Quebec Defenders Eating Humble Pie

By now, even the staunchest defenders of Quebec and the famous Quebec 'model' must reluctantly admit that the province really is a cesspool of public corruption and malfeasance.

Those who came down on Maclean's magazine for its article describing Quebec as; Canada's most corrupt province owe the magazine an apology for casting aspersions on the integrity and the validity of its reporting.
There are many editorialists who leapt to Quebec's defence, including Carole Beaulieu, the editor of L'acualité, Maclean's sister magazine. Then there is the then Quebec cabinet minister  Nathalie Normandeau  (herself later accused of a conflict of interest) and a current Quebec cabinet minister Jean-François Lisée, who all accused the magazine of bad faith and Quebec-bashing. The list goes on and on.

It isn't often that a journalist, an editorialist, a newspaper or radio station apologizes for getting the facts wrong or for offering the public an opinion or analysis that is completely wrong, especially when the cold hard facts bear out the error..

The long list of Quebec apologists isn't even restricted to the French media, the Montreal Gazette also piled on, calling the Maclean's article "gratuitously offensive."
In light of current events it isn't surprising that the Gazette has removed that editorial from its own website. When you are in the news and opinion business, getting it so wrong is a humiliating embarrassment.
Fortunately for us, it's not easy to bury errors, especially on the web.

Although the Gazette website has been sanitized, the editorial can be read Here

"Could it be true? Did Maclean's prove its case? Or is the article just another in a long line of gratuitously offensive sorties against the one province that dares to insist on having its own identity, complete with European style state interference in the economy?

If it were true, Quebec would have to change. There would have to be new rules for tendering and for making political appointments, including judgeships. More inspectors would have to be hired for road-building and other public works contracts. More police would be needed to investigate the slightest whiff of corruption at all levels of government.

But Maclean's is wrong. It didn't come close to making its case. The haste with which the magazine slid past the shortcomings of other provinces, while lingering on 80-year-old scandals out of Quebec, was remarkable"

Ha! could they get it more wrong?

But of all those who attacked Maclean's, one organization merits a special shaming,  the not-so-impartial QUEBEC PRESS COUNCIL, for this jewel.

"Maclean's magazine has been reprimanded by the Quebec Press Council for a controversial cover last year that called Quebec the most corrupt province in Canada.
Besides the headline, the publication triggered widespread outrage in the province by running a front-page photo of the beloved Bonhomme Carnaval snowman clutching a briefcase stuffed with cash.
In a March 18 decision that was made public Tuesday, the seven-member watchdog unanimously blamed the publication for the headline and "a lack of journalistic rigour." Link

Our precious Quebec press and its defender apologist, the Quebec Press Council, stand united, humiliated by the truth.

If anything, the problem of corruption and crime in Quebec's public administration has gone beyond the pale, a bacchanalian orgy of greed and selfishness that transcends practically every public agency or organization that spends public money in Quebec.
If there is one thing that Maclean's got wrong, it is only in the fact that it understated the level of corruption that permeates the province.

For all those who attacked Maclean's it would be nice to hear an apology, but you know as well as I, it will never happen.

Even to a skeptic like me, the scale and the breadth of criminality is hard to digest.

For John Q. Public, it is understandable that the Maclean's article seemed too fantastic to believe. For the average Joe or Jane, punching a card, getting his or her taxes deducted at source, there isn't much room for corruption.
Not many of us would be so foolhardy to offer a cop a fifty to get out of a speeding ticket, or a ten to a meter maid/man to overlook a parking transgression. It isn't part of our DNA and at any rate, regardless of where you live in Canada, would you really expect a public servant to take the bribe?

At any rate for those living outside Quebec and those who haven't followed the story closely, if you have any doubts about the veracity of the Maclean's story detailing Quebec as the most corrupt province, let me give you a little review of events since the story broke.

It seems that entire civil administration of the City of Montreal has been shown to be nothing short of a kleptocracy. The mayor, Gerald Tremblay, has been forced to resign under pressure, claiming himself a victim, unable to combat the entrenched and powerful forces of corruption.
A once deputy mayor, Frank Zampino stands indicted for corruption and the highest ranking members of the city's civil administration have admitted to taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for approving inflated construction bills from crooked companies who kicked back a percentage of the over-billing to the Mafia and also allegedly to municipal political parties.
The independent consulting-engineering firms, charged with overseeing these construction projects on behalf of the city, some of them powerhouses, are accused of organizing the various scams as well as feeding money back to political parties.
Police have raided the offices of just about all these firms that had dealings with public contracts, some of these firms, publicly traded. Link

Laval, the third largest city in Quebec is practically under trusteeship after the mayor resigned under allegations of fraud. It is rumoured that when police opened his bank safe deposit box, over one hundred thousand dollars in cash was found. Two politicians have come forward swearing that the mayor offered them an envelope stuffed with cash as illegal campaign contributions.

In Quebec City, where we would have expected these shenanigans to be absent, a city employee was quietly let go in the face of corruption allegations. Link{fr}

The mayor of Mascouche, Richard Marcotte has already been indicted for corruption but refuses to vacate his post, much to the chagrin of citizens who want to lynch him. Link

At least a half a dozen towns and cities that we know of are under investigation for serious cases of corruption.

