Mayor Plante has denied that she’s responsible for killing off the Metro Media papers, but the owner says the closure is largely due to Plante’s ban on the Publi‑Sac.
Updates from August, 2023 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
A sometime teacher and basketball coach was sentenced to eight years Tuesday for sexual abuse of five girls. He’s already served two of those years, but at least he’s under a 20‑year ban on being anywhere around kids, whether as a teacher or anything else.
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Kate
Excellent Globe and Mail piece (Frédérik-Xavier Duhamel is doing good work about Montreal for them) examines how the city dropped fire safety charges against the landlord in the Place d’Youville fire, ten years before the building went up in flames.
The explanation here is both clear and murky. Why did the city fire service “stop investigating infractions involving evacuation routes and alarm systems on the grounds that bylaw officers could not provide sufficient evidence to enforce safety rules”? How could fire prevention be handwaved in such a blasé manner in a city filled with tindery older buildings?
The piece also looks briefly at court cases still to come, concerning that fire on Place d’Youville. The landlord is clearly at fault, but so is the city.
Ian
Call me cynical, but I suspect th answer is probably in a plain brown envelope… or at least was.
Given the example of Sue Montgomery we know how the non-elected city functionaries that actually award contracts work, and how nervous city administration is about crossing them.dwgs
Ian said exactly what I was thinking.
Meezly
I’d call myself cynical and that was also my first thought. It’s not merely neglect and incompetence. Why does the article merely hint at it and not say it out loud? B-r-i-b-e-r-y spells corruption! Is it because the investigation is still ongoing and good journalism dictates to not jump to conclusions until there’s solid evidence?
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Kate
The South Shore building known as the Complexe Bell, where the Canadiens practice, will now be called the CN Sports Complex because for some reason the railway is now involved.
Josh
Presumably it’s just a straight naming-rights deal, like with so many other sports facilities.
Kate
I was hoping they’d get the players to repair trains in their downtime.
Do the Canadiens even take a train to Toronto if they’re playing there? I’ve seen photos of people like Maurice Richard on trains, but I imagine they only fly these days.
Joey
I suspect they would take a bus to Ottawa, but everywhere else is probably a flight.
Meezly
If it’s due to CN being a financial sponsor, they’ve really got their priorities wrong. Safety regulations are still falling short 10 years after the Lac Megantic disaster and the railway continues to cut through the downtown core (residents implored the powers-that-be to reroute it).
mare
They’re going to rebuilt Windsor Railway station there for the High-ish Speed Train.
Anton
But it’s CP tracks!
Meezly
oops. At least it’s an improvement over Bell?
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Kate
A parking lot on Durocher downtown will become a new student housing building by 2027.
Ian
Hopefully this doesn’t turn into another îlot voyageur. It boggles the mind that most of that block is still unused. Does anyone here know if there are plans afoot to build on that space?
Kate
There was a piece earlier this month on TVA about the group that’s meant to build there. They want a derogation on the maximum height. Not seen anything else about it lately.
Ian
Ah, right. I remember now there was a discussion about it here.
Anyhow, good to see valuable downtown space getting put to good use.
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Kate
Montreal’s management of water needs work, according to a new report. We still waste too much drinking water, we still throw too many pollutants into the river, the system can’t cope well with a downpour, and the city can’t afford to fix all this at the same time. City hall is asking residents what their priorities are, and would they accept a new tax to fund the necessary upgrades?
Ephraim
How about instead of a new tax, we actually increase efficiency at the city… you know, like make more money off of temporary no parking zones by making them post the permit taped to the back, so we can see that it was paid for, how much of a zone they have and for how long? I’m sure the taxes and fines collected on illegal “no parking” signs as well as other such efficiencies in the system can pay for a LOT of things.
mare
Umm, water meters?
/runs
Kate
The mayor is talking about a tax on private swimming pools, although I don’t know how many there are in Montreal proper, as opposed to the suburbs, and whether this would make much difference. In that piece she rules out water meters everywhere, sidestepping one of the issues that brought down the Tremblay administration.
DeWolf
@Kate Pools are everywhere in the inner suburbs, and even dense areas have a surprising number of pools. Take a look at this row of triplexes in Rosemont on Street View, then switch over to satellite imagery – you’d never guess there were 11 backyard pools right around there, including a couple of very large in-ground ones:
Michael
Instead of increasing taxes, why don’t we fire some city workers or do a hiring freeze.
They already jacked up the tax rates everywhere.
It’s always more money with these clowns.
CE
What is your plan for who will do the jobs that those employees are currently doing?
Mozai
I’ve been wasting and using less drinking water since the city warned us there’s too much lead in the water we get from the city. *shrug*
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Kate
There’s a Gazette piece Tuesday by Brendan Kelly about Pointe‑Claire Village and once again the smugness of trying to spoil it: “neighbourhoods Montrealers don’t want tourists to know about.” Why is the Gazette so cringe?
Ian
Pointe-Claire Village is already hopelessly twee, it is hard to imagine tourists making it worse.
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Kate
It isn’t a new story that the CSSDM is keen to evict community groups from their spaces in disused school buildings, but the problem is growing more acute now that rent elsewhere has become unaffordable. Groups that provide daycare, activities for the elderly, food banks and other unglamorous but necessary services are likely to have to cease activity.
Ephraim
The CSSDM doesn’t do proper upkeep on the buildings in the first place. Didn’t the province just have to pay to “rescue” a few of their buildings from disrepair because they siphoned the money into other expenses (like trips)
dhomas 00:58 on 2023-08-16 Permalink
I never once received an issue of Metro newspaper in the publi-sac. I didn’t even know this was a thing. I did get the Flambeau d’Anjou in my publi-sac. Upon digging a little bit, it looks like that newspaper was being published by Metro Media for at least the last few years. The paper itself claimed it had been in operation since the 50’s.
Daisy 06:58 on 2023-08-16 Permalink
I don’t think it was the Metro itself; it was the neighbourhood papers that had at some point become affiliated with Metro, e.g. le Messager de Verdun or whatever it was calling itself at the end. We certainly got those in our Public-Sac.
steph 08:04 on 2023-08-16 Permalink
If that’s so, the end of the neighbourhood papers is much bigger news.
MarcG 08:47 on 2023-08-16 Permalink
I wonder how much the C-18 Online News Act had to do with this. The one-two punch of losing a ton of physical and digital eyes at the same time.
Daisy 10:35 on 2023-08-16 Permalink
The linked article does mention “more than 30 hyperlocal publications, including 17 print newspapers” though doesn’t talk about potential impact of this loss, including coverage of borough council meetings and other more neighbourhood level issues.
Kevin 12:44 on 2023-08-16 Permalink
MarcG
Facebook and Twitter provide very few clickthroughs to local media sites.
Kate 12:58 on 2023-08-16 Permalink
There’s a history to be written about Montreal’s local papers and their fates. I remember when people were shaken up about the collapse of the Monitor and the West Island Chronicle, which had been publishing for decades. Most of the weeklies were bought out by Transcontinental, then scooped up by Metro, because TC didn’t have much idea what to do with them.
The old printed papers used to make money with their classified ads and official notices, besides display ads from local businesses. Those old sources of revenue are all gone now.