'Grenadiers March' a Bittersweet Pill

I watched the Canada Day ceremony from Ottawa and like most Canadians I was brimming with pride at the truly magnificent spectacle put on by the Feds, an extra measure of mustard added to celebrate the presence of the Royal couple William and Kate.
The government spared no expense, knowing full well that the event, or highlights thereof, would be broadcast around the world, with hundreds of foreign correspondents covering the Royal visit with the vim and vigour of Hollywood paparazzi.

It's hard not to swell up with pride watching the pageantry of the smartly uniformed, handsome (and now fetching as well, because of the female element) soldiers parade in perfect cadence to the tune of catchy military music.

As the soldiers marched past the adoring crowds, I caught a few bars of a military band's rendition of the 'March of the Grenadiers.'  
Take a listen, you'll recognize it instantly;

It sent chills down my spine..... but not in a good way.

You see, I recently finished screening Dan Snow's 'Battle for North America," the documentary of Great Britain's victory at the Plains of Abraham which of course led to British control of Canada.
You can catch the documentary, if so inclined, in four parts on YouTube, by starting HERE. It is indeed fascinating.

The documentary brought to life the events of the Battle of Quebec in way that the dry history books we studied in high school never did. The human drama and suffering depicted so honestly by Mr. Snow, gave me a perspective of the war that I never had before.

A few months before the famous Battle on the Plains of Abraham, General Wolfe, the commander of British forces was encamped on the east side of the Montmorency river with the French defending the other side. Wolfe hoped to launch a ground assault on the city of Quebec, but would first have to take out that local French garrison. The Montmorency river drains into the St. Lawrence River via the famous Montmorency Falls and Wolfe's plan was to sail around the Falls on the St. Lawrence and then land back ashore to attack the French.

The preparation for the assault was a testament to poor planning  with the attackers landing far from shore because of the failure to allow for the tide. The execution of the plan was no better, a testament to poor discipline.
The Louisburg Grenadiers, having been cooped up in camp for months, scrambled to shore with gusto. Whipped into a frenzy by the beating of the drums and the piping of the "March of the Grenadiers" they imprudently ignored their officers' orders, attacked the heights foolishly and were cut down by the French rather easily. In minutes, over 450 were dead or injured. The attack failed miserably and a furious James Wolfe was forced to abandon the attack and retreat unceremoniously.

Here is a passage from a soldier's account of the battle by the Serjeant-Major of Gen. Hopson’s Grenadiers. LINK

" The First Push we made was on the 31st of July: with 13 Companies of Grenadiers, supported by about 5 Thousand Battalion-men;-- as soon as we landed we fixed our Bayonets and beat our Grenadier's-March, and so advanced on ; during all this Time their Cannon play'd very briskly on us; but their Small-Arms, in their Trenches, lay cool 'till they were sure of their Mark; then they pour 'd their Small-Shot like Showers of Hail, which caus'd our brave Grenadiers to fall very fast: Brave Gen. Wolfe saw that our attempts were in vain, so he retreated to his Boats again: The number of kill'd and wounded that Day was about 400 Men; ...;"

Forced to change plans Wolfe plotted a new attack, but not before taking revenge for the defeat on the local French villages in the surrounding area. Saint-Paul, L’Ange-Gardien, Château-Richer, Saint-Joachim were all burnt to the ground with hundreds killed.

"The most inhuman revenge was perpetrated by Captain Alexander Montgomery, an officer of the 43rd. He was responsible for a terrible incident near the village of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. A small group managed to keep the British at bay by taking refuge in a stone farmhouse.... Rather than take them prisoner, Captain Montgomery ordered their execution in cold blood and shot all the citizens after raping the women and girls (the crime reported by Scottish Fraser in his diary). At Chateau-Richer, several farmers barricaded themselves in the church. The English brought them out by promising them that they'd be spared, then slaughtered and scalped them in the Indian fashion. Link{FR}

Not their finest hour.
Some British officers were so appalled by Wolfe's cruelty that they recorded accounts of the barbarism in their personal journals.

