Marie Malavoy is Quebec's Worst Nightmare

"I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too...ha ha ha!"

There's nothing more dangerous than entrusting  political power to the dogmatically driven, those special ideologues who believes with the conviction of a born again preacher that theirs is the only true and righteous path to salvation. 

In keeping with the fledgling Marois government's policy of leaping before looking, education minister Marie Malavoy decided to propose sweeping changes to the education system, without as much as a  how-do-dee to those in the education ministry and without  the slightest consideration for what parents want.

You'd think that after the disastrous spectacle of Finance Minister Nicolas Marceau's political cha-cha-cha (one step forward, two steps back) wherein he jumped the gun by introducing an ill-conceived plan to eliminate the Health tax, only to completely backtrack, Pauline would instruct her ministers to cool it until they better understood the consequences of the proposed policy.

But improvisation seems to suit Marois and it seems that no such instruction has been given to ministers, including Malavoy who will most likely suffer the same fate as the finance minister, when the public roars its disapproval.

Already howls of resistance are being raised and this on the francophone side where Malavoy is trying to put a sovereigntist and anti-English bent in the education of francophone children, despite overwhelming parental support for the wider teaching of English.

And so Madame Malavoy is rushing to restrict English in the early grades and is set to re-examine (and likely reverse) the not-yet implemented plan to give grade six students a half year taught exclusively in English as well as implementing other measures meant to indoctrinate and politicize students towards the PQ way of thinking.

Parents are not at all amused and the media is giving her a thorough and ferocious lashing, concluding quite rightly that Malavoy is setting the education department to a partisan separatist agenda.

This cartoon by the talented political cartoonist YGRECK says it all;

"Repeat after me : We Salute you Pauline"          Thanks to R.S. for the link.

Now if there is any doubt we are witnessing the imposition of a separatist school agenda, Malavoy was quite blunt in setting us straight. She didn't even mince words or try to soft peddle the notion, telling reporters that the curriculum should be modified to expose children to the ''national question' and that schools should be emphasizing Quebec history more.

The subject of broaching the 'national question' in class evoked quite a reaction in the press, so much so that the question of the new emphasis on Quebec history was largely overshadowed.

When I saw our good friend Gilles Proulx railing on television, the very next day, that students know nothing of Quebec history, I realized exactly what Madame Malavoy's intentions were in bringing history to the forefront.

Madame Malavoy and Mr. Proulx remain disappointed that students do not suffer from the victimization syndrome that characterizes old time separatists, who look at history as one defeat after another and  one humiliation after another.

That is what they want to teach, the idea of Quebecers as the oppressed victims of the English.

According to their calculations students aren't sufficiently averse to the evils of the English and need a dose of slanted history that depicts francophones suffering at the hands of the evil colonialists including the Plains of Abraham, Lord Durham, General Amhearst, Meech Lake, the night of the long knives, persecution, domination, assimilation, etc. etc.
That is the plan...

But when I say Malavoy is Quebec's worst nightmare it is not because of her sovereignty pipe dreams, it is her desire to impose her dangerous bankrupt ultra left-wing wing agenda.

The shuddering policy proposal that Malavoy hopes to impose is the dumbing down of the private school system where she wants to do what that the government has done on the public system, that is to transform a decently functioning education system into something mediocre and dysfunctional.

The great reform that Quebec implemented years ago transformed the education system into a touchy-feely exercise that emphasised participation, empathy and non-competition.

Grades were replaced by cycles and report cards no longer 'judged' students harshly, so as not to undermine their egos, much to the consternation of parents who could no longer follow the progress of their children.

"The way the subjects in the program are taught is designed to enable your child to master them, and also to acquire, and then develop, certain competencies:

• Intellectual Competencies
• Personal and Social Competencies
• Competencies Related to Working Methods
• Communication-Related Competencies

The competencies addressed in the program will be useful to your child throughout his or her life.

Your child will learn not only by memorizing, but also by working on concrete activities or projects that draw on or develop his or her abilities. Thus, in addition to drawing 'a' or 'o' in an exercise book or counting imaginary apples and pears, your child may learn to read or add by participating in a group project." Link

Hmmm....
But the very worst of the reform was the elimination of the 'special ed' class, which dumped the academically challenged into regular classes in order to become more inclusive, with the predictable result that the whole class was retarded (pardon the very bad pun) as teachers were forced to slow down progress to the lowest common denominator.

This is what Malavoy wants to see in the private schools, the elimination of elite programs that demand elite students, which goes against her left-wing dogma of equality.

What she seems to forget is that there are some elite public schools (known as 'international schools) that also demand competency tests for students wishing to score a coveted place.

And so Malavoy is demanding that the private schools eliminate competency entrance exams and incorporate special education students as in the public system, or else she will cut the subsidy that these schools receive.
By the way, private schools receive public money to the tune of 60% of what is spent per student in the public sector, so that each student in the private system represents a 40% saving to the government.

It is important to understand that the PQ's constituency is largely against the very idea of private schools on principle, and want the government to eliminate the subsidy completely.
The unions, the public service and the education department cannot stand the competition and would like nothing more than the demise of the private school system, which is tiny to begin with, educating around 6% of the student population.

