Video Friday- Bouchard-Taylor Reasonable Accomodation Highlights

I added subtitles to this hilarious compilation of various characters who spoke at the famous Bouchard-Taylor Commission in 2007. The commission sought to seek a consensus on the subject of immigrants, and the type of accommodations that Quebec society should make to embrace their cultural differences.

Props to INFOMAN, Quebec's very own sarcastic comedian à la Steven Colbert, who put the compilation together. Catch him on French TV's Radio Canada.

Enjoy!

Here's the Most Dishonest "Buy America" Television Commercial

I've got a natural propensity to look at something and immediately spot the flaw, error or misdirection. My wife often complains when I talk back to a television newsman or commentator who is obviously wrong IMHO.

This commercial I spotted on CNN was a no-brainer. It reeks of dishonesty, misdirection and deception. I don't know how such claptrap gets onto a national network.

According to this commercial, America = North America.
How deceitful. All of a sudden, buying American, means buying North American.

Out of the 97% of the gas bought in America, almost 20% comes from Canada.

I only wish that this attitude would allow Canadian companies to circumvent "Buy American" provisions.

French vs. English Volume 5

Language Cops Bombarded with Complaints
It seems that an organized group of complainers has bombarded the  OQLF (the agency that is charged with applying Quebec's language laws) last year with close to twenty thousand extra complaints.

How did it work out for them?

Not so good, as you can see from the list below.

2007-2008 : 22,057 cases closed, 53 complaints transferred for prosecution
2006-2007 : 3,873 cases closed, 72 complaints transferred for prosecution
2005-2006 : 2,899 cases closed, 147 complaints transferred for prosecution
2004-2005 : 3,330 cases closed, 251 complaints transferred for prosecution
2003-2004 : 2,754 cases closed, 190 complaints transferred for prosecution

The number of prosecutions has steadily declined over time and actually hit a record low last year, with the fewest amount of cases ever referred for prosecution.

It took close 500 complaints to generate a single prosecution.
Keep up the good work, complainers!!

English Chants by Victorious Team Embarrasses a Viewer.
Talking about the victory by the Laval University Rouge et Or football team, a contributor writes in vigel.net ;

"....I 'm watching the awarding of the trophy to the winning team, the Rouge et Or of l'Université Laval. As in hockey, the players exchange back slaps and hugs, shouting out their joy. At this precise moment my feelings of joy are overturned, I remain absolutely astonished by what I hear, the players expressing their happiness and joy ... in English.
"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! " or "Yes! Yes! Yes!" and even: "That's it baby!"
And the worst occurs after the traditional photo, the team players sing their rallying cry: "All the way! All the way! All the way! "
My pride takes a blow. I imagine that this beautiful college football team that will represent Quebec next week in Kingston Ontario will celebrate a victory and sing in English.
I am ashamed.
When will we make French the language of success, the language of winners?

-Claude Bachand

Scientific Poll not so Scientific
I really don't know what to make out of an article published by the nationalist web site Imperatif francais entitled;

"Opinion poll on the Supreme court decision"
"SONDAGE SUR LE JUGEMENT DE LA COUR SUPRÊME"

The article states that;

"The results of the poll on Quebec identity undertaken by Impératif français established that 104 Quebeckers out of the 100 people polled are against the imperialism and arrogance displayed by the federal government and it's Supreme Court......"

(Les résultats du sondage sur l’identité québécoise mené par Impératif français établissent que 104 Québécois(es) sur 100 sont fermement déterminés à contrer l’impérialisme et l’arrogance du gouvernement fédéral du Canada et de sa Cour ....)

Whaaat??? 104 out of a 100 agreed?

The article went on to to make a bunch of serious  arguments about the issue and so I chalked up the 100/104 reference as a typo, or a transposition of numbers. That is until I came across this note at the end of the article.

P.-S. Methodology; This poll was conducted by sampling 104 random citizens attending a Just for Laughs event on Novenber 16, 2009. The margin of error is 1.04%, 104 out of 100 times.

(P.-S. Méthodologie : ce sondage a été mené auprès de 104 citoyens choisis au hasard lors d’un rassemblement au Studio Juste pour rire le lundi 16 novembre 2009. La marge d’erreur n’est que de 1,04 pour cent, 104 fois sur 100.)

It would be funny if the body of the article wasn't so darn serious, or if it was April Fool's. What gives? Anyone care to comment?

H1N1 Vaccine Line Jumpers are Despicable

Sunday, Quebec's most famous H1N1 line jumper made an appearance on the French CBC TV's most popular talk show, to do some damage control.