The Battle for Quebec itself was no less savage. The British, using superior technology launched an artillery barrage from the opposite side of the St. Lawrence, that for weeks pounded the city to the point that when Quebec surrendered, there was hardly a building standing.

These are the unfortunate truths of war. Not very pretty.

Although the Grenadiers faced a humiliating defeat at Montmorency, it was they who marched victoriously into Quebec to accept its surrender.  No doubt, the chilling notes of the March of the Grenadiers sent fear and loathing down the spine of the defeated.  

Although the Battle at the Plains of Abraham was a great victory for one side, it was also a terrific defeat for the other.

And so the "March of the Grenadiers" proudly played in Ottawa on Canada Day by our military in front of the Royals, represents a direct link to the past and a celebration of those sad events in 1759, a historical reality that we should acknowledge, but not celebrate.

Considering that Francophones and Anglophones are partners in this great country, I question the wisdom of retaining the "March of the Grenadiers."

Tradition is tradition, but just as the Confederate flag was retired, isn't it high time the regiment picked a new ditty?

Separatist Demonstration a Royal Flop!

RRQ-not much of a turnout!

If you live outside of the province of Quebec and are unfamiliar with the particularities of our regions and cities, you should understand that the capital of the province, Quebec City, is much like Ottawa, dominated in large part by successful middle class civil servants.

As such, the city and the greater metropolitan region is more entrenched and conservative, representing the last bastion of Conservative party support in the province of Quebec.
The city itself is well-run, particularly safe and immaculately clean. The mayor, Regis Lebeaume is a tireless promoter of the Quebec City brand, locally and internationally and has raised its profile considerably since taking office.

His  single-mindedness and bullheadedness pursuing his civic goals (like an NHL franchise) has made him the subject of media attacks, but he shrugs off the criticism like water off a duck's back.
He enjoys a voter approval rating of over 70%, a number that would have any politician  preening with pride. 

Yesterday's ceremony in front of City Hall honouring the Royal 22nd Regiment (the Vandoos), was a credit to the City and its citizens and no doubt an utter humiliation to the RRQ and its members who valiantly tried to put a damper on the ceremonies, to no avail.

Unlike last year, when the RRQ disrupted Charles and Camilla's visit to Montreal, the protesters were hardly noticeable and had zero impact on the festivities. 
The RRQ promised to produce up to 500 protesters, but by Radio-Canada estimates, their numbers topped off at a few dozen.
How times have changed!

The Prince acquitted himself quite well and his speech, delivered exclusively in French, had an endearing effect on the crowd and television commentators who were duly impressed. Many of whom came to see the royal couple out of curiosity, left quite impressed.

Will and Kate greet friendly crowd in Quebec

The visit went off so well and the crowd was so friendly that William and Kate undertook a remarkable impromptu 'bain de foule' (walkabout.) Security forces felt so confident of the crowd, that they actually let them wade in, something that would be inconceivable a few years ago.

As for  Labeaume he described the event as magnificent. "I saw nothing but smiles!"

For the RRQ and other separatist militants, the success of the Royal visit to Quebec city is another grand humiliation, another reminder that Quebeckers have matured and are no longer susceptible to Chicken Little warnings of assimilation.
No matter how the RRQ spins events in the coming days, for them, it was nothing less than an unmitigated disaster!

And so, things haven't gone particularly well for the sovereigntists since last May's federal election. The downward spiral in support for the sovereignty movement doesn't appear to have touched bottom and in describing separatist fortunes of late, I can perhaps steal a line from the Queen, who once described her family difficulties as an Annus horribilus.

The protesting RRQ adopted the theme first enunciated by Amir Khadir, who declared rather rudely that the Royals were parasites.

I'm not so sure. Maintaining the monarchy costs each Canadian about a $1.50 a year, a pittance compared to the billions and billions of dollars that our government wastes annually.
Considering that Canadians spent about $30 each on the G8 summit in Toronto last year, the Royals are a right bargain.  That money could have kept the Royals in cucumber sandwiches for 20 years!

