French versus English Volume 86

This week in Quebec corruption

It was the last straw.

The new interim-mayor of Laval, Alexandre Duplessis, who replaced  ex-mayor Gilles Vaillancourt, (who is charged with gangsterism among other charges in relation to graft at city hall,) was fingered by a witness at the Charbonneau corruption inquiry as also being corrupt. In fact the entire ruling party, save a few councillors were accused by the witness of operating an illegal scheme to finance their political party through illegal contributions.

With that accusation, the provincial government was forced to put Quebec's third largest city under trusteeship. Read a story

**********

"A former top-ranking Quebec provincial police officer was arrested this week for allegedly receiving payments from a secret expense fund.
Denis Despelteau, 61, faces counts of fraud, breach of trust, forging documents and theft from the government, according to an arrest warrant obtained by QMI Agency.
Investigators believe Despelteau was paid under the table from the account for consulting work following his retirement." Link

What the Toronto Sun story doesn't say is that the arrest was hurried up because police feared that Despelteau was making arrangements to flee the country for good.

Another strange fact to emerge is that he owed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Revenue Canada.

How can a cop, even a well-paid senior officer owe that much?

Something is veerrrry fishy! Link{fr}

Weekend reading:  The gangster politics of Laval  by Martin Patriquin in Maclean's

Language debates are holding up corporate plans, developer says

"Major corporations are putting expansion, relocations and long-term commitments on hold, because of the “unstable business environment” caused by the Parti Québécois hotly debated Bill 14, Jonathan Wener said Wednesday.
“The market has definitely gotten softer and a lot of people are putting major decisions on hold. It’s basically a wait-and-see attitude,” the head of Canderel Group of Companies, a national real estate development and management company, said.
Wener is the chairman and CEO of Montreal-based Canderel, which manages 9 million square feet of commercial space and has an additional 2 million square feet of residential development under construction nationally.
“I think it is extremely unfortunate that we live in a society that has reduced itself to thinking it needs language police to preserve its culture — point final,” Wener told The Gazette, in a reference to the Office québécois de la langue française. “I’ve travelled a good chunk of the world and when I talk about the fact that we have language police in Quebec they laugh at me.” Link

SSJB makes fools of themselves once again!

I read this story and was reminded of the great Shakespearean line;
"A countenance more in sorrow than in anger."

Click to read the  original story in French

Yes, I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the utter stupidity of the SSJB's local Laurentian region chapter, as well as the rank ignorance of the reporter who wrote this story.

"The Board of Directors of the Mouvement Québec français des Laurentides  (MQFL) welcomes the decision of the directors of Walmart in Saint-Jerome, to display its name with a French generic descriptor.

The company has indeed added the generic French " Super centre Walmart (sic)" as required by the Charter of the French language.

Resistors
The MQFL emphasizes this fact to the many businesses that continue to display English only banners. Moreover, the MQFL hoped that this example will be followed by other leaders in the business environment in large shopping centers and regrets that we see too many "Costco Wholesale", "Payless Shoes Source," "EBGames" and many other unilingual English names.

Réjean Arsenault, president of MQFL laments the resistance of some companies which threaten the French face of our region, names that appear only in English.

According to the president, this lack of respect for Quebec's francophone identity pollutes the visual environment and makes our malls pale copies of those of the United States or the rest of Canada.
The MQFL encourages consumers to act now to counteract this tendency towards an anglicized Laurentian landscape by promoting their disavowal to the offending business leaders."

I translated the whole article because I wanted to share with readers, the absurd mentality of these unilingual country rubes so sorely out of touch with the rest of North America, that they think the world revolves around them.
Let me explain to them that Walmart did not add the word "Supercentre" to satisfy the OQLF, with which they are already in court opposing any notion of French descriptors.

The term refers to a plus-sized store which sells food as well as the hard goods found in regular Walmart store across North America.

