Cornwall Hospital Flap a Flashpoint of Language Intolerance

I'm often labeled as an English rights 'angryphone,' someone obsessed with promoting the English and Ethnic community in Quebec.
At least that's the view from the vigile.net crowd who regard defense of English rights an attack on French as if it is a zero-sum game.

So be it, I wear the label with pride because it is true that I am a ferocious defender of these rights, but like most labels, it doesn't really define me.

I do in fact spend most of my time describing the English and Ethnic condition in Quebec because after all, that is what this blog is about.

That being said, I do call out and report on ALL language based intolerance that I see, be it here in Quebec or anywhere in Canada.

And so it is incumbent upon me to report upon what I can only condemn as the small-minded language intolerance of a not inconsequential group of Cornwall residents in regards to the bilingual status of a local hospital, one that has decided in accordance with Ontario law to make certain positions in the hospital open to bilingual staff only.

Before continuing, it is important to note that the area serviced by the hospital is about 30% Franco-Ontarian.

Now the bilingual designation has some locals furious because it means that monolingual but otherwise qualified candidates won't be considered for certain jobs in the hospital and that fact just doesn't sit well with those in the community who see the issue as discrimination against unilingual Anglo-Ontarians.

Up to now I haven't seen one English newspaper or online report on the demonstration that took place last Saturday by about one hundred people, protesting the issue, so I'm going to translate portions of two French reports from Radio-Canada;

"The Cornwall Hospital in Eastern Ontario, is at the center of a controversy ever since it changed its hiring criteria to encourage the use of bilingual workers.

Since January, the hospital is complying with the Act on French-language services in Ontario, but the English-speaking community in the region, as well as the Mayor of the Municipality of South Stormont, Bryan McGillis, oppose it.

In protest, the mayor canceled the payment of its annual funding of $30,000 for the expansion of the institution, with the approval of the council. "I get calls from people who support me, not only in the region but across Canada," he said in English.

Dr. Danny Tombler is the origin of this debate. In an open letter published in a regional newspaper , he was outraged over this new policy and called for a boycott of the fundraising campaign of the Hospital.

"The vast majority of Ontarians are unilingual anglophones, while this bilingualism policy is discriminatory. A clear message would suspend all grants made to the fundraising campaign of the hospital, until the establishment changes its hiring criteria. "- Dr. Danny Tombler

This new hiring criterion does not, however, supersede skills, said the Hospital. "It is important to specify that bilingualism does not trump competence," said Fernand Hamelin, member of the Board of Directors of the Cornwall Hospital.

The Board of Directors of the Hospital is worried that the controversy will undermine its budget, which threatens the purchase of medical equipment and the hiring of a dozen doctors..."

Full credit for the story to Catherine Lanthier of Radio-Canada. You can read the original story in French HERE

On Saturday a demonstration was held to protest the issue.

"More than a hundred residents of Cornwall, in eastern Ontario, demonstrated Saturday afternoon against the policy of hiring bilingual personnel  for their community hospital. A group of protesters gathered near the hospital. The administration of the Cornwall Hospital has stirred up a controversy when it decided to change hiring criteria to promote the use of bilingual workers in certain occupations. Since January, the facility is complying with the Law concerning French-language services in Ontario.
Demonstrators called for the abolition of this policy. According to them, the new hiring criteria discriminates against unilingual Anglophones and may even require the hiring of outside workers from Quebec. They took the Minister Responsible for Francophone Affairs of Ontario, Madeleine Meilleur to task because she supports the hospital's efforts. Nearly 3,000 signatures were collected on a petition seeking a review of  full government services to Franco-Ontarians. At the event, the Mayor of South Stormont, Tammy Hart, said she hopes to see the abolition of the Ministry of Francophone Affairs....

The French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario, François Boileau, was disappointed to see so much bitterness towards bilingualism in the province. He added that the Act that services French in Ontario, adopted unanimously by the Legislature 25 years ago, has a dual purpose. First, it protects the Francophone minority. Then it ensures progress towards equality of status of French and English in Ontario. Cornwall is nearly 30% Francophone.

"When you look at such events, we realize we still have some work to do to educate the general population. "- François Boileau, French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario.

Full credit for the story to Catherine Lanthier of Radio-Canada. You can read the original story in French HERE

This story demonstrates that language intolerance knows no bounds and that no linguistic group is immune to selfish and immoral behavior.

I am particularly amused by the sign at the top of the page demanding "EQUALITY FOR ALL" 
If an employer can demand a high school certificate, a college degree or specialized training, why can't bilingualism be a criterion when appropriate?
Certainly bilingual employees in a hospital that serves two language groups is appropriate.
It is the same argument put forward in Quebec by French language militants who complain that bilingual job descriptions discriminate against monolingual francophones.....Ya think?

Does "EQUALITY FOR ALL" mean that it is unfair for a pizzeria to demand that it's delivery drivers or waiters be bilingual if 30% of its clientele is French?

I may be called to task for this next observation but the whole affair reminds me of the argument made by Southern States in defense of slavery, in the U.S. Civil War. That is, that the freeing of the slaves would ruin the Southern economy, regardless whether slavery was moral or not.
 
Clearly this language brouhaha in Cornwall is an economic issue, not language.

