Below is a thoughtful article by Mr. Maka Kotto published in the Journal de Montréal:

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2020/09/14/combattre-le-racisme-par-la-discrimination

Bambi shares the exact same opinion as Mr. Kotto. Indeed, she does not like the idea of a  program meant to support “black” entrepreneurs. Mind you, she would say the same about any future program that would claim to be bringing justice to any part of her complex identity (Lebanese roots, Arab origins, Middle-Eastern, genetically linked to the Phoenicians, remotely associated with Byzantine, short Canadian women, left-handed Sackvilians, etc.).

Programs like this one are somehow insulting as they carry an underlying message: you, members of this or that group, you cannot make it based on merit, like the rest of us. You have to be treated differently. Is this fair to the so-called target group? Is it fair to the rest of the population (all the potential hard-working Canadian entrepreneurs)?

Bambi is asking the above questions, regardless of any noble intentions of our PM. She does not know about you but she is personally disappointed by the vision of our PM for Canada. She thought she has left her birth country 30 years ago, precisely because of clientelism :(. As Mr. Kotto wrote, all this “without even going at the bottom of the debate surrounding racism before such an announcement“.

It is Bambi’s hope that Mr. Trudeau et al. will hear his perspective, even if they have already announced the program in question. Perhaps they would realize what they are doing to our society before they engage in further similar decisions.

Enough of Bambi’s blahblahblah. Here is a quick translation of Mr. Kotto’s article for you. Following it, you will see earlier posts on the same topic.

“Prime Minister Trudeau has just announced the creation of a program to specifically support “black” entrepreneurs. He particularly justifies this by the fact that the lack of access to capital is an obstacle to the economic success of members of “black communities” in Canada.

This $ 221 million program in partnership with banks will provide up to $ 250,000 in loans to “black” entrepreneurs. In addition, it will facilitate their access to training and advice in financial planning and business management.

Systemic racism in financial institutions?

If I understood Prime Minister Trudeau correctly, there is systemic racism in Canada’s financial institutions. A revelation for me because I have not experienced it personally. I bank at Desjardins.

I do take note, however, that the problem exists in Canada, in reference to PM Trudeau’s announcement.

I declare my interest

I am “black” by the force of an obscure convention that my ancestors never signed. So, as a citizen labeled “Black,” I should selfishly clap, shut up and vote for Justin Trudeau in the impending federal election to make sure this new fund tailored for me will survive!

And to hell with the basic debate on racism and discrimination!

A poisoned gift?

Trudeau says the goal of the program is to help “thousands of black business owners and entrepreneurs across the country recover from the crisis and grow their businesses.”

And he adds: “The pandemic has brought to light the inequalities that disproportionately affect black communities in Canada as well as the need to revive our economy so as to offer all Canadians an equal chance to succeed.”

Why only “black” communities? Faced with financial institutions, don’t “White”, “Green”, “Pink”, “Red”, “Yellow”, “Brown” and other enigmatic skin colors entrepreneurs face the same challenges as “Blacks”?

In our democratic life, the dominant reading instruments bear names. They are called: sensation, perception, emotion, impression, intuition. He and Mr. Trudeau’s advisers should know that. It’s elementary.

There is reason to fear tensions and backlash vis-à-vis “blacks” in relation to this discriminatory response against racism. The capacity of the population, as a whole, to instinctively appreciate the order of things it imposes seems to me very weak.

Address the root causes of the “disease of racism”; not just the symptoms, that’s what I would have expected. In total transparency, it would first have been necessary to publicly do the work of pedagogy by going to the bottom of the debate surrounding racism before such an announcement.”

---

Mr. Mario Dumont: “Clientelist drift” [La dérive clientéliste]

Had you been a “black” entrepreneur, wouldn’t you be insulted by the creation of a new race-based government program, like Bambi?

We learn from a CBC article entitled “Laurentian University professor concerned about ‘cancel culture’ in academia” the following:

“Laurentian University professor in Sudbury, Ont. has signed a petition to have her colleague reinstated after what she calls ‘a clumsy and badly written’ Tweet.

In June, David Lesbarrères used the hashtag #ALLLIVESMATTERS in a tweet.”

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/laurentian-university-cancel-culture-tweet-racism-1.5720609

It is VERY nice of his colleague to defend him. Bravo to her.

However, in Bambi’s non-expert citizen’s opinion, we should NEVER ever apologize to the mob.

