20 Years of Giving the Finger to Ottawa Finally Catches up with Quebec

Quebeckers have always been emotional voters and the results of the last federal election confirm once again, that they don't always vote in their best interest. 

Not overly concerned with issues, they vote for 'personality,' leaders who they perceive are on their side, or as they say in French 'sympathique', rather than those who can deliver tangible benefits.

But if Quebeckers don't understand the axiom that political power is proportional with representation in government, perhaps they should consider an old hockey analogy, something they do understand well enough.
That is, that you can't score goals sitting on the bench, even worse sitting in the stands.

For twenty years Quebec got away with this under-representation because the government of the day  believed that Quebec was essential to majority government and that pandering to its interest would somehow translate into future electoral support.

The last two elections destroyed that myth and the present government has no illusions about future considerations (another hockey analogy.)

Quebeckers, are coming to the very slow realization that the Earth has shifted under their feet. All of a sudden, the Harper government is no longer playing the game by the rules that Quebec defined.
This reality is slow to sink in.
Because of history, Quebec naively believed that there'd be no consequences to rejecting the Conservatives again and the old game would be continued to be played by the old rules.

But sometimes, things change.
A guy can only ask a girl out so many times before giving up in frustration.
And so Harper gave up on Quebec, looked for a new beau in English Canada and surprisingly found her in southern Ontario.
For Quebec, it's quite a shock, because the flowers and candy are no longer flowing its way. The slow realization that the province is the odd girl out is hard to swallow, but true nevertheless. And now as Harper struts down Main Street, arm in arm with his new girlfriend, Quebec looks on in disbelief, starting to worry that it's just not a fling.

Typical of those who can't read the writing on the wall is Richard Martineau of  Le Journal de Montreal who complains that too many royalist terms are creeping into the Conservative lexicon.

"When the federal government announced that Jack Layton would have a state funeral, the press release said that Jack Layton was "head of  Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition and a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada '. My God !!!!! Harper is really attached to the Queen ..."

In response, a reader in the comments section set Mr. Martineau straight, rather succinctly. 
"Get used to it, he's got a majority" LINK

Another slow to realize that Quebec has no IOU's to cash in Ottawa is Pauline Marois who suggested last week that she and Jean Charest form a common front and go to Ottawa to demand that Harper pay for a new Champlain bridge. Link
This is the same Marois who promised to make Harper's life Hell, if elected as Quebec premier and so teaming up with Jean Charest who humiliated Harper at an enviornmental conference last year in Copenhagen, to demand anything, is a bit presumptuous.
Good luck, with that!

I'm not suggesting that Harper is deliberately hurting Quebec, it's just that without proportional representation in cabinet, Quebec's point of view is shortchanged.

A good example of this is the re-application of the 'Royal' appellation to the Canadian Air Force and Navy, a decision wildly detested in Quebec.
Had there been four or five more strong Quebec members in cabinet, it would never have happened.

Having treaded lightly during the years of minority government, the Conservatives, now that they have a free hand, are bound and determined to re-shape the country. Make no mistake, those changes will be profound.
With little or no influence on those decisions, Quebec is badly served.

Already cabinet Ministers are taking an arrogant in-your-face attitude against those who complain about their agenda, whether they be in the civil service or the private sector. Even sadder is the fact, that when Quebec politicians and media complain about policy, they are roundly ignored, not even given the courtesy of a response.
That's how important Quebec is to the Conservatives. What a change!

Recently, Jason Kenney ripped Amnesty International a new one, for it's criticism of the government's publication of a most-wanted list of immigration fugitives. His open letter condescendingly mocked the organization and set a tone that this government wasn't going to listen to those who don't share its philosophy. LINK.
This follows a letter he wrote last year blasting Catholic bishops for opposing his anti-human smuggling bill. LINK
This isn't the first time Kenney ran afoul of the Church. Last year he was also chastised for cutting $7 million in funding to KAIROS, a Canadian church organization which supports overseas development in Third World countries. Kenny accused the organization of being antisemitic.

Then Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, blasted the public broadcaster for refusing to publish that same most-wanted list of fugitives that Ottawa is keen on deporting. Realizing from which direction the wind is blowing, the CBC caved, as did Radio-Canada in reversing its decision to hire Gilles Duceppe. LINK   Watch a Interview

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson told the Canadian Bar association to take a hike when it opposed the Conservatives new sentencing guidelines for criminals.  LINK

And then there's Heritage Minister James Moore who didn't agree with the federal language watchdog's decision to spy on Ottawa businesses, publicly mocking the official Languages Commissioner Graham Fraser for proposing that mystery shoppers check whether Ottawa merchants are serving customers in French. LINK

All of these ministers are sending the clearest of signals.-
Tow the Tory line or face the consequences. Their motto- "RESISTANCE IS FUTILE"

Let's not forget the elimination of the gun registry and the elimination of the voter subsidy for political parties, all hotly opposed by Quebec.

But perhaps most galling is Ottawa's decision to provide a loan guarantee to Newfoundland for a project that would build a distribution network for electricity that would bypass Quebec, infuriating Quebec politicians who view the affair as unfair competition. Ottawa's response- icy silence.

ALL THIS WITHIN THREE MONTHS OF BEING ELECTED!

Let's not forget, that over the next four years, Harper will completely re-shape the Supreme Court, with a least four, maybe five of the judges scheduled to be changed.  

