Olympic Team a Tribute to Bilingualism and Respect

I cannot explain how much I loathe the thoroughly detestable bee-atch, that is Pauline Marois.

Over the years I've learned to despise her and her opportunistic husband, a two-bit promoter who made millions on the back of Quebec taxpayers whilst Pauline was sitting as a cabinet minister in a PQ government.
Alas I'm sure there's no connection to her position and him scoring a dream job running a government agency....ahem...

After running up almost 750 million dollars in deficits at the Société générale de financement (SGF) the government investment agency he was running, he was finally dumped asked to resign, but not before negotiating a sweetheart deal.

Incidentally, during his disastrous tenure at the SGF, it was typical for the Board of Directors to vote themselves up to a 50% bonus on their base salaries, all the while the corporation was posting losses amounting to hundreds of millions!

When he was finally pushed out the door, the loathsome Claude Blanchet cashed in a golden parachute that would make a Concordia rector blush in shame. It included close to $300,000 in severance and wait for it..... an $80,000 pension for life!
This after just a few short years of disastrous leadership.

"Blanchet settlement is way out of line ---  JOSEE LEGAULT
The Montréal Gazette Friday, May 30, 2003

..." The fact is that after days of discussions with the new government regarding the conditions of his departure that he had negotiated with the previous Parti Québécois government, the 56-year-old Blanchet left a very, very happy man. The night before Landry spoke out, Blanchet gave an interview to TQS. He was wearing a huge smile and said that he had no worries whatsoever about his future. And here's why.

Blanchet will be receiving one full year of salary: $257,500, plus an $18,000 bonus and an annual lifelong pension of $80,000 - that's $33,000 more a year than the previous government had agreed to. In exchange for this increase, he forewent $234,000 that combined his three-month notice and another generous bonus that went with the cancellation of his contract." 

Read the sordid details here (in French) or a previous post of mine, but prepared to be ill.
 
So when the sanctimonious Marois complains about government overpaying public servants or that Jean Charest was dishonest in accepting a supplemental salary from the Quebec Liberal Party, it's a bit hard to swallow the hypocrisy. She reminds me of that disgraced City of Montreal politician Benoit Labonté, who ran on a policy of sweeping corruption out of City Hall, only to be outed as a liar who accepted over $100,000 in under the table contributions from the infamous Tony Accurso. Link{Fr}

Marois is a your typical rich bitch, a cynical manipulator, who has not an ounce of respect for the hoi-polloi.
I remember her offering a televised guided tour of the rather modest country shack she bought in Charlevoix (from where she is elected) to support the fiction that she and her hubby are just common folk.

What a lie!
At the time, her real home was a Jed Clampett type mansion in Laval, acquired on government land through dubious shenanigans.
Check out the pictures of where she really lived.
What a two-faced manipulator!

So pardon me for my cynicism, when it comes to giving lessons to Jean Charest about honesty or anyone else for that matter, Marois has the moral authority of a televangelist à la Jim Baker.

At any rate, all this comes around to the fact that I never thought I could think less of this nasty hypocritical political opportunist until last week when she went out of her way to wish Quebec Olympic athletes good luck, while pointedly ignoring Canadians and even francophones from outside Quebec.

An ugly display of narrow-minded exclusionism and small-mindedness, which I expect, represents the basis of her personal political philosophy.

Perhaps it is easier to understand her enmity towards the Canadian Olympic team, when one puts into context the machinations of the separatist mind.

A right thinking analyst might imagine that separatists like Marois would maintain an elevated level of hate towards what they perceive as Anglophone rednecks, Quebec bashers and the Conservatives and Harper supporters that treat Quebec and the French language with what they characterize as disdain and disrespect.
But you'd be wrong.

Truth be told, these foils serve her purpose rather neatly, they are enemies that she and other separatists can rail against, giving rise to public dis-satisfaction with Canada and fomenting support for the sovereigntist cause.

It's been the hallmark of the sovereigntist movement to build whatever momentum they have, based on the 'unfair' and 'disrespectful' treatment of Quebec and francophones at the hands of the evil federalists in the ROC.
Pissing, moaning and wallowing in eternal collective self-pity of the put-upon victim is the most essential element in the sovereigntist tool kit. They've refined the drama for over forty years and anything that offers proof to the contrary, represents a dangerous threat to the narrative.

And so, it is perhaps easy to understand that Canada's Olympic team is everything that Pauline Marois and her political clan fear about Canada.

Canada's Olympic team is without a doubt, a paragon of righteousness, a team dedicated to the proposition of bilingualism and inclusion.

If bilingualism and biculturalism has largely failed across Canada, it hasn't failed on the Canadian Olympic team, which not only talks the talk, but walks the walk.

The Canadian Olympic Association has done an admirable job in making sure that all Canadian elements, especially Quebecers and francophones feel at home, respected and valued. The leadership of the organization is carefully crafted to include francophones and respect for the French language is a cornerstone of its credo.
Although athletes are chosen to the team based on merit alone, administrative and leadership roles are carefully balanced to reflect the Canadian realty.

It is this very scenario that scares the crap out of separatists like Marois.

For them, watching Quebec francophones proudly compete under the auspices of the red maple leaf, is as the old Ayatollah Khomeini said, "like drinking a cup of poison"

In fact, francophone Olympic athletes are the antithesis of separatists, they embrace excellence, personal responsibility, hard work, have a world view and understand the importance of learning and expressing themselves in English.
For Olympic athletes, who may be just about the most motivated people in the world, learning another language isn't a challenge, just another small hurdle to overcome.

