SMF has announced more money for potholes.
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Kate
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Kate
Students enrolled at Villeray’s Académie de Roberval, but who’ve never set foot in their school of record, have addressed an open letter to the premier and her education minister appealing for the school building to be made usable again.
La Presse has reported on this school and I’ve posted about it before. Is the CSSDM, or is the government, simply waiting for the building to collapse from neglect?
Nicholas
I heard about an elementary school in the Plateau where students were bussed to Ahuntsic for five years. If you’re a parent of a 4 year old it’d be useful to know which schools need imminent renovations so you can try to go to another and avoid all that.
Ian
You don’t have a lot of choice, your school is mostly determined by your address.
Kate
Is that still so? When I was a kid, families pretty much brought their kids to the closest school, which in many cases had the same name as the nearest church. But I thought things had diversified since then, with some public schools having better reputations and attracting kids from farther afield. Does anyone tell parents they can’t sign their kid up to a school because they live too far away?
RE
I don’t have kids but my understanding through talking with friends who have school-aged children is yes, for the public system it is determined by address. I’m told some public schools are “better” than others and it has impacted where some friends have chosen to live/move to.
I think for private schools, it’s different.
Mark Côté
Generally you have to go to your nearest school as they are compelled to take local students. It’s possible, I believe, to go to another school if they have room.
The exception are “status 240” schools, which are specialized in STEM, fine arts, etc., like FACE, Royal Vale, and Royal West. They have specific entry requirements but accept students from anywhere in the school board area (and sometimes beyond).
jeather
My friend got her kids into a different (and much closer to where they live) school without much issue, though this is the EMSB which is a bit more willing to work with families. The catchment areas in NDG are a bit weird.
SMD
In my experience with public schools the distinction is between primary and secondary. For primary you have to attend your local school, and exceptionally can try to change schools although only a handful of exemptions are granted each year. For secondary you can apply to any school in the school board, and beyond (although that is an extra form and hassle). Most kids end up staying close to home, but there is no obligation too.
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Kate
Playoff hockey resumes Wednesday evening.
SMD
It never stopped; the Victoire won their game last night with a goal from captain Marie-Philip Poulin in triple overtime. Finished at 11:30pm. Amazing stuff.
Kate
Thank you, SMD.
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Kate
A lot of work’s been done, but 10% of city water mains and sewers are still in poor shape, so an appeal is being made to Quebec for funds to bring things up to spec over ten years.
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Kate
Two new Montreal restaurants have received Michelin stars in this year’s edition.
Harvey
A slight rephrasing… “two new Montreal restaurants had Michelin stars bought for them.”
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Kate
La Presse examines the orange cone as a symbol of love‑hate for Montreal.
Mozai
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Kate
Factories with the potential to release toxins will be testing their warning sirens at various times on Wednesday. Details on the city website.
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Kate
Grand old Péquiste Claude Morin has died at 96. Francophone media are all remembering him – anglos, not so much.
Taylor C. Noakes
He was an RCMP informant? Quoi le heck?
Jake
The Gazette published an obituary https://montrealgazette.com/news/provincial-news/provincial-politics/claude-morin-key-architect-of-quebecs-quiet-revolution-dies-at-96/
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Kate
In her report on the death of a cyclist on Park Avenue last September, coroner Marie-Claude Boutin recommends a bike path on the street to make it safer. Never gonna happen.
Ian
For whatever reason the link won’t load…but there is a bike path, it just got a big upgrade, too…. it’s even fully separated from the roadway, and finally separated from the pedestrian walkway, too.
Why would the city put a bike path on Parc if there’s a really good bike path all along Jeanne-Mance Park, connecting to Mont-Royal path on one end & the Pins to Milton path on the other?Chris
Heck, why does the city put car lanes on Parc? There’s a really good road all along Jeanne-Mance Park, connecting to Mont-Royal avenue on one end & the large St Laurent boulevard after that.
Just one possible route should be enough for motorists, right?
MarcG
The accident took place near Parc and Bernard.
Joey
It’s a real shame that Projet didn’t focus on getting the entire REV built and running in the first half of its first term. Bike paths are very unpopular before they’re built, but quickly become part of the permanent infrastructure once they’re in use. It shouldn’t have taken two full terms for Projet to resolve the Cote-Ste-Catherine/Mont-Royal and St-Urbain gaps in the network, especially since so much of their base is in the Plateau. And it’s really too bad that they didn’t bother dealing with Parc, despite the multiple deaths that occurred on their watch.
DeWolf
Joey is right that it’s a real stain on PM’s legacy that they seemed to ignore Park Avenue until the very last minute. (St-Urbain isn’t their fault, though — the bike path that now exists was planned in 2019, but it required the approval of the STM, and apparently they dragged their feet for years.) I think a big part of the reason why Park Avenue hasn’t been dealt with for so many years is because the city and STM have always wanted some kind of improved transit corridor there, but they can’t get their act together to actually go ahead with it. The Tremblay administration planned a tramway along Park but it fell through. Plante seemed to harbour vaguely similar ambitions but never made it a priority. Everybody has been passing the buck for years. And people have died as a result.