A chief fund-raiser of the Liberal party, Pierre Bibeau, is accused of accepting a giant illegal cash donation. Link

Now there is an allegation that senior members of Loto-Quebec abused their positions, an allegation made by a fired employee in a court case where he is fighting his own dismissal based on corruption. Link

And just yesterday, McGill University sued its old dean, Arthur Porter for allegedly absconding with over $300,000 that the belonged to the school. Link
That isn't the half of it, Porter is being investigated in relation to millions of dollars in alleged under the table payoffs that he is alleged to have received from SNC-Lavalin (Canada's most important engineering-consulting firm) which won the contract to build the billion dollar mega-hospital in Montreal. Link

The Université de Montréal is under investigation as well, with the province's anti-corruption unit UPAC, looking into a real estate transaction where the university sold a building at quite a loss to a real estate mogul, Frank Catania, already under indictment for another alleged fraud involving the city of Montreal, which is said to have sold him land that was valuated at $31 million for about $4.4 million. Link{Fr} 

Let's not forget the construction kingpin, Tony Accurso, twice indicted for a bunch of alleged frauds, including cheating the tax man, a charge in which his company has already pled out. Link

As they say in the music business, the hits just keep coming!

Remember, all this started when the Charest government was accused of 'selling' judgeships by his own ex-justice minister. While the charges were never proven, what was evident was that in telling diametrically opposed versions of a meeting, either the Premier, Jean Charest, or ex-Justice Minister
Marc Bellemare, was a liar.
Not exactly a confidence builder for citizens in government ethics.

While none of this has been proved so far, some of the characters involved have in fact confirmed that they were indeed on the take.

Quebec's special task force investigating corruption is hard-pressed to keep up.

It reminds me of a story told to me by the president of a large Quebec retail chain of music stores.
It seems that he hired a mystery shopper outfit on a trial basis to test the integrity of his employees.
Agents would try to offer cash to employees to circumvent the register. After just one visit, the agents phoned the boss and told him that they caught a manager stealing.
Shocked, the boss sent a supervisor to take control of the store. The same afternoon the agents called again with the same story in a different location.
The boss sent his vice-president down to the location and when the agents phoned again that evening, he told them to stop the visits, he had no one left to spare!!

And so Quebec is fast becoming the laughingstock and the butt of corruption jokes not only in Canada but around the world;

New York Times  - Mayor of Montreal Resigns as Corruption Investigation Heats Up
Washington Post- Laval mayor becomes second Quebec mayor to resign amid corruption inquiry
Miami Herald- Corruption probe shakes Montreal, topples mayor

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/08/3087973/corruption-probe-shakes-montreal.html#storylink=cpy

The Economist -  Corruption in Quebec
Le Monde - Mafia sicilienne et corruption gangrènent le Québec

The Guardian - Corruption probe shakes Montreal, topples mayor

It will be years until the mess will be cleaned up and it will have cost taxpayers billions.

Here's a good story on how Quebec should go about cleaning up its mess, taking an example of how its done in New York city. Link

In the meantime, all this talk of corruption has stolen media attention from what has become, in three short months, the most incompetent government ever to achieve power in Quebec.

In the National Assembly the furious ex-health minister Yves Bolduc was reprimanded by the speaker for calling the current health minister a clueless incompetent.
The outburst was sparked by the announcement by the current PQ Health Minister, Réjean Hébert, that the PQ will be freezing capital spending in the health-care field because of other PQ priorities, like increasing the number of $7 a day places in public daycare. Link{fr}

Perhaps we need Maclean's to do another article exposing the utter depravity and incompetence of the current PQ government and before the Montreal Gazette and friends calls such an article Quebec-bashing, perhaps they should check their facts.  

PQ's Sixty Days of Sleaze

"ATTENTION! No speakee de Heenglish SVP!"

Aside from the monumental and very public cock-ups that has been the hallmark of the first sixty days of the Marois government, behind the scenes, there has been a lot of sleaze that has gone largely unreported, but perhaps not unnoticed.

Minister after minister has made a fool of him or herself starting with the finance minister, down to the lowly family minister, with Pauline forced to correct, backtrack and clarify the early missteps of the government.
Perhaps understanding the tentative and fragile lifespan of the government, it seems that the PQ is trying to do as much as it can, as soon as it can, likely without reasoned thought, damn the consequences.

This post takes a look at the behind-the-scene shenanigans, measures which expose the PQ for what it says it isn't, making a mockery of the PQ's promise to be a party of integrity and change.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Taking a page out of German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle's playbook, who refused to take a question in English posed by a reporter in a news conference in Germany,  Sylvain Gaudreault, minister of Municipal Affairs refused to answer a reporter's question asked in English at the tail-end of a press conference that he gave last week concerning the resignation of Laval mayor Gilles Vaillancourt.