It is the very notion of egalitarianism that drives the opponents of private schools who find the idea of 'elitism' offensive.

Soon Madame Malavoy will demand that high school sports teams refrain from selecting the best athletes and accept all who apply, perhaps preparing students for the real world, a world where the Montreal Canadiens accept a few handicapped players in order to remain inclusive.

That is not where we are going, we are already there.
It has gotten to the point where you don't even need to graduate high school to be accepted into cegep.


The French have a phrase for it, 'niveler par le bas.' in English we say 'the lowest common denominator.

Welcome to Marie Malavoy's brave new world.

French versus English Volume 64

PQ set to roll back English instruction and promote sovereignty in school

Marie Malavoy, the new Minister of Education wants to scale back the teaching of English in French primary schools.

First she wants to delay the implementation of the as yet not installed program of intensive English instruction in Grade six and also wants to stop the introduction of English in Grade one, because, according to her, she believes it to be to confusing to students who need to master French first.

In regards to English, which Malavoy now refers to as a 'foreign language,' she told reporters that it can be learned in 'other ways.'

“My party was very critical of the idea of ​​introducing a foreign language as you begin to master concepts, grammar, syntax and vocabulary of one's mother tongue,” says Malavoy.

“I will respect what is there this year, but I've asked the Ministry to follow the situation for now, and  that we talk about what is to be done next year,”  she said, proposing to push the teaching of that second language to the fourth or fifth grade.

Shades of the Taliban.

Another matter that needs to be reviewed, according to the PQ is the history taught in high school. In addition to increasing the number of hours devoted to it, Marie Malavoy believes the content to be changed.

“There are all kinds of schools of thought such as capitalism, feminism, and all of them are part of the curriculum. There is also a school of thought called nationalism. And I think we have to give a special place to the debate that has taken place here in Quebec over the last 50 years,” Ms. Malavoy said. ” Read more

“Education Minister Marie Malavoy angrily rejected accusations Thursday that she is politicizing the province’s education system with her proposals to abolish obligatory English classes in Grades 1 and 2, hold off on intensive English classes in Grade 6 and make sure the independence question is highlighted in the province’s high-school history courses.
Malavoy made the suggestions in an interview published Thursday by Le Soleil in Quebec City, headlined “Less English in school and more room for the sovereignty question in history courses.” Read the rest of the story

Madame Malavoy is a great fan of sovereignty, so much so that she  actually voted in the referendum without being a citizen of this country! Come to think of it she voted in provincial and federal elections while being a non-Canadian.
After that was exposed, she was forced out of the PQ cabinet of Jacques Parizeau in 1994 and left politics for eight years.
But all is forgiven, welcome aboard!!!

Hilarious Facebook exchange highlights Quebec Chasm

 I must say that after reexamining the exchange on Collossus' Facebook page (since deleted) about the "If ur not happy, go to Guzzo:)" exchange, I couldn't help but shake my head at how low we have sunk.

First was Celyne Lessard complaining about the fact that the newer screening rooms were being used for English movies, rather than the dubbed French versions. The complaint was rather polite, if I do say so myself.

The dismissive reply, from what had to be a low level employee was insulting, but absolutely hilarious.

But then language blowhard Louis Prefontaine steps in to demand a boycott.
Question: How does he arrive on the scene so fast? He must have some special sort of radar.
Of course he demands a BOYCOTT as usual, his go-to plan for every language slight, perceived or real.. As I recall some of his targets in the past were Air Transat and the Quebec summer music festival.

Then two kibitzers pipe in, the first complaining that when French people tell English people to move to Ontario, they get their head ripped off.

But, nothing beats the last comment by Philippe Laurent Secord, who offered this priceless bon mots that I will not translate, because I don't want to spoil it for French/bilingual readers.

You'll have to wait for someone in the comments section to explain.

French flee Montreal?

"In their more candid moments, nationalists admit that if indeed there is a “decline” of French on Montreal Island, it’s not because immigrants go to English-language CEGEPs.
Rather, it’s because French-speakers have been moving from the island to the mainland suburbs.
The reason most commonly offered for this migration is that young families are seeking housing that is both suitable and more affordable than that available on the island.
But an article by a well-known linguistic demographer published on the editorial page of Le Devoir on Tuesday suggests an additional, possible reason: a phenomenon similar to the “white flight” from American cities after the Second World War.
Simply put, the article by Michel Paillé suggests that some francophones are moving off Montreal Island to get away from immigrants.
Let’s call it “franco flight.”
Paillé quotes from a recent article in Le Devoir:
“Francophones are abandoning Montreal as a losing battle, unable as they have been to put their stamp on it after a half-century of Quiet Revolution.” Read the rest of the story

Vigile.watch

I came across this story because a newscrawler picked up mention of this blog on a story published on vigile.net where the author makes the suggestion that Richard Bain's alleged attempt on Pauline Marois Life is directly linked to comments on blogs like ours as well as other 'hateful' messages on mainstream media.

