Inspirational Posters Volume 2

For more see- Inspirational Posters Volume 1

Quebec versus Newfoundland- Whiners Square Off!

To most Canadians who live west of the Ottawa river, listening to the never-ending whining of Quebec and Newfoundland about their mistreatment at the evil hands of Ottawa, is about as satisfying as a trip to the dentist.
The righteous indignation of the likes of  Gilles Duceppe and Danny Williams has me so annoyed that I have taken to throwing a foam shoe at my television set each time their respective faces make an appearance, spouting another idiotic and insulting pronouncement, dissing Canada.

Both provinces have been sucking at the federal teat for well-nigh a half a century, all the while complaining at the unfairness of it all. Both  have mastered the art of twisting figures and manipulating facts to somehow pretend that they are getting the raw end of the stick. The rest of Canada is not amused.

As everyone knows, Newfoundland has now become a 'have' province, due to the offshore riches of oil. But like a welfare recipient who wins the lotto, old habits are hard to change. The idea accepting the responsibility of paying into Canada, instead of sucking out, is so foreign to the island, that the petulant premier actually took down the Canadian flag in protest that his province will receive less and less equalization payments in light of it's new found wealth. Link

 Over in Quebec, The Journal de Montreal ran a story about a road project that will double-track Highway 175 that connects Chicoutimi, the gateway to the Saguenay region, with Quebec City.  LINK (French)
The provincial government and Ottawa came to a cost sharing agreement, with the feds agreeing to pay for half the cost of the upgrade. The Quebec government demanded complete control of the project and the Feds agreed, with the stipulation that any cost overruns would be the province's responsibility. The work proceeded and lo and behold, what do you think happened?

Drum roll please........The project went 50% over budget. 400 million dollars, that is, not exactly chump change!

Amidst much hand wringing, the cry has gone up that Ottawa ante up half of the deficit, contract aside. After all it is argued, the spirit of the agreement was that the cost was to be split 50/50.

Unfortunately for the Quebec government, the idea was shot down by John Baird, minister of transport, who said that "A DEAL'S A DEAL!" much to the consternation of the province, now claiming that it's important to be reasonable and flexible in the face of evolving circumstances. Right?

Creative math, voodoo economics, spoiled brat syndrome, and institutionalized whining are what Newfoundland and Quebec have in common, so it's to be expected that when the two provinces face off against each other, a battle royal is in order.

For the rest of Canadians, seeing the two provinces beat each other up is deliciously satisfying. It's like watching a boxing match between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Osama Bin Laden. We can sit back and hope it never ends, cheering on each blow and hoping that each gets the shit kicked out of them. The fight has been going on for well nigh thirty years, with no end in sight, HOORAY!

So far Quebec is ahead on points, having opened the match with a near fatal blow.

That was the contract Newfoundland signed with Quebec in relation to Churchill Falls power. Back in 1969, desperate to develop the Churchill Falls hydro-electric project, Newfoundland signed a foolish deal with Quebec that in effect sold the Labrador power to Hydro-Quebec for what is now, a pittance. Today, Danny Williams is claiming that his province was 'coerced' to make a bad deal because the federal government wouldn't compel Quebec to give Newfoundland the right to put up a transmission line across Quebec to transport the power to the USA.  Hmmm...
Instead, Hydro-Quebec agreed to buy the power and resell it itself. Today, Quebec is reselling the power at a profit of over a billion dollars a year. KAPOW!

Danny William's reaction over this situation is most entertaining, especially given that Premier's penchant for indignant rage. So far,  all he has mustered in defence of his province, is some salty trash talk.  LINK.

But it seems that now, Newfoundland is mounting a real counter-attack.
Both provinces have been wrangling over the right to develop the undersea oil field known as "OLD HARRY" which lies in the Gulf of St. Lawrence between the two. The oil field may be bigger than Hibernia, but the lack of agreements have kept the development of the project on the back burner.

