#freetransit advocate running for mayor of Montreal

NM Noticias: "Denis Coderre lanzó la ofensiva en su campaña a la reelección a la alcaldía de Montreal. El candidato lanzó su plataforma y dejó un par de sorpresa en materia de transporte público.

En específico, las dos promesas importantes de Coderre son: una tarifa “social” y la gratuidad de todo el transporte público durante cuatro fines de semana del año.

En el caso del metro y autobuses gratuitos, el actual alcalde explicó que si recibe un nuevo mandato impondrá cuatro fines de semana, que serán elegidos sobre la base de cuatro eventos importantes que se realicen en la ciudad."

Experts Say Montreal's STM Buses And Metros Should Be 100% Free

MTL Blog: "A Montreal-based research institute has found, after an intensive study, that Montreal’s public transit should be completely free to users. 

In a report released yesterday, Institut de recherche et d'informations socio-économiques (IRIS) said that making bus and metro rides on the STM would actually save the city money. "

Benefits of free public transit would outweigh costs

Montreal News: "A Montreal think tank is suggesting public transportation in the city should be free to ease traffic headaches and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The group points out free transit would cost a lot less than the subsidies already given to car drivers."

Writer calls for #freetransit in Montréal, suggests how to implement

Cult MTL: "Offering free public transit on special occasions is a great first step, but the city needs to go much farther. Ideally, all public transit should be accessible. The simplest way to do that is to make it free to all at all times, but I recognize that progressive ideas are often implemented progressively, so let’s start with a few baby steps:

• Issue free transit passes to social assistance recipients. Public transit is unaffordable on a welfare income, and lack of mobility makes it harder for the poor to find work or to shop outside their communities. Free transit could help offset the problem of “food deserts,” the lack of decent local grocery stores common in poorer districts. This is a huge gesture that will cost virtually nothing.

• Offer free transit days on a more regular basis. Start with free weekends during the summer months to encourage public participation in all the festivals we’re already subsidizing.

• Keep the metro running all night on New Year’s and Nuit Blanche, but make it and the night buses free to encourage even more people to leave their cars at home (or to turn down lifts from friends who are driving drunk)."

#Climate hammers Quebec with floods, but #freetransit is "too expensive."

Montreal Gazette: "“We’ve known for 20 or 25 years that this was happening,” he told The Gazette. “What (scientists) got wrong was how fast. Twenty-five years ago we thought these things would start happening in 2040 or 2050. Very few scientists thought it would be happening so quickly. So what science is telling us is that the climate is much more sensitive to temperature increases than it was believed just two decades ago, 15 years ago, even 10 years ago.

“The number of natural catastrophes from forest fires to droughts have basically increased by a factor of four since the 1970s. So we can’t say that the (specific) flooding events we’re seeing is a result of climate change, but we can say that because of climate change these types of episodes and catastrophes are becoming more and more frequent.”

....He said people in Quebec should focus on what they can do in their personal lives to reduce fossil fuel use, particularly when it comes to transportation. But more important is letting elected officials know that reversing climate change should be a priority on the municipal, provincial and federal levels."

Transit cops or free transit?

rankandfile.ca : "If fare disputes is the leading reason for verbal and physical violence against operators and fare collectors, then we need to look seriously at eliminating fares from transit services. Not looking at this option is simply irresponsible. Can we provide the service free at the point of use and fund it like other free public services through progressive taxation? This question is not even being asked but now is the time to raise it."

Canadians for a Sustainable Society

Laval, Quebec seniors to ride buses fare-free

The Laval News: "“Taking into account that active mobility and mass transit are priorities for Laval residents, the sums announced by the Finance Minister over five years to improve the service offer, including an increase in the frequency of buses, is good news,” the mayor added.

“It will be interesting to see how the new aid package from Quebec for longstanding senior citizen owners is implemented,” he continued. “This type of program, combined with Laval’s measures, including a subsidy for at-home seniors 65 years of age and older and the free public transit for seniors, contributes to the legitimate recognition that we all owe them.”"

Carbon Footprint of Canada's Oil Sands Is Larger Than Thought

InsideClimate News : "Tar sands crude carried by Line 67 would have a carbon footprint of 632 kilograms per barrel, the GREET model estimated. That compares to an average U.S. refinery mix of 521 kilograms per barrel of carbon dioxide emissions. The difference is 111 kilograms per barrel—21 percent dirtier, not 17 percent."

Canada still going wrong direction with "green" PM

InsideClimate News: "The country, which continues to expand oil and gas production in Alberta's oil sands despite its stated ambitions to curtail emissions, will make little to no progress towards ambitious emissions reductions targets pledged in December 2015 under the Paris agreement. That's the conclusion of a report published earlier this month by Environment and Climate Change, a federal agency tasked with reducing Canada's greenhouse gas emissions."

Expanding Tar Sands Will Kill Paris Targets and Climate Stability

The Tyee: "“There is no scenario in which tar sands production increases and the world achieves the Paris goals,” says the report."

How to get government subsidy, make a mess, take the profit, let taxpayer clean it up.

Contaminated mine 'an embarrassment to Canada', says Yukon judge - North - CBC News: ""This case stands as a painful reminder of the lasting and egregious damage that unscrupulous and unchecked profiteering can bring about in the mining sector. It is an embarrassment to Canada, Yukon and the responsible mining community," Veale's decision reads.

"It is my opinion that an account of BYG's historical activity in the Yukon should be brought to the attention of the federal and territorial taxpayers, who remain fiscally responsible for remediation efforts.""