Market admins all quit
The administration of the four major farmers’ markets quit their posts at the end of last week, and the wording of this brief piece suggests there’s more of a story here. Note the citing of Lionel Perez insisting the markets are failing, even though commenters here have observed that they seem to be doing fine; I’ve been to both the Jean-Talon and Maisonneuve markets recently and they were as busy and lively as they always are on weekend afternoons in summertime.
Something is going on, but the full story is not in this article. Clearly there’s more to this thing than the abolition of a few parking spaces around Jean-Talon, at least.
Update, sort of: CBC picked up the story but with no more information than TVA had.
Jack 15:05 on 2019-08-20 Permalink
Wow that is big. The city signed a 30 year lease with them during Coderre’s tenure, maybe its about pulling the plug on that, just guessing.
Jack 19:02 on 2019-08-20 Permalink
Radio Canada just said a police probe has been asked for and the board resigned because many feared for their physical safety. I think the story is going to develop further with a lot of fingers pointing not to farmers but the long standing families who are ” grossistes ” at the Jean Talon market. Having run into them frequently during the 5 years it took to get the weekends car free for a few hours. I am not surprised. But we will see, early days.
Jack 19:08 on 2019-08-20 Permalink
I think this makes things clearer.
Kate 20:18 on 2019-08-20 Permalink
Thank you, Jack. It doesn’t sound good, but what if it’s a double bluff, and management wants to make the grossistes look like the bad guys so’s to get them out of the way for something more slick?
Maybe not.
Jack 07:35 on 2019-08-21 Permalink
I think with the city leaking the auditors report says that they have had enough of intimidation and violence that have allowed the grossistes ( the middle aisle banana sellers) to decide who rents what and pays what in the central market. I got into the campaign to pedestrianize the market when a U de M student was manhandled on a public street for asking people to sign a petition limiting car traffic in the market. We organized some tables to have people sign the same petition the weekend after. We were greeted by guys who looked like they worked as roadies for Motörhead. Since we were too many they were nice enough not to beat us up. One guy gave me a piece of paper and pen and asked me to write down my address, seriously. So I recognized pretty early on what a healthy work environment it must be in that market. I think the city has had enough.
Kate 07:56 on 2019-08-21 Permalink
Metro says police are now investigating, which suggests credible threats have been made.
Blork 10:06 on 2019-08-21 Permalink
I find it a bit odd that all four of the main markets are administered by the same board. While I recognize that there might be “strength in numbers” or “economies of scale” advantages, the big disadvantage is that it means all four are essentially the same, and any corruption in one will be seen in all. If they were run independently then maybe there would be a better chance of them being more distinctive.
walkerp 10:25 on 2019-08-21 Permalink
Man, the rot in this city just never ends. Is this just these grossistes or are there bigger players behind them?