I notice a weather alert Monday evening and I have a look to see what horrors are in store – and it’s “Freezing rain event possible Thursday.”
I’m beginning to think they’re having us on.
Updates from March, 2022 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
Sunday, the public health director gives a presser saying a sixth wave of Covid may or may not be coming. Monday, actual experts in the field say it’s already here.
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Kate
Peter Nygard, always described as a “fashion mogul,” is facing sexual assault charges in Montreal following similar charges in Ontario and the United States.
JaneyB
And in Winnipeg, his home base. Rumours for many years.
MarcG
First link is broken
Kate
Fixed, thank you.
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Kate
Quebec is giving Montreal $117 million in money to fight climate change, which will pay for 800 new vehicle recharging stations, tree planting, decarbonization of municipal buildings, flood protection and other things.
John B
Meanwhile, I just got the renewal papers for my drivers’ license, and lo most of the fees have been waived! There’s even an extra piece of paper in there with a graphic saying that the SAAQ is waiving most fees this year. My license will cost $20 this year instead of $90.
I would much prefer that $70 be used to add some bike lanes or something, thank you very much. We can’t be serious about fighting climate change if we’re making it cheaper to drive cars, (see also, Ontario eliminating license plate fees and some states and BC giving a big rebate per vehicle because the war in Ukraine has raised gas prices).
dhomas
I completely agree, John B. Use that money to do something good. This looks like electioneering to me.
There are also multiple petitions across Canada to reduce taxes on gasoline, due to the increase at the pump, which is ridiculous to me.steph
“The SAAQ, a crown corporation, built up the surpluses because Quebecers are driving better, meaning the corporation has to pay out less in insurance costs”,
‘Driving better’ I doubt, but probably just less accidents due to less driving during COVID.Blork
AFAIK the “driving better” trend has been going on for several years; since before the pandemic. I would not be surprised if the rate of fender-benders and maybe even more serious accidents has declined somewhat, given how many newer cars come with some level of driver assistance. That stuff can keep you in your lane, hit the brakes when the car in front of you stops suddenly, etc.
That said, I too would prefer the extra money be used to build better bike paths and whatnot. That $70 a year savings is not going to change anyone’s mind one way or the other with regard to getting or renewing their license. Better to keep the fee as-is and do something useful with the money.
Ephraim
The SAAQ insurance is on bodily harm, not the vehicle. If I remember government rules, half of the surplus goes to the Generations fund. They should have lowered rates over a number of years, rather than in just one year, but that would have also cut back on the amounts going to the Generations fund.
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Kate
La Presse has discovered that things are in a mess at the Tribunal administratif du logement, still commonly referred to as the Régie, with long delays and dissension among the judges.
EmilyG
I tried to file a complaint with them, and couldn’t even figure out how to contact them.
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Kate
Bullets shattered the balcony window of a family in Little Burgundy on Friday evening, narrowly missing one of the kids in the apartment. No indication is given that the residents had any connection with gangs.
Update: Radio-Canada has more detail. Eleven bullets shattered not only the apartment window but the window of a van belonging to a family with no criminal history.
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Kate
The coroner’s report is in on the death of Jean‑Philippe Gaudreau, killed as he walked along Plaza St‑Hubert in 2019 when a piece of a saw blade being used to cut a concrete block hit him in the face.
The recommendations are pretty mild, suggestions that contractors should leave a wider perimeter and use their tools properly – things you’d hope they would be doing already. A telling detail is that the worker didn’t even notice anything had gone wrong till he was alerted by a passerby. The firm paid a $2400 fine to the CNESST.
Daniel D
Chilling. I shall give power tools on the street a wider berth going forward.
Tim S.
I often come across plugged-in power tools lying on the sidewalk where contractors put them down. Much smaller scale than this incident, but you’d think “don’t leave running saw unattended in public space” would be a pretty basic safety habit.
CE
I often use with power tools in my work and they’re definitely dangerous and should always be given a wide berth. The operator may (or, unfortunately, may not) have control over the tool being used but not necessarily over what is being worked on. A piece of concrete could shoot out, a splinter of metal could go flying, sparks could start a fire. It’s unpredictable and it’s best to avoid as much you possibly can.
Heavy machinery such as backhoes, bulldozers, plows, etc. should be watched out for too. You never know where the operator’s blind spots could be! They’re also doing a number of different operations at the same time and keeping an eye on you as you walk next to their machine might not be one of them.
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Kate
The Greek Independence Day parade was back on Sunday in Park Ex after a two‑year break.
Justin Trudeau dropped in for the festivity, then paid visits to two Ukrainian churches in Rosemont.
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Kate
Homeboy Denis Villeneuve’s Dune won six Oscars Sunday night but this tidbit has been submerged under a tsunami of news, commentary and memes about Will Smith’s
punchslap at Chris Rock.Blork
It was actually a slap. But still…FFS!
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Kate
Kahnawake has voted to remove the remains of a Jesuit priest buried 23 years ago near their church, a man accused, but never convicted, of sexual abuse. Léon Lajoie’s remains will be removed and buried elsewhere by the Jesuits.
Mentioned in passing in this piece (the links go to French and English versions of the same CP story) is that Mohawk traditionalists don’t vote. It would be interesting to know more about how a traditional community would come to a consensus, if not by voting.
Bob R
I do not know what the statistics are for sexual abuse crimes, but I do know that for rape, in the US, only 1 in 200 rapes results in a conviction. That is a rate far below that of, for example, murder. That rape and sexual abuse crimes typically target people other than adult white men may be related to this.
Until such time that our systems of justice are changed to alter this horrific fact, justice is going to look different than court convictions.
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Kate
Police closed streets and even a metro station Sunday as they surrounded a building in Point St-Charles where a wanted man was holed up. He turned himself in by 9 pm and no violence occurred.
EmilyG 21:08 on 2022-03-28 Permalink
The guest host on Let’s Go today, Shawn Lyons, said something like, “The three most dreaded words – Special Weather Statement!”