Author: Bambi

Today, the Government of Québec called for the resignation of the federal representative against Islamophobia. Bravo because her nomination is a joke, to say the least (https://bit.ly/3HntPW3), as per the two posts shown further below.

Now the question that begs itself is the following:

Talking about this Mr. Elghawaby, Mr. Trudeau said that “over the years, she has had the opportunity to consider the impacts of various pieces of legislature on the community — part of what makes her role important. He said Elghawaby was appointed because she knows the Muslim community well and can share their concerns. She is there to speak for the community with the community and build bridges. Her job now is to make sure that she is helping the government and helping everyone move forward in the fight against Islamophobia”.

Since when there is one single Muslim community, Mr. Trudeau? Since when there is one single Jewish community as well?

Ms. Elghawaby may know how to speak our government language well. Hence her political nomination. She surely does not represent the majority of the Canadian Muslims (and specifically women; some are observant and others are not), whether of Arabic ethnolinguistic background or not. Same for Mr. Bernie Farber, he does not represent all the Canadian Jews, for sure.

So, Mr. Trudeau, how can you talk about “bridge building” when Ms. Elghawaby’s words are too divisive and too disrespectful toward the people of Québec and their democratic choices? Do you really think that we are too stupid to this extent to swallow your descriptive words?

In other terms, words have meaning, Mr. Trudeau (at least still in Bambi’s dictionary, even in our collectively insane times). When you allowed yourself to call a political opponent “racist” or your fellow Canadians, who did not get vaccinated, “racist and misogynistic extremists“, how can we believe you now when you tell us that Ms. Elghawaby is a bridge builder?

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Mr. Pierre Poilievre: thank you for your wise words calling for unity, instead of increased divisiveness

Ms. Amira Elghawaby: She called Québeckers “Islamophobic” as she dislikes their secularism and Bill 21. Mr. Trudeau appointed her “Canada’ first representative to fight against Islamophobia”

Bambi has two aunts, maternal and paternal, called “Renée”. Last November, she honoured the first, as shown further below. Today, she wants to devote this post to her maternal aunt Renée who is coping with pain, post-surgery, while celebrating her birthday.

Bambi loves you a lot, dearest “tante” [or aunty] Renée ❤️. She sends you daily positive vibes through her heart’s prayer in addition to warm (and fond) regards across the miles. Of course, she also wants to wish you a Happy/ier Birthday with the song below.

To conclude this post, Bambi will thank you Renée for the inspiration in life from her childhood, through her youth, and into her adult life. For instance, she will always remember what you wrote in her little diary filled with thoughtful notes from loved ones when she was 8 years old. She still has this booklet in a sealed box in her basement called “Memories from Lebanon“. Yes, it travelled sea, ocean, and across three different Canadian provinces. Your inspiring note, written in French, reads as follows: “Be good [Bambi]. Goodness contains the other virtues“.

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Mr. Zaki Nassif: “Lover of flowers” [“Ya Ashikata el Wardi”]

Bambi just learned, from an article published in La Presse (https://bit.ly/3XOZre8) that Canada and the world lost Ms. Viola Léger, this GREAT and highly moving actress from New Brunswick, who interpreted the character of La Sagouine, the masterpiece of Ms. Antonine Maillet; a book Bambi saw last July among her mom’s collection of Canadian books in Beirut. Luckily, this book remained intact when the apartment of Bambi’s parents was heavily damaged in the Beirut port explosion of 2020.

From the website of the Pays de La Sagouine (https://bit.ly/40dLtUA), we can read the following about her impressive career achievements, prizes, and honours: “Ms. Léger was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1989. Her singular talent has earned her many awards and honours: the 1995 New Brunswick Government’s Award of Excellence in the Arts, Order of the New Brunswick -Brunswick in 2007 and four honorary doctorates. She was named Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of France in 1991, member of the Order of Francophones of America in 1998 and Knight of the Order of the Pléiade in 2004. From 2001 to 2006, Ms. Léger sat in the Senate, where she emphasized the importance of artists in our society”.

