Metro’s Olivier Robichaud writes about the city’s hopes for development at Blue Bonnets, the vast sums needed to place basic infrastructure there before building can start, and an initial project with some hope of starting things off.
Updates from October, 2025 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
Luc Rabouin is now presenting himself as the “Maire du 514. Pas du 450” and Soraya MF is making a fuss, claiming this is a «campagne de peur». She was living in Longueuil when she became Ensemble leader in February.
DeWolf
She was living in Longueuil until June. That’s when she sold her house and moved into a new house in… Pointe-aux-Trembles. If she becomes mayor, it’s clear that she will be a mayor for the most suburban parts of Montreal.
Ian
DId nobody tell them that Montreal has more than one area code now?
@DeWolf if you want to be like that about it, how much does Rabouin really understand Montreal north of Jean-Talon, east of Iberville or west of the mountain? For that matter, Plante wasn’t from Montreal. Sauvé is (clutches pearl) from the WEST ISLAND.
DeWolf
Ian, if you want a city controlled by the suburbs, just look at the shitshow that is Toronto.
Ian
Chris, Plante wasn’t from downtown but you sure thought she was fine. What does it have to do with anything?
FWIW Montreal is 514, 438, and 263. Rabouin betrays his tunnel vision here.
MarcG
Shoulda gone with “Mr. 514” to give it some real Coderre energy
Nicholas
I’ve long been against residency length rules, as I think the voters can decide what matters to them. But it is true that the CAQ changed the law last year to allow this; had it not, SMF would have not been able to run (at least not in Montreal), as you used to have to have been a resident of the municipality a year before the election starts, now just just by the start of it. (Also note you don’t have to run in your borough or district; there are people running all over where they don’t live.)
Kate
It wouldn’t be very catchy if he had to write “Maire du 514, 438 et 263. Pas du 450, 354 et 579.”
DeWolf
Ian, it’s not where you’re actually from. It’s a question of priorities and mentality. Soraya would be a mayor for the suburbs. It’s loud and clear in her messaging and her positions.
Chris
Ian, I haven’t said anything in this thread (until now), was it a typo that you addressed me?
Ian
DeWolf’s first name too, so no. Unless you want in on the shenanigans.
Chris
Ah, I doubt readers would know that.
CE
Maybe you were talking to me? (The C stands for Chris)
MarcG
I am Spartacus!
Ian
@DeWolf this is kind of like when I told you that you had a gentrification mindset and you got all mad because you think gentrifiers have to be rich and have SUVs or whatever. As I recall, you accused me of some kind of “Culture Wars Bullshit”. I find it interesting that you can accuse SFM of being a suburban mayor without being suburban. Sounds like some culture wars bullshit to me haha
Whether you like it or not the whole “Maire du 514” is a bullshit exclusivist claim that again indicates that Rabouin is on the defensive & is Plateau-centric. So far only Sauvé seems to actually be interested in being a mayor for all parts of Montreal.
DeWolf
That’s actually a fair point Ian. Next beer’s on me.
DeWolf
(To be clear, I still disagree with you about the St-Zotique bike lane. But yes, it’s very culture war of me to pit 514 against 450.)
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Kate
The STM maintenance union is considering striking every day in November, starting at 10 pm on Halloween night, and including election day.
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Kate
More and more Montrealers are resorting to food banks as housing costs siphon off a growing portion of individual incomes.
A recent report says that a record number of people have been using the food banks.
Uatu
Get used to it since it looks like we’re going to have to pay to see a doctor now. Neoliberalism FTW!/s
Kate
Our health care has never been fully socialized and it’s been under attack for a long time. In the last couple of years I’ve had to pay for optometry and dermatology services, and of course dentistry as well. I’m lucky I don’t need mental health services because counselling costs a lot. Our society considers all those things as vanity extras – conveniently.
MarcG
I used the new federal socialized dental care insurance for the first time recently and although my plan says it will cover 100%, that value is based on unrealistic prices so I ended up still having to pay a portion.
Regarding mental health therapy, there are new, maybe not cheap but more affordable online services like Inkblot and BetterHelp.
Kate
I asked my dentists whether they would be available on the dental care plan and they said no. Since I trust them and want to go on seeing them, I haven’t investigated further.
They suggested that only dentists in far-flung suburbs who are still doing amalgam fillings would be available.My information was out of date. The plan is available to anyone who qualifies.
