Rechercher dans la communauté

Bon je viens de faire le tour des projets et je n'ai pas vue ce projet le 2950, Boul. St-Martin, Laval / 8 étages en face du Centropolis. À voir ici: Photo du rendu par moi sur le site du projet à côté du Palais de justice Provincial. source de l'info ÉricdeMtl sur SSP

With a goal to make John Abbott College a leader in health-related fields, a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony took place Tuesday for the CEGEP's new science and technology building. The new five-storey, $30-million project will house facilities to train nurses, ambulance technicians and pharmaceutical technicians. "This will train students in English in areas where we have a shortage of qualified workers," said Education Minister Line Beauchamps. To be completed in 2012, the building, equipped with geothermic heating, will benefit from $8 million in financing from federal and provincial governments. http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100831/mtl_JAC_100831/20100831?hub=Montreal

Tel que promis, voici quelques-uns des projets dont je vous parlais. La suite est à venir! Voici un projet de centre administratif imaginé par Jean-*Omer Marchand, en 1913. Ce dernier imaginait un hôtel de ville (au centre), un palais de justice (à gauche) et un bâtiment administratif fédéral et provincial (à droite). L'emplacement n'était pas encore définitif, mais Marchand l'imaginait au centre du quadrilatère formé par les rues Bleury, Craig (Saint-Antoine), Dorchester (René-Lévesque) et Saint-Denis.

Excellent texte de François Cardinal (de La Presse) sur pourquoi Montréal devrait avoir un statut spécial : Manifesto for a city-state Montreal has paid the price for being treated like just another region. Quebec’s economic hub deserves better. François Cardinal Policy Options, November 2013 Far from being a land of forests, plains and prairies, Canada is an urban country. Nearly 70 percent of the population lives in urban centres and more than 90 percent of demographic growth is concentrated in those metropolitan areas. These proportions put Canada at the top of the world’s most urbanized nations. And yet all of Canada’s cities, from Montreal to Toronto, Calgary and even Ottawa, are neglected by federal and provincial political parties. They are short-changed by electoral maps. All are forced by the provinces to labour under a tax system that dates from the horse-and-buggy age. All are relegated to the status of lowly “creatures” subject to the whims and dictates of higher levels of government. It’s as if the country has not yet come to terms with the changes it has undergone since its founding. “Cities do not exist under the Constitution, since it was drawn up in 1867 when we were a rural, agricultural country,” Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi pointed out when I interviewed him at City Hall. “But today the country is highly urbanized, a fact that, unfortunately, is not reflected in the relations higher levels of government maintain with the cities.” The 2011 federal election offered a good example of this oversight. Every party targeted the “regions,” those wide-open spaces of rural and small-town Canada. The Conservatives’ slogan in French was “Notre région au pouvoir” [Our region in power]. The Liberals cited “rural Canada” as a priority but barely mentioned urban Canada. The Bloc used the slogan “Parlons régions” [Let’s talk about regions] but had no urban equivalent for the metropolis. More critically, the parties felt compelled to appeal to voters in the regions by positioning themselves in opposition to the cities. The most glaring instance came during the French leaders’ debate, when Prime Minister Stephen Harper castigated Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff over his promise to build a new Champlain Bridge. “I would not take Mr. Ignatieff’s approach and divert money from the regions to finance infrastructure for Montreal,” Harper said. The Liberals were not much better. They pledged to develop a plan for public transportation but never specified what it would look like. They promised support for social housing but said they would take the money out of funds for urban infrastructure. The reason for this is not rocket science. With the big-city vote so thoroughly predictable, the parties focus on rural areas or the suburbs where they believe their policies might swing votes. They rarely target the city centres. At the provincial level, the situation is pretty much the same. In fact, the Quebec government was able to relieve Montreal of its “metropolis” title and its dedicated ministry nearly 10 years ago without raising eyebrows. Thus Montreal became just one “region” among all the rest: Administrative Region 06. In the 2012 election in Quebec, Montreal did move up a notch. There was more discussion about the city. But since then, unfortunately, good intentions have been replaced by a charter of Quebec values, which has been broadly criticized in Montreal. Imposing it confirms the implicit trusteeship under which the government rules the metropolis. But even more than urban centres elsewhere in the country, Quebec’s parties have limited reason to take an interest in the city. Montreal is either politically safe (for the provincial Liberals) or a lost cause (for the Parti Québécois). In short, Quebec is no different from other Canadian provinces in treating its major city like a big village that must be attended to, certainly, but not more than any other municipality. The cost of showing the city favour is to risk losing precious votes in rural areas. But major cities are no longer the same municipalities they were in the past. Today, Montreal and Toronto are expected to compete with Paris and New York. They are expected to attract and hold onto businesses, court foreign creative talent, draw more private investment and deliver more and more services to residents, from social housing to public transportation. Providing support services for recent immigrants, developing the knowledge-based economy, building social housing, dealing with antigovernment demonstrations and adapting to climate change are all responsibilities that now fall to cities. They are nothing like the urban “creatures” of the 19th century. Lucien Bouchard could not have been more clear when he said in his 1996 inauguration speech after being elected premier: “There can be no economic recovery in Quebec without a recovery in Quebec’s metropolis.” For once, it appeared the government of Quebec was going to recognize Montreal’s special character and grant it preferential treatment. “The complexity of the city’s problems calls for special treatment and even, I would say, for the creation of a specific metropolitan authority,” Bouchard continued. It seemed as if he was about to usher in an exciting new era. There was now a minister responsible for “the metropolis.” A development commission was set up for the Montreal metropolitan area and it was to be invested with significant powers. A true decentralization of power was in the offing. An economic development agency, Montréal International, was created at this time, as was the Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT). But just when it appeared Montreal was going to receive special attention and treatment, the government’s old habits returned with a vengeance. Like a parent who has given too much to one child, the Quebec government decided to restore the balance by giving to the regions with its left hand what it had given Montreal with its right. A local and regional development support policy was introduced in 1997. Then the Ministry of Regions was created and local development centres set up. A few months later, they added government measures for the province’s three metropolitan areas and then, finally, measures for all urban areas. “The reforms demonstrate, once again, the government’s efforts to address Montreal’s specificity without neglecting the needs of the rest of Quebec,” political scientist Mariona Tomàs explained in her fine book Penser métropolitain? But the result was a government policy similar to the previous ones, an across-the-board approach based on a view of Quebec as a collection of communities, rather than a province organized around its main economic hub. “The government’s desire to maintain a territorial balance can be seen in the powers of metropolitan structures,” Tomàs observed. “The law provided the same types of powers for all the urban communities created in 1969, and then for all the metropolitan communities in 2000.” Giving the rural Outaouais region the same powers as Greater Montreal reduces the latter to just one region among many. To this way of political thinking, the metropolis must not be allowed to overshadow any other town, must not be given too much. It cannot receive more attention than others, and cannot be elevated above any other. Canada’s “hub cities,” those few major urban centres like Montreal, are the drivers of economic activity in the country. That was the conclusion of a recent Conference Board study, which pointed to the collateral benefits of a thriving metropolis. It found that strong growth in metropolitan areas spurs growth in neighbouring communities and then in the whole province. But how can Montreal play its role as an economic driver if it is not treated as such? We need only look outside the country to be convinced that we need to roll out the red carpet for the metropolis: to the United States, where big cities have the attention of the country’s leaders; to Asia, where the treatment of major centres sometimes borders on obsessiveness; or even to France, a country that, like Quebec, is marked by a deep divide between “the metropolis” and “the provinces.” France provided a telling illustration of this awareness in early 2013, a few months after François Hollande’s Socialist government took office. Although France was in dire straits, burdened by crushing public debt and being forced to reconsider the fate of its precious social programs, Hollande did not think twice about launching a project of heroic proportions to relieve congestion in Paris. The price tag: the equivalent of $35 billion for a brand new “super metro,” plus $10 billion to extend and upgrade the existing system. Was this completely crazy? On the contrary. Hollande was being logical and visionary. France understands the importance of investing in its metropolis. This is a country that is ready to look after its towns and villages, while not being afraid to give Paris preferential treatment. “A strong Paris is in the interest of the provinces,” commented L’Express magazine in March 2013. Quite so. The article notes, for example, that much of the income generated in Paris is actually spent in the rest of the country. All financial roads — tourism, commuting for work, national redistribution, whatever — all lead to Paris, with benefits to the provinces. L’Express cites the case of Eurodisney to illustrate. Disney had hesitated before settling on building its amusement park in Paris — not between contending French cities, but between Paris and Barcelona. Herein lie the value and importance for the entire country of having a strong metropolis. “Weakening Paris would slow France’s locomotive,” argued L’Express. “And in a train, the cars seldom move faster than the locomotive.” Clearly, what Montreal needs is special treatment, more autonomy and more diverse sources of revenue. In short, it needs a premier who will stand on the balcony of City Hall and proclaim: “Vive Montréal! Vive Montréal libre!” Worryingly, the current state of affairs in Montreal — the revelations and insinuations of political corruption and collusion — is prompting many observers to call for the Quebec government to take the opposite tack and tighten the city’s reins. According to this view, more provincial government involvement is needed to check the city’s propensity for vice. But in fact the only way to make the city more responsible and more accountable is to give it greater power, wider latitude and more money. Montreal’s problem is that it has all the attributes of a metropolis but is treated as an ordinary municipality, subservient to the big boss, the provincial government. Its masters are the minister of municipal affairs, the minister’s colleagues at other departments involved in the city’s affairs and, of course, the premier. Montreal is under implicit trusteeship. This encourages, even promotes a lack of accountability on the part of the municipal administration, which is only half in charge. “It’s not complicated: Montreal is currently a no man’s land of accountability,” says Denis Saint-Martin, political science professor at the Université de Montréal. “There is a political and organizational immaturity problem, which explains the political irresponsibility we have seen in recent years. Montreal needs more power, not less. Montreal needs to be more accountable, more answerable.” Essentially, the metropolis needs to be treated like one, with the powers and revenues that go along with city status. Montreal is a beggar riding in a limousine. Invariably, after a municipal election, the incoming mayor announces a wish list and then gets the chauffeur to drive him up provincial Highway 20 to Quebec City to knock on the provincial government’s door with outstretched hands, hoping for a little largesse. Montreal’s mayor has to beg because the past offloading of responsibilities for delivering services to citizens onto the municipality has not been accompanied by new money. “In Quebec, the province is responsible for much of the regulatory apparatus under which cities operate, which the cities feel restricts their autonomy,” said political scientist Laurence Bherer in 2004, speaking at the 50th anniversary of the Université Laval political science department. “And far from decreasing in recent years, provincial intervention has spread to a variety of areas such as the environment and public security, further relegating the cities to the role of operative rather than architect.” It is unacceptable for the provincial government to be the “operator” of a metropolis. That is why municipalities are rightfully seeking greater autonomy and greater freedom of action from their provincial masters. This is what is starting to happen in other provinces: in Alberta, with its Municipal Government Act, with British Columbia’s Community Charter and especially in Ontario, with the City of Toronto Act, which reads in part: “The [Ontario Legislative] Assembly recognizes that the City of Toronto, as Ontario’s capital city, is an economic engine of Ontario and of Canada.” The Ontario government appears to understand the special role Toronto plays in the wider economy. The City of Toronto Act goes on to say, “The Assembly recognizes that the City plays an important role in creating and supporting economic prosperity and a high quality of life for the people of Ontario [and] that the City is a government that is capable of exercising its powers in a responsible and accountable fashion.” Quebec’s largest city deserves similar treatment: strict accountability in exchange for recognition of its status as an autonomous government and the ability to tap more diverse sources of revenue. Indeed the main reason Montreal is regularly forced to pass the hat in Quebec City is its heavy dependence on property taxes for its income. As a creature of the province, it still operates under the good-old British tax model that sees it derive the bulk of its revenues — 67 percent — from property taxes. This was not a problem a hundred years ago, when Montreal provided only property services to its residents. But its responsibilities have expanded. The standards imposed by Quebec City have proliferated, and the portion of the budget allocated for services to individuals has grown considerably. Yet its tax base remains just as dependent on a single sector: real estate. This situation has a huge drawback. The City does not share the economic benefits that it generates. It might well pour money into the Formula One Grand Prix and summer festivals, invest in attracting conventions and tourists, renovate public spaces to make the urban environment more attractive and friendly. But it will get not a penny back. On the contrary: these investments only increase the city’s expenses in maintenance, security and infrastructure, while the federal and provincial governments reap the sales taxes. Take the city’s jazz festival. Montreal has to pay for security, site maintenance, public transportation to bring visitors to the site, and must deal with the event’s impact on traffic. In return, it gets happy festival-goers and tourists who spend money, stay at hotels, eat at restaurants — and fill provincial and federal coffers with sales tax revenues. They enrich the governments in Quebec City and in Ottawa, but not Montreal, which picks up the tab for the costs. The result is that the hole into which large cities are quietly sinking gets deeper. Big-city economies are dematerializing. The knowledge-based economy, in which Montreal shines, is based on innovation, research and brains, not factories. But for now, grey matter is not subject to property tax. Add to the mix an aging population with more modest housing needs, the increase in teleworking, self-employment and e-commerce, and you have a Montreal that is not only under implicit administrative trusteeship but also in an increasingly precarious financial position. And then people wonder why our metropolis is not playing the role it should be playing. another region. Quebec’s economic hub deserves better.

