AFS
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I thought about it as a private sale, not as an IPO, but that is a good idea! In fact, the shares would probably be mostly owned by people in Quebec and Canada through pension fund holdings and mutual funds. The government could retain majority ownership as well. Of course, once it goes that way, the company would have a responsibility to shareholders to maximize profits. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing.....
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With regards to HQ, it's true this is a very valuable asset worth possibly in the tens of billions of dollars and more including all the infrastructure. However, in a hypothetical situation where Quebec would sell it, only the largest corporations in the world, or foreign governments, could possibly afford it. And should that be the case, they would likely want to maximize profits on the investment to our detriment. Probably not the best move for Quebec in the long run. Of course it could be broken up and sold as subunits but that opens up lots of problems as well. (environmental concerns, differential billing based on location, servicing systems based on profitability rather than citizen's needs, etc….) I would say nationalized hydroelectricity is one socialist government policy that I can agree with.
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Half of Quebec non-francophones consider leaving
AFS a répondu à un sujet de WestAust dans L'actualité
While salary is a big factor for doctors leaving Quebec to practice elsewhere, restrictions on where they can work is probably just as big of a factor. Currently, the system in place limits the amount of doctors that can practice in Montreal, based on needs decided by the government. Those not chosen are obliged to work in the regions, or face a salary decrease (up to 30% I believe). Some might ask why this system is a problem, since doctors are paid by the government and their education is subsidized by the government, then they should be obliged to work where there is a need. Let's leave aside that Montreal is in fact one of the worst served areas by GPs in Quebec, and that many people who don't live in Montreal but commute in for work see doctors near their place of work. In my opinion, there is something fundamentally wrong with forcing a professional to set up practice away from their families and professional contacts. It's in fact almost communist in nature, if you think about it. Is it any wonder that someone who doesn't get one of these Montreal "Prems" would consider moving out of Quebec? Combined with higher salary prospects and lower taxes, it's a very appealing option. It may be more common among english speaking doctors, but not at all exclusive. For the stats above that state that most McGill med students leave after graduation, this can be misleading. Many will go elsewhere for residencies and then possibly return. Some who studied outside Quebec come here for residencies and also will stay. And many from the other 2 medical schools in Quebec will do the same, particularly if they are pursuing a super-specialized field. I will agree that more McGill med student leave than is desirable. But remember that it is all too easy for doctors to practice in different provinces and in the US. Like I said, money isn't everything, professional opportunity isn't everything, quality of life isn't everything, but when combined, it can be a powerful motivation for a doctor to leave Quebec, regardless of their linguistic background. My opinion is as someone in this field. -
This may be the start of a trend in coming years. There are simply too many Canadian law firms for too few corporate clients. Increasingly, I think we will see either national mergers or international purchases of our big firms (remember Ogylvie Renault with Norton Rose - ostensibly a merger but really Norton Rose is much much larger) It's unfortunate for those of us concerned with Montreal that today's news is about Heenan Blaikie, but the future will hold more bad news for these firms across the country.
