Bring back democracy Quebec

Since Quebec Education Minister Jean-Francois Roberge suspended the democratically elected English Montreal School Board on November 6, 2019 and replaced all commissioners with one person, the Honourable Marlene Jennings, I have been seething.

I subscribe to Winston Churchill’s idea, “…that democracy is the worst form of goverment except for all other forms that have been tried….”

And when a governent suspends a democratically elected board, the need for citizen vigilance increases. In addition to the appointment of Jennings, accounting and management firm Deloitte was appointed. Quebec has chosen to hire a very respectable accounting firm, but at what cost?

And despite my request to learn how much Jennings is being paid, my waiting is going into its third week, today, I sought information on how much Deloitte is pocketing.

I also asked for a copy of the Decree authorizing the appointments of Jennings and Deloitte. Being impatient, I received a link to the decree by a learned librarian. The Lieutenant-Governor J. Michel Doyon’s office confirmed it had been ratified. I may complain to a higher authority.

Of course, being Quebec, the only copy of the Decree stripping voters of their vote, stripping the powers of the English Montreal School Board, was in French.

A bientot.

Think Local, Edit Global

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I just find the world becoming strange with technological advances. The following item was in reference to poet M.W. Jaeggle.

I came upon this tidbit HERE

The North America Free Trade Agreement II

As Canada will soon decide whether or not to sign a renewed North America Free Trade Agreement, here’s a poem. Feel free to share.

NAFTA II

Auto parts, pots, aluminum, and steel

Beef, barley, beggars, and MBAs

All, all part of the deal

Leaving me sad with financial malaise.

As negotiators negote and negoo

They work on levels beyond me, beyond you

They profess an air of fairest trade

But, but, it just ain’t true.

Sitting at tables opposite and opulent

They plot how to gain an advantage monopulent

You’d think they were trading apples or horses

As they shelter and shield secret discourses.

This is the nature of the creature NAFTA

No self-respecting leader would sign it, unless they hafta.

What’s an 11 letter word for inept?

UPDATE: 15 days later, no reply from Quebec Minister of Education Jean-Francois Roberge. And he claims the English Montreal School Board was dysfunctional, necessitating its suspension.

Quebec Education Minister Jean-Francois Roberge

On Jan 14, I sent Will Shortz, New York Times Crossword Puzzle editor, an email. He responded in 30 minutes.

On Jan 14, I sent Jean-Francois Roberge, Quebec Minister of  Education and Higher Education an email. Seven days later I’ve not received a reply.

What do I conclude? Obviously, there are problems in Quebec’s ability to communicate.

Eighty Suitcases

When an error’s been made who’s to be blamed /

In a world geared to protect time and speed /

When eighty suitcases remain unclaimed? //

I am poet Lokshtanov here named /

I write of injustice, intolerance indeed /

When an error’s been made who’s to be blamed? //

No man is safe when one is wrongly framed

But desire for revenge is angrily agreed

When eighty suitcases remain unclaimed.

I grieve over life and families maimed

On Reconciliation’s bone I feed

When an error’s been made who’s to be blamed?

What conclusion have nations proclaimed

Will bonds of peace and broken hearts lead

When eighty suitcases remain unclaimed?

As a human I stand, sit ashamed

From blast of terror I cannot be freed

When an error’s been made who’s to be blamed

When eighty suitcases remain unclaimed?

 

Montreal’s REM Tabernac Express

by Jack Locke

“Quebec has no intention of streetwalking for a piece of red rag”

Bernard Landry image from the BBC, 2001.

All aboard the Tabernac Express!

Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante is adamant that a new Réseau électrique métropolitain (REM) train station in Griffintown should be named after the late Quebec Premier Bernard Landry.

Landry was leader of the separatist Parti Quebecois and premier from 2001 to 2003.

But should the Government of Canada give $1.28 billion to a Montreal metropolitan train project that names one of its stations after the Quebec politician who called the Canadian flag “pieces of red rag?”

In January 2001, then deputy-premier Landry was incensed that Canada demanded the Quebec City Aquarium be forced to fly the Canadian Maple Leaf flag for 40 years for an $18 million contribution.

“We are not for sale. Quebec has no intention of streetwalking for a piece of red rag or anything else,” Landry said in French.

Upon there being a national outcry, Landry apologized for remarks he said were misinterpreted.

But his apology was largely not accepted.

Even former Action Democratic Quebec leader Mario Dumont immediately condemned Landry’s remarks.

“Le chef de l’Action démocratique du Québec, Mario Dumont, condamne à son tour les propos controversés de Bernard Landry au sujet des bouts de chiffon rouge,” reported Quebec television station TVA.

The majority of the funding for the $6.04-billion project is being provided by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) an investor that manages funds primarily for public and parapublic pension and insurance plans.

Plante announced her plan for the station naming in a November 6, 2019 series of social-media tweets.

(More to come)