Dr. Lesbarrères did not do anything wrong. His words were not “clumsy” or “badly written” in Twitter. Actually, Bambi agrees with him: All lives matter indeed! She would say the same for Lebanon, for Canada, for the US, for the whole world… If we think otherwise, we are actually being the narrow-minded ones, even if our intentions may be noble, wanting justice to one particular group.

It is the totalitarian mob that should perhaps be apologizing for silencing people who think differently, instead of showing tolerance and common sense.

This story reminds Bambi of an earlier post about a similar saga. She will end this post with it, asking the following question: When will this insanity stop?

—–

Like Korenberg (and all people with a heart), Bambi is against discrimination against anyone in life for any reason (e.g., ethnicity, religion, AND political views, etc.). Because of the latter, she usually does not endorse radical movements in life (even those pretending to speak in her name)

 

 

 

 

If you recall, Bambi showed you pictures of this pelican, called Ovi she now learned (see the end of this post, as a reminder).

Below, you can watch a short video featuring him with his good friend Mr. Al Aoud, the café/restaurant’s owner.

https://players.brightcove.net/5367332862001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6190283017001

The video above, subtitled in English, comes from The National (https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/in-beirut-a-rescued-pelican-becomes-symbol-of-hope-in-crisis-stricken-lebanon-1.1077035#14). It was impossible to embed it within this post but at least Bambi was able to retrieve it :)!

Ovi is a daily customer of “Abou Mounir restaurant” on the “Corniche” of Beirut, facing the beautiful Mediterranean sea. As a reminder, he has been rescued by fishermen and is taken care of by Mr. Al Aoud. The latter calls him beautiful names like “Beautiful” “Good boy“. He speaks to him in English, French, and Arabic.

Bambi likes how one customer, Mr. Bazzi, described the situation. As reported in the article above, he quoted a song by famed Syrian-Egyptian singer Farid Al Atrash”, saying “life is beautiful if we understand it”. He added “Life is birds, animals, fish, trees, the sea, and the river. That’s life. And we have to understand it to live…”

To conclude this post, Bambi will share a “secret” (sorry Roula for not keeping it to herself but she is sure you do not mind): Well, this is the first time in life when both sisters are in love with the same adorable pelican :). Ms. Roula Douglas (journalist who re-tweeted the Bloomberg journalist who made the pelican famous) lives near him and Bambi follows his news from far away… She would be happy to know that Roula will meet him in person one day. Who knows? She may decide to take her laptop and go work at that restaurant one of these days (perhaps now, perhaps post-pandemic?).

As Roula wisely said, and Mr. Bazzi would not be surprised to hear, “there is always something moving when we see a sort of ongoing communication between a human being, like the café owner, and any living being from another species, like Ovi. Roula even added that “although quite different, Ovi made her think of Kayla, her dog“. Needless to say that Bambi also adores Kayla, not just Ovi!

One month later, Amnesty International is still demanding an international investigation of the Beirut surrealistic explosion. Where is it?

The picture above comes from the Facebook page of “Black Lives Matter, Fredericton”.

If you think that the first item of the survey is innocent and that it is Bambi who is exaggerating, please take a look at this example of nonsense BLM statement of the Department of Communication Studies of Concordia University in Montreal (Québec):

http://www.concordia.ca/artsci/coms/BLM.html

Is this the education our journalists are getting in Canada now?

This could explain, at least partly, the increasing number of nonsense articles in our media ?.

Peaceful men, women (along with their pets) are demonstrating near the Presidential palace.

They are asking for justice for the victims of the Beirut port explosions, as it has been 40 days since that surrealistic tragedy.

Yes, over one month…Yet, no international investigation.

Instead, more fire at the port… and scary news about stored explosive material, here and there.  

What was the response of the Lebanese authorities today?

Bullets fired by the Lebanese army, along with beating by thug members of a Lebanese political party. It is the party established by the Lebanese president (called “Tayyar” movement). As a reminder, it is allied with the Hezbollah, which rules the country behind the scenes. It is too attached to power, like the rest of the sectarian groups. However, it has a military advantage over the others: It sleeps with a powerful militia-backed by Iran.

When will impunity stop in this country?

Where is the international media now?

Where is justice for the Lebanese population?

Can someone tell Bambi, please?

One sign reads: “We are the shield of the Hezbollah“. Another sign reads: “Mr. Berri and Mr. Aoun resign now” (a picture taken from An Nahar).

