Sunday Housekeeping- Trolls

As regular readers might have noticed, I've unfortunately had to crack down on one-line insults that bring nothing to this blog

It serves no purpose to go through 200 comments where 50-75 are pure trash, with no redeeming value. I'd rather have 10-15 well thought out contributions, than 200 idiotic and insulting posts.

By the way, I have the ability to delete comments without leaving a trace, but as of now will continue to show readers where and which comments are blocked.

I do not moderate comments on an hourly basis so it's possible something obnoxious is up for a while, try not to respond, I'll take it down ASAP.
If you see something that should be taken down, let me know, but do not quote the offensive material, just provide the date and time. There's no use propagating trash by repeating it.

As for Trolls, I will not take down your comment just because they are meant to incite, as long as they don't violate decency standards. Please try to be witty, if you are trying to provoke.


What is offensive?
You're all literate and can pretty much can guess what will be taken down or not.

English or French, federalist or sovereigntist, the rules are the same and everyone will be treated respectfully and equally, but please don't test my patience with trash talk.

I repeat that I will not suppress contradictory views to mine or those of most readers, healthy discourse is an integral part of this community, but to those tho just want to disrupt our conversations with banal insults, please go away.

Here is something important;
You can always delete your own comment by clicking on delete. Obviously, you can't delete other people's comments.

If you change your mind about what you've written either because you were tired, drunk or made some embarrassing typos, here what you should do;
Delete the original post and write a new one.
In your new post use the word REWRITE on a separate line, at the beginning or the end of the post and I'll completely remove any trace of the original.

Finally, you might notice that the time stamp on your comment is three hours early and unfortunately, I can't do anything about it as it is a BLOGGER problem that they are supposedly working on (although I cannot fathom how they haven't corrected this so far.)

Thank yo for your support and your contributions.

This January has been our busiest month ever with almost 50,000 page views and 12,000 different visitors.

Most of the success of NDOA lies in reader contributions and I pledge to police the comment section more assiduously, making for a better read and a better debate.

Best  regards....

French versus English Volume 45

Political science prize judge quits over French flap

"Judging from the 18-year record of a prestigious prize for Canadian writing on political theory, French-Canadians are not the finest political theorists.

Since its creation in 1994, the C.B. Macpherson Prize awarded by the Canadian Political Science Association (CPSA) has always gone to a work in English, even though it celebrates “the best book published in English or in French.”

But a judge for the 2012 prize has resigned this week, alleging the award is so stacked against francophone writers that most do not bother submitting their work any more." Read the rest of the story

NDP leadership candidates vow support for Quebec rights
"Seven of the eight NDP federal leadership candidates came to Montreal Sunday to express their unqualified support for the party’s declaration of French rights.

Among other things, the Sherbrooke Declaration on Quebec recognizes French as the “language of work” and the “common public language.” It also supports Quebec’s right to secede from Canada on a simple majority referendum vote. 

...The only candidate to trigger a “bravo” from the audience was Cullen. The MP for Skeena-Bulkley Valley in B.C. apologized for the NDP’s support of the nomination of justice Michael J. Moldaver to the Supreme Court of Canada. Moldaver does not speak French.  Read the rest of the story

(Editorial comment- Nathan Cullen MP for Skeena Pukey Valley- There's 'obsequious' and then there's, "Thank you for shitting in my hat."
You are now on my official list of politicians I hate..)

Newt Gingrich's French connection

"In a press conference today, Newt Gingrich admitted that he spoke French "once upon a time," and joked to a French reporter who asked him whether he spoke the language "Do you know John Kerry?" Barely a week ago, Gingrich released this ad which compared Romney to the 2004 Democratic nominee — in part because of his fluency in French." Watch the attack ad

Ex-Hab slams Montreal-"It's a big mess"

"In an interview, former Hab Jaroslav Spacek sounds off on Montreal, the Habs and the language debate. Have a listen.

Yikes!
 Quebecer up for Academy Award
Quebec's own Philippe Falardeau's 'Monsieur Lazhar' has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best foreign film. I haven't seen the film but from all accounts it's a poignant story about an Algerian immigrant, who is hired to replace an elementary school teacher who committed suicide. While the class goes through a long healing process, nobody in the school is aware of Bachir's painful former life. Montreal Gazette Alternate Link
I did see one of his other movies La Moitié gauche du frigo (The left-hand side of the fridge,) which I actually liked a lot, a story about the trials of an unemployed fellow who shares an apartment with a room-mate. By the way, if you're wondering about the title, it has to do with sharing the apartment refrigerator.  

