CityNews talked to a couple of restaurant owners on St‑Denis who say they resent the business that Mont‑Royal Avenue gets because it’s pedestrianized all summer. Someone even gets in a dig at the REV for displacing parking.
But it’s a question of urban geography. You can close Mont‑Royal all summer because it’s relatively narrow for a commercial street. You can’t close St‑Denis for long because it’s more of an artery. No, it’s not fair, but it is what it is.
La Presse finds that boroughs are far from equal in the state of their roads. The difference varies from 60% of its side streets in poor shape in Hochelaga‑Maisonneuve, down to only 8% in St‑Laurent.
The central boroughs may have the most decrepit side streets but the reasons are known: they’re the oldest parts of town, they get dug up more often for underground repairs, and they don’t have major roads to channel heavy vehicles off their smaller streets.
Chloé has the cartoon of the week, with the celebration of Sainte Laïcité.
Côté on why not to feed the animals and why not to do your makeup in the car.
Chapleau got into the indelible marks of corruption twice and even managed to use the Gallant commission for a dig at Bernard Drainville, who wasn’t involved. Chapleau does the best caricatures (in the English sense of the word) – his Drainville is perfect.
Ygreck as well got into the effects of the Gallant commission with a portrait of Geneviève Guilbault and Chloé sees her as the subject of a reality show. Ygreck also sees the lineup waiting to testify before Denis Gallant.
Ygreck sees Drainville trying to balance the education budget in a hurry and Côté sympathizes with parents trying to afford public school.
Ygreck’s commentary on public prayer echoes a similar idea drawn by Coté last year.
I’m almost considering adding the Montreal melon to the list of annual news stories, because periodically there will be a piece about the fabled fruit being revived, but then you never see it in a store or in the market, so you forget about it until a new claim is made.
Montreal overall is greener than it was – greenhouse gas emissions are down, thousands of trees have been planted, active transport has been encouraged and the chronic waste of drinking water from leaky old water mains has been slowed down, if not halted.
But each of these items is still a work in progress, as Mathias Marchal enumerates in this piece.
(As we found out this summer, the leaky pipe issue is not all bad.)
The Un Arbre Pour Mon Quartier and Verdissement Laval campaigns are still running their fall campaigns if anyone is interested in planting a tree for cheap or sometimes free.
It’s being widely reported that STM buses will not be displaying ‘Go! Habs Go!’ before winter because it costs a lot to have the displays on a thousand buses changed.
That sounds very low tech. Is the display device networked? Even if not, presumably each display contains a file that includes all the bus routes plus some seasonal and sportive slogans and functional things like SPECIAL or EN TRANSIT. It can’t be rocket science to update that file.
If GO HABS GO was deleted from every bus at the same time, surely it could be restored to every bus at the same time? If not, surely not every driver went into the device and obediently deleted the phrase?
Drivers change the sign all the time (like at the start of a route). Maybe the message needs to be loaded up at the terminus beforehand? Maybe that task is collectively bargained to be done in a certain way?
I suppose it’s only a unionized technician that is authorized to do it. Simple tasks easily get bogged down by bureaucracy. Even a motivated employee wouldn’t be allowed to use their spare time to do the work. (IIRC it took months to delete them in the first place)
Good. I know I’m being a killjoy, but the Canadiens are privately owned, for profit organization. We shouldn’t devote a penny of already scarce public transit funds to give them free promotion.
Also, do we even need to display these messages? That space displays important information about the route which I’d rather see than any other kind of message.
I assumed it was a popular gesture of social cohesion, akin to flying military jets over CFL games. But CE is right. It isn’t necessary.
I dunno, we could do with some social cohesion…
Christiane Pelchat, who glories in the title coprésidente du Comité sur l’application de la Loi sur la laïcité de l’État, says street prayer is not really a problem in Montreal, and that Muslim prayers held outside Notre‑Dame are a statement in support of Palestine rather than a true religious observance (why not both – and how would she know?).
On the other hand, Pelchat says the city should crack down on protests being held without permits, instead. So hers isn’t exactly a tolerant position.
Before accusing people of being religious, we should test their faith. And only with empirical truth should we brandish the accusation. It has to be real belief in a real god.
Kneeling and quietly mumbling to yourself: corrupting our vulnerable children. Erecting a sign in every metro station and handing out flyers: don’t worry about it. Wearing a scarf: coercive and dangerous. Going door-to-door in uniforms, trained pairs of people asking pointed and rhetorical questions: not a problem, carry on.
Notes on what’s open and closed for Labour Day. The weather seems to have received the memo that summer is over.
Pretty safe to assume there’s more hot days coming. The past 3 Septembers have basically been summer months with average temps over 20C including spikes up to 28C last year and 32C in 2023. And October last year we had two long stretches of heat at the beginning and end, with a random 21C day on Nov 6th.
Anyone know why I would be hearing endless honking by big trucks up on the Met?
Construction at Cote de Liesse and St Croix?
