This week in Quebec Corruption
The scheme involved several people including lawyers, collectors and family members which makes the whole affair if proven, a criminal enterprise.
It would be the first time that the law against criminal organizations would be applied to white collar criminals.
If you think that the Charbonneau Commission is sending Quebecers for a loop, wait until the Vaillancourt mess goes to trial, where it will no doubt create a sensation unseen in the annals of
There's no doubt that with so many players, there's a line-up of those willing to turn states evidence and rat out the mayor, who police really want to see in jail.
A word of advice to the future defendants, stick to trial by judge, because the average Quebecer as a potential juror would like nothing else than to stick it to these guys.
By the way, the article stated that the RCMP had a file on Vaillancourt way back before 2000.
So what took them so long????
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"Seems part of the reason Montreal's streets are a pothole-ridden mess
every spring is because the quality of asphalt has become poorer over
the last decade.And part of the reason for that, is because of collusion between construction companies.
So says Gilles Théberge, a former construction executive who took the stand again today at the Charbonneau Commission." Read the rest of the story at CJAD
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Meanwhile Dr. Arthur Porter, the central figure in the Montreal super hospital bribery scandal, was arrested in Panama, along with his wife.
Her role in the matter has never been made public.
Porter had claimed he was too ill to travel with late-stage cancer while in the Bahamas and so more questions are raised about his supposed illness.
It remains to be seen if Porter will fight extradition, but if he's smart he will not as his treatment here will likely be better than being placed in custody in Panama.
Stay-tuned. Read the story
........Porter says he won't fight extradition
Here's a thought...
What if Porter isn't lying and he does have terminal cancer?
He'll never see trial because of his illness and by bringing him back, all we are doing is picking up some very expensive health bills.....Hmmmm!
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The chief of staff of the Minister of Families, Lucie Papineau has resigned her position after eight months on the job because according to her boss, she only agreed that she'd stay on for six months.
Hmm..... When the minister Nicole Leger made the announcement of her appointment, she never mentioned that it was a short-term affair.
Could it be because Madame Papineau was named in the Charbonneau Commission not once, but twice, in relation to illegal donations on the PQ side? Link{fr}
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"The whole corruption scandal that has enveloped Quebec has had people shaking their heads at the audacity and the pervasiveness of the affair.
But until now, it seemed to be a conspiracy of the willing, there was no talk of violence.
Well that all changed with the publication of this story;
Also:"The owner of a construction company was likely beaten to death because he wouldn't participate in a corrupt system, said a witness at the Charbonneau Inquiry.
Serge Loiselle and his wife were attacked inside their Salaberry de Valleyfield home in November 2011, and Loiselle later died of his injuries.
He was the owner and president of Ali Excavation, a successful construction company that won contracts throughout the region.
But Gilles Théberge, a now retired manager of Sintra Construction, said Loiselle's success proved his undoing.
According to Théberge, Loiselle was an honest man who refused to take part in the widespread collusion that is rampant in Quebec's construction industry. His refusal to co-operate with other construction companies and artificially inflated prices meant Ali Excavation was easily able to win contracts, and undercut the profit margin of other companies." Read more
Contractor describes being threatened by bid-rigging companies
It was impossible to even make bids on public projects in Laval without being threatened by other players in a corrupt system said the latest witness at the Charbonneau Inquiry.
Construction entrepreneur Pierre Allard is the owner of a small construction firm that tried to work in Laval, but was quickly swept up and strong-armed by other construction companies.
Allard said his company had no difficulty bidding and winning on public contracts, but problems began when he decided to bid on on public-private contract to connect water mains and sewers in a housing development to the municipal network.: Read more
Quebec soaks Canada for $20 billion a year
"A Journal de Montreal story reports that Statistics Quebec, a government agency, has confirmed that Quebec is the big, big winner in federal government transfers, taking out a shocking twenty billion more than it puts into the federal pot.The journalist Michel Girard goes on to say;
"In 2011, federal spending in Quebec reached $61.6 billion. This includes spending on goods and services, money transfers to Quebec companies and individuals (old age pension, unemployment insurance, child benefits) in money transfers to the provincial government (equalization, etc..) and to municipalities, interest on the Quebec portion of the federal debt, etc..
Revenue from Quebec peaked in 2011 at about $ 42.5 billion." Link{fr-PW}
"Defenders of Quebec independence may argue that 2011 might have been an exceptional year.I think this clear and concise article will put to bed any claim that sovereigntists can make over the economic benefits of sovereignty.
Nope!
