The Gazette’s Aaron Derfel lays out why he thinks François Legault’s reopening plans are wrong-headed (Twitter thread).
Updates from April, 2020 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
The delay in starting street-cleaning parking rules is over. People with cars can check on this page exactly when their borough will switch ’em on.
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Kate
Dr. Mylène Drouin said Tuesday that masks “must become a social norm” in closed public spaces. I put mine on before going into the fruiterie just now, and by the time I got out I was glad to take it off again. (Nobody around here is wearing them in the street.)
But it crossed my mind: has anyone realized how much people are going to hate wearing masks when the weather turns warmer?
Blork
The part of the whole mask-wearing thing that people don’t usually mention is that you’re supposed to launder them after every use (unless you’re using disposables). I have two at the moment, but I only go to the grocery store once a week so it’s no biggie. But for people going to work on the Metro and whatnot, technically your mask is dirty by the time you get to work, so you need to wear a different one on the way home, and that doesn’t include any mask wearing you do during your workday. It’s all a bit too much, so people will either not wear them, or will wear “dirty” ones of questionable benefit.
(Filed under hyper-vigilant, in which you wear your mask at the same level of vigilance as you would if you were a surgeon or whatever. Maybe not necessary. But if your mask has caught some particles during your shopping trip, then touching the mask to take it on and off will contaminate your hands, and even breathing deeply will pull the particles right through any homemade mask.)
Blork
Oh, and the above largely does not apply if your primary reason for wearing a mask is to prevent YOU from spreading the virus to others.
DeWolf
I went out grocery shopping today and wore a mask in the supermarket. I guess maybe 50 percent of the customers and 90 percent of the staff were wearing masks. It’s far from universal. The efficacy of masks (especially homemade masks) is questionable, but from what I’ve read, it makes enough of a difference to be worth doing, even if you aren’t wearing them perfectly. I hope more people get into the habit of putting on a mask when they go indoors even if it means they’re wearing their mask a couple more times than they ought to. As many others have noted, masks are primarily useful in preventing you from spreading illness to others, so it really only works if everyone is wearing them.
GC
Definitely far from universal. I went on my weekly grocery-buying trip. Less than 50% of the staff were wearing one and maybe 10% of the customers? When I went out in the evening for a walk, about half the people who were in masks had their noses out and the mas kind of loosely hanging below. Is there really any point if you’re not going to wear it properly?
Also: what happened to the suggestion that people wearing face coverings in public was a threat our culture? Wasn’t that only last year? I guess it really wasn’t about the face covering after all…
Ian
But they said it was an essential feature of our society to be able to see each other’s faces, even to get government services or teach or provide medical services
… were they making stuff up? /sKate
Over the last week, I shopped a couple of times, and ran into radically different procedures.
Rachelle-Béry is running a tight ship. You line up, then you’re questioned when you go in, hands sanitized, then you have to clean and sanitize the handle of your shopping cart. Shopping baskets have been taken away. Signs ask you to minimize touching the produce. There’s plexi at the checkout, and the cashier will sanitize the counter after you’ve packed up your stuff.
The other location, a neighbourhood grocery store, no hand sanitizer, no masks, no limits on people going in. One of the cashiers was wearing a mask, otherwise things were much as usual.
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Kate
It’s never good news when a bookstore goes out of business: Librairie Olivieri, on Côte‑des‑Neiges, is closed.
JP
A guy took me out on a date to their bistro last fall. It didn’t work out between us, but I liked it there and had hoped to go back. I know it was owned by Renaud Bray and that there is a Renaud Bray store across the street too, but it does indeed suck to lose another bookstore.
Ian
That’s interesting – are there other “independent” stores owned by Renaud-Bray that you know of?
That’s a great, if somewhat manipulative branding strategy.
Michael Black
Paragraphe Books was owned by Archambault at some point and then it and other stores were bought by Renaud-Bray. So maybe that’s when this store came under the chain too.
I had to look because I did remember Paragraphe was bought but remained “independent”, but wasn’t sure of who bought it.
There is precedence. I forget the name, but there was a nice book store in Ottawa which eventually opened in Les Cours Mont Royal in the late eighties. It kept the name until it eventually closed, but it was actually owned by Chapters which maybe was still Coles at that point. The few stores may have even been owned by Chapters by the time it opened in Montreal. But its ownership was kept quiet.
Kate
Ian, what independent bookstores even still exist? The stores for new books that are still around are either chains or pretty small, like L’Écume des jours, which used to be on St‑Viateur but moved up to Villeray when priced out by the owners of the street. I don’t think they were ever bought out. Argo Books amazingly is still going. I doubt Heather Reisman feels they’re a thorn in her side.
