CBC has had a look at a new report saying the Quebec roadwork industry is shot through with corruption and Mafia connections, which is alas not really news.
Updates from September, 2011 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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A promoter bought part of Île Charron for $6 million in 2006. Now the Quebec government is offering him $15 million to get it back – presumably to add to the Îles de Boucherville park – but he still insists he wants to build condos on some of it. Alas, one of the people on the government side expects a developer to show preuve de civisme.
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Alex J.
Salut! J’ai lu les deux articles. Le gouvernement aurait imposé une mise en réserve sur la propriété. Si je comprends bien, ça fait que Luc Poirier n’a pas le droit de développer les terrains en tout ou en partie. Donc la surenchère serait plutôt dans le sens inverse — son investissement est gelé depuis 2000 au gré du gouvernement. Pas très fair play tout ça. Si ce développeur est capable de construire ces condos sur une partie de l’île tout en respectant la flore et le faune, je ne vois pas le problème. P.S.: juste pour clarifier, “le CRE-Montréal est un organisme à but non lucratif qui regroupe des organisations préoccupées par la réhabilitation, le maintien et l’amélioration des milieux de vie naturels, cultivés et urbains.” Donc pas le gouvernement en tant que tel.
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Kate
OK, merci pour les détails et pour vos idées là-dessus.
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The firebombed daycare (it’s called Bébé Einstein!) was raided in 2009 during an investigation of ID fraud.
You know, I’m beginning to think if I lived in RDP-PAT and had a kid, I might not send them to this place…
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The city says it has twelve structures in critical condition and wants provincial money to fix them. There are lots of others needing work and maintenance too.
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New York City has chosen Bixi bikes for its bikeshare program to open next summer. Here’s the official New York Bikeshare page via Andy Riga on Twitter.
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Stephen
Wow. That’s kind of a huge deal. I wonder if that means anything in terms of their assumed debt. Also, now that they’re going to be displayed on such a high profile world stage (no offence to MTL, DC, et al.) I wonder what kind of scrutiny they’ll be subjected to.
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qatzelok
NYC actually chose ALTA – an American middleman to supply the bikes. They were forced to deal with an American middleman because of the new Buy America Law that was just passed. I guess they still get to buy all the Canadian oil they want though.
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Kate
How does a Buy America law work within NAFTA?
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I don’t have an iPhone, but I’ve had an iPod Touch for awhile and have had the STM mobile app for ages – it’s been around for more than two years and has been many times worth its 99-cent price. Now the STM has launched its own app which is free and even promises to alert you if the metro’s down for more than 20 minutes.
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ant6n
Do these work while offline?
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TC
Does it provide real-time information on when the next bus or subway train will arrive?
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Kate
Well, the app’s been out for less than a day and I haven’t properly taken it for a spin yet.
After installing the app it downloads schedules, so I think we can safely assume it contains basic bus scheduling while offline. A couple of times a year the STM adjusts schedules so you might be prompted to download an update at those points, but till then you should at least know when the bus is supposed to show up.
I didn’t see any mention of bus delay notifications and unless there’s a stoppage there’s rarely more than 10 minutes between metro trains so that’s not really crucial. It gives first and last times for trains at each station.
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Public opinions are to be sought on what to do with the Olympic stadium, demolition not being on the list.
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jeather
I wonder if they have considered converting it into condos.
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Lucas
This may be pie-in-the-sky, but I have always thought that the transformation of the Big O into a larger and more diverse extension of the Biodome would be a great plus for the city and greatly help the push to make the area a “pole” of recreation. It could be quite a big draw.
Or perhaps entirely, or in conjunction with the previous idea, an indoor beach (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seagaia_Ocean_Dome). In any case, just something to take advantage of all that space and give Montrealers a new recreational amenity and help to reintegrate the Big O back into the facbric of city life.
I realize both of these would be hideously expensive, but here’s hoping they don’t just make it into another convention centre.
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Kate
Lucas, the idea for a bigger Biodome also crossed my mind when I was posting the link. If they can’t put a roof on it, they could extend the local ecosphere into the larger space at least and actually let it change with the seasons. Could be quite magical.
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qatzelok
I don’t understand why you guys are proposing new uses for a flawed and rapidly decaying structure. Imagine how many pandas could be killed by a 20-ton cement beam.
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Kate
Well, they’ve ruled out demolishing it, so now what?
It’s a truly spectacular piece of architecture, and no city of spirit would take it down. We need to find something wonderful to do with it.
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Chris
Turn it into a giant composter!
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Lucas
Kate captures it – they’ve simply ruled out demolishing it, so we must do something with it and so hopefully something good.
