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| "ATTENTION! No speakee de Heenglish SVP!" |
Minister after minister has made a fool of him or herself starting with the finance minister, down to the lowly family minister, with Pauline forced to correct, backtrack and clarify the early missteps of the government.
Perhaps understanding the tentative and fragile lifespan of the government, it seems that the PQ is trying to do as much as it can, as soon as it can, likely without reasoned thought, damn the consequences.
This post takes a look at the behind-the-scene shenanigans, measures which expose the PQ for what it says it isn't, making a mockery of the PQ's promise to be a party of integrity and change.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Taking a page out of German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle's playbook, who refused to take a question in English posed by a reporter in a news conference in Germany, Sylvain Gaudreault, minister of Municipal Affairs refused to answer a reporter's question asked in English at the tail-end of a press conference that he gave last week concerning the resignation of Laval mayor Gilles Vaillancourt.
In the incident in Germany, the Minister, reminded a BBC reporter rather pointedly that they were in Germany and that it was a German news conference and therefore would be conducted in German. He did however have an aide translate the question and answer, back and forth. Watch the incident
The Quebec minister made no such explanation when asked a question in English, choosing to turn his back and rudely stalk away.
In another news conference last Tuesday, one that he shared with Jean-François Lisée, a press officer told reporters that only Lisée would take English questions. Link{Fr}
It's hard to draw a definitive conclusion, either Gaudreault was not confident of his English or he was floating a trial balloon for the PQ, testing the reaction to ministers refusing to speak to the Press in English.
Now this policy would jive with what the PQ is saying, that being bilingual as a condition of employment, where not strictly necessary, is contrary to government policy. Recently PQ cabinet minister Diane DeCourcy has been pedalling the idea that speaking English at work, when not absolutely necessary should be discouraged ;
"De Courcy, who acknowledged the merits of bilingualism on an individual level, said the government has to act to prevent a perceived erosion of French in Montreal.And so, if Ministers routinely answer questions in English, why shouldn't employees do the same when speaking with English bosses?
She said that erosion will be precipitated if mandatory bilingualism becomes the norm in the workplace." Link
Given the tough minority position, it seems that the only thing the PQ feels comfortable doing, is attacking on the language front, mostly because the opposition parties are hard pressed to be seen supporting the English rights.
Marois announced last week that a revamped Bill 101 is on its way, with changes that will supposedly toughen up rules for small business, but probably not so draconian as to forcing Bill 101 language requirements for cegeps, something that the opposition would likely vote down and end the PQ's 'reign of error.'
That being said, ministers and especially the Premier, refusing to speak English, should it become policy, would represent a monumental shift in language relations, a final message to the English that they are irrelevant and that Anglos are to be tolerated much like the special education students riding the short bus.
In other words, be nice to them because they are 'special' but ignore them in practice.
As the PQ bumbles along, making a hash out of one political file after another, underneath the very public fiasco is the unspoken reality that Pauline's PQ is practising the same partisan politics that they accused the Charest government of visiting upon the province.
In other words, punish your enemies and reward your friends with plush government appointments.
After all, it's a Quebec tradition perfected by Premier Maurice Duplessis way back in the forties and fifties where partisanship was raised to an art form and where wholesale changes were made in the civil service, government appointments and business partners with each change in government.
Things were so partisan back then, that companies doing the snow removal of provincial highways were designated as either 'red' or 'blue' and won contracts depending on which government was in power.
Nothing much has changed despite Pauline making noises about bringing integrity back to politics and getting rid of corruption.
She has embraced the policy of rewarding friends and party hacks with reckless abandon.
The Press has roundly criticized her for making this appointment, calling it a reward for Boisclair's support of Marois during the turbulent months when her leadership was under attack and where friends were few and far between.
But of all the pork-barrel appointments made so far, this is actually one that I can live with, unlike the Press.
Mr Boisclair is a Pequiste from another era, even though he is young. Unlike today's inexperienced and academically challenged Cabinet members, Mr. Boisclair recognizing his lack of an undergraduate degree attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he perfected his English, following in the footsteps of other PQ stalwarts of old who attended school in English.
Mr. Boisclair is experienced and has always conducted himself honourably and respectfully in public. I never heard him utter a negative word towards the English or minorities. When Mr. Boisclair assures us that he is going to New York to promote Quebec and not sovereignty, I take him at his word.
One would expect that the delegate General position in New York would go to an Anglo, but when Pauline checks her cupboard, there's nary one to be found and let's face it if Mr. Harper can appoint Lawrence Cannon to be Canada's Ambassador to France, Pauline's appointment makes no less political sense.
All that being said, the rest of Pauline's appointments do represent the worst of partisanship starting with the most egregious appointment of all, that of failed PQ candidate Nicolas Girard as head of the l'Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT), a job for which he has zero qualifications and where the interim and highly qualified predecessor was let go to make room for daddy.
Éric Caire of the ADQ ripped into the government for the appointment.
"The Parti Québécois has appointed a person who has no experience in managing a sensitive post for urban transport in the metropolitan area of Montreal. Yet while it was in opposition, the Parti Québécois regularly tore its shirt over patronage. In the Assembly, Minister Gaudreault was unable to justify the appointment. Our request is simple: publish the list of all candidates who were considered for the position of CEO of AMT and people can judge for themselves whether it was a good appointment "said the member for La Peltrie. Link{Fr}Of course, no such list was forthcoming because nobody else was considered for the job.
I ran this political cartoon before, but it remains relevant.
 |
| BEFORE: "Partisan nominations by the Charest government are a scandal!" AFTER "Gulp!" |
The cartoon above lampoons the utter hypocrisy.
As I said, patronage appointments are the order of business for all Quebec governments, the Journal de Quebec accused Jean Charest's Liberals of making 523 patronage appointments over the course of the nine years in power!
And so not wishing to be outdone, Pauline has embarked on an ambitious program of her own with patronage announcements being made almost daily.
For your information, this is what one of those announcements looks like, publicized without fanfare usually late in the week, when nobody is paying attention;
And here's another dizzying list of nomination;Nominations du Conseil des ministres
Québec, le jeudi 20 septembre 2012 – Le Conseil des ministres a procédé aux nominations suivantes à sa séance d’aujourd’hui.
Ministère du Conseil exécutif
M. Gilbert Charland est nommé secrétaire général associé aux Institutions démocratiques et à la Participation citoyenne au ministère du Conseil exécutif. M. Charland était membre et président de la Commission municipale du Québec.
Mme Nicole Dussault est nommée secrétaire adjointe aux Institutions démocratiques et à la Participation citoyenne au ministère du Conseil exécutif. Mme Dussault était secrétaire générale associée à ce ministère.
M. Jacques Gosselin est nommé secrétaire adjoint aux Institutions démocratiques et à la Participation citoyenne au ministère du Conseil exécutif. M. Gosselin était sous-ministre associé responsable de l’application de la politique linguistique au ministère de la Culture, des Communications et de la Condition féminine.