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The roots of corruption in a society are pretty diverse. It can be due to greed obviously, but also fear (plenty of Charbanneau Commision witness tell of being intimidated), laziness (why work hard to earn money when it's easier to cheat and steal it), power imbalances in the population (this is less common is Quebec, but think of police officers letting you off the hook for bribes in some 3rd world countries). It can also be due to lack of pride, as in I'd rather do all I can for personal gain, even at the expense of my common society. I think what has made the issue of corruption in Quebec finally come to the forefront, is that the inevitable results are very visible to everyone. Construction companies collude to rig contract bids and then inflate the prices, so we pay more and get worse products. Everyone can see that our roads crumble year after year, our water system is archaic, clear irregularities in land use and zonage changes, etc etc.... I think this exercise we are going through with the commission is excellent. It's hard to hear sometimes how we have been so taken by people we place trust in, and it definitely breeds intense cynicism towards politicians. But the end result could be very worthwhile. I'd actually like to hear how some of the forumers here think we can deal with some of these issues that have come out. Let's keep it specific to our Quebec reality. I'll get the ball rolling... 1. Construction projects should be open to bids from other provinces, perhaps for large projects even other countries. I understand it is desirable to keep the work as local as possible, but what this will do is force companies to be more competitive and more honest. "Mr. Sidewalk" was able to intimidate other local competitors because of his reputation and because they were too small and he was too connected. I doubt he could have the same pull if the bids came from across Canada. This doesn't mean that local companies would lose out, it would mean they would have to innovate within their own business t be able to offer the most competitive bids, or better service or product. This should translate into better quality for less money. 2. The penalties for shoddy work should be severe. It is unbelievable that the same stretches of road are repaired year after year. When I go to the dentist for a filling, if it breaks a year later he replaces it for free. There should be a database at city hall that tracts which companies did what work and when, and if the work fails and they refuse to service it, this should be noted the next time they bid on projects. This could be added an a negative during the bid process. 3. Revise the way civil servants are paid. My wife works for a government agency. They get a cost of living increase in salary every year, but bonuses are practically unheard of. This might seem strange considering these people get good benefits that some non-government employees can only dream about, but if there is no incentive to do well in your job, then you start doing the minimum you can to get by and look for easy payoffs. I don't paint them all with the same brush, and yes there are some excellent civil servants. But who do you think would work harder: A city engineer who knows that if he finishes all his inspections on time and on budget, he will receive a 10% bonus on top of cost of living salary increase, or an engineer who knows that no matter if he works hard or not, there is no difference in his wages? I really believe that an incentive based approach would increase workers pride in their work and allow them to earn more based on performance. These two factors alone can decrease the desire to cheat the system through corruption. And I also believe that it would in the long run save the city money. I'll stop at three. I'd also like to point out that in the 1970's NYC was crime infested, nearly bankrupt, much more corrupt and Mafia controlled than we are now. For them, a strong mayor with strong ideas turned the city around. It's not a one size fits all approach and what they did may not be what we need to do, but it just proves that things can change drastically for the better.
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The New Global Start-Up Cities - Richard Florida
AFS a répondu à un sujet de IluvMTL dans L'actualité
I’m a relative newbie here and I don’t post much, but I read a lot. I find this forum great for respectful debate but I must say this particular thread has really taken a turn. I can see why some people get turned off by marc_ac’s approach as it can be negative, but the mean and insulting responses by some towards him are more unpleasant in my mind. I feel like there is room for debate without personal insults. I happen to think Montreal is doing quite well in a lot of areas, and I know many people personally (probably hundreds) that I come into contact through my work that have moved here from elsewhere in Canada and the world to work in our star industries. However, to deny that overall wealth here is lower than it should be, or could be is just blindness. With regards to entrepreneurship, we should be more ambitious. How this can be accomplished is through better collaborations between universities and private companies, something that is done very well in a lot of US cities, but much less well in Canada. Is this because our universities are so underfunded? Quite likely if you ask me. But proper investment can lead to huge windfalls. This is quote is about Stanford University, where I was before Montreal: (Wikipedia) “Faculty and alumni have founded many prominent companies including Google, Hewlett-Packard, Nike, Sun Microsystems, and Yahoo!, and companies founded by Stanford alumni generate more than $2.7 trillion in annual revenue, equivalent to the 10th-largest economy in the world” Some of the companies are still located in the city they were founded. Google is a few minutes from the campus is Palo Alto. This could happen in Montreal too, considering the size of our university population. A final quote, from Jean-Guy Desjardins from Fiera Capital of Montreal. “When he’s asked why Montreal hasn’t really taken off as a financial centre, he’s blunt. “There is not enough ambition, not enough entrepreneurship.” (from the Gazette, May 23rd) I hope the debates can continue without insults. I appreciate all the points of view I read here. Cheers. -
Malheuresement, la reponse est probablement non. La famille Greenberg veut vendre Astral, et BCE était la seule entreprise assez grand pour acheter tout. It is likely that the company will be broken up and sold in parts.
