Le Devoir looks at some of the sellers at the St‑Michel flea market.
This seems to be the market’s website.
Updates from December, 2025 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
-
Kate
-
Kate
Nora Loreto has a Best of 2025 list of lists that’s worth a look.
The Walrus on political stories.
Most-read Cult Mtl stories of the year.
TVA’s most notable news events of the year in Quebec.
La Presse looks back on 2025 in shows and performances.
Prominent Quebecers who died in 2025.
-
Kate
City workers, after a snow removal campaign a few days ago, are now working on de‑icing, and not a moment too soon, although temperatures this week are so low that road salt is not so effective.
dhomas
I tried to remove the ice on my staircase before the deep freeze and was somewhat successful. The salt I put after de-icing got embedded into the newly formed ice. It seems to be making holes under the ice, which I hope will make it easier to break apart later. The salt I put once it was frozen mostly just blew away with the howling wind we had. Looks like we’ll need to wait about a week before we get a break in the extreme cold weather.
Kate
Yep. I was lucky to have time to de-ice my stairs before the ice turned to adamantium. Salt just skitters around on ice when it gets this cold.
-
Kate
TVA surveys getting home from the party, most of the metro having extended hours, and the REM running all night.
Also, an open and closed, and another.
I’ve noticed that the vibe of the holiday season varies depending which day of the week the 25th and 1st happen to fall. Having them fall on Thursday is perfect. The ensuing Friday is also a day off for many people, and then it’s the weekend. Having the actual holidays fall on a Saturday has to be worst.
I realize a lot of people have to work through, regardless, and my thanks to those who keep things running.
-
Kate
Le Devoir looks back to a single hockey game at the Forum 50 years ago, in which the Canadiens and the Red Army team played to a draw.
-
Kate
Le Devoir lays out how the city handles ice and snow, in an apparent effort to educate people who complain about it.
-
Kate
Video report from CBC on how Monday was the second busiest day Urgences‑santé has ever had, with more than 1000 calls due to the combination of flu spiking and falls on ice.
(But then, when was its busiest day, and why?)
Deborah
Not sure if I can link to CTV, but
“The ambulance service received 1,358 calls, about a quarter of which were related to falls due to freezing rain, Sapone said.
On an average day, Urgences-santé receives some 900 calls. Its highest-recorded call volume was 1,473 on Jan. 11, 2024.”
Kate
Thank you!
jeather
Out of curiosity I went back in your archives:
https://mtlcityweblog.com/2024/01/12/urgences-sante-faces-record-calls/MarcG
I was about to write the exact comment here that I wrote on that old thread but stopped because I had a feeling I had already expressed it at some point. At least I’m consistent I guess. Thanks jeather.
Kate
I should feel complimented that my readers know my archive better than I do!
jeather
Gotta admit I just went to the archives page and scrolled until the right day, I had no memory of that post.
-
Kate
More 2025 retrospectives:
Daniel Renaud on crime incidents.
La Presse, again, on human interest stories.
Le Devoir on the international swing to the extreme right.
Radio-Canada’s worst weather stories in Canada in 2025.
Also, lots of statistics from Quebec’s official stats people.
Stupid crimes of the year from TVA.
-
Kate
A new centralized animal pound is opening in the new year, replacing Berger Blanc and some of the services of the SPCA.
jeather
“Le site du nouveau centre animalier a été choisi pour son accessibilité — une priorité pour l’organisme, souligne Anny Kirouac. Il sera possible de s’y rendre en transport en commun, mais il faut savoir que la station de métro la plus proche, la station Saint-Michel, est située à plus de 50 minutes de marche du refuge.”
Accessibility! (As the article points out, you can bring dogs on leash on the metro but not the train or bus.)
Kate
I know. That’s real weasel wording, accessible – but a considerable walk or bus ride from the metro.
su
How awful. A kitty might put up with a metro ride, but by the time they reach St Michel he/she would be in a high state of physiological- emotional stress. Walking even a few hundred metres with a kitty in any kind of carrier is a major physical feat for most cat ladies. 50 minutes even under ideal environmental conditions is not an option for most folks.
EmilyG
We got our cat 10 years ago from the SPCA near Namur metro. It’s not far by metro from Namur to Cote-Vertu, which is the station we get off at when we take a bus home to the West Island.
That was a doable trip.
