Blog about politics (mideast and pro-Israel, Canadian and local Montreal), world events, and random thoughts.

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The World I Know is updated on a semi-regular basis by segacs.

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11:19 PM
Landry announces resignation

I guess the PQ is already gearing up for the next provincial election, as party leader Bernard Landry announced he will resign, paving the way for a new - and more charismatic - leader to be elected:

Landry made the surprise announcement after getting a 76.2 percent confidence vote from party members at the Parti Quebecois' convention in Quebec City, capital of the mainly French-speaking province of 7.4 million.

"It breaks my heart to tell you this, but I'm doing it in the national interest," Landry said, according to a report by CBC television. "I'm sorry to do this."

Landry said previously that if he got more than 76 percent in the leadership review vote he would remain at the helm, but the 68-year-old politician has faced criticism from within the party since losing the 2003 provincial election.

Who's surprised? Not me. Landry was never going to be party leader in the next election campaign, and this timing gives the PQ a chance to bring in somebody new before election frenzy hits.

My bet for new party leader? Gilles Duceppe. After all, he's the most popular politician in Quebec right now, and the leadership of the Bloc is really nothing but a launching pad for provincial leadership, as established by Lucien Bouchard's precedent.

It was already pretty much guaranteed that the PQ would win the next election, with the Liberals' numbers somewhere down around the temperature in centigrade on a mid-January day in Montreal. But with Landry as premier, it was doubtful that the separatists could win a referendum. If Duceppe takes the helm, however, that changes the whole ball game. And unless the federalist camp starts gearing up for a fight soon, there's a frighteningly realistic possibility that we could lose.

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4:12 PM
There's a backhanded compliment if I've ever heard one

Called to testify for the defence in Karla Homolka's hearing on whether she should face special restrictions after her release from prison, a psychiatrist testified that she has only average risk of reoffending:

Karla Homolka suffers self-esteem problems but is not a psychopath and is not at a greater risk of reoffending than any other inmate now serving time, a Quebec court heard Friday.

Considering the high rate of recidivism among Canada's ex-convicts, I'm wondering if that's supposed to be reassuring.

Update: The court ruling has imposed restrictions on Homolka for after her release, in an almost unprecedented decision. If I were the betting type, I'd bet on the decision being appealed. In the meantime, maybe the restrictions will help keep tabs on one of the worst criminals Canada has ever known.

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4:09 PM
Imaginary hockey

What do Canadians do when there's no NHL hockey? We imagine it.

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3:55 PM
Oy vey

This is not good news:

Israeli commandos killed eight Palestinian policemen in "eye for an eye" shootings three years ago that were ordered to avenge comrades slain in an ambush on an army checkpoint in the West Bank, a newspaper said on Friday.

[ . . . ]

After gunmen from the Palestinian faction Fatah killed six soldiers at a checkpoint outside the West Bank city of Ramallah on Feb. 19, 2002, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon approved stepping up the scale and variety of retaliations.

"The feeling was that this would be 'an eye for an eye'," an ex-soldier who took part in the shooting spree three years ago told Maariv.

Eighteen Palestinians were killed in various retaliatory attacks, including eight policemen shot while manning their checkpoints near Ramallah and Nablus, another West Bank city.

Whether this is true, sensationalized by the media, or even completely out of context, you can be sure we're looking at a disaster. Palestinian terrorists will create a story of mythic proportions out of this, and nobody in the world will be surprised when they take to murdering innocent Israeli children in "revenge". And the worst part is that, despite the pejorative spin that Reuters has inevitably tacked on, it seems to be based on fact this time.

As I said when details of the Abu Gharib prison scandal emerged in the media, if we condemn our enemies for wrongs, we must condemn our friends even louder. Not that the two episodes are on the same plane, but the point is that there can be no excusing wrongs or trying to explain them away. The Israeli army gets falsely accused of wrongdoing on a daily basis, but that's no excuse.

Maybe it's not "fair" that the world excuses terorrism while holding Israel to a higher moral standard. But the problem there is the excusing of terrorism, not the higher moral standard.

I'm already dreading the fallout of this.

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3:53 PM
The new Goodwin's Law

This has been circling the net like wildfire, coining a new catchphrase: "In the future, everyone will be Hitler for 15 minutes".

(Hat tip: Damian Penny).

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9:26 AM
400 more terrorists released onto the streets

Israel has freed 400 Palestinian prisoners in a ridiculous "gesture" towards the sham of a peace process.

Thanks to this "gesture", which is sure to never be reciprocated, we can pretty much count on more innocent Israeli deaths at the hands of the freed terrorists.

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11:42 PM
Butt out... eventually

The proposed smoking ban set to outlaw smoking indoors in all public spaces in Quebec as of January 1 may be delayed until May, reports CTV News. But Health Minister Philippe Couillard promised that the legislation will still come into effect.

Personally I can't wait until this comes into effect. It will be really nice being able to go out without having to breathe in cigarette smoke all night. Adults can make their own decisions about their health... but smoking in public spaces affects nonsmokers too. If people want to smoke, let them go outside and leave the rest of us free to breathe clean air.

Sure, restaurant and bar owners may gripe. But the ban on smoking is long overdue here; it's been law in Ontario for a while now, for example, and people still go out to eat and drink in that province. Hell, even Ireland banned smoking in bars... and the pub culture hasn't disappeared overnight. Somehow, I think that Quebeckers will learn to adapt, too.

