A regular reader has pointed out to me a petition on the National Assembly website for Quebec to fund the Pink Line.
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Kate
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Kate
Not Montreal, but this is a Canadian news piece and it’s rubbed me the wrong way. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have barely moved in when they start issuing orders, demanding nobody photograph them. “As yet, there is no information on what will happen if the warnings are not heeded,” says this piece.
You’re telling me they want to promote a business called Sussex Royal and make their own living, using their high profiles to flog whatever junk that’s going to be, but issue threats over what the Canadian media can do? No, we don’t need that.
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Em
While not a legal expert, I’m pretty sure there’s no law against photographing them, since they’re newsworthy and, since they’re out in public, have no reasonable expectation of privacy. The laws may be different in Britain (I don’t know) and if so I guess their threat would only apply to UK media (who are actually the ones publishing these photos, Canadian outlets aren’t).
This article lays out when journalists can and can’t photograph: https://j-source.ca/article/can-you-take-a-picture-a-look-at-your-right-to-photograph-in-canada/
You can’t take a photo of a random person that has nothing to do with a news event and commercially publish it without their consent, however.
“According to a 1998 Supreme Court of Canada ruling, publishing a photo of a private individual may violate his or her privacy if the individual is not personally in the news and was not photographed as part of a crowd at a public event like a demonstration or sporting event. In that case the court awarded $2,000 in damages to a young woman who was photographed sitting on a doorstep and the photo used as an illustration of a story that had nothing to do with her personally.”
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DuraLex
This is a Wikipedia entry on the case, known as Aubry v. Vice-Versa.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubry_v_%C3%89ditions_Vice-Versa_Inc -
Spi
It’s easy to be high and judgemental of public figures who have chosen to walk away from the spotlight when you’re not the one with photographers pointing telephoto lenses at the windows of your house.
It’s one thing to be photographed by passerby’s and other residents, it’s another thing to have paparazzi hiding in the bushes and profiting from your image.
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Blork
Aubry v. Vice-Versa is the case that pretty much killed street photography in Canada.
That said, I sympathize with Mr. Windsor on this one, give the history with his mother and all. But I hate that street photography and paparazzi are lumped together in this context.
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JoeNotCharles
Absolutely justified.
Here’s an arresting visual guide to how much bullshit Meghan Markle put up with from the media: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellievhall/meghan-markle-kate-middleton-double-standards-royal
And a more academic piece about the racism involved: https://www.vox.com/first-person/2020/1/17/21070351/meghan-markle-prince-harry-leaving-royal-family-uk-racism
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Kevin
They’re telling the British media vultures, the assholes that hacked Harry’s phone and continually badmouth Meghan with racist articles, to fuck off.
They aren’t threatening Canadian media.
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Kate
Kevin, you’re not telling me no Canadian photographer would want to make a few thousand bucks by selling photos to a Murdoch paper?
The UK has different laws from ours. The royal escapees may have to learn the hard way that they’re not in a cosy bubble of UK law if they’re actually living in Canada.
(I’d be willing to bet they’ll be living in California by the end of the year, and good riddance. We don’t need the diplomatic problem.)
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Douglas
Hopefully they will just disappear to LA where they belong and leave us Canadians alone.
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Kate
All I was saying is that I did not like the tone of Harry trying to lay down the law when he’s pretty much been given refuge in Canada.
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JaneyB
@JoeNotCharles – thanks for those links. I have never followed the royals and I had no idea how weirdly she’d been treated. No wonder they want to get out. The Murdoch empire is a scourge on humanity. I hope we have laws to protect people from that kind of invasive chronicling, no matter how posh they are. At least they won’t have to see the headlines on news stands everywhere they walk.
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Kate
Ensemble Montreal may be about to set a trap for Valérie Plante by insisting the city agree to a definition of antisemitism that excludes any criticism whatsoever of Israel’s policies and actions as a political state. Plante could be put in a position where she would be damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t agree.
