Hampstead's Unilingual Mayor

While Anglophones poke fun at Louise Harel for her lack of English and complain that it's an impediment to being an effective mayor, what can we say about William Steinberg, the last unilingually English mayor in the Province of Quebec?

The tiny town of Hampstead is nestled snugly between Cote Saint-Luc to the west and the Snowdon district of Montreal to the South and East.

The town, a bastion of rich anglos, is largely unknown amongst Francophone Montrealers and flies successfully under the radar as an Anglo foil for French radicals, whose usual target, the City of Westmount, is ironically more ethnically diverse than Hampstead. The city's only brush with French radicals was a passing mention in the famous FLQ manifesto.

The town remains one of Canada's wealthiest communities and it's mostly Jewish residents (85%) are closely aligned to the Anglo community. Even the town's Sephardic Jews, whose mother tongue is French, send their children to private English Hebrew schools.

The town's residents are highly successful and almost all are bilingual, but speaking French in Hampstead is not particularly important and certainly not relevant when it comes to civic affairs.

Town council meetings are decidedly English only affairs and for Mayor William Steinberg, it's a good thing, he doesn't speak a word of French!
It's likely that he can't even understand his own campaign literature.

No one can deny that William Steinberg, a descendant of the famous Montreal 'Steinbergs', the family that sold out it's eponymous grocery store chain for hundreds of millions of dollars isn't dedicated, he has turned the part time job into a full time obsession.

Being of independent means has it's advantages and during the last campaign Steinberg put in so much time electioneering, he claims to have rang every single doorbell of the 2500 homes in the town!

It's hard to fault him for effort, but the fact that he can't speak a word of French after living most of his life in the Province is a bit of a head scratcher.

Mr. Steinberg has blamed a hearing impediment for his inability to speak French and has been given a pass by the other candidates who don't want to be seen attacking an infirmity.

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.

The question remains, infirmity or not, should someone who can't speak French be considered for a mayor's position in Quebec?

For Hampsteaders, the question isn't an issue and it seems that they agree with Mr. Steinberg that French is an unnecessary job requirement.

It's a bit two-faced, considering the Anglo position on Madame Harel.

Why Montreal is Better than Toronto

If you're an Anglo living in Quebec, you've probably been asked by other Canadians or Americans why you continue to live in Quebec given the language 'situation.'

It's never easy to answer, suffice to say that we stay because we want to. Those who aren't comfortable have already left, but those who remain, like it just fine.

Just for a hoot, I'd like to compare the livability index between Montreal and Toronto according to my own strictly subjective opinion.
I've graded each category out of ten and then applied a multiplier which weighs the category's overall importance.

Housing ---- Montreal 9/10 Toronto 4/10 x 10
A no-brainer. Montreal offers as varied a choice as Toronto and at about 35% cheaper than Toronto, it's a significant bargain. It's also possible to get homes with real lawns and back yards throughout the city with the exception of downtown. I once visited my cousin's home in Toronto and was shocked to find that there wasn't more than 3 feet that separated her home from her neighbour's. Freaky!

Health Care ---- Montreal 4/10 Toronto 6/10 x 10
While Quebec's health care system is clearly inferior to Ontario's, the gap is not as wide for Anglos in Montreal, who do a lot better then their Francophone counterparts, especially outside the major cities. The biggest problem remains the lack of family doctors and waiting lists.

Shopping ---- Montreal 5/10 Toronto 7/10 x 3
Montreal's biggest weakness is the lack of variety. Toronto boasts many American chain stores that haven't made the transition over to Quebec because of the French factor. (example-Williams-Sonoma). At the very high end, Toronto has a slew of expensive international stores that aren't represented in Montreal. Visit Bloor street in Yorkville to see what I mean.

Professional Sports ---- Montreal 5/10 Toronto 9/10 x 4
Toronto counts a pro baseball team and a pro basketball team, something missing in Montreal. The Toronto FC play in the premier professional soccer league, the MSL as compared to the minor league USL Impact. If Toronto had a NFL franchise, they'd be a perfect 10. The Buffalo Bills do however play some home games in Toronto, so it's a 9/10 for the city in terms of professional sports. While the Canadiens and the Allouettes are better organizations then the Leafs and the Argos, they can't make up the difference.

Restaurants and Nightlife---- Montreal 8/10 Toronto 6/10 x 3
At the top end of the scale both cities have a wonderful selection of first class restaurants, but Toronto has more. That being said, the real difference between the cities is in the restaurants serving patrons who can't shell out $400 on a restaurant bill and here Montreal wins easily. While Torontonians are more prone to eat at American style chain restaurants (like TGI Friday's), Montrealers eat in neighbourhood bistros that are second to none in North America. Eating phenomenally well, at a reasonable price is what sets the cities apart. Montreal nightlife is more dynamic and bustling, mainly because a higher percentage of Montrealers hit the clubs to party. Toronto's last call at 2:00AM is a bit of a party-pooper. Montreal bar owners are lobbying to extend the 3:00AM closing time to 6:00AM so people can continue dancing and sober up. (no alcohol would be served after 3:00AM..hmm!)

