French versus English volume 84

This week in Quebec Corruption

Jean Roberge...."I'm a crook too"

While the province reels from the mass arrests made by the police last week in relation to corruption in Laval, (Quebec's third largest city) two actors were conspicuous by their absence from the list of the arrested. Both city manager Gaétan Turbide and assistant city manager Jean Roberge and were assumed to be in cahoots with police and were both scheduled to testify before the Charbonneau Commission this week. Strangely, they were both suspended from their jobs in anticipation of their giving evidence.
Here's the kicker.
On the very morning that Turbide was to testify, a Commission lawyer rose and announced that the witness was not to be heard because evidence had just been received putting his credibility in question.
What does that mean? ....they wouldn't say.

Anyways the second witness, Mr. Roberge was rushed to the stand and testified that Laval city hall was indeed one heck of a corrupt place.
How does he know all this for sure? According to him, he was one of the crooks! Read the story

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Here are the names and a description of the 37 people arrested in the operation by police targeting Laval corruption Link{fr}

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More bad news for SNC-Lavalin

"A division of Canadian engineering giant SNC-Lavalin has for years used a secret internal accounting code that former employees say was for bribes on projects across Africa and Asia, a joint investigation by CBC News and the Globe and Mail has found.
Former employees say some of the money was earmarked to help the company win contracts funded by international development agencies such as the World Bank and the African Development Bank.
CBC News and the Globe and Mail have discovered that a division called SNC-Lavalin International Inc. (SLII) that focuses on smaller contracts to design and supervise megaprojects has for years used the code words “PCC” or “CC” interchangeably to describe hidden so-called "project consultancy costs."
“PCC, they interchangeably used the word," said former SNC-Lavalin International engineer Mohammad Ismail. "Sometimes it was 'project consultancy cost,' sometimes 'project commercial cost,' but [the] real fact is the intention is [a] bribe." Read the rest of the story

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Disgraced municipal party Union Montréal dissolves

"The remaining members in former Montreal mayor Gérald Tremblay's party, Union Montréal, have decided to abandon the party.

Interim party leader Richard Deschamps announced the dissolution of the party this afternoon. In his 20-minute speech, Deschamps detailed successes from Union Montréal's 12-year reign including the introduction of Bixi, Montreal's bike-sharing system.
Deschamps says members decided to disband because of the public perception of the party in the wake of damning testimony before the province's corruption inquiry." Read more

PQ Minister fans the flames of religious intolerance racism

Drainvile..."CALLING ALL RACISTS!"

Here's another episode of the Parti Quebecois fanning the flames of religious intolerance in order to play to their base of xenophobic racists and hardliners, who see any rapprochement with Montreal minorities as a sellout to the separatist idealism, where everyone must conform to a world of poutine, maple syrup, and atheism.

It seems that from the ivory tower in Quebec city a PQ minister Bernard Drainville has complained about the fact that a local borough in Montreal modified parking rules for a couple of days to give a break to the Hasidic community during one of its holidays, where they were bound not to move their cars.

"A PQ minister stirred up the reasonable accommodation debate Wednesday by criticizing a Montreal borough's practice of delaying street cleaning in front of a synagogue on religious holidays.

On the Jewish holiday Shavuot, which fell on Wednesday, observant Jews were not supposed to operate a vehicle. As such, some parking signs in a limited area around a school and synagogue in Cote-des-Neiges/NDG were altered temporarily. Drivers were not required to move their car for street cleaning.
“There's no necessity to do street sweeping in front of a synagogue on one of the Jewish High Holidays,” explained CDN-NDG city councillor Marvin Rotrand. “In fact, it doesn't cost anything not to do it and it doesn't inconvenience citizens if that particular day is skipped.
Bernard Drainville, however, disagrees. Quebec's minister for democratic institutions and active citizenship said he was outraged when he heard.

“There's no discrimination. Everyone must respect the same regulations, the same parking regulations. You can't start having parking regulations that are different according to your religion, because there will be no end to it,” he said." Read the rest of the story

Mr. Drainville was quick to point out that once accommodations are made for one religious group, there will be no end to demands.

