Denis Lebel Skewers Gilles Duceppe and Bloc Quebecois

In noting that it's been 20 years since the Bloc Quebecois first entered Parliament, Denis Lebel, the Conservative cabinet minister from Roberval-Lac-Saint-Jean tore into the Bloc Quebecois and its leader Gilles Duceppe, in an opinion piece written in the Quebec City Daily le Soleil.

If you read French, take a look at it over HERE.

I'm providing a translation because I think the piece is not only noteworthy but entertaining as well. Outside of Quebec, it seems that the only thing that gets publicity is separatist rants and nationalistic outbursts, but it's important to remember that there are more federalists in Quebec than sovereignists.
Although the Bloc Quebecois hold two-thirds of the seats in Quebec, they did it with only 38% of the vote. We just don't seem to hear from the 62% of Quebeckers who voted for a federalist party.

"August 13 marks the twentieth anniversary of the election of Gilles Duceppe as MP. At the time, he told Radio-Canada: " I had a funny feeling when entering Parliament. I told myself: I'm probably the first one to enter this forum hoping to spend as little time as possible." Link

In 1994, in an interview with La Presse, he added that "Nobody in the Bloc has been elected to make a career out of  it." 

Apparently for Gilles Duceppe it's "do as I say and not as I do!"

The Bloc leader has now been in federal politics for 20 years. He'll retire one day with one of the most lucrative pensions ever awarded by the Canadian Parliament. This is particularly ironic, the country that Duceppe wants to break up, will serve him personally quite well.

Behind this sad anniversary, there is a fundamental issue for Quebeckers. Where do we want Quebec to position itself over the next few years? It's been 20 years since Gilles Duceppe and his troops have wasted Quebec's political capital in Ottawa.

When I hear Mr. Duceppe complain loudly on the issue of representation in the House of Commons because our Conservative government wants to respect the principle of representation by population, I can only reply that it is by electing MPs of a party that aspires to form a government that one can increase the political weight of Quebec.

Breaking the deadlock;

As a former mayor of Roberval, I myself have chosen to make the leap into federal politics because the riding of Roberval - Lac-Saint-Jean was mired in stagnation caused by the Bloc. I decided to submit my candidacy to try to resolve issues once and for all.

Since 1993, the Bloc has enjoyed a majority of the seats in Quebec. What have they done with this political clout? We know they have made no promises and have delivered nothing.

If Gilles Duceppe was at least able to prevent things, then we could fall back on these minimal results.

However, it is with a Bloc majority that the fiscal imbalance was created and it is thanks to the Harper government that it has been settled. Gilles Duceppe and his party didn't stop the Liberals from stealing from Canadians in the biggest political scandal in Canadian history. The Bloc did not stop the Liberals from drastically increasing greenhouse emissions and the Bloc did not stop the Liberals from encroaching on provincial jurisdiction.

Mr. Duceppe and his colleagues criticize the government, sitting in the grandstands, but to score goals, you've got to be on the ice.

The weight of the years is beginning to bear heavy on the shoulders of Duceppe. This is obviously a disappointed man that has failed to achieve any of his objectives.

We parliamentarians from Quebec are proud to be Quebeckers who believe in this beautiful country of Canada. We have a duty to continue to work hard, door by door, handshake by handshake, to convince Quebeckers that it would be preferable to have more members on the team that forms the government, in a party whose motives are not dysfunction and quarrels.

Denis Lebel, Conservative MP for Roberval - Lac-Saint-Jean 

Minister of State for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Region of Quebec "

We Will Not Be Quiet!

"Do you know the difference between an Anglo-Quebecer and an English-Canadian? The first one is a second-class citizen and the second one is a second-class american."

Very insightful! How clever! Troller 'par excellence!' (sarcasm.)

I allowed this comment through yesterday to illustrate that morons exist on both sides of the debate.

Those sanctimonious comments from frustrated nationalists warning us that this blog and the associated 'raging' anglo commenters are somehow contributing to the cause of sovereignty, actually makes me laugh and is deliciously satisfying.

