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jamieorchard 646 days ago
Ok – here goes. I take a deep breath as I write this, and far be it from me to be the defender of the Office de La Langue Française, buuuuut – is it possible this McKibbins Irish pub sign debacle has gone just a little too far? McKibbins owner Rick Fon is rightfully outraged that the OLF wrote him a letter insisting he remove the Irish beer signs from inside his bar. Of course he should keep the signs, it’s an IRISH pub, therefore the décor is in English (as in a Greek restaurant it’s in Greek, Italian in Italian etc.) I have no issue with his outrage over the letter, but I can also see very clearly that he is using this incident to gain valuable publicity for his pub. You see, on Thursday our reporter talked to Fon AND to the OLF. The OLF insists that all the owner has to do is write back and explain that the signs are artifacts. In fact, when the OLF saw our TV footage of the signs, they said right away the case could be solved easily – here’s the quote ...
jamieorchard 669 days ago
I’m trying to go green, but the city of Montreal – and in particular its public transit system, is not helping. Last spring I produced a series of stories on global warming. Frankly, it scared me into action. I made a pact, there and then, to do everything I can to reduce my carbon footprint, and that meant leaving the car at home. From April to November I biked to work, and I loved it. I was in the best shape of my life, I felt invigorated when I got to work, and I was doing my part to change the world for my 2-year-old. But I must admit I’m not a hardy enough soul to bike in our Montreal winters, even with the fancy new bike-path on deMaisoneuve Boulevard. So, I switched to public transit. Little did I know, I was entering a world of frustration, aggravation, and uncertainty. I have no issue with the metro. It’s hot and crowded but at least it’s efficient and reliable. The problem is, I have to take a bus to get to the metro and far too often, the bus ...
jamieorchard 719 days ago
So we live in a Northern climate, and it snows here. This is not news, it’s just a fact. It happens every year, sometimes earlier, sometimes later, but eventually, in the winter, we get snow. The thing I can never understand is why we are always so unprepared for it. I think its human nature to put off things that we don’t like, like getting snow tires and dragging the big winter coat out of the back of the closet. What I can’t tolerate is the complete lack of preparedness at a government level. The city of Montreal should have snow clearing down to a science by now. They should be ready, as soon as the snow flies to get the crews out, not just pushing it to the side, but getting it off our narrow city streets. But no. Year, after year the first major snowfall happens and we Montrealers spend days digging our cars out of snow banks piled as high as our shoulder blades. The city insists we should be patient, school zones and hospitals are a priority they say. ...
jamieorchard 739 days ago
Bear with me for a moment as I brag about my son. At 2 and a half he’s a really good talker (probably something genetic he got from his chatter bug Mom). I love that he talks so much, because we have long, involved conversations about teddy bears, and dripping water, and mud – you know the really important things in life. This weekend though, he floored me. We were playing “three little pigs” building houses with his blocs and then watching the “big bad wolf” sneak up and knock them down. Suddenly he said “Hey Mom, I have an idea! Why don’t we just build a house for the big bad wolf and then he will be happy, and then he won’t want to blow down our houses!!!?” He was clearly impressed with this ingenious plan, and so was I. His innocent, compassionate and caring suggestion brought tears to my eyes when I thought about it later. How I wish it were so simple. How I wish we could all see that the most disenfranchised in our society, the people who we fear ...
jamieorchard 758 days ago
As an Anglophone who was born and raised in Quebec, I’m used to not being onside with the majority on any number of issues, yet I’m still astounded sometimes by the great divide in how Francophones and Anglophones in this province see things. Case in point this week – Pauline Marois’ proposed legislation on “Quebec’s Identity”. A shocking piece of work it was, suggesting that a Quebecer must speak an “adequate” amount of French to be considered a Quebecer, and that new immigrants would be prohibited from running for public office until they do speak “adequate” French (whatever that might be??) The legislation was immediately shot down in the National Assembly, and sharply criticised by groups representing minorities (and even by powerful péquistes like Bernard Landry.) Well, case closed I thought, we can cover it for one day and get back to really important things like fixing our crumbling roads. But then, on Thursday, a Leger poll showed 52 per cent of Francophones ...