People just don't want to be cast aside from employment consideration because of their monolingualism, regardless of whether bilingual employees is what the hospital requires.

The question is simple, should a hospital whose patients are 30% French provide service in French and should it hire the appropriate personnel to provide that service?

It's a no-brainer.

What if Israel Enacted Quebec's Bill 101

Israeli Druze casting a vote

It's always easier to give advice than to accept it, finding solutions for other peoples problems a lot easier than fixing our own.

It's my experience that berating dedicated French-language militants over related language issues here in Quebec is about as rewarding and productive as beating a dead horse.

I've always been amazed at the hypocrisy of Quebecers, castigating Israel over defending itself from a hailstorm of missiles, while engaging Natives in hostilities over the most benign confrontation over a golf course. whatever.... 

So I'm going to try a different tack, using Israel (a villain to most true separatists) as an allegorical substitute and ask the above-mentioned group of French-language militants to offer linguistic advice to a country that surprisingly has many things in common with Quebec.

Now I'll stipulate right off the bat, that the comparison is imperfect, but nonetheless, let's have a whirl.

Let us start with population, Israel has a population of about eight million, just about the same as Quebec.
The majority, about 75% are Hebrew-speaking Jews, while in Quebec the majority 79% are French-speaking Christians.
Both countries have significant minorities,  English in Quebec (13%) and Arab(20%) in Israel.

Now this discussion only describes Israel and not Gaza or the West Bank. The Arabs described are full citizens of Israel, enjoying the same legal definition of a citizen as their Jewish countrymen.
In 2009, 53% of Arab Israelis voted in the general election versus 57% of Quebecers who voted that same year in the provincial election, which is pretty similar.

No doubt the tension between Arabs and Jewish Israelis is much higher than relations between Anglos and Francos here, but it's important to remember that a recent Harvard study found that 77% of Arab Israelis would rather live in Israel than in any other country.
I'm not sure that if a similar study was conducted in Quebec about anglos, that the score would be much higher.

In Israel, the Arab minority live largely in voluntarily segregated neighborhoods and communities, a bit like the Anglo bastions in western Montreal, parts of the Pontiac and Townships, where they live their lives in Arabic, practicing their own culture, speaking their own language, distinctly apart from the mainstream society of Israel.

Sound familiar?

So my first question to French language militants reading this blog, (and they are legion) is whether  this is reasonable. Shouldn't the Arabs be encouraged to embrace the mainstream culture and identity of the majority in order to create a cohesive society?

Perhaps a noted social commentator like Réjean Labrie could contribute a lesson plan for these Arabs on how best to integrate into Israeli society;

Should Arab Israelis;

• Embrace matzoh, chicken soup,  shakshooka  and cottage cheese for breakfast?
• Speak Hebrew in public?
• Give up their 'ethnic' garb and adopt western attire like the majority of Israelis?
• Participate in national day celebrations by having their own Arab artists sing in Hebrew.
• Celebrate national holidays like Yom Kipper and Passover.
• Watch Hebrew television and movies.
• Circumcise their male children.
• Vote for mainstream political parties rather than those that represent their own narrow Arab interests?

Is it reasonable for a Hebrew language zealot like Quebec's Yves Michaud to whine on the radio that Arabs are bad citizens because they do not embrace the Hebrew nature of the country.

And so, is it reasonable for Israel to declare a national identity that excludes Arab culture, language and history?
Is it reasonable for the Israeli government to declare Israel a one-culture, one-language country where Arab culture and Arabic is tolerated, but not encouraged?

Let us apply Bill 101 to Israel and see what the ramifications would be like.
After all, if French is in danger in North America, Hebrew, the national language of Israel must be equally as well, surrounded by a sea of Arabic. In fact Israel is the only place on Earth where Hebrew is actually spoken, so I can't think of any national language more threatened.

Would it be deemed a tad racist for an Israeli cabinet minister to proclaim that too many Arabs live in Jerusalem and that measures should be taken to increase the number of Jews who live there in order to preserve the Jewish 'character' of the city?

Should Arab only billboards in Israel be disallowed as English ones are in Quebec?

Should all retail establishments be required to post Hebrew signs that are at least 50% larger than the Arabic, even in Arabic neighborhoods where Hebrew speakers are few and far between?

Would it be fair for extremist Hebrew language zealots and government inspectors to go around Arab shops and businesses hounding shopkeepers and businessmen for the slightest violation of language purity laws.

Would it be considered unreasonable that some Arab clerks are unable to serve the Hebrew majority in the language of Abraham?

Should all official communication between citizens and the government be conducted in Hebrew only?

Should Arabs be required by law to speak and understand Hebrew before graduation from Arab language universities?

Should companies that employ mostly Arabs be required to communicate with employees in Hebrew?

Should all professionals be subject to Hebrew language proficiency tests before being allowed to practice, even if they do so in an exclusively Arabic environment.

Should bus drivers refuse to give instructions in Arabic even while driving through exclusively Arab neighborhoods.
In fact should the bus company make it explicit policy that no employee be obligated to speak Arabic to clients, even if they can? 
Should ambulance drivers serving Arabic villages refuse to communicate with patients in Arabic,  even if they speak the language?

