Do you know how the text of the American Constitution begins?
“We the people of the United States…”
And how does the text of the French Constitution begin?
“The French people solemnly proclaim…”
In both cases, care was taken to put the word “people” at the forefront.
History to remind the elected officials responsible for directing the destiny of the country that they do so IN THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE.
For the people.
And by the people.
“YOU ARE OUR SERVANTS”
It seems like a detail, but it’s essential.
It reminds elected officials that they are, first and foremost, representatives of the people.
That their power does not come from any monarch or deity, but from the will of the people.
“Never forget that we are the ones who put you there. You’re not our boss. We are your boss! You may lead the country, but you owe it to us. You must be accountable to us. You must tell us how you use the power we grant you, the privileges we grant you, and the money we send you.”
In fact, this phrase should appear on the facade of all parliaments and all ministers’ and MPs’ offices.
And even that of state companies.
“Remember that you are the representatives of the people.”
History to remind the men and women who direct the destiny of our country, our province or our city that they are not our masters, as they too often think, but our servants.
IMPOSSIBLE MISSION
We live in one of the most democratic countries in the world.
However, it is increasingly difficult to obtain information from our governments.
There’s something wrong. It is not normal.
All journalists say it: sometimes, when they make requests for access to information from this and that ministry or from this and that state corporation, they receive documents that are so redacted that it feels like North Korea!
Here, an example.
Last July, my colleague from the Money section Sylvain Larocque wanted to know where the $1.5 billion that the Legault government invested in funds in recent years went.
Impossible.
“Regarding the list of companies in which these funds have invested and the amounts involved, it appears that this information cannot be transmitted to you for reasons of confidentiality,” Investissement Québec wrote to him.
Um… We can’t know how the government uses OUR money? Where does he place it?
What, we’re too stupid, we wouldn’t understand?
“Leave it to the professionals and trust us”?
My wife and I work with a financial advisor to help our savings grow. We trust him. But that doesn’t stop us from holding him accountable or demanding explanations when our investments don’t perform as well as we’d like.
Certainly, ordinary people don’t have the time to look over the shoulders of our elected officials to find out how they use the money we send them.
They are too busy working to send money to the government!
But that’s why the media exists.
To do the job that citizens don’t have time to do.
However, the worse things go, the more difficult it is for journalists to do their job!
Do you want to speak to a minister? He never has time.
Do you want this or that branch of government to send you a document to carry out verifications? The document in question arrives but three quarters are redacted. Only if we didn’t hide the date.
So, where are we?
In Canada, Quebec or China?
STATE SECRETS
A country is not a private enterprise.
Everyone understands that a government does not want to make certain information public so as not to compromise national security or the progress of an investigation.
We are not caves.
But all other information should be available.
After all, the Canadian Parliament and the National Assembly of Quebec are not forbidden cities.
THE WELL-HANGED TONGUE
In the excellent piece Aux grand mals, les grands vins, which makes us hear extracts from great speeches that marked their era, we can hear a speech given by René Lévesque in 1969:
“I am sick of talking about the language. It doesn’t make sense to talk about the language, to gossip about the language we speak. In a normal society, the language speaks itself!”
So true!
We must be the people who discuss their language the most!
Fifty-five years after Lévesque gave this speech, this subject is still not resolved!
THE STRAW AND THE BEAM
Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault blasted Alberta Premier Danielle Smith after she was photographed drinking a ginger ale with – horror! – a long plastic straw.
Yes, yes, the same Guilbeault who supported the purchase of the Trans Mountain pipeline, who gave the green light to the largest offshore oil project in Newfoundland history, and who disavowed the carbon tax!
This is what we call “seeing the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but not the beam in your own eye”!
CONGRATULATIONS TO QS!
Bravo to MP Alexandre Leduc, from Québec solidaire, who proposed an amendment to Bill 42 so that unions no longer have to defend employees who have been sanctioned for having committed violent acts of a sexual nature.
Coming from a left-wing party, that took a certain courage.
Unfortunately, this proposal was rejected by the Minister of Labor, Jean Boulet, under the pretext that this amendment – which makes sense – would not “pass the test of the Constitution”.
So the Constitution obliges unions to defend aggressors?
Well…