Friday, February 8, 2013

Quebec's Alternate Universe

The maddening and bewildering world of Quebec's  alternate universe
Like it or not, agree or disagree, the use of a common language, different from Canada, has resulted in Quebec developing in a different societal direction than that of the ROC or in fact, English North America altogether.

While the federal government binds Quebec to the rest of Canada with both societies sharing many common experiences, it is what is unshared,  including language, law, culture, media and education that sets us apart.

It's like placing two closely-related groups of people on two separate desert islands and watching them naturally develop in different directions over time.

Sometimes, we on the English side sit back and wonder at the decisions Quebecers make as a society, but everyday in the Quebec press, a similar voice is raised about us, that it is we who are paddling up the wrong river and that it is Quebec that has chosen wisely, making societal choices that favours the collective over the individual.

Most people in the ROC, as well as the English speaking people in Quebec, view Quebec society as nothing less than an alternate universe, as strange and bewildering as the world experienced by Alice on her trip through the looking glass.

Let's peek in and take an allegorical and whimsical tour of this place, with apologies to Lewis Carrol.
I've put together a compendium of stories, which like Alice's experience through the looking glass, will take the reader on a bewildering and maddening voyage, one where normal as we define it is abnormal and where sense as we define it is nonsense. 

a caveat: Not everybody in Quebec agrees with this alternate view of society, not by a long shot.
But it is the agenda sold in the media, the schools, and the intelligentsia, the concept of massive government spending and massive government intervention in society, a policy adopted by both federalist and separatist Quebec governments going back to Jean Lesage.

Quebec's "sustainable un-development"

Let me credit the above phrase to Alain Dubuc of La Presse who coined the original French version of "sous-développement durable," in an article which described Quebecers sometime pathological fear of fossil fuel development and which describes more specifically the city of Gaspé where the town council enacted legal roadblocks bringing to halt the drilling of an oil well near the town. The mayor insisted on protecting the town's water table despite the fact that  the well, which incidentally, was only a test well, was being drilled over five kilometres away from homes.
"What is surprising, however, is the contrast between the mayor's vehemence and the decay of his city's economy. Mr. Roussy said that "we will not compromise" on the water quality, even if the threat seems virtually nonexistent. Read the story in French
Like most other towns in the peninsula, Gaspé's economy depends largely on fishing and tourism, both purely part time affairs and it's no surprise that chronic unemployment is a hallmark of the region where those on government benefits are double the Quebec average and of those who do work, 38% depend on government related salaries.

In choosing to block oil development, just about the only thing that can bring jobs and prosperity to the region, the local citizens led by the mayor are smugly telling all who will listen that they are choosing to protect the environment over  economic benefit. Hmm....

In a stinging blog piece, entitled "Gaspé and other people's money', a blogger points out rather cruely, just how dependant the area is on handouts from the federal and provincial governments and just how much of a drain the region is to Quebec's financial well-being..
"When you live in the land of Cain and you're as poor as Job, unless you are completely masochistic, you'll jump for joy to learn that you've found oil on your land ..." Link{fr}
err...Not the people of the Gaspé!

Now the fun starts in the comments below the story where Gaspésian after Gaspésian defends the right to live as they do, this letter, pretty typical.
"Gaspé has clean air, pure water, nature, unpolluted beaches. There is no corruption, no corrupt municipal employees, no murders every week, no home invasions, no mafia, no traffic jams, no road rage, no senior homes with malnourished, ill treated and abandoned seniors, but rather, hospitable caregivers, proud to be  Gaspésians. We have the best quality of life that you could imagine and the most beautiful view in the world, as well as the most beautiful part of the country imaginable .... that must be why Montrealers come to buy our homes to spend their retirement ... Gaspé is paradise... Montreal is more like hell ... I'm sorry, David, money does not buy happiness" -Marie-Jeanne Fiola ....
Comment after comment of sanctimonious wailing, was finally interrupted by this one which made me smile.
"Clean air? Please stop being an idiot, The air in Montreal would be as pure as in Gaspé, if we were as lazy as you. And for a people who don't work hard, you still managed to virtually exterminate the fish stocks.
You say to us that we have corruption, but YOU ARE WORSE, how about all the welfare money and under the table earnings.
You are all just pathetic and useless and I dream of days that Quebec will turn its back on you!."- Françis Éliotte
And so these Quebecers are against the development of natural resources in their backyard, but not necessarily against the benefits of natural resources. What they are in favour of is someone else developing these resources, somewhere else and shipping a portion of the profits over here.
Are you listening, Alberta?

So it's no surprise that some Quebecers are demonstrating against Quebec's vaunted 'Plan Nord' a project to develop Quebec's vast resources in the uninhabited hinterland in the vast wastelands of the north.

Poster calling on Quebecers to demonstrate against Quebec's plan to develop natural resources

And so as we begin our Alice in Wonderland trip through Quebec, our first experience is the discovery that it's first holy principle, is called 'Other people's money'

Quebec stamp collecting raised to an art form

In Quebec's alternate universe, people have the absolute right to work for four months a year and collect unemployment benefits for the remaining eights months.
It's normal, fair and absolutely justifiable.

Those who defend the practice, tell Alice that just because there are few employment opportunities where they live, they have an absolute right to live where they want to and if the government can't produce jobs for them, then working Canadians in Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver, will just have to pay to support them.

While unemployment insurance was invented as a safety net to help people get over a rough spot after losing their job, in parts of Quebec, it is simply an income subsidy program where participants in places like the Îles de la Madeleine get benefits every single year and where it is a way of life.

Recently the Harper government brought in reforms that will have the effect of reducing these benefits, something that has the region up in arms.
A recent demonstration against these reforms in Cap-aux-Meules, the main town in the Îles de la Madeleine, turned out one third of the population, panicked by the idea of being cut off.
In fact, the 300 local lobster fisherman are not only opposed to the stricter rules, but are in fact demanding that benefits be extended by another five weeks, because the fishing season is less than three months long and that they face a 'black hole' between the time the benefits run out and fishing season begins!

The practice of working the qualifying period for employment insurance even has its own sarcastic euphemism, called "Collecting Stamps"
I first heard the term many years ago, while travelling on business through the region. It is a term used to describe someone who works just long enough to qualify for benefits and no longer.

It seems that in the old days before computers, workers kept booklets in which they would affix stamps that employers included with their paycheck. When a worker 'collected' enough stamps, he or she could qualify for unemployment benefits.
The concept is pretty much the same as the  'Pinky' or 'Gold Star' stamp program that food stores conducted in the fifties and sixties, if you are old enough to remember. (which I doubt)

When Alice asks those on the program how they can justify Canadians paying them eight months of benefits for four months of work, year after year, they  become indignant, warning her that without these benefits, everyone will have to move where there are jobs, an unacceptable burden!

Students being students...Quebec style

When the PQ won a slim minority mandate, it had to face the reality of its election platform, part of which was the promise to support a freeze in tuition for college and university students until a conference it was to call to discuss the issue.
Now the PQ government is facing that conference, but like all the other promises it made, is searching for a way out of it.
The radical students who demand free tuition have been told that this idea is now off the table and won't even be discussed, triggering a decision by some of them to boycott the conference.
The less radical student groups, who opposed the large increase, but called for a freeze instead, are also learning that a promise is not a promise and that Pauline who wore a symbolic red square and banged pots in the street in support of the student strike, actually doesn't give a crap.

Students are not amused and many feel betrayed, threatening a return strike action if their demands are not met.

Alice is surprised, she asks the student leader how a strike can hurt the government, when the only thing at stake is the student's education.

"When I refused to eat my dinner because I didn't like it, my mother took it away and served it for breakfast and then lunch the next day, until I ate it. I learned a good lesson. How can going on strike hurt anyone but yourself?"

"Ah, but this is Quebec!" answered the student leader. "You should have done as we did. You should have broken the windows in your home and slashed your mother's tires so she couldn't go to work!"

"Oh my.. " said Alice..."If you do that, how will she support your family?"

"You obviously don't understand," answered the student leader... "how else will we be heard?" 


Quebec's  fossil-fuel-phobia

As Alice continues her visit through the alternate universe of Quebec, she is surprised to find that its citizens have a pathological fear of fossil fuel development. She is told patronizingly, that exploration of oil and gas is feeding an unhealthy dependence on polluting energy.

Alice is perplexed, because if Quebecers are against using fossil fuel energy, why are they in fact the province that has the highest per head ratio of vehicles on the road?

In fact, Quebec leads the country in the use of 'dirty' wood stoves. Used for heating, the majority of these haven't been updated to cleaner versions that create up to 90% less pollution.
The fact that just one of these dirty stove heaters creates more pollution in 24 hours than 9 cars in a year, doesn't seem to faze the Quebec government, which otherwise claims to be obsessed with the enviornment.
Surprisingly, the government also has no plans to restrict these stoves or phase them out, nor even to ask users who do heat with wood, to upgrade to the newer and vastly cleaner models!
Instead the Quebec government is looking at making pollution standards for cars even tighter and more expensive.
"Go figger...." Alice thinks to herself.

Now years ago, Quebec put a hold on shale gas exploration (exploration, not development) because of the furious outcry by people in the communities close to where the gas wells would be drilled.
The Charest government sent the whole issue for study to the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement (BAPE), a government commission that assesses the ecological impact of development. This had the effect of freezing things until now.

When the PQ government was elected, those running the BAPE were fired, deemed to be too industry-friendly  and replaced by radical environmentalists.

Then the Marois government decided to throw out all the previous studies conducted by BAPE concerning shale gas development and decided to start deliberations from scratch, claiming that the old studies were biased in favour of industry, declaring a moratorium on the exploration of the resource, in the meantime.

The bewildering part in all this is, is that the commission needn't bother deliberating at all.
All the companies that do the exploration have packed up and left Quebec!
If somebody in the PQ would bother to read the newspapers, they would know that the shale gas industry has already matured and that production in North America is now so high that prices have fallen in half.
While mature shale gas wells on-stream for many years remain profitable because start up and development costs have already been paid for, new wells are not economic under current and foreseeable market conditions.

Alice asks Pauline, "You've missed the boat, so why are you studying the ecological impact of shale gas development, if no company is prepared to develop shale gas at all?"

"Because we have to be prepared, that's why!" snorts Pauline.

SNC Lavalin & HQ..... pride of Quebec

There's no doubt that Quebecers are proud of the two biggest symbols of its economic emancipation, Hydro-Qubec and SNC-Lavalin, and it seems that nothing but nothing can be allowed to shake that confidence.
Like those fans of Lance Armstrong who believed that he was innocent in the face of overwhelming evidence, self-deception is a powerful thing when people are so deeply invested.

So it is actually no surprise at all to see that in the face of so many negative and shocking revelations in regard to these two pillars of Quebec economic development, the province has collectively decided to "stand by her man."

SNC-Lavalin has developed into one of the most powerful engineering/consulting firms in the world, with billions of dollars in projects spread across the globe. The fact that the company is Quebec-bred and that its head-office remains in Montreal, remains a powerful symbol of Quebec know-how.

Recently however, that reputation has not only been tarnished, but absolutely sullied with revelations of bribery of officials in order to win contracts, that may have been standard operation procedure in the company's business development plan.
A bizarre story came to light exposing this dirty secret when a plot to smuggle one of Colonel Gadhafi sons out of the country during the revolution, to safe haven in Mexico, fell apart.
Allegedly, SNC paid up to $160 million in bribes to Saadi Gadhafi, which successfully led to lucrative contracts in Libya.
One ex-SNC employee is sitting in jail in Switzerland and the company has distanced itself from other employees involved, throwing them all under the bus.
All this led to the dismissal of the president of the company, who is now charged with fraud. The RCMP is also investigating whether the company paid the infamous Arthur Porter a bribe of up to $22 million to secure the contract for the new super hospital now under construction in Montreal. Link

But like a wayward son, Quebecers seem forgiving.
"Quebec’s pension fund giant Caisse de dépot says it will continue to support SNC-Lavalin because it sees the engineering firm’s potential of becoming a “true global leader” once it gets over its current problems.
“I know now that SNC is tarnished because of what’s happened but you can’t lose the forest through the trees,” Caisse CEO Michael Sabia told reporters Tuesday during a discussion of its new strategy to shield itself from market volatility." Link
 As for the public, they do seem somewhat enraged, but not over the scandal itself, but rather the repercussions.
It seems that in conducting a cleanup, a lot of old francophone bosses including the president, have been replaced by Anglophones and that has the press seeing red.
"The reshuffle announced Friday morning in the senior ranks of SNC-Lavalin is another blow to the French presence at the highest levels of the company, until recently seen as a jewel of 'Quebec Inc.'