Is it fair to tell Arabs that if they don't like the Hebrew nature of Israel they should pack up and leave to Egypt or Jordan where their language and culture reigns?

Is it reasonable to call these measures necessary and reasonable because of the fragile nature of Hebrew?

Hmmmm.....

I can just imagine French language militants bridling at the comparison, but remember, Israel is a country, not a province in an Arab speaking country.
Let us also remember that Israel is a creation of the United Nations, duly formed and constituted under the auspices of a free vote in the General assembly, more than Canada and Quebec can claim, both which basically stole the land from the natives.

I'm sure that everyone would find the above fictional behavior by Israel reprehensible and racist, to say the least.
By the way, little of what is described above is real, the truth being that Arabic is afforded much more freedom in Israel than English in Quebec.
If the measures above were somehow a reality, I'm sure the United Nations would be condemning Israel six ways from Sunday and Amir Khadir would be leading an anti-Israel demonstration in Montreal, supported ironically, by a wide range of pasta chasers over Israeli ethnic cleansing.

How is it that when we view our behavior in the context of somewhere else, it is a lot easier to recognize it for what it is.........Racism.....

REMINDER!.....REMINDER!

Equality Party 2.0 membership drive.

Tonight!
Try and make an effort to attend....

French versus English Volume 80

This week in Corruption

Francois Legault, head of the opposition CAQ party held a news conference to demand that the PQ government take legal action against companies whose senior members admitted to collusion and price-fixing at the Charbonneau Construction/Crime commission.

Lamenting that only a few engineers were forced to resign and that nothing has been done against the companies themselves, Legault demanded that the province take legal action to punish and recover the ill-gotten gains.

It occurs to me that if the government pursues all the executives that were involved and moved to recover the funds, the provinces consulting/engineering firms would collapse, even the mighty SNC-Lavalin who is as wrapped up in all this corruption as any other.

Last week the city of Montreal faced a difficult conundrum;
How to fix the city's many potholes when all the companies that do the work have been named at the commission as crooked.
The city council told the mayor that he could not hire any of them and so the frustrated mayor asked citizens to voice their opinions, in fact asking them to choose the lesser of the two evils.

The reality is, that if all the bosses, the politicians and civil employees who are guilty of corruption were to be fired tomorrow and the crooked companies made to pay for their crimes, the province would grind to a halt, our very own Quebec version of "Too Big to Fail"

"My battle with the language police as an anglo professional in Quebec"

"At first things went well. I made some francophone friends, and the shopkeepers in our part of town did not switch to English. I understood my francophone patients, and they politely corrected language mistakes to help the new doctor learn.
I watched Tout le monde en parle on TV, took French classes and read L’actualité magazine, whose subscription department was so flummoxed by a common anglophone name in a doctor’s handwriting that my issues arrived addressed to “Jamos Rosi.”
I thought I had found my French groove. Near the end of my residency, a temporary staff position in Quebec’s Kafkaesque health system appeared possible.
People warned me about the exam administered by l’Office Québécois de la langue français. Doctors must pass it within four years to keep their licence in Quebec. Many of my “Rest of Canada” colleagues had failed it several times. Anglophones from Quebec, some of whom do not speak French well, are not subjected to the exam...". Read the rest of the story in the Globe & Mail

Thanks to the many readers who sent a link to this story.

Equality Party 2.0 membership drive.

It's finally happening.
After organizing itself, it's time to get up and running for the Equality Party 2.0.
On Monday the party will be holding a meet and greet in NDG, with an eye to signing up members, the lifeblood of a party.

If you have questions about the program, issues like vote-splitting, or positions on anything that concerns you, here's an opportunity to scratch that itch.

In the comments section of this blog, we hear "What can I do?" quite a lot.
Here is an opportunity to show up and be counted.

 Make an effort to  be there if you can!

CLICK PICTURE TO ENLARGE

By the way, Equality Party 2.0 Leader Mark S. Bergeron will appear on the Barry Morgan Show today, Friday April 5, at 7pm on CJAD Radio 800 in Montreal. You can also listen on the web at cjad.com.
READ: 5 REASONS TO RE-LAUNCH THE EQUALITY PARTY

Followup on Chinese signs in BC.

A little while back I wrote about complaints about Chinese only signs in Richmond BC. Apparently two women were offended and took up a campaign against them.
Here's some of what I wrote;

"I was asked for my opinion about this story in an email by a reader and can answer with a phrase that I recall using as a kid.
You can like it or lump it, which sums up my feelings rather succinctly and my advice to the women offended by the Chinese only signs with another phrase from my childhood...tough noogies." Link

It doesn't surprise me that the whole thing was a tempest in a teapot.
Here is an excerpt from a followup article;

"Out of 869 businesses, they found a total of 12 (one of which appeared to have recently gone bankrupt) with Chinese-only signs. That comes to 1.4 per cent of the shops in Richmond's business core.
Is that what "many residents are upset" about? Is that why Ms. Starchuk (whom I've never met but is no doubt a lovely person in her own right) has been "writing letters to the editor and buttonholing politicians?" according to the Sun story.
Eleven businesses with Chinese-only signs?
The gentlemen asked the shopkeepers with no English on their signs why that was the case. One was a bookstore that sold books only in Chinese.
What would his sign say, one wonders - Chinese Books. Not for You." Read a great story

Quebec planning sovereigntist assault on Canada

"It seems that Pauline is putting her foot down, the next time she sends ministers to Ottawa begging for money, they will do it in French only.
And if the feds don't like it they can lump it!

