Reading the outrageously stupid reaction of Quebec politicians to the contrived BONJOUR/HI controversy I am reminded of Shakespeare's eloquently descriptive line from Hamlet.
“A countenance more in sorrow than in anger.”
Which roughly translates as; being more sad about a situation than angry about it.
That pretty much sums up my feelings over the moronic and Kafkaesque debate in the National Assembly with politicians decrying the use of the familiar phrase by store clerks in greeting customers.
"The National Assembly is formally asking Quebec’s merchants to “warmly”
greet their clients with the word “Bonjour,” and drop the old standard
“Bonjour-hi.”A resolution to that effect, sponsored by the Parti Québécois, sailed
through the legislature Thursday morning following a short debate over
semantics. The vote was 111 for and no opposition, which means the
Liberals, Coalition Avenir Québec and Québec solidaire MNAs all
endorsed it."Link
It goes to the nastiness that pervades the language debate whereby petty linguistic slights are elevated to absurd heights by thin-skinned Anglophobic politicians who pretend to encourage Quebecers to be bilingual but don't really want them to express themselves in the language of the oppressor. Sadly this includes politicians of all political stripes including the Premier who called "BONJOUR/HI" an 'irritant.'
Couillard who is acting more and more bizarre as the next election approaches, offered up this nose-stretcher when he noted that it was never the intention of the father of Bill 101, Camille Laurin, to impose French as the exclusive language of the workplace.
Really????? Are you kidding me!!!!!!
Camille Laurin was a despicable anglophobe who wished nothing less than to chase every anglophone out of the province and worked with a measure of success to do so, successfully contributing to the decimation of the anglophone fact in Quebec.
So let us dissect what is so offensive about "Bonjour/Hi."
It is a phrase used in the downtown and western part of Montreal and in some malls in Laval. Those areas account for at least 30% anglophones and so the use of the phrase in greeting customers signals that the server or clerk is bilingual and happy to serve customers in the language of their choice.
This is what is so offensive to these politicians, the serving of anglophones in English, an outrageous scenario that in their mind mocks and diminishes the French language in Quebec.
Now you won't find the term used by clerks in Abitibi, Lac-St.Jean or Trois Rivieres, because there are few if any English customers and few bilingual employees able to speak English anyways, but in the Montreal area, clerks and servers offering English is a customer service issue that fosters happy clients, a concept that quite frankly these politicians cannot fathom.
Jean-Francois Lisée the leader of the PQ is tilting at windmills in a stupid but sadly successful attempt to drive language divisions in Quebec to restore a measure of relevance to the moribund PQ.
The PQ leader has supported Quebecers learning English but is wary of increased English courses in public schools. He thinks that it's a horrible idea to speak to your boss in English or for that matter to use English in the workplace. He also believes that its wrong to speak to customers in English and that watching English television or movies hurts the French language.
In essence, he and just about all Quebec politicians believe that everyone in Quebec should speak English, but not use it in Quebec.
How's that for stupidity?
And so the English that francophones are supposed to learn should only be employed in that two-week vacation in Old Orchard Beach, never at home!!
This is sadly Quebec.
And the French anglo-bashing media is no better...
We all know that gaining proficiency in another language is no easy task and I'm reminded of the old Jack Benny joke which tells of him being stopped on the street in Manhattan by a tourist asking how to get to Carnegie Hall, to which Benny offered his now famous rejoinder, "Practice, Practice, Practice!"
If francophones don't practice English by either speaking it or watching English media how will they ever become proficient?
Lisée wants everyone to be bilingual, but never use the language inside the province. Bah!
The great lie is that as much as we are told by politicians that they love and respect anglophones and English, it just isn't true and they are quick to throw us under the bus in response to stupid language attacks.
I'd like to comment on an item in the same Gazette article about the Bonjour-Hi controversy.
"In 2012, a poll commissioned by the Conseil supérieur de la langue
française found that 79.8 per cent of those surveyed disapproved of the
expression and would prefer just Bonjour."
I am more than familiar with polling having worked as a political organizer in charge of internal polling for many years for various political parties and various candidates. I know how to run an honest poll and how to run a dishonest poll. I've done both.
The above poll is nothing more than an infamous "Push Poll," an ostensible opinion poll in which the true objective is to sway voters using loaded or manipulative questions.
Let me explain this concept by stealing from the brilliant physicist Werner Heisenberg' whose famous 'Uncertainty Principle,' states that simply observing a situation or phenomenon necessarily changes that phenomenon. In polling, just asking a certain question or asking a certain question in a certain way may necessarily change the results. "Do you believe that man really landed on the moon?" This is an example of how asking a stupid question will push some to believe the absurd by legitimizing the question.
