A Quebec separatist has filed a human rights complaint against a new staff member of Stephen Harper. Why? Because the fellow doesn’t speak French. OMG that’s so despicable, surely ranking up there with the mass-murders orchestrated by Mao, Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot!
Fire them all.
h/t Wally J.
Robert,thanks for putting that up. The hypocrisy that oozes out of the entitled is astonishing at times.
I commented on the cbc site a couple of times about this,and as usual I’m gathering thumbs down.C’est la vie.
A little known fact about St. John the Baptist. He is the patron saint of rappers. It’s got something to do with ‘involuntary head’.
Maybe this one is the one that finally gets the lead out of PM Harpers butt and he does something about the human rights commissions and all their offspring. If the ass hats do not exist they con not be a problem.
Bob Devine
With all due respect…wrong. Let er buck…CHRC…CBC…let them all have a public tantrum.
Then act.
The reality is that the government no longer needs Quebec in order to be the government, and the Quebecois have finally realized it. I can hear their heads exploding from here in Saskatoon.
It’s about bloody time. Message sent and received.
Sorry Syncro, but I’m 100% with Bob Devine on this one. Surely this will be the straw that broke the camel’s back?! Surely this will be definitive proof of why the HRCs must be shut down entirely?!?
I was born and raised in Quebec. I have met on numerous occasions people similar to this idiot who brought the complaint. They are single-minded, prepared to risk the destruction of Quebec’s economy in order to advance their separatist agenda. For them, mundane considerations like putting food on the table and paying the rent are secondary issues that are important only to the peasants…they consider themselves intellectually superior to the rest of us who actually work for a living and hold aspirations for things like quality of life, our childrens’ welfare, and other equally socially unimportant and crudely capitalistic endeavors.
O/T: Robert, you did a great job on Roy Green’s show today, and as well, managed to get in a great plug for SDA.
The biggest problem with this HRC BS is that if they come up with an opinion,no ,if they even take on this case,it opens the door to others that disagree with the gov’t.
I dislike the Liberals ideas,and the NDP’s blather.However,if either one was to ever form a gov’t I would rather do the ‘suck it up buttercup’ thing than to allow an unelected body to determine what is proper for my existence.
Robert W. (Vancouver)
I think we’re on the same side here, it’s just a matter of timing. I hope the CHRC and the CEEB voiciferously take up this cause, thereby, unintentionally making a public case for their own demise.
Well spoken on the Roy Green Show today. Kate, SDA and contributors like yourself have become a force to be reckoned with.
It sounds like Rheaume is doing his job as a professional s##t disturber and perpetual victim. Since when did speaking french become a human right? Or maybe its Rheaumes human right to force other people to speak french. Perhaps Rheaume thinks the “Ministry of Truth” will award him a lifetime supply of 7-UP. I dunno, it’s confusing… Bilingualism… CRHC… what a load of shit.
Some of you are rather missing the point here. This has nothing to do with national politics. The St. Jean Baptiste Society barely knows that anything outside Quebec even exists. This is all about trying to shore up support for separatism within Quebec.
No, Sean, Rheaume doesn’t give a damn about speaking French in Saskatchewan. He doesn’t give a damn about anything outside Quebec. This is purely about trying to lever a Quebec separatist party back into power in the National Assembly and putting pressure on Marois to move the PQ to a short separation timetable rather than a long one.
It’s nothing more than the victimization politics that Quebec separatists having been playing so successfully for the last 40 years. They expect these things to draw hisses and jeers from ROC, and when it does they hold it up to their fellow pequists and say, “See, ROC hates us. We need to leave now.”
As support for Quebec separatism continues to shrink there’s going to be more and more of these attempts to radicalize the separatist option in Quebec.
Meh, he’s one of their own. Wrote for the torstar and hill times. Harper just hired got himself a double agent.
” … I think we’re on the same side here, it’s just a matter of timing. I hope the CHRC and the CEEB vociferously take up this cause, thereby, unintentionally making a public case for their own demise. …”
Agreed. If the CRHC dares to accept this case it will be seen as so absurd that hopefully it will lead to reigning in the CRHC.
… but personally I don’t think even the CRHC will be so stupid , because if they do they are setting themselves above the democratic process.
If someone doesn’t like the fact the JoeX was elected by Canadians , he/she could petition the CRHC to have JoeX removed from Parliament.
