Cathy Wong, who’s been given several high-profile jobs in her term as a Projet councillor, has decided not to run again this November.
Projet has already found a new candidate to run in Peter-McGill in November.
Updates from June, 2021 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
Mayor Plante is concerned about the atmosphere in Old Montreal these days, after a couple of mass gatherings and shootings.
I can just remember a time when Old Montreal was louche. There was at least one Fête Nationale thing that went over the top, down around St-Paul Street, as referenced in Les Blues de la métropole, but after that the area became stolidly respectable, a showplace for tourists and a residential area for people who can afford expensively converted condos in handsome old stone buildings.
It seems that without tourists it’s taking back its old vibe of a waterfront saloon quarter.
Update: the Old Port will be closed from midnight till 6 from now on.
Meezly
Nice analogy. Makes me picture our waterfront populated by desperate locals in lieu of rough n’ tumble dockworkers and salty sailor types, like a Last Exit to Old Port.
denpanosekai
I saw a ton of punk shows in Old Montreal! But I don’t necessarily want to go back to those days.
steph
FUCK normalizing cerfews. This is rediculous.
Kate
steph? Are you all right?
denpanosekai, I know. It’s still weird for me to think of tourists brunching at the Hotel Nelson where once we moshed.
steph
A cerfew for ‘sanitary crisis’ reasons that wasn’t based on science was a hard pill to swallow. Now they’re usimg it to avoid overflows. That’s not acceptable. It’s like the police forgot how to do their jobs and it’s easier to call impose a cerfew instead.
Chris
Hopefully someone will challenge this curfew thing. We’re supposed to have freedom of movement and assembly in this country. Temporary covid emergency was one thing, but we shouldn’t be reaching for this every time there’s a bump in crime.
Joey
Agreed 100% with Chris. Seems especially egregious that the federal government is acting without at least working with the municipal (and, I suppose, provincial) governments as well.
Kate
Parks have always had a closure time of midnight till 6. It’s posted in most of them, and understood generally to mean the police have a premise to move you along if you’re causing a disturbance in the wee hours.
The Old Port is simply invoking a similar measure for the area south of de la Commune.
I don’t find it unreasonable and it isn’t a curfew, it’s just a limit.
Blork
As Kate says, many (most? all?) parks are already closed between midnight and 6AM, so this is not something new. And it only applies to the area “south” (which is actually east) of de la Commune, which is the park/tourist trap area along the water. (I.e., the “old port” which is not the same as “Old Montreal” … yes, some people still don’t know the difference).
I’m not crazy about such closures either, but file this under “this is why we can’t have nice things” while holding up pictures of street gang and mafia thugs waving their guns around.
Kate
Right, Blork. A lot of folks have taken to referring to the whole Old Montreal area breezily as “the old port” in recent years. This new rule only applies to the area between de la Commune and the river, which is mostly federal land. The feds can’t shut down the rest of Old Montreal after midnight.
p.s. Blork, we both know that’s south, don’t confuse us with facts.
steph
okokok, i’ll calm my nerves – I imagined it was the whole Old Montreal.
Ant6n
Closing public parks at night is kind of ridiculous. What’s next, asking a fee to be allowed the commons (i.e. our natural heritage)?
fvr.mtl
@denpanosekai @kate
https://www.arcmtl.org/en/images/77-mtl-exhibit/Kate
Nice collection, fvr.mtl!
Ant6n, maybe there’s an argument, but the midnight-till-6 thing isn’t new.
Nicole
I don’t love the imposition of a curfew either. But some of the people complaining are talking like the pandemic is over. It’s not.
MarcG
@kvr.mtl: La Brique! That’s wild stuff, thanks.
Uatu
@fvr.mtl- thanks for the memories… Station 10, Genetic Control…sigh. I’m old
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Kate
Denis Coderre says he wants to ban alcohol in parks after 8 p.m., but what’s the issue? Alcohol isn’t allowed in parks anyway, except with food.
We’ve discussed before how this rule is subject to interpretation – does “food” mean snacks, or a real picnic spread, and so on – so this seems to be an issue that doesn’t need fixing, and is just a premise for grandstanding.
A National Post opinion writer says Wednesday that public parks should be abolished – “when I see an urban park, I can’t help thinking it’s a waste of prime real estate” – and the land turned over to developers. Don’t tell Coderre or he’ll put condo towers on Dorchester Square.
j2
Well there’s been more drinking without food in parks during covid, and why not? It’s safer. As long as the line is drawn on public drunkenness, maybe we can be adults here.
Was the opinion writer shown twirling his evil moustache or are we just supposed to imagine it?
Ephraim
What’s the point of the rule/law? People are adults. Let’s get over it and just let people drink anywhere. Instead out of bags, hiding it, in other containers, etc. Seriously, it’s not something that the police could police… and worse, they will end up using it against some people, like the homeless. Are they going to stop people smoking pot in the parks? Stop them drinking soda? How can you tell if it’s in a flask or an aluminum bottle. It’s silliness for the point of politics.
Kate
If you ask me, Coderre floated this to push his “texting while driving” story off the front page.
david648
He alllllmost had my vote, but this reminds me that I hate him..
