Three young guys of 18 are in bad shape after a flamboyant crash following speeding on the 15 on Friday evening. There will be no charges.
Updates from March, 2024 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
The office and store employees at the SAQ have voted for a 15‑day strike mandate after a year’s wait for a new contract. The timing of the strike has not been announced.
Ephraim
This is the type of government that will likely start to talk about privatizing the SAQ like they did in Alberta.
carswell
It’s not exactly a 15-day strike mandate in that it’s for 15 jours décomposables, which I’ve been told means 15 days worth of strike hours. So, for example, the union can call a strike for an afternoon or part of one and just those hours will be deducted from the total. And not much advance notice is required.
The SAQ recently made network-wide cuts in store staff (and with their declining sales and reduced store traffic, it’s hard to blame them), which the union will be keen on nipping in the bud. The union will also be aware of the new distribution model the monopoly will be shifting to when it opens its new, 100% automated warehouse in a few years, a change that will allow Montreal-area consumers to order wines and spirits — including single bottles of private imports (you currently have to buy a case) — and have them delivered to their home or store of their choosing within 24 hours, effectively replacing a to-be-determined amount of store sales and turning the stores into pick-up points as much as points of sale. On the other hand, the SAQ is, like just about every business, short staffed and can’t afford to alienate or disincentivize current or future employees.
John B
Would privatizing the SAQ be bad as a consumer? Alberta & BC, where private liquor stores are allowed, have better selection & better prices than Quebec. For example, there will be stores that aren’t 99% French wines – we’ll be able to enjoy the amazing wines of Niagara, Okanagan, California, New Zealand, Chile, and Australia.
Kate
I remember a study that showed that retail prices were actually higher in Alberta, because individual private owners weren’t benefiting from the bulk prices the SAQ gets. But I can’t cite a reference.
CE
Does anyone know why sales are declining at the SAQ?
Blork
@CE apparently alcohol consumption is dropping everywhere, so it should be no surprise that it’s dropping here too. Mostly for health reasons (younger people in particular drink less) but also for economic reasons I think (alcohol can be is expensive).
“Canadians decreased their consumption of alcoholic beverages again in 2022 after a slight increase during 2021. Consumption stood at 97.5 liters per capita. This represents an overall reduction of nine percent since 2008. Gen Z Canadians were the most likely to say they were reducing their alcohol consumption in 2023.”
Source: https://www.statista.com/topics/2998/alcohol-consumption-in-canada/
Uatu
Maybe because of an overall decline in drinking? I’ve seen news stories about the trend towards non alcoholic beverages like mocktails and 0% beers especially among young people. Health Canada labelling alcohol as a carcinogen doesn’t help either.
Kevin
The decline in drinking is negligible and is an artifact of the pandemic and how it broke supply chains. In particular the SAQ’s restaurant side saw a deluge of sales post-lockdown, and so what’s going on now is a correction because restaurants have topped up their inventory.
Retail sales are down about 1% by volume, but on the wholesale (restaurant) side, it’s down 14% in the past quarter.
Nicholas 18:55 on 2024-03-02 Permalink
They don’t say if his licence will even be suspended, but this unnamed dangerous luxury car driver gets to brag to his friends about being called “un jeune cowboy” in the press, so I guess that’s punishment enough.
JP 19:57 on 2024-03-02 Permalink
I don’t really understand why there aren’t charges…sounds like reckless driving to me. I live a 10-minute walk from there… this could’ve been way worse. So glad nobody else except the occupants of the cars were hurt.
MtlWeb 22:57 on 2024-03-02 Permalink
These three probably kept the trauma service in ER busy all afternoon and possibly into the night, along with radiology (CT and x-ray) services, and likely the OR and ICU…including all of the staff that work in those care units. Their urgent needs for diagnostic imaging would take priority over the other ER patients….thus further delays for their own scans/films.
If they needed surgery based on their presentation, they would then be sent upstairs as soon as a theatre room was ready….perhaps that room had planned to do a case that had been waiting while admitted on the wards….but depending upon the duration of the trauma OR(s), this case would then be pushed back to later in the evening/night or cancelled to be re-booked another day.