Since coming into office, the boss of SNC-Lavalin, Robert Card,  an
American who replaced Pierre Duhaime, has made multiple appointments that lead  to the diminished  presence of francophones at the highest levels of the company." Link{fr}
As for Hydro-Quebec, support for the utility remains steadfast, despite having up to twice as many employees as it needs and perhaps the highest operating costs of any North American utility.
But all this isn't important as long as the company records billions in profits, notwithstanding the fact that most of the money it makes is based on the power that it gets from Newfoundland for pittance.
But bad decision after bad decision, coupled with collapsing export prices has people starting to look closer.

While Hydro is mothballing power plants that it owns because it has piled up a massive amount of surplus generating capacity, it is paying for power it doesn't need from third parties at exorbitant prices.
The company is also committed to useless and expensive wind-farm projects and other stupidities.

But so far, nobody in government is willing to bell the cat, it is just too unthinkable.

As Alice hears the story she shrugs her shoulders.

"This place is curioser and curioser!"

Honesty and Quebec values

While taking a break, Alice is invited to watch the goings on at the Crime Commission that the government of Jean Charest was browbeaten into convening.

She watches a few witnesses who tell a harrowing story of corruption wherein Quebec's first and third largest cities seem to be run by criminals doing business with criminals, aided by criminals.
The scale of dishonesty is so large and widespread that Alice asks the Cheshire cat who is sitting beside her why not one person ever became a whistleblower.

Read "125 years of corruption commissions"
"Ha Ha!" he retorted." How little you understand. Quebec has been corrupt forever, it is the way things are.
People aren't even that upset, in fact despite the horrific tales of corruption coming out about the city, a majority of Montrealers still believe that their city is well run!" 

 "Oh my," said Alice, as she got up to leave, "I've got one more stop to make on my quest to better understand the queer nature of this place. 

"Where are you going, my dear?" asked the Cat,

 "I've an appointment at a place called 'l'Office québécois de la langue française,' they promised to clear things up for me."

"Really....the OQLF?" answered a grinning Cheshire cat,

"Then Good luck, my dear"



Thank you readers for coming along on this journey. I shall leave with a  final quote from the original work, Alice in Wonderland;

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, or you wouldn’t have come here.”

201 comments:

  1. Editor, what a fascinating piece of work. I salute you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Le Québec au pays des merveilles !!!

      Who knew ...LOL, makes a lot of sense.
      I second that salute !

      Delete
  2. FROM ED
    "What can be added? How about English.? Ed

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  3. Une Gars, encore une fois tu montres que t'es un colon sans éducation.

    Alors que l'Éditeur nous présente, sans doute avec fierté, un article original, toi, au lieu de le féliciter ou d'émettre un commentaire en lien avec son article, tu nous abreuves de tes références à la con.

    Tu peux bien être un apôtre de la droite épaisse de Québec.

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  4. @Editor,
    I beg your indulgence; I’ve brought this one over

    @adski

    “Do you buy the thing about serving the people from any politicos? I must be a devil's advocate here and say that QC is by no means different from any other place on this aspect”

    Adski, I think we may part ways on this one. Please know that when I visit this blog, yours are the posts (among others), I most look forward to reading, but I’m afraid I cannot agree with you on this one. “We” may be over intellectualizing perhaps? ‘I most certainly have to buy’ that politicos attempt to ascend to Power to serve their citizenry, otherwise, why even bother to show up and vote on Election Day? We have to believe that most candidates are well-intentioned, and that they are driven simply by the fact that they wish to make things better for society. I am not naive. I completely get that many are ill-intentioned, with only one thing in mind, how to line their pockets. There are also, however, well-intentioned people and that is why WE SHOW UP on voting day, we still have faith, that some people, still have our backs.

    “We might have a more visceral reaction to the guys here because we live here, but the same principle applies everywhere.”

    I was making this comment, because one example came to mind with respect to Mme Marois. Here she was, last summer, sporting that red square everywhere and anywhere. Banging posts in the streets with the students. Making an absolute mockery of the situation and especially the Liberals, and at the end of the day, now that she and HER GOVERNMENT are in Power, they have backtracked. Basically, it was all for show. It was Theatre! To be so overtly disingenuous is soooooo unbelievably insulting. She played those students, and she played the situation. She’s a PLAYER. And that, is just one example. For this reason, I made that comment, I just never bought she had noble ambitions, even before, and today, it’s been proven, hasn’t it? Furthermore, it bugs me even more because she’s a woman; and as a woman, I expected better.


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  5. Un Gars, again, thanks for those links...keep 'em comin'!

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  6. More votes for another party come next election - wonder which mad hatter the kids will choose to vote for - Ms. David or the CAQ or perhaps they may turn their votes away from the separatist option altogether - wouldn't that piss Ms. Piggy off? Even better, maybe they will stay home!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I will tell you this Cutie, Mme David is a million times more authentic than miss piggy. At least, one senses that about her. I may not agree with her politics, but I applaud and respect her wholeheartedly.

      Delete
    2. Much as I dislike the separatists, you're probably right - the best of the worse I guess we could say and she sure doesn't have much competition with the likes of Ms Pee.

      Delete
    3. Yeah a hypocrite socialist who sends her children to private school. Integrity personified!

      Delete
  7. @Y.L

    Son vrai nom est:Un colon bien pathétique de Québec

    Sûrement un des petits apôtres minables et sans fierté du RLQ.Un Elvis Gratton de la pire espèce.Un vrai champion.

    ReplyDelete

  8. From http://blogjacquesbrassard.blogspot.ca/

    "Bref, tous ces indicateurs démontrent sans équivoque que l’économie du Québec, sans être une économie du Tiers-Monde, n’a jamais atteint sa performance optimale. La profession de foi de Mme Marois va-t-elle se transposer en actions et générer de la croissance?"

    I would like an answer to that one!

    Moreover:

    "Pour répondre positivement à cette question, le gouvernement du PQ devra mettre au rancart son hostilité congénitale envers l’entreprise privée et adopter une fiscalité d’entreprise et un régime de redevances qui n’effraieraient pas les investisseurs. Illustrons mon propos"

    mm...intersting, I think Editor may have mentioned this up above!

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  9. @Editor

    I just re-read your entire post again, and something occured to me.. You’re Canada’s version of Bill Maher, well..at least..Quebec’s version LOLOLOL, though you could easily be Canada’s as well !!!

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  10. Lord Dorchester

    A tip of the hat to the Editor. Great posting.

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  11. Like I wrote in the recent blog on Harper's decree against frequent applicants of EI: Go where the jobs are, but since they could sit on their asses for 2/3 of the year, why would they? There has been no fire lit under the lazy asses to relocate--perhaps until now. I hope Harper makes the deepest cut of all--killing equalization to Quebec altogether.

    There is no incentive for Hydro Quebec to raise rates because the reduced revenues trigger equalization. There is no incentive for the lazy asses collecting benefits 2/3 of the year to move because it keeps incomes low, reduces tax revenues and triggers equalization payments. There is no incentive for the Quebec government to allow oil fracking or even exploration in the Gazpésie because it prevents too much tax revenue and royalties from being raised and these shortfalls keep equalization payments where they are. Why should Quebec be like Newfoundland that lost its equalization due to its Newfoundwealth from oil revenues? After all, Quebec doesn't want to sacrifice all the free money it gets from equalization.

    The new day of reckoning is coming in 2014 re equalization, and I'm going to do what I can to cut Quebec off or greatly reduce its equalization receipts. I hope the man listens. After all, it's not as if he's going to get any big constituency gains in Quebec no matter what he does.

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    Replies
    1. Yes...okay Sauga, we've heard it all before...spare us. Thank you.

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  12. You know, you really can't blame people for being against oil pumping. It pollutes like crazy and are a big threat to the environment. Just because someone finds the environment to be a higher priority than money doesn't mean anything negative about them. They just have different priorities. They're other ways to bring money and jobs to a region that will have less long turn consequences. Middle-aged and elderly people probably won't have to live with the environmental impact of what is being done today, but my generation will. When the pioneers settled Canada they worked hard and lived tough lives so their children could have a better live here when they were grown up, but it seems like today the long term impact certain things can have isn't considered as much. I understand and respect the conservative point of view, and on many issues, I agree with it, but not this one.

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    Replies
    1. I realise I'm contradicting myself a bit on earlier things I've said on this blog, but you know I've given this issue some more thought since.

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    2. Not to throw cold water on your ideals EDM but it can't always be "not in my yard". We need natural resources but we also have to live - and people have to have a purpose in life or you end up being like SR and student - nothing else to do but cause trouble. You seem to be a fine young man with a good head on your shoulders but you do need to do something constructive with your life. Someone like yourself would do well studying environmental issues for instance and try to find ways and means to extract oil without doing too much damage to the environment e.g. or working in the forestry industry towards the same end. There are wonderful careers for young people that can enrich their lives as well as their pocketbooks. I always enjoy your posts so keep up the good work and pass the word along to your young friends.

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    3. ah Cutie, with posts like that, we can't but love u!

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    4. You're welcome - meant every word. It's nice to see young people interested in making the world a better place.

      Delete
  13. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYFriday, February 8, 2013 at 8:19:00 PM EST

    I've made some separatists pretty mad, from the earlier comments. The truth hurts, that basic!
    When people attempt to insult you, you have won.
    En passant, Robert Gratton est un gars tres correct. Un vrai quebecois.
    Pi Patrick Brazeau, un autre quebecois. Corrompu aussi.
    -----------------
    I feel so much better living away from quebec. I have so many friends here in Calgary that are also french quebecois that left like me, because of all that crap from that pretentious little Gaulois stupid village that is quebec. By having left quebec, some of us, des vrais quebecois, we feel and live a real, free life. No BS:)

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    Replies
    1. Patrick Brazeau est un amérindien qui a été nommé sénateur par ton chef,si tu veux jeter le blâme sur quelqu'un,son bureau est au bout de ta rue...Entre les deux Tim Hortons.

      Delete
    2. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYFriday, February 8, 2013 at 9:24:00 PM EST

      Patrick Brazeau is a quebecois. He says so. He prefers to speak french even though he is bilingual and, yes, aboriginal. Patrick is a real quebecois, factually the prototypical diverse quebecois. Tim Hortons are eveywhere in quebekistan as quebecois love Tim Hortons:)
      I have no bad spot, no blame, no negativity. Why? I left quebec!
      Quebecois love to complain. Dont believe me? Spend the christmas holidays with a real pure laine quebecois family. Anwhere in Quebekistan; Sherbrooke, matane or Sorel: they bitch alot. Almost as much as the resident troll.
      All they do is bitch. Bitch, bitch and complain again and again. Just like in Haiti. I know as I spent 5 months of my life there. In 2004 and then in 2010. Haitians bitch tons. Just like in Quebec.
      --------------------
      If I was a real separatist with a real, vested interest in the future of "ma nation", well the last thing I would do would NOT to waste my time here teasing the non convertible... Such a basic but also such a strategic "faux pas". LOL>

      Delete
    3. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYFriday, February 8, 2013 at 9:53:00 PM EST

      I guess S.R. aka Slutty Radical cant come up with a come back....

