Tous les articles
Triés par date de parution
Georges-Emile Lapalme
Par Alan Hustak le 10 juin 2010
Revolutions, quiet or otherwise, rarely go according to plan. Georges Emile Lapalme might have been premier instead of Jean Lesage, had events not conspired against him “Lapalme was the main brain behind everything,” agrees Paul Gerin Lajoe, “There were others who contributed, but he was the chief engineer behind the 1960 election victory.”
La place du Québec dans le monde: Les liens existants et non-utilisés!
Par Alain-Michel de Perlicroix le 10 juin 2010
« Le Québec est et sera une Nation à jamais »! Si ma mémoire ne me trahit pas, ce sont les paroles de feu Robert Bourassa à la suite de l’échec des pourparlers du Lac Meech. Loin de toute politique politicienne et me considérant cet immigrant, né dans un pays tiers, élevé en Europe et installé au Canada depuis plus de vingt ans, je ne peux que considérer cette phrase réaliste et vraie. Oui, le Québec est une Nation à part entière. Quant au choix de rester au sein du Canada ou de prendre son indépendance, ce sera aux Québécois et aux Canadiens de le décider ensembles. En ce qui me concerne, je me tiendrai dans cet article d’opinion à expliciter ma vision du Québec que j’aime et les efforts additionnels qu’il devrait entreprendre pour le rendre plus solide sur la scène internationale comme le voulait Paul Gérin-Lajoie.
Fifty years later: A View from Washington
Par David T. Jones le 10 juin 2010
As a truth in writing caveat, one must admit up front that Washington is paying no attention to Quebec. It barely pays attention to Canada (except during this time of year as a possible destination for a vacation/fishing trip); it notices Quebec only when the province is in extremis: in the throes of a "tear the country apart" referendum or, perhaps, with a dramatic winter storm with great media visuals of marching files of ice-toppled hydroelectric towers.
How to Respond to Free Gaza Flotillas
Par David Solway le 10 juin 2010
So much has already been written in the wake of the Free Gaza flotilla fiasco of May 31 that little remains to be said, other than to repeat the obvious: that Israel was set up, that the world’s chancelleries and the United Nations would collaborate in the usual bacchanal of condemnation, that Israel’s enemies would be gloating over yet another propaganda victory, and that Jew-haters and anti-Zionists everywhere would cite the trap into which Israel blindly stumbled as incontrovertible proof of the Jewish state’s innate savagery.
Towards a new quiet economic revolution
Par Prof. Thomas Velk le 10 juin 2010
The fundamental notion that lay at the heart of the economic Quiet Revolution in Quebec was that central state planning, management and control would pay off in effective delivery of vital services at affordable prices to privileged and vulnerable alike and give society an appropriate return as well. This actually succeeded, in large part, in two and possibly three sectors that are keys to Quebec’s future: hydro power, finance and (to a lesser degree) education. We followed, somewhat, the model of America’s Alexander Hamilton, who, knowing full well the benefits of free trade and private markets, nonetheless advocated a protective tariff for domestic industry, a home-grown big banking system and strong guarantees for full payment of public debt.
Chinese money
Par Prof. Thomas Velk le 10 juin 2010
On June 19th China’s central bank, called The People’s Bank of China, announced that it will “increase the renminbi’s “exchange-rate flexibility”, meaning that the U.S. dollar cost of buying Chinese money (also termed “Yuan”) might go up. And so everything that the West buys from China, ranging from computer parts, TVs, heavy machinery and plastic toys to edamame (the Chinese supplied “Japanese” soy beans you eat in Asian restaurants) and London Cabs (the firm is owned by China’s Geeley company) may cost a bit more.
What do the Chinese think of the Great Recession and the Euro Crisis?
Par Robert Presser le 10 juin 2010
Visiting Shanghai in 2010 is the ultimate experience in Modern urban infrastructure. At the nearly-new international airport, you can take a MagLev (magnetic levitation) train that whisks you into Pudong at a top speed of 430 km/h. You then transfer to a modern subway system with 400 kilometers of track, 200 of which opened within the last year. Or, if you prefer, you can grab a cheap, new taxi from Pudong and travel into Shanghai across modern six-lane expressways and impressive new bridges that cross the river, one every few kilometers. This is the kind of town that big money, government money, buys for its citizenry when the state is wealthy and wants to show off to the world for the 2010 Shanghai Expo, the world’s fair now underway.