"The Quebec government has introduced a new initiative that encourages cabinet ministers to speak only French to their counterparts from other provinces and Ottawa.
The strategy is part of the Parti Quebecois’ plan to push its sovereigntist agenda and prevent what it sees as intrusions by Ottawa in Quebec’s jurisdictions.
Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Alexandre Cloutier told a news conference Wednesday that Quebec’s initiative to limit English usage by its ministers is only a guideline, not a restriction.
“The official language in Quebec is French and all the papers being prepared are in French, all documentation is in French, and we think it’s necessary to use the same language that it is written (in),” Cloutier said in Quebec City." Link

Kim-Jong-Pol to Canada... "We are in a STATE OF WAR!!"

"The small-mindedness of Pauline Marois’ policy of “sovereigntist governance” is most recently shown in a directive that Quebec cabinet ministers should speak only French in federal-provincial discussions and meetings – to the accompaniment of simultaneous translation. The idea seems to be that Quebec cabinet ministers have to play a kind of children’s game in which they pretend not to be able to speak English, in order to also pretend that Canada is a foreign country." Link

Yves Michaud's long march to oblivion

For those of you who need to be reminded, Yves Michaud was a militant Peequist who was in December 2000 unanimously condemned in the National Assembly for making some injudicious remarks about ethnics and particularly Jewish Quebecers, railing against the fact that none voted for sovereignty.
Mr. Michaud was deeply stung by the motion which basically branded him a racist, this in the highest legislative body in Quebec.
Since then he has worked tirelessly and obsessively to get the motion reversed and failing that, an apology from every member who voted for the motion.
His story reminds me of the painful journey embarked upon by Jesus on the Way of the Cross, a long and painful ordeal leading to his ultimate crucifixion.
During last September's provincial election he ran a newspaper advertisement asking electors not to vote for the surviving thirteen members who were running, who still hadn't apologized. See the advertisement

But according to election law, it's illegal for individuals to spend money to influence voters in an election campaign outside of a controlled political party.

And so the hapless Michaud has been slapped with a $6,000 fine by the Director General of Elections, something that set him off once again.
Mr Michaud is once again tilting at windmills, telling reporters that he will sue the DGEQ for $100,000 as well as militate for his removal. Link{fr}
When I think of Michaud, I'm reminded of Brian Mulroney's most famous remark that "there's no whore like an old whore"

Lobby group says Bill 14 too weak

"The official advisors for Quebec on linguistic matters say the province is not doing enough to promote the French language, even if every measure in Bill 14 is passed.

Winston Chan & Robert Vezina of the Conseil superieur de la langue francaise

In a report released Wednesday,  The Conseil superieur de la langue francaise, the official advisory body for the Minister of Language, said it has no doubt that the use of French is declining in Quebec. In fact, it said everyone in the province, including native francophones, would do well to brush up on their French language skills.
"The level of literacy in Quebec is pretty low in general," said Winston Chan.

"The bureaucrats say the quality of French spoken by anglophones is of particular concern, and generally not good enough to let them work in Quebec.
"One of the challenges for English students... is the immersion skills are lower and we see that difficulty in the workplace later on," said Chan.
Bill 101 badly needs updating, said the CSLF.
“Now there are new challenges. New immigrants, and allophones taking their place in our society. We have to make sure that French is the language of social cohesion,” he said. Link

...but Bill 14 appears doomed to defeat

"The Parti Quebecois’s plan to toughen Bill 101 could be in trouble.
The Coalition Avenir Quebec confirmed Wednesday the existence of a draft of a letter stating it will oppose the most controversial aspects of Bill 14, the proposed legislation to beef up Quebec's French language law.
In the letter, the CAQ stated it is opposed to the following provisions of Bill 14:

• The right to remove a municipality's existing bilingual status
• Removal of the right of children of francophone military parents to attend English school
• New measures forcing companies with 26 to 50 employees to conduct their internal communications in French
• Measures to restrict francophone and allophone students from attending Anglophone CEGEPS." Read more

Duceppe to lead Employment Insurance Commission

"Quebec Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Alexandre Cloutier unveiled the Parti Quebecois government’s long-awaited sovereignist governance plan Wednesday in Quebec City, and it involves relying on a familiar face.
Former Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe will lead a four-person commission into changes the federal government is making to Employment Insurance.
The commission is just one aspect of a multi-part plan which involves being more assertive with the federal government -- a necessity, Cloutier explains, because the federal government has made unilateral decisions that harm Quebecers, with the EI changes being a perfect example." Link

Controversial mayor gives BBC interview

"Huntingdon’s mayor, Stéphane Gendron oversees a mixed community of French and English speakers. “When we have our meetings, we usually switch from French to English in the same sentence,” said Gendron. “It’s like breathing air, we don’t care.”
Sounds reasonable, but that linguistic back-and-forth in Huntingdon is technically against Quebec’s law.
Gendron recalled receiving an email last year from the Office québécois de la langue française. He said the email informed him that he and his administration are “not authorized to communicate in English with our citizens.” Read the story

Listen to the  interview he gave to the BBC;

Language and the Habs

Last week, I highlighted this picture of a unilingual sign in the Montreal Canadiens dressing room in their practice facility in south shore Brossard.