And so the pendulum has swung away from Quebec, and even though many in the province haven't realized it yet, with four more years of Conservative rule, the penny will inevitably drop that Quebec is the odd province out.
With so few Conservative seats in Quebec to protect and the threat of a referendum and Independence no longer viable, Quebec has lost all leverage in Ottawa.

How will Quebeckers react?
Petulance? Arrogance? Rage? Frustration? Defiance?

I'm getting a different sense.
It comes from a shift in opinion in those comment sections under all those stories of the big bad Conservatives that fill Quebec newspapers and websites. Readers are starting to advocate cooperation and in many instances are defending the Conservatives.

Something is happening in Quebec.
Realizing that blackmail doesn't work and that threats of independance are no longer scarey, voices are being raised to compromise and get with the program.

I know that this is something that nobody would dare allude to, but I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that this attitude will grow as time goes by.

Just like the girl who arrogantly brushes off an enthusiastic suitor, when those affections are directed elsewhere, interest, is re-kindled.

Parents know the spiel. Spare the rod and spoil the child.
Let's face it, Quebec was one spoilt child!

Like a recalcitrant youth subjected to a serious dose of tough love, Quebec is starting to come around, proving that decades of coddling wasn't the answer.

Can this attitude change really be happening?
Maybe....just maybe!

Friday's Post;
OQLF Sign Controversy- It's Deja Vu, All Over Again!

Ndp Guilty of Fraud over Layton Illness

The continued silence over the circumstances of Jack Layton illness confirms that what we were told at the news conference announcing his departure was not exactly the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, actually far from it.

When Jack told us he was taking time off to combat his illness and would be returning in September, he was misleading us. The truth was that he was going off to die. Very sad, but true.
Talk of returning was utter balderdash, a complete misrepresentation.

To all you Laytonites who have deified Jack in death, I don't care how many outraged comments I get.
Call me insensitive, a rat, a miserable SOB, it won't stop me from telling the truth, Layton lied and the Ndp deceived Canadians, from coast to coast.

This post is not intended to denigrate Jack Layton's memory.
Not many people facing a terminal illness decide to take a round the world cruise, embark on a journey of discovery or a quest to complete a bucket list.
Most just want to continue their lives as is, go to work and hope for a miracle. 
That Jack Layton deceived Canada about his illness is understandable and forgivable, he did what you or I would probably do in the circumstances. It is human nature.

But Jack's illness and prognosis was  known by the powers that be in the Ndp party and they should be held accountable for not disclosing the truth. Even if Jack wanted to continue as if he wasn't gravely ill, the party had an obligation to tell the truth.
His former top aide, Anne McGrath, let part of the deception slip;

"From the moment he received the bad news from cancer tests in mid-July, McGrath says, Layton began scripting in intricate detail how his death and funeral should play out, planning how he could cushion the blow to his beloved party and motivate New Democrats to carry on his work." LINK

And so, at the same time that Ndp media types were ghost-writing helping Jack craft his 'Letter to Canadians' to be published posthumously, the Ndp web site was promoting the fiction that Jack would be back.

I pulled this screen-shot off that website, because I knew then, that I'd be writing this column now, and would be calling them out for their callous and insensitive exploitation of Jack's illness.

Exploitation at its worst.

It's amazing what you can get away with, when the Press refuses to do its job.

After Jack's death, journalist after journalist wrote that looking at Jack during the news conference, they were convinced that he was dying, yet not one dared to put pen to paper at the time, or even ask for details or a clarification.
Why?
Since when is politeness, fawning and deferential treatment part of the Press' mandate in covering our politicians?

While I was one of the very few to say what everyone thought, I was lambasted as being insensitive and cruel.
It was a case of political correctness gone wild, to the point that the country collectively decided to allow Mr. Layton and more importantly the Ndp to live out a fantasy in public, with nobody brave enough to call out the liars.

Last week Apple Computer announced the departure of Steve Jobs, who as most know has been suffering from cancer for quite a while now. There was no talk of him returning to work at a later date, the implication not lost on anyone.
The stock price fell by 7% in response. Had Apple intimated that he might be  back, perhaps the stock wouldn't have fallen, but the company dared not tell the lie, there would have been legal implications.

Last week there was also speculation that Sydney Crosby wasn't doing as well as expected in his recovery from a concussion and perhaps he won't be ready to start the season. Speculation was also made that his team wasn't disclosing that fact in order not to hurt ticket sales.
I have no idea if that is true, (I hope not) but if so, I'm sure you'll agree that it is patently dishonest of the team to misrepresent the facts.

The Ndp needs to come clean. Stonewalling is unacceptable. Now that Jack is gone, there is no more issues of privacy and not disclosing the nature of his illness only confirms our worst assumptions.

The Ndp is perpetrating a massive cover up and fraud over the circumstances of Jack Layton's illness.

From the beginning, the party mapped out a strategy that can best be described as making lemonade when presented with lemons, the lemons being Layton's unfortunate medical situation.

When things calm down, demands will be made for full disclosure. Questions are already being asked in the French press. Accusations are flying in vigile.net and the Ndp will have to face the music sooner or later

Many Layton supporters will say that all this doesn't matter, that the circumstances as to who knew what and when they knew it, are irrelevant and if the Ndp and Layton did indeed misrepresent his illness, it isn't a big deal.

Sorry, it is a big deal.

If Jack had been diagnosed with a serious second cancer before last May, 2nd's election, he and the Ndp are guilty of perpetrating an unpardonable fraud on Canadians. Given what we can piece together, it is likely he and the party did exactly that.

