Quebec is putting the brakes on a lot of crucial health infrastructure projects – a kind of decision Quebec is prone to make on public installations until things actually crumble (e.g. metro and highway structures, school and hospital buildings).
La Presse has a companion piece about the bad state of the Douglas Hospital where mentally ill people are crammed into tiny rooms with strangers, illustrating the province’s general neglect of people with mental illnesses.
A 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death Tuesday evening outside Plamondon metro in Côte‑des‑Neiges. His attacker has not been found.
The federal French-language debate was scheduled for Wednesday evening, but the Canadiens’ last‑ditch effort to get into the playoffs was to be at the same time. So they moved the debate time forward, pundits calling this “the most Canadian thing ever.”
Radio-Canada explains how the team is hanging by a thread. CityNews also spells out the rather complicated points scenario.
The city is obliged to find space for new schools, especially in areas under development or redevelopment, but it’s a difficult process strewn with obstacles.
Hmm… if only there were a large building suitable for use as a school right downtown that just needed some long-overdue renovations… (yes, I’m talking about FACE, though there are a few other buildings that also fit that description!)
Wednesday’s La Presse talks about the city’s difficulty in getting provincial funding for new school buildings or renovating old ones.
A census of the homeless is under way Tuesday evening. This brief item mentions that this census “does not include homeless people who find shelter in subway stations or 24-hour restaurants, or who sleep on the street, in their car or in a tent” but I don’t know what the explicit terms are.
I wonder what fraction that misses. A lot I figure.
I can’t find the line about it not including virtually every category of homeless person, so maybe that was a mistake? Because it doesn’t even make sense.
Seems like the article was updated since it was published. The sentence appears in this previous CityTV article on the subject from Apr 4.
The line was definitely in that piece when I linked, because I cut-n-pasted it.
An office building built in 1984 on René-Lévesque is likely to be demolished so a developer can build a 24‑storey condo tower on the lot.
The old Delta Hotel on Sherbrooke is also for the chopping block. It was abandoned years ago – I remember stories of it being empty and full of rats. I never understood why it was a failure from the start, but it was.
The overall theme to this piece is that converting existing buildings to residential is often difficult or impossible.
Didn’t that Delta used to be the focal point of Just For Laughs?
I don’t remember that, but they used different sites during different years.
@Joey From what I remember, the Delta Hotel on President-Kennedy at City Councillors was the Just For Laughs spot.
The Delta has been operational for as long as I remember. You can still book rooms there today.
It was originally a condominium project that flopped before it was turned into a hotel. Maybe that’s the period when it was abandoned?
yeah, this thread confused me a bit. It seems operational to me too, and I think my friend had her son get swimming lessons there with a private instructor a few years ago.
Add me to the list of confused, because I thought it was one of the downtown hotels that was converted into a university residence. I must be thinking of another one on Sherbrooke…
@GC, you’re probably thinking of this building.
That’s one of them, yes. I suppose it was not a Delta before, though. Maybe a Holiday Inn?
It was a Holiday Inn. It was converted to an Evo student residence around 2014 (the Delta next to the Tour de la Bourse was also became an Evo) and is now branded “Campus 1.”
I thought from the photo that the second project mentioned in the article was this building set back from the street, on Sherbrooke at City Councillors.
That is indeed the Delta that will be demolished. The demolition permit was issued last month. The new project will include both a 330-room hotel and a 498-unit apartment building:
https://forum.agoramtl.com/t/450-rue-sherbrooke-ouest-18-34-etages/6922
Thanks, CE. I think my friends actually stayed at the President Kennedy Delta last year, so I knew what was still active. I just got mixed up!
A spokeswoman for the city blue collar union is warning that the Atwater water treatment plant is lacking in serious security so that it’s vulnerable to possible vandalism.
But the lede is buried in this piece, because the real story is that the city is abolishing its own security patrol, a force of about 40 people who circulate among the various city installations. The city says the agents will be given different jobs and that there are better ways to do security now.
Funny, There was around 5 firetrucks there this morning at around 5h20. Probably pure coincidence.
Monday evening, Mayor Plante said in council that her administration didn’t want the Ray‑Mont terminal to be built. This piece explains the zoning change made by Coderre city hall that created the conditions for a noisy shipping container yard to be placed in an area otherwise zoned residential.
Is it otherwise zoned residential? This is an area surrounded on two sides by an industrial rail access line, one side by a Molson and other company distribution site, and the last side by Notre Dame and some oil cisterns. Steve made a map (direct link) last fall. Here’s a pin.