@Ian — The coroner’s report talks about Park Avenue in Mile End. You’re talking about the bike path in Jeanne-Mance Park. And I’m not sure what you mean when the path in the park got a big upgrade recently. The path below the monument hasn’t been changed since it was built in 2007. The only recent difference is that the multi-use path north of the monument was repaved in 2022, with a dotted yellow line added down the middle. There’s still no separation between cyclists and pedestrians in that section.
Ian
Ah ok I can see the article now.
Yes, yes, you’re all very witty, especially Chris.
@DeWolf the bike lane on the east side was completely redone from the corner down to Duluth, and the new confusing intersections at Mont Royal and Jeanne Mance. Maybe you forget that the old “bike path” was a crappy asphalt sidewalk barely wide enough for a stroller let alone strollers, bicyclists, pedestrians, etc. I know things being done in sections confuses you, but if the last section was finished last year…
Regardless, we have discussed Parc between Mont Royal and Van Horne before, it’s total garbage for sure – even if we could normalize pedestrian crossings & traffic lights it would make a huge difference – scramble crossings, one way traffic on Bernard, St-V, and Fairmount. Bike paths on Parc would be easy if they simply got rid of the parking lane on one side and made the lane directions the same at all times of day – that switching lane is a menace. I guess the main question would be what happens with the STM reserved lane, they won’t want to get rid of that.
Nobody has even managed to figured out the bike path on Jeanne Mance – it’s no wonder they never got around to Parc. Then again seeing as construction seems to be ongoing if not eternal around Mont Royal and Parc there is always the possibility that they will just redo the whole thing bit by bit until nobody is happy.
jaddle
@Ian “Completely redone” was, as @deWolf says, just a repaving with a line painted down the middle, and a couple of signs to remove the ambiguity – it’s clear now that it has to function as a bike path and sidewalk, whereas before, there was no signage making it explicit. I don’t think it’s any wider than it used to be, unless you count how much the crumbling edges narrowed the path before.
Joey
@jaddle I think Ian is referring to the bike lane on Esplanade south of Mt-Royal along the eastern edge of the park.
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Kate
Nearly 30 Montreal restaurants have been named to Canada’s 100 best restaurants 2026.
Harvey
In other breaking news: the sun will set in the west this evening, 2+2=4, and all unmarried men are bachelors.
Kate
But this is Montreal, where the sun sets in the north.
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Kate
There will be free rides May 16 and 17 daytime from the four new stations on the REM Anse‑à‑l’Orme line.
Nicholas
Such cheapskates, couldn’t do free the whole system, and couldn’t do it in the evening.
Kate
It would’ve been better. Like people will buy a ticket to the West Island so they can get a free ride back.
Ian
It’s OK, there’s nothing to do at the last station on the line in the evening except get menaced by wild turkeys. It’s across the street from the abandoned farm next to the light industrial park. I guess you could take the 20 minute bus into town but I don’t know f they are free too, and I don’t think they start up until the 18th anyhow.
EmilyG
Ooh, Anse-a-l’orme will have a lemonade stand for the occasion. That sounds nice.
Perhaps worth noting that you can use your OPUS card, if it has fares on it, to ride the REM as well as STM buses and metros (as long as you stay on the island.)
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Kate
The crew of Artemis II is to make an appearance at Place des Arts later this month. I was a little puzzled by the wording “This unique event offers the business community and the public in Montréal the opportunity to hear directly from the Artemis II astronauts” until I saw that it is, for some reason, being promoted by the Chamber of Commerce. A cool $95 plus tax for a ticket.
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Kate
Montrealer Louise Arbour will be named the new Governor‑General following Mary Simon, whose inability to function in French has been a chronic irritant in Quebec. Arbour’s CV as a judge and prosecutor is an impressive one. She’s 79 years old.
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Kate
The plan for digital health records is to be tested starting this week. Some doctors are not sanguine as the spectre of SAAQClic continues to haunt the project.
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Kate
CBC has a preview of provincial bills the CAQ is hoping to pass before the end of the new, necessarily short session.
Of interest to this blog:
- Bill 5, intended to streamline approvals for certain projects of “national importance,” including energy and critical mineral development. (How do these changes affect the environment?)
- Bill 89, which would give the government greater authority to force workers to maintain services during strikes or lock-outs. (Keep attacking unions, CAQ!)
- A bill to extend Bill 101 language regulations to adult and vocational education centres. (…)
CTV also has a preview as does CityNews.
First gesture of this session will be to renew the notwithstanding clause for Bill 96.
H. John
La Presse also mentions a Bill adding two new electoral ridings:
Le gouvernement Fréchette déposera deux autres projets de loi cette semaine, les seuls qu’il avait confirmés lors de la réunion du caucus vendredi.
L’un, la « loi Gabie Renaud », inspirée de la « loi de Clare » en Angleterre, vise à permettre l’accès aux antécédents de violence conjugale d’un conjoint. L’autre porte sur le redécoupage de la carte électorale : on fera passer le nombre de sièges à l’Assemblée nationale de 125 à 127 afin de protéger deux circonscriptions, à Montréal et en Gaspésie, tout en créant deux circonscriptions supplémentaires, dans les Laurentides et le Centre-du-Québec.
Taylor C. Noakes 22:20 on 2026-05-06 Permalink
I wonder if she’ll announce more money for bike lanes if people start painting lines on the streets?
Or if there’ll be more money for transit if people start using their own cars as taxis…
Harvey 06:00 on 2026-05-07 Permalink
@Taylor that’s called Uber…