Being Mocked over Student 'Strike' a Tough Pill to Swallow for Quebec francophones

The English press has been unrelentingly harsh in it's portrayal of striking students in Quebec as being spoilt brats, whining for entitlement that other richer provinces, deem too rich for their blood.

The press in the Rest of Canada has been having a field day portraying this perceived selfish and stupid attitude as being a 'French thing' something that right-thinking Anglos have eschewed.

While in Quebec, many many articles are published in the mainstream Press supporting the student strike, outside Quebec, you'd have to search high and low to find one editorial or op-ed piece in support.

In fact, the tone of most of these article has become nastier and nastier as the French/English divide over the strike has been played up to portray francophone Quebecers as stupid whiners, buttressing the already entrenched opinion in the RoC that Quebecers are greedy and selfish.

And so while Quebec journalists debate the merits of the strike and disruptions, their contemporaries in the RoC write derisive and condescending articles condemning francophone attitudes of entitlement that to many francophones, has the perceived ring of Quebec-bashing.

This by the way, is in contrast to the foreign press, which has been more and more sympathetic since the imposition of Bill 78. Read a report

Typical of the reaction across the Op-Ed pages of Canada is this from the Edmonton Journal;

"The masked thugs in Quebec who are smashing windows, planting smoke bombs on subways and harassing bona fide students deserve no one’s sympathy.

These are vandals and anarchists who embrace the culture of victimization — much like the sovereigntists in the Parti Québécois and the Bloc Québécois." Link

But one of the most stinging rebukes came off the pen of Barbara Kay, of the National Post in an article provocatively entitled "Quebec’s mindless mobs reflect French/English divide"

"In case you haven’t noticed, the massive protests in Quebec have been rather one-sided, culturally speaking. As the mindless mobs fill the streets day after day, protesting the injustice of having to pay a few hundred dollars more in tuition, you will find that amongst them, almost nary is heard an English-language word.....
......anglos are culturally tuned in to the rest of the country; they are far more realistic than their bubble-dwelling franco peers about the cost of tuition elsewhere."

If I had to choose one comment made by readers in the RoC that best summarizes the prevailing Canadian attitude towards francophone Quebecers, it is this;

"The cheapest tuition in Canada and yet they whine.  They learn young in Quebec....the Province of miscreants and malcontents." -Martin Ellacott

Yikes!

Now being disliked by English Canada is one thing, Quebecers largely feel the same way about Canada, but being mocked and scorned, is quite another thing completely.

Remember the furor over the Maclean's article that called Quebec the most corrupt province in Canada?

It seems that Maclean's is about to do it again. This week they will publish another controversial story highlighted by this provocative cover. (It will appear in the June 7th edition)
It's very likely that once again Quebecers will be furious at their portrayal as a bunch of pathetic losers. 
 
Our good friend Gilles Proulx flew off the handle in response to being questioned about the Barbara Kay article;

I wonder if you called all Blacks, Jews or Natives "liars and manipulators" on television, whether you'd find yourself in hot water with the Human Rights Tribunal.
But of course making all sorts of racist statement about anglos is always just fine in the Quebec media.

At any rate, I read with fascination an op-ed piece in the Montreal Gazette by a francophone student who attended the very English Dawson college and who complained bitterly that the students didn't support the strike.

"Over the past 15 weeks, the student protest against tuition hikes has been a major event in Quebec. But how many of those thousands of students out on the streets every night are from English CEGEPs? The answer: none, or close to none. Not a single English CEGEP went on strike, not even for a day.....
.... I was truly disappointed with how poorly involved my school was, politically.
In the week leading up to the strike vote at Dawson, I saw some divisions emerge but, I have to say, not very many of us were on the red-square side of the issue. If it wasn’t enough being hated by three-quarters of the student body for wearing the red square, you had the occasional student who came screaming at you that you were going to make him lose his semester.
This state of being uninformed, and not wanting to be informed, was the most annoying part of it. Not to generalize, but I felt like many anglophones didn’t have open minds and were unwilling to listen to those proposing strike action." Read the article

So we English are 'uninformed' and have 'closed minds,' all because we believe that destroying a provincial economy, perturbing the transportation system and causing general mayhem is not justified over a few hundred dollars in tuition.

Yes the two solitudes continue to reign.... I am right and you are wrong!

I was a bit surprised seeing this attitude from a Dawson student, even a francophone and to me the writer represents anecdotal evidence that there is a real chasm between many Anglos and Francophones that is based on strictly on culture.

