Montrealers tip better than any city in Canada, according to point‑of‑sale folks Lightspeed.
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Kate
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Kate
Thousands of people have been issued fines for insulting police in other Quebec municipalities – Quebec City in particular. The SPVM brotherhood is pressing for a similar law here, and SMF is in favour.
Note the wording: “insulting an officer or other municipal employee.”
This is ridiculous and will waste time in court as people argue over what is, and what is not, an insult.
Taylor C. Noakes
How would this even withstand the inevitable constitutional challenge?
That said, I’m *super* suspicious of the timing of that FPPM survey from three days before the stn 39 revelations came out. No wonder Yves Francoeur and SMF don’t want people insulting the police.
Ephraim
Yeah, that’s a violation of freedom of speech. It is, in no way, protected speech. If they don’t want to insult them, don’t do anything that would make us want to insult them.
Kate
That may be so, but there are such laws elsewhere in Quebec, as the article says, which have apparently not been challenged or thrown out on constitutional grounds.
jeather
Apparently giving cops the middle finger is protected as free expression, so just do that if this comes into force while we wait for it to be fought in the courts.
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Kate
A cyclist hit by two vehicles last week on Notre‑Dame East has died.
jeather
Hit by two vehicles? Was he hit by one and pushed into the lane of the second?
Kate
The CBC item says: “he was hit by a first vehicle while crossing Davidson Stree […] was hit again by another vehicle headed in the opposite direction.”
It mentions he was on a bike path. I used to ride that path occasionally – it was separated from Notre‑Dame by some trees, and felt quite safe until you had to pass over a cross street, because either you had to go to the corner and cross on a light, or you had to take your chances with the cross traffic. Obviously this man had no luck with it.
MarcG
The photo from the CBC piece, where seemingly the 2nd collision took place, is quite a distance away from the intersection.
MarcG
Looking at the streetview, there’s a desire path that is closer to where that photo is taken, I suspect they used this and got clipped by a car coming from Notre-Dame and pushed in front of another coming the other direction.
Kate
That actually is the path, MarcG. It goes on for blocks and blocks.
MarcG
The official paved path leads you to the intersection
Kevin
There is the paved path, then there is a short section of dirt which is what witnesses said the cyclist was on moments before he was hit.
Which is just bad design. If you want people to take the paved path, you’ve got to build it in such a way that it makes the paved path the only option, like the berms they have at Notre Dame and Frontenac.
Kate
True. It’s been awhile since I biked along there.
Taylor C. Noakes
I don’t often argue in favour of segregation, but…
If the city were to build a ‘whole street’ bike network that spanned the city, I think most cyclists would opt for it, and the number of fatalities would drop to zero, not to mentiopn probably encourage more people to use their bikes.
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Kate
Close to 25,000 housing units stand vacant in Montreal right now, a number arrived at through Hydro‑Quebec’s records. With an interesting tool for checking how many vacancies are in your postal area.
Adding later: Projet is proposing a tax on vacant buildings.
It goes on puzzling me, as it did when I worked on the 2021 census and found many addresses empty. In a few, I could see that renovations had begun at some time in the past but had been abandoned, in some cases quite a long time ago. But rents are much higher now, and not everyone demands a high level of finish with granite and breakfast bars. A clean unit with functional bathroom and kitchen fittings can get you upwards of $1200 for a small place, and much more for a larger one – why do landlords pass this by?
Paul
Interesting. BC has a vacant property tax, perhaps QC should do the same?
Kate
The city has a vacant property listing but most landlords ignore it, according to a CBC piece from April. Like other rules set by the city – Airbnb listings, for example – the law is toothless with few inspectors and no enforcement.
Ephraim
Well, if it’s not a residence, maybe it shouldn’t get residential rate 😀
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Kate
The hopping animal variously described as a wallaby or a kangaroo was caught in Boucherville Tuesday evening after five days on the run amid growing concern that it could get itself killed on a highway if it wasn’t captured.
