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News: November 16, 2011
Read by Joel Balsam
Stories written by Joel Balsam, Lindsay Briscoe and Sarah Moore
Produced by Michael Lemieux
AMT vows $16.8B plan to improve public transit
The Agence Metropolitaine de Transport unveiled an ambitious 16.8 billion dollar plan to improve public transit. They want transit ridership to increase 33 per cent by 2020. This is part of the city of Montreal's ongoing plan to get more cars off the road.
10 billion dollars of the new plan will go towards developing new services. Studies are underway to expand the metro east, south, and north.
There are also talks to build a new train on the Champlain Bridge. But don't worry West Islanders, you won't be completely left out. More trains are planned to be added from downtown to Sait Anne de Bellevue.
The AMT also said they will need more revenue to fund these projects. That could mean toll roads or increased gas taxes.
Facebook gets spammed
Even the almighty Facebook is susceptible to viruses. The worldwide social networking site was attacked by spam over the past few days.
Thousands of users complained of seeing pornography on their newsfeeds. Facebook has an idea of who is responsible, and its not the hacktivist group Anonymous.
Legal action will be taken against the suspect they believe to have created the spam. He has not yet been named.
Facebook has vowed to step up security to make sure this weakness is not exposed again.
November 15, 2011
Read by: Aisha Samu
Stories by: Katie McGroarty, Jordie Yeager, Tara Brockwell, Aisha Samu, and Niki Mohrdar
Produced by: Carlo Spiridigliozzi
MUNUCA strike negotiations suspended
Negotiations between the McGill University Non-Academic Certified Association and senior administration have reached a stalemate.
During a Friday night meeting, the conciliator postponed talks after stating that the two groups’ views on wages were too extreme from each other.
Union members want a three percent wage increase, while the administration is only willing to raise it by 1.2 percent.
In a statement released on Sunday, McGill vice-principal Michael Di Grappa stated that there have been no dates set to resume talks.
McGill’s support staff union has been on strike since September.
Some of the services the 3,000 non-academic employees provide are course registration, laboratory and clerical support, and student residence management.
Former family minister charged
MNA Tony Tomassi was officially charged for fraud and breach of contract.
He is accused of using a credit card from a private security firm for his own personal uses. That same firm received millions of dollars in provincial contracts and loans.
The scandal broke out in May 2010 when Tomassi was still family minister for the Liberal party. He has since been asked to leave Charest’s party and now represents the east-end Montreal riding of Lafontaine independently.
Tomassi says he will fight the charges that could result in a five year prison sentence.
Keystone XL pipeline to be redirected
The controversial Keystone XL pipeline is moving to avoid an environmentally sensitive part of Nebraska.
The president of TransCanada’s energy and oil pipelines stated that Nebraskans would have a say in determining the final route. Nebraska’s Department of Environmental Quality is working with the U.S. State Department to find the best location for the pipeline.
Roughly three thousand kilometres of pipeline would carry crude oil from Alberta to Texas Gulf coast refineries. The U.S. federal government recently delayed the decision on a federal permit for the project to study alternative routes.
Environmental group Centre of Biological Diversity is suing the U.S. State Department to stop the project. They claim that any changes will still pose an environmental threat.
The Alberta Premier is confident that the project will go through.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
On November 29th, 30th and December 1st, 2011,
You Voted To Get CJLO Heard Downtown!
Thank you to all of the students who voted! CJLO had an unofficial 57% of the votes in favour of increasing our fee levy. Your support means a lot to us.
Also, a huge thank you to all of our volunteers who helped us with this campagin, we couldn't have done it without you.
NBA season in peril
The NBA 2011-2012 season is in serious doubt. After already having been delayed for five weeks, it is looking very unlikely that the season will begin at all.
Yesterday the NBA Players Association ended bargaining with the league. The association’s president, LA Lakers Derek Fisher, also dissolved the union. This decision allows players to pursue legal action against the NBA.
Players and managers have been in disagreement over how profits are split. The NBA wanted a 50-50 split while the players association was seeking a minimum 52.5 percent.
In the last few days’ players indicated they would be willing to accept 51 percent with benefits. Currently players are paid between 49 and 51 percent.
Fisher added players would be filing an anti-trust suit in the coming few days.
McGill students rally against riot police and administration
A crowd of up to 1000 McGill students and staff gathered outside the school’s James Administration building on Monday afternoon. It was a peaceful rally with a bitter atmosphere, held because they were unhappy with the way McGill’s administration handled Thursday’s protest against tuition hikes.
Thursday's protest ended with students occupying the administration building, resulting in riot police being called.
According to those gathered on Monday, the police used pepper spray and violence against protesters on Thursday when it was not necessary.
Thursday’s confrontation is being investigated by the dean of law as well as by students. The students plan to report their findings by the end of the month.
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