Honeymoon over for new PQ leader
New leaders usually get a novelty bump, but not so in this case.
Six weeks after taking over the leadership, Lisée and the PQ have seen support drop from 30% to 24%, a rather precipitous decline.
As for his personal brand, just 16% of Quebecers see him as a good premier.
The dastardly Liberals, the party of "who else is there" remains steady at 36% and would likely form another majority government, this despite having a 56% dissatisfaction rating by Quebecers.
As for sovereignty, a new poll suggest that 70% of Quebecers now reject the notion, a number I've never seen before and surely a historical low.
Open Table reservation site humiliates Quebec, itself and its users with 100 Best restaurant list
The restaurant reservation website issued its100 best restaurant list and all I can say is that either the diners are idiots or the list is a joke.Either way, publishing this list is about as useful as asking vegetarians to rate their favourite steakhouse.
How utterly presumptuous to issue a list that is so clearly out of touch with reality.
Only five provinces were included with Ontario taking 45 places, British Columbia taking 25 places and Quebec a meager 11 places, which says more about where this website does business than about the restaurants themselves.
You think this website and its users are a savvy lot?
Well in its report on the 10 best places to eat in Montreal as chosen by users "THE KEG" came in second place with a whopping 4½ stars, I'M NOT KIDDING!!
I would have to classify this news story as "fake news" designed to attract readers to the website.
It is an embarrassment.
PQ leadership loser contemplates taking over Bloc Quebec while retaining her seat in Quebec legislature
Watch the interview HERE for a good laugh.
She has run unsuccessfully for the PQ leadership twice and now is contemplating the Bloc Quebecois leadership, where she'll probably have better luck since absolutely nobody wants the top job.
All of this is not news in of itself, but what is interesting is that she says that if she does get the job, she won't quit her day job, that is a sitting PQ member in the Quebec legislature.
In a French language radio interview she stated that the two jobs are not mutually incompatible and that she'll have plenty of time to do both.
Since opposition MPs generally do nothing, she's probably right!
Petition requesting English or pictograms on Quebec road signs
Here's an email I received from Harold Stavis about a petition requesting bilingual or pictograms on Quebec road signs;The French version of the Huffington Post did a story on the petition and took a non scientific poll of readers indicating that 74% of readers were against the idea. Link{fr}"As we all know, all traffic signs on Quebec highways are solely in French. When driving, do you know what «Respectez les feux de voies», «Risque d’aquaplanage», «Dégel», «Ralentir», «Allumez vos phares», «Voie cahoteuse» and «Incident voie droite bloquée» mean? Are you aware that according to the Charter of the French Language (“Charter”), the French inscription on traffic signs may be complemented or replaced by symbols or pictographs, and another language may be used where no symbol or pictograph exists? Seeing that the aforementioned phrases have to deal with one’s safety, why are they not in English as well, as the Charter clearly provides? It absolutely makes no sense whatsoever that the protection of the French Language is more important than one’s safety. Shouldn’t the safety of everyone, whether French speaking or English speaking, be of prime importance? That is precisely why we have presented a petition to the National Assembly through our MNA David Birnbaum."Please sign the petition at www.assnat.qc.ca/en/exprimez-votre-opinion/petition/ Petition-6407/index.html and make sure you share it with your friends, family and acquaintances. Numbers do speak volumes…
A visit to the comments section under the story demonstrated that most commenters were also quite opposed to the idea.
My favourite comment.....
"I propose a petition demanding that they learn French!"
The Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de la Gaspésie (CISSSG) has historically and continues to serve a small English community, but since that community is about 15% of the population served by the hospital, the OQLF has come down hard on the hospital.
Progress in Quebec!!
Monreal's sub-par Xmas tree reverberates around the world
Almost 2 million viewers got to watch ABC's Today show which bashed Montreal's Christmas tree rather painfully
Montreal's scrawny, lopsided Christmas tree is just like Charlie Brown's
The Huffington Post couldn't resist either. Link
$15 minimum wage would be catastrophic to Quebec boonies...NOT
I'm actually in favour of the $15 minimum wage, it seems fair to pay a living wage to workers and complaints by companies, (mostly retailers and fast food) against such a pay raise fall on my deaf ear.Now according to Stats Can only about 7% of workers make minimum wage, but 45% of these minimum wage jobs occur in retail and fast food.
Those making minimum wage are heavily weighted on women and the young.
So an increase in the minimum wage might mean that a 'Happy Meal' would cost a buck more in McDonalds and that Wal-Mart might make a billion less. Seems a fair trade-off.
Today a full-time minimum wage worker makes about $22,000 a year and for a single parent with one child, it means working and living in poverty, not abject poverty, but poverty just the same.
A $15 minimum wage would bring the income up to about $31,000, which is by the way, the poverty line for that category.
BUT..........
According to the Journal de Montreal a $15 minimum wage would wipe out 160,000 jobs in Quebec, mostly in the boonies. Link{fr}
This nugget of information was pulled from a study created by the Institut économique de Montréal.
I wonder how many people who read the Journal de Montreal story went to the source material.
I did?
Now the source IEDM quotes is a story in Le Devoir that references a possible 160,000 job loss as a result of the higher minimum wage, but the comments section of that article takes umbrage with the assumptions, conclusions and methodology. It was a very good read.
At ant rate, the IEDM study that the Journal de Montreal referenced for the story also states that some economists believe that the job loss would be in the 20,000 area, but that fact doesn't fit in with the alarmist story and so is conveniently s left out.
I still think that working towards a higher minimum wage would have the benefit of reducing workers temptation to remain idle and on welfare or unemployment insurance.
While products like fast food might cost more, workers would have more money to spend.
It's a complicated subject, but underpaying workers because it is economically necessary makes the same sense as reducing safety or environmental standards because it makes businesses uncompetitive.
I will remind readers that car companies fought tooth and nail against seat belts and airbags based on the notion that the higher prices for cars would destroy the market....
As I said...deaf ears.
Conservative leadership race debate en français: Ouch!!!!
It was an unpleasant and painful experience to suffer through the "bilingual" Conservative party debate in Moncton, where even the moderator's French was painfully inadequate.While the candidates looked utterly helpless and comical, nothing beats Kellie Leitch's French, like fingernails scratching a blackboard.
et cetera...
You've probably seen this video of Carey Price pummeling a hapless New Jersey Devil over a perceived unfair hit.
But the real treat is the subtitles provided by YouTube. Link
Turn the subtitle icon [cc] in the bottom right hand corner below the video before running the video .
"CHRIST TAKES EXCEPTION!" Have a good laugh...
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| CTV Montreal would have us believe that thinking about committing a crime is a crime itself! |
