Içi on parle Franglais

Alter ego Jean-Pierre du Bordeleau

I was in Morocco and in a bazaar with my wife as she had a new leather belt made to order. The shop keeper was using his cultural courtesy, offering us mint tea while we waited.

In Morocco they speak both Arabic and French stemming from its colonial past and I was trying to speak to him in French. He said to me in broken in english, “ I am sorry sir, I don’t understand your English so well”

Well this wasn’t something new to me.

I realized that I was a poor student of French, having a father that made fun of the french accent at every opportunity with exaggerated rolling “R’s” and feigned gutteral pronunciations. He should have known better. He could speak fluent Ukrainian and a bit of Russian too. Learning languages is a gift of communication.

Maybe it was because we lived in Kenora, in central Canada, French was rarely heard except on CBC. In those days we had two TV channels broadcast, CBC english and… CBC french, from Winnipeg where a significant number lived in St.Boniface.

I tried to learn french in school but I simply did not hear the sounds correctly. Monteau? Monton? I could not hear the difference!

I once created a room full of hysterical laughter, at my expense by saying “papier ma shier” instead of “papier mashé”. The resulting embarassment kept me from even attempting to speak french for many years.

Once on a cycling trip in the very french Saguenay region I was confronted with a French only menu and ordered “sous marin” thinking it must be seafood. We had a good laugh when the sandwich arrived.

Lately I don’t really give a dam. I am watching french TV, listenting to french music and radio, and reading cereral boxes in french. Nothing is as important as speaking to someone in their native language. I realized I have enough trouble being undertood in English but it is still worth making an effort, no matter where you go in the world.

It helps that I live in Ottawa because I have ready access to Montreal, Gatineau, and a bilingual home town. Today I can hear and speak French everywhere.

A man was sitting in a cafe in Paris and ordered a bowl of soup. When it was delivered, he noticed there was a fly in it and called over the waiter. He pointed to the fly in the soup saying,” monsieur, Le Mouch!!!”

The waiter quickly corrected him saying, “Non, mais non, La Mouche”. Since Ottawa is a government town and the ability to speak french is a strategic advantage there is considerable snootiness about the level of one’s french speaking ability. I get around this by claiming “le niveau intermediate”.

I will keep on watching "French in Action" videos on You Tube. Some say Parisean french is different than Quebecois french. In my view any french is better than no french and in any case, the French are the very thing that keeps Canada Canadian and keep Canada from becoming a 51st state

Sidewalks are a good thing...aren't they?

 

In a bizarre turn of events our councillor, King fights for NO sidewalks.

You cannot make this shit up.

Why? Likely the locals don't want people walking through their neighborhood...including those with disabilities...but they say "sidewalks will harm trees and are more urgently needed elsewhere on busier roads and near a local school."

Bottom line you see the impact of political expediency. In a wanton grab for Manor Park votes a DEI politician argues against accessibility.

It was stupid and lazy both intellectually, politically and ethically.

Wisely council shot down the motion in a 16-7 vote.

References:

More Information:

Manor Park sidewalks to go ahead after council vote

King failed in his bid to shorten planned sidewalks that have divided the Ottawa neighbourhood.  His sign in Manor Park urged people to reject a contentious plan to build sidewalks in the neighbourhood. (Francis Ferland/CBC).

Arthur White-Crummey · CBC News · Posted: Apr 08, 2026 5:29 PM EDT

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city policy is to add  to local roads in tandem with other work to save money and gradually build out a pedestrian services.

"If we don’t take the opportunity to put sidewalks in when we do the street rebuilds, we are not going to have that opportunity again for 70 or 80 or 90 years,"  said Lieper.

Alta Vista Coun. Marty Carr spoke of the importance of accessibility.

"We try to build things for everyone, so if we can build things that make a difference in one or two people’s lives, that is what is important here," she said. "I do think when there are people representing to us and telling us what their needs are, we need to listen."

In a bizarre twist of logic Mayor Mark Sutcliffe supported King’s motion seemingly in contradiction to his longstanding support of status quo administration. He called it a "difficult decision" and said he understands both sides of the debate. 

[If he found this difficult we have bigger fish to fry]

"I do understand the points that were made by my other colleagues on council who were saying, 'Look, we can't make an exception here, we have rules,'" he said. "We apply them universally and we don't want a situation where every neighborhood is different."

