Harper Lobs Hand Grenade at Quebec

Brent Tyler...dragon slayer!

Watching the separatists foam at the mouth over the announcement that the federal government will join a lawsuit to declare Quebec's Bill 99 unconstitutional is bittersweet, for too long Harper has refused to engage the Parti Quebecois over its constant baiting of Canada.

But the winds of fortune have shifted for the Conservatives and not in a good way with support softening, especially due to the Senate scandal.
In an effort to shift the optic, Harper is making a another major shift in policy towards Quebec, after first trying engagement, then benign neglect and now open hostility.

And so, once and for all, Harper is writing off Quebec in an attempt to consolidate power elsewhere in Canada and from here, there is no road back.
For the Conservatives, as with the PQ, it now suits the political agenda to enter into a 'chicane' with Quebec, where if and when the fight gets nasty and loud, he can count on a fed-up ROC backing his play to the hilt.
The louder constitutional war drums beat in Quebec City and Ottawa, the better for the Conservatives, that is the Harper rationale.

When the issue of sovereignty and Quebec nationalism rears its ugly head in any serious manner, it becomes the defining political issue of the day and voters, looking for a gladiator, will overlook almost any past transgressions and peccadillo.

Of all the federal leaders, most Canadians view Harper as the most viable adversary to Quebec's aggressive nationalist policy and best suited to defend Canada's interests.
Would you really want to see Justin Trudeau or worse still Thomas Mulcair take on Quebec?

There is a profound change in attitudes in the ROC concerning Quebec and Harper may be tapping into the growing sentiment that appeasement has gone too far.
Harper has demonstrated the ability to form a majority government without Quebec, so throwing the recalcitrant province under the bus, a cynical but altogether viable option.

The Achilles Heel of the federal Liberals and Ndper's is the issue of Quebec, both Trudeau and Mulcair seen to be coddling enablers.

Here's the NDP's sad-sack position on independence:

If the issue of Quebec gains traction as a bone of contention in the next election, you can count on another Conservative majority government and so the wheels are turning.
Harper now accepts what we all knew for a while, that Conservatives are dead and buried in Quebec, with no hope of improving fortunes in the next federal election.
Harper is the only federal leader who will benefit from a political fight with Quebec and this, big time.

Also to be considered is the impending court date for the Bill 99 challenge mounted by private citizen Keith Henderson, ably represented by Brent Tyler.

Clearly Bill 99 is going to be struck down and Harper cannot resist stealing the credit, after all, leaving it up to Tyler and Henderson to defend the Canadian Constitution, especially since they will inevitably win their day in court, is not good politics.
It would for all intents and purposes show up the federal government as negligent and perhaps gun-shy, not something that Harper could tolerate.

For Tyler and Henderson, its been a rough and expensive road and so if the Feds are going to steal their thunder, I hope Ottawa will have the decency to reimburse them fully for their time and effort.
I know it has been very rough on them, both financially and emotionally.

Now for those unfamiliar with the case, let's briefly deconstruct what has and is going on.
For an excellent and very detailed account read this Maclean's article.

After Quebec's narrow referendum loss, Stephane Dion, the then Liberal Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs asked the Supreme Court to pronounce itself on the legality of independence and referendums via three key questions.

On September 30, 1996, Dion submitted three questions to the Supreme Court of Canada constituting the Supreme Court Reference re Secession of Quebec:

1. Under the Constitution of Canada, can the National Assembly, legislature, or government of Quebec effect the secession of Quebec from Canada unilaterally?
2. Does international law give the National Assembly, legislature, or government of Quebec the right to effect the secession of Quebec from Canada unilaterally? In this regard, is there a right to self-determination under international law that would give the National Assembly, legislature, or government of Quebec the right to effect the secession of Quebec from Canada unilaterally?
3. In the event of a conflict between domestic and international law on the right of the National Assembly, legislature, or government of Quebec to effect the secession of Quebec from Canada unilaterally, which would take precedence in Canada? Wikipedia

The court replied;

On August 20, 1998, the Supreme Court answered, concluding that Quebec does not have the right to secede unilaterally under Canadian or international law. However, the Government of Canada would have to enter into negotiations with the Quebec government if Quebeckers expressed a clear will to secede. It confirmed that the Parliament of Canada had the power to determine whether or not a referendum question was clear enough to trigger such negotiations. The Constitution of Canada would remain in effect until terms of secession were agreed to by all parties involved, and these terms would have to respect principles of democracy; minority and individual rights as outlined in the Canadian constitution. Wikipedia

This led to Ottawa drafting the Clarity Act which set out the terms and conditions for sovereignty which includes the requirement for a clear referendum question and a clear majority.

