Montreal a Cesspool of Corruption

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There's really no other way to put it.
After listening to Tuesday's blockbuster testimony by Lino Zambito at the Charbonneau Commission looking into corruption in Quebec's construction industry, it is no overstatement to say that Montreal is a cesspool of corruption.


Although we all had no doubt that this was the case, hearing the scams laid out so neatly, plus the addition of the names of the people involved still comes as quite a shock and eye-opener.

You can read all the sordid details in the newspaper, but it all essentially boils down to a very simple, but nefarious swindle that implicates all the players in the game, including the taxpaying boobs like us, who underwrote everything with our outrageous municipal taxes.

Mr. Zambito described the scam rather simply, though it seemed that the head of the commission Judge Charbonneau, had a bit of trouble understanding, which isn't surprising as most on the bench have lived cloistered lives and understand next to nothing about money and how the real world works.

At any rate I'll save you all the trouble and describe the plot rather simply.

City of Montreal construction contracts were divvied up among construction firms that rigged the bidding process under the auspices and protection of the Mafia, who took a commission of 2.5% of the total value for 'godfathering' (excuse the pun) the scam and keeping everyone in line.

The winning contractor (whose bid was inflated by up to 30%) paid a 3% commission to Montreal's ruling political party, Mayor Tremblay's Union Montreal.
A 1% commission was also paid to Gilles Surprenant, the Montreal bureaucrat who was responsible for the public-works projects for the city of Montreal, as well as creating and overseeing the budgets. Link
Mr Surprenant referred to himself as “Monsieur TPS,” ('Tax pour Surprenant') a play on the French term for the GST tax.

Some of this is not new, back in May, I wrote a lengthy piece about Montreal corruption and if you'd like to refresh your memory read;  Corruption- Montreal Style

Alfred E. Tremblay....What me worry?

In addition to all this, city employees were also on the take, from the very top engineers responsible for the projects, to the overseers in the field who verified the work done by the contractors.

Mr Zambito described another scam between city engineers and the construction companies where the latter would authorize extra bogus payments for unforeseen contingencies, this on top of the tendered price. The proceeds of these phoney bills were split between the engineers who kept 25% and the contractor who kept 75%.
Hmm....Not bad work if you can get it!

These frauds weren't limited to a few bad apples, but were widespread and an open secret among city employees and construction contractors.

The biggest names to be fingered so far by Zambito are Robert Abdallah and Frank Zampino.

Abdallah- Connected to the Prime_Minister?

Abdallah is a former director general of the city and top civil servant, who has denied the allegation that he pocketed $300,000 on a certain project. He is said to be huddling with lawyers preparing a counterattack. Link

Frank Zampino, was  Mayor Tremblay's second in command, until he resigned abruptly, more than four years ago to go work for the infamous Tony Accurso, the top dog in the local construction industry who is currently under indictment after being arrested in April on charges of fraud, conspiracy, influence-peddling and breach of trust.
His companies have in the past pled guilty to income tax evasion and just recently he was arrested once again on charges of federal income-tax evasion. Link
Zambito claimed in his testimony that Zampino, while working for the city, steered a large contract to a company owned by the very same Tony Accurso for whom he later went to work for.
Mr. Zampino is currently under indictment in another case of influence peddling and fraud. Link

According to Zambito, city employees weren't even shy about talking graft openly and even went so far as to demand that Zambito take them on vacation. LINK
Mr. Zambito wasn't even a big player in the industry, yet he admitted  paying one city employee over $200,000 in brides.

At any rate, you've got to admire the guts of Lino Zambito, naming names like that is usually a guarantee that an assassin's bullet is on its way and so his forthrightness can only mean that he's already signed his witness protection contract and that he'll be slinging pizzas in the likes of Wayburn, Saskatchewan, along with his family in no time.
The dead giveaway is that the police are already protecting his family with cruisers parked in front of his ex-wife's home, his father's house and the pizzeria that he owns. That's a lot of resources.
Right, Mister Zambito Peterson?

And you've got to hand it to the Mafia as well, they really seemed to have had things neatly arranged, controlling the construction companies, city of Montreal engineers and inspectors, the political party of mayor Gerald Tremblay and yes, even Canada Revenue Agency agents, who made sure those pesky audits went away.

Now this is just the beginning of the inquiry and since the whole thing is choreographed, I'm sure we'll be treated to more delightful stories of graft and greed that pretty much reaches everywhere public money is spent.
Next on Mr. Zambito's hit list are the politicians that run certain small towns, who act in place of the absent Mafia in the above-mentioned scams.
Boy oh boy, there are a lot of people sleeping poorly tonight!

This morning I heard a so-called expert on TV say that just about all of Quebec' engineering firms are crooked to some extent and that payoffs for contracts at home and abroad is standard-operating-procedure. 

Dr.Porter-Whereabouts unknown

Yesterday a La Presse story alleges, in a roundabout fashion, that Arthur Porter, the disgraced ex-head of Montreal's new super hospital, may have been the beneficiary of a $22 million payment made overseas, allegedly made by SNC Lavelin in relation to winning the contract to build the hospital.  That's what the big raid by anti-corruption police at the hospital's head office, a couple of weeks ago, was all about. Link
By the way, Mr. Porter skipped town and is nowhere to be found. He stills owes McGill for a $500,000 personal loan. Link{Fr} Link2{Fr}

This whole scandal is also about to blow up.