I puzzled over her attitude until the end of the article when the writer tossed off this;

"As for me, I have decided to study at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) next fall, in communications and art history. Seeing how involved UQAM has been in the student strike, I will probably be much more satisfied there, politically speaking."

UQAM- Art history and communications! Arghhh......

French versus English Volume 55

Harper government launches consultations on  Canada's linguistic duality

"On May 22, the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, launched, in Moncton, the first in a series of Government of Canada pan-Canadian consultations on official languages.

“Canada’s two official languages are an integral part of Canadian history and identity. The Government’s commitment to official languages has been recognized internationally. In 2009, the Prime Minister was honoured with the highest international award of merit for support to the Francophonie. The Government’s five-year “Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality 2008-2013” represents the most comprehensive investment in Canada’s official languages in Canada’s history. Economic Action Plan 2012 will continue support for official languages by maintaining funding to protect, celebrate and enhance Canada’s linguistic duality.”  Read the rest of the story

You can take part in the consultative process by filling out this government survey.

(Thanks for the story, YANNICK) 

Senior residence forced to adopt French only signs

"English-speaking residents at a Motreal West Island seniors' home are angry and frustrated after a crackdown by the language police meant they could no longer post bilingual signs on a bulletin board.....

The Maywood residence in Pointe-Claire became completely French nine months ago.

"You missed out on activities. You missed out on some information," said tenant Eileen Yeates, who has lived at the residence for six years.

Yeates said she feels that since she pays the same rate as her French-speaking friends in the building, she should receive the same treatment.

The OQLF disagrees. 
In Quebec, all official documents posted by an administration of a residence must be in French only – unlike in stores, where English is permitted, so long as it is half the size of the French text. Read the rest of the story

English ueber alles

"....last week one of the most respected universities in Italy, the Politecnico di Milano, announced that from 2014 all of its courses would be taught in English.
 

There was a predictable wave of outrage all across the country, but the university’s rector, Giovanni Azzoni, simply replied: “We strongly believe our classes should be international classes, and the only way to have international classes is to use the English language. Universities are in a more competitive world. If you want to stay with the other global universities, you have no other choice.”

The university is not doing this to attract foreign students. It is doing it mainly for its own students who speak Italian as a first language, but must make their living in a global economy where the players come from everywhere—and they all speak English as a lingua franca

Many other European universities, especially in Germany, the Low Countries, and Scandinavia, have taken the same decision, and the phenomenon is now spreading to Asia. ..... Read the rest of the story

Small town caves to language pressure

The town of Magog has abandoned bilingual communications with  its citizens in order to comply with the provisions of the Charter of the French language.  
Henceforth, all documentation will  be offered in French only with English language indications that the information will be available in English, upon specific request.
 
This change follows a complaint by the Mouvement estrien pour le français.
 The lobby group deplored the bilingual policy as "promotion of monolingual English.
 The group complained over the bilingualism of,  for example, electricity bills, the renewal of registrations of pets and the warnings of temporary interruption of the supply of running water. 
 "It was a Charter violation, since Magog is not recognized as a bilingual municipality. According to the complaint, "Any notice to the public must be in French only,"
The Mouvement estrien pour le français applauded the City of Magog and congratulated elected officials for their courage and consistency. 
The decision to comply by the City  had repercussions in Quebec City, where the PQ member for Drummond, Yves-François Blanchet, publicly thanked the elected Magogois  and the Mouvement estrien pour le français in front of the deputies of the National Assembly. Mayor of Magog, Vicki May Hamm admited to a mild discomfort in this situation because of her English roots.  
"Our communications were written in both languages ​​in good faith. However, we will comply and we will pass the information on request, in English,"Citizens have already expressed their disappointment. The city received a wave of complaints about the manual on composting, recently distributed to the public exclusively in French. "We have no choice, we must follow the law," says Ms. Hamm. Read the story in French


 In a related story about a town ordered to stop communicating in English as a matter of course, citizens of Chateauguay have started a petition demanding that English be respected.

"According to Mayor Simon, what a city can not do "is unclear." At the last City Council meeting of Châteauguay, there was talk of a statement of the OQLF indicating that cities could use French with another language in their communication.

The text dating from 1999 no longer reflects the "government guidelines" suggested Mayor Simon, based on information obtained from the OQLF.