Even Anglophone athletes, many who train in Montreal, make it their business to learn French, people like Clara Hughes and Jenifer Heil, even made Quebc their homes, unafraid of embracing a new culture and language.

Canada's first medalists, the beautifully bilingual Jenifer Abel and Émilie Heymans are typical of those francophones on the Olympic team who understood the importance of learning English.
Gushing in both English and French interviews, they instantly became heroes to all Canadians.

DING DING DING! Do I hear the endorsement caravan beating a path to their door? 

For winners like these, learning English or French isn't a bother, impediment or barrier, it is a necessity and more to the point a mark of pride.

No, I don't imagine there are many separatists on Canada's Olympic team, the athletes are too busy being successful, travelling the world representing our country, to worry about the pettiness of metro ticket takers refusing to service clients in English.

When our athletes marched into the Olympic stadium in those instantly recognizable Canadian uniforms, it didn't matter to us if they were francophone, anglophone, black, white, native or ethnic, nor was their respective religion of any consequence.
It was the scarlet uniform, emblazoned with the word CANADA across the chest that bound the athletes together, and bound them to us, no matter where we live and where they come from in this country.

But for some, like Pauline Marois, the Olympics is a sad reminder of reality.
For her and her frustrated militants, watching Quebecers march proudly as equal and valued teammates in the Canadian family mosaic, is a difficult pill to swallow.

When Quebecers win medals they proudly stand before the world under the Canadian flag and when on occasion, the Canadian anthem plays, the whole vigile.net community bite their lips and cower in rage.

Oh what sweet fun!

French versus English Volume 59

Separatist Fever (LA FIÈVRE SOUVERAINISTE...)

by Daniel Castonguay
Translated by The Cat

Attention readers, this article was first published in French.

If you read French, the original webpage is here; AgoraQuebec 

This disease has been spreading around Quebec for 50 years. Although it is less active now, it still affects a considerable number of Quebecers.

Transmission mechanism
Nowadays, its transmission mechanisms are better understood. One of the mechanisms that is still quite prevalent is the contact made between teenagers and their highly-unionized teachers. It is believed that contamination occurs by spoken means, however written means have also been identified (Manual for sovereignty in school). Close contact with people who have been strongly affected may also result in transmission.

Symptoms
The first symptom is usually historical hallucination. The patient comes to feel victimized by constantly revisiting 250-year-old facts while neglecting more contemporary historical reality. Distortion gradually creeps in between historical reality and the beliefs of the patient. Here are some case histories: ''The Night of Long Knives'', ''Pierre Curzi vs. McCartney'' , ''Bourgeois/Falardeau vs. the Plains of Abraham''.
The second symptom that is most readily apparent is ethnic hostility, which results in a disproportionate distrust that is principally directed towards anglophones. It is believed that this second symptom results from the first one. The patient generally believes that English Canadians are hostile to us and that he is their victim. From time to time, the patient comes to think that anglophones need only to leave Quebec, as if their having been here for several generations did not grant them equal citizenship.
The third symptom is the obsession with language. The patient is possessed by an inordinate fear of seeing his language disappear even if objective indications indicate no danger whatsoever. It must be understood that the first symptom prevents the patient from having access to this reality. The combination of these first three symptoms may occasionally result in episodes of francobsession .
The last symptom is the quest for sovereignty, which he sees as the only solution to his symptoms. His other symptoms prevent him from seeing the adverse effects of this quest and its negative consequences.
This clinical portrait results in a patient who is unable to see the global rapprochement of countries and the gradual abolition of borders. He cannot conceive of close collaboration with English-Canadians, who, apart from language, share their concerns. His attachment to French occasionally deprives him of the openness needed to understand the world (see the following case history: Marois/English).

Prognosis
Most patients affected by the disease will eventually heal without requiring any treatment. Some patients may retain one or two symptoms but, unless encouraged by some external stress, may be regarded as cured. Some will unfortunately be affected their entire lifetimes. Certain well-known people unfortunately suffer from the chronic form of this condition. One can think of Bernard Landry, Gilles Vigneault, Gérald Larose, amongst others...

Treatment
Certain clinical approaches are worthwhile. For the first symptom, readings that confront the hallucinations may be useful. For the second symptom, travel in English Canada may bring about a reduction in hostility, as long as the patient's symptoms are not too intense. A patient who is overly affected by the disease should not use this approach since his own hostility could inconvenience English Canadians and help to inflame his own symptoms. As for the third symptom, a good knowledge of the English language lowers the level of anxiety in the patient and makes him realize that he will not disappear but rather will evolve. As for the fourth symptom, it quickly disappears once the other three diminish.

Epidemiology
Separatist Fever made a slow incursion into Quebec beginning in the early sixties and finally attained 40% of citizens by 1980. A large outbreak hit Quebec in 1995, where 49% of citizens were affected. Since then, the disease has consistently regressed. Experts agree that only 30% of those affected continue to suffer from the chronic form of the disease now.
Posted by Agora_Quebec at 18:14 - Daniel Castonguay -

A flag flap in a small Quebec village

Tim, a valued participant of this blog, sent me this email;

"Luc Lamond, the mayor of of Lac-des-Seize-Iles, Qc the small Laurentian community between Morin Heights and Weir, has taken it upon himself to fly the Quebec flag above the Canadian flag despite many complaints from the lake`s cottage dwelling residents. Even though a
solution has been suggested to him, he refuses to even listen to the voters. Members of the council have tried to sway him, but because they are in the minority, nothing gets done. The community has a
single flag pole which flew the Canadian flag above the provincial for many years until recently. The solution of purchasing another flag pole, so that each flag would have one of its own, has been continuously voted down. It seems as if the mayor has no respect for its residents, and continues to show his separatist agenda.

