Monday, June 11, 2012

OQLF Language Report an Exercise in Smoke and Mirrors

Smoke and Mirrors: Something/Someone that distorts or blurs facts, figures, etc., like a magic or conjuring work; artful deception; tricky inventiveness.

I can't think of a better metaphor than the above 'Smoke and Mirrors' to describe the reports issued last week by the OQLF describing the language situation in relation to the retail trade in Montreal.

It took quite a while for me to get through the pages because like a student's essay, aiming to fulfill a minimum word count, the reports were long on superfluous, duplicate and useless information.

Really, did we need a diagram indicating what foot path an inspector took while visiting a department store and was it germane to include the fact the inspector started from the top floor and worked his/her way down?
OQLF- This is how we walk around a room

But despite the padding, the reports were more interesting, not for what they included, but rather what they did not, but more on that a little later.

First point of course, is the credibility of any report emanating from the OQLF itself, an organization that ceases to have meaning, should itself determine that the French language not be in danger, thus rendering its existence redundant. Under that circumstance, it's hard to imagine the OQLF ever declaring French out of trouble, even if it were so.

Instead of handing off the study to an impartial third party, the OQLF itself produced the report in-house, setting the terms, training and deploying inspectors and putting together the final report.
Like the Church preparing a report on the existence of God, even with the best intentions, it is hard to take the conclusions other than with a grain of salt.

I'm not going to bore you with an exhaustive critique, which in the end leaves the readers with information overload. I will dwell on just two points, those points, which in my opinion, render the reports discredited. My first concern is that the OQLF starts off with a faulty basic premise and my second concern is its failure to honestly present the data.

The faulty assumption is of course, the idea that a store without a French descriptor in its 'English name' is in violation of Bill 101, we've gone through this before, it just isn't true.

In the thirty-five years since the introduction of Bill 101, the OQLF has bound over in the neighborhood of 2,000 files for prosecution in relation to recalcitrant violators of the language law.
NOT ONE of these prosecutions has ever been undertaken in relation to a company using an English trademark without a French modifier appended to its trade name.
In thirty-five years, no company, to my knowledge, has ever received a 'mise en demure' (demand letter) from the OQLF demanding that it add a descriptor to its trademark.
Why?
If I am wrong about the legality of descriptors (which I am not,) I would ask defenders of the OQLF to explain why the organization has failed to take any legal action against any company, when it has pursued legal action for other violations.

Is it because the OQLF is afraid to take on a multinational with deep pockets, companies which have already received legal opinions that in relation to descriptors, the OQLF hasn't a leg to stand on?

You know, I cannot remember the OQLF taking any multinational company to court over any aspect of Bill 101. If they did, it is likely that there were very few cases.
No, as far as I'm concerned,  the OQLF prefers to pursue small-fries, those they can bully with impunity.

Not true?  So why do new cars continue to be delivered with pictograms AND English-only labeling on the dashboard?
Why is it that in Quebec, new cars can be delivered with English-only dashboards, while TOY CARS cannot be delivered with play dashboards in English? Such is the nonsensical world of the OQLF.

Perhaps it is because big car companies have told the OQLF to piss off, that if the Quebec government demands special labeling for Quebec bound new cars, consumers would have to pay hundreds of dollars extra to pay for it, with the specter of Quebecers buying cheaper cars in Ontario, a frightening scenario that would lead to, you guessed it, the need for more restrictive laws, banning the practice.

At any rate, I will again remind readers that in 2001 the OQLF received a legal opinion that any attempt to force modifications on copyrighted trademarks would violate international copyright law.
The OQLF continues to perpetrate this myth, refusing to comment on the controversy, preferring to ignore realty like a toddler sticking her fingers in her ears, shouting "I CAN'T HEAR YOU! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!'

So once this false premise is offered as one of the cornerstones of these language reports, the conclusions become tainted, or as they say in court, "The fruit of the poisonous tree"

In the Highlights report, we are told that 72% of downtown businesses are, according to the OQLF, in complete compliance with the law, including the store name and the interior and exterior signage.

Then we are told that 83% of stores have a store name that conforms to the  law, meaning of course, that 17% of downtown store have 'illegal' store names.

I don't have any problem with that data set, it seems reasonable, because many American chain stores with English names are well-represented downtown.

But if one was to eliminate the question of French descriptors and illegal English names, one could conclude that downtown stores are 90% in compliance with the law, a fair difference with the 72% that the OQLF asserts.

And so we come to the second part of my concern, the question that the OQLF conveniently fails to answer.
Of the 10% who are in non-compliance, what percentage of signs are illegal?

The OQLF inundates us with all kinds of useless information, but NEVER TELLS US what is their interpretation of the threshold of being compliant nor non-compliant.

Does one illegal sign in a store with 300 signs make a store non-compliant?
It's crucial information that the OQLF omits, probably on purpose, because the answer sadly, is yes.

