As long promised, harmonized transit fares have been announced by the ARTM. A single fare on the island of Montreal remains $3.50 for now, and a monthly pass $94 as of July, which is when this new system goes live. More details in the article.
There are already mixed reactions.
The CMM has passed an interim law to protect the area’s wetlands from development. I’m not clear what a “règlement de contrôle intérimaire” is, unless it’s just holding for 60 days till the Municipal Affairs ministry gives it the rubber stamp.
A new head for the ARTM has been named by the Legault government: Patrick Savard, who used to be director-general of Longueuil. La Presse is tactful here but does mention that the new mayor of Longueuil sacked Savard after she was in the role for two months.
Reminds me of how Luc Ferrandez had to sack the Plateau’s borough director to get anything done. This doesn’t bode well for the ARTM.
TVA says that Luc Boileau’s presser at 2 pm Thursday will announce the end of the mask mandate on May 14. This while emergency wards are overwhelmed on April 28 and Quebec’s on the edge of marking 15,000 people lost to Covid.
After a two-year hiatus, the fireworks festival will be back this summer, from June 25 to August 6.
I’m really happy about this. I love the fireworks.
How fireworks can affect your health and the ecosystem
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-fireworks-environment-wildlife-human-health-concerns-1.5218006
Imagine being a Ukrainian refugee in Montreal and hearing that racket.
It might not be so loud in the city due to different acoustic dynamics, but on the south shore it is crazy loud. I live 4.5km from the site, and when the fireworks go off it’s so loud the dishes in the kitchen sometimes rattle. The cats run under the bed. The TV volume gets turned up to compensate. It literally sounds like an artillery barrage happening close by.
…but I do like to watch it sometimes.
@Blork My apartment is near the UdeM on the north side of the mountain and I hear them clearly when the wind is blowing right. Unfortunately, I’m not high up enough to actually see them.
Wednesday night I posted a silly picture to Twitter about creating a true Montreal landmark, and it’s gone viral in a local way. I’m waiting to see it turn up randomly, uncredited, in other places.
It’s a great meme! Very “cromulent”, as one might say on this blog
It’s a great image.
I posted that last night on this blog, but about 1/3 of my posts get swallowed.
I don’t even use Twitter, and yet I saw it!
Is it Fairmount or St-Viateur?
CE, I sidestepped the issue! The original photo was posted to Wikipedia and says it came from R.E.A.L. Bagel.
What? Wikipedia allows humour? (Great pic!)
I only went to R.E.A.L. Bagel once but remember it being good. For non Mile End bagels, I’m a fan of Beaubien.
I used to go there. It wasn’t Fairmount level, but it was perfectly fine. I believe the Queen Mary location is still REAL bagel, the Cote St Luc Rd one is now Dizz’s bagel and is less good. Bagel Henri Bourassa is good too.
Bagel Henri Bourassa is interesting. The owners are, I think, from India. They sell some of their stuff via Lufa. I’ve never had their bagels, but their onion bhaji are a real treat.
I love the Bill 101 dodging tactic of making your business name an acronym – D.A.D.’s bagels (also run by South Asians) was the spot when I lived in NDG. Is there some connection between naan bread and bagel making?
Their samosas are also nice. I miss D.A.D.’s bagels a lot.
François Legault says anglos favour Bill 101 (still called that, although it has been the Charter of the French Language since 1977) while his housing minister, Andrée Laforest, says Montreal is not so badly affected by the housing crisis.
The sad thing is that it doesn’t matter how out of touch the CAQ is with Montreal, because they’ll be elected this October with an overwhelming majority even if nobody in the metropolitan area votes for them.
Another recent story is that the CAQ, like the federal Liberals before them, has chucked out the promise to institute proportional representation – Dr Smog explaining why in one terse phrase.
Papa Legault says nobody in Quebec cares about electoral reform – he certainly doesn’t, when first‑past‑the‑post gives his party 80% of the seats in the National Assembly with 40% of the popular vote.
I just heard CJAD’s Elias Makos agree with the notion that manyAnglos are just fine with Bill 101. It’s not the first time he has alluded to this, saying at one point that he ‘loves’ what Bill 101 has done. Perhaps it is just a generational thing, Makos is about twenty years younger than me, but I was somewhat taken aback when he first mentioned this. From Neil McKenty to Tommy Schnurmacher, I can’t believe there was much support for 101.
