Lac Megantic...Another Tragedy Surrounds the Disaster.......

Any disaster, especially one close to home is an excellent chance for local media to cash in as the public scrambles to the news channels and newspapers for information, gripped by a morbid fascination of the unfolding calamity of death and destruction.
The specter of so many dead and the images of utter destruction makes for a summer blockbuster that even Hollywood is hard up to provide.

And so the media gears up, I mean it really gears up, rushing multiple reporters and equipment to the scene, with all hands mustered to fish for any scrap of information to advance the story and where failing real developments, idle speculation and willful manipulation are the order of the day, to keep the pot boiling.
This is what the media lives for. If you think I'm exaggerating, ask yourself who is really watching television news channels on a beautiful summer day with temperature approaching 30 degrees and the sun glaring down.

The first casualty in any such newsworthy disaster is journalistic integrity, as the story is fitted along the lines that the public is most in tune with.

It was no surprise that the chairman of the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway was made out to be a modern version of Simon Legree. He was practically cast for the part as the local media crafted a narrative of evil greed and malfeasance, before any real facts could be established.

And so the media weaved a story of an accident caused by willful neglect, callous cost-cutting and abject indifference and dereliction of duty. It was of course what the public wanted to hear, a story that best suited the enraged emotions, the need to hate and the need to blame.

What glorious fun it was for the media to pounce on the unfortunate Ed Burkhardt a media-challenged yutz, who didn't understand the importance in appearing humble, contrite and deferential.

Instead the idiot offered some injudicious opinions better left unsaid, galvanizing his position as an unrepentant money-grubber, indifferent to the suffering of the locals, intent on saving his own skin and wallet.
How much wiser it would have been to leave it to the spin-masters to bob and weave in his staid, saying all the right things, but nothing really at all.

And then there are the language fanatics, who could not resist demanding that the American company adopt a French demeanor and where every French grammatical error was elevated to a deliberate slap to the face of the francophone collective.
And this not only in the fringe press, with "Speak White' echoing through the pages of the Journal de Montreal, as journo after journo took language potshots at the hapless Burkhardt.

Then there were the shameful politicians seeking to make political points on the backs of the dead and the attached media spotlight, the egregious Thomas Mulcair leading the way, blaming the entire fiasco on his political opponent as if Stephan Harper ordered the train to crash.

Stand back gentle readers, and look at the idiots, the fools, the greedy manipulators, be it railroad apologists, conservationists, separatists and the pipeline proponents all trying to spin the disaster to best further their interests.

And now, it is the turn of the shysters to have their go. Already an Ontario lawyer has announced a class-action lawsuit against the company, its president and the hapless train conductor, all without a shred of evidence.
But no matter, the evidence will come later, after the clients have been bagged and tagged.

And so the media continues to paint a fantastical picture, partly true, partly what we wish it to be and partly make-believe.

Even the stately Montreal Gazette couldn't resist with this sappy editorial, one with absolutely no basis in fact.

"This outpouring of support for those afflicted by a disaster such as this can be explained in part by the culture of solidarity and strong sense of collectivity prevalent in Quebec society."

'Culture of Solidarity?'....... Arrgghhh..... what a crock!

When it comes to charity, Quebecers have always been the least generous of Canadians, whether it be with their money or their donated time and this disaster underlines that fact better than ever.

So far the Red Cross has collected a paltry $3.5 million dollars towards the disaster, and this from across Canada.
But even if we considered that all the money came from Quebecers (which it didn't)  it would amount to less than 50¢ per person, not exactly a Herculean effort.

As for corporate donations, how is it that companies based outside of Quebec are infinitely more generous than Quebec based companies?
So far as I can see, here is a list of corporate donations so far. I'm sure it's not complete, but you get the picture..

Companies based outside Quebec

RBC....................$50,000
Bell......................$25,000
CAW...................$25,000
Manulife.............$50,000
Sun Life..............$50,000
CIBC..................$50,000
Standard Life.....$50,000
Hudson's Bay.....$50,000
 TD Bank ..........$50,000
Tim Hortons.......$100,000
Intact Insurance..$100,000
Target..................$25,000

Total Canada..............$675,000


Desjardin....................$100,000
Industrielle Alliance...$50,000
Promutue....................$50,000
National Bank.............$25,000
Laurentan Bank..........$25,000
CGI.............................$100,000

Total Quebec.................$350,000

Once, again is the ROC carrying the freight?  (Apologies,  that was an extremely bad pun.)

And let us not forget the most generous contribution of Quebec's very own Celine Dion who made sure her $100,000 contribution was splashed all over the media.
But consider this, after a deduction for taxes the donation represented no more than 50K, this from someone worth $400 million.
It's equivalent to someone worth $250,000 donating $62 and receiving a $20- $30 tax discount.
Not particularly impressive.

And how about those mandatory benefit concerts put on to show solidarity with the victims and raise money and awareness.
Not one real headliner has signed on to the scheduled event at the 'Lac-Megantic relief at Le Monument National'' as yet, but hey, it's the summer and people have plans... (more solidarity?)
(Maybe Celine donated the cash so she wouldn't have to show?) Link

At any rate, I remain thoroughly disgusted with events surrounding the Lac Megantic nightmare.
While the media portrays the public reaction as something heroic, I see it as the theater of the absurd, where most everyone involved  is seeking something for themselves.

