MetaFilter posts tagged with Canada and quebec

"Mirabel International Airport ... will turn out to be one of Canada's greatest investments." -- Otto Lang, Transport Minister, 28 Feb 78

crapmatic — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:47:13 -0800

Montréal Mirabel Airport was opened in 1975 at the cost of $2 billion adjusted. Ultimately its tarmac and runway areas alone were to take up 70 km² (27 mi²) of space and would have made it the world's largest airport. The airport never got any busier than Boise Airport is today, and the passenger terminals are now abandoned shells (slideshow). A key factor in the failure was that for 22 years authorities banned all international flights from the much-closer, thriving Dorval Airport, heavily used by locals and business travellers. It didn't help that Montreal was already sliding into decline in the 1970s due to the growth of the Great Lakes and Toronto-based economies and uncertainties about Quebec's political climate. Montreal is no stranger to alleged boondoggles: Olympic Stadium, half-finished during the 1976 Summer Games, spiralled $1 billion over budget.

A new battle for the Plains of Abraham?

zadcat — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:54:23 -0800

Two hundred and fifty years ago the Battle of the Plains of Abraham* took place in Quebec City. In a fight that lasted less than an hour (following a three-month siege throughout the summer of 1759), both generals died and the British won Quebec, soon becoming masters of most of North America. This summer has seen plans for a re-enactment of the battle cancelled and now a controversy over an event to be staged next week, the Moulin à paroles (Mill of Words)**. Plans include a reading of the manifesto of the Front de libération du Québec, a group which carried out bombings and kidnappings throughout the 1960s, culminating in 1970's October Crisis, which is a hot potato that may provoke new trouble on the Plains next week. *Despite the resoundingly Biblical-sounding name, the Plains of Abraham were merely some fields belonging to a local man named Abraham Martin. They are now part of the Battlefields Park in Quebec City. **Presumably so named after the successful multimedia show Le Moulin à images mounted last summer for Quebec City's 400th anniversary.

A Reactionary Musical Moment?

Jahaza — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:52:49 -0800

A recent series of posts on the web site of First Things magazine looks at what could be described as a reactionary moment on the part of some folk and roots musicians in Québec and around the world... and we're not talking The Goldwaters (Wikipedia). R.R. Reno kicked things off writing about the English band Show of Hands' and their songs "Country Life" (Youtube) and "Roots" (Youtube). Paul Allen (no, not that Paul Allen) adds a discussion focusing on “Dégenerations” by Quebec's Mes Aïeux (Youtube). Finally, Reno notes "De la Ray" (Youtube) by "the Afrikaner folk and rock singer, Bok van Blerk". (More on the song's reception here from a South African newspaper. Part One and Part Two of a two part 10 minute video piece on the song.)

Y'a un «fuck» qui s'ennuie en maudit..

zenzizi — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 08:12:57 -0800

Culture en péril - In these Canadian election times and in response to the recent Culture cuts from Conservatives - three of the best Quebec talents in music, theater and humor join forces and hit back hard (lol) with a highly satirical imagining of the replacement program (captioned).

The fix is in

never used baby shoes — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:37:05 -0800

Gasoline prices fixed. 11 Quebec companies and 13 individuals were charged today in a gas price fixing scheme. The Competition Bureau conducted a lengthy investigation into the allegations. One of the companies will not be challenging (link to pdf on the page) the findings. In the meantime, the industry is claiming that these are "bad apples" in an otherwise competitive market. Meanwhile, in the US, 62% of those polled believe that "unethical behaviour" is to blame for gas prices.

Quebec voters elect first minority provincial government since 1878

runningdogofcapitalism — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 20:12:39 -0800

Results of tonight's election in Quebec are in. The Quebec Liberal Party has managed just barely to hold onto power in that province, winning a minority government--the first time this has happened in la belle province since...well...since the year the phonograph was first patented. But there's an even bigger story. And that's the apparent collapse of the separatist Parti Québécois vote, in favour of the centre-right Action Démocratique Party, surprising just about everybody other than those who actually live in the province. Here's the breakdown in the vote as of 11:00PM:
Liberal (32.50%) - ADQ (31.19%) - PQ (28.48%). What these results mean for Canada's federal parliament---also in a minority situation---is anyone's guess at this point. The smart money is on Prime Minister Harper calling an early summer election. These results tonight would certainly give him reason to think that Quebec voters are in the mood for change. But like spring weather in these parts, things are quite changeable these days.

RIP Larkin.

docgonzo — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 09:41:26 -0800

Ryan Larkin [1943-2007]

Expo 67

Blazecock Pileon — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 07:01:24 -0800

Expo 67 photography

Quebecois nation

stinkycheese — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 11:36:51 -0800

Quebecois now a nation. Arguably, this all started with Liberal Party leadership candidate Michael Ignatieff opening the Pandora's Box of Quebec nationhood earlier this fall, pondering whether the French-speaking province of Quebec should be granted some sort of special status. Canadians old enough to remember Meech Lake and the Charlottetown Accord feared the worst. Before you knew it, the Bloc was arguing that Quebec ought to be viewed as a "nation without conditions". Prime Minister Steven Harper then presented a motion to Parliament recognizing the Quebecois as a nation. The controversy raged, both from the Conservatives and the Liberals. Yesterday, the House of Commons overwhelmingly voted for the motion. Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Michael Chong has resigned. His statement. How will this change the country? How do nations operate within other nations? Who is a Quebecois anyways? How does this work? Could other groups in Canada be recognized as nations? And what about those separatists? Looks like they already want their own hockey team.

