Five Billion Reasons to Say No

There's not much I can add to slag Gilles Duceppe's demand that Stephen Harper's Conservatives cough up an additional 5 billion dollars to Quebec in order to secure the Bloc Quebecois' votes in the upcoming Spring budget. LINK

Commentators and journalists have been attracted to the story like bees to honey or like flies to......well... suffice to say there's been a lot of ink and bandwidth devoted across Canada expressing universal rage and condemnation coupled with the supplication that Mr. Harper must do the honourable thing and reject the unholy demand that Quebec be paid off to insure that the government of the day remains in power.

In politics we call Mr. Duceppe's demand, gamesmanship or horsetrading. In real life we call it blackmail.
But no matter.

While columnists rage  at Mr. Duceppe's unmitigated effrontery, they have unfortunately entirely missed the point.

It should be patently obvious, even to the most naive political observer, that Duceppe formulated his demands to pick at the scab of Anglo resentment in relation to Quebec entitlements and to generate the exact anti-Quebec reaction that he has.
If he really wanted the money, he would have pursued the matter behind closed doors, horsetrading with a senior Conservative operative to 'cut a deal.' That's how things are done in Ottawa.

And so it was never about the money, it was about exacerbating the never-ending Canada versus Quebec polemic. In that respect Duceppe has again scored a brilliant victory as Canadians fall neatly into his 'piege'. It's surprising that so few commentators are able to see past the ridiculous demand, such is their hatred for Duceppe and their belief that he is an unsophisticated clown.
Canadians are used to taking people at face value, they assume that if someone says something, they actually mean it. When it comes to Gilles Duceppe, it's a rather naive assumption as he is a grand master at negotiating in bad faith.  

As ridiculous as Canadians find his demands, not so in Quebec, where the theme that the  province is chronically short changed by Ottawa plays well and where that special ability to employ voodoo accounting methods leads to the inevitable conclusion of financial oppression.

In Quebec, defending the principle of asymmetrical benefits has been raised to an art form and where any argument, no matter how vacuous can be invoked to justify the notion that Quebec is a financial victim of federalism.

Illustrating this phenomenon is the recent demand that Quebec receive in excess of 50% of the economic spin-offs in relation to the F-35 warplane contract signed with Lockheed Martin, based on the fact that Quebec is the historic home to Canada's aircraft industry.
Notwithstanding, when Ontario is awarded a disproportional slice of contracts in relation to military vehicles, because the automotive industry is Ontario-based, the howls of favouritism are raised in Quebec by nationalists claiming that Ottawa is once again, unfairly advantaging its favourite son.

Quebeckers are champion debaters and can always find an argument to counter any claim that they somehow advantaged. With just 22% of the population and 60% of the equalization pie, Quebec nationalists will tell us, with a straight face, that certain other provinces get 'proportionally higher benefits than Quebec.

When called out on the discrepancies, Quebec will claim that they are short-changed in other programs including military spending, native subsidies (because Quebec has comparatively few natives) or fishery programs because they are not an ocean province.

On and on it goes.
The debate is such that by the time all the facts and figures are bandied about by both sides, enough confusion reigns so that those who are predisposed to believe Quebec is spoilt, or alternately, deprived, can satisfy themselves that their position is solid. 

Voters have only so much capacity to absorb facts and figures and let's face it, considering that most can't balance their own cheque-book, understanding the vagaries of federal/provincial transfers is like quantum mechanics.

Most voters end up siding with the politician that they intend voting for and so any argument that makes the least sense, is accepted, as long as it sounds good. The Bloc is expert at making the 'these' shallow arguments, meant to confuse and confound the truth.
Ask Mr. Duceppe to explain why the Earth is flat and he'll produce a perfectly rational argument that will undoubtedly convince his constituency that it is indeed so!

So why did Mr. Duceppe stir the pot?

Well it seems that he smells an election coming or is ready to trigger one himself.

Mr. Duceppe, flush with Canadian cash via federal election campaign grants, favourable polling numbers and the likelihood that another hung parliament is in the offing, is looking for an issue to which the party can hang its hat onto.