Any guesses on what will become of the Royal Vic once the MUHC moves to the Glen Campus? http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2013/03/07/condos-parkland-hogwarts-castle-recycling-the-royal-victoria-hospital-one-idea-at-a-time/ http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2013/03/05/whats-next-for-the-royal-victoria-hospital-who-decides/ http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2013/03/11/royal-victoria-hotel-dieu-mount-royal-montrealers-must-demand-a-say/ http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Railway+baron+family+wants+maintain+spirit+Royal+site/8053827/story.html http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2013/03/04/mount-royal-after-the-royal-vic-what-do-you-want-for-your-mountain/ It's actually patently ridiculous that this facility is still being used as a hospital, that would be like using a Ford Model T as an ambulance in 2013. Converting to condo is probably out of the question too given the extraordinary cost and the terrible layouts that it would yield. My guess is that the city, the provincial government nor McGill will want to pay for refurbishment or upkeep and it will become a dilapidated eyesore because Heritage Montreal and the like will oppose anything and no one will dare touch it!! *my apologies if this thread already exists anywhere or belongs to another category

Quebec vows to fight national securities plan RHEAL SEGUIN Globe and Mail Update September 18, 2008 at 4:11 PM EDT For the second consecutive day, the Quebec government waded into the federal election campaign against Conservative policies, lashing-out today at the Harper government's proposal to create a national securities commission. Quebec Finance Minister Monique Jérôme-Forget warned that in the event of a majority Conservative government in Ottawa bent on creating a national securities commission, all provinces and territories except Ontario will fight the decision right-up to the Supreme Court of Canada. The confrontation, she predicted, would disrupt markets and create havoc for investors. “The protection of investors is a provincial jurisdiction,” she said. “I suspect they (a Harper government) are going to come-up with legislation. They are going to implement such a securities commission. We are going to appeal. We're going to go as high as the Supreme Court. There's going to be disruption in the market.” The Minister added that Canada's financial leaders underestimate the impact if Ottawa moves to unilaterally impose changes without provincial consent. Ontario remained the only province to support the federal initiative. All the others propose to harmonize regulations through what they call a “passport” system, where companies can file a prospectus for approval in one province or territory and have it automatically accepted by all the others. There are currently 13 provincial and territorial securities commission. She predicts that a national securities commission will only create another layer of bureaucracy by adding a 14th commission, creating confusion for investors. “People won't know where to go. The market will want to know who's in charge. There will be a court challenge right up to the Supreme Court because the provinces argue is their jurisdiction,” Ms. Jérôme-Forget said. “Quebec isn't alone. You have British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, the Atlantic provinces. They are all on side.” Improvements to the current system are needed, she added, such as finding ways to accommodate restrictions imposed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In the past, that has created obstacles for prosecutors who want to use confidential information held by regulator bodies in pursuing criminal cases such as fraud. “We don't want to change the Charter but we have to find ways to share the information,” she said. Backed by two international studies, the Minister argued that Canada's current securities regulations are among the best in the world and that there was no need to change the system. The comments came at the conclusion of a federal-provincial meeting of ministers responsible for their respective securities commissions. Her charge against the Harper government's intrusion in a provincial jurisdiction comes on the heels of severe criticism by Quebec this week against other Conservative policies. On Wednesday, Cultural and Communications Minister Christine St-Pierre scoffed at federal Heritage Minister Josée Verner's suggestion that if Quebec wanted more funding for culture it should use its own money. “We've increased budgets (for culture) by 25 per cent. We're already doing our share,” Ms. St-Pierre said in referring to the $45-million in federal cutback in programs including those aimed at promoting Canadian and Quebec culture abroad. The cutbacks sparked widespread criticism from Quebec's cultural community including world renowned theatre artist Robert Lepage, who said the Harper government was discouraging home grown artists from seeking prominence abroad by locking them into a “cultural prison.” Ms. Jérôme-Forget also challenged the Conservative party's claim that it has fixed the fiscal imbalance between Ottawa and the provinces, especially after signing a multi-billion agreement for infrastructure projects. “Obviously for me it's not enough. Post-education (money) for all provinces has not been settled. ” Ms Jérôme-Forget said. “There was a great move done by Mr. Harper….but for post secondary education there is still room to manoeuvre.” Despite mounting tensions over a growing number of issues, the Quebec government stopped short of calling Mr. Harper's vision of open federalism a failure. “The objective of federalism isn't to say: ‘If I don't get everything, I'll slam the door.' You have to build alliances and on occasion force your position and try to influence others. It's normal to have differences,” she said.