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Thats a very bold design. Not sure I like it yet, but it certainly is bold. As an aside, I've been in the Mt. Stephen Club many times for conferences and meetings. It doesn't seem like the house portion can be altered all that much - there are only a few closed hotel room sized rooms (even for a luxury hotel). It is mostly open plan, with larger closed rooms. More likely the ballroom, bar rooms and meeting rooms will have those same functions again in the new hotel.
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As an out of province McGill trained doctor of Anglo Canadian background, I feel I should clear up some misconception that I have read here. 1 - all non francophone graduates of professional programs at McGill are required to take a French proficiency exam given by the OLF in order to practice here. Most of us do not see this as unjust or unreasonable - it is in our interest to be able to serve our patients well. 2 - in my graduating class of 2004, at least 25 % were francophone quebecers. As far as I knew, none of them were there because they couldn't get into udem or laval due to lack of places at those schools ( which it should be stated are excellent schools, with what is considered a more avant guard case based approach to learning that McGill is now considering adopting) 3 - hospitals are not language exclusive. I work at the muhc and at least 50% of my patients are French speaking. My colleagues at the chum see a smaller but still relavent anglo population. The common factor is that we do our best for our patients Finally a word on why doctors leave Quebec. In my experience, more McGill grads do leave but the difference isn't as much as people may think. And there are many reasons regardless of language. The lure of better salaries and conditions in the US especially is a big one. Many docs leave to do a residency elsewhere and then return after, since for a highly competitive residency you would accept a position pretty much anywhere you get it, as I did in north Carolina. Finally, without getting too much into medical employment policy, sometimes the type of doctor you are is not needed in your province due to oversupply. Indeed, some subspecialties are not in demand almost anywhere in Canada. All this to say, It is not fair to state that subsidizing a certain number of spots in McGill medical school is not in quebecs interest because they only serve the Anglo population and it is disproportionate to their demographics. In fact that really isn't true at all. Besides that, I just want to say that this forum is excellent and I have enjoyed reading it now for a number of years.
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Public consultation office wants city development plan Alan Hustak, The Gazette Published: 2 hours ago Montreal's Office of Public Consulation says that while a proposed $400-million redevelopment of the old Viger Hotel is a worthwhile project that would significantly rejuvenate the Ville Marie Borough's east end, it would, as planned, upset the equilibrium of the immediate neighbourhood. Pointing out that the Viger project is one of several grandiose schemes in the works for the borough, it recommends the city come up with an overall plan to harmonize the various developments plans before they are allowed to get off the ground. It was exactly one year ago that Viger DMC international announced its plan to convert the former railway hotel and station in Faubourg Québec into a 250 room hotel and shopping centre and build two 18 to 20 storey additions behind the historic station. When it was announced, Ville Marie Mayor Benoit Labonté hailed it as the city's biggest private real-estate development since Place Ville Marie was built in the early 1960s. From the outset, residents in the neighbourhood were concerned about the scale of the project. Heritage activists applauded the Office of Public Consultation's recommendations. "It's a useful thing. The city has had a hard time figuring things out since it no longer has a planning department and has become a brokerage house for projects," said Heritage Montreal's Dinu Bumbaru. "The recommendations are useful both to the city and to the developer, who has said openly, publicly and repeatedly, that his is sensitive to neighbourhood concerns." Cameron Charlebois, the Viger project's general manager, wouldn't comment on the report until he has had time to study its recommendations. © The Gazette 2008 I find this to be more than a little silly. The other grandiose schemes in the borough that he's talking about must be the CHUM. Maybe I don't see how the current "equilibrium" of the neighbourhood, which is a basically abandonned and unaccessible heritage building (the Viger hotel), an open expressway, a bunch of parking lots and a crummy park would be made worse by what's planned. A possibly world-class teaching hospital covering up the expressway, a nice project to restore an old hotel with some condo towers that will have great views, and some stores to serve them. Yeah that sounds pretty terrible to me.