In a further email Tim wrote that after checking, apparently there is no protocol at all for the flying of flags on the same pole. Hmmm.

I certainly don't like what I see, it is disrespectful to both flags, really how cheap can a town be?
I don't think I'd be happy if the Canadian flag was placed above the Quebec flag, on the same pole.

Students lose court fight

"Court rejects bid to throw out parts of anti-protest law, Bill 78

MONTREAL – An attempt to quash certain articles of the provincial Liberal government’s anti-protest legislation was quickly rejected Monday by the Quebec Court of Appeal – even before the case can be heard in Quebec Superior Court – meaning Bill 78 will be in effect as university and CEGEP students head back to school next month. "

Read the rest of the story

Amir Khadir's sister is a plagiarist

"The sister of Amir Khadir has put L'actualité and  L'actualité médicale magazines in trouble by signing a column that was largely copied from a blog which had already appeared on the website of the Metro newspaper.

Contributor to the magazine L'actualité médicale, Dr. Saideh Khadir  published a text, a few weeks ago, which drew a parallel between the claims of those medical specialists and students. However, half of the 10 paragraphs of her column were actually plagiarized from a text written by Akos Verboczy, blogger for Metro since January 2011.

 Hilariously, when the kind doctor phoned the blogger to apologize, she told him that she didn't understand the journalistic rules about copying and would have 're-formulated' his work had she known it was wrong! Ha!Ha!
Read the rest of the story in french

Language Tests coming?

Many of you are way too young to remember the farcical situation back in 1976, when toddlers were given language tests to see if they were really English speaking and thus qualified for English schooling, back in the days of Bill-22. Read an old article about it
I wrote about this story last week, but here is expanded coverage;

"Quebecers will face a French comprehension test before being served in English at the provincial health insurance board, which recently switched its communication policy from bilingual to “en français” at its customer service centre.

The move by the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) to revise its communications to comply with Bill 101, the province’s French-first language policy, worries minority-rights advocates." Read the rest of the story

Student activist leader running for the PQ

"Leo Bureau-Blouin’s debut news conference as a Parti Quebecois candidate on Wednesday was dominated by what he wasn’t wearing: the red square that has come to define student defiance in the province.

The former student leader — who was omnipresent on TV during the tuition protests earlier this year — had to fend off questions about the absence of the red square, which symbolizes opposition to the government’s commitment to hiking the cost of education. " Read the rest of the story

For your information, he is running in a Liberal held riding and his candidacy is meant to send a message to students, to get out and vote.
Over two-thirds of Quebecers oppose the 'red square' and so there's not much hope of him winning.
There's a disparaging political word in French that describes his candidacy--"POTEAU" or pole, somebody who is nothing more than a campaign poster on a hydro pole, meant to show the flag in a hopeless riding.

Are you going to watch the Olympics?

57 out of the 250 or 23% athletes representing Canada in London at the Olympics were born, reside or train in Montreal. That's quite an accomplishment! Link{Fr}

That being said, I don't seem to have much enthusiasm for the Olympic games in London.

Perhaps it's the summer heat or the fact that the Vancouver games are never going to be topped for Canadian pride, accomplishment and chauvinism.

Perhaps it's also the fact that this Aussie lass didn't make the cut to represent her country.
Too bad.....

Ah, c'mom, you watched the whole thing!!!

I'm off on a very small vacation and may or may not post Monday, but will definitely be back by Wednesday.

Have a great weekend!

Bonne fin de semaine a vous tous!!!

Does Premier Charest have a Horseshoe up his Keester

Every time one assumes that Jean Charest is on the ropes, he re-invents himself like Madonna and proves that his career can be salvaged and as Celine Dion would sing, go on and on and on, forever!

I'm not going to duck responsibility, I said a fall election was unlikely unless facts on the ground moved significantly and facts have moved significantly, but whether enough to trigger an election remains to be seen.

As things stand now, there will not be an election because things are too close to call, but clearly, momentum is shifting ever so slightly towards the Liberals and all that is required is a two three percentage jump to trigger an election call.

The latest polls indicate that while Charest isn't burning any popularity records, his Liberal party is running neck and neck with  his arch rival the Parti Quebecois, an astonishing feat considering the bashing he's taken over the last couple of years. It may speak more to the public's natural uncomfortableness with Marois herself and her divisive policies and talk of unattainable sovereignty that scare the bejesus out of mainstream Quebecers.

More interesting is the fact that Francois Legault's new party, the CAQ, perceived as the one-time savoir of the province, appears to be laying quite an egg after a fireball start last year, where all indications pointed that he'd become the next premier of Quebec.
But six months is a lifetime in politics and Mr. Legault's lack of charisma, his disjointed political platform and his inability to attract star candidates, has his party polling down in the twenty percent level, something that has come to aid Mr Charest's quest for another term. It seems that the CAQ has taken more support from the PQ than the Liberals.

And so this election is decidedly a case of choosing between the lesser of two evils.

While the PQ and the Liberals are running neck and neck, something that always worked to the PQ's favour because of the way the votes fell, where they won the lion's share of the seats, that situation has actually reversed itself.
The Liberals, pretty much in a statistical tie with the Parti Quebecois, are now projected to win more seats!

That is an amazing turn around!