There’s a lot of anger about Bill 96 (justified, in my opinion!) but I think it’s really just older anglos who still have a chip on their shoulder about Bill 101. Except for Balarama Holness, most people under the age of 40 seem to accept that Quebec — including Montreal — is a predominantly French-speaking place.
But maybe I’m wrong. I live in the east end and don’t really spend much time with West Islanders or west enders who live in predominantly English environments. Maybe there’s a whole generation of post-101 anglos who are super embittered about having to speak French and I just don’t come into contact with them. My wife knows one born-and-raised West Islander around the age of 20 who refuses to speak French under any circumstances, so maybe there’s a lot more of them than I realize.
Personally, I’m reminded that we really do need to be legal mechanisms to protect the French language whenever I visit eastern Ontario, where French is fading pretty rapidly from the landscape, even in places that are ostensibly majority francophone.
Also, about CAQ winning without support from greater Montreal – sadly, half the metropolitan area already supports the CAQ: the north shore is solid blue and the south shore is too except for Brossard and St-Lambert. And if current projections hold, the CAQ could also sweep most of Laval and pick up as many as four extra seats in Montreal itself. Even Verdun may swing CAQ if the vote splits just the right way.
I’m absolutely mystified as to how so many people could support this government after the past four years, but once again, I’m firmly ensconced in my little Québec solidaire bubble here in the middle of the island…
DeWolf, I’d say most anglos have come to accept Bill 101 as a fact of life and would prefer it to Bill 96. But I don’t hold a party on the anniversary of its institution, if you know what I mean.
In the real world, nobody I meet has any complaints about language. We all work to accommodate one another in our difficulties and disputes, recognizing that we all have different skills and backgrounds and capabilities.
It’s only online and in Quebecor-land where bigots are losing their minds over hearing English or other languages while walking in a neighbourhood with tens of thousands of students, in the second-largest city in the country.
@Kevin You mean you’ve never had strangers, upon hearing you speak English, tell you “au Québec, ça parle français!” in the grocery store or on the bus? It’s happened to me about 3 times, I think only since I started living “East of Pie-IX ᵀᴹ”.
I’ll be honest, personally, I loved those moments. They allowed me to respond, in perfect Québécois French, that I could pretty much guarantee that my French was better than their English. Still, I wish those folks would just mind their business. People are allowed to speak whatever language they want.
Dhomas
That happened in the runup to 95, but not since.
Ten years after that I had francophone parents flinging their kids at mine so they could pick up English from my bilingual offspring.
@dhomas – I’ve only once heard “au Québec, ça parle français!” flung at me. Ironically, it was when I was doing a language exchange with a Quebecois trying to improve his English. He turned around a gave some choice words to the angry uncle. A perfect moment.
A man who says he’s suffered with post-traumatic stress since being attacked by Stéfanie Trudeau – Matricule 728 – during the 2012 protests is taking her to court for the effects this has had on his life. He alleges he was beaten up and pepper‑sprayed by police during a protest.
CEGEPs are getting dizzy trying to keep up with changes coming in Bill 96 and the need to meet demands for more French classes.
Moderna is planning to build a new vaccine plant somewhere in the Montreal area, expected to employ between 200 and 300 people. Item mentions a big announcement Friday with Trudeau and Legault present, but not how much money the governments have promised to put into this project.
It’s all over the news Wednesday afternoon that François Legault insulted Pierre Arcand in the National Assembly. When Arcand rose to ask a question, Legault quipped Il n’est pas mort, lui?
Arcand said he was shaken by the incident and Legault has had to apologize.
Update: Curiously, when you Google for Arcand, the initial result info box comes up “Former Member of the National Assembly of Quebec” but Arcand is still member for Mont‑Royal–Outremont. He’s been an MNA since 2007, interim PLQ chief between 2018 and 2020.
I’m sure this issue won’t affect any of my usual readers, but there’s a warning that cocaine circulating in the city has been cut with dangerous chemicals commonly known as bath salts.
Considering how often fentanyl has ben turning up in street drugs those little baggies are more and more of a crapshoot. Good thing we now have 24 hour bars to fulfill that need lol
Dogs are to be allowed on public transit in a pilot project by the end of the year. The current rule says animals must be in a carrier except for guide dogs.
Update: CBC radio says “the metro” but the text media above don’t make it entirely clear whether buses would also be included.
