Updates from March, 2024 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Kate 17:00 on 2024-03-28 Permalink | Reply  

    The orange line is down at rush hour between Bonaventure and Henri‑Bourassa, expected back at 17:30 with luck. Medical emergency.

    Update: Pushed to 18:15.

    Update: It came back slowly after 18:15. La Presse reports on the incident with the snappy headline “Une panne de métro et Jésus compliquent le retour à la maison”. A crucifix on a vehicle got stuck under a Rosemont overpass.

     
    • DisgruntledGoat 18:27 on 2024-03-28 Permalink

      Code 904 for a suicide attempt at Beaubien, sadly

    • JP 20:50 on 2024-03-28 Permalink

      There’s another code 904 on the orange line just now, 8:45 pm. Seems to be at du College.

  • Kate 16:47 on 2024-03-28 Permalink | Reply  

    A South Shore woman is facing multiple charges of promoting and inciting hatred after she allegedly spraypainted swastikas on businesses and institutions in the Chateauguay area. Whether she’s disturbed or just nasty, we aren’t told.

     
    • bob 17:33 on 2024-03-28 Permalink

      Why not both? But this seems a little random. That tag on the A&W in the linked article has an odd vibe for a purported purveyor of hate. She seems to have a Facebook account but the last post was in 2015.

  • Kate 16:43 on 2024-03-28 Permalink | Reply  

    The CAQ, the PQ and QS are all condemning Justin Trudeau’s plan to protect tenants.

    I do so love paying federal taxes but having federal benefits blocked by Quebec’s nationalist parties. It makes me feel warm all over.

     
    • Ian 18:39 on 2024-03-28 Permalink

      Wait until you hear about the duplication of federal services with national offices. It’s a byzantine cash spigot that has no turn-off valve.

      But hey, people hear English downtown, Quebec’s culture will collapse if we let those dirty federalists tell us what to do.

    • Loyo 19:54 on 2024-03-28 Permalink

      Contrary to federalism rules as clearly provincial jurisdiction per S. 92(13) of Canada Act, 1867 (aka BNA Act).

    • Kate 20:03 on 2024-03-28 Permalink

      You know what, Loyo? I don’t give a shit. If we can get better treatment from the feds on housing or healthcare why shouldn’t we? We’re actually still in Canada even if CAQ policy has always been to simply proceed as if Quebec’s a separate republic. Je m’en fous de “jurisdiction”!

      I’m actually happy that the feds have noticed that the provinces have fumbled housing and that people are falling into homelessness and suffering. Would I rather have a place to live, or sleep in a cardboard box safe in the knowledge that S. 92(13) of Canada Act, 1867 has been respected?

    • Kevin 08:44 on 2024-03-29 Permalink

      It’s a failure of our education systems, but the vast majority of Canadians are completely unaware that there are provincial and federal jurisdictions of responsibilities.

      People just want stuff to work.

    • Tim S. 08:54 on 2024-03-29 Permalink

      Yes, sooner enough the various nationalist politicians will have to explain why other Canadians can get contraception and diabetes medications for free but we can’t. There’s a populist argument to be made that the interests of the political class in defending jurisdiction are not necessarily the interests of the people. I just hope someone on the left gets there before Duhaime.

    • Meezly 11:21 on 2024-03-29 Permalink

      That’s not exactly true. According to the CTV article, It was CAQ who quickly condemned Trudeau’s new tenant protection plan while the PQ and QS are targeting Legault for letting the feds interfere in the first place (which strategically makes sense for the opposition). Also the PQ wanted more details before they take a clear position, which actually sounds quite reasonable, unlike the CAQ’s reactionary stance.

    • Joey 13:45 on 2024-03-29 Permalink

      Meezly, I think you are giving the CAQ too much credit on this one; they clearly are opposed to Trudeau’s plan (otherwise they would have included elements of it in their own housing reform). The idea that Legault’s “study” of the LPC proposal will lead him to conclude anything other than “Ottawa should F off and send us money while we do nothing” is preposterous. Sad that the only level of gov’t that sees protecting tenants as a vote-getting issue is the one that, despite the grumbling here, has no jurisdiction to do very much. Kate may not give a shit, but the courts eventually will.

    • Kate 13:56 on 2024-03-29 Permalink

      Joey, I’m just fed up with watching the provincial and federal governments waste our time and money in sparring, duplicating efforts and playing stupid games. Maybe I shouldn’t have said I don’t give a shit – but when the feds say “We’re going to do something beneficial for you” and Quebec says “Not on our watch, you don’t” it wears me down.

    • steph 17:07 on 2024-03-29 Permalink

      Is credit scores linked to rent payments actually a good thing? There’s no “credit” in the transaction as tenants pay rent at the beginning of the month.

    • Blork 18:03 on 2024-03-29 Permalink

      @steph, there is still “credit” in a more abstract sense, in that if you don’t pay the rent on the first day of the month you are not automatically ejected out of the apartment. Besides that, the idea (AFAIK) is that a credit score is a score of reliability for meeting financial obligations. So paying your rent always, and on time, should affect your score as someone who reliably meets their obligations.

    • Meezly 09:43 on 2024-03-30 Permalink

      @Joey, I kind of bungled my second sentence there, but I didn’t give the CAQ any credit at all on their quick, reactionary position. Kate wrote that the CAQ, the PQ and QS all condemned Justin Trudeau’s plan to protect tenants, when it was just the CAQ that did so.
      And I agree with the PQ and QS – even though their blaming Legault was likely also a political strategy, if Legault had put in place a law that actually helped protect tenants properly, the feds wouldn’t be interfering in the first place.

