You reap what you sow. The Parti Quebecois government played with matches and lit the fire.
The PQ Charter of Quebec Values has been an open invitation to bring out the worst in some of the more marginal elements of our society.
What did the government really expect when it showed pictograms of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable in its view of Quebec?
People have been singled out because of how they look and what they wear.
The bigots feel they now have license to spread their hate.
The number of hateful incidents has increased dramatically over the last few weeks.
What appeared to be pig's blood was smeared on a mosque in Chicoutimi.
A Montreal woman wearing a headscarf was verbally abused on a city bus. She was told "you should have stayed in your country. We are going to take off your toque". Nice.
Another Muslim woman at a Quebec City mall was accosted and her son spat upon when she refused to remove her scarf.
A LaSalle business was spray-painted and a church vandalized.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Then this week, one of the chief strategists behind this mess appeals for calm, but it's too late now because no one is listening.
Jean-Francois Lisée had the audacity to compare religious symbols with wearing political paraphernalia or displaying one's devotion to vegetarianism. Unbelievable.
If this is a party that doesn't believe that slogans or political symbols should be in the public domain, can someone explain to me why last year every Pequiste MNA wore red squares in support of students?
We have a premier going around saying diversity is the root cause of terrorism in the UK and her constituency believes this paranoid hooey even if she has no idea what she is talking about.
We can sense the PQ's desperation in trying to compare their Charter of Quebec Values to the Charter of the French language, Bill 101.
Well, identity politics is identity politics after all.
On the PQ website, there is an interactive quiz.
A headline is shown and you are asked to guess whether it is from 1977, the time of the language debate, or from 2013 and today's values debate.
In that vein, I have come with a Postscript quiz and it should be a little easier.
With headlines that could be from today or 35 years ago.
1) PQ government policies may drive non-francophones from Quebec. 1977 or 2013? The answer is both.
2) PQ proposals may prove to be all or in part unconstitutional. 1977 or 2013? Once again the answer is both.
3) People with deep roots in the province are feeling uncomfortable in Quebec. 1977 or 2013? It's both.
I bet you got a perfect score.
The good news is that support for this Charter appears to be slipping.
Pauline Marois's gamble looks like it is failing. Our Humpty Dumpty premier can't put this one back together.
L'Actualite magazine recently had a poll on the priorities of Quebecers.
The Values charter came in second to last, in 11th place.
The biggest lesson here is never, ever, let the mean children play with matches.
