A video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of a young Black man during an arrest at a high school earlier this month is raising questions again about police procedures and the desirability of bodycams. However, both these pieces suggest city hall opposition is leaping on this story to politicize it.
Updates from June, 2021 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
I was walking around Wednesday after getting my second vaccine shot on Christophe-Colomb, when I noticed this poster from FRAPRU pasted on the front of the old Chinese hospital building on St‑Denis at Villeray.
I had to look it up. Back in 2019 a plan to convert the building into social housing was described on Radio-Canada. I hadn’t seen anything about this project since, but the building façade is graffiti’d up again and this poster applied on the front.
I was inside the building maybe 7 or 8 years ago when it was opened up temporarily to act as a training centre for people working as scrutineers for an election, I don’t recall which one. It was reasonably solid inside, although it felt sort of dead and stale: we were warned not to drink the water, because the plumbing had not been used in a long time.
However, one thing that’s clear is you cannot leave a building standing indefinitely unoccupied. Things will deteriorate even if nobody breaks in to squat.
It would be a shame to let this place go to waste and I hope to hear something about the plans soon.
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Kate
A teenage pedestrian is in critical condition after an SUV driver lost control Thursday morning in Pierrefonds.
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Kate
It’s not too surprising to read that planned improvements at the airport may be delayed for years by effects of the pandemic.
Francesco
I’d like to know what data Mr. Rainville is using to come up with these “won’t return to normal before 2026 or even 2028“ estimates. According to most predictions by officials in the US and according to internal memos from my employer, air traffic should be returning to 2018 levels by the end of the fourth quarter this year, and to 2019 — record — levels before the end of the second quarter next year.
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Kate
Rappers filming part of a music video in the Plateau found themselves flat on the ground under police orders on Tuesday, as the prop guns they were brandishing sparked calls to 911. The crew never got a filming permit from the borough, and police were not forewarned that prop guns were going to be used, as is supposed to happen.
Incidentally, on the subject of guns, Ted Rutland had an interesting tweet this morning: “After a year of the police, the media, and Projet Montréal telling us that gun violence is out of control in the city, the SPVM released its annual report for 2020 yesterday. Gun crime is down 5%.”
Joey
Agreed that the numbers don’t match up with the narrative, but it also feels like the last two-three months have been different than, say, 2020. Anyway, if gun violence is up a little this spring, it seems pretty contained and not something that will directly affect the vast, vast majority of Montrealers. There does seem to be a concerted effort to turn discussion of systemic racism, oppression, white supremacy, police misconduct and economic hardship into a very narrow “conversation” about “law and order” and gun crime.
DavidH
Wow, that tweet is such bull.
You need the context for crimes to happen. Crime against people need people to be in contact to happen. That’s what was down this year, not the propensity of people to use firearms.
What those numbers actually show is a 73% increase in murder attempts and a 35% in bodily harm using firearms.
The armed robberies that used to happen at night and the bar brawls that ended in gunshots were down drastically because those situations ceased mostly to exist for the last half of the year. Yet, the overall decrease is minimal because most other gun uses are up. We all know those will be back up once as things go back to normal. That 5% decrease is a temporary anomaly. Closing depanneurs at night and bars 2-3 weeks later than we did would have made for a 5% increase a year end instead. The 73% increase in murder attempts however, is based on situations that will remain ongoing. (I don’t mention homicide numbers because those are always outliers).
I don’t condone fear mongering but let’s not lie to ourselves about reality either.
Kevin
Here’s the SPVM report. https://rapportspvm2020.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Rapport-spvm-2020-en.pdf
Firearm Violence is on page 7, and that’s up from 383 to 437 in 2020.
Page 6 has other Firearms offences that aren’t related to violence (unauthorized possession, improper storage, etc…) and that was down from 344 to 251.Kate
Thanks for the link, Kevin. I should have had that.
Joey
Anyone who compares 2020 to 2019 without being able to control for a once-in-a-century global pandemic that forced everyone to stay home for nine months should stop what they’re doing and consider a new line of work.
Kevin
Kate
C’était mon plaisir.Ephraim
The police don’t like to remind people, unless the numbers go up significantly… that’s not crime statistics, that’s Reported Crime Statistics. There was a lot more telephone and internet scams this year, but since they aren’t readily reported, it’s hard to tell.
Kate
Maybe so, Ephraim, but scams are not usually carried out with guns : )
Ephraim
@Kate – Neither are bank robberies…. if someone is stupid enough to actually do one anymore. They never show a gun because the jail time is longer. They point their fingers from their pockets.
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Kate
Quebec’s protected land strategy has been invoked to block development from a section of Île Bizard. Mohawk grand chief Serge Simon is not happy that indigenous people weren’t asked for their views on this decision.
qatzelok
I wonder if Grand Chief Simon was consulted about (and approved of) the thousands of McMansions that were built on the waterfront of Ile Bizard over the last half century of suburbia.
It’s hard to understand why he would want to problematize protecting the land from further suburban-style development.
Kate
qatzelok, I don’t know either why the Grand Chief feels strongly about this bit of land, but there may be more to this story than is told in the item.
Ant6n
So if one is behind on a struggle, one is hypocritical if one doesn’t give up?
qatzelok
I think you’re right, Kate, and that there may be a lot more to this story. My comment is directed at the journalism of the source (CTV News) who, apparently, didn’t have the time or disposition to ask for more information from the chief.
Did CTV intentionally delete information? Did they not do their job in asking useful follow-up questions?
Why only one incomplete soundbite from Chief Simon?
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Kate
As the pandemic gradually resolves, Montreal is doing better economically than other comparable cities in Canada and the U.S., but still faces a few challenges.
Fewer restaurants folded from bankruptcy in 2020 than had done so in 2019, pre-pandemic. Via this piece on Eater, where we’re reminded that this number doesn’t include restos closed for reasons other than bankruptcy.
walkerp
After getting my second shot yesterday (#humblebrag), I walked around downtown and it was booming! Really feels like we are heading towards an economic revival, at least at the consumer level.
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Kate
The Table de concert action du Mont-Royal has gathered some heavy-hitting support for restricting the height limits of buildings and preserving the view of Mount Royal as a key feature of the city – whatever Denis Coderre thinks.
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