I wonder if Mr. Drainville is opening up a new battlefield which will include objections to Greeks marching down Park Avenue, forcing the closure of that important artery, or the closure of the entire downtown core on St. Patrick's Day, not to mention the infernal Santa Claus parade that forces street closures and parking restrictions all over the downtown core.

If religions are not to be afforded special consideration, because according to the minister, everyone must conform, how about special interest groups that appeal to a minority and are generally exclusionary.

How about the infernal separatist parade that closes down Sherbrooke street each year, another horrific accommodation to separatists, not to mention cyclists who collectively hold the city to ransom once a year for the Tour de l'Isle. Let's not forget those selfish twins, whose exclusionary parade is restricted to those who are beneficiaries of an accident of birth.
How about street closure to support those elitist rich bastards who attend the Grand Prix or aficionados of Jazz who force their music on neighborhoods without any consideration for others.

Evidently to Drainville, accommodating some minorities is a good idea, accommodating some other minorities is a bad idea.

According to Mr. Drainville, accommodations are only unreasonable when they implicate Jews or Muslims, or other minority religions, prime targets of the French language purists who see a Yarmulke, hijab or turban as a direct threat to their nationhood.

The sad part of this all, is that nobody complained about the accommodation that Mr. Drainville was so angry about, it has been in place for over thirty years without controversy.

Piling on this non-issue was Journal de Montreal columnist Richard Martineau who actually complained the Montreal's lazy-ass blue collar workers were badly inconvenienced (what a joke!)

He then goes on to say that as accommodations go, this one is not a big deal, not like an imam apologizing for stoning. Hmmm.....

"Pas de quoi déchirer sa chemise ou se taper la tête contre les murs.
Rayon accommodements, on a vu pire.
Les heures de piscine, les fenêtres du YMCA, un imam qui fait l’apologie de la lapidation et du fouet dans un haut lieu du savoir…" Link{fr}

Then Martineau  goes on to complain that "People will say the PQ is racist, xenophobic, allergic to religion, hostile to minorities...…

Correctamundo! 

They certainly will, because in the rest of the civilized world, that is exactly what the PQ presents as. 

Separatists just don't get it.
Not everyone wants to eat poutine and bacon, live out of wedlock, revere hockey, disdain religion and listen to Marie-Mai or even speak French at home.

If that is the obligatory price of remaining a citizen of Quebec, then it's time to hold a Quebec version of the Wannsee conference followed by breaking out the cattle cars.

Quebec's National Assembly & Montreal city Council

Let us remember that the PQ and Quebec language militants promote a society that is officially neutral when it comes to religion, but firmly attached to its Christianity by virtue of its 'heritage.'
That is why in a religiously neutral state, Christian holidays are state holidays, public institutions and streets are named after Christian saints and biblical personalities and that crucifixes are honorably presented in the National Assembly and throughout municipal councils across Quebec, even MONTREAL.

Don't get me, wrong, I have no problem with public manifestations in Quebec of the overwhelming dominant religion, but let's not pretend and call a spade, a spade.
Separatists want all religion removed in public life, except theirs....

(Thanks for the story to many readers including RWB.)

Sugar Sammy Award panned by separatist

The insufferable pseudo-intellectual separatist Mathieu Bock-Côté unleashed a snarly and vindictive screed in Le Journal de Montreal in reaction to comedian Sugar Sammy winning some sort of Francophone comedy award,

"I'm telly you. English is the DEVIL!!!!"

