Have some Fun this Summer

I'm going off on a short blog vacation and since my expat son and his family are returning to Montreal for a visit, for my wife and I, it will be a very satisfying staycation, spoiling rotten our very first grandchild.
Montreal weather for the next few days is sunny+ 30°, so it's a crime not to take advantage.

I know I promised a rebuttal piece on signage in downtown Montreal, but I've decided that it needs a lot more research and so I'll be pounding the downtown pavement over the next little while, preparing an exhaustive study which I believe will be more honest and instructive than that of the OQLF.

Whenever I go off for a bit of a blog vacation, I like to leave on a positive note, so don't expect any serious bitching and moaning today, rather the opposite.

I'll leave with a bunch of observations not necessarily good or bad, but typically Montreal, which is to say wacky and unbelievable...

Students 

How about those students going to court to try and overturn Law 78, which places restrictions on demonstrators and holds student unions financially responsible.
It reminds me of the old joke where a man who murders his parents asks the sentencing judge for clemency, considering that he is now an orphan!
Students and their associations have spit on the law, inflicting mayhem and disorder, treating the public to a sad demonstration of selfish self-indulgence.
They have displayed an utter disdain for the law, ignoring dozens of injunctions, but now are running to court to have the law come to their aid. How hypocritical!

The icing on the cake is that in part of their pleading to the court, they refer to their constitutional rights included in the Canadian constitution, a constitution that every one them would argue otherwise, doesn't not apply to Quebec because the province never signed on.  Ha!!

Anarchists

How sweet is it to see anarchists complaining that the police aren't playing fair, by 'socially profiling' them ahead of last weekend's Grand Prix.

It seems police subjected certain people to selective searches according to their dress, demeanor and whether they were wearing a red square, symbol of the student protest.

Despite the complaints, the police did mange to intercept a few people carrying weapons and assorted items to be potentially used in disturbing the Grand Prix. In fact nothing got through. Bravo. Link

Perpetual whiner and scoflaw himself, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, the ex-leader of  the most militant student association, whined like a little girl at the unfairness of it all.
After all, if police don't play by the rules, how's an anarchist supposed to plan ahead? Read more 

Here's picture proof that the Montreal police were stretched to the limits last weekend. The cop in the picture on the right is gently directing a protester away. What's strange?
He's a CAPTAIN.
Check out the bars on his shoulders and the 'scrambled eggs' on the hat. I bet he hasn't been out on street patrol in ten years!

After being badly outplayed by protesters for the first few months, police have bounced back and retaken the offensive as best demonstrated by their interventions during Grand Prix week.
The arrest of Yalda Machouf-Khadir early in the morning sent a signal that its going to go rough for anarchists.

Police actually stopped a car in the middle of the highway to arrest a man they'd been looking for in relation to anarchist activities.
The car was taking the hapless dude to his sister's funeral.
Did the police care.. Nope, they probably had a good laugh about it.
As I said, it's getting rough.

Dany Villanueva

Ever since the incident where Dany's younger brother Fredy, died in a confrontation with police, Dany has been a target of police as payback for the trouble and embarrassment he and his family has put them through.
Dany is not exactly a mastermind or evil genius, just your average low-life criminal and not particularly bright.

His criminal career has finally got him a deportation order back to his native Honduras, thanks to a loophole wherein Dany never became a Canadian citizen. BIG MISTAKE!!

While he remains in Canada while his case is endlessly appealed, cops have a special place in their hearts for Dany and keep a sharp eye out for him.

The latest chapter in the Dany Villanueva saga is particularly amusing. 

Sharp-eyed cops saw Dany loitering with a group of fellow scumbags and rousted them as is their SOP (standard operating procedure.)
Dany gave a false name to police when asked to identify himself, apparently a crime, and so it led to a search which produced some cannabis. Read about his exploits
Poor Dany...
Did he really believe that there's a cop in the city that doesn't have his face imprinted on their brain?
I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't some sort of bounty paid to any cop arresting the unfortunate boob.
According to Dany's lawyer, a publicity hound named Stéphane Handfield, the arrest shouldn't affect his appeal because he had been told that an acquittal in another case wouldn't affect his deportation appeal either.
Does that make any sense? Probably...
Of course he was rushed before a judge for breaking bail conditions and was promptly released on $500 bail.
Does that make any sense? Probably not...

