The city launched a project for winter entertainment on Tuesday, promising illuminations, shows, art exhibits and festivals. Seems to mostly be about bringing more people downtown. Ah, there it is: the Chamber of Commerce’s part in the fuss is called “J’aime travailler au centre‑ville”!
Updates from November, 2022 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
-
Kate
-
Kate
A man is in critical condition after a stabbing in a bar in an area TVA calls “le quartier Saint‑Paul” but I would’ve described as St‑Henri (corner of St‑Jacques and St‑Philippe, all these saints!), early Wednesday.
Ephraim
Fake saints… Philippe Turcot (who was married to Marguerite Arcouet and guess what street is named after her!) and Jean-Jacques Olier de Verneuil or Jacques Archambault. The church St Henri was named after Fr. Henri-Auguste Roux and likely the neighbourhood after the church. Nope, no saints at all
Kate
You’ve said that before, Ephraim, but it’s not fake. There was a tradition that you couldn’t name a place after a person, but you could name it after their patron saint. Classic example, Saint Helen’s Island was named after Samuel de Champlain’s child bride Hélène Boullé. She wasn’t a saint but there was a Saint Helen she was named for.
Had this tradition continued, we wouldn’t have a Boulevard Robert‑Bourassa, for instance, but a Boulevard Saint‑Robert. And so on.
Curious footnote, nobody knows for sure who the Catherine was for whom Ste‑Catherine Street is named.
MarcG
If that corner’s not in St-Henri nothing is.
carswell
Have heard — though only once, so it’s probably not true — that the street was named Ste-Catherine because it was to encircle the island or part of it. Per Catholic tradition, St. Catherine of Alexandria was to be martyred on a spiked wheel that shattered at her touch (she was beheaded instead). She’s often depicted with a wheel, and the association survives in modern English in “Catherine wheel,” a pinwheel firework.
Ephraim
It is fake in that it’s not named after the saint. They just added the St or Ste even if it wasn’t the name of a saint at all. And it’s not just Ste-Catherine, there are others, including St-Dominique. And the only other street really named after a Saint in Old Montreal, St-Francois-Xavier is because François Dollier de Casson wasn’t allowed to name a street after himself/his patron saint, St-Francois.
Ian
I was under the impression that Côte-St-Paul only began west of Courcelles?
-
Kate
Video showing a vehicle striking a baby stroller then speeding away has led to an investigation by police. The incident happened last week in Outremont and neither the baby nor the woman pushing the stroller were hurt.
The Journal has the brief video clip, but you have to watch a commercial.
I’m wondering whether the woman was visibly Hasidic, and whether there was any hate crime aspect to the act.
Update: Le Devoir’s headline writer called the incident a collision between a vehicle and a stroller which is so wrong.
walkerp
It really looks like it was done on purpose in the video, which seems insane even to me who is rabidly anti-car. I want to believe that it was a reflexive error, like accidently pressing on the gas instead of the brake and then the person panicked and took off. Even the latter is unexcusable but for someone to actively try and run over a baby carriage seems crazy even for Montreal driver standards (and the innate sociopathy of car driving).
bumper carz
As a tall cyclist on a sit-up bike, I see lots of drivers “staring at their laps” at red lights.
If one wants to stare at one’s cell while driving, just keep it on your lap. No one will ever know!
The perfect crime.
Joey
The leading hypothesis has got to be that this was a hate crime.
Mark Côté
I actually saw a cop driving slowly beside the turning lane from St-Jacques to Cavendish clearly looking for drivers on their phones. I also know someone who got a ticket, with demerit points, for exactly that.
Ian
This is my neighbourhood. Safe to say that a lady with a stroller and a big black SUV are both likely Hassidic … the underlying drama may never become public.
CE
Where is this hypothesis coming from @Joey?
-
Kate
Ahuntsic borough was planning to shut down a venerable bocce club because renting the building was getting too expensive, but now the ball is in Ensemble’s court for two neighbouring boroughs, controlled by that party, to chip in. It’s mostly very old people who play this game, especially indoors.
-
Kate
Attacked in city council for rising costs, the mayor and her deputy both agreed it’s a problem, but Mayor Plante pointed out that costs for the REM and the renovation of the tunnel – neither of them city projects – are also rising. Sortez de votre bulle et regardez la réalité économique actuelle, Plante responded to the challenge.
Anyone who’s been buying food lately would have to sadly agree with her.
M
That point is right on. But I do think there’s a severe lack of oversight on projects large and small up and down the administrative spine. A lot of that is just a result of too few people hired to verify whether various in-house and external hires are delivering what they are billing for.
I suspect we’ve all heard stories.
For example, the city orders a new vehicle of some sort or the repair of an existing vehicle. The workers given the order to replace a part or buy a new vehicle aren’t given a spending limit so they buy the most costly parts. Or they’re given a work order to contract out some repair but there’s no one whose job it is to verify that the contractor did what he billed for, except unless one of the workers happens to catch it and raises a flag about it.
the city and province too often strike me as large businesses that used to have social value but where people have lost the point of it all and are quietly quitting
-
Kate
Ensemble has got a story about STM buses being late into most of our media this week. As is typical of Ensemble, they don’t suggest any material solutions, they merely complain.
