.


Then there were various immigrant and workers groups, most of the organizations of which I had never heard of.
Dignidad Migrante and the International Migrants' Alliance are two militant groups organizing to improve the situation of refugees, immigrants, migrants and illegal immigrants people without status in Canada.

The International League of Peoples' Struggle is "an international formation of more than 350 organizations from 40 countries promoting, supporting and developing the anti-imperialist struggles of the peoples of the world."


Of course no demonstration would be complete without the perenial whiners, the Palestinians, the Separatists and the Indians.





And then there is this unfortunate wedding party who after planning their wedding for months, ran smack dab into the demonstration on a rainy and dreary afternoon.

Oh well, they'll have quite a story to tell their grand kids!




As with any radical new movement (Tea Party?)  the 'Occupy Wall Street" movement is generating a lot of pushback.

Protesters are now being derisively referred to as 'Fleabaggers,' and are getting a rough ride in Twittersphere.

Here's a sampling of what is being said on  #YouMightBeAFleabagger


YOU MIGHT BE A FLEABAGGER IF;
  • If you think wealth is so evil you're going to protest until you get more of it. 
  • If you say our system is broken and want to replace it with the perennial totalitarian failure that is Marxism, 
  • If you're raging against capitalism from your iPhone, 
  • If you think the immigrant guy who owns the convenience store should pay for your interpretive dance classes
  • If you believe getting your third PhD is a basic human right... 
  • don't accept god because lack of evidence but accept global warming despite lack of evidence
  • If your entire political philosophy fits on the front of a T-shirt - which you don't wash... 
  • if you're a conscientious objector to being a productive member of society. 
  • If you think stinking up parks and crapping on cop cars will persuade the populace to give you the levers of power 
  • If you feel you deserve the material benefits of work without actually ever having worked. 
  • If you think you're entitled to someone else's money without working for it, 
  • If you're still a student and you're over 30 
  • If your dog secretly hates you for giving him vegan dog food,
  • If you believe paying taxes is patriotic especially if you don't have to do it 
  • If you think a few thousand protesters in a city of millions equals "ninety-nine percent." 
  • If you think you should be paid to protest since it is the only steady "job" you ever had. 
  • If nothing is ever your fault 
  • If you feel markets fail because there is no market for PhD in Library Science who specializes in lesbian poetry
  • if you feel superior when people accept your position of victimhood 
  • If you think you should still get an allowance 
  • If you thought a masters in "minority womens studies" was an economically viable degree, 
  • if you think your incompetence and worthlessness should be subsidized 
  • if you despise money but love spending other peoples 
  • If you chant "Eat the Rich!" but think meat is murder, 
  • if you think mimicking the homeless makes you feel better inside. 
  • If the last thing you heard before you left the house was your mom asking if you cleaned your room. 
  • If you think "common sense" means you have rights to other peoples wallets 
  • If you hate Bank of America, which employs 285,000 Americans, but love Apple, which makes its products in China
  •  If you think that men are bigger, stronger and faster than women because our society is sexist 
  • If you hate pollution but turn a park into a landfill, 
  • If you rail against "greed" while demanding government take more money from others. 
  • if you think wealth is so evil you're going to protest until you get more of it. 
  • If you believe the world (or your country) owes you anything merely because you take up space in it

42 comments:

  1. Too often in these protests, there are those who come to demonstrations for self-serving reasons beside the point of the demonstration.

    Although the ideology of Amir Khadir fits right into the anti-capitalism aspect, he and those other Palestinian sympathizers are there because they have an audience for their irrelevant objectives.

    I consider myself a "small c" conservative, but I'm not unsympathetic to the general objectives of these demonstrations. Dianne Francis, a well-known business writer, wrote a book in the mid-1980s entitled Controlling Interest, and she talks about how Canada's wealth is concentrating into the hands of decreasing numbers.

    In the 1980s, you had these corporate raiders starting off about the size of guppies and swallowing minnows, then bigger fish swallowing the guppies. Now it has gotten to the point where whales are swallowing sharks and finally "megawhales" are swallowing already enormous whales. Each time this happens, jobs are shed because of redundancy.

    Through the recession of the early 90s, it was practically a game amongst the CEOs to see who could pull massive lay offs. Not just a few dozen people, or even a few hundred, but tens of thousands of jobs being lost in one fell swoop.

    I'll bet few people remember an announced job posting in 1991 by GM in Oshawa how they were going to need 800 people for a new night shift at one of their plants. In the end, about 26,000 people showed up to apply, one person from Regina, SK.

    While it's not impossible to become a self-made millionaire, it's much tougher these days because these mega corporations can effectively cut out competition.

