Anglais

New Bloc leader, same Bloc problems

Published

5 années ago

janvier 18, 2019

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The Bloc Québécois has a new leader, but Yves-François Blanchet will face the same problems that have plagued the Bloc ever since its disastrous 2011 campaign relegated it to the fringes of Quebec federal politics.

You’re forgiven if you can’t recall the name of the person Blanchet replaced as leader of the Bloc. Since that 2011 defeat, the leadership of the party has been a revolving door, as Gilles Duceppe returned in 2015 and Mario Beaulieu has held the position on two non-consecutive occasions.

Blanchet was acclaimed as the latest leader of the Bloc on Wednesday after no one else met the party’s conditions for standing as a candidate. The vacancy followed the resignation of Martine Ouellet last spring, after her abrasive leadership style split the sovereignist party.

Blanchet didn’t win the job by default — his candidacy was welcomed and encouraged by the Bloc’s reunited caucus. A former cabinet minister and TV pundit, he brings a higher profile as well as his communication skills and media savvy to a party in desperate need of a boost.

Steep hill to climb for a stumbling Bloc

Blanchet takes over a party that has yet to recover from Ouellet’s tenure. The Bloc stands at 14.5 per cent support in Quebec according to the CBC’s Poll Tracker, an aggregation of all publicly available polling data. That puts the party down nearly five points from its 2015 election result.

The Bloc has polled between 13 and 16 per cent since October, and hasn’t topped 18 per cent in the Poll Tracker since the end of 2017.

The party stands in a near-tie for third place with the New Democrats in the province. The Conservatives are narrowly ahead with 18 per cent, while the Liberals tower over their opposition with 42.7 per cent support.

According to the Poll Tracker, the Liberals are favoured in 63 seats due to their wide lead over their rivals, while the Conservatives’ concentration of support in some regions of the province puts them in a position to be favoured in 14 seats. The Bloc is favoured in no seats, though it is in contention in as many as 10 — its current standing in the House of Commons.

Narrow path to a return to relevance

Outgoing interim leader Beaulieu has said the Bloc’s minimum objective in October’s federal election would be to obtain official party status, which requires 12 seats. Blanchet recently told Le Nouvelliste newspaper that he thinks the chances of the party winning at least 20 seats are good.

That will require a shift in voting intentions, but not necessarily an enormous one. According to the Poll Tracker projection model, the Bloc would be favoured to win at least a dozen seats with a gain of seven points in the polls, drawn equally from the Liberals, NDP and Conservatives. That would mean scoring around 21 to 22 per cent — still worse than the party’s 2011 performance.

To have a good chance of more than 20 seats, however, the Bloc would need to gain around 10 points. There are few indications that the party is on the cusp of any such surge.

Still, it is something the Liberals need to worry about. The party is counting on significant seat gains in Quebec to offset losses in other regions of the country — it is no coincidence the Liberals are holding their cabinet retreat in Sherbrooke, Que., this week.

If the Bloc is able to win enough seats to give it official party status, these wins will likely come at the expense of the NDP in places the Liberals are banking on for re-election in October.

But how realistic is it that Blanchet could help push the Bloc back into relevance?

Provincial splits, federal competition

Blanchet’s pitch to voters — putting a priority on Quebec’s interests and environmentalism, in addition to sovereignty — might have broader appeal than the sole focus on independence that Ouellet was pushing.

On environmental issues, the province routinely polls apart from the rest of the country. In a recent Angus Reid Institute survey, Quebec was the only province in which « the lack of new oil pipeline capacity » was not seen as a crisis, more respondents opposed both the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and the Energy East pipeline and a plurality felt that the federal government is « pushing too hard to build more pipeline capacity. »

With a credible spokesperson on environmentalism as its leader — Blanchet was an environment minister — the Bloc could make some inroads.

But the recent provincial election in Quebec points to the challenges Blanchet faces. The Parti Québécois was handed its worst result in its history, scoring just 17 per cent of the vote. Québec Solidaire, another sovereignist party, managed 16 per cent support, but the party’s voter base is motivated more by left-wing politics than by independence.

