The Maple Leaf Lounge

[Owain Taggart]

Can't read the article, but... based on what you quoted, agreed. I honestly hope it doesn't go through. In a Country in which there is already a lack of good competition, another merger would actually give Canadians far less choice. I'd actually much rather these companies were broken up and regulated. It's not like an upstart can come in and be a market disruptor either.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I honestly hope it doesn't go through. In a Country in which there is already a lack of good competition, another merger would actually give Canadians far less choice.

Agreed on both counts. Unfortunately, it seems like the systems that are there to ostensibly look out for consumer interests are really more about preserving our existing oligopolies.

Here's another good article from today. (Hopefully it is viewable for all.)
The Rogers-Shaw competition ruling shows the system is broken

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yeah, that one's fine. The reality is that these companies, even without the merger, have too much power.

It's interesting that the article only ever mentions the wireless services, when in fact both rogers and shaw offer multiple other services such as cable and satellite. And let's not forget that big Rogers outage this summer. Or has the regulatory committee already forgotten what a blight that was with a single company holding the cards.

And the sale of Freedom to Quebecor is a joke, as anybody knows that Quebec service companies only end up ever serving Quebec. They won't ever compete outside the Province. The most it will likely do is end up making more competition within that Province.

 

[DEWLine]

And we have the Videotron booths in Ottawa malls. Rideau Centre, St. Laurent, Place d'Orléans...window dressing?

(Probably. Quebecor's CEO is still a separatiste, after all...)

 

[Owain Taggart]

Well, being available in Ottawa is one thing, as you can simply cross the bridge and be in the Province. Being so close to each other, it makes sense they'd be part of the service area. But it's not anywhere beyond that. I don't expect that to change with the sale of Freedom to them either.

 

[wayoung]

Je boire beacoup des biere et vino dan's Quebec te celebre le fines l'assurance est le divorce avec ma blonde. Je suits boure mais je je tape sur un clavier anglais ao mes fautes de frappe et l'autocorrélation sont pires que d'habitude

 

[Owain Taggart]

I fully understood that!

 

[wayoung]

My keyboard is in English so my autorrect is even worse when I try to type in French.

I super appreciate your reply, @Owain Taggart

 

[Owain Taggart]

Not a problem. Hope the wine and beer were good

I understand the problem though as I too have an English keyboard, and I sometimes do have to type in French. But one thing I've found that helps is to install a French dictionary for the browser. Usually it's good enough to underline with the red squiggly lines, which I can then right click on to correct, putting the accents in the right place. It's a bit of cheating, but it makes the process much quicker.

 

[wayoung]

All seasons of Made In Canada are now available to watch on CBC gem. It's been 20 years since anything since the 1st has been available, outside a couple syndicated runs on random stations. The last fo which I saw like 12 years ago.

 

[Sumire]

Oh! Canadians! So… anyone on here into trains? I have a long-held dream of journeying across Canada from coast to coast by train. I’ve done it here in the U.S. and it was wonderful (okay, the Great Plains got a bit dull but excellent sleeping). From the research I have already done I have found VIA has a sleeper train from Toronto to Vancouver but I can’t find anything long haul east of Toronto.

 

[wayoung]

Oh! Canadians! So… anyone on here into trains? I have a long-held dream of journeying across Canada from coast to coast by train. I’ve done it here in the U.S. and it was wonderful (okay, the Great Plains got a bit dull but excellent sleeping). From the research I have already done I have found VIA has a sleeper train from Toronto to Vancouver but I can’t find anything long haul east of Toronto.

There used to be a pas you could buy, travel all you want for the summer at a certain cost. I knew a couple people that did it to cross Canada but that was decades ago. Dunno if it's still around.

 

[Sumire]

There used to be a pas you could buy, travel all you want for the summer at a certain cost.

Thank you for the advice!

 

[Owain Taggart]

You might want to look into The Canadian, or some such. I know the route has been modified over the years, and I'm not sure how far east it goes, but it's usually the train people talk about when they talk about the cross-crountry trip.