According to the OQLF, one illegal sign in a 10, 50, 100 or 500, makes the store non-compliant.

It's like writing a test with 100 questions and flunking because you got 99 questions right and one wrong.
It hardly seems fair that a store like Best Buy is considered non-compliant because of its name, when the 500 or so signs in the premises, all respect the criteria set out by French language signage regulations.

Of all the information provided in all the reports, never once does the OQLF tell us how many signs it counted and how many signs were were non-compliant.
While the OQLF is determined to tell us what path inspectors walked in the stores they visited, they won't tell us the number of 'legal' and 'illegal' signs they observed. Clearly they have something to hide.

Failure to disclose the most important data set  can only be construed as an attempt to misconstrue and mislead, like a clever con man dealing out a hand of 'Three Card Monte."
The misdirection is in and of itself a disgraceful testament to the OQLF's duplicity and dishonesty.

Readers this is no accident, presenting the information honestly would likely show less than 1% of signs are illegal, not a number that the OQLF is keen to publicize.
Instead, the OQLF tells us how many stores have at least one illegal sign, a dishonest and manipulative way to goose the numbers.

By the way readers, I did my own downtown sign inspection and will report on Wednesday.
The results are absolutely startling, so don't miss it.

And by the way, here's one nugget that I found in the report that I found extremely interesting and sad.

It seems that the OQLF inspected certain stores in 2010 and then inspected the exact same stores again in 2012, to determine the differences in terms of compliance with the language laws, over the two years.

The OQLF reports that a stunning 17% of these stores were now closed, no longer in business, this in just two short years!

But far as the OQLF is concerned, it doesn't matter a twig, its only concern is whether the stores followed the law in respect to signage......

"Closing Sale" or "Bankruptcy sale"

NO WAY!!!

"Vente de fermeture" or "Vente de Faillite"

That's much, much better!!

81 comments:

  1. The last couple pof paragraphs pretty well sums the situation up. Similar to the student attempts to sabotage the Grand Prix. Self depricating. Good post.

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  2. Editor,

    But if one was to eliminate the question of French descriptors and illegal English names, one could conclude that downtown stores are 90% in compliance with the law, a fair difference with the 72% that the OQLF asserts.

    Sorry, I do not follow. How do you get from 72% to 83% to 90%?

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    1. Hmmm. Perhaps I should of explained a little better.

      Add to the 72% stores deemed in total compliance by the OQLF, the 17% percent that are claimed illegal, solely because of descriptors.
      With rounding it adds up to 90%

      Remember the OQLF claims that 83% of stores have legal names, which leaves 17% which the OQLF claims don't.
      Since I don't believe that the 17% are breaking any language law, I added them into the compliant number of 72%.
      Errr..is that any clearer?

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    2. Editor...Is it possible to ask for a mandate to make public how they count their beans ?

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  3. The OQLF is, and always has been a make-work project to keep Quebec's unemployment numbers lower. It was redundant from the day it was created, a sounding board for shit disturbers who have absolutely nothing better to do than get out on sunny days (otherwise lay on their couches smoking, drinking Pepsi and munching on May Wests or Jos Louis and collecting their welfare cheques like the lazy bums that they are at the end of the month.

    Then your shit-for-brains premier, none other than John James "Goldilocks" Charest, who has nothing better to do now than bide his time to the next election knowing that if he loses, so fucking what? He can ride off into the sunset with two fully-indexed to the cost of living pensions with WAY more cha-ching coming in sitting on his ass than 95% of hard-working people will ever earn in their lifetimes.

    Too, the shit-for-brains premier (like the whole goddamn lot of them before), John James "Goldilocks" Charest, hired 26 more of these friggin' pissants last year. Good tax dollars being pissed against a wall!

    Sadly, the Quebec government, whatever party it is, is expert at pissing money against walls hence the financial predicaments that exist now. I hope Greece is just a small sample of what Quebec faces if it doesn't get its merde et sauce brun together à bientôt!

    Ask me if I care if Quebec separates!

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    1. Sauga, You have described the financial situation in Quebec with absolute perfection. "Sadly, the Quebec government, whatever party it is, is expert at pissing money against walls hence the financial predicaments that exist now." My only question is how do we get the Quebec society to start reflecting on this mess and actually act on the real problems facing this province.

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    2. First they need to stop blaming the Anglos, the Allos, the ROC, immigration, the American, capitalist and everyone else who is not purlaine and then start working removing the fat which exists at all level of the government and may I suggest balancing the budget without the creative accounting practices used by countries such as Greece. Baby steps, stop spending more than you make and stop the tax and spend approach which virtually steals money from your citizens.

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    3. You asked: "...how do we get the Quebec society to start reflecting on this mess and actually act on the real problems facing this province?"

      My answer: Quebec society doesn't reflect, they have knee-jerk reactions based on what's in it for them. The sales tax was raised at the beginning of the year, as were medicare premiums and something that was way behind the times being raised: Tuition fees.

