Meet the Editor.... Philip Berlach

Doing what I do best..talking!

I don't want this post to be a big deal, but it has been a long time in coming.

I told readers long ago that I wasn't a political personality or any name that they would recognize, I have long toiled in the background, both politically and obscurely in the business world, all my life.

And so revealing my identity is a bit anti-climatic.

There are those who oppose my positions who have screamed from the highest rafters of vigile.net that I am somehow illegitimate because my identity remained hidden.
Ask me if I care.

Actually I'm quite surprised, because friends, family and the many readers who I converse with, have known my identity for a long time and I always expected someone to leak, but amazingly, the hundreds of readers, journalists, friends and acquaintances never let on.
I remain truly impressed.

When I started this blog, I was the owner of a franchise chain with stores throughout Quebec. Previously I was co-owner of another retail chain which operated across Eastern Canada and that for over thirty years.
You can understand that for business purposes, I didn't want my blogging to affect others with which I had a business relationship, but having retired last year, the last barrier to declaring myself had passed.

It is a bit strange, because my anonymity allowed me the freedom to talk about people I know personally, friend and foe, with impunity, and that I shall miss.
But one of the drawbacks in remaining anonymous is that the media tends not to take you seriously. I've been offered dozens of interviews on radio and television but have until now demurred.

That will change Monday, when I'll do an interview on CJAD as myself with Barry Morgan at two o'clock.
I wanted readers to know beforehand, otherwise it would have been disloyal.

So let me tell you a little about myself since very few loyal readers know me personally.
I was born here in Quebec to immigrant parents and attended English school in the PSBGM, an acronym that only true Anglo Montrealers understand.

As a successful entrepreneur who co-owned and operated a retail chain across Eastern Canada, I was charged with running the 'field' and so I spent 30 years travelling the backwoods of Eastern Canada, each week flying and driving to every major (and minor town) from Toronto to Saint Jean, NB.

During those years, I developed an intimate knowledge of these regions and made many friends, anglophone and francophone and even natives.
I remember having dinner with Jacques Duchesneau and his then new girlfriend who told me she hailed from a tiny town up in the Abitibi, one that she was sure, I never heard of.
I asked her to allow me three guesses and on the second named LaSarre, to her astonishment and everyone at the table. I then described the town as best I could, because honestly there's not much that stands out.

So after a couple of decades visiting these places, I think I've developed a keen understanding of the mentality, the personality and the vibe and rhythm of each community.
I've actually lived two lives, one in English and one in French. After a couple of days in the Saguenay or Abitibi, my brain would switch over to French and yes, even in my nighttime dreams. Upon return to Montreal, the switch occurred again and I once more reverted to my Anglophone roots.

I've been labelled an 'angryphone' by my opponents, but nothing could be farther from the truth.
I choose to stay in Quebec because it has been and remains a wonderful home.
To those who believe I oppose Francophone's right to maintain their language and culture, nothing could be farther from the truth.
But I do disagree with the politics of language and believe militants use it as a wedge issue to drive Quebecers madly towards sovereignty.
Do I care if immigrants are forced into French schools? Not a whit.

But defending the French language shouldn't include persecuting Anglos with ridiculous and vindictive rules over signage.
The idea that the children of an American or British immigrant families must attend French school and that they will somehow adopt French as their culture is deluded fanaticism and fantasy that is disrespectful to the anglo community as well as good sense.
These rules are misguided at best and  vindictive at the worst.
Such is the pettiness and indeed the nastiness, of most language militants.

I can argue with those that demand English descriptors on stores with English words in their name, but cannot countenance those who object to names like Reitmans or Bentley.
It is not I, the dangerous angryphone, but rather these people, who are nothing but linguicists  ( not to be confused with linguists)

We are told over and over again by both Liberal and PQ governments that we are a founding nation and valued citizens, but actions deem us interlopers.

Few francophones understand the daily pounding Ethnics and Anglos suffer in the francophone media.
English and Anglophones are portrayed as an evil threat to the existence of francophones, as well as immigrants and ethnics and let's not even bring up the demonization of Quebec Muslims.

At any rate I've been involved with politics since the ripe young age of ten or twelve when I helped put up signs for the then NDP candidate, Charles Taylor, who was running for the NDP in St. Laurent.

Since then I've grown to become an organizer and fund-raiser  on the federal, provincial and municipal level.
I shall nor divulge who I've worked for other than the federal Conservatives and the provincial Liberals, the others never contracted for that.

Most of whom of I worked for, hired me on a consultation basis and are entitled to confidentiality. Anybody who wishes to announce my implication in their campaign is free to do so, I am unashamed of any of the political work that I did.

Along the way, and for many years, I served as a Consular representative for Liberia in Quebec and an honorary Boy Scout Commissioner.
I am past-president of the St. John Ambulance foundation, charged with raising money and safeguarding the nest egg of that honourable organization.
For a couple of years, I served on a committee supporting the Canadian Armed Forces, that was charged with encouraging employers to treat part-time reservist employees with the utmost respect, giving them time off without penalty, while serving our country.

I've known the richest and most powerful politicians in Canada, as well as the less than reputable.
There was a time where I would and could drive my car onto Parliament Hill and park at the front door.

Those days are gone, just ask Thomas Mulcair who was cited for blowing by a security checkpoint a while back.

 As for my family, I am married to my college sweetheart, this for forty years. We met in the very first year of the existence of Vanier college in Ville St. Laurent,  back in the year God knows when.

