Author: Bambi

In Ontario, Canada, over 5000 books have been burned in the name of reconciliation, including Tintin en Amérique (https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1817537/livres-autochtones-bibliotheques-ecoles-tintin-asterix-ontario-canada).

This has been done in so-called “flame purifications” ceremonies meant “for educational purposes” in which ashes were used “as fertilizer” to plant a tree and thus “to turn from negative to positive“.

The schools even made a video for students to explain this process: “We bury the ashes of racism, discrimination and stereotypes in the hope that we will grow up in an inclusive country where all can live in prosperity and security.”

How sad, absurd, and ridiculous even to burn books in life, regardless of the book or the noble motivation.

Why are we doing this?

How can we achieve reconciliation in a more constructive and wiser way?

In other terms, and practically, how will this intellectual form of “inquisition” bring justice to Canada’s Indigenous communities?

How will it bring healing to those mourning their loved ones?

And what about the MUCH needed clean water in some First Nations reserves ( tragic reality we usually see in the Third World)?

Will burning books achieve all the above?

Finally, will we one day in 25, 45 or 125 years from now regret such extreme gestures?

Bambi has always been fascinated by politicians indulging in making extravagant promises during electoral campaigns. Today this phenomenon is even more fascinating given our worrisome public finances. If you have forgotten about the latter, here is a very thoughtful article by Mr. Mario Dumont published last Saturday in the Journal de Montreal.

The title of Mr. Dumont’s column says it all: “Yet this is not Monopoly money“. This journalist is right. Monopoly may be fun to play with our loved ones (perhaps even more so in lockdowns). However, our politicians have been spending, and/or talking about spending more, of REAL money… and it is OURS, collectively.

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/09/04/pourtant-ce-nest-pas-de-largent-de-monopoly

Below is a quick translation into English.

“The pandemic has radically damaged Canada’s public finances. Forget Justin Trudeau’s moderate deficits: the situation has turned into a debacle. However, in this campaign, this does not seem to worry anyone. Promises, billions, parties relaunching themselves to promise more than the other, it looks like we are talking about a country with a budget surplus.

I throw in some numbers.

A deficit of over $350 billion in a single year. To give an idea, the previous record was $55 billion after the 2008 financial crisis.

Canada’s debt has gone up sharply. The federal budget tabled in the spring projected an additional $700 billion by 2026.

Canada is a federation. Provincial loans must be included in order to have a complete picture. Over a short period of time, between 2000 and 2024, the federal government and the provinces will together add nearly $1 trillion to our debt.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer estimates that according to the current trajectory, a return to balanced budgets will not occur before… 2070 !!!

And guess what? All of these staggering numbers ignore the tens of billions of new pledges that were added during the current election campaign.

Too big to be tangible?

It seems to me that in a family that would have been hit by a financial disaster last year, we would have the wisdom to moderate ourselves, the time to get back on our feet, that is out from under that debt load. But not to the government! This campaign is seen as if the financial disaster caused by the pandemic never existed.

In fact, I have a feeling that a deficit in the hundreds of billions is so big it turns into Monopoly money. The same goes for a debt that is no longer in billions, but in trillions. Inordinate to our imagination, the numbers become unreal.

However, these amounts represent real money. Real CERB [Canada Emergency Response Benefit] checks and grants of all kinds, added up at the end of the year. And the reimbursement will be made with real money, with tax increases in the future (that we forget to mention during the electoral campaign).

The torrent of government spending

Anyone who finds this debate on public finances too theoretical should dwell on a few very mundane facts.

Deficits represent future taxes that you or your descendants will have to pay one day.

Interest on the debt must be paid annually. Interest rates cannot be lower, they can only go up in the years to come. Paying more interest on a debt means having more of our taxes that does not come back to us in the form of services.

And finally, we are seeing that governments that pour disproportionate money into the system are creating inflation. The rising cost of living is catching up with us.

Forgive me for this column, which does not make you dream.”

Today is Labour Day.

It is also the last long weekend of the summer preceding our beautiful fall season.

Later today, a New Year begins for some of us.  As they say, “Shana Tova” (or Happy New Year)!

Both Labour Day and an end/start of a chapter in life provide an opportunity for reflection on the meaning of labour.

Labour means work. Often, it refers to hard physical work (but not only).