Mme Josée Tremblay est nommée secrétaire générale associée à la Capitale-Nationale au ministère du Conseil exécutif. Mme Tremblay était directrice générale de la Conférence régionale des élus de la Capitale-Nationale.
Mme Michèle Drouin est nommée secrétaire adjointe à la Capitale-Nationale au ministère du Conseil exécutif. Mme Drouin était sous-ministre associée au ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation.
Secrétariat du Conseil du trésor
M. Yves Ouellet est nommé secrétaire du Conseil du trésor. M. Ouellet était sous-ministre du ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune.
Ministère des Finances et de l’Économie
M. Luc Monty est nommé sous-ministre aux Finances et à l’Économie. M. Monty était sous-ministre du ministère des Finances.
M. Éric Ducharme est nommé sous-ministre associé aux Finances et à l’Économie. M. Ducharme était sous-ministre adjoint au ministère des Finances.
Mme Suzanne Lévesque ainsi que MM. Mario Bouchard, Jean-Marc Sauvé et Alain Veilleux sont nommés sous-ministres adjoints aux Finances et à l’Économie. Mme Lévesque ainsi que MM. Bouchard, Sauvé et Veilleux étaient sous-ministres adjoints au ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation.
Mme Suzanne Giguère est nommée sous-ministre associée au Tourisme. Mme Giguère était sous-ministre du ministère du Tourisme.
Mme Elizabeth MacKay et M. Georges Vacher sont nommés sous-ministres adjoints au Tourisme. Mme MacKay et M. Vacher étaient sous-ministres adjoints au ministère du Tourisme.
Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport
M. Bernard Matte est nommé sous-ministre du ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport. M. Matte était sous-ministre du ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale.
Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche, de la Science et de la Technologie
Mme Christine Tremblay est nommée sous-ministre à l’Enseignement supérieur, à la Recherche, à la Science et à la Technologie. Mme Tremblay était sous-ministre du ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation.
M. Jean Belzile est nommé sous-ministre adjoint à l’Enseignement supérieur, à la Recherche, à la Science et à la Technologie. M. Belzile était sous-ministre adjoint à la Direction générale de la recherche, de l’Innovation, de la science et société au ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation.
Ministère de la Justice
Mme Nathalie G. Drouin est nommée sous-ministre du ministère de la Justice. Mme Drouin était surintendante de la solvabilité et directrice générale des affaires juridiques à l’Autorité des marchés financiers.
Ministère des Ressources naturelles
M. Patrick Déry est nommé sous-ministre aux Ressources naturelles. M. Déry était surintendant de l’assistance aux clientèles et de l’encadrement de la distribution à l’Autorité des marchés financiers.
Ministère du Travail, de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale
Mme Brigitte Pelletier est nommée sous-ministre au Travail, à l’Emploi et à la Solidarité sociale. Mme Pelletier était membre, présidente et directrice générale de la Commission des normes du travail.
Ministère des Relations internationales, de la Francophonie et du Commerce extérieur
M. Michel Audet est nommé sous-ministre aux Relations internationales, à la Francophonie et au Commerce extérieur. M. Audet était directeur de l’Institut québécois des hautes études internationales à l’Université Laval.
M. Jean Séguin est nommé sous-ministre adjoint aux Relations internationales, à la Francophonie et au Commerce extérieur. M. Séguin était sous-ministre adjoint à la Direction générale des affaires économiques internationales au ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation.
Ministère de la Culture et des Communications
Mme Rachel Laperrière est nommée sous-ministre à la Culture et aux Communications. Mme Laperrière était directrice principale du Service des Affaires institutionnelles de la Ville de Montréal.
Ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles
M. Robert Baril est nommé sous-ministre du ministère de l’Immigration et des Communauté culturelles. M. Baril était sous-ministre adjoint à ce ministère.
M. Jacques Beauchemin est nommé sous-ministre associé à la langue française, responsable de l’application de la politique linguistique, au ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles. M. Beauchemin était professeur au Département de sociologie de l’Université du Québec à Montréal.
Mme Claire Deronzier est nommée, à compter du 27 septembre 2012, sous-ministre adjointe au ministère de l’Immigration et des Communauté culturelles. Mme Deronzier est actuellement sous-ministre adjointe au ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et de l’Occupation du territoire.
Ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et de l’Occupation du territoire
M. Marc-Urbain Proulx est nommé sous-ministre associé aux Régions au ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et de l’Occupation du territoire. M. Proulx était professeur au Département des sciences économiques et administratives de l’Université du Québec à Chicoutimi et directeur scientifique du Centre de recherche sur le développement territorial.
Commission municipale du Québec
M. Denis Marsolais est nommé membre et président de la Commission municipale du Québec. M. Marsolais était sous-ministre du ministère de la Justice.
Commission des normes du travail
Mme Marie-Claude Champoux est nommée membre, présidente et directrice générale par intérim de la Commission des normes du travail. Mme Champoux était sous-ministre du ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles.
Régie des rentes du Québec
Mme Sylvie Barcelo est nommée vice-présidente de la Régie des rentes du Québec. Mme Barcelo était sous-ministre du ministère de la Culture, des Communications et de la Condition féminine. Link{fr}
It's just more of the same and the fun has just begun!
And so the PQ is off and running, naming close to 100 people to positions in just sixty days.
As far as I checked, not one Anglo is included and just one or two ethnics are on the lists.
While I can't ascertain their political leanings or their contributions to PQ fortunes, I think it is safe to make certain assumptions.
But now, even the French media is starting to take notice of the wholesale PQ patronage riot.
Denis Lessard of La Presse writes:
"Plus ça change, plus c'est pareil.
In opposition, the Parti Québécois severely criticized the decision of the Charest government to appoint a close advisor to the Prime Minister, Michel Guitard, to the job of vice president of communications of Investissement Québec. However, Pauline Marois will appoint one of her own: Pascal Monette." Link{Fr}It seems that Pauline Marois, in an effort to get a secure job for a loyalist and rid herself of an 'enemy,' fired Michel Guitard, who takes with him a termination indemnity of close to $300,000.
As Quebec is going through the wrenching agony of the Charbonneau Commission detailing corruption in the construction industry, the government of Pauline Marois is tut-tutting as a judgemental innocent, blaming 'federalists' for any and all ethical wrongdoings.
But by engaging in an orgy of slimy political appointments, the PQ exposes themselves as just more of the same which leads me to conclude that the old days of red and blue snow removal companies are not behind us.
And so, "Jobs for the Boys" the cynical term used to describe the practice of hiring your own, is not only alive and well in Quebec, it is thriving, regardless of which political party is in power.
Imagine the novel idea of having independent hiring boards charged with analysing and determining the best candidates for publicly appointed jobs, it's an idea that is so frightening that no political party would dare consider it.
Of the 513 patronage appointments supposedly made in the nine years of the Charest government, Pauline's hundred or so appointments represent twenty percent of this total, this after two months in power!
Congratulations to Pauline on this 'new' and 'honest' approach to politics, PQ style!
