I really don't believe in coincidence.

So when Transports Quebec announced this week that the Turcot interchange needed urgent repairs, it didn't come as much of a surprise.

Not after Quebec took 20 seconds to file Montreal's Turcot plan next to the plan to finish autoroute 13 and the drawings for the new downtown ballpark.

The Turcot is a disaster. Not only is it arguably the ugliest section of Montreal, but you have to wonder what is holding this thing together.

It Looks like concrete and chicken wire.

The Tremblay plan for redevelopment is one of the silliest I have seen, with a 40-percent reduction in capacity, and now the debate is getting nasty with the mayor of the Plateau calling the folks at Transports Quebec socially retarded. Ouch.

What exactly does this three-storey roundabout do? Can you imagine one fender bender in this?

Now it's fine to make the new Turcot more human and safer for squirrels and chipmunks --I love green space as much as the next person -- but to suggest we make the 20 a two-lane highway is crazy.

And, who is going to pay the $6 billion for this?

Tell you what Mr. Tremblay, the Turcot can be made into a country meadow, if you like, with Bixi bikes everywhere, once I see the metro in places like Beaconsfield and Pointe Claire.

When metro expansion doesn't go to Laval or the south shore or the east end but to the west as well.

People are tired of promises of better train service.

In the meantime, Transports Quebec should act quickly to develop a fast and efficient way of coming into Montreal with a new and improved Turcot that does respect the environment.

One that doesn't destroy a neighbourhood.

One that will last.

One that is ground level

One that doesn't cost as much as manned flight to Mars.

Would you pay a fee to see a doctor in Quebec?

The doctors don't want it.

Maybe we should take a page from the French system, which is ranked number one in the world. Patients do pay in France, but the sicker they are the less they pay, and many conditions such as cancer are covered 100%

Healthcare accounts for 43 percent of all Quebec spending. And it will grow and grow as we age.

Tough choices will have to be made.

We can no longer afford a huge bureaucracy and extravagant social programs.

Jean Charest's blue jean cabinet knows this, but every time the government talks about a smaller state or higher fees the protests begin, and the usual suspects come out to rally for the nanny state.

Too many Quebecers live in denial.

It's just not our medical system that's in trouble. It's the entire Quebec model that's on life support.

We better wake up.