Seven Dirty Lies of the Sovereignty Movement

I'm going to forgo the usual bustle of the French versus English Friday post this week because quite honestly, I've been out of the country and just haven't had the necessary time to devote to culling the many, many stories that have propagated in the news pages concerning the ongoing linguistic war being waged by the PQ government and its dark minions of evil on the English and Ethnic citizens of Quebec.

And so I'm presenting this post, which I wrote a while back for just such an occasion. It concerns the vast campaign of disinformation being waged by Franco-supremacists in order to brainwash the masses into believing that they are a sad, exploited and put upon nation, living in imminent danger of having its values, culture and language destroyed by the evil Anglos.


Lie # 1
Quebec Anglos are the best treated minority in the world
I've started out with this oft-repeated bit of nonsense because it is without a doubt the easiest to refute.
Every time I hear a Franco-supremacist repeat this bit of drivel, I ask but one question....

"What about the Natives?"

Hmmm.... That has them backpedalling fast, but no matter, Anglo-Quebecers aren't even the second best treated minority in Canada, that would be of course French-speaking Canadians.

It boggles the mind that this ridiculous myth has any legs at all.
Let us remember that on an Air Canada flight between Victoria and Vancouver (in a province where less than 1.6% of citizens are French,) a passenger has the absolute right to be served in French, while on a city bus driving between Montreal West and Hampstead, (where 80% of citizens are English-speaking,) the driver is protected by law from answering any question in English.

From coast to coast, Quebec Francophones seem to be oblivious to the protection afforded their language by the federal government and official bilingualism.

I flew into Montreal a couple of nights ago on a Westjet flight from the United States where the cabin crew barely spoke a word of French but had at least one member of the crew who did speak some French, because the law demanded that it be that way.
Whether in a Via train in Saskatchewan or a Westjet flight to Montreal, French is under the judicious protection of the federal government.
That is why a box of corn flakes or a bottle of ketchup  is bilingual, even in Nunivat.
An international conference sponsored by the federal government in Toronto will be forced to be bilingual and the cost of this national bilingualism is borne largely by English citizens across Canada, who in reality have little or no use for French, other than respect.

For Francophones who don't understand, imagine the benefit to Spanish culture if the United States government imposed the same official language act that we live under in Canada, in that case, in favour of Spanish.

Them's the facts.

Lie #2
Quebec is Anglicizing
How is it that the PQ government can make the startling claim that the province is Anglicizing without a shred of evidence?

There exists not one bona fide study or report prepared by any reputable organization that so much as hints that Quebec is becoming more English.
It is in fact one of the great lies of Franco-supremacists that English is on the upswing in Quebec.

Every single report that I've seen, maintains that after decades of decline, the best the English community can hope for is to see their numbers stabilize. This even includes those immigrants who are absorbed into the English side of the linguistic equation.

As for the 'pernicious' growing influence of English in Montreal, it really has to do with altered perceptions, where the sight of one English or bilingual sign sends militants into convulsions. The overreaction is based in fact on how well the city has been sanitized.
 As for the other complaint that workers are being asked to speak English as well as French on the job, a fate worse than death, there is no documentary evidence that this is on the increase.
In fact, it is more likely on the decline, a view every bit as valid as those that believe that bilingualism is on the upswing, because, once again, there is ABSOLUTELY NO DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE.

Looking back 150 years, there is no period of time where English had less of an influence in Quebec than today and I defy anyone to present documentary evidence to the contrary.

As for the idea that any perceived increase in the use of English by francophones will lead Quebecers to abandon their culture and language, I would ask any of our militant commenters whether anyone in their family has turned into a tea-drinking, Queen-loving Anglo turncoat because they learned to order breakfast in English.
Even those highly educated francophones who speak flawless English, like Jacques Parizeau or Jean-François Lisée don't seem to be in much danger of abandoning their roots and so I must conclude that according to them,  it is only weak-minded Hoi-polloi who are in danger.

These cries that French is in danger is nothing more than a separatist ploy to whip up support for sovereignty through fear, and reminds me of the folk tale of Chicken Little who falsely propagated the hysterical and mistaken belief that the sky was falling, all because an acorn fell on its head.


