A few short years ago the events in the following video would have been dismissed as a wild-eyed conspiracy theory. However, it seems we now live in a tinfoil-hat reality. Or at least the Canadians do: The municipality of Îles-de-la-Madeleine in Quebec has implemented a new regulation requiring anyone who wants to leave the islands to display a QR code.
Many thanks to HeHa for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes and RAIR Foundation for the subtitling:
Video transcript:
| 00:00 | So, my name is Jeanne Bourgeois. I’m here to talk about | |
| 00:04 | how we are supposed to enter and exit — as residents of Îles-de-la-Madeleine — | |
| 00:08 | in the territory of my municipality or the municipal agglomeration of the Îles-de-la-Madeleine. | |
| 00:14 | So, it’s very simple, Mrs. Bourgeois. You have absolutely nothing to pay as toll | |
| 00:18 | or as Archipel Pass, since you have a residence here in the Îles-de-la-Madeleine. | |
| 00:22 | You already have a property tax account. You participate and contribute already to… | |
| 00:25 | Yes, already a lot! For the purposes of the pass, of course. | |
| 00:29 | You actually said that it would take a QR code to enter the Îles-de-la-Madeleine. | |
| 00:33 | Not to enter, to exit. To exit. —OK. | |
| 00:36 | So, what will we, Îles-de-la-Madeleine residents, need to present? —A driving license | |
| 00:39 | and an identity card with an address within the Îles on it, and there’s no problem. | |
| 00:42 | OK, that means that it’s the first time in Canada that we will have to show a driving license | |
| 00:45 | to leave a municipality. In fact… It has never been done. —Actually, you do that | |
| 00:49 | every time you take the plane and the boat. —No, I do that to pay for a service: | |
| 00:52 | the boat. What law allows you to require that you show a paper to enter a municipality? | |
| 00:59 | We ask for an identity card to ensure compliance with our municipal regulations. | |
| 01:07 | So, OK, we have a municipal regulation. It’s not the only municipal regulation | |
| 01:10 | that we can apply and where we identify… —OK, it’s a new municipal regulation. | |
| 01:15 | Mrs. Bourgeois, last warning. If you cut me off again during the question | |
| 01:18 | or during the answer to your question, I will stop answering and we’ll move on to another appeal. | |
| 01:22 | Each person will be monitored, I suppose? | |
| 01:25 | Listen, in the first year, we’re going to put that into operation, | |
| 01:30 | and we are not in the fine details of asking for it. It’s the same principle | |
| 01:33 | as when you make a reservation on the boat or you take, | |
| 01:36 | I don’t know, a family pass for La Ronde. | |
| 01:39 | No, no, no, you’re talking about services. It’s not the same thing as returning home. | |
| 01:43 | Can you imagine, in Montreal, that we would require someone to prove that they are Montrealers, | |
| 01:48 | in order to cross the bridge? It would be quite special indeed. | |
| 01:52 | It’s not because we’re a small place that we can do the same thing. | |
| 01:55 | On the other hand, Mrs. Bourgeois, if you go to the Montreal subway | |
| 02:00 | and you don’t pay your ticket… —You’re still talking about services. | |
| 02:03 | Mrs. Bourgeois, please. —Service and setting foot on a territory, that’s two things. | |
| 02:09 | You don’t seem to understand the difference, I am sorry for you. | |
| 02:13 | It’s like a disguised customs service, in the end. —No, no, no, no. | |
| 02:16 | Exactly. If I have to show my driving license… —Mrs. Bourgeois, it’s your perception, it’s correct. | |
| 02:20 | You ask me questions, you don’t want me to answer you, you prefer to go… | |
| 02:24 | No, that’s your way of intervening. I am very ready to answer you, | |
| 02:28 | but when you state falsehoods or talk about things | |
| 02:31 | that haven’t been finalized yet, because you yourself said that the dossier was not finalized, | |
| 02:35 | well, it’s as if we have to trust that the goal will be good for the citizens of La Madeleine. | |
| 02:41 | Whereas I, while returning home, never had to prove that I was a La Madeleine resident. | |
| 02:46 | Nobody will ask you to show anything, while returning home. | |
| 02:49 | Well yes, but entering or exiting, it’s the same thing, on the road. | |
| 02:52 | But what is that? Am I a prisoner on the islands? —It’s not to get out of the islands, it’s to… | |
| 02:56 | It’s done while getting out of the islands, | |
| 02:59 | but it’s to make sure that you have respected a municipal regulation. | |
| 03:02 | Since we’ve been talking about it, I’ve never had to vote for anything or say yes or no to | |
| 03:06 | such a thing. It’s the first time, in my opinion, that this has existed in Canada. I know it exists | |
| 03:11 | in China, on the other hand. That is, to change provinces, you have to ask for a QR code. | |
| 03:16 | So, we’re a bit like guinea pigs? | |
| 03:19 | More or less. The application of a municipal regulation with the obligation to identify themselves, | |
| 03:28 | the possibility of receiving a notice of infringement, which is appealable in a municipal court, | |
| 03:33 | is very common, actually. It’s… no, no, no, no, no. | |
| 03:37 | We don’t want to constrain… We will not be on an absolute, coercive mode. | |
| 03:44 | The first year will be a run-in year. We will put it into operation. | |
| 03:48 | We largely rely on people’s good faith, because like it or not, | |
| 03:52 | I bring you back to the first objective of this initiative taken by the municipal council: | |
| 03:57 | it’s to improve and enhance our leisure-touristic infrastructure. | |
| 04:01 | I have a problem with being asked for a paper to return home. | |
| 04:06 | Well, that’s good, Mrs. Bourgeois, point taken. —Thank you. I hope that in your marketing | |
| 04:10 | that will be present, because it would be fun if the islands population were well warned that they | |
| 04:14 | would have to present a proof to get out of the islands. | |
| 04:18 | There is, somehow, a loss of freedom. | |
| 04:22 | Well, it’s your opinion, I respect it. —Well, it’s more than an opinion. | |
| 04:26 | Mrs. Bourgeois, that’s enough, I’m going to welcome the next person. —I’m sorry, | |
| 04:29 | but I’m going to rectify that. It’s not an opinion. | |
| 04:32 | It’s your opinion, it’s your opinion. —If I have to show a ID, it’s a fact. | |
| 04:36 | Yeah, well, that’s… |
I guess my aunt jumped from the frying pan right into the fire when she moved there a few years ago from Paris…….. to escape.
Are they also going to rename the place into Gurs, Le Milles, Rivesaltes or St. Cyprien?
And will there be a sign at the bridge reading “Le travail vous libère”
Just asking.
“Arbeit macht Frei”?