Radio-Canada has a preview of Royalmount, where the commercial elements are expected to open this summer. TMR is still blocking the request for a zoning change to allow for residential development, but even if this did change, Carbonleo has no intention of including any social housing in the vast project. There’s also mention of eventual office towers, although at this stage, is there any point?
Updates from January, 2024 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
A Radio-Canada journalist followed two people working for different groups trying to solve the issue of indigenous itinerance around Milton-Park. But there’s not going to be a permanent shelter there until at least 2027.
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Kate
Bloc head Yves-François Blanchet says Montreal is awful because it’s so multilingual and mixed‑up and that it should be one culture, one nation with the rest of Quebec. He’s determined to make us all into Bloc voters.
carswell
Remember the slogan La fierté a une ville : Montréal?
Am beginning to think it needs an update: L’intolérence a une province : le Québec
Chris
Sure, paint the whole province as agreeing with one politician. Just like how all Palestinians agree with Hamas, am I right?
carswell
As much as I enjoy triggering them, I normally ignore posters who assume the worst about other posters (and often put words in their mouths) and whom I suspect are trolls. But I’ll make an exception this one time: It’s not just one politician. It’s at least two and possibly four of Quebec’s major political parties and a large chunk of self-proclaimed nationalists whose message to anglos and allos is either “your community has no right to exist” or, among the less radical, simply “Tais-toi et sois belle.”
Kate
Chris, it’s Blanchet in that article who sees the rest of Quebec as a single unified culture – not the CP writer, and not me.
Chris
Kate, my comment was to carswell. Yes, Blanchet is guilty of that, as you say. Of course, that’s not mutually exclusive to my point.
carswell, indeed, it’s not just one politician, it’s many; but it’s also far from everyone in Quebec thinking this way. What words did I put in your mouth? You said “L’intolérence a une province : le Québec”. To continue my analogy, what you would think of the slogan “Antisemitism has a state: Palestine”? After all, it’s not just one Palestinian politician that thinks that way, it’s many. Perhaps it was not your intention, but your comment, read straightforwardly, is sweepingly broad and denigrating to many.
Ian
The problem here is that Blanchet does really presume to speak for all of “real” Quebec.
Uatu
I don’t care. Now what is the policy for solving ER waiting times and the family doctor shortage from the Bloc?
PatrickC
“Bloc head”: nice one!
Kevin
Montreal is for the people who live there.
People who move to the regions have chosen not to have a say in how Montrealers live.
Ephraim
There is a way to fix this… just like SIngapore, we could go for an independent Montreal. Because he’s admitting that we have a different culture and language… all the reasons for independence 😀
Kate
Ephraim, you must know that since the PQ first came to power, there have been sporadic calls for Montreal to become its own city‑state. Nothing makes a dyed‑in‑the‑wool Quebec nationalist angrier than this suggestion.
carswell
Correct me if I’m wrong but, alarmed by all the talk about a Montreal city-state around the time of the 1980 referendum, the PQ government quickly passed legislation making such an outcome illegal and putting municipalities completely under the province’s thumb.
Ian
During the last referendum I was going around saying that not only should Montreal separate but all the boroughs should become citys-states like pre-unification Italy. One “oui” guy got so mad he sputtered through his beer “You can’t just break up a country like that!”
Ephraim
@Kate – Then they should know better than to point out that Quebec’s culture, language and even religion and Montreal’s culture, language and religious beliefs differ from the rest of Quebec. Because if it is… we have a clear reason and right to leave.
Ian
Good luck getting any of the federal parties to support it, though. Their cowardice in the face of Québec nationalism is remarkable.
Montreal isn’t Singapore, it’s Macau at best. We’re only allowed to exist until we become inconvenient, and the rest of the world will whistle and walk away when the larger political body takes over becasue they are scared of having any backlash.
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Kate
La Presse’s Mayssa Ferah examines a rather anodyne case that nonetheless focuses on an issue of police discretion. In 2021, a cop saw a man urinating in an alley, and went to question him. The cop tries to restrain him, throwing him to the ground and injuring him. Ferah talks to a retired cop who observes that the attitude shown by a person stopped by police is a factor in such a situation, but although he admits the police have discretion, he stops short of suggesting that they use common sense concerning the relative seriousness of an action before hospitalizing someone over taking a leak.
The cop in this case won’t be disciplined.
Ian
Most cops won’t take a crack at you for pissing in an alley but many will for having a smart mouth. And they’ll get away with it, too.
carswell 21:48 on 2024-01-14 Permalink
Depuis le début de notre mandat, nous avons précisé notre position concernant l’ajout d’une composante résidentielle au projet commercial Royalmount et avons maintenu qu’il n’y aurait pas de changement au zonage actuel qui ne permet pas l’ajout d’une composante résidentielle au projet commercial existant, a soutenu le maire de Mont-Royal, Peter J. Malouf.