Lie#3
Anglos stole the 1995 referendum
Once more a case of wishful thinking.
The argument is that Ottawa and murky underground anglo groups illegally funded anti-sovereignty activities in direct contravention of the referendum law, with the famous pre-referendum Unity Rally in Montreal, which became known as the infamous 'Love-In' serving as the best example.

There is no doubt that forces outside Quebec spent money, but the referendum law that prohibited these acts was itself found overly restrictive by the courts and those charged with contravening the spending aspect of the act saw the charges against them dropped.
If anyone tried to steal the referendum it was the PQ with its ridiculous referendum law which they knew could never stand a legal test.
Their thinking was that the referendum would be over before a court challenge could ever be resolved and in this respect their thinking was bang on. Separatists are angry because some of us refused to play by their crooked rules.
I distinctly remember our group receiving at least two private legal opinions before the referendum that the law could not be upheld and that spending by outsiders was perfectly legal.
Separatists who complain that Anglos stole the referendum remind me of a bank robber who complains that his partner in crime divided up the booty unfairly.  Tough noogies!

After the referendum, the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec, Pierre F. Côté, filed 20 criminal charges of illegal expenditures by Option Canada and others on behalf of the "No" side, which were dropped after the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that parts of the referendum law were too restrictive on third-party spending. Wikipedia

"All the big fuss is based on two fallacies : First, that it was illegal for Ottawa to spend money defending federalism, unless it was authorized by the Non umbrella committee. Secondly, that private citizens or companies from outside Quebec could not spend money on a trip to Montreal unless it was also authorized and included in the spending permitted by Quebec’s Referendum Act.
In fact, during the 1980 referendum on sovereignty-association, federal government spending was challenged before the Referendum Council, set up under the Referendum Act. The decision rendered May 16, 1980, in Boucher vs. Mediacom, written by Chief Justice Alan Gold of the Quebec Superior Court was that the federal government was in no way bound by the spending restrictions imposed by the Referendum Act. "No law affects the rights of the Crown, unless they are specifically included, or again unless (the Crown) accepted it, which is not the case here, so that even the government of Quebec is not bound by the Referendum Act, 1978, Chapter 6. A fortiori, the government of Canada is not bound by the Quebec legislation unless it has accepted to be bound, which likewise is not the case."  Read more by William Johnson

The other complaint by sovereigntists is that new immigrants had their citizenship applications allegedly speeded up by Ottawa to make them eligible to vote in the referendum.
The other complaint is that students from outside the province voted illegally, both groups tipping the balance in favour of the NO side.

Even if this was true, which it was not, the numbers just don't add up to 54,000 votes, enough to tip the balance and in fact only 32 students were ever fined for voting illegally.

Also forgotten in all this is the 10,000 votes that were stricken from English ridings by scrutineers chosen by the PQ.

"Controversy arose over whether the scrutineers of the Chomedey, Marguerite-Bourgeois and Laurier-Dorion ridings had rejected numerous ballots without valid reasons, mostly by being overly strict on what marks voters could use to indicate their choices (for instance, rejecting ballots with check-marks or "X"s that were crooked, too large, made with a pen instead of a pencil, etc.). In these ridings the "No" vote was dominant, and the proportion of rejected ballots was 12%, 5.5% and 3.6%. In the riding of Chomedey, an average of 1 of every 9 ballots were rejected. Thomas Mulcair, member of the Quebec National Assembly for Chomedey, told reporters after the vote that there was "an orchestrated attempt to steal the vote" in his riding. Wikipedia

Lie#4
Quebec pays more to Ottawa than it receives
This pearl is laughable because only those who with the mentality of someone who believes in the tooth fairy or a flat Earth can muster the blind faith to adhere to a precept so patently false.
A leading Quebec economist has reported that for every $1.00 Quebec contributes to Ottawa, it receives back $1.45.
One of the more interesting ploys of Quebec separatists is to harp upon the programs where Quebec is short-changed, never willing to add up the total benefits/contributions of all the programs to come to a fair conclusion.
Every time you hear Pauline or other separatists rail against Ottawa's over-contribution to the shipbuilding programs in other provinces, or support for auto workers in Ontario or tax breaks for the Oil sands, you are seeing the dishonest process of cherry-picking.

