Editorial | Quotes of the year

Five quotes that marked the past year, you will agree with our columnists

Philippe Mercury
Press

Stephanie Grammond
Press

“Happy Saint-Jean! “

What party ! Against all odds, the Canadian had just eliminated the Vegas Golden Knights to advance to the Stanley Cup final for the first time in 28 years. On a beautiful summer evening, in the middle of the June 24 national holiday. People were singing in the streets. The cars honked. The fireworks were backfiring. True to form, Quebec center Phillip Danault attended a press briefing with his “victory pizza” in hand. He gave a tip to his teammate Cole Caufield, who bit into it looking like an embarrassed kid doing a bad shot. Then Danault launched his irresistible “Bonne Saint-Jean!” Which we will remember for a long time. The restaurants were then reopened for less than a month. Vaccination was progressing, CH was winning. It is as if all of Quebec were definitely turning the page on a painful winter marked by disease and curfew.

Philippe Mercury

“If we go to the Little Robert, systemic, we say that it means: relative to a system as a whole. “

Systemic. This word, the Viens commission was not afraid to write it in 2019 in its report on the relations between the Aboriginals and certain public services in Quebec. This word, the coroner Géhane Kamel also used it this year to describe the circumstances which led to the atrocious death of Joyce Echaquan. But for his part, Prime Minister François Legault refuses, again and again, to recognize the existence of systemic racism. Quoting the Little Robert, he explained to us that systemic means: “relating to a system as a whole”. And, according to him, there is no “organized system that starts from above” in Quebec with the aim of discriminating against the natives. Sad. By locking himself into the narrow definition of the dictionary, François Legault missed a great opportunity to initiate reconciliation. How do you tackle a problem when you refuse to name it?

Stephanie Grammond

“When you laugh, you’re nervous. Stop. ”

A new look. A book. A rebirth after a depression. It is a “version 2.0” of Denis Coderre that was announced for his rematch against Valérie Plante. But this sentence, addressed to M^me Plant with incredible condescension during the debate organized by LCN, to understand that the brittle and authoritarian Denis Coderre of the old days had not disappeared. It would be an exaggeration to say that the intervention cost Denis Coderre the election. But it stems from an attitude which considerably harmed the former federal minister. At the end of the campaign, his lack of transparency on his private contracts undoubtedly sank his dream of taking over the mayoralty of Montreal. We wish good luck for the future to Mr. Coderre, who has given a lot for public life. As for Valérie Plante, we wish her to continue to lead the metropolis … without losing her taste for laughing.

Philippe Mercury

” I’m going to tell you a secret. I would have liked it to be in the project and to be asked if I am able to make it as ecological as possible, because I am convinced that it can be, and that Quebec is perfectly aware that this project has positive potential in terms of the environment. “

Comment on the third link in the context of the federal election campaign and say that you are convinced that it can be “ecological”? Jacques Parizeau had a colorful expression for this way of putting his feet in the dishes: self-cleaning to bananize. The statement by the leader of the Bloc Québécois will have haunted him until polling day. Remember that Yves-François Blanchet had set an ambitious goal at the start of the campaign: to reach 40 deputies (out of 78 in Quebec). In the end, the Bloc had to be content with 32 elected officials. Difficult to assess the impact of the declaration on this result, but if it had to be done again, the leader of the Bloc would certainly not venture in the same way on this mined ground.

Alexandre sirois

“Let’s go Brandon! “

The gutter policy? A mud fight? These expressions are outdated if we seek to describe the state in which the American political universe is plunged. A world where your rivals are no longer peers whom you seek to convince of the validity of your ideas, but enemies whom you must get rid of. “Let’s go Brandon! The rallying cry of American citizens across the country is the ultimate symbol of this degeneration. It’s the coded phrase (from the name of a NASCAR racing driver, the source of what initially appears to have been an auditory hallucination) that allows them to tell Joe Biden to fuck off. What to understand, instead of “Let’s go Brandon!” “Is” Fuck Joe Biden! Donald Trump is no longer in power, but the state of health of American democracy is not improving.

Alexandre sirois