French versus English Volume 76

This week in corruption

Arrest Warrants finally issued over superhospital 

After months of dancing, the police finally dropped the hammer on disgraced ex big shot Arthur Porter and four others accused of offering and receiving 22 million in bribes related to the awarding of the contract to SNC-Lavalin to build Montreal's English super hospital.

"A health care executive who Prime Minister Stephen Harper once appointed to oversee the national spy agency is now a wanted man.
Quebec’s anti-coruption squad issued arrest warrants Wednesday for Dr. Arthur Porter and four other men embroiled in allegations of fraud swirling around the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal’s English-language hospital network." Read the rest of the story

Witness at Charbonneau Crime Commission called an 'Imbecile' by presiding judge 

"Who me?"

After listening to testimony given by former City of Montreal employee Robert Marcil, who headed the department in charge of construction projects, it's hard to have much faith in the legal system where a witness can give such utterly unbelievable and clearly dubious testimony and not be charged with obstruction of justice.

Mr, Marcil defended himself saying he had nothing to do with corruption in spite of testimony to the contrary from other witnesses and a mountain of evidence that he colluded with contractors doing business with the city.
He told the commission with a straight face that he did not know that a construction boss with whom he vacationed in Italy would be picking up the tab for hotel accommodations until he arrived in Italy.
He then told the commission that he recommended hiring the construction magnate's daughter for a job in his department without ever speaking to her father about it, despite speaking with him dozens and dozens of time on the telephone.

It got to the point that an exasperated judge called him an 'imbecile' Read the story

Ah well, just another day of jollies at the farcical Crime Commission.

We don't need no stinkin' pet stores

Here's an interesting letter to the editor.

"In reading Don Macpherson’s column, I was reminded of what can happen when the language police swoop.
My partner Peter Merrill and I started PJ’s Pet Centers in Montreal and shortly after Bill 101 came into being, an inspector arrived at one of our stores and informed Mr. Merrill that he was selling postcards that were only in English. It was pointed out to the inspector that they were photos of reef fish that were only available from the United States. This was, of course, to no avail. The postcards had to go.
The inspector was asked what would happen if the store just continued to sell them. Legal action and a fine was the reply.
“In that case” said my partner, “I will be closing our four stores in Quebec.” I am sure the inspector did not believe him, but that is what happened. Within four weeks the leases on all four stores were settled and 40 employees were terminated.
PJ’s went on to become a great success story, first in Toronto, then Boston and Edmonton and today, I understand, it has outlets in almost every province with the exception of Quebec.
John Norris
Montreal " Link

OQLF continues to be mocked

The downward spiral of the OQLF rolls on unabated as more horror stories of 'over-zealousness' are being reported.

"Henri Schick, a Pointe-Claire delicatessen owner, says if the past week has taught him anything it’s that if the Office québécois de la langue française issues you a complaint, it’s time to get cooking.

And that’s how Pasta salad Marois, a macaroni salad made with elbow noodles, carrot shreds and mayonnaise, came to be on the menu at Swiss Vienna Pastry and Delicatessen at Plaza Pointe-Claire.

The latest language tensions are no laughing matter, but Schick said, he thought some comic relief was in order after last week’s dust-up at Buonanotte, the Montreal Italian restaurant singled out for using the Italian word ‘pasta’ on its menu.

“I decided I might as well have some fun,” said Schick, as he wiped his hands on his apron while standing at the shop’s counter on Tuesday. “I took the macaroni salad and renamed it.”

It’s not a runaway bestseller, he said, but at $10.90 a kilogram, the cheapest item in the salad bar is putting a smile on the faces of his mainly English-speaking customers.

A Facebook post featuring a picture of the salad with the byline, “This one’s for you Pauline Marois,” has wracked up 7,000 hits since Monday afternoon and, he added, the post is sparking lively chatter.

“Hard to digest,” wrote one Facebook fan. “Hope nobody gags,” added another.

Schick said it has all made it easier for him to deal with his own frustrations with Quebec’s language police.

In early January, he said, the bakery-delicatessen business his family has operated in the Pointe-Claire strip mall for the past 50 years, received a complaint of its own from the OQLF — not its first." Read the rest of the story

 Stories of OQLF excess are so widespread that this "Onion'-like story actually had many convinced that it was true.
PQ to extend Language law to Letters in alphabet Soup 

"On the outside of a can of alphabet soup, ingredients and cooking instructions are in both French and English as required under federal legislation. But companies like Campbell’s can put any letters they want on the inside of the can. Québec’s PQ government says this laissez-faire approach is a threat to the survival of the French language in North America.

“The food industry is literally putting a foreign tongue into the mouths of Québécois youth,” said PQ Families Minister Nicole Léger. “It’s disgusting.”" Read the rest of the story

 Letter by Francophone sums up public humiliation over 'Pastagate'

"I just read an article about what happened recently at Buonanotte Restaurant in Montreal, where employees of the OQLF identified the words PASTA and BOTIGLIA as unacceptable. I ask the OQLF  to respond to the incident in the media, as it is taking a terrible bashing on social networks. If employees are poorly trained or poorly supervised, I ask you to follow up.  
Shall we ban the sale of pasta, salsa in grocery stores?  
Should we ask Starbucks to change the format of their cups from 'VENTI' and 'GRANDE' to 'GRAND' and 'MOYEN'? 
And how would we react if English Canada adopted the same attitude? Quebecers would be furious. Imagine Cirque du Soleil forced to change the name to 'Circus of the Sun' or Le Chateau to 'The Castle'.  
And if the English equivalent of poutine did not exist? Should the word be banned in English Canada? With everything that is happening in Quebec, the Charbonneau Commission, the student crisis, the flip-flops of the Parti Québécois, we don't really need this! 
The image of Quebec has already suffered enough! "- Mario Jacques" Link{fr}

