Updates from October, 2025 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Kate 20:20 on 2025-10-05 Permalink | Reply  

    The question of temporary foreign workers is percolating, with items about how businesses are suffering from losing workers.

    But the phrasing here reveals a nastier side: CityNews ledes with a description of the federal limits to hiring low-wage temporary foreign workers. Nobody seems to inquire into the ethics of bringing people here, sometimes having them live in penury while doing our dirty work, sometimes allowing them to build a good life before telling them they can’t stay.

    Quebec was complaining about too many foreign (and non‑francophone) workers, but Ottawa obliged them a little too enthusiastically. Now Quebec has flip‑flopped to complaining that Ottawa overdid things so that Quebec businesses are short of manpower – that cheap temporary disposable manpower everyone wants.

     

    • Uatu 21:29 on 2025-10-05 Permalink

      Lot of out of province students could work some of these jobs… Oh wait…

    • Ian 22:43 on 2025-10-05 Permalink

      It’s the conundrum of finally finding out that immigrants are not, in fact, ruining the economy…. but still having to figure out how to blame immigrants for ruining the economy. Why, it’s almost as if the ruling class is having us fight amongst ourselves …

    • roberto 07:36 on 2025-10-06 Permalink

      Why play for values and consistency when you can just play low politics and throw mud.

    • azrhey 09:29 on 2025-10-06 Permalink

      but but, if we bring in low wage temporary workers from the right corner of the world they will perform the right kind of public prayers! That should balance all the dangerous wrong kinds of public prayers, it’s a win win in my book!
      ( help yourself to a /sarc tag is you need one )

    • Joey 10:51 on 2025-10-06 Permalink

      When the premier talks about trying to hold the together the two segments of the CAQ – those motivated by nationalism/identity and those motivated by economic issues (IOW xenophobia vs. greed) – I guess this is what he’s talking about. I don’t think we are prepared for the enthusiastic way in which capital is going to embrace AI robots.

    • Chris 11:07 on 2025-10-06 Permalink

      There certainly has been a lot of flip flopping on the immigration issue.

      You had leftists like Bernie Sanders arguing against mass immigration, as it can suppress wages for locals. Then you had other leftists convince many that making any argument against immigration makes you a total racist scumbag. And so, the population moved rightward on the issue, because why would you embrace those falsely accusing you of racism. And so, here we are. Sigh.

    • Ian 08:47 on 2025-10-07 Permalink

      Bermio Sanders is American, their takes will always be a bit self-serving. Don’t fall fo the fallacy of appeal to authority, he has bad takes on lots of stuff. Even AOC, who is way more progressive than Sanders, has some weird takes.

      That said, not all people against mass immigration are racists – but almost every racist is against mass immigration. That aside, realistically, Quebec is finding out waht a driver immigration is for our economy – even if they aren’t willing to acknowledge teh net social benefit of multiculturalism. Again, not all people against multiculturalism are racists, but …

    • Ian 08:48 on 2025-10-07 Permalink

      Bermio was a heck of a typo, not some weird in-joke nickname 😉

  • Kate 20:02 on 2025-10-05 Permalink | Reply  

    Luc Rabouin and Craig Sauvé are both talking up better transit for the east end.

     

    • Ian 09:02 on 2025-10-07 Permalink

      The thing is, when Rabouin talks, we can look at PM’s record of empty promises.

      Sauvé is clearly at the advantage in this regard as we know that as soon as Rabouin is elected he will claim helplessness n the face of a lack of provincial funding, where Sauvé has already stated that his goal is to ba. muc bigger thorn in the side of the province than PM has been so far.

      Even if Sauvé doesn’t get elected teh core modality of buck-passing is what we should be paying attention to here, and the question in the face of every promise of this kind should be “what if you can’t secure provincial funding”.

      Rabouin’s fund of “5 millions de dollars” won’t go far when we already know a simple planted bulbout costs nearly half a million. Quickly googling tells me that the rule of thumb for light rail is about a million dollars per mile.

      Even the plan to redo Parc,.. “Montreal, September 30, 2025 – Projet Montréal today announced the complete redevelopment of Avenue du Parc, from Parc station in Parc-Extension to Place-des-Arts station in downtown Montreal, passing through Mile-Ex, Mile-End, and Milton-Parc” I remember last time Parc got dug up to replace the mains they had to do it more than twice in several places because hydro and other ifrastructure couldn’t follow the same schedule … and it took well over a yer and had massive cost overruns. That was just through Mile End. Now Rabouin envisages a complete makeover for the street top to bottom, including part of Bleury?

      Where is all this money going to come from? What happens if the province says no? We know PM won’t fight for it… so that just leaves property taxes and fees.

  • Kate 16:26 on 2025-10-05 Permalink | Reply  

    Québec Solidaire’s Vincent Marissal has sponsored a National Assembly petition to allow burial in a shroud rather than a coffin, as the law demands. This is partly based on the traditions of both Jews and Muslims to do so, but is also more ecologically sound – and less expensive.

     

    • walkerp 21:05 on 2025-10-05 Permalink

      So you have to be buried in a coffin here?

