Quebec Corruption: Maclean's Vindicated, Time for Bashers to Apologize

Gilles Vaillancourt..alleged 'Godfather' of Laval corruption

It didn't come as a surprise that the ex-mayor of Laval (Quebec's third largest city) was finally arrested over corruption, what was astounding was the fact that another 37 big shots were also arrested and that Gilles Vaillancourt along with two others who ran Laval city hall were charged with 'gangsterism'

Now 'gangsterism' is a relatively new concept to Canadian law and was created in 1997 to deal with organized crime, particularly the Mafia and street gangs who organize themselves into groups which are in essence companies whose business is crime.

The charge of gangsterism has never been used in respect to political graft and it reflects how solid the proof is in regards to those charged.

In effect, the police concluded and believe they can prove that Vaillancourt led an organized gang of thieves that systematically bilked Laval taxpayers of millions and  millions of dollars, by overpaying on construction contracts in anticipation of kickbacks.

The investigation was long, over three years and considering the scope, it is a credit to police that it has finally resulted in so many charges.
The rumours surrounding the investigation are shocking if true. It has been said that the police recovered a detailed summary of illegal donations made to politicians of all political stripes and that up to $15 million has been shipped off to Caribbean tax havens. What police do confirm is that they discovered almost half a million dollars in cash, stuffed into safe deposit boxes controlled by the ex-mayor.
Vaillancourt has claimed innocence, but with the wealth of evidence that the police are boasting they possess, much of it provided by inside sources who have cut a deal with prosecutors, it seems that the ex-mayor's goose is pretty well cooked.

While among the arrested, there remains a hard core of closed-mouth crooks, look to the weak-kneed professionals, who once threatened with real jail time, will crack rather quickly and spill the beans. The whole illegal scheme involves too many weak links to respect the principle of Omertà.
At any rate, it is pretty clear that two of the men at the center of the controversy have already turned states evidence. While police didn't confirm this, events surrounding their behavior and the fact that they weren't arrested along with the rest of the cabal is pretty clear evidence as to what is going on.

Robert Lafrenière, the head of the investigative unit told an interviewer that the investigation looked at corruption all the way back to 1976, a cutoff date artificially imposed for practical and financial reasons. It is not unreasonable to conclude that Laval has been run by criminals for at least forty years, spanning several mayoralties.
And remember, the shoe hasn't yet dropped on the crooks at Montreal city hall and their related co-conspirators, but it is coming.
The  Charbonneau Commission went in camera several times recently and according to the judge it was done in order not to jeopardize ongoing criminal investigations. 
So it is only a matter of time before this next hammer falls, another devastating blow to Quebec's honesty index.

While rumor, innuendo and unproven accusations may be the stock-in-trade of the Charbonneau Commission, the arrests of so many players in Laval including the ex-mayor, his chief aides, important businessmen and professionals and the seriousness of the charges, puts paid any notion that other provinces are as corrupt as Quebec, something that apologists in the media have put forward as a defense.

Now I'd like you to think back to that Maclean's article entitled 'The Most Corrupt Province in Canada.' I don't have to remind you that the charges made in that article, which were shocking at the time, have been dwarfed by the revelations made since the publication of the story.

We all remember the virulent reaction and charges of "Quebec-bashing' made by politicians, the media and Quebec-can-do-no-wrong defenders, who should have let the chips fall where they might before taking such a strident position.

"Patriquin, Maclean's Quebec bureau chief, said the magazine is legitimately exploring the history of corruption in Quebec.
He said people should read the entire five pages dedicated to the story before casting judgment. According to the article, Quebec had been described by historians as far back as 1968 as the most corrupt region of North America.
"The idea that this is Quebec bashing is frankly moronic," Patriquin told CBC News. "We hit hard with our covers. We have done this for other regions in Canada. [Anyone who says] that we are singling out Quebec for any reason hasn't read any of the other issues we put out in a year."

In light of all that has transpired, one would expect a round of apologies. Instead, those who bashed the magazine and the authors are keeping silent, secure in the knowledge that Canada's vapid core of somnolent and intimidated reporters will give them a pass.
We've seen it before, the press' unwillingness to confront the NDP over the lie of Jack Layton's illness.
It is the Canadians Press' dirty little secret, that important stories are ignored in order to maintain good relations with those public figures that the reporters cover, in a shameful effort to maintain access.

And so those who have wrongly smeared Maclean's can stay silent, secure in the knowledge that nobody will call them out publicly, in other words, a wink and a nod, say no more, and Bob's your uncle!

Since Maclean's and its authors are too honorable to point out the obvious and since nobody to my knowledge has done so, it befalls to me to remind everyone of what they said, and to denounce them publicly for their lack of courage in admitting that they were dead wrong.
Jonathan Kay of the National Post did write an article, where tongue in cheek, he apologized to Maclean's on behalf of Canada, but the article did not remind us exactly what was said and by whom.

Now everybody in journalism, the opinion business or the political game, stands the chance of getting an opinion, a fact or even a complete story wrong.
I've done it myself and recognize that admitting a mistake and apologizing is the moral and fair thing to do, especially when reputations are at stake.
All that is required is that whomever made a mistake, offer a small "My Bad" or 'mea culpa.'
This is what a fair apology should look like.

