Whenever I scan the pages of vigile.net, Parti Quebecois or other sovereigntist websites, all chock full of posts prescribing the various strategies that will ostensibly lead to sovereignty, I breathe a little sigh of relief at the utter misguided nonsense of it all.
Sovereigntists just don't get.
Like a general preparing for the next war by reliving the last war, sovereigntist leaders believe that if they just tug hard enough on the emotional heart strings of Quebec francophones, as in the 1995 referendum, they will ultimately win enough votes to put them over the top next time.
And just as Dr. Phil asks the losers on his talk show sarcastically, "How's that working for you?," the answer for sovereigntists, is not so well.
For the last seventeen years, leaders of the independence movement have been begging, pleading, threatening and frightening Quebec francophones, in the vain belief that they can recapture the spark of that almost victorious referendum.
The latest variation in this campaign of emotional manipulation is meant to frighten and guilt enough of those very stubborn francophones who are likely to vote NON in a referendum, into changing their minds with exaggerated and alarmist horror stories of language and cultural decline.
The gambit is of course doomed to failure, those who are frightened of English or who harbor disdain for Canada are already on board.
Those who need convincing, aren't afraid of Anglophones or bilingualism and are pretty much immune to these scare tactics.
And so, despite Herculean efforts, the sovereignty movement continues to stagnate and nobody but nobody in the movement can offer a viable plan to get the numbers up.
Frustratingly for sovereigntists, support numbers remain high, but not high enough and if there is anything that the1995 referendum taught us, is that a miss is as good as a mile.
As long as the sovereigntist movement continues to use language and culture as their keystone issue, they are doomed to failure.
Like giving mouth to mouth resuscitation to a corpse, no matter how hard they blow, they aren't going to get any results, yet the movement continues to press on with the same tired theme which reminds me of Albert Einstein's definition of insanity as "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"
Until sovereigntists address the elephant in the room, the one issue that keeps many, many Quebecers from voting 'OUI,' they will continue to remain in no-man's land.
That issue, the one which hangs over the independence movement like a dark shadow, is of course, the economic and financial dependence of Quebec on Canada.
To put it quite simply, many voters will never vote YES because they believe (quite rightly) that a better financial deal lies in remaining within a united Canada.
These are the voters who are the pragmatists and the realists.
They are people who under the right circumstances might vote for independence, but realize that right now, they cannot afford it economically.
They are no different from the woman looking at $1,500 shoes in the window of an expensive store or the man dreaming of himself behind the wheel of a Ferrari, only to have their good sense bring them back down to Earth as they realize that they just don't have the wherewithal to pay for it.
It is not dissimilar to the teenager who wants to move out of her parents house, but is unable to do so because she doesn't have the money, nor the prospects to support herself independently.
In the end, sovereignty will turn on the economic realities of independence, not the emotion of language.
If by chance, during the years since the last referendum, Quebec enjoyed an economic boom similar to that of Alberta, is there is any doubt that a referendum held today would be successful?
Can any reasonable observer contemplate a situation where a wealthy Quebec would remain a willing partner in a Canada where each year, the province would be required to over-contribute billions and billions of dollars of its hard earned cash to the federal coffers, in order to help out the 'poorer' Anglo provinces?
Let's be realistic, "c'est la vrai nature de Bernadette" or as we say in English "the nature of the beast' that precludes this scenario.
"It's the economy, stupid" was a slogan first used during the successful presidential campaign of Bill Clinton, running against George Bush in 1992. I cannot think of a more appropriate phrase to describe the key element in the sovereignty campaign's prospects of success or failure.
So why don't the leaders of the sovereignty movement understand that economic prosperity, not language is the key to independence?
Firstly, the leadership is made up of politicians, unionists, teachers, journalists and artists, people who never have and never will make the connection with wealth creation and success.
Secondly, it is a tough road to hoe and harder to sell.
Making wealth creation a priority means an about face in the entrenched political philosophy of the sacrosanct nanny state.
It means that people will have to work harder and accept less and more importantly it means accepting, that similar to Alberta, natural resources need to be exploited despite the environmental and social objections.
Every time I see Pauline Marois and her cohorts cry out for free university tuition or other entitlements, I realize that the sovereignty option is fading fast as a viable option.
Each time the separatists march against the Plan Nord or the exploitation of shale gas, it represents another nail in the sovereignty coffin.
The poorer Quebec gets, the more firmly attached it becomes to Canada and as long as sovereigntists concentrate on Bill 101 instead of Economics 101, they are writing their swan song.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
French versus English Volume 53
Hugo Shebbeare intimidated by language fanatics
Hugo has started a Facebook group to counter this movement and within four days has about 500 members.
Rich Asian immigrants spurn Quebec
"Nine out of 10 wealthy immigrants accepted into Quebec’s investor
immigrant program never come to Quebec, federal immigration minister
Jason Kenney said Friday.
“I do think it is peculiar that the
province that was given power to select immigrants primarily to
reinforce the French fact in Quebec is in fact flipping Asian people
into Vancouver,” Kenney said during a meeting with The Gazette editorial
board.
“In principle, the Quebec immigration program should be about immigration to Quebec.”
Kenney defended the investor program, which was the means by which Mohammed Shafia brought his family to Quebec." Read the rest of the storyDVD movies don't conform to OQLF rules
The trouble is that video clubs are getting into trouble because in some cases, the outer packaging is in English and distributors are not keen to change the artwork to satisfy such a small market.
This has the OQLF up in arms and they are actually threatening the video clubs themselves with fines.
The owners of the video clubs are powerless to change the packaging as this would probably violate copyright as well as being prohibitively expensive.
