Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Montreal a Cesspool of Corruption

There's really no other way to put it.
After listening to Tuesday's blockbuster testimony by Lino Zambito at the Charbonneau Commission looking into corruption in Quebec's construction industry, it is no overstatement to say that Montreal is a cesspool of corruption.


Although we all had no doubt that this was the case, hearing the scams laid out so neatly, plus the addition of the names of the people involved still comes as quite a shock and eye-opener.

You can read all the sordid details in the newspaper, but it all essentially boils down to a very simple, but nefarious swindle that implicates all the players in the game, including the taxpaying boobs like us, who underwrote everything with our outrageous municipal taxes.

Mr. Zambito described the scam rather simply, though it seemed that the head of the commission Judge Charbonneau, had a bit of trouble understanding, which isn't surprising as most on the bench have lived cloistered lives and understand next to nothing about money and how the real world works.

At any rate I'll save you all the trouble and describe the plot rather simply.

City of Montreal construction contracts were divvied up among construction firms that rigged the bidding process under the auspices and protection of the Mafia, who took a commission of 2.5% of the total value for 'godfathering' (excuse the pun) the scam and keeping everyone in line.

The winning contractor (whose bid was inflated by up to 30%) paid a 3% commission to Montreal's ruling political party, Mayor Tremblay's Union Montreal.
A 1% commission was also paid to Gilles Surprenant, the Montreal bureaucrat who was responsible for the public-works projects for the city of Montreal, as well as creating and overseeing the budgets. Link
Mr Surprenant referred to himself as “Monsieur TPS,” ('Tax pour Surprenant') a play on the French term for the GST tax.

Some of this is not new, back in May, I wrote a lengthy piece about Montreal corruption and if you'd like to refresh your memory read;  Corruption- Montreal Style

Alfred E. Tremblay....What me worry?
In addition to all this, city employees were also on the take, from the very top engineers responsible for the projects, to the overseers in the field who verified the work done by the contractors.

Mr Zambito described another scam between city engineers and the construction companies where the latter would authorize extra bogus payments for unforeseen contingencies, this on top of the tendered price. The proceeds of these phoney bills were split between the engineers who kept 25% and the contractor who kept 75%.
Hmm....Not bad work if you can get it!

These frauds weren't limited to a few bad apples, but were widespread and an open secret among city employees and construction contractors.

The biggest names to be fingered so far by Zambito are Robert Abdallah and Frank Zampino.
Abdallah- Connected to the Prime_Minister?
Abdallah is a former director general of the city and top civil servant, who has denied the allegation that he pocketed $300,000 on a certain project. He is said to be huddling with lawyers preparing a counterattack. Link

Frank Zampino, was  Mayor Tremblay's second in command, until he resigned abruptly, more than four years ago to go work for the infamous Tony Accurso, the top dog in the local construction industry who is currently under indictment after being arrested in April on charges of fraud, conspiracy, influence-peddling and breach of trust.
His companies have in the past pled guilty to income tax evasion and just recently he was arrested once again on charges of federal income-tax evasion. Link
Zambito claimed in his testimony that Zampino, while working for the city, steered a large contract to a company owned by the very same Tony Accurso for whom he later went to work for.
Mr. Zampino is currently under indictment in another case of influence peddling and fraud. Link

According to Zambito, city employees weren't even shy about talking graft openly and even went so far as to demand that Zambito take them on vacation. LINK
Mr. Zambito wasn't even a big player in the industry, yet he admitted  paying one city employee over $200,000 in brides.

At any rate, you've got to admire the guts of Lino Zambito, naming names like that is usually a guarantee that an assassin's bullet is on its way and so his forthrightness can only mean that he's already signed his witness protection contract and that he'll be slinging pizzas in the likes of Wayburn, Saskatchewan, along with his family in no time.
The dead giveaway is that the police are already protecting his family with cruisers parked in front of his ex-wife's home, his father's house and the pizzeria that he owns. That's a lot of resources.
Right, Mister Zambito Peterson?

And you've got to hand it to the Mafia as well, they really seemed to have had things neatly arranged, controlling the construction companies, city of Montreal engineers and inspectors, the political party of mayor Gerald Tremblay and yes, even Canada Revenue Agency agents, who made sure those pesky audits went away.