Considering the scope of this alleged fraud, another investigation involving another MUHC employee who is accused of embezzling $1.6 million seems to be chump change. Link

So let's not make this into a French/English thing and come to think of it the Mafia is Italian, but more aligned to the English than the French.

Sgt Tremblay,"I see nuthing!! I know nuthing!!"

And of course, in all this, our idiot Mayor Tremblay stands firmly on his position that he knew nothing at all, which is hard to believe considering that last year he admitted in public that he feared for his life.

But you know, bad as it seems, this whole mess is really not that hard to clean up, mark my words.
The corruption at Montreal City Hall will end, because it isn't that hard to control once you set your mind to it.
Already the inflated portions of the bids are reported to be down by half and will soon disappear.

All that is required is the political will to do so, and whether politicians like it or not, the public will no longer stand for these shenanigans.
The same goes for corruption in the Ministry of Transport and cities and towns across Quebec.

The Charbonneau Commission is a creation of public demand and what we have learned so far is that corruption is everywhere and predates Mr. Charest and the Liberals who were made the fall guys by the voters.

And so, demands for Mayor Tremblays resignation are becoming louder and louder.
Perhaps he can finish his term which ends next year, but if he tries to run again, we will repeat the provincial election fiasco that saw Charest dumped by an unforgiving public. If Tremblay runs we will be faced with the choice a unilingual separatist, Louise Harel, whose party has already been fined for illegal campaign financing, or Projet Montreal, a granola party that has truther Richard Bergeron as it head.

Some choice that is, so perhaps we should just stick with the Mafia;

Here is  Rick Blue's (of Boswer and Blue fame) take on why the Mafia is preferable to separatists, plus a few of my own.

1. The Mafia only wants control over drugs, prostitution and construction..... Separatists want control over everything.
2. The Mafia doesn’t force everyone to speak Italian.
3. The Mafia doesn’t depress housing prices.
4. The Mafia isn’t the reason our children move to Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.
5. You can reason with the Mafia.
6. The Mafia doesn't care what school you go to.
7. Unlike the police, when the Mafia offers protection, you get it.
8. The Mafia doesn't care about the language of store signs.  

By the way, Montreal's new mayor next year will be none other than Denis Coderre, a federal Liberal. MP.... just a fearless prediction.

French versus English Volume 63

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Quebecers remain Canada's least generous province

This release provides data from the 2010 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating (CSGVP). It is the fifth iteration of a series of surveys that began with the National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating in 1997.
Definitions:

• Donors: People who made at least one donation of money to a charitable or other non-profit organization in the 12-month reference period preceding the survey.
• Donor rate: This is the percentage of a given population that are donors.
• Volunteers: People who volunteered, that is, who performed a service without pay, on behalf of a charitable or other non-profit organization, at least once in the 12-month reference period preceding the survey. This includes any unpaid help provided to schools, religious organizations, sports or community associations.
• Volunteer rate: This is the percentage of a given population that are volunteers.

Now there was a lot of discussion the last time these figure were released with many saying that Quebecers are less charitable because they are used to the state taking care of the population. Also because they are the heaviest taxed province, giving is just that much harder.

But here is a table prepared by DAVID over at republiques de bananes that compares the donation rate of the rich, those families making over $100,000.

Credit DAVID at republique de bananes

Pitiful,
I shudder to think what the numbers would be if you took the Anglo and Ethnic component out of Quebec fundraising statistics.
Numbers are hard to come by, the only 'Ethnic' charitable donation numbers I could come up with is the fundraising done by Quebec's Jewish community in which Quebec's 80,000 Jews raise 46 million for its own general charity, the Federation CJA.
This compares to the Montreal/Laval/Longueuil Centraide general campaign which raises only $60 million in a community of 3 million.
Quebec Jewish donations to the the Federation CJA equals $647 per adult while Centraide averages just $23 per adult.

When it comes to University endowments, McGill's $920 million fund is five time bigger than the Université de Montreal's $189 million.
In fact, out of the top 25 universities in Canada, U of M's endowment fund, calculated on a per student basis (at $3,700) is at the bottom of the group LINK

By the way, Harvard university's endowment fund is $31 billion and Yale University's is $19 billion ..cough..cough!

Insult goes viral.

A frustrated francophone movie goer expressed disappointment that the COLOSSUS movie theatre in Laval shows most of its movies in English, especially in its new state of the art theatre. Writing on the movie chains Facebook page she asked why the new technology was offered only for English movies.  You can imagine her surprise when she got this message back from an administrator of the Facebook page."If ur not happy go to Guzzo :)"
  The ironic part in all this is that the reply got 116 'LIKES' almost immediately.
Obviously from the language used, the exchange was from a low level employee who likely caught heck for the insensitive reply and as you can imagine a storm of controversy erupted.

"Laval residents frustrated not to have access to French-language films can be reassured.The Minister responsible for the Charter of the French language, Diane De Courcy, "took note" of their impatience. The anglicization of Laval,a recurring problem cited by the Parti Quebecois campaign is "worrying", she said." Link

Yes, buckets of righteous indignation poured out from the French press as the usual theme of victimization was trotted out once more.

