French versus English Volume 92

First reaction... Maka is looking very svelte!

Minister advises immigrants to leave native dress behind

"Minister Maka Kotto asked immigrants to act like him and to "adopt" the values ​​of the host society.

"If I was going to play the mystical, I could walk with a panther skull on my chest, because it is my family emblem. But I do not do it because I agree to adopt the values of the host society, "commented the Minister of Culture and Communications. Link

Dunno....I think it'd be kind of cool to give an interview in a native outfit!

 

PQ's hilarious flip-flop on school taxes

The Bobbsy twins!

In order to balance the budget, the PQ did an interesting sleight of hand, cutting tens of millions of dollars in financing from Quebec's school boards, with the advice that they should make up the difference by dipping into reserve funds, cutting expenses or increasing school taxes, (which they can do.)  The school boards opted to impose tax increases and the public hit the roof. Link

Here is a translation on a French article over at Antagoniste.net. If you read 'French, do the author the courtesy of reading the story HERE.

Here's what was said Feb 13, 1013
"The Minister of Education, Marie Malavoy encourages school boards to raise taxes to mitigate the impact of the cuts she imposed upon them.... Ms. Malavoy believes that school boards therefore have a "flexibility" and invites them to use the power of taxation."

Here's what was said Aug 4 2013: 

The Minister of Education, Marie Malavoy, refuses to criticize the decision of several school boards to increase school taxes on their territory. Responding to widespread criticism denouncing these increases, Ms. Malavoy argued that she did not want to judge the school boards in relation to the government cuts in aid.. She reported that in some areas, although the increase was 40 percent, it amounted to an increase of only twenty dollars. Ms. Malavoy believes that school boards have nevertheless remained within the reasonable bounds and have not imposed ​​excessive increases.

Here's what was said  Sept 11 2013:
According to Ms. Malavoy, the government wants the school boards to freeze their taxes where they are unable to reduce their spending, increase revenue other than by taxing or dipping into their surplus. "We, especially in August, made a detailed analysis of the situation of school boards, and indeed there are many who have not taken their responsibilities as they were invited to do so," she said.

Here's what was said  September 16 2013:
The increase in school taxes  for many homeowners shall not be allowed. The Premier Pauline Marois therefore is requiring school boards to redo their calculations within 15 days. Eventually, the homeowners who paid may be able to receive a credit, rather than direct payments. The government, which met with the school board Monday, believes that they have abused their power of taxation.


Another flip-flopper is PQ Minister Jean-François Lisée, who upon his return from pressing government business in Africa rushed into the Charter debate.

"A Parti Quebecois minister says his party is willing to change or replace some institutions' ability to opt-out of the Quebec charter of values.
When the proposal was first unveiled, the Marois government said hospitals, universities, CEGEPs and municipalities would be able to withdraw for a renewable five-year period.
Now, minister Jean-François Lisée says this mechanism is up for discussion, adding that it would not be scrapped entirely.
"The opting-out clause has been debated. Is it the right tool? Is it correctly fine-tuned? Are there other ways we could manage the transition?' he says.
The entire island of Montreal has said it would pull-out of a charter that would ban its employees from wearing religious headgear.
But, Lisée says Montreal can't be allowed to run indefinitely under a different set of rules." Link

PQ = Incoherence

Montreal unites against Charter of Quebec values

"MONTREAL—The municipalities that make up the island of Montreal have united against the Quebec government’s proposed charter of values and intend to opt out of the divisive program if the minority Parti Québécois government ever succeeds in passing it into law.

The rebuke comes from a group of 15 suburban mayors and the main candidates currently running to become the next mayor of the City of Montreal. It pits the representatives of more than 1.8-million Quebecers — more than one-fifth of the province’s population — against a contentious proposal from Premier Pauline Marois’ party to ban the wearing of religious symbols like hijabs, turbans, kippas and large crucifixes by public-sector employees.

Phillipe Roy, the mayor of the town of Mount Royal and the representative of the Association of Suburban Municipalities, said their 15-city organization intends to opt out en masse. “The Marois government needs to go back and do its homework,” Roy told La Presse. “They never consulted with us Montrealers.”" Link

Both McGill University and the Université de Montréal, have both announced that given the option they will opt out of the Charter. Link{fr}

And so the PQ falls victim to its very own 'Notwithstanding Clause'

You say 'Tow-may-toe,' I say 'Ta-mah-toe'

It seems that Quebec politicians can't even agree over facts. In a farcical article in a Montreal French language newspaper, the leaders disagreed about the job situation in a debate in the National Assembly.

Francois Legault was reduced to holding up a big chart indicating that Quebec has lost a considerable amount of jobs in the last year of the PQ reign.

Nonesense retorted Marois, the province actually  gained jobs! Link{fr}

So according to who you believe, Quebec either gained 15,000 jobs(PQ), lost 4,000 jobs(CAQ) or lost 45,000 jobs(Lib).

Denial is not a River in Egypt

Charter apologists are working overtime in defending the good name of Quebecers over several instances of intolerance in regards to Muslims being targeted by bigoted Quebecers.

Some of the incidents can't be explained away, like this video of a Hijab clad woman being berated by a francophone intellectual on a Montreal bus.

There seems to be a recurring theme that these incidents are really phoney and created by anti-charter forces bent on humiliating Quebecers over the Charter.
Here's a picture of  'a person of interest' who may or may not be the person who  delivered that manifesto sent to a radio station concerning the pig's blood incident at a mosque in Chicoutimi.

Hmmm....doesn't look like a Muslim to me!!!

In the comments section of this very blog we've heard the same refrain over and over again.
IT'S A PLOT!!!
 
Here's a video produced by Montreal's blue collar workers protesting the corruption surrounding the construction industry.