Stories continue to reverberate around the world;

Pastagate: Quebec Agency Criticized For Targeting Foreign Words On Menus  National Public Radio USA
Quebec Language Watchdog Launches Review After ‘pastagate’ Fallout  Epoch Times
Quebec restaurants criticized for using foreign words like 'pasta' on menus Chicago Tribune
Quand le gouvernement québécois fait dans l'excès de zèle  Le Plus (France)
КАК ПО-ФРАНЦУЗСКИ БУДЕТ "ПИЦЦА"? (how to say pasta in French) Russian Week



And finally, this cartoon by political satirist AISLIN says quite a bot about the subject;

For those with no French, Aislin acidly points put how English food words have joined the common French lexicon, even at the office of the language police.
For more of his wonderful political cartoons ... go HERE

Expense account fiddler awarded with huge payout

Claude Benoit..poster girl of greed and avarice

You might remember high-flying president of the port of Montreal Claude Benoit, whose outrageous abuse of her expense account led the government to eliminate her and her whole department.

"Claude Benoit, the high-spending chief executive of the Old Port of Montreal Corporation, will be let go and the Old Port itself will be dissolved under a Conservative government plan to clean house at the embattled federal Crown corporation that will be unveiled Thursday.
Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose will announce details of the Tory effort to clean up financial mismanagement at the Old Port in an afternoon speech to Parliament, government sources told QMI Agency Wednesday night.
Her message: Conservatives expect Crown corporations to be responsible in spending taxpayer dollars, adopt responsible management practices and be accountable to all Canadians.
The Old Port's staff, operations and assets will be amalgamated into the operations of its existing parent Crown corporation, the Canada Lands Company Ltd., the sources said.
Government officials will then proceed to reduce spending, staff and overhead costs at the money-losing Old Port.
One of the first positions to be eliminated will be that of Benoit, whose questionable management and lavish spending practices were exposed in a QMI investigative series this year.
Benoit partially billed lavish overseas trips, thousands of dollars in expensive restaurant meals, limos and even orchids to taxpayers, while cutting staff. Link

Well it seems Madame Benoit has managed to remain true to her piggish form, dinging the government for over $250,000 in severance pay and no, the 250k is not a typo. Link {fr}

Most Anglo Quebecers say English Gov't services available

"The majority of English-speaking Quebecers say they have access to government services in their mother tongue, a CBC commissioned EKOS poll has found.

But that doesn’t mean there’s isn’t room for improvement when it comes to certain services, according to some anglophones in Montreal.

Of the 1,001 anglophone Quebecers polled, 57 per cent agreed that they have access to government services in English. Twenty-eight per cent disagreed.

The results were similar when it came to those who agreed they should insist on getting served in English in their everyday life, but only for those who identified themselves as lifetime Quebec residents.

When it came to people who moved to Quebec from outside the province, fewer said they should insist on English service in their day-to-day lives." Read the rest of the story

Canadian soldiers protest against Bill 14

"When I consider the effects of Bill 14, the Parti Québécois’ latest legislative effort aimed at increasing restrictions against the use of English in Quebec, I think of Sandra.
Sandra goes to the English-language Dollard-des-Ormeaux school, just off Valcartier military base near Quebec City. When I met her, she emotionally asked why she would have to change schools and lose her friends.
Her father serves in the military and was wounded in Afghanistan. She lives with her mother. (Her parents separated partly due to the strain of post-traumatic stress after her father returned from combat.) Now, one of the few constants in her life, her elementary school and close friends, could be taken away by Bill 14.
There are 600 Sandras in Quebec City and Bagotville: children from military families who would lose the right to attend school in the language of their choice because of Bill 14. Almost 20% of the children in English-language educational institutions in Central Quebec School Board (CQSB) would be removed from their schools." Read the rest of the story

Alliance Quebec 2.0 re-forming

"(Before It's News) Montreal (MMD Newswire) February 27, 2013 -- ALLiance Quebec 2.0, a brand new Quebec-based, non-profit organization committed to educating both domestically and abroad, officially throws its hat into the charged English-language rights scene. "Get ready for an entirely new message, brand and face to the Bill 101-anti-movement" President Ian Stone warns, particularly his would-be Anglophone (English) supporters, adding, "We are NOT your parents' Alliance Quebec and we're not playing games!"

-"If our end goal is the eradication of Bill 101 and Bill 14, then we must consensus on a universal reframe of the entire topic such that economics, not language becomes the key discourse driver domestically. This is also how ALLiance Quebec 2.0 envisions us expanding our tent, to include ALL Quebecer's interests, by reframing Bill 101 and Bill 14 as a bread and butter issue that affects every dinner table in this province."

