Vactation, family and smoked meat in Montreal have overtaken my head this week…so we’ll see you all back here next week.
Vactation, family and smoked meat in Montreal have overtaken my head this week…so we’ll see you all back here next week.

The loss COPE Executive Director Rachel Marcuse is going to prove to be a huge lost for the party.
It has just been announced that COPE’s Executive Director Rachel Marcuse is leaving to pursue her education.
Rachel is the institutional strength of that party, and her departure is going to set the organizational strength of COPE back significantly.
In her place comes Alvin Singh, who was a COPE school board candidate in the last election and an extremely bright individual who is more than capable.
That being said, there are many within COPE that are devastated by this loss, particularly Ellen Woodsworth, who from what I am being told is getting very nervous about her ability to make it into the top 10 again in the 2011 election.
Singh is a moderate voice in the COPE fold, and thus this could prove to be a good thing for the negotiation of a cooperative electoral arrangement with Vision Vancouver.
I am out and about Montreal this morning visiting family and doing a little business, but will be back tomorrow with a comprehensive analysis of Vision’s strengths and liabilities in the preparation towards the next campaign.
Until then, folks.
In Montreal getting my fill of smoked meat and other Montreal goodies, but this story from this morning’s Province is great news for local tourism-related businesses which have really been struggling since the close of the Olympics.
This definitely lends to the theory that if you build it, they will come. Once again, the Canadian side of the equation had better get their shit together if we are going to take advantage of the money ($8 billion) that Obama has put on the table.
The minor details like cost of customs changes are petty, and I am happy tha the BC government is at least pushing for ease to allow Amtrak to proceed with its plans. Now it is a matter of getting the federal government to shift their attention to Vancouver-Seattle-Portland over Windsor-Quebec City or even Edmonton-Calgary (which I still don’t quite understand in terms of its place on the list of priorities).
Ok, more later on in the day. Off to Schwartz’s.
More than 221,000 people have taken the second Amtrak evening train to Vancouver since the service began last August. It had a record month in July with nearly 25,000 passengers. Ridership on the morning train has also increased 21% in the past year.
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“Perhaps it was my silk dress or the new perfume I’ve been wearing lately. When I asked Suzanne Anton what her New Year’s resolution was, she replied, “To kiss a pretty girl!” and pecked me on the cheek.” – Writer Emily Barca describing her encounter with the lone NPA City Councillor on New Year’s Eve.