Nationalists See Red Over Olympic Parade in Montreal

For the Saint Jean Baptiste Society,  the RRQ or any other nationalist/sovereignist organization, the parade held last Friday in Montreal to honour Canada's Canada's Olympic and Para-Olympic athletic success at the Vancouver Olympic games must have been quite a bitter pill to swallow.

The city's main drag- Ste. Catherine Street was bedecked in a sea of red and there were more maple leafs being waved, than at a Toronto hockey game.

For those Canadians who are ready to write off Quebec's Anglophones and Allophones as well as Francophone federalists, perhaps this video will serve as an eye-opener.

There are more federalists living in Quebec than in any other province except Ontario and BC. 

The parade and the huge Anglo and ethnic turnout puts paid to the nationalist notion that Montreal is exclusively a Francophone city. The truth is, that west of Park Avenue/Bleury and all the way out to St. Anne de Bellevue, Anglos and Allos are in the majority.
ENJOY!!

Maxime Bernier Burns His Bridges

Last week ex-cabinet minister Maxime Bernier emerged from political banishment and commenced a journey on the road to redemption by giving a bombshell speech about Quebec's addiction to federal largess.

As you remember, Bernier was dropped from the Harper cabinet two years ago after he left some semi-secret documents at the home of his girlfriend, who supposedly had some ties to bikers. The fate of the free world was never really in jeopardy and the the whole affair was stupidly overblown. The puritans in the Harper cabinet were mortified at Bernier's choice of girlfriend, her biker ties and her voluptuous breasts that she flaunted saucily at Mr. Bernier's cabinet investiture at Rideau Hall.
Since his departure from cabinet, Bernier has been patiently doing his penance in the back benches, but is now making a move to return to cabinet.

His speech before a partisan crowd in Mont St-Grégoire, south east of Montreal in the Montérégie region of Quebec, was nothing less than a full-frontal attack on the Quebec model of entitlement and was so brutal and humiliating that it drew almost universal condemnation by Quebec politicians, clear across party lines.

If you are inclined, here is an English translation of the complete speech, which I believe you'll find  quite interesting. "For a proud, responsible and autonomous Quebec"

If you're in a rush I'll give you the executive summary;

On sovereignty- "It’s a legitimate debate, but a debate that’s not going anywhere and will probably not go anywhere for a long time to come."  

Since 1970, Quebec has discussed political independence, but has developed an economic dependence on Canada. 

Quebec has one of the biggest and most interventionist governments in North America, and one of the heaviest fiscal burdens.  

Gilles Duceppe, who is fighting for Quebec independence wants Quebec to get more money from Ottawa, which will make Quebec, even more dependent!  

"..unbridled state interventionism does not lead to prosperity. If that were the case, Quebec would be the richest place in North America instead of being one of the poorest."  

"..the rest of Canada has nothing to do with the fact that we are poorer."  

"Let’s be frank: many people in the rest of the country perceive Quebecers as a bunch of spoilt children who are never satisfied and always ask for more. This perception has some basis in reality."  

Imagine if, instead of pointlessly debating the merits of political independence, we tried instead to live within our means and to get out of our economic dependence. 

There's not many politicians willing to deliver that type of a frank message, not even Prime Minister Harper. Instead of sparking a legitimate debate, Bernier's message was so devastating that both the PQ and Liberal politicians refused to rebut the speech on its merits and were reduced to ad hominem attacks and the hackneyed claim of "Quebec Bashing." Interestingly, Bernier, to my knowledge, is the first Francophone to be accused of this pejorative, hitherto largely reserved for Anglophone politicians from the west who complain about Quebec getting more than it deserves.

Of course, it was to be expected that Gilles Duceppe would rage at the impertinence of a Quebecker criticizing his province, but it was a bit surprising (perhaps not) that Thomas Mulcair, the NDP Anglo Kapo and nationalist apologist from Outremont, would also stoop to attacking the man instead of the argument.

The only person at all who offered some sort of defence was LE DEVOIR's Michel David, who countered weakly that while Quebec got the lion's share of equalization payments, proportionately other provinces got a higher percentage. Bravo!

Mr. Bernier is a rare breed, the antithesis of what politicians from Quebec look like. A fan of Ann Coulter and Ronald Reagan he openly challenged climate change hysteria, the only politician in Quebec unafraid to stare down climate-change gurus.  He remains the only federally elected member of Parliament from Quebec that espouses a true conservative philosophy.
If you're wondering how he manged to get elected in Quebec, it is because he represents La Beauce, a small region which while only about an hour and a half drive south of Quebec city, may as well be  light years away, politically.

The region has always been fiercely independent, proud, entrepreneurial and federalist. The birthplace of small independent factories industries, it was the center of the Quebec garment industry before jobs were shipped overseas. The region rebounded through its entrepreneurial skills and continues to march to a different political drum than the rest of the province.