I agree it’s close to some residential. But there’s no way that anyone would have built residential on the Ray-Mont lot: that would be the most hostile place to live on the island. The only use for this land, other than leaving it empty, is industrial.
It was an impression I got but I can’t cite. If the Coderre admin changed the zoning, what was it changed from?
People living nearby certainly never wanted it.
Is there a silver lining?
I actually know people that live on that stretch of Viau down by N-D and it actually is a cute little neighbourhood, with some very nice buildings and a lot of residents. it is kind of in the middle of nowhere if you just look at it on a map, but since it’s only as far east as it is, it is still conveneient to pretty much whatever, even a metro line with a short bus ride.
Now, is it 88 million green wall cute? That is kind of pushing it, for sure, especially considering that there are already housing projects not far from there, so there is a clear and present need that is obviously served by THAT kind of investment.
@Nicholas Directly to the west of this lot is absolutely residential. There were also many projects to convert formerly industrial lots to residential. Take for example ‘La Biscuiterie’ on the corner of Viau and Ontario (where Viau Village cookies used to be made!) was converted to residential. Sure, “directly” surrounding the spot where Ray-Mont will build is industrial, but much of it is already disused. Molson/Coors is moving out of that spot. Just north of Molson (2150 Dickson), there is a disused building with two chimneys that has been vacant since I can remember (Google Maps shows it as unused since at least 2007). They were also supposed to extend l’Assomption street through this industrial zone so that it would continue south from Hochelaga to Notre-Dame. Everything north of Hochelaga street is being converted to Residential, too, which makes sense since it is so close to l’Assomption metro.
So, zooming out a little, even if the Ray-Mont lot is surrounded by industrial, the larger plot of (mostly disused) industrial land is surrounded by mostly residential areas, Why should we stop the spread of these residential areas and return to industrializing this plot of land? It doesn’t make sense to me.
The Université de Montréal’s peregrine falcons have produced the first egg of the season – suitably, in good time for Easter and Passover – and are expected to lay a few more soon. Last year there were four eggs, of which three of the falconets lived to fly the nest.
But what if they’re faucons laïques? That’s a pretty awesome survival rate, good for them. The falcon comeback is a real success story.
@Ian I’m sure Yves and M appreciate your good wishes. I’m not sure if I should be embarrassed to admit I know the name of the parents.
The more important note is that thanks to bird flu, we’re really not sure yet of the success story.
Hugo, mentioned in this article, in one of last year’s three new arrivals:
Media are in a bit of a tizzy over the arrival of Ivan Demidov to join the ranks of the Canadiens and, ideally, boost them into the playoffs. Campaign‑like posters have gone up around town – is that even legal? – and his debut Monday evening is feverishly anticipated.
Even the mayor suited up.
Update: As anyone who cares would know, Demidov scored his first goal for the team, but didn’t succeed in getting them into the playoffs. There’s still a statistical possibility, but I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.
Those signs are legal in that they are not supporting or opposing a candidate or party, nor even commenting on politics, so the electoral law doesn’t apply. Posting up anything on a public piece of infrastructure is, of course, subject to municipal regulations, and in a lot of places that is banned outside of specific speaker’s corner places for postings, and probably needs identification of who posted it. So probably not legal in the same way the Pro des DVDs signs aren’t legal, but my guess is rules will continue to slide for anything Habs.
Nicholas wrote:
“Those signs are legal …So probably not legal”
I don’t think the question was that difficult: “Is that even legal?”.
The question didn’t ask did it break a specific law, it asked “is it legal.”
The answer is no.
It’s clearly a breach of municipal posting/advertising laws.
During an election either federal or provincial law (for provincial and municipal elections) override municipal by-laws on posting.
In this case, it’s is an advertising company purposely choosing to ignore the law.
This is another AirBnb or Uber.
I think the question we should be asking is how much damage does this do to the candidates who have paid to have their posters displayed.
Any campaign manager will tell you how difficult it is to identify or differentiate a candidate in a federal election. A campaign manager’s job breaks down to: put up the posters, send out pamphlets, point voters (i.e., find out who will support your party, and be prepared to call them on election day).
Under our system, unlike one rented by Musk, funds are limited by law for each candidate.
Cheap stunts like this should come at a cost – then again AirBNB and Uber seems to be doing well.
Thanks H. John. If only any of our political parties were even mildly concerned about how AirBnB and Uber have completely undermined state sovereignty.
H. John, well done removing most of the words I wrote and then saying that parts of what I wrote, without even keeping whole sentences together and certainly without context, is not correct.
