Corruption, Fraud and Thuggery by an Out of Control Montreal STM

Is the Montreal Transit Authority’s Claim of “OPUS Card Fraud” a Fraud itself and a Pretext to More Draconian Legislation in the Near Future? A look at Montreal’s STM (RFID) OPUS Cards, Fraud Claims, STM Security, and What Comes Next.

By: Stewart Brennan

World United News

In 2008, the Montreal Transit Commission (STM) adopted a new system for their monthly bus passes and single fare ticketing from European corporation “Calypso Networks Association” (C.N.A.) with, the integration corporation “Spirtech” assisting in the implementation and engineering of C.N.A. software. 

Montreal had jumped into the RFID OPUS technology for monthly bus passes while also using a magnetic strip card reader for single transit fares. We were told then that the reason they were moving to this new $219 Million dollar system was to prevent Bus pass fraud in the old system.

On the surface it seemed that there wouldn’t be too many problems associated with this new technology, with the exception of the STM’S South Shore “Longueuil Metro Station” which did not, and still does not accept STM Magnetic cards bought anywhere else but in the Longueuil metro station. Not good if you prepaid all your STM trips somewhere else and do not have any money left to pay for an additional one…which did happen to me the first time I used the system going home from the South Shore. It was a very frustrating experience that I wont get into here.

The STM, Fraud, & OPUS Cards

Since 2009, Michele Labrecque has been the chairman and the primary representative of the STM. He oversees the performance and execution of the STM’s functions and powers…and, in agreement with other board members, sets corporate orientations. He also chairs the Board’s public meetings and approves the agenda in collaboration with the STM’s Chief executive officer and is the Transit Users’ Representative…

Recently, Michele Labrecque estimated that the STM saves $12 million a year on fraud by using the OPUS Card technology but did not give any details on how they do this exactly. His statement raised a lot of unanswered questions to say the least.

When you invest 219 million dollars of taxpayers money into a NEW system that is supposed to be Fraud proof and a benefit to the citizens, you certainly wouldn’t want to skip out on purchasing the Fraud Detection Option when purchasing this system…especially when stopping Fraud is the reason they bought the system in the first place. So it is very strange and disturbing to see more and more STM Security Inspectors harassing passengers for their tickets and bus passes in the name of Fraud.

These STM directives and security actions clearly state that either the system they bought is totally useless in detecting Fraud, that someone grossly incompetent is responsible for not acquiring the proper equipment and programming, or there is corruption happening inside the STM.

Regardless of the answer, the people of Montreal and the surrounding communities should not have to be shoulder the Orwellian directives by Government & Corporate decisions that harass the public, especially when the STM are to blame in the first place.

“Spirtech” an OPUS Technology engineering firm and partner with Calypso Networks claims that their system is virtually Fraud proof. Who am I to believe? (http://www.spirtech.com/products/fraud-detector)

If Fraud is not a problem with this new technology, then why do we need STM Security checking everyone’s Monthly OPUS Bus passes and Magnetic Strip single fare tickets?

If indeed the STM has reduced Fraud by 12 million dollars as per MICHEL LABRECQUE, why is the STM giving themselves huge pay raises as stated in an article by the Montreal Gazette on July 25^th, 2013 to the tune of millions of dollars? And WHY have they hired an army of bus pass inspectors?

Does this 12 million dollar savings at the STM mean that STM management get to pocket this money? Are the STM Security Army, who also received big raises, becoming the cash cow tool of the STM’s corporate management? (See Gazette Report for security personnel salaries)

Court Orders STM to pay $123,000.00 in back pay to STM Security Officers

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Court+orders+back+security+officers/7840875/story.html

Failure to show these STM Inspectors your ticket will land you a huge fine and in the hospital if you refuse to budge, as was the case with me on August 03^rd, 2013. One might look at it as strong-armed tactics by the STM to ensure every passenger obays whatever they are told by STM Security or face being roughed up and fined without any recourse to challenge them…because the STM Board of Directors, who are also municipal legislators, passed a municipal law that grants this corporation police powers.

As stated in the Montreal Gazette on July 25^th, 2013 the STM gave themselves big pay raises. I wonder where they got the money to inflate their already massive salaries?

STM Got Big Pay Raises

http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/managers+raises/8703628/story.html

When the size of your STM Salary is dependent on growth and there are no other means to create that growth how exactly does one create growth and give themselves large pay increases?  All the pay increases of the STM payroll have to come from somewhere…and a job needs to be a benefit to the corporation for profitability. So I wonder why they have hired more people in the STM Security department?

The STM’s Michel Labrecque also stated that they want a 40% increase in rider-ship by 2020…in my opinion, harassing and beating up their customers is certainly not the way to go. If they keep up their current pace by treating everyone as a potential criminal, more people will stop using their system.

Coming to Montreal by 2015 OPUS 2.0

During his opening remarks for AQTR’s conference on Urban mobility in the age of electronic payment (Feb 25, 2012), the president of the STM’S governing board Michel Labrecque stated, “We transport millions of people…soon we will get to know who they are.” What Mr. Lebreque was referring to was the implementation of OPUS 2.0 and having access to all your personal information in the future on the Montreal Transit Bus Pass. Security related? Fraud free?

OPUS Background Info

The OPUS card uses RFID(Radio-frequency identification) technology which can be read by anyone with an RFID transmitter / receiver. The OPUS card technology is owned by “Calypso Networks Association”; this European company’s primary goal is to use this technology on all digital transactions worldwide and to eventually replace the worlds currencies to become the Global technology and system for all monetary transactions. We are already seeing this technology being used by the Banks through Debit Cards, and Credit Cards, but we are also seeing this technology on Medicare cards, Drivers Licenses, passports, and soon there will be an upgrade to the Transit Authority’s OPUS 2 Cards.

Is there OPUS Card Fraud in Montreal?