Now of all those denunciations of Maclean's and the two authors, the most egregious fault came from the Quebec Press Council which by its condemnation and its subsequent refusal to admit its mistake has lost all credibility as an impartial and fair adjudicator in matters pertaining to fairness in the press. Perhaps Maclean's knew what we didn't, the fact that they couldn't get a fair shake from this august body and so chose not to participate in the lynching. Laughably, the Quebec Press council also cited Maclean's for not publishing the condemnation issued by the Council.

"In a March 18 decision that was made public Tuesday, the seven-member watchdog unanimously blamed the publication for the headline and "a lack of journalistic rigour."The council concluded that Maclean's did not prove Quebec was the most corrupt province and that the article was based on perceptions.
The magazine didn't collaborate with the press council and offered no defence against the complaints filed by Gilles Rheaume, a well-known militant Quebec sovereigntist.
A Maclean's spokeswoman said Tuesday the publication preferred not to comment. The council has asked the magazine to make the decision public.
A majority of council members also found that journalist Martin Patriquin and columnist Andrew Coyne did not show Quebec was the most corrupt province despite amassing several points of view about the existence of a series of corruption cases.
The council wrote that no thorough and rigorous analysis was done to compare Quebec with other provinces in terms of corruption.
Six of the seven council members also took Mr. Patriquin to task for writing that problems encountered by Premier Jean Charest's government were part of a "long line of made-in Quebec corruption that has affected the province's political culture at every level."
They said Mr. Patriquin displayed a lack of journalistic rigour.
"We are forced to conclude that they (the comments) reveal prejudice and are all the more condemnable under the circumstances as they carry prejudices against all Quebecers," the council wrote.
That lack of rigour was also attributed to a column by Mr. Coyne." Link

Now the second most serious condemnation came from Premier Jean Charest, because as head of the Quebec government he spoke on behalf of us all.
As you know, (for personal reasons) I never publicly criticized him while in power, but today he is retired from politics and while still a personal friend, I couldn't write this piece honestly without calling him out for the letter he sent to the editiors of the magazine.

Mr. Stevenson:
I’m writing in regards to your sensationalist “feature” on Québec. Your article met none of the basic standards of journalism. By authorizing its publication, describing Québec as “The Most Corrupt Province in Canada,” you have discredited your magazine.
Far from serious journalism, which is supported by facts in  evidence, your article tries to demonstrate a simplistic and offensive thesis that Québecers are genetically incapable of acting with integrity.
Drawing on recent debates, you have concocted an assortment of dubious conclusions, unproven allegations, and isolated events, in which you confuse premier Duplessis, public service unions, the Quiet Revolution, state intervention, our Catholic roots, and above all the sovereignist movement.
With this twisted form of journalism and ignorance, any society would be painted in a poor light.
This is not the first time Maclean’s has published such an article. Less than a year ago, your magazine included a similar story about Montréal......

Jean Charest, Premier of Québec. Read the rest of the letter

In the cruel light of recent facts, the letter is sadly pathetic, particularly the part where he complains that the magazine unfairly bashed the city of Montreal over corruption, in a previous story.

Here's some notable players who also need to apologize.

Denis Coderre 
 "It's the Plains of Abraham disease, wherein we're viewed condescendingly and with contempt."
"...To generalize like that, I find it totally inacceptable" Link

'Uncle' Thom Mulcair
"Quebec New Democrat MP Thomas Mulcair said he is sickened by the magazine's treatment of the issue from the cover to the content.
He said there is no evidence Quebec's history with corruption is worse than any other province.
"It's the worst type of group smear you could think of," Mulcair told CBC News on Friday. "It's beneath contempt." Link

Nathalie Normandeau
The ex-Liberal deputy premier was visibly irritated by the article and said her government would formally ask Maclean’s to apologize because, she insisted, it attacks not just the government but all of the Quebec people. Link

Montreal Gazette Editorial
"Could it be true? Did Maclean’s prove its case? Or is the article just another in a long line of gratuitously offensive sorties against the one province that dares to insist on having its own identity, complete with European style state interference in the economy?...Maclean’s is wrong. It didn’t come close to making its case. The haste with which the magazine slid past the shortcomings of other provinces, while lingering on 80-year-old scandals out of Quebec, was remarkable.The Maclean’s article is a journalistic drive-by shooting."

The Montreal Gazette pulled this  article by journalist Henry Aubin from the web, concerning his take on the Maclean's story. I can only wonder why.
 Henry Aubin 
"Yes, Quebec has a putrid level of corruption. But the problem is with that one crucial word -"most." Is corruption really worse here than elsewhere in Canada ? It could well be. But it’s a serious accusation -one that could easily affect outsiders’ investment decisions. The national magazine makes no attempt to compare the situation in Quebec empirically with that in other provinces.
To be sure, Maclean’s lists some headline-making scandals in other provinces, and it concludes that since more such cases have been unearthed in Quebec than elsewhere this province has to be the most corrupt.
The flaw in logic here is blatant. Corruption by definition is hidden. There is no way of knowing how much goes on out of sight...." Alternate Link

Now I'm not going to cite the many Maclean's bashers on the francophone side who would never in a million years apologize or even consider that they were wrong, it serves no purpose. The exception is Jean-François Lisée,  who wrote what he assumed was a clever rebuke in English to Maclean's denouncing the story.