      Premier John James "Goldilocks" Charest, after about 9 years in office, decided to start tackling the fiscal imbalances, but when life for the last 50 years has been been society leaning back and relaxing while gouvernemama takes care of everything, the money starts to become scarce. The federal government has the luxury of printing money whenever it needs to, but overdoing it leads to inflation as inflation, in its simplest definition, is the depreciation of money. Jurisdictional governments have to rely on floating bond issues, and that's fine until one's bond ratings slip and the coat of borrowing increases...and increases...and increases...

      If Premier John James "Goldilocks" Charest caves in, and I'll bet he will, then Quebec will be, to quote former Mulroney finance minister Michael Wilson, "on a treadmill they can't get off of." How long can Quebec think it can raise $100 in taxes and pay $500 for its goods and services? It's just a matter of time before Quebec hits the wall, and too many Quebeckers don't care. It's enjoy now and worry later! Eventually they'll be singing that old '60s song "I've got troubles whoa, I've got worries whoa..."

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    4. Mr. Sauga to my anonymous respondentMonday, June 11, 2012 at 12:10:00 PM EDT

      Get real! Quebec society is on a racist ratchet where the screws are JUST BEGINNING to tighten! The racism is only going to get worse as opportunities lessen as the economy worsens. Greece elected 20 members of a racially extremist party. Hitler came to power legally after Germany was ten years in dire straights and look at what happened in the former Yugoslavia in the 90s. No, my anonymous respondant, it's going to get worse, not better. In desperate times bring forth scapegoats for society to vent their frustrations and ease their woes. Achtung Anglos, Allos, Africans, Haitians, Jews...

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    5. MONTREAL - The appearance of so-called Nazi salutes at some Quebec student protests is being condemned by different Jewish organizations.

      http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/stop-those-nazi-salutes-at-quebec-student-protests-jewish-groups-158611715.html

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    6. ...and to think there are those who condemn comparing Quebec to the Nazis.

      I'm right again! The little hand-sized snowball started with Hitler and the Nazi Party being legally elected to power. The snowball in Quebec is starting to roll...

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  4. @Editor: any feedback from your having contacted the media outlets I asked you to get in touch with last week?

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  5. "otherwise lay on their couches smoking, drinking Pepsi and munching on May Wests or Jos Louis and collecting their welfare cheques like the lazy bums that they are at the end of the month."

    Vous avez oublié la poutine.

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  6. Bill 101 is a large part of the corruption problem in Quebec. By requiring workplaces to operate in French only, outside tenders for construction projects are automatically disqualified. Construction firms from Vermont, Ontario, New Hampshire etc are not permitted to bid for contracts in Quebec even though they build better roads at a lower cost than the corrupt stinking Quebec firms. The small construction cabal in Quebec is rotten to the core and has fleeced us taxpayers for over a generation now. Throw open the doors and lets level the playing field by allowing outside (read English speaking firms) to bid on Quebec contracts. I don't give a rat's ass what language the guy laying down asphalte speaks as long as its done right at the best possible price. We're taxed enough.

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    1. Tough luck, Charlie. This has been the Quebec way for decades and nothing, but nothing has been done to change it.

      I've said it before and I'll say it again: The RoC should hold a referendum to throw Quebec out of Canada, not only for its language B.S., but for all the protectionism it throws against the RoC. While I honestly don't care if Quebec hits the economic brick wall à la Greece, I worry it's somehow going to adversely impact the RoC.

      I made up my mind to leave your godforsaken, putrid jurisdiction as soon as I graduated from Concurdia U. My parents paid enough taxes for me to be entitled to an inexpensive education, mostly through self-employment or obtaining post-secondary education when most of the population wasn't graduating high school! I clearly saw the writing on the wall when Bou-Bou came out with Bill 22 in 1974, and with the fascist péquistes ratcheting the problem with Bill 1, then its watered-down cousin, Bill 101. I'm actually ashamed to have been born in Quebec, but I, like most Anglophones, feel first that I was born in Canada, and that's not bad.

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    2. Souffrez-vous de la maladie d'Alzheimer Sauga?Pas surprenant que vous n'aimiez pas la devise du Québec: Je me souviens.

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    3. Anon !;36 PM EDT,

      Big foreign companies are allowed to function in English, given that they have head offices outside Quebec. Also, if your firm is in Quebec, you're allowed to use English in internal communications with the head office department. Many companies that have over 50 employees have never completed the francization requirements. The matter of the fact is that because of globalization and the English nature of North America, Bill 101 was never applied as harshly as it was meant to. Doing so would have destroyed the Quebec economy and as we all know, money is the universal language. For every major job at big companies in Montreal, you NEED to be bilingual or else you don't get hired, and this includes unilingual francophones.