In the incident in Germany, the Minister, reminded a BBC reporter rather pointedly that they were in Germany and that it was a German news conference and therefore would be conducted in German. He did however have an aide translate the question and answer, back and forth. Watch the incident 

The Quebec minister made no such explanation when asked a question in English, choosing to turn his back and rudely stalk away.
In another news conference last Tuesday, one that he shared  with Jean-François Lisée, a press officer told reporters that only Lisée would take English questions. Link{Fr}

It's hard to draw a definitive conclusion, either Gaudreault was not confident of his English or he was floating a trial balloon for the PQ, testing the reaction to ministers refusing to speak to the Press in English.
Now this policy would jive with what the PQ is saying, that being bilingual as a condition of employment, where not strictly necessary, is contrary to government policy. Recently PQ cabinet minister Diane DeCourcy has been pedalling the idea that speaking English at work, when not absolutely necessary should be discouraged ;

"De Courcy, who acknowledged the merits of bilingualism on an individual level, said the government has to act to prevent a perceived erosion of French in Montreal.
She said that erosion will be precipitated if mandatory bilingualism becomes the norm in the workplace." Link

And so, if Ministers routinely answer questions in English, why shouldn't employees do the same when speaking with English bosses?
Given the tough minority position, it seems that the only thing the PQ feels comfortable doing, is attacking on the language front, mostly because the opposition parties are hard pressed to be seen supporting the English rights.

Marois announced last week that a revamped Bill 101 is on its way, with changes that will supposedly toughen up rules for small business, but probably not so draconian as to forcing Bill 101 language requirements for cegeps, something that the opposition would likely vote down and end the PQ's 'reign of error.'
 
That being said, ministers and especially the Premier, refusing to speak English, should it become policy, would represent a monumental shift in language relations, a final message to the English that they are irrelevant and that Anglos are to be tolerated much like the special education students riding the short bus.
In other words, be nice to them because they are 'special' but ignore them in practice. 

As the PQ bumbles along, making a hash out of one political file after another, underneath the very public fiasco is the unspoken reality that Pauline's PQ is practising the same partisan politics that they accused the Charest government of visiting upon the province.
In other words, punish your enemies and reward your friends with plush government appointments.

After all, it's a Quebec tradition perfected by Premier Maurice Duplessis way back in the forties and fifties where partisanship was raised to an art form and where wholesale changes were made in the civil service, government appointments and business partners with each change in government.

Things were so partisan back then, that companies doing the snow removal of provincial highways were designated as either 'red' or 'blue' and won contracts depending on which government was in power.
Nothing much has changed despite Pauline making noises about bringing integrity back to politics and getting rid of corruption.
She has embraced the policy of rewarding friends and party hacks with reckless abandon.

Now the most obvious appointment and the one that got the Press in an uproar was the appointment of André Boisclair as Delegate General to New York, just about the plushiest gig in government, it comes complete with a big expense account and a ritzy apartment paid for by the government. Mr. Boisclair will oversee a staff of about thirty in another bloated and under-performing government agency.  Link
The Press has roundly criticized her for making this appointment, calling it a reward for Boisclair's support of Marois during the turbulent months when her leadership was under attack and where friends were few and far between.

But of all the pork-barrel appointments made so far, this is actually one that I  can live with, unlike the Press.

Mr Boisclair is a Pequiste from another era, even though he is young. Unlike today's inexperienced and academically challenged Cabinet members, Mr. Boisclair recognizing his lack of an undergraduate degree attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he perfected his English, following in the footsteps of other PQ stalwarts of old who attended school in English.

Mr. Boisclair is experienced and has always conducted himself honourably and respectfully in public. I never heard him utter a negative word towards the English or minorities. When Mr. Boisclair assures us that he is going to New York to promote Quebec and not sovereignty, I take him at his word.
One would expect that the delegate General position in New York would go to an Anglo, but when Pauline checks her cupboard, there's nary one to be found and let's face it if Mr. Harper can appoint Lawrence Cannon to be Canada's Ambassador to France, Pauline's appointment makes no less political sense.

All that being said, the rest of Pauline's appointments do represent the worst of partisanship starting with the most egregious appointment of all, that of failed PQ candidate Nicolas Girard as head of the l'Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT), a job for which he has zero qualifications and where the interim and highly qualified predecessor was let go to make room for daddy.
Éric Caire of the ADQ ripped into the government for the appointment.

"The Parti Québécois has appointed a person who has no experience in managing a sensitive post for urban transport in the metropolitan area of Montreal. Yet while it was in opposition, the Parti Québécois regularly tore its shirt over patronage. In the Assembly, Minister Gaudreault was unable to justify the appointment. Our request is simple: publish the list of all candidates who were considered for  the position of CEO of AMT and people can judge for themselves whether it was a good appointment "said the member for La Peltrie.  Link{Fr}

Of course, no such list was forthcoming because nobody else was considered for the job.
I ran this political cartoon before, but it remains relevant.

BEFORE: "Partisan nominations by the Charest government are a scandal!" AFTER "Gulp!"

 When in opposition Mr Girard was one of the biggest complainers about patronage and pork, accusing Premier Charest on many occasion of ethical lapses.
The cartoon above lampoons the utter hypocrisy.

