Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Weak Justice System Contributes to Quebec Corruption

For years and years, successive Quebec governments, both sovereigntist and federalist have pursued a course that could only be described as 'soft on crime.'

Our current justice minister Jean-Marc Fournier, was so furious at the Prime Minister for toughening up the law in Bill C-10, whereby punishments and jail times were beefed up for serious crime, that he raced off to Ottawa to demand that the law be softened, his supplications falling on deaf ears.

For many Quebecers it is a source of pride, giving rise to a smug, snobby, sense of superiority that Quebec treats criminals more 'compassionately' than do other provinces in Canada.

That Quebec has a slightly lower crime rate as compared to the ROC has many Quebecers proudly crowing that their penal system which encourages short, or non-existent sentences and which focuses on rehabilitation is the reason.

This of course is poppycock.

One of the principal reasons for the difference, is the fact that Quebec is home to less than 8% of Canada's aboriginals, this in a province with 24% of the national population.

Sadly, Aboriginals represent 20% of Canada's prison population, five times what we'd expect demographically.
Since Quebec has statistically fewer natives, (by a factor of 66%) there's enough of an impact to account for the small statistical difference in the crime rate between Quebec and the ROC.
I'm not putting the knock on natives, but it is what it is.

Now every time somebody raises the specter of more severe punishment for criminals, the leftist intelligentsia mounts a ferocious attack on proponents, describing them as a bunch of Cro-Magnons, out of touch with modern criminal rehabilitation practices.
They invariably trot the argument, that while the United States incarcerates sevens times as many people (per capita) as Canada, there are no tangible benefits as pertaining to the crime rate or recidivism.

There is a legitimate question as to whether tougher sentences have effects on violent or career criminals, the best example is the death penalty, the scariest of all sentences that seems to have no deterrent effect on those contemplating murder.

But today's blog piece is not about those hardened career criminals, but rather the white collar types, the businessmen who cheat the government out of millions by way of rigged tendering, over-billing, under-delivering and phoney-invoice schemes that fraud not only the contracting authority, but the tax department as well.

Here, I contend, that a vigorous enforcement coupled with meaningful jail time for offenders would make a significant contribution to lessening the stain of corruption and fraud.

Unfortunately, our justice system has failed us miserably, it is simply not up to the task of meting out real and effective punishment that would have a real and signifigant deterrent effect.

While it may be true that a gang member from Montreal North has no fear of jail, it being an occupational hazard, such is not the case for businessmen, who can still make a good living without resorting to fraud.

Lax enforcement and insignificant punishment lead otherwise honest citizens to consider 'crossing the line.'
Let us take for example those 'honest' citizens who cross the border and make dishonest custom declarations.
It's a risk they take based on the slim chance they will be caught and the assessment that in the remote eventuality that they are caught, the punishment will be nothing more than a fine.

For most of us, just the humiliation of getting caught is enough to keep us honest, but for those who are adventuresome, the risk to reward is worth it.

But what if border agents started putting people in jail for smuggling, even if it is just for that one gorgeous pair of $1,000 shoes. What if the punishment would be a weekend in jail or some community service?
Simply put, the harsher the penalty, the higher the chance that honest law abiding  citizens will be discouraged from cheating.
But the government in its wisdom, deems this type of border enforcement to be a waste of resources and so a higher level of smuggling is the acceptable by-product.

I repeat what I said earlier, for hardened criminals, increased jail sentences aren't much of a deterrent, crime is their life and jail an occupational hazard.
But for otherwise genereally honest citizens, heightened penalties and the real possibility of incarceration would be a serious deterrent and this Mr Harper and everyone else in authority fails to understand.

Increased penalties for white collar crime would definitely have a significant dampening effect.
Unlike career criminals, these people think very carefully about the consequences of being caught. Generally they have homes, families, savings, and reputations that they care about. If they do cheat, it's because like the border under-declarers, it is just too easy and the punishment just too lenient.

Recently, through fits and starts, our province has arrived at a place and time when we are finally prepared to confront corruption and fraud in the public service and the construction industry.

Though we are lurching forward, with two steps forward and one step back, progress is being made, arrests are happening and even a cyncal public has to be impressed at the forward momentum we are witnessing in uncovering malfeasance, with quite a few impressive headline-grabbing arrests of late.

