Author: Mitch Wolfe

Chez Nick on Greene Avenue- Westmount – One of the Best Diners in Canada

by Mitch Wolfe, posted in Food, Lifestyle

 

Whenever I go back to my roots, Westmount, Quebec ( I am a third generation bilingual Anglophone-Quebecois-“ caline de bine-eh!”), I always head back to Chez Nick, the best little diner in all of Canada.

Chez Nick was founded in 1920 by Nick Alevisatos. It was owned and operated by Nick until 1970. Then it was owned and managed by Nick’s son, Tom, until 1995, when it was sold to the current owner and operator, Rob Callard, a family friend and former dishwasher, waiter and manager of Chez Nick under quite extraordinary circumstances. More about Rob later on in this piece.

Chez Nick is considered the oldest diner/restaurant in Montreal that is still in its original location, 1377 Greene Avenue, in lower Westmount.

There are many good reasons why Chez Nick has survived and prospered all these years. Great food, reasonably priced. Very professional, personal and attentive service by long time knowledgeable staff. And a very friendly, family, neighborhood atmosphere.

But in addition, there are the personal touches that make this place such a singular and unique place. I lived in Westmount in the 60s and part of the early 70s. Just up the street on Mountain and Montrose. I recall with fondness as a young kid, on a Saturday, after shopping with my mom at the local grocery on Greene or buying shoes at Tony’s Shoes (now known as Chaussures Tony’s Shoes) on the Greene Avenue strip ( Tony’s is also still in business after 75 odd years, by the way), heading over to Nick’s for lunch for burgers and fries and chocolate milkshakes.

In those days, I had the honor of knowing Nick, or to us kids, “Uncle Nick”. Nick and the staff knew all the customers’ names, especially the regulars. And their children’s names. Nick always came over to our table and kibitzed with my mom and me. And always gave us extra fries and gravy- gratis. Okay, probably not the healthiest food choices in those days.

I also recall with fond nostalgia, a little later in life, as a high school student, trudging home on those bitterly cold winter afternoons from Westmount High, ( located further south on St. Catherine Street), stopping with my friends at Nick’s for fries and a hot chocolate. Prior to making that final heroic ascent up the Mountain. To my home. Three long vertical blocks away. If memory serves, I guess I was a bit of a drama queen in those days. And surprisingly, notwithstanding my addiction to Nick’s fries- not a chunky one at that.

For decades, Chez Nick was your archetypal deli/diner. Serving tons of eggs, mounds of bacon and large sides of home fries. For lunch- burgers and cheeseburgers and fries was usually the most popular order of the day. Nick’s was also known for its mouth-watering smoked meat sandwiches, with sour dill pickles and of course, its always fresh cut French fries with gravy.

Nick’s was the local “go to” place for meats and processed meats.

But in the 70s, the times, “they were a changin”. In 1970, Nick had given over the reins to his son, Tom. The infamous French language first Bill 101 came into being. And many English-speaking bankers, insurance execs, business people fled Westmount for Toronto, western Canada and the States. Taking their families. And their business. Times were tough for Nick’s and many English-speaking establishments on the Greene Avenue strip.

“For Sale”/”A Vendre” signs popped up like dandelions on every Westmount street.

Nick’s had to become Chez Nick and adapt or die.

And to its credit, Chez Nick, hunkered down. Worked doubly hard to retain its remaining English-speaking clientele.

Every day, my parents thought about picking up and moving to Toronto, Chicago, New York and Palm Beach. Great opportunities beckoned for my dad, who in those days, was well-known and respected as a very caring and compassionate obstetrician and gynecologist. But like many families, they stayed the course. Stayed in Westmount and sought comfort with their friends at neighborhood diners like Chez Nick.

In order to survive, Nick’s also reached out more aggressively to local businesses in the area and to the new immigrants to Westmount, – the upwardly mobile Jews, Greeks, Italians and the newly empowered French-speaking professionals, business people and government folk, who began rapidly occupying the stately Westmount manses.

What saved Chez Nick, was Tom deciding to go outside the family and choose a successor, Rob Callard, who had cut his teeth at the diner as a dishwasher, bus boy, then a hustling waiter during his university days, at Concordia University down the street.

Rob told me that he paid his way through “Uni” by busing and waiting tables at Chez Nick.

For Rob’s part, he viewed Tom as a mentor and a surrogate father. And Rob felt that he was treated like family.

Post Concordia, Rob, became a food manager at Montreal’s most prestigious golf club, The Royal Montreal.

Obviously, Rob’s work ethic and all-around good character, had left an impression with Tom. Because in the late 80s, the always astute Tom reached out to Rob and made him an offer that Rob could not refuse.