    The income tax system is in theory progressive, i.e., the more you earn, the more you pay. The reality is, for those who could afford $500-an-hour tax accountants, the middle and lower class pay the lion's share in part because there aren't the tax shelter opportunities available to the less affluent or the expenses for the average joe to hire a tax accountant is prohibitive. Even the so-called "alternative minimum tax" has enough loopholes to jump through where affluent people pay no tax.

    Obama can't seem to pass tax legislation to raise the tax rate on the most affluent who can afford to pay more tax and not feel the pinch, but who do you think is behind the Tea Party and other resistance movements against tax reform? Not "the 99%"!!

    This whole "occupy" business was just going around the internet one short month ago, and it didn't take long for people to come out and protest. Hopefully, good leaders will emerge and focus upon the matters at hand, i.e., where prices are going up faster than wages and the standard of living for most is going down.

    Several years ago, I remember thinking how long the masses were going to sit back and take it before some kind of revolution would manifest.

    Fellow readers, I think we're just seeing the beginning. Stay tuned.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Off topic, but what the hell is this about? Editor, do you know?

    http://quebecfrancais.org/node/3371

    ReplyDelete
  3. "Anglo Montrealers participating in the OCCUPY MONTREAL demonstrations were vastly over-represented as compared to francophones. I don't really have an explanation for that."

    L'explication est très simple monsieur l'Éditeur.

    Il est reconnu que parmi les anglos natifs du Québec la vaste majorité des plus instruits et des plus compétents quitte vers d'autres cieux. Ce qui laisse une communauté anglo de souche plutôt faible, d'un point de vue qualitatif.

    Il est aussi reconnu que parmi les Américains et les Anglo-canadiens les moins bons parmi les plus instruits et les plus compétents, un nombre significatif d'entre eux quitte leur pays respectif pour s'établir au Québec, ou ailleurs dans le monde, car ils ne sont pas assez bons pour se trouver un emploi convenable dans leur Amérique anglaise.

    On se retrouve donc au Québec avec une "communauté" anglo où il y a un grand nombre de « pas bons » et par conséquent un grand nombre de frustrés de leur situation. Ce qui explique le plus grand nombre d'anglos à Occupons Montréal.

    ReplyDelete
  4. To Anon @9:39

    At first I thought it was a joke about the bridge, but no, it is a call to a founding meeting for a new chapter named 'Champlain' of the Mouvement Quebec Francais
    At least that's what I think it is.....

    ReplyDelete
  5. Francophone mainstream media going after SSJB...finally...Is this the beginning of a trend, or a one-off?

    http://www.cyberpresse.ca/chroniqueurs/alain-dubuc/201109/21/01-4449762-les-communistes-a-la-rescousse-du-quebec.php

    Strong words too:

    "La seconde, plus troublante, subodore une espèce de dynamique militante de perte de contact avec la réalité, de stratégies élaborées en vase clos où on oublie un peu le vrai monde et les vraies affaires."


    And a reply from M.Beaulieu:

    http://www.cyberpresse.ca/place-publique/opinions/201109/28/01-4452227-qui-sont-les-radicaux-.php

    ReplyDelete
  6. Editor, my suspicion is that they'll be going after the bilingual message boards...But it's a guess only...

    ReplyDelete
  7. ““We don’t want the party to end, the “free” trips, expense accounts…perks, gold plated pensions, free this, free that…Yes indeed, see we in government, are all entitled to our entitlements folks and we can’t stop that, at least not until we retire. Our unions say so, it’s ours and we want it now...$$$”

    Scum bag parasitic unions, police, all government…all the same, bankrupting future generations…and they don’t give a damn.

    We now have over 3.6 million people working for government across the country. Average salary in government is 70 thousand (including benefits, pension, bonuses...) yearly and rising. Average salary in the private sector is 45 thousand yearly and dropping. Over 10% of government employees now make over 100 thousand yearly. In the private sector the number is under 2%. Look to Greece, Ireland and Quebec (all bankrupt), this is where Canada is headed if we don’t stop equalization and get spending and government growth under control. This tax and spend, union scum, socialist, big government, social engineering that has been destroying this country has got to stop. Yes, it has left Quebec and has been spreading throughout the rest of the country since the 1960”s, that’s right over 5 decades of massive government growth, massive government hiring, higher taxes, skyrocketing government salaries, social engineering ( the expensive forced phony charter, bilingualism, multiculturalism…) and more and more debt. Thanks Trudeau, Tanks kebec (original native spelling). Don’t believe me; go check the stats for yourself.

    Try to digest this scum bags. Who do you think is going to pay off all this debt you are leaving your children, your grandchildren? That’s what I thought, you don’t care!

    So go ahead, protest idiots.You have no idea whats really going on... I hope it rains, snows...you can all rot in hell.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Haha, I love the "Champlain francais" movement.. These people really must not have busy lives.

    I also propose that we build a dam in the Richelieu, so that we stop receiving "la maudite eau anglaise sale" from the US.

