The future may be uncertain but Lebanese people are determined to remain on the streets, as you can see in the pictures below.
Although the future remains uncertain, two million Lebanese people are still on the streets on Day 6 of the protests
Month: October 2019
Moncton Lebanese diaspora supports Lebanon
From Vancouver to Edmonton, from Toronto to Montreal… All the way to Moncton, Canadians of Lebanese origins gathered in support of Lebanese protests.
In Moncton, some drove from as far as Fredericton, NB, or Pugwash, NS (a young family with a toddler and a pregnant mom ready to give birth soon). Some drove from Amherst, NS, or Sackville, NB to join their fellow citizens from Moncton in front of Town Hall.
Everyone stood up together, waving Lebanese flags and chanting the anthem, which goes like: “ALL of us for you Lebanon”. Indeed, we are all as diverse as the society in Lebanon and as united as they are in their demands for a dignified life.
A few cars passing by in the downtown area kindly honked in support.
First, here is a video with a speech in English from the President of the Moncton Lebanese Association, Mr. Mike Timani:
In the link above (FB of the MLA Association), we can see/hear Mr. Timani’s speech (video). Bambi was also moved to read a word of thanks from her sister from as far as Beirut.
Second, here are a few pictures from the event (we can even see a metal “Bambi” and two kids dressed up in the Lebanese army outfit ?).
Some signs were in English:
Other signs in French:
Yet others in Arabic:
And some did not need any words:
Thank you to the Moncton Lebanese Association for allowing us to gather together to show our support to our beloved ones in Lebanon!
To conclude this post, below is a famous double picture that has circulated on social media today. It shows a Lebanese woman during the civil war of 1975-1990 AND it shows her again, today (October, 2019). This lady, older now, is rejoicing. For her, today is the true end of civil war because ALL the Lebanese people are on the streets UNITED with their Lebanese flags (only!) and with the same demand: A dignified life… because enough (of corruption) is enough.
Best wishes to Lebanon in the next stages of its history!
Picture of the day: A Lebanese demonstrator cleaning the streets
To honour her country of birth, Bambi would like to share two videos:
(1). A video produced by the MEA (Middle East Airlines) showing the safety instructions in a creative way, that is with landscapes from Lebanon and dancing, etc. (please see further below). This is the video she watches on any MEA flight she takes from Europe to Beirut.
Perhaps this is not the best time for tourists to visit Lebanon. Hopefully soon!
(2). A moving French song by Mr. Enrico Macias for Beirut that moves Bambi’s heart every time she hears it. Thank you Mr. Macias!
Lebanon is a wonderful touristic destination with incredible food, with fabulous mountains and beaches, with welcoming people who will make you feel like kings and queens with their generosity (regardless of the money in their pocket).
Almost everyone speaks Arabic, French, English, in addition to Armenian (for some Lebanese). Many speak also other languages (e.g., Portuguese, Greek, or German, etc.).
Sadly, today three Arab countries asked their citizens to leave Lebanon immediately.
The Lebanese army escorted some travellers safely to the airport. Other tourists may have trouble reaching the airport with all the demonstrations across the streets of all the country.
Anyhow, here is the fun video by the MEA airlines:
Is democracy in danger in Canada? Sadly yes, big time
It is both sad and worrisome when even Lebanon (at least right now) seems to be more democratic than Canada.
Lebanese people demonstrating on the streets forced their government to scrap a recently approved WhatsApp tax.
Although it is unclear what is going to happen next in that country, its people already gave us five little lessons:
- Lebanese people are not paralyzed by a so-called political rectitude. People talk. People act… Most interestingly, people seem to be listened to.
- People are much stronger when they are united (left/right or any other political spectrum, Christians/Muslims/others/secular, men/women, younger/older, etc.). They are all chanting their Lebanese anthem on the streets. Many have changed their WhatsApp’ profile pictures to the Lebanese flag in solidarity with each other and with their country.
- People are angry at ALL their politicians combined. They do not fear those who may be more powerful (i.e., armed).
- People do not vandalize electoral signs… and if they do, it is surely not with stupid words (check the first video ☹!).
- People have a sense of humour that helps them during rough times. Bambi smiled to the second video after watching the first one. The latter reminded Bambi of Ms. Nancy Mercier’s saga in our town (Sackville, NB).
