The Charbonneau Crime Commission finally got to hear from Bernard Trepannier, the man known as 'Monsieur 3%,' (because he allegedly demanded a 3% kickback on each contract.) He along with Frank Zampino have been named by other witnesses as the kingpins in the corruption scandal that envelops Montreal city hall.
Trepannier's testimony was anxiously awaited as commission lawyers were prepared to rip him apart, convinced they would lay bare his shenanigans.
Unfortunately for them, the slippery 74 year-old Trepannier was more than a match.
He was extremely deferential and charming, especially to the Commissioner Charbonneau as he defended himself superbly. "Madame la presidente, I did not have sex with that women!"
Trepannier told the commission he was a simple fundraiser who just sold tables to political fundraising events and as for being the mastermind of a huge kickback scheme that traded contracts for cash, nothing could be farther from the truth!
His testimony looked credible and unrehearsed, as he conceded little misdeeds, but when accused of accepting $100,000 in brown envelops, he was adamant ...:"Never happened!"
And so Trepannier lays bare the reality that notwithstanding testimony to the contrary, there is no hard evidence to support those claims and Trepannier knows it, such is the anonymous nature of cash.
He practically dared the commission to prove he received such monies, knowing full well they couldn't.
Brilliant!
His charm, wit, lapses in memory and gripping story-telling, charmed the pants off Madame Charbonneau and even the usually gruff commission inquisitor-lawyer, Denis Gallant, who was reduced to asking the witness if he really believed the stuff he was saying, shaking his head in amazement and disbelief at the consummate skills of a bullshitter extraordinaire.
Great fun!
Mr. Trepannier is awaiting trial for his alleged involvement in a land scandal whereby a developer was sold a City of Montreal property for a fraction of its value.
If the crown doesn't have wiretap or documentary evidence and is depending on cross-examination of Mr. Trepannier to expose his alleged misdeeds, they are indeed in deep trouble!
Gilles Duceppe recycled -one more time
Pauline Marois may be a bust as a Premier, but as a political animal and survivalist she ranks up there with the best.
Mindful of the Don Corleone's maxim of 'keeping friends close and enemies closer,' she has co-opted Gilles Duceppe with a job, this after knifing him last year when he tried to go after her leadership post. I can't say who is snakier, but no matter, the retired Bloc leader will add a per diem of between $750-$1500 a day to his $140,000 Ottawa pension while he cruises the province holding audiences with mooches complaining about the unfairness of Harper's new Employment Insurance rules.
The whole thing is a partisan whine-a-thon designed to boost support for sovereignty by having EI done-me-wrong stories of hardship play out endlessly each news cycle.
"Our way of life is being destroyed"...blah...blah...
"The regions will be de-populated" ...blah...blah
"A federalist plot to destabilize Quebec"...blah...blah
At least CAQ leader Francois Legault called it for what it is, a cynical attempt by Pauline to solidify her position and mend PQ fences on the taxpayers dime. Read a story about the appointment. In other Gilles Duceppe New;
"Gilles Duceppe is the gift that keeps on taking. During 20 years in
Ottawa he worked selflessly to destroy the country that made him, to
undermine the system that paid him, and to break up the society that
gave him the opportunity to enjoy a lifetime of security by complaining
endlessly about how unappreciated he was.
Now he has been recognized by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation for a lifetime achievement award at its 14th annual recognition of wasteful government spending." National Post
Language hurting Montreal Tourism
"The head of Tourism Montreal says language uproars like Pastagate are
hurting the city’s international image. With the start of tourist
season, local merchants are worried about what the impact will be on business.
“We use to be overrun by people from Toronto and southern Ontario and
now we don't see that much of them anymore,” said Jack Kowalsky, from
Saute Moutons Jet Boating. Kowalsky has owned a jet-boat operation in the Old Port for 30 years—he
says he can already feel a shift this early in the season.
“We're at the front lines of tourism and we talk to people from all
over the world, and I just see a drop of Americans,” he continued. “If
nobody’s going to speak English to them or be polite to them, this is
definitely going to have a negative effect.” He's not alone in his concern. In a speech given to the Board of Trade yesterday, the head of Tourism
Montreal said: “This ridiculous bickering looks troubling abroad, can we
put aside the silly linguistic quarrels and work together in the
interests of developing our city?” Link
Quebec finance minister predicts more equalization money from Ottawa
Balanced Budget?...Missed it by that much!
Quebec's finance Minister Nicolas Marceau admitted
with the slowdown in the Quebec economy, government revenues will be
down $250 million this year and over $500 million next year. But he
still anticipates a balanced budget because of lower interests and
because he anticipates, get this;
..... AN INCREASE OF $275 MILLION IN EQUALIZATION PAYMENTS FROM OTTAWA!
Good to know! Link{fr}
In commenting over the new federal budget, a furious Marceau claimed that the budget takes Quebec back 15 years.
Hmm....is that really such a bad thing?
Fifteen years ago Quebec was $100 billion less in debt, so I guess they really were the good old days!
In a television interview, the Minister also fumed over the new policy whereby Ottawa removed the special tax deduction for union based RRSP funds. The move affected Quebec's two largest unions whose funds represent 88% of the total invested in such funds across Canada.
The minister hissed that it was a plot by Ottawa to hurt Quebec because these funds helped build up Quebec industry.
But when the interviewer pointed out that only about 11% of the funds assets were invested in small or medium Quebec companies, with the bulk invested in blue chip stocks across North America, the minister quickly changed the subject. Ha!!
