Friday, May 18, 2012

Corruption- Montreal Style

Many months ago when the government put together a police task force to investigate corruption in the construction industry most commentators pooh-poohed the idea and called for a public inquiry to shed light on the entire stinking rotten mess.

While many believed that the police would be ineffective in rooting out the corruption and even less effective in bringing forth charges, I never doubted that in the end justice would be done.

Why?
Because the crooks aren't so bright and usually leave a trail a mile wide. They aren't that hard to catch.

Years back, while enjoying a barbecue on my back patio with friends, a then assistant directer of the Montreal police made a keen observation that always stuck with me.
He said that in the end the police catch almost all the crooks.

Whaaaat??? C'mon!........You could imagine my incredulity.

When I pointed out that the police solve less than fifteen percent of all crimes and less than 2% are solved due to police investigations, (most crimes are solved because of confessions, informers or victims pointing to the guilty party) his logic was unimpeachable.

Yes he said, we solve a low percentage of crime, but criminals do a large volume of criminal acts. Take a bank robber who has robbed fifteen banks but is caught on the sixteenth.
He ends up going to jail.

Hmm... I see the logic..

This last week the news was dominated by the student uprising, which took up most of the media's attention.  Too bad, because yesterday, the anti-corruption police made three arrests that will rock the foundations of Montreal City hall.

By the way, I am going to credit myself as the first blogger or mainstream media types to refer to the student unrest as a 'Student Uprising' because, quite frankly, that is what it has become.

But I digress and as they say in French, back to the knitting.

Corruption isn't particularly hard to spot in municipal affairs.
If a contract is obviously inflated, or a contractor is given preferential treatment or buys or sells a property at below or above market value, it all points to hanky-panky. It isn't brain surgery.
It's just a question of following the money.
"Montreal’s auditor-general reported in May 2010 that seven boroughs awarded most of their capital-works projects to a small number of firms. The most extreme cases were Anjou, where all five contracts, totalling $6 million, went to a company owned by Accurso.
In Verdun, all 21 contracts, worth $23 million, were awarded to a company owned by Catania. The auditor-general found this “perplexing.”
In seven Montreal boroughs, Catania topped the list of 21 construction firms awarded a “substantial” portion of city contracts during one three-year period.
Catania got $104 million in city business, followed by Accurso’s Construction Louisbourg with a little over $100 million in contracts.
”Notwithstanding that these contracts were awarded to the lowest compliant bidder,” wrote Bergeron, “I nevertheless remain puzzled by the fact that some boroughs award a large proportion of their contracts to the same contractors.”  Link
Now I'm going to preface the following with the standard disclaimers as to guilt or innocence of those arrested.
Nothing as of yet has been proven and everyone is innocent until proven guilty..blah...blah....blah... you know the drill.

The story starts in July 2008, when Frank Zampino, then the number two man in the Montreal municipal administration of Mayor Gerald Tremblay, resigned rather suddenly from his powerful position as Chairman of the Executive Committee after twenty-two years as an elected city official.

I remember watching his good-bye press conference where he cited personal reasons for leaving and noted that not one reporter questioned the rather unlikely excuse, especially since he stated that he had no job lined up.
Strange....
It's very, very, rare that someone at the height of power walks away from that type of  his position with nothing lined up, and I remarked at the time to my wife that his exit was extremely 'fishy.'

It didn't take long for allegations to surface that he had shown 'favoritism' in the awarding of a massive city contract for water meters to a company controlled by the infamous Tony Accurso, (who was arrested recently on another unrelated corruption case.)
It was reported that during the time that the city was considering the water meter contract, Mr. Zampino vacationed on Mr. Accurso's luxury yacht in the Caribbean.
And by the way Zampino did land a job rather quickly after his departure from city hall...  working for, you guessed it......Tony Accurso.
Because the water meter contract was ultimately cancelled, no corruption charges were laid.

Yesterday, Mr. Zampino along with Paolo Catania, a powerful construction magnate and Bernard Trépanier, a bag man for Mayor Tremblay's municipal party, the Union Montreal, and six others, were arrested. Link{Fr}  Link    Read the charges here
  


It's a simple and neat story of corruption, if true.

Mr. Catania is alleged to have received inside tendering information provided by Mr. Zampino, in relation to a successful bid for a $300 million plus redevelopment project. In return, Mr. Catania is alleged to have kicked back a commission to Mr. Trépanier, who allegedly collected the money on behalf of Mr. Zampino's political party.

Who is Bernard Trépanier?

"Trépanier, the third man known to have been arrested in UPAC's Thursday-morning sweep, was Union Montreal's director of fundraising from 2004 to 2006.
He was referred to by insiders as "Bernard Trépanier 3 per cent," according to Benoit Labonté, who had been mayor of the Ville Marie borough and had been a key member of the Tremblay team at Union Montreal before he bolted to join Vision Montreal.
Labonté pulled out of politics, in disgrace, just before the 2009 municipal vote, after records surfaced of phone contacts with Accurso which Labonté had earlier denied.
Labonté then told Radio-Canada, in an explosive late-October 2009 interview, that when he broached the "3-per-cent" subject with the mayor, Tremblay responded that in Montreal municipal politics, "that's all there is." Read the rest of the story
'Boss Tweed' alive and well in Montreal
If the allegations are true, it probably indicates that many, many other contracts and deals were dirty as well.
Remember the story above, of the bank robber caught on his sixteenth robbery?

At any rate if this one corruption charge sticks, it may indicate that Montreal is run on a Tammany Hall basis, with Mr. Trépanier Montreal's very own version of  'Boss Tweed'
READERS;
Here is a fearless prediction;
I listened to the press conference given by the police and the confidence that they displayed in describing the fraud and abuse of power.
That level of confidence usually means but one thing.....

SOMEBODY ROLLED OVER

There's going to be a witness from the inside who will testify in exchange for immunity. If that's the case, they are all cooked!
 At any rate,  Montreal isn't the only Quebec city mired in corruption allegations.

This week, the small town of Mascouche is in an uproar with furious citizens demanding that their mayor step down in  light of his arrest over corruption charges.

Ashamed citizens of the town are rightfully outraged that the mayor has not given up and was to preside over a scheduled town meeting.
(Late news: Mayor Richard Marcotte has stepped aside. Link{Fr})

Read "Quebec town becomes the shamed face of corruption scandal after Mayor targeted for arrest"

It is unfortunately, the tip off the iceberg.
UPAQ, the fledgling police unit charged with dealing with corruption is rumored to be swamped with files and it's quite satisfying to see them nab so many big fish already.
Read an interesting timeline of their activities. Link

 So far this year, to quote Queen Elizabeth, Quebec has been going through it's annus horribilis.

Political instability, rising unemployment, a tanking economy, a student uprising, corruption scandals abounding and language militancy gone wild...

Can it get any worse?.....you bet it can, this is Quebec!

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The Student Uprising

Before I bid you adieu for the weekend, I'd like you to watch this video of UQAM's best known professor, the irascible Léo-Paul Lauzon who is about as famous as you can get as a UQAM professor.
The separatist economist employs his particular bizarre logic in defending violence in the student uprising.

For those of you who think that I am too hard on UQAM, I offer this video as evidence of how crazy the teachers over there are.
I haven't had the time to subtitle the video but for those without French take my word that through all the hemming and hawing, he lends support for violence in the student uprising.


The next day he went on the radio to defend his remarks and made an even bigger fool of himself.  Listen HERE in French
If this is what he says in public, I can only  imagine what goes on in the classroom. 

On Wednesday, UQAM was overrun by masked students disrupting classes.
Here's a YouTube page chock full of videos of the event.

Message to rioters......... keep it up!
I hope UQAM stays closed forever!

