Recent Updates Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Kate 09:45 on 2026-06-21 Permalink | Reply  

    cat reading newspaperThe Middle East was unavoidable this week, with no one quite knowing how things will progress.

    There was surprisingly little about the World Cup, although Chloé linked it with the FIFA peace award.

    Côté and Chapleau both commented wordlessly on the Montreal police scandal.

    The intricacies of Quebec politics was the topic de la semaine. The exodus of names from the CAQ in advance of the election was one theme that was widely covered, with various metaphors, and the arrival of a new candidate another. The lurking presence of Dubé and Legault was effectively spoofed by Ygreck, as was Fréchette’s advantage in watching PSPP and Charles Milliard squaring off.

    However, Côté on the kangaroo was the single best cartoon of the week.

     

    • Kate 09:06 on 2026-06-21 Permalink | Reply  

      Ian Lafrenière – who originally came to public notice as a spokesman for the SPVM, let’s not forget – has named an “independent” observer into the SPVM’s investigation into racism at station 39.

      And yes, I put scare quotes there on purpose, qatzelok.

       

      • jeather 10:51 on 2026-06-21 Permalink

        An observer is okay as a start — we need an inquiry too, though they do need a non-cop there watching — and she’s a lot more independent than I would have guessed they would choose (based on looking her up — she’s an academic). I’m not entirely convinced but it’s not the worst choice I can imagine.

    • Kate 00:10 on 2026-06-21 Permalink | Reply  

      The relentless rain through Saturday has caused flooding and power failures in Pierrefonds.

      2 pm Sunday, thunder and more heavy rain. Quite a way to celebrate the summer solstice.

       

      • EmilyG 04:12 on 2026-06-21 Permalink

        It’s about 4 am here in Pierrefonds now, and the power is finally back on here (hoping I don’t jinx it.) And there is some flooding in our house, which won’t be fun to deal with.

      • qatzelok 08:24 on 2026-06-21 Permalink

        I was biking through Pointe-Claire yesterday, and many of its intersections were also flooded, forcing me to take a zigzag route avoiding interestections where water-logged cars stood as warning signs.

        Is this because of the fast, ticky-tacky planning of bungalow suburbia?

      • Kate 09:02 on 2026-06-21 Permalink

        It wasn’t so much the kind of construction, as a determination to ignore natural waterways and lowlands, and build on them anyway.

      • EmilyG 11:29 on 2026-06-21 Permalink

        What worries me at the moment is the warning that all of this might happen again today (Sunday.) Arrgh.

      • Jaye 11:45 on 2026-06-21 Permalink

        I’m at the highest point of the West-Island near Fairview. Dollard got flooded too, houses here are 60+ years old. The highest rainfall estimate is 170mm. I think the big floods of the previous summer were closer to 100mm and weren’t preceded by a week of rain. Pointe-Claire got hit again, too, in their 100+ year old neighbourhood, new and original buildings.

        It’s not always about the ticky-tacky.

    • Kate 14:30 on 2026-06-20 Permalink | Reply  

      The Gazette talks to several arty types who are facing the loss of their affordable studio spaces in a building north of Mile End.
       

      • Ian 15:52 on 2026-06-20 Permalink

        And once again Shiller-Lavy’s legacy through Mondev continues to destroy everything fun about this general area.

    • Kate 14:12 on 2026-06-20 Permalink | Reply  

      I’m aware that the blog’s server has been rocky these last few days, and am posting partly to apologize and partly to test whether making a post is going to cause another dogpile on the server (which is what’s been happening – a lot).

      Thanks everyone for hanging in through the 503 errors and general mess.

       

      • Kate 12:05 on 2026-06-20 Permalink | Reply  

        The city will be gradually backing off garbage pickups to every two weeks. Quebec’s plan is to make this obligatory by the end of 2027. The theory is that this will make more of us use the composting and recycling pickups.

        I predict that they’ll have to keep garbage pickup weekly in the summer, but we’ll see.

         

        • Nicholas 12:14 on 2026-06-20 Permalink

          Funny that EM probably won MHM based on this garbage every two weeks requirement and they’re going to have to do it anyway.

        • Kevin 13:57 on 2026-06-20 Permalink

          I have already made a note to change my lease so that my future tenants will be responsible for fines from incorrectly sorted garbage.

        • Ian 15:55 on 2026-06-20 Permalink

          I am sure than in 2029 there will be lots of hand-wringing articles about how many rats and raccoons there suddenly are that were never around before.