We've got two children, a daughter who married an Anglo here in Montreal and has just given birth to my third grandchild, James.
My son David, is one of those famous McGill doctor graduates who has fled Quebec (according to the militant narrative), but the truth be told, could not secure a job anywhere in Quebec.

He is safely ensconced in Brooklyn, New York, where his talent is appreciated, and readers he is not the only Quebec doctor forced to flee, he is part of a huge expat community.

He and his lovely wife have two children, our grandchildren, who are growing up away from us here in Montreal, a fate suffered by so many Anglo parents in Quebec, where contact is reduced to family reunions and holidays.

That's it!
I'm not going to dwell on personality and now that you know who I am, I'd like to get back to blogging about what affects us all.
I really want our relationship to remain the same. I hope you'll still refer to me as EDITOR, I've gotten used to the moniker.

And so let's go in....

I'll start with a scoop.
I have it on impeccable authority that Michael Applebaum (the ex-mayor of Montreal) is allegedly dead to rights.
I've been told that he  is going to jail and this from insiders, who are in the know.

Quebec Finance Minister Marceau...Now You See it, Now You Don't...

Abracadabra!

 It's always hilarious to see the various finance ministers put on a brave face and paint some pretty awful budget figures in the most favourable light that they can.

Of particular interest is the latest from Quebec finance minister Nicolas Marceau, whose description of Quebec's current financial situation borders between fantasy and prevarication.

You'll recall that when the Parti Quebecois came to power, they immediately announced that the finances of the province were in much worse condition than anticipated.
This is standard operating procedure for all newly elected governments, who get a free shot at the outgoing party, telling voters that they can't live up to election promises because of the undisclosed financial train wreck that the previous government left behind.

And so, the PQ was able to back off on the promise of abolishing the Liberal party imposed health tax which they campaigned against and also shrugging off the idea of freezing or rolling back tuition in Quebec universities with impunity.
Blame Charest!

All this was to be expected and had the Liberals overturned the PQ they would have done the same thing.
And so Nicolas Marceau told us that it would be impossible to balance the budget in the first year of the PQ mandate, but promised a zero deficit in the second year.

In November last, Mr. Marceau predicted a deficit of $1.5 billion and yesterday confirmed that the deficit would be just about hundred million more than the predicted, at $1.6 billion. He seemed very proud that his prediction was more or less on target!
But was it really?

Mr Marceau claimed that the government had done a masterful job of keeping the increase in budget spending to just 1.2% by controlling expenses. In the last year of the Charest government, the increase was 2.5%

J-de-M..Deficit smaller than Anticipated?...R U kidding me!

But what Marceau failed to mention is that spending was kept artificially low by cutting over $200 million in subventions to Quebec school boards, who then turned around and taxed back the money via school taxes.
A neat accounting trick!
It's a gambit called 'getting a dog off the books' and dishonest companies use the strategy to appear less in debt by creating a subsidiary and downloading it with company losses, losses which while remain the responsibility of the parent company, but which are removed from the parent company's balance sheet.

And let us not forget the $700 million, one-shot payment that Quebec received this year from Ottawa for harmonizing sales tax, which was never put in the calculations because it wasn't a sure thing.

Let us also remember the $1.9 Billion one-time charge that the government is taking in relation to the PQ's decision to close the Gentilly 2 nuclear plant, bringing the real deficit up to about $3.5 billion. Link

And things are going from bad to worse on the revenue front with sales tax and income tax bringing in almost $2 billion less than last year, with no respite in sight.

It isn't any shock that Mr. Marceau and the PQ have abandoned the zero-deficit promise they made during the election campaign, it is an impossibility given the fixed overhead and the catastrophic drop in revenue.

As I told you in the last post, Marceau is keeping his cards close to his vest, refusing to divulge what is really going on, vis-a-vis revenues and next year's budget. He has already announced that the health tax will not be repealed again, but other than talking about controlling expenses and expenditures, he isn't saying much about a balanced budget, because it is an impossibility.
And readers, let me remind you that I told you this was the future many months ago, not because I am prescient, but because I can do sums.

The opposition smells a rat and have been demanding the financial information for over a month, met by stoic silence and stonewalling by the minister.
They were so furious at being ignored that they sent a bailiff to Marceau's office and served him a subpoena to appear before a Parliamentary finance committee, where he will be forced to cough up the numbers!

With resource projects collapsing, Hydro revenue receding, consumer spending on the decline and the unemployment rate on the rise, it doesn't auger well for the financially strapped province.
The only private investments Quebec seems able to muster are those attached to large government subsidies and in reality they are in the grand scheme, but a pittance.

Without massive tax increases, the financial ship of state cannot be righted, because the shortfall in revenue is just too great and the growth of current economic activity has not kept pace with increasing government expenditures.
Until the government cuts back its expensive entitlement programs or increases revenue, deficits will pile up.
But increasing taxes isn't the panacea one would expect, because the amounts raised, are offset by decreases in consumer spending and decreased economic activity.
We are finally seeing the effects of hitting the "T" point on the Laffer curve. Explanation
As the government increases taxes, revenues actually decrease!