It is clear that  Mr. Duceppe will base his campaign on what Quebec doesn't receive from Ottawa, rather than what it does.
It's simple clean and appealing, as long as nobody challenges him on the numbers, he'll be fine. In Quebec there remains no federalist a la Stephane Dion (who is now a spent force)  to challenge or call out Mr. Duceppe over his fantastical and self-serving numbers.

If polling numbers remain firm, there will be no majority government. Mr. Harper will be returned to power under the very same circumstances as before.

There will be no coalition between the losing parties and that means we'll be right back where we started, 300 million dollars poorer (the cost of an election)  and an almost identical minority government.

And so Mr Duceppe and the Bloc endure.
While some commentators in Quebec are questioning the wisdom of voting for a party that is delivering nothing to Quebec, the Bloc has once again cleverly found a new argument to justify its existence.
It now portrays itself as the only political option available that can thwart a Conservative majority government, a scenario which they portray as apocalyptic. A Parliamentary majority would deliver to Mr. Harper the means to chop down Quebec and to reduce it to 'just another province' status, something they portray as an unmitigated disaster.

They may be right.....

Amir Khadir Being Destroyed By Shoe Boycott

While PAJU continues its weekly Saturday  boycott of the LE MARCHEUR shoe store in Montreal, it's becoming clear that the only real damage being inflicted, is the ongoing publicity nightmare that is consuming the reputation of Amir Khadir and the Quebec Solidaire party.

Each Saturday a rag-tag group of Israel-bashers, consisting mostly of a combination of communists and self-loathing Jews, continue to protest in front of the Le Marcheur shoe on St. Denis street in Montreal, despite the fact that the continued 'action' has blown up rather poetically in their faces.
The demonstration has become a circus and is now attracting yahoos, including fascist Jean-Roch Villemaire the separatist/anti-immigration activist who was convicted last year for attacks against anglos. Link
It seems that when it comes to Israel-bashing both communists and fascists find common ground in Quebec! Read: L'extrême droite avec l'extrême gauche?(fr)
(A shout out to PIERRE F. for the heads-up)

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 LATE BREAKING NEWS!!!!

 Late yesterday PAJU has called a temporary halt to their boycott due to, according to them, facists joining their numbers. This blog piece already made reference to  Jean-Roch Villemaire and his MNRQ group  joining the boycott.... LINK

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Last week, politicians of all political stripes  dropped by the Boutique to offer support including Conservatives Steven Blaney and Rudy Husny, Liberals Marc Garneau and Marlene Jennings, Provincial Liberal Lawrence Bergman, ADQ members,Gérard Deltell and François Bonnardel as well as the PQ's Martin Lemay. 

It's patently clear in which direction the political winds are blowing. It seems that politicians of all parties (except Quebec solidaire) want to get in on the anti-boycott bandwagon.

For enemies of Mr. Khadir, it's the boycott that keeps giving!

Let me quickly refresh your memory as to the events leading up to this post.
Mr. Khadir, a radical separatist/socialist/communist member of Quebec's Parliament and the lone representative of the like-minded Quebec Solidaire party participated in a boycott demonstration in front of a Montreal independent shoe store that sold a small amount of Israeli made shoes.

Mr. Khadir handed out flyers encouraging clients not to shop in the store until it stopped selling the aforementioned shoes.

His participation in that boycott against the merchant blew up in his face as the media objected to a sitting member of Parliament participating in a boycott of a small Quebecois merchant, who had broken no laws. At first, Mr. Khadir made the mistake of defending his actions which proved to be a huge mistake which he likely regrets.

In reaction to all this, a concerted effort led by conservative journalist Eric Duhaime is afoot to expose, humiliate and denigrate the hitherto popular Khadir, something that has blindsided the usually media-savvy Khadir.

For Mr. Khadir, a quick apology and an admission that his presence at the protest was a mistake would have neatly defused the negative impact of his actions.

After all, everyone makes mistakes and Mr. Khadir's popularity was such that he could easily have withstood a small error in judgment.

Like Martha Stewart and Conrad Black, celebrities who thought they could brazen it out, they are often punished with a barrel of hurt when they fail to acknowledge a misdeed.

And so Mr. Khadir continues to be pilloried.

He first defended his position by reminding all who would listen that Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu both have called Israel an Apartheid State, but when the attacks became personally directed at himself, he characterized himself a victim of the "Israeli Lobby"
And so Mr. Khadir is  now telling us the Mr. Duhaime, Mr. Dutrizac, Mr. Martineau, his chief detractors in the francophone press (all respected journalists) are  part of that international Jewish conspiracy!

