Saturday morning the thermometer reading came in at –26.7°, the coldest we’ve seen in four years.
Updates from January, 2022 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
Once again, a march was held against pandemic measures Saturday. Not sure how the Patriotes flag comes into this, but it’s shown in one of the photos, as is a Trump 2020 flag (?!).
Ephraim
Being that most of my family are holocaust survivors, I wish they would stop with the holocaust references. Mengele personally selected people to go to the gas chambers at Auschwitz and he experimented on adults and children, in particular twins, with no regard to their health or safety.
The vaccine, with a safety level of less than one per million for the vaccine versus a death rate of 850 per million, it’s clear that saving 849 people per million is clearly the better choice, even if these muttonheads don’t understand math.
Kate
Ephraim, I see La Presse has replaced the photos with a video, which has none of the elements either of us has described. But they were there earlier.
Referencing the Nazis reveals not only their poor taste but also their ignorance.
H. John
Kate, I get both the video and below it the photos. Their site often doesn’t show a photo spread if I’m using Safari and I’ve reached the limit of free views.
Ephraim
Maybe what we need is to stand there with a sign that says “This is what the failure of the education system looks like in real life”. Lack of mathematics & statistics, science, world history and language.
GC
I’m with Ephraim.
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Kate
Comic Mike Ward has offered the city 25 “minimaisons” for the homeless but has been turned down for the second year in a row. There’s no picture of these items, described as wooden tents, but I’m pretty sure they would tend to encourage the kind of homeless campsites the city has systematically dismantled over the last few years.
Mark
The issue of homelessness is a complex one, yes, but Mike Ward’s idea isn’t a bad one. I think the city is being a bit short-sided in its approach. There seems to be a need to over-regulate everything in Montreal and not let initiatives brew and develop on their own, organically, without the constant implication from municipal officials. The food trucks come to mind.
That being said, I do agree with the City that just plunking mini-houses without additional supports or services is a bit lacking. A project like the 12 neighbors (https://www.12neighbours.com/) project in Fredericton goes one step further by integrating social enterprises, skills development, etc. That being said, that’s much more costly than just plunking mini-houses somewhere.
dhomas
The city also might not want to associate with Mike Ward, given his history. Might make for bad optics.
Kate
dhomas, I think you’re right on this.
CE
Sounds like Mike Ward just wants to get his name in the news. If he was serious about helping the homeless, he’d donate whatever these 25 tents cost to organizations that know better than anyone what the homeless need and want.
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Kate
A whole lot of restaurant and bar owners are considering holding a mass defiance of health orders at the end of January.
Uatu
Hey I’m all for it… as long as they volunteer their time at the ER and ICU to help out.
Kevin
I am okay as long as they agree to stay home and suffer once they get sick and can no longer breathe. No asking for medical help from overworked doctors and nurses.
j2
I do have a lot of sympathy and one of my thoughts was they should forfeit the government programs if they do open, in addition to fines, but the article makes the point the government programs aren’t even good enough, definitely in terms of timeliness if nothing else like amount and simplicity. (I’m not sure why this should be difficult, most of these businesses had well established taxes and sales but then of course the fact I have to fill out my side of income tax is also mind boggling.)
It’s not clear to me how they can get change? Demonstrations? This? Maybe this is what’s left?
Joey
Prediction: by January 30, the province will have already announced a reopening date for dining rooms
Kate
Joey, it seems likely.
Chris
Uatu and Kevin: when do you think restaurants and bars should reopen? What metric or threshold are you waiting for?
Tim S.
Chris, what are your acceptable mortality/long-term complication rates?
Ephraim
Even at 25%, the government should allow them to take a non-refundable deposit with reservations (with a maximum of 20% of their average ticket per person) as part of a compromise to help towards their reopening. Or make it a gift-certificate purchase, if refundable… so they have the embarrassment of having to come in and collect it, if they cancel/no-show. The no-shows and last minute cancellations are killing them. It’s time to stop the no-shows.
