Montreal Returning To its Bilingual Roots

The declining situation of the French language in Montreal can be fairly described with that familiar bromide of "between a rock and a hard place," with the need for immigrants to stem the effect of a declining birthrate, offset by their propensity to adopt English in large enough numbers to upset the linguistic apple cart.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.....

In describing the linguistic situation of French in Montreal, I much prefer the Latin expression,

"A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi"

(A cliff in front of you, wolves behind.)

The recent outcry against international companies trading under English trade names is just one element denoting the shifting sands under the French language, where a convergence of trends augers poorly for the future of French as the overwhelmingly dominating language of Montreal.

Last Friday the OQLF published a report indicating that by 2031 the island of Montreal would tilt  towards a majority of citizens whose mother tongue is other than French.

The reliability of this report leaves something to be desired, as pointed out by Don Macpherson of the Montreal Gazette, who tells us that the demographer making this prediction, Marc Termote,  has had a spotty record, already having made this prediction on five previous occasions, all with different conclusions.
Read the story in the Montreal Gazette. Link

No matter.
While one can dispute the 'when,' the fact that Montreal is becoming more English should escape nobody on either side of the linguistic debate.

Facts and statistics are all subject to interpretation, but let me try to keep things as simple as possible.

Montreal today has a demographic element of 25% Anglophones, 50% Francophones and 25% Allophones(whose mother tongue is neither English nor French)

We are told by the government, that eventually, half the allophones will adopt English and half will adopt French and so melding these numbers we can extrapolate that Montreal is roughly 37% English and 63% French.
Since Anglophones are no longer fleeing the province, the balance between English and French in Montreal remains stable, only if the 40,000 or so immigrants arriving to Montreal each year choose to adopt French over English by this same 63% to 37% ratio.
In fact to maintain linguistic balance province-wide, immigrants would have to adopt French at a level of about 87%.
But such is not the case and so each year, the English numbers creep up, slowly but surely.

But other factors are also at play, including the fact that while Anglos remain firmly embedded in Montreal, many francophone families have fled to the suburbs, tilting the linguistic balance on the island towards English even more.   

Also contributing to the Anglicization of Montreal is the changing face of the retail marketplace, Not only are the mastheads of the new wave of international retailers alighting in Montreal, English, but the culture and products purveyed therein are English as well.

Montreal's English institutions continue to thrive and expand, the new mega-hospital currently under construction another symbol of the permanency and strength of the community. McGill University, an international and Canadian treasure,  centers a concentrated network of institutions of higher English education that is so attractive that it pulls students from the indigenous francophone community as well as from other provinces and abroad.

The massive Bell Centre home of the 'English' Montreal Canadiens, serves up English concerts and events on most nights, with French artistes taking a decidedly backseat.
Most of the tourist attractions including the Comedy Festival, The Jazz festival and the Grand Prix are largely English affairs drawing tourists to the city that interact largely in English regardless of their mother tongue.

The decline of French in Montreal is largely paralleled with the decline of French internationally, as English has evolved into the de facto language trade, commerce, entertainment and tourism.

An so French language militants are truly behind the eight ball in trying to reverse what appears as an inexorable decline of French in Montreal and an opposing rise in English, which has all the appearances of having passed a critical tipping point.

But the reality is that while Montreal is becoming more English, it is just reverting back to its natural state, something it always was, a completely bilingual city.

Photographic evidence shows us, that whatever decade you choose to examine, (except for the last three) Montreal was one of the most bilingual cities on Earth.

St.Catherine & Stanley 1915

This 1942 photo of a deppaneur denotes the beautifully bilingual nature of the city.

Montreal in its greatest decade- The sixities. English  and French, side by side

Montreal in the Thirties. The sign says it all

The City of Montreal was officially bilingual until the late 1970's

For those of the Bill 101 generation, a bilingual-looking Montreal is but a figment of the distant past, but the truth remains that the city's history is as English as it is French.

Nothing can change the fact that Montreal was built by the Scots and the English with most of the heavy lifting done by the Irish. The street names of the downtown core reminds us of a heritage that French language militants wish us to forget.

While they argue that Anglos are taking over, the reality is, that Anglos are taking back what always belonged to them.

