French versus English Volume 56

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Too bad they didn't handcuff his mouth as well!

After arrests, Khadir family embraces its anarchist roots

Not to be outdone by his nineteen year-old daughter, Yalda, who's been arrested a couple of times for various actions in relation to the student demonstrations, Amir Khadir took part in an illegal demonstration and got himself arrested.
He practically begged police to arrest him...Hear him taunt the police.

Explaining that his act of civil disobedience was justified in the face of an unjust law, he compared himself to Martin Luther King and Gandhi...
Really?.... Khadir in the same company as Gandhi and MLK?
Methinks he is starting to become a self-important, pompous ass and I doubt they'll be erecting a statue to his name any time soon! Story of the arrest.

Unfortunately for Khadir, he was slapped with a $495 plus fine for blocking traffic instead of what he had been hoping for, a charge with disobeying Bill 78, which is clearly more heroic than fighting a traffic ticket.

At any rate, he was roasted in a radio interview by the loathsome Benoit Dutrizac, who saw the danger in this new rational of civil disobedience, fretting that Anglos could use the same justification to disobey Bill 101.  The interview was precious, as Khadir tried to explain that what is sauce for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander.   Telling the interviewer that his group was justified in disobeying the law because they were in the right while the Anglos are not justified in disobeying Bill 101 because they are in the wrong, Dutrizac mocked him mercilessly for his magical thinking.If you understand French, you're going to laugh your ass off, as Dutrizac shows him up for a fool. Listen to Radio EGO

"When injustice becomes the law, resistance is a duty"

By the way, Papa Khadir has a way to go to catch up to his daughter, who is turning out to be quite the anarchist. She was arrested  once again yesterday in a sweep by police looking for the perpetrators of the vandalism of the offices of Liberal cabinet minister Line Beauchamp and those who were responsible for the metro smoke bombs. According to ace crime reporter Claude Poirier, Yalda's fingerprints were found in the premises of the office of the minister. Yikes!
In relation to her arrest, the Khadir residence was the subject of a search warrant and was given a good going through..
The Khadirs have clearly given up all pretenses of being law-abiding citizens as the sign on their front door attests.
As policy, I don't usually publish pictures of private residences of public figures, but the Khadirs have made their stoop a billboard promoting anarchy. I have however blurred out the address and will omit to name the street.
How badly do cops want to send a Khadir off to the Clink? ....very much so. Dunno.....

It's a developing story.   Read the story
Further reading;  Amir-Khadir has lot to hide

Separatists not ready to share.

Our good friend Pierre Curzi once again demonstrated that he's a dreamer and political novice by calling for the three separatists parties to join forces in the next provincial election in order to fight the Liberals of Jean Charest. In an open letter printed in the Devoir, he suggested that;

Marois turning her nose up at a coalition

"The purpose of this call is to join forces to promote the election of a progressive and democratic government.
Why join the forces? 

Because the division of votes, especially among francophones, promotes the re-election of the Liberal Party. An ultra dynamic coalition vote would allow abstainers to participate, who are the only ones who can put the Liberals in opposition."

Let's be honest, he's probably right and his idea holds merit, so it isn't any surprise that Pauline Marois rejected the idea out of hand. She must have failed sharing in kindergarten.
Her cavalier decision to keep the separatist vote split sparked the ire of certain diehards who called her decision 'pitiful' and called for her replacement. Link{Fr}

Job Discrimination 'no big deal'

Last year I told you about an educated  francophone Muslim who applied for many a civil service job, only to see his application consigned to the scrap heap. Wondering if it was his obviously Arabic name which was the problem, he sent in two nearly identical applications, one altered to hide the fact that he was an immigrant.
Lo an behold the 'non-immigrant' application received an offer for an interview, while the true application with the Muslim name was passed over.
To make a long story short, he sued and won a settlement for discrimination.
Did the agency take corrective action or even apologize?
What do you think?
As far as the offending government agency was concerned, the fine was just the 'cost of doing business.'

Well a new report prepared by the government's Human Rights Agency tells us that things haven't changed much.

"It sadly comes as no surprise to learn that people with foreign-sounding names have significantly less chance of getting even a job interview, never mind the job, than those with typically Québécois monikers.A study released this week by the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission found that Quebecers with “Québécois-de-souche” names such as Tremblay or Bouchard are 64 per cent more likely to get invited to a job interview than those with names like Traoré or Ben Amin, even if their qualifications are identical.  Read the rest of the story    Alternate Link

Now one would think that this report would be received with a certain measure of shock and concern but it's hardly the case, the story made hardly a ripple.