Don’t assume I don’t think Projet needs opposition. But it would be better for Projet and for the city if the opposition were more constructively critical, rather than merely finding details to pick at from time to time. We need more creative thinkers on council, not people who simply make lists of weak spots to poke at.
Thomas
I saw this story somewhere, but didn’t realize it was being planted by Ensemble.
Having recently sold my car and returned to a life of full-on Montreal urbanism, I can say that a late bus — with no indication of when or if it will arrive — really does leave you feeling completely helpless. Real-time information isn’t always available, so you find yourself wondering if it was really early or if it’s just really late. Who knows?
I live three stops away from the terminus of bus route where the possibility of getting off schedule shouldn’t really exist (so early in the route), but I’ve noticed some drivers will take a cheeky extra 7 or 8 minute break at the terminus and then do 65 km/h in a 40 km/h zone until they get back on schedule. Montreal, am I right? 😉
But it seems to me that people who think transit isn’t good enough would be more likely to vote Projet Montréal, so I’m not sure about this strategy by Ensemble.
Daniel D
Remember when Coderre cut the STM budget leading to reduced services, increased fares and a stagnation in ridership for the first time in decades? I do, because I would stand at bus stops in the cold with my two-year-old waiting for buses which never came.
Ensemble have some nerve. It saddens me our local publications will repeat this without much in the way of critical analysis.
DeWolf
A massive decrease in bus reliability over the past year is definitely worth highlighting and I hope all this media attention leads to some change. Bus service has been bad in Montreal for a decade now.
Of course, the reason it’s bad is because Coderre slashed services in 2013, and he’d probably be doing the same now if he had won the election. So Ensemble can take a hike.
I’d also be happy to have a real opposition that proposes solutions instead of making cheap shots. Unfortunately, that’s not what we have, because Ensemble is a sad husk of a party filled with failed opportunists who hitched their wagon to Coderre, 20th century relics who want to govern Montreal like a third-tier suburb, and suburban mayors looking to protect their little fiefdoms.
Ian
Another angle worth considering is that while yes, Ensemble should try to be more constructive, blaming Coderre entirely for today’s bad bus service is a bit rich.
Plante has been on council since 2013 and PM has been in control since 2017… There are lots of factors sure, but PM can’t be simply let off the hook because you like Plante’s brand of rule by fiat better than Coderre’s.
Daniel D
Fair point Ian. I definitely wasn’t intending to let PM off the hook! There’s a lot of room for improvement under the current administration. It just riles me that the framing of the story doesn’t cover the full history.
JudyT
As a Texan who “summers” in your marvelous city, I can say that the difference between 2019 (the last time we were there) and this summer was a pretty shocking decline in timeliness and overall service. The many detours meant I never really knew where we would end up and as one person mentioned, still the problem of ‘did I miss it or is it late?’ persists. Add to that no escalator at Mont Royal metro and it was generally more difficult this summer. I don’t know the ins and outs of STM but it surprises me that a GPS is not a standard feature on all buses.
Chris
Something like half the STM’s revenue came from ridership fees, which are down significant since covid. Worse service upon reduced revenue is exactly what you’d expect.
shawn
Judy, GPS is a standard feature — or at least we all have access to apps that give real-time bus positions and ETAs. I haven’t bothered to check the posted schedule in years.
CE
I’m normally a big booster of the STM and public transit but since I’ve started taking the bus and metro again this year, I’ve been pretty unimpressed by the service, especially on the buses. I think we all understand that, yes, there are reasons that service is reduced but we don’t have to like or accept it.
DeWolf
@Ian, the Plante administration is certainly not blameless. After coming into power, they focused their efforts on improving metro service, but they seemed to think that bus service could wait until the 300 new buses they ordered in 2018 arrived a few years later. It should have been made more of a priority.
Their biggest mistake was maintaining STM services at full levels when ridership bottomed out in 2020 and 2021. But it would have been hard to justify any cuts politically, because it would have meant essential workers waiting longer for transit and travelling in more crowded vehicles. In hindsight, cutting service temporarily would have saved the STM from the giant hole it’s in now. But hindsight is 20/20.
@JudyT, you’ll be happy to know the Mont-Royal escalators are back up and running, along with the new elevator.
-
Kate
One in five Montrealers has to devote 80% of their income to rent.
thomas
Doesn’t that seem high? My reading of the report is that 20% of low income population spends 80% on accommodation. For the general population the figure is 5%.
Joey
@thomas yeah the headline implies that 20% of all Montrealers spend 80% of their income on rent, not 20% of those considered in ‘low income’…
EmilyG
I remember living in an apartment where rent was inexpensive, but I still had to spend most of my money on rent.
Kate
Journalists are having trouble with this story. TVA has a headline saying 71% of low‑income people have unaffordable rent in Montreal without defining “low‑income” or “affordable”.