Xxxx

When the blue collars were accused of casting aspersions on the Italian community, the union asked... Whatever gave that impression?

Two other incidents are being shrugged off as the work of anti-charter forces.

This next one is particularly strange because the Church isn't Greek, the congregation is composed of mostly  Blacks from the Islands. Link

Curiouser and curiouser....

Now here is a special treat for those who understand French. It is a radio interview with a woman who accuses a veiled Muslim woman of reverse discrimination. The radio interviewer agrees, failing to see the fly in the ointment.

It seems that the woman witnessed an incident wherein a passerby stopped two Muslim shoppers and asked politely why they were wearing a veil.

It seems the two Muslims took exception (I daresay it happens often enough) and unleashed a nasty verbal assault on their interlocutor, at which point the witness to the story intervened and told the Muslims that it was just an innocent question that deserved a fair response.

The scene degenerated, into name-calling,  proof positive that the confrontation was the fault of the Muslims!

Give a listen Radio EGO

Open letter to Pauline from a Montreal expat

"Allow me to begin by apologizing for writing in English. I know that you speak and read English very well and though I am a fluent speaker of French, I have lost some of my fluency in the written language after spending eight years in an entirely English-speaking professional and academic environment. I write to you in English because I can best express myself on the subject of an extremely complex issue in my first language. Please feel free to respond in French.
I am un Québécois errant. I left Québec in 2005 to pursue my doctorate in history, and I am now teaching at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Like Québécois scholars who have trod this path before me, such as Daniel Turp and Jacques Parizeau, I feel a constant and deep longing for ma patrie. It is my greatest desire to someday return home.
My family has deep roots in Québec. My grandfather arrived as an immigrant from Central Europe in 1912. In his early days in Montréal, he worked clearing snow from the street of Sainte-Cunegonde Ward in Saint-Henri. Later, he moved his family to the old Jewish neighbourhood in the Plateau Mont-Royal, where he worked in the garment industry and managed a shop for many years. Read the rest of the letter

In passing

Click to view video

I laughed out loud when I read a story in a Montreal newspaper that the city of Montreal is going to spend another $1.2 million on a new feasibility study about connecting the southern portion of Cavendish Boulevard in Cote-St. Luc with the northern  portion in Ville St. Laurent. Link{fr}

This project has been kicking around for over forty years and I'm sure that the city already has countless studies up the wazoo.

Call it a Montreal's version of New York city's  2nd avenue subway project which has been planned since 1929 and is still not complete.
Here's a hilarious video sendup of the project in AMC's Mad Men, a television series based in the sixties.
Remember, the project is still nor completed.
(Shout out to R/W/B for the subway story)

It's been 50 years since the FLQ launched its first bomb. Link{fr}

Of all the images published in relation to the concerning  Charter of Values debate, this one caught my eye.
Why? ....Dunno...maybe you can explain it.

Talk about thin skin, the  Mouvement Québec français is complaining about this soup can label;

It seems the organization is perplexed by the connotation of "French Canadian Pea Soup" while in French, the label says just Pea Soup. Link{fr}

Allow me to help.
French Canadian Pea soup is off-white in colour as opposed to green pea soup. I guess, it's a question of the beans....

By the way, here's another anomaly. Here in Canada we do not refer to back bacon as;

Here's a complete shocker:
"Half of Quebec adults lack sufficient literacy skills to function easily in everyday life, a new study by the province’s Conseil supérieur de l’éducation says" Link

I've held off publishing this comparison of the heroic mayor of Lac Megantic out of respect for the dead.

I often watch the news in split screen and was shocked to see the difference in appearance of the mayor as portrayed on two French language news stations.

I swear I haven't retouched these images and can now understand that lighting technicians can make a huge difference!!!
YIKES!

Have a great weekend!

Bonne fin de semaine!

Dear Pauline..."It's the Economy, Stupid!"

I wonder how many of us took note of a newsworthy business event that took place this past week.

It was an event that every Canadian and Quebecer should be proud of, the maiden flight of Bombardier's new passenger jet, the CS100.

Now Canadians have invested upwards of $350 million in the project and have a vested interest in its success. The jet will consolidate Bombardier's position as the third largest producer of commercial passenger aircraft in the world.
Yup, Bombardier stands third, behind Boeing and Airbus. I bet most Canadians didn't know that because success stories don't make the news.
Aside from airplanes, Bombardier is a giant in the world train business as well. Good for them, good for us.

The new jet is more fuel efficient and quieter than anything in its class and has a two year lead on the field.
While many clients took a wait and see attitude, the successful maiden flight will (cross your fingers)
hopefully trigger an avalanche of orders.
If Toronto's Billy Bishop airport is permitted a runway extension, the CS100 is the logical choice of Porter Airlines and with that, Air Canada should not be far behind.

Why should you care about the long term success of the CS100?  Because it is a vehicle of wealth creation, something this province is in dire need of.

Thousands of high paying jobs, plus the ripple effect through sub-contractors and support industry that creates the wealth to finance the rest of the nanny state.
 
Too many Quebecers are divorced from the notion that in order to spend money, one has to make money.
Having an airplane factory with thousands of workers in Mirabel will give a needed shot in the arm to our economy, but it doesn't seem to be a big deal, the newspapers would rather devote their resources on the tiresome Charter of Chicane, because that is what interests Quebecers or the media at least.

It is also what obsesses the PQ  and while it would be easy to say that the PQ is using the Charter to distract Quebecers from the moribund economy, the truth is even sadder than that.

The PQ is not trying to deflect attention away from the economy, it just has different priorities, where language, culture and independence trump economic prosperity by far.

