Quebec Politicans Take an Axe to Democracy

Largely unnoticed by most, was a recent proposition put forward by the Parti Quebecois to manipulate the electoral map to it's advantage. This, hot on the heels of the Liberal party's rejection of recommendations by the Director General des Elections Quebec to re-jig the electoral map to better reflect the actual population distribution.

"Equality of the votes of electors
The equality of the votes of electors is an important prerequisite for effective representation. Each electoral district must have roughly an equal number of electors." Director General des elections Quebec  

While the principle of one person/one vote represents the democratic ideal, it never has actually been fully embraced in Quebec, with some ridings enjoying markedly a different voter base.

Definition of "Gerrymander"

"To divide a geographic area into voting districts so as to give unfair advantage to one party in elections. "

FROM DGE'S Website; 

"...equality of the vote consists of regrouping an approximately equal number of electors in each electoral division in the Province of Quebec. The Act specifies that the number of electors in an electoral division can not be greater or less than 25% of the average.

However, the Commission de la représentation électorale (CRE) can establish an exceptional electoral division that will have special dispensation from the ±25% criteria, if it judges that the decision can meet the goal of the Act: effective representation. In these cases, the CRE must give its grounds for the decision in writing." LINK

While the Director General espouses a policy of fairness, he is left with a fairly large loophole with which the principle of one person/one vote can be completely ignored.  And so we are rewarded with this dog's breakfast of riding inequity, where the number voters vary considerably.

The average number of eligible electors per riding is about 46,000, but twenty-nine of the 125 ridings fall outside the ±25% rule.
That's quite a bunch of exceptions!

If you live in the remote Magdalen Islands, your vote is actually worth almost six times as much as if you live in the Montreal suburb of Laval and as you can see, the Gaspe peninsula region is vastly over-represented.

Back in September the man in charge of the  electoral map, Marcel Blanchet, the DGE (Director General des elections)  proposed making some changes to address the problem of over and under-representation. After a three year study he suggested merging some rural ridings and adding a couple to heavily populated districts.
Premier Charest would have nothing to do with the plan because it would affect an upcoming by-election where he held out hopes of holding a riding in  Rivière-du-Loup (which he eventually lost anyways) and so, he ripped up the the DGE's proposal, which was non-binding.
In disgust Mr. Blanchet resigned.

In a decision worthy of a Quebec politician, Pierre Moreau, the Liberal minister in charge, opted to add the three seats proposed by the DGE, but not to merge the three over-represented rural seats. Bravo! Link{FR}
Considering that Ontario has 18 less seats for 50% more citizens, adding another three seems a bit excessive, but hey, this is Quebec, North Americas most over-represented and governed political entity.

Now the Parti Quebecois is proposing to make this rural/urban divide permanent with a cockamamie proposal to create two classes of ridings, rural and urban, where the concept one person/one vote would be thrown out the window.

"To add to the election Law criteria, giving a preponderance related to the dynamic occupation of the region.
("D’ajouter aux critères de la Loi électorale l’occupation dynamique du territoire en lui conférant une valeur prépondérante") PQ website {FR} 

Sounds like BS in both English and French and it reminds me of the convoluted referendum question, couched in obscure terms to soft pedal a nebulous  proposition.

Talking to Mario Dumont on his television show, xenophobe/Anglophobe Gilles Proulx said out loud what nobody in the PQ was willing to say, that the proposition is wise because it reduces the power  of immigrants in Montreal, because, after all, they aren't really Quebeckers.

Federal Election: Please, Let's NOT Encourage People to Vote

And so we're off to the polls again, the umpteenth time in the last couple of years. I'll be writing about some of the local candidates over the next couple of weeks and as you can expect, don't expect it to be flattering.
So let's set the tone with a piece about a theme you're  not likely to read anywhere else!

Now that a federal election is on, get ready to be bombarded with sanctimonious entreaties by the government and the media reminding us of our civic duty to vote. 

According to Elections Canada, the agency spent in excess of 90 million dollars trying to convince Canadians to vote in the 2008 federal general election.
It doesn't seem that the campaign was particularly successful as the turnout fell off rather dramatically from elections in the past with just 59% of Canadians exercising their franchise, which represented a 10% drop from the previous election.

With the media obsessed with the campaign, the landscape awash in garish campaign posters, who can possibly remain unaware that an election is on? As the fateful day approaches, the media hysteria ratchets up the guilt-inspiring mantra of "Thou shalt Vote!"

Do we really need Elections Canada wasting money reminding us about what we already know?

