Here are some notes on highway closures for the first weekend of spring.
Update: The TVA closures piece too.
Updates from March, 2019 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
Thursday’s new provincial budget has irked Valérie Plante by snubbing public transit: the CAQ knows where its voters are – living out on the autoroutes, which have been generously funded. There’s no bang for the CAQ buck in funding new transit in Montreal: even its vaunted money for transit studies has as its pièce de résistance the idea of extending the yellow line.
Faiz Imam
Speaking of, Longueuil today just approved its new master plan that will turn the Longueuil metro area into a much larger and denser urban core, as well as reduce the highways in the area. A big chunk of it requires the yellow line extension to happen, so overall I’m happy that its not in perpetual limbo.
But overall its pretty weak sauce.
I don’t know if its because Im spending too much time watching Ontario politics, not to mention the garbage fire down south, but I was actually expecting way worse from the CAQ.
I’m bracing for massive cuts and more austerity, but at least that has not happened yet.
But to bring up the statistic we were talking about a month ago, this budget again spends 24% on public transit, and 76% on the road network. Same old same old.
Steve Q
If they end up extending the yellow line in Longueuil, well, at least it will be done and we could then concentrate on the ”pink line”. The yellow line needs to be extended anyway therefor they might as well please their voters and do it.
Ian
Now the Pink Liners know how people west of Dorval feel.
qatzelok
Pink Liners live in dense urban neighborhoods that were originally designed for transit and walking. West of Dorval (WeDo) was designed to make people drive cars. Empathy between them would be illogical.
Ian
You have demonstrated on many occasions that you don’t know about anything in Montreal west of NDG, qatzi. There is history in the west end that predates suburban sprawl by many generations, including thousands of daily commuters going to Sainte Anne for school and work from all neighbourhoods in Montreal and beyond, but I won’t bore you with that reality since you clearly don’t give a hoot.
The proposed pink line north of pie-ix isn’t a dense urban neighbourhood designed for transit and walking, either. I’m going to go out on a limb and say you probably know about as much about that neighbourhood as you do about the west island, you just like it better on principle because it’s less English.
qatzelok
Ian, I have combed the entire province of Quebec – especially Greater Montreal – on my bike, where you can really see the ugly dysfunctionality of our suburban sprawl at a nice reflective speed. Let’s just say that my own little corner of the city isn’t THE ONLY area that I’m deeply familiar with.
Ian
You may have looked at it, but you clearly didn’t “see” it, and gained no perspective. Your concept of the history and context of anything other than your very narrow experience is consistently revealed to be lacking. That you would laud the pink line and in the same breath criticize the west island is patently absurd. You have clearly spent very little time in St-Léonard if you think it is somehow culturally superior to the amalgamated towns in the West Island like Pointe Claire or Sainte Anne… and Montreal North? Please. That is no “dense urban neighbourhood designed for transit and walking”.
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Kate
The CMM will be holding public sessions about how to proceed with recycling, now that we know other countries – particularly China – aren’t so keen to accept our trash.
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Kate
Sir John A. Macdonald has been painted red again along with a message that he was a white supremacist and that his statue must come down.
Steve Q
There seems to be a lot of ”white supremacists” around nowadays….at least according to the medias.
Funny things is i’ve never met one !Faiz Imam
Macdonald has said:
“if the Chinese were allowed to vote, “they might control the vote of that whole Province” and their “Chinese representatives” would foist “Asiatic principles,” “immoralities,” and “eccentricities” on the House “which are abhorrent to the Aryan race and Aryan principles.” He further claimed that “the Aryan races will not wholesomely amalgamate with the Africans or the Asiatics” and that “the cross of those races, like the cross of the dog and the fox, is not successful; it cannot be, and never will be.”
Also
“the Chinese migrant “is a stranger, a sojourner in a strange land … he has no common interest with us … he has no British instincts or British feelings or aspirations, and therefore ought not to have a vote.”
https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/was-john-a-macdonald-a-white-supremacist/
John A. Macdonald is pretty much the dictionary definition of white supremacy. While he has a place in history, that does not mean he deserves a honored place in our public realm.
And SteveQ, Alex Bisonette was a white supremacist who murdered six people not 2 years ago. Any one of us might have crossed paths with him at some point. But he’s hardly alone. The themes of his ideology, well summarized in the New Zealand shooters manifesto, are quite common among many commenters and pundits in Quebec.
Ideas of “them” coming and “taking over” “our” land and “our” way of life. It’s all saddeningly common in common discourse.
Ephraim
Stuck between a rock and a hard place… you don’t want to look like you are giving in to them, so the more they paint it and insist it has to come down, the more you can’t do anything about it. It needs to be non-news to make the decision. It’s easier to just act when it’s all non-news.
Blork
You have to consider that the world was a much bigger place in MacDonald’s time, and the idea of “globalization” was non-existent. Everyone everywhere was “tribal.” The Irish didn’t want to mix with the Scottish, the French didn’t want to mix with the Germans, the Japanese didn’t want to mix with the Chinese, etc.