This author is the same person who once wrote to me complaining that my article ridiculing him was unfair because it is actually a fact that Jewish citizens in Montreal refuse to be served in restaurants by French Canadian waitresses.
He also complained that rich Jews in Montreal and Laval are persecuting francophones as well as controlling the world.
Rich Jews in Laval? Hmmm......Read my post.

He is one of the few contributors on vigile.net who actually had stories redacted by the editor because of racist content. Redactions

It's always rich when a racist and a linguicist attempts to call other people racist, especially when his screeds are so full of laughable mistakes and urban myths, errors that could only be created in the delusional mind of a fantasist.

To see what we are dealing with, we need look no farther than the headline to his latest story.

Lemme see.....
"A complaint by an allophone against a Quebecois who stands up for French."

Notice that the headline did not say:
"A complaint by an allophone against a francophone who stands up for  French."

 nor did it say;
"A complaint by a Quebecois against another Quebecois who stands up for French."

You see, to Mr. Barberis-Gervais an allophone could never in his wildest imagination be considered a Quebecois"

 CHECKMATE!

MQF  stages another 'massive' demonstration'

The Mouvement quebec francais held another tedious demonstration, this time about not enough French.....blah....blah....blah!
The newspaper article reported that about fifty demonstrators participated but the picture accompanying the story tells a different story Link{FR}

Two flags, five placards and about a dozen demonstrators.

Another smashing success CONGRATULATIONS.
As thy say in French... Loosers!!!


Now to be fair.....

A protest by an English group protesting that now infamous sign in the Villa Maria metro was just about as successful, a pitiful turnout I am forced to admit.

"Following last week’s incident in which a STM (Société des Transports de Montréal) employee placed a sign which read “Au Québec, c’est en Français que ça se passe” against the window of his ticket booth, it didn’t take long for the sign to make its way through the city’s social media before it finally made the evening news.
“You can think what you want in whatever language that pleases you,” said Sonya Mullins, “…but this is just too damn much.”
 Within hours after the story found its way through the internet, activists within Québec’s Office Québecois de la Langue Anglaise, a minority language rights organization, posted their own message in which they announced that they would be holding a demonstration outside the STM’s Villa Marie Metro Station where the sign incident occurred.
Several dozen people, including Mullins, showed up for last week’s rush-hour protest, but they were well received as many passing commuters stopped to have a chat and describe their own experience with rude and surly STM ticket agents who took exception to their language or even their accent. " Link

"Several dozen" Hmm......doesn't look like it?
Sorry Hugo.

 

Francophonie meets amid turmoil

The conference celebrating French language and culture is playing out this week in the Democratic Republic of Congo, under  surreal circumstances where many participants are decidedly uncomfortable holding such a 'prestigious' meeting in your basic run-of-the-mill banana republic, a country under extreme criticism by opposition forces for the litany of abuses all banana republics are known for....human rights abuses, fixed elections, unfair imprisonment, etc.etc.

Pauline Marois, eager to make her big international debut, decided that discretion was the better part of valour and refused to meet, be seen with or photographed with the host, Joseph Kabila.

"The Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie's decision to hold its 14th summit in Kinshasa raised eyebrows given the government's poor democratic credentials and human rights record.

French President Francois Hollande scolded his Congolese counterpart Joseph Kabila and could meet his opposition rival on the sidelines of the summit, setting a tense political backdrop for the three-day meeting." Link

"Prime Minister Stephen Harper is planning to raise Canada's concerns about human rights abuse and violence against women plaguing the Democratic Republic of Congo when he arrives there this week for an international summit, said his spokesman Tuesday." Link

In another blow the African nation of Gabon is set to make English an official language;

"The French-speaking African country of Gabon is moving on from the language of its former colonizers and introducing English across the nation.
Gabon's President Ali Bongo Odimba spent last week in Rwanda, where a similar move has proved a success.
Rwanda is now part of both the Francophonie (French-speaking) community and the Commonwealth.
President Bongo Odimba has made his move just ahead of the 14th summit of the Francophonie, which will see 56 countries' representatives descend on the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon's next-door neighbour." Link

Etc. Etc.

Talk about paranoia, there are some in the media wondering if the small earthquake that hit in the Monteregie region on Wednesday was caused by, you guessed it, shale gas test wells.
The quake was felt in Montreal, but didn't do any damage and most people slept through it.
But it goes to underscore how frightened ordinary Quebecers are in terms of shale gas exploration.
David McCormack of Resources Canada explained that it was impossible, the quake happened 27 miles beneath the surface.