Bambi thinks that NO sign of any candidate from any political party should be vandalized. No to violence. Period!
We should all be concerned about what happened in Sackville recently.
Bambi is disappointed by the lack of public voices denouncing what has happened in our town with Ms. Nancy Mercier, including our other candidates.
Luckily, there is a citizen from our town who generously offered a reward to anyone who may have information that can help the police investigation concerning Ms. Mercier’s electoral signs ($500).
Now, to end this post with a touch of Lebanese humour, if you like to smile/laugh like Bambi, check the second short cartoon video, which shows the reactions of travellers when they were told the following (in standard Arabic): “Due to a sudden failure, their airplane must urgently land in Beirut, Lebanon” ?.
FIRST VIDEO:
Here is the first video by a PPC candidate, called Ms. Tara Dos Remedios, copied from her Twitter account:
https://twitter.com/i/videos/1185287864742887424
SECOND VIDEO:
This is a cartoon that came out of Lebanon today.
The “Moncton Lebanese Association” stands peacefully alongside the Lebanese people who are asking for a dignified life
Bambi just received the following message by email (thank you Lamia and thanks to the Moncton Lebanese Association):
“Good Evening Everyone,
في ظل ما يحدث في لبنان ودعما للشعب اللبناني الذي يطالب بالعيش الكريم بما يضمن كامل حقوقه، تدعو الجمعية اللبنانية في مونكتون جميع المهتمين في
نيو برنزويك الى مشاركتها في التظاهر سلميا يوم ٢١ ت١، الساعة١١:٣٠ صباحا امام مبنى السيتي هول، مونكتون.
نتمنى عليكم المشاركة لدعم اللبنانيين من نيو برنزويك في مطالبهم المحقة.
نامل ان نراكم جميعا
In light of what is happening in Lebanon and in support of the Lebanese people, who are demanding a more dignified life that guarantees their rights, the Moncton Lebanese Association invites all those interested to come join us on Sunday, October 20 at 11:30 a.m. at Moncton City Hall to stand peacefully alongside the people of Lebanon.
Please come in numbers to show our support from New Brunswick, as
this is an issue that affects us all inside and outside Lebanon.
Hope to see everyone there.
En vue de ce qui se passe au Liban, et afin d’appuyer le peuple libanais qui revendique une vie plus digne et plus respectueuse de leurs droits, l’Association libanaise de Moncton invite tous les intéressés à venir nous rejoindre dimanche le 20 octobre, 11h30 à l’Hotel de ville de Moncton pour pacifiquement manifester votre solidarité avec le peuple libanais.
Veuillez venir en grand nombre pour démontrer l’appui provenant du Nouveau-Brunswick, puisque cet enjeu nous touche tous, soit à l’intérieur ou à l’extérieur du Liban.
Nous espérons bien vous voir.
Regards
Lamia Chami (on behalf of the Moncton Lebanese Association)”
A video from Lebanon (the second day…):
A video created by Bambi’s nephew, Nicolas Douglas on his Instagram:
Sadly, there have been casualties today :(.
As you can see in the picture below this one, peaceful protesters courageously stood up between the police and those committing vandalism (infiltrating crowds):
Lebanese people are TRULY fed up: They are asking for their government’s resignation!
All Lebanon from the North to the South, from the East to the West, is on the streets right now (it is nighttime, at the moment of this post).
People are united against their corrupt government, regardless of their community, their religion, socio-economic class, sex/gender, etc.
They all have ONE single demand: The resignation of the government. They want a reduced caretaker government. These seem to be their demands. They do not want to stop until they achieve this.
Schools and banks will be closed tomorrow (no, it is not because of Greta’s Fridays!).
The whole country is in a sort of a revolution, united against poverty/the corrupt system.
People are fed up. Too much poverty. Too much corruption. Too much taxation (the icing on the cake was today’s approved tax on WhatsApp calls! People use WhatsApp a lot there; just like Bambi does to chat with her family).
Here is a video from downtown Beirut in front of the Parliament with people chanting together the Lebanese anthem:
Here is another video somewhere in Beirut:
Of course, we are in the Middle East (even if Beirut is called the Paris of the Middle East). Burning tires is sadly always on the menu, even after the 103 fires:
Bambi’s heart goes to Lebanon… May justice and prosperity prevail. A beautiful country with its beautiful people deserves beautiful politicians.
