Vision Montreal Leader Wants Expo 2020 In Montreal

Expo 67

From Yahoo News/CBC:

MONTREAL (CBC) - Montreal's opposition leader has taken steps to try to bring Expo 2020 to the city.

Vision Montreal leader Benoît Labonté has created a non-profit organization to work on a bid for the world fair, which he believes could revitalize the island.

He was only seven years old when Montreal hosted the highly successful Expo 67, but Labonté said it was an "extraordinary" event that brought magic to the city.

"What do the Expo 67 passports evoke?" he asked, holding up the distinctive red and gold booklet at a news conference.

"It evokes Montreal's greatness, the moment when we thought everything was possible in Montreal, that the future belonged to us."

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My Comment: This City is broke. It does not have the resources to redo another Expo. I guess it is nice to dream, but Montreal today is not the Montreal of 40 years ago.

Recalled Maple Leaf Products Found In Montreal

Recalled Shopsy's pepperoni sticks were found at a convenience store in
Montreal by CTV on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008.

From CTV News:

Maple Leaf Foods products that have been recalled because of possible contamination with Listeria were found in at least two Montreal stores on Wednesday, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper vowed to have an independent investigation into the outbreak.

CTV Montreal found a box of Hygrade pepperoni sticks -- included in the recall list -- at a convenience store. The owner said his family had purchased the products from a supplier about two weeks ago, but he had not been told it should be taken off the shelves.

"We didn't get any report," he said. "We didn't get anything."

At another convenience store, CTV Montreal found Shopsys pepperoni sticks that had also been included in the recall list. Their product code had "97B" -- linking it to the Maple Leaf Foods plant in Ontario that has been linked to the outbreak.

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Road Toll Plan Not Stalled: Montreal

Jacques Cartier Bridge Jacques Cartier Bridge, Montreal, Canada

From The Montreal Gazette:

MONTREAL - A plan to establish a system of regional road tolls that would collect revenue to pay for improved public transit isn't dead, the Montreal executive committee member responsible for transportation says.

But André Lavallée described the plan as a "work in progress" that will take at least two years to implement.

Representatives of the city and the Quebec government are to visit London and Milan this year to see how toll collection systems function in those cities, he added.

"We want to look at what worked and what didn't - the best practices, if you will," he said in an interview. "We want to develop this idea. We presented a vision. Now we want to develop a strategic approach" to tolls.

That approach has received a frosty reception from mayors of the suburbs surrounding Montreal even though the city has changed its toll scheme from a unilateral collection system aimed at motorists crossing into the city to a regional version in which revenues would be shared with other municipalities.

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Longueuil Couple Attacked In Home

From The Montreal Gazette:

LONGUEUIL, QUEBEC- Longueuil police say an apparent home invasion early Wednesday is likely linked to drug trafficking.

Police received a noise complaint about 2:10 a.m. on Marquette St. the Vieux Longueuil district of Longueuil, on the South Shore of Montreal. When they arrived, they found nothing on the scene.

About 20 minutes later, another call was lodged. When police checked inside the home, they found a man in his 30s who was seriously injured and a woman in her 20s who was tied up.

Police said the man is in critical condition this morning, though they could not yet confirm the nature of the man's injuries.

The woman is being treated in a hospital for shock.

Investigators are on scene this morning to determine the circumstances of the attack.

Montreal's Movers And Shakers Overlook Non-Francophones

From The Montreal Gazette:

Gilbert Rozon, one of Montreal's live wires, is rightly concerned about the city's place in the world. The boss of the Just for Laughs festival says that Montreal no longer "knows where it's going" because it does not "know what it is." He says the city needs "urgent psychoanalysis."

Let me sum up the comedy king's dead-serious views, reported on Le Devoir's front page Thursday.

He says Montreal is in denial about its inertia and the decline of its stature and influence. The globe-trotting impresario says the city's claim to being a cultural capital rings hollow when you compare it to Berlin, Moscow or even Toronto, let alone Paris, London or New York.