ALLiance Quebec 2.0 launches with a crowd-funding campaign on Indiegogo:
http://igg.me/at/alliancequebec2, a slick bilingual website, a quickly populating Youtube channel and a new line of Bill 101 Product/Merchandise that will be used as pledge gifts for supporters. ALLiance Quebec 2.0 is also developing a line of Bill 101 Apps, the first of which will be our second-by-second Bill 101-Cost-O-Meter clock. Plans to add an ANGLO-BULLYING live forum to our website are in the works.
-"We want to diminish the power of the Bill 101 brand, and to that end, we are introducing an in-house line of Bill 101 products that should do the trick. ALLiance Quebec 2.0 is very proud of its in-house developed BILL 101 line including Bill 101: Le Board Game, Bill 101: Le Card Game, Bill 101: Le Toilet Paper and our children's book on bullying, "101 Reasons Why Bill Shouldn't Be Afraid to Go to School". Join your voice to ours! Help us spread the word, both here in Quebec and abroad, to the world at large."  Website  Facebook 

For those readers who believe that all this is futile you are wrong. Along with Equality Part 2.0 and other lobby groups, a great deal of discomfort is being felt in the PQ government because of the pressure.
The PQ and French language militants are particularly frightened of international bad press.

Here's what Michel David said in Le Devoir.

" Wednesday, a new organization called Alliance Quebec 2.0 has launched an Internet campaign to inform the international community of "violations of human rights." It is also distributing certain promotional items, such as toilet paper printed with fleur-de-lys.

Always on the lookout for a new plot against the French language, the president of the (MQF), Mario Beaulieu, sees a direct link between the imminence of the parliamentary committee, which will begin its work on March 12 over Bill 14 and the recent "conspiracy" against the Quebec Office of the French Language (OLF).

Coincidence or not, the "pastagate" has undeniably given bad press OQLF and, by extension, the government Marois, but Bill 14 itself contains enough provisions to feed the controversy. Link

I like where this group is going, concentrating on getting the message out beyond Quebec's border and if successful, it will have a salutary and sobering effect on the zeal of Franco-supremacists.

Good luck to Ian Stone et al in Alliance Quebe 2.0's efforts to raise awareness.

The Quebec Problem in one photograph

Posted By: Dan Delmar ddelmar@astral.com · 2/26/2013 6:12:00 PM

I've often said that the one thing holding Quebec back, far ahead of sovereignty, is the disease of needless bureaucracy and government waste (and/or corruption).
As thousands of protesters march through the streets this evening, I wanted to share this one powerful photograph:

- See more at: http://www.cjad.com/Blog/DelmarAndDwivedi/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10510159#sthash.Adr7VkVr.dpuf

 I'll leave you all with this thought offered by Dan Delmar of CJAD.

"SQ riot cops protecting an area near l'îlot Voyageur, a $500-million pile of nothing that UQAM half-built with money from the education ministry. This scene is a like a weird, self-fulfilling prophecy of government waste. Expensive provincial riot cops keeping students who want free tuition away from a university building that was never completed.

Québec sait faire, les amis." Link

The Quebec Problem in one photograph

Posted By: Dan Delmar ddelmar@astral.com · 2/26/2013 6:12:00 PM

I've often said that the one thing holding Quebec back, far ahead of sovereignty, is the disease of needless bureaucracy and government waste (and/or corruption).
As thousands of protesters march through the streets this evening, I wanted to share this one powerful photograph:

- See more at: http://www.cjad.com/Blog/DelmarAndDwivedi/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10510159#sthash.Adr7VkVr.dpuf

 Readers, I'm out of town once again, thousands of miles from home. I'll look in on the comments section as best I can, but you can expect some delays in reaction.

Have a great weekend!

Bonne fin de semaine!

OQLF...Get the 'EFF' out!

With friends like Mario Beaulieu, it's likely that the OQLF doesn't need enemies, his defence of the agency in the matter of 'Pizzagate' must have elicited groans of embarrassment at the agency already reeling in humiliation.

For those who don't know the l'Office québécois de la langue française OQLF has been in a public relations nightmare over its demand that a Montreal restaurant remove the word 'Pasta' from its menu and replace it with the French word 'Pate'

The restaurateur went public with the nonsense and the story went viral, with newspapers and media reporting on the story around the world.

The largest foreign reaction came from Italy, where the insult was taken rather personally and seen as an attack on the country's honour.

Here's one headline that you don't even need to speak Italian to get the gist of;

"Ristorante in Canada ‘troppo italiano’: obbligato a riscrivere in francese il menù"
" An Italian restaurant in Canada, in the state of Quebec, was forced to rewrite its menu because it contained too many words in our language. It may sound crazy, but this extreme measure was demanded by no less than the Office québécois de la langue française, or the authority in Quebec who has the task of protecting the French language in a country predominantly English."  Clicca per il link

Here's a headline that you probably won't understand;
"Bareja po kanadyjsku? Policja językowa w Quebecu"
but it just goes to show how far the story has travelled when the Polish press is picking up the story where our province is being held up as a laughingstock.

The publication of the story seems to have served up some backbone for others to come forward with their version of linguistic terrorism, dished out by an agency gone rogue.