My fear however is, that our justice system is woefully unprepared to do its part.
If things go on as before, cases will drag on for years and in the end, prosecutors will give sweetheart deals to the defendants because they are outgunned by topnotch defense lawyers who can grind down crown prosecutors who are working on a timetable and a budget.

If the anti-crime units do their part, and they seem to be doing just that, it is on the justice system to punish cheaters and crooks in a signifigant manner.

First, Canada Revenue Agency and Revenue Quebec must clean up their act and re-orient their goals.
Up to now, both agencies concentrate on recovering as much money as it can from cheaters, foregoing criminal prosecution in the process.
In other words criminals who cheat the tax deparatment, sometimes out of millions can buy their way out of jail.

"...Construction magnate Antonio Accurso personally signed cheques at the heart of a tax-evasion scheme and used part of the funds for luxurious home renovations and fancy clothes, a court document alleges. The Canada Revenue Agency agreed to a deal last year in which two companies administered by Mr. Accurso - but not the construction magnate himself - pleaded guilty to $4-million in tax evasion and paid an equivalent fine.
By agreeing to the plea deal, Simard-Beaudry Construction Inc. and Louisbourg Construction Ltd. were affected in their ability to obtain government contracts. However, there was no direct consequence for Mr. Accurso." Link

The practice of buying ones way out of a tax fraud must be eliminated, with jail time the priority for those who organize schemes to defraud the government.
At a certain point, the money is secondary and examples must be made.
It's also time to raise the ante and if fines are to be levied instead of jail time, they should be enormous, say ten times the amount of the fraud!
It's time to take off the gloves and teach cheaters that when caught, they will have Hell to pay.

By the way, the Canada Revenue Agency needs to clean up its own act as well and finally put to bed the nasty corruption scandal that rocked the Montreal office. Link

Fighting this type of crime also means that the government must react quickly to shifting circumstances.
We are now seeing another phenomena, whereby those facing lifetime bans in relation to bidding for government contracts, are transferring their companies and assets to family members who are acting as 'innocent' fronts.

This ploy should be attacked on all angles and perhaps the government can use the new definition of a criminal enterprise as defined by the Supreme Court last week, to define families and even companies as criminal enterprises.
Let the crooks involved who object to being banned have the onus to prove their innocence. Good luck.

In the town of Mascouche, site of the arrest of the mayor and a construction king, Normand Trudel, for fraud, it seems that business is as usual.
Mr. Trudel's old company, Transport et Excavation Mascouche, at the center of the controversy, has been re-launched under his son's ownership and under a new name.
Nothing has really changed, the person who answered the telephone before, is still answering the phone now!

Tony Accurso is alleged to have installed his daughter as titular head of many of his enterprises to avoid problems in the event of he himself being blacklisted, a likely scenario, the way things are going

Mayor Richard Marcotte, at the center of the corruption scandal in Mascouche is refusing to stand down as mayor and made an appearance at a town council meeting for five minutes this week, in order to preserve his position as mayor. Had he been absent for three months consecutively, he'd have been put out on his rear end.
To the boos and hisses of townspeople who crowded city hall to demand his resignation, Marcotte made a mockery of them all, the arrogant bastard thumbing his nose at the justice system and maintaining his $100,000 salary, doing nothing for the money!

All these types of shenanigans must be recognized and stamped out. Laws need to be enacted in reaction and all that's required is a desire for justice and a burning resolve to rid our public spaces of these white collar scoundrals and thieves.

Finally, resources must be poured into the system to speed up trials, so that cases involving high profile fraud cases be completed within a year, at the most.
Right now, this is a pipe dream as cases can linger for five years, all to the defendants advantage.

A special corruption court needs to be established with priority given to those high profile trials of politicians, civil servants, consultants, engineering firms and construction magnates.

Convictions must include jail time for those at the top of the heap, sentencing guidelines must be established so that paying a fine, no matter how big, is not an option.

Without the cooperation of the justice department and the courts, all the good police work and arrests will go for naught.

It remains to be seen who will win the war, the crooks or the good guys.

Right now, its too early to tell, but I am confident that good things can happen, as long as the justice system doesn't let us down.

Let's cross our fingers!

79 comments:

  1. Terrorist acts, such as what we've seen from the different protesting student groups, seem to be ok in this province. Hell, there's even elected officials who encourage it (Amir Khadir, Pauline was out in the streets with the protestors, etc).

