A couple of days ago I posted a video from Montreal translated by Oz-Rita about a man who was handled roughly by police for violating COVID-19 restrictions. Rita speaks Parisian French, so she was unable to make out much of the dialect in that clip.
Since then the same clip has been retranslated by a Quebecer who could understand everything that was said. The dialect being spoken is called Joual, which (according to Wikipedia) is an accepted name for the linguistic features of basilectal Quebec French associated with the French-speaking working class in Montreal. Joual is stigmatized by some people and celebrated by others.
Many thanks to Sassy for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes and RAIR Foundation for the subtitling:
Here’s another video from the dystopian COVID nightmare in Quebec. This one shows the ingenious strategies employed by Quebecers in their attempts to avoid the curfew restrictions.
Many thanks to Sassy for translating this one, too, and to Vlad Tepes and RAIR Foundation for the subtitling:
Video transcript #1:
| 00:02 | Look at the police. They’re going by. The police are there. | |
| 00:14 | Good evening. | |
| 00:19 | May I help you? | |
| 00:22 | I’m fine. I’m taking a walk with my boy. | |
| 00:25 | My boy is walking me. He is walking his dog. [The boy is laughing] | |
| 00:30 | It doesn’t work that way. —Ah no? | |
| 00:46 | What are they going to do to you? | |
| 00:52 | You need backup for a man with his child? | |
| 00:56 | No. Not at all my dear sir, not at all. We’re going to explain to you… | |
| 01:02 | [Dad to child] Now, my guy, you know where we live. Go home right now, please. | |
| 01:07 | It’s your decision, my dear sir. Us, we’re not here to argue with you. | |
| 01:11 | You must be at home, an order. | |
| 01:16 | We will issue a fine if you don’t cooperate. | |
| 01:21 | If you refuse to identify yourself, we’ll arrest you. | |
| 01:24 | To identify myself? I never said that. | |
| 01:28 | I’ll identify myself. Wait, wait, wait! What is your name and badge number, please? | |
| 01:31 | Perfect. I’ll give you… I need your ID. | |
| 01:34 | It’s here, but I’m not giving it to you. You need a pen and paper. | |
| 01:38 | because the VIRUS… HEY… | |
| 01:42 | I did nothing. | |
| 01:46 | I didn’t grab anything from your hands. [Background voice of dad speaking low throughout] | |
| 01:50 | Like that! Is it clear? IS. IT. CLEAR!? —But why are you violent? | |
| 01:53 | Is it clear? Is… it… clear! —Why are you violent!? | |
| 01:56 | You must be indoors. If you refuse to go home, we’ll arrest and detain you. Is that clear? |
Video transcript #2:
| 00:00 | Since Saturday, the streets of Sherbrooke are almost deserted as of 8pm. | |
| 00:05 | During the last two nights, police have arrested almost 400 people. | |
| 00:10 | In general, people were happy to be intercepted, because they wanted to prove | |
| 00:15 | they were part of the exception. And I know because I stopped ten of them. | |
| 00:30 | Of those intercepted, the police heard all kinds of stories. | |
| 00:34 | I was walking my dog and it costs me $3,000, and it isn’t over yet. | |
| 00:39 | Here we have a man who was walking his dog but doing so in his car. | |
| 00:43 | This is illegal and not among the exceptions. A $1,500 fine. | |
| 01:00 | Some even attempted to bypass the rules by calling towing companies. | |
| 01:06 | They call to report a broken-down car in their yard and would like to go to another yard. | |
| 01:13 | We ask ourselves should we do this, do that, should we take the call… | |
| 01:18 | Aside from these few dubious calls, it was a quiet weekend for the towing companies. |