Live Entertainment---- Montreal 4/10 Toronto 7/10 x 3
No doubt that Toronto wins this category. Live theatre is virtually non-existent in Montreal. Although all the major musics acts include Montreal on the national tours, there are some smaller acts that just don't make it into La Belle Province. At least Montreal's situation is better than Vancouver's, a city that is consistently skipped on national tours.

Traffic---- Montreal 5/10 Toronto 3/10 x 6
Traffic is a problem for both cities, with both road networks straining under the load. Both have too many cars during rush hour and gridlock is an unfortunate fact of life. But Toronto's traffic is worse and commuting distances are significantly longer than in Montreal, making for a much longer drive. Toronto's Don Valley Parkway and Montreal's Metropolitan Boulevard remain the most annoying roads in Canada.

Cottage Country---- Montreal 10/10 Toronto 6/10 x 7
Toronto cottage country consist of the three major destinations, the Muskoka, Kawartha and Haliburton areas. While all three offer magnificent natural settings of woods and lakes, they require two to three hours to get to.

Montreal has two distinct areas that serve as cottage country, "The Laurentians," north of the city and the "Eastern Townships" to the southwest. Both offer magnificent lakes and woods, but have an added feature that is sorely lacking in Toronto cottage country- real mountains.
Better still, the Laurentians are located just 45 minutes away from Montreal, while the Townships are a little farther at about an hour and ten minutes. Montreal's cottage country is also better than Toronto's because of it's accessibility. Both regions are served by a first class divided highway that cuts through the heart of the regions, making for quick access.

As for boating, both Toronto and Montreal cottage country offer everything a boater could want, but for sailing the 'Townships' Lake Memphremagog straddling the US/Canadian border is tops.

Both city's cottage districts offer an outstanding selection of cross-country skiing, but when it comes to downhill skiing, Montreal far outshines Toronto, which offers few choices, the best being Intrawest's Blue Mountain resort in Collingwood with it's paltry 750 ft vertical drop. It doesn't compare to it's sister property in Mont Tremblant which is three times as tall and a world class resort, complete with a casino and airport (In fact Porter Airlines flies directly to the resort from Toronto during the ski season!) The Laurentians, The Townships and Northern Vermont (with the fabulous Jay Peak, Stowe Mountain Resort and Killington Ski Resort) combine to offer dozens of first quality ski resorts.
Also worth mentioning is the 120 kilometre bike trail that runs between St. Jerome and Mont Laurier and offers restaurants, B+B's, inns and campgrounds along the way, a biker's paradise!

What makes Montreal's cottage country a perfect 10/10 is that it is a complete summer and winter paradise, available not only to cottagers, but to all Montrealers as a day trip. Fabulous!

Higher Education---- Montreal 10/10 Toronto 8/10 x 8
Montreal and Toronto both offer splendid opportunities for higher education. What's amazing is that Montreal Anglos (numbering less than 15% of Toronto's Anglos) have so many options to choose from. Montreal's 10/10 comes from having the finest English language University in Canada, (18th best in the world) an amazing achievement. Toronto has more great schools, but none with an international reputation.

Weather---- Montreal 3/10 Toronto 5/10 x 8
Toronto has a warmer climate than Montreal. Not exceptionally better, but enough to make a big difference, lifestyle-wise. Truth be told, Montreal is not a fun place to be in February.

Festivals---- Montreal 10/10 Toronto 6/10 x 4
With the return of the Grand Prix, Montreal runs three major International events including the Jazz Festival and the Just for Laughs Festivals. What's significant is the extent that the citizens embrace these events. Toronto has only one real international event, the Toronto International Film Festival, which pales by comparison to the happenings in Montreal.

Public Transportation-- Montreal 8/10 Toronto 7/10 x 7
Both cities offer both excellent subway and surface transportation. The only reason Montreal's score is higher is that trips are generally shorter.

Suburbs-- Montreal 10/10 Toronto 6/10 x 7
Both cities offer beautiful bedroom communities, but the the real mark of a suburb is how far it is from the city centre and Montreal's west island suburbs are a lot closer. Some of the morning and evening commutes in Toronto are brutal hour and a half plus affairs. Going downtown for an evening out is an option that many suburban Torontonians don't have, given the long drive in. Suburbanites in Montreal remain vitally connected to the city.