Tom convinced Rob to come back as manager for five years with an option to buy the restaurant at the end of the term. And to help Tom upgrade, revamp and modernize Chez Nick.

When Rob asked Tom, why he chose Rob to take over Nick’s, Tom replied that he remembered one summer when as a university student, Rob worked six weeks straight washing dishes with an arm in a cast as a result of a broken writst. And according to Tom, “ any person who could do that, has what it takes to run a restaurant.”

What a great story!

As Rob told me, he had little money in those days. But as a result of his experience as a waiter and then manager, he knew that Chez Nick, though a relatively small and contained business, was a viable business. So one week before the results of the 1995 Quebec referendum, Rob invested his life savings as a deposit and exercised his option to purchase Chez Nick.

Now that took some mighty big steel balls. A “Yes” vote for Quebec to separate from the rest of Canada and become independent, could have had disastrous economic and financial consequences for Quebec and for Canada. And clearly for Quebec businesses, both large and small.

Rob believed then, that people would still have to eat. Regardless.

Fortunately, for Canada, for Quebec, and for Rob and Chez Nick, the pro-Canada federalist “No” forces triumphed. But barely. Thanks to the “ethnics and money” in Quebec.

To Rob’s credit, he realized that for Chez Nick to survive and prosper into the twenty-first century, it had to revamp its menu while still retaining the diner’s character and charm. And become more healthy and bistro-like

A menu rich in salty, fatty, eggs and bacon, artery–clogging, burgers, fries, meats and processed meats, though very tasty and delicious did not have the same appeal to the new generation of young, active, family-oriented, and health-conscious Westmounters.

Also it was not to Rob and Chez Nick’s long term interests to unnecessarily shorten the lives of his long-term customers by serving them exclusively salty/fatty, but very tasty and plentiful food. LOL.

Over time, Rob gradually incorporated more healthy, fresh, made to order food on the menu. A review of today’s menu indicates that a whole page is devoted just to about 18 different salads. All served exclusively with 100% canola and olive oil. The most popular and exclusively vegetarian salads being Fresh Fruit salad and cottage cheese, Bruschetta and greens, Caprese salad, Metcalfe salad, Greek salad, Bennett Farm salad, Grains on Greens and Portobello Mushroom salad.

http://www.cheznick.ca/#!salads/c1w2p

As to the sandwiches, in addition, to Nick’s traditional staples of Swiss burgers, Montreal smoked meat, Reubens and chicken souvlaki sandwiches, Rob has successfully introduced such alternatively delicious and healthy fare as Boccachina and basil, Portobello, Protein and Pesto, and Nick’s signature sandwich, the Mount Pleasant; containing brie cheese, a sliced Granny Smith apple, tomato and alfalfa on black Russian bread served with homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

Recently I dropped into Chez Nick for Sunday Brunch. The place was packed. With truly a very interesting eclectic crowd of: long time regulars from the nearby luxury apartment buildings and Westmount Square ( some who looked vaguely familiar); young yuppie families, with several children in strollers and high chairs, all laughing and enjoying themselves; two or three hipster couples, ( who just looked they had rolled out of the sack after a night of partying and whatever); and a few students nursing their coffees as they texted on their iPhones, tapped away on their iPads. Or Tindered each other.

This Sunday, I eschewed the Grains and Greens salad for my favorite Greek Yogurt/fruit/granola/almonds, with a dash of honey Nick’s special. Washed down with bottomless cups of freshly-brewed heavenly coffee, that put all the competition- Starbucks, Second Cup, Tim Hortons and McDonalds, to shame.

I noted that Rob, the owner, greeted all the loyal customers, by name. Just like Uncle Nick.

It was great to be home again.

Kudos to Rob Callard for revitalizing this great Westmount and Montreal establishment. May this great institution survive another productive 100 years.

(note photos Rob Callard, the owner, and I, and current Chez Nick, the diner/bistro)

chez nick 2chez nick 5chez nick 8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Billy Bishop, Bombardier and Trudeau’s war on Canada’s middle class

by Mitch Wolfe, posted in Politics

Well, Trudeau Jr., even before officially becoming Canada’s new Prime Minister, was already reneging on his key platform promise to spend infrastructure money to help out Canada’s middle class.

It is old the bait and switch, sports fans.

And the Quebec voters — and all the idealistic, starry-eyed Canadians who voted for the Liberals thinking that their middle class lot in life will improve — fell for it, once again, hook, line and Liberal stinker politics.