CLICK to read about Walmart's 'SUPERCENTRE'

All across Canada, (including Quebec) these expanded stores are differentiated from regular Walmarts with the addition of  'Supercentre' on the masthead, which is the same in English and French.
In the USA these stores are called "Supercenters" as opposed to "Supercentres" because of the difference in Canadian and American English. A shopping mall in Canada is referred to as 'centre.'
Sorry to burst your balloon, but Walmart made zero effort to comply with Quebec's language law.
I don't know which is worse, the foolish self-delusion of the SSJB or the utter ignorance of the journalist who wrote this story.

It reminds me of a story about my nephew, whose birthday fell just about the time the local town in which he lived sent up fireworks for Canada Day, each year.
As the family set up on the back balcony to take in the show, my brother dutifully reminded his son that he arranged the whole fireworks show as a birthday present! ... Call it a happy confluence of events!
Deceitful?...did you never lie about Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy?

More OQLF nonsense

I often listen to selected pieces from Quebec's talk radio, it isn't difficult to find pieces that interest me because  Radio Ego, posts interesting audio clips from the various talk-radio shows across Quebec.
In a clip about the OQLF, Stéphane Dupont went off on the organization telling listeners that it is such an embarrassment, it should just be shut down.
 He told the story about a Quebec truck manufacturer who was visited by the OQLF and received a complaint over a plaque on the wall.
It seems that the company had been cited for excellence by an international organization which issued the plaque to commemorate the achievement.
Readers you know the rest, I don't have to tell you that the OQLF objected because this international award was written in you-know-what. Listen in French

Quebec soccer bans turbans

"The Quebec Soccer Federation is forbidding turbans on the field of play, despite a directive from the Canadian Soccer Association saying turbans are okay.
For years, Sikh soccer players in Quebec were allowed to wear turbans, but last year the province’s soccer federation began to crack down.
At the time, the federation said it was only following the lead of the international soccer governing body FIFA and its Canadian counterpart.
FIFA still has yet to make a clear ruling on the issue.
Last week, the Canadian Soccer Association asked provincial soccer associations to allow turbans on the field.
But Quebec is still refusing to play ball." Read the rest of the story

Reaction is fast and furious with the federal government lodging an objection;

"Telling 5 year old kids they can't play soccer because of bogus safety excuses is not acceptable in any province," Vic Toews tweeted Monday. Read more

Fanned by anti-religious government rhetoric, religious intolerance in Quebec is growing at an alarming rate.

"In the Journal de Montréal, the province’s most-read newspaper, columnist Joseph Facal congratulated the federation for standing up to the “fanaticism” of religious minorities (who are simply defending a freedom promised them by Quebec’s own charter of rights).
And poll results recently published by the government suggest that the federation will have public opinion on its side. In the poll on religious accommodations commissioned by the government in March, one of the questions was whether to allow sports players to modify their uniforms or equipment for religious reasons.
For 81 per cent of all Quebecers — 87 per cent of francophones and 62 per cent of non-francophones— the answer was a resounding no." Read the complete story

Quebec continues to garner bad publicity around the world.
Just read the opening paragraph in this BBC news story;

CLICK to go to the BBC story

"To protect the French language, Quebec must separate from Earth"

"Ground control to Major Pauline...."

National post journalist Matt Gurney wrote a sarcastic, somewhat nasty, tongue in cheek piece that advised Quebecers to move to Jupiter to protect their language.

"Well, it’s come down to this. The only way that Quebec is going to be able to promote and defend its own unique language is to pack up, wish us all well and head out onto the vast depths of space. The future of the French language will be secure only when the Jovian Lunar Colonies of New Quebec (or New New France) are up and running. It won’t be easy. Conditions will be harsh. There’ll be cosmic rays to contend with. Not to mention the debilitating effects of low, or zero, gravity on human physiology. The only thing that will get these brave colonists through all the hardships will be the fact that they’re doing what they have to do to protect their language. And that daycare only costs seven astrocredits a day." 
Read the story

The article drew an angry response from Sophie Durocher of the Journal de Montreal who perhaps didn't find the humor in it at all. Since the piece is behind a pay-wall, I've pulled out the salient sections for translation;

"We know that the English Canadian newspapers regularly take shots at francophones in Quebec and with the ascension to power of Pauline Marois' separatist government, things have frankly gotten worse. But let's say a "new frontier" has been reached with the publication of an incredible text in the National Post on Wednesday....
...Journalist Matt Gurney bluntly tells all francophone Quebecers to embark on a space shuttle called QSS (Quebec Star Ship) Parizeau and depart to live on another planet, called the Lunar Colonies of New Quebec (or New New France).

