Howard Galganov
Encyclopedia
Howard Galganov was briefly a political activist and radio personality
in Montreal during the late 1990s. He made headlines in Quebec for being a vocal and confrontational opponent of the Charter of the French Language
and Quebec nationalism
as one of the most prominent leaders of the short-lived “angryphone” movement, before moving to Ontario and criticising official bilingualism
in Canada.
n Jew, came to Canada to escape communism
. In the 1960s, as a member of the Jewish Defense League
, Galganov threw coffins on the Soviet embassy lawn in Ottawa
to protest the treatment of Jewish "refuseniks".
and of the Canadian government for not defending the rights of English-speaking citizens living in the Canadian province of Quebec, because he believes that forcing him to do business in French would mean that he would make less money, given that English is the international language of business and that the French-Canadians have been kept poorer thanks to various Canadian policies, both public and private.
After a 1995 Quebec referendum
on sovereignty for the province of Quebec
, Galganov founded the Quebec Political Action Committee (QPAC), serving as its president (and only member) until 2000. One of Galganov’s first prominent QPAC activities was to organize a protest at Fairview Pointe-Claire
, a shopping mall, in 1996 in the predominantly anglophone West Island
of Montreal to protest that retail stores were not placing the maximum amount of English on their commercial signs as allowed under the Charter of the French Language
. Estimated attendance at the protest varied from 500 to 5,000. Galganov followed up this protest with threatened boycotts of prominent retail stores. He also protested the actions of the Office québécois de la langue française
on numerous issues including when language inspectors ordered stores to remove kosher products from their shelves just before Passover
because they weren't labelled in the French language
. These activities caused a reaction among fringe Quebec nationalist groups, garnering publicity for Galganov.
Later in 1996, he gave a speech at the Harvard Club of New York
, in spite of requests not to do so from federal and provincial officials concerned that it might discourage foreign investment in Canada; the speech went ahead but was poorly attended.
In 1997, he opened a store deliberately violating the commercial sign provisions of the Charter of the French Language in order to provoke the officials in charge of enforcing the law to prosecute him. The officials ignored the store and it closed due to low customer support.
After his QPAC activities, Galganov attempted several more politically related activities. In June 1997, he unsuccessfully ran for parliament as an independent
, coming in a distant second. In 1997, he started hosting an AM radio talk show
on Montreal radio station
CIQC-AM, first in the morning and then at noon. He was on the air for more than a year before his show was cancelled due to low ratings (replaced in the morning show by Montreal broadcaster Jim Duff), but did help to rally support for William Johnson
in his run for the leadership of Alliance Quebec
. He also unsuccessfully ran for mayor
of the town of Saint-Lazare, Quebec
, placing a distant third.
. He ran as an independent candidate in the Ontario riding of Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry in the federal election
of October 14, 2008, advocating an end to official bilingualism
and the separation of Quebec from Canada; he finished fourth with 5.7% of the vote.
On March 22, 2010, Ottawa-based dailies reported that Galganov distributed 5,200 (or 6,124) copies of a 12-page (or 10-page) English-only brochure entitled How to wipe-out the Franco Ontarian Language & Culture. Galganov is challenging in provincial court a regulation on mandatory bilingual sign adopted on June 16, 2008 by the township of Russell
. He claims that the regulation, by making French-only or English-only signs illegal, is threatening the French language in Ontario. Galganov's associate is Elizabeth Trudeau, an official spokesperson for Canadians for Language Fairness
, which battles bilingual legislation in Canada, claiming that it elevates "French speakers to first-class status and the rest of us to second and third-class status.".
Radio personality
A radio personality is a person with an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality can be someone who introduces and discusses various genres of music, hosts a talk radio show that may take calls from listeners, or someone whose primary responsibility is to give news, weather,...
in Montreal during the late 1990s. He made headlines in Quebec for being a vocal and confrontational opponent of the Charter of the French Language
Charter of the French Language
The Charter of the French Language , also known as Bill 101 and Loi 101, is a law in the province of Quebec in Canada defining French, the language of the majority of the population, as the only official language of Quebec, and framing fundamental language rights for everyone in the province...
and Quebec nationalism
Quebec nationalism
Quebec nationalism is a nationalist movement in the Canadian province of Quebec .-1534–1774:Canada was first a french colony. Jacques Cartier claimed it for France in 1534, and permanent French settlement began in 1608. It was part of New France, which constituted all French colonies in North America...
as one of the most prominent leaders of the short-lived “angryphone” movement, before moving to Ontario and criticising official bilingualism
Official bilingualism
Official bilingualism refers to the policy adopted by some states of recognizing two languages as official and producing all official documents, and handling all correspondence and official dealings, including Court procedure, in the two said languages...
in Canada.
Youth
Galganov reportedly had an activist history. His grandfather, a RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Jew, came to Canada to escape communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. In the 1960s, as a member of the Jewish Defense League
Jewish Defense League
The Jewish Defense League is a Jewish organization whose stated goal is to "protect Jews from antisemitism by whatever means necessary"...
, Galganov threw coffins on the Soviet embassy lawn in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
to protest the treatment of Jewish "refuseniks".
