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City promises services for Montreal's homeless in remodelled parks MONTREAL, QUE.: APRIL 15, 2015 -- A view fence around the perimeter of Emile-Gamelin park, which is closed for renovations, in Montreal city hall in Montreal on Wednesday, April 15, 2015. (Dario Ayala / Montreal Gazette) Dario Ayala / Montreal Gazette With two months to go until Cabot Square is accessible again and the recent closing of Place Émilie-Gamelin, many of Montreal’s homeless have lost two main, relatively safe, gathering spots. But despite the upheaval, officials are promising that once reopened, the spaces will not exclude or forget the city’s most vulnerable citizens. Fences sprang up around Émilie-Gamelin park on April 7, and will remain in place until early May, when a large block party is expected to herald the park‘s rebirth as a concert venue, public garden, food court and outdoor beer garden. It’s a significant overhaul that could have a long-lasting impact on the people who live and work in the neighbourhood. That includes the homeless men and women who spend their days in the park, said Marie-Joëlle Corneau, spokesperson for the Quartier des spectacles Partnership — a not-for-profit organization that co-ordinates and manages many of Montreal’s best-known cultural offerings. Corneau promised that the new park will continue to welcome outreach workers. A food distribution point for those in need at the northern end of the park will not be moved either, she said. “We have noted over the years that in Émilie-Gamelin, and in la Place de la Paix, the homeless will stay around during outdoor performances and events,” Corneau told the Montreal Gazette in an email. “Many have told us that they appreciate the ambience that is created and the presence of other members of the public, which makes the spaces more secure — even for them.” It’s a hopeful message, but it might come as cold comfort to the people who have no roof over their heads and who rely on public parks and buildings during the day. Émilie-Gamelin is one of several spaces frequented by the homeless that has been closed off or forcibly emptied in recent months. In January, city crews dismantled a makeshift camp in Viger Square, using machinery to sweep up more than a dozen beds in the area. Cabot Square is also undergoing a major year-long renovation, and local advocacy groups have warned that its closure has displaced dozens of homeless aboriginals. “We have not noticed a huge impact yet (at Émilie-Gamelin), but I would suspect that our café that’s open during the day would be even busier now,” said Matthew Pearce, president and chief executive officer of the Old Brewery Mission, which is located just a few blocks away from the park. “It may become the kind of park where the homeless are feeling less able to stay. … I hope that those individuals will then understand that the Old Brewery Mission has open arms for them.” According to a spokesperson for the Ville-Marie borough, the city will have eight police cadets stationed in Place Émilie-Gamelin this summer who will help maintain order during public events, but they will not issue tickets to the homeless. As part of an overall intervention strategy in the park, the city has set aside $48,000 to help pay for two dedicated outreach workers through local organization Présence Compassion, along with another $8,000 to assist with needle cleanup. One of the outreach workers works year-round while the other is only employed for the summer, when traffic in the square is much greater. As for the notion of serving alcohol in a public park that has long been home to people with substance abuse issues, Pearce acknowledged that it may not seem like a great idea. “You know, my own take on that is that it won’t be pivotal because people who have substance abuse issues in Montreal, if they don’t go one place they can go to another,” he said. “The challenge is to increase the level of services for that population to help them better cope with dependencies.” Over in Cabot Square, the reopened space is expected to include a number of policing and cultural programming initiatives designed to better serve the homeless and those at risk. A café in the park’s gazebo will employ aboriginal people, and two outreach workers will be establishing a permanent office adjacent to the café. “I think we’re on track with everything,” said Rachel Deutsch, manager of the Cabot Square Project, an umbrella group helping to co-ordinate new programs and services in the park. “We’re looking at cohabitation and issues of safety for everyone. We’ve worked really closely with Ville-Marie borough and they have been very, very supportive.” While Cabot Square is closed (it is expected to reopen in July), the Old Brewery Mission has been shuttling people from that area to the mission’s facilities in the east end, and to other locations — all on the city’s dime. According to Pearce, “if the city wanted us to, we would do it for Viger Square and Émilie-Gamelin as well.” sent via Tapatalk

Dessau Chaboillez Square Client City of Montreal, Montreal, Canada Scope of Work Optimization study of the Chaboillez Square site for a 2.4 million sq. ft. real estate development. This 194,000 sq. ft. site was chosen for the construction of 2.4 million sq. ft. of office space, distributed mainly in three towers (25+ floors each) built on a 10-floor podicum. The personnel at Plania, Dessau's urban planning and landscape architecture subsidiary, created several different development scenarios. This allowed the team to select the option that best balanced development costs, profitability and urban integration issues, while minimizing impacts on local traffic. Challenges * Reconcile urban, economic and functional requirements. © Dessau Copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved

