The one after her is not too bad either. Check out the guy with the loin cloth. Hilarious.
downtown student protests - outcall disruptions
- Thread starter freedom3
- Start date
The one after her is not too bad either. Check out the guy with the loin cloth. Hilarious.
Hello "gentlemen",
I thought Americans could be full of extreme hyperbole, demagoguery, and false stereotyping, but it seems Canadians know how to at least match it quite well enough. From one side demonizing the protesters as free-loading thugs and anarchists trying to rob and ruin Montreal/Quebec...and possibly dismantle Canada, to the other side painting the government as double-dealing, back stabbing fascists trying to crush citizens rights while conspiring with the English language media. It's quite a show Gentlemen.
Of course I couldn't possibly be as informed as the natives, or know how it feels to live through all of this stuff. But that does give me the advantage of looking at this episode with less at stake and therefore less bias...and it's pretty darn ugly. Both sides are very willing and equally guilty of conjuring up worst case scenarios no matter what the justification for grievances, but very unwilling to consider the wrongs their side has committed. Looking at this from the outside, some of this has been cheap propaganda at it's worst. Apparently there's a game of which side can throw out the scariest specters at the public and each other to manipulate opinions through fear. Loss of all anarchy and separation versus fascism and loss of rights.
The next time anyone wants to bad mouth the U.S. for it's own ugly issues, as if the accusers come from some allegedly superior society, remember what is going on and being said in this terrible episode as some of you vent a lot of poor crap at each other.
Back to events, the Gazette today did manage to publish several pro and con emotional write-in opinions, giving some kind of more balanced presentation...despite some assertions on this board.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Bill+human+rights/6660913/story.html
There's two sides to this..."gentlemen", and if all you can do is hurl crap back and forth then both sides are worsening the situation.
The woman in the 7th photo in the background with her face covered has some nice natural boobies that might have started a little rise over here. But there's nothing like guys in speedos to give Mr. Happy nightmares and run away yelling...REEETREEEAAATT!!!
barf,
Merlot
I thought Americans could be full of extreme hyperbole, demagoguery, and false stereotyping, but it seems Canadians know how to at least match it quite well enough. From one side demonizing the protesters as free-loading thugs and anarchists trying to rob and ruin Montreal/Quebec...and possibly dismantle Canada, to the other side painting the government as double-dealing, back stabbing fascists trying to crush citizens rights while conspiring with the English language media. It's quite a show Gentlemen.
Of course I couldn't possibly be as informed as the natives, or know how it feels to live through all of this stuff. But that does give me the advantage of looking at this episode with less at stake and therefore less bias...and it's pretty darn ugly. Both sides are very willing and equally guilty of conjuring up worst case scenarios no matter what the justification for grievances, but very unwilling to consider the wrongs their side has committed. Looking at this from the outside, some of this has been cheap propaganda at it's worst. Apparently there's a game of which side can throw out the scariest specters at the public and each other to manipulate opinions through fear. Loss of all anarchy and separation versus fascism and loss of rights.
The next time anyone wants to bad mouth the U.S. for it's own ugly issues, as if the accusers come from some allegedly superior society, remember what is going on and being said in this terrible episode as some of you vent a lot of poor crap at each other.
Back to events, the Gazette today did manage to publish several pro and con emotional write-in opinions, giving some kind of more balanced presentation...despite some assertions on this board.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Bill+human+rights/6660913/story.html
There's two sides to this..."gentlemen", and if all you can do is hurl crap back and forth then both sides are worsening the situation.
The woman in the 7th photo in the background with her face covered has some nice natural boobies that might have started a little rise over here. But there's nothing like guys in speedos to give Mr. Happy nightmares and run away yelling...REEETREEEAAATT!!!
barf,
Merlot
I agree with those who maintain that Charest may have overplayed his hand with the passage of Bill 78. On paper, it seems like a reasonable reaction to the violence, intimidation and anarchy that has accompanied the student protests. But now public opinion seems to be swinging back somewhat in favor of the student protests, especially since their protest seems to be morphing into a general protest against Charest's provincial government. Given the recent charges of corruption against some Quebec officials, I can understand why people are upset.
However, as this article warns, Quebecers should be careful what they wish for. An election could bring the PQ back into power and they could start pushing again for independence or some new, vaguely defined special status within Canada. This time, however, the rest of Canada may be all too happy to let go of Quebec. No one really knows what that would be like, but I think it would be much worse for Quebec than for the rest of Canada.
Den Tandt: Fallout from Quebec student protests could mean trouble for Harper
By Michael Den Tandt, Postmedia News May 22, 2012
Quebec Premier Jean Charest had his moment — a pretext and a platform, as well as strong popular support, for a firm but fair crackdown on the violence and hooliganism that have wracked Quebec for weeks.He appears to have squandered the opportunity, overplaying his hand with a vaguely worded emergency law that growing numbers of Quebecers believe was draconian and excessive. One consequence is the rest of Canada, which might have been spared a third round of national-unity wrangling — capping previous outings in 1980 and 1995 — is now back on track for more of the same, in 2014 or so.