Bill 101 continues to artificially prop up the French appearance of the city by forcing a predominance of French signage, propagating the fiction that somehow, by pretending English doesn't exist, it will somehow  disappear.

But the sign laws are largely ineffective. If every sign in the city magically turned into French tomorrow, it wouldn't change anything.

Like the PARIS casino in Las Vegas, which tries to project an imaginary French atmosphere upon guests, the use and exclusive appearance of French in Montreal is largely illusory.

Don't expect to use French at the casino's craps table or order dinner in French at its Les Artistes Steakhouse and similarly, although the store windows in the Fairview Mall are French, most people are transacting in English.

And so it seems that the artificial world that Bill 101 foisted upon the city these last thirty years is failing.The linguistic reality can no longer be plastered over by French signs which serve only to distort the truth.

Francophone militants claim that Montreal belongs to the French. By repeating it often enough and loud enough, they believe they can make it so.  But they cannot change what is.

Montreal belongs to the English and French in friendship and partnership.

It remains home to a beautiful language duality that language bigots cannot abide.

Too bad....

Weekend Review - Volume 36

Separatists- Once more with Feeling

Hurray! Another separatist party is created in Quebec!
Independent MNA  Jean-Martin Aussant  who left the PQ to sit as an independent is starting up a new separatist party, the third to have a sitting member in the National Assembly.

Although not as yet formed the new party will operate under the 'Option nationale' banner and will push aggressively for the sovereignty option as well as Mr. Aussant's pet project, the defence of Quebec's mineral resources.
Good Luck!
I mean it sincerely, the more separatist parties the better to split votes!

Separatists- Looking for love in all the wrong places!
It seems to me that if a pre-K class in Langley British Columbia invited blowhard Mario Beaulieu president of the separatist Societe Saint-Jean-Baptiste (SSJB) as well as president of the  Mouvement Québec français (MQF) to address the little tykes about the merits of sovereignty, coupled with a healthy side order of running down Canada, he'd hop on the first plane, with bells on, to deliver a three hour monologue!

With talk of sovereignty not exactly a topic du jour in Quebec and with interviews on Quebec television fewer and farther between, Mr. Beaulieu went to Europe to seek out support from those who couldn't care less.

First stop was a conference in Val d'Aoste, Italy celebrating peoples whose language/culture is under attack. Judging by the photo, the exhibition held in some sort of a field, wasn't exactly a rousing success, with the Creole restaurant which was set up in an adjacent tent  to the Quebecers, appearing to be way more popular.

Then it was off to Paris, to celebrate the Fête de l'Humanité, a gathering organized  by France's dwindling Communist party, which enjoys less than 2% of popularity in France. To bolster Mr. Beaulieu's representation of Quebec as president of the SSJB and the MQF, was the Réseau de Résistance du Québécois.

 In an article in La Presse, Alain Dubuc, wonders if Mr. Beaulieu has lost sight of reality.

"How can we interpret this strange crusade? Two hypotheses come to mind. The first, rather uncharitable, is based on the well-known attraction of travel. The second, more troubling, describes some kind of activist who has lost touch with reality, strategies he developed in a vacuum where he just forget the real world and real issues. Where the key is to make gestures, even if they are unnecessary and ridiculous. LINK{Fr}

Surpise! Quebec politicians actually more popular than used-car salesmen.

When it comes to public confidence in Quebec, politicians rated just ahead, wait for it, used car salesmen! The politicians received a confidence rating of just 8% in a survey by Leger Marketing, saved from finishing on the bottom of the list, by 1%.

On top of the list;
Firemen                  97%
Ambulance Techs- 93%
Nurses-                   91%
Surgeons-               89%

On the bottom of the list;
Used car salesmen-  97%
Politicians-               93%
Lobbyists-                91%

Click on the picture to read the entire list in French.




From le magazine nagg

The most pathetic OQLF story of the year!

This story may just be the most pathetic Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) story of the year.
A Montreal Gazette reader, Robert Wilkens wrote a depressing, yet hilarious article that describes  the Keystone Kops goings-on, on his little street in downtown Montreal.
It seems that when bureaucrats at the OQLF combine with the fools running the Montreal public works department, hilarity ensues. Don't skip this story. Click on the link!

