Quick campaign notes for the weekend
The CAQ finally unveiled its platform Sunday. One of François Legault’s things is to radically reorganize Montreal’s administration
The PQ has promised a stricter Bill 101 within 100 days of a majority, applying restrictions to English CEGEPs and francisation to firms with as few as 11 employees, a crackdown on English signs being envisioned as well. English will be history in Montreal to a large extent if the PQ wins. (Speaking purely as a tenant, I hope they do.)
There’s been an amusing scuffle after Pauline Marois sniped at the CAQ because their aspiring health minister candidate, Dr. Gaëtan Barrette, is more than somewhat over the target BMI, as you might say. (Check this photo – fella on the left.) Marois said a health minister ought to be a better role model for healthy habits; now she’s on the defensive for what’s being called a low blow. Is it? Barrette could give Toronto mayor Rob Ford a run for his money in a weigh-in.
Jean Charest is mostly in reactive mode this weekend. Radio-Canada has been barred from the Liberal bus, presumably in reaction to that L’Enquête report a few days ago.
Charles Lanteigne 13:38 on 2012/08/12 Permalink
Oh puh-lease! Barrette admitted himself, first, in an interview, that he wasn’t a role model when it comes to health, that he was “gourmand”, etc. And now he acts all offended that Marois merely said she hoped her health minister was a role model—in direct reaction to said interview. Come on now, Barrette!
Ephraim 13:49 on 2012/08/12 Permalink
The CEGEP thing is interesting, because it is a limitation only on the Francophones (we English already have rights to English schooling). So it’s a right they are taking away from Francophones who are over the age of 18. The end result might be more emigration and of course loss of taxes by those who seek greener pastures elsewhere, realizing the bilingualism is the most profitable choice, financially.
I always find it interesting that it’s so easy for them to play xenophobia and not be called on it. They say they want the votes of the English, but more and more they do exactly the opposite, making us feel less and less like part of the Quebecois nation, even though most of us are originally born here and incredibly bilingual. I guess you have to have a scapegoat…. seems we might be more successful working together rather than blaming any part of society for the problems. Unless you want to blame the corrupt… and Mme Marois shouldn’t do that, because she’s not morally clean either.
Anto 14:21 on 2012/08/12 Permalink
@Ephraim: How is it xenophobia? Everybody can learn the language and be included. If you go live in Portugal, don’t you expect you’ll have to use Portuguese?
Jack 14:27 on 2012/08/12 Permalink
The PQ’s identity politics is as tiresome as US Republicans God,Guns and Gays strategy.First this is a policy that will have zero impact where they get their seats,almost totally rural, exburb and pur laine.It is a direct attack on Montreal as a cosmopolitan modern centre ,a city that was never and never will be monolithically French speaking.This strategy also puts the entire impetus on francizing Montreal on allophones and anglophones. Pierre Curzi and his ilk have chosen to leave Montreal and live elsewhere,along with about 20,000 French origin,Catholic Montrealer’s who leave the island every year to live in Blainville, Mascouche,or Terrebonne. Where of course they abdicate any responsibility to interact with new immigrants and complain bitterly about Montreal traffic, immigrants and vote PQ. This is exactly how election are won by the Republicans in the states, create power where it does not exist.target groups, and incite fear.Congrats Pauline!
@Anto 93% of Quebecers can communicate in French,this is simply an electoralist canard, Marois was against this policy 6 months ago.
david m 14:37 on 2012/08/12 Permalink
i think that the caq is doing way way more to incite fear and division, basically running on the anti-montreal platform and against the our parents’ quebec.
Anto 14:38 on 2012/08/12 Permalink
@Jack: I’m against forcing francophones to study in French Cégeps. I went to an english Cégep myself. But I believe the continuous referring of the PQ as a xenophobic party is as bad or worse for anglo/franco relations as any measure they might have in their program.
William 15:56 on 2012/08/12 Permalink
There’s nothing anti Montreal in the CAQ’s platform. On the contrary, these measures will prevent boroughs and the city from fight each other rather than working together to solve our problems. It’s excellent, I’m thrilled, and it’s wonderful to see politicians interested in Montreal’s actual problems rather than pandering to the South Shore.
