The most pressing issue in Canada today.
May 3, 2007 8:34 AM   Subscribe

Controversy in Canada! It seems that Canadian politicians have nothing better to do. The hockey Don weighs in. The issue described in brief here. More press links here. Lastly, some comparible(?) incidents.
posted by Totally Zanzibarin' Ya (26 comments total)
 
Did you know that Brian Ferry did the original Hockey Night in Canada Theme? "And the chance may never come...again!"
posted by parmanparman at 8:48 AM on May 3, 2007


OTOH, if he had landed a good two-handed slash across the back of the head of another player he would have been elected to parliment. Oh Canada.
posted by Gungho at 8:51 AM on May 3, 2007


Senior Tory officials used their clout to ensure Doan would be selected captain, creating this controversy and drawing attention away from their resoundingly despised climate change plan.




Oh, come on, is it really any more stupid than the real story?
posted by Adam_S at 9:04 AM on May 3, 2007


Is Don Cherry whining again? He was whining about "French guys" wearing visors. He was whining because Canada didn't go to war in Iraq. Now there's a guy who knows what's best for Canada.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:12 AM on May 3, 2007


oh, but it's okay that a repeat violent player who single handedly ended Steve Moore's NHL career is on the team? this country pisses me off sometimes. yes, I am Canadian and this kind of thing makes me ashamed for my country. oh, and fuck you Quebec, and your asinine language laws that essentially protect nothing, and the horse you rode in on.
posted by spish at 9:14 AM on May 3, 2007 [1 favorite]


'I believe truly that if you are going (to) the Olympic games, you're going under a flag and the values attached to it,' [Liberal MP and former amateur sports minister] Coderre said Thursday. 'And to have people like Todd Bertuzzi and Shane Doan... specifically Shane Doan because as you know, last December 13th at the hockey game against the Habs he said something pretty nasty against frenchmen and he used the F-word.'

Just to clarify: it's not the Olympics, it's the World Championships.

Shane Doan reportedly called a French-Canadian referee either a "fucking Frenchman" or a "fucking frog," whereas Todd Bertuzzi nearly killed an opponent with one of the dirtiest hits anyone had seen in quite awhile a couple years back. Neither did anything outside the existing parameters of the game (and significantly less, reportedly, than both Phil Esposito and Bobby Clarke did on their way to becoming national heroes in the '72 Canada-Russia series).

Finally: Denis Coderre clearly doesn't know the first fucking thing about hockey, its culture and traditions. Or else he's an opportunist of the most weaselly muck-dwelling kind. Either way, fuck him. I expect this kind of hollow posturing out of the Bloc, but a Liberal representing a city whose most famous riot of the 20th century was instigated by the suspension of a (French-Canadian) player for punching an (Anglo) ref in the face? Show some dignity, M. Coderre. Calisse.
posted by gompa at 9:20 AM on May 3, 2007 [2 favorites]


The Bloc still haven't come to the realisation that the people of Quebec would much rather put some energy towards economic regeneration in their province. A platform of sovereignty isn't cutting it anymore. That they're even debating this captaincy bullshit is making my blood boil. To quote Strombo: Call an election right fucking now!
posted by jimmythefish at 9:30 AM on May 3, 2007


PS Doan completely denies uttering the slur, by the way.
posted by gompa at 9:33 AM on May 3, 2007


oh, and fuck you Quebec, and your asinine language laws that essentially protect nothing

WTF? Asinine language indeed.
posted by YamwotIam at 9:37 AM on May 3, 2007


oh, and fuck you Quebec, and your asinine language laws that essentially protect nothing

I am an english Canadian living in Vancouver, and I support the most of bill 101. Its the lack of professionalism in its administration that ticks me off.
posted by SSinVan at 9:56 AM on May 3, 2007


Denis Coderre is an ass. I hope Doan wins his lawsuit.
posted by Totally Zanzibarin' Ya at 10:06 AM on May 3, 2007


Oh, come on, is it really any more stupid than the real story?

Yeah, especially when they're too busy drawing attention away from their climate change plan by talking about May's unfortunate Chamberlain/Nazi remarks and asking the Liberals if they've stopped beating their wife yet (renounce the Greens at once or we will assume you hate Jews!).
posted by chrominance at 10:40 AM on May 3, 2007


I am an english Canadian living in Vancouver, and I support the most of bill 101. Its the lack of professionalism in its administration that ticks me off.

point taken. i'm curious though, where else in the world are protectionist laws akin to 101 in place?
posted by spish at 10:56 AM on May 3, 2007


This has nothing to do with bill 101.

