CostaRagas.com

F1 back in Montreal in November? | CJAD.

I know it’s a rumour, but how wicked would a November F1 race in Montreal be? Do they have snow tires on F1 cars?

Grandpa Costa and I

Let me tell you a story. In 1953, my father’s father - Grandpa Costa - came to Canada with his brothers. They took a boat from Piraeus, Athens, Greece, across the Atlantic and landed in Halifax. Then they took the train from Halifax and got off in Montreal. Why Montreal and not Toronto? They had a cousin who lived here.

When they got off the boat, all they new was how to say “Greek.” At immigration, they were lined up, processed, and then employers would come down and select which immigrants they wanted out of a police-line-up-like arrangement of able-bodied men. (Actually, Grandpa analogized it to farm animals being herded… and said it was quite demeaning in fact.)

The man who took my grandfather was a Bulgarian with a strawberry farm up in the Laurentians of Québec. Now for those of you reading who don’t understand why I mention the man’s heritage, the Bulgarians were on the side of the Germans in World War 2, had invaded my grandfather’s village of Kipia in Kavala, and at one point even rounded up all the men and boys in the village and marked them for execution (it was communist rebels in the hills that got word of the round-up which saved my grandfather and his family, but that’s another story). So, needless to say, having a Bulgarian pick you for farm labour in Laurentians was bit jarring for Grandpa.

Grandpa didn’t speak any English or French - Canada’s two official languages. But he spoke some Bulgarian (thanks to WW2), and was able to get around on the Laurentian farm and communicate somewhat with his employer. After his first month, he earned $25 (more than 3x what he came to Canada with, but still less than $1 per day). Sometime later, he had earned enough to move to Montreal and find another job. He worked in restaurants mainly, and a few years later, with the broken French and English that he had learned, Grandpa Costa opened up a corner store. He had several businesses in fact… Along with that corner store, he had a grocery store, a restaurant, and he would also cut hair (he was trained as a barber). By 1957, he had married my grandmother Rita, and she helped him at his businesses and worked as a seamstress (which she still does out of her home to this day). Not bad for a couple of immigrants who could barely speak either of Canada’s official languages.

Fast-forward a few years, my father is a successful restauranteur and is the Chief Development Officer of one of Canada’s larger restaurant franchising companies. As for myself, I’m the first in the family to get a university degree (First Class Honours B.A. in International Relations, with Distinction, and a minor in International Economics and Business), and now I’m finishing up two law degrees, one in the Civil Law, on in the Common Law at McGill.

So can someone at Immigration Canada, Minister Kenney’s office, or the PMO please explain to me what language has to do with the success of immigrants in this country? My father and I alone will pay more in taxes and take out less in benefits than some generations of “de souche families” of Canadians and Quebecers combined…

Immigrants are the economic workhorses of this country, regardless of linguistic ability. Not only do they come here, work in conditions that certain others would never even consider, but they start their own businesses, consume and save money at the same time, and even send money back “home” wherever that may be, until Canada becomes their home.

If the Conservatives are planning on “breaking through” in ethnic communities… they’re going to have to do better than this.

So if you haven’t heard about this by now, some moron from the Fox News programme (yes, it is spelled with two ‘m’s and an ‘e’) “Red Eye.” The guy’s name is Greg Gutfeld, and here are some comments from the show as posted on CBC.ca:

“Meaning, the Canadian military wants to take a breather to do some yoga, paint landscapes, run on the beach in gorgeous white Capri pants,” Gutfeld said.

“I didn’t even know they were in the war,” panellist and comedian Doug Benson added. “I thought that’s where you go if you don’t want to fight. Go chill in Canada.”

The panellists continued by joking about soldiers needing a break for “manicures and pedicures,” how Canada should be invaded and poked fun at the RCMP.

Here, watch the YouTube version:

I just thought I would take this opportunity to tell Mr. Gutfeld to go ahead and invade… It wouldn’t be the first time the Yanks headed up into the Great White North. The last time they did it, we sent them packing with their tales between their legs, and burnt the White House to a crisp.

Have a read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Washington

So go on Mr. Gutfeld, invade us…

CTV.ca | Montreal student thwarts British school attack.

This is worth a read. Great story.

200 arrests in police brutality march .

Hooliganism as defined by Dictionary.com:

According to the Gazette, a car was firebombed, others were damaged by rocks, some storefronts were damaged, protesters were carrying rocks and other weapons, and in total, 200 were arrested.

The march was organized to protest police brutality… in Montreal… The statistics used to justify all this:

An analysis by the Collectif last August says that 42 people have died at the hands of police in Montreal since 1987. Of those, 28 per cent were visible minorities. And in 86 per cent of those cases, police were exonerated.

Personally, if you show up to a rio.. - I mean “protest” - and you are armed (whether with a rock or otherwise), and then you proceed to cause damage to the property of others (and I think firebombing a car counts… see definition of hooliganism above), then you qualify as a “hooligan.” 

I can only conclude then, that we need more horses… and lots of those rubber batons.

Canada intercepted Russian bomber before Obama visit - ABC News Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

So the Sovi-…. I mean, Russians… feel that they can invade our airspace (or at least come close to it) with us noticing? At a time when the leader of our good friends to the south is visiting?

I’m quite proud of our boys today. Quite proud!

TheStar.com | Canada | Regulate internet, CRTC told .

Isn’t that like saying “make it rain, but only on Wednesdays?” How the heck do we want or expect the CRTC to regulate the internet?

Colin Mochrie is arguing that Canadian’s should be given a choice… Yes, they have a choice, as do Canadian website developers and entrepreneurs to create an online space solely dedicated to Canadian content.

The problem is that there is TOO SMALL A MARKET for that. So why force it down our throats? Don’t regulate the internet.

Regulating the existing media outlets who operate on TV and Radio, now that’s a different story. Regulating their activities online, ok maybe… But regulating the internet is the last thing we need.

Here’s the article: Police may have access your online history .

So, the judge says there is no “reasonable expectation of privacy” when you are on the internet… And that since the Personal Information Protection Electronics Documents Act permits ISPs to hand over information like IP addresses to anyone with “lawful authority,” the judge interprets this to mean that they don’t need a search warrant.

Police do not have, of themselves, the authority to invade someone’s privacy. They can obtain that authority via a search warrant…. With all the protections that that process involves.

I haven’t read this judgement yet, just the snippets in the article, but my feeling is this one is a disaster. If anyone has a copy, or has found the link on CanLii, I’d love to read it.

The Canadian Press: Lecavalier arrives to big reception ahead of all-star game in Montreal.

It’s time Bob Gainey did some moving, some shaking, and some dealing.

BRING VINCE HOME, BOB! BRING VINCE HOME!