As I said, patronage appointments are the order of business for all Quebec governments, the Journal de Quebec accused Jean Charest's Liberals of making 523 patronage appointments over the course of the nine years in power!

And so not wishing to be outdone, Pauline has embarked on an ambitious program of her own with patronage announcements being made almost daily.

For your information, this is what one of those announcements looks like, publicized without fanfare usually late in the week, when nobody is paying attention;

Nominations du Conseil des ministres

Québec, le jeudi 20 septembre 2012 – Le Conseil des ministres a procédé aux nominations suivantes à sa séance d’aujourd’hui.

Ministère du Conseil exécutif

M. Gilbert Charland est nommé secrétaire général associé aux Institutions démocratiques et à la Participation citoyenne au ministère du Conseil exécutif. M. Charland était membre et président de la Commission municipale du Québec.
M^me Nicole Dussault est nommée secrétaire adjointe aux Institutions démocratiques et à la Participation citoyenne au ministère du Conseil exécutif. M^me Dussault était secrétaire générale associée à ce ministère.
M. Jacques Gosselin est nommé secrétaire adjoint aux Institutions démocratiques et à la Participation citoyenne au ministère du Conseil exécutif. M. Gosselin était sous-ministre associé responsable de l’application de la politique linguistique au ministère de la Culture, des Communications et de la Condition féminine.
M^me Josée Tremblay est nommée secrétaire générale associée à la Capitale-Nationale au ministère du Conseil exécutif. M^me Tremblay était directrice générale de la Conférence régionale des élus de la Capitale-Nationale.
M^me Michèle Drouin est nommée secrétaire adjointe à la Capitale-Nationale au ministère du Conseil exécutif. M^me Drouin était sous-ministre associée au ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation.

Secrétariat du Conseil du trésor

M. Yves Ouellet est nommé secrétaire du Conseil du trésor. M. Ouellet était sous-ministre du ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune.

Ministère des Finances et de l’Économie

M. Luc Monty est nommé sous-ministre aux Finances et à l’Économie. M. Monty était sous-ministre du ministère des Finances.
M. Éric Ducharme est nommé sous-ministre associé aux Finances et à l’Économie. M. Ducharme était sous-ministre adjoint au ministère des Finances.
M^me Suzanne Lévesque ainsi que MM. Mario Bouchard, Jean-Marc Sauvé et Alain Veilleux sont nommés sous-ministres adjoints aux Finances et à l’Économie. M^me Lévesque ainsi que MM. Bouchard, Sauvé et Veilleux étaient sous-ministres adjoints au ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation.
M^me Suzanne Giguère est nommée sous-ministre associée au Tourisme. M^me Giguère était sous-ministre du ministère du Tourisme.
M^me Elizabeth MacKay et M. Georges Vacher sont nommés sous-ministres adjoints au Tourisme. M^me MacKay et M. Vacher étaient sous-ministres adjoints au ministère du Tourisme.

Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport

M. Bernard Matte est nommé sous-ministre du ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport. M. Matte était sous-ministre du ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale.

Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche, de la Science et de la Technologie

M^me Christine Tremblay est nommée sous-ministre à l’Enseignement supérieur, à la Recherche, à la Science et à la Technologie. M^me Tremblay était sous-ministre du ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation.
M. Jean Belzile est nommé sous-ministre adjoint à l’Enseignement supérieur, à la Recherche, à la Science et à la Technologie. M. Belzile était sous-ministre adjoint à la Direction générale de la recherche, de l’Innovation, de la science et société au ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation.

Ministère de la Justice

M^me Nathalie G. Drouin est nommée sous-ministre du ministère de la Justice. M^me Drouin était surintendante de la solvabilité et directrice générale des affaires juridiques à l’Autorité des marchés financiers.

Ministère des Ressources naturelles

M. Patrick Déry est nommé sous-ministre aux Ressources naturelles. M. Déry était surintendant de l’assistance aux clientèles et de l’encadrement de la distribution à l’Autorité des marchés financiers.

Ministère du Travail, de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale

M^me Brigitte Pelletier est nommée sous-ministre au Travail, à l’Emploi et à la Solidarité sociale. M^me Pelletier était membre, présidente et directrice générale de la Commission des normes du travail.

Ministère des Relations internationales, de la Francophonie et du Commerce extérieur

M. Michel Audet est nommé sous-ministre aux Relations internationales, à la Francophonie et au Commerce extérieur. M. Audet était directeur de l’Institut québécois des hautes études internationales à l’Université Laval.
M. Jean Séguin est nommé sous-ministre adjoint aux Relations internationales, à la Francophonie et au Commerce extérieur. M. Séguin était sous-ministre adjoint à la Direction générale des affaires économiques internationales au ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation.

Ministère de la Culture et des Communications

M^me Rachel Laperrière est nommée sous-ministre à la Culture et aux Communications. M^me Laperrière était directrice principale du Service des Affaires institutionnelles de la Ville de Montréal.

Ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles

M. Robert Baril est nommé sous-ministre du ministère de l’Immigration et des Communauté culturelles. M. Baril était sous-ministre adjoint à ce ministère.
M. Jacques Beauchemin est nommé sous-ministre associé à la langue française, responsable de l’application de la politique linguistique, au ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles. M. Beauchemin était professeur au Département de sociologie de l’Université du Québec à Montréal.
M^me Claire Deronzier est nommée, à compter du 27 septembre 2012, sous-ministre adjointe au ministère de l’Immigration et des Communauté culturelles. M^me Deronzier est actuellement sous-ministre adjointe au ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et de l’Occupation du territoire.

Ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et de l’Occupation du territoire

M. Marc-Urbain Proulx est nommé sous-ministre associé aux Régions au ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et de l’Occupation du territoire. M. Proulx était professeur au Département des sciences économiques et administratives de l’Université du Québec à Chicoutimi et directeur scientifique du Centre de recherche sur le développement territorial.

Commission municipale du Québec

M. Denis Marsolais est nommé membre et président de la Commission municipale du Québec. M. Marsolais était sous-ministre du ministère de la Justice.

Commission des normes du travail

M^me Marie-Claude Champoux est nommée membre, présidente et directrice générale par intérim de la Commission des normes du travail. M^me Champoux était sous-ministre du ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles.

Régie des rentes du Québec

M^me Sylvie Barcelo est nommée vice-présidente de la Régie des rentes du Québec. M^me Barcelo était sous-ministre du ministère de la Culture, des Communications et de la Condition féminine.   Link{fr}

And here's another dizzying list of nomination;

Communiqué - 7 novembre 2012

Nominations du Conseil des ministres

Québec – Le Conseil des ministres a procédé aux nominations suivantes à sa séance d’aujourd’hui.

Ministère des Relations internationales, de la Francophonie et du Commerce extérieur

M. André Boisclair est nommé, à compter du 12 novembre 2012, délégué général du Québec à New York. M. Boisclair est actuellement consultant en développement stratégique et en affaires publiques.

Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux

M. Sylvain Gagnon est nommé de nouveau sous-ministre associé au ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux.

Ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles

M. Younes Mihoubi est nommé, à compter du 14 janvier 2013, sous-ministre adjoint au ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles. M. Mihoubi est actuellement directeur du Bureau d’immigration à Hong Kong du ministère des Relations internationales, de la Francophonie et du Commerce extérieur.

Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation

Mme Manon Boucher est nommée, à compter du 17 décembre 2012, sous-ministre adjointe par intérim au ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation. Mme Boucher est actuellement chef de poste provisoire et directrice des affaires économiques de la Délégation générale du Québec à New York au ministère des Relations internationales, de la Francophonie et du Commerce extérieur.

Commission administrative des régimes de retraite et d’assurances

M. André Legault est nommé, à compter du 26 novembre 2012, membre du conseil d’administration et président-directeur général de la Commission administrative des régimes de retraite et d’assurances. M. Legault est actuellement vice-président à la Direction générale de la législation, des enquêtes et du registraire des entreprises de l’Agence du revenu du Québec.

Conseil des appellations réservées et des termes valorisants

Mme Anne-Marie Granger Godbout est nommée membre et présidente-directrice générale du Conseil des appellations réservées et des termes valorisants. Mme Granger Godbout était directrice générale et secrétaire de la Fédération des producteurs acéricoles du Québec.

Régie du cinéma

M. Michel Létourneau est nommé, à compter du 19 novembre 2012, membre et président de la Régie du cinéma. M. Létourneau est actuellement président et conseiller principal de La Firme « avec un accent » inc.

Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec

Mme Diane Montour est nommée, à compter du 26 novembre 2012, membre de la Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec. Mme Montour est actuellement directrice générale de Femmes en parcours innovateur.

Commission des partenaires du marché du travail

Mmes Josée Bouchard et Denise Boucher ainsi que MM. Yves-Thomas Dorval et François Vaudreuil sont nommés de nouveau membres de la Commission des partenaires du marché du travail.
Mme Louise Chabot est nommée membre de cette

Héma-Québec

M. Serge Montplaisir est nommé de nouveau membre du conseil d’administration d’Héma-Québec.

Comité consultatif pour l’environnement de la Baie James

Mme Marie-Josée Lizotte est nommée membre du Comité consultatif pour l’environnement de la Baie James.

Comité de révision des médecins omnipraticiens

Mme Francine Gingras est nommée membre fonctionnaire du comité de révision des médecins omnipraticiens.

Investissement Québec

M. Mario Bouchard est nommé membre du conseil d’administration d’Investissement Québec.

Régie des rentes du Québec

Mme Danielle Savoie est nommée membre indépendante du conseil d’administration de la Régie des rentes du Québec.

Readers, the above is just a small sampling, for lists of further PQ nominations go HERE
It's just more of the same and the fun has just begun!

And so the PQ is off and running, naming close to 100 people to positions in just sixty days.
As far as I checked, not one Anglo is included and just one or two ethnics are on the lists.
While I can't ascertain their political leanings or their contributions to PQ fortunes, I think it is safe to make certain assumptions.