JaneyB
Is this guy actually trying to get votes with this stance? Seriously. No Montrealers will support this and no cops would enforce it.
walkerp
He’s throwing this one out as a bone to his developer and bar-owner friends. I was walking through the park and thought it would be a perfect canvassing opportunity for PM. Just have a flyer with a picture of Coderre saying “this man wants you to stop drinking 30 minutes ago. Here is how you can register to vote to make sure he can’t do that.”
Joey
That Jesse Kline column is almost as dumb as Ken Whyte’s essay on the need to end libraries to save the publishing industry in the Globe a few months ago.
su
I was wondering about the recent emergence of the PPP Toronto based nonprofit PARKSPEOPLE recent manifestations in Montréal and local media . Parks have been a huge subject lately.
Su
Oops. PARK PEOPLE. https://parkpeople.ca/
EB
I forgot what happened to Immortan Joe at the end of Mad Max: Fury Road, but if he didn’t die, I’m pretty sure he could get a gig writing opinion pieces at the National Post.
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Kate
The prosecutor (DPCP) wants solid proof of the death of Michel Brûlé in Brazil: is he really dead or is he on the run from justice? Brûlé was found guilty of sexual assault last October and was waiting for sentencing.
su
People are allowed to “travel” while awaiting sentencing in Quebec?
Kate
I was wondering about that.
Also why Brûlé chose to go to a country that’s been one of the major Covid hotspots – although he may have been a denier, since he was (or is) a contrary kind of person.
dhomas
He’s hiding out in South America with Arthur Porter.
Ephraim
Memories of Arturo Gatti… it appears that everything sketchy happens in Brazil
EmilyG
I think I heard he’d been staying with his brother in Brazil. (mentioned in one of the articles.)
I had been thinking his death was rather “convenient”…GC
I also got a sense of deja vu, going back to the Porter days.
PatrickC
Isn’t Brazil one of those no extradition countries?
Uatu
Arthur porter is living in the secret bunker built under Vendome metro. That’s why it took 6yrs to build that tunnel.
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Kate
Various rough paths will be blocked off and signs put up as the city tries to fight erosion on Mount Royal by planting new indigenous trees and shrubs.
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Kate
Patrick Lagacé writes about Denis Coderre and his offhand way with the truth, with some well‑attested cites from the past.
Funny thing, though. A good journalist has respect for the truth. The voting public cares a lot less. So long as you promise them a spot to park their car for free, most people will vote for you.
DeWolf
People don’t like to be duped. I’m sure Coderre’s hardcore constituency of car fanatics are text-and-drivers too. But the cover-up is often worse than the crime, and his refusal to apologize for something so trivial may remind people of his refusal to apologize for so many other misdeeds, from Formula E to having Lagacé bugged by the police.
Coderre is trying to make a fuss of how construction is hurting restaurants, which led Leslie Chesterman to remind everyone on Twitter that Coderre was responsible for the St-Denis construction debacle and many other much-delayed projects that seriously hurt restaurants. Coderre is his own worst enemy: his track record as a mayor is terrible, his ego is enormous and his choice of company is questionable. His opponents simply need to remind everyone of why he was booted out of office in the first place.
It’s purely anecdotal, but I know a lot of people who are not huge fans of Valérie Plante but who have a seething, burning hatred of Coderre, and that alone will be enough for them to hold their noses and vote for somebody they find disappointing.
YUL514
As my city councillor has told me, for every phone call or email they get from pro bike constituents they get 100 from pro car citizens.
walkerp
And your councillor is?
Just had a couple of guests from Alberta in and took them on a tour of the Mile End and they were so impressed with the bike paths. “Imagine if we had these in Calgary!” And the public life. The city has done a great job of starting to build an infrastructure that makes it so welcoming and fun for the people.
GC
Coderre definitely shouldn’t be casting stones about roadwork, but voters do have short memories. And he knows it.
Kate
I listened to a bit of CBC radio noon Wednesday which was on the question whether we should let developers build higher than Mount Royal. Denis Coderre is really into this because it will make the city “world class”.
The issue of welcoming, livable neighbourhoods for ordinary people just isn’t on the board for Coderre. It isn’t flashy, it won’t bring any celebrities here for him to hobnob with.
I think what I like most about Plante is she’s not into being a big shot. I’m not saying she hasn’t made mistakes, but she doesn’t think of herself or her role in that way. Whereas Coderre just wants to monkey with the city and its attractions to make himself a big deal. I have no patience with this, or with him.
DeWolf
When Coderre says things like that he comes across as embarrassingly provincial – the opposite of world-class. Do you know which city is current building skyscrapers much taller than those in Montreal? Mississauga.
Maybe Coderre should run for mayor of Laval. It’s more his speed.
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Kate
Jean-Louis Roy, who has headed the Grande bibliothèque for a few years, has just stepped down. Le Devoir tells about the front-runner to replace him, a woman who was one of the founders of the ADQ, a party that later was merged into the CAQ.
By law, the library’s czar is chosen by fiat by the party of the day.
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Kate
The STM has a $936M deficit so we may be paying bigger fares for reduced services as of next year, and for some time to come.
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