Updates from May, 2021 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Kate 22:37 on 2021-05-06 Permalink | Reply  

    The Gazette’s Aaron Derfel has won the Grand Prix Judith-Jasmin, the biggest accolade of the year from the Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec, for his exposé on conditions at the Herron residence in Dorval.

    La Presse gives details on the other prizes given out.

     
    • Tim F 23:09 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

      Well deserved, and a rarity for Anglo media I suspect.

    • Kate 23:20 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

      The Gazette piece says it hasn’t won the top prize since 1993.

    • Meezly 09:53 on 2021-05-07 Permalink

      I hope he gets a congrats from Legault.

  • Kate 22:27 on 2021-05-06 Permalink | Reply  

    Valery Fabrikant has once again seen his application for parole turned down.

     
    • H John 19:29 on 2021-05-08 Permalink

      After a year of going back and forth, his Department and Faculty decided not to offer Fabrikant another contract.

      Dean Swamy, Dean of Engineering, intended to hand Fabrikant a letter to that effect at a meeting in his office.

      He asked me to be present.

      He handed the letter to Fabrikant, telling him what it was.

      To my surprise, he then told him that if he had any questions, he could ask me.

      Before Fabrikant had even opened the letter, Swamy stood up and left the room, closing the door behind him.

      I really had not seen that coming.

  • Kate 18:34 on 2021-05-06 Permalink | Reply  

    I keep seeing items about Denis Coderre wanting this and Denis Coderre wanting that. Now he’s griping about the lack of massive mail-in voting for this fall’s election.

    I’m not too interested in what Denis Coderre, private citizen, wants, but on this blog we need to watch what’s happening in the city, so we’re stuck with him. In this case, he’s setting it up that it’s Plante’s cruel decision to deny mail-in voting to Montreal residents. It isn’t. Montreal wanted to have mail-in voting, but Elections Quebec – by its nature, an inflexible and slow-moving agency – was unwilling to change polling methods so quickly.

    It suits the Coderre playbook right now to make anything negative resound to the detriment of Plante and Projet. Coderre’s not interested in being fair about it, but simply in sowing as much negative sentiment as he can about his opponent. This will only ramp up, relentlessly, for the rest of the year.

     
    • Kate 18:10 on 2021-05-06 Permalink | Reply  

      No more Mr. Nice Guy. In future, Quebec will communicate only in French with companies and other governments, which will be banned from communicating with Quebec in English.

      Recovery from a pandemic is a key time to undertake a change that has the potential to cause economic damage. It’s sheer brilliance.

       
      • Ephraim 19:23 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

        The contract with the CRA in regards to GST requires service in English. If an agent of RQ refuses, call the CRA or Quebec’s ombudsman.

      • Bryan 22:18 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

        I wonder, too, if this is more political messaging than any substantive change. The inclusion of the phrase “établies au Québec” seems oddly specific. For example, does being a federally incorporated business (as many small businesses here are) mean that you can still request communication in English?

      • Mark Côté 13:06 on 2021-05-07 Permalink

        Some clarifications were apparently given that (from that CTV article linked above) companies can still talk to to the government in English, but they will only get French replies: “Later Thursday, spokesperson Paul-Jean Charest said that in fact, the province will read documents in English, but it just won’t write them.

      • Uatu 13:46 on 2021-05-07 Permalink

        Big deal. Just use Google translate and get on with the rest of the day. 😛

    • Kate 17:37 on 2021-05-06 Permalink | Reply  

      Here’s another architect house for comment, described as “located on the banks of a river in northern Montreal” and impressively low-key modern from the outside. The shape makes me think of the Mies van der Rohe gas station on Nuns’ Island, although the brick facing is earthier and warmer in effect.

      Aaaand there it is. Inevitably.

       
      • Raymond Lutz 20:22 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

        Hmm this cantilever breakfast bar doesn’t seem structurally sound… And all those pointy corners below the ‘floating stair’…pffff

      • Max 21:21 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

        I like the sunken living room. There’s a vaguely Jackie Treehorn vibe to it.

      • Blork 21:53 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

        That place is gorgeous! But that breakfast bar wouldn’t last a week with me living there. (I’m a leaner.)

      • mare 01:32 on 2021-05-07 Permalink

        That countertop and breakfast bar is not made of marble or quartz, but is probably Corian, which is very strong. Can probably hold a few hundred kilos. So @Blork, you can lean away.

      • GC 08:24 on 2021-05-07 Permalink

        I’m That Guy who looks at all those windows and just thinks about the work to keep them clean. I suppose if you are paying someone to clean the place for you, though…

        Grumbling aside, I do like the view and all that light would be nice; and all the wood.

      • Raymond Lutz 08:27 on 2021-05-07 Permalink

        Blork, It won’t break, but leaning on it near its extremity would flex it for half a centimetre (30 kg, over hang of 16″ and 3/4″ Corian sheet, 36″ wide)

    • Kate 17:27 on 2021-05-06 Permalink | Reply  

      People 35 and up can now sign up for the vaccine.

       
      • Matthew H 21:04 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

        Thanks for posting this here, I thought I’d have to wait til midnight to register. Appointment made!