Hilariously, if the DVD included every language BUT FRENCH, an English only package would be legal!
Go figger. Link{Fr}
Ignatieff stabs Liberal party in the back
 |
| CLICK HERE to watch the interview |
Ignatieff,
an author and academic who left the Liberal leadership post after his
party was drubbed in the 2011 election, made the comments in an
interview being broadcast Monday” Read more of the story here
I don't know what to Make of Ignatieff's musing on the BBC, asserting that Quebec's independence is inevitable.
His opinion is just that of one man, but significant because it confirms what most Canadian voters suspected, that he was untrustworthy when he led the Liberal party.
After all, running for Prime Minister of Canada without disclosing the fact that you believe Quebec separation is inevitable is surly a deal-breaker as far as the voters are concerned.
His statement leaves the Liberal party with a lot of egg on their face, the disclosure couldn't have come at a worse time.
While the Ignatieff comment, (notwithstanding his latter efforts to stand down from his assertion) provides the separatists in Quebec a passing moment of ironic satisfaction, they won't get much traction from the whole affair.
Not so for the Liberals. How many voters who put an X beside a Liberal candidate's name, now find themselves horrified at the betrayal, knowing that they voted for a leader who harbored secret and incompatible views with the Liberal party itself and those of its supporters.
That is why Bob Rae and the rest of the Libs are doing cartwheels to disassociate the party from the remarks.
That is why Bob Rae and the rest of the Libs are doing cartwheels to disassociate the party from the remarks.
But the cat is out of the bag and the damage done.
Certain things just can't be repaired.
Opinion poll shows Quebecers mistrust
A poll taken by Le Journal de Montreal had some pretty sombre findings;Do you believe that there are problems with corruption in the following;
94% YES -Firms working in the construction industry.
87% YES -Municipal mayors.
85% YES -Quebec Liberal Party.
76% YES -Engineering Firms
76% YES - Government employees
65% YES -Parti Quebecois
36% YES -Coaliton Avenir Quebec
Do you believe that corruption can be eliminated in Quebec politics?
36% YES
55% NO
Do you believe that the Charbonneau commission, the police or UPAC can get to the bottom of corruption?
33% YES
45% NO
Do you believe that corruption is limited to a few politicians and entrepreneurs or is it widespread??
85% WIDESPREAD
Do you believe that corruption is limited to a few politicians and entrepreneurs or is it widespread??
85% WIDESPREAD
10% LIMITED
Do you believe that members of Parliament are corrupt?
33% HONEST
Do you believe that members of Parliament are corrupt?
33% HONEST
55% CORRUPT
Hate crime? What hate crime?
"T
he Sûreté du Québec says it’s still too early to call recent attacks
on Jewish-owned summer homes in the Laurentians hate-motivated crimes,
although B’nai Brith is urging the force to do so.
“What we saw
says it could be hate-related,” said SQ Sgt. Benoît Richard. “But is it
just kids being kids or is it hate-related?”
Police are
investigating 14 break-ins that occurred April 12 and 15, two of which
involved defacing the Val Morin buildings with swastikas and other
anti-Semitic graffiti." Read the rest of th estory
Hmmm. "Kids being kids....."
Here's some news for Sgt Benoit.
The culprit is a local who is the same person who tagged other houses with swastikas last year.
How do I know???
Well the swatiskas are drawn backwards, exactly as was the case last year, making it likely that the perpetrator was the same and that he is a local. As a repeat offender, probably not a "kid being a kid," either.
Sovereignty gang off to inauspicious start
“Marois has assembled a new committee on sovereignty – a committee made up entirely of white francophones and mostly men. Of the 12 politicians, union leaders, intellectuals, artists and actors in the group, only three (including Marois) are women.
If the Parti
Québécois’s dream of a future independent Quebec looks anything like
this committee, it may be in for a shock when it wakes up to reality.
According
to committee member Daniel Paillé, leader of the Bloc Québécois, the
group’s job is to “convince a majority of Quebecers of the soundness of
sovereignty.” Given this mandate, I think it is fair to shine a
spotlight on who has been chosen to represent and define the parameters
of the PQ’s “national project.” It is also important to highlight who is
absent from the table.” Link (thanks for Frank for the Link)"Will the Estates General on Quebec sovereignty fall flat? Monday, during the presentation of the document that will serve this summer as a basis for public meetings, only two media showed up. Last fall , however, the media extensively covered the debates surrounding the establishment of these Estates-General, in a context where the sovereignty movement was actually in danger of imploding. Today, internal dissent within the Parti Quebecois seems to be silenced and the urgency for action seems lower. Link{Fr}
Gilles Proulx's Freudian slip
Montreal sandwich named in top 12
No it isn't Schwartz's famous smoke meat sandwich, it the everlasting "Wilensky Special' that was named by Travel+Leisure magazine among the world's top twelve sandwiches.
“This tastes like the history of Montreal, especially the Mile End
neighborhood. That yellow bread with grilled salami and bologna, served
with Swiss or cheddar—and always with mustard—is just delicious.” —David McMillan, chef at Joe Beef
The sandwich and the restaurant "Wilensky's Light Lunch' are part of Montreal's colourful culinary history.
It's a decadent greasy delight, that once you bite into, you instantly know you shouldn't be eating it.
Don't plan a special visit around it, but if your in the area, give a shot.
It's a decadent greasy delight, that once you bite into, you instantly know you shouldn't be eating it.
Don't plan a special visit around it, but if your in the area, give a shot.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
The True Effect Of Language Intolerance
I'll let you in on a little secret, my shopping street of choice is a stretch of Somerled Avenue (a good Scottish name) in the NDG (Notre Dame de Grace) district of Montreal.