"You see, a few years ago a city authority visited the modest corner in question – Guy/Paxton Park – and a team of several seemingly well-intentioned labourers proceeded to paint the backs of three long-neglected community benches. The seats themselves, which were in an equal state of disregard, were left totally untouched and remain so to this day. Every morning I am reminded of this bureaucratic absurdity.  LINK

The beat goes on  for French music, again!

This story is about another tedious march by French language militants demanding more French music on the radio. The Mouvement Montreal Francais (MMF) led by the, err.... ultra-famous Quebec actor Denis Trudel demanded that a Montreal radio station, CKOI and others, stop playing so much English music, more than their CRTC license provides for.
The stations are accused of using a clever trick to understate the amount of English music played by stringing together a bunch of English songs in a mashup or remix, thus counting that the resulting effort is just one song, in terms of accountability. VERY CLEVER!
The marchers protested such 'cheating' and bore placcards with the names of French artists that they wished to see replace the English music.
The issue of why people should be forced to listen to music that they don't want to hear, is definitely of course, strictly beside the point.   LINK{Fr}

After the march, demonstrators repaired to the local Valentine restaurant for dinner, but only after a very heated discussion about French content, that led them to modify the original plans that had the group scheduled to go to Harveys!

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves." - William Pitt

An inside view of Quebec corruption.

There's been lot's of discussion lately about corruption in Quebec, with most people demanding a public inquiry to peel back the hidden layers of criminality.
Here's a glimpse of what would be discovered, courtesy of a story that wasn't picked up in any English media. It should have been and so I translated it as best I could. 
Regardless of how cynical you are, this story will have you shaking your head;

Presumed Bribery at Revenue Canada-millions spent at the casino

Francis Vailles
La Presse

The RCMP has discovered that a Revenue Canada manager spent $11.8 million in cash at a casino in the company of a known tax evader, Francesco Bruno, between 2006 and 2010.

  

This information comes from new documents filed in court in Montreal by the RCMP as part of its investigation into the alleged bribery of Revenue Canada officials. Seven tax auditors are believed to have received generous bribes from crooked taxpayers to help defraud Revenue Canada.
The Revenue Canada manager who purchased the millions of dollars in casino chips is Madan Kehar. Most of his purchases were made at the Montreal Casino in the presence of Francesco Bruno, who also spent $ 1.4 million in cash on such occasions.

Francesco Bruno (left),  Alfredo Magalhães, in a box at the Bell Centre in 2005

Francesco Bruno is the president of BT ceramics, which was found guilty of tax fraud last spring. It was he who helped one of Tony Accurso's companys evade taxes of $4 million through an elaborate scheme of false invoices. According to the RCMP, Madan Kehar as well as two other Revenue Canada officials had intervened to prevent another auditor from delving more deeply into the issue of BT ceramics in the early 2000s.

New information from the RCMP was released as part of a subpoena  for documents, approved by a judge, directed at the Bell Centre, in late August. The police obtained Bell Centre invoices that proved that certain tax inspectors benefited from the largess of Francesco Bruno during a Canadiens hockey game in September 2007.

No tax at the Galeries Laval

In the new report from the RCMP, police made an astonishing discovery in the offices of BT ceramics in 2008. The safe of the company's CEO, Francesco Bruno, contained original documents belonging to Revenue Canada in relation to Galeries Laval, a shopping centre then owned by Tony Accurso.
Such forms never leave the offices of Revenue Canada, the investigators reported. According to them, "the fact that such forms disappeared from the Canada Revenue Agency benefits Galeries Laval, because the  information is no longer accessible to the Agency."One form, dated June 2004, noted that the latest official to have worked on the Galeries Laval file, questioned the fact that the mall never paid any tax.

In another form found hidden in the safe, suspicion was cast over of another Revenue Canada auditor concerning another Tony Accurso company, Louisbourg, over another bogus invoice scam.
Readers are reminded that Francesco Bruno, BT Ceramics, were located in a building belonging to mafia bosses Vito Rizutto and Paolo Renda.

