Quebec News of the Weird- Volume 03

"Do As I Say, Not as I Do!"
The SAQ, Quebec government-owned liquor selling monopoly has come under fire for being hypocritical.
Six months ago they removed all one time use bags from their stores, in favour of reusables, which they sell in an effort to be enviornmentally friendly (and make a profit).
However they haven't cut back on the practice of advertising in Quebec's famous 'Publi-Sac', an advertising medium whereby paper advertisements are distributed directly to homes in a plastic bag. A spokesperson for the SAQ didn't see the contradiction in the policy that sees the distribution of up to 14 flyers a year, nor in the fact that the SAQ offers no recycling program in relation to bottles or corks.

Daredevil Fundambulist wows. A French tightrope walker Ramon Kelvink Jr. walked across a tightrope strung up between two landmarks in Quebec City. He successfully completed the walk in fifteen minutes, 50 meters above the ground and without the benefit of a safety net, to the great relief to the crowd watching below.
What's weird about this? Quebec is the province where in May a woman was given a $420 ticket for not holding an escalator handrail in a subway station in Montreal. How the heck did he get a permit to pull off this stunt?

Montreal gets 'new' district. "Little Italy and Chinatown are getting a new sibling 'LE PETIT MAGHREB" is the new appellation of a few blocks of Jean Talon located between Saint-Michel and Pie-IX blvds.
Just in case you don't know what exactly 'Maghreb' refers to, it is what the French-speaking Arab community that hails from North Africa, in the old French colonies of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia are commonly known as. Let's hope that Louise Harel, the mayoralty candidate who is opposed to creating 'ethnic boroughs' isn't too upset. The community was given $40K to refurbish the area. Maybe they'll put up an identifying symbol, like the gate in Chinatown.

Perhaps a minaret?

Montreal forced to rehire-hire worker who forged doctors notes. The city fired a blue-collar worker who was repeatedly absent and who furnished doctors notes excusing her absence which she had forged. The employee who had sixteen years on the job appealed the firing to a tribunal which reduced her punishment to a 21 day suspension

Man Arrested because Officer is a TMNT fan. Michael Ruckenstein and his wife were at Trudeau airport in Montreal to catch a flight to Australia. Despite being a septuagenarian, he is an avid martial arts practitioner and carried in his luggage two tridents used in the practice of the sport. The daggers have no edge and are harmless, he has travelled with them on countless occasions, having already verified with the airline and custom agents that they were perfectly fine to travel with. After his luggage passed through the X-ray machine, he was summoned and arrested by Montreal Police. Despite his explanations, he was held up at the airport until custom agents arrived and confirmed that the 'weapons' were harmless, an hour later. The Rukensteins missed their flight, but more importantly had their names 'flagged' and now are exposed to secondary searches each time they fly.
The couple sued the Montreal Police and in court the arresting officer admitted that he didn't exactly know what the 'weapons' were, but recognized them as dangerous, from watching 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." The Ruckensteins were awarded $7,500.