The skating rink at Esplanade Tranquille was officially opened Monday by the mayor.
I don’t know why the Gazette says the area was named after an “influential library” (and even quotes the mayor saying so), because the Librairie Tranquille wasn’t a library, it was a bookstore.
The city inspector-general says there are serious problems with some of the contracts written for the STM’s new garage at St‑Denis and Bellechasse, but that it’s too late to cancel them because the work has already been done.
Bicycle Bob Silverman has died at age 87. Co-founder of Le Monde à Bicyclette, Silverman was a pioneer in campaigning for better cycling infrastructure in Montreal. Here’s a piece from 2017 on the city’s own site.
Update to add CTV story, CBC story, Radio-Canada story.
I played volleyball with Bob Silverman for years, and had many long chats with him between games.
What an inspirational person to talk to. And really committed to “community participation.”
Rest in power, BB. Pedal power!
Independent community groups are on a four-day strike demanding more funding from Quebec.
A woman who went missing Thursday in the north end is still missing.
A coalition of individuals and organizations has presented a petition against the REM de l’Est, although I don’t see any link to the actual petition in the item.
Freezing rain is expected starting Tuesday evening.
Every winter brings some freezing rain, but I suspect a whole generation of Montrealers are traumatized by memories of the 1998 ice storm.
Speaking of collective weather memories, the Gazette looks back on 1971, not at the notorious storm of March 4 that year, but at the one right before it, and the ones before that. We’ve had a couple of storms this century that exceeded the fall that March 4, but they weren’t adding to an accumulation of 330 cm as in 1971.
The mother of murdered Jannai Jopwell-Bailey says that her victim compensation has been delayed because one unnamed media outlet implied that her son was a gang member, which she vehemently denies. (This may be the article.)
(CTV’s piece has a good quote from Maria Mourani about how some teenage boys like to go on social media and pretend to be tough guys. The problem would be that there’s a thin line between pretending to be a gang member, and being taken for one.)
There’s an unexplained element here. Charla Dopwell has been “working with a company that provides compensation and therapy support to victims of crimes.” A company? There’s no public support? Is someone profiting from this?
They are probably referring to IVAC (Indemnisation des victimes d’actes criminels – http://www.ivac.qc.ca) which are part of the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST). They usually offer financial compensation to victimes of criminal acts, including payment to receive services.
But that isn’t a company.
Maria Mourani is a former MP, no? Ths is classic CTV journalism – crucial details left out, incomplete information likely sourced in inaccurate translation (how something like IVAC becomes a “company”), no real beggining or end, just 1/3 of a story and… move on. And yet this piece has *two* bylines…
Yes, but Mourani is also a criminologist. She has written two books about street gangs.
One line in a La Presse article, suggesting that a brutal killing could be gang-related, kept the family from receiving IVAC support. The La Presse reporter felt so bad (the killer worked for organized crime, the victim had no relation to it) that he recently got Patrick Lagacé to write a whole column about it, ending with a plea to IVAC to finally fulfill their mandate and support the family.
SMD, the link did not work, can you re-post it please? I can’t find the one you’re referencing.
Sorry, here it is in plant text: https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/chroniques/2022-02-06/alessandro-vinci-n-etait-pas-un-bandit.php
A new book is out on a prisoner support group that helps newly emerged individuals reintegrate into society.
It’s interesting to understand that people living in halfway houses are banned from using the internet (see Joey’s comment below). If they’re expected to find jobs, independent places to live, apply for government aid, if they’re even meant to inform themselves about the news – for example if there’s an election and they want to vote – how else are they meant to do it in the 21st century? The internet is not a frivolous add‑on to modern life. It is modern life.
It seems like “rules” of this sort often originate from the opinions of one person and then get handed down institutionally from year to year without additional thought. You’re right; it seems like an obstacle that ought to get questioned!
To be clear, the article says that “many living in halfway houses are banned from having the technology that would allow them to attend virtually” – this is not the same as saying that people living in halfway houses are forbidden from using the Internet. It could mean that certain former prisoners are forbidden from using certain kinds of devices or accessing the Internet because of the nature of their crimes (e.g., phishing schemes, ‘luring’ minors, etc.) or it could mean that the halfway houses don’t include the laptops/phones/etc. that you would need to join a Zoom call.
I’m sure some modernization of halfway house conditions is in order, but I’m not sure blanket statements like “people living in halfway houses are banned from using the internet.” I know one person living in such a situation last fall; he had an iPhone with iMessage (e.g., non-SMS messaging) enabled, shopped online, etc. I think the expectation is that all communication could/would be monitored, but access to the Internet was not blocked…
That’s good to know, Joey. Thanks!
It’s with almost sentimental Montreal pride that I post this story: delivery of the new stadium roof has been delayed again.
Joey 08:34 on 2022-02-22 Permalink
Looks like it’s been fixed… more bad translation…
steph 09:24 on 2022-02-22 Permalink
@Gazette, can you really raze something that’s already at ground level?
Ian 09:27 on 2022-02-22 Permalink
That really was a great bookstore.
@steph I think somebody was referencing Joni Mitchell, call it poetic license
SMD 09:30 on 2022-02-22 Permalink
Libraire ≠ library. Classic linguistic false friend. Also shows how important it is to have deep local knowledge behind the newspaper desk. The Gazette is losing its two top editors this week (Lucinda Chodan and Basel Boshra); I am curious who will replace them. Anybody here know?
steph 09:37 on 2022-02-22 Permalink
@Ian, with a licence like that I think they were probably refering to the Counting Crows song.
MarcG 10:33 on 2022-02-22 Permalink
It would have been nice to include a photo of what the rink and area actually look like. The story isn’t about the mayor.
Kate 10:38 on 2022-02-22 Permalink
MarcG, Daily Hive has a view from above and TVA shows it from skater level. You can see it behind the dignitaries in Metro’s story.
Ian, the Librairie Tranquille closed in 1975. I never heard it talked about, but then I grew up in an anglo family of Catholics who wouldn’t have been buying books in French and, if anything, would’ve been on the side of the clerics who wanted to shut it down.
DeWolf 11:21 on 2022-02-22 Permalink
There are a lot of photos of it here:
https://forum.agoramtl.com/t/esplanade-tranquille/246/250
It’s a really nice space and I’m looking forward to seeing how it will be used for concerts and other events in the summer. What isn’t mentioned in many of the articles about it is that the space underneath the skating rink is a big storage facility for festival materials. One of the concerns the festivals had about the development of the Quartier des spectacles is that the vacant lots and parking lots where the festivals used to keep all their stuff have all disappeared, and this is meant to help with the problem.
MarcG 11:28 on 2022-02-22 Permalink
@Kate: Thanks! To be clear I was criticizing the Gazoo, not you.
Mr.Chinaski 11:48 on 2022-02-22 Permalink
@Gazette, can you really raze something that’s already at ground level?
Well they tried once by burning the Parliament in Montreal so…
DeWolf 12:19 on 2022-02-22 Permalink
Because I’m a masochist I looked up the comments on the Gazette’s Facebook page. Lots of people upset about the loss of a parking lot.