Am distressed to read this and suspect it will affect my usage of public transit and make me look into getting a car. At a minimum, muzzles and diapers should be mandatory. The animals should also be confined to the last car on trains.
Aside from the anthropomorphizing “dogs are family members,” the most repeated justification for this awful change is that big dog owners shouldn’t be forced to use a car or taxi to transport their pets to the vet or dog run. BS. Those expenses — like food and vet bills — should be taken into account before deciding to have a big dog in the city. If you can’t afford to take a big dog to the vet in a taxi, you should choose a different breed.
BTW, assuming I heard it correctly, CBC Daybreak reported that the animals would be allowed on the metro, not buses, which would at least provide an alternative for the dog-wary like me. I’m uneasy with the idea of being on the metro with them but terrified about encountering them on a bus.
carswell, I’ve updated the post. CBC radio is saying the metro, but the Metro link above says “dans le réseau de métro et d’autobus de la métropole” and TVA says “dans une partie de son réseau” so I suspect that aspect has not been made clear yet.
I also hope dogs won’t be allowed on buses. Imagine how buses would smell after dogs are welcomed on board, especially on rainy days.
I’m allergic to dogs. I’m wary of riding a crowded metro car or being stuck waiting on a platform with multiple dogs. I get that they’re considered family, but they will also give me an asthma attack so I’m kinda hoping it doesn’t go through or maybe I’ll just start driving again
I am with Uatu on this. Many years ago I phoned a cab to take my cat to the vet. The cab driver was really unhappy that I had not announced this before I got in, because he had customers who might be allergic to cats. The cat was in a carrier, we got there, but he was right. Would not support that dogs (or cats) travel freely on public transport.
Most times I’ve taken a cat to the vet it’s been in a carrier by taxi, and drivers have never complained. If anyone using a vehicle in the future might be allergic, therefore no one would be able to bring their cat or dog anywhere by taxi or bus, and that gets a bit difficult for pet owners without their own cars.
I doubt having an animal in a taxi for 15 minutes makes the vehicle unlivable for all but the most freakishly allergic customers.
I’m not allergic to dogs or cats but unless it’s a seeing-eye dog or an animal being transported in a crate it doesn’t belong on public transit. I don’t want some dog sticking its nose in my crotch with the owner assuring me “oh don’t worry he’s friendly”. The potential for random cat vs dog fights in a crowded metro does have some comic appeal though so I say let’s go for it. Maybe we can send in some clowns to animate the scene.
I agree with you Kate, I also don’t see a major problem – my point was and should have been more clearly expressed, the cab driver was within his rights to be asked whether this was OK when I called him – bus and metro passengers don’t get that option.
Actually I can probably just wear an n95 mask now that mask wearing is no big deal.
The Phi Centre, a private art gallery in Old Montreal, is adding a new venue called Phi Contemporain costing $80 million to build, including $27 million from government.
(Le Devoir has started having ads that automatically play music or sound, so watch out for that.)
True, it’s a private gallery, but it’s run by the Phi Foundation, which is not for profit. In that sense, I’m not sure how it’s fundamentally different from, say, the Contemporary Art Museum or the Museum of Fine Arts (though I’m not sure what kind of governance structure it features).
Neither am I. A wealthy woman started Phi a decade ago, whereas the other museums were, I believe, begun by groups of people, but they’re all run by boards acting for foundations by now.
@Joey The staff aren’t unionized government employees, for one thing. And the owner of the Phi Centre has veto power over the exhibitions (and anything else), which the owner of the other museums you mentioned (the government) thankfully does not.
@Kate They don’t sell any art (apart from small items like books and clothing in the shop), so I wouldn’t call it ‘an art gallery in Old Montreal’, since it’s *very* different. You should go and check it out, they have good shows, and only charge an admission fee for some exhibitions.
mare, it’s not a museum though, so it’s a gallery. Unless we just call it a “space”?
I’ve been in it. I wasn’t especially planning to visit, but I was meandering around Old Montreal at some point before the pandemic (the Phi website says it was mid-2019) and saw signs for an exhibit by Yoko Ono, so I went in and looked around. I was confirmed, more or less, in my jaundiced opinion that Yoko Ono is not all that, but I got a look at the existing “space” which was fine.
