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Updates from December, 2020 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

• Kate 20:51 on 2020-12-15 Permalink | Reply  

  I was listening to radio Tuesday afternoon as Premier Legault announced a new Covid lockdown to begin after Christmas day and last till January 11.

  Legault fudged on answering the question why not, since we have a serious problem, begin now? He clearly didn’t want to admit straight out that he wanted to maximize shopping and not make people feel deprived of the Christian holiday. Another journalist asked what was planned if we reach January 11 and Covid numbers are still climbing. We didn’t hear a clear answer to that either.

  Anyway, non-essential businesses will have to shut down for 2½ weeks. This tweet from Andy Riga lists which businesses are considered essential.

  Radio had people talking about the need to get people outside moving around. The Botanical Garden grounds are set to reopen, although the photo accompanying this item is misleading, as there wasn’t any lantern festival this year (and it would’ve been taken down by December anyway).

  JaneyB, Kate, Jim, and 5 others are discussing. Toggle Comments

   

  • Ephraim 20:58 on 2020-12-15 Permalink

    The part that I like… “He said that in response to concerns that big-box retail giants like Costco would unfairly benefit — they sell groceries and medication, as well as many non-essential retail items — Legault said these stores wouldn’t be allowed to sell non-essential items during the 18 days.”

    So, Costco, Walmart and even Provigo… essential items only! Which is fair.

    I think these stores should also need to have a sign on the entry door telling you how many people are allowed in at the same time, and they should be more restrictive on larger stores. The small stores are handling this well already. The big box stores, especially Costco are letting way too many people in.

  • Benoit 21:25 on 2020-12-15 Permalink

    “He wanted to maximize shopping and not make people feel fully deprived of the Christian holidays. ”

    I think it’s also to help shop owners protect their profits and jobs at a period of the year which represents a big share of their revenues.

  • dmdiem 21:36 on 2020-12-15 Permalink

    This whole thing is a kobayashi maru. A no-win scenario. We can’t save every life or every business. All we can really do is try to keep the overall damage as low as possible.

  • Kate 21:47 on 2020-12-15 Permalink

    Benoit, I put it in rather negative terms, but by “maximize shopping” I did mean that he wants also to minimize the impact a lockdown will have on retail. As it is, they’re going to lose the Boxing Day blowouts.

  • steph 22:21 on 2020-12-15 Permalink

    Haven’t all shops been applying the 1 person per 4m2? Costco has been refusing guests – only card-holders are allowed in the stores.

  • Ephraim 22:37 on 2020-12-15 Permalink

    @steph maybe, but it doesn’t feel that way. We went to the West Island store and it felt like it was PACKED. I won’t go back. I now go at really off hours, early, to avoid the problem.

  • steph 23:04 on 2020-12-15 Permalink

    With the government programs in place subsidizing salaries, I often feel like there’s more employees in the stores than customers.

  • dwgs 10:42 on 2020-12-16 Permalink

    Don’t forget the sales tax that the government is collecting on all those Christmas purchases…

  • Jim 11:06 on 2020-12-16 Permalink

    “He clearly didn’t want to admit straight out that he wanted to maximize shopping and not make people feel deprived of the Christian holiday.”

    They may also have wanted to avoid a mad rush on the stores, everyone trying to get a few last minute gifts before stores were shut.

  • Kate 12:26 on 2020-12-16 Permalink

    It amazes me that the Christmas season lumbers on, with people buying gifts, and the distribution of toys seen as a wonderful gesture. Maybe it’s because I’m not a parent, but the shrill insistence on the necessity for toys has always perplexed me, and the expectation of gift-giving this year seems almost perverse.

    (Yes, I had some toys as a kid. Some of them were hand-me-downs from cousins. Often the ones I liked were random stuff that came to hand, rather than flashy stuff marketed by Mattel. But mostly, I was reading books.)

  • JaneyB 10:56 on 2020-12-17 Permalink

    In my family, we give only two gifts: socks and chocolate. It simplifies everything and who doesn’t need those?

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• Kate 17:43 on 2020-12-15 Permalink | Reply  

  Gilbert Rozon has been acquitted on charges of rape and indecent assault.

  Jebediah Pallendrome is discussing. Toggle Comments

   

  • Jebediah Pallendrome 18:10 on 2020-12-16 Permalink

    We can all hold our breaths for the inevitable defamation suit, right?