The same with immigration, where language trumps quality.
The PQ obsession with sovereignty, language and culture is its raison d'etre and sadly, it is the fault of the ROC for financing this dangerous and unrealistic fantasy.

Therapists tell  us that every serious drug addict has to crash and burn before he or she can ever begin to recover and enablers do more harm than good. Junkies whose loved ones cover up and finance the addiction are actually delaying the inevitable. So to is Canada financing Quebec's money addicted flirtation with independence, only delaying the inevitable meltdown.

Even though Quebec has sunk economically and fallen from being one of the richest provinces to one of the poorest, it hasn't sunk to the bottom and isn't yet prepared to face the monkey on  its back.

But readers, the day of reckoning will soon be upon Quebec.

There was a time that Quebec banked on the limitless reservoirs of hydroelectricity to power its economy, but that ship has sailed.
The demand for Quebec electricity has plummeted due to conservation and shale gas power generating stations in the USA.
While spanking new generating plants are mothballed by Hydro-Quebec because of low demand, the PQ has extended new contracts for wind generating power that cost almost double what the idle plants can produce.
It's like ordering more pizza at the restaurant, when the table is piled high with uneaten pies, under the rational that the cook needs the work.

The shock of the hydroelectricity meltdown has the government reeling, with absolutely no plan for economic recovery.

Taking stock of the situation, a prudent government would look at all aspects of wealth creation and conclude, even reluctantly, that resource development is the only feasible plan to follow.

But resource development has a foul connotation in Quebec, as if despoiling the Earth of its treasures is dishonest and destructive.

While all of North America is cashing in on the shale gas boom, it is of course too dirty and dangerous for haughty Quebecers.

The same with oil development, where a test well in the desperately poor Gaspe was stopped because the locals didn't like the idea of polluting their pristine welfare financed Shangrila.

It is reported that the uninhabited Anticosti Island is a reservoir of gazillions of barrels of oil, but at the rate the environmental studies take to complete, oil will no longer be a factor and we'll all be driving cars equipped with warp drive engines powered by dilithium crystals.

A Montreal newspaper is reporting that the Plan Nord, Jean Charest's dream to open Northern Quebec to resource development is dead.

"Of the 11 major mining projects announced above the 49th parallel, the total value of tens of billions of dollars, more than half  are now under review or have undergone major negative revisions , according to data compiled by our Bureau investigation.

Projects have altogether been abandoned . Mineral exploration, which is the essential step for launching projects, suffered a sharp decline  in the territory covered by the Plan Nord (which excludes the Abitibi-Témiscamingue).

The project to make the infrastructure more accessible in the Far North,  (pipeline, rail, roads) has been put on ice.

"The slowdown is significant," says Normand Champigny, President of Minalliance, a group of mining companies.

Lower metal prices, multiple draft revisions to the mining law in recent years, increased mining royalties, difficulty in obtaining financing, all of which have contributed to deflate the enthusiasm of mines for two years, according to M. Champigny. Link{fr}

All of this is of no never mind to the PQ, because the very essence of resource development goes against the grain of Quebecers and as long as Ottawa pays, why get off the couch?

The opposition, hasn't really anything to offer.
Francois Legault, the head of the CAQ is proposing creating a 'Silicon Valley' in Laval, another idiotic pipe dream.
As for recruiting the engineers and scientists to fill the job vacancies, the PQ would have to hand out a boatload of OQLF waivers, because the 'Valle de silicone' would  have to operate in English.

Let us remember that CS100 was developed in Quebec but in ENGLISH, with the grudging endorsement of the OQLF.

Also remember the video game industry which was established in Montreal with the OQLF blessing operates in English with the further encouragement of millions in Quebec government subsidies.

That is the Quebec reality, in order to attract worldwide business, OQLF waivers and government subsidies are the order of the day.

Quebec gives up three times as much revenue by way of direct subsidies or tax breaks than does Ontario, almost four billion dollars more.

As for the economy, there is no PQ plan because it is frankly out of options.
It won't open up the resource sector and Quebec can't really compete in anything else.

Bombardier, CGI and SNC-Lavalin are perhaps the exceptions that prove the rule that Quebec cannot compete worldwide.
But let us also remember that these companies are essentially English, wrapped up in a thin veneer of French.

And so for Marois and the PQ the economy is irrelevant, unfixable and as long as the suckers across the Ottawa river and points beyond pay to keep the separatist habit going, well...who really can blame them?

Doctor Calls for Charter Protest

Here is a reproduction of a letter that is circulating around Montreal's medical community.
It was written Doctor Michael Shevall, Chair of the Pediatrics Department at the McGill Faculty of Medicine and Pediatrician-in-Chief at the Montreal Children’s Hospital and the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC).
Editors note: I have changed two names in the letter to pseudonyms, for obvious reasons.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter ”
- Martin Luther King Jr.
Hi Everyone

The astute reader will already note from the absence of a Sir William Osler quote that there is something different about this week's Acknowledgment. The individuals selected this week are symbols, simply chosen for who they are though they abundantly merit an Acknowledgement for their substantial contributions.

First I must make it clear that I am writing not in my position as Chair of the Department or Physician-in-Chief of our beloved hospital. I have not sought my employers' endorsement for this. I am writing as an individual and colleague who simply cannot remain silent this week about the outrage that is the proposed provincial Charter of Values. Leadership comes with responsibility. It also comes with opportunity and in this case a readily available email distribution list. If you object to my using this as a means of delivering a "political" message, simply read no further. If I get flak from the powers to be in the University or the MUHC, its flak I am more than willing to take for the sake of a clear conscience and being able to look my children in their eyes if they ever ask; "Dad, what did you do?"