Merci, Mr. Charest.
Evidence of the shift in sentiment emerged through the weekend on social media feeds emanating from Quebec City and Montreal.
A cursory read of Bill 78 reveals its architects made a bone-headed mistake: Rather than divide the opposition, isolating thugs and vandals from the mass of protesters, the law pushes them all together, and includes measures that appear to make it illegal to even encourage the striking students, or their representatives.
At a stroke, Charest increased the size of his opposition.
Saturday night on Montreal's Rue Saint Denis, for example, a restaurateur was arrested on his own premises, apparently because he had pinned a red square, emblematic of the protests, to his shirt. As I read Section 30 of Bill 78 — Anyone who helps or induces a person to commit an offence under this Act is guilty of the same offence and is liable to the fine . . . — the restaurateur, Dominique Dion, might be interpreted as guilty of breaking the law, simply because he'd welcomed protesters into his place. Even if untrue, that makes the law dangerously imprecise and open to abuse.
No surprise, every bright young lawyer in Quebec is now volunteering to work pro bono to help challenge Bill 78 in court, echoing a denunciation by the Quebec Bar Association.
Polls of ordinary Quebecers show public opinion, which has been firmly in the government camp for weeks, now breaking sharply in the other direction. A CROP poll taken Thursday evening and Friday morning, as the law was being debated in the Quebec legislature, found 66 per cent in favour and 34 per cent against. A second survey done over the weekend by Leger Marketing, after details of Bill 78 became known, showed support for the government plummeting, to 51 per cent, and student support rising, at 43 per cent.
A speedy return to peace, order and good government might have reinvigorated Charest's bid to prevent the Parti Quebecois, led by Pauline Marois, from re-taking power in the election that must be held next year, at the latest.
It might have shifted some attention, too, from the cascade of sensational headlines expected to emerge from the Charbonneau inquiry into corruption in Quebec's construction industry, which launched Tuesday. And that may yet happen. But given the events of the past five days, it is now far less likely.
The upshot: Marois was, is and will remain the odds-on favourite to be the next Premier of Quebec, failing an implosion on her side — with the PQ, one must always hedge. Like so many successful Quebec politicians before her, she is adept at the shilly-shally. Unlike Bernard Landry, who led the party until 2005, she hasn't called for a new sovereignty referendum immediately upon taking power. Rather, Marois supports something called "sovereignist governance," and — wait for it — Quebec "citizenship" within Canada, all while awaiting the famous winning conditions. Under premier Pauline Marois, it seems, Quebecers may at long last realize their dream of full independence within a united Canada, with all the advantages conferred by both.
Really, what could be better?
For the Harper Conservatives it means nothing but trouble. For one thing, these Conservatives have little clout on the ground in Quebec: They hold just five seats there. More importantly, sentiment in the rest of Canada has continued to evolve, as they say, since the last referendum. Quebec is slated to receive $7.4 billion in fiscal 2012-13, about half the available national pot. With the formula due for renewal in 2014, there is sure to be a significant constituency arguing that, should there be a resurgence of separatism in Quebec — which includes, obviously, the election of a separatist government, whatever its immediate intentions — the province should with all courtesy be shown the exits.
That sentiment will be strongest in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, net contributors under the current formula. But it will also be resurgent in Ontario, where Main Street long ago lost patience with Quebecers' ambivalence about the country. It is not only plausible, but inevitable, that any future Quebec referendum will generate a national debate on whether the province should be allowed to stay. A nationwide referendum on the Question would be the obvious way to settle it.
Given Charest's continuing struggles, this now rises to the top of the pile as Stephen Harper's next big headache, and potentially, defining challenge.
However, as this article warns, Quebecers should be careful what they wish for. An election could bring the PQ back into power and they could start pushing again for independence or some new, vaguely defined special status within Canada. This time, however, the rest of Canada may be all too happy to let go of Quebec. No one really knows what that would be like, but I think it would be much worse for Quebec than for the rest of Canada.
Den Tandt: Fallout from Quebec student protests could mean trouble for Harper
By Michael Den Tandt, Postmedia News May 22, 2012
Quebec Premier Jean Charest had his moment — a pretext and a platform, as well as strong popular support, for a firm but fair crackdown on the violence and hooliganism that have wracked Quebec for weeks.He appears to have squandered the opportunity, overplaying his hand with a vaguely worded emergency law that growing numbers of Quebecers believe was draconian and excessive. One consequence is the rest of Canada, which might have been spared a third round of national-unity wrangling — capping previous outings in 1980 and 1995 — is now back on track for more of the same, in 2014 or so.
Merci, Mr. Charest.
Evidence of the shift in sentiment emerged through the weekend on social media feeds emanating from Quebec City and Montreal.
A cursory read of Bill 78 reveals its architects made a bone-headed mistake: Rather than divide the opposition, isolating thugs and vandals from the mass of protesters, the law pushes them all together, and includes measures that appear to make it illegal to even encourage the striking students, or their representatives.
