Sovereignty..... the New Asbestos!

The collapse of the Bloc Quebecois and the recent implosion of the Parti Quebecois has filled newspaper columns across the country with expert opinions as to what exactly were the underlying circumstances that led to the shocking decline and fall of the sovereignist empire.

I have a bit of trouble taking these opinions seriously because none of these so-called experts  predicted any of this beforehand!
It's a bit like all those mavens on CNBC that explained why Wall Street collapsed... after the fact!

Before the last federal election, not one expert and pundit breathed a word about the imminent fall of separatist support, so I wouldn't put much stock in what they have to say today.
We all know about hindsight...

Public opinion has always been volatile in Quebec and prone to wild swings in direction, sometimes seemingly overnight. Predicting or explaining these 'virages' is an exercise is futility.

I've been asked on a number of occasions why these volatile political mood swings occur almost exclusively in Quebec.
After careful consideration it is my considered opinion that the phenomenon is based largely on media influence, which is much more focused and profound in Quebec, based on the limited media choices Quebeckers have.
Typically a Quebec French language TV news and information show will have six times as large an audience (on a pro-rated basis) as that of a comparable program on English Canadian TV.
Simply put, because of this narrow media exposure, Quebeckers are apt to change positions and reach a newly-formed consensus much more rapidly than English Canada.

It has been postulated by experts, more attuned than I, that Jack Layton's wildly popular appearance on a Radio-Canada, Sunday night talk-show, where he was fawned over by obliging  hosts, sealed the deal and concretisied the NDP victory in Quebec.

Years ago, my job as an operations manager had me travelling around Eastern Canada on an ongoing basis.
In Quebec I'd always ask the first francophone employee I met, which show they watched on TV last night. I then would use it as a conversation starter with all the people I'd meet during the day.
"Hello, what did you think of "LES FILLES DE CALEB?" Invariably, most had watched the same show the evening before!
You could never pull that off with English employees who have access to dozens of choices of original programming on a multitude of networks and thus are much more likely to be influenced by a much wider panoply of opinions.

**********************************

For as long as I can remember, Quebeckers have been proudly supportive of the Asbestos industry, a solid job provider and steady income producer.
But in a matter of a few short months that opinion has largely changed. A few negative television documentaries has had a devastating impact on public opinion. TV pundits, the few that there are, have gone negative on the subject.
Support for the industry has collapsed and is now relegated to those with vested interests and some self-delusional holdouts who maintain that the product remains safe and needs only a few safety tweaks to remain viable.

Sounds a bit like sovereignty doesn't it?
What was so good for so long is no longer in vogue.

Sovereignty, like asbestos, has had a precipitous fall from grace. A few unflattering documentaries, a few negative television shows and the sovereignty ideology that was a pillar for decades is now looked upon with disdain.
And so there is no road back for asbestos and there is no road back for sovereignty, they are relics of the past.
They may linger on for a few short years, but the writing is on the wall. 

We know that safety concerns is what is killing asbestos,  but I haven't heard a convincing argument as to what is killing sovereignty.

And so gentle reader, I offer you an alternative theory, which I shall transmit via an allegory, not quite the quality of Alice in Wonderland, but an honest attempt just the same; 

Imagine if you please, a young aspiring actor,  fresh from acting school, ready to conquer the world. 

With the enthusiasm of youth and the idealism of the uninitiated, she ventures out on auditions and casting calls, only to be disappointed time after time.  
She lands a few minor roles, which only serve to whet her appetite, while the big breakthrough that she's expecting, remains elusively around the corner. 

As much as she loves her craft, success is taking  too long. She becomes impatient and restless.

Then remarkably, after years of disappointment, she gets the role of a lifetime, but alas, is devastated when the show collapses in front of her eyes. 

After pulling herself together, she perseveres, convinced that if it almost happened once, it could happen again.

The years go by. She gets older and wiser. Her looks fade and the odds of her landing it big, become more and more remote.

Her dream is tattered but not dead.  She still burns with desire to succeed, but time is grinding her down. After another few months, realty sets in.

Not knowing any other life, she soldiers on for a time, but eventually loses her ardour. She misses a few auditions and then finally stops trying at all.

Tired and drained, beaten down by the years of disappointment, she comes to the sad realization which leads to a fateful decision;

"I love acting, but I just can't do this anymore. Dreams don't always come true and so it's time to move on. I'll always be an actor, but sadly, I'm done."

And so readers, 40% of the Quebeckers who are sovereigntists didn't become federalists overnight.
...They've just given up.

Separatist Parade a Sad Humilitation

There are those in the militant French language camp who maintain with perfectly straight faces that the Fete St. Jean celebrations are open to all and are inclusive, as long as participants agree in advance that 'tous passe en français.'

Unfortunately, such is not the case, the government in all its wisdom handed the organization of the festivities to radical sovereigntists. In Montreal, Mario Beaulieu (president of the Societe Saint-Jean-Baptiste, of Montreal)  is president of the organizing committee, the Comité de la Fête nationale du Québec à Montréal and so, it should come as no surprise that the festivities have a separatist bent.

In this regard the government has only itself to blame.