Questioned about this, the press officer of Mr. Moreau said that in 2000 the former Minister of Culture of the PQ Louise Beaudoin had "amended the Charter of the French language so that cities could claim bilingual status having 50% or more native speakers of English in contrast to what was stated before...." LINK{Fr}

An English globe

"Seven in ten workers (67%) of those who interact with people in other countries say English is the language they most often use to communicate with them. Those with a high level of household income (74%) and education (73%) are most likely to say English. Gender and age seem to have no statistical bearing on the dominant language used for foreign business.
North America (76%) has the highest proportion of employees reporting the main language they use to communicate with people from other countries is English, followed by Asia-Pacific (72%), the Middle East and Africa (67%), Europe (63%) and Latin America (33%).
In 22 of 26 countries surveyed, English is the dominant language.....
Spanish ranks as a distant second plane, with 5% saying it is the language they most commonly use to communicate with people from abroad. After Spanish are Mandarin (4%) and French (3%). Two percent of those surveyed say each of: German, Arabic, Hindi, Italian and Russian." Read the rest of the story

More SSJB witch-hunting

After successfully harassing small merchants in NDG and Cote-de-Neiges districts in Montreal, the SSJB is once again on the warpath, this time in St. Laurent.

The merry clan of Inspector Clouseaus ran rampant in the multiethnic district, turning up an amazing 333 infractions.

If those infractions are anything like the example cited in the story in  Nouvelles St. Laurent News 
they aren't doing a very good job;

The sign is 100% in compliance with the law and 100% in compliance with the fictitious rule that demands French descriptors ("L'Entreprise Commercial") for English sounding trademarks.
The  blurb on the bottom ("Quality in Food since 1974) is also in compliance, with the French version significantly larger than the English.

Shame on the SSJB and shame on the reporter Valerie R. Carbonneau for wrongly outing a company which has satisfied every idiotic OQLF sign demand.

I sent in a polite comment under the story pointing out the error, which of course was never printed. 
If I owned the company I'd sue the reporter and the newspaper.

Student leader evicted for non payment of rent

Deadbeat Student leader 'not credible'

"The Régie du logement (Housing Authority) has ordered the eviction of Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois from his apartment because he owes more than $1,900 in back  rent.

In a decision issued on May 16, the Administrative Judge-Martial Robin Guay has terminated the lease of the CLASSE spokesman and his roommate and sentenced them to pay the sum of $1,900, as compensation for not having paid the rent for March and April.

Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois claimed to have indeed paid the two months rent in cash by putting it in the mailbox of owner Davide Francisco. He submitted two bank statements as evidence, noting two withdrawals totaling $1,000 on March 12, and two other withdrawals, two weeks later, for the payment of April.

Judge Guay, however, did not believe this version, finding "surprising" that "two educated people didn't understand the high risk they were taking and had not exercised a minimum of prudence by  not requiring the landlord to furnish a receipt.
Mr. Nadeau-Dubois  replied that he had problems in the past in getting receipts from the owner.

The Tribunal also criticized the two tenants for having presented "no documentary evidence that supports their claims."

" Suffice to say that the court did not consider the tenants credible about the cash payments they said they made to their landlord by leaving an envelope of  $950 in the mail box." Read the story in French

Amir Khadir daughter- a chip off the old block

Tough cookie Yalda Machouf-Khadir, resisting arrest by SQ officer

"It seems that Amir Khadir's daughter is a chip off the old block
She was arrested way back when  for an occupation of Cégep du Vieux-Montréal which resulted in destruction of school property.

She was in court this week in relation to another arrest, this one for taking part in the blockade of the Jacques- Cartier Bridge.

19 year old Yalda Machouf-Khadir must report to police once a week because she  had been arrested previously, when students blocked the Champlain Bridge.  Link
Miss Khadir is the daughter of Quebec solidaire MP Amir Khadir and Nina Machouf, a 9/11 Truther.

Busy little girl....
She has quite the temper, she faced off with a photojournalist who was taking her picture in the courthouse hall. The reporter received a punch in the camera after Khadir demanded that she not be photographed, because she had 'rights.'

In order to avoid being photographed Miss Khadir spread a large kerchief around her head, revealing a desperate need for a Lady Bic.


Of course Papa Khadir is fully supportive, telling reporters that he was in court to support his daughter, not to comment on her situation.

I bet her Communist grandpa was particularly proud as well....





Here's a few interesting tidbits to round out the week.....

