This week in Quebec corruption

It was of course a monumental week with the police arresting the interim mayor of Montreal Michael Applebaum and ex-city councilor Sollie Zajdel (who actually ran under the Conservative banner in the last federal election) for allegedly accepting bribes to effect zoning changes.
Both men have professed their innocence, but alas, it doesn't look good as the police seem to have a squealer in hand.
The story has gone viral and has again put Montreal and Quebec on the world map for all the wrong reasons;

New York Times
Wall Street Journal
CBS News -Montreal's interim mayor Michael Applebaum arrested on fraud charges
CNN -Montreal's interim mayor arrested on fraud charges
Le Monde -Au Québec, un vaste système de corruption mis au jour
From Denmar -Borgmester anholdt i sag om korruption
From Russia -Как мэр Монреаля стал мафией
From Israel - מונטריאול: ראש העיר היהודי נעצר בחשד לשחיתות - חדשות - בחדרי חרדים
From Mexico - El alcalde de Montreal es detenido por corrupción el primer año de mandato
From Italy - Il sindaco di Montreal è stato arrestato

You get the idea.....

Overshadowed is the news that three Montreal police officers were suspended in relation to a possible fraud over a security contract for the Montreal Police HQ, where a company with dubious provenance was awarded the contract under less than kosher circumstances.

"Montreal La Presse reported that the investigation is related to a contract handed to the now-defunct BCIA firm for surveillance at police headquarters. That contract was handed out by the force's former administration.
Ex-chief Yvan Delorme, who unexpectedly resigned in 2010, has said there might have been "administrative errors" in the awarding of the contract but that they were committed in good faith." Link

In the meantime, the federal Competition Bureau is investigating whether price-fixing has been going on by Quebec companies involved with the production, of all things, lampposts. Link

Shout out to Tim C for the pic

And in what only can be termed 'hilarious' testimony at the Charbonneau Commission, ex-Laval City manager, Claude Asselin pulled a Sgt. Shultz;

"He said it was common knowledge that there was collusion but he didn't do anything to stop it. Mayor Gilles Vaillancourt decided which construction company got contracts with the city and Asselin respected his authority, he said.
But commission chair France Charbonneau didn't seem to buy his explanations.
"It's hard to understand how a general manager who was in charge can say there was collusion yet didn't do anything about it," she said. Link

In negotiation for amnesty for himself, a corrupt fundraiser, Pierre Lambert turned over more than $700,000 in cash to police. The cash, a slush fund that belonged to the crooks that ran the city of Laval was stored in a mini-warehouse.

The part I found interesting was the $1,000 bills found in the plastic bag in the top left position.
The 'Pinkie' as it was then affectionately known as, actually went out of circulation back in 1990, replaced by a newer bill which also went out of circulation in 2001, the government rightly concluding that the bills served the interests of crime.
These bills were used widely in the construction industry to settle large debts and to transfer wealth abroad to tax-haven banks. The above picture is proof that they continue to be used to this day.
As for drug dealers and other criminals, the bills were never that popular because they couldn't be easily spent or readily deposited in local banks without raising questions.

All this to say, that twenty-three years after the bills were removed from circulation, they are still being used to crookedly transfer wealth.
By the way, there remains in circulation over one billion dollars worth of these bills, most in the employ of tax dodgers and crooks.
I'm pretty sure that Fintrac, the agency tracking loose money has the banks on the lookout for these bills, with reporting mandatory for anyone trying to deposit one.
It makes for an interesting scenario, where the bills cannot be easily cashed, yet remain common currency in the underground and illegal market.

Pq hits a new popularity low

"There is not a single positive element for the PQ government to take away from the latest CROP poll.

Published in this morning's La Presse, 70% of respondents say they are not satisfied with the government's performance to date.
Part of the problem may be the leader.
Only 11% of respondents see Pauline Marois as the best candidate for Premier, compared to 26% per cent for Liberal leader Philippe Couillard and 17% for Francois Legault of the CAQ. Read more

According to the La Presse story;

"A problem of leadership or leader? The question remains.
Only 11% of people see Pauline Marois the best candidate for the post of Premier, slipping five points in a month - and a steady decline since the beginning of the year. Only 51% of PQ voters see Marois as the best person for the post of prime minister. "

Philippe Couillard, who arrived this spring, is down by two points - 28 to 26%. François Legault, more present in the media in recent weeks, gaining three points to 17%. Françoise David made a good showing, her personal support rising from 6 to 9%.

Voting intentions in June did move much from the previous month. The Parti Quebecois (PQ) remains at 25%, the Liberal Party (PLQ) and the Coalition Future (CAQ) are treading water with, respectively, 38% and 22% of voting intentions. Québec solidaire is up one point to 11%.

According to the pollster, these results predict a comfortable victory for the Liberal Party of Quebec, "probably the majority." Link{fr}

Jean-Martin Aussant steps down as head of Option Nationale

The Editor calls "BULLSHIT"

"The founder and leader of Quebec's pro-sovereignty party Option Nationale is quitting politics.
Jean-Martin Aussant made the announcement Wednesday morning, saying the struggle to run a fledgling party and raise twin two-year-olds is just too much.
He clearly found the decision heartbreaking, and as he read his statement broke into tears, thanking the 80,000 people -- 2 per cent of the vote -- who voted for Option Nationale and thanked his wife for her support.
"It's more sadness than frustration. Polls still show that about 40 per cent of Quebecers are in favour of sovereignty and the largest party doesn't really talk about it," said Aussant. Link

Readers, I haven't heard such a bullshit excuse since Frank Zampino called a news conference to resign his position as deputy mayor of Montreal, in the middle of his mandate. He told reporters this cockamamie story;
"My intentions are to take a step back, and spend the next few months to consider the opportunities that could emerge in the private sector," Zampino told reporters at a news conference at city hall."

