Quebec Corruption... just this week
"A study on the inflated cost of construction projects in Montreal was kept from former mayor Gérald Tremblay and members of the executive committee, said Mayor Michael Applebaum.The internal study, published in February 2004, found construction contracts were inflated by 30 to 40 per cent due to collusion in the industry.
Alain Bond, the city's comptroller, said former city director general Robert Abdallah and former head of the executive committee, Frank Zampino, kept that report under wraps." Link
"Quebec's court of appeal has rejected the bid of former
lieutenant-governor Lise Thibault to have her fraud trial scrapped
because she claims that as the Queen's representative, she wasn't
subject to the court system.The 73-year-old is accused of using taxpayer dollars as her personal
spending account. She allegedly bilked taxpayers of $700,000 from April
1997 to March 2007.But the former Quebec viceroy claims the case should be scrapped because of royal prerogative, which is the collection of rights held by the Queen or her designates — the governor general and lieutenant-governors — that can technically override Canadian law." Link
Investigators with the province's
anti-corruption unit (UPAC) allege Lavoie used his position to ensure
public building projects were developed and built by family members or
business partners. Link
"Quebec’s anti-corruption squad is investigating allegations against a member of the Lachine borough’s urban-planning committee for possible links to various real-estate developers, opposition borough councillor Jean-François Cloutier says ...
...A citizen then asked the borough council to name the two elected officials who sit on the committee along with representatives of the public.
Dauphin responded by naming himself and councillor Bernard Blanchet.
“It’s not me,” Dauphin added." Link .
"Quebec’s anti-corruption squad is investigating allegations against a member of the Lachine borough’s urban-planning committee for possible links to various real-estate developers, opposition borough councillor Jean-François Cloutier says ...
...A citizen then asked the borough council to name the two elected officials who sit on the committee along with representatives of the public.
Dauphin responded by naming himself and councillor Bernard Blanchet.
“It’s not me,” Dauphin added." Link .
The numbers for 2012 — and there were a lot of them — were impressive.
The unit, known by the French acronym UPAC, put 49 people in handcuffs this year. It laid a total of 177 criminal charges, and executed 450 search warrants and other court orders. Read the rest of the story. Alternate Link
A witness at the Charbonneau inquiry has been arrested for lying before the commission.
François Thériault a work site inspector for the city of Montreal testified that he never received an illegal benefit in relation to his job authorizing 'extra' payments for construction projects. Investigators allege that he did indeed benefit from a $30,000 discount on his home purchased from one of these construction entrepreneurs. Link
Hydro-Quebec a dog
It seems that the assessment was woefully understated.
For the average Quebecois, Hydro is seen as a national treasure, a symbol of Quebec's maturity, our ability to run things without foreign, Canadian or Anglophone interference.
In an article in L'Actuualite, Pierre Fortin writes that the $600 million demanded by Legault is but a pittance and the state electricity producer is actually wasting over 2 billion dollars a year.
According to the table on the right, the utility has 60 employees for every 10,000 customers, compared to the North American industry average of just 32.
Are Quebecers outraged?
At the time of publishing not one reader bothered to remark on the author's conclusions in the comment section!
Read the entire article in French
et cetera;
Guy Turcotte
the cardiologist who murdered his two children was found to be not
criminally responsible due to a mental defect, was let out of a mental
institution, after just four years, apparently cured, according to his
doctors.This so outraged ordinary citizens that there is talk of reviewing the law by which he was released. Link
The mother of the murdered children was interviewed on CNN by none other than Anderson Cooper about the whole sordid affair. Read the story and watch the interview on CNN here: Canadian child-killer's release draws outrage.
Here's an unrelated story but an interesting one. An ex-Quebecer committed the same type of crime in Texas, murdering his son and injuring his daughter. Check out how the American justice system reacted: Ex-Montrealer gets 99 years for shooting his children in Texas
 | ||||
| Pauline in New York promises Americans that Quebec is open for business |
"A fictitious story about a controversial Montreal bylaw proposal requiring dogs to be comfortable
in the country's two official languages has rippled through the realms
of social media and fooled even some seasoned news sites." Link
"A
mother of two is still in shock after her family was egged while she
was parked on a residential street in Montreal - apparently for speaking English" Link
On Tuesday night, St-Lazare city council said au revoir to English and voted to become a French-only town." Link
All of the 66 positions at the OPP’s Hawkesbury detachment were designated bilingual Dec. 1 by the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services and the Office of Francophone Affairs.
“French language services remain a critical operational component to providing exemplary policing services to the citizens and visitors of Hawkesbury and the surrounding area,” OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis said in a statement. “Ensuring that all members of Hawkesbury OPP detachment are bilingual addresses the needs of this community. This is a proud moment.” Link
I looked high and low for any mention of the event in the press after the fact.
Strangely, the MQF was silent, nary a word or picture mentioned on their website and no Youtube video to be found.
My only conclusion was that the event was an incredible bust.
Late yesterday the MQF finally reported on the event and published a picture of the 'massive' demonstration that they held in front of Best Buy in LaSalle.
After weeks of exhortations for the faithful to attend, the event went off like the proverbial wet firecracker.
Go ahead readers, count up the participants of this vast outpouring of linguistic rage. In a region of over three million people, you can count the demonstrators on your fingers and toes.
Who knows, perhaps they had to bus some of them in as well!
How's that boycott working out Mario?
In other news, the bufoons of the MQF proudly announced that they are forming a regional committee in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region to defend the 99% francophone residents from the impending Anglophone and English invasion.
The leader of the preppers told reporters that he had a list of about 100 people, some of whom he was sure might be interested in joining.
The founding meeting occurred on December 12th, with four people attending. Link{fr}
Richard Bain, the Anglo alleged shooter in the election night Metropolis incident has a knack for infuriating.
Bain evoked a furious reaction from the French media when he made an impromptu phone call to an English radio station while being locked up and now has unleashed another scornful gesture towards francophones.
"The man charged in Quebec's election-night shooting has refused to
speak to a French-speaking psychiatrist, causing a delay in his case.
Richard
Henry Bain was expected to receive the results of his assessment on
Monday to determine whether he was fit to stand trial.
But the
case was put off until Jan. 11 while the hospital that conducts the
evaluation finds a different doctor. Bain will remain at Montreal's
Pinel Institute until then." Link
Some other stories of interest;
- No, dogs don't have to be bilingual in Montreal; Link
- The OQLF wants the public to stop using the term "Boxing Day" Link {Fr}
Some other stories of interest;
- No, dogs don't have to be bilingual in Montreal; Link
- The OQLF wants the public to stop using the term "Boxing Day" Link {Fr}
- Montreal dog adoption service 'hounded' by Quebec's language police Link
- OLF Orders Pharmacist's English Warning Posters And Flyers Removed Link
From Coolopolis;
Maurice Duplessis: the reason people thought his death was faked Quebec's corner stores: disappearing neighbourhood heroes coping with government attack
Streetcars - time to give up the dream
**********************
I received this Domino's Pizza menu in the mailbox and was amused to see that that the term "Canadian" pizza was replaced withe the term "Quebecoise" At least there was an English text, even if it was smaller than the French!
My question to readers is why 'Canadian' is unacceptable as a name for a pizza, requiring rebranding, while "Philly' is perfectly acceptable in French?
And oh yes...the advertisement includes another great tribute to 'Engrish' ...."Feast Pizzas"
Good fun or am I being overly pedantic?
Do any of you have a sharp enough eye to pick out the Photoshop disaster in this Quebec government advertisement below? Who will be the first to claim the credit?
Missing Hockey, this will cheer you up.... I promise.
 |
| Can I entice you to CLICK on this link? |
Have a great weekend!
Bonne Fin de Semaine!
You should file a complaint to that Domino's company. I'm not the biggest fan of their pizza anyway, but I certainly believe it to be rather insulting to French Canadians to assume that the word "Canadian" would offend them so much they wouldn't buy your pizza for that reason alone.
ReplyDeleteAt home, I have a hand grip (those devices you squeeze to strengthen your biceps) that has bilingual writing on the plastic. One one side it says "Made in Canada" and on the other side it says "Fabrique en Quebec". As if a Francophone consumer couldn't understand what the other side meant. It wouldn't surprise me if many Americans simply think that Quebec is the French word for Canada.
And the Molson Laurentide was Molson Canadian in a different bottle. I guess that the Molson (not known to be separatists) guessed that the word Canadian did not sell much in Québec.
DeleteI also sent a picture to the Editor. On my Oasis juice bottle, it says in english "Oasis, a proudly Canadian brand" which is translated by "Oasis, une marque bien de chez nous". A elegant way to avoid a word that isn't expected to sell as much to a francophone audience.
Well, just like I've mentioned that separatists are pawns to politicians with personal agendas, nationalists are nothing more than marks for smart marketers who understand that a little head-patting goes a long way.
DeleteIt's too easy, really.
Resident Evil,
DeleteMostly any social category is nothing more than a mark for marketers who understand that a little head-patting goes a long way. I have the lucidity to understand that the Molson are in the business of selling beer and that they don't really care about what I like or dislike.
The "I am canadian" Molson campain remains a piece of anthology of (more than little) head-patting to nationalists (of course, canadian nationalists in this case).
What I find insane is that the Molsons actually tried to trademark the statement "I Am Canadian"
DeleteLord Dorchester
DeleteTry visiting a RONA hardware store in the ROC. You'd think you were walking into a Canadian flag store with the moniker , "Proudly Canadian" plastered prominently. Visit the same RONA store in Quebec you'd be hard pressed to see any Canadian references. This coming form a chain based in Boucherville. Phoney baloney Canadian nationalism in the ROC, all to peddle more cheap Chinese junk.
I believe they started that advertising series before the merger. Still it's disheartening to see Canada's second-oldest company sell out to the Americans after they had played their so-called patriotism so vigourously.
DeleteWell Michel most Canadians are very proud to be Canadian - I for one, am very proud to be Canadian - it's unfortunate that there are so many quebecers that do not realize how proud they should be to be Canadian also. Mainly, our country is respected all over the world - it is your passport that gets respect from all over the world when you travel also. Would not be the case if it was a quebec passport, that's for sure. Outside of Canada, separatists are perceived as malcontents and people do not understand what the fuss about your language is all about. You live where you live and speak the language of your choice - that's what people see.
