Corruption- Montreal Style

Many months ago when the government put together a police task force to investigate corruption in the construction industry most commentators pooh-poohed the idea and called for a public inquiry to shed light on the entire stinking rotten mess.

While many believed that the police would be ineffective in rooting out the corruption and even less effective in bringing forth charges, I never doubted that in the end justice would be done.

Why?
Because the crooks aren't so bright and usually leave a trail a mile wide. They aren't that hard to catch.

Years back, while enjoying a barbecue on my back patio with friends, a then assistant directer of the Montreal police made a keen observation that always stuck with me.
He said that in the end the police catch almost all the crooks.

Whaaaat??? C'mon!........You could imagine my incredulity.

When I pointed out that the police solve less than fifteen percent of all crimes and less than 2% are solved due to police investigations, (most crimes are solved because of confessions, informers or victims pointing to the guilty party) his logic was unimpeachable.

Yes he said, we solve a low percentage of crime, but criminals do a large volume of criminal acts. Take a bank robber who has robbed fifteen banks but is caught on the sixteenth.
He ends up going to jail.

Hmm... I see the logic..

This last week the news was dominated by the student uprising, which took up most of the media's attention.  Too bad, because yesterday, the anti-corruption police made three arrests that will rock the foundations of Montreal City hall.

By the way, I am going to credit myself as the first blogger or mainstream media types to refer to the student unrest as a 'Student Uprising' because, quite frankly, that is what it has become.

But I digress and as they say in French, back to the knitting.

Corruption isn't particularly hard to spot in municipal affairs.
If a contract is obviously inflated, or a contractor is given preferential treatment or buys or sells a property at below or above market value, it all points to hanky-panky. It isn't brain surgery.
It's just a question of following the money.

"Montreal’s auditor-general reported in May 2010 that seven boroughs awarded most of their capital-works projects to a small number of firms. The most extreme cases were Anjou, where all five contracts, totalling $6 million, went to a company owned by Accurso.

In Verdun, all 21 contracts, worth $23 million, were awarded to a company owned by Catania. The auditor-general found this “perplexing.”

In seven Montreal boroughs, Catania topped the list of 21 construction firms awarded a “substantial” portion of city contracts during one three-year period.

Catania got $104 million in city business, followed by Accurso’s Construction Louisbourg with a little over $100 million in contracts.

”Notwithstanding that these contracts were awarded to the lowest compliant bidder,” wrote Bergeron, “I nevertheless remain puzzled by the fact that some boroughs award a large proportion of their contracts to the same contractors.”  Link

Now I'm going to preface the following with the standard disclaimers as to guilt or innocence of those arrested.
Nothing as of yet has been proven and everyone is innocent until proven guilty..blah...blah....blah... you know the drill.

The story starts in July 2008, when Frank Zampino, then the number two man in the Montreal municipal administration of Mayor Gerald Tremblay, resigned rather suddenly from his powerful position as Chairman of the Executive Committee after twenty-two years as an elected city official.

I remember watching his good-bye press conference where he cited personal reasons for leaving and noted that not one reporter questioned the rather unlikely excuse, especially since he stated that he had no job lined up.
Strange....
It's very, very, rare that someone at the height of power walks away from that type of  his position with nothing lined up, and I remarked at the time to my wife that his exit was extremely 'fishy.'

It didn't take long for allegations to surface that he had shown 'favoritism' in the awarding of a massive city contract for water meters to a company controlled by the infamous Tony Accurso, (who was arrested recently on another unrelated corruption case.)
It was reported that during the time that the city was considering the water meter contract, Mr. Zampino vacationed on Mr. Accurso's luxury yacht in the Caribbean.
And by the way Zampino did land a job rather quickly after his departure from city hall...  working for, you guessed it......Tony Accurso.
Because the water meter contract was ultimately cancelled, no corruption charges were laid.