Here is a classic push poll. "Do you believe that if democratic candidate John Doe had an affair with his daughter, he should be allowed to serve in Congress?" And so readers, asking if the public preferred Bonjour to Bonjour-Hi, is just a push poll, a blatant attempt to sway public opinion. Whenever you see a poll, first look at who or what organization commisioned it and ask yourself if the organization has a hidden agenda. Would you really take seriously a poll commissioned by the tobacco institute that asks the question; "Are smoking risks exaggerated?" The organization that ordered the above poll is a French language lobby group with an agenda. The Montreal Gazette should never have published it.
This morning I was driving my grandson to school, listening to the radio tuned to the NHL channel on satellite radio.
I like to hear the American take on the game, but in this case, it was the Canadian Pierre McGuire, dishing his opinion on the Jonathan Drouin/ Mikhail Sergachev trade between the Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightening which occurred in the off-season.
McGuire waxed eloquent over the play of Sergachev while throwing shade on Drouin, hinting that the Habs may have made its worst trade in history, even eclipsing the disastrous Subban/Weber trade that has come to haunt the Canadiens already. McGuire, who knows a thing or two, predicts that Sergichev may one day win the Norris Trophy as the best defenceman in the league, calling the rookie 'magical.'
Last night the nineteen-year-old Sergachev (a defenceman) scored his sixth goal of the year with Tampa, to go along with his ten assists. Not even the vaunted Weber, Montreal's number one defenceman can match those numbers with only four goals and ten assists. Weber's time on the ice averages out at about 26 minutes, where he has recorded a plus/minus of -7. (he was on the ice for seven more opposition goals than goals scored by the Canadiens.) Sergachev, as a rookie has carved out a respectable average of about 14 minutes of ice time per game and has racked up an impressive +7 in that same statistic.
No doubt Tampa Bay is a better team and so one would expect the team numbers to be better, but nobody can deny the Sergichev's brilliant start.
As for the underwhelming Jonathan Drouin, his four goals as an attacker is a bitter disappointment to those fans who look on the game dispassionately.
Of course, nobody in the French media is ready to state the obvious, that the Canadiens got the decidedly short end of the stick in a trade orchestrated by Bergevin driven by the desire to add a francophone presence to the team.
The French Canadian sports media has embraced the infamous "Savard Doctrine" enunciated by the former GM Serge Savard who told reporters that given a choice between two equal players the Habs should always opt for the francophone.
Oh if life was only that simple.....
The Savard Doctrine dictates that all potential coaches are equal and so the Canadiens must always have a French-speaking francophone coach as well as a French-speaking francophone general manager.
Even though Bob Gainey muddled through adequately in French, when things got tough the French media rode him out of town on a rail faster than a Paul Byron rush. As for losers like ex-coach Michel Therrien, the French media couldn't have been gentler, despite his disastrous record and him completely losing control of the team room. For Therrien, it was the second time around as coach of the Habs, because after all his first stint was so super successful.
Who will be the next coach after the current Claude Julien will be fired (also for the second time.) Look for Alain Vigneault to come back for a second stint as well, as the Rangers will inevitably sour on him.
Do you see a pattern?
It is a sad case of musical chairs with the same limited bunch of francophone coaches circling the coach's chair and where qualified Anglos are barred from joining the game.
There is an unspoken bond in the Quebec francophone hockey media whereby criticizing one of their own and calling for a Francophone coach's firing is just not cricket. It isn't deliberate, but ingrained, like a good brother protecting his sister, no matter what.
I suppose there is a place for affirmative action in some situations, that is placing other considerations before talent when making selections. I can actually think of one, that is the admissions criteria for medical schools where there are so many qualified applicants for each place that promoting minorities can be justified.
But the NHL is not an organization where any consideration but talent can lead to a successful team.
The French press can go on blindly supporting the Savard Doctrine, but the disappointing results over time are to be anticipated.
Considering the bonehead moves that GM Marc Bergevin has made and gambles that haven't panned out, one might think the press would be up in arms calling for his sacking, but alas such is not the case.
As long as a language plays a part in the selection of players and coaches, the Habs are doomed to plumb to the depths of ignominy.
And you know what?
Although the French sports media will be fine with it, I'm not so sure that the real fans will be.
Already there are rumblings in the stands and despite what the team says about sell-outs, the Habs popularity is on the decline, directly proportional to its success on the ice.
But in Quebec, French solidarity is more important than success.
It's a bit sad and a bit funny to see the French sports media squirming in abject pain and humiliation over its hitherto unequivocal support for Habs GM Marc Bergevin, despite the ongoing disaster that is the 2017 edition of the Montreal Canadiens.
While the English media across Canada has been quick to call the latest version of the Canadiens a pig, the French media continues to put lipstick on the beast in a sad attempt to deny what is apparent to all.
