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I'm reminded of a line in J.M. Coetzee's novel WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS. A mellowed colonial governor in the hinterland of an unnamed nation is taken prisoner by a ruthless agent of the central government. In the short time since his arrival, the agent has brutalized and tortured the local denizens. Now imprisoned, the governor muses: I am the lie the empire tells in good times; he is the truth the empire tells in bad times (to paraphrase). Parizeau, in this equation, is the ruthless agent. The colonial governor is any of a number of Canadian politicians (and "ordinary" Canadians). Item #1: (Attn: Sergio Marchi, Jean Chretien) The new immigration head tax which primarily affects potential immigrants from the global South, many of whom are already here in Canada waiting to attain landed status. Item #2 (Attn: Mike Harris) The plan to cut all "services" to immigrants, supposedly a federal responsibility (ie. legal aid and consultation to immigrants appealing their deportation, ethnic group specific support services, etc.). Item #3: (Attn: Mike Harris) The war on Metro Toronto in the name of budget cuts (the revenge of the country and the 'burbs on cosmopolitan Toronto - a retroactive Anglo-Canadian nationalism that feeds on the nostalgia of 'the good old days'). Ethnic nationalism in Quebec has brought racism out of the closet. It is more transparent about its inclinations than the liberal pluralism of the rest of Canada. Is this not akin to the distinction people of colour make between racism in the U.S. and Canada? - That it can be sometimes easier to fight in the U.S. because it is right there on the table? What bugs me about the whole Parizeau-the-racist-pig refrain that Anglo-Canada indulged in today, is the type of denial and opportunism it masks. (I direct my comments at the media tidal wave, not at the comments on this list, the sentiments of which I share). Perhaps I react so strongly because Bill Caroll, T.O.'s right-wing populist radio guy, was frothing at the mouth with such gusto today. I agreed with much of what he said, but by the time he had put Parizeau on his "Wall of Shame" (a daily ritual) it was all getting to be a bit too much. Racism is as much a part of Anglo-Canada as it is of Quebec. That it is not being mobilized in the name of local political ambitions does not make it any more palatable. (This also accounts for why many Quebecois nationalists would be just as offended as Anglo-Canadians by Parizeau's comments). Vive les anti-racistes! Michael Hoechsmann, OISE