Yesterday, Mr. Zampino along with Paolo Catania, a powerful construction magnate and Bernard Trépanier, a bag man for Mayor Tremblay's municipal party, the Union Montreal, and six others, were arrested. Link{Fr}  Link    Read the charges here
  


It's a simple and neat story of corruption, if true.

Mr. Catania is alleged to have received inside tendering information provided by Mr. Zampino, in relation to a successful bid for a $300 million plus redevelopment project. In return, Mr. Catania is alleged to have kicked back a commission to Mr. Trépanier, who allegedly collected the money on behalf of Mr. Zampino's political party.

Who is Bernard Trépanier?

"Trépanier, the third man known to have been arrested in UPAC's Thursday-morning sweep, was Union Montreal's director of fundraising from 2004 to 2006.

He was referred to by insiders as "Bernard Trépanier 3 per cent," according to Benoit Labonté, who had been mayor of the Ville Marie borough and had been a key member of the Tremblay team at Union Montreal before he bolted to join Vision Montreal.

Labonté pulled out of politics, in disgrace, just before the 2009 municipal vote, after records surfaced of phone contacts with Accurso which Labonté had earlier denied.

Labonté then told Radio-Canada, in an explosive late-October 2009 interview, that when he broached the "3-per-cent" subject with the mayor, Tremblay responded that in Montreal municipal politics, "that's all there is." Read the rest of the story

'Boss Tweed' alive and well in Montreal

If the allegations are true, it probably indicates that many, many other contracts and deals were dirty as well.
Remember the story above, of the bank robber caught on his sixteenth robbery?

At any rate if this one corruption charge sticks, it may indicate that Montreal is run on a Tammany Hall basis, with Mr. Trépanier Montreal's very own version of  'Boss Tweed'

READERS;

Here is a fearless prediction;

I listened to the press conference given by the police and the confidence that they displayed in describing the fraud and abuse of power.

That level of confidence usually means but one thing.....

SOMEBODY ROLLED OVER

There's going to be a witness from the inside who will testify in exchange for immunity. If that's the case, they are all cooked!

 At any rate,  Montreal isn't the only Quebec city mired in corruption allegations.

This week, the small town of Mascouche is in an uproar with furious citizens demanding that their mayor step down in  light of his arrest over corruption charges.

Ashamed citizens of the town are rightfully outraged that the mayor has not given up and was to preside over a scheduled town meeting.
(Late news: Mayor Richard Marcotte has stepped aside. Link{Fr})

Read "Quebec town becomes the shamed face of corruption scandal after Mayor targeted for arrest"

It is unfortunately, the tip off the iceberg.
UPAQ, the fledgling police unit charged with dealing with corruption is rumored to be swamped with files and it's quite satisfying to see them nab so many big fish already.
Read an interesting timeline of their activities. Link

 So far this year, to quote Queen Elizabeth, Quebec has been going through it's annus horribilis.

Political instability, rising unemployment, a tanking economy, a student uprising, corruption scandals abounding and language militancy gone wild...

Can it get any worse?.....you bet it can, this is Quebec!

****************************************

The Student Uprising

Before I bid you adieu for the weekend, I'd like you to watch this video of UQAM's best known professor, the irascible Léo-Paul Lauzon who is about as famous as you can get as a UQAM professor.

The separatist economist employs his particular bizarre logic in defending violence in the student uprising.

For those of you who think that I am too hard on UQAM, I offer this video as evidence of how crazy the teachers over there are.

I haven't had the time to subtitle the video but for those without French take my word that through all the hemming and hawing, he lends support for violence in the student uprising.

The next day he went on the radio to defend his remarks and made an even bigger fool of himself.  Listen HERE in French

If this is what he says in public, I can only  imagine what goes on in the classroom. 

On Wednesday, UQAM was overrun by masked students disrupting classes.
Here's a YouTube page chock full of videos of the event.

Message to rioters......... keep it up!
I hope UQAM stays closed forever!

For your weekend reading pleasure, I've translated this article by Lysiane Gagnon who writes in La Presse.