Now this is just the beginning of the inquiry and since the whole thing is choreographed, I'm sure we'll be treated to more delightful stories of graft and greed that pretty much reaches everywhere public money is spent.
Next on Mr. Zambito's hit list are the politicians that run certain small towns, who act in place of the absent Mafia in the above-mentioned scams.
Boy oh boy, there are a lot of people sleeping poorly tonight!

This morning I heard a so-called expert on TV say that just about all of Quebec' engineering firms are crooked to some extent and that payoffs for contracts at home and abroad is standard-operating-procedure. 
Dr.Porter-Whereabouts unknown

Yesterday a La Presse story alleges, in a roundabout fashion, that Arthur Porter, the disgraced ex-head of Montreal's new super hospital, may have been the beneficiary of a $22 million payment made overseas, allegedly made by SNC Lavelin in relation to winning the contract to build the hospital.  That's what the big raid by anti-corruption police at the hospital's head office, a couple of weeks ago, was all about. Link
By the way, Mr. Porter skipped town and is nowhere to be found. He stills owes McGill for a $500,000 personal loan. Link{Fr} Link2{Fr}

This whole scandal is also about to blow up.

Considering the scope of this alleged fraud, another investigation involving another MUHC employee who is accused of embezzling $1.6 million seems to be chump change. Link

So let's not make this into a French/English thing and come to think of it the Mafia is Italian, but more aligned to the English than the French.

Sgt Tremblay,"I see nuthing!! I know nuthing!!"
And of course, in all this, our idiot Mayor Tremblay stands firmly on his position that he knew nothing at all, which is hard to believe considering that last year he admitted in public that he feared for his life.

But you know, bad as it seems, this whole mess is really not that hard to clean up, mark my words.
The corruption at Montreal City Hall will end, because it isn't that hard to control once you set your mind to it.
Already the inflated portions of the bids are reported to be down by half and will soon disappear.

All that is required is the political will to do so, and whether politicians like it or not, the public will no longer stand for these shenanigans.
The same goes for corruption in the Ministry of Transport and cities and towns across Quebec.

The Charbonneau Commission is a creation of public demand and what we have learned so far is that corruption is everywhere and predates Mr. Charest and the Liberals who were made the fall guys by the voters.

And so, demands for Mayor Tremblays resignation are becoming louder and louder.
Perhaps he can finish his term which ends next year, but if he tries to run again, we will repeat the provincial election fiasco that saw Charest dumped by an unforgiving public. If Tremblay runs we will be faced with the choice a unilingual separatist, Louise Harel, whose party has already been fined for illegal campaign financing, or Projet Montreal, a granola party that has truther Richard Bergeron as it head.

Some choice that is, so perhaps we should just stick with the Mafia;

Here is  Rick Blue's (of Boswer and Blue fame) take on why the Mafia is preferable to separatists, plus a few of my own.
  1. The Mafia only wants control over drugs, prostitution and construction..... Separatists want control over everything.
  2. The Mafia doesn’t force everyone to speak Italian.
  3. The Mafia doesn’t depress housing prices.
  4. The Mafia isn’t the reason our children move to Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.
  5. You can reason with the Mafia.
  6. The Mafia doesn't care what school you go to.
  7. Unlike the police, when the Mafia offers protection, you get it.
  8. The Mafia doesn't care about the language of store signs.  
By the way, Montreal's new mayor next year will be none other than Denis Coderre, a federal Liberal. MP.... just a fearless prediction.

69 comments:

  1. Looks like MaCleans had it right a year ago. Remember the federal politicians condemning the article featuring Bon Homme on the cover. Unbelievable that even the professional engineering firms are involved. Only thing is, how do they prove the allegations and bring to justice those responsible for bilking the Quebec and Canadian public out of what appears to be billions over the years.?