So if this OPUS card fraud is real then what makes the Bankcards safe and the Bus Pass not safe? The bigger question is, of course, why are we allowing our governments to bully us into this RFID technology if it isn’t reliable? On a larger scale, We are talking about a massive corporation merger interconnected with many national governments, banks, and powerful shareholders that have the potential to end all national sovereignty by economic merger when financial controls of this technology are in place. “Spirtech” is the company being used to help engineer the OPUS RFID technology merger between corporations, banks, and governments. So their claim to be a safe system certainly needs to be proven since it conflicts with the STM’s assessment…but then it’s all about control, money and security isn’t it; but security for who?

Is it really necessary for Montreal’s STM Security to harass transit passengers because THEY SAY there is fraud in the OPUS system? If the answer is yes, then what about debit cards, credit cards, and Medicare Cards? Are these same technology cards at risk of fraud as well? And if so are we to expect a future where security people threaten debit and credit card holders to show ID and threaten us with arrest if we do not show them what they want?

As far as “Spirtech” is concerned, programming is all that is required to secure the cards…If that is so, why is Montreal’s STM spending Millions of Taxpayers dollars to hire an army of security inspectors to harass the public, instead of fixing the system?

The South Shore Transit System (RTL)

The South Shore of Montreal has a different Transit System (RTL), which also adopted the OPUS card and has a combination OPUS card with the STM for passengers requiring both transportation systems. However the RTL did not choose to adopt the single transit fare magnetic strip cards, so there is no proof of payments or transfers for single use. Even still there doesn’t seem to be a breach of security with their OPUS cards nor do they employ an army of security people to harass their passengers.

The RTL does have an OPUS card for occasional RTL riders who can’t purchase a monthly rechargeable OPUS card. The commuter can choose to load 6, 12, 18 or 24 RTL trips on a Solo card at the regular rate ($3.25 each x number of trips). Valid on all RTL buses, where a transfer is automatically issued on the Solo card. But they do not have a single fare proof of purchase to issue a passenger when they pay $3.25 on the bus.

Although the Quebec Government represents both transit systems (RTL & STM) together for a better price when approaching corporations for retrofits or Spare Parts such as implementing the new OPUS technology, the “South Shore Transit Commission” (RTL), chose not to use the exact same system as the STM. The only difference is the magnetic strip single fare cards…and the number of security personnel hired…

RTL & Municipal Governments

I’ve learned that at the municipal council level of government on the South Shore there are Paid RTL representatives that receive a minimum $15,000.00 just for being an RTL corporate representative. In my opinion there is a huge conflict of interest here since the money comes from the citizen’s taxes to pay them this bonus over and above the salary they receive for being on the council. Those chosen to represent the RTL are usually favoured by the Mayor of the specific community, if, of course, they do not claim the bonus for themselves.

This got me to thinking, “Does the STM also Pay the City Councillors in Montreal and the West Island a Bonus”?

If we take a look at who is on the STM Corporate Board of Directors and the STM Committees the answer is “YES”. The same people are on both Corporate and government posts. My question is how much are these municipal government reps being paid just to rubber stamp their STM corporate directives? Am I wrong to think this is corruption?

STM – Members of the Board of Directors

https://www2.stm.info/English/en-bref/a-ca_membres.htm

Attacked By STM Security Agents

On Saturday August 3^rd, 2013, STM Security attacked me for not showing them the magnetic strip bus pass I received after paying for a single fare on Bus #204 in the West Island of Montreal. They put me in the hospital. The incident is an ongoing nightmare for me now because I will not take public transport for fear of a repeat performance by the STM Security. It also stops me from visiting my 87-year-old mother on the South Shore who needs help because of her complications from dementia. I don’t have a car nor do I know anyone here that can take me to the South Shore once a week so I will need to find a way to rectify this. I will not bow to this authoritarian minded corporation, nor will I allow my dignity as a human being to be trampled on.

One of my fears is based on being singled out by STM security personnel with the Security software programs the STM have installed with all of the security cameras throughout the transit system. “Facial Recognition Technology” allows the STM Security Inspectors to profile passengers at will and is reason enough for me to stay away from ever taking the bus again simply because I feel I will be targeted and because my plea for justice has fallen on deaf ears by the STM, Municipal Governments, Gazette, CBC, CTV and other mainstream media. The NEWS mediums simply have not done their jobs in investigating and bringing the public’s attention to the ongoing conflicts of interest, corruption, and unjust laws that enable thuggery by the STM and its security apparatus.

According to Calypso Network Association, the creators of the OPUS technology and the engineering group Spirtech that works with C.N.A., there is no Fraud with their system…but the STM hires security to run around all day long harassing passengers by insisting on checking everyone’s OPUS cards and magnetic strip single fare cards…In my opinion, the STM, which is a merger of government and corporation is a completely corrupt organization operating as a parasite on the tax payers of Montreal and the citizens of the surrounding service area’s. The STM and all it’s Board members need to be investigated through a public inquiry including a forensic audit investigation of their books. The Harassment by STM Security on the population using public transit has to stop!  

My Personal Request to the STM

I want an apology from the STM for their security personnel roughing me up and putting me in the hospital because I wouldn’t show them the ticket I had just paid for. I want a complete stop to the STM security’s harassment of the public. I want the $333.00 fine they imposed on me for not showing them my ticket to be dropped, and I want the STM to pay for the damages inflicted on me by their security personnel.

Stewart Brennan

---------------------------

Links:

Calypso Networks Association

http://www.calypsonet-asso.org/
Spirtech
http://www.spirtech.com/spirtech-consulting/calypso-networks-association
OPUS 2.0 Urban Mobility in the Age of Electronic Payment
http://spacing.ca/montreal/2012/02/23/opus-2-0-urban-mobility-in-the-age-of-electronic-payment/
Court Orders STM to pay $123,000.00 in back pay to STM Security Officiers
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Court+orders+back+security+officers/7840875/story.html
STM Got Big Pay Raises
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/managers+raises/8703628/story.html
STM – Members of the Board of Directors
https://www2.stm.info/English/en-bref/a-ca_membres.htm
Calypso Networks Association & STM – (PDF File)
http://www.calypsonet-asso.org/downloads/open_session_2012/2012%2011%20STM.pdf
NOVA Bus
http://www.novabus.com/transit-solutions/service.html
RFID
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio-frequency_identification
Metro Security think they are Policemen
http://archemdis.com/2010/04/08/montreal-metro-security-thinks-they-are-policemen/
Woman Fined $219.00 for not paying bus fare with exact change
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2013/08/02/montreal-stm-verdun-pauline-tantost-fine.html
Montreal’s STM Transit Security is Violently Out of Control
http://worldunitednews.blogspot.ca/2013/08/montreals-stm-transit-security-are.html