Had Jack not led the last election campaign for the Ndp, there would be many more Bloc and Liberal members in the current Parliament.
If you're a supporter of the Ndp perhaps you don't see the harm, but if you are a Liberal or a Bloc supporter, the  deception is galling.

For all those of you staring angrily at the screen, muttering about how evil I am to write this post, remember that it is me calling for the truth to come out, whatever it is, and it is you advocating  a continued cover up.

When I wrote my post after the famous Jack Layton news conference entitled  Did Jack Layton Lie?
I was subjected to scores of nasty comments and emails, yet that post became the all-time most read piece that I ever wrote and continues to get hundreds of hits every single day.

Canadians want the truth.
Canadians deserve the truth, whatever it is, whatever the fallout.

Weekend Update volume 34

Gilles Proulx's Adventures in Fantasyland

Once again, Quebec's resident anglo basher Gilles Proulx has passed off as fact what is not, in his continuing battle to cast Quebec's English community as unilingual and arrogant.

Brian Mulroney's famous grouse against Bryce Mackasey, that "There's no whore like an old whore, can be aptly paraphrased to describe Gilles Proulx-,  'There's no bigot like an old bigot.

In another one of his tedious screeds that he penned in the Journal de Montreal he outlined a series of measures that he believes that Jean Charest needs to address. One of these issues is;

"The need to teach French in English schools starting in Grade One"
("La nécessité d'enseigner le français chez les Anglos dès la première année du primaire ") LINK

Readers, is there an English school in Quebec that doesn't teach French from grade one?

Clearly Mr. Proulx is out of touch with reality and its a bit sad that idiots like him are given a forum to misinform the public with outright nonsense, in an attempt to besmirch the reputation of an entire community and to foster discord.

Perhaps Mr. Proulx should have read this letter sent to Le Devoir by a French teacher in an English school, before mindlessly shooting his bigoted mouth off.

"I am writing to help demystify what English school in Quebec is .
Did you know that most schools of the English Montreal School board offer a bilingual education program (50% of the courses are in French and 50% are in English)? In addition, other English schools offer a more extensive program (immersion): Kindergarten to Grade 2, instruction exclusively in French, and in the third to sixth years, a bilingual education.

I am a French teacher in Grade 6 at  Gardenview, an English school with a French immersion program. I teach the following subjects: French, social studies, art and religious ethics to a class, while my partner teaches English (first language) and mathematics. So I teach 50% of the curriculum in French with two classes and my partner 50% of the curriculum in English.

Believe it or not, my English students follow the same curriculum as the French school (we use the grammar book Guillemet 6). They converse, read and write without problems in both languages​​. Many of my students were accepted to private French schools. In addition, the immersion program continues in Lauren Hill high school, but that immersion will be 70% to 30% French and English.

My question is: why is it that this aspect is never addressed by the Quebec media?"
Jean-Michel Brunet - June 3, 2010 LINK{FR}

Quebec government looking to muzzle free press
With most of the francophone media (87%) in favour of government regulation of the press and the creation of a 'professional' status bestowed by the government oversight agency, the group that represents mostly English and ethnic media is aghast at the idea.

An Affront to Free Expression ... by Beryl Wasjman for the Suburban 

"Over a year ago Dominique Payette, a former journalist and now professor at the Universite de Montreal, was mandated by Culture Minister Christine St-Pierre to study ways in which media in the regions of Quebec and independent presses in the cities could be helped in light of new technologies. Her final report, presented last week, went far beyond her mandate. In fact, it is the greatest affront to free expression since the language laws. It deserves a resounding rejection. Among her fifty-one recommendations are the following: mandatory membership by all news organizations in the Quebec Press Council; use of the state's money power to coerce membership by withdrawing provincial advertising to all those who will not submit; giving the council - now a voluntary organization with only moral suasion - sanction power; controlling who is called a journalist by organizing a professional corporation  to control admission and demanding language testing for all those seeking professional accreditation. "Accredited" journalists would be given preference for matters ranging from government information flow to protection of sources."

Read the rest of this article in the Suburban 

McGill 'modifies' MBA program to defend tuition hike 

With a wink and a nod McGill has been given permission to continue charging  $32,500 for it's MBA program.
The education department accepted a 'modified' plan and will no longer impose a 2 million dollar fine on the university for charging more than allowed.  LINK

Unionized Hydro Quebec workers to spend $2 million to fight progress

Union- Don't replace the tried and true!

The unionized workers of Hydro-Quebec are raising money by taxing members in order to raise a war-chest to fight the monopoly's decision to install automated electricity meters in homes and business', which would mean the loss of about 800 jobs among meter-readers. LINK
Said a union spokesman;
"If we lose this battle they'll be coming after our adding machines and fountain pens, carbon paper and fax machines. We'll be forced to give up our IBM Selectrics in favour if these newfangled computers which are completely unreliable"
WE'VE GOT TO DRAW A LINE IN THE SAND!"

Royal Bank embraces Bill 101- in New Brunswick!