It is true that in general municipalities don’t allow posting signs on municipal property, and during elections federal or provincial law overrides that for candidates. It is also true that even if a sign is illegal, it may stay up a while. Lots of people and businesses put up signs that stay up for months, as I mentioned above. If I can do a thing and no one stops me or penalizes me, is it legal? By the letter of the law, maybe not. But in reality, what is the difference between that and it being legal? I was trying to show such nuance, but obviously if you remove 90% of what I wrote and quote it out of context you’d miss that. Feel free to read up on legal realism.
Politicians also don’t get to be the only ones making messages during an election. Our free speech rights aren’t suspended, and certainly not when the message doesn’t advocate for or against a candidate. Should we suspend all other advertising so that everyone’s attention can be properly focused on election ads? If a campaign manager can’t easily differentiate their candidate from a hockey player in a joke advertisement, maybe they should find other work. How’s that for legal realism?
Wait, is there a plausible argument that these hockey glove ads (which are hardly the first ads to use a fake campaign poster style) are going to confuse voters to the extent that they cause damage to candidates? Obviously the ads are illegal – they are effectively guerrilla marketing done by a hockey equipment manufacturer – but it’s hard to imagine they would disrupt the electoral process in a meaningful way. Anyway, Demidov had two points in the first few minutes of his first game, maybe he should run…
I enjoy the satirical election signs – I haven’t checked if the cat is running again here in NDG – but I have much greater tolerance for a neighbourhood joker than corporate marketing.
But this sentence:
“If I can do a thing and no one stops me or penalizes me, is it legal?”
Is fucking chilling.
I’m positive it isn’t legal, but I didn’t realise there was a logo for a brand there until I noticed someone here called it corporate — I thought it was a joke by a fan.
The city may be feeling remorse for approving the Ray‑Mont Logistics project in the east end, because it’s preparing to spend millions to create a green screen around the facility.
I figured “millions” meant like a few. But 88 million? I thought it was missing a decimal point! Isn’t this the project almost completely surrounded by industrial land (paintball place I went to years ago, warehouse, AV supplier, the port, rail lines and a single co-op of 5 three-storey apartment buildings? I see there’s a bus and bike lane going in and surely some other stuff, but 88 million is like 3x the money of the affordable housing fund they keep not using to build affordable housing.
How much would it cost to plant a hedge, I wonder
Aging hospital buildings are coping with mice, rats and roaches, and renovations can make the situation worse.
Brief editorial cartoon roundup this week: Le Devoir’s Godin on cuts in healthcare; Côté on the revival of fortune of the Canadiens.
We have some good editorial cartoonists, although a lot of their jokes are about Trump these days while I’m still focusing determinedly on the local scene.
I respect and appreciate your commitment to staying within parameters.
There are faint hopes that a building on Pierre‑Dupuy in Cité du Havre, built as a gallery for Expo 67 and used by the MAC between 1968 and 1992, could be revived as a museum, with its main proponent dreaming of a site dedicated to the Automatistes including a whole hall just for Riopelle.
If the CAQ remain in power, I wouldn’t give this plan much odds, but the PQ just might be persuaded to back it.
It’s some years now that there have been ideas about extending the Palais des congrès east along St‑Antoine. Plans to demolish a row of old buildings – where Jack’s Music and Steve’s Music used to be located – have been put on hold indefinitely, and the city has spent $100,000 to fix the roof of a structure which is already crumbling.
« Le modèle du tourisme d’affaires a changé 100 % depuis la pandémie. On est passés de 100 % en présentiel à 100 % en virtuel. »
100% virtual? Has the minister seen the conferences going on there? I’m sure occupancy dropped for a bit, maybe more, but there are absolutely still business conferences going on.
I wonder if something will be done with the parking lot to the east of the Old Brewery Mission. I may miss Steve’s, but it’s not coming back, so time to either expand the current nearby uses or build some housing.
Steve’s still exists, in various locations, just not the one everyone knew on St‑Antoine.
Yes, I meant the nostalgia from that specific store is not coming back there.
I was at an academic conference in Toronto in the fall where there was a strong sentiment that conferences would no longer be held in red states because they could not guarantee medical treatment for any pregnant attendees. I imagine that non-US hosts will be more desirable now. On the other hand, it does seem that far fewer Europeans are travelling to any North American destinations since the pandemic. So, in my little corner, more conferences might come to Montreal but they might be smaller. Mind you, they tend to take place in hotels and not conference halls, so my whole comment might be moot when it comes to the Palais.