If you read French, please do her the courtesy of reading the following in its original form. HERE

"In the student in crisis, there is a clear divide between the Montreal area, where most of the agitation has taken place, and the rest of the province. Even Cégep Limoilou, which has always been a hotbed of student protest, is functioning normally ...But there is another cleavage, more spectacular, and this one has somewhat divided the city into two. This is the one between Francophones and Anglophones.While the French institutions were torn to varying degrees by the conflict, the English side is calm ... and remains committed to studies. 

Dawson College, a downtown institution that is sort of the English version the Cégep du Vieux-Montreal, with its 4,000 students participated in a vote (secret) and rejected the strike. Same thing at John Abbott College, where the student association held a referendum (with secret ballots) that lasted all day. Note, the very democratic process that oversaw those decisions. 

At Bishop's University, the student association didn't even collect the 150 signatures required to hold a strike vote!

At Concordia, the popular downtown university that is the English version of UQAM which has a history of much social unrest, the courses were never suspended. Teachers that the strikers prevented from giving their courses, gave students online tests or work to do at home. 

At McGill, little disruption. At the height of the movement (around March 22), several thousand students participated in the boycott, including the School of Social Work, Poli-Sci and Arts. All that remains of the boycotters, according to the university, are about forty strikers concentrated in "Gender Studies" and in French literature. 

How can one explain the difference in attitude between the two language groups of same age, who live in the same city and share the same leisure and cultural activities? 

The first reason is political. Non-Francophones in general are against  the PQ, are not against the Charest government to the same degree as their francophone compatriots. This conflict is powerfully fueled  by the PQ student movement and  most young activists are influenced by QS and anarcho-communist organizations. 

Although there is a strong and ancient tradition of left-wing Anglos in Montreal, they hesitate to join movements which, as QS, are also promoting the independence of Quebec. Anglo leftists are at home in the NDP, which very intelligently separated itself from the student revolt.

The other reason is that the Anglo-old-stock Quebecers have always valued education far more than the French. It is also the case of allophones, who moved here for a better future for their children. You can find large numbers of them at home in Dawson and Concordia.

The French, as we know, are less likely to value education. In 2010, those aged 25-34 in Quebec, 24.8% of Francophones earned a university degree. This was true of 34.9% of Anglophones ... and 37.4% of allophones.

Of all Canadians, Francophones are those who read fewer books and get most of their news from the TV. They are not only more likely to dropout of school or to settle for an inferior degree, they are also more likely to take more time in college or university, earning that degree. Hence the reason that so many students have not hesitated to compromise their winter semester by boycotting their classes ... Oh well, it's just one more semester!"

Readers please have a very good weekend!

Charest unloads 'Death Star' on Students

Readers, I'm opening up this post in order offer you opportunity to comment on the law that the government of Quebec tabled that comes down on students like a ton of bricks.

If you haven't heard, the student leaders and the student associations are to be subject to massive fines should they engage in what will be illegal demonstrations.

If the students ignore the law, the student associations will disappear and have their bank accounts emptied.

The student leaders were deeply shook up and on the verge of tears as they reacted to terms of the law.

They bravely said that they would fight the law in court, but I'd advise them not to hold their breath.

The entire Quebec judiciary has been humiliated by the students ignoring the dozens of injunctions and judges are notorious for dishing out payback.

By the way the leaders of the student associations, themselves are going to be held responsible for the actions of the demonstrators.

This is just a first reaction, but what say you?

Quebec Gripped by Contagious Entitlement Disease

Imagine your parents reduce your weekly teenage allowance, claiming that economic circumstances make it impossible to keep up the generous payments.

How would you react?

If you are a Quebec student, you might tell your parents that such a proposal is unacceptable and that under no circumstances will you allow the decision to stand.

You tell them that until they go back on their decision, you're not going to attend school.
They remind you that your reduced allowance is still higher than the national average and is exceedingly fair considering the family's financial position.
You shake your head. You don't care to listen or understand. You tell your parents that they must give you back your allowance, or else. 