… in a word “anarchy” via CHRC.
cgh at September 4, 2011 5:01 AM
Aye, could be. But pity he’s got the CHRC to help him beat his drum.
A Quebec separatist has filed a human rights complaint against a new staff member of Stephen Harper. Why? Because the fellow doesn’t speak French.
So clearly the solution is to teach everyone every single language from the day they are born.
The people who can’t master Mandarin Chinese, Russian or the obscure Burushasky (language isolate from Pakistan) will be beaten into compliance. Those that fail after the beatings will be barred from any gainful employment or welfare support for being so intolerant of people of other languages.
/sarcasm
Robert W said: “Surely this will be the straw that broke the camel’s back?! Surely this will be definitive proof of why the HRCs must be shut down entirely?!?”
Sadly Robert, no way. This is all about extending power, and the HRCs would love to extend their power to forcing hayseed Conservatives to learn French. Love it. They live for stuff like this, ramming Culture down resisting White boy throats.
As to Mr. Harper getting the thumb out, we’ll see if a government kangaroo court forcing a Canadian to learn another language is egregious enough to push his button. I’m doubting it though, he probably knows about stuff that would give any of us a stroke.
Bottom line, as usual there is no leadership on the issue. The leadership is all more-bigger-faster government, because that’s where the MONEY is. You want it fixed, you start kicking your CPC MP in the b@lls every Tuesday, and you get the rest of Canada doing the same thing. Then they’ll fix it.
I think cgh has it a good point; this is about raising support for the separatist agenda in Quebec by provoking ‘them’ (the totalitarian Enslavers-of-Quebec, the ROC) to reject ‘basic Quebec rights’.
The problem is, first, it is not a human right to have a federal officer speak French. It’s a legal right – that disastrous Charter. BUT – although bilingualism is the official policy of the federal offices, this does not mean that all federal officers must be bilingual.
After all, if you declare that no-one can be appointed to a federal office unless they are bilingual, this ‘discriminates’ against unilingualists in both English and French. Hmmm. Another human rights case?
Yet another problem is that there is less interest in Quebec in separatism and more interest in ‘what can we get from the ROC’. This can be seen by the demise of the Bloc and also, the problems in the PQ.
So- I’d suggest reducing this case to triviality, other than pointing out that it’s not a human right to insist that every federal officer be bilingual; it’s only a legal right that every federal OFFICE be bilingual.
Perhaps Rheaume could exercise his right to learn English or Italian. If Chretien learned to speak English, anyone can.
Sounds like a monkey has escaped his cage and has taken to flinging poo at the passersby.
If this is a “human rights” issue, why has the province of Quebec not been brought to task over their language laws? How can someone from la belle province bring such a charge of unilingualism without looking in their own backyard? Fair indeed…
“Born in Castellino, Italy, Perscichilli emigrated to Canada in 1975. He was involved in multicultural broadcasting in Toronto, reaching the post of vice president at CFMT, now called Omni.
At the time of his appointment, Persichilli said he will be working to learn French.”
So they’re attacking an Italian immigrant for his lack of language skills? The PC police in other circumstances would be all over that.
Didn’t Quebec just elect a barmaid who couldn’t speak French?
E.T. you may be right, that the position must be designated bilingual. However, the Gov’t. generally has the ability to designate those positions which must be bilingual. In this specific case it has been clearly pointed out the new Director will be managing/overseeing all communications and that a specific individual #2, will in fact, do public briefings and probably speak for the Gov’t. in both official languages.
mikewa – no, I’m not saying that the ‘position’ must be designated bilingual. Only the ‘office’.
That’s completely different. The position of director can be unilingual..but..someone in his office must be bilingual.
anne-not cornwall – Quebec is unilingual as a province as are all other provinces except NB. The Charter applies only to federal offices.
It’s just a propaganda ploy for the separatists and ought to be ignored. Except for one thing: get rid of the HRCs.
ET – I realize I was not clear as I was referencing the sign laws in Quebec. Not exactly on topic, but the sentiment remains.
Ouch, an out of control arm of the state will be used to force the duly elected government to hire frencie’s first. Oh the irony, Harper refused to deal with the illiberal stasi and now he’ll be dragged before an unelected body of fake human right’s upholders.
As long as we have HRC’s, idiotic laws, and the nanny state we will have morons willing to abuse them. One day we may return to a period of personal responsability and self respect, until then we will have this.
Divided loyalties….