 Most Quebecers know in their hearts where the truth lies and the fact that they don't really believe in this lie is in fact, the biggest impediment to sovereignty.
If it were true that Quebec was a net contributor to Canada's finances, the province would have been independent long ago.
Imagine if Alberta's Oil Sands were located in Quebec. Arggghhhh!........

Lie#5
Quebec's poor financial state is overstated
Separatists will always find a way to deny reality, especially when that reality is unpleasant.
Quebec's poor financial situation is one area that they have been working overtime to cherry-pick and massage data to create an alternate universe.

My favourite is the case made that Quebec's debt is not so serious because assets that would appear on a corporate balance sheet, mitigating debt, are not considered by the enemies of Quebec.

In other words it is unfair to say Quebec's debt is high if one doesn't consider it's assets or to put it simply, it's like considering a house mortgage as a liability without offsetting it by the value of the house.
And so we are told that Quebec's relative debt is really much, much smaller because of the massive asset that is represented by Hydro-Quebec, valued by militants at over $100 billion. To them, when considering the province's indebtedness (which is about $150 billion,)  one needs to subtract the value of Hydro-Quebec.

It's a neat argument that sounds good but one that fails on many grounds.
Firstly, you can't count the value of the cow and the value of it's milk production at the same time. It's one or the other.

The $100 billion valuation for Hydro-Quebec is vastly exaggerated, the state-run power agency only produces about $3 billion in profit which would place the real value on the market at a lot less unless electricity fees would be allowed to rise to market rates, not likely.
Anyways, Quebecers have been brainwashed into believing that Hydro-Quebec is a national treasure and there is no scenario that can realistically envision it being sold off.

Secondly, almost half the profit generated by Hydro comes from power obtained cheaply from Newfoundland and with the deal set to expire in twenty-five years, investors, especially institutions would discount the value of the company substantially.
Thirdly, electricity prices are collapsing in the USA, Hydro's main export market, due to conservation efforts and the vast pools of shale gas coming to market, undercutting the cost of power from Hydro-Quebec for the first time ever.
Hydro-Quebec is fast  becoming 'old expensive power'

Each year Hydro-Quebec contributes about $3 billion to the Quebec budget and if it were to be sold, that money would have to be replaced. Quebec would pay less interest as it paid down the debt with the proceeds of the Hydro-Quebec sale, but it wouldn't be much farther ahead.

Evolution of Equalization payments to Quebec in billions of $$

It is also a question of cash-flow.
Think of the proverbial aristocratic English family, living in an expensive-to-run castle that has lots of expensive heirlooms and paintings, perhaps worth millions of pounds, but without selling them off there is not enough money to pay the bills.

Between public service pension obligations that are skyrocketing and an over-bloated public service, coupled with a Cadillac entitlement  program, Quebec is not generating enough funds to pay for it's spending.
Over the last two decades the shortfall in revenue has been filled by public borrowing and an increasingly generous bailout program from Ottawa via equalization payments, now standing at $8.5 billion a year. It is only a matter of a few short years before Quebec reaches its very own fiscal cliff.

 Quebec may not be Greece, but it is no Switzerland, that is for sure.
To believe that Quebec is in decent financial shape is a case of whistling through the graveyard.

Lie#6
Montreal is a French city 

The depiction by the OQLF and French language militants  of Montreal as a French city under attack by English forces determined to bilingualize and thus conquer the city is perhaps the greatest and most pernicious lie of the sovereignty movement.

Not to put too fine a point on it, Montreal was built by the English and Scots, with most of the heavy lifting done by the Irish.
It is a historical fact, evidenced by the almost exclusively English-named streets that crisscross the downtown core.