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  7. If you make it clear that you want the very province that raised you to crash and burn, how can you expect for anyone to take you seriously? To me, these comments are merely the result of years of bitterness and pessimism.
    Everyone continues to put down John Charest like he's the worst premier the province has ever had. Would you, in all honesty, prefer the alternative? Surely, even if you don't live in Quebec anymore, you must at least hope for the well-being of your friends and family who still live there. The PQ are like buzzards in the desert. They have continuously sucked the life out of the economy of Quebec every time they've been elected, and they will continue to do so until la belle province is but a dry skeleton, the last bit of meat having been torn off long ago. I will continue to vote Liberal, as even though I don't agree with everything Mr. Charest has ever done, he has been running the province steadily (at least in comparison to l'Opposition officielle) for years. Why change things, if they will only get worse?

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    1. Vultures, not buzzards.

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    2. This article demonstrates how futile, petty and farcical life in Quebec is for anglophones. Move to Ontario and live a normal life free of all this dysfunctional crap. God Save the Queen.

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    3. Whats in Ontario? lots of jobs? homes out of reach? high electric rates? water fees ? water discharge fees ? don't care much about the Queen..bet you have a picture of the Queen on your tv set..we will work it out some how ..I believe the more this language stuff gets exposed things will change.. It used to be called la bell Province not for nothing..If it would get much worse like no jobs or opportunity's vanish then I would liquidate and move but Ontario?

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    4. Mr. Sauga to Truchrémar, and pressnine401 as wellTuesday, June 12, 2012 at 1:13:00 AM EDT

      You're f--king-eh right I'm bitter - VERY bitter! My grandparents came to Canada - Quebec actually due to persecution from their Eastern European countries with virtually nothing and had to build their lives and families' lives from the ground up. My paternal grandfather had his own business as a shoe cobbler taking a job away from nobody. My maternal grandfather came to John James "Goldilocks" Charest town with NOTHING. The Czar and his evil minions confiscated property of my grandfather's, destroyed other property with their pogroms and then orders to leave their land. Watch Fiddler on the Roof. That's the story of my maternal grandparents.

      So he came to the Townships and started his businesses with dirt. That was how poor they were in 1914. From there he grew his businesses, died smack in the middle of the depression and his son, my uncle, the legend of the family, took over the businesses at age 22 with every asset pledged to the hilt. After having had a good cry over my grandfather's legacy, HE turned their fortunes around and not only supported himself, his widowed mother and five siblings, most of whom were still children (my mother, the second youngest, was 8), but created jobs when jobs barely existed.

      My families paid their way asking for handouts from NOBODY! In the meantime, the Great Roman Catholic Church was screwing the indigenous French speakers for every dime they could get their grubby hands on, ensuring they had big families and little money to support.

      In the meantime, comes the Quiet Revolution after the Church was screwing the majority for 200 years so a scapegoat had to be found for their loser economic shortcomings. After all, they wouldn't dare blame the Church, or it was simply too hard to do so.

      Solution: Blame the minorities. Make the minorities the scapegoat, of which I was a part. Most of the people who were "too old" to pick up stakes, relocate and start over. As for those closer in age to me, they made their choice to stay and so they have made their beds. Given my drathers, certainly I don't want them to suffer, and most of them are not sitting on their asses watching TV many hours per day, eating May Wests and poutine (sometimes together) and trolling for illegal English in their streets in their neighbourhood. Nevertheless, as I just wrote, they made their own beds and they just may have to lie in them. They had their chances to leave.

      Press9: No pic of the Queen anywhere in my house, I'm for a Canadian republic. The Monarchy is good for Britain, does absolutely nothing anymore for Canada. Ontario is having its fair share of economic woes, but efforts are being made to reverse the tide of deficits. Let's put it this way: What you're not paying for rent and utilities, you're paying in taxes!

      Anyway, Quebec stopped being la belle proh-vance when the péquistes no longer wanted Quebec to be perceived as a proh-vance. After Bill 101, the next thing the separatist government did was change the motto on the bottom of your vehicle license plates to Je me souviens from la belle province. Like the late Mordechai Richler commented in that 60 Minutes piece back in 1998, nobody knows what it is they're exactly supposed to remember. Maybe the ba'le on the Plains of Abraham?

      Yup! I've completely abandoned my faith in Quebec just like my grandparents had nothing particularly nice to say about the European nations they came from. I'm a 100% loyal Ontarian now, proud of it and not the least bit sorry for feeling that way! I gave up pitying being an ex-Quebecker a long, long time ago.

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    5. Well that's true..Hard to argue your point.. about the taxes and cost of living..sales tax will going up again in 2013 to 10.5% leaving is still on my mind but torn at the same time that there's still hope any how like in my last statement if it happens then it's by by charlie.Sauga I have a very interesting article for you ..It's by Joseph Graham he's a historian and writes for the Gazette weekend paper and dose the main street monthly paper article ..the story behind ..I'm sure you will make a comment

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    6. Press9401: Do you have the portal link for that.

