Hey Everyone... Montreal is Protesting too!

One of the great things about this country is freedom of assembly, it's something we often take for granted.

It warms my heart when I see people join together and march in support of those in Iran; I find it just that people can walk down the street show their support for Tibet, I can even accept the stupid communist march on May 1st... but the latest protest in Montreal is beyond my comprehension.

People held a rally a few days ago at the Bell Centre to urge the Montreal Canadiens to resign Alexei Kovalev. Seriously. A hundred people used Twitter and Facebook to coordinate an action to all meet at the arena, dress their kids with the "Bleu, Blanc, Rouge" in the middle of summer and protest because the hockey team doesn't want to give Kovalev 6 or 7 million dollars pert year. Are you impressed? Cause I'm not.



In fact I'm a little embarrassed for these people and especially for their kids that didn't have a choice but to come along. But stunted childhoods put aside... Here's the kicker, while the rest of the world doesn't seem to be getting any better: People are being arrested and will likely be executed in Iran for assembling and marching, people in Honduras are being shot by soldiers for assembling and protesting, there are over 2100 political prisoners in Burma because of assembly and protest and here... We assemble, march, assemble and protest for a pro hockey player?

This can mean two things:
1- That Montreal is a really fantastic city with absolutely no problems, where everyone eats, has a place to live, no one gets stabbed and beer is cheap.
OR
2- People are idiots and have nothing better to do.

I'll let you draw your own conclusions, I think my opinion on this matter is pretty clear.

Muchacho Enfermo

The New Nordiques

In today's Globe and Mail separatist Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois is quote as having said :"The Montreal Canadiens is more than just a professional hockey team, it is part of the social and cultural fibre of the Quebec nation."

Coming from a woman who made a vicious attack on long time Habs captain Saku Koivu for not speaking French in his two line introduction on the jumbo-tron, her bid to convince La Caisse de Dépôt to purchase the team seems to be based on the fact that the team was a profitable investment for the current ownership.

If the Canadiens were bought by the province's pension fund, as Marois is trying to assure, would she then change the name because it doesn't sound separatist enough? or because it has federalist connotations? Or would she find a way to lobby the new ownership to try and stop drafting Europeans and English speaking people? Or force all them to take french courses?

I'm not sure, but I just don't like it when someone who vehemently opposes anything Canadian wants to buy something that so clearly represents a piece of Canada's heritage, the Canadiens.

Muchacho Enfermo

Could NHL coach lead us out of recession?

Last week the Montreal Canadiens, the winningest franchise in all of pro sports, was in a slump having lost game after game, nothing was going right. The goaltending was dodgy at best, the scoring was abysmal and the defense was virtually invisible. Then the coach, Guy "Carbo" Carbonneau, decides that he's forcing his big star Alexei Kovalev to take a few days off to rest and reflect on his poor play. Since Kovalev's return from his "time off" Carbo has reunited his old top line, placed the number two goaltender in net and GM Bob Gainey has added a veteran defenseman to the lineup. And up until tonight, the Canadiens had been unstoppable.

Which leads me to my question: could we do the same thing with our government? And would it work? Seriously... think about it.

Ask Harper (playing the role of Kovalev) to take a few days off to contemplate how he's screwing the country with his slush fund and his pompous attitude. Then ask Ignatieff what he would do differently (he'd play the role of backup goaltender) and ask him how he would stop the hemorrhage. Then, just to add a veteran to the mix, bring on an oldie like Tobin or Jean Chretien to advise on how to handle the crisis.

I'm not saying this is the ultimate answer, but the slush fund seems to be something that is foolish at best. The opposition seem, for the most part, to be against it and right now, the opposition represents the majority of Canadians. And an old warhorse should be brought in to advise both the current leadership and the opposition leadership. To bridge the gap in policy and to prevent the now imminent fighting that will ensue after the Tories start their attack adds.

In my opinion, a government that seems to put a lot more planning into attacking the opposition than it does in planning a 3 billion dollar emergency fund should take a serious step back, take a long hard look at themselves and say: what is our priority in leading this country? Is it staying in power through slander or through earning the trust and respect of Canadians.

Kovalev did just that. He looked at himself in the mirror and decided that he would step up and play the way he should. He admitted that this was the best thing for him even if, at first, he was unhappy with it.

Maybe if the Conservatives did the same, they'd come to similar conclusions.

Muchacho Enfermo