On X-cesses and xenophophia

On X-cesses 

I apologize for having left an excess of time pass since my last post. My vague excuse is that I have been somewhat distracted by the move, but that is rather feeble. In truth, I have been slacking off. 

On the last Saturday in Vancouver, Chris and I went to see Kristine and Company. This involved the semi-standard trip to the stable where their horse Cocoa is kept. I will gently call their having a horse an extravagance, if not an excess (only using the word to keep with this post's title).  

Me, Cocoa and Elisabeth

At supper, it became very clear that the household was no longer vegetarian as steaks were served. (I simply mention this as during a previous visit, I had jokingly had a mock dialogue with Midnight the Labrador in which he supposedly told me his woes which included the fact that he wasn't being given any bacon! (A "harsh" treatment for any dog. ;-) )  Kristine later informed me in that visit that the family had gone vegetarian.)  

 

During the meal, it came out that Chris was storing an Aston Martin DB9 for a friend in his garage. I couldn't help but wonder what Margo would have thought of that. Margo and Chris' house in Vancouver is on a double lot and blessed with a two-car garage on the back lane as well as a driveway in front. As a consequence of this and the high price of housing in Vancouver, the garage has at times house quite a lot of odds and ends belonging to their friends. Margo eventually weeded most of the rubble. That a car is now housed in the garage under a similar arrangement made me snicker.

 

Before leaving for the airport the following morning, Chris allowed me to sit behind the wheel and took a few pictures of me. I rather think that if you are prepared to store a car for someone, then letting a nephew use it for a photo op constitutes fair usage. The Aston Martin was a James Bond grey colour. It was also a convertible which struck me as particularly excessive given Vancouver's wet climate.

Not that I am wholly immune from excesses, as I opted to upgrade my return flight to premium economy. In addition, my brother Stephen had emailed me an electronic voucher allowing me into the Maple Leaf Lounge at Vancouver Airport where I indulged in a second breakfast. I also used it fill my water bottle with ice water.

On xenophobia

And so I returned to Montreal, ruled as it is by a government that is almost entirely foreign to it. Of the MNAs of the (currently) ruling party, I believe only two are from ridings on the Island of Montreal. That it is possible for a party to have a parliamentary majority in Quebec with such a lack only reinforces my suspicions that the distribution of seats is very suspect. The other factor that it reveals is that the CAQ's policies were not intended to be popular with the more cosmopolitan Montreal voters. Not to mention the voters whose rights were targeted with the xenophobic "secularism" promoted by the CAQ. It is one thing to be in favor of secularism. It is quite another to do so while explicitly excluding a flag from secularism when it chosen by someone who was antithesis of secularism. Maurice Duplessis selected a flag that was loaded with not only Christian but Catholic symbolism. The cross is a common Christian symbol, but the inclusion of the fleur-de-lys and the use of blue and white are distinct references to the Virgin Mary which is a very Catholic thing to do. So in effect, the CAQ is saying "You can't show your religious symbols, but you have let us show our religious symbol."

Speaking of flags, by the tenets of the CAQ's pseudo-secularism, it follows you would not be allowed to show flags with religious symbols on them. This would include six provincial flags and about a third of the flags of other countries.