Good riddance, this is how Quebecers then can speak French, a language that, according to Gurney, is useless.

"Despite  increasingly obnoxious and pathetic efforts by Quebec to erase any trace of this English in its territory, says Gurney, it hasn't happened." The only solution, he said, is that Ms. Marois press the panic button and take all the francophones to a planet where they can finally protect and promote their language without imposing it on the rest of the world, which wants to know nothing about this dead language.....

.....Gurney says the French he learned in school was never useful to him for anything, even after several visits in Quebec and two trips to France. (One also wonders what language he spoke when he was in Paris if it was not  French)....

....Do you think he could have written a story in the National Post with phrases like: 
"If the Jews are not happy, they should therefore go colonize Mars to promote a religion that nobody wants!  
Should blacks, who are whining all the time, be put in a shuttle and  sent to Pluto!  
If gays are so unhappy,  should they be sent to the moon?"...

..Gurney's text caused thousands of reactions and comments. And that of course resulted in venomous rants against Quebecers who still dare to fight for the French language...

..The only thing that francophone Quebecers want, Mr. Gurney, is to live in their own language, in peace with the other communities in the province...

It seems to me that we are not asking for the moon. Link fr-PW

Bits'n Pieces

Sandwich Thrower a no-show in court
The judge called out Evelyn Samantha Donis' name four times but no answer, she wasn't in court, so the judge issued a bench warrant. Donis is charged with aggravated assault with a weapon causing bodily harm.
She's accused of throwing a tuna and tomato sandwich in the face of Alex Montreuil, who had a near fatal allergic reaction to it.
It happened last fall at the cafeteria of the Jewish General Hospital. Read more

The true cost of Food Independance

A few posts back, we discussed the PQ's policy of 'food independence' where the stated goal was to increase the share of Quebec-produced food sold in Quebec stores.
I tried to point out the folly of this program but was roundly rebuked by many in the comments sections that despite the cost, viewed the program as noble. Fair enough.
How much does buying certain food products locally actually cost today?
Here's an example.
In a piece entitled "The Camembert law" journalist Alain Dubuc tells us that in a French supermarket (France) a kilo of Camembert cheese sold for €7.16, equivalent to $9.60, while in Quebec, a kilo of locally produced Camembert is sold between $32.00 and $35.00.
Still think it's a good idea to force consumers to buy locally? Read the story in French

Does French Stand a Chance Against a Global English-language Tsunami?
"French, once the language of high culture, kings and queens, and pin-striped diplomats, is drowning in a global tsunami of English usage in commerce, science, education -- and even at the multilingual United Nations. The United Nations has six official languages but English and French are considered the "working" languages. Yet without fluent English, journalists can't understand press conferences, diplomats can't negotiate resolutions and officials in the field can't file reports.
Still many of the U.N. peacekeeping missions are in Africa -- and in French-speaking lands, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo or Mali. Too often senior U.N. officials heading these operations, while fluent in French, are not native French speakers.
At a recent session at the Consulate General of France in New York, Stephane Dujarric, director of the U.N.'s News and Media Division, said:
"So my simple answer is: learn English!" Read the rest of the story

Dan Delmar: Parti Quebecois plans to double-down on intolerance
"The PQ hopes to spread the same Francosupremacist mantra to the reasonable accommodation debate, forcing Quebecers to make a false choice between an impartial, secular (read: French-Catholic) public sector and a chaotic multicultural mishmash where menorahs and hijabs are wedged in the spokes of government. It’s not a question of coming to a consensus on what precisely Quebec values are – that would be an exercise in futility since those values are diverse and subjective. It is simply an attempt to take a shortcut to sovereignty by manufacturing conflict, which is the hallmark of a successful Péquiste government.  Read the rest of the story

Britain also concerned about creeping American English
‘If there is a more hideous language on the face of the Earth than the American form of English, I should like to know what it is.’ So said a member of the House of Lords in 1978......

