Canadians 'Reject' Cell Phones

In reading a story in the Financial Post on cell phone use in Canada, I came across a term that I never heard of before.
Apparently, those people aged between 16 and 6o who do not have a wireless phone and do not plan to buy one over the next 12 months, are referred to in the industry as 'REJECTERS,' as opposed to 'users' or 'prospects.'

It's reported that 22% of Canadians aged 16 to 60, fit the 'rejecter' category.
By itself, the number doesn't seem overly large, but it's huge when compared to other nations.

First of all, Canada's mobile penetration at 70%, is substantially below the global average of 86% and pales in comparison to other western countries such as the United Kingdom, (97%) and the United States at (91%.)

Canada is actually on par with places like Vietnam and Mexico.

Canadians also spend a lot less when buying a phone, paying an average of $126, 41% less than the global average of $211.

The statistics are actually quite comforting. Who says Canadians are followers?

Although I am a 'user', I think it would be cool to become a 'rejecter'. Most people are badly addicted to their cell phone, others like me, wish they didn't need them at all.

Quebec Language Wars- Vol. 1

English Signs Pique Nationalist Group
The nationalist group 'Imperatif Francais' has an interesting website that is dedicated, in part, to rooting out cases of flagrant abuses of the language law.

One of it's pages is devoted to exposing shopping malls that play English elevator music exclusively, to the detriment of French artists.

There's also a page devoted to exposing Montreal's English and ethnic communities who are humiliating the French language by posting unilingual English signs throughout the downtown area.

Here's some examples that I lifted from their site.

In the interest of helping them along with their work, I offer this example, a sign which I found on the door of a local business, blatantly flouting the law.

I don't know if the offending enterprise is English or ethnic, I'll leave it up to them to investigate.


Letter Writer Against "Outing" and "Coming Out"

In a letter to the editor to "Le Tribune," a Sherbrooke newspaper, a reader complains that while it's not nice to 'OUT' people, it's even worse to do so with English terms.
He bemoans the fact that "OUTING" and "COMING OUT" have entered the common French lexicon. Now the OLQF, the agency that is in charge of protecting the French language, does try to keep pace with advances in the English language, but alas, has not had the time to offer French alternatives to these phrases.
Perhaps they need some additional funding....

Meet the Next Michael Sabia

A CBC story reports that Toronto architect Jack Diamond, who designed the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto, has been selected to design a new concert hall for Montreal, to be located adjacent to Place des Arts

YIKES!!!! Wait until the nationalist groups get a hold of this story...

• "He doesn't understand Quebec culture"
• "He doesn't understand Quebec architecture"
• "Surely, we could have found a Quebecker to do this"
• "It's a scandal!"
• "It's a humiliation!"
• "It's cultural imperialism!"

Think I'm joking? Wait and see.

As 'pipesrussell' wrote in the comments section of the story;

"Just as long as the project is not within the grasp of Roger Taillibert..."

(the ignoble designer of the Olympic stadium -my comment )

What's a 1-UP in French?
It seems that the "Law of Unintended Consequences" has reared it's ugly head in the matter of the Quebec's government policy of forcing video game manufacturers to provide French language versions of their games before allowing the English version to be sold in Quebec.

"I can also see this clumsily implemented law encouraging game piracy, as gamers who would not ordinarily be willing to get a bootleg game for free or much cheaper on the Internet, may decide they don't feel like waiting for months to enjoy something that's out just a few kilometres south in the U.S.A. right now."

Read the entire article by-Raffy Boudjikanian

Ex-Finance Minister Bamboozles Press About her Resignation

Monique Jérôme-Forget resigned as Quebec finance Minister and talked about going to Mexico with her family to learn Spanish. At a shmaltzy press conference, she waxed poetic and joked about buying the Canadiens, moving them to Mexico and calling them 'Los Canadiens.' Her ad libs were a bit too polished and prepared, to be off the cuff and it is clear she was working the room. At any rate, the Quebec press was quite willing to give her a pass, it's viewed as bad form to harangue someone announcing her retirement.

The Liberal party has been hinting at her resignation for about a month and have spread the fiction that it was somehow planned before the last election. All this to avoid the appearance of dissent in the ranks and the fact that Jérôme-Forget was fed up taking heat for the Premier and defending policies she did not support. At 68 years old, she clearly had enough.

