Susan Bourette | Oct 28

CSM - Toronto - The French would have two words for it: Très ironique.

Québec's francophones have long been ridiculed by the Parisian French – the scholars, elites, and aesthetes from the ancestral homeland. They have deemed the Québecois accent an "abomination" of what they consider the most beautiful language.

They shouldn't sneer.

The Québeckers' much-maligned accent can be traced back to the 17th-century court of Louis XIV. At least that's the argument put forth by a prominent Québec scholar, Laval University's Jean-Denis Gendron, a retired linguist. "The Québecois accent is one from the noblesse of the time, it is a relaxed, natural accent,'' Professor Gendron, explains in the most recent issue of the journal, Québec Sciences. "It's only much later that our accent came to be viewed as an abomination."

August 24

CBC - Quebec provincial police are standing behind three officers who went undercover during protests at the recent Montebello summit, saying the men weren't there to provoke demonstrators.

"At no time did the officers in question engage in provocation or incite anyone to commit violent acts," Insp. Marcel Savard told a news conference in Montreal on Friday.

The police admitted Thursday afternoon that three masked men caught on video Monday afternoon pushing toward a line of riot police, despite protesters' efforts to stop them, were the force's officers.

Montreal | August 24

CBC - Emergency crews shut down a busy section of Montreal's downtown core on Friday, including part of the metro system, after the discovery of a large crack in the ceiling of an underground tunnel connecting malls to the subway system.

Engineers were closely inspecting the gaping crack and had closed one block because of fears that a major street above could collapse unless it was reinforced.

Bill Curry | Ottawa | August 13

The Globe and Mail - A giant swath of mineral-rich land covering one-third of Quebec is on track to become a self-governing region for the province's 10,000 Inuit.

To be called the Regional Government of Nunavik, it will have its own elected assembly representing Quebec's 14 remote Inuit communities and a public service responsible for services normally delivered by provinces, such as education and health.

June 29
Mike Carroccetto

Canada is known as a level-headed country, but there is one feature of our national story that is so loopy that even outsiders will on occasion remark on it, if only to ask if it's really true.

We're talking about the absurd practice in Quebec of government officials appearing at the doors of private businesses and denouncing the owners for not showing sufficient respect for the French language.

Well, it's true -- Quebec does engage in this kind of harassment. And recently, the language inspectors were in the national capital region. Staff at a Gatineau eatery named Le French Quarter have the battle scars to prove it.

March 25

CBC - Quebec faces the real possibility of a minority government for the first time in more than a century, as the province's main political parties remain locked in a virtual tie with voters heading to the polls on Monday.

Liberal Leader Jean Charest has warned voters a minority government will weaken Quebec's bargaining power with the federal government.

Update: March 27:
canada.com - PQ Leader Andre Boisclair said he's staying on as party leader

Update: March 26:
IHT - Liberal Party wins minority governing mandate in Quebec; conservatives gain ground.

Randall Palmer | Ottawa | February 19

Reuters - The question of whether Canada will remain one country will hang in the balance again as the mainly French-speaking province of Quebec heads into an election campaign this week.

The campaign will be partly about health, jobs and taxes, but underlying it all will be the perennial tussle between the separatists, who promise an independence referendum if they are elected, and the federalists who want a united Canada.

"The Parti Quebecois means wishful thinking. It means a return to division by another referendum, as quickly as possible," Quebec's federalist Premier Jean Charest told about 2,500 fellow Liberals in a pre-campaign weekend speech. "In brief, the PQ represents a step backwards."

Charest has summoned the Quebec National Assembly for an emergency session on Tuesday to hear his preelection budget. The next day, he is expected to dissolve the assembly and launch a campaign for an election on March 26.   ( image: campnet.net )

Rhéal Séguin | Quebec | May 6

Globe and Mail - Quebec may not be a nation in the eyes of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but the province's "specificity" and "unique personality" give it the right to a formal voice at the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Yesterday, Mr. Harper and Premier Jean Charest signed an agreement that will give Quebec official representation in the Canadian delegation at UNESCO.