I'm not sure if complaints about language influenced the team to change the sign in the Bell Centre dressing room or if it was there before;

But then again it's a different story when the Canadiens go on the road. Apparently the sign is a fixture in their dressing room and part of the team culture and so the Canadiens paste up the sign in all the dressings rooms they visit while on the road

Hmmmmm.... Repeat after me....."Lip Service"

Here's a message that some fan held up in Pittsburgh to make fun of Michel Therrien's inability to pronounce the hard 'T.'
He was a coach there for some time and I guess fans remember....ouch!

Read a story about it in French HERE

And for no other reason than it's Friday and we are on the subject of hockey, I include this animated GIF of Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask reacting to an improbable and infuriating loss to the Habs. Sweet!

 

It's the weekend, so how about enjoying the best gin in the world. From Quebec!

Have a good weekend!
Bonne Fin de Semaine!

The Slippery Slope of Language Intolerance

Back in 1977 when the PQ first introduced Bill 101, the justification by René Lévesque and company was that without enshrined French language rights, the French fact in North America, was destined to disappear, the loquiturs assimilated in a sea of English.

But unlike the hard-line wing of the party led by the author's bill, Camille Laurin, Levesque was troubled and somewhat embarrassed by the need for a such a restrictive law and battled royally to tone its more radical elements before ultimately acquiescing to the majority in his government who saw the law as not only necessary for the preservation of French, but as fair payback to the English who had in their eyes exploited and dominated the French majority for centuries.

Watch a fascinating video on Rene Levesque's unease over Bill 101 in French({fr}

Many clauses that were included in the original Bill 101 were so clearly unconstitutional that even a collegiate freshman would conclude that they were included purely for political reasons, since there was no question of those clauses surviving a constitutional challenge.

Bill 101: "French is the language of the legislation and of the justice system in Quebec"

Nothing but nothing demonstrates the bad faith of the drafter of Bill 101 than Article 7 of Chapter III, which completely contravenes the BNA Act, the founding document that created Canada and which represents the highest law of the land, which incidentally, to this day, defines the limits of federal and provincial jurisdiction.
It couldn't be simpler, Article 133 of the BNA act says;

133. Either the English or the French Language may be used by any Person in the Debates of the Houses of the Parliament of Canada and of the Houses of the Legislature of Quebec; and both those Languages shall be used in the respective Records and Journals of those Houses; and either of those Languages may be used by any Person or in any Pleading or Process in or issuing from any Court of Canada established under this Act, and in or from all or any of the Courts of Quebec.

The only reasonable conclusion to draw is that Dr. Laurin included these clauses knowing full well they'd be overturned in the Supreme Court, thus creating a 'humiliating setback' for French language rights, resulting in a heightened linguistic tension, a cynical attempt to stir up emotions of betrayal and persecution in Quebec through shameful deception and manipulation.

Today language militants still whine that their sacrosanct law has been unfairly sliced and diced by the Supremos, an attempt in their eyes, to limit Quebec's right to determine its own linguistic policy.

But for most Quebecers, Bill 101 was never about punishing Anglos, rather a reasonable effort to advance and protect the French language and culture.
Let us remember that in accepting Bill 101, the francophone majority willingly embraced restrictions on their own community in regards to sending their children to English schools.

And so we should understand that like Certs breath mint, Bill 101 is really two laws in one, a law to protect French and a law to punish the English.
Some see it as one, some see it as the other and some see it as both.

The effect of the Bill 101 is also a question of perspective, hardline separatists seeing the 35 year old law as ineffective, middle of the road francophones seeing it as effective and necessary while most anglos see the law as devastatingly punitive and coercive.

All this has been debated since the inception of the law and opinions abound in both the French and English press as well as the blogosphere.
There's not much I can add to bring much perspective to the debate, smarter and more erudite writers have covered the territory ad nauseum, but I would like to tackle an aspect that remains largely unexplored, that is the cumulative psychological effect that Bill 101 has had on the mainstream francophone opinion, vis-a-vis linguistic relations in Quebec.

Let us put aside for the moment the positions of French hardliners or Anglos and consider the Francophone majority, those who never saw Bill 101 as a weapon, but rather a cure.
The attitudinal shift of this group towards language intolerance over the 35 years reign of Bill 101 is nothing less than remarkable.
I think that if Rene Levesque were alive today, he'd be stunned and humiliated at witch hunt being waged against Anglos and the deliberate marginalization and exclusion of English in Quebec.
But this shift in attitude was inevitable, Bill 101 set in motion by accident or design, an inexorable shift towards linguistic intolerance.

I am reminded of the famous Stanford Prison Experiment back in 1971 wherein Philip Zimbard ran social experiment which laid bare the perils of allowing one group of seemingly well-adjusted citizens to hold dominion over another.
Simply explained, the experiment explored the;

 "...psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or prison guard."
 "The participants adapted to their roles well beyond Zimbardo's expectations, as the guards enforced authoritarian measures and ultimately subjected some of the prisoners to psychological torture." 
The experiment even affected Zimbardo himself, who, in his role as the superintendent, permitted the abuse to continue. Two of the prisoners quit the experiment early and the entire experiment was abruptly stopped after only six days.

