Quebec's Dangerous Language Fantasyland

Excited politicians anxious to smack down MP who insulted language dogma 

The language Ayatollahs of Quebec were up in arms once again, outraged that federal Liberal MP Emmanuella Lambropoulos called into question whether French was actually in decline in Quebec. The Quebec MP represents a linguistically and ethnically diverse Montreal riding and was roundly chastised for saying out loud what many of us think.
Unlike the little boy in the fable of the emperor who wore no clothes, her revelation wasn't exactly embraced, in fact, quite the opposite. Her missive was so toxic that politicians of every single political party ran for cover, distancing themselves from her as if she was radioactive. She was summarily dumped from a Parliamentary language committee for having the temerity of expressing a forbidden opinion,  summarily 'cancelled,' in the best tradition of the French revolution where those whose ideologies ran afoul of the mob were burned at the stake.

While we scoff and condemn extremist Muslim societies that persecute apostates, homosexuals, feminists and others who dissent, it is fair to ask if we ourselves are headed in that exact direction? 

At any rate, the missive was manna from Heaven for Quebec language militants, another opportunity to display moral outrage and somehow reclaim the high ground in the phoney language and cultural war. The predictable reaction was swift and hysterical, worthy of religious fanatics in dysfunctional Muslim countries who defend Islam as the only true faith. 

Blaming Canada in general and Quebec Anglophones, allophones and immigrants in particular for manufactured language slights has been the policy of the defeated sovereigntist movement ever since the last referendum. Carrying on the fight for independence, militants have had to pivot, recognizing that support for the independence option is at its nadir and so they hope to keep the embers of sovereignty alive by fanning the flames of manufactured language discontent. 

For the last forty years, sovereigntists have been alluding to an omnipresent evil English world cultural juggernaut which they purport will ultimately destroy Quebec, setting themselves up as David fighting the English Goliath in a game where the ultimate goal is not to win an unwinnable fight but rather to lose as loudly, painfully and humiliatingly as possible in an effort to raise the dormant hackles of Quebec francophones more interested in pursuing their daily lives in peace...and within Canada.
This strategy was invented by the infamous Dr. Camille Laurin, father of Bill 101, the language law he designed with built-in anti-constitutional clauses that were meant to engender the inevitable court reversals with the sole idea that these humiliating defeats would provoke outrage in the francophone community, boosting the chances of success in the upcoming referendums.

This victimhood strategy is tiresome and tedious and only persists because Canada indulges the fantasy. Like the Israeli government which is hamstrung by an ultra-religious minority that controls the balance of power with a meagre 10% of the voter base, Quebec leverages its position between Liberal Ontario and Conservative west to its advantage and wrests concessions beyond its demographic weight.

No federal political party dares challenge the fantasy of the supposed dire situation of French in Quebec and so the faulty concept of an imperiled language situation in Quebec has gone unchallenged on pain of cancellation. Miss Lambropoulos is proof.

I've written before about how Quebec language nationalists absolve themselves from responsibility to protect and promote their own language, preferring to blame everyone else.  The Quebec government and the entire political cadre, aided and abetted by the compliant media, continue to offer an utterly false language narrative, a fantasy easy to sell and indeed easy to buy, where 'les Autres' are cast as villains and the 'pur and dur' the protagonists, fighting the good fight.

The current language distortion cast by the sovereignty and language movement 'proving' that Quebec is under attack is the statistic showing French declining as the mother tongue as spoken in the home.
With 50,000 new immigrants arriving in Quebec each year, most of all who speak French outside the home but who have another mother tongue, usually Arabic or Spanish, it is inevitable that the statistic about mother tongue declines.
But it in no way indicates that French in Quebec is declining, rather it is the 'Quebecois pure stock' component of society that is declining, a fact that really offends militants but something they cannot allude to in public.
The French language in Quebec society actually remains stronger than ever despite efforts to disguise the fact through selective and self-serving statistics. Every day more people speak French than the day before and the critical mass required to maintain French as the social language is stronger than ever. 
For sovereigntists and language militants it is the ultimate inconvenient truth.