Paybacks a bitch

I was glad to see my friend Jacques Duchesneau deliver some well deserved payback, having been treated ever so shabbily by his employer (the government) and the media. Link

In testimony before the Charbonneau Commission he unloaded on Sam Hadad, the Transport Minister who he accused of being disinterested in his investigation as soon as Jacques informed him that it was moving in a political direction.
POOF!!
Duchesneau was fired, but not before leaking his report to to the Press!

Read my blog piece:  The Assassination of Jacques Duchesneau

No election soon

Contrary to what the newspapers have been telling you over and over again about a Spring and now Fall election, it isn't going to happen and I've told you why over and over again.
Jean Charest cannot hold his own riding, the polling numbers aren't there. He only won the riding by a narrow margin in both the last two elections and things have gone downhill from there.
With his popularity in the toilet, it would be personal suicide to call an election this year.
If his numbers don't improve, he'll probably resign in the spring to save himself the embarrassment of losing his own seat.
On the other hand, things may improve, you never know, this is Quebec.
At any rate you heard it here before and I'm repeating it now. No election this year....

Canada's worst teacher 

You got to laugh or cry at the abysmal judgment displayed by a high school teacher that showed the murder and dismemberment video on Lin Jun to his high school class.
How bad was his judgment?
It made the Drudge Report, where only the weirdest and wackiest stories make the grade.  Link
Whatever happened to firing idiots and thieves on the spot?
Of course, that can't happen with a government job, where unions rule the roost.
The teacher has been suspended WITH PAY, until a hearing determining what the final outcome of his case.
I repeat.....with pay!

WAIT>>>>WAIT>>>>
I spoke too soon, the teacher has been fired.....LINK

Finally, some good economic news

Quebec received some good economic news with unemployment falling to 7.8%, the same rate as Ontario's. Link

The Quebec engineering firm, Genivar  is mounting a massive takeover of a rival, three times as big as itself with the backing of the Caisse de dépôt.
Finally something positive from the Caisse, investing in Quebec companies on the move.
LINK

Private jet company NetJets Inc. signed a deal Monday to buy up to 275 Bombardier Challenger business jets that could be worth up to US$7.3 billion. There are 100 firm orders and options on 175 more. Read more
See not all the news is bad! 

Etcetera

First Canadian judge to ever stand trial for murder found guilty of shooting his wife

Quebec government didn’t care about corruption report, says whistleblower

To all of you who enjoy snickering at Quebec, I'll leave with my favorite story of the week; 

Carleton University teams up with Iranian embassy to honour Ayatollah Khomeini

I'm off until Monday, July 2 but will moderating comments all the while. Please continue to email me with story ideas. See you all soon!

Khadirs-Three Generations of Nutters

As police entered the home of the Amir Khadir family, in search of evidence against eldest daughter Yalda for her part in illegal radical activities, they couldn't help but notice a poster for a Quebec band, lying on the kitchen table, a disturbing and macabre tribute to the ego of Amir Khadir.

Fashioned after Eugène Delacroix's famous painting, Liberty Leading the People, this version has a Bananarchist waving a black anarchist flag, an armed Khadir himself in a top hat standing over a seemingly dead, half-naked and defeated Jean Charest. To Khadir's right is a masked demonstrator and to his left a riot cop bowing down.
When asked about the artwork, Khadir brushed it off, calling it a 'parody.' Link
When the story caught fire in the Press, Khadir threatened to sue the Journal de Montreal for printing the story of the poster, because it was...err......embarrassing.

There's quite an ego hidden under the usually calm and demure Amir Khadir, who in the last week or so, let slip his alter ego, comparing himself to Gandhi and Martin Luther King, after his own arrest for blocking a street, much to howls of laughter and derision in the Press.

Yalda arrested at home, in front of a sign calling for civil disobedience.

