Boycott the Canadiens?

As a follow up to a recent post, an article in vigel.net Boycottons le Canadien de Montréal anglais! (Boycott the Montreal English Canadiens) by Laurent Desbois calls for a boycott of the team as punishment for not having enough Quebecois (code for francophones) on the team.

He castigates the Fonds de solidarité of the FTQ for investing in the team.

The writer refers readers to a FACEBOOK group , opened to help organize the boycott, but it seems to have already been pulled.

A letter to the editor of LE DEVOIR also makes the same point.

Now that the hated Maple Leafs have signed veteran defenceman Francis Beauchemin, it represents another stab in the heart of all those demanding more francophone players on the Habs.

Sadly, there's a particular nasty and hysterical tone to all these complaints, which manifests in an overt expression of anti-anglophone xenophobia and language ethnocentrism.

Do you think a Le Devoir would print a letter complaining that there aren't enough Christians or too many blacks on the team?

René Levesque In A Skirt?

I finally got around to watching a recorded TV version of the Fete Saint Jean parade which was held on the June 24th.

For most anglos, attending the parade is not high on the things-to-do-before-you-die list. The parade is so far out in the east end of Montreal that those of us who would wish to attend would need to pack a suitcase.

The short parade (1 hour) clearly suffers from a lack of sponsorship, it's plainly evident that there aren't too many companies keen to be identified with what is clearly a nationalist/sovereignist manifestation. The only sponsors I could make out (aside from the state monopolies) were Amaro water and Labatt's beer. It made for an amateurish and decidedly lame affair.

Now before I go on to critique the parade unfavourably, let me state clearly that the Canada Day Parade is every bit as lame.

Montreal is a one parade town, nothing beats the St. Patrick's Day parade, a magnificent display of real inclusiveness, one that turns every Montrealer, Irish for a day. The massive parade is so popular that there's a waiting list to join. There is no finer parade in Canada and the fete Saint Jean parade pales in comparison.


But I digress, back to the Fete Saint Jean parade. The 'defile" is centered around 'giant' personalities from Quebec history, standing some 5 meters high. The lack of an engineering budget forced the 'géants' to be enrobed with a skirt-like covering to hide the propulsion device (feet?). This wasn't a problem for the female representations, but René Levesque in a skirt was a bit 'outre.' On the other hand Saint Patrick looked great in his priestly attire and was clearly the best of these floats.

As someone who as a young lad was deathly frightened of Santa Claus and utterly horrified at the banshee-like laugh of the Fat Lady of Belmont Park, I couldn't help wonder if these garish effigies would somehow have the same effect on children. Perhaps not, kids are more sophisticated today.

At any rate, the most positive thing I can say, is that the crowd was large and ready to cheer just about anything that came by. As for it's make-up, it's hard to tell from the TV, as the commentators were quick to interview any brown or black face that they could find, thus validating the parade's theme-"My separatist parade is inclusive!"

Marching between the géants were groups of mostly teenagers, marching, dancing or otherwise presenting various talents. They could have used a dress rehearsal and the best that can be said, is that they all deserve an 'A' for effort.

By far, the gayest display most artistic display was a group of synchronized swimmers who performed a land version of their routine. Check out the moves of the guy members of the troupe in the video below.

Then there was this 'float' which seemed to be celebrating graffiti art.



The newest 'géant' of Canadiens legend Maurice Richard was certainly impressive. No skirt for the Rocket! The artists who created this 'géant', by accident or design, certainly got his famous flashing eyes right, but the 'Rocket' looked a little out of uniform without the famous C-H on his chest. I don't know why it was omitted, perhaps because it represented 'Canadiens' or problems with permissions from the hockey club. Dunno, but it looked a bit retarded. At least the guys schlepping the trailer had the right jersey on.

I wouldn't have added a picture of the 'Human Flag', a guy who gave a male version of a pole-dance, except for the fact that I saw someone at the Canada Day celebration in Ottawa do the exact same act, one week later. Sheesh, it wasn't that good the first time.

Bringing up the rear was a line of dignitaries, marching behind a blue ribbon. The regular cast of sovereignists were there, including Mario Beaulieu of the Societe Saint-Jean Baptiste (the guy who wanted to kick out the 2 anglo bands.)
Françoise David and Amir Khadir of the ultra sovereignist Québec solidaire party, Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc Quebecois and our old friend Bernard Landry. Other staunch defenders of the faith attending were Gérald Larose (longtime unionist militant) and Maka Kotto from the PQ (adding a little colour).


The parade wended its way to Maisonneuve Park where the real talent was presented that evening. I guess it all comes down to budget. The show, aside from host Guy A. Lepage's crude separatist missives was entertaining and showcased some of Quebec's most important artists.

For anglos, the best part of the day was the fantastic weather and for those of us who stayed in town, it was a great day for a backyard barbecue!

Language Sniping Starts Early For the Habs

In my Saturday post I mentioned that the Montreal Canadiens are down to just three francophone players and that if Bob Gainey's team doesn't show a lot of improvement this season, that fact would haunt him as the public and media play the inevitable language card as the reason for the team's failure.

I was wrong.....It's started already.

