French versus English Volume 77

This week in corruption

Arthur Porter within months of dying 

At first I thought  that Arthur Porter was feigning cancer in order to avoid returning to Canada in order to face justice in consideration of the arrest warrant issued by police in Quebec.
But the truth is that Porter granted interviews with various media outlets where it was manifestly clear he was undergoing chemotherapy by his loss of weight and baldness. (Think of Jack Layton's last press conference)

Porter made an offer to Quebec investigators to come down and interview him in the Bahamas as he continues his futile battle with late stage lung cancer that has metastized to his liver.
They should take him up on the offer, he'll be dead within a couple of months, the survival rate for his type of cancer is incredibly low.

Newspapers are reporting that the Canada has an extradition treaty with the Bahamas but it isn't true and the likelihood of getting Porter  back against his will, even if he were healthy are slim to none.
It would require the federal justice department making a special appeal to Bahamas on behalf of Quebec and that would be unlikely as Porter is a huge embarrassment to the Feds over the fact that he was named to sit on a CSIS oversight board by Stephen Harper. Link

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A Montreal borough city manager committed suicide over the weekend after being questioned at length by Quebec’s anti-corruption unit. LINK

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Mayor Michael Applebaum fended off fresh allegations of wrong-doing on Friday, with evidence surfacing of a troubled snow removal contract during his time at the head of the Cote-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grace borough. Link

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The Charbonneau Commission heard testimony once again that just about every single engineering firm dealing with the city of Montreal made illegal campaign contributions to the then mayor's political party.These same people also donated money to Pauline Marois' war chest in preparation for a potential leadership fight with Gilles Duceppe, one that never materialized. Link{fr}

Wrapping  up Pastagate

Here's some reaction from around the world in regards to Quebec's famous Pastagate.
Interestingly, the only place where I found a copy of the original complaint written by the OQLF about the affair was in a French website which also referred to the OQLF as the 'language police,' a term that seems to have stuck around the world.
Read the article here in French

Language wars: Quebec unions share 'horror stories of civil servants who used bilingualism to help citizens

"MONTREAL — As hearings began Tuesday into Quebec’s proposed tightening of its language law, the main union representing provincial civil servants had some horror stories to share about life on the frontlines.
The details were so shocking that employees’ names and workplaces were withheld to protect them from possible repercussions, the Syndicat de la fonction publique et parapublique du Québec (SFPQ) wrote in a brief tabled at the National Assembly.
There was the perfectly bilingual clerk at Revenue Quebec who frequently meets people who are more at ease discussing their tax questions in English. The clerk prefers to go along rather than turn “a tax problem into a language debate” and possibly spark a complaint.
There was a technician dealing in benefits who was asked to submit an English version of a form to a Quebec-based company because its payroll department was in Winnipeg, and staff there did not understand French.
Then there was the clerk at the rental board who frequently deals with people unable to understand decisions in their files because they are written in French. He takes it upon himself to translate important passages into English on the spot.
If these sound like examples of civil servants serving the taxpayers who pay their salaries, the SFPQ wants you to think again."   Read the rest of story

Once they start laughing at you, you're through- The Economist

"It has not been a good couple of weeks for the Office québécois de la langue française, the Quebec government body charged with ensuring that French remains the dominant language in the largely French-speaking Canadian province. Over-zealous application of the law by its inspectors, known in English as the language police, subjected the office to so much international ridicule that on March 8th its head was forced to step down.
It began, as do many things these days, with a tweet. On February 19th, Massimo Lecas, co-owner of an Italian restaurant, Buonanotte, in Montreal, wrote that he had received a letter from the office warning him that there were too many Italian words (such as "pasta") on his menu. This was a violation of Quebec’s language charter, he was told, and if they were not changed to the French equivalents (pâtes in the case of pasta) he would face a fine.
Journalists with a sense of the ridiculous quickly piled on. An analysis of international media coverage of Quebec showed the story, quickly dubbed #pastagate on twitter, received 60 times the coverage of a trip by Pauline Marois, the premier, that had been meant to drum up investor interest in the province. Other restaurant owners who had received similar letters—a fish-and-chip-shop owner who was instructed to call his main offering poisson frits et frites, a brasserie owner who was asked to cover the “redial” button on his telephone and the “on/off” button on his microwave—came forward, an indication this was not an isolated incident." Read more in the Economist 