Mathieu 16:41 on 2012/08/12 Permalink
William, the CAQ has said that they prefer to fund transit going to the suburbs than transit in the city. They also haven’t announced anything to favour the city in any way other than that. It’s a move in favour of the suburbs. Besides, people in the city are not as irritated by the borough system as the people in the suburbs (who, arguably, shouldn’t have their word on what’s going on inside Montreal).
Kate 20:47 on 2012/08/12 Permalink
Anto: Everybody can learn the language and be included.
Studies have shown that people with “foreign”-sounding names get fewer job interviews and are not easily hired. The percentage of people in government jobs in Quebec that isn’t white and francophone is tiny.
No, Quebec doesn’t become a utopia just because one can parley-voo, Anto.
William: There’s nothing anti Montreal in the CAQ’s platform
They just promised to radically rejig the Montreal municipal government. Now, I’m not saying it doesn’t need some rethinking, but a party whose electoral base is 100% off-island is never going to have Montreal’s best interests at heart when they make such changes. (This is rephrased from a discussion we had on Facebook, William, but I wanted to restate it here.)
I don’t trust Quebec City to have Montreal’s interests at heart under any party, but the city’s basically been in tutelle to Quebec since the 1976 Games and at some point this has to end. Quebec never wants to admit that its big, sprawling, polyglot metropolis is its economic motor and its heart. If you look at any official Quebec site or publication, it divides the province into zones, and Montreal is #6. Number fucking six!
Montreal needs a mayor that can unite people behind a new proposal for city governance, not to be treated by Quebec City like a wayward stepchild.
Jean Naimard 23:20 on 2012/08/12 Permalink
About time something is done with all those immigrants who do not display signs in french in their shops! Let’s hope we’ll finally have a real, bona fide language police that won’t be an anglo’s figment of imagination…
Ephraim 00:16 on 2012/08/13 Permalink
@Anto You can be fully bilingual in this province and still discriminated against. Anglos are 7 to 8% of the population and hold about .5% of all government jobs. If you just hired randomly you would be close to the general population. Every company would.
Another example, the nurses who aren’t native French speakers have to take a qualification exam in French. Why doesn’t EVERYONE have to take the exam, equally? Everyone in the province should be treated equally… therefore everyone should take the exam. (And why are they testing people with literature, instead of testing them on the knowledge of their nursing language?)
Some companies in Quebec discriminate based on a person’s name. There are very few people who are not “pure laine”. The problem is, you should be hiring the person who is the most qualified for a job. It actually hurts the company, but in some companies it is so ingrained that you sometimes wonder why bother.
The point is simple. If Anglophones and Allophones are really part of the greater Quebec nation, we need to be treated inclusively. You don’t have laws that seem anti-anglophone, you have laws that are pro-French. For example, you don’t go after a business for having English signs, you help people who aren’t sufficiently bilingual to become fully bilingual. You offer classes to those who don’t speak French proficiently. It’s a question of being positive, rather than xenophobic and blaming others for your failings.
Marc 06:34 on 2012/08/13 Permalink
@Ephraim: If you’re referring to the OLF’s French exam, that’s for all professional orders, not just nurses. And believe you me, that test doesn’t accomplish what it’s supposed to do. It’s crooked and has loaded questions. Two people I know who had to take it were, during the oral part of the exam, asked more about their political views than anything else.
Ephraim 06:43 on 2012/08/13 Permalink
@Marc – Oh, I realized that it’s a crooked exam. WTF does Moliere have to do with sticking a needle in my arm when I’m in pain? Until the exam is administered to EVERYONE, equally, it is a violation of both Canada’s charter as well as Quebec’s own charter of rights. The exam won’t be fixed until Francophones have to take it… and fail it.
Kevin 07:21 on 2012/08/13 Permalink
@Anto
What term would you use to describe people who complain about the language two people use when having a conversation while sitting in a restaurant, walking down the street, or while working together outside?