No wait ! Maybe one of these titles came from another magazine. No matter. Having been a journalist for a couple of decades, I did try to find in last week’s issue the methodology used to grant Québec its number one spot on the corruption scale. I was curious to know who was number two, and how wide the margin was – as in Maclean’s yearly university rankings. Did the writers use the number of corruption convictions of elected officials in each province since 2000 ? The cash amount proven to have changed hands illegally? Or, since no conviction is to be found in Québec (yet ?), the number of police inquiries in play ? I was disappointed. Maclean’s has no comparison metrics whatsoever. The whole cover is based on opinion and perception alone. Hopes for a Pulitzer on this one are dim.
So, just what is the fuss about ? A screaming headline loosely based on facts ? They’re a dime a dozen. They sell. And Maclean’s is in the selling business. So all would be forgiven, if it were not for Andrew Coyne’s scoop that Quebecer’s are impervious to « constructive criticism ». Let’s try. Link

To this day, Wikipedia still lists the Maclean's article under the citation of 'Quebec-bashing.' Link{fr}

I spoke to one Quebec-apologist about getting it wrong and his subsequent refusal to apologize.
His answer intrigued me because it is typical of the language/sovereignty industry where spin, slide and sometimes fanciful facts and interpretations are used to explain away any trifling set of facts or circumstances.

According to him, the magazine was clearly at fault because at the time they could not have known of the deep and dark depth of corruption in Quebec, as the damaging facts hadn't yet come to light.
And so, according to him, Maclean's and the reporters involved just got 'lucky' that things turned out the way they did.

I looked at him incredulously, shook my head and told him the story of  Lamar Gillett, the only P-35 pilot in World War II to shoot down a Japanese Zero fighter.
When asked to explain his heroic exploits, he told the interviewer that;
"It's better to be lucky than good. I was lucky I was behind the Zero instead of in front of him."

French versus English Volume 83

Corruption this week

"After a dramatic series of raids across Laval last fall, Quebec’s anti-corruption squad followed up early Thursday by arresting former Laval mayor Gilles Vaillancourt. Vaillancourt and an undisclosed number of others were taken into police custody as a series of arrest mandates were executed beginning at “about 6 a.m.,” Anne-Frédérick Laurence, a spokesperson for L’Unité permanente anticorruption (UPAC), said.
About 120 officers have been deployed, to an undisclosed number of locations, she added.
This phase of the police operation on Laval tackles an apparent long-standing municipal pattern of collusion, corruption and cronyism that reigned in Quebec’s second-largest city, Vaillancourt’s fiefdom.
UPAC is calling it “Operation Honorer.”
“Many” beyond Vaillancourt have also been arrested, Laurence said.
Some reports pegged the figure at 40, a combination of construction-industry figures and high-level officials in the former Vaillancourt administration." Read more

BBC: "Rebelling against Quebec's 'language police' "

Here's another flattering article on Quebec's language mess in the international press, this time the BBC where the story will be widely circulated.

"The Canadian province of Quebec has seen a resurgence of its bitter language wars since Francophone nationalists returned to power last year. Now, some English speakers are rebelling against the "language police", reports Lorraine Mallinder.

Quebec's ruling Parti Quebecois is pushing a new law through the provincial parliament that would further reduce the use of English in schools, hospitals and shops.

As a result, many Anglophones fear they are being squeezed into insignificance.
It's misleading to say that French is the founding culture of Quebec - Quebec has at its root two European founding peoples” Pearl Eliadis Human rights lawyer

For Harry Schick, owner of a pastry shop in Pointe Claire, an English-speaking municipality west of Montreal, it is nothing new.
His shop window, emblazoned with signs in 35 different languages, has attracted visits from what critics deride as the province's language police.

Inspectors from L'Office quebecois de la langue francaise - the Quebec French language office - say the lettering of French signs should be three times bigger than that of other languages." Read more   (Credit for the link.. JW, Lord Dorchester)

Most immigrants to Quebec feel attachment to Canada: poll

"Most Quebec immigrants feel attached to Canada, regardless of which language they speak, according to a poll for the Association for Canadian Studies.
Ninety-two per cent of francophone immigrants and 91 per cent of non-francophone newcomers say they are attached to Canada, reveals the Léger Marketing survey.
That contrasts with attitudes among native-born francophone Quebecers, of whom only 62.9 per cent describe themselves as attached to Canada.
As for Canadian-born Quebec anglophones, the poll found 96.3 per cent feel attached to the country.
The results suggest that French-speaking immigrants are not picking up attitudes on national identity shared by many “francophones de souche” (Quebecers descended from early French settlers), said Jack Jedwab, executive director of the association.  Read more:

La Presse writer; "Montreal is a bilingual city"

"In a column published some ten days ago on Bill 14, which aims to strengthen Bill 101, entitled "Despising the English," I wrote that the deterioration in our relations with the anglophone minority would in a way, kill Montreal slowly.

There are indeed elements of this dynamic Montreal that we do not understand or do not accept. Particularly the importance  of the presence of its anglophone minority  for its success,.

What defines Montreal, is not that it is multicultural. For any metropolis, this fact is quite commonplace. Most major cities are, and in this respect, Montreal is not particularly remarkable when compared to Toronto or Vancouver.

What is absolutely unique, by contrast, it is the duality of Montreal, the fact that it is built on two linguistic and cultural groups, a large majority, and the English. Montreal is one of the very few bilingual cities in the world, where people speak two major global languages ​​of communication and where it works in both languages.

Obviously, the word bilingual raises eyebrows because, legally and institutionally, Montreal is a French city. This forces everyone into verbal acrobatics to describe, without uttering the so despised word, what is obvious.