    After all, english water caused all the flooding this spring! Les maudits anglais!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. "Canada had nothing to do with the conditions of manifest greed and stupidity that brought down the once mighty US economy. The mortgage debacle, the housing collapse and the related liquidity crisis passed us by, but not without collateral damage. Of all the western economies, Canada weathered the storm the best."

    You may want to check your facts editor. The economist global debt clock shows we are as indebted as the europeans:
    http://www.economist.com/content/global_debt_clock

    Secondly, when the worldwide debt ponzi crashes you'd better believe we're going to get it. Here's a lecture at the annual Russian bankster conference on deflation and hyperinflation given by Mike Maloney. There's a link to a second film at the bottom of the page.

    http://worldwideponzicollapse.blogspot.com/2011/10/mike-maloney-lectures-banksters.html

    Didn't attend Occupy Montreal but the kids (not the FLQ flag carrying 'tards) are trying. They might want to "aim" at a better target as per Stephan Molyneux.

    http://worldwideponzicollapse.blogspot.com/2011/10/your-enemy-is-state-stephan-molyneux.html

    DD

    ReplyDelete
  10. "You might be a fleabagger if:
    don't accept god because lack of evidence but accept global warming despite lack of evidence."

    There is plenty of evidence to support global warming and the vast majority of climate scientists think it is happening.

    ReplyDelete
  11. @ Anonymous at 9:52 AM:

    "Il est reconnu que parmi les anglos natifs du Québec la vaste majorité des plus instruits et des plus compétents quitte vers d'autres cieux. Ce qui laisse une communauté anglo de souche plutôt faible, d'un point de vue qualitatif."

    After the British conquest of Quebec, the French elite were expelled. This left the inferior Habitant peasant farmers who became inbred over several centuries.

    Quebec Anglophones built one of the best universities in the world - Mcgill - and it is still staffed, administered and attended by a significant number of native Quebec Anglophones.

    Anglos also made Montreal the economic powerhouse of Canada; this has mostly been destroyed by the Quebecois nationalists.

    "Il est aussi reconnu que parmi les Américains et les Anglo-canadiens les moins bons parmi les plus instruits et les plus compétents, un nombre significatif d'entre eux quitte leur pays respectif pour s'établir au Québec, ou ailleurs dans le monde, car ils ne sont pas assez bons pour se trouver un emploi convenable dans leur Amérique anglaise."

    Lesser educated and skilled Anglophones in North America usually don't have the money and means to relocate elsewhere. They rarely move to Quebec, because it is extremely hostile to their (English) language and it has effectively become a police state.

    "On se retrouve donc au Québec avec une "communauté" anglo où il y a un grand nombre de « pas bons » et par conséquent un grand nombre de frustrés de leur situation. Ce qui explique le plus grand nombre d'anglos à Occupons Montréal."

    There may be a large number of Anglos at the Occupy Montreal demonstrations because a lot of them have been disenfranchised as a result of Quebec's fascist language laws. They also face a great deal of bigotry, hostility and rejection from Francophones when they apply for jobs. This is also the case for many allophones and immigrants in Quebec.

    ReplyDelete
  12. "On se retrouve donc au Québec avec une "communauté" anglo où il y a un grand nombre de « pas bons » et par conséquent un grand nombre de frustrés de leur situation."

    That's an interesting view of things, to say the least... But then what does it mean that these dregs of the Anglophone people have lower dropout rates, higher average education and higher incomes than Quebec francophones and allophones? What does that say about the other 2 groups??

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  13. @anon 6:19

    Allophones that use only English as their 1st official language have a higher income then allophones that use only French.

    ReplyDelete
  14. "After the British conquest of Quebec, the French elite were expelled. This left the inferior Habitant peasant farmers who became inbred over several centuries."

    This is true. Under the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1763, the French elite was given a choice to sell the property and assets to the British (yes, even though the Brits were the victors, they respected France as a nation state and were much more generous than in Ireland and India for example, where they would just take what they wanted). The only condition was that the decision had to be made within 18 months.

    Almost the entire French elite took the deal, including the majority of clergy, and returned to France within 1.5 years. The only part of the elite that opted to stay behind was a fraction of the clergy. All the others left behind were peasants. Within a year and a half, the francophone community was deprived of its intellectual class (in effect decapitated as a society).

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous at 18:34,

    "Allophones that use only English as their 1st official language have a higher income then allophones that use only French."

    Spot on! I am proudly one of the example. I am an allophone, an immigrant. I live in the province of Quebec and I speak English all the time unless if my counterpart clearly unable to do so. My wife's French is rather limited.

    Yet my family income is within upper 15 percentile in the U.S. and Canada.

    ReplyDelete
  16. For shits and giggles, Louis Prefontaine is against the "Occupy Montreal" movement. His reason? The movement does not have any credibility since it does not speak French.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QQCpQ42_GCQ

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  17. ''Mieux vaut être pur et dur, qu'être impur et mou'' Pierre Graveline

    Québec indépendant ! En marche !