Also, and this is just speculation, but if it were transformed into something else (anything, a biodome extension, a mall, parking, it doesn’t really matter), couldn’t a more stable roof be built because we could add supporting structures of some kind (i.e., columns in what is presently the centre)? I thought the problem with the roof was mostly because it had to bridge such a huge space. Couldn’t a repurposing include some support structures in the middle which simply weren’t possible when it was a stadium? I might be entirely off on this, so if anyone has a clue please let me know. Again I’m sure this would be incredibly expensive, but we’ve got to do something with it.
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Kate
You’ve got it, Lucas – no matter what we do, it’ll be expensive. Taking it down is too expensive, putting a roof on is too expensive, it’s such a strange and individual structure that adding reinforcing elements will be too expensive too. But look, we’re putting up a new planetarium right there, there’s the Biodome, the Saputo stadium and so on – we can’t just let the stadium collapse in on itself, something has to be done, and it has to be something good.
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I was struck yesterday by the form of the peace monument placed in the new Dawson memorial garden. A little research discovered that it’s a peace pole, a form that originated in Japan in 1955.
At left is a 2006 photo of the peace pole that used to stand in the grounds of Saint-Alphonse-d’Youville church on Crémazie. Saint-Alphonse was sold to developers awhile ago, so when I went over just now to photograph the peace pole again I found that the sales office for the new condo development is sitting in the exact place where the peace pole used to be.I went in and asked them where the “monument à la paix” had gone. “Monument à quoi?”
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A onetime posh bar on Mountain Street and a north-end bar with possible coke traffic around a toy machine (love the headline, Coke et toutous) are both being closely watched by police; meantime the police anti-gang squad Eclipse is having its mission recast to try to remove the taint of racial profiling.
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A couple more reports on the opening of the Dawson College memorial garden, which cannot help but have slight political overtones as the Tory government moves to end the gun registry.
Michèle Ouimet has a look at the fate of one of Kimveer Gill’s victims and a brief glance at Gill’s mother who, not surprisingly, won’t talk to the media.
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A daycare out in RDP-PAT has been firebombed three times since September 3. No speculation has been published why such an establishment is a target, but clearly there’s a story waiting to be told.
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A Bloomberg writer takes a critical look at the symphony hall with the eye of someone not entirely enamored by Place des Arts either.
Josh 20:22 on 2011/09/14 Permalink
Yeah – when I saw that earlier today in Google Reader with a generic CBC “Breaking News” graphic, I had the same thought.
Shawn 20:30 on 2011/09/14 Permalink
But what’s important, I think, is that the report is getting closer to being released. The leak ensures the Charest government won’t be able to bury it. And while no names or parties are named in the leak, I’m assuming the investigation has uncovered specifics. If not, they wouldn’t be able to make these statements?
Kate 09:34 on 2011/09/15 Permalink
Yes true, it’s the distance between the vague sense that “everybody knows” this to actual documentary proof.
walkerp 10:26 on 2011/09/15 Permalink
It’s astounding how the government keeps on prevaricating and denying. Usually, corrupt governments like this at least put on a show about how outraged they are and how they are fighting back, but here the corruption and arrogance runs so deep, they don’t even think they have to make an effort at PR. Let’s hope this causes the same kind of outrage as the sponsorship scandal.
Tux 12:04 on 2011/09/15 Permalink
Hopefully what this ultimately leads to is complete financial transparency. I have long wondered why Quebecers, despite losing huge chunks of our personal incomes to taxes, have such crappy crumbling infrastructure and all the while commercial developments like condos spring up like mushrooms. Why don’t we tax the heck out of these people and ease up a bit on regular people.
Shawn 13:29 on 2011/09/15 Permalink
I can’t see how Charest is anything other than a dead man walking, at this point. Liberals are sure to massively implicated.
Kate 14:03 on 2011/09/15 Permalink
A lot will depend how the various opposition parties shake down before the next election. Charest is pretty teflon-coated and I have a strong feeling if he wants to be premier again he will. There’s a certain toughness to the guy that might even be able to put this over as a form of realpolitik.
qatzelok 16:37 on 2011/09/15 Permalink
His “toughness” probably comes from his deep commitment to corporatism and the various mafias who (mis)manage our collective wealth. Charest’s got friends who decapitate horses.
Kate 16:52 on 2011/09/15 Permalink
Sure. But what I’m saying is I’m not sure Quebecers mind that very much.
ant6n 17:09 on 2011/09/15 Permalink
There are probably many Quebecers who mind some corruption less than separatism and language issues. After all, if the billion dollar Quebec budget loses a couple tens of millions here and there, that has less of an effect for individuals compared to having to move to another province.
qatzelok 13:04 on 2011/09/16 Permalink
@ Kate “Sure. But what I’m saying is I’m not sure Quebecers mind that very much.” What other provinces in Canada have recognized the corruption in their capitalist elite and are trying to do something about it? Alberta? Ontario?
Or are these jurisdictions still in happy denial?