"Sugar Sammy has won this year’s Olivier Award. Obviously, he’s funny. No one is questioning his comedic talent. He has an exceptionally lively mind. But short of him telling us that his jokes are completely devoid of content, you have to take his words at least somewhat seriously. On stage, Sugar Sammy is an activist comedian. His humour is political.
Sammy was a Liberal activist during the 1995 referendum, and makes no secret of his federalism or commitment to multiculturalism. But, as he has previously observed, humour is infinitely more effective than putting up posters to "get the message across." He’s certainly not wrong. In a "just for laughs" society, whoever makes people laugh has a great deal of power, as he gets to define what is hip and what isn’t.
HIS VISION OF QUEBEC
Through his humour, Sugar Sammy puts forward his vision of Quebec. His trademark is ridiculing Quebec francophones, more specifically, those in favour of a French and sovereign Quebec. In his shows, he paints a portrait of these Quebecers as a collection of nasty, mean-spirited and uneducated xenophobes.
We’re all familiar with his "classic" joke. There are two types of Québécois. Those who are educated, sophisticated, modern, civilized, friendly and accommodating. And there are those who voted Yes in 1995. Hilarious, isn’t it? What’s more, in an interview, he once equated independence to "turning in on ourselves" without a trace of irony.
What never ceases to amaze me is the enthusiasm of some Quebec francophones, who trip over each other in their rush to praise him. I read a few days ago that Sugar Sammy "tells it like it is." But what is he saying? That we’re a bunch of inward looking bumpkins? That defending a French Quebec is being culturally paranoid?
By idealizing Sugar Sammy, they’re saying: Look at how open and modern we are. We want Sugar Sammy’s version of Quebec. We want a Canadianized Quebec, where bilingualism is the norm and reasonable accommodations come one after the other. We want a Quebec that agrees to fade away into Canadian multiculturalism.
This is a Quebec where many citizens are now "Montrealers first," rather than Quebecers first. Just think back to his show You’re gonna rire. A "bilingual" show, just like his vision of an ideal Montreal. A Montreal where people naturally mix English and French within the same sentence. A Montreal where Québécois should stop fighting to be served in French.
Some Québécois are psychologically flawed. They feel trapped in a francophone society because they’ve been told that being open to the world involves English. They’ve been convinced that by showing just a bit of contempt for Quebec, they’d finally be considered citizens of the world. They’re afraid of not looking "modern," of being "ceintures fléchées." So they like Sugar Sammy.
As long as we remain convinced that there's something intolerant about living in our home in French, as long as we believe that wanting a country is closing ourselves off from the world, we will remain convinced that it is admirable to sing the praises of a political comedian who insults us. If Sugar Sammy represents the future of Quebec, then Quebec has no future.

Thanks for a great translation from PlateauAnglo.

Please read the original article in French ICI

Evidently Mr. Bock-Côté  doesn't understand the humor of Sugar Sammy, who in the great tradition of Don Rickles insults and mocks his audience.

I hope he has a listen to some of Sugar Sammy's routines in English where he slays his own community, as well as other ethnicities like Montreal's Haitians.

Mathieu Bock-Côté is nothing more than a frustrated Grinch.

Watch a bit of Sugar Sammy;

Ethnical Difficulties Q&A  

Suspicious Middle Eastern Guys
Sugar Sammy - Trop Drole{fr}

When Sugar Sammy received his award at the French gala, he couldn't resist, telling the audience that they shouldn't blame his victory on the 'ethnic vote'  HaHa!

By the way,  in response to Mr. Bock-Côté's screed, a fellow columnist at the Journal de Montreal, Lise Ravary, wrote a scathing rebuke.

"When Yvon Deschamps applied his shock therapy Quebecers, we applauded wildly. When Sugar Sammy does the same thing, we feel ridiculed.  

Why? He was born here, grew up here. He lives here. Sugar Sammy is Quebec. Why doesn't he have the right to join the discussion?
If Sugar Sammy, is the future of Quebec, that Quebec will be part of my future. The future under the banner of ethnic nationalism is a lot less interesting. Link{fr}

Great video protesting OQLF nonsense

Letter to the Editor: The language police visit a bank.