To all the sovereigntist militants who are squealing over the unpopularity of the monarchy in Quebec, the sad reality they face, is that according to the polls the Monarchy enjoys more popularity than sovereignty.
A fine kettle of fish!

Here's some raw video of the day. It will put to lie any claims that the  RRQ makes in the next few days that their small protest had any bearing. More importantly, the large, appreciative and cheering crowds attest to the  reality that Quebec is not what militants portray it to be.

While we are accustomed to hearing the rantings of the separatists in the press and the media, yesterday is proof that they have a much smaller constituency than we are led to believe.

French versus English - Volume 30

French militant group campaigns for Anglos to be good citizens
A militant French language group is extending its hand in 'friendship' to we Anglophones, if only we agree to speak French in public.
In a magnanimous compromise, the lobby group concedes anglos the right to speak English at home, as long as we speak French when we interact in public...hmmm.
It's not clear whether two anglophones in public should communicate with each other in French...
The lobby group is running a French commercial to that effect on English television. You can screen the ads here:  Link
The leader of Impératif français, Jean-Paul Perreault told reporters that; 

"We deplore the arrogance of Anglo-Quebecers who impose English everywhere. We are reaching out to them to help us protect the identity of Quebec. We believe it is important to speak French in public when we choose to live in a place where the national language is French. We invite anglophones, francophones and allophones to speak French in public." 

Now that's what I call friendship!

The name of this nifty campaign?

"Be an Anglophone, but live in French"

Incidentally, the campaign is being financed by the government of Quebec.

Thanks to TROY, TODD and other readers for the heads-up.  LINK

Committee for the Defence of the Revolution French language
It seems that every region of Quebec is getting its very own volunteer organization of militants dedicated to defending the French language or rather, keeping English in its place. Regions that boast less than 2% anglophones are nonetheless preparing to defend their turf lest the infectious wave of English spreads from the already fatally afflicted Montreal.

The newest addition is the Le Mouvement Québec français (MQF) de la Capitale-Nationale, operating in the Quebec City area, dedicated to the ideal that the pervasive Anglo influence should never be allowed to wash over the region and wreak linguistic genocide on the pure.

The latest justification for mounting these defence committees comes from blowhard Mario Beaulieu who told members that;

"Anglicization threatens the right to work in French as employees from other regions are forced to speak English when dealing with Montreal companies"

Bit of a stretch, I'd say....

As these committees proliferate, I'm reminded of the revolutionary zeal that swept the island of Cuba after the Communism revolution in 1959.

"The Committees for the Defence of the Revolution or CDR, is a network of neighbourhood committees across Cuba. The organizations, described as the "eyes and ears of the Revolution", exist to promote social welfare and report on "counter-revolutionary"...

....Its defenders note that CDR have other important responsibilities beyond their function to monitor the individual's political and moral background; these include arranging festivals, administrating many voluntary community projects, and organizing mass rallies."..Wikipedia

 Sound familiar?

Immigrants fail to succeed? Blame the English!
The hysterical anglo-bashing coming out of the above-mentioned French language defence committees is now bordering on the pathetic. 
Readers might remember last week's  story in the French versus English post, in which I recounted that the Quebec government will scale back immigration from French-speaking countries in North Africa, collectively known as the 'Maghreb' because of the community's horrendous unemployment record and failure to assimilate.
The immigrants were selected because they speak French, but are otherwise sadly unprepared for life in a western society. It seems that most use their French language skills exclusively at the welfare and unemployment office.
According to Maria Mourani, Bloc MP for Ahuntsic and a founding member of the Le Mouvement Montréal français, it's the fault of the Anglos;

"When recruited, the immigrants are told," Come to Quebec, it's French." We're encouraging a francophone immigration, such as the North African community, which is highly educated. They arrive in Quebec, then they find themselves unable to work because they are asked to speak English."

...as they say  down at the unemployment office;  C'est de la bullshit!

