Disinformation Campaign Used to Camouflage Quebec Economic Disaster

I'm reminded of that upbeat television commercial from the Bank of Nova Scotia reminding Canadians that "You're Richer than You Think!"
No matter how you cut it, it certainly doesn't apply Quebecers who are actually much poorer than we think.

In the war of statistics, one can convince anyone of anything as long as the recipient is attuned to the message being flogged, regardless of it's veracity or accuracy.

In this respect Quebec nationalists have raised the disinformation campaign to an art form with consummate con-artists like Jean-François Lisée telling Quebecers that all is well and that reports of economic disaster are federalist plots to discredit Quebec.
It is a message that resonates with most Quebecers and why not, who really wants to hear the bad news?

And so Quebec militants have created a potent disinformation machine, complete with spokesmen who dazzle us with selective, faulty and downright dishonesty, coupled with phony-baloney pseudo-reputable organizations that cloak themselves in an outward appearance of legitimacy, when in fact they are nothing but dishonest facades, whose sole mission is to cloud the debate with the help of a complicit media that never questions their credentials.

"Such is the case of the insufferable Institut de recherche sur le français en Amérique (IRFA) an organization that uses the word "Institute" to give itself a false and bloated appearance of something which it is not. Aside from its minuscule size, it mimics the work of the SSJB, Mouvement Quebec Francais and Imperatif Francais in promoting the French language and the cause of sovereignty.

THE IFRA is a tiny French language lobby group, run by a university student consisting of a website, post-office box and a personal cellular telephone number.
The website shows a couple of academic separatists forming a 'scientific committee' which includes Marc Termote, a demographer and renowned language militant, and employee of the OQLF."  Link

Other separatist propaganda organs like organization  Institut de recherche en économie contemporaine (IREC), 'Institut de Recherche et d’Informations Socio-économiques' grind out statistical nonsense that the French media eat up, giving Quebecers a false economic sense of security.

Here'a an example of the type of slanted and bogus reporting that Quebecers are treated to on an ongoing basis.
A recent Journal de Montreal article focused on the fact that 65% of 4,499 students entering kindergarten and who couldn't speak French, were born in Quebec. Link{Fr}.

They even included a table which was more interesting for what it did not say.

The table shows the six principle countries of birth for these students.
Here  is the problem, there are two.
The article's first line says this;

"In 2007-2008, 65% of 4499 children who needed support for learning French (SAF) on entry to the school were born in Quebec.

As you can see in the table presented above, it lists a different percentage for the Quebec born, that of 37.3%. What gives??

But even if it is a typo or I am getting it wrong, and the real number of these students born in Quebec, but unable to speak French when entering French kindergarten, is as the article indicates,  65% of 4,499 or 2,900, in all.
What number does this represent as a percentage of all students entering French kindergarten?
It is the essential point that the article never addresses and herein lies the disinformation.

Is it a crisis or not? How do we know, if we don't know what percentage the 2,900 represent in relation to the total number of students entering kindergarten.

I did a little checking of my own and have found out that about of 75,000 student enter French kindergarten each years, making the problem students involved at around 4%. Link

Quite a different story, and let's be honest, did they really expect English children forced into French schools (which represents 20% of the total) to be proficient in French?


This is just the latest example of  what I like to call, 'separatist statistics', disinformation, half-truths and outright lies, numbers and facts that never stand up to scrutiny.

The greatest economic fiction sold by these organizations is that Quebec is not really poorer than the rest of Canada, the argument being that the lower disposable income available to Quebec families is based on the collective decision to pay higher taxes in order to fund richer entitlements.

It's a good line, but hardly true.

In fact almost all the so-called Quebec entitlements, including $7 a day child care, extended parental leave, free prescription drugs and low tuition fees can be attributed to the $8 billion subsidy Quebec receives from Ottawa in the way of transfer payments.

Quebec can argue that  it is entitled to this money, but the reality is that in the present federal economic model,  Quebec has its social programs paid for by Ottawa while Alberta does not, that is a fact.

Yet despite the evening-up subsidy, Quebecers remain poorer than Canada's other big provinces, something that no statistical sleight of hand can mask.