This isn't the more affluent yuppified neighborhood of NDG bordering Monkland Ave, it's more of a transition area that leads to the decidedly working class area around Cavendish/Benny Farm.
For the benefit of those unfamiliar with the area, it is home to a chunk of Montreal's Anglo black community, most hailing from the Caribbean islands, as well as other anglos and francophones members of the lower middle and working class. It still remains about ⅔ anglophone, the community's history reflected in the name of the streets and schools.
I shop there because there's a bunch of small merchants that I love to encourage, patronizing locals is something that I take as a personal source of pride.
My greengrocer of choice is run by a lovely extended Tamil family, who various members toil seven days a week from early morning to God knows how late. The sisters man the cash, the husbands do the heavy lifting and on the weekend, the ladies are given off to attend to family matters, while the men take over.
They speak perfect English which they learned in school back in Sri Lanka and yes, they have started to master French quite well.
They always advise me on the ripeness of cantaloupes and are never wrong. I would never shop elsewhere.
Lately I've noticed a 'Canadianized' teenager who is starting to help out as well. He goes to French school as per Bill 101, but somehow speaks perfect English. No doubt a Dawson and McGill candidate in a couple of years!
There's a bilingual poster on the glass door advising customers about something or other concerning the NDG food co-op. I hope the OQLF and their minions of frustrated retards don't complain.
Across the street there is a government SAQ (liquor monopoly), which believe it or not, offers English speakers a first rate service.
A mixture of bilingual anglophone and francophones work there and none of them are hung up on language, speaking to the clients in the language of choice, where the familiar Montreal greeting of Bonjour/Hi still reigns supreme.
Documents and literature are all available in English and the translations are excellent, done by native English speakers, you can tell.
Hats off to the SAQ, the most English friendly service of the government.
Weather permitting, on the terrace of the bar across the street, gruffy patrons lounge over a beer or sometimes, but rarely, a glass of wine. They discuss the affairs of the day bilingually and rage against each other in the language of Shakespeare and Moliere.
Back across the street is a little grocery store run by Russians which features eastern European specialties.
I particularly enjoy selecting from the ten or twelve varieties of frozen perogies which I pick up from time to time.
The clerks speak wonderful English and French, all with an adoring thick Russian accent. I always say "Zarosevo d-nja!"(Have a nice day!) before I leave.
Sadly, the M&Ms franchise just next door is closed, the family which bought the franchise likely losing their life savings on a failed Canadian dream.
Let's face it, this isn't the district for fancy frozen expensive food and the company should have known it. It falls on the small investor, essentially buying a job, to take the fall for a marketing error.
Life is unforgiving in the retail marketplace and everyone's business on the street here is tenuous.
A couple of bad weeks and.....well.
Alas a Subway franchise has taken over and I hope the owner ekes out a living. So far it doesn't look too busy.
Down the street is a pizza joint that is busy. It serves cheap food, two slices for the price of one. I don't know if the owner is English, French or Greek, he toils in the back whipping out the pies while a young bilingual counter clerk serves out the plates.
It's a favorite of the area's young Anglophone black community and working class families.
Across the street from the pizza store is a Chinese food counter where you can order takeout. I haven't bought anything there in years, but back then, the Chinese cook (a one-man-show) didn't speak much English or French. You pointed out the dishes you wanted on the menu, which he cooked up right in front of you.
One thing I can say, even those who don't speak English or French understand the universal language of money and all can ring up a register and give proper change!
Here in this part of NDG, people are not wealthy, but rich in culture.
They don't care or think much about language, because almost all are bilingual.The immigrants are learning English and French, on the job. Some have more difficulty than others, but it doesn't matter when clients and neighbors are of good will.
The last time I was in the SAQ a francophone patron helped out an elderly English couple, by carrying out a heavy box of booze to the car. On this street, people are down to Earth and generally kind and cooperative.
It's the kind of district where you can overhear that quintessential Montreal conversation, the one where one half of the conversation is in French and the other in English. Alternately, there's the conversation where the speaker actually switches mid-sentence between languages.
And of course, many of us have had the experience of addressing someone in French and receiving a reply in French, only to realize that both are English!
This happens to me in the Rona Hardware on St. Jacques all the time!
Ah NDG!
It's a down to Earth part of town where people don't get hung up over language and transact with each other ignoring the differences,
When your store of choice is Dollarama (just down the street), you're not going to bitch about a clerk who has a bit of trouble with your language.
You're also not apt to complain about someone serving you who is wearing a Hijab, Turban, Sari or someone who sports a distracting piercing.
It's cruelly ignoble to complain about someone who is grinding it out for minimum wage, just trying to bring in a few bucks to help make ends meet..
This is NDG.....the impossible dream.
If you choose to live here it is because you are a 'live and let live' sort of person. You enjoy diversity and take pride in your bilingualism.
Why am I telling you this story of a nice street with nice merchants and similarly nice customers?
Because this is the street that the two punks from the SSJB decided to terrorize.
One of the merchants they decided to 'teach a lesson', is another fruit and vegetable store, all for the unpardonable sin of posting a copy of an English newspaper advertisement which the store had run, heralding the specials of the week.
Here is a picture of the sign over the grocery store that got the young SSJB rat boys so worked up.
I don't know what upset them so much, there's actually a descriptor in front of the name of the store, just like the liars at the OQLF pretend that is required.
Oh oh! There it is !
Now I see the problem, do you?
As people try to scratch out an honest living, many working twelve and fourteen hour days, the intrusion by language rats is just another reason in the long list of the many hardships faced and why 25% of immigrants leave Quebec shortly after arriving here.
