Monday, April 29, 2013

Canadians Caught In Quebec's Cruel Lobster Trap

Fishing for lobster...er..Employment Insurance!
This week sees the opening of the nine-week long lobster season in Quebec which is heralded locally as a great social and economic event that rouses and reanimates the moribund towns in the Magdalen Islands, the Gaspe peninsula and the Lower North Shore of Quebec. This after a long, nine-month period of hibernation, during which many lobster industry participants have been either hunkered down, working on the sly or vacationing in Florida, all the while, living on the dime provided by the generosity of Canadian taxpayers.

To the locals, the onset of the lobster season is the enduring symbol of the resilience and perseverance of the hardy locals, who see the lobster fishery as a proud measure of their collective industry.
To the rest of us in Canada and the other regions of Quebec, where work, careers and taxes are a 12-month a year affair, the lobster industry should be seen for what it is, a cruel con on taxpayers, played out each and every year wherein nine weeks of work are exchanged for forty weeks of unemployment benefits.....yup, each and every year.

As you know the Harper government has threatened the very essence of this model of dependance, telling participants that they really need to seek alternate employment and that the model whereby nine weeks of work translating into 40 weeks of benefits is just no longer sustainable, nor acceptable.

This of course led to a massive reaction by those implicated with the largest demonstration against the reform happening this last weekend with thousands and thousands marching in the streets to save their benefits. While demonstrations organized by militants and sovereigntists over independence or language usually produce less than 500 demonstrators, nothing gets Quebecers into the streets as quickly as a threat to their entitlements.
So don't vote for Harper next time! (joke)
"Thousands of Montrealers snaked through the city's downtown core on Saturday afternoon to protest against the Conservative government's changes to employment insurance.
The changes to EI, which came into effect in January, have spurred several protests this year across Eastern Canada — home to many seasonal workers affected by the new rules.
The reforms require workers to travel up to 100 kilometres and to accept jobs that pay as little as 70 per cent of their previous hourly wage — providing that is not below the province's minimum wage rate.
Saturday's protesters left early in the afternoon from three different points in the city and met at Montreal's Quartier des Spectacles, where they wrapped up their demonstration with several speeches.
Those participating included farmers, seasonal workers, human rights activists, labour unions, representatives from the Bloc Québécois youth wing, and members of organizations for people who are unemployed.

Many said the changes make it more difficult to collect benefits.
Some demonstrators were concerned about the effects on eastern Canada's small fishing villages. They said the communities could be destroyed by the reforms, which would force residents to leave in order to find work." Read more
Let's be clear about Quebec's lobster industry, it is a Quebec government ruse maintained to 'stamp up'  the locals, a practice whereby a seasonal industry is used to qualify participants for long term unemployment benefits paid for by the federal government.
The practice was fine tuned and elevated to an art form by the Newfoundland government, where fish plants, sometimes working at a loss, were built for no other purpose but to provide workers the minimum hours of employment required to qualify for federal benefits, thus shifting the onus to Canadian taxpayers of supporting the Newfoundland indolent.

Here's a 2002 article describing the scheme;
"In Newfoundland each summer fish plant workers race to put in the 420 hours needed to qualify for Employment Insurance.
Some plants are lucky and have no trouble, but for many smaller plants it is a cause for celebration when all hands are stamped up for the winter. For getting all hands to qualify is no mean feat.
Newfoundland has almost 140 fish plants, and up to 20,000 fish plant workers. Although some of the plants are highly automated, highly efficient operations that produce year-round. (National Sea's Arnold's Cove plant and Beothuck Fisheries’ Valleyfield plant are examples of a modern year round fish processing industry.) Many of the rest were put there for political reasons, often paid for by tax dollars, and often barely able to give their workers the 420 hours needed to qualify for 34 weeks of employment insurance.
Most are known as "stamp factories", a place one qualifies for EI. (Historically weeks worked for unemployment insurance purposes were recorded by pasting stamps in a record book.)                                                       Read this fascinating account: "Fishing for UI"
 In fact, in rural Newfoundland, the 'stamping up' phenomenon was so highly refined, that in towns where there weren't enough fish plant jobs to go around, once a somebody had worked enough hours  to be 'stamped up' and eligible for unemployment benefits, he or she was expected to step aside and let another take his or her job!

In the Magdalen Islands, about one-third of the non-governmental jobs are related to the lobster fishery and so you can imagine the impact on the local economy should the federal government change in any significant manner, the rules of qualification for employment benefits.

And so it isn't surprising  that we are subjected to the shrill protestation of those potentially affected with agonized cries that if the Prime Minister goes forward with his reforms, he will be directly killing the Magdalen Islands, forcing families off the island in order to seek more permanent employment.

To those who receive benefits, it is the ultimate threat.... Stop paying us and you'll drive us out of our homes and destroy our community!

Here's a funny story told to me that supposedly happened at an Employment Insurance protest which was blocking a Montreal street.
A  protester was haranguing a passerby in a stopped car describing the cruel fate that was to befall him and his co-protesters should the Harper reforms be rigorously applied.
Annoyed by the inconvenience of being delayed, the frustrated passerby lifted his leg and farted rather loudly, telling the complainer that; "this the closest you're going to come to me giving a shit!"
Oh-boy...

So I wonder how much taxpayers in Fort McMurray, Timmins, Weyburn or Kitimat really care about paying these people out of their hard earned taxes to sit on their asses for nine months a year in order to preserve a way of life.

If the Quebec government wants to preserve these uneconomic regions, should Canadian taxpayers across the country be obliged pay to for it, or should it be the responsibility of Quebecers to do so alone?
The Parti Quebecois, the unions, the separatist lobby all believe that it is Canada's responsibility, while Harper and his cronies believe that paying people to do nothing for nine months a year is not insurance, but rather welfare, strictly a provincial affair.

Let us remember that Quebec takes out 40% of the benefits of the total unemployment fund, while contributing just 23%.

At any rate, the kicker to the story is that before the Harper reform, the lobster industry in Quebec was complaining that the employment insurance program was unfair because the nine weeks of fishing plus the forty weeks of insurance money, left the participants with three weeks of no income, a situation which they referred to as a 'Black Hole," a stressful and unconscionable situation where no money was coming in.....something according to them, that the government 'had to address!'.

It's a good lesson about complaining, a perfect example that things can always get worse, much worse!

133 comments:

  1. And you want to make a country outof THIS?

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  2. Hmmmmm...I had to contemplate if I should comment on this topic, for just one mere week ago, I suggested that perhaps Harper should take $2 billion per year for the next 25 years out of Quebec's equalization payments to pay for the necessary upgrade to the Greater Toronto Area's public transportation network.

    When Canada had just become a country, it ran high deficits and debt to create its infrastructure, but the investment paid back. Ontario is still the biggest net contributor to the equalization program, but with this last economic downturn in 2008, Ontario did not bounce back as it has in past recessions, snd the medium-term future doesn't look that good, thus, ergo and therefore, Ontario can't carry the country and especially an ungrateful Quebec on its shoulders the way it did for decades.

    I think Harper better implement his EI plans fast because if God forbid, Justin Trudeau gets in, he ain't gonna change nuttin'! After all, he said in that commercial that "Quebeckers are better [than other Canadians] because [they're] Quebeckers."

    After having lived the first half of my life in Quebec, in those magical years, I've learned Quebeckers aren't better than anyone! Trudeau, like his daddy before him, will throw Quebec everything they want. To not do so would be his political suicide. Quebec will be his base. Harper bloody well better remember who's buttering his bread outside of Alberta. It's called the 125 of 330 constituencies that will be up for grabs next time around, all in Ontario!

    Trudeau right now is trying a positive approach, but I'm pretty sure it's going to devolve into a plenitude of mudslinging that will accelerate as the next election looms ever closer to fruition.

    I think it's high time Ontario starts throwing its weight around the way Quebec did for the last several decades. If the Magdalen Islands become full of ghost towns, TOUGH! You go where the jobs are. I did!

    Now I have to wait and see if Ed goes into another rabid anti-Semitic diatribe. I make ZERO apologies for my point of view, so if you want to take another crack at bloodthirsty Jewish business practices, feel free to tighten the noose around your neck the way you did all last week. That goes for anyone else naïve enough who wants to join, but be prepared for the Editor to strike comments that offend his sensibilities, as he should.

    At least what I'm proposing will have a great return on investment. Gridlock costs the economy big-time in production. That's lost profits, lost investment opportunities, and lost income taxes. Infrastructure investment trumps language and freeloading any, and everyday of the week, and twice on Sunday!

    It's a no-brainer, except for the brain-dead trolls and bigots who inevitably will ignorantly rebut these comments.

