#quebec-bashing

Barring the username because you know this person does this for the sake of ragebait and attention (and i guess it worked on me). I wouldn't be posting about it, but i saw the first one gain a lot of interaction on r/CuratedTumblr and it disappointed me.

So, to be clear, the law isn't forcing pork down muslim people's throat as this person (and i can believe this was unintentional) makes it sound. It's also not forcing pork on the menu just because muslim people avoid it. I mean, pork every day?? that's wildly impractical. What Bill 9 says is « No institution or body referred to in section 3 may, in providing food services, offer exclusively a diet based on a religious precept or a tradition ». Yes, it is petty and stupid. but come on, compared to what's going on in other places of the world this is baby shit.

I also really don't want to defend Bill 9, It's a vain attempt by the Legault government to appeal to nationalism right and keep hold of whatever seats they can for next year since they've recently been exposed for the phenomenally incompetent crew morons they are. It's also full of actually horrid shit like banning future teachers from kindergarten to university from wearing religious symbols in a way that's clearly targeting Hijabs, Sikh turbans, etc disproportionately. You should've used that OP instead of the meal stuff.

But that's not "Quebec". It's not "Quebecois". La CAQ is (relatively) fresh off a huge scandal and polling like 20% in the polls right now. Every other major party has slammed the bill. Every respectable quebecois media outlet has called it out as [insert previous paragraph here]. But somehow the bill shows the collective failing of a nation rotten to the core. Definitely not just the same hateful rhetoric, targeted at "the right people" this time.

Believe it or not, we did pull off a revolution. Once upon a time the catholic church had its oppressive grips deep into every facet of the education and medical system. And then, one decade, we woke up and said "no more", booted them out, and declared that the government should be separate from any religion's influence. And we also established strong rights and social nets for our more vulnerable members, which was pretty cool. And it was all done without bloodshed, so we called it "La révolution tranquille". That's the myth that animates québecois provincial politics to this day, and yeah, it's not a utopia and now right-wingers twist it for xenophobia, but for fuck's sake, at its core, laïcité is still a righteous concept and a heritage to be proud of and we're still one of the most progressive provinces of Canada. You know what you'd have right now if you took out Quebec? Pierre Poilievre as Prime Minister. Of a majority government. Yeah. Think about that.