Quebec nationalists and those critical of this blog continue to peddle the fantasy that Quebec is open and welcoming to immigrants as long as they speak French.
The language issue is just the most visible aspect of the ethnocentrism that is the fabric of Quebec society which is bolstered by the constant bashing of the English language and the religious customs, dress and culture of immigrants.
The constant reminder of the Us/Them syndrome has left Quebec a polarized and unforgiving society.
Just this week the Montreal police were again sanctioned for racial profiling and ordered to pay an Arab businessman $18,000 for harassment. You'd think this stuff was something from the 1950's, but it's par for the course as police continue their war on minorities. Read how the city of Montreal 'handles' these cases. Link
What French language bashers fail to understand or care, is that there is someone on the receiving end of their vitriol. Someone who honestly means no harm and is just trying to make a living.
Here on Somerled Avenue, it isn't corporate Quebec/Canada that is being attacked, rather vulnerable micro businesses that are the soft and easy target that language militants like to attack.
An immigrant breaking the language laws represents the perfect villain for Benoît Dutrizac and company.
Like a hunt on the Serengeti, the language militants adhere to the policy of going after the weakest of the herd.
It is nothing short of sickening.
I'll say it again, when that young Black SSJB volunteer who terrorized the neighborhood grows up and realizes that even with his French, he is a second class citizen, it will be a rude and sad awakening.
This isn't the more affluent yuppified neighborhood of NDG bordering Monkland Ave, it's more of a transition area that leads to the decidedly working class area around Cavendish/Benny Farm.
For the benefit of those unfamiliar with the area, it is home to a chunk of Montreal's Anglo black community, most hailing from the Caribbean islands, as well as other anglos and francophones members of the lower middle and working class. It still remains about ⅔ anglophone, the community's history reflected in the name of the streets and schools.
I shop there because there's a bunch of small merchants that I love to encourage, patronizing locals is something that I take as a personal source of pride.
 |
| Seen on Somerled- My all-time favorite sign! |
They speak perfect English which they learned in school back in Sri Lanka and yes, they have started to master French quite well.
They always advise me on the ripeness of cantaloupes and are never wrong. I would never shop elsewhere.
Lately I've noticed a 'Canadianized' teenager who is starting to help out as well. He goes to French school as per Bill 101, but somehow speaks perfect English. No doubt a Dawson and McGill candidate in a couple of years!
There's a bilingual poster on the glass door advising customers about something or other concerning the NDG food co-op. I hope the OQLF and their minions of frustrated retards don't complain.
Across the street there is a government SAQ (liquor monopoly), which believe it or not, offers English speakers a first rate service.
A mixture of bilingual anglophone and francophones work there and none of them are hung up on language, speaking to the clients in the language of choice, where the familiar Montreal greeting of Bonjour/Hi still reigns supreme.
Documents and literature are all available in English and the translations are excellent, done by native English speakers, you can tell.
Hats off to the SAQ, the most English friendly service of the government.
Weather permitting, on the terrace of the bar across the street, gruffy patrons lounge over a beer or sometimes, but rarely, a glass of wine. They discuss the affairs of the day bilingually and rage against each other in the language of Shakespeare and Moliere.
Back across the street is a little grocery store run by Russians which features eastern European specialties.
I particularly enjoy selecting from the ten or twelve varieties of frozen perogies which I pick up from time to time.
The clerks speak wonderful English and French, all with an adoring thick Russian accent. I always say "Zarosevo d-nja!"(Have a nice day!) before I leave.
Sadly, the M&Ms franchise just next door is closed, the family which bought the franchise likely losing their life savings on a failed Canadian dream.
Let's face it, this isn't the district for fancy frozen expensive food and the company should have known it. It falls on the small investor, essentially buying a job, to take the fall for a marketing error.
Life is unforgiving in the retail marketplace and everyone's business on the street here is tenuous.
A couple of bad weeks and.....well.
Alas a Subway franchise has taken over and I hope the owner ekes out a living. So far it doesn't look too busy.
Down the street is a pizza joint that is busy. It serves cheap food, two slices for the price of one. I don't know if the owner is English, French or Greek, he toils in the back whipping out the pies while a young bilingual counter clerk serves out the plates.
It's a favorite of the area's young Anglophone black community and working class families.
Across the street from the pizza store is a Chinese food counter where you can order takeout. I haven't bought anything there in years, but back then, the Chinese cook (a one-man-show) didn't speak much English or French. You pointed out the dishes you wanted on the menu, which he cooked up right in front of you.
One thing I can say, even those who don't speak English or French understand the universal language of money and all can ring up a register and give proper change!
Here in this part of NDG, people are not wealthy, but rich in culture.
They don't care or think much about language, because almost all are bilingual.The immigrants are learning English and French, on the job. Some have more difficulty than others, but it doesn't matter when clients and neighbors are of good will.
The last time I was in the SAQ a francophone patron helped out an elderly English couple, by carrying out a heavy box of booze to the car. On this street, people are down to Earth and generally kind and cooperative.
It's the kind of district where you can overhear that quintessential Montreal conversation, the one where one half of the conversation is in French and the other in English. Alternately, there's the conversation where the speaker actually switches mid-sentence between languages.
And of course, many of us have had the experience of addressing someone in French and receiving a reply in French, only to realize that both are English!
This happens to me in the Rona Hardware on St. Jacques all the time!
Ah NDG!
It's a down to Earth part of town where people don't get hung up over language and transact with each other ignoring the differences,
When your store of choice is Dollarama (just down the street), you're not going to bitch about a clerk who has a bit of trouble with your language.
You're also not apt to complain about someone serving you who is wearing a Hijab, Turban, Sari or someone who sports a distracting piercing.