How soccer might save the world
Par Anthony Philbin le 10 juin 2010
FIFA, the body governing the sport of soccer globally, counts some 207 countries as members. As Kofi Anan humbly admitted in a recent World Cup press release, the UN has only 191 members. This, and a number of other observations on what has become The World’s Game, were at the heart of Mr. Anan’s obvious soccer-envy in his latest message.
Fifty years after – The Church today
Par P.A. Sévigny le 10 juin 2010
As one of the city’s more successful antique dealers, the late Conrad Martin used to tell stories about how he started out as a ‘picker’ when he used to go up into the Gaspé and the Lac St. Jean districts to buy up whatever he could find once the province’s Catholic Church began to close up its empty churches and assorted convent properties.
“I used to make sure I had big rolls of cash,” said Martin. “I would go up to see the Abbess of the convent, put the money on her desk and make the deal right then and there before calling in the boys to load up the truck.”
La pensée de Tariq Ramadan selon Gregory Baum
Par Pierre Brassard le 10 juin 2010
Le théologien Gregory Baum, professeur émérite de la Faculté des sciences religieuses de l’Université McGill vient de publier: Islam et modernité : la pensée de Tariq Ramadan (Édition Bellarmin, 2010). À mon avis, son livre comporte de profondes lacunes.
Le Monde de Piperberg
Par Roy Piperberg le 10 juin 2010
Quebec’s Celluloid Revolution
Par Jessica Murphy le 10 juin 2010
“Film is a vision, a point of view,” said Quebec director Michel Brault in 2003.
Brault and his peers - Quebec cultural giants the lot - were at the forefront in helping the province establish a national cinema distinct from the rest of Canada. They told stories from the viewpoint of les Quebecois. They gave a nation a voice in its own language on screens big and small.
Démocratie et égalité des sexes
Par Louise V. Labrecque le 10 juin 2010
Ce n’est même pas une question. Plus que jamais il faut repenser le féminisme afin de mieux comprendre la condition féminine actuelle. Diane Guilbault, l’auteure de cet extraordinaire petit livre : « Démocratie et égalité des sexes », interroge les liens complexes unissant le corps, la société, les religions, les cultes, les systèmes et les politiques, notamment les accommodements dit raisonnables. L’éducation des filles, depuis toujours, englobe le corps et cerne tout particulièrement le sexe, organe de procréation. Ce faux pouvoir, les femmes l’ont appris par cœur, au travers des siècles de silence, de mimétisme, de séduction.
Shrug! Trudeau Stories at the Centaur until June 6.
Par Alidor Aucoin le 12 mai 2010
Keep a diary long enough, no matter how inconsequential, and it might end up keeping you.
Brooke Johnson met Pierre Trudeau at a dance at the National Theatre School in 1985 when she was a 23-year- old aspiring actress. He danced with her, took her out for a drinks a few times, invited her for a walk in the country...
13,000 Montrealers took part in the 62nd Israel Independence Day rally on Tuesday, April 20.
Par . le 23 avril 2010
La triste réalité
Par Pierre K. Malouf le 23 avril 2010
La popularité du gouvernement est au plus bas. Il y a à cela d’excellentes raisons. Il y en a de très mauvaises. Parmi ces dernières, en voici une qui saute aux yeux : le dernier budget du ministre Bachand. Les Québécois sont décidément incapables de voir la réalité en face.
L’Histoire d’Amal «Tout ce que je veux savoir c’est pourquoi?»
Par Beryl Wajsman le 23 avril 2010
Le nom arabe Amal signifie trois choses. L’espoir, l’anticipation, et l’aspiration. Ces trois mots sont une bonne synthèse de ce qu’une résidante de Pointe Claire et étudiante à l’Université Concordia en relations humaines et psychologie Amal Asmar ose rêver ces jours-ci après que la police l'ait harcelée, malmenée et laissée avec quelques 1 000$ en amendes. Elle espère pour la justice; anticipe des excuses et aspire à une réponse à sa demande sincère de : « tous ce que je veux savoir c’est pourquoi? ». Alors qu’elle achève ses études et continue sa recherche pour un emploi, les cicatrices mentales qu'elle a toujours l'obligent à maintenir ce rêve vivant. Ses « crimes ? ».
