mont royal

You are obviously entitled to your opinion. What is annoying, and in my view unacceptable here, is your presumption that those who don’t share your opinion are not being honest. I can assure you that that is not the case.

Soyons honnête?. You can’t seriously believe that all of the criticisms here reflect some hidden issue that cannot be revealed publicly. Your preface is nothing more than a cheap, thoughtless debating trick. montreal has an urban tissue that is unique in North America. This project is a generic suburban car-oriented model. Maybe it will harm downtown commerce; maybe it won’t. If it does that would be sad. If it doesn’t, it will still be a sad blot on our landscape.

Rocco has actually mellowed with time. He really cares about the beauty of our city. Yes, he will still throw out the occasional zapper, but they are less cynical than before and are often right on the mark. From time to time, he will overdo do it, but no need to get defensive or agressive about it. His heart is in the right place.

This rather massive growth of Redefine in Montreal is very revealing...even ´redefining’ Montreal’s role. The India-China axis would not typically choose a francophone city for such a major investment. So, for me, I find this especially important and a great tribute to our city!

The fairy must be tired.

A true democracy respects the majority view, but must avoid the tyranny of the majority by protecting the rights of the minority. This issue cannot be solved by the majority, ie Montreal, imposing its views. It can only be solved by honest dialogue and by achieving a satisfactory compromise.

Close to Montreal International Airport??

You make some valid points this time, but my concern is that it is a ‘very singular instance’. Alleyways, lanes etc. do not compare with a vintage site on our unique mountain. We had an excellent opportunity to enhance our most treasured property for the benefit of all Montrealers, and we missed it.

Get serious. Nobody’s talking about all the properties they want. We are referring to a prime location on our mountain! Anyway,, it’s over now; a unique opportunity lost.

Bravo!

The city should have bought it. If there is any complaining to be done, it should be directed at the city.

Yes, everything now must be spoon-fed, simplistic and satisfy the need of instant gratification. Who has the time to actually appreciate the nuances of our overly complex world? Personally, I feel that we are privileged to have access to Ne entre les rapides’ knowledge of the economic forces we are all subject to.

Well, Toronto and Vancouver have always been greeting customers uniligually and it doesn’t seem to have hurt investments there.

Trump has zero interest in participating in any multilateral body. To him they infringe on national sovereignty, which is true, obviously...but if we don’t have various mechanisms of international or global governance, then we have chaos and disaster. Just think of climate change, epidemics, crime, and in this case, aviation. They are , by definition, global in nature and solutions to any problems in these and a growing number of domains (internet for example) can only be achieved through official international cooperation. Of course, Trump wants a return to a hegemonic control of all world issues by the USA..Uh, uh, those days are gone. No single nation state can assume global authority over these issues. We live in a rapidly growing global reality. Trump and many Americans do not yet realize that they no longer run the show. That being said, the other superpowers, China and Russia, also resist bequeathing any of their sovereignty to multilateral bodies. They also live with the delusion that they are big and wealthy enough to go it alone. Nope! We are way past that now. But, largely because of these superpowers and their outdated views, effective international governance on all of these matters is lagging way behind.

Come on...you love them. You can’ t wait to jump on the negativity wagon.

I stand corrected. It’s founder , Dax Dasilva, moved to Montreal from Vancouver, but that was before he actually created Lightspeed.

With the rising sea level, all of these figures will have to be revised downwards in the near future anyway.

Light Speed!

None taken. That was exactly my point!

No, but I could easily find 600 who would...and I am not even a salesman type.

As an Anglo-Quebecois, I would argue that the massive departure of the Anglo business community was a prime factor in the emergence of The new entrepreneurial class here. As long as the Anglos ruled the roost, they oversaw a closed shop...they ensured that francophones were excluded from most senior corporate positions. The anglo departure, which included robbing Quebec of millions of dollars heading down the 401 in Brinks trucks, hurt Quebec big time for several years. But is also opened up space for the new innovative Franco entrepreneurial class and the emergence of Quebec Inc. Today we see the innovative genius emerging in Quebec,. For the Anglos who have stayed here, or even moved here, they have largely integrated into the new Quebec, learned the language, accepted their minority status, and work in harmony with their Franco colleagues. Of course, you would never know this by reading The Gazette ( or the Journal de Montreal for that matter) , but the progress described above, is only the beginning.

Irrespective of one`s ideology, left, right or center, every citizen in a democracy has the choice to play a role in his or her governance. Most opt out of doing anything; for several possible reasons, including ignorance and plain disinterest. I include ignorance because for anybody who has actually lived in, or visited non-democratic states, it becomes hard not to be grateful for living in a democracy and, by extension, undertaking the minimum commitments of civic responsibility. A slim majority head to the ballot boxes every 4 years (much lower rates at the municipal level). Although that is the minimal commitment of any citizen, it is a vital one; I always vote even if it is only to destroy my ballot, since I am profoundly aware of how many people have given their lives so that I may vote. And then, there is someone like M. Fernandez. He is driven by a passionate commitment to a social vision. He clearly feels that he must contribute as meaningfully as he can as a citizen. Not too surprisingly perhaps, he opted to become a politician. He gives his all for several years and now...he resigns from being a politician (however, not from politics in my opinion.) He has simply decided that he can do more to achieve his social vison outside of the formal political system. This is not unusual; there are hundreds of thousands of activists around the world who have made the same choice. They prefer to attempt to influence form the outside rather than from the inside. They are not defined by ideology. The could easily decide to join the National Rifle Association as they might join METOO. Why work from the outside rather than the inside? Mainly because of the freedom from constant compromise. Politics is `the art of the possible`. That means finding a denominator that can move society in one direction without totally alienating those who are in disagreement with that position. It is evolutionary, painstaking and demands enormous patience, stamina, diplomacy and strategic adeptness. Outside of the system, one can participate fully and passionately in advocating for your preferred social vision. As an activist your views can be expressed without nuance. At the same time, if you really want to move the political system forward you have to adopt some of the tactical skills of the politician. If this system breaks down and if social activists have no role to play, then society risks moving towards authoritarianism of the left or right variety and the climate becomes more ripe for a revolutionary option. M. Fernandez will no doubt continue to be a social activist. That is his choice and it would appear to suit his personality. Good luck to him. My concern is that we are entering an era where compromise is disappearing and where absolutism is increasing...across the political spectrum. Partisanship is solidifying; extremism is mounting; and the issues are increasingly global in nature and beyond legitimate governance structures. While the one body responsible for global governance, the UN, claims that we are heading for catastrophic climatic change, its own member states squabble among themselves, do everything they can to weaken or bypass the UN, and cling desperately to an irrelevant past. So, I am not surprised at his choice. The city of Montreal, the government of Quebec or even the government of Canada are largely irrelevant institutions in the face of the global issues he is concerned about. But, he has more choices to make. As an activist now on the outside, does he put his efforts to influence action at the local level where he has visibility and access, or at the global level where the real decisions will be made? .

Even the van has been tagged.

If so, they are applying the same solution...from the get-go. Is there a buried river on that site?