The real problem is not that anglos and ethnics are not welcome per se, it is that federalists are not welcome and as a result of that reality, Anglos and Ethnics become excluded.

I took a bit of heat in the comments section last week for telling Anglo and Ethnic readers that we are not welcome and we are not wanted at these festivities. I stand by that assertion and offer a critique of the parade as rebuttal to those pretending that the parade and the celebration of the St. Jean Baptist Day, aka the 'Fete Nationale,'  is something other than a separatist manifestation.

Nothing reflects this separatist ideology better than the parade, which celebrates Quebec history to the point of distortion, eliminating the English from the narrative and whitewashing the fact that Anglophones were instrumental in building Quebec, particularly Montreal.

It's a bit of fantasy, akin to Photoshopping a divorced partner out of the family album.

The parade centers around twenty or so "giants,'  ten to fifteen foot high representations of famous Quebec historical figures. These garish floats look as if they were conceived in an amateur art class, ugly and fearsome. I never knew that Jacques Cartier suffered from acute acne and that he was bug-eyed!

If you think I'm being unfairly cruel, a sad anglo trying to 'rain on the parade' I defy anyone to justify this 'giant' on the right.
I've no clue as to what it represents, but it seems that some Quebec ancestors must have arrived from   ORK, which obviously must be a French-speaking planet!

Of all the 'giants' paraded, there was not even one representing an Anglo, Scot or Irishman, apparently we don't rate.

Considering that Montreal was largely built by these three English-speaking groups, it is an unpardonable re-writing of history.

Shame! It is an unconscionable travesty to pretend that Quebec's history is devoid of anglos contributors.

Read about the Scottish contribution to Quebec

Famous Anglos who might deserve a 'geant' 

So thank you very much, but we'll have no more platitudes about the inclusiveness of the parade from organizers.  

To paraphrase OJ Simpson's lawyer- "If you are not French, Sit on the bench!"

Last year, the patron saint of the Quebec, John the Baptist, was present, but curiously even he was absent this year (according to the TV version of the parade.)

The Rocket Richard float remains a curiosity, with the famous hockey player bedecked in a Canadians jersey, sans the famous "CH" crest. Did the hockey team refuse permission to use the logo or was the organizing committee offended by the fact that the symbol was representative of the word 'Canadiens'?
A curious public wants to know.....

The first clue that this was a separatist celebration was Chantale Trottier president of the  Mouvement national des Québécoises et Québécois waving merrily to the crowd from one of the convertibles filled with Quebecois 'notables'
Her organization is dedicated to four principles; 

1. Quebec sovereignty
2. Protection and promotion of French
3. Promotion of national pride
4. Coordination of the Fête nationale du Québec

The parade lasted barely an hour, a sad testament to revisionist history, ugly and amateur floats, enthusiastic but poorly choreographed students plucked from various amateur dance schools, who were paid $25  plus a meal, according to the SSJB website.
So much for patriotic zeal. Pitiful.

As is the tradition, notable politicians march together to signal the end of the parade. This year several personalities were notorious by their absence.
Last year I published a photo of Jack Layton and Uncle Tom Mulcair marching arm in arm with the likes of Amir Khadir and Mario Bealieu.
I've heard through the grapevine, that the publication of that photo, memorializing that association did not sit well with the powers that be in the NDP.
This year both leaders were nowhere to be seen. Mulcair made it a point to tell a Radio-Canada reporter that he was too busy in Ottawa to attend!

Last year(top) Layton, Mulcair and  Khadir front and center. This year, Khadir alone, banished to the sidelines.

Interestingly, Amir Khadir was relegated to the end of the line and was forced to march far, far, from Pauline Marois.
Gilles Duceppe was there, giving credence to a news report that he's interested in a political comeback.

As final proof of the separatist bent to the parade I offer these pictures. You be the judge.

Now compare this sad parade to that of the St. Patrick's Day parade, which interestingly uses the same optic as the St. Jean Baptiste parade, that is, the idea that everyone is Irish on St. Paddy's Day.

This camaraderie and honest inclusiveness makes the Irish parade the most successful parade in Canada, with sponsors and groups lining up to participate to the point that there is a waiting list. Marching bands, military groups, community groups, corporations, small business, bars and restaurants,  media and politicians of all stripes from Quebec, Ontario and the Northern American states are welcomed to participate, whether Irish or not.

When I see the colonial Yankee fife and drum corps, march down St. Catherine street,carrying the American flag, playing a historic chord,  it sends chills down my spine. Not because I'm a Yankee, but because these are our valued neighbours, who have proudly honoured us with their presence!
What a fine parade!
Everyone is welcome! Hurray!

It this open and non-political attitude that makes the difference!

The message of the Fete St. Jean parade is not a celebration of Quebec culture. It is not a celebration of the French fact or the French language.

It is a celebration of Francophone separatists and as such enjoys the exact success it deserves.

Shame on the provincial government in abdicating its responsibility by allowing a separatist lobby group to hijack the holiday.

It is indecent.

Ten Things for Anglos to do on June 24th

Since anglos and ethnics are not particularly welcome at the official 'national' celebrations, paid for incidentally, by all citizens, here's a list of suggestions on how to spend the day.