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    Replies
    1. Yan: How have you come to the conclusion I'm a bigot? What did I write that was so racist as you see things (through glasses with the lenses painted black and on cheap drugs)?

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    2. Having long been skeptical of the cons attack focused campaigning I sought out context for that statement right after I heard it, and the quote in context is every bit as damning as the adds make it out to be. Yes he is arguing that Quebec and Quebecers do not need special rules and treatment, nothing wrong with that but he is also arguing they do not need those rules because they are better than the rest of us.

      Imagine a white racist arguing to end apartheid with the argument that they don`t need segregation or special rules for whites because they are inherently superior and thus under no threat from the lesser races. Does the fact that he is arguing against apartheid make his racist views any less reprehensible? No it does not and the fact that Trudeau was arguing against Quebec entitlement makes his comments no less arrogant insulting or bigoted.

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    3. Harper and his Conservative party can be vile and misleading with their attack ads. Got a kick out of this cartoon that appeared in the Toronto Star two days ago:

      http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorial_cartoon/2013/04/27/corrigan_april_27_2013.html

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    4. Makes you wonder where they (some of the separatist population) get the idea, in any way, shape or form, that they are superior to the ROC but when you read some of the comments from these people on line regarding policies of the other provincial governments and/or the federal government, that they honestly believe this horseshit! If Justin also believes that, he may win votes in quebec but they will kick his ass elsewhere in Canada. Shows how he is too immature to be taking on this job at this stage of his life. Must learn how to walk and talk at the same time if you're trying to win the job of being Prime Minister of Canada. The Cons will jump all over that for sure.

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    5. The wording is most certainly not the same. There is a massive difference between arguing that a people have it better, and that a people are better.

      He did not say that Quebecers have advantages or opportunity that others lack, He said they were "better". Then he went on to list why Quebec and "Quebecers ARE better than the rest of Canada". It's the difference between saying white people collectively have it better because of their historic presence at the top of government, industry, etc. and saying "White people ARE better than the rest of humanity" because of their historic presence at the top of government, industry, etc.

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    6. I think perhaps the metaphor I chose to employ is what's causing the confusion here. Sorry for not being more clear. I was not suggesting Trudeaus statement was racist or even racial, but arrogant and insulting in a provincial sense.

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    7. You're absolutely right, especially about Harper he has definitely said things at least as insulting. I fully hope Trudeau has matured since then and would be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt but this plus his more recent "This country — Canada — it belongs to us(Quebecers).” the whole thing about Canada "needing" Quebec for its enlightened politics and his musings of separation if enough people do not share his opinions all add up to paint a very arrogant, divisive and provincial individual. Far worse than even the odious puppet were currently stuck with.

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    8. I found Trudeau to be obnoxious when he kept referring to "Justin Trudeau" this and "Justin Trudeau" that when he was questioned outside Parliament about his Quebec separation comments. It was very narcissistic of him to refer to himself in the 3rd person.

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    9. Yan: You're easy to misconstrue, what can I say? I didn't have to watch the piece on how the Conservatives took Trudeauopoulos* out of context. I saw the piece on YouTube, but Trudeauopoulos* is an extension of his father. He's as cocky a bastard as his father was without half the cunning. I felt in a mischievous mood this morning, and I figure one of you suckers would take the bate of that commercial.

      *I once asked a Greek fellow what "opoulos" means since so many Greek names have that suffix, and he told me it means "son of". Let's take a vote. Would readers prefer I refer to Justin Trudeau as Trudeauopoulos or The Bitchopoulos? "Ben" is the Hebrew term for "son of", like David Ben Gurion, but there may be individuals out there named Ben Trudeau who don't deserve my wrath.

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    10. And then I was thinking about why they feel "superior" and it came to mind all the psychological brain washing that has been going on for the past 10 years or so. Things like having their choice of channels on TV be in the first hundred, English from 200 up; the TV is set to come on on one of the French channels even though you asked for the English package; every business call you make in quebec used to be "press 2 for English" right after "press 1 for French" now it's "press 9 for English" (just to make sure we know our "place" in quebec society); now there are even some services where you have to listen to the whole message in French first before you're given the option of pressing 9 and on it goes just to make sure we know that we're not welcome here. All this has an affect on a population that starts believing this is the way it should be and not of what's right and just. All it's done for me is draw attention to the fact that they make it clear where I stand in the hierarchy of quebec society. Only big businesses such as Jean Couteau have not accepted these tactics; to date anyway.

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    11. FROM ED
      This whole argyment is inane. Justin Trudeau was born in Quebec, he was raised and went to school here. He attended College de St.Jean Brebeuf and McGill. Like him or not, he is a Quebecer and obviously loves his home land. I feel the same way; Quebecers are the best. In spite of people like Une Gars and Sauga trying to make us feel like uneducated slobs I am proud of my heritage. Apparently, so is Justin Trudeau. Ed

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    12. Yan, I have NOTHING to apologize for. Ed, I'm glad you're proud of your Quebec heritage. For all my family did for the century (next year) that they've been here, in the end, Quebec society's gratitude has been a kick in the groin and a spit in the eye. I'm embarrassed to state I was born in that godforsaken place and if conflict ever takes place between Quebec and Ontario or the rest of Canada, you KNOW where my loyalties are!

      Oh, and I can make my own judgement on Trudeauopoulos. He comes across as cocky. Luckily, it's not as condescending as Ignatieff was. With that arrogant wannabe Ivy Leaguer, there were times I wish I could take a soaking wet gauntlet and slap him across the face with it right through the TV. Ugh!...

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    13. I very quickly apologize when I make mistakes, and have done so on this blog. I get along very well with my co-workers, thank you. Actually, they adore me, and why not?

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  3. Well, I can see why they wouldn't want to give up such a sweet gig. But I certainly don't support it --- anywhere in the country.

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  4. On the previous post "complicated" mentioned that it takes a lot of arrogance to stick around in a French speaking province and not actually speak any French. Perhaps. But, in my opinion, it requires a great deal of strength and courage to stay, remain steadfast and fight for one's convictions. Unlike some others who did nothing accept run away and still today complain about the state of this province AND the state of their country.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you AnecTOTE - You're right - I'm a fighter and will not accept being pushed out of my home or my home province just because they want less problems and less "no" votes. I will continue to fight for my country as best I can and for the right to speak my own language whenever and wherever I wish. As I am no longer a youngster, I am willing to take on the challenge as best I can and I have much more time now to fight back than I did when I was working full time and maintaining a home and family. Had I had the time in those days, I would have done exactly what I'm doing now and that is pushing back against these language maggots that have grown out of control and now think they have the right to demand that I act and feel as they do about everything. Sorry, that will never happen and I'm fighting for my rights and freedoms as a Canadian citizen in the free country of Canada. I will back every effort and every political move that I can to ensure that things are turned around in this province and we get rid of these crazies once and for all. I don't see my position as being "arrogant" - I find that it is their "arrogance" of pushing me around with laws and continuous legal threats that I'm fighting against - not their right to speak their language. I've never advocated that they should not be allowed to speak and/or be served in their language like they do against my rights to be spoken to and/or served in my choice of the one of the official languages of Canada - which happens to be english. So who's rights are being infringed upon? Mine - that's who, so, they can kiss my royal a-- and put up or get out of our country of Canada. How much land to give them is the choice we have to make. I figure 30% want out - 30% of the land mass to have their own broke ass country and leave us to hell alone. We will be more than fine without them and we can get this province out of the financial disaster that they have created since they took control of the whole agenda of quebec.

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    2. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYMonday, April 29, 2013 at 4:05:00 PM EDT

      "I will continue to fight for my country as best I can and for the right to speak my own language whenever and wherever I wish."

      Two questions:

      Is your country fighting for you or letting you down?
      You can speak your own language whereever and whenever? Wow. I should try that. Fantastic concept.

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    3. You do that (speak your own language whereever and whenever?) in Calgary so you have stated - you have francophone friends that speak to you in french (one of the official languages of Canada) and who gives a shit; does anyone attack you for that? That is your right and no one takes that away from you. Why is this new to you? Do you not post here in french half the time and no one stops you - that is your RIGHT. What is your problem? You "try that" all the time and yes it is a "Fantastic concept". Again, what is your problem with the anglophones having their rights and freedoms respected in Quebec? You and complicated are really puzzled as to what the hell is going on in this province and in this country. I don't get it -everyone else here understands what we are talking about. And I do think our country has a plan B for this province and the Canadians that reside here - we just don't know what it is at this time and this is so to keep the peace as long as they can. They are hoping that the separatists implode before they take action on our behalf, that's it, that's all. So stop bitching about us on this blog - you really have nothing to offer in the way of solutions except what the seppies offer in the way of "advice" which is to move and tell us that you are starting a movement to kick us out of Confederation - so just go away. This blog is set up to discuss our options as anglophones living here it's not about how good Calgary is and it's not here for your to tell us to leave.