By the way, I can't resist publishing this news report aired by an important Los Angeles television station eager to 'scoop' everyone with the names of the pilots of the Korean Asiana airliner that went down in San Francisco.
The names of the pilots had been withheld by authorities, but with the information in hand, the station couldn't resist beating the competition to the story.  It just shows how crazy the media becomes around these disasters.

I hope they are good and embarrassed.

Slimy Politicans Make Hay Over Rail Disaster

" To critics of Stephen Harper’s government, it was evidence of the costs of deregulation; to pipeline advocates, proof that we should be moving oil underground rather than by rail; to some environmentalists, yet another sign that we need to slow down resource development until we better know how to manage it. Link

I've never been a fan of politicians, whatever the political stripe. By nature they are conniving and cynical, often dishonest and almost universally self-centered and paranoid.

In any crisis, disaster or life-changing event, their inevitable first reaction is to ask how exactly all this affects THEM and their political party and how they can limit the damage or press the advantage.

How many politicians in deep political trouble, long for a headline grabbing story to wrest away the attention of the public and shift the spotlight to something or someone other than themselves.

Politician to self; "Oh boy, maybe a plane will crash or a train derail with lots of death. Anything to take the heat off!"

And so the disaster in Lac Megantic is another lesson in  realpolitik, a case study if you will, in using a tragic event and the deaths of so many people to further a political goal or injure a political opponent.

By the way politicians aren't the only cynical bastards that seek to benefit from such disasters.
The media just salivates at the thought of a good disaster, a surefire formula to goose ratings.

It's nothing less than sickening....

As the investigation unfolds, all indications are that human error was to blame. The fact that the train involved suffered a fire on one of the locomotives just an hour before, is just too big a coincidence to accept as non-contributory.
Obviously the train was incorrectly secured, the company blaming the  fireman, the firemen the company.
More often than not, major rail and air accidents are a combination of unfortunate and cascading events, piled on top of each other ultimately leading to disaster.
The fact that both brake systems failed in an inopportune moment on an inopportune location led to a fantastic tragedy.
It happens, and although tragic, these types of accidents and loss of life will occur again, hopefully not too often.

Watching the television coverage of the Asiana air disaster in San Francisco, it appears likely that human error was the cause of the accident, but I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that more than one error was committed by more than one  crew member and that perhaps there might have been a mitigating  technical glitch. Again a story of cascading events.
It's hard to believe that only one pilot made a mistake and that the other had no responsibility.

There isn't much a government can do to regulate human error, it is part of our human experience and that is why the law demands two pilots in a commercial airliner, a sage precaution that precludes what would probably be a vastly increased number of accidents. It is called redundancy and that is why trains have multiple layers of brakes.
Why all the brakes failed is hard to chalk up to technical problems, the more likely scenario is that the first set of air brakes were damaged in the locomotive fire and that human error in setting the manual brakes occurred.
The nature of the accidents in San Francisco and in Lac Megantic point clearly to human error, although an investigation will obviously determine the actual cause.

But interestingly, in San Francisco, there are few or no  voices complaining about weak federal regulations, lack of inspections, poor equipment or runway maintenance.
With human error the likely culprit of the accident, it would be unwise and irresponsible to cast aspersions wildly and without basis in fact.

But such is not the case in the Lac Megantic disaster, as politicians and the media have been lightning quick to find fault, either with the federal government, inspectors, rules and regulations and even the rolling stock.

The Slimeballs.

'Uncle Tom' Mulcair 
"Mulcair, who visited Lac-Megantic following the derailment, said the accident was “another case where government is cutting in the wrong area.”
“We are seeing more and more petroleum products being transported by rail, and there are attendant dangers involved in that. And at the same time, the Conservative government is cutting transport safety in Canada, cutting back the budgets in that area,” said Mulcair, who pointed to decreased transportation checks on petroleum at a time when production was increasing.
“When we have a discussion about these things in the coming months or years let’s remember this day. We are watching a magnificent little village being burned to the ground by toxic products that were being transported through it,” Mulcair said. Link

I don't know where Mr.Mulcair gets his facts, but one blogger has actually checked to see if accidents are on the rise after deregulation.

Sorry to sat, the facts don't fit Mr. Mulcair's agenda;

The number of rail accidents as calculated by DAVID over at  l'antagoniste website.

The accident rate over the last five years has dropped by 30% while the transport of petroleum products by rail has skyrocketed by 28,000%.

MR. MULCAIR!!!... check your facts.

Daniel Paillé (Bloc Q leader)

According to Daniel Paillé, waiting for the results of the investigation doesn't make sense and he demanded that the federal government take action immediately by calling a Parliamentary Commission..

{T}"I want to remind the government in Ottawa that it has a responsibility starting with the gravel found between the railway ties, up until the rules that regulate inter-provincial rail transport." Link{fr}

He then blasted everyone in sight for not flying flags at half mast until he was reminded that not all the bodies have been found yet.

And in an orgy of political one-upmanship , the Prime Minister's office got into a pissing contest with the NDP trying to paint Thomas Mulcair as insensitive.

