The STM is back to its strike schedule on Monday, after the union’s offer on the weekend was rejected.
Updates from September, 2025 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
Relevant piece Monday by Benjamin Shingler examining the city’s problems vs what it can and can’t do to fix them. A good analysis of how Canada keeps its cities on a short leash by allowing them minimal amounts of money for infrastructure while leaving them to their own devices to cope with the housing shortage and homelessness. With a good short video in which Kwabina Oduro gives a terse civics lesson explaining municipal as opposed to federal and provincial responsibilities – and why people should take the November vote seriously and cast a ballot.
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Kate
The McGill News has a nice piece about The Word bookstore at 50.
Can I be cranky? I’m going to be cranky. The item uses a journalistic cliché that always makes me grit my teeth: “It all began…”. It’s second only to being ordered to forget things by headline writers.
Ian
It was a dark and stormy night
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Kate
Stopped at a Petite-Patrie café Sunday afternoon, ordered a double espresso. On the board, the price was a fairly standard $3.75. When the time came to pay, it was $4.60. Seemed a lot. Then the woman tells me a double espresso is $4.00 plus taxes.
I pointed out that the posted price was $3.75 and she tittered and said the owner hadn’t got around to changing the board yet. I didn’t want to be a Karen about 25¢ so I paid up, but isn’t it illegal to post one price then charge another?
Joey
I think they were obliged to give you the coffee for free.
Nicholas
Joey is correct. However, if they choose not to follow the law, your only recourse is to sue them in small claims court, which of course no one will ever do except for very expensive errors. You can file a complaint with the OPC, but they can only send a letter reminding the retailer of the law; they have no enforcement power.
David S
I also think that you should have gotten it for free:
https://www.opc.gouv.qc.ca/commercant/pratique-commerce/prix-rabais/politique/
Blork
Wow, I always assumed that policy of “no charge” if the item is priced higher at the checkout than the posted price was just a company policy that retailers used to look nice. Turns out it’s the law! (If the item is under $15.) <- Via David S's link above.
Nicholas
Blork, years ago that was the case at some large stores that agreed to do this, partially to allay the fears of customers that they would be mischarged by newfangled scanners. But it has been the law for at least about 25 years in Quebec. I remember using it to get a six pack of beer for $2 from Metro, even though it doesn’t apply below minimum prices for items that have them and also we were all under-age.
David S
Blork: yes, it’s the law but it used to be for items under $10 until, I believe, March of this year. Now it’s $15.
steph
Doesn’t this rule only apply to stores that aren’t price ticketing items individually over ? I have no idea how that would apply to a coffee shop where you’re ordering items off a menu.
Would you return to this place over the 25¢? Name and shame!
I like to think I would have tried to pay the exact amount ($4.31 after taxes) and walked out with the coffee – but who carries around exact change anymore.
Joey
Steph, the link above explains how the law applies to stores that don’t have individual prices.
Kate
steph, I seldom pass by that café so it’s unlikely I’ll go there again. It’s a charming little place, but it’s not as if the area is short of coffee spots.
David S
Oh I just reread the policy and it does not apply to items without a barcode. So I guess a coffee would not apply. It’s in the exceptions section.
jeather
I had no idea clothing and shoes were not included in this. I suspect there’s a different complaint you could make about menu prices being wrong, though, since that one seems to be about stores.
Orr
I once politely demanded to pay the posted price and the dep owner complied, then told me never to come back to their store. #CustomerService
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Kate
Radio-Canada accompanies its report on a march for Nooran Rezayi on Sunday with photos showing a lot of armoured police accompanying the marchers.
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Kate
Verdun borough had planned to demolish the Natatorium, but have decided they can restore it instead.
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Kate
CBC has a brief video report on the difficulties in installing community mailboxes in densely populated parts of cities.
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Kate
No deal has been struck, so the partial transit strike will continue on Monday.
Jim
Back to using the car then I guess.