The proposed Charter is so fundamentally flawed, it astounds me that in 2013 in the democratic civil society that we purport to be that it even merits consideration or debate. It shows a fundamental failure of logic, reason and historical precedent.

The state is indeed separate from religion. The state should be neutral in matters of religion and faith. The state should not use it resources to favour one religion over another.

How these fundamental truths of our society can be construed to mean that an individual's rights of religious expression must be constrained in some way is incomprehensible.

Personalizing an issue allows us to move from the abstract to the particular. When this Charter was introduced I immediately thought of two members of our community that I interact with a regular basis. I thought of Brian Rosen (not his real name,) a classmate, colleague and friend, who as an observant Jew regularly wears the now forbidden kippah. For over 20 years Brian has provided care for Quebec's children with frequently challenging immunologic and allergic disorders. He is a world-leading researcher in his field. Brian is a full Professor and Associate Chair (Research) for the Department. Any clinical Department is robust and successful with Faculty members such as Brian. I thought of my pediatric neurology resident Rima Allkouri. (not her real name) Rima immigrated to Quebec as a teenager from her native Ghana. Fluent in French, in addition to English and Arabic, Rima completed a MD-PhD at McGill and is now in her final year of her residency. She is everything you would want a resident to be; intelligent, hard working, conscientious, and a determined advocate for her patients. She has a long bright future ahead of her. Rima wears a hijab. After 5 years of knowing her, I have no clue what her hair color is.

For both Brian and Rima, their faith and spirituality is as much a part of their individual identity as anyone's skin color, mother tongue, ethnic origin, gender identity or sexual orientation. It is an essential integral part of who they are. It makes them the individuals we value. It has absolutely no impact on others. It does not influence the care they provide. No child or family has complained. Yet these outward expressions of their deeply held faith now somehow violates a Charter of Values (an example of naming irony if there ever was one) that somehow must be banned from the public service sphere in which they serve so valuable a role. That these expressions of faith are banned, but not others, affirms the inherently racist and discriminatory nature of a Charter that springs from the darkest reaches of ignorance.

Any student of history will tell you that the erosion of human rights for some is always predicated on the notion that the "other" is somehow less of a person, less of a human. The last 100 years is all too replete with such examples, unfortunately not restricted by geography, ideology or ethnic distinctions. Take a moment to personally think of a few. Don’t forget to think of the victims who under different circumstances of time and location might have been you or someone you know and care about.

Our Department's Mission/Vision/Values statement eloquently describes our commitments to cultural sensitivity, tolerance and collegiality. Our staff and most importantly the children and families we care for reflect the diversity of humanity. You don’t need to travel to tour the world. It is here amongst us. There is no going back as much as some would like.

We cannot remain silent on this. To hide behind an institutional "opt-out" cause is to accept for others what we would not accept for ourselves. It is quite frankly cowardly.

There is a wonderful story of Christian X, King of Denmark during the Nazi occupation, wearing a yellow Star of David identifying with his Jewish subjects when they were compelled to do so by the Nazi occupiers. Unfortunately historically it is not true, but it gives me an idea for an action we can take collectively.

What I am suggesting is that one pre-selected work day in the very near future that we all choose to wear one of the banned symbols, be it a kippah or turban for men, a hijab for women, or large crosses for both genders. In this way we can affirm our identification with those whose rights are directly infringed by this Charter. By the way while some are directly infringed, denying rights to some is ultimately a denial of rights to all.

Please contact myself if you are interested in helping to organize the above protest. I already have my kippah picked out and would love to have some company.

Regards


Michael Shevell, MD CM, FRCPC, FAAN, FANA

In August, as leaks appeared in the newspapers concerning the proposed Charter a quick poll indicated that the majority of Quebecers where in favour.

Since the publication of the details, there has been a dramatic decrease in support, a happy reaction to the push back by citizens who after taking stock of what was to be enacted, thought better of the idea of supporting the draft legislation.

In August 57% of Quebecers supported the idea of a Charter, while 28% opposed.
The latest poll has 43% in favour and 42% against.

I have heard from more than a few Quebec commentators that Quebecers are uncomfortable having this argument and so putting on more pressure will help sink or gut this law.
The undecideds are holding firm at about 15-16%, but if the 'argument' continues, more will shift to the 'against' side.

I think that a lovely gesture like donning the hijab, turban or kippah by health professional for a day of support will rock the province.
The more institutions that join the protest, even for a day, the stronger the message.

I daresay the event would not only be reported here but around the world.

It is also important to keep up the pressure for another reason, that is, to weaken this issue over which the PQ is hoping to boost its popularity and perhaps on to a majority government.
That seems to have failed, but with more push back, the population will become tired and annoyed with the issue.

Health professionals who wear articles of faith are keeping their heads down, hoping that the issue will go away (it probably will as I predicted.)
But it is the wrong approach.
Those doctors, nurses, technicians and ancillary staff who speak out publicly and aver that they will seek employment outside Quebec will send a powerful shot across the bow of Charter supporters.
There is a hungry and willing press, ready to pass on your message, so don't be afraid.

It is time to ramp up the pressure, because in killing the Charter of Secularism, we are hammering in the last nail in the coffin of Pauline Marois' government.

Congratulations to Doctor Sheval for his initiative, I hope it is successful and that many take up the call.

If any person of faith would like to avail themselves of this space to articulate his or her position as to why wearing a religious symbol is important to them, please contact me at: anglomontreal@gmail.com.
I can even offer  to print your contribution without attribution.

Charter of Secularism...Death Rattle of the Sovereignty Movement

In politics as in life, you never really know how events will play out, but when you embark on a foolish or ill-thought out course of action, it shouldn't be surprising when things blow up in your face.

