Hate and Violence are Not Quebec Values

The recent vandalism of five Jewish institutions and the decision by Quebec National Assembly guards to deny entry to Kirpan bearing Sikhs into a Parliamentary committee meeting has invariably brought out the tedious refrain in newspapers across Canada that Quebec is a place of monumental intolerance. Link
For many, its easy to confuse linguistic intolerance with religious intolerance and while Quebec does officially discriminate against English, it has nothing to do with religion.
Understandably, this distinction is lost in the rest of the country, but in Quebec anglophones and minorities should be able to make the distinction.

That is why it is galling that two prominent Anglophone  newspapers, the Montreal Gazette and the community based The Suburban ran editorials repeating the nonsense that Quebeckers are religiously intolerant.
Now before one writes off The Suburban as a lightweight newspaper, "one that is worthy of wrapping a bloody pig in," (as René Levesque described it after an unflattering article) let us not underestimate the newspaper's profound influence in the western neighbourhoods of Anglophone Montreal.

"If the state is the protector and the state grants supremacy of one group over others, then the logical outgrowth is that the “others” – the minorities – are marginalized.  Not by overt assertion, but by subliminal seduction. And young minds are the most affected.
It opens the door to any person with a gripe against society, or frustrations with their own lives, to take it out on others. The others. “Les autres.” It is about the demonization of those who are different in order to soothe our frustration with ourselves. It makes hate easy and, sadly, satisfying." read the entire article

Shades of Jan Wong, who years ago blamed the three Montreal serial killings at Concordia, Dawson and Ecole Polytechnique on Bill 101 and "decades-long linguistic struggle".

It's always easy to arrive at illogical conclusions when ones draws inference from facts which are not facts.
The Suburban is somehow making a connection to the antisemitic acts of vandalism with language policies related to making French the predominant language of Quebec society.
The logical conclusion of that premise is that the perpetrators were angry francophones, whose 'young minds' were conditioned to hate, by the state.

However, if history repeats itself, there is little likelihood that the vandals were francophones.
Sorry to burst the Suburban's balloon, but almost all antisemitic acts of this kind are perpetrated by young disaffected Muslims, and religious intolerance, rather linguistic intolerance is the prime motivation.

If language policy (which doesn't exist elsewhere) is the driving force behind violent acts against minorities, why is it that Quebec has the lowest rate of hate crimes in Canada? As I wrote recently, in 2008, there were 271 hates in Toronto compared to 38 in Montreal. LINK

British Columbia is the hate capital of Canada and if one would ascribe to the Suburban's logic, perhaps we should blame the violence on Canadian 'multiculturalism.'

Most hate crimes are related to religious fanaticism, poverty, disaffection and ignorance. That plays out across the country, regardless of language.

If statistics prove anything, it is that Quebeckers are more tolerant than Canadians, something that Quebec bashers will find hard to swallow.

The Suburban does a disservice to the Jewish community it serves by telling readers that hate crimes are related to Bill 101 and language, when clearly evidence proves the opposite. Hate crimes in Quebec remain so isolated that any statistical conclusions are impossible to reach and all we can say with certainty is that these crimes occur significantly less in Quebec than in Canada.

The Suburban owes an apology to all Quebeckers.

As for the Gazette, the assertion of its editorial board that those in favour of barring the kirpan from public facilities are 'shameful,' and by inference intolerant, is unacceptably arrogant.

"There is certainly no reasonable justification for banning the wearing of kirpans by Sikhs in public venues, including the National Assembly building or the Parliament buildings in Ottawa,....

"Although it is a knife, the kirpan is not held as a weapon by its wearers but rather as a symbol of their faith, much like a crucifix by Christians or a star of David by Jews."  A shameful violation of religious freedom

Repeat after me, "This is not a knife!..this is not a knife!

The assertion that there is no reasonable justification to ban the kirpan is opinion, not fact. 

The Gazette's belief that the issue is settled reminds us of warm-mongers who tells that there can be no reasonable debate over global warming and that anyone with a contrary opinion is wrong.

It's nothing short of nonsense for the Gazette to equate an eight inch pointed dagger with a tiny crucifix or a Star of David, worn around the neck. These religious symbols cannot be used as weapons, the dagger, well.....

Should somebody attempt to board an airplane with a pointed eight inch stiletto-shaped crucifix, I would hope he would be enjoined from flying. If a person attempted to enter Parliament wearing a massive Star of David with razor sharp edges that could be used like a Ninja throwing star, I would hope that he'd be barred from entering as well.