    • Joey 21:19 on 2025-10-05 Permalink

      Also presumably a lot cheaper – if you haven’t made your wishes known to your next of kin, consider doing so. You’d be surprised how quickly you need to make critical decisions when someone dies – about funeral homes, burial/cremation, etc. – with basically no time when you’re in a state of upheaval.

    • Kevin 21:22 on 2025-10-05 Permalink

      Yes you have to be buried in a coffin.
      And if you die at home, since August 1, your family has to contact a funeral home to pick up the remains. They now work 24/7 to do pickups.

    • Kate 21:59 on 2025-10-05 Permalink

      Wouldn’t you always have had to contact a funeral home if someone dies at home? What else could you do?

    • Ian 22:45 on 2025-10-05 Permalink

      I would have thought the city mortuary?

      When I first had to deal with it, I was surprised that I couldn’t get a time of death certificate without selecting a funeral home first.

    • azrhey 09:33 on 2025-10-06 Permalink

      in some places where shrouds are not traditional they have also started selling corrugated cardboard coffins : it gives the illusion of a coffin but for a less than 10th of the price. It’s ecological and is sold to the funeral homes flat packed and then they have to fold it up ( a bit like a bankers box ) ( I had a friend that worked in a Funeral home in the UK, )

      But no here you have to have proper wood because… I don;t know!

    • walkerp 09:50 on 2025-10-06 Permalink

      Sounds like another example of both tradition with a healthy dose of market collusion. I’m sure some money passed hands to ensure this law remained in place.

    • Ian 11:09 on 2025-10-06 Permalink

      This is a good point, and it is worth noting that most funeral homes in Quebec belong to large conglomerates like Memoria or Urgel Bourgie / Athos. It is a powerful lobby

    • Joey 11:56 on 2025-10-06 Permalink

      Yeah, when Urgences Sante is on the phone telling you to hurry up and pick a funeral parlour, you’re unlikely to shop around for quotes. That said, I imagine that, like for cell phone plans, the big funeral homes probably offer the same services for about the same price.

    • Kevin 12:02 on 2025-10-06 Permalink

      Kate
      The paramedics used to bring you to a city or hospital morgue. After all, they are right there in many cases.

    • JP 15:21 on 2025-10-06 Permalink

      If someone dies at home….wouldn’t you have to call 911 first? Doesn’t someone (a doctor or a nurse) have to validate the death? And also validate that it’s not suspicious.

    • Bert 15:51 on 2025-10-06 Permalink

      The nicest gift you can buy your friends and family is your own prearranged funeral.

    • Ian 23:08 on 2025-10-06 Permalink

      Or just conveniently go missing in the woods.

      If that feels too feral for you, these guys are also an option:
      https://www.fcfq.coop/en/funeral-cooperatives/

    • GC 09:13 on 2025-10-08 Permalink

      Bert, it’s so true. My last family member who died was an aunt. She never married or had children, and was leaving her estate to her church. But, she not only made all the arrangements but paid for them ahead of the time. It’s not so much the money as it is knowing that every bit of the day was exactly what she wanted and picked for herself. No need for family squabbling.

      Granted she was approaching ninety, so it wasn’t completely unexpected. I think for younger people they want to assume it’s still so long away. Sometimes you talk to parents in their forties and they still don’t even have a will, let alone funeral plans.

  • Kate 14:35 on 2025-10-05 Permalink | Reply  

    Ensemble’s Alexandre Giasson is accused of making insulting and hateful posts about opposing candidates. Luc Rabouin is demanding he be withdrawn from the ballot.

     

    • Ian 18:51 on 2025-10-05 Permalink

      Lol wait until Rabouin hears what Norris says to people

  • Kate 13:23 on 2025-10-05 Permalink | Reply  

    Wildfire smoke is drifting into town in Sunday, making the air quality mildly lousy.

     

    • Blork 20:49 on 2025-10-05 Permalink

      Hmmm. I had no idea. I cycled around Ile-Ste-Hélène enjoying the fine weather and the clear blue sky and didn’t notice any smoke. A touch of haze though…

    • Mozai 15:32 on 2025-10-06 Permalink

      I thought it was my neighbours having yet another barbeque, so I shut my windows. Tho their barbequeues dont’ usually give me headaches.

    • MarcG 15:53 on 2025-10-06 Permalink

      50 AQI isn’t normally something we notice – I guess the proximity of the fires made it stinkier for some? I didn’t sense it at all in Verdun.

  • Kate 09:31 on 2025-10-05 Permalink | Reply  

    red-haired woman looking at editorial cartoonsThe plight of François Legault was big this week, Godin eyeing the CAQ’s inability to get any bites with the issues headlined since the party conference. Legault’s Rocky pose was inspirational to multiple artists. Côté in turn looked at Legault’s track record taking risks (check out the portrait on the office wall) and Chapleau has fun with inclusive writing.

    The suspension of the healthcare digital transformation was also a fertile theme, with a possible doom like SAAQClic’s facing it. Chloé also considered the implication of Quebec’s abandonment of the ban on gasoline‑powered vehicles.

    Côté said goodbye to Jane Goodall and Chloé sadly pondered feminicide and marked the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. Côté added a striking comment on homelessness on the weekend.

     

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