Perhaps the silliest story is that of a restaurant in Quebec City, Caffe Conti, ordered to replace the word 'CAFFE,' used I imagine to class up the place a little, with the French version CAFÉ , hence the title of this blog piece, 'OQLF...Get the EF out.'
See a video story

Others have come forward including restaurant Joe Beef who was ordered by the OQLF to take down some 'English' artifacts hanging on the wall. Link

Here is a snapshot of what the OQLF occupies its time with;

McKibbin's Irish Pub on Bishop St. downtown is too English for Quebec's language police.
McKibbin's, with its dark beams, warm fireplace and colourful Gaelic decorative touches, has been popular with the Concordia University crowd since it opened 10 years ago.
But the Office québécois de la langue française has suddenly noticed the antique English-language advertisements on the pub's walls and wants them removed.
It objects specifically to vintage ads that say such things as "Guinness Dublin 1759," "Ireland Trademark," "Cudthromach Aire," "Eat Palethorpes pork pies fresh today" and "Guinness Extra Stout, Draught & Bottled St. James Gate, Dublin" and "Caffrey's Cream."
Many of the signs - some hand-carved, some painted on tin - were acquired in Ireland by the owners of McKibbin's to give the bar an authentic Irish atmosphere.
In a letter to co-owner Rick Fon this month, the OQLF says that too much English is spoken by the bar's staff, that a customer has complained about not being served in French and that the English signs on the walls are an affront to Quebec's language laws.  Read the rest of the story

A ENGLISH school board was ordered to communicate in French.

Read the story, especially the comments

It seems that the agency is facing a 'tipping point,' (that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.) and that those previously silent are now and forever empowered to denounce the persecution of the OQLF.

The agency has overnight become a laughingstock and an embarrassment to right-minded francophones, who cringe at the negative publicity rocking the internet.

To make matters worse, Mario Beaulieu, Quebec's chief language supremacist has added more fuel to the fire of humiliation by claiming that the whole story is a plot by the English media, which he characterized as a 'cabal'  meant to hurt Quebec AND that the francophone media have fallen into a trap by picking up the story!

Now the agency which takes itself entirely too serious, is itself being mocked mercilessly like with the complaints that the "GO HABS GO" cheer in the Bell Centre or on city buses is illegal.

"The Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) has put itself on an inevitable journey to self-destruction in the last two weeks. The enormous list of absurd judgements from the province's language police that have come to light are a sign that the Office has gone off the deep end with power. The resulting social media outcry has put the OQLF on an irreversible and unintended path to its own demise. While they have acknowledged that perhaps they went too far in some cases, the damage has already been done and any legitimate authority the OQLF ever had has now vanished." Huffington Post

Let's hope that Quebec merchant's no longer maintain a policy of silent submission and the recent outcry provides them with a little dose of backbone.

It's time for merchants to give the agency a hard time, both publically and privately. If every establishment would take the agency to task and just refuse unreasonable demands, it wouldn't be long before the OQLF drowned in paperwork and litigation.

A word of advice to those afraid of the expense of fighting the agency.
It doesn't take much money to defend one's right, all that is required is steely nerve.
It's close to two years before any case will reach court and a merchant can always acquiesce before that.
In the meantime a tremendous amount of effort is expended by the agency with threatening letter after threatening letter burning up bureaucratic time and effort.
The OQLF is a paper tiger, even in a worst case scenario the fine for a first time offender is rarely over $500
If everybody just said no, the agency would collapse under its own weight.

One last story....
When the OQLF visited our company, the inspector was particularly interested in the specialized computer software that ran the company and asked me why it was in English.
I mumbled an answer that I didn't know why, turned and laughed under my breath.

This as you can imagine set the inspector off and it wasn't long before a full blown investigation was undertaken over the unilingual software.
After ignoring a couple of threatening letters, warning our company of the impending Armageddon,  I received a desperate call from our software company telling me that they too were under a full scale investigation about the so-called unlingual software and wanting to know why I didn't inform the OQLF that all one had to do to toggle to the French version was to press the F12 key.

As you can imagine the OQLF was none too amused over the wild goose chase that I sent them on. Ha! Ha!
Unfortunately, the software company was also not amused......

Bill 14 a Pernicious Attack on Minorities

  One doesn't have to look much farther than the second provision of Bill 14, to understand that the law is one of the most pernicious attacks on the rights of minorities ever undertaken by a government in this country, one dedicated to disenfranchising minorities and anglophones from forming a recognized and valued element of society.

In one fell swoop the government of Quebec has taken the unprecedented step to relegate the over 21% of those Quebecers who do not share a French mother tongue and who do not share the 'common culture' of poutine and maple syrup, to second class citizenship, a situation where their culture and language is no longer recognized as part of the greater Quebec society.

According to Section 2 of Bill 14, as pertaining to French;

“It constitutes the foundation of Québec’s identity and of a distinct culture that is open to the world.”

To those francophones reading this and pooh-poohing my interpretation as overly harsh and who believe that minorities and Anglophones are not being marginalized, I would ask them to consider the following;
What would be your reaction to the Government of Canada enacting the similar legislation on a national level.

“English constitutes the foundation of Canada’s identity and of a distinct culture that is open to the world.”

I'm sure francophones wouldn't be excited to see their language and culture excluded from the definition of how Canada defines itself and if there is a difference between what the Quebec government is planning and what I propose above, I'd like to see someone attempt to do so in the comments section.

Come to think of it how about New Brunswick enacting the same type of legislation, one that erases in one fell swoop the value and worth of francophone culture in that province.

“English constitutes the foundation of New Brunswick’s identity and of a distinct culture that is open to the world.”

Do you find this insulting to the 30% of francophone New Brunswickers?
I certainly do, but to Quebec's French language militants and the PQ, it is perfectly normal to marginalize a significant minority of the population, telling them that their particular language and culture may be valued only as it pertains to being adjunct of society in general.

There is only so much tap dancing that one can do to justify such a draconian, hurtful and exclusionist provision.
It is a law conceived in discrimination and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created unequally. (apologies to Abraham Lincoln)

And I am tired of hearing the excuse of that old chestnut that 'desperate times require desperate measures,' it is patently untrue that French is in any sort of danger in Quebec.

