At Montreal city hall, the future for Telus seemed friendly indeed. Now, not so much. After the city's auditor general called in the cops to investigate the awarding of an $87-million contract to Telus, the auditor points out: "There are serious indications of irregularities."

Then there is the mysterious BCIA -- a company whose name keeps popping up everywhere. How did the controversial security firm manage to work for the police department without having a contract?

The auditor also raised some other questions about award of construction contracts --fewer than two dozen companies receiving the bulk of the contracts

In a couple of boroughs, some companies got all the contracts. From water meters to phones, from daycare to construction corruption to fundraising. No wonder people have a growing distrust of politicians. Now we find out mayor Tremblay has known about collusion for years and is still trying to clean it up. Must be a work in progress. No wonder there is so much cynicism.

In fact, a recent poll found Quebecers see our elected leaders in a very dim light. Eighty-eight per cent in the survey say politicians don't tell the truth. I still believe most people enter politics because they think they can make a difference for the public good. But the more we hear about shady deals, the harder it will be to attract good people to run. But more importantly, citizens will lose more faith in the system our democracy depends on: an informed and involved electorate. The more the trust is broken, the worse it is for us all.

Remembering the referendums

Many of you remember 30 years ago this week. For others its now part of the history books. Even with the softest and most ambiguous of questions, the Pequistes could only get 40 per cent of the vote. But the country held its breath and let out a sigh of relief on the night of May 20, 1980. Canada was saved. Now all these years and another two referendums later. A majority of Quebecers say sovereignty is irrelevant, and only 14 per cent think it will happen in the next 30 years.

Is the parrot dead or only sleeping? It seems most Quebecers are just content to get on with their lives and raise their families in an increasingly complex and competitive world. So in 30 years from now, my bet is that things on the constitutional front will look pretty much as they do now and no doubt we will still be talking about it. Canada will always be a solution in search of a problem.