There are serious questions that demand answers following yet another major closure in Montreal.

For all intents and purposes this city is shut down to traffic this summer.

It is increasingly impossible to get from A to B. We can't all ride Bixis.

Decarie, Ville Marie, St. Jacques, Sherbrooke Street, the 40, the Champlain Bridge. Anywhere you look orange cones seem to be growing out of the sidewalks. Think of what emergency vehicles alone have to deal with.

It seems the various levels of government are not even talking to each other to coordinate things.

The Mercier Bridge mess not only makes getting around more difficult, it makes people even more fearful.

What are they not telling us about our roads and bridges?

What don't they know?

What took them so long to act on this?

Frig, the section that needs repair on the Mercier is 77 years old. They only noticed now?

Where were the inspections?

A man already died when one overpass collapsed in Laval. What's next?

It seems corners were often cut in building our roads and bridges.

Second-rate construction and lack of oversight

Add to that a jaw-dropping lack of surveillance and inspection over the years and we are paying for it now.

All at once.

It all seems to be crumbling as fast as our confidence in those who are supposed to keep us safe.


National anthem is abominable

There have been some god-awful songs written over the years that seem to go on forever and make you feel like you are having a root canal.

This new so-called Quebec national anthem "O Kebek" would make my dog howl.

It clocks in at over eight minutes.

The Societe St Jean Baptiste decided we need a new song to sing on our long march to sovereignty.

It beats 99 bottles of beer on the wall I guess, but what's wrong with Gens du Pays?

It's an anthem and birthday song at the same time.

But O Kebek is a pompous opus full of gobbledygook like "the St Lawrence swims in our blood."

It does? If that's the case I need to see a doctor.

"We bathe in the beauty of our immensity under the aurora borealis" and something about a moose and how about this: "La vie allelouille l'hirondelle gazouille."

I'm told its some sort of reference to that iconic kids show Passe Partout.

By the way, the anthem for the new republic does pay lip service to les autres.

A nod to people who came here from Britain and Ireland, but I somehow don't think an English version is in the works

Thank goodness for small mercies.

And you thought MacArthur Park went on forever.