It seems that the Royal Bank of Canada remains fully committed to French language rights and Bill 101, applying its rules to signs in of all places- a New Brunswick branch of the bank.
Activist Buddie Miller wrote to the bank seeking clarification of its policy. Here is the response;

Dear Buddie:
Your email message requesting clarification on RBC’s signage at our Dieppe, N.B. branch has been forwarded to my attention.
We recognize that New Brunswick is Canada's only official bilingual province and we work hard to ensure we are incorporating bilingualism into our business activities. Wherever there is a need for bilingual services, we have signs, information and advertising in both English and French, as well as staff who speak both languages.
When we make decisions regarding signage, we consider our merchandising rules, the size of our information material, available space and the configuration of the premises. We also want to be sensitive to the cultural and community environment in which we operate. In Dieppe, where the population is considered 75 per cent Francophone (according to the Town of Dieppe website), we elected to use a bilingual sign for the entrance of our branch which displays the French language first.
Through our investigation we determined that the signage you refer to was in fact developed by our national office to comply with Quebec language laws, as you reference in your email. Recognizing that this type of signage is not required in New Brunswick, we have begun taking steps to have this sign replaced to reflect French and English equally.
Thank you for highlighting your concerns to us.
Kind regards,

Hmmmm. Do you think the RBC would apply this noble policy to branches in Quebec towns that have a majority of English residents and make English the priority language?

How about making English the priority language at the RBC branch at branch at Cavendish/Kildaire  branch in Cote St. Luc where English residents outnumber Francophones by 3 to 1.

Ha!
Readers, say it with me--- "NOT A FRIGGING CHANCE!"

Montreal opposition leader proposes a "Diversity Office" to get rid of diversity
You'd think that the function of a "Diversity Office" would be to promote diversity, but not according to opposition leader Louise Harel.  She wants to create this office to hire ethnics minorities for city jobs, not to reflect Montreal's ethnic reality, but rather to assimilate them into Francophone culture and in order to promote the French language.
Very clever!     LINK

Note to Readers;
Last Monday I wrote  a piece entitled "Early Quebec Election? Don't Count on It,"
in which I predicted that, in spite of speculation, Premier Charest would not call an early election. On Wednesday, the Premier did in fact announce that such was the case. Link
No, I had no prior information as some readers emailed to inquire.

_________________________________________

Best line heard immediately after Tuesday's earthquake felt in Montreal'

"Oh, Oh! You think the Champlain bridge is still standing!"

Best line heard immediately after the Montreal mayor announced funding for a plan to knock down the Bonaventure Expressway

"Just give it time, It'll fall down by itself!"

 _________________________________________

Further reading:Weekend Review Volume 33

Have a good weekend!

Suprise! Pauline Marois is Right!

As the feeding frenzy progresses, with militants seeking to undermine or outright destroy the Parti Quebecois, I can only sit back in utter amazement at a spectacle that reminds me of an unstable and desperate mental patient inflicting tiny cuts on his body by way of multiple stab wounds, leading to that proverbial 'death of a thousand cuts.'


Ever since May 2, sovereigntists have been looking for someone to blame for the election debacle, but since Gilles Duceppe has slinked off the stage, it appears that Pauline Marois has been drafted as the sacrificial lamb, destined to become the fresh kill, necessary to feed the blood lust of those separatists furious with the negative turn of events, a wild mob determined to wreak vengeance on someone, anyone.

And so poor Pauline is being treated no better than a piñata,  bashed around joyfully by blindfolded, directionless children, intent on destruction in the hopes of winning the candy.

So what is Pauline's great crime?
Why did her popularity collapse taking her from hero to zero in a matter of months?

Obviously it was the disaster of May 2, that triggered a stampede, led by the vigile.net rabble who exploded in utter frustration, watching the foundation of their forty years of sovereigntist militancy go up in smoke or down the drain, both metaphors, equally appropriate.

And so they have come to the startling conclusion that sovereignty can only be achieved by.... well..er.....hmmmm..... they haven't really said.

What they have said is that the PQ and Marois' go-slow approach is the wrong path to follow. Given the pragmatic point of view of the current PQ leadership that a referendum would be a disaster, the Marois approach is to take over government and rule with a sovereigntist optic until those mythical winning conditions materialize.

Not a great plan, but readers, what else can Marois and the PQ do?

Obviously the people are not in favour of a referendum or sovereignty, with  a new poll indicating that only 32% of voters would vote YES. On top of it, many of those who would vote YES, don't want a referendum either, believing realistically, that the inevitable loss would cripple Quebec even more in relation to the RoC.

Now the 'go-fast' sovereigntists, including a bunch of hardliner MP's who quit the PQ caucus to sit as independents took part in a weekend seminar to launch yet one more sovereigntist group, the "Nouveau Mouvement pour le Québec" dedicated to support a more aggressive approach, which turns out to be nothing more than organizing province-wide coffee klatches to talk up the separatist option.
In response Marois announced that she too will organize some meetings.
I  can't wait!

Frankly, it's pitiful.

The weekend rally which attracted about 400, was a rag-tag collection of disaffected PQ faithful combined with more radical elements including some ex-FLQ terrorists and present day wannabes from the RRQ, splitting off into a radical camp whose denunciation of the PQ has hurt the party to the point that support has plunged to just 24%, ten points behind Jean Charest's Liberals.

Readers, I have read dozens and dozens of these PQ and Marois denunciations in the mainstream press, as well as on the pages of vigile.net.
It was a colossal waste of time.
After bashing Marois and the PQ for a go-slow approach, nobody has a better solution, probably because there isn't any.

For an incredibly simple and straight forward analysis, read this magnificent article in the Toronto Star by Pierre Martin, a professor of political science at the Université de Montréal.

"Like many other idealistic political movements, the Quebec sovereignty movement suffers from a chronic incapacity to find the proper balance between idealism and realism; conviction and pragmatism; rationality and emotion. 

