| Amateur Extraordinaire has a good summary of the fallout of the closing down of Jonquière's Wal-Mart. He also makes ironic comments about "Bernard Landry who called for a boycott by saying he would never set foot in a Wal Mart again – strong words from a man who", like his fellow chardonnay socialists, "has never had to do so in the first place."
However, I must disagree when he claims that Quebecers could cease to do business with Wal-Mart because of their social-democratic values. Even though denouncing "Wal-Marde" has become almost ritualistic in Québec, this seems to me to be one of those situations for which the expression "all talk, no walk" was invented. Humorist Yvon Deschamps famously pointed out that Quebecers are "socialists at heart and capitalists in the wallet." Those who went to Wal-Mart because of its low prices and great selection will not let flowery phrases distract them from these practical considerations. We even learned after the closing down of Jonquière's Wal-Mart that three municipalities in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region were courting Wal-Mart to get a new Wal-Mart store! (Wal-Mart ultimately abandoned this project.) In the same vein, I read last month in the readers' mail section of the Métro journal a revealing letter from a SAQ striker. The humorist group les Zapartistes and the musical group les Cowboys Fringants are both well known for their left-wing militantcy and do not shy from promoting left-wing causes during their shows. In his letter, the SAQ striker was shocked that a Zapartistes member as well as a Cowboys Fringants member had crossed in front of him a picket line at the SAQ. This striker also reported that this Comboys Fringants member told the strikers that they were "spoiled" and that they were "taking the population hostage." Sounds to my ears like a future ADQ member. UPDATE 2005-02-27: Also read Tout le monde en parle. | Amateur Extraordinaire a un bon résumé des retombées de la fermeture du Wal-Mart de Jonquière. Il ironise aussi à propos de "Bernard Landry qui a lancé un appel au boycott en disant qu'il ne remettrait plus les pieds dans un Wal-Mart – de fortes paroles d’un homme qui", comme le reste de la gauche caviar, "n’a jamais eu besoin de franchir ses portes en premier lieu."
Cependant, je dois afficher mon désaccord lorsqu'il affirme que les Québécois pourraient cesser de faire affaire avec Wal-Mart en raison de leurs valeurs social-démocrates. Bien qu'il soit devenu presque rituel de dénoncer "Wal-Marde" au Québec, ça me semble être une des situations pour lesquelles l'expression "grands parleurs, petits faiseurs" a été inventée. L'humoriste Yvon Deschamps a fameusement souligné que les Québecois sont "des socialistes de coeur et des capitalistes de poche." Ceux qui allaient chez Wal-Mart en raison de ses bas prix et de sa grande sélection ne laisseront pas de belles phrases les détourner de ces considérations pratiques. On apprenait même après la fermeture du Wal-Mart de Jonquière que trois municipalités du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean courtisaient Wal-Mart pour qu'elle y ouvre un nouveau magasin! (Wal-Mart a finalement abandonné ce projet.) Dans le même registre, j'ai lu le mois passé dans le courrier des lecteurs du journal Métro une lettre révélatrice d'un gréviste de la SAQ. Le groupe d'humoristes les Zapartistes et le groupe musical les Cowboys Fringants sont tous deux bien connus pour leur engagement de gauche et ils ne se gênent pas pour faire la promotion des causes de gauche durant leurs spectacles. Dans sa lettre, le gréviste de la SAQ était scandalisé de ce qu'un membre des Zapartistes ainsi qu'un membre des Cowboys Fringants aient franchi devant lui la ligne de piquetage à la SAQ. Ce gréviste a aussi rapporté que le membre en question des Comboys Fringants aurait dit aux grévistes qu'ils étaient "gâtés" et qu'ils "prennent la population en otage." Ça sonne à mes oreilles comme un futur membre de l'ADQ. MISE À JOUR 2005-02-27: Lire aussi Tout le monde en parle. |
Haha - I read the same letter. I asked myself why he didn't put the legitimity of the strike in question after seeing certain well-known persons on the so-called left cross the picket line with complete contempt for the strikers.
To be sure, public support in Quebec was not in favour of the SAQ strikers. That's why I don't think it is fair to equate the Wal-Mart and SAQ cases. If anything, both highlight an interesting paradox, and one that isn't all that inconsistent or unreasonable.
Nice post, by the way.
Ferg,
I'm pretty sure the Zapartistes member and the Cowboys Fringants member wouldn't have crossed a picket line at Wal-Mart (assuming they shop there at all)
However, I'm also pretty sure that the repeated calls to boycott Wal-Mart hardly a made a dent in its top line or bottom line. I would certainly be quite surprised if they did.
By the way, is English your mother tongue?
Écrit par: Laurent à février 27, 2005 09:40 AM