Leftists who have fully supported Bill 101 shouldn't have a problem with Bill 21 either. It is to preserve the culture of Quebec. Language is the primary tool protecting that culture but it isn't the only one.
Having English words visible in Quebec is a threat to the culture. Of course non-Catholic religious symbols are a problem. They are a visible manifestation of a non-Quebec culture. They threaten the cultural face of Quebec.
I take it this racist drivel is meant as sarcasm.
Leftists who have fully supported Bill 101 shouldn't have a problem with Bill 21 either. It is to preserve the culture of Quebec. Language is the primary tool protecting that culture but it isn't the only one.
Having English words visible in Quebec is a threat to the culture. Of course non-Catholic religious symbols are a problem. They are a visible manifestation of a non-Quebec culture. They threaten the cultural face of Quebec.
I take it this racist drivel is meant as sarcasm.
I'm saying when you justify discrimination for one group of people don't be surprised when the same reasoning is applied to another group. Quebec is full of these double standards justified on the basis of protecting French Quebec culture and language. When the separatist movement was in its heyday I remember the outrage at the very idea that indigenous people in the north might decide to stick with Canada as their treaties or that Montreal had a large enough population to split up. The borders of Quebec were declared indivisible even though they were created during confederation.
It has always been clear in Quebec that self-determination was intended for French Quebeckers not indians or the English. Even so the Canadian left has always leapt to the defence of separatists.
I must make note here that I am not referring to QS who stands for immigrant rights and personal freedoms if not in defence of the dreaded danger of English appearing on signs.
The latest is they want to stop French Quebecers from going to English colleges as if barring and English lessons before 3rd grade wasn't enough. Ironically English Quebecers have more rights in education. Parts of Bill 21 were struck down solely for the English School Board and English Quebecers have the legal right to go to any college.
I'm sure you've seen how French run institutions treat indigenous people. Indigenous people also went to the English schools because the French didn't want them. Canadian leftists should take a closer look at what they support.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/quebecs-special-relationship-wit...
According to Réjean Morissette, a former civil servant who took part in the negotiations of the Quebec government with the James Bay Cree and worked for 10 years as a liaison officer between the government and the native reserves, Quebec's aboriginal people should be seen as "co-founders" rather than victims. In several publications, he debunks the "myth" that Indians were dispossessed of their land.
Apart from about a thousand Mohawks in the lower St. Lawrence Valley, he argues, "none of the 11 nations now recognized by the Quebec government had a significant, continued and organized presence" on Quebec's territory at the time of the first French explorers, in the mid-16th and the early 17th centuries.
The French of Quebec so value their language that they must be forced to speak it at all times and be prevented from learning the dreaded English unless they can pay for private schools. Rich French kids must learn English.
There were few "indians" around when the French founded Quebec therefore Quebec was originally French not indigenous until they were betrayed by France and conquered by the English.
They mostly still don't get the problem with black face as they claim it was never a tradition in Quebec and nothing outside Quebec should disturb French culture which rejects the parts of it's history it doesn't like.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/blackface-montreal-1.3495840
"In the 19th century, middle-class francophones went to English-language theatre," said Thompson, "because there was very little happening in French."
So no it wasn't part of French culture but French people voluntarily chose to go to those shows. Note that English people did not prevent French people from having French shows. There has always been very little English in Quebec outside of Montreal and French politicians have always run Quebec at every level with some possible small community exceptions.
Just recently they have decided to let anyone living in Quebec take free French courses so don't tell me this was all about protecting language. It was always about power and money. Where the word "corporations" should have been "the English" was substituted.
Imagine if Legault were Prime Minister of Quebec not just a premier. Nationalism, Separatism, Sovereignty, whatever you want to call it is bigotry and xenophobia if not outright white supremacy in another guise.
At least the rest of Canada doesn't claim indigenous people weren't really around in significant numbers or weren't organized enough to be recognized as having an official enough presence. If they aren't organized, it isn't their land, nevermind that land ownership isn't an indigenous thing at least not before the French decided ownership is a thing and they were the owners because they were properly organized.
Canada is all that stands between minority rights and the Quebec government. But yay nationalism right?
At least the rest of Canada doesn't claim indigenous people weren't really around in significant numbers.
Well actually that is not the case. BC entered Confederation using that line, long before racists in Quebec discovered it utility.
BC entered confederation in 1871 and Trutch as lieutenant-governor defended his policies. Although the federal government assumed responsibility for Indians and Indian reserves, the province controlled all other land and acted to limit the size and location of future reserves. Trutch was pivotal to the dilemma the region is in now. He was the first official to claim that FN never owned the land and he created the myth that Indians were bribed to give up their claims to the land, but not the land itself. Although Douglas had earlier referred to the region as "wild and unoccupied" when proclaiming at Ft Langley the creation of the government of BC in 1858, it was Trutch’s version of terra nullius led to the disappearance of Indian title from the larger debate, although not from the minds of the FN. Further, Trutch amended the pre-emption ordinance to exclude Indians and resurveyed every reserve in order to reduce them in the "public interest." In effect, Trutch insured that BC policy at the time of the province’s entry into Confederation was not in conformity with the Proclamation of 1763.
https://www.ubcic.bc.ca/a_short_commentary_on_land_claims_in_bc
The judgement on Bill 21 is essentially what I expected. I'm against Bill 21, but the law in regards to the notwithstanding clause is clear. The government can pass laws that discriminate against religious minorities and women, it is also clear that the government cannot violate the right of a minority linguistic community to control and manage their own education system.
I'm glad that the English schoolboards are still allowed to hire religious minorities and I hope they take out ads in newspapers and TV inviting teaches who wear religious symbols to apply, just to rub the government's face in it.
Also loving the arguments that Quebec MNAs are having regarding this judgement creating 2 classes of Quebecois with different rights... Where the hell have they been for the past 45 years? Anglophones have the right to send their children any school they choose, francophones and allophones do not. Look at that 2 classes of citizen with different rights!
Thanks for filling me in Kropotkin. I thought it was so ridiculous surely nobody else would present such an obvious rejection of historical fact.
Pietro, it isn't minority education in general that has an exception. It is an exclusive right of the English School Board. We had Protestant and Catholic school boards. Protestant schools were English and absorbed all the immigrants and indigenous students bussed in from reserves. Catholic schools were French and the church was strongly involved.
Quebec wanted immigrants to go to French schools and wanted to reduce the church's influence. This was when offical secularism became a thing. The schools would no longer be Catholic and Protestant. They would be French and English, and immigrants would be required to go to the French schools. The problem was that the Protestant school system had legal rights.
The Canadian constitution protects the language rights of English-speaking communities and individuals in Quebec; however, since 1867, the Quebec provincial government has had full jurisdiction over schools, with only Section 93 of the British North America Act of 1867 (Constitution Act, 1867) guaranteeing Protestant confessional boards the right to administer most English schools.