          @Kevin is that legal? This isn’t the first time you’ve posted here bragging about writing clauses into leases making your tenants responsible for things that should be the responsibility of the owner and/or property manager…

        • R T 16:53 on 2026-06-20 Permalink

          @Ian

          It is not the owner or property manager’s job to cut open tenants’ garbage bags or sort through tenants’ bins to make sure they’re probably sorted.

        • Ian 17:37 on 2026-06-20 Permalink

          Having worked for a property manager, you are incorrect. If there are common garbage areas, it is the responsibility of the property manager, not the tenants. If the tenants put out garbage curbside themselves, then it is the tenants’ responsibility.

        • Kevin 17:50 on 2026-06-20 Permalink

          Hmm my post seems to have been swallowed.

          As far as I can tell under the civil code dealing with leases, under the section for sanitation and cleanliness, it’s the tenant’s responsibility to comply with laws.

          Since my tenant and I share the garbage cans and recycling bins, and I want to prevent problems before they occur, I’d rather make it clear in the lease that Montreal legally requires people to sort their garbage or face a fine.

          If the law requires me to label the bins separately then I’ll do that.

          Sorry that the tone of my posts came across as bragging. I’m not in this to make bank—I just had the chance a few years ago to buy upstairs, and now I get to try and make sure my neighbours aren’t going to be noisy.

        • Ian 18:05 on 2026-06-20 Permalink

          Oh yeah if it’s just a duplex or triplex that’s a whole other story. Fair enough.

        • R T 11:56 on 2026-06-21 Permalink

          @Ian

          “If the tenants put out garbage curbside themselves, then it is the tenants’ responsibility.”

          I did say it was the tenants’ bins and bags, though I guess “bags” may not have been clear since I meant in the context of boroughs that don’t use bins for some collections.

      • Kate 09:18 on 2026-06-20 Permalink | Reply  

        After a couple of police chase stories this month, La Presse’s Isabelle Hachey looked into how they turn out – and it’s not great news for passengers or innocent bystanders.

        In addition, often the reason for the chase is some banal traffic infraction – hardly a reason to put lives at risk.

         

        • Nicholas 12:44 on 2026-06-20 Permalink

          Once you have the licence plate you should just stake out their home and get them there, once they’ve left the vehicle, at least for these less serious violations. (And, of course, once they flee they should get more serious penalties; impoundment or forfeiture if you don’t know who the driver was, or jail if you do.) Some of these are serious, though, like stolen vehicles and shots fired, so I don’t think a full ban is justified. Obviously the cops who kept chasing even after their supervisors ordered them to disengage should be fired for insubordination, and criminal charges for not following orders and policy leading to a serious injury. 25 days suspension without pay and TBD for 5 others eight years after the incident is not good enough.

      • Kate 09:13 on 2026-06-20 Permalink | Reply  

        It feels a bit low-key to read the headline City of Montreal approves Cavendish extension after decades of discussion and delay. The story is merely that the city has acquired some land.

         

        • Nicholas 12:52 on 2026-06-20 Permalink

          Not sure I trust anything in this article. First sentence it says it acquired the properties, then later it says the “expropriation process will allow it to obtain the properties”. Also I didn’t realize the city of Montreal can acquire land in another city (TMR), but who knows what the truth is.

        • Ian 15:57 on 2026-06-20 Permalink

          That big building the city acquired at Hutchison and Ogilvy in Park Ex is still an abandoned building, not the promised social housing. Don’t hold your breath.

      • Kate 09:10 on 2026-06-20 Permalink | Reply  

        Sacré-Cœur Hospital was robbed of $40,000 in material intended for bariatric surgeries last month. Theory is that either it’s been shipped offshore, or sold to a private clinic here.

         

        • Kate 21:37 on 2026-06-19 Permalink | Reply  

          La Presse went and talked to owners of small businesses in Montreal North about their responses to Fady Dagher’s presser of a week ago, and the ensuing fallout.

           

          • Kate 21:31 on 2026-06-19 Permalink | Reply  

            A man showed up at Jean-Talon Hospital ER Friday afternoon with a bullet in the leg. As it turns out, medical confidentiality stops where gunfire begins, so the medics called the cops. But the patient isn’t talking about who shot him, or where.

             

            • Kate 15:42 on 2026-06-19 Permalink | Reply  

              Last winter was the most expensive in ten years in terms of snow removal costs and overtime for police – but the city also collected a record number of fines as well.

              La Presse’s Maxime Bergeron also discusses the effect of inflation on municipal expenses generally.

               

              • Kate 15:35 on 2026-06-19 Permalink | Reply  

                The SPVM is to discuss the racism accusations on Monday, but only behind closed doors to the mayor and other elected officials. A promised session allowing the public to quiz the police has been put off till later.

