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What a Night it Was
6:15 pm on a Friday night and Lionel-Groulx is busier than I'd expect. Throwback jerseys abound. Suburban knuckleheads on pilgrimage, smiles and high spirits all around.
The train arrives packed and we press ourselves in tightly, as though compelled by some invisible Tokyo subway platform attendant at rush hour. Squeezed in I find myself face to face with old friends and a common agenda.
Baseball. Lost opportunities. Nostalgia. Hope. Rebirth. Novelty.
The Métro took it's sweet time snaking it's way through the tunnels of the city centre to Pie-Ix, pausing longer and longer as we slowly crossed the city, each time an increasingly agitated brakeman telling us, for the love of god, to let go of the antique mechanical doors that not a week ago nearly halved the head of some old woman.
It was slow and uncomfortable and no one cared. For the first time in a decade there was a baseball game to attend and that's all that mattered.
Disembarking at Pie-IX I quickly lost track of my friends in the absolutely massive crowd surging its way to the stadium entrance. I had never seen the station ever look quite so busy, and a line stretched from the Métro turnstiles to the stadium and back again, pulsing to the beat of the Bucket Drummer. My heart sank – was this the line to get in?
We quickly learned that this was the now infamous will-call wait line, thousands strong and perhaps the single longest line of human beings I've ever seen in my entire life. My pace quickened. Tickets in hand we'd waltz right on in.
Walking into Montreal's Olympic Stadium is very much like stepping back in time. Almost immediately I noticed my cellphone reception was shot, and that the seething mass of vendor kiosks and food carts reminded me not so much of baseball as it did a kind of food court you'd find in the middle of an epically massive 1980s video game arcade. Pink and baby clue neon lights and harsh overhead lighting stands out in my mind. Oddly appropriate and cacophonous Techno music was playing in the background as an assorted gaggle of sports fans – many of whom wearing Alouettes and Montreal Canadiens jerseys and caps – slurped down overpriced poutine and pizza slices from carts seemingly shipped over from La Ronde.
Security guards and staff were decked out in clothing that must have been designed in the late-1980s and stored in boxes since the Expos' folded. This, in conjunction with the overall retro aesthetic and lack of technology (no cellphone reception, no Interac, too few and generally outdated ATMs, antique scoreboards etc.) only re-enforced the strangeness of the situation. It was utterly bizarre.
I overcame the bewildering scene and propelled myself towards the upper deck seats behind home plate with my name on them. Moving swiftly through the bowels of the Big O comes naturally enough – the shape and size of the immense structure compels movement, the ramps almost make you want to run – it was apparent enough to all the children racing around.
When I get to the upper deck with my date we discussed whether we should grab our seats or get something to nosh on. We both had an admittedly absurd craving for a ballpark frank we knew we'd gladly pay a hefty sum for just to say we've had the experience of doing so. Eating a hotdog while watching an MLB game in the Big O.
Strike that off the 'things to do in Montreal' checklist…
Such occurrences are rare these days.
We decided to take our seats imagining there would be vendors working the bleachers, and besides, the game had already began. That's why we came here after-all.
And not a moment later there I was watching something that hadn't been seen in our city in just about a decade and I personally hadn't witnessed in twenty-seven years. I wasn't much of a baseball fan growing up, I preferred hockey, and later rugby. My interest in and appreciation of baseball came much later, and is nearly entirely as a consequence of the saga of the Montreal Expos as a franchise and the lasting impression the club (and to a greater extent the sport and the stadium) has had on our city.
Baseball in Montreal isn't entirely about baseball. It's about the city and its people.
Baseball is symbolic. Baseball is metaphor.
And resurrecting the Expos, long shot though it may be, has everything to do with people power and nothing to do with baseball as a business.
And yet, sitting there, one of 46,000 fans who filled the Big O on Friday night, I couldn't help but think Warren Cromartie and the Montreal Baseball Project had succeeded at least in rounding first base as far as they're own business case was concerned. They had proved that, ten years after the loss of the Expos, professional baseball could still draw significant interest in Montreal. Then they proved it again Saturday afternoon when 50,000 people showed up to the second part of the Jays-Mets pre-season double-header.