Parks Montreal 9/10 Toronto 7/10 x 4
Montreal's Mount Royal Park has been voted the 8th most important urban park in the world. 545 acres smack dad in the middle of the city makes it second only to Vancouver's Stanley Park as Canada's best. Toronto has the Toronto Islands Park, but you need a paid ferry ride and a up to 40 minutes to get there, and that's from downtown. Accessibility is the key.

Bicycle Friendly-- Montreal 10/10 Toronto 5/10 x 3
Montreal leads all cities in North America in integrating bicycles into the urban landscape. The completion of a bike path on Maisonneuve Boulevard running through the heart of the downtown core signals the city's commitment. The BIXI bike rental program has been wildly successful and is expanding this spring into more neighbourhoods. The program is the envy of North America with cities lining up to import the concept. Don't worry Toronto, I'm sure you'll copy BIXI soon.

Innovation-- Montreal 8/10 Toronto 6/10 x 3
Montreal has always been the innovator, while Toronto remains the executor. Like the Japanese, Toronto copies and improves just about every urban concept developed in Montreal. Montreal is first, Toronto is better.


Professional Life - Montreal 6/10 Toronto 9/10 x 8
There's more opportunity in Toronto for Anglos than in Montreal. That, more than language was the cause of the Anglo exodus from Quebec.

Cost of Living - Montreal 8/10 Toronto 6/10 x 8
Housing, restaurants, entertainment all cost significantly more in Toronto.

Joie de Vivre -Montreal 8/10 Toronto 5/10 x 8
Torontonians are stay-at-homers. Montrealers live in the streets. There's an edginess in Montreal that exists nowhere else in Canada. Anglo Montrealers live in two cultures and enjoy it.

And so here is the final tally.

Final points--- Montreal 832- Toronto 692.

What do you think?

Maybe the Canadiens should Hire this 9-year-old

Nine year old Oliver Wahlstrom busts a move that is better than any seen at last year's the All-star game in Montreal!

Protectionism- Quebec Style

To our politicians, protectionism occurs when others (particularly America), shut us out of their markets in order to protect their local industry. However, according to them, it's not protectionism when we shut others out of our market to protect our own local economy.

Our newspapers, who parrot this concept, have been filled with stories of righteous indignation in regards to the "Buy American" provisions of the US stimulus package, rarely mentioning that we are in fact, bigger offenders in relation to free trade.

Quebec has always protected it's industry through an unpublished, but strict policy of buying locally. That coupled with a rigged bidding process for government contracts insures that Quebeckers pay more for just about anything that the government buys.

Quebec, however, is not the only culprit in Canada.

Robert Presser sums it up succinctly in The Metropolitain;

"According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Canada is a major hypocrite among OECD nations when it comes to protectionism. We ask for free trade with our US neighbor and cry about the Buy American provisions of the US stimulus package, but we protect our own provincial and municipal procurement system from US suppliers. The federal government is trying to work out a deal with the provinces on this issue, but progress is slow. There are over 100 trades and 50 professions that are covered by provincial regulation in Canada, which means that Canada does not have a mobile labour market and this creates financial and employment distortions across the country. Jean Charest is working to create a common labour market with France, and if he is successful a plumber from Lyon will have an easier time getting accredited in Quebec than one from Belleville, Ontario.

The OECD points out that Canada has significant restrictions on foreign direct investment in the telecommunications, transportation and broadcasting sectors and this hampers modernization, international competitiveness and creates higher structural costs for consumers – there is a price we are all paying for protecting the “Canadian” players in these industries"

In the midst of all the complaints of American protectionism, Quebec has launched a publicity campaign, encouraging people to shop locally for Quebec agricultural products. The campaign called "Acheter et manger québécois" is being run by the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture.
Claude Béchard, the Minister of Agriculture is quoted in a speech as saying;

"If each of us would replace $30 of foreign bought food with products bought in Quebec, it would mean that within five years, local sales would increase by a billion dollars."

The Government web site says it unabashedly;

"Whenever you choose a local food product in the grocery store, restaurant or market, you help to save jobs and grow the economy of Quebec, while supporting the people here. This growth is beneficial for all of us."

These types of ads, once popular have become verboten in a free-trade world.

Lucky for us, the Americans don't read French.

Reminders that identify local products are now appearing in our grocery stores.

I wonder if our Agriculture Minister would appreciate an American advertising campaign calling for the replacement of Quebec maple syrup with syrup produced in Vermont.

I wonder if members of the Quebec government would appreciate a snazzy commercial like the one above, created by the government of Washington State, imploring American airlines to buy Boeing airplanes instead of Bombardier, because it's good for the local economy.

It's a double-edged sword.

Arrrgghhhhhhh..................