For more detailed polling information, go to threehundredeight.com

Most of this support is courtesy of the Quebec Solidaire party which is stealing enough votes in certain ridings to allow the Liberal candidate to nose out the PQ candidate because of separatist vote splitting.
The 8% in popular support for the QS, is more significant than it seems, as their votes are bunched in key ridings. Unlike ridings in western Montreal where their support is insignificant, elsewhere, they poll up to 15% or 20%, all of which comes out of the PQ total.
By my calculations, this QS support will allow Liberal candidates to 'steal' up to nine ridings.

Remember when I told you that the Premier wouldn't call an election any time soon because he was in danger of losing his own riding of Sherbrooke?
Well, that too has turned around, again courtesy to a powerful showing by QS, which is polling at about 14% in that riding, all the votes coming directly out of the pocket of the PQ.
Mr. Charest now has a 5-8% lead in the riding.
It's like the Red Sea parting for Moses and the Israelites and who knows, perhaps Mr. Charest is benefiting from some sort of devine intervention.

The two QS candidates projected to win their seats are of course, none other than Amir Khadir and his co-president Francoise David, both will win their Montreal ridings comfortably.

Don't feel too bad, these ridings traditionally belonged to the PQ and the voting block that represents the QS will assure that the Liberals are in position to form a government, either majority, minority or leading a coalition government (my favorite choice.)

As for the talk of uniting separatist forces, there's nothing really in it for the Quebec Solidaire, the PQ is unlikely to give up any seats to accommodate them and there's nothing in it for the QS to withdraw candidates so that the PQ can win a majority, a case where the QS would become redundant.
Better for Khadir to face off with Charest and company than with Marois, which would be a disastrous situation as QS would have to stake out a position farther to the left of the PQ, or as they say in baseball, way out in left field.
Madame Marois could never offer any QS politico a place in her cabinet, in return for not running candidates, so for the QS there's really nothing to gain from cooperation, much to the hand-wringing of die-hard separatists who know that a uniting of all separatists forces is the only way to power.

And so it seems that the stars are aligning for the Liberals.

A big part of the decision to call an election depends on the students, who are promising to start up protests again this fall.

The public has soured on the whole student thing and the 'red square' has become a symbol of entitlement and radicalism. The number of wearers has dropped dramatically as abuse, some physical, is being directed at wearers. There are stories of 'red squares being denied access to bars and restaurants for 'political reasons' and recently Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, the most famous of the student leaders was told in no uncertain terms by the mayor of Trois Pistoles that he wasn't welcome to attend a city sponsored event. Link{Fr}

For the students, whether they realize it or not, the tide has turned, even the PQ know it. Thus the party has unceremoniously dumped the red square from its web site and Pauline removed the telltale sign from her attire weeks ago.
The controversial video that the Liberals put out of her banging pots was devastating, despite the brave face she put up. She looked the right fool, not someone you'd want for Premier.

I've added subtitles for your enjoyment.

They say a brave man can endure torture for many hours, but if the torturer stops and gives the victim a break, the anticipation of the next round of pain is enough to break even the strongest of characters.

After a summer of relative calm, if the students start their destructive tactics once again, whatever support they have will crumble. They are old news.

Another blocked bridge or classroom, a riot or two, and Charest can think about rearranging the furniture in his office, we'll have an election for sure.

Even if things remain the same, as described in the poll above with the seat count giving the Liberals a minority government, things can also work out well.

Instead of ruling from a minority, Charest can form a coalition government with the CAQ, with he as Premier and Legault as vice-Premier.
Let's face it the two parties aren't far apart politically and the stability will offer both parties something they desperately want....power.

Five years of a Charest/Legault coalition sounds like a better deal to me than a PQ government.

Ah, perchance to dream.....

Changes Coming to the Comment Section

I will be enforcing a new policy for the comments section which will eliminate anonymous posting and require a signup process for those who would like to  make a serious contribution to our discussions.

For most of you, this will come as no surprise, sadly the trolling has gotten out of hand.

I'm sorry that it has come to this, but much as I love writing my posts, moderating up to 200 comments a day, some of them nothing more than drive-by, one-line insults requires me to check in much too often.
I have a life as well, and weeding out a bunch of crappy and hurtful comments all day long, is not what I signed up for.

You will not be required to give up you anonymity, but will be required to become a member of this blog by becoming a FOLLOWER, which you can do by following instructions in the FOLLOWERS box in the right margin. It takes but a few minutes.

Starting next week, those who haven't signed up won't be allowed to comment.

I looked at different options, but in the end decide this is the simplest answer for now, it allows me to ban followers that don't stick to the rules.

I doubt if a troll would seriously go through the signup process over and over again, after being banned, just to say "Bang!" or "Pfff!"

The comments section remains an integral part of this blog and I am told over and over again, that much of the appeal of NoDogsOrAnglophones lies in the reader forum.

Last month we enjoyed over 55,000 pageviews with visitors from over 100 countries. 

People on both sides of the argument read what you and I write.

Those in the separatist movement keep a close eye on us and consider us a nasty thorn in the side. 

Notwithstanding what they say, they are extremely sensitive to what they conceive as negative publicity.

Twenty years after the Mordechai Richler interview on 60 Minutes, it still stings separatists like a bastard.

His casual mocking and insulting tone was  the ultimate humiliation. I still remember Louise Beadouin looking like the right fool.

Let's be inspired and concentrate on exposing the sad reality of the evil ethnocentrism of the French language militants/separatist movement.

If I, as well as you readers hammer at the truth, it will make a difference.

I ask you politely to make your comments count. Use your opportunity to be heard by so many readers, judiciously.