How many non-voters the Elections Canada campaign convinced to cast a ballot can never be determined, but it can't possibility be that many.
Even using an overly generous estimate of 5% of the 14 million votes cast, it means that the government spent in excess of $130.00 of taxpayer money on each of those that they actually convinced to vote!

 That's a lot of dough to convince someone to do something that should come naturally to anyone interested in the society that they live in.
Another great big waste of money.

In fact, it's actually a very bad idea to convince someone who is not really interested to vote, to do so through guilt or a bribe.

Does the Elections Canada ideal, where every eligible voter actually casts a ballot, serve the better interests of our nation, more than leaving the political decisions to those who are self-motivated to vote?

While I'll defend to the death everyone's right to vote, that doesn't mean I want to encourage idiots and morons to do so. I'd be happier if they stayed at home and left the decision to those more capable of making an informed decision.

Of course not voting is considered a sign of poor citizenship, something I vehemently disagree with. If someone determines that they aren't up to the task or that they don't care who is elected, why should they vote, just to satisfy some democratic fantasy of those who care?

If we truly live in a democratic society where personal choice is respected, the decision not to cast a ballot must be respected as is the decision to vote.

Lets consider this burlesque scenario;

An Elections Canada official is wandering down an Ottawa street and spots a bum propped up against the wall, one hand proffering a tin cup for spare change and the other wrapped tightly around a bottle tightly ensconced in a brown paper bag from which he partakes a sip or two every few minutes.

"Pardon me sir, do you know that there is a federal election coming up?"

"Huh"

"Yes sir, its not only your right to vote, but you civic duty as well!"

"Spare any change?"

"I'll tell you what, if you vote, I'll give you $130.00"

"Wha??"

"That's right, 130 bucks, it won't take more than half a hour."

"How do I vote?"

"I'll take you to the polling station, where you'll put an mark on a ballot by  the name of the  candidate of your choice.

"I can't read" 

"Doesn't matter, go "Eeny-Meany-Miney-Moe".. It's the act of voting that is empowering!"

"130 Bucks you say, I'll do it!.......... By the way, can you give me an advance?"

  Arrghhhhh.!!!!!!...............

I like to think of the voting dynamic, comparable to a group of friends going out for Chinese food.
Seated around the table you have all types. Some are adroit and well-informed in the art of Chinese food, others are not so sure and still others are clueless and some aren't even fond of Chinese food. Invariably those in the know offer to do the ordering.
This is a relief to those who are ambivalent, clueless or just don't care. "Go ahead, order whatever!"

Would you really want the idiots in the second group to take part in the ordering? Would it really be helpful?

In the United States 29% of the people can't name their vice-president. In Canada we are no better.
Should these people have the right to vote?

Absolutely!

Should they be encouraged to vote? Hmmmm.....NOT SO SURE!

Vigile.net and Me

Perhaps I should have informed readers that I decided not to pursue a pointless conversation with Robert Barberis-Gervais who seems to have entirely too much time on his hands, his latest missive hit to my comment box in the wee morning hours.

Since I decided not to engage, he took his complaints to the friendly confines of vigile.net.
It seems that commenter BlueWhiteRed got a bit of the royal treatment as well and all I can say is welcome to the club.

I've always tried to publish countering points of view but at a certain point it becomes abusive and ridiculous.

Well-thought out remarks are always welcome, in English or French, regardless of opinion, but I resent having a patently absurd, third-hand unverified story about four Jewish gentlemen refusing to be served by a francophone offered up on my blog (without any corroboration at all,) in a clumsy attempt to show that Quebec Jews are contemptuous of francophones.

Mr. Barberis-Gervais may not like this blog and its readers, but if I was to make outrageous claims without sourcing, I would come under a heap of well-deserved criticism demanding proof, by readers who regardless of political view, have a well-defined sense of skepticism.

Lets see, two can play this game.  Let me make up a story.....

A Muslim-Quebecker sends his CV to a semi-government agency and is refused an interview 19 times. He re-submits the CV under a French name and tweaks it to hide his Semitic roots. Low and behold he is welcomed with open arms.
Ergo I conclude, Quebec francophones are racists.

You see anyone can make up a story to suit his own purpose and demonstrate whatever it is that he wishes to demonstrate.

These type of illustrative stories are inherently dangerous and  unfair. They pander to the emotions and are used to incite hatred. They may or may not be true, but even if they are, if they aren't representative, then the citation thereof is hateful and a very real form of racism.

