Quebec Corruption... just this week
"A study on the inflated cost of construction projects in Montreal was kept from former mayor Gérald Tremblay and members of the executive committee, said Mayor Michael Applebaum.The internal study, published in February 2004, found construction contracts were inflated by 30 to 40 per cent due to collusion in the industry.
Alain Bond, the city's comptroller, said former city director general Robert Abdallah and former head of the executive committee, Frank Zampino, kept that report under wraps." Link
"Quebec's court of appeal has rejected the bid of former lieutenant-governor Lise Thibault to have her fraud trial scrapped because she claims that as the Queen's representative, she wasn't subject to the court system.The 73-year-old is accused of using taxpayer dollars as her personal spending account. She allegedly bilked taxpayers of $700,000 from April 1997 to March 2007.But the former Quebec viceroy claims the case should be scrapped because of royal prerogative, which is the collection of rights held by the Queen or her designates — the governor general and lieutenant-governors — that can technically override Canadian law." Link
Municipal officials in the Quebec town of Saint-Rémi say they are standing behind Mayor Michel Lavoie, who was arrested along with his son and a business partner this morning on charges of fraud and conspiracy.Investigators with the province's anti-corruption unit (UPAC) allege Lavoie used his position to ensure public building projects were developed and built by family members or business partners. Link
"Quebec’s anti-corruption squad is investigating allegations against a member of the Lachine borough’s urban-planning committee for possible links to various real-estate developers, opposition borough councillor Jean-François Cloutier says ...
...A citizen then asked the borough council to name the two elected officials who sit on the committee along with representatives of the public.
Dauphin responded by naming himself and councillor Bernard Blanchet.
“It’s not me,” Dauphin added." Link .
"Quebec’s permanent anti-corruption unit wrapped up 2012 on Wednesday morning with a tightly scripted rundown of its accomplishments over the past 12 months, giving few hints about where it might be headed in 2013.
The numbers for 2012 — and there were a lot of them — were impressive.
The unit, known by the French acronym UPAC, put 49 people in handcuffs this year. It laid a total of 177 criminal charges, and executed 450 search warrants and other court orders. Read the rest of the story. Alternate Link
A witness at the Charbonneau inquiry has been arrested for lying before the commission.François Thériault a work site inspector for the city of Montreal testified that he never received an illegal benefit in relation to his job authorizing 'extra' payments for construction projects. Investigators allege that he did indeed benefit from a $30,000 discount on his home purchased from one of these construction entrepreneurs. Link
Martin Patrquin has a great article on Quebec construction corruption in Maclean's this week
Hydro-Quebec a dog
During the election campaign last September the CAQ leader Francois Legault demanded that Hydro-Quebec make some essential cuts, cutting ineffectiveness and over-staffing in order to realize a 600 million saving.It seems that the assessment was woefully understated.
For the average Quebecois, Hydro is seen as a national treasure, a symbol of Quebec's maturity, our ability to run things without foreign, Canadian or Anglophone interference.
In an article in L'Actuualite, Pierre Fortin writes that the $600 million demanded by Legault is but a pittance and the state electricity producer is actually wasting over 2 billion dollars a year.
According to the table on the right, the utility has 60 employees for every 10,000 customers, compared to the North American industry average of just 32.
Are Quebecers outraged?
At the time of publishing not one reader bothered to remark on the author's conclusions in the comment section!
Read the entire article in French
et cetera;
Guy Turcotte the cardiologist who murdered his two children was found to be not criminally responsible due to a mental defect, was let out of a mental institution, after just four years, apparently cured, according to his doctors.This so outraged ordinary citizens that there is talk of reviewing the law by which he was released. Link
The mother of the murdered children was interviewed on CNN by none other than Anderson Cooper about the whole sordid affair. Read the story and watch the interview on CNN here: Canadian child-killer's release draws outrage.