 

[Sumire]

You might want to look into The Canadian, or some such. I know the route has been modified over the years, and I'm not sure how far east it goes, but it's usually the train people talk about when they talk about the cross-country trip.

Oh! Thank you! That looks delightful! (A little dear, price-wise, but since we had planned to go in 2020, we have had time to save more money...)

 

[Avro Arrow]

All seasons of Made In Canada are now available to watch on CBC gem. It's been 20 years since anything since the 1st has been available, outside a couple syndicated runs on random stations. The last fo which I saw like 12 years ago.

That's good to know! Thank you for the heads-up!

Oh! Canadians!

Careful! They tend to be skittish, and can spook easily. With a little patience, though, they can be found to be quite friendly. They can often be coaxed out with treats!

I have a long-held dream of journeying across Canada from coast to coast by train. I’ve done it here in the U.S. and it was wonderful (okay, the Great Plains got a bit dull but excellent sleeping). From the research I have already done I have found VIA has a sleeper train from Toronto to Vancouver but I can’t find anything long haul east of Toronto.

I did a little bit of searching. There's this one, which goes from Halifax to Vancouver. It's eye-wateringly expensive, though... although apparently they are offering a $500 discount if you book by February 3. There's also this one, which goes the opposite direction, from Vancouver to Halifax. It's even more breath-takingly expensive, though; apparently Canada costs twice as much from west to east as it does from east to west. Who knew?

I haven't taken the trip myself, though, and I'm not familiar with either company, so I can't speak to the quality of the experience or the trustworthiness of the companies or anything like that, sorry.

 

[Sumire]

I did a little bit of searching. There's this one, which goes from Halifax to Vancouver. It's eye-wateringly expensive, though... although apparently they are offering a $500 discount if you book by February 3. There's also this one, which goes the opposite direction, from Vancouver to Halifax. It's even more breath-takingly expensive, though; apparently Canada costs twice as much from west to east as it does from east to west. Who knew?

I haven't taken the trip myself, though, and I'm not familiar with either company, so I can't speak to the quality of the experience or the trustworthiness of the companies or anything like that, sorry.

Thanks for finding those on my behalf. That's very kind of you! Ooooh, that eastbound trip is pricey! Starting at $10,080?!? That's not even the top tier of that trip! Is there some continental headwind they have to fight?? (Kidding... I think)

 

[Owain Taggart]

Oh! Thank you! That looks delightful! (A little dear, price-wise, but since we had planned to go in 2020, we have had time to save more money...)

Yeah, it's on the expensive end of things, for sure, but I constantly hear people praising the service and the food. Mind you, I've never been on it, but would absolutely love to. There's also The Rocky Mountaineer, which is only out west through the Rockies. That is also quite a luxury trip though.

Careful! They tend to be skittish, and can spook easily. With a little patience, though, they can be found to be quite friendly. They can often be coaxed out with treats!

With maple and bacon treats! Sometimes, if rarely, one might see a Canadian out in the wild drinking maple straight from the trees!

 

[Marc]

don't think anyone (maybe outside his inner circle) saw this one coming.

john tory has resigned as mayor of Toronto after admitting to an affair with a former staffer.

He's been married for 44 years.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...-john-tory-had-relationship-with-staffer.html

 

[Avro Arrow]

don't think anyone (maybe outside his inner circle) saw this one coming.

john tory has resigned as mayor of Toronto after admitting to an affair with a former staffer.

He's been married for 44 years.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...-john-tory-had-relationship-with-staffer.html

You’re right, did not see that coming! (On one hand, “Politician has an Affair” is so unsurprising that it would barely warrant a headline. But, no, did genuinely not expect it from Tory…)

I guess the old adage of dropping negative news on Friday evening sort of paid off this time… I haven’t really looked at the news since Friday morning, so your post was the first I’d heard of it!

Good thing he went through the trouble of getting the Ford government to give him those undemocratic “strong mayor” powers…