The animal’s been brought to Granby Zoo, and presumably won’t be returned to whoever was illegally harbouring it.
Ian
whomever, surely
But seriosuly, was it not agreed that this is a kangaroo? Is this one of those penguin/ pingouin things?
Andrew
CTV has updated the article from Kate’s earlier post with “*A prior version of this story reported the animal as a ‘kangaroo.’ Animal Rescue later confirmed that it is a wallaby.”
Wallabies are only 3 feet tall, while kangaroos are 6+ so it shouldn’t be hard to tell.Kate
Depends how far away they are!
MarcG
Presumably it depends on their age as well…
Meezly
It was confirmed to be a red kangaroo, from what I could gather. When we visited the Granby Zoo a few years ago, the kangaroos and wallabies were free ranging in their designated area. You could walk right up to them and say hi, it was pretty wild.
Kate
Meezly, I’m happy to know that this rescued animal is likely to be placed with others of its kind. It’s never good when a social animal is kept in solitary confinement (except for reasons of communicable disease, obv).
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Kate
Police brotherhood president Yves Francœur claims that any racist acts by his members are isolated incidents, while community groups call for a public inquiry and not by police investigating police.
Ian
A police culture in which the only reason people got called out for racism was for cops collecting literal body trophies specifically from black people like a bunch of fucking serial killers could not possibly be a sign than endemic, perhaps even systemic racism is at play. It would be absurd, and maybe even racist against Quebecers to say so.
/sjeather
Ian, it was less than 20 people. Sure, other police officers are racist, but they are racist in DIFFERENT ways. Systemic racism obviously means every single person acts racist in the exact same way.
dwgs
jeather, did you forget a /s ?
dwgs
Ah, having read your other comments I get it now.
jeather
Sorry I sort of object to using the /s and plus I’ve been posting as a fairly standard leftie anglo here for a while so I assume most regular commenters have a general gist of my views.
Anyways TIL that the BEI (full of white ex-cops) does not publish the final reports according to the CBC so in a year we’ll find nothing out anyhow.
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Kate
Quebec is promising its municipalities more cash for water infrastructure although some of the money seems to be funneled from the feds. So long as this means our water mains don’t explode, it’s all good.
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Kate
The PLQ is to unveil their plan to protect French, while the government pledges millions to teach out‑of‑province students French at McGill, Concordia and Bishop’s.
Taylor C. Noakes
Does this mean all those int’l students are allowed back?
Kate
I don’t think so. But the ones allowed in may not get their degrees till they can pass a French test, even if it’s immaterial to their major, and even if they don’t have plans to remain in Quebec.
Taylor C. Noakes
The important thing here is that we’ve kneecapped major institutions and blocked foreigners from learning here. That will buy us good will and foreign investment.
Tim S.
I think the government’s motives are wrong, but I refuse to say that it’s a bad idea for university students to learn a second (additional) language. If these universities are smart, they’ll turn this into a competitive advantage.
bob
If there were a competitive advantage to learning a second language students would already be doing it – and they are, and that language is English.
Kate
Tim S., maybe, but French is not necessarily going to be the best second language for every specialty.
I could even make a case that it’s far too Eurocentric to make students who mostly speak English learn a second European language. Or, going by number of world speakers, Mandarin, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Japanese or one of the half dozen major languages of India would outdo French.
Tim S.
But teaching French is the specialty we can offer. Why not do what we’re good at?
Besides, the number of Francophone teams at the World Cup suggests that it’s still a language with an international reach.
CE
It’s not that unusual for universities that offer courses in English to require that their students learn the language where they’re studying. And why shouldn’t they? If the students are going to be living where they’re studying, they’re going to need to learn the local language to be able to function.
I looked into doing a masters in Reykjavík. One of the requirements to get the degree (offered entirely in English) was that I gain a certain proficiency in Icelandic. Probably not the most useful language to learn but it would have been helpful while I lived there (and probably would have made it more likely that I might stay).