Incidentally, Maxime Bernier of the Conservatives explained that the added tax benefit was removed exactly for this reason and that the deduction represented an unfair advantage to these Quebec unions, which let's face it, the feds have not much use for.
Anglo doesn't mince words in presentation as he savages government committee studying Bill 14.
Take the time to view this video, you'll definitely be rewarded. Although the intro is in French the important part is in English. Irwin Rapoport doesn't mince words
as he tells a Quebec government committee studying Bill 14, exactly what he thinks about
Quebec's language policy.
All I can say is...WTF!
More harassment from OQLF
"Jean-François Lisée wants to do a little more than just talk about
reaching out to Quebec’s Anglophones, he could do far worse than having a
quiet word with NDG’s Sudipta Chakraborty after eating a meal in her
west end Sherbrooke Street restaurant. While language and culture has a
lot to do with NDG’s La Maison India, it’s an Indian restaurant, not a
French restaurant, and aside from the usual polyglot mix of south-Asian
languages that define more than a few of the city’s Indian restaurants,
French has very little to do with an established and popular restaurant
which is already known as a local taste sensation. “We could easily
move to Toronto because we have family in Ontario, but I love Montreal
and I love my restaurant,” said Chakraborty. “Of course, it’s my
business, but now this restaurant has become a very big and important
part of our lives.” According to Chakraborty, trouble started when an
OQLF (Office Québecoise de la Langue Française) agent visited her
restaurant after someone complained about the size of the English
letters on a sign that advertised her Sunday lunch “special.” When the
agent noticed that neither of the restaurant’s two waiters greeted her
in French, further questions determined that although all of the
restaurant’s six employees (including the two cooks who work in the
restaurant’s basement kitchen) are bilingual, if not trilingual, none of
them spoke French as a first or even a second language. A file was
opened after which Chakraborty was forced to juggle all of her
employees’ work schedules to accommodate the OQLF demands for a French
presence within her
restaurant."Read the rest of the story
Why is it the Montreal Canadiens are not subject to the same language harassment as the businesses above, in relation to English signage in their facilities?
Here's two signs shown on the documentary 24CH, a Bell Media puff piece being shown on cable.
Pasta-Chasers remain the butt of a world-wide joke......
Read a story about the video Pastagate is still reverberating around the world, here's a story from Italy, published just yesterday that makes reference to the above video and savages Quebec over linguistic intolerance.
It isn't flattering. Link{IT}
You can use Google translate to get the gist of the story, just paste the text into the box on the left and click on translate (Choose Italian to English) GoogleTranslate,
Same thing for this story from Hungary which also shames Quebec over the video. Link{Hngr}
Odds'n ends
I don't know if the writer of this La Presse story sees the irony in a glowing report about how the town of Burlingtion, Vermont is trying to attract Quebec tourists by hiring summer part-time employees who can speak French.
Probably not...Link{fr}
******************
On Monday I wrote about vigile.net's resident xenophobe Rejean Labrie's posts wherein he describes his view of what characteristics makes up a good Quebeceker.
He must have been extremely pleased with that work as he has added more to the list in another post; Link{fr}
******************
When Pasta-chasers collide Gilles Proulx and Jean-Paul Perreault, two of the ten most important Pasta-chasers according to my blog piece Monday, got into an argument after the latter's French defense lobby group Impératif Français, namedGabriel Nadeau-Dubois, the militant ex-student leader, as some sort of award winner.
Mr. Proulx denounced the award, telling Perreault that if the Nadeau-Dubois has called on the students to march in defense of the French language, there wouldn't be more than 300 who showed up.
Hilariously, Perreault admitted that it was probably true, but that the movement is desperate to attract young people Link{fr}
******************
"It’s no joke! On April Fool’s Day, the Special Committee for Canadian
Unity and PutBackTheFlag.com are hosting a comedy event to draw
awareness to linguine…er…linguistic bullying.
The “pastagate”-based benefit will take place in front of Restaurant Buonanotte on St. Laurent Boulevard, where the infamous “pastagate” story began, throwing Quebec’s language police into hot water and making headlines around the world. The event will take place between 6:00 and 10:00 pm. Information is available online at www.pastagate.com. Tickets for the show start at $100 and the public is asked to bring boxes of pasta. Link
Pasta-Chaser pästə-ˈCHāsər Noun A humorous yet derogatory term borne out of the infamous Pastagate affair describing;
1. A Quebec politician obsessed with curbing minority language rights.
2. A public servant working in the OQLF charged with enforcing language laws.
3. A member of a French language lobby group or media personality obsessed with curbing minority language rights. Synonyms
Language police, language cop,
10- Benoît Dutrizac -radio personality
Unlike the other nine personalities that follow, Benoît Dutrizac is actually highly intelligent, lucid and remarkably talented. He differs from them in that he probably doesn't really believe half the bullshit he spouts on the radio, but rather is obsessed with the accrued ratings that language conflict produces.
And so, Dutrizac knowingly panders to language hotheads encouraging them to take direct action in defense of the true Quebec nation.
He once urged listeners to invade the tiny Anglo/Jewish enclave of Hampstead, in order to disturb the peace by loudly honking horns and making all manner of noise, protesting a town bylaw that forbids noise (gardeners mowing the lawn..e.g) on two of the Jewish religions holiest days.