Bill 101 cast ordinary francophone Quebecers as the prison guards and Anglos as prisoners and painful as it is to say, we are seeing abusive and racist attitudes creeping into the mainstream society, all courtesy Bill 101, Quebec's very own real-life Stanford experiment.

How far have attitudes changed?
In a recent article in the decidedly middle-of-the-road La Presse, an article discussing the 'painful' preponderance of English store names, the author Louise Leduc, wrote this;

"Important to note: In Carrefour Laval, if a quarter of the stores have English names , the others don't exactly reinforce the French face of Quebec (Browns, Reitmans, Terra Nostra, Zaxe, Clarks, Briks, Rudsak, Aveda, La Senza, Michael Kors, etc.)."
(" Fait à noter, au Carrefour Laval, si le quart des magasins a un nom anglais, les autres ne renforcent pas nécessairement le visage français du Québec (Browns, Reitmans, Terra Nostra, Zaxe, Clarks, Briks, Rudsak, Aveda, La Senza, Michael Kors, etc.)." Link{fr}

 I don't think I've ever seen such a patently racist thing written in La Presse, yet it passed without a whimper of protest.
To those of you who are apt to defend the above words as something quite innocent, well all I can say is that you are part of the problem.

The author intimates that proper names that are not French, somehow disturb societal karma. Stores named after their Jewish founders (Browns, Reitmans, Michael Kors) or stores named after their English founders (Clarks, Briks,(sic) Birks) or even made up names that have no linguistic definition, are all unacceptable in post Bill 101 Quebec.

I don't know how the author can defend her characterization of Jewish or English family names as unhelpful without sounding racist. Clearly she is telling us Quebec would be better off without them, otherwise why bring them up?
I'm sure Madame Leduc will be furious at my characterization of her and therein lies the problem. To her, complaining about proper names not being French enough is not a sign of intolerance.

How about another mainstream commentator loosing this observation on television;

Have people lost their marbles?.......Yup, there it is, the Stanford Experiment in all its splendor. 

I bet Mr. Pelletier does not even realize how low he has sunk.
Perhaps he would also like impose a $4,000 fine on any person who publicly says "God Bless You" after a sneeze, $2,000 for speaking English and $2,000 for violating the secular nature of Quebec society.

Are these examples an aberration and a misrepresentation of what is going on in mainstream Quebec?
I don't think so, that is why we see stories of extreme language intolerance more and more often.

One of our valued contributors, R.S. put together this recap of language intolerance, ordinary Quebecers acting out their rage;

"Here is a round-up of just some of the recent events concerning franco-Quebecers who don’t want to hear any English in their lives, ever. Believe it or not, there are actually people in Quebec who still don’t understand that English is a right, not a privilege.

Let’s see… well, for starters, there’s always this famous example that went viral around the world:Angry Quebecer goes CRAZY over Asian people speaking English in public in Montreal

Then, there are always these people, whose jobs supposedly involved serving the public:Metro workers allegedly refuse to help English-speaking customer

Then, there was also this public transportation employee who put up a French-only sign in a majority-anglo neighbourhood, implying that he wouldn’t serve customers if they are English-speakers:Sign in ticket booth 'insulting,' metro user says

And then, there’s this intolerant woman in a hospital:Criminal Charges Justified After Man's Allergen Thrown In His Face

And then, there there’s this paramedic who was willing to put a little girl’s life in danger in order to argue about his political opinions:Quebec paramedic argues about language

And then, there was also this woman who was actually physically assaulted for having dared to speak English in public in Quebec:Woman Assaulted by STM worker

And then, there’s this nutbar, of course, who I don’t believe is a unique case in Quebec:Quebec language debate in the metro

And then, there are these people who don’t want to have a good coach for the Habs if he speaks English only:Protest Against Habs Anglo Coach

And then there are these people who are against an immigrant depanneur owner who was tricked by a radio station, illegally recorded and broadcast:Language protest in Montreal's Verdun district"

I've been watching the Bill 14 committee hearings, which is in the process of listening to the opinion of ordinary citizens as well as lobby groups, school commission, unions and even public servants over proposed amendments.
It's a bit sad, the level of disdain among those francophone groups which choose to appear  to fulminate and rage at the English 'enemy.'
There's but one tiresome and pernicious refrain....
"Crack down on the Anglos!"
"More enforcement!"
"More rules and restrictions!"
"Punish all who refuse to knuckle under and steamroll minority rights!"

I defy anyone to tell me that this characterization is not true.

We have come to expect certain behavior from Franco-supremacists like Mario Beaulieu and company, but make no mistake, linguistic intolerance has crept into mainstream society courtesy Bill 101.
Allow for official state-sanctioned discrimination on any level and the unintended consequence is that over time, we get what we have today, a society that breathes nastiness, xenophobia and intolerance.

Bill 101 has sent us down a slippery slope of language intolerance.

Bill 14, the current draft law being debated as a language upgrade, is the logical extension of the "Bill 101 Experiment," it is a law not meant to protect French, it is a law meant to codify the dominance of one societal group over another.