Pierre Trudel, who now writes for fanatique.com, after coming over from La Presse, got the ball rolling quickly. I don't know if he's trying to make a splash at his new job by writing something inflammatory, but nonetheless, here it is;

"Bienvenue chez The Montreal Canadiens. Au rythme où le français régresse à Montréal, on n'est pas loin du jour où l'hymne national ne sera chanté que dans une langue, la présentation des joueurs faite dans une seule langue, l'annonce des buts dans une seule langue. J'exagère? Bien sûr. C'est un peu caricatural. Mais toute caricature a un fond de vérité"

"Welcome to the Montreal Canadiens. At the rate at which French is regressing in Montreal, it won't be long before the national anthem will be sung in just one language, the players lineup announced in just one language and the public address announcement of goals in just one language. Exaggerating?...Surely. It's somewhat caricatural. But all caricatures have a foundation of truth."

Let the fun begin.

Weekly Anglo Quebec News June 27-July 03

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Perfect for Ex-pats or those in a rush!
Every Saturday read a short, subjective weekly review of Quebec news with a Anglophone POV.

Montreal Jazzfest kicked off Tuesday. The thirtieth edition opened with a free concert headlined by Stevie Wonder which celebrated the new permanent headquarters of the festival in the city's new 'Quartier des spectacles'. Over 200,000 people attended in spite of the threat of rain. By many accounts the show was uneven and suffered some sound problems. Wonder also played some Michael Jackson tunes as a tribute, something that didn't go over well with the crowd. At least he didn't break down in grief over Jackson's death as he did in a concert in Milwaukee last Sunday.
For the first time a Klezmer, (traditional Jewish/Russian music) element will be added to the festival. A student run synagogue, located in the McGill Ghetto neighborhood, is presenting eight bands performing at the 'Ghetto Shul.'
Unfortunately the weather continues to look poor and may play havoc with the outdoor events.

Montreal's annual moving day took place on Wednesday. The only major city in North America where the vast majority of leases ends (and begins) on one day (July 1) and where a great big game of musical chairs plays out in the streets with movers rushing about. At the end of the day after all was said and done, 71 families were left homeless.
A new 'green' professional moving service utilising bicycle instead of moving vans to made it's first appearance in Montreal.

Montreal Canadiens made wholesale changes to it's hockey team, dumping a slew of veterans and signing several free agents. The team however failed to secure a marquis type player and settled for second tier players. It remains to be see if they improve. The loss of some francophone players doesn't sit well with the press, with the team boasting just 3 French speakers on the team. If the team doesn't perform, it will be become a huge issue.

Mystery surrounds the death of four Montrealers who died in a bizarre incident Kingston, Ontario. The car in which they were returning home to Montreal was found at the bottom of a canal with all the occupants dead, inside. Police have yet to figure out how the car ended up there as the area where the car was found has no road access and there were no obvious tire tracks in the adjacent grassy area. The women were all Afghanis who immigrated to Canada less than two years ago. All sorts of rumours are floating out there, it's a real mystery.... Perhaps we need to call in Detective Columbo....
Read the details.


Montreal tourism down big-time. Notwithstanding the Jazz Festival, the tourist season is suffering a meltdown this summer. A calèche driver driver reported that business was off 50% compared to last year and that he hadn't seen a American tourist fare in three weeks. The association of merchants in Old Montreal reports that there's a 35% drop traffic. Other restaurateurs are reporting drops between 25%-35%. Coupled with the loss of the Grand Prix, it pretty much spells disaster for a sector of the economy that generates $2.5 billion. Ouch! A Tourist Montreal official tried to put on a brave face but admitted that the recession, the rising Canadian dollar, the price of gasoline all contributed to the 'perfect storm'.

Montreal Nord's reputation finally catches up. People are moving out of this 'problem' neighbourhood, scene of several riots and ongoing problems with street crime and gang activities. A real estate agent reported that when of the 40 people who answered his internet ad for a four and a half on Pascal street, found out where it was located, they all said - 'no thank you'.

Right turn on red leads to more Quebec accidents according to the Quebec Transport Department. Ever since the province allowed right turns on red (everywhere except on the island of Montreal) five years ago, related accidents have gone up about 46%. How did the CAA- Quebec react to this news?.... They suggesested that Montrealers also be allowed to make right turns on red! Huh?

CRIME & PUNISHEMENT

(NEW!-weekly review of interesting crime stories and court room antics)

COP KILLER GETS PAROLE. The man who beat a murder rap of a cop in relation to the shooting at his home in a botched drug raid, has been paroled for the related gun charges after serving only 6 months! Read the unbelievable story.

WOMEN GETS 15 YEARS FOR DROWNING HER SON. Her big mistake was doing the crime in the USA, where being cuckoo is no excuse. Had she done the deed in Beaver Lake, she'd already be in a halfway house. Despite the harsh sentence, 64% of Quebeckers agreed with the punishment, according to the Journal de Montreal. Read the story. Read a piece I wrote about the difffences in Canadian versus American sentences.

Montrealers Still Eating Poorly

According to the 'Direction de santé publique' (l'Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de Montréal) less than 30% of those over fifteen years old are getting enough fruit and vegetables in their diet.
The report about eating habits of Montrealers doesn't paint a rosy picture.

Mindful of the article, I snapped this photo in the food fair of Place Angrignon in LaSalle. The menu of the KFC outlet is the epitome of unhealthy eating.

The only thing on the menu that was remotely healthy (comparatively) was a Caesar Salad which was ironically 'non-disponible.' Argh.....

Click on the image to review the wonderful eating choices offered!

There's little doubt that good eating starts early in life and habits are formed before kids get to kindergarten.

When high schools get rid of fast food, kids go out of school to get their fix of greasy fries and burgers. Such is the experience of the La Commission scolaire des Patriotes when it switched over to a healthier menu.

Some officials are now talking about putting a 'malbouffe zone libre' (fast-food free zone) around schools. Yikes!