Activist Knocks French Language Militants For a Loop

One thing political commentators, social observers and especially advertisers cannot predict, is why some campaigns fizzle, some are ho-hum and some catch fire.

If somebody could bottle and replicate at will, the essential elements of a formula that would fire the public's imagination and interest at will, they could become fabulously successful and wealthy, perhaps displacing Don Draper of Sterling Cooper as the top adman on Madison Avenue.
If somebody could with any accuracy and consistency, tap into the public consciousness and produce a positive response, he or she could ask for millions in consulting fees as a strategist on any presidential political campaign.

In fact I do recall one presidential campaign which largely turned on a television commercial that captured the nation's attention and turned enough voters away from Michael Dukakis to give George H. Bush the presidency.
That commercial featured a mugshot of a black criminal, convicted for a brutal murder,  who while on weekend furlough from prison, raped and robbed once again, outraging middle Americans and igniting a negative reaction towards Dukakis. Read the story.

That commercial was perhaps the most famous and successful attack ad ever run and nobody could have foreseen that it would become the key element in giving George Bush the presidency.

As I said, it's well nigh impossible to predict or understand why some things capture the public's imagination, like the success of PET ROCKS or the RUBIC CUBE or advertising slogan's like "WHERE'S THE BEEF?"

These last months in Quebec we've witnessed a multitude of public demonstrations by citizens, for or against the Charter, against world domination, unemployment insurance cuts, electricity rates, police brutality, etc. etc., all sharing the ignominious fate of being irrelevant the day after.
Whether those demonstrations were well-organized or produced ad hoc, whether attended by hundreds or thousands or a few dozens, other then to those who participated, the story lasted barely one news cycle, soon forgotten and largely without impact on public opinion.

So what is it about a tiny demonstration by a committed activist leading with a handful of cohorts protesting the lack of English signs in a Montreal shopping centre that has so gripped the French media and raised the hackles of the mainstream media as well as radical French language militants.

Murry Levine took offence to the fact that stores in the giant  Fairview Pointe-Claire mall, where the majority of customers are anglophones, were posting signs in French only, despite the fact that the law allows for bilingual signage.

The tiny demonstrations consisting of under a dozen protesters would have largely gone unnoticed if not for the virulent reaction in the French media over the issue, which somehow triggered a certain outrage at the 'impertinence' of Anglophones demonstrating for their rights.

First there was the expected blowback from French language militant groups like Impératif français;

Francophobia : a shopping Centre boycotted

"Anglophone  residents of Dorval are upset that Quebec is French.¹. They are offended with customer service in French in Quebec, specifically in Dorval,² Fairview Mall. They are demanding the anglicisation of commercial establishments.³What Murray Levine and his acolytes don't understand in calling for a boycott of the mall, is everything in Quebec is French in and any and all residents must understand  French, otherwise one must learn it urgently! This, in addition, is fully consistent with the law.⁴Refusing to learn or speak French,⁵ these supremacists,⁶ seek, through a system pressure to impose systematic anglicization on Quebec to accommodate 3% of unilingual English Quebecers. What do they expect ? They have the right and duty to learn French.Impératif français encourages customers to monitor this situation closely and demand  that the Fairview Mall accelerate its good business practices in all its stores. As for us, we encourage all residents of Quebec to ensure that French is everywhere and at all times, without exception the language of public use in Quebec and also to share and spread this message:In Quebec French is where it's at!The economy and the Quebec nation does not need to undergo this type of defrancisation pressure. " Link

Now I've taken the liberty of offering a few critiques;

1. Nowhere, but nowhere has Mr. Levine and his group made any such statement. This is fantasy, an attempt to frame the rest of the screed.
2.  The shopping centre is not in Dorval. This goes to fact-checking, something utterly lacking in any missive from Impératif français
3. Nobody is demanding that stores become anglicised, they are asking for a few English signs allowed by the law. Blatant hyperbole and exaggeration.
4. Just totally false.  No law forces anglophones to speak French.
5. Who says that Murray Levine and his group don't speak French? (they do) Did anyone at Impératif français bother checking befor making the assertion or is publishing untruths just par for the course. Again, as they say in court, 'entering facts not in evidence'
6. Is a Francophone in Ontario or New Brunswick who demonstrates for their legal rights, a 'supremicist?'

Now  Impératif français is a lobby group  and so can be excused its extreme position, but when bias creeps into mainstream reporting, it's important that the practice be denounced.
If newspapers want to write articles for or against certain issues, they should restrict themselves to the editorial pages.
Here is a story by Louise Leduc from La Presse, a newspaper which should know better than to editorialize within what should be a straight news story;

"There is too much French in the Fairview mall. That at least is the view of a Dorval resident¹ demanding more bilingual signs and to achieve its ends , there will be demonstrations and calls for boycotts. Fairview mall as in others like the names of the stores are mostly in English and English only, in contravention of the Charter of the French language.²