    ReplyDelete
  18. People are overlooking the obvious. I'm betting that the reason why there are so many English signs at the Occupy Montréal protest is for the same reason you see English signs at similar protests in non-English cities around the world, including Paris. The protestors don't want their message to be read only be Francophones in Quebec, but by people around the world.

    So I don't think the English signs necessarily means more of the protestors were Anglo. It may be a majority were either bilingual Francophones, or Francophones who got somebody else to translate their signs into English.

    ReplyDelete
  19. One note---I haven't seen the "Occupy Paris" protest signs. The one I did see on Google was in French, and I"ll bet most of the protest signs in Paris are in French. But don't be surprised if some of them are in English, too.

    ReplyDelete
  20. adski,

    Did the French not leave New France in exchange of cane sugar-rich Caribbean islands, notably Martinique and Guadeloupe?

    ReplyDelete
  21. To my dear fellow readers and contributors: You know WHAAAAT? It's now "tomorrow", and I think this topic has run its course and I hope dear Editor won't mind if I change the topic, and if so, that never stopped me or other contributors to this blog anyway.

    I didn't hear about the shipbuilding bid results until the 11PM news, and I'm delighted with the results. How about the rest of you? I especially want to hear from half wit revisionists like Appuyezle9 and Haiti Dearest.

    The big winnah and champeen in all this: HA-LI-FAX! Damn good for them. The Atlantics need a good shot in the arm, and on each and every trip down East, I've had pleasant experiences thanks to the good folks of that part of the world. They fully deserve this boost and I couldn't be happier for them!

    BC gets the consolation prize, but their economy isn't in as rough shape as in the East; nevertheless, their forestry and other industries have been suffering, so hopefully this will cover some of their losses.

    Davies Shipyards in Lévis at best can get the booby prize--a $2 billion contract that neither Irving nor the company on the West Coast can bid on, but there are others who can still tender a bid.

    What's best about all this is the bidding was completely closed, leak-proof, and done absolutely cleanly--even the opposition barely uttered a sound about it.

    The French media? I won't be surprised if a whole bunch of lies and innuendos are thrown Harper's way by the time the first papers are in the racks before the crack of dawn. As Editor has written before, the truth doesn't get in the way of a good story, and I'm sure there will be a plenitude of fiction to be read on the morning Metro ride to work. I'm sure "The Rag" a.k.a to me Le Journal de Montréal will maybe have more pages devoted to this than their sports page - well...maybe not!

    They can all write their stories until they have carpel tunnel syndrome and talk themselves Quebec flag blue in the face, but the simple fact of the matter is, the contracts were awarded fair and square! Quebec lost strictly on their own merits.

    There was actually a good doubleheader on October 19th. Besides the shipbuilding contracts, Charest decided to launch the inquiry into corruption in the construction industry, only about two years (30 years, really) after this should have taken place. Trouble is, I think this will be another toothless inquiry, not ruthless at all. I fully agree there should be no immunity granted to anyone involved, but I fully disagree that there will be NO powers of search and seizure. Who's going to come forward to possibly end up prosecuting themselves? Based on that question, add what's the use of all this if the judge appointed to the case has no powers of search and seizure? It totally defeats the purpose. QUÉBEC SAIS FAIRE!

    Those involved in the inquiry are going to be handcuffed right from the start. Sounds like it's going to be another $10 million of Quebec taxpayers' money being pissed against a wall! Another half-assed inquiry. I can't help but wonder if your beloved Premier John James "Goldilocks" Charest is in some way behind the machinations, and by structuring the inquiry in this half-assed way makes it that much more difficult to pin it on him.

    Meanwhile, I'll enjoy my smoother commute to work on the main thoroughfare that is being paved. $10 million spent on improving roads beats John James "Goldilocks" Charest's phony posturing any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

    Hey Quebec! Remember that 1965 hit song by the Beatles, "I'm a Loser"? SING IT! That's your theme for the day! Billions lost fair and square on a shipbuilding contract and for sure $10 million on an inquiry that will solve sweet f---all!

    ReplyDelete
  22. @ Mr. Sauga

    You read my mind! That breaking news story is precisely the reason I dropped by tonight. Remember my analogy of Harper giving out my fondest wishes as Christmas presents, well, I think tonight I just got my first one a bit early! I nearly cheered and applauded when I heard Quebec was excluded from the ship building contract!

    It's about bloody time Canada function on a program of fairness and actual merit, not preferential favoring. If Quebec wants something...well it had better earn it now! No free hands out to Quebec just because it whines, kicks and screams, while threatening to hold its collective breath. It's like seeing a spoiled rotten child finally put in its place by its parent!