This whole Subban-Richards affair raised a lot of discussion in the media about hockey and the culture of hockey acceptance of things outside of the norm. Lol, in typical Canadian fashion, that's how the discussions were framed, since (white) Canadians are not secure enough or comfortable talking about race, even though race is an under-current of the issue. Not saying that Richards is racist, because I don't know that, but as a Black Canadian myself, the whole discussion raised a lot of questions for me about discrimination in hockey. I never played organized hockey (I don't count the 2,3 games I played in high school back in the mid-1990's), so I don't know. All I know is that when I was growing up I was really into hockey and people would tell me "you shouldn't play hockey", "why are you playing hockey", etc...and that was from my black relatives/family. I've never had a white person tell me those things, but remember that this is Canada, so they may be shy to tell you what they really think. What I do know is that most hockey players who speak a certain way similar to Kirk Muller or Jerome Iginla, get labeled as "good guys" by their teammates, coaches, GM's and media types. I put Iginla's name in there because some of these "good guys" have been black. But is there discrimination in hockey? Yes. I think discrimination does exist in hockey, but I wouldn't go as far as to go "Al Sharpton" or "Jesse Jackson" on their ass, because I don't think it's that widespread. I believe it exist, but at what level, I can't say. I view racism, discrimination and prejudices, like the clouds in the sky: Some days there's more clouds than others. Some places there's more clouds than others. But even on a bright day, with a clear blue sky, If you look close enough at the horizon, you'll see clouds. If you think about it, that's true both in reality and in metaphor. Especially here in Canada where (white) Canadians feel uncomfortable openly discussing issues dealing about race. At least in America, even with the KKK, the Republicans of today and the Democrats of yesterday and other forms of historic institutional racism, (white) Americans can still have intelligent discussions on racial issues on CNN or in other political and/or public forums without fear of being labeled a racist. In Canada, people, especially white Canadians, feel strange talking about that. They "don't want to go there." Are they afraid of speaking their mind? At least in the US you know where people stand. If they don't like you, you'll know. But here in Canada, people are so secretive about their racism that I just keep to my cloud analogy. I'm assuming that analogy is true for hockey as well.

In case some of you haven,t heard just yet, apparently, a man named Joe Stack flew a small plane into an IRS building in Austin Texas. The man was desperate, and had a few "issues" with the federal gov't. He left behind a suicide letter that is well written and well thought out. Not what you'd expect from someone who's on the verge of killing themselves! Here's a link to that letter! It's a bit long, but well worth it! http://www.prisonplanet.com/alleged-letter-written-by-austin-plane-crash-pilot.html

Publié le 07 décembre 2009 à 20h39 | Mis à jour à 20h42 Sables bitumineux: une étude contredit les chiffres de l'industrie La Presse Canadienne Edmonton Une étude indépendante publiée lundi aux États-Unis laisse sous-entendre que la pollution provenant des sables bitumineux de l'Alberta est cinq fois plus élevée et deux fois plus étendue que ne l'affirment les statistiques produites par les dirigeants de l'industrie. L'étude affirme que les émissions toxiques issues des sables bitumineux se comparent à un déversement majeur de pétrole... chaque année. Les responsables du gouvernement et de l'industrie disent que la contamination notée dans les sols et rivières de la région est naturelle, mais l'étude la lie étroitement à l'extraction des sables bitumineux. Selon David Schindler, co-auteur de l'étude, les chercheurs ont découvert d'importants apports de composés organiques toxiques issus de l'industrie des sables bitumineux dans la rivière Athabasca et ses affluents. M. Schindler a ajouté que l'industrie était la principale source de pollution de la rivière. L'étude critique également le programme de contrôle du gouvernement de l'Alberta. Celui-ci a réagi en mettant en doute les conclusions de l'étude. Selon Preston McEachern, scientifique environnemental de l'Alberta, les sources de contamination sont plus importantes près des installations de sables bitumineux parce que c'est là que les dépôts de bitume sont les plus concentrés. Quant au programme de contrôle, M. McEachern soutient qu'il a d'abord pour objectif de fournir une information à l'échelle régionale. La province de l'Alberta se fie à des informations spécifiques issues de l'industrie, revue par des inspecteurs provinciaux, pour obtenir des données plus détaillées. Ce n'est pas le premier rapport à mettre en doute les données produites par l'industrie et cibler les répercussions environnementales. À l'été de 2008, l'équipe de chercheurs de M. Schindler avait mis en place des stations de contrôle le long de l'Athabasca et de quelques-uns de ses affluents, et découvert des concentrations pétrochimiques une fois que les courants passaient au-delà des installations de sables bitumineux.

