Language Cops Strike- Hilarity Ensues!

Readers of this blog probably don't need to be advised of the latest move by Quebec's French language cops in their ongoing effort to defend the security and integrity of the French language.

Just when you thought the Office québécois de la langue française, (OQLF) couldn't get any more petty and vindictive, they quickly put paid to any such notion.

Living up to the tenet of the organization's motto- "TOUTES RÉSISTANCE EST INUTILE!," the OQLF demanded that an English school board change its computer keyboards to French versions. The idea that the words SHIFT and ENTER represent a clear and present danger to Quebec society's ability to maintain its purity, would be laughable, if not so sad.

But the $5,000 cost seems to be of little concern to the school board in question, as its spokesman desperately tried to downplay the whole incident. Obviously there are other pokers in the fire. And so the Riverside School Board is replacing the offending keyboards and plastering  stickers over English keys on laptops.   CBC Story

The story has achieved a bit of traction and has hit the CBC National television news when Peter Mansbridge asked viewers, tongue in cheek, if they were interested in buying the perfectly good keyboards. Video of the CBC News story

Of course the OQLF is used to being humiliated by Anglos, but to them, it's basically 'water off a duck's back.'
There's little doubt, that there's going to be some blowback in the French media, once the story crosses the language barrier. The French media doesn't usually appreciate having this beloved institution held up to scorn and derision, especially by arrogant anglos. Likely to defend the OQLF in dead earnest, they will surely increase media attention in the English press. New York Times, anyone?

The idea of forcing an English school board, where almost all head office employees are English, to operate in French, is one of the more vindictive applications of the dreaded Bill 101 language law. It's the same principle that forces English television stations to advertise their English shows in French when using outdoor billboards. I suppose there is a logic there, twisted as it would seem.

Ever since the the adoption of Bill 101, the pettiness in the treatment of the English language has been a hallmark of the OQLF, which treats English as an enemy combatant, subject only to the fair rules of war.

When the Quebec school system was reorganized into English and French, non-confessional school boards, the old Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal needed a name change, but was refused its first choice, the 'Montreal English School Board.' And so today the board operates under the name that was approved, the 'English Montreal School Board."...Can you figure that one out?

Every time I hear stories about the application of the language law in such an arbitrary and  petty manner, I am reminded of the side mirror outside my passenger door on my car.

"OBJECTS IN THE MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR"

How come no stickers on the mirror?

How come a poor watchmaker in Hudson or a cash-strapped English school board is harassed by the language cops while giant car companies have no obligation to be in compliance with Bill 101?

Although the majority of dashboards in our cars are filled with pictograms and the computers toggle between French and English, there remains a 'shocking' amount of English on our instrument panels.
Why? Why? Why?

I'm sure the car companies have some sort of exemption, probably because the exorbitant cost to 'bilingualize' the dashboards would have to be passed on to reluctant consumers, but that  hardly seems an excuse.
The unequal treatment whereby the small fish are terrorized and the big ones go about their business with impunity gives rise to disrespect.

I am reminded of my only brush with the OQLF, some twenty years ago, when our company head office was visited by a language inspector bent on insuring that we were operating under the doctrine of Bill 101.
When employees were informed that the inspector was about to start his rounds, they all toggled their computers over to the English version of the software that we were running at the time. It was just a matter of pressing the F12 key to switch between English and French.
When the inspector asked some of the French employees why French wasn't available, they just shrugged their shoulders and told him that it was okay, because they were used to the English system.  Ha Ha!!

When we received a registered letter from the 'Office' informing us of our non-compliance with the law, we dutifully wrote back telling them that our software was indeed French compliant and that the inspector should have 'known' that fact, had he done a thorough inspection!

We never heard back from the 'Office' and had a good laugh until our software company phoned us and angrily told us that they were now the subject of an audit by the OQLF because of our actions..... err.....sorry about that!

Is Sovereignty Dead?

One of my favourite movie scenes comes from the eminently forgettable indie film "Living in Oblivion," a low budget movie about making a low budget film. Starring Steve Buscemi as the frustrated director and Catherine Keener as the principle female lead, the movie is a painful and uncomfortable glimpse into the frustrating world of independent film making.

The scene in question, involves Keener's character confronting her mother over her father's abuse of her as a child. It is central to the movie and all eyes are nervously on the two actors as the scene is being filmed. Unfortunately during the first take, a light explodes on set, much to the frustration of Buscemi's character, who explodes in rage. The next take goes just as badly with the 'mother' forgetting her lines and then the third try is ruined by Keener's character blowing her lines, in turn.

