The Fornicator

So I have started writing a blog.
Really.
Is there anything that sounds more trite and uninteresting?
Everybody has a blog. I know families with blogs.
By most estimates, there are over 100 million blogs in the world (I just made that stat up, but never let a lack of statistical references get in the way of making a good point)
I am writing this first entry, knowing that I have ZERO followers.
So why write it?

Because I can.
The age of Sharing is upon us my friends. Any everyone shares, whether we like it or not.
We are bombarded every day with opinion and insight from the un-opinionated and un-insightful.
So I humbly add my voice to the chorus - hoping that I might say a few things of interest.

Topic 1: Roads and Infrastructure.
This topic is killing me. Road closures have paralyzed the city, as we navigate through a maze of orange cones.
Most troubling to me is the lack of ownership and leadership involved when it comes to fixing the roads.
Times of chaos present an opportunity for leadership.

Here is a free speech for Jean Charest.

"My Dear Montreal constituents.
Too long have you suffered the delays and uncertainty of your crumbling infrastructure.
We can all assign and deflect blame for the state that we are in, but blame does not fix the roads.
We can complain about our taxes, and about the lack of organization, but complaining does not repair bridges.
What we need is a plan.
A comprehensive plan to create an infrastructure for Montreal that is not a patchwork of quickie repairs and band-aids, but a real plan to make our infrastructure durable and enviable.
Other cities have made sacrifices: Boston spent years digging an underground road system through the heart of its city. But now they have a system.
So here is my plan to fix this now.

1. As of now, all bridge and highway construction is mine. I own it, I will fix it.
2. I am appointing X, a highly credible and reputable business leader, as the master of roads. He is responsible for coming up with a detailed plan and a timeline.
3. We need a new Champlain bridge. Right now. We will start construction next week.
4. This is going to cost you! Expect some tolls, and expect some taxes. If you live in a suburb, or off the island, expect a bridge tax. The Island of Montreal can no longer be expected to shoulder the burden alone.
5. My Infrastructure Plan will be the number 1 issue I will be campaigning on next election. I am going to have a plan to fix this - and Quebeckers will need to believe that my party will fix the roads better than the other guys. If you do not believe, do not vote for me.

Last - and most importantly: We need to set a deadline - and here it is: 5 YEARS.
From this date, I commit that by summer 2016 - we will have repaired or replaced:
- The Turcot interchange
- The Ville Marie
- The Champlain and Mercier bridges
We can then look at completing the next big disaster: the Metropolitan.

I believe that Quebeckers understand that this will be painful. In the meantime - we need to greatly improve public transit. And quickly.
- We will work with the AMT to create park and ride locations on the affected autoroutes. In order to encourage the use of public transit in the suburbs, public transit costs will be 150% TAX DEDUCTIBLE. Yes, we will be greatly reducing the cost to taxpayers of taking the bus, train or metro.
I believe people respond to incentives, therefore this tax benefit should help alleviate the burden on our roads.

In short - there are no easy solutions. There are no popular solutions. But there are solutions.
We have gotten ourselves into this mess - we can get ourselves out of it..

Thank you."

End speech

I wish our politicians could speak like this!!!
But instead we will get public commissions. We will blamestorm, we will elect a new government to blame the old, we will debate proposals, we will hesitate, we will complain.

The Fournicator

Just what the world was creaming for: another blog.
I will try to keep my postings brief and insightful, and above all else - funny.

Some subjects:

1. Politics - Canadian, Quebec, Municipal, World, whatever catches my attention.
2. Business - Mostly tales from my work experience as a consultant, aka a Travelling Common Sense Salesman
3. Life in general

Thanks for reading!