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| Killer Lortie, left, and last night's suspect, right. |
It's a terrible thing to happen and there's absolutely no justifying such stupidity and awfulness.
The suspect has not been identified and some might say, "hey it sure looks like an older Denis Lortie" (a guy who pulled a similar stunt against the PQ in 1984, killing 3 and wounding 13).
Lortie was paroled in 1996 and was last seen working at a depanneur in the Hull-Aylmer section of Quebec and now works in construction according to wikipedia.
Lortie is 52, whereas this suspect is said to be 62, so it's not him despite the resemblance.
BTW anglo media has got to be on its toes, as CFCF radio pretty much never recovered from its clumsy response to the Lortie shooting, hosting something like 900 calls who sympathized with Lortie's murders and even putting a question on their site: ''Many people calling radio phone-in shows in the wake of the National Assembly shooting have expressed sympathy with the corporal's motives. Do you feel this way?" The station was forced to apologize and journalist Chris Goyens saw his high-profiled career get a little more discreet after that.
(Speaking of broadcast media, in an entirely unrelated thing, I am told that the impending end of English TSN is not necessarily a done deal as Bellmedia is rumoured be lobbying the CRTC to shift the sports talk radio station from its new spot at 690 AM to 800 and then put CJAD to 690. The 690 band is a rare clear channel signal, a much-coveted property that can beam into the states. Those stations were divvied up in the 1941 Treaty of North American radio and CBC grabbed most of them, with CKAC 730 being the only private station given clearance to beam south).
What "site" would CFCF 600 have had in 1984??? Al Gore hadn't invented the internet yet...and even if he had, Jean Pouliot wouldn't have spent a dime, he couldn't even afford Montreal to get its version of Frank Gari's "Hello News" theme..."Makes no difference where I go, you're the best hometown I know...Hello Montreal, Hello QC....TV 12 loves you!"
ReplyDeleteEach time clear channel spots opened up, CJAD was pressed to move, as their signal would benefit tremendously. Never would they move from their heritage 800 spot. When CJAD's towers were lost during the ice storm, they took over 990 and their audience plummeted, only to come right back when they returned to 800. Much of CJAD's audience is unaware that a radio can tune another frequency than 800.
ReplyDeleteAll rumors. It first has to start with the CRTC approving the sale. I doubt they'll do so as Ma Bell wants. There will be many strings attached. The best scenario is for the CRTC to reject the sale.
When CJAD's radio tower collapsed under the ice storm in January 1997, on 800 KHz I was able to hear Trans World Radio station PJB located on the island of Bonaire in the Dutch West Indies.
ReplyDeleteAs a thank you for my reception report they set me a nice card.
CJAD recently moved to 1717 Rene Levesque E., a district where all of our local broadcasters have seemed to congregate in recent years.
Surely this can't be a coincidence? The CBC was the first one to move there decades ago following the demolition of several blocks of slums.
The ice storm was Jan. 1998. Not 1997.
ReplyDeletePJB isn't the blaster it once was. It wreaked most of its havoc on CKLW 800 Windsor.
Just a quick note. Drove to Boston a couple of weeks ago , listened to TSN990 all the way to Concord N.H.
ReplyDelete1998 Ice Storm it was indeed! (oops, hit the wrong key 7 instead).
ReplyDeleteAren't we still supposed to get our "all-traffic, all the time" English AM radio station soon? What's the delay?
And while we're on the subject of radio stations, ever notice that the ads are taking up way too much more time than they used to? It's almost absurd. I totally understand that advertising revenue keeps AM radio from disappearing altogether, but there ought to be a limit.
Our talk radio announcers are too obviously self-conscious in the way they hustle along their guests and callers between the endless barrage of extremely annoying and overly-loud sponsors. That Koodo spot is especially obnoxious. I doubt they could pay me enough to perform in an ad like that!
Canadian AM radio ads at best try to be funny but they're not, and at worst are moronic and insulting to the intelligence.
Listen anytime to a U.S. AM radio station like 880 WCBS New York or WBBM Chicago after dark when their signals are stronger and you'll quickly hear that their ads are way superior, no matter how brief they must be to fill a time gap.
My final rant re radio: There should be a rule requiring talk show hosts to discourage incoming callers from using their cellphones while driving.
Despite the fact everyone knows it is illegal, it is all too obvious by the background noise behind their voices that they are on the road when they call in! Many even admit it! How dumb is this?
I wouldn't bet that they're all using "hands-free" phones, either.