• Kate 13:14 on 2020-12-15 Permalink | Reply  

  For a long time, parents had to camp out overnight to get their kid a spot in certain desirable anglo schools. Finally the EMSB has recognized this is a bad idea (especially during a pandemic) and has put the process online.

   

• Kate 12:25 on 2020-12-15 Permalink | Reply  

  The federal government and city hall are both to work on the preservation of French in Montreal. The Bloc has (as noted below) also suggested replacing “Bonjour‑Hi” with “Bonjour‑Ho”…

  This op-ed writer in the Gazette (she usually writes for Le Devoir) makes some reasonable points about the Quebec dance of “who’s the minority” that has us in its grip.

  Kevin, Kate, and Michael Black are discussing. Toggle Comments

   

  • Michael Black 12:39 on 2020-12-15 Permalink

    Emilie Nicolas is now a regular Gazette columnist, appearing every second Tuesday. It was announced about a month ago.

  • Kate 13:08 on 2020-12-15 Permalink

    Thanks, Michael Black.

  • Kevin 14:30 on 2020-12-15 Permalink

    La Presse has an interview today with noted demographer (and immigrant) Marc Termote, in which Quebec’s language problem can be summed up in one line: francophones need to have more babies.

    https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/2020-12-15/le-demographe-pessimiste.php

• Kate 10:53 on 2020-12-15 Permalink | Reply  

  The bill to the city for building the REM is constantly rising and the extra new pieces will cost even more. La Presse has a map of the new north-and-east layout.

   

• Kate 10:45 on 2020-12-15 Permalink | Reply  

  It’s not clear how firm its commitment was, but the STM expected Hydro-Quebec’s help in electrifying its bus fleet including converting four bus garages for the recharging and maintenance of an electric fleet instead of diesel. Now Hydro-Quebec is backing away from the arrangement, leaving the city to find the cash itself.

   

• Kate 10:42 on 2020-12-15 Permalink | Reply  

  That questions are already being asked about the city’s preparedness for the November election, in view of the pandemic, suggests the authorities don’t believe any magic bullet will make the virus go away by then.

  qatzelok, Mark Côté, Kevin, and 1 other are discussing. Toggle Comments

   

  • qatzelok 12:36 on 2020-12-15 Permalink

    I wonder at what point we will start hearing about “an economic depression?”

    It seems to have started in March, but there is nothing at all about it in major newspapers.

    I am a bit concerned about this lack of information out there because, from what I have read, Economic Depressions are fairly important.

  • DeWolf 13:03 on 2020-12-15 Permalink

    The media isn’t talking about a depression because there isn’t any evidence that we’re in the midst of one. Canada’s GDP has contracted by 5.5% this year, but the Bank of Canada is forecasting growth of 4% next year. You need multiple years of decline in order to be in a depression. If something happens next year that prevents economic recovery (eg, the vaccination campaign does not go as planned), then maybe people will start talking about a depression.

    Since people love comparing our current pandemic to what happened in 1918/19, it’s worth noting that a depression didn’t follow the Spanish flu – instead we had the roaring 20s.

  • Kevin 14:46 on 2020-12-15 Permalink

    I’ve read several articles saying we’re in a K-shaped recovery or K-shaped recession — a marked shift in the economy as some fields recover quickly, and others fail.

  • Mark Côté 15:37 on 2020-12-15 Permalink

    CERB was a huge stopgap that, combined with less ability to spend money on vacations and such, actually left some people with _more_ money than they had before. However, now that that has run out (and afaik the replacement program isn’t as generous), and that the tax bills for CERB will be due in the spring, we may soon start feeling some delayed economic effects. But yeah, some industries have benefitted, so the K-shaped recovery/recession is a real thing.

  • qatzelok 21:59 on 2020-12-16 Permalink

    “The media isn’t talking about a depression because there isn’t any evidence that we’re in the midst of one.”

    You mean, there’s no evidence in the media. There is a trillion tons of evidence if you read economic journals and have been following the 2000-2008 busts and that they were never fixed. Just forestalled and “shovelled forward” for other people to deal with.

• Kate 10:31 on 2020-12-15 Permalink | Reply  

  Linda Gyulai is following up a story she first reported in the summer about some shady stuff concerning property in the east end. The city was quietly repossessing lots that had never been built on – but in at least one case, the original owner was still being billed for property tax by a different department.

   

• Kate 10:26 on 2020-12-15 Permalink | Reply  

  Members of city council were due a 2.1% cost-of-living raise to meet inflation, but they declined the raise by a large majority Monday evening.