Bilious filth

Back in August, I wrote about how, despite what racist demagogues like Mario Dumont would like, that Quebecers are far more tolerant of multiculturalism and immigration than their reputation suggests. This was perhaps a wrong judgment in light of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission's visit to Quebec City. A report on the meeting is in the Journal de Montreal, and it seems like it was little more than an outpouring of vile, racist filth. For example, Bruno Riendeau spouted that "we must require that they speak French before giving them a driver's license or health insurance card"; Jacques Filiatraut went straight for an anti-semitic rant: "How does it happen that my Kraft peanut butter, that my honey, and my walnuts are kosher? That costs us Catholics $150 million per year." Bouchard seems to have cut off the offending comments and has indicated that he has no time for such bile. This is good. Nor are these comments necessarily representative: the problem with public forums like this is that they tend to attract people who have strong views--either positive or negative--towards multiculturalism and integration. Even so, it is massively disappointing to see things like this happening. Again, this is what happens when you concede ground to racist demagogues. They shouldn't be given the room to breathe.

Also, Quebec's premier, Jean Charest, has attacked the PQ's proposed Bill 195 in an editorial in the Gazette. I'm not generally a fan of Charest, though he says a lot of good things in the editorial. He writes that he "will fight with all [his] energy this siege mentality [his] adversaries are promoting" and that "Quebec's identity can never be promoted by building walls, by barricading ourselves. It can never flourish when driven by fear and intolerance."

Indeed.