Tuesday, September 4, 2012
ELECTION REACTION- SOUND OFF
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Monday, September 3, 2012
When Government Teaches Hate
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| Hate & intolerance are everywhere, but this this Toronto's reaction. |
What can we say or how can we describe a society where an eleven year old girl with Down Syndrome can be imprisoned for the blasphemy of insulting Islam.
I'm sure every separatist who is proposing a kinder and gentler version of the Pakistani blasphemy law, will tell you that what they propose is in no way the same.
They will tell you that the Quebec law is about projecting a neutral government attitude towards religion, but like laws in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan and other
As Henry Ford purportedly said, "Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black."
The Parti Quebecois' proposed Charter of Secularism may be a kinder and gentler version, but its intentions is the same, to make everybody adhere to the government's view of what a citizen must believe, how they may behave, and what they may look like.
The promises that the secular provision of the proposed law, the one that would ban 'ostentatious' religious regalia, would apply only to public and para-public employees is so ludicrous, that I hardly believe that the separatists believe it themselves.
Let me take you back forty-eight years ago when the United State passed the Civil Rights act of 1964.
The law was more than groundbreaking, it was perhaps the greatest piece of legislation enacted since the Magna Carta, written almost eight hundred years earlier and which for the very first time limited the power of the King of England.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 enshrined the principle of equality and provided that the government, the military, those involved in interstate trade, or any organization funded by the government would be bound by the terms that outlawed major forms of discrimination against racial, ethnic, national and religious minorities and women.
Let us review that again, the law as first written applied to the government itself. Sound familiar?
It was a hard sell at the time and faced enormous pressure by the bigots and racists, of which there were plenty at the time, but eventually its principles were embraced by all of American society, not just those parts controlled by the government.
After all, if the government couldn't pay women less than men, if they couldn't hire based on colour, race religion or gender, why would it be acceptable outside of what the government controls and how could discrimination be tolerated at General Motors but not the Commerce department?
The principles of the Civil Rights Act became the values and principles of American society and eventually became the bedrock societal principles shared by every western democracy in the world.
That is the power of a great law and a great government bound and determined to set the proper example.
Just as the Civil rights Act of 1964 acted as a catalyst for positive change the Quebec charter of Secularism will act as a catalyst of discrimination.
After all, if the Quebec government can ban the hijab, why shouldn't Provigo?
As separatist politicians and militant secularists take their cue from the government and ratchet up the anti-English, anti-immigrant and anti-religion rhetoric, it is inevitable that the intolerance practised by the government will spread throughout Quebec society in general and very sadly we are already seeing those seeds of hate sprouting across the province.
Many posts ago I told about a silverhaired senior citizen haranguing a young Muslim cashier in a Canadian Tire store over the fact that she was wearing a hijab, according to the lecturer, a symbol of enslavement and subjugation.
All this in the checkout line in Canadian Tire!
A one-off? Hardly.
As the rhetoric of intolerance is ratcheted up by the PQ and language and secular militants, so too is the societal effect.
Speak French, this is Quebec!
Don't wear a Hijab, this is Quebec!
Don't wear a turban in public, this is Quebec!
Don't' you dare wear traditional dress in public, this is Quebec!
Here is an excerpt from a story about the subject that might interest you.
But the real story is a comment written in French under the story, read both;
"Where are Quebec’s progressives? Where are they when Marois suggests we completely overhaul our democracy to prevent people who don't speak the majority language from running for office? Where are they when Marois argues in favor of secularism for all — except those who practice the majority religion? Where is the progressive left when Saguenay mayor Jean Tremblay says:and now a translation of a comment left by reader Joanne Bonnici in French under the story.
"It's not the [secular] charter in and out of itself. It's having someone whose name I can't even pronounce come from Algeria, who doesn't understand our culture at all, but she's going to make the rules. And I know how soft Quebecers are — they'll all give in to her."
What is left when Marois backpedals because of pressure from some aboriginal rights groups, and somehow, remarkably, manages to be even more offensive, by singling out only newcomers to Quebec for her repressive, exclusionary legislation?
Imagine if Dalton McGuinty tried to pass a law saying only people proficient in English can run for office. Or worse, what if Harper tried to do the same? People would be losing their minds.