    Guy Turcotte killed his two kids and received a psychiatric evaluation as punishment.

    Brandon Pardi killed a little girl, and was out drinking in bars two weekends ago.

    At this rate, I expect Luca Rocco Magnotta to get a couple hundred hours of community service, and that should be it.

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  2. What do you expect from these students and supposed leaders anyway? So long as they speak softly and have good manners their bad deeds shall be excused.

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  3. I think the talk of Aboriginal demographics is a rather lame excuse. There's provinces with lower percentages of aboriginals than Quebec which have higher crime rates, and putting the blame on one ethnic group reminds me of the irrational self-segregation south of the border.

    I do agree with the majority of what you wrote in this article, however. Tax fraud and similar scamming crimes are among the worst out there.

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    Replies
    1. Only one province in Canada has less aboriginals per capita than Quebec.--- PEI
      ...and its crime rate is LOWER than Quebec's.

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  4. An oft-heard quote about elected office is that you seldom get voted in twice if you've actually done your job right.

    Editor, you seem to be encouraging this sort of turnover. What's an ambitious career public servant to do? ;-)

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  5. In the end, these godfathers will be thrown a parade!

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    Replies
    1. OF course !!!

      And i'm sure the anglo community will stand up and applaude them as they pass through the west island and st-leonard, with their liberals buddies. Because as we all known, despite all the corruption scandals that are linked with the liberal governement, anglos will vote for their favourite party again at a rate of 95%.

      Let's just hope that the sentences who will be given against all these anglo-italians mafiosi will not be too harsh. If so the québécois will be accused of being raaaacissst and inteloooorant again.




      OH and btw,

      I can see that you still running from your ww2 lies on the MC gill medical school thread.

      Pussy.

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    2. I wish we had another option to vote for, but sorry to say the PQ and the "mini PQ" (ie.CAQ) are a bunch of clowns!!!!

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    3. @ Anon. on July 11 at 12:36 PM,

      Why should he waste his time responding to an anti-English, anti-Italian, anti-Semitic, flaming whackjob like yourself?

      Delete
    4. "Why should he waste his time responding to an anti-English"

      Pour les mêmes raisons que les Québécois qui répondent aux anti-Québécois.

      Delete
  6. I'll go one further - jail time is probably a much harsher punishment and deterence for white collar crimes than violent crimes. Try to get an accountment position after serving 5 years in jail! Violent criminals are also more likely to repeat their crimes if they are sent to jail, but this wouldn't be true of white collar criminals - how can you embezzle funds if you can't find a job as an accountant?

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  7. In general, I have to say that Canada in general and Quebec in particular are way too lenient in delivering punishment. To be honest, I was rather surprised when I came here that punishments for various sentences were rather light. At first I thought that it was a sign of a developed society. But then, I found that it was the governments that were rather limp-dicked.

    Examples are many, but among others:
    1. No jail sentence for speeding and hit a child to die.
    2. Caught with DUI for tens of times and still be able to drive.
    3. Murdering one's children and got away with insanity defense.
    4. As no. 3, brutally murder someone and decapitate him.
    5. Direct contempt of court order is tolerated.
    6. Police "accidently" shot a bystander to death and got away with it.
    7. Just several years of prison for cleaning a lot of people off their lifesavings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Can't it be both? A sing of a developped society with the side-effect that we are sometimes too easy on people who deserve punishment?

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    2. Anonymous at 15:30,

      So that is it? As a society grows and matures and develops it should be softer and kinder to those violating the rules of laws?

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    3. As a society grows and matures it should realise that while prisons make us all feel better that justice has been served, they don't do much to prevent crime. Actually, it's been shown that putting first-time offenders in prison (as opposed to making them do community service) makes them more likely to repeat their offense. That is the result of the great prison-building experiment in the US.

      The idea to "just stick them all in prison" is steeped in emotionnal thinking that makes us want to see bad people punished rather than try to come up with practical strategies to actually cut down on crime. You want to actually prevent repeat offenses? You make sure prisonners can get jobs when they get out, by giving them classes or teaching them a skill or something. If they can't find employment, they'll inevitably commit crimes again.

      Of course this is a counterintuitive strategy, plus I'm sure you'd get people to complain that prisonners get for free what good citizens have to pay good money for. It is, however, what works.

