City auditor-general Jacques Bergeron has submitted a report listing the many shortcomings in the management of Bixi, from lack of upfront studies and analyses to dodging around legal limits on what kind of business the city can conduct.
Updates from June, 2011 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Heard on CBC, found on Twitter: Chalet BBQ is on fire.
Later (6) now they’re saying it’s out. Whew. Might have to drop by soon for a nosh (after it reopens). You never know when a landmark like this can suddenly vanish.
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Marc
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dwgs
Firemen were up on the roof as I rode by on the bus around 5 pm yesterday. It was definitely the ventilation system, the guys up on the roof were tearing the panels off to get at the inside of it. Didn’t look too bad.
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The city’s trying to negotiate with Quebec to get road and bridge repairs paced out better to spare the city more of last week’s commuting nightmare, but safety concerns are driving bridge repairs and (although it’s not mentioned) there’s probably some pressure to get stuff done in the five weeks remaining before the construction holiday.
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The Journal is looking at the question of gifts for city councillors now that they’re obliged to reveal any gift valued at $200 or more. One of the most common items, as summarized here, is free event tickets.
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This summer’s NASCAR race may be the last, as the organization wants public money to continue here.
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Alex
No way. They make billions. They don’t need that at all.
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Kate
But Bernie Ecclestone got them to fork over big bucks to keep the Grand Prix, so in a way you can’t blame them for trying.
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Marc
While I have no ideological hangups on motorsports, government’s role is not to bail out events like this. This is something where people swarm in, empty their wallets, watch the events, and off they go. Hardly something in financial jeopardy. But yeah, can’t blame them for trying since Ecclestone succeeded with his extortion.
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ant6n
Isn’t this somewhat similar to Hockey: There are a fixed number of places where it takes place, but many more want it. So after a while the organizers are starting to ask for support in order to keep the hockeyteam/grandprix in a given city, because in another they might get more support/make more money.
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Stefan
ant6n: right – it does not seem any different from other multinational corporations who are doing essentially a concours of where to get the most subventions vs. the other advantages. in an ideal world the place giving the subvention still aims to profit at least short-term, money-wise from this return-on-investment, but then there’s also corruption and many examples where those corporations broke their promises.
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William Raillant-Clark
Adieu.
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qatzelok
Soon, the West Island cock-fighters association will be asking for a few million to help support their sport.
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It was a deadly weekend on Quebec’s roads, with twelve deaths including three motorcycle fatalities.
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Chris
And as always, there will be no criminal charges, or even tickets.
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Sunday’s referendum results are in: 243 votes against, 212 in favour, so the Gate David synagogue can’t make the minor changes needed to improve it for its congregation. Chalk one up for mulish xenophobia.
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Marc
I heard an interview this morning with the main complainant (forget his name) with Andrew Carter on CJAD, he basically got sick of him spewing his nonsense and told him “okay sir, I think you’ve said enough..”
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Chris
A small majority, low voter turnout… if that’s legit enough to choose our federal government, then it’s legit enough here! :( :)
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Shawn
If it’s the main guy, his name is Pierre Lacerte who describes himself as an “ex-journalist.” He has run this rather bilious blog for some time:
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Shawn
Leila Marshy, who I believe was on CJAD this morning, is going to be on Radio Noon, shortly…
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walkerp
The result is a shame, but it has done good for the visibility of the community in both directions. Hopefully this will encourage the Hassidim to be a bit more open and neighbourly while it also encourages the rest of the community to be a bit more welcoming as well.
The rhetoric on Pierre Lacerte’s website is disturbingly reminiscent, both in form and content, of the kind of propaganda in the late 20′s in Weimar Germany that presaged the Nazi rise to power.
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Marko
The synagogue had to present a compelling argument as to how the neighborhood would benefit from the expansion. They failed to do so. Substitute the word “synagogue” with “restaurant”, “church”, “home business” and the requirement would be the same.
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no\deli
^Except the idea here being that a restaurant, church, or home business wouldn’t have received such a vociferous neighbourhood campaign in opposition. That is the point. Today Lionel Groulx is simpering smugly in his grave.
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Shawn
“The synagogue had to present a compelling argument as to how the neighborhood would benefit from the expansion”? I’d say that’s backwards. All this synagogue needed to do was demonstrate that the renovation — which included such luxuries as a second toilet — would not negatively impact the neighbourhood, which I’d say they did.
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qatzelok
I hope this referendum showcases the flip side of “us versus them” thniking.
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Marko
Kate, no one opposes a second toilet. You need to understand the distinction between “expansion” and “renovation”. No one opposes a renovation but if you neighbour wants expand outside of his building envelope, it’s a different story.
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Kate
Marko, they wanted to extend their building ten feet into their own back yard space, removing a disused shed. They were not in any sense asking to expand beyond their building lot. Did you understand that?
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David M
i find it totally outrageous that this would have gone to a referendum at all. this is the simplest possible variance application. the flipside to the brainy move by residents to block the slight expansion here is the precedent to block all further equivalent property improvements. great job, folks, your properties are now worth less, and you’ll have a harder time fixing them up. oh, unless some crusading developer actually takes this sham to court, which is where i hope this ends up.
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The various Bixi offshoots in other cities are not uniformly successful: La Presse finds that it’s doing great in Washington and Minneapolis, less so in London, which has been plagued with billing errors, but it’s been an outright flop in Melbourne, where after an unpropitious winter launch it has failed to thrive, a problem partly blamed on the Australian helmet law.
The last scare was in 2005…was also a ventilation system fire. Glad the place is okay. Whew!