The implosion of the ADQ, “Team Mario Dumont”
I am a political junkie, I admit it. Even though I live in Ontario, I do a lot of work in Quebec so I follow the political comings and goings quite a bit. I first learned of the ADQ in high school during the Quebec sovereignty referendum in ’95 and treated them with a bit of distain. After all, the ADQ sided with the Bloq and PQ on the Yes side. After a number of years and the mellowing out of Mario Dumont (ADQ Leader), I started quietly rooting for them in elections. They were the third option for Quebecers, not the PQ and not the Liberals, they were the underdog, and I like underdogs. When they formed the official opposition in Quebec, I thought that was great, like cheering for the Ontario NDP in 1990; They didn’t have a chance but pulled off a ‘hail-mary’.
In hindsight, the election of Bob Rae’s NDP to Ontario was probably the worst thing to happen to the province, second worst being Dalton McNutty. Back to Quebec, once the ADQ became the official opposition (do they call it “Her Majesty’s Loyal”?) they fell apart, didn’t know what to do. There were so many rookies that the ADQ MNAs looked like a bunch of two-year olds organizing a daycare!!! After getting spanked the next election, Mario Dumont left the ADQ to do TV shows spoofing off his image.
The fall-out has been something else to watch. Two “nobodys” run for leader, the winner is chosen by a vote that people call out the possibility of election fraud. Then finger pointing between the ADQ and the Reformatories’ Quebec wing and one of their senators over fundraising money. Then the ADQ “cut ties” with the Reformatories saying that they wanted independence. Following that, the fingers get pointed back to the ADQ about missing money and now, their newly-minted leader quits with a napkin written resignation. And off they implode.
With “Stellar” people-power replacing Mario Dumont, it’s appears very fortunate that Quebec never got an ADQ government. Imagine what would have happened in Quebec City if they had their hands on the public purse! You’d think it was the second coming of the Montreal City Government!
Why our kids don’t know Canadian History…
Do you know why? Partly our education system is to blame as it places emphasis more on computers and less on social studies.
Partly is thanks to our multi-channel universe where we have niche TV channels that cater to such fragmented segments of the market that there are no “broad-strokes” painted where people might just exposed to something different. What’s the viewership of the CBC like now that you can watch Retro-Teletoon, Teletoon, Cartoon Network, Teen Cartoon Network, Nick Kids, Bob Kids, Boo this and so on??? Not so great. It’s pretty sad when those old Hinterland “Who’s Who” commercials are run as for a gag like old Soap Commercials instead of for their education values.
One of the biggest issues is what I saw today in a Chapters Book Store in Ottawa. A big huge book store with racks of magazines (four double-sided 40 foot long racks, seven feet high), large sections dedicated to this segment or that. Books for those on a budget, lots of fiction, business, self-help books, books to help you pick self-help books, you name it. There kids section that looks more like a high-end toy store than a book store, a big music section (people still buy CD’s?) and then the history section. This is the section that I always gravitate to and here is what I saw:
Three, count them three, four foot wide shelves on one book case with Canadian History… That’s it. Just three. The two selves underneath were part of a more general history (US). 12 feet of Canadian History. Now I know for a fact there are more than 12 feet of Canadian History books written; this was just insulting. More so when I started comparing. Five 5-shelf book cases dedicated to US History or, 100 feet; Three 5-shelf book cases dedicated to World Wars One and Two (US and British, one book was Canadian) or, 60 Feet.
I thought, “This can’t be right?” So I looked around more. Chapters has things segmented so finitely that there was a “Political Science” section, eight more feet of Canadiana. Not bad, that brings use to 20 feet total but oh wait, there’s 80 more feet of US Political Science including four feet dedicated to Barack Obama.
I counted only three titles in the sections on our current or former Prime Ministers, Harper, Chretien and Trudeau, and I ran out of fingers and toes to count on for the US Presidents. Heck there were more on British Prime Ministers (4) than Canadian ones and this book store is in OTTAWA ONTARIO CANADA!!! The Nations Capital!!!
Not to beat a now dead horse called “Canadian History”, I looked at some of the “HOT” titles. Eight Feet of Books on, about or by Celeb Chef Jamie Oliver, 10 feet on Gordon Ramsay. 10 feet on Oprah, six on how to build a deck, 24 feet on Pokemon and 30 feet on how to get the rock hard abs I’ve always wanted (unlike the keg I have now).
So to quote Sybil Fawlty, “what does it all mean Basil?” What does this all mean? I am not saying that the country will lose it’s identity by people shopping at Chapters, however their lack of exposure and promotion of Canadian History means collectively we lose one more chance to hook someone into learning more about our country. Chapters stores and their parent Chapters-Indigo own Smith Books, Coles, Chapters and Indigo or in otherwords a virtual monopoly on the bookstore front. With the exception of the odd independent bookseller, there is no other player except for the Internet. What they (Chapters) puts on the shelves is what people see, period!
That’s one more reason why we have less and less younger people every November 11th at a cenotaph;
One more reason why the maple leaf is more a fashion statement than a source of pride in our country;
One more person who can rhyme off who the last 10 Presidents of the United States were but can’t say who our Prime Minister is.
Sad, eh.
$500,000,000 does not equal $15,000,000,000
Filed under: Government, History, Hockey, Media, Ontario, Politics
It was posted in several places including TSN and in the Toronto Star that Dalton McGuinty supports a third NHL team in Ontario. Great. Thanks McGuinty. As usual you spend lots of time dealing with stuff that DOESN’T MATTER and not deal with what is really important like the economy, jobs or oh… I don’t know. How the Finance Minister budgeted for a $500M deficit and now we’re heading for a $15B deficit.
Perhaps Mr. McGuinty should have paid attention in math class. $500,000,000 does not equal $15,000,000,000
Wise Words from a Wise Man
“You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred. you cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You cannot build character and courage by takening away man’s initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.”
Abraham Lincoln