L’azile

“Death is terrifying because it is so ordinary. It happens all the time.” – Susan Cheever

OTTAWA-The federal Conservatives have quietly killed a giant information registry that was used by lawyers, academics, journalists and ordinary citizens to hold government accountable.

The registry, created in 1989, is an electronic list of every request filed to all federal departments and agencies under the Access to Information Act.

Known as CAIRS, for Co-ordination of Access to Information Requests System, the database allowed ordinary citizens to identify millions of pages of once-secret documents that became public through individual freedom-of-information requests over many years.

But in a notice last week to civil servants on the Treasury Board website, officials posted an innocuous obituary: effective April 1, 2008, “the requirement to update CAIRS is no longer in effect.”

A spokesman for Treasury Board confirmed Friday that the system is being killed because “extensive” consultations showed it was not valued by government departments.

The full article is available at TheStar.com

I have not been posting these last few weeks because I do not have Internet access at home yet (long story). I have to say, going without has been quite euh, well, bizarre. On the one hand, it does not really bother me. I have been rather busy trying to get my new appartment organised (or perhaps it would be more accurate to say trying to get me organised in my new appartment) and I can always access my personal email accounts from work. And I have been doing a lot more reading which is always good.

On the other hand though, no Internet at home has also made me feel a bit frustrated and anxious, like there is a certain void in my life. So I have not been able to keep up with my favourite blogs or other Web stuff and since I do not own a television, I have not been able to download the few tv shows I like. And of course, I have had to curb my reflex for searching for just about any word that comes to mind. Which I guess is not really such a bad thing.

I saw Michael this week at an event organised by my employer and contrarily to every one else’s reaction to the news that I am sans Internet (typically along the lines of “OMFG!”, “Hein?!”, “T’es pas sérieuse!” or “you poor thing”) all he said, in true Michaelivian fashion, was “good”. Anyway, since I am presently at my ex-flatmate’s doing laundry (because a washer/dryer is another thing I am still without), I thought I would sign in briefly and give y’all a bit of news.

Continue reading… random update #7

Some guy called Jonathan Keller from Motor City has been photographing his face every day for the last eight years and posting the photos on line. It is a strangely fascinating experiment if you are into that sort of thing and yet it is actually very ordinary somehow but for some reason I find his follow-through quite admirable.

He claims in the oft entertaining FAQ that the project will continue until the day he dies and that “only then will it be complete, and worth its true value”, though “unfortunately, [he] won’t ever see it finished”.

He has created a timelapse animation of the series called “Living my life faster” and it really is quite something to see though I must admit it almost triggered an odd epileptic seizure.

Aside from the hair (facial and otherwise), he has not changed much in the last eight years but I imagine that, if he can keep going (and, barring any unfortunate circumstances, I imagine he will), it will be kind of interesting to see the changes in the long term. Which I guess, or at least hope, is ultimately the point.

As was recently announced in Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin, the federal government has published partial data from its latest Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS 2006). According to this latest survey, an estimated 4.4 million Canadians, one out of seven people in Canada, reported having a disability in 2006, an increase of over three-quarters of a million people in five years. The article from the bulletin indicates:

Data showed that the number of people who reported a disability increased 21.2% from 3.6 million in 2001, the last time the survey was conducted.

In 2001, 12.4% of the population reported a disability. By 2006, this rate had increased to 14.3%.

Statistical reports are somewhat useful though not terribly interesting in themselves, at least not to me. And besides, as I often say, math makes me nervous. But there are a few things I would like to comment on.

Continue reading… show me the data

I know I have already written about the STM’s crappy service when it comes to Paratransit and I might be tempted to apologise to my handful of readers because really, this is not what I want this blog to be about. But yesterday was an all time record in corporate stupidity and utter lack of consideration for those of us who rely on this service to get around the city.

So, yesterday morning, I wait and wait for the gawd-damn taxi or minibus or whatever it was supposed to be to show up. After a half hour (which is the requisite time I am expected to wait before contacting them to ask “where is the transport?”), I call. After waiting on the line for about 10 minutes, I am told unceremoniously that my reservation has been cancelled. Just. Like. That.

Needless to say that I was quite pissed off. I mean, wtf?! But I did not have time to debate it with the woman on the phone nor to ask the reason for this decision as I was going to be late for a meeting. So I did the only thing I could do and called a taxi and high-tailed it to the office, arriving 10 minutes late for my meeting, pissed off and stressed out. Thankfully, the guy I was meeting with was really nice and understanding, not to mention hilarious, and we had a really fun and productive meeting so at least that was something.

Continue reading… foiled by the STM’s Paratransit service yet again

This will probably be my last update for the year 2007, a year that in truth I can not wait to see end because, while there were a few good things, it was generally rather crappy.