When Quebec wanted to dismantle the religious school boards in favor of creating linquistic ones the English community made sure there was no loss of rights.
The bonjour/hi controversy is a perfect example of the disconnect between Montreal and the rest of the province. French and English get along fine in Montreal. Bonjour/Hi is for the benefit of tourists. French people often insist on speaking English because they want the practice. I'm not saying there isn't any racism but for the most part minority communities are integrated and accepted. Downtown Montreal in particular would be really weird without the hodge podge of cultures vying for space particularly in the culinary industry. It isn't English people that started the Bonjour/Hi.
The Hérouxville debacle was born out of genuine ignorance. Unilingual French people are limited in the news they recieve. Hérouxville has no immigrant population. They are exposed to French journalists who publish dire warnings about about what is going on in Montreal. They are mostly unilingual French so have no exposure to opposing viewpoints. They are at the mercy of the French ruling class.
The political motivation has nothing at all to do with racism or religious symbols. It was simply a clever way to put federal politicians in a bind. It singlehandedly revived the Bloc.
Ultimately it will get worse. Demographics predict that white people will be the largest minority in North America. No doubt they will still hold all the power positions but closer to the ground that is not the case. Every successful immigrant will be a slap in the face to an unsuccessful American that needs a target or has been brainwashed.
The same dynamic is playing out in Quebec. The population that carries the history of Quebec will eventually be a minority. Populations are increasingly concentrated in urban centres. French immigrants to Quebec carry no resentment against having been conquered. They are not afraid of losing the language and culture of Quebec. It will happen over decades but it is inevidable. Slowly but surely people who don't care about old grudges will begin to dominate Quebec. They will find the language laws utterly bizarre which they are. It's one thing to legislate in favor of a language, entirely different to outlaw its use. It is getting from here to there that will be difficult.
Pondering wroteThe political motivation has nothing at all to do with racism or religious symbols. It was simply a clever way to put federal politicians in a bind. It singlehandedly revived the Bloc.
Underlying all of this is the fear of the other, regardless of what the law says. That fear drives prejudice against those with religious and/or racial/ethnic differences, that many politicians are all too willing to take advantage of. If you discriminate based on religion and/or race, you are what you actions are, and you don't get an exemption because it was a good career or political move. Every political group that has engaged is such actions has included those who saw it as a way of getting ahead with a don't give a damn about what happens to the target group.
Pondering wroteThe political motivation has nothing at all to do with racism or religious symbols. It was simply a clever way to put federal politicians in a bind. It singlehandedly revived the Bloc.
Underlying all of this is the fear of the other, regardless of what the law says. That fear drives prejudice against those with religious and/or racial/ethnic differences, that many politicians are all too willing to take advantage of. If you discriminate based on religion and/or race, you are what you actions are, and you don't get an exemption because it was a good career or political move. Every political group that has engaged is such actions has included those who saw it as a way of getting ahead with a don't give a damn about what happens to the target group.
Yes, and the NDP has no scruples about jumping on the bandwagon. I am reminded of the poem, "first they came for". Until the past couple of weeks I was understanding and philosophical about Bill 101. I wore the hair shirt of having been raised 100% in English by French parents. No more. Bill 101 is just as wrong as Bill 21. In both cases the justification is to protect Quebec language and culture neither of which was under attack.
It's all stick, no carrot, because the stated concern was just an excuse. French shows dedicated to introducing Quebec culture to newcomers should be on TV 24/7 along with entertainment programs intended for language learners with limited vocabularies. All popular French programs should be subsidized to provide modified programming. I can't think of their names aside from Bon cop, bad cop but there have been multiple French shows that play on the English/French relationship. Wait, there was also "Excuse my French". There was a show in which an English person refers to a "hot dog" as a "chien chaud" causing amusment because we call it a "hot dog". In one movie an Indian couple says they came north because they were told that was were all the indians lived.
French Quebecers are complex and inaccurately represented by media and politicians. For example, prior to Bill 101 in a poll the vast majority didn't think anyone should lose their job over the wearing of a hijab or other symbol. I am sure that it is in response to that poll that Legault grandfathered in protection for those already employed.
That is, on an individual level, the Quebec people care about people and they want their children to learn English from a young age just like the children of the upper class French. The issue was never language and culture it was power, or more specifically the money that comes with power because the French of Quebec have always been in power controlling politics, religion, news, and entertainment.
There was only one thing they didn't control. National and multi-national corporations in Montreal. They also feared English because English granted French people access to non-Quebec controlled media.
Hence my disgust for all the deference to Quebec nationalism and the sovereignty movement which would remove the meagre protection of Canadian law and a Canadian passport. We would be left with nothing but tin-pot dictators arguing that the land was empty until the arrival of the French and that newcomers must be assimilated.
Pondering wroteThe political motivation has nothing at all to do with racism or religious symbols. It was simply a clever way to put federal politicians in a bind. It singlehandedly revived the Bloc.
Underlying all of this is the fear of the other, regardless of what the law says. That fear drives prejudice against those with religious and/or racial/ethnic differences, that many politicians are all too willing to take advantage of. If you discriminate based on religion and/or race, you are what you actions are, and you don't get an exemption because it was a good career or political move. Every political group that has engaged is such actions has included those who saw it as a way of getting ahead with a don't give a damn about what happens to the target group.
Yes, and the NDP has no scruples about jumping on the bandwagon.
It is interesting that I said " Every political group" and you reply with the NDP, as if the Liberals, who you always seem to jump on the bandwagon for just before the election, after favouring the Greens or someone else in between the elections time after time. When I said everyone, I meant everyone.
I grew up in a town in Eastern Ontario where the Orange Order ruled; where my father told me about them burning a cross on the front lawn of the first French Canadian to move into the town in the 1930s; where my father watched in hiding in the bushes an outdoor meeting of the local Ku Klux Klan, which was not unusual in 1930s Canada; where there were no Blacks; where, as an Irish Catholic, it was not unusual to be attacked on the way to school by other kids who said "There's a Catholic. Let's get him" in a town that was 80% Protestant; that, when given money by the federal government in the 1970s to develop a pamphlet to attract businesses to the region included the statement "The region is 80% hard-working, Anglo-Saxon stock" as a reason for locating there; who now has a Filipino wife and two biracial sons, one of whom, although bright, is on the autistic spectrum. That's why I said and meant "everyone".
Pondering wroteThe political motivation has nothing at all to do with racism or religious symbols. It was simply a clever way to put federal politicians in a bind. It singlehandedly revived the Bloc.
Underlying all of this is the fear of the other, regardless of what the law says. That fear drives prejudice against those with religious and/or racial/ethnic differences, that many politicians are all too willing to take advantage of. If you discriminate based on religion and/or race, you are what you actions are, and you don't get an exemption because it was a good career or political move. Every political group that has engaged is such actions has included those who saw it as a way of getting ahead with a don't give a damn about what happens to the target group.