Bowing to the worst form of NIMBYism (I call them “SWADEs”: Smug, White, Arrogant Downtown Elitists), the new Trudeau government kiboshed efforts by Toronto-based Porter Air and the majority of Toronto City Council to expand the already successful downtown Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.

The plan was to extend both ends of the Billy Bishop runway by 168 metres, to allow Bombardier C Series airplanes to safely take off and land. That way, Porter Air could offer longer flights from Toronto to western Canada, the United States and even the Caribbean.

Currently, the Billy Bishop airport accommodates two million visitors to Toronto. Expansion would double that,, giving Toronto and the GTA a much needed economic shot in the arm.

And studies show that the continued success of Porter Air benefits all Canadian air travelers. Air Canada and West Jet are forced to lower their prices and improve their service in order to compete with Porter Air. The expansion of Billy Bishop would only increase this healthy competition.

Porter Air has agreed to buy 12 C Series Bombardier planes, with an option to buy 18 more. Such an order is worth $2.3 billion at 2013 list prices. However, this order is conditional on the three parties —  the federal government, the city of Toronto and Ports Toronto — approving the airport extension.

So this is where things get really interesting.

The Quebec provincial Liberal government has already committed $1 billion to Bombadier to assist with C Series plane development, and Quebec’s Economy Minister Jacques Daoust said he will ask the Trudeau government to match that amount.

(Recall the federal Liberals were decimated in Quebec in the 2011 federal election. In this recent election, the Trudeau Liberals secured 40 Quebec seats.)

It would be financially foolish for Trudeau to agree to a $1 billion lifeline to Bombadier, then killing Porter Air’s $2.3 billion order of Bombardier C Series planes.

On the other hand, for Trudeau to both kill the Porter Air Bombardier order and refused to extend a financial lifeline to Bombadier could be politically fatal for Trudeau and the Liberals in Quebec.

You can bet your sweet poutine that the Quebec Conservatives, Mulcair and his NDP fellows and the revived BQ would be all over Trudeau for lying to the Quebec people about creating jobs.

Just ask the BQ and the NDP. What goes up in one Quebec election in Quebec, comes crashing down the next.

The lefty loony lunatic Adam Vaughan, elected Liberal MP of Spadina-Fort York, and representing Toronto’s “SWADE” element, seems to be pulling the strings of the puppet Trudeau.

Recall that Trudeau never specifically campaigned on the platform of killing the Porter Air expansion.

But the out of control Vaughan is claiming such a public mandate.

And the stupid, clueless and weak Trudeau seems to going along, in effect telling middle class workers in Montreal and Toronto to go frack themselves.

Because at this stage, with Vaughan claiming an end to an expanded Porter Air, the Trudeau Liberals  do not seem disposed to help either Quebec Bombardier workers or Toronto citizens.

Remember: We conservatives warned you about these incompetent, anti-business, anti-private sector and anti-jobs Liberals.

“Steve Jobs”: One of the best films of the year

by Mitch Wolfe, posted in Entertainment

The just-opened Steve Jobs film, written by the incomparable Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, The Social Network) and directed by Danny Boyle of Slumdog Millionaire fame is clearly one of the best, written, directed and acted films this year.

The film stars Michael Fassbender, who, it’s true, does not superficially resemble Steve Jobs, per se.

However, over the course of the film, Fassbender embodies the essence of the Apple co-founder: His visionary brilliance, his creative, strategic and tactical genius, and his obsessive/compulsive laser-like focus.

But he also portrays Jobs’ near pathological indifference and cold-hearted insensitivity to his friends, his colleagues and most dramatically, his own family, including the mother of his daughter Lisa, who is Jobs’ “Rosebud” in this gripping Citizen Kane-like story.

Fassbender as Jobs is ably supported by his smart, long-suffering marketing executive, closest colleague, “work wife” and conscience, Joanna Hoffman, played marvelously by Kate Winslet, who is totally unrecognizable in the role.

Other excellent supporting actors are Seth Rogan as Steve Wozniak, Jobs’ Apple co-founder; the technical brains behind Apple, “Woz” is clearly too sweetly loyal and good-natured for the “kill or be killed” tech environment. Jeff Daniels plays John Sculley, who initially played father figure to Jobs in Apple — then fired Jobs from his own company and was vilified the rest of his life for that decision.

But the film really belongs to Fassbender and the brilliant writer Aaron Sorkin.

This is not your normal linear, chronological biopic.

Instead, it is a brilliantly filmed play in three acts. The dialogue snaps, crackles and pops. The pace is fast and loose and frenetic. Think of Sorkin’s The West Wing, but faster and more dramatic, with greater and emotional mood swings.