      Delete
    4. Je ne suis pas ici pour convertir qui que ce soit et si ça se trouve,tu n'as jamais quitté le Québec,on t'a plutôt éjecté.Tu sembles avoir le profil typique d'un "reject" hyper frustré,un mal adapté comme on n'en voit trop souvent.Au lieu de venir te défouler ici,tu devrais peut-être consulter un psy et lui faire part de la rage envers les tiens,qui te tourmente et qui gruge ton énergie (fossile).

      Je ne crois pas que le "grattonisme" se soigne mais peut-être qu'un professionnel pourrait t'en soulager.

      Delete
    5. "L’exploitation des sables bitumineux est une catastrophe écologique mondiale. Greenpeace demande aux gouvernements et aux compagnies pétrolières de cesser le déploiement du pétrole le plus sale du monde.

      Lacs toxiques, camions géants énergivores, rivière transformée en égout industriel, forêts rasées … les sables bitumineux ressemblent à l’enfer d’un point de vue écologique. C’est que le bitume, englué dans la glaise et le sable sous les forêts du nord de l’Alberta, ne se donne pas. Il faut aller le chercher au prix de techniques coûteuses, dangereuses pour la santé des Premières Nations vivants sur ces territoires, et extrêmement polluantes. Ce qui en fait le pétrole le plus « sale » au monde."

      http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/fr/campagnes/Energies/sables-bitumineux/

      Faut-il être assez stupides pour agir de la sorte?

      Delete
    6. Raison de plus pour stopper toute activité qui pourrait agraver notre cas,non?

      Delete
    7. @un gars

      "Tim Hortons are eveywhere in quebekistan as quebecois love Tim Hortons."

      why do you call quebec quebekistan?

      Delete
    8. “If I was a real separatist with a real, vested interest in the future of "ma nation", well the last thing I would do would NOT to waste my time here teasing the non convertible... Such a basic but also such a strategic "faux pas".”

      Ah...I believe we’re giving resident troll way too much credit with this one. He is far from being “altruistic”. He doesn’t hang around here for our sakes; he hangs around for his own sake. Though he may find Editor’s opinion pieces interesting and fascinating to read, (and his curiosity keeps him coming back), I am tempted to believe that he is scared sh*tless that those posts may wreak havoc, specifically with Francophones, who may visit from time to time, read, and perhaps, draw their own conclusions and ideas about the true political, social and economic landscape of this province. Basically, the informative and purposeful opinion pieces by Editor, and commentary that follow, shoot a missile right through the predisposed beliefs of practically every Quebec separatist & nationalist, AND mister resident troll can’t have that. It all plays right into his insurmountable fear that this cocooned (separatist) perspective cannot be maintained or perpetuated further, once the truth is out. Simply observe his reaction toward “Un Gars”. Speaks volumes doesn’t it? So he sticks around, monitors it, comments with misinformation; or clutches at straws by quoting the ramblings of a 13 yr old. It reassures him to keep his...enemies close ...so to speak. But mostly, he has to keep reassuring himself that we, on this blog, don’t convert too many on his team, by bringing them over to the side of Reason and Logic.

      @resident troll
      Don’t flatter yourself, the above piece of real-estate devoted to you, is for OUR SAKES.

      Apologies ED, it has to be said!

      Delete
    9. Me too - brought this over from the past thread because it's exactly how I feel about these seppies and the decisions we have made concerning them. Has to be said also and I too apologize for responding to these idiots.
      Hopefully francophone Canadians will also see that we've been pushed far enough and now we're fighting back against language zealots, aggressive SOBs that have been getting away with ethnic cleansing of this province for the past 40 years. Robbers of an innocent generation of rights and freedoms from people that deserve to communicate in any language that suits THEM - not that suits the miserable, social deficient society that we have churned out because we were kind and had sympathy for their desire to retain their language and culture. What an example we have set for all the world to see - kindness and empathy is the wrong way to help people! Force is the only thing they understand - and I always thought we were civilized - what a wake up call - others will see the failure in this experience and the world will again be vindicated in always using force rather than reason because at least 40% of the human race cannot be reasoned with - you seppies should all be proud of yourselves.

      Delete
    10. "...world will again be vindicated in always using force rather than reason..."

      you're losing it, mate.

      Delete
    11. "francophone Canadians" ?!?

      La dernière fois que j'ai entendu cette expression...remonte à...Je m'en souviens plus.

      Delete
    12. U should come out of that retarded bubble of yours more often, cause ...out here ..we use it quite a bit ....A-hole.

      Delete
    13. Basically, the informative and purposeful opinion pieces by Editor, and commentary that follow, shoot a missile right through the predisposed beliefs of practically every Quebec separatist & nationalist, AND mister resident troll can’t have that. It all plays right into his insurmountable fear that this cocooned (separatist) perspective cannot be maintained or perpetuated further, once the truth is out. Simply observe his reaction toward “Un Gars”. Speaks volumes doesn’t it?

      This times 10! Only those with a colonized mentality bother to call other people colonized. You could also add how their insecurity is compounded by their pathological need to insert “nous” and “nos” into every other sentence. This is particularly foolish for those of us whose Quebec roots go back centuries when it comes from a first-generation Ontario import like resident troll who believes that anybody pays any attention to his desperate entreaties for us to leave. Pathetic.

      Delete
  14. And in keeping with Alice!! LOL here is something to lighten everyone's heart

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-K0QBHMCwI

    ReplyDelete
  15. I just love your blog. I look forward to each and every article.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wonder what's happened to Resident - haven't heard much from him in the last little while. Hope you're OK Resident - Stop in for visit so we know all is well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. FROM ED
      Resident told us he's trying to start a new business and get the other blog going. he made it clear he would not have time for a little while. Be Patient

      Delete
    2. I know that Ed but still haven't heard anything either via e-mail or on the blog so am hoping all is well - not impatient.

      Delete
    3. What happened to Complicated

      Delete
    4. Hasn't posted in a week or more and to be honest I don't particularly miss him. Seemed very intelligent but lives totally in the past and refuses to move beyond the "old" battles. He offers no suggestions as how to correct what is going on at the present time.

      Delete
    5. @cutie003

      "...(complicated) lives totally in the past and refuses to move beyond the "old" battles."

      how are the battles that you are involved in "newer" than the ones complicated fought cutie003?

      Delete
  17. Yannick,

    I do not have deep enough knowledge about the practice there, but until recently all levels of education everywhere in Germany - including post-secondary - were completely free. Even now a number of high-profile universities are still completely free, even for international students, depending on the state. My favorite is RWTH Aachen, one of the best engineering schools in Europe, if not the best.

    ReplyDelete
  18. FROM ED
    MR.SAUGA
    Although I've known these things all along, I had never made the connection with equalization and the lack of a desire to search for oil in Quebec. You make it very clear why equalization hurts Quebec citizens more than it does any good. Thanks
    Anectote, I don't understand why you converse with trolls and insult a man like Mr.Sauga who has more knowlege and experience of politics than all of us together. Ed

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ed, thanks for the accolade, but please realize the closest I've come to a politician is being on the board of directors for my condo corporation, and at one point its president. The only compensation I got for the job was a bottle of water at most meetings, but not all.

      The position was voluntary, thankless and there was an attempt to have me removed. I was nine votes away, but I chose to stay on because I committed to it for my term. Two terms, actually.

      Anyway, if AnecTOTE felt the need to take a swipe at me, my skin is thick enough to withstand anything from anybody who has taken potshots at me thus far. Unfortunately, there is as much gibberish in these blogs as thoughtful, constructive contributions. Like on a piece of meat, you just cut away the fat, gristle and fat and eat the good stuff. Skip the garbage written by certain individuals who know who they are, and just focus on the constructive stuff. Besides, Editor has himself said the problem is too many people reply to the garbage, and this feeds the fire.

      Delete
  19. After watching this fracking documentary, you cannot be in favour of fracking.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_axZpB0wZI

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you look at who posted that video, you will see that it is a self-righteous religious group that is anti-Obama, anti-MTV, anti-abortion, anti-everything remotely controversial, believes the U.S. should apologize to Japan for Hiroshima, and so on… and they are shilling their rosaries too.

      Delete
  20. @ED

    That may be, but mine, was not an insult, it is just a little frustrating to read his PUT-DOWN posts all the time. You have also called him on it a few times. But mostly, it's like he can't wait to see this province fail or go down the drain. Though we know we're headed that way, I can't stand to see people rejoice over it. I suppose he has his reasons, which he has mentioned previously, (he refused to learn French and left the province. Fine, that was his choice). I just feel we should all be mourning for the sad state of affairs. When or if this province fails or autodistructs, it will also be a reflection on the rest of Canada. People claim to love this country, well loving means accepting it unconditionally, Quebec is part of that equation. We will all own that..abject failure. It is nothing to celebrate. Anyway...just sayin'

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AND by the way, I bitch too, but only because I know we (here in Quebec) can be better, can do better. We are light years ahead of everyone as far as Language is concerned, just with the fact that most, if not all of us (at least in Montreal) are fluently bilingual, and many even trilingual at a bare minimum. We are so lucky. I would miss this Life if I HAD to leave. I would miss speaking French, I would miss that..that thing we do ...where we start a conversation in English, go to French, come back to English...it`s hilarious, and yet...it defines us. What could be better.

      Delete
    2. FROM ED
      ANECTOTE, I agree wholeheratedly with your answer. I might have jumped alittle too quickly but if you read mr.Sauga's post I think you'll see he's not putting down Quebec but just telling it like it is. There's a difference between some one like the asshole from Calgary that gloats over our demise and someone stating the truth. Don't shoot the messager even if you've already heard the message. During the last election Mr.Sauga posted in depth election facts that were relevant.and informative. I was amazed at his knowledge.
      I apologize if I misread you. I guess I've had my back up lately because I always go out of my way to make sure my posts are factual and to the point and I have been insulted for no reason. However your answer has made me feel much better
      knowing I'm not aone in our love for Quebec. Thank you for your gentle answer it helped me. Ed

      Delete
  21. Editor,

    1. I think the better translation for sous-développement durable is sustainable underdevelopment as underdevelopment is a specific economic term.

    2. My being pedantic:
    Iles de la Madeleine = Magdalen Islands
    Cap-aux-Meules = Grindstone
    Did we not discuss it already that using EI as income is also prevalent in the Atlantic, not just Quebec?

    3. Surprisingly, the government also has no plans to restrict these stoves or phase them out, nor even to ask users who do heat with wood, to upgrade to the newer and vastly cleaner models!

    Are they not banned in Montreal already since 6-7 years ago?

    4. The RCMP is also investigating whether the company paid the infamous Arthur Porter a bribe of up to $22 million to secure the contract for the new super hospital now under construction in Montreal.

    Reading about Arthur Porter on SSJB and MQF sites, he appears to be the devil's incarnate, the worst of the worst of a person. Never mind that UQAM lost much worse several years back that made the "elevator to nowhere" at the new Central Bus Station.

    5. "How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
    "You must be," said the Cat, or you wouldn’t have come here.”


    Does this mean that I was mad, but ain't no more?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The islands were named in 1663 by the seigneur, François Doublet, after his wife, "Madeleine" Fontaine, so French it is.
      The 9 islands have both French and English names reflecting their Acadian history, but French they are today and so I use the names that are common.

      Delete
    2. Even the Magdalen Islands Tourism Commission calls it the Magdalen Islands.

      http://www.tourismeilesdelamadeleine.com/magdalen-islands/atrim-ang-696-home.cfm

      Delete
  22. Yannick,

    I honestly do not know much. What I know is that when I was young plenty of students from my country of origin went to Germany because of the free education. Vast majority of them studied engineering or science. For some reason France was not that popular. Maybe the perception was that Germany was the center of engineering and technology.

