I’m an anglophone Quebecer, I do speak French, however given that English is my mother tongue I am obviously most comfortable expressing myself in Canada’s other official language. When out and about with my wife we invariably default to English in our conversation. The resident love goddess is just starting
Continue readingTag: Quebec politics
Calgary Grit: The Name Game – Part Deux
Don’t believe every piece of quantitative evidence ever produced! Quebecers HATE this man! I’ve read a dozen opinion pieces by Quebec columnists over the past few months like this one from Lysianne Gagnon: Is Justin Trudeau really the Liberals’ best option? If the Toronto Liberal intelligentsia believe that Justin Trudeau,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Harper’s Conservatives: As Classless As Ever
Yesterday I wrote a brief post about the federal government’s decision to stop defending the export of asbestos from Quebec, not on the basis of morality, but political expediency, as the newly-elected Parti Quebecois stands opposed to it. A story in this morning’s Star reveals that, as ever, the Harper
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Charest’s Loss May Be Harper’s Gain
It was hard for Harper to say no to “the most federalist Premier in my lifetime”…and the one man who laughed at his jokes. Although the federal leaders executed Cirque Du Soleil worthy backflips to stay out of the Quebec election, the repercussions of this vote will be far reaching.
Continue readingCanadian Soapbox: Harper government fighting Québec’s law and order efforts
The federal long gun registry is back in the news. Québec has just won an injunction preventing the federal government from destroying the long gun registry, and has given Ottawa 30 days to comply by handing over the data collected on Québec gun owners. Those employed in law enforcement are
Continue readingCanadian Soapbox: Time to stop stressing about Québec
We Canadians love to worry, we worry about the economy, about the weather, about the direction our elected representatives are taking the country. When we’ve had Liberal governments in Ottawa, right wingers have worried about big government. When its Conservatives on parliament hill we worry about Canada becoming a playground
Continue readingCanadian Soapbox: Confrontation over language on the streets of Montréal – Video
I wasn’t sure whether or not to share this particular video. It shows a confrontation between a French Quebecer and his girlfriend with a group of Asian Canadians who had the temerity to be speaking English in public. My hesitancy was due to the fact that it portrays what is
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Thanks to a murderous nut, long gun registry will be Harper’s first post-PQ test – he will likely fail
Gavrilo Princip under arrest in Sarajevo in 1914. But a speedy arrest wasn’t enough to avert a long war. Below, Quebec Premier Designate Pauline Marois. If you think about it – and you can bet on it that the Canadian gun lobby will refuse to do so – the murderous
Continue readingCanadian Soapbox: No winners in Quebec’s election, only losers
Its hard to discern any winners after yesterday’s election here in Québec. Sure Pauline Marois’ Parti Québecois will form the next government, but despite polling showing the PQ on the cusp of winning the 63 seats needed for a clear majority, they fell well short at 54 with only 32%
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Jean Charest Exits on Top
The headlines haven’t been kind to the outgoing Premier this morning: Jean Charest’s luck finally runs out, Charest’s Gamble Costs Liberals, Charest Has Only Himself To Blame For Quebec Election Defeat. I suspect many of these post-mortems were written before the votes rolled in last night, because the end result
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Post-Confederate Albertans in Ottawa, the PQ in Quebec: Can Canada afford a national leader with no national vision?
Prime Minister Stephen Harper takes note of Quebec’s aspirations. Alberta politicians may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: Mr. Harper exhibiting the post-Confederation Alberta zeitgeist (Calgary Herald photo); PQ Leader Pauline Marois. With the PQ back in power in Quebec City, no matter how tenuously, one prays Stephen Harper can
Continue readingCanadian Soapbox: Québec election asks more questions than it answers
So the results are in, we have a minority PQ government here in Québec, that is unless there are numerous recounts that result in a number of riding switching hands, which I somehow doubt. My best guess was that the PQ would win between 60 and 65 seats, and if
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Quebec Votes
Pauline Marois, perhaps Quebec’s first female Premier, tells a young girl that she too could one day run for office…assuming she speaks French, of course. The polls have closed across the Nation of Quebec. The campaign started as a truly unpredictable three-way race. It wasn’t hard to imagine a scenario
Continue readingCanadian Soapbox: Quebec’s good, bad and ugly or the corrupt the xenophobes and the bankrupt
So what’s it gonna be Québec? Will it be the xenophobic Parti Québecois, or perhaps the CAQ with all those candidates who’ve filed for personal or business bankruptcy? Might you still opt for the devil you know, the Liberals with all the allegations of corruption surrounding them? I will stick
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Quebec Votes Tonight
Today, Quebecers head to the polls, ready to elect what may be the least scary PQ government in the province’s history. That’s not a commentary on Marois, who is running on a disgustingly xenophobic platform. But even if the PQ gets a majority, it will be a majority built on
Continue readingCanadian Soapbox: Québec’s election winners..Students
Everyone is chiming in with their predictions for tomorrow’s vote here in la belle…err province. At least its still a province for now. Overwhelmingly the expectation is that Pauline Marois and the PQ will form either a strong minority or a thin majority. I concur and predict somewhere between 60
Continue readingCanadian Soapbox: Could allegations of robocalls help Québec Liberals?
The Québec Liberal party is alleging that robocalls have been made in the Québec City area, as well as in Laval near Montreal. It is being reported that the calls are being made exclusively in English, targeting predominantly French speaking areas. Voters are being asked to call a phone number,
Continue readingCanadian Soapbox: Will Québec plunge Canada into more constitutional wrangling?
We’ll know the answer Tuesday night, will Quebecers choose the separatist PQ, take a flyer on the populist CAQ or will they instead opt for the devil they know in Jean Charest and the Liberals. Right now its looking like the PQ with a razor thin majority based on recent
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Your Guess is as Good as Mine
Three parties entered the Quebec election with a chance to win, and while the PQ appears to be stumbling to victory, it’s nearly impossible to predict what will happen on Tuesday. Of course, that’s not stopping anyone. La Presse (thanks to CROP) projects a PQ minority, while the National Post
Continue readingCanadian Soapbox: Some Quebecers like their politicians soft
How do you like your eggs? Hard boiled, once over lightly? Me, I like mine scrambled usually. But what about the men and women elected to public office? The most recent polling numbers suggest that about 28% of Quebecers prefer their politicians to be soft, at least on the issue
Continue reading