Philippe Couillard is keen to get more contracts for Bombardier and is putting pressure on Montreal to buy more Azur trains sooner than originally planned. Valérie Plante is said to be worried about being pressured to spend money on this PLQ scheme.
Updates from April, 2018 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
Transit riders may have noticed new stickers on buses recently saying things about seeking a better deal, so it’s no surprise to read that STM workers are holding a strike vote May 3. Money is not the key concern: scheduling and organization are the main issues. Makes you wonder why the Journal saw fit to tell us – see item directly below this – how much some of the workers have been earning.
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Kate
The Journal says that 1,500 STM workers made at least $100,000 each last year because of overtime necessitated by understaffing.
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Kate
CTV notes that a part of the Lachine Canal is off-limits for the summer, talking about a section actually in Lachine. Other sections are also closed off, though, like a piece of the northern side of the canal in St-Henri which is being rebuilt and shored up.
At the same time, the installation of several old metro cars along the canal in Griffintown is meant to include food trucks, art exhibits and other items of hipsterly interest.
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Kate
Residents of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve were fighting last year against the creation of a huge shipping logistics centre adjacent to a residential area, and they have won. A project on a more “ecological” scale is being suggested.
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Kate
Luc Ferrandez says Quebecor is out to get him, and my observations while blogging over several years tend to back him up. Latest is a report that he was seen snoozing at a city council session, following a recent gleeful account of a ticket for cycling the wrong way on a Plateau street.
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Kate
The Journal lists four more gripes against the REM including the planned construction of rolling stock in India.
Also, later update, CBC reports that service cuts have already started on existing rail lines. More on this from the reliably West Island-focused Gazette.
Also, François Cardinal debunks ten myths, as he puts it, both positive and negative.
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Kate
The bus driver caught on video last week, driving in a way that endangered a cyclist on Sherbrooke Street and yelling abuse at him, has been suspended for five days. His union has promised to defend the driver.
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Kate
The baseball syndicate led by Stephen Bronfman wants to survey the fans to find out what kind of experience they want to have.
I suspect most fans want to be kids again watching the Expos at Jarry Park for fifty cents. Ain’t gonna happen, folks.
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Kate
Mayor Plante spoke up on Monday about the issue of the budget shortfall vs. the surplus that has caused so much grumbling over the last week. Plante says basically that it’s apples and oranges and the opposition is making hay.
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Kate
The second census of the homeless is set for Tuesday evening. One of the aspects being considered is indigenous homelessness in the city.
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Kate
Quebec has forbidden Montreal to reveal how much money it has recouped via its voluntary collusion repayment program. Maybe because it’s a negligible amount?
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Kate
It’s been mildly viral since posted to reddit that someone in Morocco has one of our Bixis, and TVA found it posted for sale in Rabat.
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Kate
The STM is trying to explain why the blue line extension has a projected cost four times that of the Laval extension and the main cost is the many property expropriations needed this time, compared to crossing the Back River. The blue line cost also includes a pedestrian tunnel to the proposed fast bus route on Pie-IX, train garage underground, bus termini and parking lots, but I imagine the Laval extension included similar features.
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Kate
A Léger survey published in Le Devoir says that three out of five Quebec residents support the return of major league baseball to Montreal and Valérie Plante is thrilled, but most say they don’t want government paying for it.
At the risk of beating the same drum: if MLB is back, there is no way to avoid having public money foot some of the bill. Infrastructure work, security during matches, tax breaks – major sports leagues thrive on getting cities to do what they want at no cost to themselves.
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