The latest language tiff was sprung by an idiotic article in Le Journal de Montreal that had as its premise the idea that getting served in French was harder and harder in downtown Montreal.
The reporter offered some very unscientific observations of her visits, failing to disclose exactly how the stores were chosen and whether they were pre-screened, which I imagine they were. 

Since the whole idea behind the article was to find fault, the likely faulty unscientific methodology was purposely left undisclosed and so the results are not only unreliable but downright deceptive.
But the conclusions were embraced by an eager media which ran the story because it fits neatly into its narrative and helps boost ratings, a useful distraction from the daily litany of bad news vis-a-vis Covid-19.
Utter nonsense.

Tell the big lie, rinse and repeat has been the go-to policy of the sovereignty movement for the last forty years.
The device invented by Adolf Hitler who in his book Mein Kampf described it as the "use of a lie so "colossal" that no one would believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously".

To our astonishment, we've seen Donald Trump employ the 'big lie' to outrageously distort the truth about his election defeat. It is just stunning to see how many people choose to believe his nonsense in the face of the unbridled truth.

In Quebec, we are living the same phenomenon, a big lie that tells us French is declining in Quebec when nothing could be farther from the truth.

Sadly our politicians and journalists, both French and English, are too weak to denounce the practice and fight for the truth.
Where is our Emile Zola to boldly tell the truth when all others shirk away from the responsibility?

Comical Language Police Pathetically Out of Touch with Reality

Only the most militant language fanatic can abide by the farcical inspection of a restaurant over some flimsy complaint about an English language sign during these desperate and trying of times for the restaurant business.

While most language militants kept silent out of embarrassment, not so Quebec's most enduring xenophobic and Anglophobe, Gilles Proulx, who in a radio interview with Richard Martineau referred to the owner of Kitchen73, Carmine Anoia by name as a "cursed impudent who just got off the boat" ("Un maudit bel effronté qui debarque du bateau") Link{fr}  

An insulted Proulx made the reference again just for good measure, again complaining about "those who just got off the boat who don't care about Bill 101" He then issued another racist insult invoking the term Tête carrée" a slur against Anglophones which is akin to Anglophones using the term "Pepsi" to insult French Quebecers.

More than a comical blowhard. Proulx is a sickening racist

It goes to underline the level of Proulx's racism that he made his remark about Mr. Anoia based solely on the Italian sound of his name. In fact, Mr. Anoia assures me that he was actually born here. He was also none-to-pleased by Mr. Proulx's racist remarks over immigrants.

I guess Quebec remains the only jurisdiction in Canada or America where one can use this type of language on the radio without complaint or repercussion. I wonder how it would go over  on Montreal radio station CJAD if I as a guest referred to Francophone Quebecers as "Damned Pepsis!" I can imagine the level of rightly-deserved censure that would ensue and this from an outraged Anglophone radio audience. As for Mr. Martineau, he is guilty of racism by allowing these types of remarks on his show with a wink, wink, nod, nod, and nary an objection. Shame on them both.

This in a time when almost all restaurants are on the brink of failure due to the in-house dining room closures as a result of the pandemic. It is indeed a stressful and bewildering time for hitherto successful restaurateurs blindsided by circumstances that can only be described as a "Black Swan" event. Not only is the pandemic a critical financial blow, but it also is wrecking a dastardly psychological toll on everyone in the restaurant business. 

The very last thing these people need is an idiot inspector showing up to add insult to injury.

As you probably heard the OQLF conducted an inspection of this restaurant which was actually closed to indoor customers. The exasperated owner of Kitchen 73 unloaded on the sad-sack inspector sending her scurrying away in the best tradition of the Shawville reception afforded the OQLF  years ago.

"A posse of Shawville, Que., residents, fed up with being harassed about business signs, has run one of Quebec's language police out of town -- and the residents say that if they have to, they'll do it again.

"At this point we are taking a stand, because I'm no longer being made to feel guilty for being English in Quebec," says Lynn Wilson, co-owner of the H&R Block in Shawville, a predominantly English town of 1,500 about 80 kilometres northwest of Ottawa.