The general sentiment, even among the media was that Bernier had crossed the line by humiliating Quebec by discussing its dirty little secret in public. The finance minister Raymond Bachand was so angry that he seemed to be frothing at the mouth, offering Bernier the sage advice that the Minister should be defending 'Quebec Values'.

There are some who see Bernier coming back to provincial politics à la Jean Charest, to lead some sort of a Quebec version of a Wild Rose Alliance, it will never happen.
The over-riding sense of betrayal that his speech seems to have engendered precludes that eventuality, there are just not enough Conservatives around.
That being said, he remains wildly popular in his riding and is in no danger of losing his federal seat, regardless of the political fortunes of the Conservatives in Quebec.

One thing that his opponents are saying about him, is true, he is becoming very popular in the rest of the country. His feisty attitude, his conservative views and his good looks are proving to be awfully hard to resist.

He seems ready to assume the same role Stephane Dion fulfilled while a cabinet minister in the Martin government, that is to become the principle foil for Gilles Duceppe and the Bloc Quebecois. He seems well-suited to the task. He is smart, feisty and fearless. He may well be on his way to becoming the most hated Francophone among nationalists.
Ottawa has been in desperate need of such a personality, a Francophone politician from Quebec who can engage the Bloc and say all the nasty things that need to be said.

He should return to Cabinet as soon as possible.

Montreal Mayor Off His Rocker

I'm starting to fear that Montrealers would have been better off electing separatist candidate Louis Harel than we are with Mayor Tremblay after getting a look at his project to demolish the TURCOT EXCHANGE and replace it with a greener version, one that would reduce traffic capacity and send truckers and motorists into an Al Gore induced version of Hell.

The project is estimated to cost between six and eight billion dollars and of course the Mayor expects someone else to pay for it, this time, the Provincial government.

Of course the PQ, after quickly realizing that the fanciful project was a no go, immediately supported it, hoping to cast the Liberal government in as bad a light as possible.

The elaborate plans were drawn up, as they say in the trade, on "spec," that is, without any specific assurance or commitment that it would be considered by the province. I don't know how many millions were spent on the plans, but Quebec shot down the project within twenty-four hours, which is equivalent to light-speed when it comes to provincial politics.

Less than a day after an elaborate news conference staged by the mayor, the minister in charge of transportation, Julie Boulet, could hardly contain her annoyance and told reporters that a more modest  project could be done for less than half price without the years of hellish disruptions that the Mayor's plan called for.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Turcot Exchange, it is a spaghetti patchwork of elevated hi-speed roadways that connect all the major highways on the southern end of the city. Regardless of the direction you are travelling you can link to any of the major high density espressways that bisect the city.

It ain't pretty but it works.
It was an ambitious and futuristic project back in the sixties when elevated roads were sprouting across North America. Forty years later, it is in need of major repairs, due to deteriorating concrete.

300,000 cars and trucks use the exchange every day and the idea of taking it down and replacing it with a granola network of boulevards, tram ways, bus lanes, forest and green spaces, makes one wonder if the good mayor has been put under a spell by dingbat conspiracy theorist advisor Richard Bergeron, who may very well be the nuttiest person to ever wield power at City Hall..

It seems that the good mayor has developed somewhat of a man-crush on his erstwhile political adversary, who now seems to be running the executive council, much to the chagrin of Mayor Tremblay's own party members, who see it as a perversion of the political process.  Mr. Bergeron ran for mayor against Mr. Tremblay in the last municipal election and placed third, behind Tremblay and runner-up Louise Harel. The mayor, in an effort to demonstrate his inclusiveness, shocked members of his own party by naming Bergeron to his executive council.

Alas, I think our good mayor has gone off the deep end.  Those watching city hall are concerned that his growing infatuation with Bergeron is a dangerous flight of fancy.

Concerning the redevelopment of the Turcot, I would ask Torontonians to imagine the city removing the DVP or New Yorkers, the FDR or the BQE and replacing them with an urban boulevard, complete with trolleys and gardens, a project that could handle less than half the volume of traffic. Ugh!....

When the particulars of the project were announced and news channels started quoting the six to eight billion dollar price tag and the fact that the province, not the city, was expected to pick up the tab, the hot lines lit up with protesters from outside the city demanding that they not be forced to pay for Montreal's folly.

On LCN, a French news channel a viewer commented that she didn't see why someone from Quebec City should pay for a fancy road in Montreal.

It's an interesting point of view, hitherto unheard of in Quebec, the idea that those who don't benefit shouldn't be asked to pay.  Touché!

Mayor Tremblay should realize that if he wants his pie-in-the-sky project to go forward, he'd better look to get his money elsewhere.
An increased real estate tax? Tolls on bridges? Higher user fees? No. No.. No......