 

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Eurozone finance ministers approve bailout deal for Cyprus

 

French minister of Economy, Finances and Foreign Trade Pierre Moscovici (R) and International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde (L) chat next to EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn (C) prior to an extraordinary Eurozone meeting on March 24, 2013 at the EU Headquarters in Brussels (AFP Photo / John Thys)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/cyprus-eu-imf-bailout-764/

The Eurogroup has approved a deal on a 10 billion-euro bailout for Cyprus, struck early Monday in Brussels. Cyprus avoids exiting the eurozone, but will have its second largest bank closed with heavy losses expected for big depositors.

“The size of financial assistance will amount to 10 billion euro,” Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem has announced at a press conference in Brussels after the eurozone finance ministers swiftly endorsed the plan.

“With this agreement we’ve put an end to the uncertainty that has affected Cyprus and the euro area over the last few days,”he added.

The new deal agreed between Cyprus and the Troika of international lenders - the EU, the ECB and the IMF - will set up a "good bank" and a "bad bank" and will mean that the country’s second largest bank Laiki will effectively be shut down.

Deposits below 100,000 euros will be shifted from Laiki to the Bank of Cyprus to create a “good bank.” Deposits larger than 100,000 euros will be frozen and used to resolve debts. It remains unclear how large the write-down on those funds will be.

The decision comes hours before the Monday deadline set by the European Central Bank, following heated talks between President Nicos Anastasiades and the Troika.

Earlier on Sunday the central bank in Cyprus has imposed an ATM withdrawal limit of 100 euros per day for the island's two biggest banks, in order to prevent a run on lenders.

Warren Pollock - market analyst and financial adviser says the financial turmoil in Cyprus is part of a broader crisis.

“In reality this is a global problem which has not been addressed since 2007-2008 and previous to that with the issuance of huge amounts of debt and leverage into the system both in Europe and in the United States,” he told RT.


“And when that debt goes bad, the only recourse which exists is to tap remaining collateral in the system which is the savings.”


Pollock believes that sooner or later this “sort of stealing” of savings may result in popular unrest. “We can definitely see smaller countries being the test to see whether savings could be stolen on a wider scale.”

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Cyprus imposes ATM withdrawal limit of €100 per day for island's two largest banks

 

People queue to withdraw their savings at a Cypus Popular Bank (Laiki Bank) ATM in Athens on March 22, 2013. (AFP Photo)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/business/cyprus-bailout-withdrawal-banks-756/

The central bank in Cyprus has imposed an ATM withdrawal limit of 100 euros per day for the island's two biggest banks, in order to prevent a run on lenders.

A spokesman for the country's second largest lender, Cyprus Popular Bank, told Reuters that the new measure began at 1pm local time (11am GMT) and would remain in place until the bank reopens, or until confirmation of continued emergency funding from the European Central Bank. Cyprus Popular Bank had previously limited withdrawals to 260 euros per day.

A government official said the restriction also applied to the Bank of Cyprus.

It was initially reported that the measure was implemented on all banks in Cyprus, although it has now been confirmed that only the island's two biggest banks have been affected.

The news comes after Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades took part in last-minute crisis talks with international lenders on Sunday, in an attempt to save the country from financial meltdown. The negotiations in Nicosia to seal a bailout from the EU and International Monetary Fund failed to reach a solution.

Anastasiades then headed to Brussels to hold talks with EU, European Central Bank and IMF leaders ahead of a crunch meeting of eurozone finance ministers.

Government spokesman Christos Stylianides said in a statement on Sunday that Anastasiades and his team have a "very difficult task to accomplish to save the Cypriot economy and avert a disorderly default if there is no final agreement on a loan accord."

The news comes just one day after Cyprus and the Troika agreed to a 20 per cent tax on deposits over 100,000 euros at the Bank of Cyprus and 4 per cent on deposits held at other banks.

"Unfortunately, the events of recent days have led to a situation where there are no longer any optimal solutions available. Today, there are only hard choices left," European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said in a Saturday statement.

Cyprus is scrambling to come up with €5.8 billion by Monday, or face being kicked out of the Eurozone. The cash is a prerequisite for a further €10 billion in bailout funds.

Lawmakers' rejection of a previous proposal to tax all bank deposits prompted the European Central Bank to threaten to cut off emergency funding to Cypriot banks unless a deal was reached by March 25. Banks have been shut all week, and are due to reopen on March 26.

On Saturday, at least 1,000 bank workers in Cyprus hit the streets of the country’s capital of Nicosia. The demonstrators marched against the latest bailout measures taken by the country’s central bank.

Protesters carried banners that read, “Hands off provident funds” and “No to the bankruptcy of Cyprus.”

Turkey sends ‘stern warning’ to Cyprus over gas reserves

Meanwhile, Turkey has warned Greek Cyprus against using hydrocarbon reserves off the island to overcome its debt crisis without the consent of Turkish Cypriots. Ankara says such a move could result in an end to efforts to reunite Cyprus’ Turkish and Greek zones.

Turkey has contacted the US and plans to take the issue to the European Union, Today’s Zaman reported.

Ankara “had to issue a stern warning” regarding attempts to offer natural resources in exchange for foreign loans, a Turkish official said on Sunday.

Turkey has repeatedly warned the Greek Cypriot government against unilateral moves to extract natural gas and oil reserves off Cyprus, saying that Turkish Cypriots also have a say on the reserves.

The dispute recently escalated when reports surfaced that hydrocarbon exploration rights were part of Russia-Greek Cyprus talks last week over a possible deal which includes Russian financial help. However, the talks did not produce an agreement.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev expressed doubt on the inclusion of hydrocarbon reserves as a loan deal, saying there are concerns surrounding commercial viability and questions stemming from Turkish objections.

