Radio-Canada looks back at the year in news in Montreal. A good solid retrospective for 2018.
Updates from December, 2018 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
Good profile of a Catholic priest who seems to be taking up where Father Emmett Johns left off in looking after street people.
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Kate
I’d never heard of Vincenzo Poggi, who came here to learn from Guido Nincheri, lost years in one of Canada’s internment camps during WWII, then went on to design a lot of stained glass windows himself. Although this item says Poggi had an office in Westmount it unfortunately doesn’t name any Montreal locations featuring his work.
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Kate
The Journal reminds us that public transit is on reduced schedules during the holidays.
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Kate
Every day, when court is operating, around 25 SPVM police have to appear in court to give testimony on all kinds of cases. That’s paid hours in which they won’t be doing their usual work, and most of the cases are minor ones in which the officer basically reads out the content of a parking ticket.
Steve Q
This is one area where the city should inprove the system in order to be more efficient and to save money.
Kate
It’s a balance, Steve Q. If the city wants to collect on tickets, the cop has to show up. That’s our protection as citizens – a cop can’t just write something down and disappear, they have to testify to it. This is not a thing we want to lose.
Secondarily, policing is stressful, and the occasional afternoon in court is probably good for a cop’s well-being.
Ephraim
The police are officers of the court. It’s one of the reasons that it’s so important for them to NOT perjure themselves and not violate the law. To this day I still want to get a policeman on the stand and ask him if they know the speed limit on the 720 and if they have ever gone over the speed limit while not in an emergency. I don’t know ANYONE who has ever done the speed limit on the 720. The limit is just 70km/h.
dhomas
I’ve contested many tickets and the police officer has never shown up. According to the “procureur”, this is no longer required in order to get a conviction. In my parents’ day, having the police officer not show up to court basically meant you won your court case (from what they told me).
Kate
dhomas, interesting. If that’s so, I wonder why police are still being asked to show up in court.
Bill Binns
Lots of places have gotten rid of the requirement for the cop to show up in court for minor cases. For years, this functioned as an almost guaranteed “get out of jail free card” (at least for traffic tickets) where I grew up in Massachusetts. I personally had thousands of dollars in speeding tickets torn up back in the 80’s. I would say that the cops showed up in one out of 10 cases back then. The early internet killed the fun when the trick became too widely known. The last time I tried it, a whole room full of people got their “hearing” at the same time. It was explained to us that anyone who would like to plead guilty should raise their hands now and proceed to the cashier to pay their original fine. Anyone who would like to plead innocent could do so but if found guilty by the judge would have to pay their original fine + “court costs” (which would often double the ticket).
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Kate
And, like clockwork, the news story about flu cases crowding emergency rooms is slotted in, as it is every year around the holidays.
EmilyG
As an aside, I like Global’s website, because my ad blocker means that there won’t be autoplaying videos to startle me.
But yeah, it sucks to get sick around this time of year. It seems I’m always sick at this time. I thought I just had a cold this time, but it looks like bronchitis. Again.Kate
EmilyG, I hope you feel better soon.
EmilyG
Thanks. And Merry Christmas!
Bill Binns
I don’t understand what people hope to accomplish by going to an ER with the flu. Is the treatment ever anything other than “rest, fluids, aspirin”?
I suppose there are exceptions for the elderly or people that otherwise have compromised health but I suspect a lot of these people are clogging up the ER just to get a note to give to their employer.
Kate
Well yeah, if you need that note, you need it. I agree it’s nuts to drag yourself out of bed when sick and go to an ER where you risk passing the thing to other people, but I don’t think most doctors are willing to diagnose over the phone or web.
Uatu
the news says to call 811 to talk to a nurse, but it’s pretty obvious if you have the flu; you’re so dizzy you can’t even stand up. A Dr’s. Note costs 16-20$ at a clinic so I guess the ER is cheaper….
JP
Also many so-called walk-in clinics are not really walk-in anymore. You have to book your appointment on-line or by phone the day before at some designated time (and spots fill up fast). I have been trying to do this for a non-flu reason (as I have no family doctor) and it can be pretty hard to get an appointment. I saw a lot of “walk-ins” turned away at the Westmount Square clinic the other day. It’s a mess. I almost ended up going to the ER for my non-urgent issue because I couldn’t get a “walk-in” appointment anywhere. So, if you end up sick with the flu and need a note, a “walk-in” clinic might not really be that helpful if you can’t get an appointment.
Kate
JP: this is true. I’ve had a receptionist tell me, deadpan, “Vous ne pouvez pas venir à la clinique sans rendez-vous sans un rendez-vous.”
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Kate
Two men were shot in St-Léonard on Monday morning and both have died. That’ll be #31 and #32 for the year.
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Kate
Ingrid Peritz profiles a therapy dog at a homeless shelter in Montreal.
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Kate
The statue of Sir John A. Macdonald was partly painted red again Monday morning. Good photo on Metro’s version of the story.
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Kate
Andy Riga considers the local stories that went worldwide in 2018.
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Kate
Christmas Eve and most of the local news is coming from off the island.
A massive tire fire in Beauceville covered the town in black smoke over the weekend, reminding the Journal of the 1990 St-Amable fire when six million discarded tires burned for days, creating a scene of devastation that took three years to decontaminate. Beauceville is some considerable distance farther away from Montreal than St-Amable.
Part of Highway 640 collapsed last Wednesday in Terrebonne but there was rejoicing when it was reopened Sunday evening.
A truck hauling a backhoe crashed into an overpass in Vaudreuil-Dorion Sunday evening and the driver is nowhere to be found.
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Kate
Possibly useful lists of what’s going to be open and closed as we sink into the daze of the holidays.
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Kate
La Presse talks to a selection of the people who work on Christmas by necessity or choice.
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Kate
Temperatures are falling, so emergency spaces for itinerants are being made available. But it seems unlikely we’ll be getting more snow before Christmas.
EmilyG
I’ve always found it a bit weird that people tend to want snow for Christmas, and then complain about snow for the rest of the winter.
Antyn
I’ll have 8cm of snow at -1C for xmas, please.
Kate
EmilyG, I think it’s that damn song.
Jorgh
Well, I’m in Chicoutimi and a Christmas that is not like that damn song is unknown to me. Hopefully climate change will take a long time to break that perfect record.
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Kate
Charges for parking meters and car towing will be going up this spring.
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