      But, as the editor suggests, perhaps prison is an effective deterrant for the white collar-types. Perhaps we should become hard on crime for white collar stuff and remain soft on crime for more violent crimes.

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    4. Anonymous at 05:25,

      So our discussion gets a bit philosophical. What is the purpose of punishment? Prison, fines, or in other places corporal punishment and death? I say there are two purpose for punishment or sentence.

      First purpose is to prevent the culprit and everybody else in the community to commit the infraction. Second purpose I think is to make the culprit "suffer". To make him pay for whatever bad thing he has done.

      Now reading your opinion it seems like you agree that the more a society matures, the more that it does not need to make the culprit suffer anymore. In other word, the purpose of punishment is more so that he will not repeat and others will not do the same "mistake". Am I right?

      If that is the case, then really there is no consequence for doing crime anymore. One can commit crime and will not have to suffer the consequence since the purpose of the punishment is just to prevent future actions, but not to redeem past actions.

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    5. If you want to make a culprit pay in the real sense of the world, you make him do community service or pay a fine. You make him fix his mistake. Putting him in a room with free food fixes no wrongs.

      Putting people in rooms only works to make them suffer, or to seperate them from the population if they are dangerous. I think a hallmark of a civilized society is that we no longer do this for non-dangerous criminals. For instance, someone caught consumming drugs.

      Delete
  8. @anon 12:36

    Better to vote for slightly more corrupt liberals that have less of a chance to take away remaining anglo rights then to let the PQ to get in. As anglos and allos we vote for the least worst option. Until we get demographic weight to or a change in attitude we will have to remain meak and vote liberal. The other option would be grow a pair and to just defy bill 101 openly and create our own autonomous regions.

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    1. Exactly, its astounding how these brainwashed Quebecois keep critisizing les autres for voting in the PLQ again and again. Sorry I‘ll take the mafia over the fascists anyday.

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    2. Oh yeah, the PQ and the CAQ are facists party. LOL


      Ah the poor oppressed anglos. In Ontario you cant get a job to clean toilets if you dont speak english while here unilingual anglos can get top jobs. In ontario 3% of the higher education system money go to french school for a francophone population of 4% while here the anglo educational system receive almost 30% of the public molney for a 10% anglo population.

      And yet they dare to complain because a law force them to have at least some french on their commercial signs in the only mostly-francophone jurisdiction in North America. OH HORROR !!!

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    3. @Anon : Not to mention that immigrant children have to attend schools in the official language of the juridiction, a humiliation not seen in any... oh. Wait. Is there actually ANY juridiction in the world that contributes to the death of its culture by allowing newcommers to use minority-language schools even when its not their language* (including Canada)? Even a single one?

      *the savvy reader will remind me that even immigrants whose first language is english aren't allowed to use the anglophone school system. I will remind the savvy reader that Quebec receives negligible immigration from countries where English is a mother tongue.

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    4. "And yet they dare to complain because a law force them to have at least some french on their commercial signs in the only mostly-francophone jurisdiction in North America. OH HORROR !!!"

      BANG!!!! et RE BANG!!!

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    5. The reason that French is the official language of Quebec is that Quebec repealed English as an official language. As William F, Buckley, Jr. once said "I won't insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said.” Hypocrisy has its own elegant symmetry.

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    6. "The reason that French is the official language of Quebec is that Quebec repealed English..."

      Probablement la meilleure chose que nous ayons fait...Sans insulter votre intelligence,bien entendu.

      Delete
    7. "Sorry I‘ll take the mafia over the fascists anyday."

      Pas chanceux,vos mafieux sont aussi des fascistes.

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    8. S.R probably takes his two weeks vacation from his job at the SAQ in Fort Lauderdale where he lies on the beach guzzling beer with his compatriots dreaming of that glorious night in the future where there is a resounding YES vote and then wakes up with a sunburn. N'esce pas le cas?

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    9. "vow mafia"? Qui sont "vos" mafia?

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    10. Your efforts to tarnish Italo-Quebecers is another reason why we will never vote OUI, so get used to being a Canadian for the rest of your life.

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    11. "And yet they dare to complain because a law force them to have at least SOME FRENCH on their commercial signs in the only mostly-francophone jurisdiction in North America. OH HORROR"

      The law (101) BANNED all languages except French from commercial signs until it was condemned by the United Nations and was watered down by the Supreme Court.