They say we usually have the government that we are willing to tolerate. Lebanese people elected or re-elected many of these same politicians (some in power for decades). They lost their patience. Will a change take place? And what will happen after such a change?
A $500 reward for information about vandalized/stolen campaign signs of Ms. Nancy Mercier’s PPC electoral signs in Sackville (NB)
A Sackville man is offering a $500 reward for information that can help lead to the identification of the person(s) responsible for the vandalism (+ stealing) of the electoral signs of Ms. Nancy Mercier running for the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) in Beauséjour riding (NB).
Many thanks! May this $500 reward help our police in finding the responsible(s).
Merci bien! Que cette récompense de $500 à celui ou celle qui aurait de l’information utile puisse mener la police vers le ou les coupables.
Regardless of the outcome of the police’s investigation, Bambi hopes that democracy will know how to prevail (ironically that was one of the concerns of Ms. Mercier when Bambi interviewed her). May respect and tolerance of other people’s different opinions prevail in our brains and hearts.
There is some truth in all opinions. All opinions are worth being heard. No opinion should be shut down in a free society.
Freedom of thought. Freedom of choice. Freedom of speech. These are the basic values of democracy. They are under attack in our Sweet Little Sackville… and by extension in our Canada.
Why did Bambi vote for Ms. Nancy Mercier?
Bambi is not fond of fascism for having lived through civil war times all her childhood and teenage years.
She is neither fond nor intimidated by fascist behaviours. However, she is allergic to seeing someone being harassed.
In our days and times, in our small town, it is Ms. Mercier who has been harassed big time lately.
Bambi has wished to see more people denouncing those criminal acts.
This is why, like one of the commenters on her blog (thank you), she chose to vote for Ms. Mercier, even if she acknowledges that all the other candidates have good ideas or may be good or have the potential to learn more on the job.
Actually, it seems to her that all the other candidates appear more reasonable, and even stronger, than their weaker leaders.
This being said, to illustrate how things are undemocratic in Sackville, Bambi just returned from a tour of the town. SYSTEMATICALLY, all the electoral signs of Ms. Nancy Mercier have been removed, whether they were put by others or by herself/her spouse to help Ms. Mercier after her first harassment incident in Sackville. Some signs were near the hospital, others in the industrial district, others on Bridge street, one York street, and on the Main Exit (the largest vandalized one in the ugliest manner possible).
We have established that this is criminal:
Ms. Mercier is laying charges, as per her own tweet three days ago. Good for her!
Those responsible must be punished, hoping they will learn a lesson. Bambi says this and she has no clue who may have done it and she does not care to know. She is talking in general, and even regardless of the targeted candidate (of any party, currently running or… in the future).
This is not just illegal. This is harassment and it is morally unacceptable.
Bambi worries about Ms. Mercier visiting Sackville again (she is on a wheelchair, for God’s sake. It would be perhaps more challenging for her to defend herself if any overzealous fascist decides to attack her). Look what happened to that old lady in Hamilton. Disgusting, to say the least.
The local New Wark Times published today an article entitled “Liberal Dominic LeBlanc unable to campaign in Beauséjour while Trudeau focusses on neighbouring NS riding”.
In this article above, we can read that “Green candidate Laura Reinsborough has been taking her message door-to-door and persuading voters to display her lawn signs since late June in her campaign to defeat LeBlanc who has held Beauséjour for 19 years”.
This seems lovely on the surface but if we link the title of the New Wark Times article (Mr. Leblanc taking care of his health) with the harassment of Ms. Mercier’s signs (and silence of all our local newspapers, from the Sackville Tribune to the Wark Times), we can see that the competition in Sackville does not appear to be as romantically beautiful as it seems to be.
For one, Bambi wishes Mr. Dominic Leblanc ALL the best. She sends him her positive vibes!
For two, she has been a long-time voter for him and his party. Plus, she usually knows how to give to Cesar what belongs to Cesar: He is clearly a strong (+ smart) Liberal party member, with more leadership than our Prime Minister and Opposition Leader combined.
Ms. Laura Reinsborough seems to be a talented, motivated candidate (especially linguistically).
Trudeau may have chosen to go to Amherst for the reasons mentioned in the article above. It could also be for a tacit alliance with the party line of the Green Party too. Who knows?