A reader sent this exchange on a Facebook group "Ventee de Garage Virtuelle - Chateauguay/Mercier - Online Garage."

For those with no French, Madame LaFrance complains that the poster had the nerve to post in English, even though the group is mostly English.
Well Done, Julie!!! You are elected LANGUAGE IDIOT OF THE WEEK.
(Thanks for the story, MORTON)

 

Who can identify this Photoshop disaster on the front page of Le Journal de Montreal?
I thought newspapers weren't supposed to modify news photos... Hmmm...

 Who can identify this boner in Le Journal de Montreal? 

How strange is Quebec? Infomercial on French TV.... for an English keyboard?

And where is the OQLF when you need them? 

This is part of the strong mandate students received to strike!
(84 students voted out of 4,227)

Here's an interesting version of French GLOBISH or perhaps simplified French . I like the advice on the bottom of the page informing the reader that he or she is an idiot.

What genius organization put out this crap?

Answer: The City of Montreal;

See the webpage

See another idiotic webpage of the same ilk

(Thanks for the story, BLEGAS )

Extra credit reading

Estimating crowd sizes in demonstrations is more of an art than a skill. 

You'll recall that the demonstration in front of the Bell Centre against a unilingual anglophone coach was estimated variously between 150 and 500. With that margin of error it isn't surprising that the number of participants at large demonstrations varies widely.

Here is the first definitive attempt to get the numbers right.

Read Montreal blogger Steve Fagay's (Fagstein);
 “Tens of thousands” – the battle over protest turnout numbers
 

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

60 Minutes doing another report on oppressed English in Montreal
Watch the 14 year old report by Morley Safer

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

The National Post asked readers this question; “ Does Quebec have a future in Canada?”
"In 75 words or fewer, let us know what lies ahead for Quebec."

Read the responses

 (Thanks for the story, LORDDORCHESTER )

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

Celine Dion quits Quebec

I only include this story because the French press is peddling the fiction that the enormous, thirty million dollar mansion is for sale (furniture and all) because it 'doesn't suit' the enlarged  Dion/Angelil family.
("Il aurait fallu faire beaucoup de rénovations pour l’adapter à notre famille. Donc nous avons décidé de la mettre en vente.- René Angelil")
The family by selling the mansion, is admitting the truth, that their permanent home is in Florida.
For the Quebec press, it's a hard pill to swallow.

Thought of the week

It's interesting to hear and read all the comments (even on this blog)  from those claiming that an 'unjust' law like Bill 78 should not be obeyed because it is immoral.

The same people who tell us to obey Bill 101 because it is the law.....

Language Militants Fiddle While Quebec Burns

To describe recent events in Quebec as surreal would probably be a profound understatement, the student uprising based on a tuition increase has escalated badly out of control and threatens to rock the foundations of Quebec society. To those of you outside the city, it remains an interesting news story, but to Montrealers living the nightmare it represents a frontal attack on our way of life.

I'm not sure if the rest of Canada and even those in Quebec supporting the unrest understand the gravity of the situation and the fragility of our democracy.

At any rate, I'm going to leave the student uprising alone today and focus on the utterly moronic language parade that wended its way through the streets of downtown, with a cadre of delusional whiners, protesting  the supposed evil influence of English on the hitherto linguistically pure and chaste French Quebec.

I cannot think of a more fitting analogy than that of Emperor Nero fiddling while Rome burned.

It's like the customers complaining at the counter in the front of the store about the lack of availability of their favorite flavor, while the ice cream factory has a raging fire burning in the back.

The guided tour, led by the Frick and Frack of the French language movement (Mario Beaulieu and Denis Trudel) visited the various institutions and stores accused by these fantasists of anglicizing Quebec by virtue of their English names or by their employment of unilingual anglos.
The idea for the parade was the brainstorm of Denis Trudel who mentioned rather honestly, that they had to do something different, because the student protest was stealing their thunder.

("Il fallait trouver une façon un peu plus originale de manifester, puisque les étudiants nous mettent un peu de pression,....)

At any rate the turnout was what I predicted last week, somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 people, most of them, aging separatists of the 70's. This was the feeble turnout after enough free publicity by a fawning media to fill the Bell Centre twice.
Just for comparison, the day before, twice as many people marched in Quebec city to mark the tragedy of fetal deaths......Really.
It remains a sore spot with me that nobody, but nobody, in the mainstream media ever asks these clowns why nobody shows up to their demonstrations.