"Come and take me away -- I don't care, do what you have to do. I'm not changing (my signs)."    Read the rest of the story

 The saddest part of it all is the mindset of the OQLF, completely out of touch with reality, actually insulted at its treatment of its inspector and the support shown the restaurant in the press and in social media.

So aggrieved was the agency that it felt necessary to defend itself on its website, actually playing the victim instead of the bully.

Here's a translation of what the OQLF had to say about the situation;

The Office québécois de la langue française deplores the fact that certain untrue information is currently circulating about the visit of an inspector from the Office to the Kitchen 73 restaurant. personal on social networks. [-]

The Office therefore wishes to point out that it did not issue a fine to the Kitchen 73 restaurant, nor did it request any corrections during its visit. The Office responded to a complaint that involved indoor signage, not the outdoor signage or company name.

The Office is fully aware of the context of COVID-19 and is making all necessary efforts to minimize its impact on its clientele. In addition, he always makes sure to make an appointment before carrying out an inspection. This is what was attempted in this case. Unable to reach the owner, the inspector went to the Kitchen 73 restaurant on the afternoon of Thursday, October 22 in order to carry out the required checks. Link{fr}

First of all, let me point  out the utter irony of the OQLF in referring to those restaurants inspected as "clients,' a reference as realistic as lambs being led into the slaughterhouse being referred to as 'customers.'

But the above OQLF defence shows how completely oblivious and insensitive the agency is to the reality of the current pandemic, where inspecting closed restaurants on the verge of catastrophe is deemed perfectly normal and where beleaguered owners are expected to offer business as usual cooperation. It is strictly beyond the pale

The QOLF maintains the fiction that it protects the Province not only from the insidious creep of English but other languages as well. This charade offers the agency the fiction that it is not purely an anti-English tool.

Not having learned its lesson from the infamous pastagate affair, the OQLF was at it again, attacking a Montreal Italian bakery for its use of the word "Granita".

 Read the story

The agency is especially fond of harassing Italian owned businesses, their second favourite target, next to  Anglos themselves. Italians are especially despised by the OQLF because although almost all are perfectly bilingual, they like the Jews of Quebec identify with the Anglo community and are staunch federalists.

Ans so the OQLF has a big problem with words like pasta or granita. It's amusing that restaurant words rooted in other languages are considered kosher cacher like egg rolls, dim sum, tacos, tapas, bibimbap, wonton, ceviche, fajitas, queso, chilli con Carne, etc.etc. The OQLF much prefers legitimate French translations of these 'foreign' dishes in the spirit of the  famous "OT CHIKEN" sandwich, a staple in rural Quebec dives.

Perhaps the agency would be more sensitive if half of their staff were furloughed and the other half had to work from home at half pay for the duration of the pandemic.
It might sensitize them to the reality that is the restaurant business across not only Quebec but the entire western world.

 

 

It may be time for opponents of the OQLF to organize and up their game.
Up to now we have been bitching and moaning with the few legal challenges led by Brett Tyler largely unsupported by the community both financially and morally.

I want to congratulate Carmine Anoia for showing a little backbone in kicking out the offensive inspector.

Nothing terrible will happen and if his establishment is fined, it will well be worth the publicity. 
I for one never heard of this restaurant beforehand and now will make it a point to patronize it. A $500 fine is peanuts compared to the publicity.

If all targeted merchants took a stand, the OQLF would be paralyzed. 

If we are not willing to take firmer action we deserve what we get.

Perhaps we should take note of the effect that the Black Lives Matter movement wrecked on American society with a few well-aimed acts of civil disobedience.

The Quebec government is painfully sensitive to being publically humiliated over language, especially internationally. The OQLF inspectors have had an easy time harassing merchants and should be confronted in a more meaningful manner.

In other words, it's time for us to put up or shut up.

Sorry.... French Quebecers Don't Really Care About Saving French

This post isn't about climate change, but let me preface it with this observation on that subject before I go on.

I often find myself embroiled in debate with climate change proponents who froth at the mouth when they discover my skepticism.
The holier-than-thou lecturers invariably descend into name-calling where I'm treated to various insults which usually includes the infamous 'denier' label, a pejorative inspired by the apostle Peter's denial of Jesus.