May Ms. Léger rest in peace. May her memory be eternal. If she may, Bambi would like to thank her while extending her heartfelt condolences to her family, to Ms. Antonine Maillet too, to her friends, colleagues, tourists who visited Le Pays de La Sagouine in Bouctouche, local Canadians, and all the lovers of the French language and culture across Canada, North America, in France/Europe, and in the entire “Francophonie” of the world, including Lebanon.

To conclude this brief tribute to Ms. Léger, Bambi will end with parts of the “Le recensement” she found on Youtube with the most talented La Sagouine! Thank you for the smiles. Thank you for the laughter and for allowing us to learn and reflect about the meaning of an Acadian heritage, not really American, not really French-Canadian [or “Canadians-Français” as this would be a label more meant for Québekers, as you said :)]. As a reply to this interesting scene, below is a brief yet also hilarious moment from the Elvis Gratton movie, which tries to explain what is a “Canadian français” or “Québécois” to a French tourist on an airplane :).

Bambi does not care in which political family someone is a member of. She only cares about their wise messages or good acts. Today, Mr. Poilievre was that wise Canadian politician, in both languages.

No to increased divisiveness. Yes for respect for all, including Québeckers (+ Jewish Canadians and police, etc.). Yes for unity in our country. Yes also for respecting the voices of the majority of Canadians who happen to be moderate Muslims, whether their ethnolinguistic heritage is Arab or not. They all want to see more harmony and less radicalism in Canada. They left their troubled home birth countries, precisely because of extremism and tribalism. They have never ever imagined that their adoptive country will be in such a mess, which in the end can only serve extremists.

Thank you, Mr. Poilievre. Merci bien. The first video is in English. The second in French. An earlier post about Ms. Amira Elghawaby appears at the end of the current one.

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Ms. Amira Elghawaby: She called Québeckers “Islamophobic” as she dislikes their secularism and Bill 21. Mr. Trudeau appointed her “Canada’ first representative to fight against Islamophobia”

The news around the world are rather sad with continuous wars, shootings, shelling, executions, hyperinflation, and security issues. Sadly, there are several hot places, including an unfolding war tragedy in Ukraine, bloody armed conflicts, shootings, or authoritarian states in the Middle East, and last but not least, nations with a risk of a state collapse, like tiny and bankrupt yet still dignified Lebanon.

While chatting with her parents this morning, Bambi learned that in maybe less than 24 hours, Lebanon’s currency dropped in value by over 10,000 Lebanese Lira (or pounds), with an exchange rate of 63,000 to even 70,000 to the US dollar. How do people manage? This has been going on for years. Today seems like the worst day.

How not to lose one’s sanity in such harsh economic circumstances or in long absurd wars or in any other adversity?! Is there any magical recipe of hope?

Luckily, one can use something called humour to distance oneself emotionally from a continuous tragedy. Maybe another ingredient of the hope recipe, for some at least, is to pray for sunnier days? Another coping strategy may be to let oneself be inspired by meaningful words of artists who write and sing hymns to hope, like our talented Canadian singer/songwriter Nicola Ciccone? Bambi will borrow his words that she will translate for you as follows: “After the tears and the sadness, after the storm, and after distress, a sun always rises”.

Thanks to Ms. Mylène Crête and Mr. Hugo Pilon LaRose, from La Presse, for reminding us of a July 2019 article by M. Amira Elghawaby ( s://bit.ly/3Dma67N), co-signed by Mr. Bernie Farber (both of them are board members of the so-called Canadian Anti-Hate Network). In this article (https://bit.ly/3WIYN0r), she called Québeckers Islamophobic, imagine. So, in a so-called anti-hate network, we are allowed to be hateful against some Canadians, but not others. She wrote: “Unfortunately, the majority of Québecers appear to be swayed not by the rule of law, but by anti-Muslim sentiment“.

If Ms. Elghawaby chooses to be ignorant and mean to Québeckers, we can understand. It is her right to freedom of expression. However, for our Prime Minister to appoint her to the position of Canada’s first representative to fight against Islamophobia tells us about his government’s top priority: legally challenging Québec’s Bill 21 by all means, including political nominations like this one.