What I dislike seeing is someone like Lionel Perez using this issue for political showboating. Antisemitism is serious and indications show it’s on the rise in North America and elsewhere. Its effects are nefarious and it’s disrespectful to the seriousness and risk of the situation if people with power use it as a cheap leverage ploy.
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Ephraim
Sorry, but they are right. If you want to talk about antisemitism here in Montreal…. than talk about it here in Montreal… and kept out of the politics of other countries. We don’t need to be in the politics of other countries, be it Israel, Kashmir, the Ukraine, Lebanon, Northern Ireland or Moldovia… etc. I hold very little esteem for politicians who make comments about other countries without actually understanding them at all, not on the surface and not on the underlying issues. Heck, most of the time they don’t even know the history. Like the Americans not understanding that Iran holds animosity against them because of their involvement in bring the Shah to power or the Chileans with Pinochet.
This is city government, leave the International stuff to the national government… just shut up and deal with the problems we have in the city.
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Kate
Then the mayor should neither agree nor disagree, and say that such a definition is outside the scope of municipal government. But Ephraim, my point is that Perez has calculated that no matter how Plante reacts, he can make her look bad in the eyes of some voters, which has been his only tactic since he became Ensemble’s interim leader. That his technique ends up making Ensemble look cranky and small‑minded doesn’t seem to have occurred to him.
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Raymond Lutz
eh, the trick worked against Jeremy Corbyn, let’s try it here against Valérie Plante! We “slaughtered” Jeremy Corbyn, says Israel lobbyist
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Ephraim
Kate… the mayor just needs to say that it’s outside her scope as mayor. But she also needs to tell her members to shut up and keep their personal politics to themselves. But to be honest, members of the party have already opened up their mouths about the subject on their own facebook pages. They know SFA about the subject…. but it makes them sound antisemitic, because they hold double standards.
I’m trying to remember the name of the study, but basically they have shown that people just straight out lie about their antisemitism and that in spite of Jews being such a small percentage of the population that this hatred runs deep in many different tropes. And that a different standard is really in place. -
Kate
Raymond Lutz, exactly. Exactly!
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Kate
The report of an expert on voting systems says the CAQ’s Bill 39, supposed to reform voting in Quebec by introducing some aspects of proportional representation, will have as an effect (and hardly likely to be unintended) of reducing the influence of Montreal voters.
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Kate
The English Montreal School Board has come to terms with the need to close three schools in the east end, including two that the Quebec government had already removed from its management.
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Kate
Public transit use in the urban area climbed by 4% between 2013 and 2018, an increase that’s the smallest in 20 years. This covers the period when Denis Coderre cut the STM’s funding, so what a surprise.
The ARTM’s report Tuesday also shows the overwhelming predominance of the car as the means of getting around.
La Presse also examines the promised changes in suburban transit, to better serve parts of the agglomeration most addicted to the automobile – including the long promised ideal of a streamlined fare system.
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Filp
Between 2013 and 2018, public transit growth was slow, yes. However, much of that stat comes from a slump around the middle of that range, followed by strong growth in the past few years. Coderre did a number to the stm, and the weak economy at the time didn’t help either. I think this headline is a bit pessimistic
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Kate
Contracts have been awarded for designing the Viau and Lacordaire stations on the blue line extension. This fills out the story from two months ago about contracts for Pie-IX, Langelier and Anjou.
In other metro news, work is set to begin next month on elevators at McGill station.
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EmilyG
I wish that before, or in addition to, starting these new projects, they’d put in the effort to make sure all the escalators are working all the time.
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Filp
*definitely in addition to
If we waited for all escalators to be functional all the time, nothing would ever happen again, because there will never be a point where escalators are always working. Especially transit ones, which experience insane amounts of abuse. Besides, escalators are not *essential*, in the way elevators are. If a station were to have stairs and an elevator, people with mobility issues use the elevator and the rest the stairs. With escalators and stairs, sure it’s an easier ride up for most, but no one with wheelchairs or strollers can access the station.