Again to quote French militant numbers, Montreal has only 49% French speaking citizens with French as mother-tongue, with most of them living in the inconspicuous wasteland of the East end.
Parts west of St. Denis, including the dynamic downtown core, the university districts and the artistically creative neighbourhoods, and in fact anything of interest in Montreal, lies in what may be the most bilingual city in the world.... Montreal, west of St. Denis.
When I say bilingual, it is because you can find Francophones, Anglophones and Ethnics, perfectly comfortable speaking English and French.
If you visited Montreal from Canada or abroad , I'm sure you'll attest to that fact.

Montreal's bilingualism makes it one of the most dynamic and exciting places to live in North America and it's no accident that the serendipitous mix has led Montreal to remain the creative capital of Canada and in fact one of the most influential centres of culture, art and music in North America.

To French language militants, the success of McGill University, Arcade Fire, Montreal smoked meat and world famous bagels are humiliations, rather than sources of pride.

To them all I can say is Bah, Humbug!

Lie#7
Quebec's English population makes up just 8.5% of Quebec's population.
Here is another neat trick employed by militants to alter reality, by claiming that Quebec's Anglo population is only 8.5% while Statistics Canada pegs that number at 13.5%
How do  the separatists justify the lower number?
By cleverly using the mother-tongue argument to sidestep reality.
It is indeed a fact that only 8.5% of Quebecers have English as a mother tongue, but many Quebecers without English as a mother tongue use English day to day, making them Anglophones by fact.

Let's go by the numbers provided by militants themselves, who claim that Quebecers with French as a mother-tongue has fallen to 79% of the total population of Quebec .
Add the 79% number of Francophones 'de souche' to the 8.5% English 'de souche', (numbers that these militants themselves offer,) and it yields a total of 87.5% of the total Quebec population.
That leaves the remainder, or 12.5% of Quebecers as those with neither French or English as a mother tongue.

French militants have long complained that close to half of 'les autres' (45%) are integrating into the Anglophone community. (these are their own numbers, not mine) and so about 45% of the 12.5% or  5.65%, align themselves with the English community and the other 6.85% align themselves with the francophone majority.
Do the math, even separatists can do their sums when they want to..
8.5% Anglophone English speakers,  plus 5.65% Ethnic English speakers yields 14.15% English speakers in Quebec.
Hmm.... that number corresponds closely with what Statistics Canada tells us!

Every time you hear the separatist talking about English as a mother tongue, it is just another device to lower the numbers of those who prefer to speak English.

Statistical manipulation and cherry-picking, lies and outright bullshit is stock in trade for Franco-supremacists.
Remeber these few facts when confronted with their cruel attempts to mislead.

That's it for now, I've got a lot more but have run out of time.

Have a great week-end!
Bonne fin de semaine!

Quebec Language Cops - It's Time to Push Back Hard

Montreal courthouse forced to tape over English

 Over the last fifteen years, I've been watching with some disappointment the English community's acquiescence to the tyranny of the OQLF.
I've always recognized the language police as paper tigers, but understood that for most companies the fear of being exposed by the OQLF as non-cooperating is a burden that they didn't want to bear and so it was, as they say, more expedient to git along, in order to get along.

I don't agree, but those decisions weren't mine to make.

After all these years, it comes as a fortuitous turn of events that one idiot language inspector created a public relations nightmare that exposed the OQLF as the xenophobic, ethnocentric and bigoted gang of racists that they really are.

I dare say most right thinking francophones were shocked at the utter stupidity and dogmatism displayed by an agency which they assumed was doing a fair and reasonable job at protecting the French language.
Other than Franco-supremacists, who never saw an English (now foreign) word that they did not want to remove from public purview, what reasonable Francophone could not shake their head in disbelief at the ridiculous excess carried out in the collective name and what reasonable Francophone could not help but feel a sense of outrage and shame that Quebec's reputation was sullied in the international press, through mocking and condescending stories of bureaucratic stupidity and excess.

More importantly, Pastagate led to a fortuitous and wholly unexpected tipping point where one day we were afraid of the OQLF and the next day no longer.