Mulcair was adamant in denying that he ever said that the tragedy was a result of government de-regulation, but a video tells another story.

"CTV News reported that "Mulcair, who visited Lac-Mégantic following the derailment, said the accident was 'another case where government is cutting in the wrong area.'" Mulcair was in Lac-Mégantic on Sunday.
 

"In the video, Mulcair is seen saying: "We've got to get beyond this new system that they seem to be wanting to put in place of self-regulation. Governments have to regulate in the public interest, nothing more important in what governments do than taking care of the safety of the public."
"And this is another case where the government has been cutting in the wrong area," Mulcair said in the video.".....
....Andrew MacDougall, the director of communications for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, took to Twitter on Sunday following Mulcair's comments saying: "The people of Lac Mégantic have experienced an unspeakable tragedy and we do not yet know its cause. It is grossly inappropriate for Mr. Mulcair to put politics ahead of the people of Lac Mégantic."

....Former interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae also took to Twitter to show his disapproval with the NDP leader's comments saying: "Tom Mulcair blaming Harper for the tragedy at Lac Mégantic is a new low. And as you know, I'm no fan of Mr. Harper's politics." Link

In another story;

"Within hours of the accident, NDP leader Tom Mulcair had already blamed cuts to Transport Canada, saying the increase in transporting dangerous goods via rail was accompanied by less regulation and inspectors..

...NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus cited funding and environmental assessment cuts in his criticism and defended Mulcair's initial assessment, saying Mulcair was only asking "honest" questions." Link

In another story;

"I think most Canadians would be surprised to hear that rail companies are left to inspect themselves and Transport Canada goes over the paperwork," says Olivia Chow, NDP transportation critic.
"Shouldn't there be spot-checks by the government to see whether what is on paper is actually what's happening in the field?" Link

There it is, the Conservatives, the Liberals and the NDP all trying to make political points on the back of the dead in Lac Megantic!    

Of all the quotes, this one by Thomas Mulcair turns my stomach. A cleverly crafted political message wrapped up in crocodile tears and mock concern;

"My thoughts and prayers are with those families — that's our first priority today — but there's still lots of questions and those same families deserve answers to those questions," Mulcair, who represents the Quebec riding of Outremont, said Sunday.

Are all politicians rats like the ones above?

I was duly impressed by one Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberals who said this;

"I'm blown away, obviously by the terrible destruction ... but also by the strength and the courage of the people who have come from across the country to help out," Trudeau said.
"It's still too early to try to formulate theories on why or how it happened. Today and for the coming days, we will be occupied with residents, families who lost everything in certain cases, to help them and support them." 

 ...finally

Trudeau may be a neophyte, according to his political detractors, but he's the one leader who has demonstrated that making political hay over a disaster of this magnitude, just isn't cricket.

Let me take this opportunity to offer my sincere condolences to the families of victims and wishes of good fortune to the survivors of Canada' worst rail disaster.
I hope both levels of government leave politics aside and work to restore this town sooner than later.
With good intentions and coöperation, it isn't conceivable to have the town rehabilitated within eighteen months.
The townsfolk deserve nothing less.

Note to readers;
The followup post about electricity, Hydro-Quebec and the disastrous management of the file by Pauline Marois, that was supposed to appear today, will be published next week.

Quebec's Catastrophic Electricity Meltdown

'perfect storm'

noun

a detrimental or calamitous situation or event arising from the powerful combined effect of a unique set of circumstances.

 

The current economic disaster that is Quebec's electricity industry can be best attributed to decades of poor management by Hydro-Quebec(Quebec's state owned electricity monopoly,) unforeseen deteriorating market conditions and changing technology, but worst of all, crippling political interference.

Before going on, it would be useful to describe the ongoing fiasco in the simplest of terms, without a barrage of facts and figures to complicate the issue (that will come later.)

Hydro-Quebec is facing what can only be described as a 'Perfect Storm', a unique set of negative circumstances that is adversely affecting its ability to maintain its money-generating capacity.
The jewel of Quebec's home-grown industry, the unqualified symbol of the province's emancipation has hit the financial shoals and as the media awakens to the problem of the ongoing and developing disaster, the government is gearing up to face the problem as governments are apt to do, that is by hiding, and shifting the blame or responsibility elsewhere.

What went wrong in a nutshell;

Poor Management
The chickens, as they say, have finally come home to roost, as decades of inept, lackadaisical and wildly inefficient management practices, covered up by the massive amounts of profit, (mostly generated from Newfoundland electricity,) has finally exacted its toll. As circumstances change, the utility can no longer generate the profits it had in the past. Let us remember that Hydro-Quebec has almost twice the amount of employees (as dictated by the industry average) and that the cost of building new hydroelectric installations was and remains almost double what is spent elsewhere.

Here's an employee quote from one of the job-seeking sites that describes working conditions at the utility.

"The environment is very laid back, the hours are pretty flexible and the people were very nice. There are good benefits and since it is a large company it is possible to move to a different team via internal recruiting." Link

With salaries that tower over the North American industry average, and double the workforce, it isn't difficult to understand that Hydro-Quebec's problems are more than just related to external forces.
A Montreal newspaper ran a story detailing how one Hydro-Quebec lineman made over $200,000 with overtime in 2011! Link{fr}
A regular lineman makes over $90,000.
In other words, Hydro-Quebec has been run like crap, salaries out of control with bosses more concerned with issues other than maximizing return.

