What a great title and what a great document to fuel the debate on choices for society. This Manifesto is presented so that Quebec can energetically tackle the monumental challenges presented by its demographic decline, at a time when global competition has never been as fierce. The Manifesto was developed by a most illustrious group of participants: Lucien Bouchard, Joseph Facal, Pierre Fortin, Robert Lacroix, Sylvie Lalande, Claude Montmarquette, Andr

My student job involves a big call centre for a big company. I answer the telephone. I take orders for clients, help them pay their invoices, settle different claims they may have… I deal with customers from all over North America, USA, English Canada and French Canada. I will now go ahead and make a few generalized stereotypes about the different markets.

USA: They like the cheap products, want the free credit (don’t want to pay now) and are always happy with the free gifts they get with their purchase.

English Canada: Mostly very polite, have their orders prepared and ready for me to take. One lady today was listening to Chopin! I didn’t want her to hang up!

French Canada: Similar to English Canada. But then there is the language thing. I love French. I love Quebec French. Most customers also love Quebec French and speak a nice French.

But there was one lady today at work that really annoyed me. She wanted to order products but did not (want to) understand what I was explaining about how to get the best deal for the products. She commented on the free gift being “crissement laid” and used a lot of other typical Quebec swear words during our conversation. Swearing/joual is ok with me, it’s very common in Quebec. But it does have a time and place. When you’re talking to an agent that’s trying to help you swearing is very rude and it annoyed the hell out of me. I sighed in despair… The lady heard it and said “I heard you breathing”. I answered “Sure madame X, I breathe, I am a living human afterall!” And I got rid of her as quick as I could.

So it is this new job that’s keeping me very busy… Too busy to do things I’d like to do this Fall: visit the pumpkins exhibition at the Jardin Botanique and go photograph the fall foliage!

Remember Autumn in the West, something else in the East? Here’s North and South. Generally, during Fall, there should be all kinds of color. Here, we have green and void.

I really like the lighting of this photo; the sunlight going through the naked trees onto the fully “clothed” trees. It feels great.

A significant percentage of Montrealers have travelled to the Yucatan peninsula to escape our long winters. This is how we discovered Isla Mujeres which is everything that Cancun isn’t. Small, peaceful and not sorely dedicated to tourism and the almighty dollar.

As you can see from the radar, this tiny, low lying island (right under the n of Cancun), is right in the path of the eye of Hurricane Wilma. Fortunately most of its inhabitants have been evacuated but I fear that this little paradise will be gutted by the storm.

Check out this photo gallery and you’ll understand why I’ll mourn its loss.

Recently in the news there were articles on both La Ronde being up for sale and the roof on the Olympic Stadium being replaced. The combination of the two reminded me of an amusement park from my childhood and a possible solution to the Olympic Stadium

It’s hard to believe that October is usually one of my favorite month. I adore fall foliage and crisp blue skies but both have been seriously lacking this year. This image was taken exactly one year ago and I have been eagerly anticipating a repeat performance this year.

Unfortunately, what we got instead was a summer-like heat wave followed by 2 weeks of rain. I am not sure if this is related but it appears that the trees can’t seem to agree on the best time to change colors. Some are still green while others are already bare. Furthermore yellow has been the dominant color which is not what I am looking for.

There is some hope for next weekend so I’m crossing my fingers and everything else that sticks out. Comments on the situation around the island are most welcome, especially if you see lots of bright orange and red.

Last night I went to a concert (Youth Group and Death Cab For Cutie) at the Spectrum, on Ste Catherine, between Bleury and Jeanne-Mance. It was great, both bands gave an awesome performance. I came out of there really energized although I was so tired…! Then I walked towards the metro. There was a homeless man sleeping in a little porch, using an umbrella to cover his head from the rain, all snuggled up in his sleeping bag. He had his few belongings in a plastic bag near him. It makes me sad to see homeless people, especially when it gets cold outside like now. I come from a little isolated village where people help each other out and everyone has a place to call home (as modest as it may be). So the homeless in the city is something relatively new to me. So it made me wonder… How many people in Montreal are homeless? Where can they go to get access to different ressources?

I found an article from The Gazette that says according to the latest government estimates about 28 000 people are homeless in Montreal! That sounds like awful lots of people to me!! The article also tells us the stories of 5 homeless people and how they ended up living on the Montreal streets, which include alchoolism, loosing a job, health problems and depression. There seems to be many reasons one ends up on the street and it’s not always about drugs or being an addict.

So back to that man… Why was he sleeping outside? I know there are some shelters in Montreal, including the Stella emergency shelter for homeless women, Mission Old Brewery, etc. Why wasn’t he there in the warmth? Instead of outside in the rain? Was it because they were full? Or because he simply didn’t want to go there? I guess I will never know…

There are also some homeless people in my neighbourhood. I often see one man around the Pharmaprix on the corner of C

I just noticed that gas prices on the West Island have finally dropped below the one dollar per liter mark and I have to admit that this return to the “new normal” is leaving me with some ambiguous feelings. I am happy that a smaller proportion of my income will go to the increasing Alberta budget surplus but the last thing that I want is for people to forget the lessons of last few months and return to the era of the big SUV.

That stuff is too precious to waste and our planet can certainly use the break.

Nevertheless, I am really happy that I heat my house wiht electricity. Getting a smaller car and/or driving less is a sensible option. Not heating your home in winter isn’t. All of those wood-burning heaters that were acquired following the ice storm will probably see a lot of use which means more winter smog alerts.

I was struck by an obituary in the Montreal Gazette this morning. I often read the obituaries and am struck by what incredible things people do that we never become aware of. What caused this reflection was the obituary for Lloyd Hipson, born in 1943 and who died on September 3. He was a busker and played the accordion. He also was blind and had an amazing memory. He was to be found for almost 30 years playing in front of the Park Avenue YMCA at the corner of St. Viateur Street and Park Avenue. We all see people around us on the street and are never aware of the richness of their lives’ experiences. Only sometimes in death do we sometimes become aware of all they have done.

That perhaps explains another obituary on the same page for Christine Polydouris. This was a 1,530 word paid obituary that appeared twice in the Albany Times Union and was written by her only son, John. These two appearances cost $ 1,300 US each day. It also ran in four other newspapers in the area as well as the Greek and English versions of the National Herald, a Greek newspaper in New York City. .. and now it appears in the Montreal Gazette and probably many other newspapers around the world. The headline was ‘An extraordinary obituary for an ordinary life’. She certainly will be remembered now.

I was walking in the streets this morning on the left side of this street and walking on wet leaves bugs so I went on the other side of the street. That’s when I looked up.

I find this very odd. Look on the left (West), the leaves are changing colors and the trees are getting naked while on the right (East), nothing is happening. It doesn’t even look random.

Nature works in mysterious ways.