Like the bully in the schoolyards who rules through intimidation and fear, it takes but one 'DAVID' to defeat the 'GOLIATH' reducing the said bully, so feared  before, to the butt of derision, a laughingstock to be mocked.

Slowly but surely the business community is stiffening its backbone and taking courage from others who have decided to fight back. 
It is this resistance that must be nurtured and developed, rendering the OQLF impotent and irrelevant.

THE OQLF is proud to tell us that when it comes to compliance with its edicts, 98% of business comply meekly, when confronted by the dreaded inspector.
If that percentage was reduced to just 75%, the OQLF would grind to a halt, bogged down in paperwork and time-consuming letter exchanges and litigation.

Business people have told me many times over  that it is the utter waste of time and resources that leads them to just give in to the OQLF, considering that the object of a business is to make money and where exhausting battles with and an idiot agency with seemingly endless resources, is counter-productive to that goal.

But business people should consider that for every time-consuming engagement they expend with the OQLF,  a commensurate (if not larger) amount of energy is expended by the OQLF, which contrary to popular belief does not have unlimited resources, in fact, quite the opposite.

Let us consider the poor cows, docilely trundling up the ramp to the slaughterhouse, encouraged by a just few handlers to keep on moving like good little doggies, cooperating meekly on the march to their ultimate demise.
What would happen if even ten or twenty percent of the cows revolted and stampeded?
It would create utter mayhem!
Obviously, the amount of animals processed in a certain given period would plummet, as handlers would be overwhelmed by the now uncooperative and ornery beasts.

The meat processor would be faced with the choice of injecting a massive amount of new resources to get back control or accept that productivity would fall massively.
In either case, the cost of processing would skyrocket.

An inappropriate analogy? I think not.

The OQLF will always enjoy success in browbeating government and semi-government organizations to comply with their filthy edicts, as evidenced in the sign pictured above wherein the English portion of a Montreal courthouse sign which has been sanitized by order of the OQLF.
Considering that the courts are one of the few places where English is still 'tolerated' because of protections afforded in the BNA act, it is particularly telling that the OQLF is removing English in the halls immediately outside these courtrooms, reminding all that their goal is to eradicate English as best they can.
Like telling English school boards that they must communicate in French, it is the embodiment of ill-will and malice.
For francophones who tell Anglos that resisting the OQLF is a manifestation of bad citizenship, I can only tell them that resisting hate and intolerance is never a manifestation of bad citizenship, rather the opposite.

Make no mistake about it, Pastagate has exposed the OQLF for what it is, the evil embodiment of xenophobic hate, an agency to be confronted through democratic resistance and public shaming.
Just because the organization carries the cachet of legitimacy by being state-sanctioned, it doesn't change the fact that ordinary citizens should blithely accept its excesses.

 It is important that we continue the exercise of exposing the true nature of the beast in the international community, where stories like Pastagate sap the energy and the bonds of legitimacy, humiliating and shaming Quebec, like the process whereby photos of 'Johns' are published by law enforcement in local media in order to shame them for their behaviour.
When French language militants tell all who will listen that the stories published in the international press is an English plot to discredit the OQLF, I can tell them wholeheartedly that they are right.

Yes Mario Beaulieu, we are intent on breaking the bck of the OQLF and make no bones about it!

While he and other Franco-supremacists have no problem living with the attached bad publicity, not so ordinary Quebecers who at a certain point will demand that the OQLF be reigned in and that the nightmare of international humiliation be ended.

Here are two examples of that process, a satirical song offered by Quebec's very own Boswer and Blue and an advertising campaign launched by the restaurant attacked over 'pasta'

 

The restaurant is embarking on a billboard and print campaign whereby the definition of 'pasta' is defined in French. link{Fr}

As for not cooperating with the OQLF here are a few hints for businessmen.

ALWAYS ASK FOR ID BEFORE ENGAGING ANYONE CLAIMING TO BE AN INSPECTOR.

Don't be nice. Cooperation with the OQLF will get you nothing. The inspectors who visit your store have the mentality of a Mafia collector, where the level of polite cooperation is irrelevant to the task at hand, which is to shake you down.
If the inspector becomes abusive, tell them to leave. You have the right according to Quebec labour law to be free from intimidation and harassment.
Call 911 and summon the police. Tell them that you are being subjected to psychological abuse, if you feel such is the case.