More people speak French today than ever before and more people will speak French in Quebec tomorrow.
French has achieved a critical mass that precludes it from being in any sort of danger. To say otherwise is a naked attempt to manage public opinion through lies and chicanery.
Any talk of French being in danger is just separatist talk by militants meant to frighten Quebecers into buying the sovereignty pipe dream.

Twenty years ago there was hardly a politician in the National Assembly who couldn't speak English, good English at that.
Today, how many French members of that august assembly can actually watch an English television show or movie and have an acceptable level of comprehension. Less than 20% I imagine.
Most in the PQ (save for half a dozen) rehearse in the mirror the one or two lines of English they will speak to reporters and then quickly retreat into cloistered world unlingualism.
Is this the new bilingual Quebec?

Bill 14 and Bill 101 and attacks on bilingual store signs is an attempt to alter perceptions, in other words, putting English out of sight and out of mind.
With English signs removed from view, militants can foist the fiction upon an unsuspecting public that Montreal is a French city, when clearly it is bilingual and ethnically diverse.

And when French language militants tell us one more time that the English are the best-treated minority in Canada, they should be reminded it isn't true.
In fact it is the French minority in Canada that enjoys financial, social and linguistic benefits far beyond its demographic footprint.
With sovereignty out of the question, the the only option left to the nasty and vindictive French radicals, is a legislative attack on their enemies, the English and Ethnics.

If the Liberals and the CAQ allow the travesty of Bill 14 to proceed, it will send the message that they are not honourable or brave enough to face down an evil attack on their own citizens.
It will demonstrate once and for all that those not with a French mother tongue are to be expendable and that the reach for power justifies the betrayal and marginalization of a million of their co-citizens.

If the CAQ and Liberals betray us on Bill 14, there is no going back. If they allow our language and culture to be relegated to second class status, they betray every value that makes us who we are. If that betrayal comes to pass, we too must make a stand and say no more and that we will not choose from the lessor of two evils.

If the CAQ votes against Bill 14 and the Liberals avoid taking a stand by not showing up as before, then the Liberals are dead to me and they should be dead to you, damn the consequences.

If the CAQ votes for the bill or doesn't show up for the vote, well a pox on both their houses and for us it means that there is no political route left in Quebec to defend the interests of our community,

We are getting close to the time when it is time to move towards street activism.

....yup.....I said it.
If Bill 14 passes, it is time to give up on the political route and take the argument to the streets...


What does that mean....well we can start with humiliation and ramp it up from there, but that is for the future...

Credit: Red, White Blue.

French versus English Volume 75

This week in corruption

Montreal City Hall raided
 "Quebec’s anti-corruption crackdown has reached into the heart of political power in Montreal – City Hall itself – in a sweeping police operation said to be tied to illegal party financing.
Investigators with the UPAC, or Unité permanente anti-corruption, entered the Old Montreal landmark late Tuesday afternoon and ordered municipal employees and political representatives and their staff to evacuate. Investigators were seen inside the office of interim Mayor Michael Applebaum." Read the rest of the story  Watch a video story

Construction boss claims he's no member of the Mafia  

"A former construction company owner who delivered cash to Mafia leaders spent his third day in front of the Charbonneau Commission Wednesday.

On the stand Wednesday, Nicolo Milioto continued his display of ignorance, claiming that he had no idea what the Italian word 'capo' meant, and also saying that he did not understand English.
Milioto has testified that he doesn't know what the Mafia is, and that despite seeing Mafia leaders like Nick Rizzuto Sr. daily for decades, he had no idea what Rizzuto did for a living.

Milioto, also known as Mr. Sidewalk for his company's dominance of that industry in and around Montreal, said his only mistake was to act as a go-between for cash exchanges.
Milioto was caught on surveillance tape delivering tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to Rizzuto Sr. during several exchanges. On the stand Milioto said he never asked what the money was for, and assumed it was all for the Catolica Eraclea community organization named after his home village in Sicily." Link + video

Hospital employees targeted in affidavit

"Provincial anti-corruption investigators alleged in a sworn affidavit that employees at the McGill University Health Centre — as well as employees of engineering firm SNC-Lavalin — committed fraud and forgery arising from the $1.3-billion MUHC superhospital contract.

Sergeant Jean-Frédérick Gagnon, of the Unité permanente anti-corruption, made the allegations in a signed affidavit on Sept. 4, 2012, in order to obtain a search warrant of the headquarters of the MUHC on Guy St. Investigators raided MUHC offices on Sept. 18, and left with boxes of documents.

The affidavit is the first time that police allege that MUHC employees have committed wrongdoing in connection with the superhospital contract, noting that the infractions were committed from Nov. 1, 2009 to Sept. 23, 2011.

Richard Fahey, director of public affairs of the MUHC, told The Gazette Wednesday night that MUHC officials were informed by investigators that “there are no current employees of the MUHC that are under investigation.”

Fahey added that the hospital network itself is not under investigation, either.

The affidavit does not identify which MUHC employees are alleged to have broken the law or their exact positions.

