Bilingual Voice of Blue Bonnets Dead

For Montrealers who enjoyed harness racing in it's heyday over at Blue Bonnets Raceway (Hippodrome de Montréal) Donald Pinard was an integral part of the experience. His track announcements and bilingual call of the race was familiar and enjoyable. He worked the microphone and filled other positions at the track for over thirty years.

"Celle Depart! -- They're Off!"

The track was a Montreal institution for over a hundred years until the impact of casino gambling and poker machines sent it into a sharp decline as it's gambling revenues dwindled.

I found this on YouTube, but can't attest to it's veracity, supposedly it's a call of a race in 1922.

I used to go quite often, but lost interest about the time (1995) the facility discarded it's fabulous name and changed it to something more politically correct- 'Hippodrome de Montréal'

The original Blue Bonnets Raceway was located in Montreal West but had to be moved in 1886 when the newly installed Canadian Pacific Railway line split the facility in two.

The track was built on the old encampment of the Scottish Highlanders, who had fought in the Battle of Montreal.

In 1760, the two battalions of Royal Highlanders, accompanied by eight companies of Montgomery's Highlanders would launch from their final assembly point at Oswego as part of Amherst's army expedition to capture Montreal, the last defended city of New France in August 1760. It would be in that captured French city that all three Highland regiments would meet for the first and last time during their existence. (Their former campground, now a large stadium for harness racing is appropriately named Blue Bonnets Raceway.)

-Lieutenant-Colonel Ian Macpherson McCulloch

The "Blue Bonnet" appellation is an obvious reference to the hats worn by the 77^th Highland Regiment.

Donald Pinard's passing highlights the sad end of the venerable institution as it lies dying in bankruptcy protection.

Canadian Justice versus U.S. Justice- Vincent Lacroix vs. Edward Hugh Okun

After losing his final attempt to have the 200 fraud charges against him stayed, Vincent Lacroix finally threw in the towel this week and pleaded guilty in a Montreal courthouse to the 200 hundred fraud charges levelled against him.

Lacroix, Quebec's most notorious fraudster,(yes, even bigger than Earl Jones) created and ran an investment firm- 'Norbourg', which bilked about 9200 hundred investors, mostly elderly, middle class Quebec retirees of approximately 115 million dollars.

In his first trial, where Mr. Lacroix was convicted of various securities offences, he put on quite a show, playing the part of a buffoon, exasperating the court to no end. The judge was not particularly amused and was so angry at the lack of remorse displayed by the defendant that he sentenced Lacroix to twelve years in prison, notwithstanding that the maximum allowed by law was only five years. The creative approach used by the judge to pile on the extra time was correctly reversed by the court of appeal. Mr. Lacroix was then released on parole after serving one-sixth of the revised five year sentence, availing himself of the provision in the law that allows non-violent offenders convicted of their first crime to be paroled after a short stint in jail.

The guilty plea which he entered in court Monday would typically lead to a reduced sentence, but it's likely that Judge Richard Wagner will also throw the book at him. Even judges, who are usually impervious to public opinion, can occasionally be influenced by media attention and intense public interest.

For the cheated investors, it's still disappointing, the maximum sentence that Mr. Lacroix faces under Canadian law is just fourteen years.

Because of his previous conviction, Mr. Lacroix will no longer be eligible for parole after serving one-sixth of his sentence, but with good behaviour, he will be eligible for parole in just under five years.

As for the missing money, Yves Michaud, Quebec's self-styled investor advocate put it rather succcinctly; "The money must be hidden offshore, Vincent Lacroix couldn't have spent $115 millon on strippers."

Most people are convinced that Lacroix stashed money somewhere, perhaps buried in his backyard and that he'll eventually have the last laugh.

Unlikely?
Well, Vincent Lacroix's right-hand man, Éric Aselin, who after declaring bankruptcy in 2007 was found last summer to be hiding $125 000 in cash in a bank safe deposit box. The money which was wrapped in plastic wrap, was found to contain residue of earth!

If Lacroix did hide some money, he'll have plenty of time to enjoy it. He'll be forty-seven years old when he gets out of jail. In fact, his lawyer told reporters that Mr. Lacroix just wants to 'turn the page and get on with his life.'

Too bad that for many of his elderly victims, it's too late for turnarounds.

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The story of Miami businessman Edward Hugh Okun is remarkably similar to that of Vincent Lacroix. Using his position of trust, he ripped off clients, who had placed money with his company. His fraud, while somewhat different from Lacroix's, had essentially the same disastrous effect on investors. You can read the details here.

Even the amount of money stolen from investors was remarkably similar to the amount stolen by Mr. Lacroix, the only difference being that Okun used the money to openly finance a rich and lavish lifestyle.

Both men have similarly shown no remorse.