For your weekend reading pleasure, I've translated this article by Lysiane Gagnon who writes in La Presse.
If you read French, please do her the courtesy of reading the following in its original form. HERE
"In the student in crisis, there is a clear divide between the Montreal area, where most of the agitation has taken place, and the rest of the province. Even Cégep Limoilou, which has always been a hotbed of student protest, is functioning normally ...But there is another cleavage, more spectacular, and this one has somewhat divided the city into two. This is the one between Francophones and Anglophones.While the French institutions were torn to varying degrees by the conflict, the English side is calm ... and remains committed to studies. 
Dawson College, a downtown institution that is sort of the English version the Cégep du Vieux-Montreal, with its 4,000 students participated in a vote (secret) and rejected the strike. Same thing at John Abbott College, where the student association held a referendum (with secret ballots) that lasted all day. Note, the very democratic process that oversaw those decisions. 
At Bishop's University, the student association didn't even collect the 150 signatures required to hold a strike vote!
At Concordia, the popular downtown university that is the English version of UQAM which has a history of much social unrest, the courses were never suspended. Teachers that the strikers prevented from giving their courses, gave students online tests or work to do at home. 
At McGill, little disruption. At the height of the movement (around March 22), several thousand students participated in the boycott, including the School of Social Work, Poli-Sci and Arts. All that remains of the boycotters, according to the university, are about forty strikers concentrated in "Gender Studies" and in French literature. 
How can one explain the difference in attitude between the two language groups of same age, who live in the same city and share the same leisure and cultural activities? 
The first reason is political. Non-Francophones in general are against  the PQ, are not against the Charest government to the same degree as their francophone compatriots. This conflict is powerfully fueled  by the PQ student movement and  most young activists are influenced by QS and anarcho-communist organizations. 
Although there is a strong and ancient tradition of left-wing Anglos in Montreal, they hesitate to join movements which, as QS, are also promoting the independence of Quebec. Anglo leftists are at home in the NDP, which very intelligently separated itself from the student revolt.
The other reason is that the Anglo-old-stock Quebecers have always valued education far more than the French. It is also the case of allophones, who moved here for a better future for their children. You can find large numbers of them at home in Dawson and Concordia.
The French, as we know, are less likely to value education. In 2010, those aged 25-34 in Quebec, 24.8% of Francophones earned a university degree. This was true of 34.9% of Anglophones ... and 37.4% of allophones.
Of all Canadians, Francophones are those who read fewer books and get most of their news from the TV. They are not only more likely to dropout of school or to settle for an inferior degree, they are also more likely to take more time in college or university, earning that degree. Hence the reason that so many students have not hesitated to compromise their winter semester by boycotting their classes ... Oh well, it's just one more semester!"
Readers please have a very good weekend!

188 comments:

  1. What else is new? This is Quebec after all and most in the ROC have become accustomed to this type of goings on. It would appear the McClean's article from a couple of years ago was correct in its analysis of Quebec.

    Corruption, deceit and payoffs are an accepted way of doing busines in Quebec. Might explain why so many bridges have collapsed over the past few years.

    You really wanto to drive over the new Turcotte Exchange should it ever be built.

    The whole f'king province is nothing but a cess pool.

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  2. A bit disappointing, your story on municipal corruption. It felt like a good beginning, but then got skimpy on details and veered off into familiar cause célèbre du jour.

    I sort of smiled at your Tammany Hall comparison, reflecting on a longstanding parallel I've often nursed according to which I fancy Jean Drapeau as being the closest thing Montreal has ever had to a Fiorello LaGuardia.

    Kudos on digging up the Lysiane Gagnon column.

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    1. Apparatchik: Re comparison of Drapeau to LaGuardia: Uhhh....mmmmmm....hmmmmm...NO!
      Drapeau got too full of himself with the success of Expo 67 (it made $50 million, not to mention the economic benefits of tourism) that he lost 20x on the Olympics that Expo made.
      Even the Floralie in 1980 was such a rip-off that I never went to it. I also reckon he got a big, fat cut on all those projects. He promised he'd have a response to what happened with the Olympics, but never came up with the goods. No Apparatchik. Jean Drapeau was no LaGuardia.

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    2. Drapeau provided Montreal with the much-needed break from the Duplessis era.

      Call him an autocrat or a visionary, it was because of Drapeau that Montreal's public infrastructure moved into that of a modern city. The olympics might have been a boondoggle, but ours isn't the first city left with that kind of bad aftertaste.

      He ran the city with an iron fist, but at least the city hummed under Drapeau's watch. Doré, Bourque, and even Tremblay don't even come close. Our city has conserved the bloat, and perhaps even the corruption, but not the efficiency.

      I also don't believe LaGuardia or even Giuliani were as clean as their pop culture images would like us to think they were.

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    3. Duplessis ran Quebec with an iron fist, Drapeau ran Montreal with an iron fist...

      So without dictatorships, you're insinuating Quebec is a rudderless ship. Orgnized crime runs the construction industry, organized crime, namely motorcycle gangs, run roughshod over politicians with the drug trade right in Montreal, iron fists and dictatorships...THAT'S YOUR PRECIOUS QUEBEC!

      How come these problems are not prominent in Ontario? There are motorcycle gangs, but they seem to stay in outlying areas out of signt, not conspicuously in the major cities.

      Iron fists for Quebec, democracy for the rest of the continent. You can have it!

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  3. Editor: I must take exception to your DARING to compare Concordia to UQAM. I am a proud graduate of that institution's commerce program that I took in the late 70s and early 80s. As an alumni, I'll grant you I have not, and will not ever again charitably donate my hard-earned money to Concordia in light of the animalistic activity put on by Arab and other Jew-hating students when Benjamin Netenyahu was slated to speak at the Hall Building auditorium several years ago.

    Concordia's top brass awfully handled the situation, and I don't believe the idiots who broke windows and other university property were ever brought to justice. Pathetic!

    Many recruiters came to Concordia and bypassed McGill. Concordia falls under McGill's umbra, sad to say, but one highly authored management professor I had back in the day who had continental experience in many universities, including the likes of Johns Hopkins, said Concordia had a good, challenging program and one really has to pull one's weight to succeed in the program. I rebutted that sadly, Concordia just didn't have the reputation of Ivy League type schools, and he agreed with me. After that semester, he moved on to San Diego State U. before ending his professorial career at Johns Hopkins.

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    1. Important retraction by Mr. SaugaFriday, May 18, 2012 at 1:58:00 AM EDT

      Sorry, editor, I read both today's blog and yesterday's blog together and responded to yesterday's first. Apparatchik and one anonymous contributor should refer to my responses to your entries of yesterday.

      It was Gagnon's article that dared to compare Concordia to UQAM, so my wrath is really reserved for her. My bad, dear Editor!

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    2. Mississauga,

      I am an alumnus of McGill MBA. I can say that in terms of contents, delivery and accreditation, the MBA at Molson School of Business is better than that at Desautels Faculty of Management.

      However, McGill is McGill. Its name is really known around the world. When one mentions "major Canadian universities" one usually mentions UofT, UBC, McGill, Queen's. That was what I knew before I moved to Canada. Because of that, outside of Montreal, McGill MBAs are valued more than Concordia MBAs.

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    3. However, McGill is McGill. Its name is really known around the world. When one mentions "major Canadian universities" one usually mentions UofT, UBC, McGill, Queen's. That was what I knew before I moved to Canada. Because of that, outside of Montreal, McGill MBAs are valued more than Concordia MBAs.

      Well I guess if you write down JOHN MOLSON SCHOOL OF BUSINESS on your resume, I reasonably think it's going to give a good impression to employers, not only in Montreal, but also outside of MTL as well,given the fact that the NAME is very well known and sits on a very large scale throughout Canada! So, for my part, I don't believe graduating from Concordia should be detrimental to your job quest and potentials of getting hired to a reputable place! Sure it may not be mcgill or uoft, but nevertheless, it's way far more ahead than UQAM and many other universities alike... I hope you don't all disagree with me on this!

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    4. I'd say for the first few years after graduation having a degree from a renowned institution behind you will help, but after 1-2 positions, your performance, accomplishments and deeds in and outside of your career are going to carry the rest of your career.

      I know McGill grads who I wouldn't hire to clean my toilets, so while having a prestigeous degree may be a luxury, it's all in what you do with it.

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    5. Anonymous at 11:42,

      So, for my part, I don't believe graduating from Concordia should be detrimental to your job quest and potentials of getting hired to a reputable place!

      I hope you did not mean that I generally wrote that being a Concordia graduate was a bad thing because it was clearly not what I meant.

      Mississauga,

      If that is the way you value a university, why bother go to university after all? Steve Jobs did not go to a well-known university. Neither did Jerry Jones, Mark Cuban, Jerry Buss. Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Michael Dell, Mark Zuckerberg did go to famous universities but dropped themselves out.

      Of course at the end of the day experience and performance matters. However, having graduated from good universities certainly opens door and provides good first impression when other information is not available. The general impression is that since it is difficult to enter a good university, graduates from a good university are supposedly good.

      As well, we look good enough, I am certain there must be John Molson graduate that is unqualified to polish ESG UQAM graduate's shoes.

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    6. In the ROC the only reputation that Concordia has is that it is a den of anti-semitism.

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    7. Troy: Jerry Buss did obtain his BSc at U of Wyoming, and an MSc and PhD from USC. That IS a graduate, a post-graduate. Mark Cuban: U of Indiana (after one year at U of Pittsburgh, and that was without taking his last year of high school). I won't go on, I've made my point. The ones who dropped out saw their "sidelines" doing better than they'd ever be rewarded by having a university degree.

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  4. As Anonymous wrote first, would ANYONE want to drive over the new Turcotte interchange? On those now very rare occasions I come to Quebec, I'm holding my breath praying the overpasses I drive on don't collapse beneath my wheels, the underpasses don't collapse over my head and that I don't sink like quicksand into a sink hole! Decades and decades of fixed contracts and other assortments of construction corruption and coersion just never cease! Like I wrote in yesterday's blog, the premier and everything and everyone beneath him have neither backbone nor gonads to clean things up.