Hydro-Quebec and NB Power : Power talks continue Last Updated: Thursday, October 22, 2009 | 8:54 PM AT CBC News Opposition Leader David Alward says Premier Shawn Graham has a responsibility to be clear to New Brunswickers.Opposition Leader David Alward says Premier Shawn Graham has a responsibility to be clear to New Brunswickers. (CBC)New Brunswick Opposition Leader David Alward is calling on Premier Shawn Graham to clear the air about the future of NB Power and say whether it is for sale. Alward said he's been hearing speculation that Hydro-Québec, the provincial energy utility, wants to buy NB Power, a provincial Crown corporation. "It's important at this time that the premier be transparent, be open to New Brunswickers," he said. "If these are just rumours, if this isn't true, then he has the opportunity to tell New Brunswickers. He has the responsibility. If they are true, he has a responsibility to tell New Brunswickers what's going on." Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams told CBC News he has also heard rumours about a possible deal between NB Power and Hydro-Québec. In a statement Thursday, his communications director, Elizabeth Matthews, said Williams "can't imagine the people of New Brunswick would allow their government to sell their energy asset and put that power into someone else's hands." Graham began discussions with Quebec Premier Jean Charest last summer about energy issues, including possible relationships between Hydro-Québec and NB Power. Those talks spawned rumours that NB Power would be sold to Hydro-Québec. Late Thursday, Graham's office issued a statement that neither confirms nor denies those rumours. "We're having a variety of conversations with Quebec, but they have not concluded," said Graham's communications director, Jordan O'Brien. "It's not in anybody's interest to talk about a possible outcome." NB Power has been owned by the province since 1920. In the last provincial election, Graham promised to keep it as a publicly owned utility. ________________________________________________________________ N.L. premier watching N.B., Quebec energy talks Fri Oct 23, 7:06 AM Reports that have been circulating in New Brunswick about the possible sale of that province's energy utility have the attention of the premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. In a statement Thursday, Danny Williams's communications director, Elizabeth Matthews, said the premier "can't imagine the people of New Brunswick would allow their government to sell their energy asset and put that power into someone else's hands." The rumours say that New Brunswick is on the verge of a deal to sell its utility NB Power to Hydro-Québec. New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham isn't commenting. But the province's Progressive Conservative Leader David Alward is calling on Graham to clear the air about the future of NB Power and say whether it is for sale. Alward said he's been hearing speculation that Hydro-Québec, the provincial energy utility, wants to buy NB Power, a provincial Crown corporation. "It's important at this time that the premier be transparent, be open to New Brunswickers," he said. "If these are just rumours, if this isn't true, then he has the opportunity to tell New Brunswickers. He has the responsibility. If they are true, he has a responsibility to tell New Brunswickers what's going on." Graham began discussions with Quebec Premier Jean Charest last summer about energy issues, including possible relationships between Hydro-Québec and NB Power. Those talks spawned the rumours that NB Power would be sold to Hydro-Québec. Late Thursday, Graham's office issued a statement that neither confirms nor denies the possibility. "We're having a variety of conversations with Quebec, but they have not concluded," said Graham's communications director, Jordan O'Brien. "It's not in anybody's interest to talk about a possible outcome." NB Power has been owned by the province since 1920. In the last provincial election, Graham promised to keep it as a publicly owned utility. À lire les commentaires sur le site de la CBC, je crois que les gens du NB sont en désaccords, bref du bon vieux Quebec-bashing comme on l'aime. Ceci est très divertissant par contre. Enfin, de dire que le Canada n'est pas vraiment divisé en deux solitudes indifférentes tient purement du délire.

De l'exode en douce? Publié le 31 décembre 2009 à 06h08 | Mis à jour le 31 décembre 2009 à 06h10 Michel Girard La Presse (Montréal) Avez-vous une idée du nombre de hauts salariés qui déménagent en Ontario afin de réduire l'impact fiscal de la voracité de Revenu Québec? me demande Jean-Claude. «Un de mes amis vient tout juste de voter avec ses pieds et demeure maintenant à Ottawa. Lui et son épouse gagnent ensemble environ 300 000$ par année. Juste en impôt économisé, ils remboursent leur hypothèque.» Avis aux contribuables mécontents de la lourdeur fiscale québécoise. Avant de passer à l'acte et d'appeler le déménageur, je vous invite à bien peser le pour et le contre d'un tel déménagement. Oui, la facture fiscale ontarienne est moins élevée. Et l'écart se creuse dès le palier d'un revenu imposable d'à peine 18 000$. Pour comparer des pommes avec des pommes, mieux vaut se baser sur la note totale des impôts fédéral et provincial à payer. Comme l'impôt fédéral est identique d'une province à l'autre, l'écart ci-après vous permettra d'évaluer à sa juste mesure le poids de la facture de l'impôt québécois. Les données fiscales proviennent de la firme Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton. Elles tiennent compte des crédits personnels de base, du taux d'indexation, de l'abattement provincial de l'impôt fédéral. Pour divers paliers de revenu imposable, voici les écarts constatés pour l'année fiscale 2009. À la lumière du tableau, on constate que le Québécois paye un onéreux supplément d'impôt par rapport à l'Ontarien. Mince consolation: la situation était nettement pire avant l'arrivée au pouvoir de Jean Charest. Depuis son entrée à l'Assemblée nationale en 2003, le gouvernement Charest a allégé la fiscalité des Québécois de quelque 5,4 milliards. Les grandes initiatives fiscales se résument comme suit: réduction générale des impôts de 950 millions, indexation des tables d'impôt et des mesures fiscales (1,9 milliard), déduction pour les travailleurs (588 millions), soutien aux enfants (547 millions), prime au travail (304 millions), et autres mesures fiscales pour personnes âgées. Malgré cet allègement global de 5,4 milliards, les contribuables québécois payent collectivement encore quelque 2,7 milliards de plus d'impôt provincial que les Ontariens. C'est ce qu'affirmait le gouvernement Charest lors de la présentation de son dernier budget. En plus d'appliquer une structure de taxation comparable, l'évaluation du fardeau fiscale entre le Québec et l'Ontario tenait compte des «contributions-santé» et des mesures d'aide aux familles, de l'abattement fédéral, etc. Maintenant, lorsqu'on gagne un revenu élevé, est-ce une raison suffisante de déménager ses pénates en Ontario pour une simple question de fardeau fiscal? Tiens, revenons à notre couple de Québécois qui a déménagé à Ottawa. Il gagne un revenu de 300 000$. Supposons que ce revenu est divisé en parts égales de 150 000$, cela signifie qu'ils économiseront en 2009 quelque 11 230$ d'impôt provincial par rapport au Québec. Le prix moyen des propriétés étant plus élevé à Ottawa, il en coûte plus cher de s'y loger. Ce qui grugera le portefeuille de 1500$ à 4000$, selon le type d'habitation choisi. Habiter Toronto coûte encore plus cher... Et c'est pire à Vancouver. Quoi qu'il en soit, si on a de l'attachement pour le Québec et sa culture unique en Amérique du Nord, il me semble que ça vaut bien les quelques milliers de dollars de plus d'impôt! BONNE ANNÉE 2010!