This duality has been and remains a source of tension, whether past injustices towards francophones, whose language was relegated to the background, or the swing of the pendulum with Bill 101, a shock strong enough to push some Anglophones to exodus. But we have reached a certain balance, especially because the pressures that can be exerted on the French does not come from the English-speaking community. Tensions are missing, except when politicians want to stir the pot. But these tensions can be creative. Duality helps to define the identity of Montreal, a hybrid of its British and French heritage buildings blocks. This is what makes Montreal different from the rest of Quebec, which gives it a huge competitive advantage and contributes to many of its economic successes."A concrete manifestation of this duality is the duplication of institutions (universities, hospitals, cultural venues, neighborhoods). It enriches the intellectual life that can tap into both traditions. This largely explains our academic mission, which helps us in our efforts to become a knowledge-based society. It also allows Montreal to be several things at once, at home in la Francophonie and the Commonwealth, with roots in both cultures, able to be an interface between two worlds, both very North American but more European than other mainland cities. This duality certainly helps to explain the success of some industries, such as information technology and video games, where Montreal was able to attract both French and American companies.This duality also contributes to the creative character of Montreal, promoting diversity and tolerance. But also because the tensions are close to cultural life. It was obvious to the French, whose identity assertion is widely expressed through theater, music, literature and film. But there is a momentum now and  for several years creating an English Montreal that enriches all of Quebec and Montreal. Without this meeting of cultures, Montreal would not have its brand as a trendy city. All this is not to deny the validity of the fight for French, but to remind us that we must find ways to do it while allowing our English-speaking minority to flourish with its language and culture  Read the original story by Alain Dubuc in French 
(Credit for the link.. Lord Dorchester)

Air Canada ordered to pay $12K to man who couldn’t order 7Up in French

"The Federal Court of Canada on Wednesday ordered Air Canada to pay $12,000 to Ottawa French-language rights crusader Michel Thibodeau in part because when he asked an English-speaking flight attendant for 7Up in May 12 of 2009, he got Sprite. “The applicants’ language rights are clearly very important to them and the violation of their rights caused them a moral prejudice, pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of their vacation,” Justice Marie-Josee Bedard wrote in her judgment.
“It is also my opinion that awarding damages in this case will serve the purpose of emphasizing the importance of the rights at issue and will have a deterrent effect.”
Air Canada was also ordered to apologize to Mr. Thibodeau and his wife Lynda.
It is Mr. Thibodeau’s second successful legal action against the airline and its subsidiaries. In 2000, he was refused service in French when he tried to order a 7Up from a unilingual English flight attendant on an Air Ontario flight from Montreal to Ottawa." Read more

Ottawa Sun: 10 Things we hate about Montreal!

In light of the playoff competition between the SENS and the HABS the Ottawa Sun published this humorous top 10 list put-down of Montreal;

1. Corruption: Did the Habs think they could slide a few brown envelopes down Gary Bettman's way to seal a series win? Sorry boys, it'll take some honest work to win. And you wouldn't know much about that now would you?
2. P.K. Subban: The whiny contract holdout is getting paid $5.75 million to malign his teammates from the bench. As usual, Montreal has overpaid -- an awful lot of people would have done that for free.
3. Roads: If the Bell Centre ice was anything like Montreal's streets, boulevards, highways -- heck, pretty much anything with an asphalt surface -- then Habs forwards would be skating gingerly alongside chasms of collapsing ice and Carey Price would be making saves from deep inside a pothole. Ok, we're exaggerating -- Price doesn't really make saves, does he? Read the rest

While we're on the subject of the NHL playoffs, here's a feel-good story of a young Montreal girl who wore a Senator's jersey on 'Habs Appreciation Day' in her school in Lachine. Her teacher sent her down to the principal's office where she was ordered to remove the sweater.
As you can imagine, the story went viral and before you know it, Senators rewarded young Keila Penner with the trip of a lifetime. The whole Penner family was picked up in a limousine and whisked to Ottawa to attend the Senators/Habs game, courtesy of the team owner Eugene Melnyk. Keila was also given a sweater autographed by the entire Senator team.
The school's reaction? "Er...We never threatened her" Link

Perhaps it was a good omen as the Senators got by the crippled Habs and in the spirit of good sportsmanship I offer my Top Ten list of things I LOVE ABOUT OTTAWA;

1. Rideau Canal skating, Sparks St. Mall, Tulip Festival.... Could it get any more exciting than this?
2. Helpful and friendly neighbors.
3. Wonderful cops and NCC agents and their tolerant enforcement of the rules!
4. Infective joie-de-vivre, exciting night-life and vibrant artistic scene.
5. A wonderfully ethnically diverse city.
6. Eclectic music scene, led by Paul Anka.
7. Cutting edge restaurants, highlighted by "Hy's"
8. Friendly and cooperative civil servants.
9. Stephen Harper, Thomas Mulcair and Justin Trudeau.
10. ...and last but least, the Ottawa Senators, a team named after Canada’s most inspiring politicians!