It's getting late and time is running out. The scene has to be filmed now or time constraints of the low budget will force the director to cut it. Finally the two actors deliver a riveting performance and nail the scene! Tears come to the director's eyes, but when the cameraman announces that he's now ready to film, the directer realizes that they didn't get the scene on film. Utter frustration!

Buscemi's character is crestfallen, with the pain and disappointment visibly etched on his face.

Then, slowly realizing that the moment is lost forever, he just gives up.
Sadly he tells the actors that it's time to go on. "We almost had it, it was beautiful....we can't think about it.... the moment is gone...."

Every time I think of the 1995 referendum, I think of that scene. So close!

While die-hard sovereignists believe that they can somehow re-create that magic moment in 1995 and perhaps go over the top the next time, it is destined never to be and like in the movie, the moment has passed, gone forever.

It seems to me that more and more sovereignists are slowly coming to the same realization, even those in highest echelons of the Parti Quebecois. The sad realty for these sovereignists is that the opportunity for independence has passed them by, forever.

While almost 35% -40% of Quebeckers still say that they will vote for sovereignty in a future referendum, almost 70% believe that they the YES side cannot win. They are probably right.

While sovereignty remains as strong a dream as ever among the college set, those in power positions in the movement are starting to believe otherwise.

Defections in the ranks of PQ thinkers and the rumours of a new provincial party to be created on the basis of an autonomous Quebec within Canada, comprised of both strong sovereignist and federalist politicians gives credence to the notion that it's the beginning of the end of the sovereignty dream.

The PQ has abandoned any talk of a referendum and doesn't even talk of 'winning conditions' any more. At best they are talking about holding mini referendums to force Ottawa to give up more power. That exercise is sad and somewhat embarrassing.

So can it be? Is sovereignty really dead or on its way out as a viable option?

Likely, yes.

For those of us who grew up here in Quebec, sovereignty was the burning political issue that spanned our entire lives and the realization that perhaps the question has already been settled, is slow to be accepted. 

There are many reasons why, perhaps demographics the most important. The half a million or so immigrants who have flooded Quebec since the last referendum are overwhelmingly federalist and even if francophones were to repeat or even increase marginally the support they gave to the YES side in the last referendum, they would still be badly outvoted by the NO side.
Every three years, a full percentage point shifts naturally over to the NO side due to immigration. If a referendum is five or tens years away, as die-hard sovereignists predict, it just gets worse. 


But more than immigration, another factor in the decline and fall of the sovereignty option is Quebeckers' realization that they get more out of Canada then they put in.
Whining aside, it's a fact that most Quebeckers, begrudgingly realize, reminded relentlessly by the ROC that Quebec is a net beneficiary of the federal system.

And so, no amount of deflection by the 'argue anything' type of defenders of sovereignty, can change the perception by Quebeckers that they get more out of Canada then they put in.  The $8.5 billion in equalization payments is a powerful argument for staying in Canada, after all 'money talks.'

Perhaps the sovereignist's biggest problem is that they never offered Quebeckers a real alternative to federalism. It's one thing to complain about the old system, but they never presented a plan of what an independent Quebec would look like.
Believe it or not, people with mortgages and jobs are profoundly interested.

Today's voters are infinitely more sophisticated. Fooling them with a misleading sovereignty question is no longer an option and without a clear accounting of the benefits and true costs of independence, sovereignists have little to offer but dreams. And dreams don't pay the bills.

In the end sovereignty has been defeated by selfish self-interest, not as bad a concept as it sounds.  The success that Quebec has achieved in wresting control of its own economy and its language and culture has made the pursuit of sovereignty uneconomic both financially and socially.

Our generation has seen the Irish Republican Army give up the fight for independence in Northern Ireland as well as the Basque separatists in Spain.

The destruction of the Berlin Wall signaled the fall of communism throughout the world.
A lot bigger and more powerful movements and philosophies have been cast aside.

The end of the sovereignty dream in Quebec is no big deal. It's only a matter of time before everybody realizes it, even the die-hards.

B'nai Brith is a Laughingstock

Last week's controversy over a cartoon in an Ottawa newspaper (and reprinted online) drawn by Guy Badeaux has actually sparked a row between two Jewish lobby groups, one claiming that the cartoon is antisemitic and the other scoffing at the idea. LINK

The B'nai Brith, a self-proclaimed representative of Canada's Jewish community, accused the cartoonist of inferring in his cartoon, that Canadian Jews control Parliament. The cartoon in question had a Jewish Star placed in the face of Parliament's clock tower.
The cartoonist said the depiction was inadvertent and that it was just a representation of the the clock face, which actually does have a Jewish Star buried it's artwork.