Moins de projets au Québec Mise à jour le lundi 2 novembre 2009 à 16 h 53 L'argent du plan de relance du gouvernement fédéral destiné au Québec tarde à arriver, alors que d'autres provinces reçoivent leur part, indique une analyse menée par la Presse canadienne. L'agence de presse s'est basée sur les informations disponibles sur la « carte des projets » du site Internet officiel du plan d'action économique du Canada en date du 25 octobre. Elle a ainsi recensé 4833 projets au pays. Deuxième province en terme de population, le Québec reçoit moins de 10 % de ces projets, soit moins de 300. L'Ontario en a plus de 2500, tandis que l'Alberta et la Colombie-Britannique en ont plus de 300 chacune. Le Bureau du Conseil privé, qui gère les données apparaissant sur le site Internet du plan de relance d'Ottawa, n'a pas été en mesure de confirmer que tous les projets fédéraux annoncés au Québec avaient été inscrits dans la carte des projets, note toutefois La Presse canadienne. Des sommes qui mettent du temps à arriver Interrogés par l'agence, tant la Fédération québécoise des municipalités (FQM) que l'Union des municipalités du Québec (UMQ) reconnaissent que l'argent tarde à arriver. Il y a eu beaucoup d'annonces, mais le travail semble de plus en plus problématique. Il a fallu tellement de temps pour conclure les ententes. — Bernard Généreux, président de la Fédération québécoise des municipalités M. Généreux estime que le gouvernement provincial ne veut pas que le gouvernement fédéral s'immisce trop dans les affaires municipales, qui sont de compétence provinciale. La plupart des fonds du plan de relance du gouvernement fédéral requièrent une entente et une participation pécuniaire égale de la part des gouvernements provincial et municipal. Un délai supplémentaire demandé Le Québec a obtenu près de 1 milliard de dollars d'Ottawa pour le Fonds de stimulation de l'infrastructure, qui s'élève à 4 milliards. Mais, à titre d'exemple, 30 % des sommes destinées au Programme de renouvellement des conduites d'eau potable et d'eaux usées (PRECO) ont été allouées à des projets spécifiques, rapporte La Presse canadienne. Le programme a été mis sur pied en mars dernier. Tant la FQM que l'UMQ veulent qu'Ottawa accorde davantage que les deux ans qu'il a fixés pour engager toutes les sommes allouées en vertu du plan de relance de l'économie. « Nous ne voulons pas être pénalisés au bout de deux ans » parce que l'argent prévu dans le programme tardait à arriver sur le terrain, a fait valoir Jasmin Savard, analyste à l'UMQ.

Le ministre des Finances du Manitoba dépose le 10e budget du gouvernement de Gary Doer sur fond de crise économique. L'équilibre budgétaire est toutefois maintenu. Pour en lire plus...

Le ministre des Finances de la Saskatchewan, Rob Gantefoer, dépose un budget provincial équilibré. Pour en lire plus...

Time to protect the 'green lace doily' of Montreal, environmentalists say Coalition is pressing Quebec to create a provincial park joining endangered lands MICHELLE LALONDE, The Gazette Published: 10 hours ago Environmental groups across southwestern Quebec are ratcheting up the pressure on the Quebec government to create a new kind of provincial park to stop the rapid destruction of forests, wetlands, islands and other natural spaces around Montreal. Fifty-five groups have united behind the innovative project to create the Montreal Archipelago Ecological Park, Montreal's answer to the "green belts" other Canadian cities have established to stop urban sprawl, combat climate change and preserve nearby natural green space. "We don't call it a green belt, though, it's more like a green lace doily," said David Fletcher, a spokesperson for the new coalition calling itself Partners for the Montreal Archipelago Ecological Park. The ship has sailed long ago on creating a true green belt around Montreal, since the island is surrounded by rapidly growing suburbs. But environmental groups say it would be possible for the province to legislate as protected the remaining forests, shorelines, wetlands and other natural spaces on Montreal Island and Laval's Île Jésus, as well as a number of undeveloped islands in the region. The groups want to see this "green doily" of remaining natural lands protected with the same status as a provincial park, or what the Quebec government refers to as a national park. The government has made repeated international commitments to protect at least eight per cent of its territory, ensuring that the protected areas reflect the biological diversity of the province. While the government has recently created some new conservation areas in northern Quebec, Fletcher says nothing is being done to protect southwestern Quebec, an ecologically rich domain that biodiversity experts refer to as the sugar maple bitternut hickory bioclimatic domain. Less than four per cent of this domain, which stretches from the lower Laurentians to the U.S. border, is protected from development. "The tough job that needs to be done is down here, where half the people of Quebec live, and this is is simply being ignored." Although former Liberal environment minister Thomas Mulcair had expressed enthusiasm for the park project, current minister Line Beauchamp has been at best lukewarm. In a recent letter to the project's proponents, responding to their request for support, an Environment Department official suggested the protection of these lands is a municipal and regional responsibility. "I share your concerns about the protection of biodiversity in southern Quebec, where we find a great richness of species and ecosystems, both land-based and aquatic," wrote Patrick Beauchesne, director of ecological heritage and parks in the Environment Department. But Beauchesne went on to suggest that municipalities are responsible for zoning of privately owned urban land, and did not offer support. Fletcher said his group is determined to take the debate to the National Assembly. Members of his group met last week with Mulcair, now an NDP member of Parliament, and with Parti Québécois environment critic Camil Bouchard. "The political establishment has to get behind this project," Fletcher said. "Quebec has (biodiversity) commitments that are international. ... Now it's time to move from statements of principle to action." mlalonde@ thegazette.canwest.com

Prosperity gap to widen, Conference Board says Growth in Quebec expected to hit 1.4% DAVID AKIN, Canwest News Service Published: 8 hours ago Booming Saskatchewan will lead all provinces in economic growth this year, while Ontario and Quebec will suffer through a difficult year, said forecasters at the Conference Board of Canada. The widening prosperity gap between the West and those in central and eastern Canada presents federal policy-makers with some unique challenges. The West may need policies that slow growth and curb inflation, while central Canada has few inflationary worries but needs some economic stimulus to encourage growth. In its semi-annual provincial outlook, the Conference Board says Saskatchewan's economy is booming thanks to surging commodity prices, particularly oil and potash, and as a result, the provincial economy there will grow by 4.2 per cent this year. In fact, the Conference Board said workers are leaving Alberta and heading to Saskatchewan to make their fortune. The report says that, as a result, retailers in Canada's flattest province may be in for a particularly good year. "The positive labour outlook, combined with lofty wage gains, is spurring a spending spree. Retail sales are expected to soar by 12.2 per cent in 2008," it said. Meanwhile, in Quebec, things will be a bit better this year, where growth of 1.4 per cent is expected. "Since the middle of 2007, the Quebec economy has been at a near standstill. The weakness in the manufacturing sector has eroded economic gains made in other industries,' the report said. Next door in Ontario, where manufacturers had particular trouble coping with the one-two punch of a fast-rising loonie and skyrocketing energy prices, economic growth will be just 0.8 per cent, the Conference Board said. Only Newfoundland and Labrador will see slower economic growth than Ontario this year. After a stellar year in 2007 with double-digit economic growth, the Conference Board said the pace in Canada's most eastern province is stalled. It predicts growth there of just 0.2 per cent this year. Overall, the Conference Board believes Canada's economy will grow by 1.7 per cent. The forecasters at the independent think-tank are much more optimistic than the Bank of Canada, which said last month it believes Canada's economy will grow by one per cent.