The interesting thing is that Mr. Falardeau, a thirty-something Francophone from Montreal has outstanding English. In a television report from the Sundance festival, he related how busy his life has been promoting the film, from lecturing audiences and giving interview after interview to the American media. When he goes to the Academy Awards, his mastery of English will no doubt help raise his profile and propel his career.
To all the idiots who remind Quebecers that they don't really need English to succeed, meet another successful example of why it's just not true.

Important Conservative fed up with Harper's Quebec snub

“Peter White is about as conservative (and Conservative) as they come. He worked at Brian Mulroney’s side throughout the former prime minister’s nine-year tenure. In 2001, he turned his frustration with Jean Chrétien’s seemingly perpetual hold on power into a book, Gritlock, perhaps best described as a blueprint of how to neuter the then-powerful Liberal brand. In his free time, the former Hollinger Inc. executive has relentlessly pushed the Conservative brand in his native Quebec, both as a riding president and party organizer. And he’s sick of trying.

In a scathing open letter addressed to Canadians in general and the Conservative party in particular, White roundly criticizes the Conservative Party of Canada for ignoring Francophones in general and Quebec in particular. “Today the voice of Quebec is virtually absent in Ottawa’s halls of power, or if present, it is a voice grown mighty small, and mighty easy to ignore,” White writes in the letter dated Jan. 12. “Since the election of May 2, 2011, many Quebec observers have concluded that Mr. Harper has consciously decided to ignore Quebec, now that he has convincingly demonstrated that he can win a majority without it.” Read the rest of the story in Maclean's & see the letter

Patrick Roy advises Canadiens to tank season
I wonder if Patrick Roy scuttled any chance of becoming head coach of the Montreal Canadiens by going public with his idea of tanking this lost season and aiming to finish as low as possible in order to secure a premier draft choice.
It is a concept that everybody thinks about, but nobody in a position of responsibility would ever dare say it out loud.
After all, losing a game on purpose is about the biggest crime one can commit in sports. Any coach or general manager who admits to doing so would certainly face a long suspension by the league if not an outright ban.
Is Patrick really that stupid?    Link{Fr}

Conservatives rise in Quebec poll
These last months we've heard nothing but pissing and moaning from Quebec politicians and the entire French media over the fact that Stephen Harper is ignoring Quebec and shortchanging the province in every department.
You'd figure that the Conservatives polling numbers would take a dive, even from the horrific 16% level that they garnered in the last federal election.

But take a look at the latest numbers, which I pulled off of Mario Dumont's news magazine show, last night.

 

WOW!
The Conservatives have increased their popularity by over 50% since last May!!!
My only explanation..........TOUGH LOVE!

Hydro-Quebec backs down on English
Last week I told you about an international scientific conference that Hydro-Quebec was hosting in Montreal that was to be held in English (as are all these scientific conferences.) After intense pressure from the usual suspects, the utility has now agreed to pay for simultaneous translation, which absolutely nobody will use. Original story{Fr}

In a letter to Le Devoir Professor Robert Emery Prud'homme, a chemistry professor at the University of Montreal, sets the record straight about science and French .

"Without making a thorough investigation, I can say at least 95% - and probably 99% - of scientific articles published by Quebec researchers working in francophone institutions in chemistry, physics and engineering, are in English. It's the same in France and Belgium.

...the question of the use of English in science and in scientific conferences, even in Quebec, has been settled for several years, scientists have de facto chosen English.".

If you read French, this article about the subject of French and English in science, is extremely interesting   Link{Fr}


PQ updating independence plans 
The Parti Quebecois has announced that it is updating 148 studies concerning the subject of sovereignty and independence. I'm not kidding.

Here's a hilarious quote from the article in La Presse. Link{Fr}

"When the PQ was in power in 2001, the government gave a  mandate to Claude Corbo, at that time professor at the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM), to review these studies, sort and update them as needed.

"For Pauline Marois, the PQ leader, the purpose of the new "Committee to Study Sovereignty" is to support arguments in favor of  sovereignty.
 
However, if we rely on the previous studies by Corbo, there is no indication that the data collected along the way will go in that direction at all.