This can best be typified by the arrogance of ex-Hydro boss Thierry Vandal who made a $250,000 donation to his alma-mater, just because he was president of the board of directors of the school. Link

The mistaken idea that Hydro-Quebec is a corporation like any other (instead of a government monopoly) and like a good corporate citizen, should be making charitable donations and funding arts is outrageous.
Let us remember, that when Hydro-Quebec makes a charitable donation or underwrites a festival or public activity, it is taking the money that would otherwise flow to the government, who by rights has the ultimate and exclusive right to spend public money as it and not as Hydro sees fit.
How about the expensive art that hangs on the walls in the executive offices and corridors of the Hydro-Quebec head office...Is it really a necessity? 
It remained for many years a personal source of irritation to me, to see the two Zambonis at the Bell Centre in Montreal emblazoned with Hydro-Quebec's livery, for absolutely no good reason. It isn't that they needed to convince consumers to use their product, there isn't any alternative!
It isn't exactly a case of Coke versus Pepsi.
Does it make any economic sense to rent a box at the Bell Centre at a cost of over a million dollars, when the enterprise is a monopoly and where entertaining clients or employees makes absolutely no business sense whatsoever? Link{fr}

Worst of all, management was not brave enough to face down the disastrous political interference that imposed those financially ruinous policies and programs, that any responsible board of directors would have, or should have rejected out of hand as insane folly.

Deteriorating Demand
Since its inception, it has been a holy tenet of Hydro-Quebec that electricity demand would spiral up each year and that the utility's competitive advantage would assure burgeoning demand both at home and in the export market.
And so Hydro-Quebec has always had expansion on its agenda, moving from one great project to another and even today with the present and foreseeable demand and price for electricity collapsing, the utility has another mega project on the books, the Romaine power development project.

But the results of years of advertising has sensitized consumers to conserve electricity and the program's success has slowly but surely reduced the increased demand for electricity.
Coupled with the collapse of Quebec's pulp and paper industry, an industry that uses massive amounts of electricity in production, has resulted in an unforeseen slowdown in demand.

New Technology
Perhaps the greatest blow to demand for Hydro-Quebec's electricity, is the shrinking export market, where the new kid on the block, electricity generated by newly produced American shale gas, has not only reduced demand in the USA, but depressed prices as well.

With massive amounts of cheap American shale gas coming to market, it is hard to see Hydro-Quebec ever regaining its position and its status as an international energy powerhouse.
The fact that American utilities have invested massively in gas-fired electricity plants augers poorly for the utility as Hydro-Quebec's competitive price advantage collapses.
Demand has slowed down so much that the utility has actually mothballed plants, taking them out of production because there is no where to sell the electricity.

The confluence of these negative factors has resulted in Quebec swimming in surplus electricity;

"The massive, state-of-the-art Bécancour cogeneration electricity plant is capable of powering 550,000 homes. At the moment, however, the only action its gas turbines are getting comes from the dehumidifiers that prevent them from rusting out. 
Apart from providing steam for an industrial park neighbour, the plant, 150 kilometres northeast of Montreal, sits largely idle, victim of policies and planning in a province overrun with electricity. 
Such is the extraordinary electricity surplus in Quebec that several hundred million dollars are being spent and lost each year dealing with the problem, and consumers are footing the bill." 
Read: As Quebec bathes in electricity, money goes down the drain

Government Interference
The most egregious and saddest aspect to Quebec's electricity debacle is the fact that successive governments have used the cash-cow to further political goals.
Successive governments have saddled the utility with policies that no private company would dare embark upon due to their inherent stupidity and money-losing potential.
And so the government has used the utility to create jobs, investing in money-losing ventures, all in an effort to advance political considerations and curry favour with voters.

In a province blessed with unlimited hydroelectric generating capacity, foolish governments have forced Hydro to embark on a program of horrifically expensive wind farms and small generating stations operated in conjunction with local authorities, all in an effort  to create jobs while using the excuse of 'green energy'

The programs are nothing more than political pork, meant to shovel money and jobs to the economically depressed regions, particularly the money pit that is the Gaspe peninsula.
And so while Hydro-Quebec has mothballed a giant plant that produces electricity at about 5¢ per kilowatt, (paying the company that built the plant a $250 million penalty a year,) the PQ government is demanding that the utility add more wind power capacity that costs a minimum of 14¢ to produce, while the retail price for electricity remains at about 5¢ to 7¢.

Although I said I wasn't going to get into specific dollar details here, (I will do that in the next post) this alternate energy folly is calculated to cost Quebec rate payers almost one billion dollars a year, enough to pay for the entire free higher education program that students demanded last year and then some.

 The Parti Quebecois' energy platform presented before the last election was actually a  fantastical narrative of surreality and nonsense that played to its base of granolas and dreamers.
The PQ promised to;

"Roll out an energy strategy based on integrated resource planning, including setting production targets for renewable energy sectors (hydro, wind, biomass, geothermal, solar, hydrogen).