"-- Monique Jérôme-Forget, la dame de fer du gouvernement libéral, a quitté, hier, la vie politique, après l'adoption de son dernier budget, comme elle l'avait planifié avant les élections." -Le Devoir

Translation
"Monique Jérôme-Forget, the iron lady of the Liberal government, yesterday left, after the adoption of her last budget, as she planned before the elections." -Le Devoir

But the myth that she knew she'd be resigning early, even before she ran in last December's Quebec election should not go unchallenged.

Madame Jérôme-Forget resigned 17 weeks after being elected. If she sought elected office, knowing that she'd be resigning that early and if the Premier knew, they owe taxpayers an explanation.
It will cost something in the neighbourhood of $500,000 to hold a bye-election to replace her. Nobody who plans to resign shortly after getting elected should ever be given permission by a political party to run.

Monique Jérôme-Forget resigned because of the uncomfortable position she was thrust into by the Premier. The pressure of maintaining certain fictions concerning the deficit, the disaster at the Caisse de Depot and the hiring of Michael Sabia to run the Caisse, were clearly to much for her to handle. Recently, the press and the opposition pounded away at her mercilessly and it became too much for her to bear. Her usual calm and collected demeanour appeared frayed and it became apparent that the job was beyond her competence.

When politicians resign early, it always begs the question. Why?

Scandal?
Health?
Better job offer?
Burnout? It's always something.

Any politician who tells you that he, or she is leaving to retire early, or to spend more time with family, or to pursue unnamed opportunities in the private sector, is lying.
It's hard enough getting elected, politicians fight tooth and nail to win power and don't give it up for no valid reason. It goes against the nature of politicians and the press corps has an obligation to discover the real reason for such a departure, it's their job.

When Frank Zampino retired last May from his powerful job as Chairman of the City of Montreal's executive committee with 17 months remaining on his mandate, alarm bells should of sounded.

"After 22 years in public affairs, it appeared to be time for me to refocus my energy on new professional challenges."

-Frank Zampino at his press conference, announcing his retirement.

He went on to tell reporters that while he had no offers, he was leaving politics to look for work in the private sector.
What a crock!
I couldn't believe that the crap he was feeding the room, went unchallenged.
The burning question that should have been asked was;
"Do you really expect us to believe that you're quitting the second most powerful position in the city of Montreal, to go on a speculative job hunt in the private industry?"

But nobody asked. They were too polite or too dumb.

Today, Mr. Zampino is back in the news and as you can guess, it's all for the wrong reasons.
It turns out the real reason for his departure is more traditional- scandal.

Apparently, while in office, he had a very close connection with a Laval businessman, Antonio Accurso, who snagged a huge water meter contract with the city, one which has been suspended due to a RCMP investigation. It's been reported, that the water meters provided to the city cost three and a half times more than similar ones purchased by the City of Toronto. A number of Accurso's other companies are also under investigation by the Quebec police and Revenue department, in relation to possible tax evasion schemes. Raids have taken place and records have been seized from at least three of his companies.

Mr. Zampino, while in office, was quite close to Mr. Accurso. He was a guest on Mr. Accurso's luxury yacht for two Caribbean vacations. At least one trip occurred while the water meter contract negotiations with the city were ongoing. Is it surprising, that he now works as senior vice-president, for one of the companies related to that very same water meter contract.

I guess Mr. Zampino didn't have to print up too many resumés and that his job hunt didn't last too long.

I hope Madame Forget will tell the truth about her true motives for resigning, but she probably won't, being quite the lady. She is the second innocent victim of the Caisse de Depot scandal.
The first was Richard Guay, the man who took over the top job at the Caisse when Henri-Paul Rousseau abandoned ship. He was so affected by the disastrous financial situation and the fact that he was keeping it secret, that he succumbed to burnout and left on sick leave. We haven't heard a word from him since.

The next time you here a politician announce that he or she is retiring for no apparent reason, call out the bloodhounds, there's a story to be unearthed.

Quebec Crime Statistics

Macleans magazine published a crime survey of Canadian cities with a population of 50,000 and more. You can see the whole article HERE.