At a stroke, Charest increased the size of his opposition.
Saturday night on Montreal's Rue Saint Denis, for example, a restaurateur was arrested on his own premises, apparently because he had pinned a red square, emblematic of the protests, to his shirt. As I read Section 30 of Bill 78 — Anyone who helps or induces a person to commit an offence under this Act is guilty of the same offence and is liable to the fine . . . — the restaurateur, Dominique Dion, might be interpreted as guilty of breaking the law, simply because he'd welcomed protesters into his place. Even if untrue, that makes the law dangerously imprecise and open to abuse.
No surprise, every bright young lawyer in Quebec is now volunteering to work pro bono to help challenge Bill 78 in court, echoing a denunciation by the Quebec Bar Association.
Polls of ordinary Quebecers show public opinion, which has been firmly in the government camp for weeks, now breaking sharply in the other direction. A CROP poll taken Thursday evening and Friday morning, as the law was being debated in the Quebec legislature, found 66 per cent in favour and 34 per cent against. A second survey done over the weekend by Leger Marketing, after details of Bill 78 became known, showed support for the government plummeting, to 51 per cent, and student support rising, at 43 per cent.
A speedy return to peace, order and good government might have reinvigorated Charest's bid to prevent the Parti Quebecois, led by Pauline Marois, from re-taking power in the election that must be held next year, at the latest.
It might have shifted some attention, too, from the cascade of sensational headlines expected to emerge from the Charbonneau inquiry into corruption in Quebec's construction industry, which launched Tuesday. And that may yet happen. But given the events of the past five days, it is now far less likely.
The upshot: Marois was, is and will remain the odds-on favourite to be the next Premier of Quebec, failing an implosion on her side — with the PQ, one must always hedge. Like so many successful Quebec politicians before her, she is adept at the shilly-shally. Unlike Bernard Landry, who led the party until 2005, she hasn't called for a new sovereignty referendum immediately upon taking power. Rather, Marois supports something called "sovereignist governance," and — wait for it — Quebec "citizenship" within Canada, all while awaiting the famous winning conditions. Under premier Pauline Marois, it seems, Quebecers may at long last realize their dream of full independence within a united Canada, with all the advantages conferred by both.
Really, what could be better?
For the Harper Conservatives it means nothing but trouble. For one thing, these Conservatives have little clout on the ground in Quebec: They hold just five seats there. More importantly, sentiment in the rest of Canada has continued to evolve, as they say, since the last referendum. Quebec is slated to receive $7.4 billion in fiscal 2012-13, about half the available national pot. With the formula due for renewal in 2014, there is sure to be a significant constituency arguing that, should there be a resurgence of separatism in Quebec — which includes, obviously, the election of a separatist government, whatever its immediate intentions — the province should with all courtesy be shown the exits.
That sentiment will be strongest in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, net contributors under the current formula. But it will also be resurgent in Ontario, where Main Street long ago lost patience with Quebecers' ambivalence about the country. It is not only plausible, but inevitable, that any future Quebec referendum will generate a national debate on whether the province should be allowed to stay. A nationwide referendum on the Question would be the obvious way to settle it.
Given Charest's continuing struggles, this now rises to the top of the pile as Stephen Harper's next big headache, and potentially, defining challenge.
Sorry Techman but I think you're the one living in a bubble !
This last march was against the new law so it is in favor for civil disobedience.
If you think that I will support Charest because the other ones aren't good you have to be bored to hell !
Charest wanted to laugh at people by waiting 2 years to start an inquiry then... let us all have some fun... shall we ?
Also if you think that Montreal could become another backwater town ?
You have to be on drugs or still don't understand anything to Quebec's way of life !
Just for laugh was born here, our Jazz fest won the guiness for the biggest one (we even beat New Orleans), Cirque du soleil is everywhere...
We have so much international sh!t coming out of our ears that we're all over the world promoting our stuff.
AT this very moment even our way of making films is shown in Cannes (ya know ! the world's most prestigious and publicized film festival)
We are known everywhere for our culture and not just the anglo-saxon part of it !
BTW 'the international sport elite' were just having a feast today in Quebec, (over 4000 people) to hear Jacques Rogge CIO president.
How's that for INTERNATIONAL ?
We crave for it, we were born this way and that's how we roll !
So sorry to bust your bubble again but this was more than just a minor, ridicule and stupid protest !
Like your signature says... 'John' James Charest might very well get a toaster !
Et cette fois ci, il ne l'aura pas volé ! :lol:
"I agree with those who maintain that Charest may have overplayed his hand with the passage of Bill 78. On paper, it seems like a reasonable reaction to the violence, intimidation and anarchy that has accompanied the student protests. But now public opinion seems to be swinging back somewhat in favor of the student protests..."
"An election could bring the PQ back into power and they could start pushing again for independence or some new, vaguely defined special status within Canada."
