Garou

Garou, the velvety piped crooner of sweet syrupy nothings, wants to open a private hospital clinic near the St Luc Hospital in downtown Montreal. He is a part owner of Medley, the cavernous venue across the street from the hospital, and has apparently figured out that he can make more money selling MRIs than he can selling tickets to Alcoholica, Quebec’s premier Metallica cover band. Who knew?

This could prove to be a very symbolic moment in the evolution of Canadian health care. Last month the Université de Montréal’s troubled (that’s the gentlest available word) new research-hospital project failed to land the $100-million CFI grant it had been hoping for. (Fun historical note: the news conference where Stephen Harper announced an equivalent grant for McGill was the one where he first said he might have to call his own darned election, so not a lot of people covered the story of the research grants. Which is a very interesting story.)