Your parents love you, but understand that they can't give in just because you think that their decision is unfair and inconvenient.
Just the same, after a few weeks of whining, they say they'll make some compromises, maintaining the lower allowance, but increasing your clothing allowance.

You refuse their offer, demanding nothing less than a complete reversal.

After a couple more weeks, during which time your parents resign themselves to your 'school strike,' you decide that you need to up the ante to get their attention.
To make the point that you must be taken seriously, you decide to destroy family property and start by breaking a bay window in the living room, with warnings that unless your parents negotiate a return of your allowance, more destruction is to follow.

When your mom leaves for work the next morning, you threaten her by blocking the car door, reminding her that the only way to have peace return to the family, is to give in to your teenage demands.
Your parents are saddened at what you've become, but stand firm and continue to encourage you to go back to school. 

In a brilliant flash, you come up with some ideas as to how your parents can trim the family budget and create some savings which can be used to subsidize your allowance.
Your parents listen dutifully, while you lecture them about foolish family spending which includes, according to you, wasted dollars on items like fast food and vacations.

Your parents agree to sit down together with you and look at those expenses with an eye to trimming the fat. They assure you that if there are reasonable savings to be had, the savings would be put towards restoring your allowance.

You agree, shake hands on the deal and even write out and sign an agreement whereby you agree to return to school.

But two days later you renege, claiming that you were fooled and were taken advantage of at the negotiating table and demand once again that your parents return your allowance.

Now in a rage at their refusal, you decide to up the ante even higher, deciding to make life so uncomfortable for your parents, that they'll have to give in.

You tell your dad that you are going to disrupt him from holding the annual garage sale that he uses to bring in a few extra bucks for the family.

"LISTEN UP, EVERYONE!, AS LONG AS I'M NOT HAPPY YOU'RE ALL GOING TO SUFFER!!!!"

You tell your uncle and aunt that you are coming over to their house to break a few windows, so that they will pressure your parents to give in.

You throw a smoke bomb in the Metro to perturb those who have nothing to do with your fight, in an attempt to make them so uncomfortable that they will also influence your parents to give you what you want.

You tell your little sister (who has accepted the reduced allowance) that as long as you aren't getting your full allowance, you're going to physically stop her from attending school.

You tell your grandma that you're going to stop her from attending church and delay her from going to the hospital for a necessary treatment.

The police come over and warn you that your behavior is illegal and that it can land you in jail, leaving you with a criminal record that will follow you the rest of your life.

No matter, you tell the cops, my allowance is more important!

The school phones home and tells your parents that you're in danger of losing your semester, but you remind everyone that the principle of restoring your allowance is more important than any lost school year.

When your parents ask you if all this fuss is really worth it, you become even more frustrated and angry and tell them that you are fighting for all the teenagers who risk getting their allowance cut.

Your parents have had enough, they drag you to the shrink to see if you are unbalanced, considering the self-destructive nature of your behavior.

The shrink doesn't take long to diagnose the problem. He determines that you are suffering an acute case of Entitleitis.

"What the Hell is  Entitleitis?" your parents ask.

"It's a condition whereby individuals believe that their personal interests are more important than society's
Those affected lose all sense of proportion and will do anything to get what they want, including resorting to violence and intimidation, even with loved ones. They become hyper greedy and selfish and believe society owes them a living.
It's quite a dangerous condition 

"Never heard of it" says your father."Is that something new?"

"Not really, it occurs in societies that overindulge their citizens with too many freebies, to the point that they believe that the world serves only them.
Quebec seems to be in the mid stage of an epidemic and if the disease is left unchecked, it's likely we'll turn out like Greece, where the people are economically decimated by its consequences.

"Where did he catch it, asks a bewildered mother?

"Generally," answers the doctor, "they catch it at school. Some are pretty badly infected. Where is he a student, by the way?"

"UQAM"

"Oh dear," replies the doctor," Then there's no hope, that school is infected with the most virulent strain. Your son is a goner"

*********************************

Now readers, you may think the above attack on students is a burlesque and exaggerated.
I don't think so.
I believe that the condition of Entitleitis is real and represents the most destructive social problem facing Quebec.

