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Reader resents francophone strategy

Just before Jean Chrétien was pushed out of office, in his inimitable way he declared he was allotting three-quarters of a billion dollars toward pushing the French presence across Canada.

He said this via a CBC interview and added that it was part of a dream for himself and his children.

The allotment was above and beyond the billions that were being spent on concessions to Quebec, as a unique society, on the salaries of francophone personnel in government posts employed to further the francophone cause, and the millions Chrétien and his band were able to surreptitiously siphon off public coffers for francophone comrades.

Chrétien’s dream reminds me of the Russification of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Russians were paid to colonize these satellite countries and take top administrative posts. Russians were given subsidies to start businesses there or buy up existing ones and run them a la Russian; Russian arts were specifically supported.

I admire the Estonians who never allowed themselves to be dominated or subliminally led like sheep. They stuck to their proud independence – something we used to have here in Western Canada.

The Estonians’ strength of spirit, of determination and idealism for justice, encapsulated in what was defined as “The Singing Revolution,” finally won out in a non-violent way and defeated the chauvinism and imperialism of the Russians.

What I would like British Columbians to think about is how would they have used that three-quarter of a bilion dollars?

How about the building up again of our forest industry? Affordable housing? A pension plan for those that have no access to one?

I, like the Estonians, do not consider myself a sheep and as such, did not attend the recent francophone events in Victoria.

M. Romero

Oak Bay