Didn't Jean Chrétien correctly state (in the context of the gay marriage debate), "The majority should never determine the rights of the minority"? The PQ completely ignores that fundamental ethical principle. She is promoting a Quebec where majority (mob) rules.
Marois and her party are unique political animals in Canada; parasitic, fear mongering, opportunistic chameleons whose favorite political weapon is inflaming the most base, carnal and grotesque instincts of the populace. Theirs is the politics of divine right, of L'Appel de la Race — the politics of who you are, not the more aspirational politics of where you want to go"
As my first language is French, and many of my friends are "Quebecois de souche," I understand and feel as well as them, the love and pride for this beautiful language and cultural heritage. Moreover, I was delighted to produce several movies and music CDs to present to my friends abroad. I thought the Quebecois culture and arts had greatly been refined in recent years and I'd feel great joy bragging about my surroundings internationally. What made me even more proud of our society, was the cultural diversity that we know to Montreal, we had evolved to preserve the French culture while living in harmony with people of all kinds of origins. I was so in love with my city of Montreal that I convinced friends to immigrate. I told them that the people here were friendly, open and warm. Upon arrival here, I invited these friends to celebrate the national holiday. I was surprised to see that when they spoke a few words in English, they were immediately greeted with comments like: "We are here in Quebec, French is spoken!" My friends are people with excellent French skills, they have completed their doctorate in Paris. They also speak Spanish and English. So I do not understand where this hostile comment came from, it is not an offense to speak more than one language.Here is a video taken this weekend of a couple being accosted in the street for doing nothing else but speaking English.
You may think that this is an exceptional situation. Unfortunately not. As I mentioned at the beginning, most of my friends are native French-speakers, but I also have many friends from different cultural backgrounds. Unfortunately, I witnessed such an attitude many times. I will always remember the incident concerning a friend from Australia who had decided to come and stay in Quebec. We were at a show and she told us something in her native language. A stranger turned and yelled at us like we were rotten fish, because she spoke English. The reason she came to Quebec was to learn French because she had married a Parisian. After a few such incidents, she left this country, finding people here rather hostile.
When I lived in Japan, my friend from Scotland thought to come to Quebec to improve his French, once she completed the acquisition of Japanese. I was encouraged. When she spoke to other Scottish friends, they advised her against the idea, explaining that Quebecers were hostile to the natives of the English language. I had to admit that this problem exists unfortunately.The truth is that I really thought the Quebec mentality had changed. I thought cases like those I just mentioned were the exception. When I came back here after my many years abroad, I was shocked to find that the problem had not disappeared, it had transformed, ... blown up I expect, over those dear 'reasonable accommodations." Link
Two francophones acting as a Quebec's version of the Iranian Basiji correct a couple for having the audacity of speaking English in the street.
It is chilling and it is here.
Welcome to Quebekistan.
I've never encouraged anyone to vote before, but will make an exception.Vote for the Liberals or CAQ, even if you are in a lost cause riding, it's important to keep the popular vote up.
Did you know that if every anglo and ethnic voted, instead of the 55% level as in the last election, the PQ could not win.
Do your part!
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I will be opening a special post tonight under which you can make comments in real time as the election progresses.
I know this is not a perfect chat room, you'll have to refresh, but it will give our community a place to interact just the same.
I will be moderating and jumping in from time to time. Starts 8:00 PM
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Friday, August 31, 2012
How to Ruin a Long Weekend
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| Will Pauline be smiling on Tuesday? |
Usually Labour Day signifies the end of summer and perhaps it is prescient and symbolic that the glory days of summer are ending, morphing into Fall and onto the dreary days of Winter.
It's always sad when the summer ends, it's even sadder when political uncertainty becomes a certainty.
I don't know what a prisoner feels as he shuffles off to the gallows, but it must be emotions like these.
The palpable sense of doom, a stomach wrenching pit that is shared by most of us, making us feel as if we are that infernal 'Dead man walking.'
I shudder to think what five years of Pauline Marois will bring. Think of the idiots she brings along, like Drainville and Lisée, two fools who couldn't run a deppaneur.