Mr. Khadir is fighting back because the attacks have become utterly vicious. In a radio interview with  Benoît Dutrizac, the journalist railed against Mr. Khadir without any pretense of respect, treating him like trash and demanding that Khadir call off the PAJU dogs.
Khadir defended himself saying he has no control over the group, but Dutrizac reminded him that his father was front and center demonstrating, to which Khadir answered that he was "not his father's keeper" What fun!
At the end of the interview, Dutrizac actually tells Khadir that he hopes the demonstrators get attacked. Listen to the interview(fr)

The issue has neatly veered away from the Israeli question, to the ethics of a sitting member of Parliament boycotting a small law-abiding merchant and realizing where the debate was going, Mr. Khadir, now in full damage control (too little, too late) lied changed his story and said he never discouraged clients from shopping in the store and was rather just encouraging them not to buy Israeli shoes.

He publicly asked for a meeting with the merchant to smooth things over, but the merchant told reporters that Mr. Khadir, notwithstanding what he was now saying, did indeed tell customers not to shop in his store and that he didn't see any point in meeting with Mr. Khadir. 

On the Quebec solidaire web site Khadir attempted to rewrite history.

"Contrary to what has beeen told, I don't believe in a boycott of this store, but a boycott of the Israeli products" Link

A few days ago ultra-conservative journalist Eric Duhaime exposed Mr. Khadir's revisionist view of his actions.

Appearing on Mario Dumont's television shoe, Mr. Duhaime destroyed Mr. Khadir's assertion that he never told clients not to shop in the store, by offering up a picture of Mr. Khadir handing out flyers that explicitly called for a boycott of the store, not the shoes. Touché!

He then reminded viewers that Jimmy Carter had actually apologized and asked forgiveness of the Jewish community for his 'apartheid' remarks.

As I would have noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at any time of the year, I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so."- Jimmy Carter

"Al Het" refers to the Yom Kippur prayer asking God forgiveness for sins committed against Him. In modern Hebrew it refers to any plea for forgiveness. LINK

As for Desmond Tutu, Mr Duhaime also told viewers that the anti-apartheid cleric appears to see apartheid everywhere, even in Canada, referring to our treatment of natives.
Mr. Tutu also appears to be a fan of all 'underdogs,' including the 9/11 terrorists.

"He explained (Tutu) that the hijackers had been “willing to pilot a plane and  go to their deaths” because they were making a desperate plea for relief from the “poverty, hunger, and disease” that plagued the people of  their homelands"Link

Richard Martineau of the Le Journal de Montreal has also called out Khadir for making false arguments, specifically by misinterpreting statements by Professor Stephen Scheinberg an ex-director of the B'nai Brith who has been critical of Israel. The professor was aghast that he was being used by Mr. Khadir as an argument to support the boycott. Link

Mr. Martineau quoted the professor as saying that as a Zionist, he reserves the right to criticize the Israeli government, but does not support a movement that seeks to dismantle Israel, not reform it. 

Francois David, leader of Quebec solidaire party sensed the danger to her party and has tried to end the controversy by declaring that Mr. Khadir had made a mistake and that the issue was now closed. Perhaps Quebec Solidaire's position supporting the boycott made her a bit uncomfortable.

But others are not letting things go.
Mr. Khadir has still not acknowledged his mistake or apologized.

As long as the demonstrations continue, Khadir will be blamed and will continue to live a public relations nightmare. The condemnation is such, that not even his usual defenders in the Clique du Plateau or Radio-Canada dare speak out in his defence.

The longer it goes on and criticism of Khadir rages in the media, the harder it will be to shake off the political fallout. Opinions are being re-shaped.

I previously told you that Khadir was invincible in the Plateau Mont-Royal riding.

That may be changing.



Further reading.....:

Amir Khadir Has Jumped the Shark!
Amir Khadir Has a Lot to Hide
Communists Frolic at Khadir Chalet
Amir Khadir's Silence is Deafening
Quebec's Most Popular Politician- Ugh!.....