This picture (taken from An Nahar) says it all: All these portraits are the Lebanese sectarian leaders responsible from the fiasco since civil war… (Mr. Nasrallah is among them, mind you. So, is Mr. Aoun… because “all of them means ALL of them“). Check the mask of the lady in black (grief sign): Silence. The latter goes both ways: They are silent about their criminal negligence… and she is being silenced.

This lady and her cute pet both want Mr. Aoun to resign. Why? Because he also knew about the ammonium nitrate that exploded at the Beirut port, destroying a large part of the city. Just two weeks before the explosion, the President again received a warning notice about the dangerous material. What did he do? NOTHING. Note: He is a former Army General… what a shame.

A courageous Lebanese citizen…

Another courageous citizen… with an aggressive man. Look at how is holding her and what a “sweet” expression of love to his fellow citizen… Shame on him too.

Bambi will end this post with three short news documentary videos, one from the MTV (which, as reminder, was prevented from covering parliamentary consultations to elect the recent PM). Look at the beating (with sticks on cars of demonstrators. From the colour of the hats, you can guess the party). If you understand Arabic, you can hear the journalist talking about the bullets from the Army.

Why are we putting the country’s army in such a difficult situation :(? These young men and women may have also lost loved ones in the explosion or their own apartments. Here they are forced to fire on their own people. How sad.

Bambi does not care about the leader in question, the party in question, the supporters… She has never ever been a supporter of any party in her life. Her love is JUST for the country… As the clever slogan of the Revolt goes, “All of them means all of them” [“Kiloun Yiwne Kiloun“]. Today, it is about President Aoun, as he happens to be one of them. When will people stop following leaders and put their country first instead? WHEN?!

Here is a thoughtful article by Mr. Mario Dumont. Entitled “Clientelist drift” [La dérive clientéliste], it was published yesterday in the Journal de Montréal:

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2020/09/11/la-derive-clienteliste

Below is a quick translation for you. This post will end with an earlier post by Bambi on the same topic.

“Justin Trudeau has just announced a support program for black entrepreneurs. I put aside my general impatience for the Prime Minister to hand out borrowed money wholeheartedly. We are now talking about a deficit for the year that could reach $500 billion. Stunning.

Instead, I want to question the merits of an approach based on ethnic origin to dealing with entrepreneurship. Starting a business in Canada is open to everyone. Establishing a racial criterion to qualify or not an individual for financial assistance brings us on a slippery slope [for Bambi, this slippery slope is more dangerous than corruption… imagine when they collude one day, like in Beirut ☹].

Let us not deny that discrimination exists. Mr. Trudeau said yesterday that people from black communities have more difficulty than others when obtaining a loan. This is a serious problem.

Real problem

I will strongly support a government that gets to the bottom of it to understand why a visible minority person would encounter such obstacles. A black person who presents a solid project should never be said no because of their colour. Unacceptable for applying for a loan in a bank, unacceptable for seeking aid in a state program.

But would it be more acceptable to give public money to a void project because of the colour of the promoter? I do not believe so.

The response of the Trudeau government is not to get to the root of the problem of discrimination. Rather, we prefer to get around the situation by creating a specific program for blacks. Without realizing it, the government comforts those who discriminate against blacks, who will think that they now have their own agenda anyway.

Obviously, we recognize in Justin Trudeau’s announcement a deep political patronage. When you target an action so clearly on a group, you hope that community members will remember the generosity of government [Bambi will allow herself to add the following: this is how exponential levels of clientelism must have first started in Lebanon… about 100 years ago. Do we want Canada to look like Lebanon in 100 years from now?]. But this patronage drawn from politics and then transplanted into government action does not bode well.

Criteria

I seriously wonder about the handling by state officers of this racial criterion. Who is black in 2020? More and more young people likely to become entrepreneurs are the children of couples where the two parents are not of the same origin. Many members of the Haitian community in Quebec do not marry a Haitian spouse.

With the randomness of genetics, their children can have a more or less black . More or less curly hair. What if the next generation gives us beautiful children with an Asian or Latino spouse, is the loan seeker still black enough? Does anyone really want to enter the ethnic eligibility tests? Ouf!

Once engaged in this approach based on ethnic belonging, what will be the response to Pakistanis, Arabs, Asians or indigenous Peruvians who will also claim to be victims of discrimination? An economic program for each ethnic group?

Real problem, bad solution.”

Had you been a “black” entrepreneur, wouldn’t you be insulted by the creation of a new race-based government program, like Bambi?