....‘Unstoppable rise of American English: Study shows young Britons copying US writing style’, ran a Daily Mail story last year. The analysis of 74,000 children’s entries to a short story competition found that the written work was littered with such Americanisms as garbage (rubbish), trash can (dustbin), sidewalk (pavement), candy (sweets), sneakers (trainers), soda (fizzy drink), smart (clever), cranky (moody), and flashlight (torch). The Mail prognosticated ominously that the ‘future of written English will owe more to Hollywood films than Dickens or Shakespeare, if the findings of a study into children’s writing are anything to go by’. Read the story
Okay, How many of you knew that the British  version of a cupcake is a 'fairy cake?' Link

What Took the French So Long to Create a Word For "French Kiss?
‘The English refer to “English muffins” simply as “muffins.” The Canadians like to call “Canadian bacon,” “back bacon.” Now, what do the French call a French kiss? If you had asked that question before May 30 of this year, the answer would have been absolutely nothing.

For centuries, there has been no official French word for French kissing. The situation has finally been rectified by the release of the 2014 edition of Le Petit Robert dictionary. When the famous French-language dictionary hit the shelves last Thursday, there were some new additions to the official French vocabulary including the recent slang term “galoche” (French kiss) and its verb form “galocher.” Link

By the way, of the words added to the Le Petit Robert dictionary this year, here is my favorite,
"Patenteux"
"This term is specific to Québécois French and describes a certain type of resourceful person who can fix your sink or repair your carburetor with nothing but the lint in his pocket and a stick of gum. A MacGyver, if you will." More

Tennis star Serena Willaims speaks French.....and Italian!
I bet you didn't know that!
She is a self confessed Francophile and gave this on-court interview after her French Open win.

CLICK TO HEAR INTERVIEW

Here she is speaking Italian. YouTube
Whoda thunk?

Radio Canada drops 'Canada'
"The French-language CBC sought to calm a backlash over its rebranding efforts following complaints from top to bottom within the organization. Radio-Canada issued a statement late Thursday after fielding complaints from the federal cabinet table to the shop floor, with one of its own workers’ unions condemning a move that also drew a fair bit of public ridicule online.
The organization moved to insist its historic name will remain prominent.
The organization’s executive vice-president said in a statement that he wanted to correct “misperceptions” that the organization was changing its name.
Louis Lalande said it’s not. He said the new brand name “Ici” — French for, “Here” — will be part of the identity but the organizational name won’t otherwise change." Link

Video of the week
You've no doubt seen many car chase videos (usually in California) where the entire chase is captured live by helicopter.
Here's one that takes place just north of Montreal, filmed by a news helicopter operated by the TVA network.
Probably the best quality pursuit video I've ever seen, so congrats to the reporter, and crew for being Johnny-on-the-spot.

CLICK to view video

Here's a video by a Longueuil motel promoting this years Fete-St.Jean celebrations and promising customers a pretty good time...er......
Is this what it's come down to????

After viewing the video, the beer company demanded that their name be disassociated.

I wonder why...

This story just broke last night and there was but one comment under the story in Le Journal de Montreal, but very telling.

 "The truth hurts, eh?"

 
Quote of the week
"The linguist Claude Hagège says that “the paradox is that today the people who are responsible for Americanisation and the promotion of English are not American.” Fortunately, people who are not French (notably in Africa and Quebec) have enabled cultural diversity to flourish. Political leaders should be inspired by their tenacity, not by the foolish fatalism of a few academics. Link 

Have a great weekend!

Bonne fin de semaine!