The condition is not as rampant as in Greece, there still remains students who work hard, study hard and are determined to succeed in life on their own merit.
You will find them in the engineering faculties, the law and medical schools. You'll also find them in the trade schools that teach basic and unsexy skills that translate into productive jobs.

When I disparage schools like UQAM, I do so in dead earnest.
One reader has mentioned that in his hiring capacity, he sends all CV's from UQAM directly to the shredder. Funny but too true.

I hate to admit it, but I too suffered from this prejudice as a boss, when I did interviews for senior positions.
There were only two deal-breakers that would disqualify anyone from employment at my company, a degree from UQAM and a decent golf handicap.

Here's what students at UQAM are exposed to on a daily basis, left-wing separatist professors who believe that capitalism, democracy and Canada  are all evil concepts.
They teach students that exploiting natural resources is evil, but accepting handouts from provinces that do exploit natural resources is fair.
They teach students that the rich can pay for everything and that confiscatory taxation is fair.
They teach the fantasy that society can create more benefits without increasing productivity. They spend more time dreaming up schemes to collect more tax than to they do actually thinking how to create more wealth.

Here's a tasty example from Pierre-Yves Guay - Ph.D. Sociologue du développement économique ; Professer at the École des Sciences de la gestion, at of course, UQAM.

"And why not a sales surtax applicable to products of conspicuous consumption, such as cars over $45,000, pleasure boats costing more than $30,000, motorcycles more than $20,000,  posh jewelry, domestic appliances, full of useless options, Monster homes, second homes of more than $400,000, and upscale clothing, unaffordable for most, etc..

How about a surtax on products that should curb consumption because they destroy public health and the environment, while there are alternatives! Place mores taxes on tobacco, junk food, gambling, etc.. Let the state increase the price of alcohol and lottery tickets and casino operations that we sell!" Link{Fr}   (Thanks to Troy for the link)

That's what he's teaching your kids.

First it is the standard socialist claptrap that nobody deserves to be rich or in this case upper-middle class.
Quebec Entitleists have long ago lowered the barrier,  someone who is considered upper middle class anywhere else in North America, is classified as being rich in Quebec.

But the professor does much more than attack the rich upper middle class, he wants to impose his own lifestyle upon them.
People who don't fit in with his view of life should be taxed for that fact.
If you drink wine with your meal, you should be taxed extra, if you have coffee you shouldn't.
If you use bike paths, it should be free, if you buy yourself a piece of jewelery it should be taxed exorbitantly.
If you play soccer, the use of the city's park and recreation should be free, but if you go to the casino, you should be taxed even higher.
If you work hard and make lots of money, much of it should be confiscated. If you choose not to work hard, you should be compensated by those who work.

The sad part about all these proposed 'lifestyle' taxes or 'sin taxes' as the Entitleists like to call them, is that Quebec already imposes upon them, the highest level of taxation in North America.

By the way taxes on things like alcohol and lotto tickets is regressive, poor people pay the same rate as rich people. Oh well!

UQAM is chock full of professors like Mr. Guay, he is the rule, not the exception.

Graduating UQAM with entitleist professors like Mr. Guay turns you into you a mindless robot with your hands permanently outstretched for freebies and entitlements

Is there any cure for Entitleism?

Just a strong will to resist and say NO! to their demands, no matter how painful or how long it takes.

Here's a video of Margret Thatcher showing what true leadership is.
Can it happen in Quebec ....NEVER!

Credit antagoniste.net

Quebec Police Responsible for Victoriaville Fiasco

There's a lot of discussion these past days over the riot in Victoriaville two Fridays ago and whether police used excessive force. The Montreal Gazette tried to dissect events in an extensive article on Thursday of last week and while describing events quite accurately, failed to critique or offer any conclusions. Link

Most of us are tired of the student protest and aren't particularly sympathetic to claims by protesters that police over-reacted.
We've all seen the reports of anarchists bound and determined to confront police and the photos of billiard balls, rocks and pieces of concrete hurled at police. It's hard not to conclude that the demonstrators got what they deserved....but they really didn't.