Here's the attitude that most Quebecers adhere to;

Census figures augur poorly for Quebec

"Quebec's growth rate pales beside Alberta's (10.8 per cent) and Saskatchewan's (6.7 per cent). At 4.7 per cent, it was only 0.4 per cent higher than the 4.3-per-cent rate it recorded during the period measured by the previous census. Meanwhile, Yukon's rate doubled, as did Manitoba's.

As a result, Quebec's share of the overall Canadian population declined from 23.9 per cent in 2006 to 23.6 per cent in 2011.

During that same period, Quebec sustained a net loss of 50,000 residents to interprovincial migration - though the most recently measured annual net outflow, for 2010, was down to 3,244, much better than during the first two years of the census period, when the net loss was nearly triple that.It is also notable that Montreal does not rank among the 15 fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the country, and it is small comfort that Quebec City comes in at No. 14." Read more : ALTERNATE LINK

Francophones watch and listen to English media.

"Earlier this month, Cineplex launched “Les jeudis sans doublage” (no-dubbing Thursdays), in several theaters across Québec. “Your favorite actors! Their real voices!” claims Cineplex’s website.Several movie theatres have featured films in their original English version in the Montreal area. However, the marketing program “Les jeudis sans doublage” brings them to theatres that, so far, have been catering to mostly francophone audiences: in the Montreal suburbs of Dorion and Delson, in the Québec City area, and in the towns of Victoriaville, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, and Sherbrooke. “A good part of our audience has expressed an interest in seeing the latest productions in their original English version” explained Daniel Séguin, vice-president for Eastern Canada and general manager in Québec at Cineplex Entertainment in a press release."

Proving the point that you cannot legislate taste. I can only imagine the outrage and sense of betrayal over at the militant language organizations...
To Mario Beaulieu et als, I can only remind them that ...."The heart wants what the heart wants"

Adding salt to the wound, Francophones also make up the majority of listeners of Montreal English FM radio stations because these stations are not subject to language restrictions.
French stations must play a majority of French music according to CRTC rules, an extreme handicap that they've complained about over the years. The rule's disparity gives their English competitors a BIG advantage.
Such is the perverse result of regulations designed to legislate personal behavior and taste.
Read the rest of the story

How pitiful is this....

I've always maintained that French language militant groups are vastly over-exposed in the press, garnering disproportionate media exposure For this reason, membership figures are a closely guarded secret, but the Mouvement Laval français let the cat out of the bag.The Laval version of the MQF, was created last November to save Laval from the scourge of English, but it hasn't exactly attracted a big following.According to Manon Arsenault, the president of Mouvement Laval français, it's membership is but a handful of people. Link{Fr}It has set the rather ambitious goal of attracting 250 members and raising $2,500.This in Quebec's second largest city with a population of over 400,000 people.Good luck with that.

Holocaust survivor makes stunning gift to Montreal museum.

A Jewish Holocaust survivor donated a $75 million art collection as a “thank you for everything” that Montreal, Quebec and Canada had offered his family.
This gift is in addition  to the $50 million the Hornsteins had already donated . Read the story

This week I took a walking tour of downtown Montreal in preparation for Monday's post and I noticed that the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has both the English and French versions of the name of the museum equally displayed outside the building, something rare these days in Montreal.Could it be that that the overwhelming majority of patrons and donators are Anglophones?

Weekend Reading

A while back I wrote a somewhat prescient article declaring Montreal the riot capital of North America. Read it HERE
Kristian of Coolopolis has a nice piece about some of the more obscure riots that have taken place in Montreal.
Read: Obscure riots from the city's past.

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Funniest interview of an anti-government protestor . See it HERE in French

******************Here's an interesting retrospective of West Hill high school by a Montreal ex-pat living in Vancouver . Link

Thought of the week

Background:
"Concordia University students who blocked others from attending classes and exams during the now four-month-old “student strike” protests will face sanctions, reports the Montreal Gazette."The university’s Office of Rights and Responsibilities has charged a number of students under the Code of Rights and Responsibilities and will try them this month. Sanctions may include payment for damaged property, community service, suspension or expulsion, a university spokesperson has said.  Link

  Given that Concordia has taken action against certain students who disrupted classes, it's entirely possible that francophone schools will also take action.UQAM remedy?----Extra Credit. 

Readers:Don't miss Monday's post which I am in the process of putting together this weekend.In response to the OQLF report about English signage in downtown Montreal, I set out for myself to see if their conclusions were accurate.For hours, I walked the streets of several blocks in the downtown 'English' core, entering each store and recording what I saw, exacting a very detailed study of the signs.
 As you can imagine, my version of the truth is far from that of the OQLF.In the meantime have a very good weekend.  
Très bon week end à tous !!