It's cruelly ignoble to complain about someone who is grinding it out for minimum wage, just trying to bring in a few bucks to help make ends meet..
This is NDG.....the impossible dream.
If you choose to live here it is because you are a 'live and let live' sort of person. You enjoy diversity and take pride in your bilingualism.
Why am I telling you this story of a nice street with nice merchants and similarly nice customers?
Because this is the street that the two punks from the SSJB decided to terrorize.
One of the merchants they decided to 'teach a lesson', is another fruit and vegetable store, all for the unpardonable sin of posting a copy of an English newspaper advertisement which the store had run, heralding the specials of the week.
Here is a picture of the sign over the grocery store that got the young SSJB rat boys so worked up.
I don't know what upset them so much, there's actually a descriptor in front of the name of the store, just like the liars at the OQLF pretend that is required.
Oh oh! There it is !
Now I see the problem, do you?
As people try to scratch out an honest living, many working twelve and fourteen hour days, the intrusion by language rats is just another reason in the long list of the many hardships faced and why 25% of immigrants leave Quebec shortly after arriving here.
Quebec nationalists and those critical of this blog continue to peddle the fantasy that Quebec is open and welcoming to immigrants as long as they speak French.
The language issue is just the most visible aspect of the ethnocentrism that is the fabric of Quebec society which is bolstered by the constant bashing of the English language and the religious customs, dress and culture of immigrants.
The constant reminder of the Us/Them syndrome has left Quebec a polarized and unforgiving society.
Just this week the Montreal police were again sanctioned for racial profiling and ordered to pay an Arab businessman $18,000 for harassment. You'd think this stuff was something from the 1950's, but it's par for the course as police continue their war on minorities. Read how the city of Montreal 'handles' these cases. Link
What French language bashers fail to understand or care, is that there is someone on the receiving end of their vitriol. Someone who honestly means no harm and is just trying to make a living.
Here on Somerled Avenue, it isn't corporate Quebec/Canada that is being attacked, rather vulnerable micro businesses that are the soft and easy target that language militants like to attack.
An immigrant breaking the language laws represents the perfect villain for Benoît Dutrizac and company.
Like a hunt on the Serengeti, the language militants adhere to the policy of going after the weakest of the herd.
It is nothing short of sickening.
I'll say it again, when that young Black SSJB volunteer who terrorized the neighborhood grows up and realizes that even with his French, he is a second class citizen, it will be a rude and sad awakening.
**************************
Readers, in order to encourage commenters to adopt screen names, I'll be putting up this announcement periodically;
Monday, April 23, 2012
Anglo-Bashing Hits New Heights of Absurdity
All over the television and across newspapers were alarmist stories about an English invasion, so shrill and panicky were the reports that they took on the proportions of the reaction to Orson Well's radio broadcast of the "War of the Worlds"
It seems every French newspaper and every television news channel was filled with frightening stories of Anglos invading Quebec like an alien life force determined to suck out the lifeblood of the indigenous population.
The Journal de Montreal devoted a quarter of a page to denounce a French hospital for having the audacity to use a linen basket that was labelled in English only.
So deep was the insult that the paper elicited a reaction from Jean-Paul Perreault, the president of the militant Imperatif Francais, who said that "It's unpardonable! With the tax money we pay our suppliers, they mock us!"
A slight sur-reaction, one would think?
Then there's the story of a Young Turk who went on the radio to rant and rage that an usher asked him to remove his feet from the chair in front of him, in English, notwithstanding that he was in an English language theatre, attending an English movie.
His complaint--He couldn't understand what the usher said in English and so demanded to be served in French.
Anybody see the flaw in this unlikely story?
A report on TVA's curent affairs show J.E, has a story about an ederly patient suffering from Alzheimer's, placed temporarily in an English seniors residence, unable to get service in French.
In Sept-Iles a gateway town to Quebec's northern mining region, it seems there's nobody to take service jobs, because the mining industry is paying so much. There is actually a critical labor shortage here, despite the province's 9% unemployment rate.
The Journal de Montreal devoted a quarter of a page to denounce a French hospital for having the audacity to use a linen basket that was labelled in English only.
So deep was the insult that the paper elicited a reaction from Jean-Paul Perreault, the president of the militant Imperatif Francais, who said that "It's unpardonable! With the tax money we pay our suppliers, they mock us!"
A slight sur-reaction, one would think?
Then there's the story of a Young Turk who went on the radio to rant and rage that an usher asked him to remove his feet from the chair in front of him, in English, notwithstanding that he was in an English language theatre, attending an English movie.
His complaint--He couldn't understand what the usher said in English and so demanded to be served in French.
Anybody see the flaw in this unlikely story?
A report on TVA's curent affairs show J.E, has a story about an ederly patient suffering from Alzheimer's, placed temporarily in an English seniors residence, unable to get service in French.
In Sept-Iles a gateway town to Quebec's northern mining region, it seems there's nobody to take service jobs, because the mining industry is paying so much. There is actually a critical labor shortage here, despite the province's 9% unemployment rate.
"In Sept-Îles on Quebec's North Shore, McDonald's customers are struggling to get service in French. The reason: the restaurant is so short of staff it had to hire immigrants from the Philippines.
The shortage of employees is explained by economic growth of the region and the fact that the locals prefer to work in the mining sector which offers higher hourly rates. To counter this problem, the restaurant was able to get employees in the Philippines through a program of international recruitment.
The contract stipulates that the employee is hired for two years, his ticket is paid, he/she is housed, and that the hourly rate ranges from $ 9.60 to $12 per hour, and the first grocery store order is paid for.
The Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste as well as many clients find this unacceptable.
