The Bouchard-Taylor Commission: Your weekly newspaper takes a stand!

If truth be told, all this talk about reasonable accommodations has been blown out of proportion by the media seeking sensationalist stories.

When the controversy began, so did the hunt for news-grabbing headlines, featuring stories of “serious injustices” committed against the Quebec identity. Pressed to present the top breaking news story, the media cut corners and was careless when it came to checking facts and evaluating the credibility of sources. As a result, the public was presented with exaggerated versions of events, or worse yet, misleading stories. This escalation reached its infamous peak with the Hérouxville code of conduct for immigrants, which made headlines all over the world and certainly did not paint a very flattering picture of us. Here is proof that the media created and fed the controversy: this week, the Syndicat de l’enseignement de l’Ouest de Montréal came forward during the Commission to request a clear code for schools on acceptable accommodations, since schools are now refusing to make any decisions in this matter, “for fear of being singled out or criticized by the media!” Years from now, History will probably only remember these issues leading to the creation of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission.

If we look at the facts, there were no major incidents opposing “pure laine” Quebecers to “trouble-making” immigrants. We believe it is important to go over a few of the stories featured in recent months:

- The YMCA frosted window affair. The media should have specified that the YMCA is not a public institution and that its managers were in their rights

to do whatever they wanted in their building, and that, incidentally, the rights of ordinary citizens were not infringed upon.

- The famous guideline for female police officers saying that they should avoid talking to male citizens of Jewish descent. This guideline never even existed!

- The vote and the veil. As far as we know there was not a single case of a fully veiled woman showing up at a polling booth. Also, there was no such request presented to the election commissioner.

- The sugar-house affair. So much has been written about the sugar-house owner, who, simply wanting to provide excellent customer service, did everything he could to meet the requests of his Muslim customers.

In a nutshell, these are the incidents that have threatened Quebec society in recent months! That is why many journalists were embarrassed last weekend in Quebec City during the annual convention of the Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec (FPJQ), where the topic was extensively discussed.

Now, after having travelled almost the entire province, the Bouchard-Taylor Commission has finally reached the greater Montreal area, where the issue of reasonable accommodations can take a more practical turn, given the Island’s demographic profile.

Despite its questionable legitimacy due to its initial motives for coming into being, we believe that the Commission served a very useful purpose. It probably allowed Quebecers to become aware that Quebec has permanently become a multicultural society, leaving behind the era of linguistic duality (French vs. English). In a way, Quebecers have just realized that the entire world has crossed their borders and that its territory will never be the same.

The Commission also has the merit of having opened the door to dialogue among Montrealers of various ethnic and cultural origins, who are all citizens of

a great, modern city, featuring an impressive and enriching array of cultural diversity to be discovered, for those who are so inclined. Yesterday, Montrealers passed each other on the streets. Today they must talk and get to know one another. Tomorrow they will have to live together!

When the Commission began, it had no legitimate rationale...but, in its passage, it brought Quebec into the third millennium!