In all mass movements for change, true believers provide vital energy, but they often are viscerally incapable of understanding the hesitations of those they wish to rally to their cause. This is why many rock-solid sovereignists always distrusted the professional politicians who stepped forward in their name to run a “mere province” or to fill seats in a “foreign” parliament.

Read the entire article, you won't regret it.   Sovereignty and its discontents 

Watching the war between separatists reminds me of the war between Iraq's Saddam Hussein and Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini where I cheered for neither one side or the other, just that the war would go on forever......

Yes, I know I'll get mail for that comment......

Jack Layton RIP

'Smilin' Jack'-A well-deserved nickname of affection

I wasn't one of those who voted for Jack Layton and I certainly didn't share his ideals and policies.

But many, many Canadians did.

The success of the Ndp in the last federal election can be squarely attributed to his tremendous popularity and personal charisma, especially in Quebec, where almost everyone voting for the Ndp, voted for Jack and not the local candidate or even the party platform.

Not since Pierre Elliott Trudeau did a Canadian politician capture the hearts and minds of so many Canadians, transcending politics and party affiliation.

It's somewhat two-faced to praise someone in death who you didn't like or support in real life, but  I can say with honesty that I felt remorse at the passing of someone who meant so much to so many people.

If Moammar Khadafy or Bashar al-Assad dropped dead tomorrow of a heart attack I would probably raise a glass in celebration.
But even though I disliked Jack's politics and that of the Ndp, I cannot help but feeling badly for his family and for the loss that so many Canadians feel.

The Ndp has been blessed with worthy and principled leaders, more than any other federal party. Although in my estimation Jack Layton doesn't hold a candle to Tommy Douglas, Ed Broadbent, or David Lewis, he did deliver what all of them could not -opposition status.
That was no mean feat, attributed to one thing and one thing alone- the popularity and the connection that Jack made with so many Canadians.
For that, Jack should go down in  history as one of the most beloved politicians in Canadian history, much as it pains me to say so.

He was a card, a bullshitter, a button pusher, a politician extraordinaire, but he inspired people to believe in something better.
How many Canadian politicians can say the same?

Our Parliamentary democracy functions best when there is a strong, vibrant opposition, one that presents an alternate view of the universe and attacks the government over base principles.
In it's brief tenure in the last Parliament, the Ndp put up a feisty defence of the Post Office back-to-work legislation, that set a tone for what was to come over the next years of a majority government.
I was truly looking forward to years of strident and effective opposition. Without Jack, the Ndp is diminished and so too, effective opposition.

His loss will be felt by all of us who support democracy.

Heaven help us if Thomas Mulcair wrests the laurel of power from the Ndp.
He is everything that Jack was not- cynical, cruel, phony and a shameless self-promoter.

You don't have to be a supporter to acknowledge the contribution that Jack made to the Canadian political scene.
His  tragic passing, in the prime of his political life is cruelly unfair on a personal level and reminds us all to live in the moment.

Jack Layton - July 18, 1950 - August 22, 2011, RIP

Early Quebec Election? Don't Count on It.

You'd be smiling too!

Will he or won't he? That is the question.

Will Premier Charest call an early election or will he ride out his mandate for another two and a half years?

In the dog days of summer, when political stories are in short supply and journalists have an obligation to fill columns, it's time to engage in fanciful speculation.

The sudden collapse in support of the Parti Quebecois and the small uptick in Liberal Party support, coupled with the fact that Francois Legault's new party is not up to speed, might indicate that it's a good a time for Premier Charest  to take the plunge and call a snap election.

But it isn't going to happen.

If anything the May 2, federal election showed us is that it doesn't take much organization to win an election, especially when the voters are out for a change.
Like the NDP, Francois Legault could field a group of shnooks and still probably wipe the floor with the hapless Liberals and Peekists. There are a good number of sitting members (from all parties) of the National Assembly who are ready to jump ship to his new party and should he combine forces with the AQD, it would likely be a majority government.

Given the odds of defeat, Premier Charest will wait it out.
Not to say things will be better in two years, but why accept a sure defeat now?

Even if a miracle of miracles happens, the Liberals could hold on to power as a minority government, it still doesn't help Mr. Charest who is sure to go down to personal defeat in Sherbrooke.
The Premier has held his seat by less than a 10% margin in each of the two last elections and not even he can believe, given his collapse in personal popularity, that he will be re-elected.

The only possibility that I can think of is for Mr. Charest to run in Westmount, an Anglo riding where  he would win handily. Mr. Charest has lived in the wealthy Montreal enclave for a decade and has virtually no ties left to the Sherbrooke riding that he represents. There has been a stink in the Press lately about members of the National Assembly not living in the ridings that they represent and so he could make the case quite successfully that it's appropriate to run in Westmount.

If the polling numbers remain decent and the PQ. continues into its descent into oblivion, there is a chance things can work out for the Liberals, perhaps as a coalition government with the new Force Quebec.

But there's another issue mitigating in favour of Mr. Charest running out his mandate.

His pension.

In June 2013, Jean Charest turns 55 years old and becomes eligible for his federal government pension. It makes sense for him, on a personal level, to wait it out until then so that in the event of an election defeat, he isn't left scrambling to find an income.

Having served almost 14 years in Ottawa, Charest is entitled to about 70% of the average of his best six years in Parliament and having been a cabinet minister, that works out to about 100 grand a year.

But wait! 

Mr. Charest is also eligible for his Quebec Parliamentary pension and at age sixty he'll collect another 100k (on top of his federal pension) for life, courtesy of Quebec taxpayers.