This film focuses on three “launch” events: the iconic debut of the original Macintosh computer; Jobs’ unveiling of Black Cube at his post-Apple company; and Jobs’ triumphant return to Apple with the invention of the iMac.

Before each launch, Jobs — always accompanied by his loyal marketing exec, Hoffman — is visited by the same four characters: the mother of his child, pleading for money and recognition of their child; Woz, whose star has been clearly eclipsed by Jobs in the public eye; and Sculley, both commanding and classy, but ultimately a pathetic tragic figure.

For me, the core of the film is Jobs’ interaction with his daughter, Lisa, whom, in the first act, he cruelly rejects as his daughter, even scoffing at the notion that the early Apple “Lisa” computer was named after her.

However, Jobs gradually comes to see his better self in his daughter. She embodies his brilliance, but also his goodness, which has been buried beneath a lot of bad emotional baggage and a history of neglect and abandonment.

As the proud father of a daughter, the heart-wrenching scenes between Jobs and Lisa left me teary-eyed.

Jobs’ treatment of his chief engineer Hertzfeld and of Woz verges on the pathologically cruel. But in Sorkin’s expert hands, we at least understand what drives Jobs to be the person he is. We may not like him, but we understand him and still revere his incredible marketing acumen and his world-shaking technological achievements — he was “ the brilliant conductor who leads the orchestra.”

Sorkin has done it again. I urge you to see this film at least once. And perhaps twice or three times, in order to catch and appreciate the brilliance of the dialogue and understand what demons drove Jobs to the incredible achievements that impacted us all.

Libertad Martinez – One of Toronto’s Top Condo Specialists

by Mitch Wolfe, posted in Lifestyle

By far and away, one of the best condo specialists in all of the GTA ( Greater Toronto Area) is Chestnut Park’s condo real estate agent and consultant, Libertad Martinez.

What separates Ms. Martinez from the thousands of real estate agents who ply their trade in and around the GTA, is her vast, comprehensive and intimate knowledge of all the major and minor condo builders in Toronto and their existing and projected projects.

Ms. Martinez speaks fluent Spanish, French and of course, English. I was introduced to Ms. Martinez, through mutual Latin American clients, who were seriously considering investing in the still buoyant Toronto condominium market.

I had been retained to advise on financing the purchase of several different condo units throughout Toronto, mainly for investment purposes, by these foreign investors.

Ms. Martinez impressed me and our mutual clients with her encyclopedic knowledge of all the key players, from the high profile Menkes, Tridel and Minto folk, to the more boutique and lesser known specialized condo builders in town.

Ms. Martinez, through her vast network of builders, brokers, marketing and communications consultants, possessed an incredible data base of not only existing projects but projected projects. Ranging from the western fringes of Etobicoke on the Lakeshore, north to Woodbridge and Richmond Hill and as far east as the Beaches and Scarborough.

I have been assisting in financing residential projects for years, but Ms. Martinez clearly had a better handle on all the major up and coming projects, even some of the very cool, boutique infill projects on hip Ossington, Parkdale the rapidly gentrifying Lesleyville and the laid back beachy Beaches.

Though the mantra in real estate is “location, location, location”, Ms. Martinez’ personal credo is, “service, service, service”.

I was also struck by Ms Marinez’ attention to detail. Because when buying a condo unit, especially one that is being constructed from plans, the devil is definitely in the details.

I highly recommend that a buyer of a new condo unit, especially a pre construction condo, should retain some one like Ms. Mritinez to help you navigate through some potentially dangerous waters, to mix some metaphors.

Purchasing or investing in the constant rising Toronto condo market, is not for the unwary or the faint-hearted.

But Ms. Marrtinez ,whose knowledge of the industry combined with her years of experience, and attention to detail (a rare triple threat) will make such a buying/investing experience- more understandable, safer and potentially very rewarding.

 

 

 

 

 

For we rebels, we conservatives, it was a great ride while it lasted

by Mitch Wolfe, posted in Politics

I want to personally thank Prime Minister Stephen Harper — he will always be “Prime Minister Harper” — one of the most successful, transformational prime ministers in Canadian history, ranking up there with Sir John A, Laurier and Mackenzie King.

Once a populist, always a populist, Harper truly got his political mojo working in the wild west of Alberta. And through his pure force of will, determination and brilliant political instincts, he helped create the Reform Party and transformed a ragtag bag of right wingers, oil and gas wildcatters, hard-driving entrepreneurs, gun enthusiasts, socially conservative yahoos, free traders, free market libertarians, small “c” conservatives, anti-Eastern urban elitists,  hard-working, self-reliant, suburban new immigrants, and Eastern populists (like me) into a fighting and disciplined political force that won three hard-fought federal elections.

