Courage is found in unlikely places.

Take 17-year-old Meaghan Moran.

All she wanted was a part-time job. What she got was something else indeed.

Her first day of work at the St Lambert IGA and she was told her language was not welcome, not even in private conversations in the store's lunch room.

She is bilingual and has no problem serving customers in French, but to implement a policy of language purity at break time or even in talking on the floor to other Anglophones is intolerant. Shades of Alabama 1960 in Quebec 2013.

So when Meaghan was told English was not welcome, she quit, and then gave us a call.

That's courage for a 17-year-old.

My guess is that this is just the tip of the iceberg. We need more Meaghans to tell their stories.

We need to get ahold of this language snake before it poisons everything.

As English-speaking consumers we do have choices and we should make that known to anyone who tries to deny our existence or pretend we are not in the room.

 

Montreal's four-month mayor

It's pretty sad when the most important requirement to be mayor of Montreal is to be above suspicion.

Our four-month mayor wouldn't exactly be mayoralty material in other circumstances.

Laurent Blanchard appears to be a good choice; his biggest task will be to try to restore some sense of confidence in Montreal.

If UPAC doesn't make any more visits to City Hall, the choice will have been a good one.

In a city with such a proud history, we have sunk to looking for leaders who won't be arrested.

 

Canada is worth fighting for

Some things stand the test of time and as we prepare to celebrate our country’s 146th birthday, words from years ago still hold true today.

We have been through much in Quebec and for our community the wolf is always at the door.

The government in Quebec City does not represent us, is indifferent at best, and hostile at worst.

Its separatist agenda fueled by a policy of identity politics and suspicion of minorities leaves many of us wondering about our futures here.

But on this Canada Day we must always remember that Canada is more than the sum of its parts and Quebec truly is essential to the Canadian experience.

What was relevant in the heady days of the 1980 referendum on separation still rings so very true today.

“These people want to split it up. They want to take it away from their children. They want to break it down. No! That's our answer,” said Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

Sometimes it’s worthwhile to take a look back to see what may be ahead, and to be reminded of what is worth fighting for.

Happy Canada Day. Bonne Fete du Canada.