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| His promise to learn French... a promise not kept |
He had a minder trailing along with him (someone I like and respect, so I won't mention her name) to help intercept any uncomfortable questions and conversations and to answer any questions that might arise in French since he could not understand a word.
I asked him if it was true that he couldn't speak French to which his lovely minder jumped in to explain that because of a childhood hearing infirmity, Steinberg could never learn French. She assured me that now that he had secured a cochlear implant he would undertake to learn the language of Molliere should he be elected.
How on Earth could somebody in this day and age present himself as a potential mayoral candidate in Quebec without speaking French?
Outrageous....
I was actually stunned that he had the chutzpah to run.
Not being a shy fellow I told him in no uncertain terms that he was unfit to serve and that his infirmity disqualified him from consideration.
While his minder played the infirmity card once again I told her that I could not vote for somebody who could not read or write because of dyslexia and I sure as Hell couldn't vote for someone who could not speak French.
You can imagine that the two of them looked at me as some kind of racist or insensitive lout as they shuffled off my porch rather sheepishly.
Through sheer effort and overwhelming resources, William Steinberg won the mayoralty, turning a sleepy part-time job into a full-time obsession for someone with too much free time and boatloads of money.
Now I'm not late to this debate, back in 2009 I wrote a piece on the mayor which pretty much summarized what I'm repeating here.
"Although Mr. Steinberg is somewhat deaf, he speaks English just fine. The truth is that he has lived a sheltered life of privilege and has never bothered to learn French, simply because he never needed to. Mr Steinberg has invoked the 'infirmity' excuse as successfully as a university co-ed, claiming 'womens' problems' in order to get out of a big test." Read: Hampstead's Unilingual Mayor
The city may have the highest density of Jewish residents of any town in Canada and boy, they are rich.For those who never heard of Hampstead, it is a tiny, yet extremely wealthy sleepy suburb enclaved tightly between Cote Saint-Luc and Montreal's Snowdon district. The town which is less than two square kilometers is home to zero businesses or stores and it's 7,000 residents live in about 2,500 expensive homes ranging from a million dollars in value up to five million and more, with municipal taxes ranging from over $10,000 to $50,000 and more per home.
Hampstead infamous for large homes and English-only STOP signs
Lise Ravary proclaimed in the Gazette a few days ago that up to 20% of the residents are Francophones, but this just isn't true. While the city's Jewish residents who come from Morocco may speak French, their kids go to private Jewish schools that are English. The lingua franca of the city is 100% English and the French signs and notices are merely formalities forced upon the city by Bill 101.
Hampstead is, of course, the least diverse city or town on the island of Montreal.
The 275 Filipino and Black residents who reside there represent 'the help' and of Canada' native population, there are of course zero residents.
As of late, there is an interesting Asian influx, where a significant percentage of resales are going to wealthy mainland Chinese families seeking a safe haven for their money. Nobody seems particularly perturbed, they are good neighbours with many using their million dollar homes for summer vacation only.
At any rate, if Mayor Steinberg committed a fault in his injudicious pronouncement about 'ethnic cleansing' it is that it has brought unwanted attention to our sleepy little hideaway, which for the longest time slid under the raider of those Quebec nationalists protesting White/English/Jewish privilege.
Make no mistake about Hampstead, the city is the most federalist town in Quebec, with the number of citizens voting for YES in the referendum restricted to as many as you can count on your fingers.
When it comes to provincial voting take a look at the choice this Hampstead neighbourhood made in the last election.
Yup, 95.6% of those Hampstead voters chose the Liberal party, a percentage that would make Joseph Stalin or Kim Jung Un jealous.
It isn't surprising that the mayor has remained steadfast in refusing to apologize for his remarks, he has the benefit of being unable to understand the most vocal of his critics, not speaking French that is.
For him, the protests are of no consequence having the proverbial hard head of privilege while living in his ivory tower,
If Hamspteaders reject the mayor next election it won't be for his remarks about ethnic cleansing, it will be because of the unwanted publicity that he brought down on a town that just wants to fly under the radar.
And so the good mayor in a pique of resistance has called a special meeting of Hampstead city council for Monday where he will seek support for his mayoralty.
No, he won't ask for a resolution backing his use of the term 'ethnic cleansing," he is not that dumb.
What he will do is cleverly ask council for some resolution opposing Bill 21 and armed with a positive result he will brandish it as a vote of confidence.
The question now is whether the council members will fall for his ploy and give him what he seeks, a false vote of confidence.
It would take guts to defy the mayor, he is all-powerful in the town and refusing to take part in the farcical vote would register their individual disapproval and represent an official falling out with the mayor.
Will council members do the right thing or will they go along with the mayor's charade?
I'm not sure, but the fact that the mayor is proceeding with the gambit indicates to me that he's confident that Hampstead city council is his to control, like a pimp reigning supreme over his bitches.