Until the comments expressing regret made by Mr. Lacroix's lawyer on Monday, he never once made a sympathetic statement towards the people he had cheated. His apology in front of his guilty plea can only be viewed as self-serving.

In Okun's case, his attorney said that his client didn't feel that he did anything wrong, and that he had always intended to return the money.

It seems that con men never give up the con....

At his trial, eight of Okun's victims recounted how their worlds collapsed after having had their money stolen. One suffered a stroke, another a heart attack. Many lost their life savings, and all confessed to being deeply affected by the ordeal.

"The toll of human loss, of misery and suffering that Mr. Okun's unbridled greed caused, is enormous," commented the judge in sentencing Mr. Payne.

“Because of Edward Okun’s crimes, many victims in this case experienced near financial collapse and personal pain,” said U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente. “Today’s sentence is proper punishment for such an egregious breach of trust by a financial advisor.”

Prosecutor's had asked the judge to sentence Okun to 400 years in prison, but the judge thought that the request was a bit excessive.

Instead he sentenced the con artist to 100 years in prison!

"It will ensure Mr. Okun can do no harm to people ever again," Payne said. "It will promote respect for the law. It will, I think, deter those who . . . are tempted by the presence of easy money."

Here's the kicker to the story.

Okun is Canadian and lived in Toronto with his first wife, when he first started out on his con-artist life.

According to his ex-wife;

"The marriage lasted 4 years. During that time Ed unknowingly took a good portion of my father’s retirement savings, pretending to have invested it with a reputable mortgage company as an investment.
It was discovered when I went to a divorce lawyer to inquire about a separation. In the course of my lawyer’s investigation, he discovered many other fraudulent actions of Ed. My parents pressed both criminal and civil charges,but shortly thereafter dropped the criminal charges because Ed was threatening to hurt me. They were successful in getting a civil judgement against him but he fled Canada, and they were unable to collect any of the thousands of dollars he took. I was left with a 1.3 million dollar debt to the Canadian Bank of Commerce and to another company for a 53 foot boat that he had bought. I was in University here in Toronto full time for the 4 years we were married and not involved with his business. Until a month ago I had not heard anything about him. I am pleased to know that he is finally being held responsible for his actions. He also misused his Mother’s and Sister’s family trust fund, leaving them in a terrible situation."

Perhaps if the Canadian justice system had assumed it's responsibilities and done it's job back then, the hundreds of defrauded investors wouldn't be looking at financial ruin today.

There is a cost to coddling criminals, especially con artists, who have an atrocious rate of recidivism.

They need to stay in jail, not only as punishment, but as a protection to the public against future crimes.

Lament for Montreal's Dorchester Boulevard

Here's an interesting piece written by one Peter Stuart, a reader from Quebec City who wrote a letter that was printed in the Quebec City daily Le Soleil.
The piece entitled "No Levesque without Dorchester" (Pas de Lévesque, sans Dorchester...) decries the fact that Montreal's Dorchester Boulevard had it's name changed in favour of 'Boulevard René-Lévesque" and provides some historical context.

I have endeavoured to translate the letter as best I can, but not being professional, it may seem a bit choppy. I assure you that the original letter in French is skillfully and poetically written, please read it in French if you can;

It seems that principal theme of the Moulin à paroles event was "the survival of a people." But survival from whom, and how exactly?

We tend to put all the blame on the backs of English.
But hold it!
René Lévesque would never have had the chance to save the French language with his PQ government, if not for a British Lord, Dorchester, who guaranteed the rights of French Canadians by way of the Quebec Act in 1774.

He wasn't even English, rather an Irish Protestant. He was part of the small Irish Protestant nobility, that was, at the time called, "the Irish ancestry."
These people were the principle landowners of Ireland, and allies of the English.

Dorchester recognized the error which had been committed during the English conquest of his country, the attempt to assimilate the Irish and to destroy their language and culture. Arriving in Canada, he promised himself not to commit the same error.
Skillfully adept in the language of Molière, (French-ed.) he proceeded with the preparation of the Parliamentary bill which shares it's name with our province- the 'Quebec Act.'

This bill, passed in the English Westminster Parliament ensured that we could continue to speak our language, maintain our property rights, as well as keep our religion.
Dorchester recognized that the Anglo-American colonies were on the brink of a revolution, and they probably would send an army to 'persuade' us to join them.

What would have become of our language, our civilization and our culture had Dorchester not done what he did?

What would have happened if French-Canadian troops had not managed to repel the American invaders at the rue de la Barricade, when attacked, December 31, 1775?
Surely, we would never have the opportunity to comment on anything, because our people would have been absorbed in the great American Republic.

So I find it sad that Montrealers have erased the memory of Lord Dorchester, and replaced it by that of René Lévesque. Why not keep faith with history and honour the two? Because René Lévesque could never do what he did for us without Dorchester.

