The last month has seen quite a few controversies here in Quebec. However this didn’t start a few weeks ago, I believe what is happening now started 2 years ago when Pauline Marois took office with a vision to solidify Quebec into her own vision of sovereignty. It started when she put a lot more funding into the Office Québécois de la Langue Française (OQLF), which resulted in “Pastagate” where someone complained that the word Pasta was not a French word and that it should be replaced with pâtes.
The approach Marois was taking to strengthen Quebec’s language laws resulted in several cases like Pastagate which went against the actual charter. For instance, I used to work for The UPS Store, which is a trademarked name, the Quebec language laws stated that company names need to be in French except those that are trademarked… They highly suggest adding French words to it (The reason you see Café Starbucks) to make it French, but it is not obligatory. Yet once a week we would receive a complaint from the OQLF, stating we were breaking the law. Let alone the fact that it is not a local store issue but an issue that should have been presented to The UPS Store’s head office. (More on the trademark exception)
I believe these language disputes eventually led up to a recent incident in Laval, QC, just north of Montreal, where a man claims he was beaten after ordering his meal in English at a local Time Hortons.
This of course was all long before Marois called for another election. In the last month she announced the Charter of Quebec Values. The most controversial part of the Charter being that those of other religions would not be able to ware “conspicuous” religious symbols such as a kippah, turban, hijab, niq?b and larger crosses and religious pendants which as far as I am concerned goes against the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which “mandates the rights of ethnic, religious and linguistic minority to enjoy their own culture, to profess their own religion, and to use their own language.”
Now in order to enact this charter she would need a majority government, hence the upcoming election. When Marois called the election, she was in favour, however many new controversies have plagues the elections, like the idea that Marois is pushing for a Referendum, in which her only response is that there will be no referendum unless the Québécois are ready for one. What this means is, although it is not her plan at this point in time, its something that is on the table as a future possibility.
Then you have the fact that several students are being denied the right to register to vote, as the Parti Québécois is afraid that the Ontario students will ruin the vote. However according to the Le Directeur général des elections du Québéc, it clearly states:
Qualifications as an elector under the Elections Act
To exercised his or her right to vote, a person must be a qualified elector and his or her name must be entered on the list of electors
Every Person who:
- Has attained 18 years of age,
- Is a Canadian citizen,
- Has been domiciled in Quebec for 6 months,
- Is not in curatorship, and
- Is not deprived of election rights pursuant to this Act, the Referendum Act (chapter C-64.1), the Act respecting elections and referendums in municipalities (chater E2.2) or the Act respecting school elections (chapter E-2.3)
Is a qualified elecor.
The domicile of a person id the domicile established under the Civil Code
Now the domicile according to the civil code is states as:
75. The domicile of a person, for the exercise of his civil rights, is at the place of his principal establishment
76. Change of domicile is effected by actual residence in another place coupled with the intention of the person to make it the seat of his principle establishment.
The proof of such intention results from the declarations od the person and from the circumstances of the case.
With that in mind, a student who has been living in Quebec for the last 5 years, leaving only 3 weeks out of the year, who works in Quebec, pays taxes to Quebec, Pays Hydro to Quebec, should be allowed to vote, however, this doesn’t seem to be the case. Even though the Parti Québécois insist that the reason for this is to keep the votes to the Québécois and not Ontarians or the rest of Canada, and that they are afraid that there will be an influx of votes, there is no proof of it.
If that weren’t bad enough, the Parti Québécois is now spreading false claims of voter fraud.
It seems that now that the Parti Québécois has fallen out of favour (Liberals show a 40% favour over the Parti’s 33%) they are trying to pull every dirty trick in the book to make things go their way. To me, these acts are disgraceful, however the vote is not up to me, it’s up to the “Québécois”… Something I do not consider myself. I live here, I work here, I have made Quebec my Domicile, but I will not adhere to their Charters that go agaist Canadian and International Law. Above anything else, I am Canadian, and my allegiance lies with the Government of Canada (which of course is not without its own faults).
There is more to this, and I would like to elaborate, and will probably add more links to the bottom of this article when I have a change, including the fact that is Quebec were to separate, Marois wants to keep uing the Canadian dollar, and have Canada allow Quebec to have a chair in the Bank of Canada… There is also an article that someone wrote about what they wish a politician would step up and say (will be added tonight)
All of this comes down to the elections n April 7th 2014… May God help us all.
Other links:
Marois blames multiculturalism for ‘bomb throwing’ in England, …
No compromises on charter, Marois says
Sovereign Quebec would keep dollar, seek Bank of Canada seat, …
What I wish a Canadian Politician would have the audacity to say…
Pauline Marois: ‘I Don’t Want Any Referendum’