Bahamas and Switzerland

In addition to the Revenue Canada official Madan Kehar, two key officials are also targeted by the RCMP investigation, Furgiele Adriano and Antonio Girardi. Furgiele is the cousin of Francesco Bruno.In its investigation, the RCMP discovered that Francesco Bruno opened a bank account in the Bahamas in 2006 with Revenue Canada officials Furgiele and Girardi. The account manager was Quebec's Martin Tremblay, later jailed for money laundering in another case. In July 2006, the Bahamas account was closed and the money, $816,278, was transferred to Switzerland

In addition, the RCMP also discovered that Furgiele received $150,000 from a taxpayer at the beginning of 2008 a few weeks after he received a tax refund of $2.3 million. According to police, Furgiele was at the heart of the scheme that enabled the taxpayer to save the taxes. That taxpayer in question, is Francesco Bertucci, his company, Thomson Tremblay. The police tried to talk to him, but his lawyer objected. The RCMP believes that Revenue Canada officials Nick Iammarrone, and Giuseppe Oliviero participated in the scam benefiting Bertucci.

Bell Centre

In order to get the approval of the judge in its application for a subpoena of the Bell Centre, the RCMP submitted photos of another night at the Bell Centre in 2005, which it seized in the home of Furgiele, which were filed with the Court. It shows nine officials of Revenue Canada drinking with Francesco Bruno in a box at the Bell Centre.Among the officers of Revenue Canada that were there, were team leaders Furgiele Adriano and Antonio Girardi, as well as agents Madan Kehar and Giuseppe Oliviero. As for taxpayers, in addition to Francesco Bruno, there were two other co-shareholders of BT ceramics, Alfredo and Rodolfo Magalhaes Palmerino.Officials suspected of wrongdoing were fired from Revenue Canada or have already retired. No charges were brought against them or against Francesco Bertucci.

read the original story in French

If you want to believe that it's just the Italians involved, here's a story from yesterday's news..

and folks, it's just the tip of the iceberg.

Habs jersey sends TIFF atwitter

Actor Viggo Mortensen and Keira Knightly currently starring in 'A Dangerious Method' greeted journalists at the Toronto International Film festival wearing the dreaded Habs jerseys.
Moretensin is a huge Montreal Canadiens fan and previously pulled off the same stunt at the  2005 edition of the festival.
He admits that during filming of the Lord of the Rings, he wore the sweater under his costume.
Huh!
As they say on Global TV, "Whooda guessed?"

For Toronto Maple Leaf fans, who might be feeling a bit left out, I scoured the Internet for something similar, but all I could come up with is this photo of Brooke Mueller (Charlie Sheen's ex) wearing a nifty Leafs T-shirt. 

Hold on a sec......

Is that a foil crack pipe she's holding?  LINK

eeek!!

Speaking of hockey shirts in the media, who can tell me which famous movie this Habs jersey made a prominent appearance in?

What's the Montreal connection?

The stupidest stories of the week..

Finally, here's two stories that definitely had me shaking my head, I don't know which one is stupider. I'll let readers decide;

The first story details a female high school teacher who seduced a fifteen year old male student and carried on an affair in which they had sex between 200-300 times, everywhere you can think of including the high school itself.

The teacher is trying to get the case dropped because it has taken so long to come to trial.

She complained to the judge that her life has been ruined by the publicity.

Pontbriand, her slight body shaking with emotion, said the ordeal has zapped her of her energy and she finds it difficult to hide her tears from her children.

“The most precious time in a parent’s life is when the children are small - the giggles, the little fat tummies, the hugs and kisses,” said Pontbriand, 40. “There are times your child catches you crying and says, ‘It’s okay, mommy; I’ll kiss it better.’ ”
The teacher with 13 years’ experience has been unable to work, she said, because her case has appeared around the world on Internet and television. LINK

This  next story is of a Montreal borough Notre Dame de Grace, (NDG) which decided to engage graffiti artists in a contest, in order to reduce tagging around the neighbourhood.
The borough was to provide a workspace and guess what first prize was supposed to be.
100 cans of spray paint. .......yup!  LINK


FailQc.com.

At first I laughed at the misplaced footings for a sign for some sort of federal building in Quebec City.
But then the English translation on the sign had me feeling that the translation was performed in Bangkok.

Workshop Quebec City?

A 'workshop' is what you have in your basement, not a big government facility. It should read 'shop' or 'facility', or something else.

Is the start of an Inglish invasion.

Quebec Corruption-Time to Put the Hammer Down!