This week, I watched a news story about a young Quebec couple who sold off everything, quit their jobs in order to set sail with their two young children on a year-long adventure, sailing the Caribbean. Asked by the interviewer if they had enough sailing experience to embark on such an adventure, the couple admitted that they didn't, but they were going to wing it just the same.

How do you think that's going to work out?

As I watched the story, I could not help but worry for the children, victims of idiot and reckless parents.

Such is the Charter of Secularism, a singularly stupid idea brought forward by an idiot and reckless government, with the very real potential of harming individual citizens and wreaking what social harmony we now enjoy.

So it isn't surprising that the wheels are falling off the bus of this latest and most desperate gambit of the sovereignty movement, the so-called Charter of Secularism.

While the rubes in Herouxville applaud the government's attempt to turn Quebec immigrants into poutine/maple syrup/bacon lovers who enjoy the music of Marie-Mai and the humor of Mike Ward, all I can say is...

T'aint gonna happen....

It remains a simple undeniable fact that if you allow for Muslim, Jewish, Sikh or Buddhist immigration, you are going to end up with Muslim, Jewish, Sikh and Buddhist citizens and forcing them to dress up as Santa Claus just won't change that fact.
This is the fantasy of the Charter of Secularism, where the old dictum of getting what you pay for is  suspended in favour of an altered perception of reality, where one hopes that the pizza ordered from Dominos, will actually taste like poutine.

At the onset, the Charter had enough popular support to make it's chances of being passed into law, while not a slam dunk, highly likely.
But of course, the devil is in the details and it hasn't taken long for reality to catch up with fantasy, the cold hard truth a sad reminder that you shouldn't go off sailing with no plan, no experience or technical know-how.

Last week we learned that the Charter of Secularism hasn't a snowball's chance in Hell of passing the most rudimentary constitutional challenge.
Clever La Presse reporter Yves Boisvert, realized that Quebec Justice Minister Bertrand St-Arnaud's strange silence meant that something was rotten in Denmark,
A little digging by the reporter turned up the fact that the PQ government was advised by its own legal department that the proposed law was undeniably unconstitutional.
And so the government sought a favorable opinion, from an outside jurist.
The best they could come up with was an opinion by Henri Brun, a constitutional lawyer who told the government that the case was pleadable, but not much else. He also told them that the chances of success would increase if the law pertained only to government employees in positions of power (police, judges, guards, etc.)

And so the government is proceeding, knowing full well it will lose in court, exactly the path chosen by Camille Laurin who included clause after clause of nonsense in the original Bill 101, full well in the knowledge that the Supreme Court would invalidate the unconstitutional parts, in a cynical, but not unsuccessful manoeuvre to enrage Quebecers against Canada.

But things are unraveling quickly, yesterday a reader (Vincent Beaudry) pointed out a story of intolerance in Quebec city where a Muslim woman was actually physically assaulted in a shopping mall, because of her veil, a perfectly predictable reaction to the targeting of non-Christians of faith. Link{fr}
I warned you that this would happen a while back, it wasn't exactly a bold prediction, the logical extension of a policy of the demonification of Muslims. What is most difficult to accept is that the PQ also understood that these types of reactions were inevitable, but proceeded anyway, willing to roll the dice in a sad attempt to breathe life into the moribund sovereignty movement.

We are now living the theatre of the absurd as highlighted by another story, one that hasn't really made the rounds because it was hidden behind a pay wall in Le Journal de Quebec. Link{fr}
As farcical as Alice in Wonderland or as stupid as the promotion of the non-religious nature of the Crucifix in the National Assembly is the story of a Christian chapel, located directly within a government building  and this for the last twenty years. It seems that public employees of faith can celebrate Mass twice a week without leaving the comfort of the building housing their government office. The chapel is provided by the government rent-free and a Catholic priest ministers to the faithful.
So when all this was revealed one would expect the government to quickly declare that in the new secular Quebec, it would no longer be acceptable to tolerate the chapel.
If you thought that, you would be wrong.
In a illogical leap of faith, the assistant to Bernard Drainville said that the issue is complex and needed to be studied further, as the chapel could be considered a reasonable accommodation and that non-Christians had equal access to the facility.
I kid you not.
I am not even going to get into arguing why this is wrong, I have too much respect for readers who can no doubt draw their own conclusion.
Now readers, do not for a moment conclude that I am advocating that the chapel be removed, I'm just pointing out the absurdity of the utterly incoherent PQ position.

Last Thursday, the head of the Bloc Quebecois kicked out Bloc MP Maria Mourani from caucus because she spoke out harshly against the Charter. It was a singularly stupid move, one that everybody on the Charter side recognized as a supremely clumsy,  self inflicted wound with the direst of consequences.
After all, if the PQ cannot convince one of the most ardent separatists from the ethnic community of the worth of the Charter, how on Earth will they convince ordinary ethnics to come along for the ride?

I've no sympathy for Madame Marouni, a useful idiot extraordinaire who has tried, mostly in vain, to get Ethnics to ignore the ethnocentric nature of the sovereignty movement .
Maria Mourani is was as militant a separatist as they come, she was a founding member of the Mouvement Montréal français and was named as Patriot of the year by none other than the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal.
I wonder if she will be asked to return the award like Lance Armstrong who was forced to return his Olympic medals because of doping. Surely Madame Mourani has heaped a commensurate measure of humiliation upon the movement.

Mouroni, a maronite Christian from Lebanon gave an impassioned news conference on Friday denouncing the wedge politics of the PQ and then headed off to a mini-debate with none other than Louise Beaudoin on Radio Canada.