Many of you are doing so already and I'm very proud of the well-thought out missives offering up a wide body of opinion. Keep it up!

Here are the rules for commenting, most of them you are already familiar with.

• You must be a registered FOLLOWER to comment

• You may comment in English or French as in the past.

• You may only maintain one profile and so, commenting to your own post under an another identity is not allowed.

• You may not choose a screen name of any personality alive or dead. Be creative.

•  You may express varying degrees of rage and anger, but gratuitous personal insults and ad hominem attacks are not allowed.

• While rage and anger is allowed, racism, xenophobia, anglophobia, francophobia are not, but Quebec-basing and Canadian-bashing is part of the discussion.

• Try to avoid one-liners at all costs. Most are just tedious.

• Readers with  opposing views are encouraged to contribute to the discussion and should be offered respect if they make their arguments respectfully and cogently.  

• This is a blog about the Anglo and Ethnic condition in Quebec. For those against us, please don't bother with tiresome quotes from Pierre Falardeau  or Pierre Bourgault or other assorted separatist luminaries. Save the  "VIVE LE QUEBEC LIBRE!" quotes for vigile.net. We aren't interested and it won't be published.

• Spelling, syntax and grammar monitors are not permitted. If you see an error, grin and bear it. This is a blog of ideas and anyways it's hard to be perfect at 4AM or typing on those nasty little keyboards on smartphones. RESIST THE URGE!  The only exception is errors that fall in the main blog piece. If you come across an error, I WOULD appreciate a polite email so that I can make a correction.

Please help make this blog stronger by using this forum to make your point respectfully and articulately. 

In the end, the insult is forgotten or dismissed, but a good idea, comment, observation or opinion is something of value.

I look forward to your cooperation.

If you have any questions about signing up, or comments on this new policy please use the comment section.

THE EDITOR

French versus English..Volume 58

Separatists apoplectic over subsidy to Anglo groups.

Much to the chagrin of French language militans, the Canadian government has announced a $4.4 million subsidy to various Anglo groups, mostly centered in Montreal. See the list of groups receiving funding

The usual suspects in the French language militant movement went ballistic, calling the subsidies an affront to Quebec and the French language.
Interestingly, many of these militants offered up the idea that anglophones aren't a minority and don't deserve special protection in Quebec.

"The federal government, controlled largely by the English, does not hesitate to act in a discriminatory manner in favor of the Anglo-Quebecers, as recognized by a UN committee, which in no way constitutes a minority as long as Quebec is subject to the Canadian constitution" Link{Fr}

There is a term for taking two diametrically opposed positions, depending on the context.
It's called 'Sucking and Blowing"

So when is a minority a majority and when is a majority a minority? 
Dunno....ask Mario Beaulieu.

By the way the same department spends $33 million on French organizations outside Quebec. Link{Fr}
And just for your information, the NDP, our national alternative to the Conservatives, expressed outrage at the subsidies.
Speaking for the party, spokesman Pierre Nantel observed that the subsidies are "a form of contempt" Link {Fr}

Adding salt to the wound, Canada has quietly cut finding to an international Francophonie group, Link{Fr}

TSN Radio's English to French format change enrages loyal English sports radio listeners

 "When the news came out last Tuesday that Bell Media was going to convert TSN Radio 990 into a French-language radio station as part of its acquisition of Astral Media, the response was overwhelmingly negative from the anglophone community, with most people not sure who to blame.

That hasn't stopped them from doing so. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, which regulates radio stations and will hear Bell's application for the language switch at a hearing in Montreal on Sept. 10, has received more than 400 comments about it already, mostly from individual listeners." Link

Who is to blame? 
Methinks Bell is playing a duplicitous role by passing the buck to the CRTC very conveniently, because the change to a French format is extremely beneficial to it's bottom line.

After all, if you could own only one sports-talk station in Montreal, would you take the French license or the English license? 

Prediction....The CRTC will not play ball and will ask BELL to give up the frequency and open up a competition.

Best Tweet concerning the demise of TSN 990;

Pauline Marois buys some love

Every now and then, something comes along that bowls me over. 
Like the proverbial Black Swan, I never even fathomed that this existed, the ability to buy approvals on FACEBOOK.
For a price, a company will boost your FACEBOOK numbers artificially and that is what Pauline Marois appears to have done on her FACEBOOK page!

Unfortunately for Pauline, the maneuver is not untraceable, as you can see by the spike in graph displaying each day's new 'approvals.'
In a one week period, the number spiked almost a thousand each day. Well-played!

It seems that Pauline has kept up her position as a bone fide member of the Quebec politicians 'Liars Club'

Watch a hilarious video about it on YouTube

Quebec government adopts a policy of speaking English only when they want something from you.

It seems that just about the whole public service of the Quebec government has adopted a policy of dealing with clients in French only.
There are some exceptions, those agencies that want something from Anglos.
And so the Revenue department, Lotto Quebec and Hema Quebec continue a policy of offering English services.
The latest to remove English service is Quebec's Medicare provider, RAMQ.

"The Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec has a policy that promotes French at all costs in communications with its customers,  to the detriment of public safety, according to some social groups.  

The practice is qualified as "intimidating" by English speakers of Montreal.

When Jasmine Butterfly-Smith called the Insurance Board (RAMQ) this week, she was shocked by the greeting she received. "The Board informs you that it communicates with its customers in French first" A message that she doesn't hesitate to call intimidation.