Odds'n Ends

La Presse published its annual list of wait times in emergency rooms across Quebec.
It now takes an average of 17½ hours to be seen in a Quebec emergency room, with one hospital in Montreal, Maisonneuve-Rosemont, actually making patients wait an astounding 40 hours before being seen! Link{fr}

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The Quebec Wind farm lobby is pushing the government to issue a contract for the purchase and installation of 350 more electricity generating turbines despite the fact that Quebec has an electricity surplus worth billions. Some generating stations owned by Hydro-Quebec are shut down or mothballed because of the lack of demand.
The rational for expanding the wind farm industry is to keep alive the 1000 jobs in the Gaspé factory that makes the turbines.  A spokesman for the industry asked reporters if it made sense to close an industry just because it is contributing to an unsellable surplus of energy in Hydro-Quebec..
Hmmmm. What do you think readers, does any of this make sense?
Link{fr}

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French Studies losing ground: "After an 18-year run, the University of Regina is shuttering its francophone studies program. The number of graduates: Zero.
Parents may be clamouring to enroll their children in French studies in the early years, but interest appears to wane among university-age students. Post-secondary institutions in many parts of the country have seen a drop off in applicants, and are either shutting down, scaling back or pausing their French programs. Read more

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PQ MNA calls Libs 'colonized sellouts' for using English: "Members of the National Assembly who use English during Assembly debates are "colonized sellouts," according to PQ MNA Daniel Breton." Link

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More PQ anglo slurs: I don't know if the irony is lost on a PQ staffer who penned an article in METRO magazine in which he makes the claim that with some exceptions, anglophones are 'all a bit crazy, not Richard Bain crazy, but suffering from a paranoid obsession, always complaining that Quebecers, especially separatists are racist xenophobes."
The political aide to PQ Minister Diane De Courcy, who wrote the article, Akos Verboczy was called on the carpet by opposition politicians who demanded his resignation. Original article {fr}  Calls for his resignation{fr}

Dunno..... but to me, he seems to prove his own point about separatists as 'racist xenophobes!' Ha!

When the minister was told about the articles, she told reporters that it was only a joke..... read more

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Quebec really lenient with killers: "According to a report, half the killers in Canada freed prior to serving their minimum 25-year sentence since 1987 are from Quebec." Link
In the meantime the commission charged with evaluating insane criminals decided to let Guy Turcotte out of detention, despite serious concerns. Link{fr}
Mr. Turcotte murdered his children and was acquitted of the crime due to the famous 'temporary insanity' defense.

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McGill University continues to lose ground: "It’s bad enough that Montreal is losing to Ottawa in the hockey playoffs, but now the city’s top-performing university seems to be losing ground to the University of Toronto in the latest world rankings by subject.

McGill is ranked behind the University of British Columbia in many subjects, as well, in the just-released 2013 QS World University Rankings by Subject, which listed U of T as the top-ranked Canadian institution." Read the story

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Anti-anglo beating?  "A 63-year-old Montreal man says he may have been the victim of racial and anti-anglo slurs and beaten up and sent to hospital as a result. Shamslla Bina told CJAD 800 News he was on his way home late Sunday afternoon from the de l'Eglise metro, when he told a young man in English not to press up so close to him on the escalator. Bina said the young man was with two other men and two women. Bina said the young man told him to go back to Ontario and to his own country. Bina, who came to Montreal from Iran 30 years ago, switched to French, the language he uses the most, and the dispute continued onto the street." Read more (Credit for the link.. RWB)

It's Friday, let's have some fun.....

Last week we talked about English software and the difficulty or utility in getting it translated.
Using the English version is a necessary compromise that school boards and companies understand, even if the  OQLF doesn't.
But you'd expect the radical Mouvement Québec français to be the leader in safeguarding its website from the scourge of English pollution, but alas it is not to be.

After filling out an online survey I was amused to see that whether you are French or English, getting thanked for participating, is an English only affair!

Joke of the week....

Three contractors were bidding to fix a broken fence at an Ottawa property.....
One is from Vancouver, another from Toronto and the third is from Quebec .
All three go with a Government official to examine the fence.

The Vancouver contractor takes out a tape measure and does some measuring, then works some figures with a pencil. "Well," he says, "I figure the job will run you about $900.....$400 for materials, $400 for my crew and $100 profit for me."
The Toronto contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, "I can do this job for $700.....$300 for materials, $300 for my crew and $100 profit for me."

The Quebec contractor doesn't measure or figure anything, but leans over to the government official and whispers, "$2,700."
The official, incredulous, says, "But you didn't even measure like the other guys! And how did you come up with such a high figure?" The Quebec contractor whispers back, "$1,000 for me, $1,000 for you, and we hire the guy from Toronto to fix the fence."    (Credit for the joke.. Pearl)

Another Montreal anti-capitalist demonstration....Cop: "I told you no peeking! Tabarnac!

What's a photo collage of an annoying but harmless Greenpeace Activist getting arrested in Moscow have to do with this blog?

You be the judge!

 

This from reader, Lord Dorchester 
"Screen shot of a Trivia game called QuizzCross. Bordering on lunacy now. "

"A crimson tide engulfed a patch of Montreal Saturday at the city’s first-ever gathering of the redheads.
The event was organized on Facebook by a ginger-headed Montrealer who wanted to foster a greater sense of community among those who shared her hair colour." Read the story

 I'll bet that Toronto will be inspired to have a bigger and better ginger affair next year, giving proof to the maxim that imitation is the sincerest form of compliment!

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Completely off-topic: Charles Ramsey became a national hero on Monday when he helped rescue three missing women who had been kidnapped in Cleveland and held hostage for years. Watch him interviewed but for real entertainment, you'll definitely want to listen to this 9-1-1 call he made reporting the situation. If you click on one link, click this. It's priceless!