Gosh who cares about your radio reception, the post wasnt about that. Not a single comment about this politically motivated killing right here in our peaceful Canada. I think its pathetic we let people out so easily after murders. Id be peeing my pants having D Lortie giving me back my change at a dep or a gas station. In the US, they will put 4 people up for death penalty for having had the intention(!) to kill the president. Here we have someone killing one, and all geared for mass murder if his rifle hadnt jammed and what will he get...?
ReplyDeleteIts a shame for CFCF but in these days of anonymous ranting, we've had years of hysteria on some online news forums whenever Quebec is mentioned. I am not surprised some crazies take the Quebec bashing personal and to the extreme. And yes, post shooting the National Post was filled with cheering comments while the Globe had to shut down its comments due to ''legal'' reasons.
There are some stations that will immediately end the call if the background noise reveals the caller is in the car.
ReplyDeleteRe. the English traffic station. I never though it was necessary, much less on a clear channel. But it was that or nothing for Cogeco. The Transport dept still wants it to go through but now with a new government, all bets are off.
Yeah commercials can be annoying but the bills have to be paid. The hydro bill alone for running a 50 kW transmitter is jaw-dropping.
Having a newly-elected Quebec government (however long it is presumed to last in any case) has absolutely no bearing on what types of radio stations we are entitled to hear for the simple reason that all telecommunications come under the jurisdiction of the federal government, and should unequivocally remain so.
ReplyDeleteYou may rest assured that if the Feds are ever stupid enough appease Quebec separatists by handing over broadcasting rights to them, it would open up a Pandora's Box of resentment, confusion and propaganda.
How long do you think it would then take for Quebec to begin denying licenses to English broadcasters? Under such a nightmare scenario, we could end up having no choice but to tune into cross-border stations.
And then what? Would Quebec try to censor the TV cable companies? Remember that in the recent past they had already succeeded in limiting certain channels on Videotron's grid, using the excuse of "culture concerns". Would they next try to censor the Internet as well, reducing or blocking English content, seeing it as a "threat" to their culture?
Unlikely? Impossible, you say? Think again. Give demagogs an inch and they'll take a hundred miles. Power corrupts, and there are plenty of power-hungry thugs ready to take away our rights one by one until it is too late.
As of this moment, exactly WHO would be opposed to having an English-language all-traffic AM station in Montreal? It would clearly be a public service vital not only to locals, but to visitors, tourists, and out-of-town truckers alike, particularly now during our ongoing and seemingly endless road and bridgework.
Addendum re. AM radio traffic stations:
ReplyDeleteWhy can't the CRTC simply assign ANY unused frequency within the 530-1700 frequency band?
Assuming that the majority of listeners are in their vehicles anyway--of which virtually every one of them has push-button memory tuning capability--such a traffic station could, for example, be placed on 530 KHz where for many years the U.S. already had Travellers' Information Stations (TIS), or on some other local and otherwise "dead" frequency.
See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AM_expanded_band
If they persist in claiming they can't work out a simple solution, then one can only assume that there is some backroom politicking going on that will help absolutely no one.
You can't just assign any frequency. That's not how it works. With AM, you have to protect frequency co-occupants and adjacents. And you can't pack stations right next to each other on the dial.
ReplyDeleteUsable AM frequencies that are currently open in Montreal are:
One of 530 or 540 or 550;
650, 850, 900, 1090, 1190, 1370, 1470.
The AM X-band for now is full, though 1610 will be free once the Haitian station moves to 1410.
I doubt the feds will give QC power over broadcasting but you kidding yourself if you don't think Queen Marois will try her best. She's going to try a LOT of stuff.
Yes, I am well aware of how AM and other band frequencies are assigned, as part of NARBA, and ultimately, the ITU.
ReplyDeleteSee: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Radio_Broadcasting_Agreement
530 KHz would therefore be ideal. Set your car radio memory, and voila!
Yes, 530 would be fine.
ReplyDeleteA word of advice: There's no need for that passive-aggressive "here I'll google/wikipedia that for you."
Kristian - how the hell could they have a site back in the early 1980's - by that statement it sounds like a website. Or is do you mean the recently posted it on their site now because people are referencing that event? Sometimes the context and clarity of your posts are confusing but a fun site nonetheless!
ReplyDeleteMarc...whenever I add links to my comments, they are for the benefit of ANYONE who may be reading--even potentially those not living in Montreal. No "condescension" intended.
ReplyDeleteThere are, I'm sure, foreign readers who tune in here out of curiosity and haven't a clue what we are talking about, or younger readers who might want to research further.
Ever read a foreign blog and go, "Huh?". Check out some Scottish or Downunder blogs sometimes. Same language, alright, but the colloquialisms can really throw you.