French versus English Volume 59

Separatist Fever (LA FIÈVRE SOUVERAINISTE...)

by Daniel Castonguay
Translated by The Cat

Attention readers, this article was first published in French.

If you read French, the original webpage is here; AgoraQuebec 

This disease has been spreading around Quebec for 50 years. Although it is less active now, it still affects a considerable number of Quebecers.

Transmission mechanism
Nowadays, its transmission mechanisms are better understood. One of the mechanisms that is still quite prevalent is the contact made between teenagers and their highly-unionized teachers. It is believed that contamination occurs by spoken means, however written means have also been identified (Manual for sovereignty in school). Close contact with people who have been strongly affected may also result in transmission.

Symptoms
The first symptom is usually historical hallucination. The patient comes to feel victimized by constantly revisiting 250-year-old facts while neglecting more contemporary historical reality. Distortion gradually creeps in between historical reality and the beliefs of the patient. Here are some case histories: ''The Night of Long Knives'', ''Pierre Curzi vs. McCartney'' , ''Bourgeois/Falardeau vs. the Plains of Abraham''.
The second symptom that is most readily apparent is ethnic hostility, which results in a disproportionate distrust that is principally directed towards anglophones. It is believed that this second symptom results from the first one. The patient generally believes that English Canadians are hostile to us and that he is their victim. From time to time, the patient comes to think that anglophones need only to leave Quebec, as if their having been here for several generations did not grant them equal citizenship.
The third symptom is the obsession with language. The patient is possessed by an inordinate fear of seeing his language disappear even if objective indications indicate no danger whatsoever. It must be understood that the first symptom prevents the patient from having access to this reality. The combination of these first three symptoms may occasionally result in episodes of francobsession .
The last symptom is the quest for sovereignty, which he sees as the only solution to his symptoms. His other symptoms prevent him from seeing the adverse effects of this quest and its negative consequences.
This clinical portrait results in a patient who is unable to see the global rapprochement of countries and the gradual abolition of borders. He cannot conceive of close collaboration with English-Canadians, who, apart from language, share their concerns. His attachment to French occasionally deprives him of the openness needed to understand the world (see the following case history: Marois/English).

Prognosis
Most patients affected by the disease will eventually heal without requiring any treatment. Some patients may retain one or two symptoms but, unless encouraged by some external stress, may be regarded as cured. Some will unfortunately be affected their entire lifetimes. Certain well-known people unfortunately suffer from the chronic form of this condition. One can think of Bernard Landry, Gilles Vigneault, Gérald Larose, amongst others...

Treatment
Certain clinical approaches are worthwhile. For the first symptom, readings that confront the hallucinations may be useful. For the second symptom, travel in English Canada may bring about a reduction in hostility, as long as the patient's symptoms are not too intense. A patient who is overly affected by the disease should not use this approach since his own hostility could inconvenience English Canadians and help to inflame his own symptoms. As for the third symptom, a good knowledge of the English language lowers the level of anxiety in the patient and makes him realize that he will not disappear but rather will evolve. As for the fourth symptom, it quickly disappears once the other three diminish.

Epidemiology
Separatist Fever made a slow incursion into Quebec beginning in the early sixties and finally attained 40% of citizens by 1980. A large outbreak hit Quebec in 1995, where 49% of citizens were affected. Since then, the disease has consistently regressed. Experts agree that only 30% of those affected continue to suffer from the chronic form of the disease now.
Posted by Agora_Quebec at 18:14 - Daniel Castonguay -

A flag flap in a small Quebec village

Tim, a valued participant of this blog, sent me this email;

"Luc Lamond, the mayor of of Lac-des-Seize-Iles, Qc the small Laurentian community between Morin Heights and Weir, has taken it upon himself to fly the Quebec flag above the Canadian flag despite many complaints from the lake`s cottage dwelling residents. Even though a
solution has been suggested to him, he refuses to even listen to the voters. Members of the council have tried to sway him, but because they are in the minority, nothing gets done. The community has a
single flag pole which flew the Canadian flag above the provincial for many years until recently. The solution of purchasing another flag pole, so that each flag would have one of its own, has been continuously voted down. It seems as if the mayor has no respect for its residents, and continues to show his separatist agenda.

In a further email Tim wrote that after checking, apparently there is no protocol at all for the flying of flags on the same pole. Hmmm.

I certainly don't like what I see, it is disrespectful to both flags, really how cheap can a town be?
I don't think I'd be happy if the Canadian flag was placed above the Quebec flag, on the same pole.

Students lose court fight

"Court rejects bid to throw out parts of anti-protest law, Bill 78

MONTREAL – An attempt to quash certain articles of the provincial Liberal government’s anti-protest legislation was quickly rejected Monday by the Quebec Court of Appeal – even before the case can be heard in Quebec Superior Court – meaning Bill 78 will be in effect as university and CEGEP students head back to school next month. "

Read the rest of the story

Amir Khadir's sister is a plagiarist

"The sister of Amir Khadir has put L'actualité and  L'actualité médicale magazines in trouble by signing a column that was largely copied from a blog which had already appeared on the website of the Metro newspaper.

Contributor to the magazine L'actualité médicale, Dr. Saideh Khadir  published a text, a few weeks ago, which drew a parallel between the claims of those medical specialists and students. However, half of the 10 paragraphs of her column were actually plagiarized from a text written by Akos Verboczy, blogger for Metro since January 2011.

 Hilariously, when the kind doctor phoned the blogger to apologize, she told him that she didn't understand the journalistic rules about copying and would have 're-formulated' his work had she known it was wrong! Ha!Ha!
Read the rest of the story in french

Language Tests coming?

Many of you are way too young to remember the farcical situation back in 1976, when toddlers were given language tests to see if they were really English speaking and thus qualified for English schooling, back in the days of Bill-22. Read an old article about it
I wrote about this story last week, but here is expanded coverage;

"Quebecers will face a French comprehension test before being served in English at the provincial health insurance board, which recently switched its communication policy from bilingual to “en français” at its customer service centre.

The move by the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) to revise its communications to comply with Bill 101, the province’s French-first language policy, worries minority-rights advocates." Read the rest of the story

Student activist leader running for the PQ

"Leo Bureau-Blouin’s debut news conference as a Parti Quebecois candidate on Wednesday was dominated by what he wasn’t wearing: the red square that has come to define student defiance in the province.

The former student leader — who was omnipresent on TV during the tuition protests earlier this year — had to fend off questions about the absence of the red square, which symbolizes opposition to the government’s commitment to hiking the cost of education. " Read the rest of the story

For your information, he is running in a Liberal held riding and his candidacy is meant to send a message to students, to get out and vote.
Over two-thirds of Quebecers oppose the 'red square' and so there's not much hope of him winning.
There's a disparaging political word in French that describes his candidacy--"POTEAU" or pole, somebody who is nothing more than a campaign poster on a hydro pole, meant to show the flag in a hopeless riding.

Are you going to watch the Olympics?

57 out of the 250 or 23% athletes representing Canada in London at the Olympics were born, reside or train in Montreal. That's quite an accomplishment! Link{Fr}

That being said, I don't seem to have much enthusiasm for the Olympic games in London.

Perhaps it's the summer heat or the fact that the Vancouver games are never going to be topped for Canadian pride, accomplishment and chauvinism.

Perhaps it's also the fact that this Aussie lass didn't make the cut to represent her country.
Too bad.....

Ah, c'mom, you watched the whole thing!!!

I'm off on a very small vacation and may or may not post Monday, but will definitely be back by Wednesday.

Have a great weekend!

Bonne fin de semaine a vous tous!!!