It does, however, shed some light into the police investigation. Police allege that Riadh Ben Aïssa, a former vice-president of SNC-Lavalin, “orchestrated” $22.5 million in unauthorized payments by the engineering firm to a company under the name of Sierra Asset Management Inc." Read the rest of the story

New York Times reports on Quebec  corruption

MONTREAL — “We ask everyone to kindly leave,” said the voice over the loudspeaker in Montreal’s City Hall on Tuesday. Minutes earlier, a fire alarm had gone off — even though there was no fire.
As politicians and city officials filed outside into a gathering snowstorm, dozens of cops from Quebec’s Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit moved in for an unprecedented raid, searching for documents to prove allegations of fraud, misrepresentation and abuse of trust.
At that precise moment, other anticorruption officers were raiding six Montreal borough halls, as well as the headquarters of the former ruling party in the city, Union Montreal. The operations were all part of a sprawling multiyear investigation into illegal party funding that has rocked the city establishment, already claiming one mayor’s head and making his replacement very uncomfortable just months into the job.  Link

Montreal Bakery faces extortion

It's not a big story, but it's interesting because it's being reported in a Lebanese newspaper. Over here, not a peep in the press about a baker who is facing demands from a Black street gang to pay up 'protection' money, or face the consequences.
Instead of paying the Lebanese immigrant has adopted a bullet proof vest and has installed security measures.
Read the story in French


Police discover Smoking Gun in Laval?

It's being reported that in a police raid on ex-Laval Mayor Gilles Vaiilancourt, a safe was discovered containing a list detailing all the politicians and municipal employees on the take and the payoffs they received.
Police aren't saying much, but it's hard to contain such a blockbuster. Link{fr}

Language Cops humiliate themselves again...then backtrack

OQLF.....Pizza is OK as a French word, but not Pasta

The latest transgression in Quebec's language wars involves an Italian restaurant that serves pasta.
According to restaurant owner Massimo Lecas, the Office Quebecois de la langue francaise has determined that pasta is not a French word, and its appearance on a menu without an adequate translation violates Quebec's Language Charter.
Lecas, the owner of Buonanotte on St. Laurent Blvd., told reporters that his restaurant was visited by an OQLF inspector on Sept. 5, 2012, who told him there had been complaints about the menu....

Many items on the menu at Buonanotte have names in Italian, but the descriptions are in French, and this week Lecas learned that is just not good enough to comply with the Charter.
In a letter delivered on Tuesday, the OQLF pointed out a host of infractions from writing 'bottiglia' instead of 'bouteille' on the wine list, listing squid under the word 'calamari' and using the Italian word for meatballs.....

Brit & Chips on Cote-des-Neiges Rd., which serves typical English pub food including fish and chips, told CTV Montreal it too had been asked to change its menu listings in English and remove other terms incomprehensible to unilingual francophones such as the word "Gents" on a washroom door.
The OQLF also told owner Toby Lyle that his sign out front should indicate -- in French -- that it is a restaurant.
Lyle said he will comply with those requirements but he is challenging a demand to remove a sign saying "Fish & Chips" from the restaurant's front window, and replace it with one saying "poisson frit et frites"
"I can't comply with this because it will literally kill my business," said Lyle. Read the story and watch a video report

Realizing that the story is going to go viral, the PQ government and the OQLF tried to get ahead of the story, but the press releases probably did more harm than good.

The minister responsible for the OQLF, Diane DeCourcy said in her press release that she has full confidence in the OQLF and agrees with their position vis-a-vis the restaurants.
Perhaps it was Opposite Day when she said let loose this beauty;
"In all the issues surrounding language, judgment and moderation must be what guides us." Link{fr}

Then in another pres release the minister demanded that people stop using derogatory terms like 'political police'  to describe the OQLF, calling out a Liberal member of the National Assembly for using the term. Link{fr} 

#pastagate...  21% approval rating

In the end someone higher up whispered some sweet nothings into the ear of the boss of the OQLF and ordered her to defuse the situation. That someone recognized the brewing political disaster and humiliation.  (Pauline?)

In a new press release, the OQLF said that perhaps it was over-zealous in pursuing the restaurant about the amount of Italian on the menu.
How about this gobbledygook; 

"The Office will consider the peculiarities of the restaurant, taking particular account of the exception relating to foreign specialties, prescribed by regulation." Link{fr}          Story about the OQLF backing down

Yesterday, the chief witch of the OQLF Louise Marchand gave an extensive interview on television claiming that it was all a misunderstanding, an over-zealous employee and that all has been repaired.
Mario Dumont, the interviewer, asked sarcastically if it was the publicity that humiliated the OQLF into backtracking.

See more political cartoons from the brilliant 'ygreck'

Already the Hashtags are out there and humiliating comments floating through the Twittersphere.
Try '#Pastagate'
The story is already going international;
From Italy     Foxnews    Eater.com  Inquisitr.com    The times     From Italy
In Indonesian   MSN     More from Italy      Even more from Italy


Attention Chinese food restaurants...
It may be time to find a French translation for 'Chow Mein!


In other OQLF follies, the government agency made the city of Montreal removed safety signs from Montreal parks because the according to the agency, the signs were illegal because they were in English.
Now the law provides that signs dealing with health safety can be posted in English, but in this case ruled that the signs were 'preventative' .

 French/English confrontation video goes viral on LiveLeak

Remember the video from a couple on months ago where a drunken francophone Montrealer assails a couple of young Asian tourists for not speaking French?
Well it was picked up just this week and published on the Liveleek website which features offbeat videos and which has a HUGE audience.
While the video when first released on YouTube, it received about ten thousand views in five months, while one week on LiveLeek produced over 75,000 views.
The Liveleak audience is a tough crowd and the comments below the video are something to behold, over 2,000 and counting.
Here's a sample of the sarcasm....