In many countries of the world, including France and Lebanon, there is no Labour Day (or long weekend). What is celebrated instead is the International Workers’ Day or May 1^st Day. The latter is a celebration of the labourers (not the labour per se)/working classes.

Regardless, this brief reflection is relevant to both celebrations as well as to the start of a new year.

Some of us are lucky, even blessed, to love our jobs. Not everyone wakes up excited to go to work on every day.

Others work to earn a living without satisfaction in the work or… workplace.

Others may be devoted workers while being underpaid or taken advantage of in one or another way.

Yet others keep working hard in their search for a job after being laid out or upon migrating.

There are also those rare ones who can afford not to work in life.

And, of course, there are those who despite being passionate and diligent about work, they have been prevented from doing it or from even having physical access to it; ironically sometimes by their own employers.

Anyhow, regardless of our labour types or conditions, Happy Labour Day to you!

To conclude this post in music and maybe to also practice your French, how about two famous, work-related songs, one by the Mr. Zachary Richard and the other by the Colocs?

Bambi and her spouse join their hearts (and prayers) to everyone mourning with Abeer’s family.

If she may, Bambi would like to offer two songs not just to Abeer, but also to all her loved ones: Mom, dad, brother, sisters, cousins, grand-parents, relatives, and friends in the Maritimes and abroad.

Abeer means perfume in Arabic… May the memory of Abeer’s beautiful perfume (and smile!) be eternal.

We learned from Reuters today that “Lebanon deported a Reuters correspondent after questioning him on arrival at Beirut airport at the start of a reporting assignment last month, detaining him overnight before putting him on a flight to Jordan.”

This Reuters senior correspondent is Mr. Suleiman al-Khalidi from Jordan. Can you imagine? The Lebanese authorities “took him aside for questioning and asked him to surrender his company laptop computer and mobile phone“.

After Mr. al-Khalidi refused to hand his material, they transferred him to a deportation centre and sent him back to Jordan the next day (https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/lebanon-deported-reuters-journalist-after-questioning-2021-09-03/).

Reuters asked Lebanon to reverse the decision.

To conclude this post, it is worrisome to see the official Lebanon (i.e., with its powerful forces) treating reporters in this shocking manner. Sadly, such stories are becoming more frequent (Bambi has older posts on the topic). It is not surprising then to read that this tiny, bankrupt yet (always) beautiful country has been recently ranked “#107 out of 180 countries in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index“. Sadly, the limitation on press freedom is also observed worldwide, not just in Lebanon (including Canada, mind you). However, the attack on press freedom/freedom of expression is acutely alarming in Lebanon.

Lebanon Ranked #107 In The 2021 World Press Freedom Index

In several older posts, Bambi paid tribute to Isaac Ohlers, the youngest victim of the surrealistic Beirut blast of August 4, 2020 (she once posted an interview with his mother too, Ms. Sarah Copland).

Yesterday, the Australian Embassy in Beirut unveiled a swing in the garden of the Sursock Museum in Isaac’s memory.

According to L‘Orient Le Jour and An Nahar, the ceremony was attended in person by the honourable Ms. Rebekah Grindlay (Ambassador of Australia in Lebanon) and the families of the other victims. Isaac’s mom and dad, Ms. Copeland and Mr. Craig Ohlers, watched the ceremony live from Australia (https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/1273750/balancoire-au-musee-sursock-en-memoire-disaac-oehlers.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=balancoire-au-musee-sursock-en-memoire-disaac-oehlers ; https://www.annahar.com/arabic/section/77-%D9%85%D8%AC%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%B9/03092021085659204).

In a moving tweet, Ms. Copland shared that Issac used to enjoy playing in the courtyard, climbing trees, and greetings cats. She and her spouse are grateful to Ambassador Grindlay, to the Australian Embassy, and to the Sursock Museum.

In turn, as shown below, the museum thanked the families of the victims and all those who made this event possible.

As a reminder, and for over a year now, Isaac’s parents and the families of the other 219 victims of the surrealistic Beirut port explosion are still seeking justice for their loved ones. When will impunity finally end in Lebanon?!

To conclude this post, Bambi will begin by sharing with you a few pictures of the ceremony (taken from An Nahar and the Sursock Museum Twitter account). Finally, and if she may, she would like to end by offering Isaac two songs inspired by his memorial.

May his memory be eternal… and heartfelt best wishes to his family.

Mr. Yannick Lemay’s cartoon in the Journal de Québec…

Canada is suffocating under political correctness.

