The Bank of Montreal building on Place d’Armes was splashed with hot pink paint Thursday morning by members of Last Generation Canada protesting the bank’s investment in fossil fuels and demanding the federal government create a climate disaster protection agency.
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Kate
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Kate
Mohamed Abdullah Warsame, allegedly a sidekick of Osama bin Laden at one time, was arrested in Montreal and charged Thursday morning with uttering threats after he stated at the Old Brewery Mission that he wanted to explode a bomb on public transit and kill a lot of people.
Blork
Sounds a bit like a homeless (and probably hopeless) guy looking for a free place to stay and eat (jail).
Ian
Sounds a bit more like someone off their meds who needs help and support.
Blork
Sure, maybe. My comment wasn’t meant to be dismissive (hence “and probably hopeless”). This guy is probably not what we think of as “well adjusted” and he probably knows he has a really low chance of getting a job and having something like a normal life. So maybe he’s thinking that at least in jail he has food and a bed.
Or not. Could be the lack of meds.
Ian
Fair, and I wasn’t trying to be scoldy. I apologize if I came off that way.
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Kate
To comply with the new rule about 150 m between drug consumption sites and schools, the Maison Benoît Labre has to move – seven meters.
Taylor C. Noakes
I don’t normally advocate for building walls as a solution to problems, but hear me out:
1- It’s absurd to force them to find a new safe consumption site somewhere else when we’re talking about a distance of 7 meters. Am I wrong or the best practices here to keep services contained together on one site? Spreading the problem throughout the neighbourhood hardly seems like a solution.
2- A tall brick wall around the green space accomplishes three things: it gives people using the facility additional privacy, something I think would be welcome by those who need its services as much as those who work there. It also means everyone else doesn’t see the people using the facility (and to be clear, I think this is 99% of everyone else’s problem with this place… they feel unsafe because of what they see, not because of any specific threat to safety and security). Furthermore, building a privacy fence or wall is probably cheaper in the long run than renting space or building another facility elsewhere.
3- If it hasn’t already been done, move the Bixi station across the street to the market, to minimize potential interactions. It’s not about shunning people in need of medical assistance for substance abuse disorder, but officials need to understand the public is a long way off from accepting these people as members of general society. Thta’s not going to change overnight, but also won’t change through ‘forced’ interactions. Getting on and off a Bixi is a potentially ‘vulnerable’ position, but if you move it across the street I’m sure this would minimize concerns (and probably lead to more people using those bikes).
MarcG
I’m at the market right now and the Bixi station is on the market side
Andrew
That measurement seemed surprising based on all the hullabaloo we had. On google maps, the buildings are about 85 meters apart. 143 meters seems to be the distance between the school and the farthest point on their property. Like if you could pick up the whole building and move it, the new location would be 7 meters from the old property line, but you actually moved it 65 meters. I guess it worked to grab headlines, but the logic is a bit tortured.
I like the wall idea, Atwater is a very busy street, it would also deflect noise and make it a much more pleasant space.
jeather
I saw somewhere it was measured front door to front door. Probably from parents who wanted it change to closest as the crow flies property lines.
Em
To be clear, I don’t think Benoit Labre would have to move its whole operation, because that building is mostly supportive studio apartments. It’s only the supervised consumption aspect (which I understood to be two cubicles). There would probably also be pressure to move the day centre, which is what causes people to congregate.
I guess a part of me wonders if it’s not a better thing to have the supervised consumption site separate from the main building, which contains supportive housing for people coming out of homelessness (some of whom may have had substance issues they’re addressing).
MarcG
I also noticed that the gate to the park next to the school on Ste-Émilie was locked up.
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Kate
The Union Française award for best baguette in town went to a new NDG bakery I’d never heard of, La Meunerie Urbaine.
Blork
Jeepers they even grind the wheat themselves. That’s dedication!
dwgs
Oh you out of touch Plateau denizens. Everything they make is divine.
Blork
While I do love a classic baguette like the ones this place apparently makes, my go-to general purpose baguettes these days are the ones from Boulangerie Ange. (There’s one on Masson I think.) I like them because the mie is lighter than in traditional baguettes, which makes it nicer for sandwiches (IMO). They work particularly well for báhn mì, which are often made with baguettes containing a mix of wheat and rice flour, and these Ange ones are a bit like that.
Mark Côté
Heh I dunno if 8 years old makes it a “new” bakery (I realize the article says that and you’re just quoting it, Kate). They used to have lines out the door practically every day until they took over the space next door. Also they refuse tips because they pay their employees (and they have a lot of them!) a fair wage.