Yes, and the NDP has no scruples about jumping on the bandwagon.
It is interesting that I said " Every political group" and you reply with the NDP, as if the Liberals, who you always seem to jump on the bandwagon for just before the election, after favouring the Greens or someone else in between the elections time after time. When I said everyone, I meant everyone.
I grew up in a town in Eastern Ontario where the Orange Order ruled; where my father told me about them burning a cross on the front lawn of the first French Canadian to move into the town in the 1930s; where my father watched in hiding in the bushes an outdoor meeting of the local Ku Klux Klan, which was not unusual in 1930s Canada; where there were no Blacks; where, as an Irish Catholic, it was not unusual to be attacked on the way to school by other kids who said "There's a Catholic. Let's get him" in a town that was 80% Protestant; that, when given money by the federal government in the 1970s to develop a pamphlet to attract businesses to the region included the statement "The region is 80% hard-working, Anglo-Saxon stock" as a reason for locating there; who now has a Filipino wife and two biracial sons, one of whom, although bright, is on the autistic spectrum. That's why I said and meant "everyone".
I jumped on the NDP because I don't expect better of the Liberals. I think the consensus is that the Liberals, Greens and Conservatives are all neo-liberal at heart even when they pass "progressive" legislation.
I don't support the Greens at all. I support Lascaris. I don't want progressives to vote Green I want them to join the Green party and do a hostile takeover by supporting Lascaris and the many who are with him.
Should I not expect better of the NDP and progressives in general than I do from Liberals and Conservatives?
I have been more than clear that the Liberals are horrible. They are assholes and liars. Their public face is all PR no substance. They serve themselves and their corporate masters alone. They are directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of people for priorizing the economy over lives. It's enough to make me nauseous.
None of that changes the fact that they are set to win the next election and likely the one after that as well be it majorities or minorities. Federal Conservatives are in big trouble. Various pockets in Canada are hardline Conservative but they alone cannot deliver on a national level. They have a really big solid base but no where to grow without giving up part of their base. If they give up part of their base they won't have enough support to get over the top federally. They are in a weird lose/lose situation even though they have the largest most enthusiastic base.
I know not everyone agrees but I am personally convinced the Conservatives, in their current incarnation, cannot win federally. They would have to go back to being the PCs and the membership is strongly opposed to it. It is made up of extremists of various sorts be they free market or social. They will be defeated through immigration and demographics.
I am exasperated. Federally, the NDP, are turning into Liberal lite or rather they are already there. Lascaris lost the Green leadership by only 2000 votes. Those two thousand votes would have given us a major political federal political party on the far left. I voted for him but had I known sooner I am fairly confident I could have generated many more votes through my daughter. It is quite possible the chain would have even amounted to 2K votes or more. I am so disappointed I wasn't paying closer attention.
If I am right, and the Conservatives are all but out of the running, the NDP will become the natural alternative to the Liberals which would be great news if they were not fast becoming the Liberals in policy if not membership.
I grew up in a town in Eastern Ontario where the Orange Order ruled; where my father told me about them burning a cross on the front lawn of the first French Canadian to move into the town in the 1930s; where my father watched in hiding in the bushes an outdoor meeting of the local Ku Klux Klan, which was not unusual in 1930s Canada; where there were no Blacks; where, as an Irish Catholic, it was not unusual to be attacked on the way to school by other kids who said "There's a Catholic. Let's get him" in a town that was 80% Protestant; that, when given money by the federal government in the 1970s to develop a pamphlet to attract businesses to the region included the statement "The region is 80% hard-working, Anglo-Saxon stock" as a reason for locating there; who now has a Filipino wife and two biracial sons, one of whom, although bright, is on the autistic spectrum. That's why I said and meant "everyone".
I grew up in Sudbury where almost half of the population were Francophone. They mostly lived "on the wrong side of the tracks" in what was called the Flour Mill section of town (for obvious reasons). Being French in the 1950's in Sudbury was to be a second class citizen. It was a culture where natives were discriminated against by law and tradition but "frogs" and DP's also got the WASP disdain shoved in their faces.. I was a uni-lingual english kid with a mother whose first language was french. I spent most summers in Shediac where I was the only cousin that did not speak two languages. Mémère tried hard but it was clear she was always deeply troubled that I could not speak french. I went to a Catholic school in Sudbury that had both a French and an English section. Instead of this allowing us anglos to learn some french it was a further institutional response that centered on division and the promotion of animosity. The school was designed so the entrances were as far from each other as possible. The building looked like one on the outside but inside there was only one narrow connecting hallway, for staff only. The playgrounds were on opposite sides of the building and we were not allowed to go into each others playground. It was the ethnic segregation of french speaking people many of whom were Quebec immigrants to Ontario. On the English side of the school we had every kind of post war European immigrant many whose parents barely spoke English. I am not sure whether a non-Quebecois catholic immigrant was allowed to send their kids to the french school or whether it was just that none would want their kids to be schooled in anything but the dominant language in their new home.
Canada is a racist country anad always has been. It has gotten less overtly racist in my lifetime so I am hopeful. In the large cities across Canada we are becoming increasingly multi-racial. I have many nieces and nephews who are mixed race and when I lived in the coop in Burnaby I was in a racial minority.
In Canada we need to come to grips with how to expand our official languages to include at least Mandarin. I hope that the Vancouver model of mixed ethnicity neighbourhoods and thus public schools will lead to a society with an ever increasing percentage of the population being of mixed race heritage.
In the city of Vancouver and four adjacent municipalities (Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond, and Coquitlam), there is no visible majority. Hence, the term visible minority is used here in contrast to the overall Canadian population which remains predominantly of European descent. In Metro Vancouver, at the 2016 census, 48.9% of the population were members of non-European ethnic groups and 48.6% were members of European ethnic groups. 2.5% of the population identified as First Nations.
Greater Vancouver has more interracial couples than Canada's two largest cities, Toronto and Montreal. In 2011, 9.6% of married and common-law couples in Greater Vancouver are interracial; double the Canadian average of 4.6%,[65] and higher than in the Toronto CMA (8.2%) and the Greater Montreal (5.2%). Vancouver has less residential segregation of its ethnic minorities compared to Canadian cities like Montreal.[66]
Kropotkin, your Sudbury upbringing brought back lots of memories for me. I was in Ottawa and lived my childhood between the east end and west end of Ottawa. Growing up in the west end, kids were vicioius to the few Francophone students around and there was no alternative but English schools (both Catholic and pulic) in that end of town. In my primary school, we could not hold on to a French teacher for more than a term because the kids terrorized them till they asked for a transfer. My last French teacher there in Grades 5-6 lasted because he was big and strong and did not put up with the shit. I will never forget Mr. Bongo (yes his real name) who was an African immigrant.