    If Harper gives out enough of these "gifts", I think I'll have to come up with a parody song of the The Twelve Days of Christmas. "On the first day of majority, Harper took from Quebec...". Bahahahaha!

    Yep, should be an interesting news day in the French media on how they spin this.

    ...And speaking of the French media, did you catch the September 28th article the editor wrote about entitled "More Anglo Bashing on Quebec Television"? Of all places, TVA was on the attack for the strip mall on Norte Dame in Chomedey (that once housed Chomedey Foods, Maxies, Lilly's Bakery). I was wondering what you thought of that, being your old stomping grounds. Right around the corner from where we both lived!

    Or more interesting in the news, the attack on the Jewish population in Hampstead over an anti-nose bylaw. The Suburban had a rather distributing follow up from the station 9 police, who not only gave them an escort, but defended their antisemitic actions claiming the Charter of the French Language gave them the right to do what they did! Rather scary when you have Quebec police defending a menacing hate group, that amounts to the same kind of people and attitude in the old South.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I dispise all extremists, no matter what they stand for. Being an extremist is, by my definition, that 5 percent at the end of the spectrum who feel superior to the ninty percent in the middle due to some abnoxious, limited view on reality. This applies to religion, science, intellectualism, sports and yes, economics.

    What the protestors should be presenting as their main tenant is their disagrence with extremist capitalism.

    Having said that, why extremists of all sorts are protesting is beyond me.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Troy: "Did the French not leave New France in exchange of cane sugar-rich Caribbean islands, notably Martinique and Guadeloupe? "

    I didn't know this before, but you're right, the islands were part of the deal.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadeloupe

    "One indication of Guadeloupe's prosperity at this time is that in the Treaty of Paris (1763), France, defeated in war, again, agreed to abandon its territorial claims in Canada if the British returned Guadeloupe, which was captured in 1759."

    -----

    This is surprising to me and makes me think that Britain respected France a little too much.

    ReplyDelete
  25. "what does it mean that these dregs of the Anglophone people have lower dropout rates, higher average education and higher incomes than Quebec francophones"

    Comparé le taux de décrochage, le niveau d'éducation et de revenu d'un peuple qui a été militairement conquis, économiquement dépossédé et socialement décapité, comme le souligne adski-bottine, avec ceux de la minorité ethnique la plus choyée de la Terre, et jusqu'à preuve du contraire, de l'Univers, est pour le moins malhonnête. Mais cela est compréhensible car être malhonnête est un trait de caractère typiquement Anglo-canadien. Le référendum de 1995 l'a bien démontré, encore une fois.

    Cela dit, il faut comparer des comparables. Ainsi donc, il faut comparer les éléments précités avec ceux de l'Ontario. Et à ce titre, le Québec se compare avantageusement. Notamment, en 2006 les Québécois ont atteint un seuil historique quant aux revenus, compte tenu du coût de la vie, car il a égalé celui des Ontariens.

    La récente récession économique a par ailleurs démontré que le Québec a mieux résisté que l'Ontario. Ce qui démontre en partie que le modèle québécois est un modèle économique et social SUPÉRIEUR à celui de ces crétins d'ontariens.

    Un modèle que les Québécois se sont bâtis en 50 ans et que le parti des anglos et des allos, le Quebec Liberal Party, est en train d'affaiblir. Notamment en dépossédant les Québécois de leurs ressources naturelles en ayant vendu au rabais les droits d'exploration et d'exploitation du gaz et du pétrole au secteur privé et aux étrangers, alors que ces droits appartenaient à l'État du Québec.

    En terminant, une chose est certaine : il y a eu un premier exode massif d'anglos dans les années 1830, il y en a eu un deuxième dans les années 1970 et il y en aura un troisième d'ici dix ans. Vive le Québec libre !

    ReplyDelete
  26. @ anon 8:58

    actually the current exodus is your pur lainers leaving montreal in droves. In 10 years Montreal will be less then 30% Franco. Hopefully by there will be a non franco majority in Vaudreail and Laval as well.

    Then the fun will really start. A threat of seperation to Quebec. I don;t think the Pur laine chauvanists would be able to handle it.


    Funny those scumbags that went to Hampstead asked for a police escort. They weren't all that confident that they would get out in one piece.

    ReplyDelete
  27. @Mr.Sauga:

    First of all, hi.
    Regarding the Davie, I'm sure anyone who's rational will realize that there were 2 contracts, and 3 shipyards. One of them was going to go without a contract. There's nothing unfair about it. I'm far from being an expert, but from what I know, the Davie shipyard has received a good amount of government aid in the past few years - we can't get everything, fair is fair (and I wouldn't be surprised if we have been getting more than our fair share until now)

    You said we "lost" a million dollar contract. I think many decent people in this province will agree with me when I say that it's not lost, far from it. It's still money being spent in this country, which is always a good thing. I'm very happy for the two shipyards who got the two contracts, and for the workers there. They're my fellow Canadians, after all.