It's the sign of a weak argument when unjustified comparisons are made.

I may venerate my AK-47 assault rifle as a religious item, but that doesn't make it less of a weapon and I'm sure the Gazette editorial board would not board an airplane where a passenger would carry that sort of 'article of faith' (See, we can all make illogical comparisons!)

The fact is, the kirpan is an article of faith that is also a weapon, it is as simple as that.

To fulfill its religious function, the kirpan must remain a functioning weapon.

If kirpans were just 'symbols', they could be fashioned into innocent plastic toys or they could be miniaturized to the size of an ordinary crucifix and thus rendered harmless. Even at full size, sharpened and pointed, they could be rendered safe by welding them within their sheaths. 

But alas, that is not what what is called for. In order to fulfill its function, the kirpan must be a real-live weapon, religiously sanctioned to be used in the defence of good. 

To pretend otherwise is just closing one's eyes to the truth.

The argument that the kirpan does not pose a potential danger because Sikhs do not consider it as weapon is patently self-serving, untrue and decidedly beside the point.

Should 'intent to use' really be a criterion for allowing weapons in public?

By the way, it's not as if Sikhs have never used the kirpan as a weapon. While rare, it has happened and it has happened in Canada.

In Montreal, a 13 year-old Sikh pulled out his kirpan and threatened other students. Link

Of course, all of this was hushed up in youth court, such is the reality of our politically correct society which denies nail-clippers on airplanes, while allowing religious daggers.

The case of a Toronto man being stabbed by a kirpan is also considered a simple aberration by defenders and not germane to the debate.  Kirpan attack in Brampton renews concerns.

If one could make the argument that Sikhs in general are somehow more  pacifistic than the average Canadian and that non-violence was a hallmark of their society, one could add some weight to the argument that the Kirpan is harmless. Unfortunately, such is not the case at all. 

Sikh radicals, (all wearing kirpans) were responsible for the worst terrorist act in Canadian history. The bombing of Air India was not the random act of just one deranged Sikh, but rather a widespread conspiracy of real terrorists.

Religious violence is problematic amidst the large Sikh community in British Columbia and just recently threats by Sikhs against Dosanj Dosani were made in relation to him attending a certain parade.

"Violent incidents at two Sikh temples this month in Brampton, along with a controversial decision over the weekend to allow photos of leaders from banned terrorist groups onto a float in the annual Vaisakhi parade in B.C., have marred the image of the Sikh-Canadian community, according to one group.

I don't want to give the idea that Sikhs represent a clear and present danger to Canadian society, but they are certainly not deserving of this type of an accommodation based on their record of non-violence." LINK

"On April 16, 2010, the day prior to the annual Vaisakhi Parade held in Surrey, B.C., one of the parade organizers issued a statement indicating should Dosanjh and BC Liberal backbencher Dave Hayer choose to attend the parade, their safety could not be guaranteed."  LINK

"...Dosanjh, a moderate who has distanced himself from such fundamentalist views, is a longtime critic of Sikh extremism who was severely injured in a February 1985 beating by a suspected member of the International Sikh Youth Federation, a banned terrorist group....
...This is intimidation and I don't believe in this day and age a Canadian parliamentarian should have to put up with these nonsensical threats." LINK

Read;
Extremist Sikh Violence in British Columbia: Why Must It Always Boil Down to This?

Sikh violence wanes in Punjab, grows in Canada

High Spousal Abuse in South Asian Marriages 
Surrey Sikh parade's martyrs float angers mayor

Sikhs fear return to violence in temple election

I haven't included the above links to humiliate or denigrate the Sikh community, just to underline that a measure of violence has been brought over to Canada from the old country. While not all Sikhs are violent, the vast majority of violent Sikhs are religious purists that wear the kirpan.

That the Canadian Parliament grants Sikhs the right to carry kirpans is more an act of political expediency than anything else. The Sikh community represents almost 2% of electors and the community directly controls the election of over half a dozen federal seats. Coming out against the kirpan would be the kiss of death to any federalist party and this is the real definition of an accommodation. 

The kirpan is banned in Denmark and France and there have been several court cases in states of the U.S. involving the legality of wearing the kirpan in public places.

The kirpan is barred in the European Parliament as well as the Indian Parliament where a Sikh member of Parliament was kept from serving because of his refusal to relinquish his kirpan. After being re-elected he reluctantly complied.
Is the Gazette prepared to brand all these countries and institution "shameful?" 