"While this Orwellian event may appear to most as an article taken from the Onion, I firmly place my hand on my Montreal Canadiens jersey and swear the truth to the gods of our city.
The event began on May 14, when a local federal bank that shall not be named was visited by Quebec’s language police. As a starting point, English-only pamphlets, which were skilfully placed next to French-only pamphlets, had to be removed from the customers’ area. Employees were told that they did not belong in the front; what if a francophone were to accidentally select the wrong pamphlet? The strain of placing the pamphlet back and appropriately selecting another is an injustice that the language police in Quebec luckily are here to protect us from.
Next up: a microwave. This seemingly innocent machine hides its evil by presenting the employees with hot Pizza Pockets and mom’s leftovers. Within this evil lie several words, written only in English. No, not even their own, private microwave is safe from the hands of the language police. Among these forbidden words: open and time. These frighteningly English words carry with them the desire to eradicate the French-speaking population of Quebec. With a few adjustments, employees will soon be able to safely heat up their favourite dishes in French."  Read the rest of the letter

PQ launches yet another commission... with notable boycotters

Both the Montreal police union and the Quebec Liberals announced that they would boycott the affair, claiming the whole thing is a put-up affair to cast blame on them.

The Parti Québécois government's special commission looking into last year's student protests is coming under attack from all sides.
Opposition politicians are questioning the PQ's motives.
Student leaders say the mandate is too broad, and the police will evade close scrutiny of their role in the student protests.

Police officers fear a witch hunt.

Public Security Minister Stéphane Bergeron says being attacked by people from opposite sides of the issue is a sign the government made the right decision by creating the commission and appointing Serge Ménard, Claudette Carbonneau and Bernard Grenier to sit on it.
But the Liberals and the Coalition Avenir Québec say the makeup of the commission is biased.
Ménard is a former PQ public security and justice minister. He also served as a Bloc MP in Ottawa and is clearly identified as a sovereigntist.
Claudette Carbonneau is a former head of the CSN trade union. The CSN, along with other big unions, helped finance the student protests last year." Read more

Bixi, Bixi, Bixi

Trouble in Bixiland 
"It is as Montreal as a two-cheek kiss, a made-in-Quebec success story that has garnered both awards and lucrative contracts around the world. Yet the Bixi bike-sharing system, best known for its sleek two-wheelers of the same name, is plagued by lack of administrative oversight, questionable management and a business plan that has it teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, with a whopping $37-million debt after only two years of operation."  Read More

Bixi Toronto: City urged to take over financially struggling bike-share program
"City staff want Toronto to take over the embattled Bixi bike-sharing program, according to a confidential report obtained by the Star.
The seven-page document, which was distributed at a behind-closed-doors meeting of Mayor Rob Ford’s executive committee last week, outlines three scenarios for dealing with the financially troubled company.
According to the report, Bixi Toronto informed city staff in November that it was not able to make its loan payments “over the next few months.”
If the company defaults, Toronto is on the hook for an outstanding loan of $3.9 million. Read more

"Citibike (Bixi): I Don't Care What They Do In Paris, I Live In New York City,"
"When I drive into the Village it's going to be harder to park. I would rather not have them at all," he said. "It takes parking spots away from people like me. I just don't like it."
But perhaps the most telling line of the evening came before the meeting even began. "Can't we all just get along?" one Citi Bike supporter asked another. She shook her head. "We wouldn't be in New York." Read more

.....and just for good measure:
"No evidence cycle helmet laws reduce head injuries: study"

Quebec anglos continue generous tradition of giving

"A Montreal family is making a hefty donation to cancer care that is being matched by other philanthropic foundations.
The Rossy Family Foundation (owners of Dollarama-ed.) is giving $30 million, while $28 million will come from the cancer foundations of the McGill University Health Centre, the Jewish General Hospital and St. Mary's Hospital to create an initiative called the Rossy Cancer Network.
The money will help the hospitals and the Rossy Foundation share research, pool resources and build on their individual strengths by working together as four significant cancer centres." Read more

The Fondation du Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM) is delighted to announce one of the greatest gifts in its entire history. This outstanding show of support in the capital fundraising campaign Giving Ourselves the Best in Health Care comes from generosity on the part of the Molson Foundation which makes public today a contribution of 5 million dollars." Read more