So some of those quotes from MacDonald are more in the realm of simply not wanting the tribe to be diffused. We have 150 years of global shrinking and progressive thinking between then and now, so there is no place for that kind of thinking today, but I can give it a bit of latitude when you consider the time. While the “dog and fox” bit is disturbing, the Chinese bit (“the Chinese migrant is a stranger, a sojourner in a strange land … he has no common interest with us … he has no British instincts or British feelings or aspirations…”) seems to be about a resistance to *difference* not an outright claim of superiority. (Again, in today’s world we are highly sensitive to such distinctions, but back then it was normal and was about preserving the culture and institutions as they knew them.)
Compare that with Alexander H. Stephens, the Vice President of the Confederate States, who said the following in his “Cornerstone speech” of 1861 which outlined the foundations of the Confederate constitution:
“…its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.”
That’s as white supremist AF. There’s a big leap between “those people aren’t like us and we don’t agree with their values” and “those people are subhuman.”
Blork
(I should clarify that the current idea of globalization was non-existent, but the contemporaneous idea of “empire” and colonialism was full-on.)
Ian
While this is true, there are lots of things that were legal and normal in the late 1800s we have the sense to be appalled by now.
…but as far as thinking other races subhuman, well…
“When the school is on the reserve, the child lives with its parents, who are savages, and though he may learn to read and write, his habits and training mode of thought are Indian. He is simply a savage who can read and write. It has been strongly impressed upon myself, as head of the Department, that Indian children should be withdrawn as much as possible from the parental influence, and the only way to do that would be to put them in central training industrial schools where they will acquire the habits and modes of thought of white men.”
John A. Macdonald, 1879
Kevin
100 years from now our descendants will also think we were all whackjobs.
Ian
If our descendants are truly that enlightened in 100 years, I applaud them.
Blork
@Ian, that is certainly an appalling view of first nations life at the time, but I still think it’s rooted primarily in their view that first nations people were “underdeveloped” culturally, as opposed to literally sub-human.
Bear in mind that European enlightenment culture and thinking was seen at the time as the pinnacle of human achievement, and native people everywhere were seen as being very far from that ideal. The fact that MacDonald wanted them to “acquire the habits and modes of thought of white men” shows this. Compare to the confederates who had no desire to elevate the “negro” to white person levels of education and status, because they believed they were fundamentally incapable of it.
To be clear: I am not defending MacDonald’s position; I’m just trying to understand it, and as I understand it so far, it is definitely racist but not necessarily white supremacist. (I think the “white supremacist” label is tossed around a bit too easily.)
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Kate
Anne-France Goldwater was in court Thursday to challenge the euthanasia of a pitbull that attacked six people last summer, including two kids. A city bylaw says that a dog proven to be dangerous should be put down. Goldwater argues this contravenes provincial animal protection laws, while a city lawyer says there’s no law against humanely euthanizing an animal.
I am no lawyer, but my view here is that most dogs are not naturally occurring creatures. The domestic dog is an incredibly malleable species, giving us everything from the chihuahua to the Great Dane. Some of the animals we’ve sculpted in this way are at best borderline unsafe, especially around kids and other people unused to managing dogs – and we should admit this and agree that those breeds need, at best, to be judiciously pruned.
Yes, it’s anthropocentric: people come first.
Sending a dangerous dog to a “specialized refuge in New York” as mentioned in the CTV article – at whose expense? – is not smart. That dog has already eluded its captors at least once (“The animal was then enclosed, but managed to escape…”) and could easily do so again. Would Goldwater countenance having more people injured by this dog in her effort to hold a hard line on animal rights?
Update: Also at the hearing is the sister of Christiane Vadnais, who was killed by a dog two years ago and who has written a book on the subject.
EmilyG
And yet there are so many good-natured animals getting euthanized in shelters simply because they couldn’t get adopted fast enough. And this dog, which has proven to be dangerous, will possibly be kept alive? Doesn’t make a lot of sense.
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Kate
Over the last two days I’ve been noticing the return of the gulls – shrieking and wheeling overhead, they’re annoying but nonetheless a welcome sign of spring.
Chris
Ah ha! So it’s official now? 🙂
EmilyG
I noticed them here in Rosemont about a week ago. And I’ve seen geese. I’m still waiting to see my first turkey vulture of the season.
JaneyB
@Chris – almost. We await news of the pothole crisis – the other sign – but that comes after the passing of tomorrow’s snow.
Blork
I haven’t seen any geese yet, but wow, have the cardinals in my neighbourhood woken up! Cardinals don’t migrate, but I don’t see them around much in winter. But it’s like a full-on cardinals festival this past week!
Kate
Blork, maybe they’re choosing a new pope.
JP
The cardinals have woken up in my neighbourhood too. There aren’t that many, but I can usually hear one or two singing every morning on my walk to the bus stop. I wish there were more of them. They sound so lovely and it’s so nice to catch a glimpse of them.
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Kate
The Gazette apparently didn’t flinch in 1969 when widening Dorchester Blvd. involved the demolition of 150 vintage houses dating from when the street had been largely residential.