As I was studying eligibility requirement and benefits related to the Quebec pension plan for politicians, I came across a detail that bowled me over for its generosity.

Early retirement. 

The Quebec parliamentary pension starts paying at age sixty (federal at 55,) but it seems by taking a reduced payout, Mr Charest can start his pension early, at the exact same time as his federal pension kicks in.
Now for readers to understand how attractive this offer is, let me explain how it works when ordinary Canadians take their Canada Pension early, at sixty instead of sixty-five.  
 
That pension is reduced by ½ of one percent for each month that we retire early before reaching sixty-five years old. That means that if you retire at age sixty instead of sixty-five, (60 months early) your pension will be reduced by a whopping 30% (60 x .05%) 
And so, if you are eligible for a $600 dollar a month pension at sixty-five, you can retire early at age sixty and immediately receive a pension of $420 a month. Read a full explanation

When a Quebec politician retires early, the penalty is nowhere near as harsh, in fact, it is so laughably small that any politician who is no longer serving would be a fool not to exercise the option.

While we ordinary plebeians take a penalty of 30% to retire at age sixty instead of sixty-five, a Quebec politician who takes an early pension at fifty-five instead of sixty is slapped with a crushing penalty of just 5%! 
Yes, that is not a typo! That is six times more generous than what is provided to ordinary Canadians.

In fact under the rules of the plan, a Quebec politician can take a pension at forty-five years old and take just a 25% penalty.  Incredible!
All this is explained in a document which you can download (French only) entitled;
Le Régime de retraite des membres  de l’Assemblée nationale 

In the case of the Premier, early retirement would mean his $100,000 pension would be reduced by a measly $5,000 to $95,000. If he started to collect at age 55 instead of sixty years old, over that five year period he would collect and extra $475,000. If he collects his reduced pension for thirty years, let's say to 85 years, he would have been penalized just $125,000 for taking an early pension, a net gain of $350,000. 
How do you say no-brainer in French?

Each year that Mr. Charest hangs on, adds $7,500 to his annul pension. If he holds out until the end of his mandate it will mean an additional $18,000 a year added to his pension. FOR LIFE+ INDEXED!
At a certain point one has to believe that the pension considerations will affect his decision to call an election.

At any rate, if he stays until the end of 2013, he will be entitled to a combined federal/provincial pension of about $200K.

Yes, $200,000 a year. 

When Charest hits sixty years old, the pension will become indexed. In other words, it will rise automatically with inflation each year, not too shabby a deal!

And so Mr. Charest will be free to pursue other interests at fifty-five years old, financially secure.

All this being said, I can assure readers that given the circumstances, Charest would forgo his pension to remain Premier. He adores the job.
He loves the trappings of power, the political rumbles in Parliament, the foreign travel, rubbing shoulders with the glitterati, the intrigues and the political gamesmanship of the National Assembly. All of it!
In this respect Mr. Charest is unique. 
How many Canadians Premiers resign or cut short their career at the summit of power, worn down by the daily grind in a pressure-cooker job?  Quite a few, including Gordon Campbell, Danny Williams, Ed Stelmach and Gary Doer and that's just recently.

But Mr. Charest soldiers on, more at home and comfortable with the job of Premier today, as ever before. 
At any rate, should Mr. Charest be shown the door, he's too young at 53 not to work. 

But outside of politics, there aren't a lot of opportunities for Mr. Charest. 
I know he abhors the diplomatic corps, where he'd have to take orders from political superiors
and having burned his bridges with Prime Minister Harper, there will be no opportunities for a juicy federal appointment.
As for joining a law firm, Mr. Charest has little experience, having never really practised law. Being a Wal-Mart greeter at a law firm, taking rich clients to lunch, isn't really his speed and teaching at a university is much too boring.
Perhaps his good friend Mr. Sarkozy can hook him up to some sort of an international type of position, but who knows.


No, Jean Charest  prefers to do what he does best and what he loves- being Premier and he will have to be dragged away from his job, kicking and screaming. 

Putting his Premiership up for grabs prematurely is not his style, not without some pretty good prospects for success and Mr. Charest has always been expert at judging odds.

Weekend Update Volume 33

Quebec versus Florida- Vehicular Homicide 

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

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

Robert Bélanger, will be sentenced on SEPTEMBER 2.

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

That's right! Nothing to worry about!

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

Quebec Communist movement losing steam ?

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

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

Funny Quebec accent leads to vicious assault.

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

Minister not amused by mystery shoppers.

Minister lectures language commissioner

"Heritage Minister James Moore doesn't agree with the federal language watchdog's decision to spy on Ottawa businesses. 

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

“It is not the federal government's business to police the language in which private businesses communicate with their customers,” Read the story

Gilles Duceppe gets job with CBC, then gets fired

"With his party’s stunning defeat in the last federal election, which included losing his own seat, behind him, former Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe is poised to become a weekly commentator on Radio-Canada, the CBC’s French-language division." Link

"You are getting sleepy. You will hire me. You will give me money."

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

Minister backs down over Arab immigration

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

Vermont town proposes to accomodate Quebec tourists

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

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

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

Separtists Descend Into Fantasy World

BQ election loss brutal for faithful

To most pundits and casual observers as well, the May 2, federal election and the resulting collapse of the Bloc Quebecois, signalled that Quebec voters were tired of being represented by unproductive separatists in Ottawa or were exasperated with the constant political obsession with a referendum and a sovereignty project that is clearly unrealizable, a perceived waste of effort and political capital (in the voter's mind.)

