Some teachers’ unions are planning to strike on Wednesday. I can’t see the point of the hours mentioned nor the point about online learning that day. It hardly sounds like a strike at all if you start at midnight but go back to work at 9:30 a.m.
Updates from April, 2021 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
The murder of Cédric Gagnon was reported in 2018 in the Journal and in La Presse at the time; CBC ran a piece on friends’ reactions to the alleged homicide and dismembering of one band member of another in the Mile End. It reads like the plot to a lurid miniseries (and also reminds us that it wasn’t all that long ago that underemployed musicians could live in the area, albeit in a school bus, as the CBC reports; I once looked down on that bus from the Van Horne overpass and idly wondered who was living in it).
Now Raymond Henri Muller is on trial and the luridness continues, with the arrest of Muller in 2018 after a failed suicide attempt and written confession found in the flat. Where’s Allô Police when you need it?
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Kate
Police continue to sift through evidence from Sunday night’s riot in Old Montreal. The mayor says it’s absolutely unacceptable behaviour – predictable, but necessary – and owners of smashed storefronts in the area, already suffering from a year without tourists, are responding with anger and disbelief.
Another anti-curfew march is reported on Twitter on Monday evening. STM’s notes on bus route disturbances suggest it’s also being held in Old Montreal. Later, CTV has a report.
Ephraim
And the difference between an 8PM curfew and a 9:30PM curfew in effectiveness is…. I mean, they haven’t even demonstrated that a curfew is effective at all. Maybe it curtails a few tinder dates?
Bill Binns
I noticed the media pivoted from calling this a “mostly peaceful” protest to pretty universally describing it as a riot in less than 24 hours.
My Tweets must finally be getting some traction.
Raymond Lutz
If it would have been against, say, police brutality, fossil industry subsidies or -gasp- capitalism, they would have been mowed down. Are we ready for our own Capitol minicoup yet?
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Kate
Sue Montgomery offered to unofficially pay a borough worker two months’ salary if he would keep it quiet. This is Chad Walcott, who quit his job at CDN-NDG borough last week and has been telling the whole world about it since then.
I’m hoping some journalist follows up later and tells us who Walcott is working for in the municipal election.
Edited to add: Montgomery’s hearing Monday with the Municipal Commission was cut short when her lawyer pointed out that the judge had recently worked for the city, and should recuse himself, which he did.
Ant6n
There’s this big cloud of conspiracy surrounding ms Montgomery. But what’s she actually supposed to have done. Sounds like a bunch of drama over nothing.
Kate
As I commented a few days ago, boiled down, it will turn out to be a petty office squabble blown up by the fact it’s happening in a political setting. Everything I’ve read suggests it’s been about the long-term borough bureaucracy simply refusing to cooperate with the “newly” (now three-year-old, but relatively new) elected council.
This isn’t to say it couldn’t be hard for people caught up between two tough cookies like Montgomery and borough manager Stéphane Plante, who’s been in the job since 2008.
Joey
Gotta hand it to Sue Montgomery – despite the intense scrutiny of her office, she still tried to negotiate an employee’s severance through back channels and bypassing HR rules and staff.
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Kate
An arbitrator has ruled that the Accueil Bonneau’s sacking of 11 workers three months ago was illegal, they should be rehired, and paid retroactively for their time off the job. It’s interesting to learn that the shelter workers are unionized.
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Kate
Surprise surprise: the police brotherhood is not happy with the idea of disarming some police.
Tim S.
How about they get to keep the guns but give up the Brotherhood?
Ephraim
How about the brotherhood agree to indemnify the city in the case of a lawsuit related to the usage of a weapon or force.
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Kate
A new mayoral candidate is making it his big idea that the city should only offer services in French. “Cette règle d’offrir des services bilingues, tout le temps, sera corrigée.” Ooh, correct me, baby.
Montreal Poster
fantastique!
Kevin
What a maroon. -Some wascally wabbit
MarcG
Infoman did a funny bit on this guy since he ran last time (“et il avait terminé la course en 4e position, tout juste derrière le monsieur du Cinéma Dollar”). I could only find a Facebook link for the video. https://fb.watch/4QlzqXvoiU/
Jack
This reinforcement of Law 101 and the fear tropes that have built this nationalist narratives find a terrific echo here.
https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/04/12/les-erreurs-de-la-loi-101
This Profesor of Political Science at U de M feels that the English speaking community needs a shave.
I think some of his proposals really require a look.
My personal favorite, ” Il est vital de protéger le territoire des migrations interprovinciales, particulièrement l’Outaouais et Montréal. “Kevin
Jack
I feel that people like him somehow missed that Bill 101 was deliberately a violation of human rights and was supposed to be struck down in court to prove that Canada didn’t work for francophones.qatzelok
“Warning: Denis Coderre video pops up”
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Kate
The longshoremen’s union has announced it won’t be working any overtime or weekends as of Tuesday. There’s a bitter standoff between the Association des employeurs maritimes and the union and there’s been no new contract since 2018.
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Kate
Nice Le Devoir piece on the back alleys of Montreal and their charms.
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Kate
All three levels of government have committed to making the Biosphere the fifth installation in the Espace pour la Vie complex that includes the Biodome, the Planetarium and the botanical garden. The Biosphere is said to be the only environment museum in North America.
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Kate
La Presse’s Mario Girard gives an account of Projet Montréal’s weekend conference in which he expresses a kind of grudging admiration for the party. The portrait is not one of internal bickering or disarray – far from it.
Derek 00:54 on 2021-04-13 Permalink
The point is to keep the kids at home Wednesday even if that means they will still get an education online (which if you are a parent of a young one in elementary, you know is more difficult than TV and stock photos would have you believe).
Kate 08:54 on 2021-04-13 Permalink
I totally believe the difficulty. I would’ve been reading a book under the desk or drawing pictures out of view of the camera – at best.
Kevin 13:30 on 2021-04-13 Permalink
Kate
I used to read novels in math class until grade 9.
Tee Owe 14:16 on 2021-04-13 Permalink
Kate, Kevin
The great thing about Zoom meetings is being able to turn off your audio and camera and make dinner while paying semi-attention (I got this from a friend) 🙂
dhomas 19:58 on 2021-04-13 Permalink
The strike was supposed to be until 9h30 at which point students would be allowed in school for in person learning. The Centres de Services (aka, the provincial government) went to the superior court to try to disallow the strike from occurring on the basis that it would disrupt transit and daycare: https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/quebec-school-managers-go-to-labour-court-to-head-off-teachers-strike.
So, the unions said “fuck it, online learning it is, then!”. Legault had set a precedent with online learning so he couldn’t say no. The superior court also sided with the teachers:
https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/quebec-superior-court-refuses-to-halt-planned-strike-by-73000-teachers