      Tax rate going to 10.5%? Actually, because Quebec taxes the GST, it's really 11.025%! Boy-oh-boy! Reminds me of the pre-GST days when the Newfies hit you with the ol' one-two, i.e., a sales tax rate of 12%. It was 9% in Quebec and 7% in Ontario. This will raise Quebec's effective tax rate to 16.025%! NF's is still just 15% HST and Ontario is bad enough at 13%. I'll say 16.025% and counting... Time to shop in Plattsburgh, eh? Heh heh heh...

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    7. Plattsburg is too far I got this off the front page of the paper..themainstreet.org june 2012.volume 12 no.5

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    8. "we will work it out somehow"... We're you born yesterday? This crap has been going on since at least the time of Jean Lesage. I think 50 years is long enough to work it out. There is nothing that can be worked out with fascists whose younger generation of bangers of pots and pans is the laziest generation of all time.

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  8. Jonah...Vous êtes de plus en plus sympa!

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  9. Quebec deserves to fail, and will fail. The 248 billion deficit is just the start. Add to this the ROC, whom are beginning to understand the innerworkings of the most corrupt province in Canada. The days are numbered for la belle province. Editor..I would advise you to re-evaluate your options or you yourself will be sucked into the vaccum that was once Quebec. And so goes Quebec, so goes the great Quebecois culture which has existed for years due to the benevolance of others. EOS

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  10. "Quebec deserves to fail, and will fail."

    Il me semble que ça fait un bon bout de temps que les anglouilles radotent la même rengaine.Non?

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    1. Does not change the fact of the eventual outcome. En fait, votre Quebec serez une replique de Grece avec un encore peu temps.

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    2. "votre Quebec serez une replique de Grece avec un encore peu temps."

      Avec les changements climatiques,je ne serais pas surpris de voir des citroniers pousser au Québec.

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    3. WOW !!! Bravo, votre raisonnement explique pourquoi nous ne devrions pas avoir des comédiens et des artistes qui régissent notre province. Vous logique est tout ce qui est erroné avec le Québec. Votons pour Yuppi pour lui demander de planter des haricots magiques. Peut être nous pouvons payer notre dette en cette façon.

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    4. AnonymousTuesday, June 12, 2012 7:55:00 AM EDT
      WOW !!! Bravo, votre raisonnement explique pourquoi nous ne devrions pas avoir des comédiens et des artistes qui régissent notre province. Vous logique est tout ce qui est erroné avec le Québec. Votons pour Yuppi pour lui demander de planter des haricots magiques. Peut être nous pouvons payer notre dette en cette façon.

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    5. J'avais compris la première fois.Vous êtes un vrai "liberal",vous facturez en double.

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    6. At last a witty remark. One out of a hundred is not bad for a separatist.

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  11. Les libéraux perdent le château fort d'Argenteuil

    http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/politique-quebecoise/201206/11/01-4533887-les-liberaux-perdent-le-chateau-fort-dargenteuil-mais-conservent-lafontaine.php

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    1. La CAQ bonne troisième partout :)

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    2. Most Quebecers couldn't care less if one riding was lost. It really doesn't matter at all. The PQ have been faced with declining support for the past 15 years, and the trend shows no sign of stopping. Meanwhile, in the polls, the CAQ are cashing in on some of what's left of the dying separatist movement. The result will be simple, another Liberal victory while the remaining votes are essentially split in two for left and right wing separatists. Face it, if the separatist movement still can't even achieve unity, its supporters should just accept the facts and give up. Quebec loves Charest and loves the Liberals. The PQ might as well blow all your energy on a big party over one riding, because that's the biggest victory they are going to see for a long, long time.

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    3. Truchrémar, what are you smoking "Quebec loves Charest and loves the Liberals". I am no PQ supporter however I don't vote for the Liberals because I love them or Goldy Locks for that matter. I vote for them b/c I simply do not have a choice. Honestly what choices do we really have in front of us. PQ = Separatists who will bankrupt the province and say it is the fault of Anglos and Allos. Liberals = Federalists who will bankrupt the province and turn to the shady underworld for assistance ( Me thinks they are already did this). CAQ = Separatists/Fascists with no clear vision and who believe that both sides can work together (note: still on Separatist in this party) . None of these 3 imbecilic parties talk about the real issue (debt, balancing a budget) in this province and this should be everybody's greatest fear. Ask Greeks or Argentinians, they where very responsible in dealing with debt and look how well off these nations have become. In all honestly this province needs a Rudy Giuliani style character to clean house and bring this province back to reality.