Today, we still have a 'Dorchester' street here in Quebec City. Also a street named 'Couronne'('Crown'-ed.). And in passing "Roi' and "Reine' ('King' and 'Queen'-ed.), by the way!
The windbags at the Moulin à paroles talked of survival and droned on about the English, but think of one Irishman who preceded us, over two hundred years and who allowed us to short circuit the petty imperialists.

I believe that "ti-hair' of New Carlisle (nickname for Rene Levesque-ed.), would agree with me.

The writer may not know that when the city of Montreal changed the name of Dorchester Boulevard to 'René-Lévesque' they asked the city of Westmount to also make the change on the portion of the street that runs through that municipality.

As you can imagine, naming a street (or anything else for that matter) in honour of a separatist is would be an anathema for the grand daddy of Anglo communities.

And so, the name Dorchester Boulevard lives on in Westmount, much to the consternation of sovereignist groups who for some reason take the city's refusal to change the name as some sort of Anglophone slight.
The street signs have been defaced on occasion and as in the case on the picture on the right pasted over to read 'Boul. René-Lévesque'

Private Schools to Preserve Cultural Purity?

Last Monday Jean-Pierre Proulx wrote an opinion piece about Quebec private schools in LE DEVOIR, which can be found archived over at vigel.net (in French).

Entitled "Democratizing Private education" (Démocratiser l’enseignement privé) the article offered up some pretty weird concepts including the suggestion that these elite schools be forced to accept their share of students from low income homes, those who are academically or physically challenged and students with problems of comportment.

Yup!

What Mr Proulx suggests is to dumb down private schools to the level of public schools in the interest of democracy. He must be a secret Leninist.

According to him private schools that would refuse to adopt these new conditions would lose all government subsidies.

The Quebec government is one of the very few that subsidizes private schools on a a pro-rata basis. Private schools receive the government money that would be have been spent on students had they remained in the public system. Thus private schools in Quebec cost parents significantly less than elsewhere.

It's no wonder that at 17%, Quebec boasts the highest proportion of high school students attending private schools in all of North America.
In Montreal the number is a whopping 30%.

Of course, the Quebec public sector teachers' unions oppose any form of subsidy to private schools. They hold that by selecting only the brightest and most capable students and rejecting children with learning difficulties, private schools leave a burden to the public sector.

It isn't surprising that the article provoked a lot of reaction in defence of private schools, most of it pretty standard stuff. I wasn't even going to write on the subject until I came across this letter printed in Le Devoir, the same newspaper that printed the original article.

Maxine Proulx displayed some novel reasoning in defence of private schools;'

"One of the reasons why parents send their children to private schools is that they just want to avoid their children being exposed to other children that they believe rightly or wrongly as turbulent, children with learning disabilities or behavior problems or who are poor. This self-imposed segregation is even more pronounced on the island of Montreal, which has many ethno-cultural neighborhoods.

Parents fear three things:

• That children deemed undesirable monopolize the attention of teachers, reducing the quality of instruction and supervision provided to the class;
• That these same children disturb others, affecting their hearing and therefore their learning;
• These same children negatively influence the others to the point where they also refuse to learn normally.

In Montreal, traditional Francophone parents fear that the environment in the public schools has become too multicultural and multi-ethnic and choose to send their children to private schools, considered more 'homogeneous."

Wow, how about the last paragraph!

So private schools are better because they are 'homogeneous.' I've never heard apartheid described that way!

I know many parents send their children to private school for exactly that reason, but printing a letter that justifies private schools on the basis of it being a good way to segregate francophone children from the ethnic communities seems to go beyond what an enlightened editorial board would allow in print.

Shame on LE DEVOIR.

Could you imagine this letter being printed in the Montreal Gazette, the National Post or the Globe & Mail?

It would probably be passed around the editorial table for a chuckle.

Montreal Marathon Fringlish

'Fringlish' = Mangled English (usually humorous,) written by a Francophone badly in need of a translator=ed.
(Please note, I only cite cases from sources that are "official," those who should know better and have the budget to do so. Private sites and blogs on a small budget are to be complemented for making any effort to translate any language to any language..)

To honour last Sunday's running of the Montreal Marathon I humbly offer this pearl from the official Montreal Marathon web site;

"At 8:43 this morning, Race Director Bernard Arsenault in the presence of the Mayor of Montreal Gerald Tremblay and Jean Gattuso, p.d.g of A.Lassonde, gave the starting signal to the thousands of runners of the half-marathon, follow-ups at 9:00 by the marathonians. Gone of the Jacques-Cartier Bridge under the rain ( first raining day since 1991…!), runners went through the streets of the city and ended up in the Olympic stadium of Montreal."

Arrrrgghh.............