Thousands of people marched on Canada Day afternoon in Montreal to honour and remember the victims of the residential school system. Photos and video show a truly massive crowd. CBC talked to Nakuset about the event.
Updates from July, 2021 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
Car towing has apparently blown up into a “climate of violence and retaliation” so that police have instituted new rules for major streets and roads, basically that you have to call the police if your car breaks down, and they will send a truck from the service appointed to the area. And then no heads will get broken.
Ephraim
Oh the tow trucks are ruthless. And they will speed through traffic, go through red lights, etc. Just to be first and do the tow… because they can charge abusive rates. They could also have simply regulated the price, so they can’t abuse the consumer.
John B
So, we can’t just call CAA anymore?
Tim S.
The map in the article is nice, but a definition of “major thoroughfare” would have been more helpful. And according to the article, the rates will be standardized.
Ephraim
@John B – When it’s an accident on a major throughfare, bridge of highway… no. But you have never been allowed to. It’s often first to the scene. It’s like the barriers after a fire… they all run, because you aren’t in a position to negotiate price. It’s super abusive.
And then there was the time someone stole my tires and I called CAA and they still charged me… but it was also the last time I ever took a membership… I mean, if you are going to make me pay when I already have a membership, I might as well not pay for the membership.JP
What if someone doesn’t own a cell phone? My parents don’t own cell phones…and I’m wondering what happens in that case…or is cell phone non-ownership now something we simply can’t get away with.
qatzelok
Rather than giving the towed cars back to their owners, the city could expropriate all towed cars, and then sell them to the general public in order to raise money for transit projects like the Blue Line extension.
John B
@Ephraim – I’m aware of no CAA on the bridges & highways, but it seems weird for surface streets. I guess what we need is a list of towing-exclusive streets, as Tim S suggests.
Ephraim
@John B – As I said, CAA is WEIRD. When I had it, I tried to use it a few times and just gave up. Once was that tow after my tires were stolen. Other times, I just needed a boost and they would tell me a delay of a day or two, so we just gave up and paid taxi drivers. It’s an insurance policy that never pays out.
Now, I’m covered as part of my car insurance and never have had a problem, when I called them. My car also has a policy, but I haven’t used that one. But yeah, if you are on a highway or a street with a green number… the cops call for a tow truck and they come RACING through the streets, dangerously. This will end that nonsense.dhomas
I get Canadian Tire roadside assistance on sale every year on “Black Friday”. It also comes free with some of their credit cards. I’ve had it for 4 years with a now 16 year old car and I used most of my 5 service calls every year. Much better experience than with CAA, who try to sell you on their “value added” services more than their actual roadside assistance.
JaneyB
Strange. I knew about the bandit-bridge-towage but I’ve had CAA for years and always had good experiences with towing, both short and longer distances, boosts, travel insurance etc. The boosts can be a problem though after a storm because everyone wants one. @Ephraim – Good tip on paying the cab drivers for boosts and on tow coverage with car insurance. Did not know.
walkerp
Cars are so stupid.
dhomas
@walkerp Unfortunately, most of our infrastructure was built around cars. I’d love to use public and active transit all the time, but we’re not there yet in terms of infrastructure, in some parts of the city. For example, it would take me over an hour to get to my folks’ house by bus/metro whereas it takes me 15 minutes by car. With 3 kids in tow, that’s just not an option for me. That’s not to say we should stop advocating for better public transit, but until then, I still need a car for this kind of trip. A stopgap solution is to get more people in EVs, and my next car will definitely be one. I also try to do local things like get groceries by walking or by bike, but many people will simply use their car since they have one.
All this to say, not everyone’s situation is adapted to a car-free existence.walkerp
Yes, sadly, most people’s existence it is nearly impossible to live a car-free existence. My comment was inspired by this thread and the crazy contortions and inefficiencies individuals and communities suffer under because of the dominance of the car as our main model of transport.
Kate
As a non-parent I should maybe not speak up, but when I was a kid, we went everywhere on the bus with my parents. We never had a car. Somehow we managed, and I don’t remember feeling hard done by.
I guess it depends what you expect.
dhomas
I guess you can chalk that up to “since I have one, I use it”. If I didn’t have a car, I would take public transit to get to my parents’. But since I do have a car, I’ll use it to save that 45+ minutes. I have to say, until I had my third, I hardly ever used the car. I don’t know how my parents did it with 4 kids.
qatzelok
Somehow, we also survived back then without leaf blowers.
How did we do it? We silently raked them.
Ephraim
We also churned butter, milked cows, ground grains with giant stones, hunted with spears and wore animal skins as loincloth.
Kate
You’re older than I thought, Ephraim.
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Kate
A very offhand little Journal item notes the award of the Order of Montreal to 19 people but only names a few of them. On going to the Ordre de Montréal site, if you select 2021, you get “Aucun résultat trouvé.” Poor.
Bill
Because they are all part of the class of 2020. It’s the newspaper’s fault for not mentioning that they were last year’s recipients. https://ville.montreal.qc.ca/ordre/en/members?annee=37&grade=All
Kate
Thank you, Bill.
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Kate
Crown prosecutors are asking for a 26-year sentence for robber Jeffrey Marshall Ménard, who held up 19 banks and bars around town in 2017. Ménard’s sentence won’t be handed down till October.
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Kate
A demonstration to mark the grim discoveries at residential schools and to demand a better deal for indigenous Canadians will be held Thursday afternoon starting at 2 pm from Jeanne-Mance park and marching to Place du Canada.
Meezly
The demonstration/march is gaining a fair amount of traction. Organizers are saying all are welcome if we want to show support. Wear orange if you can, bring drums. Should be a good turnout.
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Kate
Public health has denied the Canadiens’ request to double the size of the crowd at the Bell Centre, and is maintaining the limit at 3500 spectators.
The games will be projected in the Quartier des Spectacles starting Friday. Update: also in the Olympic park.
David644
The last two games played at the Bell Center under the covid regime.
Meezly 13:17 on 2021-07-02 Permalink
Any reports of the estimated number of attendees? It looked to be anywhere between 5 to 10,000. But a more valid count would be good to know.
Kate 20:51 on 2021-07-02 Permalink
Meezly, I’ve looked around and only seen “thousands” cited.