New statistics from Citizenship and Immigration Canada suggests that mid-sized cities are beginning to attract an increasing number of immigrants due in large part to shifting economic and employment prospects. Government initiatives such as the provincial nominee program that allows provinces to select immigrants to fill specific labour needs; and the development of tools that help smaller centres draw and retain immigrants are some of the reasons attributed to his recent shift. In addition, a booming economy in Western Canada has lead to a surge of newcomers migrating to more rural areas thanks to the provincial nominee and family nominee programs enacted by the Government. The figures show the number of immigrants taking up residence in Toronto dropped to 87,136 last year from 99,293 a year earlier, a decline of roughly 12 per cent, while the number coming to Vancouver slipped to 32,920 from 36,273, a drop of just over nine per cent. Montreal was up slightly to 38,710 from 38,391. Meanwhile, Charlottetown was up 73 per cent to 801, Moncton 31 per cent to 343, Saskatoon 40 per cent to 1,618, Winnipeg 10 per cent to 8,472 and Red Deer 93 per cent to 567. It was a mixed picture in British Columbia's smaller centres, with gains in Kelowna, Chilliwack, Nanaimo and Victoria and declines in Kamloops, Abbotsford and Prince George. Despite these facts the preferred destination for the vast majority of immigrants are the larger cities, with 67 per cent of newcomers calling them home. The main reason for this is that larger cities tend to offer an established community of family and friends and a greater number of economic opportunities -- either low-skilled jobs that require few language skills or businesses that cater to particular ethnic groups. Interestingly, studies have shown that immigrants who settle in larger cities experience labour market advantages over those who settle in smaller cities and they can earn substantially more. Nevertheless, immigrants have begun to appreciate the advantages of living in a smaller city, away from the congestion, pollution, noise and stress of the big city. Many newcomers enjoy the smaller cities precisely because they are so different from the chaos, traffic and pollution of large cities. If you are interested in Visas to Canada, contact Migration Expert for information and advice on which visa is best suited to you. You can also try our visa eligibility assessment to see if you are eligible to apply for a visa to Canada. http://www.migrationexpert.com/Canada/visa/canadian_immigration_news/2008/Aug/0/538/Immigrants_Flocking_to_Canada's_Smaller_Cities_Where_Job_Growth_is_Strongest

Ontario: the Province that thinks it's Canada Amid regional grievances, McGuinty fights for a fair share of taxpayers' dollars MURRAY CAMPBELL From Saturday's Globe and Mail August 2, 2008 at 12:00 AM EDT Dalton McGuinty was doing a favour for reporters afflicted with summer-brain stupor. “Here's the news,” the Ontario Premier said, helpfully, after a speech late last month. “Ontarians are coming together to more effectively assert themselves in the face of an unfairness caused by the financial arrangements between us and Ottawa.” Indeed, it would be news if this coming-together was actually happening, and it would be momentous given the suggestion by the federal government this week that it is prepared to shift some economic powers to the provinces. But the residents of Canada's most populous province do not have an unbroken history of rising up as one to take on the federal government. Ontario is not Alberta, and the philosophy that provincial rights should be paramount has always had to compete with a powerful sense that Canada comes first. Mr. McGuinty embodies this duality. For more than three years, he has wasted few opportunities to make his claim that Ontario is being treated unfairly in Confederation because it receives, by the latest estimate, about $20-billion less in services from federal government than its taxpayers remit to Ottawa. He criticizes the federal equalization program – financed predominantly by Ontario taxpayers – for redistributing money to provinces that are more prosperous than his. He takes issue with health and other transfer payments that are less generous than those given to other provinces. And he asks why an unemployed worker in Ontario is treated more severely than in the rest of the country and why the Harper government wants to leave the province under-represented in the Commons. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty gestures during his public lecture 'Ontario's Place in the 21st century' at the London School of Economics and Political Science in London, Monday, May 19, 2008. Hanging over all this is the feeling in Ontario that the 1988 U.S. free-trade pact broke the bargain of Confederation in which Canadians bought their manufactured goods from Ontario in return for a recycling of some of its wealth through programs such as equalization. The Premier is always careful to say that he is a proud Canadian and that he understands his province has been blessed by geography and circumstances that give it a responsibility to share its wealth. But the Premier's sustained effort – reflected in his website fairness.ca – suggests a growing sense of regionalism in Ontario. “My friends, it is time to stand up for our province, time to stand up for Ontario,” he said in his speech last month to the Chamber of Commerce in London, Ont. He suggested that lessons could be learned from other provinces that have gone mano-a-mano with federal administrations although he shied away from emulating Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams, who stormed out of one federal-provincial meeting in protest and then removed Canadian flags from provincial buildings. Ontarians who realize that Newfoundland has a much larger per-capita income than Ontario, thanks in part to $477-million in equalization payments this year may wish their Premier to be as aggressive. But while his tactics may be lower-key, Mr. McGuinty isn't going away. “It's becoming more and more urgent, and there's a continuing need to speak about it, because there hasn't been an appetite at the federal level to really engage in fixing the system,” said an official in the Premier's office. The question is whether Ontarians are likely to respond to his appeal or whether circumstances will transform Ontario into a province with a profound regional grievance. The trend line of estrangement from Ottawa suggests it is possible, but this has to be countered by the strong identification with Canada that Ontario residents have always shown. Mr. McGuinty recognizes other provinces will resent Ontario throwing its weight around. “There is a lazy caricature that is convenient for people, which people can resort to, which is that we're being greedy, we're being uncharitable, we're being un-Canadian,” he told the editorial board of The Globe and Mail in 2006. He also knows that talk of regionalism makes his voters uncomfortable. He is fond of comparing the province's role in Confederation to his own situation growing up as the eldest of 10 children. “My responsibility in the eyes of my parents could be summed up in one word: compliance,” he said in London. “Just be quiet and set a good example. Maybe there is a little bit of that to us here in Ontario.” Neither analysis deals completely with Ontario's complex, shifting history. The province had a very strong sense of identity right from the formation of Canada in 1867 but it also was proud that one of its own, John A. Macdonald, was its first prime minister. And Ontario was conscious that it owed its growing prosperity to the high-tariff walls erected as part of Macdonald's National Policy that sustained its manufacturing industries. But, as historian Randall White notes, long-serving premier Oliver Mowat (1872-1896) battled Macdonald for control of provincial resources (earning the nickname “the little tyrant”) and, later, both Howard Ferguson and Mitch Hepburn fought pitched battles with Ottawa over federal encroachment on provincial jurisdiction. Prevailing attitudes changed during the Second World War, which transformed Canada into a modern industrial state with Ontario at its centre. The postwar province was so diversified economically that it was touched by almost every federal policy. As Queen's University political economist Thomas Courchene has noted, “national policy had frequently had little choice but to be cast in a pro-Ontario light.” Leslie Frost believed that political relations had to reflect these economic ties. When he became Ontario's premier in 1949, he set about building a co-operative relationship with Ottawa. The province surrendered much of its taxing authority and agreed to the equalization scheme that vexes Mr. McGuinty. During Mr. Frost's 12 years in office, the old confrontations died away and the modern notion of Ontario as a helpful saviour of Confederation – exemplified by John Robarts' Confederation of Tomorrow conference in 1967 – took hold. So complete was this subsuming of Ontario's regional identity that historian Arthur Lower concluded in 1968 that the province had little collective will and asked in an article: “Does Ontario exist?” No one laughed and, indeed, historian Peter Oliver questioned seven years later why “anyone would attempt to write the history of a region which isn't.” Ontario was firmly by the federal government's side during the energy battles of the 1970s, supporting Ottawa's move, through the National Energy Program, to gain a larger share of Alberta's oil revenues. And Ontario forsook its old alliances with Quebec to side with the Trudeau government's push to patriate the Constitution and enact the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The MPs that Ontarians send to Ottawa are still more likely to represent the federal argument to Ontario than vice versa – Mr. McGuinty has found few allies in any federal government caucus – but MPPs at Queen's Park began to fall out of step in the 1980s. The Peterson government was impatient with Brian Mulroney's agenda of fiscal restraint and free trade. In particular, Ontario saw the free-trade pact with the United States – the end of the old National Policy – as evidence that Ottawa was promoting the rest of Canada at its expense. By the early 1990s, Bob Rae concluded that the country seemed to be “based on the premise that everyone else could speak ill of Ontario and that this inherently wealthy place would continue to bankroll Canada.” In a 1993 speech, he described Ontario as “the part of Canada that dare not speak its name.” Mr. McGuinty owes much to Mr. Rae's decision to engage a consulting firm to draft a cost-benefit analysis to buttress his belief that the structure of Confederation in the wake of the free-trade deal and cuts in transfer payments neglected Ontario. Mr. Rae's “fair shares federalism” argument is the precursor of the current premier's “fairness” campaign. Mr. Harris agreed that the structure of Confederation served Ontario ill. He, too, fought the federal government (often along with other premiers) on everything from employment insurance to the Kyoto greenhouse-gas protocol. But the federal government at the time was preoccupied with Quebec, after the wake of the 1995 referendum that narrowly kept that province in the country. The federal Liberals' stranglehold on Ontario gave Mr. Harris's Progressive Conservative government no allies on Parliament Hill and Ontario's fundamental objections remained. Mr. McGuinty has earned some concessions in the past three years but the broad-ranging reform of fiscal relations he is seeking eludes him. His efforts seem to resonate with voters who find the notion of a $20-billion “gap” easy to comprehend. One opinion poll earlier this year gave him two-to-one support over federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in their war of words over Ontario's economic strategy. But will 13 million Ontarians find a will to act collectively and heed their Premier's call to arms? Mr. White concedes only that the province “is gradually recovering some sense of a regional identity it lost after the Second World War.” Mr. Courchene, too, is careful about predicting the future. “They're thinking of themselves as meriting better treatment from the federal government,” he said. “Does that make them a region? I don't know.” Certainly not in the way that Quebec is distinctive or the West feels it has been victimized by Bay Street and the NEP. It is also hard to define Ontario: The northwest feels closer to Manitoba and there is little identification with Toronto in the eastern part of the province. In addition, immigrants – and Ontario has been getting 125,000 or more a year – have only to look at their new passports to discern their allegiance. But circumstances may yet push Ontario into regional belligerence as the belief grows that the equalization program is unsustainable. Its taxpayers contribute 40 per cent of the cost of the scheme – $13.6-billion now, and growing by leaps and bounds – and this burden rises every year whether its economy grows or not. Conversely, while Alberta's oil revenues are part of the equation that determines payouts, the revenues themselves are off limits to the federal treasury. Mr. Courchene calculates that, partly as a result of this scheme, Ontario's per-capita revenues trail every other province. The prediction that Ontario will soon become a have-not province and qualify for payments that, absurdly, are largely funded by its own taxpayers casts a harsh light on the scheme's shortcomings. Mr. Courchene calls this prospect “fiscalamity,” and if Ontarians catch his drift Mr. McGuinty will have a blank cheque to throw some weight around. The eldest child may decide he's fed up with setting a good example and looking after the other kids.

