Well, we know spring is here when the issue of garbage comes up.

We were hanging out down at the Atwater Market the other day when a complete stranger came up to us (a common occurence, especially with the greyhound in tow), and started telling us how much he loves Montreal but Toronto and Vancouver are so much CLEANER.... We try to explain that it's just the end of the snow season, and that the streets are always coughing up crap from the winter, and that it will all soon be gone and... and then we thought, no, you know what, this city looks like crap. It's filthy right now and we have no idea how long it will look like this. Until the next snow falls?

Anyway, not to fear, Mayor Tremblay was out campaigning yesterday so at least one street is a little cleaner. Read on from today's Gazette article....

"As part of the city's continuing campaign to clean up Montreal's filthy streets, Mayor Gerald Tremblay put on gloves yesterday and joined 130 volunteers who spent the afternoon tidying up Chinatown.'If Montreal is to be clean, everyone will have to change their behaviour,' the mayor said yesterday, after spending a few minutes cleaning rubbish along Clark St. "Instead of tossing paper on the ground, we need people to put it in the garbage cans," he said.

Geez, thanks Mayor. We never thought of that idea. Gargabe cans. That's brilliant. Bravo. We'll make note of that...

So, how much will these cans cost? Maybe it's not so much the cans but the whole shibang that will cost an additional $10 million this year to tidy up streets and sidewalks. And get this, the plan also includes a $1 million (rather apocalyptic sounding) "cleanliness brigade."

Grab your flags, the march is about to begin....