Wouldn’t have been that, since I live east of St‑Laurent Boulevard.
Eventually it stopped, but it had gone on for the better part of an hour.
Martinez Ferrada is accusing Projet of plagiarism over reinstating weekly trash pickup in Hochelaga‑Maisonneuve and backing away from the Camillien‑Houde closure. But there’s no plagiarism in politics. All’s fair in love and campaigning.
Also, if Ferrada were actually passionate about those policies happening, you’d think she’d be more than happy to see other parties wanting to do them too.
True. Whereas it feels like she’s using them for leverage, not because they matter to her. Good analysis!
Muslims feel the public prayer ban targets their community because it does. Read MBC today where he rants against Islam and you can see it in plain sight.
And yet it makes no sense. Nobody is forcing anyone to eat halal food. Nobody is making women cover their hair or men get the snip. Muslims are not knocking at your door or trying to hand you tracts in the metro. It’s xenophobia pure and simple.
Nobody has the right to live in a bubble.
Kate, while I agree with you, people are forcing the snip on men (well, boys) without their consent. A huge amount of meat and other products are Halal and Kosher, whether you like it or not. And there is incredibly strong social pressure in some communities for women to cover their hair. I remember at 18 going to a funeral for the cousin of a friend of mine at Paperman & Sons, and I was the only male friend of hers who came, and one of her friends hugged every one of her friends, many of whom she’d just met, except me, who she’d known for a year (she apologized briefly but didn’t explain, so I didn’t understand until later). Technically she had free will, but in that setting, surrounded by all her community, did she?
You could say that no one was forcing women to change their names. Quebec’s solution is extreme to some, but no one thinks there wasn’t pervasive social pressure.
All of these bills are red meat xenophobia, and I’m generally of the opinion to let people live as they please. I don’t care that some person has blessed my chicken. But we certainly do want to intervene in some cases; lots of closed communities have abuse, especially of children, but also those with less power, and genital mutilation is not acceptable here for one sex, at least. And social coercion is rampant; while some women do like covering their hair, you can’t say everyone who does it wants to, as when rules are relaxed in certain places many of those women immediately start showing their hair. I think most people who cover here do want to, but I’m sure some don’t, but would have to leave their community if they did.
Sure and nobody’s forcing men not to wear skirts to their work at the office or women not to go topless, except social pressure & cultural practices. By the same token, if your maternal grandmother was Jewish, then so are you even if you aren’t circumcised. Lots of people live as secular or non-observant Jews. Lots of non-Jewish men are circumcised. As far as food goes, try bringing Kentucky Fried Chicken to a potluck. It’s not religioon, but it’s observing cultural practices. I am sure you can see where I’m going with this. In the winter everyone covers their hair, does it offend you? As far as abuse goes, there’s a lot of sexual abuseat universtities and colleges – which are essentially closed communities – do you think we should shut them down? In the early to mid 20th century headscarves were super popular for women all over the place and nobody lost their head. Well, besides Isadora Duncan.
All that aside, I think it’s time to really test this and start wearing secular hijabs and start secular prayer meetings in public. Ideally in English, praising multiculturalism and giving thanks for diversity. Some of those sport hijabs don’t really look much different from the open face baaclavas people wear for winter sports. As I recall back during maple spring the city tried to ban ski masks but that got laughed out. Fascists hate getting laughed at.
Arguably, chanting “Go Habs Go!” is a prayer.
A report found a lot of neglect and mistreatment of older patients at Sacré‑Cœur hospital – restraints, misuse of drugs.
24Hres made a visit to the city carpentry workshop that produces the benches, picnic tables and other such items seen in our parks and along our streets.
The numbers of foreign students enrolled in Quebec’s universities have fallen fast.
Toula Drimonis writes about the CAQ hypocrisy over foreign students.
Great.
I am sure our provincial overlords will gladly make up the lost revenue in our post-secondary system.
Assuming each international student pays $35k, as opposed to our local students at $3k – this is a big financial hole to fill (self-inflicted I might add).
Quebec had 120,000 international students. If enrollment drops 50% as it did this year, that is a $2.1B reduction in available funds.
They want three things – to defund universities in general and English ones in particular, to keep the province socially and culturally isolated, and to keep the population as white as possible.
And all those students were eating at local restaurants, buying clothes and furniture from local businesses, etc. All that tax and business revenue is gone. But, as bob says, isolation is the goal.
…and in many cases were the employees of local business too, making it even harder for local businesses who are now short-staffed on top of everything else.
A CNESST report suggests that the STM should consider arming the special constables that patrol the metro, but the STM is resisting this so far. The constables wear bulletproof vests, and carry handcuffs, batons and pepper spray – but no guns.
The STM says its constables had to use force in 487 out of 58,349 incidents last year. That doesn’t sound like overwhelming odds.
“Had to”…
STM – Selon les données de la STM, les constables spéciaux ont eu recours à la force dans 487 des 58 349 interventions réalisées en 2024.
