Montreal in campaign news 2012-08-02
Henry Aubin proposes several economies the Quebec government might make that would concern Montreal. But he glosses over the profound difficulties involved in some of the ideas. Think of the crisis we’d face if cities refused to continue paying employee pensions. Casserole demos would look like kindergarten games by comparison.
Reducing the size of city council would also open the can of worms of the city structure, which I think most would agree has been a kludge since the demerger debacle, but which totters on like a determined zombie. Now that people have cushy jobs in the arrondissement system, they too will kick like mules at the idea of streamlining it.
Metro proposes a few city ridings to watch.
Some level-headed critique of the Charest Liberals’ doubletalk on democracy from le Devoir, more level-headed critique of the Charest government’s economic record; some well presented indignation from someone who says she’s been told to take down liberaux.net but hasn’t so far.
The campaign’s going to drown out most city-level news for a month, but my plan is to make one entry a day looking at campaign news that directly touches on the city, and not let it dominate the blog. I’ll give it a try, anyway.
AJ 10:05 on 2012/08/02 Permalink
Looking forward to your coverage. I don’t think “economies” is an accepted synonym for “savings,” though, even as Aubin commits this gallicism in the last paragraph…
Kate 10:15 on 2012/08/02 Permalink
No, it’s standard English. The OED:
■[count noun] (usu. economies) a financial saving: there were many economies to be made by giving up our London offices.
cheese 12:11 on 2012/08/02 Permalink
I think the use of the word “economies” in this context is more common in England (where I used to live) than here but still totally valid methinks.
I’m looking forward to elllection coverage here, dominant or not. I need to find out what is going on to figure out how to vote in this thing. This site is the best place to gather such information, especially with the comments from people with differing opinions and priorities. Thanks in advance!
Bill Binns 12:50 on 2012/08/02 Permalink
Can anyone even imagine Quebec politicians getting together and saying “Ok, it’s time to tighten our belts and start paying down this debt. This program has to go and this one and these taxes are going up etc”. It’s easier to imagine Martians landing in Victoria Square.
At some point in the future the province will go through something very much like what Greece is going through now with Ottawa playing the part of Germany. After the reaction we saw to a rather modest rise in tuition fees that only affected a relatively small percentage of the population, how could the reaction to severe “austérité” measures be anything other than blood in the streets? Perhaps this will be the push that seprates Quebec from Canada to form it’s own nation. A tiny, impoverished nation with bad credit.
+1 for the “determined zombie” imagery. I got a chuckle out of that.
Kate 13:04 on 2012/08/02 Permalink
What would be spectacular is if a Quebec government said “We’re going to cut corporate subsidies, reinstate corporate taxes, and make sure the highest taxed people in North America continue to receive the social services for which they made an implicit contract years ago.”
AJ 19:38 on 2012/08/02 Permalink
Huh! I was always taught it was a gallicism, as that particular meaning had fallen out of general English use, but found its way back in as franglais here. So much for *that* English teacher.
I think it’s worth re-examining what kind of society we want to be now, and prioritizing and budgeting for that, rather than perpetuating 19th century models of education, industry, “growth,” and general unsustainability. Unfortunately it usually has to break down completely before we even start thinking about it.
qatzelok 09:59 on 2012/08/03 Permalink
Six things Quebec could do to be more like New Jersey.
Ian 13:57 on 2012/08/03 Permalink
I’m guessing you didn’t read the article, qatzelok? None of those ideas seem like the typical neoliberal austerity measures we might expect from our yanqui chums or the PLQ.
qatzelok 20:17 on 2012/08/05 Permalink
Ian, unfortunately, I had the misfortune of wasting five minutes of my life reading that column.He suggests NOT building tramways as a way of saving money. On the question of our trillion dollar highways, he is silent. This isn’t urbanism, it’s brown envelope-ology. “Car ads bring in revenue, so I’ll use by urban issues column to trash less expensive alternatives to massive car use.”