François Legault told the province’s nurses, teachers and elderly care workers Sunday that there’s no money in the coffers to offer them more than an inflationary cost of living bump in salary.
Updates from May, 2021 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
Work began to resume Saturday at the Port of Montreal in response to federal legislation, but negotiations continue on a new contract.
Update: Throughput at the port was down in 2020, the first downturn in nearly 7 years. It’s being blamed on port labour actions as much as the pandemic.
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Kate
The curfew goes back to 9:30 pm on Monday in Montreal.
Bill Binns
Annnd the cycle begins anew. A week to 10 days of house parties, followed by a spike followed by the 8pm curfew coming back. Let’s remember that the demo most likely to have house parties is all but unvaccinated.
Mark Côté
Ah those good ol’ Montreal house parties that wrap up by 9:30 pm…
ant6n
Isnt ist still illegal to visit other ppl?
mare
@ant6n Yes, but much harder to investigate for the cops. Stopping and questioning a driver, cyclist or pedestrian about their reasons for being out during curfew is easier than going to their home and asking to be let in. It’s unclear if they have the right to enter a home without consent or a warrant in case of a reported gathering.
JaneyB
@mare. I believe the govt created a ‘tele-warrant’ system some months ago. This allows cops to get a warrant by phone right outside the door of the partying house instead of having to wait. I’m not sure how much the police are actually using it but they do have this power.
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Kate
A ghost bike was installed in a St-Denis Street underpass after the death of Mathilde Blais there in 2014. The risk that cyclists faced in underpasses was suddenly better understood. But Mathilde’s ghost bike will be ceremonially removed Sunday and sent to the Musée de la civilisation in Quebec City, because the REV now means cyclists don’t face the same risk in that spot.
Update: Around 100 people attended the ceremony, including Valérie Plante and Steven Guilbeault. A plaque has been placed as a memorial, now that the bicycle has been taken down.
CBC says it was the first ghost bike in town but I’m not certain that’s so. Vélos Fantôme lists a 2013 bike on Park Avenue, near St-Viateur, not far from the old Navarino, and another on Wellington from the same year.
fred
Ghost bikes go back a lot longer than 2013, ffs. take it from an old active cyclist and former bike mechanic. they are also a very personal thing, sacred, to be quietly respected not blogged about. perhaps in the 90s and 00s we should have kept lists, before cycling became cool and green and a half-assed election issue and we had social media to tell everyone. ghost bikes are solemn shrines to the unknown fallen and should be kept that way.
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Kate
Community groups are sending people door to door in poorer neighbourhoods to talk to residents about getting vaccinated. The vaccination numbers in St‑Michel and Park Ex aren’t great.
DeWolf
There will also be mobile vaccination clinics at mosques, community centres, etc.. Until recently, the only place to get vaccinated near Park Ex was in the new UdM campus in Outremont, which is close but not close enough for many people. (I have a friend who volunteers in the area and she said many older people were very confused about how to get there.)
jeather 19:56 on 2021-05-02 Permalink
Wonder what percentage the MNA pay was bumped this year.
Ephraim 20:10 on 2021-05-02 Permalink
To quote the law “The annual indemnity shall subsequently be increased by a percentage equal to the percentage of increase applicable to the salary scales for the group of positions of senior executive officers in the public service, as of the effective dates of the new salary scales.”
Tim S. 21:41 on 2021-05-02 Permalink
To be clear, the offer only matches inflation if inflation is less than 8% over three years. If it’s more than that, the workers (including me) will be losing buying power. And while inflation has been low for awhile, after the chaos of the past year I don’t believe anyone who makes predictions about the economy. Especially given the stuff posted earlier about the shipping container shortage!
SMD 22:16 on 2021-05-02 Permalink
“We’ve reached the capacity of what we can pay. So when some union leaders say ‘We want more money,’ well, we don’t have anymore money,” Legault said at a news conference following the meeting.
Meanwhile… “ The automobile insurance board (SAAQ) coffers are overflowing to the point where Quebec drivers will not have to pay insurance premiums in 2022 and 2023. […] In total, almost $1.16 billion will be left in Quebec drivers’ pockets.” (https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/mobile/quebec-driver-s-licence-fees-to-be-slashed-drivers-to-pay-just-over-20-1.5408940)
Ephraim 04:46 on 2021-05-03 Permalink
You cannot take money from the SAAQ to the general fund. It’s not allowed. It’s a mutual insurance fund.
Raymond Lutz 08:38 on 2021-05-03 Permalink
@Ephraim, Paul Martin and S. Harper did it (with assurance-emploi funds); and Parizeau cashed in the first check from the SAAQ, voted by the preceding governments (Bourassa and Johnson, 1985-1994).
SMD 09:29 on 2021-05-03 Permalink
Merci, Raymond.
Ephraim 10:08 on 2021-05-03 Permalink
@Raymond – First of all, not the same fund. But they shouldn’t have and we have paid and are paying for it. The funds would have been there for this pandemic, if they hadn’t of illegally taken the money. But basically if you are going to set this as a precedent… what’s to stop them from raiding the QPP/RRQ and the rest of the CDPDQ? At what point are you going to stand up?
Uatu 10:28 on 2021-05-03 Permalink
Thanks heroes for all your hard work. Now fuck off.
Raymond Lutz 10:44 on 2021-05-03 Permalink
@Ephraim, I’m not saying it was OK. Comme dit Macron “Il n’y a pas d’argent magique”… Ce à quoi je répoonds: mais oui, il y en a, plein! Et dans les arbres! 🙂 Government Debt is a myth, used by the elite to enslave us.
Ephraim 13:28 on 2021-05-03 Permalink
@Raymond Central government debt is a myth. Provincial debt isn’t managed in the same manner. Quebec’s many bonds and interest payments are a clear indication of that. And at one time, the over borrowing was costing Quebec in the bond markets.
But I think we need to make a clear delineation between mutual insurance funds and government funds. And we should have drawn that line a LONG time ago. Insurance, if done correctly should bring 100+%. But if you let corporations hand it, it brings in 80% all the way down to less than 40%, in the case of Gerber Life. I’d rather that the SAAQ money not get involved. I’m not saying that they should (or even shouldn’t) get more money. I’m willing (as with many things) to have no opinion in the matter at all. But the place to look for it is NOT in the SAAQ funds. The place to look for it is in efficiency and more open government.
For example, as I have said before, ask the employees where you can save money. Charge more for certain paperwork. First one that comes to mind, is a higher fee to register a hypothec against a property and a fee against the filer if the consumer contests the filing, as a place where entirely new fees can be “discovered”. (I know personally that some unscrupulous lawyers have registered an illegal hypotec against a property and there currently is no system to actually fight it. Put in a higher fee, so they need to think carefully before they register a hypothec. Put in a fee for the consumer to request documentation proving the right of the person filing. Put in a fine for the lawyer for not providing documentation on time, another fee for not having the documentation, etc.
And let’s not even start with the fact that Revenu Quebec has done almost nothing with their dossier of illegal AirBnBs, which represents not just the fines, but also 7 years back worth of taxation. And how many other dossiers is Revenu Quebec not actually doing anything about? Why are they not providing an annual report detailing their collections in each category that they are responsible for? What is being done? Are they tracking paypal accounts as they should? How about other transfers? Deposits into personal accounts when they exceed $1000 annually? I’m sure we can come up with plenty of places where we can see funds that aren’t collecting all the taxes.
ant6n 14:01 on 2021-05-03 Permalink
It seems like right now, the CDPQ is raiding us