    Aside from what Ms. Gagnon wrote about Concordia, her article was pretty much spot-on.

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    1. I think a better way to appreciate Lysianne Gagnon's Dawson/Cégep du Vieux and Concordia/UQAM parallels is by seeing them in a much broader light. For all the bashing we might (rightly or wrongly) heap onto any of these institutions for their pedagogy, the parallel she draws in terms of militancy/social justice/shit disturbing isn't far off at all.

      As for your not liking the idea of Concordia being depicted as some kind of protest hotbed, I suggest that you to connect the dots between, most glaringly, the 1969 Computer Riot and the 2002 anti-Netanyahu protests, and then realize that extrapolating isn't all that hard.

      Lest we forget, good wombs have borne bad sons. And vice versa.

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    2. Apparatchik: Back in the day of the Computer Riot, it was still Sir George Williams U., not Concordia, so some of us try to make that distinction! Be that as it may, in addition to business schooling, Corcordia has a particularly good Fine Arts faculty and school. Two of the more successful graduates I know are J.C. McKenzie who was a principle actor on the series Murder One in the later 1990s, and he has had guest roles in many other series, and Peter Lenkov, one of the Executive Producers & writers of the current version of Hawaii Five-O and previously on Nikita.

      There are other Concordia graduates of great distinction, so I like to look at the good provided by the better citizens of Concordia rather than the s--t disturbers who are probably operating fork lift trucks in your friendly neighbourhood warehouses, or flipping burgers at yon fast food establishment.

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    3. SGW+Loyola = Concordia; the distinction is moot. Stephen Harper is still Stephen Harper whether you speak of his being a member of the Conservative Party or of the former Reform Party.

      Granted, fine arts are important in any society. Now amuse me, Mississauga: look at all the "artistes" that have come out of Quebec and tell me why the university factories that shit them out in droves are really any better or worse than the English ones. It's common knowledge across the continent that your opportunities with a liberal arts background are likely to be less than, say, with a medical or engineering one. But people still make their way. What -- functionally and objectively -- makes one language's institutions necessarily superior to the other?

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    4. When I drive into Quebec from Ontario and see thevTurcotte Interchange I always ask myself if I am in Zimbabwe.

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    5. I'm unaware of a famous stereotypical traffic interchange in Zimbabwe. Please clarify.

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    6. A.corrupt government which does nothing for its population and since the British/Rhodesians left has been in a state of deterioration.

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    7. A civil engineer once informed me that the road infrastructure in Montreal was similar to that of some Third World countries.

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  5. "Oh well, it's just one more semester!"
    Do you know how often I hear that same stupid sentiment, specially as of late? "We're not fighting for today, we're fighting for tomorrow." "It's not for us, it's for our children!" Bullshit. The majority of the kids I go to school with come from well to do families and they're so blind to their whole ideology war that they fail to see that the tuition hike along with all the details attached to it actually benefits a lot of lower income families.
    I'm so sick and tired of this whole mess and I just want to finish my semester. And now with Goldie Locks new law, I might have to do it in the fall? Totally screwed.

    I must raise ask a question that's been bothering me as of late: while I am in favor of the tuition hike, is it possible that John James is using this whole mess as a smoke screen into the corruption going on in Qc right now and to garner more votes come elections? I'm not entirely sure that this new law is beneficial for me, even though it allows me (eventually) to finish my semester.

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    1. ? "We're not fighting for today, we're fighting for tomorrow." "It's not for us, it's for our children!" Bullshit.
      Totally agree with you. That's like that famous Bourgault quote about defending French chez nous being akin to defending all world languages against the hegemony of English. The missing corollary to that argument is that by imposing idiotically tyrannical, petty, and hegemonic requirements to defend French, we're fighting for our own limitations when a lot of moderates can integrate the demands of a bilingual interchange of ideas the world over.

      The majority of the kids I go to school with come from well to do families and they're so blind to their whole ideology war that they fail to see that the tuition hike along with all the details attached to it actually benefits a lot of lower income families.
      The opposition, talking heads, and student unions have done an expert communications operation whipping, whirling, and spinning this, while the government still hasn't adequately shown (numerically) how this situation would actually benefit your average student. Once the actual math is explained, and the even handsomer compensations in terms of loans and bursaries actually understood, you'd be foolish as a poor student not to be in favor of the hike.

      But then again, this is theater being milked by media and pundits for their own self-important glory. If that weren't true, this circus would have started after Bachand's 2011 budget came down in which he first announced these increases. That's why I believe this is all about ego and ratings. Quebec's media needs a hot summer topic to bank its ratings which can rival their previous summers covering Marc Bellemare, the PQ resignations, shale gas, and construction scandals. We get it, Radio-Canada, Quebecor, and Gesca: Charest is a corrupt and an evil reptilian kitten-eater from another planet. Yes, that's the sound of me sighing...

      Anybody with a calculator and a dictionary could see that what's on the table isn't anywhere as grotesque as the bogeyman crap being peddled. How ironic that the debate is framed as fighting against future ignorance when the ignorance surrounding this debate itself is so appalling...

      now with Goldie Locks new law, I might have to do it in the fall? Totally screwed.
      Agree with you. He shoulda done it within days of the first protest. But I suppose better late than never?

      is it possible that John James is using this whole mess as a smoke screen into the corruption going on in Qc right now and to garner more votes come elections?
      I don't know how much more obvious the corruption allegations and prosecutions can be, given recent history. So a smokescreen?!... maybe only partially effective at best.

      But exploiting a bunch of young and not-so-young dunces who can't do math and are easily whipped into a protesting frenzy, backed by big union operatives (angry at Lise Thériault), and supported by like-minded separatist groups (whose raison d'être is to hate Charest for being... Charest)? Now that's manna. Especially when his punchline's gonna (correctly!) be "hey, you stand to gain more with the increase than without it"? PURE GOLD. He'd be a fool not to employ this as a re-election strategy. But he's a sly fox able to outwit and outmaneuver this province's collective ultra-left separatist Medusa (in all its incarnations), and for that reason alone, in my judgment, deserves a majority fourth term.

      I'm not entirely sure that this new law is beneficial for me
      Right, because your prospects organizing large nightly streaking rallies are severely limited now that you need to first warn the cops and remember stay off school grounds? Come on, man...

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    2. Appaaratchik' based on that comment, I would hire you anytime.

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  6. *I've posted this in the Death Star article as well it speaks on corruption as well

    Quebec's government is under tremendous pressure from the rest of the Dominion.

    These Quebecois protester's groomed from birth, that the law's for the rest of Canada are not those of Quebec.

    "STUDENT'S! YOU DIDN'T THINK AHEAD OF YOURSELVES. Your going to have to tell this story over and over how you ruined the very culture you were born to protect. Bill 101 is melting thanks to you. Thanks to your efforts, the whole world sees that 101 has birthed a generation of fucked up French Canadian terrorists!" YOUR GROUNDED!

    The law to get permission to protest in advance is a common law for most cities in Canada. It is due diligence to protect from liability for the municipality the protest is in.

    These protests have shown the rest of the world, Quebec is a lawless mess. "There is no way back students, you have not only highlighted your ignorance to Canadian democratic structure, you have highlighted the malpractice of the Municipal and Political parties that have governed Quebec by nurturing your self centred ignorance."

    Is it a conspiracy theory that: While you've been screaming away the Criminal Contractors of Montreal accused of fraud have been smiling away as you took the heat off their crimes of mass corruption? PAWNS! Effen Unions such players!

    Let the smack down begin, It starts slowly the reinstatement of democracy...when it starts rolling it zips up all holes. By-laws, all bodies in a democracy must follow for a peaceful province your municipality enforces them. NOT!

    The municipal structure has so much to answer for, thanks to you In 10 years Montreal will have her big girl pants on.

    The province will demand it! The province answers to HARPER effen jesus a total Zipped up fucktard!

    I love Quebec I love all the sweet places and the joy I feel at the memories of growing up there.

    She made me who I am.

    101 was our separation, I have paid constant attention from afar waiting for a time when I can come back to live safe and free

    The past few years the volley's of hate from this terrorist Quebecois .... This was my home, I'm hurt more deeply in a dark jewish kinda way, I take it personal that they hate the very existence of me.

    Quebecer's who want a unified Quebec please start parading to show the world that it really is so because observers around the world don't believe it.

    Me a victim of 101, I see Quebec as a Huge mother fucken sleeper cell of Evil French Hater's willing to do anything for a logic only they know.

    Peace and Love

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    1. "they hate the very existence of me" - your words sum up the separatists better than anything else that I have ever read or heard. You have captured the essence of the separatist mind set perfectly.

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  7. And who exactly voted Tremblay the last time around? The problem with Montreal is that a good chunk of the population prefers a corrupted candidate over a "separatist" candidate (forget the fact its pointless at the municipal level).

