Nice Daily Hive bit about how pinball was once illegal in Montreal. No mention of onetime vice squad chief Steve Olynyk, who was rumoured to take the machines out to a field and run over them with a backhoe, or something to that effect, but presumably Olynyk was acting as Jean Drapeau’s deputy in this matter.
Updates from April, 2022 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
ArchDaily has a look at the new Insectarium and guess what, it doesn’t have a breakfast bar.
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Kate
Here are the driving crises of the weekend.
EmilyG
I think I saw people online wondering if/how this info will affect the “liberty convoy” expected to come to Montreal.
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Kate
The Journal examines Sylvain Caron’s time as police chief in terms of his hands being tied by the mayor and by Quebec. But a police chief is not meant to be an unfettered dictator making unilateral decisions. They have to carry out the law, and they have to respond to needs outlined by the city and provincial governments.
The mayor’s perception of the city’s circumstances has to play a part. When Caron wanted to reduce the number of neighbourhood police stations, he was turned down, partly because residents of NDG had noticed slower police response after the bizarre choice to merge its police station into Côte St‑Luc’s.
The Journal also mentions here how Caron didn’t like having the SQ imposed on Montreal by the CAQ government, but also that Caron never wanted the job and never intended to stay longer than three years. So what’s the fuss? He’s leaving on his schedule.
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Kate
Guy Lafleur has died at 70. He won five Stanley Cups with the Canadiens including four consecutive cups between 1976 and 1979. TVA looks back at ten notable moments in the Blond Demon’s career. Although the news only broke mid Friday morning, La Presse already has a selection of reactions from social media.
CultMTL mentions that Quebec has offered the family a state funeral but no plans have been announced yet. La Presse is possibly more accurate in describing the idea as a national funeral, as was held for Maurice Richard and Jean Béliveau.
La Presse’s Alexandre Pratt praises Lafleur for his regular‑guy persona – among other things, he smoked cigarettes between periods. Yes, and he died of lung cancer, too.
Update: There’s all the reaction articles you’d expect: Radio‑Canada, CBC, CTV, the Journal on Geoff Molson.
Two clips: a glimpse of the 1978 Canadiens winning in overtime, and Lafleur returns to the Forum in 1989 with the Rangers, one of the rare times you’ll see a crowd wildly cheer a goal by the opposing team.
Here’s the official page on state funerals and other public funerals, and what they involve.
Robert H 13:50 on 2022-04-23 Permalink
Hilarious! Today I learned something new. Really, this city has a reputation to uphold: corrupt politicians and clerics, blank envelopes of cash changing hands, alcohol and cigarette smuggling, strip clubs and biker bars on les rues principales, pornography studios, slumlords squeezing every last dollar out of dingy firetraps, c’était tout dans l’ordre des choses. But there was no threat to the populace at large and to our youth in particular greater than (drumroll) PINBALL! Think of the children! Imagine, Jean Drapeau as a sort of québécois Harold Hill come to rescue the Capital of Canadian Vice from…Vice! “Oh boy we’ve got Trouble! Right here in River City! With a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for…”
Kate 15:36 on 2022-04-23 Permalink
No kidding. Look up Pax Plante sometime. It was a whole era.
dhomas 06:29 on 2022-04-24 Permalink
Pax Plante has a Wikipedia entry, but Steve Olynyk does not. I found this interesting article about him, though:
http://coolopolis.blogspot.com/2007/03/montreals-fanatical-anti-pinball-fetish.html
MtlWeb 06:53 on 2022-04-24 Permalink
The ‘City Unique’ book by William Weintraub is a fabulous and detailed look back at the city’s nightlife activities during the just before WW2 period to the late 50s.
Kate 09:13 on 2022-04-24 Permalink
dhomas, cool. I knew Kristian had written about him somewhere.
My mom grew up next door to Steve Olynyk so I heard about him first from her.
Robert H 12:54 on 2022-04-24 Permalink
At first I was confused. What do you mean “Pax Plante?” Isn’t it a little too soon to apply such a definitive term? After all, her administration hasn’t even concluded. And how could she be responsible for a legacy of civic malfeasance? So I did have a look…I am abashed! What’s more, this was not quite the tale of bluenose busybodies spoiling everybody’s fun I had imagined. Pacifique Plante seems heroic, a crusader for integrity and fair-dealing. And the rot went so deep that I could imagine voting for Drapeau in 1954, long before his l’État C’est Moi phase. It hadn’t occurred to me that there were previous clean-up commissions before the Charbonneau. All of this including Dickensian characters like Steve Olynyk, the Carrie Nation of Montreal; Gravenor was right about him giving good quote. It was indeed a whole era. I’ll have to check out Weintraub’s book. Pardon my ignorance, my education continues.
P.S. The photographs I’ve seen make Plante and Drapeau look like brothers.