But the posters announcing sales, such as " Buy one , get one free" are all in French or nearly so, and this is what makes  Murray Levine wince."We must respect the majority of customers and the majority of customers in the west of the island speak English ," he said in an interview ......
.....The Charter of the French language does not prohibit the display in English, but states that the French must be predominant.Finally, note that the Quebec Office of the French language has made ​​several representations in recent times for shops to add a description in French to store names in English.".³ Link

1. Absolutely false and misleading, Mr. Levine's contention that there is not enough English at the mall cannot be construed to mean that there is too much French. It is like asserting that because there is too little salt in a dish, there must be too much sugar.....Does not compute.....
2. This bit of editorializing is completely out of line and demonstrates an attempt to sway opinion. Could you imagine a La Presse story about student demonstrations over tuition starting off by reminding readers that students pay the lowest rates in Canada?
3. Same argument as in the second point I made. This is editorializing and has nothing to do with the issue at hand, a sad attempt to deflect. This is definitely not an unbiased report

 Strangely the same article was reprinted in Le Soleil without attribution to the original author, certainly a breach of ethics, because the name André Pichette seems to be attached to the story .
Link {fr} Link{fr}

At  any rate it was the granddaddy of all whiners, Gilles Proulx,  that waded into the debate with this fine missive in Le Journal de Montreal. A sublime exercise in sarcasm, self-pityand wit;

Mon pauvre petit Gilles.....

"Perhaps inspired by Howard Galganov's uplifting bestseller, a book published in 1998 called 'Bastards,' about the bastards that Quebecers are, one certain Murray Levine protested outside a shopping center in the West Island demanding more signage in English!

The fight of a lifetime!

When will our oh so very aggressive Quebec government, once and for all stop harassing, diminishing and trampling on the beautiful culture of our good friends the Anglo-Quebecers, so much in peril and so badly abused, it no longer makes sense. Especially when you consider that the poor shoppers of the Fairview Pointe-Claire shopping centre are forced to fight to save their language, constantly weakened by the ruthless and powerful government of Quebec. The wicked Bill 101 would change the name of 'Fairview' into 'Centre de la Juste-Vue'(sic)- which would just be terrible. Let us rejoice that Murray Levine is rallying his minions to his crusade. In fact, at the beginning of the initiative, there were but two or three valiant defenders of the Anglo-American culture, now its grown to a few hundred supporters. Let's all rally behind Murray!

PITY ON THE ENGLISH

By launching a Facebook group and alerting the sleeping English media in the face of  this harmful francisation, Murray reminds us that enough is enough. So, through this newspaper and its hundreds of thousands of readers, I ask you once again, dear friends, I repeat: do something to help these victims of the arrogance of the people of Quebec who threaten to invade America and obliterate all traces of anemic Anglo-Saxon culture.

Actually, the ideal would be to eliminate French at home. It would be in our own interest. Then we could succeed in the North American life .

Understand once and for all that Fairview Point Claire is not in Pointe-Claire. Long live Claire Point City!"

LET'S  SUPPORT MURRAY

Luckily, the municipality of Hampstead has denounced the Charter of values ​​, calling it "racist and immoral !" What is the relationship with bilingual signs ? There is none. But ... any or all  reasons are good to trash Quebec. Fortunately Justin Trudeau also condemns the unjust Bill 101 which poses a serious threat to the universe. Fortunately there are people who stand up to the supremacy of Quebec. It is important that newcomers not speak our language, not fit in, not identify themselves, stick together, locked in their communities. It seems to me that bilingual signs could help them understand that fluency in French is not more important than the future of Quebec. Come one and all to sing in chorus to show our love of endangered English.  Let's support Murray Levine and his friends. Their epic demonstration will continue today and tomorrow from 11 am to 13 pm, in front of the 'View Point Claire City' mall

Ha1 Ha!
What a hilarious screed.
Nobody, but nobody plays the whinging victim like Gilles Proulx who associates a few English signs with the utter destruction of French in Quebec.

The only comment I'll make on the piece (It speaks for itself) is to say that like most francophone writers who choose to add English in their pieces, they invariably muddle it up.

'Fairview Pointe Claire' does not translate (if a translation is required) into; View Point Claire" it would be  Clearpoint Mall.

Now in all this, not one francophone commentator actually addressed the real issue at hand.

Given that Bill 101 provides for English signage (as long as it is smaller than the accompanying French text,) is it reasonable to provide such signage in areas where anglophones are clearly in the majority?

We know what the answer is from the likes of Impérati français, which wants English completely abolished in Quebec, but I'm interested in the position of La Presse and even Mr Proulx, both of which and whom expertly avoid taking a position.

As for Mr. Levine and his small band of followers, their success could not be predicted. By luck or design, they struck a nerve and accomplished something all of us could not do before.

That is to bring an English language argument to the mainstream French press in a significant and meaningful manner.

French versus English Volume 99

Too little English =Too much French.