Protesters took him up on the challenge and did exactly that, parading through the town in a provocative show of force, supported by an escort of police who made sure that the demonstrators had free passage.
What Dutrizac failed to tell listeners is that the town, which is about 80% Jewish, also forbids noise on Sunday (not the Jewish sabbath) and on Christian holidays as well. This willful misrepresentation and his willingness to never let the facts get in the way of a good story speaks to his cynicism and contempt.
"In August, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council found that another
98.5 FM host – Benoît Dutrizac – breached its code of ethics when he
called on listeners passing through the predominantly Jewish
neighbourhood of Hampstead to honk and make as much noise as possible to
protest a bylaw against noisy outdoor activity on Rosh Hashanah. On
another occasion Dutrizac also railed against an African depanneur
owner who made some injudicious remarks after being accosted for not
speaking French." Link
As to that second reference, Dutrizac took aim at a hapless African depanneur owner, who made some injudicious remarks after being goaded by a Dutrizac producer for not speaking French in a secretly recorded conversation.
"Williams is the dépanneur owner in Verdun who found himself at the
centre of a Bill 101 debate after a producer from 98.5 FM’s Dutrizac
called him anonymously, speaking to him only in French. When asked why
he was not speaking French and citing Bill 101, Williams erupted into a
tirade. “You claim you are Quebecois
but what do you contribute to Quebec? You stay at home, you drink beer,
you smoke cigarettes, you take welfare. I am an immigrant, yes… I take care of your people… you have no right to question my language background.” The comments caused a fury. The Jeunes patriotes nationalist group
held a protest at the store on Saturday. About 30 protesters stood
outside the store, drinking beer and smoking cigarettes; a reply to the
store owner’s comments."Link
Incidentally the tirade by the convenience store depanneur owner is enshrined in the annals of the French language debate, fitting in somewhere between the fictional story of the parrot who was not allowed to speak English and the Mordechai Richler interview on 60 Minutes.
9- Rejean Tremblay -sportscaster and journalist
Rejean Tremblay may be one of Quebec's most respected sportscasters, but he's a man who holds a lifelong grudge against Anglos and Canada, one who wears his utter disdain like a badge of honour.
Whether it is the Canadian Olympic Committee or the NHL, Tremblay sees plots against francophone athletes everywhere.
Last year, he raged publicly over the Canadiens hiring of unilingual Randy Cunneyworth and was instrumental in putting the language debate into the sports pages.
Tremblay has in the past conducted a long and virulent public campaign against ex-Habs captain Saku Koivu because he never learned to speak French and so sought every opportunity to denigrate his hockey and leadership skills.
His most famous assertion is that the Montreal Canadiens have a sacred duty to hire more French-speaking players, so that the team can better represent the city and province for which they play for.
Mr. Tremblay actually believes the romantic notion that French Canadian hockey players try harder than Anglos or Eurpoeans because they are playing at 'home'
"The less French-Canadian players
there are," he argued, "the less problems (the owners) will have with
the media, the more (the owners) will be able to control information and
the team's image."
"The Canadiens are the blood and oxygen of an entire part of Quebec
society," Tremblay continued. "In normal times, from what I have
observed in the last 40 years, is that the Canadiens precede what
happens in Quebec society." Link
Mr. Tremblay also believes that the rest of the NHL discriminates against Francophone players, preferring to hire Anglos instead.
It's hard to jive the two theories, on one hand holding that the Canadians should discriminate in favour of French players, but that English teams should not discriminate in favour of Anglos.
At any rate, it makes sense to Tremblay because Quebec and Francophones are in his opinion, 'special' and have inalienable rights to affirmative treatment.
The whole thing is paranoid nonsense, typical of the persecution complex that typifies Quebec's legion of Pasta-chasers.
8- Denis Trudel -failed artist
The hapless Denis Trudel makes the list not for any of his achievements, nor his impact in the language debate.
He is like Robin to Batman, the hapless sidekick, to the heavyweight president of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste and the Mouvement Québec français, Mario Beaulieu.
But he is the representative of crappy and failed arteests who seek to revive or extend their careers by hitching their stars to the language movement.
The list is long including Luck Merville, the dreary Loco Locass and super-actor Maka Kotto, for example.
7- Louise Marchand -ex-chief of the OQLF
Had Louise Marchand remained in place as the head of the OQLF she would have surely made the list in first place.
Now that she's gone, we can safely ignore her, but must recognize the profound impact this anglo-hater had during her reign of terror at Quebec's language agency.
As the most powerful Pasta-chaser in the province, she led her agency to an unprecedented mean-spirited application of the language laws, setting policy that encouraged language inspectors to lay the most trivial of complaints like English on/off switches which ultimately led to Pastagate and her Humpty-Dumpty fall from grace.
While the French media tried to portray Pastagate as an unfortunate result of the act of an over-zealous inspector, it was nothing of the sort.
The OQLF, under Madame Marchand became a shrill, dogmatic and vengeful agency of repression. Like religious police in radically Islamized countries, the minion of OQLF inspectors roamed the streets, measuring English on shop signs instead of the length of women's skirts.
Madame Marchand once remarked that clerks who spoke English weren't doing anything illegal, but annoying because its effect was to anglicize Quebec.
While it is a case of good riddance to bad rubbish, Marchand remains the poster girl of a government bureaucrat filled with hate towards Anglos and Ethnics, who sadly was given the power to wreak havoc.
