French versus English Volume 108

PQ 'loses the room'

You've all seen the scene, either in a movie or in real life, where a politician or a spokesman gives a speech defending a policy or action in front of a crowd which becomes progressively more hostile, to the point that nothing that the politician can say placates the crowd and where he or she is shouted down and forced to flee the scene.

In the trade it is called  'losing the room' and there's little doubt post-election the PQ has clearly lost the room.
Since the election, PQ fortunes have fallen to historical lows;

"One month after its crushing electoral defeat to the Liberals, a new Léger poll done for Le Devoir shows that, had an election been held May 7-8, support for the party would have been a mere 19%.
In 28 years of polling, “I never saw this,” a shocked Jean-Marc Léger told the paper." Link

Part of the collapse can be attributed to the revelations that the PQ, particularly Bernard Drainville and Pauline misled Quebecers over legal opinions concerning the Charter of Values.

There's no coming back for a politician branded as a liar and so for the PQ, Bernard Drainville remains a ball and chain, one who the public and more importantly, the media, have come to mistrust.
Now it's revealed that the former finance minister Nicolas Marceau also misled the public over the deficit, under-reporting by several billion dollars the true fiscal mess.
This latest revelation of PQ deception isn't even accounted for in a survey that pegs PQ support at just 19%, polling which took place before the revelations by the auditor-general that the deficit as predicted by Marceau was over three times as large.

Quebec’s acting auditor general says the former Parti Québécois government provided an “ambitious” portrait of public finances that was nowhere near the current fiscal reality facing the province.

In a new report tabled today, Michel Samson said the proposed budget brought forward by the PQ government last February grossly underestimated the province’s deficit, which the PQ projected at $1.75 billion for 2014-2015.

Samson said the actual deficit Quebec is facing is closer to $5.5 billion Link

It's hard to survive a lie like that, so add the name of Nicolas Marceau  to the list of the PQ's dead men walking.

 Worse still, is how the PQ is doing with the younger generation;

"The majority of young Quebecers are turning their backs on the PQ and sovereignty, according to a new CROP survey that polled Quebecers between the ages of 18 and 24.
The 500-person survey found that just 16 per cent of people in that age group support the Parti Quebecois. The Liberals have more than double the number, with 34 per cent.
The group also overwhelming reject the idea of an independent Quebec. The poll showed that 69 per cent of Quebecers between 18 and 24 years old would vote "no" in a referendum.
“I wouldn't vote for the PQ because it will cause a lot of problems if we separate from Canada,” said CEGEP student Philippe Deschenes. Link

While the PQ is putting on a brave face, it is clear that the introspection that it has claimed it must undertake, must include a complete house-cleaning, with the departure of Drainville and Lisée from leadership positions.
Even that doesn't go to the basic question of whether sovereignty is a one generation issue.
That remains to be seen..
So unrealistic has sovereignty become that even many of those who wish in their heart for a sovereign Quebec, would actually vote against the idea over financial considerations.

Quebec Liberal Party soon to face corruption music

If there's anything we learned over the last eighteen months, it is that when UPAC (the special provincial police unit investigating corruption) raids an office, it isn't just on a fishing expedition. It is usually a precursor to charges being laid, even if months away.

We all learned our lesson when ex-mayor Michael Applebaum brazened it out, telling reporters that the visits by the special police unit to his office weren't anything to be concerned about. While UPAC didn't reply in public, it probably didn't appreciate the lie and when they came to arrest Applebaum months later, there was a measure of payback. Instead of asking Applebaum to come to the station to be charged, they went to his house early in the morning and made sure there were reporters on hand for the arrest and infamous 'perp walk.'

So it doesn't auger well for the Liberal party with the latest raid;

"The anti-corruption police unit has carried out another raid at the Quebec Liberal headquarters in Montreal, the party said Tuesday night....
...The search warrant says police wanted computer data from the account of the party’s former director, Joël Gauthier, and two others, according to The Gazette. Gauthier, who was the former head of the regional transportation authority, recently quit his new job at Investissements Hexagone in the wake of damning allegations from UPAC.  Link

Now Joël Gauthier is quite an interesting character, he's the former director of the Quebec Liberal Party who left in 2003 and was awarded a plum patronage job, running the regional commuter rail agency, the AMT.

"Gauthier, the former director of the Quebec Liberal Party, ran the AMT for nearly 10 years. He was pushed out in January 2012, when more than $300 million in cost overruns accrued on a new commuter line linking Mascouche and Montreal."

When the PQ got elected, it installed their own stooge, defeated star PQ candidate, Nicolas Girard who took over the job and who later discovered 'irregularities' in Gauthier's agenda and squealed to police.