Let me be one of the first in the blogosphere to assert that the police botched the job from A to Z and bear the major responsibility for the fiasco.

Those who've read this blog extensively might remember my characterization a while back of the Sureté du Quebec (provincial police) as a bunch of Keystone Kops.
I don't make this statement flippantly, it is based on my experience with the Montreal police and relationship with senior officers that helped me understand the difference between the two police forces, one a well-organized urban force, the other a bunch of country bumpkins.
There is a level of disdain held by the Montreal police in relation to the SQ that is never discussed in public. Quite simply, the Sureté is perceived as a bunch of hayseeds charged with patrolling provincial highways and the back roads of small town Quebec. All the major cities and towns of significance have their own police forces.

Before I get on the subject of the Victoriaville fiasco, let me say a bit about the Montreal police which will underscore the difference between the two organizations. The Montreal police may be the most experienced force in North America in dealing with public mayhem. I haven't looked up the statistics, but I'm sure you'll agree that there isn't another city with as many violent riots and demonstrations.

Years back, playing in a foursome at the SPCUM annual golf tournament, I was teamed up with a senior officer of the force's tactical squad, or as the public knows them as ...the riot squad.

It was quite an eye-opener, over the course of eighteen holes, he described the philosophy and tactics of his unit.
As Spock used to say...Fascinating!

First he explained to me that the tactical unit recognized that protesters had a democratic right to protest and that the unit was bound and determined to respect that principle. Once a demonstration gets out of hand, it is the police's responsibility to 'manage' the riot with an eye to maintaining public safety, including that of the rioters.

Believe it or not, in Montreal, professional rioters and police understand each others tactics quite well and generally demonstrations are dispersed with a minimum of injuries. In fact, it is the demonstrators, not the police who determine how far the violence will go.
Experienced anarchists and rioters are aware that once warnings are given to the crowd to disperse, there will follow escalating measures of force by police, as the situation deteriorates.
Those who are demonstrating peacefully are given every opportunity to leave the scene and those who remain understand that they are responsible for what follows. 

Experienced officers and policemen is what makes the difference between a measured and reasonable response compared to a situation where inexperienced and under-prepared police wildly over-react.

So far this year, the Montreal police have 'managed' about 180 student demonstrations, of which around 30% resulted in law-breaking. Not once was there a complaint about police brutality or the over-use of force on a par with what happened with the one riot managed by the SQ in Victoriaville.

I'm no expert but looking at the situation and the pictures of the riot, it is clear that the SQ made serious and fundamental mistakes which led to the violent confrontation.

Now unlike student demonstrations in Montreal, where students march through the streets, the hotel where the Liberal party was holding meetings was clearly going to be a static clashpoint, something that should have worked to the SQ's advantage.

Think of it like soldiers protecting a castle in the olden days. All the police had to do was keep demonstrators from breaching the walls.
If police did their job, demonstrators would have been held at bay and while they'd be able to toss their various projectiles from a distance, not much harm would have come. Maybe a few windows would have cracked, but in the greater scheme of things, that's not such a big deal.

Look where they set up their defensive line, not twenty yards from the front door, much, much too close.
Look at the fence, it may as well have been a velvet rope at the Odeon, it's only four foot high and held together with plastic bar locks. Are they kidding!!!!

Look what happened when protesters approached the defensive line. MAYHEM!!!
What exactly did the police prepare for?

Some of the demonstrators told reporters that they were shocked at how flimsy and amateur the defensive positions of the police were.

The fencing material should have been at least six feet high and set out farther away from the hotel. Those who've attended an outdoor rock concert or a car race, are likely familiar with what a real crowd control fence looks like.

By placing a higher fence a little farther out, most of the problems would have been averted.