La Gazette se permet un méga liste d'infrastructure en réparation et à venir. Je copie l'article ici, mais je vous averti, elle est longue cette liste. Source: http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=1250a439-510a-4947-8b97-ee3995f04682 What construction holiday? After years of infrastructure neglect, a quiet revolution is under way to overhaul Quebec's roads and bridges DAVID JOHNSTON The Gazette Saturday, August 02, 2008 This summer's construction holiday has turned out to be a holiday in name only. Sort of like the summer of 2008 so far. One image dominates. It is of the eastbound Highway 20, at the Turcot interchange. Orange pylons are configured into one giant funnel, forcing motorists into a single lane up through the interchange to the Ville Marie Expressway downtown. Why one lane? Because construction work is going on. During the construction break. The 41-year-old Turcot, slated for demolition over six years beginning next July, has been getting some geriatric care. The ensuing traffic bottlenecks have been stretching back the full length of the Turcot yards. Cue in frequent bursts of intense rain, and you get a picture of the summer of 2008. But it isn't just Montreal. It's the same in all of Quebec, as far as the supposed construction holiday is concerned. Normally, the drills and the jackhammers are silent during the last two weeks of July, and traffic flows freely. But not this year. Because after years of infrastructure neglect, a not-so-quiet revolution is under way, thanks to the Charest government and the federal infrastructure-support program conceived by the former federal Liberal government. An unprecedented $2.7 billion in provincial money and $3.2 billion overall is being spent on road and bridge infrastructure renewal in 1,800 locations throughout Quebec this year. "This is a record year for Quebec," said Nicole Ste-Marie of the Quebec Transport Department. But this is only the beginning of something much bigger. A three-year overhaul of the Mercier Bridge began in May. A six-year reconstruction of the entire Turcot interchange is to begin July next year. This fall, the first actual work on the proposed new Dorval interchange is expected to begin. And then there's the proposed new downtown-airport shuttle waiting in the planning wings. And that's just the western suburbs of Montreal. The Mohawks of Kahnawake saw all this coming. Five Mohawk firms are currently doing repair work on the Mercier. The local band council looked at the Mercier and Turcot projects and put two and two together and came to the realization that commuter traffic is going to be very difficult between the south side of the Mercier and downtown Montreal over the next six years. As a result, the band council has been lobbying for a commuter-rail station for Kahnawake on the Delson-Candiac line. "We're afraid a lot of our kids going into CEGEP and university in Montreal are going to look at the traffic and say, 'Well, forget about it,' " said Joe Delaronde, a band-council official. Dorval Mayor Edgar Rouleau said he has received assurances that measures will be taken to minimize disruption for motorists when the Dorval project gets under way. But he said Montreal has no choice but to move ahead with improving the state of the rail and road infrastructure serving the airport. Things aren't just bad; they're embarrassingly bad, he says. "Can you imagine? You come from Europe. You're finally out of the airport. You're in this taxi or bus, and you're stopped in traffic under the railway bridge (beside Dorval Circle) and you look up and you see screens to catch any concrete that might fall down on you." The September 2005 collapse of the de la Concorde Blvd. overpass in Laval, which killed five people, showed that the consequences of infrastructure neglect can be deadly. Since the Concorde incident, the provincial government has done a thorough review of Quebec's infrastructure and established new priorities for repairs and new undertakings. The Gazette today publishes a map describing 10 of the most important projects in and around the Montreal region, either under way or on the near time horizon. - - - 1. TURCOT INTERCHANGE Background: In June 2007, the provincial government announced a plan to tear down the elevated interchange and replace it over six years, beginning next summer, at a cost of $1.5 billion. Most of the new Turcot network will be built at surface level, although there will be a few elevated ramps - notably linking the new Highway 20 with the higher ground of the Décarie and Ville Marie Expressways. Highway 20 through the Turcot yards will be rebuilt more to the north, closer to the Falaise St. Jacques escarpment. That, in turn, will make the Turcot yards contiguous with adjoining industrial properties along the Lachine Canal, and make it more attractive for redevelopment. What's new: Various interchange ramps have been undergoing reinforcement work this summer, creating traffic bottlenecks. Provincial environmental hearings are likely to begin in the fall. The government has begun negotiations to buy land required to carry out the interchange modernization. Work is to begin next July. About 180 housing units are to be demolished. Tenants who are dislodged will receive at least three months' rent as compensation. 2. NOTRE DAME ST. E. Background: In development limbo since the late 1960s, a nine-kilometre stretch of Notre Dame St. E. was finally given the green light for modernization last November. A new "urban boulevard" was approved over the other option, a sunken Décarie Expressway-like highway. Quebec will pay $625 million of the $750-million cost, the city of Montreal $125 million. What's new: Public hearings were held last winter to work out operational details. As a result, changes were announced in May. Among other things, traffic-light synchronization will be altered to let traffic move with fewer red-light stops; one lane will be reserved for carpoolers; the entire nine-kilometre stretch will be subject to photo radar. Construction is to begin in October. 3. HIGHWAY 25 Background: Construction of a toll bridge between the Rivière des Prairies district of Montreal and the Duvernay district of Laval will link Highway 40 in Montreal to Highway 440 in Laval. In June 2007, the Quebec government announced a consortium headed by an engineering subsidiary of Macquarie Bank Ltd. of Australia had won the bidding to build and operate the $400-million bridge as a public-private partnership. The span is slated to open in 2011. Government regulations have set a $2.40 cap in 2011 dollars for a one-way trip over the bridge for an ordinary car, over the 35-year term of the PPP deal. What's new: Dynamite work took place in the spring on the Laval side of the proposed bridge. In June, environmental groups lost a court bid to shut down the project. On July 15, dynamiting took place on the Montreal side. In recent weeks, a lot of bridge materials have been delivered to the job site. 4. DORVAL Background: There are two projects on the horizon for Dorval. One is the proposed airport shuttle between downtown Montreal and Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport. The other is the Dorval Circle modernization. Both have been on the drawing board for more than a decade. What's new: The airport-shuttle project is stalled. Different levels of government are still trying to work out a financing agreement. All parties, however, agree that the shuttle is desirable and should have its own dedicated rail lines. So the plan is to eventually add two new rail lines north of Highway 20, parallel to existing CP and CN lines. But there is still no consensus on whether to use Central Station or Lucien L'Allier Station as the downtown terminal. Cost estimates vary from $600 million to $800 million. As for the Dorval Circle project, the provincial government passed a decree in December setting aside $210 million for the new interchange, to be known as Carrefour Dorval. The overhaul will see Trudeau airport connected to Highway 20 via a new link that will be reserved for airport traffic. The new link will pass in front of the Hilton Hotel and run through where the Budget Rent-a-Car property is now situated. It will rise over the rail lines situated between Budget and Highway 20 and connect to the highway near the Novartis building. Budget is to relocate to a new site under the plan. Highways 20 and 520 (Côte de Liesse Rd.) will also get new interchange connections. As for Dorval Circle itself, it will end up serving only local traffic. Highway 20 traffic between Pointe Claire and Lachine will continue to run over the circle in overpass fashion. Engineers are putting final touches to the Carrefour Dorval project and an official announcement is likely for the fall. Work could also begin this fall, sources say. 5. HIGHWAY 15 Background: Work began in April to completely rebuild the northbound Laurentian Autoroute lanes between Mirabel and St. Jérôme. The new surface will be done in concrete. The southbound lanes between the two towns were redone last summer. What's new: Work is proceeding on schedule and is expected to end Nov. 21. 6. HIGHWAY 13 Background: Work began in April to completely rebuild the southbound lanes of Highway 13 on Montreal Island between Highway 40 and the Mille Îles River. Work is also being done on the Louis Bisson Bridge that spans the river. Work on the northbound lanes between the 40 and the river was done last summer. What's new: Work is proceeding as planned. It is scheduled to end Sept. 30. 7. MERCIER BRIDGE Background: On June 16, the federal and provincial governments announced a plan to renovate the Mercier Bridge through November 2011. Work began in April. Federal officials said the Mercier modernization represents the largest bridge-repair project in Canadian history. Work is to be carried out in two phases, with a consortium of Mohawk firms doing $66 million of work in the first phase. Bidding will open next year for the second phase. What's new: In recent weeks, Mohawk ironworkers have been concentrating on the reinforcement of existing gusset plates under the bridge deck. They have also been installing new gusset plates. These plates support the joints where horizontal, vertical and diagonal beams meet. Later, ironworkers will bring in hydraulic jacks and start replacing individual rusted beams where necessary. About half of all the main diagonal support beams are to be replaced on the upstream bridge, which carries southbound traffic. This bridge opened in 1934. The downstream bridge, which carries northbound traffic, opened in 1963; no reinforcement work is required on it. Similarly, only the upstream span will be getting a new deck. All ramps linking the South Shore to both the 1934 and 1963 bridges are to be reinforced and given new decks. 8. HIGHWAY 35 Background: Progress has been slow with the longstanding plan to extend Highway 35 from St. Jean sur Richelieu to the Vermont border. Converting the 39-kilometre stretch of secondary Highway 133 south of St. Jean into a primary autoroute would finally give Montreal an expressway link to Interstate 89. What's new: Last August, the Quebec government passed a decree allowing for the agricultural dezoning required to carry out the project. The federal government has promised $57 million in infrastructure money for the $300-million project. A federal environmental assessment is being done. If, as expected, the process results in the feds giving the project a green light, preliminary land-preparation work could begin in October. 9. GALIPEAULT BRIDGE Background: Work began in May to rebuild the deck of the eastbound lanes and add a third lane to accommodate growing volumes of off-island commuter traffic. The Galipeault, like the Mercier Bridge, consists of two separate spans, side by side. The southern of the two, built in 1924, handles eastbound traffic between Île Perrot and Ste. Anne de Bellevue. The northern bridge, built in 1964, handles westbound traffic. While work on the southern bridge takes place, eastbound traffic is being diverted onto the northern span. What's new: Work is proceeding smoothly. 10. HIGHWAY 30 Background: After many delays, a plan to complete construction of the South Shore ring road was announced in the fall of 2006. There are two unfinished stretches to complete: a section through dezoned farm land between Candiac and Ste. Catherine, and a section between Châteauguay and the town of Vaudrueuil-Dorion. What's new: Work on the 13-kilometre Candiac-Ste. Catherine link began in early June after a political agreement was reached between the provincial government and the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake over how to proceed with settling a land-claim issue. As for the section west of Châteauguay, the government in late June announced that a Spanish-led consortium had won the bidding to build it as a part of a public-private partnership. A Canadian arm of the Spanish engineering firm Acciona won the competition. The 42-kilometre western link will see toll bridges built over the Beauharnois Canal and St. Lawrence River. Final details on the financing and construction are to be announced in September. The completed Highway 30 is expected to open in 2012. djohnston@thegazette.canwest.com

