Montreal is on the way to a record warm autumn and the Montreal WX Records feed says it was the driest October since 1963.
Updates from November, 2024 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
Since Ensemble has to take a contrary position, they’re against pedestrianizing Ste‑Catherine Street.
Nicholas
“we’re talking about the most important commercial street in Canada.”
Is St Catherine even the most important commercial street in Montreal?
Kate
I think it still is. It’s a long stretch between Greene Avenue and Papineau, and the street goes through a lot of different moods, more than any of the others do.
DeWolf
As far as I can tell, the only plan in the works is the one to officially pedestrianize Ste-Catherine between Bleury and St-Laurent, which has already been “temporarily” pedestrianized since winter 2020. It would essentially mean formalizing an arrangement that has already been in place (and highly successful) for four years, one that has been *requested* by the Partenariat du Quartier des spectacles.
Otherwise, the Plante administration has floated the idea certain sections of the street further west could be pedestrianized, but it’s just an idea, not a plan. This whole “reveal your secret plan and let us vote on it!” is just empty political posturing by an intellectually bankrupt political opposition. Unfortunately, dishonesty works as a political strategy these days, so Ensemble might have found an advantage here, simply by making things up.
Remember that every other pedestrianization project has been done in tandem with the street’s merchants association. They are literally done in consultation with the SDCs, which is the opposite of what Ensemble says is happening.
Robert H
Hénault-Ratelle’s claim about Sainte-Catherine being the most important commercial street in Canada might be open to debate (Torontonians could arguably affirm the same about Yonge), but it is definitely one of the most important in the country. What’s more, I agree with Kate that it’s still Montreal’s principle commercial artery. To walk it is to experience the city’s range of ambience and it’s a reliable barometer of the city’s well-being. Pignon-sur-rue is a thing here. La Cat is the sort of street which used to exist in every North American metropolis, but has now become anomalous due to the dominance of car culture and suburbanization. In Canada and the United States, Winnipeg’s Portage Avenue is more the norm, a forlorn passage through a struggling city centre. I’ll concede DeWolf’s point. Ensemble might be posturing, but a consultative referendum could be a good idea at least within the borough of Ville Marie alone.
As a student, I once participated in a McGill classroom discussion about the city and a fellow student complained that she didn’t like Rue Sainte-Catherine because it was commercial and too money-money-money. I thought that was a superficial assessment, like complaining about water being wet.
Chris
>Unfortunately, dishonesty works as a political strategy these days
These days? ‘Twas ever thus.
rob
It could be argued that Taschereau on the south shore does more commercial volume than St-Cathrine street
Kate
Are we only talking about sales? Or about cultural importance to the urban area?
Blork
> As a student, I once participated in a McGill classroom discussion about the city and a fellow student complained that she didn’t like Rue Sainte-Catherine because it was commercial and too money-money-money. I thought that was a superficial assessment, like complaining about water being wet.
Well, it’s legit to “not like it” for that or any other reason, but it’s not legit to think the street should change its nature because you don’t like it. But yeah, I agree it’s like complaining that water is too wet.
Regarding Taschereau’s “importance” (based entirely on sales volume), Kate’s question of “cultural importance to the urban area” is on point, because that’s what a discussion about a main urban commercial artery should be about. Unfortunately, to many people, making a reference to the “cultural importance to the urban area” is about as meaningful as making a reference to the “phnearkig blolpot doth bigginginiknkt fizzungle.” In other words it means nothing to them.
Side note but possibly connected as it has to do with the extent to which some people in our society are utterly clueless: this morning I saw a guy in the comments on a social media post denying that the film clip in the post was a “silent movie” (it was Buster Keaton) because he could hear music playing. That really happened. That guy is walking around right now making decisions about his life and maybe the lives of others. He probably has a job. He might have responsibilities. And yet he is as dumb as a fencepost.
TeeOwe
Blork – maybe he/they are onto something – Silent Music – practicing now for my next concert, will be a sellout 🙂
Robert H
@Blork, whoops, I could have been clearer. But yes, I wasn’t referring to her preference, but the nature of that street.
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Kate
This is a second test post for the blog’s Bluesky plugin. If it works, I’ll soon discontinue the blog feed to X.
…Beautiful. It works!
https://bsky.app/profile/mtlcity.bsky.social
If you’re following Bluesky feeds, there’s also my environmental stories feed, which is a thing in itself, not a separate blog:
Anton
Is that like the new Twitter or what. Anybody using it?
Joey
Anton, its numbers are growing at a clip of 1 million new users per day this week, as everyone who isn’t a MAGA chud abandons X for something less toxic.
Chris
Yes, it’s a new X-like thing, some Lefties are flocking to it since Trump won. My money is on it fizzling, like previous X replacement fads. Ultimately, the network effect generally wins.
walkerp
Looking good! Followed them both.