This in a province blessed with limitless reserves of relatively cheap and clean water power.
Utter insanity!

Cognizant of the electricity surplus and the falling prices, Martine Ouellet, the PQ's most dangerous and stupid Minister of Energy of Incompetence actually put forward a call for tenders to add more wind power!  

It seems that climbing down from a long standing policy that has been a hallmark of the PQ's political platform won't be easy. The shrieks from its environmental base as well as the howls from the entitled beneficiaries, may be too much pressure to stand up to and perhaps the PQ just may grin and bear the cost of an out of control, failed policy."

All this while the PQ is loudly setting up a committee to study the effects of the doubling up of services and costs by virtue of the federal and Quebec governments inefficiently doing the same providing the same services.

To the PQ money wasted by Ottawa is a target to be exposed, while money wasted by itself...well, something necessary for social peace and justice.

That is unfortunately, exactly what separatist governance is about. 

We'll get into more detail next post and I've a special treat, a translated piece from a francophone blogger that lays bare the PQ and in particular Pauline and her husband's role in another PQ mess, back when she was minister of finance.

And as Stan said to Ollie.
"This is another fine mess you've gotten us into!"

French versus English Volume 88

This week in Quebec corruption

With the summer recess of the Charbonneau Commission, it would be reasonable to assume that news on the corruption front would peter out over the next month or two, but alas this certainly isn't the case.
It seems that the Quebec Tax department has taken up the slack and charged two infamous and notorious titans of Quebec's construction industry with hundreds of charges of fraud.

Tony Accurso and the various companies that he once owned have been charged with over 900 criminal charges of cheating the department out of taxes and so it is looking to recoup over $8 million dollars. Link
And in an announcement just a couple of days later, the department charged Frank Catania and his companies with almost 1000 charges of fiscal fraud. Link

On Wednesday, the police executed 15 search warrants and questioned another 15 people in relation to another tax fraud investigation, so the process continues.....

 ***************

Mr. Dressup?

In a bizarre story, the interim mayor of Laval, Alexandre Duplessis, has resigned, but not over allegations that he was involved in some illegal campaign financing (that case remains under investigation) but rather the more traditional sex scandal.
It seems that the mayor got into a pay dispute with an escort and accused her of shaking him down. Link
The cheeky owner of the escort service hit back hard going on television claiming that the mayor stiffed the escort for payment for a private party that the mayor initiated wherein he and the escort engaged in a girls night of dress-up, where the order of the day was trying on female underwear and dresses and applying makeup. Yeechhh!!!!!!!!

Once that allegation hit the airwaves, it was all over but the crying.
As for the mayor's job....NEXT!!!

 ***************

By the way, UPAC, the corruption police have a new target on the radar scope, the city of Granby and the ruling party which is suspected of illegal campaign financing as well.

 ***************

In a weird turn of events, UPAC served a warrant on the Charbonneau Commission to seize the $700,000 that was turned over to it by a Laval political fixer. The money was seized via a warrant to preserve the chain of custody and will be used as evidence in future criminal prosecutions.

 ***************

"Trust me, I'm not under investigation!"

Questions are being raised about UPACs behavior in the investigation of Michael Applebaum.
Clearly he was under investigation while he was campaigning for the interim-mayoral position, yet the police said nothing even though they were pretty sure he'd be soon be arrested.

Now it would have been unethical to announce publicly that Applebaum was under serious investigation, but a leak to a friendly journalist would have saved the city a lot of embarrassment. Let us remember that Applebaum vehemently denied that he was the target of a police investigation in light of the raids conducted on his office by UPAC, clearly what he and UPAC knew to be a bold-faced lie.
The question remains as to whether UPAC had an obligation to somehow set the record straight about the raids in light of Applebaum's false statements.

 ***************

Swiss police claim they have wiretap evidence proving that SNC-Lavalin made millions of dollars in illegal payoffs  in relation to the awarding of the Montreal super hospital contract. Link{fr}.

Now French police are investigating another case of SNC-Lavalin illegal payoffs; 

"The paper said French police are looking into $13.5-million of suspected kickbacks to someone based in the United Arab Emirates. It said an external auditor first discovered the sum as an anomaly in SNC Europe’s books and that the money appeared to have nothing to do with the company’s European business." link

Quebec minister's demands are a 'bridge too far.'

Gaudrealt: "..Gimme dat ting!, Gimme dat ting!!"

If ever there was an award for political 'Chutzpah', Quebec Minister of Transportation Sylvain Gaudreault would win hands down for his rolls-Royce demands that Ottawa pay for a diamond-plated bridge to replace the crumbling Champlain span connecting Montreal to the south shore.

I'm not really sure why it falls to Ottawa to pay for a bridge that lies completely within Quebec's borders, but apparently it does.
At any rate Mr. Gaudreault sent a letter to his federal counterpart, Denis Lebel,  chock full of hilarious demands.

Now if you are one of those readers, furious at Quebec's sense of entitlement, I heartily suggest that you calm yourself before proceeding to the details, or alternately, skip ahead to the next story...

