This article promises to explain the invasion of wild turkeys but, like most alterations we’re seeing in the natural world, the answer is simple: climate change.
Updates from January, 2025 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
In decline since the pandemic, the Tohu
circus schoolfaces a deficit of $2 million.Orr
TOHU, the theatre and public space, is not part of the geographically adjacent L’École nationale de cirque.
They do host the graduating students’ professionally-produced year-end show at end of may, which is always a good event to go and see.Kate
Thank you, Orr. Since they’re contiguous I had taken them to be parts of the same installation.
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Kate
People involved in providing sheltering for the unhoused population are cited here as criticizing the city’s improvised warming centres as unsatisfactory offerings. One man is quoted saying “If you were to say that our hospitals could look like that, there would be an (outcry).”
I wonder what Sam Watts really said instead of “outcry” and whether the Gazette’s readership would clutch its pearls if his words were quoted directly.
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Kate
The CAQ is pondering ordering a boycott of American wines at the SAQ, if the threatened tariffs are imposed as of Saturday.
DeWolf
I’d wager the SAQ already has way less American booze than the LCBO or BC Liquor.
If you want to be granular about it, most US wine comes from California, but most US spirits come from red states like Kentucky. A bourbon boycott would probably hurt where it’s needed most.
Ian
They barely have a decent selection of zitalian wines, lol
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Kate
The city will be producing 90 residential units to house people with no homes, over three sites.
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Kate
The city has announced a winter pedestrianization of part of Duluth Street, with an open‑air exhibition, to take place during students’ winter break from February 28 to March 9.
The accompanying photo doesn’t look like Duluth Street, though.
MarcG
The person in the photo is on the east side of St-Denis just below Duluth. Weird choice slash surprising they didn’t have a good shot of Duluth handy.
Kate
Oh true. The spire of that church-turned-gym is visible at the top left.
nau
There’s a consultation currently in process about whether or not to permanently pedestrianize Wellington St. If anyone wants to express an opinion, you have until Feb 12th to fill out an online questionnaire on the Office de Consultation Publique de Montreal website or Feb. 6th to register to make a presentation directly to the commissioners.
DeWolf
If we’re counting short festivals as pedestrianization, TVA is wrong: part of Notre-Dame in St-Henri will be pedestrianized from February 7 to 16 as part of Montréal Boréal. And Wellington in Verdun already hosts the sugar shack festival in March every year.
Blork
I’m a fan of pedestrianization, and one of my favourite places to be in summer is on Wellington in Verdun. But I can’t see it being very magical in winter. Not sure I see the point. (Duluth is a different story.)
Daisy
Why does it have to be magical? Why can’t the point just be to make walking and shopping in one’s neighbourhood safer and more pleasant for the residents?
DeWolf
Yeah. One of the most unpleasant things about winter is how narrow the sidewalks get on commercial streets.
Also, I just got back from Boston, and I was in Chicago last January – both cold places. And it occurred to me that Montrealers really don’t mind being outside in the winter, even though it is actually a bit colder and snowier than either of those cities. The streets are much livelier. Wintertime pedestrianization would probably boost business while also making things safer and more enjoyable for everyone on the street.
Just look at Ste-Catherine in the Quartier des spectacles: it has been pedestrianized year-round since 2020, and even in the middle of winter, it’s always busy. It has become the natural downtown gathering place whatever the season. That wasn’t the case before.
DeWolf
Clarification: The streets are much livelier *here* than in Chicago or Boston, despite the similar weather, which means we already have a large number of people ready to take advantage of wintertime pedestrianized spaces.
Blork
Point taken. Although I don’t know if Wellington in Verdun can be compared to the QdesS. People come from all over the city (and beyond) to hang out in the QdesS, with various shows and other attractions and a lot of activity going on (and easy access from public transit), and several good escapes from the cold nearby (Place des Arts, Complex Desjardins, etc.). I can’t see people going to Wellington in February from all over town just to walk the streets, absent the attractions of the QdesS.
And Daisy’s point is good too (“why does it have to be magical?”). But my gut feeling is that pedestrianized Wellington in January and February (and probably March) would just be a ghost town. A few people walking to shops — same ones who would walk to shops whether it was pedestrianized or not. But the people who don’t live particularly close, or who don’t like walking around in blustery winter conditions, would simply stay away since they can’t drive there.
I’m thinking in terms of what’s the attraction of pedestrianized Wellington in summer? Who goes there? Locals, obviously, but also people from further afield (like me) who go there because they like being outdoors in good weather, they like the “Almost street food” scene (affordable indoor restaurants with terraces on the street), they like the nearby attractions such as the beach, the bike paths along the river, the long linear park that runs along the river… None of that is available (or at least appealing) on a blustery cold day in January. Therefore: ghost town.
I could very well be wrong. I hope I’m wrong, especially if they go ahead with it.
Blork
I’m also not convinced it would be any safer. Cars don’t drive on the sidewalk and pedestrians (generally) don’t walk on the street, so there’s already a separation. The danger zone is intersections, where cars and pedestrians share the space. Pedestrianized Wellington still has through-traffic at intersections, so that does not change with pedestrianization.
nau
Actually, the long linear park is appealing in blustery winter, especially right now when you can walk on the (mighty) St. Lawrence river. The stark beauty of the frozen river is at least as magical as Wellington in the summer, if not in quite the same way. And if you were to think about it, removing car/pedestrian interactions for traffic moving along Wellington would reduce crosswalk issues by half, so it should be safer.
