Tuesday, August 30, 2011

20 Years of Giving the Finger to Ottawa Finally Catches up with Quebec

Quebeckers have always been emotional voters and the results of the last federal election confirm once again, that they don't always vote in their best interest. 

Not overly concerned with issues, they vote for 'personality,' leaders who they perceive are on their side, or as they say in French 'sympathique', rather than those who can deliver tangible benefits.

But if Quebeckers don't understand the axiom that political power is proportional with representation in government, perhaps they should consider an old hockey analogy, something they do understand well enough.
That is, that you can't score goals sitting on the bench, even worse sitting in the stands.

For twenty years Quebec got away with this under-representation because the government of the day  believed that Quebec was essential to majority government and that pandering to its interest would somehow translate into future electoral support.

The last two elections destroyed that myth and the present government has no illusions about future considerations (another hockey analogy.)

Quebeckers, are coming to the very slow realization that the Earth has shifted under their feet. All of a sudden, the Harper government is no longer playing the game by the rules that Quebec defined.
This reality is slow to sink in.
Because of history, Quebec naively believed that there'd be no consequences to rejecting the Conservatives again and the old game would be continued to be played by the old rules.

But sometimes, things change.
A guy can only ask a girl out so many times before giving up in frustration.
And so Harper gave up on Quebec, looked for a new beau in English Canada and surprisingly found her in southern Ontario.
For Quebec, it's quite a shock, because the flowers and candy are no longer flowing its way. The slow realization that the province is the odd girl out is hard to swallow, but true nevertheless. And now as Harper struts down Main Street, arm in arm with his new girlfriend, Quebec looks on in disbelief, starting to worry that it's just not a fling.

Typical of those who can't read the writing on the wall is Richard Martineau of  Le Journal de Montreal who complains that too many royalist terms are creeping into the Conservative lexicon.
"When the federal government announced that Jack Layton would have a state funeral, the press release said that Jack Layton was "head of  Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition and a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada '. My God !!!!! Harper is really attached to the Queen ..."
In response, a reader in the comments section set Mr. Martineau straight, rather succinctly. 
"Get used to it, he's got a majority" LINK

Another slow to realize that Quebec has no IOU's to cash in Ottawa is Pauline Marois who suggested last week that she and Jean Charest form a common front and go to Ottawa to demand that Harper pay for a new Champlain bridge. Link
This is the same Marois who promised to make Harper's life Hell, if elected as Quebec premier and so teaming up with Jean Charest who humiliated Harper at an enviornmental conference last year in Copenhagen, to demand anything, is a bit presumptuous.
Good luck, with that!

I'm not suggesting that Harper is deliberately hurting Quebec, it's just that without proportional representation in cabinet, Quebec's point of view is shortchanged.

A good example of this is the re-application of the 'Royal' appellation to the Canadian Air Force and Navy, a decision wildly detested in Quebec.
Had there been four or five more strong Quebec members in cabinet, it would never have happened.

Having treaded lightly during the years of minority government, the Conservatives, now that they have a free hand, are bound and determined to re-shape the country. Make no mistake, those changes will be profound.
With little or no influence on those decisions, Quebec is badly served.

Already cabinet Ministers are taking an arrogant in-your-face attitude against those who complain about their agenda, whether they be in the civil service or the private sector. Even sadder is the fact, that when Quebec politicians and media complain about policy, they are roundly ignored, not even given the courtesy of a response.
That's how important Quebec is to the Conservatives. What a change!

Recently, Jason Kenney ripped Amnesty International a new one, for it's criticism of the government's publication of a most-wanted list of immigration fugitives. His open letter condescendingly mocked the organization and set a tone that this government wasn't going to listen to those who don't share its philosophy. LINK.
This follows a letter he wrote last year blasting Catholic bishops for opposing his anti-human smuggling bill. LINK
This isn't the first time Kenney ran afoul of the Church. Last year he was also chastised for cutting $7 million in funding to KAIROS, a Canadian church organization which supports overseas development in Third World countries. Kenny accused the organization of being antisemitic.