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    4. I would recommend all entrepreneurs who appose the OQLF to place a bilingual sign which states the following ---> " OQLF = L'ignorance, so F*** off, merci et bonne journée "

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    5. And how, may I ask, are the Liberals **ANY** different from the PQ? Both parties have made it their goal to eradicate any and all traces of English from the province, bit by bit revoke rights of English-speakers, ethnics and others minorities, and push forth a mantra and belief that the French Quebecois living in this province are a superior culture and race (going as far as encouraging hatred, bigotry and civil unrest in the process).

      What does voting Liberal gain? That they won't threaten to call a referendum during their term? Do you not think all their other policies and corruption haven't damned Quebec economically and politically as-is, without calls for referendums? Vote PLQ, PQ or CAQ, same exact product, just under a different label. Same poison.

      I will never again vote for that piece of sub-human scum Charest, not EVER. Not after what he has done and continues to do with regards to throwing English Quebecers under the bus. I would faster vote for the PQ, just so they can finish off destroying Quebec, and hopefully get it kicked out of Canada in the process. Yes, I am still living in Quebec, but this place is finished, it is OVER, GONE, forget about it. We have now past the point of no return, and even if Quebec ever does recover, certainly won't happen in my lifetime. As soon as I possibly can, my goal is to finally leave this province and never return.

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    6. Well, you're an optimistic fellow, aren't you? You seem to hate the Liberals, and accuse them of throwing the Anglophone community under the bus, but who was it that allowed Westmount, Cote St Luc, Point Claire and many other anglophone municipalities to have referendums and demerge? Now, some of our Anglophone communties have their own municipal governments which will fight for our rights. Doesn't seem like Charest is throwing us under the bus, from where I'm standing. Face it, the Liberals should not be compared with the anglophobic, separatist PQ. There is a strong contrast.

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  12. Argenteuil : Forteresse libérale depuis 46 et constituée de 40% anglo/allo ...Bang!

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  13. @anon 7:58

    the loss was by around 501 votes and it was a byelection. The CAQ took enough votes from liberals to win, on the other hand with an election coming in just a little bit alot of CAQ voters and complacent liberals will actually vote liberal to prevent a PQ victory.

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  14. Argenteuil actually has only a 17% and anglo population.

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  15. The Editor wrote:

    So why do new cars continue to be delivered with pictograms AND English-only labeling on the dashboard?
    Why is it that in Quebec, new cars can be delivered with English-only dashboards, while TOY CARS cannot be delivered with play dashboards in English? Such is the nonsensical world of the OQLF.


    One element that plays quite big role in the separatist and/or French language zealotry movement are the trade unions. One significant constituent in the unions are the construction workers. Now see the irony.

    I know for fact that big construction equipment (bulldozer, crane, hoe) only have English markings. Be it the gauges, the instructions, the display, the warnings, all are mostly just in English. Also, significant portion of construction supplies that the contractors use - these are supplies used by contractors, not the ones available for public - are packaged only in English. Examples are electrical fixtures, plumbing supplies, cements, aggregate.

    That happens because construction companies import them directly from the United States. Again, these supplies are not available for general consumer through normal means. Since the U.S. market is 10 times that is of Canada, it enjoys economy of scale. Therefore, buying supplies from the U.S. in big quantity represents significant savings for the companies. Bill 101 and OLA do not touch this practice as end-users do not see the unilingual labeling.

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    1. Troy, you're going to love this. Louis Prefontaine appeared on public radio, alongside M.Beaulieu and OQLF's L.Marchand.

      http://www.985fm.ca/audioplayer.php?mp3=136433

      And so the mainstream continues to inch towards the fringe.

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  16. It was Hilarious in the last federal election where Gilles Duceppe campaign bus had interior warning signs all in english. I imagine they changed them all to French.

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  17. Your meeting will be in EnglishTuesday, June 12, 2012 at 3:46:00 PM EDT

    Interesting read, and sign of what's to come in the near future. Someone please kick Quebec out of confederation.

    http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/East+English+services+could+hurt/6766392/story.html

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  18. Ils auraient dû apprendre à communiquer en français.Personne ne leur a expliqué qu'être un unilingue anglophone au Québec constituais un handicap.

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    1. Being a unilingual francophone is a curse upon your children.

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    2. L'anglais est la langue du diable.

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  19. Your meeting will be in EnglishTuesday, June 12, 2012 at 4:44:00 PM EDT

    Thank you, for displaying what a bunch of cold-hearted bastards so many of you French Quebecois are. We're not talking about services at a convince store, this is SOCIAL SERVICES for people who may be in life or death situations. Nope...you don't give a damn as usual. Those like you (thankfully not all, but a good majority) are selfish, bottom feeding, cold hearted, miserable redneck drecks of life.

    You will get yours, I promise it. Quebec is doomed and when, not if, but WHEN it collapses, you will be trapped here because you cannot speak a word of English. What a delightful twist of irony. Enjoy living in your French-only hell, it's coming very, very soon.

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    1. "...you will be trapped here because you cannot speak a word of English."

      Vous allez nous aider n'est-ce pas ?...C'mon dude!

