Are The Liberals Prepping For A Spring Election?

PQ Warns That Liberals Are Prepping For Spring Election -- CTV

MONTREAL — Holding a leaked document in his hands, the Parti Quebecois' language critic revealed on Thursday what he thinks will be the Liberal government's first move to call a spring election.

In an event Yves-Francois Blanchet says is designed to make the party more appealing to French voters, Culture Minister Christine St. Pierre is expected to ask partners to sign a special declaration about the French language on April 27.

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My Comment: It's not going to happen. The Liberals suck in the polls .... and they know it.

Clashes Between Students And Police Reported

Students demonstrate against tuition hikes Wednesday, April 4, 2012 in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

On The Eve Of Negotiations, Two Arrested As Students Clash With Police -- CTV

MONTREAL — Two demonstrators were arrested on Thursday morning after a protest against the government's plan to increase tuition turned violent, leading to a confrontation between riot police and student supporters.

Pepper spray and riot shields were deployed as over 200 demonstrators blocked streets in downtown Montreal in a bid to shut down the area.

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My Comment: I am getting so fed up with these demonstrations .... the traffic jams that they cause .... and the dislocation that these students have decided to impose on me when I have nothing to do with this dispute. If they are looking for supporters .... here is a big hint .... you are losing those who have already paid for their education and who are now working to pay for yours.

Stop Targeting ‘The Other’ In Language Talk

Stop Targeting ‘The Other’ In Language Talk, Immigration Minister Kathleen Weil Says -- Montreal Gazette

Bill 101 must be rewritten, says Parti Québécois’s Yves-François Blanchet

QUEBEC — Kathleen Weil, Quebec’s immigration minister, and herself the daughter of a doctor who immigrated to Montreal from the United States, has had enough of constant suggestions by Yves-François Blanchet, the Parti Québécois language and immigration critic, that newcomers embracing English threaten Quebec’s French character.

“I find it really destructive to constantly target the other, the person that has come here,” Weil said after Blanchet released a leaked draft of a declaration the Charest government wants participants at a language summit next Friday in Montreal to endorse.

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My Comment: I have lived here for 52 years .... and the nationalist hostility towards immigrants has always made me shake my head. Kathleen Weil is right .... but such is the state of French Quebec.

Revenue Quebec Moves To Crack Down On Tax Evasion

Revenue Quebec Cracking Down On Tax Evasion -- CTV

Revenue Quebec is launching a multi-million-dollar ad campaign aimed at making Quebecers aware of the consequences of tax fraud.

With the tax deadline 14 days away, millions of Quebecers are sending in their returns, and the tax agency is hoping to cut down on tax evasion, an illegal practice which costs the government $3.5 billion per year.

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My Comment: Reading reports like this one gives me the desire to move to a place like Alberta .... where there is NO filing of provincial taxes.

Air Canada To Be Sued For Aveos Closure

Nearly 200 Aveos workers marched in downtown Montreal on Tuesday morning, destined for the private residence of Air Canada board member Pierre Marc Johnson. (Shari Okeke/CBC)

Quebec To Sue Air Canada Over Aveos Closure -- CBC

Workers stage demonstration in Montreal.

The Quebec government is taking Air Canada to court in an attempt to keep more than 2,000 aircraft maintenance jobs in Montreal.

Aveos, a subsidiary of Air Canada that was responsible for the upkeep of the company's planes, declared bankruptcy last month.

The firm started liquidating its assets and laid off 2,600 unionized employees.

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My Comment: Suing a company because another company has gone bankrupt is not going to solve anything .... or even get anywhere. This is all political theater.

Anti-Corruption Raids Net 14 Arrests In Quebec

Quebec buisnessman Tony Accurso was arrested in connection with UPAC raids Tuesday. (Radio-Canada)

Quebec Anti-Corruption Raids Net 14 Arrests, 47 Charges -- CBC

Quebec's anti-corruption unit (UPAC) made 14 arrests and laid 47 charges in a series of early morning raids on Tuesday north of Montreal.

The arrests include construction magnate Tony Accurso, who was taken into custody as investigators searched locations in Terrebonne, Mascouche and Laval.

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My Comment: This is a start .... what I would like to see are more arrests and more charges.

Montreal International Jazz Festival To Be Open With A Free Concert By Rufus Wainwright

Rufus Wainwright's new album Out of the Game is due April 24. Photograph by: Handout , Postmedia News files

Rufus Wainwright's Free Concert June 28 To Open Montreal International Jazz Festival -- Montreal Gazette

MONTREAL - Singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright will open the 33rd Montreal International Jazz Festival with a free outdoor blowout concert at Place des Festivals on June 28.

Wainwright revealed the information to The Gazette during an interview a couple of weeks ago, but asked that it be kept off the record. The information was confirmed by jazz fest co-founder André Ménard in La Presse on Monday morning.

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My Comment: 10 more weeks (give or take) for the festival to begin.

Charest Denounces Student Leaders, Marois

Charest Denounces Student Leaders, Marois -- Montreal Gazette

Premier Jean Charest has denounced as totally unacceptable the refusal of student leaders and Pauline Marois to condemn the vandalism and social disruptions of the last few days.

In his first comments since returning from a trade mission in Brazil, a tough-talking Charest showed no signs of wavering in his government's intentions to increase tuition.

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My Comment: Charest now has an election issue if he should decide to call one in the next few weeks.

Government Offices, Metro System Vandalized By Tuition Protestors

A police officer looks at her phone outisde the damaged office of Marguerite Blais, the Quebec minister responsible for seniors, in Montreal, Monday, April 16, 2012. Police in Montreal are investigating several cases of vandalism that targeted mainly Quebec government offices early Monday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Ray

Government Offices, Metro System Vandalized -- CTV News

MONTREAL — Police in Montreal have arrested three 19-year-olds for vandalism Monday morning, believed to be in connection with the ongoing tuition protests.

Police rounded up a duo of young men after 5 a.m. for breaking and entering the CEGEP du Vieux Montreal. Another 19-year-old man was arrested for mischief later Monday morning.

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My Comment: Throw the book at them.

Update: The vandalism and metro stoppages are continuing.

Update: Finally.

Quebecers Are Still Smoking

Quebecers Still Lighting Up In Spite Of Smuggling Crackdown -- CTV

MONTREAL — The celebrated crackdown on cigarette smuggling has done little to reduce smoking in the province, according to the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control.

Co-director Flory Doucas is now calling on authorities to intensify efforts to reduce smoking in the province.

Doucas urges more measures to make smoking less attractive to consumers, particularly young ones. She would like to speed the process involved in putting unpleasant images on cigarette boxes. The photos depict illnesses suffered by smokers.

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My Comment: With Montreal's surrounding Indian reservations selling cigarettes unencumbered .... what do you expect.