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  3. Don't know much about the politics in Montreal as I don't live there but the above sure doesn't sound good for all involved. So far no proof though = just one guy naming people in the municipal government. It also looks as though this has been going on for a very long time - prior to Charest (the poor guy being tarred with the brush during the campaign). We all suspected as much but I would still like evidence, other than one man, popping out names. We have to hope more names come up for the mayor's job (yuck on Louise Harel) before Mr. Trembly is forced to resign (if there is proof of wrongdoing by he and his party). Will be interesting to see if names come up in the Provincial Government rather than just municipal and if it touches more areas than just Montreal. Hope the PQ are caught with their pants down in this mess - it will serve them right because of all their kiss ass with the unions that are part of this disaster.

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  4. I just wanted to say I really enjoy reading the blogs on this site. I find there is more valuable information here than any city/international daily. Thanks so much for all the effort you put into this editor!!!

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  5. On the other hand, thank God for the corruption. At least some ethnics have found a way to make money in the public system, even if they have to grease the pockets of hunfreds of Francophones to find a way in. Too bad the benefit only extends to the Italian mafia. Maybe that's the path to equality - criminal ethnic organizations with deep pockets to bribe Quebecers. Come to think of it, it just follows the federal paradigm with Quebec, bribe, bribe, bribe.

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  6. Montreal a Cesspool of Corruption , and most of official Kebec, no doubt about it. It is the kebec way sadly, you are right. It is not new, just look at all the goverenment scams dating back decades. Provincially in Kebec and federally in Ottawa. One thing most of them had in common was that politicians from kebec were invoved. Where do you start, Duplesese, Bourassa, Levesque, Trudeau, Mulroney, Chretien…what a mess. And nothing will change; the entire system is corrupt from the top down and the bottom up. Lawyers love it, they are making a fortune…Poor Canada. What a mess!!!

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  7. Editor,

    I'm blown away.
    You've certainly recaptured my attention post-election with these figures and numbers.

    I just love Montréal; yet living there often saddens me. I'd love to see a re-energized, re-vitalized Montréal; maybe this is the Big Change it's been needing.

    I hear/read recently that Ontario is naive about the level of corruption; perhaps this may serve as a gateway to a future, similar Commission in that province as well.

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  8. Duplessis conspicuously practiced pork barrel politics, Karlheinz Shreiber was an undesirable that lines Mulroney's pockets, the Mafia has flourished here, countless Nazis emigrated here, lived and died peacefully, and on it goes. Ernst Zundel was FINALLY deported 45 years after arriving because he stupidly forgot to renew his visa (he never applied for citizenship - thankfully) while in the States, slipped up, got deported and thrown in jail upon hitting the tarmac in Germany. Good riddance! Too bad this legislation didn't come in much, much sooner. If baby Trudeau gets in (God forbid!), I'm sure the corruption will roll back to what we have experienced for decades. Score one for the Conservatives.

    Until recently, Canada had very lax immigration laws, and finally the Conservatives have a backbone to bring in legislation that can revoke the citizenship of undesirables. Again, score one for the Conservatives.

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    1. Maybe they should start by revoking the citizenship of those that have the break up of the country as their goal.

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    2. Don't worry Mr Sauga,

      There is plenty of Pork Barrel and money going around to milk for the conservatives. Just look at the F-35 purchases that were being looked into and how much money was thrown around for that. Then there is the G-20 summit that inconvenienced many taxpayers trying to go downtown for work for weeks. 1 billion dollars on a measly conference. That could have been held at CFB trenton if they were concerned with security. Plenty more to come out. Plus you got the PMO office expanding in leaps and bounds while all the other depts are being trimmed and chopped.

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    3. Also MR sauga,

      There are the same conservatives that cut the immigration fees in half to get the immigrant vote. THen they started restricting immigration and started their anti immigration propaganda while they fear to go after anything Quebec.

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  9. Yes, kick the dummies out and let them start their own New Quebec - partition this province quickly!

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    1. Gees, why are you so bent on partitioning this great province?

      Separation is never going to happen, and the PQ won't be in power for very long.

      The best we can do for now is to teach the separatists the amount of damage caused by racist and xenophobic policies.

      We've already seen a large amount of french jobs (far outside the montreal area) lost, which is a good start. Things need to continue this way. Businesses need to close their Quebec installations while making it very clear to everyone that the reason is the PQs policies.
      Mark my words, net job creation for the PQ government will be negative over the next two years.