But the question of forced dubbing of English films goes to the heart of free speech. As it stands now, Hollywood blockbusters cannot be shown in the original English before a French dubbed version is available.
Now if you were to ask francophones if this is fair, I'll bet 99% would say that it is, but let's examine the issue a bit further.

Should English culture be translated into French by law?

If so why does this rule apply only to Hollywood blockbusters?

Why not books and magazines? Shouldn't they by right be translated too before the English versions are allowed to be sold in Quebec.
How about music?
Why is Lady Gaga allowed to sing in English and yet talking toys that speak only in English are banned?

Why are real cars allowed to have English on the dashboard and toy cars not?

How about other live entertainment like English  comedians at the Just for Laughs festival?

It begs an explanation and I'd like to hear it.

Quebec billionaire delivers stern message

Last week Quebec billionaire Stephen Jarislowsky wrote an opinion piece published in French in Le Devoir and translated into English, a few days later in the Globe and Mail.

"Switzerland uses four official languages. Two of them – Schwyzerdütsch, a German dialect, and Romansch, descended from Latin – are unique to Switzerland. Neither they, nor French, nor Italian, are threatened by English, which is also spoken by most Swiss.
But, in Quebec, we are repeatedly told this myth that French is threatened and English should be suppressed so French can survive. The province is surrounded entirely by English speakers, but English proficiency is disappearing in the hinterland. Fewer and fewer people can write in English. As a result, Quebec risks becoming a “hermit state,” increasingly isolated from Canada and the rest of the world."  Read the rest of the article {French} {English}

I hope you take the time to read the above article, either in English or French, it is rather interesting in its simplicity and like the little boy who accused the emperor of wearing no clothes, Mr Jarislowsky goes to the heart of the matter, rather succinctly and without to much wordplay to underscore that the whole concept of French being in danger is claptrap.

Of course the reaction in the French media was universally negative. Here is a representative sampling:

"The poor quality of the analysis, the prejudices and falsehoods of the letter from Mr. Jarislowsky do not even deserve thorough response. We feel the frustration of the election of the PQ. The mind boggles reading this letter anti-Quebec."

"In 1950, Montreal was the mecca of head offices in Canada. Now it is only fourth." This is the caption under the the photo
--- The decline of Montreal, Canada's largest city until then, began with the opening of the  St. Lawrence Seaway funded by Canada, the United States and, if I remember correctly by the United Kingdom itself.

"We do not need anyone like  Jarislowsky. This man does not understand the fragility of French culture in North America, it looks a bit like what happened to francophones in other provinces or those in the USA. They have survived, but at what price? Most have lost their French, and what remains eloquently exposes the effects of immersion in the language of the majority. The Swedes who learn English are not surrounded by English as we are. In any case, Jarislowsky's arguments are from a man for whom everything has a relationship with money, not the human experience."
"It is often impossible to be served in French in small businesses in Ottawa, the capital of a country that claims to have two official languages, but which refuses to live the status of a bilingual city. 
You should try to walk a few miles in our shoes before you judge! 
Of course if we had banks where organized crime and wealthy citizens could hide their money tax-free, like Switzerland ..."

Opinion: How am I not une vraie Québécoise.

Here's an opinion piece written in the Montreal Gazette last week which had quite an impact;

"From kindergarten to Sec 5, the language I heard daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. was French. Once I got home, I got a good mix of French and English from my family, and almost exclusively French from my friends and the rest of the neighbourhood kids. They thought of me as "the English girl." But when I made anglophone friends at summer camp, or visited family outside of Quebec, I was thought of as "the French girl."
Here in Quebec I was teased because of my English name, my accent and the anglo twist I put on French words (sometimes to the point of refusing to say certain things because I'd become painfully aware that I was saying them wrong). Other times I was asked to toss out random English for sheer entertainment value, like a dog performing tricks.
One branch of my family tree is French, Québécois de souche, traceable all the way back to France and the shores of Dieppe in the mid-17th century. That part of me is firmly rooted in the history and culture of Quebec, and there is proof of it on a tombstone on the Île d'Orléans.
The other branch came here little more than half a century ago. My paternal grandparents made it out of Nazi-occupied Poland and Germany with their lives and not much else.
Both fascinate me, both make me feel equally proud, and one has left me with awareness, albeit by proxy, of what it might mean to have your rights stripped away bit by bit.

On my mother's side, my mom, grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins spoke impeccable French. The extended family — great-aunts and -uncles, second cousins — did as well, amusing me with their Franco-Ontarian twang.
My paternal grandparents, on the other hand, had thick Slavic accents when they spoke English, and barely spoke French at all. My father, born in the old country but raised here, spoke flawless English and heavily accented French. One of my favourite childhood memories is of him helping me with my weekly vocabulary homework, the mangled French words coming out of his mouth never failing to leave me in stitches. Looking back, I am quite certain he laid it on thick for my benefit. Still, to this day, even though he can carry on a French conversation with ease, it's never without that unmistakable anglo accent.
When I was a teenager and becoming aware of my own identity, political and otherwise, I was staunchly pro-American. Bill 101 and the growing language discord on my home turf had already left their mark. I dreamed of a place where I'd feel more welcome, where I thought I'd fit in better, both intellectually and language-wise. "U.S.A. or bust" was markered across my school binders. In a bastion of French-Canadianness and classes full of fledgling Bloc Québécois and Parti Québécois supporters, I was once again "l'anglaise."

