QuebeCitie

07 June 2013

Gilles Proulx: Le nom du NON | Chroniqueurs | Opinion

Le nom du NON | Chroniqueurs | Opinion | Le Journal de Montréal

Un nombre effarant de Néo-Québécois ne parlant pas le français vont s’installer dans l’Ontario québécois, c’est-à-dire l’ouest de l’île qu’on appelle le West Island, et n’apprennent non seulement jamais le français, mais apprennent à voir le Québec à travers les yeux du journal The Gazette. Cela pose-t-il problème? «NON», disent les libéraux ...

Les libéraux bien sûr ne disent mot sur l’anglicisation des quartiers pauvres, où nombre d’Asiatiques s’installent pour acheter toutes sortes de petits commerces: nettoyeur, dépanneur, etc. Ces gens-là travaillent très fort, et j’admire cela, mais aucune mesure ne les incite à parler français. À Verdun, à Pointe-Saint-Charles ou encore à Ville-Lasalle et à Saint-Henri, un quartier qui s’anglicise comme jamais, on est de plus en plus souvent confrontés à des commerces où le service est unilingue anglais. Faut-il agir? «Non», dit le Parti libéral ...

Pour conclure sur l’effritement de la société dite «distincte» du Québec: puisque le nombre d’allophones dépasse maintenant celui des francophones dans les classes des écoles de Montréal, allons-nous prendre nos responsabilités? «NON», diront les libéraux ...

Socialism v. Greenism

History of the socialist movement in Canada - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

First socialist party: 1904
First socialist government: 1944 (40 years)

[Greens:
First green party: 1983
First green MLA: 2013 (30 years)]

The Globe and Mail: Changes to royal succession face legal fight in Quebec

Changes to royal succession face legal fight in Quebec - The Globe and Mail

Two Quebec university professors are challenging Parliament’s approval of changes to the succession to the Crown, arguing it is unconstitutional and violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
For some involved in the case, the goal is to rejoin the constitutional battle and provoke a debate leading to a sweeping result – the abolition of the monarchy in Canada.

William Johnson: Literary anglophobia

Opinion: Literary anglophobia

In his opinion piece “What we can learn from literature” (June 7), Julius Grey lists many classic Quebec novels that he values and then says: “Several years ago, William Johnson did a disservice to Quebec literature by publishing a book dedicated to proving its xenophobic and ultra-nationalist nature.” (Grey did not name my book, which was published in French in 1991. It was called Anglophobie made in Québec.)
Grey asserts, without quotation or analysis: “Nothing could be further from the truth … Most of the [Quebec] classics express universal values. Describing them as anti-English, or refusing to see any justification for their affirmation of French Canada, is nothing short of perverse.”
I don’t know what credentials Grey claims. I studied for seven years at Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, obtained an MA in French literature while studying under Ernest Gagnon, the expert on Quebec’s literature, and wrote a 480-page book in which I surveyed Quebec’s literature from the 1840s to 1990, with thousands of quotations. Grey rhymes off 16 titles and a few more authors’ names, but without genuine analysis or a single quotation. We get only affirmations.

06 June 2013

Bernard St-Laurent: Municipal-provincial divide on turban issue

Municipal-provincial divide on turban issue - Montreal - CBC News

Some Montreal municipal politicians are taking a stand against the Quebec Soccer Federation's decision to ban turbans from the playing field.
That's a huge contrast to the political reaction at the National Assembly this week.
Marvin Rotrand and other city councillors will try to present an emergency motion at council asking the QSF to lift the ban on religious headgear.

The Globe and Mail: CBC’s French service name change to ‘Ici’ raises eyebrows in Ottawa

CBC’s French service name change to ‘Ici’ raises eyebrows in Ottawa - The Globe and Mail

Ligue des droits et libertés: Soccer is a public, not private, concern

In an interview Wednesday, the grandfather of two girls said his own grandfather died fighting for Canada on the beaches of Normandy, and that as taxpayers in Quebec, Sikhs shouldn’t be banned from public soccer pitches because they wear turbans ...

Dominique Peschard, president of La Ligue des droits et libertés, said it’s up to the federation to back up its stance that turbans pose a risk.
“If they can’t put forward compelling material evidence, and the information points in the other direction that there is actually no security risk, our opinion is there should be no ban on the wearing of a turban.”
But if, as some have suggested, the ban can be seen as a trend to ban religious symbols entirely, Peschard said that’s a concern.
“There’s a feeling of insecurity that is fed on by political parties here and elsewhere,” he said. “It’s symptomatic.”

MUHC: Turbans a safety risk? Nonsense.

Turbans a safety risk? Nonsense.

MONTREAL — In the last decade, the trauma department at the Montreal Children’s Hospital has seen more than 10,000 injuries from organized soccer activities — and not one of them was caused by a turban.
Even scouring the data from the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program, a national database, doesn’t turn up a single soccer-related injury involving a turban.
But Debbie Friedman, the director of trauma at the Children’s, says there have been plenty of injuries — and even some deaths — caused by improperly anchored goalie nets, coaches not spotting a concussed player, lack of shin pads or improper footwear ...

Canadian Soccer News - Martial Prudhomme must resign immediately

Well, as it is with buffoons, they’re more apt to stumble around the room, knocking over everyone and everything as they struggle to keep it together, instead of quietly and respectfully seeing themselves out. So, the best, and simplest way to deal with a buffoon, when you encounter one, is to toss them out on their ass immediately and be done with it - before they have another chance to embarrass everyone around them.

Michael den Tandt: Quebec's soccer turban ban is shameful

Quebec's soccer turban ban is shameful

... This is, of course, egregiously, gloriously idiotic. In citing safety, the federation points to rules set by FIFA, soccer's international governing body. But FIFA's Rule 4, governing equipment and clothing, explicitly allows flexibility, at the officials' discretion.

"All items of clothing or equipment other than the basic equipment must be inspected by the referee and determined not to be dangerous," the rule states. "Modern protective equipment such as headgear, face masks, and knee and arm protectors made of soft, lightweight padded material are not considered dangerous and are therefore permitted."

In other words: If a youngster wishes to wear a face mask, which by definition must be resistant, and could therefore conceivably injure another player in a collision (however unlikely that may be), it can be allowed, at the referee's discretion. But a neatly tied turban, keski or patka is a bridge too far ...