Blog about politics (mideast and pro-Israel, Canadian and local Montreal), world events, and random thoughts.

""

The World I Know is updated on a semi-regular basis by segacs.

Think I'm the greatest thing since chocolate-covered strawberries? Think I'm certifiably insane? E-mail me at segacs2.at.yahoo.ca.

Buy me a present! Visit my Amazon Wish List.

Frequently asked questions about me and this blog.

Atom site feed

Comments are open and unmoderated, although obscene or abusive remarks may be deleted. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of segacs's world i know.

---

<< List
Jewish Bloggers
Join >>

 
11:57 PM
Yummy

You Are a Brownie Cheesecake

A little chunky and a little gooey, you pretty much run on sugar! You take hedonism to the extreme.. And people love you for it.

(Link via Cathy, thanks to whom I also discovered the joys of OhSoGood's Lemon Lime Cheesecake.)

|

 
1:00 AM
Charest's days numbered?

This might be one of the shortest minority governments on record, if Charest's budget gets defeated on June 1st, as expected given the PQ and the ADQs opposition to it. We could have new elections as early as July.

The irony is that, for the most part, I actually think the budget presented by the Liberals was good. I don't often say that about budgets. But Charest's team had the right priorities here: Lowering taxes to reduce our overly outrageous tax burden, increasing funding for healthcare and education, ending the crippling handcuffs on universities by lifting the tuition freeze gradually while supplementing with additional loans and bursaries, and additional investment in city infrastructure, while cutting spending in a whole host of other areas.

Sure, the budget's not without its problems. But the ADQ and the PQ have both put themselves in the position now of toppling a government to force an election because they oppose tax cuts. Where else in the world could political parties believe that this would earn them votes in a subsequent election?

Unfortunately, in Quebec's political climate, this has a fair shot of working. Which is, in a nutshell, exactly what's wrong with our society. People want more spending and they will pay more taxes for it, and when they complain about the taxes, the politicians can just point to Ottawa and blame the "evil Federal government" for creating the "fiscal imbalance" (you know, the one that Jean Charest took credit for solving right before the last election).

If the ADQ and the PQ both make good on their threats to bring down this government by voting against the budget, then Charest's political career will be over. Marois's election coronation as PQ leader will be fast-tracked, and Dumont will humbly refuse to try to form an opposition government, even though he might be asked to do so, because it would be bad form. And one of the two will probably get elected.

Shame. Just when I was starting to think that this Liberal/ADQ minority government was actually working surprisingly well.

|

 
12:40 AM
Transit strike over... for now

After four days of commuting hassles, headaches and havoc, the STM Maintenance Union has voted to end the strike and go back to work voluntarily, rather than face a possible government directive to do so that would likely come coupled with imposed settlement terms.

But it ain't over till it's over. The union and the STM haven't agreed to anything yet, and the union hasn't ruled out a second strike, either, if they don't get their way.

The four-day strike has already cost the city countless amounts of money: Cancelled events, employees arriving late or leaving early, closed shops and businesses, traffic congestion, pollution, not to mention inconveniencing the people who rely on public transit the most: students, seniors, immigrants, low-income earners, and a whole host of others who aren't lucky enough to have the maintenance workers' cushy pay, perks, job security and pension. While rush-hour commuters only had to pack themselves into buses and metros like sardines, anyone needing to go anywhere outside of the hours deemed "essential" was SOL. About the only people happy with the strike were the taxi drivers.

For our troubles, monthly transit pass holders *might* get a measly $3.50 refund for our May passes... possibly by September. Whoop-dee-doo. That won't even cover one day of extra gas spent driving instead of busing (at $1.20 a litre, I might add), never mind extra parking, taxis and lost work hours. If they expect me to do a little happy dance at this, they'll be waiting a while. And I'm one of the lucky people who *had* options during the strike. Thousands upon thousands of others didn't.

On principle I'd blame the union for holding the public hostage in order to try to extort more money out of the city. But of course, self-interest is a universal principle, and it's hard to expect unions not to take advantage of these possibilities when they're given the legal right and the clout to do so. After all, from their point of view, why shouldn't they?

Nor can I really blame the city. I'm not a fan of Tremblay at all (needless to say), but I think he's right to refuse to cave in here. This is the first of a whole series of city contracts that need to be negotiated, and if every union gets everything it asks for, Montreal will go broke and taxes will skyrocket.

No, on the whole, this public transit strike - the 15th in the past 40 years - just illustrates too clearly that the system is broken. If public transit is to be encouraged, it has to be reliable. Public transit, for most users, implies the ability to earn a livelihood, and as such, is just as essential a service as healthcare, education, police and firefighting.

It seems to me that there are two choices:

(1) Truly designate all public transit - not just transit for the 9-to-5ers - essential, and not allow transit workers to strike.

(2) Partially privatize public transit and open it up to competition, allowing more than one company to provide services.

Both options are fraught with problems. But I'm sick and tired of being told that I should stop being an evil anti-environmentalist and turn in my Civic for a bus pass, only to be left high and dry. I'm pretty sure most Montrealers feel the same way.

And if they strike again, I say fire 'em all à la Reagan and just hire replacements. I'm pretty sure my friend's cat could lick some of the graffiti off the sides of busses. And she works for catnip.

|

 
12:38 AM
Sens Nation

You know you're Canadian when you will cheer on any Canadian hockey team still in the playoffs (except the Leafs, of course).

Since my Habs aren't there, I'm now on the Sens' bandwagon, so it was definitely a lot of fun being in Ottawa yesterday to see the town celebrate after the Sens beat the Sabres for a spot in the Cup Finals. Lots of honking horns, drinking, flag-waving, cheering, chanting, partying, and a random guy stripping near Byward Market (don't ask).

I'm still sad it's not Montreal. But since it can't, Go Sens Go!

|