Indeed, in our collectively insane times, more and more Canadians say the opposite of what they think privately out of fear. Perhaps other Canadians do not see what Bambi means. Some Canadians even repeat empty slogans, one after the other. Of course, some others are true believers. Yet others may convince themselves (and others) that they are believers or observant. Some even benefit from slogans to advance their careers or agendas.

Anyhow, tonight Canadians (who are still interested in politics) will watch the first 2021 federal debate on TV (in French)… but which “debate” are we talking about precisely?

And which leaders? Bambi is asking because the federal debate is once again among leaders who have been pre-selected?

Of course, the themes to be debated will be carefully chosen. Yes, they will be socially acceptable and accepted.

Again, political correctness or ideologies affect us all.

Indeed, some of our decent political leaders who are supposed to champion the environment have drifted their political focus to interfere in provincial issues/bills that are neither under their jurisdiction nor expertise (not even political power).

Other excellent politicians who would be expected to defend the French language (and likely language demographics) do not dare to even debate immigration in terms of numbers or the values of newcomers (to facilitate their integration).

Yet other perhaps mediocre politicians keep telling us and writing platforms where diversity is presented as our strength. A beautiful slogan again… but is there room still for intellectual diversity? And what about our unity? From all union and people’s movements, we historically and intuitively know that it is rather unity that is our real strength. Not (just?) diversity, even if the latter is enriching in life.

Some politicians have exploited or pushed the diversity card (modern forms of sectarianism) too far to the point of having a name for each type of injustice (racism or discrimination) affecting this or that community… of course in addition to a new empire of corporate business called “diversity, inclusion, and equity”. Once again, intellectual diversity is missing from all this.

Instead of a country of the rule of law for all, we lately saw justice being envisioned to be tailored to skin hue (instead of being the same laws for all with, of course, a consideration for attenuating factors, including possible personal experiences of racism). Is this race-based approach (limited to one’s skin colour) wise and even fair for all, including to the alleged criminal offender? In other terms, what about the sense of personal responsibility in life? Isn’t it worth encouraging and rewarding anymore in tribunals or in rehabilitation following a sentence?

Instead of honouring our collective democracy, we stopped caring to preserve everyone’s right to publicly express an opinion? Instead, we are becoming like a “neo-monarchy” of censorship and of double standards? Approved public discourse is allowed and encouraged. Any dissidence is viciously attacked.   

Canada’ elitists (those in power, their cliques, or dependants in the media/intellectual circles) are sometimes acting in the most tribal and disconnected manner from ordinary people. All this, of course, often in the name of modern forms of puritan morality (and its orthodoxies).  

For sure, at first, politicians’ care for ordinary people may have been genuine, not just to earn their vote. Now, our political leaders are too disconnected from people that they do not even care to fake care.

Who knows? Perhaps our political leaders are trapped in their elitism or, like the population, suffocating under political correctness. Mind you, it is also possible that they may have found another source of political supply.

To conclude this post, you may perhaps think that Bambi is being too cynical today. Maybe just lucid, even if she remains convinced that our Canada remains beautiful, despite our collectively insane times and despite an increased mediocrity in politicians worldwide. However, comparing us to less fortunate countries of the world, including Lebanon, helps in bringing perspectives and… in keeping faith in our country alive. In the end, even collectively insane times shall pass, even if they may last for many years.

This post is about a love song that reminds Bambi of her childhood in Lebanon.

The song is question is performed by a talented singer whom Bambi just discovered: Ms. Carla Chamoun. It is actually a very famous love song, entitled “Khidni maak” [“Take me with you”] by the late Ms. Salwa el Katrib. Bambi had the chance to share this song with you once in an older post featuring El Katrib’s own daughter. The latter, called Ms. Aline Lahoud, is a talented singer (like her mom).

This being said, Bambi would like to thank a certain Mr. Alaa Eddine Taktak from Paris for having kindly publicly shared the translation of this great song on YouTube. Following French, if you wish, you can read a quick English translation [thanks to the assistance of Bambi’s faithful friend, Mr. Google Translate :)].

To conclude this post, and before sharing the lyrics and the song, bravo to Ms. Carla Chamoun for her beautiful voice and interpretation! Congratulations to the musicians for their talent!