    Regarding UQAM. I studied Geology in both McGill and UQAM and to say the least, McGill doesn't come to UQAM's ankles in that domain. I couldn't tell for other subjects thought. But hey you guys seem to know quite well.

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  8. @ le seccessioniste

    "And who exactly voted Tremblay the last time around? The problem with Montreal is that a good chunk of the population prefers a corrupted candidate over a "separatist" candidate (forget the fact its pointless at the municipal level)."

    Unfortunately anglos and allos for the most part are better off with a corrupt semi federalist government then a PQ style government. We've seen our rights(special privledges for rhodesians according to the MEQ, PQ and Patriote types) taken away. Which effects us more then the corruption, so when city bureaucrats cost us an extra 100 dollars in taxes spread out among alot of all taxpayers, its alot less damaging then when office de la langue francaise language inspectors (also paid by our tax dollars) come an directly interfere in the way we do business and live our lives.

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    1. Office de la Langue Française has nothing to do with the administration of Montreal. Again I don't see how the Question Nationale has any significance at the municipal level.

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    2. "Le sécessionniste.Friday, May 18, 2012 6:37:00 PM EDT

      Office de la Langue Française has nothing to do with the administration of Montreal. Again I don't see how the Question Nationale has any significance at the municipal level."

      The few services offered in english could be eliminated or phased out clandestinely.

      Delete
    3. The national unity debate is, quite sadly, a proxy war played out in every nook and cranny of our society. It's not surprising that in addition to occupying a handsomely overgrown role in media and academia that it should also play a role in (where else?) all levels of government, from which the conflict emanates.

      Thinking that national unity is a concept that should only concern two sites of government is naive. Millions of citizens have a stake in Montreal and in Quebec, and millions more in all of Canada. The fact that this debate trickles up and down our society and permeates every aspect of it might be unfortunate (my personal opinion) but both sides seem to agree that Montreal is its focal point.

      Indeed, Montreal has always been a flash point between sympathies. From the 1910 Lavergne law, to the linguistic school clashes of the late 1960's, through the 1970's, the 1980 referendum, and the "renewed federalism" attempts later that decade culminating in the 1995 referendum and subsequent federal and provincial "no-you-can't/yes-I-can" laws. Each point in that era had ramifications on our economic vitality and social peace. Themes like minority rights, alienation, tolerance, moderation, and overall justice have played an enormous role throughout.

      Even the current hundred-day-old student-media-government circus we're being treated to gives ample evidence of the continuing patronage of causes in our province. The agents of such patronage, never too far away, have wasted no time deliberately conflating the stated purpose of the student boycott with their own political axes to grind.

      All this to say that the events and loyalties that pit both sympathies against one another have direct impacts on each of our micro and macro planes of existence. Life goes on either way, of course, but your question is about whether the role it plays is even relevant. My begrudging answer is yes, despite holding out hope that our divisive separatist/federalist debate can finally give way to a more traditional left/right discourse.

      (And I say "traditional left/right discourse" for the sake of our future generations, hoping they won't have to live out an ultra-extreme degeneration scenario starring trashy U.S.-inspired neocon Tea Party fanatics taking on Khadirist paramilitaries.)

      Delete
  9. @ le seccessioniste

    "Regarding UQAM. I studied Geology in both McGill and UQAM and to say the least, McGill doesn't come to UQAM's ankles in that domain. I couldn't tell for other subjects thought. But hey you guys seem to know quite well."

    Yes but due to UQAM underperformance in most other fields and Mcgills' international reputation the piece of paper from Mcgill will get you alot further then the piece of paper from UQAM.

    Laval University on the other hand has decent reputation in Canada and maybe internationally as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "the piece of paper from Mcgill will get you alot further then the piece of paper from UQAM."

      Globally yes. In Quebec not so sure. On a side note, I'm of those who think "the piece of paper" has little to do with the quality of a candidate.

      And as far as francophone university are concerned, UdeM (Polytechnique, HEC) probably has the best int'l reputation.

      Delete
    2. Le secessionniste,

      And as far as francophone university are concerned, UdeM (Polytechnique, HEC) probably has the best int'l reputation.

      Tell me you are kidding. Do you really want to compare UdeM with Sorbonne and the copycat Polytechnique and HEC here with the real ones (Paris Tech)?

      Delete
    3. Québec ones that is. Thought it was obvious.

      Delete
    4. Nobody is impressed by a UdeM degree in North America, unless you're a Quebec separatist! McGill graduates are much more sought after.

      Delete
    5. Le secessionniste,

      Very well. Let me laugh with you. Or at you, rather.

      HA... HA... HA... HA... HA...!!!

      Really, you are funny.

      Delete
  10. If that article written by Madame Gangon were penned by an English Canadian journalist, it would have been branded as Quebec bashing and denounced in Parliament. I wonder if she'll write an English version for her column in The Globe and Mail?

    ReplyDelete
  11. "And as far as francophone university are concerned, UdeM (Polytechnique, HEC) probably has the best int'l reputation"

    How much gange have you been smoking...McGill vs UdeM. Give your head a shake. Of course the students who can't make it into McGill take second, third or fourth choices...UdeM would be at the bottom. You know it and I know it so cut the BS.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now hold on just a minute. If we claim to care about quality of education rather than merely judging the prestige of various institutions, shouldn't we undertake a more thorough debate about precisely what makes for a good education on a faculty by faculty basis and then present comparative debate?

      Having attended both French- and English-language institutions, and personally sick and tired of mindless francophobic and anglophobic generalizations, I really think it's time we delve deep into all our preconceptions and stereotypes and break them down one by one. And maybe in so doing, we'll realize we're occasionally either better at certain things than we thought, and perhaps not so hot at others.

      It's because we haven't done this exercise (and not planning to, either, it seems) that we're stuck in second gear on this. We have everything we need to be the bilingual crossroads of English and French Canada, if not North America and Europe, and we're still obsessed with counting how many immigrants are "won" or "lost" to either language "camp". If anything needs to be aborted in short order, it's this false unilingual paradise scenario for our city.

      Delete
    2. There is no such thing as a bilingual crossroads. It is a figment of your imagination. The ROC has zero interest in bilingualism. It is never considered, period. All this talk of bilingualism takes place only in Quebec. As for the U.S., no one could care less about Quebec.

      Delete
    3. You say that as though it should faze me. It doesn't.

      As far as I'm concerned, the RoC being disinterested in bilingualism is just as pathetic as the RoQ being disinterested in bilingualism. It's the flip side of the same complicit monolithic cultural outlook that is as much a threat to the GMA whether it be advanced by French- or English-language supremacists.

      Delete
    4. Explain why it is pathetic for the ROC to be disinterested in bilingualism. Ontario and BC have very diverse societies and French is way down the totem pole. Chinese languages are far more important. Do you seriously expect the ROC do twist itself into knots because 6.5 million francophones are in Quebec and the French language is of no practical or financial importance in the U.S. or in most of the world?

      Delete
    5. British Columbia has (2006 census):

      2 875 770 people who speak English
      342 920 people who speak Chinese languages
      158 750 people who speak Punjabi
      86 690 people who speak German
      and only 54 745 people (1.4% of pop) have French as their native language, basically tied with Tagalog and Korean.

      Alberta has:

      2 576 670 native English speakers
      97 275 native Chinese language speakers
      84 505 native German speakers
      61 225 native French speakers (only 1.9% of pop)

      Quebec has

      5 877 660 native French speakers
      575 555 native English speakers (7.8% of pop) mostly concentrated in Montreal
      Italian, Spanish and Arabic languages make up between 1.5% and 1.7% of pop

      As you can see, French is not an important language in the two westernmost provinces, coming in as the 4th or 5th language in both provinces with a total population of a small suburb (roughly the size of Brossard). The French language does not really have anyone else that speaks French as their first official language.

      Meanwhile, in Quebec, English is the 2nd most spoken language at a much higher 7.8%. Not only that, it is a highly concentrated population in and around Montreal, mostly in the western half of Montreal, though. It is the size of a medium sized city (maybe Calgary or Quebec City). As well, the population can add roughly another half million people in Quebec who have English as their first official language. Furthermore, it is the language of North America and the language of business not only in the world, but more specifically with Quebec's trading partners (72.2% of its international exports of goods are to the US)

      So, the English language in Quebec has a much bigger role to play than the French language in the westernmost provinces, both economically and socially.

      Delete
  12. "Of all Canadians, Francophones are those who read fewer books and get most of their news from the TV. They are not only more likely to dropout of school or to settle for an inferior degree, they are also more likely to take more time in college or university, earning that degree".

    Veritas vos liberabit. Thanks, Lysiane!

    WA

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That sums up my francophone relatives.

      Delete
  13. I am looking at all the Quebec fricassee from afar and I am amazed at what is going on there. It sounds like a third world country! In my day, student protests were reserved for worthy things like Amchitka and the right to attend university as a black.....not over a couple bucks hike in tuition which would still make the fees the lowest in Canada.