Quebec will be the only province with a "formal" voice at the UN body... Mr. Harper insisted his government deals equally with all provinces. "Federalism of openness does not mean playing favourites or stirring up jealousies, but it does mean that the time has come to forge a new relationship with the provinces," Mr. Harper said.

The agreement symbolized the harmonious relationship Mr. Harper and Mr. Charest have developed since the Conservatives took office last February in an attempt to isolate the separatists with what Mr. Harper has called his "open federalism."

Gloria Galloway | Ottawa | April 5

Globe and Mail - The federal Conservatives acknowledged the priorities of other political parties but signalled a strong directional shift from the previous Liberal government in a Throne Speech yesterday that referred to the United States as "our best friend and largest trading partner."

The address that Governor-General Michaëlle Jean delivered in the Senate contained few surprises. The government of Stephen Harper focused on its established priorities of accountability, safe streets, reduced waiting times for medical treatment and a tax cut.

In contrast to the occasionally antagonistic relationship between the previous Liberal government and the U.S. administration, yesterday's Throne Speech promised to build stronger bilateral and multilateral ties "starting with the United States, our best friend and largest trading partner."

rut roh

Rhéal Séegun | Quebec City | Nov 19

The Globe and Mail - With the classic rhetoric of a young, aggressive politician, newly elected Parti Québécois Leader André Boisclair says he will seek a clear mandate to hold a referendum on sovereignty in the next provincial election.

Meanwhile, last week in Montreal, Prime Minister Paul Martin delivered a rare speech almost entirely devoted to national unity.
By portraying the coming federal election in Quebec as a choice between sovereignty and federalism, Martin is hoping to convince Liberal voters who sat out the 2004 vote in Quebec to support him against the Bloc Québécois this time around.

Update Nov 20:

Canadian Press - Prime Minister Paul Martin vowed Sunday to fight any attempts by Parti Quebecois Leader Andre Boisclair to take Quebec out of Canada in violation of the Clarity Act.

CTV.ca - In an interview to be aired Sunday, PQ leader Andre Boisclair says independence is up to Quebecers only and he sees no reason to submit to the federal Clarity Act.

Susan Delacourt | Ottawa | Oct 26

New poll reveals strong attachment to federal ideals.
Surprising finding as anniversary of referendum nears

The Toronto Star - You can take Quebecers out of Canada, perhaps, but it's much tougher to separate them from fundamental Canadian values and identity, a new poll reveals.

About two-thirds of Quebecers reported a significant attachment to Canada's international stature, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and federally financed social programs in a sweeping, major poll carried out for the Centre for Research and Information on Canada (CRIC.)

It's an optimistic, even surprising finding for federalism, landing just as the country is set to mark the 10th anniversary of the 1995 Quebec sovereignty referendum and as a looming report on the federal Liberal sponsorship scandal is threatening to whip up more separatist sentiment in the province.

JPD's take after the jump

Brian Laghi | October 22

The Globe and Mail - Quebeckers are just as divided over independence as they were a decade ago, although they would comfortably vote to stay in Canada if the question were put to them clearly and directly, a new poll indicates.

May 27 | Quebec

AP - Quebec on Thursday rejected the use of Islamic tribunals to settle family disputes, with one legislator saying that Sharia law could isolate the Muslim community in the French-speaking province.

Quebec rejects introduction of Sharia law into legal system in the province
Quebec |  May 26

940 news - While Ontario considers a move to allow Islamic law to help settle some family disputes, Quebec sent a clear message Thursday it will not permit Muslim tribunals.

Quebec lawmakers from all parties voted unanimously in the legislature to reject the use of Islamic tribunals in the legal system. The vote was a pre-emptive strike to stop a growing movement among some Muslims to have the religion to play a role in family law.

Doug Struck |  Jonquiere | April 14

WaPo - The baby buggies are all gone. In electronics, only "Le Gros Albert" and a few other leftover DVDs remain. A few pairs of pink boots are left in the shoe department. Over in household goods, red and yellow liquidation tags dangle beside thin skillets as Wal-Mart prepares to close.

The retailing behemoth, whose $10 billion annual profits are based on low prices, low expenses and its relentless pace of store openings, announced it will shut the doors here May 6 after workers voted to make this the first unionized Wal-Mart in North America.