Then Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, blasted the public broadcaster for refusing to publish that same most-wanted list of fugitives that Ottawa is keen on deporting. Realizing from which direction the wind is blowing, the CBC caved, as did Radio-Canada in reversing its decision to hire Gilles Duceppe. LINK   Watch a Interview

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson told the Canadian Bar association to take a hike when it opposed the Conservatives new sentencing guidelines for criminals.  LINK

And then there's Heritage Minister James Moore who didn't agree with the federal language watchdog's decision to spy on Ottawa businesses, publicly mocking the official Languages Commissioner Graham Fraser for proposing that mystery shoppers check whether Ottawa merchants are serving customers in French. LINK

All of these ministers are sending the clearest of signals.-
Tow the Tory line or face the consequences. Their motto- "RESISTANCE IS FUTILE"

Let's not forget the elimination of the gun registry and the elimination of the voter subsidy for political parties, all hotly opposed by Quebec.

But perhaps most galling is Ottawa's decision to provide a loan guarantee to Newfoundland for a project that would build a distribution network for electricity that would bypass Quebec, infuriating Quebec politicians who view the affair as unfair competition. Ottawa's response- icy silence.

ALL THIS WITHIN THREE MONTHS OF BEING ELECTED!

Let's not forget, that over the next four years, Harper will completely re-shape the Supreme Court, with a least four, maybe five of the judges scheduled to be changed.  

And so the pendulum has swung away from Quebec, and even though many in the province haven't realized it yet, with four more years of Conservative rule, the penny will inevitably drop that Quebec is the odd province out.
With so few Conservative seats in Quebec to protect and the threat of a referendum and Independence no longer viable, Quebec has lost all leverage in Ottawa.

How will Quebeckers react?
Petulance? Arrogance? Rage? Frustration? Defiance?

I'm getting a different sense.
It comes from a shift in opinion in those comment sections under all those stories of the big bad Conservatives that fill Quebec newspapers and websites. Readers are starting to advocate cooperation and in many instances are defending the Conservatives.

Something is happening in Quebec.
Realizing that blackmail doesn't work and that threats of independance are no longer scarey, voices are being raised to compromise and get with the program.

I know that this is something that nobody would dare allude to, but I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that this attitude will grow as time goes by.

Just like the girl who arrogantly brushes off an enthusiastic suitor, when those affections are directed elsewhere, interest, is re-kindled.

Parents know the spiel. Spare the rod and spoil the child.
Let's face it, Quebec was one spoilt child!

Like a recalcitrant youth subjected to a serious dose of tough love, Quebec is starting to come around, proving that decades of coddling wasn't the answer.

Can this attitude change really be happening?
Maybe....just maybe!

Friday's Post;
OQLF Sign Controversy- It's Deja Vu, All Over Again!

32 comments:

  1. Score a big, sweet laurel for James Moore. Why the hell don't they just abolish the OLC? Quebec thumbs its nose at English whenever it damn well feels like it and that woman who's uglier than my brother's two bulldogs who runs the OQLF, encourages store merchants to speak to Americans in French. That attitude and direction from the language watchdogs' top dog is beneath moronic--it's SUB-moronic!

    She obviously doesn't remember how Americans dissed Quebec for that in the 70s and 80s. I saw comedian Jimmie Walker talking about a trip he took to Montreal back in the 70s, and it wasn't flattering at all! In fact, it opened the floodgate of future comments of ill repute about Montreal and Quebec.

    A few years ago while my life partner was still living in Montreal, I came in for a visit and at the last minute figured she'd like to see the shops on St-Denis St. I'd never gone shopping there myself figuring I wasn't welcome, but I figured my French is adequate if worse came to worst. She agreed.

    To my surprise, the experience proved to be a surprising, refreshing revelation. Not one store didn't at least try to serve us in English. A couple had fluently bilingual staff! One shopkeeper barely could utter two words of English, but she at least made the attempt. For the first time, I thought détente was possible!

    As for the bridges, they are fully Quebec's responsibility, and they neglect their bridges, underpasses, overpasses, tunnels entry and exit ramps, roads, etc. etc. etc.

    To avoid the ridicule of years past, the moment I left the 401 in Ontario over the border onto the 20 in Quebec, the thumpety-thumpety-thump of the 20, let alone the border sign, could have easily announced I crossed the border. Quebec's rememdy for that was for the thumpety-thump to begin about 5km over the border! They now properly pave those first few kilometers!

    Infrastructure is excluded from Quebec's priorities, or it's at least far down the list. What will they do now that they can't factor in Ottawa paying for half their projects. The PQ of the 1970s was famous for doing that! Their philosophy was if Ottawa didn't kick in the half the PQ so cordially and regularly invited them to do, it was Ottawa's fault the project didn't get off the ground, or at least were responsible for cost overruns if Quebec decided to go ahead anyway.