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  5. Quebec (amongst others) has been on the teat of Ottawa and the ROC since I can remember which is a long time. Obviously , things need to change as the country simply can not longe afford this type of scheme. Same thing on the West Coast where, when the fishing season is over the workers stream into Steveston where they apply for their UI benefits in mass. After which they head to Whislter and other destinations on the taxpayer. Its not only in Quebec....but of course Quebec is taking 40% of the pie due to population. Come to think of it Quebec takes about 60% of the equalization payments these days. As Martha states, Good gig you you can get it.!!!!! --Doesn't make it right.

    PS, I often wondered why their are so many Quebecois down in Mexico who are from the Magdeline Islands, during the winter. Heavens they rent their properties from year to year for 3 months at a time. Obviously, they are not planning on looking for any alternative work.

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    Replies
    1. Well, I don't know if what you write about Magdelainers in Mexico is true, but there seems to be no incentive to seek alternative work beyond the short lobster season. They probably make more than enough to pay for the living expenses in that short time, so EI benefits are gravy that can be used for vacations I can't dream of earning a respectable income working full-time. With no incentive to find alternative work nine months a year, you've got to wonder...

      BTW, who are you? At least have the decency to identify yourself.

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    2. Yes, it is a problem. That is why, PM Harper announced government employee will check people home to make sure they are in Canada and looking for a job not living in Mexico. Didn't know they had the problem in BC, too. Well, that should be said more often, especially to the the seperatist who think that Harper is killing Quebec

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    3. "BTW, who are you? At least have the decency to identify yourself."

      There you go.

      On the balance about Magdelainers...Well I know well as for the last three years one or two couples from la Isle de Magdenline have rented my condo in Mexico, for in excess of 2 months at a time. The next condo over is rented to another couple at the same time and they seem to have a lot of fairly young friends. Not sure if they are lobster guys or not. But, I would expect so as they are what would be considered 'retirement vintage".





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    4. No, Liam, this checking the customs declaration against EI claimants started while Chrétien was in office. It has been policy for over a decade!

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  6. Editor,

    Pardon me for being naive, but you need to explain this for me. How can the EI recipients spend their time while on EI in Florida or Mexico? One distinct requirement of receiving EI is that the recipient needs to be in Canada during the days s/he claims the benefit. And Service Canada works closely with CBSA that it knows when one is out of the country.

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    Replies
    1. Actually, Troy, you're right about out-of-country declarations being reported to EI. I know people who had ugly surprises that went away while on EI. Maybe those customs officers can be bribed?

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    2. Actually Yannick, no he's not.

      There are ways around it.

      You can have someone back home manage your return slips and send them to the office while you're out of the country.

      Further, some Quebecois are well aware that if their relatives (going as far back to grandparents) are from France, they can claim French citizenship (read: passport) and use that very passport to leave the country.

      **********

      From the JdM:

      "Il faut dire qu’a une certaine époque, il y a eu des abus, le système était très généreux, 70% de ton salaire brut pendant 50 semaines pour 10 semaines consécutives de travail, tu remplissais ta ptite carte blanche, 5 questions, et personne au gouvernement enquêtait afin de savoir si le chômeur était vraiment a la recherche active d’un emploi, non celui-ci travaillait au noir, passait des semaines en Floride ou restait chez eux devant la télé a attendre son chèque, je l’sais parce que c’est ce que j’ai fait au début des années 80, il n’y avait rien pour t’inciter a te trouver un job, sauf quand le chômage t’envoyait une lettre pour te signaler qu’il te restait que deux semaines de prestations, la, soudainement, tu te cherchais de l’emploi activement. Les travailleurs saisonniers qui refusent un emploi hors saison devraient se faire couper leur chèque. Si tu veut rester chez vous a rien faire pendant la saison morte, mets-toé de l’argent de coté pendant que tu travailles c’est tout, ils faisaient quoi les travailleurs saisonniers quand l’assurance-chômage existait pas ? C’est un programme d’assurance, pas un revenu minimum garanti."

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    3. Resident Evil,

      1. Today the report is not done on paper anymore. They are electronic. Therefore one can complete the report from anywhere. However, one still needs to return to Canada. Upon return CBSA officer takes the information and asks the length of time spent out of country. To make a false declaration is not just an abuse. It is a felony.

      2. If one uses different passport when entering Canada (remember that Canada does not check fo anything when one leaves the country), one can not stay in Canada indefinitely. Using your example above, if one uses French passport when entering Canada, one can only stays for 6 months maximum. More than that and it is an overstay.

      My whole point is, without committing felony, someone who receives EI really can not be outside of Canada, at least with the current systems.

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    4. Troy,

      Your information appears more up-to-date than my own. But going on your final sentence, I think many would be willing to risk the felony.

      For some, this is a way of life and therefore, they see the felony as a hurdle standing between them and preserving their way of life.

      Delete
  7. LD
    A lot of those protesting the proposed EI reforms don't actually pay into it to begin with! If they saw money being sloughed off their pay stubs to fund EI they would be singing a different tune I'm sure. Life's about choices, and choosing to stay in remote fishing villages with no work in 2013 is not a wise move for anyone. Right now, Saskatchewan is screaming for 100000 workers to fill empty positions. We're importing workers from far flung regions of the planet when we have people sitting at home in this Country unable to find work where they live. From a National policy perspective, I think the solution is pretty clear cut. We as a Nation have better more important things to pay for than supporting seasonal workers.

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    Replies
    1. Yeap Saskatchewan and Alberta are screaming about jobs at the moment. On the other hand both experienced boom to bust cycles that have meant the people that moved there have to again sell their homes at a loss and move back to where they came from. Saskatchewan only hit the 1 million mark again recently after decades of population loss.

      Also how many of those jobs in Saskatchewan and Alberta are being filled by Temporary Foreign Workers? There were mining jobs in British Columbia where the requirement for the jobs was Chinese Mandarin specifically. Therefore locals need not apply. This program is not only effecting miners, fast food workers, pilots, IT workers, the sheer scale of it can be shocking.

      http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/04
      /08/ottawa_admits_it_approved_request_for_migrant_workers_to_replace_rbc_employees.html

      By the way Mr Sauga what do you think about this? I for one can see when a govt like what we have with Harper thinks of ethnic and religious minorities. Not in their words but their deeds.

      http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/03/19/buddhist-jewish-wiccan-muslim-and-sikh-prisoners-sue-over-lack-of-non-christian-chaplains-in-federal-prisons/

      A lot of you are cheering on Harper going after the seasonal workers but you ignore at you own peril that one day they will come after you in some form. I know many are very arrogant thinking that their jobs or businesses can't be effected by the policy change, that they have unique skills that no one else has. Sorry to burst your bubble everyone is replaceable. Most of us are only secure due to government policies and restrictions, that can easily be modified to facilitate your replacement, termination and/or loss of livelihood.

      At the moment just as much as the PQ is an obvious political enemy. Harper and the CPC get even greater in the dislike priority.

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    2. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYMonday, April 29, 2013 at 10:17:00 AM EDT

      "Saskatchewan is screaming for 100000 workers to fill empty positions."

      Folks like S.R. would rather die than move there for a job while at the same time whining against new EI proposed law and whining against foreign workers...

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    3. It was announced, on Friday I think, that this loophole in the system for hiring immigrant workers has been closed by the Conservative Party. Let's hope so.

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    4. "Folks like S.R. would rather die than move there for a job..."

      Je travaille dans le milieu culturel,vous voulez vraiment que je crève de faim en alberta?Et que faites-vous de la qualité de vie?

      No way dude!

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    5. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYMonday, April 29, 2013 at 1:38:00 PM EDT

      @S.R.

      "Je travaille dans le milieu culturel"

      Et comment en serais-je surpris? Le Chardonnay doit y couler a flots!!!!
      Le bien petit quebec.... la culture pi les unions.
      Le culture du quebec c'est subventionne au max.
      Une culture subventionne est une culture morte.
      Comme ton chum Pierre Lapointe. Lui il vit de subventions.

      "Et que faites-vous de la qualité de vie?"

      Qualite de vie lorsqu'on depend de subventions est une qualite de vie triste et basse.

