Inkless Wells

Paul Wells on all the latest out of Ottawa—along with the occasional post about jazz. Follow Paul on Twitter: @InklessPW
He also offers his thoughtful perspective of Stephen Harper’s last 10 years in his recent eBook, The Harper Decade.

Categories: Capital Read, Inkless Wells

Quebec City: linguistic and real-estate notes

by Paul Wells on Thursday, July 31, 2008 9:01am - 0 Comments

So as I prepare to leave Quebec City (later than planned: thanks, Air Canada!), here are a few notes from the Conservative caucus meeting in nearby Lévis.

(a) Lévis is not nearby. The maps are deceptive. Note to Accounting: mondo taxi bills on the way.

(b) Actual dialogue with a member of the Conservative caucus last night:

MP: “So the headline is fish or cut bait?”

PW: “Yeah.”

MP: “Did he actually say that?” (Note: weak amplification in the arena at St. Agapit was the only flaw in an otherwise well-executed rally.)

PW: “Yup. ‘Fish or cut bait,’ in the text.” (Note: PMO gave us the text of the speech two hours before the PM opened his mouth. Glasnost!)

MP: “Did he say it in English? I wonder how you say that in French.”

PW: (shrugs)

Cut to this morning’s Le Soleil, with this pull quote: “M. Dion doit décider s’il part à la pèche ou s’il retire l’appât.”

Each mystery solved brings a new mystery. Literally: “Mr. Dion must decide whether he will go fishing or whether he will pull his bait out of the water.” But if his bait is in the water, has he not already decided to go fishing?

(c) Tuesday night featured a visit with a friend from earlier political wars, who has a massive two-bedroom condo in an Old Quebec heritage building with jacuzzi, bare-brick walls, and a balcony view of the Château Frontenac and the Price Building that Hitchcock would have killed for. Everyone took turns on his balcony admiring the view. He paid $330,000 for the place. One of his visitors, from Calgary, couldn’t believe it. Our host shrugged: there’s places like this all over Quebec. His neighbours upstairs are from Boston and spend maybe two weeks a year in their place; his neigbours downstairs were delighted when he moved in, because he was going to be the only other guy in the building who actually lived there full-time and it was nice to have company.

Back to this morning’s Le Soleil, which describes a real-estate boom in Le Vieux, as those American neighbours who’ve been keeping Quebec City pieds-à-terre for seven years realize they can now unload them for lots of devalued U.S. dollars. To whom? French and Belgian customers whose healthy euros can fill the pockets of American sellers — and social climbers from Trois Rivières who want a foothold in the big city. Quebec City looks healthier than it has in decades, and if I had some spare capital I’d buy in. Word to the wise…

Tags: Air Canada, Le ton beau de Marot, Quebec City, Stephen Harper

More by Paul Wells

Baloneyman

Well, the ball has always been Dion’s court, has it not? It’s just that Harper wants Dion to take the ball out of play entirely , by expecting some bizarre commitment to either force an election or not in the fall. Of course, Dion is not so stupid as to fall for that: imagine; Dion committing to NOT forcing an election, leaving Harper to goad the opposition while he brandishes his ‘blank cheque’ from Dion. Similarly, how can Dion commit to an election at this point, right now, in the middle of the summer, with no pressing issue, just for the sake of doing so? I can imagine all the Harper sycophants pouncing on Dion for doing that. And on tht note, did not the Conservatives just say that they would not require a speech from the Throne?
Methinks that this another one of Harper’s specialty, bluff and bluster that doesn’t make sense under even modest scrutiny.
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TomB

“fish or cut bait” more to do with lead or follow, but stop yer ever-lovin whining about how the boats going in the wrong direction.
Wayne

Mr baloney : indeed you have accurately described Dion’s dilemma but are mistaken when it comes to Harper : bluff and bluster? It will be self evident to everyone when the fall arrives and the votes are called for then as they say the proof is in the eating of the pudding. As an after though I have listeend to a fair amount of Stevie boy’s speeches and so far I have never noticed anything that even comes close to such. The real bluff and bluster expert is Dion. I will never forget in Question Period Dion standing up and demanding a public inquiry into Mulroney etc and then Harper stood up and said Okay! then sat down and what did Dion do he stood up and asked the question again? Then it dawned on me the guy wasn’t even trying to listen for an answer just using the tired old Liberal Fear and Shmear tactic I almost felt sorry for Dion as of that moment I saw the writing on the wall for this leader.
Jan

PM Harper is playing a game he knows he will win.
JK

LMAO..