    I hope Harper throws right back in Quebec's face all they threw in Ottawa's for the last 35+ years...and then some. What does Harper have to lose, five little seats? He should make up those seats in Newfoundland if he treats them right!

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  2. "Not one store didn't at least try to serve us in English."

    Tiens donc!2 touristes anglos soyons gentils avec eux et ils aligneront leurs cartes de crédit :)

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  3. We aren't going to sell out our beliefs to vote for someone just for certain favors. The conservative ideals (religion, guns, oil, pollution, army, long jail sentences for any crime, rednecks, inbreeding, etc...) aren't for this province, and we're not going to just change who we are just because Harper won't share his toys with us.

    We've already been through that; Maurice Duplessis used to visit small towns in quebec and promise to give you a stove if you voted for him! And if a region didn't vote for him, well too bad, they suffered, and received nothing from the government for the next few years. Sounds a lot like the current conservative government.

    So you guys enjoy your free stoves, we're going to stick to our beliefs and ideals, even if that means getting screwed over. Hey, at least there's no more Bloc! :D

    oh also @MrSauga: Seeing as how you obviously aren't a quebec citizen, I don't really see what your opinion (which is based on very little) really matters. Also we aren't in the 70s or 80s anymore, times have changed *a lot* since then.

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  4. Yo, Anon @ 10:24AM: Player, you obviously don't read the blog that often. I've disclosed time and time again I was born, raised, and educated in Quebec, and lived the first 26 years of my life there.

    I left mostly due to the language nonsense, but also because the government was run by a bunch of clods and chmimpanzees! The corruption in government even then was getting under my skin. I lived in Ottawa for a short time in that time, and I saw a cleaner, better organized environment, even where the Ottawa River came between the two places. It convinced me once and for all Quebec was not my place. It was also a pleasure to see English on signs.

    Player, rest assured, I know of what I write!

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  5. @Mr.Sauga:
    Oh ok I apologize then, but it's really not as bad as you make it sound in your post.
    I really like my province, including it's mix of language and cultures. If only we could get rid of the racist/ignorant french rednecks. But even then, that's only a minority (the ones with low education and who have never been outside their little town usually, in my experience). The rest are very decent people, with values that I'd consider to be very similar to what you'd find in eastern Ontario.

    Also, can you get me an english job in Ontario? :P

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  6. Kebec is overrepresented in very respect in Ottawa and had been for decades now. Enough is enough PM Harper, get to work, no more pandering to this racist, bigoted (bills 22, 178, 101…) province of Kebec.

    Ignore the province period, we outside Kebec gave you a majority now get to work.

    Majority rules ??? I guess we will see. Here is my wish list to fixing this country. Now let’s get to work repealing decades of bad expensive laws forced upon the country by tax and spend, scum bag, socialist, anti-English language, anti-BNA, bigoted, Quebecers. Repeal the charter, end forced phony expensive bilingualism only outside Kebec, multiculturalism, lower/change immigration, eliminate equalization, ad the 30 new seats in Parliament (Ontario, Alberta, BC), reduce Kebecs seats, elected senate/or abolish – fixed terms (8 years max), fixed terms for MPs as well (8 year max), lower/reduce gold plated MP pensions, end subsidies to parties, lower all taxes, eliminate (not reduce) debt, reduce the size of government/RCMP…eliminate departments, public servant salary cap… Tell unions to rot in hell or Kebec. This would be nice start.

    Get to work Harper; you have a majority, do something with it or else…you will lose money, and our votes, I guarantee it.

    Remember one thing, the internet was not around when Trudeau, Mulroney, Chretein... and his scum bags from Quebec put Canada heavily into debt, pandered to Kebec…destroyed our proud real BNA, UEL history... Wake up!!! News travels a lot faster then it used to.

    Think of the debt you are leaving your children, your grandchildren…wake up man!!!

    GET to work. WE ARE watching.

    "And so majority rule is fine, if you're in the majority. Not so fine if you're in the minority."
    Every Canadian in Quebec sympathizes, we really do. BS

    "If we wish to remain a family made up of two founding nations, respectful of each other"
    We passed bilingualism (respect), they banned our language in response. Respect my arse!