Kate 08:36 on 2012/08/13 Permalink
Kevin, has that happened to you too? I was once walking down Saint-Denis talking with the owner of this site, who’s Chinese-Canadian. Some guy ran up to him and screamed in his face “Parle français!!” Another time I was chatting from my back balcony in the Plateau to a friend in the alley – not shouting, and in the daytime – and my hostile next-door neighbours screamed at me to shut up.
The thing that worries me about the PQ’s new plan for tougher language laws is that people who feel this way and do this kind of thing feel righteous and justified about it.
jeather 09:09 on 2012/08/13 Permalink
Blocking non-anglophones from English Cegeps would solve the problem that there isn’t enough room in the English schools for all the people who want to go there, at least. (Note that this affects non-anglophones: francophones and allophones, not just francophones. But I doubt the PQ had much of the allophone Montreal vote either.)
qatzelok 09:59 on 2012/08/13 Permalink
@ Kate: “Studies have shown that people with “foreign”-sounding names get fewer job interviews and are not easily hired.”
This is true everywhere in the world, except a few colonies that hire the fans of Empire, who are usually foreigners who were settled in the colony by the British/French. I see more and more Haitians/Creoles/Maghrebans working in various capacities in Quebec institutions. Over time, it is becoming clear that it is willingness to master French that is the discriminating factor – as it should be.
walkerp 10:47 on 2012/08/13 Permalink
I am really not line with this new mentality equating overweight people with other social minorities. For the vast majority of overweight people, it’s a choice. They are symptoms of a wasteful, overwealthy society and instead of dealing with the symptoms (and more importantly the real diseases, overconsumption and psychological malaise), we change the culture so that the symptoms become acceptable, even special.
Doctor Barrette’s weight is embarrassing and a shame and while I am no fan of Pauline Marois, she is completely in the right in calling him on it. It’s like having the Minister of the Environment be a fatcat, rapacious developer. Oh wait…
Kevin 11:17 on 2012/08/13 Permalink
@Kate
Once to me.
We average 1 complaint a week at the station about this kind of behavior.
Kate 11:46 on 2012/08/13 Permalink
@walkerp re tubbies: I sort of see what you mean, but there have been glints of a new medical understanding of obesity. It may be true that some obese people are simply lazy overeaters, but others may be coping with an incompletely understood illness or genetic condition, something that eventually may be treatable. In that case, regarding them as shameful wouldn’t help.
jeather 12:00 on 2012/08/13 Permalink
Changing the culture is one thing; it’s the only reasonable solution. Note that shaming overweight people isn’t changing the culture.
Marc 12:17 on 2012/08/13 Permalink
@ walkerp: What is more important? What size pants he wears, or his ability and willingness to do something about the waiting lists and bureaucratic leviathan in the health system?
Kate 14:36 on 2012/08/13 Permalink
Marc, I understand the point you’re making, but it’s hard not to wonder about the state of health of someone like Barrette. Is he fit to run for office and sustain a stressful public position? Look at Rob Ford, who was hospitalized (for an unstated illness) last week, and he’s only 43 years old. I don’t know Barrette’s age but he looks a bit older.
JaneyB 15:42 on 2012/08/13 Permalink
…and back to the strangers commenting on the language used in conversation on the street. It happened to me, ironically while I was in the middle of a language exchange with a Quebecois. We were practising his English when we got a blistering ‘Ici, au Québec, on parle français’ from some furious older guy in Place des arts. My Québecois friend responded with some words only les purs laines can understand….
On the other side, however, I have several times heard older Anglo (men) tearing a strip off some (immigrant) clerk who couldn’t speak English. I know service is different than private conversations but it poisons the atmosphere without a doubt.
…and on the issue of the OLF’s French exam. A friend of mine from Saguenay failed it – Quebecois, francophone and with a Master’s degree. Ridiculous. I assume a Français was trying to make a point. In this province, sometimes you can’t win for trying…
Kid A 21:34 on 2012/08/13 Permalink
It happens to me rather frequently, not just when speaking English but also Spanish – I’m studying the language and take any opportunity I can to practice it with my many Latin American acquaintances.
I don’t know where people get off butting so rudely into other people’s conversations like that. It really must take a lot of righteousness. What’s funny is that, half the time, they back off immediately when you give them a little push back in the form of some choice words, preferably in the best joual you can muster…