This is why the party reserves the right to publish or not to publish the results of the work."  Yikes!

At any rate, it's like thinking about what you'd do if you won the Lotto...
It's fun to daydream.... a yacht?.....a mansion?... sovereignty?

Leading up to next MONDAY'S POST entitled-'The Ignominious End of Gilles Duceppe,' here's a quick primer of the Gilles Duceppe scandal and it's possible outcome, meant for the reading impaired and those with a distinctly low attention span.

 Further reading;

French versus English Volume 44

Downfall of the PQ Painful to Watch

Even for federalists, watching the PQ go through its agonizing death throes is a bit much to take. Like a cancer patient ravaged with the disease, but who fights the inevitable conclusion tooth and nail, even those who care, must ask would it not be better if the patient was put out of its misery sooner than later.

Ever since last May's federal election that drove the Bloc out of Ottawa, die-hard sovereigntists held onto the belief that the meltdown was a hiccup, an obstacle like so many others, with the project of Quebec independence remaining intact and inviolate.

Alas for them, circumstances dictate an alternate reality, one where Quebecers have given up on their forty year flirtation with sovereignty, where even those still willing to support the independence option admit that the project is no longer doable.

And so quite simply, the CAQ of Francois Legault is rising to replace the PQ as the natural alternative to the Quebec Liberal Party. It's a party that preaches nationalism without any threat of an actual referendum, something that is striking a chord with many Quebecers who wish to maintain a strong nationalistic front against Ottawa without any of the painful drama promised by hard-liner sovereigntists.

And so, many separatists, including defecting members of the PQ caucus, are moving over to the CAQ, something that Premier Charest is trying to exploit as an issue, calling the CAQ a separatist party in sheep's clothing.

The truth is rather the opposite, those separatists moving over to the CAQ are going to the safest place where they can go to give up their sovereigntist dream without sacrificing their pride.
In order to assuage the guilty consciences of these fallen sovereigntists, Mr. Legault has said that in the future, perhaps ten years, they might review the independence option, a convenient lie meant to make the painful transition more palatable.

What remains are the hard-liners in the PQ and their supporters who live in a fantasy world where they believe, that they can turn things around by pushing the sovereignty and referendum option even harder.
Its like a store raising its prices, in reaction to a market survey that indicates that consumers have rejected the company's products because they are already too expensive. Talk about disconnect...

The reality is that the PQ is out of leaders and out of options.

As the end approaches, we are treated to a frightening view of the real personality of the members of the Parti Quebecois, the selfish, cruel and incompetent fools who are clawing and fighting each other like pigs in a trough.  

The opening salvo in the PQ war of independence was fired by the betrayers, the old guard who quit the party to sit as independents because the party leader couldn't produce a successful independence strategy, where quite frankly, none exists.

Led by the ugly duo of Louise Beaudoin and  Louise Lapointe (Jacques Parizeau's wife) and supported by the very simple Pierre Curzi, the betrayal triggered an undisciplined food fight, with Marois served up as the main course.

Then, more betrayers and more defectors, tearful interviews and hand-wringing, the birth of the CAQ, all leading to the inevitable conclusion that the Parti Quebecois is circling the drain.

But reality is hard to accept.
Everybody within and everyone outside the party have suggestions as to how to right the sinking ship, the pages of vigile.net chock full of ideas that smack of flightful fantasy or desperation extraordinaire.

The final straw for the party is the now failed Duceppe gambit.

This desperate belief that if only Gilles Duceppe would take over from Marois, perhaps all could be saved, with party faithfuls telling each other that we federalsits would be quaking in our boots at the threat of so formidable an opponent.

This is of course, that very same Gilles Duceppe who just eight months ago led the separatists to their greatest electoral debacle ever.  What galling fantasy to believe we'd be afraid.

And so in the fine tradition of the PQ, the knives were unsheathed by Marois supporters and Duceppe was gutted like a fish by a monger.  Et tu, Pauline?

At least this time it was the hardliners feeling the hard edge of the blade.

The political tragicomedy continues to run unchecked with today's chapter, a blueprint published in the form of an open letter by the insufferable, Bernard Landry, the ex leader of the PQ.
Here he provides us with his valuable insight, a road map to lead Quebec out of the desert and on towards the promised land.
The solution- a quick referendum. Arghh...