    Honestly. Cut them loose and close down those schools. If the students want a school, let them build them themselves. They would probably lose interest quite quickly and find some other unworthy cause - oh ya...like Bill 101.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Have a conversation with any of the protesting students, it'll make your head swim how ignorant they are on any topic. The education system for these students is lacking to the max.

      To students and graduates conversing on the benefits of a diploma from various institutions in Montreal. What HR person with a brain outside your provincial border will even entertain an interview with a graduate of any of these striking institutions. McGill is regarded as the top outside of Quebec.

      Delete
    2. Playing devil's advocate (although not that much):
      Are you seriously suggesting that the problem is that only McGill is currently able to dispense quality education in any field worthy of a serious degree or that HR people carry an undue bias in screening candidates that born chiefly of their own ignorance?

      Delete
    3. In the real world the only thing that counts is perception.

      Delete
    4. Forgive me for naively expecting civilization to be based on enlightened fact.

      Delete
    5. I concur that you are naive in this regard.

      Delete
    6. Apparatchik,

      I know for fact that for graduate recruiting in some industries (management consulting, investment banking for example) the very first filter the recruiters will do is the school of origin. And they only actively recruit from selected few universities.

      Delete
    7. That is exactly what happens.

      Delete
  14. if you think education is expensive . . wait tl its free.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Miss Mississauga missed...What a mess.

    Je pratique mon anglais.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I would love to hear from Michel Patrice on Lysiane Gagnon's opinion piece.. As a separatist, it would be most interesting to read his thoughts on the values of francophones cited by Ms. Gagnon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not home today. Typing on a iPad. Doesn't work well with No Dogs. Unable to comment as much as I would like to.

      Delete
    2. Not sure I'm a convincing separatist, and I haven't got time today to play devil's advocate today, but I came across an interesting discussion board on this topic.

      Have a look at this and especially the CREPUQ study that it links to.

      Rather interesting stuff.

      Delete
    3. Just to comment on Lysiane Gagnon's column, I think it is not surprising that francophones, 70% of whom are unilingual, don't believe in education as much as anglophones or allophones. They basically have Bill 101 to protect them from having to compete with the rest of North America. No need for higher education when the system is rigged in your favour. Add to that the fact that the francophone media, for the most part, want their readers/viewers/listeners to stay ignorant so that they can consume their aforementioned media.

      Delete
    4. Lack of competitiveness leads to a feedback loop of indolence and... lack of competitiveness.

      As a franco/anglo/allo who believes in strong bilingual institutions and traditions, I can't help but think we all lose out in this artificially protectionist scenario.

      Delete
    5. I also agree with you...
      although I don't want to see French disappear, I'm angered even more by our own so-called defenders of purism that openly advocate a complacent captive work force and clientele.

      Delete
    6. It's time for the majority of Quebeckers to realize that people can learn 2 languages and the time when the majority of people only spoke English or only spoke French has passed. With globalism and with the fact that business happens mostly with English as a common language and with over 80% of Quebec's trade with the other English provinces and the US, English must be accepted as required for all Quebeckers. French can be preserved in Quebec, just as Danish is preserved in Denmark and Hindi is preserved in India. It's not a problem considering that just about 80% of Quebecker's have French as their first language. With the primary and secondary educational system, all children could easily learn both languages. I think that a change in the makeup of the francophone press will have to happen first (ie people with different opinions, not just failed separatists as commentators).

      Delete
  17. Stop the presses:

    Patrick Bourgeois apparently censored by Quebecor.

    You know the guy's a little out there when PKP's people seek, then refuse to publish his drivel.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well I have to hand it to PKP. Even though he is the only closet separatist businessman I can think of in Quebec, recently he has added different point of views to his J de M. He know has Eric Duhaime as a columnist and Lise Ravary as a blogger. I think it's a good business decision on his part.

      I saw earlier a debate between Bock-Cote and Ravary regarding law 78 on the online version of le J de M. I thought there would be more fireworks but it was a nice discussion that they had, even if I don't agree 100% with what they said.

      Delete
  18. UQAM complicit in student terrorism?

    According to this story:

    UQAM security guards forbidden to use their personal cell phones, fearing they might use them to take pictures of protesters and post them online.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Les rolling stones supportent nos étudiants à l'émission saturday night live:

    http://fr-ca.divertissement.yahoo.com/news/le-carr%C3%A9-rouge-%C3%A0-%C2%ABsaturday-night-live%C2%BB.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Could you please point out where exactly Rolling Stones shows support for the movement?

      Delete
    2. They don't! Mick is paying bills on SNL. The Stupid's or Rcade on Fire wore little squares that were supposedly a profound political statement Yawn. These commenter's are winding us up over bull shit, just like downtown every night

      Delete
    3. Mick porte une belle chemise rouge.Non?

      Delete
    4. Your logic is flawless.

      I'm wearing red undies and I have nothing but contempt for these spoiled 'students'.

      Delete
    5. I'm wearing red undies?

      Too much information...Faggy

      Delete
    6. Red is a primary color in a group of four colors.

      Academics don't buy into that flaggy color bullshit anyway. We look at actuals ie Who, what, where, why, when and how come? And then we analyze whats the logical peace lovin' solution that doesn't hurt ANYBODY! Not these rioter's fantasy dreams that are magically deposited in the humans mind by looking at a red square.

      These protesters are kidding right? This tantrum is just a way to get time off...Is there a grant for french protesting somewhere? They must be getting paid.

      Delete
    7. "Red is a primary color in a group of four colors."

      Trois couleurs primaires : Le rouge,le jaune et le bleu.

      Delete
    8. What do the anarchists and/or students think they impress when they parade downtown in various forms of undress with red squares on their nipples? I think of them as a bunch of monkeys. These people should not be in university. University is not supposed to be for monkeys.

      Delete
    9. Seulement pour les lapins.

      Delete
    10. Certainly not for anonymous trolls who cover their faces with masks.

      Delete
    11. Certainly not for anonymous trolls who cover their faces with masks...bunny masks.

      Delete
  20. "Les rolling stones supportent nos étudiants à l'émission saturday night live"

    Who gives a shit what the Stones think? Ted Nugent thinks you're all a bunch of douches, and so do tons of other celebrities that encounter bizarro world Quebec. I don't see you posting that.

    ReplyDelete
  21. "And as far as francophone university are concerned, UdeM (Polytechnique, HEC) probably has the best int'l reputation"

    LMFAO!!! Maybe in Algeria.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Voilà pour les sondages d'opinions:

    http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=366928960021670&set=a.296853703695863.69697.296520683729165&type=1&theater

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sondage internet réalisés par CROP via méthode ayant fait ses preuve == "non-représentatif"
      Page de commentaires Facebook == "ce qu'en dit le peuple"

      T'en fumes du bon, séparatiste.

      Delete
    2. Tu t'en injecte du bon fédéraste.

      Delete
    3. Pas besoin d'injecter quoi que ce soit. Il suffit de voir vos opérateurs séparatistes aller sur des tribunes et colporter le mensonge que casser, lancer des roches et confronter la police pendant 100 jours parce qu'on n'aime pas le PM élu démocratiquement est justifié. Une manif électoraliste par procuration; grabuge, bordel, et émeutes, tout ça pour assouvir l'ego de son altesse Pauline 1re... on en tartine gros.

      Il parait que quand la loi ne fait pas votre affaire il est justifié de faire de la désobéissance civile mais quand on dit que la loi 101 par exemple est injuste, tu dis qu'il faut respecter la loi et qu'on ne devrait jamais songer à l'abroger même démocratiquement.

      Ton hypocrisie en dit long sur la philosophie gaugauchiste, ethniste, séparatiste, deux-poids-deux-mesuriste et profiteuse de la marmaille que constituent tes accointances.

      Delete
    4. Je suis persuadé que si la loi 101 s'avérait aussi injuste que la loi 78,il y aurait des gens dans les rues afin de rétablir la justice.C'est une question de convictions profondes.

      Delete
    5. Quelles convictions profondes?! Pas pour l'accessibilité à l'éducation en tout cas. Surtout quand on creuse dans les détails et constate qu'avec la bonification au régime de prêts et bourses que les gens les plus pauvres (<45k$) en ressortent effectivement PLUS gagnants que les riches (100k$+/an) et on compare ça avec ce qui se passe chaque soir, on peine à voir le lien de cause à effet. Dans mon cas, ça m'aurait avantagé si j'étais étudiant aujourd'hui plutôt qu'il y a plusieurs années au point où j'en veux (côté idéologie, mais encore plus côté chiffres) à ceux qui ont le culot de s'en plaindre aujourd'hui.

      Rien à voir avec la justice sociale. C'est tout simplement une question d'instigation par les instances populistes appropriées et que les conditions directes et indirectes se trouvent à être réunies en ce moment. L'opposition et ses alliés syndicalistes et extrémistes se servent de jeunes idiots à l'esprit révolutionnaire et romantique comme prétexte pour foutre le bordel. Un nouveau plancher pour eux, mais pas surprenant compte tenu leur frustration à ne pas pouvoir caler Charest pendant ces 10 dernières années quoiqu'il en soit. On n'a qu'à constater "l'évolution" des motifs pour manifester des derniers jours/semaines. La paix sociale, ce n'est pourtant pas une "cible mouvante".