 First, Mr. Gaudreault explained that tolls were out of the question because they weren't equitable (and for the fact that Ottawa would get the money to pay for and maintain the bridge) because it penalized poor people and slowed traffic down. He wants Ottawa to pick up the $5 billion tab exclusively and without conditions.
The fact that Montreal's newest bridge connecting Laval to eastern Montreal is a private toll bridge, is of course of no never-mind.

Then Mr. Gaudreault demanded that the bridge include a light rail system of Quebec's choosing that Ottawa would, of course pay for as well.

And then, for the cherry on top, the Minister demands that the bridge be an expensive architectural gem, a symbol worthy of Montreal as an international city.
To whit, the minister demanded that an international competition between world renowned architects  be held in order to secure the most lavish and expensive vanity prize.
I wonder if the minister recalls the last great Montreal project built by a renowned 'international architect,' one Roger Taililbert.

The whole affair reminds of the family member who orders an expensive appetizer, and a pricey bottle of wine to accompany the five-pound lobster he ordered, just because it was an uncle picking up the tab at the family reunion at Gibby's.
For those unfamiliar with the Yiddish word Chutzpah, here's an English expression that aptly describes such behavior...'Unmitigated gall!'

"They don't build'em like they used to!

Now what really amazes me is the fact that the ministers involved seem perfectly comfortable with the ten-year plan to build the bridge.
TEN YEARS!!!!! ...you've got to be kidding!

It only took around thirteen years to build the iconic Brooklyn Bridge and that was 143 years ago!
That was without computers or even motor-driven vehicles or power tools!

The George Washington Bridge, the behemoth 14 lane masterpiece over the Hudson in New York, was built in four years, back in 1927, as was San Francisco's iconic Golden Gate Bridge, built also in four years starting in 1927.

And by the way, all these bridges remain highly functional today, the average age between them, about 100 years.
Our Champlain bridge in Montreal is but 52 years old and on life support.

Readers, I bet the Chinese could knock up a new Champlain Bridge in under  eighteen months, they built a 27 mile ocean bridge (seven times bigger than the proposed Champlain replacement) in about four years. Link

Think I'm kidding?
Watch the Chinese erect and complete a 30 story hotel in 15 days!

  

How long would it take to build here? One, two or three years?

PQ loses gun registry appeal in Quebec's highest court.

In a unanimous and brief judgment, the appeal court found Quebec has no say in what Ottawa does with data in the federal long-gun registry that is now defunct in every province and territory except Quebec.
“Quebec has no rights over the data,” Chief Justice Nicole Duval Hesler wrote on behalf of a five-judge appeal panel. “The data does not belong to the province, the provinces exercise no control over the data, it is the sole responsibility of the director of the registry – a federal civil servant – from the moment the data is collected until their destruction.”  Link

The PQ government reacted swiftly, promising to appeal the verdict to the Supreme Court of Canada in a cynical and devious political manoeuvre where the inevitable loss would serve the PQ's purpose.

Readers, when you lose an appeals court verdict, 5-0, there's not much chance of succeeding in a higher court and the PQ knows it.
But it prefers and in fact is drooling for a loss in the Supreme Court rather than in it's very own Quebec Court of Appeal. Such is the politics of sovereigntist governance,

The Supremos must do us all a favour and quickly decide not to hear their case, making the gun registry loss a Quebec court issue.

If the Supreme Court foolishly decides to hear the appeal,  they are doing a disservice to the country and so I hope they quash the appeal as soon as possible.

Quebec City fretting about NHL franchise

It seems that the NHL's agreement with the city of Glendale, assuring that the Coyotes will be there for the foreseeable future has delivered a painful reality check to fans in Quebec City who were holding out hope that the franchise would be moved to their fair city.

PQ minister Agnès Maltais shared her disappointment with the Press but insisted that the new 'Field of Dreams' arena (build it and they will come) remains necessary with or with out an NHL LNH franchise.
That being said she deftly handed off responsibility to Quebec city Mayor Regis Lebeaume, calling it his baby, just in case the worst happens.

The palpable disappointment has some local writers and sportcasters musing that Quebec doesn't have what it takes to be an NHL franchise, with fans that are too poor to pay NHL ticket prices and little in the way of corporate sponsorship. Listen to a radio show in French
By the way, listening to the show you might be inclined to believe that commentator read my piece published the week before entitled: PQ & Péladeau Holding Back NHL Franchise in Quebec. 

But the truth is that Quebec is the most viable market available to the NHL, hands down, as long as the Toronto Maple Leafs assert their territorial rights to block expansion to Hamilton.

At any rate, the news of the Coyotes agreement set off a wave of disappointment high lighted by this ad placed in Kijiji, offering the new arena for rent.....

Odds'n Ends

A reader sent in this email and asks if anybody else has had the same experience.

"In 2011 I moved the headquarters of my federal corporation from Montreal to out of province. Almost like clockwork, 1 month after the PQ took power, we received a letter from Revenue Quebec stating that they are considering us a "compagnie mondiale" and are asking for an addition 2% on all our source deductions back to 2008. We called and explained that we simply moved to another part of Canada, but they said that since we didn't answer within 10 days, their decision was final (it takes letters approximately 10 days to reach me from Montreal). We have since spoken to them and they are willing to accept summaries of our federal T4's which we need to produce by Friday. I am wondering if this is blatant harassment of companies that leave Quebec and I wonder if it is more widespread. Have you heard anything about this from your readers? Could be an interesting story."