The Gazette has every right to advocate for the kirpan accommodation, but branding those opposed to that accommodation as 'shameless' or intolerant and casting aspersions on our character should be condemned.

It seems that Canadians have more good sense than the Gazette and the scads of other Canadian newspapers who hold that the kirpan is not a weapon.

The comments board in relation to a CBC story  entitled Ban kirpan from Parliament: Bloc  generated  an amazing 550 comments within just 48 hours, the vast majority agreeing with the Bloc Quebecois view of the kirpan rather than the view of the Gazette. Imagine that! The majority of Canadians actually agree with the Bloc Quebecois!

Here's a sample followed by the score of readers who agreed or disagreed with the comment

"C'mon politicians, get your act together and quit folding for one group over another. This is not the way to achieve a sense of fairness amongst Canadians." Agree- 31 Disagree 1

"I say issue a kirpan, silver bullets, a sharpened cross, a veil, a taser, and a light sabre to everyone entering for question period. Let things sort themselves out." Agree- 29 Disagree 1

"Ya just gotta admire Quebec and how they protect their culture, language and civil laws. Unlike the rest of Canada with the Jack Layton's and Dalton McGimpy's who will sell out for any popular or trendy politically correct notion." Agree- 33 Disagree 4

"If it's a weapon, it should not be allowed on planes, in parliament, or in any other location where weapons are not permitted. I'm all for religious freedom, but why should they be allowed to take a weapon where they would not be allowed for anyone else, when we as Christians are not even allowed to take our prayers into a school?" Agree- 41 Disagree 3

"We are living in a multi polar and multi faith world. the sooner we learn to live with this fact the better it is." Agree- 8 Disagree 31

"I wonder if the commenters that believe religious freedom should prevail with the Sikh knives would also support the religious freedom of people in Saskatchewan not to perform gay "marriages". Agree- 29 Disagree 2

"The Prime MInister of Australia, when faced with a similar predicament recently, stated that it was immigrants, not Australians, who had to adapt to the Australian way of life. If that was unacceptable, they had the right to exercise a great Australian freedom - leave. I suggest that Sikhs in Canada follow that same line of reasoning." Agree- 105 Disagree 2

This sampling is a fair representation, I invite you too check out the comment section yourself, under the story, it makes for some interesting reading!  Link

The Gazette owes us all an apology for arrogantly calling us 'shameful' for believing that daggers have no place in Parliament, airplanes or schools. 

Housekeeping 101- Spellchecking Comments

HOW TO KEEP TYPOS AND SPELLING MISTAKES OUT OF YOUR COMMENTS

If you use the FIREFOX browser here's a fantastic add-on that will make typos and spelling mistakes a thing of the past.
(For those using EXPLORER or SAFARI, toggle down the page for a comparable add-on for these browsers.)

Once installed, the Canadian English Dictionary add-on works invisibly to monitor spelling mistakes and typos in any web application.
 This is especially nice when writing comments where there are no support tools.

When a mistake is detected it is highlighted. It's almost instantaneous.
Clicking on the underlined word while pressing the OPTION key triggers a spell-check pop-up, which will offer suggestions! It's neat.
I especially appreciate the Canadian version of spelling, too.

You can safely ignore the underlines if you want,  they won't appear in the finished product no matter what.

You can also add words or proper names to the database.

By the way you can also download a FRENCH dictionary and can toggle between the two.
There are other languages available too.

It's two clicks to get the whole thing done and well worth the effort.

Sometimes add-ons are annoying, but in this case, once you'll start using it, you'll be hooked!


EXPLORER BROWSER

"ieSpell is a free Internet Explorer browser extension that spell checks text input boxes on a webpage. It should come in particularly handy for users who do a lot of web-based text entry"

• Completely standalone spell checker for your web browser. Does not require Microsoft Office or any other third party components.
• Integrates flawlessly with Internet Explorer and other IE based browsers.
• Three ways to start the spell check; via the right click context menu, the toolbar or the menu bar.
• Supports a wide range of web applications including simple text forms, rich text editors, forums, blogs, webmail (including Outlook Web Access and Lotus iNotes) and more!
• Spell check in any of the 3 variants (US, UK and Canadian) of the English Language!

Download it HERE.