In a province where many people oppose intelligent electrical meters because of the  'dangerous waves' it is to be expected. Link{FR}

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

Here's a story that will stick in the craw of French language boosters.
It seems that Alex Kovalev unable to secure employment in the NHL will pursue his career in Switzerland where he told reporters that he will learn French in order to connect with the fans.
This after five years with the Montreal Canadiens in which time he never even learned to say 'Bonjour!" Link{Fr}

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

"The NDP Member of Parliament for the Gaspé and Magdalene Islands, Philip Toone, said the lives of French-speaking mariners are at risk if the Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre in Quebec City closes.
The centre takes distress calls and helps manage search-and-rescue operations for mariners in Quebec.
The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans plans to close the centre next spring, saving an estimated $1 million per year by sending distress calls from Quebec waters to centres in Halifax, N.S. and Trenton, Ont.
Some people are worried the French-language skills of dispatchers in those centres won't be adequate, putting lives at risk." Read the rest of the story

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

Watch the news report ...Bad Constable 728

Out of Control Police officer
Here's a late story that will be making quite a splash over the next little while. It seems that a female Montreal police officer with badge number 728, is one mean bad ass and was caught on video and in a recorded telephone conversation abusing citizens.
Stéphanie Trudeau  was already the subject of a complaint, backed up by video footage, of her gratuitously spraying people with pepper spray.

But what really got her in trouble was an altercation over a minor incident which exploded into a full-blown police beat down.
It seems that a musician in the Plateau district of Montreal went to the lobby of his apartment building to hold open the front door in order to assist his musician friends laden with equipment.
The unfortunate was holding a beer in his hand which set of Officer 728, who made a big deal about it to the point that four people were manhandled viciously and carted off to jail after a dozen police cars were called to the scene.
Much of it was filmed and Officer 728 was clearly shown to be choking one of the four rather dangerously.
To top it all off, Officer 728 confiscated the cellphones of the four while conducting them to the station, but unluckily for her, pocket-dialed someone who recorded her using abusive language towards the suspects and describing herunprofessional behaviour  to a supervisor.
It was all played on TV and as you can guess she was suspended immediately.
Great entertainment, if it isn't you being manhandled!

Yesterday afternoon, the Chief of Police threw her under the bus.
For the first time in my memory the head of the Montreal police apologized for the actions of one of his officers.

So long, sweetie...your police career is over!

Watch the YouTube video and a story in French about the violent incident YouTube

Read a great story and see the previous pepper spray story in English by Global Montreal 

You can listen to the pocket-dialed call, but you need really need good French to understand Link{fr}

Best TWITTER comment;

"EAT YOUR BROCCOLI, OR I'LL CALL OFFICER 728!"

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

Weekend reading'

Opinion: Let Detroit's decline serve as a warning.  

by Kathryn Markwick

"MONTREAL — If our new premier, Pauline Marois, wants to do a road trip outside of Quebec, I suggest she visit my hometown, Detroit, Michigan.
She surely knows of Detroit, founded in 1701 by Antoine de la Mothe, sieur de Cadillac whose original home in Old Montreal now serves Big Macs.
Marois shouldn’t go to Europe; they’ve just started to fail there. Go see real failure; go see Detroit. It is one of the most jarring, jaw-dropping unimaginable sights in North America. In fact, she wouldn’t believe she’s still in North America. Once a great city, Detroit has experienced a complete economic and political meltdown. The media has begun to talk about Detroit’s renaissance, but their stories are overblown. At best, the recovery is only a sparrow rising from the ashes; it’s no phoenix.
Those who don’t know the whole story claim that Detroit’s woes are the consequence of having been a one-industry town. That’s far too pedantic. Destruction of this magnitude has been the confluence of many factors. Certainly, The Big Three automakers were major culprits, starting with Henry Ford. Although his assembly line transformed production, the fault was in his wage structure. He promised far too much into the future, so he wouldn’t have to pay more cash up front. This created the unsustainable, modern-day legacy costs that helped drive the industry into the tank.
Big Three design also became lazy, spitting out cars that few wanted, and opening the doors to foreign entry.
Then, we had the race riots of 1967, a shameful and dark mark on our city’s history, after which whites moved from the city to the suburbs, generally north of Eminem’s “8 Mile” divide. After that came Coleman Young, revered mayor of Detroit, who practised what I term Evangelical Politics. Evangelical Politics, to me, was about promising the world and delivering nothing, while preying on the passion and fervour of the constituency. Years later, many black brethren who were able to move said, “To hell with this. We have the poorest schools, bare-bones police and fire services, and dangerous streets. We’re getting out of here, too.”
Do you think that 50 years ago, Detroiters could have imagined the degree of devastation that lay ahead?
As I look at Montreal and Quebec today, do you think I say, ‘It can’t happen here?’ Read the rest of the story

Conrad Black: As Quebec decays, Toronto seizes greatness

The announcement this week of an effort spearheaded by art collector and impresario David Mirvish, international architect Frank Gehry and innovative developer Peter Kofman to provide Toronto with a novel vertical, arts-based downtown residential complex is potentially a big step in Toronto’s quest to vault itself into the front ranks of the world’s cities — where it has sometimes prematurely claimed to belong. Whether Canadians from other centres like it or not, Toronto is now and will remain the comparative metropolis of the country, having surged past Montreal after that city entered into a sustained suicide attempt based on separatist agitation and accompanying racial and cultural discrimination.