So, with regards to the new appartment, that actually turned out to be a fucking nightmare. I will spare y’all the details but let us just say that when I went to pick up my keys after it had been emptied out by the previous occupant (who, it should be noted, lived in what can only be described as a personal storage locker) and saw it in all its filthy, broken-down, rat-infested glory (which the landlord, whom I have since baptised “il basso costo” or if you prefer “el cheapo”, refused to bring up to code), I took photos, lined up my horrified witnesses and promptly cancelled my lease. Which really fucked up my plans.

Continue reading… random update #6

Today, when I called the STM Paratransit Service to make my reservations for the next three days, I was told unequivocally that I would not get any service tomorrow because Montréal is expecting a “big” snow storm and all transports have been cancelled (except for dialysis patients and long-standing medical appointments).

Indeed, unbeknownst to me (because I am usually pretty oblivious to small talk such as in “some weather we are having, eh?”), it seems that the southwest region of the province is expecting anywhere between 15 to 30 centimetres of snow by tomorrow (although, as of 21h50, I have yet to see my first snowflake). So today, as a preventive measure (for whom, I wonder), Paratransit refused all new reservations and has unceremoniously cancelled everyone, even people who are travelling to go to work or school. Just. Like. That.

Continue reading… white-out

Question : Vous embauchez un plombier pour faire des travaux chez-vous. Vous vous entendez sur un taux-horaire et sur le moment où il passera pour effectuer ces travaux. Trois jours ouvrables avant le rendez-vous, il vous rappelle pour confirmer et en passant comme ça, il vous informe que vous devez lui fournir ses outils. Vous trouvez ça normal ? Moi non plus.

Eh bien, la Coopérative de solidarité Novaide, une entreprise d’économie sociale qui œuvre dans le secteur des travaux ménagers, trouve ça tout à fait normal et, vu le monopole qu’elle exerce dans plusieurs quartiers de la ville de Montréal, on peut dire qu’elle est morte de rire.

Continue reading… cordonnier mal chaussé

In a few minutes, I will be settling comfortably before the tv to watch the much hyped BSG prequel Razor (yes, I am a nerd but also hey, Steve Bacic! need I say more?). And I hope it is worth it because, as I found out tonight (what can I say, “late to the party” is my middle name), the last season of BSG will not start airing until April 2008! What?! Almost a full year after airing the last episode of season 3? Have they no compassion?

Update: Well, what can I say? A lot of stuff I liked, actually, most of it and a few things I did not like, namely the fact that they unceremoniously killed off Steve Bacic’s character in what?, the first half hour? Seems like a big waste of talent, not to mention eye-candy, to me.

Anyway, I am not going to write a long geeky review but I will mention a few things:

• I liked the back-and-forth between the three time frames. I thought this made the pace more interesting and, despite what I have been reading in some of the reviews, it was not confusing at all. Use yor brain, people.
• I love Michelle Forbes and although 87 minutes was really not enough time to get to know her character beyond what we already knew, we did get a few insights, like why she hated that cylon prisoner so much. I mean, wouldn’t you be beside yourself with rage if you found out that the super-babe you have been sleeping with is actually a toaster?
• That girl playing fleet officer Kendra Shaw had a really nice accent.
• I am really sick of reading these things where BSG is actually just an allegory for the Irak war. When I watch BSG, the war in Irak is the last thing on my mind. And besides, just in case y’all forgot, there are other conflicts going on all over the world.

So basically, this was a nice little interlude in the meantime but it definitely does not make up for the fact that it will be another five months before we see a new episode.

So say me all!

A friend sent me the link to what I must admit are some of the cutest ads (Flash required) I have seen about disability. Produced by Leonard Chesire Disabilty, a voluntary sector organisation in the UK that provides services in support of people with disabilities, these ads are not only visually beautiful but, I am sure, will do wonders to give people a warm fuzzy feeling about disability.

But you know, being me, I can not help but wonder about some things. I mean, all that is really nice when you are in the comfort of your own living room, watching the late evening news, your feet all warm and cozy in your favourite phentex slippers and a nice cup o’tea by your side when an ad flashes briefly across the telly screen. “Ah, look at that, dearie”, you will say to the wife sitting next to you, knitting you some phentex mittens, “such a sweet doggie!” (a sweet doggie just about to go bungee jumping, by the way). But would you feel the same if you encountered a 52 year-old man drooling on his shirt who can not use the loo without a bit of help, let alone skydive? (And please, do not get all PC on me, I am just saying, and I know what I am talking about, disability is not always cute, and sometimes, for all sorts of reasons, it can actually be quite, euh, discomforting.)

Continue reading… “watch me”