"An investigation into his dealings at the AMT began when Gauthier's successor, Nicolas Girard, found what he believed to be irregularities in Gauthier's agenda, and turned it over to UPAC.  Link

Those irregularities showed that Gauthier had an incestuous relationship with engineering firms dealing with the agency. Gauthier accepted many gifts from them including a trip to the Vancouver Olympics.
Hilariously, a newspaper report describes how Gauthier asked an assistant to stomp on his Blackberry in a moronic attempt to delete the history, oblivious to the fact that the information was stored on the company server! Link{fr}

After Gauther was dumped from the AMT by the PQ, he landed at Hexagone, a firm created expressly to buy the construction empire of disgraced construction magnate Tony Accurso, who decided to retire in the wake of damning revelations at the Charbonneau Commission.
It wasn't exactly an arm's length sale, with Acurrso's two sons, James et Marco, two of the six shareholders. Other shareholders alongside Gauthier were former Accurso company employees. Link{fr}
In the wake of the raids and the potential embarrassment, Gautheir left Hexagone.
As I said, Gauthier is one murky character.
Oh, by the way, Hexagone just won a multi-million dollar contract with the city of Montreal.
No problemo!

And so moving right along, in testimony before the Commission, a former aide to then Quebec Minister Nathalie Normandeau confirmed that Liberal party held ridings were favoured in the awarding of discretionary projects, but defended the Minister, telling the commission that it was not her doing, but Normandeau's  evil cabinet secretary.

According to both witnesses, some provincially subsidized projects were approved faster than others depending on political affiliation. While certain projects were given the go-ahead quickly and easily, Binette testified, other files might sit gathering dust in the minister's office because the ridings where the projects were being carried out were not Liberal ones — or because the engineering firm partnered with a given municipality "wasn't the right one."

 It was the non-urgent projects that may have been ranked based on how constituents had voted in the last election, he explained.

Binette also told the inquiry that three engineering firms — Dessau, BPR and Roche — snapped up more than 80 per cent of all provincially-subsidized municipal contracts in Quebec. Both witnesses confirmed that the firms were in regular contact with the minister's office, and that they provided Normandeau's chief-of-staff, Bruno Lortie, with lists of projects that they were working on.

While Normandeau was painted as a dedicated and friendly boss, Lortie received the opposite treatment on Wednesday.

The chief-of-staff "loomed large" in Normandeau's inner circle, Binette testified, and met with executives from the engineering firms regularly. Lortie was also allegedly in charge of arranging fundraising events and ensuring that the minister met the $100,000 annual fundraising goal set for her by the Quebec Liberal Party. Link

More bad news for the Liberals is the visit that UPAC paid to Îles-de-la-Madeleine, MP Germain Chevarie. They wanted to have a little chat.
And Tony Tomassi, the ex-Liberal cabinet minister pleaded guilty  this week and was sentenced to 240 hours of community service in relation to fraud over expense claims when he was in the National Assembly Link

It seems that nobody is safe from UPAC's reach. In an absolutely bizarre turn of events, the corruption cops raided another office, the office that oversees its own operations!

"Quebec's anti-corruption unit (UPAC) carried out two raids in Quebec City Wednesday — one of them inside a building used by the provincial public security ministry.....

....Coalition Avenir Québec’s François Bonnardel said the government has a lot of explaining to do given that UPAC reports to the public security ministry.

“It’s extremely worrisome when we see that the police are investigating the police. In these circumstances, I think the ministry and the government should give us information on this impromptu visit,” said Bonnardel." Link

Employees rights in Quebec trumps all

When do employee rights trump good sense and public safety in Quebec.... ALWAYS.

Here's a video of a rogue school bus driver filmed by a concerned citizen.

"A man driving on the 40 westbound between Sources and St. John's says he noticed a minivan tailgating him, and when he saw the school sign on the minivan and the vehicle filled with kids, he followed the driver and videotaped him.
In the video, you see the school minivan driving over 100 km/h in a 70 km/h zone, and weaving in and out of traffic.
“I stopped filming because he noticed me and it was getting dangerous, he started following me at speed, I was driving to get away from him and he was zigzagging through traffic like a crazy person,” the man who wished to remain anonymous because he is also speeding in the video, told CJAD.
The man called the school transportation company, R. Crevier, to complain, but he says they were not interested.
CJAD spoke to the owner, Robert Crevier, Tuesday morning; he was unavailable for an interview but said he received a complaint from a citizen and the Sûreté du Québec.
He said it was the employee's first offence, that he gave him a warning and he could be fired after three." Link

What was the police reaction to all this?
They asked the anonymous filmer to come forward so that they could issue him two citations, one for dangerous driving himself and another for filming while driving.

As for the driver of the school bus, just a warning, he's entitled to three strikes, according to the owner of the company
Hmmmm.... Wold you let your child board this guy's bus tomorrow?

Oh,oh.. we all know what these caricatures indicate!

In another case of employees before the public, the union is trying to reverse the firing of two employees who were caught on tape abusing patients in a government run old age facility.
Both employees were charged by police with various crimes, including drug trafficking, assault etc. etc.

Despite all this, the union representing the workers has filed a grievance, demanding that the two former employees be reinstated.

Now the union representative said that when the grievance was deposited, the union wasn't aware of all the facts, but it hasn't withdrawn the grievance in light of evidence revealed. Link{fr}

Hmmmm.... Wold you entrust a elderly family member to the care of these two? 

Quebec defends marriage principle

If there is one issue where this editor defends Quebec's contrary position to that of the ROC, it is in the principle that marriage (or civil union) or the lack thereof should define the status of couples.