So how about ending the week with a little inspiration?

Some of you might be aware that Russians are as obsessed with dashcams as we are with GPS and just about every new vehicle sold includes a camera that records it all.
It leads to video after video of crash scenes. Some of these compilations are funny while most are  gruesome.

But here's a change....dash-cam videos from Russia that inspires. Enjoy......

Not inspired enough?

'Have a great weekend!

Bonne fin de Semaine!

Quebec's Biggest Language Issue.....Climate of Hate and Fear

After the notorious Pastagate kerfuffle and the painful and humiliating fallout that resulted from the widespread coverage of a story that had readers across the world snickering at the unbelievable stupidity of a government gone wild, it fell to Quebec's delegate-general in New York, Andre Boisclair to offer up some sort of defense, an effort that probably did more harm than good.

"It is absurd to claim that Québec is “at war” against English. The Québec nation promotes inclusiveness and is renowned worldwide for its creativity and economic vitality. Quebecers of all origins are proud of their unique identity. We cordially invite you to visit and see for yourself." Read the whole letter to TIME Magazine

Sorry Mr. Boisclair, to pretend that Quebec is not at war against the English is a notion that only a disinformationist could or would dare advance.

Now most mainstream francophones are people of good heart, who no doubt want to preserve their language and culture while acknowledging the contribution of Anglophones to the province and respecting their right to cohabitate in a climate of mutual respect
There really shouldn't be a conflict in that, somewhere along the line there must be a meeting of open minds where Anglophones respect the particular dilemma that francophones face in regards to preserving their language, while francophones accept and embrace English as not only a reality, but a welcome addition to Quebec.
Bill 101 was the law conceived by the separatist PQ government, thirty-five years ago, meant to address the language issue once and for all, where affording francophones the right to exist and flourish in a French milieu was the ultimate but not sole consideration.      
Unfortunately the other consideration was the very deliberate launching of an all out war on the English language and the Anglophone community with an eye to creating linguistic conflict whereby Anglos and francophones would be convinced that the language issue was a zero-sum game, where one side must lose for the other to win.

Now before readers get all hot and bothered at this assertion, understand that the author of Bill 101, the infamous Camille Laurin made no bones about this fact, the law was never meant to preserve and promote the French language exclusively, but also meant to create a climate conducive to sovereignty.
And so clause after clause of unconstitutional nonsense was inserted solely for the purpose of creating judicial strife whereby the 'francophone' side would suffer overwhelming and humiliating defeats in the courts, hopefully sparking enough rage to influence them to support sovereignty.

Rene Levesque himself was quite uncomfortable with the clearly hateful and illegal elements of Bill 101, but was overwhelmed by the party faithful who demanded that the punitive and illegal aspects of the law be preserved and enacted in order to send a signal to the English community that the rules had changed and that the not-so-meek Francophone majority had finally, 'inherited the Earth.'

The law enunciated a concept best described by paraphrasing George Orwell's 'Animal Farm;'
"All anglophones are enemies, all francophones are comrades"

Today, that PQ policy of enmity towards English first heralded 35 years ago has not only remained steadfast, but is now the focus of a renewed effort by the separatist government to embolden it's punitive provisions, an effort to re-ignite and fan the simmering embers of linguistic conflict into a roaring fire.
These new provisions are in no way meant to raise the stature of French across Quebec, they are meant only to stir up more conflict leading to Francophone and English confrontation .

In reality we have two Bill 101s, the one that francophones view as an instrument for the preservation of their French language culture and the anglophone version which is the view that it is an instrument of the destruction and ruin of their community and culture.

In fact, both communities are right, because that is exactly what Bill 101 is.

The very success of the law is that it has accomplished exactly what the PQ set out to do, preserve and promote French, discourage and obstruct English and most importantly create a climate of mistrust, fear and loathing, between the communities, a necessary prerequisite to a successful referendum.

In supporting this thesis, I've often been asked as to which provisions of Bill 101 or regulations are discriminatory, meant solely to attack English and Anglophones in an effort to trigger the fight or flight reaction. Unfortunately, too many Anglos have chosen to flee rather than fight, but that is for another post.

The requirement that the French text be larger than the English text in public commercial signage.
This  rule is purely vindictive, plain and simple. It is conceived under the maxim of "Out of sight, out of mind" and its intention is to make English as invisible as possible, creating the fiction that English and Anglos are unimportant or nonexistent.
I wonder how Quebec francophones would react to the situation where Prime Minister Harper enacted a similar law that forced English to be larger than any other language on commercial signage based on the fact that Canada is three-quarters English.
How would merchants react in overwhelmingly French cities and towns across Quebec in being told that their signs were illegal because English was either absent or not prominent enough.
Ridiculous?
This is the situation in English Quebec towns like Montreal West where 80% of its townsfolk are English and who are told that pertaining to commercial signage, their language must remain inferior.

The rule is expressly meant to be cruel and humiliating and when French language militants tells us it is a question of respect, they really mean it is a projection of power.

The attempt to get stores with English banners to modify their names.
Another nonsensical attempt to project dominance. Nothing else.
Of all the attempts to humiliate English, none is so nakedly obvious and so patently stupid. Not one French language militant will ever propose that modifiers are required for informational purposes so that consumers don't show up to Toys R Us attempting to buy power tools or Home Depot to buy toys.
Is the next logical step the requirement for English and Ethnic citizens to change their names to a French version to show 'respect' to the majority?  Reductio ad absurdum,  I'm not so sure....