It is a story as old as organized society and as author George Orwell described in his allegorical masterpiece, Animal Farm;

The essence of Bill 101;
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

...and this, the essence of Bill 14;
“Four legs good, two legs bad.”   

I don't know if Bill 101 saved French in Quebec, but I do know that it has made Quebec a nastier and more intolerant society and it's more than a little sad to see what the province has become.

French versus English Volume 79

This week in corruption

Bernard Trepannier....  Monseuir 3% ...Mr. Charm!

The Charbonneau Crime Commission finally got to hear from  Bernard Trepannier,  the man known as 'Monsieur 3%,' (because he allegedly demanded a 3% kickback on each contract.)  He along with Frank Zampino have been named by other witnesses as the kingpins in the corruption scandal that envelops Montreal city hall.
Trepannier's testimony was anxiously awaited as commission lawyers were prepared to rip him apart, convinced they would lay bare his shenanigans.
Unfortunately for them, the slippery 74 year-old Trepannier was more than a match.
He was extremely deferential  and charming, especially to the Commissioner Charbonneau as he defended himself superbly.
"Madame la presidente,  I did not have sex with that women!"

Trepannier told the commission he was a simple fundraiser who just sold tables to political fundraising events and as for being the mastermind of a huge kickback scheme that traded contracts for cash, nothing could be farther from the truth!

His testimony looked credible and unrehearsed, as he conceded little misdeeds, but when accused of accepting $100,000 in brown envelops, he was adamant ...:"Never happened!"

And so Trepannier lays bare the reality that notwithstanding testimony to the contrary, there is no hard evidence to support those claims and Trepannier knows it, such is the anonymous nature of cash.
He practically dared the commission to prove he received such monies, knowing full well they couldn't.
Brilliant!

His charm, wit, lapses in memory and gripping story-telling, charmed the pants off Madame Charbonneau and even the usually gruff commission inquisitor-lawyer, Denis Gallant, who was reduced to asking the witness if he really believed the stuff he was saying, shaking his head in amazement and disbelief at the consummate skills of a bullshitter extraordinaire.
Great fun!
Mr. Trepannier is awaiting trial for his alleged involvement in a land scandal whereby a developer was sold a City of Montreal property for a fraction of its value.
If the crown doesn't have wiretap or documentary evidence and is depending on cross-examination of Mr. Trepannier to expose his alleged misdeeds, they are indeed in deep trouble!

Gilles Duceppe recycled -one more time

Pauline Marois may be a bust as a Premier, but as a political animal and survivalist she ranks up there with the best.
Mindful of the Don Corleone's maxim of 'keeping friends close and enemies closer,' she has co-opted Gilles Duceppe with a job, this after knifing him last year when he tried to go after her leadership post. I can't say who is snakier, but no matter, the retired Bloc leader will add a per diem of between $750-$1500 a day to his $140,000 Ottawa pension while he cruises the province holding audiences with mooches complaining about the unfairness of Harper's new Employment Insurance rules.
The whole thing is a partisan whine-a-thon designed to boost support for sovereignty by having EI done-me-wrong stories of hardship play out endlessly each news cycle.

"Our way of life  is being destroyed"...blah...blah...
"The regions will be de-populated" ...blah...blah
"A federalist plot to destabilize Quebec"...blah...blah

At least CAQ leader Francois Legault called it for what it is, a cynical attempt by Pauline to solidify her position and mend PQ fences on the taxpayers dime. Read a story about the appointment.

In other Gilles Duceppe New;

"Gilles Duceppe is the gift that keeps on taking. During 20 years in Ottawa he worked selflessly to destroy the country that made him, to undermine the system that paid him, and to break up the society that gave him the opportunity to enjoy a lifetime of security by complaining endlessly about how unappreciated he was.
Now he has been recognized by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation for a lifetime achievement award at its 14th annual recognition of wasteful government spending." National Post

Language hurting Montreal Tourism

"The head of Tourism Montreal says language uproars like Pastagate are hurting the city’s international image. With the start of tourist season, local merchants are worried about what the impact will be on business. “We use to be overrun by people from Toronto and southern Ontario and now we don't see that much of them anymore,” said Jack Kowalsky, from Saute Moutons Jet Boating.
Kowalsky has owned a jet-boat operation in the Old Port for 30 years—he says he can already feel a shift this early in the season.

“We're at the front lines of tourism and we talk to people from all over the world, and I just see a drop of Americans,” he continued. “If nobody’s going to speak English to them or be polite to them, this is definitely going to have a negative effect.”
He's not alone in his concern.
In a speech given to the Board of Trade yesterday, the head of Tourism Montreal said: “This ridiculous bickering looks troubling abroad, can we put aside the silly linguistic quarrels and work together in the interests of developing our city?” Link

Quebec finance minister predicts more equalization money from Ottawa

Balanced Budget?...Missed it by that much!