Lucien Bouchard and the PQ replied several days later with Bill 99, passed in the Quebec Parliament, which basically said that Quebec and Quebec alone could decide the terms and conditions of any referendum on sovereignty.

Bill 99
FINAL PROVISIONS

13. No other parliament or government may reduce the powers, authority,sovereignty or legitimacy of the National Assembly, or impose constraints on the democratic will of the Quebec people to determine its own future.”

Are you kidding me?
This last clause is not only unconstitutional but patently ridiculous, because under the terms, if a majority separatist government is elected, it could then make up its own rules, perhaps lowering the threshold to 25% plus one or restrict eligibility to participate in the referendum to citizens born in Quebec or allow children aged 16  to vote, or anything else they wished in order to tip the scales.

Ridiculous?

My examples may be exaggerated, but if the question of sovereignty is only a Quebec matter, to be decided by Quebecers alone under terms and conditions that itself dictates, there is nothing to stop a majority separatist government from declaring unilateral independence without a referendum

Clearly Bill 99 cannot withstand any court challenge, it is just too stupid.
Read the petition written by Brent Tyler, who remains one of the very few heroes in the fight against unfettered Quebec nationalism.

Henderson/Tyler Re-Amended Motion

I caught Brent giving a couple of interviews on the French language network and must congratulate him on his calm demeanour and sang-froid.
In one interview on a morning show, Salut Bonjour!, the woman putting questions to Brent looked like she wanted to murder him.
Here's another  interview where Brent toys with his Radio-Canada interlocutor. Link{fr}

Everyone, including the PQ knows how this will turn out, with Bill 99 eviscerated and the Clarity Act, the law of the land.
It reminds me of the original Bill 101 that was so clearly unconstitutional, one provision after another has been struck down over the years.

The comical part about this, is that the majority of Quebecers actually support both the Clarity Act and Bill 99 at the same time, a contradiction in terms, which speaks to the intelligence of voters.

Lucien Bouchard admitted that if he had asked Quebecers to pronounce against the Clarity Act via a referendum, he would have lost and so clearly the province remains bound by its terms, like it or not.

No doubt the PQ will declare another 'humiliation' in the inevitable rejection of the courts of Bill 99 and if they'd like to make a fight about it, they have a partner in Stephen Harper.

If The Charter of Secularism is passed, there's no doubt now that Ottawa will challenge the law as well, Harper's action in regards to Bill 99 now paves the way.

Let us remember that next year, the Equalization Payment program is up for renewal and if Harper decides to punish Quebec in order to win support in the ROC, well.... I don't want to think about.

Thirty-Seven Years of Mediocrity

Back in the day, when my older brother had his bicycle stolen, two Montreal police detectives showed up on our doorstep to see if they could help, bearing a box of French fries to help placate our sadness and incidentally speaking very passable English.

Could it happen today?
I imagine if you call the Montreal police about your car being stolen from your driveway, they'd tell you to call your insurance company, as they couldn't be bothered with such trivial matters, perhaps too busy militating for a three day work week, instead of doing their job. Link

In almost all respects, life has gotten better and easier, largely because of technology, but looking back over the years, I sadly conclude that Quebec society has actually regressed to the point of being pathetic.

A few days ago we were treated to a news conference of concerned south shore mayors and chambers of commerce big shots complaining that the promised toll on the proposed replacement to the Champlain bridge would represent an unbearable hardship to commuters. Link
These whingers warned of the disastrous effect where drivers will shun the toll bridge in favour of the free Victoria and  Jacques Cartier bridges, supposedly causing massive traffic jams.
The toll on the Olivier-Charbonneau Bridge connecting Montreal to Laval is about $2, so the question remains....would you drive five kilometres out of your way and into a traffic jam to save two dollars?
Just a few days earlier, I drove into New York city via the magnificent George Washington Bridge and paid a toll of $13.....Yup, $13.

Come to think of it, the George Washington Bridge took only four years to build back in 1927, while the new Champlain bridge replacement is scheduled to take 10 years to complete!
Is that not pathetic?

Victoria Bridge...4 years to build, 153 years ago. Still standing..

I'll remind readers that Montreal's Victoria Bridge, spanning the St. Lawrence River was built over 153 years ago and is still doing yeoman's duty.  Built before the invention of steel, the wrought iron bridge was built in just five years, using innovative and cutting edge techniques, all without the use of power tools or computers! Link

Are we actually unable to compete with 150 year old technology?