Twenty-two years later, I am still here in Quebec. For all its political flaws, it is a place I have come to deeply love.
I live my days in both French and English, navigating both with ease. Technically French is my mother tongue, yet despite 13 years of French schooling, I never fail to have to look up grammar rules and verb tenses when writing in it. When it comes to speaking and understanding it, though, it's a different ball game. Read the rest of the story

Montreal Police show that discretion is the better part of valour.

French language signs no longer required in South Stormont

“Business owners in a small community South of Ottawa will no longer be forced to make their signs bilingual.
South Stormont Council unanimously passed a by-law Wednesday, allowing local businesses to post signs in whatever language they choose.
Supporters say it's a matter of freedom of expression.
"We are an English speaking area and that's what we want," said David Smith, owner of Grumpy’s Sports Bar. "I don’t believe I'm going to get any busier if I change my sign and it's not going to be free to change them.”
The issue has been a heated debate among residents.
"French language is blowing through the rest of Canada," said one resident.
“I don't think the government should dictate what we put on our signs…personal, private, or business,” said another. “We should have the right to put any language on a sign whether it's Mohawk Chinese English or French.” Read more:

Montreal Metro Ticket Seller gives out language lessons

Signs proclaiming an employee’s stance on language issues should not be posted on the window of a métro station ticket booth, Montreal’s transit authority says.
The Société de transport de Montréal was responding to a complaint from a subway user who came upon a printed sign at the Villa Maria métro station Wednesday: “Au Québec c’est en français que ca se passe!” (Roughly translated: “In Quebec, we do things in French”) Link

Thanks to Apple IIGS for the heads up.

Oh, Oh! This isn't going to go over well.

"Quebec’s French language network TVA will soon be airing a French version of the popular sing-off competition show The Voice.
La Voix has been drawing huge crowds for auditions in Montreal and Quebec but — to the confusion of some — the producers say it is OK to sing in English, or any other language for that matter.
Recent press releases state: “La Voix is now looking for talent from all over North America. You think your voice has what it takes? Seize the opportunity to become North America’s La Voix! Singing in French is not a must, but could raise your chances.”
Amelie Robitaille, a publicist for the show, acknowledges it may seem strange to have a French singing program that allows English, but that everyone is indeed invited.
She says there could be legal implications if an individual was barred from auditioning due to language." Read more

Odds n' ends

Rap singer Biz refuses Governor-General nomination

Nunavik board bucks Quebec order on French-language education in Kuujjuaq

French parents stand firm against PQ language threat 

French fight franglais with alternatives for English technology terms 

Air Canada gets 7-up charges reduced

Quebec 2012 deficit heading towards 4  billion{Fr}

Late addition;
Here's an interview in FRENCH that is extremely interesting taken from Montreal's newest radio station, Radio X or better known as 'Radio poubelle' (garbage)

Now I'd like to shamelessly plug this station where you can listen to a variety of anti-separatist/leftist/PQ commentary.
I've downloaded an interview with Nathalie Elgrably-Levy concerning the migratory defect that Quebec has suffered over the last 40 years, only because I don't know how long the station archives stuff. If you've got half an hour, the interview is fascinating. Please give the station a listen...

Sunday Housekeeping- Volume 11

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Readers, just to inform you that I've added additional box on the green bar at the top of the page, entitled.

Making your voice heardLOOK UP ➚
In response to reader requests I am opening up a resource where we can find email addresses where we can send messages.
I don't just want this to be a repository of American media outlets,  I'd like to include government and quasi-government agencies, like Montreal's infamous STM, even businesses that ignore English completely.

The resource is yours to build, I'm not going to shoulder the burden.
Please email me HERE to add a pertinent link. I hope we can build a decent database together.

Now I'd like to again broach a subject that I've brought up before and that is the language of comments.

I understand that rage is legitimate and if you want a place to rant go ahead, but....

As I've said before, this blog reaches out across the world, it is read in consulates and embassies and within our own and foreign governments.
NoDogs is indexed as a resource site on three widely-used news resource aggregators and I get emails from around the world asking for interviews and commentary.
Because of this blog I have been asked to give closed door briefings in places that I cannot reveal.

SEPTEMBER figures according to GOOGLE ANALYTICS

Last month we had a record amount of visitors from over 117 countries. I know the counter in the right-hand margin shows between 70,000 and 85,000 pageviews a month, it is actually higher according to the higher GOOGLE ANALYTICS.

I am not saying any of this to brag, but rather so that you the contributors are mindful of the impact of your comments.

I firmly believe that if you want people to take you seriously, that you need to avoid histrionics, bad language and nasty name-calling.
For those who come here to form an opinion, it is an automatic turn off.

Well-written and well-thought out comments are what make a real difference.

Please remember that those who oppose us follow closely what we say looking for bones to pick at any opportunity. One nasty and racist comment can have a negative effect on what we are trying to accomplish.