The Montreal Canadiens are talentless group of uninspired veterans and under-qualified and disappointing rookies, bolstered by also-rans, has-beens and cast-offs fobbed off on the hapless Bergevin, who in a vain attempt to show some action and movement, chose to trade his losers for other losers in order to distract fans from the painful reality.
While the English media is openly talking about the Bergevin disaster, the French media is blithely minding its P's and Q's, lest they attack one of their own.
There is an old saying in Yiddish, a bit vulgar that goes like this; "Ven de putsch shtait, de sayichal gait!"
While it is rather eloquent in Yiddish, its English translation...well, not so much.
"When the penis is erect, good sense is lost."
Yikes!
And so when it comes to criticizing a francophone GM, the francophone media has lost all good sense in sugarcoating reality.....
Bergevin has been an utter disaster and cannot dig himself or the team out of this mess.
French or English.....We all know it.
The difference is that the French media won't admit in print or on TV what they say in private because Bergevin is one of them, a francophone who was collectively touted as another saviour of the Canadiens and another symbol of francophones reclaiming their rightful property from the hated English interlopers who, by the way, ran the Montreal Canadiens so successfully for decades.
Think I'm seeing things through anglo-tinted glasses?
This is what the English media is saying ;
“One glance at the roster Marc Bergevin assembled for this year’s version of the Montreal Canadiens would’ve incited most to predict they’d be an average team.
They were right on course to prove that through their first 19 games, losing seven of their first eight before firing off seven wins in their next 11. And then they were the first team in the NHL to suffer a regulation-time loss to the 31st-ranked Arizona Coyotes last Thursday.
A 6-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday at the Bell Centre on Hockey Night in Canada certainly helped reinforce what the statistics say about the Canadiens: They are not average. They are bad.
One quarter of the way through the season they rank in the bottom-third of the league in nearly every relevant category—from their place in the standings (27th) to their goals per game average (2.32!) to their goals-against average (3.50!) to their… well, we’ll save some of this for what follows.”Eric Engels-Sportsnet
“How do you spot a counterfeit NHL playoff ticket? It’s printed on thin paper. There’s no barcode. And it contains the word, “Montreal.”
The Canadiens, meanwhile, have sort of resembled the Titanic — they look good until they hit the ice. ” Michael Traikos..National Post
Over in the Quebec French press, nary a word of discord.
Nobody has called for Bergevin's head.
Instead, they concentrate on the state of Carey Price's marriage and the fact that they expect Bergevin to be busy making deals to strengthen the team.
It's more than just sad.
The only francophone who has overtly criticized Bergevin is the embittered Serge Savard, himself fired rather abruptly and according to him for a lot less than Bergevin.
In a French radio interview;
“I won two Stanley Cups as GM and was fired after losing four games at the beginning of the season" This year we had two guys, our two best players last year, one named Markov and the Radulov, both of whom wanted to stay in Montreal and who we let sign elsewhere.”
Savard went on to dismiss the PK Subban trade as disastrous, an error in judgment that now haunts the Canadiens.
Let me just comment on how badly Bergevin botched the Radulov and Markov situations.
When Radulov chose to go the free-agent route after rejecting the Habs final offer, Bergevin inexplicably withdrew his offer, probably piqued at Radulov. When Radulov didn't get any better offers he took the same offer from the Dallas Stars that the Canadiens had previously made (but no longer on the table.) An incredulous Bergevin could not understand why Radulov signed elsewhere for the same money and when asked about it, Radulov said the Dallas was the best offer he could get at the time and that he shook on the deal with Dallas and that a deal is a deal. Had Bergevin left his 'best' offer on the table during the free-agency period, Dallas would have been forced to beat that offer substantially, something that perhaps they would not have done. It was a bonehead mistake driven by hubris and anger,
As for Markov, it is true he was holding out for an overpriced offer, but what Bergevin should have known is that Markov was set on going home to Russia with his new wife, but would have stayed another year or two had the Habs met his demands. Bergevin let his pride take over and even with plenty of cap space, he let Markov go, an unpardonable sin.
That bad decision was coupled with letting two other starting defencemen leave the team for nothing in return. Alexi Emelin along with Nathan Beaulieu, may not have been fantastic, but their replacements are far worse. Bergevin's motive's and bizarre decisions in gutting his blue line were never questioned by the media, but the disastrous move sealed the Habs blue line fate.
His big move in the off-season was to acquire francophone Jonathan Drouin, for first round draft pick Mikhail Sergachev. The French media were exuberant over the trade as you might have guessed, but it seems Tampa got the better of the deal up to now.
Not only did the nineteen-year-old defenceman Sergachev make the opening lineup, he's been killing it, scoring 5 goals and nine assists in his first twenty games. The best forward for the Habs, Brendan Gallagher has the same 14 points!
Geoff Molson.. In over his head
The real culprit in all this is idiot owner and managing partner of the Canadians, Geoff Molson, who has placed all his eggs in the Marc Bergevin basket and extending his overly generous contract to 2022.