I make mention of the debate because Madame Beaudoin gave a hilarious performance where she actually lost her composure screaming at Mouroni that in order to be included as one of the family, the hijab had to go. Beaudoin became so enraged that the moderator had to grab her arm, in order to calm her down. This surreal exchange can be seen here, the good part taking place at the 5:00 minute mark. Watch the video

It occurred to me while watching the video that people like Beaudoin and Drainville are clueless as to what makes up the beliefs of people of faith.
To them, suspending one's religious commitment for a few hours a day is a reasonable and viable solution.
For an atheist it makes perfect sense, for a person of faith it is beyond the pale.

Should the law ever come to pass whereby teachers, nurses and doctors are subject to the removal of religious head wear, (it will never happen) there will be no doubt those who comply.
But make no mistake about it, there will be thousands who won't.
For them, commitment to religious principles trumps all and there isn't a chance in heck that they will conform, regardless of the repercussions.

I give as an example the great Los Angeles Dodger pitcher, Sandy Koufax, a three time MVP  and the author of an amazing four no hitters.
In 1965, the first game of the World Series fell on Yom Kippour, the holiest day of the year for Jews.  As the star of the team Koufax was slated to pitch but declined on religious grounds, despite the fact that he he wasn't particularly religious.
But to play on Yom Kippour would send a message to the Jewish community that he wasn't prepared to do. Read a stirring account.

"The Dodgers lost that game 8-2. Future Hall-of-Famer Don Drysdale, who started in Koufax's place, gave up seven runs in the first three innings. It is rumored that when Dodger manager Walter Alston headed out to the mound to take Drysdale out of the game he said, "I know, Skip. Right now you wish I was Jewish, too."
The rest of the story is that Koufax returned to start three of the remaining six games and was named the Series MVP after pitching a shutout in the deciding Game 7." Another link

It is perhaps, beyond the ability of Beaudoin, Marois and Drainville to understand religious commitment, for many Quebecers, faith cannot be suspended, put on or taken off, as a coat.

There are thousands of Sandy Koufaxs in Quebec, people who will never comply with the anti-religious edict, damn the torpedoes.
What will happen when a teacher shows up to class with a hijab in defiance of the  law? Will she be dragged out of the class?
How about a doctor or nurse who shows up to an emergency room shift in illegal attire?  Will they be refused the right to work and will patients be deprived of medical attention?
The truth is that those with options will leave rather than knuckle under and the sad reality is that the most talented are the ones who have the most options.
Will Quebec be better off and can we really afford to lose so many of our productive citizens or will the familiar Quebec refrain of "We don't need no stinkin' doctors/nurse/teachers be struck up once again?

In all of this I am convinced that the Charter of Secularism is the death rattle of the sovereignty movement, a last ditch effort to to play the ethnocentric card, because all else has failed.

It will not work.

Sovereignty has been dead for a long time, dumping on people of faith inside the ethnic community has washed away any chance of support the movement had outside White/Catholic/Francophones.

Die hard separatists, those who are open and truly inclusive (there are many) must be saddened that the ethnocentric caricature of the separatist movement as painted by opponents has turned out to true.

Separatism is not about building a French nation comprised of different elements, it is about exclusion of any and all who will not conform to the separatist ideal.

Sad, desperate and singularly illegal and unenforceable, that is the Charter of Secularism, another PQ masterpiece of failure.

French versus English Volume 91

Drainville's Master Plan to Eliminate Religion

There's a lot being said and printed over the subject of the proposed ban on religious wear here in Quebec, across Canada and around the world.

There's not much I can add that you haven't heard before, but I do remain surprised that nobody picked up on an exchange between Bernard Drainville and a reporter during his news conference.
The reporter asked whether these changes could apply to private industry and Drainville responded that he hoped so.
He told the reporter that many businesses were telling him that they wanted this type of legislation to apply to their workers.
Surprisingly, or not surprisingly, Drainville suggested that companies form policies based on the new rules for government workers.
What the minister let slip, is that it is his belief that secularism includes both the public and private sectors, elevating the debate to a whole new level.

Quebec Makes news around the world

Quebec Calls for Ban on Wearing Symbols of Faith New York Times

Quebec mulls religious head wear ban for public workers BBC (UK)

Jai.TV

 

Quebec: Ban Religious Headwear in Government Jobs ABC (US)

Quebec Government Proposes Ban on Religious Symbols Wall Street Journal

Quebec seeks to ban public workers from wearing religious symbols Reuters

Quebec Muslims slam proposed ban on religious headwear Al Jazeera (US)

Quebec quiere proscribir los signos religiosos en el sector público camineo.info (It)

Quebec prohibirá uso de símbolos religiosos en vida pública HispanTV

קוויבק אומרת "לא" לכיפה ולחיג'אב (Quebec says "no" kippa and hijab) Israel

Kanadyjski Quebec chce zakazać noszenia symboli religijnych Poland 

Québec: un projet de loi pour interdire les signes religieux Tunisia

كيبيك الكندية تقترب من حظر النقاب BBC Arabic

Québec wil geen tulband of keppel zien Netherlands

Канада: Квебек готов запретить религиозные символы Russia

 There are stories all over the world concerning the religious ban, but this one from Poland was perhaps the strangest ;

Zakaz noszenia krzyży zasłoną dymną dla eutanazji?
(Ban on wearing crosses a smokescreen for euthanasia?)

Charter debate claims first victim

"The debate is open now. People have the right to express themselves.... But I hope the debate will be done as serenely as possible.-Pauline Marois

Really? Perhaps Marois should reach for inspiration from Frank Costanza of Seinfeld fame, in repeating the mantra "Serenity Now"

 

"Quebec separatists are closing ranks around Premier Pauline Marois' proposed ban on religious symbols amid threats of boycotts and marches. The federal Bloc Quebecois party on Thursday expelled an MP for speaking out against the controversial measure that has caused deep divisions in the province.
Maria Mourani, an African-born Montrealer of Lebanese descent who wears a crucifix, had blasted Premier Pauline Marois' plans to bar all Quebec public servants from wearing religious symbols.
Mourani said the measure would divide Quebecers, as well as the sovereignty movement. Read the rest of the story

By the way, the comments under the story of her removal in the Journal de Montreal  are very telling.
90% were furious about it, even those in favour of the legislation.