I also felt kinda bad for Mr. Boisclair. I wonder what a homosexual man is thinking by joining up with a gang of fascists.
ReplyDeleteAnother political party, new appointees who are loyalists of the party making the appointments. Past premiers like Joey Smallwood and Maurice Duplessis were blatant, shameless practitioners of pork barrel politics.
ReplyDeleteSmallwood: "Vote for me, you get a sewer system; no vote, no sewer system."
Duplessis: "Vote for me, you get a paved road; no vote, no roads."
I remember watching a CBC documentary decades ago where people who lived in ridings who didn't vote for Smallwood had to dispose of their own raw sewage where there was no infrastructure. It was disgusting, but this was how Smallwood worked.
Duplessis was a worse tyrant as we learned what happened to orphans in orphanages and other disgusting suppression of those who did not support him. P.E. Trudeau once described Duplessis as someone who would crack a joke and then look out of the corner of his eyes to see who in his cabinet laughed and who didn't. When he threw down his cigar butts, he'd observed who would fight over picking up the butt. A tyrant and his stooges, yes-men, boot lickers, whatever you want to call these clowns.
Dupe died 53 years ago and so little has changed, at least as far as patronage appointments go. Even Harper, when he was head of the National Citizen's Coalition constantly squawked about patronage appointments and platinum-plated pension plans. Finally he's doing something about the pension plans, but the patronage appointments keep on coming!
Political nepotism, like war, death and taxes, is a part of life; always has been, always will be. Appointment of Anglophones? Absolutely--when pigs could fly.
I don't know that the appointment of anglos (or not) should be the emphasis of the criticism here.
ReplyDeleteThe message should be that the PQ is no more moral than the Liberals and that a "War on Corruption" in politics is no more winnable than a "War on Drugs" or a "War on Terror". And that populist pot-clanging might be a rallying cry but it's not what will save the next generation of Quebecers.
In light of today's post, the rabble-rousing shit raised this past spring followed by the clusterfuck that has been Pauline's tenure so far suggests to me that the true PQ/union-sponsored "collective angst" being expressed against Charest's government had to do with little more than péquiste-aligned groups' growing impatience for their turn at the trough.
But take comfort, Mr. Sauga. Duplessis' Union Nationale eventually collapsed, and despite everybody predicting the Quebec Liberal crashing and burning back in September, they didn't. The three-way race indeed made things interesting; yet I find it particularly telling that despite all the Charest-hating, even the PQ got a smaller share of the popular vote this year than they did in 2008.
Provided that the CAQ and PLQ put on a good offensive now, my money's on the PQ potentially dissolving within the decade. Binding Quebec society more closely to the church than was good for us proved fatal for the Union Nationale; playing divisive identity politics and binding us more closely to the French language than is good for us will prove equally fatal for the Parti Québécois.
Citizens from 15 states have filed petitions to secede from the United States
ReplyDeletehttp://www.examiner.com/article/15-states-including-texas-have-filed-a-petition-to-secede-from-the-united-states-1
Ho boy!
There are more than 15 separatist groups in the US. I personally like the one in Vermont which seeks to distance the state of Vermont from US imperialism. If I'm not mistaken, that particular separatist group organizes an annual march in Montpelier on the anniversary of Vermont's accession to the Union. If I'm not mistaken, part of the march is carrying of a coffin, as to symbolize the death of Vermont upon entering the Union.
DeleteSome other separatist groups are more along PQiste lines, with their major goal being to protect the "culture". This one is one of my favorite:
http://northwestfront.org/
"The Northwest Front is a political organization of Aryan men and women who recognize that an independent and sovereign White nation in the Pacific Northwest is the only possibility for the survival of the White race on this continent. "
"The Northwest Front is about building a new, better society where everyone contributes, everyone benefits, and all share a common set of values and cultural beliefs and a common ethnic heritage."
"We don’t stand for hating people, we stand for freeing people, our people, from a yoke of tyranny and oppression that has become impossible for us to live with. We stand for preserving our race from biological and cultural extinction."
They're not really against anybody, they're just "defending themselves". Wait a minute, where did I hear this before?
Great find. PQunt style racism.
DeleteYannick: The Tea Party is in part why the Republicans lost. Pased on why they lost by a sliver, it's primarily an old male W.A.S.P party, almost like what the PQ has become. The PQ is now for older Québécois «pur laine» who were around for the Quiet Revolution, assisted by small-minded younger people who implicitly buy into the anti-English crap they were taught in the public school system.
Delete@Yannick
DeleteThat there are at least 46,000 racist idiots in the state of Texas is not news. For your information, there are more than 25 million people in Texas and most of them are not stupid as you think they are.
It's doubtful that the U.S. would allow states to leave. When the Confederate states tried to secede in the 1860's they ended up with a bloody civil war that caused over a million casualties.
Delete@Yannick
DeleteMy position stands, and that all this tells me is that there are more than 40,000 racist idiots in Texas. I do not believe for one moment that you would have this many signatures on that petition if Joe Biden or any other white Democrat were President.
Les journalistes anglos ont intérêt à lui obéir:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfUmW_Mf5qc
"Mr. Boisclair ... has always conducted himself honourably and respectfully in public. I never heard him utter a negative word towards the English or minorities."
ReplyDeleteI guess you mean except for those "les yeux bridés" remarks he made in 2007.....?
Is anyone having problems posting to the comments section?
ReplyDeleteIf so, please let me know;
anglomontreal@gmail.com
I'm so friggin sick of all these French "chip on their shoulder" politicians. How can they expect respect from the English community and demand that the English learn French due to Québec's majority French population yet for over 250 years, they NEVER took the time to become bilingual due to Canada being majority English. They post one comment and photo after another comparing "When in Italy - you speak Italian, When in the USA - you speak English, When in Germany - you speak German", therefore it makes sense that "When in Québec - you speak French". Only problem is Québec is only a part of a country (a country with a majority ENGLISH speaking propulation). A country that recognizes its French community and languguage even though it is a language less than 2% of the continent use but still recognizes it out of respect to the French citizens of Canada. By using their examples, if done correctly it should read "When you're in Canada - you speak English" but of course that isn't ok.
ReplyDeleteTo demand that everyone work and speak in French while demanding respect from the English in a truly English dominated society is ridiculous and absurd. For those that can communicate in French, you communicate in French when you feel the need justifies it, not because you HAVE to. If you have a French client, and you can speak French, then it makes sense to speak French. If you have an English client, and you can speak English, then once again, it makes sense to speak English.
If you are the server and your clients are English, then you should serve them in English and vice-versa. If you can't speak the langugage, then you shouldn't be in that job. Why doesn't every company post a sign saying they only serve French customers ? The reason is that it would be seen as discrimination !! What's the difference between having an actual sign that says it compared to doing it in anyway. Is it still not discrimination ? Can you imagine if all companies posted signs saying they only service English customers. That too would be discrimination ! There is a difference between not being able to provide service in a language due to not knowing it, there is a HUGE difference when you do but refuse to anyway.