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Ian
Hahahaha escalators aren’t essential, we can see who takes transit with kids here…
Yeah I have carried a stroller all the way up the Lucien L’allier, Atwater, Guy-Concordia, Square-Victoria, Laurier, Vendôme, Villa-Maria (etc) stairs with a kid and bags MANY times – I only got a car after both of my kids were stroller age – if anyone with a stroller has to rely on escalators or an elevator (if there is one) in our broken down stations they are in for an unpleasant surprise, even if they are just trying to get to a hospital.
I’m with EmilyG here, there’s no reason for escalators to be out of service for months at a time as they so often are. That’s an STM problem, not an escalator problem. That said, if they can’t keep escalators running consistently, what makes you think they can keep elevators running? The fact is they don’t.
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SMD
The lesson to learn is to not source all your escalator parts from the only small company that makes them. The blue line escalators relied on crucial parts that were only produced in the late 80s by one company, in France if I remember correctly, which went bankrupt a few years ago. The STM tried to machine the parts themselves, then went to tender to find replacements. These ended up being defective, after being delivered late. So… don’t put all your escalator parts in one basket.
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Filp
Ian, I think you missed my point entirely. If any of those stations had an elevator, you would take that. Regardless of the status of the escalators. They are not essential what so ever. Elevators are. Regarding elevator down time, I’ve taken my elevator at Cartier basically every day and it has much less down time than the escalator. But regardless, they’re just not related what so ever. I would much rather have every station have an elevator than escalators, it’s not even close in priority imo. We cannot delay elevator installation because you feel we should prioritize escalator repair, when there are people who can’t take the metro at all because there are no elevators.
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Ian
I think you missed my point – if they can’t even keep existing escalators running, what makes you think they are capable of installing and maintaining elevators in every station?
Frankly they can’t even keep the metro running for a full month without a breakdown, THAT is the core service. Elevators in every station may as well be dreaming in technicolour. -
Michael Black
Escalators are constantly on, and generally no lineup.
Elevators move when they are needed. And generally people wait for them.
I suspect if we depended on elevators in the metro, they’d be breaking down a lot. Even now, I get the impression that some using elevators aren’t doing it for “need” (ie they have a wheelchair or stroller, or something heavy/big or some other necessity) but for novelty or because they like elevators rather than escalators. An impression.
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Filp
Well, I take the stm elevators currently, and they’re much more reliable than the escalators are, which take an absolute beating. Your low expectations of the stm’s ability to maintain elevators is not a valid justification for delaying accessibility upgrades. I’m sure people in wheelchairs would just like to be able to take the metro already, and people with strollers and luggage would rather not lug them down the stairs. Also, if you’re under the impression that the metro is particularly bad when it comes to downtime, it’s really not. Elevators in every station is not dreaming, it should be done *already*. There are many in the process already. Some stations won’t be possible due to a lack of foresight, but whenever possible they will be installed.
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Filp
Im sure if we did rely on elevators, that would be a problem. But as long as there are stairs and the elevator wait is more than a minute, most people will just take the stairs. The idea that more elevators would magically mean more breakdowns is a weird assesment of the situation. I see it as improved accessibility. You can say more busses means more possibilities to break down too, but honestly it’s a bit ridiculous
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Kate
On the issue of people appearing to take the elevators for “frivolous” reasons: you can’t necessarily know why someone would prefer the elevator. Last year I had ankle trouble for a few months and it was always less painful to take the metro elevator, if there was one. I didn’t limp or use a cane – there was no way an observer could have known. And many people have more serious invisible disabilities than a sore ankle.
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Ian
Take it as you will, Flip – I’m going on the STM’s track record, not some kind of probability algorithm. Their maintenance record is pretty lousy, and EmilyG made a very good point despite your dismissive woolgathering about what new elevators might solve based on your experience at one station.
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EmilyG
Not all stations have elevators, and therefore the choice to take the elevator.
Most stations have escalators. There are also many people who have health problems who find it difficult to climb up stairs, especially lots of stairs.
