Jewish General Hospital and Quebec Daycare Association to PQ..... "UP YOURS!!"
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| JGH to PQ...."Non merci" |
The daycare association boasts so many employees who wear the headscarf, that to comply with the proposed law, would bring down the network. The spokesman added that the network will continue to hire qualified teachers, even if they wear the veil.
"There is no study that shows that the wearing of the headscarf affects the development of the child negatively, no cause and effect. I think Minister Bernard Drainville is talking out of his hat, says Sylvain Lévesque. These are qualified and patient women, who have a vocation and are doing excellent work with children, " he added. Link{fr}At the assembly of the Association in Montreal last week, members passed this resolution;
"No one will be excluded and dismissed for rules imposed by a state that promotes division, exclusion, strife and discord for ideological purposes. " Link{fr}In the meantime the Jewish General Hospital is making its displeasure known, hinting that they too will ignore the law, deeming it unconstitutional.
At the JGH, almost 30% of employees would violate the proposed law, including critical employees, like emergency room doctors. The hospital could not possibly replace these employees and is well aware that the government's assumption that most would remove their symbols is patently naive. Read: Jewish General may disobey secularism charter
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Now all this talk of the Charter of Values has raised some ugly sentiments from militant secularists in relation to the Jewish General Hospital. |
| Hasidic Jew... side locks |
Tania Longpré is the sacrificial lamb running for the PQ in Viau in Montreal, an ethnic riding that will go Liberal no matter what.
In the political vernacular of Quebec politics, she is a "poteau," (pole) someone who puts up election posters on telephone poles to defend the party colours in hostile territory and runs only to satisfy the minority who support the party in the riding.
'POTEAUS' have no expectation of winning and these candidates are positions usually filled by young party militants hoping for a political payoff should the party they represent win power.
When asked on Facebook if she agreed that the Jewish General hospital should drop the word 'Jewish' from its appellation and refrain from performing religious circumcisions, as well as barring Jewish employees of the hospital from wearing peyos, a tradition among ultra-religious Jews, none of whom, by the way, work in the public service, she enthusiastically answered.
"Against, against against."
When asked by that same interlocutor to clearly and publicly answer whether the Charter of Values should include provisions to remove the word 'Jewish' from the JGH and whether circumcision be banned as well as the kippah and side locks from the public service, Ms. Longpré answered. "I SAID yes!
When confronted by reporters, Ms. Longpré backed away from her position claiming that what somebody says on Facebook shouldn't be considered definitive and that she was in fact, the target of a smear campaign. Link{fr}
Digging a little further, reporters found some other embarrassing public statements made by Longpré, including disparaging remarks about the PQ in general and Pauline Marois in particular. Link
By the way, for those rednecks who believe it is unreasonable in the modern age of Quebec secularism for a public institution like a hospital to have a religiously based name (like the 'Jewish General Hospital,' I offer this list of primary care hospitals in Quebec that violate that principle;
Centre hospitalier Hôtel-Dieu d'Amos
Hôpital de Notre-Dame-du-Lac
Centre hospitalier Saint-Francois
Centre hospitalier Notre-Dame du Chemin
Hôpital de l'Enfant-Jésus
Hôpital du Saint-Sacrement
Hôtel-Dieu de Québec
Saint-Francois d'Assise
Hôpital, CLSC et Centre d'hébergement Christ-Roi
Hôpital de Saint-Georges
Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis
Hôtel-Dieu de Sherbrooke (CHUS)
Hôpital Hôtel-Dieu de Gaspé
Hôpital de Sainte-Anne-des-Monts
Hôtel-Dieu de Sorel
Hôpital Notre-Dame du CHUM
Hôpital Sainte-Anne
Hôpital Saint-Luc du CHUM
Hôtel-Dieu du CHUM
Centre hospitalier de St. Mary
Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal
Hôpital Santa Cabrini
The Charter debate has opened the door to some pretty racist comments, snuck in under the guise of honest debate. If you think the comments on this blog are inflammatory, you haven't been reading the mainstream press lately.
Translation: Lucky the PQ is a good sport. If it was me, symbols would be allowed, but there wouldn't be any synagogues or mosques. Link{fr}
Now I've read thousands of comments in the French press in relation to the Charter and have come to the unscientific conclusion that the readers of the decidedly low-brow Journal de Montreal are much more anti-charter than readers of Le Devoir.
I actually thought it would be the other way around, but then, the vast majority of Le Devoir readers are separatists, so I guess it makes sense.