Damn those English Magazines!

More complaints about English, this time over a magazine store  having the audacity to pin up English magazines in its window, thus disturbing the linguistic peace of the Plateau Mont-Royal district of Montreal
The veteran complainer, Yves Chartrand makes a not-so-subtle call to violence by advising militants that they should;
 "Get a gang together and meet in front of the window"
("On devrait aller faire un tour en gang devant la vitrine.")

The writer goes on to complain that horror of horrors, the Montreal Transit System is accepting ads that are bilingual, a practice that should be rejected, even if it means giving up the advertising revenue. LINK{FR}

Hijab-clad  teen can't referee soccer match
"A Quebec teen who has been told she can no longer referee soccer while wearing her hijab says she's going to fight the red card.
Sarah Benkirane, 15, said her Montreal-area soccer association informed her she could no longer referee games wearing her traditional Muslim head scarf after someone filed a complaint with the league.
Benkirane, in her second season as a ref for the Lac-St-Louis Regional Soccer Association, was told religious symbols like hijabs may not be worn on the pitch."  Read the story


La Petit Larousse adds French words.

Just like the Oxford English dictionary which does it for the English language,  Le Petit Larousse illustré recognizes and entrenches new words annually to its French dictionary, words that have become part of common lexicon. This year the dictionary made a big jump, adding over 3,000 words.

My favourite new entry is 'smoke-meat' and so we no longer have to officially use the mostly-ignored 'viande fume" which no francophone actually uses in real life.
On the other hand some words have been retired. It is no longer kosher to use the word  'drink' in French, a return to the more traditional 'prendre un verre' is now the rule.

I was thinking about all this (I don't have much to think about, apparently) as I passed a French  billboard (aren't they all) on the south end of the Champlain bridge featuring a lithe and sultry model touting her "Skinny Jeans"
"Skinny Jeans!" my word. Is that actually French?
Apparently so, its use is quite pervasive as I have come to appreciate. Perhaps Larousse next year?

NOW PETE'S SIGN IS AT LEAST  HALF LEGAL!

Islamophobia rocks Rimouski
During a lunch time conversation with a francophone colleague of mine I was a bit surprised to learn in passing conversation, that Muslims were invading the small town of Rimouski.
.......Whaaat?
The city of 45,000  is the regional center of the lower Gaspe peninsula about 300 kilometres from Quebec City and is about as pure-laine as can be. I know the city well and remember eating in a Chinese restaurant that had no Chinese employees. It was a bit weird being served by a francophone wearing a Chinese smock!
And so you can imagine my skepticism at being told that the Muslim population has exploded from four families to four hundred in just one year. I gave it no further thought until I came upon an article in the Journal de Montreal saying that a email entitled "Invasion de Muslims à Rimouski" has been making the rounds of Facebook accounts and apparently has reached Montreal. Here's a translation;

INVASION OF MUSLIMS IN RIMOUSKI
In 2004, four Muslim families came to Rimouski to settle ...
In the  of Spring 2005, 14 other Muslim families joined them ...
In the Summer and Fall of 2005, another 26 families arrived ...

In 2006, Rimouski received 55 Islamic families, some of whom are very affluent and who applied to the City of Rimouski to have at least one street named after one of their high priests ...

In 2007, 65 new Islamic families arrive in Rimouski and  in the Fall of 2007, they received the OK to name a street in their honour ...
In Spring 2008, a new street appeared, near the Wal-Mart, the first street south of Boul. Arthur-Buies, which is now called: "Rue Mohamed Alei SAB" ....

In 2008,  90 Islamic families arrived in Rimouski  ...
In 2009, 140 more families of the same type arrived in Rimouski ...
In 2010, 25 Islamic families PER MONTH arrived in Rimouski  ...

Yes yes, you read correctly, 300 Islamic families in 2010 alone ...
In 2011, 400 such families are expected ...

To make matters worse, according to the same source, 400,000 new Islamic families are to arrive here in Canada by 2015, according to Immigration Canada.