Now back in 1964 (before the discovery of the oil field) the four Atlantic provinces agreed to a 'border' that became known as the "Stanfield line,"(after Premier Robert Stanfield) that has the effect of giving most of 'Old Harry' to Quebec. Premier Joey Smallwood himself, signed off on behalf of Newfoundland and Labrador.

But now Newfoundland is singing another tune, having discovered a loophole in that agreement. Apparently, the provinces did not submit the deal to the federal government, as required in the constitution, so according to Newfoundland, it's now -NO DEAL! LINK (Montreal Gazette)

Quebec recognizes the 1964 border because it puts 60% of Old Harry in the province's territory, notwithstanding that the province doesn't exactly recognize the 1927 border between Quebec and Labrador. In fact, a Quebec government web site's placement of the border is at odds with the generally accepted line described by the Canadian and Newfoundland and Labrador governments. That fight is likely put off for the future.

At any rate, it seems that Newfoundland has finally landed a stinging blow, even if they didn't know it. The province recently sent a letter to Quebec outlining the position that the border is now in dispute, a letter that has rocked Quebec. LINK

And today, Quebec is being chastised for having sent a letter to 'Ottawa' trying to queer a deal whereby the feds would help pay for an underground transmission line that would bypass the Quebec transmission line connection. COUNTER PUNCH!
The reaction of the blustering Danny Williams who called the letter 'disgusting,' once again, gives rise to much hilarity! LINK

Boys, keep swinging, pass the popcorn!!!

Denis Lebel Skewers Gilles Duceppe and Bloc Quebecois

In noting that it's been 20 years since the Bloc Quebecois first entered Parliament, Denis Lebel, the Conservative cabinet minister from Roberval-Lac-Saint-Jean tore into the Bloc Quebecois and its leader Gilles Duceppe, in an opinion piece written in the Quebec City Daily le Soleil.

If you read French, take a look at it over HERE.

I'm providing a translation because I think the piece is not only noteworthy but entertaining as well. Outside of Quebec, it seems that the only thing that gets publicity is separatist rants and nationalistic outbursts, but it's important to remember that there are more federalists in Quebec than sovereignists.
Although the Bloc Quebecois hold two-thirds of the seats in Quebec, they did it with only 38% of the vote. We just don't seem to hear from the 62% of Quebeckers who voted for a federalist party.

"August 13 marks the twentieth anniversary of the election of Gilles Duceppe as MP. At the time, he told Radio-Canada: " I had a funny feeling when entering Parliament. I told myself: I'm probably the first one to enter this forum hoping to spend as little time as possible." Link

In 1994, in an interview with La Presse, he added that "Nobody in the Bloc has been elected to make a career out of  it." 

Apparently for Gilles Duceppe it's "do as I say and not as I do!"

The Bloc leader has now been in federal politics for 20 years. He'll retire one day with one of the most lucrative pensions ever awarded by the Canadian Parliament. This is particularly ironic, the country that Duceppe wants to break up, will serve him personally quite well.

Behind this sad anniversary, there is a fundamental issue for Quebeckers. Where do we want Quebec to position itself over the next few years? It's been 20 years since Gilles Duceppe and his troops have wasted Quebec's political capital in Ottawa.

When I hear Mr. Duceppe complain loudly on the issue of representation in the House of Commons because our Conservative government wants to respect the principle of representation by population, I can only reply that it is by electing MPs of a party that aspires to form a government that one can increase the political weight of Quebec.

Breaking the deadlock;

As a former mayor of Roberval, I myself have chosen to make the leap into federal politics because the riding of Roberval - Lac-Saint-Jean was mired in stagnation caused by the Bloc. I decided to submit my candidacy to try to resolve issues once and for all.

Since 1993, the Bloc has enjoyed a majority of the seats in Quebec. What have they done with this political clout? We know they have made no promises and have delivered nothing.