Friends & Foes of The International Northeast Economic Region

boost ventilator — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 14:26:17 -0800

Start or stop Atlantica. [via CBC]

The food of the gods. Very fat gods with heart trouble, mind, but GODS.

docgonzo — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 05:57:40 -0800

"Ça va faire une maudite poutine."

Quebec Political Cartoons

angrybeaver — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 17:21:36 -0800

Le Cornichon seems to be Quebec's version of The Onion with a strong political bent. There are many excellent political cartoons covering the sponsorship scandal, Kyoto, and other issues.

Movie posters of your favourite politician: Jeancula, The Godfather, Stephen Harper, Jack Layton as Canada Man, and Paul Martin starring in Pirate of Canada, Paul Almighty and The Aviator. And it's always cool to see a vamped Duceppe.

British and American mefites need not feel left out, Bush and Blair make multiple appearances.

CBC has a fine collection of newspaper cartoons about the current election. (unfortunately they are in a flash wrapper that Firefox has trouble getting through).

Coming out/going out

docgonzo — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 20:22:53 -0800

He's young, telegenic, bilingual, a Harvard grad... and now André Boisclair, the youngest person ever elected to a seat in Quebec's National Assembly, is the new leader of the Parti Quebecois, the nationalist -- as in Quebec nationalist -- left-leaning party founded to take Canada's mostly french-speaking province out of the federation. Oh, and he's gay. And an admitted (former) cocaine user (although that might be a good thing.) Oh, and, according to the polls, the next Premier Ministre of Quebec.

OH! Canada

edgeways — Tue, 15 Feb 2005 22:46:49 -0800

Canada, a 13+ link whistlestop glance at something from all the provinces and territories...Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, NWT, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, PEI, Quebec, Saskatewan, Yukon. Not to mention the talk about Turks and Caicos?

Quebec plans to butt out...

dazedandconfused — Sun, 30 Jan 2005 10:02:03 -0800

It's only a matter of time before Canada's last bastion of smoke-filled cafes frequented by tortured artists succumbs to the trend sweeping the nation, and the world. The real question is: do they care about our health, or are they trying to stop a conspiracy? As long as they don't ban poutine, I think we'll be okay.

slipperywhenwet — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 18:46:12 -0800

This year three first rate Canadian painters have passed away: Kazuo Nakamura (b.1926), was a member of the Painters 11 (flash site, doesn't seem to be working right now, short articles here, and here). Jean-Paul Riopelle (b. 1923) was a member of Les Automatistes whose Le Refus Global helped to completely reshape Quebec culture. Riopelle passed away last March. Finally, Michael Forster (b.1907?) was a WWII vet and a war artist. He passed away in July.

kristin — Sun, 14 Jul 2002 11:29:18 -0800

Do you, Adam, take this man Steve, to be your lawfully wedded husband ... "... a panel of Ontario judges ordered Parliament to broaden its definition of marriage to include gay men and women, the first decision of its kind in Canada. " Rulings on cases in BC and Quebec to follow.

Good news for the Canadian Tourist industry, at any rate. So far the only heartbreak in all this is the utter lack of Crate and Barrel, Williams Sonoma, and Pottery Barn stores in Canada for these people to register at.

tomcosgrave — Sat, 20 Apr 2002 11:28:28 -0800

Quake hits northeastern US and Canada
The Irish Times reports that an earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale rocked southern Quebec and Ontario today, as well as parts of the northeastern United States. Did any MeFi'ers feel it?

joeclark — Tue, 12 Jun 2001 16:38:23 -0800

Families forgive driver who caused death of children Can death-penalty advocates bring themselves to this level of forgiveness? “The parents of four of the five victims of Sunday’s tragedy at Lingwick have asked authorities to withdraw charges filed Monday against Steve Rousseau, 21, the driver of a car that plunged into a quarry.... ‘We forgive Steve Rousseau and we’d like the charges against him lifted. He already feels a great deal of pain over what happened, which was an accident. He’s a little guy who has already been devastated by the burden placed on him. We don’t want to make matters worse,’ says Christian Morin, father of Marie-France. ‘We have no grievance with him.’ ” The Crown will prosecute anyway. (Also second article. All in French.)

sudama — Sun, 29 Apr 2001 00:10:52 -0800

FTAA Diary is a 48-page zine (available for download in pdf format) chronicling the experiences of folks who protested in Quebec. Illustrated with powerful black and white photos, the narratives personalize the events like no journalism could hope to.

bytecode — Thu, 18 Jan 2001 14:53:57 -0800

Mafiaboy pleads guilty today in a Quebec court. I think that this case was turned into a witch hunt. The media as always he no idea what it was talking about. A lot of people could have done what he did, but he was stupid enough to do it.

ljc — Fri, 08 Dec 2000 07:31:26 -0800

Only 24 more days til the Ice Hotel Quebec opens! You may have heard of the Swedish Ice Hotel, well now they are building one in Canada. A hotel built from ice and snow, and rebuilt every year. It looks beautiful, but I have to wonder, do they bother putting ice machines out in the hall next to the soda machine? Are hair dryers and irons banned? Would you spend a night at an ice hotel? Just remember to pack your fur lined footie pyjamas!

todd — Thu, 12 Oct 2000 04:45:21 -0800

October Coffee Crisis. Montreal Gazette: "In its communiques, the BAF warned that Second Cup franchises were to be 'in the line of fire' and warned of an escalation of violent acts if Second Cup and other chains insist on keeping their trademark English names." More Trudeau nostalgia?