Good News!........Standing Firm on Religious Accommodation Pays Off

The question of religious accommodation sparks fierce debate and at its extreme, pits ultra-conservatives who believe that no accommodation should be offered against ultra-liberals who believe that freedom of religion is paramount and that accommodation is a fundamental right.

Most Canadian's are middle-of-the-roaders, believing that reasonable accommodations are fair as long as they don't violate Canadian values. It's an eminently reasonable position and reflects the common good sense and fairness that is the hallmark of Canadian society.

And so it is, that the kirpan represents a contentious issue among those who are in the middle, (those on the extreme ends of the debate have long established their positions) who rightfully fret over the dilemma of whether or not to provide the accommodation. There is room for difference of opinion and fair debate, even among those who are not dogmatic.

But there are some accommodations that all Canadians should object to, accommodations that are in direct contradiction to Canadian values of equality, respect and fairness.

In Quebec, the Hasidic community, a 10,000 member sect of fundamentalist Jews has been systematically refusing to educate their children in accordance with minimum standards as designated by the education department.
It isn't a case of minor differences, the Hasids impose upon their children a regimen of up to 35 hours per week of religious study, leaving just six hours to accommodate the three R's and all the other basic subjects.

I'm sure that most Canadians would agree (perhaps not the Montreal Gazette Editorial board) that an average of just one hour a day for French, English, math and science is just not 'kosher.'  Many might argue that such a situation can easily be considered child neglect or abuse.

The Hasids may disagree, but Canadians have long accepted that the government can impose compulsory schooling for both boys and girls as well a syllabus that both public and private schools must abide by.

The Quebec government has been aware of the academic 'problem' in Hasidic schools for years, but has treaded lightly, fearful of being accused of antisemitism.

Polite attempts by the government to prod the schools into any sort of compliance has failed miserably, with the Hasids employing legal delaying actions as well as threatening the government that the communities would up and leave the province, casting the aspersion that Quebec is intolerant.  And so the stalemate has endured for years, up until last year when the government found its backbone and initiated legal proceedings.

The ongoing debate over accommodations and language has cast the Hasids directly into the media spotlight and the press has been up in arms over the fact that the Hasids don't teach French in their schools with lessons provided in Hebrew, Yiddish and English exclusively, much to the chagrin of the you-know-whos. 

And so last year, emboldened by a of dose of language 'Dutch Courage' the government moved to have the school's public funding withdrawn and in some cases, the licenses revoked.
The Hasids reacted as they always have, by stonewalling and threatening legal action. But alas for them, these tactics did not work.

Faced with the very real possibility of having their school de-funded, a blow that would effectively close the institutions, the Hasids in one school did the impossible.

Instead of fighting, they decided to switch. They decided to comply.  Amazing!

After consulting their spiritual leader in Jerusalem, who gave his blessing to their plans to integrate, the Belz Hassidic community, which runs the religious school, undertook measures to fall in line with the education department's demands.

The school enacted the teaching of French from the earliest grades on  and extended classes until 6:45PM to make room for the other mandatory subjects, hitherto ignored or given short shrift.
Unqualified teachers were replaced by qualified French teachers able to teach the standard curriculum.
Another massive concession was the school's commitment to teach science. As you know fundamentalist schools (of all religious stripes)  have somewhat of a problem with this.

The changes at the school are epic, changes that the school is actually quite proud of.

"To integrate, we need to be able to communicate with the man in the street and in the stores" noted one school official.

 Read the whole story (fr)

Wow! That's quite a change.

If there are lessons to be learned it is that sometimes a government needs to stand up and just say "NO"
In this case the Hasids, in the face of a committed government position, decided that it was time to change and meet the government half-way.
The community will always remain devoutly Hasidic, but perhaps better educated and better able to function in a French Quebec. That is basically all the education department demanded.

Everyone is a winner.
It shows that religious communities can make concessions without destroying their beliefs.

If the government remains firm with the Sikhs over the kirpan, it's only a matter of time before that community accepts that compromise is necessary and that they cannot wear the dagger in certain public situations.

When they do comply, they will find that their religious piety hasn't been affected, they will remain Sikhs who venerate God in their own way. It will be a change, but a small one and eventually it will be no big deal.

Nothing is written in stone, religious customs can and do evolve, but sometimes a push is needed. Those liberals who advocate in favour of the kirpan in public are enablers who delay the inevitable integration of Sikhs in mainstream society.