With a properly defined security perimimeter, all the police had to do was to protect the fence. By standing close to the fence on the inside, policemen themselves would have been protected from flying debris, which would sail over their heads falling harmlessly behind them.
Police could warn demonstrators not to touch the fence and could easily pepper spray those that defied the order.
Only those brave or stupid enough to attempt to bring down the fence would suffer the consequences and innocent and peaceful demonstrators could chant and scream from a distance.


The whole police operation should have been about defending the perimeter of the hotel, not wading into the crowd to brawl with demonstrators.

The starred numbers in the map above represent flashpoints where police battled rioters.
Had the police stayed within a well defined and protected defensive perimeter, none of the confrontations would have occurred.

Again, think of defending a castle with solid walls and a moat. Why on Earth lose the tactical advantage by leaving the safety of castle walls to venture out in the fields to battle the enemy?

In response to questions that the fence was too flimsy, an SQ spokesman unloaded this pearl;

"In terms of the fencing, a perimeter that is high and hard and impenetrable goes against the democratic right to protest," he said. " Link

That, dear, readers is the biggest crock of bullshit that you're likely to hear in a long time, a feeble excuse to deflect responsibility for failure to properly plan.

At the Summit of the Americas conference in Quebec City in 2001, police cordoned off huge swaths of the city, warning protesters that nobody would be allowed within these designated 'Red Zones"
The crowd control fences which I've described above were deployed and it seems that the SQ had no particular qualms about impeding the democratic right to protest back then.

Here is a picture of the formidable barrier put up in Quebec for that conference and look at the SQ officers using the exact same strategy that I described above, that is, defending the security perimeter from the inside of the fence.

Perhaps they should have set up a 'Red Zone' around the hotel in Victoriaville.

The peaceful demonstrators AND the anarchists came to Victoriaville to confront the Liberals and the police, either peacefully or violently. Left outside a well defended and sturdy barrier, they would not have embarked on wanton destruction, the proof being that there was little or no damage away from the hotel, despite the riot that actually took place.

This one planning error by the SQ led  directly to the chaos that followed, the breakdown of the flimsy defensive perimeter set the demonstrators directly among the police. Once the barrier fell, the engagement was on and the police reacted out of panic.

But other mistakes were made as well.

First the command to disperse wasn't heard by the crowd, probably because it wasn't given loudly or forcefully enough.
Of the majority of demonstrators who came to Victoriaville, most were peaceful and given an instruction to pull back or face the prospect of being gassed, I have to believe that most would comply.
But that didn't happen and peaceful demonstrator after demonstrator claimed they never heard any police order.

Then a massive amount of gas was unleashed, incommoding many people needlessly and enraging others.

I bet you didn't think plastic bullets were this big!

At this point the police had pretty much lost any tactical advantage and  unleashed  plastic bullets into the crowd, another tragic mistake.
The SQ was quick to say that they never targeted heads or torsos, aiming for the legs of demonstrators, but when people are on their knees, doubled over suffering the effects of the gas, heads and torsos are in prime jeopardy. When two unfortunate demonstrators received head shots (one leading to a lost eye), it was no surprise.

Readers, I'm not for a minute absolving the rioters of responsibility, many of the anarchist groups, including the Black Block, CLAC, PCR, UCL and the RRQ, came to Victoriaville expressly to confront police violently.
My only complaint is that police made it easy for them to achieve their goal, after all, it takes two to tango.

At any rate, the rioters erred badly in assuming the SQ was as professional as the Montreal police and were taken by surprise by the over-reaction.
Let us say that they played with fire and got burned badly.
I can't say that I feel badly for them but I do for the innocent protesters who were caught up in the something they didn't bargain for.

Here is my humble advice to the SQ.

Read about the WaWe 10

Plan better, devise better tactics and invest in non-lethal alternatives.

Never use plastic bullets, they are much too dangerous.