Admitting his error in judgment in placing his blind trust in Bergevin won't be easy for the silver-spooned lightweight and so we can expect to see the hapless Bergevin remain in his job, lurching from one bad trade to another.
And yes there will be trades, bad trades, useless trades.
Bergevin set this team on its present course with the wildly unpopular trading of PK Subban and it's been downhill since, lurching from one disaster to another, all with the acquiescence of the in-over-his-head, inexperienced Molson, living in his ivory tower, too detached from reality and the common fan to realize the negative implications of the trade.
Failing to understand what Subban meant to the fan base is the same out of touch decision that led the Habs to go to paperless tickets that has season ticket holders absolutely furious.
In the meantime, the French press remains silent on the potential replacement of Bergevin with nobody yet on the French side brave enough to come out against one of their own by demanding Bergevin's sacking.
Compare this with the treatment of anglo Bob Gainey or Randy Cunneyworth who were run out of town by a vindictive French press.
And so, until a francophone replacement is available, everyone will just grin and bear it, pretending that the ship is not sinking, when it is manifestly evident that the starboard list is serious and that the waves are lapping over the bow.
The Canadiens mediocrity is in part based on the language issue, where 95% of coaches are automatically rejected because they speak no French. Decisions like the Jonathan Drouin trade are based on language and not straight hockey motives and that has contributed to where the Habs are now.
Let us remember that Gerald Gallant (who basically ran the Habs under Michel Therrien) is absolutely shining as head coach in Las Vegas and should his team make the playoffs, a shoe-in for coach of the year. Because he is English (with no French), he was never in consideration as a head coach for the Canadiens.
Affirmative action by definition leads to the promotion of inferior candidates and putting the French language above talent in the incredibly competitive atmosphere of the NHL is what the French media has been pushing for years, erroneously claiming that promoting francophones over all others on the ice and behind the bench won't affect performance.
The chickens have come home to roost.
By the way, the Habs fans are not as loyal as we've been brainwashed into believing and so you might expect to see empty seats very soon.
The Canadiens are between a rock and a French place, where blowing up the team isn't an option either, given the fragile market that the Montreal sports scene is.
The sellouts that Molson has been accustomed will fade when corporate season ticket holders realize that customers aren't interested in attending games.
I haven't written one of these summaries in a while and instead of concentrating on language, I will focus on the bizarre, unbelievable and downright stupid.
I don't for a moment believe that Quebec is more inept than other provinces, in fact according to Conrad Black, Quebec is the best-run province fiscally and compared to the stupidity in Ontario, Canada's largest province which is run by an incompetent government led by an idiot Premier, we actually look pretty good.
But that being said, let me update you with some stories that you may have missed with the goal of getting to shake your head in disbelief and/or elicit a chuckle......
Tony Accurso fraud trial turns comical
It's hard to believe that the one-time king of the Quebec construction industry and poster boy for the corruption that reigned in Quebec forever is finally on trial for his alleged misdeeds.
Accurso has so far put on an anemic fight, perhaps resigned to his fate. His defence is in essence that he was too big to get involved in petty corruption and it was his underlings that were responsible.
Channelling 'Sergeant Shultz,' Accurso claimed that he knew nothing and saw nothing.....
This led to his hilarious exchange between him and prosecutors while giving testimony on the stand.
"Are in agreement that Mr. Molluso betrayed your confidence during all these years? asked the crown prosecutor. "Yes" responded Mr.Accurso. "And I understand that Mr. Molluso is actually still working for you in your office." "Exactly" "And you are still paying this guy?"
"Yes"
In summation, Accurso's lawyer said that there was little proof Accurso knew of the kickbacks, despite testimony from a Vaiilancourt henchman that Accurso directly handed him $200,000 in cash.
Ha!Ha!
My prediction on the trial's outcome.....
Guilty as charged.
Sentence: 6 years in an 'Earl Jones' type country club prison with day passes after 6 months and parole after 18 months, when Accurso can pick up his life of opulence, sailing on his luxurious yacht in the Caribbean financed by idiot taxpayers.
And I can just picture him living the good life in 'jail.'
More incredible Stories of Corruption
As Casey Kasem used to say..."The hits just keep coming!"
A side benefit of the Accurso trial is the testimony by corrupt fundraisers as to the extent of the corruption that existed (or perhaps still does) in just about every town in Quebec.
Marc Gendron et Roger Desbois, two slimy 'fundraisers' testified that not only were payoffs par for the course in Mayor Gilles Vaillancourt's Laval but all over towns north of Montreal.
While some of this was revealed in the Charbonneau Commission, the witnesses elaborated on the exact payoffs they made in Blainville, Lachute, Boisbriand, Saint-Therese and St Jerome, where the witness described an incredible $500,000 payoff on a contract of $69 million.