    "If Quebeckers were to signal their real desire to compromise"
    How about not electing facists (and other assorted bigots and weasels) and loosing the
    racist laws fo a start? Loosing that Quebec penchant for renaming everything (revisionist history 101) would be a plus also.

    Respect is a two way street.

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  7. Yet the famed "Van Doos" regiment always carried the term Royal and none of the usual cast of pseudo-victims decried it. Now that Mr Harper unified the forces with the term, all hell breaks loose.

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  8. Let them go, let them go, let them go. But before that, ask them to give back all the money Canada has been forking out...After that, they can join India or Sicily or become the Unique Supreme Reign of the Super Nation Quebec, but not after giving back what they received and has been receiving from Ottawa.
    So fed up with these peasants...

    WESTALLOPHONE++

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  9. "...ask them to give back all the money Canada has been forking out..."

    Pas question westallo?...Allo?:

    Donner c'est donner,reprendre c'est voler!

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  10. Intéressant!Jack est maintenant plus populaire qu'avant sa mort.

    http://tinyurl.com/43vcbly

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  11. @Anon 11:24 and @Westallophone:

    Do you two realize that you're just as bad as the people you are insulting?

    Both of you make very racist comments and huge generalizations.

    You're basically sinking to the level of the people you are speaking against, and you're making the english side look just as stupid as the french side.

    I don't like the french redneck "Jean-Guys", but you guys are your own english redneck "Don Cherrys".

    I'd like to live in a country without any of you small-minded racist idiots, be they french or english.

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  12. Mr. Harper needs to end the official bilingualism program in Canada. RIGHT NOW. Canada should have only one official language: ENGLISH.

    To be fair, Quebec should be entitled to have bilingual status (not unilingual!) and that must include English.

    Excluding Quebec, less than 3% of Canadians speak or are French. What a waste of money and resources making the entire country bilingual, for no other reason except to infect the rest of Canada with Joule-French to give Quebecers a perverse sense of pleasure.

    In all seriousness, we may as well have forced Klingon language put on all food packages, labels, road signs, etc, because less than 3% of Canadians are die-hard Star Trek fans (I bet there's more Trek fans in Canada than there are French speakers! hah!)

    How nice it would be

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  13. @Lord British

    I can't disagree with you more. The "entire country" isn't being "made bilingual"; only a restricted subset of it is subjected to regulatory bilingualism. And even there, the purpose of that bilingualism is in most cases to give people more opportunity to understand and participate in things, not less.

    In my view, this compares favorably to the more restrictive pseudo-protectionist unilingualism that passes for harmony in my home province. People should be allowed to live in the language they want, and ought to be encouraged to speak at least the other official language, if not many others too.

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  14. ...to Lord British: Lookit, I take a dim view on Quebec because of the language nonsense but also the disorganization and corruption. As far as I'm concerned, Quebec is the North American head office for organized crime, and up until the 1960s, the Roman Catholic church.

    I loosely agree with Apparatchik's response to you, but I'm thinking in terms of being realistic. There are over six million French speakers in Quebec (mother tongue), and about 2/3 of them don't speak English. It's their loss because it puts them perpetually in their own prison if they can't communicate with the other 340 million people in the Americas (mostly North America) who speak English, mother tongue or second language.

    You therefore have 4 million people in Quebec who speak French exclusively, maybe a million more elsewhere in the Americas in the same boat (mostly the Caribbean). Compare that to Brazil with about 190 million people (Portuguese) and the rest, about 335 million, who speak Spanish. Less than 1% of the population in the Americas speaks French exclusively, almost all in Quebec.

    Sadly, the generation in Quebec that is now dying off bit by bit, has a birthrate dropping like a stone and increasing immigration that doesn't buy into the nationalism krapola is causing Quebec's leverage to drop. Hallelujah!

    French won't die off in your lifetime because the people of Quebec are determined to keep it going for decades and generations to come. The anger and passion of the past may be, and hopefully is deteriorating, but it French still serves as that cement that binds them together.

    Stating they should go back to France is a non-starter because they were born in Quebec. It's their birthright just like it was mine, but I chose not to buy into their program.

    They've rid themselves of many an Anglophone, including this one, but there is a certain resilience, especially in Montreal, that won't leave. I know some people who are talking of moving back from here in Toronto, but I won't be one of them. My son is here and he cannot function in French so Montreal, except for possible visits, is out of the question for him.