Now before I generate a mountain of comments suggesting that all are welcome to celebrate, there is a proviso to that invitation that is a deal-breaker for we infidels.

We are all invited to celebrate the 'national' holiday as long as we do not express ourselves in our native tongue.

Sorry... it's a deal-breaker.
Yup, No thanks....

We prefer to believe in freedom of speech and freedom of artistic expression. And so while Francophones enjoy second rate talent rammed down their throats by language police, world class talent like Arcade Fire, are forced to sit idly by.  I guess if you drink enough, which is de rigueur on this holiday, even Barney the Dinosaur can sound like Bono.


Here's my suggestions on how to spend a sunny day off that falls on June 24th.

5. Backyard BBQ with friends and family
4. Golf, baseball or tennis or cycling.
3. Road trip to Ontario or New York State.
2. Parc Safari for the kids or grand kids.
1. Picnic in a West Island park.

If it's raining;

5. Clean the garage
4. Indian casino
3. Go to a movie
2. Getting blitzed at an Irish pub
1. Read a good book

Readers, any suggestions?
Have a happy Fete St. Jean day off!

Suggested Reading for the Fête St. Jean

 Here are some past post regarding the Fete Saint- celebration that you may find interesting;

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 

St. Jean Baptiste Day, Time To Get Out Of Town

The fact that the two anglophone acts, Bloodshot Bill and the band Lake of Stew were re-invited to perform in a Fete St-Jean show after being dis-invited should not be taken as a sign that the celebration is becoming more open towards minorities, nothing could be further from the truth.

The only reason for the re-integration of the anglos was the intolerable level of negative publicity.
After a couple of days of futilely defending the indefensible, organizers decided that it would be wiser to beat a tactical retreat...this time.

Read the rest of the post

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

La Fête Nationale - 20% of Quebeckers Don't Count

The organizing committee of Montreal's  Fête St. Jean celebration held a news conference to announce it's plans for the big show in Maisonneuve Park and proudly and merrily let it be known that in no uncertain terms, English artists will be excluded.

There'll be no repeat of last year's fiasco where English artists were invited, dis-invited and then reinstated to perform at a local Fête Nationale celebration in a Montreal district.

To wild applause, the Comité de la Fête nationale de Montréal through it's spokesman Guy A. Lepage, proudly announced that the celebration in Maisonneuve park will be a French only affair.

"We have a panoply of artists this year, which I think, is very representative of the Quebec we know..."  Guy A. Lepage

Maybe Mr. Lepage doesn't know Quebec as well as he thinks. He ignores the fact that 20% of the population of Quebec is English or ethnic. Most of them live Montreal, pushing the percentage even higher in the city where this "French" only show will be held.

Read the rest of the post 

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

René Levesque In A Skirt?
I finally got around to watching a recorded TV version of the Fete Saint Jean parade which was held on June 24th.
For most anglos, attending the parade is not high on the things-to-do-before-you-die list. The parade is so far out in the east end of Montreal that those of us who would wish to attend would need to pack a suitcase.
The short parade (1 hour) clearly suffers from a lack of sponsorship, it's plainly evident that there aren't too many companies keen to be identified with what is clearly a nationalist/sovereignist manifestation. The only sponsors I could make out (aside from the state monopolies) were Amaro water and Labatt's beer. It made for an amateurish and decidedly lame affair.

Read the rest of the post

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Fête St. Jean versus Fête Nationale -Which is it?
The recent brouhaha concerning the ousting and subsequent reinstatement of Anglo artists at Quebec's annual celebrations brings up an interesting question.
What exactly are we celebrating on June 24?

When I was young, there wasn't any doubt. The holiday was called 'La Fete St. Jean' and was a celebration of French Canadian culture. That was it, period.

Read the rest of the post   

Earl Jones Prison Update- Life is Good..

For most of us, Earl Jones is just a dim memory, a Montreal fraud artist who had his fifteen minutes of fame last year, where through a cruel and maleficent fraud, he conned his friends and family, a genteel and proud group of seniors, out of approximately fifty million dollars.
For many of his victims, mostly Anglo retirees in Montreal's west island, Jones' escapade cost them their comfortable retirement, with many forced to sell their homes and some forced to survive on the largess and generosity of family. Some are even less fortunate with nothing and nobody to fall back on.

So annoyed was the public at the thought of Jones benefiting from early parole that would see him serve just 21 months of an eleven year sentence, that a successful lobbying campaign was undertaken on the Harper government that saw the scrapping of the law that allowed non-violent first time offenders to serve as little as one-sixth of their sentence.

At first there was a bit of confusion as to whether the new law would affect Jones as he was convicted under the old law, but it is confirmed that he will not be getting out this Christmas and will probably serve almost four years, at a minimum.

For victims who wanted to see Jones serve 'hard' time in a Federal penitentiary, it was never in the cards. These institutions are reserved for murderers, mafiosi, bikers and other violent criminals. For Jones, it was off to minimum security prison in the federal institution, SAINTE-ANNE-DES-PLAINES INSTITUTION  located about a forty minute drive north of Montreal.