When Yalda was first arrested, Khadir told a public audience, that if she did anything wrong she would have to pay the price.
Now that he's had a chance to glimpse at the evidence, the realization that she could go to jail for her acts, he's changed his tune considerably.

For years Khadir has lived a double life, hiding his communist and anarchist affiliations, but no more.

In order to support his daughter, he's now publicly saying that civil disobedience is the route to take in the face of a recalcitrant government;.

"We call on all partners in society.... to disobey this law in a peaceful manner. "- Amir Khadir

At least it's refreshing to finally hear some honesty.

In a courthouse interview, he actaully defended his daughter's violent plan to attack the home of  the ex-cabinet minister.

It isn't any wonder that Yalda, at just 20 years old is a violent anarchist, she comes by her radicalism honestly, learning from her parents, who in turn learned from their parents.
From an early age Yalda was dragged to demonstration after demonstration, a hatred for capitalism, Canada, the United States and of course, the old standby, Israel, pumped into her inquiring and absorbent mind.
She is no doubt, the product of her parents radicalism and in some way reminds me of the product of parents who name their children after Hitler, as a salute to their white supremacism. You just know you're going to end up with one screwed up kid.

Jafar & Amir demonstrating. Like father, like son.

Just like his daughter, Amir was radicalized by his father, Jafar, a longtime communist bigwig who has been banned from entering the United States. He's someone always ready, willing and able to support radical causes, especially when it comes to demonizing Israel, the Khadir clan's favorite foil. You can catch him every now and then in front of the Le Marcheur shoe shop on St. Denis, protesting against the small merchant for selling Israeli shoes.

Grandma Khadir is quite the pistol too, comparing Yalda to poor Palestinian children, whose only crime is throwing stones at police.
In fact she compared the Quebec government to that of the regime of the Shah of Iran, from where she fled to the safety of Canada and remarked to a reporter that she considered Yalda a political prisoner, which made her feel "humiliated to be a Quebecer"

Grandma Farideh showed up to court arm in arm with  grandpa Jafar, so proud of Yalda, that they brought a bouquet of flowers, as if they were attending a recital or graduation.

  As I said in the title, nutters.....

Yalda's mom Nima, is another piece of work, a TRUTHER and self-important radical, she actually demanded that police remove their shoes before they conducted a raid in her home.
I bet you're asking yourself if the police complied...........nope they did not.

And then let's not forget Amir's brother who was arrested in France as a member of a terrorist organization (People's Mujahedin of Iran)  and who was released after a political campaign by Amir to get him out..

According to the Khadirs themselves, both of the two oldest daughters are militants. Daria hasn't been arrested yet, but if all goes according to plan, Grandma will be bringing her flowers very soon.

Quite the family.....
And you thought the Kardashians were one screwed up family.....

At any rate, since Amir has 'come out' in support of anarchism, questions are being raised as to whether he was involved or knew of his daughter activities.

Police are claiming that when they raided the Casa Khadir, alongside that poster found on the kitchen table was a plan to attack the residence of the Quebec cabinet minister.

So the question remains, what did Khadir know about the plan and when did he find out about it.
Inquiring minds want to know....

Further Reading: Amir Khadir Has a Lot to Hide

OQLF Language Report an Exercise in Smoke and Mirrors

Smoke and Mirrors: Something/Someone that distorts or blurs facts, figures, etc., like a magic or conjuring work; artful deception; tricky inventiveness.

I can't think of a better metaphor than the above 'Smoke and Mirrors' to describe the reports issued last week by the OQLF describing the language situation in relation to the retail trade in Montreal.

It took quite a while for me to get through the pages because like a student's essay, aiming to fulfill a minimum word count, the reports were long on superfluous, duplicate and useless information.

Really, did we need a diagram indicating what foot path an inspector took while visiting a department store and was it germane to include the fact the inspector started from the top floor and worked his/her way down?

OQLF- This is how we walk around a room

But despite the padding, the reports were more interesting, not for what they included, but rather what they did not, but more on that a little later.