DeWolf
My wife needed to see a dentist last week and most of the ones she contacted are taking the public insurance.
I haven’t checked with the clinic I was previously seeing, but they if aren’t taking the public insurance, I’ll find another clinic. No sense in paying hundreds or thousands more out of pocket just out of loyalty.
The cost savings are substantial: my wife’s x-ray and initial checkup cost her $14 out of pocket, and an entire root canal cost $200. The out of pocket cost without the public insurance would have been close to $1500.
EmilyG
I was with BetterHelp for a while. It was expensive and didn’t help. I’ve heard some rumors that it also might be kind of scammy.
Ricardo
People suck and here is why: She posts a story about foodbanks and people that need them. And the comments turn into a personal saga of healthcare and dental problems. “I” “My wife” . Make me sick how far done fell.
Kate
Ricardo, that’s how threads go. Uatu mentioned doctors, I chimed in, and the thread went that way.
We are all concerned about food banks and the cost of living, but unless someone is directly involved in food bank work, with something relevant to say on that topic, what we have to offer is not further information about food banks, but anecdata about how the situation is affecting our lives and the lives of people around us.
Ricardo
Thanks Kate. I get it, but my point is people are all about their own little bubbles. This is why we are such a bad state. here is an idea I came up with, I’m trying to spread the word. It’s hard. oneitem.org
MarcG
That’s a great project, Ricardo, kudos. Are you feeling anger and disappointment because your need for connection, hope, and support on this problem isn’t being met?
Ricardo
Thank you for reply and please go talk to your local grocery store and ask then to enroll in program.
MarcG
I do most of my groceries through Lufa Farms, who I believe have a similar program available that I’ve never investigated but am I’m going to look into now.
Kate
MarcG, if you look on your account page, you’ll see Lufa gives you back a small percentage of your total at the end of the year, but there’s an automatic setting to donate some or all of it.
Ricardo, that’s a well-intentioned idea, but it’s probably always less hassle for everyone if you donate money directly when you can.
EmilyG
As for the topic of food banks – I felt I should do something, so I donated some money to Moisson Montreal.
(I’m not posting this so people can heap praise on me, but just to say that I found something helpful to do.)Tim S.
Uatu’s not wrong that all these problems are connected, and we need to be constantly reminding ourselves (and others) of that.
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Kate
With all the numbers added up, 9.3 percent of voters cast their ballots in advanced polling on Sunday.
Mark Côté
Had to wait about 30 minutes to vote here in NDG… used to be that advance voting was uncommon, but it’s clearly getting more popular!
Meezly
I was pleasantly surprised to see that my advanced polling station in the Plateau was fairly busy. One poll table had a sizable line up.
RenéB
Had to experience the longuest wait since we started voting a few decades ago. Mercier ouest in MHM.
Our polling station for advanced voting was in a large private seniors residence (RPA) and, contrarely to previous elections at other levels, residents didn’t have a dedicated polling station.
Went aroud 3PM, were told it was a 2 hours wait and left.
Went back at 6:45PM and the line wasn’t any shorter. They closed the door at 8PM, gave us coupon to prove we were in line before closing and we finally got to vote at 9:30PM. When we left, there were still 12 persons waiting.
Heard the man that seemed to be responsible say that they were processing about 20-22 votes an hour because of the number of older folks with mobility issues.
The seniors residents weren’t happy, the people from the area weren’t happy.
Advance voting has been great for us but I’ll probably choose another option if takes place in a RPA.EmilyG
I haven’t even gotten my voter card yet.
Kate
You can check Elections Quebec or the website of your municipality to find out whether you’re on the list, and if you are, you will see where your polling place is on November 2.
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Kate
Sad story to start the week: a second abandoned newborn was found in a bus shelter in Longueuil on Monday morning, but it died after being taken to hospital.
La Presse adds that the mother of the abandoned newborn left on the front steps of a Longueuil house three weeks ago has still not been found. At this stage, what would be the point? Can a woman be forced to look after a baby she bore but chose to abandon?
A woman has been arrested over Monday’s bus shelter baby.
Daisy
I think we should have a baby hatch for mothers in this situation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_hatch
Kate
It’s odd that we had two such incidents in the same town in a short time. It doesn’t happen all that often.
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