The overwhelming reacting of Quebecers to his open letter? -Indifference....

While hardline PQers and their diminishing band of supporters piss and moan in public, their audience is gone.
The PQ isn't destroyed over infighting as we are led to believe.
The PQ is destroyed because sovereignty is no longer relevant.

It's over...

Ladies and gentlemen of the sovereignty movement, turn out the lights on your way out and please, don't let the door hit you in the ass as you leave.

Pauline Marois Destroys Gilles Duceppe

My least favorite politician in Canada is the thoroughly dislikeable Gilles Duceppe, a weasel of a politician and a poster boy representing everything we Anglos hate about separatists who look to cynically fleece Canada, while plotting its destruction.

Whoever invented the word "smarmy,' must have been thinking of Gilles Duceppe, it describes his character perfectly;
(smarmy- sleazy, self-centered and insincere. One who has his own agenda which conflicts with the interests of others. Very fake and/or two-faced.)

One of the worst things I hate about Mr Duceppe is his manifest glee in fleecing Canadians for his own personal and political benefit, seeing no contradiction in collecting a $140,000, while working to destroy the country that pays it.

Would he have become leader of the PQ and get elected to the National Assembly, I've no doubt that he would have continued collecting his pension, with no compunction or embarrassment over the double dipping, as long as it is the federal government was paying for it.

As of late Mr. Duceppe has embarked upon a behind the scene campaign to destabilize the leadership of Pauline Marois, all the while smiling before the cameras and professing his love and support for the separatist leader.

A few months ago, Duceppe was very public in his support of Pauline, but recent events, especially  the continued defections from the PQ ranks, has moved him to go after the Marois' job, once and for all.

Mr. Duceppe is not one to do the dirty work himself and so has delegated responsibility to his minions (Pierre-Paul Roy, Bob  Dufour and François Leblanc) to organize and carry out a back room putsch against Madame Marois.
It's the nature of the rat that he is, to let others do for him, what he is not prepared to do openly.

Madame Marois called on him to take responsibility for his actions and demanded point blank that he declare his intentions and whether he would respect his word given months ago, not to destabilize her leadership.
In response Mr. Duceppe made a wishy-washy statement when interviewed on the radio.; 
"I trust that the PQ leader and  members will make the right decisions .."

For Marois it was the last straw.

"NO I DIDN'T"     "YES YOU DID!!"

And so, on Friday, La Presse published an extremely damaging ethics story about Duceppe, which is being widely quoted by newspapers across the country.

But here's an important fact that nobody has yet to report.

An ultra reliable source has told me that it was the Marois camp that leaked the information to La Presse, in an effort to harm Duceppe and check his advance on her leadership.
It makes sense if you think about it, especially the timing.
It seems that the information had been held in reserve by Marois just in case Duceppe went back on his word (which he did) and so she decided that she had no other option but to unload on him with any or all pretenses of separatist solidarity tossed aside.

It's a story that really came as no surprise to me, a further account of Duceppe's dishonest and cavalier abuse of public money for personal and political benefit. Read the original article in French 
Read the National Post recapitulation

"The former leader of the Bloc Quebecois, Gilles Duceppe paid the salary of the Chief of his party, Gilbert Gardner, for seven years from the budget provided by the House of Commons for the operation of his office in Ottawa, La Presse has learned.

This practice violates the rules of the House of Commons since the funds provided elected officials must be used to finance the activities of Parliament and not partisan activities. The other parties have confirmed to the press that their CEO is paid by the respective funds of the party, not money received from the House of Commons.

Mr. Gardner, who worked at the headquarters of the Bloc in Montreal and  occupied himself with the management and organization of the party, was hired in 2004 by Mr. Duceppe. He pocketed a salary that exceeded $ 100, 000 in the last years of his term......
La Presse has also learned that Marie-France Charbonneau, the  significant other of his chief of staff, François LeBlanc, was paid by the Bloc leader's office as a consultant while she was pursuing a master's degree. She was also paid during the time she was writing a book on the 20th anniversary of the Bloc Quebecois with Professor Guy Lachapelle, Concordia University.
Although Marie-France Charbonneau was officially a councilor to Gilles Duceppe, she rarely set her feet down in the House of Commons. "We did not know what she was doing apart from writing this book,"  said the Bloc Quebecois. Ms. Charbonneau received an annual salary of more than $ 90,000, according to our information

The article elicited comments from Maxime Bernier of the Conservatives and Marc Garneau of the Liberals who both blasted the former Bloc leader as a hypocrite for wrongfully spending Parliamentary money on partisan politics, while complaining about the ethics of others.