When reporters questioned UPAC (the anti-corruption police) as to whether these allegations are being pursued the standard "No Comment" was all that was to be had.
Anti-corruption police accused of ...you guessed it...CORRUPTION!
Oh my, oh my!....Can it be??????
You might remember the arrest of a Quebec member of the National Assembly over alleged leaks concerning the activities of UPAC (the anti-corruption police,) an organization which incidentally is, in fact, responsible to no one.
Now it may be that the said MNA, Guy Ouellette, an ex-cop who has a spotless record of honesty was himself looking into allegations that UPAC itself is corrupt.
I won't bore you with the sordid details but here is as brief a synopsis as best I can describe.
It seems that Ouellet was informed by a close 'associate' (girlfriend??) whistleblower Annie Trudel of an alleged scheme involving UPAC, the AMF (the regulatory body of the Quebec financial markets) and a certain consulting firm.
Trudel was the person who was charged with investigating corruption at the Ministry of Transport and submitted a report to the National Assembly which WAS ACTUALLY DOCTORED surreptitiously by employees of the Ministry before its submission, to remove the damaging accusations. This led to the Deputy Minster being removed, but in true Quebec tradition, she landed on her feet, right in Premier Couillard's office....but I digress.
Now as a new anti-corruption measure, firms bidding for government contracts have to go through a vetting process run by the AMF. Trudel and Ouellet allege that UPAC, along with the AMF conspired with a consulting firm (which was used to steer companies through the process,) to bilk companies out of hundreds of thousands in excessive fees. One company paid around $600,000 to the consulting firm and accusations that a high ranking member of UPAC along with other UPAC members held shares in that company!!!!
Perhaps now we can understand the famous arrest Guy Ouellet (without charges ever being laid) as an intimidation effort by UPAC also meant to discredit him.
What is less known is that the same day Ouellet was arrested, Trudel was stopped on the street by UPAC investigators who demanded that she cooperate or face arrest as well. When she called their bluff and told them to f*ck off, the investigators called their superiors for instructions and were promptly told to let her go.
Does that sound professional to you?
Quebec's Auditor-General hit with accusations of ..... dishonesty
Oh, oh....
Quebec's auditor general has been cited in the press for alleged dubious business practices as owner of a company that received a $5 million government contract without tenders before she became auditor-general. Guylaine Leclerc is alleged to have offered an AMF employee a free trip (AMF again????) to Laguna Beach, for Women in Business Leadership Forum. The offer was politely refused. Robert Poëti, the Liberal government MNA in charge of overseeing the AMF invited the auditor-general to explain herself. sigh.....
Montreal's New Taxi livery created by Idiots
Okay, I understand that Montreal's taxis' were never required to distinguish themselves as such and generally looked like the dog's breakfast in contrast to for example, New York's famous yellow taxi livery.
But Montreal's new scheme for taxis was created by somebody who was a little too creative and had too much time on their hands. The new livery has the word "BONJOUR" painted on the side of the car instead of the more practical "TAXI" leading to certain confusion for foreigners visiting our city.
Instead of this more practicable version. that I Photoshopped...
Think I'm nitpicking?
Would you recognize these as a taxis in a foreign land?
Olympic Stadium delivers more pain
The government announced that it will spend $200 million dollars to replace the Olympic stadium roof.
The stadium is over forty years old, long past the average lifespan of these type of stadiums.
The Houston Astrodome was declared obsolete after 35 years and after years of disuse was taken down in 2008.
Now we all know that the $200 million price tag will balloon exponentially and the question remains...
Why?
The stadium is North America's most expensive white elephant, one that Montrealers have been paying for in blood and dollars for decades. It remains a sad testament to Mayor Drapeau and architect Roger Taillibert's excessive overreach and hubris.
The stadium has exactly three events scheduled for the next year. Yup, three....
By the way;
“Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday that if Montreal is going to be a major league city again, there needs to be a plan in place for a new ballpark. "We're not going to play in Olympic Stadium," he told reporters.”
....Oh well, it's just another $200 million down the drain...
Quebec Justice marches on...at a snail's pace
It's hard to keep track of all the corruption scandals that have rocked Quebec over these last years, but the one that involved the late Arthur Porter is one that sticks out particularly.
Porter, in a position of trust, oversaw the building of the new $1.4 billion English super-hospital and was charged with orchestrating a $22 million dollar bribe, allegedly paid by SNC-Lavalin with the alleged complicity of one Yoni Elbaz who was charged with corruption OVER FOUR YEARS AGO.
And still no trial.
Today Elbaz is appealing to the court to dismiss the case based on the Jordan decision that requires a trial within 30 months.
It seems like a slam dunk for the defendant, but it remains to be seen what the crown will come up with, as an excuse.
Now Elbaz has been in a particularly cruel limbo over these past years as nobody but nobody is interested in doing business with him or hiring the alleged crook.