Think about it – what kind of a game was this? An exhibition game between the Jays and the Mets, with the ground crew sponsored by the Quebec Egg Council, at the stadium that's always been 'too far away' to be of any use? A total no-frills affair of no real consequence for either 'away' team? Just this first step alone was a bit of a long-shot in its own right. The stadium looked like it had just been re-opened after being completely shuttered for the last decade; the back bleachers were dusty with old cigarette butts still lying where they had been extinguished underfoot decades past.
But none of these minor and major inconveniences mattered. Everyone was happy to be watching a ball game. The stadium was nearly full, and it has more than twice the capacity of any of the other major sports venues in our city. No one was bitching about politics, or even this year's endless winter. The crowd was as diverse as the city, with fans cheering both teams despite the assumption we'd be rooting for the Blue Jays out of some kind of misguided patriotism. The most awkward moment of the night was doubtless the half-hearted attempt to get a bunch of Montrealers to sing the Blue Jays' version of 'take me out to the ball game' but even though I find group sing-alongs fascistic in nature and couldn't possibly cooperate the crowd was in one of those typically Montreal 'anything goes' moods and saved face by joining in at the end.
The game itself was great and provided plenty of excitement, but I can't help but wonder how many spectators were thinking to themselves, pretty much all night, 'how long will we have to wait until this happens again?'
After all, we don't want to be teased, and Montrealers are sensitive enough as is.
What I saw on Friday night was step in the right direction and proof not only of baseball's viability, but of the Olympic Stadium's utility as well. I imagine the next step for Cromartie and the MBP will be to secure one or more regular season games to see if they can replicate their recent successes. From there planning would shift to next year and a set of exhibition and regular season games played at the Big O on a set schedule, say eight games over the span of four months to see if baseball can be sustained past the novelty stage. If all that works they'll have much of their business case already made and all the evidence they need to support it before seriously starting the MLB-courtship, franchise-development and stadium design and financing stages.
So we shouldn't get our hopes up we'll see the Expos return any time soon, but I think it's a safe bet we'll see more baseball at the Big O in general.
My personal hope and desire is that the people in charge over at the RIO (Olympic installations board) get funding for minor aesthetic and functional improvements and do all they can to secure more sporting events at the Big O generally speaking. In a really ideal world some kind of a deal would be worked out to secure a set number of CFL and MLS games (with anticipated over-sized crowds), in addition to more exhibition and/or regular season MLB games and maybe even an NFL exhibition match too. Why not? It's a sports venue, the people in charge of it should be in the business of ensuring it's used for large-capacity sporting events.
The experience made me think the Big O could be the kind of 'people's stadium' with local teams playing a few games each season at the Big O with heavily discounted tickets for the upper deck sections so as to encourage high attendance (and further ensure pro sports remains accessible to the people who have helped subsidize their development, both directly and indirectly.
On a closing note, two other things worth mentioning. First, when I ordered my franks I concluded the transaction in French, my mother tongue. The vendor, upon hearing my Anglophone accent decided to switch to English. I continue speaking French, to which he apologized. He said, 'I'm sorry, I thought you spoke English'.
I said I do, and that I speak French as well and I typically just go with whatever's most instinctive at a given moment. I told him he should never apologize for being so accommodating, it's far too stereotypically Canadian.
We shared a laugh.
Much later on, travelling back home on the Métro, I noticed the determined stride and Lupine-blue eyes of Gilles Duceppe leaving the crowded Métro train in a huff. I said, rather too excitedly, 'hey look it's Gilles Duceppe!' to which the crowd responded with 'ooohs' and 'awwws', such as it is when local aristocracy tread too close to subterranean common-folk.
Architecture of MontrealCulture of MontrealFuture of MontrealGreen LineHistory of MontrealLandmarks of MontrealMontréal ExposMontreal Baseball ProjectOlympic Installations BoardOlympic StadiumPie-IX StationPro Sports franchises of MontrealPro Sports in MontréalSports venues of MontréalWarren Cromartie
Commentary, Cultural commentary, History and Culture, Let's make this an election issue, Political commentary, Social commentary, Video
Andrew Coyne – Our Broken Democracy
Worth the watch. Applies as much to the Fed as it does provincial politics.