6- Louis Prefontaine -French language militant Louis Prefontaine stands head and shoulders above the other self-appointed pompous defenders of the faith, a blowhard pseudo-intellectual who uses the fire and brimstone of televangelists to preach the gospel of fear, hate and oppression.
Never failing to remind francophones that they are the colonized victims of Anglo repression, his victimization spiel is as tired as is his persecution complex.
When not writing hilariously childish anti-English screeds, Mr. Prefontaine occupies his time filling out endless complaints over English signs, a preoccupation that borders on the obsessive-compulsive.
His statistical razzle-dazzle, using such inventive terms like 'historical English community' can only be inspired by the equally insipid Claude Castonguay, another pasta-chaser that sees the francophone world collapsing under the interminable steamroller of English.
He actually took the time to photograph and complain about this sign in the back of a car.
Does the term Get a life mean anything?
If this sign offends him, there is no shortage of material in Montreal and poor Louis is doomed to a life of eternal disappointment. I can't say that I feel bad for him.
I enjoy his essays because they are filled with so much ennui, outrage and angst that it actually brightens my day to know that we anglos and Ethnics can inflict so much pain by the simple fact of our existence.
5- Gilles Proulx-longtime radio shock-jock and Media personality
Gilles Proulx reminds me of that stereotypical southern cracker,
an old-timer who sits on his hillbilly porch, whittling away on a
stick of wood like Jed Clampett, occasionally pulling on a jug of 'shine, whilst railing
against 'dem niggers.'
When it comes to pasta-chasing, there's no whore like an old whore.
Proulx is an expert communicator, the consummate francophone victim, blending humorous righteous outrage with annoying whinging.
Proulx's dislike of anglos and Canada is absolute, but actually pales in comparison with his enmity towards natives. Listen to a radio screed {fr}
In regards to Quebec's Oka crisis, he inflamed listeners who were already fuming over the closure of the Mercier bridge in a radio tirade laced with derogatory descriptions of the natives, including the fact that they didn't speak French. It may very well have led to the shameful rock-throwing attack on a native convoy including women and children. Youtube
Mr Proulx continues his decades long battle against the English, getting away with using pejoratives on television while making fantastical complaints about Anglos. Youtube {fr}
One of the more humorous battles he has waged concerns a local auto repair shop located close to his home.
For years he has hissed and moaned against his nemesis, "BT AUTO REPAIR LTD." in Greenfield Park. He's ranted about the sign on so many occasions, I truly lost count.
4- Jean-Paul Perreault.-president of Impératif français
Jean-Paul Perreault is the indomitable leader of the Gatineau based Impératif français, an organization dedicated to the defense and preservation of the French language.
Based across the river from Ottawa, trapped in the midst of a the only real Anglo bastion in Quebec outside of Montreal, Perreault has no shortage of battles to fight.
A dedicated uber-separatist, he has a visceral hatred of all things English and while making all sorts of French demands on the Ottawa side of the river, seeks to remove every last word of English from Quebec.
He is so militant that he objects to Gatineau being included in the National Capital region.
Mr. Perreault reminds me of the Energizer Bunny, he just keeps going and going and going, year after a year.
Like all true pasta-chasers he is a dedicated perseverer, going from one battle on to the next, never losing his zeal or religion.
His organization's website is a humorous collection of screeds and rants, written by whinging pasta chasers, bathed in self-pity and paranoia.
My favorite photo from the gallery of language offenses on the website is this one which serves as sad indictment of the ideological rigidity of the organization.
Instead of lamenting over one more casualty of the Quebec economic reality, a bankrupt store is chastised for its bilingual sign.
If anyone stands as a shining example of the mentality of those who contribute to the separatist website, it is the prolific writer (240 texts) named Réjean Labrie.
I have read his work over the years and remain stunned at how backward, racist and downright xenophobic Quebecers like him remain.
"Theculture of Quebecisfirstlylanguage, but alsoa way of thinking, reasoning, expressing, creating,building andseeing the world, in short,a way of lifethat depends...part in languageandpart in history. Link{fr}
My favorite pieces are two contributions that define his vision of which traits make up a 'good' Quebecer.
And so, according to this pasta-chaser, Good Quebecers;
...Clap when the pilot lands the airplane
...Have an above-ground pool in the backyard and a BBQ on the balcony
...Celebrate Christmas in a camper
...Eat at least one poutine a year.
..Venerate Frere Andre
...Baptize their children, even if they believe less than their parents
...Use all-terrain vehicles in the summer and snowmobiles in the winter
...Attend midnight mass
...Wait for the French version of an English film to come out before attending
...Go to Las Vegas to see Celine Dion and the Cirque de Soleil
...Read nationalist articles in the newspapers
...Copy American music but pay for Quebec music
...Take the children to eat at the Roi du Patate on Sunday.
...Dream of a cabin by the lake.
...Know the names of the contestants on Star Académie
...Voted YES in the referendums... There's more Here{fr} and Here{fr}
......and no, he wasn't being tongue in cheek.
After defining how a Quebecer must live he reminds us that; "In Quebec we live this way, not differently."
Some of his other musings are less humorous.