Parti Québécois leader Jean-François Lisée led his party to its worst performance in October’s provincial election, with just 10 seats and 17 per cent of the vote. (Graham Hughes/Canadian Press)

While combining the support of the PQ and QS would be electorally advantageous for Blanchet, the arithmetic is not as simple as it looks. QS won most of its seats in areas that supported the New Democrats in the last two federal elections, while few of the PQ’s holdings overlap with those of the Bloc.

The Bloc’s best chances instead appear to be in the suburbs around Montreal, where most of its current seats are located and where it is polling strongest. Blanchet is aware of the Bloc’s regional limitations — he has already ruled out running in the riding of Saint-Maurice–Champlain where he lives and which is represented by Liberal cabinet minister François- Philippe Champagne. He says he will probably instead run in the Montérégie region south of Montreal.

The obstacles Blanchet faces are significant — poor fundraising, a membership base split between two warring provincial parties and voters’ lack of interest in the Bloc’s raison-d’être. The Liberals and Conservatives will also be targeting their efforts and resources in Quebec, competition that the Bloc is ill-equipped to counter.

But if Quebec is going to be one of the key battlegrounds of the 2019 federal election, then Blanchet’s impact on the Bloc’s fortunes will play a significant role in that fight. Keep an eye on him.

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Anglais

Nostalgia and much more with Starburst XXXtreme

Published

3 années ago

août 10, 2021

admin

Get a taste of adventure with Starburst XXXtreme based on the legendary NetEnt Game. The nostalgic themes are sure to capture fans of the classic version as they get treated to higher intensity, better visuals, and features. The most significant element of the game is its volatility. Patience will not be an essential virtue considering the insane gameplay, and there is a lot of win potential involved. It retains the original makeup of the previous game while adding a healthy dose of adrenaline.

Starburst Visuals and Symbols

The game is definitely more conspicuous than before. The setting happens over a 5-reel, 3-row game grid with nine fixed win lines, which function if a succession from the left to the right reel is present. Only those players that that attain the highest win per bet line are paid. From a visual standpoint, the Starburst XXXtreme slots illustrates lightning effects behind the reels, which is not surprising as it is inherited from the original version. Available themes include Classic, Jewels, and Space. The game is also available in both desktop and mobile versions, which is advantageous for players considering the global pandemic. According to Techguide, American gamers are increasingly having more engaging gaming experiences to socialize to fill the gap of in-person interaction. Starburst XXXtreme allows them to fill the social void at a time when there is so much time to be had indoors.

Starburst XXXTreme Features

Players get to alternate on three features which are Starburst Wilds, XXXtreme Spins, and Random Wilds. The first appears on reels 2,3, or 4. When these land, they expand to cover all positions while also calculating the wins. They are also locked for a respin. If a new one hits, it also becomes locked while awarding another respin. Starburst XXXtreme offers a choice between two scenarios for a higher stake. In one scenario with a ten times stake, the Starburst Wild is set on random on reels 2,3, or 4, and a multiplier starts the respin. The second scenario, which has a 95 times stake, starts with two guaranteed starburst wilds on reels 2,3, or 4. it also plays out using respin game sequence and features. The game also increases the potential with the Random Wilds feature to add Starburst Wilds to a vacant reel at the end of a spin. Every Starburst Wild gives a random multiplier with potential wins of x2, x3, x5, x10, x25, x50, x100, or even x150.

The new feature is sure to be a big hit with the gaming market as online gambling has shown significant growth during the lockdown. AdAge indicates the current casino customer base is an estimated one in five Americans, so Starburst XXXtreme’s additional features will achieve considerable popularity.

What We Think About The Game

The gambling market has continued to diversify post-pandemic, so it is one of the most opportune times to release an online casino-based game. Thankfully Starburst XXXtreme features eye-catching visuals, including the jewels and space themes. These attract audience participation and make the gameplay inviting. The game also has a nostalgic edge. The previous NetEnt iteration featured similar visuals and gameplay, so the audience has some familiarity with it. The producers have revamped this version by tweaking the features to improve the volatility and engagement.

That is characterized by the potential win cap of 200,000 times the bet. Starburst XXXtreme does not just give betting alternatives for players that want to go big. The increase of multipliers also provides a great experience. If the respins in the previous version were great, knowing that multipliers can go hundreds of times overtakes the game to a new level.