Behind the pretenses to egalitarianism that dress up confiscatory Quebec tax laws and repressive language laws, the real driving ambition has been to push the non-French out of Quebec, buy up the real assets they cannot physically take with them, especially their mansions and office buildings in Montreal, and eliminate up to half the emphatically federalist votes in the province. Montreal’s loss has proven to be Toronto’s gain.
Historically, almost all Quebec’s non-French (comprising about 20% of the provincial population) are anti-separatist; and about an equal number of Quebec federalists are authentic French-Canadians who have thrown in their lot with the pan-Canadian option, and are routinely reviled by their peppier Quebec nationalist compatriots as vendus, sell-outs. (In my recent debut as a co-host with Amanda Lang on her CBC news program, the only line of mine that was excised was to this effect — so squeamish does the CBC remain about calling Quebec nationalism what it is: outright racism, at least in the worst cases. Radio Canada, the French CBC, is a notorious infestation of separatists.)
The principal bulwark of federalism in Quebec, and therefore in Canada, has been the English-Canadians, who have habitually voted Liberal, and have been shamefully neglected by the Liberal Parties of Canada and Quebec (the first now eviscerated and reduced to the unimaginably dubious expedient of elevating a leader whose sole qualification for high public office was surviving childbirth, and the second defeated and discredited, and now about half English, despite all its ingratitude). But 50 years of nationalist pressure in Quebec, uncompetitively high tax-rates on upper income groups and the endless redefinition of the use of English as a “privilege” that can be whittled down and compromised, have driven over 500,000 people out of Quebec, most of them to the Toronto area.
These former Quebecers, and the comparative welcome that Toronto has given external immigration (unlike the Québécois, who are generally hostile to any non-French immigration and none too accommodating even to ostensibly francophone immigrants who don’t speak like Québécois and aren’t too preoccupied with Quebec nationalism), has made Toronto an unusually, almost uniquely multi-cultural city. In fact, Toronto is one of the few jurisdictions where multi-culturalism has not been a disaster. Read the rest of the story

Question of the weekend

As we head into the weekend I would propose the following discussion point;

As we read in two stories above, neither the English side or the French side seems to be able to muster much of a turnout for demonstrations in defence of language issues..

Why?

Is the whole issue just overblown?
Do we really not care?
Are we just too complacent or lazy?

Think about your answer and let us know your opinion in the comments section....


Have a good weekend!

Heightened Language Hostility ...Is this the New Normal?

 

 Watching the rising tide of of language conflict ever since the provincial election on September fourth, I cannot help but thinking of a high school food fight, or an out of control bench-clearing hockey brawl, where once ignited the bedlam cannot be stopped until it has run its destructive course.

There is no doubt that the PQ's controversial election platform and its subsequent ascension to power, has set the stage for something we never really saw in Quebec, real confrontation on the street between the English minority and the French majority.
That is because Pauline is viewed by the Anglo community as the most hostile and aggressive of all the PQ Premiers, someone who makes no bones about her plan to govern for the 80% francophone population, while disdaining the rest.
The aggressive language policy which the PQ enunciated during the election campaign pandered to language militants boosting their expectations and emboldening them into action now that the PQ is elected.

Unfortunately the stars seem to have aligned in a particularly bad way, with the hurtful PQ election campaign followed by the attempt on Marois' life and the death of an innocent by a deranged Anglo, followed by several well-publicized language incidents.

Some Anglos are now saying that they fear speaking English in public, lest they be accosted, while some francophones are saying they are intimidated to ask for service in French in the West Island or even in downtown Montreal.

It's getting weird...
Where the heck did all this come from? I've never seen this in my lifetime and I go way back.

Perhaps it is the age of social media that brings all these conflicts to our immediate attention and perhaps it was always there but unseen or unheard, but somehow I think not.

An idiot standing on a soapbox on the corner of Peel and Ste-Catherine St. in downtown Montreal, hurling insults at either the English or the French passersby will be roundly ignored, but if he put those same insults on a Facebook page, it would likely end up being a very big deal.

One thing francophone militants are right about is the attitude change in the English, who seem to believe that with no one in government interested in protecting their rights, it is up to them to stand up for themselves.
This new and brash attitude has shocked the French militant community, who for so long were accustomed to Anglos rolling over.

This aggressive attitude is typified by the now infamous Facebook quote by a Cineplex Odeon employee who answered a complainer (who has asked for an explanation as to why the newest and most technologically advanced screening rooms in a Laval movie complex showed only English movies) with the insultingly dismissive phrase, "If you don't like it, go to Guzzo :)" Link

Anglos thought the incident hilarious, francophones, not so much.

The tables were turned when a Montreal metro ticket agent  put up a home-made sign on the window of his booth, warning commuters that in Quebec, everything is supposed to happen in French, intimating that he wasn't going to speak English to customers, no matter what. While the Anglo media raged at the affront, francophones thought the Anglos were making a mountain out of a molehill.

Now in any fight between the English and the French there isn't much doubt as to who has the advantage of numbers and the weight of authority behind them.

But just as the students taught us, it doesn't take a lot of effort to bring organized society to its knees and let's face it, the students were actually taking it easy on us and could have done a lot more damage.

It is safe to say that reasonable people, which make up the vast majority of Quebecers are not at all pleased at the confrontational direction we are going towards.