In 2010, the "sovereignty balance" also showed a large deficit of $19.2 billion.
In fact, the "sovereignty balance" has deteriorated significantly since 2004. At that time, we saw a negative variance of only $967 million. Ever since 2008, the gap exceeds $11 billion annually, with the federal government spending a whole lot more money in Quebec than it withdraws through the taxes.
STUDIES
I hope these economic statistics, compiled by the Institut de la statistique du Québec, will be the subject of future serious analysis over the economic viability of Quebec sovereignty.
This should partially answer questions from Jacques Parizeau. He urged this week, the Marois government to table economic studies that can shed light on the advantages of an independent Quebec rather the status quo of Canadian federalism." Link{fr-PW}
How will they react to the story?
By the way, not to toot my horn, but this story is old news, last November I created this infogram that indicated the difference in what Quebec gives and gets from Ottawa.
It is the story wherein I correlate the numbers and conclude that for every dollar Quebec sends to Ottawa it receives back $1.45. Read my post: Quebec Propagandists Get a Dose of Reality
Equality Party takes heat for Howard Galganov comments
"PQ power gives rise to ‘Angryphone’ lunacy" -Dan Delmar
With the rise of Pauline Marois as Quebec Premier, along with one of the more radical incarnations of her Parti Québécois, comes inevitably the rise of the province’s “Angryphone” movement; a controversial designation referring to politically-active Anglophones who are the most vigorous defendors (sic) of linguistic rights. For the first time in years, they have resurfaced and attained new heights of lunacy. Read the rest of the story
But the article raised many hackles, so check out the many negative reactions to the story in the comments section.
Court reverses prayer ban at city council meetings
"The Quebec Court of Appeal reversed a decision of the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal and is allowing the City of Saguenay to recite a prayer before council meetings, all the while condemning the attitude of Mayor Jean Tremblay in this debate.According to Mr. Drainville, the government does not take a position on religion and is committed to keeping it out of the public administration, unless......it is Christian in nature!
In a decision written by Justice Guy Gagnon, the three judges who heard the case believe that reciting a prayer and the nature of the prayer in question does not violate the religious neutrality of the City. In other words, the court concluded that the City of Saguenay imposes no religious views to its citizens and its government action is immune from such influence. Link{fr}
Oh, those pesky courts!!!!!
Pierre-Karl Peladeau tries to mask separatist leaning
Ex-media scion, Pierre Karl Peladeau, now safely ensconced in the PQ camp, who was named as head honcho of Hydro-Quebec by the PQ government, has finally let his allegiance out of the bag, as if it was a secret!Péladeau Backtracks
QUEBEC - The new chairman of the board of directors of Hydro-Québec, businessman Pierre Karl Peladeau, backtracked Friday, after noting the depth and sincerity of an appeal for sovereignty launched by former Premier Bernard Landry.
Mr. Peladeau, who took up his new job just ten days ago, expressed himself during a question and answer period following a speech by Mr. Landry.....
...Mr. Landry said that Quebec's economic situation would be better if Quebec were independent and he concluded his speech by inviting the audience to think and decide for themselves. Columnist Alain Dubuc, who introduced the former Premier, in response, said he endorsed all what Mr. Landry said in relation to the economy, but not the end-game of sovereignty, a divergence that triggered laughter from the audience....
....Commenting from the floor, Mr. Peladeau expressed satisfaction with the final passage of Mr. Landry's speech and in referring to the comments of Mr. Dubuc, who writes for La Presse, said; "It is true that Mr. Dubuc could report what you said, but probably something he couldn't do, is to recreate the sincere and profound conclusions.
During a press briefing that followed, Mr. Peladeau, the controlling shareholder of Quebecor (TSX: QBR), distanced himself, arguing that he was really referring to aspects of the speech by Mr. Landry about entrepreneurs who contributed to the building of Quebec.....
....During the last election, Mr. Peladeau's spouse, host Julie Snyder, had publicly expressed support for Ms. Marois. Read the rest of the story Link{fr}
Private Investment plummets under the PQ
Investment between Sept. 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013 ( Péquiste gvt.)Public Investments $1.7 billion
Private investment : : $1.6 billion
Total : : $3.3 billion
Source: Quebec Ministry of Fiance
Investment between Sept. 1, 2011 and March 31, 2012 ( Liberal gvt.)
Public Investments : $908 million
Private investment : $3.2 billion
Total : $4.2 billion
Source: Quebec Ministry of Fiance
"If one believes the figures presented Friday by the government itself, private investment totaled $ 1.6 billion between September 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013 compared to $ 3.27 billion for the same period last year, when the Liberals were in power. This represents a decrease of 51.14% or $ 1.67 billion." {Fr-PW}
Jacques Villeneuve's parting shot
"Former Formula 1 champion Jacques Villeneuve said he left Quebec because of the province’s language laws, business climate and the general “morose ambiance.”In an exclusive interview with QMI Agency, Villeneuve, who works as an F1 analyst on French and Italian television, said he “no longer felt at home” in Quebec. Link
The reaction to this story is disproportionate to his fame.
Newspapers and letter writers are raging over the slight with the most virulent attack launched by La Presse columnist Francis Vailles who stooped to reminding readers that Villeneuve's singing career tanked, somehow making his opinion invalid.
The rest of the screed was akin to the childhood taunt... "ya mudder wears army boots"
My favourite comment under the story was this, from
"I greatly respect your opinions, which are often above the fray.(credit: Lord Dorchester, Mosnean)
But here, I read an article which is quite biased, emotional, attacking a person - about his failure as a singer... really?! - Instead of discussing the real question: Is it attractive for a millionaire, who is mobile, who has the choice of residence, and who wants the best education for their children, to settle in Quebec?" Link{fr}
Bill 14 and "Charter of Secularism" delayed until the Fall
The Parti Quebecois announced that the clause by clause study of Bill 14 will be delayed until after the summer recess due to the Liberal party's obstructionism."With Bill 14, meant to bolster Quebec’s Charter of the French language, bogged down by what Immigration and Cultural Communities Minister Diane De Courcy termed on Wednesday a “Liberal filibuster,” the Parti Québécois government has postponed until the fall its policy paper for a Charter of secularism." LINKIn the meantime;
"The Parti Québécois government says it plans to compel federally regulated companies to comply with Quebec's French Language Charter, by withholding public contracts from any business or agency that doesn't. Link
Bits'n pieces
On average, Quebecers work, 117 hours less per year than Ontarians.That's almost three weeks! Link{fr}
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Henry Aubin is not one of my favourite writers, but here contributes an interesting piece about how because Ottawa is paying for the replacement for the Champlain Bridge, Quebec is asking for an expensive architectural gem. Culture of entitlement crosses bridge
Another good piece on the decline of Montreal;
Montreal might be a hotbed of creativity, but its (sic) also a hotbed of municipal decline
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Parlez Anglais? French on course to do just that
"Compounding the unease of the French elite is their awareness that French is now only the eighth most spoken language in the world whereas English is second, behind Chinese. And last week the French language seemed to have conceded a rather painful defeat to English. The French higher education minister Genevieve Fioraso tabled a draft law which would allow some scientific courses at French universities to be taught in English. Sacre Bleu. Shock Horror." Link
Bilingualism rate drops for first time since Pierre Trudeau
"Driven in part by the arrival of thousands of French-eschewing immigrants, Canadian rates of French-English bilingualism have dropped for the first time since the election of prime minister Pierre Trudeau, according to a Statistics Canada report released Tuesday." Link
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Obituary- Morton Brownstein, a Great Montrealer Morton Brownstein, a visionary retailer who transformed Browns Shoe Shops from a small family business into a national chain that pioneered sales of designer shoes, has been called “a national treasure” for his dedication to building a better Canada.....
..... His most cherished cause was the Jewish General Hospital, of which he became president of the board in 1988. A fundraiser extraordinaire, in 1984, he raised $20 million for the emergency department, which is now named after him and Bernice.
In 1998, he raised $50 million for the hospital and topped that in 2003 by raising $200 million....
....In 1988, Brownstein was among five merchants who won a Supreme Court challenge to provisions of Quebec’s French-language charter banning English from public signs. But the victory left a bitter taste, since then-premier Robert Bourassa invoked the notwithstanding clause to overturn the ruling.
“It’s neither exhilarating nor satisfying,” Brownstein said on learning the verdict, adding that he never would have undertaken the challenge if he had known how little support his efforts would get from Quebec’s business leaders.
In 1989, he became one of the most prominent backers of the anglophone-rights Equality Party. “They gave me respectability,” he said. “They’ve been telling the legislature and people of Quebec that we should be treated as equals in the province — they’re defending that and no one else is,” he said. Read more
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| What can I say? |
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| Mile End and Gary Carter! ......YES!!!! |
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Montreal bus driver, probably in trouble!!! |
And here's something to remind those of you who are burning the candle at both ends to make time for yourself and your family this summer;