Hello Capt,
Interesting article. It seemed like public sympathies were running higher against the students because of the more disruptive student hooliganism and intimidation. But those who backed Charest, partly because of fear of the return of the PQ, seem to have failed to see how Charest himself was ironically becoming responsible for the prospect of just that result by his heavy-handed approach to resolving this issue, and others. That the more Anglo western provinces are turning against his bill and him shows how one should take a closer look at what is being implemented rather than throwing support to leadership that is becoming self-defeating.
Having read a bit about Charest, this isn't nearly the first time his moves have alienated his most likely supporters, including his own cabinet and fellow party leaders, some of whom resigned. He seems like someone who knows how to curry favor to get elected, then back track on promises and commitments. Some members here shouldn't worry so much about the PQ as getting a better man to lead the same party.
Cheers,
Merlot
"An election could bring the PQ back into power and they could start pushing again for independence or some new, vaguely defined special status within Canada."
Hello Capt,
Interesting article. It seemed like public sympathies were running higher against the students because of the more disruptive student hooliganism and intimidation. But those who backed Charest, partly because of fear of the return of the PQ, seem to have failed to see how Charest himself was ironically becoming responsible for the prospect of just that result by his heavy-handed approach to resolving this issue, and others. That the more Anglo western provinces are turning against his bill and him shows how one should take a closer look at what is being implemented rather than throwing support to leadership that is becoming self-defeating.
Having read a bit about Charest, this isn't nearly the first time his moves have alienated his most likely supporters, including his own cabinet and fellow party leaders, some of whom resigned. He seems like someone who knows how to curry favor to get elected, then back track on promises and commitments. Some members here shouldn't worry so much about the PQ as getting a better man to lead the same party.
Cheers,
Merlot
You really want the two sides in english ?
BTW no one was able out here to come up with what happened in 2007 yet
Then try this one : http://www.vancouversun.com/news/na...self+over+student+protests/6661457/story.html
As you will see at the end of the article... the Gov. is back to square one !
They want to negotiate now.
See ? they wanted to impose their view by trying to divide some students like they always do with the population but this time they got f*cked !
They believe in their sh!t that these students were only a minority of thugs and ended-up with having to pass a law which is 'inconstitutional'.
Even the ones arguing about there is similar laws around the globe missed the point once again cuze the gov. wanted the limit of people to gather at '10' in the beginning which was basically an 'appartheid' kind of law.
So even if they went up to 50 their intentions wasn't good from the start.
Oh ! and read the part where it says "If you are older, anglophone, rich or live in the Quebec City area you support the tough bill, Leger (the real poll) concluded.
If you are from Montreal, young, francophone or live on a lower income, chances are you oppose it."
So as you see, it is not that all the english media is with Charest. It's just that they finally are starting to realize what the french ones were saying.
It's not their fault, they just take a while to properly 'translate' and understand french :smile:
As for Capt Renault says about Quebec leaving Canada... this has always been the 'bohomme sept heure' argument.
It's always been... don't vote fo PQ because you'll get out of Canada and will lose so much. Bouh ! I'm all affraid !
Funny, we never went out of Canada under all PQ gov. and even if I find them stupid with their rethorics, guess what ?
We were far better off most of the time with them then the liberals who brought this stupid situation, all the corruption, not to mention the problems with the mohawks in the past (who once again ended-up with the army), the botched meech lake accord, the FLQ (again with the army), etc. etc. etc.
Everytime we have these incompetent lazy a$$ governing Quebec, we always end-up divided and pushed into a stupid social situation like now !
That's all :eyebrows:
Another one who flunked history !
The army came in Quebec in the 70's when the gov. thought the FLQ was only a 'minor' problem.
And it came in the 90's when the gov. thought the Mohawks were a 'minor' problem.
Both under the liberal party requesting Ottawa to help them with the sh!t they put themselves into !
So yes Halloween Mike, Charest could call the army even if Quebec is a 'povince' in the books.
But we all know by now (unless the ones who flunked history) that Quebec never was and never will be 'just' another province like they tried so much in Ottawa to make you believe.
Too bad but, we ain't no island living out of fish or just another territory where everything is the same from coast to coast.
Quebec's culture is different no matter how you try to see it !
As for going under because Quebec wouldn't be part of Canada if it was pushed to go ?
You have to be kidding ! We got billions of oil barrels waiting for us, Billions of tons of gold, water like no where else on earth, Trillions of tons of all sort of sh!t that China and India wants. Quebec is huge enough to care for 7 millions.
Only incompetents like this gov. in Quebec right now can't make it work !
But that's beside the point like you said... the important thing here is that once again just like what happened in the last federal election...
Some people didn't understand how we think in Quebec and they are now f*cked up at trying to decipher how the hell they missed the boat once again !
I guess there some of you will get even more pissed ! Sorry !
GEntle, you would make a good anarchist. Complain about everything, find fault in everything but have no solutions for anything. Can you tell me what kind of 'shit' Quebec has that China and India wants? Asbestos? Last time I checked, there was no oil here so where are these 'billions of oil barrels' coming from? If Quebec was to separate from Canada, they would be a very poor nation once they assumed their part of the national debt and taxes would rise to unheard of levels just to survive.