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    6. Le CO2 sur le point d'atteindre un seuil historique

      http://www.lapresse.ca/environnement/dossiers/changements-climatiques/201304/29/01-4645641-le-co2-sur-le-point-datteindre-un-seuil-historique.php

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    7. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYMonday, April 29, 2013 at 2:42:00 PM EDT

      @S.R.
      Il y a un lien avec le "sale" petrole de l'Alberta, sans aucun doute?
      Selon une source des NU, le Canada serait responsable pour seulement 1,82% des emissions en 2008 et toujours sous les 2% en 2011.
      Fais comme moi et prend le bus en semaine. La semaine prochaine je prends mon velo pour le travail les jours sans pluie.
      Pi si ta replique moque les sables bitumineux puis-te rapeller que toi et les autres canayens beneficient financierement des revenus provenant de l'exploitation de ce petrole.
      Dilemme moral, S.R.? Ecris un cheque au receveur general du Canada.

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    8. Le pétrole extrait de votre monstrueux cratère doit bien brûler quelque part dans le monde,non?

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    9. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYMonday, April 29, 2013 at 3:59:00 PM EDT

      "Le pétrole extrait de votre monstrueux cratère doit bien brûler quelque part dans le monde,non?"
      Dans ta voiture, surement.
      Tu devrais debuter une petition pour que le bien petit quebec retournes tout le fric qu'il a recu des sables bitumineux, sinon le quebec agit en hypocrite. Une pute. Blood on your hands, S.R.

      P.S. Occupes-toi moins des crateres monstrueux, pi focus sur la dette de $256 000 000 000 du quebekistan.

      Delete
    10. Have to admit the hypocrisy from Quebec is staggering. They go on and on about the evil oilsands but then take the billions in dollars of equalization payments from the rest of Canada largely financed from the oilsands. If Quebecers really dont want the dirty money they can simply return it back to Canada. Last time I checked there are a lot of cars in Montreal and people here seem to like their oil-dependant lives quite well..so again I dont find people are any more environmental in the end. It seems we import our oil from North Africa..does that make us any better..do you really think the oil workers in North Africa are well treated??
      Harper is playing a pretty smart game..low key and bit by bit he is chipping away at the welfare payments to Quebec. Quebecers could always try and stand on their own two feet one day and seperate but instead they would rather blackmail Canada ad nauseum.
      The comments that Justin Trudeau made about Quebecers being better than Canadians..was that for real or was it take our of context? If its for real then the guy is even more juvenile that I thought. So he thinks Quebecers are better because they are bilingual and they have a different culture. By the way the supposed great culture here is highly over-rated. I have tried watching some of the tc shows and movies here in Quebec and its always the same 10 actors that you see over and over..plus the quality of the shows are generally pretty awful. On the other hand Canadian programming is pretty patheric too. But again if Quebec culture cant stand on its own two feet then obviously people dont think its very good and arent willing to pay for it.



      Delete
    11. S.R.: "Je travaille dans le milieu culturel"
      I figured you were an academic or a lobster fisherman, but that fits too. The nice thing is that if Quebec ever does separate, your career will be among the first to go to the wall.

      Delete
    12. S.R, sure, welfare industry is the cleanest and Quebec is a leader modial in this sector. LMAO.

      Delete
    13. The comments that Justin Trudeau made about Quebecers being better than Canadians..was that for real or was it take our of context?

      Oh for Pete’s sake, didn’t anyone here even bother to click on the link that Yannick thoughtfully provided before commenting? It is expressly clear that Harper’s slimy Conservatives totally cherry-picked that comment completely out of context. Justin was NOT expressing his own opinion, he was paraphrasing what his father once said about the reasons why Quebecers don’t need any special treatment. Plus, when he said this, it was so long ago that his father was still alive back then and Justin had no political ambitions at the time! Such underhanded tactics totally backfired on the slimy Conservatives and wound up giving Justin a boost instead.

      I hope you will take ONE SINGLE MINUTE of your precious time to listen to what Justin actually said in context instead of being the pawns of the Conservatives’ slimy negative attack ads:

      Trudeau’s Quebec comment in context:
      http://video.theloop.ca/watch/trudeaus-quebec-comment-in-context/2302643504001#.UX5pm8o37IV

      As for that so-called “striptease”, by removing his shirt not only did Justin raise $1900 that night for the charity in question, the Canadian Liver Foundation, but they also received over $10,000 in additional donations within 48 hours after the slimy Conservatives released their negative attack ad.

      Donations to liver foundation surge after Tories’ ‘striptease’ attack ad against Trudeau
      http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/04/17/surge-in-donations-to-liver/

      Additionally, I do not believe for an instant that there is anybody here or elsewhere who has never said anything in their lives that they wish they could take back. It is part of being human rather than being a robot. People who are fed up with robotic politicians who have tornado-proof helmet hair will surely find Justin’s warmth and humanity to be a welcome and refreshing breath of fresh air in the world of politics.

      Delete
    14. I guess you don't remember the NEP brought to us by good old "pere trudeau". Him and his band of cronies such as LaLonde. Also the OLA which has been a huge failure at a cost of billions. Obvious to me , mon petit chat, you are from Quebec and subscribe to the entitlements accorded by Trudeau. Slimy Conservatives, how about slimy PQ, Slimy NDP, Slimy Liberals. I would suppose that you have not learnt, at your age, that policitians are all "shit birds".





      Delete
    15. The Cat -
      First of all I never did see Yannicks link..I dont spend hours here looking at every single post that people make so give me a break in that regard.
      Second of all I did listen to the clip in context and frankly was still somewhat shocked that Justin made those comments. He clearly stated that his father thought that Quebecers were BETTER than other Canadians simply because they were more likely to be BILINGUAL and BI-CULTURAL. Excuse me but what a total crock. If a persons worth in this country is based solely on how many languages they can speak and how supposedly "cultural" they are then we have a serious perception problem here. It seems pretty clear to me that Justin was in agreement with his fathers words. Incredible arrogance if you ask me. In my opinion what makes people BETTER should also include attributes like hard work, honesty, compassion, integrity, and strong moral values. In any of those categories I would say that Quebec is pretty well dead last which makes it the worst part of Canada. Being bilingual is highly over-rated compared to these other attributes..you can bilingual but be a total a-hole who doesnt give a crap about your fellow human being..you could be a lazy dishonest bum..being bilingual or bi-cultural really means nothing in the end. Its just another way for Quebecers to try and feel superior when they are lacking in so many other ways.

      Justin Trudeau is a person who grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth..raised by an arrogant pompous man who did more damage to this country than practically any other PM by increasing the debt massively, by alienating western Canada and at the same time by alienating most Quebecers..didnt think it was possible for one man to do both but PET did it. This is Trudeaus resume below ..do you all honestly believe this guy has what it takes to run the country..if you do then you are totally delusional..

      Trudeau has a Bachelor of Arts degree in literature from McGill University and a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of British Columbia. After graduation, he worked as a social studies and French teacher at West Point Grey Academy and Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School in Vancouver, British Columbia.[11] From 2002 to 2004, he studied engineering at the Université de Montréal.[12] He also started a Master of Arts degree in Environmental Geography at McGill University before suspending his program to seek public office.[13]
      In 2007, Trudeau starred in the two-part CBC miniseries The Great War, which give an account of Canada's participation in the First World War. He portrayed Talbot Mercer Papineau, who was killed on October 30, 1917, during the Battle of Passchendaele.[14]

      Wow..so in effect he taught at a snobbish private school for a few years..then played around at university taking this and that and then decided to run for politics using his famous name. What grand accomplishments..now the Liberal party believes he is the best person in all of Canada to run the party??? Is this some kind of joke..am I dreaming..what the heck is wrong with people?? Is this celebrity culture at its worst..reality tv..this guy is a nobody other than his last name and his charming smile..and many here think he is the next savious.

      Delete
    16. You do have a point with Dion, Martin and Ignatieff..but its a very sad statement on how people vote. I hate to admit that its true but from my experience most people vote for very spurious and superficial reasons. You have the voters who always vote for the same party no matter how awful the party is..a prime example would be the anglophones in Quebec. Then you have those who vote for the one who seems nice..or the one who dazzles people with his public speaking skills..then those who vote for the charming one..sadly I would say most Canadians fall in these categories. But with Justin Trudeau I think we have reached a new low in Canada..I would say Arnold Schwarzanegger was even worse but that was in the USA.
      I dont think there is any contest between Stephen Harpers resume and Justins..Harper was one of the co-founders of a new political party..has a BSc and Masters in economics..has authored many thorough articles, editorials, was a driving force between merging two political parties. Justin has taught high school social studies and french for a few years then bounced here and there from one academic program to the other..and then only recently has jumped into politics..largely on the back of his fathers name. I have yet to hear or read anything of any interest from Justin. I have heard a lot of juvenile statements coming out of his mouth..for instance..when he said that he might support Quebec seperating if Canada doesnt change soon. As if Canada is only defined by the way Justin and his father sees it..my guess is that most Canadians have a different view of what Canada is about than what little Justin thinks. Or his comments about how Quebec prime ministers were the "great" ones of course including his own papa. What an arrogant spoiled brat..sorry but I dont see anything in Justin that I like. My impressions of the Liberal party in general have been heading down for years now but this latest move to put Justin in control is just another reason for me to dislike this party.