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Kate
We cannot get away from Trump. Chloé evoked Orwell with a view of the president after he declared Antifa terrorists, and Ygreck after he announced that Tylenol causes autism. Godin on Trump and Nobel prizes and visiting the United Nations. Chapleau on Trump and RFK Jr.Godin draws one classic trope after the announcement of the end of postal home delivery and Ygreck draws a different one. Godin’s drawing of François Legault as part of a puppet show sent me to Wikipedia to look up Punch and Judy, Guignol and the commedia dell’arte. He also had commentary on the transit strike.
Ygreck comments on the Quebec government’s abandonment of inclusive writing with a sideswipe at the “woke”.
A modern rental offer from Côté rounds off the week.
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Kate
Large sections of the South Shore are under a boil water advisory.
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Kate
A silent march was held Saturday in Longueuil in honour of Nooran Rezayi.
Another march will be held Sunday, this one being called an anti police brutality march – and we know what that means. Authorities are calling for calm.
MarcG
The last article mentions that “two other youths were arrested for posting a photo of the young victim on the grounds of a police station on the South Shore”. I can’t even find a word to describe it. Arrogance? Hubris? Inhumanity?
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Kate
The STM maintenance union made an offer to the employer on Saturday but it was turned down like a bedspread.
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Kate
The Gazette runs a decent interview with Craig Sauvé* defining his style and intentions.
Le Devoir lists the notable moments so far of the campaign.
La Presse discusses how rising rents are driving people off the island, although without direct mention of the election campaign, and the Journal lists off the main concerns of voters.
*the original link is here – I realize my archive links don’t work for everyone, but not sure how to solve that.
DeWolf
Regarding the story in La Presse — the media sure are milking those ISQ projections.
The narrative being developed is that Montreal is both too expensive and too unsafe/dirty/congested/etc. and so people are leaving the city. But Montreal has had negative net migration to the regions every year since 2000 — and almost certainly in the years before that, too. It’s essentially the status quo: people move from Montreal to the suburbs or other parts of Quebec, and they’re replaced by immigrants. It’s how the city has grown for many, many years.
Take a look at page 10 of this demographic portrait of Montreal from 2000–2020: https://ville.montreal.qc.ca/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/MTL_STATS_FR/MEDIA/DOCUMENTS/DYNAMIQUE_MIGRATOIRE_2019-2020.PDF
In other words, the story of young couples leaving their 4 1/2 in town to buy a house off-island is nothing new. Maybe the only change is that those couples are increasingly going beyond the suburbs to places like the Eastern Townships and Lanaudière, because the suburbs are much less affordable than they used to be.
The ISQ’s projections are based on the new immigration restrictions, because if Montreal doesn’t get new immigrants, its population will decline. In other words, it’s a political situation, and as we all know, the political landscape can change pretty quickly. If Montreal’s population goes into free-fall as the ISQ is predicting, there will be pretty serious economic consequences, and I doubt whichever government is in power after 2026 will be inclined to maintain low rates of immigration.
Housing unaffordability is really not good, but it’s not to blame for intra-provincial migration off the island, because that’s a phenomenon that has existed for ages and is fairly consistent from year to year.
MarcG
Sauvé band was pretty good.
Ian
Having gone down the youtube rabbtihole over this band I cannot comprehend how everyone keeps calling it “death metal”. There’s a friggin’ saxophone.
Sam
I think the appropriate term is “mathcore.”
MarcG
Boomers call anything that’s even a bit aggro metal.
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Kate
The allegation that China was running clandestine “police stations” in Canada, including in two social service groups run by and for the Chinese community in the Montreal area, has been quietly dropped with no charges, but the groups have defamation cases against the RCMP still open.
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Kate
Five restaurants in Montreal made the prestigious World’s 50 Best list.
MarcG
Waiting for Kate’s theory about food comments to manifest.
Kate
Food gets comments, restaurants as such not so much, especially when the story is about expensive places most of us won’t be visiting very often. (I’ve never been to any of the five, and hadn’t even heard of a couple of them.)
MarcG
Ah, I missed the nuance. Eagerly awaiting a post about Israeli couscous.
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