I am anxious to see if Marceau will reinstate the decrease in the exemption for capital gains income, (which he cancelled after the investment community rose in protest)  the effect which will have Quebecers taxed at a substantially higher rate for investment income than other Canadians.
Retirees (like myself) who live on their investments will just pack up and move, rather than see the taxes owing on investment income rise by up to 50%, only in Quebec.
Again, such a move will never raise the taxes contemplated. We are fast approaching a revenue wall, not because Quebecers don't have the ability to pay more and accept a reduced lifestyle, but rather because enough can just pick and leave. Companies, as well.

Alternate to increasing revenues through higher taxes, the government could try to improve the investment outlook for resource based companies, instead of threatening them with higher taxes and royalties.
Resources are the one area that Quebec badly under-exploits.
Until the PQ understands that they can't tax their way into solvency, we are bound for a Greek tragedy.

If you really want to understand the investment climate in Quebec, read this;

Investors ‘more comfortable’ putting money into gas projects in Iraq than Quebec: banker

And so the PQ has two choices, either cut expenses drastically or make Quebec more hospitable to resource development.

Which will it be?

I going with door Number #3....none of the above.

If you fundamentally don't understand or accept what the problem is, you can't really come up with a fix.

But wait a second...we actually are in a FIX, but not the good kind!

Charter of Values...The Day After

Every time I think that the province can't get any stupider and more self-destructive, I am surprised that a new level of dysfunction can be attained.
I thought the Pastagate affair plumbed the depths of lunacy and reached into as yet uncharted territory of insanity, a level one would think, hard to beat... and then came the Charter of Values, which makes Pastagate look like a trifle.

The attendant sound and fury attached to the current debate has me scratching my head, after all what does someone in Quebec City or Hérouxville have to get so excited about?
What is it about the hijab that has the entire province in atwitter?

The economic problems at hand seem to matter naught, while thousands of stories over the Charter continue to flood the newspapers and airwaves Ad nauseam.
This for months and months.
Yesterday  our illustrious Minister of Natural Resources, Martine Ouellet was forced to drop her mining reform bill, because the resource companies are cancelling Quebec projects like flies in anticipation of increased costs and a hostile business environment.

In the meantime our Premier, La Pauline is desperately announcing job creation projects, this week a meagre 90 jobs at Pratt and Whitney, which still cost Quebec a subsidy of $17 million.
Is that not pitiful?
Companies are mindful of the government's desperation and are jumping to get in on the subsidy gravy train, as underlined by ALCOA, which threatened to take its 3,300 well-paying aluminum jobs elsewhere unless the government maintained its bargain basement price for electricity which was scheduled to rise from 3¢ to 4.4¢  an increase that would cost the company about 100 million dollars. LINK
 La Pauline took less than 24 hours to cave and assured everyone that ALCOA is not going anywhere.

Quebec is bleeding jobs while employment figures in the ROC are rising.  The budget shortfall is getting so scary that the finance minister Nicolas Marceau,  ordered his department to stop supplying the auditor-general with financial data, lest the truth be known. He told employees that they can now provide information on methodology only, but not substance, which can only mean that we are headed for catastrophe and the PQ is sweeping the mess under the rug until the last possible moment.
You'd think Quebecers would be concerned, or concerned enough to push the Charter debate off the front page, but alas such is not the case.

In all of this, I wonder what supporters of the Charter of Values actually think they will accomplish, should the law be passed.
Will Quebec be more French, secular, equal, fair and will  there be a higher level of social peace and harmony due to the Charter?  Ya think?

This is the fantasy that is the Charter, the idea that in one fell swoop it will eliminate devoted Muslims, Jews and Sikhs from continuing to be pious and observant.

Let us pretend that the law is enacted and peek into the future.
And so those in the public service, schools and hospitals will be told to remove their head coverings and no doubt many will comply.
It won't change who they are and what they are, it will just hide the fact.
How is that an advantage?
The hijab, kippah and turban will quickly become the forbidden fruit and that usually means that more people will want to embrace them as a symbol of resistance. That is human nature.

But what about those that outright refuse and while they will be in a minority, each story of confrontation and resistance will splash across the media at home and reverberate around the world.
What school or day care or seniors home administrator will tell a someone to go home and leave their charges devoid of supervision.
Worse, what manner of hospital administrator will tell a doctor to leave the ER or a nurse to abandon her post or an orderly to stop cleaning the floor because of a religious symbol?

And so it will be up to the public and those who enjoy playing the bad cop, to enter into dangerous confrontations with the refusniks and while incidents are somewhat rare up to now, after the law is passed, we can expect a dangerous escalation of incidents, again all to be reported world-wide.

And what about boycotts?
Could the province stand the repercussion of a Jewish boycott in retaliation to the kippah ban?
Quebec will be in for some nasty push back from the ever-powerful Jewish lobby and a boycott by the sports and entertainment industry as well as the investment community.
What will happen when the NHL lets it be known that Quebec will never get a franchise or that Jewish artists and more importantly Jewish managers and agents will boycott the  Montreal Jazz or Comedy festival. What if the Jewish investment community decides to give Quebec a pass.

While defenders will pooh-pooh the idea of Quebec suffering a boycott in retaliation, let me remind them what happened with the turban in soccer.

While the supporters of the Charter, the PQ government included, encouraged the Quebec Soccer Federation to stand firm on the turban ban on the soccer pitch, the world had another idea and the Canadian Soccer federation quickly suspended Quebec over the issue.
All of a sudden the FSQ reversed itself on the issue, understanding that when push comes to shove,  you can't fight city hall!

