Translating the printemps érable
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For more useful English-language sources on the conflict, see:
CUTV - broadcasting live from the protests nightly
Rouge Squad - Tactical Translation Team
Rabble.ca's Maple Spring Coverage
Robert Dutrisac August 10, 2012
Original French Text: http://www.ledevoir.com/politique/quebec/356513/charest-voit-un-complot-radio-canadien-contre-lui
Still outraged by the CBC report on the tailing of Eddy Brandone in which he is mentioned, Jean Charest has suggested it sought to undermine his campaign.
“We say the timing was chosen. We are in an election campaign.” stated Jean Charest to the press yesterday morning. In addition to criticizing the work of the journalists as he had done the day before, he went after “those who direct Radio Canada and made the decision” to broadcast this story.
By contrast, the assumption that the federal establishment persuaded him to make the jump into Quebec politics in 1998 released today to throw his attention to François Legault appears to him as a “great conspiracy theory.”
The Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec (FPJQ)
August 9, 2012
Original French Text: http://www.fpjq.org/index.php?id=single&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=30321&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=1&cHash=b178ea9aec
Québec’s federation of journalists is astonished by Premier Jean Charest’s recent remarks following the publication of a critical report by the Inquiry team on the—as yet unexplained—halt on the surveillance of Eddy Brandone.
The Premier questioned the ethics of two Radio-Canada reporters, Marie-Maude Denis and Alain Gravel, who have done remarkable work exposing corruption and collusion problems in the construction industry. Their reports, along with those of other media, have often damaged the Liberal government’s reputation in recent years, which might help explain the Premier’s inappropriate outburst.
Bernard Descôteaux August 2, 2012
Original French Text: http://www.ledevoir.com/politique/quebec/355834/elections-quebecoises-democratie-101
So the general election will take place on this upcoming September 4th. At noon yesterday, Premier Jean Charest kicked things off in a way that promises harsh debates. He immediately made the respect for our system and our democratic institutions the principal issue in this election. Alright… on the condition that we judge the work in its entirety.
The insistence of the Premier on this first campaign day on our society’s democratic values, which he says have been weakened by the student conflict, leaves no doubt about his willingness to make the events of the “printemps érable” (Maple Spring), the core issue in a referendum to measure electorally his management of the conflict.
It is true that this spring was marked with social disruptions. It is also true that some demonstrations turned to violence. That the court injunctions were not respected. That Bill 12 [trans. note: formerly Bill 78] which forces the return to classes and limits the right to demonstrate is still strongly contested. All things that today have combined to have a providential feel for the liberal government, that things that this way they can escape a tight examination of the balance sheet of their nine years in power. One should not miss the forest for the trees.
Tommy Chouinard August 2, 2012
Original French text: http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/elections-quebec-2012/201208/02/01-4561719-jean-charest-se-donne-810-dans-la-lutte-contre-la-corruption.php
His adversaries accuse him of being the leader of a corrupt government, but Jean Charest gives himself 8 out of 10 in the fight against corruption.
“Go look at the collection of laws and regulations we adopted. It is hard not to arrive at the conclusion that we did everything we could. No government has done more to fight corruption and collusion in the construction industry,” he affirmed in a press conference on Thursday. Journalists pressed him to give himself a score: “We give ourselves a good score, 8 out of 10,” he said. Earlier, in an interview he gave to a Quebec radio station, he gave himself the same score for the health file.
Vincent Marissal June 18, 2012
Original French Text: http://blogues.lapresse.ca/marissal/2012/06/18/parlons-%C2%ABresponsabilite%C2%BB-avec-jean-charest/
I don’t know what message exactly the liberal strategists are seeking to send [with the ad that was released today, which is viewable here], but if they want to tell us that the last session was hard and that their leader is tired, but convinced that he’s right, they succeeded.
Shoulders slumped, tongue-tied, pale, looking weakened, the tone is falsely relaxed which goes with the funeral home feel…
When, in the midst of the message, speaking on responsibility, we talk.
“I made the responsible choice and I know that it’s the right one” said the provincial leader.
What responsibility?