Personaly I can relate to that..it IS all about feelings…
Having once made the oath “to defend the constitution of the United States of America against all enemies foreign and domestic”…..
A Veteran of the “Legion D’Etrange”….
A native born Canadian……
The result is I openly resent ad hominum attacks against the basic notion of “american culture”, resent ad hominum attacks on the valour of the French Military–past and present and simultaneously resent attacks/encroachment on the basic cultural fabric of Canada.
And logically, perhaps illogicaly, I can sympathize with the persistance of the “pure laine” to defend their language and culture…..because we in the ROC didn’t………
‘mass-murders orchestrated by Mao, Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot’
It’s so unusual to see someone get the top three buthchers in the right sequence … usually Hitler and Stalin are listed as the worst mass-murderers, giving a pass to Mao.
On another note: Stalinism is not a bug; it is a feature of Communism.
‘mass-murders orchestrated by Mao, Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot’
It is rare to see someone get the top three butchers in the right sequence. Usually Hitler and Stalin are mentioned as the worst culprits, giving a pass to Mao.
On another note: Stalinism was not a bug; it was a feature of Communism.
cgh and ET have it I think. The point of this is to add to the us-against-them mentality that has played so well in the past in Quebec. They had become used to being in the enviable position of holding the rest of the country hostage. In the last election, they threw the Bloc under the bus thinking that the NDP would become their new pipeline into the rest of the country’s wealth. Prospects were dazzling–to be the official opposition in what they foresaw would be another minority government? Wow! It shows how calculating the supposed support for the separatist cause is. (If the separatists could deliver, then maybe Jack could deliver more.) Now the only way for the Separatists to keep off life-support is to find another cause to make them appear to be strong and effective. These little tantrums have more to do with how it will play in Quebec than anything else.
This is the sort of shit that grows and grows when a successful society has not serious problems left to deal with. Kate once stated “We need a famine”. Now would be a good time.
We need to ban the sale and eating of all French Fries in Canada.
No more Equalization Payments and no more Affirmative Action for Quebecers.
Selfish lunatics all, time for separation!
Who needs elections when you have human rights tribunals?
Knight just call them FREEDOM FRIES!
Correct me if I am wrong, but, Mr. Perscichilli will be PMSH’s Communications Director. He works for and at the pleasure of the PM. As such he is not a member of the Canadian Civil Service so the French speaking requirements do not apply to his position.
I agree with cgh that this Rheaume guy is merely a banty rooster trying to stir up the old Quebec humiliation complex. He’ll have the PQ press in his corner so he’s going to be able to make some noise.
He’s whistling past the graveyard, though. Quebeckers have figured it out. Separation from Canada will not get them utopia. Despite all
the hoopla accorded the late Mr. Layton, the PQ vote in the last election collapsed because M. Duceppe stood on a stage with Pauline Marois and declared that he was going to go full speed ahead on sovereignty. The next move for Quebeckers will be to the CPC so that they can return to having some hands on the Government.
The Phantom’s comment about what the PM probably knows is important. The less he stirs up the press and the left over things like the HRC’s, as much as we know they’re awful, the more time he can spend quietly dealing with the really scary stuff.
“FREEDOM FRIES”
Now that’s good!
Canadians need to make up big signs with a crossed circle over a slimy looking French fry and march on Ottawa.
sasquatch @10:52, Thanks for the personal insight on appreciation for other cultures. To survive, a culture has to be self-sustaining in a context of ever changing cultures around it.
Artificial or state imposed support of a culture hastens its irrelevance and demise.
An example would be the Hutterites. They have self imposed cultural safeguards, but are now living in a culture
(cont) that is completely at odds with what their culture was a hundred years ago.
BJG, you are exactly right; this is not a civil service position and therefore cannot be designated. And the Pequistes are going to keep doing this victimization politics until 1. it generates negative backlash within the diehard separatists (never happen); and 2. it generates negative backlash within the target audience, the pur laine Quebecois (possibly).
Now as to the HRC, if it has any sense it doesn’t want this case. If it supports the claim, it’s lending support by a federal institution for separatism, leading to even greater hatred of it by most of Parliament and the rest of Canada. If it rejects it, either summarily or by hearing, it becomes a propaganda tool used by the separatists.
Either way, the HRC loses.
And that’s not a bad thing.