Not one reporter called Zampino out on what his real motives were.
The same for Jean-Martin Aussant, who claims he is leaving his job as leader for family reasons.
Another crock.
I don't know why Jean-Martin Aussant, is leaving, I've got no contacts on the separatist side to spill the beans, but he is either;

Burnt out and dejected.
Facing a health or scandal issue.
Already committed to a new job.

Or perhaps, it may be that Pauline Marois has promised him a secure job, to get him out of the way, just like Gilles Duceppe.
Does a committed father of twins really leave a secure job just like that without having something lined up?
Look for a well deserved summer vacation for a month or two, followed by the announcement that to nobody's surprise, Aussant has 'found' a new position.
Care to bet a two/four?

Turban war leaves bitter taste for losers

I must say that even I was a bit surprised at the rage expressed by certain francophone journalists over the turbangate affair where the most extreme anti-religion sentiments were expressed in response to a humiliating defeat for Quebec public secularism.

Réjean Tremblay -Journal de Montreal- "It's evident that English Canada is taking advantage of another occasion to vomit on Quebec" Link{fr}

Richard Martineau -Journal de Montreal- "Extremists Win" Link{fr}

Joseph Facal -Journal de Montreal- "FIFA -Incoherent and afraid" Link{fr}

The level of anti-religion venom spouted was surprising and leaves one to wonder exactly who the real fundamentalists are.
By the way, detractors of this blog often point out the comments section as a hotbed of anti- Quebec hate.
Check out the comments under the Martineau article, this in a mainstream newspaper.

And according to Don Don Macpherson of the Montreal Gazette;

The soccer turban controversy: It started with a lie.
When the Fédération de soccer du Québec announced on Saturday that it was lifting its ban on players wearing the turban, it said it was because the sport’s international governing body, FIFA, had decided only the day before to allow the Sikh religious head covering.
That’s not true.
A Radio-Canada television report on Saturday evening showed documents proving that the Quebec soccer federation knew as early as last September that FIFA allowed the turban.
That’s when the Canadian Soccer Association sent the FSQ and other provincial associations a letter informing them that the international governing body had decided to allow the turban.
So FIFA’s statement of Friday simply reiterated a position it had already taken nine months earlier.
And in the Radio-Canada report, the Quebec federation’s director-general, Brigitte Frot, made a damning admission.
She said the federation’s board of directors “heard of” FIFA’s position in the letter from the CSA, the sport’s governing body in Canada, in which it ordered the provincial associations to allow the turban. Read the rest of the story

Thanks to many readers for the story.

PQ proposes law to battle imaginary urban myth

Well perhaps it isn't an urban myth, but rather a rural myth, the one that is circulating around Quebec that says that foreigners, especially the fearful Chinese, are buying up Quebec farmland for speculative purposes.

The xenophobic PQ minister of Agriculture, François Gendron, is so concerned that he's proposing a law to block the sales, EVEN THOUGH HE ADMITS THAT THE PRACTICE ISN'T TRUE, the whole story, nothing but a myth.
He told TV interviewer Mario Dumont, that even though it isn't true that foreigners are buying up farmland in any significant amount, the fear that they are, must be addressed.
I kid you not.
This idiot is actually proposing a law to ban something that is not happening, because some fools believe it is.

"(translation) "Mr. Gendron acknowledged that the phenomenon is relatively marginal, but his goal is to ensure that agriculture remains in the hands of Quebec."

"One thing that's for sure, I'd rather take preventative action than propose a cure later on," he said during a press briefing at the National Assembly, after the filing of the bill. Link{fr}

The amount of hectares of farmland that is actually bought each year by foreigners is about 2,000, which may sound like a lot but is actually insignificant considering that Quebec has 3,500,000 hectares of farmland with about 1,000,000 unused anyways.
And so the yearly foreign purchases represent about .02% of farmland not in use.

Let me summarize this story as follows;
(Paranoia + Xenophobia) x Idiocy = PQ

What's next?...An anti-Zombie law?

French in Burlington, Vt.=Good

English in Montreal, Qc=Bad

The Journal de Montreal ran a gushing article on the City of Burlington, Vermont, which is making an effort to make Quebecers welcome by adding French to signage.

"Vermont wants to say "Hello" to more Quebec tourists by displaying more French in one of its busiest border towns.
Following the adoption of a motion of "French friendship" by the Burlington City Council, the French Alliance has installed about 700 stickers on parking meters downtown during the weekend explaining their operation in French and English, reported television station WCAX.

It is a way to welcome visitors arriving from Quebec, just across the border. Link{fr}

Hmmm. I wonder what the reaction of the newspaper would be if the story would be reversed?
"Quebec wants to say "Hello" to more Vermont tourists by displaying more English"

Weekend reading;

"But it seems we've ignored a silent threat tucked into the bill for too long: an extra two months a year for Canadian snowbirds to hang out in South Florida.
That's right, America. If the Senate has its way, those Quebecois bikers flooding your favorite beachside tiki bar with their poutine and their Fin Du Monde will be allowed to stay up to eight months at a time in the U.S.
Read more - The Silent Threat: Canadian Snowbirds

"Angry Ontario truckers will block part of the Champlain Bridge on Thursday morning to highlight their frustration over the presence of Quebec construction workers on this side of the provincial border. Link

McGill University obliterated its goal of a $750-million fundraising campaign and succeeded in raising more than $1 billion over the last nine years to boost support to students and research — a historic achievement for the university and the most raised by a Canadian university in that amount of time. Link

Have a laugh...

Many readers of this blog are polyglots (like me), able to speak three or more languages.
I bet we're all proud of our abilities, that is until we compare ourselves to this guy;