      As for the brainwashed students from the UQAM and such, they'll get to pay the price once their diplomas become the equivalent of a highschool diploma everywhere else and they can't get a decent job anywhere, which should be soon.

      The best way for them to learn is to let them suffer.
      They would never admit it, but money in people's wallets is more powerful than separatist propaganda.

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    2. Quebecer of the tree stump,

      If Quebec is partitioned into 2 provinces, one bilingual on the lines of New Brunswick and 1 on the lines of the current Quebec - minus most of the anglos and allos. I think most of the Francophones that support the PQ will learn even faster that it wasn't the minorities that were keeping them from doing well economically.

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    3. I agree but by then I'm afraid it will be too late to salvage anything for those of us that are willing to reunite with Canada with something left to offer besides bankruptcy - that's why I'd like to partition this place and let those bankrupt spendthrifts go and sink on their own. What's left of our part of Quebec would have some stability in that at least our land would be worth something - if we stay in Quebec, not even that much will be left!

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  10. To quote John McArthur: " Ambition for office corrupts, desire for service purifies".

    A lot of bad ambition going on in QC...

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  11. Early this morning almost 100 agents from Revenue Quebec raided nine different locations, all related to Tony Accurso.
    It's getting serious and perhaps the noose is finally tightening for Montreal's 'godfather' of construction.

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    1. "It's getting serious and perhaps the noose is finally tightening for Montreal's 'godfather' of construction."

      Until someone takes his place...

      I don't understand why all this news of corruption and mafia implications comes as a surprise to anyone. It's like if you all think that politicians are there to "serve the people first". What a joke.

      As for the mafia, they are anywhere that money is present, just like any business organization. I really don't think it's worse here than anywhere else, I think recent instabilities in Montreal mafia families have led to it being more exposed in Quebec.

      And finally, I'm still waiting for the evidence to corroborate all the allegations of corruption within the PLQ...

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    2. Me too - If there's corruption within the PLQ (which I'm not sure) then there is corruption within the PQ and that will be worth watching - I hope it gets there quickly and before another election!

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    3. Patience,l'enquête est présentement au niveau des branches et du feuillage.Progressivement,ils iront vers le tronc et ensuite,la souche.

      Vous connaissez le modus operandi n'est-ce pas...M.Stump?

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    4. "...Stéphane Dion strikes me as a perfect case of idealist intellectual who makes a poor politician."

      Que dire de Michael Ignatieff?

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  12. Stephane Dion was an idealist, when he mentioned the cost of his green shift plan it was ammunition for the CONs to win. THough he did alot better then IGGY. Iggy never had a chance because he just parachuted from the US to fight the election and after it went back. I don't know how the liberals came up with that one.

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    1. I agree - I liked Stephane Dion and hoped he would do well but alas not meant to be. I know he is honest, intelligent and, for sure, a devoted Canadian. A little disappointed that I did not hear back from him when I sent an e-mail about getting rid of the "Notwithstanding" Clause in the Constitution for the sake of the Canadians in Quebec but then again, never heard back from Harper, or Charest either. The only one I heard back from, with a snotty reply, was the Tea Party in Alberta but that was because I told her off about saying that their party and Quebec PQ party had something in common. Who knows why these people don't respond to e-mails but probably would have received a reply if I had sent the same letters via registered mail.

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    2. "Le projet de loi 101 est une grande loi canadienne."

      -Stéphane Dion

      Toujours aussi sympathique...cutie?

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    3. I didn't want Green Shift to go through but I didn't trust the conservatives and instead voted Liberal. Also I remember that quote S.R. brought up. Conservatives behaved decently when they had a minority government. Tried to please everyone, I knew we couldn't trust them with a full majority.