Specific note: this speech is in English and mostly focuses on federal politics, which Mr. Coyne follows closely. That said, it applies 100% to Quebec politics.
It is foolish to think Quebec's democracy is any more vibrant or effective than democracy in other Canadian provinces. Our politicians tell us constantly how fundamentally different we are, but when it comes to the shite that is modern politics in Canada, Quebec is no better than any other province.
Coyne points out the grim fact – our Prime Ministers have been full of shit, consistently, going back forty years (and yes, very much including Pierre Elliott Trudeau, the last good prime minister I can think of broadly speaking).
Quebec has it's own political bullshit. If you watched Thursday's 'leaders' debate you would have witnessed Pauline Marois, François Legault and Françoise David gang up on Philippe Couillard for expressing his thought that bilingualism is an asset to anyone living in Quebec.
He was almost accused of being a traitor to his race.
Anyways, I'll talk about that a little more in a later post.
Listen to Coyne, he knows what he's talking about. Fixing our democracy is going to take a national effort, and if it isn't done soon there simply won't be a Canada worth saving in the future.
Also – pay particular attention to his comments on the problems with our 'first past the post' system. Understanding why this system doesn't work is key to understanding the major underlying deficiencies with our political system, because we have a democracy that propels massive disenfranchisement.
Andrew CoyneCanadian democracyCanadian politicsFirst Past the Post
Commentary, Political commentary, Québec sovereignty, Social commentary, Sovereign Socialist
Sometimes the gods just smile and align the stars just right.
Or in this case a tour bus for vedette Québec politician Pauline Marois, who was involved in running the province for a while about a year ago before she decided to start her campaign…
In terms of political clusterfucks of epic proportions, this one takes the cake.
I think the PQ is going to lose big, largely as a consequence of:
1. Selling out your base (via hiring PKP, pushing the unpopular charter, screwing students)
2. Running with the devil (PKP)
3. Retreating from the party's key issue (independence)
4. Placing too much emphasis on the most divisive issue (charter)
5. Saying nothing of consequence re: getting more value from taxation, protecting the environment and creating jobs (bread and butter concerns)
6. Appearing hysterical in lieu of inspirational (David), funny (Legault) or rational (Couillard)
7. Claiming students from Ontario are trying to steal the election
8. Defending your candidate who spouts KKK conspiracy theories
9. Running a campaign against the former Premier, the man the PQ already defeated, instead of the new guy
2014 Quebec ElectionParti QuébécoisQuébecQuébec Politics
Commentary, Kondiaronk - My Montréal Experience, Political commentary, Québec sovereignty, Social commentary, Sovereign Socialist, Sovereign Socialist featured article, What were they thinking?
Voter Suppression in 2014 Quebec Election
Something tells me we won't be seeing major protests against voter suppression…
Hundreds of people have been turned away from voter registration centres in the Montreal region, notably in the Westmount-St-Louis and Saint-Marie-Saint-Jacques ridings, because they 'lack the intent' to stay, live and work in Quebec.
Nearly all of these people have something in common. They are students who were not born here.
The story broke two days ago when Dune Desormeaux (yes, you read that right, his last name is Desormeaux, as in Adam Dollard des Ormeaux, hero of the colonists of Ville-Marie) and another McGill student, Angela Larose (yeah – you can't make this up) were both denied the right to register to vote because a reporting officer indicated they lacked the 'intent' to stay in Quebec and could not be considered domiciled here.
The basic minimum requirement to vote in Quebec provincial elections is very straightforward.
You must be of majority age, a Canadian citizen and have been domiciled in the province for at least six months. You also can't be in provincial custodianship or a criminal in order to exercise your democratic right.
The reason so many were refused the right to vote comes down to the interpretation of the word 'domicile'. According to the students interviewed over the last two days almost all of them indicated reporting officers took issue with the fact that they didn't have Quebec medicare cards to prove their identities. When they indicated the reason was because they're students and therefore can't apply for medicare cards they were told the *clearly* lack the intent to stay in Quebec and thus cannot be considered as domiciled in Quebec.
It is a ruthlessly rigid interpretation of the law that is so extreme it begs the question – why are frontline elections officers judging people's intent in the first place?
And is it really fair to question university students about their long-term plans?