Expect to see Rimouski grow in the coming years with a lot of  development between 2nd Street and Southern Blvd. to Arthur-Buies East, where they own 95% of the property ...

I almost died when I heard about that on  RDI.ca  / Radio-Canada
All this in just seven 7  YEARS ...
Watch-out for the next 20 years ...

The mayor of the city is furious over the propagation of what he termed an urban legend. He told reporters that there are actually only forty Muslim families in the whole city.
"Not only is the information false, but it contributes to religious intolerance, which goes against the principles adopted by elected officials.
He has called in the police to investigate.... Good luck with that! Link{fr}

Dot Quebec (.quebec) to become a realty next year.
Next year the Internet will welcome a flurry of new internet address domain designations, one of which will be .quebec 
A Quebec lobby group Pointe Quebec has worked for over four years to get the unique extension.

The cost;
Over $200,000 to get the  project going, but most Quebeckers believe that it's worth it.
Next year expect the new appellation to appear and rest assured that the government of Quebec will be switching over.
Another Quebec 'country' fantasy..... sigh

Lousie Beaudoin Defends English French Immersion School
"When you think of politicians who might come to the defence of an English school, Louise Beaudoin probably isn't on your list.

After all, the former Parti Québécois cabinet minister is a staunch defender of the French language.

But after meeting with a group of parents from Nesbitt School and visiting the facility, Beaudoin threw her support behind the elementary school." LINK   Cached Version Gazette article***read note

NOTE TO READERS:. The Montreal Gazette has moved to a pay model which requires readers to pay for access. However limited free access remains available. I will endeavour to link to the Gazette only when the story is exclusive. I have however found cached versions of the story and will link to those. Could somebody email me to tell me if this 'cached' link works for you.
Thanks for your help.

Finally;

OMG- We're famous!

Further Reading: French versus English Volume 29

Sovereignty..... the New Asbestos!

The collapse of the Bloc Quebecois and the recent implosion of the Parti Quebecois has filled newspaper columns across the country with expert opinions as to what exactly were the underlying circumstances that led to the shocking decline and fall of the sovereignist empire.

I have a bit of trouble taking these opinions seriously because none of these so-called experts  predicted any of this beforehand!
It's a bit like all those mavens on CNBC that explained why Wall Street collapsed... after the fact!

Before the last federal election, not one expert and pundit breathed a word about the imminent fall of separatist support, so I wouldn't put much stock in what they have to say today.
We all know about hindsight...

Public opinion has always been volatile in Quebec and prone to wild swings in direction, sometimes seemingly overnight. Predicting or explaining these 'virages' is an exercise is futility.

I've been asked on a number of occasions why these volatile political mood swings occur almost exclusively in Quebec.
After careful consideration it is my considered opinion that the phenomenon is based largely on media influence, which is much more focused and profound in Quebec, based on the limited media choices Quebeckers have.
Typically a Quebec French language TV news and information show will have six times as large an audience (on a pro-rated basis) as that of a comparable program on English Canadian TV.
Simply put, because of this narrow media exposure, Quebeckers are apt to change positions and reach a newly-formed consensus much more rapidly than English Canada.

It has been postulated by experts, more attuned than I, that Jack Layton's wildly popular appearance on a Radio-Canada, Sunday night talk-show, where he was fawned over by obliging  hosts, sealed the deal and concretisied the NDP victory in Quebec.

Years ago, my job as an operations manager had me travelling around Eastern Canada on an ongoing basis.
In Quebec I'd always ask the first francophone employee I met, which show they watched on TV last night. I then would use it as a conversation starter with all the people I'd meet during the day.
"Hello, what did you think of "LES FILLES DE CALEB?" Invariably, most had watched the same show the evening before!
You could never pull that off with English employees who have access to dozens of choices of original programming on a multitude of networks and thus are much more likely to be influenced by a much wider panoply of opinions.

