Bernard Landry Interview (Part 1)

The introduction can be found here.

Alright, let’s get back on track now. I had left off in the waiting room of Bernard Landry. He had a meeting prior to mine, so I had plenty of time to calm my nerves. When it was finally my turn, I was directed into a small meeting room with a central wooden table. I noticed that the walls were decorated with a series of inspirational poems (in French, of course). There were also some books in one corner that covered topics in economics, as well as one by René Lévesque. Fitting, considering how much of an influence the founder of the Parti Québécois had on Landry, dating back to the beginning of his career.

When Monsieur Landry joined me, he carried a copy of the e-mail I had sent to his assistant, highlighted to remind him of who I was and why I was there. I can only imagine that someone of his public stature must get requests on a daily basis and it would be next to impossible to keep track of them all. He addressed me in French, asking me in which language I preferred to conduct the interview. I explained that, though I was quite sure I could conduct it in French, that the eventual transcription would make it very difficult for me to accurately reproduce his answers. And since I strive for accuracy above all else in my citations, I would be more comfortable in English.

Interestingly, he asked me some questions of his own (still in French), such as where I was from, where I learned French, etc. It was a nice gesture as it helped to break the ice a bit and make me more comfortable. I would have liked to spend more time casually chatting, but I was there to conduct an interview. Best to be professional about it, right?

I wanted to get a better sense of the man and his motivations, so I started with questions about his family and his education. As it turns out, Landry was raised in an atypical family for the Quebec of that time. While most families in his village had a dozen children or more, he was an only child. But it wasn’t long before his parents decided to adopt two little girls. That being said, while a family of 3 children might be considered large today, it was pretty small, especially when you consider that one of his neighbours had a family of 22!

He pursued studies in both law and economics at the university level, but I was curious about how he ended up in politics.

“These studies, law and economics, are highly compatible with politics, of course.” he explained. “My intention was to be a public servant. I went to Quebec City to work as an employee for René Lévesque, who was a Liberal minister at that time, with the Department of Natural Resources. And it’s Lévesque that advised me to study economics because that was a priority of the Liberals of that time and the Quebec of that time.”

Quebec was in the midst of what’s been called the Quiet Revolution (or la Revolution Tranquile en français), which was a modernizing of Quebec from a mainly rural province to a more industrial and production-focused economy. As such, there would be a need for economists. Landry’s studies in Europe affected his outlook on Quebec’s relationship with Canada, so when Lévesque contacted him about running for the Parti Québécois, it seemed like a natural fit.

“When Lévesque founded the Parti Québécois, he called me and said, ‘I would like you to be one of our candidates.’ In my reflections, I was already going directly toward Quebec sovereignty and independence because I studied economics in Europe and I had seen how modern countries can be independent and, at the same time, share the same economic space.” he said. That was also why he participated in the Free Trade debates and supported the NAFTA treaties.

Prior to the formation of the Parti Québécois, Landry was a Quebec Nationalist with strong leanings toward being a sovereignist. This is where it starts to get a bit complicated for those who don’t live in Quebec. It’s not as simple as “Conservative,” “Liberal” and “Socialist” here. Those seem to be almost like flavours of other designations like Nationalists, Federalists and Sovereignists. I asked him to try and clear things up for me a bit and here’s what he told me:

“You have some Quebec Nationalists still today, members of the Liberal Party of Quebec or Canada, wanting to cultivate Quebec’s differences, protect the language and so on, and saying that they prefer to do that within Canada. To me, it’s a paradox, but not according to them.” he said. “To me, if you’re a nationalist, you favour the independence of your nation. But as a consequence of the past, some old nationalists are still not sovereignists. Some Federalists are Quebec Nationalists in the old sense of the term. It’s complicated, but even la Société St-Jean Baptiste in Quebec City and, I think in a northern city, I think it’s Sherbrooke, are traditional Quebec Nationalists, fighting for language and culture and so on and are Federalists at the same time, but they are more and more marginal.”

Okay, so if I understood that correctly, Nationalists, both of the Federalist and Sovereignist varieties, are fighting for the preservation of the French language and culture, but disagree on the best way to accomplish it. One can consider oneself a Federalist without being a Quebec Nationalist, but it’s not really possible to be a Sovereignist without being a Nationalist. This looks like a good place to stop for now, but we’ll pick this up with thoughts on the 1976 election. Til next time…

Continue on to Part 2.

Oh Lucien, Lucien, Lucien...