Also a reminder that I am not a professional and I work with limited resources and a staff of 1 volunteer, my wife.

I try desperately hard to get my facts straight, but remain mindful mistakes find their way in my blog pieces. I promise to make all corrective changes as soon as I can.

As well, the comments section is again unmoderated, which means that comments are immediately published without pre-screening.

I made an appeal last month for an end to anonymous posting and that supplication has largely been followed.

As for banning people with opposing views, it will not happen.
As for trolls, a lot has to do with optics.

I have and will continue to remove gratuitous personal insults, but it plays both ways.

I defy anyone to tell me that there are not offenders on our side as well as S.R and others. It isn't mature demand censorship.

The two eyes in your head and your fingers are controlled by you. 
Don't read and don't respond to what offends you, that is all I can say.

A sterile one-sided discussion is the last thing we need.

I know many don't agree, but such is life.
In the meantime your comments ARE vitally important.

More people follow this blog for the comments, rather than the main post and the success or failure of this blog is entirely in your hands.

I have learned a lot from the comments section, first that even though we are a community, we share different ideas about partition, language, rights and Quebec's place or non-place in Canada.

This blogs remains about us and our experience.

If those who dislike us come here to mock us, so be it, it is the price we pay for freedom and underscores to those on the other side who block negative or English comments on their blogs automatically, how much they need to learn about freedom of speech.

It is the very essential difference between us and the French language militants who propose a society where ideas, position and principles are only okay, if they fall with  within their narrowly defined view of the world.

Language Blowhard Plays Victim Card

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For Mario Beaulieu, president and chief cook and bottle washer of both the Societe Saint-Jean-Baptiste and the Mouvement Quebec Francais, selling his radical view of language is not a particularly easy task, but to his credit he continues knocking on reluctant doors with the zeal and energy of a determined Jehovah's Witness canvasser.

No doubt, he is a keener and like the religious proselytizer, accepts failure and rejection with aplomb, measuring success and victory in the tiniest of measures, plowing on despite a fading message that no longer resonates.

Now I'm not talking about his sovereigntist view which has considerable but minority support in this province, it is his unholy crusade against Anglos and Ethnics and of course all things English, that sets him apart.

Even sovereigntists find his obsessive hatred and crusade of English tiresome, membership figures in his organizations remains top secret, a sound policy considering how few people are actually involved.
While students can regularly muster 20,000 plus to rallies and demonstrations over tuition fees, Beaulieu can rarely muster more than one or two hundred demonstrators, most of them the grey-haired set, diehards from a bygone era.

That being said, we should give Beaulieu his due, like Henny-Penny  his schtick is entertaining and so he is afforded oodles of air-time on Quebec's two all-news television stations which must fill too many empty hours.
But even with all the free publicity, Quebecers, a skeptical sort, aren't drinking the Kool-Aid and so Mario must ratchet up the rhetoric in order to keep his message alive.
And so we are treated to entertaining blasts of fire and brimstone, wherein he direly warns Quebecers that they are on the 'Eve of Destruction.'

Like a preacher who tries to jazz up the same old, same old sermon, Mr. Beaulieu is always on the lookout for a new optic, something to re-energize the shopworn refrain that has lost its lustre.

To wit, we have seen  M. Beaulieu cleverly invent a new theme, born out of the shooting on election night, where a deranged Anglo allegedly bent on killing Pauline Marois went on a shooting spree that mercifully ended when his rifle jammed,  sadly not before one tragic death.

Was the shooter a nutcase, or as Mr. Beaulieu tells us, a product of the overwhelming hate and francophone-bashing in the Anglo media? 

Of course the message resonates with the militant language conspiracy types and plays successfully with the old guard who collectively wallow in a bath of self-pity, coupled with an unhealthy dose of paranoia inherent to those suffering from a persecution complex.

 And so when a lady assaults a bagel eater with a thrown sandwich because he is speaking in English, it is the nasty Anglos that created the milieu of hate.
When a bus driver harasses a 12 year old or harangues an immigrant over language, it is our fault.
When a drunk youth assails a couple of English-speaking Asian tourists over French, it is of course, the Asians fault and when a metro ticket agent puts up a nasty sign telling non French speakers to take a hike, it is our over-reaction that is at fault.

This nonsense is to be expected from a man who stood before reporters and complained that stores with English non-French proper names like BENTLEY or QUIZNOS are an affront, an insult to true Quebecers.

The proper term for Mr. Beaulieu is a 'linguicist' someone who hates on the basis of language and when the media, on the rarest occasion, call him out on his irrational hatred, he trots out his favourite defence, francophone-bashing.

Mr Beaulieu gives every story a particular tweak, just enough dishonesty to inflame his minions. In his rant against the English media, he complains that stories in the English media portrayed Quebec francophones as racist and bigots, when in reality those charges were actually made against the PQ and Pauline Marois for statements made during the election campaign.

In the latest incident he chastises anglophones for reacting angrily to a STM employee who put a sign up in his booth, reminding metro riders that in Quebec (or at least in the employee's ticket booth) service will only be offered in French.

Make no mistake about it, whether the sign reflected the law or not, the posting of the home-made notice was a political statement and as such completely violated company policy of keeping politics out of the Metro and bus system.