Here's an exchange in the comments section of the JdeM that caught my attention. It appeared under the story of Tania Longpré
Alain Mourani : She is representative of unbridled xenophobia, which once public, spreads unashamedly. It is for the benefit if the peanut gallery, the PQ understands that its chances of an election win in that riding is equal to zero. Muslims were, until now, the scapegoats, but now the Jews are back ... not to mention that in the Jewish hospital, anyone will be very well cared for, and in French, unlike the claims of the ignorant mass of morons. It was created because of the opposition of good Catholic clergy Quebec and its political cronies ... to let the Jews practice as physicians ...Now Muslims, tomorrow others and that's the xenophobia in the Republic of the Quebec ... Kébecquistan
Morrisette Paul: You lied, it is in the Quebec Parliament where the first Jew in Canada was admitted. It is in the University of Montreal where the Jews refused in McGill, turned to. It was the English Prime Minister of Canada who claimed that Hitler was a great statesman, a man he admired. It was the Canadian government that refused a ship of Jewish refugees who were returned to be taken by the Germans and whose occupants perished in concentration camps
Alain Mourani: Well, I can also cite the example of Adrien Arcand, a pure Nazi... the question isn't there. The Jewish hospital exists because cathos refused Jewish doctors the right to practice in the cathos hospitals. Giving me some historical facts does not change the present situation. I have a collection of anti-Semitic posters from 1945 to 1955, in French, posters used by municipalities like St. Agathe, to complain about the invasion of the Jews, their refusal to integrate ... etc.. Just look at the current deleterious climate to understand that the latent xenophobia speaks now without restraint. Before we had a little discomfort in expressing it. ... Link{fr}Read: An open letter to Tania Longpre from a surgeon in the Jewish General Hospital
Here's my solution to the impasse.....
Let the government take over the JGH and install a new secular administration, rename the hospital more appropriately, perhaps Hopital Abbé Lionel Groulx .
Get rid of all the Prots, Anglos, Jews, Muslims and pesky immigrants who work in the hospital and replace them with unilingual Francophones. Rename all the pavilions and buildings which up to now, honour generous patrons and donors, with famous Montreal Canadiens hockey players.
....then pay back the almost 1 billion dollars that the Jewish community invested in the hospital via charitable donations over the decades.
That sounds fair, and readers I'm betting that there are many PQ politicians who would take the deal.
After all, it would be a question of raising Quebec's debt from $250 billion to $251 billion, a trifle and worth the money to get rid of the reminder of Anglo domination and the fact that as McGill University is Quebec's best institution of higher learning, so too is the JGH, in relation to the health field.
Just ask Jacques Parizeau and Pauline Marois, who chose to be treated at the JGH, rather than at any of the aforementioned hospitals on the list I've provided above.
PQ Election promises out the window
The two main planks of the PQ election campaign were the cancellation of the Health Tax, imposed on all citizens by Jean Charest's Liberal government and the promise of a balanced budget.The PQ government admitted this week that it can deliver on neither due to deteriorating economic conditions and reduced revenues.
It is no surprise to readers of this blog, I told you this would happen a while back.
"No matter how you slice it, Quebec is in big economic trouble, likely heading into a recession and towards a three or four billion budgetary deficit.Well it may even be worse than that;
Long gone is the PQ election promise of a balanced budget, the realities of Quebec economics dictate that in the present and foreseeable future, it just ain't gonna happen. Read: Quebec's perfect storm
When Quebec's finance minister presented his forecast for this fiscal year, he made some predictions in regard to revenue and expenditures, predictions which would allow him to balance the budget.
Well, how'd that work out?... not so well.
Marceau's numbers:
Government revenue to increase +5.2%... So far. +0.6%...an increase 88% less than predicted.
Government expenses to increase +1.9%... So far. +4%...an increase 102% more than predicted.
Revenues from government enterprises including Hydro-Québec, Loto-Québec, the SAQ, etc., have posted diminishing returns on the order of -4,4% while the government anticipated a rise of 3.8%.
And so the government, just four months into the fiscal year has built up a $2.3 billion deficit.
The way things are going, my prediction of a 3-4 billion dollar debt this year is looking realistic.
By the way, the last five months have been brutal, each posting a deficit and totalling 3 billion dollars in all, erasing some of the gains made at the beginning of the year.
But all this is no matter to Marois, who now maintains that a deficit isn't as bad as cutting expenses.
Marois steals Bank slogan..."Quebec is richer than you think!"
I cannot stop but marvel at the utter and complete bullshit that comes out of our Premier's mouth. Sorry to be crude, but never in my life have I seen a politician so brazenly attempt to lie, misconstrue and totally mislead.Readers know me as a cynical sort, one who claims to have seen it all in regards to politicians. But Pauline takes the cake for evil manipulation and manifest dishonesty.
Watching a children's movie with my 4 year-old grandson, I'm inspired to nickname Pauline Marois as "Despicable She"
She has evolved to the point that almost nothing coming out of her mouth can be trusted.
The definition of an inveterate liar is someone who lies, even when it makes more sense to tell the truth.
"Pauline Marois made the case for Quebec sovereignty on Sunday, arguing that Quebecers are richer now that they were in 1995, when they came close to choosing independence.Is Marois intimating that Quebec's unemployment rate is at a historical low?....Nope, not at all.
“Never has Quebec counted so few families without jobs or living on social assistance,” the premier said at the close of a two-day meeting in Montreal of about 500 Parti Québécois delegates and observers from across the province." Link
Are we really richer because a couple of thousand less people are on welfare?
Marois maybe useless as a Premier, but she certainly could get a get a job selling real estate à la Glengarry Glencross.
Soon she'll be resorting to double negatives to fools us. ..."I want to assure you that no one in my government is not considering tax increases."
Quebec has accrued an additional $100 billion debt since 1995, so the question remains...are we really richer than then?
OQLF..en garde
After a complaint by a language vigilante in regards to a restaurant's signage which included the word 'take out', the agency declined to proceed, based on the notion that the offence was trifling.