When the Quebec government goes overboard

"It is not forcing restaurants to Frenchify their menus by replacing pasta, "shish-taouk, sake, tzatziki and teriyaki" that we will return to the city of Montreal French panache. These absurd bureaucratic practices rather give the image of a narrow-minded government and unsuited to globalization. They discourage the integration of immigrants rather than facilitate it."  Le nouvel observatuer-France

Pasta-Not in Montreal say the language police ...Germany

"After Lecas had published the letter from the OQLF, others came forward. One said he had  to glue the buttons on his microwave, because they were written in English. And he had to cancel the word 'steak' on the shopping list in the kitchen - "steak frites" is indeed found in every Parisian bistro, but not in Quebec. Here you eat "frites Biftek" exclusively." Read the original story in German

Quebec language police try to ban 'pasta' from Italian restaurant menu.... 

"They are known as the language police, a unit within the regional Quebec government that seeks to protect French from the rising tide of English. It deploys inspectors to rein in recidivist anglophones, take on big corporate transgressors such as Guess, the Gap and Costco and conduct spot checks to follow up thousands of public complaints.

Now, however, zealots in the Office québécois de la langue française (Quebec Board of the French Language) may have gone a step too far in picking a fight with an Italian restaurant known for its celebrity clientele including Bono, Rihanna, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jerry Seinfeld and Robert De Niro.
After a five-month investigation into an anonymous complaint, Massimo Lecas received a letter from the board telling him that his establishment, Buonanotte, had broken the law by including the words "pasta" on the menu and "bottiglia", the Italian word for bottle, instead of the French word bouteille." The Guardian U.K

U.K's Mailonline skewers Quebec over Pastagate

• A British themed restaurant being ordered to rename fish and chips as poisson frit et frites
• Another restaurant being ordered to mask the word 'redial' on its telephones with tape
• A third restaurant being ordered to remove the letters WC from the lavatory doors - despite the abbreviation's popular use in France, and
• A distribution company taken to court because it only provided English instructions for its Super Stretch Sleeve sex toy.

For the real fun, dig into the hundreds of comments. Link

But here is the most interesting comment which I culled from all these stories..ouch!

"That is the sad French heritage. If France instead of England had been the one who had conquered the Americas, the U.S. and Canada would have been as poor as Africa and Haiti."  Link from Spain    ( Esa es la triste herencia francesa. Si Francia en vez de Inglaterra hubiese sido la que hubiera conquistado las Americas, EEUU y Canada hubieran sido como Africa y tan pobres como Haiti.- ElpidioPosada)

And on it goes.
Thre OQLF continues its reign of terror over the dreaded English word .

"MONTREAL — Liquid Nutrition is missing a vowel in its local signage, according to the Office Québécois de la langue française.
In yet another instance of what appears to be an OLF crackdown against Montreal businesses, a local franchisee of the smoothie-and-supplements chain has been served with notices advising him his signs are in violation of provincial language laws and must be changed." Read more in the Montreal Gazette

In other OQLF news, inspectors are at odds with a FRENCH school commission which uses an English software product for training purposes.
The school board has cooperated with all the other demands made by the OQLF, including putting stickers on ON/OFF buttons on school projectors, but has so far refused to go along with the software change because it would cost a staggering $278,000, money the school commission just can't afford. Link{fr}

One of our loyal commenters who goes by the screen name "White African Canadian" came up with this neat term to describe the those obsessed with removing non-French words from public purview;

"Pasta chaser"  A overzealous French language militant or government employee obsessed with removing  non-French words and signs  from public display.