Thanks to:

Arthur White-Crummey is the municipal affairs reporter at CBC Ottawa. He grew up in Ottawa, spent years in Saskatchewan covering the courts, city hall and the provincial legislature.

Raise Transit Levy and/or Fares or Cut Services

Why are staff estimates so far off?

The shell shocked councillors will maintain the status quo. They mean well - but are unable to do what must be done...calling it " unacceptable"

See above note as well on the state of public washrooms. I ALSO HAVE A SEPERATE PIECE ON MY BLOG.

Accountability demands their dismissal.

Take transit?

There must be better but less ambitious service, higher fares, higher transit levy? - its not happening!

( insert infuriated emojii)

On the 95..Transit Hell

review

On the 95⁸

I used to take the bus to work from Orleans all the way to Cognos at Uplands and Riverside.

The trip in the morning was often jam packed it also involved a transfer to the 87 at Hurdman Station.

On rainy days the windows would steam up. Sometimes the air was so heavy you could hardly breath. Sometimes somebody would fart. It could be horrid.

It was not unusual in those days for some woman, usually a student, to be talking very loudly about her breakup. There was no shame.

You might share the aroma of some deli treat, or possibly fresh fish wrapped in newspaper. Perhaps some guy, wearing a rather large back pack would be doing a pole dance in front of you.

Some days coming home late I would be overcome by a feeling of great desperation. Those were hard days. People were depending on me.

I met my good friend Diana on the bus just short of Cognos as I heard about layoffs. We consoled each other.

As I waited at Hurdman with my friend Sunita, an elderly man, about 80 was struck and killed by a bus at a cross walk. She came with me as I covered him with my own coat and hat.

I used to look forward to the spring when I could put my bike on the bus rack and cycle part way to the office, a beautiful ride along the Rideau River and blessed reprieve.

I wrote this poem which was later converted into a song by suno ai.

https://suno.com/s/KI9cXJSzsaj3hEcB

How the world REALLY works

 

How the world "really works"

1.physical realities - physics,
2.human incentives,
3.power dynamics, and
4.institutionalized systems

Rooted in energy, biology, evolution, and social organization, our modern way of life depends on solar energy and these four key materials: 

ammonia (for fertilizer), 

plastics, 

steel, and 

cement. 

It seems too basic but follow the logic.

These things enable food production, infrastructure deveopment, transportation systems, and manufacturing at global scale.

Fossil fuels still dominate because they offer the highest energy density and versatility—renewables like solar/wind are unsuitable for heavy industry, shipping, aviation, and seasonal storage although nuclear options may change that.

China used more cement in two years than the U.S. did in the entire 20th century.

This is why plans to reduce carbon based fuels fly in the face of realities and risk economic retreat or technological limits.

Globalization amplifies this: supply chains move goods efficiently but create vulnerabilities from large single source suppliers dependent on cheap energy and  enforcement by military power.

2. Human Behavior: 

People respond primarily to incentives—monetary, social, status, reproductive, or survival-based incentivies. Evolutionary psychology requires social groups (kin, tribe)  and this leads to  competition.  

Extrinsic rewards like money and status drive behavior often supplanting intrinsic motivation for creative or social priorities.

Money really is the root of all evil. 

Markets channel self-interest into productivity via prices and competition; governments use coercive taxes and laws a ruse of legitimacy.
Corruption, rent-seeking, and short-term thinkiing emerge because individuals and groups try to optimize things for their own gains.

Leaders vs. followers, firms vs. regulators - these dynamics explain most dysfunction rather than any inherent human evil.

3. Power Structures: 

Elites and oligarchies tend to be ruled by small groups. Leaders with better information, skills, and control of resources dominate, even in democracies or radical movements. Some others may rise via talent, disruption, or crisis—but the pattern persists and it's structural. 

In politics, business, NGOs, or technology, small networks set agendas. Inequality grows in stable times as elites consolidate their own advantages, until war, revolution or  depression reset it.

While democracy and rule of law may mitigate this via accountability, elections, rule of law, and a free press they don't really eliminate it. Voters face informational problems. The truth may be out there but it can be hard to find. This explains how an organized, vocal and irate minority like MAGA can outmaneuver a majority.