This is about racial slur. Have you any good reason to defend racist insults like this? Looks like there are more anti-French-Canadian racists around than informed people.
Sigh.
posted by bru at 11:27 AM on May 3, 2007


This is about racial slur. Have you any good reason to defend racist insults like this?

Yup. The accused denies uttering a slur. "Fucking French(man)" might be an insult, but it's not a slur. The relevant authorities found no evidence of wrongdoing. Innocent until proven guilty and all that.

Looks like there are more anti-French-Canadian racists around than informed people.

Fortunately, enlightened minds like your own would never traffic in unfounded generalizations.

Sigh.

I feel your pain. A hockey referee may have endured a mild insult, and all he has to show for it is a media shitstorm, the ferocious defence of the most powerful political party in Quebec, and a parliamentary inquiry. It is a cruel world indeed. C'est la guerre, mon ami.
posted by gompa at 11:53 AM on May 3, 2007


"Fucking French(man)" might be an insult, but it's not a slur.

To further clarify: You call me maudite Anglo, that's an insult; you call me tete carre, that might be a slur. You call me a cheap Scottish bastard, now you're definitely into slur territory.

But then again I live beneath a ridge called Scotsman's Hill because it was the place you could go to watch the races at the Calgary Stampede for free, and somehow my Highland ancestry will survive without a parliamentary hearing, national press coverage, or an official apology. En plus, c'est la guerre.
posted by gompa at 11:58 AM on May 3, 2007


Sure, it's never important when you are not a member of the insulted party.
Meanwhile, politicians, coaches and radio personalities lose their job in the US of A for any hint of racism. But everybody knows that Americans are not civilized, right?

Thank god our Canadian Conservative politicians know their priorities and use our Parliament only for issues of major political importance.
posted by bru at 12:25 PM on May 3, 2007


it's a cheap play by a political party to buy votes in Quebec. the Bloc is behind this, the chair of the committee has even mentioned this. ...Conservative - committee chair Guy Lauzon - cast the episode as an example of the Bloc Quebecois stirring up tension in their mission to break up Canada.
posted by spish at 12:34 PM on May 3, 2007


the ferocious defence of the most powerful political party in Quebec

Uh, last I heard the Liberals were in power in Quebec.
posted by jimmythefish at 12:44 PM on May 3, 2007


Uh, last I heard the Liberals were in power in Quebec.

Yes, but the Bloc Quebecois, which instigated this argle-bargle, holds 51 of Quebec's 75 seats in the House of Commons.
posted by gompa at 12:55 PM on May 3, 2007


Yes, but the Bloc Quebecois, which instigated this argle-bargle, holds 51 of Quebec's 75 seats in the House of Commons.

But this is part of the problem. People in Quebec don't think they're ever going to seriously get back to the sovereignty issue, nor do they really care anymore (as far as I can tell through friends and family who live there). It's not the main issue. What they do want is federal representation of their province, which is fair enough, and so they vote Bloc. The Bloc still, however, hangs onto antiquated notions relating to a sovereign nation. It's not 1995 anymore, and even then they lost. Harper understands this and it's part of the reason why Ignatieff got his ass handed to him on a platter last year. Most of Quebec wants to move forward, I think, and the Bloc is becoming less and less influential.
posted by jimmythefish at 1:14 PM on May 3, 2007


This is about racial slur.

No it isn't. It's about an alleged slur that Doan has denied saying for a year and a half. It's about an alleged slur that the NHL has looked into and found that nothing wrong had been done. It's about an alleged slur that everyone who has ever known Shane Doan knows that he would never say that.

"There's no question those words were said on the ice," Nicholson told the committee in Ottawa, but added: "According to all the information we've heard, [Doan] did not say that."*

Looks like there are more uninformed French-Canadians around than usual.
posted by Totally Zanzibarin' Ya at 3:13 PM on May 3, 2007


According to what I have read in both languages, the video shows that no one but Doan was around the referee when it happened. So it must have been the voice of god.
posted by bru at 6:20 PM on May 3, 2007


Looks like there are more uninformed French-Canadians around than usual.

For fuck's sake. Judging by the context of this thread, I assume that when you say French Canadian, you're referring to Quebecois exclusively. However, the term also refers to Franco-Terreneuvians, Franco-Ontarians, Franco-Manitobans, Fransaskois, and Franco-Albertans, among others.

The moral of the story? Uninformation is generally the purview of jerkoffs who can't tell their ass from their cul.
posted by YamwotIam at 7:12 PM on May 3, 2007


I would be proud to be called a fucking frenchman. It's a step up from frenchman.
posted by srboisvert at 5:42 AM on May 4, 2007




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