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

For as long as I can remember, Quebeckers have been proudly supportive of the Asbestos industry, a solid job provider and steady income producer.
But in a matter of a few short months that opinion has largely changed. A few negative television documentaries has had a devastating impact on public opinion. TV pundits, the few that there are, have gone negative on the subject.
Support for the industry has collapsed and is now relegated to those with vested interests and some self-delusional holdouts who maintain that the product remains safe and needs only a few safety tweaks to remain viable.

Sounds a bit like sovereignty doesn't it?
What was so good for so long is no longer in vogue.

Sovereignty, like asbestos, has had a precipitous fall from grace. A few unflattering documentaries, a few negative television shows and the sovereignty ideology that was a pillar for decades is now looked upon with disdain.
And so there is no road back for asbestos and there is no road back for sovereignty, they are relics of the past.
They may linger on for a few short years, but the writing is on the wall. 

We know that safety concerns is what is killing asbestos,  but I haven't heard a convincing argument as to what is killing sovereignty.

And so gentle reader, I offer you an alternative theory, which I shall transmit via an allegory, not quite the quality of Alice in Wonderland, but an honest attempt just the same; 

Imagine if you please, a young aspiring actor,  fresh from acting school, ready to conquer the world. 

With the enthusiasm of youth and the idealism of the uninitiated, she ventures out on auditions and casting calls, only to be disappointed time after time.  
She lands a few minor roles, which only serve to whet her appetite, while the big breakthrough that she's expecting, remains elusively around the corner. 

As much as she loves her craft, success is taking  too long. She becomes impatient and restless.

Then remarkably, after years of disappointment, she gets the role of a lifetime, but alas, is devastated when the show collapses in front of her eyes. 

After pulling herself together, she perseveres, convinced that if it almost happened once, it could happen again.

The years go by. She gets older and wiser. Her looks fade and the odds of her landing it big, become more and more remote.

Her dream is tattered but not dead.  She still burns with desire to succeed, but time is grinding her down. After another few months, realty sets in.

Not knowing any other life, she soldiers on for a time, but eventually loses her ardour. She misses a few auditions and then finally stops trying at all.

Tired and drained, beaten down by the years of disappointment, she comes to the sad realization which leads to a fateful decision;

"I love acting, but I just can't do this anymore. Dreams don't always come true and so it's time to move on. I'll always be an actor, but sadly, I'm done."

And so readers, 40% of the Quebeckers who are sovereigntists didn't become federalists overnight.
...They've just given up.

Separatist Parade a Sad Humilitation

There are those in the militant French language camp who maintain with perfectly straight faces that the Fete St. Jean celebrations are open to all and are inclusive, as long as participants agree in advance that 'tous passe en français.'

Unfortunately, such is not the case, the government in all its wisdom handed the organization of the festivities to radical sovereigntists. In Montreal, Mario Beaulieu (president of the Societe Saint-Jean-Baptiste, of Montreal)  is president of the organizing committee, the Comité de la Fête nationale du Québec à Montréal and so, it should come as no surprise that the festivities have a separatist bent.

In this regard the government has only itself to blame.

The real problem is not that anglos and ethnics are not welcome per se, it is that federalists are not welcome and as a result of that reality, Anglos and Ethnics become excluded.

I took a bit of heat in the comments section last week for telling Anglo and Ethnic readers that we are not welcome and we are not wanted at these festivities. I stand by that assertion and offer a critique of the parade as rebuttal to those pretending that the parade and the celebration of the St. Jean Baptist Day, aka the 'Fete Nationale,'  is something other than a separatist manifestation.

Nothing reflects this separatist ideology better than the parade, which celebrates Quebec history to the point of distortion, eliminating the English from the narrative and whitewashing the fact that Anglophones were instrumental in building Quebec, particularly Montreal.

It's a bit of fantasy, akin to Photoshopping a divorced partner out of the family album.

The parade centers around twenty or so "giants,'  ten to fifteen foot high representations of famous Quebec historical figures. These garish floats look as if they were conceived in an amateur art class, ugly and fearsome. I never knew that Jacques Cartier suffered from acute acne and that he was bug-eyed!

