Friday 21 March 2014

Why lawyer and mom of four Valerie Assouline decided to run for the CAQ



In my blog last week I spoke to  Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) NDG candidate Noah Sidel. The post sparked a lot of controversy, with Sidel even getting into some verbal sparring on my Facebook page.



Today I wish to introduce you to lawyer Valerie Assouline, running for the CAQ in the ethnocultural riding of  Laurier-Dorion, held by Liberal Gerry Sklavounos. She is a resident of Dollard des Ormeaux and the mother of four.
Valerie Assouline


For decades, the old parties alternated to form the government of Quebec, and yet they really have nothing to show for - except to have exacerbated the morose and cynical voter sentiment with ever-increasing taxes and fees, and a long list of broken promises,” Assouline shared with me.  “There is even a lingering scent of corruption in the air. Not to mention that with the PQ in power, there is always a Sword of Damocles above our heads about the future of Quebec within the Canadian federation that polarizes the votes in the province.



“As we saw during the last 18 months, they never bring any concrete solutions to taxpayers and their real concerns. And let’s not forget that our dire fiscal situation can also be directly attributed to the long list of disputable Liberal decisions and expensive promises that were added to our children’s ‘credit card’ for no tangible gains - except maybe for some ‘friends’ of the party when they were in power! These facts were so blatant that François Legault saw an opportunity to unite concerned citizens under his Coalition a couple of years ago in order to break that unproductive cycle. His focus is to bring forth real solutions for real problems voiced by the population. He did his homework, and he is the only political leader with integrity and a financially sound program that is responsible, as well as having propositions with a vision for a brighter future.”


Assouline  is the founder and president of SOS Lawyers, a firm specializing in civil and commercial law and immigration As a member of the Jewish community, she says it was important for her to get involved in these elections. “I chose the CAQ for its platform that is not only centered around the taxpayers needs and ongoing issues with all sorts of fee hikes, but also because it proposes a responsible plan to help families specifically,” she said.  “As a Jew, and an immigrant that came with my family to Canada from Morocco at an early age, it was also important to have a strong voice at the National Assembly to represent our values and experiences to better serve our population. In the past, the Jewish vote was almost automatically a Liberal vote because no other appropriate option existed, and the Liberals took that for granted! The CAQ is now here to give them a real, reasonable and responsible vote.”

Even though she lives in   Dollard, Assouline says the riding of Laurier-Dorion was a perfect example of an electorate that can benefit from the CAQ’s propositions by reducing the tax burden and excessive fee hikes that penalize families. “My personal experience as an immigrant, a mother, and an entrepreneur will be an asset when representing this riding and providing them with appropriate solutions that work,” she remarked confidently. “Such care for the people we represent should be a priority for anyone looking to hold office in government. The CAQ’s stance on integrity and its straight-shooting political values will be the choice for voters that want to regain the lost trust in our political system governed by the old parties. You can steal our ideas and program, but the people representing them are the ones that have to be elected, and that vote should carry the message of what/who you stand for, as well.



On the Charter of Values, the CAQ says  the PQ ban on wearing religious symbols, such as Islamic veils, the kippa, religious turbans and large crucifixes, is “too radical.” But the party sees nothing wrong with a ban of religious symbols limited to public sector personnel in positions of authority, namely judges, police and prison officers and teachers.   


Assouline says that the  CAQ’s position is the only one that both follows the  recommendations of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission on reasonable accommodation , and one that can be productive for a fairer society looking to avoid any sense of discriminatory actions by people in positions of power.

 “As a lawyer, if my Jewish client is in court facing a Judge with an Islamic veil, or vice-versa an Islamic client facing a Judge wearing a kippa, and a negative decision towards my client is handed down, there might be a part of me asking if the decision was really impartial,” she says.  “But any other law restricting further the access to government-related jobs as proposed by the PQ, such as a clerk at the local SAQ branch, a customer support rep at Hydro-Québec or a woman working at your CPE Daycare looking to integrate the workforce and find some financial autonomy, should be blocked because it would be so counter-productive to its ‘supposed’ intent to bring more equality between men and women in our society. Where does Marois’ push for secularisms end? Should schools serving kosher meals lose their public funding? Should the wonderful director of my children’s school be forced to choose between wearing his kippa or working in Quebec? I think the answers are clear.”

Wednesday 19 March 2014

A highly controversial lecture is headed to Montreal on the 9/11 Terrorist attacks

A warning. Some readers still deeply affected by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks will be offended by what they are about to read.

Over the past decade I have followed the commentaries of my former Suburban Newspaper colleague Craig McKee, who questions the official reports of what really happened on that horrible day in the United States nearly 13 years ago.