When I moved back to the east end of Ottawa, I was in the Franco-Ontarian neighbourhood of Vanier. There was still lots of segregation but the French kids had power and you didn't mess with them. It still was so strange that the kids in my English Catholic school had Francophone names but totally Anglocized their pronunciation. It seems that those successful or ambitious Francophone families in Vanier didn't want their kids tainted with French names or culture. None of them learned French and they definitely did not follow any Francophone cultural traditions.
After seeing the Quebec Liberal's 27 point plan on language I'm convinced that the Equality Party will make a return to Quebec Provincial politics. Before all anglos knew that the Liberals didn't give a shit about them, but they had the decency to maintain the illusion, now they're openly spitting in our face.
Their plan includes applying Bill 101 francization requirements to small businesses.
Freezing the number of spaces in English CEGEPs.
And my favorite and the one anglophones will be most against. The Quebec Liberal's plan to institute "language SWAT teams". I don't even know what this means. My entire life some francophones have gotten upset at me calling the OQLF the Language Police. But the term "language SWAT teams" didn't come from Anglophones, it came from Anglade. At the rate we're going I expect we'll have language hellfire missiles in 15 years, then maybe language nuclear weapons.
The electoral reform referendum is officially cancelled, who could've seen them not keeping this promise coming?
When asked why he did not make Truth and Reconciliation Day a holiday today, Premier Legault replied "We need more productivity", which not only ignores an important indigenous issue but has undertones of indigenous racism, as in indigenous people aren't doing enough work.
On CBC's Power and Politics, Lynne Groulx, CEO of the Native Women's Association of Canada, said on hearing Legault's comment: "I don't even know how you could say they need more productivity and putting into the balance human rights and human lives that were lost when we are a country with a colonial past. Saying on the one hand, we want to move out of our colonial past but on the other hand money is more important to us. Well human lives and human people are more important. ... People are more than accounting. ... [This suggests] we have no value."
On the day set aside to commemorate the tragedies born of Canada’s residential school system, Premier François Legault sparked outrage Thursday by saying Quebec would not recognize the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as an official holiday because “we need more productivity in Quebec.” Indigenous organizations and others have called on the government to follow certain other provinces in declaring the day a holiday.
In a media scrum on the way to question period, Legault said it was important to mark the day to commemorate victims of survivors and victims and move forward. Asked why Quebec is not making it a formal holiday, he referred to the need for greater productivity.
Asked to expand on his comments later in the day, Legault maintained his stance.
“To have an additional official holiday, no matter the subject, is very costly. I don’t think it would be necessary to have such a large cost. … All provinces have a challenge to be competitive and productive. In Quebec, when we look at the number of days, number of hours worked by year, we have work to do. ”...
Legault’s comment was met with rapid criticism from opposition MNAs. “This can’t be summed up with accounting logic,” said Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade, referencing Legault’s background as an accountant. “Commemoration and reconciliation, it’s more than productivity. Because above the numbers, there are people and there is history.” ...
Ghislain Picard, Chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec, asked why there was always the debate about having to compromise on whether systemic racism exists in Quebec, “and always the burden of having to abdicate before a political opinion like the one expressed.
“The question we have to ask,” he told TVA Nouvelles, “is if those systems helped to lead Joyce Echaquan to her death?”
Federal Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault said he was astounded by Legault’s comments.
“That Premier Legault is incapable of any empathy, as a Quebecer, it flabbergasts me,” Guilbeault told Radio-Canada. “I hope that my premier of Quebec will be able in the future to show more empathy and understanding to the Indigenous people of Quebec, and everywhere in the country.” ...
Earlier in the day, Martin Ouellet, the Parti Québécois critic on Indigenous affairs, called on Quebec to follow Canada’s example.
“As you know, we are not big fans of decisions taken by the Canadian government, but creating an official holiday was a good decision,” Ouellet said. “And we don’t understand why still today the CAQ government does not want to make this an official holiday for all Quebecers, so that we can have a moment of reflection on what has happened to First Nations and the Inuit peoples. “We’ve heard a lot of talk about Indigenous issues this week, and sadly, it was through fighting, by appropriation, and by unsolvable debate in the National Assembly, and I want to be sure that what happened this week will not be what happens in the following ones.”
https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/legault-denies-request-for-r...
Ther man is a pig. Exactly what I said very very early in this thread. How far to the right this province has swung is a disgrace
On September 305th Legault tweeted:
Bonne nouvelle pôpa, ils ont inventé une expression beaucoup plus concise pour exprimer ce que vous venez de dire. Êtes-vous prêt? C'est "racisme systémique". Say it with me: R-a-c-i-s-m-e S-y-s-t-é-m-i-q-u-e. C'est exactement ce que vivent les peuples des Premières Nations.
(Google translation)It is the day dedicated to the missing children in the residential schools, to the survivors and to their descendants. We must not forget this horrible episode in our history. This should push us to continue the path towards reconciliation with the indigenous nations.
To which Claude Rivest responded:
Bonne nouvelle pôpa, ils ont inventé une expression beaucoup plus concise pour exprimer ce que vous venez de dire.
Êtes-vous prêt? C'est "racisme systémique".
Say it with me: R-a-c-i-s-m-e S-y-s-t-é-m-i-q-u-e. C'est exactement ce que vivent les peuples des Premières Nations.
(Google translation) Good news daddy, they came up with a much more concise expression to convey what you just said. Are you ready? It is "systemic racism". Say it with me: R-a-c-i-s-m-e S-y-s-t-é-m-i-q-u-e. This is exactly what the First Nations people experience.
https://twitter.com/francoislegault/status/1443564680518193158?ref_src=t...
Despite Quebec coroner Géhane Kamel today standing "by her recommendation that the provincial government recognize systemic racism and act upon it following her inquiry into the death of Joyce Echaquan", Premier Legault continues to deny there is systemic discrimination in Quebec.
A Quebec coroner stood by her recommendation that the provincial government recognize systemic racism and act upon it following her inquiry into the death of Joyce Echaquan, an Atikamekw woman who was subjected to racist taunts by health-care staff as she lay dying in hospital.
“We were witnesses to an unacceptable death,” she told reporters gathered in Trois-Rivières. “And we must ensure that it is not in vain.”
Echaquan, a 37-year-old mother of seven from the community of Manawan, posted a video on Facebook live of the derogatory comments made toward her by a nurse and orderly. She died shortly afterwards on Sept. 28, 2020 at a hospital in Joliette, northeast of Montreal.
The inquiry found Echaquan died of a pulmonary edema that was linked to a rare heart condition. Kamel said the death was accidental, but preventable — and that racism and prejudice contributed to it.
Echaquan should have received the care she was entitled to, she added.
“From the beginning, she was infantilized,” Kamel said, referring to Echaquan’s admittance and treatment in the hospital.
When asked if Echaquan would still be alive if she were a white woman, Kamel replied: “I think so.”...
Despite the recommendation from the coroner, the Legault government has steadfastly denied that systemic racism exists in the province.