Imagine these idiots trifling with your lives, it's enough to make one vomit.
The sad truth of the matter is that all the corruption in the world cannot hold a match to the financial disaster that awaits us as the unions, the students, and government workers run riot as Pauline empties the public purse to satisfy her constituency of takers.
One thing an election campaign provides, is a window where we can look in and see how extraordinarily stupid our politicians are, operating without the support of the real people who operate the government, the deputy ministers who wave their political bosses off one bonehead move from another.
The opposition doesn't even benefit from this sage advice and so, are ever more so prone to uttering political non sequiturs as demonstrated by Pauline, who delivered one stupidity after another.
And so it is always dangerous when politicians veer off from the neatly prepared text that their handlers work so diligently to prepare and ad lib their own thoughts, which more often than not, shows them to be even more dimwitted than we thought.
Even Jean Charest, who I personally know to be highly intelligent with a fearsome memory is not immune to fits of fancy.
Every time a major politician speaks, there is a handler standing in the back, crossing his or her fingers that the candidate not speak their mind.
A wonderful idea if the government actually offered each of these doctors a job and I'm not talking about a job in Ungava Bay.
Most doctors leave BECAUSE THEY CANNOT GET A JOB!
It is sad that someone running for the top job does not know this.
And so we are faced with how to vote and for those off the island, voting for the CAQ may mean the difference between a PQ seat or CAQ seat.
On the island it doesn't make a difference as the Liberal puppets will be re-elected no matter what.
If federalist forces realize that the Liberal's goose is cooked, then a switch to the CAQ is merited, it may be the only strategy left.
Let us run down Tuesday's possibilities;
SCENARIO #1 - A PQ MAJORITY
No doubt, the worst case scenario for us, but one where the Peekists will find in short order that while language issues got them elected, economic issues will be their undoing.
Once they get their oats off passing restrictive language legislation, the true disaster of Quebec's financial situation will bear down.
The elephant in the room is not only the debt, but the deficit.
While every political party based their budgetary program on the prediction that Quebec's economy would grow at about 2.5%, it isn't happening.
This year's predicted deficit of under two billion is close to being reached, this just four months into the year, as economic growth is actually in negative territory, something nobody will admit.
This means an additional two to three billion added to the deficit and if the PQ follows through with its election promises, another one or two billion would be added, bringing the total up to around six or seven billion, this year.
Like every incoming government before them, Pauline will take one look at the books and renege on the financial goodies package, claiming quite rightly that the Charest government lied about the finances and that the government cannot afford new spending.
As she seeks confrontation with Harper in the hope of riling up Quebecers and push them towards sovereignty, she will find the PM to be polite, but non-committal and as the old saying goes, it takes two to tango.
The real test will come in 2013 when the Equaliztion program is up for renegotiation. If the feds scrap the program it would mean another five or six billion dollar loss to the budget, meaning that Quebec may very well be faced with running a ten billion deficit and no Pauline, even taxing the rich people at 100% of their income won't fill that gap.
How Montreal's real estate market will react remains to be seen, but over the near term I can see the condo market collapsing and I wouldn't want to be in the shoes of the developers bringing all those new buildings to market over the next two years.
If the PQ is elected your west island home will be worth 25% less on Wednesday.
It'll be worse than all this, but more another time.
SCENARIO #2 - A PQ MINORITY
Here things get interesting.
A PQ minority could easily be defeated by a CAQ /Liberal coalition, a more likely scenario than the CAQ supporting the PQ for very long. Under the CAQ/Liberal coalition, Legault would become the PM as he'd likely be the leader of the party that has the most seats between the two, notwithstanding the fact that Jean Charest may well be defeated in his own riding.
A CAQ/Liberal coalition would probably string the PQ government along for a few months before pulling the plug over a budget, so as to be seen as trying to work with the government and not to appear arrogantly setting aside a PQ government chosen by the people.
Defeating the government would not result in a new election as long as the coalition advises the Lieutenant-Governor that there is a coalition that is prepared to form a government and able to face the National Assembly.
SCENARIO #3 - A CAQ MINORITY
A CAQ minority government would be akin to a CAQ majority government with the Liberals having no other choice but to support the government at all costs and for many years.
