Remember that great old song from Midnight Cowboy.

Everybody's talking at me... Can't hear a word they're saying.

Wonder if that's what Jean Charest has on his iPod.

Just about everyone and their mother is calling for a public inquiry into the construction industry.

But the premier says not he will not call one... preferring police investigations.

Well this week, the SQ union, Crown Prosecutors, and others said an inquiry is the only way to get to the bottom of something that is reeking worse than week-old fish.

A public inquiry would be the only way to learn the truth about bid rigging and corruption.

It worked with the Gomery commission, and that did not stop police from laying charges.

We must find out how this really works, because the air is heavy with allegations and suspicion from one corner of Quebec to the other.

It seems the premier is counting on the end of the National Assembly session next week for this to die down. It won't. And getting out of Dodge on this one will be easier said than done. What exactly is Premier Charest afraid of?

Snow Job

Does it snow less in the Plateau than elsewhere?

Our new Projet Montreal councilors have come up with a plan that seems more than a little wacky.

They have decided that snow will not be removed until at least 15 cms have fallen, and nothing will be taken away on the weekends -- just pushed to the side. It's a bid to save money they say.

Looks more like an attack on car owners. Two years ago we had more than 350 cms of snow in Montreal. Imagine what the narrow city streets will look like if we get anywhere near that this year. It is a great idea to put resources on sidewalks, but creating huge piles of snow on the streets doesn't make sense.

Merchants are angry... There may be security issues here. Will police fire and ambulances get through?

This is Canada, the great white north, not some collective experiment in Central America.

 It snows every year ... and that ain't going to change. No matter who is elected.

PQ's Obsession

The beat of tribal drums is getting louder from our friends in the PQ.

Pauline Marois is jumping on the language scarecrow to build her support.

Pequistes are clamoring for tougher language legislation from daycare to college.

And measures to stop the perceived decline of French in Montr�al. Apparently we should ban bagels in Quebec because of the worry of some pequistes that it's impossible to order one in French.

The thing is, French really is not shrinking in Montr�al -- but it isn't growing either, largely because so many francophones have left the island for cheaper homes and lower taxes.

To communities where they actually remove the snow.