A while back I posted a video of a 30 story hotel in China being built in just thirty days.
It's an attitude called 'can do,' something we had, but lost over the years, the ability to rise to the occasion and get things done through hard work and true grit.
Think of it, a skyscraper in thirty days. Here we couldn't do it in thirty months! Link

I don't want to get into stories of the good old days, but permit me a few observations.
When I was a kid, doctors made house calls and it didn't take 21 hours to be seen in an emergency room.
In modern Quebec people are literally dying, while waiting to be seen by doctors. Link{fr}
While Quebec has more doctors per capita than almost all the other provinces, 25% of us cannot find a family doctor, while the rate in the rest of Canada is about half that.
Why is this?

Respect has gone down the drain.

Cops walked a beat and kept the neighbourhood clean, or at least cleaner than today. They wore the uniform proudly and people looked up to them.
The picture of this Laval patrol car parked in handicapped spot is indicative of attitudes today, the pride and respect, all but gone.

Corruption has always existed in Quebec, but never on a level seen today, where the sophistication and scope of the graft boggles the mind.
Our  infrastructure is literally collapsing, overpasses falling down and cement flying off bridges on a weekly basis, built with inferior cement and shoddy workmanship, but at an astronomical cost. 

It is no coincidence that our almost forty years of mediocrity and 200 billion dollars plus of debt that we have racked up over that period, coincides exactly with the rise of nationalism and the promotion of the sovereignty movement.
So consumed has the province become with language, culture and sovereignty issues, that we've completely taken our eye off the ball, engaged in nonsensical debates while our society crumbles, as companies, citizens and  international investers flee to greener pastures.

On Friday I spent altogether too much time watching the French news channels starting with Mario Dumont's French language talk-show where the subject du jour wasn't waiting times in the ER, our massive debt, exorbitant taxes, or the lack of productivity, or come to think of it, any of the real issues that affect us.
Nope, what obsesses Quebecers today is but another red herring, the idiotic Charter of the Pathetic.

And so viewers were treated to an oral screed by some Francophone zartiste, a nobody that not one English person in the world would recognize, who was dishing it out to Muslim women, not only supporting the Charter, but intimating that nobody be allowed to wear a Hijab in public at all, because it offended her sense of citizenship.
According to her, the Muslims, left to their own design, will ruin Quebec, but alas readers, that ship has sailed, Quebec is already ruined and not by the Muslims, but by us.

Later on in the broadcast, a bit of good news, as Prime Minister Harper announced a free-trade deal with Europe, one that even Quebec supports, if you can believe it.
But I was confused, after all, why on Earth would spoil-sport Quebec support anything proposed by Ottawa?
All became clear a little later as our illustrious finance minister, Nicolas Marceau, proudly explained that Canada would compensate Quebec for any losses, like the cheese producers, who simply can't compete with French producers.

For God's sake, can you believe we can't compete with the French!

A local cheese producer who was interviewed on the news channel, admitted that it isn't only a question of price, but also the fact that Quebec can't compete on a quality level as well.
Of course we all understand that Quebec protects dairy farmers by artificially inflating the cost of milk through  'supply management,' a quaint euphemism for price-fixing.

While the rest of Canada is moving away of these anachronisms, (the Wheat Board cartel was stripped of exclusivity back in 2012,) Quebec is forging ahead with more price-fixing, now proposing  to control the price on newly issued French books, in order to support the authors and small bookstores.
Who believes that this measure will sell more books?
And so in Quebec, it isn't only at McDonalds where the Monopoly game is played!

In reaction to the falling gate receipts for Quebec made movies, the government is studying a new tax on theatre tickets and perhaps a levy on Netflix. Why not?
Think that's gonna increase ticket sales?
When interviewed about the proposed tax, one of the owners of the Guzzo theatre chain, (I can't remember which)  told a television interviewer that the real trouble is that the movies produced in Quebec, generally stink.

Pathetic...

Still later in the day, I caught a press conference by Diane DeCourcy, another PQ stalwart, who was describing the new rules to be implemented by the OQLF. It seems that language police are installing new protocols so that in its never-ending battle to terrorize English citizens and their businesses, care will be taken not to embarrass Quebec in the international press, à la Pastagate.
In Quebec, this is what we mean by progress.

Then there was a newspaper story last week detailing how Hydro-Quebec is no longer competitive because successive governments (both Liberals and PQ)  forced the once mighty power producer to absorb overpriced electricity from ridiculous pork-barrel wind-generating projects, this while we've got rivers up the whazzo, just waiting to be dammed. Link{fr}
The pride and joy of Quebec Inc. has been reduced to a laughingstock, where in the face of declining demand and collapsing prices for electricity, it is mothballing existing power plants with one hand, and accepting new wind farms with the other, which are producing electricity at a rate almost three times the price of the mothballed plants, worthy of a Monty Python skit!