      Presently the law states that French has to be on ALL SIGNS, on top, and at least twice the size of any other languages.

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    13. Actually with the outstretched hand of the fracophones.

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    14. "N'esce pas le cas?" (sic)

      Tout à fait exact,surtout que près de 50% des canayens sont prêts à faciliter notre grand départ.Je rêve effectivement (mes amis aussi) à la grande rupture.

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    15. the savvy reader will remind me that even immigrants whose first language is english aren't allowed to use the anglophone school system. I will remind the savvy reader that Quebec receives negligible immigration from countries where English is a mother tongue.

      It might be that, among those countries where neither English nor French is the Mother tongue, those immigrants have a better working knowledge of English than French, but in spite of joining a Province where at least HALF the population CAN speak English (and reasonably expect to make a decent living by getting a job or an education in a language that they understand from day one), they are forced to join the other, unintelligible to them and openly hostile half, under the jackboot of la racaille de l'OQLF...

      The fact is, outside Canada, France, Belgium and Switzerland, French is only spoken in third world countries. And Belgians and Swiss don't think much of coming to Quebec. Not many French either, unless there is a contingent situation of higher living standards in Quebec than France (which hasn't happened for over thirty years...). So here you have it: a trickle of French people stopping by in Quebec on the way to the West or the States, and a flood of unskilled third world country immigrants joining the Crips and the Bloods in Montreal. But I suppose it's ok if they join the Crips: their colour is Bleu...

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    16. Anonymous of yesterday, 14:13,

      Ah the poor oppressed anglos. In Ontario you cant get a job to clean toilets if you dont speak english while here unilingual anglos can get top jobs. In ontario 3% of the higher education system money go to french school for a francophone population of 4% while here the anglo educational system receive almost 30% of the public molney for a 10% anglo population.

      Regardless of what your opinion is, can you give us the source of your numbers here? I have to say, they are pretty egregious.

      Delete
    17. Anonymous of yesterday at 20:39,

      Presently the law states that French has to be on ALL SIGNS, on top, and at least twice the size of any other languages.

      The laws do not prescribe the "twice the size". The laws say that French must be displayed prominently on all signs. It is the interpretation of l'Office quebecois contre la langue anglaise that French must be twice the size.

      Delete
    18. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    19. The laws do not prescribe the "twice the size". The laws say that French must be displayed prominently on all signs.
      Correct.

      It is the interpretation of l'Office [...] that French must be twice the size.
      INCORRECT. This is not the result of an interpretation but rather of a bona fide regulation (click here). Recall that a regulation lays out how to implement various provisions/parts of its enabling law.

      Just thought I'd point that out for the sake of accuracy.

      Delete
    20. While indeed the OQLF has created a regulation that French be twice the size of English on signs, it has never been challenged in court.
      The regulation would not survive a challenge because in some cases making English half the size renders the English part too small to be readable, the same effect as banning English from the sign altogether.

      This isn't an academic exercise, we already see evidence of this in the many signs.
      I'm going to do a post on the subject in the near future.

      Delete
  9. Entirely irrelevant and out-of-topic comment from me:

    During the weekend I watched the coverage of the Stampede in Calgary. They had an opening parade in downtown Calgary. Maybe Yannick can confirm the news. In the parade, the Premier of Alberta, Alison Redford, led the parade on a horseback dressed Western-style. I see her image as a strong and independent woman.

    The one woman in Quebec having the potential of becoming a Premier is Pauline Marois. Her image? Clanging with pots and pans on the street.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's
      Pauline Antoinette Marois D'Hélicoptère
      to us..

      Delete
    2. AnonymousWednesday, July 11, 2012 1:24:00 PM EDT
      Not to mention adding a 200k silent toilet for herself at the assembly!
      Reply

      Delete
    3. "In the parade, the Premier of Alberta, Alison Redford, led the parade on a horseback dressed Western-style"

      PR stunt.