Anyhow, Ms. Reinsborough is running for a party whose colour is sexy to many around here and elsewhere, older and younger… but one must go beyond a colour in life, even if it is green and it is trendy. One must read and compare the platforms of parties, on environmental issues (+ other issues). Which ones makes the most sense? Is the proposed policy related to the environment truly the best for the Green Party because of its platform or just the perception of a sexy colour?
Bambi thinks that it would be good to have more Green candidates in Ottawa to hold our politicians accountable and to push on the ecological front… but not too many as this would become totally paralyzing to the economy in the longer run.
Ms. Zann seems to be a talented person who cares for people in her riding. Bambi met her once in the past and enjoyed the chat.
She does not know Mr. Scott Armstrong in person. However, he seems to be an excellent candidate, just like Mr. Vincent Cormier seems to be in our own riding. Plus, like Dr. Jean-Marc Bélanger, Mr. Armstrong seems to have had a career caring for children and youth’s well-being. Good for them and thank you!
As for Ms. Mercier, she has demonstrated that she is a candidate with calibre. Bambi has been impressed with her campaign.
Regardless of the results on October 21, long life to Canada… and hopefully to democracy.
Welcome to “everybody” on board (you thought we meant “Ladies & Gentlemen” in English. “How dare you?”). Our take-off is delayed. OPP tells us that “a person” stabbed “an individual” inside Pearson airport (you dare wonder if this could be terrorism-related? No systemic racism please; AC is a safe space!)
Whilst other countries or non-countries are facing tragedies ☹ (Lebanon burning with 103 fires & the Kurds betrayed by the US and their allies), Canadians seem to be outdoing themselves with odd decisions in the name of so-called diversity and inclusion, and what have you… to the point of excluding the vast majority from the society.
Bambi is referring to two pieces of news, perhaps the second even more worrisome (the first can just make us smile ?):
1. Air Canada will no longer be greeting us with “Sir/Madam” or “Ladies & Gentlemen” (or “Bonjour Madame, Bonjour Monsieur”):
Instead, its staff will use words like “Everybody” or “Tout le monde” (who knows maybe “Yo” as students sometimes write in their emails ??).
Madam or Sir may offend some travellers who may not self-identify as either a male or a female or who may be transgender, etc.
In and by itself, this decision seems noble. It is amazing to be respectful of clients. However, let’s not forget that we are talking here about a very small minority of clients that can be perhaps offended or triggered if not addressed properly.
Instead of calling a specific traveller in a non-gendered manner (say after checking his or her passport and perhaps noticing “other” or X for the gender), we choose to go the extreme by denying ALL the clients the polite words in both French and English, even when they would be the majority.
For instance, the AC staff may clearly greet or serve a pregnant woman and we do not want to address her with Madam in order to be inclusive. Perhaps they will be serving an elderly man during a 7-hour-trip overseas, wearing gloves before interacting with him every time.
Plus, during a violent turbulence or serious incident, Bambi suspects that the words that will get out of the mouth of staff will be tainted with neither political correctness nor politeness (maybe). I hope so as what would matter then would be to save lives and not to offer a safe verbal gender-neutral space to an injured person.
Anyhow, the news is more amusing than anything else.
Air Canada may not call me Madam/Sir but Bambi will keep being polite in the same manner, especially when too jet lagged to remember societal trends (I will likely be saying: “Merci Monsieur”; “Merci Madame”; as long as the flight attendant is OK with this of course). As for Bambi, she frankly does not care how you would address her as long as you offer her good food on board on longer flights ?.
2. Now the MORE worrisome news is a link in the article above about the Ontario provincial police (OPP), no longer releasing the gender of people charged with crimes.
With all due respect to the OPP and all the police forces, Bambi finds this decision absurd. Indeed, it does not serve neither common sense nor science anymore (messing up epidemiological public data).
Bambi wonders what would have Indigenous Ontario women, victims of violence, thought about this had they been still alive? Is this a good thing for the sake of justice? What do their grieving families think?
More broadly, what do the current or future so-called victims or so-called criminals think?
Why doesn’t the OPP use the language used in Lebanon in the media. They name the gender but not the name (just the initials). That way they protect the privacy of the person (if this is the motivation here).
If Bambi is not mistaken, the Edmonton police may have moved in the Lebanese direction (protection of identity by hiding names).
