Monthly Archives: March 2007

| Uncategorized

You can’t find good candidates these days

It’s a fact of life that, in those impossible ridings where your candidate will never succeed, the parties aren’t too thorough about background checks. The riding association (both of them) just picks a name out of a hat (preferably a woman/ethnic minority/young idealist), puts up some posters and waits to lose. I remember a Conservative candidate in a downtown riding who I’d known previously was a complete nutcase who used curse words even I would cringe at.

Unfortunately for Mario Dumont, a lot of candidates fit this description (long-shot, not necessarily nutcase), and their pasts are coming out to bite him in the ass. The latest, according to La Presse, is Gilles Taillon, in the Abitibi-Est riding which has swung back and forth between the PQ and Liberals.

Now Dumont doesn’t have the luxury of replacing candidates, so if he fires Taillon, he officially gives up on the riding.

| Blogosphere, Montreal, On the Net

Xolo

Xolo.tv (yeah, I never heard of them either — I guess I’m not cool — Martin Lessard is though) recently came to Montreal and have a video podcast up. It features video of the Biodome (it goes on for a while, so you’ll find yourself skipping ahead a bit) and an interview with Casey and Rudy from Galacticast, who are fast becominng the go-to people for vlogging in Montreal (all because of me, I think). The Galacticast interview might have been better with less noise in their apartment/studio, but at least there’s footage of Casey McKinnon’s infectuous laugh.

| Montreal

It’s a war zone out there, apparently

It seems Montreal West is still trying to make the case that a barrier along the border with Ville Saint-Pierre is for traffic control and not segregation. Since I’m still convinced that this traffic problem is a figment of their imaginations, it makes quotes like this all the more ludicrous:

Residents of the southwest sector of Montreal West have been subjected to an increase in high-speed, dangerously aggressive traffic as more cars, trucks and semis use these residential streets as a shortcut.

Semis? Really? OK, then. I’ll give anyone $20 who can take a picture of a semi or other large, non-local truck barrelling down Broughton St. at high speed recently. These trucks couldn’t even navigate these streets, much less race through them at high speed.

The opinion piece makes a very valid point that it’s hypocrtical for the city to argue that fire trucks will take longer to get there when they’re closing the closest fire station. Of course, the solution to that is not to close the fire station.

Finally, the one question that’s been nagging me and that MoWest’s apologists haven’t answered: if this is all about traffic flow, why was the barrier exactly on the border? Why not cut off Ainslie and Easton streets from Westminster, like they did Broughton? Why not get VSP to cut off its access to Highway 20 through Norman St.?

| Uncategorized

Shhh, we’re giving Al Gore a degree

Concordia is handing Al Gore an honorary doctorate … behind closed doors. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this one of those times you want some attention? Methinks this is all Mr. Gore’s doing, since he’s so busy he can’t take a few days out of his schedule to properly receive an honorary degree.

In other Concordia news, the John Molson School of Business has changed its logo to be in line with Concordia’s change earlier. And Michael Di Grappa’s new video doesn’t do it for me (he’s explaining that sour labour talks are not his fault).

| In the news

Save now for your disability!

Though the media is going all crazy over the federal budget being announced now (especially with the Liberals and NDP announcing they won’t support it), it looks like another snoozer with no tax bracket alterations, no GST cut, and only a bunch of minor fiddlings with the tax code and spending initiatives.

One change that caught my eye was the introduction of a Registered Disability Savings Plan (in the works for over a year, it seems), which helps parents save for their disabled children. The name is somewhat of a misnomer. It’s more like turning disabled children into mini-charities, and making contributions to their well-being tax-deductible.

The thing that bothers me most about it is that the government isn’t actually contributing anything to these kids. Shouldn’t services for people with disabilities be covered by the government, either through health care or other services?

And doesn’t saving for a disability just sound weird?