"Indeed, in radio, commercials, wepresenttoo high a percentage ofvisible minoritieswho do not correspond tothe reality of Quebec. Theworld of televisionhas become apropaganda toolfortheminority statusof the Quebec nation... ....Even a television program asinnocuousas "Just for Laughs" projectsa distorted image ofQuébecto the world..... the majority of people in the Montreal based show are visible minorities, and in doing so, we give thefalse impression that theentire provinceis composed of peopleof the third world..."Link{Fr}
(On immigrants) A minority prevents a majority from achievingits legitimate objectives,that isto say, therecognition of it'saspirationsto become a nationrecognized as suchinternationally. More than ever,it is a priorityto not letpeopleinto Quebec who don't want to assist usin ourbusinessof makinga countryfreed from thedominance ofCanada. Link{fr}
In another piece he complains that francophones shouldn't marry or partner with Anglophones. Link{fr}
"After decadesof having our head in thesand, our wonderful PQwill finallytalk aboutdemographicsand immigrationat the end ofnext week.Solet's talk about it because it isfinally permitted...
Kirpan,turban,Sharia, Ramadan, circumcision,polygamy,honour killings,gangs,Jamaicanposses, Chinese triads,Russian and Italianmafia. Since the beginningof the 21st century Quebecersfindthis on the corner oftheir street,the limitsof Canadian multiculturalismand the Trudeau Charter."
Living in Quebec doesn't make you a QuebecerLink{fr}
2- Mario Beaulieu- president of the SSJB and Mouvement Quebec Francais
Mario Beaulieu is the hardest working pasta-chaserin Quebecand it makes sense since he is just about the only one paid a full-time salary to wage a never-ending war against the forces of English and Anglicization.
Of the entire group, he may be enterprising, but he is probably the dumbest, spouting off nonsense after foolishness, using misinterpreted statistics and bad sums, while passing off facts that are not facts.
Mr. Beaulieu doesn't like to be called a Franco-supremacist but that's what he is and when he asks for a respectful debate about language, he means that the Anglo media should shut up.
Mr. Beaulieu wants us to believe that he isn't radical, but his pronouncements tell another story.
In the past he has actually demanded that English Churches add French to the bulletin boards on the front lawn, in order to show 'respect' to the majority, even while the law provides an exemption for religious establishments.
He continues to maintain that not only should stores that use English trademarks be required to use French descriptors, but also those stores that use proper names that don't sound French enough, like REITMANS or BENTLEY.
He also demanded in the past that English artists be barred from the annual Quebec Day celebration if they were to present their work in English.
Everyday he wakes up looking for another language battle where he can in the best tradition of pasta-chasers, let loose a torrent of righteous indignation, followed by dire Chicken Little warnings of impending gloom and doom.
Beaulieu is an ignorant blowhard who gets all too much airtime, incommensurate with his support. The demonstrations he and his groups mount, rarely draw more than a hundred or two of the faithful, usually silver-haired separatist veterans, manning the barricades in thinning numbers as they die off.
All this with hundreds of thousands of dollars in free publicity, courtesy of an accommodating press.
1- Diane de Courcy- PQ minister of Education
Diane
de Courcy gets first place, not for a history of anti-English/ethnic
activism, but rather because of her unique political position which allows her to actually effect legislative change, something that none of the above-mentioned pasta-chasers can do.
Her latest legislative foray, the egregious Bill 14, is an attack on everything not French in Quebec, a mean-spirited law meant to discriminate and marginalize everybody but the French majority.
The proposed law is a frontal attack on Anglos, an attempt to apply a coup de grace to the community, taking away any notion that English and Anglos are valued members of the Quebec mosaic.
Actually the law is intended to dash any concept of a mosaic at all, making French the only official language and culture of Quebec.
De Courcy is more than a pasta-chaser, she is nothing less than a devoted ethnic cleanser, bound and determined to inflict the most pain she can with the resources she has. Such is the case with her determination to remove the exemption for military families who wish to choose English for their children's education while posted in Quebec.
She is the reincarnation of Camille Laurin, Quebec's most revered ethnic cleanser and has inherited his mean-spiritedness as well.
De Courcy is a committed pasta-chaser extraordinaire, full of hate and contempt on the prowl looking to skin the English cat and exact a measure of revenge for all manner of imagined slights.
There it is, Quebec's greatest pasta-chasers, any comments?
Rosaire Sauriol- White collar criminal extraordinaire
I guess it wasn't a shocker to hear testimony at the Charbonneau construction crime inquiry that Montreal's south shore suburb of Longueil has joined the list of crooked city halls where payoffs were made by construction/engineering firms to secure contracts.
The commission heard from aRosaire Sauriol, of Dessau, one of Quebec's most important consulting/engineering firms. He admitted that his company made illegal campaign contributions and payoffs to politicians in Montréal, Longueuil, Laval, Blainville, Châteauguay, Saint-Jérôme, Chambly, Quebec City and Levis and even, as it was confirmed later, to the federal Conservative party.
He also admitted to what so many other witnesses testified to, that is, that the godfather in all this was ex-chairman of Montreal's executive committee, Frank Zampino, who just last week made a court appearance in relation to a corruption charges over the giving away selling of a piece of land to a developer friend at a fraction of its value. Sauriol also confirmed that ex-mayor Gerald Tremblay was a hapless sap, unaware of what was going on under his nose. Link
The decision by Jean Charest to call a premature provincial election last August was likely based on fear that damaging information would be forthcoming in this crime commission.
Surprisingly, here we are eight months later and nothing particularly damaging to the Liberal party has emerged.
In fact, it took until this week to hear about any illegal campaign contributions to provincial political parties, but the kicker is that the testimony implicates the PQ, the ADQ, as well as the Liberals.