Party member tweets his reaction to exclusion.

boreal49 "I do not agree with Ms. Mourani, because I support the charter of secularism. But this lady is entitled to her opinion. Even within a political party, a member should be able to issue a dissenting opinion without being deported, it's called democracy.
The Bloc leader is acting as an Iman forcing their members to practice the doctrine: "Do this and you will live"

 minos1429 Now we clearly see the drastic methods of the PQ that will come after a referendum and how they will reign when they have their own country, a dictatorship of oppressive laws over freedom of speech or religious belief, becoming a worse banana republic than Cuba ....
EBeaudoin Long live freedom of speech?
The worst part of this story is that she did not speak against her own party but rather against the PQ project!
Is the Bloc under the command of Her Majesty the PM?

Mr. Paillé, head of the Bloc Quebecois is going to get roasted by the press and even his own supporters. It's always fun to see a major political blunder up close and personal and I wouldn't be surprised that once the gravity of the error sets in, he'll be eating a double portion of humble pie, begging Mourani to return to the fold.

Lily-white Public service backs Charter

I guess it's no big surprise that the 42,000 strong union representing public employees leapt to the defense of the proposed charter.
The incestuousness relationship between the union and the PQ is a case of one hand washing the other.

"The SFPQ union, which has 42,000 members, applauds the government for "finally" tabling a policy that would ensure the religious neutrality of government offices.
The PQ plan would forbid Quebec's public employees from wearing more visible religious symbols -- including hijabs, turbans, yarmulkes and larger-than-average crucifixes.
"We're obliged to keep our political opinions to ourselves," union president Lucie Martineau said Wednesday.
"We want that extended to our religious opinions."
Other unions have said they plan to consult members before taking a public position." Link

 But the union must be one of the most ethnically pure in the world, with less than 2% visible minorities and the rest white Catholic francophones.
I guess the union wants to keep it that way.
So how many hijab-wearing members actually work for the union? Forget about kippahs and turbans, I'd venture there are none of those.
When asked how many members wear the hijab, the union leaders were stumped.
So let's take a stab at it for giggles.
42,000 union members divided by 1.8 % who are visible minorities=  738
738 members multiplied by 60% (eliminating the men) = 442
442 divided by those visible minorities who are not Muslim (66%) = 176
Percentage of Muslim union members who wear a hijab (10%) = 17
Now the numbers above are guess work, but you can you see that not many SFPQ union members wear the hijab.
This is what all the fuss is about.

Perhaps Quebecers should better consider this well documented fact;

“In 1980, recent immigrant men who had some employment income earned 85 cents for each dollar received by Canadian-born men. By 2005, the ratio had dropped to 63 cents. The corresponding numbers for recent immigrant women were 85 cents and 56 cents, respectively.” Link

 

Animal Cruelty piece generates accusations of Quebec-bashing

I received a few emails about the blog piece entitled  Is Animal Cruelty Part of Quebec Values? 
accusing me of Quebec bashing.
I don't usually respond but I did leave out a few things in that piece that I should have mentioned.

All this is in response to  a woman who started an online petition asking Kijiji to stop advertising pet sales because many unscrupulous puppy mills were using the service.
The petition has already garnered over 50,000 signatures
Read the story
Sign the petition

In my defense of calling animal abuse a particular Quebec value, I am going to excerpt  an article by Gilles Proulx, in which he actually goes farther than me.

"There is a value that the vast majority of  "Anglos" would be happy to see included on the docket of the Quebec Parliament when it resumes sitting.  I want to talk about respect for animals and the need to end impunity for torturers of animals that Quebec does almost nothing about, dishing out punishment not worthy of the name. My brave Golden, Romeo and I will be attending the March 4 legs organized by the SPCA on Sunday, September 8 , on Mount Royal, to remind the Deputy Prime Minister François Gendron it is time to put the love of animals on the agenda. We should be ashamed and live up to the example of the neighboring provinces in the treatment of animals because we Quebecers are always the last in the class. Even within Quebec, an inordinate proportion of Anglophones stand above us and sometimes volunteer at their own expense in charitable organizations for our animals....

.....In recent months, Quebec has further illustrated itself as a dunce in the treatment of animals. Many horrific crimes or negligence have blackened the pages of this Journal. Remember those patients who drowned their pit bull by placing weights around  its neck. Not to mention that maniac who probably thought himself manly for strafing nails into the skull of another poor animal. In October, there was the case of Black Jack, a horse pulling a carriage in the Old Port which fell down due to dehydration and exhaustion because he was kept at work for twelve hours a day. Rescued by good Samaritans, Black Jack will end his days in a rural landscape of Lac Saint-Jean. Fortunately, the story was about him.  As for the exploiter who almost killed this noble animal, don't worry: The justice system is not going to take notice. This is Quebec." Read the entire story in French

Who's Quebec-bashing now?

Is Mr. Proulx perhaps mellowing?

Nah........I don't think so!

FULL DISCLOSURE.
I bought my puppy through Kijiji, a special non-shedding Jack Russell Terrier which was hard to find.
I drove to St-Hyacinthe and met the young couple who bred dogs as a family income supplement.
There was so much love for the dogs in their home and such happy and bouncy dogs, we immediately fell in love with the runt of the litter.
Before the couple turned the puppy over  to us, they asked us a million questions about our background, the conditions that the dog would face and our record as dog owners.
We made a deal and Brody has been with us for six years, a delightful companion, rakishly handsome and intelligent and loving. He hasn't a mean bone in his body and has never bitten or snarled.