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    2. hey! Are you the guy playing the spoons in front of Ogilvy? Sorry to stereotype, just can't tell you all apart any more. Beggars on the streets, beggars in the 'national' assembly, beggars everywhere.

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    3. Currency in Quebec will always bear a picture of our sovereign and if a partitioned Quebec separates it will thereafter be only in English. The national humiliation will endure forever.

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  20. Dear Editor, whenever I read the comments to your blog I am always struck by the number of emotional rants about Quebec being doomed to failure, evil language policies, economic doom and gloom, Godwin's law rampant etc. You know the stuff. See virtually everything by Mr Sauga, or perhaps "Your meeting will be in English", just above. Shades of Howard Galganov.

    I realize that there is no point in criticizing these folks and their idiosyncratic comments individually. It makes no difference to their point of view or the vehemence of their rants. But I do wonder...what is the logical endpoint of this public ranting. If you ranters have decided that Quebec and its tongue troopers are doomed and you look forward to seeing Quebec's burning ship of state sink below the horizon in flames (preferably with all the passengers screaming in agony) then you have given up on democratic change. You are quitters. Just folks who cut and run and can never be counted on if there is a serious dispute or question to be decided because you are so overwhelmed by your prejudices. The ranters who comment on this blog are just the mirror image of the deluded ethnic nationalists who inhabit the Vigile.net blog and constantly preach that Canada is doomed, its laws are unfair to Quebec, yada yada. Repetition is so tiresome.

    Now Editor, I acknowledge that your blog is critical but it always suggests that it does not have to be this way, that stupid behaviour can be changed, that flawed legislation can be improved. But the ranters have given up. They quit so they want the rest of us poor anglo quebecois to fly a white flag and leave for greener pastures - perhaps Mississauga. Dear Ranters - I feel your pain and from where I am sitting I can smell your bitter bile splattered across the Erin Mills Parkway. But ranters - many of us still believe Quebec has a great future - in Canada. All is not lost. Leave us our romantic dream and spare us the bitterness and pain for a few days. Now let's all sing Le Canadien errant, perdu a Mississauga, followed by a chorus of Kumbaya. Editor - give us a C, a bouncy C...

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    1. Well said..

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    2. Sandy: I admire your optimism, but at the same time, how do you plan to change things here? Let's imagine for a moment things have reached a plateau, that it will get no worse from here on. Even as-is, in this state, I no longer feel Quebec is a livable or peace-of-mind region of the world. There is far too much wrong with this province and there unfortunately there is no plateau, we haven't even reached rock bottom yet. I truly believe violence will erupt against "les autres", it's just a matter of time. And it's precisely attitudes of sitting back and ignoring the problem which will allow it to happen. History is indeed a good educator.

      So you're painting Howard Galganov and Mr Sauga villains, are you? If we had people like them in politics, rather than cowards and appeasers we have now, Quebec wouldn't be balancing on the edge of the precipitous it's over now. I really don't think you understand what a power keg this province has become in terms of hate and xenophobia, or how it became that way.

      Though regardless, I am asking you seriously. What do you suggest be done?

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    3. I am surprised to see that Un Canadien Errant is also a song dear to english canadians. I understand that the lyrics can touch anyone who is homesick and who longs to see his homeland again.

      But Un Canadien Errant was written after the rebellions of 1837 and 1838, it was written in a time when english canadians were not yet calling themselves canadians and the wandering canadian character was most probably, in the mind of the writer, an exiled french canadian rebel.

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    4. "...If we had people like them in politics..."

      Ce serait la guerre civile,croyez-moi.

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    5. "I am surprised to see that Un Canadien Errant is also a song dear to english canadians."

      Voilà peut-être une partie de la réponse:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V-Rth-NKk4

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    6. S.R.

      I saw that video just before posting my last comment. I was also surprised that it meant something to Leonard Cohen... And I also saw a video of Nana Mouskouri signing it. How should I put it? ...Interesting?

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    7. Apple IIGS, I just sail on - confident in the power of my individual rights. The arc of modern history bends inexorably towards the rights of individual citizens over any ill-defined concept of collective rights. Some elements of Quebec society do not fully understand that fact. Those same elements were asleep for many years. Then came the quiet revolution. That revolution, so - called, is NOT over yet. But it should be obvious to any serious observer that the quiet revolution does not lead to ``a Quebec that is as french as Ontario is english`` nor to Quebec as a separate country. And pity the poor fools at the OQLF who are trying to make people "behave" in a certain way. Watch that arc, AppleGSII, and consider the old nostrum that all things come to he who waits. Patience.

      And Michel, don`t be surprised. Perhaps you don`t hang around «english canadians» very much. Le Canadien errant is a great old folk tune. I`ve heard a rap version. Do you know "Black Fly" ...black fly, little black fly, always the black fly everywhere I go...