If there is a moral to this story, it is "Just say No"

Like a child who refuses to eat his dinner and is faced with the same plate at each subsequent meal by parents who are even more stubborn, eventually the child eats. It's called good parenting.

Ultra-religious communities cannot maintain certain practices and remain good citizens. Our society is open and pluralistic, but there are limits which must be defended if our societal values are to be protected.
It doesn't mean that we want to impose secularism upon the devout, not by a longshot. Nobody is asking Sikhs or Hasids to abandon their faith.
We are ready to compromise and accommodate, but compromise is a value that these communities have to adopt as well. 

Remaining firm and upholding the shared beliefs that make us Canadian is a noble enterprise. The lesson that we learned in the above story is that they ultra-religious communities can also can evolve to share those values, while remaining true to their core beliefs.

Let us not fall into the liberal trap that says that we must accommodate at all costs.

It's too expensive a price to pay.

René Lévesque Arena -Mr. Péladeau, Are You Kidding Us?

 After forty years of bearing witness to Quebec politics and suffering through the ridiculous to the surreal, there's not much that would surprise me, or so I would think.

This morning reading the BOURQUE WEBSITE, I was gobsmacked  by an article that claimed that Pierre-Karl Péladeau was now interested in investing in a new Quebec City hockey arena and naming it after Premier René Lévesque.

Yup.....A hockey arena in Quebec City named after the late separatist Premier!

"Insider rumours swirling that Quebecor supremo PK Peladeau may be demanding of government in Ottawa and Quebec City that the new NHL arena be named the 'Forum Rene Levesque' in honour of the patron saint of the Parti Quebecois, a tip of the hat to PK's father and Quebecor founder Pierre Peladeau, a giant of the so-called 'Quebec, Inc.' of years past, a repository of then (and still) powerful Quebec-based industrialists and entrepreneurs."LINK

After reading the story, the spike in my blood pressure relaxed as I realized that Mr. Péladeau was once again pulling the chain of a supportive nationalist Quebec media and utterly naive public.
As I told you before, he is a champion manipulator who morphs conveniently between a federalist and separatist persona, belying the fact that he is in reality, just an old-fashioned money-grubber.

Months ago I watched this consummate salesman dazzle TV audiences with his spiel that what's good for Quebecor (his company) is good for Quebec. His pitch that his new wireless telephone service, soon to be launched, would be in Quebec's own best interest, was made with the skill of an old-time snake-oil salesmen that would make Vince the Sham Wow guy, green with envy.

When Péladeau went to Ottawa to secure the bandwidth he required for the service, he was the perfect federalist and when he returned back at Quebec, to sell the service to consumers, he pitched the nationalist cause, telling a fawning TV interviewer that the coming together of certain elements plus timing made for 'winning conditions" Then he promised that he'd help fund starving Quebec artists, (this in the wake of Harper cutting off funds last election).... Verrrry clever!
And so, Péladeau hopes, that every separatist will consider it a sacred duty to buy into his plan (everyone except maybe those on strike at the Journal de Montreal.)

Yes, Pierre-Karl Péladeau is an operator, a man fashioned out of the stuff that Donald Trump is made of, hot air, bullshit and bravado.

First let me shoot down any idea that the arena will be named after the late separatist Premier. It ain't gonna happen...

The naming rights for a NHL arena are worth between two and three million dollars a year and I'm sure Mr. Péladeau wouldn't forgo the income or the advertising value of naming the building after, say Videotron.

Secondly, the NHL governors would sell their first born before allowing a team to play in a building named for a separatist.
 
Now many francophones believe that the NHL is more interested in money than politics, but they are wrong. The separatist misconception that Anglophones are only interested in money and have no pride is patented stupid, a myth that is popular in the unilingual separatists circles that also holds that English Canadians have no culture.

Those who believe that money is the only motivating factor should ask Mr. Basille whether the NHL has backbone or not, as they summarily threw out his effort to move the Phoneix Coyotes without their permission, despite it being a fantastic financial deal for the league.

I don't think separatists understand the level of dislike Canadians and their American cousins have for separatists. In Quebec we accept as normal having a René Levesque boulevard in the same city as Pierre-Elliot Trudeau airport, but try opening the Benidict Arnold arena in the States and watch the fireworks.