Delete"Well Michel most Canadians are very proud to be Canadian"
DeletePourriez-vous nous expliquer pourquoi?
Cutie003,
DeleteYes, most canadians are very proud to be canadians and they have every right to be and who would I be to argue with them? Pride and love of one's country and belonging are emotional things that are beyond rationality. And it is also pointless to argue about why I should be proud to be canadian or feel canadian, I just don't.
That's what makes me curious Michel = you seem to be an intelligent man, well spoken in both languages, bet you're well educated, have a good job, probably a family man, and yet not a proud Canadian = briefly, can you tell me why not? I would never ask SR such a question, but you I will because, as a Canadian, I would be more than proud to call you a fellow Canadian. Have Canadians been cruel to you in some way? Have we not met your expectations? When I travel outside quebec, I never hear anglophones putting the French down except for the last few years and that's because this whole bilingual policy is costing so much more money than people expected, but they don't run the French people down as such.
Delete@ Cutie003
DeleteI will tell you why I'm not proud to be a Canadian... A country which has been condemned by the UN for Human Rights Violations, due to the language laws of their province of Quebec. Laws, which they have the power to disallow.
The Anglophone community in Quebec, and some in the Francophone community (understanding the importance of an English education in a Global society), have both been abandoned by the Federal government in their desire to maintain a semblance of Canadian unity and appease the radical separatist electorate... It is all about votes and power. Not at all about any mythical 'Threat' to the French language. And we here in Quebec have been written-off as the cost of obtaining that power and those votes.
Not one federal political party of any consequence has ever, even once, denounced Bill 101 and the Quebec language gestapo. NEVER has a Prime Minister or any Department or agency of the Canadian government taken any action to protect the rights and freedoms granted to the rest of Canadians but denied to the minority here in Quebec. Even has our august Supreme court rolled over and taken the pledge by suggesting that the preservation of a "Distinct Society" in Canada was reason enough to deny and restrict rights to a sub-group of Canadian citizens who happened to reside in Quebec, in effect making them 2nd class citizens. The hypocrisy of that whole decision is the simple fact that the entire concept of a "Distinct Society" or "Nation" is one of the most inherently divisive concepts created by any democracy anywhere.
So please tell me, just what is it I should be proud of as a Canadian???
Good points and I agree - except for the fact of the separatist movement and the exceptions placed in the Canadian Constitution to cover this aspect of our life here, would you feel the same way? Don't think your points don't piss me off either. That's the war we should be fighting in this country: the removal of our rights and freedoms by provincial jurisdiction should not be allowed in the constitution of any country - so we have to fight for a better constitution because the one we have is terribly flawed. A Constitution is supposed to be a living document and does require amendments every now and then. Maybe that should be our push in this situation. Still want to hear from Michel who is a separatist and has everything he could ever want out of the Constitution
DeleteCutie003,
DeleteNow typing on a iPad. Will answer later tonight or tomorrow.
Michel
Michel, none of us care about your personal schedule and we are certainly not waiting with bated breath for your next pearls of wisdom. Respond whenever you can and be done with it. Thank you.
DeleteAs Quebecers we should feel proud to be Canadian because for starters, what other country allows a mere province to behave as though it were a nation within its dominion, without ever reining it in and reading it the riot act, especially when appropriate is incomprehensible? This province is the ‘enfant terrible’ of this country, and it has yet to be reprimanded for its bad and ungrateful behavior toward the ROC. There is no interference in any way by Canada when Quebec behaves badly, which is ALWAYS, AND.... they reward us with huge transfer payments.
DeleteIf Quebec had been any State in the good ole’ USA, America would command respect by sending troops in to ensure its standards and integrity be safeguarded.
These are just some of the reasons why, as Quebecer’s, we should be proud to be Canadian. We have the freedom to exert ourselves, behave in the worst possible way but no one ever says a damn thing for fear they may be stepping on Québécois toes.
Why the rest of Canadians should be proud to be Canadian, in light of what I just mentioned, is really beyond me. But we have it gooooooooooooooooood !
You'd think the separatists in quebec would be the ones to be proud Canadians wouldn't you? Bullies that no one ever reprimands. Wonder if the Federal Government ever thinks about sending in troops or if that will only happen when we reach the 50+1 mark in a referendum when it will be really, really necessary. Does anyone think things will change here with a new leader for the provincial liberals or are we still going to be sucking rocks with the separatists in charge of every decision made in this province?
DeleteTrue Montrealer,
DeleteI know that you don't care about my schedule any more than I care about what you think. Ce qui n'est pas peu dire. So my comment wasn't addressed to you but to Cutie003 who said "still want to hear from Michel". She asked a question that I could not answer right away so I said so just to be nice. If you are not happy with this, well, get over it.
Cutie003,
DeleteYou said : "you seem to be an intelligent man, well spoken in both languages, bet you're well educated, have a good job, probably a family man".
I am everything that you said. But what does it have to do with being a proud canadian? There are intelligent, well spoken, well educated, making a good living family men in most societies. My sense of belonging is toward Québec, that's all. Your sense of belonging is toward Canada.
"Have Canadians been cruel to you in some way?"
No.
But I met many ones who just insisted on the fact that I am canadian, that seeing myself as a quebecker first was wrong is some way, ungrateful, whatever. When a relation starts with the negation of the identity of the other one, the relation is on a bad start. (I am sounding like my sometimes annoying yet lovable master in psychology sister...)
Still don't understand why being a quebecer takes away your identity as a Canadian? What's wrong with being a Canadian from Quebec with the great ability to speak both languages? That should make you very proud of yourself as well as of your province. Don't get why this excludes you from being a proud Canadian.
DeleteCutie003,
Delete"Still don't understand why being a quebecer takes away your identity as a Canadian?"
This canadian identity wasn't taken away from me, I never had it.
I could write an essay about identity, belonging, our respective view of history, etc.
Let's just say this : I grew up in Québecc and I became a quebecker, just like young germans become german or young japanese become japanese. Then later, I met english canadians and I realised that, clearly, they were different and I also realised that, to them, I was different. They were nice people, friendly and everything, yet we belonged to different societies.
"What's wrong with being a Canadian from Quebec with the great ability to speak both languages?"
Nothing, it is just not what I am. And what is wrong with being a quebecker with the great ability to speak two languages?
***
This being said, there is, within the canadian identity, a negation of my identity as a quebecker. Just one instance : if I refer to our history, I will get blamed for bringing up old grievances, for living in the past, I will be told that these old stories are irrelevant, I will be told that I have to move on, etc. Yet, this history is mine, it seems real to me because it fits with the reality that I see around me and with the history of my own family. But I am almost told by canadians that it is not real, that it is a hallucination, a cleverly crafted propaganda. So, both views are in a sense mutually exclusive.
I know how you feel about bringing up history, just don't get started yet. If you tell me again that I am bringing up old stories, I will of course go on and on about how they are not old stories. But if you tell me that, yes, there was in our history injustices and obstacles, if you acknowledge our right to feel how we feel about our history, then I will be able to acknowledge that today anglos are not anglos of the past and that they should not be blamed for what their fathers did. Then perhaps could come reconciliation.
I started to write something for my blog about reconciliation. That was just a few days before Richard Bain killed someone, and then my heart was just not into it anymore. But maybe I should get back to it now.
Well stated Michel - I cannot walk in anyone else's shoe but I will apologize to you for what past mistakes were made by anglophones towards francophones. As I said, I've lived here for 60 years and the anglophones and francophones always got along as neighbours and friends and I've never seen any prejudice toward one or the other until just before the last election. Perhaps that is because I live so close to Ontario. I do know that I see this province falling apart before my eyes because of this never ending battle of whose language is to be used when living here and I, for one, see no reason for this fight because I figure if people are able to speak both they are very fortunate indeed. This on-going battle is hurting all aspects of life in Quebec and until there is a final solution to the problems, we are just going to sink lower and lower in our standard of living. That is the very sad part in that that affects all of us equally. And you're right = the anglos of today are not the anglos of yesteryear so I have to hope that we can become friends with mutual respect for each other and not hate (excluding SR) - you are not of the same mental makeup as the hateful SR and it's his ilk that is causing all this conflict between the two entities.
DeleteSorry Michel, though I know you mean well on that one, I gotta sound the old bullshit buzzer.
DeleteYou said: "I grew up in Québecc and I became a quebecker, just like young germans become german or young japanese become japanese. Then later, I met english canadians and I realised that, clearly, they were different and I also realised that, to them, I was different. They were nice people, friendly and everything, yet we belonged to different societies."
While I can completely understand you being more partial to being Quebecois than federal Canada, you still stir up undertones of intolerance. You say you realized that there was a "clear and present" difference between you and the Anglos...
...yet "they were nice people, friendly and everything".
Which begs the question:
"What's the f****ing problem then?"
I've heard Gilles Duceppe state his case exactly your way for years, it doesn't change the fact that you're sugar-coating intolerance and a more-or-less subconscious xenophobia.
I say subconscious, because you don't strike me as an overt hate-monger like S.R.
See, if these people are truly "nice people, friendly and everything" why the need to shun them and repulse them from the Belle Pro?
If they're so friendly and everything why would you impose laws that abrogate their rights and inhibit their liberties and happiness? Is that what you do to your friends?
To me, I think what bothers you (and most separatists) is that you simply do not like DIFFERENCE.
While, like I said, I don't see you as someone who hates immigrants based on their skin colour, your statement clearly indicates that you'd simply rather not have them around.
You find comfort and security of a homogeneous society that is uniform in race and culture as the army is in protocol and structure.
And that's where you have it right there - seppies all seem to think that it's a Quebec vs. Ottawa thing...that it's them vs. the federalists...but the conflict goes so much deeper than that.
Most people who oppose separatists on this blog (in case you haven't noticed) aren't necessarily fighting for Ottawa - they're fighting for common decency, civility and respect.
See, I find no trouble getting along with ANYONE who shows me respect and kindness. As a white man, I've dated a Muslim girl, a Haitian, and a couple of Asian immigrants. Believe me, if you thought there's a difference between Canada's Anglos and Francos, you can bet there are shitloads of difference between me and people coming from those cultures, and yet that didn't stop us from sharing our lives for a period of time.
So with all that being said Michel, if you're being shown respect and kindness from those around you, despite their differences, what is the problem - answer: There is none.
