Tourism businesses in Montreal expect fewer Americans this summer, but more international visitors and more people from the rest of Canada.
Updates from May, 2025 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
Mark Carney is appointing his cabinet on Tuesday morning, and it’s known that he’s also naming subsidiary secretaries of state in some categories.
On the island of Montreal:
Mélanie Joly (Ahuntsic-Cartierville), External Affairs since 2021, is now Minister of Industry and also in charge of economic development in Quebec.
Marjorie Michel, elected in Papineau for the first time, is Minister of Health.
Steven Guilbeault (Laurier Sainte-Marie) remains minister of identity and culture, and also official languages.
Anna Gainey (NDG-Westmount) is secretary of state for childhood and youth.
There may be others to note later. There are other Quebec ministers: François‑Philippe Champagne remains finance minister, for example. Nathalie Provost (Châteauguay-Les Jardins-de-Napierville), a survivor of the Polytechnique massacre, has been named secretary of state for nature.
H. John
Anna Gainey (NDG-Westmount) is one of the ten secretaries of state, i.e. Secretary of State (Children and Youth). Her husband, Tom Pitfield, has been serving as the Principal Secretary to PM Carney.
H. John
Rachel Bendayan, Outremont MP, served as Minister of Immigration for Carney’s first, short lived cabinet, but didn’t make it into this one.
Kate
Thanks, H. John. I’ve corrected on Gainey.
I also thought it notable that Chrystia Freeland is back.
Kevin
Here’s the full list of Quebecers.
François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance and National Revenue
Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages
Mandy Gull-Masty, Minister of Indigenous Services
Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions
Joël Lightbound, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement
Steven MacKinnon, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Marjorie Michel, Minister of HealthAnna Gainey, Secretary of State (Children and Youth)
Nathalie Provost, Secretary of State (Nature)Kate
Thanks, Kevin
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Kate
A fatal stabbing happened recently at Bordeaux Jail, the alleged attacker being another young man who was behind bars for a stabbing at a high school. It doesn’t get a homicide number because jail homicides usually do not.
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Kate
A man who killed his mother and a neighbour last year in Vaudreuil‑Dorion has been found not criminally responsible. CBC notes that Fabio Puglisi had been found NCR twice before on previous offences, and was walking around off his meds, and La Presse that Puglisi was released from hospital two months before the killings, despite still showing symptoms of mental instability.
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Kate
The Gazette asks whether the cross did indeed turn purple when Pope Francis died, but the answer is even more confusing – maybe it did, but not on purpose?
I was struck by this, in the coda, a statement from the dear old Société St‑Jean‑Baptiste: “(The cross) represents the francophonie”. It does?
Joey
I guess the SSJB is desperate for some decision to exclude Muslim Quebeckers from the preferred status afforded to white French-speaking Catholics.
Ian
I guess that’s to make sure that they aren’t violating secularism laws, lol.
Andrew
The SSJB built the cross in the 20s and gave it to the city, which is the missing context on why they’re being asked for a quote at all.
The article also mentions the 1992 fiber optic/LED system, but that system was replaced with the current RGB LEDs in 2009, only year before they decided never to use the colours.
MarcG 07:34 on 2025-05-14 Permalink
I wonder if a lot of Americans won’t be travelling out of their country for fear of what might happen when they try to re-enter. I assume also that inflatation and tariffs are taking a big bite out of their disposible income.
PatrickC 09:54 on 2025-05-14 Permalink
The Tourisme Montréal guy claims that for visitors from abroad the city is a “gateway” (porte d’entrée) to the Americas. What does that even mean? That it’s a hub from which to go on to the US or Mexico? That was what Mirabel was supposed to be, back in the day (and how well that worked out), but it would be odd to promote a city as a stopover place.Or does he means that Montreal provides a safe place to sample “the Americas” before taking a bigger travel risk? Gateway is usually what you call a place that has nothing special to recommend it. Saint Jerome is the “gateway to the Laurentians”…
Kate 10:52 on 2025-05-14 Permalink
I can’t guess at his intended meaning, but perhaps it’s that Montreal is a bit European‑ish in tone, so would be less of a culture shock to some visitors than getting dumped directly into Las Vegas?
Quebec’s always had an interesting challenge of presenting itself to Americans as sort of Europe Lite, especially Quebec City, while emphasizing its great empty outdoors to Europeans accustomed to city life in densely settled landscapes.
Joey 12:44 on 2025-05-14 Permalink
I think all it means is that it’s a pretty obvious destination arrival point for French-speaking travellers to North America. If you want to visit Quebec, you fly in to Montreal, travel around a bit, and head back to YUL for your flight home. Beyond that is just marketing drivel.
Kate 20:14 on 2025-05-14 Permalink
MarcG, if I were American and not white, and/or was on record as ever having said or done anything critical of either of Trump’s administrations, I would think twice about leaving the U.S. and trying to get back in. And that goes double for anyone born outside the U.S. or of a non-Christian denomination.
It is, after all, a big country. Americans don’t have to leave the U.S. to get a change of scene – more or less.