Premier François Legault said Tuesday there are “several definitions” of systemic racism and once again stopped short of acknowledging that it exists in Quebec. He said it is clear that Echaquan was a victim of racism and prejudice, but that it doesn’t mean the “whole system — in education, in health care— is racist.”...
Legault says that for him, a system is something that “starts from the top.” While some employees or managers may engage in discriminatory practices, he said, they are not ordered to do so from their superiors. ...
The Council of Atikamekw of Manawan and the Council of the Atikamekw Nation also welcomed the coroner’s findings, saying in a statement it is now “looking to the next steps that will be necessary to prevent such tragedies from happening again.”
They will both continue to advocate for the adoption of Joyce’s Principle, a series of measures aimed at ensuring equitable access to health care for Indigenous patients and recognizing systemic racism. The province has agreed to adopt much of what is in the document, but it does not accept the reference to systemic racism.
https://globalnews.ca/news/8243732/quebec-coroner-systemic-racism-joyce-...
Legault has outlined a reset of his policies.
After three years in power, Quebec Premier François Legault said Tuesday he wants to give his government a second wind with a new parliamentary session bringing new policy, especially in terms of the province's health network, which he said is much too centralized.
Vast decentralization at both local and regional levels of Quebec's health system, which Legault described as dysfunctional, will be a focus of the government's actions over the next few months. Health Minister Christian Dubé plans to present a mammoth bill this fall aimed at reviewing how the health network functions.
With this inaugural speech, Legault kicked off the second session of the 42nd legislature of the National Assembly. The speech is traditionally supposed to outline the government's roadmap, its priorities, for the coming months. From the outset, Legault's speech conveyed a belief that the COVID-19 pandemic finally seems under control ...
The government wants to reduce its dependence on private agencies to recruit the necessary resources for the public health network, including nurses. Better access to a family doctor will also be among its priorities, and the premier said he is firmly determined to force doctors' hands so that they take care of a greater number of patients, if necessary. ...
The provincial health commissioner will also be mandated to recommend to the government how to provide more home care for the elderly.
Over the next few days, Quebecers should also learn how the government plans to create 37,000 child-care spaces. The waiting list currently exceeds 50,000 names, which has been unheard of until now. At the same time, Legault set the stage for the next electoral campaign, indicating the main themes of a future CAQ platform that he hopes will win the party a second term in the October 2022 election. ...
"Never has a government so honoured its electoral promises," he said. ...
Legault has said in recent weeks that it's time to begin planning for the post-COVID-19 pandemic period, repeating that message Monday in a Facebook video.
Under provincial law, the next election is set for Oct. 3, 2022.
https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/in-inaugural-speech-legault-forecasts-big-ch...
The Legault government wants to restrict access in English to health and social services to 'historic anglos'.
The government wants to restrict the access English-speaking Quebecers have to health and social services by narrowing the definition of who qualifies to be included the community, a minority group and a Liberal opposition critic charged Wednesday.
Reacting to the definition of a “historic” anglophone provided by Premier François Legault himself earlier in the day at the legislature, the Quebec Community Groups Network, representing many anglophones in Quebec, said the government’s intentions now are “crystal clear.”
“We had been repeatedly reassured over many months by Premier Legault, language minister Simon Jolin-Barrette and Christopher Skeete (parliamentary assistant to the premier for Relations with English-Speaking Quebecers) that Bill 96 would not adversely affect the English-speaking community,” said QCGN director general Sylvia Martin-Laforge. “This morning’s statement by the premier is totally opposite to what he and his leadership team had been solemnly insisting all along.”
https://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/historic-quebec-anglos-are-those...
I don't agree with a lot of what Legault has done but here is one big thing that needs to be copied across Canada and the world. Environmental organizations are applauding Quebec for banning fossil fuel exploration raising the question of what will the Trudeau government do in response. Based on six years of governing, they will continue to subsidize fossil fuel production, push pipeline including and offshore oil development, while of course declaring a climate emergency.
Environmental organizations are applauding Quebec for banning fossil fuel exploration raising the question of what will the Trudeau government do in response. Based on six years of governing, they will continue to subsidize fossil fuel production, push pipeline including and offshore oil development, while of course declaring a climate emergency.The Quebec premier's speech Tuesday is being hailed by environmental activists as a bold step toward reducing fossil fuel production. Photo via François Legault / Twitter
In a groundbreaking move, Quebec Premier François Legault announced the province will “definitively renounce the extraction of hydrocarbons on its territory” during a speech outlining his government's priorities in the National Assembly on Tuesday. ...
“Excellent news,” tweeted Geneviève Paul, executive director of the Centre québécois du droit de l'environnement. “We applaud the leadership of the Quebec government, and let's remember that this can be done without compensating the companies concerned.” ...
“The Quebec government will end the extraction of oil and gas in the province,” Environmental Defence national climate program manager Dale Marshall wrote on Twitter. “Quebec has oil and gas reserves and companies have licences, so this is a big deal. What will the feds do to stop oil and gas expansion?”
“Closing the door on fossil fuel extraction is a huge victory, made possible by relentless opposition from citizens to both shale gas and conventional oil and gas exploitation,” Greenpeace Canada climate campaigner Patrick Bonin said in a release. “In Canada and around the world, the pressure to end the expansion of oil and gas production will only continue to grow.” ...
The ban on fossil fuel extraction comes after three oil and gas companies sued the Quebec government over environmental laws preventing them from drilling on previously approved leases. ...
In recent years, strong public opposition to fossil fuel expansion in Quebec has led the provincial government to reject several major projects. GNL Québec’s $14-billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project was nixed recently after the province decided it was not convinced the LNG export facility would lower greenhouse gas emissions. Quebec also previously refused to authorize an exploratory drilling licence for the Galt project near Gaspé over potential risks to nearby waterways. Utica Resources Inc., the company behind the licence application, has since filed a lawsuit against the province over its rejection.
The fossil fuel extraction ban helps align the province's policies to the UN climate report released in August, which warned countries must drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to avoid catastrophic climate change. Quebec now joins Greenland, Ireland, and Denmark in banning future fossil fuel exploration.
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/10/19/news/environmental-groups-ap...
Proud of Quebecers, suspicious of Legault.
I hate Legault, but there is more than a whiff of anti-Québécois bigotry in this thread. GND correctly compared him to a contemporary Duplessis after Legault utterly misinterpreted the Afro-American word "woke"...
There is no "Bill 101" -it has been the Charter of the French language for decades. As for the former Bill 21, its actual name is "Act respecting the laicity of the State". Now if that were its reality, I'd be its strongest supporter - I'm a hardcore secularist and celebrate the winter Solstice, not Christmas. But it actually imposes a dress code on ordinary citizens - in practice members of religious minorities, which I certainly don't support, with the possible exception of face coverings.
Bonjour-Hi sounds uneducated - the two words aren't in the same linguistic register. And very few tourists travel here without knowing the word "bonjour"... The only greeting worse is entirely in French and entirely in error - "bon matin"...