Kevin
I’ve been on Bluesky for more than a year, and in the past month it’s gone from being pretty quiet to amazing.
Twitter is increasingly useless — I’m only on it because politicians and police forces post there.
EmilyG
I had a similar experience as Kevin. I follow more and more people on Bluesky now that more people have recently joined.
Mozai
If the reason to flee a popular space is “there are terrible people there,” then switching to the second-popular place is just postponing until enough people show up that the terrible people’s stench spreads. But if the reason to flee is the space’s structure — the injection of unwanted and un-asked-for information, the “trending” encouragements that are patently false, the caretakers of the space muting some voices and boosting others, mis-attributing or forging author information — then yeah, get thee hence.
Kevin
Musk bought Twitter with the goal of destroying it/turning it into an echo chamber for his brand of grifting. He succeeded.
Chris
Twitter was a left wing echo chamber before. Now it’s more of a right ring echo chamber. It sucked then, and it sucks now.
walkerp
This echo chamber criticism is such bullshit. It’s called “social” media. I don’t invite somebody with opposing political views who wants to constantly challenge my every statement over to my house to hang out. Why would I want them when I am faffing around on the internet?
Twitter’s success was first because it was fun and second because it allowed you to curate your news and info flow. Now that Musk turned off the moderation tools and allowed bots and trolls to run wild to bump up the numbers and more importantly to turn it into a propaganda machine, it is no longer fun and no longer reliable.
But nobody went there to be constantly “challenged” by a bunch of bad actors and “free speech” shitbags.
Kate
Beautifully put, walkerp!
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Kate
This is a test post for the blog’s Bluesky plugin. If it works, I’ll soon discontinue the blog feed to X.
Jim
What is the MCW Bluesky account name? Searched for it but couldn’t find.
Kate
See above.
https://bsky.app/profile/mtlcity.bsky.social
There’s only the one post so far, but posts will be autoposted onwards.
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Kate
The Gazette has an “explainer” about the new Santé Québec agency, captained by Geneviève Biron, whose father started the private Biron Health Group and whose sister still runs it. Biron is being paid $652,050 annually, so when she talks about finding $1 billion in savings, we know where she could start.
“In interviews, Biron has said her job at Santé Québec is to build a strong public health-care system but that Quebec currently needs to use private health-care providers to fill in the gaps.” This isn’t even trying to be subtle.
This is the third major health-care reform in Quebec since the mid‑1990s, and at every stage it tends to get more difficult to find basic health care under the public system. Our politicians simply can’t get past the profit motive as the main driver in society.
carswell
In his column in today’s La Presse (“La première tournée de la Top Gun”), Michel C. Auger notes the following (it explains a lot):
“Pour le gouvernement, l’intérêt de l’agence [Santé Québec] est essentiellement politique. Ça permettra au ministre de la Santé et au gouvernement de ne pas répondre aux questions – que ce soit à l’Assemblée nationale ou ailleurs – en disant qu’il faut désormais s’adresser à Santé Québec et pas au gouvernement ou au ministre.
“Cela permet, tout simplement, d’ignorer sa responsabilité et d’envoyer les questions difficiles ailleurs. Pas étonnant que le même gouvernement soit en train de concocter le même stratagème pour les transports. Plus de questions embarrassantes sur le troisième lien ou les déficits des sociétés de transport : on renvoie tout ça à l’agence.”
https://www.lapresse.ca/contexte/chroniques/2024-11-17/la-premiere-tournee-de-la-top-gun.php
Kate
There’s got to be a limit to how much a government can put at arm’s length!
Joey
She really got grilled by Pat Lagacé this week. They loaded her up with MBA platitudes and made her the face of the “effort” to find savings of $1 billion – with no plan, no timeline, no metrics, etc.
Kevin
Only Quebec would create a new bureaucracy with the goal of cutting wasteful expenditures and red tape at another bureaucracy.
Kate
Kevin, the PQ says it will be “open” to abolishing Santé Québec when they get in, just like they’ll rejig the education system again, because they always do.
Joey
I suspect the ‘real’ goals are (a) to provide a shield to the government as it implements cuts in the healthcare system (‘just doing what Sante Quebec asked us!) and (b) to find a workaround existing decision-making structures, rather than fix them. I don’t think you can actually achieve both these goals at the same time…
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Kate
La Presse has a dossier of four articles Sunday on the housing crisis, rethinking the current model with new approaches, asking whether the Caisse de dépôt should get involved, and looking at ideas being implemented in other countries.
It’s clear that while Quebec has a housing crisis, and Montreal in particular, this is a problem being felt worldwide.
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Kate
BBC spoke to a Montreal chef about where to get the city’s best poutine. No surprises.
Joey 12:01 on 2024-11-18 Permalink
The lack of rainfall is worrying, IMO. Wildfires in the northeastern US in November??