Mark Côté
The study itself (which is online) defines “faible revenu” as “selon le critère de mesure de faible revenu (MFR) de Statistique Canada lorsque le revenu de son ménage correspond à 50 % ou moins de la médiane des revenus ajustés des ménages de la zone géographique concernée.” 20% of those folks pay more than 80% of their income in rent. If I understand correctly, 71% of low-income people pay more than 30% of their income in rent, which compares to 12% of the overall population.
-
Kate
The dissatisfaction of the union at Notre‑Dame‑des‑Neiges cemetery isn’t a new story, but now the workers have voted for a general strike.
-
Kate
The STM has transformed a rather nice little Victorian house on Towers Street into a ventilation shaft for the metro. Interesting details about how and why it was done.
Are there any other houses in town that aren’t houses, but are disguised metro or utility properties? There’s this building near Jean‑Talon metro, but it’s not exactly pretending to be a house.
I recall noticing a structure somewhere on a residential street in Villeray that seemed to be an electrical substation disguised as a house, but can’t think where it is.
walkerp
That is really neat. Crazy that they had to go through 364 layers of paint to find the original door colour! I know this is nothing compared to Europe, but it is still cool that we live in a city with some history and some will to preserve that history. If this were Vancouver, that building would have been gone decades ago.
Kate
I know! But I love how this kind of work preserves the cityscape.
-
Kate
The inquiry has begun into the drowning death of firefighter Pierre Lacroix last year, in which two inexperienced boaters were plucked from the hazards of the Lachine Rapids while Lacroix’s rescue boat sank.
walkerp
Really, really sad. I’ll never understand the absence of mind to not respect the water. Do not go out there if you don’t know what you are doing. But that being said, it was news to me that the Fire Department boat collided with the other boat. It’s possible that the firefighters went out without the proper training as well (though could also be just that trying any kind of rescue in that water is inherently high-risk for anybody).
Kate
So many stupid moves there. Inexperienced boaters, dangerous part of the river, end of the day with the light going.
-
Kate
A report by an ad hoc committee at city hall has recommended not restoring the John A. Macdonald statue that was toppled from its plinth in Place du Canada in August 2020. Some other form of memorial is suggested but not in any detail.
-
Kate
Quebec has handed off half a million dollars to support Christmas markets in the Quartier des Spectacles and at Jean‑Talon and Atwater markets.
jeather
Secular winter markets, surely.
Kate
Ding.
-
Kate
The CSSDM is preparing to sell seven school buildings, located in Rosemont, Ahuntsic, St‑Michel and the Plateau. Some of them have been used for years by community groups, despite the age and decrepitude of the buildings in many cases. These groups will have difficulty finding other spaces to rent that they can afford.
There’s still too much lead in the water fountains in schools still operating, for example.
Update: The city wants Quebec to guarantee that community groups have somewhere affordable to go before the CSSDM turfs them out.
Ephraim
What I don’t understand is that they ran to the Quebec government for extra money because they didn’t spend enough on maintenance and had buildings falling apart. And yet, they get to sell these and keep the money? Maybe we should separate the two functions? The school buildings and maintenance should be owned by the Quebec government or a non-profit government agency and the schools simply pay for the service. And when they need new schools and/or no longer using them, the government can let other school boards use them or sell them. Because it’s clear that they can’t manage their property portfolio correctly.
Kate
It would be good if Quebec bought at least some of these buildings and rented out pieces for the community groups, but the issue would be whether they really should be occupied and used without expensive upgrades and improvements.
Mark Côté
The Quebec government forcibly took two schools in the east end from the EMSB and gave them to the CSSDM just a few years ago…
Meezly
That’s the CAQ for ya. Protecting the French language by into pushing laws that infringe on minority rights, but don’t seem to give AF when it comes to properly investing in public French education for future generations.
Ephraim
What I’m saying is that maybe there should be a body that owns the schools and rents them to them, with maintenance included. But also has the responsibility of building new schools when needed as well as the responsibility to sell unneeded buildings. The school boards don’t seem to be able to take care of them and call on the government to rescue them, but then sell them and keep the money. They are stealing from both sides of the equation.
Kate
There’s certainly a case to be made that the school boards (and now “service centres”) have never looked after the buildings properly. Ephraim, I think you’re right. Managing and directing schools and education should be separate from maintaining buildings – they’re entirely different skill sets – but I don’t think it’s the kind of idea that Quebec would go for.
-
Kate
Notre-Dame hospital is serving up free hot meals in its cafeteria. The item – English and French versions of the same Radio‑Canada story – says it’s for newcomers and the homeless, but I assume anyone hungry enough for hospital food will be welcome.
-
Kate
Headdresses from around the world are the new exhibit at Pointe‑à‑Callière museum. A few examples are shown on the museum site.
Kevin 18:54 on 2022-11-23 Permalink
The crazy part is that in terms of foot traffic, Montreal is by far doing the best of any big city in Canada.
Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto — all are seeing half of the numbers they were seeing pre-pandemic.
JaneyB 09:08 on 2022-11-24 Permalink
@Kevin – that’s interesting. Still, feet are good but they should be dancing! Also, we need more acrobat time. Maybe some feux-de-joie along Ste-Cat too.
Ian 12:04 on 2022-11-24 Permalink
Ah good, solving the problem with clowns.