Mr. Beaulieu complains that many comments that were appended to the story of the metro incident in English media were violent in nature.
I never read one comment that threatened physical violence and Beaulieu has cited none. This from a man who always republishes 'offensive' quotes.

In a post on the MQF website he continues spinning the story to suit his fancy, complaining that Montreal comedian Joey Elias, on a Facebook posting, mistranslated the sign, when in fact Mr. Elias was just editorializing, saying;
"sign basically says that unless you speak French I'm not serving you" Link{fr}

What Mr. Beaulieu and others are really upset about is a planned protest at the metro station, because when English people protest over language, it is intimidation, aggression and violence, but when the French-language lobby groups demonstrate, for example, outside the Bell Centre, calling for the firing of the Canadiens unilingual coach, it is noble and laudable.



Mr. Beaulieu goes on to whine that CJAD, a Montreal radio station had no business in playing a snippet of an interview with presumed shooter Richard Bain, because he is a terrorist.
Of course the interview was broadcast on a French station at the same time, but that isn't included in the narrative.
The fact that FLQ terrorists regularly write articles published not only on vigile.net but mainstream media is of course not germane, because after all, those are francophone terrorists and so it is okay.

It is ironic that Anglophobes like Beaulieu are the ones leading the charge against perceived francophobia as well as insufferable whingers like Robert Barberi-Gervais complaining on vigile.net that Mr. Bain's action was directly attributable to hateful comments in English newspapers and blogs. This from a man writing on a website that has been branded antisemitic and anglophobic by the French media!

At any rate I can only say that the English media that Mr. Beaulieu complains about, had the good sense to pixilate or blur the face of the metro ticket agent, while Mr. Beaulieu's story and the Journal de Montreal did not.

And I wonder if Mr. Beaulieu will reprint this story that appeared on CTV;

"Students from Marymount Academy are showing their appreciation for bus drivers the day after an STM ticket taker created a language kerfuffle by posting a sign in his booth.
During the lunch hour on Friday the high school students set up shop at the Villa Maria metro, just a block away from their school, to distribute coffee and muffins to bus drivers." Read more:

Not likely!
At any rate, as I said in the beginning of this post, that Beaulieu is always looking for something new to perk up interest in his moribund group.

May I humbly suggest an inspiring and rousing theme song to be played at every public gathering of the Mouvement Quebec Francais, the Societe Saint-Jean-Baptiste, etc. etc. 

I'm offering these new lyrics, sung to the tune of the "Eve of Destruction"
Of course they'll have to be translated it into French......

♫♫♫
The English world, it is exploding
Anglo culture flarin', language dominating
You otta know by now that English is a scourge
There is no other option, we need a thorough purge'
And know without some action, we're really on the verge.

♫♫♫(Refrain) .... But you tell me,
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don't believe
We're on the eve of destruction.

Don't you understand what I'm tryin' to say
Can't you feel the fears I'm feelin' today?
If English is not checked, there's no runnin' away
There'll be no one to save, the French world in a grave
But even if we live, we'll be nothing but a slave
Take a look around ya boy, it's bound to scare ya boy.

♫♫♫(Refrain)

Yeah, my blood's so mad feels like coagulatin'
I'm sitting here just contemplatin'
I can twist the truth, it knows no regulation.
But a handful of demonstrators won't pass no legislation
And marches alone can't bring no francization
When francophone respect is disintegratin'
This whole crazy world is just too damn frustratin'

♫♫♫(Refrain)

The world is full of hate that is so very widespread
Then take a look around to Beaconsfield or Hampstead
You may leave here for a week in outer space
But when you return, it's the same old English place
The grinding' of the Anglos, is really a disgrace
They want bury French and never leave a trace
They hate us with a passion, our language they debase

But you tell me,
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don't believe
We're on the eve of destruction.

♫♫♫

If you've never heard Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction", (Shudder!) give a listen;






Happy Thanksgiving!

Heightened Language Hostility ...Is this the New Normal?

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 Watching the rising tide of of language conflict ever since the provincial election on September fourth, I cannot help but thinking of a high school food fight, or an out of control bench-clearing hockey brawl, where once ignited the bedlam cannot be stopped until it has run its destructive course.

There is no doubt that the PQ's controversial election platform and its subsequent ascension to power, has set the stage for something we never really saw in Quebec, real confrontation on the street between the English minority and the French majority.
That is because Pauline is viewed by the Anglo community as the most hostile and aggressive of all the PQ Premiers, someone who makes no bones about her plan to govern for the 80% francophone population, while disdaining the rest.
The aggressive language policy which the PQ enunciated during the election campaign pandered to language militants boosting their expectations and emboldening them into action now that the PQ is elected.

Unfortunately the stars seem to have aligned in a particularly bad way, with the hurtful PQ election campaign followed by the attempt on Marois' life and the death of an innocent by a deranged Anglo, followed by several well-publicized language incidents.

Some Anglos are now saying that they fear speaking English in public, lest they be accosted, while some francophones are saying they are intimidated to ask for service in French in the West Island or even in downtown Montreal.

It's getting weird...
Where the heck did all this come from? I've never seen this in my lifetime and I go way back.