Dr. Karim Émile Bitar wears several academic and expert hats. He is an Associate Professor of International Relations at Lebanon’s Université Saint-Joseph (USJ), an Associate Fellow at the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP), a Research Associate at Brussels’ Institut Medea, an Associate Research Fellow at the Institute for International and Strategic Affairs in Paris (IRIS). He is also a Professor of International Relations and of History of Political Thought at many French Grandes Écoles. He regularly testifies before the Foreign Affairs Committees of the French and European Parliaments. Professor Bitar graduated from prestigious universities in Paris and Canada, including McGill University. In addition to Law, he studied Administration, Economics, and International Relations. He knows what he is talking about when he warns us that: “We are witnessing the complete collapse of our entire judicial system“. Is anyone hearing from the international community and… what is next for Lebanon?!

Bambi would like to thank her friend Leila for kindly attracting her attention to this SHOCKING, yet not surprising, development from out of Beirut.

Below is Al Jazeera brief video explaining this development in English with the following YouTube text: “Lebanon’s top prosecutor on Wednesday filed charges against the judge investigating the Beirut port blast, a judicial source said, and ordered the release of all those detained in connection with the port explosion. Ghassan Oweidat’s decision signals escalating opposition by Lebanon’s ruling class to efforts by Judge Tarek Bitar to resume investigations into the 2020 blast after a 13-month break. Aya Majzoub is the deputy director for the middle east at Amnesty International. She joins us from Beirut to discuss the latest update”.

But first here is what will happen in Beirut in a few hours: thank you journalist Roula Douglas for keeping us informed with a re-tweet of a call for a demonstration on Thursday, at 11 AM in front of Beirut Justice Palace by Committee of the Families of the victims of the Beirut port blast of August 4, 2020.

SHAME on the governing class of Lebanon and, once again, may God protect Judge Bitar, the hero of both Beirut and Bambi’s heart. He deserves a Nobel Peace Prize, not a spoke in his (legal) wheels or threats to his safety. Beirutis, and especially families of the victims, deserve justice. Lebanon deserves an end to impunity, starting with this criminal negligence. Enough is enough!

Thank you, Mr. Mario Dumont for your clever article about Bill 21, which Bambi took the time to read and appreciate. As readers of this blog know, Bambi has many older posts on this bill, some are shown at the end of this one. In her mind, even it is not a perfect bill (and even if, in an ideal world, there is no need for such bills to support the state’s secularism), it is made by and for Québec, according to its own historical society’s choices based on its different culture. It came after a decade of public debates. It is moderate, especially compared to some European countries and contrary to what the mainstream media has been writing about it. One has only to go to the source and read the bill to notice this (ttps://bit.ly/3R4rh3m).

This being said, it is now reassuring for Bambi to learn that Bill 21 “has established a balance, a relative social peace on this sensitive issue” to Québec. When would balance, social peace, and ideally unity also spread to the rest of Canada? Anyhow, below you can find a translation of Mr. Dumont’s article while acknowledging the assistance of Bambi’s faithful friend Google Translate.

“I am convinced that if Justin Trudeau seems obsessed with attacking the power of the provinces to override the Charter, it is largely due to Bill 21. Regulating the wearing of religious symbols in his multicultural world is simply not an option. . Since that day, he has been preparing a counter-offensive.

Bill 96 on the protection of French and Doug Ford’s recent project to restrict the right to strike served as pretexts for him to find his angle of attack.

According to him, the provinces are abusing the notwithstanding clause. The great federal wise, holder of truth and guardian of good morals, must intervene to chaperone them.

Justin Trudeau hates Bill 21 for ideological reasons. Imposing restrictions on religious freedom will never suit him, even in the name of state secularism. Moreover, his offensive seemed to him politically profitable.

A success

However, if we put ideologies aside, Bill 21 must be seen as a real success for Québec society. Almost four years after its adoption, the Law on secularism has established a balance, a relative social peace on this sensitive issue.