So instead of complaining about the current government, how about you tell us who you would prefer to be in power and how they would solve all the problems here. The PQ? When they were in power they were just as corrupt as any other government, past or present. Let's go boy...put some suggestions on the table instead of criticizing everything. Let's see what you can do better.
So instead of complaining about the current government, how about you tell us who you would prefer to be in power and how they would solve all the problems here. The PQ? When they were in power they were just as corrupt as any other government, past or present. Let's go boy...put some suggestions on the table instead of criticizing everything. Let's see what you can do better.
Oh give me a break. Who are the primary users of social media...yeah, you got it. Those under the age of 30, in other words, a lot of students. Is it any surprise that there's a shift in sentiment there? HArdly a good indicator of general sentiment.
Here's a good one Merlot (in english - now that they are catching up) from the associate press.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/day-100-quebec-student-strikes-red-river-protest-184233938.html
And this is why... it was call 'civil disobedience' Techman !
And another good one finally on the same day ! isn't it fun ?
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/high-profile-quebec-corruption-inquiry-set-underway-later-080010184.html
"This bogus inquiry will not hand down guilty verdicts or financial punishement !"
"They will not examine agencies from the gov. of Canada" some of them with close ties to the Canadian gov."
Oh goodies !
But hey ! I'm sure everything the student thugs in Montreal broke cost more than whatever was lost into the hands of this corruption for so many years !
I mean we're talking about Billions of damage to Montreal's shop owners ! aren't we ? As for the corruption ? heck they probably just got some pocket change out of our taxes !
Billions in damage I tell ya ! vs. pocket change for the friends of both gov.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/day-100-quebec-student-strikes-red-river-protest-184233938.html
And this is why... it was call 'civil disobedience' Techman !
And another good one finally on the same day ! isn't it fun ?
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/high-profile-quebec-corruption-inquiry-set-underway-later-080010184.html
"This bogus inquiry will not hand down guilty verdicts or financial punishement !"
"They will not examine agencies from the gov. of Canada" some of them with close ties to the Canadian gov."
Oh goodies !
But hey ! I'm sure everything the student thugs in Montreal broke cost more than whatever was lost into the hands of this corruption for so many years !
I mean we're talking about Billions of damage to Montreal's shop owners ! aren't we ? As for the corruption ? heck they probably just got some pocket change out of our taxes !
Billions in damage I tell ya ! vs. pocket change for the friends of both gov.
Yeah. And that guy looks a bit like Jaw from the James Bond movie.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjantak/7245257058/in/photostream/lightbox/
Looks like some of the anarchists are setting their sights on disrupting the Grand Prix weekend. I think this would be a big mistake, because the Grand Prix has widespread support in Montreal. Even those who aren't interested in the race and don't like the crowds realize its economic value to the city.
Student protests hurting business
By Lynn Moore and Allison Lampert,
The Gazette May 23, 2012 7:29 PM
MONTREAL - Montreal’s 100-plus days of protests are beginning to take a toll on the city’s hotels, the Hotel Association of Greater Montreal says.
Indications are that reservations are down from last year by as much as 10 per cent while a “few cancellations” have been directly linked to the protests, William Brown, the association’s executive vice-president, said Wednesday.
And, perhaps more troubling, is that “without a solution in sight” coupled with increasing international media attention, a black shadow is being cast on the prospect of a successful tourism season.
“With every day, there seems to be something new added to the strife and the discontent,” Brown said.
“We are beginning to see the results of what the negative publicity is doing to our business.”
At Wednesday’s monthly meeting of the association’s 77 member hotels in the Greater Montreal Area, the mood was grim.
Some member hotels said reservations and occupancy rates were 10 per cent lower than last year or 10 per cent behind the anticipated situation.
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say (members were) distraught. Maybe yes; I can’t even put a word to it,” Brown said.
Montreal hotels rely on summer tourists to offset the seasonal drop in corporate business.
Among the downtown hotels looking for business is the posh Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Residences, which is to reopen next week – in time for the summer tourist season – after $200 million in renovations.
The storied hotel was closed in 2008.
The hotel sector is akin to the canary in the coal mine for the tourism industry, Brown noted.
“If hotels are reporting that their reservations are down ... then that is going to have a domino effect on many other business in the city.”
The summer tourist season, which unofficially kicks off with the Grand Prix Formula One race the weekend of June 8, is “hugely important” to Montreal tourism, Brown and others interviewed Wednesday noted.
Locales such as the very popular Buonanotte restaurant on St. Laurent Blvd. are booked solid during the Grand Prix long weekend.
“Hopefully, both sides will find a solution before then,” Buonanotte owner Massimo Lecas said Wednesday.
“Wouldn’t it be completely unfortunate to see (disruptions) on Formula One weekend?
“I don’t want to sound like a right-wing capitalist who only cares about money and doesn’t care about social issues ... but nobody wants that,” Lecas said.
His employees – “about 80 per cent of them are students” – as well as he, depend on F1 revenues.