The collateral damage to our system and the patients waiting for care when reckless activities requiring urgent health care present themselves.
Kate 11:30 on 2024-03-03 Permalink
If they all went to the same ER, you’d be right. I have no idea whether that was likely.
Uatu 12:06 on 2024-03-03 Permalink
I really hate the romanticization of reckless driving through the use of “cowboy”. I’ve heard cops using the term especially as descriptions of drivers during the construction holiday. What they should be called are inconsiderate aholes.
Also quit using English or reduce tuition at McGill and Concordia you hypocrites.
Tim S. 14:12 on 2024-03-03 Permalink
I wonder if the lack of charges is because the police are uncertain about their survival prospects. I’m usually pretty critical of the unwillingness to take dangerous driving seriously, but I find it hard to believe they would so quickly rule them out otherwise, especially with so many witnesses.
I also wish the police would start using drones to look out for reckless drivers – not just speeding but the weaving, tail gateing etc. Given the resolution that’s out there these days, and the relative cheapness of the drones, it would be super-easy to implement a system similar to photo radar where, even if you can’t/shouldn’t intercept the vehicle, you can mail a ticket to the owner. But that would require political will.
H. John 16:56 on 2024-03-03 Permalink
The article doesn’t give enough information to conclude that there will be no charges. It states “on a toutefois mentionné qu’aucune accusation criminelle”. There will be no criminal charges which is the most severe form of charge. There will likely be penal charges under Quebec’s Highway Code.
H. John 17:05 on 2024-03-03 Permalink
Reckless or dangerous driving (federal, criminal), careless driving (provincial, penal).
Careless driving charges can lead to demerit points, loss of licence, fines, and jail time.
Kate 17:34 on 2024-03-03 Permalink
H. John, I try not to be anti-car, but I’ve had the impression that most judges feel that taking away a person’s licence is an extreme punishment, and that it’s understood that most people simply have to be allowed to drive, even if they’ve made serious and even fatal mistakes. Am I wrong?
H. John 18:05 on 2024-03-03 Permalink
@Kate Sorry I haven’ seen any statistics on that. I do think that since the only times it seems to get reported is when a judge decides to not suspend it, for example because of work, it leaves an unfair picture of the norms.
Blork 22:25 on 2024-03-03 Permalink
Speculating, but maybe the idea that having both your car and your body wrecked is enough of a deterrent, given that no bystanders were hurt. Maybe it would be different if the driver hadn’t been injured (in which case more deterrence would be needed), or of they had injured or killed a bystander. But if the point of punishment is to deter, then maybe (maybe) they’ve fulfilled their quota in this case. (I’m not necessarily saying that would be my choice if it were up to me; just trying to understand the thinking.)
Joey 11:21 on 2024-03-04 Permalink
@Tim S., 25 years ago I was on a work trip to Saratoga Springs. My boss, who was driving one of two cars in our little convoy, was going about 85 mph, well above both the NY state speed limit and the ‘buffer’ that border county cops will tolerate. We got pulled over and he got hit with a big ticket, though unlike in some counties he didn’t have to pay it on the sport. The cop who pulled us over did so while we were driving somewhat below 85 (but still enough above the 65 mph limit to warrant a ticket), but he told us that ‘the chopper’ had recorded us a few miles back – they must’ve radioed down to a cop in a cruiser further down the road who was waiting for us.
The point being, it’s amazing how intense law enforcement can be when the default position is that curbing a certain kind of bad behaviour is warranted. I assume the entire northern NY highway patrol budget is designed to max out fines for Canadians. If the SPVM, SQ, etc., wanted to cut speeding, they absolutely could invest in the tools to catch speeders consistently – and make a solid return on that investment.
Ian 11:36 on 2024-03-04 Permalink
@Uatu Bye bye mon Cowboy
MarcG 12:45 on 2024-03-04 Permalink
@Joey: The same could be said about any kind of prevention. Invest the resources up front and save lives and money down the line.