We’ve already got a warning over highway 20 closures on the weekend.
Updates from January, 2021 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
The man who used to operate the Old Port Ferris wheel is facing jail time after a guilty plea for attempting to extort money over explicit photos he had acquired.
MarcG
I assumed from your “headline” that he took the photos while people were making out on the wheel, but after skimming the article it seems entirely unrelated to the ride itself. Note to self: Don’t assume!
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Kate
The mayor wants homeless people to be exempt from the curfew, but the premier says no – even though a man has died because he had nowhere to go after 8 p.m.
François Legault says that other people would claim to be homeless if it he allowed an exception.
EmilyG
Wow. You’d have to be a real jerk to claim you’re homeless just to stay out later.
EmilyG
I think most people wouldn’t even do that.
Kate
Legault is also implying that police wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
Ephraim
How about a fine of $1500 for the policeman if he can’t find someone who says they are homeless a place to stay for the night…. it’s more effective than giving the homeless person the fine 🙂
Bill Binns
We don’t think people would tell a little fib to a cop to get out of a thousand dollar fine? Really?
I hope some brave hero tests this idea after homeless advocates inevitably get the exemption they are demanding. It may finally force the government to define the term “homeless”.paul
Wow, this has the potential to blow up in the Premier’s face.
Despite the numerous policy errors thoughout the pandemic, I am sensing that some of the criticism towards Big Daddy Legault is actually starting to stick.Joey
Come on, Bill Binns. If homeless people were exempt and someone tried to feign homelessness to get out of a ticket, the incredibly wise and sensible police can use their judgment to issue a ticket regardless of the protestations. They can search the person to see if they have ID, etc., and the ticket can be contested. The risk of mischievous non-homeless succcessfully impersonating the homeless is much lower than the risk that cops would simply disregard the order to leave the homeless be.
DavidH
Food delivery drivers are exempt and all you need for that is a car and a smartphone. I feel that’s a much bigger loophole.
Michael Black
People don’t want to be mistaken for homeless. It’s a judgement, and in a negative way. All those stereotypes that people like to perpetuate. Some homeless work hard to not “look homeless”, they are more likely to be left on that bench, or allowed to visit that vernissage for the free food, or sit at a lecture, or access a bathroom.
But it’s one of those assymetries of discrimination. If someone who’s homeless thinks you are homeless, there’s not the feeling of dread that comes if the mainstream judges you, it’s inclusion.
I gave some thought to going over to Cabot Square, wondering if I could pick up a vaccine that way. If the cops treat me like riff-raff, might as well benefit from it. For some people, getting stopped is the default, not because of a curfew.
walkerp
Not my joke, but a good one:
What about the risk of pretending you are a cabinet member so you can travel to a tropical location during a pandemic?
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Kate
A man whom police felt had no business wearing a red North Face jacket was apprehended (although not arrested) in St-Michel and questioned because a similar coat had been stolen in a robbery last month. QMI describes the man as “hispanophone”; CTV mentions the colour of his skin.
jeather
A police officer not wearing a mask! Because they had to rush to speak to this guy wearing the only red North Face jacket in the world.
walkerp
Here is what really happened:
Cops drive by and see this guy, there is some interchange, possibly even as subtle as a sideways glance by the “perp”.
Little man cop feels disrespected, turns the car around (or asks his partner to) and they follow the guy until he gets to his home.
Cop then fakes an issue (the jacket theft may or may not be real, he may or may not have had anything to do with the investigation) and uses that as an excuse to harrass this guy.
Victims in question are used to this kind of treatment, which is why they smartly walked to their property and started filming.
It’s just a straight-up power trip and what makes it worse is the SPVM’s absolute bullshit twitter response where they back up the cop’s lie and make up more bullshit about not having time to put on the mask.
This is it in a nutshell. This is why they need to be defunded. It is not only accepted, but condoned that they use their authority and force to avenge a personal insult. And for sure race is a factor here. They could have done the same thing to a white male, but the chances are much less smaller and it probably would have been a verbal interchange rather than a show of physical force.Chris
>a show of physical force
Did we watch the same video? What show of force?
walkerp
He grabs him by the arm and pulls him down the stairs to the street.
If that guy was a civilian doing that, good chance he gets hands.
Ephraim
Police can’t find a $35K car and they think they can ID a red jacket worth $300 and it’s worth their time?
My question and it’s like the same question I have all the time, what are you, Mr. Policeman, going to say in front of the commission, if he charges you? How are you going to explain why you stopped this person? What proof did you have? When there were likely hundreds of similar jackets in Montreal.
dwgs
Try thousands. That exact jacket was the cool one to have for the youngsters two winters ago, I know because I had to find one for a Xmas present and it wasn’t easy. Even online places were sold out. There is one hanging in my vestibule in that exact color at this moment. Chances are that my white skinned blond haired kid isn’t going to be grabbed up while standing on his porch though.
DeWolf
Just curious, if there are any legal experts here, what would have happened if the guy had gone inside his house? Would the police have busted down the door or would they have been forced to back off because they would have needed an arrest warrant?
Ephraim
I find at least 5 of them listed on Facebook. (The one in my vestibule is Timberland).
MarcG
@DeWolf: I was thinking the same thing; go inside and lock the door, what happens next?
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Kate
The death of homeless Innu Raphaël André is causing some soul-searching and some calls for better orchestration of resources for the homeless during the pandemic.
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Kate
An STM worker died of Covid last week.
Teachers at Westmount High are wearing black to “mourn the inevitable deaths that will occur due to the increased transmission caused by school reopenings.”
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Kate
Ottawa is dishing out a million dollars to Notre-Dame Basilica to pay for expenses after essentially a zero tourism season in 2020.
Nick D
for a second I was struggling to understand this (the feds bailing out the Rue Notre-Dame? I mean, sure, I guess places like Joe Beef are famous and have clout in high places, and Mark Miller MP probably has the ear of the PM, etc. Then I realized Oh! that thing. Funny how once again all principles of laïcité go out the window when it’s the Catholic church… (and I know it’s the Notre-Dame basilica, but what do people call it in real life?)
Kate
It’s quite the neo-Gothic gem, that church, sold as a big draw in Old Montreal, and I’m sure plenty of visitors in a normal tourism year are not devout Catholics.
I’ll add the word “Basilica” to the post to aid clarity! Thanks! (In context, I think most people would call it Notre-Dame. Or “the big church on Place d’Armes”?)
Bill Binns
Of all the businesses to help out in the pandemic, the province chooses the one who’s foreign CEO literally sits on a golden throne. I wonder if the Sultan of Brunei owns any property locally that we can maintain for him?
I mean, what’s going to happen if Notre Dame runs out of cash? Are they going to tear it down? Move it to a more generous province? Turn it into an AirBnb party pad?
Alison Cummins
If the Catholic Church can’t afford to maintain it and the city of Montreal wants it, fine. We should buy it and put it to good civic use.
Otherwise we need to stay out of it.
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Kate
A young man was seriously injured in a shootout in Shaughnessy Village overnight.
The description “on Baile and Saint-Marc near the intersection of Atwater and Sherbrooke” is confusing in CTV’s account.
DeWolf
That is indeed a very weird way to describe the corner of Baile and Saint-Marc, given that it is a good 10-15 minute walk from Atwater and Sherbrooke.
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