Well, at least the Legaultites are good for a laugh: https://www.lapresse.ca/debats/caricatures/2021-10-26/nouveau-cours-de-c...
Bonjour-Hi is intended to convey to the customer that they are welcome to be served in English as well as French.
There is simply no need for the new laws. They address non-existant problems. Legault knows this. The bills are petty. The point of these bills is to cause strife with Canada.
To fight to preserve a language is one thing. To attack a language is another. The only threat to French comes from depriving Quebec children of a good education.
https://elizabethshoiry.com/bill-101-quebec-graduation-rate/
Since the inception of Bill 101, the province’s overall graduation rate steadily declined, falling behind other Canadian provinces, despite million dollar initiatives and attempts at slowing down the number of students dropping out of school. Even with these initiatives, Quebec’s overall high school graduation rate remains the lowest in Canada, ranking in last place among the provinces. The 2015 Quebec graduation rate is about 8 percentage points behind that of Saskatchewan (the second worst ranking in the country), and about 13 percentage points behind the Canadian average.[2]
The number of Quebec students graduating from public high schools in 5 years (on time) in 2015 stagnated at 64% [3]. Furthermore, the number of Quebec students graduating from English language public high schools is significantly higher than those graduating from French language public high schools. Additionally the grades in French language education subjects was shown to be better in the English school boards, than in the French boards.[4]
Why do you think that is? It boils down to not putting the student's needs first.
The notion of declaring Montreal bilingual is silly. It will never happen. It doesn't matter. Montreal is bilingual+ regardless of label. Legault and anyone else can rail against the fact that more and more Montreal jobs require bilingualism but it will not change the fact that English is a valid requirement for a ton of jobs in Montreal because it is Quebec's gateway to the world. The tech industry requires English. It is way too fast moving to wait for translations. Video game development, anything science related, international sales, international purchasing, and countless other jobs require interaction with people or information outside of Quebec.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_French
The resulting effect (based on many historical factors) is a negative perception of Quebec French traits by some of the Québécois themselves, coupled with a desire to "improve" their language by conforming it to the Metropolitan French norm. This explains why most of the differences between Quebec French and Metropolitan French documented are marked as "informal" or "colloquial". Various artists and citizens create work that grapples with this reality, such as the television shows Toupie et binou and Les Appendices.
I speak mostly Quebec French which I consider as "correct" as any other French. Both France and Quebec have many dialects.
The words and meanings I use are bolded.
Quebec French Metropolitan French English gloss
I use 3 Quebec 2 Metropolitan
Examples of semantic differences:
Out of six I use all Quebec French terms with the exception that I also use chaffer for “heat” and for driving.
My French is working class. I'm proud of it. I'd rather talk with my cousins than the elite of Quebec who are no different than the elite everywhere else. They are equally imbued with a disrespect for the working class.
I bet all the children of Quebec's elite speak English. It's the lower classes they don't want learning it.
I told everyone who would listen that a leopard doesn't change its spots. That anglos would be pathetiuc suckers if they gave in to Legault's rhetoric. He was saying everything in the final year up to the election that would relate to every Quebecker. I said this man couldn't be trusted especially so to anglos.He's a fraud. A dangerous reactionary.
To my fellow anglophones...I told you so. Once again no one heeded my words and once again, I told you so.
Anglophones didn't elect Legault. He won only 2 seats in Montreal East and none in Montreal west.
I was French until I began Kindergarden. In third grade they started teaching Parisian French and I learned I spoke French wrong. So I stopped speaking French.
After years of being condemned for teaching Parisian French instead of Quebec French the Protestant/English school boards switched to International French which wasn't that different. I didn't want to be considered low class for speaking Quebec French. I remember my father was angry at teachers for discounting Quebec French but we only spoke English at home.
Now we have come full circle, and proper French is called "Metropolitan" French, which is what is spoken in Paris. Ha Ha Ha. It seems the English were right all along. French people in Quebec agree they don't know how to speak their own language properly, at least in the opinion of the elite. Quebec French is still used in sit-coms and other media created by Quebecers.
I certainly never mastered formal written French so I asked a French co-worker to write a short letter in French. She wouldn't do it either. A surprising number of French high school grads won't write anything formal in French for fear of getting something wrong and looking stupid for not knowing how to write their own language. Better to write in English and be praised for being able to write in a second language.
Out of about 5000 new words submitted a year, English dictionaries pick up about 1000. Whether or not a new word is accepted depends on the degree of common usage. There is no official body saying which ones are acceptable.
Of about 1,000 new words each year, French dictionaries add around 150.
Instead of allowing Quebec French to add to the richness of the language it is disrespected. The French elite love having a formal proper register. There reasoning is that it is necessary to have a standard so everyone in the Francophonie can communicate.
In my opinion the outcome is that various forms of French are isolated instead of shared and adopted adding to the richness of the language.
There is nothing wrong with "bon matin".
My theory is that the English approach of adopting words from other languages and relaxing grammar rules and spellings contributed to it becoming the linqua franca.
Bullshit. It comes from military and economic power.
And there is plenty wrong with bon matin...
Bullshit. It comes from military and economic power.
And there is plenty wrong with bon matin...
..includes a video report
Indigenous leaders pan ‘Quebec values’ course for not being inclusive
In an announcement made to much fanfare this week, Quebec’s education minister confirmed the province is scrapping its “ethics and religion” course in favour of one called “Quebec values and citizenship.”
“When you live here in Quebec, you know that Quebec is different than the rest of North America – we’re not New York, we’re not Vermont, we’re not Ontario, we’re not New Brunswick,” Education Minister Jean-Francois Roberge explained during a recent news conference, where he was pressed by reporters to define “Quebec culture.”
“We have a Quebec’ way of life. We have our artists – Francophone and Anglophone – we have our cultural legacy. And that’s our culture here in Quebec,” Roberge added.
According to a tentative course outline revealed during Roberge’s Oct. 24 news conference, the focus will be on “understanding Quebec culture, Quebec values, rights and freedoms, and state secularism,” sex education – and in a final bullet point – “better understanding of First Nations and Inuit culture.’
But were Indigenous stakeholders consulted?
“Of course, we did listen to them,” Roberge added.
However, there’s been significant fallout from First Nations political and educational organizations in the days following Roberge’s announcement.
“The [course] title paints everybody from the same brush. And we were not at all consulted about that new title – which makes a huge political statement,” explained Denis Gros-Louis, director of the Wendake-based First Nations Education Council.
“It says that first and foremost, everyone is Quebecois ‘from the same culture’ – with no ‘s.’”
This week’s big curriculum reveal, however, is a false start towards real collaboration, according to Gros-Louis.
“Be upfront with your partners. You want true collaboration? You want to reconcile? Be upfront with your partners,” he said.
To the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL), the proposed curriculum implies rights of the “Quebec nation” in terms of culture, language and heritage are superior to those of other nations who share the territory, and that “this national supremacy is legitimate.”