It was quite amazing to see the virulent opposition in the French media directed at a protest at a shopping centre, located in the heart of Anglophone country in the western part of Montreal.
Activist Murray Levine organized the protest because merchants have given up posting signs in English even though the law allows for it.
The mall's clientele is mostly English and Levine is demanding that the mall and its tenants demonstrate a little courtesy;

"Is something rotten at fairview? I'm not sure, is something rotten with bill 101, I am sure! Yet all the same the fact still remains in an area of Montreal while still complying with bill 101, the retailers at fairview could make more of an effort to place English signs. With that said still, today I am buying new $200 shoes, not at fairview. With language disputes growing daily, I reckon protesting outside of fairview will continue to grow. Shame...Shame" -Murray Levine

Now I well expected some strong reactions from French language militants and ultra-nationalist lobby groups like Impératif français, who used the word 'supremacists' in a press release, but I didn't expect such a harsh reaction in the mainstream press, especially La Presse, where the headline read;

"Too much French at Fairview Pointe-Claire"
(Trop de français au Fairview Pointe-Claire?)
 "There is too much French at the Fairview mall. That at least is the view of a Dorval resident claiming to want more bilingual signs and to achieve that end and has called for a demonstration and boycotts. Link{fr}

Now any article that uses a sensational headline that is untrue and patently false  cannot be particularly impartial.
I don't know Mr. Levine personally, but have followed the story closely and never has he, to my knowledge, demanded a reduction in French signage.
To pretend that a request for English signage is a demand for the reduction in French signage is just plain dishonest.
Shame on journalist Louise Leduc for a garbage article.

Boisclair exiled to James Bay

"André Boisclair will be earning about double that of his predecessor in his new post as the president of COMEX, an environmental review board for the territory covered by the James Bay agreement.
Boisclair follows in the footsteps of Pierre Mercier, who was earning about $90,000 a year.
Now the Quebec government is prepared to pay Boisclair a total $172,000 per year for the same job.

Boisclair, the former Quebec delegate to New York City, was relieved of his functions in September amid allegations of his past cocaine use, following testimony before the province’s corruption inquiry. 

He asked to be relieved from his diplomatic post in New York so that he could fight those allegations.
Boisclair’s new job will involve heading up a committee that plays a role similar to Quebec’s Bureau d'audiences publiques en environment (BAPE), with a particular focus on Quebec’s north, in the region governed by the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement.
Boisclair’s status will also be different than his predecessor’s.
Mercier worked on a contractual basis and invoiced his services at a daily rate of $372.
Over the past five years, he charged the government for a total of 242 days per year, the equivalent of about 12 months worth of 35-hour weeks, with weekly earnings of $1,860." CBC

 Insiders are revealing that Boiscliar wasn't happy with the offer and dithered for a while before deciding that this was the best the PQ had to offer.
Clearly Marois wanted Boisclair out of public view, and so buried him with under the radar, 'busy work.'

Quite a downfall from the chic life in New York City to trolling around James Bay.
Boisclair will make his office in Montreal, even though the offices of COMEX are located in Quebec City, but it doesn't really matter where you are, when your major occupation is twiddling your thumbs.
Remember when I told readers that Boisclair's decision to sue Jacques Duchesneau would be disastrous for him professionally? Well it's even worse than I imagined, Boisclair has officially been declared radioactive, and this by his supposed friends.
Duchesneau has already won, destroying Boisclair's career in short order. Probably worth the $200k risk.

Why do I continue to use the pig face?
Because it is unconscionable to accept this type of payoff at the public expense.
Boisclair has turned himself into a cheap joke, a poster boy for government waste and entitlement.

Drainville shrugs off  renewed opposition to Charter, even from friends

¡Ay, caramba!

"Bernard Drainville, Quebec’s Minister of Democratic Institutions and point man for the Parti Québécois’ divisive charter of values, is becoming a master at shrugging off criticism. On Wednesday, it was news that the Université du Québec à Montréal — as PQ-friendly a campus as you will find — had joined a growing chorus of universities denouncing the charter’s proposed ban on conspicuous religious symbols." Read more


Another stab in the back from Gilles Duceppe

Duceppe joins the 'mothers-in-law club

"Gilles Duceppe, who led the Bloc Quebecois on Parliament Hill for 14 years, says a proposed PQ ban on religious symbols in the public service goes too far.
He made the comments Monday to QMI Agency's French broadcast partner, TVA.
Duceppe joins former Quebec premiers Jacques Parizeau and Lucien Bouchard, both of whom say parts of the bill are divisive." Read more

And so Duceppe joins the ranks of the 'mothers-in-laws', ex-leaders of the sovereignty movement so named for their meddling and unsolicited advice.