And wouldn't a more open interpretation of the intent rule subsequently result in more people voting and more people feeling attached and integrated into Quebec society?
Would you want to stay in a place that wouldn't allow you the right to vote, despite the fact that you have all reasonable proof of that right?
Arielle Vaniderstine is a first-year McGill University student who was one of at least three I can verify who were told they can't vote because their lack of a medicare card 'proved' their lack of intent to stay in Quebec. She had initially been told her registration was cleared but this decision was reversed the following day. She's been living in Montreal since last June, is over the age of majority and a Canadian citizen. She proved her identity and address with the following documents: a passport, a birth certificate and a Hydro-Québec bill from last summer.
When I spoke with her yesterday she was troubled by the decision and her lack of recourse. She told me her first paying job was in Quebec and that she's filing Quebec tax documents. She came here from Prince Edward Island because she wanted to experience Montreal and Quebec and develop her French language skills. She told me specifically that she wants to vote because it's part of her intent to integrate into Quebec society and that our politics inspired her to exercise the only real political power any of us really have – our sole vote.
Unfortunately for Ms. Vaniderstine and the apparently hundreds of others turned away from registration centres in downtown Montreal the decisions of the reporting officers are final.
Worse still, after speaking with Elections Quebec spokesperson Denis Dion, it seems that there's an almost 'church and state' like separation between the reporting officers and the elections board. Monsieur Dion told me the only real recourse is to take the matter up with the courts.
As you might imagine it's unlikely this will happen. Students aren't exactly rolling in the dough, so to speak, and they can't possibly be expected to have the kind of scratch necessary to pursue this through the court system. A freshman could very well have graduated by the time the courts get around to hearing the case. Again, this really doesn't encourage anyone to stay and fight for their rights.
It's 2014 and people who have every right to vote in Quebec elections are being told they can't.
Considering we still have segregated schools and rampant Islamophobia in our province, this should come as no surprise.
Now here's where things get really shitty.
We live in a province where at least one political ideology is given carte-blanche on insane conspiracy theories.
'The FLQ was an RCMP false-flag operation to discredit the separatist movement'
'The 1995 Quebec Referendum was stolen by federalists'
'Official bilingualism is cultural genocide'
And according to the now resigned head of the Saint-Marie-Saint-Jacques (SMSJ herein) electoral reporting office in downtown Montreal, "it's as if Trudeau airport were wide open and someone was passing out visas without asking any questions". Mathieu Vandal resigned from his post Friday, saying he couldn't cope with the abnormal influx of Anglophone and Allophone voters looking to register.
This is the kind of person put in charge of registering citizens to exercise their fundamental democratic rights.
And if that doesn't make you cringe I don't know what will.
Today's news is that Pauline Marois is concerned about 'electoral fraud' in the adjoining ridings of SMSJ and Westmount-Saint-Louis and has indicated she'd like Elections Quebec to investigate. To be precise, the fraud she wants investigated isn't voters being defrauded from their democratic right to vote. She wants an investigation into why so many Anglophone and Allophone voters have suddenly shown up to register in these ridings, insinuating she believes Mathieu Vandals' initial, ignorant assertions.
The fact of the matter is that these ridings happen to have a lot of students and immigrants – two groups of people historically disenfranchised from local and provincial politics – who suddenly have every reason to vote against the proposed Charter of Values.
For these people, the charter represents everything wrong with this province, and all that we're not. These people came here for a reason – because we are open, tolerant, cosmopolitan – and now a charter to institutionalize racism threatens all that is fundamentally good about this province.
It's the kind of political issue so important it actually encourages people to get involved in politics. It should be very clear to everyone with the least political common sense in this province that the apparent increase in voter registration is not because of some vast federalist conspiracy to stick it to Pauline Marois.
Pauline Marois has brought this upon herself.
It demonstrates what kind of fantasy land the PQ and other separatists live in. They either don't want to recognize our changing demographics or turn the tide by actually making it unnecessarily difficult for people to become Québécois. The charter and voter suppression are ways to make it uncomfortable for young people and immigrants sold on an ideal of liberalism and social democracy in Quebec. For Ms. Marois to take allegations of voter fraud seriously, it demonstrates she is no better than the kinds of delusional ultra nationalists that make up her voting base.