    So what I'm trying to say, as usual, is that we're not all like what you described. I like to think that the group you describe represents a vocal minority of crazies who have nothing better to do.. but I think most of us are able to see beyond our little selfish needs. We are a country after all, and what's good for you is good for me.

    As for the inquiry into construction, I don't really like to discuss that issue, because I think lots of people have already made up their mind without even fully knowing the issues... Personally I don't know enough to judge for myself. I'm not going to fall for the PQ's propaganda.
    What I can tell you is that yesterday, right after Jean Charest announced his inquiry, Bernard Landry (the péquiste) was on a certain radio station to give his opinion. Surprisingly, he was rather satisfied by what had just been announced.
    We have to keep in mind that even if we would like to see some people hung in public over this, we still have laws and a justice system, and people have rights, no matter what.
    That being said, I'm sure that what he announced isn't perfect. But I'm equally as sure that there's *nothing* he could have said (short of "I'm a mafia leader, please bring me to jail") would have made people (and the PQ) happy.

    When I think about the whole government/construction corruption issue though, I can't help but think of how things would be if the PQ and their queen Pauline, in her 8 million dollar Ile-Bizard castle, had been in power instead of the Liberals.
    It may cost us more money, but at least the current government is investing in our infrastructures. The PQ, who were in power from 1994 to 2003, only spent money on a referendum and racist language laws..
    So, best of the worst?

    And finally, @anon 8:58am...
    En terminant, une chose est certaine : il y a eu un premier exode massif d'anglos dans les années 1830, il y en a eu un deuxième dans les années 1970 et il y en aura un troisième d'ici dix ans. Vive le Québec libre !

    It's nice to have dreams. It's too bad you don't follow the news; the latest surveys (yesterdays) have the PQ at 18%.. That's about 1 or 2 ridings. Hopefully by then you idiots will be wiped out just like the Bloc, and then we can start moving forward with the rest of the country.

    - Quebecker of Tree Stump

    ReplyDelete
  28. @Anonyme 8:58 am

    Bang!En plein dans les dents.Je ne suis donc pas le seul à avoir remarqué la malhonnêteté intellectuelle des anglos-canayens.

    Effectivement l'ontario et le Québec ont des parcours fort différents donc incomparables.Le Québec est devenu une grande Nation.

    Très bon commentaire.

    Adski-bottine... :)))...Excellent!

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  29. Bang!En plein dans les dents.Je ne suis donc pas le seul à avoir remarqué la malhonnêteté intellectuelle des anglos-canayens.

    Je pense plutôt que ce sont les séparatistes qui modifient souvent la réalité afin de justifier vos idées racistes.
    Il est également possible que vous êtes simplement mal informés, ou que vous manquez l'intelligence pour comprendre, donc on peut vous le pardonner.

    Effectivement l'ontario et le Québec ont des parcours fort différents donc incomparables.Le Québec est devenu une grande Nation.
    Si on compare le Québec avec l'Ontario, et que vous dites que le Québec est devenu une grande nation, l'Ontario est donc devenue une ÉNORME nation??

    Est-ce que vous passez votre vie avec vos yeux fermés, ou vous ne voulez simplement pas accepter la réalité? Ça doit être spécial de vivre dans son petit monde imaginaire, comme vous le faites.

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  30. "...vous manquez l'intelligence pour comprendre, donc on peut vous le pardonner."

    Votre phrase aurait plus de sens ainsi:

    vous manquez d'intelligence pour comprendre donc nous pouvons vous le pardonner.

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  31. @ Anon. at 8:58 AM:

    "....ceux de la minorité ethnique la plus choyée de la Terre, et jusqu'à preuve du contraire, de l'Univers"

    Yeah right...their English language has been restricted or banned in Quebec and is constantly under attack, and they have been forced out of their jobs or refused jobs if they don't speak French.

    The best treated minority in the world - or the universe - are the Quebecois, who receive billions of dollars from other provinces every year with no strings attached, and who have been allowed to place restrictions on one of Canada's official languages.

    "Mais cela est compréhensible car être malhonnête est un trait de caractère typiquement Anglo-canadien. Le référendum de 1995 l'a bien démontré, encore une fois."

    The 1995 referendum exposed the deep-seated malice and dishonesty of the Quebecois separatists, who committed massive fraud by rejecting thousands of valid "No" votes at the polling stations. They also presented a vague, ambiguous and misleading referendum question in an attempt to trick some people into voting "Yes".

    There is also the rampant corruption within Quebec society - more so than in any other Canadian province. This is backed up by the announcement yesterday of a public inquiry into the corruption within the Quebec construction industry.

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  32. Après le référendum de 1995, je me suis acheté un gadget intéressant. Il s'agit d'un compteur de haine raciste.