Our government has become so bloated and incompetent that it cannot effectively provide services at any meaningful level or within any reasonable time frame. Every new proposal is bogged down in endless studies by bureaucrats who are reminiscent of the dysfunctional employees of Fawlty Towers.

I'm reminded of the famous Seinfeld episode where the ever bumbling and unsuccessful George Costanza decides to act exactly opposite of what he usually does because he hasn't been successful following his instincts.
"If every instinct that you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right!"

Perhaps our government should follow the same concept and lower taxes on books and movie tickets!
Instead of raising subsidies to video game companies, perhaps the government should consider  lowering royalties paid by mining companies. Jobs in the resource industry are high-paying and permanent, after all, production can't move offshore.
While our idiot Natural Resource Minister is creating a new higher royalty scheme, companies are pulling out of Quebec at an alarming rate.

I recently spoke with a manager of a ski hill in the Laurentiens who complained that the Quebec environment department nixed an expansion plan because it would intrude on a nesting ground of ducks.
I know how they'd handle the problem in China, it's called Peking Duck.

And so we are actually debating the environmental impact of oil drilling on Anticosti, an uninhabited island the size of Crete or the reversal of a pipeline, as if the direction in which the oil flows, East or West, is actually germane.
All manner of commissions, committees and study groups plow away, examining issues that in some cases actually become moot, like shale gas development, where the companies involved got tired of waiting for the government to issue permits and so packed up and left the province.
Projects take so long that sometimes they are obsolete before even completed. Take for example the project to computerize the health records , not exactly brain surgery.

"Auditor-General Renaud Lachance concluded that: “The initial parameters of the project, costs, scope and schedule, will not be respected. Given these changes, we consider that the project in its originally defined structure no longer exists and, in this sense, is a failure.”

Lachance asserted that the DSQ was budgeted in 2006 at $563 million and was to be in full operation by 2010. The program had the backing of Canada Health Infoway.

Now, the government is committed to spending $900 million more to computerize patient health records, bringing the cost beyond $1.4 billion when the DSQ becomes operational in 2016...

....Lachance would not venture a guess at the final cost of the DSQ.

What’s more, the strategy for the architecture of the system has changed. Instead of a new province-wide system for all regions and health providers, the strategy is to make use of regional solutions and to tie them all together." Link

Pathetic.

Quebecers now work about two full weeks less per year than those in the ROC, so it's no wonder family income in Quebec is about $77k, while $92k in Canada.
Quebec has about 30% more people on welfare, 44% more people using food banks, 8% less people employed and a startling 46% less individuals owning a business.

As the province goes to Hell in an handbasket we remain obsessed with the Charter of the Values, like discussing what type of music the band should play during the sinking of the Titantic.
Unbelievably, it has become the most important political issue since the last referendum.

Why am I so glum?
Because the public doesn't seem to care.
Our economic collapse has been papered over with debt and subsidies from the ROC, so no politician in Quebec (save Regis Lebeaume) is willing to tell the truth about our famous Quebec model, which is actually a fiasco, reminiscent of the Bixi project, something we all wanted to succeed, but where reality dictates that the model doesn't work.

I actually hope the PQ will be re-elected in another minority government so that they can finally tank the whole province, because like an addict who has to hit rock bottom before seeking the remedy, until Quebecers come face to face with the reality of their own addiction to laziness and entitlement, we can never recover.

And it is coming sooner than later. The next budget, regardless of who presents it, will finally confirm that Quebec under its present circumstances can not operate in the black.

But by all means let us ignore all this and obsess over the Charter of the Pathetic.

Have I used the word 'pathetic' enough?

Quebec Human Rights Commission Deals Stunning Rebuke to Charter of Values

"The Quebec Human Rights Commission is warning the Marois government that several elements in its proposed Charter of Quebec Values would not stand up in court.  
The Commission is especially concerned about the ban on the wearing of religious symbols by civil servants.  It says the ban contravenes both the letter and the spirit of Quebec's Charter of Human Rights and would deprive some Quebecers of their right to equal access to employment.  
The Commission says the Marois government is misinterpreting the notion of neutrality of the state, which applies to institutions but not employees, beyond a general duty to be impartial in dealing with the public.  
The Commission also warns that it would be difficult to apply the notwithstanding clause to the Charter of Values because the proposed wording does not meet strict conditions governing substance and form." CJAD


Here is the statement published by the commission.

"On September 10, 2013, the Minister responsible for Democratic Institutions and Active Citizenship released the government policy paper regarding secularism and guidelines for requests for religious accommodation, entitled Parce que nos valeurs, on y croit.

The Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse believes that the government’s policy paper – Parce que nos valeurs on y croit – jeopardizes fundamental rights and freedoms

Montréal, October 17, 2013 – The Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse believes that several proposals in the government’s policy paper Orientations gouvernementales en matière d’encadrement des demandes d’accommodement religieux, d’affirmation des valeurs de la société québécoise ainsi que du caractère laïque des institutions de l’État, contravene Québec’s Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms and infringe fundamental rights and freedoms.

In particular, the Commission considers that prohibiting the wearing of “conspicuous” religious symbols by public sector employees does not meet the Québec Charter test and that the proposal to formalize “religious” accommodations could restrict the scope of accommodations granted on the basis of other grounds of discrimination, including for disabled people.

In its comments released today, the Commission concludes that the government’s proposals are contrary to the spirit and the letter of the Charter, which is designed to protect the rights of everyone.

“The government’s proposals are cause for serious concern. They represent a clear break with the text of the Charter, a quasi-constitutional law adopted by the National Assembly in 1975. It is the most radical proposal modifying the Charter since its adoption,” said the President of the Commission, Jacques Frémont.

Thus, if the proposal to ban public service employees from wearing “conspicuous” religious symbols was adopted, it would clearly be in violation of the Charter and would not withstand a court challenge in the current state of jurisprudence. Such prohibition could not be valid without resorting to the notwithstanding clause, which cannot be done without meeting strict conditions as to substance and form.

The right to display one’s religious beliefs is protected by the Charter, which guarantees freedom of religion and freedom of conscience. Banning religious symbols would exclude people from a large number of jobs based on the wearing of a religious symbol and inferred perceptions of that symbol, thus infringing their rights to freedom of expression and to equal access to employment.

The proposed prohibition of religious symbols stems from a misconception regarding freedom of religion as protected by the Charter and in international law. It also misinterprets the duty of state neutrality. In fact this obligation applies to the state institutions, but not to its employees or representatives, other than their duty of reserve and impartiality.

“It is unreasonable to presume the partiality of a public sector employee due to the simple fact that he or she wears a religious symbol,” the Commission explains. By linking the wearing of “conspicuous” religious symbols to the definition of proselytizing (to attempt to convince someone to adhere to his or her religion), without taking into account the person’s conduct, distorts the legal approach developed in regard to the protection of freedom of religion and opens the door to a restriction that would be contrary to the Québec Charter.

Equality between women and men

Moreover, the Commission questions the objective set out in the government’s policy paper to change the guidelines that presently govern the duty to accommodate by defining the concept of undue hardship. One of the proposals would be aimed at “reinforcing equality between women and men” and would make it the first condition for approving a reasonable accommodation request.

The Québec Charter already provides protection against gender discrimination and guarantees the right to equality between women and men, and has done so since 1975. Moreover, the interpretative provision of Section 50.1 added to the Charter in 2008, reiterates that rights are equally guaranteed to women and men.

The Commission also underlines that there already exists guidelines governing the duty to accommodate and that an accommodation that would infringe the right to equality, including equality between women and men, must not be granted.

In its comments, the Commission explains that the government’s proposal to assess accommodation requests on the basis of “shared values” and “core community values” is problematic as those concepts are too vague. Moreover, the government’s wish to formalize the duty to accommodate only when it involves religion also presents several legal and practical challenges. These elements are likely to have significant adverse effects on the concrete exercise of rights and freedoms, in particular, of disabled persons, pregnant women and the elderly.

 For interesting points, go to the commission's website and read the powerful rebuke to the Charter offered by the Human Rights Commission; 
Commentary on the government policy paper regarding secularism and reasonable accommodations

Read a Montreal Gazette story

Here are the first few comments under the story about the Commission's rebuke in Le Journal de Montreal. Quite interesting. Link{fr}

Here is a translation of the above.

Baruch Laffert
It seems to me that before proposing legislation, the minister should first check to see if it contravenes charters already in existence. Not to bright, Drainville 

saintmichel66
 Drainville should resign
Not only is his proposed Charter a danger to social peace. It is illegal'

konasutra
No problem, the PQ is above the law because only it knows what is good for us.

BabordToute
Very simple solution: Amend the Charter of Rights so that the (future hypothetical) Values ​​Charter is no longer in conflict with the First

jemefoudetout
Bernard Drainville's reaction:
"The Human Rights Commission is entitled to its opinion"
Reaction of Pauline Marois:
"The Human Rights Commission is entitled to its opinion"

soleillevant
Many of us knew it was not difficult to predict, but .. all this waste of time and energy.

saintmichel66
Exactly. Hopefully all this waste of time and energy will not leave too many after effects..