So not only are international boycotts in relation to the Charter a possibility, they are a certainty.
To believe otherwise is to whistle past the graveyard.
Won't happen? Can't happen? It already has!

If you think I'm being an alarmist, think again.
When Jewish, Sikh and Muslim doctors, nurses, health professionals and teachers hold press conferences to resign en masse, it will rock Quebec from top to bottom and make waves across the world.
And what will be the effect of employees claiming harassment, or intimidation and who seek benefits because of burnout or stress related illness. Such are the rules that allow it.

And what about the thousands of lawsuits to be launched by employees deprived of work. There is a committee of lawyers, already forming, tasked to launch challenges against the law and take up the cause.
Should the law fail the test of constitutionality years down the road, the province could be open to billions in damages and back pay.  

And finally, what on Earth will happen if real Muslim extremists take exception and decide that action must be taken in order to stop the proliferation of such legislation in other jurisdictions?
I shudder to think.

Alarmist...I don't think so, but to Charter Supporters,  all I can say.......Are you willing to roll the dice?

As Dirty Harry said in the movies...."Go ahead... Make my day!"

No Election? Don't be so sure...

Watching the political theatre that surrounded the possible election this fall, I cannot help but have my political organizing skills, long dormant, kick back in.

Let me tell you what I think is happening or what should be happening.
As usual the mainstream press is be led around by the nose, nothing more than an unwitting pawn in the political chess game that is playing out before us.

Let us pretend for a moment that the Editor has been hired as a strategist for the  Marois government and let's listen in on the private conversations he has with La Pauline.

EDITOR: 
Madame Marois, it's best to proceed to an election as soon as possible, the economy is tanking and the province is bleeding jobs. If we are forced to table a budget with a huge deficit, we are sunk.
We'd have hoped that by this time the Charbonneau Commission would have exposed the Liberal party for the corrupt thieves that they are, but it is just taking too long.
The longer we wait, the worse for us. We're going to have to throw the dice at a certain point and earlier is better than later.

LA PAULINE:
But Editor, we don't seem to have the numbers. The last thing I want to happen is to lose power based on a premature election that I called, like that idiot Charest.

EDITOR: 
We're close, the polling numbers indicate a PQ or Liberal minority, so let's see where we can go with this. We just need  to boost up popularity a tiny bit, we only need a 2% swing.
My advice is to tell your key ministers to leak to their favourite reporters or journalists, the fact that we are likely going to an election. These not-for-attribution rumours will spread like wildfire, when reporters believe they have an inside track to a story they become as blind as a bat and as motivated as an addict given a free hit of heroin.
In the meantime, under NO circumstances should any Minister suggest in public that an election is in the offing.
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES!

LA PAULINE:
To What end?

EDITOR: 
The journalists are idiots. They will report that an election is in the offing and this will be confirmed by other reporters who have also been so advised via 'reliable sources'.
We just sit back and watch the polling numbers. If our popularity goes up in reaction to the news, we proceed to an election.
If not, nobody here is guilty of anything. We didn't say an election is coming and we can climb down effortlessly, calling the speculation a flight of journalistic fancy.

LA PAULINE:
Are the journalists that dumb?

EDITOR: 
Even if the journalists know that they are being played, what can they do. If the journalist doesn't play ball, access will be cut off and a journalist without sources is not a journalist.

LA PAULINE:
What if we don't get the bump we need after the trial balloon?

EDITOR: 
Then we go to PLAN B, an election triggered, not by us but by the opposition.
If the polls indicate that the electors don't want an election, then put the election on the backs of the opposition and make it over the Charter of Values, an issue where we can win.

LA PAULINE:
How will that work?

EDITOR: 
Table the Charter of Values bill in a form that is so harsh and unacceptable to the opposition that even the CAQ won't accept it without losing all credibility.
Get rid of the Crucifix in the National Assembly as the only compromise and stand tough on everything else, including applying the law to health care workers.

LA PAULINE:
Why the Crucifix?

EDITOR: 
This plays to our own voters and will show them that we've compromised when in fact we haven't at all. For our base, it seems like a fair and equitable trade, the Crucifix for the Hijab, or so goes the logic. We satisfy a lot of fence-sitters with this idiotic compromise, but trust me, it'll work.
The CAQ and the Liberals will howl and scream that the law is too harsh, but we can point to the Crucifix that we've given up, a clever distraction that is bound to play to the base. In the meantime, we know the Liberals will vote against the law but when we offer the CAQ nothing, they too, reluctantly will vote against the law, to support it as is, would strip the party of any and all political legitimacy.

If the government falls under these circumstances, the opposition will be blamed and the one and only election issue will be the Charter, something we can actually win on.

Under these circumstances, I'm convinced we can win a majority, or the worst case scenario has us returning to power in a minority government.

LA PAULINE:
But what if the CAQ refuses to bite, they know that they'll be decimated in the next election and maybe they'll just hold their nose and vote with us?

EDITOR: 
An excellent outcome as well, it means that you can rule as if you have a majority. If they are too afraid to lose their jobs, you can safely ignore them because when push comes to shove, they're going to cave.
You can bring back Bill 14 and just about anything else on your political agenda. It all works out, no matter how the chips fall.

LA PAULINE:
Bravo, I like it.... Sounds like a plan! Editor, you are brilliant! (OK, I couldn't resist).