Even in 2015, despite almost 10 years in power, despite the collapse of the NDP, Harper led a party to nearly 32% of the vote and 99 solid seats in the new Parliament.

And clearly going against the national red tide, Harper and the Conservatives increased its Quebec representation. Max Bernier, you rock, mon ami!

As leader (contrary to Liberal and CBC propaganda), Harper did not have a hidden agenda. He stood by his political promises and never reopened the socially divisive issues of abortion and a woman’s freedom of choice. He strongly supported same sex marriage and sexual equality. And the Conservative Party and the country were better for Harper standing up for these principles and values.

Ironically, in this last campaign, it was Harper, not any of the other leaders, who stood up loudly and courageously for our etched-in-stone Canadian values of the equality of men and women, when he publicly proclaimed that a foreign culture (whose values require women to veil themselves so that men will not be motivated to rape them, or whose values are anti-gay) are values that have no place in Canada and should never be encouraged or permitted.

Harper also kept Canada on a firm fiscal path. When the international recession hit in 2009, contrary to orthodox right wing thinking, Harper did the right thing and tacked to the centre and left, stimulating the economy by running several years of consecutive deficits.

Then, when the economy turned around, Harper and his then Finance Minister Flaherty, did the heavy and unpopular lifting of reducing government programs and brought the country back into fiscal balance, while keeping personal and corporate taxes at historic lows.

The easy and politically popular thing to do would have been to borrow billions of dollars, increase debt and deficits and kick the problem down the field for another leader and another generation, like Pierre Trudeau did in the 70s — and David Peterson and Bob Rae did in Ontario in the 90s.

Instead, Harper chose the much more difficult approach of saying no to many free-loading special interest groups, who wanted to line their pockets.

He also said “no” to many provincial premiers and many Canadians, who preferred getting federal government handouts to doing the hard and necessary work of building up their own provincial businesses and revenues and reining in their own programs and reducing their deficits.

Yes, that took discipline, toughness and determination and cold-heartedness. But those were the right things to do.

But in politics, as in life, “no good deed goes unpunished.”

So the Canadian people punished Harper for being a tough, firm, son of bitch, who did not kowtow to biased liberal elites in downtown Toronto or Montreal or their biased elitist media interests.

Some of the Canadian people also punished Harper for not kowtowing to the many anti-Semitic, anti-Israel member countries which form the United Nations.

Some of the Canadian people also punished Harper for not kowtowing to the job-destroying/cap and trade/carbon tax/green environment international movement.

But like Harper, I am a true blue populist. And the people are always right.

Apparently, some of the same people who stuck by and voted for Rob and Doug Ford, this time some of these people also voted for Justin Trudeau.

I stand whole-heartedly by the people’s choice.

I am a populist, unrepentant contrarian, a rebel-rousing, anti-elitist — and as such a very proud Canadian.

Thank you, Prime Minister Harper, for your incredible service to this great land of ours.

We true blue Canadian Conservatives shall never forget you.

Gagnier-gate: Three strikes and space cadet Trudeau is out

by Mitch Wolfe, posted in Politics

When even the pro-Trudeau and heavily-biased CBC turns on Trudeau, you know that it is curtains for the clueless space cadet.

I predict Trudeau and the Liberals are in free fall in Quebec, without a parachute.

Dan Gagnier, the now-former Liberal campaign co-chair, was acting for both the Liberals and the hated oil pipeline line giant, TransCanada Pipelines, since the spring of 2015. TransCanada is hated in certain parts of Quebec for its dreaded West-East oil pipeline into Quebec. (Strike one.)

Gagnier’s double dealing between Liberals and TransCanada, playing both ends, smacks of the Liberal sponsorship scandal in Quebec (Strike two).

Trudeau is lying when he stated  that he just learned of Gagnier’s double-dealing. In the spring, the Liberals knew Gagnier was advising TransCanada while Trudeau’s campaign co-chair. (Strike three.)

Three strikes, and you are out of there, for your bald-faced lying in public. Nice knowing you, buddy.

My Quebec Liberal friends morbidly want to know whether or not it’s too late to replace the fallen space cadet with the real astronaut, Marc Garneau. I think that space ship has sailed.

Because of GagnierGate, my prediction is that Mulcair will make a move on Trudeau in Quebec and may catch him, election day.

If Trudeau loses in Papineau, he’s gone. Out of politics. Back to being a spoiled unemployed trust fund baby.

