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Louise Harel has a creative solution to Montreal’s pothole problem.

On Wednesday the leader of the Vision Montreal Party suggested that the city produce its own asphalt.

City council is having a hard time selecting an asphalt company to repair Montreal’s roads for the next two years .

CBC reported that the council is in a deadlock over who to hire after seven of the companies considered were either named or linked to the Charbonneau Commission.

The contract up for grabs is worth five million dollars.

Meanwhile the mayor maintains that the city has no other options.

Michael Applebaum told the media in March that the city is forced to hire one of these alledgedly corrupted companies if Montrealers want potholes filled.  

City council is holding a special meeting on Friday to decide what to do.

Flickr Photo by: (matt)

STORY WRITTEN BY: ALYSSA TREMBLAY

Another West coast Canadian mining company is the target of an international protest.

According to CBC News, Vancouver-based Eco Oro Minerals Corp. is the target of a Colombian protest in Bucaramanga.

Tens of thousands of Columbians were on the streets defending their water supply from the Canadian gold mining operating in the high-altitude, environmentally sensitive area.

Eco Oro is one of about a dozen Canadian companies that have been targeted in as many countries recently.

The advocacy group Mining Watch’s co-ordinator Ramsey Hart told the CBC that Canada is home of most of the junior mining companies in the world. 

He said that there is also no mechanism for holding Canadian mining companies accountable.

Eco Oro says that it is a victim of misunderstanding.

The company insists that it will bring long term sustainability and economic opportunity to the region.

STORY WRITTEN BY: DANIEL J. ROWE

Did you have trouble going anywhere between six and seven, last night?

Chances were, you’re not the only one.

The Montreal Metro was suddenly shut-down for an hour, due to a computer glitch, according to the C-B-C.

Shuttle buses outside the stations were out to help stranded passengers get around town.

S-T-M president Michel Labrecque (ME-SHELL, LA-BREK) spoke with Radio-Canada.

He explains that the S-T-M has been slowly upgrading the metro's operating facilities since last year.

They have been trying to catch the glitches that force the metro to suddenly stop.

With the last shutdown three weeks ago, over a thousand unplanned interruptions were recorded last year.

Half of those were caused by passengers, according to an internal S-T-M report. 

Flickr Photo by: (Guerrilla Futures | Jason Tester}

STORY WRITTEN BY: SATURN DE LOS ANGELES

Minority students are suspended at higher rates than white students according to statistics from public schools in Portland, Oregon.

The Oregonian reports African American students were four times more likely to be suspended or expelled than white students.

American Indian students and Latino students were also disciplined at higher rates while Asian students recorded lower rates.

The results echo a broader trend in the U.S. that civil rights advocates say contributes to the achievement gap.

The U.S. Department of Education recently launched an investigation into the discipline rates of black students in Seattle schools.

District officials say tracking the data will help curb suspensions and expulsions by altering practices to prevent racial disparities.

The District is promoting its Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports program in thirty-six schools.

The program focuses on rewarding good behaviour rather than concentrating on strict forms of discipline.

STORY WRITTEN BY: AISHA SAMU