“[The] strong nationalistic content put forward by the Legault government will be taking us back years, whereas it could have been a step forward towards the Systemic Reconciliation that First Nations are proposing to Quebecers,” AFNQL Regional Chief Ghislain Picard said in a statement.
“There are other ways to build national pride.”
In an open letter to Quebec’s education ministry, the First Nations Education Council requested involvement as the “master builders” of the course’s proposed Indigenous unit, while making it clear “[Indigenous] children do not need to feel like Quebecers to actively participate in Quebec society.”
“We want the content to be done and written by the First Nations and Inuit communities and experts so that it truly reflects who we are today,” Gros-Louis added.
“We want to get rid of all those clichés from the Hollywood movies, about shamanism and all that – because we want our kids, when they go from our schools to a local activity, or when they have to go to a provincial network school – that they’re looked at as an equal student, not as someone that is weird because apparently at night they practice shamanism.”
They’ve also asked the Quebec government to change the course name to be more inclusive and more reflective of the modern-day, “diverse” Quebec Gros-Louis and his peers see on a daily basis.....
Indeed that is ahistorical - obviously from the standpoint of Indigenous peoples who by definition were here first, bit even in terms of Latin speakers: the largest city in North America by long shot - Mexico - is Spanish-speaking - and obvously home to a host of Indigenous-language speakers.
Legault is far too blinkered to understand that the fight against the Anglo steamroller is impossible without solidarity without solidarity with other Latin speakers and a towering respect for the Indigenous nations who have fought for their own languages and nations.
There is no anglo steamroller. The anglo community is shrinking not growing and the Quebec intelligensia appears ashamed of Quebec culture as they consider the language inferior.
They have to cap English CEGEPs because those darn French Quebecers are swarming them instead of learning how to speak French properly at French CEGEPs. Legault is very annoyed with that.
According to French Quebec elites there were no indigenous nations in Quebec when the French arrived just a few stragglers, some camps, nothing organized.
Legault is overwhelmingly popular because he is setting things up so Quebec can have its cake and eat it too. He promised to promote nationalism through the transfer of powers from the federal government to Quebec without having any referendums and without promoting separation from Canada.
Legault probably realizes that to achieve independence as a country could require Quebec to give up territory claimed by indigenous nations. Their treaties are with Canada not Quebec and I cannot imagine them deciding to stay with Quebec. Quebec won't even admit to systemic racism.
Wow. Just blew my own mind. Maybe I should fully support independence not that there is any chance of it happening. Indigenous nations would demand the same for themselves. There is no way they would voluntarily remain part of Quebec. Quebec is on par with Manitoba. They could play Quebec and Canada against each other to get the best deal.
That would completely upend Canada's relationship with indigenous nations across Canada massively strengthening their bargaining power too. They could unite from BC to Labrador to form a breakaway nation.
So, vivre le Quebec libre!
Maybe I should fully support independence not that there is any chance of it happening. Indigenous nations would demand the same for themselves. There is no way they would voluntarily remain part of Quebec. Quebec is on par with Manitoba. They could play Quebec and Canada against each other to get the best deal.
That would completely upend Canada's relationship with indigenous nations across Canada massively strengthening their bargaining power too. They could unite from BC to Labrador to form a breakaway nation.
So, vivre le Quebec libre!
Separatism is a noble cause in many places in the world . The first thing you should do is see if you can get funding to promote your drive for freedom and real democracy. Maybe go down to Washington and get Congress to authorize a few hundred million to be spent on organizing civil society in Quebec. Imagine what you could do in the province with a even a few million for propaganda. Bring on the NED.
Of course there is always the East Turkistan model of separatist activity. Start with bombing English areas of Montreal, not petty things like mail boxes but real targets like crowded shopping malls and subway stations. If that doesn't work then you can escalate it to killing people in various major cities across the country. Machete attacks can kill dozens before they are stopped, just ask the police in either London or Beijing. It is very effective at spreading the message that you want to secede and form your own country.
Re; 'Their treaties are with Canada not Quebec...'
And since when hasn't our settler-state, its provinces and 'two founding nations' managed to evade international laws or violate treaties to further its settler-colonialism and illegal occupation?
This was the case in the Duplessis era, not nowadays:
quote: According to French Quebec elites there were no indigenous nations in Quebec when the French arrived just a few stragglers, some camps, nothing organized.
An Indigenous culture/cultures association has been one of my main clients for decades. They are among the bodies who have done much to promote understanding of and solidarity with the struggles of Indigenous nations in Québec.
My party, Québec solidaire, is certainly engaged in this process.
I don't think there is a single self-appointed "activist", to say nothing of a fringe sect, who supports violence in support of Québec independence, student or labour demands, a serious programme to fight the climate crisis or anything else here these days. There was a loser named Raymond Villeneuve who attempted to set off some kind of a bomb at an anglo business at the beginning of the current century, but fortunately, he failed and became a laughing stock among Québec people of all political persuasions. He actually lived in a housing coop that a couple of friends of mine (anglos, fluent in French and in Spanish) also belonged to, but fortunately he disappeared from there around the time of the bomb accusation.
Re; 'Their treaties are with Canada not Quebec...'
And since when hasn't our settler-state, its provinces and 'two founding nations' managed to evade international laws or violate treaties to further its settler-colonialism and illegal occupation?
They won't sit back and allow Canada and Quebec to decide their fate when it is a golden opportunity to declare their own independence.
It isn't just a Duplessi era attitude:
https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/indigenous-leaders-pan-quebec-valu...
To the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL), the proposed curriculum implies rights of the “Quebec nation” in terms of culture, language and heritage are superior to those of other nations who share the territory, and that “this national supremacy is legitimate.”
“[The] strong nationalistic content put forward by the Legault government will be taking us back years, whereas it could have been a step forward towards the Systemic Reconciliation that First Nations are proposing to Quebecers,” AFNQL Regional Chief Ghislain Picard said in a statement.
“There are other ways to build national pride.”
In an open letter to Quebec’s education ministry, the First Nations Education Council requested involvement as the “master builders” of the course’s proposed Indigenous unit, while making it clear “[Indigenous] children do not need to feel like Quebecers to actively participate in Quebec society.”
“We want the content to be done and written by the First Nations and Inuit communities and experts so that it truly reflects who we are today,” Gros-Louis added.
“We want to get rid of all those clichés from the Hollywood movies, about shamanism and all that – because we want our kids, when they go from our schools to a local activity, or when they have to go to a provincial network school – that they’re looked at as an equal student, not as someone that is weird because apparently at night they practice shamanism.”
They’ve also asked the Quebec government to change the course name to be more inclusive and more reflective of the modern-day, “diverse” Quebec Gros-Louis and his peers see on a daily basis.
QS is of course far more progressive and does not share the attitute of the Legault government but they do not represent the majority of nationalists.