Billboards are here to stay, city says A proposed bylaw in provincial capital would ban the signs from its territory JAMES MENNIE, The Gazette Published: 6 hours ago Billboards may become a thing of the past in Quebec City by 2013, but there's no indication it will also happen in Montreal. "The city (of Montreal) has no intention of following suit," city hall spokesperson Darren Becker said, referring to public hearings in Quebec City about whether a total ban on billboards there should go into effect in five years. "We did ask for a review of the trucks that pull billboards down city streets, but no more than that," Becker said. A billboard greets motorists arriving in Montreal via the Bonaventure Expressway. Quebec City is considering outlawing such advertisements.View Larger Image View Larger Image A billboard greets motorists arriving in Montreal via the Bonaventure Expressway. Quebec City is considering outlawing such advertisements. His comments follow reports of a growing wave of corporate criticism of a proposed bylaw in Quebec City that would make it illegal to erect a billboard within its territory. City officials in the provincial capital have defended the law by stating that the architecture and scenic beauty of their municipality shouldn't be hidden behind advertising. Public hearings are being held to debate the bylaw, which the municipality hopes to adopt by the end of this year and put into effect by 2013. However the aesthetic argument doesn't hold water with corporations and companies that rely on billboard advertising for revenue. Billboard companies have already described the bylaw as discriminatory, and suggested they might seek damages from the city for lost revenue. More recently, oil companies have argued that removing the sign panels that advertise pump prices for gasoline at their service stations might not only result in customers being overcharged for gas, but also represent a possible danger to motorists in need of assistance who would no longer be able to see gas stations from a distance. However, Serge Viau, Quebec City's deputy general manager, said the days of billboards are already coming to an end in his municipality. Some former suburbs banned the advertising before being transformed into Quebec City boroughs, Viau said. "We already had the power to eliminate billboards written into our charter," he said. "And we did so; a few years ago we got rid of about 20 of them in downtown Quebec. "And Ste. Foy, when it was still a municipality, had a total ban on billboards." Viau said the latest ban would be total - even on public service messages produced by the provincial government. Viau said all of the city's boroughs were in favour of a total ban, rather than limiting them to particular parts of the city, such as industrial zones. The approach of trying to limit the presence of billboards to certain parts of town was tried by the city of Oakville, Ont., which adopted a bylaw in 2005 ordering billboards only be permitted in industrial zones. The bylaw was adopted after an attempt at a total ban was struck down on constitutional grounds. However, in February, that bylaw was also struck down in Ontario Superior Court, the judge ruling that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protected virtually all forms of communication. The city has decided to appeal that ruling. jmennie@thegazette.canwest.com

La dette québécoise préoccupe l'Alberta * Presse Canadienne, * 07:59 Un ministre de l'Alberta s'en prend au Québec, auquel il reproche de vivre aux crochets du reste du Canada, à cause de son taux d'endettement. Le président du Conseil du trésor albertain, Lloyd Snelgrove, qui s'exprimait dans le cadre d'une émission-débat à Calgary, mercredi, n'apprécie pas les avis d'analystes financiers qui recommandent instamment que l'Alberta se serve de ses redevances énergétiques plus élevées que prévu pour accroître le bas de laine provincial. Il s'est demandé quels conseils ces mêmes analystes donnaient au Québec, puisque cette province, a-t-il dit, paie des taux d'intérêt élevés sur sa lourde dette. C'était quelques heures avant que le président de l'Assemblée législative albertaine ne dévoile un cadeau qui sera présenté le mois prochain à l'Assemblée nationale du Québec, pour souligner le 400e anniversaire de la fondation de la ville de Québec.

