Pseudo-Intellectualism Quebecois Style

"To have  English names imposed on use by multinationals, is one thing. All major cities are experiencing the same thing. But retailers and artists from here who give themselves an English identity, are a sign of colonization that worries me much more."
(Qu’on se fasse imposer des noms anglais de multinationales, c’est une chose. Toutes les grandes villes vivent la même chose. Mais que les commercants et les artisans de chez nous se donnent eux-mêmes une identité anglaise, c’est un signe de colonisation qui m’inquiète bien plus.) 

Taken from No Dogs or Anglos Allowed.

To find pieces like this in the rest of Canada and in the U.S. you pretty much have to go alternative. In a free society, everyone has a platform to speak especially in the Internet age.

Here in Quebec, it's mainstream. Where writers like Sophie Durocher would generally be seen as marginal xenophobic nutters, she's in the main here. 

Basically she's advocating suppression of expression. That if your name is McTier, or Delvecchio, or Tam, or Jones or any name other than the dominant culture, it MUST be suppressed by the force of the law.

And this is not tyranny how again?

At some point the argument for protection becomes hollow and crosses into outright fear. You mean to tell me 87% of Francophones are so frightened of their compatriots who happen to be of a different linguistic background that they are willing to infringe on their civil liberties?

How has it come to pass in this province that past perceive injustices (and really, we need to get over it) are a justification for meting out retribution on contemporary citizens? This is what we mean by whether we are progressive or enlightened. How far are we willing to go?

I mean NAMES, LETTERS AND WORDS threaten them? How weak are they in the heart? How worth while is this "culture" if it feels the only way to defend it is to piss people off and trample on other languages?

It makes no sense to me.

Sounds like in Quebec, we are quite willing to go further. Unhinged. It's no longer a matter of "respect" as they claim. It's beyond that at this point. As I've written here before, you cannot receive that which you do not possess. Quebec has to earn its respect. I don't see how by employing punitive damages on people garners or established "respect." All it does is create a toxic atmosphere.

And we're pretty much there now.

Well, I'll tell it back to her: You and your ilk will NOT have the power to infringe on my freedom of expression and I will fight back any way I can.  

It's pure outright outrageous xenophobia. They've taken to suppressing people's names; their identities; their heritage. Why should it stop at English? Oh wait, they haven't.

It should make a person with a moderate and enlightened shiver in disbelief. It's stomach churning stuff.

As long as people like Durocher and influence Quebec, this place will remain exactly where it is. On a treadmill to nowhere. It will lag further within a generation and we will see all sorts of navel-gazing wondering why this is so. There are so many scapegoats and strawman one could use. They DO run out eventually. 

The world is watching now. Quebec has a UN record, we've made international headlines, we just need to keep it in the news. They'll call it "bashing" and "Anglo media conspiracies" and all other bull shit excuses yokels are good at coming up with. They're bringing it on to themselves the way I see it. Only a morally and intellectually bankrupted society could possibly not understand that if you push (in this case on people's NAMES) you will get push back.

Read the fear-mongering drivel here.


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Look. Haters are gonna hate. It is what it is with these nut bars. 

Here's the sad thing. There is NO QUESTION this attitude wreaks havoc on a segment of our population's creativity. Our entrepreneurial spirit is hampered because the majority of the 15% of non-Francophones pretty much go into business. We have quite a vibrant imagination.

Unfortunately, with things as pathetic and toxic as they are,  we can't see the unintended consequences of this behavior. Quebec would or could never face how MUCH it probably loses in the face of this backward mentality.

It's gonna get worse before it gets better; if at all.

There are ways to get around putzes like Durocher and her heavy handed attitude.

We just have to be furbo (clever) is all. You have to decide if you want to waste intelligent energies circumnavigating stupidity and ignorance.