    I've grown to like life in the GTA, and with family in tow, there is no reason to return. I've grown to appreciate the shorter, less harsh winters of Toronto, too! I still support the Habs, and I think I always will.

    It has come to the point where it's no skin off my nose if Quebec separates or not, and in fact, I support its separation now because they will suffer dire consequences economically if they separate, and who will deal with them in French if they do. Official bilingualism will suffer an enormous backlash both in and outside Quebec, but when you're a nation within the Americas with less than 1% of the French-speaking population, either you stay unilingual and imprisoned in one jurisdiction, or you learn the language of the majority to make yourself more marketable in the global economy. I say it's a no-brainer, and for those who support the former, they indeed have no brains.

    If you live in Quebec, put up, shut up and learn French if you want to work, and if you live outside Quebec, learn French and become more marketable for jobs, especially in sales and customer service. It's worked for me!!!

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  15. It goes beyond language in Quebec, if speaking French fluently (even embracing it), was all there was to it, we would have harmony and acceptance in Quebec right now. It's anything but that now, even in 2011. Unfortunately it's being born "different" that is the problem, much like being born Jewish was a problem for a certain group in the 1930's and 40's. We'll always be labeled 'English', nothing can change that to the Quebecois. Nothing that we say, that we do, or follow will change that. We were born different, and apparently, different is not welcome here. Period.

    The whole issue with language and protecting it is a thinly veiled guise to openly practice hatred and racism.

    In a modern, open and progressive society, people should be allowed to speak and be educated in any language they choose. Practice any religion they choose (including atheism; choosing no religion or belief at all). Etc. All so long as its not harmful to anyone else.
    It's called freedom and equality.

    Forcing bilingualism on the entire country of Canada is wrong, people should have the right to choose what language they use. If there is a need for French in parts of Canada on signs or packaging, by all means, use it--no one has the right to say you cannot (i.e. New Brunswick or Quebec). But forcing it places where not one French speaking person even lives? It's made further absurd when Canada is officially bilingual (all in the name of Quebec), yet Quebec itself is officially unilingual. How incredibly hypocritical and agaisnt common sense is that.

    Of course I've come to learn, the entire province of Quebec, in every humanly possible respect, goes against common sense. We live in Wonderland, where everything in is flipped upside-down, backwards and inside out. Right is wrong, up is down, and black is white. Welcome to Quebec.

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  16. "In a modern, open and progressive society, people should be allowed to speak and be educated in any language they choose"

    Ha oui?Qui vous a dit ça?

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  17. J'espère que la revue Maclean's fera un article sur le sujet.

    http://tinyurl.com/3zmpk8j

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  18. "I can't disagree with you more. The "entire country" isn't being "made bilingual"; only a restricted subset of it is subjected to regulatory bilingualism"

    Hmm let me see!

    40% bilingual hiring quotas in the civil service of Canada where in fact the amount of unilingual francos are about 13% who mostly reside in Quebec. In AB a bilingual quota of 5% where in fact there is less than 0.1% unilingual francos. Hardly makes any sense and is very discriminatory against the unilingual english majority in Canada.

    The OLA in an expensive albatross that was enacted in 1969 by PET to appease Quebec. Should be changed or altered accordingly to reflect actual needs for bilingual services in the civil service.

    Further, the Office of the Official Language commissioner should really be named the Office of French Promotion in Canada. Note that Mr. Fraser does not have a lot to say about the current situation in Quebec with Bill 101 etc. and the obvious discrimination against the anglo minority. Grade = Fail.

    Canada is not and never will be a bilingual country. The numbers and statistics are very clear.

    Also laughable is the French Immersion projects in Western Canada where free bussing, after school programs etc are provided to the students attending these schools. Similar programs in the English schools, NOT. What is laugable is after graduation the students of these programs dispense with the French as it really has no real benefit to them in their day to day lives or post-secondary education programs. What a wast of time and MONEY>

    Glad to see James Moore put the boots to Grahame Frasers plan to put language police on the streets of Ottawa to check the level of French offerings by local businesses.

    The whole OLA and concept of a bilingual Canada is an expensive scam that should be amended similar to the taxpayer funded political contributions (loonie per vote), gun control (another failed albatross).

    Right to be educated in another language? By all means, but do it on your own dime and not mine.

    Why should French take precedence over other languages which are much more commonly used in certain regions (eg. Mandarin in BC). Don't give me the founding nation BS which is an old and tired argument. Times have changed.