Here's an unrelated story but an interesting one. An ex-Quebecer committed the same type of crime in Texas, murdering his son and injuring his daughter. Check out how the American justice system reacted: Ex-Montrealer gets 99 years for shooting his children in Texas
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| Pauline in New York promises Americans that Quebec is open for business |
"A fictitious story about a controversial Montreal bylaw proposal requiring dogs to be comfortable in the country's two official languages has rippled through the realms of social media and fooled even some seasoned news sites." Link
"A mother of two is still in shock after her family was egged while she was parked on a residential street in Montreal - apparently for speaking English" Link
"For 20 years, St-Lazare had offered services in both English and French to its residents, but according to the French language charter the city didn’t meet the criteria for bilingual status.
On Tuesday night, St-Lazare city council said au revoir to English and voted to become a French-only town." Link
"The Ontario Provincial Police Hawkesbury detachment is the first in the province to become fully bilingual.
All of the 66 positions at the OPP’s Hawkesbury detachment were designated bilingual Dec. 1 by the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services and the Office of Francophone Affairs.
“French language services remain a critical operational component to providing exemplary policing services to the citizens and visitors of Hawkesbury and the surrounding area,” OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis said in a statement. “Ensuring that all members of Hawkesbury OPP detachment are bilingual addresses the needs of this community. This is a proud moment.” Link
On Saturday, December 8th, the Mouvement Québec français was to hold demonstrations across the province in front of Walmart stores, to protest the fact that the company as well as five others were going to court to defend their right to use their trademark without a French descriptor.I looked high and low for any mention of the event in the press after the fact.
Strangely, the MQF was silent, nary a word or picture mentioned on their website and no Youtube video to be found.
My only conclusion was that the event was an incredible bust.
Late yesterday the MQF finally reported on the event and published a picture of the 'massive' demonstration that they held in front of Best Buy in LaSalle.
After weeks of exhortations for the faithful to attend, the event went off like the proverbial wet firecracker.
Go ahead readers, count up the participants of this vast outpouring of linguistic rage. In a region of over three million people, you can count the demonstrators on your fingers and toes.
Who knows, perhaps they had to bus some of them in as well!
How's that boycott working out Mario?
In other news, the bufoons of the MQF proudly announced that they are forming a regional committee in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region to defend the 99% francophone residents from the impending Anglophone and English invasion.
The leader of the preppers told reporters that he had a list of about 100 people, some of whom he was sure might be interested in joining.
The founding meeting occurred on December 12th, with four people attending. Link{fr}
Richard Bain, the Anglo alleged shooter in the election night Metropolis incident has a knack for infuriating.Bain evoked a furious reaction from the French media when he made an impromptu phone call to an English radio station while being locked up and now has unleashed another scornful gesture towards francophones."The man charged in Quebec's election-night shooting has refused to speak to a French-speaking psychiatrist, causing a delay in his case.Richard Henry Bain was expected to receive the results of his assessment on Monday to determine whether he was fit to stand trial.But the case was put off until Jan. 11 while the hospital that conducts the evaluation finds a different doctor. Bain will remain at Montreal's Pinel Institute until then." Link
Some other stories of interest;
- No, dogs don't have to be bilingual in Montreal; Link
- The OQLF wants the public to stop using the term "Boxing Day" Link {Fr}
- Montreal dog adoption service 'hounded' by Quebec's language police Link
- OLF Orders Pharmacist's English Warning Posters And Flyers Removed Link
- Quebec coddled over other provinces: Survey Link
Weekend reading:
From Coolopolis; Maurice Duplessis: the reason people thought his death was faked
Quebec's corner stores: disappearing neighbourhood heroes coping with government attack
Streetcars - time to give up the dream
********************** I received this Domino's Pizza menu in the mailbox and was amused to see that that the term "Canadian" pizza was replaced withe the term "Quebecoise"
At least there was an English text, even if it was smaller than the French!
My question to readers is why 'Canadian' is unacceptable as a name for a pizza, requiring rebranding, while "Philly' is perfectly acceptable in French?
And oh yes...the advertisement includes another great tribute to 'Engrish' ...."Feast Pizzas"
Good fun or am I being overly pedantic?
Do any of you have a sharp enough eye to pick out the Photoshop disaster in this Quebec government advertisement below? Who will be the first to claim the credit?
Missing Hockey, this will cheer you up.... I promise.
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| Can I entice you to CLICK on this link? |
Have a great weekend!
Bonne Fin de Semaine!
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