It proves that the only purpose of the sovereignist movement is to create a white-washed uniligual society. And when we all start getting along too well, that's when the unions withdraw money from their bank accounts and give the Proulxs, Bock-Cotes and Dutrizacs gifts to stir up the fear-mongering.
"If they're so friendly and everything why would you impose laws that abrogate their rights and inhibit their liberties and happiness? Is that what you do to your friends?"
DeleteJust to avoid confusion, when I say that I later met english canadians, I mean english canadians outside Québec (not english quebeckers) and our atrocious liberticidal (oops, there's a word regular anglos don't use...) bill 101 doesn't apply to them.
"Most people who oppose separatists on this blog (in case you haven't noticed) aren't necessarily fighting for Ottawa - they're fighting for common decency, civility and respect."
I have noticed. Many of them are fighting for, for instance, the defense of their language, which is something I can relate to. So you will note that I have never told anyone to shut up and learn french (it is difficult and can't be learned overnight), I have haven't said to anyone that it is stupid not to have learned french after 20 years living in Québec or anyone to speak white. You will notice that I usualy reply to comments that (I am simplifying...) depict us as abnormal monsters, I simply state that we are not.
"See, I find no trouble getting along with ANYONE who shows me respect and kindness."
Me neither. But those kind and respectful people living in english Canada (outiside of Québec, get it?) live in a society that face different economic challenges, that has different strenghts and weaknesses, different geopolitical situations and contexts, and I think that we should have our own government to take of our own business by ourselves for ourselves.
I said that I could write an essay about why I don't feel canadian, but I have this feeling that if I pointed at the stars for you, you would cluelessly stare at my finger...
"I have haven't said..."
DeleteEditor,
Si vous saviez à quel point ce bouton Delete me manque cruellement...
Amazing some of the people I hold dearest and closest are french Canadians. One grew up in Greenfield Park and got exposed to dirty english very young and the other grew up in Hochelaga and didn‘t know english people existed until he was about 12 years old. As someone who grew up in an almost exclusively english milieu where the only francophones I knew were my teachers, you will be horrified to know that I don‘t find many differences between myself and these 2 friends. I am pretty sure I am in no way foreign to them either. They have also drawn many of the same conclusion I have about the separatist movement and the PQ.
DeleteYou really aren‘t that special or exotic. Just another racist honouring yourself with bill 101. Just a sugar coated S.R.
An it's on again!
DeleteIn this corner, you have Michel Patrice...
...In this corner, Resident Evil...
Start the fight!
"I said that I could write an essay about why I don't feel canadian, but I have this feeling that if I pointed at the stars for you, you would cluelessly stare at my finger..."
Patrice starts early with a lowly jab, clearly taking a shot at RE's "nether regions. Evil responds with a jab of his own:
--Well for a group who always whine about being a " Peuple, à genoux" I'm kind of surprised that you can actually see anything above the waist.
" our atrocious liberticidal (oops, there's a word regular anglos don't use...) bill 101 doesn't apply to them."
Michel gets up and hits Evil with his patented Big-Words-No-Anglo-Uses backslam.
Evil responds by locking in the Chokehold of Truth:
--Cool, so we have you admitting that la Loi 101 is a bullshit law designed by xenophobic cowards FOR xenophobic cowards - we're making progress.
Second, I was actually referring to outside Anglos. Most Anglos I've seen visit Quebec have no trouble getting along with their Francophone hosts and they all have a blast together. So once again, where's the problem?
Michel breaks out of the Chokehold of Truth and hits Evil with the Seppie-Rhetoric Suplex:
"respectful people living in english Canada (outiside of Québec, get it?) live in a society that face different economic challenges, that has different strenghts and weaknesses, different geopolitical situations and contexts, and I think that we should have our own government to take of our own business by ourselves for ourselves."
Evil is down...that last move by Patrice was so strongly executed that, even though it's been used millions of time, it almost always connects and delivers the same results.
Evil springs to his feet and starts drilling into Patrice:
I've mentioned that time and again, the fact we all have different strengths and weaknesses, different geopolitical situations and contexts is exactly the reason to work more closely together than to break apart.
All the separatist movement is doing by playing this card is grabbing at straws hoping to gain any traction they can get.
See, it's perfectly ok for you not to identify with being Canadian, no one is asking that of you because if it's not something you feel, then it can't be changed no matter what...
[Michel has just fallen to the ground and is laid out...OMG, Evil is climbing the turnbuckles! He's going up...way up!]
...Once again we find ourselves at the impasse, the impasse that seems to afflict very few Canadians outside of Quebec. Even if you don't identify with branding yourself as Canadian why can't you live and let live, like so many others do?
Modern Quebec offers every opportunity to all of its citizens to become wealthy and prosperous with enough work. French has flourished in the province and is NOT even remotely close to being in the danger the pundits would have you believe.
Honestly, I think the point in my preceding post is accurate. You're seeking separation solely for the means of capturing the inclusionary security that comes from having a homogenous and culturally sterile society.
You've tried using violent means to accomplish this goal (the FLQ), you've tried democratic means (2 FAILED referendums), you've tried "line-in-the-sand" politics (les accommodements raisonnables) and you've tried what you're doing now (trying to pander your way into winning via sugar-coated intolerance).
[And Evil comes crashing down on Patrice with the Common Sense Elbow!!! Incredible! He covers Patrice for the pin...1...2...3! Ding! Ding! Ding!]
BTW, if this goes on any longer today, I will stay in WWE mode (sorry but it's the holidays and this is making me giggle my ass off).
DeleteGee Michel - I'm sorry but the separatist governments in this province do not want to take care of your population as we can see since their election - perhaps there are differences in economics of each province but I think if we all worked together instead of quebec fighting anything and everything that is proposed by the federal government of Canada, each and every province in the country would benefit not just some of them. The old golden rule still applies even in quebec - do unto others etc. No one in the rest of the country is deliberately trying to wipe out your language but your separatist government is deliberately trying to wipe out everything of the culture, heritage, language and institutions of the anglophone community and this is causing a lot of hate instead of building a relationship that, in the end, quebec will desperately need if your language is to survive in North America. I feel you are all going backwards rather than moving ahead in life. It's a shame and in the end, quebec will be the biggest losers of all when the ROC turns it's back on you and boycotts everything and everyone in quebec. They'd better start thinking of the future and not the past before we end up in civil war in this country. Don't think Canada is going to be forgiving even if you did end up with independence from the ROC. Too many emotions, money and thought has been offered in friendship to ever forget and biting the hand that feeds you will end up in definite hardship.
Delete"...you will be horrified to know that I don‘t find many differences between myself and these 2 friends..."
DeleteTrue, there are not much differences between them.
But albertans, who are just like you and me, have oil and should have policies that favor oil. We have hydroelectricity and our policies should favor hydroelectricity. Bristish Columbia, which is populated by people just like you and me, faces the Pacific and the West American Coast, we are closer to the to Atlantic and to the East American Coast, so we live in a different geopolitical context. Ontario builds cars, we don't, we build airplanes and trains. Saskatchewan gows wheat, we raise milk cows and porks.
There is in Canada a phenomenon of regionalism. (http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/regionalism)
France for instance has a population of 65 millions concentrated on a more or less circular territory, so each part of France is not much further than 1000 km. Canada on the other hand has a 30 millions populated strechted on a thin 5000km line, people on both ends of this line have little contact with each other. They are good people and everything, but they have their business to run and we have ours.
"You really aren‘t that special or exotic."
So the idea of the two solitudes must be an hallucination, and that must explain why there has never been any tension within this federation and that must explain why we understand perfectly well what each other means.
Resident Evil,
DeleteYou are just now cluelessly staring at my finger...
Cutie003,
Delete"...biting the hand that feeds you..."
Because of that kind of comment, I would rather starve in an independent Québec.
What can I say Obi Wan, your infinite wisdom appears to elude EVERYONE but yourself.
DeleteOne has to wonder why you'd waste your infinitely superior intellect on we lesser mortals when you could be writing your essay and having it published by Les éditions Michel Brûlé where you'll at least get royalties in the form of a bag of chips and a 2L bottle of Pepsi.
For those of you not familiar with Michel Brûlé check out his publishing house here: http://www.michelbrule.com/actualite.php
Michel Brûlé iseasily wins the PowerRacist 5000 award in Quebec. Not only does he publish Franco-centric separatist propaganda disguised as "prose" or "journalism," but this Uber-Asshole also penned his own novel, Anglaid, in which he spends 176 pages trying to argue that English is an ugly, disgusting language.
Yup, this guy's a regular old peach AND her also owns a bar in which he restricted English music from being played. The name of the bar? Planète libre. Yeah, I know.
And this is the type of guy who can see Michel's precious stars.
Michel - the term "biting the hand that feeds you" was used to point out the fact that all provinces within Canada work together to feed one another not to exclude quebec. Why would you take it that way? Unfortunately, to me, it shows that you do not understand that a country works towards the betterment of all it's citizens and does not practice a one-off environment. Yes, a separatist government wants to exclude others from enjoying the benefits of working as a team. Sad that you do not understand that and want to exclude the rest of the provinces as part of the team. That being said, I feel that any benefits derived from being a part of a country, you wish to then refuse any assistance at all from the ROC. Please remember that when you are out in the cold and are hungry and this place is partitioned to exclude the hardcore separatist government that is obviously out to crush this whole place. The down slide in quebec will continue until we are bankrupt and the ROC freezes us out. Bring on the referendums that will take portions of quebec out of Canada - it's time to move on with our lives and let you people wreak havoc on yourselves and leave the rest of us alone to live our lives as friends and neighbours in peace.