My reply is almost always the same. I simply ask these virtue-signallers how much cash they'd be willing to fork over each week to a national fund that would combat climate change.

That's right, how much would they personally commit to paying each week....$10...$20...$50....$100.
You should see their stunned faces. It's as if they never contemplated the question.
I have never had any of them answer quickly and decisively with an amount. It is as if they never considered the idea of paying themselves because climate change is always someone else's responsibility.

Of all the climate change blowhards that you know, how many have downsized their home, sold their car in favour of mass transit, cancelled vacations and given up air travel?
Have they renounced air-conditioning and given up or drastically curtailed meat consumption? Do they buy fewer clothes and manufactured products and do they buy only food locally grown even if more expensive?

The protection of the French language by Quebec francophones falls under the same hypocritical reality that I've described above.

Francophone Quebecers, even the most militant and vocal are not really prepared to lift a finger themselves to help boost their language. As climate activists, their plan is for others to do the heavy lifting while they shout instructions and encouragement from the relative safety of the peanut gallery.
Simply put Quebec francophones believe that despite French being under threat as they believe, responsibility for corrective measures falls on somebody else's shoulders and of course, therein lies the rub.

This post is dedicated to all the French language alarmists like Mathieu-Bock Coté, Richard Martineau and his insipid partner Sophie Durocher, Gilles Proulx and Regis Lebeaume et als as well as the OQLF, SSJB and MMF. 

Let's go...it won't be pretty.....

The Quebec government is presenting its latest iteration of anti-English language measures crafted ostensibly to further promote and protect the French language.

"Quebec will open three new Office quebecois de la langue française (OQLF) offices, hire dozens of new employees and create a French-language accompaniment program to help certain businesses conform to Quebec’s language law, said Simon-Jolin Barrette in a Monday morning news conference.

“We have to be very clear. French is the common language and we need to give the resources to the OQLF to make sure the law is enforced and respected,” said Jolin-Barrette." Link

The language minister is huffing and puffing publicly about the addition of a paltry five million dollars to the OQLF budget, the Quebec agency entrusted in enforcing Bill. 

Proponents on both sides of the language debate have been roused to spirited debate by this announcement ushering in the latest flame-war in the never-ending polemic.

Comedian Sugar Sammy, a poster boy for immigrant children forced into French schools is the embodiment of the reality that while you can lead a horse to water, you cannot make him drink. Flawlessly bilingual, his act roasts Quebecers, English, French and Allophones in both French and English shows.
Sophie Durocher, columnist at Le Journal de Montreal blasted the comedian for the tweet as if he attacked the very soul of Quebec by humiliating the idea of adding more money to the OQLF in times where businesses are dropping like flies.

She then went on to invite him onto her radio show where she'd no doubt lambast him some more but refusing the bait Sugar Sammy told Durocher where to stuff the invite in no uncertain terms.

He tweeted this back to her....

"Even though I've been out of the country for five years I still remember what to avoid in Quebec.
1. Columnists like you.
2. Carbs.

Ha! Ha!

At any rate, the pro and con positions made a big splash in the newspapers but the debate missed the point entirely, which is that the announcement is an exercise in "sound and fury, signifying nothing' as Shakespeare so eloquently described in Macbeth. For a government agency, five million dollars doesn't buy lunch. The idea that it can in any way shape or form make a difference is ludicrous, the government knows it, you know and I know it. 

The obsession with Bill 101 is promulgated by the belief that it is necessary for the preservation of the French language in Quebec an idea which has been driven by generations of politicians and language advocates hammering home the message over and over again, to the point where it is considered sacrosanct in the francophone community, even amongst the less militant.

But Quebec's obsession with Bill 101 can be explained by the selfish desire to have a law protect their language, relieving ordinary folks from any responsibility to take up the task. In other words, why fight the fire yourself when a perfectly adequate fire department is available.

But this bedrock concept that French be protected through legislation is not a given as we'd been led to believe. Denmark, who's Danish speaking population of similar size to Quebec Francophones find themselves in almost an identical predicament, yet eschew the notion that legislation is necessary. Instead, the Danish government promotes the idea that it is the responsibility of each Dane to use and promote its own language to protect it. 