That's like a doctor saying I refuse to use my scalpel when operating. Instead, I'll use my kitchen knife on this patient and my scalpel on those that I want. You shouldn't discriminate one customer over another. There is a very easy way of knowing who is the boss and who should receive services in their language, it's the one with the god damn money. Not the server, not the owner, not the bus driver, not the politician, not the taxis driver, the CUSTOMER !!! If you don't have the linguistic knowledge to speak their language, that's one thing. It's quite another if you think you deserve to address or be spoken to in your language simply because you live in a region where the majority speaks a particular language. It's called a superiority complexe. You do so out of respect and ability. Any Govt who would then pass laws that would limit your ability to learn any language should be seen for what they are, fucking closemind idiots !!!
Unfortunately you are talking to the fools of the world when you speak to separatists Mike. They appreciate nothing and look for trouble where there is no need to create problems. They disguise it as "protection of their language" but really it is nothing less than trying to feel superior to other citizens of their own country Canada. After being on this blog for a little while, I now realize that they are limited in intelligence as well as any sense of what it means to be a Canadian. I want to partition this place and wave good-bye to those that want to go. Canada does not need nor want them and they have proven to be nothing but a thorn in our side and an expense that we can no longer afford.
Delete"...but really it is nothing less than trying to feel superior..."
DeleteNous n'essayons pas...Nous sommes supérieurs : Nous sommes une société distincte,ne l'oubliez jamais!
"Nous n'essayons pas...NOUS sommes supérieurs : Nous sommes une société distincte,ne l'oubliez jamais!"
DeleteAnd that's all you need to know.
Separatists genuinely believe themselves superior to others and here it is..
Yup = it is so obvious when you red a few of their comments - I would like to tell them what their "distinct" for but the Editor has his limitations on what he can let through editing. Needless to say it would not be very nice. Twits.
Delete"Editor has his limitations on what he can let..."
DeleteVous me donnez l'impression d'être vous-même une personne très limitée,cu*tie.
Nous sommes supérieurs...nous sommec blancs...sommes blancs et francos à l’os :):):) like one said.
DeleteChange "blancs" with "Aryans" and "francos" with "Nazi" and you'll have a perfect history lesson circa 1940.
« Nous n'essayons pas...Nous sommes supérieurs : Nous sommes une société distincte, ne l'oubliez jamais »
DeleteYou would love to believe that, but the truth is, you suffer from an incurable and interminable sense of inferiority. It is for this reason that you yell and scream the loudest in the hopes to be heard and try to suffocate all those who surround you with oppressive and dictatorial laws not to mention this sudden overt disdain you brashly express for everyone that isn’t like you. These emotions and feelings are nurtured in fear and insecurity.
People who are superior, are such because they are able to recognize the ‘grandeur” in others. They are welcoming of other people’s uniqueness and they embrace the gift of “difference!” in others.
Mostly, it is their “humility” that is the true mark of superiority!
+1 nicely said. very true.
Delete"Mostly, it is their “humility” that is the true mark of superiority! "
Well done !
@ Anec (Freud) TOTO
DeletePas de fausse modestie!Nous sommes forts et nous le savons.Ceci dit,TOUS,même les anglos,peuvent joindre notre Nation sans problème mais vous connaissez les conditions d'admission.
"Nous sommes forts et nous le savons"
DeleteYou know shit my friend. You had 2 chances and it was NO, if you will have another it will be NO again.
You are french by gens, so indeed you should've been strong ! Have you heard about Charlemagne? William the Conqueror? Martel? They were true leaders, strong warriors ...
But you? A bunch of wieners, social assisted, drunks ... and after all your "superiority" you are barely 30% in charts. I'm curious still that in front of the ballot how many of you will vote YES...
Talking to you insults our brains...
You will get a nation, when Canada holds its own Referendum and THROWS YOU OUT! By then you'll be Zimbabwe kicking and screaming to stay in.
DeleteI agree with AnecTOTE. I think the real language fanatics have a massive inferiority complex. If they truly believed they had a superior language and culture to promote they wouldn't have to ram it down peoples throats. They would be comfortable with themselves and the knowledge that they had something of value to offer. The draconian lengths they feel they have to go to are an indication that they feel that what they have to offer is perceived as either inferior, or of little value. How are they ever going to convince others that what they offer IS of value when they're making people take it at gunpoint, figuratively speaking? In marketing it would be called "cheapening the brand". The PQ should look at how Apple markets its products. They make things that people will want, they don't force people to take what Apple wants to make. In a way the PQ is similar to the old Soviet Union. You want to buy a Mercedes or a Toyota? Too bad. You can have a Trabant or a Lada. Quebecois french: the Lada of languages. Unfortunate because french is a beautiful language.
Delete"The PQ should look at how Apple markets its products."
DeleteSacré anglouilles,la langue est maintenant un produit de consommation.
Allez donc donner vos conseils à RIM (motion (sic)),nous n'avons vraiment pas besoin de vos absurdités.
Diog I think we hit a nerve, LOL! Hehehehehehhehehe
DeleteBut coming back to this "la langue est maintenant un produit de consommation", isn't this why you are trying to make it the dominating language in this province, in the hopes that it will become the consumer's product of choice? LOL
Delete"Advise from Diogenes"
"Priceless"
« Nous n'essayons pas...Nous sommes supérieurs : Nous sommes une société distincte, ne l'oubliez jamais » "You would love to believe that, but the truth is, you suffer from an incurable and interminable sense of inferiority."
DeleteI feel like it's a combination of both. It's really hard to pin down sometimes.
Nationalism, except when it's a grassroots phenomenon in response to an armed invasion (Algerian nationalism, Vietnamese nationalism) is about self-exultation - the purpose of state nationalism or elite-inspired nationalism is to put people into a state of exultation and self-satisfaction. There is always an element of superiority in it, combined with fear that your "superior" way of life is under some form of threat.
QC Franco supremacy of present day is a form of white supremacy. White supremacy is also both an expression of superiority, as well as fear that the "race" is under attack, on the verge on extinction, that it will require harsh measures to save it, and any means taken justify the ends, because the end is basically a preservation of something unique, distinct, special...
--------
There is a book called "How the Irish Became White".
http://www.amazon.com/Irish-Became-White-Routledge-Classics/dp/0415963095
Quote from the description, italics added:
"The Irish came to America in the eighteenth century, fleeing a homeland under foreign occupation and a caste system that regarded them as the lowest form of humanity. In the new country – a land of opportunity – they found a very different form of social hierarchy, one that was based on the color of a person’s skin. Noel Ignatiev’s 1995 book – the first published work of one of America’s leading and most controversial historians – tells the story of how the oppressed became the oppressors; how the new Irish immigrants achieved acceptance among an initially hostile population only by proving that they could be more brutal in their oppression of African Americans than the nativists. This is the story of How the Irish Became White."