Claude Dubois is a famous Francophone singer who was called to task by La Presse reporter, Patrick Lagacé for jumping the line and vaccinating himself and his entourage at a Laurentian CLSC.

Mr. Dubois and his troupe literally used the back door of the medical facility to avoid the lineup. Had he used the front door, he would certainly have been recognized and would have likely been called out, since he wasn't entitled to the shot.

Stupidly, Mr Dubois made up an excuse, telling reporters that he was already at the facility for an appointment to get shots for a trip abroad.

"Liar!" replied Mr. Lagacé, in a second article, published the next day. The CLSC according to research done by the reporter, doesn't even offer these type of vaccinations.

Checkmate!

In the televised interview, Mr Dubois used a variety of devices and excuses to avoid taking responsibility for his actions. He tried to cast aspersions on the reporter in question and questioned his journalistic motives. He tried to blame the system and he even brought the vaccination booklet of his daughter to show that he had nothing but good intentions.
"A misunderstanding that I regret" was about all he would admit.




Sickening.
What's worse, is that by the end of the interview, the audience applauded him.

Of course, in Quebec, the story wouldn't be complete without someone bringing politics into a simple matter of a cheating celebrity obsessed with entitlement.

In a published article Robert Barberis-Gervais writes;

"The attacks by Patrick Lagacé against Claude Dubois reminds me of his vehemence against Pierre Falardeau, when he was defending his friend, Julien Poulin, concerning the incident of the waving of the Hezbollah flag.
What binds Claude Dubois and Pierre Falardeau, is that they are two independence activists. That is why Patrick Lagacé tries to depict them as errant. He is (Lagacé) of course, the faithful servant of his master, Paul Desmarais."

Ecch.....

Just to show you that I am an equal opportunity complainer, I must take the Jewish General Hospital to task for undertaking a shameful program of offering the vaccine to rich donors as a perk.
In all respects the act was even more shameful than that of Mr. Dubois, because it was undertaken organizationally.
What were they thinking!

Of course like all the H1N1 cheaters who are caught, it's a case of lame-ass excuses instead of honest regret.
Too bad our Health Minister didn't order an inquiry. Someone deserved to be fired at the JGH, as was the case in Alberta, where heads rolled after the scandalous story of the Calgary Flames inoculations.

By and large Canadians have been playing fair, waiting their turn in line.

It's outrageous to see rich people and celebrities use their position to jump the line. Instead of sweeping these incidents under the rug, these people should be pursued to the full extent of the law and be made examples of.

How else can authorities expect us all to follow by the rules?

Quebec Police Ignore the Gun Registry

It's a bit ironic that while Quebec remains the only province in favour of maintaining the Gun Registry, law enforcement in that province hardly uses the daatbase at all. In fact in terms of per capita use, Quebec ranks below every other province and territory, except Nunavut.

Yvan Delorme, chiel of the Montreal police department argues that maintaining the firearm registery is "critical," yet his officers hardly use it at all.
Per capita, for every inquiry made by law enforcement in Quebec, BC makes ten!

Here's a list of enquiries per 1,000 population, per Province and Territory.

Northwest Territories	345
Yukon	276
B.C.	186
New Brunswick	176
Newfoundland	130
Ontario	125
Alberta	90
Nova Scotia	82
Manitoba	78
PEI	58
Saskatchewan	47
Quebec	19
Nunavut	0.03

Query Count	2008 Q 1	2008 Q 2	2008 Q 3	2008 Q 4	Total
Ontario	379,279	430,465	444,901	428,171	1,682,816
British Columbia	182,170	210,880	224,330	208,153	825,533
Alberta	76,911	84,380	88,691	80,381	330,363
Quebec	31,438	38,004	37,132	42,345	148,919
New Brunswick	30,137	35,840	34,768	31,208	131,953
Manitoba	21,727	27,424	24,446	21,717	95,314b
Nova Scotia	18,451	19,808	19,978	18,910	77,147
Newfoundland and Labrador	13,825	17,310	18,972	16,085	66,192
Saskatchewan	23,992	18,057	3,240	3,438	48,727
Northwest Territories	3,416	3,436	2,655	5,027	14,534
Yukon	2,391	2,748	2,704	1,273	9,116
Prince Edward Island	1,865	2,118	2,038	2,093	8,114
Nunavut	-	-	1	-	1
All Locations	785,602	890,470	903,856	858,801	3,438,729

Source: MACLEANS