Michael Black
Most of the time it seems like “used book stores” are conflated with “independent book stores” .
But I think the new-book store on Queen Mary is still there. Babaar Books for children is still around, even if they closed the outlet on Greene. There’s a store in Montreal West that I think is new-books, but maybe specifically children’s. I think there’s at least one in Pointe Claire, but I’m not certain.
jeather
There’s a new one in St Henri (Librarie St Henri Books). There’s a tiny one on Queen Mary a bit west of Decarie (Bibliophile). Argo Books, as you noted. Drawn & Quarterly, Appetite for Books, thre are one or two in Verdun — I’m not longer in the habit of finding books by browsing in store, but when I do, there are lots of options.
ottokajetan
Librarie du Square on Bernard is new-ish and nice
walkerp
You can order from Argo books online and they will deliver them to your door for a $5 fee.
A very nice service of which I have taken advantage during the pandemic shutdown.
CE
I just purchased a book from Argo. It’s always been one of my favourite bookstores. Librarie St Henri Books is worth checking out when they open again. It’s a very nice store with a great selection. There’s also a group of three stores with different names but all seem to be the same company (La Librairie de Verdun, Librairie Livresse in Little Burgundy, and Librairie Les passages in Lachine). I haven’t been to any of them but looked in the window of the shop in Little Burgundy and it seemed nice. Montreal is lucky to still have so many bookstores and we should support them as much as possible.
Kate
Librairie St-Henri really is nice. I discovered it when I was working down that way last year. I hope they come out of this OK – they’re around the corner from Notre-Dame so they’re a little out of sight, I find.
ottokajetan, I remember the Librairie du Square that was opposite Carré St-Louis – I suppose this one is a branch of it? I liked the vibe a lot, but to be honest, I don’t buy many French books.
In fact, I don’t buy many physical books at all any more. That’s part of the problem for the independents, I think: if I wanted a physical book I’d choose an independent, but if I want an ebook, it’s not likely the indie will be offering that service.
Michael Black
I remember when Paragraphe got into Ebooks early, almost thirty years ago. So you’d buy a PDA as a reader drop by the store to look over their limited selection, and bring home a package with the book. Or maybe that was just presentation, I remember a glass case with tye ebooks on display. And I have no idea what was in those boxes (which looked like how audio books were presented).
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Kate
As François Legault announces plans to reopen Quebec for business, Montreal just surpassed 1000 deaths from COVID-19 (Santé Québec says 1,039).
mare
If Montreal was a country (and these are for the island not including north and south shore) we would be placed near Spain and Italy on the fatalities-per-million list at around 500/MM. including the burbs we would still be in the top ten. (That top ten includes mini-countries with less than 50 deaths, but a tiny population.)
Tim S.
Worth repeating: when the shut down started on March 12, we had 12 confirmed cases in Quebec. That grew to 25,000, despite the social distancing. Now that there only 800ish new cases a day (without testing the general population) we can start talking about re-opening? I feel like the government is tempting fate just because they’re bored.
Mark Côté
Thing is, Montreal is not a country; it is a dense city. A better comparison would be with Madrid (population 3.3 million in the city proper, 6.5 million in the metro area, so 150%ish that of Montreal), which has had 13 000 covid-related deaths (we have about 13 000 *cases*).
There are better ways to make arguments against relaxing restrictions than comparing apples to oranges.
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Kate
I’m told the world’s biggest cargo plane, an AN-225, will be landing at Mirabel Thursday night to bring PPE to Quebec. That’s a Globe & Mail inaccessible link, but Twitter has confirmed it.
I hope someone can video that big bird coming in for a landing.
Bill Binns
The world’s 2nd largest cargo plane may be needed to return the defective portion of the load back to China.
Bert
I can see plane-geeks (like me) camping out on the 50!
That 2nd largest plane is arguably the 225’s little brother, the 124! I remember seeing one at YMX in the late 90’s. Quite impressive.
That Globe link seems to work fine and is not pay-walled.
Kate
Hmm, it was for me. Maybe you have a free account and were logged in?
Blork
The G&M article works for me too, and I am most def not logged in. Kate, maybe you reached an article limit? (Try going there in a private window.)
Kate
Maybe they realized it’s a virus story and opened it? They seem to have a policy of making virus stories open.
EmilyG
There is a story on Radio-Canada’s website, that everyone should be able to access for free.
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1698336/avion-cargaison-blouses-coronavirus-materiel-protection
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Kate
Those red Jump bikes will be back soon – as the Journal says, “malgré la COVID-19”, even though Bixi has been back for awhile.
j2
Boooooo! These things are such an eyesore.
I noticed the scooter asphalt paintings and I was wondering if they were repainted or just resilient?
