{"id":4210,"date":"2009-10-04T05:30:09","date_gmt":"2009-10-04T10:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingmontreal.ca\/?p=4210"},"modified":"2013-01-21T11:38:22","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T16:38:22","slug":"dimanche-democratique-tribal-warfare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2009\/10\/04\/dimanche-democratique-tribal-warfare\/","title":{"rendered":"Dimanche d\u00e9mocratique : Tribal warfare"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"La<\/a><\/p>\n

Recent analysis of the municipal elections (November 1st; and don\u2019t you forget it<\/strong>) has made allusion to a possible division between voters; a division the city of Montr\u00e9al knows all too well. Such a scenario would place current mayor Tremblay as the \u00ab anglophone \u00bb candidate<\/a> and perceived challenger, Harel, as the \u00ab francophone \u00bb candidate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(As expected, this scheme leaves out all mention of the third and fourth candidates, Bergeron<\/a> and O\u2019Suillivan<\/a>, whom many in the media have discounted; thereby doing the public a great disservice \u2013 Shame on you press, television, radio, internet, et al. – you are forgiven however when it comes to Michel B\u00e9dard of Fiert\u00e9 Montr\u00e9al and Michel Prairie, the independant; I too know very little about them<\/em>)<\/p>\n

If Montrealers are going to vote along tribal lines, then we are even more stupider than we ever imagined.<\/p>\n

A lot of this talk seems to stem from the false debate created around Ms. Harel\u2019s ability or inability or unpossible capability to speak English.<\/p>\n

So today, Dimanche d\u00e9mocratique<\/em> is dedicated to learning you straight.<\/p>\n

Is it necessary that the Mayor of Montr\u00e9al speak English?<\/strong>
\n Absolutely not.<\/em>
\nAn advantage? Of course! Why not some Spanish as well? And throw in a little Portuguese and Mandarin for good measure.<\/p>\n

Is it necessary that the Mayor of Montr\u00e9al speak French?<\/strong>
\n Absolutely not.<\/em>
\nAn atout<\/em>? Of course! However, if the person that occupies the big chair at city hall has not beautifully mastered the language of Moli\u00e8re, that\u2019s alright by me. We live in an age where we can leave such translating tasks up to computers, or, at the very least, aides and spokespeople that can help the mayor along.<\/p>\n

How do you think the UN<\/a> works? Or the deaf<\/a>? Or Stephen Hawking<\/a>?<\/p>\n

John So<\/a> got by with his heavily-accented English whilst holding the position of Lord Mayor in Melbourne, Australia.<\/p>\n

Besides, most organisations run a press office separate from that of its leader.<\/p>\n

In fact, fair citizens of Montreal, we shouldn’t give a damn if our future mayor spoke only Afrikaans or Zulu or Klingon. Bring on a speech-impaired spider monkey to preside over l’H\u00f4tel de Ville<\/em>. All that should matter is:<\/p>\n

1. Will our new mayor have a solid vision for Montr\u00e9al?<\/p>\n

2. Will our new mayor not seduce us with empty promises (read: <\/em>lie to our faces)?<\/p>\n

Since when did virtue and ethics and vision and compassion as winning attributes lose out to whether or not the candidate looks, walks and quacks like me?<\/p>\n

Alas, Montrealers (along with Quebeckers, Canadians, and the rest of the world) may prove to be too dumb to understand that content<\/strong>, not cover<\/em>, matters in an election. And since it seems that the number of idiots out number those of us with at least half their brains functioning, I guess we are all in la grosse marde<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Vote<\/p>\n

Whatever the case may be, I will be voting in the municipal elections this November. Perhaps democracy is too complex for the common man. Nevertheless, it is the best option we currently have.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recent analysis of the municipal elections (November 1st; and don\u2019t you forget it) has made allusion to a possible division between voters; a division the city of Montr\u00e9al knows all too well. Such a scenario would place current mayor Tremblay as the \u00ab anglophone \u00bb candidate and perceived challenger, Harel, as the \u00ab francophone \u00bbContinue reading “Dimanche d\u00e9mocratique : Tribal warfare”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5055,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7830,7840],"tags":[2116,2638,4362,140,4363,4364,4368,30,346,2498,4367,4365,125,4369,554,904,4366],"class_list":["post-4210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-communication","category-politics","tag-australia","tag-chair","tag-current-mayor","tag-elections-les-elections","tag-future-mayor","tag-harel","tag-john-so","tag-languagesigns","tag-mayor","tag-melbourne","tag-michel-bedard","tag-michel-prairie","tag-montreal","tag-stephen-hawking","tag-tremblay","tag-united-nations","tag-zulu"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDimanche d\u00e9mocratique : Tribal warfare - Spacing Montreal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2009\/10\/04\/dimanche-democratique-tribal-warfare\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dimanche d\u00e9mocratique : Tribal warfare - Spacing Montreal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recent analysis of the municipal elections (November 1st; and don\u2019t you forget it) has made allusion to a possible division between voters; a division the city of Montr\u00e9al knows all too well. 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