This is the position that Michael Ignatieff and the federal Liberals found themselves in, before the last federal election, which they foolishly triggered themselves.
The lessons of that election and the utter decimation of the Liberals will be a sharp reminder to Charest or his successor not to trifle with elections when you are on a downward spiral.
If things pan out as predicted in the polls, the Liberals will remain with a dozen or so seats, half of them English/Allo.
If that happens, it would be natural that they defect to the CAQ, or form a splinter Anglo/Allo rights party, thus finishing off the Liberal party once and for all, something that is needed if we want to avoid electing a separatist government with 30% of the vote.
SCENARIO #4 - A LIBERAL MINORITY
The most unlikely of all the possibilities but one that may very well happen.
If so, The Liberals would need to seek a solid partnership with the CAQ in order to preserve any semblance of sustainability.
In the end, this government can't last that long, the ambitious CAQ has nowhere to go but up.
By the way, if the PQ wins a majority government it will certainly be because of the split federalist vote, but a special honourable mention must go to Prime Minister Harper who went out of his way these last few years to alienate Quebec and punish Mr. Charest.
There are many Quebecois soft nationalists who feel abandoned and pushed around by Ottawa, discarded by Mr. Harper and it isn't just about money.
They may not want a referendum, but they do want someone to defend Quebec, something neither the Bloc or the Ndp were and are able to do.
If this view is shared by just 3-5 % of Quebec voters, it may be enough to give the PQ the victory.
Here's a ditty by Bowser and Blue, which has incorporated a couple of this blog's artwork.
I'm very proud; Please enjoy;
thanks to 'The Cat' for pointing the link out!
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
French versus English Volume 60
Dear Readers,
I've reversed the order of posts so that on Friday, I can offer an election wrap-up, for whatever it's worth.Facebook Campaign to save English cegep goes viral
“I am proud to have done my studies in English at
CEGEP St. Lawrence,” she wrote in French. “It’s one of the best
decisions that I took for my professional future and for my openness to
the world. I think that every Quebecer should be bilingual or at least
understand English, because it’s our SECOND OFFICIAL LANGUAGE and
because this language is necessary as soon as you put one foot outside
of Quebec.”
Lefrançois is apparently not the only person to share the sentiment. In the week since she posted it, her message had been “Liked” on Facebook 42,330 times as of Monday, and generated 5,400 comments, most of them supportive and most in French, much to Lefrançois’ amazement. Read More
Pauline tells another whopper
Pauline has given wings to the next great urban myth, that 25% of stores in downtown Montreal don't offer service in French.
Cobbling together and misinterpreting facts is the bane of separatists like Mario Beaulieu, the worst offender of the lot, mixing lies with twisted statistics, to misinform in an effort to fool the people.
Nowhere in the OLF report does it say how many stores refuse to offer French service, probably because the number is minuscule and limited to Ma and Pa operations when there is one clerk in the store.
Of the 25% of stores that 'violate' Bill 101, three-quarters of the offences are because their corporate name is English, something that remains a bone of contention.
According to Marois, if all of the thousands of signs, product labels, bills, etc., in the store are in complete agreement with the law, the store is still an offender because of its English name.
That is what this blueneck is telling us..
Trying to rehabilitate his name Michaud runs afoul of the law
Michaud reminds me of that sweet old cracker down in the deep south, who tells the family at the dinner table that he isn't a racist, it's just a fact that the 'darkies' are thick.
Michaud was cited for his remarks in a radio interview where he complained that the Jews voted against sovereignty en masse and intimated that they were bad citizens of Quebec for doing so. According to Michaud, if they were good citizens, a good number of them would have voted for sovereignty.
Nope, he's definitely not a racist...hmm.
At any rate he's been trying to get that motion overturned, without much success for over the last twelve years.
His latest gambit is to implore voters not to support the dozen or so members of the National Assembly, who voted for the motion and who are running in the current election
He placed an advertisement in Le Devoir encouraging voters not to vote for these 'enemies,' but along the way, he broke the election law by paying for a political ad outside the election rules.
It is an open and shut case and when he is found guilty and fined, he'll probably have as much success overturning his conviction as he has had in overturning the National Assembly censure! Link{Fr}
My advice; Do a Lance Armstrong...