      I acutally am quite happy we finally have a prime minister who is not from Quebec. And its funny how irritating that is too so many Quebecers as if its their god-given right to have the leader come from their province even if they dont like the leader. I hear Quebecers moaning and groaning all the time about Harper and yet to my surprise Harper has really not done anything draconian in his 7 years of rule. I would have expected much worse especially in his handling of Quebec. I think they should thank their lucky stars..the changes to the EI system are minimal..

      Delete
    17. I am not crazy about many things the Conservatives have done..but I have little doubt that Justin Trudeau would do an even worse job.

      Delete
    18. @yannick and complicated

      if i were harper i would support a peaceful split with quebec. like a proper divorce between grown-ups, including a fair deal on assets and liabilities. best way for him to totally ensure many future re-elections for his party. remove quebec and count the seats if you dare...

      as for young trudeau, i totally agree with complicated. he's just a name. and a bad one if you ask me.

      Delete
    19. Yep a peaceful split with Quebec - The areas that WANT TO LEAVE CANADA is exactly what should happen. Off you go! YEA~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That'll be our new CANADA DAY.

      Delete
    20. My comment was directed at the slimy Conservative/Republican cherished practice of using ad hominem negative attack ads. Political criticism should be directed at POLICY and not at an individual. Moreover, political parties consist of a TEAM and not a single person.

      The Conservatives are the specialists in using such underhanded tactics, which turns off a great number of thinking Canadians, even if it may have some effect among some unthinking sheep/people (henceforth to be known as “sheeple”).

      Ad hominem attacks that target an individual rather than policy with negative attack ads are SLIMY and there are no ifs ands or buts about it. It is a blatant and simple fact that no other political party stoops to this level the way that the slimy Conservatives do and it turns A LOT of people off.

      Delete
  8. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYMonday, April 29, 2013 at 8:56:00 AM EDT

    How will quebekistan pay for all those programs once they'll be free from Canada?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. tax the bank, the rich and the mines. Tax everyone out of the province and then scream to join EU and ask for a bailout.

      Delete
    2. Haven't you ever heard of "Souveraineté association"?

      The exact translation is: "We will separate, but we will still expect you to give us money"

      I'm certain the separatists truly believe that the ROC owes them something, and always will.

      Delete
    3. @quebecker of tree stump

      "I'm certain the separatists truly believe that the ROC owes them something, and always will."

      and i'm certain you truly believe your own stories, mate.

      Delete
    4. J'aime les gens de "Three-Rivers" car ils sont vraiment intelligents.

      Delete
  9. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYMonday, April 29, 2013 at 9:03:00 AM EDT

    Alberta forecast to lead Canadian economic growth in 2014

    Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/Alberta+forecast+lead+Canadian+economic+growth+2014/8309172/story.html#ixzz2RrBP847e
    ------------------
    Meanwhile in the loony land of quebec
    Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Montreal on Saturday for the latest protest against proposed reforms to federal employment insurance.

    Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Another+protest+against+reforms+Montreal/8305325/story.html#ixzz2RrCTiCcT

    quebec=fail

    ReplyDelete
  10. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYMonday, April 29, 2013 at 9:08:00 AM EDT

    Google serch of "quebec + corruption" resulted 12,300,000 returnes.

    Just sayin'




    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unfortunately, EI and welfare have become so ingrained in the culture, especially in quebec, where everything is expected to be free, that I don't know how any government, be it provincial or federal, is going to change the mentality of these people. After all, Ottawa is expected to balance it's budget the same as provinces are supposed to balance theirs. Unless things are explained to these people on how to balance a cheque book, they will never understand that they are expected to work more and not less. Unions are an excellent example here - they are always screaming for a shorter work week, more paid holidays and more paid vacation/sick leave days at every negotiation. Unless they accomplish this, they all go on strike forever and not one of these socialist governments in this province have the guts to legislate them back to work for fear of reprisals and of losing their votes. Now they are on and on about being able to retire at 50 rather than 55 years of age. How do we get such a spoiled populace off their asses and back to what should be considered a normal work schedule per week? By the way, the Atlantic Provinces are also guilty in this respect but are no where as unionized as quebec so the impact is a lot less and no where near as publicized when they have labour problems. Here the unions all support each other so if 10 people are on strike we have thousands marching in the street.

      Delete
    2. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYMonday, April 29, 2013 at 10:27:00 AM EDT

      "By the way, the Atlantic Provinces are also guilty in this respect but are no where as unionized as quebec so the impact is a lot less and no where near as publicized when they have labour problems."

      Interesting.
      This is from Stats Can:
      "Approximately 4.2 million employees (29.5%) belonged to a union in 2010 and another 293,000 (2.0%) were covered by a collective agreement.
      The public sector, which consisted of government, Crown corporations, and publicly funded schools or hospitals, had 71.4% of its employees belonging to a union. This was more than four times the rate for the private sector (16.0%).
      Both Nfld and Manitoba have comparable unionization rates than quebec.
      http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/75-001-x/2011004/tables-tableaux/11579/tbl01-eng.htm

      Delete
    3. Google:Environment+alberta:

      66 400 000 résultats!!!

      Wow!

      Delete
    4. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYMonday, April 29, 2013 at 5:08:00 PM EDT

      Google success + Alberta.......34 400 000 resulsts
      then google success + quebec......16 000 000 results

      Delete
  11. LD

    Reminds me of a joke from loud mouth comedian Sam Kinison re starving Ethiopians during the 1980's famine years,
    "Hey, we just drove 700 miles with your food and it occured to us that there wouldn’t be world hunger—if you people would LIVE where the FOOD is! You live in a…DESERT! Nothing grows here? Dammit, you see this? This is SAND…we have deserts in America, but we DON"T LIVE IN ‘EM!”

    ReplyDelete
  12. The real risk for the PQ is that if the lobster fisherman etc move to somewhere else they might be exposed to the 'english conspiracy' and realize it's just a fake boogyman invented by their government to control and manipulate them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep - can't afford "english" contamination anywhere near these people just in case they learn they are at a disadvantage perpetrated on them by their separatist leaders. God to be rid of them would be the best blessing this country has ever seen since winning the second world war!

      Delete
  13. FROM ED
    If people go off UI and end up on welfare, what is the difference in their incomes? Ed

    ReplyDelete
  14. How is this situation handled in Maine ? Same Lobster season there?
    Do U.S. lobster fisherman find other work ? Or sit home and complain ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dar Anonymous,
      We appreciate your participation, but could you please choose a screen name.
      Click on "How to Comment" on the green bar at the top of the page.....Many thanks

      Delete
    2. Maine Lobster fishermen try to get other work at least.

      The entitlement mentality is strongest in Quebec.

      Newfoundland used to be the leader 30 years ago. The federal govt kicked their ass in gear to fix the situation. now 30 years later the province is better off.

      Quebec workers have the same work ethic as 1970's Newfoundlander fishermen. IE None.

      Sure Newfoundland complained abotu losing it's "culture" but they are a more practical people.

      Feeding yourself takes priority over cultural issues in the rest of the world. Only Quebec can;t figure out what's important to live and eat vs meaningless symbolism.


      Delete
    3. @cebeuq

      "now 30 years later the province is better off."

      oil.

      Delete
    4. Because they were forced to look for jobs. They realized they better get in chage of their own province and find some ways of making money. Somethign Quebec has never realized.

      Meanwhile Quebec is turning down every resource play that it can. Because it knows Canada will keep dumping $$ here.

      Once Hydro Quebec exports to the US finally dry up this place will be fucked.

      Even the president of HQ knows it's coming!

      As he said "Shale gas has changed everything!"

      Meanwhile Quebec consults on energy policy with the brightest minds in theater and political "science".

      Delete
  15. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYMonday, April 29, 2013 at 2:27:00 PM EDT

    "The entitlement mentality is strongest in Quebec."
    Since I have left la belle province 10 years ago I am reminded daily of that sentence.
    I have yet to witness anybody here in Alberta that has the entitlement mentality.
    The majority of Albertans that I know and live besides have a clear cut entrepreneur spirit.
    Need proof? In any given disaster such as a flood, quebeckers cry for help and demand compensation from the government.
    Not to say that a comparable situation never occured in Alberta, I would suggest that the mentality does not exist here. People work tremendously hard and are very proud of their achievements, something very striking to outsiders.
    In the end quebec will fall. You just can't systemically and continuously shoot oneself in the foot and be able to keep going on...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jusqu'où allez-vous creuser pour trouver de cette énergie la plus sale au monde?Que ferez-vous lorque vous aurez épuiser les stocks?