Players should get excited about this offering. All of the features can be triggered within a single spin. Whether one plays the standard game or takes the XXXtreme spin route, it is possible to activate all of the features. Of course, the potential 200,000 times potential is a huge carrot. However, the bet size is probably going to be restricted and vary depending on the casino. It is also worth pointing out that a malfunction during the gameplay will void all of the payouts and progress. Overall, the game itself has been designed to provide a capped win of 200,000 times the original bet.

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Anglais

‘We’re back’: Montreal festival promoters happy to return but looking to next year

Published

3 années ago

juillet 23, 2021

admin

In downtown Montreal, it’s festival season.

In the city’s entertainment district, a musical act was conducting a sound check on stage Friday evening — the second day of the French-language version of the renowned Just For Laughs comedy festival. Tickets for many of the festival’s free outdoor shows — limited by COVID-19 regulations — were sold out.

Two blocks away, more than 100 people were watching an acoustic performance by the Isaac Neto Trio — part of the last weekend of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique, a celebration of music from the African continent and the African diaspora.

With COVID-19 restrictions continuing to limit capacity, festival organizers say they’re glad to be back but looking forward to next year when they hope border restrictions and capacity limits won’t affect their plans.

Charles Décarie, Just For Laughs’ CEO and president, said this is a “transition year.”

“Even though we have major constraints from the public health group in Montreal, we’ve managed to design a festival that can navigate through those constraints,” Décarie said.

The French-language Juste pour rire festival began on July 15 and is followed by the English-language festival until July 31.

When planning began in February and March, Décarie said, organizers came up with a variety of scenarios for different crowd sizes, ranging from no spectators to 50 per cent of usual capacity.

“You’ve got to build scenarios,” he said. “You do have to plan a little bit more than usual because you have to have alternatives.”

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Anglais

MELS new major movie studio to be built in Montreal

Published

3 années ago

juillet 23, 2021

admin

MONTREAL — MELS Studios will build a new film studio in Montreal, filling some of the gap in supply to meet the demand of Hollywood productions.

MELS president Martin Carrier said on Friday that MELS 4 studio construction will begin « as soon as possible », either in the fall or winter of next year. The studio could host productions as early as spring 2023.

The total investment for the project is $76 million, with the Quebec government contributing a $25 million loan. The project will create 110 jobs, according to the company.

The TVA Group subsidiary’s project will enable it to stand out « even more » internationally, according to Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau. In the past, MELS Studios has hosted several major productions, including chapters of the X-Men franchise. The next Transformers movie is shooting this summer in Montreal.

Péladeau insisted that local cultural productions would also benefit from the new facility, adding that the studio ensures foreign revenues and to showcase talent and maintain an industry of Quebec producers.

STUDIO SHORTAGE

The film industry is cramped in Montreal.

According to a report published last May by the Bureau du cinéma et de la télévision du Québec (BCTQ), there is a shortage of nearly 400,000 square feet of studio space.

With the addition of MELS 4, which will be 160,000 square feet, the company is filling part of the gap.

Carrier admitted that he has had to turn down contracts because of the lack of space, representing missed opportunities of « tens of millions of dollars, not only for MELS, but also for the Quebec economy. »

« Montreal’s expertise is in high demand, » said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, who was present at the announcement.

She said she received great testimonials from « Netflix, Disney, HBO and company » during an economic mission to Los Angeles in 2019.

« What stands out is that they love Montreal because of its expertise, knowledge and beauty. We need more space, like MELS 4, » she said.

There is still not enough capacity in Quebec, acknowledged Minister of Finance, the Economy and Innovation Eric Girard.

« It is certain that the government is concerned about fairness and balance, so if other requests come in, we will study them with the same seriousness as we have studied this one, » he said.

Grandé Studios is the second-largest player in the industry. Last May, the company said it had expansion plans that should begin in 2022. Investissement Québec and Bell are minority shareholders in the company.

For its part, MELS will have 400,000 square feet of production space once MELS 4 is completed. The company employs 450 people in Quebec and offers a range of services including studio and equipment rentals, image and sound postproduction, visual effects and a virtual production platform.