Djemila Benhabib June 5, 2012
Original French Text: http://blogues.journaldemontreal.com/benhabib/actualites/le-mepris-et-larrogance-pour-seul-projet/
What does Jean Charest think about then he is alone in his office, a glass of scotch or a beer in hand? Is it an exaggeration to imagine that he has only one goal in mind: to remain in power for the long term? The question therefore becomes: what will be the political price for Quebec if he is re-elected? Will there remain a price to be paid—I mean for Quebec? Certainly. At least that’s what seems to be emerging day-by-day. Especially since the student crisis went sour.
As soon as Charest’s star began to fade, the wolf with the long teeth resurfaced in the center of the conflict, playing one side against the other. I mean he placed “the entitled kids” versus the rest, “The silent majority”, which he has, at the same time, greatly despised and ignored from mandate to mandate for the profit of his little party friends.
Daniel Nadeau - Former Liberal organizer, and communications director for Jean Charest in the Sherbrooke riding in 2003.
June 5, 2012
Original French Text: http://www.lapresse.ca/debats/votre-opinion/201206/04/01-4531660-que-sont-devenus-les-liberaux.php
The actions and words of the Charest government are more and more inspired by a conservatism that resembles the politics we’re used to from Harper in Ottawa. PHOTO: LE SOLEIL
You can’t call yourself a liberal and a democrat and, at the first sing of difficulty, trample the principles you say you hold dear and defend. You can’t lay claim to liberalism then suspend the fundamental rights and liberties of citizens to deal with a political crisis that stems from the government’s stewardship of a pre-revolutionary context. That is what the Charest government is doing.
Josée Legault June 4, 2012
Original French Text: http://voir.ca/josee-legault/2012/06/04/lindelogeable-jean-charest/
Monday, June 4, 2012, Quebec entered the 17th week of student strike.
The strike still being unresolved through conciliation and having, moreover, transformed into a major social crisis, the night protests continue, the casseroles too.
And the events take a more and more surreal turn.
For example, we learned that the day after the minister of public security had openly associated the CLASSE co-spokesperson, Gabriel-Nadeau Dubois, with violence, he is sent for by none other than the police investigators of the “extremist threat division” of Quebec security (Sûreté du Québec) for a long interrogation.
A nice coincidence, all the same.
Denying that there had been a “political order” given, we push the envelope to reports of a detective who met GND with others that day and is said not to even remember him - despite him being one of the most visible and most publicized faces of the conflict.
![Original Image: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=368980126495810&set=a.157863577607467.34901.150189145041577&type=1&theater
Tony Tommassi. Defrauds the government. Gets a golden handshake.
Amir Khadir. Protests peacefully. Gets arrested.
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Translated from the original French by Translating the printemps érable.
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*Translating the printemps érable is a volunteer collective attempting to balance the English media’s extremely poor coverage of the student conflict in Québec by translating media that has been published in French into English. These are amateur translations; we have done our best to translate these pieces fairly and coherently, but the final texts may still leave something to be desired. If you find any important errors in any of these texts, we would be very grateful if you would share them with us at translatingtheprintempsderable@gmail.com. Please read and distribute these texts in the spirit in which they were intended; that of solidarity and the sharing of information.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m578pmHpjy1rwxaaio1_500.jpg)
Original Image: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=368980126495810&set=a.157863577607467.34901.150189145041577&type=1&theater
Tony Tommassi. Defrauds the government. Gets a golden handshake.
Amir Khadir. Protests peacefully. Gets arrested.
***
Translated from the original French by Translating the printemps érable.
Michel Lemay June 9, 2011
Original French Text: http://www.lapresse.ca/le-soleil/opinions/points-de-vue/201106/07/01-4406882-le-quebec-na-pas-dargent-vous-voulez-rire.php
Since 1995 the province of Quebec has granted between 75 and 120 billion dollars in subsidies to corporations according to different studies. After the “Yes” campaign defeat of 1995, Lucien Bouchard becomes Premier and installs the neo-liberal agenda of the Parti Québecois (PQ) along with it’s slogan “zero deficit”. The role of the state changes drastically and social-democracy takes a hit. Replaced by Bernard Landry, the state positions itself more and more like the milk cow of the great corporations, not under the guarantee of bank loans or loans from the Caisse de dépot, but from grants directly and indirectly given along with tax credits. Without knowing, the tax payer will pay a good portion of the salaries to Ubisoft, CGI, IBM, GM, Vidéotron and Olymel of this world…Most Québecois have no knowledge that they pay between 60 and 65% of research salaries for the great pharmaceutical companies, which resells the medications to us at a high price.