DeleteAnd Michel - You have electricity that belongs to the Indians that are Canadian and intend to remain that way should quebec ever vote, under Clarity Act Rules because that is what is used as a benchmark by the Supreme Court of Canada, to leave Canada. What then happens to your electricity? It will not belong to quebec and you can be sure there will be BIG trouble from the Indians who will arm themselves in a minute and blow up the property that contains these plants without a second thought. As per your comment on building trains and aircraft - you do realize that these two industries are very heavily subsidized by the Federal Government which will not be providing that assistance should the province vote to leave Canada? When you make these statements be sure that you realize all the advantages to being Canadian if you leave confederation. Don't listen to your separatist government promises that the money will be there because it won't. They will be cut off funds pretty quick should the separatists ever have enough votes to leave confederation. Thoughts to ponder when being given the option to leave Canada
DeleteCutie003,
DeleteI enjoyed our discussion so far. I have explained why I don't feel canadian without criticizing you for feeling canadian. I have to leave for now (Note to True Montreal : my daughters would like to watch the third part of Lord of the Ring). I have had a thousand times this discussion about the apocalypse that would follow Québec independence, maybe later. (I have had this discussion here for instance with Mr John Krug : http://michelpatrice.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/montreal-and-toronto-additionnal-notes/#comment-210 )
About the native issue, take some time to read this : http://global-economics.ca/dth.chap7.htm
It is from english canadian analysts, they raise interesting issues and interesting points of view. If you have little time, here is the conclusion of the chapter :
"Canadians will have to be careful about what we pressure Quebec to do. Aboriginal people living in Canada will expect no less from us than what we champion for Quebec natives. Aboriginal self-government and land claims are far too complex to be settled quickly at the same time as the country is trying to come to grips with the separation of Quebec. A hasty and ill-conceived attempt at resolution would only add to the centrifugal forces that will have to be resisted to keep the rest of Canada strong and united."
"There are many higher-stake issues, such as the division of the debt, and trade and monetary relations, that need to be resolved. An early acceptance by Canada of the territorial boundaries of an independent Quebec would enable us to get down more quickly to the hard business of settling these bread-and-butter issues as part of a package deal that would include territorial recognition."
Wow, this is one long thread! AnecTOTE, I think the Americans have it right. Should a state seek separation, I'm sure the the military would roll into that state like oranges to adjust their attitude. Incidentally, it's probably Texas that would be the dissident state, if any. E Pluribus Unam = "From the many, one." That's the American motto. I think it's high time we adopt it.
DeleteIt's easy to be ashamed of Canada when you live in Quebec because the Quebec way is to focus on Quebec, the whole Quebec and nothing but Quebec. All Quebec political parties are guilty of this, one less so than the others, but still enough to disassociate itself from Canada when it so chooses. I'm much more proud to be Canadian here in Ontario because there is focus on all of Canada instead of just Ontario, but now that I'm out of Quebec, I'm a proud Ontarian and have disassociated myself from Quebec as much as I possibly could. It is a shame to think I've become that way, believe you me, but the PQ did itself a disservice turning its back on me, especially when I think of what my ancestors did to contribute positively to their Quebec communities. For further details, see my three-part contribution near the end of the comments last Monday when the editor published my letter to the Foreign Policy Association.
“My sense of belonging is toward Québec, that's all. Your sense of belonging is toward Canada.”
DeleteNot me. My sense of belonging is towards Montreal, Quebec and Canada all at the same time.
“I grew up in Québecc and I became a quebecker, just like young germans become german or young japanese become japanese.”
That can be applied to just about anything you want. I grew up in Montreal and I became a Montrealer. I grew up in Gaspésie and became a Gaspesian. I grew up in Chisasibi and became a Cree. Anyone can frame that argument mean anything they want it to mean. In addition, you are denying the million francophones that grew up outside Quebec and consider themselves French Canadians just because you happened to grow up franco in Quebec. And in your obsession with language, you don’t even realize that anglo-Quebecers also feel different when they are in the RoC, even if they can speak English there.
Do you think a Mainer feels a kindred spirit with an Alabaman or an Oregonian or a New Mexican? Their accents are about as different as Australians or Brits are. Yet they don’t use their different cultures, histories and way of speaking as a means to separate themselves because… oh yeah, only Quebec is *special*.
"That can be applied to just about anything you want. I grew up in Montreal and I became a Montrealer."
DeleteYes, you are right. And your sense of belonging is toward Montreal and that's fine. Would you be annoyed if Cutie003 was all over you criticizing your feeling of belonging and arguing that you should be canadian first? Or if I was all over you arguing that you should be quebecker first?
"...you are denying the million francophones that grew up outside Quebec and consider themselves French Canadians just because you happened to grow up franco in Quebec."
Please explain to me how my self definition as a quebecker makes french canadians outside of Québec less french canadian in any way, or less whatever self definition they have.
"And in your obsession with language..."
I am not obsessed with language, I am obsessed with independence.
"...you don’t even realize that anglo-Quebecers also feel different when they are in the RoC, even if they can speak English there."
I know that. And if some of them say that they are canadian first, I don't tell them "hey, but you are quebecker because, you know, last time I checked, you lived in Québec". I have been told too many times that I am canadian because, you know, last time I checked, Québec as in Canada.
I also know that there is among english quebeckers a resentment of being ignored, not considered true quebeckers, and so on. It is one of the first thing that surprised me when I started reading english forums and getting more interested in this community.
So yes, they feel for Québec despite the ongoing criticisms, this is their place, and they speak much much more french than we think and this is not recognized.
(Do not read my nest sentence, it is an offensive reference to my schedule. My girlfriend just got back from work so I am leaving for tonight. (I warned you.))
"...neXt sentence..."
Delete|"Please explain to me how my self definition as a quebecker makes french canadians outside of Québec less french canadian in any way, or less whatever self definition they have."
DeleteBecause of "PURITY" Francos love singling out those who've got a slight accent that comes with 5= years outside the province. Separatists are dogmatic about this and JUMP at each chance they get to point out DIFFERENCE.
"I am not obsessed with language, I am obsessed with independence."
How empty is your existence that this is what you're obsessed with? Seriously, you're obessesed with being EXACTLY LIKE millions of others? No individuality, no personal thought...just some white, uniligual clone? Good luck with that.
I just read about how one of the Toronto Blue Jays' newest acquisitions is a 38-year-old man...and yet he's on top of his game and earning over $10-million a year...
..while Michel is obsessed with being EXACTLY like 6.5 million other people.
That's your sovereignist movement folks - "I can't accomplish fuck all in my life, so I want everyone who surrounds me to be just as much of a miserable go-nowhere failure as I am."
The child's foot behind the father's right arm.
ReplyDeleteFROM ED
ReplyDeleteIs it the accent acute missing over the e in budget?
no
DeleteEditor,
ReplyDeleteIt's always been called a Quebecoise pizza. I am rather surprised that you only noticed now.
Here it is, the Winter Solstice, and the Mayans seem to have it all wrong...
ReplyDeleteIn the Best Buy picture, the first thing I noticed towards the right are all those red and white toques, plus the twerps on the left in the red cowboy hat and hoodie. I thought all that's missing is some joker in a blue Santa suit, and then lo and behold...there it was. Oh, and someone bringing their little kid to perpetuate the hate. Real nice touch!
In the budget picture, not only do I see the little girl's foot next to her father's arm (had did that get there?), but it appears the little boy's left elbow is leaning on the woman's naked bottom! Is there something Freudian about that?
I figured a Quebecoise pizza would be one topped with poutine, not the Canadian as normal people know it. I wonder if there's a substitute term in Quebec for English muffin.
Re the egg throwing incident: I must state Mrs. Elikas is taking it all with a grain of salt, and while the incident is perhaps isolated (or others just don't report similar incidents), it's behaviour like this that led up to Krystalnacht in Nazi Germany. You have that video of the drunken young boor mouthing off to the East Asian tourists about speaking English to each other, as well as a contributor describing a similar incident on the blog the other day, the ticket taker in the Metro going off like a spurned gorilla after having been addressed in English and other similar "isolated" incidents, you see a pattern start to develop. With a government that promotes overt hatred against English, it's not long before members of that society are going to start emulating what becomes government policy, especially the small-minded. It's just as well should Mrs. Elikas had decided not to report it because I don't think the police would consider this a high priority. No shortage of racists in that area.
Racism is like mold. The spores keep on producing and reproducing, at first microscopic and not visible, and before long very conspicuous with ugly colour and smell. It has a cumulative effect. Sort of like death by a thousand cuts. Left unchecked and the incidents will continue to multiply and occur more frequently and overtly.
I know what you mean about the picture Sauga. But relating back to my comment about marketing, maybe it's not about nationalism. After all, Coca-Cola created the image of the red Santa we know today, and since their rival Pepsi is the preferred black-water in Quebec, perhaps the blue Santa guy is merely paying homage to his favorite drink. ;-)
DeleteThen again...maybe not: http://media.thestate.com/smedia/2012/06/24/20/09/550-es0Nt.St.138.jpeg
Note to any seppies before they respond to that photo - doesn't matter if you're Canadian, American, South African or Egyptian...if you dress that way for any country, you have very serious issues and require a lobotomy.
Don‘t you know Sauga the english oppressed the french and the separatists only behave like this because of the arrogant english attitudes that persist today. For intance, on the bus yesterday I saw an 80 year Pakistani who had the nerve to ask the bus driver in his own broken english if he could please repeat himself in english, he didn‘t understand french. If these dumb anglos insist on voting Liberal and speaking english in public then the separatists have no choice then to commit another Krystalnacht. I for one think the anglos need to forget their own human rights and vote CAQ. Legault has a magic wand and he will fix all this. It is the anglo‘s fault we are in this mess. I can‘t even watch Bon Cop Bad Cop in the West Island!
DeleteFellow readers and contributors: I think the comments above indicate what the S in S.R. stands for. I will not dignify the comments immediately above with a response except to ask all of you not to dignify the above comments with your own response.
DeleteDifficile d'entendre certaines vérités,n'est-ce pas sauga?
DeleteMon nom est Simon Riopel...et le vôtre?
Careful S.R - impersonating people can get you in a lot more shit than you think.
DeleteBut you know the english and french got along fantastically well until the 1960s. Back then the english spoke english when and wherever they wanted and the french were allowed to speak french among themselves and didnt mind speaking english at work or in many stores. Its that crackpot Levesque and his seppies gang that brainwashed those poor francophones in believing that they were being treated poorly by us nice anglos. Now those crazy evil seppies have stolen all our human rights..I walk in any business in Montreal and I have no choice but to speak french..you just cant get served anywhere in gods rightful language..english. The signs all have french way bigger than english..I cant even read the english its so tiny..there are hardly any english cegeps, schools, hospitals, media outlets left. Marois and her gangs next step is to round up all of the anglos and brand a union-jack symbol on our arm and ship us off to french immersion boot camps..those evil nazi seppies just cant be trusted especially that Turncoat Legault..he is just waiting to take over power and he is even worse than Marois..at least she is consistent..he just cant be trusted that snake in the woods. He is one evil liar..we all know that the Liberals are being totally framed..they were the most honest government this province has ever had..if Charest had another 5 years then most of the problems would have been solved in this god awful place..he would have made sure that Bill 101 was repealed and we could have gone on with our lives like in the good ole days of the 1960s..