This is exactly to what happened to QC francophones over the past 5 decades. In order to shed the status of the (self-proclaimed for the most part) "Nègres blancs", to banish the shame and humiliation of the Conquest 250 years ago, they began acting "whiter than WASPs", built the same type of economy, the same type of society, secular, materialistic, greedy, profit-driven, and emulated the Anglo culture to a tee. Their material standing has gone up, but in my opinion their culture went to shit.
This does not only apply to the Quebecois. In the book "Working Toward Whiteness:
How America's Immigrants Became White", (http://books.google.ca/books/about/Working_Toward_Whiteness.html?id=K3HT3ffiexcC&redir_esc=y) the author shows how non-WASP whites in the US (Italian, Irish, Poles, Greeks, Jews) became "white". The process always involved emulation of the WASPs, and always entailed proving yourself "whiter than white", leading one to become more racist and nativist than American nativists themselves. Of course this push towards "whiteness" always entailed loss of one's own culture, and culture in general.
There is also this:
Delete"The appeal [to sovereignty] is fundamentally emotional, an approach that repeatedly calls up the yoke of oppression and the threat of extinction of the Quebec culture. The sovereignists carefully cultivate the mentality of the French Canadian martyr and glorify those historic moments when they were humiliated at the hands of their English "masters". The appeal to the the emotions of the electorate has been very effective up to now, but Quebeckers are beginning to realize that there is nothing constructive about an approach that deliberately cultivates a sense of inferiority and has nothing to do with the reality of today's Quebec."
- Marc Garneau
--------
It's a double whammy, essentially. First, you denigrate the people and make them feel inferior, then you build them up and make them feel superior. I noticed that right wing radio hosts in the US (e.g. Michael Savage or Rush Limbaugh) do this - they often insult the audience (which is 99% white blue collar males) and then build them up. I once heard Savage screaming to the microphone that American white male should be ashamed of himself (for what he let happen to the country), and then totally changing course and saying how these males should be proud to be American. It's a total mindfuck, but that's how these propagandists operate. Pierre Falardeau was really good at this too - he denigrated Quebeckers, only to appeal to their sense of pride in the next sentence.
Very well spoken man, Marc Garneau and very sharp. Guess you'd have to be to be an astronaut - Probably would rather see him than Justin take over the Liberals = think Justin needs a little more seasoning and experience to tackle some of the tough issues that we're facing in the country and not sure he's there yet.
Delete@ adski,
DeleteThank you for that Marc G. quote, I had no idea we shared the same vision on this issue. Essentially, it really isn't rocket science (no punn intended lol), anyone who actually pays a little bit of attention can figure it out.
I haven't read all today comments, but the name of Marc Garneau caught my attention.
Delete"The appeal [to sovereignty] is fundamentally emotional (...)"
Of course it is.
" (...)glorify those historic moments when they were humiliated at the hands of their English masters (...)"
The narrative of our history is often about us still being here despite all that the difficulties. And the difficulties tend magnified just like the bear in the hunter'story tends to be magnified...
"(...) that there is nothing constructive about (...)"
The Quiet Revolution was lead by nationalist leaders who appealed to people's emotions. And this revolution was needed and constructive. The Quiet Revolution ended this idea that we were "nés pour un petit pain" and, thanks to this, a young quebecker could suddenly dream to become an astronaut.
I mean : "...the difficulties tend to be magnified..."
DeleteWhy do I see these errors only after posting my comment?
I really miss this Delete button...
FROM ED BROWN
DeleteMarc Garneau may be smart but he is only saying what we've all known for years. His first attempt to get elected fell flat until he ran in Westmount where a goat could win if it spoke English. The polls have already said Trudeau could win so why not go with the winner instead of looking elsewhere.
The Quiet Revolution actually addressed real social inequalities present in Quebec at a time. It was not a movement solely based on emotion, it had a material aspect as well. The same movement today, however, appeals solely to emotion. That's not to say that there are no inequalities in Quebec today, there are, it's just that the movement that sought to eliminate the inequalities of the 1960's is the movement that wants to conserve and even expand the inequalities of today, because the inequalities of today actually work in its favor. I'm sure that if Marc Garneau was to talk about the Quiet Revolution, he would not have said that it was solely emotion-based, though it is exactly what he is saying about the inheritors of the legacy of the Quiet Revolution today.
DeleteTying the quiet revolution to Garneau's space career is also a stretch (as if he stood no chance of being considered if there was no quiet revolution). Ironically, in the article from which I lifted the quote, Garneau attributed his career precisely to QC being part of Canada. As someone who knows the space industry inside out, he says that only large countries (US, Russia, China) can support such programs. He adds that in an independent QC, the space agency would likely be scrapped, or kept at a level of small counties, which usually involves really basic research and development, with sending someone to outer space being impossible.
FROM ED BROWN
ReplyDeleteExcellent material. I have heard a rumor that someone in the CAQ is trying to get five members to cross the floor to join the Liberals. Apparently tired of waiting for the leaders to take action. Has anyone else heard this. Ed
Only in your head Eddy.
ReplyDeleteThere's at least as much possibility of that happening as in the US breaking up jerk!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteCutie003, ignore him...
DeleteRead what I have found:
The President of Gabon, France's pride and joy on the continent announced it would fast-track English as a second language. President Odimba stated that "when you leave the french-speaking space, if you don't know English, you're almost handicapped".
That's why you shouldn't react to what that purulent appendix of S.R. writes, says, thinks.
Décidément nos anglos préfèrent la corruption à l'honnêteté. Alors pourquoi ne pas leur faire payer le coût de la corruption?
DeleteOn pourrait prélever un impôt spécial pour chaque anglo ou couper les subventions aux universités McGill et Concordia.
Comme on dit dans la langue de Jack l'Éventreur the time will change.
c. c. Parti Québécois
Pas du tout généraliste comme commentaire, Y.L.
DeleteTu veut trouver des vrai corrompus?
Go see who runs the FTQ, the CSN and the other public unions in Québec.
Yet another little seppie who chooses to see only the reality he's capable of accepting.
Don't you wish we could deport them? That's why we need to partition this damn place - we'll be able to ship them out to the back woods where they belong - not suitable for a civilized society. Imagine the nerve trying to blame the anglos for the crooked dealings that have been going on for a 100 years in this Godforsaken hole.
DeleteLes syndicats,on ne les a pas élus,les "liberals",oui.
Delete@Wa
DeleteLe Gabon?...Wow!
:)
"Alors pourquoi ne pas leur faire payer le coût de la corruption?"
DeleteÀ quel endroit je signe?
"not suitable for a civilized society"
DeleteQuand vous faites référence à la société civilisée,parlez-vous de l'outaouais?
Y.L McGill has put your little city on the map. I'd shut the hell up if I were you. Go join the club of morons, surely s.r. will be glad to have you. You know what they say, misery loves company!
Delete@Anec TOTEM
DeleteC'est pas un hazard si McGill a autant de succès,imaginez cette université à toronto ou encore pire à ottawa...MDR!
Imagine if Mcgill became French, as many seppies demand. It would become mediocre like the rest of the French universities in Quebec. As the Editor stated in another blog post, Mcgill's medical school is going down the tubes because it relaxed entry standards in order to bring in more Francophones.
