Are the inmates running the prison?

Montreal police were ordered to stand down while hooligans and criminals tore a path of destruction through Montreal North.

Businesses and cars were set on fire, a police station was ransacked, and emergency calls to 9-11 went unanswered.

Montreal police officers were ordered not to intervene because of fears the situation would escalate.

That’s crazy. Not responding to crime has become a policy in Montreal?

Police chief Philippe Pichet said "The choice we had was to be less visible."

Less visible? How about invisible?

These thugs may have wanted to provoke police but so what? It’s their job to maintain order and protect citizens and property.

The police union says this sort of thing will lead to zones of lawlessness--a no man’s land where anything goes.

They may not be wrong.

The idea is to serve and protect everyone, everywhere. All the time.

 

NDP hung itself out to dry

It was the political equivalent of a public hanging at the NDP convention.

Let’s face it, Tom Mulcair was really never one of them.

It was always a case of political expediency. He was seen at the time to be the best bet to finish the house Jack built.

Judgement on Mulcair and his failed campaign was swift and merciless.

It was the first time in history that the New Democrats turfed a leader.

Now the NDP is a house divided.

Dreams of a social democrat government from coast to coast to coast are now yesterday’s news, and Quebec’s flirtation with the party will now likely be nothing more than a goodbye kiss.

Governments in this country are elected from the centre: a little right of, a little left of, but the real play is always at centre ice.

The NDP now looks like it is about to take a very sharp left turn with its looney tunes Leap Manifesto.

It’s a series of radical ideas to change Canada fundamentally

Among its proposals is to end all fossil fuel development and production in Canada.

The entire country would be powered by renewable energy and wind and solar farms and who knows, perhaps many giant hamsters on giant wheels.

Tens of thousands of workers would lose their jobs and Alberta would become an economic basket case.

It would promote low carbon sectors of the economy such as caregiving, social work, teaching the arts and public interest media. Who would decide that?

Singing of Kumbaya and poetry sessions sprinkled with pixie dust would be mandatory for everyone.

The NDP entered its Edmonton convention as a national party and left it as a party that no one will take seriously.

The Leap Manifesto is a leap into irrelevance. Salut la visite.

Can’t they just talk to each other?

We all know sacrifices will have to be made in order to fix our crumbling roads but it’s as if the City of Montreal and Transport Quebec never talk about how to figure it out. 

If you thought it was bad before, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Major closures for the Turcot project begin Sunday and they will last for years.

There will be orange cones everywhere in Montreal this summer.

Traffic guru Rick Leckner says city streets will bear the brunt of the mess and they aren’t meant for that kind of traffic.

“This will cause significant traffic. Where will people go is a good question,” said Leckner.

This could just suck the life out of the city, especially downtown, this summer. a downtown that is already struggling.

You have to think there has to be a better way to plan all this out.

Seems like everybody’s talking, but nobody’s listening.