Printed pages reveal cause and effect

There must be a reason why I still enjoy having The Gazette delivered to my door. Only by opening and looking at the real printed pages can I find some interesting juxtapositions.

Tuesday’s paper was no exception. Pages A6 and A7 laid out side by side are real eye-openers.

“City’s economy doesn’t measure up” on A6 paints the strongest and most frightening picture of the omnipresent decline of my beloved Montreal’s economic and demographic health as compared with that of the rest of Canada. Facing this article on A7, “Harel wants to institute language watchdog” makes it clear to me why the city is in decline. Louise Harel just doesn’t find it acceptable that some stores and businesses display a few English signs. OMG, an English word! The end of Quebec!

Do we really need more language police and watchdogs? Don’t we all know that investment is being scared off by our political and economical instability?

Protecting a language or culture is one thing. Demonizing another is cheap political trickery.

“Divide and conquer” — it’s the best recipe to maintain power. The main ingredient is: “create a demon and blame everything on it.” It happened numerous times in bygone centuries and it’s happening here in Quebec right now, under our noses.

I can only hope that, instead of supporting Quebec’s strict language laws and separation, the masses one day will realize that wealthy politicians are only using them as pawns in their chess game, in order to hang on to their powerful positions.

Peter Sipos

Côte-St-Luc