Both Brown and Lecas stressed that they were “not taking sides” in the disputes or pointing accusatory fingers at individuals or groups.
But at least one high-profile activist, Jaggi Singh, has F1 activities in his sights.
“Rich douchebags are going to be disrupted by night demos,” Singh said in a tweet Wednesday that cited F1 events.
Tourisme Montréal vice-president Pierre Bellerose dismissed any call for alarm.
“Of course, there is a concern ... but I think we have to stay calm,” he said.
The vast majority of tourists to Montreal are unaware of problems until they are in the city and often only then if they are caught up in the protests, he said.
In recent days, his agency has received fewer than 10 emails from potential visitors wondering what was happening.
“We tell them, ‘Don’t go to the demonstrations and you will have a very good stay in Montreal’ and that has been the case,” Bellerose said.
Student protests hurting business
By Lynn Moore and Allison Lampert,
The Gazette May 23, 2012 7:29 PM
MONTREAL - Montreal’s 100-plus days of protests are beginning to take a toll on the city’s hotels, the Hotel Association of Greater Montreal says.
Indications are that reservations are down from last year by as much as 10 per cent while a “few cancellations” have been directly linked to the protests, William Brown, the association’s executive vice-president, said Wednesday.
And, perhaps more troubling, is that “without a solution in sight” coupled with increasing international media attention, a black shadow is being cast on the prospect of a successful tourism season.
“With every day, there seems to be something new added to the strife and the discontent,” Brown said.
“We are beginning to see the results of what the negative publicity is doing to our business.”
At Wednesday’s monthly meeting of the association’s 77 member hotels in the Greater Montreal Area, the mood was grim.
Some member hotels said reservations and occupancy rates were 10 per cent lower than last year or 10 per cent behind the anticipated situation.
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say (members were) distraught. Maybe yes; I can’t even put a word to it,” Brown said.
Montreal hotels rely on summer tourists to offset the seasonal drop in corporate business.
Among the downtown hotels looking for business is the posh Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Residences, which is to reopen next week – in time for the summer tourist season – after $200 million in renovations.
The storied hotel was closed in 2008.
The hotel sector is akin to the canary in the coal mine for the tourism industry, Brown noted.
“If hotels are reporting that their reservations are down ... then that is going to have a domino effect on many other business in the city.”
The summer tourist season, which unofficially kicks off with the Grand Prix Formula One race the weekend of June 8, is “hugely important” to Montreal tourism, Brown and others interviewed Wednesday noted.
Locales such as the very popular Buonanotte restaurant on St. Laurent Blvd. are booked solid during the Grand Prix long weekend.
“Hopefully, both sides will find a solution before then,” Buonanotte owner Massimo Lecas said Wednesday.
“Wouldn’t it be completely unfortunate to see (disruptions) on Formula One weekend?
“I don’t want to sound like a right-wing capitalist who only cares about money and doesn’t care about social issues ... but nobody wants that,” Lecas said.
His employees – “about 80 per cent of them are students” – as well as he, depend on F1 revenues.
Both Brown and Lecas stressed that they were “not taking sides” in the disputes or pointing accusatory fingers at individuals or groups.
But at least one high-profile activist, Jaggi Singh, has F1 activities in his sights.
“Rich douchebags are going to be disrupted by night demos,” Singh said in a tweet Wednesday that cited F1 events.
Tourisme Montréal vice-president Pierre Bellerose dismissed any call for alarm.
“Of course, there is a concern ... but I think we have to stay calm,” he said.
The vast majority of tourists to Montreal are unaware of problems until they are in the city and often only then if they are caught up in the protests, he said.
In recent days, his agency has received fewer than 10 emails from potential visitors wondering what was happening.
“We tell them, ‘Don’t go to the demonstrations and you will have a very good stay in Montreal’ and that has been the case,” Bellerose said.
Yup, and I'll bet of the 200,000 demonstrators who marched from downtown yesterday there were at least a half a dozen anarchists, maybe even as many as 10.
A couple of thousand students banging pots and pans just marched down the street past my home. They looked like they were more interested in partying than in overthrowing the government. The most interesting thing, however, was that, as they marched by, quite a few of my neighbours grabbed pots and pans themselves and joined the students in support and, when the parade had gone by, went back inside their homes.
Yup, much ado about nothing.
Yeah, like the KING!
Well get out of that kitchen and rattle those pots and pans
Get out of that kitchen and rattle those pots and pans
Well I want my breakfast 'cause I'm a hungry man
I believe you're doin' me wrong and now I know
I believe you're doin' me wrong and now I know
'cause the harder I work the faster my money goes
Protests now are like incall, even if they're illegal, they seem to be tolerated so long as they don't make trouble. I think we live in a beautiful country/province/land.
I beg your pardon, Sir. The original was not by The King, but by Big Joe Turner
And you know, when 100,000 or more hit the streets and 2 cars are damaged and 3 store windows broken, that ain't much of a riot. In fact, what's going on in Montreal tonight would be a pretty quiet night in most American cities, violence wise.
