This week Saad Syed was walking to work on a beautiful summer morning.

He was an English teacher who was looking forward to a new chapter in his life with an upcoming move to Saudi Arabia to further his career.

He was a gentle soul whose life ended suddenly when he walked beside a condo construction project on Mountain street.

All he did was walk on a sidewalk open to the public; a sidewalk that someone deemed safe.

Why was the sidewalk still open?

Safety often seems to be an afterthought in Montreal.

It’ s not the first time we have had things falling and people getting hurt or killed.

Syed paid the ultimate price for what obviously was someone not thinking. Or not caring.

 

The year of bad news

Fewer people are coming to our city this year.

Does that surprise you? Not me.

Let’s consider some of the reasons that people might opt to take a pass.

Last year’s student uprising. Pictures seen around the world night after night don't exactly encourage people to say “Hey Honey How about Montreal for our vacation?”

Language wars rekindled

Since the PQ came to power, our relative language peace has been shattered.

I have had people in other provinces ask me if it illegal to speak English on the streets of Montreal.

Half the world thinks we have banned pasta. The other half thinks you cannot buy a metro ticket in English.

“Honey, forget Montreal. Cleveland is nice this time of year.”

Identity politics

The government in Quebec City has sent out a clear message that diversity is something not to embrace but to fear.

The story of the Sikh kid who wanted to play soccer –but couldn’t until FIFA made it loud and clear he could – was heard around the world.

Or how about the government outrage about parking around a synagogue.

It’s going to get even worse when the Pequistes deliver their Charter of Quebec values later this fall.

Corruption

Day after day of the Charbonneau Commission. Three mayors in less than a year.

Dozens of charges against dozens of people.

Montreal sometimes seems akin to a tin pot dictatorship where corruption is the only currency.

Infrastructure

The Orange Cone should become the city's official symbol, ‘You can't get there from here’ the official motto.

We have sinkholes swallowing backhoes and we never know when the next piece of concrete will come crashing down.

We are paying the price for decades and decades of neglect and corruption.

Official zealots

Nothing works against a city's image more than stories like the mom taking her sick kid home from the hospital who didn't have the right change for the bus and being handed a $219 ticket from transit inspectors.

So there you go, we indeed have a PR problem here. Nothing stays local anymore.

But it’s not all bad. The truth is that Montreal is a great place to visit.

Witness the success of our festivals, the Grand Prix and Osheaga.

On November 3rd, we was can choose a mayor and councilors who do see the possibility of what Montreal can be again.

The PQ government is another matter... To get rid of them we will have to wait.