The prison holds under 200 prisoners housed in two dormitories with a few lucky inmates (sixteen) housed in one of four on-site apartments, where four inmates share a unit in an exercise in rehabilitative communal living. There are no locks on the doors but head counts are done several times a day.

Guess where Earl is?

Yes, Earl is the beneficiary of a place in one of those fine apartments which includes separate bedrooms and a kitchen where inmates can cook up a storm by themselves. Each week, Earl and his co-locs, are allowed out of the prison to do a little grocery shopping at the local Provigo.

Earl had been ill, suffering from cancer (melanoma?) but seems to be doing okay now. He has secured a job in the administration offices (if you can believe it) of the prison and perhaps his training includes lessons in how not to fraud up documents. At any rate I hope they are not letting him fill out requisition forms!

As for family visits, my source couldn't enlighten me if Earl enjoys contact with his wife. It is known that during his trial Earl was seen entering and exiting the then home of his wife on Grosvenor Avenue in the tony Westmount district of Montreal.
 
Minimum security prisoners are afforded conjugal visits (PFV's or private family visits)  and un-escorted day and weekend passes (ETA's & UTA's) as well as work release programs.
Of course prisoners enjoy all sorts of distractions including television and computers, which supports the Canadian minimum security penal philosophy of incarceration, not punishment.

And so life is pretty laid back at the prison, not much worse than boarding school and the only real punishment is having your freedom taken away. Other then that it's a pretty soft gig.

As for having any money stashed, it remains a mystery. Jones had some pretty pricey legal council represent him at his trial, which wouldn't make sense for someone who is broke.
He remains in contact with the law firm via regularly scheduled phone calls. Hmmm......

For a more detailed review of what life is like in a Canadian minimum security facility, here's a CBC article.

When Government Runs Business

I happen to have an acquaintance who runs a very successful strip club in downtown Montreal and before you make assumptions about the type of company I keep, I'd remind readers that I know an awful lot of politicians and lawyers and I can assure you that he is more reputable and honest then most.

When I say 'successful' strip club, it's a bit of an inside joke, as there is almost no such thing as an unsuccessful strip club. My friend, the strip club owner, has joked that he could probably open a strip club on the Moon and it would make money, that's how good the optics are.

Probably the only way a strip club could lose money, is if the government ran it.
As you may have noticed the only businesses that the government gets into are those that are wildly profitable and ones where they can create a monopoly to compensate for their incompetence.  Without competition, prices can be raised to the point that despite management waste and union largess, profits still roll in.

No, if the government wanted to run a strip club successfully, they'd have to eliminate all the competition and double the price of lap dances before they could make money.

Now all this is inspired by a story that I read recently reporting that the Loto-Quebec's new online gambling site is losing money.  
LOSING MONEY!!!!!!  

How can Espacejeux.com lose money, while a site like Poker Stars made a $1.7 billion profit last year.

"Government gambling sites fail to attract enough paying customers. Their design is less attractive, their features not comparable with those of private sites and the "atmosphere", less glamorous." LINK{FR}

 The sad truth is that when the government has to compete in the real world, with bone fide competitors, they cannot make money.

Loto-Quebec successfully sells all manners of lottery tickets, because there's no one else selling tickets in Quebec, but Espacejex is forced to compete in the online world where the government can't enforce its monopoly and where gambling sites around the world offer gamblers a better experience.

Back in the day before Loto-Quebec, several mob outfits used to sell lottery tickets (a variation of the 'numbers game') and the competition was robust with the payout percentage actually better than what Loto-Quebec pays out now. I remember my dad buying me a very popular lottery ticket that paid out based on the time of a penalty or goal in the Canadiens Saturday night hockey game. If a goal or penalty occurred on the time on your ticket, or a second before or after, you won a pretty good cash prize, delivered Monday by your friendly mob runner. Of course the mob didn't have plush offices and  hundreds of employees to reduce profits, nor did it have expensive promotions and advertising. The actual tickets were tiny pieces of cardboard folded over and stapled shut with the number inside written by hand. The runner who sold you the ticket recorded the number for security reasons. How's that for keeping expenses down!
Very lucrative!
The only trouble was that the Mafia being what the Mafia is, they couldn't content themselves to the normal profits the lottery business brought in. The whole lotto scheme collapsed when it was revealed that the mob had fixed it with the Habs time keeper to stop the clock  on even numbers only, while all the tickets were sold with odd numbers!! Haha!
But I digress....

The government follows a simple business plan, one inspired by organized crime, which is based on eliminating competition.
While the liquor monopoly (SAQ) rakes in a billion dollars in profits, it is calculated that by getting out of the booze business and privatizing the lot, the government would double their profits  through various forms of increased taxation, while the industry would remain profitable through economies made on operations and the elimination of wasteful management practices.

The same goes for Hydro-Quebec. It's estimated that the government power generating monopoly has twice as many employees as necessary and pays them 30% more than private competitors. A typical generating dam costs double to build than in the private industry! Yet Hydro-Quebec is looked upon by Quebeckers as a great success and testament to Quebec business acumen because it generates over three billion dollars in profit a year.
Lost in all this is that 1.7 billion dollars of that profit comes from reselling cheap Newfoundland power which it 'buys' for pennies and sells for dollars!
Again, it is estimated that the Quebec government could double it's profit by privatizing Hydro.