SAFARI BROWSER

SAFARI has a built-in spell checker that works pretty much the same way as the FIREFOX spell-checker described above.
Just activate it in the EDIT menu,

For a detailed article on Browser Spell checkers,  click HERE

French versus English Volume 20

Montreal Mosque project shot down

Perhaps New York City should take a page out of the Quebec government's playbook in relation to the bothersome mosque scheduled be built close to the 9/11 site in New York City.
Montreal area Muslims have been fund-raising in order to amass the $2.1 million purchase price of the last building of the historic Grey Nuns complex in downtown Montreal. The Muslims had been hoping to turn the building into a mosque and study centre, much to the chagrin of purists.  LINK fr

A panicked Quebec Ministry of Culture has stepped in to snap up the property before any such abomination could be permitted to happen and thus save the hallowed ground from certain desecration. The Ministry denies being anti-Muslim, but admits it has no plans for the building nor any ideas. In a stinging letter, renowned architect Phyllis Lambert(nee Bronfman) and Senator Serge Joyal rebuked the government for the blatant anti-Muslim gesture.

Electrolux fires 1200 in English

It's pretty shitty losing a well-paying manufacturing job and it's even shittier having it announced by way of a video. It's even worse when the announcement, made to the French speaking factory workers, is offered in heavily accented English.

Quebec's first baby of 2011

"Talasan Abdi Omar, came into the world at midnight and zero seconds on Jan. 1, 2011, weighing 3.6 kilograms, or nearly eight pounds and was thrust into the spotlight almost immediately.

Lying on her back in her bassinet, sleeping next to her resting mother in St. Mary’s maternity ward, Talasan appeared unaware of all the fuss her arrival made. She is the third daughter born to Pierrefonds residents Fatouma Ali Mogueh, 26, and Mohamed Abdi Omar, 35. LINK

I'm sure that Quebecois cultural supremacists like Raymond Labrie are shitting themselves over the fact that the first Quebec baby of 2011 is not French, not Catholic and not white.!!!
A triple-header!! Ha!ha!

What is the "Clique du Plateau"

Here's a semi-humorous take on what the "Clique du Plateau" is for those who'd like a guided tour. It's in French only. LINK 

Office québécois de la langue française

For those who think that the language police do nothing but harass Anglos over French signage, websites etc., they actually do much more.
The 'oh-feece,' as it is affectionately known, is also charged with policing the French language by making sure its lexicon remains as pure as possible by keeping Anglicisms out of daily use.
The latest offerings provided by them are these;

"Unfriend" = "Amiradier"  

definition; to remove someone from one Friend's list on Facebook

The Office has let it be known that the literal translation " conditionne physiquement"  from the English "physical training" is no longer kosher and is replaced with the more proper  "entraînement physique"

Apparently the good works of the OQLF has already made a reputation in France.
In a tongue in cheek reference to the term 'feel-good movie'  a French film critic suggests a comparable term in French;

"Si l'Office québécois de la langue française propose le terme « film pur bonheur », la traduction littérale de ce jargon hollywoodien serait : « un film qui fait se sentir bien ». " LINK

The OQLF is also frowning upon the word "PINTE" to describe a glass of beer in a pub. Although the word actually originates from the French, the English connotation of a 'pint of beer' is not French enough. Hence the word 'CHOPE' is now declared politically correct Link

Other popular English words that have found their way into common French usage are "COTTAGE" for which the OQLF recommends "CHALET" and "MAISON à DEMI-NIVEAUX" for a "SPLIT-LEVEL"
Another organization has been sanctioned by the OQLF to invent  equivalent French words for English technological terms and so, "EMPOWERMENT" is now "AUTOSOMISATION" in French.


"Allaite-In" not French enough

Perhaps the OQLF should get involved in this story, because according to Quebec's most tiresome and moronic language blowhard,  Louis Prefontaine, the name of yesterday's protest wasn't French enough.
For those not up to speed, a group of women organized a protest in front of a Montreal children's clothing store that kicked a woman out for breastfeeding her infant, two week earlier. LINK
The protesters created a Facebook page called ALLAITE-IN (nurse-in,) to which our resident language ayatollah took exception, because according to him, it was too English. He wrote over a dozen messages on the page haranguing the group for its bilingual nature and for using the clever protest name instead of the more French  (grève sur le tas)
His annoying comments did not go unnoticed with a couple of woman calling him out as a 'troll' and 'connard'  Of course, as is the case with all trolls, this only encouraged him to continue ranting.  See his rants here.
And so we'd ask the OQLF to offer a French alternative of a 'nurse-in'  and perhaps to francicize the word 'troll" as well.
Thanks to Hugo Shebbeare for highlighting the story.

PS- I think I'll start referring to Louis by that nickname-- "LE CONNARD," Click to check out the meaning of the word, it fits perfectly!!!