Bouchard J. & J Plamondon  | Montreal | March 26

Le Devoir - Wednesday, the student population will underline a sad anniversary. This fateful date that is March 30, 2004 marks the implementation of a clear message: Superior education cannot be accessible to every layer of society. However, is this message the one of the multiple social consensuses present in Quebec or the one of a government clearly in margin of what is the Quebecoise society since the last 40 years? We believe that to ask the question is to answer it.

The authors are prsident and vice-president of the federation of CEGEP students of Quebec ,a federation of pre-university college students

Montreal | February 25

CBC News - The Quebec Labour Relations Board has ordered Wal-Mart Canada to stop intimidating workers who want to form a union.

The board's ruling cited efforts to "harass and intimidate" three employees at a Sainte-Foy store outside Quebec City.

A union representative said this was the second time Wal-Mart "has been reprimanded for trying to intimidate workers in Quebec".

Isabelle Rodrigue | Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | November 25

CBC - Premier Jean Charest, in Africa to attend La Francophonie summit, used a TV interview to help give an international voice to Quebec by commenting on the re-election of George W. Bush.

Tracey Madigan | Quebec city | november 24

CBC -  An apartment building was evacuated in Quebec City early Wednesday morning after police were led to bomb making material in one of the units.

Just after midnight, a man walked into a local police station in the Charlesbourg borough carrying explosives and threatening to blow himself up.

Quebec | november 23

Canadian Press - Quebec Premier Jean Charest hinted Tuesday at a crackdown on the spread of English in the workplace following a report by the province's language watchdog.

Charest expressed concerns about a report by the Office de la langue francaise that said the use of French is in a "precarious" state in Quebec.

Les Perreaux | Sherbrooke | october 17

Canadian press - Faced with a growing revolt in party ranks, Parti Quebecois Leader Bernard Landry has adopted an aggressive new plan to take Quebec out of Canada.

In a speech to PQ delegates on Saturday, Landry said his next PQ government would draw up a Quebec constitution and a proposal for economic union with the rest of Canada before a referendum is held.

Landry said he would spend public money to create a Quebec national anthem and a new government department to promote Quebec independence.

This is the Canadian federalit PR machine in action. It's as though all news about sovereignty must be followed by an over-exxagerated negative counter spin. "Landry spending provincial money... So what ? Federal did not ask anyone to do so. And help their little friends in the same time. Mathieu

Rheal Seguin | Québec | September 24

Globe and Mail - Mario Dumont, the bold, controversial leader of Quebec's third party, has once again rocked the political establishment by proposing an aggressive nationalist shift to turn the province into an autonomous state within Canada.

Allison Dunfield | September 16

Globe and Mail - Prime Minister Paul Martin and his cabinet ministers fended off criticism for making a separate deal with Quebec in the health arrangement, saying that Quebec will still be accountable for heath funding and must still meet objectives in areas such as waiting lists.

The $18-billion, six-year federal-provincial health deal reached early Thursday morning contained separate arrangements for Quebec

comment under the fold

Eilis Quinn | Montreal | August 21, 2004

Canadian Press - Frank Cotroni's convictions for manslaughter and drug smuggling were largely forgotten Saturday as friends and family hailed the reputed Mob boss as a kind and giving man at an elaborate funeral service in the city's Little Italy district.

The ceremony for Cotroni, who died Tuesday of brain cancer at his daughter's home, was crowned with the release of 72 white doves, one for each year of Cotroni's life. Family members clutched each other and cried as they looked on.

Clifford Krauss | Ottawa | August 18

NYT - Faced with choosing a new leader, Parti Québécois struggles over tactics.

Hoping that our Quebec member(s) will comment!-"arta."

Young Chefs Celebrate Two Montreals

june 27 | DANA BOWEN | NY times

MONTREAL is the kind of city where attentions turn - quickly and often - to the pleasures of the table. You can hardly walk a block without succumbing to fresh-baked croissants, raw milk cheeses or grilled sausages sizzling in charcuterie windows.

But during two trips earlier this year, I sensed a new development in Quebec's culinary hub, inspired by a rebounding economy and some pioneering cooks. Montreal has moved from charming food town to international dining city.