If Gilles Duceppe was at least able to prevent things, then we could fall back on these minimal results.

However, it is with a Bloc majority that the fiscal imbalance was created and it is thanks to the Harper government that it has been settled. Gilles Duceppe and his party didn't stop the Liberals from stealing from Canadians in the biggest political scandal in Canadian history. The Bloc did not stop the Liberals from drastically increasing greenhouse emissions and the Bloc did not stop the Liberals from encroaching on provincial jurisdiction.

Mr. Duceppe and his colleagues criticize the government, sitting in the grandstands, but to score goals, you've got to be on the ice.

The weight of the years is beginning to bear heavy on the shoulders of Duceppe. This is obviously a disappointed man that has failed to achieve any of his objectives.

We parliamentarians from Quebec are proud to be Quebeckers who believe in this beautiful country of Canada. We have a duty to continue to work hard, door by door, handshake by handshake, to convince Quebeckers that it would be preferable to have more members on the team that forms the government, in a party whose motives are not dysfunction and quarrels.

Denis Lebel, Conservative MP for Roberval - Lac-Saint-Jean 

Minister of State for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Region of Quebec "

We Will Not Be Quiet!

"Do you know the difference between an Anglo-Quebecer and an English-Canadian? The first one is a second-class citizen and the second one is a second-class american."

Very insightful! How clever! Troller 'par excellence!' (sarcasm.)

I allowed this comment through yesterday to illustrate that morons exist on both sides of the debate.

Those sanctimonious comments from frustrated nationalists warning us that this blog and the associated 'raging' anglo commenters are somehow contributing to the cause of sovereignty, actually makes me laugh and is deliciously satisfying.

No, I don't think we'll shut down because it is inconvenient or uncomfortable for thin-skinned nationalists and sorry if I don't believe that I am somehow turning reasonably opinioned francophones into raving militants.

Now during the recent 'troll wars,' I tracked down a lot of traffic to a link put up by a commenter on  Louis  Prefontaines's web site. While I can't say for sure, I assume many of the nasty comments came from there. I'm not defending the nasty English comments, they are all banned.
 
So in honour of all you Prefontaine fans who visit this site and who share a common fantasy where Quebec is independent, prosperous and unilingualy French, a Quebec where the Anglos have fled and the immigrants have shed their burqas, saris and turbans in favour of Montreal Canadiens Quebec Nordiques toques, a Shangri-la where everyone listens to Loco Locass and reads Victor-Lévy Beaulieu, I offer this commentary on a recent post as an homage to the sour grapes that is the hallmark of these frustrated souls..

"Arcade Fire is a stateless group who lives in our French-speaking city but chose to never become truly integrated. This is not a Quebec band, much less a cultural ambassador."  LINK

Yup, Mr. Prefontaine goes off on a rant against this wildly successful band because, according to him, they are not Quebecois and should never be considered as such.

He complains that the English (plus one assimilated Haitian) rockers are nothing more than interlopers and chastises the band for maintaining their Anglo roots while complaining bitterly that they don't sing in French.

All of a sudden Mr. Prefontaine pretends that Montreal is exclusively a 'French-speaking city," yet in blog post after blog post, he complains that Montreal is too English and is becoming more and more anglicized each day.

So which is it?

There's an English societal component to Montreal that is undeniable, only fantasists like Mr. Prefontaine pretend that it isn't there. Arcade Fire is very well assimilated, only not where Mr. Prefontaine wants them to be. Tough luck.

Arcade Fire is part of ENGLISH MONTREAL. Pretending that Quebec and Montreal in particular, are exclusively French and that there exists but one culture, is delusional. 

So if Mr. Prefontaine maintains that Arcade Fire is not Quebecois because they are English, so be it.
His fear that the group will somehow be considered as Quebecois, is unwarranted.
He needn't lose any sleep!

Just about every single major newspaper (including those in France) refers to Arcade Fire as Montrealers, not Quebecois.
To these reviewers, Quebec doesn't even exist.

