Thanks to Mr. Guy A. Le Page from Radio-Canada (French CBC in Montreal) for hosting Dr. Bock-Côté on his show “Tout le monde en parle”.
It was refreshing for Bambi to watch a debate of ideas (rare nowadays).
Indeed, Bambi is homesick to eras of exchange of thoughts and… to tolerance in our world.
Tolerance of all opinions, even and especially those which we do not agree with.
Here is a quick translation of the summary of this TV show as taken from the French CBC website:
Mathieu Bock-Côté is not resentful toward the Association of Booksellers of Québec for temporarily withdrawing the video in which the Prime Minister suggested reading his essay entitled “The Empire of Political Correctness”. The columnist does not personally take offense at the blunder, but he is concerned about the strong tendency it reveals in our society, which consists of censoring and demonizing any speech that does not correspond to the values imposed by the woke culture. From “Kanata” to “La petite vie” through what happened recently at the University of Ottawa, events are piling up and creating, he says, a certain frustration among the population. Social media may amplify the phenomenon, but it does not explain everything.
Since the interview above was in French, in case you do not understand the beautiful language of Molière, here is a quick translation of Dr. Bock-Côté’s earlier article published in the Journal de Montréal a few days ago. It is entitled “Courage in the face of the woke sect!” [Courage face à la secte woke!].
As he explained on the TV show above, “woke” is an English term. For him, using this term in French is perhaps a reminder that it is an American movement, precisely stemming from American campuses. This is not a local movement made in Québec. (Bambi sometimes uses the term “les illuminés” to refer to this illuminated movement or illuminated folks, etc.).
https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2020/12/02/courage-contre-la-secte-woke
“For months, cases of censorship have been piling up. They are particularly concentrated in intellectual circles which, paradoxically, should be the first to defend freedom of expression.
Recall the example of SLAV in the summer of 2018. Racialist activists sought to have the show canceled and succeeded. Others had brought down Kanata.
Let’s remember the fate that befell Wendy Mesley at CBC who lost her show for using the title “Les nègres blancs d’Amériques”. This bad luck was shared by Catherine Russell at Concordia University who had the misfortune to pronounce the same title. Apparently, this was a violent act.
Censorship
We will also think of the storm that hit Lieutenant-Duval Verushka at the University of Ottawa, for uttering the forbidden word in an educational setting.
Let’s not forget Radio-Canada which decided to censor an episode of La Petite Vie before rescheduling it with a warning.
Obviously, the political correctness empire extends to Québec.
It is in the light of these events that we must look at the censorship of François Legault, who has occupied the news for the last few days. It is indicative, in fact, of a major trend, namely the deployment of a new ideological fanaticism which is no longer marginal.
It is a testament to the influence in the intellectual world of a new sectarian left from the United States. It intimidates on social media and seeks to ruin the reputation of those who do not submit to its dogmas. Its weapon: accusations of racism, sexism, transphobia. We call it the left woke. It is a religious left. It sees blasphemy in contradicting it.
We will note, through these many crises, the little resistance of the various administrations to the controversy. We could talk about the decline of courage in our societies, to say it with Solzhenitsyn [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Solzhenitsyn]. The fear of appearing badly in the circles of the social left leads these administrators to bow.
It is true that it is not particularly pleasant to endure a continuous smear campaign.
For six months now, François Legault has been the target of a media harassment campaign to force him to adhere to the wacky and dangerous theory of systemic racism. He stands up. Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, the head of the PQ, also resists the normalization of this shaky concept.
We can guess that many of them are pushing them to kneel down, hoping to buy peace with the fanatics.
Resistance
However, we must hold on. Even if it’s unpleasant. We will be insulted, demonized, despised. We will have on our backs full-time activists busy sullying our reputation, transforming us into monsters, so no one wants to be around us [“infréquentable” in French].
However, we must reconnect with this elementary virtue: civic courage. That of saying what you think and not just confessing it discreetly to loved ones away from others. The courage to confront the woke religion and those who repeat its slogans.
It represents a threat to democracy.”