Perhaps it is the age of social media that brings all these conflicts to our immediate attention and perhaps it was always there but unseen or unheard, but somehow I think not.

An idiot standing on a soapbox on the corner of Peel and Ste-Catherine St. in downtown Montreal, hurling insults at either the English or the French passersby will be roundly ignored, but if he put those same insults on a Facebook page, it would likely end up being a very big deal.

One thing francophone militants are right about is the attitude change in the English, who seem to believe that with no one in government interested in protecting their rights, it is up to them to stand up for themselves.
This new and brash attitude has shocked the French militant community, who for so long were accustomed to Anglos rolling over.

This aggressive attitude is typified by the now infamous Facebook quote by a Cineplex Odeon employee who answered a complainer (who has asked for an explanation as to why the newest and most technologically advanced screening rooms in a Laval movie complex showed only English movies) with the insultingly dismissive phrase, "If you don't like it, go to Guzzo :)" Link

Anglos thought the incident hilarious, francophones, not so much.

The tables were turned when a Montreal metro ticket agent  put up a home-made sign on the window of his booth, warning commuters that in Quebec, everything is supposed to happen in French, intimating that he wasn't going to speak English to customers, no matter what. While the Anglo media raged at the affront, francophones thought the Anglos were making a mountain out of a molehill.

Now in any fight between the English and the French there isn't much doubt as to who has the advantage of numbers and the weight of authority behind them.

But just as the students taught us, it doesn't take a lot of effort to bring organized society to its knees and let's face it, the students were actually taking it easy on us and could have done a lot more damage.

It is safe to say that reasonable people, which make up the vast majority of Quebecers are not at all pleased at the confrontational direction we are going towards.

The real problem is, that whatever language equilibrium that existed before with the Quebec Liberals, is gone with the election of the PQ and there now exists a real danger that things can degenerate into an unstoppable language food fight.

Now before readers go off on me and say that the English suffered under the Liberal government as well, the truth is that our community largely accepted limits placed upon English up to then, a grudgingly acceptable compromise and while most of us didn't like these language laws, the restrictions weren't so onerous that it drove us into the street.
For those who are going to jump on me for the statement, I'll have to remind them that the proof of the pudding is in the eating, in other words the very lack of English resistance and push back during the Charest regime, serves as proof that the Anglos had largely accepted the language compromise.

So what is to come?

Well  it seems that Anglos have drawn a line in the sand.
If harsh new language laws are put in place, there will be push back by Anglos and how dangerous things will become is anyone's guess.
The government can triple the force of the OQLF officers but if they think they will have the cooperation of those into whose life they intrude, I will remind you of the Shawville experience where in 1999, a posse of militant Shawville English-speakers chased a provincial “language police” inspector out of town during a showdown over French on business signs.
 
As we can see in today's climate, it doesn't take much to set off a language incident and it might not  be long before these new OQLF inspectors (which are supposed to be hired,) find an unwelcome reception, forcing them to work in groups or accompanied by armed guards or police. We really may be approaching this.

As for compliance with these OQLF directives demanding English signs be submissive or that descriptors be added to English store names, legal contestations by thousands of stores and business could gum up the legal system to a point where the resolution of a file could take over three years, after which the merchant just before final adjudication, could just remove the sign and replace it with another equally 'offensive' sign.
This game of judicial terrorism, was proposed by separatist journalist Josée Legault who advised the government to play this cat and mouse game of legal rope-a-dope when faced with unfavourable Supreme Court language decisions.

The realIty is that our society functions only as long as each group respects not only the law but the spirit of the law as well.
This is the lesson that students taught us recently, that when a government passes legislation that offends or in fact outrages a significant portion of its citizens, it risks dangerous blowback and civil disobedience which can rock the very foundations of democracy.

So far Anglos may be comforted in seeing the PQ  trip over themselves, making one gaffe after another, looking more like high school Parliamentarians then those capable of running a province.

Taking one step forward and two steps back, the finance minister has already admitted that he has to go back to the drawing board in relation to his plan to tax the rich retroactively, after being told by opposition parties that they will not support the minority government over the tax issue.

There remains a very real fear in the PQ that if the government is brought down, the Liberals and the Coalition Avenir Quebec will form a coalition government, thus bypassing a new election.

So all legislation will have to be a compromise, or else Pauline could turn into a sad sack like Joe Clark, who's minority Conservative government was swept out of power after just seven months. I believe she is cagey enough to understand this and will never let it happen.
For Pauline, even her supporters will admit that power has always been her ultimate goal with dogmatic language and sovereignty policies, clearly subservient.

But even though Pauline won't risk her government on separatist or extreme language principles, there is one thing that the PQ can and will do that should have Anglos worrying.

Pauline can successfully legislate on language, because none of the opposition parties can survive bringing down the government defending the English. It would be the proverbial kiss of death.

And so it will be inevitable that Pauline moves to strengthen Bill 101, perhaps sacrificing the controversial proposal to apply Bill 101 to cegeps.
I honestly don't think that most in the caucus are really for the proposal, which was only made to satisfy the radical element.
I'm sure Pauline can include the provision in the bill, using it as a bargaining chip, to be offered up to the opposition in order to have all sides coming up smelling like roses.
Pauline will claim that she had to compromise and the opposition will tell us how they effectively diluted the Bill.
Everyone is a winner!!