      À lire et entendre les commentaires de certains selon lesquels le climat d'insurrection est justifié tant qu'un couronnement de Pauline Marois comme chef de gouvernement n'aura pas eu lieu, on voit clairement où (et entre qui) se trouve la CORRUPTION et la COLLUSION dans la présente affaire.

      Delete
    6. The rioters have unsheathed a double edged sword that's a fact.

      When does the house in Ottawa sit next? There will be motions made that overtly or covertly fk up Quebec.

      I guess French education doesn't include process and due diligence in all action that may cause a reaction?

      Delete
    7. I guess French education doesn't include process and due diligence in all action that may cause a reaction?

      Pffff!

      Delete
    8. The sad part is that these zombie kids are the equivalent of child soldiers in a debate they know comparatively little about and are coopted into all too easily by the warlords behind the so-called "struggle".

      Delete
    9. The sad part is that these zombie kids...

      C'est toute l'estime que vous avez envers notre relève,vous les croyez vraiment aussi stupides?Johnny sort de ce corps!

      Delete
    10. Pas toute notre relève, seulement ceux parmi celle-ci qui sont manifestement influençables sans la moindre réflexion. Résumons les faits:

      - avec la "hausse", un étudiant issu d'une famille pauvre s'en tirera avec plus d'argent, pas moins, si l'on s'en tient aux chiffres et calculs.
      - rien dans la loi 78 n'enlève à qui que ce soit son droit de manifester.

      Qu'on se le dise. Ce "combat" n'a rien à voir à la supposée hausse. Ce n'est que le point culminant de la frustration née d'une dérive éléctorale péquiste ces derniers temps et rien d'autre. L'exploitation d'enfants-soldats est triste peu importe que ça se passe au premier ou au tiers monde. Cette "victoire" à laquelle aspireraient des ados dupes est si mal définie et encore moins comprise qu'elle n'en est pas vraiment une.

      Ma désapprobation avec plusieurs volets de l'administration Charest nonobstant, je crois qu'elle a raison cette fois-ci. Il est plus important d'assurer la sécurité et l'accès aux lieux d'enseignement pour tous les citoyens que de capituler aux caprices des marionnettistes des Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois de ce monde.

      Delete
    11. This is boring this protest for noting really real for the schools. They are merely pawns distracting leaders so the throne can be taken, oldest strategy in the book.

      Lesson number 1. From "Everything I ever needed to learn, I learned in the sand park in A Ma Baie " Throw sand in Frankie's Face so Celine can steal his Tonka Truck, when he come's too you don't know a thing when his mum comes cry haha

      Delete
  23. Ted Nugent?...C'est qui ça?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Only an ignoramus would take pride in not knowing who Ted Nugent is. Keep on reading Allo Police.

      Delete
    2. Désolé de vous avoir froissé par mon inculture.

      Delete
    3. Try to integrate better into North American society and not live in isolation.

      Delete
    4. Problème entre les deux oreilles mon lapin?Faites donc un effort pour vous intégrer à la société Québécoise et nous verrons par la suite.Si vous voulez vivre comme un américain,vous savez quoi faire,le Vermont est à proximité.

      Delete
    5. I feel sorry for you. Your kind is dying off. The day will soon come when people of your ilk will be laughed at. I would suggest that you try to integrate into the new multicultural Quebec that has people of different cultures speaking different language. If you don't like it, get out.

      Delete
    6. I feel sorry for you...

      Aucune raison,c'est vous le citoyen de seconde classe.

      Delete
    7. "The day will soon come when people of your ilk will be laughed at."

      Pour l'instant votre clique de turbans et de bridés êtes dans une drôle de position.Non?
      Dites-moi comment vous allez renverser la vapeur sans aucun pouvoir politique?

      Delete
    8. "Your kind is dying off."

      Vous n'êtes pas sorti de votre ghetto aujourd'hui,n'est-ce pas ? :)

      Delete
    9. My people are the punjabs with their turbans, the muslims with their hijabs, the chinese, indian, blacks, the jewish people, the anglophones and allophones, and the non-racist francophones, of which, of course, you do not belong. The funny thing is that while the percentage of francophones are stable, what the stats don't tell you is that more and more of these francophones are from different countries around the world. So, it is you, anonymous trolls, that will have to adapt, not me.

      I really ask that you leave you ghetto of Herouxville and at least see different parts of Canada and the United States, as I have, to realize their is a world outside of Quebec.

      Good luck! You'll need it! lol

      Delete
    10. "...that will have to adapt, not me."

      Nous nous adapterons de la même façon que vous le faites.Je vous souhaite longue vie afin de jouir de cette situation mais je ne crois pas que se soit pour demain.

      Bonne chance troll de petit lapin.

      Delete
    11. "I really ask that you leave you ghetto of Herouxville and at least see different parts of Canada and the United States, as I have, to realize their is a world outside of Quebec."

      Dommage de vous apprendre que je suis natif de Québec et que j'habite Montréal depuis des années.J'ai vécu en France pendant près de trois ans et j'ai eu l'occasion de faire un tour d'Europe presque complet.Je voyage régulièrement aux É.U et j'ai dû faire le canada d'Est en Ouest et d'Ouest en Est au moins deux fois.Alors oubliez Hérouxville et vos petites allusions de même acabit.

      Delete
    12. "...to realize their is a world outside of Quebec."

      Et pourtant vous vivez chez-nous,parmi les Québécois.Erreur de parcours ou simplement malchanceux?

      Delete
    13. For the 3 Stooge trolls:

      Does racism and prejudice come naturally or was it a learned behaviour? (Did you learn it in France or Quebec)

      Oh and just to let you know, you are living in multicultural Canada and will continue to do so for the rest of your miserable lives. Malchance? I think not! Enjoy! MDR!

      Delete
    14. Vous êtes au Québec pas au canada.Vous devrez vivre toute votre vie avec l'interdiction de vous affichez dans votre langue d'adoption:Le globish.

      C'est la première fois que je rencontre un lapin maso.

      Delete
    15. What does it say on the money you use? Oh wait a sec, maybe you've never seen money! LMAO!

      Delete
    16. Si ce sont les billets de banque qui définissent qui vous êtes,vous avez un sérieux problème.

      Delete
    17. And what defines you? Drugs?

      Delete
    18. Te in domum Anglorum loqui nostra lingua ut est polita modo didicistis ad tua honestum matris genu

      Delete
    19. "And what defines you?"

      Mon clapier de lapins albinos.

      Delete
    20. With all your travels you still choose to live in the ghetto of separatist Quebec. You are obviously devoid of ambition and feel most secure in a cocoon of bigotry and smug superiority. Actually all of your comments are made just to toy with commenters here as you don't believe a word of what you have ever written here. Your only real problem is that you don;t have the guts to go out in the real world and compete.

      Delete
    21. I actually find it is you who has a sense of smug superiority. How is it that you know what I believe? I write what I believe.

      Last time I checked, Quebec is not separatist. It is still in Canada.

      Don't pretend to know what I have the guts to do or not to do.

      I live the life I choose to live. No explanation needed.

      Delete
    22. Les lapins sont plutôt peureux et craintifs car ce sont des proies naturelles.

      Delete
    23. How is it that you know what I believe?

      Vous écrivez n'importe quoi ou quoi?

      Delete
    24. If there is something to take away from this thread, it's basically that I think that my fellow Quebeckers will have to realize at some point that they are part of North America and will have to integrate into its culture, while keeping the positive aspects of their own.

      We are living in a more and more multicultural Quebec and should seek to learn from other cultures.

      That is one of the things I love about Montreal, that it is the crossroads of English and French Canada and yet multilingual and multicultural as well.

      I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

      Delete
  24. Who gives a shit what the Stones think?

    Leurs fans et ils doivent en avoir au moins...1000 :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Artists are usually on hard core drugs. I don't put any worth in anything they say. They are only there to entertain us.

      Delete
    2. "Artists are usually on hard core drugs. I don't put any worth in anything they say. They are only there to entertain us."

      Laissez-moi deviner...Vous êtes un créationniste anti-avortement et vous croyez que l'activité humaine n'a rien à voir avec les changements climatiques car ceci aurait trop d'impact sur votre petite mentalité de libertarien...Non?

      Delete
    3. No, not at all anonymous poster. You are not very insightful at all. (Not surprising) The most important thing to remember is that what artists say regarding politics is usually unintelligible. Who cares what Lady Gaga or any other artist has to say about politics? They are mostly right-brained illogical type beings that enjoy getting their inspiration from all type of illicit drugs.