Somehow I don't feel sympathetic even though had he been convicted, he'd be long out of prison by now.
I'm interested to see how this pans out.
**********************
And speaking of the wheels of Quebec justice, its been 10 months already since the Quebec City mosque shooting and the alleged perpetrator Alexandre Bissonnette has still not had a trial with none scheduled.
Now the accused remains in detention, but what on Earth can be taking so long. The case is another no-brainer, with the facts not in dispute and the only question remaining being whether he is sane or not. Surely this should have been adjudicated already!
Montreal's bus caught in 'flagrante delicto'
A television news story about a cyclist killed by an idiot tourist making an illegal U-turn caught a Montreal city bus blowing through a cross-walk on that same road at some 20 kilometres per hour over the speed limit....
This'n that
A defeated municipal politician Ani Samson will collect a record departure payment of some $280,000, money designed to make the transition into private sector a bit easier... Ya think??
The new mayor of Montreal wants the power to impose a surcharge on foreigners buying homes in Quebec, especially in Montreal where prices remain incidentally among the cheapest in large cities in Canada. Meant to protect new home buyers, the mayor fails to understand that the homes and condos targeted by foreign buyers are among the most expensive properties in Montreal, not exactly fodder for new home buyers.
That a celebrity Quebec chef, Giovanni Apollo who was outed as lying about his background (his real first name Jean-Paul and he was not born in Italy) is nothing particularly newsworthy, it was his response that was memorable.
"A La Presse investigation published today that raised questions about his past, including his identity, his qualifications and even his place of birth."
His response is priceless.
“It may be that some parts of my personal life might have been
romanticized or some statements about me could have been nuanced, but by in no case will I accept we transform this into ridicule or lies 34
years of learning, varied experiences and meetings in the kitchen.”
Apollo wrote on Facebook.
**********************
Quebec judge OKs class-action lawsuit after major Montreal snowstorm last March
Now the 1500 people stuck on the highway overnight are now claiming a paltry $3,000 for their ordeal. Given that the Quebec government hasn't a legal leg to stand on, you'd figure that settling would be prudent.
Even if the litigants get all they claim, it would mean a payout of just $4.5 million and with a little bargaining that could be knocked down to perhaps just three million. Considering that a trial would be humiliating and cost a fortune and that the government would inevitably lose, one would think discretion would be the better part of valour.
You might recall that the ranking police officer in charge of operations that night was goldbricking and absent from his desk, busy completing a private real estate transaction at a notary's office, for his moonlighting job.
Will the government do the right thing? Dunno....
**********************
As Quebecers champion the anti-pipeline position based on environmental concerns they blithely ignore the fact that Quebec is the champion of the archaic pollution engine that are the wood-burning stoves used for home heating, even in urban Montreal.
“As the colder weather sets in across southern Quebec, wood heating is
being blamed for a smog warning in the Greater Montreal area and parts
of the Laurentians, Montérégie, Lanaudière, Mauricie and Quebec City
regions”.
How's that for hypocrisy!
And speaking of environmentalism, Quebec is facing a crisis because China will no longer accept Quebec's recyclables.
Over 60% of the garbage recyclables we place in the recycling bin was sent to China for processing but the Chinese have deemed the exercise no longer economically viable. One major reason for the ban was that garbage was too often mixed in with the recyclable imports.
And so 60% of what we re-cycle is destined for the dump. Ha!Ha!
Congratulations Quebecers!!!!
**********************
“Former Parti Québécois leader André Boisclair has confirmed he
was arrested in Quebec City early Thursday morning after crashing his
vehicle into a lamppost. "I was indeed arrested last night for having driven my car while
being under the influence of alcohol," said a post
on Boisclair's Facebook page, which was published Thursday evening. “ I made a big mistake and I am deeply sorry and I will now have to face the consequences," the post went on in French.”.
Think Boisclair is really all that remorseful????
“Police say the suspect refused to take a breathalyzer test and tried to intimidate officers.”.
Is it deja-vu all over again? This from 2005;
“The question about André Boisclair's
cocaine use was put point-blank to him yesterday after he spent days
avoiding answering queries about the subject.
"What
I can tell you is that I made mistakes. I did things I now regret. Yes I
happen to have used. I can't be any clearer than that," Mr. Boisclair
reluctantly said yesterday, refusing to use the word cocaine despite
pointed questions by reporters.”
**********************
“Quebec radiologists are routinely billing the provincial health insurance agency for analyzing coronary angiograms, sometimes years after the procedures were carried out, Radio-Canada's Enquête has learned. The interpretation of coronary angiograms was long ago made unnecessary by technological advances...” Link
Let's Finish with something feel-good
The Canadiens were recently in Chicago for a game with the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center where resident anthem singer Jim Cornelison treated fans to a stirring rendition of O Canada in both French and English.