Here is  a simple table based on the average family income that I defy separatists to discredit. It is based on Statistics Canada data and an online tax calculator.

 
But even the disparity in the above table doesn't tell the whole story, although Quebec families have 17% less disposable income (after taxes) than Ontario families and 30% less than Alberta families, the situation is aggravated because disposable income in Quebec doesn't go as far.

Almost everything except housing costs and electricity costs more in Quebec, a lot more, further reducing family buying power.
But even the historically higher housing cost for homes in Ontario and Alberta has been offset with rising prices, and while Albertan and Ontarian families paid more for their homes over the years, the rise in value more than offset the investment.

Just about the only place Quebecers save is in electricity where the average family pays about $500 less than Albertans and $600 leas than Ontarians. Link
But all this is wiped out by the differences in sales tax and gasoline prices which cost the average car-owner in Quebecers about $350 more than Albertans and about $200 more than Ontarians. You can double those costs for two-car families.

Provincial Sales Tax
QUE- 9.5%......ONTARIO.. 8%......ALBERTA 0%

Gasoline
QUE- $1.38......ONTARIO..$1.20......ALBERTA $1.04 

There is a simple truth that the apologists won't admit.
Quebec families are poorer than those in Ontario, B.C and Alberta because they collectively don't produce as much wealth, and the wealth that is produced is taxed at a higher rate, this despite having the vaunted social programs paid for by other Canadians.

When militants tell us that we are poorer than other provinces because we are richer in social spending, it is like everything else they tell us, an ounce of truth and a pound of malarkey.

Social programs contribute to Quebec's bloated spending, but are by no mean the entire story.
Aside from the bloated and wildly expensive government itself, Quebec lavishes subsidizes to provincial businesses to the tune of 6 billion dollars a year, three times what Ontario spends despite being almost double our size.
In effect Quebec is forced to 'buy' jobs for its citizens through subsidies because Quebec industry is not competitive. The best example of this is the half a billion dollars the government pours into the pork industry each year, despite the industry operating at a loss. Link{fr}

Percentage of  revenue use to pay debt  from  Antagoniste.net

Don't forget the double-whammy of agricultural subsidies coupled with higher food prices, propped up by cartel-like marketing boards that fleece Quebec consumers.

And let us remember that Quebec pays the highest percentage of any provincial budget towards debt repayment.

But Quebec apologists have steered the conversation away from reality, convincing Quebecers that their lower standard of living is an honourable thing.
Like the Church of old that told Quebecers that the meek shall inherit the Earth, Quebecers are fed the line that their reduced wealth is an admirable sacrifice for the betterment of society in general.

It is a less than half-truth, it is a lie.

As long as the media discusses the merits of a descriptor in front of the name of Canadian Tire, the problems of wealth creation, productivity, exploitation of natural resources and government overspending are ignored, as Quebecers continue their economic decline.
As long as Pauline remains obsessed with symbols like the Canadian flag in the National Assembly  rather than attacking the economic challenges that face us, we are doomed to sink lower in the Canadian pecking order of wealth and when the Maritimes pass us, we will have truly crossed the Rubicon.

In Quebec, as the old saying goes, the more things change, the more things stay the same.

The priest of yore who told Quebecers not to complain and accept their humble lot in life are today replaced by a new cadre of economic gurus, who are telling Quebecers the exact same thing.


A SPECIAL NOTE:
This blog is not about Israel or Gaza, but nobody can be insensitive to what is going on in the Middle East. I'm not going to comment other to say that our problems here in Quebec seem so remarkably petty compared to what is going on over there.

Imagine the terror that all civilians feel on both sides of the Gaza/Israeli border when rockets and bombs rain down.

I'd like to ask readers to take a moment to imagine a rocket or a bomb landing on your street or neighbourhood.

These people have real problems, ours in Quebec and Canada,  are manufactured nonsense.

Francophones, Anglophones and Ethnics, we are blessed to live where we do. 

Imagine that we have energy, time and the inclination to discuss a flag in the National Assembly as if it has the slightest importance or meaning.

Again, I'm not going to write a blog piece about what is going on over there, but readers are welcome to comment.