So much for Pauline's claim that when it came to ethics, her party was holier than the Pope!
"Pauline Marois says her party had no knowledge of any disguised
illegal donations allegedly passed to the PQ over the course of 12
years. Three witnesses from engineering firms have testified over the past
several days to giving thousands in illegal financing to the PQ,
Liberals and ADQ. "Our party wasn't aware. Our party didn't want that," says Marois.
"Our party asked those who contributed to the Parti Quebecois to sign
personal cheques that were their own personal donations." So far, executives from SNC-Lavalin, Genivar, and BPR have testified
to handing her party more than $700 thousand from 1998 to 2010. That
includes two years in which Pauline Marois was at the head of the party. The Liberals are also alleged to have gathered a similar amount - nearly $900 thousand.
Language intolerance in BC
"Two women who believe the lack of English on storefront signs in
Richmond is “way out of proportion” will present a petition to council
Monday, asking for a signage policy. Kerry Starchuk and Ann Merdinyan have spent the past eight months
researching the issue, taking photos and gathering signatures for a
1,000-strong petition. “We’re not saying there shouldn’t be Chinese language on signs,” Starchuk told the Richmond News. “I’ve lived in Richmond all my life and I enjoy having so many different cultures in the city. “But
this isn’t right and it’s all the way through Richmond, not just the
city centre, and the lack of English is way out of proportion.” Starchuk
said that if some body, such as city council, doesn’t “get a handle on
it” soon, there may come a time when there’ll be no English to be seen. “If
this is our Canadian identity, then it’s not very inclusive, is it?”
she said, adding she won’t drive up the north end of No. 3 Road anymore
because of the predominantly Chinese signage. Read the rest of the story
I was asked for my opinion about this story in an email by a reader and can answer with a phrase that I recall using as a kid.
You can like it or lump it,
which sums up my feelings rather succinctly and my advice to the women
offended by the Chinese only signs with another phrase from my
childhood...tough noogies.
All this story shows is that language intolerance is not exclusive to Quebec.
McGill's academic slide continues
Earlier this year I wrote about the inevitable slide that McGill's medical school faced in the face of deteriorating standards implemented to make the medical school more francophone friendly.
Today the school looks more to its demographic makeup than talent, with anglophones kept to the barest of majority at about 51% .
In order to counter the unrelenting criticism by French language militants that McGill doctors leave the province, McGill decided to raise the percentage of francophones by making it easier to get in. The vaunted MCAT entrance exam, the gold standard used by medical schools across North America was dropped because it isn't available in French.
I wrote back then that it could only lead to McGill's med school losing its position as Canada's best medical school, which of course has come to pass.
Now McGill has lost its position to the University of Toronto as Canada's best all-around university another predictable outcome of under-financing and pandering.
"A new ranking of reputations by school has McGill University dropping
from its once-proud peak as the top Canadian institution in the wrold to
slightly better than a middling also-ran.
Meantime, the University of Toronto held fast at 16th this year,
cementing its position as the Canadian institution with the strongest
international status."Link
The university recently appointed a francophone to head the university, a nakedly oblique attempt to silence the language debate surrounding the school.
"McGill University has chosen Suzanne Fortier to be its next principal,
turning to a French speaker to help navigate the political turmoil that
has engulfed the province’s university system over the last year."Link
Below is the type of onslaught McGill faces by jealous and petty french language militants.
"How can we solve the problem of access to education while blocking once and for all, the anglicization of Quebec? Easy! The
principal of McGill University, Heather Munroe-Blum, someone Michel David
greatly admires, believes that an increase in tuition of 82% is not enough? So
let's give our English the means to satisfy their brazen individualism: Privatization.
Completely, and as quickly as possible, the entire English education
system, from primary to university! Let them pursue their deranged mentality.
Deliver them the goods which we had intended. With all the freed up money, we can provide free education for the entire French school system.Let them impose tuition increases up to 820% if they wish, but for us, it will be free. Immigrants
will mostly send their children to the free public system, OF THEIR OWN
FREE WILL ... and several English families will do the same! Result: no need to talk about the need for Bill 101 in schools! It will end the debate about Bill 101 in CEGEPs. Money will be the constraint. Institutions such as McGill will then become satellites separated from the rest of society, but still tolerable. And the cost savings!Is there something illegal here? Absolutely not! We speak their language, the language of privatization. If it's good for us, first try it out on them to see what happens! From the day we implement this, we will have to wait just 20 years to see our culture completely regenerated....... ....I
have participated in at least 25 student demonstrations in February
2012 and the only English students I've seen in all these demonstrations were
anti-demonstrators. People who showed their contempt and disgust for our cause. People who marched counter-current calling us 'loosers.' For them, education and housing are paid for by "daddy." They
come to study here because it is cheaper than in their home country,
Canada, and they leave to work outside Quebec, their education paid for, courtesy of
taxpayers and the Quebec Ministry of Education! It is outrageous and it has been like that since the beginning! Blah.....blah...blahh.-Dominique Frappier
And so McGill has embarked on it's inevitable and precipitous decline, sadly reminding me of the old ditty;
"Oh, the old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be,
Ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be.
The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be,
Many long years ago.