All this of course is just idle day dreams, it can never happen. The Quebec 'model' is just too ingrained and the idea of privatization an anathema to the vast majority of Quebeckers who view public corporate ownership as a source of pride, a sacred trust.

Here's a suggestion which I made in semi-jest to the ex-director of the SAQ (the liquor monopoly) at a convivial dinner we shared, a couple of years back. He laughed mighty hard at my suggestion.

Instead of privatizing cash cows like the SAQ, Hydro-Quebec  and Loto-Quebec, the government could open rivals, also owned by the government!
These companies would operate as competitors with managers rewarded if they outperformed their state-owned competitors!

Two different casinos, two different liquor stores and two different power generating companies, forced to take heed of what the other is doing or face losing market share!
Managers would finally have inspiration to cut costs, their jobs would depend on it!

Would market forces of as free market would apply, even on a limited basis! You betcha!
We could finally justify those performance bonuses that are rife in these monopolies presently that actually make no sense without competition.

My acquaintance from the SAQ assured me that he could increase profits if he wanted to, by 50%, but had no incentive to do so!
This would include buying up and operating vineyards in Europe and South America to  eliminate middlemen and reducing retail locations to cut costs. Suppliers would be squeezed with threats of having their product pulled from SAQ shelves, something that never happens now. Stores would be sub-contracted to franchisees which would cut labour costs by 40%.
It was an interesting exercise in 'What if"
These type of economies would occur in all government agencies if a whiff of competition would be introduced.

Too bad it will never happen!

French versus English - Volume 29

Separatists launch Quebec Anthem
It's become a custom for many years now for sovereignists to conduct themselves as if Quebec were already an independent country, as if it would somehow hasten the glorious event. In this fine tradition the Societe Saint-Jean-Baptiste in collaboration with a Quebec songwriter has launched a proposed national anthem without of course the requisite status of actual nationhood. Story + Lyrics{Eng}

The anthem, with the very original title of 'O Kebek' was to my Anglo ear, entirely tedious and flat, with words right out of a separatist handbook. Now I wouldn't voice my irritation at the song which sounds like a rejected number from the musical Notre Dame de Paris, except that the whole thing is being razzed rather cruelly in the Francophone press.

Montreal La Presse columnist Patrick Lagace in an article entitled "My Bleeding Ears" said if Quebec ever separated and chose "O Kebek" as its anthem, he'd be seeking political asylum elsewhere.  Raôul Duguay, the songwriter, boasted that he graciously gave the song for free via the web. "Lucky for him," Legace went on to say, "nobody would pay for it." LINK{FR}

Small business' in Ethnic neighbourhoods to get French language lessons
A new government initiative will focus on small business' in ethnic neighbourhoods of Montreal that operate largely in English. LINK{FR}
Inspectors will be  'visiting' stores and where deficiencies are found, will offer various tools to help business' to adapt to the French language.
The program has its own dedicated website which aside from the default French, offers Spanish, Arabic and Chinese versions, but amazingly, none in English!

Nothing to get upset about, none of the alternate language links work anyway!!  Check it out yourself!
What a colossal waste of money!


Muslem immigration to Quebec to be subjected to quota

"Nearly a year after the release of a study that pegs the unemployment rate for Algerians living in Quebec over the last five years at 35.4%, the Minister of Immigration of Quebec, Kathleen Weil,  proposes a system which would result in restricting the entry of Arab-Muslim populations in Quebec....

According to Pierre Anctil, a specialist in Canadian immigration history at the University of Ottawa ..... With this policy, the proportion of immigrants of North African origin would decrease from 38% to 30%.
"We are disguising a  religious, cultural and linguistic quota by a geographical reference. Selecting immigrants based on color, religion and language is discriminatory in the eyes of the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms... "  Link{FR}

PQ does an about-face on restricting access to English cegep...... or not?

According to La Presse, a Montreal newspaper, the PQ has decided not to subject colleges (cegeps) to Bill 101, which would disallow many Francophone and allophone students from attending English cegeps.
Readers might remember that this was a central plank to the PQ platform that was affirmed at a conference in April.  
It appears that Pauline Marois has either changed her mind, or never really intended to follow through on this hard line approach.
When asked about the issue, Ms. Marois refused to confirm this shift.  
As the a controversy built around the La Presse story, Madame Marois felt pressure from within the party and issued a press release saying that the story was false. LINK{FR}

Readers, do you get the feeling that the PQ and Marois are starting to lose it? LINK{FR}

NDP imposes English,  for Ottawa aide jobs

"Is Bilingualism important?
Yes, says the New Democratic Party ... but only for Francophones.  
The party of Jack Layton in fact requires bilingualism as a condition of employment for any person wishing to work in Ottawa for one of its members from Quebec, but it does not require fluency in French for those who work for MPs outside Quebec. Following the election of 66 additional members on May 2, the NDP is in the hiring blitz. Its website displays 42 vacancies..........

...The hiring criteria is however not the same for those who apply to work for a Quebec  MP as it is for the rest of the country.