Signs of revolt mount as more French universities reject secular charter.
"The University  of Montreal  searched its human-resources files going back 20 years and found no incidents whatsoever involving conflicts over religious accommodations. Whatever minor incidents occurred were quickly settled by applying the university’s internal rules, a spokesman said.The university decided at a meeting of faculty, student representatives and administrators on Monday that the government’s legislation serves no purpose.
“It doesn’t respond to our needs,” the spokesman, Mathieu Filion, said on Tuesday. He said the university is not taking a formal position against the bill, and will present a brief at legislative hearings in the new year. Link

 

To make matters worse

"Bernard Drainville, the minister responsible for steering the highly contentious secularism charter, was in damage control mode in Quebec City this morning.
He was forced to answer questions about a position paper written in 1998 by the then-education minister Pauline Marois.
Back then, the current premier was defending the right to wear religious symbols, encouraging school boards to welcome diversity." Link

Functionally Unilingual English Hampstead mayor leads charge against Charter

'We will not comply with a racist and immoral law.'- William Steinberg, mayor of Hampstead

"Hampstead Mayor William Steinberg said the charter goes against fundamental human rights.
"We will not comply with a racist and immoral law," he said.
"In the event that the Quebec government passes this odious bill, which will force people to choose between their religious beliefs and their jobs, it will not be enforced in Hampstead." Link

Hampstead mayor, William Steinberg---No speekee dee Frenchee...

Hampstead is a tiny enclave in Montreal of monied Anglos and may be the most Jewish city in the world, outside of Israel.
Single family  homes range from about $1 million to $4 million.


Protest in Cote Saint-Luc over Charter
"The city of Cote Saint-Luc, the town of Hampstead and two french universities are all taking stands against Bill 60 and in favour of religious freedom.
Several religious leaders and hundreds of residents gathered in front of Cote Saint Luc city hall Monday to send a unified message to the Quebec government – that democracy means protecting the rights of minorities.
“I just think the law is so odious and I think that my residents were getting nervous. They were getting upset, some of them, even telling me they were considering leaving Quebec because they're made to feel unwelcome here,” said Cote Saint-Luc Mayor Anthony Housefather.  Read more

English School board defiant
"Quebec Education Minister Marie Malavoy says school boards won't have much choice when it comes to applying the secular charter, once it is passed.
At a meeting Wednesday night, the English Montreal School Board (EMSB), the city's largest English-language school board, passed a resolution that refuses to carry out key provisions of the Parti Québécois's secular charter." Link

Montreal General Hospital blasted for weak response to Charter
"Two physicians have blasted the leadership of the McGill University Health Centre for its “pathetic” response to Bill 60, the proposed Charter of Quebec Values that would prohibit health workers from wearing religious headgear on the job.
At Tuesday evening’s annual general meeting of the MUHC, CEO Normand Rinfret alluded to Bill 60 in his remarks to more than 200 people, warning that the ban on “conspicuous” religious symbols would make it harder to keep talented staff at the hospital network.
“I can assure you that the MUHC will be heard in loud volumes about the great needs that we have as an academic health-sciences centre to be able to retain our people and to be able to continue to recruit people across all faiths, all religions and all languages,” Rinfret said.
But two physicians — one currently practising at the MUHC and another who just retired — took Rinfret to task for not wording his opposition to Bill 60 more strongly.
“I find your remarks pathetic,” Dr. David Morris, an endocrinologist at the Royal Victoria Hospital, told Rinfret during question period.
“We have to be much clearer to the government about the impact of the application of such a restrictive bill would have on our functions.” Link

Coderre's first Blunder-Champlain bridge too far

I told you in past blog pieces that politicians don't have to be necessarily intellectual to be effective, but those who aren't rocket scientists are prone to gaffes when taking a simplistic view of issues.

Unfortunately, such is the case of Montreal mayor Denis Coderre, who pronounced himself on the issue of tolls on the new bridge being built by the federal government to replace the prematurely aging Champlain bridge, which connects Montreal to the south shore over the St. Lawrence river.

There is a growing chorus of entitlists from commuters and businesses on the south shore who are demanding that the bridge be toll-free because quite frankly, they aren't interested in paying if they don't have to.

The entitlists are putting up all sorts of arguments, including the fact that the other bridges joining the south shore are free and so motorists will flood those bridges causing massive traffic jams. Also business (like the massive Dix-30 shopping complex) are complaining that customer traffic from Montreal will be reduced because of the toll.

So let me explain some facts to the illustrious mayor of Montreal.

1. Making commuting to the south shore more expensive, encourages people to live in Montreal, mitigating to some extent, cheaper taxes and housing prices in the suburbs.

2. Montreal shopping centres and downtown will pick up any business lost by customers too cheap to pay the bridge toll to the shore mega-centres. And by the way,  Montreal has parking meters throughout downtown and expensive parking lots, which is why to some extent,  customers go to the south shore. So stopping Montreal shoppers from going elsewhere to spend money, may be a negative to businesses on the south shore, BUT a positive development for Montreal stores.

I've told readers before, the toll to enter New York City over and under the Hudson river via the tunnels and bridge is about $6.50 one way (They actually charge about $13, but only entering NYC.) See the tolls
It costs NYC car commuters around $3,000 a year to live in the suburbs and drive into the city each workday.
Montreal taxpayers  already subsidize suburban commuters via the subway, where riders from Laval and Longueuil pay ridiculously low fares, considering the fortune it cost to build the long subway tunnels under the river.

Here's the reality that Coderre should understand. I'll make it simple so he can understand.

Confederation Bridge

The more expensive or difficult it is to enter and leave the city it is for commuters, the more attractive it is to live within Montreal.
Mr. Mayor .......think, before you speak.....