    ReplyDelete
  23. FROM ED
    One thing to consider is that living our day to day anglo lifestyle is generally not as bad as the overall picture makes it out to be. We go to school and to work mostly unimpeded and we enjoy the niceties of life such as television, movies clubs the same as anyone anywhere. Our kids, french and english, play hockey together and the fights being not about language are quickly settled by the linesmen and referees, so the game continues. We can all read enough French to understand the signs and easily get what we need in any store.
    As far as metro employees are concerned I think back to before 1960 when many small store owners could not speak English and we communicated with signs and the odd multiligual word known as pointing In those days a finger pointed upward meant, give me one more. At 76 I have a comfortable retirement in my own warm home and never a day of hunger. I know my pension cheque will be there to feed myself and my grandson next month and the only fear I have is that I might be losing my youthful complexion.
    I have a friend the same age who has been to 65 countries since his retirement and is constantly after me to come with him on one of the cruises he takes. After 4 million miles of travel all over North America, I'm happy right her in Quebec, seeing the beauty of it and ignoring as much as possible the political bee stings of life. Ed

    ReplyDelete
  24. FROM ED
    What can be added is English. Ed

    ReplyDelete
  25. FROM ED
    The Pope and Quebec's new Premier, Pauline Marois were on the same stage at the Bell Centre in Montreal in front of a huge crowd.
    The Pope leaned towards Pauline and said, "Do you know that with one little wave of my hand I can make every person in this crowd go wild with joy? This joy will not be a momentary display; it will go deeply into their hearts and they will forever speak of this day and rejoice!" Ms. Marois replied, "I seriously doubt that! With one little wave of your hand...show me?!"
    So the Pope backhanded her and knocked her off the stage! ...and the crowd roared and cheered wildly and there was happiness throughout the land .....




    ReplyDelete
  26. To which can be added:

    When Canada was mired in the grim task of fighting Hitler, such groups as the Société St-Jean-Baptiste were busy collecting the signatures of hundreds of thousands of French Canadians opposed to the immigration of any Jews to Canada.

    While English Canadians show similar levels of tolerance to Muslims and Jews as other North Americans, French Canadians take the prize for their Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.

    While everyone else is grappling with the high cost of delivering health care, the Quebec government sets up a department with a budget of $850,000 in the newly developed Bernard Draiville ministry to figure out how to draft the law that will permit Mr. Drainville to send a couple of his minions to the chief of orthopedics at the Jewish General Hospital, "Doctor, either the yamulka goes or you go".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anti everything and everybody not pure laine but you're right, antisemitic more than anything else. Always have been. Should be ashamed of themselves but rather proud - makes all of us look bad.

      Delete
    2. By the way the big boss in the Vatican wears a white beanie (no propeller),his minions wear red.
      Jews in Israel cannot marry a non Jew.
      The government of Israel is an orthodox religion based government, strict marriage laws apply. Therefore, to marry a non-Jew one must leave the country, get married, then return.

      http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Can_Jews_in_Israel_marry_a_non_Jew

      People living in glass houses should not throw stones

      Delete
    3. That may all be true, but two wrongs don't make a right.

      Delete
    4. How you can deflect to Israel's marriage laws when we're talking about a yamulka preventing the chief of orthopedics at a North American hospital from practicing his profession astounds me. N'importe quoi.

      Delete
    5. White African Canadian
      Israel does not have civil marriage and if a Jew wants to marry a non-Jew, they can if they either converts to the other's religion.
      You phrase your comment to infer that the state discriminates against non-Jews in marriage, that is dishonest, the rules are the same for all.

      What Israel does have, is freedom of religion and Muslim doctors and civil servants who work for the state of Israel are certainly allowed to wear headscarves at work.(and many do.)

      Delete
    6. Be astounded, discrimination irritates me I did not bring this up and how dare you say

      “”French Canadians” take “the prize” for their Islamophobia and anti-Semitism“.

      I have met and seen many mixed marriages(Jewish and other) and 99 times out of 100 the Jewish person was disowned.
      Being Islamphobic or anti-Semitic is not law, here , yet, maybe in the near future.
      A bad law here is bill 101.It doesn’t affect me, I have my arm band( Certificate of Eligibility ) so do my children.
      I wrote that so as to bring to your attention that bad things happen on this space ship called Earth.
      I could of brought your attention to or astounded you with “the law of no return”
      By the way I am not a French Canadian, I am an “other”

      @ed I will not get into a long debate. You are to close to the tree to see the forest
      Granddaughter of Holocaust survivor who came to Israel as child, serves as IDF officer, stunned to find Rabbinate does not deem her 'Jewish enough' to marry in Israel
      http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4338514,00.html

      Or google “can a Jew marry a non Jew in Israel”

      Delete
  27. Great post Editor and unfortunately too true - they see the world through a distorted "looking glass".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Venant d'une femme incapable de traverser une rivière afin de rejoindre son paradis...C'est plutôt bizarre,non?

      Delete
  28. Editorial in today's Citizen by Janice Kennedy: Stop picking the disunity scab - Final paragraphs: " Most Canadians have reached their tipping point. If they could deliver one simple and heartfelt message to the country's professional threat artists - in Quebec yes but also Alberta and Newfoundland and anywhere else that disgruntlement has been planted and is routinely nursed - I think it might sound like this: Shut up already. Stay or don't stay. Engage fully or don't engage. Commit or don't commit. Just stop talking about it. Just stop the wheedling and whining and endless exhausting threats. It's time to say enough. Seriously." Also makes a good point by saying "Sucked into the vortex of an endless debate, Canada has for years squandered masses of its intellectual and emotional resources going over and over the same ground." As has been pointed out by just about everyone on this blog, people really don't give a shit about this fight anymore except we federalists that are stuck here - the rest of the country is just sick of it and I guess I can't blame them.

    ReplyDelete
  29. OMG - I pay enough taxes already guys - free tuition - come on - when does all this socialism stop and we get our economy in shape again to lower taxes; not raise them to cover free tuition. I've raised my kids, paid for their day care, their schooling (what they couldn't pay for themselves even though they worked), started them off with what I could afford, and they are doing just fine. They don't need more government handouts any more than I do. Let people be responsible for their own lives - it keeps them out of trouble so they don't end up being like the SRs and student. Let them work to pay for what they need and want in their lives - nothing wrong with a hard days work for heaven's sake and neither one of them are bums that are doing nothing but trying to break up a country and make other people's live miserable. They're busy working and raising their families to be responsible citizens and Canadians with pride and a good work ethic. Wow - stop babying these kids - teach them responsibility so they don't end up on the dole of the rest of the country.

    ReplyDelete
  30. FROM ED
    t's odd Cutie that many Francophones think the same way about us. "SHUT UP AND GO OR KNEEL DOWN AND STAY. EITHER WAY SHUT UP AND DO IT IN FRENCH"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Probably, if I didn't live here, I would no longer be interested in what goes on here either. Must admit 40 years of listening to the same BS over and over is fatiguing for all of us but as long as I'm here, I'll fight for what's right in Canada and do it in ENGLISH.

      Delete
    2. @cutie003

      "...I'll fight for what's right in Canada and do it in ENGLISH."

      you go girl. only issue i see with your plan is people around you are francophones. maybe you should try french with them. it would raise the odds in your favor.

      Delete
    3. I have a RIGHT AND THE FREEDOM TO SPEAK WHAT LANGUAGE I WANT TO AND SO DO MY NEIGHBOURS - I don't tell them what language to speak and they are nice people that don't tell me what language to speak. If they do not wish to speak to me THAT IS THEIR RIGHT. Thank God I don't have any neighbours like you and SR or they would be war on the street!

      Delete
    4. @cutie003

      i agree you have the right to speak the language you want.

      i just gave you a trick that could help you in your struggle.

      i think you underestimate the benefits that come along with being understood.

      Delete
    5. Taking advice from the likes of you would be the last thing on God's earth that I would ever do. If I ever change my mind about that, I'll be sure to let you know. Funny that if you "agree you have the right to speak the language you want" you separatist government doesn't enshrine that in the language laws - pitiful.

      Delete
    6. Student,j'imagine que cutie a plus de 50 ans donc pratiquement impossible de la récupérer.Heureusement nous avons appris,par expérience,qu'il est préférable de mettre nos efforts en matière d'éducation sur les jeunes anglos,plus ouverts d'esprit que les anciens.

      Delete
    7. @s.r

      i agree cutie003 is probably a lost cause. i'm still debunking her stuff because it may be useful for other readers. and also because it amuses me.

      Delete
    8. "...and also because it amuses me."

      Et moi donc :)

      Vraiment tout un spécimen.

      Delete
    9. she's the real deal, mate! the whole package. a natural. like butch reed.

      Delete
    10. And you two are good examples of why we must partition this place and kick your asses to the curb and you can bet I'm the real deal - I will never buckle under to you Nazis, neither will my children nor their children. Canadians and all free people all over the world can see how narrow minded, shit disturbers like yourselves should never have control of anything, not even their own bowels. No more power or money to quebec for any reason whatsoever for at least 50 years. By then you'll have your hands out on the corner where you both probably are everyday anyway because you sure don't have jobs.

      Delete
    11. "should never have control of anything"

      Vos rêvez souvent les yeux ouvert cutie?À qui payez-vous vos taxes?Quelle langue voyez-vous affichée autour de vous?Votre files ne parle pas français?

      Nous vous contrôlons déjà pauvre cutie :(

      Delete
    12. @Cutie

      My dear, just tell yourself that...here we are...40 years later and what's suppose to be a "nation" is still a province, IN CANADA! We own the bragging rights to that one, and they control jacksh*t, regardless of what pretty signs adorn our surroundings. LOLLOL

      Delete
    13. Pas de rapports d'impôts ni de taxes dans nos coffres pour payer nos agents de l'OQLF pour vous surveiller...ToTo?

      ...butch reed...Hahahahahahaa!

      Delete
    14. Student: Above you said, "i agree you have the right to speak the language you want."

      Want to try to convince your pal S.R of that, after all he said yesterday, "Ste-Agathe devra se conformer.Point à la ligne."

      http://nodogsoranglophones.blogspot.com/2013/02/pauline-marois-making-lemonade-out-of.html?showComment=1360278054921#c4244444340575290495

      Trying to suck and blow at the same time doesn't work.

      Delete
    15. C'est vrai,personne ne vous empêche de parler la langue que vous voulez même à Ste-Agathe.
      Les communications écrites provenant de l'administration d'une municipalité Québécoise est une autre histoire.

      Fail!

      Aucune contradiction.

      Delete
    16. @Cutie
      Just think even 'Zimbabwe' managed to attain independance from the UK back in 1980. Here we are...40 years later..practically!! As the legendary Red Buttons would say, 40 YEARS...AND NEVER GOT A DINNER !!!! lolololol

      Laugh it up Cutie!!
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpjywuROQmA
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLYIDHum_Es

      Delete
    17. vous contribuez (généreusement) malgré vous dans notre sytème socialiste ToTo...Vous n'êtes pas au Zimbabwé.

      Delete
    18. Speaking of Zimbabwe... Zimbabwe Says It Has Just $217 Left in Treasury

      Is this Quebec's future post-independence? Quebec 2.0? Just wondering'.

      Delete
    19. "Speaking of Zimbabwe... Zimbabwe Says It Has Just $217 Left in Treasury
      Is this Quebec's future post-independence? Quebec 2.0? Just wondering"

      OMG....lololol I suppose Quebec post-ind...will be more like...
      WILL NEVER GET A DINNER!!! HAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHA

      Delete
    20. That's probably $217.00 more in the bank than either SR or student.

      Delete
    21. AnecTOTE - Thanks for the laughs on the videos. Good way to start a day.

      Delete
    22. Sucking and blowing indeed! Sadly, I'd actually be curious to know why the seppie approves of spoken but not written communication, but as we all know, it will forever remain a mystery. As per usual, it must be some nonsense to do with either colonization and/or assimilation...

      And yes, thanks for the laughs, AnecTOTE… glad to know that others also remember “roasts”! 

      Delete
    23. "I'd actually be curious to know why the seppie approves of spoken but not written communication"

      Les paroles s'envolent mais les écrits restent...

      Delete
    24. "so?"

      Ste-Agathe devra se conformer.point.