First point of course, is the credibility of any report emanating from the OQLF itself, an organization that ceases to have meaning, should itself determine that the French language not be in danger, thus rendering its existence redundant. Under that circumstance, it's hard to imagine the OQLF ever declaring French out of trouble, even if it were so.

Instead of handing off the study to an impartial third party, the OQLF itself produced the report in-house, setting the terms, training and deploying inspectors and putting together the final report.
Like the Church preparing a report on the existence of God, even with the best intentions, it is hard to take the conclusions other than with a grain of salt.

I'm not going to bore you with an exhaustive critique, which in the end leaves the readers with information overload. I will dwell on just two points, those points, which in my opinion, render the reports discredited. My first concern is that the OQLF starts off with a faulty basic premise and my second concern is its failure to honestly present the data.

The faulty assumption is of course, the idea that a store without a French descriptor in its 'English name' is in violation of Bill 101, we've gone through this before, it just isn't true.

In the thirty-five years since the introduction of Bill 101, the OQLF has bound over in the neighborhood of 2,000 files for prosecution in relation to recalcitrant violators of the language law.
NOT ONE of these prosecutions has ever been undertaken in relation to a company using an English trademark without a French modifier appended to its trade name.
In thirty-five years, no company, to my knowledge, has ever received a 'mise en demure' (demand letter) from the OQLF demanding that it add a descriptor to its trademark.
Why?
If I am wrong about the legality of descriptors (which I am not,) I would ask defenders of the OQLF to explain why the organization has failed to take any legal action against any company, when it has pursued legal action for other violations.

Is it because the OQLF is afraid to take on a multinational with deep pockets, companies which have already received legal opinions that in relation to descriptors, the OQLF hasn't a leg to stand on?

You know, I cannot remember the OQLF taking any multinational company to court over any aspect of Bill 101. If they did, it is likely that there were very few cases.
No, as far as I'm concerned,  the OQLF prefers to pursue small-fries, those they can bully with impunity.

Not true?  So why do new cars continue to be delivered with pictograms AND English-only labeling on the dashboard?
Why is it that in Quebec, new cars can be delivered with English-only dashboards, while TOY CARS cannot be delivered with play dashboards in English? Such is the nonsensical world of the OQLF.

Perhaps it is because big car companies have told the OQLF to piss off, that if the Quebec government demands special labeling for Quebec bound new cars, consumers would have to pay hundreds of dollars extra to pay for it, with the specter of Quebecers buying cheaper cars in Ontario, a frightening scenario that would lead to, you guessed it, the need for more restrictive laws, banning the practice.

At any rate, I will again remind readers that in 2001 the OQLF received a legal opinion that any attempt to force modifications on copyrighted trademarks would violate international copyright law.
The OQLF continues to perpetrate this myth, refusing to comment on the controversy, preferring to ignore realty like a toddler sticking her fingers in her ears, shouting "I CAN'T HEAR YOU! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!'

So once this false premise is offered as one of the cornerstones of these language reports, the conclusions become tainted, or as they say in court, "The fruit of the poisonous tree"

In the Highlights report, we are told that 72% of downtown businesses are, according to the OQLF, in complete compliance with the law, including the store name and the interior and exterior signage.

Then we are told that 83% of stores have a store name that conforms to the  law, meaning of course, that 17% of downtown store have 'illegal' store names.

I don't have any problem with that data set, it seems reasonable, because many American chain stores with English names are well-represented downtown.

But if one was to eliminate the question of French descriptors and illegal English names, one could conclude that downtown stores are 90% in compliance with the law, a fair difference with the 72% that the OQLF asserts.

And so we come to the second part of my concern, the question that the OQLF conveniently fails to answer.
Of the 10% who are in non-compliance, what percentage of signs are illegal?

The OQLF inundates us with all kinds of useless information, but NEVER TELLS US what is their interpretation of the threshold of being compliant nor non-compliant.

Does one illegal sign in a store with 300 signs make a store non-compliant?
It's crucial information that the OQLF omits, probably on purpose, because the answer sadly, is yes.

According to the OQLF, one illegal sign in a 10, 50, 100 or 500, makes the store non-compliant.