 

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Division is the Tool of Choice by the Ruling Class in Quebec and Canada

 

Photo By: SFBrennan Art

http://sfbrennanart.blogspot.ca/2012/10/who-will-protect-us-from-police.html

Written By: Stewart Brennan

World United News

Governing policy has never really changed much in Quebec or Canada, regardless of perception of who makes the laws or controls the wealth.

The fact is, that the people from all the provinces and territories within Canada are controlled by an elitist group that hold power at every level of government, where legislation is used to divide and conquer via cultural and language divisions.

Keeping our communities at each others throats is the tactic used by those that control the wealth, especially when attention begins to focus on what they are really doing.

Consider that every law that is passed, by any level of government, works in favour of someone or some company that is either bent on aquiring or selling something that is not theirs or is to protect them from liability from past legislation that gave them control to buy or sell something that was not theirs.

Division has worked well for the Elite Across Canada.

Let us remember that it isn’t the little people that rule but those that control the money that rule. The people of Canada have been enslaved to serve a system put in place by the wealthy of this and other nations. The “Oligarchy” controls all aspects within the system and has cornered every market while quelling the resistance against them.

What we are told to do is go to our subservient jobs, pay taxes, and follow every law imposed on us regardless of its tone. To resist is to be imprisoned or threatened by the security system they have put in place. Ideally, the Police force is used for their own protection and not the protection of society as the lessons from the G20 meetings in Toronto, or the Student protests in Montreal clearly illustrated.

Video: Peaceful Protesters are attacked after singing Canadian National Anthem on Queen Street Toronto, Ontario, Canada (2010)

Video: Violence erupts as Riot police attack student protest in Montreal, Quebec, Canada (2012)

Put in our place.

When the population protests government decisions, there is complete silence by the mainstream media on the real issues surrounding the protests and a deafness towards the peoples complaints by an out of touch Parliament. They have our best interests at hand or so they tell us.

We are then told that to change the decisions they have made, we have the democratic right to make change through the political process and choose one of the parties the Oligarchy bankrolls and parades in front of us…does anyone really think there is a mainstream political party that has not been bought and paid for?

The power structure that governs us politically, socially, and economically in Canada are decidedly parasitic against everyone and are the root causes of all the economic hardships we endure and will continue to endure if something is not done. The establishment controls the wealth and power by their ownership of all the banks, land and major corporations. We are just pawns to be used in a Banking Kingdom and Fife.

One of the illusions given by those in control is that our local, Provincial, and Federal tax dollars go into taking care of the community…however, we are never allowed to know how much they collect, or where the money is spent. To make things worse, corrupt government allowed our Central Bank to give away the power to issue money.

The Bank of Canada gave away the issuance of the Canadian Dollar to privately owned banks who then started to “Loan us our own money”, PLUS, we had to pay our own money back to them with interest! This little known fact happened in 1974 under the watch, of then, Canadian Prime Minister, “Pierre Elliot Trudeau”. However, this practice of thievery was known by all other political parties and allowed to continue by every Governing Provincial and Federal Governments since.

Video: Canada Issued Debt-Free Money From 1935-1974

The “National Debt” and thus “Provincial Debt” is controlled by a foreign group of elitest bankers who have taken control of all our wealth by charging us compound interest on money that was never intended for them to issue. Where before, when the Bank of Canada issued the money, we didn’t have to pay interest back because it was our own money being created by our own bank, and therefore controlled only by Canadians.

The Politicians will not return us to debt free money or even address it because they are owned by the corporate structures that control the very same avenues of theft. It does not matter which political party is in power because all parties are controlled by corporate and banking interests that run the entire power structure. Politicians will evade the banking theft question whenever pressed.

The compound interest that has taken hold of our tax dollars is the sole reason that we have soaring inflation, tax increases across the board, a loss in purchasing power, a loss of social services, increased unemployment, a rapid increase in poverty, homelessness, and rise in crime. The monetary system and those that control what has been in place since 1974 is directly responsible for our hardships.

Today in Canada we face a growing foreign takeover of all our infrastructure, wealth and resources by greedy interests. An outrageous example of this is the take over bid by Chinese "State Owned" CNOOC of the Canadian privately owned corporation NEXEN. (See video below.)

Video: China’s CNOOC has agreed to buy Canada’s NEXEN for 15.1 Billion Dollars

When there is no more money available to pay back debt, you lose everything of value that you have as a Nation.

Today in Quebec and Canada all our tax money is going to pay off the compound interest on the principal of a debt that is controlled by private foreign elitist bankers instead of going into the community. This fact is the sole reason why our country’s mineral and resources are being sold down the river to outside groups…here in Quebec the land and everything on it belongs to outside interests, it’s not ours…and that goes for those in Alberta, Ontario and every other Province and or territory.

The more indebted to the international banking cartel we become, the more intertwined we become in the grotesque international hatreds we see unfolding across the World. Our government has told us they have taken sides against people in other nations whom they have no business or right to interfere with. Certainly NOT in my name!!!

My plea to the Canadian people regardless of descent, origin, or status be it English, French, Jew, Muslim, black, white, purple or orange, it’s time to stand together as a unified community, as a nation, and stop the division being inflicted upon us by those that rule!

Common sense, respect, and tolerance to culture and language are expressions of unity and the tools that will free our society from this oppression we face. Standing together is our strength in battling all forms of division that the ruling elite constantly unleash upon our communities. We should be united in telling our government that “If you oppress one part of the community, you oppress all of it, and we do not support you!” We should not tolerate ANY attempts of division what so ever.

This is not a Liberal, Conservative, Separatist, or New Democratic position. It is a position of being a humanist, of having empathy for others, of mutual respect, and being what we hold deer in our hearts as "being Canadian"…To be free…really free.

It’s time to stand up and take back the control of our monetary system from the parasitic private bankers! It’s time to FORCE the government and mainstream media to back down! It’s time to change the system to one that is controlled by the people and not political representatives that cater to the wishes of the corporate few.