      Delete
    25. Ou un moyen afin de limiter les dégâts :)

      Delete
  31. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYSaturday, February 9, 2013 at 10:03:00 AM EST

    Went to a party last night with coworkers, and networked with different other folks in the oil industry.
    Very interesting insight. They knew that Petrolia would have problems in the Gaspe peninsula from day one from "the locals' perception" out there and that if they would have studied the demographics and their thought process that would have been challenged by " the backward mentality" of the rural quebecois. I asked them what they thought of quebec economically and the unanimous answer was that they couldn't stomach the politics and that many countries have quebec on a "no go" for investments.
    Interesting.....
    Now this:
    http://affaires.lapresse.ca/economie/energie-et-ressources/201302/08/01-4619892-petrolia-songe-a-poursuivre-la-ville-de-gaspe.php?utm_categorieinterne=trafficdrivers&utm_contenuinterne=cyberpresse_BO4_la_2343_accueil_POS2


    It aint gonna end well for quebeckers...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @un gars

      what is so backwards with gaspe resident's mentality? it can't be their doubts about the overall impact that drilling downtown may have on their quality of life... so there must be something else. what is it un gars?

      "it aint gonna end well for quebeckers..."

      are you threatening to come back?!?

      Delete
    2. "are you threatening to come back?!?"

      Impossible,ses pieds sont coincés dans les sables bitumineux...l'énergie la plus sale du monde.

      Delete
  32. FROM ED
    To the pain in the ass from Calgary. You say you feel better about you being away from Quebec. I feel better about it too.
    Why don't you keep your mouth with you in calgary and stop coming here to insult our home. Quebec is a beautiful place to live. It is not Quebecistan. It is Quebec, our home for many since birth. It is painful for us to see the degradation of our home and even more painful listening to you revel in our pain. Why don't you keep your teenage mouth in Calgary and let Quebecers live in peace. There are people from all over the world that read your words here. They must think we're Lower Slobbovians from outside of Dogpatch. There was only one post today from SR until you came along and challenged him. Now he won't shut up. I know it's tempting to argue with someone of the same mentality but try to findsomeone in Calgary that has an I.Q. of ten and argue with him there. You have said that the happiest day of your life will be when you see Quebec go down the drain. I'll let you know when it happens. Ed Brown

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYSaturday, February 9, 2013 at 10:44:00 AM EST

      Ed is just jealous of Alberta's accomplishments compared to the pathetic third world craphole French Supremacist regime that is quebekistan.
      BTW Ed if you hate Alberta so badly why dont you return those $8 000 000 000 that your "country" receives from Alberta each and every year???
      Hypocrite.
      BTW S.R. may have found a new friend in you ED:)

      Well, time for me to jump in my new BMW M5 and go downtown to work a bit and then off to Banff for a ski day. I just love my new worry free life in beautiful Calgary!!!!

      Delete
    2. Un trou du cul dans une voiture de luxe ou sur des skis demeure un trou du cul :)

      Delete
    3. Un Gars Sympathique,

      I don't think that Ed hates Alberta, he said that Québec is a beautiful place to live in, that it is his native land and his home and that he cares for it and that he doesn't need to listen to you reveling in our difficulties.

      BTW, if we return the 8 billions that we receive every year, do we still have to pay taxes to Ottawa?

      Delete
    4. FROM ED
      Right Michel,
      I have nothing against Calgary but I can't stand adults who act and talk like tough teens on this blog. Especially when they have nothing intelligent to say. Just to make it clear Michel, Alberta gives Quebec nothing. The reason they give the central government so much money is because the salaries are so high. Alberans pay the same Federal income tax as any one else. Natural resources belong to all canadians which means the Albertan oil belongs to all of us. The Feds feel that the oil belonging to all Canadians should be shared by all and so mete it to the most needy through equalization. it was not Albertans that discovered and developed the oil, it was Federal. When greedy Albertans complained they wanted complete control the Feds gave it to them. They not only have high paying jobs they make from the peripheral contracts. They whine when they see others profiting from Canadian oil and have the nerve to complain about Quebec. Due to a natural phenomenon of democracy in Quebec we have no choice but to accept the situation There is no no need to feel guilty, which is what Une Gars is trying to do. He is more detrimental to the people on this blog than the trolls. When Jane Fonda went to North Vietnam and broadcast to the American troops that they were in an impossible position between the North Vietnamese and their own government, a rash of suicides and attempts followed. Kicking some one in the teeth when they're already on the floor can have diastrous results. He enjoys putting us down and to me he is no different than the seps on the French blog. Ed

      Delete
    5. FROM ED
      Une gars - It's not Alberta I hate, it's you, you idiot. Ed

      Delete
    6. "BTW, if we return the 8 billions that we receive every year, do we still have to pay taxes to Ottawa?"

      You will still have to pay taxes because you get 8 billion plus dollars over and above the total amount of taxes you pay to Ottawa each year.

      Delete
    7. "Why don't you keep your mouth with you in calgary and stop coming here..."

      The same thing could be said for Yannick. At least 'Gars sympathique' has lived in Quebec, which is more than can be said for the former case.

      Here is one of Yannick's gems from last Sunday:

      "Since so many on this blog like to compare the PQ to fascists and Nazis, it amuses me to sometimes find some of their own traits that are Nazi and fascist-like, mostly to point out the fallacy of guilt by association"

      He may be more articulate than the other trolls but some of his comments are just as insulting.

      Delete
    8. BTW, I've visited Alberta but I've never lived there and I wouldn't be so arrogant as to dictate to Albertans what laws they should or shouldn't have or how they should live their lives.

      Delete
  33. Great Post Editor. I like reading the blog.

    ReplyDelete
  34. What Quebec needs, is a true fiscal conservative. No religious groups involved. Well, I know CAQ is some sort of conservative but on some issue they advocate for bigger government. The Fiscal Conservative Party of Quebec would have to advocate to cut program (Office de la langue franchise, art grants for musician), end pork-barrel project (Quebec 400, 000$ arena), and end special interest groups (Students, environmentalist) because those group take radical position and are unwilling to negotiate. I also think that only people with a revenue below 50 000$ should have access to subsidize daycare. It is unacceptable that someone with a VW go to a seven $/day.

    Also, the Fiscal Conservative will not reopen the constitutional issue, not want to transfer more responsibilities from Ottawa. Since, Quebec can't handle it's own responsibilities, why would it want more. The Fiscal Conservative will focus on Health Care, Education, and Highways. No more arena, if Ottawa can pay for it's own arena, so should Quebec. By the way, Ottawa's arena cost 230, 000$ where is the 170,000$ going, right in Labeaume and Peladeau pocket.

    This is the party that Quebec needs to become a strong province.

    Unfortunately, Quebec will vote liberal, socialist or communist.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You have a point but because it's separatist vs federalist in every election, the fiscal responsibility of the platforms go by the wayside. Federalists here have no choice, so far, to elect anything other than the liberals simply because there are no other options available to us. Can't wait for another party or two to come about and then we'll go back to having a real choice. Left vs right has been gone for a long time; the only place in the country where this happens. That's why we're in the mess we're in financially - none of the parties even have to think about money - it's secondary to the basic reason we all go to the polls. As stated many times on this blog, we are heading for disaster and will end up having no credit rating anywhere in the world before the socialist separatists smarten up. If it is inevitable, I wish it would happen quickly rather than this death by a thousand cuts, so we can finally start re-building what will be left of the economy. You're right about the day care also - imagine we're all paying to have our neighbour's kids looked after while they go out skiing with their ski passes and driving their hummers. Stupid - I know many couples who rent here just to take advantage of that program alone and have no intention of ever moving here. Why bother? They save their money and move when their kids are old enough to attend school full time. They just put that extra money into the bank to save for a down payment on a home in another province to avoid paying the exorbitant taxes we pay - who can blame them and why move here if they don't have to. No wonder our real estate values are piss poor compared to other provinces - stupid laws, language police, taxes, nanny state - all things tried by many other countries that have failed miserably.

      Delete
    2. You're right Cutie, I can add also some Quebeckers are overly politicized. My neighbour worked for a computer design company in Hull. In the 80's the company left for Ottawa. Well my neighbour instead of moving to Ottawa or Toronto, decided to stay in Hull, since he had to stay in Quebec and he is now on social welfare, for the past 20 years. Now, he goes to shops and checks if they have french product, if not he informs the OLF. Most Quebeckers seem to live in a socialist bubble.

      Also, in my english school, we learned to history of founder of Hull, Philemon Wright but because Wright was an anglophone, in french school they learn about the history of Quebec City. Most people in Quebec are living in a deluded sense of victimization. Like start growing up, please.

      Delete
    3. @liam

      "I can add also some Quebeckers are overly politicized. My neighbour worked for a computer design company in Hull. In the 80's the company left for Ottawa. Well my neighbour instead of moving to Ottawa or Toronto, decided to stay in Hull..."

      why would he move to toronto if his company left for ottawa?!?

      couldn't he work in ottawa staying in hull anyways? it's not that far.

      and i don't understand why you associate this anecdote with being "overly politicized".

      "he goes to shops and checks if they have french product..."

      you mean french from france? why does he do that? olf don't care about that.

      "Most Quebeckers seem to live in a socialist bubble."

      what has this got to do with the rest of your paragraph about the dude that goes shopping for french products?!?

      "Also, in my english school, we learned to history of founder of Hull, Philemon Wright but because Wright was an anglophone, in french school they learn about the history of Quebec City."

      everybody in quebec learns about the history of quebec city. it's part of the program. lucky you if your teacher gave you an extra about the history of beautiful hull.

      "Most people in Quebec are living in a deluded sense of victimization."

      i don't know if it's most people, but your example about philemon wright proves there is at least one.

      Delete
    4. He didn't leave for Ottawa because he wanted to live in Quebec, he doesn't like Ottawa because it was in Ontario. I mentioned Toronto because I don't know, maybe getting a job is important. The overly politicized part came from the fact that many separatist seem to be scared of going to Ottawa and encouraging business.

      Also, when I say French, I mean labelling in French, sorry, but who takes the time to complain to OLF if they don't have a job. Seriously, does the United States have a language police, no. Like seriously, if the guy can not serve you in french, just pay with a debit card. Interac speak french and english. I was in Toronto, and the interac machine was in french.

      The Socialist bubble comment was to demonstrate that Quebeckers seem to think that business is a nuisance rather than investment in the creation in good quality jobs (Sun Life being one notable example).

      The victimization comment was about the fact that most quebecker think anglophone are a threat and should be erased from history in Quebec. Like seriously dudes calm down, english is not a threat. We are just trying to create jobs. And I don't want a yes but 200 years ago... comment speak about the present. I like History, but I do not mix history and politics together.

      Delete
    5. Sorry you had to waste so much time on that idiot Liam - I have a very close in-law that is a direct descendant of Wright and he fought like mad over the seppies changing the street name from Wright to whatever (can't remember what it is now) but that went ahead anyway - another way to extinguish English history in this stupid place. Wright did found Hull and has every bit of a right to respect as any damn FLQ or separatist who lives and breaths in this province. Respect for the minorities in this province is so much BS and Lisee and company can go to hell if they think any of us swallow this crap. In this case, history and politics do mix together very much and I resent it every bit as much as we all have a right to. It's too bad your neighbour has nothing else to do with his time like work in a homeless shelter or something that would do everyone good instead of nursing his hate to the point that he has time to nitpick stupid shit like reporting stores to the language police. Can we get any closer to communism in this province? Isn't this what the Nazi's did just before and during World War II?

      Delete
    6. @liam

      "He didn't leave for Ottawa because he wanted to live in Quebec..."

      seems reasonable to me.

      "I mentioned Toronto because I don't know, maybe getting a job is important."

      ah, and was toronto better than hull for jobs? how did the unemployment rates compare at the time?

      "The overly politicized part came from the fact that many separatist seem to be scared of going to Ottawa and encouraging business."

      mate, you're far from making sense here. separatists who are "scared" of "encouraging business" are not "overly politicized", they are stupid. but i doubt many separatists actually have that fear.

      "...who takes the time to complain to OLF if they don't have a job."

      well your neighbor did. without a job i don't think finding the time is a big issue.

      "Seriously, does the United States have a language police, no."

      ??? i don't understand your point. what is common between french in canada and english in the usa?