Here's a picture of Germany's new hi-tech water cannon, which would be particularly effective in Quebec, given the cold climate.
A good soaking takes the ardor and spirit out of rioters, especially on a cold night.
The machine is non-lethal, but can deliver a powerful stream of water that can stop protesters in their tracks and actually knock them back. It has a variety of settings and is highly effective.
Better this then plastic bullets any day!!

How about investing in a couple of hundred of meters of a state-of-the-art portable crowd control fence. It could have prevented the disastrous confrontation.
The fencing is a snap to deploy and creates an easily defendable security perimeter.

A little more planning, a little more creativity and a lot less violence, is what was called for.

The SQ needs to amend its training, tactics and policy.

Today, they need to apologize to Quebecers for their pitiful performance in Victoriaville.

As for the rioters, they learned a valuable lesson about going up against an under-trained and over weaponized force.......Watch-out.

HEY!
On the other hand, maybe I got this all wrong. There are those among us that are happy to see the demonstrators finally get their asses kicked so badly.
Maybe the SQ should be giving lessons to the Montreal police!.....dunno.

Sunday Housekeeping- Volume 9

I'm glad we've gotten rid of most of the trashy comments from trolls, who actually heeded calls to stop posting crap.

As a result, after less than a week of  moderation, (something that maddeningly delays publication of your opinions,) I was confident enough to let your comments through unverified.

Sometime, stuff slips in that shouldn't be posted, but it's only a couple of hours at worst before it is removed.
Truthfully, trolls have reacted fairly and are largely keeping away.

You might notice there is now a 'Translate" button in the top right-hand corner of the blog that converts (as best Google can) the blog into the language of choice, maintaining the look and feel of the original blog.
It's a step forward for those with limited English and I hope we'll attract more francophones, who otherwise skip our blog over language.

By the way, it even translates the comments!

As is my custom, I'll continue to reference idioms and sayings that translation software generally can't handle. 

Thank you all for your support and please keep commenting, it is an integral part of our blog!

Also, please send in story ideas, or bits of information that you come across, it is vitally important and do not think for a moment that I'm  must be aware of every interesting story.
I generally read over 1,000 news articles and post a day, but that is by no means complete.
Come on, do your bit!

As an example, the next French versus English post will contain an interesting exchange on Facebook that a reader sent in, which I know will give you a chuckle and have you shaking your head.

BTW, I always credit those who contribute, but for obvious reasons I only use first names.

I am not paid to write this blog and you are not paid to read it.
The fact that we both enjoy doing so in such large numbers, warms the proverbial cockles of my heart.
Thank you kind readers, those who agree and those who don't, all are equally important to our success!

Readers, I promised you a series of posts on partition and I haven't forgotten. I thought I'd leave the discussion for when I hit a lull, which hasn't seemed to have happen.

They say most bloggers stop writing because they run out of material.
NEVER FEAR!
I've got about twenty five drafts in the bank which haven't made it to post. Some are already stale-dated.

I do promise that I'll get to a partition series this summer, followed by  a series that I'm sure your going to love...What Quebec would be like after sovereignty.

For a BIG kick, I'm going to try defend an independent Quebec as a viable project and explain what has to happen for that to come true.
I'm sure it will create some interesting reactions.

I know these are hypotheticals, but we're here to exercise our minds.
I'm going to start both series sometime in June, unless the whole province blows up and my attention is diverted (a distinct possibility!)

Off-Topic.

How about those Metro bombers, all students from my favorite university UQAM.........ecchh!
I wish the Internet had a 'sarcasm' button, something like a Smiley Face.

At any rate, what the press is avoiding telling us, is that the police have them dead to rights.
Those pictures circulated on the Internet by police were taken by a witness who saw them throw the smoke bombs and was sharp enough to take their picture with a cell phone camera.
But that of course, this a semi-secret.

By the way, it took less then fifteen minutes after the photos were published for the suspects to be identified, with dozens and dozens of people phoning police to rat them out.

There are still many others bombers at large and I hope the police are waterboarding the suspects to gather information.

So how do you feel?
Was it a prank, terrorist act or something in the middle?
How many years in the slammer, if any, do you think they deserve??????