Corridart, between religion and expression
Le Devoir has a fascinating interview with a French academic teaching in Quebec about the destruction of Corridart 50 years ago. Mathilde Barraband sees it as a late gesture of Catholic authoritarianism via the person of Jean Drapeau, who had the entire 6 km of artworks installed along Sherbrooke Street torn down and carted away, two days before the Olympic Games opened.
Tom 15:33 on 2026-02-24 Permalink
I look forward to looking at pictures of it in the upcoming exhibit at the McCord Museum…
H. John 18:01 on 2026-02-24 Permalink
“Montreal After Dark (Nighttime Regulation and the Pursuit of a Global City)” the book by Matthieu Caron mentioned here dedicates one of its chapters to Corridart: Censorship, Repression, and the 1976 Summer Olympic Games.
Fascinating book about policing under Drapeau in Montreal pointing out that “between the mid-1950s and 1970, Montréal’s police budget grew from $9.6 million to $49.7 million — an increase of more than 400 per cent and far outpacing overall municipal spending.”
Kate 10:19 on 2026-02-25 Permalink
H. John, do you think one of the reasons for the budget inflation may have been the 1969 police strike?
H. John 12:04 on 2026-02-25 Permalink
@Kate By 1969 and the police and firefighters strikes the increase had already started.
A mid 1950’s crime enquiry, the Caron commission, started Drapeau on his clean up the police crusade.
https://ville.montreal.qc.ca/memoiresdesmontrealais/lenquete-caron
In 1960 he headed to Europe to hire two consultants, one from the London Met, and one from the Paris police force to reorganize Montreal’s police.
Caron writes “Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the city invested heavily in police professionalization. European consultants from London and Paris reorganized the department, streamlined command structures and introduced new standards of training and discipline — reforms similar to those underway in Chicago and Los Angeles. Hundreds of new officers were hired and night patrols increased.”
In reference to the ’69 strike, The Canadian Encyclopaedia says:
“In the late 1960s, Montreal was an increasingly violent city where protests were common. The police were contending with Canada’s highest homicide rate. A spate of violent, armed bank robberies and violence between organized crime gangs rocked the city. A terrorist bombing campaign orchestrated by the Front de libération du Quebec (FLQ) was also ongoing between 1963 and 1971. The FLQ conducted about 200 bombings, including one against mayor Jean Drapeau’s house. In addition, civil unrest was rampant. In early 1969, Montreal experienced two major protests: the Sir George Williams Affair in February and the Mouvement McGill-Français demonstrations in March. (See also Quiet Revolution.) Tensions were also high in the city at the time because of the ongoing St. Leonard School Crisis on the status of bilingual schools (see Gendron Commission). Then prime minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau later commented that the Montreal police had been “pretty badly battered around” and that they had the toughest police job in Canada at the time.”
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/murray-hill-riot
Caron suggests “Moments of unrest were not daily occurrences, but they created a climate in which constant budget increases appeared necessary.”
Kevin 17:19 on 2026-02-25 Permalink
As an aside — does anyone have a recommendation for a good historical book about how various growing cities/societies have successfully battled corruption?
H. John 19:20 on 2026-02-25 Permalink
@Kevin
The Quest for Good Governance: How Societies Develop Control of Corruption – Alina Mungiu-Pippidi
Anti-corruption in History: From Antiquity to the Modern Era – Edited by Ronald Kroeze, André Vitória, and Guy Geltner
Kate 20:33 on 2026-02-25 Permalink
H. John – I don’t know how I forgot about the FLQ bombings. Thanks for the retrospect.