  • Kate 11:11 on 2024-03-28 Permalink | Reply  

    Here’s the open and closed for the thoroughly nonreligious holiday weekend of Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. Oh, and today’s Holy Thursday, too.

     
    • Kate 10:29 on 2024-03-28 Permalink | Reply  

      Sales are still down at the SAQ, as the populace continues to face hard times inconceivably sober.

       
      • MarcG 11:21 on 2024-03-28 Permalink

        I quit drinking on Jan 1st and it’s done me nothing but good. Here’s a book recommendation for anyone interested in the facts.

      • Ian 12:04 on 2024-03-28 Permalink

        Worth noting,

        “Under the act (pdf, French only) that created the SAQ, the government corporation is required to pay an annual dividend to the Government of Quebec.

        All Quebecers benefit from this dividend because it is reinvested in various government programs, including health care and education, and a range of government services.

        In each of the last ten years, the SAQ has remitted a dividend of more than a billion dollars to the Quebec government. In fiscal 2022-2023, the amount was $1.426 billion.”

        …so even in this inflationary environment that is so bad the SAQ finds it necessary to increase prices they still pulled in 1.426 billion in profit.

        Marc, I’m apparently supporting the economy by drinking, contributing to the nearly billion and a half dollars dividend from the SAQ that benefits all Quebecers. Why do you hate Quebec?

      • su 13:01 on 2024-03-28 Permalink

      • Ian 13:38 on 2024-03-28 Permalink

        I was, of course, joking. Looks like there’s a competition for the role of Prince Virtue around here.

        ;P

      • Blork 15:41 on 2024-03-28 Permalink

        If my math is right (which it rarely is) that SAQ profit is around $170 for every human in Quebec. Given that many of those humans are children, and many of the adults don’t drink, it’s probably on the order of $1000-1500 or so per drinker. (I assume this includes revenues from all sources; SAQ outlets, bars, restaurants, etc.)

      • carswell 16:46 on 2024-03-28 Permalink

        All kinds of factors at play here. The economy (and for most people beverage alcohol is a discretionary expense; if they’ve not stopped buying, they’re buying fewer or cheaper products). The ageing population (older people drink less). Changing tastes (older customers prefer spirits and wine, younger customers tend toward coolers, which are cheaper and have a smaller $ markup). Etc. The provincial government wants its dividend to continue growing, however, hence the recent increase in the markup and introduction of other money-making schemes (get ready for commercials on in-store sound systems).

        I find it interesting that by far the biggest drop in sales is to the grocery and convenience store network. Note that those are sales by the SAQ to the stores and may not correspond directly to sales to consumers. Without consumer sales data, it’s hard to know what this network has to say about consumer buying trends.

        @MarcG Old age and health issues have forced me to pause or maybe give up regular drinking since December. These days, I only consume alcohol at occasional weekend dinners with friends and usually limit myself to a glass or two over the course of the evening. Even that small amount is now enough to make me feel lightheaded. OTOH sleep has much improved. Society doesn’t really talk about it this way, but alcohol is a powerful drug.

      • Kate 17:15 on 2024-03-28 Permalink

        Coolers will rot the brains of our youth.

      • Ian 18:40 on 2024-03-28 Permalink

        Maybe we can make booze out of figs and cauliflower to make it less appealing.

      • Kate 08:28 on 2024-03-29 Permalink

        Ian, now I want to try boukha but it’s not listed at the SAQ.

      • Ian 13:52 on 2024-03-29 Permalink

        There are fig liqueurs too but the SAQ doesn’t carry them, either. Clearly a niche ripe for profit, no wonder sales are down.

      • Blork 18:05 on 2024-03-29 Permalink

        Everytime I see a reference to “coolers” a voice in my head says “Thank yew for yor support,” which was the tagline for those two guys who advertised Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers back in the late 80s.

    • Kate 09:53 on 2024-03-28 Permalink | Reply  

      The mayor is handing off responsibility for the proposed rent register to Vivre en Ville.

       
      • Ephraim 12:29 on 2024-03-28 Permalink

        Sheer stupidity. We need a rent register and even a lease register to verify the tax rates on houses. And even more so as we move towards taxing vacancy. We should know exactly how many apartments in this city as sitting empty, how many are renting on a standard lease, how many are on monthly leases and maybe have different rates for them. An apartment that is furnished and rented monthly for corporate users isn’t useful to people who really need a home.

      • Tim 13:28 on 2024-03-28 Permalink

        @ephraim: how does the tax rate on a house change based on whether it’s rented out or not? Does it pertain to short term rentals or all rentals or some other criteria?

    • Kate 09:26 on 2024-03-28 Permalink | Reply  

      A young man died in a car crash in Rosemont early Thursday and the other occupant of the car is in critical condition. Item also has some reports of shots fired around town. CBC says the crash vehicle had two other occupants, both seriously injured. TVA links the stories, alleging that the occupants of the car had been responsible for the shooting on Pie‑IX shortly before.

      An older man is in bad shape after being hit by a truck in Longue‑Pointe on Wednesday.

       
      • Ian 09:47 on 2024-03-28 Permalink

        CBC radio linked those stories this morning, too. Also with the car shooting at St-Joe and Henri-Julien, though the TVA story seems to suggest the timelines don’t match up.

      • Kate 09:56 on 2024-03-28 Permalink

        And Global explicitly links them up. Instant karma.

        CBC radio at noon now says two people died in the crash.

      • Joey 13:18 on 2024-03-28 Permalink

        Shots fired on that stretch of Henri-Julien twice in one week… as long as they steer clear of Chez Claudette…

      • Ian 18:41 on 2024-03-28 Permalink

        Hands off Chez Clau !
        One of the last great bastions of the old neighbourhood.

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