LYRICS TRANSLATED INTO FRENCH:

“Emmène-moi avec toi sur un sentier/chemin lointain

Là où nous étions petits enfants/jeunes

Et chauffe mon printemps avec un nouveau soleil

Et fais-moi oublier le jour où nous sommes devenus grands/vieux

Emmène-moi avec toi ô mon amour, ô mon amour

Là où la couleur bleue s’est évanouie (le soir)

Nous marchons ensemble ô mon amour, ô mon amour

Sur un chemin en sable verdoyant

Cache-moi,entoure-moi, par ton amour

Et laisse-moi m’y perdre pour un jour

Et laisse l’amour me faire oublier

Le jour où nous sommes devenus grands/vieux

Demande au vent de l’amour de nous emmener/emporter

Au dessus des montagnes qui n’ont pas de limites

Demain, le temps effacera  nous noms

Et les barrera de traits noirs

Vole-moi,  vole-moi et laisse-moi

Cueillir le printemps, rose par rose

Emmène-moi avec toi, emmène-moi et fais-moi oublier

Fais-moi oublier le jour où nous sommes devenus grands.”

LYRICS TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH:

“Take me with you on a far trail

Where we were younger

And heat my spring with a new sun

And make me forget the day we got old/older

Take me with you oh my love, oh my love

Where the colour blue has faded (in the evening)

We walk together oh my love, oh my love

On a green sand path

Hide me, surround me, with your love

And let me get lost in it for a day

And let love make me forget

The day we got old/older

Ask the wind of love to take us away

Above the mountains that have no limits

Tomorrow time will erase our names

And cross them out with black lines

Steal me, steal me and leave me

pick spring rose by rose

Take me with you, take me and make me forget,

Make me forget the day we grew up”.

Today, the journalists asked Ms. Ensaf Haidar why she publicly supported Mr. Maxime Bernier in the past. The Bloc Québécois (BQ) leader, namely the eloquent Mr. Yves-François Blanchet kindly defended his candidate in Sherbrooke during his press conference.

Perhaps he did so himself because: 1. She is going through a hell of a personal, endless saga with her spouse still in jail (and being tortured) in her birth country, Saudi Arabia (simply because of a personal blog!) and 2. Obviously, despite her intelligence and determination, she still lacks political experience.

However, the video shows us that the courageous Ms. Haidar later chatted with the media herself, as you can see in the Journal de Montréal video/article below:

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/08/31/yves-francois-blanchet-refuse-de-laisser-une-candidate-repondre-aux-journalistes-1

As she said so well, this is a personal story in which she supported and supports everyone who kindly calls her, showing concern for Mr. Badawi. Bravo to Mr. Maxime Bernier for having been that kind of a compassionate public servant. As she added, in politics, things are different (since she is running now for the BQ).

Mind you, bravo for the BQ for their good attitude in the electoral campaign. Bambi read about two candidates, Liberal and BQ, running in a harmonious manner in Trois-Rivières (i.e., Mr. Martin Francoeur and Mr. René Villemure respectively).

It is is Bambi’s hope that one of our journalists will also ask Mr. Trudeau one day (or even one of his senior fellow colleagues) why didn’t they follow up on the motion of the BQ that everyone in the Parliament voted for, including Mr. Trudeau himself. Can they give us, and more specifically give Ms. Haidar and her children, a genuine answer as to why they did not give Mr. Badawi the Canadian citizenship in order to facilitate his return home to join his family? Why didn’t they have the courage to do so?

As for the BQ, thanks for this federal party for defending freedom of expression abroad (and bringing home Canadian fellow citizens in trouble elsewhere). Indeed, this party supported Mr. William Sampson. In the end, the latter sadly died in England in 2012, according to the National Post (https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/william-sampson-dead-canadian-survived-prison-torture-in-saudi-arabia). According to Radio-Canada (or the French CBC) in addition to several other media (https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/114050/sampson-torture), the BQ helped free him from jail (the UK too helped him since he held the double citizenship). A BQ politician even travelled to Saudi Arabia to meet him in jail. The tragedy was that Mr. Sampson was accused of false yet very serious accusations. He was also tortured. However, thankfully, he survived his ordeal. He spent the entire last ten years of his (free) life clearing his name.

—

FYI, Bambi has several posts on Ms. Haidar/Mr. Badawi, including this last one with a touch of humour:

A vote for Ms. Nabila Ben Youssef’s authenticity can also serve to give Mr. Trudeau a well-deserved vacation!