Since January 2012, RAMQ has adopted a new language policy in terms of customer service.
"When we begin a conversation, we do it in French, even if the person before us  addresses us in English, if we judge that the listener understands French, even if he does not speak it, "said spokesman  Marc Lortie, representing the RAMQ. Link {Fr}

Best-selling exposé of Amir Khadir faces boycott in independent bookstores

It seems that the bestselling book, an exposé of Amir Khadir is practically unavailable in Montreal's independent French bookstores.
The book is subject to an unofficial boycott by leftists who are unamused at the shots taken at their exalted Dear Leader.
Don't try to find "Les faces cachées d'Amir Khadir"- ('The Hidden Faces of Amir Khadir') anywhere in the Plateau!
Listen to a radio show with a bookseller who spills the beans, in French Link{Fr}

Here's an excellent review of the book which in spite of the boycott sits near the top of the bestseller list in Quebec;

"Quebec playwright and novelist Pierre K. Malouf has recently published an explosive book on one of the most controversial and divisive figures in the Quebec political scene.....

The book also examines why Khadir has an almost fiery obsession with Israel while having remained practically mute about  Islamist dictators and the tyrannies and hypocrisies of the left.....

Malouf makes an eloquent and convincing indictment of Khadir who while ardently painting himself as a compassionate doctor at the service of humanity, has a much less flattering side of service to many causes that reasonable people would consider deliterious to a liberal, pluralistic society." Read the rest of the review

Re-districting in Montreal, likely to create new Tory riding

Liberal member of Parliament Irwin Cotler is up in arms over the redistricting of his Montreal riding, Mount-Royal, where according to the proposed plan, a very large neighborhood of ethnic voters has been replaced with Anglos further west. The largely Black Caribbean and Filipino voters removed from the district might prove disastrous, since they voted Liberal en masse.
Mr. Cotler can no longer count on the Jewish community, which makes up the bulk of the riding to assure his election. It seems that Tory support among Jews has skyrocketed in Hampstead and Cote-Saint Luc. There was a time that the riding was 90% Liberal. 
If Cotler, who still enjoys great personal popularity, decides not to run again, (He will be pushing seventy-five when the next federal election is held) the riding will go Tory.

By the way readers, what do you think of all the stupid names they've given to the new ridings?  Link

UQAM to host anti-capitalist symposium

I guess nobody should be surprised to learn that Montreal's UQAM university is hosting an anarchist anti-capitalist conference this month.

"In recent decades, capitalism has been reorganized (the so-called neoliberalism). It wants to consolidate the dominant patriarchal structures in subordinating women. They want to "restore order" in the workplace, especially for youth and stealing senior's pensions. They want to privatize public space and politics in favor of opaque networks by reducing public services in favour of  business. They want the good old tradition of "divide and rule" that can reinforce racial and national barriers against alternate groups. This neoconservatism is an assault not only against the achievements of recent decades, but also against all that our world contains values ​​of solidarity, equality, social justice....

This symposiun is given to unite the indignant, activists, workers, intellectual from academia and the street, in short, for all those who want to think outside the box."    Link{Fr}

Your tax dollars at work! 

Retail Council of Canada takes position against descriptors and French appliances

The Retail Council of Canada has written to the Quebec government to oppose the proposed law forcing appliance manufacturers to add French to the machines.
The Council underlined that it would cost a fortune and in many cases would lead to many products being removed from the Quebec market  Link{Fr}
The RCC has also let it be known that they have received a legal opinion that the OQLF's demand that companies using English trademarked names be forced to add French descriptors is not founded in law.

OQLF statistical fantasy

I bet if the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) sent out a press release saying that the number of Anglos sprouting horns had increased by 11% over two years, there'd be many a newspaper that would print it, unchallenged!

Some of the stuff coming out of the office is pure unadulterated NONSENSE!
According to the OQLF;

"Bilingual greeting in the shops of downtown Montreal jumped in two years,  from 1% in 2010 to 13% in 2012" Link{Fr}

Are they on drugs! 
Can anyone believe that something like that can change statistically by 1,300% in two years?
Think about it....
If shop clerks offered 10 million bilingual greetings in 2010, that figure would have jumped to 130 million in just two years, Utterly ridiculous.
Then there is this;

"According to the latest findings of the OQLF, 43% of Francophones do not ask to be served in French when first addressed in English in the stores. Link{Fr}

That's a little strange because only 33% of Quebecers can carry on a real conversation in English. 
It's likely that the survey deals with stores in Montreal where the rate of bilingualism among francophones is higher, but still only about 40-45%.
According to the OQLF, that means that every single francophone who is bilingual, will respond in English when greeted in English.
Hmmmm.... I don't think so.

Separatist loses court case

The Conservative government's decision to pull out of the Kyoto Protocol was legal, and it wasn't obliged to consult Parliament before doing so, the Federal Court has ruled.

Daniel Turp, a former Bloc Québécois MP and former Parti Québécois member of the province's national assembly, went to Federal Court to challenge the government's withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol. Link

 

Jewish Hospital told to dump patients

 "In a new plan being rolled out this week to control the volume of patients, people seeking medical care at the Jewish General Hospital who are from the West Island or off-island regions are going to be told to consider getting care closer to home.

While hospital officials insist no patient will be turned away and patients requiring specialized services not available elsewhere will certainly be treated, the hospital says it is under pressure from the government to reduce the number of patients it treats so it is asking doctors to encourage patients to seek treatment closer to home if it won’t compromise the quality of their care.

And while the hospital says it hasn’t been told specifically how many patients to cut, it’s been told to work within government budgets and help spread out the patients. And despite its insistence that no patient will be turned away, the reality is it can’t continue to treat the same number of new patients each year." Link

Hmmm... Is it case of "Do as I say, not as I do?"