I would not give credence to this event had the media left the story alone or given it the coverage that it merited, but no, the pitiful march by a bunch of pathetic losers is highlighted in the media as a significant event.
And so it behooves me to point out the banal and sad aspects of the parade and to expose the fact that these get-togethers have morphed into racist anglo-bashing hate-a-thons, where publicly denouncing English and Anglophones has become a blood sport.

Where is the Quebec Human Rights Commission to denounce these excesses?
It seems that everyone is protected from hate speech in Quebec, everyone that is, except Anglophones!

Think I'm exaggerating or taking a hyperbolic flight of fancy?

Here is the evidence, a rather long video of the parade.
Permit me to critique it for you. You need not watch the video or speak French, I shall offer a concise summary of the salient scenes of stupidity.

If you want to reference what I've said, I've added a time code related to my comments;

3:50 
Mario Beaulieu complains that McGill University is a force for Anglicization. "Paid for with OUR taxes!"
Exactly what should be done he doesn't say. Perhaps McGill should be converted into a French school or perhaps absorbed into UQAM, so that it can truly represent the Quebec educational reality!

7:20 
Mr Beaulieu starts in on stores and businesses that have trademarked names like "STARBUCKS COFFEE" and "OLD NAVY" spreading  the lie, first enunciated by the OQLF, that Bill 101 requires those institutions with English sounding trademarks to add a French modifier, for example "Les Cafés Starbucks Coffee"
Of course nothing in Bill 101 provides for this and in the 35 years of the existence of the law, not one company has ever been cited or even (to my knowledge) received a warning from the OQLF re modifiers.
The modifier campaign is a well orchestrated attack meant to embarrass and intimidate companies into doing what the law does not provide for.

7:59 
Mr Beaulieu asks his minions if they are 'interested' in shopping at a store called "STYLE EXCHANGE" a backhanded way of calling for a boycott. He calls for the company to change its name into French.

10:38
Mr Beaulieu tells the nose stretcher that English signs are hiding the linguistic reality of Montreal, when in reality, French-only signs distort the truth. On the street where Mr. Beaulieu is holding his parade, I imagine that about half the shoppers are speaking English.
The Big Lie....rinse, repeat.

11:00
Mr Beaulieu leads the crowd in a chant demanding that government services and businesses use French exclusively. The chant demanding French, also targets the metro, radio, cegeps, hospitals, Revenue Quebec, SNC-Lavalin, 'Banana Republic,' 'Starbucks.' etc. etc.
When he calls for the store "MEXX' to become French, he displays his ignorance, probably thinking that it is an English name.
It is here where he takes a dangerous 'virage' attacking stores and businesses with proper names that don't sound French. This gentle readers, is where the event takes a dangerous turn into the land of racism and intolerance.

The question to be asked is how do you translate 'MEXX' into French and why should you.
How or why should you translate 'REITMANS,' and does 'HARVEYS.' need to become 'Chez HERVÉ.'

The idiot then complains about 'INSIDE EXCHANGE,'(sic) and also takes a shot at 'BELL CANADA' which everyone knows dropped the 'Canada' from its name in Quebec a long, long time ago.

11:00
Mr. Beaulieu demands that LEVI'S  change its pronunciation from 'Lee-Vies' to the very French 'Lee-Vee'.

14:15
Mr. Beaulieu demands that "TOMMY HILFIGER STORE" become "LES MAGASINS 'TONY' HILFIGER" even though the store doesn't have the word 'STORE' in the name. BTW, 'Tony'....really?'

16:15
Mr. Beaulieu asks his crowd if they'll shop at 'BIRKS,' another proper name that irks him to no end.
The crowd shouts "NON" they will not shop there, one lady commenting that it's too expensive.

16:15
Complains about "MOORES"

19:09
Exhorts the crowd not to shop at "FUTURE SHOP"

On and on it goes....QUIZNOS SUBS, CENTRE HI-FI, blah...blah..blah!

22:40
Of all the nonsense above, nothing but nothing, reflects the disconnect from reality that these idiots embrace as is this attack on SNC-LAVALIN by Denis Trudel, who complains that a Francophone president has been replaced by a unilingual anglophone.
Mr Trudel is saddened by the fact that the 'flower of Quebec' business is sullied by an English president, ignoring the fact that the company is in a tragic free fall.
The hasty change of leadership was precipitated by the scandal enveloping the company in relation to millions of dollars in under the table payments to Libyan interests close to Moammar Gadhafi.