Had conditions been less than acceptable at the breeders, we would have fled.
But not everybody on Kijiji is a scam artist....just saying.

McGill University sinking like a lead balloon.

"Three days into her new job as McGill University’s principal, Suzanne Fortier was dealing with the news Monday that the school was surpassed for the first time by its rival, the University of Toronto, in the latest QS World University Rankings.....
....McGill — long considered the Harvard of the north — has been slipping in some recent rankings, such as the World Reputation Rankings and the 2012 Times Higher Education world rankings.
.....Danny Byrne, editor of topuniversities.com, which publishes the QS rankings, said when they asked 62,000 academics around the world which universities are leaders in research, U of T “did brilliantly,” ranking 13th compared to 31st for McGill"

Hate to say it.....but told you so....

EI contribution freeze, a political move meant to freeze Quebec out

"Employers and workers will get a small break over the next three years as the Conservative government freezes employment insurance premiums at the current level.
Planned rate increases are no longer necessary because the separate account through which the government manages the fund is looking healthier than it did a few years ago, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Monday.
Finance Department staff estimated the freeze will save businesses and workers $660 million next year, something that Flaherty believes will give employers the flexibility to hire more staff. Link

The news behind the story is that the Conservatives are applying more political pressure on Quebec which has been making noises about repatriating the Employment Insurance fund to its own jurisdiction. The idea is utterly ridiculous and a complete nonstarter, because Quebecers take almost twice as much out of the fund as they put in.

Now in the past, when the fund piled up a huge surplus, the federal government just scooped it up and transferred it to the general fund.
Harper is not going to let this happen as Quebec will scream about the surplus being 'robbed' from the fund, instead of paying lazy Gaspesians.

....and in another installment of  'Payback's a bitch '

"Quebec business and labour groups have flooded the Finance Department with demands to save a tax credit the Harper government plans to kill.
The spring budget announced the pending demise of a 15 per cent tax credit for investments in Labour Sponsored Venture Capital Corporations.....
The union-backed mutual funds are focused on helping small and medium-size firms create jobs.
The program, costing the federal treasury about $140 million a year, is wildly popular in Quebec where about 88 per cent of the tax credit is claimed.
 ....It’s a success story, especially in Quebec,” New Democrat labour critic Alexandre Boulerice said in an interview, adding the funds have supported 600,000 jobs in the province while helping people save for retirement.
“If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”
But the federal government says the funds are not working, with poor investment returns, weak accountability and dubious ability to raise fresh venture capital. Read the whole story

Game, set and match, Mr. Harper

Odds'n Ends

Cruising the vigile.net website I clicked on a link to Louis Prefontaine's www.louisprefontaine.com
Now Louis hasn't been blogging for a while but I think he should have coughed up the $8 a year to keep his domain from lapsing.
It seems that a Japanese hair removal seller has scooped up the domain, although why, I cannot fathom.

*************

Here's two rather contradictory headlines that I saw on the same day.

"Pipeline would bring $ 6.3 billion to Quebec's GDP " Journal de Montreal {fr}
"Enbridge project unprofitable and highly damaging" La Presse {fr}

*************

A constant source of amusement here in Quebec are Google translation gaffes.
Even the RCMP has committed the faux pas of using the utterly unreliable, but free translation service.
So it's no wonder that cheapskate Walmart got caught with a doozy, when it translated dumbbell (weightlifting equipment) as 'imbecile' Link

Ha! Ha!

Idiot PQ quote of the Week

"Off the top, Health Minister Réjean Hébert was asked whether he fears nurses or medical personnel could be lost or might quit over new rules prohibiting them from wearing conspicuous religious items.
Hébert dismissed the idea as fear mongering.
“We saw the same reaction in the debate leading up to Bill 101,” Hébert said on his way into a meeting of the cabinet. “And the anticipated exodus did not happen. So I am not worried.” Link

Interesting letter to the editor

I've translated this letter to the editor that I found in the Journal du Quebec.

If you read French, do the author the courtesy of reading it HERE

"As to the Quebec Charter of values​​, and to a lesser degree, questions about the teaching of history to young Quebecers, I am still amazed that the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759 is still perceived today as the decisive moment of the British victory over the French.

In early 1758, William Pitt convinced the British government to invest large sums of money to finance the armada that appeared before Quebec in June 1759 with the very objective to expel the French from North America. Meanwhile, in France, by the middle of 1758, the loss of New France was already a foregone conclusion.

Some people like to raise the specter of Lord Durham assimilation after the French conquest. However, the fact to retain is that the British gave to the French who decided to stay in Quebec, freedom of religion, Catholicism, and the French language .

If, by some miracle, the French had resisted the British invaders in 1759, it is unlikely that the miracle would be repeated during the attempted invasion by the Americans at Quebec in 1775. The attack was repulsed by the British, supported by the remaining French Canadians. New France had long been forgotten by its motherland by 1812, when the British scored a victory against the Americans in the Niagara region.

Quebec today is largely French today thanks to the British.

François Vézina

Ontario Hospital set to poach medical staff

"A hospital in Ontario is trying to appeal to medical students in Quebec with an attention-grabbing new recruitment ad.

Lakeridge Health Oshawa’s new campaign, to be featured next week in The McGill Daily school newspaper, is already a social media success.It depicts a woman wearing a pink hijab, lab coat and stethoscope with the slogan, “We don’t care what’s on your head, we care what’s in it.”"   Link

Have a great Weekend! 

Bonne fin de semaine!