The real problem is, that whatever language equilibrium that existed before with the Quebec Liberals, is gone with the election of the PQ and there now exists a real danger that things can degenerate into an unstoppable language food fight.

Now before readers go off on me and say that the English suffered under the Liberal government as well, the truth is that our community largely accepted limits placed upon English up to then, a grudgingly acceptable compromise and while most of us didn't like these language laws, the restrictions weren't so onerous that it drove us into the street.
For those who are going to jump on me for the statement, I'll have to remind them that the proof of the pudding is in the eating, in other words the very lack of English resistance and push back during the Charest regime, serves as proof that the Anglos had largely accepted the language compromise.

So what is to come?

Well  it seems that Anglos have drawn a line in the sand.
If harsh new language laws are put in place, there will be push back by Anglos and how dangerous things will become is anyone's guess.
The government can triple the force of the OQLF officers but if they think they will have the cooperation of those into whose life they intrude, I will remind you of the Shawville experience where in 1999, a posse of militant Shawville English-speakers chased a provincial “language police” inspector out of town during a showdown over French on business signs.
 
As we can see in today's climate, it doesn't take much to set off a language incident and it might not  be long before these new OQLF inspectors (which are supposed to be hired,) find an unwelcome reception, forcing them to work in groups or accompanied by armed guards or police. We really may be approaching this.

As for compliance with these OQLF directives demanding English signs be submissive or that descriptors be added to English store names, legal contestations by thousands of stores and business could gum up the legal system to a point where the resolution of a file could take over three years, after which the merchant just before final adjudication, could just remove the sign and replace it with another equally 'offensive' sign.
This game of judicial terrorism, was proposed by separatist journalist Josée Legault who advised the government to play this cat and mouse game of legal rope-a-dope when faced with unfavourable Supreme Court language decisions.

The realIty is that our society functions only as long as each group respects not only the law but the spirit of the law as well.
This is the lesson that students taught us recently, that when a government passes legislation that offends or in fact outrages a significant portion of its citizens, it risks dangerous blowback and civil disobedience which can rock the very foundations of democracy.

So far Anglos may be comforted in seeing the PQ  trip over themselves, making one gaffe after another, looking more like high school Parliamentarians then those capable of running a province.

Taking one step forward and two steps back, the finance minister has already admitted that he has to go back to the drawing board in relation to his plan to tax the rich retroactively, after being told by opposition parties that they will not support the minority government over the tax issue.

There remains a very real fear in the PQ that if the government is brought down, the Liberals and the Coalition Avenir Quebec will form a coalition government, thus bypassing a new election.

So all legislation will have to be a compromise, or else Pauline could turn into a sad sack like Joe Clark, who's minority Conservative government was swept out of power after just seven months. I believe she is cagey enough to understand this and will never let it happen.
For Pauline, even her supporters will admit that power has always been her ultimate goal with dogmatic language and sovereignty policies, clearly subservient.

But even though Pauline won't risk her government on separatist or extreme language principles, there is one thing that the PQ can and will do that should have Anglos worrying.

Pauline can successfully legislate on language, because none of the opposition parties can survive bringing down the government defending the English. It would be the proverbial kiss of death.

And so it will be inevitable that Pauline moves to strengthen Bill 101, perhaps sacrificing the controversial proposal to apply Bill 101 to cegeps.
I honestly don't think that most in the caucus are really for the proposal, which was only made to satisfy the radical element.
I'm sure Pauline can include the provision in the bill, using it as a bargaining chip, to be offered up to the opposition in order to have all sides coming up smelling like roses.
Pauline will claim that she had to compromise and the opposition will tell us how they effectively diluted the Bill.
Everyone is a winner!!

Er....not everyone....

Part of these 'non-controversial' aspects to the beefed up Bill 101 will see business' of between 11 and 50 employees now fall under the francization rules of the law, forcing them to operate in French, even if every single employee is English.
I cannot think of a more disastrous law, one that is guaranteed to drive small business' to Ontario and points beyond.

Imagine a family business in the West Island where all eleven employees, bosses and workers are English, being forced to operate in French.

Every internal document would have to be translated, new French software would have to be purchased, despite the fact that nobody would use it and meetings would have to be held in French.
It is Orwellian.

And it is coming.....

While Mr. Beaulieu and his minions are rubbing their hands in glee at the thought of finally sticking it to the Anglos, they might consider what demons and devils lie within the Pandora's box they are opening.

Language Blowhard Plays Victim Card

For Mario Beaulieu, president and chief cook and bottle washer of both the Societe Saint-Jean-Baptiste and the Mouvement Quebec Francais, selling his radical view of language is not a particularly easy task, but to his credit he continues knocking on reluctant doors with the zeal and energy of a determined Jehovah's Witness canvasser.

No doubt, he is a keener and like the religious proselytizer, accepts failure and rejection with aplomb, measuring success and victory in the tiniest of measures, plowing on despite a fading message that no longer resonates.

Now I'm not talking about his sovereigntist view which has considerable but minority support in this province, it is his unholy crusade against Anglos and Ethnics and of course all things English, that sets him apart.