      Delete
    2. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYMonday, April 29, 2013 at 2:57:00 PM EDT

      "Jusqu'où allez-vous creuser pour trouver de cette énergie la plus sale au monde?"
      Aucune idee, S.R. Je ne creuse pas les trous. Je suis bachelier en administration des affaires (BBA).

      "Que ferez-vous lorque vous aurez épuiser les stocks?"
      Wikipedia predit que les stocks de sables bitumineux seront epuises dans 217 ans a ce rythme.
      Je serai mort.

      Delete
    3. Je crois,qu'à ce rythme,il n'y aura plus personne sur cette planète dans 217 à part peut-être quelques vermines,insectes souterrains et 2 ou 3 conservateus.

      Delete
  16. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYMonday, April 29, 2013 at 3:08:00 PM EDT

    "Quebec’s holier-than-thou attacks on federal emissions standards are all the more insufferable given that the province is failing to live up to its own: Quebec’s greenhouse gas emissions, we now learn, grew nearly four per cent in 2007, leaving them six per cent above 1990 levels, or 12 per cent above the original Kyoto targets it had grandly committed itself to, in pointed contrast with the feds."
    http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/02/16/aim-at-the-oil-sands-and-you-hit-quebec/2/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i agree with you, mate. the previous government wasn't very good.

      Delete
    2. @anectote

      here is a convenient summary of the first seven months of the pq minority government:

      http://tinyurl.com/bqbsa4l

      please tell me where is the "worst" you refer to.

      Delete
    3. @yannick

      what "new taxes"?

      many countries have higher tax rates than quebec and are doing fine. so it's not honest to claim, out of the blue, that quebec can't handle higher rates. don't get me wrong, i'm not advocating for higher taxes, but i'm advocating against bad arguments.

      but let's assume, like you seem to think, that the pq is introducing new taxes and abolishing rates for services. how is this worse than liberals who were introducing new taxes and increasing rates for services, all this while adding debt every year of their nine year stint?

      Delete
    4. More tax hikes to drive more people out of the province. I highly resent the amount of taxes I pay now and I'm far from rich. Our social programs are way out of control and no one seems to care. Everyone wants something for nothing in this province and welfare cheats are more than welcome here.

      Delete
  17. FROM ED
    LES GARS - when you're digging up bullshit to make Quebec look bad, make sure it's true. I'm tired of people nitpicking at our province that don't even live here. Of course Quebec emission gases are the lowest because of hydro Quebec. Ed
    While Ontario was the province with the highest emissions in 1990, (25%)with its large manufacturing industry, it was subsequently surpassed by Alberta who’s emissions significantlyincreased (41%) since 1990, due primarily to the increase in production of petroleum resources for export markets. Ontario’s emissions were further reduced between 1990 and 2010 as a result of the province closing coal-fired electricity generation plants over that period. In 2010, the combined emissions from Alberta and Ontario contributed 59% (34% and 25%, respectively) to the national total of 692 Mt.
    The province of Quebec–relying on abundant hydroelectric resources for electricity production–showed more stable emission (12%) results with some decreases being observed since 1990

    ReplyDelete
  18. Take, take, take, greed, greed and more greed. Its never enough eh Quebec? You are a disgrace to rest of the country. Oh and how do they say thanks for the billions they suck out of the rest of the country every year going back decades now? Well try decades of anti-English language bigotry, racism, hatred for anything and all things not French al bills 22, 178, 101,…. Nice eh?

    You franco”phony” bigots make us sick.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @james wolfe

      "us"? who do you represent?

      Delete
    2. "who do you represent?"

      Un groupe d'orangistes.

      Delete
    3. Orangists? Lovers of citrus fruits?

      Delete
    4. An Orangist is a member of the Lodge of Orange (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orangism_%28Netherlands%29). There is a widespread belief in the separatist cicles that Canada was created by the will of Orangists - it is part of the indoctrination, in particular if you want to pose an an intello. AFAIK Nodmand Lester dug some documents detailing one in four Anglos was a Lodge member. Me thinks he confounded Aglos with Francos and Orange with the Loge of Jacques-Cartier.

      Delete
    5. Me,

      Or are they those who live in Orange County?

      Delete
    6. Separatists worry about the Orange Order? Are they mentally ill?

      Delete
    7. Editor,

      Why is the poster with the pseudonym James Wolfe above still allowed to post? I thought pseudonym based on actual person or organization is forbidden?

      Delete
  19. (Almost) the wrong link. Check: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Institution

    ReplyDelete
  20. Nuff said (chapter 102):

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_mentality

    ReplyDelete
  21. Et si le canada représentait un panier de 10 crabes et que le Québec représentait le crustacé qui veux quitter le panier?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYTuesday, April 30, 2013 at 6:25:00 AM EDT

      Le crabes et crustaces font fureur au sein de la communaute kulturelle quebecois....
      Un p'tit Chardonnay avec ca, S.R.?

      La kulture & les zartiss au quebec=subventions

      Delete
    2. Gloryhole, as expected you completely missed the point.

      Especially considering that Canada is in a very enviable position, while Quebec is falling apart.

      Case in point: uneducated crabs hating on the success stories - http://www.jeunespatriotes.org/pgt/

      Delete
  22. FROM ED
    Anonymous, I can't help wondering id you are one person or two. You seem to contradict yourself at times. Why don't you use the anonymous entry like i do, Just stick a name at the beginning of each post so we know we're talking to the same person. Ed

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was one of the anons above, so there were at least two of us in this thread. Sorry for causing confusion.

      Delete
  23. FROM ED
    DB If you're the anonymous I've been reading you make a lot of sense. Thanks for the input. Ed

    ReplyDelete
  24. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYTuesday, April 30, 2013 at 6:19:00 AM EDT

    Marceau est allé à New York en cachette
    http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/politique-quebecoise/201304/30/01-4645845-marceau-est-alle-a-new-york-en-cachette.php?utm_categorieinterne=trafficdrivers&utm_contenuinterne=cyberpresse_B13b_politique-quebecoise_559_section_POS1

    Hmmm... Why would the PQ finance Minister go to New-York city unannounced to the media?
    Was he summoned there? Either way, quebec finances are a freaking mess. Ontario does not fair much better either. Two bum provinces.
    The pig will unravel. Not "if". it's when.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hydro-Québec en voie d’exporter directement son électricité à New York

      http://www.ledevoir.com/economie/actualites-economiques/376207/hydro-quebec-en-voie-d-exporter-directement-son-electricite-a-new-york

      Peut-être en rapport avec l'énergie du futur?

      Delete
    2. And will Marceau insist in speaking French in New York?

      Delete
    3. Marois' trip to Davos a couple months back was not widely advertized either. It was reported briefly in the press for a day, but that was it.

      Are the pequistes trying to hide the fact that Quebec under their rule is no different than Quebec under the PLQ, and is as every other small state or province-state a slave to foreign (read: Anglo-American) capital? Are they trying to bury that fact under diversionary regulation like bill 14 which serves only to redirect frustration on a minority that has much less to do with the so called "anglicisation" than the aforementioned capital?

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

      Delete
    5. Un message de Martin Scorsese aux Montréalais…

      http://blogues.lapresse.ca/moncinema/lussier/2013/04/30/un-message-de-martin-scorsese-aux-montrealais/

      Ouf! J'ai eu peur,je croyais que c'était à propos de la loi 14.

      @Troy

      Nous communiquons en anglais lorsque c'est nécessaire.

      Delete
    6. FROM ED
      Troy, If marceau can't speak English maybe he will take a tip from the master, Marcel Marceau, use hand signs.

      Delete
    7. That sounds a bit hypocritical, does it not? All Quebec officials must speak French when dealing with other Canadian bodies, but speak English when dealing with the Americans? What is the point then?

      Delete
    8. That's all fine and dandy Yannick but considering that the OLA was put in place to protect french and their culture, why should the ROC support that when quebec insists on being french only? If they were to play fair and let our language thrive within quebec, then I would be much more supportive of it than I am now. As it stands, the separatists don't care about it outside of quebec and frankly the ROC finds it much too expensive and see how the minority anglophone population is treated within quebec borders. It is very difficult to justify this policy when the francophone population elect hateful separatist governments in provincial election. It would not be surprising to see this policy cancelled should some of quebec vote to leave Canada. They may, at that time, make it strictly a provincial decision, not a federal one.