Fantastic!
I hope you use the term to describe such extremists and hopefully it will pass into the common lexicon.

As for the language inspectors, they are beginning to feel the heat;

"Richard Perron, President of the Syndicat des professionnels du gouvernement du Québec, claims that for its part,  the 155 employees it represents have asked the OQLF for many years for an accurate interpretation of rules. "The guidelines are too vague, there are too many gray areas."

According to him, "it's Hell." Sarcasm is on the upswing and inspectors fear a growing threat. "Some members are afraid to go on the road. They fear they might  encounter a  'Richard Bain.' Link{fr}

In the meantime, the SAQ, the government booze monopoly, has sent a not so subtle message about where it stands on Pastagate, publishing this ad in the middle of the whole affair.

The SAQ has always been an English friendly agency, with bilingual and in fact many English and Ethnic employees.
Employees always answer in English when addressed and do so with a smile. The advertising material is all available in English and prepared in a first rate manner. Kudos to them!

Separatists to re-write history

“History is written by the winners,” Napoleon is supposed to have said. But in Quebec, it’s going to be written by the losers.
The losers in two referendums on sovereignty, that is.
And they’re going to write the history taught in Quebec schools so that next time, they’ll be the winners.
Nationalists have been clamouring for “improved” (wink, wink) teaching of Quebec history in the schools for some time, not even bothering to conceal a connection with sovereignty. Read the rest of the story

Montreal Hospital defines patient as "IMMIGRANT" on user card

Here's as bizarre a story as you're likely to hear this week. A Montreal hospital is designating patients as "IMMIGRANT" on user cards, those even who are Canadian citizens and who have lived here for decades.

The bizarre story doesn't end there, when a local reporter went to check it out and applied for his own card, he was asked his religion and when he inquired as to why, he was told that the hospital was 'Catholic"
Watch the video story at CTV Montreal

CRITIQ event a success

"In what many have called the largest gathering against discriminatory Quebec acts that curtail civil rights since Premier Bourassa used the notwithstanding clause in 1989,some 800 people crowded into the downtown Delta Hotel in order to attend a conference staged by CRITIQ ( Canadian Rights in Quebec.) CRITIQ is a broad alliance of anglophones, allophones and francophones dedicated to ensuring that constitutionally enshrined Canadian civil rights - particularly with respect to language - are respected in Quebec." Link

You can hear some of the speeches here

Barbara Kay  

Beryl Wajsman

Brent Tyler

Michel David

Robert Libman

More animal cruelty

A couple of weeks ago Leo Romain  posted a picture of a half-starved dog from one of Quebec's notorious puppy mills onto my Facebook page and I've waited for the opportunity to work it into a post.
Here's an attached story about Quebec's dismal record concerning animal welfare.

A year after more than 500 dogs were seized from Paws-R-Us, a puppy mill near Shawville, Que., some advocates say Quebec's animal cruelty laws don't go far enough to close the remaining 2,000 estimated puppy mills in the province.
The seizure was the largest of its kind in Quebec history. Today, 30 of the rescued dogs and their caregivers are meeting for a reunion.
In 2011, Quebec tightened its animal protection laws and boosted its efforts to control the province's increasing problem with puppy mills.
The province was given the power to close kennels where abuse was happening, increase fines and set new standards for animal euthanasia.