When an inspector enters your establishment and demands your immediate attention, tell them that you are busy if you are, that they are welcome to carry out their duties on their own but you don't have time for them right now. Ask them to come back.
The regulation provides that an inspection can be carried out any time it is 'convenient', but it fails to elaborate as to convenient for whom.
Even Revenue Quebec phones for an appointment before showing up, so don't jump through hoops just because an inspector tells you to.

Ask for identification and either write down the name of the inspector and the particulars on the identification badge. Use your camera phone to take a picture and if confronted remind the inspector that there are many fake OQLF agents going around, terrorizing English businesses.
If you are gutsy, turn on your cameraphone, telling the inspector that for clarity, you wish to document the intervention.

Don't engage in useless arguments with inspectors, shrug your shoulders politely and tell the inspector your going to refer everything to your attorney.
REMEMBER, cooperation buys you nothing, these are zealots.

As for the case with ordinary citizen-activists confronting you about signs in your establishment, always demand that they identify themselves before engaging in conversation. Demand to see ID and if they refuse tell them to leave, you have the absolute right to remove someone from your establishment if they are not there to conduct business.

By the way, you can always comply with the OQLF demand at a later date, if you so choose, but remember, making the OQLF expend oodles of time and energy is the object.
If they have to visit your establishment four or five times instead of just once, it means three or four less visits elsewhere.

Here's what happens when someone fights back. The story is hilarious and hats off to the merchant who made the OQLF and the court spend upwards of $50,000 to $100,000 to fine him $500 over 16 sex toys that didn't have enough French.

What follows is how Superior Court Justice Johanne St-Gelais described the facts in a 2011 ruling.
The product in question, she wrote, is a ring used on the male sexual organ to enhance a female partner’s pleasure. During Mr. Picard’s first visit, he noted that the packaging and safety label were in English only. Ever vigilant, he made three subsequent visits and noted “partial corrections” but not enough to make the product conform to the law.
The store’s manager wrote to the Office asking for an exemption on the grounds that the product is imported from the United States, that it is impossible to find a similar product manufactured in Canada and that she sells fewer than two per month.
After her request was refused, the shop offered to translate the safety warning into French and place it on a sticker over the English warning. Not good enough, the Office replied after consulting its lawyers: All packaging had to be translated.
Mr. Picard returned to the store in July, 2005, more than a year after his initial inspection. He was not pleased with what he found: “writing only in English on the front . . . and containing writing only in English on the reverse of some. . . Moreover, the English writings on the reverse of certain packaging prevailed over the French version,” he wrote in his report. Read the rest of the hilarious story  (Credit R.S.)

I hope that our community will consider building a website resource in order to apprise victims of their rights and to provide successful strategies to dealing with the fools at the OQLF.

Anyone listening?

Do Quebec Language Cops Hate Italians?

 I've been writing this blog for about three years now and I can say that no missive in the comments section got my attention as much as this one attacking Quebec's Italian community.

Translation: Undoubtedly the Italians were once a great people. But we're forced to admit that they have been rotten for a long time. Take for example, their adherence to fascism and their chronic inability to form a stable government. Besides this, consider the Mafia that plagues their social and economic life.

This same decay can be found in Italian Quebec. Because of this, we have enough evidence to conclude that all Italians with English as a common language should be excluded from any executive position in public administration and in ownership of any construction company. Italians who use English as their everyday language should content themselves to remaining in the drug trafficking business, an activity in which the community already excels.

Now I waited a full two days to allow this active poster to either remove the post or ask that it be removed by myself, the editor, a request with which I would have complied with.
After all, most of us have shot off our mouths only to regret what we have said, especially in a drunk dial or ill advised text or tweet. In such cases, we all could benefit by a sympathetic DELETE.
But apparently, such was not the case here, the poster unapologetic and so I let the post stand.

Some will argue that it is a failing of this blog to allow such racist drivel to remain online, but respectfully, I disagree.