Here are some highlights that pertain to Quebec cities (remember, only cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants are included)

Cities with the most overall crime -

1. SAINT-JÉRÔME (18th worst city in Canada)
2. MONTREAL (24th worst city in Canada)
3. JOLIETTE (30th worst city in Canada)

Cities with the highest murder rate -

1. TROIS-RIVIÈRES (10th worst city in Canada)
2. SAINT-JÉRÔME (14th worst city in Canada)
3. JOLIETTTE (35th worst city in Canada)

Cities with the highest sexual assault rate -

1. MONTCALM MRC (7th worst city in Canada)
2. SHAWINIGAN (8th worst city in Canada)
3. SAGUENAY (17th worst city in Canada)

Cities with the highest aggravated assault rate -

1. GATINEAU (15th worst city in Canada) (there's only one city in Quebec that worse than the national average!)

Cities with the highest robbery rate -

1. MONTREAL (8th worst city in Canada)
2. LAVAL (18th worst city in Canada)
3. LONGUEUIL (28th worst city in Canada)

Cities with the most break & enters-

1. SAINT-JÉRÔME (18th worst city in Canada)
2. MONTCALM MRC (21th worst city in Canada)
3. GRANBY (24th worst city in Canada)

Cities with the most motor vehicle theft-

1. JOLIETTE (3rd worst city in Canada)
   
2. SAINT-JÉRÔME (9th worst city in Canada)
3. MONTCALM MRC (14th worst city in Canada)

Now for the safest communities in Quebec

Cities with the least overall crime -

1. LEVIS (3th best city in Canada)
   
2. MASKOUTAINS MRC (4th best city in Canada)
3. REPENTIGNY (10th best city in Canada)

Other Highlights

• QUEBEC CITY - The only city in Canada with a population of over 500,000 inhabitants not to record one murder. Amazing!!! (It might be a world record!!)
  
• LAC-ST-JEAN-EST MRC - recorded lowest rate of sexual assault in Canada.
• MASKOUTAINS MRC- recorded the second lowest robbery rate in Canada.
  

B.C is certainly the crime capital of Canada and the western provinces are second.
Quebec and Ontario are much, much better. I wouldn't have thought that.

By the way, the most dangerous cities in Canada are;

1. Saskatoon
2. Winnipeg
3. Regina

Reporter Disses Struggling Company for Lack of French

On the day that Mega Brands (a Quebec manufacturer of toys) announced US$323 million dollars loss, the French Montreal daily newspaper, La Presse, did a feature article, lambasting the company (and others) for violating the spirit, if not the letter of the language law, Bill 101.
I guess the reporter who wrote the story, Philippe Mercure, put his story to bed long before the news of the crippling loss was announced, but the irony of the two articles hitting the street on the same day is a little bit sad.

It reminds us again, that in Quebec, language trumps everything.

Here's part of what the reporter wrote;

"Des communiqués de presse en anglais seulement. Des conférences téléphoniques au cours desquelles des dirigeants d'entreprises québécoises discutent avec des analystes financiers sans qu'aucun mot en français ne soit prononcé. Si ces pratiques ne sont pas clairement illégales, elles vont toutefois à l'encontre de l'esprit de la loi 101.." .La Presse

TRANSLATION:
"...Press releases in English only. Conference calls in which directors of Quebec companies hold discussions with financial analysts without one word of French spoken. While these practices are not clearly illegal, they contradict the spirit of the law. " ....my translation

Article (in French)

While Mr. Mercure was slamming Mega Brands for it's lack of French, the directors had more pressing business, it's survival. The company is pretty much on the ropes with it share price down to 41¢ today from an all time high of $29.

Speaking of conference calls, perhaps La Presse would like to see more conversations like this;

Quebec Company: SVP, Monsieur Banquier, nous avons besoin de plus de temps...

(Please Mr. banker, we need more time)

NY Bank: What? What did you say?

Quebec Company: J'ai dit, nous avons besoin d'aide!

(I said, we need help!)

NY Bank: I'm sorry I don't understand.

Quebec Company: Nous avons une plan de restructuration.

(We have a re-structuring plan)

NY Bank: I can't help you if can't understand what you're saying! Do you speak English?

Quebec Company: Parlez-vous Francais?

(Do you speak French?)

NY Bank: What?

Quebec Company: DO YOU SPEAK FRANCAIS!!!?

NY Bank: Sorry, I'm hanging up now.

Quebec Company: ARRET! NON! NON! NON! NON!

(Stop! No! No! No! No!)

NY Bank: .Bye.....click

Quebec Company: Maudits anglais!! VA CHIER!!!

(@#$%& English! Go #$%^&$)

The La Presse article also reminded readers that the Quebec Government keeps a blacklist of companies that refuse to Frenchify themselves to the satisfaction of the OQLF, the board charged with protecting the French language.
Companies on the list are ineligible for government contracts.


Quebec citizens are encouraged to "report" on business' that are not in conformity with the law. There is an online snitch form or a friendly Microsoft 'Word' version, that citizens can download.

The language commission doesn't report on the number of complaints it receives, but it must be a lot.

There is an army of fanatical volunteers who take on the challenge with the zeal of a religious zealots.