If patients from Laval are being told to make alternate arrangements, what about the politicians from all over the province who flock to Quebec's best hospital in time of need.

Paging Mr. Parizeau, paging Mr. Parizeau!

By the way, here's a follow-up to my post about English doctors being forced out of Quebec;

Quebec's policies are chasing MDs out of the province

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of hosting a small gathering of graduates of the McGill University School of Medicine. It had been some time since they had seen each other, and they wanted to rekindle the wonderful bond they had formed at McGill. Since I live in Montreal and one of the graduates was one of my children, I offered to host the party.

Here is the main thing I can tell you about the seven grads at the gathering: Not one is currently practising in Quebec. They are all practising in the rest of Canada – and not necessarily by choice... Read the rest of the story

Short Stuff

Vigile.net's most prolific racist reminds us once again that there are too many ethnics on Quebec television. Link{Fr}

David at Republique de Bananes reminds us with two charts that Quebecers are at the bottom of the list when giving to charity and donating their time. 
Quebecers on average donate $147 compared to Albertans $470 and donate 47 hours to charitable work as compared to Nova Scotians, who donate 111 hours. 
See the charts, you don't need French to understand. Link

Here's a hilarious spoof in French that describes the illness known a 'Separatist Fever.'
I wish I had time to translate the article and if anyone would do it,  I'd gladly print it.  Link{fr}
Thanks to Frank for the link.

And now, just for fun;

Now to those who accuse me of being a fan of hockey and hockey alone, I offer this evidence that I am a fan of the CFL and the Montreal Allouettes in particular.

Here's a video taken from the last CFL football game played between Calgary and Montreal, where the referee has a horrible time making himself understood.

I didn't put it on YouTube, because I didn't want to embarrass him too much and I hope he understands that it is all in respectful good fun.

How Canadians deal with road rage!

And finally, completely off topic, but the funniest thing I saw on the Internet this week;

Please have a great weekend!

Bon weekend à tous.

Quebec's Election Law Encourages Cheating

Those who advocate massive state intervention and regulation generally fail to understand that you cannot easily pass laws to control human nature and that in many cases, regulation has the effect of doing more harm than good.

I'm always amused at those do-gooders who advocate getting rid of bottled water in the misguided belief that people will change their habits and run for the water fountain. The sad truth is that any ban on water bottles will have the unintended consequence of sending most people over to bottled soft drinks and juices, infinitely worse for the diet and no better for the environment.

You can't legislate good sense or righteous behavior and sometimes when we try we to, we suffer the slings and arrows of unintended consequences.

Such is the case of Quebec's beefed up rules concerning political contributions, a good idea in theory, but one that only hurts our democracy in practice.

First things first;
There are three major ways to finance political parties;

1. Unlimited donations by any individual or corporation, as is practiced in the United States.
2. Public financing of political parties on a per vote basis.
3. Limited donations by individuals or companies with caps and restrictions.

None of these systems are perfect and like the debate between medicare and private health insurance, the discussion can go on forever, with neither system proving to be the ultimate panacea.

This whole blog piece is based on the proposition that there is no 'perfect' system for regulating political financing and no matter which system we choose, it will be anything but perfect.

Of course, we in Canada and Quebec in particular would never accept the free-for-all system of campaign financing as is practiced in the USA, where anything goes. Barak Obama spent almost a billion dollars on his presidential campaign, a frightening scenario for Canadians who would never accept a situation where companies regulated by federal statute could donate millions to the candidate or political party that best represented its interests.
In the American presidential and senatorial campaigns, the unbridled need for money makes candidates vulnerable to those that control the purse strings and offers large donors an unprecedented advantage to influence elected officials.

As for public financing of political parties using a per vote subsidy, as we practiced in federal politics until Mr. Harper repealed it recently, the system favors the also-rans, those parties that get votes, but few seats in Parliament.
In the end, it would encourage minority governments, something that really doesn't serve the country well.
I know many people like the idea of a minority government, but ultimately it can lead to too much power given to those small parties that control the balance of power, as in the case of the Bloc Quebecois for the twenty years prior to the last election.
In it's worst manifestation, it can cripple a country like in the case of Italy, which hasn't enjoyed a stable government in my lifetime, or worse still, the example of Israel, where the 10% share of Parliamentary seats owned by the ultra-religious, means that the 90% of Israelis, (both Jewish and Muslim) who don't share their religious views, are subject to parliamentary blackmail which forces the country to adopt ultra-religious measures.

And so it leads us to the third system, the one adopted by Quebec where the public may donate to political parties under a rigid and controlled set of rules.
It sounds like the best of a bad lot and it probably is, except for the fact that the rules adopted by Quebec are so draconian that it begs politicians and donors to cheat.

And trust me.....cheat they do!

The campaign finance laws in Quebec reminds me of those well-intentioned laws pertaining to the sale of cigarettes, which put consumers through so many hoops in their quest to buy tobacco products, that it is easier to buy contraband.

First the government raised the prices sky high and restricted where cigarettes and to whom it could be sold to.
Cigarette machines were banned, even in bars and clubs, where no under eighteen year-olds were allowed to be on site.
Then depanneurs were forced to build expensive cases that hid cigarettes from view, another expensive and useless exercise in futility.
All of the above measures have had the unintended effect to drive Quebecers to buy contraband tobacco from Indians, at a much reduced price and bother.