How Do We Make Change

How do we do it? We do it by creating direct democracy and establishing criteria that allows people to run for office based on experience in the fields that they hold. We do it by removing the private banks from control of our national currency. We do it by becoming the media, by being open to change, by becoming an economic block, and by our passion for equal rights, respect for one another and belief in the right to exist. We do it together!

No person or culture should be singled out and subject to a muzzle by fear mongering groups or individuals that base their paranoia in propaganda spread by an elitist group and their media, nor should we respect laws that force us all to conform to their racism in all its shapes and forms. No foreign individual, group, or nation should come first over the people of Canada!

Stewart Brennan

Back up Links:

01. Canada a human rights slaughterhouse

http://worldunitednews.blogspot.ca/2012/10/canada-human-rights-slaughterhouse.html
02. Quebec to come down hard on those defying language laws
http://worldunitednews.blogspot.ca/2012/10/quebec-to-come-down-hard-on-those.html
03. Canada closes Iranian embassy, suspends diplomatic ties
http://worldunitednews.blogspot.ca/2012/09/canada-closes-iranian-embassy-suspends.html
04. Canadian Premier Harper skips UN General Assembly to get Jewish award
http://worldunitednews.blogspot.ca/2012/09/canadian-premier-harper-skips-un.html
05. Racist Attack by Radio Shock Jock Ruled not Defamatory
http://jimquail.com/2011/02/17/racist-attack-not-defamatory/
06. Quebec New Years Special draws complaints of Racism
http://rabble.ca/babble/central-canada/quebec-new-years-special-draws-complaints-racism
07. Court sides with Quebec DJ turned MP who made racist remarks against Hatian and Arab Cab Drivers
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/court-sides-with-quebec-dj-turned-mp-who-made-racist-screed-against-cabbies/article576433/?service=mobile
08. Montreal-area board considers making French mandatory in schoolyards
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1091534--montreal-area-board-considers-making-french-mandatory-in-schoolyards
09. Quebec French Language Schoolyard Ban on all languages except French
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/11/23/quebec-french-language-schoolyard-ban_n_1110929.html
10. PQ Accused of Political Takeover of Quebec Schools
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/10/11/less-english-and-more-sovereignty-pq-accused-of-political-takeover-of-quebec-schools/
11. Bill 78: Worst Law since War Measures Act
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/05/18/bill-78-quebec-protests-war-measures-act_n_1528309.html
12. Canada Issued Debt-Free Money From 1935-1974
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxD2-lQwYa8
13. G20 Stand-Off with Riot Police on Queen Street
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqCiAqslAyA
14. The Crime of the Canadian Banking System
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7HMt5MgsDg
15. Video: China’s CNOOC has agreed to buy Canada’s NEXEN for 15.1 Billion Dollars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zaazutwgfc
16. Quebec Chamber of Commerce (See members)
http://www.ccquebec.ca/
17. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce (See Members)
http://www.chamber.ca/
18. Quebec: Huge protest supports striking students, denounces Bill 78
http://worldunitednews.blogspot.ca/2012/05/quebec-huge-protest-supports-striking.html
19. US-Canada “Terror Justice”: I Will Never Forget Omar Khadr
http://worldunitednews.blogspot.ca/2012/10/us-canada-terror-justice-i-will-never.html
20. Canadians call for increased state control of natural resources
http://worldunitednews.blogspot.ca/2012/10/canadians-call-for-increased-state.html
21. Allowing China's CNOOC to buy Canadian oil company would be treason, MP says
http://worldunitednews.blogspot.ca/2012/10/allowing-chinas-cnooc-to-buy-canadian.html

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If EU were a company its chiefs and CEOs would be in jail - MEP

EU Leaders pose during a family photo after a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels (AFP Photo / John Thys)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/eu-budget-paul-nuttall-885/

With an EU budget that stands at 147 billion euros, a sum that looks set to increase, European MP Paul Nuttall told RT that even the EU doesn’t know where such a "crazy" sum of money is spent.

With EU members set to discuss the inflation-busting rise of 5% to the 2014-2020 budget, suggested by the European Commission, Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has rebuked David Cameron’s plan to try and repatriate powers to the UK. He described it as “false promise wrapped in union jack” which could trigger an “outright crisis” and result in the UK leaving the union.

Clegg also argued on Thursday that achieving a cut in the seven-year EU budget to be discussed in three weeks is “completely unrealistic” and the only realistic variant is the pushing for a real-terms freeze.

Cameron also wants to push for a freeze, but that freeze is in fact an increase, argues Paul Nuttall, a Member of the European Parliament from the UK Independence Party, due to the inflation.

RT:Is Nick Clegg right? Is the UK moving away from Europe?

Paul Nuttall: The UK is certainly moving away …Well, the people are moving away from Europe, shall we say. If we look at recent opinion polls 80 per cent of people want the referendum, so around 60 per cent of people actually want to leave the European Union altogether. So the people are certainly moving away. The political class that’s another debate, I mean, I think what Nick Clegg said is quite right actually. We can’t repatriate powers unless we have an iron fist behind us. And the iron fist has to be a referendum on our membership of the EU and then we can invoke something called Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty, which means that we can then start negotiation about we can repatriate back to this country.

RT:How welcome is David Cameron going to be in Brussels later this month – what do you expect him to say?

PN: I think David Cameron has already shown his hands. I mean if I was going out there wanting a bargain what I would say that I want a clear reduction – a cut – in the EU budget. What he is saying is that he wants a freeze, which is in fact really a rise what would go in inflation. And I think he has shown his hands and what will happen is that he will talk hard and at the end he will come back and we will lose again and the British people will only pay more and more money to Brussels.

RT:As a Euro MP, how much money does the EU really need to go about its business?

PN: The budget last year was 129 billion pounds [sic], which is a crazy amount of money. Every single year the budget goes up and member states, including Greece and Portugal and Irelands that are in serious trouble will be asked to put their hands in pockets and give more to Brussels. It is wrong.

RT:Large parts of the EU budget have been failing audits for years now. Where does all the money go?

PN: That’s a good question. I don’t know. It seems that the European Union itself doesn’t know. Look, if the European Union was a company then its directors and chief executives would all be in jail. But it is not. It is corrupt and it is another reason why British people want that referendum and want to leave.