Odds'n Ends

Conrad Black: Quebec Independence No Longer A Threat 
 "There is no longer a threat of Quebec independence because Quebecers have become "addicted" to transfer payments from other provinces, former media baron Conrad Black said Friday." Read more

Quebec firm tops off  New york Tradecenter skyscraper
The installation of the spire was completed Friday morning after pieces of it had been transported to the roof of the building last week. The 408-foot (124.36-meter) spire, weighing 758 tons, is a joint venture between the Montreal-based ADF Group Inc. engineering firm and New York-based DCM Erectors Inc., a steel contractor. Link

French academia in war of words over plan to teach in English
 The global spread of the English language has long been a sore point in Paris politics. Now a new battleground has appeared in the linguistic war as the Socialist government wants to allow English to be used as a teaching language in French universities, sparking a rift in academia. Link

Here's the same story from Le Devoir Link{fr}

 'Bowling' versus 'Quilles'
 Last week in the comments section we had a lively, if not infantile discussion about borrowed words, that is English words commonly used in French and vice-versa.
But the discussion also touched on the subject of whether Parisiaenne French is more prone than Quebec French to poach words.
It's a pretty ridiculous argument considering.

Quebec: parquer dans stationnement
France: stationner dans parking

At any rate.....
It seems that a French (France) movie that came out annoyed a Quebec reviewer because of the differences in the Quebec version of certain words versus the French version of certain words.

In fact the very name of the movie was deemed offensive.
As you can see, in France the sport is known by its English name of 'Bowling' while in Quebec it is ' Quilles' 

According to reviewer  Jean-François Chartrand-Delorme

"From a Quebec perspective, the presence of English in a French film is still disturbing, beginning with the title. In Quebec, we play "Quilles' where we make 'abats' while in France it's  'bowling' and  a 'strike' (pronounced "bouligne" and "straïque" ). The same goes for the soundtrack. Aside from some typical Celtic music of Brittany, it is "It's Raining Men" by The Weather Girls and "Shake It Out" Florence + the Machine. These songs are integrated into the soundtrack where we see women train for the championship final. It's all uncomfortable and rings false because it's like watching an American B-movie...

....For Quebecers, watching a French film,represents not only a desire to travel to another country, but also to  enjoy another narrative, which is not the case here." Complete Original story in French 

  France Will Tax Smartphones to Fund Exceptional French Culture'
"France is planning a tax on smartphones, tablets, and a bevy of other internet-linked devices in order to fund the production of French art, film, and music. This tax could charge up to four percent on the sale of these devices, starting as soon as next year."  Link

Can Quebec be far behind?

Parents’ group worries about cuts to U of A French programs
 "The University of Alberta’s Campus Saint-Jean will suspend a first-year, college-level course in business administration, prompting a parents’ group to express concern that French language education will be reduced further this spring.
Parents were shocked to read  that enrolment for this fall was suspended on a blog by Martin Ferguson-Pell, acting provost at the University of Alberta a few days ago, said Michael Tyron, executive director of Canadian Parents for French, Alberta Branch. Link


Pauline the audacious....
I came across this paragraph in a piece by Kristian Gravenor on Coolopolis entitled; 'Will Anticosti Island make Quebec rich'

"Premier Pauline Marois recently gave a speech in which she gleefully attempted to mobilize this news into support for separation, as she pointed out ruefully that under the current Canadian structure, a share of the future

Huh? I wasn't aware that the Premier could actually say something so juvenile idiotic  moronic (fill in your own adjective), so I tried to track down the source.
After a lengthy search, I can confirm she did indeed tell Quebecers exactly that in a YouTube ad (in French)  promoting sovereignty, where she said that if and when Quebec discovers oil on Anticosti Island, the province would alas have to share the wealth with the rest of Canada.
Are you listening Alberta? What unmitigated Chutzpah!

By the way, read the rather interesting article on the history of island. Link

Let's finish with a smile......

Saw this in a Montreal Loblaws, but I won't mention the location, lest the language police pounce.

Have a great weekend!

Bonne fin de Semaine!