"I know they take courses in French, except that she was not able to speak French. A youth who is not able to speak French should not be hired, said Manon, a client.It's been 42 years since I live here and there is no question that I won't return to a restaurant where I can not get served in my language. "Mario Beaulieu, president of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montreal this is a very disappointing situation.
"It's disrespectful for Quebecers. I think knowledge of French would be an essential criterion to be engaged. French is seriously threatened right now, especially in Montreal, but it extends throughout all regions. " Link{Fr}
And so outraged clients are fuming that they cannot purchase their 'Beeg Macs' in French.
It's a big problem because, let's face it, there aren't many fast food alternatives in Sept-Iles and 95% of the clients actually don't have enough English to order a glass of water. I'm not kidding.
French language militants from the south were lining up to remind the northerners that now they too finally have a taste of what it is to live under the relentless wave of Anglicization.
But wait.....
Montreal has a large surplus of immigrants who speak French, but supposedly cannot find a job because they speak no English....
Sept-Iles has decent jobs going a begging, where the only skill requirement is speaking French.
Readers, can you think of a solution? Think hard... Tick-Tock ......Tick-Tock.......Tick-Tock.......
I know, here's the perfect Quebec style solution!
Import English only immigrants from the Philippines and send them to Sept-Iles where they will be given French courses.
Give the French speaking immigrants in Montreal English lessons so that they can join the local job market.
No joke....this is Quebec. And who is to blame for all this...
The Anglos who are forcing English down everyone's throat........ Sigh..
At any rate can I offer this much easier solution;
Send the unemployed French-speaking immigrants from Montreal to fill the jobs in Sept-Iles......or this nifty Chinese solution;
If nothing is done to thwart the insidious spread of English it soon may come down to this;
All this hysteria is having a very sad impact on the general francophone public, teaching them through a relentless campaign of hate that English is an evil enemy which will engulf them if not checked.
It's a big problem because, let's face it, there aren't many fast food alternatives in Sept-Iles and 95% of the clients actually don't have enough English to order a glass of water. I'm not kidding.
French language militants from the south were lining up to remind the northerners that now they too finally have a taste of what it is to live under the relentless wave of Anglicization.
But wait.....
"Francophone immigrants are at an impasse as soon as they start looking for a job in Montreal: no English, no job. They understand that they must quickly learn the language which, in their eyes allow them to earn a living in Quebec.Let's see......
That's where Quebec comes to the rescue, devoting millions of dollars of public funds to teaching francophone immigrants English, according to research by The Associated Press.. Link{Fr}
Montreal has a large surplus of immigrants who speak French, but supposedly cannot find a job because they speak no English....
Sept-Iles has decent jobs going a begging, where the only skill requirement is speaking French.
Readers, can you think of a solution? Think hard... Tick-Tock ......Tick-Tock.......Tick-Tock.......
I know, here's the perfect Quebec style solution!
Import English only immigrants from the Philippines and send them to Sept-Iles where they will be given French courses.
Give the French speaking immigrants in Montreal English lessons so that they can join the local job market.
No joke....this is Quebec. And who is to blame for all this...
The Anglos who are forcing English down everyone's throat........ Sigh..
At any rate can I offer this much easier solution;
Send the unemployed French-speaking immigrants from Montreal to fill the jobs in Sept-Iles......or this nifty Chinese solution;
If nothing is done to thwart the insidious spread of English it soon may come down to this;
All this hysteria is having a very sad impact on the general francophone public, teaching them through a relentless campaign of hate that English is an evil enemy which will engulf them if not checked.
In the meantime, Quebec's immigration minister, Kathleen Weil, is preaching tolerance towards minorities, or so it seems;
"Quebec’s immigration minister, and herself the daughter of a doctor who immigrated to Montreal from the United States, has had enough of constant suggestions by Yves-François Blanchet, the Parti Québécois language and immigration critic, that newcomers embracing English threaten Quebec’s French character.“I find it really destructive to constantly target the other, the person that has come here,” LinkBut the minister is getting set to to release a new declaration;
- Promote French as the common language and an instrument of social cohesion.
- Pay constant attention to the quality of the French language.
- Reinforce the use of French as the language of the public administration, work, greetings and service, signs, shopping, business and education.
- Reinforce the knowledge and mastery of French by immigrants and communicate with them in French to favour their integration into Quebec society.
- Facilitate the full participation, by all, in French in the democratic, economic, social and cultural life of Quebec.
- Consolidate the identity of Montreal as a francophone metropolis, cosmopolitan, diversified and inclusive.
- Ensure respect for the Charter of the French Language.
- Build together our future in French. LINK
But not every francophone is drinking the kool-aid.
Read this beautiful piece about being a modern, confident and successful francophone, living in Montreal, by Lise Ravary.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Are Anglos Ready to Push Back?
They say that every man has a breaking point and I'm wondering if Anglos in Quebec are getting ready to push back against the rising tide of intolerance.
The naked ethnocentric attack on Anglos in L'acualite magizine has anglos finally asking themselves if there is anything they can do, short of suicide, that would satisfy the language racists who are now demanding that not only must we speak French, but embrace and promote French culture as well.
For the very first time, the Montreal Gazette is publishing articles that would have been considered heretical and dangerous, a short while ago.
Don McPherson's Op-Ed piece was so defiant, you'd think his piece was a product of this blog, instead of the Montreal Gazette, better known for appeasement than defiance.
Language paranoia is setting new heights, with the latest action, a Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste attack on stores displaying the tiniest of hand-painted English signs.
TVA proudly dubbed the operation " Chasse aux commerces déliquants" (Hunting down delinquent businesses")
Two young language punks set upon a bunch of small businesses in the very English and ethnic neighborhoods of NDG and Cote-de-Neiges in Montreal, scaring one fruit store into taking down a copy of an advertisement from a local English newspaper that it had placed in its windows.
