Bienvenue!

By Hubie and Bertie

The US border opened to vaccinated Canadians and other international travelers yesterday. Hooray! We look forward to seeing cars with Quebec license plates on our highways again, so we can wave and meow hello.

One small wrinkle: Even though they're citizens, Canadians have to show proof of a recent, negative COVID test to go home. Members of Congress with districts on the border are complaining about that (particularly one Democrat from Buffalo), because it's sure to dampen the number of crossings. But it's unclear what they can do short of moving to Canada, changing their citizenship and running for Parliament.

Other news is on the march up there, too. You probably haven't heard any of it because US media couldn't care less about the True North. But Montreal had a mayoral election (felicitations, Valerie Plante), and the CEO of Air Canada really, really stepped in it last week.

"Michael Rousseau, who has headed the Montreal-based airline since February, ignited the controversy last Wednesday by giving a speech to the Montreal Chamber of Commerce almost entirely in English. Later, he was unable to answer a reporter’s question posed in French: 'How does one live in Montreal for more than 14 years speaking very approximative French?' Mr. Rousseau responded after asking for a translation: 'I’ve been able to live in Montreal without speaking French. And I think that’s a testament to the city of Montreal.'" Rousseau added that he's been "too busy" to learn.

The guy is a moron — doesn't he remember that Canada came this close to breaking apart with a sovereignty referendum in 1995? And now, he's made life a lot more difficult than it needs to be. Quebec has been itching to tighten its language laws in objectionable ways, and Rousseau's insults will just make them double down more.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has said that bilingualism should be required for CEOs at Rousseau's level. Nous sommes d'accord, Madame. We cats HISS.