RT:Weaker eurozone states are struggling to stay afloat – Spain's verging on a bailout. But the UK's not in the currency union. However it's still paying into the troubled region's coffers. How much is the currency bloc relying on the wider EU states?

PN: The currency block certainly relies presumably on Britain, actually, out of the states which aren’t in the currency [block]. And we pay somewhere 15 million pounds a day just to be members of this club and this doesn’t take into account the mega amounts of money – tens of billions it costs us to comply with EU directives and regulations. It burdens on the British people. It is something we are not happy about. We want a referendum because let’s not forget the last time we voted on our membership this organization was in 1975. We deserve a referendum and we want a say on this issue.

 

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Greek journalist acquitted of breach of privacy for Lagarde list

 

Greek editor of "Hot Doc" weekly magazine Kostas Vaxevanis waits outside a courthouse in Athens November 1, 2012 (Reuters / Yorgos Karahalis)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/greek-journalist-acquitted-list-787/

Greek journalist Kostas Vaxevanis has been acquitted of breach of privacy. He was arrested after publishing a list of 2,000 Greeks with Swiss bank accounts in his Hot Doc magazine.

­His trial began earlier on Thursday for publishing the so called 'Lagarde list'.

Vaxevanis' defense centered around claims that he published the same list as the one that French authorities handed over to their Greek counterparts two years ago. His legal team also argued that no one had complained of privacy violation.

The Greek authorities said that there was no evidence that names mentioned in the list, businessmen, politicians and high-ranking officals, did actually break the law.

While the case was wrapping up, another journalist Spiros Karatzaferis, was also arrested in Athens.

His detention comes after threats to expose damaging allegations about the country’s economy. He claimed to have proof that the Greek deficit, which forced the embattled country to seek bailouts, was fraudulent. Karatzaferis insists he received this information from the hacker group Anonymous.

Two TV presenters were also recently suspended for criticizing authorities on-air.

Cases of what local journalists call increasing government censorship has sparked mass protest, started by state television staff.

Greek editor Kostas Vaxevanis makes statements outside a courthouse in Athens November 1, 2012 (Reuters / Yorgos Karahalis)

‘Journalists arrested for doing their job’- editor

­Before Kostas Vaxevanis was acquitted, RT talked to editor Tim Gopsill, who said that journalists in Greece are simply trying to do their job and are being arrested for it.

­RT:In light of these arrests, do you see a problem with media freedom brewing in Greece?

Tim Gopsill: I would say so, journalists in Greece are absolutely doing their job. The country is in crisis, people need to know what is going on.

RT:Do you think the quick and heavy-handed response of Greek authorities – when one of these journalists didn't even get to reveal the information he claims to have – proves that they have something they want to keep hidden?

TG: I would say so, yes. They are trying to close it down, aren’t they? Because what these journalists are doing is trying to reveal to the public the important information relating to the economic crisis. Kostas Vaxevanis’s exposé relates to the real crisis in Greece and in other countries too, which is tax avoidance and the export of capital, the taking the money out of the country, which is what happened to the Greek economy.

RT: Are you surprised by all this?

TG: Well, I am not surprised that the government is in absolute crisis in Greece. The economy is tottering, it is the most terrible social deprivation. It is a terrible time for Greek people and they are being treated very badly, not only by the Greek government but the whole EU financial establishment. They need to know the truth, but the thing is that avoiding the tax and taking money off the country is one of the main causes of the crisis. It is absolutely right that it should be publicized.

RT:Both these journalists were arrested within days of each other, while two TV presenters were also suspended for criticizing on -air the authorities. What can we read into the timing of all this?

TG: The timing is related to the economic position. It is getting closer and closer to a confrontation between Greece and the EU and eurozone. The eurozone is showing very little mercy to the suffering people. The bailout to Greece is not going to people’s pockets or to the income of the livelihood of the people. It is going to the banks, who rather rashly lent Greece money in the past.

RT: The journalists strike left Greeks with no news for 24 hours on Wednesday. That's when the politicians were debating new cuts for next year's budget. Was it playing into the lawmakers hands, as the public were left with no information on this divisive issue?

TG: What else can they do? All they can do is try to do their job, to tell the truth. But when they do they get arrested.

RT: But should they go on strike?

TG: Yes, I think so. They have got to put pressure on the government.

RT: All these events have drawn attention to the situation of media freedom in Greece. Have the authorities' efforts at guarding any secrets been counterproductive?

TG: I don’t see how they can get way with prosecuting these people. It is actually going to be a very interesting test of freedom in Greece, not just the press, but the court. I would expect that these journalists under what is the Greek version of the Human rights legislation that we have in this country, that we have around Europe, and the European convention and so on, will make sure that the court don’t convict them.

RT: Are other countries suffering from the crisis going to see more of this?

TG: If things get worse, yes.

 

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Thousands march in Madrid against government austerity measures

A picture taken on October 27, 2012 shows placards on a fence installed by police to protect the Spanish Congress during a protest against the government's austerity reforms and the public payment of bank's debts in Madrid (AFP Photo / Dominique Faget)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/madrid-austerity-protest-march-396/

A massive police escort accompanied tens of thousands of Spaniards marching on the country’s parliament in Madrid as part of anti-austerity protests.

­The 2.3-kilometers march organized by the "Surround parliament" protest group was closely guarded by law enforcement with dog teams, vans with reinforced windows, officers in full riot gear as well as mounted police.

At the Parliament, the crowd was greeted by an even larger police presence and pushed them back behind a chain of metal rail barricades.

Demonstrators were protesting against the latest measures introduced by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government as tens of thousands of jobs were lost in the third quarter with a bank bailout in sight.

“And now they are going to give banks a bailout, rescue them as if they were princesses,” Alan Pipo told the AP. “They should be put out on the streets, just like all those families who are being evicted from their homes because they are unable to keep up with mortgage payments! "

Demonstrators held a minute’s silence with their backs turned on parliament to show their condemnation of the government’s policies, that’s as a quarter of Spaniards are now unemployed.

