By Murray Sherriffs
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Former CAQ MNA Isabelle Poulet, who has been likened to a political ping-pong ball over events in Quebec city this week, has revealed what she planned to say at a news conference, before Premier Legault called her into his office to tell her she was out of the CAQ caucus for seeking to join the Liberals, “…I no longer recognize the party I ran for, three years ago. This confidence is eroded. Citizens are disappointed in the CAQ. Me, too; the party has lost its way.”
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Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon says a number of CAQ members have been in talks with his party to talk about leaving the CAQ and joining its ranks, but says he has no plans to recruit CAQ members ahead of the next election.
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Premier Legault claims to still have confidence in his Health Minister, Christian Dubé, despite calls from some CAQ MNAs, he should no longer handle the medical salary file; “…we speak every day, I am well aware of what he’s doing.”
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Montreal Mayor-elect Soraya Martinez Ferrada has given both sides in the city’s public transit strike ten days to make a deal.
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The Legault government isn’t ruling out using its new anti-strike legislation to end the labour dispute.
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Montreal business owners say Metro and bus service, running only during peak hours until the end of this month, is of concern because restaurants and the cultural sector, often operate outside those hours.
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Outgoing Montreal Mayor Plante has met with Mayor-elect Martinez Ferrada, then told reporters that she feels “serene” about her decision to leave.
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Federal Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne is in Montreal, meeting with business leaders to discuss the federal government’s economic priorities.
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The Port of Montreal will get a major boost through Ottawa’s new infrastructure plan.
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The Montreal Airport Authority says that travel between Montreal and the U.S. is down by more than 12% compared to last year, when Donald Trump was not U.S. President, while international air traffic was up 1.2% and domestic traffic decreased 0.6%.
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A woman has been killed in a road crash that saw her car collide with a city bus in Terrebonne.
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Sûreté du Québec economic crime detectives and Canada Border Services Agency officers have arrested 24-year-old Mohamed Hedi Guedri in Quebec City and seized hundreds of dollars’ worth of counterfeit bills and the machine that printed them.
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Veterans selling poppies at a polling station in Rawdon were asked to leave because they approached people in line waiting to cast their votes.
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The spectacular light spiral that amazed (and confused) Montrealers Tuesday night has been explained. It was the Ariane 6 rocket launch, taking the Copernicus Sentinel-1D satellite to orbit. John Abbott College astronomy professor Karim Jaffer said that when the satellite entered a polar orbit, the trajectory resulted in a stunning view in Newfoundland, New Brunswick, PEI, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario.
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Habs / Devils tonight (7 p.m.)
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Sun / cloud / 4 today
Rain / 6 tomorrow