Now the entitlists on the south shore are mounting a petition to stop the feds from creating a toll bridge, all in vain, because all  major bridges that Ottawa is responsible for are PPPs financed through tolls including the Confederation bridge linking New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island and which costs a whopping $44 to use.

"The curved, 12.9 kilometre (8 mile) long bridge is the longest in the world crossing ice-covered water, and more than a decade after its construction, it endures as one of Canada’s top engineering achievements of the 20th century.
.....After four years of construction using crews of more than five thousand local workers, the Confederation Bridge opened to traffic on May 31, 1997, at a total construction cost of one billion dollars. Link

Whaaat???? Let's compare;

Confederation Bridge 

•  13 kilometres long 
• Four years to build
• 1 billion cost ($2 billion in present dollars)
  $44 toll

Replacement Champlain  Bridge

• 3.5 kilometres long
• 5 years to build....
• 5 billion cost
• $??? toll (probably under $8)

Anybody care to comment?
By the way, the new bridge connecting Windsor to Detroit that Ottawa is building will also be a PPP project including a toll, so no matter how many names are placed on that petition, a toll-free bridge ain't gonna happen. 

I had to laugh at the story in le Journal de Montreal where Richard Martineau took his readers to task for protesting the toll.

"A petition is circulating against the toll on the Champlain Bridge ...
Is it not  normal that motorists who use the bridge pay to use it? Why should a taxpayer in Chicoutimi who never uses the bridge pay as much as one who uses it every day?...." Link{fr}

A taxpayer from Chicoutimi?  

ARE YOU KIDDING ME, Mr. Martineau! .......How about taxpayers in Vancouver or Toronto? Hmm.......

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

By the way, I'm glad to see Coderre adopting a new brand of politics at Montreal city hall;

"In his first council meeting as mayor, Denis Coderre faced criticism over an appointment that some consider a prime example of political patronage.
Coderre announced Tuesday his intention to make former journalist Philippe Schnobb head of the STM.
Schnobb ran for city councillor as part of Equipe Denis Coderre in Ville Marie’s St. Jacques district, but lost by 36 votes to Projet Montreal leader Richard Bergeron. Bergeron was among the critics of Coderre’s decision, saying Schnobb, a former Radio Canada journalist, doesn’t have the experience to run the organization, which is trying to increase its ridership and is dealing with a predicted deficit of $60 million for 2014.. Link

Hmmm...... Jobs for the boys?

Will higher book prices lead to more book-buying?

"In an attempt to protect Quebec’s dying small bookstores, the Parti Québécois government is drafting a new law to impose price controls on new releases.
The government announced on Monday that booksellers will be banned from discounting books more than 10 per cent in the first nine months of sales, limiting a tactic big-box stores such as Wal-Mart and Costco have used to take a big piece of the market." Link

 As the old saying goes......"The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions"

"I'm not sure making Quebecers pay higher prices for French language books will have beneficial effects either for the industry or the readers.
Quebec already suffers low readership and I'm not unconvinced that the already high cost of books is the problem.
Because of the limited runs, as compared to the English market, French books always cost considerably more;

Maybe that is why this French teacher went for the English version.....
Hey... is he in class???....oops.

Les 50 nuances de mon prof… FAIL

The lighter side

My Allegory of the week, 18-wheeler= PQ, Tow truck= us

The Champlain bridge project

Credit Ygreck

Minister Lebel ": We hired the best architect in the world!

Premier Marois:I would have preferred a sub-ministerial committee of the Environment department, presided over by a union comrade who could put together a hearing...blah.blah..

A Quebec Kippa




Don't you wish your child  had this kind of  drive and determination? 

"A good pirate never takes another person's property!
 I've spent hours and hours watching this Disney Pirate cartoon series with my four-year-old grandson. I never thought much about the idea celebrating child pirates, until l saw this posted online, a page from one of the associated books.

Really?
Is this the fantasy we're teaching our kids????
If so, Disney should consider other shows with similar optics.
How about a group of cartoon teenage drug-dealers who don't sell drugs and run a re-hab?
How about a group of cartoon teenage shoplifters who steal and then return the articles?
How about a group of cartoon teenage bullies who are kind and polite to all?

Too many French in Plateau 

 

Have a great weekend!

Bonne fin de semaine.

The Trouble with Sovereignty, Part 2.. Dutch Desease and Other Nonsense

Oil drives Canadian dollar's value, but is  high or low value better?

If there's anything that sticks in the craw of sovereigntists, it is Quebec's dependence on equalization payments and it's reliance on Alberta oil to help fill the permanent financial gap in the Quebec budget.

Being forced to take Alberta charity is not only galling, but outright humiliating and so Quebec nationalists use the rationalization of the proverbial layabout, who complains that his rich brother-in-law, who helps support him, is a dishonest businessman anyways, making money on the backs of others.
How convenient....