And another thing, you know what's the easiest way for a young guy in Montreal to get laid right now? Yup, grab a pot, a pan, a red tag and hit the streets. It was that way in the US in 1968 and I'll bet dollars to donuts it's that way in our fair city tonight. One of my favourite slogans during the Vietnam war was "Girls say yes to boys who say no."
PM Charest has cancelled a trip to Vermont planned for today, presumably to figure out how to keep his job amid widespread disapproval within the province.
"Occupy Burlington and other groups had planned to protest Charest’s visit in solidarity with Quebec students demonstrating against university tuition increases. In a statement, James Haslam of the Vermont Workers Center called the cancellation of Charest’s visit a victory for the people." Burlington Free Press.
"Occupy Burlington and other groups had planned to protest Charest’s visit in solidarity with Quebec students demonstrating against university tuition increases. In a statement, James Haslam of the Vermont Workers Center called the cancellation of Charest’s visit a victory for the people." Burlington Free Press.
Finally, we are getting to the heart of the matter.
[h=1]Andrew Coyne: Quebec students’ thrilling attempt to cripple democracy[/h] Andrew Coyne May 23, 2012 – 7:35 PM ET | Last Updated: May 23, 2012 9:32 PM ET
To break the law is heady enough to begin with. But to be fighting for a cause worthy of breaking the law, that surely is what counts.
The fantasy of the Grand March … is the political kitsch joining leftists of all times and tendencies. The Grand March is the splendid march on the road to brotherhood, equality, justice, happiness; it goes on and on, obstacles notwithstanding, for obstacles there must be if the march is to be the Grand March.
— Milan Kundera
You have to admit it’s all very exciting. It’s traditional at this juncture for people like me to say something like: whatever your opinion on the underlying issue, can’t we all agree that violence and lawlessness are the wrong way to make your point? But that strikes me as divisive and out of step with the times. What I prefer to focus my thoughts on just now is: whatever your opinion on violence and lawlessness, can’t we all agree how exciting, how thrilling it is?
I’m thinking, particularly, of the students “on strike” in Quebec, and within that group the marchers, and within that group the ones with the masks, the ones who are nervy and determined enough to take a brick and smash it through a shop window, or lob it at the nearest police officer, the ones who blocked and intimidated the scab students from entering the schools, or where they had already done so, invaded the classrooms, jumped on the desks, daubed the walls with graffiti. I’m not thinking of the shopkeepers or the cops or the scabs just now. I’m just focused on how exhilarating this is.
To break the law is heady enough to begin with. But to be fighting for a cause worthy of breaking the law, that surely is what counts. Or rather, to be the sort of person so committed to fighting for that cause that you would be willing, no driven to break the law — not to suffer the consequences, of course, that’s what the masks are for — but still, to realize that you are that sort of person, to be conscious, in the moment you are hurling rocks or chanting slogans or beating a cop, of how sublimely sensitive to injustice you must be, that you could be so enraged by it…
So there can be no going back. The particulars of the dispute are irrelevant, if not forgotten: this has become about the students themselves, and the movie of their lives in which they are now starring. The students — the minority, that is, that are en grève, and the smaller minority that are causing all the havoc — cannot actually claim to be the victim of any real injustice in the matter of the tuition fees. They cannot pretend that raising fees to the same level, after inflation, as they were 44 years ago presents some sort of unique hardship. They cannot argue they are fighting on behalf of the poor, since no student with family income of less than $100,000 would be affected.
They cannot, and so for the most part they no longer even bother. Instead, they change the subject. It’s not about that, they will say impatiently: it’s about a broader vision of society. Or, in the latest mutation, it is about the right to protest itself – a protest about a protest. But in this they are as ill-supplied with genuine grievance as they were with the fees.
While Bill 78, the Charest government’s belated response to weeks of mayhem, may be overbroad in this or that provision — for example, in making teachers’ unions liable for damages caused by individual members, or in the discretionary powers it assigns the minister of education — in the main, it imposes just two obligations on the protesters, both perfectly reasonable: one, don’t prevent dissenting students from attending class, and two, before you block the streets, give police some notice. Not “get the police’s permission”; just tell them where and when it’s taking place.
Yet out of this has been conjured a grievous assault on students’ human rights, the worst law since the War Measures Act, and more. The latter provision, in particular, is commonly represented as restricting or even banning public demonstrations. It does nothing of the kind: indeed, it is no more than the norm in democratic jurisdictions around the world. But that is unexciting to believe, and so the students and their supporters prefer to believe something else: that the government is taking away their freedom of assembly — as if the right to protest meant the right to protest wherever you want, whenever you want, at whatever harm to the rights of others.
Out of such illusions has a few dollars a week in extra tuition been transformed into a crisis of democratic government, the most serious in a generation. For make no mistake: the strike leaders’ aim is no longer merely to roll back the tuition fee increases, if it ever was. They, and their backers in the broader union movement, are intent on crippling the Charest government, to prevent it from taking any further steps to trim the size and scope of government in the continent’s most heavily taxed, heavily indebted jurisdiction.