And the Liberals will feast on his sorry, skinny carcass.

Poll: Harper leads, within sight of majority (plus or minus 2.5 martinis)

by Mitch Wolfe, posted in Politics

In a recent poll by Wolfe Analytics (a local polling company created, commissioned and retained exclusively for me personally), the Conservatives are at 38%, the Liberals 33%, the NDP 24%, and the remaining left wing nuts and nation-destroying separatists are split between the Green Party and the Bloc Quebecois.

When these numbers are extrapolated over all the seats at play in this election, the Tories should win a decisive majority, the Liberals will form the official opposition, and “Angry and Stoppin Tom” Mulcair will soon be dropped like a hot poutine and hereafter known as “Tom Who?”

This new polling group, Wolfe Analytics, eschewed the more commonplace modern polling methods, i.e.,those annoying interactive robo calls.

Instead, we assembled a highly inebriated polling sample, up close and personal, in two upscale Toronto bars and one downscale pub.

Since intensive and comprehensive one-on-one interviews were de rigueur, the polling sample was admittedly a little thin, but still very representative of the greater Canadian electorate from Victoria to Peggy’s Cove.

Here are some representative results of the polling sample:

One of the first persons interviewed was Andie, a blonde 30-something inner suburban housewife in North Toronto, who will be voting for Harper because of his tough fiscal policies.

Next came a 30-something Asian woman, also married with child, living in downtown Toronto. Surprisingly, she was also voting for Harper because of his strong fiscal policies, thinks Trudeau is an intellectual lightweight, and identified herself as a proud member of “Ford Nation.”

I next interviewed a Latin American-born 50-something mother and her 30-something daughter. Both will be voting for Harper and ignoring the featherweight pugilist Justin.

I then spent a good deal of time at another restaurant/bar, Kasa Moto, where I interviewed a whole range of men and women. Among this group, Harper won the approval of the majority of the men voting, while Trudeau and Mulcair split the “hot chick” vote fairly evenly.

At the Four Seasons d/bar, I interviewed a group of 20-something hip downtown urban dudes and cool young women. Shockingly, the vote split among this group: Harper 2, Trudeau 2 and Mulcair 1.

Clearly, Harper and the Conservatives are resonating mostly with men, both urban, suburban and rural in Ontario, along with those in have-not Atlantic Eastern provinces. He is also popular with men and women alike in Quebec, the prairie provinces and BC.

Trudeau’s numbers reflect a strong urban base, with pockets of strong Liberal support in downtown Toronto, Montreal,  in the Atlantic provinces and in urban BC.

This unscientific and subjective poll may not be bang on mathematically accurate, but it does provide an interesting snapshot of a downtown Toronto urban/suburban group, who, surprisingly, are strongly in the Harper camp.

How Thomas Mulcair Lost Quebec Through Political Correctness, Arrogance and Ignorance

by Mitch Wolfe, posted in Politics

At the start of this election,  Thomas Mulcair, leader of the New Democratic Party, thought he had his Quebec base all sewed up. Buttoned down. Solid.

But his front runner status in Quebec was suspect.

What happened to the seemingly indestructible Orange Crush in Quebec?

Well, Mulcair and his brain trust and most of the political pundits, (except pour moi) took their eyes off the always bouncing Quebec political ball.
Let me explain:

In the 2011 federal election, NDP leader Jack Layton and his Quebec lieutenant Mulcair supported the controversial policy of Quebecers separating from Canada and breaking up Canada, provided a 50% plus 1 vote was obtained in a Quebec referendum on a question, that may or may not be clear.

This policy taken from the separatist BQ ( Bloc Quebecois, a separatist/federal party, oxymoronic much?) playbook, catapulted the NDP in Quebec, to win an extraordinary 59 seats in Quebec with about 43% of the popular vote in the 2011 federal election.  And thus become, overall in the entire Canada,  the official opposition party, to Stephen Harper’s majority Conservative Party in Ottawa, the federal capital of Canada.

So at the outset of the 2015,  Mulcair thought that this similar position together with his very family friendly Federal childcare proposal, ( based in large part on the Quebec model), his progressive, anti-corporate platform to raise the taxes on big corporations, and his pro environment and anti-oil and gas policies, would further solidify NDP support in Quebec. And with his solid Quebec base intact, permit Mulcair and his party to expand in the rest of Canada, and win the federal election and form a federal NDP government for the first time in Canadian history.