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    4. @Troy: I think Alison Redford is an interesting example of the weird political masquerade that goes on in Alberta during the Stampede. Certain politicians are obliged to dress up in 'western wear' as it's called, flip pancakes for the masses, and not say anything nasty about the rodeo. These same politicians would likely disdain the whole thing were they not holding elected office, since to them there's something faintly distasteful about it: it would be like a Québec Liberal MNA being forced to smile through a 10-day long St Jean Baptiste celebration. Replace fleurs-de-lys, papier-maché René Lévesque and poutine with cowboy hats, Alberta beef and pancakes. This politically expedient hypocrisy is best represented by Alison Redford, as well as her mentor former premier Peter Lougheed. Calgary's current mayor, Harvard-educated business professor Naheed Nenshi, is another example. In other words, the 'Progressive' element in 'Progressive Conservative' Alberta. Former premier Ralph Klein is a good example of the other side of the coin: someone who genuinely loves the Stampede. Why? Alberta pride, man! 10 days' worth of free pancake breakfasts all over town. Hanging out in the beer tent downtown for 10 days rather than going to the office. Wearing your western duds to work. Among these Albertans, who proudly wear their cowboy hats at any time of the year, you'll find Alberta's very own separatists. Yes, Troy, they do exist. They are not outspoken like their Quebec brethren. They believe Alberta's superiority in comparison to the other provinces to be so self-evident, it doesn't even require a demonstration. They are somewhat placid at the moment as 'Eastern creeps and bums' (as Klein called them) have come around to their way of seeing things, having given Harper a majority and thus recognized Calgary's natural place atop the hierarchy of Canadian cities at long last. Anyway, to get back to Redford, should you look at her CV, you'll see it's not unlike those of Stéphane Dion or Michael Igantieff; proof that the majority of Albertans are happy to vote for eggheads - provided that they don't come from out East!

      Delete
  10. Not to mention adding a 200k silent toilet for herself at the assembly!

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    Replies
    1. In fact, the multimillionaire princess spent $800,000 for her renovations, including her scandalous deluxe silent toilet (equipped with a telephone and a television, no less!) so that no one could hear her fart. She’s every bit as corrupt a politician as her foes.

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    2. La toilette silencieuse de Mme Marois n'est pas située à l'Assemblée nationale, mais plutôt à l'édifice gouvernemental du 600 rue Fullum à Montréal.

      Par ailleurs, l'installation de cette toilette n'a pas coûté 200 000 $, ni 800 000 $, mais bien 15 000 000 $. La toilette est constituée d'un or massif des plus purs et le téléphone et la télévision sont sertis des diamants les plus rares. Rien de moins!

      Delete
  11. Editor, the weak justice system in QC does contribute to corruption, but the American justice system is also powerless in the face of even bigger corruption, both state and corporate.

    What can stop corruption is a major shift in culture. A culture that promotes greed (such as ours) will always breed corruption.

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  12. Sadly I have no faith in our system anymore...

    These trails will be dragged on for so long that we will forget the reason why these guys were brought to court to begin with.

    I totally agree with the editor in that we need to strike while the iron is hot. Rush these high profile cases through in 1 year or less and jail these cheating bastards!

    Western society is being taken advantage of liek never before! the entire system has become a joke!

    We finance all of this waste, greed and robbery!!

    Between Income tax, GST/QST, Municipal tax, School tax, Water Tax, SAQ, Tobacco tax, Loto-Quebec, Tax on Gasoline, Hydro-Quebec revenues...

    You would think we were receiving white glove services with surpluses that were ski high!!!

    Instead we are one of the most indebted societies IN THE WORLD.

    So depressing...

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  13. Le PQ se dit «fin prêt» pour des élections

    http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/politique-quebecoise/201207/11/01-4542789-le-pq-se-dit-fin-pret-pour-des-elections.php

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  14. @Anon Wednesday, July 11, 2012 2:38:00 PM EDT

    Well at least the rest of Canada lets immigrants from francophone countries attend french schools. Also Quebec has considerable immigrants where English is an official language, including, India, Pakistan, Ghana etc... On the same note countries where French is an official language such as Algeria, Morroco, Cote Ivoire etc.. are considered Francophone countries by the Quebec government.

    So many arguements justifying the official provincial government harassment and trying to make it parity of how francophones are treated in other provinces? Even Anglophone majority areas of Quebec were made to follow bill 101 and English was repealed through tyranny of the majority.

    At least the message is clear. The students in Quebec have taught us well, an unjust law like bill 101 must be ignored on mass. The Franco-pur laine chauvanist wouldn't be able to stop a mass revolt. They wouldn't be able to deal with a declaration of autonomy.