No, I don't think we'll shut down because it is inconvenient or uncomfortable for thin-skinned nationalists and sorry if I don't believe that I am somehow turning reasonably opinioned francophones into raving militants.

Now during the recent 'troll wars,' I tracked down a lot of traffic to a link put up by a commenter on  Louis  Prefontaines's web site. While I can't say for sure, I assume many of the nasty comments came from there. I'm not defending the nasty English comments, they are all banned.
 
So in honour of all you Prefontaine fans who visit this site and who share a common fantasy where Quebec is independent, prosperous and unilingualy French, a Quebec where the Anglos have fled and the immigrants have shed their burqas, saris and turbans in favour of Montreal Canadiens Quebec Nordiques toques, a Shangri-la where everyone listens to Loco Locass and reads Victor-Lévy Beaulieu, I offer this commentary on a recent post as an homage to the sour grapes that is the hallmark of these frustrated souls..

"Arcade Fire is a stateless group who lives in our French-speaking city but chose to never become truly integrated. This is not a Quebec band, much less a cultural ambassador."  LINK

Yup, Mr. Prefontaine goes off on a rant against this wildly successful band because, according to him, they are not Quebecois and should never be considered as such.

He complains that the English (plus one assimilated Haitian) rockers are nothing more than interlopers and chastises the band for maintaining their Anglo roots while complaining bitterly that they don't sing in French.

All of a sudden Mr. Prefontaine pretends that Montreal is exclusively a 'French-speaking city," yet in blog post after blog post, he complains that Montreal is too English and is becoming more and more anglicized each day.

So which is it?

There's an English societal component to Montreal that is undeniable, only fantasists like Mr. Prefontaine pretend that it isn't there. Arcade Fire is very well assimilated, only not where Mr. Prefontaine wants them to be. Tough luck.

Arcade Fire is part of ENGLISH MONTREAL. Pretending that Quebec and Montreal in particular, are exclusively French and that there exists but one culture, is delusional. 

So if Mr. Prefontaine maintains that Arcade Fire is not Quebecois because they are English, so be it.
His fear that the group will somehow be considered as Quebecois, is unwarranted.
He needn't lose any sleep!

Just about every single major newspaper (including those in France) refers to Arcade Fire as Montrealers, not Quebecois.
To these reviewers, Quebec doesn't even exist.

• "Top marks from a cavalcade of critical tomes who saw the Montreal septet’s sequel to their breakthrough debut long-player of 2004,"  -BBC Review
• "Montreal indie rockers." -Rolling stone Review
• "Arcade Fire, a Montreal art-rock band." -NY Times
• "... the Montreal septet has now proven its staying power."- Chicago Tribune
• "Arcade Fire a été formé à Montréal" Le Figaro
• "le groupe canadien Arcade Fire" - Le Monde   

For a raging nationalist it must be frustrating to see this upstart Anglo group from Montreal enjoy more success than any other Quebec francophone band could ever imagine. The immutable fact is that no group that sings in French can make it big internationally. That is why that almost all international groups aspiring to fame, have taken to singing in English.

For French language militants, it's a frustrating fact of life, but wishing won't make it go away and raging against this realty is just tilting at windmills.

Blowhard Sportswriter Strikes Again

Once again, La Presse sportswriter Rejean Tremblay has waded into the language debate, attacking the Montreal Canadiens for the lack of English players. Tremblay and others of his ilk believe that the team should make a special effort to hire Francophones, so "that they can better represent the fan base of Quebec."
If you read French, find the original article HERE.

The article takes on the familiar snarky tone that is the hallmark of the frustrated curmudgeon.
He's someone who reminds me of that stereotypical caricature of the ageing southern cracker racist, sitting on the front porch, whittling on a piece of wood with his knife and cursing out the 'niggas' to anyone who passes by.

There's a special venom in his words, a nasty sarcasm that is reminiscent of the late great, Pierre Falardeau, an anglo hater 'extrodinaire.'

Mr. Tremblay peddles the fantasy that the Canadiens can lean towards Francophone players without affecting quality. He is a big booster of the  'Savard Doctrine,' the practice perfected by the ex-General Manager of the Habs, Serge Savard, that holds that when given a choice between two players of equal talent, the team should always select the Francophone.