      • Mark Côté 09:14 on 2021-05-07 Permalink

        It seems they always update the site about 4 pm the day before.

    • Kate 17:25 on 2021-05-06 Permalink | Reply  

      Valérie Plante said Thursday that she won’t allow homeless tent cities this summer, although it’s clear from other remarks she makes in this item that she knows damn well there aren’t enough social housing units to give everyone a place.

       
      • Kate 13:37 on 2021-05-06 Permalink | Reply  

        Some SPVM cops are saying, without exactly going on record, that there are times they’re hesitant to intervene in certain situations for fear of the consequences if they’re filmed and their actions later called into question.

        Well – isn’t that a good thing? Now that almost everyone has a video camera in their pocket, cops are beginning to understand it’s not just security cams watching the public, but the public watching them back. If that holds police back from excessive force, that’s bringing more balance into the relationship.

        Don’t misunderstand me. I do grasp that there may be times when a video clip, taken out of context, can make a cop’s actions look worse than they are, and that there are times when the only thing to do with a dangerous or out-of-control subject is to use force. But if this comes about, all evidence is of value, including video captured by observers.

        Update: The police chief says his men are tired of criticism.

         
        • steph 14:07 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

          Benoît, policier au SPVM, should find a new job. Clearly he’s not fit to be a cop.

        • steph 14:09 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

          I’m sorry, the more I read this article, the more it amplifies my disgust for cops. Defunding the police is actually something that would help these useless officers.

        • SMD 14:13 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

          Really helpful analysis of over thirty years of the SPVM crying wolf like this, from professor Ted Rutland: https://ricochet.media/fr/3585/le-desengagement-policier-a-montreal-30-ans-de-contrecoups-mediatiques.

        • GC 19:46 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

          Is it a good thing if police fear consequences for misbehaving? 100% yes.

        • Ephraim 19:46 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

          If you have to think twice, then maybe you shouldn’t be intervening in the first place.

          The chief is doing the same thing they always do… pass the buck instead of take responsibility. He wants us to stop to criticize, then get off your damn ass and start to put in policies that change things. Did you hear him promise to do anything about people being stopped for driving while black? Nope. How about abuse of the database? No. How about the fact that two police officers left their post (while being paid), stole their vehicle, kidnapped a man, drove him to the Ontario border and dropped him there, and violated policy by making the SPVM pay for the gasoline. And the force defended the two men (until publicly embarrassed in the newspaper). Meanwhile, they had the GPS documents for the car. The bill for the gasoline. Internal affairs investigated it in 2010 but did nothing. What’s that a sign of? The problem is internal affairs. So, what was done about internal affairs? Nothing. Only in 2018 when it was published in the media, did the city do anything… and suspended the officers… WITH PAY. And they were only charged in 2020. Which I assume means that we paid for these two for over 2 years of salary while they sat on their asses because they stole, kidnapped, etc.

          You don’t want to be criticized… start by doing the right thing. Here’s a few ideas for a start. Ask the Quebec government to put in a fully independent police commission. Set up an external “internal affairs” department. Start to publish data to show transparency in such things as police stops. And finally, put in a clear policy in regards to discrimination. And as I mentioned, a real policy in regards to smartphones so that it’s clear that citizen’s rights aren’t violated by officers when it comes to recording them on our phones to make us feel more comfortable when the police are present.

      • Kate 13:26 on 2021-05-06 Permalink | Reply  

        The city is hoping to be able to give the OK to opening terrasses on June 1, but everything will depend on how Covid numbers look over the next couple of weeks.

        Some bars and restos plan to hold a symbolic reopening on Saturday, but it’s unclear what exactly that means. In any case, the event’s meant to last only from noon till 2 p.m.

         
        • Kate 10:03 on 2021-05-06 Permalink | Reply  

          A daycare in Pierrefonds was firebombed Wednesday evening after hours. Nobody was hurt and little damage was done.

           
          • walkerp 12:54 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            This seems a little beyond the pale even for our mafia. Racism? Disgruntled employee? One of those scary psychopathic children who are actually small adults like we see in the movies?

          • Kate 13:08 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            It’s odds on that it was simply a mistake. Guys hired to do that kind of job are not the brightest, look at the shots fired at the wrong business last month by a couple of inept teenagers, or, going back, the pair of plug-uglies who murdered a random older guy outside an Ahuntsic espresso bar because they mistook him for their target.

          • Joey 13:13 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            Wasn’t there a lot of corruption around the allocation of daycare permits by the provincial government a few years ago?

          • walkerp 13:17 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            Ah, I hadn’t thought that they might have just hit the wrong target. Occam’s razor suggests that may be more likely than my fantastical musings. Still one never knows in this town…

          • dwgs 19:46 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            Dunno, I’m pretty sure that the late Tony Magi’s wife runs a daycare in NDG and has for quite some time. Not saying that it’s related, just that I used to wonder every time I walked by it how comfortable I would be if my kids were there.

          • walkerp 11:03 on 2021-05-07 Permalink

            That’s the daycare where if the kid doesn’t eat his peas, they cut off the head of his horse toutou and put it in his crib.