Shocking traffic stats scream ‘Big Brother!’
Par Dan Delmar le 23 avril 2010
This year, Montreal will issue one traffic ticket for almost every man, woman and child in the city - and that, believe it or not, is a conservative estimate based on information from the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal. Most people aren’t aware of it, or if they are, they accept the ticketing as fair punishment for bad behaviour. If so many of us are breaking the law on such a regular basis, it begs the question: Are we guilty of delinquent behaviour, or are we victims of municipal persecution?
Peuple québécois, puis-je compter sur ta solidarité?
Par Djemila Benhabib le 23 avril 2010
Vous avez été très nombreux, à travers tout le Québec et même au-delà, à me témoigner votre appui dès la parution de mon livre Ma vie à contre-Coran, une femme témoigne sur les islamistes pour saluer mon courage et ma détermination face à mon combat contre l’hydre islamiste et ses tentacules. J’ai rencontré plusieurs d’entre vous, d’un bout à l’autre du Québec, pour partager mes réflexions et mes aspirations. Je parcours des milliers de kilomètres pour honorer vos invitations et échanger de grands et de petits moments de bonheur.
Un bâillon contre la liberté d’expression au Québec
Par Daniel Romano le 23 avril 2010
Une poursuite-bâillon est une poursuite stratégique contre la mobilisation publique. C'est un nouvel instrument insidieux qui est de plus en plus utilisé en Amérique du Nord. Utilisé par des gouvernements à tous les niveaux, ça essaye d’écraser colère publique sous la menace de poursuites diffamatoires.
Coulter and the Camel
Par David Solway le 23 avril 2010
The camel is a noble animal. Had it not existed, Islamic civilization would never have gotten off the ground, just as, in the absence of the horse, we in the West would still be lugging barrows and scraping along in donkey-hauled slipes. The camel is perhaps even preferable to the horse. It is fast, carries its own water, and provides what SUV manufacturers call “command seating,” rivaled only by the elephant. Indeed, Mark Twain understood the inherently exalted nature of the creature when he introduced the cameleopard in Huckleberry Finn. Of course, the cameleopard, or “Royal Nonesuch,” is really a giraffe (Arabic: ziraffah, “tallest one”), but it sounds like a camel with a temper and enviable velocity, a beast that demands respect.
The leaking begging bowl
Par Jessica Murphy le 23 avril 2010
Ottawa spends some $5 billion on foreign aid every year. Countless numbers of people also give millions in personal donations to global relief efforts. It's no wonder generous Canadians want to know where their money goes. A spate of recent news stories has cast doubt on the accountability and transparency of humanitarian aid.
Israel under siege—again. The dilemma of mutually assured discomfort
Par David T. Jones le 23 avril 2010
Washington, DC - Having just returned from a Middle East trip that included travel in Israel, I am prompted to muse over the current imbroglio roiling U.S.-Israeli relations. Over the past several weeks, there has been renewed incentive to fault find Israel for offenses that sometimes more in the mind of the beholder than in reality. Indeed, it is far easier to find unloving critics than uncritical lovers in the current environment. For example, the tour group with which I traveled had two briefers: An articulate representative of the Palestinian Authority who (predictably) found fault with all elements of Israeli policy and an Israeli from a local NGO who was also critical of the GOI. But the absence of "balance" went unremarked.
The skittish consumer: Sustaining the recovery depends on their spending – can they afford it?
Par Robert Presser le 23 avril 2010
After a year and a half of misery, things are looking up for the Canadian and U.S. economies. The stock markets are up over 70 per cent from their lows of March 2009, both economies put out five per cent annualized growth rates in the last quarter of 2009, and consumer spending is on a tear. In Canada, consumer spending rose at a four per cent annualized rate in Q4 2009 and in the U.S., spending was up 1.6 per cent month to month in March, including a whopping one per cent due to sales of autos and parts alone. Economists and governments are now debating the sustainability of such encouraging results as they plan monetary and fiscal policy for the year to come.