I read the comments section religiously and while I often disagree with what is said, many times my opinion is shaped or re-shaped by the observations made.

In relation to the Construction industry corruption scandal that is now gripping Quebec I must say I couldn't agree more with these comments offered under the blog piece-Corruption Bombshell To Explode in Quebec

Anonymous said...

The mafia (in conjunction with the labour unions that they control) run the construction industry and they've been doing this for decades. I know I'm going on a tangent here but the folks ultimately responsible for all of the corruption are already known by the police. Everybody knows who the crime bosses are but nobody is willing to do anything about it. Heck, it's almost as if nobody cares that organized crime runs so many rackets in Montreal. 

JohnL said...

@Press 9: We don't need a commission to tell us what we already know: Organized crime owns the construction industry and the unions. Instead of worrying about costly commissions, why aren't we focusing our energies on the real problem, which is the mafia? 

JohnL said...

And let's be honest: Quand on dit que "les Québécois EXIGENT une commission" all this means is that a pollster asked the right question. I guarantee you that if we asked the population whether we should crack down on the mafia and street gangs, that we would also receive a positive response on that issue too. But mysteriously enough, no pollsters are asking that question; and if they are, it's not being reported.

Those who want an inquiry want to prove that Jean Charest and the Liberal party are crooks, nothing more, nothing less.
Given the cash nature of any payments, I can't see an inquiry helping to prove unprovable allegations. The whole inquiry would in all likelihood degenerate into a another unfulfilling and frustrating Bastarache Inquiry fiasco.

Now before readers accuse me of protecting the Premier from calls for a public inquiry over friendship, let me say that as much as I am a friend, I can't see him re-elected under any circumstances, so deep is the enmity and anger directed at him by all but core supporters.

In fact, given that the Premier is unelectable and the Liberals are headed to the same scrapheap as their federal counterparts, it would be nice, to see Premier Charest, take it on the chin and  finally right the ship of state, which has been listing rather badly for decades under the strain of corruption.

It seems to me, that institutional corruption has been a way of life in Quebec as far back (and perhaps longer) as the Duplessis era where in order to get a measly snow-removal contract, a company had to have political contacts (read; bribes)
The only difference between then and now is the media attention and so if it appears that Quebec is more corrupt today than yesterday it is but an illusion.

If as a society we are serious about ending or even reducing corruption, a public inquiry won't help.
If we want to end, or even reduce corruption in the construction industry significantly, the guilty need to go to jail......It's that simple.

Now that Mr. Duchesneau has forwarded a list of twelve or thirteen cases of documented corruption, the last thing we need is an inquiry to gum up the works for a year or two.

What we need are prosecutions and after convictions, jail sentences and lifetime bans from doing business with the government, directly or indirectly.

Over the last year or two, a bunch of companies have been found cheating the government, be it over tax evasion or over-billing on construction projects.  All skated, paid a fine and went back to work, according to the same old, same old rules of corruption.

To these crooked firms, the fine is just a cost of doing business and perhaps the next time they scam the government, they'll steal a little more to make up the loss. It's nothing more than paying off a cop to look the other way or paying a speeding ticket after being caught for the umpteenth time on a joy ride.

The process would be greatly aided if Mr. Charest would name a special prosecutor who would be given independence and ample resources, including the hiring of crackerjack legal talent from outside the sadsack Crown prosecutors office.

As anyone who has watched an episode of Law & Order knows, a little pressure on the weakest link, will have crooks singing for mercy, especially those in the Ministry of Transport, who can't afford $500 an hour lawyers and are trembling at the thought of going to jail.

If in the course of any investigation the trail leads to the Liberal party or the Premier's office and if the independent prosecutor has reason to believe he can obtain a conviction, then so be it.

I much prefer to let the chips fall as they may through proper legal channels rather than the  spectacle of a He/Said sideshow, which is what a public inquiry is.

I'm not cynical about the chances of this happening..,

Given the right approach, the corruption house of cards can collapse and the message that crooks will go to jail if caught cheating the government, will have a salutary effect.
Truthfully, with a little effort, the whole thing could be wrapped up in a year.

Readers I have a little treat for you in the form of a news story that is no longer available online. (I can only imagine why it was taken offline.)
I clipped it a while back and was saving it for a rainy day, which apparently it is today.