"The Danish Culture Ministry has announced that there is no need to pass language protection laws in Denmark at this time, but that other steps should be taken to protect the Danish language.

According to the Copenhagen Post Online, the announcement marks the conclusion of a special government committee investigation into whether or not the use of English is threatening the future viability of Danish.

Although the report released by the committee did not recommend that any new laws be passed to protect Danish, it did recommend steps that the Danish people should take to help preserve their native tongue. For example, the report stressed the “duty” of Danes to preserve the language in their homes and in their schools."  Link

Aha!

Unlike Quebec, the Danes believe that the protection of their language rests on the shoulders of its Danish-speaking natives, while Quebec believes that it is the minorities and the English who need to embrace French to protect the language and in Quebec's case, its culture.

As Quebec faced a population decline it boosted immigration of French-speaking immigrants, largely drawn from the French-enabled Maghreb hoping to fill the breach.

While these largely Muslim  immigrants speak French, they have stubbornly refused to give up their religion and faith. Planners believed that over a couple of generations these immigrants would adopt Quebecois customs as well as language, but it hasn't quite worked out. Maddeningly, these immigrants have kept their faith, their customs and more and perhaps worst of all, embraced Canadian federalism.

A bitter pill for desperate language nationalists and governments who have proposed and enacted stricter provisions in the law as its effectiveness over time is seen as wanting.

But the French language in Quebec cannot be saved by immigrants and Anglos adopting French.
Like the Danish proposal, it is up to Quebec francophones to save their own language if indeed it needs saving.
Alas, such is not the case because quite frankly Quebec francophones are just not interested in putting forth the effort required to save their own language. It is that simple, painful truth that is never discussed, a dirty secret best left under the rug.

And so the entire language debate blaming Anglos and ethnics for the perceived weakened position of the French language in Quebec is constructed to cast blame away from francophones who are shockingly lackadaisical, indifferent and utterly uninterested in making an effort on their own.

If Quebec francophones were serious about saving their language they could accomplish the goal by;

• Getting 63% of Francophones to vote for sovereignty in a new referendum after which a successful outcome, declare independence and totally ban English  
• Have all francophone native women undertake to have three children to patriotically ensure survival of the race. This would totally negate the need for those cursed immigrants who are perceived as the major threat to French in Quebec
• Somehow appeal to francophones not to embrace 'foreign' English culture. Last year I looked at the acts playing at the Bell Centre in Montreal and 90% were performing in English. In fact there were much more English Canadian acts than French Canadian acts (so much for the old canard that English Canada has no culture.) If francophones want to preserve their culture, they should be taught from a young age to promote and support their own artists. 
• Francophones need to boost their own language skills considering the pitiful state of affairs where the majority of new teachers on the francophone side can't pass a simple written French test.
• Francophones should voluntarily stop attending English schools, cegeps and universities in the name of preserving the preeminence of the French education system. Proposed laws banning the crossover are cited to contain allophones from attending English schools, but francophones are flooding English schools as well.
• Discontinue the practice of new companies from adopting English names and discontinue the practice of  adopting English names for products run by and created by francophones.
• Stop listening to English music on the radio or streaming services and stop watching Netflix in favour of homegrown francophone media.

Have you ever heard a language activist propose the above? Ha!

All these measures should be embraced voluntarily by Quebec francophones if the desire to protect and nurture the French language and culture in Quebec is real. Coercive laws would not be necessary.

Not interested? I fear not.

Then francophones need to shut up about language and live with the consequences. 

It isn't our job as anglos and ethnics to save your language if you aren't willing to lift a finger yourself.

Teflon Trudeau Survives Thanks to Trump-Like Liberal Support

If there's one thing that Justin Trudeau's liberal supporters have in common, it's the undying and visceral hatred of Donald Trump.

Whether you're conservative or liberal, it's likely that your Facebook timeline is filled with hateful, scornful and outright bizarre anti-Trump posts from Canadians who by all rights don't have much skin in the game of American politics, yet continue to rant as if Mr. Trump is choking them by the throat.

If I had to put a recurring theme to these missives, it's the utter incredulity of these anti-Trump posters that Americans actually continue to put up with his wacky conservative politics, his antics, lies, fantasies and mean spirit.