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    8. OK, I took care of business in the next blog about the vomitous shit called the Khadir Rabid Animal Clan Society, so now onto you.you have given up on democratic change.

      In your swipe at me, Howard Galganov and a few others, you wrote "...you have given up on democratic change." Based on your Peter Pan/Pollyanna optimism, it's obvious you're rather young, and living in fantasies is common among younger folk. BTW, I'm not old, but I've had younger days myself, and they're not forgotten. Be that as it may, I have FORGOTTEN more about democracy than you'll ever know. You wouldn't know what democracy was if it bit you in the ass!

      Please tell me and my fellow readers who have been grazed by your swipes (albeit barely) what "democratic change" is as you see it. It's getting late, I have a long day of work ahead of me this morning just like I did yesterday, so before I go on, allow me to give you the floor to define your interpretation of "democratic change" before I lay you flat with my rebuttal! Sandy, again, the floor is yours...I'm waiting!

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    9. Sandy: "I just sail on - confident in the power of my individual rights"

      My interpretation of that, is that you don't want to rock the boat, so to speak. If you "respect" the rule of the majority, and play nice, they will respect you and let you live in peace and harmony. Right?

      That includes embracing Bill 101, accept the abolishment of English services, agree not to publicly address anyone in English, and finally to accept that YOU, as an Anglophone, are merely a tolerated guest living in someone else's homeland. You know your place in society, should never consider being an equal, you must always know your place as a GUEST in THEIR country.

      Sadly the Anglophone community has embraced just that for the past 40 or so years, and where has it got them? Are we accepted? Is there social harmony? Where do you think this is headed? I was born in Quebec, lived my entire life in Quebec, but I still am made to feel like an outsider, practically every day. I wish things here would change for the better but I cannot live out the rest of my life waiting and suffering...

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  21. I found it interesting to see an ad for this site on TV a few days ago:

    http://www.bonjoursk.ca/
    "Bonjour Saskatchewan is the result of years of hard work by the Coalition for the Promotion of French Language and Francophone Culture in Saskatchewan to promote the benefits of learning French and being exposed to the Francophone culture."

    Saskatchewan promoting the use of different languages, french in particular?
    What a change from this province, where we prefer to make laws to prevent people from learning or using different languages.. While they have ads encouraging kids to learn about different languages and different cultures, we have ads telling small business to put up or get out..

    Those "farmers" seem to be years ahead of us. We ought to be ashamed of ourselves..

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    1. If you had lived in the West, you'd know these organizations for what they are - a few idealists in a sea of indifferent people unaware such organizations even exist.

      Why, just the other day I was invited to sign a petition to save what passes for french education in Saskatchewan - a handful of classes at the university of Regina.

      French is so far gone in Saskatchewan that it doesn't even rise the ire of bigots.

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  22. Cessez de faire le salut nazi, demandent des groupes juifs:

    http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/dossiers/conflit-etudiant/201206/12/01-4534248-cessez-de-faire-le-salut-nazi-demandent-des-groupes-juifs.php

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  23. It will be interesting to see how the student's challenge to sections of Bill 78 makes out. If they are successful in suspending all or part of this bill, it could open the door to a challenge of 101. Now, as opposed to the 80's and 90's, with social networking us Anglophones (still a term I am not used to coming from out west, describing me as a minority) could and should organize a challenge to 101 using the same arguements. Wouldn't that put a bee in their bonnet....

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    1. AnonymousTuesday, June 12, 2012 9:38:00 PM EDT, Unfortunately the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was not designed for Anglophones who live in Quebec. Any challenge to Bill 101 gets overruled by the notwithstanding clauses which ultimately mean "shut up, know your place and be thankful we let you live here". Quite sad how ROC abandoned Anglophones who live in Quebec.

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    2. AnonymousTuesday, June 12, 2012 9:38:00 PM EDT. Unfortunately The Charter of Rights and Freedom was not intended for all citizens of this country and especially not for Anglophones from Quebec. Any challenge to bill 101 will get overruled by the not withstanding clause making any challenge null and void. Welcome to Quebec.

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    3. That,'s because Trudeau betrayed the Anglophones when he said that he would not do their "dirty work" by invoking the federall disallowance power.

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    4. I have a framed copy of the charter hanging in my house here in Chambly. We brought it with us when we moved here from Alberta a couple of years ago. It guarantees these rights and freedoms to all Canadians. Last time I checked the map, Chambly QC was still in Canada. My passport and Manitoba birth certificate identify me as a Canadian. How am I not covered now? I work mostly in English alongside french speaking employees, never had an issue. But what I see on the streets makes me give my head a shake at times. Out west, everyone speaks whatever language and no one really cares. I suppose in time I'll learn what some people are so paranoid of losing. As a recent arrival here, to me anyways, the french language is alive and well. English is not a threat, in fact, without it, this economy will be left in the dust. Ideal with business people around the globe and quite frankly, it is understood the language of global business is English.

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