"I don't mind French people in Canada. What I do mind is having to rotate my cereal box around 50% of the time to read it in English." LiveLeak

Justin Trudeau drives separatists bonkers

"Speaking in Quebec on Tuesday, Liberal leadership candidate Justin Trudeau declared that “at least” two thirds of Quebecers would need to approve of secession before the federal government would be obliged to take notice.
“If we are going to change the Canadian constitution and the state of our country so profoundly, it should at least require the same level as that required to change the constitution of the New Democratic Party, which is two-thirds” said Mr. Trudeau as quoted in French by La Presse.
The statement, made before a crowd of about 100 students at McGill University, was a jab at NDP leader Thomas Mulcair, whose party recently tabled a private member’s bill to amend the Clarity Act, a Chretien-era piece of legislation mandating that a clear majority of Quebecers need to approve of secession before the federal government is obligated to set out terms." Read the rest of the story

Readers, if vigile.net  ran a poll as to the most hated politician in Canada is, Justin Trudeau would win hands down.
He represents everything that separatists hate, plus he is one of them, a francophone Quebecer seen as their very own version of Benedict Arnold.
With his pronouncement in regards to the two-thirds majority, he reopens one of the touchiest issues that separatists face, something that they thought had been settled.
Like a bandaid being ripped off an unhealed wound, all they can muster is a loud 'OUCH!'

In an article in the Journal de Montreal, the newspaper just hisses venom, it's headline "Justin Trudeau admits he's a millionaire" speaks volumes about Quebecers' perception of success. Link{fr}

Hundreds protest against PQ's French language policies

"About 200 protesters blocked a downtown street outside the Montreal offices of the Quebec Premier Pauline Marois on Sunday afternoon demanding her government rescind its new language legislation.
Some protesters went so far as to threaten to withhold their taxes if language restrictions aren't eased in Quebec.
The PQ's Bill 14, which is at the debate stage in Quebec's legislature, seeks to strengthen the province's French-language requirements, including for businesses, schools and individuals.
The protest was organized by two English-language rights groups, Put Back the Flag, and The Unity Group" Read the rest of the story

Although the numbers were rather modest, the protest seemed to strike a cord in the French press which strangely devoted a lot of ink to the smallish demonstration.
In fact, much to my surprise, some were frightened by the rise of the 'angryphones'

In an opinion piece entitled : "The Equality party in Power," the author wrote;

"Given that Jim Kalafatidis and his flock had no trouble getting PLQ and CAQ  to maintain the maple leaf in the Blue Room of the National Assembly, it seems that Bill 14 is indeed stillborn. This leads to the conclusion that although Pauline Marois leads PQ government, this party is not really in power. On the other hand, the Equality Party ... " Link{Fr}

Interesting letter to editor

"Despite protests from academia and medicine, the PQ seems to be staying the course with its cuts of $ 10 million in medical research. Yet this is an area of ​​activity that is important and that should be prioritized even in difficult times. In addition to the lives that could saved, the industry will retain our greatest minds, who will be otherwise forced into exile if the funds are not available.
However, the Office québécois de la French (OLF) has a budget of $20 million. Will someone explain to me why the PQ is more afraid of Anglos than cancer! "  Link{fr}

Video of the Week

 

 

Weekend reading

A Quebecoise learns why it's not a good idea to sleep on the beach while sunbathing topless.

58 per cent of anglophones feel welcome in Quebec: poll

42% of Anglos considered leaving Quebec post PQ win: poll

Quebec's military families concerned by Bill 14

Officer 728 ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment

Anglophones wary of PQ government


HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!
 BONNE FIN DE SEMAIME!
 

Radio-Canada Serves up Chinese Fodder

Last Friday I featured a link to a Radio Canada video story about those in Montreal's Chinese community who have implanted themselves in suburban Brossard, a prosperous bedroom community just over the Champlain Bridge on the south shore of the St. Lawrence river.

I didn't offer much more than a link to the story and was called out in the comments section for characterizing the piece as a Radio-Canada hatchet job.

You can watch the piece in either English, French or Chinese over at the at the Grand Dossiers website at Radio Canada. English subtitles are provided when necessary. Link

The main focus of the piece was about the Chinese community's difficulty and perhaps refusal to integrate into mainstream francophone society.
The issue of ethnic communities integrating into Quebec society is a touchy subject, with French language militants generally enraged and insulted that these 'outsiders' refuse to join the great francophone society.
Although the producers tried to 'round' off the report with various human interest aspects, there was no getting away at what they were bringing to the table (not egg rolls), that is, that the Chinese community lives apart from mainstream Quebec society in a cocooned and sheltered world, something that remains an anathema to language militants who believe that immigrants are obligated, as part of the implied social contract they accepted when they immigrated, to learn the French language, adopt and assimilate Quebec culture, Marie-Mai, poutine and maple syrup, the whole kit and caboodle.

The piece includes features on several different Chinese, a chef, a mother, a real estate broker, a pastor and some elderly Chinese, each story describing their lives and how they live outside mainstream French milieu.

I'm not sure those who were interviewed understood what was going on, they innocently answered the questions as best they could and freely described that for many in their community, especially the older generation, living apart from mainstream Quebec is de rigueur.

Given the context of language in Quebec, I couldn't help but get the feeling that they were being 'set up' to make the producer's point, that the Chinese are diametrically opposed to assimilation, a poster boy community of uncooperative and recalcitrant social self-imposed isolation.
In many respects, the Chinese were used like the chumps interviewed by Jay Leno on his infamous 'Jaywalking' segment, where stupid people are made fun of without their cottoning to the fact. Take a look .

