Daybreak's proposed Charter of Montreal Values

What should we wear in Montreal, or not wear? What activities should we cherish? Do we value spontaneity above all else? Or poutine? Or the right to spontaneously eat poutine?

We ask those questions, because we Daybreakers are wondering, what if this city had its own Charter of Montreal values?

Well, its time to move past wonder, to action, time to draft our own charter.

We need your help

What ideas do you think we can all agree on? What do you love about the city, what is it that unites us, what should we aspire to?

We will take your valuesand prepare our charter. And to get the values flowing, here are some suggestions, starting with our own Mike Finnerty, who said we should, if at all possible, help push, or manoeuvrea vehicle when its stuck in the snow and ice."

And especiallywhen its a new Montrealer or a tourist, because you tend to get more back than even the drivers.

Weve also talked to some other Montrealers and asked for their suggestions.

• LISTEN:Daybreak's proposed Charter of Montreal Values

Be ostentatious, but fix our roads

Here are some, starting with one that is reminiscent of that other charter:

Ostentatious religious symbols, says lawyer Anne-France Goldwater, would be permitted for any public-service employee actually working to repair a road. Any road. Please

Others also referred to the proposed Quebec charter. Eman Al-Husseiniis a comedian a Montrealer of Palestinian origin. She, by the way, says the proposed Quebec charter has been great for her career, because everyone is asking her what she thinks of it.

But she says its bad for some people which leads us to her suggestion for the Montreal Charter. It has to do with her favourite snack, poutine from a dpanneur on Crescent Streetin downtown Montreal.

And it happens to be halal. So now Im concerned that this dep guy will leave the province. So Ihope the Montreal charter will exempt people who contribute in positive ways,and keeps him here.

Many Montrealers seemed to see the value in values about poutine, at least the Montrealers we spoke to. TamaraBrown, an actor, singer and director, told us:After over two decades of living in Montreal this is what Ive found to be true there is no hurt that cannot be healed with poutine.

Even poutine has its limits

And anotherfrom lawyer Anne-France Goldwater, who says she would make poutine an essential part of every Montrealers diet.

But she would include some exclusions, items that would not be allowed to top off any poutine:

We may love our Italian mozzarella, we love our Greek feta, but they have no place on our Montreal poutine. Nor does beluga caviar, lobster bisque, or foie gras.

Goldstein:'Keep the metro open late'

Others touched on drink, or at least on how Montrealers get home after they drink. Jonathan Goldstein, the host of CBC Radios Wiretap and a Montrealer, suggested that the metro stay open later.

There should be some correspondence,Goldstein says, to how late the metro stays open and how late the bars stay open: Bars stay open until threeoclock But the metros close before one. I think if youre going to keep the bars open late, keep the metro open late.

And while some of our Montrealers suggested changes, others seemed to love things exactly asthey are now.

"For me, Montreal has all the charms of a multicultural, multiethnic urban space, says TK Raghunathan, a former VP of engineering at Bombardierand now the head of the Kabir Cultural Centre.

"Its a pleasure to walk through the town as its all very chic, without being glitzy. Each season has a certain flamboyance when it arrives, almost signing aloud: 'Here I am, erasing your memories of the season that just went by.' Yes, I love Montreal just the way it is.

' la bonne franquette'

In keeping with the positivity, here is another one. Its from Marie-Claude Lortie, a columnist with la Presse. She wants informality enshrined in our charter. Lortie loves how we like to get together without invitations, without decorum, easily."

Pull up a chair, come and sit at my table, bring your friends, come on over. Yes, you can bring your cousin, of course you can, if theres enough food for two, theres enough food for seven. Montrealers like to be together easily, in French we say 'labonne franquette,' it means without any kind of decorum I think a Montreal charter of values has to include this love for informality and this love for being together.

But thats enough good vibrations.

Heres another suggestion of possible articles of clothing to be banned.

Any 'Keep calm and carry on' t-shirts, or any derivatives thereof, says Andy Nulman, founder of Just for Laughs. Obviously no Nordiques' wear of any kind be they hats, sweaters, t-shirts

That might, we think, be the most popular value of all. What do the polls show?

Nulman also had a serious thought:

I think all Montrealers should strive to become the most educated people on the planet, because the more we know, the less ignorant well be, the more tolerant well be and the greater this place will be. And the stronger we will be to fight stupidity in all its forms.

Forgive Montreal its shortcomings

And finally, we end with some values that sound downright poetic, which makes sense, because they come from a poet.

Any citizen with a gift for song should always be accompanied with harmony,suggests Gillian Sze. She adds the following:

Every citizen has the right to an evening of smoked meat and black-cherry cola, the blinding bouquet of jazzed youth lined up at the doors, the sight of his or her shadow waxing and waning, as the cars pass, and faultless weather on foot.

"Everyone has the right to solitude, to not always loving Montreal, to forgive it for its shortcomings, to fall in love again."