Pierre Boivin Should Commit To Winning And Nothing Else

Quebec has (or at least acts with) an inferiority complex towards Canada (and USA), Canada behaves like it has an inferiority complex with the United States.

Fair statement? Generalization? Where can it be tweaked? Is it a question of a maturation process?

I say this because not too long ago President of the Montreal Canadiens Pierre Boivin made a startling comment about the need for the coach of the team to be a francophone - or at least communicate in French. It's definitely a nuanced subject but one that can (and does to many) leave a bitter taste.

To a French-Quebecer there's no controversy in this statement. It's a fact. To an English-Quebecer there is. And it's not as simple as it's being claimed. Think about it, if a CEO of a company made a similar comment it would (rightly I might add) be dismissed as discriminatory.

Quebec gets away with this sort of stuff all the time. Certain things, for example, they get to say on the radio airwaves are against the law on the English side. I don't know if I should applaud this (since political correctness is weakest here) or recoil in embarrassment. Some of the things I hear on French radio is stunningly "rough and raw" compared to what we hear on the English side. Alas, admitedly, though I interact socially, listen and watch in both languages, this is my personal perception.

The language barrier does cushion them to a certain exten in the dialog with North America. In this way, I don't think Quebec is nearly as scrutinized as it should be.

I covered the Boivin topic here on Intersportswire and Who We Are- if I already linked this recently forgive. I'm forgetful these days.

In both cases, I try and present a two-sided argument but my ultimate message is:

A prominent person in the community should stay clear of parochial nationalism. Does Bovin serve the public or is he committed to turning the Habs into a championship team?

They say there's a crisis of leadership in North American political affairs. Clearly, in light of what's happened in the U.S., there's a crisis of leadership in business as well - and the Americans are far from alone in this. It seems no one stands for their convictions anymore.

Boivin included.