Of no matter to Mr. Trudel is the fact that the company's shares have dropped 34 per cent, wiping out $3.3-billion worth of SNC-Lavalin's market value!
All that matters to the language zealot is that the multinational be run by a francophone!

And so let's all chant "SNC -En français!" -"SNC -En français!" - "SNC -En faillite!" Hurray!!

34:00
Bloc Quebecois leader Daniel Paillé takes to the microphone to complain that members of Parliament elected from Quebec shouldn't be allowed to ask questions in English in the House of Commons in Ottawa.
I imagine this includes Irwin Cotler and Francis Scarpaleggia, both MPs representing largely anglophone ridings! 

37:35
Mr. Beaulieu reminds us that Bill 101 isn't racist, but actually the opposite, a law that is inclusive!!!!
He then finishes with a flourish, "Vive Le Quebec, Vive le Quebec Francais et libre!"

BTW----
Two readers sent me emails saying that the entourage was heckled mercilessly as it made its way through the streets.
I can't verify this officially , but it probably makes sense as they were traveling through hostile 'English' territory and I did wtnesss a bit of heckling in the video.

At any rate, you'd think that I'd be immune to such stupidity, having witnessed such foolishness over and over again, but alas, it still stings.

It 's hurtful to think that people in the guise of promoting themselves, feel free to tear down others
I take solace that these misguided fools are the stark minority, with most Montrealers bilingual, tolerant and more importantly, too busy to indulge in hate.

Despite the student riots, despite the intolerance of a few language militants, despite the corruption and stupidity, I still love Montreal and our community.

There's just something mystical and addictive about Montreal, a certain je ne sais quoi., and if you don't believe me just ask any ex-pat who deep down misses his or her city of birth.

And yes, that includes you, Mr. Sauga!

Corruption- Montreal Style

Many months ago when the government put together a police task force to investigate corruption in the construction industry most commentators pooh-poohed the idea and called for a public inquiry to shed light on the entire stinking rotten mess.

While many believed that the police would be ineffective in rooting out the corruption and even less effective in bringing forth charges, I never doubted that in the end justice would be done.

Why?
Because the crooks aren't so bright and usually leave a trail a mile wide. They aren't that hard to catch.

Years back, while enjoying a barbecue on my back patio with friends, a then assistant directer of the Montreal police made a keen observation that always stuck with me.
He said that in the end the police catch almost all the crooks.

Whaaaat??? C'mon!........You could imagine my incredulity.

When I pointed out that the police solve less than fifteen percent of all crimes and less than 2% are solved due to police investigations, (most crimes are solved because of confessions, informers or victims pointing to the guilty party) his logic was unimpeachable.

Yes he said, we solve a low percentage of crime, but criminals do a large volume of criminal acts. Take a bank robber who has robbed fifteen banks but is caught on the sixteenth.
He ends up going to jail.

Hmm... I see the logic..

This last week the news was dominated by the student uprising, which took up most of the media's attention.  Too bad, because yesterday, the anti-corruption police made three arrests that will rock the foundations of Montreal City hall.

By the way, I am going to credit myself as the first blogger or mainstream media types to refer to the student unrest as a 'Student Uprising' because, quite frankly, that is what it has become.

But I digress and as they say in French, back to the knitting.

Corruption isn't particularly hard to spot in municipal affairs.
If a contract is obviously inflated, or a contractor is given preferential treatment or buys or sells a property at below or above market value, it all points to hanky-panky. It isn't brain surgery.
It's just a question of following the money.

"Montreal’s auditor-general reported in May 2010 that seven boroughs awarded most of their capital-works projects to a small number of firms. The most extreme cases were Anjou, where all five contracts, totalling $6 million, went to a company owned by Accurso.

In Verdun, all 21 contracts, worth $23 million, were awarded to a company owned by Catania. The auditor-general found this “perplexing.”

In seven Montreal boroughs, Catania topped the list of 21 construction firms awarded a “substantial” portion of city contracts during one three-year period.

Catania got $104 million in city business, followed by Accurso’s Construction Louisbourg with a little over $100 million in contracts.