Here is a quick English translation of this beautiful French-Canadian song by Ms. Ginette Reno, followed by the song. May all the hearts heal with time, despite the pain and the absurdity of violence. May peace and love prevail…

“Those who go, those who leave us

Old parents, true friends

Those who left their youth

In a sleepy landscape

Those who go, those who leave us

Tight heart, gray hair

Those who did not leave addresses

As if they wanted to be forgotten

Those who go, those who leave us

With the silence and the rain

With strength and weakness

To want to be alive again

Those who go, those who leave us

As a stranger in paradise

Those who take away their tenderness

And their endless smile

Those who go, those who leave us

With flowers at your fingertips

Those who don’t keep their promise

Who left.. for whom? For what?

Those who go those, who leave us

Like school children in the cold

The escapees who disappear

The survivors of the afterlife

Those who go, those who we leave

With the silence and the rain

With strength and weakness

To want to be alive again

Those who go, those who leave us

As a stranger in paradise

Those who take away their tenderness

And their endless smile

Those who go, those who leave us

Those who go, those who leave us

After having contacted Radio-Canada himself to give an interview on June 2nd, 2020 (https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1708412/entrevue-medecin-suspendu-eclosion-covid-19-restigouche-nouveau-brunswick), Dr. Ngola played the victim card to its full extent (below you can see earlier posts by Bambi on the topic).

As a reminder, Dr. Ngola went to Québec during the pandemic without self-isolating upon his return (and even sending his daughter to daycare). Just think of it, whether he was patient zero or patient 1000, he did not self-isolate and he is a healthcare provider. Is this wise? Wouldn’t you expect better from a physician had you been his patient?

Regardless of his own reasons (job interview, driving spouse to airport to travel to a funeral, etc.), his behavour was irresponsible. In all honesty, Bambi does not care about his country of birth, skin, or language. Had she been living in the small community where he was practising, she would have not been impressed by his behaviour.

As you see in one of Bambi’s earlier posts, one (and eventually two…) of the senior patients of the community in question died during this outbreak, whether caused by Dr. Ngola or not. He was unlucky because he got caught. As simple as that.

Last week, the CBC featured him and his lawyers in an article under their new section called “Being black in Canada” (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/doubt-ngola-family-doctor-source-outbreak-campbellton-new-brunswick-1.5706918).

Today, the same publicly-funded CBC is informing us that “lawyers of N.B. doctor blamed for outbreak call for public and criminal inquiry of handling of case”:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/robert-ngola-public-inquiry-breach-trust-1.5717318

False positive tests are infrequent, although of course not impossible.

What is frequent these days is the politicization of everything, from our skin colour to a pandemic.

Dr. Ngola may not be responsible for the sad death of two patients, we get it, nonetheless his behaviour was irresponsible.

——–

Good for Dr. Ngola for the dropped criminal charges but why does he expect an apology?

Why should Mr. Higgs apologize to Dr. Ngola?

Goodbye/Au revoir Monsieur Daniel Ouellette

Outbreak of the coronavirus in Restigouche: Why aren’t we revealing the physician’s name to protect the population?

Six days after the explosion:

A month later:

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/09/lebanon-only-an-international-investigation-can-set-the-course-for-justice-for-beirut-blast-victims/

For whom did little Sama lose her eye? For what? Her family escaped war in Syria, thinking they were safer in Lebanon, as you can see in the CBC documentary below.

What about the 192 victims who lost their lives and the 6500 injured citizens?

What about the 300, 000 homeless citizens? They are now relying on international and national food donation. What about those who are living in their heavily damaged houses, still unable to fix them? They are all, slowly but surely, smiling to a new dawn… but deep inside, their hearts are still shattered.

Many Lebanese citizens are leaving their country. Some are unable to do so. Remember, they still do not have access to their savings. They are like prisoners in their own country. Some are fortunate to be able to travel whilst some are trying illegal and risky ways. Yet others are dreaming to see their kids living in more stable countries abroad (despite the pandemic in the world).

Anyhow, here is the CBC piece for the National mentioned above:

A couple of days ago, Beirut lost a lady, Ms. Lady Yvonne Sursock Cochrane. She died in her beautiful yet damaged palace at age 98 of Beirut port explosion injuries. May her memory be eternal and thanks to her for all what she did to defend heritage!