I can’t imagine going from our part of the island, all the way out to that new shelter, and then going all the way back on the bus, then metro, then another bus or two, to where we live. Nobody in my family drives.Kate
I hope an arrangement will be made so the SPCA can remain a satellite pet adoption centre.
dhomas
That’s not accessible at all! It’s almost faster to get off at Pie-IX on the green line and take the 439 SRB to the refuge, which takes about 28 minutes. Maybe when the Vertières blue line metro station opens in “2031” (I’ll believe it when I see it), it will be faster? It should take about 15 minutes in the 439 from there. They do mention that the Mascouche line train station is right nearby. It’s only a 4 minute walk from that train, but who takes that train, especially now that they’ve kneecapped it by removing the direct path to downtowm?
Everything else about the pound seems pretty good, though. At least as far as I can tell from reading the article.
Kate
The project was promised after a damning report on Berger Blanc, 15 years ago. Everyone was agreed there were better ways of managing stray and unwanted pet animals, but – like all civic projects – the price tag kept climbing over the years. I hope it turns out to be as humane as possible.
-
Kate
The sound of neighbours hacking ice off their cars has been the background of my day. While I was chipping ice off my front steps, I was also watching people penguin‑walk past. Radio-Canada has some uncommented video showing snippets of people walking and driving cautiously on icy ground.
There’s also water accumulating on some roads. If the forecast is accurate, that water will be turning to ice in a few hours.
MarcG
The wind is howling and temperature is dropping like a brick.
Kate
That’s why I salted my steps and got all the ice off. I knew it would be impossible to move soon. It’s going to be below –10°C for the next five days.
-
Kate
Freezing rain, ice pellets, and strong winds make a dramatic start to the final week of the year. This item says power’s out in a few areas, although Hydro’s info‑pannes map doesn’t show extensive outages.
And since we’re having weather, part of the REM has been down.
How decadent am I? I just Doordashed a bag of ice salt.
Blork
Yeah the weather warnings are still up and are effective until the end of the day but so far not much has happened. Some rain, some of it freezing, but not so bad. Apple Weather’s precipitation map implies it will all be blown over before noon, but Environment Canada predicts precipitation until sundown.
MarcG
It looks like we got lucky and the worst of it passed to the south.
jeather
Walking, however, is terrifying. It is very slick, they hadn’t put grit or salt, it’s just pure ice with a layer of water on the sidewalks. I held myself up with cars.
su
Sidewalks on my street are solid ice with a layer water. I got to try out my new ice crimps which actually gave me a solid grip. While out, I did see the sidewalk plow-salter on Sherbrooke about 30 minutes ago.
jeather
I didn’t think of the boots with grips until I had walked far enough it would have been longer to turn back, as the part from my stairs to a car I can hold on to is the worst. Hoping for safety later.
jeather
Alas, twisted my ankle. Think it’s just sore and will be ok tomorrow though.
Kate
You could always apply some… ice.
Radio news says the ER overcrowding is being intensified by people showing up with ice fall injuries, but I can’t find a link to a text item confirming this.
I hope it will be OK tomorrow.
jeather
A friend said the same about ERs. I really hope it’s nothing major and I wake up fine.
-
Kate
There are more shelter spaces for the homeless this winter, which is helping offset the old‑fashioned arctic chill we’ve been getting. But it’s clear from this brief report that some of the spaces are just chairs.
-
Kate
We’ve had curling in Montreal since 1807, in the oldest athletic club in North America.
-
Kate
A U.S. border guard rifled through Santa’s phone and Christian Dubé got a new job.Côté is giving us a look back at his Christmas cartoons from past years, some political and others* in his social observation mode.
Godin’s also doing social observation this week, the Three Kings discovering modern warfare, and the cost of living.
Chapleau and Ygreck seem to have had the week off.
*And there’s La Fée des Étoiles, discussed here last year!
-
Kate
Adding to the collection of 2025 retrospectives from a couple of days ago:
How Canadian politics has changed in 2025 with the transition from Trudeau to Carney.
Le Devoir has Marie-France Coallier’s best photos of the year – a photographer with a true humanistic approach.
Daniel Renaud adds to his crime retros with a look at how many homicides in Quebec are now being committed by minors.
La Presse with their photos of the year.
La Presse’s Stéphane Laporte with a whole raft of top tens.
Timeline of Quebec politics through the year.
EmilyG 20:23 on 2025-12-31 Permalink
I’d like to make it out there sometime, though it’s a bit out of the way for me.
Though there is also a flea market within walking distance of my place.
Ian 00:37 on 2026-01-01 Permalink
It’s definitely worthwhile to go on a Saturday as not all the booths are open at other times.
One of my favourite things about that flea market is being able to find parts & fittings for old lamps and light fixtures. It’s also a really great place to find a lot of truly excellent gassware, of all things.