“The caricature plays into vicious and baseless age-old stereotypes of a Jewish conspiracy of control,” said Moïse Moghrabi, Quebec Chair of The League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada."- B'nai Brith

B'nai Brith admits that it never even bothered to get Mr. Badeaux's take on the cartoon, thus demonstrating appalling arrogance and a profound absence of fair play. Labelling someone a racist, without checking the facts is an unpardonable sin, especially when it is done on a organizational level.

Mr. Badeaux's explanation that the depiction was inadvertent seems to be reasonable and his reputation and his friends (many Jewish) back him up.

In accepting B'nai Brith's theory over Mr. Badeaux's explanation, one would have to violate the principle of Occam's Razor, which postulates that "the simplest explanation is usually the correct one".

Faced with a barrage of criticism from all quarters, including the premier Jewish lobby group, the Canadian Jewish Congress, B'nai  Brith reacted the way most self-righteous and moralistic organizations would, they dug in their heels, claiming that they weren't satisfied with the explanation.

"Despite both Badeaux’s and Congress’ claims that the cartoon was innocuous, a Sept. 22 statement by B’nai Brith re-iterated the organization’s belief that it was aimed at the Jewish community." LINK

For that, they have become a laughingstock.

Bernie Farber of the Canadian Jewish Congress, reacted strongly in Mr. Badeaux's defence;

"There is a Star of David on the face of the Peace Tower clock, there is. He has used it not for the first time in a caricature he has done," Farber said. "This has nothing to do with anti-Semitism and everything to do with a cartoonist who was trying to depict the Peace Tower. It was very legitimate." LINK

Farber was incensed that B’nai Brith  did not seemingly “check all the facts” about Badeaux and decided to label him an anti-Semite “when he clearly isn’t. We have to set the record straight.”  LINK

I don't know Moïse Moghrabi, chair of B’nai Brith Canada’s, Quebec region of the League for Human Rights, who levelled the accusations on behalf of the organization, but he certainly deserves to get the sack. Anything less and any semblance of legitimacy, evaporates.


It is ironic that the only reputation damaged in the whole affair, is that of the B'nai Brith, itself.

I've never been a fan of unelected lobby groups presuming to speak on behalf of whole communities, be they Jewish, Italian or whatnot. That includes both the Quebec Jewish Congress and the B'nai Brith and perhaps by saying so, Mr. Moghrabi will label this blog as antisemitic, as well. So be it.

It is impertinent for these organizations to lobby in the name of all Jews. Their position on Israel, on education, language issues and even antisemitism may represent what many Jews believe, but certainly not all. They are elitist organizations that presume quite a bit.

The Quebec Jewish Congress' lobbying on behalf of Hassidic schools that clearly break the education laws certainly does not reflect well on the community and the generally negative reaction has affected the entire Jewish community's standing. LINK

Another major gaffe was the organization's push to influence Premier Jean Charest to increase funding to private Jewish schools, an incident that backfired so badly that it was likely the tipping point in the 'Reasonable Accommodation" debate.

As for it's most important role, denouncing antisemitism, the above brouhaha with Mr. Badeaux is sad proof that many of the accusations of antisemitism are clear over-reactions.

Although antisemitism is a problem, not every crime committed against a Jew is antisemitism. By crying wolf at every slight, imagined or real, B'nai Brith does a disservice to those it claims to protect.

Last month a Catholic cemetery in Saint-Denis-sur-Richelieu suffered an appalling attack of vandalism, with over 90 gravestones defaced.  LINK
Was it a case of anti-Catholic racism or an act of stupidity, more likely perpetrated by rowdy youth?

Had it been a Jewish cemetery, I've no doubt that Mr. Moghrabi would be screaming antisemitism.

Don't get me wrong, I am in no way belittling the  problem of racism that Jews and other minorities (especially Muslims) face, but overreacting and 'crying wolf' doesn't help.

B'nai Brith should be ashamed of their actions and apologize to Mr. Badeaux.  If they don't, they lose any moral authority that they claim. For the organization, it's time to suck it up and do the right thing, otherwise, just go away.

Will Quebec City Blackmail Work?