Now last year Tremblay wrote an article about a book written by Bob Sirois, whereby the ex-NHLer accused the league of systematically discriminating against francophones. NO FAIR!

But let us consider Mr. Tremblay's position.
According to his logic, it is perfectly reasonable to promote a francophone player over an equally talented anglophone in Montreal, but it is discrimination when the Toronto Maple Leafs choose an anglophone over an equally talented francophone.

That is what I call Quebec logic!

The real problem is that there is no such thing as equally talented players, the idea that such a situation presents itself is fantasy.

This week we witnessed a real live example of the so-called 'Savard doctrine.' It happened at the Rogers Cup tennis tournament in Montreal featuring the world's best female tennis players.

In his blog, Sex, Sports & Rock and Roll sportswriter Benoit Rioux wrote a piece entitled "Décision anti-anglophone?" LINK(fr)
  

"Vallery Tetreault got a wild card pass into the main draw for the first time in Montreal.Although happy, she recognized that her invitation had the opposite effect on her good friend,  Sharon Fichman, who must now go through qualifying rounds.

Injustice?

The Ontarian, Fichman, 145th in the world, is actually ranked higher than Tétreault (170th.) Nevertheless, the tournament  preferred to go with the Quebecker.

Imagine if the opposite had occurred and a lower-ranked Ontarian would have been advanced ahead of a Quebecker because the tournament was held in Toronto.

Some of us have would have screamed at the injustice launched against we francophones. We would probably talk about "country club" and Denis Coderre would probably have Twitter on the case ..."

Kudos to Mr. Rioux for defending right from wrong, not French versus English.
I bet you never read about this article, because these type of opinion pieces are never published outside Quebec, it's too bad.

Surprisingly, most of the comments under the article supported the tournament's decisions. Perhaps they are also big fans of Tremblay's newspaper column.

In English we call it a double standard. It's more eloquent in French;

Deux Poids - Deux mesures. It's the Quebec way.

Family Faces Language Persecution

As you all must know by now, a family living in a south shore suburb of Montreal is being split up so that one of their children can attend school in English in the United States.
The Le Blanc family faced the agonizing decision because, as they say, they have no choice, their youngest son seems to have a learning disability and is being refused entry into an English school by the government, where he will likely do better, according to his doctors.

The family presents some very special circumstance. Read a detailed article and watch the news report here. LINK

The story is one of the saddest cases of hardship that highlights a policy of government intolerance. Unfortunately it is not unique.
Other families have also been whipped into compliance by the government. Those who are able, send their children private schools, others flee and sadly some cave in and send their children to French schools against their will.

Government bureaucrats gone wild, wielding power over people's personal lives that none of our forefathers who created the British Parliamentary system would imagine.

Somewhere along the line, the idea that government is meant to control our lives became entrenched in the mindset of Quebeckers. Years ago the government decided which language we may speak. Today they are in the process of doing the same with religion, teaching our children a very special course in religious indoctrination that impacts a family's choice on how to practice their own faith.

I shall be following and reporting on the media reaction, I cannot believe that the government is happy about being caught with their intolerant pants done. I'm  sure the nationalists will circle the wagons and support the decision and I will report on their apologist responses. It will be interesting.

In the meantime I put up the picture of the young boy involved because he is essentially the story. Education has always been about helping our children be the best that they can be.

Not here, not in Quebec. Language trumps everything.

Random Friday

 Tories cave in on census

My post Wednesday about the census long form may have been somewhat prescient, but unfortunately events have proved my conclusion faulty. LINK. 

As you remember, I pointed out that the questions on the 2006 census long form may have been subject to manipulation by an Internet campaign mounted by some francophone groups (outside Quebec) meant to inflate the number of unilingual francophones.

Then I made the completely wrong observation that perhaps the manipulation that I described was perhaps one of the reasons that the Tories got rid of the form.
As events have unfolded, Tony Clement has now given in to mounting pressure from these very same francophone lobby groups and announced that he's adding three of those exact same questions on language, back onto the short census form. LINK 

Oh well.....

