With borders closed, it shouldn’t be surprising that Old Montreal is pretty empty these days at a time of year when it’s usually heaving with people. I wonder, are the people who live there enjoying the peace and quiet?
Updates from July, 2020 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
Nathalie Roy, Quebec’s culture minister, wants an outside investigation into the governance of the Museum of Fine Arts following the Nathalie Bondil sacking.
Can she demand this? The government supports the museum with grants, but the museum is not a creature of the Quebec government. This piece says that at $16 million annually – previous pieces have said variously $15M and $14M – Quebec is the museum’s largest contributor and “se considère en droit de poser des questions et d’obtenir des réponses” according to Mme Roy – but if it did have this right, she wouldn’t have to say so. The museum will probably find it wisest to agree, I suppose.
I spotted this link posted on Twitter by a regular blog reader: the Musée d’Orsay in Paris is cutting ties with the MMFA over Bondil.
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Kate
A petition to the Quebec government asking it to lift its mask law has been taken down by Change.org after getting more than 40,000 signatures.
DeWolf
It’s completely anecdotal, but I’ve noticed a big uptick in mask wearing ever since the new requirement was announced. The recent increase in new cases may also have had an effect. I’m optimistic that the vast majority of people will be compliant after Saturday.
Kevin
Wow. Change.org actually doing something instead of harvesting emails and taking advertiser cash :/
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Kate
Vieux-Québec is empty of tourists and its many businesses that rely on tourism are feeling a chill, while in the Gaspé there are too many tourists and not enough of them wearing masks.
Incidentally, if someone shows you a “medical exception card” saying they can’t wear a mask, it’s fake. I saw these reported in the U.S. a couple of weeks back and should have expected them to crop up here. Since store owners are on their own responsibility to make their customers mask, they should be very aware of bullshit like this.
Uatu
Here’s hoping Karma will provide these bullshitters with a dentist or surgeon that will present this card to them before surgery
Ephraim
There is no such thing as an exemption certificate in Quebec…. so they can just freely turn them away at the door. If you can’t wear a mask, you can wear a face shield. But the worst part is that this idiots wrote the phone number for the Canadian Human Rights Commission on the fake form.
Frankly, the first time it comes up, they should just call the cops and report the person for fraud. I’m sure these forms will quickly disappear after a few people get a fine for fraudulent forms and not wearing the mask. Wonder how many will disappear as soon as you pick up the phone to call the cops on them. They are a POX on society.
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Kate
Three nonfatal stabbings kept some cops busy overnight. The first incident is described here as “un homme a été piqué” which sounds like somebody poked him with an embroidery needle.
Tee Owe
This has piqued my curiosity – it’s not painful
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Kate
Agnès Gruda writes in La Presse about this week’s debacle in which people were asked to please get themselves tested for Covid, only to wait up to five hours in line. More testing locations are open Thursday.
Mayor Plante says Quebec should have warned the city before urging people to be tested so that resources could be made available.
Yves Boisvert says it out loud: it’s a bad idea to open indoor bars.
DeWolf 22:02 on 2020-07-16 Permalink
I’ve been down there a few times over the past month and it’s quieter than normal but far from deserted. St-Paul Street in particular is quite busy on nice days, as is the Old Port. There was one weekend day in particular when all the terrasses were full, which surprised me. If anything it makes it clear how much of a detriment the tourist traffic is and how much nicer it would be if more of the businesses there were geared towards Montrealers instead of daytrippers or weekenders.
Dominic 22:04 on 2020-07-16 Permalink
I live there, and its definitely a very different vibe. Montrealers make the trek on weekends, but on random weekdays, which normally would be filled with Americans, the streets and restaurants are empty.
Em 09:13 on 2020-07-17 Permalink
I live nearby and go often for walks. It’s not as jam-packed as it usually is in the summer but still busy enough, especially on weekends. Restaurants still seemed to be getting customers, although the tourist-specific shops must be hurting.