      Delete
  25. I'm amazed at Quebecers that think this province has some kind of international impact. Any headlines made from here are in a Canadian context or expressions by international bodies as the UN who declared Quebec legislation second to South African Apartheid in the Western hemisphere. Quebec is a non entity to the world and is becoming less visible by the day. The glory days of Montreal as an international city were the days of English Montreal. Everything famous out of this city, including the Habs, are anglo owned and run institutions. To use the Habs as an example of the fortunes of this province, the days of dynasties disappeared with the English management and coaching that ran the team. If Quebec was a hockey player, it would be personified by Maxim Lapierre - a loud mouth asshole with average talents that instigates and then runs away.
    The Quebec of today is only about potholes, collapsing bridges, fascists, racists, shit educational standards, corruption, and an embarrassment to any democratic principles left in this world. Really, if the Taliban could have a western counterpart, it would be found here in Quebec, starting with the douche patriotes and the st jean society, the franco ayatollahs of revisionist ideas on race and culture. It's as if the Vichy cowards and traitors all moved to Quebec City.

    ReplyDelete
  26. La CLASSE refuse de se soumettre à la loi spéciale

    http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/dossiers/conflit-etudiant/201205/21/01-4527238-la-classe-refuse-de-se-soumettre-a-la-loi-speciale.php

    Bang!Enfin nous allons avoir de l'action.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL parce que de l'action jusqu'ici, y en avait pas?

      Bonne Fête de la Reine, Seppie. ;-)
      Je t'aime toujours.

      Delete
    2. Merci,nous avons justement un reine élisabeth pour dessert ce soir et nous comptons bien l'engloutir avec une bonne tasse de thé.Rien de personnel Apparatchik :)

      Delete
    3. Des fois je me demande si toi et moi ferions de bons amis.
      Sans rancune.

      Delete
  27. Very interesting video

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxCJQ6kK0no&sns=fb

    ReplyDelete
  28. Not only does the "leader"of CLASSE want to get more than 85% of a subsidy for the education that university students themselves benefit from, payed for by the taxpayer, of course, he would like the general population to pay his fines for breaking the law. Wow, what kind of Quebec are we living in?

    The only people that support him are the failed separatists and union leaders as well as artists, who have had their whole lives subsidized.

    100% Nuts.

    ReplyDelete
  29. OQLF strikes again!

    CTV Montreal: Seniors' residence forced into French-only signage

    It goes to show that Bill 101 is not being used for promoting the French language but rather to get rid of the English language in Quebec, no matter who it hurts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ils ne parlent pas encore le français à leur âge?...Quelle honte!

      Delete
    2. It's really sad that we waste our tax dollars on the OQLF. They cause alot of damage to our society. They are really country bumpkin, trailor trash type people, small-minded people.

      Although, there will be a work around so that people know what's happenning in their residence, it is a sad commentary on our society when our elderly are attacked.

      Delete
    3. The hell with workarounds and accommodations. Why can't an old folk's home in the West Island make English-speakers feel like first-class citizens on par with French ones?

      This allergy to bilingual signage -- especially in bilingual ares -- needs to be beaten once and for all.

      Delete
    4. I have to agree with you 100%.

      You know, typically, I'm a moderate, such as yourself, and on this site I've been pissed off at ex-Quebecer's comments on this blog. The thing is that alot of them were born in Quebec and lived here for a long time (some with deep roots in this society), so while what they may say is not politically nice or charitable, their comments do tend to have a strong foundation to them (i.e. when they make commentary about a certain topic, not when they say things like "Quebec should sink." lol)

      I'm just wondering if I should be such a moderate because it seems that the other side has alot of hardliners with their sympathizers.

      I hope that Quebec society does soon change because as it is now, there is alot of time and energy wasted in attacking anglophones/allophones/moderate francophones.

      For heaven's sake, can we just let people retire in peace?

      Delete
    5. And at other times, I say to myself not to let the bitter ex-Quebecker's or the intolerant separatists get to me.

      I just have to be my moderate self.

      It's a battle sometimes, lol.

      Delete
  30. I am not generally a suporter of what Richard Martineau, an anti-semite and anti-muslim and anti anglophone (actually anti anything that is not pur laine french-quebecker) separatist writes but I find that during this conflict, he makes many good points. I have to commend him because usually such failed separatists pretend this strike is about everything in Quebec society: the wanting to have a country, environmentalism, (anarchy?), anti-capitalism, the right to break windows with masks on, etc

    La crise expliquée aux enfants

    Notice the comments that support what Martineau write gets the most J'aimes and the one's supporting the student's barely get any votes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As if big union's role in this was particularly opaque to begin with...
      Their grievance with Charest goes back to his initial attempt to "re-engineer the state" a decade ago by circumscribing their power. Remember the howls back then?

      Delete
  31. Saudi Arabia becomes more and more like Quebec. Who is learning from who?

    Saudi Arabia bans...

    Maybe we should start beheading people like Saudi Arabia does. We seem to be no better than them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Banning the Gregorian calendar
      Beheading for witchcraft
      ...

      I came across the following blog (now ended) on this very topic. Perhaps you might find it interesting, Roger.

      Delete
    2. Simarly, ever since Mario Dumont came up with the phrase "reasonable accommodation," Quebec has been in a downward spiral. The Gazette: Turbans are not in game plan

      Delete
    3. Too many people buy into fear of anyone different than them. That is what certain politicians and polical parties around the world try to promote, in order to get elected. So, there's always something wrong with immigrants, with minorities, etc. Then the media runs with it, because nothing helps the media more than controversy. Hopefully this closed loop can be broken.

      Delete
    4. Moderate, this subject brings out passion on all sides. Today I read something pissed me off so much I was levitating!

      Delete
    5. Okay, I'll bite. What did you read?

      Delete
    6. "Okay, I'll bite. What did you read?"

      Johnny Charest est un conservateur...

      Delete
    7. I find Jean Charest is not right wing enough. He has added alot to the provincial debt. He needs to cut wastes of money, such as the OQLF, subsidies to artists (if they are good, people will buy), cancel the 400 millions to PKP, and go back to the original offer to students in which they do not have an increase in financial aid, to begin with. Only then can we say that Jean Charest will begin to look like a Conservative.

      Delete
    8. Levitation Cause:

      I responded to students on some social media saying You can't have dessert without eating your meat- they must fight all injustice in Quebec eloquently not this vague "Tuition Hike and corruption nonsense" That Bill 78 has strings connected to other laws.

      They went crazy saying that they can't fix the past that they are for today lot's of bully talk - I said, I guess you starve for being ignorant go, stay out and make it worst on yourselves cause it's all for not without support from a wider community.

      If these were my kid's I'd change the locks till they sorted out how they are going to attain an education without my wallet being opened.

      Delete
    9. To Anon 3:28PM

      I agree with you.

      I really dislike the way that people are trying to attach all kinds of failed causes to the student strike. (not a strike, a walkout)

      You cannot have a march about everything. If it's a march about everything, then it's really about nothing.

      There is no noble cause here. There is no right to be subsidized by TAXPAYING WORKERS at 100% so that one receives a free university education.

      To the protesters: You're the ones who benefit from the education, kids. You pay for it.
      If you don't benefit from the education, maybe you're studying the wrong thing. And I definitely don't want to pay for that.

      Delete
  32. CUNY STUDENTS AND THE FREE UNIVERSITY TO STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH QUEBEC STUDENTS TOMORROW

    http://occupycunynews.org/2012/05/21/cuny-students-and-the-free-university-to-stand-in-solidarity-with-quebec-students-tomorrow/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had to stop the video at the 3 min mark because I'm not going to waste my time listening to a dumb anti-capitalist social studies student. We are wasting money on people like her? Geez, this people should pay full tuition. No need for us taxpayers to support her or others like her.

      Delete
    2. As global capitalism unfolds, you'll be hearing that kind of rhetoric more and more.

      Let's face it, the system is unjust. It has to go. A return to some kind of Keynesianism, with all its faults (some glaring), is imminent. And next time Keynesianism runs into problems, like it did in the 1970's in the UK and US, people won't buy it again that neoliberalism is the only solution, and vote for reactionary right wingers keen on rolling back social protections, restoring power to upper classes, and diverting funds up the social ladder. Or maybe they will, judging by the elections in Canada last year.

      Not that the solution is exclusionary and ethnic nationalism with some traits of socialism, as it is in Quebec or Singapore for example. The govt of Singapore invokes the threat of a much bigger China next door to push through nationalist policies and attack Chinese minority. So do Latvia and Lithuania vis-a-vis their Russian minorities. Sounds familiar?

      That the only left wing party on the federal scene (NDP) promotes this kind of peripheral (from the perspective of the rest of the country) ethnic nationalism (as in proposed extensions of 101 to federal crown corporations operating in QC, and increased funding to the OLA) essentially means that there is room for another federal party. I'm still waiting for one I could vote for.