When I briefly visited Rotterdam some of its boulevards reminded me of René-Lévesque – but it took the Nazis to do that, because a lot of their central city was destroyed then rebuilt after the war. We didn’t have that excuse.
qatzelok
War profiteers returning from WW2 were responsible for the urban renewal of the 50s and 60s that gave us wide car sewers and suburban sprawl. So there is, in fact, a link to the Nazis.
Ian
Oh I know this game
something something illuminati, aliens, contrails, worldwide conspiracy something something lizard peopleThanks for the insight, qatzi
Kevin
My grandfather fought in WWII as an alien!
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Kate
After a long spineless shuffle by the PLQ, the CAQ has tabled a bill proposing an entirely new taxi law abolishing permits and allowing Uber and other ride-hailing systems to do business here legally. Taxi owners and drivers are not happy even though Quebec is promising compensation for the costs of their soon-to-be-obsolete permits.
Ephraim
Should go with annual permits, need some way to track them… because Taxi drivers are often “less than honest”
Faiz Imam
Don’t the already have a special drivers license on top of their medallions? That seems enough.
The key concern now is the potential introduction of surge pricing. It’ll mean greatly increased costs for a lot of users during prime hours.
I know drivers hated the regulated prices, but it was great for people, especially those with less income who needed to get around quickly.
Ephraim
Faiz – Ever tried to pay with a CC. The drivers make all kinds of excuses as to why they won’t take one. Taken a taxi from the airport to the fixed price zone? They will claim you are out of the area or that it’s $50 instead of the $41. Etc. Taxi drivers need someone looking over their shoulder. It’s not a trustworthy business.
DavidH
@Faiz, the taxi driver license (class 4C) doesn’t do anything for tracking. For one thing, it’s given to anyone that takes the exam for 4A, B or C. It’s the lowest license you can get if you drive anything around for a living. All bus drivers, machinery operators, police, ambulance or firefighter have the taxi license as well on top of theirs. Only a small proportion of 4C license holders actually drive a taxi.
The 4A exam is a theoretical one by the way, no driving involved. 20 minutes on a computer with multiple choices questions. It’s exactly the same one taken for an apprentice’s licence. The only difference is you must ace all the questions instead of simply getting a passing grade. I’m guessing 4C is a grade somewhere in between. You need to have held a class 5 license for a specific number of months prior as well. Otherwise, if you ask for it, they’ll give it to you. It’s nothing special.
I’ve had my 4ABC for over 20 years, no follow-up, no tracking. Even if they did track something, the SAAQ doesn’t regulate business practices so that would not do much.
JP
I take a fair number of taxis for work. We’re encouraged to pay by credit card (it helps for proof, if you lose the receipt). Maybe I’ve been lucky so far, but most drivers are pretty amenable to accepting a credit card from me. Occasionally you can tell they’d prefer cash, but I’ll mention it’s for work and we have to pay by credit.
My biggest complaint in Montreal is taxi drivers (whether at the train station or airport) giving me a blank stare when I give them my home address…they should be able to use GPS to figure it out. Instead, I always end up having to state the major intersection and directing them once they get there. Luckily, we’re going to my home, but if I were an out-of-towner or unfamiliar with the neighbourhood, how would that work?
I liked regulated prices too because I like predictability…we’ll see how things go with this new system.
Chris
Ephraim, if you think taxis aren’t a “trustworthy business”, I assume you don’t think much of Uber either. They have been involved in so much shady behaviour they make taxis look good.
Ephraim
Chris – Uber isn’t any better. It doesn’t tell the drivers that they need an F plate and doesn’t require a chauffer’s licence, so essentially you can’t deduct your fuel and car expenses, so essentially you are paying income tax on your fuel costs. (I’m sure people are deducting it, but if RQ catches you, you are toast! And then there is the whole insurance issue… the SAAQ might or might not need to cover you, because insurance is related to the driver’s licence and the car registration. And the pricing sometimes is entirely arbitrary… you open the app three minutes later and the price may be different. And of course, the driver’s have no control over what they get paid for their time… they have reduced their rates a number of times.
Chris
Ephraim, I’m talking more about:
Uber employees ordering Lyft rides then cancelling at last minute
using custom software (Greyball) to block regulators from booking rides
“God view” to track user’s locations
running self-driving cars without permits
false advertising about how much drivers are likely to earn (got fined on that one)
program “Hell” to spy on Lyft and find drivers working for both
etc etc etcEphraim
Chris – Most of these new “sharing economy” businesses, or disruptors if you prefer have done some pretty horrible things, not just to each other, but to society in general. They avoid taxes, insurance and the welfare of individuals. Many Uber “contractors” are little more than employees earning less than minimum wage and not informed enough to realize the tax consequences or liability consequences of their actions. And by avoiding taxes, cost the rest of us money. They hide as “sharing economy”, when they are just tax evasion.
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Kate
Only glancingly a Montreal story, but a reader suggested I link this Gazette piece about how the U.S. college bribery scandal was tipped off by a guy who went to Wagar High School.
denpanosekai 21:40 on 2019-03-21 Permalink
No Champlain closures?
Kate 22:01 on 2019-03-21 Permalink
There’s this tweet from the bridge itself.