Bilingualism is "required" for anyone wishing to work in Ottawa for a member from Quebec. The reverse is not true. The job of parliamentary assistants to MPs outside Quebec only indicate that bilingualism is an "asset". Even British Columbia MP Denise Savoie, though French herself, does not require of her future deputy parliamentary a knowledge of French.... READ THE REST OF THE STORY {FR}

Militants demand French songs at High School Prom
Another French language defence committee "Le Mouvement Mauricie français" has been inaugurated in  the the massively unilingual French region of La Mauricie, centered around the Three Rivers Trois Rivieres area, where one would be hard pressed to find an anglo, an anglo sign or someone who spoke fluent English. 
No matter, it was down to business and the first order was to embark on a tour of local High schools to make sure that English artists and songs would be limited at the PROM. .LINK{FR}
THE PROM!!!!!
I'm not kidding!...Readers, can they scratch any lower?

Camille Laurin honoured with bronze bust.

Camille Laurin, father of Bill 101 and chief inquisitor of the Parti Quebecois of the Rene Levesque era, has been honoured with a bronze bust displayed beside the Office de la langue française building in Montreal which also bears his name. 
Mr. Laurin may be well loved in the French community but remains the most-hated politician EVER, among Anglophones. 
Mr. Laurin's defence of the French language was tinged by a particularly mean streak towards Anglos,  of whom Mr. Laurin had a very deep and particular dislike. LINK{FR}

 Quebec Rules?  
For those who believe that Quebec takes up too much 'space' in Canada, according to 'Ice Road Truckers' on the Discovery Channel, this is the latest Canadian reality;

Further Reading: French versus English Volume 28

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

From Montreal, Thank You Vancouver!

Thanks to the City of Vancouver for making the Montreal Stanley Cup riots a thing of the past, an dim memory supplanted by the nasty and classless rioting displayed by 'disappointed' fans.
We are off the hook.
When the hockey world next talks about classless, riotous fans, Vancouver is what we'll remember.

And so Vancouver, as the motto of the Montreal Canadiens says;

"To you from failing hands we throw the torch. Be yours to hold it high." 

I'm not sure why the big surprise over the loss to the Bruins, every hockey fan outside Vancouver knew that the Canucks had lost the series back in game 3. 

How nasty were the Vancouver fans?
Here's a video of the mayhem, watch at the 3:15 mark to see a security guard  get the bejesus kicked out of him for trying to defend a storefront from looting.

The only happy circumstance is that the riot took place in daylight and there were a million cellphone cameras recording for posterity.
This will get interesting in the next days as police round up the major offenders.

Watch police nail someone in the nuts with a flash-bang grenade...Ouch! 
More video of rioting
Even More rioting video

As for the Vancouver Canucks, it would have been the worst travesty had they won the last game, having been thoroughly thrashed and embarrassed by a Bruins team that was just plain tougher.

Lets face it, the Canucks have a talented team that can win in the regular season but not when things get down and dirty.

The Bruins humiliated the Canucks and what most fans suspected all along, Roberto Luongo is just not a clutch goalie, having been thoroughly out-classed by Tim Thomas. To make matters worse Luongo had the audacity to call out Thomas' play in classless and stupid outburst that made little senses considering that Luongo was playing scared.  In a sarcastic comparison to another choker the Canucks goalie is now being hailed as "LEBRONGO"...ahem.

Up until the forth game I was hoping for a Vancouver victory, more because they were facing the hated Bruins and less because the team was Canadian, but my loyalties shifted to the team that truly deserved to win.

The proud legacy of the Olympics and the stellar image portrayed to the world of  Vancouver as a beautiful world class city, gets flushed down the toilet as riot footage gets beamed around the world.
And no, it wasn't just a few bad apples rioting, it was widespread.

And so the goat horns of shameful failure is shared equally between the hapless Canucks and the proud rioters  of the City of Vancouver.
Sadly it looks good on both.

Don't Count Sovereignists Out

There's little doubt that the sovereignty movement suffered a monumental setback with the massive defeat of the Bloc Quebecois in last month's federal election.
The electoral bashing was as painful to the sovereigntists as it was satisfying to federalists.

Things went from bad to worse with the recent defection of four hard-line sovereigntists from the PQ caucus, ostensibly over the Pauline Marois' forced support of Bill 204, a law designed to shield the city of Quebec from any legal action in relation to its arena with Quebecor, but in reality a denunciation of the party's go-slow approach to sovereignty.

Falling polling numbers indicate that the party is now trailing the Liberals, an unimagined turn of events that few would have predicted just one month ago.

To make matters worse, Francois Legault finally announced that he will be launching his new party in the fall and appears to have more support than anyone else. It's abundantly clear that Quebecers  are tired of hearing about sovereignty and referendums. Mr. Legault has cleverly positioned his party as nationalist, but has wisely excluded talk of  the big "R" or the big "S"

It's heady days for Quebec federalists, with newspaper article after newspaper article heralding the final demise of the Quebec sovereignty movement, but before breaking out the champagne we would be wise to reconsider that conventional wisdom.
I am reminded of the famous retort that the famous American novelist and humorist, Mark Twain made after hearing that his obituary had been published in the New York Journal.

"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated!"