It's like writing a test with 100 questions and flunking because you got 99 questions right and one wrong.
It hardly seems fair that a store like Best Buy is considered non-compliant because of its name, when the 500 or so signs in the premises, all respect the criteria set out by French language signage regulations.

Of all the information provided in all the reports, never once does the OQLF tell us how many signs it counted and how many signs were were non-compliant.
While the OQLF is determined to tell us what path inspectors walked in the stores they visited, they won't tell us the number of 'legal' and 'illegal' signs they observed. Clearly they have something to hide.

Failure to disclose the most important data set  can only be construed as an attempt to misconstrue and mislead, like a clever con man dealing out a hand of 'Three Card Monte."
The misdirection is in and of itself a disgraceful testament to the OQLF's duplicity and dishonesty.

Readers this is no accident, presenting the information honestly would likely show less than 1% of signs are illegal, not a number that the OQLF is keen to publicize.
Instead, the OQLF tells us how many stores have at least one illegal sign, a dishonest and manipulative way to goose the numbers.

By the way readers, I did my own downtown sign inspection and will report on Wednesday.
The results are absolutely startling, so don't miss it.

And by the way, here's one nugget that I found in the report that I found extremely interesting and sad.

It seems that the OQLF inspected certain stores in 2010 and then inspected the exact same stores again in 2012, to determine the differences in terms of compliance with the language laws, over the two years.

The OQLF reports that a stunning 17% of these stores were now closed, no longer in business, this in just two short years!

But far as the OQLF is concerned, it doesn't matter a twig, its only concern is whether the stores followed the law in respect to signage......

"Closing Sale" or "Bankruptcy sale"

NO WAY!!!

"Vente de fermeture" or "Vente de Faillite"

That's much, much better!!

French versus English Volume 56

Too bad they didn't handcuff his mouth as well!

After arrests, Khadir family embraces its anarchist roots

Not to be outdone by his nineteen year-old daughter, Yalda, who's been arrested a couple of times for various actions in relation to the student demonstrations, Amir Khadir took part in an illegal demonstration and got himself arrested.
He practically begged police to arrest him...Hear him taunt the police.

Explaining that his act of civil disobedience was justified in the face of an unjust law, he compared himself to Martin Luther King and Gandhi...
Really?.... Khadir in the same company as Gandhi and MLK?
Methinks he is starting to become a self-important, pompous ass and I doubt they'll be erecting a statue to his name any time soon! Story of the arrest.

Unfortunately for Khadir, he was slapped with a $495 plus fine for blocking traffic instead of what he had been hoping for, a charge with disobeying Bill 78, which is clearly more heroic than fighting a traffic ticket.

At any rate, he was roasted in a radio interview by the loathsome Benoit Dutrizac, who saw the danger in this new rational of civil disobedience, fretting that Anglos could use the same justification to disobey Bill 101. 

The interview was precious, as Khadir tried to explain that what is sauce for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander.   

Telling the interviewer that his group was justified in disobeying the law because they were in the right while the Anglos are not justified in disobeying Bill 101 because they are in the wrong, Dutrizac mocked him mercilessly for his magical thinking.

If you understand French, you're going to laugh your ass off, as Dutrizac shows him up for a fool. Listen to Radio EGO

"When injustice becomes the law, resistance is a duty"

By the way, Papa Khadir has a way to go to catch up to his daughter, who is turning out to be quite the anarchist. She was arrested  once again yesterday in a sweep by police looking for the perpetrators of the vandalism of the offices of Liberal cabinet minister Line Beauchamp and those who were responsible for the metro smoke bombs. According to ace crime reporter Claude Poirier, Yalda's fingerprints were found in the premises of the office of the minister. Yikes!
In relation to her arrest, the Khadir residence was the subject of a search warrant and was given a good going through..
The Khadirs have clearly given up all pretenses of being law-abiding citizens as the sign on their front door attests.
As policy, I don't usually publish pictures of private residences of public figures, but the Khadirs have made their stoop a billboard promoting anarchy. I have however blurred out the address and will omit to name the street.
How badly do cops want to send a Khadir off to the Clink? ....very much so. Dunno.....