A couple of weeks ago, French language militants went 'gaga' over what they described as a 'spectacular' turnout, when 2,500 people attended a rally in a Montreal hall to protest Bill 103, and show support for more restrictive language policies. LINK

I wonder how those organizers are reacting to the fact that twenty-five times as many people attended  a rally in Quebec City, where about 60,000 of them showed up to voice support for the return of NHL hockey. STORY  PHOTO GALLERY

There must be some sort of message in that, but I'll let the readers draw their own conclusions......

The demonstration was not just a feel good event meant for Nordique-crazed fans to demonstrate their determination to win back an NHL franchise, it was a carefully staged maneuvre by mayor Regis Lebaume, to deliver a message to the the Harper government and although the gathering was described as apolitical, it was anything but.


It seems that Mayor Lebaume has a plan to return the Nordiques to Quebec City and that plan is not up for discussion.
It's a simple plan, one where the three levels of government will pay for a new $400 million arena and Quebec's latest heartthrob, 'Boy Wonder' Pierre-Karl Péladeau, will buy, own and operate the 'new' Nordiques.

The Province of Quebec has already committed to the plan by pledging 45% of the cost of the arena. The City of Quebec has already announced that it will throw in $50 million and so another $170 million is needed to get the project off the ground.
Of course Mayor Lebaume expects the federal government to foot the bill and has embarked on a pressure campaign that can better be described as blackmail.

On the face of it, nothing goes further against Tory policy than the public financing of projects that benefit private industry and Mayor Lebaume knows it.

But political realities are something that Mayor Lebaume also understands and in an effort to pull out all the stops he has played the election card rather deftly and so, has placed the Prime Minister firmly between the proverbial "rock and a hard place"

While watching coverage of the event on the news, I spotted several signs that put it as plainly as could be.

NORDIQUES OUI= CONSERVATEURS OUI

ARENA / CONSERVATEURS 

(No Arena/ No Conservatives)

No misunderstanding there!

And so as stupid as it seems, the key to a majority government may come at the cost of a Quebec City arena.

For Harper the dilemma is real. 

The Prime Minister hasn't exactly demonstrated a keen loyalty to the conservative ideal of no interference in the public marketplace and he's certainly not been averse to blowing big government bucks in search of political advantage.

Perhaps the real question for Harper is not philosophical but rather practical. Should he pony up the money for Quebec's new arena, will the seats he will gain in Quebec, be offset by losses in other parts of the country, triggered by disgusted voter blowback?

Perhaps he can go the other route and promise funding to all that come, be it Winnipeg, Edmonton, Saskatchewan and Ottawa as well. After all, for under a billion dollars or so he can satisfy everybody's stadium ambitions and perhaps guarantee a conservative majority.

At any rate, it seems like a better use of the money then the billion he spent on the G20 conference.

For Harper the decision must be agonizing, another minority government will probably spell his demise.
Most in the Conservative party have been holding their nose, watching as the party betrays its ideals in order to stay in power.  It's unlikely that the rank and file will accept much more of a Harper if he doesn't deliver a majority. 

And so the 170 million dollar question remains, will the Prime Minister throw out the political ideals of his party and roll the dice in one last desperate attempt at a majority?

Will Harper pay?

Quebeckers Confront Corruption

The spirited defence put up by Quebec politicians and journalists, arguing against the Maclean's magazine article that described the province as the most corrupt in Canada, seems to run counter to the underlying public perception by ordinary Quebeckers that indeed, Quebec is a very corrupt place.

Reading the online comments, attached to the articles discussing the story, one would expect the majority of reader opinions to echo the professionals and defend their beloved province, but surprisingly, or perhaps not surprisingly at all, such was not the case.
Quebeckers remain deeply humiliated by the allegations made by the magazine because most know the charges to be true.

Whether Quebec is the most corrupt province in Canada is largely beside the point, that it is perceived by almost all Quebeckers as extremely corrupt, is entirely the issue.

Quebeckers didn't need the magazine to remind them that corruption is a problem in Quebec, we already knew.
It's more than likely that the article itself was borne from the growing public debate and outrage that has gripped the province over corruption. The issue has become the number one political topic and has far eclipsed even that of sovereignty.

Perhaps the greatest failing of the Maclean's article was to ignore the ongoing public reaction in  Quebec and so leave the impression that it is business as usual.

It is most certainly not!