No, there's little doubt that the movement has suffered a setback, but those of us in the federalist camp who believe that the movement will peter out and die are sadly optimistic and perhaps are viewing events through rose-coloured glasses.

Looking at the situation realistically and unemotionally, we must reluctantly admit that despite recent events, not much has changed over the last ten or fifteen years in terms of support for the sovereignty option.
Notwithstanding the election results and falling polling numbers, support for sovereignty remains remarkably resilient and at a level that should continue to make life uncomfortable for federalist Quebeckers.
Despite all the sovereigntist bad news, between 35% and 45% of Quebeckers still remain committed to the ideal of independence.
And so if support for the movement remains stable, it would be fair to ask what happened in the last federal election and what happened to the Parti Quebecois' fall from grace.

In a word - fatigue.

Quebeckers have come to realize that right now and for the foreseeable future, the votes for sovereignty are just not there and they are tired of fighting and losing.
The 50% plus one referendum rule is a double-edged sword. Lose by just one vote and Quebec sovereignty is a no-go, as we came to learn in the last referendum.
As the old saying goes, "Close only counts in Horseshoes and hand grenades"

In many respects Quebec is less ready for independence than it was in 1995 when the second ever-so-close referendum took place.
Since then, the province has accepted almost 400,000 immigrants who will massively vote NO in a future referendum. Quebec's finances are in disarray and the province has piled on tens of billions of dollars in additional debt. Dependence on Ottawa's largess via equalization payments is at a record high and public confidence in its institutions and politicians (of all stripes) is at a record low.

Many Quebeckers who remain sovereignist are also pragmatists who realize that Quebec is in a mess. They've decided that it's time to put the sovereignty option on the back burner and concentrate on the more pressing issue at hand, getting the provincial house in order.

It's a concept that the old sovereigntist guard led by Jacques Parizeau have difficulty accepting. Facing down their twilight years, he and his aging cohorts simply don't have the time to wait for conditions to improve and so they selfishly demand that Quebec give it that another roll of the referendum dice, with the odds stacked badly against them. This reckless attitude, afforded by the comfort of a secure retirement, had the Young Turks of the Parti Quebecois seeing red. Just last week, they sent a polite letter to Parizeau telling him to butt out of affairs.

Intuitively, most sovereignist Quebeckers realize that the option must be put on hold until conditions improve, not necessarily sovereigntist conditions, but the general political and economic climate that has hit rock bottom.

Those Canadians smugly satisfied that the sovereignty threat is gone are sadly mistaken.

The 35%-45% number of sovereignty supporters remains problematic and disquieting.

I recall Richard Nixon's bold trip to China, at the height of the cold war in 1972  and the subsequent  opening up of relations between the America and the Eastern giant.
It seemed that a Conservative president accomplished what no Democrat was able to do. It was an unexpected and brilliant coup.

In this respect I believe that Stephen Harper, in a position of strength and power, can have the confidence and determination to do what no Liberal could achieve. That is to make a constitutional deal that would drive sovereignist numbers way down.
Now is the time.
While the militant sovereignist would bray at any deal, most Quebeckers realize that perhaps half a loaf of bread is better than none.

If Canadians think that the prospect is not in their interest, they are wrong.

Denis de Belleval -Quebec's Most Hated Man

You'd never know it looking at the photo of Denis de Belleval that he's now probably the most hated man in Quebec. The mild-mannered, soft-spoken ex-civil servant is the paragon of calm, reasoned and lucid reasoning and perhaps that is why he is so disliked.

Mr. De Belleval is an ex-Quebec city manager who has taken exception to the under the table deal that Mayor Regis Lebeaume struck with media scion Pierre-Karl Péladeau, in relation to the proposed new arena in Quebec City.
Mr. De Belleval has unleashed, by way of his threatened lawsuit which would challenge the legality of the deal, a series of improbable and cascading events which has shaken the political foundations of the Parti Quebecois. For an excellent explanation of the whole affair watch the video report by CTV Montreal HERE{Eng}

There's little doubt that Mayor Regis Lebeaume pulled a fast one in signing the deal with Quebecor without calling for tenders as required by municipal law, hoping that in the frenzied anticipation for a new NHL team, nobody would contest the faux pas.
But somebody did and when De Belleval made noises about challenging the deal in court Lebeaume scurried to his friends in the PQ to help him insulate the deal by way of a private members bill that would shield the city from any such litigation.
As we all know, that didn't turn out well for Lebeaume and the PQ and the failure of the Bill to pass in Parliament has allowed the lawsuit to go forward, much to the chagrin of arena supporters.
This has unleashed a torrent of hate and nastiness,  directed at Mr. De Belleval for his audacity to challenge the collective will of arena supporters. While one would expect the comments sections under related news articles to be filled with vitriolic denunciations, what is shocking is the virulent and nasty criticism levied upon Mr. DeBelleval in the mainstream press.
I've seen a lot of angry denunciations in my time, but this one, by Albert Ladouceur of the Journal de Quebec,  has to take the cake. The level of anger and hate is beyond the pale and is usually reserved for war criminals and serial killers;

The vicious hypocrisy of hate

"Removing the mask of Denis Belleval unveils the face of the vicious hypocrisy of a former politician and civil servant who is waging a personal and acrimonious war on the backs of the whole population.

