Threat of Montreal Partition Driving Quebec Language Militants Mad

I told you before that a partition movement for the island of Montreal, whether ultimately successful or not is the only strategy that can lead to any sort of satisfactory outcome for minority communities in Quebec.

All the good intentions and lobbying by Anglo and ethnic community leaders intended to attenuate the precepts of Bill 96 are doomed to failure because for French-language militants and the CAQ government itself, punishing our communities, either for political gain or sport, is more important than the phony and unneeded protection of the French language that the law would purportedly provide.
The more we howl and complain the more they enjoy inflicting the pain, like a demon child sadistically roasting ants with a magnifying glass.
Too graphic?
How about a snarly Mexican bandito gleefully shooting bullets around the feet of his prisoner shouting.."Dance! Dance!"
Get the picture.

They are not indifferent to our pain and suffering, they are in fact revelling in it. That is what we are up against and the sooner we accept this reality, the sooner we can pivot..

This last week something happened that I've been waiting impatiently for.
A political voice has spoken the unspeakable in public, firing the first real and effective salvo in protecting and defending our linguistic rights.

For all those organizing a futile lobbying effort to soften the harsh elements of Bill 96, it is time to embrace the reality that polite dissent will not be effective. We need to embrace a different tact, and as the old saying goes...the best defence is a good offence.

Balarama Holness: Daring to go where no man has gone before.

Longshot Mayoral candidate Balarma Holness finally brooched the subject of Montreal seeking its own path in the language debate, rocking the political status quo, sending French language militants into an apoplectic rage-fest.

“Balarma Holness said he’d ask the Office de consultation publique de Montréal to hold a one-year consultation on the status of English and French in the city’s public and private institutions. During the hearings, he would also consult Montrealers on whether they wanted the city to hold a referendum on language. The outcome of that referendum, which would not be held during his first mandate, would determine whether French remains Montreal’s only official language, he said — even if the mayor of Montreal does not actually have the power to declare the city bilingual.

“The National Assembly will not determine the character and the nature of the city of Montreal. Montrealers will determine that,” he declared.
“If Montrealers want to hold a referendum … we will do so and we will be asking both the provincial and federal governments to respect the democratic willingness of Montrealers,” he added.
Should citizens want bilingual status for Montreal, Bill 96, overhauling Quebec’s French language Charter, would not apply to the city, he said. Montreal Gazette

“In 2018, Holness argued that if Quebec became a country, Montreal would have the right to separate from it. He even pleaded for the organization of a Montreal referendum to allow the separation of the metropolis. Holness is what we call a partitionist” Journal de Montreal {fr}

Now if I was a consultant for the other side I'd advise them to ignore Mr. Holness because he has little chance of winning and almost no profile in the French community.
His missive on special status or partition would go largely unnoticed.

BUT of course, rabid protectors of the faith could not resist engaging and unloaded a barrage of hate and criticism via the francophone media that was so vitriolic it spawned a campaign of hate against Mr. Holness that included death threats and hate mail so bad that he reported it to the police.

Here's one such fan mail;

" In the name of proud Quebecers, I am telling you that you are an effing dirty nigger. A bastard immigrant who needs to be killed. Do us a favour Dolarama, kill yourself, otherwise ask someone to shoot you. Dammed shitty nigger, fuck you motherfucker" 

Hmmm......

While this hateful reaction is unacceptable, it does demonstrate the fear we can strike into the hearts of our tormentors. 

I promised you in many previous posts that this would happen, that the mere mention by someone of substance the possibility of Montreal going its own way would spark the reaction we need to bring our issues front and center and force a real debate.
It would eliminate the free ride the CAQ is enjoying in bashing our community.

Here are a few samples of the furious reaction in the French media.

“Those who believed in a credible 3rd voice for Montreal will be disappointed. Balarama Holness has just made a totally irresponsible decision by promising to hold a referendum on the linguistic status of Montreal. 

He is playing with fire. 

As if we needed an open war between French and English in Montreal on the status of French city or bilingual of the metropolis when French is already faltering. What a lack of judgment!” ELSIE LEFEBVRE 

I most enjoyed the ugly screed written by ethnocentric Mathieu Bock-Coté who went apeshit over the pronouncement made by Mr. Holness, reminding readers that he is a black activist who had the temerity to complain that the person named by the government to combat racism "wasn't the right colour."

Mr. Bock-Coté likes to label those who oppose his views on Quebec society as "White Rhodesians," but since Mr. Holness is Black he had to settle on 'neo-Rhodesian'
Like many of Mr. Coté's posts, this one was quickly scrubbed of the slur, but not before being published.

“Please understand and forgive me for insisting: I am not talking here of all those who reclaim “diversity”, but rather a radical multiculturalist movement that instrumentalizes the reference to diversity in order to reject our people. in our own country.

This agenda will find an ever greater echo in the years to come. It expresses a real contempt for Quebeckers, who are presented as a bunch of rednecks, hicks, filthy, intolerant people behind the times regarding modern diversity. This ethnic supremacism is hidden behind the banner of diversity and inclusion.” Journal du Montreal

Another famous Anglophobe, Normand Lister in a sarcastic piece, hits the nail on the head with this observation:

“.... the other reason for the Anglos to vote overwhelmingly for Balarama is that they could them intimidate the Legault government, which is already uncomfortable in regards to  language reform.” Link{fr} 

In a radio interview, Jean-François Lisée warned that the movement to free Montreal from the clutches of an inconsiderate Quebec government is serious and may already enjoy 30-40% support on the island of Montreal. 

That's much more support than Brexit enjoyed in the infancy of the movement.

Let us be inspired by the American Declaration of Independence which in part states;

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Let us therefore declare;

“That the adoption of Bill 96 requires the island of Montreal be afforded 'special status' vis-a-vis the law and failing such, a referendum will be organized to seek sovereignty from Quebec with the goal of becoming the eleventh Canadian province”

If our leaders and journalists adopt this confrontational line we can achieve much more than by grovelling.

Of course, the idea of a referendum will be rejected out of hand by the CAQ and the media, but given the manifest support on the island, politicians will have to deal with it.

More importantly is the man in the street, especially in the rest of the province,  who will be frightened over a looming political referendum that just might go the other way.
Possibly losing the island of Montreal over Bill 96 seems a poor bargain not to be chanced when a compromise is there to be had.

For them, blowing off Bill 96 seems infinitely preferable to the scenario described above.
Politicians will pay heed and likely do an about-face.

I am reminded about other famous about-faces including the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who was forced to accept a cease-fire with Iraq after stating he never would with the words,  “I drink this chalice of poison.”

To which I say to Mr. Legault...bottoms up.