Bloc declared winners in 2 races, but recounts expected ~ The Montreal Gazette

Election day is over, but the fight for a couple of Montreal-area ridings has yet to be settled. Bloc Québécois candidates in the ridings of Ahuntsic and Brossard-La Prairie were declared winners by Elections Canada with margins of 142 and 143 votes, respectively, over their Liberal rivals.

But margin in Brossard-La Prairie was cut to 102 votes after the numbers were recalculated and Liberal Alexandra Mendes is not ready to call it quits.

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Car dealerships take to the road ~ The Montreal Gazette

Beginning in the new year, there will be empty lots and fewer new cars for sale along Île Perrot's so-called Dealership Drive on Don Quichotte Blvd.

That's because two of the six car dealers on Île Perrot's main commercial artery are moving to brand new facilities further down Highway 20 in Pincourt. A third dealer might move later.

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Top vote-getters aren't only winners ~ The Montreal Gazette

Fringe candidates know they don't have a chance of getting elected, but most expect increased visibility of being on ballot to bring attention to issues near and dear to their hearts

Looking at election signs in the downtown Westmount - Ville Marie riding, it's clear there are at least five parties vying for your vote. But on election day, the list on the ballot will be almost twice as long.

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Edited and also  published in the:

- National Post (For fringe candidates, it's all about ideas)

- Calgary Herald (Fringe parties add voices to election race)

- Victoria Times-Colonist (Out on the political fringe, ideas matter more than seats)

Teachers not immune to jitters ~ The Montreal Gazette

Today is the day most young West Islanders head back to school.

And if your kids were anxious and having nightmares about going back to school, you'll want to let them in on a little secret: It happens to teachers, too.

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It's liftoff for AirMédic ambulance ~ The Montreal Gazette

It's a bird. It's a plane. No, it's an ambulance.

AirMédic, the non-profit group that aims to provide air ambulance service in Quebec, yesterday unveiled an equipped helicopter dedicated to serving the Montreal area, along with a new home for the chopper and its staff in Mirabel.

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Airports could see strike in November ~ The Montreal Gazette

Blue-collar workers at Trudeau and Mirabel airports are putting passengers and cargo operators on notice for possible strike action in November.

"There's one thing for sure," said Wayne Wilson, a spokesperson for the 280-member airport employees' union, affiliated with the Centrale des syndicats démocratiques. "We started (protesting) and ... we won't spend the winter without going on strike" if outstanding issues aren't settled, he said.

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Charkaoui awaits decision on restrictions ~ The Montreal Gazette

A confident Adil Charkaoui left court yesterday, hoping he would soon be free of the "unlivable" conditions he has had to adhere to since his release in February 2005.

"I hope the judge will apply the Supreme Court decision," Charkaoui told reporters, referring to the February ruling that rendered the security certificate, under which Charkaoui was imprisoned for 21/2 years without seeing the evidence against him, unconstitutional.

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Charkaoui looks to federal judge as his 'Père Noël' ~ The Montreal Gazette

Adil Charkaoui says Federal Court Judge Simon Noël is his children's "Père Noël," and he's waiting for the gift of permission to leave Montreal "to have some moments of joy with my children."

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