Come on Quebec…sooner you realize you’re NOT special the better off everyone will be…
On another point..the premise of “official” bilingualism is that either language…french or English, has official and equal standing in government communications. Come Quebec…wake up and smell the roses. The Orange Kool Aide tide won’t protect you.
The less he stirs up the press and the left over things like the HRC’s, as much as we know they’re awful, the more time he can spend quietly dealing with the really scary stuff.
Posted by: BJG at September 4, 2011 11:40 AM
Good comments, BJG, but the above sentence is nonsense on stilts! The HRCs aren’t scary??!!
And what really scary stuff is Harper quietly and courageously working on in the background, pray?
A balanced budget 4 years out?!
Isn’t Harper actually working away at expanding censorship with that new bill which will, inter alia, criminalize website links to “hate speech”? Aren’t the number of victim groups about to be expanded to include ethnic and national origin making words like Polack and Kraut punishable?
Don’t get me wrong: I think Harper is a good man and a shrewd politician, but I find your theory that he’s not rocking the boat on HRCs so that he can attend to “really scary” stuff laughable on its face!
Wow, I only came back into this thread now, Sunday morning here in Vancouver. I read through every single comment. Beyond superb!
Pause for a moment and contrast the interesting, insightful variety of opinions above with what would typically occur on a CBC / CTV / Global political roundtable. SDA wins hands down! There was a huge variety of theories & insight, yet everyone stayed civil & polite.
I’m most honoured to belong to the SDA community. Everyone who commented above makes me feel better about being a Canadian!
Well this is going to work out well for PM Harper he gets to destroy two shibboleths at once.
One: Quebec’s feelings of entitlement being paramount to the existence of Canada.
Two: The left’s belief in quasi-judicial tribunals trumping democracy.
This is indeed a wonderful day to be Canadian!
The Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste (SSJB) was originally created to promote French-Canadian interests within Canada by preserving French language and culture and – Roman Catholicism.
Unbelievable as it might seem today, in the Fifties, the SSJB once actually petitioned for the Queen to light the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day bonfire!
It is now pretty much a secular organization entirely obsessed with Québec independence. The effect of this has been to reduce the SSJB to irrelevance:
1. By abandoning the wider concept of “French Canada” for a narrowed vision of Québec alone, the SSJB also abandoned nearly one million French Canadians outside the province. Now there’s a winning idea: protect and advance the French language by abandoning a million of its speakers!
2. By abandoning the Catholic connection, the SSJB also succeeded in abandoning a wider constituency of co-religionists in Canada who, through their common faith, had some shared political interests with French Canadians.
A once-formative French Canadian movement now reduced to a yappy little chihuahua.
Ignore it.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it.
Fascists. If we start calling them what they are, then maybe we can beat back the tide.
The Phantom
Well said.
eljay at September 4, 2011 7:39 AM “Meh, he’s one of their own. Wrote for the torstar and hill times. Harper just hired got himself a double agent.”
eljay, I don’t think so, as I read many of his articles and I think he was their token right-winger. Think Margaret Wente of the Globe. My concern is who will the Red Star get to be their token right-winger…Heather Mallick?
Yes, MND, the HRC’s are pretty scary. They’re also perhaps one, two with abortion as hot button social issues. If the Government, through Parliament, moves against HRC’s the Libs, NPD the media and all their other enablers will howl like banshees. Without a public consensus, of which there is none, they’ll be able to tie Parliament in knots. Think detainees and how long that went on.
So, what’s scary enough to trump HRC’s? I first started thinking that there are many serious problems inside our system while I was following the fiasco of the nuclear isotopes. It looked like there was nobody in authority that had any idea what was going on.
The financial mess. Some of what I’ve read indicates that the whole system was very, very close to collapse in 2008. Again, it looks like the authorities either looked the other way, or, they simply had no idea. I believe that our PM played an important part in keeping the lid on. The “stimulus” program that has pushed us so far into deficit is, in part, an agreement the PM made with other World Leaders.
I suggest to you that the people working away at expanding censorship are government bureaucrats, not the Prime Minister or his office. They’ve been doing that for a long time. It’s been said before on an SDA comment thread that the PM is playing a long game. The left had more than a generation to get us to where we are now. The current government is not going to put everything right in one term.
If I’ve not satisfied you, can we simply agree to disagree? We’ve gone off topic I think. Apologies to Robert W and to Kate.
The answer is a class action suit against these abusers.
In a REAL court not the kangaroo HRC.
We the people are so very tired of the FASCISTS.