In 2007, it is estimated that 44% of cigarettes sold in Quebec were contraband. A newspaper investigation by the Journal de Montreal indicated that over 20% of the cigarette butts found directly outside the National Assembly in Quebec were contraband. Oh, the hypocrisy!

And so it seems that you cannot control human nature through legislation and at this point, any more restrictions placed on consumers in relation to buying cigarettes, will drive the 44% number even higher!

In certain situations, where citizens have simple options, it's important to understand that the more restrictive the rules, the more law-breaking it encourages.
This is the lesson the government should have minded in making it harder and harder to donate money to politicians legally.

DGE Jacques Drouin,  misguided sap.

Recently the Quebec government did two extraordinarily foolish things, they lowered the maximum permissible donation to $1,000 from $3,000 and then they decided to make public the names of everyone who donates to a political party or candidate.

Both these provisions will have the most extraordinary unintended consequences and will increase fraud and those famous stories of 'brown envelopes'

Now readers, a little maturity.

On this subject, I think I have a little more experience as to what goes on, than the DGE himself, Jacques Drouin.

For many years and as many of you might have guessed from reading this blog, I was a volunteer fundraiser and was privy to a lot of what happened on the inside of a political fundraising machine.

I'm also going to choose my words carefully now.

I never did anything illegal, but that doesn't mean I didn't see things.
As a junior bagman in those days, I tagged along to meetings and dinners, some in those famous Montreal restaurants you read about in the newspapers.

Money was passed between fundraisers and political aides, (never the politicians themselves) and whether it was legal or not was beyond my purview.
It was however the first time I ever saw or became familiar with the term 'Pinkie.' (a thousand dollar bill.)
Readers should understand, that contrary to what the press leads you to believe, the envelopes were never brown or particularly big, you can actually stuff $50,000 in an everyday regular envelope, using pinkies.

I've seen many envelopes passed but never that famous 'brown' one!
By the way, I fully understand why the government in its wisdom removed pinkies from circulation. (later on they were red.)
By the way, the reverse side of the old $1,000 bill featured a picturesque covered bridge from, you guessed it, Quebec!
 
Back then, lobbyists and fundraisers like Karlheinz Schreiber were given a free rein. They had unfettered and free access to Parliament Hill. 
I'm not lying when I say that a lobbyist could drive up to the front door of Parliament Hill, park his car at the curb and tell the guard that he was going to see so and so. Things were a lot different before 9/11.

The access surprised me. When I asked a colleague if he found it strange that a man like Schreiber could waltz into a certain cabinet minister's office as if it was his own, unabashedly offering secretaries Hermes scarves and expensive French perfume, he reminded me of the old adage-
Money talks and bullshit walks!

In those days (less than twenty years ago) things were less structured and believe it or not, giving wads of cash to a politician wasn't necessarily illegal.

Things have changed, the rules have been tightened up, but in the end, nothing is different.
When I started my 'fundraising' career, I was reminded of this phrase over and over again.
"Cash has no provenance."
In other words, get the donation in cash if you can!

So trust me......the money still flows and as long as cash exists, somebody will be handing it over to politicians.

What the government bureaucrats don't understand is that campaign finance laws can only be applied to traceable transactions, they are completely useless when cash is the currency of influence.

As the summer recess of the Charbonneau construction probe arrived, one of the last bombshells was delivered by my friend Jacques Duchesneau who told the disbelieving commission, that 70% of the money given to political parties was done so illegally.
Yikes!!!

Speaking mainly off-the-cuff but partly from prepared notes, Duchesneau told co-commissioners France Charbonneau and Renaud Lachance on Tuesday that a full 70 per cent of political donations in Quebec are being made illegally, without the knowledge of Elections Quebec.  LINK

Jacques Drouin,  the Quebec Directer of Elections, was stunned by the allegation and like a cuckolded husband, the fool seemed to be the last to know!

What did he expect?

The consequence of the new public disclosure rule of donors led to the publishing of the names of those who contributed to the Quebec Liberals by the nationalist RRQ, who used the opportunity to publicly harass the donors by way of intimidating letters sent in the guise of friendly advice.
It was without a doubt, a case of political intimidation extrodinaire! Read the story

The DGE remained stupidly mute in the wake of such an egregious abuse, hiding his head in the ground like the proverbial ostrich.  For shame!

The law was clearly proven to cause more harm than good.

So readers, if you were a Liberal donor, could you see yourself giving money again?
How much easier and less bothersome to pass a brown envelope and to Hell with the tax deduction!

In Quebec, democracy is diminished by over-regulation and the misguided idea that transparency always serves democracy. 
If we are to accept that everyone who makes a donation to a political party should be outed, we should accept that everybody's vote should become public and that our tax return be the subject of open scrutiny.
The other side of transparency is privacy and the election law has destroyed the political finance system by creating a climate of fear for those who donate. 

Limiting contributions to such a pittance ($1,000) and publicly naming those who donate will only lead to more under the table contributions.

Quebecers are the champion cheapskates in Canada when it comes to donation, so adding another barrier is going to drive donations down even further.

As it stands, by my calculations, few individual candidates can run a successful campaign based on what the rules provide.
So where else is a politician going to get the funds he needs to run a decent campaign?

The restrictive rules guarantee dishonesty and demonstrate once again that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

Mr. Drouin is enforcing rules that will forever perpetuate brown bag financing and like cigarettes, putting up more barriers just sends people over to the illegal side.

Like the fools in the government who run the anti-tabacco campaign, he should learn that more is less and perhaps he and the other public servants and legislators should be required to take an oath similar to doctors....
First do no harm!