Funny post. But I have to say, exsposed Brick walls rock.

Wells, How is the new CPC D-comm working out? and how did the Minsters perform in your view?

I have never seen so many Minster’s in 2 day’s. Very political like you said..
Sophie

I will admit the phrase confused me when I first heard it (somehow I missed it in October) but, fortunately, Google knows all. In all seriousness, why, Steven? Why?
okhropir rumiani

As my dad would say.. piss or get off the pot (make a decision).
spicydoc

Guess nobody here fishes.

“Cutting bait” is when you take a small fish (that you don’t necessarily want to mount on a wall) and cut the belly into chunks to use as bait; ie it’s making good use of the time when the hook is out of water.

You would say this to someone who is lounging back, doing nothing. In other words, it is indeed akin to sh!t or get off the pot.

Harper is telling Dion: “Fish” ie force an election, or “cut bait” ie continue to support my legislation–both of these serve Harper well.

Harper implies that Dion is wasting time and air with his current posturing (he is) by doing neither.
Sophie

I do fish, and the french usage of the expression still confused me. When will politicians learn not to translate english expressions into french? I don’t go around telling my anglo friends that they have spiders on their ceiling.
Jack Mitchell

Where is Bernard Woolley when you need him?

spicydoc, thanks for the explanation, but I still don’t quite get it. If it’s a choice between fishing and cutting bait on the dock (while other people fish), it works; but in order to fish, don’t you first have to have cut bait to fish with? In other words, at any point at which “fish or cut bait” would be a sensible either/or, you would first have to have faced that dilemma and decided to cut bait (rather than fish without bait). In any case, wouldn’t the guy who decided to cut bait rather than fish immediately soon be planning to fish, with his bait?

Incidentally, I think live bait is banned in Quebec lakes.
Angelle

En francais, I don’t know of any expresion that would relate the same thing. We have more succint ways of saying what we mean.
In any case, fish or cut bait is an expression that judging from the comments is understood very well in the comments I have read.
Not to muddy the lake waters, I more concerned about who the fishes are, and if Mr. Harper meant to indicate that they are both fishing in same spot, and he wants the use of the “lake” all to himself. In any case, I would say this in this to someone who was in may way to what i want to do. Merde Alor, buvez votre bière, ou prend ta caissette, et vantant mon maudit.
Angelle

That should have read: In any case, fish or cut bait is an expression that judging from the comments is not understood very well in the comments.
My mistake, writting using both lanquages in the same text is not easy.
Paul Wells

actually, I always thought “cut bait” referred to cutting your line with, like, a wee knife so you abandon your bait to the depths as you turn your boat to shore. As you may have guessed, I’m not the fisherman in my family.
Jack Mitchell

The question is, is Dion fishing where the fish are?
http://carnewsandviews.com jwl

Sophie I am intrigued by your comment about spiders on the ceiling. I am assuming it’s a french idiom but I can’t figure out what it may be referring to. What does it mean? Is it the same as fish or cut bait?
Sophie

No.. it’s similar to ‘bats in your belfry’ But you just proved my point: you had no idea what I was talking about. Thus, when speaking (or writing) to anglophones, I don’t use it, because it doesn’t make sense.So why would a politician, our prime minister (who is bilingual and should know better) use an idiom that doesn’t translate? I’ve heard him speak, and he’s fluent enough not to make the sort of mistake one expects from secondary school french students.
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