                 

                • Ian 19:16 on 2026-06-19 Permalink

                  Good explainer article from the CBC, too.

                • jeather 10:54 on 2026-06-20 Permalink

                  A good way to really make sure the public trust this inquiry. Secret discussions and cancelling meetings with the public.

                • Ian 17:38 on 2026-06-20 Permalink

                  Well you see, transparency is the real opacity. It’s for our own good!

              • Kate 12:07 on 2026-06-19 Permalink | Reply  

                A cosmetic chain from France with several stores in Quebec has been fined $3000 for having its receipts in English.

                 

                • Nicholas 13:49 on 2026-06-19 Permalink

                  Maybe they can go after the checkout machines at Intermarché, which tell you the price is “deux dollars et 50 centimes” and say “n’oubliez pas votre ticket.”

                • Kate 13:50 on 2026-06-19 Permalink

                  The wiktionnaire lists ticket – I bet it’s one of those words, like wagon, that the French have adopted and made official.

                • Ian 14:11 on 2026-06-19 Permalink

                  I’m surprised they didn’t also get nailed for signage – after all, “Prédiré Paris” doesn’t clearly state what kind of business it is. Prédiré Paris Soins de la Beauté Maquillage et Cosmetiques, SVP! On parle Français icitte!
                  I couldn’t help but notice in the photo there is another sign for a business called “Austria”, not “Autriche”. I can feel the culture of Quebec crumbling like sand under our very feet.

                • Nicholas 14:53 on 2026-06-19 Permalink

                  Kate, the link I posted has the official explanation from the Quebec government: ticket is from an old French word that went through English back to French, and is adopted in France but disliked here because it hurts francisation efforts. I could understand ticket being allowed here even if disliked (France taking over the Plateau!), but at a minimum centime is for Euros, not dollars. If they said pence or kopecks or öre there would have been a complaint years ago.

                • Uatu 16:56 on 2026-06-19 Permalink

                  If QC survived the Parisian assault on French by Old River then it’ll survive this as well lol

                • CE 07:49 on 2026-06-20 Permalink

                  I encountered the word “ticket” when I was in Paris last year and confused people when I asked for the “reçu”. There are so many little differences between the French spoken here and in France that I get myself into lots of funny situations over there.

              • Kate 11:44 on 2026-06-19 Permalink | Reply  

                SMF says her husband is Black and was stopped by police last year at least five or six times for nothing.

                 

                • Ian 13:56 on 2026-06-19 Permalink

                  Do we have reason to doubt her husband is Black?
                  J/K I know what you meant haha

                • Kate 14:08 on 2026-06-19 Permalink

                  It occurred to me as I posted that I’ve never knowingly seen a picture of SMF with a partner, or seen his name or anything about his background mentioned anywhere.

                • Ian 14:48 on 2026-06-19 Permalink

                  I’ve never met her IRL, what if she isn’t real?

                • Kate 14:54 on 2026-06-19 Permalink

                  An AI mayor?!

                • qatzelok 19:17 on 2026-06-19 Permalink

                  If PSPP is correct, than a Liberal Party member that criticizes law enforcement might just be supporting immunity for organized crime in general.

                  I hope he’s incorrect, but Canada’s horrible finances over the last 50 years of non-stop deficits sure looks like “an inside job” by high-up organized crime.

                • Meezly 11:20 on 2026-06-20 Permalink

                  The Gazette published a photo of them together at her inauguration.

                  I don’t agree with many of SMF’s political decisions, but I’m impressed she’s refusing to toe the CAQ party line and speaking out about systemic racism (though what’s happening in Mtl Nord is verging on systematic as that loc collecting is highly disturbing), as well as being in a mutually supporting marriage (at least optics-wise so far).

                  I think there are better ways to support organized crime than speaking out against systemic racism, which can be political suicide in QC where the provincial govt holds so much power.

                • qatzelok 08:40 on 2026-06-21 Permalink

                  @Meezly: “I think there are better ways to support organized crime than speaking out against systemic racism…”

                  Yes, like by ensuring that they get city contracts.

                  But with this “A.C.A.B.” declaration – accusing all police of racism, the mayor has put authority into question. This creates good optics for Organized Crime who are always protesting that the authorities (the ones they don’t already control) are “corrupt” in some way.

              ← Older posts

              c
              Compose new post
              j
              Next post/Next comment
              k
              Previous post/Previous comment
              r
              Reply
              e
              Edit
              o
              Show/Hide comments
              t
              Go to top
              l
              Go to login
              h
              Show/Hide help
              shift + esc
              Cancel