The Fight Against The Payette Plan: A community protected, a battle won, a campaign continued
Par Beryl Wajsman le 16 décembre 2011
We have to give credit where credit is due. When The Suburban’s publisher Michael Sochaczevski and I testified in front of Culture Minister Christine St-Pierre, and her commissioners, hearing testimony on the Payette Report that seeks to institute journalistic accreditation creating two classes of writers, we came with a long list of concerns. Not only those of The Suburban and The Métropolitain but also those of the 31 member Quebec Community Newspaper Association whom we represented.
Minister assures protection for non-francophone media
Par P.A. Sévigny le 16 décembre 2011
During an official government consultation which took place in the Théatre Rouge located in Montreal's Conservatoire D'Art Dramatique, Quebec's Minister of Culture and Communications stated that there would be "no mandatory French language tests," for Quebec's ethnic and Anglophone media.
Ministre Christine St-Pierre is presently leading a province-wide consultation which is examining assorted issues related to Quebec's media following the release of what has come to be known as the Payette Report.
Les troubles continuent sur la rue Saint-Denis. Qui y mettra fin?
Par Pierre K. Malouf le 16 décembre 2011
Il y a eu un an le 2 octobre qu’un marchand de chaussures de la rue Saint-Denis, Yves Archambault, a reçu une mise en demeure d’un organisme appelé Palestiniens et Juifs Unis (PAJU) lui enjoignant de retirer de ses tablettes les souliers BeautiFeel, fabriqués en Israël. Bien que cette marque ne représente que deux pour cent de son chiffre d’affaire, le propriétaire du Marcheur considéra avec raison qu’il était libre de mener ses affaires à sa guise et refusa d’obtempérer. Le jour même, une douzaine de manifestants se massèrent devant sa boutique avec pancartes et banderoles et distribuèrent aux passants de tracts qui dénonçaient la prétendue complicité du Marcheur avec le soi-disant apartheid israélien.
The unilingual Anglophone witch-hunt
Par Dan Delmar le 16 décembre 2011
Out of the clear blue sky, the manufactured chasm between the two solitudes reopened this week with a string of Quebec commentators fanning the flames of intolerance by, essentially, conducting a witch-hunt to find the ubiquitous unilingual Anglophone.
A BAD DAY: WHAT NOW?
Par Alex Himelfarb le 16 décembre 2011
C10, the omnibus crime bill, passed third reading and is now over to the Senate for what is supposed to be sober second thought. The vote could only have been a depressing anticlimax for the many Canadians who were fighting to stop or amend this legislation. And the implacable inevitability of its passage must surely lead many to ask, ‘why bother, what’s the point?’
The Key to Understanding Keystone
Par David T. Jones le 16 décembre 2011
The U.S. decision to defer decision on the Keystone XL pipeline has tossed an eagle into the dovecot. A “no brainer” decision regarding the merits of providing secure energy (as well as j-o-b-s) has apparently been adroitly manipulated by the brainless.
Consequently, the State Department disclaimer that the delay decision was not “political” is disingenuous at best; it passes neither the sniff nor the giggle test. After years of review, acres of trees slaughtered in written testimony, and scads of let-it-all-hang-out public hearings, the State Department announced that there were no environmental objections to the pipeline. Subsequently, President Obama said that he would make the decision—retrospectively a fatal blow to any near term decision.
Le printemps arabe: Qu’a-t-on appris de la Leçon?
Par Alain de Perlycroix le 16 décembre 2011
Il y a un proverbe/adage anglais qui dit: “What goes around comes around”. Mais lorsqu’il s’agit de mettre en pratique ce dernier dans un pays, tel la Syrie, on est mieux de retourner dans le temps quelques années en arrière pour revoir le passé afin de tenter de prédire l’avenir, car hélas, nul ne connait maintenant la suite de ce que le Proche-Orient va vivre à la suite de la déstabilisation de la presque dernière dictature « républicaine » dans la région.
Angie and Sarko save the Euro!
Par Robert Presser le 16 décembre 2011
The following conversation was overheard at the weekly emergency meeting of the European First Ministers prior to the G20 meeting in Cannes. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy were reviewing the final communiqué before meeting the press. Sarkozy (NS) and Merkel (AM) are grappling with the challenge of coming up with a solution to the Euro debt crisis once and for all, since previous proposals failed to calm international markets...