Dutch disease is the apparent relationship between the increase in exploitation of natural resources and a decline in the manufacturing sector (or agriculture). The mechanism is that an increase in revenues from natural resources will make a given nation's currency stronger compared to that of other nations, resulting in the nation's other exports becoming more expensive for other countries to buy, making the manufacturing sector less competitive. Link

And so Alberta's Oil Sands are roundly blamed for contributing to Quebec's economic woes, whereby manufacturing jobs in Quebec are sacrificed because of the higher value of our dollar, which has the effect of pricing ourselves out of the international market, because of high labour costs.
It's a popular and neat idea, one that fulfills an important need, that is to shift blame, but it is a theory thoroughly debunked like that which proposed that immunization leads to autism in children, advanced by some Hollywood know-betters.
These theories live on because people want them to be true.

I'm not going to waste time dissecting 'Dutch Disease'  because those who believe in it are inconvinceable, like 'Truthers' or conspiracy theorists who believe that the 1969 Moon landing was a hoax.

Sadly, the "Dutch Desease" theory was given new life by Thomas Mulcair who should know better, but who cynically chose an opportunity to score points with his constituency in Quebec, the hard and soft nationalists.

Now even if the theory was valid (which it is not) it described a situation in the 1960's in the Netherlands where the discovery of a lucrative gas field supposedly pushed up the value of the guilder, to the point where manufacturers were no longer competitive.
In the sixties, most of the manufacturing jobs were located in Western countries, in Europe and North America, where a higher than average currency could affect competitiveness.

But today, the jobs lost in Quebec are almost all re-routed to Asia, where salaries are so much lower, than even if we drop the value of our currency, it wouldn't make a difference.

As for those, who would argue that we would be more competitive in North America, I would ask in what domain?
Everywhere in North America, manufacturing jobs have vanished and a lower dollar wouldn't make much of a difference. Take for example Quebec's dairy industry, which could never compete with American prices because of price supports. Even if some new industries would sprout based on a cheaper dollar, the overall effect on the entire population would be devastating because everything we import would cost more, including all our fuel, agricultural products and manufactured goods.

The theory that we can somehow become richer by becoming poorer, can only be explained by wrapping the argument in nonsensical gobbledygook.

The removal the so-called effect of Dutch disease (again, it doesn't exist) would benefit a handful, but drop the standard of living of the entire Quebec population.
Hilariously, this is exactly what some nationalists argue for, an independent Quebec with its own currency that would drop to a level that would provide a competitive advantage over Canada.
It's an easily sellable plan if one omits to describe the negative effects.

I wonder what the effect of telling Quebec voters, before a referendum, that in an independent Quebec, everybody would have to take a 15% salary decrease, the day after the launching of a Quebec dollar!

And so we come to the issue of currency, and the question as to whether an independent Quebec will stay with the Canadian dollar or go forward with a new currency.
According to experts, staying with the Canadian dollar makes sense, Scotland independentists have already proclaimed that in the event of separation, Scotland would maintain the British pound as the national currency.

While there are solid economic reasons to keep the Canadian dollar, I'm not sure that Quebec could muster the political will to keep the Queen on its currency, especially when newer editions of the paper money plastic money and coins would become unilingually English, an unacceptable rebuke.

Not only would the maintenance of the Canadian dollar be an affront, Quebec would be taking a huge step backwards, no longer enjoying any influence on national monetary policy.

More likely, is the scenario where the Dutch Disease proponents win out and Quebec would go ahead with its own money, accepting that its value will deteriorate, hopefully making the province slightly more competitive, but assuredly making the entire population poorer.

The cherry on the sundae of a currency exchange is the 14 billion windfall that the Quebec government would receive immediately as the Canadian dollar is eliminated and the Quebec dollar created.
The difference is in the cash money known in the trade as the 'M0" or the liquid cash in your pockets and bank accounts which amounts to about 14 billion dollars in Quebec.
In one fell swoop, Quebec would take that money and replace it with its own, in other words, giving out paper and receiving 14 billion in Canadian dollars back, a tidy sum that could finance the immediate shock of independence.

But all these gains would be wiped out in the increased cost of supporting the debt
Remember, that if Quebec reduces the value of its currency, the cost of supporting the collective debt, priced internationally, will go up.
Simply put, if Quebecers start being paid or earning in a currency that is less valuable than the Canadian dollar, they will have to spend more Quebec dollars to pay the mortgage on the family home, priced in Canadian dollars or its higher equivalent in local currency.

All of these considerations are nowhere to be found in a nonexistent sovereigntist manifesto.
It is probably true that these issues are above the comprehension of the average citizen, but just the same, these issues exist.
And is it really realistic to vote on sovereignty before discussing these issues publicly?
According to the PQ, it is okay to keep people in the dark when the answers to these difficult questions are not easily explained with a positive result.

To those who disagree with everything I say here, I put this question to you..... Aren't we entitled to hear the answer from horse's mouth, that is, the position of the PQ in relation to currency in a new state, something which we can all agree, is of monumental consideration?
Shouldn't the PQ tell us before a referendum whether they will proceed to a Quebec currency or not and what the effects of either scenario is.
How on Earth should we pronounce on such a life-changing decision in the blind, how many Quebecers would buy a home without being informed of the cost or without taking a walk-through.
The process is called 'kicking the tires,' that is, examining the pros and cons beforehand, be it a car, home or investment.
I don't think many of us would purchase a vacation without knowing the cost, or for that matter, the attributes or shortcomings of the resort
Shouldn't we be doing the same with the issue of sovereignty, a bit of due diligence, so to say?