When Duceppe lost his seat, all the aforementioned 'employees' lost their jobs as well, but all were eligible for six months severance pay, courtesy of Canadian taxpayers.
All three were immediately rehired by the Bloc Quebcois office in Montreal at essentially the same salaries, something that caused a certain uneasiness among Bloc members.

When Daniel Paillé, the new Bloc leader assumed his position in December, the first order of business was to fire them all, so clearly there were forces in the Bloc that were unhappy with Duceppe's arrangements.
Someone within the Bloc, an enemy of Duceppe, leaked the story about the wrongful use of Parliamentary funds, to Marois.

As to the issue of paying those salaries with taxpayer money, Mr. Duceppe doesn't deny the facts, but dismisses the complaint about the spending as a partisan political attack, nothing else.

It remains to be seen what will happen.
Those who wanted to see Mr. Duceppe succeed Pauline Marois as leader of the PQ  worked overtime to spin the story as nothing but politics, rather than ethics.

Le Devoir, a nationalist newspaper, reported on the La Presse story rather dryly, but what is more interesting are the comments under the story where about eight out of ten readers supported Mr. Duceppe and proposed that the so-called scandal was a hatchet job cooked up by federalists.  See the comments here.
But one reader remained unconvinced of Duceppe's innocence.

"Typical PQ reaction...
When a newspaper exposes a scandal against the Quebec Liberal Party, they applaud wildly.
When the same newspaper denounces the mismanagement of the PQ or Bloc, they talk about propaganda, revenge, political operation, etc ...
And they believe themselves to be credible?"

So readers, I'm not so sure those defending Duceppe will be entirely successful.
The fact that he paid his chief of staff's girlfriend out of taxpayer money will be not be easily forgiven by the public.

Voters may be simple and not understand the intricacies over whether Duceppe did something wrong in using House of Commons money to pay the salaries of those involved in partisan politics, but providing someone a 'No-show job' is something even the uninitiated understand to be graft.

Look for the lovely Marie-France Charbonneau to  come under a fierce attack by journalists sensing a juicy scandal.
I look forward to hear her denials. I'm not sure that the Bloc, which has already cleaned house of all these Duceppe cronies is ready to defend her.
Who knows, she could be thrown under the bus. It could be interesting.

It also remains to be seen what the legal opinion ordered by Joe Comartin (Ndp), chair of the Parliamentary committee responsible for overseeing these expenditures, will reveal.
In a worst case scenario the Bloc would have to refund up to a million dollars to the government.
It's also been reported that other Bloc members are also being investigated for similar abuses.


Daniel Paillé, the current leader of the Bloc, refused comment, distancing himself from the story by saying that the affair predated his leadership.

We could be in for a scandal on a par with the Sponsorship affair that destroyed the Liberals.

And so the battle between Marois and Duceppe has exploded into open warfare, a drag'em out brawl that ended with a devastating second round knockout counterpunch by Marois. 

Yesterday Duceppe admitted defeat and announced that he was withdrawing from politics.

Well played  Madame Marois.  Game....Set......Match...  


For federalists, it's also Christmas in January! 

Keep on truckin', Pauline, the longer you remain at the helm, the happier we federalists remain!

Stay tuned....

***************UPDATE***************

In a television report, late last night,  Jean Lapierre (an Liberal ex-politician and star pundit) reported that every MP is furnished with a manual explaining the rules and that if they misspent money, they, not the party are personally responsible for reimbursement.
He also intimated that Duceppe is clearly guilty of violating the rules, which according to him, are pretty clear.

SWEET!

French versus English Volume 44

Official bilingualism costs $2.4 Billion a year: study
"The 10 provinces spend a total of $900-million annually on minority language services, with the bulk going toward French-language education outside Quebec and English-language education inside Quebec. Ontario spends the most, doling out $623-million — or $1,275 for each minority member. While Quebec ranks third in overall spending at $51-million annually, it spends the least per minority member — mostly anglophones — at just $85 a head."
By the way, the study was written by a University of Montreal professor, François Vaillancourt.    Link
Not surprising, French language militants have remained rather mute in reaction to the story.
Don Macpherson does a nice job destroying the hackneyed myth, repeated ad nauseum by French language militants, that Anglophones are the most pampered minority in the world.