Even sovereigntists find his obsessive hatred and crusade of English tiresome, membership figures in his organizations remains top secret, a sound policy considering how few people are actually involved.
While students can regularly muster 20,000 plus to rallies and demonstrations over tuition fees, Beaulieu can rarely muster more than one or two hundred demonstrators, most of them the grey-haired set, diehards from a bygone era.

That being said, we should give Beaulieu his due, like Henny-Penny  his schtick is entertaining and so he is afforded oodles of air-time on Quebec's two all-news television stations which must fill too many empty hours.
But even with all the free publicity, Quebecers, a skeptical sort, aren't drinking the Kool-Aid and so Mario must ratchet up the rhetoric in order to keep his message alive.
And so we are treated to entertaining blasts of fire and brimstone, wherein he direly warns Quebecers that they are on the 'Eve of Destruction.'

Like a preacher who tries to jazz up the same old, same old sermon, Mr. Beaulieu is always on the lookout for a new optic, something to re-energize the shopworn refrain that has lost its lustre.

To wit, we have seen  M. Beaulieu cleverly invent a new theme, born out of the shooting on election night, where a deranged Anglo allegedly bent on killing Pauline Marois went on a shooting spree that mercifully ended when his rifle jammed,  sadly not before one tragic death.

Was the shooter a nutcase, or as Mr. Beaulieu tells us, a product of the overwhelming hate and francophone-bashing in the Anglo media? 

Of course the message resonates with the militant language conspiracy types and plays successfully with the old guard who collectively wallow in a bath of self-pity, coupled with an unhealthy dose of paranoia inherent to those suffering from a persecution complex.

 And so when a lady assaults a bagel eater with a thrown sandwich because he is speaking in English, it is the nasty Anglos that created the milieu of hate.
When a bus driver harasses a 12 year old or harangues an immigrant over language, it is our fault.
When a drunk youth assails a couple of English-speaking Asian tourists over French, it is of course, the Asians fault and when a metro ticket agent puts up a nasty sign telling non French speakers to take a hike, it is our over-reaction that is at fault.

This nonsense is to be expected from a man who stood before reporters and complained that stores with English non-French proper names like BENTLEY or QUIZNOS are an affront, an insult to true Quebecers.

The proper term for Mr. Beaulieu is a 'linguicist' someone who hates on the basis of language and when the media, on the rarest occasion, call him out on his irrational hatred, he trots out his favourite defence, francophone-bashing.

Mr Beaulieu gives every story a particular tweak, just enough dishonesty to inflame his minions. In his rant against the English media, he complains that stories in the English media portrayed Quebec francophones as racist and bigots, when in reality those charges were actually made against the PQ and Pauline Marois for statements made during the election campaign.

In the latest incident he chastises anglophones for reacting angrily to a STM employee who put a sign up in his booth, reminding metro riders that in Quebec (or at least in the employee's ticket booth) service will only be offered in French.

Make no mistake about it, whether the sign reflected the law or not, the posting of the home-made notice was a political statement and as such completely violated company policy of keeping politics out of the Metro and bus system.

Mr. Beaulieu complains that many comments that were appended to the story of the metro incident in English media were violent in nature.
I never read one comment that threatened physical violence and Beaulieu has cited none. This from a man who always republishes 'offensive' quotes.

In a post on the MQF website he continues spinning the story to suit his fancy, complaining that Montreal comedian Joey Elias, on a Facebook posting, mistranslated the sign, when in fact Mr. Elias was just editorializing, saying;
"sign basically says that unless you speak French I'm not serving you" Link{fr}

What Mr. Beaulieu and others are really upset about is a planned protest at the metro station, because when English people protest over language, it is intimidation, aggression and violence, but when the French-language lobby groups demonstrate, for example, outside the Bell Centre, calling for the firing of the Canadiens unilingual coach, it is noble and laudable.

Mr. Beaulieu goes on to whine that CJAD, a Montreal radio station had no business in playing a snippet of an interview with presumed shooter Richard Bain, because he is a terrorist.
Of course the interview was broadcast on a French station at the same time, but that isn't included in the narrative.
The fact that FLQ terrorists regularly write articles published not only on vigile.net but mainstream media is of course not germane, because after all, those are francophone terrorists and so it is okay.

It is ironic that Anglophobes like Beaulieu are the ones leading the charge against perceived francophobia as well as insufferable whingers like Robert Barberi-Gervais complaining on vigile.net that Mr. Bain's action was directly attributable to hateful comments in English newspapers and blogs. This from a man writing on a website that has been branded antisemitic and anglophobic by the French media!

At any rate I can only say that the English media that Mr. Beaulieu complains about, had the good sense to pixilate or blur the face of the metro ticket agent, while Mr. Beaulieu's story and the Journal de Montreal did not.

And I wonder if Mr. Beaulieu will reprint this story that appeared on CTV;

"Students from Marymount Academy are showing their appreciation for bus drivers the day after an STM ticket taker created a language kerfuffle by posting a sign in his booth.
During the lunch hour on Friday the high school students set up shop at the Villa Maria metro, just a block away from their school, to distribute coffee and muffins to bus drivers." Read more:

Not likely!
At any rate, as I said in the beginning of this post, that Beaulieu is always looking for something new to perk up interest in his moribund group.