Senator proposes Bill to bilingualize the RCMP

If Liberal Senator Maria Chaput has her way, RCMP officers who patrol the Trans-Canada highway will have to be able to speak French, all the way from St. John's Newfoundland to Vancouver, B.C.

"...Practically speaking, Bill s-220 would require the federal government to provide services in both official languages in areas around the country where there are virtually no speakers of one of those official languages..."

"....Under the bill's specifications, Mounties patrolling the Trans-Canada Highway would be required to be fluent in both official languages, even those patrolling the parts of the highway on which there are likely to be almost no French speakers..." 

And now for the cherry on top;  drum roll, pleeease.....

"Interestingly enough, the only place where this foolish attempt at mandating bilingualism would not be instituted would be in the province of Quebec. The parts of the Trans-Canada Highway that go through Quebec are patrolled by the Surete du Quebec, which are under provincial jurisdiction, and would thus not be affected by Bill s-220" Alex Woznica-theconcordian

Bilingual toddlers have cognitive edge

"Concordia's Diane Poulin-Dubois says that toddlers exposed to two languages from infancy outperformed unilingual kids on attention-related tasks."

The study also shows that the cognitive advantages of bilingualism come earlier than what had been shown in previous studies, she added  LINK

Study fears allure of English over Quebec postsecondary students

"In their quest for better jobs, a growing number of Montreal’s francophone and ethnic-community youths are attending English-language colleges, posing a threat to French as the “common language of Quebec society.”That’s the conclusion of a study commissioned by the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ), the union that represents the vast majority of the province’s teachers. The study’s researchers expressed concern over the attraction that English is having on Quebec’s francophone and ethnic-community post secondary students." LINK

FOR FURTHER READING:

French versus English Volume 19

Quebec Intolerant of Accomodations, but not Religion

Call it a paradox, but it's my contention that Quebeckers reject making religious accommodations to a larger extent than Canadians in other provinces while maintaining a higher level of religious tolerance.

Now before you rush to the comments section to point out that my two previous posts are incompatible with this statement, hear me out.

A couple of days ago, a group of Sikhs was refused entry into Quebec's Parliament because they refused to give up their ceremonial daggers known as Kirpans.

"Hearings into the accommodation of minority groups were disrupted Tuesday when security agents refused to accommodate four Sikh officials who refused to turn in their ceremonial daggers" Toronto Sun.

 "Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to enter because we wear the kirpan, which is a bit ironic because we were here to speak upon the issue of accommodation and we weren't accommodated," said Singh. CBC

By the way, this is the law that would ban the niqib (veil) in some public situations.

The spokesman for the group pointed out to reporters that the kirpan is an 'article of faith' and not a weapon, but take a look at the knife, it looks pretty dangerous to me.
I guess one man's 'article of faith,' is another man's weapon.

 

If the Sikhs had brought along a bowling ball as their 'article of faith,' I'd expect the Parliamentary guards to let them in. As for a knife, I don't think so.

"Kripan?"

The Supreme Court of Canada and the federal Parliament allow Sikhs to carry the kirpan within their buildings and this will undoubtedly fuel media focus branding Quebec as intolerant.

While most Canadians overwhelmingly agree with Quebec in matters of religious accommodation, the federal government and the other provincial governments disagree and the liberal media is quick to condemn Quebeckers as intolerant based on this difference of opinion.

Quebeckers are much more sensitive to religious extremism, having been the victim of a domineering church up until the last generation. There remains a great deal of resentment at having ones life controlled by others and seeing a woman wearing a veil is as provocative to Quebec women as a matador's cape thrust before a bull's face.

Where one persons freedom ends and the public begins shall always remain a contentious issue.

Those who say that all religious ceremonies and conventions should be tolerated and accommodated are spouting poppycock.
We don't allow human or animal sacrifice, flagellation, exploitation of children or polygamy (even though this last one may change.)

As a society, we set limits. Where those limits are, remains a fair question.

And so debate over religious accommodation is legitimate.

• Should Muslims be provided prayer rooms in universities?
• Should Hassidic children be excused from studying the standard provincial curriculum
• Should women be allowed to demand to be treated by a female physician or be served by a female public employee?
• Should days off for alternative holidays be provided?
• Should public and private institutions provide for segregated male/female classes.
• Should dangerous religious symbols such as kirpans be carried on airplanes or public buildings?