Haha! good stuff.

Jacques Frémont

Bernard Drainville made the rounds of the news stations to downplay the opinion that the charter could not possibly survive a legal challenge.

He told a Radio-Canada interviewer that if the government paid attention to whether a piece of legislation may or may not pass a legal test, nothing would get done.
"We don't share the same perception of reality," he said of the Commission.. 

What an utter and complete fool....

Over at vigile.net the character assassination has begun.
Richard Le Hir must have stayed up all night digging up dirt on Jacques Frémont, the president of the Commission, reaching the startling conclusion that he is a virulent multiculturalist. Link{fr}

I can't wait for Richard Martineau to pipe in with another ad hominum attack, after all if you don't like the message, shoot the messenger!


Here's how cartoonist  ygreck saw things;

Charter of Values...the Day After

With all the sound and fury surrounding the Charter of Values, I wonder if supporters of the law stopped to consider its effects once passed in the form now being proposed by Bernard Drainville, the hard line in which the law would apply to those in the medical profession and teachers of all sorts.

Mr Drainville et als. have been telling us that every thing will be peaches and cream after the law is adopted, but it amazes me that not one commentator challenged him on the presumptuous pipe dream.

The first thing I can say with confidence is that while many will reluctantly comply with the law, it won't change who these people are or the depth of their faith or their commitment to orthodoxy.

The childish idea that taking off the veil while at work will somehow magically transform these people of faith or rather as the militants see them, women under the hard lash of their husbands, is a fantasy that only a desperate mind could envision.

Perhaps the rubes in the boonies will applaud, hoping that finally the heathens in Montreal will be put in their place with the removal of veil the first concrete step in converting the immigrants into French-speaking, poutine and maple syrup lovers who eschew marriage and other traditional nonsense.

So what will really change with the passage of the law? Will the law bring social harmony as promised?
If you believe that, again I have swampland in Florida to sell you!

As I write these words I am astounded at the utter ridiculousness of such dangerous fantasy, because the law will do exactly the opposite, create social conflict on a level never seen in this province.

Credit to 'Red White Blue

While those who are for and against the law are evenly split, it is important to remember that those against the ban are highly motivated and have much to lose, making for an uneven fight.
Remember how easily the students paralyzed Quebec and that was fairly benign. What if your job was actually threatened and removing your hijab or kippah, not an option?

The fight will further cleave Montreal from the rest of the province, with a federalist mayor in Denis Coderre supporting those against the charter, after all, he will owe his election in great part to the Ethnics and Anglos who are rallying around him.

As all the health agencies and educational institutions in Montreal have come out dead set against the Charter, who will enforce the law?

Who will tell a daycare worker to go home and leave the classroom of children without supervision?

Who will tell the nurse that she cannot go on to the floor to serve patients, if she shows up to work and flat out refuses to remove her hijab?

Who will tell an emergency room doctor to leave the ER because of a kippah, pushing the wait time for injured patients from the now staggering twenty plus hours to perhaps a measurement in days, not hours?

Who will tell the cooks and orderlies in old people's homes to go home, rather than serve patients meals or clean their rooms?

The PQ is confident that everyone will obey the law, but they shouldn't count on it and therein lies an extreme danger.

The truth is that the entire system could be shut down and if those wearing religious symbols get the support from their co-workers as is most likely in the case of health workers in Montreal, the law will  be the first to be roundly ignored.
Thousands of people flaunting the law is a situation unheard of in Canada, it is the stuff revolutions are made of.
Unlike the students, who could be rounded up and fined, doing the same to health care workers or teachers  and civil servants would bring society to its knees.
It may very well become Quebec's very own version of the Boston Tea Party.
That is where we are headed to and in short, Montreal will go to war with the rest of the province, with demands that the city be excluded from the law, with the support of all the elected officials, hospital directors and school administrators.

It will be nothing short of a popular revolution, with thousands and thousands of honest and hitherto law-abiding citizens turned into scofflaws, and where bosses won't enforce the law because to do so would cripple the institution they run, be it hospitals, day cares, schools or government senior's residences.

The courts will be flooded with thousands of human rights cases and there is every indication that the law will be tossed out.
After all, the Charter of Values is even in direct conflict with the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Canada is a signatory; Link

Article 18.

• Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 30.

• Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

In the meantime, violent confrontations will occur when those wearing head wear are confronted not by their superiors, but ordinary citizens looking to enforce the law themselves. Once the law comes into effect, it will become open season on those wearing head wear in the street, on the bus and metro and in the stores, even though the law has no effect there. Scenes like the confrontation pictured above will become a common occurrence.

