Here’s our roundup of the best and brightest stories this morning.
The re-orientation of our children: There are too many kids in the children’s ER, Quebec has determined, ordering the Montreal Children’s Hospital to “re-orient” low-priority patients to clinics. The MUHC has already been told to do the same with their adult patients — it’s seen a 30-per-cent increase in its ER volumes, contributing to a shortfall of $10 million. A highly placed source confirmed that the Montreal Children’s directive was issued in the context of budget cuts. MUHC officials would neither confirm nor deny that the “re-orientation” is budget-related. No patients will be turned away, the hospital said, “but a list of alternate clinics will be offered to them.”
No really, it wasn’t that bad. Right? The Crown corporation responsible for the Jacques Cartier, Mercier and Champlain bridges says it spent $268 million on infrastructure improvements but still managed to reduce lane closings and restrictions by 30 per cent this year. The corporation said it minimized the impact on users with “detailed and proactive planning, coordination with the transportation partners, and work done mainly at night and on weekends,” and foresees the number of major closures and restrictions being even lower next year. Bonus: the installation of 2,800 light fixtures on the Jacques Cartier Bridge for Montreal’s 375th anniversary is about one-quarter complete.
Elizabeth MacDonald of the Alma Lobster Shop, holds up King Louie.
The seaweed is always greener: A massive lobster taller than a toddler was caught in the Bay of Fundy — and then bought by a vegan activist so it could be returned, alive, to its chilly home. The co-owner of the Alma Lobster Shop said the 23-pound lobster, dubbed “King Louie,” was possibly a century old. “It’s beautiful,” she said. “For a lobster to be 23 pounds and to be that large, there was nothing else that was going to be a predator — except man.” The healthy, four-foot-long crustacean was sold for $230 to a Nova Scotia vegan who requested it be released into the ocean. And so King Louie returned home. (We know Sebastian here is a crab, not a lobster, but c’mon, that song is the best way to start a Wednesday, right?)
Too smart to be commander in chief: President Barack Obama has tamped down any speculation that first lady Michelle Obama may one day run for office herself. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Obama said, “Michelle will never run for office.” He added, “She is as talented a person as I know. You can see the incredible resonance she has with the American people. But I joke that she’s too sensible to want to be in politics.” He said they both will “continue to be very active” on their belief that “when you work with people on the ground at a grassroots level, change happens.”
Montreal Gazette, Canadian Press, Associated Press