It's all Greek to Me: Linking the delusions of the Occupy Movement and the EU protestors
Par Robert Presser le 16 décembre 2011
As the Occupy movement clashes with municipal governments across North America and protests continue against austerity in Europe, governments, the broader public and the media continue to debate as to what these protesters really want. The Occupiers and European protestors decry the “inequality” and “injustice” of the current western economic model that has bred “excesses” thatfavoured the top one percent of taxpayers. However, most of the other 99% have not embraced the movement-why not? Perhaps an investigation of these terms will help us figure out why.
Killing Kyoto… finally and painlessly
Par Mischa Popoff le 16 décembre 2011
Prime Minister Harper had the guts to remove Canada from the Kyoto Accord almost the same way we got into it: with an order from his phone in the comfort of his office.
Never mind those big rooms down the hall full of elected representatives. Prime Minister Chrétien ratified the Kyoto Protocol at a brief ceremony in his office in 2002. He did not consult scientists, economists or anyone in his Cabinet, nor was David Anderson - Canada’s longest serving Environment Minister - consulted. Only Preston Manning and the Reform Party spoke out and were attacked as stooges for Big Oil.
Anguish Over Aboriginals—How Canadian
Par David T. Jones le 16 décembre 2011
One of the enduring elements of Canadian psychic angst is the status of its First Nations.
Over the years, indeed over the decades, an observer can recall the viewing-with-alarm and/or dismay that affect Canadians when one or another instance of ghetto in the woods associated with a First Nation reserve comes to light.
Gérald Larose et les systématiseurs rigoureux - Partie 2 de 3
Par Pierre Brassard le 16 décembre 2011
Dans les années 70, à une époque qui n’est pas si lointaine, M. Larose participait à une petite mouvance de « catholique de gauche » comme prêtre rédemptoriste. Il était en effet membre du Réseau des Politisés Chrétiens et responsable d’une minuscule et pompeuse « commission de théologie ». Dans un article hautement significatif qui est une véritable pièce d’anthologie intitulé Des chrétiens ont choisi le marxisme, Larose exprimait des propos lourdement marxisants. Il constatait que beaucoup de chrétiens, dont lui-même, sont attirés par l'analyse marxiste.
Charles Dickens: The man who gave us Christmas
Par Alan Hustak le 16 décembre 2011
In the spring of 1842 Charles Dickens took a steamboat from Kingston, Ont. and sailed down the St. Lawrence intoMontreal with his wife, Catherine, and found the town “full of life and bustle.” Dickens was 30 and had already written six books, including Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby. No other novelist has had such a spectacular success. Two hundred years after he was born in 1812, Dickens remains as immortal as Shakespeare. It is probably fair to say more people know of Oliver Twist, the artful dodger, Syndey Carton, Miss Havisham, Micawber, Scrooge and Tiny Tim from the endless television mini-series, movies and Broadway musicals based on his novels than they do from reading his books.
“Addio Pizzo" wine
Par Robert K. Stephen le 16 décembre 2011
You may have had organic wine. You may have had biodynamic wine. You may have had wine produced by sustainable agricultural methods. But have you had "pizzo" free wine? “Pizzo” in Italian means protection money paid to you know who. Fed up after assassinations and murders of members of the judiciary leading investigations into organized crime, a spontaneous movement erupted in 2004 in Palermo bearing the slogan “Addio Pizzo” meaning good-bye to protection money and let’s support those in the economy that are Pizzo free. Their slogan reads, “Un Intero Popolo Che Paga Il Pizzo É Un Popolo Senza Dignità” translated as such, “A Whole People Who Pays the Pizzo is a People Without Dignity”.
God of Carnage
Par Alidor Aucoin le 16 décembre 2011
God of Carnage, at the Centaur until December 4th, (and probably longer) is a clever and brutally funny farce that’s the hottest ticket in town. A perfect ensemble cast under Roy Surette’s disciplined and brilliant direction unleashes 90 minutes of domestic mayhem on an unsuspecting audience. The play explores that razor thin line between civility and savagery, love and hate. What we have here is reminiscent of Who is Afraid of Virgina Woolf without Albee’s bite.