The number of public confrontations of this sort has already risen dramatically during the current debate, so much so that the Montreal police have formed a special unit to deal with these hate crimes.
If the law passes, this unit will have to quadruple in size to handle the volume of complaints.


So far the Muslims have taken the abuse quietly, but what if that changes and they become tired of the public shaming?  I hate to imagine.

And what about the cashier in the local grocery store who decides that minimum wage isn't worth the abuse hurled upon her by customers who continually castigate her decision for wearing the veil?
After all, she can easily claim psychological harassment and go on disability and who could really blame her?

What about those who will leave their jobs voluntarily because of the ban and enter the ranks of the unemployed swelling the welfare and Employment Insurance rolls? Most Muslim women who wear the veil work in low paying retail and clerical jobs, so the step down to welfare isn't that big a deal.
These are the very real consequences that nobody is willing to discuss.

If Bernard Drainville thinks that this will end well, he is in a for a nasty surprise. While every single journalist and politician is debating the Charter, nary a one is considering its effect.

It's time to open up that debate.

Quebec's Perfect Storm

Here's what I wrote  back in December of last year, three months after Pauline Marois and the PQ took office.

"Looking forward to the gathering clouds of debt, overspending and diminished economic activity, it is painfully obvious that we are headed into our very own Perfect Economic Storm"   Quebec's Nanny State Running out of Gas

I'm often proud when my predictions come true, but in this case I wish I were wrong.
No matter how you slice it, Quebec is in big economic trouble, likely heading into a recession and towards a three or four billion budgetary deficit.
Long gone is the PQ election promise of a balanced budget, the realities of Quebec economics dictate that in the present and foreseeable future, it just ain't gonna happen.

For Quebec and Canada, economic indicators are pointing in opposite directions, with the ROC making economic and job progress, and Quebec losing ground in all directions.

With talk of a PQ induced election in December, Pauline appears to be stealing a page from Jean Charest's playbook in calling an election before the bad news hits.
You'll remember that Charest called an election before the news of a massive loss at the Caisse de depot went public and when he received a majority government, the public felt misled, but left with as many options as lobsters in a trap. (to steal a phrase from Jacques Parizeau).

When first elected and after looking over the poor state of the finances left behind by the Liberals, a shocked Bernard Drainville promised a law whereby the auditor general would give a financial update whenever an election was called so that voters could make an informed choice.
That idea has been quietly shelved as the PQ are now playing the same game of hide-and-seek that they accused the Liberals of doing before.

In ripping a page form the Liberal party playbook, Pauline intends on calling an election before presenting a real budget, one that would no doubt lay bare the sad economic reality that we face.
There is no more wiggle room for the PQ and no Jean Charest to blame any more.

And so the PQ is doing what they do best, practicing the politics of improvisation, changing directions as the political sands shift under their feet, trying to stay a step ahead of one disaster after another.
But finally, time has caught up to Quebec and we are about to embark on some very dark economic days that neither the Liberals, the PQ or the CAQ can do anything about.

It is a Perfect Storm, the result of excessive taxation, excessive borrowing and excessive spending which has been building over decades and has now finally coalesced into a witch's brew of economic pain.

This economic disaster that we face is not entirely the responsibility of the PQ, we've been on course for this economic bruising for the last twenty years.
And so Pauline Marois is the dumb sucker left holding the bag, like the unfortunate kindergartner who is left standing in a game of musical chairs.

Every single government, over the last forty years, PQ or Liberal, has contributed to the spending orgy that has led us to the point.
So let us not be holier than though, the Liberal government of Jean Charest piled on one third of Quebec's $240 billion in debt, in just nine short years.

But even though, the biggest economic blow to Quebec's economy belongs to the separatists, who created a climate of uncertainty for outside investors and in fact, its own indigenous anglo community.
In making Quebec inhospitable to those who don't speak French, the inevitable result is what we have now, a situation where the only way to get companies to invest in Quebec is to bribe them with subsides.
Pauline may crow about Montreal's world class video game industry, but the truth is that the government pays 38% of the salaries of the employees of these companies on a permanent basis. And this doesn't even include the upfront cash subsidies and interest-free loans.
Quebec pays out  almost 4 billion a year in subsidies to industry, double what Ontario pays and considering the population difference, it means that Quebec is forced to give out subsidies at a rate more than three times that of Ontario. All those forgone billions contribute to the ever-rising $240 billion deficit.

Just recently we heard of the sadly amusing incident of the National Geographic photo contest barring entrants from Quebec (as well as North Korea and Cuba and other outlaw states.) There was a great deal of embarrassment on the government's behalf, with a spokesman for Loto-Quebec stating that if only the magazine checked with them, there wouldn't have been a problem.
But we all know what that means, checking with Loto-Quebec meant dealing in French, so it would mean hiring outside help to navigate the endless paperwork and ultimate time delay.
Thanks, but no thanks.

