It's election day in Quebec!

Though I haven't been following Quebec's election too closely, based on the limited coverage I have seen I get the sense that we could be in for a bit of a change.  Of course based on the outcomes of recent provincial elections, polls don't necessarily seem to be wonderful predictors of the eventual composition of the legislature.

Of course predictable or not, I hope to catch some of the coverage somehow tonight.  I'm probably not quite motivated enough to head to a bar in Gatineau, but I'm sure I'll figure something out.

Hopefully to clue things up

For better or worse I have recently been somewhat intrigued by the coverage and story of the recent election of Ruth Ellen Brosseau (though I realize that in the larger scheme of things this is really not a particularly important story). Actually, I suspect that I wouldn't have found this story the least bit intriguing had I not noticed that Ms. Brosseau's parliamentary profile lists her language preference as French even though it seems to be pretty widely accepted that she is more comfortable in English. (For a while I wondered if this profile might be modified to reflect reality but I now have the sense that 'French' is there to stay whether or not that is actually her preferred language.)

As a follow-up, and hopefully a conclusion, I thought I should provide a link to footage of an interview given by Ms. Brosseau earlier today. The public, and her constituents, should now have a slightly better sense of her ability to communicate in French. I leave it up to you to decide how capable a French speaker you think she is.

Apparently I wasn't there

Even though Maxime Bernier made very similar points during a talk he gave on Thursday night, it seems that the comments that have generated recent controversy were actually those that he made during a radio interview while he was in Halifax. I guess this means that the talk he gave on Thursday didn't get much or good coverage.

In case you are interested, Bernier explains his position on the Quebec language laws a little more on his blog.

While I am a little disappointed to know that I didn't witness the controversial comments first hand, I am still a little hyped to think that I did hear them in the dress rehearsal.

Score
Cameron 18
Neil 0

He just won't stop

Another Durham gem that is sure to engender controversy/hatred of the author:

There can hardly be conceived a nationality more destitute of all that can invigorate and elevate a people, than that which is exhibited by the descendants of the French in Lower Canada, owing to their retaining their peculiar language and manners. They are a people with no history, and no literature.

How to make people hate you

There are many lessons that can be learned from Lord Durham and his report. Sometimes he explains how proper administrative structures matter, sometimes he demonstrates that colonists will be the main victims of their own mistakes in a democratic context, and, most importantly, he demonstrates how to get the better part of a country's linguistic group to hate him for the rest of time.

I think the following quote does a good job of demonstrating this last point:

A plan by which it is proposed to ensure the tranquil government of Lower Canada, must include in itself the means of putting an end to the agitation of national disputes in the legislature, by settling, at once and for ever the national character of the Province. I entertain no doubts as to the national character which must be given to Lower Canada; it must be that of the British Empire; that of the majority of the population of British North America; that of the great race which must, in the lapse of no long period of time, be predominant over the whole North American continent.

Of course, he doesn't stop there. He goes on and on impending dominance of the English and their way of life, really cementing his place in history.

On the Train 11

Apparently the kid in the back doesn't like pulling into Dorval any more than I do. The main difference seem to be that I don't cry when it happens.

On the Train 10

We are definitely now in Quebec. The announcements have switched to French from English. Strangely they haven't yet been bilingual (a la Air Canada).

Kirsten disagrees with me and says that they have actually been bilingual. I think that is another instance of her young hears picking up interference and translating them into words in her head (even if they were never actually spoken). There is no way that she is right.

On the Train 6

It turns out that I am not quite as forward-thinking as I might like. Instead of using the bathroom stall with the nonfunctional door I broke down and used the handicapped stall. I am a little disappointed with myself.

The internet connection that we have has been quite intermittent for the past hour or so, making it quite difficult to keep our devoted readers up to speed with regards to our progress.

In case you are curious, I don't think that the old guy has barfed since that instance I mentioned a while ago. I presume his seatmate is quite that this is the case.

Though we have been making good progress and are working our way across Ontario, we still have a ways to go before we reach Quebec and Montreal.

Weekend activities

This weekend I was able take a trip to the part of Quebec called, in French, the Laurentides (in English the Laurentians). It is a pretty beautiful part of the world. When one drives there on a clear night in the winter the many illuminated ski slopes appear to be floating in the sky. The daylight scenery is also quite impressive.

Though most people go there for skiing we only did a bit or pretty standard sight-seeing, at one point managing to splash a lone pedestrian.

The following clip was taken just outside the town of Brebeuf. It is pretty short and just shows some ice flowing down a river.



This clip taken while driving through a covered bridge (as well as the time just before and just after). Just before we located the bridge is when we splashed the pedestrian, which was rather incredible because there weren't any visible puddles up to that point.

Back in Montreal

A few hours ago I made it back to Montreal. Hopefully within a day or two I will be back on some kind of normal schedule.