And by the way, who else is so pre-occupied with apparent (though in reality non-existent) voter fraud?
Tories. The Tories are so worried about voter fraud they've proposed the Fair Elections Act, an Orwellian document condemned for its overt anti-democratic tendencies by international experts.
Exactly the kinds of people both separatists and Tories have absolutely no interest in.
I'll be following this story closely. More to come I'm sure.
2014 Quebec ElectionElections QuebecMontréalParti QuébécoisPauline MaroisPolitics of QuébecQuebec sovereigntyVoter Suppression in Quebec
A modest proposal, Commentary, Cultural commentary, Economic commentary, Let's make this an election issue, Political commentary, Québec sovereignty, Social commentary, Sovereign Socialist
Ceci n'est pas une invasion
What can I say, the early spring of 2014 has proven to be a rather exceptional moment in time.
I feel overwhelmed by the noise generated by the provincial election, especially as it contrasts with far more important and interesting developments elsewhere. There's so much going on right now it's hard to keep track of everything.
Russia has annexed Crimea after all and much to the chagrin of the nations aligned and not. The situation has some eerie similarities to how the last world war got started, and the world powers and traditional allies don't quite know how to address the problem, leaving us all to wonder what happens next when this kind of power is left unchecked?
As of today, March 19th 2014, Ukraine has announced they will remove their forces from Crimea, conceding the region is lost. The United States has indicated there will be no American military action in Ukraine.
And if that weren't bad enough, Russia is now sounding the alarm about the treatment of the Russian minority in parts of Estonia.
Welcome to Imperial Russia 2.0
Ceci n'est plus un avion
And there's still the case of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, missing now since March 8th. A fully loaded Boeing 777 simply vanished without a trace, and all the reconnaissance, search and rescue and sonar systems in South-East Asia and zipping through Low Earth Orbit can't seem to find it.
MH370's disappearance reminds me of how big this world still is, despite all humanity has accomplished trying to make it small and manageable. It amazes me that something so big, so obvious and apparent, could disappear so. While speculation abounds as to the cause of the disappearance, one Canadian pilot makes a compelling argument in favour of an on-board fire and various efforts that would have been made by the pilot to overcome it.
Unfortunately, thanks to a combination of Malaysian officials' incompetence early on in the investigation, too much time was spent looking in the wrong places, and now there's an over-focus on foul play on the part of the Muslim pilot.
And here I was thinking disappearances were a thing of the past. Every day that passes the humbling effect increases…
Ceci n'est pas une premiere ministre
And on the national level the Premier of Alberta and the Federal Finance Minister both just resigned, just like that.
It always amazes me how common it has become for people apparently oozing leadership skills can just up an quit a difficult job without any real repercussions. It only serves to remind me politicians do not live in the real world of you or I. In our world quitting can be as bad as getting fired or laid off, worse considering there's no employment insurance for quitters.
Fortunately for both Alison Redford and Jim Flaherty, their respective salaries were sufficiently high enough they won't have to worry about feeding themselves and paying the bills for some time.
I wonder if it has anything to do with those fireballs seen in the Maritimes a couple days back. Two in fact, back to back. Maybe our nation's elites know an omen when they seen one.
Or two.
Ceci n'est plus une maison
And wrapping things up on the local level, the Redpath Mansion was quickly demolished early this morning. There's nothing left of it now so, problem solved?
Mayor Coderre gave the green light to demolish what remained of the former architectural gem back on Valentine's Day of this year (what a sweetheart!) but his decision was quickly shot down by culture minister Maka Kotto who put a thirty-day moratorium on the planned demolition to study the house and it's architectural and historical merit. I assumed, perhaps wrongly, that the province would also investigate how the structure could be integrated into the $1,000 per month 'student condos' project going up on the site.
Alas, such was apparently not part of the PQ's mandate. Rather, they determined only that the house had no architectural nor historic value whatsoever, and then repealed the moratorium.
Local heritage activists had considerable evidence to the contrary, in addition to recommendations on how part of the remaining structure could be saved via integration into the new residence. Coderre's statement from back in February was that the house's structural integrity had degenerated to the point there wasn't much left saving and what remained would be dangerous to work around.