It is a clear metaphor for the bigger picture, where companies and investors just cross off Quebec from the list of investment considerations. Who needs the hassles?
It's like walking down a street with fifty restaurants side by side and choosing the one that won't speak to you in English, has an inhospitable atmosphere and charges more for the food, as well as piling on taxes galore.
As the Jim Reeves song goes. 'Just walk on by'

And that is exactly what investors are doing, skipping Quebec, just walking by.
And the only way to get customers into the door, is to have Pauline stand outside like a shill and beg diners to come in with giant discount coupons.

While Canada created 15,000 resource based jobs this year, Quebec produced not a one.

"This largest of projects was meant to revive the economy of the province. Less than three years after its official launch, there's not much left of the 'Plan Nord'  according to data obtained by our Bureau of Investigation.
A review of major mining projects in the North shows that the Plan Nord, which was renamed the 'Nord pour tous' by the PQ government, is just a shadow of what it once was.

Of the 11 major projects announced north of the 49th parallel, valued in tens of billions of dollars, more than half are under review or have undergone major downward revisions .

Some have been abandoned altogether. Link{fr}

All this while our bumbling Minister of Natural Resources, Martine St. Pierre, (a woman who doesn't know the difference between a loan and a loan guarantee,) is busy calculating higher resources royalties.
I am reminded of Emperor Nero fiddling while Rome burned.

And how is the PQ reacting to the job losses and economic decline? ......More improvisation, by spending more money on busy work, a two billion stimulus package that will drive Quebec further into debt.
You see readers, spending money is the only available recourse that governments seem to have in dealing with any problem. But it ultimately delays and exacerbates the real problem of high taxes and public debt.

"The Parti Québécois government is vying to reboot the province’s economy with a new $2-billion plan that it says will create more than 40,000 jobs by 2017.
Premier Pauline Marois and Finance Minister Nicolas Marceau revealed the job creation program at a press conference Monday that had the look and feel of an election campaign event.
The plan aims to encourage new investments and jobs in Quebec through incentives like electricity at discounted rates and tax credits.
The money injected into the province will fund employment and development in a number of targeted areas:

• $566-million for the renovation of infrastructure, including community centres, arenas and schools
• $516-million for the development of an electric transit industry in Quebec that will build electric cars, electric railways, and related infrastructure.

The new plan also includes more than $700-million in tax credits as well as discounted hydro rates for companies which invest to create new jobs." Link

 I wish Pauline and finance Minister Nicolas Marceau would have watched this video before embarking on another money-wasting adventure.

Quebec has, for the last twenty or thirty years, been writing cheques that taxpayers couldn't honour, and so Ottawa, as well as lenders, have been enabling Quebec's addiction to spending
But like all binges, excesses ultimately draw to a close, and in the end, the time comes to pay the piper.

And so a desperate PQ is calling an audible, looking to make the Charter of Values the election issue instead of the economy.

When Drainville presented his charter, he said that the government is open to changes and could possibly soften up certain aspects of the law.
But that option is out the window, the PQ is about to table a Charter that is even tougher than presented, something they know the opposition will not vote for, thus triggering an election on their own terms

And so Pauline will have her election and might very well pull off another government, perhaps even a majority if everything falls her way.

It doesn't change anything, because the next government, whomever it is, is looking into an economic abyss.

For all you voters who think that the Charter of Values is a debate that merits such a large proportion of public debate, I have land in Florida to sell you.

The misdirection that is the Charter of Values debate is painful to watch, like arguing about which colour to paint the bedroom walls, while a fire has broken out in the kitchen.
And like the cartoon at the top of the page, we are being distracted with trifles, while our pockets are picked clean.

So if and when the Charter of values passes in one form or another, what will be next?

Will we get down to tackling the real problems of economic stagnation, debt and inferior productivity or will the PQ (if they are still in power) do another sleight of hand by dredging up another red herring.

I'm betting on the latter and it's called Bill 14.

Another loud and time-consuming debate meant to distract, as Shakespeare said: Full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.

But readers, know this......It's all coming to a head and sooner rather than later.

The next government, whomever it is, is going to admit to some very startling realities, one that takes into account that the Quebec model is broken and more importantly never was viable in the first place, supported only by massive borrowing and alms from the ROC.

That era is drawing to a close and what is to come is not exactly a picnic.
The sad part is that there is nothing to be done, no way to mitigate the fallout and spending our way out of the coming recession,is impossible.

See you on the other side....