Joke of the Week
 "For those who haven't heard, Washington State just passed two landmark laws: "Gay marriage" & the "Legalization of marijuana".
 The fact that gay marriage and marijuana were legalized on the same day makes perfect biblical sense because Leviticus 20:13 says: "If a man lies with another man they should be stoned."
(S/O to Judy)
 
The rehabilitation of Quebec’s Maurice Duplessis

"To listen to the apologists of the Quiet Revolution, Quebeckers under Duplessis lived a benighted existence under the thumb of the Catholic Church, denied the economic opportunity available to other Canadians, and particularly to their neighbours in prosperous Ontario. ".......
......The historical record, as set out in Mr. Geloso’s book and other recent works, says otherwise. Duplessis’s was an era of unprecedented expansion of the economy and public services, closing the gap with Ontario at a rapid clip." Read a fascinating article in the Globe and Mail

BTW (By the Way) Two new acronyms for this blog... S/O "Shout out"   P/W 'Paywall'

Here's an interesting ad;

'Moving Day' replaces 'Canada Day' in Quebec Best Buy ad

 Quebecers work almost three weeks less a year than Ontarians. Link{fr}

Poll: Quebec 'worst managed,' 'least friendly';

Read the complete survey results here

What's wrong with this picture?

I was watching an episode of 'Magic City,' a television series surrounding Miami Beach circa 1959, featuring the trials and tribulations of a Jewish hotel owner, backed by the mob.
In this episode, that is accurately dated by its storyline which includes Castro taking over Havana and closing the casinos, a view of the front of the hotel had me scratching my head.
Can you identify the gaffe?

Montreal Canadiens sign  francophone has-been.

I wrote this over a year and a half ago, the fact that Canadiens are having trouble attracting talent, especially francophone Quebecers.

"This coupled with the strange fact that francophone stars eschew Montreal as well, ensures that the team is on a downward spiral, sucked into a linguistic black hole, never to escape....
.....Agents of star players will cross off Montreal from the list of acceptable destinations and so the Canadiens will choose from has-beens, also-rans and aging veterans closing out their career. Its already happened, but no one will admit it."  Language Flap Damages Canadiens Brand 

And so the Canadiens signed Daniel Briere, the very same player who rejected Montreal out of hand when he was a hot property six years ago, enraging fans who have booed him on every visit to Montreal.

No doubt there will be joy in Mudville tonight, but lets us remember that after a disastrous season, Briere was bought out and tossed aside by Philadelphia Flyers like a bad burrito.
All I can say about the Canadiens signing him is summed up in the line that got by Sean Avery dumped from the New York Ranger...."Sloppy Seconds'

How did the signing go over ?
Well the language militants are thrilled to repatriate and a francophone to the team, but hockey fans are not so impressed.
Read the vicious comments below a story on the signing in La Presse, entitled Six Years Later. Ouch!!


Congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks, especially for beating the Bruins!

CLICK HERE if you'd like to see more Ice Girls!

Have a great weekend

Bonne fin de semaine

Quebec's New Ayatollahs

The debate currently raging in Quebec over the the government's role in the regulation of religion, is actually the direct result of Quebec's grand failure to understand or manage its language and immigration policy.

The province and its native francophone population finds itself in the uncomfortable situation of needing  immigrants to fill the void caused by a falling birthrate, yet cannot abide by those immigrants who are welcomed, but who fail to fully adopt the language, mores, values and convention of the host state.
It isn't a problem indigenous to Quebec, all western societies face the very same problem to varying degrees, but in Quebec the problem of assimilation is exacerbated by the choice of two competing cultures,

The spectre of the disastrous European immigration experiment looms large over the debate and Quebecers look with trepidation at the rise of Islam in Europe and the perceived threat of a growing community seen as disloyal, distinct and dangerous.

It's a nasty conundrum, Quebec needs immigrants, but doesn't like the ones who are accepted, specifically Muslims, who are seen as a threat to social cohesion.
I won't get into the immigration question here, except to say that in choosing immigrants based on language, Quebec has boxed itself into a corner. By trying to fix its language problem through selective immigration, where French speakers are selected before more qualified immigrants, Quebec may do itself more harm then good.

It's a Catch-22 where it seems that Quebec cannot solve its language situation without affecting its social situation. As they say, Damned if you do, or damned if you don't.

Since the political decision to continue accepting these French speaking immigrants seems to over-ride social and economic issues, it falls to suppression of faith as the only manner to stem and reverse the perceived tide of the 'Islamization' of Quebec.
While any such effect, if it exists at all, is vastly overblown, the perceived notion or urban myth that Muslims are a threat, is something militants and the PQ are determined to face-off against.

And so Quebec is taking its lead from France, where the Muslim population has reach over 10% of the population and where their large urban pockets amplifies the community's influence in many key cities.
In France (as in many European countries), it isn't a case of turning off the spigot of immigration, the Muslims are already installed in large enough to 'pose a problem'
The problem is not that they are Muslim, but that a significant number of them are religiously observant and whose many core beliefs are at odds with the principles of French society. Where those principles clash, (like the equality of men and women), the orthodox Muslims are (or are perceived) to be unbending and therein lies the rub.