Montreal eyeing new tax on personal vehicles Under bill 22. Private swimming pools could also provide sources of revenue DAVID JOHNSTON, The Gazette Published: 7 hours ago City of Montreal residents probably will have to pay a new municipal tax on personal vehicles of about $75 annually under new tax powers the Charest government wants to give to the city. Senior government officials who spoke to journalists this week said a new "PVT" is the most likely new municipal revenue source to arise from the menu of options that Bill 22 would give Montreal. Bill 22 is the draft legislation tabled last fall to give Montreal new tax powers and make governance changes in the Montreal agglomeration. Email to a friendEmail to a friendPrinter friendlyPrinter friendly Amendments unveiled Thursday at city hall scrapped the idea of a new food and beverage tax or a return of the old Montreal amusement tax. But the amendments are now calling for open-ended, royalty-type levies in their place. Although Mayor Gérald Tremblay has refused to be specific about the new taxes he has in mind, bureaucrats did bring up the possibility of a new tax on backyard swimming pools. And Tremblay conceded that many of the new taxes he is considering are inspired by some of the new taxing powers the city of Toronto won from the Ontario government in 2006. Royalties are traditionally applied to the use of a natural resource, like oil or water, but Toronto has taken the idea one step further and is considering a new tax on billboards, for the use of public space. The Bill 22 amendments are said to have sufficient opposition-party support to be approved before the legislature recesses next Friday. If that happens, Montreal will get the power to tax movables and immovables, but sales and inheritance taxes won't be allowed. Neither will taxes on gasoline, income, payrolls or energy. The new tax powers would be given only to the city of Mont- real, not to the 15 demerged island suburbs. Any new personal vehicle tax in Montreal would apply only to residents of city of Montreal boroughs. The most notable difference between Bill 22 and the city of Toronto Act is that Bill 22 stops short of allowing Montreal to tax alcohol and tobacco. "We're going to take time to look at our options," said Renée Sauriol, an aide to Tremblay. No new taxes would be introduced before 2010, Sauriol said. djohnston@ thegazette.canwest.com - - - New municipal taxes Mayor Gérald Tremblay says the new tax powers that the provincial government is proposing to give Montreal are inspired by the new powers accorded in 2006 by the Ontario government to Toronto. Some highlights: In September, residents of the city of Toronto will begin paying a $60 annual municipal personal-vehicle tax. Only one car per household will be subject to the tax. A $75 tax for Montreal residents was mentioned this week by senior provincial and municipal bureaucrats as a possibility. Toronto hasn't yet determined what kind of new parking-lot tax it wants to introduce. The Tremblay administration is said to be leaning toward a new property surtax tied to the number of parking spots on a property. In February, Toronto approved new tax brackets for land-transfer taxes. The new regime has resulted in higher "welcome taxes" on properties worth $400,000 or more. The Quebec government has said it is prepared to let Montreal set its own new welcome-tax rates on properties worth more than $500,000. Below this value, provincially set rates would continue to apply. Toronto is still considering a new tax on billboards, justified as a royalty on the use of public space. This idea of expanding the notion of royalties to the municipal level is something that Montreal finds intriguing. Quebec is proposing to give Montreal a lot of leeway to come up with inventive new royalty schemes. In February, Toronto Mayor David Miller proposed a new toll on all provincial highways within the Greater Toronto area. The proposal hasn't been received well by suburbanites and nothing has happened yet. In Montreal, the Tremblay administration has similarly begun to regionalize its own original proposal for new island bridge tolls. Tremblay is now saying he wants to share any new toll revenues with off-island suburbs to help expand public transit. http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=508d2256-8e5d-4700-8815-fac8e5f43c1f&p=2

Quebec opposes Harper proposals to alter Senate BILL CURRY From Thursday's Globe and Mail June 5, 2008 at 5:12 AM EDT OTTAWA — Quebec is threatening to haul Ottawa before the Supreme Court of Canada over what it believes are unconstitutional Senate reform measures proposed by the Harper government. Raising the ghost of the failed Meech Lake accord, Quebec Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Benoît Pelletier said the Senate reform proposed by Brian Mulroney in 1987 was preferable to Stephen Harper's two Senate reform bills, which require provincial residents to elect candidates from which Ottawa would pick. The Meech agreement gave provincial governments the power to fill Senate vacancies as an interim measure toward larger reform. Appearing before a House of Commons committee studying the proposed changes, Mr. Pelletier said the Meech model would be more in line with the Senate's original mandate to represent provincial interests. All three parties in Quebec's National Assembly oppose the two federal Senate reform bills and want them scrapped immediately, he said. Failing that, Mr. Pelletier said Ottawa should at least clear up questions of the measures' constitutionality with a reference to the Supreme Court. As a last resort, Quebec will consider taking the issue before Canada's highest court. "It's an option we have to look at," he said, pointing out that Quebec would not have joined Confederation had it not been for the assurance of a strong Senate voice. "It's an institution that goes to the heart of the federal compromise of 1867," Mr. Pelletier told MPs. The government legislation, known as Bill C-20, spells out a system in which elections would be held in each province to produce a list of names for the federal government to choose from in appointing senators to fill vacancies. It is separate from a second Conservative bill, C-19, which seeks to replace the current system where senators are appointed with term limits of eight years. Quebec's presentation in Ottawa on Senate changes took place the same week the province slammed the Harper government over its policies on climate change. Quebec Premier Jean Charest and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced they would be going it alone with a cap-and-trade system aimed at reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. The increasing polarization between Central Canada and the federal government is in contrast to recent developments in Western Canada. Premier Brad Wall's new conservative-minded Saskatchewan Party government recently said it hopes to introduce legislation this fall that would allow for provincial elections of Saskatchewan senators. The process would be similar to the one already in place in Alberta, which has already sent two elected senators to Ottawa. The NDP government in Manitoba is also moving in that direction, with plans to hold provincewide hearings to consult residents on how to elect senators. British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell has said he'd prefer to see the Senate abolished, but could support Senate elections provided Ottawa pays for them. The one elected Alberta senator who is still in the second chamber, Bert Brown, has been touring provincial and territorial capitals to get others onside. Mr. Pelletier later told reporters that even if the Conservative bills go nowhere, Quebec's concerns could materialize if many other provinces start holding their own Senate elections to produce names from which the Prime Minister would choose. "That would completely change the Senate and would confirm our point," he said. "This reform is so important that it should follow the formal rules of the Constitution." http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080605.wsenate05/BNStory/National/home

Genivar acquiert une société de conception et ingénierie, en Ontario Il y a 8 heures MONTREAL - Le société montréalaise de génie et de conseil Genivar a annoncé, mardi, qu'elle achète l'ontarienne Transenco, qui fait de la conception d'infrastructure, notamment pour les routes, les autoroutes, ponts et systèmes de transports publics. Genivar, qui est constituée en fonds de revenu, précise que Transenco a été fondée en 1994 et compte une vingtaine d'employés dans ses bureaux situés dans trois localités de l'Ontario; elle compte parmi ses clients le ministère provincial des Transports, des municipalités et des promoteurs. La direction de Genivar souligne que les besoins en infrastructures au Canada "sont très importants" car les gouvernements investissent beaucoup pour réhabiliter les routes et autres infrastructures. http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hrMraUFaGxvTw8PpbiwNLcpc4Nrw