      Delete
    3. I have to say that I'm not impressed when I go on the occupy CUNY website and see that they are planning to "paint banners, make 'book bloc shields, and cut red squares" (what is this, grade school?) as part of their itinerary for their day of protest and state that students in Quebec use the symbol of the red square to protest "cuts in social entitlements." Yes, entitlements indeed. Everyone must be entitled to their entitlements, hmmm?

      What else is to be expected by these "occupiers?" They are just the flip side to the ill-informed rural tea partyers who are hardline right-wingers that believe that their country should not be polluted by immigrants. These occupiers are the flip side: urban hardline left-wingers who do not believe in capitalism because they have been coddled all their life and don't know that they have to work to make a living.

      Just in passing, I don't believe that CUNY is a quality educational institution, sounds like the equivaled of UQAM over here. The video posted obviously has an anti-capitalist slant. What are they looking for? Communism? ( I thought that has been tried and hasn't worked.)

      In the video, the first bimbo says that "The government has made an offer that the students have rejected." My god, does she have any idea what she's talking about? The 3 student leaders (i.e. the 3 stooges) signed a document and then, showing their lack of intelligence, said a little later they didn't know what they signed. From there, the video just goes downhill. If I was to critique every sentence I'd be here all day. The students that are speaking on this video make me want them have to pay full tuition instead of them being subsidized at 85% from OUR TAX DOLLARS.

      Delete
    4. You're wrong about that if you're suggesting that the OWS people are like the ill-informed rural tea partyers.

      The crucial difference between them is that one group knows exactly what they're up against, while the other is very confused and and only feels that something is wrong, but can't articulate it and lets others (right wing manipulators like Beck or Limbaugh) speak for them.

      Delete
    5. Also, don't knock CUNY or city/state colleges. Yes, they're not Ivy League schools, but many smart people who can't afford Ivy League tuition end up in city and state colleges.

      But I am very critical of UQAM. I think it's been taken over by nationalists and separatists, whose sentiments I do not and cannot share.

      Delete
    6. I agree with you that the "occupiers" have more information then the tea-partyers but I don't think they use it well.

      The student walkout of people mostly in sociology and other related fields in which less than 5% of the study body voted (maybe it's because the leaders crammed all their boycott supporters in a small room to vote?) has much to do with entitlement and nothing to do with a fair system. I think the system is already fair when we subsidize them to the tune of around 85%. If someone goes to university, it is them that will benefit. They should pay their fair share.

      The reason I knocked CUNY is because if the people in the video were representative of the student body, then I think it is really a poor quality education they receive. It's like when The Editor posted a video of that Leo Paul Lauzon "teacher" at UQAM and saying that he is representative of teachers there. If Lauzon is indeed indicative of the teachers at UQAM, I would say that student's there are also getting a poor education.

      As for the whole capitalist system, I agree to a certain degree that right now it seems to be a race to the bottom but, to be a devil's advocate, once the bottom start to get paid more and more (as is starting to happen in China), everyone will start benefitting again.

      I do agree, though, that the rate of pay of CEO's, regardless of their performance, is out of proportion to the rate of pay of employees. It does seem that the rate is going in inverse directions.

      This, in my mind, though, has nothing to do with the student walkout.

      Delete
    7. CUNY can not be that bad. Collin Powell is an alumnus. :-)

      Delete
    8. Troy, if that's true, that's actually a strike against CUNY.

      I'm surprised he got so high up, not being from Ivy League. He must have kissed a lot of butts on his way to the top.

      Delete
    9. adski,

      Collin Powell was graduated from City College of New York, a senior college in CUNY. He was the right man on the right place on the right time during Desert Shield/Desert Storm. As of not from Ivy League, he was from the military where not so many Ivy Leaguers cut their teeth there.

      Delete
    10. Troy, even the crossovers from the military to politics have to kiss ass, and so do the army personnel who climb in ranks, especially at higher levels. To become a general and then earn consecutive stars, you must be in cahoots with many politicians.

      Read Alexander Cockburn's collection of eye witness accounts from within the US military on Gen. Wesley Clark. This is a guy with total contempt for people below him, and total subservience and brown-nosing to the people above him.

      This is the kind of people that rise to the top. It's sad but true.

      Delete
    11. @ Troy

      Well, it's possible that Collin Powell did well independant of him going to CUNY, lol. Just because you go to a prestigious institution doesn't mean you will come out of there with great intelligence and even if you go to a lower ranked institution, you can still come out with a good head on your shoulders.

      @ adski

      I know what you're saying about what people do to get to the top but it is possible, I think, that people can get to the top by being a good people person and making the right decisions in their job.

      Delete
  33. Des sites internet du gouvernement du Québec ont fait les frais d’une cyber-manifestation du Collectif Anonymous. Les sites du Parti libéral du Québec, du ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport et de l’Assemblée nationale ont été mis hors-ligne,...

    http://danactu-resistance.over-blog.com/article-anonymous-soutien-aux-etudiants-du-quebec-et-frappe-des-sites-gouvernementaux-105599893.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The problem with QC in general is that ethnic nationalists tend to hitch their wagons to causes that could potentially appeal to a wider audience. The presence of people associated with the PQ, BQ or SSJB at the rallies and events throws me and many other people away by a mile, even if we could relate to some of the issues.

      The fusion of ethnic nationalism with the anti-corporate capitalist stance is not a good mix. You can't fight bad with bad. You end up pushing away a lot of people who don't like globalization as much as many Quebeckers. And there is also the question of whether people like Marois are against globalization to begin with, or whether they're just making use of a general sentiment for political gains.

      Judging by the size of Marois' residence, she's not much of a socialist. More like a socialite, in fact.

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

      Delete
    2. Outside of Quebec people get a twenty second sound bite with a picture of a group of students on radio or television it's not on Canada's radar.

      Delete
    3. Wrong. The conduct of the students is very much on the radar of the ROC press, but the readers are virtually unanimously opposed to the students conduct and goals, regard the student movement as having been highjacked by the PQ, left wingers, the unions and other assorted losers and misfits. The overwhelming concensus of the reders is that they support stronger measures by Charest and want a vote to expel Quebec fron Confederation as they are tired of giving equalization payments to which is a sink hole. Tough words but that's the way it is now.Quebec has no more caeds to play with the ROC.

      Delete
  34. This is an interesting timeline of the Québec tuition problem.


    http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Anatomy+conflict+after+days+student+protests/6655852/story.html

    ReplyDelete
  35. The media are finally showing the fallout monetarily they are telling the students just waking up that they must pay out of they're own pockets for skipped courses.

    A skipping student has asked for extra support after 100 days she has children. I crossed a picket line everyday for 4 months to support my children I am aghast that a parent would make a decision for something that takes food out of her babies mouths.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It just goes to show that the students don't know what they're doing.

      Kudos to you for doing what you had to do to support your children.

      More people should be like you.

      Delete
  36. Le site Internet de la Sécurité publique piraté

    http://www.lapresse.ca/le-soleil/affaires/techno/201205/21/01-4527233-le-site-internet-de-la-securite-publique-pirate.php

    ReplyDelete
  37. Oh look! The great Gabriel Nadeau Dubois who wants us to pay for his free education!

    J de M: Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois expulsé de son logement

    Talk about cockroaches...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That guy is beyond the pale.

      Delete
    2. Le co-porte-parole de la CLASSE, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, a été condamné par la Régie du logement parce qu'il n'a pas payé à temps deux mois de loyer, soit 1900 $. Il ne sera toutefois pas expulsé de son logement, car il a payé son loyer en attendant la décision de la Régie.

      http://tinyurl.com/bsyjo3w

      Delete
    3. What's wrong with this irresponsible child? Why doesn't he pay his rent like everybody else? A true hero for the anarchists and his like-minded followers. Lobsters, follow me to the pot.

      Delete
    4. He is not a true leader he can't complete a thought, jeesh what a mess.

      Delete
  38. The news is saying that they can't really tell what the march is about the people who are speaking for it are not clear. Embarrassing, Imagine sacrificing your own economy hanging out on a street every night while your team leader grasps for the Cause of the Day, whatever he thinks it should be.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sounds like the Occupy Movement all over again.

      Delete
    2. "The news is saying that they can't really tell what the march is about..."

      Mais tous avons un point en commun : Nous détestons charesssst!

      Delete
    3. We hate Marois. There should be a parade for that as well.

      Delete
    4. Te in domum Anglorum loqui nostra lingua ut est polita modo didicistis ad tua honestum matris genu

      Delete
    5. Effectivement mais nous sommes les seuls en accord sur ce point.

      Delete
  39. The late night new's just repeated that the movement is fractured into the same loose structure as "Occupy" they are a protest to walk the streets?

    They showed how skipping students went to a school where kid's were studying and bullied them scaring them a lot!

    More on the Madame Justice who's slaying corruption than anything else. You have no Captain cut and run

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's funny that the protesters like to say that they are fighting for the right to express themselves and yet they try to silence and intimidate people who oppose them.

      Delete