Forcing English people to attend French schools
Under Bill 101, a family immigrating to Quebec from Australia or Jamaica, who speak only English, must send their children to French school, even though English schools are readily available.
Do militants believe for one moment that going to French school will transform the children into francophones?
It is clearly a case of linguistic cruelty and vindictiveness, nothing else.

OQLF Inspectors
Nothing is as frightening to a small merchant, in a small store as is being pounced upon without notice by a humourless jack-booted French language bully who swoops down upon the hapless merchant looking for trouble with a camera and notebook, gung-ho to intimidate and humiliate.

Let us remember that the big boys get waivers, the little merchants, the shit end of the stick.

You might remember the list I published a few days ago with all the companies that were given a waiver so as to operate in English?
Well, the list is more telling by whom and what businesses are not on the list.

How about the Montreal Canadians, who clearly haven't been given a waiver and who clearly operate 100% in English.
How about all those video game companies in Montreal who all operate in English without the benefit of waivers?
Why are they given a pass while a small bake shop in the West Island is not?
The answer is clearly about intimidation and nothing else. Frightening small merchants is part and parcel of the intimidation game.

I could go on and on, but I wish francophones of good heart to understand that all this is a gambit meant to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, in no way an attempt to  advance the French language situation. It is nothing more than a cynical strategy by a government which wishes to achieve sovereignty by advancing a climate of hate through language conflict.

While Andre Boisclair claims how good the Anglos have it here in Quebec, he never addresses the politics of hate and the climate of fear.

All day long Quebecers are inundated with hysterical cries of impending gloom and doom in the media by French language militants and politicians who are really just promoting their separatist agenda by whipping up a climate of fear.
It is a credit to most francophones that they remain steadfast in resisting and resolute in their determination to make up their own minds on the issues of language.
Quebec francophones are by nature mistrusting of authority, perhaps a result of generations of real domination and so, are much less likely to be influenced by manipulative politicians and language fanatics who attempt to frighten them about language and the utility of English.
Good on them....

Unlike other places in the world, where linguistic, religious or ethnic hate is easy to brew up, (Hungary is just the latest victim to succumb), the dogged determination of francophones to resist demagoguery and make up their own minds frustrates those with a separatist agenda, forcing them to ramp up the rhetoric of hate.

But the ongoing climate of hate does have an impact over the long term, Quebec has become angry and polarized.

And so Anglos feel threatened by the francophone majority and francophones feel threatened by anglophone minority.
It is surreal because it need not be that way.
In fact without interference, we get along famously. We live together, work together, shop together, play together, party together and even marry and procreate together.

This morning I went to change my winter tires and spoke to the clerk in my semi-perfect French only to be answered in his semi-perfect English. We both persisted.
The same goes for the repairman who came to my house the other day to fix our dryer.
Both the clerk, the repairman and myself determined to demonstrate our linguistic prowess.

French language militants would call these people colonized, that is of course, the politics of hate.
Myself, I call these people empowered, master of their own skills, oblivious to the insults of the ignorant.

If leaders preached the politics of cooperation instead of the politics of fear we would all surely be  better off.

Marois Leaps to the Defence of Quebec's Crooked Business Elite

It was a decision applauded by the public, the banning for five years of a crooked engineering firm, Dessau, from bidding on City of Montreal contracts as punishment for participating in an illegal cartel that rigged bids in relation to construction projects in the city that reportedly inflated costs by up to 30%

Interim Mayor Michael Applebaum who replaced disgraced ex-mayor Gerald Tremblay
(forced to resign over the issue of corruption under his watch at city hall,) made the announcement to a generally favorable revues. Link

"Let me be clear, I remain firm, I will not change my mind," Montreal Mayor Michael Applebaum, who reiterated Tuesday that the engineering/consulting firms which admitted cheating Montrealers will not get a contract for five years.

Friday, Michael Applebaum announced that the engineering and construction firm Dessau not be able to bid on any contract in the territory of the city for a period of five years.

"I do not accept to do business with companies that have stolen money. I will continue to defend the interests of citizens, said, a visibly annoyed Applebaum. I will not flinch and I'll go even further  to defend the interests of my constituents. "

But it didn't play so well with the political class in Quebec city who fretted that if Dessau was banned, all the other major Quebec consulting/engineering firms would face a similar fate, because they too were involved and were as guilty as Dessau.
If the Applebaum rule holds firm, there's hardly a construction company in the Montreal area that is clean enough to qualify for the right to bid on city projects.

Hmmm..... What's the city to do if all the players are crooks and all the crooks are banned?

And so it fell to Pauline Marois to defend the delinquent firms with the zeal and ardor of a mother defending her rapist son.  "Raping aside, He's really a good boy!"

(translation) The Marois government called on Mayor Michael Applebaum and elected officials in Montreal to exercise caution in their crusade against the colluding consulting engineering firms.

The recent decision by the City of Montreal to ban Dessau from bidding on public contracts for five years concerned the PQ, who feared the impact on the industry.

"We're still in a society of law and so there are possibilities of civil actions. (...) But just because a company testifies before the Charbonneau commission we shouldn't presume it is guilty, as is it was some sort of trial that took place," said Pauline Marois, yesterday when pressed by her CAQ opposite.

Minister Jean-François Lisée issued a warning to Mayor Applebaum. "I do not feel we are following the best course, so I am calling for a sober second thought. The decision for the five-year banning in a certain particular case, requires more thought, but I will not elaborate further than that, today," he said.