Anglos in Quebec the ‘best-treated minority’? Think again"

Whenever we English-speaking Quebecers are so ungrateful as to complain about the anti-English policies of our provincial government, we’re told to shut up, because we’re “the best-treated minority in the world.”

Never mind that we’re being “treated” with our own money, since we shoulder our share of Quebec’s tax burden, among the heaviest in North America.

But by one important standard, a study published this week by the Fraser Institute suggests we’re not even treated the best among Canada’s official-language minorities.  

In fact, in terms of money spent by the provincial governments to provide additional public services in the minority languages – French in the other provinces and English here – we’re by far the worst-treated." Read the rest of the story in the Gazette    Alternate Link

Language Fail
You'd think newspapers would pride themselves on correct spelling, translation, syntax and otherwise all things grammatical.
After all, they're not lowly bloggers! n'est-ce pas??

But it cuts both ways, here an editorial cartoon in La Presse is trying to make the point that the Montreal Canadiens are going ENGLISH by displaying a workman in a cherry-picker changing the name of the arena from the 'Centre Bell'' to the 'Bell Center.' 
The joke falls flat when one realizes that when describing an arena in Canada, the word Centre is actually spelled the same way in both French and English, as in Toronto's Air Canada Centre, or the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.

Disastrous Unemployment spike bothers nobody
You'd think Quebec newspapers would be running front page banner headlines in relation to the catastrophic rise in the unemployment rate as Quebec has lost tens of thousand of jobs over the last six months.
But of course, Randy Cunneyworth's lack of French and a couple of unilingual bosses in high places is much, more important.

Check out this graph, which underscores the horrific result wherein the Quebec unemployment rate rose by a whopping 2%, while in the RoC the rate actually dropped marginally.
I guess the party is over, where Quebec was actually ahead of the country during the big bad days of the recession and has returned to its traditional position as chief basket case among Canada's big four provinces.
In a year of cross-Canada recovery, Quebec managed to lose over 51,000 jobs.
On Thursday Louis Harel finally woke up and complained about Air Canada shipping off 140 jobs to Toronto from Montreal. The story broke months ago and I wrote about it then, so I'm not sure why she's complaining now. 
With labor trouble at Rio Tinto and White Birch, plus research jobs disappearing, the ongoing disaster continues unabated.
The solution..... more money for the OQLF to harass businesses!

Anglos contribute to decline in English school enrollment

"It's parents like Stefan Gauthier who have been contributing to the diminishing enrollment in the English Montreal School Board.

Gauthier, an Anglophone, is legally allowed under Quebec's language law to send his daughter Emma to an English language public school but opted instead for French.

"For us it just seemed more natural to put the kids in French, at least to start, given that it's a bit of a tougher language," said Gauthier." Read the rest of the story

Boston Bruin fan mocks Montreal over language controversy.  from..25stanley.com
 

Huntington mayor remains defiant
"Even under the microscope of the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF), the Town of Huntington flatly refused to subject the municipal government to Bill 101, adopted in 1977 by the provincial government.
"We learned [Wednesday] that the OQLF launched an investigation following a complaint regarding the application of the Charter of the French language in our municipal affairs," said the mayor of Huntingdon, Stéphane Gendron, in a press release.
"I have already informed the francization officer of the OQLF by telephone, that Bill 101 - regarding municipal governance - had and would not apply in the territory of the City of Huntingdon, said the mayor. It is useless to squander public funds to enforce a law that does not work  for our administration. End of story. " Link{Fr}
 
He's quite a character, this Stéphane Gendron, remember, he's the guy who announced on his television show that Israel had no right to exist..

Ottawa cans language school teachers

"The federal government is getting out of the business of providing language training to its employees, throwing 190 teachers and instructors across Canada out of work.

The move - which started with downsizing in the 1990s, and intensified after a 2006 Treasury Board decision - marks the first time in decades that the government won't be directly offering French and English training to public servants to meet the language requirements of their jobs." Link

I SWEAR I'M NOT MAKING THIS UP!...
Interpreter, please s.v.p

The letter writer was upset about what he considered an intolerable situation in certain of Montreal's French schools which have a large body of immigrant students whose parents don't speak French, but some English.