The questions that Mr. Clement is adding to the mandatory 2011 short-form census are:

1. Can this person speak English or French well enough to conduct a conversation?
2. What language does this person speak most often at home?
3. Does this person speak any other languages on a regular basis at home?

Mr. Clement caved in on exactly what it is that the francophone groups wanted to preserve on the long form, questions about language that can be manipulated.

And so, these lobby groups have gotten exactly what they wanted, an opportunity to fiddle the books.
I guarantee you that another not-so-underground campaign will be launched to instruct francophones how to answer these questions in a manner that will show that there are more unilingual francophones than in reality. 

And so without further ado, here's what the answers will look like, regardless of the truth.

1. Can this person speak English or French well enough to conduct a conversation?   Answer: FRENCH
2. What language does this person speak most often at home?  Answer: FRENCH
3. Does this person speak any other languages on a regular basis at home? answer: Answer: NO

Anglos take Cabinet hit

While nobody in the English press is saying it, Quebec Anglos took it on the chin in the re-shuffled Quebec cabinet of Jean Charest. I've already told you that both Kathleen Weil and Yolande James,  were essentially beards for Jean Charest in cabinet. It was he who basically ran their portfolios.

But Weil looked particularly ill at ease in public and many francophones openly questioned whether she had the right stuff to fight the Supreme Court decision overturning the legality of Bill 104. Many questioned whether an Anglo should ever be given the sensitive post of Justice Minister. With Tony Tomassi out and Lawrence Bergman in a do nothing job, the two woman have now split James' previous portfolio and have been moved into what would be described as junior ministerial positions in the federal government.
The Journal de Montreal described Weil as the only Anglophone in the Cabinet, erroneously concluding that James is a francophone. Not true....her family is from St.Lucia. Perhaps her wonderful French is deceiving.
At any rate it's not looking so good for we Anglos in cabinet....

Bellemare circling the drain

Marc Bellemare got a rude comeuppance in a Quebec City court where he went to petition the court that the Bastarache Commission (investigating the charges that he made concerning the alleged purchase of judgeships) be struck down. Justice Alicia Soldevila, gave him a stern tongue lashing for embellishing and making false accusations about the law firm that Mr. Bastarache hails from. When Bellemare's lawyer demanded to know how much Bastarache earned at Heenan Blaikie, the judge asked how the question would help her decide on the question at hand.  Bellemare's allegations that the law firm receives a lot of un-tendered work from the Charest government were also shot down.  The judge reserved judgment until next week, but it's likely that Bellemare is going to get his wrists slapped. His strategy of tainting the commission as biased, before it has even commenced hearings, raises the spectre that Bellemare is preparing the public for his inevitable humiliation. Mr. Bellemare is looking more and more like another whistle-blower,  Myriam Bedard, who turned out to be a fruit cake. LINK

Another Oka Shakedown

In a rare twist of events, it's a Quebec developer rather than the natives, who seems to be in the process of shaking down the town of Oka in relation to a parcel of land that he obtained adjacent to the OKA reserve( and which is valued at $100,000.)
Normand Ducharme's announcement, made with great fanfare that he'd be building three luxury homes on the parcel of land, got the required reaction from natives and the spectre of another Oka Crisis was raised.
But let me ask you this-
What idiot would build on land that is subject to a land dispute and which could engender a violent reaction from natives?
What bank would lend money to develop such a project and what financial institution would provide mortgage money for any house built on the disputed land?

Finally what moron would buy such a house? Would you?

Perhaps it was all an elaborate ruse to get the city to buy his land at an inflated price, say $400,000.
And presto! It seems that a confidential deal has been reached with the city to avert a potential 'disaster,' including just such a payment!  LINK

Well done, Mr. Ducharme!

To the the natives and to the city of Oka.  Congratulations, you've been played!

Friday Funnies

For all those who accused me of resorting to McCarthyism in my piece on Amir Khadir, I kindly offer this light-hearted commentary.

HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND!!!
BONNE FIN DE SEMAINE À TOUS!!!