Don't believe our idiot journalists who first told us we were going to have an election and then told us we were not.
They have been played by the PQ from the beginning, traipsing around the floor like folk dancers obeying the caller's every command.

"No ideas and the ability to express them - that's a journalist"  -Karl Kraus.

Just because Pauline said she wouldn't call an election, doesn't mean we won't have one.
Know that the PQ is itching for an election based on a Charter of Values debate, so come hell or high water, the Charter, when presented, will be one piece of nasty...wait for it.

French versus English Volume 95

Minority Quebec Liberal MNAs demonstrate their only talent.... self-preservation!

On Wednesday, the National Assembly voted unanimously to rebuke the federal government for supporting and now participating in the legal challenge to Bill 99 launched by Keith Henderson and pleaded by lawyer activist Brent Tyler.

One by one the Anglo and Ethnic Liberal members stood up and voted to support a PQ motion castigating Ottawa for mixing into affairs that supposedly only Quebecers have a right to consider.

Now I know these useful idiots are obligated to tow the party line, but when members of caucus are profoundly in disagreement with the party line and if it makes no difference to the outcome of the vote, they are sometimes (rarely) given an opportunity by the whip to skip the vote.
A really motivated member who is refused permission by the whip to skip the vote can always call in sick, but this sometimes has consequences, like losing travel perks and committee spots and other goodies dished out by the all-powerful whip.
It also puts at risks, the member's re-nomination, so it takes guts to follow your heart and let's face it, our Anglo and Ethnic members of the Liberal party have as much heart as the Cowardly Lion.

And so the Anglo and Ethnic Liberals voted along with the house in favour of the motion, seemingly happy to do so.

I was particularly disappointed with Lawrence Bergman who seemed to have had no qualms whatsoever about supporting the PQ motion.
Before the vote, an unconcerned and upbeat Bergman rose in the Assembly to make an all important statement, congratulating constituent Anthony Housefather, mayor of Côte Saint-Luc , for excellent performance in the Maccabiah Games, the Jewish Olympics held in Israel this past summer. 

"Mayor Housefather, congratulations, you’re definitally (sic) a source of inspiration for us all. You show us that, even in the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, determination and discipline can bring us even further. You’re also a superb and well-liked mayor of Côte-Saint-Luc. Thank you." Link

Arghhhhhh!!!!! Pee-ukke!!!.....

What an insipid  brown-noser, this on a day where he sells out the very residents of Mayor Housefather's town!
Now Mr. Housefather must be feeling a little embarrassed receiving such accolades from the spineless Bergman, Housefather is a very active defender of minority rights and has testified against Bill 14 before the National Assembly committee sitting on the issue.

Of all the MPs representing minorities and Anglos in Quebec, the nebbish MP from D'Arcy-McGee has always been the least effective, carrying zero weight within the party.
In fact Jean Charest wanted to dump Bergman in favour of a more capable Jew who had been lined up to take over the seat, one who could actually make the cabinet on merit and whose first language was French. I shall leave out that person's name, because it never happened.
A prominent Jewish senator from Ottawa was enlisted to have that conversation, in which Bergman flatly refused to give up his seat.
This information, to my knowledge, has never been made public.

In 2003 Bergman had a brief term as Minister of Revenue, but that was before the infamous 'meeting.'  After that, Charest left him out of the cabinet, now you know why.

Mr Bergman and supporters may be riled by these comments, but truth be told, he would have to step up his game considerably to become a lightweight.
As for the other Liberals, Geoffrey Kelly, Kathleen Weil, Yolande James, Filomena Rotiroti, and Gerry Sklavounos, all I can say is that they are what they are, nothing less than deadwood, or even worse, the Kapos of the English and Anglo community.
Now the argument that all these MPs make, is that they are doing the best they can considering their position trying to bring some level of moderation to government policy affecting Anglos and Ethnics, but truthfully how's that going?
By the way, given Bergman's precarious position in his party, he is highly dependant on the support of powerful people like Housefather, whose popularity among his townspeople is so high that he is running unopposed.
So that's what the Bergman's Assembly grovel was all about.

More PQ Smoke & Mirrors

Mr. Bamboozler

Bernard Drainville

I took in a masterful performance by Bernard Drainville, the PQ minister in charge of selling the infamous Charter of Values, wherein he held a news conference to give reporters his interpretation of the comments received on the government website created to solicit public reaction to the Bill.

"I feel confident that these results reflect for a large part the general opinion of citizens who participated in the exercise" -Drainville

How's that for a tap dance?
Josée  Legault, an avowed sovereignist and newly hired Journal de Montreal pundit, took Drainville to task;

"Presenting the results of this invisible consultation compiled by officials and a handful of law students, Minister Drainville proudly announced that  47 % of these "citizens" support the draft Charter of Quebec Values​​. The Minister also noted that among these comments, the most often requested changes were the removal of the crucifix from the National Assembly and the opposition to the right of withdrawal  for public institutions wishing to evade the ban on the wearing of ostentatious religious signs. A happy coincidence, it is precisely the changes the government itself has envisaged for some time. That is based on some of the many leaks in the dossier.The minister also said he was unable to provide a breakdown of these comments by region, age, sex, language , etc. .. In short,  Bernard when Drainville himself recognizes the "unscientific" nature of the exercise, it is clearly an understatement. During a press conference, facing questions on this issue, Mr. Drainville , smiled and responded to his former colleagues :

  "Look, I 've been a journalist, you have the right to be skeptical . If I were you, maybe I would be as well ." Link{fr}

More PQ Smoke and Mirrors

The truth is that intellectual separatists are having an extremely hard time accepting the B/S that Drainville and the PQ are offering up in the debate.