If everything is as rosy as the separatists would have us believe, then why don't they just  explain how things will unfold.
That is the question I put to readers on the sovereigntist side.
Believe me, believe me not, but what are your sovereigntist friends saying about all this and more importantly, what are they not saying.

Up to now all we've heard is stony silence. We've already voted twice on an independence referendum, without ever being told what the financial plans for a future Quebec nation would be.

It is shameful and embarrassing, not that the PQ has hidden the fact that it has no plan, but rather that half of Quebecers voted in favour of this pig in a poke.

French versus English Volume 98

Laval University football players arrest stalled until the day after Vanier cup victory.

Three college football players from the Laval Rouge et Or from Quebec City were arrested two days after participating and winning the Vanier Cup national title that took place on home turf in Quebec City.
When I first saw the headline that the players were arrested over a bar fight, I assumed that it was at a celebratory night of revelry after the game, but alas, the incident took place back in June, almost five months ago!

The arrests so soon after the big game had observers questioning whether Quebec city prosecutors held off in order to give the team a better shot at winning the title, but officials said it was 'just a coincidence"

HaHa! I shall go to my over-utilized pet phrase that tells readers that if they believe that, I have swampland in Florida to sell them!
New one.... "I have a perfectly good bridge over the St. Lawrence to sell them!"

The coincidence wasn't lost on the cynical media and the prosecutor's office is left with some well-deserved egg on their face.

Reading the story, I was shaking my head in disbelief and laughing at their blatant stupidity, when it hit me....
These people are not dumb at all. They have quick and analytical minds and would have to have known the optics of an arrest so soon after the big game.

And so I figure somebody was told to hold off on the arrest until after the big game and that somebody was none too pleased and thus made the arrest so soon after the game to embarrass his boss.
Why not the day after the game?
That would be too obvious and I already told you these people are clever.

Well-played anonymous person in the prosecutor's office! Revenge mission accomplished!  Link

Cowardly Drainville blames university for chickening out of Charter debate

"A handful of people who attended a demonstration against Quebec's proposed secular charter at Concordia University today said their protest posed no security risk.
Earlier this morning, Democratic Institutions Minister Bernard Drainville cancelled plans to participate in the debate at the university, citing the potential threat posed by a planned student demonstration. 
The debate went ahead as scheduled without Drainville, the minister responsible for the secular charter.
MNA Kathleen Weil, opposition critic for employment and the social economy, and André Frappier, former president of Québec Solidaire, both attended the event. 
A small group of protesters gathered outside of the university's McConnnell building where the debate, organized by the Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG), took place.
Earlier in the day, Drainville told reporters that he decided to pull out over safety concerns after his security personnel told him there was a risk of things getting out of hand.
The protesters said they had no plans to disrupt the event and there was no threat to Drainville's security. 
Demonstrators said they believe Drainville was afraid to speak at a campus, where the charter is largely opposed."   Link

Drainville is not only a coward, he must be some kind of stupid or extremely arrogant to ever book a debate on the Charter at Concordia, the provinces most ethnically diverse university. There are more Muslims on campus each day than there are in all of Quebec City!!!
 It was a stupid decision to go there and perhaps he feared the same treatment accorded to Charter opponents during a debate at UQAM;

At a public debate organized by the Quebec Secular Movement (MLQ), outspoken anti-Islamist Djemila Benhabib said she was incapable of being civil to opponents of the Charter.
"I cannot talk in any fashion to Islamists," said Benhabib. "An ocean of blood separates us."
Many statements by Benhabib were cheered by the crowd, and statements by the other speakers, namely QS MNA Amir Khadir and Alexa Conradi, leader of the Women's Federation of Quebec, were mocked and booed.
Exhortations from moderator Daniel Turp for the crowd to calm down were ignored, and eventually Conradi and Khadir left the stage out of frustration. Link

Newly elected Montreal Mayor re-affirms city opposition to Charter of Values

"MONTREAL – Denis Coderre stood up against the PQ’s controversial Charter of Quebec Values before he was elected, and that hasn’t changed since becoming mayor of Montreal.
Coderre calls the charter divisive and argues Bill 60 is not good for Montreal.
He has vowed to fight against it because he believes the state is already neutral and the best thing for Quebec is to have open secularism.
Coderre will be opening a dialogue with Montrealers to hear what they have to say on the issue." Link

Montreal's newly-elected city council passed another resolution, opposing the PQ's secularism charter.

Now I was also impressed by Coderre  when he reacted decisively to the revelation by the Quebec Auditor General that an ex-director of the Montreal tourism board had taken advantage of tax payers with exorbitant salary and expense claims.