For the majority in the rest of Canada, couples are to be declared defacto married by virtue of living together continually for a number of years.

This means that marital rights are bestowed upon couples who never marry, rights like pension eligibility, alimony and in the case of death, pension and RSP rollovers as well as the right to  inherit.

Quebec has always taken a different approach, where 'common-law' marriage doesn't exist and a couple's status is up to them to define, not the law.

In Quebec, to benefit from marital rights, a couple must be married or joined through a civil union. It should be noted that support for children in the case of a breakup, is obligation that is irrespective of status.

Quebec has gone to court to defend principle of free choice and has maintained that it will continue to do so.

And so in Quebec, with  double the percentage of unmarried couples living together as opposed to the ROC, their  status is very much different than in most provinces in Canada.

I have never heard a meaningful argument for common law marriage. 

Feminists who contend that women are equal to men in all respects, look to the law to trap men into marriages they never agreed to.

Why don't women just demand that their mates commit through marriage, a seemingly simpler solution?

Every argument that feminists advance to force men into de facto marriage, make women look stupid and weak or so biologically driven to partner that they are forced to accept a lessor status.

If the latter argument is true, well, then I can accept the need for special protection. 

So which is it?

I can only wait for the outraged responses in the comments section, but Quebec seems to back the position that the decision to marry or live as a couple be made freely and consciously and not imposed by government. The Quebec government takes the 'outrageous' position that women are free to choose their own status, while the rest of Canada believes women are too-feeble minded or biologically-driven to do so.

And now to Canada's new prostitution law that seeks to criminalize the men engaging in sex for hire, while giving prostitutes a pass, another acknowledgement that women are deserving of unequal and preferential treatment under the law.

The idea that prostitutes are trapped into a lifestyle and are powerless to choose another path, just more evidence that feminists themselves view their sex as inferior and weak. 

In a country where anyone can get welfare, choosing prostitution is a conscious decision and those who make that decision should bear the responsibility.

It is strange how we always hear about 'women trapped in a life of prostitution' as if they had no hand in their fate or no alternative. Nope, not in Canada...sorry.

The hooker with a heart of gold, is an idea as ludicrous as the hooker paying her way through university. Prostitutes are prostitutes and attempting to rehabilitate their image by calling them 'sex-workers' doesn't change who and what they are.

Let us consider a drug transaction, where the pusher of illicit drugs faces no legal sanctions, while the buyer may be sent to jail. Would Canadians accept that?

If you read French, here's an interesting article about how Quebec is determined to protect the marriage principle and also protect the individual right to choose one's status. Link{fr} 

Canadiens Mascot 'Youppi,' pays off Jimmy Fallon bet

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Euginie Bouchard trips up on and off the court

If there's one things that irks Quebec francophones, it is that  the French from France largely detest the Quebecois accent. I don't know why, but Quebec movies are generally dubbed when shown in France, something that really is unnecessary.
If I can understand Haitian French, as a non native French speaker, I'm sure that those in France can very well understand the Quebecois accent.

That being said, Eugenie Bouchard had an incident when a fan asked her if she could speak French with a real 'French' accent to which she gave an unfortunate answer that saw some local journalists seeing red.
The French interview is subtitled, it starts at 1:20.

Yikes!!!!
Perhaps local media will finally admit that Genie is a Quebec anglophone, named after a British princess who doesn't place an accent over the second 'é'  in her name.
While Pierrre Foglia of the Journal de Montreal took exception to her jibe, that is, that it's good that she doesn't have a Quebecois accent, other Frenchmen noted that Genie's accent is actually much easier on their ears then that of the Quebecois!  Link{fr}

Is BBQ chicken commercial racially insensitive?

St. Hubert BBQ, Quebec's largest chain of rotisserie chicken has come under fire for this commercial, which Chinese community leaders have branded racially insensitive. Link

'

Offence, like beauty, is always in the eye of the beholder and so I'd like a few opinions from the readers as to whether you think this commercial crosses a line.

For francophone readers....
Would you be offended if McDonalds ran a commercial where not so flattering stereotypical portrayal of a francophone Poutine shack owner railing at the unfairness of being undercut by a big corporation.

Interestingly, this story hasn't made it into the Francophone media yet.
What do I think?....dunno.

Then there's this  Swiffer commercial featuring a stereotypical  elderly Jewish couple that is absolutely precious, so I guess it's a fine line.
The commercial is so popular that Swiffer made another one featuring Morty and Lee (actually I don't know which came first)..... Watch it

Further reading

Quebecers signing up for accent modification classes

7 Interesting Montreal Statistics About Every Borough In The City 

Quebec students tops in math 

Canadian brands ignoring francophones on social media 

Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montreal makes good on a bet with the mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio over the Canadians/Rangers series.

That Coderre had to fly the Rangers flag over city hall is nothing, but being forced to eat a disgusting New York bagel is real punishment.

More English belongs in Quebec’s French schools: report

Language group blast government for providing English version of budget {fr}

French lessons for dyslexic employee likely to cost DND over $70,000

Bonne fin de semaine!

Have a good weekend!