Perhaps he can put the touch to Alberta for a handout, after all, they already have too much money and don't know what to do with it.

Another six billion dollar transfer to Quebec makes sense, because it's good for national unity and because...err...eerrr....errrr.. we're worth it!!!

Does the Bloc Quebecois Want to Succeed or Fail?

The Bloc Quebecois presence in Ottawa has always been a paradoxical affair. The party arrived in Ottawa twenty years ago, boldly proclaiming that it's stay would be brief, just long enough to protect Quebec's interests until the inevitable declaration of independence, surely not more than a few years off.

Alas, it hasn't worked out that way. The Bloc has already spent the equivalent of half the term that the biblical Israelites spent wandering in the desert, but unlike the fleers of Pharaoh, another twenty years of aimless obscurity in the backwaters of Ottawa's opposition benches, holds no guarantee that a trip to the promised land will be forthcoming.

While Gilles Duceppe beseeches the Canadian Parliament and all who will listen, to let his people go, unlike the slaves of Egypt, Quebeckers hardly seem ready, willing or able to take the plunge.

Each passing year takes the Bloc Quebecois farther and farther from its goal, and the window of opportunity where sovereignty remains even a remote option is fading rapidly.

What looked so inevitable twenty years ago,  is only a dream today, one that only the most fervent of Quebec nationalists hold onto.

Over 70% of Quebeckers, now believe that sovereignty will never happen.

What changed?...
Well, over the last twenty years, a period which ironically corresponds with the Bloc's tenure in Ottawa, two ongoing trends have in fact changed the rules of the games.

The first is Quebec's headlong rush to match Canada's immigration policy whereby an exorbitant amount of new immigrants are brought into the country each year.  Without a matching effort, Quebec cannot maintain its demographic weight in Canada, but paradoxically, in doing so, the Province is diminishing its "Frenchness," as well as adding a disproportionate number of NO voters in any future referendum.

If ever there was a classic case of  'Catch-22,' this is it. Damned if you do, dammed if you don't.

Over the last twenty years Quebec has welcomed over one million new immigrants to the province, who understandably tend to be overwhelmingly federalist and NO voters. This represents a swing of five full percentage points towards the NO side in any potential future referendum. Within another five years it will take close to 65% of Francophone voters to vote YES, for a referendum to succeed. Not likely.

The second circumstance is Quebec's growing addiction to Federal transfer payments, particularly those famous Equalization payments which now run close to nine billion dollars and represents almost fifteen percent of the Quebec governments annual budget. Although the Bloc has tried vainly to portray this money as illusory, voters are not so keen to put this windfall on the line.  A fix is a fix...

As the prospect of sovereignty dims, where does it leave the Bloc Quebecois? At what point do they give up the fiction that Quebec will one day be sovereign?

Up till now, the Bloc has been following a policy of "FAIL," a deliberately cynical formula that holds that if the Bloc is unsuccessful in securing Quebec's 'fair share,' it will be perceived back home as justification that federalism doesn't work for the province.
And so the Bloc has been happily on the losing end of almost every single piece of legislation. Any proposals or amendments that the party puts forward is shot down faster than a preacher's call for temperance at a Canada Day party. It is, according to the masterplan.

FAIL  = WIN! 

But things are changing and this last week may actually represent a turning point. Stephen Harper is delivering a stern lesson in realpolitik to Quebec by putting forward legislation adding thirty seats to Parliament, all outside Quebec.

The Bloc has been militating fiercely to somehow avert the unmitigated disaster that it sees in having Quebec's Parliamentary weight reduced. The whole province is demanding that the Bloc do something concrete to forestall the law, but again their efforts are failing dismally.

This time the people are not going to give the Bloc a pass, the old mantra that says Quebec must separate to safeguard it's future doesn't wash, because the sovereignty option is no longer viable and everybody knows it.
This time the Bloc may not be forgiven their failure. Critics have humorously mocked Gilles Duceppe's position that Quebec's weight in Parliament be maintained by pointing out that the Bloc's ultimate goal is to actually have no seats in the federal Parliament.

With no prospect of sovereignty in the future and no ability to defend Quebec's interests in Ottawa, just what is the point of the Bloc Quebecois? People are starting to ask.

There is a dawning realization by some, that if Quebec would have had another half dozen ministers in cabinet, this law would never have been enacted. With few seats to lose in Quebec and none to gain, Harper is free to seek support elsewhere. Politics is a game of leverage and Quebec has none.

Even for Quebec nationalists, the very raison d'etre of the Bloc Quebecois needs to be seriously re-evaluated. Continuing the policy of 'fail'  just means that Quebec gets less representation and influence.

Without the very real threat of sovereignty hanging over Ottawa, the Bloc is impotent and
Canadians don't care.

Gilles Duceppe learned this valuable lesson on his trans-Canada trip, one that played to empty halls.