DeleteDe quoi parlez-vous exactement Diablotin?
DeleteImagine - someone paid for that outfit! Actually, it's pretty far out there - just like a lot of ideas the seppies come up with and they're really paying for that. When will we ever learn, when will we ever learn (from the song).
DeleteMr Sauga, I believe Simpleton was being sarcastic.
DeleteFor Pete’s sake, complicated… do you not realize that some of us here are franco, have franco parents, franco grandparents and franco great-grandparents? We didn’t all just show up here 10 years ago like you did, you know.
DeleteMy franco parent had access to exactly the same quality education and exactly the same quality job opportunities as my anglo parent. If anything, it was the franco side of the family who was better off. Never did my franco family have any complaints about being treated poorly or felt aggressed by having same-sized English words visible in the public domain. And unlike francophones in most of the RoC, anglophones have been an integral part of Quebec society for centuries. There is no reason why Quebec anglophones shouldn’t defend their culture with exactly the same vigour that Quebec francophones do.
We all know that you’ve fallen hook, line and sinker for the poor, downtrodden francophone narrative and that your mind is completely closed on the matter, but that doesn’t change the fact that things weren’t as clear-cut as you pretend. If the separatist cause were as compelling as you claim it to be, they wouldn’t still be struggling half a century later to gain acceptance even among francophones. It would have been a done deal long ago. QED.
TS: That may be so, but as I mentioned to Ed on this blog: I calls 'em as I sees 'em.
DeleteFROM ED
ReplyDeleteMr.Sauga, What you ddescribe as the woman's naked bottom, I believe is her left arm. We know where your mind is today. I have those visions myself but when they get closer it is usually skin coloured clothing.
Still I enjoy the moment, that's all I can do now.
Simpleton - beautiful, Complicated please read.
Ed: I calls 'em as I sees 'em! Perception is as unique as your fingerprints and dental work.
DeleteWow Sauga, Ed got it and you didn‘t.
DeleteComplicated need not even post today, his territory has been covered!
FROM ED
ReplyDeleteContra, I'm 76, what did I get?
The above Complicated style post.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteMy perception of what simpleton said above is that he's trying to be funny or sarcastic. One or the other but not harmful. Which was it simpleton?
ReplyDeleteEditor - Removal of English Warning from Pharmacy Link leads back to bilingual dog - If you could correct would be appreciated.
ReplyDeleteCutie, the Editor has an email address that allows him to take care of personal messages that are not of interest to the public at large or worth posting publicly. It's in the top-right corner of every page. He generally responds quite promptly.
DeleteThank you.
DeleteThought the link was for the public at large. Hopefully everyone will read it now that it's available. Scary shit.
DeleteComplicated, thnx for ur reply in last postz commentz
ReplyDeleteKnowing this site, I half anticip8ed a "stop ur denial!" response and really appreci8 ur response
" when they would walk into stores in Montreal and would not be served in french..or having to speak english only at work"
I think this could speak 2 indifference, at worst. I don't consider these very big dealz overall. I'm coming from a background of avid interest in black/civil rights in US, women's rights globally, and gay rights in West (and, I guess, to an extent, globally).
I agree there's an anglo indifference to French; yet the things decribed above seem overall pretty small potatoes to me. Francophone Canadians are overwhelmingly white, Christian, and heterosexual. Technically, the numbers signify "minority", but the postz info doesn't spell out any oppression or true repression to me. Again, most of the oppression seems to come from CatholicChurch (of course I'm a well read amateur & not an expert, hence my questionz 2 u), not from the greater anglo community.
When I lived in Mtl, I was able to see a lot of French movies, as well as Hollywood movies dubbed in French.
Thnx 4 replying
My post was a play on Complicated‘s constant bashing of and blaming of anglos, coddling of seppie grievances and non stop violent deep throating of the CAQ
DeleteThank you - thought so.
DeleteEditor,
ReplyDeleteDo u feel there is truly more corruption in QC vis a vis other provinces & states? I hv read recently about mafia activity and claimz of corruption in ON; I wonder if QC's is just in the spotlight more these dayz & whether ON's turn (or AB or NY or TX, etc) will come next.
Streetcarz can really suck out on the street yet they do add tremendous romantic value & charm to downtown TO; despite their many drawbacks, I wudnt want to see TO ever lose them. Sorry to hear Mtl won't be getting any anytime soon; didn't even know was under consideration
Richard Bain sux
ReplyDeleteDespite Ed's assertions, all the crazy murderous gun nutz do *not* live inside the US's borderz.
Jason, are you trying to land a gig writing for Vice Magazine?
DeleteYes Jason, you might get more serious replies if you wrote normally instead of in gamerspeak... this isn't a warez board.
DeleteJGB - Indifference is a pretty light term with respect to what language you must speak at work. In the past many francophones had no choice but to speak english or else they had no job..even though they lived here in Quebec. Of course in some cases there may have been a legitimate argument to be made that english needed to be spoken..obviously if you were dealing with english speaking clients. And not getting served in french whem you walk into a store is pretty rude..I wouldnt use indifference. Its more arrogance on the part of the anglo communuty IMO. There has always been a certain amount of arrogance within the english speaking community worldwide..they have the luxury of pretty well going anywhere in the world and often getting served in their language..many have a hard time accepting they may have to speak another language.
ReplyDeleteYou can see french movies but there is probably only a couple theatres downtown showing them..practically every other theatre is full of hollywood garbage. Given how many francophones live in the Montreal ares one would think there would be a lot more availability of french movies.
Don't get why you call it "arrogance" when people speak the language they are most comfortable speaking. This is normal human behaviour and not something that should be ridiculed by you or anyone else. This is part of the "freedoms" that we have in this country. Should you, or anyone else not want to speak a certain language, it is one of your "freedoms" not to do so. If this upsets you, you don't get the fact that this is a "free" country and therefore you become one of the separatists in this province. They too feel it is OK to impose their desires against my freedom to speak whatever language I want to. Got it now? Just because they are the majority does not give them the right to remove my "freedom" to speak English or Chinese or whatever!
DeleteMeh, indifference & arrogance don't really mean much in termz of "oppression", or even "repression". At worst, ur talking about "bad mannerz". Even "exceedingly rude mannerz" don't mean "oppression" or "civil rightz.
DeleteComplicated, u (& I) may not dig Hollywood moviez that much, yet mass audiences as far away as China and India and Europe just love them. Since Quebec is as American as Alberta or Vermont, people there see themselves in Christian Balez shoes/batbootz as much as many Mahariths in Maharashta.
In France ppl complain that ppl/audiences see more US "garbage" than French "art"*; why shud/wud it be difft right here in America?
I 2 wish there were more (good) French movies a l'affiche.
Tell me, why do u think itz worth mentioning US English-language movies in a comment about anglo oppression of Francoz? Surely u don't think the Cineplex Odeon & AMC chainz r part of a conspiracy? Ppl buy tix 2 moviez they want 2 C. Supply〓Demand, which is Y they sell chocolate candy & soda pop in lieu of whole grain cereal & milk or applez or whole wheat sandwichez.
*obviously many American moviez r art & many French movies r trash)
The arrogance is in terms of always expecting the other person to switch to your language. The english often expect other people to switch to their language..there is less of an attempt by many english-speaking people to learn another lanaguage. Ihave seen so many cases of english people doing this here in Quebec..it always seems to be the francophones who switch to english and rarely the other way around. Its also pretty typical behaviour of British people who visit other counties in Europe and elsewhere..they expect the other people to talk to them in language and make little effort to learn the other language even when in a foreign country. I guess its understandable to a point..so many people do speak english that a lot of english speaking people have become very lazy as they dont really need to learn any other languages but it has been noticed by many..
DeleteI dont think that because most movies are in english or of english origin that this is oppression. My comments about oppression were about how it was back in the 1960s and before. If you had no choice but to speak another language to get a job and werent served in your own language in many establishements when you were part of the majority language I would think that is quite unfair and would eventually lead to some anger. Believe me JGB if a french minority generally elitist group statred taking over Toronto and most anglophones there would be told they need to speak french at work and they werent served in english at many stores methinks there might be a wee bit of anger there.
DeleteThere are many anglos here going on and on about human rights and oppression which is pretty laughable given that
there are still many many english services in Montreal arguably outweighing the size of the english population. I dont know too many cities in Canada with two world class english universities and this with maybe 700,000 anglophones. There are many english hospitals..english media outlets..english schools and so on. Its still routine to be servied in english in much of Montreal. And I have rarely not been served in english in montreal..if you go to the east side of the city then yes this could be a problem but very few englos venture out there anyway..downtown and west you hear english all over the place.
b) If you compare the level of services anglos have in Montreal to what francophones have in the rest of canada then there is no comparison. Francophones have to know and speak english anywhere outside of Quebec..an anglo can still get by in MOntreal without knowing a word of french. There are generally far fewer french services available in other provinces. You will rarely be able to be served in french in any other part of canada..even ottawa its difficult.
Myabe you should spend more time focusing on the oppresion claims of the anglos in Quebec..they have a much weaker case than the francophones did in the 1960s..
Those who equate indifference with arrogance will always feel slighted and insulted.
DeleteWhat raises a group of people above being subject of indifference (which is the case with most groups of people in the world), into a subject of what we can call "respect" (admiration, awe, looking up to for emulation) is not a majority status in some arbitrary locale. The world is littered with regional majorities who remain obscure and invisible. In order to rise above that, some sort of political/economic/military/cultural dominance has to be established beyond the borders of the locale. And let's not shit ourselves, QC does not have and will never have that kind of presence, a presence and clout that QC nationalists dream of. So the only kind of attention/"respect" QC will ever get is through coercion (people will speak French to avoid unnecessary confrontation, a store clerk will add a sentence in French to avoid being harassed by the OQLF, etc...) within the limited locale.
A fleeting, transient (lasting no more than 5 minutes) illusion of "respect" (admiration) through coercive state measures or anti-social responses is what QC nationalists will have to settle for.