Art gallery is a pretty broad term. My sense is that it usually refers to something quite small in scale, but there are actual museums that call themselves galleries (eg the Vancouver Art Gallery) even though it’s a bit of a misnomer (why would a gallery contain multiple galleries?).
In this case the most accurate term would be kunsthalle: a museum without a collection.
Also, thanks to this news I just discovered there is an exhibition of Stan Douglas’ photography on now. I love his stuff so I’ll go check that out soon!
The article in Le Devoir is a little confusing about the actual scope of the project. The new building will be located at St-Paul and Bonsecours, right across from the market, and it will include a new structure built on a vacant lot and the transformation of some existing historic buildings. (The international architectural competition required entrants to have experience in heritage conservation.) But it’s not clear what will happen to the existing Phi building at St-Paul/St-Pierre.
I quited ‘an art gallery in Old Montreal’, because that to me has a different ring to it. There are a lot of those, and a lot of them sell bad art to tourists, and they have someone sitting at a table who looks annoyed when I come in because it’s obvious I’m not a buyer.
mare, I so know what you mean.
Global looks into the complex preparations for Guy Lafleur’s national funeral to take place next week. They didn’t talk to the cathedral people, which would’ve been interesting, since this will be the highest profile Catholic mass here in a long time.
Blork 08:48 on 2022-04-29 Permalink
After reading three articles about this I still have no idea how it’s supposed to work, at least for people like me who live in “Zone B.”
“Zone B will cover Laval and Longueuil. A single ticket for Zones A and B will cost $5.25 and a monthly pass will cost $150.”
Does that single ticket $5.25 include the necessary ride on the Longueuil or Laval bus? (Presumably.) But what if you’re just riding from one place to another in Longueuil? Do you have to buy the $5.25 ticket? (Hopefully not.) But when you’re boarding a bus in Longueuil with the intention of going to Montreal, how do you specify you’re paying a $5.25 two-zone ticket and not a less expensive zone-B only ticket? Do you pay the bus driver? Do you need to have two ticket types on your Opus card? How do you tell the Opus reader which ticket to use? When you get to the Metro in Longueuil, how does the Metro know you already paid when you got on the bus in Longueuil?
Also: my monthly passes were $150 before the pandemic. Under the new system it sounds like it will still be $150, yet the articles keep telling me I’ll be saving money. FFS!
James 09:30 on 2022-04-29 Permalink
I just received by new OPUS card in the mail (OPUS à l’année). I pay $85.50 per month right now. Apparently the new Zone A card that I received is good for all bus, metro, and adapted transport from the STM and also the REM and commuter trains within the island of Montreal. So if the new price is $94 starting in July this is $10 extra to add commuter trains (which I never take) and the REM (which isn’t open yet). With hybrid working, you will need to go to work at least 14 times a month before the monthly pass at 85$ starts saving you money (compared to a 10-trip ticket at $3 per trip). If it went up to $94 then it would be 16 days a month at the office.
Monthly pass looking very marginal…
James 10:22 on 2022-04-29 Permalink
Blork: You can refer to this document: https://www.artm.quebec/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Grille-tarifaire_TR_2022-2023.pdf
Zone B only : $3.50 (1 trip) / $105 (monthly)
Zone AB : $5.25 (1-trip) / $150 (monthly)
If you had an OPUS card with both B and AB fares loaded and you took a bus in Longueuil and then entered the metro it is likely that you would be charged two times: the B fare on the bus then the AB fare on the metro.
The solution would be to have two different OPUS cards each with different fares. If you are travelling only within zone B use the OPUS-B and if you were travelling to zone A, use the OPUS-AB for both validations (bus and metro).
MarcG 10:35 on 2022-04-29 Permalink
Sounds like simplification has been achieved!
Uatu 10:51 on 2022-04-29 Permalink
Oh yay. 184$. For a longer commute. And even longer if I’m working weekends or evenings. So great. What an improvement in my life. All you public transport wonks who are forcing me to use the REM and charging me more can go fuck yourselves
Blork 15:47 on 2022-04-29 Permalink
Thanks James. But as MarcG points out (I assume sarcastically) “simplification achieved!”
As in: not. Needing two juggle Opus cards, and needing to keep track of which is which, and which needs refills and how, etc.? Nope.
Tim S. 20:25 on 2022-04-29 Permalink
So a round trip from a South Shore residence to the city will cost 17$. This will reduce car use how?