Mulcair forgot the golden rule of Quebec politics

But Mulcair forgot the golden rule of Quebec politics. Quebecers don’t vote with their pocketbook, like those in the rest of Canada, they vote with the heart and what’s in their guts. And outside Montreal, oblivious to the downtown NDP intellectual elites,- Francophones, Anglophones and Allophones were questioning once again, who is a true Quebecer and what are Quebec’s true values.  What are the values for which Quebecers must stand and fight?

After decades of turmoil, the consensus among those three above-named groups, was that Quebec was first and foremost a French-speaking province. If any Quebecer wanted to work in the Quebec public service or properly obtain services from the Quebec government or even provide services or products to the Quebec government, that person or persons must deal exclusively in French. It is not a matter of personal choice.

That’s a fact, Jacques!

Secondly, after centuries, Quebec, to a large extent, in the 1960s and going forward, finally liberated itself from the shackles of Catholicism and emerged as a secular state. The Catholic Church, or any church, temple or mosque was no longer welcome in the legislature, the boardrooms, the factories or the bedrooms of the Quebec state.

Thirdly, as to emphasize the above second point, the provincial Liberal government in the province of Quebec,  headed by Premier Couillard, introduced a bill this summer,  which stipulated that employees of public bodies must “exercise their function with their face uncovered,” and in addition persons receiving services from personnel must have their face uncovered. “

This bill has been met in Quebec with overwhelmingly approval by all the major parties and is supported by a vast majority of the Quebec electorate.

In other words, the wearing of a niqab or burka was to be banned. Because another value essential to the Quebec identity was the equality of men and women.

And the majority Liberal government in Quebec and the opposition parties in the Quebec government, representing the vast majority of Quebecers, believe that the wearing of a niqab or burka reflect the values of a foreign culture that is contrary to essential Quebec values and to Quebec’s identity.

And in Quebec, it is always about Quebec’s identity.

To the majority Quebec government and in fact the majority of the elected representatives in the Quebec legislature and to the vast majority of Quebecers, the wearing of a niqab or burqa is not a religious expression or a personal choice, that takes precedent over the essential values and character of the Quebec identity.

Just as the speaking of English to or in the Quebec public service is not a personal choice that takes precedent over the essential French character of Quebec.

Ironically, Prime Minister Harper, an Anglophone, born in Ontario and educated in Alberta, instinctively understood what the wearing of the niqab and burka represented to the Quebec people and how the wearing of these face-covering garments is an existential threat to Quebec’s identity.

Mulcair and his lefty downtown Montreal elites,  similar to those clueless, narrow-minded, ignorant, arrogant downtown Annex-based Toronto lefties, thought what was good enough for their intellectual elitist friends in Montreal’s Plateau and on CBC’s Radio-Canada, was good enough for the rest of Quebec.

So when Harper seized the moment, and doubled down and proposed to enact federal legislation banning the niqab, similar to what Quebec Liberal Premier Couillard had proposed, that old master political genius, lit a fire in the Quebec hinterlands,  that has spread as Tory political wildfire, engulfing and destroying vulnerable NDP strongholds in its wake.

I predict the haughty and arrogant Mulcair and his minions will go down to horrible defeat in Quebec and in the rest of Canada on October 19 and thus will be reduced to third party status in Canada, behind the victorious Conservative and the resurgent federal Liberal party .

Because paradoxically, the Bible said it best.  Book of Proverbs, 16:18:
“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”

Mulcair “forgot the first rule of Quebec politics”

by Mitch Wolfe, posted in Politics

At the start of his election, Thomas Mulcair thought he had his Quebec base all sewed up. Buttoned down. Solid.

So what happened to the seemingly indestructible NDP “Orange Crush” in Quebec?

Well, Mulcair, his brain trust and most political pundits took their eyes off the always bouncing Quebec political ball.

In the 2011 election, NDP leader Jack Layton and his Quebec lieutenant Thomas Mulcair supported the controversial policy of Quebeckers being able to separate from Canada as long as a referendum on the issue received 50% + one vote.

This policy, taken from the separatist BQ playbook, catapulted the NDP in Quebec to an extraordinary 59 seats, and about 43% of the popular vote.

So at the outset of the 2015 election, Mulcair assumed that a similar position; his very family friendly federal childcare proposal (based in large part on the Quebec model); his progressive vow to raise the taxes on big corporations; and his pro environment and anti-oil and gas policies, would all further solidify NDP support in Quebec.

But Mulcair forgot the golden rule of Quebec politics.

Quebecers don’t vote with their pocketbook, like those in the rest of Canada. They vote with the heart. And outside of Montreal, Quebec’s Francophones, Anglophones and Allophones alike — all of them oblivious to the downtown NDP intellectual elites — were questioning once again:

Who is a true Quebecker? What are Quebec’s true values?