If separatists believe that the NHL owners would allow such an insult, they are dead wrong. The NHL is the epitome of English establishment. It is the NHL, not the LNH and there's as much chance of them accepting the René Lévesque arena as there is for them accepting the Saddam Hussein arena.
I'm not saying this to be mean, but it's true. Present a plan to the NHL expansion committee that has a Quebec team playing in the René Levesque arena and kiss the Nordiques bye-bye.

So what is Péladeau's motivation other then to just shit-disturb? Well perhaps he was attempting to put the fear of God into Ottawa, warning them that if they didn't cough up he'd embarrass them with the separatist name.  If so, he has badly overplayed his hand.

As I told you before, as well as he hides it, Péladeau is DESPERATE to secure the Nordiques for his media empire.
This is why he has made an about face and is now prepared to pay part of the cost of the building. When Harper shot down the idea of Ottawa helping foot the bill, it was time to go to Plan B.

"Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau made an about-face in Ottawa Tuesday, saying he could participate in the financing of an amphitheatre in Quebec City ...

When asked to chip in, however, Peladeau said in mid-September that the private sector was "doing more than its share." Link

Read :  Péladeau, pas un sou pour l'amphithéâtre(fr) where he stated he wasn't gonna pay a dime for the arena under any circumstances!

I may be the only who has gone on record as saying that Péladeau is desperate. But a simple analysis shows that if he isn't desperate, he should be.
The scope of that desperation must be profound, the Nordiques are that important to his media empire.

Selling cable services, wireless telephone and Internet services have become a question of convergence and any company that can't provide all three services is at a distinct disadvantage to a competitor that can offer a package deal.

And so selling a wireless service is largely dependent on bundling it with cable TV or satellite TV and Internet.

BELL remains Videotron's chief competitor and should BELL get its hands on the Nordiques, Péladeau's whole media empire could crumble.
Right now Bell owns RDS, the sports channel that holds the broadcast rights to the Montreal Canadiens. TSN is offered on BELL TV (satellite) and ALSO on Péladeau's Videotron, which is cable based.

But BELL is building a competing cable network called FIBE. In a couple of years it will go head on against Videotron cable.
What would happen if BELL pulled RDS (The Canadiens) from Videotron?

It would be a massacre, with every hockey fan and his/her family switching to BELL, taking with them their wireless and internet business.

That is why the Nordiques are key. If Péladeau secures the broadcast rights, Bell and Videotron would be at a impasse and the status quo would reign with both services likely providing broadcast of both Quebec teams.

If Bell somehow gets the Nordiques broadcast rights, its lights out for Videotron. Kaput....

That's what's at risk. Nobody except the stakeholders realize it.

The government is in the driver's seat and doesn't even know it.

By backing an independent bid to buy the team, by say, LOTO- QUEBEC, both Bell and Videotron would be forced into a vicious bidding war that would spiral beyond the intrinsic value of the broadcast rights. It  would guarantee a profit for the NHL franchise, arena included!

Too bad nobody realizes it.

Perhaps the government could thank me for the plan and call the new building the NoDogsOrAnglophone Arena, its about as likely as the René Lévesque Arena. 

As for Mr. Péladeau, perhaps he should name the arena after an old television show- FANTASY ISLAND.

For more on Pierre-Karl Péladeau;

Pierre-Karl Peladeau Poised to Become Canada's Next Media Scion

Peladeau Not the Answer to the Return Of Nordiques

Pierre-Karl Péladeau Finally Stumbles 

Bastarache -Separatists Shoot the Messanger

Longtime readers will note that I have been telling you for close to a year that Marc Bellemare was not  going to prevail over Mr. Charest, either at the Bastarache Commission or in the lawsuit that will follow, mainly because his claims were mostly hogwash, or unprovable.

"After a long and tedious process, one in which the press and the public will lose interest, Charest is likely to be vindicated by the Bastarache Commission" No Dogs and Anglophones - May 31, 2010

Not only was I right about the outcome, but I was right about the public getting bored with the issue. The only people really interested in the story are the separatists who reacted the same way they act every time a Supreme Court decision goes the other way. - By shooting the messenger!