It concerns those big-shot Consulting/Engineering firms that are part and parcel of the construction corruption scandal.
Here's a translation, as well as the original story in French, which I'm sure will provide a chuckle.

Consulting engineers defend their right to give gifts
(CP) - Three days ago

MONTREAL - The association representing consulting/engineering firms are defending their right to offer reasonable gifts to their clients and to determine for themselves what is reasonable.

While the engineering firm BPR has regularly made the headlines for months over certain practices attributed it, the Association of Consulting Engineers of Quebec (AICQ) believes that these practices may  not all be as equally reprehensible as the media seems to suggest.

When in business, it's a good idea to get close to customers and try to understand their needs, according to its CEO, Johanne Desrochers, who not surprisingly refused to discuss the specific case of BPR.

On the issue of gifts, Ms. Desrochers said  that it is everyone's responsibility to know where the limits are. According to her, these limits vary from one industry to another and from one sector to another.

The head of the association declined to say what gifts might be considered acceptable among those which made ​​headlines, from fishing trips to restaurant meals.

In fact, it would be wrong to try to define the limits of what is acceptable, according to Johanne Desrochers and be better to go on a case by case basis.

Les ingénieurs-conseils défendent leur droit d'offrir des cadeaux

(CP) – Il y a 3 jour

MONTRÉAL — L'association qui représente les firmes de génie-conseil défend leur droit d'offrir des cadeaux raisonnables à leurs clients et de déterminer elles-mêmes lesquels sont raisonnables.

Alors que l'entreprise d'ingénierie BPR fait régulièrement les manchettes depuis des mois en raison des pratiques qu'on lui prête, l'Association des ingénieurs-conseils du Québec (AICQ) est d'avis que ces pratiques ne sont peut-être pas toutes aussi condamnables qu'on semble le laisser croire dans les médias.

C'est une bonne idée, quand on est en affaires, que d'être près de ses clients et de tenter de comprendre leurs besoins, selon sa présidente-directrice générale, Johanne Desrochers, qui a sans surprise refusé de discuter du cas précis de BPR.
Sur la question des cadeaux, Mme Desrochers a dit penser que chacun est responsable de savoir où sont les limites. D'après elle, ces limites varient d'une industrie à l'autre et d'un secteur à l'autre.

La patronne de l'AICQ a refusé de dire quels cadeaux pourraient être considérés comme acceptables parmi ceux qui ont fait les manchettes, allant de voyages de pêche à des soupers arrosés au restaurant.
En fait, on aurait tort d'essayer de définir les limites de ce qui est acceptable, selon Johanne Desrochers. Il faudrait plutôt y aller au cas par cas.

Here's another fun story;

 "When preparing her run for the leadership of the PQ in 2007, Ms. Marois raised the sum of $123,000 from 62 donors. The majority of the money, about $80,000, came from Consulting/Engineering firms, according to calculations that were made ​​by the Quebec solidaire last year and which was reported in La Presse."  Link{FR}

When confronted by reporters about this financing, Madame Marois was unequivocal;
"It's not relevant," she replied. "I was not in the government, I could not award contracts"

HaHaHa!..... 

HEC Blackface Underscores Racist Undercurrent

One of the recurring themes in Quebec media is the complaint by French language militants that not enough immigrants assimilate into Quebec francophone culture and that their unwillingness to become 'good' Quebecers represents a betrayal of the implied contract that they made in immigrating to Quebec.

These militants continue to feed the stereotype of immigrants as lazy welfare bums, who congregate in ghettos, speak and dress as they did back in their homeland and live off the hard work of others. (read: francophone Quebecers)

It's a neat story that reminds Quebecers that the very identity of Quebec francophone society is at stake and unless immigrants are brought to heal, society will be overrun.
It's a story that places whatever blame there is to apportion over this non-assimilation on the backs of the immigrants and neatly absolves Quebeckers themselves of any responsibility.

And so bigots like Gilles Proulx continue to rail against immigrants, reminding viewers and readers at every opportunity that the pure, innocent, open and inclusive Quebeckers are being overrun by immigrant parasites without any real rebuttal or public outrage.  Here's Mr. Proulx's latest screed

The pages of Vigile.net are replete with complaints that blacks are over-represented in the National Assembly or that there are too many ethnics on television. Type in the word  'Immigrants' into the website's search engine and you'll get close to 900 stories, the vast majority negative, many racist.