The only thing that I will offer an opinion on, is Amir Khadir, someone who we've heard nothing from ever since the beginning of the conflict in Syria which has taken the lives of 29,000 civilians as well as 10,000 combatants.
Mr. Khadir took part in an anti-Israel protest in Montreal yesterday and while he tried to make impartial comments, his presence spoke volumes.

That Mr. Khadir is an Israel basher is fine, there are many.
It is his hypocrisy that is just so galling. Link

French versus English Volume 67

Entrepreneur humiliates Marois in public

A Quebec entrepreneur who won an award for excellence, unloaded on Pauline Marois who handed him his trophy.
Luc Paquet, president of Fordia a company that does business in the mining industry surprised a packed house for remarks made to Pauline Marois.

"I have three sins, he said to the Premier. I am a manufacturer,  I serve the mining industry and I make money. '
Fordia describes itself as the world leader in the manufacture of diamond tools, which are used among other things, for drilling. Its products are available in 34 countries and employs 304 people. Its headquarters is located in Dollard-des-Ormeaux.

"I expect you will cure me of my third sin," he then said, half joking. Link{fr} .

Marois who is a pro at deflecting body blows, took the criticism with a smile and soldiered on....

Sovereignty support at historic low

A new CROP poll published in La Presse indicates that in the face of a global economy, 83% of Quebecers perceive a membership benefit for Quebec to remain in Canada.  

Despite electing a sovereigntist government, 66% consider the sovereignty issue as outmoded.
More than one in two, 56% expressed agreement with the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, when he says that sovereignty awakes "old constitutional wrangling of the past." 
As for the possibility that the province eventually becomes a sovereign country, it is still a utopia dream for 67% of Quebecers, but if asked to vote in a new referendum, the sovereignty option would lose rather convincingly, 61% to 32%, or two to one against.
 
While the Minister of the Environment of Quebec, Daniel Breton, announced that he would prevent the Alberta oil industry from selling its oil in Quebec, 74% of Quebecers are very favourable to the idea of Western Canadian oil being sold here rather than sending it to Asia. 

Self-hating Anglo serves up the mother of all apologies

An opinion piece in the Montreal Gazette ruffled quite a few feathers as an American who has moved to Quebec City, charged the Anglophone community with being insensitive, coddled and selfish.
Read the story, it's a must;

"English is not at risk, and anglos are not an oppressed minority" Alternate link

  My favourite passages:

"Just as a man from Alabama whose father had to drink from a separate water fountain would never be expected to forget the colour of his skin, so a French-speaking Quebecer whose ancestors lived as a colonized majority cannot really be expected to forget the characteristic — language — that was used for centuries to differentiate her."

"...The root of it seems to be nostalgia for the way things used to be, before many of today’s anglophones were born, when their parents and grandparents had advantages that in retrospect can only be deemed unfair. .."

Readers, I'm going to let you do the critique in the comments section, I'm sure you'll have lots to say.
The only thing I will comment upon is this statement in order to set Mr. Lipson and the record straight.

"English is not dying in Rouyn-Noranda, but French in Moose Jaw is an assimilated mess."

Now I doubt if Mr. Lispon , the author of the article ever visited Rouyn-Noranda or knows anything of its history, because if he did he would understand that he couldn't have picked a worse example.

Rouyn-Norana was indeed the home to many Anglos and Americans who worked in the mining industry, The city of Noranda was created by the English, the name a contraction of "North" and "Canada"
The English community was well-established and quite vibrant and even had its own newspaper. In fact if you take a stroll on Ninth Ave., up towards the DAVE KEON (a native son) hockey arena, you might recognize the trappings of an old synagogue, complete with cornerstone in Hebrew and English, now converted into an apartment building.
If you look closely, you can find street names that include, Churchill, MacDonald, Murdoch, Ste. Anne and Pinder.
And contrary to your stated opinion, Mr. Lipson, English did die out in Rouyn-Noranda, you'd be hard pressed to find any vestige of the community today.