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  13. FROM ED BROWN
    Because of the rotten campaign tricks of the Conservative Party. The best thing that could have happened to this country would have been John Turner. Trudeau and Chretien had us in debt only 200 billion. Turner would have wiped that out in a few years. Remember he quit Trudeau's cabinet as finance minister because he refused to go into deficit spending. Ha gave the country it's last balanced budget.
    The chairman of southam press ordered fis minions to elect Mulroney and like a good little bunch of prostitutes they jumped right in bed. One of the worst was that two faced bastard L.Ian MacDonald who wrote a book published just before the election praising Mulroney and now defames him. All the Tory papers (Gazette included) ran Turner into the ground. Michael Farber returning from the L.A. olympics (1984) wrote a column calling Turner a stumblebum. The chairman of Southam press went on television calling Turner a bad loser before the election. The Gazette had the nerve to select MacDonald and
    Dalton Camp to comment on the election. Could it be any more obvious which side they were on?
    Stephen Harper was elected because a tory bean counter Sheila Fraser brought up a five year old scandal two weeks before the election. (Tell me that wasn't calculated.) Even though it had nothing to do with the government at the time, Paul Martin had completely distanced his cabinet from any of Chretien's people, we lost the best Prime Minister we ever had. Martin had cut down the 580 billion that the crook Mulroney left us with to 500 billion in just a few years. He had first balanced the budget and not cut any services. Done by simple honesty and no waste.
    I think the people in the ROC are fed up with Prime Ministers from Quebec. I felt the best choice the Libs had was Gerard Kennedy. At the convention he spoke like a man with vision and a statesman .
    Instead they opted for Iggy who has all the personality of a prune. They can't get their minds out of Quebec. Now it's Trudeau. There might be hope for him as the Trudeau name is still good in English Canada. Ed

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  14. Why should one vote for an aspiring mayor unless they promise official re-bilingualisation of Montreal? Am I the only one tired of "Chemin Queen Mary" and "Rue de la Montagne?" It wouldn't be that big of a deal if you could still get your darn GPS to recognise the english street names. Why must one be always corrected for saying "Pine Avenue"? It's disrespectful to the anglos who built Montreal to change the names of thes streets they built! Unilingual government has no place in a bilingual city!

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    1. Montréal (Ville-Marie) a été bilingue sur une très courte période.Elle redevient peu à peu française.

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    2. ...and there will be neither Anglophones or Allophones, but just white, straight, unilingual and catholic québécois. Women? At home, of course, churning out dozen of kids and baking cakes for their husbands.
      You figured out everything.

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    3. Qui a parlé de gâteaux,de femmes à la maison et de procréation à outrance?Montréal doit être aussi anglaise que toronto ,française.Tous les immigrants sont les bienvenus mais ils doivent comprendre que la langue officielle du Québec est le français.

      Rien de plus,rien de moins.

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    4. It will never happen only on your own terms and according to your own personal rules.

      We will have to negotiate together. Otherwise, you will go on speaking your jargon, I will carry on speaking mine. You in your world, us in ours.

      Rien de plus, rien de moins.

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  15. FROM ED BROWN
    I should have said the Liberals opted for Dion, who had a thick french Canadian accent. After that snake Chretien Canadians were leery of french men from Quebec. Afterward they chose Iggy who was as exciting as a stone flung at a rock. I feel that where corruption is concerned the newspapers have a lot to answer for. They knew it was Chretien's people that created the Quebec scandal but never made it an issue until after the election. Until we get honest reporting the people will never have a decent voice.

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  16. The bigger the government the bigger the corruption, the will to fight will have an impact but not as much as you think.

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  17. And BTW any excuses from Dussault to MacCleans mag would be welcomed, they were right, she was the typical rad can socialist-nationalist trash

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  18. I can't seem to be able to post on the 1st October Blog thread, but I found this, penned by Mr. complicated (lowercase as he writes it):

    SR -
    Since the PQ won the election the tension levels between the anglos and the francos have gone up by a factor of ten. All was relativerly peaceful before and now Pauline and her gang want to strip more rights away from anglos and demonize anglos and the rest of Canada even more. And lets not talk about the economic damage that the PQ is and will cause..the longer they are in power the weaker the economy will get..they have no clue how to improve it. All they know is how to blame all the problems in Quebec on anglos and the rest of Canada.
    It would be nice for many Quebecois to take a good hard look in the mirror sometimes and start taking responsibility for the chronic economic weakness in this province. Thats what happens when you let the unions take over, when you overtax people, when you just keep adding to the debt, when you run the government in such an inefficient manner.

