The owner of two Old Montreal buildings that killed nine people in deadly fires over the last two years has been convicted for violating the fire safety code at another of his properties.
Why is this man even allowed to go on owning property and renting to tenants? What do you have to do to disqualify yourself?
Tuesday reached a peak of 35.6°, making it the hottest June day and hottest St‑Jean on record.
We can expect big rain starting Friday and carrying on through the weekend.
Statistics Canada says rents in Montreal are up nearly 71% since 2019.
Adding later: and Montreal has outstripped Vancouver and Toronto in its increases.
For those interested in the methodology (from StatsCan):
“In this release, average asking rent is derived from listings posted on major rental listing platforms in Canada. Asking rent offers a new picture of what prospective tenants can expect to pay based on the type of housing they are searching for (rental unit type, number of rooms and location).
“Estimates include purpose-built (primary) rentals and units available in the secondary rental market. They do not cover collective dwellings, vacation homes, mobile houses or subsidized housing.
“While asking rent estimates are adjusted for distributional representation of rental unit types, they are not adjusted for changes in quality. This means that variations in the asking rent levels can be influenced by changes in quality attributes of rental units, such as the presence of utilities, upgraded finishes or parking.
“Data are experimental and subject to revision.”
Once again, we are presented with rents derived from listings as if they were equivalent to rents paid by tenants – we’ve already discussed why the two are distinct, though the general trend ought to apply to both (I would imagine that ‘rents advertised’ would increase more quickly than ‘rents paid’).
Also, if the question is about affordability, excluding subsidized housing seems to be a major methodological blind spot.
Nonetheless, it’s still a problem that advertised rates are going up so much. In 2002 with a minimum wage job, I shared an apartment for I believe, 575$. Minimum wage on July 1 2002 was 7.00$, it would have taken me 41 hours to pay my share of the rent. A relative just moved into a roughly equivalent place for 2000$ – with minimum wage at 16.10, it will take him 62 hours to pay his share.
In case anyone needed proof rent increase limits are not, in fact, regulated in any meaningful way.
Meanwhile, yesterday New Yorkers overwhelmingly elected a (future) mayor who ran on a rent control platform. It will be interesting to see how that plays out.
Blog has eaten your link, SMD. Can you repost it and I’ll link it in?
The election of Zohran Mamdani gives me hope that the U.S.A. isn’t entirely lost to all decency.
Here it is: https://jacobin.com/2025/06/mamdani-cuomo-nyc-real-estate. Reuters notes that shares of several New York-based banks and real estate investment trusts have already taken a hit: https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/new-york-banks-reits-fall-mamdanis-mayoral-lead-stokes-rent-freeze-worries-2025-06-25/.
Apparently Democrat primaries tend to lean further left than general elections but here’s hoping.
Tomy Langevin, accused in the stabbing death of a man in Montreal North on Monday, has killed before. Fifteen years ago he murdered his own father but was declared not criminally responsible.
jeather 17:39 on 2025-06-25 Permalink
TIL the street name is de Hampton not Hampton.
Kevin 17:56 on 2025-06-25 Permalink
I view that kind of writing as an overcorrection, and a failure to realize that a name in French should not be transliterated into English.
It’s like saying Barthelona or Paree.
jeather 18:08 on 2025-06-25 Permalink
On the one hand yes they should call it Hampton in an English article, on the other hand I checked on the Canada Post postal code verification service and they have De Hampton as the actual street name, which I was entirely unaware of.
Meezly 20:09 on 2025-06-25 Permalink
Exactly. And why is he not serving time in prison for gross negligence causing multiple deaths? He seems to be a danger to society…?
Joey 09:12 on 2025-06-26 Permalink
But you wouldn’t refer to the street a few blocks east of St,-Laurent as “Bullion Street,” right? I guess context is king here; nobody in an English neighbourhood would ever include the “de” in the street name, whereas it’s usually the opposite in a French area.
Chris 09:31 on 2025-06-26 Permalink
This punishment, and the one for that Hasidic “cop” crashing, and many others you never hear about, are why conservatives complain about soft-on-crime bleeding-heart judges.
Kate 09:41 on 2025-06-26 Permalink
It’s more that “Hampton” is a name unto itself, whereas the street “de Bullion” was named for someone called “de Bullion”.
According to the city toponymy site, Hampton was named for Hampton Court, “une des résidences royales d’Angleterre” while de Bullion was named for Angélique Faure, marquise de Bullion (1593-1662), who helped fund Jeanne Mance’s original Hôtel‑Dieu.
MarcG 09:54 on 2025-06-26 Permalink
It seems like the “de Hampton” change was made recently because most of the street signs say “Avenue Hampton”, but at the cross with Monkland one side says Avenue and the other says Avenue de.
Ian 14:27 on 2025-06-26 Permalink
Saint Lawrence boulevard/ boulevard Saint-Laurent writ large
https://youtu.be/tLs00PlP7H0?si=7covtlMrhu4Exeqg