Some boroughs want no pot store
Outremont is planning measures to make it difficult if not impossible for the SQDC to open a store inside its borders. This piece reminds us that the borough also has no bars and no SAQ, a well-stocked branch of which, on Laurier, is just outside its eastern boundary.
The proposed bylaw mandating a minimum distance between the SQDC and schools is kind of pointless, given that you can’t buy legal cannabis here till you’re 21 anyway, but it must play well to Ensemble voters.
The article goes on to outline how Anjou, Lachine, Verdun and St‑Léonard have all put up roadblocks to the arrival of SQDC outlets.
walkerp 10:55 on 2022-01-20 Permalink
They only consume the finest yellow Peruvian flake flown in via private jet in Outremont.
Joey 11:00 on 2022-01-20 Permalink
Clearly the high school kids at Stan will have no access to drugs whatsoever.
Ephraim 11:22 on 2022-01-20 Permalink
There are a number of towns on the Island that have very strict rules. There are no commercial properties in Hampstead, Very few in Montreal West, TMR and CSL. In fact, TMR was known for being so strict that you would have a number of official visits before you could open even a warehouse.
Kate 11:44 on 2022-01-20 Permalink
Verdun used to be well known for having no bars, but that was relaxed in recent years to help Wellington Street thrive. When I was small, my dad had to cross a bridge into Côte St‑Paul if he wanted a beer in a tavern.
Ephraim, is that also true of the industrial part of TMR? (Where a building was shot at overnight but no victims turned up…)
MarcG 13:25 on 2022-01-20 Permalink
@Kate: That explains the *three* bars located right over the aquaduc from Verdun in CSP – I never thought about why before – thanks! The one on the right closed a few years ago, the other 2 seem to still be open. https://goo.gl/maps/GrdaPWh7UrhexwjMA
MarcG 13:31 on 2022-01-20 Permalink
There’s also this brasserie just over the border in Pointe-Saint-Charles that I always thought was a strange location. https://goo.gl/maps/KMASbcNDVZe6b4SH8
qatzelok 13:46 on 2022-01-20 Permalink
This year’s 4-20 could be held in the rose garden in front of the new Mont-Royal REM station.
GC 14:13 on 2022-01-20 Permalink
It’s never occurred to me that Outremont doesn’t have an SAQ. They still have grocery stores–and, I guess, deps–that sell alcohol, though? Is there really a big difference?
Spi 15:42 on 2022-01-20 Permalink
Given the size of Outremont and the SAQ’s in mile end at and the wilderton mall, it’s barely an inconvenience.
Kate 17:15 on 2022-01-20 Permalink
GC, it depends what you drink. The SAQ has many more kinds of wine (and the wines they sell at lower prices are far better than grocery/dep wine, in my experience, so that buying dep wine is a false economy) and has all the hard liquor. But for beer drinkers, better to go somewhere like Veux-tu une bière or Supermarché Rahman (the latter of which is also not far outside Outremont).
MarcG, good catch on that corner replete with bars and a brasserie. That brasserie was probably an old-school tavern back in the day, no women allowed, Verdun guys crossing the Aqueduct for a beer. The other one in the Point looks more like a working men’s bar from the more industrial days of that area.
GC 19:03 on 2022-01-20 Permalink
Yeah, I’ve often said you can get wine at the dep, but *good* wine only at the SAQ :). I meant more if it’s some misguided moral stance to keep alcohol out of the borough…it kind of failed.
GC 19:06 on 2022-01-20 Permalink
Good point, Spi. In a bigger borough, like CDN-NDG, there are probably people who live farther from the nearest SAQ.
MarcG 21:54 on 2022-01-20 Permalink
Kate: I recall the one on the right that closed in CSP had “Bienvenue aux dames” on the sign. 🙂
Ephraim 23:13 on 2022-01-20 Permalink
@Kate – Yes, the fire department, city works, all visit. They are very strict. But you have to watch the borders of TMR. The Baron de Hirsch cemetery, the area near the Walmart, around Decarie and the far end of the industrial area aren’t part of TMR. For example, Orange Julep isn’t in TMR, but Excel Honda is. And while Dalton is in the border, part of Royalmount isn’t. And oddly, part of Bates, Ekers and De Vimy are.