Quebec has long had a reputation as "Canada's smoking section". I, for one, think it's high time for us to base our reputation on something healthier... like poutine.

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11:25 PM
Fish War: Part 2

Ten years after the last time anyone outside of the Maritimes noticed the fisheries industry, an international crisis is set to erupt again as Canada seized a Portuguese trawler for fishing illegally in Canadian waters:

Commenting from Ottawa, federal Fisheries Minister Geoff Regan said the rare move is intended to send a message.

"This is a message that we take these matters seriously," Regan told reporters, promising those responsible for breaking the rules will be held responsible.

In convicted of unauthorized entry and unauthorized fishing inside Canadian-controlled waters, captain Ramalheira could be fined up to $250,000.

I actually recall the 1995 incident amazingly well, thanks to a strange coincidence. I was in high school then and taking a geography course where we were assigned a project on a Canadian industry of our choice. My team chose the fisheries industry because we figured there was nothing much to research and the project could be completed in a hurry. Then, two days before the due date, Brian Tobin directed the seizure of a Spanish ship, causing front-page headlines for "our" industry and necessitating a last-minute redo of the entire project the night before its due date. Ah, memories...

Will things escalate that much this time? I doubt it. We'll have to wait and see, though. There's nothing to spark interest in the fishing industry like the threat of a nice old-fashioned gun battle.

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11:11 PM
MSF head arrested in Sudan

This report is truly disturbing: the local head of MSF (Doctors Without Borders) in Darfur, Sudan has been arrested, ostensibly because MSF published a report detailing widespread reports of rape in Darfur without permission:

Sudan arrested the local head of an international aid agency on Monday over a report on hundreds of rapes in Darfur in the first such action against a top relief worker since a rebellion in the area began in 2003.

Paul Foreman, the country head of the Dutch branch of aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), told Reuters he had been arrested but was being freed on bail.

[ . . . ]

Farid said the arrest warrant had been issued after consultation with the governmental Humanitarian Aid Commission. Under Sudanese law, he said MSF should have consulted the Commission before publishing any reports.

In New York, Jan Egeland, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, expressed concern about Foreman's arrest and urged Sudanese authorities to drop the charges immediately.

"It is an incontestable fact that rape and sexual violence are rampant in the ongoing crisis in Darfur," Egeland said in a statement. He said MSF Holland's "work in treating victims of rape and sexual violence, and speaking out about the terrible crimes being committed has been exemplary."

The tragedy of Sudan's Darfur region is that the whole catastrophe was created by human beings while other human beings stood by and did nothing to stop it. The figures are staggering: more than 2 million driven from their homes, some death figures up in the neighbourhood of 400,000 including those directly murdered by the janjaweed and others dead from starvation or disease. The stories that survivors have told about mass rape are truly horrifying.

But the Sudanese government admits to nothing. Not to arming and funding the janjaweed militias. Not to being responsible for the genocide - and let's call a spade a spade here - that continues to be carried out as the world fumbles and fumes and for the most part stands idly by. And certainly not to what everyone knows is fact.

Compared to the horror stories already widely circulated in the press, MSF's report was nothing new. But now, the head of MSF has been charged with "spreading false information" simply for speaking the horrible truth. Sadly, I have a feeling that the world will ignore this injustice as well.

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11:09 PM
Did you even know there was a pageant?

Miss Canada has won the Miss Universe 2005 pageant that was apparently held tonight. Did you know it was even on? I didn't. But, um, go Canada!

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12:46 AM
Sunday night musings

Here I am on another Sunday night procrastinating going to sleep... because when I next wake up it will really be Monday and the weekend will be over. And there's nothing more depressing than a Monday morning. So I'm determined to make it worse by being tired as a zombie. Makes perfect sense to me.

Anyway, this weekend did not rain as was predicted. In fact, it was sunny and beautiful. I hope everyone took advantage. Justin Trudeau sure did.

So what is it with the French and rejecting constitutions anyway? I think Chriac should simply insist on a Notwithstanding Clause.

Quote of the day: "President Bush has made a mistake in his show of support for Abbas (or Arafat in a Brooks Brothers Suit with better barber)." I never quite understood why Arafat, with all his millions, couldn't afford to look better. Or, for that matter, why Suha never bought some sorely-needed plastic surgery. Oh, was that rude? I'm so sorry. I should know better than to insult dead terrorists. That would be uncivilized.

Speaking of terrorists, Abbas is making more threats, suggesting that suicide bombings "may be over" (yeah right) while threatening more if "progress" is not made. How, I wonder, does Abbas define "progress"? Israel is set to let 400 terrorists back on the streets, and the Palestinians are set to... do nothing but complain and launch more violent attacks, as usual. When was the last time the Palestinian side made any "gestures"?

On the home front, with Parliament set to get back to work tomorrow, amidst the scandals and non-confidence votes, Liberal MP Irwin Cotler dares to suggest that the government get some actual work done by passing proposed bills legalizing same-sex marriage and decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana. A valid argument. We're paying all these people to govern, it's about time they get on with it. Of course, the Tories oppose both bills, but I wonder whether Stephen Harper is capable of trying to attack the issues, or if he's programmed to a single note and will keep hammering away on the sponsorship scandal instead?

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