Cornelison is the very best at his trade in the NHL and perhaps the Habs could invite him to Montreal to show off his pipes.
Who says French Quebecois don't get any respect in the USA?
I've tackled this subject before but after channel surfing and coming across a BELL FIBE how-to video in French concerning the operation of the skinny remote control, I couldn't help but shrug my shoulders and wonder as to the utter incoherence of Quebec's infamous language police, the OQLF (l'Office québécois de la langue française.)
The thing I noticed was that the labels on the device were unilingually English, something I never thought about because I assumed that Bell sent me an English version because of my language preference.
Not so, I discovered to my surprise, all the remote controls have English only labelling.
Now why the OQLF does not force Bell to provide French labelling is mystifying, after all, Bell may have bought the devices in the USA, but they seem to have been able to add their BELL logo at the bottom of the device with no problem, so why not add French labels to the actual control buttons?
It is this type of incoherence that is maddening.
The OQLF seems dogged in attacking English only websites of mom and pop businesses that operate in Quebec, in order to shut them down or have them provide a French version.
It is hard to understand the rationale whereby the big players get a pass and the little players are screwed.
As they say in Quebec, Deux poids et deux mesures (Two weights..two measures.) One set of rules for the rich and powerful companies and one for the schnooks.
It remains almost comical that vehicles in Quebec are allowed to be sold with dashboard labels exclusively in English but toy cars require French lettering.
Now I'm not going to return to the discussion about whether the OQLF serves a purpose and whether the defense of the French language at the expense of English is justified.
The whole subject of the place of English in Quebec is riddled with paradoxes and counter-intuitive opinions on the French side.
Polled as to the necessity of Bill 101, Francophone Quebecers are overwhelmingly in favour of the law, yet privately wish to send their kids to English school.
It seems to me that the OQLF has adopted a policy of doing what it can to reasonably implement aspects of the law while accepting that in certain instances, it cannot realistically impose its will.
That in and of itself seems logical, my father taught me as a young lad that if it's impossible to obtain the whole loaf of bread, take half.
The OQLF offers waivers to tech companies to operate in English, something they'd never allow small businesses to do.
While cars sold in many foreign countries have local language dashboards, North America has been deemed an 'Engish' market by car makers and so labels are exclusively in pictograms and English. (That being said, all computer generated instructions on smart screens are available in French in Canada.) But car makers have rejected the notion of bilingual or trilingual dashboards in North America because including Spanish and French would make the dashboards too cluttered and aesthetically displeasing. Not to mention the outrage that Americans would heap onto car makers for including 'foreign' languages, undermining the American principle of the 'melting pot.'
But to change the dashboards for Quebec cars to include French-language labels would be expensive, a cost that purchasers of said vehicles would have to bear, something the OQLF could not abide.
An overriding principle of the OQLF is that Francophone Quebecers should never be forced to pay the additional cost of adding French to a product.
Imagine the outrage if movies that were dubbed in French for Quebec francophone audiences included a surcharge to defray the cost, resulting in Quebec theatres charging more for the French version showing in Screen 1 in the multiplex, than the English version showing in Screen 2.
And so the OQLF demands that moviegoers across Canada share equally in the additional cost of French dubbing, having the effect that such cost is borne by the 75% majority of English-speaking movie-goers.
Perhaps separatists should consider this specific subsidy as an example of the hidden cost of sovereignty that would pervade the entire consumer market in an independent state... But I digress.
While all consumer products are required to have French labels and instructions, the OQLF turns a blind eye where vital products, produced outside Canada don't or won't provide such labelling. A good example is the tiny football helmet market where the few producers are all based in the USA and won't go through the expensive translation process for what is, in fact, less than 1% of their customers. And so university teams such as the vaunted Rouge et Or of Quebec suit up in equipment that has English only instructions, as the OQLF stands by without comment.
And of course there is the elephant in the room, the fact that the OQLF ignores the sale of English books and magazines without translated versions because to demand their translation into French would be impossible and to ban them unacceptable with the ensuing charges of state book-banning a humiliating result.
But that being said, toys and video games are subject to the law because the OQLF deems that exposure to English by children is a dangerous element of bilingualism, the bane of the organization.
And so, the OQLF seems to have put a bit of water in its wine, doing what it can, ignoring what it cannot. That in and of itself isn't inconsistent or incoherent, but where the operation of the OQLF is fraught with incoherence, is in the decidedly cruel enforcement of the rules on small English businesses imposed in a spiteful and vengeful manner, meant to inflict pain, perhaps out of frustration that the big players get away Scott-free.
I imagine that those who work at the OQLF are dedicated Anglo-bashers, it takes a certain hater to suffer the slings and arrows of abuse, especially the actual inspectors who relish their role in coming down hard on small anglo 'offenders.'