And so the latest proud gambit of these intolerants, is the terrorizing ofsmall micro businesses that cater to an English or ethnic clientele, run by first generation immigrants who are trying to make a living cutting hair, selling fruits and vegetables or small electronics.
All of these merchants have a couple of things in common, most importantly...working, instead of being on the dole.
Many of theses immigrants, come from countries where repression was real and danger a way of life.
Being cornered and denounced by a couple of punks may not be a big deal to you or me, but to them it is a frightening affair.
I was sad to see that one of the vigilantes was a young Black man, who somehow felt it necessary to roam the neighborhood of Cote-de-Neiges, (where many Blacks live) not unlike a Kapo, denouncing stores owned by fellow Blacks.
Such is the brainwashing that youngsters receive in school where ethnics can actually be fooled into believing that they are considered equals by ethnocentrics.
Perhaps when Master Virtue applies for his first job in Herouxville, he'll find out exactly what ethnocentrism means.
And before I get a slew of comments telling me how open and embracing Quebec society is towards ethnics, especially Blacks, read about another case of police brutality against a Black couple for the crime of 'driving while Black.'
All these stories have a common thread, Black people stopped in the street or in their car on the flimsiest excuse. When they object and refuse to cooperate, they are hammered with thousands of dollars in fines. For every case like the one here, there must be twenty that go unreported.
Please read the story and watch the video report, it is a must. HERE
Now if Master Virtue thinks that his biggest problem in life is the fact that there are English signs up in Anglo neighborhoods, he should read this.
It's a story about how Blacks and minorities are treated in the Montreal offices of the Public Service.
I hope young Master Virtue learns the facts of life sooner than later.
At any rate, a while back, sovereigntists rightfully mocked the meager turnout at Hugo Shebbeare's anti-Bill 101 rally.
Truthfully it wasn't much of a success, other than the fact of the wildly out of proportion reaction by militant sovereigntists.
It was a good effort on Hugo's behalf, but truthfully Anglos are too comfortable in their ghetto to care.
We have our own hospitals, our own schools, our own television and media, our own cities run by Anglos in English and most of these assets are as good or better than what is on the other side.
Until now, we've been too comfortable to rock the boat.
I think Hugo was a bit ahead of the times, that's all. There is a shifting of the sands.
Once again, I watched that great rant by a fictional newsman Howard Beal, fed up with life in that great movie, 'Network.' I posted the video last Sunday. Watch it here
In the video, the newscaster rants that the world is going crazy, but as long as it stays out of his own living room, he'd be fine.
But when the craziness of the world enters his living room, he rants that it's time to get 'Mad as Hell"
Are Anglos finally realizing that the racist language rhetoric that has always been part of the militant French first movement is now entering their living room and that there is no use cooperating?
Readers, I want to be clear.
I have no problem with measures protecting French and promoting its use.
But nobody has ever made a cogent argument that has convinced me that an English sign in a predominantly English neighborhood is a threat.
Nobody has ever convinced me that the English minority of Quebec, celebrating their language and culture is a threat as well.
Those who wish to wipe out English in the public domain are ethnocentrics, nothing less than racist haters who should be denounced.
When language cops start making the rounds with a ticket book in hand, I think that there'll be a reaction..
Woe is to the language inspector who wanders into an Anglo enclave unescorted by the police. I'm not calling for violence, but readers should be reminded of the 'Shawville' experience;
I think that French language militants are pushing for this. Confrontation with 'les maudits anglais' is what they want.
Their plan is to prod and poke anglos until there is a violent reaction.
I think they are going to get it.
When a full scale language war breaks out, they believe it will pave the way for independence as Quebecers are forced to choose sides.
They might be right.
The naked ethnocentric attack on Anglos in L'acualite magizine has anglos finally asking themselves if there is anything they can do, short of suicide, that would satisfy the language racists who are now demanding that not only must we speak French, but embrace and promote French culture as well.
For the very first time, the Montreal Gazette is publishing articles that would have been considered heretical and dangerous, a short while ago.
Don McPherson's Op-Ed piece was so defiant, you'd think his piece was a product of this blog, instead of the Montreal Gazette, better known for appeasement than defiance.
Less than a week later, the Montreal Gazette printed this Op-Ed piece by Robert Libman, a gentleman and one of the calmest and most level-headed politicians I ever dealt with.“I call them “the new angryphones.” I’ve heard from quite a few of them in the past couple of months, since I wrote what some of them call “that column,” about the social acceptability of anglo-bashing in Quebec.This new genus of angryphone is younger than the ones who attended partitionist meetings after the sovereignists’ near-victory in the 1995 referendum. Many of them are baby boomers who heard John F. Kennedy tell Americans to ask themselves what they could do for their country, and the answer Pierre Trudeau gave English Canadians for theirs: learn French.So, out of the idealism of the 1960s, long before Bill 101, they did what speakers of the world’s dominant language normally don’t do: they began to learn another language, and to have it taught to their children. And when others fled the first Parti Québécois government, they stayed; they bet their futures, and those of their children, on Quebec.So they’re still here to read and hear what’s said about them by Québécois politicians, media commentators and entertainers, and they’re fluent enough in French to understand it. They can read L’actualité’s “dossier” on them on the magazine’s website and decide for themselves whether it’s journalism or something closer to high-class hate literature on the glossy paper of a quality magazine.With age and experience, the idealism of their youth has given way to realism. They know they have been left politically voiceless, not by a lack of the right leadership or representation, but by fear of political separation.So they – we – realize that conditions for our community are not likely to improve....” Read the rest of the story
“Unfortunately, the L’actualité package has turned up the heat under a linguistic pot that has been reheated in recent months by some French-language media outlets. Snippets of language-related information based on false assumptions are being sewn together to give the impression of an irreversible trend unfavourable to French. The conclusion that L’actualité draws is that the French language is in grave danger in Montreal – and that the anglophone community is gleefully unsupportive of efforts to stem this irreversible tide of anglicization.