I was reading through some French websites over the past couple days and it looks like Lucien Bouchard has ruffled some feathers here in Quebec. If I’ve read it correctly, it seems ol’ Lucien has sounded off about the work week in la Belle Province (and no, not the fast food chain). Bouchard did an interview for TVA during which he said:

«On ne travaille pas assez. On travaille moins que les Ontariens, infiniment moins que les Américains! Il faut qu'on travaille plus.»

Very interesting. While he doesn’t call the Quebecois lazy, it’s still a pretty sharp comment. It shouldn’t surprise anyone, though. Bouchard has always had a Conservative outlook, so it makes sense that he would call out the more socialist mentality of Quebec. Needless to say, the union leaders were unimpressed. According to Sylvie Dugas:

Les chefs syndicaux rappellent que c'est l'ex-premier ministre Bouchard lui-même qui avait amendé la Loi sur les normes du travail pour réduire la semaine de travail de 44 à 40 heures, à la suite du Sommet sur l'économie et l'emploi en 1996.

She goes on to quote François Vaudreuil, President of the Centrale des syndicats démocratiques, who said that working more hours isn’t synonymous with the collective well-being and that this generation is more interested in family values than economics.

Despite the outrage expressed by the union leaders, Bouchard was essentially right. Take my job, for instance. In Ontario, I would likely be working 37.5 hours per week, but here my work week tops out at 33.75 hours. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. So would productivity increase by encouraging a longer work week? I see no reason why it wouldn’t. Sure, there will be the nay-sayers that will cry wolf about the potential for burnout, but I don’t think that it would become some sort of widespread epidemic if people put in a few extra hours per week.

This reminds me of a conversation I had on the way to the airport with a Fraternity brother from New York. He was recounting a discussion he had had with a European business colleague wherein he said (paraphrasing now, of course), “Why are we Americans the top economic power in the world? Because we put in the time and bust our asses for what we want. You don’t get something for nothing in this world. Put in the time and you’ll see the benefits.”

Obviously there’s more to the American success than work ethic, but I thought the comment was interesting. So what do you folks think? Should Quebecois work more? Feel free to discuss it in the comments section. Til next time…

Apprehension and Anticipation

My mini-cassette recorder is still sitting on the living room coffee table. Beside it, one will find a UWO clipboard with some quotes scribbled on the lined paper contained therein. I don’t think I’ve ever been more apprehensive about finishing an article in my life. Seriously. I know that my half hour interview with Bernard Landry isn’t anything monumental in the grand scheme of things, but I want to do a good job with it.

Now every time I sit down and press play on the player, my mind starts racing. What if my questions all sucked? What if I’ve got absolutely nothing of value out of the interview? Did I just blow a golden opportunity that few writers or reporters get afforded? And while I’m sure my readership is less judgemental (Morgan is, of course, excluded from this comment) than I am of my work, I still want to put something of substance out there. However, in saying that, it occurs to me that shit is still a substance…

In other news, I’ll be taking an entrance exam this coming Thursday in the hopes of entering a part-time certificate program in Translation at McGill University. The department is structured a wee bit differently than what I’m accustomed to at Western, insofar as the types of courses one is eligible to take is limited, but I wanted to do something to keep my mind active and perhaps meet some people. And if I managed to get a certificate out of the deal, then all the better, right? Plus, it gives me a classroom setting to work on my French again. So that’s what I’m up to. Til next time…

My Lucky Day

Well how about that? It’s Friday the 13th: the unluckiest day of the year. Though I wouldn’t call myself superstitious by any stretch of the imagination, I admit I like the idea of outside forces, like luck, having an impact on daily life. It makes things a lot more interesting, à mon avis. Sure, randomness has its merits, as well, but that seems so impersonal. So I’m a big fan of Fate and Destiny. And luck, for that matter, though one could argue that mine has been less than stellar.

So given that this is supposed to be the unluckiest day of the year, I like to celebrate it. The way I figure it, this should be the best day of the year for any unlucky person. Basic mathematics tells us that multiplying two negative charges will produce a positive outcome, so why can’t that be the same for luck? Today will henceforth be a lucky day for me. I’ve decided.

So how will I celebrate my lucky day? I’m not sure yet. Money is pretty tight, as usual, but I’m sure I can dig up something somewhere. I may just give Le Petit Medley another shot tonight, so if anyone happens to be in the Montreal area, feel free to drop in for a pint. Chances are good you’ll find me at the bar sampling whatever happens to be on tap. Have a good weekend everyone! And happy Friday the 13th!