Do you agree that my story indicates that all Francophones are racist? If you are Barberis-Gervais, surely you must.
Is my phony story any less illustrative than his? I don't think so.
.
.
.
....Oh, by the way, my story isn't made up. Here's the CITATION

For every story of Jews treating francophones contemptuously, I can cite fifty stories that go in the other direction, all of them fully documented.
Drummondville native hockey coach sued for abusing Jewish player 
Some people in Ste. Agathe are so racist
Town uneasy about Jews' resort purchase
etc. etc.
Does my story or the above references prove that francophones are racist antisemites?
Absolutely not.
In fact, with about 30% of Canadian Jews living in Quebec, B'nai Brith reported that 29% of the antisemitic incidents, were recorded in the province. Nothing to be proud of, but no worse or better than elsewhere.

Mr. Barberis-Gervais uses the same devices as Mario Beaulieu, Pierre Curzi and all the other language nationalists who skew realty, use selective facts, misinterpret data and ignore the truth to paint a false and misleading picture of realty.
His uses the following 'Four Jews and the lovely Isabelle' story to intimate that Jews are contemptuous of francophones.

ASHAMED OF RACIST JEWS

"My son has a girlfriend, Isabelle, who worked in a restaurant near Décarie boulevard  in Côte-des-Neiges, where, as pointed out by Yves Michaud, 100% of Jews voted NO in the referendum of 1995: the so-called ethnic vote.......

The restaurant owner was a nice bilingual Jew who hired the francophone girl who spoke fairly good English, but with a Quebecois accent. In addition, she was a lovely young woman, with a warm and beautiful demeanour.

The regular customers were English speaking Jews, upstart Anglophones with a Mercedes in the parking lot. Isabelle spoke to them in English which was normally used in the restaurant. Regular customers didn't have any problem with her, actually quite the opposite. But these Jews  systematically refused to be served by a francophone Quebecker. They sent her packing to the kitchen. Isabelle complained to her boss who told her: "I hired you, you're competent, so don't  worry about it."
But the contempt from these customers was such that Isabelle resigned. LINK  

What a load of crap.....but fantasy or real, the story is not representative of Jewish or Anglo attitudes, just as the racist hockey coach is not representative of francophone attitudes. To pretend that they are is to distort Quebec reality, which unfortunately, is no problem for Mr. Barberis-Gervais and his ilk.

Mr Barberis-Gervais tells us that he is not antisemitic, but surely he must see that the effect of his commentaries is to fan the flames of intolerance and hatred. That much he must understand, after all, he is a PHD.

******************************

Vigile.net has re-printed and archived a couple of stories from this blog (without permission) and I haven't gotten into it with the editor because Vigile.net is not that important to me.

People who read writers like Mr. Barberis-Gervaise are who they are. Nothing I have to say will change their opinion. That isn't an insult but it's a question of preaching to the choir.

I do object however with the immoral journalistic license that Mr. Frappier took with my original work, by inserting an offensive picture into the middle of my piece, that was not part of my original post.

CLICK to see story on vigile.net

The distasteful picture of saluting Nazis was added by Mr. Frappier into the body of my work, an egregious abuse of journalistic ethics. You can see my original post HERE sans the offending photo.

It is this type of manipulation that is so offensive and speaks to the integrity of the website.

As for Mr Barberis-Gervaise I read his article and was disappointed not by his insults, (that is his right to do) but rather falsely stating that I have stated that Bill 101 is the product of a racist state.

"Pour vous donner une idée de ce blog, sachez qu’on y affirme que la loi 101 est l’expression d’un Etat raciste." LINK

After writing hundreds of blog pieces, Mr, Barberis-Gervaise should have learned the art of linking his statement to corroborating source material.
I defy him to show where on the blog I ever equated Bill 101 as the product of a racist state.

This is the same problem he has with his "Four Jews and lovely Isabelle" story.
Integrity...

Late Friday, the Liberals tried to have a motion placed in parliament condemning the excesses over on vigile.crap net but of course the PQ wouldn't play ball.

But the point has been made.

Sunday Housekeeping- How to See Banned Comments

I know many of you follow the comments section rather religiously and I thought I'd share a little device that makes the challenge of seeing what was recently posted through the different  blog posts easier.

If you use a RSS client to follow multiple websites and blogs, you can add the No Dogs or Anglophones 'comments' feed to your client reader.
For those who know what I'm talking about, here's the web address, you just need to add it to the "Add Feed" box on your particular RSS client.  It will automatically update during the day and you will see all the recently posted comments from all the different blog pieces.

http://nodogsoranglophones.blogspot.com/feeds/comments/default?alt=rss

Interestingly, you can see those comments which I have chosen not to publish.