Nationalist francophones like Complicated go around implying that things will never be settled until francophones will not sense that respect emanating from the rest of us. The problem here is that in order to show that kind of admiration, I would have to fake it. In all honesty, I simple do not feel it, like I don't feel overt awe-understood-as-respect for Italians, Greeks, Jews, Haitians, and yes, Anglos too, and I don't give a damn if someone is indifferent to my group of people. And I would never grant admiration/deference to a group of people just because the group happens to be in majority in some arbitrary circle on the map (arbitrary to the point that if you zoom in a little within QC towards Montreal, or zoom out a little beyond QC towards Canada or NA, the majority argument falls flat on its ass).
This "respect the majority" argument is such a political and economic ploy to rationalize a privileged treatment to a group of people within another group (and it's not francophones in general that benefit, it's a moderately-sized group within the francophone group - urban "professionals" and the ruling elites). And if the argument is: until there is no "respect", things will not be settled, then fine with me. The grind, the social attrition if you will, will continue. But that's the case in every society anyways.
You keep bringing the ROC into the conversation and it is not all comparable. Francophones that have left quebec know that it will be more difficult to obtain services in french in the ROC except those provided by the Federal Government yet you don't see them rushing back to quebec because they are not insane. You can't possibly compare it because most of the Anglophones that are residing in quebec are complaining because they are part of the history of quebec not outsiders therefore they are having their rights deliberately removed by the separatists not the other way around. In the ROC they are trying to improve their access to their language not deliberately having their rights removed! That is the major difference complicated if you get it or not.
DeleteI think you are misinformed if you truly believe that francophones in Quebec are seeking respect from the anglophone and/or allophone community. They are just trying to preserve their language particularily in Montreal where it was on its way to being wiped off the map. And to brush this off as most anglophones do does not hold up if you look at how the francophone community has done elsewhere in Canada..many francophone communities have pretty well disappeared. If you just let things be then english will take over..its all around us. Of course as an anglophone there is little concern but as a francophone this is pretty damn threatening especially given that this is the last place in North America where french still has a solid base.
DeleteYou dont know your history very well cutie. There are countless areas in Canada where francophones were the first to settle and their communities are now long gone or weakening considerably. I have seen it with my own eyes in several towns across the prairies which were first settled by the french over 100 years ago..these werent francophones who just moved from quebec 20 years ago. There are places in New Brunswick which have been french going back centuries that have to fight for the few services they have left. The french were among the first who settled western canada.
DeleteAnd you think it's just fine to remove the freedoms of some of the population of this province to make the majority of the population feel superior to the minority of the population. You listen to the BS about the protection of the french language over and above the rights of the minority population and this is just fine with you. You then truly do not believe in Human Rights and Freedoms which we all deserve in a free country. You are not truly a Canadian at all but a separatist at heart.
DeleteAnd if this is a natural progress of having human rights respected, then so be it. Protecting the french language by removing human rights from others is totally wrong.
DeleteIf there is "little concern" from us, then that is "threatening".
DeleteLike most people, I am concerned about a multitude of things which are immediately important to me. But like many people, I have not had experiences that would have shaped a consciousness in me for the "preservation" of the French language. You're saying that this is a problem, and until that changes, there will be attrition. What I'm saying is: let there be attrition. Nobody said that there shouldn't be. It would not be natural if there weren't any, given that people's perceptions of priorities are shaped differently.
I also do question the honesty of the political and cultural apparatus that tires to impose the preservationist consciousness onto non-francophones and the still unconvinced francophones. There is a political and economic battle going on in which a development of such consciousness definitely benefits one group of people over others. And whenever politics and economic linger in the background, the true motives are hard to ascertain. Because the politics of language and the politics of culture are about economy as much as about language and culture. So why should I get engaged in a struggle for the preservation of some language if the struggle is 1. connected to the preservation of economic privilege of native speakers of that language, and 2. connected to my detriment? What incentive do I have there? It would actually serve my interests more NOT to get involved in this struggle. So maybe indifference is a better deal than you realize. Because it could be worse than that.
I think we are all well aware that most anglos could care less about francophones struggle to preserve their language and culture. But do you expect them to just roll over and disappear?! Of course they are going to fight for it..as many other groups have and will do so in the future. Its a battle that very few anglophones will ever have to deal with. You can continue to be indifferent and somewhat arrogant but dont expect francophones to just submit to this..they will continue to fight and we will all continue to go nowhere in this province which as it seems appears perfectly fine with you.
Delete@Complicated
DeleteIls le savent très bien que nous ne nous mettrons jamais à genoux...C'est précicément ce qui les fait chier et nous adorons ça.
1st New Years' Resolution - Never, ever bother to try to explain anything, anymore to complicated. There will be no end to his ongoing separatist battle within himself. Good luck with that. No wonder people like SR are made to feel vindicated for their ongoing harassment of the anglophone community that resides in this province. WE WANT OUR FREEDOMS RESTORED IN THIS F------ PLACE - GOT IT NOW!
DeleteAdski, your posts are way too complex for the one note wonder, Complicated to comprehend. Seems like a lot of energy wasted on a retard.
Delete"Protecting the french language by removing human rights from others is totally wrong"
DeleteAu contraire,je trouve ça excellent,d'autant plus que ça fonctionne très bien :)
Désolé cutie mais je ne connais pas beaucoup de Québécois qui aiment les canadians,même si ils habitent sur notre territoire.
DeleteThe above comments show a complete and utter lack of a civilized society that should be permitted in a free world. We have to partition this place somehow and let those areas go that want to go. Let them become part or Iran. These animals have no right to co-habitat among us in any way, shape or form. Disgusting creatures that they are - let them have a back area of quebec where they do not have any impact on the rest of us. Municipal or federal district referendums to get rid of the scum that are now among us. Let's move to that end.
DeleteVous n'êtes pas au bout de vos peines cutie...Votre haine ne vous mènera nul part,sauf peut-être,en ontario.
Delete"Au contraire,je trouve ça excellent,d'autant plus que ça fonctionne très bien :) s'en vient
DeleteOh really?
"On a long enough time line, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero"
350 million Anglos, 6.5 millions Francos...it's a numbers game and best of all there isn't even need to resort to oppressive policies to make it happen.
Patience alors Diablotin :)
DeleteEn passant,votre nom a très mauvaise presse par les temps qui courent...Vous n'avez pas honte?
Does anyone else believe S.R's claim to being Simon Riopel?
DeleteNo one could be so stupid as to making that move.
But then again, Mr. Sauga is 15X intellectually superior to S.R and could easily have played him into making his identity public.
Run Simon Riopel through Facebook guys, you'll get a laugh at some of the pics.
I still think SR's the singer from Loco Noclass
"En passant,votre nom a très mauvaise presse par les temps qui courent...Vous n'avez pas honte?"
DeletePas du tout, car que c'est toi le "next" ;-)
"Mr. Sauga is 15X intellectually superior"
DeleteEt évidemment 15X plus rancunier.Suga est un homme blessé et rempli d'amertume,j'ai pitié de lui...God bless him.
Désolé,petit diable,je n'ai pas de compte sur face de bouc :)
DeleteFROM ED
DeleteResident, No one else cares about S.R.'s claim. You're the only one talking to him. noone else waants to lower them self to his level. We ignore him and wish you wold too. Ed
"Loco Noclass"... good one, R.E.! :)
DeleteBeing called Loco Noclass would increase their street rep. Yo!
DeleteCutie -
DeleteAs far as debating with Complicated goes, there was a paragraph he wrote in another discussion that sums up his (and all other separatists') way of thinking. I'll post it again:
Excerpt of what Complicated wrote...
"If Bill 101 never existed Montreal would be completely dominated by the english now. That is exactly what francophones do not want..their largest city totally controlled by the english minority. Would you accept Toronto being run by a french minority?? I can guarantee you that if Toronto became a french dominated city that anglophones around the country would be up in arms."
Here's what I said...
@Complicated -
After re-reading what you wrote, something hit me. Something that highlights just how xenophobic and truly racist ALL Quebecois separatist really are. Want to see what I mean, in your paragraph let's replace all instances of the word "Anglophones" and "Francophones" with the words "Jews" and "Christians".
----
If Bill 101 never existed Montreal would be completely dominated by the [Jews] now. That is exactly what [Christians] do not want..their largest city totally controlled by the [Jewish] minority. Would you accept Toronto being run by a [Christian] minority?? I can guarantee you that if Toronto became a [Christian] dominated city that [Jews] around the country would be up in arms.
----
Let's try that again, replacing the word "Anglophones" and "Francophones" with the words "blacks" and "whites"
If Bill 101 never existed Montreal would be completely dominated by the [blacks] now. That is exactly what [whites] do not want..their largest city totally controlled by the [black] minority. Would you accept Toronto being run by a [white] minority?? I can guarantee you that if Toronto became a [white] dominated city that [blacks] around the country would be up in arms.
I HOPE THAT WAKES YOU UP!
Well it obviously didn't work because he continues to argue the separatist side all the time so I've decided that he has not lived here long enough to understand the problems that exist. He has a coloured picture of past events and refuses to deal with the here and now except to recommend that we fix the financial problems before we worry about little things like our rights and freedoms. People like that should not be allowed to vote (bet that would piss him off) because of his lack of understanding of what the real battles are in the province.
Delete(1) If Bill 101 never existed Montreal would be completely dominated by the english now. (2) That is exactly what francophones do not want..their largest city totally controlled by the english minority. (3) Would you accept Toronto being run by a french minority??
Delete(1) Not true. Didn’t happen without 101, not gonna happen either, with or without it. Pure fearmongering.
(2) It’s not “their” city, it’s OUR city.
(3) False comparison. Totally different history. But you know that already.
FROM ED
ReplyDeleteI copied this from the older post, Complicated: "You keep refering to these inconspicuous people that say the english were rude but you have many here on line that have told you the opposite and you ignore completely what they say. Of course there were people who were rude to Francos and the same people were rude to Anglos because rude poeple are rude people." You're turning into a real troll Comp. How many of us have to tell you that before you stop putting us down? Ed
FROM ED
ReplyDeleteJBG Yeah, pretty much they are. President Obama announces gun control and everyone is rushing to buy assault weapons. Recently VP Biden said there is an average of three guns per household in the U.S. Where my sister lives in San Diego (Once touted as the best place in the world to live) every family has a gun and takes target practice once per week. Her neighbours told her if people find out you don't have a gun you'll be in danger.
That is in a gated community.