But now, even the French media is starting to take notice of the wholesale PQ patronage riot.
Denis Lessard of La Presse writes:

"Plus ça change, plus c'est pareil. 

In opposition, the Parti Québécois severely criticized the decision of the Charest government to appoint a close advisor to the Prime Minister, Michel Guitard, to the job of vice president of communications of Investissement Québec. However, Pauline Marois will appoint one of her own: Pascal Monette." Link{Fr}

It seems that Pauline Marois, in an effort to get a secure job for a loyalist and rid herself of an 'enemy,' fired Michel Guitard, who takes with him a termination indemnity of close to $300,000.

As Quebec is going through the wrenching agony of the Charbonneau Commission detailing corruption in the construction industry, the government of Pauline Marois is tut-tutting as a judgemental innocent, blaming 'federalists' for any and all ethical wrongdoings.

But by engaging in an orgy of slimy political appointments, the PQ exposes themselves as just more of the same which leads me to conclude that the old days of red and blue snow removal companies are not behind us.

And so, "Jobs for the Boys" the cynical term used to describe the practice of hiring your own, is not only alive and well in Quebec, it is thriving, regardless of which political party is in power.

Imagine the novel idea of having independent hiring boards charged with analysing and determining the best candidates for publicly appointed jobs, it's an idea that is so frightening that no political party would dare consider it.

Of the 513 patronage appointments supposedly made in the nine years of the Charest government, Pauline's hundred or so appointments represent twenty percent of this total, this after two months in power!
Congratulations to Pauline on this 'new' and 'honest' approach to politics, PQ style!

Housekeeping Volume 8

Recently SPAM has reached an unbelievable level, with as many comments consigned to the SPAM folder as are legitimate comments.

BLOGGER has some pretty sophisticated algorithms to determine what is spam and what isn't but sometimes, legitimate comments are wrongly designated as SPAM.

Fishing out and publishing these comments means wading through dozens of cleverly worded advertisement that give the impression of being legitimate comments, that is until you scroll to the end of the comment where a website is being touted.


Here's a legitmate comment that explained some of the rationale BLOGGER uses to direct certain comments to the SPAM  folder.

"Hey Ed,

It sure has been nice, hasn't it?

But what makes me laugh is being ignored seems to have no effect - when seppies want to be heard they'll bang their heads into a wall, despite the result.

Anyhow, here's a little message for any and all separatists who showed even a glint of agreement with what's happened with the metro workers, the ambulance driver who was ready to let a little girl die over language and who thinks Nadeau-Dubois got an unfair shake:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn5uGg9M9ow"

If you end your comment with a website address, BLOGGER will send the comment to the SPAM  folder automatically.

So keep website addresses within the body of your comment and make sure there is some text after the address.

Quebec's War of the Poppies

Like just about every issue in Quebec, language, sovereignty and political allegiances tinge the debate, so it's not surprising that when it comes to Remembrance Day and it associated trappings of the poppy and military pomp and circumstance, forces collide.

Last week, the Canadian legion and anglophone forces in general were up in arms because Pauline Marois placed a Fleur-de-lys at the center of her Poppy.

"Desecration!" they shouted, raising such a din that Pauline decided that in this case, discretion would be the better part of valour and so removed the offending accoutrement.

But sovereigntists leapt to her defence, reminding anyone who would listen that adding a Maple leaf or a Canadian flag to the poppy has always been  acceptable. 
 

And so  readers, I'm afeared that in this case, the evidence falls on the side of  those supporting Marois, the argument summed neatly by the old saying... What is sauce for the goose, est bonne pour le jars."

It really shouldn't be a big deal, but of course it is, this is Quebec, where nationalists have always had a problem with Remembrance Day, not because it celebrates the sacrifices of Canadian (and Quebec) soldiers but because the military is seen as a federalist trapping, based on the British model and closely associated with the hated monarchy.

Canada's  Royal 22^e Régiment

Last year when Prince William and Kate visited Quebec City, the  royal couple spoke before a parade of Quebec's most storied regiment, the Royal 22nd, known affectionately as the 'Vandoos.' Link

As you can see from the pictures, the dress uniforms of the regiment closely resemble those of the Queen's Guard, familiar to anyone who has seen the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, in person or on the TV and it's something that irks nationalists to no end. 
The fact that so many enthusiastic Quebecers turned out to greet the Royal couple was also a bitter pill for nationalists to swallow, having prepared a counter-demonstration, which was kept 
well away from the proceedings.

Great Britain's Queen's Guards

But today's nationalist's problem with Canada's military, goes back a lot longer than the royal visit last summer, probably back to 1940, when conscription was the burning issue of the day.
Quebec had been promised by the federal government that in return for its electoral support, conscription would not be introduced in Canada.
Two years later, a plebiscite was held wherein Ottawa asked the nation for permission to go back on that promise.
The Yes side won, allowing the government to renege, but in Quebec, francophones voted 85% against the proposition and the betrayal and broken promise outraged the province.

Many Quebec government MPs left the William Lyon Mackenzie King government in protest to set up the Bloc populaire canadien.   Hmm...Sound familiar?