CNESST – “On m’informe qu’il y a environ 1000 interventions avec usage de la force par année, en moyenne.”
So, who is lying here?
Joey, you don’t think force in about 1% of cases is reasonable sounding? If there are people physically fighting, the STM constables should break it up with stern words instead perhaps?
Very good point, Chris. After all, there are no repeated, clear examples of the Montreal police abusing their power and committing acts of violence, often targetting the homeless, people of colour, and people in mental distress. Oh wait.
I’d love to hear how they define “force” first.
Very good point, Ian. After all, there are no examples of violent nutcases freaking out in the metro and needing 3rd party intervention. Never. Oh wait.
CNESST seems to think that adding guns to the situation will protect the inspectors. But it may also result in people they’re inspecting shooting first, now that they know inspectors are armed. You can reasonably argue that inspectors in the US need guns because guns are everywhere and you never know who is carrying. Inspectors in most other countries are not armed, and it should stay like that here. In many places they don’t even have clubs; they’re just like regular bureaucrats, and their jobs are to check for tickets. We don’t give out guns to restaurant inspectors or parking agents or building inspectors; checking tickets is not inherently dangerous. If there’s a problem where someone with a gun is needed, call the SPVM, which has a special metro division.
Chris, so what percentage of that 1% do you think are “violent nutcases”? I mean, if we’re going to support militarizing metro security there’s obviously a need…. lol
It’s hard to imagine more guns leading to less violence.
DeWolf 11:49 on 2025-08-31 Permalink
Weird story. The reporter interviews two restaurant owners and calls it a day.
To paraphrase a comment Nicholas made earlier, restaurant owners love to blame everyone but themselves for their failures. If you open a restaurant on a busy street that is already a major destination, and nobody wants to eat there, you’re doing something wrong.
CE 12:22 on 2025-08-31 Permalink
I remember a bar downtown closed and the media ran a story on its last day. The owner blamed the smoking ban. The bar closed about 8 years after the ban came into effect.
Nicholas 12:47 on 2025-08-31 Permalink
There was a study done with sales data from terminals (Moneris, etc.) after the REV was built that showed that businesses on St Denis in the Plateau did better than businesses on St Laurent, compared to pre-REV. (Obviously they accounted for covid, etc.) There’s also the longstanding research that shows that people biking spend a little less per visit than people driving, but make more visits, largely because it’s easier to stop, and they have more disposable income not locked up in car payments, so spend more overall. Business owners often vastly overestimate the percent of customers who arrive by car, especially on a street with so much bike, pedestrian and transit traffic, and a big reason for that is they, the petite bourgeoisie, mostly drive. And a lot of them complain about parking because they park there all day, but that is not sympathetic, so they say customers need to park. (Plus parking is mostly maintained on St Denis; a few spots were lost for the mid-block crosswalks, and of course there are bus stops and turn lanes at intersections and terrasses, but the parking was just moved a few feet over.)
And the parking issue is especially funny because they also want pedestrianization? Do they realize that will remove way more parking? No one will drive past their business again? If that’s what businesses want, let’s do it!
Oh, they want help? Maybe some free money? Oh, festivals. Festivals are great, just get the SDC to support it and I’m sure it’ll happen. St Laurent is pedestrianized this weekend, and also over a week during Mural Fest, while St Denis just has one, the comic book festival, for one weekend. St Denis has as many lanes of traffic and parking as Mont-Royal and St Laurent, so it can be done. The city does things for Mont-Royal, but the SDC is hugely involved, you see their three summits branding everywhere, they suggest activities and often run them. So get together with your other businesses, decide on something, and I’m sure the government will support it. But the government is very reactive, and they follow what the businesses want, which is why Plaza St Hubert is no longer pedestrianized. One of the two restaurants interviewed isn’t even a member of the SDC! You have to do the work. But it is a lot easier to whine.
Meezly 10:23 on 2025-09-01 Permalink
I wonder if there were merchants along Mont-Royal Ave who were resistant pre-pedestrianization. Bet they’ve changed their tune since, or now claiming they’ve always supported the idea.
DeWolf 11:48 on 2025-09-01 Permalink
In the first couple of editions, I remember media coverage in which some merchants grumbled that it didn’t really benefit them. I think one was a watch repair shop.
Mont-Royal being pedestrianized in the summertime has been so deeply engrained in people’s expectations that it’s crazy to think it only goes back to 2020.
Nicholas 13:35 on 2025-09-01 Permalink
There was a dumpling place at the far east end, an area that has few workplaces and is mostly residential and much farther from the metro so gets fewer tourists, that complained and yet they never opened past 5 pm. I pointed out at the time that that seems like a terrible business idea. Seems it was.
Mozai 15:34 on 2025-09-01 Permalink
“Business owners often vastly overestimate the percent of customers who arrive by car….” because the business owners arrive by car; the parking is for them first.
DeWolf 23:32 on 2025-09-01 Permalink
@Nicholas — That dumpling place is now a Thai restaurant that is very successful.