French parents forced to speak English to their children
Because the case workers don't speak French, they cannot monitor what is being said between parent and child, part of their mandate to make sure there is nothing untoward being said.
Some affected parents have offered to bring along an interpreter at their own expense but have been denied the right based of the principle that the interpreter might be in cahoots with the parent. Link{Fr}
The reporter who wrote the story refers to it as a case of 'Speak White,' a term I dislike but admit is appropriate in this case.
The view from Algeria
You are not doubt familiar with the story of the Saguenay mayor who insulted a PQ candidate who opined that the crucifix in the National Assembly be removed. The good mayor fumed that the foreign born Djemila Benhabib with an unpronounceable name, had no business telling 'real' Quebecers how to live. LinkWell, the story was picked up across the world and was the subject of a story in a French language Algerian newspaper.
The story was run of mill, but the comments were rather amusing.
Here's my favourite;
"I lived in Montreal for nearly ten years (what a waste!)
Fellow citizens, understand that Canada/Quebec is a utopia where as soon as you put your foot down, you don't have long to wait to see the evidence that discrimination is palpable and no matter what your qualifications, there is no work for you. Work is reserved for the locals.
The Quebecois do not like immigrants, nor the English nor Americans, in short they like nobody.
I heard the expression: "go home," often.
As soon as you arrive, you are fitted in to the process of becoming completely and totally dependent on the Quebec government, which provides a monthly check, just shabby enough not to die from hunger." Link{Fr}
Stephen Harper won't help Charest
Well, it probably is a little or rather a lot of both.
It's easy to see that in the face of a separatist Quebec government, Canadians would turn to somebody solid and rock hard to face off with a separatist Premier.
Nobody fits the bill better than Stephen Harper.
Would anybody really trust 'Uncle Tom' Mulcair to defend the interests of the ROC?
Harper must be whistling in the shower these days!
Charest does his own spinnerama
Like the good Pauline who was forced to retract some foolish remarks she made concerning Quebec citizenship, Charest climbed down from that position, less than 48 hours later. Link
Ex-MP Marlene Jennings told Anglos that perhaps it was time to vote CAQ, something that caught Charest by surprise, as if Anglos don't read the French Press and were somehow unaware of the betrayal.
Yesterday he clarified things by saying he'd ask the Feds to increase the use of French, not to impose Bill 101.
Well, that made everything clear!
Odds'n Ends
Pauline is upset that the next Supreme Court judge will be picked by Stephen Harper and that the committee helping him make the selection includes notorious separatist-bater Stephane Dion.
Madame Marois would like a veto over any such choice. Link{Fr}
Some Francophones are complaining that they are paying for the education of Anglophones because many Anglophones take their education and promptly quit the province, in other words doing what I have dubbed as a 'mistersauga' Link{Fr}
Jacques Parizeau continues the fine tradition of PQ infighting:
"Former Parti Québécois premier Jacques Parizeau’s has publicly endorsed Jean-Martin Aussant, the Globe and Mail reports. Mr. Aussant is the leader of the Option Nationale, a newly-founded sovereigntist party that is challenging the PQ in a number of “blue” ridings, by snubbing Pauline and the PQ, supporting the Option Nationale. LINK
I really don't know what to make of the Quebec solidaire candidate Christian Bibeau, running in Sherbrooke, who pointed out that 5,000 people living in that city don't have Canadian citizenship and that 10% of them don't speak French.
Sherbrooke and vicinity has a population of around two-hundred thousand, making those who aren't 'Canadian' about 2½% of the population and those that can't speak French at .025% or about 500 out of the the 200,000 citizens.
Hardly a crisis, one would think.. Link{Fr}
Quebecers as lousy tippers?
According to ABC News, some restaurants in Burlington, Vt., are tacking on at least 18 per cent to the food bills of diners who speak a foreign language – and by foreign language, they mean French. As the broadcaster points out, the Vermont town is less than 160 kilometres from Montreal and attracts plenty of Canadian visitors each summer. And it appears we Canadians are considered lousy tippers.