Now perhaps my interpretation of the motives of the film maker is flawed and paranoid.
If so, I apologize for that conclusion, but after screening the video there was one thing that I was dead sure of, that it wouldn't take long before an outraged response to the story would appear on vigile.net, decrying the continuing ethnic rejection and humiliation of Francophone society.

Readers, I was not to be disappointed, but more on that a bit further on.

I hope you watch the videos, if not, these screen caps sum up the piece rather succinctly.

Looking at the story in the context of the current language debate and the overriding fear that ethnics are choosing to live apart or in English, it's not a reach to conclude that the Chinese were being served up to language militants, like a red flag waved in front of a bull's nose to elicit a reaction.

 The quotes in the screen caps above pretty much summed up where the story was going.

"No speakee da Englese"

I'm writing this post in a hotel room looking down on the Manhattan bridge in New York City, on the Brooklyn side of the East river.
Crossing the bridge over to Manhattan, vehicles are deposited onto Canal Street, directly into one of the great and most famous 'Chinatowns' of the western world. The quaint and touristy neighbourhood is famous for its Chinese restaurants and knockoff Louis Vuitton purses and Rolex watches, hawked right on the curbs of Mott Street and environs, to rapacious tourists out for adventure and bargains.
The most popular Chinese restaurant with visitors is the cavernous Jim Fong, where dim sum is served up by decidedly non-English speaking waiters.
The neighbourhood is also home to a local community that lives and breathes in Chinese, a place where one can live an entire life without a word of English.

Back here in Brooklyn, just a couple of miles down the road from my hotel room, is another 'Chinatown', this one in the neighbourhood known as Sunset Park and interestingly, it's even bigger and more 'ethnic,' than its more famous cousin in Manhattan.

One thing both these Chinatowns have in common is the fact that many of its Chinese residents live, work and recreate entirely in Chinese, the same as some in the Brossard community featured in the Radio-Canada story.
I'm reliably informed by someone who works in a local hospital in Sunset Park that many, if not the majority of the local adult Chinese seeking medical help, speak no English at all.

I guess it's pretty much the same all over North America, be it San Francisco, Vancouver or Toronto, where in my favourite Chinese food restaurant on Spadina, it is a case of pointing at the English side of the menu, in order to be understood by the aging waiters, who only speak a rudimentary version of pidgeon-English.

In Sunset Park as in Brossard, it is true that one can live an entire life in Chinese, but it's important to note that the phenomenon applies exclusively to first generation immigrants, even those who have lived there for fifty years.
Come to think of it, the same applies to the Russian community of Brighton Beach, another storied Brooklyn neighbourhood nicknamed Little Odessa, because of the many resident who hail from the Ukranian city.
Here too, many first generation immigrants live their entire lives in Russian, eschewing English on every level..

Sunset Park's English-speaking next generation

It's no big deal.
Nobody in New York city is demanding that these non-English speakers become good citizens by learning English and adopting baseball, hot dogs and Lady Gaga.

Of course this aversion to English (or French in Brossard) disappears with the rise of the second and third generation, something that the Radio-Canada piece mentions, but doesn't highlight, choosing to concentrate on the first generation Chinese immigrants, who like their counterparts in Brooklyn choose to remain safely ensconced in their community.

And so the Radio-Canada story while factually correct, holds up the insular Chinese community of Brossard as some strange and isolated phenomenon, ignoring the fact that the Chinese 'experience' is pretty much the same across North America.
The story's intended or unintended consequence is to fan the flames of outrage by French language militants who whine about the injustice of it all, like a bad 'done-me-wrong' country song.

Now to the vigile.net reaction, where one of its resident xenophobe contributors Jacques Noël, lashed out indignantly at the sad state of affairs over these stubborn immigrant Chinese, who unfairly shun the French language and culture.

"In many ways, the Chinese immigrants are models. They work hard, very hard. Their children do well in school. They commit few crimes, at least few violent crimes. But as to their cultural integration into Quebec society, it is a total failure. Total. Total.

Quebec society is stuck. Wedged between immigration from the Maghreb, whose members speak French but who certainly don't fit in, are a little scary and who impoverish Quebec and the Chinese immigrants who are very productive, very enriching, but who do not fit in and do not want to speak French.
Add the Jews of Boisbriand and Côte St-Luc, Caribbeans from NDG and St-Michel and you have many failures, sometimes cultural, sometimes language, sometimes economic, sometimes everything. Link{Fr}

Hmmm......The above screed, to those unfamiliar with the separatist website, vigile.net, is not an exception, it is an example of the type of xenophobia that is published on an ongoing basis.

One of the great complaints of the sovereignty industry is the fact that not enough immigrants adopt French and francophone culture and that Bill 101 and other measures are required to redress the shocking situation, else-wise Quebec will become anglicized and/or overrun with foreign influence.

Mr Parent and others of his ilk who are opposed to immigration, advocate that these people don't integrate well and when they do, much too many choose the English side of the language equation, a sad and unintended consequence of allowing the English community to survive.

I'll delve into that subject, the assimilation of immigrants in another post.

At any rate, I stand by my conclusion that the Radio-Canada story was about as honest as Jay Leno interviewing idiots.
The story wasn't meant to honour or explore the Chinese community of Brossard, but rather to shame them and show them up for dishonouring the francophone majority.