OTOH, I tend to agree that for deep winter, this is a disagreement between people who live near Wellington and want to be safer from cars when on it and those with cars who live a bit further away and can’t stand the idea of not being able to drive as close as possible to their destination. Since I’m not in either group (I mean, I always prefer to be safer from car drivers but I don’t live that close to Wellington), I’m not involved in that. I’m just hoping that if the request to make it permanent is rejected, then to make that more palatable, they’ll extend the pedestrianization period from the current too short version (average of 105 days, I think I read) to 5, 6 or 7 months.
DeWolf
On the spectrum of Montreal commercial streets, I think Wellington is behind only Ste-Catherine and Mont-Royal in terms of pedestrian traffic. Even in the winter it’s surprisingly busy.
I think a year-round pedestrianization would work from Hickson to 4th Avenue. A couple of blocks shorter than in the summertime but that’s the core of activity.
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Kate
Towns can now authorize residential projects even if nearby residents complain, in a change meant to counter the housing crisis. La Presse also looks at six new developments going ahead against some resistance.
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Kate
Entirely typical winter weather spawns this CTV headline: Montrealers asked to postpone non‑essential travel.
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Kate
A headline like CBC’s New language law bogs down Quebec’s English CEGEPs makes me think immediately: it’s working as intended, isn’t it? (Reported later also by the Gazette.)
This new law mandating that newcomers must attend Quebec shows, films and celebrations is also interesting. How do you enforce this?
walkerp
You know what’s a great way to get newcomers to participate in Quebec culture? Cours de francisation! When I did mine, we did field trips, learned songs, watched classic TV shows, etc. Sometimes I felt like I was still in elementary school (like when we went apple picking and sang “Pomme, Pomme du pommier, je te mets dans mon panier”) but it definitely exposed me to much more than just the french language.
This government sucks.
Kevin
The idea that there can be only one culture per language, and that the government can force people to partake in that culture, would be mindboggingly stupid if it weren’t taken so seriously by bigots.
Joey
The article doesn’t quite say the law will mandate attendance at Quebec shows, etc.; that’s attributed to the minister (“He said he wants immigrants to attend Quebec shows, films and celebrations. ‘We want diversity in Quebec, but we also want people to mix together,’ he said.”). Then again, it’s a leak, with the law being introduced today, so we’ll see.
Kate
Joey, not a system where you’ve got to attend a minimum number of Quebec cultural events and have your pass-card validated, or your resident status is revoked?
It’s an odd idea, a plan to speed-induct people from other places and turn them into bons Québécois within six months. Suddenly Ahmed Messaoudi from Algeria who goes to mosque on Friday becomes Kevin Lapointe, drives an F‑150, eats poutine and doesn’t go to church on Sunday. Somebody should make a comedy about this.
Uatu
They can start at home cracking down on Quebecois teens who are into anime, k-pop, middle eastern dance music, swifty’s etc. – they’re the enemy within! Lol
Joey
A four-hour movie where the protagonist, Ahmed Messaoudi from Algeria, attempts (and fails) to find and enrol in a Francisation class.
CE
I was working with a group of teenagers a while ago, almost all of them white Quebecois and a well known Quebec celebrity came up (Roy Dupuis). Not one of the students knew who he was. The teacher kind of grumbled something along the lines of “don’t bother, none of them watch Quebec films.”
Tux
Just issue folks a full set of Rabagliati books in both languages and be done with it.
Blork 22:33 on 2025-01-29 Permalink
I saw a bald eagle in Longueuil a couple of days ago! (Not even kidding.)
steph 22:34 on 2025-01-29 Permalink
Pics or it didn’t happen. 🙂
Blork 00:41 on 2025-01-30 Permalink
I have one pic but by then it was too far away, and flying with its butt towards me, so you can’t tell what it was.
Kate 10:13 on 2025-01-30 Permalink
It’s fleeing Trump’s America.
CE 15:03 on 2025-01-30 Permalink
I’m in London right now and last night saw a fox walking down the street. Not sure if it’s a common sight in the city but it surprised me!
Kate 15:08 on 2025-01-30 Permalink
I listen to BBC stuff a bit, and references to urban foxes eating garbage and so on are pretty usual. They don’t have raccoons, so they have foxes.
CE 15:09 on 2025-01-30 Permalink
I kind of wondered if the fox were equivalent to seeing a racoon or skunk in Montreal.
Kate 15:17 on 2025-01-30 Permalink
I think yes, pretty much.
MarcG 16:48 on 2025-01-30 Permalink
My wife was walking by the river in Verdun a few days ago and saw 2 dogs playing together pretty far out on the ice. She looked around for their owners to suggest that maybe it was dangerous but before she knew it the “dogs” were coming straight towards her and they were foxes. One of them came kind of close and looked at her but then they both ran off. Scared the shit out of her. Lots of beavers down there again this year as well, but they’re fat and cute and only interested in eating wood.
DeWolf 17:27 on 2025-01-30 Permalink
@CE London is famous for its foxes! I think the first time I’d ever seen a fox was in a random part of London. They’re kind of weird.
DeWolf 17:31 on 2025-01-30 Permalink
Incidentally, all this talk of urban fauna reminds me of the first time an Australian friend of mine visited Montreal. He was very weirded out by the local wildlife, namely squirrels and raccoons. And he didn’t even see any turkeys.
(If you think about it objectively, many North American animals are just as strange as we imagine Australian animals to be.)
MarcG 17:35 on 2025-01-30 Permalink
It’s fun to visit Beaver Lake in the summer and watch tourists freaking out over squirrels.
Ian 21:55 on 2025-01-30 Permalink
@Blork I saw one in Ste-Anne in early winter flying over the McGill campus fields. I was driving though so no pix sadly. There’s lots of hawks but that’s the first eagle I saw.