Over and over again the anti-Trump Canadians shake their head in utter disbelief, yet these are the very same people that blindly support Prime Minister Trudeau who is cut from exactly the same cloth.
Trudeau supporters are actually as blind as Trump supporters, ideological fanatics, just on the opposite side of the political fence.

Fanatical supporters of Trump and Trudeau continue to support their men because politics are more important than personality and a flawed President or Prime Minister that supports what they believe in is preferable to a more honest and upstanding rival of the opposite political persuasion.

It's that simple.

And so American Trump supporters and Canadian Trudeau supporters continue to blindly follow their man because ideology is the only thing that counts.
There is nothing Trudeau or Trump can do, short of murder that can shake their indomitable faith and support.

The latest WE scandal underlines this fact whereby liberal support remains relatively unshakeable despite the latest ethical lapses of the Prime Minister and his finance minister.
Liberal supporters continue to justify the lapses in judgement with the mantra that it was a case of good intentions gone awry in a time where speed was of the essence, an updated version of the old bromide that the ends justify the means.

Liberal supporters have turned a blind eye to Trudeau's ethical failings for years, either offering up weak-ass excuses or pretending that it's just no big deal.
Sound familiar?
Replace Trump's name for Trudeau's and the argument is the same for those who blindly support Trump and forgive every peccadillo.

The only difference is that Trudeau's ethical lapses have been much more serious than Trump's and it's fair to say that if a photo of Donald Trump sporting blackface emerged or rumours of a sexual liaison with an underage student, Trump would have been ripped to shreds by America's conservative press.
In Canada, Trudeau benefits from a docile press that leans heavily liberal and refuses to ask uncomfortable questions of their man.
While Trump directly lies and obfuscates, Trudeau deflects, refusing to answer any uncomfortable question, especially in Parliament where he makes a mockery of Question Period by mouthing moronic platitudes worthy of a con artist.
All the while the press refuses to investigate Trudeau's personal foibles. While the state of his marriage may be out of bounds in the name of decency, pretending to live apart from his family for quarantine reasons is more deceit, a deception that supporters are quick to pardon.

And so Teflon Trudeau survives in an era where the high and mighty are destroyed over the flimsiest of allegations.
The stink of scandal and dishonesty sheds off Trudeau like water off a duck's back. His survival is stunning in an age of instant 'cancellation' where a whisper of impropriety or unsubstantiated accusation of racism or sexual misconduct destroys public figures faster than you can say "ME TOO."
Yet Trudeau endures one personal calamity and ethical lapse after another. Incredible!

A sizeable portion of artists in Quebec have had their careers instantly destroyed over such allegations.
Our Governor-General Payette has become a dead woman walking over allegations that she's not a nice person and countless other public personalities cringe in fear that they too will be 'cancelled,'

Not Trudeau.

As for the latest scandal, it is satisfying that while Trudeau's Teflon coat will protect him, the We charity at the center of the affair will probably not.
The slimy Kielburgers have employed every classic trick in the book to curry favour with the Liberal government including offering deluxe free travel to the Finance Minister and his family and the hiring of Teflon Trudeau's family to 'speak' at WE events for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Let's be honest. What does Margret Trudeau have to say to a bunch of students that is at all interesting or worthwhile?
The same goes for Trudeau's brother.
It is a classic device to pay a politician's family instead of a direct bribe.
The same goes for hiring finance Minister Bill Morneau's daughter, a classic influence-peddling device.

But WE will not survive, the empire will be 'cancelled' abruptly, not only becoming toxic overnight but downright radio-active.
Telus and Virgin have already cancelled partnerships and the rest of the money pipeline will dry up faster than you can say 'Gotcha.'
The fall from grace while not quite of the scale of Jim and Tammy Faye Baker, the disgraced American televangelists, is nonetheless as immediate.
Both Craig and Marc Kielburger are goners, best advised to dismantle their empire quickly and slink away with the money.

At any rate, Trudeau will survive as always, thanks to his Trump-like followers who will forgive anything.
While the rest of the world has recognized Trudeau as an emperor with no clothes and dismissed him as a fraud, Trudeau supporters remain blindly committed which is their right, fair enough.