      "Like seriously, if the guy can not serve you in french, just pay with a debit card."

      ???

      "The Socialist bubble comment was to demonstrate that Quebeckers seem to think that business is a nuisance rather than investment in the creation in good quality jobs..."

      well you didn't demonstrate anything, mate. here's your comment: "Most Quebeckers seem to live in a socialist bubble." that's all. what's your definition of demonstration?

      "...most quebecker think anglophone are a threat and should be erased from history in Quebec."

      here's an hypothesis: this latest gem of yours is baseless.

      "Like seriously dudes calm down, english is not a threat."

      ah! well if you say so, liam! must be true then cause you're not a liar, right?

      "We are just trying to create jobs."

      who are you? what country are you from, mate? canada?

      "I like History, but I do not mix history and politics together."

      why not? maybe by doing so you'd avoid doing the same mistake again.

      Delete
    7. @cutie003

      "Can we get any closer to communism in this province? Isn't this what the Nazi's did just before and during World War II?"

      not at all, what you have there in quebec is much closer to mao zedong authoritarianism mixed with 90's iraq style totalitarianism and a pinch of lukashenko dictatorship.

      Delete
    8. stupid comment as usual. why bother (just a reminder to myself)

      Delete
  35. @cutie003

    "...I pay enough taxes already guys - free tuition - come on - when does all this socialism stop..."

    have you ever heard about the concept called return on investment cutie003?

    ReplyDelete
  36. You think that these smart young worldly people will stay in this hellhold? lolololololollololo

    ReplyDelete
  37. "seems reasonable to me."
    Student, I you think that staying on welfare is reasonable maybe you should know a thing or two about the economy.

    "ah, and was toronto better than hull for jobs? how did the unemployment rates compare at the time?"
    Toronto has a booming economy (again Sun Life). 6 new office towers in Toronto. 0 in Montreal

    "mate, you're far from making sense here. separatists who are "scared" of "encouraging business" are not "overly politicized", they are stupid. but i doubt many separatists actually have that fear."
    I don't get it why is Quebec unemployment rate higher than Ontario and Alberta.


    "well your neighbor did. without a job i don't think finding the time is a big issue."
    I think this sentence proves how delusional you are. If you think this is a legitimate use of time, I think that yo do not understand how the business system works.

    "i don't understand your point. what is common between french in canada and english in the usa?"
    In Southern USA, many people speak spanish. Even some business owner advertise in Spanish. Are those people fined if they speak english? No

    ah! well if you say so, liam! must be true then cause you're not a liar, right?
    Again, you need to attack me to show your point. I told you so. Most French speakers are delusional. If you can honestly tell me that english speaking canadian are going to assimilate you, I can say you are delusional. You can't even come up with a rebuttal, how low but not surprising

    why not? maybe by doing so you'd avoid doing the same mistake again.
    What mistake? Again not a yes but 200 years ago... comment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Liam,

      There is an Irish proverb, "Never wrestle with a pig. You both will get dirty but the pig will love it."

      Delete
    2. "I you think that staying on welfare is reasonable..."

      that's not what i wrote nor meant. i think it's normal for a french canadian to prefer staying in quebec instead of moving to toronto.

      "Toronto has a booming economy (again Sun Life). 6 new office towers in Toronto. 0 in Montreal."

      previously you suggested the guy moved from hull to toronto to find a job, in the 80s. i asked more info about how unemployment rates compared at the time between these two locations. you answer by comparing toronto to montreal, today!! wtf, mate?

      "I don't get it why is Quebec unemployment rate higher than Ontario and Alberta."

      what i don't get is why you imply that quebec unemployment rate is higher than ontario's.

      http://tinyurl.com/ad28f2p

      "If you think this is a legitimate use of time, I think that yo do not understand how the business system works."

      i never wrote i approved of this activity. what i wrote is that an unemployed dude might very well have time for it. maybe i misunderstood that phrase of yours : "...who takes the time to complain to OLF if they don't have a job?"

      "In Southern USA, many people speak spanish. Even some business owner advertise in Spanish."

      maybe i'll allow you to compare when english will be used by just over 25% of the people in the usa, 90% of them in one state, and used by 2% of the people in north america.

      "Are those people fined if they speak english? No"

      are people fined in quebec if they speak english? no. so what's your point,mate?

      "Again, you need to attack me to show your point. I told you so. Most French speakers are delusional."

      ah! you tell me so! in that case it's settled, mate!...........

      "If you can honestly tell me that english speaking canadian are going to assimilate you, I can say you are delusional."

      no they won't! yippee, i'm not delusional!

      "What mistake? Again not a yes but 200 years ago... comment."

      everybody does mistakes liam. history is a great tool to avoid making the same twice. and it applies to politics. i think it's wierd that you refuse to mix these two fields together.

      Delete
    3. "There is an Irish proverb"

      Enfin une référence d'origine autre que américaine et elle est pas mauvaise en plus.

      Merci Troy.

      Delete
    4. Liam and everyone, stop wasting your time responing to both Student and SR. Is that clear?

      Delete
    5. FROM ED
      Out of 117 posts today 57 were tied up with people talking to trolls. Add that to the fact that SDR and student use double spacing, my finger is getting sore running the wheel up and down. Cutie, this is needless. These nuts have nothing to add but trouble. When they ask you a question they don't really want to know the answer. They just want to ruin what we have here.
      EDITOR has mentioned several time that people from all over the world are reading our words. What must they think of us.
      Incidentally, may I suggest to everyone that we post in English as much as possible for the sake of those looking in from the U.S. and so on. Ed

      Delete
    6. @Editor
      "Out of 117 posts today 57 were tied up with people talking to trolls. Add that to the fact that SDR and student use double spacing, my finger is getting sore running the wheel up and down..."

      I agree with ED. I would like to make a suggestion please. Would it be possible to make this a "how to post" condition, and remove comments that are double spaced. It's my opinion that certain trolls do this on purpose, wasting space with what they say, and spcifically, WITH HOW THEY SAY IT. Just consider that for a sec. Thank you

      Delete
    7. @anectote

      "...and remove comments that are double spaced."

      watch out what you ask for, mate, editor might very well remove your comments.

      Delete
    8. @ed

      "When they ask you a question they don't really want to know the answer. They just want to ruin what we have here."

      that's false, if you are refering to me. each time i am really looking forward to reading coherent responses to my questions.

      but why would answering questions ruin what you have here?!? is what you have here that shaky, mate?

      Delete
    9. The lips are moving but I swear...I can't hear a word..bla bla bla bla bla ! LOL

      Delete
    10. @yannick

      "...it's that answers to question just lead to more questions."

      what should i do with bad (incoherent, contradictory, baseless, etc.) answers yannick?

      i find it strange that you consider my curiosity as a source of frustration.

      Delete
    11. “If you were to make your own arguments instead of just asking questions, people would not ignore you as much...”

      His “Intention” is simply to annoy, distract, divert our attention in the hopes that we’ll lose track of what it is we’re trying to accomplish here.

      It’s probably giving him way too much credit, but it reminds me of that scene in “Catch me if you can” where Dicaprio asks Tom Hanks this question: "Do you know why the Yankees always win?..Hanks gets it wrong and Leo corrects him.."The other team can't stop looking at the pinstripes".

      That’s what this idiot is trying to do with his endless questions! And now that we know this…pleaseeeeeeeee can we turn him off completely…no more answering him…AT ALL

      Delete
    12. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  38. FROM ED
    Yannick,
    On e of the things that set Germany ahead was the war. All the schools and universities were completely rebuilt after the war by the goodness of North America. England and Australia were paying off their war debt to the U.S. while we supported the marshall Plan to rebuild Europe. My uncle went to England in 1938 and came home in 1947. As a master Mason he stayed in Germany to build school and hospitals. England was the only country that paid every cent of the war debt.
    Ed

    ReplyDelete
  39. Dear Mr. Editor: I have sometimes taken serious issue with what you have had to say. But I will say this, you have never been as "bang on" as your prediction in your posting of January 30, 2013. If you will permit me, I'd like to re-post what you said:

    So what is left? What can Pauline promise?
    Well readers, unfortunately, quite a lot.
    Get ready for an unremitting campaign of disinformation and outright hate.
    The PQ will play the only card it has left and it will play it to the hilt.

    Language and culture.

    Those old enough to remember, will recall Lucien Bouchard's pooh-poohing reports of Quebec's economic ruin during the last referendum in favour of language and culture. It almost worked.

    No doubt we are in for an onslaught of dire warnings by the PQ that independence is the last chance for Quebec to save its language and culture.

    Franco-supremacists will do the dirty work, reminding Quebecers that they are on the road to irreversible Anglicization and that within a few years they will be subjected to Sharia law, Kosher and Halal food, policeman in turbans, driving instructors in veils, and minarets, shrines and temples in every neighbourhood.
    Worst of all, Quebecers will be warned that they will be overrun with unilingual English bus drivers and ticket sellers in the metro as well as 'speak white' clerks in Eatons Quebec department stores. They'll be reminded that they will face English government and para-public employees who will completely bilingualize the public service, a harbinger of French cultural death.

    Quebecers living in the sticks will be told that the Anglo/Ethnic infection that has overtaken Montreal is spreading to the regions and that without independence, the die is cast with French in North America on an inexorable road to destruction.
    In essence, francophones will be given the choice between prosperity or cultural and linguistic survival, a battle that the PQ discerns to be their only slim chance of winning.

    Using a take on the famous American credo, the cry of "Live French or die" will become the rallying point to which the PQ pins their hopes of success.

    An ugly campaign of Us versus Them, is what the PQ is preparing, helped along by bolder proxies like French language linguicist, Mario Beaulieu who is starting to become a force, spearheading campaigns to trump a French language agenda over economic or social benefits, as we have seen in the recent Lachine Hospital debate. Link

    More of the same is coming, it is all that is left for the flickering notion of sovereignty.

    It's going to be ugly, brutal and divisive, exactly what the PQ wants...

    Now, here's the link to Pauline Marois' speech before the party faithful in Drummondville this weekend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKW_23LqYY8 Pay close attention to the part that gets the loudest applause and a prolonged standing ovation, the minute or so starting at the 23 minute mark.

    Talk about ugly, brutal and divisive. It makes you want to throw up. Raw ethnic nationalism. She looks like France's Front National leader Marine LePen, she sounds like Marine LePen. But unlike Marine LePen, who didn't even make it to the run-off during France's recent presidential election, Pauline Marois got elected Premier of Quebec. And she's doing the nasty to keep that job.

    Ugly, brutal and divisive. 10 out of 10 Mr. Editor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree Madame Marois is playing the identity (that is code for ethnic) card. Fortunately for us, many Francophone Quebecers will see through this. I will even be so bold to predict that what we are observing is the slow demise of the PQ. The PQ is a product of Quebec's quiet revolution - In any revolution the same problem occurs, and that is there are always a few revolutionaries that will not accept that they've won. Today this is what the PQ has become, a bunch of old revolutionaries trying to fight the same old battles again and again.

      Delete
  40. Wow !! watching that video , reminiscent of Nazi speeches in the Beer Halls of Bavaria.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Such close-mindedness is so not representative of our society. Along with the majority of Quebecers, I shudder to think what the million francophones in the RoC can possibly think when they see her spreading her nastiness while pretending to speak on our behalf.

      Delete
    2. Terrible image of quebec that these seppies spread on the internet and everywhere they can. It's no wonder we can't sell anything to anyone without bribing them with tax exemptions and "special" offers. Zimbabwe looks better for investment than quebec. I truly hope that all the francophones reading this blog and everything else in cyberspace can see how hateful and bitter this movement truly is and will end in misery for everyone if they keep up these lines of attacks against everyone not pure laine. The onslaught next week should be interesting to watch for anyone not involved in the mess that this province has turned out to be. One wonders if we will be laughing or crying at the witch in action preaching her hatred of Canada and her neighbours that surround this place. People will not forget the misery that she spreads but she cares nothing for the people that are unfortunate enough to support her right to preach hate and vindictiveness.