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  19. "Don't give me the founding nation BS which is an old and tired argument. Times have changed."

    Que proposez-vous alors?Dès maintenant les chinois représentent un des deux peuples fondateurs?Ensuite on nous accuse de vouloir changer l'histoire.

    Le temps passe mais l'histoire demeure.Désolé!

    La seule issue possible: Le Québec indépendant!
    Et dans ce cas échéant,je ne voudrais pas faire partie de votre minorité anglo.

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  20. "Que proposez-vous alors?Dès maintenant les chinois représentent un des deux peuples fondateurs?Ensuite on nous accuse de vouloir changer l'histoire."

    No, just the reality of the situation in some regions when looking at linguistics. Not a founding nation but then again, one could argue that neither is Quebec as the French were defeated by the English, n'est pas?


    "Le temps passe mais l'histoire demeure.Désolé!"

    The story is irrelevant. Fact, Canada is by far majority anglo with a minority franco element.

    "je ne voudrais pas faire partie de votre minorité anglo."

    Meme chose pour moi, je ne voudrais pas faire de votre minorite franco-phonie. :)

    "Le Québec indépendant!"

    Bonne chance avec ca... :) Mais, J'ai doute qu'il y est beaucoup de chance avec la, se produise dans l'avenir, quand, on considère ce qui s'est passé au mouvement séparatiste

    Must be terrible to be you.

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  21. > […] if speaking French fluently (even embracing it), was all there was to it, we would have harmony and acceptance in Quebec right now. It's anything but that now, even in 2011.

    Perhaps it’s not kumbaya yet, but it’s not kumbaya in any society anywhere. Nonetheless, aiming for personal bilingualism (perfect bilingualism, such as Jean Charest, for example), is still a worthy goal that makes for the best experience at home and a richer one abroad.

    Never forget that, no matter how much venom you hear coming from Anglophobes or Francophobes.

    > We'll always be labeled 'English', nothing can change that to the Quebecois. Nothing that we say, that we do, or follow will change that. We were born different, and apparently, different is not welcome here. Period.

    Change the attitude by forcing social acceptability into tolerance. Engage your French-Canadian acquaintances when real-life examples present themselves. Learning is best done by doing, and living through a tangible example of a problem is the best way to open a society’s eyes, one person at a time.

    And if you do this in Montreal with two symmetric groups, I’ll bet you’ll be surprised how many francophones really don’t understand the genuine anglo worries (legislated and sanctioned marginalization, rights/advertising/freedom of speech violation) and how many anglophones don’t understand the genuine franco worries (linguistic extinction, boorish and encroaching cultural domination) either. Yes, even in 2011.

    > The whole issue with language and protecting it is a thinly veiled guise to openly practice hatred and racism.

    Certain aspects of it might certainly encourage a whole lot of bigots and many fast talkers have even made a political and/or journalistic career out of it. But perhaps out of this bigotry we could all maybe learn that nobody likes to be made to feel like crap, and that “feeling like crap” is both felt and interpreted differently depending on the various deep-seated fears/complexes you have or have been taught.

    > J'espère que la revue Maclean's fera un article sur le sujet.

    Moi aussi ; ça me fait royalement chier (pardonnez mon jeu de mots). Et par la suite, j’aimerais qu’on enquête sur les comportements téléphoniques de Maria Mourani, députée bloquiste d’Ahuntsic :

    [http://communities.canada.com/shareit/blogs/politics/archive/2010/05/27/mps-telephone-bills-bq-s-mourani-is-tops-while-liberal-milliken-is-cheapest.aspx]

    > […] 40% bilingual hiring quotas in the civil service of Canada […]

    People keep bitching about that like it was the only employer in the country. If the Government itself can’t set the pace by promoting bilingualism in government offices and institutions, then who should?

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  22. > The OLA in an expensive albatross that was enacted in 1969 by PET to appease Quebec.

    I’m sure there are a few Acadians out there who would disagree. Some of them still revere PET as some kind of Jesus-like savior of the French language in the Maritimes…

    > Canada is not and never will be a bilingual country. The numbers and statistics are very clear.

    Right, and 640 kilobytes of RAM memory ought to be enough for everybody, as Bill Gates is famously quoted as saying in 1981.