Malouf, who claims the election that put him in office was a referendum on the issue, is echoing popular sentiment in the Town, whose citizens are wary of the current project (largely concerns about increased traffic) and strongly opposed to any residential component (traffic concerns again but also a fear that Town services, such as their woefully outdated recreation centre and always busy library, will be overwhelmed).
IIRC, former mayor Roy wasn’t opposed to having some housing on the site and argued that people who chose to live there would not have much use for these services but he was pretty much shouted down and so aggressively insulted/threatened that he decided to abandon politics (way to go, social media!).
If the Town continues to resist, Quebec City needs to get involved, either behind the scenes (e.g. “You want a provincial grant for a new recreation centre or don’t you?”) or through legislation imposing the required zoning changes if that’s legally possible (anybody know?).
steph 22:36 on 2024-01-14 Permalink
It’s 100% possible for Quebec to just redraw boundary lines of municipalities. Quebec could technically take the entirety of Royal-Mount away from Mont-Royal with the stroke of the pen.
Does anyone know the outcome of the south shore cities that sued the province for taking away some of their land? Châteauguay, St-Isidore, St-Constant and Ste-Catherine launched the lawsuit in 2013. Their boundaries were redrawn to follow the A30 highway, handing over the land on the far side of the highway to Kahnawake. Boohoo.
js 00:15 on 2024-01-15 Permalink
“Carbonleo a également investi 20 millions de dollars pour ajouter deux voies au chemin de la Côte-de-Liesse pour faciliter l’accès en automobile.”
That’s nice for shoppers coming directly from the airport, but I invite anyone reading this to ask google to show them how to get to the entrance to this place (any of the possible ones) from where they are by car. Keep in mind that traffic on Royalmount, Devonshire, and whatever the service road is called in front of where Carbonleo’s new two lanes of Cote de Liesse will descend is dominated by lumbering eighteen wheelers going to and coming from the Dollarama distribution centres next door.
Although I admit to looking forward to the aquarium.
JP 00:39 on 2024-01-15 Permalink
I literally work next door… at the corner of Decarie and Royalmount. I don’t have anything helpful to add to the discussion except that I am NOT looking forward to the opening of this place.. more office buildings??? A good chunk of our building is vacant….
Yeah, the aquarium might be fun for a visit or 2.
Also, and I know this isn’t the right place to kvetch about this, but traffic is already….difficult there…how it will be when this opens…I have no idea but I’m not looking forward to it.
jeather 10:45 on 2024-01-15 Permalink
I work nearby, and I am not sure how much it might affect my traffic patterns (bus or car), but I wouldn’t mind slightly better food options if it offers any. I’m curious about the actual interest in Louis Vuitton and Chanel etc.
Ephraim 11:18 on 2024-01-15 Permalink
I wish that Montreal simply had the guts to refuse access to Cote-de-Liesse and Decarie and required all traffic to be routed via TMR streets, de la Savane and Devonshire. The connections, entrances and exits for the 15 and 40 in the area are already difficult and dangerous. You add more traffic, you should be responsible for paying for the roads too.
carswell 12:10 on 2024-01-15 Permalink
@steph Threatening to redraw the town borders and handing Royalmount and maybe the entire TMR industrial park to Montreal would certainly get the town’s attention and, one way or another, produce the desired result. “Nice town you have here. Be a shame if something happened to it, eh?”
Uatu 13:24 on 2024-01-15 Permalink
Really interesting to see office towers because last night 60 Minutes had a story of how office space in downtown New York has become emptied and practically useless. Maybe it’ll work here since it’s closer to residential areas, but it probably would be half the size of what they pictured if they want a decent ROI.
Like I said before I’m just waiting for the giant arcade/indoor surfing/rock climbing wall/year round skating rink etc. to show up when the boutiques close because there’s only so much designer junk you can sell to a small group of super bougie clientele who can afford it.
Ian 20:13 on 2024-01-15 Permalink
Considering how badly just having the Rockland Plaza where it is affected the access to Acadie from Cote de Liesse with everyone trying to cut across 3 lanes I can only imagine what a poop storm Royalmount will be. Even now it’s best to completely avoid the 15/40 any time even vaguely approaching peak hours.
Why, it’s almost as if TMR doesn’t actually care /s
bob 14:42 on 2024-01-16 Permalink
i think this thing is going to fail hard, and we’ll be left with nothing but a set for dystopian movies. It’ll be like Man and his World ca. 1985.
Chase 09:53 on 2024-01-17 Permalink
“….but I wouldn’t mind slightly better food options if it offers any.”
This is very promising, a Sammi Soup will be opening at RM.
https://www.sammisoupedumpling.ca/restaurants