MetaFilter posts tagged with 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.

MétaFiltre!

Shepherd — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:21:54 -0800

The Canadian Government’s Translation Bureau recently made its French/English/Spanish technical terminology database, Termium, free to access after over a decade as a subscription-based service. While off-the-cuff translations are often available from free services like BabelFish, Termium focuses on technical terminology such as scientific, medical and legal terms. Of equal interest to the core service are other tools like The Canadian Style, the government’s official rules for how to write "Canadian" (an odd hybrid of British and American styles), HyperGrammar 2, a series of educational grammar modules developed for self-directed learning, and Word Tailoring, an attempt to create a translation database for idiomatic French words and expressions that don't necessarily offer a single literal translation. There are also a wealth of French-language tools for learning grammar, improving your writing style, and seeking alternate terms for common verbs and expressions. Also worthy of note is the always-free Grand Dictionnaire, the product of the Quebec government's Office de la langue française, which is far less robust than Termium but has a stronger focus on "proper" language for Quebec. And, if you're struggling to improve your French writing skills, Bon Patron is a (frequently slow-loading) Java-powered tool that will check your French spelling and grammar and offer correction suggestions in real time.

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.

Prochaine Station: Gotham's Soul Breakdance Battle

zenzizi — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 20:04:50 -0800

BBOY JOKER (single link interactive youtube game) - Patrick Boivin (from visual wizards Phylactère Cola [wiki]) strikes again with a new stop animation game following his success with YouTube Street Fighter.

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.)

"We were on our own resources and we knew it. And that's what this business is all about."

A dead Quaker — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:52:27 -0800

So you've finished hiking the Appalachian Trail, just came down from Mount Katahdin, and you're wondering what to do now. Well, there's always the International AT, which goes through the Chic-Choc Mountains on the Gaspé Peninsula before crossing over to Newfoundland. Then you'd have hiked the tallest mountains in Quebec, right? Wrong. 800 miles to the north, on the border of Quebec and Newfoundland, lie the Torngats. The name "Torngat" comes from the local Inuit for "spirits". The tallest of them, Mount Caubvick/Mont d'Iberville, was first climbed in 1973 by a group of kayakers who paddled up the Labrador coast, trekked 40 miles inland looking for runnable streams, and finding none decided to climb some of the mountains. To protect (slightly) against the steepness of the climb, they belayed each other using towlines from the kayaks. Of their experience at the summit, one of the hikers, Christopher Goetze, had this to say: "It was 5:00 P.M. when we got to the summit and the air was getting colder. We had nothing to eat and dinner was a long way off. Would bears have cleaned out our campsite while we were gone? ... Perhaps our boats were being destroyed this very minute by some arctic rodents. ... for the moment we put (these thoughts) out of our minds and leaned contentedly against the small cairn we had hastily built. To the east Bruce was a small red speck beyond the minarets. To the northeast we could see the ocean, covered with pack ice to the horizon. North of us were the calm shadowed waters of a large fiord 5,500 feet below us. To the west mountains became gentler, petering out to the ocean again beyond the horizon, while to the south we could follow the route we had walked through the interior rolling lowlands. It was a vast and beautiful land." Other stories and some beautiful pictures are here. Peakbagger.com has some more information about Mount Caubvick.

Argent Bizarre

QIbHom — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:30:31 -0800

In 1684, the French Crown didn't send Quebec its yearly allotment of currency. Yet, the soldiers needed to be paid. Jacques De Meulles, the Intendent, decided to collect all the playing cards in Quebec, and turn them into money. It worked once.

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).

Je me souviens ... l'accord de partage de l'utilisateur

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:53:09 -0800

Facil, an open-source community based in Québec, is suing the Québec government for buying Microsoft software when free alternatives are available. Facil's press release says, in part, "From February to June 2008, FACIL has noticed sales of proprietary software for more than 25 million dollars. These purchases were made for products offered by large multinational enterprises, with no regard to suppliers in Quebec. ... While most of the developed countries have started, a few years back, migrating their technological infrastructures to Free Software, Quebec's public administration is far behind." Some applaud Facil's move. Others, not so much.

The Image Mill

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:57:03 -0800

Canadian writer, actor, and director Robert Lepage, whose work has included Jésus de Montréal and Le Confessional, has recently turned his attention to - of all places - the Bunge Grain complex in Quebec City. In celebration of Quebec's 400th anniversary, Lepage turned the complex into a vast movie screen 30 meters tall and 600 meters wide. This project is known as the Image Mill. If you happen to be in Quebec City, you can watch it at the Port of Québec, every night at 10 PM, until August 24.

At long last, margarine freedom

KokuRyu — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:05:48 -0800

Quebec Margarine War Ends! For 21 years Quebec has regulated the colour of margarine, insisting it be distinctly lighter or distinctly darker than butter... The stated reason has been to protect consumers from unscrupulous restaurateurs selling margarine as butter. The real reason was to protect the province's politically influential dairy industry. However, yellow margarine may soon be allowed in Quebec grocery stores after the province's cabinet quietly agreed to change a 21-year old law that forbids any coloured form of the oily spread to be sold in La Belle Province. Quebec has decided to butter up margarine critics, despite concerns the colour change could lead to confusion among consumers. Detailed backgrounder here, and here, with interesting subheaders such as Margarine debate handed to provinces and Margarine companies fight back.

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.

Mmmmm. Maple Syrup in Pancakes.

ericb — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 15:50:04 -0800

"The sweet aroma of sap permeating the air, still harkens the arrival of Spring"^* in New England, Canada and other U.S. states. The Eastern Woodland Indians discovered that maple sap cooked over an open fire produces a sweet sugar [video], resulting in maple syrup. Many associate the syrup with Quebec (which produces most of the world's supply) and Vermont where about "one of every four trees...is a maple."^* Vermont even has a "maple cop." He enforces "Vermont's maple regulations for the state Agency of Agriculture, which strictly regulates how Vermont's most famous export is made, marketed and sold."^* Always fun this time of year is to visit a sap house, sugar shack, sugar house, sugar shanty or "cabane à sucre" to watch the process of making the confection and to enjoy not only the syrup, but also maple taffy/taffee, maple sugar, maple cream and maple butter. How To Guide to Tapping Maple Trees and Making Maple Syrup [PDF] Maple Sugaring in Your Backyard [PDF] Making Maple Syrup [video].

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."

Crap totale, s'dit!

docgonzo — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 14:29:01 -0800

Lors du Total Crape III, vous verrez: Des danceurs! De belles coiffures! Une madame qui mange de la terre! Stef Carse! Et beaucoup plus... [NSFW]

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.

WeenAmp

boost ventilator — Thu, 19 Jun 2003 07:30:35 -0800

WeenAmp...peer-to-peer software? After signing with Sanctuary (now label-mates with Morrissey), releasing a pair of on-line only live CDs, cheesing off a pizza chain, and getting its back catalog from Elektra; Ween is developing software with InQuest Technologies that will tie together the band's official web site, the 24/7 Ween Radio broadcast, a message board, chat rooms and the ability to trade live concert mp3s without being confused with The Gourds (just try searching for "Gin & Juice" on your favourite peer-to-peer program). The band hopes to have the program bundled with it's new release quebec (yes, with a small q) on August 5th.