Mayor wants answers on city issues The Gazette Published: 6 hours ago Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay has written a letter to Jean Charest to find out where the Liberal leader stands on issues that are important to Montreal. Tremblay said he would like Charest to outline his government's plan for the city. He said improving the economy of Montreal will yield economic spinoffs in the rest of the province as well. In the letter, dated Nov. 12, Tremblay said he is anxious to hear Charest's proposals on how to "give Montreal the tools to properly assume its role as the economic motor of the province." Tremblay outlined several key areas his administration is working on that need government support: - A 20-year $8.1-billion transportation plan, which outlines major projects to renovate roads, improve public transit, and add bicycle paths. He said Charest needs to commit major public funds to help this project along. - Tremblay said the province must work to accelerate several infrastructure projects that have been stalled for many years, including the modernization of Notre Dame St. in Montreal's east end, the English and French superhospitals, and the revitalization of the harbourfront, which includes moving the Bonaventure Expressway away from the shoreline. - Tremblay also asked Charest to invest in urban renewal projects and to commit money for new social housing units. - He asked the province to help finance a new waste management plan, and to invest in the city's universities, research centres and museums. Tremblay also said Charest needs to work with Prime Minister Stephen Harper to free up Montreal's share of an $8.8 billion infrastructure program pledged in the federal government's 2007 budget. The funds have not yet been passed on to Canadian cities because of a complex application process for project approval and other delays in negotiations between the federal and provincial governments. Tremblay said it's imperative Montreal get access to that money now, to offset the effects of an economic downturn. He added Quebec also needs to change some of the rules governing cities to to give them access to new sources of revenue. Tremblay has been asking for a share of the Quebec sales tax or the ability to implement an entertainment tax on the island of Montreal. His administration has also mulled the idea of imposing tolls to drivers coming onto the island of Montreal. The city would need the permission of the Quebec government before imposing a new tax.

Let us decide its own cultural priorities, Charest says Quebec premier calls for reversal of arts funding cuts KEVIN DOUGHERTY, The Gazette Published: 8 hours ago (The Gazette)

Harper is on the second day of a three-day tour of Europe, with environmental issues at the centre of the agenda. Most European countries are wary of Canada's mixed record on the Kyoto Protocol for greenhouse gas emissions, with far more political and public support for reductions in Europe than is generally found in this country. Before he left, some environmentalists criticized the prime minister's trip for its own greenhouse gas emissions. They say the air travel involved in taking Harper's retinue to several European cities in three days will generate more than 400 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, as much as 100 cars produce in a year. But Harper and his officials say expressing Canada's position on climate change is crucial, as well as discussing this country's booming trade with Europe, worth some $110 billion in the past year. Speaking to UN delegates in Bonn, Harper said Canada was the first industrialized country to ratify a biodiversity treaty in 1992, and that this country took a varied approach to environment protection, involving all sectors of society, and not just government. "Canada has gone to great lengths to protect and preserve our rich and diverse environment," Harper said in Bonn. "In our country, this is not just a government enterprise. We are partnered with many private individuals, corporations and non-governmental organizations dedicated to environmental philanthropy." CBC's chief political correspondent, Keith Boag, travelling with the prime minister, said there was little about the address that was new in policy terms. "The speech was really just a once-over-lightly about how beautiful Canada is," Boag said. "How many lakes and rivers and streams and mountains and forests and fields and so on [the country] has." The Bernier resignation is still very much on the mind of the prime minister and officials and journalists travelling with him, Boag said. Canada could do more: environmentalists Environmental groups at the Bonn meeting say there is sometimes more words than substance to Canada's positions on biodiversity and other environmental issues. William Jackson with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature said Canada can be proud of its domestic achievements in environmental protection, but its international role in holding up agreements on issues like climate change has raised eyebrows. "I have not seen Canada blocking things to the point [that] decisions are not being made," Jackson says, "but I've seen them expressing their views strongly." Federal Environment Minister John Baird, who is with Harper, dismissed accusations Wednesday that Canada isn't doing enough to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Baird said the Canadian government actions include regulating big polluters, a hydrogen initiative in B.C., encouragement of carbon capture and storage efforts, an electricity grid between Ontario and Manitoba and support for tidal power generation in the Maritimes. Harper was hoping to convince European leaders that his plan for fighting greenhouse gases is a good one, despite criticism from environmentalists. Unlike most of Europe, Canada and the U.S. oppose any new climate change pact that would exclude major polluters, such as China or India. Harper is using this trip to lay the groundwork for the upcoming G8 meeting this summer in Japan, which will focus on climate change. On Wednesday in Bonn, Harper is also meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The two leaders pledged last year to increase co-operation between their two countries on a range of issues, including environmental policy and trade. Harper's next stop will be Rome for meetings with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi before travelling to London where he has meetings scheduled with the Queen and his British counterpart, Gordon Brown, as well as a speech to business leaders at the Canada-United Kingdom Chamber of Commerce. With files from the Canadian Press http://news.sympatico.msn.cbc.ca/abc/world/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&newsitemid=harper-bonn&feedname=CBC-WORLD-V3&showbyline=True