Quebeckers across all political stripes have been howling for a cleanup. Most believe that Premier Charest's refusal to call an inquiry into the construction industry, perceived by the public to be the most corrupt and corrupting element in Quebec society, is evidence that he and his party have a lot to hide. His calling of an inquiry over the lessor issue of whether undue political influence was brought to bear in the naming of judges was seen as a diversion and even that hasn't worked out that well. While Marc Bellemare, the ex-justice minister who made the allegations of interference, hasn't made a great case for himself, the exposure of the inner machinations of the political party system, it's fundraisers and their influence, even legal, has left a decidedly sour taste in the public's mind.

Corruption has always been around, but it remained hidden from the public under a layer of secrecy, worthy of the mob code of secrecy - 'Omerta'

Frank Zampino

That all changed drastically one day, two years ago, in May, 2008, when Frank Zampino, the City of Montreal's number two elected official and boss of its finances, resigned rather hastily.  LINK

I remember the press conference distinctly because it was the germ that led to me start this blog.

I remarked to my wife how surprised I was that all the reporters attending the news conference, were falling for Mr. Zampino's story that he was retiring to look for new challenges and that he didn't have anything lined up. Not one reporter challenged him.

If there's one thing that I know, (and reporters should know too) it's that 48 year old politicians, with families to support, don't retire at the zenith of their careers for no reason, it just doesn't happen. They retire because they have to, be it a political, sex or corruption scandal or possibly caused by health reasons or a helluva better offer of employment elsewhere. You pick'em.

Tony Accurso

Eventually the truth came out. Zampino was intimately connected to Tony Accurso, a very big wheel in the Quebec construction industry and whose various companies had a dizzying amount of criminal investigations surrounding them. It started with the news that Zampino had vacationed on Accurso's yacht in the Caribbean and escalated when Accurso gave Zampino a job after he left the city.

All this led to the exposure of the 'Water Meter' scandal, whereby it is alleged that Zampino facilitated a bid by an Accurso consortium to supply hundreds of millions of dollars of water meters to the city of Montreal. That contract was eventually cancelled amid cries of corruption.
It's been downhill since then.

Reporters finally started doing their jobs and the long hand of corruption was exposed at almost every level of government.

Benoit Labonté

In light of the Water Meter scandal, the political fortunes of up and comer Benoit Labonté seemed to rise and for a while he looked like the right man to clean house at Montreal City Hall. But alas, he too was exposed as being corrupt himself, having accepted campaign money from none other than one Tony Accurso and then brazenly lying about it before being outed by the press. LINK
It was quite a shocker!

Eric Duhame wrote in the National Post about the dubious connection between unions, politicians and the underworld;

"...in March 2009, a Radio-Canada investigation discovered alleged links between the general-director of the powerful FTQ-Construction, the biggest union of the industry, and the underworld. In September, further investigation uncovered a cost fixing scam among construction companies on public jobs, mainly road construction or repair. It involved bikers intimidating the competition and brown envelopes used to buy politicians and bureaucrats.
Many analysts and commentators started to wonder if such corruption could explain why it costs between 35% and 40% more to build roads in Quebec than in Ontario."

On and on it goes....

Three out of four Quebeckers are demanding that a commission look into the corruption and tens of thousands have signed an online petition.

Premier Charest's attempt to quell the rage hasn't exactly worked out.

He hired ex-Montreal police chief Jacques Duchesneau to head a team to investigate the 15,000 yearly contracts given out by the Ministry of Transport.

But it seems even that has turned sour.
Ethical questions have been raised over Mr. Duchesneau's departure as head of CATSA,  the government organization that screens passengers in federal airports. 

Apparently, he was pushed out as president.

"His abrupt exit came a day after a CATSA board meeting. Directors talked for 40 minutes by telephone before passing a resolution -- now kept secret by the government -- and just six months after his contract was renewed until 2010, the documents show." LINK

Here's a full account explaining why he was let go in a LCN report in French.

Here's a somewhat more abbreviated version in English.
In another blow to Mr. Duchesneau's reputation, an investigative report in June, claims irregularities in the campaign financing of his unsuccessful 1998 run for the mayorship of Montreal. LINK

At any rate, it seems that the Premier was unaware of all this at the time of the hiring  and now insiders tell me that he has completely lost confidence in Duchesneau. Suffice to say that things are not going well.

All these public revelations, as well as the Maclean's article. have contributed to the impression that Quebeckers are more dishonest than other Canadians, a perception that despite the prima facie evidence, I contend is not true.

I shall write about that in another post, but if you visit Quebec and get stopped by a cop for speeding, I wouldn't recommend offering him a bribe. You'll be sadly surprised at his reaction and might even find yourself behind bars.