Marois falls into constitutional trap
The newly-minted Quebec Liberal party leader, Philippe Couillard, has said that he would hope to reopen constitutional talks with Ottawa with an eye to getting Quebec on-board as a signatory, a gaping hole in Quebec/Ottawa relations that has served separatists well ever since Rene Levesque was stabbed in the back on the infamous "The Night of Long Knives", back in 1982 where a constitutional deal was hammered out by the provinces without Quebec's participation or approval.
When asked to comment, the hapless Pauline fell into the trap and described her terms of signing on, instead of just saying that Quebec wasn't interested on any level. Link{fr}
Her supporters were furious at her stupidity in being drawn into the debate and in an interesting article Sylvain Racine writes that Pauline is actually preparing those famous 'winning conditions' for a referendum, but on the federalist side!
And what if the Liberal party decidesto hold a referendum with the YES side led byCouillard-Trudeau proposing that Quebecersend the squabble with Ottawa and ratify theConstitutionin order tobe fully partof Canada?In this case, the Liberals could easilyreach the 50%+ 1.
WithLegaultalso repeatingthat Quebecersdo not want a country, withAmir Khadirwho votedNDP in thelast federal election, itbegins in earnestto resemblethe winning conditions forthe federalist camp. I wouldn'twant to seeMarois-Maltais defendingthe NO side, that is the side thatwould militate againstthe ratification of theConstitution,a Liberal referendumthat could even legitimize Dion's clarity Act." Link
Bill 14 showdown set. Who will blink?
One of the provisions of Bill 14 was to eliminate an exemption for military families at the Valcartier base in Quebec whereby children were allowed to attend English schools, even if they didn't qualify under 101.The issue is contentious with the mayor of Quebec city coming down firmly on the side of the military families.
"Quebec city's mayor Regis Labeaume is launching a scathing attack against a section of the PQ's language bill.
"They're going to laugh at us," says Labeaume, adding that the
section of the bill that will ban Francophone military families from
attending English school will taint Quebec's image." Link
Since military families move quite often, most parents at the base opt for an English education in order that their children be able to enroll in any school across Canada with ease. But Education Minister Diane De Courcy stood firm on Thursday, trotting out a report that showed that most of these children remain in Quebec for their entire education and that the exemption was unfair. Link
But an angry Francois Legault , leader of the CAQ reacted harshly, saying that if the provision is not removed, his party will vote to defeat it, placing the Liberals in the untenable position where they'd have to do likewise.
For the PQ, it's time for another volte-face.
Harper government continues de-emphasing French
Using budget cuts to advance policy is one of the oldest tricks politicians use to underhandedly achieve political goals.
Ronald Reagan was the champion of cutting of funds to agencies and programs that didn't fit in with his conservative optic.
Now it seems that the Harper government budget cuts has translation services being curtailed as a cost cutting measure as federal departments just don't have the budget to translate documents and so French civil servants are being asked to write their reports in English.
Apparently budget constraints precludes Coast Guard ships patrolling the St. Lawrence river from fielding at least one member of the crew who can communicate in French with locals.
When apprised of the situation Harper tut-tutted the whole affair.
Quebecer proves myth about Work ethic false
Who says Quebecers are lazy?
If anybody proves that myth wrong, it is Gaétan Couture of Sherbrooke, who after being paroled in September for various crimes of theft, went right back to work assiduously.
He has been re-arrested just two months later and is facing no less than 150 charges.
103 Thefts
13 Break-ins
21 Stolen vehicles
5 Receiving stolen goods
6 Stolen credit cards
1 Evasion from police.
All this in about 70 days and this is just what the police know about! Link{fr}
And how about Canada's greatest slumlord /scofflaw;
"Notorious Montreal landlord Claudio Di Giambattista was absent for
his trial in municipal court today, but that didn't stop the judge from
declaring him guilty on all counts of safety and health violations. Judge Stéphane Brière decided to let the trial go ahead without the
landlord present. After he and the crown went through almost two hours
of evidence including a pile of photos, he found Di Giambattista guilty
of 86 health and safety violations in connection with his two apartment
buildings on Ball and Outremont in Park Extension. Link
Too bad the judge didn't sentence him to live in one of his maggot, cockroach, bed bug filled apartments, just like in that movie starring Joe Pesci. (I can't remember the name)
Actually, one judge did do exactly that. Youtube
Could you imagine if they turned it into a realty show and we got to watch?
Ahhh...perchance to dream.
Odds'n Ends
I've used Google Reader as my news aggregator for as long as I've
written this bog. It allows me to scan selected websites for news
articles that interest me and also allows me to save those articles for
future use.
Alas, Google has announced that it will discontinue the service and so I have migrated to another service, but have not been able to migrate my starred items.
I'm going through them slowly and will take the opportunity over the next few Fridays to publish a couple of the things I've saved, most are good for a laugh.
Here's a Montreal Anglo, Leslie Peretz , making a hilaroius point.
Here's a sign that a frustrated merchant put up in regards to the student demonstrations against tuition increases.
Translation:TO DEMONSTRATORS:
Please stop using merchants and residents as hostages.
Demonstrate over at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
To our elected officials.--Grow a pair.
P.S. Free tuition is impossible right now.
Quebec is bankrupt. - ELVIS
Here's a riddle:
What is more powerful than God? Nastier than the devil, The underprivileged have it, The wealthy need it, And if you eat it, you’ll die?
Listening to Philippe Couillard backtrack on the Liberal's previous position about unequivocally voting against Bill 14, it's hard to believe that the Liberals are any different from what they were before under Jean Charest.