If they succeed, the precedents set will be very clear: that a democratically elected government may be prevented by force and intimidation from enacting laws in the public interest; that the law itself may be broken or defied, openly and at length, without consequence; that the beneficiaries of public spending are entitled to veto legislation that would reduce it. It is not hard to imagine what others might make of this.
But in the meantime, how exciting!
[h=1]Andrew Coyne: Quebec students’ thrilling attempt to cripple democracy[/h] Andrew Coyne May 23, 2012 – 7:35 PM ET | Last Updated: May 23, 2012 9:32 PM ET
To break the law is heady enough to begin with. But to be fighting for a cause worthy of breaking the law, that surely is what counts.
The fantasy of the Grand March … is the political kitsch joining leftists of all times and tendencies. The Grand March is the splendid march on the road to brotherhood, equality, justice, happiness; it goes on and on, obstacles notwithstanding, for obstacles there must be if the march is to be the Grand March.
— Milan Kundera
You have to admit it’s all very exciting. It’s traditional at this juncture for people like me to say something like: whatever your opinion on the underlying issue, can’t we all agree that violence and lawlessness are the wrong way to make your point? But that strikes me as divisive and out of step with the times. What I prefer to focus my thoughts on just now is: whatever your opinion on violence and lawlessness, can’t we all agree how exciting, how thrilling it is?
I’m thinking, particularly, of the students “on strike” in Quebec, and within that group the marchers, and within that group the ones with the masks, the ones who are nervy and determined enough to take a brick and smash it through a shop window, or lob it at the nearest police officer, the ones who blocked and intimidated the scab students from entering the schools, or where they had already done so, invaded the classrooms, jumped on the desks, daubed the walls with graffiti. I’m not thinking of the shopkeepers or the cops or the scabs just now. I’m just focused on how exhilarating this is.
To break the law is heady enough to begin with. But to be fighting for a cause worthy of breaking the law, that surely is what counts. Or rather, to be the sort of person so committed to fighting for that cause that you would be willing, no driven to break the law — not to suffer the consequences, of course, that’s what the masks are for — but still, to realize that you are that sort of person, to be conscious, in the moment you are hurling rocks or chanting slogans or beating a cop, of how sublimely sensitive to injustice you must be, that you could be so enraged by it…
They cannot, and so for the most part they no longer even bother. Instead, they change the subject. It’s not about that, they will say impatiently: it’s about a broader vision of society. Or, in the latest mutation, it is about the right to protest itself – a protest about a protest. But in this they are as ill-supplied with genuine grievance as they were with the fees.
While Bill 78, the Charest government’s belated response to weeks of mayhem, may be overbroad in this or that provision — for example, in making teachers’ unions liable for damages caused by individual members, or in the discretionary powers it assigns the minister of education — in the main, it imposes just two obligations on the protesters, both perfectly reasonable: one, don’t prevent dissenting students from attending class, and two, before you block the streets, give police some notice. Not “get the police’s permission”; just tell them where and when it’s taking place.
Yet out of this has been conjured a grievous assault on students’ human rights, the worst law since the War Measures Act, and more. The latter provision, in particular, is commonly represented as restricting or even banning public demonstrations. It does nothing of the kind: indeed, it is no more than the norm in democratic jurisdictions around the world. But that is unexciting to believe, and so the students and their supporters prefer to believe something else: that the government is taking away their freedom of assembly — as if the right to protest meant the right to protest wherever you want, whenever you want, at whatever harm to the rights of others.
Out of such illusions has a few dollars a week in extra tuition been transformed into a crisis of democratic government, the most serious in a generation. For make no mistake: the strike leaders’ aim is no longer merely to roll back the tuition fee increases, if it ever was. They, and their backers in the broader union movement, are intent on crippling the Charest government, to prevent it from taking any further steps to trim the size and scope of government in the continent’s most heavily taxed, heavily indebted jurisdiction.
If they succeed, the precedents set will be very clear: that a democratically elected government may be prevented by force and intimidation from enacting laws in the public interest; that the law itself may be broken or defied, openly and at length, without consequence; that the beneficiaries of public spending are entitled to veto legislation that would reduce it. It is not hard to imagine what others might make of this.
But in the meantime, how exciting!
Thanks for that piece, Louie. It's exactly what I'd expect from a columnist who regularly writes for William F. Buckley's National Review and Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal.
On one point, Coyne and I agree. It's a small minority of the hundreds of thousands protesting that are causing havoc.
Meanwhile, back in Montreal, there are, from personal observation, twice as many red patches walking the streets and hanging from windows as there were a just one week ago.
On one point, Coyne and I agree. It's a small minority of the hundreds of thousands protesting that are causing havoc.
Meanwhile, back in Montreal, there are, from personal observation, twice as many red patches walking the streets and hanging from windows as there were a just one week ago.
Sounds like a lot of guys in Montreal are trying to get laid. This could lead to a minor baby boom nine months from now.
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