If you think I'm being unfairly cruel, a sad anglo trying to 'rain on the parade' I defy anyone to justify this 'giant' on the right.
I've no clue as to what it represents, but it seems that some Quebec ancestors must have arrived from   ORK, which obviously must be a French-speaking planet!

Of all the 'giants' paraded, there was not even one representing an Anglo, Scot or Irishman, apparently we don't rate.

Considering that Montreal was largely built by these three English-speaking groups, it is an unpardonable re-writing of history.

Shame! It is an unconscionable travesty to pretend that Quebec's history is devoid of anglos contributors.

Read about the Scottish contribution to Quebec

Famous Anglos who might deserve a 'geant' 

So thank you very much, but we'll have no more platitudes about the inclusiveness of the parade from organizers.  

To paraphrase OJ Simpson's lawyer- "If you are not French, Sit on the bench!"

Last year, the patron saint of the Quebec, John the Baptist, was present, but curiously even he was absent this year (according to the TV version of the parade.)

The Rocket Richard float remains a curiosity, with the famous hockey player bedecked in a Canadians jersey, sans the famous "CH" crest. Did the hockey team refuse permission to use the logo or was the organizing committee offended by the fact that the symbol was representative of the word 'Canadiens'?
A curious public wants to know.....

The first clue that this was a separatist celebration was Chantale Trottier president of the  Mouvement national des Québécoises et Québécois waving merrily to the crowd from one of the convertibles filled with Quebecois 'notables'
Her organization is dedicated to four principles; 

1. Quebec sovereignty
2. Protection and promotion of French
3. Promotion of national pride
4. Coordination of the Fête nationale du Québec

The parade lasted barely an hour, a sad testament to revisionist history, ugly and amateur floats, enthusiastic but poorly choreographed students plucked from various amateur dance schools, who were paid $25  plus a meal, according to the SSJB website.
So much for patriotic zeal. Pitiful.

As is the tradition, notable politicians march together to signal the end of the parade. This year several personalities were notorious by their absence.
Last year I published a photo of Jack Layton and Uncle Tom Mulcair marching arm in arm with the likes of Amir Khadir and Mario Bealieu.
I've heard through the grapevine, that the publication of that photo, memorializing that association did not sit well with the powers that be in the NDP.
This year both leaders were nowhere to be seen. Mulcair made it a point to tell a Radio-Canada reporter that he was too busy in Ottawa to attend!

Last year(top) Layton, Mulcair and  Khadir front and center. This year, Khadir alone, banished to the sidelines.

Interestingly, Amir Khadir was relegated to the end of the line and was forced to march far, far, from Pauline Marois.
Gilles Duceppe was there, giving credence to a news report that he's interested in a political comeback.

As final proof of the separatist bent to the parade I offer these pictures. You be the judge.

Now compare this sad parade to that of the St. Patrick's Day parade, which interestingly uses the same optic as the St. Jean Baptiste parade, that is, the idea that everyone is Irish on St. Paddy's Day.

This camaraderie and honest inclusiveness makes the Irish parade the most successful parade in Canada, with sponsors and groups lining up to participate to the point that there is a waiting list. Marching bands, military groups, community groups, corporations, small business, bars and restaurants,  media and politicians of all stripes from Quebec, Ontario and the Northern American states are welcomed to participate, whether Irish or not.

When I see the colonial Yankee fife and drum corps, march down St. Catherine street,carrying the American flag, playing a historic chord,  it sends chills down my spine. Not because I'm a Yankee, but because these are our valued neighbours, who have proudly honoured us with their presence!
What a fine parade!
Everyone is welcome! Hurray!

It this open and non-political attitude that makes the difference!

The message of the Fete St. Jean parade is not a celebration of Quebec culture. It is not a celebration of the French fact or the French language.

It is a celebration of Francophone separatists and as such enjoys the exact success it deserves.

Shame on the provincial government in abdicating its responsibility by allowing a separatist lobby group to hijack the holiday.

It is indecent.