      Delete
    9. Troy, even though the answer to your question is obvious (power dictates what language is spoken), you still make a good point because of the contrast in attitude that these language warriors exhibit here and there. Marceau isn't just a minister is some cabinet, he is a minister in a cabinet with an aggressive stance on the English language. Same applies to all other PQ leaders, past and present. How their dedication, commitment, and loyalty to language dissipates once they cross over to the States is stunning. From wolves, they turn to sheep, and it's this contrast that is striking, not that they use English, over which they have no choice.

      There is a lesson in this for Canada. Accommodating Quebec has advantages as it keeps the country together, but shouldn't we also consider risking a break-up of the country in order to gain the freedom from this issue once and for all? To have their ministers come to Ottawa on official visits speaking English like they do in the US, nice and complacent, coming in peace to negotiate deals, not in confrontation to submit a list of demands? The choice is not easy, but it is a choice nonetheless.

      Delete
    10. Perhaps so Yannick but still they were elected Again! This alone stand out in the mind of the rest of the country that tries it's best to accommodate their needs and goes out of their way, most of the time, to ensure that they are made comfortable and not exorcised like the language militants do to the anglophones here. It's disgusting and it's past time they were called out for what they are - biased hypocrites, that demand everything for themselves and couldn't care less about the destruction they are doing to themselves and everyone in this province. They have no sense of shame for their outright attempt to rob Canada of every cent they can and of the land that belongs to the people of Canada.

      Delete
    11. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYTuesday, April 30, 2013 at 6:02:00 PM EDT

      @S.R.

      "Peut-être en rapport avec l'énergie du futur?"

      LOL!!!!
      Je croyais que c'etait l'energie du futur lorsque le projet de la Baie de James a ete realise il y a....40 ans!!!
      Petit cancre. Hydro-quebec est peut-etre le plus gros producteur d'electricite au Canada mais ces revenus... pppffffff: ses revenus ont dominues et ses actifs representeraient seulement 30% de ses avoirs. Ca fait dur, dur, dur le petit quebekistan.
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydro-Qu%C3%A9bec#Financial_results

      Delete
    12. Yes Yannick - I wish to God that quebec could see how making enemies of everyone that surrounds you is going to kick you in the ass in the end but meanwhile the stress of having these people in any kind of position of power is bringing up the underlying hostility of the people that were willing to live with Bill 101 but now realize that there will never be an end to their demands until they start some kind of really, really bad trouble in the province. That's exactly why I keep advocating that those areas that want to leave go on their way. Without that being done democratically, this whole place is going to blow one day and whether the federal government likes it or not, they are going to have to intervene. I would like to see a better resolution but without the separatists at least trying to get alone with their own citizens and the other provinces, I can see no end to the problems they are causing. It's sad, but true. They are a hateful, selfish bunch and are making no effort to make things better for anyone in this province.

      Delete
    13. Mr Ed,

      "...maybe he will take a tip from the master, Marcel Marceau, use hand signs."

      Je mime un sourire.

      Delete
    14. Michel Patrice has already stated that the disappearance of French outside Quebec bothers him not one whit:
      http://nodogsoranglophones.blogspot.ca/2013/04/french-versus-english-volume-81.html?showComment=1365789523976#c2279784664154893870

      He apparently prefers living in a binary world that has no shades of grey. He doesn’t feel any emotion about the French language vanishing outside Quebec, nor about English vanishing within Quebec (neither of which will ever happen, incidentally). Sad, really.

      Delete
    15. The PQ is on the wane, they managed to win the last election only due to the most extenuating of circumstances : the corruption, people being fed up with Charest, Legault taking more federalists than separatists. Even so the PQ only managed to win by a mere 6 seats, and with barely a half-percent more in popular vote than the PLQ. If people didn't think the PQ was nuts, they should have achieved an electoral breakthrough.

      This! Even under such ideal circumstances, all that the PQ was able to manage was to eke out a 0.7% vote majority ahead of the tired Liberals.

      The PQ will never, ever, EVER manage to separate with Quebec intact. The separatist option has been repeatedly rejected by all Quebecers for decades now. Continuing to dream about a creating a country hinged upon a single +1 vote after all this time is not only laughable and pathetic but has now become downright irresponsible.

      It is clear that Lucien Bouchard’s wishful “winning conditions” will never happen. Meanwhile, the PQ continues to harm Quebec’s economy pursuing their fantasy. In fact, they ought to be the ones advocating for some sort of partition because their leaving with today’s Quebec simply ain’t gonna happen, ever.

      Delete
    16. Yannick, I agree with you totally. I’ve always found it shocking that separatists don’t actually care about the status of French in Canada. It’s all about getting their revenge for having been conquered and creating a country so in turn they can conquer the conquerors, regardless of how little sense it makes, instead of living in the present and moving on together like a healthy society would do.

      Delete
  25. ,
    FROM ED
    URBAN DICTIONARY – definition of a troll. - One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument.
    I have come to the conclusion that une gars is a troll who spends all day of every day hating Quebec and Quebecers. He spends day after day searching for any tidbit he can google up that puts down Quebec. Take for example the following
    “UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARY Monday, April 29, 2013 at 9:08:00 AM EDT
    Google search of "quebec + corruption" resulted 12,300,000 returnes.”
    Do we need to be reminded?
    “Both Nfld and Manitoba have comparable unionization rates than quebec.
    http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/75-001-x/2011004/tables-tableaux/11579/tbl01-eng.htm “
    Who the hell cares about unionization rates in Nfld. And manitoba. Nobody cares but him because he figures it's another way to make Quebec look bad by comparison. But his postings by comparison are totally dishonest like this one
    "Quebec’s holier-than-thou attacks on federal emissions standards are all the more insufferable given that the province is failing to live up to its own: Quebec’s greenhouse gas emissions, we now learn, grew nearly four per cent in 2007," He gives a 4% figure for Quebec but doesn't mention at the same time his own province Alberta had an increase of 41%.
    Fortunately we have people like Yannick to come up with the true facts. Check the way Un gars sees us and the way Yannick googles it.
    “UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYMonday, April 29, 2013 at 5:08:00 PM EDT
    Google success + Alberta.......34 400 000 resulsts
    then google success + quebec......16 000 000 results”
    "YannickMonday, April 29, 2013 at 5:30:00 PM EDT
    I tried the same, un gars, and I got 36,200,000 and 33,700,000 respectively.
    Note that the order in which you place them is important.
    Alberta + success = 17,600,000
    Quebec + success = 18,500,000
    success + Alberta = 36,200,00
    success + Quebec = 33,700,000
    Not that these childish games mean anything.”
    Thank you Yannick. This shows he's only trying to dig up bad points against us. We don't need that shit
    we live with it every day. We know what's going on and we don't need to be reminded every hour.
    Listen to this next sentence, apparently the man spends every day thinking about how bad Quebec looks to him, like it was any of his business.
    “The entitlement mentality is strongest in Quebec."Since I have left la belle province 10 years ago I am reminded daily of that sentence.”
    Obviously he has a personal vendetta against Quebec. It must be if it's on his mind every day.
    At least seven people that I know of on this blog have told him they don't like our home being called Quececistan but he persists because he knows it hurts us.
    We are trying to move forward language wise here.
    At a time when CRITIQ and EQUALITY amongst others are saying we should live our lives in English only and force the French to address us in English, something that myself and others on this blog have been trying to do lately, un gars shows up to argue with the trolls in french . Instead of making them talk English he plays silly games with them filling the blog with french, a lot of crap that has no sense or reason.
    Personally I'm fed up with people like Un Gars and Mr. Sauga that have no business in Quebec telling us here how we should live our lives. Would you walk into a man's home and tell him how he and his family should live there. Would you point out dirt in the corner of the kitchen? This is OUR HOME. Quebecers are the stewards of this land and we are doing our best to maintain it. It's easy to talk big when you're members of the majority, but we're not and we are the ones who have to live with it.
    So here's an expression from my youth...............
    “So, if you don't live here and you don't like what we are doing, go take a flying fuck at a rolling donut.”










    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYTuesday, April 30, 2013 at 5:55:00 PM EDT

      @ED.
      Good job of being a troll yourself, pal:)
      I don't hate quebekistan. I just think it's a funny place. Really.

      Have a nap now.

      Delete
    2. FROM ED
      That game is the oldest going. ' It's not me , it's you.' perhaps if I point the finger in the oposite direction they won't look at me.
      Showing that you're smarter than retarded trolls doesn't gain anything. It only blocks the blog. You're the only one still rousing them Ed

      Delete
  26. "I have come to the conclusion that une gars is a troll who spends all day of every day hating Quebec and Quebecers. He spends day after day searching for any tidbit he can google up that puts down Quebec."