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The Decline Of English Schools In Montreal

How Much Longer Can Montreal School EvadeChopping Block? -- Globe And Mail

From Monday's Globe and Mail
September 1, 2008 at 3:59 AM EDT

MONTREAL — St. Gabriel school sits on the edge of the demographic decline that is roiling Canadian school systems.

In addition to low birth rates and downtown families fleeing to the suburbs, the elementary school nestled in the impoverished neighbourhood of Point St. Charles is also hurt by some of Quebec's linguistic particularities.

Quebec language policy has long streamed new arrivals into the French system but a 2002 law diverted another 900 students out of the English Montreal system, often into private schools.

So how has St. Gabriel squirmed off the chopping block twice in the past four years when 15 other schools from the English Montreal School Board have disappeared?

"I think it's heart," said Christine Griffin, the mother of five St. Gabriel students, aged 5 to 11.

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Montreal Canadiens Feeling Good Heading Into 100th Anniversary Season

From The Canadian Press:

MONTREAL — With or without Mats Sundin, the Montreal Canadiens will go into their 100th anniversary season feeling good about themselves.

The Canadiens got together on Tuesday for their annual charity golf tournament bolstered by the addition of wingers Alex Tanguay and Georges Laraque, but with hopes nearly extinguished of landing former Toronto Maple Leafs captain Sundin as a free agent.

The prospect of adding the rangy, play-making centre to the roster had fans on the alert all summer, but his agent J.P. Barry said this week he may not sign with any club before the start of the regular season. It appears he is just as likely to retire.

"Any time a guy like that becomes free to join any team, you want him," said coach Guy Carbonneau. "It was a boost at the start, but it's not like every morning when I got up I was waiting to see my emails.

"We knew our team was 99 per cent built. There was room for him to come here, but if he does, he does, and if he doesn't, we're ready to start."

Now the question is whether general manager Bob Gainey will try to make another move. He has roughly US$6 million in cap space to play with, and doesn't rule out a deal, although he said he has no interest in any of the remaining unrestricted free agents on the market.

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Update: Habs on the green -- The Montreal Gazette

This Will Probably Be Coming To Montreal Soon

Tax 'Highway Robbery' -- Toronto Sun

City licence fee to net extra $56M a year

Drivers, honk if you hate Toronto's latest tax.

A new $60 surcharge -- to be tacked on to cars registered in Toronto -- takes effect today with city officials expecting to clear an additional $56-million annually.

Drivers with a Toronto address will pay the new fee when they buy their licence plate validation stickers.

Not everybody is jumping for joy over that cash flow, which will total about $20 million for the rest of 2008.

"The Miller car tax? I didn't support it," Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong said yesterday in reference to Mayor David Miller's support for the surcharge when it was passed by council last October.

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For Sale In ... Montreal

This one-bedroom penthouse apartment in Montreal has industrial details and panoramic views of the city.

FromThe New York Times:

A one-bedroom penthouse apartment with industrial details and panoramic views of Montreal

HOW MUCH

1,995,000 Canadian dollars ($1,866,400)

SETTING

This 10-story former factory was built in 1912 in the Paper Mill District near the financial district and Old Montreal. It shares the top floor with two other apartments, and overlooks several museums, the old port and the Chinatown neighborhood.

Montreal is situated on several islands at the point where the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa rivers merge. It is about 325 miles north of New York City. Montreal is known internationally for its architecture and design, its strong arts scene and its vibrant gay community.

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Overtime Imposed On Nurses

Montreal General Hospital

The Montreal Gazette:

Medical errors feared; Burnout presents a danger to patients' health, experts say

Nurses in hospitals across Montreal have been increasingly working double shifts - many against their will - resulting in a growing number of medical errors, experts say.

Hospitals have been struggling with nursing shortages for years, but the situation is far worse this summer, nurses and physicians say. Overtime is on the rise, especially double shifts of 16 hours.

Some hospitals, like Maisonneuve-Rosemont, are requiring nurses at the end of their shifts to continue working, declaring a force majeure like overcrowding in the emergency room.

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My Comment: Expect more nurses to leave to other provinces when their contracts are up.