Deletehttp://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2012
DeleteMcGill is the 18th best university in the world. UdM is 114, and UQAM is 368. Concordia is a dismal 500-something.
UdM isn't a mediocre university, it just isn't a "world class" university. UQAM and Concordia are terrible by comparison though, I was really surprised. I suppose it's because they're social science and arts, mostly.
L'université McGill est une excellente institution. Elle est d'ailleurs très appréciée des Américains trop pauvres pour se payer une vraie université américaine.
DeleteYou mean those Americans from Burlington and Vermont perhaps, whom are bilingual apparently and can basically choose any University up here, but evidently still don't choose the French ones? LOL
Delete@Foremost,
DeleteThank you for your post.
The thing about English universities in Quebec is that we have the best and the word. Concordia is actually ranked lower than UQAM, which is widely regarded by everyone as a "crappy" university, like how Champlain is regarded as a "crappy" CEGEP compared to Dawson, which is regarded as the best English public CEGEP in the province. Of course, there are no rankings for CEGEPS because it's a system unique to Quebec, but I digress.
DeleteMany francophones are surprisingly angry and/or defensive when I point out that McGill is far superior to any French university in existence. They assume I'm going to say "because they speak English" or get all sarcastic and go "because they speak white".
They're totally flabbergasted when I pull out that ranking list, and they immediately shut their bigoted mouths. It is very satisfying.
Sorry, "best and the worst" is that it should say. Best being McGill, worst being Concordia.
Delete...and I heard a rumour that someone in the CAQ is trying to get nine members to cross the floor to join the Parti Quebecois. More of a reunion than a defection when, after all, they are former PQ members.
ReplyDeletelol and true
ReplyDeleteBig screw up....
DeleteA post went out prematurely and I recalled the wrong one...ach!
no problem - just confused me for a minute there - I'm not quite all there ya know. Thank you.
DeleteAt this point all the politicians are already thinking the PQ government will be short lived and a sinking ship. None of the political parties really want to bring down the PQ government so fast. Provincial Libs still haven't concluded their leadership debate.
ReplyDeleteThe other parties are hoping that the budget is made so incompetently that when the PQ government falls in the not to distant future, that the can blame to PQ for all the economic problems that is being forseen. Housing bubble still in its initial stages.
In essence if they give the PQ enough rope, the PQ will hang itself. I could see the hardcore PQ votebank splitting 3 ways. PQ, Action Solidaire, and Option Nationale in the next election. The split will allow a full majority Liberal government and quite possibly a CAQ opposition and a bloc quebecois style implosion for the PQ.
And there's the big P on TV spending another $260M of our money for day care spaces, refusing of course, to answer where this money is coming from. I wouldn't mind day care of $7.00/day if it was based on what you earn in this stupid place. You can earn 2M a year and still go to your spa while you get a babysitter for $7.00. That's what a lot of women who work part time do and a lot who don't even work 5 days a week. Who wouldn't want to have someone look after their kid for the day while you go to the gym or whatever? We will never be able to save a cent in this place because she just keeps adding more and more taxes to our income.
ReplyDeleteCutie, I've got news for you: Prior to moving in with me, my partner was working at a community centre with a soup kitchen and daycare where they charged $10/day as it was not quite fully subsidized. She told me the mother of one of the kids at the daycare was a welfare recipient! She drops off the kid and I suppose sits around watching TV and smoking all day rather than take care of her kid.
DeleteThis is one of the things that irks me the worst about my tax dollars going to Quebec as equalization payments. The rich can send their kids to the subsidized daycare centre, and welfare recipients who aren't even working can use the service. I'm OK with welfare recipients who have to go back to school or training to improve their futures, or disabled recipients as well, but the rich, upper middle class and stay-at-home able-bodied welfare recipients? Come now!
So true and again so sad. Only in Quebec
DeleteMr Sauga, l'un des objectifs des services de garde québécois est d'offrir un programme éducatif qui répond aux besoins des enfants. Ce qui augmente leurs chances de réussite à l'école et dans la vie. La femme sur l'aide sociale n'a pas les capacités d'offrir un tel programme à son enfant. Il est donc mieux en garderie.
DeleteI know for a fact at a very reputed 7 dollar a day care centre in the west end Montreal of very wealthy mothers dropping their kids off for a few days per week so they could go skiing or to the spa. There were many BMWs and Audis in the parking lot. Why they cant limit the program to lower income people is beyond me or at least exclude the rich or make it mandatory for both parents to be working to be eligible..
DeleteThe famous separatist philosophy on social engineering at its best. Many countries have tried all this stuff before and found it never worked but we never seem to learn anything in this province. Tax and spend - that's how it goes in this place.
DeleteI am forever grateful with Quebec's $7 daycare.
DeleteWhen we first arrived in Quebec, we needed to find ourselves jobs. So we put our child in a subsidized home daycare in downtown. Of course, we looked for one in English. The owner of the first daycare our child went to was an Australian. She opened her daycare while her husband was a post-doc fellow at McGill.
With $7 a day, our monthly bill was less than $150. It helped very much since money was tight. It also helped that my wife and I could concentrate on our job-hunting. In addition, the child got lunch and snacks at the daycare. The food was another relief, financially. All we need was to supply disposable diapers.
And for Mississauga Guy, as we were new immigrants, we were not eligible for welfare, even if we wanted to be.
All in all, let me say this about Quebec's social programs, based on my own life experience. Quebec is the best jurisdiction in North America to live when one is poor. When one is down on one's luck, no other place takes good care like Quebec does.
only because those who work in the private sector pay! can't count the public sector jobs.. since it's all government money to begin with....
DeleteTroy - don't mind when people are honestly in need but I hate the many many millions that take advantage of the programs to the detriment of all the rest of us. Too many bums not enough control over the system.
DeleteTroy: Based on your story, you were a valid user of subsidized daycare. If you landed with little in the way of finances and both you and your spouse were looking for jobs, that's a reasonable use of the service. Sorry, I can't off the top of my head think of every valid circumstance, but I figured I made my case clear enough.
DeleteLet's put it this way, the rich and stay-at-home do-nothing able welfare recipients DON'T qualify for subsidized daycare, or shouldn't. If BMW owners want to ditch their kids to go to the spa or a shopping day, they could pay for unsubsidized daycare, or hire a nanny or babysitter. Isn't that why the rich have nannies?
Y.L., with your FLQ flag, feel free to address me in English. I live in Ontario.
FROM ED BROWN
ReplyDeleteMr,Sauga mentions the Duplessis orphans bringing me back to the 1960's. I was Director of Recreation and Hygiene at Boy's Farm Shawbridge at the time. Duplessis had very little to do with the orphans. The Catholic Church at that time was totally responsible for kids with no home and the war had created a lot of them.