Quebec Activism
By the 1990s, Howard Galganov had become an outspoken critic of the Quebec sovereignty movementQuebec sovereignty movement
The Quebec sovereignty movement refers to both the political movement and the ideology of values, concepts and ideas that promote the secession of the province of Quebec from the rest of Canada...
and of the Canadian government for not defending the rights of English-speaking citizens living in the Canadian province of Quebec, because he believes that forcing him to do business in French would mean that he would make less money, given that English is the international language of business and that the French-Canadians have been kept poorer thanks to various Canadian policies, both public and private.
After a 1995 Quebec referendum
1995 Quebec referendum
The 1995 Quebec referendum was the second referendum to ask voters in the Canadian province of Quebec whether Quebec should secede from Canada and become an independent state, through the question:...
on sovereignty for the province of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Galganov founded the Quebec Political Action Committee (QPAC), serving as its president (and only member) until 2000. One of Galganov’s first prominent QPAC activities was to organize a protest at Fairview Pointe-Claire
Fairview Pointe-Claire
Fairview Pointe-Claire, also called Fairview Centre , is one of the biggest super regional shopping malls on the island of Montreal with about spread on two levels of shopping space...
, a shopping mall, in 1996 in the predominantly anglophone West Island
West Island
The West Island is the unofficial name given to the western cities and boroughs of the Island of Montreal, in Quebec, Canada...
of Montreal to protest that retail stores were not placing the maximum amount of English on their commercial signs as allowed under the Charter of the French Language
Charter of the French Language
The Charter of the French Language , also known as Bill 101 and Loi 101, is a law in the province of Quebec in Canada defining French, the language of the majority of the population, as the only official language of Quebec, and framing fundamental language rights for everyone in the province...
. Estimated attendance at the protest varied from 500 to 5,000. Galganov followed up this protest with threatened boycotts of prominent retail stores. He also protested the actions of the Office québécois de la langue française
Office québécois de la langue française
The Office québécois de la langue française is a public organization established on March 24, 1961 by the Liberal government of Jean Lesage...
on numerous issues including when language inspectors ordered stores to remove kosher products from their shelves just before Passover
Passover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
because they weren't labelled in the French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. These activities caused a reaction among fringe Quebec nationalist groups, garnering publicity for Galganov.
Later in 1996, he gave a speech at the Harvard Club of New York
Harvard Club of New York
The Harvard Club of New York is a private club in Midtown Manhattan, New York, New York, USA. Anyone who has attended Harvard University may apply to become a member. Incorporated in 1887, it is housed in adjoining lots at 27 West 44th Street and 35 West 44th Street...
, in spite of requests not to do so from federal and provincial officials concerned that it might discourage foreign investment in Canada; the speech went ahead but was poorly attended.
In 1997, he opened a store deliberately violating the commercial sign provisions of the Charter of the French Language in order to provoke the officials in charge of enforcing the law to prosecute him. The officials ignored the store and it closed due to low customer support.
After his QPAC activities, Galganov attempted several more politically related activities. In June 1997, he unsuccessfully ran for parliament as an independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
, coming in a distant second. In 1997, he started hosting an AM radio talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
on Montreal radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
CIQC-AM, first in the morning and then at noon. He was on the air for more than a year before his show was cancelled due to low ratings (replaced in the morning show by Montreal broadcaster Jim Duff), but did help to rally support for William Johnson
William Johnson (author)
William Johnson, CM is a Canadian academic, journalist and author.Johnson's mother was francophone and his father anglophone and Johnson himself speaks both English and French...
in his run for the leadership of Alliance Quebec
Alliance Quebec
Alliance Quebec was a group formed in 1982 to lobby on behalf of English-speaking Quebecers in the province of Quebec, Canada. It began as an umbrella group of many English-speaking organizations and institutions in the province, with approximately 15,000 members. At its height in the mid-1980s,...
. He also unsuccessfully ran for mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of the town of Saint-Lazare, Quebec
Saint-Lazare, Quebec
Saint-Lazare, also known as Saint-Lazare-de-Vaudreuil, is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada in the Regional County Municipality of Vaudreuil-Soulanges....
, placing a distant third.
Ontario Activism
Shortly after his Saint-Lazare mayoralty campaign, he moved to eastern OntarioOntario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. He ran as an independent candidate in the Ontario riding of Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry in the federal election
40th Canadian federal election
The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...
of October 14, 2008, advocating an end to official bilingualism
Bilingualism in Canada
The official languages of Canada are English and French, which "have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and Government of Canada" according to Canada's constitution...
and the separation of Quebec from Canada; he finished fourth with 5.7% of the vote.
On March 22, 2010, Ottawa-based dailies reported that Galganov distributed 5,200 (or 6,124) copies of a 12-page (or 10-page) English-only brochure entitled How to wipe-out the Franco Ontarian Language & Culture. Galganov is challenging in provincial court a regulation on mandatory bilingual sign adopted on June 16, 2008 by the township of Russell
Russell, Ontario
The Township of Russell is a municipal township, located south-east of Canada's capital of Ottawa in eastern Ontario, in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, on the Castor River...
. He claims that the regulation, by making French-only or English-only signs illegal, is threatening the French language in Ontario. Galganov's associate is Elizabeth Trudeau, an official spokesperson for Canadians for Language Fairness
Canadians for Language Fairness
Canadians for Language Fairness is an organization in Canada that campaigns against the application and enforcement of the Official bilingualism in Canada policy in various jurisdictions within the country....
, which battles bilingual legislation in Canada, claiming that it elevates "French speakers to first-class status and the rest of us to second and third-class status.".