The head of the CAQ, François Legault, also invited Michael Applebaum to exercise caution, fearing that by removing several industry players, a necessary and healthy competition might be eliminated.

The Caquiste leader continues to call for civil actions against the collusionary firms in order to recover the money that was stolen from Quebecers. "We see the lack of leadership from Marois, she should immediately work with Mr. Applebaum to find a solution"

Other concerns;
The members of the National Assembly are not the only ones concerned about the approach of the mayor of Montreal.

The Order of Engineers of Quebec is worried that the decision by Mr. Applebaum discourages other witnesses from coming  forward.

"For us, the concern is that it is helpful to air interesting stories, important stories," said the Journal of the College President, Daniel Lebel. According to him, we must not lose sight that "there remains major Québec expertise" among the consulting engineers which we are likely to forgo.  Read the original story in French

As I've pointed out in previous posts, practically the entire cadre of engineering/consulting firms operating in Quebec, as well as the chief construction firms are implicated in various levels of malfeasance, where paying off politicians and political parties is de rigueur.

So what's a government to do when it finds itself between a rock and a hard place?

Perhaps it's a case of just giving up and bending over and taking it.
And it isn't unprecedented.

Eric Holder-Wall St. to 'Big' to prosecute

In fact, even the mighty United States government found itself in a not dissimilar position.

"Attorney General Eric Holder admitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that banks are simply too big to prosecute.
The Justice Department has not brought a single criminal conviction against a Wall Street executive four years after a financial crisis proven to have been precipitated by fraudulent behavior. On Wednesday, Holder admitted that the vast size of major banks and the structural integration in the economy makes criminal prosecutions basically impossible.
“I am concerned that the size of some of these institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult for us to prosecute them when we are hit with indications that if you do prosecute, if you do bring a criminal charge, it will have a negative impact on the national economy, perhaps even the world economy,” Read more

So what is the Quebec solution to all this?

In a word.....Re-branding.

The players involved know that their name is mud and so a neat solution is to just change the name and re-shuffle ownership to give the appearance of renewal.

It's a childish solution that fools only those that wish to be fooled, but the reality is that the government is looking to be fooled as a way out.

And so to paraphrase that famous opening line on 'Dragnet' "The names have been changed to protect the guilty."

It started in Mascouche where notorious construction boss, Normand Trudel, who is already indicted on corruption and collusion charges in relation to his company Transport et Excavation Mascouche,
which is implicated with the ex-mayor of the city, Richard Marcotte, also under indictment.

The company changed its name to Construction Axika and lo and behold,is under new owner, his son Simon Trudel. Link{fr}

Then there is  Genivar, a giant engineering/construction firm, also allegedly deeply implicated in corruption.

"Quebec engineering firm Genivar Inc. is changing its name and adopting a new global corporate structure as it seeks to distance itself further from a corruption scandal rocking the construction industry in its home province.
Genivar said Wednesday it will ask for shareholder backing to rebrand the firm as WSP Global. Link

Then there is the infamous Tony Accurso, the alleged grandaddy of construction corruption, who is under indictment and investigation in various cases of fraud. Louisbourg SBC and Simard-Beaudry, two Accurso companies, have already pleaded guilty to evading $4 million in federal taxes.

"The consortium that bought the construction empire once led by Tony Accurso says it expects to be eligible for government contracts despite the scandal-plagued history of its former owner and Quebec’s stringent anti-corruption laws.
Directors of Groupe Hexagone say the acquisition marks a clean start for the firms, including one that pleaded guilty to evading $4 million in taxes in 2010, and whose owner was arrested twice last year on charges of fraud and influence peddling. Link

But the 'new' group that purchased Mr Accurso's assets includes some familiar faces, namely Mr. Accurso's two sons.....

But unlike the U.S government and Wall Street, the Quebec government actually does have a choice.
It can open up contracts to companies outside the province, and allow Ontario engineering firm and construction companies to bid on contracts. These companies could sub-contract to locals and most jobs would be preserved for Quebecers.

But is there any chance of that happening?
Not a one. The consensus amongst, the political class, as well as the media is that Quebec is better off with its own gang of thieves, rather than give the business away, with the caveat that the government just needs to do a better job of supervision.

It reminds me of the clamor that French language militants made when in Montreal's municipal election, anglo and ethnic voters preferred a corrupt administration led by Gerald Tremblay rather than one led by separatist Louise Harel.

Rick Blue (of Bowser and Blue fame)  described the reasons for this in a hilarious piece for the West Island Gazette entitled  Why Anglos prefer the Mafia to separatists?

1. The Mafia only wants control over drugs, prostitution and construction. Separatists want control over everything
2. The Mafia doesn’t force everyone to speak Italian
3. The Mafia doesn’t depress housing prices
4. The Mafia isn’t the reason our children move to Toronto and Calgary and Vancouver.
5. You can reason with the Mafia.

French commentators like Richard Martineau called the piece racist, but let's be honest, the piece was funny as heck!
And now the tables are turned rather neatly as francophones are overwhelmingly in favour of doing business with Quebec construction crooks rather than go outside the province.

I'm sure that Mr. Martineau subscribes to the current belief that it's better to deal with crooked Quebec companies than honest Ontario companies.

And as Alanis Morissette sang  "Isn't it ironic ... don't you think?"