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)
Lokshtanov 