Le Vin de la Petite-Nation Reconnu en France

"One must maintain a little bit of summer, even in the middle of winter." 
~  Henry David Thoreau

"Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocre minds. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence and fulfills the duty to express the results of his thoughts in clear form."
  ~  Albert Einstein

Le vin de la Petite-Nation reconnu en France
Jessy Laflamme
le 21 février 2013
Le Droit

Après seulement quatre ans de commercialisation, le vignoble du Domaine des Météores de Ripon cumule les honneurs. En plus d'être dans le Guide Phaneuf depuis deux ans, la Revue du vin de France a répertorié ce producteur dans le cadre d'un article intitulé Les meilleurs vins du Canada.
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Les Jours J-BMR au Salon de vélo de Montréal

“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.”  

~ Henry David Thoreau

Les Jours J-BMR au Salon de vélo de Montréal
Jessy Laflamme
Le 12 février 2013
Le Droit

Les organisateurs des Jours J-BMR vendront leur nouveau festival de plein air en fin de semaine au Salon de vélo de Montréal pour atteindre l'objectif de 1000 participants en 2013.

«Il est temps de développer la région, et puisque le Tour du Lac ne pouvait plus grossir, on s'est greffé à d'autres municipalités afin de prolonger la durée du festival pour attirer plus de touristes», affirme le coordonnateur des Jours J-BMR, Mario Legault. PLUS >>>

Municipal Corruption: Charbonneau Commission

"A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves." 
~ Edward R. Murrow 

"If a man fails to honor the rivers, he shall not gain the life from them." 

~ Code of Hammurabi 1772 B.C.

In a three-part series of stories by The Gazette’s Linda Gyulai in January, Jean Fortier, who was executive committee chairman before Zampino, revealed that he was the object of bribes and other illegal manoeuvring for public contracts while he was former mayor Pierre Bourque’s right-hand man. And a lot of the time, he said, the attempts to corrupt him revolved around decisions relating to real-estate sales and zoning changes and other matters — not just the public-works contracts preoccupying the work of the Charbonneau Commission.

Exclusive (Part 3): Only transparency will kill corruption: Fortier
EXCLUSIVE THREE-PART SERIES: Part of Jean Fortier's motivation was seeing his father struggle to resist corruption. He died of a heart attack in front of his 11-year-old son
Linda Gyulai
January 20, 2013
Montreal Gazette

Exclusive (Part 2): Bribes, blackmail and city hall
EXCLUSIVE THREE-PART SERIES: Jean Fortier details weaknesses that can be exploited to corrupt municipal officials
Linda Gyulai
January 19, 2013
Montreal Gazette

Exclusive (Part 1): 'They were out to corrupt me,' says ex-executive committee boss
Former executive committee chairman Jean Fortier recounts his experience at city hall and warns the Charbonneau Commission's scope and mandate are too narrow to truly fight corruption
Linda Gyulai
January 18, 2013
Montreal Gazette

One of the main businesses of cities is urban planning and real-estate development, from issuing building permits and building subsidies to granting zoning changes and minor land-use variances, and selling disused municipal land to housing developers to grow a richer property-tax base. (...)

The financial stakes are higher in real-estate than in road construction, with more private and public money invested in development projects than in, say, municipal road and sewer contracts. (...)

So when municipalities agree to grant extra development rights to builders by allowing additional storeys, smaller setbacks, different uses and higher densities, they put more money in the builder's pocket. Politicians who wield such decision-making power become prey, Fortier says. (...)

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Loi sur la Fraude et la Corruption dans les Affaires Municipales

Gouvernement du Québec

Happy World Wetlands Day!

“Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.”
 ~ Edward Abbey

"Life in us is like the water in a river." 

~ Henry David Thoreau

Happy World Wetlands Day!

Our wetlands work to keep our water clean, store carbon, help prevent flooding and provide habitat for wildlife.

Let's work together to protect our wetlands, which are home to birds and other wildlife, and provide a clean source and store of freshwater.

"Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you"