He gave the example of the Filipino community whose members generally speak pretty good English along with their native Tagalog.

It seems that when these non-French speaking parents come in for the proverbial parent/teacher conferences, those teachers who are bilingual, (the majority) conduct the meeting with the parent in English.

This according to the letter writer is an outrage. No teacher in a French school should ever carry on a meeting in English.

His solution- an interpreter.

The school board should provide an interpreter who would  translate the parents English into French for the teacher and translate into English the teacher's French responses.  

This even if the teacher speaks fluent English. arggh!!!.... Link{Fr}

Students too dumb to learn English
When anyone starts a conversation with the proverbial "I'm not against this, but...." you can be darn sure that the opposite is true.
Forty Quebec City area teachers signed a letter to the Minister of Education, that started with that old bromide, "We're not against teaching English, but.." and then went on to explain why they think it's a bad idea to force grade six students into taking a semester completely in English.
For the teachers, the main problem is that three-quarters of the students are too dumb to handle it, as well as their parents who would be incapable of dealing the supervision of 'English' homework..... At least they're honest! Link

Every picture tells a story

Here is a wide shot of the anti-Cunneyworth demonstration at the Bell Centre, which ironically, I found it on a separatist website.
What's interesting, is that its possible to get a sense of how big the demonstration actually was, which was a lot smaller than reports would have us believe.
The picture confirms what I reported, that participants ranged between 90-150 people and in no way came close to the 500 people reported by some media outlets.

By the way, a shout-out to J.T Utah of 25Stanley.com for scooping everyone on a regular basis in relation to news about  the Montreal Canadiens and the NHL in general.
The website was the first to accurately report the amount of demonstrators at the above demonstration at 100, scooping everyone in the mainstream media!
The site was the only place that called out Cammalleri for his selfishness BEFORE he was traded.
Sports reporters are too gutless to report the truth about unrest on the teams they cover because they are in fact glorified jock-sniffers who's first order of business is to protect their job and retain access to the players and the dressing room.
Check out 25Stanley.com.

Mitt Romney mocked for speaking French
"Zut alors! Il parle francais! -Mitt Romney is being skewered in a new Gingrich attack ad for speaking French.According to the TV spot dubbed “The French Connection,” his bilingual ability puts him on par with the liberal flip-flopper who happens to share his home state: John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic candidate." Link

Short Stuff

Terry DiMonte is coming home
Four years in Calgary gave returning CHOM-FM morning man a new perspective on Montreal.

Montreal Gazette Alternate Link

Not enough students in French cegep
The west island of Montreal's only French language  cegep is in danger of closing because of a lack of students. The 1,100 student Gérald-Godin college is located in the predominantly English section of town. Link

Westmount honored by Parks Canada
"The federal government has named the city of Westmount, Que. one of Canada's "iconic neighborhoods" for its architecture.
The tiny enclave west of downtown Montreal is one of four places Parks Canada has added to the list of historically significant sites in Canada." Link

Hydro-Quebec to host  English-only conference in Montreal
Hydro-Quebec is coming under fire from the usual suspects for hosting an international scientific conference in Montreal that will be conducted exclusively in English.

For Louise Marchand of the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF), keeping French in the research world is a challenge. Even in France, the prestigious INRS has decided to publish its research papers in English only.

For the president of Impératif français, Jean-Paul Perreault, it is 'incredible' that a Quebec state company would host an English-only conference.

"It's a shame to see that this prejudice- English science, English as a world language - is multiplied to the detriment of other national languages ​​by organizations and individuals who should, with pride, say that on our territory, our language must prevail, " Link{Fr}

NDP's Mulcair will keep French citizenship

"NDP leadership hopeful Thomas Mulcair holds dual Canadian and French citizenship and vows to keep both even if he should one day become Canada's prime minister." Link

Your editor' humble opinion;
Mulcair is toast......The Ndp membership outside Quebec is already fearful of a party takeover by Quebec separatists and any illusions about Mulciar's loyalties, vis-a-vis Canada versus Quebec were shattered by the discovery that he's also a closet French citizen.

So Uncle Tom, ...turn out the lights and don't let the door hit you on your way out!

This landed in my email from a reader. Enjoy, but you need French....

 



Finally.....some semi-original artwork.