”Notwithstanding that these contracts were awarded to the lowest compliant bidder,” wrote Bergeron, “I nevertheless remain puzzled by the fact that some boroughs award a large proportion of their contracts to the same contractors.”  Link

Now I'm going to preface the following with the standard disclaimers as to guilt or innocence of those arrested.
Nothing as of yet has been proven and everyone is innocent until proven guilty..blah...blah....blah... you know the drill.

The story starts in July 2008, when Frank Zampino, then the number two man in the Montreal municipal administration of Mayor Gerald Tremblay, resigned rather suddenly from his powerful position as Chairman of the Executive Committee after twenty-two years as an elected city official.

I remember watching his good-bye press conference where he cited personal reasons for leaving and noted that not one reporter questioned the rather unlikely excuse, especially since he stated that he had no job lined up.
Strange....
It's very, very, rare that someone at the height of power walks away from that type of  his position with nothing lined up, and I remarked at the time to my wife that his exit was extremely 'fishy.'

It didn't take long for allegations to surface that he had shown 'favoritism' in the awarding of a massive city contract for water meters to a company controlled by the infamous Tony Accurso, (who was arrested recently on another unrelated corruption case.)
It was reported that during the time that the city was considering the water meter contract, Mr. Zampino vacationed on Mr. Accurso's luxury yacht in the Caribbean.
And by the way Zampino did land a job rather quickly after his departure from city hall...  working for, you guessed it......Tony Accurso.
Because the water meter contract was ultimately cancelled, no corruption charges were laid.

Yesterday, Mr. Zampino along with Paolo Catania, a powerful construction magnate and Bernard Trépanier, a bag man for Mayor Tremblay's municipal party, the Union Montreal, and six others, were arrested. Link{Fr}  Link    Read the charges here
  


It's a simple and neat story of corruption, if true.

Mr. Catania is alleged to have received inside tendering information provided by Mr. Zampino, in relation to a successful bid for a $300 million plus redevelopment project. In return, Mr. Catania is alleged to have kicked back a commission to Mr. Trépanier, who allegedly collected the money on behalf of Mr. Zampino's political party.

Who is Bernard Trépanier?

"Trépanier, the third man known to have been arrested in UPAC's Thursday-morning sweep, was Union Montreal's director of fundraising from 2004 to 2006.

He was referred to by insiders as "Bernard Trépanier 3 per cent," according to Benoit Labonté, who had been mayor of the Ville Marie borough and had been a key member of the Tremblay team at Union Montreal before he bolted to join Vision Montreal.

Labonté pulled out of politics, in disgrace, just before the 2009 municipal vote, after records surfaced of phone contacts with Accurso which Labonté had earlier denied.

Labonté then told Radio-Canada, in an explosive late-October 2009 interview, that when he broached the "3-per-cent" subject with the mayor, Tremblay responded that in Montreal municipal politics, "that's all there is." Read the rest of the story

'Boss Tweed' alive and well in Montreal

If the allegations are true, it probably indicates that many, many other contracts and deals were dirty as well.
Remember the story above, of the bank robber caught on his sixteenth robbery?

At any rate if this one corruption charge sticks, it may indicate that Montreal is run on a Tammany Hall basis, with Mr. Trépanier Montreal's very own version of  'Boss Tweed'

READERS;

Here is a fearless prediction;

I listened to the press conference given by the police and the confidence that they displayed in describing the fraud and abuse of power.

That level of confidence usually means but one thing.....

SOMEBODY ROLLED OVER

There's going to be a witness from the inside who will testify in exchange for immunity. If that's the case, they are all cooked!

 At any rate,  Montreal isn't the only Quebec city mired in corruption allegations.

This week, the small town of Mascouche is in an uproar with furious citizens demanding that their mayor step down in  light of his arrest over corruption charges.

Ashamed citizens of the town are rightfully outraged that the mayor has not given up and was to preside over a scheduled town meeting.
(Late news: Mayor Richard Marcotte has stepped aside. Link{Fr})

Read "Quebec town becomes the shamed face of corruption scandal after Mayor targeted for arrest"

It is unfortunately, the tip off the iceberg.
UPAQ, the fledgling police unit charged with dealing with corruption is rumored to be swamped with files and it's quite satisfying to see them nab so many big fish already.
Read an interesting timeline of their activities. Link

 So far this year, to quote Queen Elizabeth, Quebec has been going through it's annus horribilis.

Political instability, rising unemployment, a tanking economy, a student uprising, corruption scandals abounding and language militancy gone wild...

Can it get any worse?.....you bet it can, this is Quebec!

