Updates from February, 2026 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Kate 16:59 on 2026-02-02 Permalink | Reply  

    The tenants forced to leave a Monkland Avenue building because of claimed structural instabilities are still not able to go home. CTV reveals the message sent to the tenants by the landlord, which hints strongly that they hope the tenants will find accommodation elsewhere and not come back.

     
    • bob 19:32 on 2026-02-02 Permalink

      The “structural issues” appear to not be a big problem. In an earlier report: “Importantly, there is no risk of collapse,” Elfaco said in a statement. “The issue identified relates to floor loading in a specific area, which engineers have advised can likely be rectified through the addition of structural support,” it continued. So, I’m thinking that what you do is you don’t load the floor in that specific area. And how difficult is it to get a furnace fixed? And a notice with “Directeur” crossed out, signed by what appears to be Inspector “Fuck”, who was shown an inspection report, but did not do an inspection. And if they have an inspection report, why is the city asking for another inspection report? Something about this just feels like a shady landlord got a shady inspector to produce a shady report that a shady city person went along with, for reasons.

  • Kate 16:54 on 2026-02-02 Permalink | Reply  

    The city opened new homeless housing this week, the location only given as Ahuntsic‑Cartierville, but I seem to recall a plan to put these construction trailers on a lot north of Chabanel (item from 2024). Thirty people can live here, with three social workers permanently on site.

     
    • Kate 10:11 on 2026-02-02 Permalink | Reply  

      A La Presse journalist signed up with Uber Eats to find out what it’s like trying to make a living on the fly. Well, it isn’t easy. Drivers know which trips won’t pay, but the system forces them to cover trips at a loss to keep their active status. The issue of the SAQ adopting Uber Eats for its new quick delivery service is also critiqued.

       
      • jeather 11:53 on 2026-02-02 Permalink

        The food delivery services are an impressive level of scam, but they’re only able to be so scammy because the government lets them.

      • Uatu 12:13 on 2026-02-02 Permalink

        Only order from places that have their own delivery drivers. Why should I have to pay some middleman that’s based in Cali?

      • Kate 12:46 on 2026-02-02 Permalink

        The main edge that delivery services have is you’re paying them seamlessly by credit card, and don’t have to hand over a wad of cash at the door.

        Or do most places with their own drivers also give them a card machine these days? I’m out of this loop.

      • Jim 13:27 on 2026-02-02 Permalink

        History has shown this pattern before. Early factory workers carried the cost of industrial growth, and society benefited while rules for the workers caught up slowly. Now it’s the delivery drivers that are enduring the system, I hope they’re shaping what will eventually become a fairer one. That doesn’t make it acceptable, but it does give their role some weight.

      • roberto 14:09 on 2026-02-02 Permalink

        Drivers have portable POS for card payments (I haven`t paid cash in years for food delivery). Many take out places even have websites that let you order and pay online. The only convinience to Uber would be the common platform for that endless scrolling of choices.

      • Joey 14:39 on 2026-02-02 Permalink

        Much easier for a restaurant to deal with Uber Eats etc rather than set up their own delivery system – it makes lots of sense to simply outsource all the logistics. For years there were a few dozen Montreal restaurants that used A La Carte Express, long before Uber showed up. Then the big multinationals arrived stacked with venture capital funds that allowed them to operate at a loss. I’m sure I recall discussions here about how Uber drivers earned more than cabbies for a time. Once the Ubers of the world gobbled up a majority of the market they turned the screws on drivers (and restaurants!) – IOW, it’s just predatory capitalism in action.

        Anyway, the SAQ is partnering with Uber Eats because it ‘has no choice’ – meanwhile, Mayor Mamdani today announced that Uber Eats and two competitors will pay a $5M fine due to wage theft. We have been walloped into complacency in this province…

        Last, why is it urgent for hard liquor to be delivered to your door anyway?

      • Kate 15:08 on 2026-02-02 Permalink

        That’s a good question. Right now, I seem to be getting a scratchy cough, and I can imagine ordering out so I could make hot scotch and lemon, but I don’t see any delivery date sooner than February 5.

      • Joey 17:22 on 2026-02-02 Permalink

        Also, the SQDC already does same-day delivery. When cannabis was legalized, one of the public health recommendations that I think pretty much everyone agreed with was that weed and booze shouldn’t be ‘colocated’ – you should have to go to different stores to buy ’em. I suppose there’s some logic to that but I suspect the health benefits of distinct operations is pretty minor. Funny to see that the upstart SQDC managed to get same-day delivery up and running quick while the established SAQ had to go through some elaborate process, though I guess delivering containers of cannabis isn’t the same as bottles of alcohol.

        Hope your cough heals up soon!

      • dhomas 15:18 on 2026-02-03 Permalink

        I refuse to use the delivery apps. UberEats, DoorDash, Skip. Skip is especially irksome to me as they maple wash pretty hard. Their ad campaign’s current slogan is “Born in Canada, serving Canada”: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCspnBbuz5iyHAB5H0-KbOiQ/videos
        It’s not technically false as SkiptheDishes did originate in Canada. However, they are no longer a Canadian company. They were acquired in around 2017 by JustEat, a Danish company (at least they’re not American, I guess).
        When I need takeout, I rather go to a local restaurant and pay them directly. They will often charge me less if I do this and they get to keep more of it since they don’t need to give a pound of flesh to the delivery apps. Those apps are predatory and should 100% be regulated. There was a Reddit post about how the delivery apps are rigged in such a way to give small orders to “desperate” drivers in order to leave the better orders for more casual drivers, in the hopes that they eventually keep chasing those higher paying orders while moving down the ranks to “desperate”. It was later claimed to be a hoax, but if it was, I bet you the companies have some new ideas to test out now.

    • Kate 10:05 on 2026-02-02 Permalink | Reply  

      Big potholes are slowing traffic coming off the Jacques‑Cartier bridge.

       
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