Basically, why is the OPP complicating matters?
Why can’t it call a spade a spade anymore?
Is it truly to protect others or to protect itself from any liability or… to give in/dive more into the collective insanity of political correctness?
Today it is about gender neutrality. Tomorrow about what?
Ms. Nancy Mercier’s electoral sign vandalized further and her other signs removed from town: Why aren’t Sackville citizens denouncing these criminal acts?
Bambi and her spouse walked by the Main Exit. On their way, they noticed that all the electoral signs of Ms. Nancy Mercier were removed (but a low-profile intact one and one vandalized further).
They were both shocked to see this further vandalism by the Main Exit toward Nova Scotia (see the picture above).
Once again, none of the other candidates’ signs were touched.
In this election or in this riding, it is Ms. Mercier’s electoral sign that is being vandalized. In other places or in other years, it may be someone else’s sign. Who knows?
All Canadians should worry to see such vandalism REGARDLESS of whose sign it is, not just because it is illegal.
Why? Because this is a killjoy for democracy. It is a slippery slope that once we allow ourselves to move along it, the end result will be ugly for all of us.
The biggest loser is democracy in our country. Is this what we want?
Plus, how come the nearby Amherst (NS) knows how to be more civilized than us (and we consider ourselves like a “clever” town)?
If Bambi s not mistaken, Amherst seems to have candidates running for all the big national parties, and even smaller parties that are considered as outliers (or at the extreme of a normal distribution).
Bambi has never ever seen such a level of fascism, not even in Lebanon ☹!
In Beirut, no one vandalizes even the picture of Mr. Nasrallah (Chief of the Hezbollah) who drags Lebanon into war (against Israel), behind the back of the Government, and who aligns the country a bit too much toward Iran (exposing it to economic sanctions by Mr. Trump and, more alarmingly, to risk of violent regional conflicts).
Despite this, Lebanese politicians find ways to collaborate with this movement. Citizens live with it. Some criticize it from time to time in the media, on social media, or in their living rooms. However, no one would even think of vandalizing its electoral ad or any other ad. Even the Hezbollah itself does not vandalize ads of the other candidates. Despite those military excesses, it generally plays by the rules of the Lebanese democracy in a rather clever way, managing to have an efficient diplomatic internal political wing, along with its more aggressive external wing.
So, why is it that in our “Sweet Little Sackville”, in our peaceful NB and Canada, we tolerate fascism like that?
We should come together to denounce violence, regardless of the colour of the sign being vandalized.
Political parties come and go. Countries stay… But to stay and flourish, countries need democracy.
Bambi hopes to see democracy prevailing in Canada, regardless of the outcome of the election of October 21st and of future ones.
Related to this federal campaign, because of work elsewhere, Bambi missed the debate that took place at Mount Allison University. However, before going to vote today, she took the time to listen the recorded French debate at the Université de Moncton.
Congratulations to the organizers of a very professional debate (better than the national English one!). Bravo to all our candidates. All were excellent in their respective ways. All had good ideas, including Ms. Mercier. All were civilized and knew how to acknowledge others’ good ideas. Bravo to our own Ms. Laura Reinsborough for her French.
Bambi invites those who have vandalized Ms. Nancy Mercier’s sign and who may be perhaps reading this post (who knows?) to read the earlier interview with her and to listen to the debate (please see below).
If they do so, they would learn that she was among, if not the first, minister in our province who celebrated gay marriages. They will learn also that her own grandmother is Native.
However, most importantly, they will see that she has good ideas locally, along with a clever platform of her PPC party. They may not wish to vote for it. They are free. However, they will be more informed as citizens if they listened.
Even the Hezbollah has candidates who speak fluent Hebrew and know their “enemy” well. Same for Israel. Please do not tell me that it is hard to be polite and chat with another Maritimer! I do not buy it.
You may not wish to vote for the PPC. However, shutting off its candidate is not only unCanadian or uncivilized. It is criminal.
Material that you can use to get to know Ms. Mercier’s ideas more before jumping to vandalize her electoral sign:
U de M debate in French, broadcasted on the radio:
Former post by Bambi:
Conclusion (meant to the perpetrators of violence in our town): Stop, listen, take a breath (it can help) before you act out.
Why commit a crime that you may regret?
You can learn that it is easier (and healthier) to start tolerating diversity of opinions.