"A visibly angry Denis Coderre said he had asked for the resignation of two key figures appearing in the auditor general's damning report on Tourism Montreal.
Former Tourism Montreal chief Charles Lapointe was asked to step down from the city's arts council.
Tourism Montreal's board chairman Jacques Parisien was asked to relinquish his duties planning Montreal's 375th anniversary celebrations. The mayor does not have the power to dismiss him from Tourism Montreal.
The auditor general found that Lapointe had filed extravagant claims on expense accounts and left the non-profit this summer with a severance package worth over $650,000.
This is on top of his salary of nearly $400,000 a year, more than any other Quebec bureaucrat.
Addressing reporters this afternoon, Coderre didn't mince words.
"People work so hard, and when they see [something like Lapointe's perks], they're pissed off. And rightfully," he said.
He noted there was a clear lack of oversight at Tourism Montreal - that's why he is ordering an investigation into the organization. Link  Read a story in the Montreal Gazette

Now Coderre may not be able to get back money from the ex-director, but he made sure to destroy his reputation, something that retired politicians and civil servants hold dear.
Coderre humiliated the ex and current director of the agency and all those involved in the free spending will be duly dealt with, at least in the court of public opinion.
FINALLY, a mayor who walks the walk.......

Journal de Montreal: Anglos and Ethnics don't count as Quebecers

Here is a translation of a story in Le Journal de Montreal about CTV network's Canadian version of The Amazing Race.

"Is there going to be a team from Quebec in the next season of  'The Amazing Race Canada'
(Est-ce qu'il y aura une équipe du Québec dans la prochaine cuvée de l'émission The Amazing Race Canada?)

Producers are hoping for one, because the number of Francophones  fluent in English  makes it possible.
Teams are encouraged to put forward their personality and explain why they wish to participate in this televised competition." Link[fr]

So according to Le Journal de Montreal, a team from 'Quebec' means a French team only.
By the way there actually was a 'Quebec' team on last year's show, Holly Agostino and Brett Burstein from Montreal, but hey, they certainly don't count as 'true' Quebecers.

Finance Minister blows budget, blames Quebecers for not spending enough

It comes as no surprise to readers of this blog that the PQ's promise of a balanced budget was nothing more than hyperbole, a promise that nobody should have taken seriously.
And so Quebec, for the seventh year in a row will run a budgetary deficit.
The PQ finance minister Nicolas Marceau, in the great spirit of Maxwell Smart announced that oops, he missed the target 'by that much!"
Perhaps Marceau is actually a secret KAOS agent. 

And so the government will run a $2.5 billion dollar deficit this year, to nobody's surprise.

Six months ago,  I predicted a shortfall of between $2.5 and $5 billion and the year is not out, things can get worse and these type of predictions by Ministers are always worse than they announce.

At any rate, the minister also announced a deficit for next year, a more modest. $1.7 billion, but hey the night is young.
Most economic journalists were stunned by Marceau's lack of engagement and meek acceptance of the deficit, pointing out that without fundamental spending cuts, nothing will change because increasing tax revenues will continue to come up short.

Sadly in all this, is Marceau's lamentation that he missed his target because inflation was less than anticipated, something that only a finance minister from Bizzaro World could be disappointed in.
He also blamed ordinary Quebecers for curtailing family spending, thus cutting government tax revenue.

PQ to Ottawa....Show me the money!

Pauline Marois has asked Ottawa to fork over the money for the bridge replacing the Champlain and let Quebec run the project;

"The latest brilliant idea from Premier Pauline Marois is to take over the management of the bridge project from Ottawa.
Let’s just take a look at the recent track record of our transport department:

• We had the fatal tragedy in Laval when an overpass collapsed
• We had a near disaster on the Ville Marie when the roof crashed onto the road
• We have a Turcot exchange that is falling apart and is held together, I fear, with hope and prayer
• We have a Dorval circle airport project with its roads to nowhere that is going nowhere." Link

Then  Gilles  Duceppe piped in with his report on the unemployment insurance employment insurance reform.
Duceppe headed a PQ government commission which looked into the problems associated with the Tories new reform package that was designed to get long-term and habitual freeloaders off the dole.
Duceppe's conclusion;
Let Ottawa fork over the money to Quebec and let Quebec run the program.
But how much money should Ottawa fork over?
According to Duceppe, it should be an amount no less than what it is receiving today, which is almost 40% of the total fund to which Quebec contributes around 20% to.
When asked to explain  the discrepancy, he told a reporter that it wasn't in his mandate to review federal programs and who pays in what and who gets out what.
What a charmer! Link

Further reading...

Oh! Oh!...another Quebec bridge falling down? Link{fr}

 

Radical lobby group objects to emergency notices sent to citizens in English as well as French Link{fr}

Here's another thing that has them in a lather;

Committee recommends pay hike for Quebec MNAs
Basic pay of an MNA now is $88,186 – recommendation calls for $136,010

Peter Hadekel: High unemployment among young Montreal anglos taking its toll: report



Oh..Oh...The OQLF wants to rename "BLACK FRIDAY" 

Have a good weekend

Bonne fin de semaine.