English Children were taken care of by Anglo generosity. Charles Alexander, a wealthy Scot built the home known as Weredale house which housed thousands of boys over the years. Boys farm at Shawbridge was founded through money supplied by the Rotary Club of Montreal and Toronto. The buildings on the site were provided by people like Birk's Jewellers (Birk's Cottage 12/13 yr olds.) Lindsay Pianos (Lindsay cottage 8/11 yr olds. McDougall paper merchants (14 yr olds.) The Zellers swimming pool and so on. Anyway the point is that the English took care of their own.
The Catholic Church on the other hand was staggered by the influx of kids after the war. Theyt had wanted control of orphans to be sure they were brought up catholic but now felt it was costing them money which was not coming in like the old days. They saw a chance to house the oprphans and make money doing it so they asked Duplessis to intervene, which is really all he did. That old dictator had enough to do watching his own back. He couldn't concern himself with a bunch of children. Ed
I too share Yannick's sentiments on Ed's posts. Ed, from what I read, many orphans suffered abuse under the tutelage of the Roman Catholic church and Duplessis. The Mount Cashel Orphanage in Newfoundland was another terrible chapter in history as are other scandals in the U.S. involving the Church. I better not get started because I can go on for endless volumes about my aversions against the Roman Catholic Church, especially The Vatican and its billions of dollars of art and treasures not used to help the neediest in the world. OK, enough said.
DeleteI concur… although let us not forget that, in keeping with Quebec’s penchant for renaming place names in order to erase and obliterate its English history, Shawbridge is now known as Prévost… which is not so far from Wexford Falls, now known as les Chutes de Ste.-Marguerite de l’Estérel…
DeleteInteresting Equanamity, I always wondered how Shawbridge got its name always assumed the (facility) was named after a benefactor and didn't have a geographic origin.
DeleteTotally off-topic, but since you expressed an interest, I pulled out my copy of “Naming the Laurentians: A history of place names ‘up north’” by Joseph Graham (co-founder of the Ste. Agathe Heritage Foundation).
DeleteIt explains that 22-year-old William Shaw immigrated to Montreal from County Antrim (the area around Belfast), Ireland, in 1827. He married and settled a farm that straddled the North River in the Laurentians and he built the first bridge to span the river, which of course was very popular and came to be known as Shaw’s Bridge, as well as supplying the land for the current church, one of the oldest in the Laurentians.
It was the Superintendent of Colonization (!), Augustin-Norbert Morin who registered this name for the English-speaking area around the church and school (yes, he was the namesake for Morin Heights and Val-Morin and his wife Adèle Raymond was the namesake for Ste. Adele and Lac Raymond). It was later shortened to Shawbridge and in 1973, it merged with Lesage and Prévost while maintaining its name. Following the election of the PQ and their cultural genocide against Quebec’s English history, however, it was officially renamed Prévost in 1977.
Actually, Google Books has an exact image of the book with some old photos if you’re interested. It’s at:
http://books.google.ca/books?id=7-OLBztxW1cC&pg=PA127&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false
The chapter about Shawbridge is on page 127 but you can also skim the history of lots of other place names up north.
Other interesting tidbits from the book:
The Weskarini Algonquin, the people who lived in the Laurentians before the Europeans but later perished in the Seven Year’s War (a.k.a. the French and Indian War, a.k.a. the guerre de la Conquête) called present-day Mont Tremblant “Trembling Mountain.” They believed that, if angered, the Great Spirit would cause the mountain to shake and tremble.
Mortimer Barnet Davis (later Sir Mortimer) bought property overlooking Las des Sables, Ste-Agathe, and the house he built on that site, Château Belvoir, was completed around 1909. By 1912, Davis, together with Mark Workman, Moses Vineberg, Jacob Jacobs and others, built a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients which they called Mount Sinai Hospital. It was the “first Jewish-community funded public hospital in the Montreal sphere of influence.” Ste-Agathe would become one of the foremost tuberculosis treatment centres in Canada (the first one in Canada having been built on Muskoka Lake near Gravenhurst).
New Quebec Republic currency in 2013:
ReplyDelete1 Marois = 100 Pee-q's
1 USD = 1 gazillion Marois
1 Eur = 1,2 gazillion Marois.
Zimbabwe probably will lead Quebec's economy in world charts ...
But it will not matter because we will have ... "de dignité, d'identité et de fierté"
http://quebec.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/11/12/landry-souverainete-marois_n_2119538.html
FROM ED BROWN
ReplyDeleteJARRY, The way you see it is exactly how we had it figured before the election. Ed
And here we go, as predicted:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/politique-quebecoise/201211/12/01-4593085-infrastructures-pauline-marois-met-les-freins.php
New Turcot? Pfft, who needs that? Only english people and immigrants use it, noble separatists use "les transports en commun" to go pick up their BS cheque. I guess Champlain will also be put on hold, seeing as how it's such an important link for the entire country.
New Hospitals? Pfft, Jacques Parizeau doesn't wait long at the Montreal Jewish General hospital. What's the problem?
Let's spend our money to promote french instead! Oh wait sorry, did I say promote french? I meant "demonize all other languages and cultures".
Either way, enjoy longer wait times in hospitals and clinics, and shitty roads yet again. Courtesy of Queen Marois and her group of crazies. They did it in the 90s, get ready for it once again..
FROM ED BROWN
ReplyDeleteThe bridge on highway 11 that crosses the North River was built by William Shaw. A few years after his death the local township of Prevost turned it into a toll bridge. His family went to court to prove ownership and opened it free again. Of the Duplessis orphans; There was a home for boys at St.Andrews East (now St.Andre) in a one time hideout for Christian brothers. The man in charge of their activities
came to me at Boy's Farm to ask for help. He said he was an ex RCMP officer and knew nothing about recreation. I was shocked at how barren the place was. Not even a basketball. There were three hundred boys with nothing to do. They lined up naked for showers in a corridor where people were passing by. Each boy had a bed that was steel army cot. I showed the man some games that could be played without equipment, mostly Boy Scout and Girl Guide games. Apart from that they seemed to be well fed and most played with each other or swam in the unguarded pond out back. Mr. Adolph Evans, Boys Farm Superintendant, whose love and knowledge made him a giant of a man in my memory, sent
sorts equipment and my Father went to the Salvation Army whose second hand store sent them tons of skates and hockey sticks etc., I noticed a lot of the boys just stared off into space but some were
perfectly normal to speak with. Alas, I returned to the 180 boys under my control which was enough for me. Jackrabbit Johanssen used to borrow ski equipment from me to take their boys on treks and always returned it in perfect condition. He often took our boys for winter week end camps. I always went wit him because our boys were under court jurisdiction which meant I had to be on guard for runaways. I often wondered about the St Andrew home. If a boy ran away, would they even notice it?
You met Herman “Jackrabbit” Johannsen?!? Wow! I remember hearing so much about him as a kid in the 70s but I don’t remember if I actually ever met him. He basically introduced this newfangled sport he brought over from Norway called “telemark ski-ing” (i.e. cross-country skiing) to the Laurentians (which led to the entire downhill skiing and now snowboarding industry as well) during the Great Depression… not only in the Laurentians but in the Eastern Townships and Ontario too, all the way to North Bay! The McGill Ski Club of the 1930s has a plaque above the fireplace in the lounge at Mont St. Sauveur commemorating their beginnings. I wonder how they even made it up there back then (never mind having to climb up the hill they wanted to ski down)!!