    > What is laugable is after graduation the students of these programs dispense with the French as it really has no real benefit to them in their day to day lives or post-secondary education programs. What a wast of time and MONEY>

    You’re right; I can’t tell you how useful those Home Economics classes were, or how many times I’ve been saved by my ability to score a touchdown…

    Maybe what we really need are more French-speakers in majority anglo parts of the country and more English-speakers in franco parts.

    The truth is that much of the education systems currently in place around the developed world are in desperate need of a serious overhaul. But to answer your point, I doubt that my having learned Biology and Canadian history in French while doing pre-University Algebra in English has impeded my ability to reproduce, discuss history, or do math in either official language. A skill is a skill. The only (partial) exception, of course, is language itself.

    > Glad to see James Moore put the boots to Grahame Frasers plan to put language police on the streets of Ottawa to check the level of French offerings by local businesses.

    Agreed. Vigilanteism – unlike vigilance – is disgusting no matter how it’s packaged.

    > The whole OLA and concept of a bilingual Canada is an expensive scam […]

    Just like universal healthcare. Kill everybody! It’ll be cheaper… on… the… remaining taxpay…

    > Don't give me the founding nation BS which is an old and tired argument. Times have changed.

    The argument that we should always do something because that’s how we’ve always done it is certainly silly no matter the circumstance in which it’s invoked. But perhaps some kind of harmony could be sought which reconciles historical and present realities. THAT is what we should strive for.

    > La seule issue possible: Le Québec indépendant!

    Si c’était vraiment la seule solution possible, le Québec serait devenu indépendant il y a longtemps. La preuve même que ce n’est pas la seule issue possible, c’est le contre-exemple qu’est l’histoire du Québec.

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  23. Haïti chérie dit: ''But if Quebeckers don't understand the axiom that political power is proportional with representation in government, perhaps they should consider an old hockey analogy, something they do understand well enough.'' Mais quelle arrogance cher Éditeur, pour qui vous prenez-vous pour donner des diagnostic sur le niveau de compréhension de l'électorat ? Et que dire de ceux qui ont votés pour les Conservateurs de Stephen Harper... Voici une citation qui a été légèrement modifiée (voir les parenthèses) mais qui décrit bien le questionnement avec de tels propos... ''La couleur (langue) de mon corps (esprit) nuit-elle à mon honneur et à ma bravoure ? Toussaint Louverture (1743-1803)

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  24. "Right, and 640 kilobytes of RAM memory ought to be enough for everybody, as Bill Gates is famously quoted as saying in 1981"

    Poor analogy!! More RAM has benefit to speed up a computer. More RAM which does not talk to the operating system, is of no value.

    "Just like universal healthcare. Kill everybody! It’ll be cheaper"

    Dare say if the money wasted on the "FAILED" OLA
    (100's of billions of dollars) had been re-directed wiseley the health care system would not be in current state of disrepair. After all, the pie dough is quite finite.

    "But perhaps some kind of harmony could be sought which reconciles historical and present realities"

    The policy of enforced bilingualism to appease a minority (which is becoming more of a minority on a yearly basis) is not creating any harmony that I can see evidenced. The rhetoric on this blog is proof enough when it comes to the language divide between Quebec and the ROC. Maritimes (mostly NB) are really not significant as without Quebec and/or the OLA the French/Acadians in that province would have been assimilated long ago. (yah, I know, won't be a popular statement). This French issue is for the most part spilling into other regions where the French are demanding equivalent services to the anglo population at huge incremental cost. All, their right, due to PET's ill fated OLA.

    Quite ridiculous and fiscally irresponsible of the government.

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  25. Comment se fait-il que les canadians n'apportent que des références américaines et ne citent que des américains.

    Les canadians ont-ils une culture?

    J'ai parfois l'impression qu'il vivent que par procuration.

    Bravo au redneck de 7:55.Attention aux coups de soleil quand tu vas récolter tes poireaux.Bien le bonjour aux habitants des vastes plaines de l'Ouest canayennes!