Without being perfect, this legislation turned the page on more than a decade of differences and tensions.

Remember the debate over unreasonable accommodations, which was actually a realization that unreasonable accommodations had become the norm.

Overwhelmed by the situation, Jean Charest had mandated the Bouchard-Taylor Commission to find possible solutions.

The Commission provided useful clarification on the issue of accommodation and recommended the banning of religious symbols for government employees in positions of authority.

Chess Series

A decade of pirouettes and political failures followed. Jean Charest tried to shelve this report which divided his party. Then the PQ tabled its Charter of Values, a poorly measured effort that never came to fruition.

Then, the Couillard government passed an incomplete bill on open public services.

When François Legault was elected, the file had become complicated. Bill 21 on secularism managed to offer a balanced response, giving effect, eleven years later, to the Bouchard-Taylor report.

The result is positive. There has been no mass exodus of future teachers or future police officers.

The line is drawn in terms of wearing religious symbols, it is clear, and we don’t talk about that anymore, if not very little.

This is the kind of social peace that a government seeks. Bill 21 created this balance.

Today, it is Justin Trudeau who wants to put the trouble back by reopening the whole debate”.

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Bill 21: Will the rest of Canada ever learn to respect Québec?

Mr. Frédéric Bastien: A lawyer, Mr. Aziz Hussain, compared Bill 21 to the Nürnberg Nazi laws… Mr. Trudeau rewarded him by naming him to the Superior Court of Québec

Why should Québec care for Mr. Trudeau’s opinion about Bill 21?

Why doesn’t Québec expand its Bill 21 on the state secularism by adding wokeism non-sense to the list of its religious symbols?

Why does CBC Manitoba lie about Québec’s Bill 21 on secularism?

Why is a high profile Federal Minister, Mr. Omar Alghabra, interfering with Québec’s politics, wrongly/shamelessy calling Bill 21 “a state-sanctioned discrimination”?

Bravo Mr. Blanchet for pointing to Mr. Trudeau’s “imbecility” about Bill 21!

The equating of the Afzaals tragedy & Québec’s Bill 21: Why is it that our PM is unwise to the point of irresponsibility, despite his apparent good intentions?

Bill 21 on secularism of the state: Bravo to Québec Minister of Justice for refusing the Superior Court judgement because “the laws of Québec must apply to everyone and throughout Québec. There are no two Québecs, there is only one”!

Bill 21: Had Bambi been a Québec resident, this is the day where she would consider voting for sovereignty. For the proud Canadian she is, it means that Mr. Trudeau went too far!

Judge Tarak Bitar, featured in an older post shown below, resumed the Beirut port blast investigation, which has been frozen for over a year, as per several Canadian (https://bit.ly/3XJ3PLu), Lebanese, (https://bit.ly/3kAAp3E), and European media (https://bit.ly/3iYLWtb). This is clearly a positive step forward!

Of course, one must wait to observe what will unfold on the ground. May God protect this decent judge. For now, Bambi will repeat saying the following: thank you and bravo, Judge Bitar, for your courage and tenacity. Today, you gave hope to the families of the victims, to people of your country, and to Beirut’s lovers abroad. You are a hero of peace. Good luck in ending impunity for this criminal negligence!

By the way, since we are at it, when will impunity for financial crime also end, Bambi cannot help not to wonder? In one of the largest Ponzi schemes in the world, Lebanon’s Ponzi finance scheme bankrupted the people of this country, “causing” them “unprecedented social and economic pain“, according to the World Bank (https://bit.ly/3Hn2hBk). For the record, some of this blog’s earlier posts on this fiasco are shown at this end of this one.

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Beirut blast investigation: If Judge Tarek Bitar is not a peace hero, what is he then?

Three years since Lebanon’s financial collapse

Sit-in at one of Beirut banks: Thank you Mr. Georges Siam, Former Ambassador of Lebanon and Actual Honorary Consul General of Ireland in Lebanon

Reuters: “Lebanon judge freezes assets of five banks and members of their boards”

Lebanon: Hiba storm (Wion) and an open letter to the IMF (Orient Today)