English CEO makes waves
"Quebec’s language hawks are bearing down on the selection of a non-French speaker to lead SNC-Lavalin Inc., barely three days after he was named to the job.
American Robert Card, an engineering veteran with almost 40 years
experience, was announced as SNC’s new chief executive after markets
closed Friday. He starts on October 1.
French language rights group Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste denounced
the selection, calling it “deplorable” that Mr. Card, an American who
doesn’t speak French, was chosen to lead one of Quebec’s largest and
most storied companies." LinkHere's an article that isn't about Quebec or Canada, but is extremely pertinent;
Can speaking a second language make you a better leader?
ATTENTION: If you read French please do the author the courtesy of reading the original work;
Détester l’anglais: l’obsession de la pureté linguistique
HATING ENGLISH by Joanne Marcotte
In his column: CEGEP? It’s urgent!, Bock-Côté once again demonstrates his deep aversion to English... as well as to anglophones.
Oh yes. He is quite right when he stresses that some people "accuse others of practising anglophobia." And if such is the case, dear Mathieu, it is because we are reduced to this. No other justification can explain such hysterical comments.
According to Bock-Côté, extending Bill 101 to CEGEPs is a result of “Quebecers’ assertion of their identity."
Umm ... is “Quebecers’ identity” now defined as 'unilingual French?'
Sorry, but suppressing the freedom of young adults to attend English CEGEPs has nothing to do with "identity assertion". It has to do with typically tribal behaviour. It has to do with fear and especially with the contempt and the intrinsic lack of confidence towards allophones, who have already done all of their primary and secondary education in French, thanks to Bill 101.
According to Bock-Côté, "CEGEP is no longer simply an additional step in the schooling of youth. One does not simply select an occupation there. One selects a social environment there. "
Umm ... no....
In real life, last time I checked, when students choose a CEGEP and a study program, they are choosing an occupation. And if they happen to choose an English CEGEP, it's probably because they want to increase their chances of social mobility, to access better jobs.
Oh, I well know where this idea that CEGEP attendance constitutes a threat to French linguistic purity comes from (see here what I think of this supposed study). But coming from someone like Bock-Côté, who so loudly criticized the way the Ministry of Education technocrats have appropriated the educational system, one can only deplore that this same man now appropriates the powers of the state to convert the francophones and allophones of Quebec into unilingual francophones!
According to Bock-Côté, "this is a case of adapting Bill 101 to the demands of our times"!
Umm ... no. If we wanted to "adapt Bill 101 to the demands of our times", we should rather leave it alone. In the real world, especially that in which people work in private companies with customers outside Quebec, English is not only necessary but is absolutely required for the survival of the company.
Finally, for Bock-Côté, "hysterical anti-nationalism is back in fashion", “English threatens French” (as opposed to the poor quality of the teaching of French that is taught in our public schools ...), "the multicultural ideology discredits the Quebec identity", and brace yourselves, we are witnessing the "return of an old fad: Speak White, boy! And don’t you dare complain! "
HATING QUEBECERS
But what is most distressing in all of this, is the unfairness of this tightening of Bill 101, primarily towards the regions but also towards low-income families. Indeed, while opportunities to learn English may be greater in Montreal (which is debatable), in the regions, it is a whole other story.
And then, there is little doubt that parents with solid incomes will find a way around the new ban, perhaps by English immersion, for example.
"Born without a pot to piss in”, or the stoic acceptance of one's modest circumstances and the idea not to aspire above one's station in life is what we used to say once upon a time. Such is what linguistic obsessions are all about. Stifling Quebecers, making their lives harder than need be, harming their potential for social mobility ... that is what truly self-loathing Quebecers are all about!
"Sacrificing all for the country", as Bock-Côté states from his ivory tower.
HATING FREEDOM and HARMING ONE’S CAUSE
Bock-Côté wrote a whole essay that demonstrates how separatists have hurt their own cause by associating themselves with the obsolete concept of social democracy. Well, I'll let him in on a little secret. There is another reason for this that is just as important and it is this obsession with linguistic purity that francophones have. It’s tedious ... honestly. And it certainly doesn’t give any confidence to those who are planning a new imaginary country for us.
Thank-you to 'THE CAT' for contributing this translation.