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Kate
A woman who was defrauded of her money by four very nasty conspirators has received justice – but too late, because she died in 2016.
JP
As a society, we really need to examine the way we treat the elderly and the protections that are afforded to them.
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Kate
Margaret Trudeau (shouldn’t she be using a different surname by now?) has been hospitalized because of smoke inhalation from a fire in her apartment building on Docteur-Penfield.
Update: Justin tweets that he spoke to her and she’ll be OK. Don’t read the replies unless you want a look into the more uncivil side of Canadian society.
Blork
She’s the meat in a Prime Minister Trudeau sandwich.
dwgs
I heard the fire started on the balcony and I wondered if it was another dry planter combustion thing.
Also, @ Blork Ewwww
Kate
dwgs yes, the old “cigarette in the dry peat moss” thing, seems likely.
DeWolf
Most of the nasty Twitter replies seem to be from bots or troll farm workers, given that they come from people with weird numerical usernames and very few followers. The first one that pops up is “Justin, why haven’t you informed all new Canadian citizens that it’s their right to own a firearm” which is a complete non-sequitur, and also funny because there is no legal right in Canada to own a firearm, something the Supreme Court established nearly 30 years ago.
Douglas 19:12 on 2020-04-28 Permalink
It’s gonna be 6 weeks by now.
There’s enough data now from Sweden to do exactly what they are doing. Open things up + add physical distancing.
We are literally witnessing another country do it 100% smarter than we are, 6 weeks in. Time to get with the program and do what they are doing.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/28/europe/sweden-coronavirus-lockdown-strategy-intl/index.html
walkerp 19:56 on 2020-04-28 Permalink
Douglas did you even read the headline, let alone the article itself?
“Sweden says its coronavirus approach has worked. The numbers suggest a different story”
Douglas 20:33 on 2020-04-28 Permalink
I read the entire article from top to bottom. It tells me Sweden has kept this under control. Their death rates per million are about the same or less than many countries that locked down completely.
Dr David Banner 21:21 on 2020-04-28 Permalink
Aaron Derfel is a journalist. Assessing the merits of a public health approach to dealing with an epidemic is well above his pay grade, regardless of whether his beat is the medical scene. He should stay in his lane.
walkerp 21:41 on 2020-04-28 Permalink
Starting to see some troll behaviours here, Kate.
Ian 21:48 on 2020-04-28 Permalink
Well ok then here’s my question of the day –
Montreal primary schools reopening on the 18th? Why is Legault going against the Institut national de santé publique du Québec?
https://twitter.com/INSPQ/status/1254878992227852288
“Une stratégie où on laisserait les jeunes s’infecter risque d’entraîner une forte augmentation de la maladie chez les adultes et de besoins en services hospitaliers et en soins intensifs sans atteindre la cible d’immunité de groupe recherchée.”
All jokes aside this is the real thought process going on with Legault et al. The Institut national de santé publique du Québec is publicly speaking out against the “herd immunity” theory. Legault has been fooling us with his smooth paternalistic vibe but let’s not forget, he’s a money guy at heart and the economy is way more important to him than Montreal’s infection rates. Let’s face it, the CAQ hates Montreal anyway, they probably see our death rate as collateral damage.
Kevin 22:56 on 2020-04-28 Permalink
It’s nice to see people like Douglas advocating for Sweden’s super high tax rate.
And hey, they killed off as many people as Canada did while having less than 1/3 our population.
Kevin 23:07 on 2020-04-28 Permalink
Ian
Legault’s trio has been saying herd immunity in English and natural immunity in French. Neither of which has been solidly established yet for Covid-19.
I have to wonder if Legault is aware that testing numbers dropped within the past week.
In any case, I’m with Aaron: I see no signs that Quebec is ready to do the testing and tracing other authorities recommend be in place before reopening.
Dhomas 06:02 on 2020-04-29 Permalink
Sweden’s deaths per millions are worse than the US’, and no one is saying that the US is handling this pandemic well. I don’t get it.
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/total-covid-deaths-per-million?tab=chart&year=2020-04-21&country=CAN+DNK+FIN+DEU+NOR+SWE+USA
dwgs 07:20 on 2020-04-29 Permalink
@ Dr David Banner What a well thought and logical refutations of Derfel’s points, you’ve really opened my eyes.
Kate 09:28 on 2020-04-29 Permalink
Seems “Dr David Banner” was the name of Bill Bixby’s character on “The Incredible Hulk”.
Meezly 09:32 on 2020-04-29 Permalink
Agree with Ian that Legault is finally showing his true colours again. We saw it in how he dealt with the railway protests. Now he is willing to sacrifice lives in the name of economic recovery.
Ian 09:00 on 2020-04-30 Permalink
@Kate you don’t want to make him angry 😀