Montreal City Weblog

Updates from March, 2026 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

• Kate 20:03 on 2026-03-25 Permalink | Reply  

  The city has a new plan to strengthen French although the mayor says it can’t be done at the expense of anglos. The official page and documentation are here.

  SMF has learned to accept that French is always on the decline.

  Tangentially, Michael Rousseau is refusing to resign as CEO of Air Canada. Rousseau admits he remains hopeless in French. They wouldn’t accept this from the humblest baggage sorter, why from the CEO?

  24Hres got a French teacher to say that Rousseau does not want to learn, although she never met the man.

  Ian, Kate, and jeather are discussing. Toggle Comments

   

  • jeather 10:19 on 2026-03-26 Permalink

    Given that almost 5 years ago he said he was absolutely going to learn and at this point he can say 2 words, I think it’s fair to say he doesn’t want to learn.

  • Kate 10:23 on 2026-03-26 Permalink

    I agree. Rousseau knows his life will putter along till a cushy retirement without having to learn how to conjugate être. How are these top‑level CEOs chosen anyway? Intellectual curiosity and energy don’t seem to be required.

  • Ian 18:02 on 2026-03-26 Permalink

    Well it’s certainly not only their ability to speak French (apparently). As long as Air Canada keeps making money that’s really all any publicly traded company cares about. It’s not like it’s a crown corporation.

  Reply Cancel reply

  Required fields are marked *

  Name *

  Email *

  Website

  Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

  Δ

• Kate 20:01 on 2026-03-25 Permalink | Reply  

  Stadium roof repairs are proceeding on schedule.

   

• Kate 19:26 on 2026-03-25 Permalink | Reply  

  While Airbnb tries to get hosts to pressure city hall, Quebec has made life more complicated for people wanting to rent their properties in that fashion.

   

• Kate 09:29 on 2026-03-25 Permalink | Reply  

  Winter is not done with us yet. Freezing rain is expected overnight and Thursday morning.

   

• Kate 09:20 on 2026-03-25 Permalink | Reply  

  This story about how a new drug has reduced the incidence of frostbite amputations in town is also the first time I’m reading about how often homeless people get frostbite. Of course they do, but it’s a grim fact that’s not often mentioned.

   

• Kate 09:15 on 2026-03-25 Permalink | Reply  

  The Terrebonne byelection will see a novelty – a blank ballot as Elections Canada counters the efforts of the Longest Ballot Committee to force the listing of dozens of candidates.

  H. John, Nicholas, bob, and 4 others are discussing. Toggle Comments

   

  • roberto 11:44 on 2026-03-25 Permalink

    Oh my. Considering how strict they are about `does the mark exit the circle` nuances, I wonder how they`re going to handle this. I can see this already being challenged after they realize how many people will write in the party`s name instead (OF COURSE this is after people are given clear and specific instructions to write in the name of the candidate). Additional to misspellings and no ‘first name’, or just bad handwritting.

  • Kate 12:33 on 2026-03-25 Permalink

    That crossed my mind too – a potential challenge.

    Three of the leading candidates are women, or I’d half expect some voters to write in “La femme”!

  • GC 12:52 on 2026-03-25 Permalink

    Part of the trolling process of protest candidates is also sometimes finding people with similar names. E.g., a second Maxime Bernier. (I realize he’s not part of *this* byelection…just citing an example.) Let’s hope it’s not close, or the challenges will go on forever.

  • jeather 13:07 on 2026-03-25 Permalink

    As I recall they did that for Poilievre’s byelection, too, and they specified that correct spelling was not needed.

  • bob 17:41 on 2026-03-25 Permalink

    What makes this stupidity possible is that the Alberta Queen’s Bench in its infinite wisdom declared that requiring a deposit to run for office contravenes s.3 of the Charter. It is a stupid decision, with predictably stupid results.

  • Nicholas 19:10 on 2026-03-25 Permalink

    The House of Commons committee that handled electoral matters released itsreport on this yesterday and the Liberals and the Conservatives are proposing to only allow each person to sign one nomination paper. If this became law then to get this many candidates in the future they would need thousands of people in that riding, and to collect signatures in just two weeks. The Bloc opposed this recommendation (though agreed to other changes), but if they lose a tight race because of this maybe they’ll change their minds.

  • H. John 16:01 on 2026-03-26 Permalink

    The government has already tabled Bill C-25 an Act to amend the Canada Election Act to deal with the problem:

    https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/bill/45-1/c-25