    One day SR you may wake up and get what you want but I bet you wont be that happy. You may end up with a country that has 6 million francophones..with all the anglos gone. But you will be isolated from the rest of North America and have a debt as bad as Greece. Many large corporations will be gone..all that anglo money will be gone..good luck trying to create wealth without the anglo community especially after destroying Canada.

    What you need to understand SR is that you cant have it all..you cant have a strong economy and at the same time treat anglos like second class citizens. Either you embrace anglophones with the same rights and privileges as francophones or you end up with a francophone country that is poor. You know what I bet..many francophones would leave a bankrupt Quebec and move to Canada to find a decent job.


    Well, complicated, if these are your true feelings, then I have to hold my hand up and apologise for misjudging you and your motives. I'll still have my opinions, but now I have no reason to doubt of your own good faith. I will try and be a bit less confrontational in our future exchanges, as I obviously wasn't until now.

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    1. Well lets say that I am somewhat torn between both sides. I am an anglophone with very close francophone ties..however not Quebecois ties. I cant stand the PQ and what they stand for..that is clear..I think seperation would be a total disaster for anyone left in Quebec. Marois is probably the worst PQ leader of them all..she really gets on my nerves.

      My arguments with you TQP were more akin to the fact that I dont think we should be too agressive in our attacks right now. My fear is that it will be used by the PQ to try and crank up the anti-anglo rhetoric. If we had more political clout and a stronger anglophone base then I might feel differently. I am very pragmatic..my main goal really is to see the PQ lose the next election. I feel the best way is to tone down the anti-Quebec rhetoric and more or less let Marois and gang self destruct..they are already doing a pretty good job.

      Having said that I still stand by my thinking that the PQ was born because of past injustices from anglos way back when..and yes we are not responsible for the actions of those anglos but lets not give the PQ any ammunition to remind francophones why we are not to be trusted. I still also can live with Bill 101 for the most part..not thrilled about it..but I can live with it in its present form. If any further extensions are made it to then no its going too far. I still believe that its wrong that english has to be smaller on signs..that bothers me but I have learned to live with it..especially if it means relative peace.

      So TQP we probably are not as far apart as you may have thought however we still share some differences.

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    2. Yannick -
      I agree totally and yes we need to be somewhat sensitive to protecting and preserving french. Thats why I can accept Bill 101..I am pretty sure without it that english would have taken over much of Montreal by now.
      We need to behave in a respectful and calm manner..but still be firm on not accepting any more attacks against the english language. Its a fine line that many people have a hard time walking.

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  19. I know I am off topic, and know that the comment can be deleted, however I think it's worth sharing the good news: Anglos, you are safe. Lisée is watching and should your community decrease even more, he'll come to the rescue.

    In his words, from The Gazette: "I tell my French audiences that if the anglo community were to shrink to the point of losing critical mass - i.e., if the proportion of people who actually live in English were to drop, remedial measures would be in order."

    What a joke...

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    1. LOL - I find it so insulting that they presume that we're all stupid - irritating as hell - a-------.

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    2. "I tell my French audiences that if the anglo community were to shrink to the point of losing critical mass - i.e., if the proportion of people who actually live in English were to drop, remedial measures would be in order."

      Condescending, racist, pre-concentration camp mentality, a modern Joseph Mengele with his "special" remedies and recipes.
      With that attitude, no dialogue is possible (Does it have to be one at any cost?)

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    3. "...racist, pre-concentration camp mentality..."

      Vous n'y allez pas un peu fort?Un peu de respect pour les victimes des nazis s.v.p.

      À force de crier au loup...

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    4. ...and the wolf has arrived in the form of the PQ and Jean-François Lisée.

      What a hell do you know about 'les nazis'??? Please, go and have a cold shower, S.R.

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  20. "What a hell do you know about 'les nazis'?"

    Qu'ils auraient exterminé environ 6 millions de Juifs de façon totalement inhumaine,dans différents camps de concentration et cela pour des raisons qui n'avaient absolument rien à voir avec la langue d'usage en Europe.