After decades of turmoil, the consensus among those three above-named groups was that Quebec was first and foremost a French-speaking province.

If any Quebecker wanted to work in or receive public services, that person must deal in French. It is not a matter of personal choice.

That’s a fact, Jacques!

Secondly, after centuries, Quebec, finally liberated itself from the shackles of Catholicism in the 1960s and emerged as a secular state. The Catholic Church — or any church, temple or mosque — was no longer welcome in the legislature, the boardrooms, the factories or the bedrooms of the province.

Thirdly, the provincial Liberal government, headed by Premier Couillard, introduced a bill this summer that stipulated that public employees must “exercise their function with their face uncovered,” and persons receiving those services must do likewise.

This bill has the overwhelmingly support of all the major parties and the electorate.

The niqab and the burqa were effectively banned. Because another value essential to the Quebec identity was the equality of men and women.

Most Quebeckers believe these Muslim garments are not a religious expression or a personal choice, but that they reflect the values of a foreign culture that is contrary to essential Quebec values and to Quebec’s identity.

And in Quebec, it is always about Quebec’s identity.

Ironically, Prime Minister Harper, an Anglophone born in Ontario and educated in Alberta, instinctively understood what the niqab and burqa represent to the Quebec people.

Mulcair and his lefty downtown Montreal elites, however, thought what was good enough for them was good enough for the rest of Quebec.

So when Harper seized the moment, and proposed to enact federal legislation banning the niqab for those working in the federal public service and for those dealing with the public service in person, a surge ofConservative support destroyed vulnerable NDP strongholds in its wake.  

I predict the haughty and arrogant Mulcair and his minions will go down to horrible defeat in Quebec onOctober 19.

Because paradoxically, the Bible said it best in the Book of Proverbs: “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”

(Not bad for a third generation Anglophone Quebec Jew, eh?)

End times? Toronto Star’s Michael Geist questions CBC’s “relevance”

by Mitch Wolfe, posted in Media

Is the end of the world nigh? Are pigs circling the CBC “white elephant” on Front Street?

I only ask this because one my favorite columnists at the Toronto “Tsar,” Professor Michael Geist, has come down heavy on CBC.

Sounding almost like our own Brian Lilley, Geist writes:

While disagreement over CBC funding is as old as the broadcaster itself, the more uncomfortable discussion for the CBC is its coverage of the current election campaign — particularly its approach to national debates and political party advertising — which raises troubling questions about its relevance in the current media environment.

The most puzzling decision has been its refusal to broadcast debates hosted by other organizations. The CBC may be disappointed with the debate approach adopted by the political parties in this campaign, but that does not change the sense that if the national public broadcaster does not air programs in the national public interest, it calls into question the very need for a public broadcaster.

Those of us on the right have been ranting and raving about this for years: Why are hard-working Canadian taxpayers stuck paying $1 billion of our hard-earned taxpayer money every year to prop up a heavily biased, incompetent organization — CBC English TV — which has been losing thousands of viewers every year, right across the board, in all categories:

* Its entertainment division. Consider the viewing options: This Hour Has Twenty-Two Viewers; The “Should Have Been Cancelled Years Ago” Rick Mercer Report; The Horribly Unfunny Mr. D, to name but three.

* Its sports division. Losing Hockey Night in Canada and replacing it with Canadian award shows (in which heavily-subsidized artists award each other awards for unread books, unheard music and unwatchable TV shows and films) wasn’t a programming change bound to attract regular hard-working Canadian viewers. (That is, the people who are paying the bills.)

* Its news and documentary division. Petey Mansbridge’s The Notional has been irrelevant for years, except to the dwindling elitist mob south of Bloor, who believe Naomi Klein and her sock puppet husband Avi should speak for all of Canada. And ironically, if CBC’s Marketplace was forced to compete in the free marketplace of ideas, it would go the way of home mail delivery.

Which brings us all back to the election debate issue.

CBC did not just shoot itself in the foot, as Geist claimed. It shot itself in both feet. Then it shot itself in the face. Then it committed harakiri on the steps of Front Street. For many Canadians, left and right, CBC’s refusal to air federal election debates has pushed them into the “defunding” camp.

The Canadian people are doing just fine without the CBC. There are still hundreds of solid print and online newspapers. Hundreds of TV networks. Hundreds of online TV networks, podcasts and blogs.

We Canadians have access to tons of news and information from sources more reliable than the highly biased CBC, which has geared all its anti-Harper reporting to side with any party that might throw it a financial lifeline.

I hereby predict the biggest loser of this federal election:

The CBC, by a landslide.