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

The Student Uprising

Before I bid you adieu for the weekend, I'd like you to watch this video of UQAM's best known professor, the irascible Léo-Paul Lauzon who is about as famous as you can get as a UQAM professor.

The separatist economist employs his particular bizarre logic in defending violence in the student uprising.

For those of you who think that I am too hard on UQAM, I offer this video as evidence of how crazy the teachers over there are.

I haven't had the time to subtitle the video but for those without French take my word that through all the hemming and hawing, he lends support for violence in the student uprising.

The next day he went on the radio to defend his remarks and made an even bigger fool of himself.  Listen HERE in French

If this is what he says in public, I can only  imagine what goes on in the classroom. 

On Wednesday, UQAM was overrun by masked students disrupting classes.
Here's a YouTube page chock full of videos of the event.

Message to rioters......... keep it up!
I hope UQAM stays closed forever!

For your weekend reading pleasure, I've translated this article by Lysiane Gagnon who writes in La Presse.

If you read French, please do her the courtesy of reading the following in its original form. HERE

"In the student in crisis, there is a clear divide between the Montreal area, where most of the agitation has taken place, and the rest of the province. Even Cégep Limoilou, which has always been a hotbed of student protest, is functioning normally ...But there is another cleavage, more spectacular, and this one has somewhat divided the city into two. This is the one between Francophones and Anglophones.While the French institutions were torn to varying degrees by the conflict, the English side is calm ... and remains committed to studies. 

Dawson College, a downtown institution that is sort of the English version the Cégep du Vieux-Montreal, with its 4,000 students participated in a vote (secret) and rejected the strike. Same thing at John Abbott College, where the student association held a referendum (with secret ballots) that lasted all day. Note, the very democratic process that oversaw those decisions. 

At Bishop's University, the student association didn't even collect the 150 signatures required to hold a strike vote!

At Concordia, the popular downtown university that is the English version of UQAM which has a history of much social unrest, the courses were never suspended. Teachers that the strikers prevented from giving their courses, gave students online tests or work to do at home. 

At McGill, little disruption. At the height of the movement (around March 22), several thousand students participated in the boycott, including the School of Social Work, Poli-Sci and Arts. All that remains of the boycotters, according to the university, are about forty strikers concentrated in "Gender Studies" and in French literature. 

How can one explain the difference in attitude between the two language groups of same age, who live in the same city and share the same leisure and cultural activities? 

The first reason is political. Non-Francophones in general are against  the PQ, are not against the Charest government to the same degree as their francophone compatriots. This conflict is powerfully fueled  by the PQ student movement and  most young activists are influenced by QS and anarcho-communist organizations. 

Although there is a strong and ancient tradition of left-wing Anglos in Montreal, they hesitate to join movements which, as QS, are also promoting the independence of Quebec. Anglo leftists are at home in the NDP, which very intelligently separated itself from the student revolt.

The other reason is that the Anglo-old-stock Quebecers have always valued education far more than the French. It is also the case of allophones, who moved here for a better future for their children. You can find large numbers of them at home in Dawson and Concordia.

The French, as we know, are less likely to value education. In 2010, those aged 25-34 in Quebec, 24.8% of Francophones earned a university degree. This was true of 34.9% of Anglophones ... and 37.4% of allophones.

Of all Canadians, Francophones are those who read fewer books and get most of their news from the TV. They are not only more likely to dropout of school or to settle for an inferior degree, they are also more likely to take more time in college or university, earning that degree. Hence the reason that so many students have not hesitated to compromise their winter semester by boycotting their classes ... Oh well, it's just one more semester!"

Readers please have a very good weekend!

Charest unloads 'Death Star' on Students

Readers, I'm opening up this post in order offer you opportunity to comment on the law that the government of Quebec tabled that comes down on students like a ton of bricks.

If you haven't heard, the student leaders and the student associations are to be subject to massive fines should they engage in what will be illegal demonstrations.

If the students ignore the law, the student associations will disappear and have their bank accounts emptied.

The student leaders were deeply shook up and on the verge of tears as they reacted to terms of the law.

They bravely said that they would fight the law in court, but I'd advise them not to hold their breath.

The entire Quebec judiciary has been humiliated by the students ignoring the dozens of injunctions and judges are notorious for dishing out payback.

By the way the leaders of the student associations, themselves are going to be held responsible for the actions of the demonstrators.

This is just a first reaction, but what say you?