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  21. yes, we know, we know, this stuff have been taught in school since 1950. Nothing new. Nothing new.
    The problem is that in YOUR personal case it becomes propaganda, just political propaganda mixed with demagogy, populism and victimhood (québécois are masters of victimhood).
    You should read 'Le Pardon' (1967) by Vladimir Jankélévitch. I doubt it will solve something in your case.

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    1. @Troy - following the last thread, I have been billed many times in Ontario for doctor's services and claimed back from RAMQ - what the RAMQ paid was never the same amount as the doctor's bill. My own GP, if he takes on new patients, will not take any from Quebec anymore because they do not pay the same amount for visits as OHIP. I have been with him for many years and he accepts what Quebec pays him for looking after me but it's not the same amount of money. As to the hospital bills, I'm unsure how that works because I never receive that info from the hospital at the time of treatment but, knowing Quebec, I'm sure they manage to hoard some of that money rather than give it to the hospital.

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  22. FROM ED BROWN
    Ye Gods! What a waste of time/. I put up two big posts about the dishonest news reporting of elections. The people are not electing the government , the press is. I see no one had an opinion. They were all busy arguing with SR. Good bye. Ed

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  23. When I moved here from the west 10 years ago I was shocked at the level of dishonesty in general from all types of people, businesses and so on. There were stories of fire trucks ending up in the river during a strike. I remember shaking my head at the weekly street cleaning that happened on residential streets which were perfectly clean. Or my mailman who just wouldnt deliver the mail some days..often on fridays and mondays. Now I see my local mailman drives a canada post truck from house to house with the engine running..really great for the environment. Or the amount of times people asked if I wanted to pay cash to avoid the sales tax..its rampant here..even large companies do this. Or the amount of sick leave people take at my work..triple the amounts in a similar office out west.
    There is some sort of attitude in Montreal..its really a culture of taking advantage of the system to the max..little thought to lying or trying to ripoff people. I have sort of gotten used to it..but when I travel elsewhere in Canada and the USA I am always shocked at how much better I am treated in general. I feel like most businesses in Montreal take me for granted..could care less if I am happy or satisfied. Frankly I dont really see how this changes unless we have a major crisis. It seems to me things will have to get a lot worse before they get better.

    Read this article..I have often thought that Montreal could be the next Detroit..
    http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Opinion+Detroit+decline+serve+warning/7338972/story.html

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  24. Just saw on the CTV News from Montreal, a sign in one of the transit way windows, saying in french that Quebec operates in french. Wow - what happens if people can't speak french? What about the tourists that don't speak french - how can they understand the sign if they can't speak french? The sign was taken down, not because of the french aspect, but because the employees aren't allowed to post signs in the windows! These are public service employees laying down the law as to what language people are supposed to speak - these employees being paid by all the taxpayers, including anglos and allos. The GD never of these people - is the shit ever going to get better or are we just going to keep going downhill? The employees on duty in that booth should be fired or suspended until they learn to do their damn jobs and stop dictating to the public. Boy - the nerve!

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  25. And yes complicated, all of Quebec seems to think they are "special" and don't have to worry about little things like manners, integrity, duty, and ethics. And especially MONEY! We are different and that's been proven from coast to coast.

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    1. I had a friend visiting from out west this summer. He does not speak any french. He had a problem with his ticket and tried to talk to an stm ticket agent. She refused to speak any english to him..not a word and then handed him a brochure in french. He told he that he doesnt speak french and the brochure should be in english. She flipped out and basically said that this is quebec..you know the same old argument about it being only french here. He flipped out and jumped over the gate with her eyes wide open.
      As you say, its stories like this that make me wonder what the heck I am doing here. I am not even a native Quebecer nor is my wife but its not simple for me to leave job wise and because of my children. But I can tell you that I am seriously considering leaving and keeping my eyes open for opportunities elsewhere. It was relatively peaceful with the Libs in charge..but they had to screw it up by being so damn corrupt like everyone else. I still think the CAQ is our best hope to really change things in government..the Libs are too left leaning..they have done little to reduce the debt and bring efficiencies into the government.

