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Canadians headed for Spring Election
The conservative government has been defeated. The historic defeat marks the beginning of a battle between parties that will result in elections in May. The votes cited the Harper government for contempt of parliament- a first in any Commonwealth government.
Canadian voters will have five weeks to sort out the rhetoric brought on by different party leaders. Harper claims that opposition coalition is a danger to country. Meanwhile, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff says that the real danger is Harper’s contempt for democracy.
Canada’s 40th parliament will formally be dissolved Saturday morning.
March 25th 2011
The news today was read and produced by Erica Bridgeman
The stories were written by Jacqueline Di Bartolomeo, Michael Lemieux and Michael Moore
No-confidence vote expected Friday
A spring election still hasn’t been called, but that didn’t stop parliament from switching into election mode during Thursday’s budget debate. The Liberals, Bloc Quebecois and NDP have all announced that they will reject the budget and bring about a no-confidence vote on Friday.
The vote is expected to topple Stephen Harper’s minority government and schedule the fifth election in the last ten years. The federal parties instead used the first and likely only day of debate to set their blueprints for the seemingly inevitable campaign.
The Conservatives accused the Liberals of allying with the Bloc and NDP in a bid to gain power.They also blasted all three parties for spending four hundred million dollars on an election campaign when the money could be better used elsewhere.
The Liberals attacked Harper’s government over its economic plan and a lack of transparency on government spending.
Meanwhile, the Bloc accused the Conservatives of ignoring Quebec, while NDP leader Jack Layton says Harper has repeatedly failed to improve the lives of Canadians.
If the non-confidence vote passes as expected, an election will be scheduled for this spring, likely in early May.
Cabbies Catch a Break
Taxi drivers in Montreal will no longer be fined for displaying religious objects. The city has recently clarified a bylaw regarding religious objects in taxis. They have told their inspectors to be more tolerant in their inspections.
The result comes as an especially important victory for one cabbie. Arieh Perecowicz was fined for over $1400 for various personal objects in his cab. He fought these tickets for years before finally losing last month.
Luckily for Perecowicz the city also decided to revoke all of his fines.Perecowicz says he is very happy and considers this a victory for all of Quebec.
City of Montreal looks to control bedbug problem with new plan
The city of Montreal is taking steps to prevent its bedbug problem from spreading. On Thursday, the public health department released its plan to combat the growing bedbug infestation.
If passed, the plan will force extermination companies to report infestations. It will also create a databank to keep track of infested households. Other measures include a public education campaign about bedbugs and the creation of a regional committee. City council is set to vote on the plan in June.
Councillor Michael Applebaum says it’s important to act quickly to prevent the problem from getting worse. It is estimated that 2.7 per cent of Montreal households have a bed bug problem.
Afro-Latin-Soul! Pt. 5 w/ Mantecoso @ Les Bobards
Considering we live in a city with so many Hispanic descendants, it’s shocking how ostracized Salsa music has become; all we have is a hand full of good salsa venues. Maybe this is why the Afro-Latin-Soul! promoters and their efforts to bring a beautiful range of different afro-latin music to the forefront of Montreal nightlife have been creating sound waves from here to New York. On Saturday March 26th, 2011, they’ll be kicking off spring with the 5th edition of their amazing music series; Mantecoso, Butta Beats’ (of Nomadic Massive fame) new musical initiative, will be headlining. They feature some of Montreal’s finest jazz, salsa and hip hop musicians. As a tribute to the groundbreaking New York salsa label Fania Records, Mantecoso specializes in Hip Hop renditions of great salsa classics accompanied by a latin orchestra. These two hot blooded musical genres weave together perfectly, creating a raw new sound that can’t be imitated.
So ladies, break out them heels, and fellas dust off your panama hats, it’s going to be a night to remember.
Afro-Latin-Soul! Pt. 5 featuring Mantecoso, Saturday March 26th 2011, 9pm- 7$ @ Les Bobards (4328 Blvd. St-Laurent)
-MF Gold will be hosting Say Word! on Mondays at 10-11am, starting April 18th
March 24th 2011
Read by Joel Balsam
Produced by Melissa Mulligan and Tomas McManus
Articles by Joel Balsam, A.J. Cordeiro, Alina Gotcherian
2011 CSU Debate between Your Concordia & Action
On March 23rd at 1.45pm Eastern Standard Time, the slates running for CSU Executive office met for a debate in H-110 in the Hall Building of the downtown campus of Concordia University. The debate was moderated by The Link’s News Editor; Christopher Curtis.
Your Concordia
Presidential Candidate: Lex Gill
VP External: Chad Walcott
VP Student Life & Sustainability: Laura Glover
Action
Presidential Candidate: Khalil Haddad
VP Services & Sustainability: Rasim Hafiz
VP University Affairs: Teresa Seminara.
DOWNLOAD THE DEBATE BY CLICKING HERE
Due to technical issues a question (read below) and subsequent answers were removed. If you would like to hear both responses to the question, CJLO would direct you to the CUTV's video here - http://livestre.am/FQgO
“In November for the 2nd time in 6 months students voted against buying a student union building. Students still pay $2 per credit to this end and the CSU is locked into a contract with the administration to buy a downtown building. Knowing that, what do we do with the millions accumulated in the student union building fund? If that’s possible. And how do we change this contract if we can?"
Goodbye potholes?
In local news, drivers may find themselves dodging fewer potholes by the end of the week.
According to a city spokesperson, 75 per cent of Montreal’s potholes had already been filled as of Wednesday.
While work on major roads is nearly complete, smaller side streets are expected to be finished in the coming days.
The city’s attempt to plug-up potholes started last Monday, after a winter season particularly tough on the roads.
The wide fluctuations in temperature this year can be blamed for the 154 damage claims motorists have filed with the city. That amount is double what was recorded for last year’s pothole season.
Photo by Evelyn Reid
CSU election heats up with debate
The two slates running for this year’s CSU election duked it out Wednesday in a debate heard live on CJLO. Chosen by Team Action to debate were Presidential candidate Khalil Haddad along with VP hopefuls Teresa Seminara and Rasim Hafiz. Sitting to the right of them was Your Concordia’s Lex Gill, Chad Walcott and Laura Glover. The main issues were discussed to give students a better idea of who they’d like to vote for.
In a late twist, The Link’s News Editor Christopher Curtis was forced to step in as moderator less than an hour before the debate began.
During the debate the teams held to their guns, rarely swaying from campaign promises and well-known positions. One disagreement came between the presidential candidates when they couldn’t agree on whether the student centre contract was overly binding or not. Both teams agree that tuition fees need to be lowered and their needs to be more transparency and accountability for the CSU next year, but the semantics were widely contested. Action wants to release spending sheets monthly while Your Concordia has promised to release the info every day they can.
Loyola students listen up! Both teams want to extend shuttle bus hours and promote the use of space at the Loyola campus.
A conflict did arise in the question and answer period after the moderator pointed out that Action was supported by the current CSU. Stephen Brown from Team Action immediately stood up and loudly accused the moderator of bias. This stems from an election where media bias and objectivity is on the tip of everyone’s tongues thanks in part to a protest earlier this month outside the Link’s office accusing the newspaper of media bias.
To stream the debate online click here.
Photos by: Erica Fisher
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