I look at what the majority of Quebecers would be like and I don't see the QS model dominating.
I don't understand Legault's popularity. Especially amongst anglo voters.
Benoit Dorais of Projet MTL knocked on my door today and I immediately went off about social and affordable housing. At one point I called Legault un trou-de-cul and he seemed a bit aback.
Is there any cracks in Legault's armour yet? I can't stand the shitbag.
I'd definitely call Legault a (patronising and ignorant) arstle in several languages. He called GND (my MNA) a "woke"(a concept deriveds from African-American strains of social Christianity - not the Catholic JOC and JEC prevalent here in earlier decades.
The only Projet visitor I've had is Josefina Blanco, originally from Argentina.
I agree that Projet has problems with the related but not identical concepts of affordable and social + community housing. I do see the benefit of keeping middle-income households in the city as opposed to the ecocidal, car-dependent suburbs, but it is as least as imperative that people on lower or precarious incomes have secure housing in walkable, cyclable and public-transport accessible neighbourhoods.
.
We had a good conversation. I mentioned Mayor Plante and he explained very clearly about housing. We didn;'t talk too much about Legault. We mostly talked about Coderre. Seems King Denis lives in a condo in Old Montreal. Unlike Dorais who is my neighbour.
I don't know much about Holnesss, So I voted for Projet MTL. I hope I don;t regret it.
Coderre is a pompous ass. If he lives in a condo in Old Montreal, he p;robably is as clueless about housing as Legault.
I hope to hell Coderre doesn;t win. He had his kick at the can already and he was ceremoniously given the boot. Why anyone would want to re-elect him? Who knows?
Projet is the only possible choice. Plante must beat Coderre. Under Plante we may not make as much progress as I would like and I don't like all of her decisions but Coderre would bring us backwards. I am worried that he might win.
The mayor of Montreal has to understand Quebec and Holness doesn't. He suggested Montreal become officially bilingual.
Quebec is enormously proud that Montreal is the second largest French speaking city in the developed world (after Paris) and has been for as long as I can remember. Montreal should try to provide some information and services in English but suggesting it become bilingual is like declaring war on Quebec. Quebec is assimilationist and Montreal welcomes the most immigrants. They did not go to the trouble of writing sign laws only to see Montreal become a bilingual city (officially).
The massive Omicron healthcare problems appear to have finally taken some of the wind out of Legault's sails with an 8% drop from the last poll in November and most of the previous ones where he sat in the mid to high 40's. The big winner compared to the November poll is Quebec Solidaire who is up 6% and Others who are up 5%.
Mainsteet poll Jan.8
CAQ 38 (-8)
Lib 20 ( no change)
QS 19 (+6)
PQ 10 (-3)
Others 13 (+5)
Here's more on the January 8th Mainstreet poll. Even at 38%, an 8% drop from the end of November, Legault would still win an overwhelming victory because of the split in the vote between other parties.
However at 38 per cent support, the CAQ remains 18 points ahead of the second-place Quebec Liberals, who in turn find themselves just one percentage point ahead of an apparently energized Québec solidaire (19 per cent) as well as an up-and-coming Quebec Conservative Party (13 per cent). The Parti Québecois, meanwhile, polled 10 per cent.
A Léger poll published Dec. 2 had the CAQ at 46 per cent, the Liberals at 20 per cent, Québec solidaire and the PQ at 13 per cent and the Quebec Conservatives at 5 per cent.
The Mainstreet survey, conducted with 1,105 Quebec voters between Jan. 6-8, also found that 52 per cent of respondents disapproved of Legault’s decision to revive a province-wide curfew in response to the latest wave of COVID-19. It is widely expected the premier will on Thursday afternoon officially announce the suspension of the curfew effective Monday.
The poll found support for the CAQ in the Montreal area — Montreal Island as well as the 450 area code suburbs surrounding it — stood at 34 per cent. That’s 10 points ahead of the Quebec Liberals and 14 per cent ahead of Québec solidaire. In the Quebec City area, the CAQ was polling at 39 per cent while the Quebec Conservative Party came in second with 24 per cent.
In the rest of Quebec’s regions, which essentially swept the CAQ to power in 2018, Legault’s party is polling 44 per cent, 19 percentage points ahead of second place Québec solidaire.
The survey gives Legault a satisfaction rate of 57 per cent, a hard drop from satisfaction levels recorded in earlier polls by different firms but one that remains the envy of any other provincial premier. Satisfaction with Legault’s job performance by supporters of other parties was highest among PQ supporters (52 per cent) and lowest among Quebec Conservatives (14 per cent).
Poll aggregator Philippe Fournier, who analyzed the Mainstreet survey for L’actualité, noted that “the CAQ still dominates among francophone voters and is in first place in voter intentions in every region off the island of Montreal. The result: since the (Liberals) and the PQ find themselves clearly below their respective (polling) levels of 2018, the CAQ is making important gains at the cost of these two rivals, while (Québec solidaire) has managed to keep most of its gains.”
Fournier noted also that the Mainstreet poll had been conducted before the departure of Dr. Horacio Arruda from the directorship of the provincial public health department as well as Legault’s announcement that those who remain unvaccinated for non-medical reasons will have to pay a “health contribution”to compensate for the strain the unvaccinated are placing on the provincial health care system.
https://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/caq-loses-ground-but-still-ahead...
It is bizarre that the QuebecConservative Party is emerging from nowhere to grab 13% of the vote and become competitive in the Quebec City region.
Can anyone explain this?
The only encouraging note is the rise of QS.
It is bizarre that the QuebecConservative Party is emerging from nowhere to grab 13% of the vote and become competitive in the Quebec City region.
Can anyone explain this?
Quebec voters tend, more than most other provinces', to be willing to vote for new parties. The ADQ came out of nowhere in 2007 and then disappeared back to nowhere soon after. The CAQ is a party in government for the first time ever. As far as what's specifically boosting the Quebec Conservative Party when they're receiving next to zero press coverage (and I'll stipulate that I don't listen to Quebec City right-wing radio, which is pretty popular there), I think the PLQ is just so toxic among francophones now that Quebec City's conservative electorate needed to replace it with another right-wing-but-not-CAQ alternative.
Makes sense to me. I think it's great if the conservative vote is split when it seems the SQ benefit from it.
The Quebec Cons getting 13% could be true as a number of parties have spiked in the polls in Quebec in the past. On the other hand, Mainstreet has a history of polls way off other polls and election results that tend to favour right wing parties, perhaps in the hopes of pushing their favourite forward. I will wait to see what other polls show before I knight the Quebec Cons the New Kids in Town, much as the Eagles said in their Hotel California album, with all the buzz that tends to bring in the mainstream media.
I will wait to see what other polls show before I knight the Quebec Cons the New Kids in Town, much as the Eagles said in their Hotel California album, with all the buzz that tends to bring in the mainstream media.
Quebec City will never forget them, 'til somebody new comes along.