Mind you, her place is near Bambi’s cousin, Dearest Joumana. Thank God the latter just left her apartment before the blast. This neighbourhood is not far from Bambi’s own parents. Her palace (a museum) means so much to Beirut citizens, to Lebanese people, and to tourists… Perhaps more so to Bambi’s mom who grew up nearby. Let’s hope this museum will be rebuilt soon. Thanks to the Louvre Museum in Paris who expressed solidarity with Beirut Sursock Museum. The latter has been renovated after civil war. Indeed, it took 20 years to fix it, as you can see in the pictures below:

https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ts/news/world/middleeast/2020/09/01/lebanese-philanthropist-lady-cochrane-dies-of-blast-injuries.html

https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/1231003/lady-cochrane-disparition-dune-icone.html

Yesterday, another sad story came out of Beirut: an injured man in the blast, called Mr. Tanios Antoun, lost his life. He was an inpatient at the Saint George Hospital. He had to be rushed to the American University of Beirut Healthcare Centre. Despite the best medical efforts, he lost his battle against his injuries. Mr. Antoun comes from a beautiful village called Sghar. Bambi could not find an online picture of this man to honour him. To do so, she will show you two pictures of his village.

This will be followed by a song she would like to dedicate to his memory as well as to Ms. Sursock-Cochrane’s memory, if she may. It is the famous Li Beirut song of Feiruz, acapella performance by a talented artist that Bambi just discovered. Her name is Ms. Abir Nehme.

To conclude this post on a lighter note, Bambi will share pictures of two beautiful guests in Beirut. One gave citizens hope of finding life under the rubble, even after a month. Flash, a clever and cute dog, came with her rescue team from Chile. Sadly, the heart beating she discovered and they sensed stopped. Thanks to them and to their Lebanese peers for searching the destroyed site for three days. At least, they can tell themselves that they did their utmost. Well, Flash became a star in Beirut in both real life and social media. Thank you Ms. Roula Douglas for sharing her picture!

Following Flash’s picture, you will see a few pictures, taken as screenshots from Roula’s’ Twitter account. Bambi tried to find ways to share the original video but was unsuccessful. Anyhow, you can still see an adorable pelican who made friends in Beirut with a café owner and fishermen. The video comes from a Bloomberg Beirut-based journalist, Ms. Lin Noueihed who wrote the following: “So I was having a bite with a couple of friends by the corniche when this fella wonders in. Apparently, he’s been visiting for the past month, looked after by the cafe owner and fishermen. And for a few minutes, the world was beautiful again. #Beirut“.

As a conclusion to this post, Bambi is happy to virtually meet you, beautiful pelican. She hopes you are having a good time in Beirut. Who knows? Perhaps you brought to citizens a message of hope about any international investigation as well as more prosperous and healthy days to the Lebanese people. Until then, long live your friendship with the Beirut café owner and the fishermen!

Who said that Canadian entrepreneurs who happen to be “black” are treated unfairly by our banks?

If that was the horrible case, where are the data backing such a statement?

If the data exist, where is the correction with which our government could have addressed such systemic problem?

Why is our government creating race-based programs instead (https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/trudeau-announces-cash-for-loans-support-to-black-canadian-entrepreneurs-1.5097852)? And is this a wise strategy?

Plus, why are our authorities dividing us based on our skin colours?

Well, what if we get tanned over the summer (like many deer of Lebanese origins or Canadians, darker than the average)? Would we qualify ??

Seriously, Bambi does not know if she should smile or cry. Indeed, the “duo” Trudeau/Freeland et al. may think they are being highly noble and fair. However, in Bambi’s mind, they are being unwise rather. She is saying this from her non-expert citizen perspective and with all due respect.

Bambi does not know how you would personally feel about all this or if you care to think about it. As far as she is concerned and had she been black, she would have found it insulting to have a funding program meant only for entrepreneurs (i.e., just because they are black business owners). In the same way, she would find it insulting to have a research funding program meant only for Arabs or so-called “White” people or just deer, etc. They will get that loan or this grant, not because of anything else, usually based on merit. No, it is just based on their so-called race.  

What if you are a Canadian of Palestinian origins who happened to be black? What if you are like this school mate of hers who was black like an African and yet Lebanese. What if a business is made of several people of different shapes and shades?

Despite the good intentions, such a program gives the following message: In Canada, so-called black entrepreneurs should be treated differently because they would have not been able to make it otherwise. So, we take them by the hand, like little infants.

What happened to the concept of merit? Is this what entrepreneurs truly want? Isn’t this contrary to the spirit of entrepreneurship even, that is to attempt to make profits, by initiative and risk and by competition with all others?