It's my policy to publish the offending post and then immediately suppress it, so that the poster can see a message telling him or her that the comment has been removed.

But the RSS aggregator  publishes the post immediately and it is therefore available on your RSS reader!

I don't envisage changing this policy so if you are interested, go for it!
Its a good way for me to of filter comments yet allow those really interested in seeing them.  I guess it serves the interests of transparency.

I don't use Windows, but am told that a RRS feed aggregator is built into 'Explorer'. For others I can recommend Google Reader, which is easy enough to use.

French versus English Volume 24

Game over for international "FRENCH" hockey tourney

"Dreams of an all-Quebec hockey squad facing off in an international tournament this summer have been dashed after organizers failed to find any takers.

The original plan was to have Team Quebec face Switzerland, France and Italy in Quebec City next August in a "four-nation" battle for the Quebec Cup.

But after the Swiss national team announced last December it had declined the invitation, France and Italy have also bowed out, citing budget and scheduling constraints." LINK

Only 15% of Quebeckers agree with radical French language stance.

Much to the consternation of Curzi, Mario Baulieu, Mouvement Montréal français, the RRQ and Imperatif-francais, only 15% of Quebeckers agree with them that bilingualism isn't important. Download a small PDF of the poll{FR}.

Canadian Revenue Agency to spend $42,900 to help dyslexic worker learn French
"The Canada Revenue Agency has 40,000 employees but the department is spending at least $42,900 helping one worker, who has dyslexia, learn French.
The employee, who has not been identified, has already had two years of federal French language training at two different schools all to no avail, CRA documents show. Now, the federal tax agency is turning to a private school in Ottawa for one-on-one training to help the staffer pass the government’s language test." LINK

Quebec company publishes English only report

A publicly-traded Quebec based franchiser, MTY Food Group, is being assailed for publishing it's annual report and other official documents in English only with the French versions available on the website. The chain owns the flagship banner of Thaï Express and Tiki-Min as well as over a dozen familiar fast food restaurants. It isn't a really matter of disrespecting the French language, the founder and CEO of the company, Stanley Ma is known by employees to be extremely cheap frugal.  LINK

French skills to be downgraded as immigration criterion?

In an effort to up the quality of those immigrating to Quebec, the government is looking to make French language skills a secondary criterion in the selection of new immigrants. Ouch! LINK

Attending English cegep doesn't anglicize francophones

"Delegates to a Parti Québécois convention in Montreal next month will be asked to approve a proposal to extend Bill 101 to CEGEPs, Quebec’s network of public junior colleges.

The Conseil supérieur de la langue française, an advisory body to the Quebec government with a mandate to promote the French language, does not think this is a good idea.

..... a study on linguistic transfers by allophones, conducted by the Conseil supérieur de la language française, says attending English CEGEPs has hardly any impact on linguistic transfers." Link-Montreal Gazette

This will become its official policy once the report will be published in the near future. LINK

Montreal hockey fans ranked the worst

Gentlemen's Quarterly did a story on the worst fans in America. Maybe Montreal isn't in America but it still made the list:

"Forget the riots that erupted last May after the Canadiens made it to the Eastern Conference final; they were nothing compared with the hordes of looters who set fire to five police cars during the 2008 playoffs simply because Montreal advanced past the first round. Meanwhile, inside the Bell Centre, the only things people boo more frequently than the U.S. national anthem are their own players. In 2003, team veteran Patrice "Breeze-by" Brisebois was heckled almost every time he touched the puck; the jeering was so intense it likely induced a stress-related irregular heartbeat. How did then GM Bob Gainey feel about his bloodthirsty fan base? "I think they're a bunch of gutless bastards, to be honest," he said. GQ Magazine

Do Jutras have an anti-English bias?

"Quebec film awards don’t give major prizes to anglophone productions – despite an impressive crop this year....

Why is it that over its 13-year history, the Jutra Awards has almost never given major prizes to English-language Quebec films? Does that reflect a negative bias within the film milieu toward flicks made chez nous in the language of Richler?" Story by Brendan Kelly -Montreal Gazette 

 Offensive Ad campaign

"A blogger took offence to this ad for its disrespect towards the French language;

Actually, I think the 'outdooring' reference insults the English language!

........and let's finish off with a FAIL.QC special, a salute to something nobody does better than Quebec- POTHOLES!

Further reading  French versus English -Volume 23