Now I have to call Drainville out one thing he said, that these types of comment boards usually receive a disproportionate amount of responses from those highly passionate over  the project, in this case he intimated, those affected by the ban on religious clothing.
This is plainly not true, because the amount of those wearing these symbols is dwarfed by the number of those supporting the project passionately.
I venture a guess that less than 50,000 people (probably less,) wear religious symbols, while those opposed include millions.

At any rate the whole thing is just grand theatre, or more likely, theatre of the absurd.
Imagine the editor of No Dogs or Anglophones pulling data from the comments section and proposing that the results are indicative of Anglo/Ethnic opinion in Quebec.
Oh, if it were only that easy!

Now this wasn't the only Drainville performance of note, he was in top form in the National Assembly in reply to a question by Amir Khadir who complained that in considering an election this December the PQ was violating the spirit of the law passed unanimously in  the National Assembly that made fixed elections every four years in September.

Mr. Drainville replied that while it is true, the fact that the opposition can dump the government at will, because it has a combined majority, the PQ has reserved the right to call an election at will, the law be damned!

Jean-François Lisée

Jean-François Lisée.... 'factually challenged'

Nobody in the PQ government gets it wrong more often than Jean-François Lisée, whose amiable manner belies a propensity to exaggerate, misinterpret facts and take outright liberty with the truth.
He is renowned for making statements that are altogether not true.
Last December, in defending Andre Boisclair's appointment as a deputy minister as well as Delegate General in New York, he cited in rebuttal, the example of Lawrence Cannon, ambassador to France about whom Lisée told reporters;

“Lawrence Cannon is the Canadian ambassador in Paris and he was named simultaneously assistant deputy minister to Foreign Affairs Link

Trouble is, the assertion was just plain untrue and when confronted by reporters Lisée admitted in his famous 'ah shucks' manner that he just made a 'gaffe' Link

In an incident in April, Lisée accused Justin Trudeau of overstepping his bounds by requesting a meeting with opposition leaders alone, again something that never happened.

"Lisée later said he misunderstood the Trudeau request, and volunteered to buy the new Liberal leader a beer to make up for his angry words." Link

Now you might recall Jean-François Lisée telling Montreal mayoral candidates at the beginning of October that they should keep their opposition to the Charter of Values to themselves and keep it on the sidelines as did Montreal's most famous mayor Jean Drapeau over Bill 101. Link

Turns out that isn't true as well, because Drapeau was actually a fierce opponent of Bill 101.

Kudos to Montreal's largest community newspaper,  The Suburban for ferreting out the truth in an editorial article about Mr. Lisée's liberties with the truth.
I'm going to reproduce the entire editorial because it is hard to access and not many people outside Montreal are aware of it.
Of course nobody in the mainstream press has called Mr. Lisée to task for another flight of fancy.

You can visit the Suburban website HERE and access the current and past issues HERE. 

Lisée, Drapeau and Montreal’s special status
One of the reasons that the nationalist narrative in Quebec gained currency over the past forty years particularly with young Francophones is that our history is not known. People buy into whatever version of history the nationalists sell, particularly the skewed version of Francophones having been victims of imperialists in their own native land when in fact their very presence here is as much the product of European imperialism as the Anglophone presence. History matters. And not just because, as Santayana wrote, `Those who forget it are bound to repeat it.” It matters because Its perversion is used as a political tool. Particularly in a jurisdiction with North America’s highest high school dropout rate.
That’s why Minister Jean-François Lisée’s comments last week professing the view that our current mayoral candidates should follow the lead of former Mayor Jean Drapeau - who according to Lisée, remained neutral and mute in the debate on Bill 101- and remain neutral in the Charter debate. Well Drapeau did no such thing. What he had to say in the October 1983 hearings on reforming Bill 101 mirrors what civil rights advocates have said for years and what has been most vociferously re-stated by opponents of Bill 14 just this past year. They are worth reflecting on and all Montrealers owe a debt to CBC Radio`s Bernard St-Laurent and his assistant Loreen Pindera for digging out the entire presentation and making it an issue this past week. We will go into some of Drapeau salient points later in this column. But we must first examine Lisée`s comments.
To begin with, no government official has any right to tell any citizen candidate or nor what to think, say or write. It is reprehensible for anyone, particularly a Minister, to make such a thoroughly illiberal and undemocratic intervention. But more than that, we have to examine the man who made them, and why. M. Lisée is not your ordinary Quebec-centric politician. This is an extremely well-educated and cosmopolitan politician. Post-graduate studies abroad; over a dozen years as a Washington-based correspondent; author of “ In the Eye of the Eagle” and winner of the Governor-General’s Prize. This is a man who knows his history.
Drapeau’s comments not only made headline news, but the political events around the October 1983 hearings on the then Bill 57 “assouplissement” of Bill 101 did as well.
René Levesque had just replaced Camille Laurin as Minister responsible for the French Language Charter with Gérald Godin who was considered a moderate on language.
Godin`s opening statement at the hearings already made everybody sit up and take notice. After explaining the need to protect French in a “sea of English” not only in North America but from global “assimilation”, he then made the “radical” statement for those times that “Let us be clear. Anglo-Quebecers have very little to do with this assimilation and it is not them that we should consider responsible, or their institutions.”
The background to the 1983 reforms have been widely written about. Marc Levine’s “The Reconquest of Montreal” and Andrew Sancton’s “Governing Montreal” are just two of the works that examined those events. Lisée is a student of history. He lived those times. He was senior aide to Premier Bouchard. For him to say what he did evidenced that either he thought no Quebecer would remember or that they would be too intimidated to reply. He was wrong on both counts.
But now that Lisée has opened this Pandora’s Box, let us repeat – again and again what Drapeau said in his testimony. He called for special status for Montreal exempting it from aspects of 101 because he felt the language laws were irreparably hurting the Montreal economy. He said that the most negative effects of Bill 101 were being felt not so much because of the words in the legislation as by the manner of their enforcement.
He called for exemptions for English-speaking executives bringing their children to Montreal so that they could send them to schools of their choice. And perhaps most poignantly, he made the point thirty years ago next week – that many areas of Montreal have non-francophone majorities and these citizens should not be estranged from their own city because of an insistence on unilingual signs. He called for bilingual and even trilingual signs as long as French was included. Today the City of Montreal has a non-francophone majority.
History matters! And quite inadvertently, Lisée has made many re-examine our own recent past. It’s lessons are important for today. Let`s hope everyone learns them.
We encourage everyone to go to the following link and read Mayor Drapeau’s words" Link