And so, all single men up to forty-five were required to register for the draft.
This set off a panic in Quebec, the Church and the government furiously denouncing conscription with many politicians advising citizens not to coöperate, resulting in violent anti-conscription riots in Montreal and Quebec city.
In an effort to thwart the draft, the Church advised young men to get married and organized mass outdoor weddings, held in places like Montreal's Jarry Park.
Many young men just disappeared, some even hiding in the forests like cowards, but to most Quebecers, these draft-dodgers were highly respected for their 'bravery' and were even referred to in the popular press as 'les patriotes.'
At any rate, the number of men actually drafted were few and less than 2,500 draftees went overseas, with less than seventy making the ultimate sacrifice.

Years later, the unpopularity of the war in Quebec and the organized resistance to conscription became an embarrassment and humiliation for nationalists.
Statements like this, made by Montreal mayor Camillien Houde in 1939 came back to haunt them;

"If war comes, and if Italy is on one side and England on the other, the sympathy of the French-Canadians in Quebec will be on the side of Italy. Remember that the great majority of French-Canadians are Roman Catholics, and that the Pope is in Rome. We French-Canadians are Normans, not Latins, but we have become Latinized over a long period of years. The French-Canadians are Fascists by blood, but not by name. The Latins have always been in favour of dictators."

Many in Quebec, like in France and some in England supported Mussolini and Hitler at the war's beginning and when victory was finally declared and the real horror story of European fascism was revealed, they realized that they had backed the wrong horse.

In 1992  Esther Delisle, published The Traitor and the Jew, a bombshell which explored prewar fascism and antisemitism in Quebec. The book ripped apart Lionel Groulx and other fascists, something that nationalist could not endure. The book caused such a ruckus that the author was vilified as the real traitor, her honest, yet mortifying description of Quebec in the years leading up to the war, unbearable and impossible to digest, fifty years after the fact.

Those nationalists who created the sovereignty movement back in the sixties remember the war years as a humiliation, not only because opposition to conscription looked cowardly in retrospect but also because of the deep fascist attachment that many in the anti-conscription movement held.

Like some Irish today, who still cannot abide the British military, history plays an important part in understanding why wearing the red poppy to nationalist Quebecers is so distasteful.

And so Quebec nationalists have consistently boycotted Remembrance Day ceremonies, the poppy a painful reminder of the inglorious past.
French schools, controlled by left-leaning nationalists, make a special effort to ignore Remembrance Day with the unfortunate result that most Quebec Francophones of this generation are painfully unaware of it significance.

Although the percentage of Quebecers answering the call to arms was smaller than in the rest of Canada, many did volunteer and served bravely, and sorrowfully, many did not come home.
It remains a bit sad that because of the cowardice of some, the bravery of others is swept under the carpet in Quebec.
I imagine that the sacrifice of those francophones Quebecers who did serve honourably, makes the humiliation of those who did not, all the more painful.

At any rate, in a change of tactics and in an effort to be seen as respecting the war dead, a nationalist group came up with a Blue Poppy, something they could wear to honour the dead, without honouring the Canadian military itself.

In a video recorded at a cenotaph ceremony in Quebec City last year, Denis Julien explained that because of the Blue Poppy, Quebec sovereigntists can show their respect for fallen soldiers, without participating in ceremonies dominated by a Canadian military that they did not support. Watch the speech{fr}

You know readers, that's something I can live with, even though a lot of you won't agree and I fully expect to take flack for that opinion. 
The Blue poppy allows some Quebecers, who would otherwise not, honour those who served and sacrificed.
From what I saw in the videos the ceremonies where dignified and respectful and if it contributes to Quebecers understanding the efforts of those who answered the call, I cannot complain...

As if the competing Blue and Red poppies weren't enough, Quebec has now seen the birth of another entry, the 'white' poppy.

Largely a creation of Quebec leftists and Quebec solidaire, the white poppy pays respect to all the victims of war.

"As noted by the group, wearing the white poppy also aims to dissociate one from the tendency of some political powers that use the "Remembrance Day" to justify wars and increasing militarism.

Read a story about the backlash to the White poppy. Link

Remembrance Day in Quebec...it's very complicated.

I was reminded by a reader, of a piece I wrote two years ago about Quebec's general disrespect of Remembrance Day.
It still is relevant and a good read for this weekend (if I do say so myself) in the run up to Remembrance Day.
Read:  Annual Remembrance Day Embarrassment in Quebec

I bet many of you have never attended a Remembrance Day ceremony, other then standing at attention in school at eleven o'clock.

This year Remembrance Day falls on a Sunday, so there's an opportunity for you to attend.
If you have children, take them to see the vets, I know the effort is appreciated.

Have a great weekend!

Montreal -The Rottenest City North of the Rio Grande

As the Charbonneau Inquiry drones on, a disgusting parade of corrupt city officials and crooked businessmen are spilling their guts, confessing their decades of thievery, not because of remorse but rather because everything they say before the commission cannot be used against them in court.

Although they all proclaim a sense of shame and regret, two of the principle witnesses moved to protect their assets by selling their homes to family members for one dollar, hardly an act of contrition.

