{"id":68449,"date":"2026-05-31T11:00:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T11:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/68449\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T11:00:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T11:00:06","slug":"letters-too-many-losers-in-rem-sweepstakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/68449\/","title":{"rendered":"Letters: Too many losers in REM sweepstakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Re: \u201cREM doesn\u2019t always make a trip faster<\/a>\u201d (Allison Hanes, May 26)<\/p>\n

Thank you Allison Hanes for stating what so many of us in the West Island are experiencing now that the REM has arrived and many perfectly efficient bus routes have been altered and\/or cancelled.<\/p>\n

I must frequently travel to the MUHC Glen\u00a0hospital from Pointe-Claire to see my oncologists. I could previously walk to the 485 bus and be at Lionel-Groulx m\u00e9tro 25 minutes later. No more, as that bus line has been eradicated. <\/p>\n

Now I must take one bus to another bus, both of which make more stops, to get to Lionel-Groulx. Miss one and you have to wait 20 minutes for the next one. Not the end of the\u00a0world but no fun in the rain or when it\u2019s -25 C in winter. <\/p>\n

If I want to use the REM, that involves a bus to get me to the station and then more\u00a0transfers afterward. <\/p>\n

No doubt the REM is beneficial to many who have anxiously awaited its arrival. There are winners and losers with this new system, but sadly there are too many of us in the loser category. <\/p>\n

The Exo train remains a solution. Let\u2019s hope they don\u2019t mess with that now, despite the hours-long gap in the afternoon when there is no service. <\/p>\n

Judie Amyot, Pointe-Claire<\/p>\n

\"REMThe REM train from the West Island is up and running. Not everyone is onboard with the new service. Dave Sidaway \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

Who speaks for unabashed federalists?<\/p>\n

Re: \u201cPQ swatting at spies and scare tactics<\/a>\u201d (Robert Libman, May 16)<\/p>\n

Robert Libman mentions the unanimous adoption of a motion in the National Assembly \u201caffirming that Quebecers alone will decide their future, and 50 per cent plus one is enough to break up the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

I found this unanimity unbelievable, so I inquired of a Liberal MNA whether she had voted for that motion. Her office confirmed she did, adding some unpersuasive reasons.<\/p>\n

I find it outrageous that any federalist, anglophone or francophone, would vote for such a motion. It seems this unbridled commitment to \u201c50 plus one\u201d applies only if the Yes side were to win. In the 1980 and 1995 referendums, the No side won by more than that, but evidently these results did not qualify for ending the matter. <\/p>\n

The danger is if separatists were to attain their threshold, they would pick up their marbles and call the game over. This is what happened in Britain, where a small majority voted to leave the EU. Now that many Britons realize they were hoodwinked on the consequences of Brexit, they regret their choice. But, it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n

In the past, the Equality Party \u2014 led by Libman \u2014 showed admirable courage in their defence of federalist views. Sad to say, unless the Quebec Liberal Party grows some courage, we will need other unabashed federalists to step forward for election and stand up for laws such as the Clarity Act.<\/p>\n

David Tait, Entrelacs<\/p>\n

Would 100% suffice? <\/p>\n

Re: \u201c98% pass rate worthy of praise, not concern<\/a>\u201d (Toula Drimonis, May 29)<\/p>\n

When it comes to being served in French, a success rate of 98 per cent \u2014 and 99 per cent at stores in the Quartier Latin and on Taschereau Blvd. \u2014 seems not enough to dispel the notion that French is in peril in Quebec. <\/p>\n

What amount would be acceptable? Looking at these latest findings by the Office qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois de la langue fran\u00e7aise, I doubt even 100 per cent would be enough. <\/p>\n

Is there any way to get a concrete answer as to what we have to rise to?<\/p>\n

Brian Goldberg, Westmount<\/p>\n

A lighter take on language<\/p>\n

Re: \u201cNo ham in hamburger and other word oddities<\/a>\u201d (Opinion, May 21)<\/p>\n

As a volunteer with a literacy association, I often try to explain the peculiarities of the English language \u2014 for example, with regard to homophones such as\u00a0\u201cthere,\u201d \u201ctheir\u201d\u00a0and\u00a0\u201cthey\u2019re.\u201d <\/p>\n

Also, why some words require only an \u201cs\u201d at the end for the plural, while others require \u201ces\u201d or \u201cies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The opinion piece by Terry Vollum\u00a0humorously describes commonly used contradictory phrases and idioms that no doubt confound people working hard to learn English.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I had a good laugh.<\/p>\n

Isabelle Turin, Pierrefonds\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s Picks\t<\/p>\n

Submitting a letter to the editor<\/p>\n

Letters should be sent by email to\u00a0letters@montrealgazette.com<\/a><\/p>\n

We prioritize letters that respond to, or are inspired by, articles published by The Gazette.<\/p>\n

If you are responding to a specific article, let us know which one.<\/p>\n

Letters should be sent uniquely to us. The shorter they are \u2014 ideally, fewer than 200 words \u2014 the greater the chance of publication.<\/p>\n

Timing, clarity, factual accuracy and tone are all important, as is whether the writer has something new to add to the conversation.<\/p>\n

We reserve the right to edit and condense all letters. Care is taken to preserve the core of the writer\u2019s argument.<\/p>\n

Our policy is not to publish anonymous letters, those with pseudonyms or \u201copen letters\u201d addressed to third parties.<\/p>\n

Letters are published with the author\u2019s full name and city or neighbourhood\/borough of residence. Include a phone number and address to help verify identity; these will not be published.<\/p>\n

We will not indicate to you whether your letter will be published. If it has not been published within 10 days or so, it is not likely to be.<\/p>\n

Please send the letter in the body of an email, not as an attachment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Re: \u201cREM doesn\u2019t always make a trip faster\u201d (Allison Hanes, May 26) Thank you Allison Hanes for stating…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[50,11446,3097,784],"class_list":["post-68449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-montreal","tag-public-transit","tag-rem","tag-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}