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.