Kevin
Chris
When doctors and nurses are able to take a week or two off without being called back in.A lot of people haven’t had any time off in two years.
Faiz Imam
If routine surgery and overall standard of care is at least approaching normal, we can start loosening things.
But as long as people who need lifesaving surgery are having their operations cancelled, I dont think anything else matters.
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Kate
I’m puzzled by this account of the sentencing of a man for having dealings with a woman he thought was a prostitute but was really a policewoman. Among the odd aspects is that he thought she was 16, but 16 is the age of consent in Canada. And then there’s the stuff about not wanting a criminal record. But isn’t the whole story a tale of police entrapment?
steph
Staging a service is not entrapment, soliciting him directly would be. Knowingly paying a minor for sex is VERY illegal. I cant think of a single “legalize prostitution” movement that wants to include minors in that goal.
David S
Age of consent is 16, as long as there is no coercion, position of authority, or exchange of goods. Then it’s considered sexual abuse and/or sexual exploitation.
H. John
The decision gives a clearer understanding of the facts and the charge (in French):
Kate
Thank you, H. John.
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Kate
Luc Desparois, known as the roi des calèches, is suing the city over making his occupation illegal. He’s asking for $200,000, which doesn’t seem outrageous to offset a loss of a lifetime’s income.
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Kate
Better late than never, Quebec is going to protect Chinatown from developers.
Also in Le Devoir Saturday.
DeWolf
This targets the Hillpark Capital acquisitions very specifically. Most of Chinatown won’t be touched by this.
I’d like to see some protection for the beautiful 19th century greystone commercial blocks on St-Laurent, like the one that hosted the first film screening in Canada, which burned down after a botched renovation. Most of their upper floors are vacant.
Meezly
Maybe more specifics will be announced on Monday, but the article states that the site of Chinatown, including two buildings, will be designated a heritage and thus, fall under the protection of it as law. At the end, it describes the borders of the site.
“Ses limites convenues sont circonscrites par la rue Jeanne-Mance, la rue Saint-Dominique, l’avenue Viger et le boulevard René-Lévesque.”
This sounds like great news.
Kate
DeWolf, not only that wonderful building, but also the one at the northwest corner of La Gauchetière and St‑Laurent, where the Sun Hing grocery was, but which burned down in 2007 leaving a gap like a missing tooth. Ben Soo has a photo of it here, and he also shot the better known building where the first film screening happened, here. (I still miss the Sun Hing – the family who ran it were so nice.)
It would have been better for Chinatown if those upper stories had been occupied, rather than – as my impression was, and which you can see in Ben’s photos – so often used for dead storage, drying out and becoming more tindery with the years. I am not sure why that was the tendency, but it was.
DeWolf
Meezly, that paragraph is just describing the official borders of Chinatown. The heritage protection only applies to the block west of St-Urbain.
At this point, I hope some level of government can begin negotiations to purchase the block from Hillpark. There’s a lot of potential to hand it over to an NGO that can manage it as a mixed-use community complex with businesses, the existing temple, affordable housing and some kind of cultural centre inside the old Wing’s factory.
The Blue House in Hong Kong would actually be a very interesting model to follow…
https://zolimacitymag.com/how-the-blue-house-is-keeping-hong-kongs-heritage-alive/
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Kate
A man was shot in the legs as he was walking along a Montreal North street with a friend on Friday evening. He’s in stable condition and cops are investigating.
Later, another man was shot in Montreal North overnight.
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Kate
Not only are we under a severe cold warning, there’s also a smog warning in effect at least till Saturday morning. So if you were thinking of burning something to stay warm, don’t.
Saturday morning, the smog warning has been prolonged.
Looking in at 6:30 pm Saturday, the smog warning is still up.
Raymond Lutz 19:56 on 2022-01-22 Permalink
Ce matin c’était -39 ici à Drummondville (sans le vent). Je me demandais aussi pourquoi la fournaise roulait non-stop…