    À chaque fois que que francophones et anglophones se rencontrent dans un fil de commentaires tel que celui-ci, il suffit que le sujet traite de près ou de loin du Québec (e.g. le festival de la patate de Saint-Glinglin) pour que mon compteur de haine raciste frise l'explosion.

    People tend to say things online that they wouldn't dare utter in "real life". Hatred is rampant on the web, and Québec politics suffer from it just like any other subjects. Racism, however, is no ordinary kind of hatred. It is the ferment of the worst atrocities, and menaces peace in our society. I am very worried by the levels of racist hatred I observe between anglophones and francophones on the web. Don't get me wrong, I think there's some frightful sh*t coming from both linguistic groups. There are blatant examples in this very thread.

    Transparence totale: je suis un souverainiste, et un souverainiste convaincu. Je sais pertinemment qu'il s'en trouve dans le camp fédéraliste pour délégitimer cette position politique, pour faire des souverainistes de "méchants séparatistes", des traîtres malhonnêtes, nécessairement incompétents, frustrés et haineux. Il y a aussi des souverainistes pour qui le fédéraliste est soit un traître à la nation à la morale irrécupérable, ou un détestable colonialiste anglais.

    Je sais aussi qu'il existe des gens capables d'accepter les divergences d'opinions avec maturité et de débattre avec sérieux dans le respect de l'autre. J'entretiens l'idée, peut-être naïve, que ces derniers forment la majorité dans les deux camps. Par contre, presque tout dans ce fil de commentaires contredit cette idée, et me plonge dans une effrayante atmosphère de guerre civile.

    Do I strike a cord with any of you, are there people among those who read this that agree ? If you think that we need more respect and less hatred between francos and anglos in Québec, and that action is needed, contact me: damien*dot*biotpelletier*at*gmail*dot*com
    Do not contact me, however, if you do not agree with the basic premise that neither the french nor the english are pathologically evil, stupid, or inferior. Do not bug me, also, if you think that either federalism or sovereignism are instrisically immoral political positions. On the other hand, If you do not shiver at the thought of a fraternal shake hand with a "separatist", then please, email me.

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  33. "Comparé le taux de décrochage, le niveau d'éducation et de revenu d'un peuple qui a été militairement conquis, économiquement dépossédé et socialement décapité, comme le souligne adski-bottine, avec ceux de la minorité ethnique la plus choyée de la Terre, et jusqu'à preuve du contraire, de l'Univers, est pour le moins malhonnête. Mais cela est compréhensible car être malhonnête est un trait de caractère typiquement Anglo-canadien."

    I was just being sarcastic in my question... your "des pas bons" comment was just too funny. But really, kids drop out of school because of things that happened decades/centuries ago??

    And if you can't compare Anglo-Quebecers to Francos, I guess you must go with Anglo-Ontarians... and not that I agree with much of what you said in your comparison of Ontario and Quebec, but if the Quebec model is SUPERIOR to the Ontarian one, then presumably Anglo-Quebecers compare well to those inferior Anglo-Ontarians, no?

    I am not Anglophone by the way.

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  34. ...to tree stump: Re Davies losing out on the contract: Good attitude on your part. As for the inquiry, nobody would be hung (hanged, actually, is the correct term).

    Canada abolished the death penalty in 1976, a full 14 years after the last execution. I'm not looking for lynchings, but certainly a plenitude jail time for the deserving.

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  35. ...To Apple II: Thanks for the compliment and reminiscing. My sentiments exactly re the Hampstead situation.

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  36. @ anonymous 9:36 am

    "Funny those scumbags that went to Hampstead asked for a police escort. They weren't all that confident that they would get out in one piece."

    That mob which committed a hate crime against the Jewish community in Hampstead did NOT ask for a police escort. It was the Montreal police that offered it!

    The police should have been there to arrest these lowly pieces of scum, not proudly escort them. Can you imagine the police escorting members of the Klu Klux Klan, as they drove through a black neighborhood, while blasting their car horns, radios and waving Confederate flags? Well, that is what Montreal police have done, and shown where they stand.

    To quote the Suburban:

    "[police Station 9 commander] Bissonnette pointed out that Hampstead's bylaw does not prohibit the type of noisy protest that occurred Saturday, as it applies to noise from construction-type machinery.
    "The code does provide something about honking, but we also have the Charter [of the French Language], which says people have the right to hold a protest, so we escorted them..."

    Wow. Just wow. It just goes to show if there ever is violence enacted against ethnics or Anglophones in this province, we can see where Quebec police stand. To serve and protect indeed...the Quebecois' right to hate. Disgusting, and scary.

    The editor should write a follow up piece on this.

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  37. ...to Tree Stump: I forgot to mention in my previous response to you that Bernard Landry is probably speaking softly because he's probably behind some of the shenanigans that went on. Either that, or he's really mellowing out in his old age!