Clearly your ignorance about the city is telling, something that pervades the rest of your opinion piece.
(Okay readers, I couldn't resist)

PQ continues installing friends in high places

As I described in a post earlier this week, the PQ is in a hiring frenzy, firing highly paid civil appointments and replacing them with friendly separatists.
The Liberals hit the roof in the National Assembly in reaction to Daniel Breton, the militant ecologist Minister of the Environment's announcement that he had replaced the head of the agency that reviews environmental projects with an old friend, Pierre Baril who is similarly militant. The PQ had already fired the second in command as well and replaced him with another journalist.

All this is going to cost a pretty penny, the old president of BAPE was just given a contract extension for five years, which may have to be paid out in it entirety! Ka-ching!

Coalition avenir Québec leader François Legault, called Breton dogmatic and dangerous and accused the PQ government of politicizing the independent agency. Link

In the meantime;

"As Premier Pauline Marois was setting out an ambitious blueprint for Quebec's economy Friday, two major bond-rating agencies issued a warning over one of her election promises.
They warned that they might lower the rating of one of the province's financial cornerstones, the Caisse de depot et placement, if her government tinkered with it in a major way.
While Marois was extolling the virtues of innovation to a business luncheon, Standard & Poors's and DBRS said in reports that the status quo is just fine for the province's big pension-fund manager."  Read more

Way to go Pauline. Keep on truckin'!

Another day, another corruption revelation

When I described the ongoing saga of the revelations coming out at the Charbonneau Commission looking into corruption, I wasn't exaggerating when I said it would make a good Mafia movie.

On Thursday a contractor revealed how the Mafia intimidated him in an effort to get him to stop bidding on projects;

"Quebec's public inquiry is getting a glimpse into how the Italian Mafia used its muscle to maintain control of the construction industry in Montreal.
With death threats and intimidation, the Mob would seek to squeeze out companies when they competed for work against members of the city's construction cartel.
An out-of-town construction owner testified Thursday that he received multiple threats after bidding on contracts in Montreal.
The Quebec City man, Martin Carrier, said he got a phone call at home in 2004. His daughter answered the phone and passed it to him.
On the other end of the line was a man with a heavy Italian accent. He warned him to stop working in the city, in the first of two similar phone calls Carrier received.
Carrier asked the man for his name. That prompted a curt reply.
"Never mind who I am," the caller said. "Because the next time you won't be walking away from here...
"Thank you and have a nice day."" Read the rest of the story.   Thanks Todd for the link

For those who missed my Tweet yesterday, former Mayor of Laval, Gilles Vaillancourt is the subject of a serious plot to kill him, likely by those who don't want the truth to come out about corruption in Laval.
The RCMP developed the information and deemed it credible enough to pass on to the Laval police. When the former mayor gave his resignation speech, it was obvious something was afoot with some very serious looking cops doing guard duty.
Incidentally, five days after resigning, the city of Laval cut a $250,000 cheque to the ex-mayor as his severance package.

Odds'n ends

This English sign in Quebec City had several people up in a lather LINK{Fr]

Le Droit, a French language newspaper in Ottawa devoted a whole article about the abominable situation in a Hull shopping centre where horrors of horrors an immigrant employee who could not speak French was working as a sales clerk.
Blowhard president of Impératif Français, Jean-Paul Perreault, was dutifully furious, demanding that shopping centres not rent space to stores that didn't provide French speaking staff. Link{fr}

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Bilingualism will never trump merit or the ability to get along with colleagues when it comes to appointing judges to the Supreme Court, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson argues in a recently released letter.  Link

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 Opposition leader Louis Harel showed a lot of class when she was questioned over the suitability of Michael Applebaum acceding to the mayoralty based on his poor French accent.
"I only wish I spoke English as well as he speaks French" was her response.

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 Last week I caught a round-table discussion on LCN, the French news channel where the panel lamented over the fact that it would be a dirty rotten shame if Tony Accurso's various companies, all built on corruption, were to fall into foreign or Canadian hands in the face of Mr. Acurruso's problems with the law.
Yup, another Quebec jewel.....
Just sayin.....

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And lastly I'm printing this picture of a woman interviewed on television complaining about English store names.

I'm sure she regrets giving the interview now, but I'm memorializing it for her.
I'm having a mean-spirited day, especially after reading that article by Brian Lipson.

Have a good weekend!

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.