Enlevons les «ombrages» du gouvernement
Par Beryl Wajsman le 23 avril 2010
Il y a un contrat social entre les gouverneurs et les gouvernés. Nous le peuple acceptons d'abandonner une partie de nos libertés et de notre trésor en échange de prestation de services qui rendent nos vies meilleures. Des services que même le plus fort parmi nous ne pourrait pas se fournir à soi-même. Quand nous sommes sortis des jungles et des forêts et avons créé des habitats, nous nous sommes rendus compte qu’en repoussant les loups ensemble, nous aurions le time de vivre. Pour grandir. Pour aimer. Pour engager nos passions et nos poésies et réaliser la pleine capacité de notre individualité.
PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain) II and the Greek crisis
Par Robert Elman le 23 avril 2010
Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany is being confronted with some very difficult choices. Does she participate in an active bailout of Greece and incur the wrath of the German electorate or does she commit German funds, and possibly save the EU from collapse. For a collapse of the EU means the disappearance of the once mighty Euro.
Religious daycare: Pick your cultural battles
Par Barbara Kay le 23 avril 2010
Quebec is the most militantly secular of all Canada’s provinces. Its intellectuals and cultural elites are resolutely committed to the ideal of a lay society. References to the Church in the media positively bristle with thinly-sheathed scorn. Yet the Quebec government is inconsistent when it comes to religious instruction in publicly funded institutions.
A Neighbourhood’s Rebirth: Shaughnessy Village
Par Sharman Yarnell le 23 avril 2010
It’s springtime in Shaughnessy Village and the residents are out-and-about after a long hibernation. It has a wealth of cultural diversity. What an amazing mixture, a true melting pot, of not only cultures, but people from different social status. On one block alone there are Indians, Germans, Ukrainians, Italians, Haitians and Irish. Anyone thinking of purchasing property in the area would be joining actors, lawyers, architects, authors, a dentist, an opera singer and a playwright.
Namur Jean-Talon: An eco-utopic condoville?
Par Dan Delmar le 23 avril 2010
Car dealerships, cheap office space, a cemetery, barren lots and a handful of sub-par apartment buildings; such is the makeup of the neighbourhood becoming known as NJT – Namur Jean-Talon. Within ten years, it is expected to undergo a complete transformation and the worth of the area is expected to increase tenfold. NJT is a project twice as valuable to the city as Griffintown, but without the high profile and ensuing scepticism.
Griffintown: The limits of loss
Par P.A. Sévigny le 23 avril 2010
Decades after there will be nothing left of Montreal’s Griffintown except for the name and Mary Gallagher’s headless ghost, more than a few urban planners will continue to wonder why so little was done with such a magnificent opportunity for truly sustained and modern urban development. “This is such an incredible opportunity to build a real 21st century city,” said Montreal urban activist Judith Bauer. “Why can’t these people think of empty urban space as something more than just another opportunity to build another pile of condos?”
Le Monde de Piperberg
Par Roy Piperberg le 23 avril 2010
Send in the clowns: Canada at Shanghai’s world’s fair
Par Alan Hustak le 23 avril 2010
Too little thought has been given to Canada’s national pavilion at the World Exposition in Shanghai, opening May 1. Whatever one may think about the previous Canadian government’s decision to take part in the Shanghai World’s Fair which just opened as yet another showcase for the totalitarian Communist regime, once a sovereign nation has signed onto to an agreement it is customary that it is an obligation on future administrations of whatever party. It is not like the Olympics. This is a state commitment to put Canada’s best foot forward.
Macabre Madonna
Par Alidor Aucoin le 23 avril 2010
The Madonna Painter, The Birth of Painting at the Centaur, is a richly imagined, sacrilegiously macabre, exercise in which playwright Michel-Marc Bouchard delves into long-discarded French-Canadian Catholic ritual and rural ignorance, “the way a flea market hawker displays sacred objects that have been stolen and disguised for resale.”
Bunny Good Time
Par Alidor Aucoin le 23 avril 2010
The good news about the Segal Centre’s revival of Harvey, the play about an absentminded man who befriends an imaginary a six foot tall rabbit is that it is a hare brained delight.
The not so good news, is that it only runs until until May 9th.
Nominations sought for Laurie Normand-Starr award
Par . le 25 mars 2010
It’s been almost a year since community volunteer Laurie Normand-Starr died.
To honour her memory, a humanitarian award in her name will be presented to deserving individual yet to be chosen during a dinner at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel on May 3. The selection committee, headed by her husband and her son, is soliciting nominations for the award.