It's a developing story.   Read the story
Further reading;  Amir-Khadir has lot to hide

Separatists not ready to share.

Our good friend Pierre Curzi once again demonstrated that he's a dreamer and political novice by calling for the three separatists parties to join forces in the next provincial election in order to fight the Liberals of Jean Charest. In an open letter printed in the Devoir, he suggested that;

Marois turning her nose up at a coalition

"The purpose of this call is to join forces to promote the election of a progressive and democratic government.
Why join the forces? 

Because the division of votes, especially among francophones, promotes the re-election of the Liberal Party. An ultra dynamic coalition vote would allow abstainers to participate, who are the only ones who can put the Liberals in opposition."

Let's be honest, he's probably right and his idea holds merit, so it isn't any surprise that Pauline Marois rejected the idea out of hand. She must have failed sharing in kindergarten.
Her cavalier decision to keep the separatist vote split sparked the ire of certain diehards who called her decision 'pitiful' and called for her replacement. Link{Fr}

Job Discrimination 'no big deal'

Last year I told you about an educated  francophone Muslim who applied for many a civil service job, only to see his application consigned to the scrap heap. Wondering if it was his obviously Arabic name which was the problem, he sent in two nearly identical applications, one altered to hide the fact that he was an immigrant.
Lo an behold the 'non-immigrant' application received an offer for an interview, while the true application with the Muslim name was passed over.
To make a long story short, he sued and won a settlement for discrimination.
Did the agency take corrective action or even apologize?
What do you think?
As far as the offending government agency was concerned, the fine was just the 'cost of doing business.'

Well a new report prepared by the government's Human Rights Agency tells us that things haven't changed much.

"It sadly comes as no surprise to learn that people with foreign-sounding names have significantly less chance of getting even a job interview, never mind the job, than those with typically Québécois monikers.

A study released this week by the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission found that Quebecers with “Québécois-de-souche” names such as Tremblay or Bouchard are 64 per cent more likely to get invited to a job interview than those with names like Traoré or Ben Amin, even if their qualifications are identical.  Read the rest of the story    Alternate Link

Now one would think that this report would be received with a certain measure of shock and concern but it's hardly the case, the story made hardly a ripple.

Here's the attitude that most Quebecers adhere to;

Census figures augur poorly for Quebec

"Quebec's growth rate pales beside Alberta's (10.8 per cent) and Saskatchewan's (6.7 per cent). At 4.7 per cent, it was only 0.4 per cent higher than the 4.3-per-cent rate it recorded during the period measured by the previous census. Meanwhile, Yukon's rate doubled, as did Manitoba's.

As a result, Quebec's share of the overall Canadian population declined from 23.9 per cent in 2006 to 23.6 per cent in 2011.

During that same period, Quebec sustained a net loss of 50,000 residents to interprovincial migration - though the most recently measured annual net outflow, for 2010, was down to 3,244, much better than during the first two years of the census period, when the net loss was nearly triple that.It is also notable that Montreal does not rank among the 15 fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the country, and it is small comfort that Quebec City comes in at No. 14." Read more : ALTERNATE LINK

Francophones watch and listen to English media.

"Earlier this month, Cineplex launched “Les jeudis sans doublage” (no-dubbing Thursdays), in several theaters across Québec. “Your favorite actors! Their real voices!” claims Cineplex’s website.

Several movie theatres have featured films in their original English version in the Montreal area. However, the marketing program “Les jeudis sans doublage” brings them to theatres that, so far, have been catering to mostly francophone audiences: in the Montreal suburbs of Dorion and Delson, in the Québec City area, and in the towns of Victoriaville, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, and Sherbrooke. “A good part of our audience has expressed an interest in seeing the latest productions in their original English version” explained Daniel Séguin, vice-president for Eastern Canada and general manager in Québec at Cineplex Entertainment in a press release."