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Kate
Ian Lafrenière says he’ll name an independent observer for the inquiry into racism in the SPVM although there’s still no public inquiry planned; Yves Boisvert’s column makes the case for such an inquiry; Christine Fréchette continues the CAQ policy of refusing to acknowledge systemic racism in Quebec.
Lots of commentary on the SPVM racism issue: Fabrice Vil on Fady Dagher’s coup – “Fady Dagher, s’est dit « très surpris ». « Je ne croyais pas que c’était possible, en 2026 », a-t-il affirmé en point de presse vendredi soir. De mon côté, j’étais surpris… qu’il soit surpris.” – Chloé in Le Devoir – Taylor C. Noakes in CultMTL.
jeather
IMO any police officer in any department is not independent; nor are prosecutors who work with police officers and require their help. (This also includes the BEI, full of [white] ex-cops.) So it won’t be even close to independent.
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Kate
The contract to rebuild the big pool at the Claude‑Robillard Centre has been looked at sideways by the city inspector general, who thinks that the engineering firm they hired was too favourable to a specific subcontractor.
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Kate
A demonstration has been held at SPVM station 39 in Montreal North; reports are low‑key.
jeather
Good to know that, according to our new premier, it’s not systemic racism because it wasn’t enough people doing this one exact thing.
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Kate
The city ombudsman, who reported four years ago on the humanitarian crisis developing at the corner of Milton and Park Avenue, says there has been no improvement since that time.
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Kate
Why does Justin Trudeau have to defend his decision to skip the first Canada match in the World Cup to accompany his girlfriend to a different game? The man is a private citizen now – he’s not a politician, even one out of power. He no longer has the duties, official or social, that go with that job.
Taylor C. Noakes
Because mainstream media considers social media whining to be newsworthy.
Blork
The short answer is that he doesn’t have to; the same way the dumbass commentariat doesn’t have to complain about it.
bob
No, he can’t retire. He’s Michael Corleone. He can’t just go straight. Thug 4 life, yo. Loyal to the game.
Jim
Haha,
I agree with Bob. Justin spend a lot of time telling us how we should live our lives. And now it seems to be he’s just like living the celebrity life many people would do if they can. He won’t loose any sleep over the fuzz, it may even be exactly what they wanted.
I couldn’t care less (and yet I am still reacting to the fuzz, lol). I hope he is happy and has a great life.
Kate
Did he spend a lot of time telling us how we should live our lives?
Joey
JT still living rent-free in a lot of sad peoples’ heads…
su
Good thing Rebel News revealed to us that Justin Trudeau was TYRANT….or we might not have known.
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Kate
Last week, Paul St‑Pierre Plamondon implied that the Quebec Liberals are funded by the mob; party leader Charles Milliard is threatening to sue but PSPP refuses to retract.
It’s going to be a long campaign.
Taylor C. Noakes
I’m calling it now, there will be no Qc referendum this year or for the forseeable future.
This is PSPP flailing, realizing he’s an empty suit. A remarkably amateurish move by someone who should know better, with no clear exit strategy other than an inevitable public apology or lost lawsuit.
PSPP could have challenged Milliard on any number of policy points. This is deranged.
Joey
All PSPP had to do was be cheerful and wait for October…
Kevin
Joey
When was the last time you met a cheerful separatist?bob
Here’s the problem: https://lactualite.com/politique/sondage-une-course-a-trois-imprevisible/
Well, problems. 1/3 of the seats are up for grabs. No party has even 1/3 support. No party is likely to get a majority. There is no widespread support for the PQ’s fundamental policy. The CAQ has risen from the dead as people look at the PQ and PLQ and remember why they voted CAQ.
The PQ thinks this is a PQ v. LPQ race, which it only seems like, because really it is a PQ v. PQ race, which is to say just don’t screw it up. So, of course, they are screwing it up.
The mafia/illicit money thing plays right back into Parizeau’s “money and the ethnic vote”.