          • Kate 00:05 on 2021-05-08 Permalink

        • Kate 09:33 on 2021-05-06 Permalink | Reply  

          A lot of folks adopted pets for company during the pandemic, and now animal shelters are bracing for a wave of abandonment as people move into new places, go back to work, or give up on an animal whose behaviour they couldn’t handle.

           
          • walkerp 10:17 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            Nobody saw this coming. So horrible. Going to be similar with all the country houses the bourgeois lemmings moved out to.

          • Kate 10:34 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            It’s hard to know what the shelters could have done differently. If you’re accustomed to having cages full of homeless animals, and the public are suddenly clamouring to adopt, of course you adopt them out. You can’t necessarily tell which people will turn out to be responsible pet owners and which won’t.

          • jeather 11:04 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            Everyone saw this coming. There wasn’t much to do about it, but this was something that rescues/shelters have been thinking about for a year.

          • Kate 11:31 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            Well, at least some animals must have found permanent homes. There must also be folks who didn’t grow up with pets who have discovered they like having them around.

            I have to give props to my own cat, who’s been with me for five years but whose presence has been even more appreciated through the pandemic.

          • walkerp 11:33 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            Definitely not blaming the shelters. They are really going to get hit hard and many of the animals will be ones bought at breeders so it could possibly even be worse than it was before.

            It’s just insane. Look at all the purebred and fancy mix breed puppies all over the place this last year. I don’t know if it is because the shelters were empty or these trendoids just had to have some special breed, but the trend seems to be that you have to spends thousands of dollars and get a snickerpoodle or cockador or whatever the hell these poor mutants are called.

          • dwgs 11:51 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            It’s a stroke of genius on the part of the breeders. A guy I know who is otherwise pretty intelligent drove two hours to a breeder to pay $2500 to get a lab mixed with an Australian shepherd. So now mutts are going for three figures.

          • jeather 11:57 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            I’m sure many of the animals found permanent homes. But there will be a lot who didn’t, more than usual for July. (Do I half hope an abandoned cat will walk right into my house? Yes.)

            Arguably mix breeds are less mutant than purebred.

          • Kate 13:11 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            jeather, so that makes it one raccoon, one rabbit, and how many cats?

          • jeather 13:30 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            I’ve never had a rabbit! It was 1 adult raccoon, 5 kits, a lost baby bat, a few squirrels, and 3 cats. (But one of my cats had a stroke, or something, last summer, so I don’t let them on the balcony anymore because I think he’ll fall off. He can’t walk properly and can’t turn left at all. His friend is lonely because he has changed so much. Anyways this has stopped my wild visitors.)

          • Kate 14:14 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            Ah. I thought I remembered a rabbit. Sorry to hear your cat’s afflicted.

          • jeather 15:02 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            I was ready to say goodbye last summer after 10 days of force feeding him which made both of us miserable (he now eats on his own), so I’m pleased he’s hanging on.

          • j 19:31 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            Moving day is one of the several cyclical peaks for pet abandonment. Montreal SPCA is full up already.

        • Kate 09:17 on 2021-05-06 Permalink | Reply  

          The issue of the lost social housing at the Children’s Hospital development is back in the news. The deal was signed with a developer during the late Coderre era, but Valérie Plante is now being blamed for an effort to force the developer to come across with the 174 units originally promised.

          At least there’s some good news on the social housing front: buildings with 517 housing units standing empty because they’re too run down will be renovated and put back into use after a $100 million promise from the feds and Quebec.

           
          • dwgs 09:26 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            The developers are dishonest and the city is incompetent, what did we think would happen?

          • Ephraim 09:32 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            Hmm, does the city need to issue an occupancy document before people are allowed to move it? Could they attach that to the litigation, so that until the court decides, no one could move into the building? The longer it draws out, the longer it takes for the developer to get his money, because people can’t move in and the building(s) remain empty?

          • walkerp 10:16 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            Same MO as the Turcotte rebuild, where the developer puts the social but not profitable element in the plan and then just discards it during the actual work with zero repercussions. I hope the city wins this one and forces them to the 4-story limit.

          • DeWolf 11:02 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            Oh look, another cartoon villain. This developer says he couldn’t build the social housing because the city wouldn’t fork over an extra $5 million… and yet the penalty for not building it is $6 million. And then he says he’ll build it for free if Valérie Plante resigns. What a piece of work.

          • Tim 13:02 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            Zero repercussions? What are you talking about walkerp? I would categorize the city’s punitive response, by decreasing number of stories from 20 to 4, as a repercussion. The developers name being dragged through the mud, another.

            People here may not like it but the contract had an out clause and the developer took it. The city needs to draft better contracts.

          • walkerp 13:19 on 2021-05-06 Permalink

            True that. A possibility of repercussions, but they are battling the height limit and will probably win. And that contract is on the previous administration, no? A potential big differentiator between Coderre and Plante right there.

        • Kate 09:08 on 2021-05-06 Permalink | Reply  

          A growing number of people are dying of fentanyl overdoses but there’s no additional government money for safe injection sites. Since these folks can’t easily earn upwards of $55K a year, Legault’s lot has written them off. Good piece by Christopher Curtis.

           
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