As you probably know this last weekend saw a bunch of Jewish buildings vandalized in Montreal and the cry went up once again that Quebec is intolerant. If and when the perpetrator is found, I'll bet dollars to doughnuts, that he won't be a Francophone.

When it comes to 'hate crimes,' Quebec has the lowest incidence in Canada.

That's right, I bet you didn't know that.

In fact Vancouver, that paragon of tolerance has the highest incidence of hate crimes in Canada (6.3 per 100,000 population)

In 2008 there were 271 hate crimes in Toronto compared to just 38 in Montreal! Link

Of course we are reminded that the boycott of the Le Marcheur shoe store is another act of aggression towards Jews, but when it comes to the campaign of Boycott and Divestment of Israel, Francophone universities have largely steered clear of celebrating "Apartheid week." The intolerance and aggression shown to Jewish students in Anglophone universities like Concordia and other across Canada, towers over anything on the French side.
That's also just the plain truth.

Anyone who calls Quebeckers religiously intolerant by nature, is dead wrong. Statistics don't back up that theory.

Where things go awry is on the language question. There, too many Quebeckers become irrational and intolerant of others.
Again, that's just the plain truth.

As I've always said...... in Quebec it's always about language...but lay off the religious intolerance.

When Racism Goes Mainstream

To varying degrees the scourge racism exists across the country and no one province or territory can claim that they are immune from hate.
That being said, Canadians realize that racism is not politically correct and dare not express these sentiments in print, on television and over the radio waves, unless they are eager to suffer the  fate of the late aboriginal leader David Ahenakew, whose life was destroyed after he made some racist public remarks about Jews, a few years back. Charged with promoting hate he was put through a long and debilitating judicial ringer which no doubt contributed to his death.

In Canada, making negative statements in public about identifiable groups is pretty much verbotten. Amazingly, making positive statements about identifiable groups is also pretty much frowned upon, that's how sensitive to race we've become.
Making statements like 'Blacks are better athletes than whites" makes people uncomfortable because of the slippery slope it infers. If you can make good generalizations about a group, then you can make bad ones too, so we generally frown on these comments.

Somehow all these rules don't seem to apply to Quebec where negative stereotyping is a national provincial pastime. Publicly discussing the foibles of particular groups, be they religious, ethnic or language based, is somehow not seen as racist at all.

There is a great divide when it comes to attitudes over race in Quebec and the Rest of Canada.

Over the last couple of months I've posted a bunch of stuff on the subject and if you haven't seen it, I think you'll find the stories interesting.

Too Many Greeks and Italians in Laval

Gilles Proulx's racist TV 

Hidden face e of Quebec Racism

Revisiting Hérouxville 

Latent Racism in Quebec a Sad Reality

Here's a video of Radio-Canada bashing immigrants who can't speak enough French. The video is, as is freely admitted by the commentator, unscientific and unrepresentative of the immigrant community but it makes for good TV.
 These type of stereo-typical portrayals are de riguer on Quebec TV, even on networks funded by taxpayers.
And you thought the role of the CBC/Radio Canada was to foster understanding among Canadians!

 

Today, an egregious story of overt racism continues to play out in the mainstream press, not in the obscure pages of vigil.net or some other extremist web site.

That story is the panicked perception in the French media, that immigrants, aligned with the dreaded English community are taking over the island of Montreal.

Talk of 're-conquering' Montreal by francophones is a subject that is splashed across mainstream media with the underlying theme that ethnics and Anglos are an evil presence to be rid of, like vermin.

"We must work to develop policies to keep Montreal francophones from leaving the island and create conditions for more Francophones to return." Pierre Curzi - PQ

That francophone writers bemoan the fact that the island of Montreal is lost to the 'heathens' doesn't seem to strike anyone here as the least bit racist.  Not at all.

When commentators tell us that there are not enough native francophones on the island of Montreal, what they are trying to say politely is that there are too many Anglos, Blacks, Jews, Greeks, Italians, Chinese, Indians, Latinos, Hispanics, Africans and Arabs. etc.

The same story is now being repeated in Laval.  Le Mouvement Laval français was created to stop the spread of 'insipid multiculturalism.' Link 

Could you imagine a Toronto newspaper calling openly for more Whites to move into predominantly Black neighbourhoods in order to restore the demographic superiority of Whites?

Could you imagine an Ottawa newspaper calling openly for more Anglos to move into predominantly French neighbourhoods in order to restore the demographic superiority of the English?

In Quebec, under the guise of protecting French language and culture, the most racist and hurtful notions can be bandied about and this in the mainstream press.