But what these Trudeau supporters cannot do in good conscious is to denigrate Trump and his supporter as abhorrent because they themselves are exactly that.

Racist Police? ...Look No Further than Montreal!

 Clown outfits demonstrate lack of pride in the SPVM

Premier Legault doubled down on his claim that Quebec is not a racist society, all with a straight face.

"Premier François Legault said Monday he "stands in solidarity with people who denounce racial violence" — though he denied, once again, that there was a systemic problem in Quebec.

"I think that there is some discrimination in Quebec, but there's no systemic discrimination, no system in Quebec of discrimination," he said, adding "it's a very small minority of the people who are doing some discrimination." Link

I don't know if the Premier honestly believes what he says but frankly, it's a crock of bullshit.
Sadly, Quebec remains the most racist province in Canada where discrimination exists on a societal level where minorities, especially blacks are discriminated against by landlords, police, employers and certainly the government and the civil service itself.

Worst of all is the police and specifically the Montreal police which by any standard is a disgraceful organization that very well may be the most racist police force of any major North American City.

That's right, I'm not mincing words.

The Montreal police force is as racist as it comes with officers regularly targetting people of colour, natives and Muslims for 'special' and unfair treatment.

It is an organization stuck in the 1960s built on racial profiling and rough treatment of potential suspects and arrestees.
The SPVM is largely unprofessional, corrupt, racist and downright thuggish, where the lack of pride in themselves and their organization is manifested in its treatment of citizens.

This lack of pride is underlined by the police union desecrating their own uniforms in adopting camo pants in a pay dispute, rendering themselves a laughingstock in the eyes of the public, like sad-sack clowns thoroughly unprofessional and untrustworthy.

The story of a Montreal cop filmed having sex in his cruiser was not a story of a one-off rogue cop, his partner was in the back seat with another girl. It is a testament that this unprofessional and disgusting behaviour is rampant. In true form, the officers were never identified and their punishment (if any) never released to the public, undermining the public's confidence in the organization.

And who can forget Montreal's most infamous cop, the egregiously violent, racist and cruel Stéfanie Trudeau, better known by her badge number "728" She was filmed making a violent arrest in a stairwell in east-end Montreal. She was also famously filmed gratuitously pepper-spraying peaceful demonstrators. She was finally fired for many acts of depraved police brutality and racism.

Problems of corruption were so bad that the Chief of the Montreal police was fired and the corps put under trusteeship after charges of gross misconduct and falsifying of evidence and documents were shown to be rampant.

Montreal police have never given up the discredited tactic of 'rousting' or as it's referred to in New York, "Stop and Frisk" or Carding as it is known in the rest of Canada where mostly minorities and particularly Blacks are stopped based on a flimsy excuse like jaywalking, spitting, loud talk and other such nonsense. The idea is to check the unfortunate detainees for outstanding warrants, drugs or perhaps illegal weapons.
New York's 'Stop and Frisk' policy ended in 2013 after the courts intervened and despite whining by politicians and police who claimed that their hands were being tied, the demise of the policy had no effect on the crime rate.

Here's a chart describing the unwarranted stops made by the SPVM.

LINK

Now before I continue I'd like to address those who are okay with rousting criminals on contrived grounds as long as honest law-abiding citizens are left alone.
And therein lies the rub.
Many, many minority and coloured law-abiding citizens are constantly stopped and humiliated by this policy which is an affront to their civil rights to be treated equally under the law. It is or should be offensive to all of us who believe in fairness and equality.
While the policy is rightfully on the trash-heap of history in most jurisdictions, it lives on in Montreal where police make unwarranted stops of not only criminals but law-abiding minorities as well.

Let's go back to the death of Fredy Villanueva, the most famous of all rousting incidents gone bad, which led to the death of his brother Danny after cops confronted a group of known miscreants in a city park over the trivial act of dice-playing.  The confrontation escalated quickly and the rest is history.
The subsequent outrage over the death didn't rise to the level that we see today in the United States over the death of George Floyd but that's probably because the general public in Quebec was not too disturbed by the police action.