Péladeaus cozy up to the PQ brass

"There are some concerns being expressed about media baron Pierre Karl Peladeau's role in Quebec politics, notably his close ties to the pro-independence Parti Quebecois government.

The province's opposition leader says he wants to know more about the political involvement of the chairman of Quebecor (TSX:QBR.B), which dominates the private multimedia landscape in the province and which owns the Sun TV and newspaper chain in English Canada.

Peladeau has been sitting in on cabinet meetings on green-transport projects in his other role — as chairman of Hydro-Quebec, to which he was appointed by Pauline Marois.

His tabloid newspaper, the Journal de Montreal, provided positive coverage in exclusive reports about the project two weeks ago.

More recently, the newspaper has offered prime real estate to a project spearheaded by Peladeau's wife, Julie Snyder, who was among several prominent feminists to organize a grassroots campaign in support of the PQ's controversial values charter.  Link

Pierre Karl Peladeau and wife Julie Snyder make it official. We're PQ separatistes!

Meanwhile his wife is getting busy politically on behalf of the PQ and the Charter of Values.

"We may be wrong to suspect that Pierre Karl Peladeau wants to enter politics, it is his wife Julie Snyder we should ask. It is she who  created the 'Janettes', Janette Bertrand revealed on the talk-show, Tout le monde en parle. It was she who called the signatories of the letter written by Mrs. Bertrand to a meeting to discuss the Charter of Quebec values​​.... Link

The article by  Gilbert Lavoie in Le Soleil went on to detail how Peledeau's wife solicited government aid for various productions.An indignant Snyder penned an article defending herself stating;
"I am a woman of conviction and claim the right to advocate for causes that are important to me."

She also defended her actions in seeking to help a company get government subsidies.

Suspension with pay over language insult makes no sense.

Most of us are  aware of the story of a hospital orderly in Gatineau who unloaded on a cancer patient for not speaking French.

OTTAWA — The orderly who yelled at a dying vet for speaking English in a Gatineau, Que., hospital has been suspended until an investigation is completed.
The Hull Hospital orderly yelled, "On parle francais ici, c'est le Quebec" as John Gervais, a 78-year-old navy veteran, was waiting in the emergency room to be admitted.
The orderly will receive his full pay while the hospital's ombudsman investigates.
"It's simply unacceptable behaviour," hospital spokesman Sylvain Dube said.
"For clinical issues, it's so important that doctors and nurses understand what the patient is saying." Link

I've no doubt that the public outcry led to the suspension, it seems that the hospital was on a course to covering up the whole incident in the hope it would just go away.
But as pressure built and the story grew legs, the hospital suspended the employee pending an investigation...with pay.

What a patently stupid thing to do, because the way things go in Quebec, the investigation may take weeks or months, while the employee keeps cashing a paycheck.

And let's face it, the employee involved has union protection and so the punishment at best will be a few days of suspension.
How much better to have let the employee keep working, under a cloud, while the investigation carries on and then apply any sanction at the conclusion.
The real punishment being meted out is to the hospital budget which is charged to paying the miscreant to sit at home.
Imagine getting a two, three week or longer paid vacation at a cost of only a couple of days suspension!

Me, I'd prefer naming the orderly publicly and let the shaming be the punishment, but on the other hand, he would probably earn a medal of valour by Gatineau's Impératif français,

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 Let's go to some lighter stuff, because this peice is getting long;

"125 National Assembly members united against Ottawa"

"The 125 members of the National Assembly, of all parties, have unanimously passed a motion this morning denouncing the "attack" by the federal government's prerogative to choose their future Quebec." Link{fr}

 I was pretty impressed that every single member of the National Assembly showed up to vote for the motion, that type of attendance is unheard of.
So I wasn't surprised that a reader in the comments sections called the writer of the story to order, telling him that only 111 members actually cast votes.
Yup, it's true, I checked, there were 13 members plus the speaker who didn't vote.