Bathed in self-pity, these militants portray themselves as innocent victims of English language and English cultural oppression and justify their discrimination against immigrants as legitimate pushback.

And so sentimental tripe as this poem/song is typical of the persecution complex that stokes the fires of intolerance and confrontation;

Last week during Frosh week a group of students from the l'École des hautes études commerciales (HÉC), the elite business school which is part of the  l'Université de Montréal dressed up in blackface as some sort of salute to Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.

While the students were Shouting "Ya Mon!'  and 'Smoke More Weed!' a passing McGill university student (who is black) took offence and filmed the students briefly.

I won't characterize the students as racist, but if ever there was an incident that screamed for sensitivity training, this certainly is it.
Had this incident taken place in Rimouski or Chicoutimi, where a Black person on the street is as rare as a Chinese person in a Chinese restaurant, I might have understood the insensitivity, but one would think that elite students, in a city that is 25% ethnic would understand that their actions would cause offence.
I can't imagine an incident of this type occurring in any English university in Canada without engendering a physical confrontation with other students and without disciplinary consequences by the university afterwards.

Such is the state of affairs in Quebec where all is forgiven because, tut, tut, the students 'meant no harm.'
In fact the over-riding consensus in Quebec is that the incident is being overblown.

Put on blackface as a joke in any western country and you can pretty much expect to draw criticism:

KKK and blackface costumes shut down Ontario Legion
Blackface Obama billboard sparks outrage
Northwestern Students In Blackface Spark Outrage 

The ho-hum reaction to the incident underscores rather neatly a depressing social gap that exists in Quebec and so while the story is no big deal here, it certainly is elsewhere, where a report of the incident was deemed newsworthy as far away as Britain's Daily Mail

I can't really blame the students, they probably saw no harm in what they did, but therein lies the problem.

Every day, Quebec Francophone media portrays immigrants in the most negative and stereotypical manner, concentrating on differences instead of similarities. Read: When racism goes mainstream


Although Quebecers are inherently no more racist than other Canadians, the unrelenting attacks on immigrants and incessant ethnic-bashing has a cumulative effect.

So who's fault is it that immigrants have such a hard time assimilating into Francophone society?

If you believe the language militants, it's the immigrants and the English that bear all the responsibility.
Francophones remain, as the narrative goes, innocent as always, open and welcoming to those immigrants who embrace French.

It is,  as they say in Quebec, utter 'bullsheet,' 
The myth that Quebec is a welcoming society is the great lie of the immigration debate.

If Quebec immigrants have a staggeringly high unemployment rate, much higher than in other provinces, it must be because Quebec immigrants are somehow lazier than those who immigrate to Ontario or British Columbia! Such is the conventional wisdom offered by French militants and the fact that immigrants are consistently shut out of jobs, on an ongoing and institutional basis, plays no role in this reality.

As I've pointed out before, anecdotal stories are always dangerous, but so many exist about the abuse of immigrants, that it's hard to ignore the fact that they are systematically discriminated against in Quebec, especially in the workplace.

Read this story about an immigrant who was refused an interview 19 times until he submitted a resume with a 'Quebecois' sounding name. Resumé being ignored? Try a name change. 

Here's an article from France instructing Frenchmen how to apply for a job in Quebec, which apparantly isn't that easy because as the article says;
"Let's face it, there are still some prejudices against the French." (from France-ed.)
So even the French from France complain that they are discriminated against in the Quebec job market!

If Quebec militants tell us they  are welcoming of immigrants, as long as they speak French, read this; Racism rocks PSAC Montreal office 

Attitudes in Quebec are shaped by language and as long as immigrants are portrayed as a threat to Quebec culture and the French language, they will suffer discrimination. The unrelenting negative portrayal of immigrants has  the effect of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Sadly it is this discrimination that chases many over to the English side of the language equation where they are more comfortable and so we get the proverbial 'vicious circle.'

As  for blackface, HEC students should be reminded that the era of the genre is long-gone and I gotta tell you, watching this ancient clip of Al Jolson makes me a tad uncomfortable!