I feel we should start to arm the border with heavier weapons since the gun nuts like to shoot unarmed people, how long will it be before they know we do not stockpile weapons and come hunting
for Canadians? Ed
Gun control would not solve everything. The problem is with their culture. (What is the most frequent image in Hollywood movies and TV shows? It's someone pointing a gun as somebody.) The culture of violence and militarism in America is not incidental. Throughout history, every empire propagated garrison culture (Rome was like that too - they had games with gladiators, lions eating people etc..., today we have cage fighting, propagation of violence in movies and tv shows, etc...).
DeleteAnother contributor is their economic system which has a predisposition of pushing people over the edge. There is a good book on the subject: "Going postal: rage, murder, and rebellion : from Reagan's workplaces to Clinton's Columbine and beyond"
http://books.google.ca/books?id=EdEDAQAAIAAJ&q=going+postal&dq=going+postal&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LNTUUPDAGqyz0QGSyYG4Ag&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAQ
Les enfants amerlocs raffolent de Resident Evil...(Le jeu vidéo)
Delete"Les enfants amerlocs raffolent de Resident Evil...(Le jeu vidéo)"
DeleteThis coming from the little Klansman who voted for a party that called for the rwandan-style lynching of non-white Francophones.
And you wonder where the real source of mass violence comes from?
"And you wonder where the real source of mass violence comes from?"
DeleteÇa va la tête dude?Quelle relation y'a-t-il entre la politique Québécoise et les milliers de victimes tuées par balles chaque année,chez nos voisins les amerlocs,
That's why most of us avoid you dude - you're a fucking retard who can see two feet past his own reality. I'm off for drinks with friends.
DeleteHave fun hanging out at home alone and trolling against Anglos, immigrants, Americans and basically everyone who's accomplished more than you have in life.
Maybe we'll do our drinking in Sherbrooke and ask around for that Riopel fella...
"I'm off for drinks with friends"
DeleteTout s'explique alors...Bien éduqué en plus,vos amis seraient donc moins intéressant que moi?
Yep, and guess what champ - tonight's Saturday night - that means dinner and movies (with friends again).
DeleteMaybe if you actually had friends and didn't repulse everyone you come into contact with you wouldn't be a frustrated, angry hateful little seppie troll always trying to make everyone as frustrated and hateful of life as you are.
I'm thinking Skyfall - open to any suggestions.
Have a great time Resident and piss on the little troll. Merry Xmas.
Delete" feel we should start to arm the border with heavier weapons since the gun nuts"
ReplyDeleteLo, the wordz I never thot I'd type:
LOL
ROTFLMAO
Ed, u speak like a true NRAer! Nxt u'll tell us that gunz (designed to kill ppl) don't kill ppl.
They hv gunz so we need bigger gunz than they hv!" LOL
U speak against gated communitites yet want to create one.
U suggest Americanz r "gun freakz", implying u believe in a separate American species who r "different", or "unigue", or "distinct", yet refuse to acknowledge that separatists feel the same way.
We cannot ignore the thousands & thousandz of ppl in America protesting the NRA right now, and the millionz in America who support gun control, see only those who support free guns, then invent our own imaginary & simplistic perspective to explain a nat'l crisis
America has a gun problem; it will outgrow it. Canada has problemz of its own, tho u may wish a separatist saw only a rose colored CND
I know u support Obama; surely u realize he is moving to produce gun control legislation? Or, r u 1 of those birtherz who believe he is not a "real" American..? He's not a gun nut, Ed...
JBG, I know that as an English major I am predisposed to disliking your method of typing, but even were I not I fear that your posts would make my eyes bleed nonetheless. Could you make an effort to type legibly?
ReplyDeleteAlberta school shooting, Montreal Massacre, Richard Bain, Shell Lake murderz - all in a nation of 30M peeps
ReplyDeleteThey must have been American infiltrator!
No man, anglo mediaz iz 2 blame 4 that. They Ncite h8tred nd violenz.
DeleteThere is no comparison between the murder rate in the USA and Canada..the USA rate is almost three times higher than in Canada. Easy access to guns is part of the problem, glorification of violence in american mass media, huge disparity between the poor and the rich, and so on.
DeleteThere is always going to be the potential for violence in any country in the world. People are people and some are just not handling the stresses of life well and on any given day they can snap. The ready availability of these weapons is a problem in that if they were not able to readily purchase them, they may be restricted to something like a knife that would take the lives of far less people in the same amount of time.
DeleteFROM ED
ReplyDeleteJBG when you learn to wite inproper English I'll read your post. Ed
FRM ED
ReplyDeleteCmplicated you makea good point about the media glorifying massacres. The police often have to ask the press not to print details because they fer copycats. Ed
FROM ED
ReplyDeleteI now have a new keyoard. When i press the space bar I actually get a space.
All the letters work.
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the Liberal party.
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog's back.
I find it spells words better than the old one too, that's eerie.
Of course my new glasses might have something to do with it.
"I now have a new keyoard. When i press the space bar I actually get a space."
DeleteBut you press b you seem not to be getting a b.
(No offense, just kidding you.)
FROM ED
DeleteAs I get older I find the thngs I've had for 50 yrs do not work as well as they did when I first bought them. The nw keyoard wrks fin. Ed
Ed, you're hilarious. Like your humour.
DeleteMerry Christmas!
I'm getting tired of the 350 million anglos comments. It's 20 million anglos. We're not the same country, people. Are people in Spain and Portugal going to start speaking Arabic because they are so close to North Africa? There is absolutely no threat whatsoever of french disappearing in Canada. Just one of the many reasons why language laws are unnecessary. Complicated, do you honestly think French in Montreal is on the brink of extinction? Contrary to what you believe, the proportion of anglophones to francophones has dropped dramatically from its peak. Montreal for most of its history was an English majority city.
ReplyDeleteFunny. Americans do not live in the same country than we do, yet their ecomonical, sociological, political, cultural influence is enormous. We live on a continent that is overwhelmingly anglophone.
DeleteEDM a essayé de nous en passer une petite vite :)
DeleteAdski I agree witth you regarding cultural imagery
ReplyDeleteHowever the economic system angle is new to me; rings kind of true. Not sure I'll read that whole book but am going to look into more & @least read about the book. Thnx
FROM ED
ReplyDeleteEDM You bring up a very good point. Motreal was an English city because the life blood of Montreal was English. The harbour was our life. Fifty percent of our economy was generated by the harbour. We were a forewarding city. The millions of tons of cargo that came by boat had to be shipped by rail or truck across North America. Goods and bills were labeled in English to be shipped to the 350 million aanglos. Thousands of train loads came from Canada and the U.S. to be shipped over seas. When the PQ insisted on French only, suppliers in other parts of the world said, "We are not going to pay to have the paperwork and goods labels translated into french and then retranslated for our customers." What made our port number one ws that Canada was ahead in railways and the railways (head offices/stock building etc.,) were here. The irony of this is that the workers were all French. If you didn't speak French you could not find your way around the port. Most office clerks were English but the longshoremen, the stock checkers, the truck drivers
and fork lift all worked in French. I worked in ship repair which was mostly in English because they were old navy men who had just retired, but
when you got to the water front you needed French.
Ed
Did anyone hear theres a petition going around to block renaming Faillon after Gary Carter. Quick Complicated, on behalf of the downtrodden nearly extinct francophone you better sign it. After all a hall of fame baseball player is hardly a big deal. It doesn‘t matter that he was loved by all, we can‘t have another english street name, its an insult!
ReplyDelete*
ReplyDelete" If you had no choice but to speak another language to get a job and werent served in your own language in many establishements when you were part of the majority language I would think that is quite unfair and would eventually lead to some anger"
My apologies for not "getting"? It as the hip young people say; I know this is an emotional topic for you which may lead to frustration if you feel you're not being heard. I can work with that, though, and continue to try to understand.
I look at the above scenario and I don't grasp the situation clearly: How/Why are the majority of jobs (by the description, one might infer the vast majority, nearly all, of jobs) be in a minority language??? Surely there must have been just as many French restaurateurs, farmers, news publishers, hoteliers (just to use my own employment experience as a loose frame) hiring employees as there were English? By your description ("majority"), there would be even more businesses run by French owners serving French people, no?? Please have patience with my inexperience of older dayz of yore; I am confused how this "oppression" would have transpired. How can a much smaller minority serving a larger majority populace be forcing minority language on them?
I can't wrap my head around the math you describe. Care to indulge me further?
Comp:
Delete*my apologies for not "getting" it as the hip young people say; I know this is an emotional issue, etc
Did anyone read the link to the pharmacy note: These language police people are really going too far taking English off of medication instructions from the drugstores - now they want to endanger the lives of the anglophone and allophone population so if we don't move then they will try to kill us off - another form of ethnic cleansing in this stinking province. When are the feds going to step up and put a stop to this on-going problem in this province? Put pressure on your NMAs and your federal government members to stop these bigots from making life even more difficult and give us our freedom back! Have a francophone friend that is taking daily intravenous injections for an infection and when she asked for instructions in English, they ended up giving her instructions in french. She says she will make it through the paper but would have much preferred to have them in English. What the hell is wrong with these people? Sick in the head if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteVous devriez plutôt vous demander ce qui se passe dans la tête de votre amis Québécoise :)
DeleteTrès frustrée la madame,surtout qu'elle peut avoir ces renseignements sur le web.
Ou...
"Sick in the head if you ask me."
Okay adski, I give - I will order this Going Postal book from the library...
ReplyDeleteReading about it, I agree with the summaries/ideas --I think essentially the same things, though what he casts in economic terms I have only ever thought of as psychological (feeling bullied, invisible, frustrated, needing to make a statement, revolt). I have not ever thought of that as a result/product of an economic system, though. Intriguing, I'll give it a shot.
Thnx for the link/recommendation
I agree gun control isn't the only answer, tho I do think its an important component
Congrats Adski, not only did you take out Jason's to side with the "underdog" by sheer proxy, you also got him to respond in regular, normal people English.
DeleteJust depends if I'm on a real keyboard or a phone keyboard is all :-)
DeleteI wouldn't work @ Vice, btw ;-)
FROM ED
ReplyDeleteA big part of the problem is people with too much time on their hands. We didn't have this before bcause people had jobs and were busy making a living. Most of the kids involved in shootings were not going to school or attending when they felt like it. At least gun control would keep guns out of their hands and let them find something else play with. Ed
FROM ED
ReplyDeleteEditor, I find the new system to publish is expensive.