Mr. Bellemare has had more than his fifteen minutes of fame, going from hero to heel in less than a year and his precipitous fall is being blamed on the judge instead of Mr. Bellemare's decidedly weak case.
If anything did surprise me, it was just how hard Judge Bastarache came down on him. I thought the judge would be a bit more circumspect.

For those who are interested in a pretty comprehensive account of the rise and fall of Marc Bellemare, read my past posts.

The Curious Case Of Marc Bellemare April 13, 2010
Can Bastarache Inquiry Save Jean Charest? May 31, 2010
Marc Bellemare Going Down in Flames September 15, 2010
It's Official... Marc Bellemare is Off His Rocker! December 09, 2010 

It's become par for the course for separatists to denigrate any legal decision that doesn't suit their agenda. Whenever the Supreme Court rules in Quebec's favour, (like upholding the basic tenets of Bill 101,) separatists are happy to cash the cheque. Whenever the decision goes against their interests, it becomes a case of the judges screwing Quebec to promote an Anglophone agenda.

The violins are then broken out and the mournful tune of oppression and humiliation is struck up once again to tug at the heartstrings of those eager to embrace the concept of victimization.
The done-me-wrong refrain, like a classic oldie, never seems to get old.

To separatists, losing in the Supreme Court or coming out on the wrong end of a judicial inquiry is sometimes better than winning. Considering that their primary goal is not to win concessions that will keep Quebec happily in Canada, but rather to create winning conditions for a separation referendum, engendering feelings of humiliation and betrayal is key to the process.

And so we are witness to a repeat performance.

Judge Bastarache is painted as a sellout, a dishonest and vengeful federalist, bent on screwing the legitimate aspirations of Quebec.
It's a disgusting and shameful attack, one in which the reputation of an honest jurist is impinged just because it suits the separatist agenda.

The Parti Quebecois whines that Charest has weakened the integrity of the judicial system with tainted judicial appointments and damaged the respect the public holds for it's impartiality. But in attacking Judge Bastarache as biased and characterizing the inquiry as a sham, the separatists have inflicted another measure of damage to the public's already shaken perception of the honesty of our judiciary. 
There's little doubt that notwithstanding Bellemare's humiliating comeuppance, many legitimate questions were brought up at the inquiry concerning the process of judge selection. While being cleared of direct manipulation, who can deny that there wasn't indirect interference at the least, by the Liberal party?

And so the PQ and the Liberals have both contributed to casting a pall over our judicial system, something that cannot be good for anyone.

The separatists are now claiming that had a sitting judge been selected to head the inquiry, the results would be different.
Well, they are going to get their wish in 'part deux' of the Bellemare circus when the defamation suit opens later this year before a regular court and a regular sitting judge.

As I predicted six months ago, Bellemare is going to get creamed and my views are only reinforced by the evidence (or lack thereof) Bellemare presented at the inquiry. He didn't make his case there and in regular court he will do even worse, as the onus is on the alleged defamer to prove the allegations  true.

I don't know what excuse Pauline Marois will find when Bellemare is found liable for defamation, I sincerely hope she will not tell us that the judge is a dishonest federalist, but she is surely going to say that the decision is unfair or flawed. The PQ and the separatists are too heavily invested in Marc Bellemare to go down any other route.

And so, I predict that  the separatists will get out the violins and play that familiar tune of humiliation, injustice and repression. ...sigh.

If Mr. Bellemare came out of the inquiry a loser, Mr. Charest certainly wasn't a winner.

It reminds me of Apollo Creed's victory over Rocky Balboa in the inimitable sports movie of my generation, ROCKY.  Although Rocky lost the bloody, no holds barred fight, as an underdog who faced an uphill battle, he left the ring vindicated. As for the champion Apollo, the crowd was largely unimpressed  believing him to have used the 'home field' advantage as champion to exact a contentious split decision.

And so Premier Charest, like Apollo, raises his arms to the crowd in feigned celebration, trying to convince us that he really won, while the truth remains that it is a hollow and Pyrrhic victory.

But  Mr. Bellemare never understood the very real-life lesson of ROCKY, a truism that all fight fans accept as a given.
If you are going to beat the champion in the ring, you're going to have to knock him out.

And while Bellemare fought a decent fight, there was no coup de grace and so, the writing was on the wall, he couldn't win.

So don't blame Bastarache.