It never really goes away. It is always there. Sometimes sleeping and other times raging, but it is always there – the deep suspicion among too many people in Quebec of Les autres.

In the tradition of Jacques Parizeau, who blamed money and ethnics for losing the 1995 referendum, Pierre Karl Peladeau has resurrected the immigrant bogeyman. He says time is running out for Quebec separation because more immigrants are coming to Quebec every year. Once again, PKP has demonstrated that this son of privilege is not worthy of public office. The main reason he is leading in the PQ race is because he is a Quebec vedette. A celebrity. But my guess is that will wear thin and the more he opens his mouth, the deeper he will sink.

At least he did not blame money along with the ethnics as Parizeau did on that October night in 1995. That would have been awkward, since he is one of Quebec’s richest people.

And Quebec’s third party is now trying to outmuscle the PQ on the identity issue. This week CAQ Leader François Legault came up with a brilliant idea to put potential newcomers under probation for three years. If they didn't take a values course and pass a test, and of course learn French, then salut la visite, nice knowing ya.

I'm not sure what the CAQ's Quebec values test would look like but I’m sure it would include questions on the Quebec star. “Can you name two hits by Marie Mai? Can you write a paragraph on the conquest by the English?”

Quebec has the lowest immigrant retention rate in Canada. Many come in through one door and leave for other parts of Canada through another. It doesn't take much to figure out why. Like I said, it never goes away.

Wild Wild… Canada?

Prime MinisterStephen Harper must have grown up loving the Wild West and frontier justice. This week the PM said some Canadians, ones who live in rural areas, need guns for protection. Comments like that remind me of American-style vigilantism where people take the law into their own hands, and they are totally irresponsible. They are another sign of the falling currency of political discourse in this country.

More traffic woes

A key way in and out of NDG is closing down for a long time. The St. Jacques street overpass will be demolished and the stretch will not reopen for two and a half years. Two and a half years to build a short overpass and a new approach. And albeit some major work on a sewage collector

In Ottawa, they recently replaced a bridge over Hwy. 417. Guess how long it took? A weekend. About 100 workers worked to install a105-metre bridge which was built nearby and then raised into place. And for the next two and a half years with St. Jacques and then the mind numbing Turcot Yards project and of course the regular annual construction festival... something looks a little off here. Just take a deep breath and simply remind yourself. In Montreal, you can't always get there from here.