How about this ad from the fledgling Conservative party of Quebec?;
You gotta love the welfare bum!!!
Monday, August 27, 2012
Thirty-five Years of Hate
Reading through our comments section, it's easy to see that these feelings are not mine alone, they run deeply throughout our community and although we share a common dread, the suffering is borne by each of us on a very personal level.
The spectre of yet another government dedicated to the eradication of our community and the sense of betrayal and abandonment we feel by our federal government, a government which is supposed to protect the rights of all Canadians, makes the situation all the more unbearable.
As those in the Rest of Canada throw their hands up in frustration, telling Quebec in effect to separate if they wish, the one million or so English Canadians here are fed to the wolves, given up upon, as if we don't matter at all.
While Canadians were gung-ho to fight for freedom and justice in Afghanistan, here at home we Canadians appease separatists with the zeal of Neville Chamberlain and the backbone of Marshall Pétain.
Alas, that is our lot, if we are to survive here as a community, we will have to take some hard decisions soon. Nobody will defend us but ourselves.
The separatists are determined to enact more and more restrictive and discriminatory laws in the hope that we will fold our tents as in the past, pack up and quit our homes.
They could be right and then again, they just might be wrong, time will tell.
Whatever the future brings, it is clear that fighting for our community here under this separatist government will mean more than using political resistance, where we have been dispossessed.
The student movement showed us how a system can be brought to its knees with the mildest exercise of civil disobedience, but this discussion is premature, I shall shelve it to a time when it becomes appropriate.
Today, as we anglos and Ethnics wait for the shoe of renewed persecution to drop, ethnocentric haters celebrate the 35th anniversary of Bill 101, a law conceived in hate and dedicated to the principle that all men are created unequal.
The majority of Quebecers hold that Bill 101 is a necessary evil, a law needed to keep the English and Ethnic barbarians from breaching the gate and running riot over French language and culture.
They can be forgiven for thinking that they are in mortal danger, an unrelenting propaganda campaign has massaged this message and fed the lie for these last thirty-five years.
But there are those who take an absolute delight in Bill 101 and the concept of torturing those who are not like them, those who they believe, have no place among them.
Bill 101 is a law that was conceived and written by Camille Laurin, a man consumed by a visceral hatred of the English, a man as cunning and evil as Joesph Goebells, the author of the antisemitic campaign by the Nazis, seventy-five years ago.
Bill 101 sets out to promote and preserve the French language by restricting the rights of all to speak English.
It is like taking food off one plate and putting it on another, under the guise that one party is supposedly more deserving or hungry.
Bill 101 puts the onus and blame for whatever ills exist or which are perceived, in relation to the French language, squarely on the English and Ethnics.
Those wishing to preserve and promote French believe that forcing immigrants into the French stream is the answer.
They believe that restricting the English from expressing themselves publicly is the answer.
They are wrong.
Let me offer a simple solution that will guarantee not only the preservation, but even assure the dominance of the French language in Quebec.
Instead of telling Anglos and Ethnics to sacrifice, French Quebecers can do something to save their language and culture themselves.
HAVE MORE CHILDREN!
If militants are so determined to save French, all that is required is to have more children.
If every second French Quebec woman would bear three children instead of the current 1.7, there would be no problem.
There would be no need of immigrants at all and with the English population stable, VOILA! the French fact in Quebec would naturally rise.
So why is not one French militant calling for this rather neat and simple solution, one that would entirely eliminate the need for immigrants?
Sacrifice......
Readers, it has to do with sacrifice, something francophones are not willing to do to preserve their language and culture.
For them, it is far easier to ask others, the English and Ethnics to sacrifice for them.
To all you sanctimonious zealots celebrating the anniversary of Bill 101, understand it is a law that exists because you have failed to protect your language.
You haven't lifted a finger to help yourselves, it is like asking someone else to exercise for you or study and take your exams, all because you cannot be bothered.
Why should we Anglos and Ethnics be asked to sacrifice, when francophones are too lazy and disinterested to save their own culture and language?
To paraphrase the great American president John Kennedy, the credo by which French language militants live by is;
"Ask not what you can do for your country, ask what the English and Ethnics can do for you!"
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