Proving the point that you cannot legislate taste. I can only imagine the outrage and sense of betrayal over at the militant language organizations...
To Mario Beaulieu et als, I can only remind them that ...."The heart wants what the heart wants"

Adding salt to the wound, Francophones also make up the majority of listeners of Montreal English FM radio stations because these stations are not subject to language restrictions.
French stations must play a majority of French music according to CRTC rules, an extreme handicap that they've complained about over the years. The rule's disparity gives their English competitors a BIG advantage.
Such is the perverse result of regulations designed to legislate personal behavior and taste.
Read the rest of the story

How pitiful is this....

I've always maintained that French language militant groups are vastly over-exposed in the press, garnering disproportionate media exposure

For this reason, membership figures are a closely guarded secret, but the Mouvement Laval français let the cat out of the bag.

The Laval version of the MQF, was created last November to save Laval from the scourge of English, but it hasn't exactly attracted a big following.

According to Manon Arsenault, the president of Mouvement Laval français, it's membership is but a handful of people. Link{Fr}

It has set the rather ambitious goal of attracting 250 members and raising $2,500.

This in Quebec's second largest city with a population of over 400,000 people.

Good luck with that.

Holocaust survivor makes stunning gift to Montreal museum.

A Jewish Holocaust survivor donated a $75 million art collection as a “thank you for everything” that Montreal, Quebec and Canada had offered his family.
This gift is in addition  to the $50 million the Hornsteins had already donated . Read the story

This week I took a walking tour of downtown Montreal in preparation for Monday's post and I noticed that the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has both the English and French versions of the name of the museum equally displayed outside the building, something rare these days in Montreal.

Could it be that that the overwhelming majority of patrons and donators are Anglophones?

Weekend Reading

A while back I wrote a somewhat prescient article declaring Montreal the riot capital of North America. Read it HERE
Kristian of Coolopolis has a nice piece about some of the more obscure riots that have taken place in Montreal.
Read: Obscure riots from the city's past.

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

Funniest interview of an anti-government protestor . See it HERE in French

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

Here's an interesting retrospective of West Hill high school by a Montreal ex-pat living in Vancouver . Link

Thought of the week

Background:

"Concordia University students who blocked others from attending classes and exams during the now four-month-old “student strike” protests will face sanctions, reports the Montreal Gazette."

The university’s Office of Rights and Responsibilities has charged a number of students under the Code of Rights and Responsibilities and will try them this month. Sanctions may include payment for damaged property, community service, suspension or expulsion, a university spokesperson has said.  Link

  Given that Concordia has taken action against certain students who disrupted classes, it's entirely possible that francophone schools will also take action.

UQAM remedy?----Extra Credit. 

Readers:

Don't miss Monday's post which I am in the process of putting together this weekend.

In response to the OQLF report about English signage in downtown Montreal, I set out for myself to see if their conclusions were accurate.

For hours, I walked the streets of several blocks in the downtown 'English' core, entering each store and recording what I saw, exacting a very detailed study of the signs.

 As you can imagine, my version of the truth is far from that of the OQLF.

In the meantime have a very good weekend.  

Très bon week end à tous !!

Canada Desperate For a Revitalized Liberal Party.

 Long time readers of this blog know that I am not a Federal Liberal Party supporter and never have been.
I like to consider myself a small 'c' Conservative and was happy to see Stephen Harper elected with a majority.

That being said I believe that the country is desperate for the rebirth and relaunch of a Liberal Party to act as a counterweight to the more and more dogmatic and narrow agenda driven Conservatives, who seem to be emboldened by the lack of opposition.
With a vacum created in the political center and left of center, it's no surprise that the country has turned to the NDP as the only credible opposition to the Conservative juggernaut, something that scares me as much as a runaway Stephen Harper.

So what the heck are the Liberals waiting for?

Jean Chretien-Helmet Backwards, but forward thinking?

There's something to be said for a political party taking some time to lick the wounds of an election smack down, but that time has come and gone and if the Liberals don't do something soon, they will be consigned to the scrap heap of history, a footnote in the Canadian Encyclopedia.

Time seems to be running out and there doesn't seem to be anyone in the Liberal party, the least bit concerned.

