A man has been arrested and charged over the fire on Mont‑Royal (Street) on Sunday in which a 77‑year‑old man died. Does the phrasing “intentionally or recklessly causing property damage” mean arson, or possibly just doing something stupid? Anyway, he’s out on bail.
Thursday, the Journal has a big headline Mort à cause d’un itinérant qui voulait se rechauffer. Similar report in La Presse.
CTV says 25 cases of West Nile virus have been reported in Montreal this year.
The article doesn’t mention that mosquito habitat is expanding due to climate change (“Climate-change-induced events like annual warming, extreme heat, and drought will likely increase mosquito abundance and disease transmission by speeding up both mosquito development and viral replication” – linko).
Quebec also had it’s first case of Rocky Mountain spotted fever this summer, spread by ticks whose territories are enlarging due to climate change.
I used to think that although our winters can be a pain, at least they protected us from a lot of pests that plague warmer parts of the world. Not so much any more.
MarcG
The guy who got Rocky Mountain spotted fever remembered after the fact that he’d actually been in Ontario, which is probably where (we’ll never know for sure) that he got bit.
Urbania’s Jean Bourbeau outlines what’s known so far about the shooting of Nooran Rezayi.
The CAQ wants to undermine the process of union dues, making some of them voluntary. They’d love nothing better than to weaken labour rights generally.
Remember the FAE teachers (november 2023) that had NO strike fund when they went on strike. The employer wants a weak and unfunded opposition at the negotiating table.
In 2022, 37.3% of Quebec’s workforce was covered by a collective bargaining agreement. That’s a lot of potential voters. Doesn’t make sense why they still want to antagonize them, but I’m sure workers will remember next time election rolls around.
They’ve clearly given up on re-election, just helping out their friends on the way out.
A little revenge-flavoured union busting sounds right in the CAQ wheelhouse.
I’m not sure making some dues voluntary will antagonize all unionized voters. Plenty of people would be happy to see a little less deducted from their pay, even if it’s not the best decision in the long run AND even if union dues are mostly tax deductible.
Surprisingly no mention in the article of the Rand Formula, the 1946 arbitration agreement principle that requires non-members of a closed shop to pay dues. It’s been incorporated into the law of Quebec since the late 70s, and is required federally and in all provinces but AB, NB, NS and PE. Even then, most collective agreements incorporate it regardless as a standard clause, so I doubt this will change much. It was created as a compromise between employers and labour, also banning wildcat strikes, and you better believe if the government tried to strike it down here there would be a general strike of the likes you’ve never seen in your lifetime in Canada.
One should not assume that all union members even want to be in their union. I have friends that hate their union, find it useless, and resent the dues taken. They are probably a minority, but they exist.
Yes Chris, that’s exactly why the Rand formula exists. They can hate union, but they still benefit from it.
Same individualistic, society-breaking stuff as “I don’t want to pay taxes for services I don’t use”.
Excellent point, MarcG.
Hey, like bicyclists being mad that cars get to use roads that our entire food delivery, emergency vehicle srvices, and public transtit system rely on.
Wednesday is another partial strike day at the STM.
In nine years and 450 cases, only two investigations by the BEI have resulted in charges. It’s hard not to see it as a bureau for protecting police.
BEI – Bureau of Enforcement Immunity.
Radio-Canada asked the three credible mayoral candidates how they would handle the homeless situation in Milton-Parc. Everyone wants to offer more services, but when you’re campaigning, it’s pie in the sky, the budget numbers are not on your desk and you’re not the scapegoat yet.
TVA polled voters to find out their top five priorities in this election.
La Presse makes gloomy predictions about the city budget.
Luc Rabouin has announced that Gracia Kasoki Katahwa will be chair of the executive committee, effectively his first officer, if he’s elected mayor.
Ensemble is promising that, if elected, there will be no homeless camps in town by 2031.
No homeless camps by the end of their first term, and yet they also oppose the modular housing now being built in Outremont and Blue Bonnets. So I guess they’re planning on handing out one-way tickets to Toronto?
The homeless will be living in the abandoned AirBnbs – she’s playing 3D chess.
Interesting that safety is not mentioned in that top five, since some of the narrative lately makes it sound like we’re all living in constant abject fear. (We really aren’t…)
In fact, none of those top five would warrant an increased police budget.
Nicholas 23:57 on 2025-09-24 Permalink
Interesting that it didn’t start in the loan agency, which would make one think arson, but instead the top floor, a residence, which seems an odd place to start an arson. CBC has more details: a source thinks the man was homeless and trying to warm up. Also it’s not clear if he’s out on bail; he was in court for a bail hearing, but no word of the result. CBC says a manslaughter charge was added at the hearing, and if he indeed has no fixed address, and can’t afford rent, bail seems less likely.
MarcG 06:49 on 2025-09-25 Permalink
Punctuation is important: I thought you were talking about the mountain on first scan.
Kate 10:15 on 2025-09-25 Permalink
It wouldn’t be punctuation in this case, I should have written “rue Mont-Royal” or “Mont-Royal Street” one way or another. Sorry!
MarcG 10:29 on 2025-09-25 Permalink
Ah I thought only the street got the hyphen but after looking at the French wikipedia page I see that it’s a mix of “Mont Royal, “Mont-Royal”, “mont Royal” depending on how it’s being used, and in English is always “Mount Royal”.
If the person was homeless does that mean the apartment was empty and they were squatting?
DavidH 12:42 on 2025-09-25 Permalink
MarcG, the LaPresse article says they were on the third floor balcony which they were often expelled from. The man who died was on that floor. Wonder if that balcony was part of the usual fire escape route.