Iron Maiden at the Bell Centre

Perhaps they’ve always been around, but I guess I was a bit more conscious of it last night. Around 6:30pm, the metro was taken over by swarm of greasy, long-haired, mostly underweight (or so it seemed) heavy metal fans. It was an hour before show time and the masses were making their way to the Bell Centre for what everyone hoped would be a concert for the ages: the return of the legendary Iron Maiden to Montreal. I know I’ve mentioned the Quebecois love of heavy metal in the past and the sold-out venue adds weight to that argument.
I’ve got to admit, I was excited to see the show. I’ve never been a huge fan of Maiden by any stretch of the imagination. I don’t own any of their albums, never bought any t-shirts. Heck, I haven’t even downloaded any of their songs. But any decent metal fan knows at least SOME Iron Maiden tunes. So it was in that spirit that I headed out to see one of the Monsters of Rock.

I met up with Phil out front of the St Hubert and then headed in to find our seats. When we had originally looked on the seating chart, we had thought that we’d scored pretty good seats. Turns out we really weren’t familiar with the layout of the Bell Centre because the White section left us on the 6th floor, in semi-nosebleed seats. The opening band was called Bullet For My Valentine or something like that. Mercifully, they only played a half hour. They weren’t bad, I suppose, but I don’t think that Maiden goes well with speed metal. The band maintained a sense of humour about things, acknowledging the fact that no one had any idea who they were, but thanking the crowd for the support nonetheless.

The stage was set up like some sort of burnt out, war torn city block with sandbags disguising the monitors. All in all, it looked pretty cool. They also raised a prop tank up out of the stage on hydraulics and out popped Maiden’s mascot, Eddie. During the encore, Eddie made another appearance, standing close to 12 feet tall and carrying a machine gun. Bruce Dickinson also won points from the crowd by addressing the audience entirely in French.

Now here’s where I risk the wrath of Maiden fans everywhere. The show was pretty weak. Yes, I know they just released a new album. Yes, I know that there’s a certain responsibility to promote the new album. But when I drop $55 for nosebleed seats, I expect to recognize the songs! Instead, they chose to play the ENTIRE new album.

While I’m sure some of the songs would grow on me over time, I found myself zoning out several times. It wasn’t until the very end of the set that they played something familiar: Fear of the Dark. The crowd erupted. It was pretty obvious that THIS is what the crowd came to see. Unfortunately, this was all just a tease. In all, they played 3 encores (possibly 4) and the crowd definitely wanted more. I heard some fans complaining at the song selection, so I know I’m not alone in my assessment of the show.

Overall, I can’t say I was impressed by my first Iron Maiden show. I don’t think I would see them at the beginning of a tour, if I had a choice. Til next time…

On the Road Again...

A happy belated Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers! It’s been one heck of a rough weekend for ol’ Al. I could safely rename the blog Al B Here, There and Everywhere after all of my travels. Right now I’m dead tired. I picked up the rental car at 4:30pm and headed for Ontario a little after 5pm. Contrary to popular belief, les Montrealais don’t necessarily take off early on Fridays of long weekends, as I discovered first hand. I drove headlong into rush hour, pushing back my arrival time in London to close to 2am. The word “ouch” comes to mind.

Saturday was a wee bit more eventful as I learned of the birth of Chris’ bébé. There are the appropriate number of fingers and toes, or so I’ve been led to believe, so all is good there. Rebecca also made it through intact, so all is good on that front. But that wasn’t the end of our adventures for the day. No, sir! It also happened to be the wedding day of my fraternity brother, Rich, so back into the car I went, dragging my friend Lauren in tow. Back we went to Toronto for what amounted to being a hybrid of a Chinese and Canadian wedding reception, meaning that we had the 8 course meal, but there were also speeches given by the groom’s side and a dance afterward. I didn’t get to take advantage of the open bar, though, because we were heading back to London that night. Yes, you read that correctly. I drove from London to Toronto for a wedding reception and then returned the same night. No hotels for me.

In an interesting twist of Fate, I had had a conversation with the girl at the car rental agency, during which she advised against bringing “friends” to weddings as it tends to curtail the good times and hamper one’s ability to meet someone new. Well, I have to give her credit for foresight as she was half-right. I’m glad I made it to the reception and it was nice to see the boys again, but there are certain obligations that go along with being the gentleman, namely attending to one’s date and making sure she’s having a good time. That being said, I wanted to catch up with the guys a bit, which left Lauren the opportunity to socialize. Don’t go thinking I left this girl by her lonesome the whole time. That wasn’t the case at all. But somewhere along the lines, she got to talking with one of the single guys who sat at our table and, sure enough, numbers were exchanged, etc. So my “date” picked up at Rich’s wedding. Good one, Fate. Thanks for that.