Belleval hates mayor Régis Labeaume to the depths of his soul....
.. His press release yesterday betrays contempt for Quebecor and the NHL.....

...This man has never been motivated by a sincere desire to defend democracy.

... By his arrogant attitude, his pretentious speech, this character places himself in a position of vulnerability from individuals who do not always express their feelings of frustration and anger in a civilized manner.

As patronizing as an aristocrat from a royal court, De Belleval, CEO of the city during the era when the Nordiques of 1995 left town, he ignores the desire of the majority of Quebecers. He is trampling on the will of citizens who support the construction of an arena and a return of the NHL. He does not listen to them. He hears only himself.

By removing his mask, De Belleval positions himself squarely against the efforts of a major local company to bring the NHL to Quebec City. He has vomited on Bettman and the NHL and all professional sports.

He calls the NHL "an industry so badly managed that the majority of its members are virtually bankrupt. Only the use of public funding allows them to survive.... "

According to De Belleval, "the slavish and destructive pursuit of a professional franchise is undermining the social fabric of many cities in the world and regularly gives rise to public finance disasters."....

...Those who support him may discover in him a destructive and narcissistic tendency, rather than the need to carry the torch of democracy.   LINK{FR}

Wow! The writer actually warns that Mr. de Belleval has put his life in danger!

Here is another pretty vicious attack, this time by Jean-Jacques Samson, again in the Journal de Quebec;

Eastern Quebec supprots the arena project massively

"The allegations by Denis de Belleval on Regis Labeaume, Quebecor and the NHL displays  staggering and contemptuous rage..

His vicious attack is packed with innuendo, malicious references to possible criminal acts or irregularities, of favouritism in the negotiations between the City of Quebec and Quebecor, as we have witnessed in recently in other municipalities.....

M. Belleval makes unfair and derogatory judgments about mayor Régis Labeaume and Quebecor Media, which he associates with corporate welfare bums....

...M. Belleval is discredited by his emotional, offensive and unreasonable accusations.

The  right arm of the former mayor Jean-Paul L'Allier, is in a particularly poor position to criticize anyone, company or individual, having just been removed from the government. His entire career has been spent, with the exception of a brief interlude from 1983 to 1985 , working for the government He has benefited from personal acquaintances with Brian Mulroney, Lucien Bouchard, and friends in an old boys network from the University of Laval."

The author then goes on to a lengthy description of the government largess that Mr. de Belleval benefited from including numerous soft appointments to government jobs and several golden parachutes.

"...Should we then speak of civilian welfare bums to designate members of this small oligarchy which distributes among themselves the positions of power? ...

..I fail to understand what De Belleval seeks, perhaps an escalation of litigation? An old Breton proverb says, that he who pisses into the wind will rinse his teeth." LINK{FR}

Here's one more denunciation from the same article, this time by Jérôme Landry, of 'Nordiques Nation,' a lobby group set up to promote the return of an NHL team to Quebec.

"He knows nothing and it takes up too much public space. He alone knows what is good for society. It is a pretentious position. What is wrong with listening to what people want? I do not know by what right he can put a spoke in the wheels of an important project for Quebec. It's snobbery. He looks down on all that the middle class enjoys. He's a 'dinosaur' according to Regis Labeaume. "This generation of politicians and officials cost Quebecers a lot.

 It is those like him who are responsible for deficits and debt. It is those like him who have created financial problems in Quebec. The generation of the 80s. He's in no position to lecture anyone. I 'd like him to clarify the severance packages he received for his work in the public sector. The author of all that has happened, Denis Belleval put his personal political agenda before the public interest of the taxpayers of Quebec." LINK{FR}

And so the attacks on Mr. de Belleval, mostly ad hominem  display a rage rarely seen in the press. The arena issue and Mr. de Belleval's unwelcomed interference has so enraged the local Quebec City press that all manner of scorn has rained down upon him and the fact that he seems to relish the attention further exacerbates the controversy.

But Mr. De Belleval is not the only one to feel the public's rage in the arena affair. Amir Khadir, the hitherto untouchable member of the Quebec Solidaire, who despite his numerous controversial positions has never really had the shine taken off his apple, is now perceived by 37% of Quebeckers as the chief instigator of opposition to the Quebec City arena.
Through thick and thin Khadir has maintained his personal popularity, but it now seems that it is limited to his constituency in the Plateau Mont-Royal in Montreal. Mr. Khadir, who has attacked, big business, rich people, Israel, the United States, and Canada in the past, much to the indifference of Quebeckers, miscalculated when he attacked hockey.
Now that's something that Quebeckers will just not cotton to!

His position against the arena has badly hurt the chances of his party in the next election and its chance to elect members outside the island of Montreal. A poll in Le Devoir on Saturday pegged the QS support down to 9%, just enough to hurt the PQ through vote-splitting, but not really enough to elect any members aside from Khadir.
Thank-you, Mr. Khadir!


NOTE TO READERS
As summer is upon us, I'm going to take a semi-break by publishing just three times week, MONDAY, WEDNESDAY and FRIDAY, until September.

I do hope you'll continue to drop by!