After winning the leadership, Couillard told reporters that the Liberals will now examine Bill 14 clause by clause, and give it due consideration, maintaining the previous government's policy of appeasing language hawks.
"New Liberal Party leader Philippe Couillard is taking a softer line
on the Parti Québécois' new language bill than his party took before his
arrival... ...At his first news conference since taking over the party Sunday,
Couillard faced a barrage of questions from reporters on a range of
subjects. But it was when the language issue came up that he made the nuance. While explaining that the Liberals still oppose the proposed legislation — Bill 14 — they are nevertheless listening, he said. "If amendments are presented, we have a responsible parliamentary
team," Couillard said at the Liberal's Montreal headquarters on Waverly
Ave. "They will look at the amendments and study them." " Link
It's a sad commentary that both Jean Charest and Phillippe Couillard, as committed federalists as you will find in the political ranks of French Quebec, consider that pandering to language militants still necessary.
It is not.
For too many years, a minority of militant separatists have shaped the debate of Quebec's future, framed on language and language alone.
The narrative, repeated ad nauseam, is that Quebec is threatened by English and that without heavy-handed constraints on liberty, the province is destined to follow in the steps of Louisiana, anglicized and assimilated, French to become a distant memory in but a few short decades.
It is of course utter and complete rubbish, but the language argument has been laced with so heavy a dose of guilt, that even a Jewish mother would blush at the shameful manipulation.
And so Quebecers have been told that seeing an English sign in public or learning how to order breakfast in English is a sin before the Gods of language purity, a betrayal of the clan.
The unremitting and relentless repetition of the mantra has left the majority of Quebecers cowered and afraid, so much so that they are afraid to speak out, lest they be ostracized as heretics.
And here we are.
Both Jean Charest and Phillippe Coullard were and are, simply afraid to challenge the militants on language and it's too bad, since they can win the public debate.
A solid federalist leader who would have the guts to say out loud what most Quebecers are thinking, that is, that Quebec's language reality is not what militants profess, would upset the tiresome debate.
Unfortunately we will not get it, the Liberals believe that pander they must, lacking the intestinal fortitude to challenge the paradigm and move away from the language issue and onto the problems that most Quebecers want their government to address.
Do I like the Liberals? Not particularly, but more so than the PQ.
If I had my druthers, I would wish them to defeat the PQ and form a government, they are most assuredly, the lesser of two evils.
In that regard I can humbly offer Mr. Couillard some advice, advice which he will surely not heed.
New
leaders of any political party enjoy a brief honeymoon that only the
smartest of the newly appointed take advantage of.
Remember
that Francois Legault reached about 40% in popularity after the creation
of the CAQ. Had there been an election in the weeks following, he would
have been elected Premier with a majority government.
Couillard is sure to benefit from a bump in popularity over the next
month or two, enough of a bump to beat the PQ.
If the Liberals are smart, they'd quickly work to dump the PQ
government, voting unreservedly against anything the PQ puts forward in the National Assembly, thus placing the pressure squarely on Francois Legault's CAQ, to either support the government like a willing 'bitch,' or trigger an election that the Liberals can win.
It would be, to say the least, a satisfying reversal of fortunes.
It appears that Couillard is seeking the safe route, plodding out an offend-nobody political strategy, pandering to language militants and biding his time, seemingly in no hurry to win his own seat in the National Assembly or to send the PQ down to defeat, triggering a provincial election.
As in life, the safe and expedient route is not usually the wisest course, where fortune and success favor the bold.
I am reminded of the lesson of Operation Shinglein the Battle of Anzioin World War Two, where the allies made a successful surprise amphibious landing in Italy. The commanding officer, a certain General Lucas, preferred to take the time to entrench his forces against an
expected counterattack. The initial landing achieved complete surprise and the Germans were vulnerable, the road to Rome virtually undefended.
Instead of moving out and attacking, the general decided to consolidate his beachhead and marshal his forces, giving the Germans enough time to prepare and mount an effective counterattack.
The general was ultimately replaced, with Winston Churchill commenting that "I had hoped we were hurling a wildcat into the shore, but all we got was a stranded whale!" Link
I am very much afraid that Couillard is acting the beached whale, too timid to press the attack while the advantage is his.
Political strength
like military strength is relative to that of your foe's. Although the Liberals could use some time to
build up force, the PQ is actually more vulnerable now than later.
With the PQ about even with the Liberals in the polls,
the potential Couillard bump over the next little while can provide the
margin of victory.
But even if the Liberals win, Anglos and Ethnics should not be deluded that there will be an about-face in minority rights policy. Remember that the egregious Louise Marchand was a Liberal party appointee and she and the OQLF were allowed to run roughshod on their watch.
The language militants and separatists are reeling over the repercussions of 'Pastagate,' the latest agonized and funny-if-not-sad pronouncement by Gilles Duceppe claiming that Pastagate was actually an Anglo plot by restauranteurs to undermine the OQLF. Link
I don't know how long it will take the hapless pasta chasers to realize they are absolutely right in believing that Anglos indeed launched an attack on the OQLF, we shamelessly stipulate to that fact.
It is called push back, something that the PQ and language militants have demonstrated an abject horror over.
Pastagate has proved that despite the odds, defending our rights is an eminently achievable goal.
We need to push back much harder, making the price of language oppression much too expensive.
The Liberals are better than the PQ, so I wish Mr. Couillard good luck, but if we want to preserve and
advance our own rights, we have to do it ourselves.