I hadn’t given too much serious thought to Lauren for a while now. There’s a pretty significant age difference between us, which has been used as an excuse for why we won’t hook up, but the new guy is 29, which the mathematicians among us will note is a mere 2 years younger than I am. Um, yeah. So the feelings are a bit hurt, at the moment, even though I wasn’t actually pursuing her. My friend Chris said something worth sharing regarding the whole situation. It went something like this, “I suppose in future, the response to anyone who claims some hard & fast rule is "Bushwah." There are no rules people won't break when its convenient.” Well put. And that’s all I’m going to say on the matter.

Sunday was football, as is customary. I watched my Lions blow a 14 point lead in what seemed like 30 seconds and go to a woeful 0-5 record on the season. That was followed up by the usual family dinner and a quick jaunt over to see Chris’ new bébé. Monday was another roadtrip adventure that amounted to 10 hours in the car, thanks in no small part to traffic being reduced to one lane around Brockville. So this has been quite whirlwind weekend for me. And tonight I’m going to see Iron Maiden at the Bell Center, so I’m in for another long day. Wow, all this just to explain why the Bernard Landry interview isn’t fit to print yet!

I would just like to take a moment to pass on my congratulations to Chris and Rebecca on their recent arrival, as well as congratulate Rich and Leslie on their marriage. Both are starting off new chapters in their respective lives and I wish them all the love and happiness they can have. Til next time…

An Afternoon with Bernard Landry

Today I’m going to turn back the clock about 3 weeks. While the eyes of Quebec, and to a certain extent, Canada, were focused on Dawson College and the sheer insanity that took place that day, I was walking from my office near Mont-Royal down to Old Montreal. I had heard what was going on, of course, which was the reason I was walking. The metro lines were stopped along the route I needed and although I had given some thought to trying to reschedule, I felt it was better to go ahead with the interview. After all, Monsieur Bernard Landry was a busy man. If it was going to be a major problem, then his assistant would call and cancel. So far, no call. So off I went, through the light mist and rain.

I had over-estimated how long it would take me to get there, so I had a bit of time to look around. I noticed that his name was absent from the lobby directory listing of businesses and offices that occupied the building. I suppose it’s best to keep a low profile when one is the former leader of the Provincial government’s opposition party. It ensures a certain amount of privacy can be maintained, especially now since he’s no longer officially a public servant. I checked the address for the umpteenth time and headed to the designated floor.

Obviously I didn’t get a guided tour of the office, but it wasn’t quite what I expected. The door was unmarked, except for the office number, so I was a bit unsure of whether I was in the right place. Fortunately, the portrait on the wall gave it away. I checked in with his secretary and then took a seat. There was a TV in the waiting room, tuned to the latest happenings over at Dawson. I had pretty much tuned out at this point, trying to keep my mind on the matter at hand. In a few minutes, I would be meeting with Monsieur Landry.

Next time, the interview. Til next time…

Continue on to Part 1.

Canadian Blog Awards

I got a bit pensive over the weekend. I was sitting at my computer, typing out the beginning of what will eventually be my interview with Bernard Landry, and I got to thinking. Am I actually any good at this? Sure, I’ve been getting more hits over the past couple of months, but who’s to say that the readers actually come back? I haven’t the foggiest idea. I could try and use my comments section as an indicator, but I’ve found that my most avid commentators are the people I’ve known for years. So I’m left to wonder, am I writing anything that piques the interest of the average Joe? Or do my postings become infinitely more interesting if the reader knows me personally? Hmm. Perhaps I don’t really want to know the answer to that.

I’m going to try and make a more concerted effort to attract attention to my site here, though not through the use of naughty keywords. That’s the easy way out. No, no. We can’t do things the easy way around here. I need to find ways to make this a little more widely recognized. After all, my writings cater to a pretty small niche, I think. On that note, I would like to encourage my readership to nominate this little ol’ site for the Canadian Blog Awards. Nominations are open and being accepted until early November, if memory serves me. O’course, don’t feel obligated to make any nominations unless you feel the site actually deserves it. Feel free to read the rules for nominations while you're at it.

On a totally unrelated sidenote, there’s nothing to report on the McNorgan baby-watch… yet. I’m sure that either he or I will post something when the new bundle of joy pops out. Til next time…