Craig contacted me this week, asking that I promote an event he is helping to organize locally. Richard Gage, an architect for the past 26 years,  has researched all three 9/11 skyscraper collapses. He says he can't stand the silence any longer. A group called  ReThink911.ca, is coordinating Gage's 17 Canadian city tour, which began  on  March 13 and stops here
on Wednesday, March 26 (7:30 p.m.) at the McGill University/Leacock Building (855 W Sherbrooke St. W.). Tickets are $15 online here  and $20 at the door.
Craig McKee

"I know this is a controversial subject for many people, but the presentation is scientific and professional," Craig insists. "It deals with the evidence only."

Gage, in fact, presents the forensic, eyewitness and photographic evidence that three World Trade Center skyscrapers were destroyed by explosives on September 11, 2001. In the days following the tragedy, the words "controlled demolition" were constantly repeated by news commentators. Rethink911.ca  officials note that those early stories have long disappeared from the corporate news media, having been replaced by the thought-stopping phrase "conspiracy theory."
Richard Gage

The major plank in the story is this. They insist that anyone who trusts his or her senses can see that WTC7, a massive steel skyscraper adjacent to the Twin Towers, fell so suddenly and symmetrically that it could only have been imploded.

Gage noted, "NIST 's government scientists, determined to show how the first steel building in history was reduced to rubble by 'normal office fires,' worked for seven years to devise a computer simulation that is full of errors and omissions." Gage, a member of the American Institute of Architects, has been as he calls it "exposing" deception vis-a-vis the computer model on his tour.

This is all pretty wild stuff.  Allegations like 9/11 has given rise to an amorphous new enemy -terror-  a pervasive ill-defined threat that has cost Canada and the US trillions in both foreign and domestic policy.   Furthermore, the group talks about I sabotaged trust between Christians and Muslims, and   giving the West carte blanche to invade oil-rich lands that are claimed to foster terror against it.
 
Gage gave up his career to found the 18,000-member organization Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth.  His theme is  exposing 9/11 internationally, showing it to be a false pretext for military aggression in the Middle East. Below is the Rethink911.ca video:


 
McKee had two stints with The Suburban: 1988-89 and  1997-2005. He  now works as a freelance journalist and copywriter and is currently contributing to an upcoming anthology on the subject of false flag operation  You can check out his blog here.  He has gotten over half a million hits since 2010. 

For more details on the conference email 
Montreal@ReThink911.ca or log on to www.AE911Truth.org or www.rethink911.ca.


CSL TCBY to reopen in temporary location before Passover

These past few months have not been easy for Lenny Rosenberg. Last December, for the second time in seven years, the owner and operator of TCBY at the corner of Côte St. Luc Road and Beaconsfield had to shut down due to extensive damage caused by a fire at an attached restaurant.

Rosenberg has secured a smaller storefront a few doors down and plans to open a fully functional temporary store sometime  before Passover at 6122 Côte St. Luc Road. "Our long range goal is to return to our old location  once the building is rebuilt," he says. "It's been really heartwarming to have gotten the amount of encouragement we've received from so many of our customers. This end of June will be  our 25th anniversary and we certainly aren't going to let a couple of fires slow us down."

Rosenberg has kept his products flowing since the fire at 6132 Cote St.Luc Road, the TCBY  nut free/peanut free production/warehouse location for take-out only until 6 p.m. every day. "We also have cakes, pies and yogurt cups available for purchase," he says.

Tuesday 18 March 2014

Congregation Shaare Zion set for Blood Drive and Community Day April 6

Congregation Shaare Zion Men's Club (5575 Côte St. Luc Road, near Marcil) will be hosting a Hema Quebec Blood Drive (10 a.m.) and a Community Information Day (1 p.m.) with 20 well known leading agencies and organizations from Montreal on Sunday, April 6.
  

Organizers Farley Fishman, Norm Spatz and Neil Bernstein note that the Congregation and the community at large will benefit from this one stop gathering for information and answers to different questions. "Just think if you needed to go to one of these offices," notes Fishman. "You would have to commute to the location,  find and pay for parking or take the bus, get there in time if you had an appointment or wait a while till you were seen. In this case it will all be in one place."
 


Both the Blood Drive and Community Information Day will be held downstairs in the reception rooms.

Here are  the organizations: 

Jewish Genealogy Society of Montreal
Jewish Public Library 
Jewish Community Foundation of Montreal 
Communicaid for Hearing Impaired Persons
Mada Community Center 
Sun Youth Organization 

B'nai Brith Canada 
 YM-YWHA 
 Auberge Shalom 
 Act To End Violence Against Women 
 Project Genesis
 OMETZ
 Cummings Centre 
 Hope & Cope 
 Heart & Stroke Foundation
 Diabetes Quebec
 CSSS Cavendish
 Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada
  Alzheimer Group INC (AGI)
  Physio 360