      Delete
    3. I watched the video too..., her little speech over in Drummondville. I think it is really hilarious to watch Madame CLAUDE BLANCHET speak about “Integrity” LOL!! I can’t decide who’s funnier, PoPo Marois or Red Buttons, LOLOLOL...it’s a real toss-up! Well at least... Red, AFTER 40 YEARS, LOLOL, NEVER GOT A DINNER, and yet still so very endearing!

      Oh and for the record...MONTREAL IS BILINGUAL...If you haven't noticied.. it is mostly that non-blue color every provincial election day, rather..it's that beautiful MAPLE LEAF RED...so DEAL!!

      Delete
    4. Peggy semble célibataire ToTo...La St-Valentin approche à grand pas.Un petit tête-à-tête chez Tim ?

      Delete
    5. oh and here's something from the National Post, from a little while back..but relevant..lol...kinda sums her up well though, have a read!

      http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/05/pauline-marois-doesnt-back-away-from-a-fight-political-observer/

      Delete
    6. Yeah...he does strike me as someone who would take a date to tims for valentine’s! A separatist and cheap to boot!!! Lovely !!! I’m sure they're lining up in droves for that one LOLOLOL.

      To be fair, he really does have to be careful with his money since BS only goes so far these days..after all !!! LOLOL...

      Oh my...did I say that out loud? hahhhahahhahahah NEVER GOT A DINNER !!!!

      Delete
  41. FROM ED
    Anonymous, I don't mean to pooh-pooh what you and Editor have said but I think you'r overstating it. The average Francophone is not full of hatred. They don't want violence any more than us. The average Joe wants to know his kids go to school and come home safe. That his family will be safe until he returns from his daily labour.
    I speak with my French neighbours and people in the super market and there is not a hint of anger. Keep in mind that 70%
    voted against the PQ. Since we English are 20% that means 50% of Francophones are with us in their thinking.
    Let's not allow a few nutcases to to frighten our people and go on living a good life. Ed
    Yannick, If you insist on talking to SR I will consider you a troll and skipover your posts without reading them like I do with all trolls.
    Be clear: You do not have the right to reserve anything on this blog that the Editor does not approve of. Ed

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Keep in mind that 70% voted against the PQ. Since we English are 20% that means 50% of Francophones are with us in their thinking."

      J'apprécie la touche artistique qui ressort de vos équations mathématiques Ed.Vous devez être un grand admirateur de Picasso.

      Longue vie Ed,vous êtes l'anglophone plus sympatique sur ce blogue.

      Delete
    2. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYSunday, February 10, 2013 at 12:11:00 PM EST

      Of course..... ED and S.R. are BFFs...

      Meanwhile in quebekistan real life:

      "Demonstrators rallied outside a job fair at the city’s convention centre, where businesses and workers were meeting to discuss opportunities in the natural resources sector."
      WTF???? A job fair being trashed by demonstrators??? WTF???
      Only in quebekistan!!!!!!

      http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Dozens+arrested+protesters+target+Plan+Nord+conference+Montreal/7943300/story.html

      What a joke quebec has become... No wonder nobody invests in that pathetic craphole.

      Delete
    3. @ugBSdc

      Tu t'es pas encore étouffé avec ton steak (saignant) de 2 kilos?Hmmm...Félicitation :D


      Delete
    4. @un gars

      why do you keep calling quebec quebekistan?

      Delete
    5. @ Un Gars
      “Of course..... ED and S.R. are BFFs..”

      Think you got that one wrong kiddo. The ‘Best Friends for Life’ here are our two resident trolls, Dumb & Dumber..(Welfare from Sherbrooke meets little pathetic red square from...well I don't know from where and I certainly don't care!). I refuse to say their names, on the basis that it may incriminate me!! LOLOL but I’m sure you’re bright enough to figure it out!! LOL

      Delete
  42. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYSunday, February 10, 2013 at 12:36:00 PM EST

    S.R. defoules-toi sur la fille de Gilles Vigneault:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCMQ7cuDkmM

    Bon bin la... je vais faire mon jogging. Tourlou les quebecois.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. what did you think about this documentary un gars?

      which one of your ideas does it support, if any?

      Delete
  43. @yannick

    "The government should try to make sure that wasn't an investment in vain."

    are you a good citizen? are you cultured? do you try to propagate peace and harmony? are you gonna pay 300000$ more in taxes then what you would have paid if you didn't study?

    the answer is probably yes to all of these. so it was a good investment.

    ReplyDelete
  44. @yannick

    dude you are implying philosophy is useless. well if it's the case it's pointless to try to evaluate the return on investment a doctor in philosophy will provide to society. but i don't agree with that premise at all.

    for the sake of going through this question let's assume philosophy is valuable. can you please provide the cost of a phd in that field? i assume it's not 300000$.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Quebec 400 000$ Arena is a serious example of a pork-barrel project. Nothwistanding that the majority of the population doesn't want to pay for it, they beleive the entire province should pay for it. 50 000 people gathered to support the arena and they could not pay a dollar each to support the project. Seriously, Ottawa payed for it's arena. It cost only 230 000$, so where is the extra 170 000$ dollars going right into Peladeau and Lebaume pockets, that where. Another troubling fact is the size of Quebecor Media. Why is one company allowed to own a television and newspaper plus a bookstore. That type of political power allows it to advertise it's own project and harm anyone who opposes it. Seriously, good thing Harper said no to Peladeau, it may have cost him some seat but he made the right call. So, why did Jean "I can't control spending" Charest allow it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. May I suggest Liam that Mr. Charest was in no position to stop the over spending in this place because he would never have lasted two terms. The socialist society that quebec has become is the fault of the separatists solely because they give into the mentality of everyone that wants something for nothing and the unions are so powerful that there is no dealing with them. The "lobster in every pot" attitude that the separatists preach is BS but the seppies swallow it all without a second thought. And then we have the leaders of these parties out banging pots on the street to gain the votes even if there is no money and Charest was not wrong in any of the actions he took against these houligans. Add the corruption and there you have it. Everyone but everyone talks of nothing but national unity and that is the only thing that matters on election day, not a workable budget. This will not end in the foreseeable future or until we have no credit rating and these seppies smarten up.

      Delete
    2. @cutie003

      "May I suggest Liam that Mr. Charest was in no position to stop the over spending in this place because he would never have lasted two terms."

      you can suggest it, but by doing so you would acknowledge the dude destroyed quebec's finances in order to get re-elected. that's pretty lame for a premier isn't it?

      are you going forward with your suggestion cutie003?

      Delete
    3. You are right. When I see Seperatist accusing Charest of being corrupt, It makes me laugh. Quebec Governement is so corrupt and beholden to Special Interest group that it is ungovernable. I try to speak out calling on a bill to end deficit, a bill to cancel funding for professional sports, arts and unsustainable regions, a bill to end Student group, and many more. Also, the only Premier of Quebec that could have changed the reality was Lucien Bouchard but we see the fallout he had. Bouchard at least understood the fiscal mess Quebec was in. Anyway, Quebec mainstream media is so focused on a perceived "war of french". Sorry to be blunt but that is the reality.

      Delete
    4. Oh so true Liam and I must reiterate that until the language wars end, this fiscal mess will just get worse and worse but the separatists don't give a shit. The federalists care but the politicians don't and they continue the same tune for the past 40 years. Mr. Bouchard now realizes the mess he played a part in creating and calls the population lazy and stated we can't afford to leave Canada - as soon as he did this, they turned on him like they turn on all their so-called hero's and don't even realize their own failings. As long as they hold their huge salaries and positions by playing the politics of division, they care not a tinker about money. What a great job they have - don't have to account for any of the money they spend on travel and their nonsense "think tank" meetings to sit around and talk all day about how to create trouble.

      Delete
  46. Just saw a notice from a commentator on one of the Gazette sites that there is a program on Fox at 10:00 pm and ABC at 11:00 pm Monday night concerning politics in quebec. Don't know how true but tune in just in case. Maybe some of the e-mails and letters that we have written to the TV stations in the U.S. have prompted this special. Let's see how foolish and gullible we look to our American friends. If your letters and e-mails precipitated this Editor, Mr. Sauga and Ed, congratulations and thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fox News??...mmm...

      Perhaps it’s the cynic in me, but if that American Network does a piece on Quebec politics it's probably with the intent to reassure Americans by saying, “Ha! You think we’re f.... up with our NRA, our second amendment and mostly our screwed up Economy, just wait till you hear about these jokers up in Canada....it seems one of their provinces up there...the French speaking one...’qwiibec’ .... has declared a holocaust on the English Language, and they’re not backing down....NOW WHO’S F...UP??? LOL

      Ah...I say ...Bring it, it’s not like the ‘jokers’ don’t deserve it. !

      Delete
    2. C'est pas Fox qui fait des reportages sur les "UFO" ?Désolé,aucune crédibilité
      parcontre les journalistes ont de jolis poitrines :)

      Delete
    3. Don't know if it's the same program on ABC at 11: - Hope not - would be nice to see a couple of different views but any publicity at all suits me fine! I just hope it's not a punchline and something to be made fun of but we'll see.

      Delete
    4. Usually ABC and Fox do not share programming. I don't think Fox is that bad. Actually I think we need diverse opinion in the media. Fox might be more conservative but it balances other media. It leads to the situation in Quebec where TVA and Radio-Canada dominate.

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    5. Fox News isn't called Faux News for nothing. Look into the case Jane Akre and Steve Wilson brought against them.

      "FOX asserted that there are no written rules against distorting news in the media. They argued that, under the First Amendment, broadcasters have the right to lie or deliberately distort news reports on public airwaves. Fox attorneys did not dispute Akre’s claim that they pressured her to broadcast a false story, they simply maintained that it was their right to do so." Project Censored

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    6. Fox might favour the Republican Party and conservative ideology but that does not make faux news. Media will often distort news to benefit a certain political party. While I do not always support Fox, I think it's important to keep a balance eye. For example, NBC will often try to support the Democratic Party.

      http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/08/22/black-conservatives-make-their-voices-heard-after-poll-shows-romney-support-among-african-americans-at-zero-percent/

      I do agree that I am a Democratic Party supporter.

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    7. L'équivalent canadien de Fox est certainement Sun news qui étrangement est exploitée par Québecor Média.

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    8. @liam

      "...but that does not make faux news."

      you missed that bit from confusedinquebec:

      "They argued that, under the First Amendment, broadcasters have the right to lie or deliberately distort news reports..."

      dude, they fought for their right to lie. do you still believe they don't make "faux news"?!?!?

      Delete
  47. @yannick

    ok if on average taxpayers pay 15000$ a year for a student, i'll be conservative and assume a philosophy student will cost them 10000$, since there is no material costs associated with philosophy studies. so they'll pay 30000$ total for a degree.

    so to answer your initial question i think society still wins by paying for most of the dude's degree. i love to have a good conversation along with my coffee.

    i agree with the point you make about the inconvenient tendency we have of wasting free stuff. current tuition rates in quebec seem fine as they are.

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  48. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYSunday, February 10, 2013 at 5:40:00 PM EST

    S.R.= Separatiste Radical?
    ou.... Syndicaliste Rouge?
    LOL!!!

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    Replies
    1. dude! why do you keep calling quebec quebekistan? i don't get the reference to "stan" countries. do you nurture the same resentment towards kirghizistan or uzbekistan? why?

      Delete
    2. The suffix "-istan" means "land of" a particular people or tribe or national group. The urban discourse has appropriated the morpheme and it has been used to signal an abundance and disapprobation of Muslims (as in "Londonistan") or, when added to the name of a place, country, city, it is done to emphasize a certain (perceived or not) backward-ness of the respective place, country, etc (most likely stemmed from Borat). Lately, it has been mainly used in a derogatory sense, with disparaging and insulting undertones to focus attention on a certain negative feature ("bail-out-istan").

      Hence, Quebec-istan.

      I doubt the poster refers to the abundance of Muslims, but to Quebec as a primitive, unsophisticated society. I also doubt he has resentment towards Kirghizistan or Uzbekistan.