Anglos see the Bloc as irrelevant, not even worthy of a conversation. It is sad and humiliating.

Perhaps it's time for the Bloc to admit they are a problem and not a solution and that the interests of Quebec can best be served if they just packed it in.

Howard Galganov- The Empire Strikes Back!

There's little doubt that if an evil Anglophone Empire seeking to assimilate and enslave Francophone Canadians actually exists, Howard Galganov would be the movement's Darth Vader.

Invoking his very name sends shudders down the spine of ardent Quebec nationalists and his unabashed and cruel attacks on Quebec and French language nationalism elicits waves of fear and hatred among his enemies.

Now that Mordechai Richler has passed, Galganov has assumed the title of the most hated Anglophone by French language nationalists and may outrank Lord Durham and General Amherst as the ultimate, all-time Anglophone rogue.

For those of you unfamiliar with Howard, he is the uber English activist who battled all forms of restrictions placed on English rights in Quebec. His mantra was so caustic and extreme that the majority of English members of the media and intelligentsia distanced themselves from him, lest they too, be perceived to be as virulently anti-French. Anglo voters have rejected him massively at the polls in both Ontario and Quebec when Galganov has run for office, perhaps underlining that Anglos are not the rednecks made out to be by the nationalists.

After years of fighting a losing battle and after countless death threats, he finally packed it in and moved out of Quebec to Eastern Ontario about ten years ago.

Today, Mr Galganov continues to militate for English language rights as well as conservative causes through his website.

His most recent undertaking, the production and distribution of an inflammatory pamphlet has sent French language militants flying into a fit of rage and may be just about the nastiest stunt he has ever pulled.

The issue concerns the small township of Russel in eastern Ontario that has a large population of Franco-Ontarians. The town passed a bylaw making bilingual signage compulsory, to which Galganov is deeply opposed.

His rationale for opposing the bylaw is that it violates the concept of free speech and the precept that people should be free to erect signs in the language of their choice, be it English, French or Swahili. LINK

His fight over the issue with Mayor Ken Hill has degenerated into a legal battle that is spiralling out of control, with neither the mayor nor Mr. Galganov willing to give an inch.


A resident wrote an open letter addressing Mr. Galganov, to a local newspaper- La Nouvelle;

"Discussing your pamphlet with friends, we came to the conclusion that one of the problems is due to the fact that Mr. Hill and you have, unfortunately, a lot in common. Both of you want to win at all costs without consideration of the incurring expenses that residents of Russell will bear, because of your stubbornness."  Link

Now the pamphlet itself is truly a clever work of art. If Mr. Galganov tried harder to inflame emotions, he couldn't have done a better job. Using his experience in the advertising business, he created a cover page that was sure to evoke the strongest of reaction.

He mischievously gives the impression that the pamphlet is a recipe book for the destruction of the culture of Franco Ontarians, but a closer look at the fine print placed between the much larger first and third phrase changes the meaning completely.

There's no doubt that his intention was to enrage French language militants and he has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.

The pamphlet posits that bilingualism is the first step to French assimilation and thus Francophones should also rally against the bilingual sign bylaw.

Where have we heard this argument before?

In Quebec, of course.
Mr. Galganov has cleverly borrowed an argument, right out of the handbook of French language zealots, who also advance the notion that  bilingual signs in Quebec are a force of assimilation.
Ironically, when the battleground shifts to Ontario,  these same militants argue in favour of bilingual signs because in Ontario, it is a force for the preservation of the French language.
No contradiction there, I guess?

At any rate the pamphlet had it's desired effect, with one of Quebec's leading language militants, Gilles Rhéaume of the La ligue québécoise contre la francophobie canadienne (Quebec league against Canadian Francophopia) planning to complain to no less an august body than the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)  Link

It is perhaps understandable that Francophones  remain touchy, Mr Galganov appears to have gone well over the edge these last two years, starting with the odious campaign to boycott French-owned stores. That campaign also got to Mr. Rhéaume and he also filed a complaint to the United Nations, but so far, received no response.

Its a bit sad to see Mr Galganov go off the rails so badly, the idea of a boycott based on language, race, religion or ethnicity should be even more objectionable to Mr. Galganov, considering that ancestors were subject to much the same treatment.

Like many of the leaders of the independence and French language  movement, Mr. Galganov is imbued with an exaggerated sense of  righteousness and self-importance and has no qualms about reeking havoc and pain in the name of an extremist cause.

Mr. Galganov has degenerated into a sad caricature, as ridiculous as Mr. Rhéame.

When I think about him, I'm reminded of that scene where a heroic old war veteran, revered by all, is interviewed by a reporter on his 100th birthday and lets loose a stream of racist invective, much to the humiliation of family members.

Perhaps Mr. Galganov was once relevant, today he's a dangerous humiliation.