I firmly believe that between Harper and Mulcair, a great many Canadians, perhaps even a majority, are now looking for a kinder and gentler version of the two dogmatists, someone who won't bash Quebec or Alberta, a leader and a party that will represent Canadians from coast to coast.

In the meantime, the Liberals are content to go through the motions, openly admitting that they are treading water in anticipation of a new leadership convention after a period of rebuilding.

The problem is that there doesn't appear to be much rebuilding going on..

Even worse, is the insipid Bob Rae, the 'temporary' leader that represents the old guard, everything that was rejected by Canadians in the last election.

I honestly don't understand how the Liberal base tolerates such mediocrity at the top, a leader that is bound like Moses to wander through the opposition benches for forty years.

Where are the political strategists, have they also fled the party or are they being constrained as I fear, by the Bob Rae forces who are stalling as long as they can, until the party has nothing left at all, giving him a chance at permanent leadership?

At any rate, if the Liberals are to survive, they need to stop acting like losers and project an image of confidence, instead of the aura that surrounds the party now, that of a bunch of sadsacks going through the motions.

Solution? Your editor is never short of advice...

Get rid of Bob Rae, an albatross that represents not leadership, but losership.

Marc Garneau- The Right Stuff

Elect a new leader quickly, someone with impeccable national credentials, someone who projects integrity, honesty and trustworthiness, even if he isn't a political heavyweight.

To that end, no better candidate appears than Montreal's Marc Garneau, an ex astronaut that proudly wore the Canadian flag on his arm.

"Born in February 1949 in Quebec City, Canada. He received his early education in Quebec City and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu in Quebec and in London, England. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Physics from the Royal Military College of Kingston in 1970, and a Doctorate in Electrical Engineering from the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, England, in 1973. He attended the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College of Toronto in 1982-1983. Read the rest of his biography, you will be impressed!

Handsome and flawlessly bilingual, his election as a leader would preserve the fine Liberal Party tradition of alternating leadership between anglophones and francophones.

Mr. Garneau is the right choice to rebuild the party, he doesn't have to create or sell a comprehensive national policy, he has to project an image that the Liberals have returned as the party of national unity, a force of inclusion, not exclusion and a party where dogmatic left and right wing policies are not welcome.

It isn't a hard message to sell, I think many Canadians are ripe for the picking, especially in southern Ontario, where the voter's decision to support the Conservatives in the last election is one that many have come to regret.
Here is where Mr. Garneau can easily sell himself and his party as a solid alternative to the politics of the extreme, as practiced by Harper and Mulcair.

Mr. Garneau also has the right stuff to regain a base in Quebec, his integrity and reputation will help Quebecers forget the humiliation of the Sponsorship scandal.
For the majority of Quebecers, a return to the Liberals can happen, it is just a question of some healing time and a new and trustworthy leader.

For the ROC, even in the West, I believe that Garneau is an acceptable leader, considering his history as an astronaut with unimpeachable bone fides as a loyal Canadian.
A good "Frenchie" so to speak....ahem.

It's time for the Liberals to sell themselves for what they always were, a middle of the road party that serves the interests of all Canadians without pitting one region off against another.

As I said from the onset, I'm not a supporter, but as a strategist, I would encourage the Liberals to play on their strengths.
It's time to remind voters that it was the Liberals under Jean Chretien (no intellectual giant) that balanced the budget, unlike the present Conservatives who have blown the wad despite a false reputation as prudent fiscalists.
It was the Liberals that avoided the catastrophe of involvement in the war in Iraq, standing up to the unrelenting pressure of the Americans.
It's true that they got us involved in Afghanistan, but that was a NATO issue, which meant that not sending troops would mean abandoning NATO itself, something no government could have undertaken at the time.

If the Liberals are to be a force once again in Canadian politics, it's time to act now.
Like a bottle of wine, there is such a thing as being over-aged.

A new leader with an impeccable record of integrity and service to this country, coupled with a simple message of inclusion rather than confrontation, is the ticket to success

The road to salvation is sometimes uncomplicated, taking the first step and making the commitment to follow through is the hard part.

The Liberal Party has a choice.....move forward or die.