    And I have come to the conclusion, speaking as someone born, raised and currently still living in this province, that Quebec is ***rotten to its very core**. It's not just language and corruption.
    Where else on planet Earth do people en masse gleefully abuse, torture and murder animals, and continue to boldly do so because there are no damn animal protection laws? Where else on planet Earth is asbestos mined and sold to third world countries, very well knowing it's handing over a death sentence to thousands of people. Where else on planet Earth is infrastructure so poorly maintained and dangerous, that people have to live in daily fear of bridges, overpasses, ceilings, balconies or chunks of building killing them?


    "At a time when CRITIQ and EQUALITY amongst others are saying we should live our lives in English only and force the French to address us in English,"

    Bastards, huh. HOW DARE THEY even suggest we have the right to live our lives in a language we choose. No one should have freedom of language, choice or independent thought. The government or extremist groups should decide what language and speak. And if we do not agree and choose to speak English in public, we should be fined, maybe even whipped or put in jail!

    People should be able to speak French or English, and no one should judge them. If you're a decent person and speak both languages, then address the other person in whatever damn language they're most comfortable in. What is so hard about that, Ed? You'd probably fit well into a place like Iran or communist China, they share your same thoughts.

    "Would you walk into a man's home and tell him how he and his family should live there. Would you point out dirt in the corner of the kitchen? This is OUR HOME."

    Absolutely, if that man were abusing his wife and children in any way. If the dirt was so extreme to the point of detrimentally affecting his families health, safety and that of his neighbors, then absolutely yes to that too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. FROM ED
      Apple,If you made any sense I would answer you. Just twisting my words, any fool can do it. Even a troll. Ed

      Delete
    2. AppleIIGS,

      "...there are no damn animal protection laws?"

      Here is Québec's animal protection law : http://www2.publicationsduquebec.gouv.qc.ca/dynamicSearch/telecharge.php?type=2&file=/P_42/P42.html

      "Where else on planet Earth is asbestos mined and sold to third world countries, very well knowing it's handing over a death sentence to thousands of people?"

      China and Russia.

      "Where else on planet Earth is infrastructure so poorly maintained and dangerous, that people have to live in daily fear of bridges, overpasses, ceilings, balconies or chunks of building killing them?"

      Mineapolis (http://www.nbcnews.com/id/20079534/ns/us_news-life/t/thought-dead-minneapolis-bridge-collapses/#.UYBlvcpVWJ0)

      Delete
    3. I think Apple IIGS 's take on it makes a lot of sense. Just because you don't like the spin he put on it doesn't necessarily make him either a fool or a troll, Ed, but it does contribute to making you seem like a crabby old guy.
      Also, in your post of 11:59 you say "He gives a 4% figure for Quebec but doesn't mention at the same time his own province Alberta had an increase of 41%". Since Un Gars is talking about 2007, if you're saying you have a source that actually shows Alberta had a 41% increase in greenhouse gas emissions in one year, I wouldn't mind seeing it, but it sounds high to me.

      Delete
    4. @Michel Patrice

      Are even vaguely familiar with Quebec's ad-horrid treatment of, and complete lack laws protecting animals? Do you even KNOW what is going on in this province, are you THAT ignorant and BLIND? On this particular subject alone, Quebec can be ripped to shreds, absolutely no debate here whatsoever. There is so much criminal and reprehensible shit Quebec has been getting away with with regards to animal abuse, compounded with totally lax and ineffective laws, I don't even know where to begin. I cannot even fit all the recent examples and horror stories in the comment section, it won't fit! In this sense what we have here is a complete failure of the human race...in Quebec.

      Of course to have a society so sick and twisted where the treatment of animals are concerned (and no functional law to protect them, or punishments to offenders--oh hey, you get a couple of hours community service if you use a nail gun to drive nails into the skulls of puppies and their mother and leave them to slowly die on the side of the road. Just ask Normand Girard, of St.-Jean-sur-Richelie!) it's no surprise that same society should give birth to the likes of Bill 101, Bill 14, and the FLQ.

      I get into a rage thinking about Quebec and animals. Quebec is a society so ill as far as I'm concerned, it should be fenced off from the rest of the world.

      With regards to asbestos mining. Hah, "China and Russia". Thank you, Quebec can now stand proudly beside them.

      As for people like Ed, they unfortunately have their heads buried in the sand. Much like a battered wife defending and praising their abuser husband, Ed defends his abuser (province and government) and believes if he closes his eyes and ignores it, it will all go away.

      Delete
    5. Personally as an animal lover, I find quebec very lax on laws that protect animals in general. Our SPCAs are a joke and take no action unless it's to fine you for not having a licence (anything for a buck mentality). Calling them in the case of a lost animal is mainly a waste of time and I bring lost pets home and wait for a ad in the paper or I place one myself. I have had a lot better luck doing that than ever turning the poor things in to an SPCA. I will say that our best one here is one that is run strictly on donations and is a no kill shelter. We are lucky to have that one but no thanks to the city, that's for sure.

      Delete
    6. Apple IIGS,

      You seem to care a lot about animal protection.

      If you see masse gleeful abuse, torture and murder of animals, call the authorities.

      If you think that our laws should be improved, call you MLA, talk to people about it, get media attention. But if you start your speech with something like "Quebec is rotten to the core, and we can't expect a society that gave birth to bill 101, bill 14 and the FLQ to decently treat animals bla bla bla", don't expect people to be very receptive.

      It is not that I don't care about animals, it is that don't care to talk about it with you. It looks like it is not really animal rights that you take at heart, it is more about chier compulsivement sur le Québec. Alors tu pardonneras mon indifférence.

      (You had nothing to say about Mineapolis?...)

      Delete
    7. FROM ED
      To Diogenes, I don't know how to download the link but if you type in ENVIRONMENT CANADA GAS EMISSIONS BY PROVINCE
      it will take you right there. I'll tell you what makes me a crabby old guy. It's when someone puts words in your mouth and then someone else calls you down on it. IF you have read both posts (Apple's and Mine) then you know damnwell that I never mentioned abusing a wife. There's a difference between a 'spin' and dishonesty when dealing with someone else"s words.
      I feel Apple is no better thean the troll Une gars because he does the same thing, calling us rotten. QUEBEC IS THE PEOPLE,
      NOT THE GOVERNMENT. WE ARE QUEBEC. When apple or Gars says we are rotten to the core they are judging us and they have no right to do so. They do not say Parti Quebecois or separatists , they say Quebec and that's us.. Apple says
      "Where else on planet Earth do people en masse gleefully abuse, torture and murder animals" That tells us he talking about people being rotten (us). I'd like to have him say that to my face. It's very easy to accuse people from the anonyminity of the net. Ed

      Delete
  27. Interesting:
    http://www.huffingtonpost.ca//tony-kondaks/quebec-language-laws-bill-14-french_b_1451014.html
    Plus there is a link in there to join a fight against Bill 14 that is just getting organized and it's to make the federal government take action rather than just the citizens of quebec. Please get involved.

    ReplyDelete
  28. UN GARS BIEN SYMPATHIQUE DE CALGARYTuesday, April 30, 2013 at 5:51:00 PM EDT

    "and it's to make the federal government take action rather than just the citizens of quebec."

    Why does Ottawa A-L-W-A-Y-S abandon anglos-quebeckers?
    Canada is bilingual. quebec is not. Why? What is Ottawa afraid of not to intervene?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Canada is bilingual"

      De l'humour calgarien je suppose?

      Delete
    2. Don't be inquiètes!

      http://ygreck.typepad.com/ygreck/2013/04/te.html

      Delete
  29. "If the Quebec government wants to preserve these uneconomic regions, should Canadian taxpayers across the country be obliged pay to for it, or should it be the responsibility of Quebecers to do so alone?"

    As an in dependentist, I of course think that it should be Québec's responsability. Québec should manage its own UI program. This way canadians would not have to support our uneconomic regions.

    Talking of uneconomic regions, we would like to get back the part of our taxes that goes to supporting the canadian presence in the northen territories (infrastructures for a population of a few thousands, military presence, ice breakers, civil servants, and so on.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ces régions deviendront peut-être économiquement viables et profitables. Tant mieux pour elles. Mais profitables pour qui?

      Si, dans le futur, ces régions devenaient rentables et contribuaient à la péréquation, se souviendra-t-on que nos impôts auront contribué à les supporter et à les développer? ou nous chiera-t-on dessus juste un peu plus parce que nous recevrons une part de cette péréquation?

      Je préférerais garder chez nous la part de nos impôts qui va au support des territoires nordiques.

      Delete
  30. FROM FRED
    http://coolopolis.blogspot.ca/2013/04/turcotte-verdict-not-so-shocking-quebec.html

    ReplyDelete