Comment dit-on «ironie» au Québec?

News to hand from the Times of London: On a royal tour to Canada eggs were thrown by protesters in the direction of HRH Charles, Prince of Wales Prince de Galles. Some people in Quebec (or is that Québec?) would prefer to be independent of the tyrannous yoke of HM Elizabeth II and go it alone. I get it. That's their right in a free and democratic society and I support the right of them to hold the political opinions they do and to express them. But throwing eggs? Come on. It's not as if the people of Quebec are prevented from expressing their sentiments through the political process. Over the years there have been referenda on this question (in 1980 and 1995) and there are secessionist political parties Quebecers can vote for if they want to make their separatist dreams a reality. Throwing eggs at the heir apparent and members of your country's armed forces is just plain silly -- not to mention bad manners -- and doesn't achieve anything.

So why the blog post when surely a protest by Quebec separatists on the occasion of a royal visit is on the level of "dog bites man"? Well, two photos of the protesters particularly caught my eye in the irony stakes.

First, this:


Quelle ironie! The suggestion that the British (now Canadian) Crown is responsible for "cultural genocide" in Quebec is simply risible. Quite the opposite, it has actually served to protect Quebec's cultural identity and francophone status amid more populous anglophone communities to the west and -- more significantly -- the south! Two words to Quebec separatists: Louisiana Purchase (in French it's a lot longer than two words: La Vente de la Louisiane). Just look what happened to the French presence in the rest of North America. Where are the millions of francophones in the United States with their own proudly distinct culture distinguishing them from the English speaking majority around them? Nulle part, that's where! Gobbled up by the insatiable appetite of the expansionist yankee machine. The defeat of the French at the hands of the British on the Plains of Abraham was the best thing that could have happened for the preservation of the French language and the unique Quebec and Acadian cultures in North America. The only reason why Quebec is still overwhelmingly francophone today is because the British defeated the French. Had Quebec stayed in French hands it would most probably have been sold off to the United States at the soonest convenience spelling the gradual demise and eventual death of their language and unique culture as happened in those former French territories which were incorporated into the United States. But it's much easier to throw eggs at the heir apparent than own up to reality. As they say, ignorance is bliss.

But this one surely prend le gâteau takes the cake in the irony stakes:

What's that? Les souverainistes québecois displaying signs in English? Quelle ironie du sort! And here I was thinking there were laws against this sort of thing to protect the status of French from the encroachment of English (sere here for an instance of the law in practice). How silly of me!