Not only is this not true, but it is like blaming someone who has just been kicked and beaten by a bully for not empathizing with the bully because he dented his steel-toe boots.We don’t have to apologize for anything. On the contrary, the impact of Quebec’s French Language Charter (Bill 101) on the anglophone community of Quebec has been unjustly severe.” Read the rest of the story
TVA proudly dubbed the operation " Chasse aux commerces déliquants" (Hunting down delinquent businesses")
Two young language punks set upon a bunch of small businesses in the very English and ethnic neighborhoods of NDG and Cote-de-Neiges in Montreal, scaring one fruit store into taking down a copy of an advertisement from a local English newspaper that it had placed in its windows.
And so the latest proud gambit of these intolerants, is the terrorizing of
All of these merchants have a couple of things in common, most importantly...working, instead of being on the dole.
Many of theses immigrants, come from countries where repression was real and danger a way of life.
Being cornered and denounced by a couple of punks may not be a big deal to you or me, but to them it is a frightening affair.
I was sad to see that one of the vigilantes was a young Black man, who somehow felt it necessary to roam the neighborhood of Cote-de-Neiges, (where many Blacks live) not unlike a Kapo, denouncing stores owned by fellow Blacks.
Such is the brainwashing that youngsters receive in school where ethnics can actually be fooled into believing that they are considered equals by ethnocentrics.
Perhaps when Master Virtue applies for his first job in Herouxville, he'll find out exactly what ethnocentrism means.And before I get a slew of comments telling me how open and embracing Quebec society is towards ethnics, especially Blacks, read about another case of police brutality against a Black couple for the crime of 'driving while Black.'
All these stories have a common thread, Black people stopped in the street or in their car on the flimsiest excuse. When they object and refuse to cooperate, they are hammered with thousands of dollars in fines. For every case like the one here, there must be twenty that go unreported.
Please read the story and watch the video report, it is a must. HERE
Now if Master Virtue thinks that his biggest problem in life is the fact that there are English signs up in Anglo neighborhoods, he should read this.
It's a story about how Blacks and minorities are treated in the Montreal offices of the Public Service.
"An anonymous letter shattered what had started as a normal Monday morning at the office for “Joel,” a union organizer at the Montreal office of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.“SPEAK NEGER BLACK,” it started.Copies of the racist screed – obtained by The Montreal Gazette – were placed in the mail slots of the office’s only two black employees on Feb. 21." Link
"Luc said no one in the office said anything when a union member who frequently visited the office remarked that he got his job because he is black.
When staff dine out together, black employees are often not included in the conversation, he said.
"You come to realize that you're not part of the gang and you never will be," Luc said.
Other employees frequently badmouth anglophones and other minorities at work, Luc said. They say: "Those têtes carrées. Why should we have to follow their directives?"
Luc said that colleagues often criticize employment equity programs for favouring minorities. "They say, 'Why give jobs to blacks?'"
Luc said one staff member called Arab union members "dogs" and said of the executive of a union: "I'm going to kick out those damn Arabs!" Link
I hope young Master Virtue learns the facts of life sooner than later.
At any rate, a while back, sovereigntists rightfully mocked the meager turnout at Hugo Shebbeare's anti-Bill 101 rally.
Truthfully it wasn't much of a success, other than the fact of the wildly out of proportion reaction by militant sovereigntists.
It was a good effort on Hugo's behalf, but truthfully Anglos are too comfortable in their ghetto to care.
We have our own hospitals, our own schools, our own television and media, our own cities run by Anglos in English and most of these assets are as good or better than what is on the other side.
Until now, we've been too comfortable to rock the boat.
I think Hugo was a bit ahead of the times, that's all. There is a shifting of the sands.
Once again, I watched that great rant by a fictional newsman Howard Beal, fed up with life in that great movie, 'Network.' I posted the video last Sunday. Watch it here
In the video, the newscaster rants that the world is going crazy, but as long as it stays out of his own living room, he'd be fine.
But when the craziness of the world enters his living room, he rants that it's time to get 'Mad as Hell"
Are Anglos finally realizing that the racist language rhetoric that has always been part of the militant French first movement is now entering their living room and that there is no use cooperating?
Readers, I want to be clear.
I have no problem with measures protecting French and promoting its use.
But nobody has ever made a cogent argument that has convinced me that an English sign in a predominantly English neighborhood is a threat.
Nobody has ever convinced me that the English minority of Quebec, celebrating their language and culture is a threat as well.
Those who wish to wipe out English in the public domain are ethnocentrics, nothing less than racist haters who should be denounced.
When language cops start making the rounds with a ticket book in hand, I think that there'll be a reaction..
Woe is to the language inspector who wanders into an Anglo enclave unescorted by the police. I'm not calling for violence, but readers should be reminded of the 'Shawville' experience;
"In 1999, a posse of militant Shawville English-speakers chased a
provincial “language police” inspector out of town during a showdown
over French on business signs." Link
I think that French language militants are pushing for this. Confrontation with 'les maudits anglais' is what they want.
Their plan is to prod and poke anglos until there is a violent reaction.
I think they are going to get it.
When a full scale language war breaks out, they believe it will pave the way for independence as Quebecers are forced to choose sides.
They might be right.
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