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    2. PLQ is not corrupted, only the PQ

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  26. Just in case there was any doubt about why this blog should exist...

    http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Sign+ticket+booth+insulting+m%C3%A9tro+user+says/7345088/story.html

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    1. That's what we've been trying to tell you complicated. We've not had these problems for the past 10 years or so, until the run up to the election and since. That's why you see so much anger on this blog - we feel this bigotry is now out of control and we have to put a stop to it before it gets worse - and it will if we don't fight back! The problem a lot of us have is that we own property and I see a lot of for sale signs and no "sold" ones because potential buyers also read the news and see that the provincial governments of Quebec are staying quiet on all these incidents - who would want to buy here in an atmosphere of hate and even worse things to come as promised by the PQ government before the election.

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    2. I hope the 60-minutes follow up will pick up on such things.

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  27. FROM ED BROWN
    Yannick and Cutie, thank you for your kind words but it's not sympathy I'm looking for. When I pointed out the dishonesty of the press election reporting, I am trying to say that it's the thing we should be working on because we need fair elections and honest politicians to get anywhere.
    I was hoping some one might suggest a way we could let the press know that the public demands they show the honesty and fairness we demand of the politicos. The Charbonneau group needs to think about the corruption of saying trash about a politician causing him to lose the election. The Gazette never mentioned until after the election that nothing had ever been proved about Jean Charest but before they continued to speak of a corrupt liberal government. I feel it's this kind of thing that cost us the election. So many, even here on this blog were saying I'm voting for Legault because Charest is corrupt. This is more important than SR for heaven's sake.
    Last night I couldn't sleep with the arthritic pain so I started going over old blogs in the early morning hours. I was shocked that one person had commented on the editors post and then Sr took over. I'm amazed at how skillfully the man guided people to argue with him about nothing. He even had people arguing with each other over something he started. I am 76 but I have a full life. Most of it devoted to my Grandson who is a wonderful young man (23) who I am very proud of but when it comes to him cooking or cleaning think 'Zits' I call him that when I'm fed up. I'm also trying to get my books published, my novel took six months of hard work and I'm determined to do something with it. There is an aged woman nearby that needs my company. I'm writing articles for two magazines one in the US and one in Toronto and I try to keep up with this blog. However, If I feel I'm wasting time that could be better spent elsewhere I get stressed. I sure as hell do not have time to waste of SR. Ed

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    1. Right you are ED but it is like beating a dead horse.

      Many months ago the Journal de Montreal tried to dirty the reputation of Jacques Duchesneau over a trivial accounting affair which they tried to make into the Brinks robbery. They even put his picture on the front page with a bunch of other crooks.

      I was the only blogger or journalist who the very next day wrote that this campaign was cruel and dishonest and those who knew the man personally knew him to be honest as the day is long.

      After he was exonerated, as I told you he would be, they changed their tune.
      During the corruption inquiry he was portrayed as the second coming.

      You know what it tells me... that most journalists don't know Jack and they write based on selling newspaper, not on hard facts.

      I can tell you that Jean Charest is an honest man, I know this personally after over a decade of friendship. I know that he was also very dedicated to his job.

      I didn't always agree with him , but he explained to me once that his job was a difficult balancing act, something I could understand but not appreciate.

      Those who called him a crook don't have a shred of evidence.
      The RCMP and the UPAC can raid his house and office and find absolutely NADA.
      That I can guarantee.!

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  28. The Editor is right Ed - the press will go where the crowd goes - where the most popular politician is holding his events and they are the ones who will get all the publicity. The press does not bother delving into whether or not these guys are the best ones for the job - maybe years ago they did but not now - It is so unfortunate because they could do a whole lot for the country as a whole if they did some investigative reporting instead of just following the most charismatic potential leader. Probably a simple matter of meeting deadlines to keep their jobs. I too believe that Jean Charest is an honest man and I hope the Charbonneau Commission clears his name.

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  29. Just to keep things in perspective, one should remember that Canada still ranks 10th on the list of least-corrupt nations in the world.

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    1. Corruption Fears Hit Melbourne

      Oh noes! Not Melbourne too! Australia is #8 least-corrupt... plus Melbourne is like Montreal: second-largest city, first to hold the Olympics in their country, famous for their restaurants...

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