Sue Montgomery is now suing Valérie Plante for $120,000 over defamation of character, saying she was painted as the main cause of the alleged toxic atmosphere at CDN-NDG borough.
Updates from June, 2021 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
The CAQ’s Bill 96 cuts so many holes in charters of rights that it basically lays out a whole new definition of what Quebec is within Canada, and what residents’ rights are vis-à-vis the government. Its undercutting of federal rights is so extreme that residents of Quebec will be less Canadian than everyone in the ROC, and its definition of a Quebec “nation” verges on dubious. Anyway, this is what a report by the the Quebec Community Groups Network is saying. They also feel that the tendency is to exclude many from being defined as a Quebecer.
In tangentially related CAQ news, some parents are suddenly feeling their lack of voice in education since the abolition of school boards, a pet CAQ project, and the direct control of schools by government. Here’s a spot where the anglo community was right. Clearly the boards needed reforms, but unless you’re anglo, now they’re gone.
And in the “this is not The Beaverton or Le Revoir” news, Quebec will create a network of museums devoted to celebrating Québécois culture and history. Millions of dollars are planned for this legacy project.
Kevin
Every use of the notwithstanding clause is a provincial government slapping you in the face and stripping your rights.
Mark Côté
Legault has the highest approval rating of any provincial leader at (last I saw) 66%. He really knows how to be a populist leader, and most people don’t understand or don’t care about this stuff, it seems.
Ant6n
I’ve heard Legault described as Duplessis 2.0
Kate
Yes. I’m thankfully not old enough to personally remember Duplessis, but there are similarities. They govern(ed) for the white francophone Catholic majority, and a lot of them like it that way.
And, I suppose, you can’t blame them. It’s comfy, it’s like a pair of old loafers, and besides it’s nice to know the guy in charge will give the blokes an occasional claque su’l’yeule.
I was thinking that a big difference was Duplessis’ unwavering religious faith in the Catholic Church, but isn’t Legault’s insistence on laïcité the other side of the same coin?
Ant6n
I thought Legaults „laïcité“ it’s about getting rid of other cultures.
dhomas
Legault is Catholic. All French Canadians are:
The CAQ’s “laïcité” is, as most know (consciously or subconsciously), a way to get us back to the good ole days when everyone (or everyone that counts) was uniformly white Catholic.
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Kate
Drawings are out for the Secteur des Faubourgs, the new neighbourhood set to replace the old Molson brewery complex down by the bridge. It’s clear that Mayor Plante is hoping for a redevelopment here that’s more intentional than the developers’ free-for-all that reshaped Griffintown.
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Kate
Nuns who ran the Institution des sourdes-muettes de Montréal, which was in that big stone building on St‑Denis between Cherrier and Roy till 1975, will be facing a court case from some onetime inmates. The accusations of sexual abuse are lurid and have not been tested in court.
Jack
Inmates is the correct term, thanks Kate.
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Kate
Radio-Canada has a web feature on individuals and businesses responding to the gradual reopening. It’s nicely scripted but the blackout effect is a little extreme.
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Kate
The Place Dupuis hotel, used as a homeless refuge since October 2020, is set to close at the end of the month.
Although, Quebec says services will continue, La Presse’s coverage of the hotel closure and Radio-Canada’s are less sanguine. Nobody wants to see the return of tent cities this summer, but is anyone going to chip in enough to keep that from happening?
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Kate
CBC is perky about the resumption of events and festivals this summer. CTV is perky about the success of small businesses despite the pandemic. More on summer festivities from TVA.
However, at the same time there’s an announcement that the cycling Grand Prix planned for September has been cancelled for pandemic reasons.
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Kate
A vigil was held at Place des Arts Wednesday evening to mark the murders of four members of a family in London, Ontario.
David444 23:40 on 2021-06-10 Permalink
Finally, the dirt will emerge. Ideal scenario for the peanut gallery is that Plante loses reelection, Montgomery is reelected, and a vengeful Montgomery pursues her case with Coderre’s blessing, so that every email and detail gets released, and Gravenor gets another fairly only-in-Montreal scandal to load into the annals.
Ant6n 07:48 on 2021-06-11 Permalink
This looks tedious and boring. I don’t think most people are really interested in who and why these people started this bickering, they should all just stop.
Kate 08:25 on 2021-06-11 Permalink
Ant6n, exactly. It’s just tiresome.
Mark Côté 09:52 on 2021-06-11 Permalink
Being in NDG, I’m of two minds… I agree this has been drawn out incredibly long, but, as David says, perhaps we’ll actually learn some things here and I’ll be able to properly decide who to vote for.
…oh except I guess it’s probably not likely that this case gets going before the election. :/
Kate 11:09 on 2021-06-11 Permalink
Mark Côté, I doubt whether it will ever reveal secrets. It’ll just be a game of “he said, she said.” We know that the sitting civil service of the borough had a problem from the beginning with the incoming Projet mayor and councillors, and stuck to the position that being asked to work differently was psychological harassment – as has happened in every office in the world when new management comes in. Unfortunately in this case it affected the entire borough (which should really be two separate administrations anyway, but that’s another issue) and how it was being run.
Tim S. 19:15 on 2021-06-11 Permalink
I don’t think we do know that the civil service had a problem with the Project councillors. Many of the requests I’ve made to my councillor have in fact been implemented. They are for fairly small-scale things and perhaps there’s more intransigence higher up, but it’s proof that at some level there’s good cooperation between the councillors and administrators. It’s possible the issues are personal and not a result of the bureaucratic culture.
david55 15:12 on 2021-06-12 Permalink
My theory is that the prior administrations presided and Project wanted to lead, the borough bureaucracy went full Sir Humphrey on PM, and Montgomery went to war. Further, my well-founded suspicion is that the City Hall bureaucracy in the meanwhile played it smart, bided their time and eventually captured City Hall PM, up to and including the mayor. At some point, PM stopped supporting Montgomery and sided with the bureaucracy against her, and there’s something behind that.