Now it's all a moot point.
That said, Mayor Coderre and Quebec City Mayor Régis Lebeaume have teamed up demanding special status for their respective cities and greater operational autonomy.
Not exactly city-state status, but a clear and consistent message from the mayors of Québec's two largest cities that they require greater, in a word, sovereignty. It's a fascinating turn of events, as these two mayors could change the power dynamic in Québec politics entirely. Whereas the needs of the cities are often overlooked during provincial elections, this time around the mayors have stated they will pursue operational autonomy regardless of who gets elected.
Fascinating times all around…
A modest proposal, Cultural commentary, Economic commentary, Political commentary, Québec sovereignty, Sovereign Socialist
Kyoto, not Kippahs
Before anything else, something funny.
Rick Mercer, as per usual, nails it. The Parti Québécois is completely delusional.
I'm not completely sold on the divorce analogy, unless Confederation is a kind of political polygamy. Ours is not a nation of two solitudes. At least not anymore.
I think the proof lies in the fact that Canada is very much aware of the Québec provincial election, the key issues, the leaders etc. It's in the papers, on the airwaves and on the nightly news.
I would argue Canada pays more attention to a Québec provincial election more than any other province, something which strikes me as odd given another referendum is unrealistic at this time and the economic and social direction of provinces like Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia are arguably far more significant on a national scale.
As long as the delusion that 'sovereignty solves everything' is maintained Québec cannot expect to develop in any meaningful way. We will continue treading water, expending energy and resources without going anywhere.
This is not the time for more consultations, more studies, more constitutional debates. We need action. Steps must be taken to ensure we reduce CO2 emissions and protect our environment.
We need a provincial government that is going to prioritize Kyoto, not Kippahs.
Steps must be taken to address government waste. We are the highest taxed Canadians, and yet our debt and deficit continue to grow. Austerity isn't helping because we haven't addressed the root cause of our inefficiencies, and cuts to social services like education and healthcare are both unpopular and ultimately unsuccessful. The imbalance between high taxation and a low return on services and ballooning costs all point to a fundamentally mismanaged state.
There are only two concerns for any government these days – the environment and the economy.
Unless we take immediate steps to address and correct environmental degradation and economic inequity at every level of government there is no hope for any of us.
Think about how Mercer opens his rant – he talks about complacence.
Civilizations fall, and when they do, the whole Earth shakes.
A NASA-funded study has made the point as clear as day – unless political action is taken the world-over to address the key environmental and economic problems of our time we're condemning our species to extinction.
The environment and the economy is all our provincial election should be about. Successful programs to cut carbon emissions and develop well-functioning social-safety nets are already the norm in some Scandinavian nations, and if there truly is a sovereign way of thinking in our province then we ought to be free of the bondage of nationalism, so that we can address the crucial issues that effect all of humanity.
Cutting our carbon emissions to Kyoto standards (or better) and ensuring a more egalitarian distribution of wealth in our province has the potential to be copied and improved upon by other provinces. If Québec chooses to lead, the other provinces will follow – this is a fundamental truth about Canadian political evolution.
Québec leads.
Which is why I'm so fundamentally disappointed in our current election. There is a palpable poverty of politics in our province. We pollute our political discourse with hate and fear and become so emotionally exhausted we have no time or patience to pursue vital social interests.
It's terrifying really. How much longer do we really have to continue beating this dead horse?
For all the PQ's talk of the 'future of Québec' it seems they are ignorant of the potential future of the world.
The people know what the real issues are, but are blinded by the manufactured existential crisis of sovereignty. It prevents union, it conjures up unnecessary divisions. It holds us back – all of us, regardless of race, religion or language.
It delegitimizes us and as long as it remains the focal point of our provincial elections will only continue to delegitimize us.
We have all the potential to effect positive change Canada wide.
But in order to do so we must first recognize that those who play upon societal divisions for political gain have no one's interest at heart but their own.
So who will be the first to enter into the political discourse, the Parti Québécois is fundamentally illegitimate.
2014 Quebec ElectionCanadian HistoryCanadian politicsEnvironmentalismParti QuébécoisQuébec HistoryQuébec PoliticsQuébec SocietyQuebec cultureSocial Welfare State