No jail time means puppy mills won't stop, some say

But people lobbying for tougher laws claim that without jail sentences for repeat offenders, mills will keep operating.
France Turcotte is caring for Lucy, a bulldog rescued from Paws-R-Us. At first, Turcotte said the dog wouldn't walk at all. Link

I dredged all this up in relation to another horrific story of animal cruelly that came to light recently;

Orville the Australian shepherd is shown at an animal shelter in Cowansville, Que. in a handout photo from the SPA des Cantons Facebook page. Police are investigating the case of a dog that has somehow survived after being shot in the head and left in a ditch in Quebec  Photograph by: HO-SPA des Cantons , The Canada

The Sûreté du Québec in Estrie has opened a file for a case of cruelty to animals after a dog was found shot in Lac Brome. The dog survived.
“It’s a miracle, the dog didn’t move, or eat or drink for three days, all it moved was its eyes,” said Carl Girard, president of the Société protectrice des animaux (SPA) for the Eastern Townships.
The dog is now walking, running, eating and drinking after it was given shots of anti-inflammatory drugs. Link

Read Puppy Hell: The Horrors of Puppy Mills 

Thanks for inspiration for the story to Leo Romain
 

Briefly

• Quebec's Education Minister Marie Malavoy announced Thursday that she is scrapping a Liberal plan for universal English immersion across the province’s French schools by 2015-2016. Link
   
• Pauline Marois' daughter belts out a song at a charity event, in English. Link  ... and  I'm not going to touch this story about her with a ten foot pole. If you're a mean sort, DON'T CLICK ON THIS LINK!

• PQ backtracks...again. The Lachine Hospital will remain under the umbrella of the McGill University Health Centre, Quebec’s health minister said Thursday night.“It seems to us that the MUHC guarantees the respect of the community character of Lachine Hospital,” Réjean Hébert said in his prepared remarks.  Less than three months ago, Hébert stunned physicians and staff at the MUHC and the Lachine institution by saying he would transfer it from the world-class teaching hospital to the local public health authority to preserve its francophone “vocation.” Link

•  Humiliated ex-boss of the OQLF Louise Marchand has already been shuffled off to another government agency to await retirement in obscurity. Link{fr}  

• The Harper government says there is no need to legislate the use of French in Quebec's federally-regulated private businesses.Both the Parti Québécois and the federal New Democratic Party have called for Quebec's language laws to be applied to federally-regulated businesses such as banks. Today the federal Minister responsible for Quebec, Christian Paradis, said the results of a study that looked at those workplaces suggested there is no need for legislation to regulate their use of French. Link

Tributes pouring in for dead convicted terrorist murderer Paul Rose.

Pierre Dubuc of the separatist l'Autrejournal website said this about the death of FLQ terrorist Paul Rose;

"His many friends and all militant unionists and nationalists cry over the loss of a great patriotic Quebecer." Link{fr}

Here's a statement from Quebec solidaire website praising the terrorist murderer;

"Québec solidaire offers its condolences to the family and friends of Paul Rose, who  died this morning after a stroke.

Our thoughts are also with progressive independents and who had the pleasure of working with him and militate with him for many years.

Throughout his life, Paul Rose remained convinced of the need to fight for national liberation and social emancipation of the people of Quebec. He chose, after the tragic events of October 1970, that fight on the field of democracy and citizen involvement.

Paul Rose was the leader of the Party for Social Democracy (PDS) one of the parties that formed the Union of progressive forces, which is subsequently became Québec solidaire. Link{fr}

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Amir Khadir, one of two members of the pro-sovereignty Quebec solidaire, promises to table a motion in the national assembly to that effect next week.
"This is someone who is significant to the independence movement," Khadir told The Canadian Press when asked about Rose's passing.
"You can share the reservations he had about his past in the FLQ, but no one can question his sincerity, his devotion, his integrity, his intellectual honesty." Link

Readers, a final note....

I found this illustration on the Antagoniste website (check it out) and I must say it lifted my spirits.
Many days I have trouble believing that this website is at all relevant and that changing people's minds is well nigh impossible.

 

Along that line I would like to thank those who do stop by.
This week we crossed the 40,000 comments barrier and the marker at the right of the page counting monthly pageviews hit an all time high,

 

On a pro-rated basis, it means that we are seeing over one million pageviews a year!!!

Thank you for your participation and...

Have a great weekend!
Bonne fin de semaine!

 HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY