Why my Province hates me... (part 1)

With a provincial election just around the corner the talk always seems to come back to this in Quebec: Seperatists VS Federalists. It`s always a heated debate that I usually win (being a staunch federalist) but leaves me with a sick feeling to my stomach knowing that the place I know and love wants to get rid of me and my friends.

Here`s a few quote and projects from the separatist side of the electoral race:

“Quebec should have total control over immigration to make it clear to newcomers that the
province is a francophone state, not a bilingual one. When you live in Quebec you live in French."
Pauline Marois, leader of Parti Quebecois.

"Bilingualism is a sign of progress in the rest of Canada. But I don’t want bilingualism in Quebec."
Gilles Duceppe.

Jeanne Sauve, former governor general-1987-"English Canadians have nothing to offer us but their stupid mediocrity".
and
" Everything that weakens and humiliates Canada must cause us to rejoice".

What pisses me off about all this is that I am french canadian born and raised and I've always been proud of my culture. But seeing people like the PQ and Bloc Quebecois leaders saying things like this makes me incredibly ashamed. It's like the good old Bill 195 that the PQ tried to push through parliament last year stating that everyone in Quebec, before being allowed to vote or run for public office, would have to pass a french language test. If they didn't know sufficient french kiss your vote goodbye. What the hell people.... I'll be posting more about these people in the very near future, mark my words.

Muchacho Enfermo

A couple of days late...

For my first order of business I'd like to post, even though I'm a few days late, about Generation Y. Some people will say that it might be a political blog but to the hundreds of thousands of readers it most certainly is. So I figured I'd give a big shout out to Yoani Sanchez, her translators and her legions of readers. On November 27th she was awarded the Jury's Prize for "Best Blog" and people's choice award for "Reporter without Borders".

For those of you unfamiliar with her site you should check it out. The lengths she goes through to post there almost daily is just insane and she deserves to be read. She is spreading the word about what it's really like inside Cuba for her and her family and for her friends. Most of these things are things that the Castros don't want anyone else knowing about.

All that to say, that on Thursday, live on the Bobs while the awards ceremony was on, bloggers also logged in and had live chat about the awards and let me tell you all right now that 85% of the chatroom was talking about Generation Y. I think it's clear to everyone now that she is a global voice, that people listen and read. The only that's left is figure out how this can be applied internally in Cuba. How can all of us out here help those in there.

I think it's also worth mentioning that there are many other bloggers from inside Cuba who have broken the silence and have put their names, faces and ideas on the world wide web... Here are a few of the sites that are worth checking out:
Generation Y
Desde Aqui
Sin Evasion
Habamenia
Octavo Cerco

And I`m sure there`s more I just don`t know about... but these are the ones I read.

I could write about Cuba until my fingers turn blue and odds are I probably will in the not so distant future. But either way it's not furthering the Cuban's need for free speech, fair elections and means to feed their families. If anyone out there comes up with an idea please let me know and I promise I'll do the same.

Have a good one people,

Muchacho Enfermo

Mission Statement

This blog will be dedicated to stories of a political nature. Either by linking to outside sources or by writing my own commentaries. I hope that by doing this people will get to see different views on certain issues and opinions that differ from their own. I also hope that it will encourage discussion and/or comment and.or criticism, because free speech is one of the many treasures bestowed upon us by the internet.
Thanks,

Muchacho Enfermo