DeleteNaturally, as per PQ thinking, Norwegians had nothing to do with developing one of Quebec’s most important industries. Everything good has always and only been French, French, French, French, French…
Jackrabbit (a nickname given to him by the Cree, who were used to using snowshoes) lived to be 111 years old. He was the world’s oldest man for the last month of his life in 1987. I guess that gives you another 35 years to beat his record, Ed!
FROM ED BROWN
ReplyDeleteA postscript to the above. I was surprise how many of the orphans spoke English having obviously been raised in English households. Since we had English Catholic's at B.F. why were they not there? A lot of the boys at BF were on protection warrant. Was
the Church hiding them to pad the bill? That would be an aweful thing to do since they would have been so well loved and treated at BF. Their eager smiling faces still are in my memory. Ed
A little bit of humour:
ReplyDeleteMedical Science at its Best
Doctors at an international conference were discussing their medical cases
A doctor from Germany says ``We had a patient who had lost his testicles in an accident and we transplanted him with both new testicles. Six weeks later he was looking for work”
Another doctor from the U.S. says ``We did better than that, we had a patient who had a severe heart condition so we gave him a new heart and four weeks later he was looking for work”
A doctor from Russia says ``We had a patient with a very sick brain, did a transplant and two weeks later he was looking for work”
The Quebec doctor says ``We picked a woman who had no heart, no brain and ``no balls”, made her Premier and a year from now all Quebecers will be looking for work”
A couple of threads back, a fellow that works at the Burlington airport - wouldn't say for what airline - says that he gets a lot of francophones who yell at them because they can't speak french and wondered if this was normal. Told him it's the norm for the separatists and I apologized for we federalists here in Quebec because these separatists are so rude. Not much else we can do I guess. Says a lot as to how they are going to do on their own living in North America and everyone else decides that it will be English only (the majority remember). Start learning more English seppies - you'll need it if you want to leave the little piece of shit land that you will be residing on following partition of this province.
ReplyDeleteYou Cutie003, are a bigot & a hypocrite. Your hatred for Quebec and the french language is quite apparent in every single comment you make on this blog but fortunately I think most people are above your rubbish.
DeleteSorry, fellow works at Montreal airport talking to agents at Burlington.
DeleteNothing to do with hatred for the french language just the bigots who think it is the only language that counts and personally I don't care what you think.
ReplyDeleteCutie, you should know these quebekuà by now. Here how it works: as soon as you burst their little bubble, they heavily crash into the reality, thus realizing that what they have been taught for the last thirty years is dead wrong ("With French you will go everywhere", "The world will bend before you if you speak French" and so on). They soon realize that nobody gives a fig of French AND that without English you will be severely handicapped and disadvantaged. Then comes the most common reaction: they prefer lashing out at the others (accusing them of hating French and Quebec and the omnipresent NOUS) to taking responsibility for their own wanted shortcomings.
ReplyDeleteIt's a just piece of cake to talk to a quebekuà...too easy, Cutie, too easy...
Well, they sure don't like it when we finally fight back after all these years of being pushed around by both the government and the sympathizers thereof. Heaven forbid that we dare to speak out against the hateful discrimination of the PQs and their socialist lifestyle that is bankrupting the country, the province and the citizens that are unfortunate enough to reside here. I guess we are just supposed to suck it up and remain in the background and take their shit. Why I would be called a hypocrite is beyond me because that's the last thing I am. Hate the province? Hate the politics and the separatists in the province that's for sure.
ReplyDelete@cutie,
DeleteThat was pretty funny, I'm still laughing LOL no worries.
Moi qui croyait que les anglos étaient mobiles...Pas tant que ça finalement.Je suis forcé de croire que certains d'entre eux aiment notre État socialiste.À moins que...
DeleteFROM ED BROWN
ReplyDeleteMendel, Are you saying this because we English don't want to have to speak a decadent language? Ed
Cheap shot.If Shakespeare came back and heard you speak,would he say what a decadent language.
DeleteWAC
Delete+1
You guys will all start making sense once it is explained to me how a language can be "decadent".
DeleteNo language is empirically "better" than another.
Foremost, of course you are right but just to explain for you… a little while back, Ed made an unfortunate comment calling French “decadent” simply because it has two genders, in common with all other Latin-based languages such as Spanish, Italian, Portuguese as well as, say, Arabic, Irish and Scottish Gaelic. By his reasoning, German and Romanian are “ultra-decadent” languages because they have three genders (masculine, feminine and neuter) and Japanese, Thai, and Vietnamese are not at all decadent because they’re genderless.
DeleteIn fact, about one quarter of the world’s languages use grammatical gender. Ed might be surprised to learn that while Modern English doesn’t have grammatical gender, historically it did… Old English had three genders and furthermore classified nouns as being either strong or weak.
Apparently, Bantu languages like Swahili (Kiswahili) have a complex gender system so who knows how “decadent” Ed would consider them. Oh well, hakuna matata!
Cat: I am aware that Ed made some sort of comment as to French being "decadent", but it didn't make any sense then and doesn't appear to make any more now. But thanks for the recap!
DeleteThe reason Old English had multiple genders is because it's a Germanic language, meaning it's an offshoot of German. Russian can have up to 5 genders, depending on dialect. There's of course neutral, masculine, feminine, but also "passive" and "impassive" which is a whole new level of confusion.
I studied basic linguistics, Italian, German, and Spanish in CEGEP.
FROM ED BROWN
ReplyDeleteYes it is a cheap shot directed at Mendel who asked for it calling Cutie bigoted for speaking her mind.
That's what trolls deserve. kick them back. Why do you guys get all upset? Surely you must see it's meant to anger the trolls. Ed
FROM ED BROWN
ReplyDeleteEquanimity, Thanks for the info. I learned things I didn't know even having lived in the area. The old Church building in the book is the Shawbridge United Church. I played the organ there during the years I was at Boy's Farm. The last member of the Shaw family Gordie Shaw lived directly across from the Church. Ed
Interesting! What was "Boy's Farm", exactly? Also, the book (which was published in 2005) states that "there are many descendants of the Shaws who still live in the region". Are you sure Gordie was the last member?
DeleteFROM ED BROWN
DeleteEquanimity, Gordie Shaw was the caretaker of the forementioned Church. He claimed to be the last Shaw. The way records were kept in rural areas back then, who knows.
Boys farm was a school for delinquent or troubled boys. Criminal or protection warrants were needed for a boy to be there. Protection warrant could be issued simply because the kid's mother is carrying on prostitution in the home and they need to get the child out of her reach.
Unlike Weredale house where a mother can drop off a boy because he won't obey her. I knew one single mother who put all three sons into Weredale so she could go back to college. Ed