The vast, vast majority of Canadians (including Quebecers of all ethnicities, language and religion) are not racists and recognize garbage like this for what it is.....pure hate.
So it's important not to sanitize the minority who hold these racist views because sometimes, just sometimes it represents the common view of a discernible political group or organization and we the public are better served by being aware of their  opinions

I much prefer to hear the hateful missives of White supremacist groups who rail against Jews, Blacks and Browns, so that I can fully understand the depths of their depravity.
You and I and almost all Canadians are mature enough to handle the truth and in this respect I much prefer the American version of free speech.

I recall the stupid racist rant against Jews by David Ahenikew, a Saskatchewan native leader whose ill-advised comments brought down a firestorm of criticism and censure in the Press which resulted in his professional life being effectively ruined.
Had the reporter, to which the remarks were made, decided not to print what Ahenikew said, we the public would never have known the truth about the man and it would have allowed him to continue on in a leadership role, something he did not deserve.

So I much prefer to know what our poster Y.L. is really thinking, it clears things up for us.

The same goes for the OQLF, the incident known as 'Pastagate'  that exploded last week on the pages of newspapers around the world, which shows us exactly what the OQLF is really about and clears up any myth or misconception that the agency is anything else but an organ of state-sanctioned ethnocentric oppression.

For those who are unaware, last week the OQLF (sarcastically known as the language police) censured an Italian restaurant because it had the temerity to use the word 'PASTA' on the menu, instead of the politically correct "Pate,' the French equivalent.
In the face of worldwide ridicule, the government intervened and ordered the agency to  backtrack, claiming that the whole affair was a rare and regrettable mistake, just a small overreaction by an individual inspector, to a legitimate complaint.

Both those statements are outright lies.

First of all, the original complaint that the OQLF received about the restaurant, never mentioned the word 'PASTA,' only that the complainer was annoyed at receiving an all-English menu (the restaurant offers a separate English and French version.)
When the inspector from the OQLF arrived at the restaurant to check out the complaint, she was handed the required French menu and so had nothing to proceed on.
All by her lonesome, this OQLF inspector attacked the restaurant over the Italian words on the menu, giving birth to 'Pastagate.'

But in the fallout of Pastagate we learned that this wasn't a case of one overzealous inspector, as the OQLF claimed, in fact OQLF inspectors have harassed at least two other Italian themed restaurants over the fact that they were using Italian words to create an atmosphere. So it's no leap to conclude that the actions of the inspectors were no aberration, just par for the course.

Like the comment above from Y.L., which exposes his true racist nature, the blitzkrieg (oh no, not another foreign word!) against the Italian eateries exposes la vrai nature de l'OQLF.

The enmity demonstrated by Y.L. in his comment is not atypical of Franco-supremacists who base their disdain on the fact that the Italian community of Quebec has almost exclusively integrated into the English side of the language equation, something they are furious over.
Italians, along with Jews and Greeks are particular targets of Franco-supremacists from Yves Michaud to Mario Beaulieu for this exact reason, the failure of these communities to integrate in Franco-Quebec society. For them it remains a painful and festering sore.

And so the OQLF, an agency that defines and applies its very own twisted version of the Nuremburg laws, has a particular hate-on for these enemy communities and it is no mistake that the word 'PASTA' was censured, while 'TAPAS,'  'PHO,' 'SEVICHE,' are not, because the Spanish and Vietnamese communities are considered 'allies' in the war on the English.

The great lie of Pastagate is one told by the OQLF stating that the attack on the Italian restaurant was a case of an over-zealous inspector, it clearly was policy,  an organized attempt by the OQLF to eradicate Italian influence in public, because the Italians are allies of the English.

"The friend of my enemy is my enemy."
 It makes sense only to the the twisted ethnocentric minds of the OQLF.

How evil and polluting is the mindset of the OQLF?
It's gotten to the point that ordinary citizens are being whipped up into a language frenzy.

HERE'S JUST the latest citizen-language warrior incident;

 READ THE STORY ON FACEBOOK   (credit to R.S)

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......