Quebec's finance Minister Nicolas Marceau admitted with the slowdown in the Quebec economy, government revenues will be down $250 million this year and over $500 million next year. But he still anticipates a balanced budget because of lower interests and because he anticipates, get this;
..... AN INCREASE OF $275 MILLION IN EQUALIZATION PAYMENTS FROM OTTAWA!
Good to know! Link{fr}

In commenting over the new federal budget, a furious Marceau claimed that the budget takes Quebec back 15 years.
Hmm....is that really such a bad thing?
Fifteen years ago Quebec was $100 billion less in debt, so I guess they really were the good old days!

In a television interview, the Minister also fumed over the new policy whereby Ottawa removed the special tax deduction for union based RRSP funds. The move affected Quebec's two largest unions whose funds represent 88% of the total invested in such funds across Canada.

The minister hissed that it was a plot by Ottawa to hurt Quebec because these funds helped build up Quebec industry.
But when the interviewer pointed out that only about 11% of the funds assets were invested in small or medium Quebec companies, with the bulk invested in blue chip stocks across North America, the minister quickly changed the subject. Ha!!

Incidentally, Maxime Bernier of the Conservatives explained that the added tax benefit was removed exactly for this reason and that the deduction represented an unfair advantage to these Quebec unions, which let's face it, the feds have not much use for.

Anglo doesn't mince words in presentation as he savages government committee studying Bill 14. 

Take the time to view this video, you'll definitely be rewarded. Although the intro is in French the important part is in English.
Irwin Rapoport doesn't mince words as he tells a Quebec government committee studying Bill 14, exactly what he thinks about Quebec's language policy.

All I can say is...WTF!

More harassment  from OQLF  

"Jean-François Lisée wants to do a little more than just talk about reaching out to Quebec’s Anglophones, he could do far worse than having a quiet word with NDG’s Sudipta Chakraborty after eating a meal in her west end Sherbrooke Street restaurant. While language and culture has a lot to do with NDG’s La Maison India, it’s an Indian restaurant, not a French restaurant, and aside from the usual polyglot mix of south-Asian languages that define more than a few of the city’s Indian restaurants, French has very little to do with an established and popular restaurant which is already known as a local taste sensation.
 “We could easily move to Toronto because we have family in Ontario, but I love Montreal and I love my restaurant,” said Chakraborty. “Of course, it’s my business, but now this restaurant has become a very big and important part of our lives.”
According to Chakraborty, trouble started when an OQLF (Office Québecoise de la Langue Française) agent visited her restaurant after someone complained about the size of the English letters on a sign that advertised her Sunday lunch “special.”  When the agent noticed that neither of the restaurant’s two waiters greeted her in French, further questions determined that although all of the restaurant’s six employees (including the two cooks who work in the restaurant’s basement kitchen) are bilingual, if not trilingual, none of them spoke French as a first or even a second language. A file was opened after which Chakraborty was forced to juggle all of her employees’ work schedules to accommodate the OQLF demands for a French presence within her restaurant." Read the rest of the story                                                                                                                                                    

Why is it the Montreal Canadiens are not subject to the same language harassment as the businesses above, in relation to English signage in their facilities?
Here's two signs shown on the documentary 24CH, a Bell Media puff piece being shown on cable.

Pasta-Chasers remain the butt of a world-wide joke......

Read a story about the video
Pastagate is still reverberating around the world, here's a story from Italy, published just yesterday that makes reference to the above video and savages Quebec over linguistic intolerance.
It isn't flattering.  Link{IT}
You can use Google translate to get the gist of the story, just paste the text into the box on the left and click on translate (Choose Italian to English)  GoogleTranslate,
Same thing for this story from Hungary which also shames Quebec over the video. Link{Hngr}

Odds'n ends

I don't know if the writer of this La Presse story sees the irony in a glowing report about how the town of Burlingtion, Vermont is trying to attract Quebec tourists by hiring summer part-time employees who can speak French.
Probably not...Link{fr}

 ******************

On Monday I wrote about vigile.net's resident xenophobe Rejean Labrie's posts wherein he describes his view of what characteristics makes up a good Quebeceker.
He must have been extremely pleased with that work as he has added more to the list  in another post; Link{fr}

******************

When Pasta-chasers collide
Gilles Proulx and Jean-Paul Perreault, two of the ten most important Pasta-chasers according to my blog piece Monday, got into an argument after the latter's French defense lobby group Impératif Français, named Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, the militant ex-student leader, as some sort of award winner.
Mr. Proulx denounced the award, telling Perreault that if the Nadeau-Dubois has called on the students to march in defense of the French language, there wouldn't be more than 300 who showed up.
Hilariously, Perreault admitted that it was probably true, but that the movement is desperate to attract young people Link{fr}

******************

"It’s no joke! On April Fool’s Day, the Special Committee for Canadian Unity and PutBackTheFlag.com are hosting a comedy event to draw awareness to linguine…er…linguistic bullying.
The “pastagate”-based benefit will take place in front of Restaurant Buonanotte on St. Laurent Boulevard, where the infamous “pastagate” story began, throwing Quebec’s language police into hot water and making headlines around the world.

The event will take place between 6:00 and 10:00 pm.  Information is available online at www.pastagate.com. Tickets for the show start at $100 and the public is asked to bring boxes of pasta. Link


ATTENTION PASTA-CHASERS......REPEAT AFTER ME...

"Mul-ti-Cul-tur-a-lism!" 

 

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

BONNE FIN DE SEMAINE!...