And ful agreement with dwgs. I live dangerously close to them.
Kate
Haven’t lived in the Plateau for years, dwgs.
And I don’t have any reason to hang out in NDG these days, all the friends I had in the area having moved on.
(Also, I don’t buy bread.)
Kevin
Meunerie is known for their giant round loaves of bread, which they carve up into halves or quarters for people who don’t feel like eating 3 kilos of bread in one sitting.
jeather
They aren’t at all new and they are fantastic, they are always contenders for best baguette in the city. I have to stay far away.
H. John
No question that their products are addictive. The baguette is good, but their brioche should come with a health warning.
While people were dealing with Covid, they created a web site that allowed customers to place an order, and then pick it up at a service window without going into the store.
I thought it was worthwhile recognizing their choice to make their customers feel safe.
Ian
Not a great time for their website to be down. What are their prices like?
Kate
I was going to add the link to the original post above but Ian is right, the website is down.
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Kate
The Museum of Fine Arts is renovating the big Chihuly sun sculpture, which will be exhibited indoors after the replacement of broken elements of the 1200 that make up the massive piece. It was on show on the museum front steps for a time, but had taken some damage in that location.
Orr
Speaking of missing and moved artworks, the (vandalized?) totem pole is still gone from in front of the MMFA.
Lots of other outdoor sculptures to see tho.
Free admission to anyone 25 and under at the museum. it’s a good deal!
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Kate
Lot of headlines in different media Thursday have been spawned by this CP piece: Montreal hopes to repair damaged reputation after the hideous fiasco of last year’s event. Changes have been made to ease access to the site, one of the big problems last year, and presumably the fire department has been told not to fuss over terrasse dimensions for the moment.
MarcG
It feels like the subject is missing from your paragraph.
Kate
It was implied. Better now?
MarcG
I don’t see a change in the text
dwgs
I think you missed the snark.
MarcG
I guess I had my giraffe ears on
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Kate
La Presse has some tips on getting around during next week’s partial transit strike.
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Kate
A homeless camp on the Notre‑Dame strip is set for eviction next week. Reasons given is that there have been several fires and the discomfort of nearby residents, but no mention is made of tidying up the city in advance of the Grand Prix.
Ian 06:44 on 2025-06-06 Permalink
Oh no paint, someone call the riot squad
Nicholas 10:33 on 2025-06-06 Permalink
It’s worth activists thinking about what will be effective at changing people’s minds or drawing positive attention to their cause. I’m not disputing people’s right to protest, but spraying paint on art (including architecture) doesn’t seem to check these boxes for many, but does seem to annoy a lot. Protests often annoy people, that’s the point, but people have a special reverence for art that they don’t for even fellow humans.
Ian 16:58 on 2025-06-06 Permalink
Define “effective”. Handwringing centrists fear violence, hate inconvenience, are dismayed by vandalism, but seem ok with greenwashing. Which of those do you think activists should employ to effect change?
Protest is SUPPOSED to shake things up.
Nicholas 22:01 on 2025-06-06 Permalink
My definition of “effective” in this case is “increases, rather than decreases, the support for your movement, or the likelihood your movement will win material changes.” Some tactics can lead to change. Some lead to people being less sympathetic to change, and identifying with it less. There are lots of examples where mass movements, even violent ones, lead to change. There are also examples where it backfires. The same is true for peaceful protests, and stunts, like this one. Researchers have found it varies a lot, by tactic, by culture and county, by movement. I read as well that infrequent, mass protests show that there’s a big constituency for something, while frequent, small protests that never grow in size show there are only a few hundred people who care.
I’m not saying don’t do this specific protest. But I think it’s worth people thinking about whether something is likely to help or hurt their cause. Maybe they don’t care, and just want to be cathartically angry. Sometimes I feel that too. Maybe they think this will get them positive coverage. Given the reactions I’ve seen, mostly from people on the left side of the spectrum, being associated with the throwing paint on paintings people I’d doubt that, and their upcoming F1 protest seems more likely to help. But with all the researchers and foundation money floating around, and even if not, someone should think about movements that succeeded, what they did, and do more of that. I want the climate movement to be effective.
Ian 11:03 on 2025-06-07 Permalink
I thik what you are looking for is lobbyists, not protestors. With the way our system is set up, lobby groups are way more affective and effective than any rally. This is one of the reasons that organized labour has been far more effective since they started hiring lawyers, supporting candidates, and funding “think tanks”. When it was just street marches the cops would round up the leaders and kill them.