It is here where I charge the OQLF with incoherence, imposing rules on some and not others.
A notable example is Loto-Quebec casinos operating in various locations across the province.
Here the casinos offer slot machines obviously purchased in the USA and which remain exclusively English. All with the blessing of the OQLF which has either provided a waiver or turned a blind eye.
Now before apologists point out that it is just the name of the game that is in English, let me point out that the words on the spinning tumblers are also exclusively in English.
This is nothing short of dereliction of duty because if any organization can afford to translate the artwork into French it is the printing press that is the casinos. Ignoring the casinos English-only transgressions while demanding that mom and pop stores provide French labels for English board games is the height of hypocrisy, but then the very nature of the OQLF is hypocrisy because its raison-d'etre has always been not only to promote and protect the French language but to punish anglophones for using English.
That is why the OQLF goes after small home businesses with ridiculous demands that those who don't even sell their products in Quebec bilingualize their websites at additional cost, without consideration of the added burden.
"When contacted by The Montreal Gazette, the OQLF said that even if items
are not sold in Quebec through the website, it must still be in French
because it advertises a business operating in the province." Link
It has always been the goal of the OQLF to reduce English however it could, with the operative word 'could.'
Quebec municipalities wishing to communicate with citizens in English must prove that 50% of the residents are English, an absurd situation where the English community has to be in the majority to be considered a legitimate minority.
This rule is the hallmark of petty vindictiveness and is utterly inexcusable.
And how is this for pettiness....
"A restaurant owner has a warning for other restaurateurs in Montreal: if you get a good review from Trip Advisor, don't advertise it. The latest complaint filed with the OQLF is for a tiny sticker placed on the front window of The Burgundy Lion, a pub in Little Burgundy. The language police have no problem with the name of the establishment -- that is protected by language laws. The sticker reads, in letters less than one centimetre high,
"Recommended on tripadvisor.ca," and is accompanied by a large logo of
an owl. However the agency says a small sticker, smaller than the palm of
your hand and located about knee level in the pub's front window, is in
violation of Quebec's laws regarding signage. The sticker reads, in letters less than one centimetre high,
"Recommended on tripadvisor.ca," and is accompanied by a large logo of
an owl." Link
Getting back to toys, especially those 'talking' types like the infamous Buzz Lightyear, the OQLF has not only banned those toys from being sold in Quebec stores but also online.
That has the result that an English Quebecer cannot order an educational toy for her child no matter what, even online. Is that really the mandate of the OQLF?
"A board game cafe in Montreal, Chez Geeks, received their third complaint last week from the Office Quebecoise de la Langue Française (OQLF) about selling English board games.
The OQLF is targeting a recent English-only ad for a new board game release at the store. They told shop owner, Giancarlo Caltabiano, that in order to sell the English version of the game he needs a French one." Link
We all understand that many products have just too small a production run and in many cases are produced by small businesses who cannot afford translation for the minuscule Quebec francophone audience.
The OQLF position is that if we can't have it neither can you.
Let me finish with what I believe is the most telling story of OQLF over-reach, its attempt to get retailers to abandon the infamous 'Boxing Day Sale' a tradition in Commonwealth countries. For this reason, the OQLF wants the holiday to be renamed.
Boxing Day is celebrated the day after Christmas and is a tradition whereby the home is purged of the Christmas mess including boxes and wrapping.
"Quebec's language watchdog is encouraging retailers to do away with
the term “Boxing Day” when describing the sales that usually begin Dec.
26.
The OQLF wants retailers and consumers to use "Les soldes de
l’après-Noël," which translates to "After Christmas sales” instead.
And so the OQLF doesn't want a French-language name for the holiday, it wants to eliminate it because it is an English tradition, an offensive travesty akin to demanding that Halloween be renamed "Nuit de costume et de bonbons." Come to think of it, considering Quebec's new obsession with separating religion from public life, the OQLF should have suggested that Boxing Day be renamed Les soldes d'après le 25 decembre.'
For these reasons the OQLF has shamed itself and the political masters who continue to indulge its excesses. Having learned from past gaffes that have humiliated Quebec across the globe, the OQLF is mindful but unrepentant, they remain a frustrated band of anglo-bashers looking to inflict pain on the English as a delightful fringe-benefit of their work.
That being said, I am less opposed to the work of the OQLF than most other anglos. I feel that government does have a role in protecting the French language, but when limiting the rights of one group in favour of another it is important to do so in as kind and as gentle manner as possible, something the OQLF ignores.
The OQLF has always viewed its role differently from what we are officially told, inspired by the nasty father of Bill 101, the hateful Camille Laurin who wanted to drum the English out of Quebec by hook or by crook.
It is sad that the OQLF has adopted its underhanded and mean-spirited methods, instead of working to make French respected and implemented in a thoughtful, respectful and coherent manner.