The crowd also moved in front of Bankia Bank, where a group of protesters have been camping out since Monday, in an effort to pressure the bank to halt evictions that have so far affected 400,000 families in Spain.

Earlier on Saturday, nearly 3,000 off-duty police officers had also taken to the streets to voice their anger over austerity measures and the withdrawal of their Christmas bonuses.

Overall the Spanish economy has been struggling for years and now faces a staggering unemployment rate among the young of 52.34 per cent according to country’s National Statistical Institute.

In an effort to rebound the economic growth PM Rajoy has hiked taxes, cut spending and introduced harsh labor reforms in an effort to persuade investors that his government can manage Spain's financial trouble without a full bailout.

But some researchers believe that instead of cutting spending, it might be wise to increase it.

“The alternative is actually not to cut spending, but to invest in the economy, to invest in growth to make sure that there’re jobs. And the only way to ultimately get out of this debt, is to grow out of debt and not to cut your way of debt,” Jerome Roos, a researcher on the EU debt crisis at the European University Institute in Florence, told RT.

Spain’s economic output has shrunk for five quarters in a row and the country’s banking sector has been given a €100 billion loan by the 17 Eurozone states.

 

Demonstrators take part in a protest against the government's austerity reforms and the public payment of bank's debts in Madrid on October 27, 2012 (AFP Photo / Caesar Manso)

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Violent clashes erupt as Italy protests austerity

Demonstrators march on the ring road during the No Monti Day demonstration on October 27, 2012 in Rome (AFP Photo / STR)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/italy-austerity-protest-clashes-384/

Violent clashes erupted between police and protesters in the northern Italian town of Riva del Garda as tens of thousands took to the streets of Italy in a nationwide anti-austerity demonstration dubbed ‘No Monti Day.’

Police used tear gas and batons to disperse the crowd of angry protesters who fought back with clubs and banners on the streets of Riva del Garda.

Reports say the country’s Prime Minister Mario Monti, who is seen by many as a root cause of the Italian people’s suffering, was attending a meeting in Riva del Garda when the clashes began.

The demonstration in Riva del Garda was just one out of many taking place in Italy on Saturday.

In Rome police expected some 30,000 to take to the streets, but activists estimate that up to 100,000 showed up.

Protesters marched through the city to demand more jobs, investment in schools and universities, more money for healthcare and the end of the austerity policy brokered by Monti and his technocratic cabinet.

Monti, who replaced Silvio Berlusconi last November, is accused of introducing tough austerity measures that have hit ordinary Italians hardest asthe country’s economy continues to falter.

The protests in Italy come a year after ‘Occupy Rome’ turned extremely violent as scores of masked protesters attacked police with rocks, clubs and hummers.

The rioters torched cars, smashed windows, looted shops and even set the building housing Italy’s Defense Ministry on fire.

 

Screen shot from AP video

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Moody's warns it may put top Canadian banks on downgrade watch

 

A Moody's sign on the 7 World Trade Center tower (file photo)

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/27/268966/canada-banks-at-risk-of-being-downgraded/

Moody’s Investors Service has warned that it could slash the credit ratings of five top Canadian banks as the country is increasingly feeling the pinch of global financial crisis.

The rating agency said on Friday that the possible lowering of the banks’ rating by one notch is due to “concerns about high consumer debt levels and elevated housing prices.”

According to fresh official figures, Canadian consumer debt has increased to record highs in recent months as the ratio of household debt-to-income reached 163.4 percent in the second quarter of 2012, up from 161.8 percent in the first quarter.

“Domestically, we're concerned about the high and increasing levels of consumer indebtedness and elevated housing prices, and we feel that they may tend to leave the Canadian banks more vulnerable to downside risks to the economy than they have been in the past,” said David Beattie, Moody's vice president and senior credit officer.

Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), and the National Bank of Canada are the ones that may be downgraded by the rating agency.

The Bank of Montreal's current Moody's rating is Aa2, the Bank of Nova Scotia's is Aa1, the CIBC's Aa2, the National's Aa2 and the Toronto-Dominion's, Aaa.

In a similar move in July 2012, Standard & Poor's (S&P) Ratings Services also put several Canadian banks on “negative outlook,” citing rising consumer debt and elevated housing prices

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French banks get blow from S&P, as Eurozone crisis weighs

 

(AFP Photo /Philippe Huguen)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/business/news/s-and-p-france-banks-downgrade-293/

S&P downgraded three French banks, including the 3rd biggest lender in the world BNP Paribas, saying the outlook for another 10 lenders was negative. The agency said European turmoil was increasingly pressing, with economic data backing the gloom.

Banque Solfea and Cofidis were the other 2 French lenders that came into the S&P firing line. The agency cut the outlook on another 10 banks including such market giants as Societe Generale, and Credit Agricole to negative from stable.

In its decision, S&P lowered its long-term rating on BNP Paribas to “A+” from “AA-", while cuttingsmaller players Banque Solfea to “A-” from “A” and Cofidis to “BBB+” from “A-". The forecast on both short – and long – term ratings was negative.

“…the constraints of a relatively high public debt burden, reduced external competitiveness and persistent high unemployment are being aggravated in our view by the ongoing eurozone crisis, a more protracted recession across Europe, and lower domestic growth prospects”, S&P said in its press-release.

“We consider that this economic environment, including the persistence of low interest rates, will put pressure on domestic revenue growth for French banks in 2013-2014,” the agency added.

The recent economic data has indeed been saying that the second largest European economy is coming closer to a recession, agrees Anna Bodrova of Investcafe. “While it [France] remains one of the strongest European economies, the country is clearly suffering financial difficulties,”the analyst added.

Earlier this week the central Bank of France said the $2.56trln economy was set to contract 0.1% in 3Q, which will mark the first quarter of contraction since the start of 2009.

Another economic benchmark released this week was a preliminary Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) that is used as an indicator of business activity. Despite a slight improvement in October to 44.8 from a September reading of 43.2, the figure showed the French economy remained under pressure.

Any figures below 50 signal contraction.