This second conclusion may be the most dangerous development for separatist hard-liners.
Many of those who would vote 'YES' in a referendum signalled that they have reached the pragmatic conclusion that given no chance of winning, they'd rather forgo the humiliation of another painful defeat.

Have these 'soft' separatists given up altogether or have they decided to forgo sovereignty for now and perhaps revisit the option at a later date?
Separatist militants are desperately hoping for the latter, because accepting that Quebeckers have given up on sovereignty is absolutely unthinkable.

It's taken the hardliners about three months to get over the initial shock of the election debacle and the resulting trauma, a period in wherein hardliners vented their anger rather nastily, describing those Quebec voters who opted for the Ndp as lazy, ignorant and politically naive betrayers.

The anger-filled columns in vigile.net and on other separatist websites all shared a common theme.
Rage, scorn and disbelief, remindful of the emotions that one can expect when dumped rather brutally and unexpectedly, by a longtime partner.
These hate-filled missives of the frustrated separatist been-done-wrongs, were actually fun reads. The acerbic prose dripping with angst, paints a vivid picture not of the subjects, but rather writers. Here's a good example{Fr}.

Judging by what's being published now, it appears that most of these separatist have gotten over the initial shock and disbelief. They've moved on from the first initial stages of grief, Denial and Anger (according to the Kubler-Ross description of the 5 stages of grief,)  and now firmly reside in the third stage, Bargaining.

If only we do this........things will change. Yup, bargaining.

Trying desperately to come up with a solution to revive a sovereignty project on life-support, militants have descended into unreality, lurching from one desperate solution to another, turning on each other in the process.

To a federalist like myself, watching the movement fracture, with militants ripping and tearing at each other's throats, is the very definition of schadenfreude.

Pauline Marois. Haughtiness or preparing for the guillotine?

For the Parti Quebecois, times are decidedly tough, with desertions by hardliners all the more painful as those who leave embark on a scorched earth campaign towards the party.
This coupled with the fiercest of attacks by party militants, who believe that the party has lost its relevancy and that the leader, Pauline Marois, has betrayed them, is placing the party at risk, firmly betwixt a rock and a hard place.

But what's a girl to do?

If Pauline embarks on the suicidal hardline path that militants demand, the party will, come next election, in all likelihood, suffer the same fate that its federal counterpart suffered.
That possibility is very real, as even hard line journalist Josee Legault admits. Link{Fr}    Alternate link{Fr}

If the PQ maintains its current course, waiting for those mythical 'winning conditions' it risks losing more and more of it's radical wing.
The party is already bleeding members, hardliners who believe that if you're going to lose, you may as well stand on your principles.  Hard to argue with that, I suppose.
For the Parti Quebecois, the choice it faces in determining it's future course (militancy versus pragmatism) is decidedly a lose/lose situation, maddeningly reminiscent of Sophie's Choice

And so a new debate (Bargaining) is taking place among Quebec sovereigntists, one that has come to the rather startling consensus that the independence movement has failed because it is not radical enough!
I'm not kidding or making it up!

Jean-Martin Aussant, leading the charge!

Yup, these sovereigntists have concluded that they need to be more militant in order to succeed!

In other words, if nobody wants to buy your apples, you've got to raise the price to be successful!

Jean-Martin Aussant, one those deserter MPs from the Parti Quebecois is in the process of creating a new independence party- OPTION QUEBEC, which can best be described as the PQ on steroids.

New Movement + new flag = same old story.

Yesterday, Seventy-seven sovereigntist militants, signed a manifesto which was published online, entitled  "Breaking the Impasse," another long-winded denunciation of the Parti Quebecois, Canada and federalism. Ho-Hum, not a particularly big deal.

Nowhere in the document does it propose how a new party will be successful pedalling what has been so forcefully rejected by the public already.

It's like adding more curry to a dish and returning it to a customer who previously sent it back to the kitchen because it was too spicy.

There is only one word to describe this new separatist initiative- FANTASY.

Me, I'm okay with all this.

Another separatist party will split the sovereignist vote into three instead of two and if they are hell-bent to embark on another self-destructive journey of discovery, far be it for me to complain.

All this won't save Jean Charest or the Liberal party, but it will insure a majority government for Francois Legault and his centrist party which has proposed to ignore the separatist question.

All in all, that's about the best we Anglos can hope for...

Lawyer promotes Language Agenda On Client's Back

A couple of months ago, I was watching the local news and caught a story concerning a certain criminal trial. (For obvious reasons I won't mention which) A young lawyer (someone I know) was escorting his client out of the criminal court and as they made their way down the hall, they were pursued by reporters, asking for an on-air statement or interview. The lawyer waved them off and ushered his client into the safety of the elevator as quickly as he could. When I met him next, I asked him why he was so camera shy, after all, as a young lawyer embarking on a career, some face time on television would certainly have a salutary effect on his career.

"What about the client?" he replied. "Was it in the client's best interest? It's the policy of our law firm not to comment on the proceedings while the trial is unfolding, or in the sentencing phase."

Good answer.

I never thought of it that way and it's good to see that integrity still exists, especially among criminal lawyers who we generally hold in disdain.

With this in mind, watching Maitre Stephane Handfield use the press to attack the Immigration and Refugee Board over language issues, got me wondering whether Mr. Handfield is doing his client justice or is he just promoting himself and his language agenda on the back of someone trying desperately to land a spot in Canada.