      Delete
    3. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYSunday, February 10, 2013 at 8:02:00 PM EST

      P. Darwinopterus
      +100!!!

      Delete
    4. "...primitive, unsophisticated society."

      Nous pouvons donc utiliser le suffixe "-istan" pour une société qui vit sur l'exploitation de matières fossiles et extrêmement polluante,comme le charbon et le pétrole,par exemple.Beaucoup de pays d'Europe de l'Est utilisent ces combustibles comme principales sources d'énergie.

      Calganistan?

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    5. @un gars

      ok so you call quebec quebekistan because you think it's primitive and unsophisticated, right?

      at first glance, quebec seems quite modern to me: freedom of speech, women's rights, the latest technologies, a lively cultural scene, a sensitivity to environmental issues, etc. they even got rid of their religious yoke! what is "primitive" about that, un gars?

      you keep writing that alberta is better than quebec. so you must mean it is less "primitive". please tell me more about how alberta is less "primitive" than quebec.

      Delete
  49. «Nous préparons un plan d'action afin de soutenir nos employés. Je tiens cependant à rassurer tout le monde, il n'est pas question ici de faire de la STM un service complètement bilingue», a insisté Mme Paradis."

    http://tvanouvelles.ca/lcn/infos/regional/montreal/archives/2013/02/20130210-173324.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

    Thanks STM, the thought of seeing you becoming bilingual was giving me nightmares...

    On a more serious note, it's almost like they have to apologize for "becoming more" bilingual...

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  50. This is an article by Robert Presser who often writes economic articles for The Metropolitain. We need more of these article on TVA and Le Devoir

    http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1201

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  51. @yannick

    "...there is no reason why philosophy students cost any less than most other students."

    ah really? i though cadavers for medecine students and labs for engineering students, to make a few examples, brought the average up. ok 45000$ then. i'm still fine with it. aren't you? what should this number be, yannick?

    "you take a long-winded, honest answer, and bypass it entirely."

    not at all. we were wondering if society makes a good deal when paying for most of the tuition of a philosophy grad. the only data missing was the cost of his studies. you provided it and i gave you my opinion. what more did you expect?

    and for the rest i told you i agree, i'm not gonna write a whole paragraph to tell you how much i agree and oh my god i agree so much and just repeat all you wrote!!! i agree and that's all.

    "I might as well not have answered."

    don't forget this blogs has 70000 readers a month. if you think i don't give enough consideration to your words i'm pretty sure you are getting all you deserve from others, even if they don't reply.

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  52. Thank you Liam - Very interesting read - I enjoyed it

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  53. @Yannick
    “.... I'm against wasting money in B.A. Philosophy degrees”

    “....humanities students represent 15% of Canadian graduates in 2010. How many of them do you think will actually get to employ their degree in their field of work? Philosophy? English Litterature? History? I liked history too, I wish I could have studied it, but what kind of job can you get with it? None without graduate studies, and even then...”

    What are you suggesting??? That these subjects aren’t important, or valuable enough compared to the others and therefore students in these ‘Majors’ shouldn’t be entitled to be subsidized like those others... that you deem relevant?

    The utter ignorance and unawareness on display here, is completely abominable and soooo disappointing. The University of Bologna, (circa 1090), rumored to be the very first University in the western world, offered primarily degrees in Humanities and Languages. Perhaps if more people today studied courses like Philosophy, English Literature and History ...FIRST, and it were a requirement to obtaining any other degree, there would be less greed, less incivility and less wars in the world. And I know plentyyyyyyy of people who have done very well with just ...a mere “Bachelors of Arts.” Just ask a graduate from BROWN what their degree in ...say...Comparative Literature, has done for them. You’d be most surprised and very impressed, I might add. If you don’t believe me, check out the link below:

    http://brown.edu/academics/comparative-literature/undergraduate-program/comparative-literature-career-forum

    How small minded, trivial and petty of you to belittle these fields of study. They are just as valuable, if not more so, than any other area of study. And this time, you outdid yourself ...really. Instead of landing on your ass, you landed flat on your face

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  54. I couldn’t disagree with you more. And what are you??? Bean counter? Statistician?? You obviously ignored the link I provided above.

    Guess what, not everyone can be a Doctor, a Lawyer, ...or an Engineer, building bridges that you will drive on. And by making subsidies available only in those fields of study will create an overpopulation of say...Engineers??? And then where would be the value in that? You end up... forcing people to study something they don’t enjoy, just for the sake of earning a degree that’s subsidized, and this will cause a lot of people to be unhappy and miserable. I don’t think it’s fair to fund one field over another, unlike you, I see the value in Psyche majors across the board.

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  55. "you can't judge a degree by it’s best successes". (btw, it’s “its” )
    You can say this about any degree, not just a degree in “Liberal Arts” which, for the most part, you seem to have a problem with.

    If 40% people graduating from McGill would end up working in an entirely different field, would you say that the degree from McGill was good, just because for some people it really worked out?”
    YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS I would.

    I want an educated citizenry, above all, if it means they have to study basket-weaving and I have to pay for it, I will suck it up and pay for it. People find ways to contribute and who says that you HAVE to work in the field that you earned a degree in. Is that in the only perspective you view the value of an education? Solely that you can earn a living from it?

    As long as the degree you earned makes you a good, honest, law-abiding and “contributing” member of society, good on you...and good on the rest of us. Who are you to judge something like that and imply it may be worthless, based uniquely on how it translates on the job market?

    News Flash, an Education..in anything...DOES NOT PRESENT A DELUSION. I shudder to think ...to what extend...you are truly...obtuse

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  56. @Yannick
    "you can't judge a degree by it's best successes". (btw it’s “its” best successes”)

    If 40% people graduating from McGill would end up working in an entirely different field, would you say that the degree from McGill was good, just because for some people it really worked out?

    YESSSSSSSSS I would say that, because contrary to what you may think, a degree serves you well in anything you do. It provides you with the ability to become a more evolved individual. And that makes it possible for you to contribute in a ‘quality’ way to society and the world in general. More and more we live in a sophisticated and savvy world.

    I think it is sad that you perceive the value of an education solely in terms of its ‘earning’ potential.

    And please, never again repeat that “the current system is bad for almost everyone. It’s bad that students are being sold a delusion of a future.”
    Gees, should they be sold the idea that the better money lies in being garbage pickers?

    I shudder to think to what extent, you’re actually..obtuse.

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  57. “Under that model, the arts and humanities university education is unfortunately not very valuable. Most successful artists I knew instead went to a trade college, where they again, learned skills applicable to the business school, not an esoteric education”

    I don’t know what circles you ran in, but many of the people I graduated with ...At McGill, with a Bachelors of Arts, and I still keep in touch have done wonderfully amazing things with their lives and their careers, including yours truly. I’m paid to think and write all day, AND I’m paid damn well. I might as well be an engineer. So please, stop generalizing and making it appear that unless you study sciences or something ‘NON-ESOTERIC’....you struggle miserably and get nowhere...cause that’s simply not true...not my life experience,...not the life experience of the people I know. You may be educated, but buddy...you sound downright ignorant.

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  58. “Under that model, the arts and humanities university education is unfortunately not very valuable. Most successful artists I knew instead went to a trade college, where they again, learned skills applicable to the business school, not an esoteric education”

    I don’t know what circles you ran in, but many of the people I graduated with ...At McGill, with a Bachelors of Arts, and I still keep in touch have done wonderfully amazing things with their lives and their careers, including yours truly. I’m paid to think and write all day, AND I’m paid damn well. I might as well be an engineer. So please, stop generalizing and making it appear that unless you study sciences or anything ‘NON-ESOTERIC’....you struggle miserably and get nowhere...cause that’s simply not true...not my life experience,...not the life experience of the people I know. You may be educated, but buddy...you leave a lot to be desired.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. FROM ED
      YANNICK,
      " All university provides is proof of the minimum amount of knowledge to graduate from a certain discipline - proof that you've written your essays, did your exams, made your presentations. In other words, it gives you the piece of paper.
      That may be so Yannick but it's that piece of paper employers look for. Ed

      Delete
  59. Maybe important to include in this stimulating tête-à-tête that the world has changed quite a bit since 1090 AD and the cost of education at Brown University is $46,000/year -- tuition only. Using a degree from one of the best undergraduate institution in North America to support an argument about all fields of study being important is flawed at best. There are any number of fields of study that can only be classified as self-serving. If you are paying your own way, study what ever you want. If, on the other hand, you are going to university on some else's dime, then a field of study that is going to lead to employment to allow you to pay back to society the resources you have used. This is your obligation and without this social contract, the system is not sustainable and will not be available to those who come after. This is the choice here in Quebec with regard to university tuition. If you want the choice to study whatever you want regardless of the possibility of a job and contributing through your taxes to society, then you need to pay a larger share of the cost. If not, free tuition for all with constraints and limits.

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  60. I published twice since I didn’t think it took the first time. Apologies Editor.

    Any and all experiences last a Lifetime and are never ”out-dated”, so regardless of WHEN I graduated, they are as valuable today as they were back then. You’d know this ...junior...if your brain was capable of stretching further than its reach; when you can accomplish that, it’s yoga for the intellect! Oh and..I wasn’t justifying my pedigree, I think you’re projecting here...because it sure appeared like that’s what you were doing with the past couple of comments you posted, I’d say.

    I empathize with the overall value of Education. I don’t undercut, undervalue or underestimate it. It’s truly too bad you do. I would hate to be the kid being brought up under your roof and sold the bull crap you’re putting forth. But with any luck, g-d... in his infinite wisdom, will see to it that any offspring of yours, will end up exactly, where he/she’s meant to be, even if that means as undergraduate with a BA in philosophy..if that’s what he/she was meant for, then so be it.

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  61. FROM Ed
    Cutie, You might have noticed in the article, Robert presser mentions that Charest was trying to balance the budget but he had to spent the money mostly on infrastructure.
    He's wrong about them ignoring the infrastructure being the cause of the roads etc, to collapse. The things that were built before the PQ are still standing. They didn't need attention. It is the shoddy work done by the Contractors and unions that Rene Levesque gave all the power to, trying to win votes. Ed

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  62. The point I'm trying to make Ed is that no one can balance a budget in this province because we are so socialist that they have taken over the whole agenda. No one is willing to make any sacrifices even though we are broke. The unions will not back down on demanding outrageous rates of pay for driving a bus and picking up garbage and so many on welfare - $7.00 a day day care is killing us and not one group is willing to say "let's realize we don't have the money for this". As soon as they do, they don't stand a chance at the polls because quebec is totally dependent on all these programs. Common sense and budgets don't matter to these socialists - "lobster is every pot" is what they believe and they keep telling their followers that this will all be cured if they can keep the federal tax they pay to Canada. Idiots - but SR and student are good examples of the thinking of a lot of these separatists.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. FROM ED
      Cutie,
      Everything you say is absolute. We need a politico with some courage to put down these things. But the hoi polloi thinks everything is good, after all we can still afford to pay the millionaire hockey players. Perhaps if some of them would speak out people might listen. Getting the message across is essential. I have communicated with someone at Le Devoir who is interested in doing a special on my case with my grandson's welfare. I'll keep you informed. Ed

      Delete
    2. FROM ED
      I was not entirely right in my post above where I said that ignoring the infrastructure was not a problem. In the case of the Champlain bridge it was. The seps ordered to not waste money painting the bridge and by the time the Libs were in again it had rusted so far it needed replacemnent. The Jacques Cartier bridge which was under Federal care because they control the harbour it still as strong as ever because it was properly protected. Ed

      Delete
  63. ODE TO SEPTARDS ( that they may get off my teat)

    400 years of sucklin my milk
    bitein' the tit that feeds ya'

    So weanin' our vampire child
    is the mission that precedes us

    So, lets drink our "VIVA Quebec Libras"
    from the evil that doth possess us
    wean, strangle the vampire child at birth
    who cares.

    Lets just toast ..so long, like, man,,, see yas







    ReplyDelete