4. The international system of nation states is proving to be unworkable - it lacks overarching enforcement. States prioritize survival and power because others might threaten them. They need enough power to be secure against threats. They need power to deter rivals preemptively which explains why there is recurring great-power competition. Might is right so that  "rules-based order" often bends to military, economic, technological superiority.

The U.S. dollar's reserve status gives leverage via sanctions and finance; China uses infrastructure loans and manufacturing dominance for its power.

Secular cycles last roughly 200–300 years involving population growth.  Growth demands resources, causes overproduction, and leads to unemployment.  Inequality spikes and eventual results in instability or conflict/plague or possibly reforms.

Empires such as the USA decline with the kind of decadence and division seen today. 

Meanwhile,  physical and biological constraints endure. Pandemics, climate shifts, or innovations 

 may arise and cause shocks.

There is no dark Master Plan to all this, rather the world works through a myriad of decentralized processes, the coordination of individual markets, social norms, and evolution by states, corporations, and elites which exert controls and policies. 

To be clear, only the abundance created from access to energy and technology has lifted billions from subsistence living.

The trade-offs have been environmental costs, inequality, and fragility to disruption.
People are living longer in health and face less extreme poverty with exceptions.
Humans benefit from understanding that life,  their reality,  rewards the understanding of these grand constraints and THEIR own support of institutions that harness simple human motiviated self-interest in exchange for collective gains.

Unfortunately our systems are nonlinear and human foresight is limited. We make mistakes. This can be alleviated through the use of AI tools.

Finally we are never "wrong" about maintaining energy, food, or materiel for the common good.  We KNOW the world works through physics, biology, and evolved human nature interacting with institutions.

We are rewarded by our adaptability, clear-eyed analysis of trade-offs, and our building of systems where individual incentives better match long-term results for all.

DINKS

 

DINKS Dual Income but No kids

After living in Ottawa for almost thirty years I have many friends who have chosen either not to have children or to have possibly one child. They are DINKS - dual income with no kids.
The result has manifest itself last year.
Canada's population fell for the first time since confederation 

Statisically the count should have fallen sooner but was being propped up through immigration. The drop was about 100,000, the size of a small city.

Planetwide its the same problem -static  or low growth population.
• China: Largest absolute decline — net loss of ~3.2–3.3 million (–0.22% to –0.23%).
worldometers.info +1
• Japan: ~ –0.55% (loss of hundreds of thousands).
• Russia: ~ –0.42% (loss of ~600,000).
worldometers.info
• Germany: ~ –0.51% (loss of ~430,000).
worldometers.info
• Italy, Poland, South Korea, Thailand, Spain: Smaller but notable declines (–0.1% to –0.8%).
Subsaharan Africa and SE Asia continue to balance the drops.

The truth? Canadians are not having children at replacement levels. It has become too expensive to have a family, own a home, get a degree, and its showing up in the statistics.
Jobs are scarce: people are moving from the hinterland into the cities.

You do not need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing.  The trend is down with no obvious resolution.

My recommendation? When a couple wants to be married do not charge for it, no license fees please, instead, give them a free night at the Chateau Laurier and a bottle of wine.

Find a way to give young families an affordable place to live, care for their school age children because this population drop trend is a threat to the very fabric of Canadian society.

Current events are are portending future trends.

see eeeeeee oh!

 

SEE eeee Oh!

I know that being the CEO of a company is demanding, difficult and rewarding. I was the CEO of two different hospitals.

This is what I learned first hand. You can hold an opinion, have many very good reasons to hold that view and some board member will disagree with you for their own very good reasons. There will be political struggle at the highest level to see things through.

You arrive in the position with political capital. You are the new kid in town, everybody loves you. Then as you make decisions you piss people off, and you lose political capital and finally after about five years, you have no political capital and the knives can come out.

In our OCTranspo case we have a CEO that seems to be a good fit, for all the right reasons but it would be foolish to think that there are no skeletons in the closet for the reasons I mention above.  "There were no findings" is a very coy response to what we all know intuitively.

This is also why the average term of a CEO is about five years. It is also why they are the highest paid person in the organization they head. They have all the power and all the responsibility but they also have all the accountabiity.

Let Mr. Leary do his job they way he surely knows how to do it and hopefully he has learned a few things along the way.

Our patience is probaby a lot less than it might be at this late stage.