It’s really frustrating when you try to exit a metro station, and the escalators aren’t working, or only one is working and it’s in the going-down direction. If you’re disabled, have health problems, or even if you’re just tired or in a rush, you’re not going to like hauling yourself up all those stairs.As for elevator use, I suspect some people at Cote-Vertu metro (maybe other stations too) use the elevator to get to the station exit more quickly, as that station gets crowded easily and wasn’t designed to handle such large numbers of people. (I’m not judging, just saying this is one of many reasons people might use the elevator.)
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Michael Black
Well I said “impression”. But I’m still pretty immobile, and do have a cane (people actually do react to it, so long as I don’t forget it somewhere) but I’m using escalators.
My impression comes from the elevator at Alexis Nihon Plaza, families waiting for it. I think they’d be fine if that elevator wasn’t there.
But yes, it’s hard to judge. Elevators in such places are a new thing, so some of this is colored by me thinking some like the novelty.
I am reminded of the time in grade 7 when I visited Weredale w ith someone from school who lived there. There as an elevator, but I guess was slow going in and was caught by the doors. Some other kid threatened me with a beating if I did that again. Apparently it had been out of service for some time, and the kids at least didn’t want it back out of operation.
There are no restrictions on the elevators in the Metro, but if there was a shift to greater useage by people who could use the escalators, then it would strain those elevators.
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Flip
Ian, I’m not sure what’s so theoretical about the benefits of elevators. If you’ve ever had to bring a stroller, a luggage or more importantly, someone in a wheelchair, down into the metro, you’d know that an elevator is the obvious solution. I saw an article recently about a guy who is handicapped that can haul himself with his wheelchair up the metro stairs and escalators. That works for someone as young and agile as him. A 60 year old? Not so much.
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JaneyB
Given the exceptional depth of our stations, something has to be done to make the escalators always functional. I think Lucien L’Allier is 10 stories deep. I cannot understand a multi-month repair job. They are not smelting iron ore on site and designing new parts from scratch. The stroller issue alone is just an impossible problem if the escalators don’t work. It’s not like Toronto where you’re carrying up or down one flight. Wheelchairs, the elderly, crutches, luggage etc. are completely sidelined. Elevators are nice but they are still too few.
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Kate
Gilles Duceppe’s family is suing east-end seniors’ residence Lux Gouverneur for $1.25 million over the death by exposure of Duceppe’s mother a year ago. Hélène Rowley Hotte died on a very cold night after an aborted fire alarm at the home. She was found dead outside the building the next morning, evidently having been unable to get back inside.
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Kate
Michel Cadotte, sentenced for having administered the coup de grâce to his severely demented partner in 2017, was paroled Monday after spending eight months behind bars.
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Kate
There’s not a lot of news in this bit except the usual opposition grinding. Mayor Plante is keeping an eye on the snow removal budget. Nonetheless, the opposition gets in some digs about how Projet’s management is poor. It’s a sad attempt at opposing what everyone knows: you can estimate, but the snowfall of any given season can’t be firmly predicted by anyone. And the snow will be cleared to keep the city running. It’s futile to politicize this fact but that doesn’t mean Lionel Perez won’t try.
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GC
If that were the only possible mismanagement to worry about at Montreal city hall, we’d be doing well.
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Kate
Such as?
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Kate
Tidying up orange cones left not only by city workers but by utilities and private construction firms is an endless job for the city’s blue collar workers.
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Kate
Two tenants in the Sud-Ouest are holding out against renoviction.
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Kate
A highway closure delayed because of weather will be happening next weekend.
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Kate
Michael Applebaum doesn’t have to pay back the golden handshake he received on his departure from the mayor’s chair.
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Kate
Trudeau airport is taking precautions over travellers from Wuhan, where the recent outbreak of a new viral pneumonia has killed several people. It’s a tense situation in China, where people tend to travel for the new year, which is next Saturday.
Martin 22:35 on 2020-01-21 Permalink
Should do a GoFundMe or a Patreon for it!