“The latest Flash PMI data for France indicate a lack of any significant improvement from the severe weakness seen in September. With GDP looking likely to have contracted in Q3, the latest poor figures suggest that the downward momentum has been carried over into Q4 and the economy could well end the year in recession. A further weakening of business sentiment in the service sector to its lowest since the start of 2009 underlines the pervasive gloom among businesses at present as uncertainty drags on and investment decisions are delayed accordingly,” Jack Kennedy, Senior Economist at Markit and author of the Flash France PMI, commented in the report.

The country’s Government also cut its official forecast for the next year, with France’s President Francois Hollande saying the economy was expected to grow just a notch above zero – about 0.8% – which compares to a 1.2% expansion forecast before.

 

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What is behind the global stock market rally?

 

By: Andre Damon

Source: Global Research

http://www.globalresearch.ca/what-is-behind-the-global-stock-market-rally/

Despite a string of disastrous economic figures, stock markets throughout the world are surging.

In the past year, the US Dow Jones Industrial Average and the British FTSE 250 have each risen by 20 percent, while the German DAX has shot up by 39 percent. The NASDAQ, consisting mainly of US-based technology companies, has already eclipsed its previous record, set in November 2007, while the Dow is within 600 points of its previous high.

The continued rise on stock exchanges comes as manufacturing activity in Europe, China and the United States slumps to its lowest level in three years. The European economy as a whole is contracting. In the latest raft of dire economic data, released Thursday, US durable goods orders recorded their sharpest fall since 2009. US economic growth for the second quarter was revised downward from an already anemic 1.7 percent to 1.3 percent.

How is one to explain the meteoric rise in stock values even as the global economy is sliding into a deeper slump?

The boom in stock prices is an expression of a global redistribution of wealth from the bottom to the top. The social conditions of the working class have been driven relentlessly downwards, while trillions of dollars have been turned over to the banks, mainly for the purpose of financial speculation.

This process is particularly evident in the United States, the center of world capitalism and the center of the global economic crisis.

The three major stock indexes have nearly doubled in value since 2009, and the fortunes of the super-rich have risen accordingly. The richest 400 billionaires in the US had a net worth of $1.27 trillion in 2009. This already obscene figure shot up to $1.7 trillion in this year’s list, an increase of 33 percent in just three years.

CEO pay has followed a similar course. The average CEO of one of the 350 largest US companies took home $12.14 million in 2011, up from $12.04 million in 2010 and $10.36 million in 2009, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

But for the working population, the situation is exactly the opposite. Between 2009 and 2011, the most recent year for which figures are available, the number of people in poverty in the United States grew by 2.6 million, to 49 million. Mass unemployment has been utilized as a lever to impose wage cuts in every sector of the economy.

Since the official end of the recession, in June of 2009, the average duration of unemployment has nearly doubled from 23 weeks to 38 weeks. The percentage of the working-age population that is employed has fallen, as anemic job growth barely keeps pace with the increase in the population and hundreds of thousands of laid-off people give up looking for work.

For those workers who still have a job, real hourly wages have fallen by about 1.0 percent. The earnings of a typical household fell by 1.7 percent in 2010 alone.

The increase in the rate of exploitation of workers has translated into huge cost savings for corporations and record profits in every year since 2009, further swelling the incomes of the super-rich.

In addition to the direct impoverishment of the work force, stock markets have been buoyed by the influx of cash from the world’s central banks.

Within the last month, the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan have all taken new measures to pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the financial markets. The US Fed took the most dramatic step of the three, initiating an open-ended program to buy $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities every month, taking these toxic assets off of the banks’ balance sheets.

The ostensible purpose of these moves is to lower interest rates, revive the housing market, and increase the amount of money available for corporations to expand and hire new workers. But instead of productively investing the money, the corporations and banks are either hoarding it or pouring it into the stock market and other forms of speculation.

The total amount of cash held by major US corporations stood at $1.7 trillion in the second quarter of this year. Apple, the technology giant, is a case in point. It held $98 billion in the first quarter of this year, $110 billion in the second, and $117 billion in the third. Meanwhile, its market valuation keeps expanding and there is already talk that the company, which is currently valued at over $600 billion, will become the world’s first $1 trillion corporation.

The enormous sums of money being pumped into the financial system are inflating asset values and bankrolling record payouts for executives, whose compensation is often tied to share prices.

The inflation of asset values cannot continue indefinitely amid the deepening economic slump. The growth of share values and other financial assets, based mainly on a near-zero interest-rate policy and virtually free money from the central banks, is inflating a new and even more gigantic speculative bubble than the one that burst in September of 2008.

The upsurge in stock values does not reflect a healthy economy, but one that is deeply diseased, in which the intractable contradictions of the capitalist system are exacerbated by a ruthless and avaricious financial aristocracy that dictates policy in the United States and internationally.

The US ruling class, first under Bush and then under Obama, responded to the crash of 2008, which was the inevitable outcome of the financialization of American capitalism, by handing over trillions of dollars in public funds to the banks. The aim was to reflate the values of financial assets in order to maintain and increase the wealth of the financial aristocracy.

World governments have followed suit, with each bailout of the banks accompanied by an ever more ferocious attack on workers. Everything must be cut: wages, pensions, health care, education—everything, that is, but the wealth of those responsible for the crisis.

The financial vultures who control the main investment houses send stock markets soaring with each new assault on jobs and social programs—as they did Friday after the Spanish government, presiding over a country in deep recession, unveiled a draft budget that slashes spending by $51 billion next year.

The key to the “success” of finance capital to this point has been its ability to isolate and quash outbreaks of working class resistance, relying on the services of the trade union apparatuses and their allies among the various pseudo-left organizations (the New Anti-capitalist Party in France, the Socialist Workers Party in the UK, the Left Party in Germany, SYRIZA in Greece, the International Socialist Organization in the US).

However, the actions of the central banks and governments have resolved nothing. The euphoria on the stock exchanges rests on rotten foundations. The rising markets are one expression of an unprecedented intensification of social tensions that are already beginning to erupt in the form of explosive class struggles on a world scale. A new, revolutionary leadership must be built in every country to unite these struggles and arm them with a socialist and internationalist program.

 

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