Tabloid journalism alive and well in parochial Quebec

People are getting all worked up about a lousy "investigative" cover story printed in today's Le Journal de Montreal. LJDM is tabloid trash. Anyone who sites it to push a political position should be summarily dismissed. It panders to the lowest common denominator in Quebec. The average moderate Quebecer probably does not think this way.

I am not interested in battling the contents of the article - which is pure crap. All it does is galvanize the already vulnerable nationalist mind into proclaiming, "I knew it! We need more laws lest we whither!"

Nonetheless, it defies logic how this is a progressive piece of journalism. Nor can we ignore the fact that there are many influential people in the province who believe all this. We all know and heard the reasoning as to why they feel "under siege." How far need it go one may ask? We have not gone far enough. The fact is that anything that comes from TQS (a television station) or the aforementioned paper is bound to create needless and sensationalized drama.

However, it is best to remember that it took a "Quiet Revolution" for French-Canada to rise from its slumbers. They will need a second one because they are once again falling behind.

Please take note the following is an attack on nationalists and independistes - not necessarily the average Quebecer. So spare me the "racist"comments should they come my way.

Nationalists simply do not keep up. Even as they benefit from generous government funding that has made their schools and hospitals superiour to English ones (which have all but been destroyed) they seem to be in the process of refusing to evolve gracefully. Parochial power politics always gets the better of them. Remember, Bill 101 discriminates against French-Quebecers more than it does established ethnic minorities. Jake Parizoo (Jacques Parizeau) couldn't have said it better: keep them like lobsters in a pot.

When will they learn? In today's modern world acquiring knowledge is key. It's the saving and storing of intellectual assets that will propel you to the front of the line. It's no longer about French vs. English (though clearly English remains the universal language of business) it is rather about the acquiring of knowledge and applying it to a modern context. Remaining myopic will cost you dearly.

Here's the confusing if not unfortunate thing: some Quebecers think this is important stuff. Not in a global context it is.

But if this is to elicit a response it's this: complaining about getting poor service in French to buy apple juice is regressive for the advancement of a society. It will not further or enhance French.

Now, be a recently landed American immigrant or English-speaking Quebecer who speaks French as a second language and try to get an important civil servant or high position job in this province. I defy you to prove to me that such groups have an equal shot at any of those posts. Try and call a government agency and get decent English services when filling out important government documents that deal with your health and taxes. I try to avoid government outlets at all cost. To be fair, and I have mentioned this in the past, they have made great inroads in attempting to provide more English services but given the English fact in Quebec it still remains inadequate if not embarrassing.

We're now in a position where people who can't speak a lick of either language are defensive and standoffish. This is normal; you fear what you don't know. The question is this: should this be happening here?

I didn't want to get into this because quite frankly I spiritually live beyond these borders - thank God. But hard-core and soft nationalists here sure are caught up in their own cocoon. They have become adept at justifying all kinds of things under the guise of protecting their culture. Truth be told, Quebecers at large are not a united front. Ask any Chinese, Jew, Italian or Greek who know what constitutes a culture. Communities to which nationalists are woefully ignorant of. Quebec is an immature, wannabe revolutionary society that has no money, muscle or profound grasp of what it means to be independent. Asking to retain the Canadian currency and passport points to this all too well - indeed they have rationalized this too.

In my opinion, sophistry and soliloquy's aside, Quebec nationalism is parochial. A world that is not united and not very good at looking in the mirror. Indeed, its "theories" and "ideas" remain firmly rooted in 1848 neatly repackaged for the 21st century under the ribbon of neo-nationalism.

In Quebec intellectual circles, everyone is a racist - except Pierre Felardeau. In Quebec, if one challenges the accepted political and cultural ethos , they will be chastised in the universities. In Quebec, they claim they are democratic yet they accept (or seem to be in denial) an outfit like L'Office harassing tax paying citizens. They say they are tolerant and understanding but could care less about the impossibility of finding proper English-speaking public servants for essential services - who cares we're in Quebec and Quebec is French right?

Here, petty politics trumps the rights of the individual. I see no redeeming qualities in Quebec intellectualism.

It's intellectually depraved really. The odd thing is that they actually see themselves as progressive; as open and tolerant. Yet, their ideas and theories are not exportable.

I love Quebec. But I have learned to loathe it as well.

Canada is a nation of whiners. Quebec is a wannabe nation that adds a twist of paranoia to its whining.