Eleven tmes I have read the words and numbers wrong and had to start over. I'e lost at least 43 seconds and since my time is valuable, I ask that you repay me at the rate of minimum wage. You owe mw seven cents
Please place a knickle and two pennies in an envelope
and send it to me at my home address. Ed
FROM ED
ReplyDeleteEDITOR, A SLIGHT RECONFIGURATION OF MY LAST POST.
I have been speaking with my friend Guiseppe from Laval and he has pointed a few things out to me.
Apparently there are costs I did not consider, for example having to tip my mailman at Christmas, possible delays in waiting for the money to arrive.
Interest on the delay and the expense of unseen traffic managers who guarantee delivery unfettered. (Whatever that means)
However he suggests the new total should be somewhere in the vicinity of $7,000. I agree. I think $70,000. sounds much more reasonable.
Please put the money in a brown paper bag and Guiseppe says he will have his friend 'Big Mike' pick it up. You will meet him at McDonald's and don't take the price of your meal out of my cut, I mean payent. Ed
Ed
FROM ED
ReplyDeleteEditor, Rereading tody's blog something occurs to me Frank Zampino probably kept info from Mayor Tremblay because he was working on a 'need to know basis" You know, "I need for him to not know" Ed
So just got back from going to my general store in the area where I live in the Outaouais and noticed all the English signs are gone. Was alone at the counter so I asked the owner, an allophone, what happened to the English translations over the sandwiches, etc. and he said that he had been visited by the language police and told to stop using English (even though it's legal), been threatened and had stuff thrown at his bilingual signs outside the store, had the IF group complain about him and had so many problems with these bullies that he had to stop using English as he was being harassed. I started to give him a hard time about it and then thought to myself, I'm getting as bad as they are, told him I understood and left the store but with no intention to go back. Next time I drive across the bridge to Ottawa and pick up the stuff I need. I've had it with these pricks and that's the only weapon I have left to fight with is the loss of my business. If we all do this when possible, the business community will start fighting back. Makes me sick to my stomach these assholes.
ReplyDeleteGeez, man. I feel sorry for people like your neighbourhood general store owner who come all the way to Canada from another country, expecting to live in a democratic society, yet having to put up with this kind of facsism. Obviously the people they are hiring to be language police are a bunch of nasty bullies. I want to say "how can they get away with this", but the answer to that question is quite obvious. Very few are fighting against this rubbish. The PQ supporting crowd are trying to turn Montreal into a little storybook town where everything appears to be in French, despite the fact that virtually the entire city was built by the English.
DeleteYou live in the Outaouais, most towns in that area are what- 90 per cent English? What kind of sick people force a business that caters to English consumers to be French only?
DeleteThe poor guy seemed scared to death - probably IF or the SJBS militants. Pricks.
DeleteDans mon quartier (100% francophone),il y a un dépanneur et sa propriétaire dont j'ignore le nom (nous l'appelons la grosse wendy canadienne)arrive à peine à dire bonjour et merci,après au moins 5 ans de résidence au Québec.C'est quoi son problème?
Delete"grosse wendy canadienne" ---> C'est quoi son problème?
DeleteI guess she's overwhelmed by your classiness.
Je crois que c'est plutôt dû au fait de son accès (ou excès) illimité au "twinkies" dont elle a fait provision avant leur disparition totale du marché.
DeleteSince you've supposedly reveal your real name, could you also post a picture of yourself?
DeleteThe picture I have of you in mind mind can't possibly be far off from what is reality.
You first little evil,BTW are you single?
Delete"BTW are you single"
DeleteWell, yes and no. Your mom wants me to be her BF
but I just feel that anyone who lets me ATM them
on the first date is a lousy prospect. :-)
Can you talk her down for me, big guy?
"Next time I drive across the bridge to Ottawa and pick up the stuff I need"
ReplyDeleteVous en profiterez pour jeter un coup d'oeil sur les maisons disponibles en ontario...On ne sait jamais :)
Obama calls Harper a "large lump"
ReplyDeletehttp://thelapine.ca/obama-calls-harper-large-lump
Héhé!
I guess you also believe the story of bilingual dogs.
DeleteNext well get updates on the state of affairs from The Onion.
DeleteSince the OLF (Oppressive Language F**ckers) are so intent on banning literally very trace of English from Quebec, it is time to ban every single trace of French in Canada. I'm serious.
ReplyDeleteIf you exclude the ethnocentric province of Quebec, less than 3% of all Canadians use French. What the hell is the point of having it elsewhere, other than to oppress Canada citizens. Why not force all packing in Canada to have binary language translations instead of French, there's more people who use binary language than French (Kellog's Frosted Flakes -- 00101010 1001010101 01010101101).
S.R - 00101 1001011? 0101010111 1010, 1010101 1011010101!! 101011, 10101011....101! (did you understand that? No, too bad, use Google Translate).
Le seul mot en binaire que je connais -- 101
Delete"...it is time to ban every single trace of French in Canada"
DeleteVotre ami galganov travaille sur ce dossier depuis quelques années.
R.Evil.;
ReplyDeleteI really dug Ralph Fiennes aka Gareth Mallory in Skyfall (as well as the silhouette fight betwixt 007 and the assassin); I especially can't wait for Fiennes in the next one. I t'd be cool if they could work in OSS 117 too.
I don't always side w/the underdog, you know -- I don't even read Patrice's posts. ;-) Joyeux Noël, cher voisin bien aimé. Passes un tres chanceuse nouvelle année en 2013
Thanks for the tips on Skyfall - ended up watching the Avengers instead. I want to see it because Javier Berdem, who played my favorite movie villains of all, Anton Chigurgh in No Country For Old Men is the villain in the new one.
DeleteAnd same to you - joyeux Noël and if we don't speak before the end of the end, happy new one1
The Avengers grabbed & entertained me more, and evoked more in me. Hope you also liked it. The Incredible Hulk's secret was tragic and the best part of the movie. I was just sorry they didn't find room for Emma Peel in the Dramatis Personae!
DeleteJavier Bardem delivers in Skyfall.
You know what's left me most unsettled above? It's the news story of the OLF harassing that woman running a non-profit dog rescue and adoption program in Montreal. The Quebec government does practically ZERO in terms of funding, programs or even hiring animal inspectors (unlike other parts of the civilized world) towards the protection and care of animals, and THAT in itself is a crime. And yet even in the face of this, it goes out of its way to DISCOURAGE AND HINDER persons who take it upon themselves, using their OWN time and money, to do for animals what the Quebec government refuses to get involved with!
ReplyDeleteThe message is clear: The protection of animals is non-valid issue in Quebec. Shoveling Quebec-French down person's throats (aka a thinly veiled excuse to harass minorities and non-Francaphones!) is more important than any other issue, be it animal protection, health care, human rights, the economy, etc. Gandhi said it best, "The measure of a society can be how well its people treat its animals". It says a lot about Quebec society.
On to the topic of translated French labeling excluding "Canada". I just noticed the same on a can of Habitant pea soup I just bought days ago. The English side says: "French-Canadian Pea Soup". The French side just says "Soupe aux pois". And interesting that a mushroom, pepperoni and bacon pizza is officially known as the "Canadian pizza". Honestly, for years I always thought it was a "Quebecois pizza". Hah.
Yes, it's always peed me off also that quebec doesn't give a damn about the animals that reside here. We have been fighting for a fenced-in off leash dog park for over 10 years and even with an especially aggressive city councilman, we still don't have one. You'd think we were asking for the moon. Let's waste a fortune on fighting the English language but for God's sake, no dog park! Fire just one of those language cops and we'd have the money for a dog park. This province sucks when it comes to protection of our furry friends.
ReplyDeleteIt's a far worse situation than lack of dog parks. I'm talking about the rampant puppy mills, where dogs are locked in cages (their entire lives!) without food, water, matted in their own feces and urine, and left to slowly suffer and die. This is out of control, and no one is stopping it in Quebec! Or cases like Normand Girard, who used a nail gun to drive nails into the skulls of several puppies and their mother, then left them to die and suffer on the road side. The man was COMPLETELY ACQUITTED, not even a slap on the wirst. A Quebecois judge let him off Scott free! Or the stupid, stupid ignorant Quebec police that shoot a cow to death, letting it slowly suffer and die. Or the horse meat factory in Quebec (only one in North America) where they beat horses to death over the head before turning them into meat. Or the person who left bear traps under their balcony to catch stray cats in Montreal...one cat was caught in it for weeks and slowly suffered.
DeleteNo laws exist in this backwards hillbilly-run province to protect animals. Purposely harming animals is less offensivable in this province than jay walking or a parking infraction! We have something like 7 inspectors for the ENTIRE PROVINCE to protect and investigate animal abuses, compared to 400-500 in Ontario (and the Quebec inspectors have no powers to speak of, bloody useless). If we converted all the Language Police Inspectors into animal inspectors, Quebec would have the largest team of animal inspectors in the world most likely! Nope, not a priority, or even a concern. The Liberal government did not give a damn about animals, I think the Parti Quebecois even less.
I just look at the way Quebec (and Quebecers in general) treat animals, and it explains the whole situation with this province. Racist laws, corruption, broken infrastructure....all of it. If you can't give a damn about the lives of animals, you can't give a damn about much of anything.
Sorry Apple - couldn't read your first paragraph because that's the sort of thing that makes me want to cry. A couple of months ago, someone wrote to our town paper that their golden retriever came out of the woods down here with a trap around it's neck, laid down on the road and even with two men trying to get it off, the poor thing died right there on the road. I was so outraged I could have screamed. I too have a golden and I could just imagine that happening to mine. This trap was set in the woods in a residential area and could just as well have killed a child or seriously injured anyone walking in these sparse areas. I wrote a letter of sympathy to the paper but it was never published because it seems it's perfectly legal to leave a trap like that anywhere you want. People have them set out in the woods all over the area and no one, cops included, do anything about it. And your right, if we can't protect the rights of dumb animals, then we certainly have no responsibility about our friends and neighbours. Sick, sick society that we live in here. Again, we have to find a way to get rid of these people and live a normal life within Canada.
DeleteThe overwhelming majority of those corrupt entrepreneurs are federalist liberals.
ReplyDeleteThat’s because they know very well that a sovereign Québec will never tolerate their corrupt business practices, and they will therefore make less money.