• "Top marks from a cavalcade of critical tomes who saw the Montreal septet’s sequel to their breakthrough debut long-player of 2004,"  -BBC Review
• "Montreal indie rockers." -Rolling stone Review
• "Arcade Fire, a Montreal art-rock band." -NY Times
• "... the Montreal septet has now proven its staying power."- Chicago Tribune
• "Arcade Fire a été formé à Montréal" Le Figaro
• "le groupe canadien Arcade Fire" - Le Monde   

For a raging nationalist it must be frustrating to see this upstart Anglo group from Montreal enjoy more success than any other Quebec francophone band could ever imagine. The immutable fact is that no group that sings in French can make it big internationally. That is why that almost all international groups aspiring to fame, have taken to singing in English.

For French language militants, it's a frustrating fact of life, but wishing won't make it go away and raging against this realty is just tilting at windmills.

Blowhard Sportswriter Strikes Again

Once again, La Presse sportswriter Rejean Tremblay has waded into the language debate, attacking the Montreal Canadiens for the lack of English players. Tremblay and others of his ilk believe that the team should make a special effort to hire Francophones, so "that they can better represent the fan base of Quebec."
If you read French, find the original article HERE.

The article takes on the familiar snarky tone that is the hallmark of the frustrated curmudgeon.
He's someone who reminds me of that stereotypical caricature of the ageing southern cracker racist, sitting on the front porch, whittling on a piece of wood with his knife and cursing out the 'niggas' to anyone who passes by.

There's a special venom in his words, a nasty sarcasm that is reminiscent of the late great, Pierre Falardeau, an anglo hater 'extrodinaire.'

Mr. Tremblay peddles the fantasy that the Canadiens can lean towards Francophone players without affecting quality. He is a big booster of the  'Savard Doctrine,' the practice perfected by the ex-General Manager of the Habs, Serge Savard, that holds that when given a choice between two players of equal talent, the team should always select the Francophone.

Now last year Tremblay wrote an article about a book written by Bob Sirois, whereby the ex-NHLer accused the league of systematically discriminating against francophones. NO FAIR!

But let us consider Mr. Tremblay's position.
According to his logic, it is perfectly reasonable to promote a francophone player over an equally talented anglophone in Montreal, but it is discrimination when the Toronto Maple Leafs choose an anglophone over an equally talented francophone.

That is what I call Quebec logic!

The real problem is that there is no such thing as equally talented players, the idea that such a situation presents itself is fantasy.

This week we witnessed a real live example of the so-called 'Savard doctrine.' It happened at the Rogers Cup tennis tournament in Montreal featuring the world's best female tennis players.

In his blog, Sex, Sports & Rock and Roll sportswriter Benoit Rioux wrote a piece entitled "Décision anti-anglophone?" LINK(fr)
  

"Vallery Tetreault got a wild card pass into the main draw for the first time in Montreal.Although happy, she recognized that her invitation had the opposite effect on her good friend,  Sharon Fichman, who must now go through qualifying rounds.

Injustice?

The Ontarian, Fichman, 145th in the world, is actually ranked higher than Tétreault (170th.) Nevertheless, the tournament  preferred to go with the Quebecker.

Imagine if the opposite had occurred and a lower-ranked Ontarian would have been advanced ahead of a Quebecker because the tournament was held in Toronto.

Some of us have would have screamed at the injustice launched against we francophones. We would probably talk about "country club" and Denis Coderre would probably have Twitter on the case ..."

Kudos to Mr. Rioux for defending right from wrong, not French versus English.
I bet you never read about this article, because these type of opinion pieces are never published outside Quebec, it's too bad.

Surprisingly, most of the comments under the article supported the tournament's decisions. Perhaps they are also big fans of Tremblay's newspaper column.

In English we call it a double standard. It's more eloquent in French;

Deux Poids - Deux mesures. It's the Quebec way.