Here' is just a few interesting incidents of racial profiling and the Montreal police.
There are many, many more documented acts of police profiling;

"Following this week’s protest, here is a partial timeline of Montreal police interventions that have raised questions of racial profiling and sparked calls for change."

A timeline of police violence against people of colour in Montreal

Months after they complained of being violently arrested by Montreal police for talking "too loud" a biracial couple now has video of the incident as taken by an eyewitness. 

Arrest for talking 'too loud' prompts questioning

Kerwin Clarke was pulled over in Verdun last weekend by Montreal police officers — and he says, for no clear reason.
The Saint-Lambert resident was in the car with his daughter, Quinn, in the back seat when they were stopped.

Driving while black: Montreal police stop man to see if he was in a stolen car

 Two Montreal Alouettes football players said Thursday they are considering filing a racism complaint against Montreal police in connection with an incident on Monday night.

Alouettes players mull racism complaint against Montreal police

Lateef Martin was walking along Messier Street in Montreal's Plateau neighbourhood around 1:30 a.m. Saturday when he was ticketed for not using the sidewalk.

Montreal man contesting ticket for walking on street to avoid icy sidewalk

A black Montreal high school teacher arrested while waiting for takeout food has accused police of racial profiling and abuse.

Black Montreal teacher alleges police abuse

 
Montreal police stepped in after the bar tried to book a performance by a group of hip hop musicians.
Police say the event was targetted by street gangs, and even though the show was cancelled, the Department of Alcohol decided to yank the bar's licence unless it agreed to never again host hip hop or rap acts.

Police stop hip hop at Pointe Claire's Pioneer bar

Former high school teacher says he was roughed up by two officers in 2010 while waiting for take-out

Quebec commission rules Montreal police racially profiled LaSalle man,

Bernard’s positive attitude toward the police force changed dramatically last February after he says he was unlawfully arrested, handcuffed and ticketed while working as an Uber driver.
“I know this would not have happened if I was white,” Bernard said in an interview Monday.

Black Uber driver alleges racial profiling by Montreal police

 The organization Quebec Native Women (QNW) has filed a complaint alleging systemic discrimination and racial profiling by the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM).

Complaint alleges racial profiling and discrimination of Montreal police against Indigenous woman

Racial profiling: Montreal police release damning report that reveals 'systemic bias' by its officers

"An independent study commissioned by Montreal's police department reveals that its officers stop people from visible minorities far more frequently than they stop white people.
The study, which focused on a three-year period from 2014 to 2017, found that in Montreal an Indigenous person was 4.6 times more likely to be stopped for a "street check" than a white person, and that a black person was 4.2 times as likely to be stopped. Arab Montrealers were twice as likely to be stopped as white Montrealers. ("Street checks" are interactions with police that do not result in an arrest). "

How did the Montreal police react to this report?
Montreal police have no plans to end street checks, despite concerns 

Recently Montreal police Chief Sylvain Caron told the media that the SPVM is committed to eliminating any practice of racial profiling, but the announcement of this supposed policy has been put off time after time.
 
It is amazing how out of touch with reality and modern policing techniques Canada's second-largest police remains.
In 2017 the Montreal police adopted a pilot program where officers were outfitted with body cameras but rejected the idea after officers complained that they felt they were being monitored.
I'm not kidding.

"After a year-long trial by 78 officers, the SPVM has concluded body cameras have little impact on interventions, present logistical challenges — and leave most officers who have to wear them feeling as if they're under surveillance.
Not only do police dislike wearing cameras, outfitting all 3,000 patrol officers  with them would cost $17.4 million over five years, according to a 215-page report to be presented to Montreal's public safety committee Friday.
"The project did not unequivocally demonstrate that portable cameras promote the transparency of police interventions, strengthen trust between the police and the citizen and ensure the safety of police," says the report, which is already up on the SPVM' website." Link

 Sadly, the Montreal police is a dinosaur organization that has little desire to change its racist culture and because the Quebec public is largely sympathetic, there is little impetus to change.

Next time you hear complaints about police racism and brutality south of the border understand that Montreal's police are right up there with the worst, the saving grace being that the only reason violence is less pronounced here is because criminals are less violent.