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  15. "...chauvanist wouldn't be able to stop a mass revolt"

    Hâte de voir ça :)

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    1. @Anonymous, unfortunately you are relegated to a lifetime of banging your pots and pans as the world passes you by.

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    2. C'est pour quand un parti politique anglophile au Québec ?

      Pas de parti = Pas d'avenir :D

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    3. Montrealers against the SSJB & OQLF/Montréalais contre SSJB/OQLF

      Les membres baissent un peu plus chaque jour.Aucune activité depuis des semaines.

      Que se passe-t-il les anglophiles ?

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  16. Yalda Khadir was back in court today, to have her restrictions lifted so she can go on vacation for a month.

    http://tvanouvelles.ca/lcn/judiciaire/archives/2012/07/20120711-202114.html

    Weak justice system you say?

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  17. "Il n’est pas injuste de rappeler aux francophones qu’ils sont une race de vaincus et que leurs droits n’existent que grâce à la tolérance de l’élément anglais, lequel, avec tout le respect dû à la minorité, doit être considéré comme étant la race dominante."

    - George Drew (ancien premier ministre de l’Ontario) 1943

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    1. Ouch!Et c'est nous les racistes ??

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    2. Ce n'est que relativement récemment que les anglophones ont cessé de nous traiter en peuple conquis. En fait dans les commentaires sur les sites anglophones on peut encore voir des "who won that war anyway" et des "The French LOST the war they should stop whining" mais ça ne fait heureusement plus partie du discours des politiciens.

      En même temps, on se fait traiter de racistes si on fait allusion au fait que l'on est, effectivement, un peuple qui a été conquit et qui a dû se battre pour ses droits et ce depuis la confédération et même avant.

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    3. Sounds like standard PQ thought circa 2012.

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    4. Effectivement JJ la minorité anglo de Montréal est à plaindre avec ses hôpitaux,universités et ses droits acquis.Allez voir dans le RoC si les minorités francophones ont les mêmes privilèges..."Sounds like standard PQ thought circa 2012."?..Réellement pathétique.

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    5. The hospitals and universities were established through private funds and receive substantial donations from anglophones.Only an uninformed person or a person who makes up facts to suit his malevolent purposes would claim that hospitals and universities are a privilege.

      S.R., why don't you tell us in detail how you would deal with what you term the "privileges" of anglophones. Give us an expansive answer as you obviously have strong feelings about the injustices suffered by you and your forebearers. Tell us how you would change the language laws, whether all courses at universities would be taught in French, whether non French signs would be permitted at all, whether voters would have to pass a French proficiency test, etc. This is your opportunity to let anglophones know how life should be for them in your view.

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    6. Its the usual intolerant, racist, peuple conquis rhetoric. We only exist because the francophone majority allows it. Everything we have is because our masters allow us.
      He also doesn‘t address the overflow of young francophones to english cegeps and universities eager to improve their english at a school where they won‘t get blocked by separatist thugs.

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  18. "why don't you tell us in detail how you would deal with what you term the "privileges""

    Remplacez "privilèges" par "opportunités".

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    1. Quelle est les opportunites en Francais? Je me voir de rien. Il est la anglais dont offrez le grande opportunites, n'est pas ;)

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  19. S.R., sorry but your comment is incomprehensible. Please elaborate.

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    1. If you're expecting our resident seppie/troll to reply with something more than a one liner, or some actual argument, I'm sorry to say, but you're out of luck.

      He'll then proceed to tell you that this isn't the place to settle anything, so why bother, or that he doesn't want to waste his time on you.
      The truth is fairly obvious though, like most language extremists / separatists, he doesn't have anything to say aside from "On va les avoir les maudits anglais!"

      I think the only decent argument I've seen for their side on this blog came from someone who doesn't even live in Quebec...

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    2. He will not be happy until all english is gone from Quebec. All this while hiding behind the victim label. Theirs is a movement based on revenge, hatred, racism and jealousy.

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    3. There's also the famous BANG et RE-BANG.

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    4. That's got to be the most moronic comment on this blog ever.

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    5. Avez-vous vraiment tout lu sur ce bloye? :D

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  20. Can you imagine what a disaster Quebec would be if anyone listened to such morons?

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