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  38. “pour faire des souverainistes de "méchants séparatistes", des traîtres malhonnêtes, nécessairement incompétents, frustrés et haineux.”

    I don’t buy into it. I think most of the separatists (especially the younger ones) are idealistic dreamers (like university students who never held a real job and know nothing of real life) and also the kind of people that just can’t accept life for what it is, and want to make themselves bigger than they are, hence they came up with an idea that gives their lives some meaning. It’s the same thing with religious people, or nationalists which worship the god of nation-state.
    Mixed with these dreamers are cunning and cynical politicians and the elite who stoke the fears (loss of culture and language) and whip up patriotic fervor (the state and the leader above everything else) in order to mobilize the masses to vote in a way that benefits the ruling class, which wants a country for prestige, and prestige only. The same mechanism of whipping up mass hysteria is at work in the US before any war they want to conduct oversees.
    Mixed with those two groups is a fraction of racists like Mario Beaulieu, Louis Prefontaine, Patrick Bourgeois, or Press 9. Their behavior is motivated by a desire to even out historical grievances, and beat (in battle, if necessary) those who have beaten (and thus humiliated) their ancestors a million years ago or so.


    Thus, the word I characterize the sovereignty camp with is the word “boring”. What I want from them is to stop yapping about this thing. Want a referendum? Have it. Want to achieve “independence” with violent means? Try it. Want to pursue other channels of action? Do it. Be proactive. Don't be boring.

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  39. @Anon Oct20th 6:41

    Si tous les souverainistes pensaient comme toi, je ferais certainement partie de votre camp.

    Here's the problem though: ever since René Lévesque started the PQ, people have transformed his ideas into a hatred for anyone from a different culture, or who speaks a different language.

    You may not agree, but I see it as "protecting the weak, lazy and stupid". Here, let me give you a simple example: If I know more languages than you, and they are useful for a job (like say, working for the city of Gatineau), I should be making more than you. It only seems logical.
    But not in this province, no! We have laws against that, because it would be bad for the poor little lazy people who never bothered to learn anything.

    IE: The union mentality.

    And that's my major problem, the racism, and the fact that we'd rather protect the lazy/stupid/weak than encourage those who actually put in an effort.

    - Quebecker of Tree Stump

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  40. "There is also the rampant corruption within Quebec society - more so than in any other Canadian province. This is backed up by the announcement yesterday of a public inquiry into the corruption within the Quebec construction industry."

    Don't forget the sponsorship scandal. It was caused by Francophone businessmen in Quebec who made fraudulent claims with the federal government for work that was never done. And the Prime Minister at the time was Jean Chretien - another Francophone from Quebec.

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  41. Quebecker of Tree Stump: "ever since René Lévesque started the PQ, people have transformed his ideas into a hatred for anyone from a different culture, or who speaks a different language."

    This mentality sits deeply within some people.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=X9h1ukrlt4k

    Last sentence in the comment from dede10155: "Tous les emplois de l'État du Québec doivent être unilingue français."

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  42. You talk about the ''sponsorship'' scandal, but one thing you seem to forget... The liberals and whoever is in that political party are against Québec improvement and growth of this province,nation and it's people. Jean Chretien may be a Francophone but he is a ''sell of'' a ''vendu'' to the private sector, the elite and the federalism idealogic. They just keep f*cking Québec interest and the people who live in it whether they are French or Anglo tax payers middle class or poor... They try to keep Québec backwards weak and poor and sell the natural ressources for almost nothing to the private sector to not say steal it from it's ''habitants'' They keep us backwards with their mentality and ideaology(they don't give a sh*t about green energy environment and the middle class, they rather stick and have their retarded dirty energy development instead of improvement) oh yeah and they stick with the retarded monarchy and queen thing... like if it's the 17century or something. Trought independance or sovereignty we will improve as a nation and the majority of the ideaology of its people on environment,natural resources management and redistribution,economics,health and education, transport, ect... (those bridges tunnels, highway and overpass are still handled by the federal right now. And by the way they still fallin on our head! whether your French Anglo or separatist or not.) Trought Independance Ottawa and the Feds could not interfere or block us on future improvement beacause of their backwards ideology and let this province die like if it's a third world country by stealing it's people and theyr natural ressources and tax income... trought many scandals and corruption story... They stole the Referendum in 1995 and yes it was Jean chretien with the help of many others who succeed to cheat it and stole it and he's french. so it means nothing the name it's rather the type of person is vision and is actions. Should we Stay in the Neo-Liberalism Failure and Backward mentality? or Look Foward on Improvement? and try something new? For a Québec Libre and it's People Libre! Pour un Québec Libre et un Peuple Libre! Libre of it's decisions and it's futur. Libre de ces decisions et de son avenir.

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