And so France is imposing a solution in which it is attempting to damper the zeal of observant Muslim by edict. By banning traditional garb in public, the government sends a clear and unambiguous message, that observant Muslims are not welcome in France and as these restrictive rules are promulgated, those who are observant are forced to abandon their orthodoxy or go underground. To ordinary Frenchman the first solution is preferable, but the second acceptable.

All these measures are justified by the notion of separation of Church and state, a concept that harks back to the American Bill of Rights of 1791, an act amending the United States Declaration of Independence, which was a keystone in advancing and codifying the concept of the government staying out of the religion business.

 It fell to Thomas Jefferson to expand on the concept in a letter he wrote to the Danbury Baptist association in the state of Connecticut, in1802, a part of which is reproduced below.

"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State."
-Thomas Jefferson

It is important to note that while modern politicians in France and Quebec reference the concept of the separation of Church and State, they fail to understand or deliberately misinterpret exactly what is or should be implicit in that policy, that is, that outside government people are free to choose what and how to believe.
While the state may act neutral in its position on religion, banning individuals from expressing their beliefs in public, is a direct violation of the covenant of the separation of Church and State.

Today the anti-religion Ayatollahs of Quebec seek to pervert the concept of separation of Church and State in order to banish religion from all walks of public life, using the state to bludgeon the faith out of the observant by means of restrictive regulations based on contrived and fitted rules that hold that any contact with the state must be sanitized from religion in the name of separation. 

In a society like Quebec where the State contols our education system from daycare to post-secondary education, our entire health system, our political system and where one-thid of workers are in the direct or indirect employ of  the government, enforcing such limitations is a direct attack of the right to practice one's faith free from state interference.

The new anti-religious Ayatollahs in the PQ and the Francophone Press make no bones about their visceral hatred of religion and openly admit that they want religion out of the lives of Quebecers, largely because they see it as a competing force for the alter-religion that they themselves promote, that of sovereignty.

It was with some amusement tinged with sadness that I watched a television advertisement paid for by the Quebec government promoting tolerance towards gays and lesbians.
It seems that in its wisdom the government believes the general population needs to be more accepting towards gays and lesbians,( a good idea) all the while asking the public to be intolerant towards other minorities, those who are religiously observant.

In one such commercial, two men openly kiss in the arrivals area of the airport while the announcer challenges viewers who feel uncomfortable with the scene.
I wonder if the government would dare run the same advertisement featuring a Hasid family or a man wearing a turban or Hijab clad women, again asking for the public to modify its perception.....Fat chance of that!

In Quebec, led by the PQ and the anti-religious Ayatollahs in the Press, a campaign of  'salisage' is underfoot, meant to discredit and humiliate the religiously observant, based on the idea that these people are social misfits, out of tune and step with society in general and thus a threat to good order (read: the march towards Independence) .

How else could this drivel ever find its way into the main press.

"For an immigrant, a good way to integrate is to respect the customs of the host society. This obviously implies greater discretion in expressing his beliefs in public spaces that come as contrasted with it. This is nothing but a sign of respect to the host society. -Mathieu Bock-Coté Link{fr}{PW}

"Ostentatious religious symbols are not primarily a sign faith. If that were the case, the signs could be discreet. Rather they meant to have a political impact.  They are a provocative and formalized declaration of a refusal to integrate. It is a showdown by those who wish to break the host society and force it to capitulate. -Mathieu Bock-Coté   link-{fr}{PW}

I'd expect a statement like this from the religious police in Saudi Arabia or Iran, certainly not in any North American context.

In an article by journalist Richard Martineau he calls the turban affair a victory for 'Extremists' a term that is shocking by its connotation. The idea that these Sikhs are a somehow  dangerous and violent fifth column, based solely on religious garb, can only be described as racist.
Pardon my ignorance, but my interpretation of an extremist in the religious context, is someone who resorts to violence or terrorism to further their ends.
I'd hardly characterize our local turban-wearing Sikhs as extremists, nor would I characterize a Quebecer wearing a kippah, or a women wearing a Hijab as such.
It seems that hate and intolerance is alive and well in the PQ and their trusted media dogs.

So I'm not uncomfortable calling these haters, Ayatollahs.

They emulate the very worst traits of the religious bosses in Iran and Saudi Arabia where not conforming to state-mandated standards is a punishable act under the law.
We're not far from that in Quebec, if ever the PQ pass their Quebec values legislation, banning religious regalia in public.
Let's go back to something else the illustrious Thomas Jefferson said in regards to the religious affinity of others;

"But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."

This goes to the essential debate, in other words what is the big deal about a turban on the soccer field, a kippah worn by a doctor, or a scarf worn by a cashier at the license bureau?

There are many things we don't like or agree with in life, be it rock music, punkism, religious orthodoxy, country music, rock music, left or right wing politicians etc. etc.
Is it reasonable to suppress a concept, a lifestyle, a political opinion or a religious persuasion based only on the fact that the majority is against it?

That is exactly what the Ayatollahs of Quebec, Iran and Saudi Arabia are telling us.

Conform or get the Hell out....