Mr. Handfield is a lawyer who has been vociferous in his denunciation of the IRBC over the perceived language discrimination that he believes exists in the Montreal office. He is also a bit of a showboater, a lawyer who likes to argue his cases before the media. That being said, notwithstanding his efforts before the camera, his latest client Dany Villanueva lost the latest round in his deportation hearing.
Not to worry, Mr. Handfield has promised a final appeal, thus insuring his miscreant client many more moons in Canada and for Maitre Handfield, many more television interviews.

Mr. Handfield is also an avowed French language militant. In an opinion piece that he penned in La Presse last November, he made a litany of accusations against the board;

"...In recent years, it becomes increasingly difficult to obtain services in French before the IRB. Examples include: refusal to get a hearing in French, refusal to forward documentation in French, Commissioners (makers) unilingually English, communications in English, the inability to obtain interpreter services in French...

....Moreover, how can we explain that a person who arrives at the Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau airport, who speaks neither French nor English and who is processed by a French-speaking immigration agent, has his immigration file completed in English! In these circumstances, it is not surprising that 50% of the decisions made by the IRB in Montréal in 2009 were in English." LINK{Fr}

Some of his complaints may be valid and worth investigating, but it is his math that has me questioning his integrity (among other things.)

Mr Handfield claims that 50% of the decisions in Montreal are handled in English, as a result of those speaking no English or French, having half their case treated in English, representing  prime face evidence that French is not being respected. 

But perhaps the 50% figure is attributed to the fact that of those who do speak English or French, the vast majority speak English as opposed to French and as such it is normal that more cases are heard in English. 

Perhaps the number of immigrants seeking status (who don't speak English or French) is very low and statistically less important, I don't know. Neither does he. He offers us no real insight other  than faulty conclusions based on selective data and coloured opinions.

It's like doing a survey in the Fairview Shopping Mall in the west island of Montreal (in the decidedly English suburb of Pointe-Claire) to gauge what percentage of clerks serve customers in English or French and then concluding that French is not being respected because over fifty percent of the conversations are in English. Anybody see the problem?

As a language militant, Mr. Handfield is prone to suffer from the same statistical disease that Pierre Curzi and other French militants employ to falsely sell the idea that the sky is falling on the French language. 

And so Mr. Handfield, with his newly-minted statistics, leaps to a self-serving conclusion, with the honesty and panache of a Three Card Monte card shark.

"No wonder several newcomers prefer sticking to Anglo-Saxon culture rather than to a French-speaking culture. They note from their arrival that it is in English that everything takes place in Quebec."

All this serves to underline Mr. Handfield's politics, an opinion which he has every right to militate for.

But is Maitre Handfield promoting his personal language agenda at the expense of a client?

Here's that story.

Mr. Handfield, not one to ever shy away from a camera, has been complaining that French rights are being denied to him and his client, a Cuban businessman seeking to remain in Canada, in a case before that very same Immigration and Refugee Board.

The Cuban businessman arrived in Canada and proceeded to ask for landed status. Speaking much more English than French, the case proceeded in English. For whatever reason, the claimant then changed lawyers midstream and hired  Mr. Handfield, who demanded that the whole process be changed to French and that all the previous documents related to the trial also be translated.

In an article in La Presse a reporter Vincent Larouche, erroneously reports that  when Mr. Hanfield took over the case, his request to have the hearing changed to French was refused.

"...But soon enough he (the client) changed lawyers to Maitre Stéphane Handfield, a specialist in immigration law who requested that the process be changed to French, which he was denied. Link{FR}

I don't know if the reporter failed to do his homework or tried to alter the facts to suit his slant on the story, but that is just not true. This false version is circulating in the French media, even in the main stream.

 Mr. Handfield readily admits that he was allowed to proceed in French, but the Commission balked at translating what documents had already been accumulated in English, reasoning that it would delay the affair unreasonably. 

That's the whole big deal. According to  Mr. Handfield;

"We managed to get the hearings to take place in French, but we were denied our request that the 57-page document be translated into French" LINK{FR} 

And so enter the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste and chief blowhard Mario Beaulieu who helped turn a translation issue into a federal case.
Maitre Handfield took part in a demonstration, organized by the SSJB, which protested the 'lamentable' and 'unacceptable' burden put upon Mr. Handfield and his client, all because the document wasn't translated.
Listening to Mario Beaulieu it was the injustice of the century!

Of course, as one could well expect, our ever-sympathetic Office of the Commissioner of the Official Languages sided with Mr. Handfield and ordered the document translated.

And so  Mr. Handfield and Mario Beaulieu landed a great language victory!

But was it a big win for the client?

Immigration hearings are highly subjective.
A good story presented by a sympathetic appellant is much more likely to succeed, given the wide latitude that adjudicators wield.

Let's hope that those ruling on the case are more generous than you or I, otherwise the client will be on the next flight to Cuba. After all, can any good come from attacking those who hold your client's future in their hands?
It's like insulting the bouncer at the door of a night club you're trying to get in.....not the best plan!

Using a client for one's own purpose is reprehensible, lawyers are sworn to put client's interests above all else, except the law.
The question remains. Was the client's best interest served by escalating the case from a simple immigration affair into a language confrontation?

Does the SSJB and Maitre Stephane Handfield really care about the client or are they promoting their own selfish agenda on his back?

By the way, the client's name is Leonardo Javier Bolanos Blanco, if anybody really cares.