At any rate, a tawdry picture of institutional corruption is revealed, so pervasive and encompassing that it is not hyperbole or exaggeration to describe it as mind-boggling.

Watching the HBO drama entitled Boardwalk Empire, the saga of crooked politicians running Atlantic City during prohibition, I can sadly conclude that our cast of villainous rogues at city hall could give poor Nucky, the chief villain of the show, a run for his money. 

On Monday, Montreal mayor Gerald Tremblay resigned, fatally wounded by allegations that he walked out of a room where corrupt practices were being discussed by fundraisers of his Union Montreal municipal party, telling the room as he departed that he didn't want to hear what was about to be discussed.
 I honestly don't believe Tremblay took any money for himself, but by burying his head in the ground like the proverbial ostrich, he gave his tacit support to the illicit shenanigans.

In his resignation speech, a bitter Tremblay told the audience that he wasn't dishonest, but that the corruption in Montreal city hall is so entrenched and overwhelming that he wasn't in a position to do much about it. According to his story, he was a victim, not a crook....ahem.

Over a year ago, Jacques Duchesneau met with the mayor discreetly to warn him that four senior members of the mayor's entourage had been identified by his anti-corruption unit as bent. As of yesterday, when the mayor resigned, some of these people were still on the job.

I can sympathize with the mayor's impossible position where if he denounced his inner circle as corrupt, he may as well have tossed his political career in the garbage, the re-cycling bin not even an option because there's no recovering from that type of political hit.

And so the situation at Montreal City Hall can only be described as a kleptocracy, a government defined by its greed and corruption.
Even for a cynic like me, it is hard to understand how such unlawful activities could remain undiscovered and unreported for decades.

Where were the whistle-blowers, the investigative journalists and where were the politicians?
I would hope that there are actually some honest ones among the thieves.

It seems that Montreal was engulfed by the Perfect Storm of corruption, where all the components and elements; the construction contractors, the politicians, the city employees and the outside engineering firms, ALL conspired to defraud Montreal taxpayers of billions of dollars.

Imagine a hockey game where all the players on both teams, all the coaches, the referees, the team owners and the league all conspire to fix the outcome of a game.
Under these circumstance what chance do the fans have to watch an honest match.

For me, the fact that most of the engineering/consulting firms dealing with government are corrupt is particularly disheartening.
Just yesterday the anti-corruption unit UPAC raided four of these firms in Laval, including DESSAU, up to now, a proud fixture representing Quebec know-how. Link
That these large and supposedly professional companies, stocked with the best and the brightest minds are corrupt enterprises boggles the mind. We've already been rocked by allegations against SNC-Lavalin, a Quebec and international behemoth.

It's like finding out your health clinic, run by professionals and doctors was systematically defrauding patients by overcharging.
When will these revelations end?

Some in the Press are clamouring for harsh new rules and penalties, but it isn't the only answer.

Obviously an outside auditor can easily verify the integrity of a construction contract by comparing elements within. If the quoted price of say... concrete in Montreal, is double what is being paid in Quebec City (which was actually the case)  it doesn't take a genius to cry foul. But in Montreal, as I said, even the auditor is corrupt.

But even diligent oversight is not enough when so many of the players are corrupt. 
Here is a con that was described at the Charbonneau commission whereby a crooked city employee who was in charge of preparing the tender, falsified the requirements to favour his crooked construction company cohort..
Let us pretend that the actual project called for ten metric tons of concrete, the tender was written to include 18 tons of concrete and all the contractors based their submission including the cost of the fictitious extra concrete. The crooked contractor has been warned beforehand that he could complete the project using just the ten tons and so could easily underbid the others. Dastardly!

Corruption is a state of mind, and eliminating it means acting decisively and ruthlessly.
Half-measures, that include keeping the same dirty players (including the politicians) on the payroll are bound to fail.

Half-measures are not enough.

That is why the city of Montreal needs to be placed under provincial trusteeship and a thorough cleansing undertaken, like a hospital that stops normal operations in light of a dangerous contagious outbreak.

Montreal is set for a municipal election in a year and during the interim a government appointed administrator should be installed.

Every single elected politician should be dismissed and all construction projects not already underway, put on hold, including the gazillion dollar rebuild of the Turcotte Exchange.

During the next year, a thorough house-cleaning should be undertaken, where corrupt employees are to be dismissed, as well as those who knew of the corruption and did nothing about it. As witness after witness testified, every senior employee at city hall participated or tolerated rampant corruption.

Aside from the human element, the province can re-invent the city's political structure, dumping the bloated and counter-productive system of decentralization including the positions of borough mayors and councils, slashing the ridiculous number of elected officials in the process.

Yes, by all means we need to institute new regulations. We need to enforce these rules diligently and we need to step up all aspects of good and honest governance.

But nothing short of trusteeship will restore taxpayer faith and hopefully the year-long interlude in municipal rehab will allow political forces to re-organize. I seriously doubt that Union Montreal will survive, but that is a good thing.
Those politicians who are honest should welcome the opportunity to re-brand under a new leader.

Will any of this happen?

You know the answer as well as I, but at least we can dream.