In reaction to the comment, one would think that the newspaper would retract or modify the story, but alas, no it did not, because after all, who reads the comments section and retractions are always a bit embarrassing...
Shame on the author and editors, but hey, it's LeJdeM.

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I don't know what to make of this story in La Metropole entitled; "Marois' very Gay Cabinet'
Even though these cabinet ministers aren't in the closet, I'm not sure they appreciate being made into poster boys and girls for the Gay movement.

Réjean Hébert, Sylvain Gaudreault, Bertrand St-Arnaud, Agnès Maltais,

"It was Daniel Breton, in a conversation a few days before the Gay Pride weekend, who pointed out to me how well gays are very well represented in the PQ government. Here are the names and positions: Réjean Hébert, Minister of Health and Social Services, Sylvain Gaudreault, Minister of Transportation and Municipal Affairs; Bertrand St-Arnaud, Minister of Justice and Agnès Maltais, Minister of Labour and Minister of the Employment and social Solidarity. Link{fr}

Speaking of gays and completely off the subject, you might have read the story of the Italian homophobic  CEO of Barilla, Guido Barilla, saying he wouldn't feature gays in any of the company's advertising.
As you can imagine, there was quite the backlash and a competitor, Bertolli, showed it up with this marvellous advertisement.
Well-played!

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"Canada’s two most populous provinces continue to lag behind most of the country when it comes to small business-friendly tax systems. Nova Scotia also makes the bottom three. The second edition of the Small Business Provincial Tax Index puts Ontario (#8), Nova Scotia (#9) and Quebec (#10) at the bottom, while Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick hold down the top three spots."

Read the article by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business Link
Read its assessment of Quebec.  Link

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Here's a recent survey of Montrealers attitudes about their city;

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I laughed out loud over this story in the Journal de Montreal lamenting the fact that Anglos know nothing about Quebecois artists and its 'Stars.'

The article reported that 98% of anglos don't know who 'Infoman' is and 95% don't know who 'M.Bougon' is.
For those of us Anglos who do speak French fluently, it isn't a question of language, Quebecois culture is second rate, like Canadian or Italian culture.
We proudly embrace and contribute English language culture which is world-wide and without equal on any level.

I can tell you this, if the above francophone actors and artists were English by birth, not a one would make an impact in his or her entertainment field, they just aren't talented enough.
It's simply a question of numbers, the pool from which we pull artists is a hundred times larger than Quebecois French culture and the competition is fierce.
Not to say Quebecois aren't talented, perhaps even more so than Canadians on a per capita basis, but it still means that only a fraction could make it into the elite Anglo entertainment scene.

This assertion by journalist Marie-Claude Ducas had me busting a gut!

"I 'll tell you a secret: if you really want to upset and hurt Anglo-Canadians , explain to them that there is no Canadian star system and there is no popular culture' in English Canada. This amounts to sticking a finger into a cultural wound. And don't forget to bring up existential question: "What exactly really sets us apart from the Americans? ".   Link{fr}

How utterly naïve and quaint!
It's like having your five-year old explain to you why Barney the dinosaur is the greatest entertainer in the world.

So here's a scoop, Madame Ducas, Anglo Canadians are not obsessed with local stars or Canadian pop culture and if you think we are feeling bad about that fact, you are sadly out of touch with reality.
We don't think about borders where talent is concerned and that is why Americans as well as people all around the world, flock to see Justin Bieber, Celine Dion or Arcade Fire, because they aren't constrained either.

If Guy A. Lepage (Quebec's most famous interviewer) spoke perfect English, what are the chances of him being a success on English television? 
Madame Ducas compares Lepage to Canadian George Stroumboulopoulos, who absolutely bombed on his attempt to break out of Canada on CNN. Link
I like Stroumboulopoulos, but in the rarefied air of elite English culture, few have what it takes to make it.

When I think of Quebec popular culture, one phrase comes to mind.....wedding singers.
Sorry to be cruel, but them's the facts!

Further reading!

Boycott the English language says top French intellectual
"French philosopher complains there are more examples of the English language in Toulouse than there was German during the occupation."  Link
 
Harel wants to add language watchdog to city’s executive committee
Louise Harel announced to her party Coalition Montreal — Marcel Côté wants to add the position of promoter of the French language to the city hall's executive committee, the city's top decision-making body.  Link

English should be Brussels' official language, Flemish minister says
Brussels aspires to be an international city, it should make English an official language, the Flemish minister for education Pascal Smet has told EurActiv. Link

ONE FINAL NOTE

I follow the hockey series 24 CH, which is a sanitized version of the similar HBO series called 24/7, which follows around sports teams and gives a behind the scenes look at what really goes gone.

The 24 CH series is produced by Bell media and follows the HABS, it is sort of an advertisement for BELL and content for its sports channels RDS and TSN.

This notice at the end of the last episode, which I caught this week, vaunted the fact that the government of Quebec and the Government of Canada offered tax breaks to help create the series. Watch an episode HERE

Now readers, I'm sure you'll agree with me that neither BELL or the CANADIENS are a charity case, so really, why are taxpayers contributing a nickel towards this project?
Do we really need to help highly profitable and rapacious over-chargers make more money?
Without the tax break would the series not be produced and if so, who cares?
Maybe the government could remove the tax element on the eleven dollars beer sold at the Bell Centre, so that they could make even more money.
Have we gone mad?
...and with that little rant, it is time to bid adieu!

Have a great weekend!

Bonne fin de semaine!