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  26. @Press 9:

    Et la culture québécoise, dont on "doit protéger à tout prix", c'est quoi au juste? :

    - Le Français, qu'on doit protéger, alors que la majorité des québécois ne peuvent pas écrire une phrase sans faire de fautes?
    - Musique Plus et les autres médias qui s’adressent à des gens avec un QI de 70 ou moins?
    - Nos énormes syndicats corrompus qui permettent aux Jean-Guys de fond de rang de gagner 80000$ par année à se pogner le cul, le tout avec un diplôme de 5ie année?
    - Nos BS, ces champions du Wal-Mart?
    - La xénophobie généralisée, et les lois et justifications qu'on s'invente en se croyant "ouverts" et "progressifs"?
    - Les investissements de nos gouvernements séparatistes dans la langue, en coupant dans les infrastructures, l'éducation et la santé?
    - Les commentaires racistes de nos politiciens?
    - Les terroristes francophones qui croient que la violence est le seul moyen d'arriver à leur but?
    - Les québécois qui croient que la connaissance de plusieurs langues et cultures est l'équivalent d'être assimilé?

    Vous (les séparatistes) utilisez souvent le mot "culture" afin de défendre vos idées racistes, mais en fait il faut se regarder soi-même avant de juger les autres.

    De plus, le reste des canadiens n'ont aucun problème à s'intégrer au reste de l'Amérique du Nord, même au reste du monde. Les différences culturelles ne sont pas importantes.
    Je comprend qu'elles le sont pour vous, ces gens qui voudraient s'isoler entre eux afin d'éviter les méchants anglais et immigrants, mais ce n'est pas la réalité du monde.
    Vous pouvez toujours essayer de vous trouver une ile à quelque part, où vous pourrez être seuls dans votre petit monde.

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  27. "Vous pouvez toujours essayer de vous trouver une ile à (sic) quelque part, où vous pourrez être seuls dans votre petit monde"

    Comme les anglos sur l'ile de Montréal,isolés du reste du Québec ? :)

    "De plus, le reste des canadiens n'ont aucun problème à s'intégrer au reste de l'Amérique du Nord."

    Les canayens ne sont que de faux américains,des américains de deuxième classe.Pas d'amerloc,pas de littérature,pas de cinéma et surtout pas de télévision,bref une simili-nation sans couleur et sans saveur.C'est triste.

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  28. - Musique Plus et les autres médias qui s’adressent à des gens avec un QI de 70 ou moins?

    Et selon vous,existe-t-il des anglophones en amérique correspondant au profil que vous identifiez?

    Je crois que vous ne voyagez pas beaucoup,n'est-ce pas?Vous m'apparaissez comme quelqu'un de très complexé,je me trompe?

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  29. "Et selon vous,existe-t-il des anglophones en amérique correspondant au profil que vous identifiez?"

    Ces gens là existent partout au monde. Le modèle québécois l'encourage par contre. (Nous sommes l'endroit le plus syndicalisé en Amérique du Nord par exemple)

    "Je crois que vous ne voyagez pas beaucoup,n'est-ce pas?Vous m'apparaissez comme quelqu'un de très complexé,je me trompe? "

    Quelle surprise.. Lorsqu'on a aucuns arguments, on se replie sur des attaques personnelles!

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  30. "Lorsqu'on a aucuns arguments, on se replie sur des attaques personnelles."

    Hahahaha!Mais je ne vous connais pas...Monsieur?

    "Le modèle québécois l'encourage par contre. (Nous sommes l'endroit le plus syndicalisé en Amérique du Nord par exemple)"

    Quelle est l'équation utilisée qui nous permet de mettre en rapport le quotient intellectuel (moyen) d'une société et son niveau de syndicalisation?

    Jamais je n'aurais pensé qu'un jour je poserais une telle question.

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  31. "Quelle est l'équation utilisée qui nous permet de mettre en rapport le quotient intellectuel (moyen) d'une société et son niveau de syndicalisation?"

    Je ne parlais pas du QI, mais plutôt du modèle québécois, que certaines personnes veulent défendre à tout prix.

    Mais je peux faire un lien assez rapide: Les syndicats n'encouragent pas l'éducation (en fait ils encouragent le décrochage, pour aller travailler à la "shoppe" à 18ans).
    De plus, les syndicats sont contre la productivité individuelle, donc on encourage les gens à être paresseux, à en faire le minimum et à se fier sur les autres.

    Ça existe partout bien sûr, mais c'est pire ici.

    De plus, il est facile de faire le lien avec un bas niveau d'éducation lorsqu'on considère qu'on est dans une province qui fait des lois pour INTERDIRE l'éducation à ses citoyens.

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  32. When the hell did this become a French board? Typical kebekwah...always demanding more and more French and forcing English Canada to pay for it.
    I spent 4 decades i Kweebeq as a 2nd class citizen. And I now fervently hope for a separate (and partitioned, of course) Kebec!

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