Er....not everyone....

Part of these 'non-controversial' aspects to the beefed up Bill 101 will see business' of between 11 and 50 employees now fall under the francization rules of the law, forcing them to operate in French, even if every single employee is English.
I cannot think of a more disastrous law, one that is guaranteed to drive small business' to Ontario and points beyond.

Imagine a family business in the West Island where all eleven employees, bosses and workers are English, being forced to operate in French.
Every internal document would have to be translated, new French software would have to be purchased, despite the fact that nobody would use it and meetings would have to be held in French.
It is Orwellian.

And it is coming.....

While Mr. Beaulieu and his minions are rubbing their hands in glee at the thought of finally sticking it to the Anglos, they might consider what demons and devils lie within the Pandora's box they are opening.

India, 25 others be against EU airline carbon charge plan

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European Union plans to charge airlines for carbon emissions are "discriminatory" and violate global laws, a group of 26 countries as well as the United States and China said in a joint declaration released by the Indian govt.

India, which hosted a two day meeting in New Delhi this week, said delegates from the non EU countries, which are too members of the U.N.'s International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO.L executive council, accepted to lodge a formal protest against the EU's new rules at the council's next gathering.

"There was large concern expressed by all countries present, without exception, that the unilaterally imposed EU (emissions trading scheme) measures were conflicting with the international legal regimes," the statement said.

"The legal debilities in the EU laws were pointed out. It was affirmed by the various delegates that they were also discriminatory (to) carriers."

The EU says it wants to put a price on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to guard against futurity climate impacts such as crop failures, droughts or flooding.

It has established an emissions trading scheme ETS.L to assist it cut carbon dioxide emissions, which it has pledged to decrease by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

As of January 2012, airlines flying into or out of EU airports will have to surrender permits to cover up all the CO2 they emit throughout the entire flight. They join some 11,000 factories and power plants already in the $100 billion market.

ICAO said the issue of aviation in the EU ETS is on the schedule for the 190-nation body's next meeting in November, where the group of 26 countries said they will submit a working paper on with their joint statement in opposition of the scheme.

Critics as well as the 26 opposing governments have called the "unilateral" scheme illegal, saying it breaches the Chicago Convention on international aviation as well as some provisions under the World Trade Organization WTO.L.

Three U.S. airlines are presently challenging the EU plans in Europe's highest court, which is due to provide its first opinion on the case on October 6.

NOT BACKING OFF

Although opposition to the EU's aviation policy is getting more blatant, the bloc's executive indicates no signs of yielding.

"The EU is not allowing for backing down," an EU spokesman told, adding up that the bloc's executive support other countries to in its place adopt similar emissions reducing goals.

The EU keeps that it could exempt airlines from countries that have adopted climate policies took for equivalent to Europe's targets.

But some nations have flouted at the offer and retaliated instead through other means, saying aviation should be regulated on a global level by measures approved by all ICAO members.

China blocked a $3.8 billion aircraft buy by Hong Kong Airlines from France-based Airbus (EAD.PA) at the Paris air show in June, sources said, adding to worries of a brewing trade war.

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Six airlines suspended service to Pak, NA told

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Pakistan Defense Minister Ch. Ahmad Mukhtar has informed the National Assembly that nearly six international airlines have suspended their operations to Pakistan airports because of security and commercial reasons.

In a written statement, he told the Lower House that British Airways, Air France, Lufthansa of Germany, Singapore Airlines, Swiss Air and Indian Airlines have suspended their operations because of above-mentioned reasons. But, he stated that currently 25 foreign international airlines have filed their landing schedules for destination in Pakistan in the summer 2011 season and for operating their flights regularly.

He further confirmed that the Civil Aviation Authority has not endure any losses because of the suspension of flights by the airlines mentioned above, as commencement of operations by any airline or its enhancement/ reduction in number of frequencies being operated is a continuous feature of any airport.

It may also be added that on this period NAS Air of Saudi Arabia, Eriterian Airline and KAM Air of Afghanistan have begin their operation to/from Pakistan beside Turkish Airline has as well increased their flights from 4 to 7 per week.

About the LNG import, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Dr Asim Hussain in a written statement also informed the House that Liquefied Natural Gas was not being imported now as LNG infrastructure needed to receive LNG was not available. However, he added that steps like fast tract LNG import projects through the private sector at their cost and risk without any government guarantee, gas import project such as Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline projects Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India project (TAPI) under development and increase indigenous gas production were being taken to manage the shortage of natural gas in the country.


To another question regarding any proposal to import gas from Iran, the minister affirmed that an agreement has been signed between Interstate Gas System Pvt. Limited from Pakistan side and Natural Iranian Gas Company from Iran side for execution of the project while first gas flow is estimated by the end of December 2014.

Likewise, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Moula Baksh Chandio in his written reply told the National Assembly that NAB has arrested 495 accused from March 2006 to March 2011 out of which 198 accused persons have been convicted, demur ex-public holders, on the same period while 620 accused except ex-public office holders have so far been released on bail including accused arrested prior to March, 2006.

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