My partner goes to multiple conferences and client meetings every year in Canada and the US. I’ve joined her a few times to take advantage of the free hotel room and occasional free meals. These events are 100% not going to go virtual; the networking alone is worth a lot and can’t be replicated in a virtual environment. I think people are discounting how much office workers, trapped alone day after day in their home offices, really need some social outlets related to their work. Conferences do a good job at filling that void.
Having gone to a large conference in San Diego, I was struck by how small the PdC is compared to other conference centres. Montreal is a popular destination for conferences and if we could accommodate more, I think it could be good for the city.
CE, you’re right that Montreal is small for its size. It has 36,863 square metres of exhibition space, which would put it 38th in the US, with San Diego at 57,200. I think there will be a shift from US to Canada for conferences, and people do like visiting Montreal. I assume we will have to also build more hotels in the area if we’d also be expanding the PdC.
“Montreal is small for its size” belongs in the end of year best quotes wrapup for sure 😀
Noted!
Large boulder the size of a small boulder.
That is an amusing typo (obviously I meant Montreal’s, as in its convention centre, but still funny).
Reminds me of various rhymes that end “Not too big, not too small, just the size of Montreal.”
DeWolf 09:34 on 2025-04-16 Permalink
I’m struggling to understand the government’s logic with this push towards austerity. Is it just the CAQ knowing they won’t win the next election and deciding their approach will be fuck toute, let’s burn it all down? Or do they somehow think people will appreciate having crucial healthcare and infrastructure and educational funding slashed to the bone?
MtlWeb 10:13 on 2025-04-16 Permalink
With the arrival of Sante-Quebec, there have been serious staffing cuts to the radiology departments of our downtown sites, impacting access to the various tests (ultrasound, MRI, angio/intervention radiology). An odd area to target as the delays were a concern for in and out patients before these decisions. Our esteemed institution’s media people have kept this news off the radar but for those working in the system, it’s one more slap in the face to health care common sense. Of course, many wonder about the elephant in the Sante Quebec room, Biron medical imaging/radiology, and if some of the diagnostic/treatment exams will be out-sourced to these clinics by the top-guns running Sante-Quebec.
roberto 12:22 on 2025-04-16 Permalink
This is neo-libieralism at it’s finest. Starve the public services, claim they’re not efficent and the population will be better with privitization. Hand it over to the private sector where the population will end up footing the ‘profit tax’ to the private sector (there’s always a profit tax)
——————————–
Sharing this story because I’ve now heard it happen to three different people. A seriously ill patient is scheduled for surgery at a private clinic, with everything covered by RAMQ — so far, so normal. But on the day of the procedure, once the patient is already prepped and in the blue gown, the clinic suddenly decides they can’t go through with it. Surgery is canceled, postponed, to be rebooked at a hospital instead.
Three people. Three separate stories. Same exact scenario.
Makes you wonder how much these clinics are billing — and profiting — even when the surgeries don’t actually happen.
Joey 14:12 on 2025-04-16 Permalink
All of this – cuts, delayed capital projects, etc. – was designed to get the province back on track to a balanced budget to avoid a credit downgrade. S&P just reduced our credit rating, which means that our debt-repayment/borrowing costs will increase, it will take longer to return to a balanced budget, and there will be more pressure to cut public expenditures, which will mean (even more) cuts to services (health care) to citizens in the very short term and (even more) contentious labour negotiations as existing agreements expire. Add on the insane trade policy roller-coaster from the US and we’ve got ourselves a real crisis.
Kevin 15:54 on 2025-04-16 Permalink
Cheaping out on maintenance and proper construction is a choice and a mindset.
And yes, big bold projects do open themselves up to corruption (hello MUHC Glen site) but the more a society builds those projects, the more internal expertise it gets in developing anti-corruption habits.
azrhey 15:20 on 2025-04-17 Permalink
As someone who has 4 MRIs and 2 ultrasounds a year ( fun fun genetic mutation, but hey at least I am getting properly screened for free [for now]! ) I can attest that the services/delays at the Glen and that MGH have increased a lot in the last year or so. It used to be that I went in for my full body MRI on a Sunday morning at 8am and was out by 9, 9:15 … now I am lucky if I get called before 11am. Where the used to be at least 3 techs to get me set up, now there is only one frazzled person worried I’d scream at her because it was so long…
I was chatting in Spanish with the tech last weekend because she thought I was Spanish and I told her “Lady! you’re not paid enough for me to yell at you”
Uatu 12:12 on 2025-04-19 Permalink
Just be comforted that the elimination of the two other techs were to pay for salary raises for Genevieve Biron and the top gun management at sante QC. Efficiency! Lol