Joey
Even in a close three-party race, the PQ is within spitting distance of a majority (Quebec125 projects them at a median of 61 seats, a much more efficient result for their 30% polling support compared to the PLQ, which is at 26% but headed for closer to 40 seats).
Kevin
Some day our political pundits will re-evaluate the last 60 years and come to the realization that the driving force in Quebec was not the separatist movement, but was the desire of Francophones to be able to earn a good living without needing to speak to a boss who didn’t know French.
The separatist movement was a tool and and a slogan, but the ’95 referendum was the ultimate case of the tail wagging the dog/touching the hot stove, and going there again would be much too risky for people that have their suburban homes with backyard pools and affordable daycare.
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Kate
Christine Black wept at a presser on the weekend and asked residents to report racist acts by police*; Fady Dagher discusses racism among his officers (audio from CBC); the PLQ wants the SQ to start an investigation into racism in the SPVM. There will be more stories, but it remains to be seen how much will just be talk‑talk and a little performative breast‑beating, and whether anything will change.
Toula Drimonis on Bluesky: “I’m seeing way too much surprise/shock/disbelief expressed at the news coming out of Montreal North, like we haven’t had years of community advocates warning us (and studies and documented cases confirming their concerns) pointing directly to police abuse and racial profiling at the SPVM.”
Ted Rutland: “How do you tell a youngster to trust the police? You don’t. You do your job. A 16‑member racist gang was terrorizing the community for months (years? we don’t even know). Find out who the gang sent to prison or juvenile detention and free them. Find out who they fined and get their money back.”
Sergio Da Silva: “Activists, community groups, academics, the communities themselves have been screaming about this for decades and now the mayor is going “to ask the tough questions” Man, fuck you. The questions have already been asked. The answers have been sitting on your desk for years.”
*Report them to whom? And how?
Taylor C. Noakes
Taking bets on SMF celebrating Juneteeth this year, which is friday.
Perhaps she’ll get her best dashiki out of storage and take a knee somewhere photogenic.
bob
Shocked! Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.
Kate
TCN: Juneteenth is just not a thing here.
Taylor C. Noakes
@Kate – exactly my point
Ian
This talk about SMF reminds me of white people complaining about First Nations people with grey eyes, implying they aren’t “really” Native – or somehow not Native enough, like some sort of blood quantum test has been failed. What are you getting at, TCN? She never claimed she was black. SHe identifies as racialized, though, which is relevant to police racism discussions … Are you policing her ethnicity, or saying that her ethnicity is somehow up for debate because of her politics? The dashiki comment is pretty egregious.
Joey
I thought he was referring to the incident when all the US Dem leaders took a knee and wore kente scarves during the BLM/George Floyd protests in 2020… Not sure the joke landed, Taylor…
Kate
OK but Juneteenth is to do with the date on which the U.S. abolished slavery – which still isn’t relevant here.
We mostly don’t celebrate Emancipation Day but we could.
Ian
@Joey, @Taylor if it was a joke, then I apologize for being inappropriately reactive.
DeWolf 11:28 on 2026-06-17 Permalink
Maybe it’s because the default tip suggestion at most places here is still 15%? When I’m in Toronto and Vancouver, most places have 18% as their minimum suggested option and many places start at 20%. I think that pisses a lot of people off.
DeWolf 11:30 on 2026-06-17 Permalink
Also, this is amusing:
“Overall, the survey finds that Canada ranks #1 globally when it comes to “doing nothing when service is poor.”
Of course. We’re the most passive aggressive nation on earth.
Taylor C. Noakes 11:48 on 2026-06-17 Permalink
I wonder if it’s a consequence of knowing so many people working in the hospitality sector?
Meezly 12:31 on 2026-06-17 Permalink
I’m noticing more and more 18% as the default, or listed as the first tip option (with 15% being last). Perhaps it may also be due to the fact that Montreal is relatively affordable compared to Toronto and Vancouver.