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je suis d'accord. Le Mackay a ete un de mes propositions prefere. ps. comment est-ce que je peux faire des accents sans une clavier francaise? Est-ce que je dois ecrire en MS Word et coller?
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Hôpital Privé Griffintown - 60, 60 étages (2009)
AFS a répondu à un sujet de MTLskyline dans Projets Annulés
Habsfan, I think your suggestion is a good one, but I don't think it would solve the problem. I would doubt that France (for example) would allow this kind of agreement without having reciprocity. (meaning doctors from quebec getting their creds recognized in France) Therefore, for any number of French doctors who would want to move here, a certain number of Quebecois doctors would want to go to France (particularly if they could get into the EU afterwards). I really believe that the best way to increase the number of doctors is to better their working conditions here, and that means mainly salary increases. I'll give you another example of bureaucratic nonsense that limits our ability to attract doctors. McGill takes in a good number of foreign med students (I can't speak for UdeM because I don't know about them). These students are only allowed to do a residency within the McGill system if they want to stay in Canada. This means they can't do it withing the UdeM system, the UofT system, UBC, whatever. So most will choose to return to the US. Some of these potential residents (and I know a few personally) would have loved to remain in Montreal. They learn French reasonably well and within the four years of med school integrate reasonable well into Quebec. However, residencies are competative and sometimes McGill will only have one or two spots per specialty. Therefore, without any choices they will have to go to the US, where they have the choice of hundreds of institutions. Had they been allowed to go elsewhere in Canada for residency, they would then be able to return to Quebec afterwards. But once in the US, it gets harder to have the residency recognized and to come back. I'm not sure whether this situation is a McGill, Quebec or Canadian policy, but it's just an example of how we shoot ourselves in the foot sometimes. Anyways, it's a little off topic. And I just was so excited to post my first time that I waited for my first response. lol. -
Hôpital Privé Griffintown - 60, 60 étages (2009)
AFS a répondu à un sujet de MTLskyline dans Projets Annulés
Hi Guys, first time writer here... I just wanted to comment on these towers, particularly the idea of a private hospital. While I'm pretty much of the opinion of most of the forumers (I want to see the Montreal skyline expand a lot!) I have a few concerns that a private hospital may not be the right way to go, and I'll explain why. I have no problem with private medicine (I work in healthcare btw) but a private hospital of this size would need to be supplied with doctors, nurses, staff, etc who would likely be paid (much) more than in the public system. Again, no problem with that if we had a surplus of doctors. But the truth is, we don't, and a private hospital like this will take many of the doctors, nurses away from the public system, which we all know is struggling as it is. Even if it's a "medical tourism"-type hospital for Americans, I'm sure we won't be seeing american doctors moving up here to work in it. (for one, they need to pass credentialing exams, the french proficiency and jump through the bureaucratic hoops that Quebec has for professionals) The way I see it, the only way for this type of private facility, of this size, to work would be for us to recognize as a society that our public sector doctors and nurses are way underpaid, and that now that the court decision opening the door to private health is in effect, we need to place more value on the public system and those who ultimately choose to work in it, or it will fail. I don't know if you guys are aware of this fact, but Quebec has made it very easy for nurses from francophone countries to come practice in Quebec. (great idea!) The problem is a good proportion use this to learn English so they can move to the rest of canada or the US, where salaries are much better. Trust me, given the choice between working in our underfunded public system as it is, or a private hospital with better salaries and better conditions, 9 out of 10 doctors and nurses will make the obvious choice. My brief summary: I think these towers would be awesome, I'm all for them, but if we're going to really embrace private medicine, we need to strength public medicine as well. PS. I love this forum, you guys are awesome.