May I humbly suggest an inspiring and rousing theme song to be played at every public gathering of the Mouvement Quebec Francais, the Societe Saint-Jean-Baptiste, etc. etc. 

I'm offering these new lyrics, sung to the tune of the "Eve of Destruction"
Of course they'll have to be translated it into French......

♫♫♫
The English world, it is exploding
Anglo culture flarin', language dominating
You otta know by now that English is a scourge
There is no other option, we need a thorough purge'
And know without some action, we're really on the verge.

♫♫♫(Refrain) .... But you tell me,
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don't believe
We're on the eve of destruction.

Don't you understand what I'm tryin' to say
Can't you feel the fears I'm feelin' today?
If English is not checked, there's no runnin' away
There'll be no one to save, the French world in a grave
But even if we live, we'll be nothing but a slave
Take a look around ya boy, it's bound to scare ya boy.

♫♫♫(Refrain)

Yeah, my blood's so mad feels like coagulatin'
I'm sitting here just contemplatin'
I can twist the truth, it knows no regulation.
But a handful of demonstrators won't pass no legislation
And marches alone can't bring no francization
When francophone respect is disintegratin'
This whole crazy world is just too damn frustratin'

♫♫♫(Refrain)

The world is full of hate that is so very widespread
Then take a look around to Beaconsfield or Hampstead
You may leave here for a week in outer space
But when you return, it's the same old English place
The grinding' of the Anglos, is really a disgrace
They want bury French and never leave a trace
They hate us with a passion, our language they debase

But you tell me,
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don't believe
We're on the eve of destruction.

♫♫♫

If you've never heard Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction", (Shudder!) give a listen;

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sunday Housekeeping- Volume 11

Readers, just to inform you that I've added additional box on the green bar at the top of the page, entitled.

Making your voice heard

LOOK UP ➚

In response to reader requests I am opening up a resource where we can find email addresses where we can send messages.
I don't just want this to be a repository of American media outlets,  I'd like to include government and quasi-government agencies, like Montreal's infamous STM, even businesses that ignore English completely.

The resource is yours to build, I'm not going to shoulder the burden.
Please email me HERE to add a pertinent link. I hope we can build a decent database together.

Now I'd like to again broach a subject that I've brought up before and that is the language of comments.

I understand that rage is legitimate and if you want a place to rant go ahead, but....

As I've said before, this blog reaches out across the world, it is read in consulates and embassies and within our own and foreign governments.
NoDogs is indexed as a resource site on three widely-used news resource aggregators and I get emails from around the world asking for interviews and commentary.
Because of this blog I have been asked to give closed door briefings in places that I cannot reveal.

SEPTEMBER figures according to GOOGLE ANALYTICS

Last month we had a record amount of visitors from over 117 countries. I know the counter in the right-hand margin shows between 70,000 and 85,000 pageviews a month, it is actually higher according to the higher GOOGLE ANALYTICS.

I am not saying any of this to brag, but rather so that you the contributors are mindful of the impact of your comments.

I firmly believe that if you want people to take you seriously, that you need to avoid histrionics, bad language and nasty name-calling.
For those who come here to form an opinion, it is an automatic turn off.

Well-written and well-thought out comments are what make a real difference.

Please remember that those who oppose us follow closely what we say looking for bones to pick at any opportunity. One nasty and racist comment can have a negative effect on what we are trying to accomplish.

Also a reminder that I am not a professional and I work with limited resources and a staff of 1 volunteer, my wife.

I try desperately hard to get my facts straight, but remain mindful mistakes find their way in my blog pieces. I promise to make all corrective changes as soon as I can.

As well, the comments section is again unmoderated, which means that comments are immediately published without pre-screening.

I made an appeal last month for an end to anonymous posting and that supplication has largely been followed.

As for banning people with opposing views, it will not happen.
As for trolls, a lot has to do with optics.

I have and will continue to remove gratuitous personal insults, but it plays both ways.

I defy anyone to tell me that there are not offenders on our side as well as S.R and others. It isn't mature demand censorship.

The two eyes in your head and your fingers are controlled by you. 
Don't read and don't respond to what offends you, that is all I can say.

A sterile one-sided discussion is the last thing we need.

I know many don't agree, but such is life.
In the meantime your comments ARE vitally important.

More people follow this blog for the comments, rather than the main post and the success or failure of this blog is entirely in your hands.

I have learned a lot from the comments section, first that even though we are a community, we share different ideas about partition, language, rights and Quebec's place or non-place in Canada.

This blogs remains about us and our experience.

If those who dislike us come here to mock us, so be it, it is the price we pay for freedom and underscores to those on the other side who block negative or English comments on their blogs automatically, how much they need to learn about freedom of speech.

It is the very essential difference between us and the French language militants who propose a society where ideas, position and principles are only okay, if they fall with  within their narrowly defined view of the world.