Updates from April, 2026 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Kate 18:41 on 2026-04-13 Permalink | Reply  

    The SPVM has given its first “police chief emeritus” honour to Jacques Duchesneau, who was chief from 1994 to 1998. The description of how he created community police stations (most of which were amalgamated and have vanished in the ensuing years, an example of how bureaucracies have cycles of centralizing and decentralizing) and tried to get cops out of their cars to encounter the community were really an attempt to re‑create an older style of policing which died out with the car.

    The National Assembly will be honouring four people tomorrow, three to get the Medal of Honour and one, a posthumous President’s Medal. Jean Lapierre, whose incisive political commentary would’ve been nice to have throughout the CAQ’s administration, was killed in a plane crash ten years ago, along with other members of his family.

    The other honourees are Tommy Kulczyk of Sun Youth, Louise Otis, a judge and chair of the CNESST, and Françoise Sullivan, only surviving signatory of the Refus global at age 102.

     

    • Kate 16:29 on 2026-04-13 Permalink | Reply  

      No driver will receive a ticket for parking on the wrong side during street cleaning hours, from Wednesday to Friday this week, while the blue collar strike is on.

      It’s a minor pain in the ass. Last week, somebody parked right outside my place on the day, so the machine had to detour around it. I was pleased to see a ticket on the car afterwards, but that didn’t make up for having our patch of the street remain dirty.

       

      • EmilyG 11:29 on 2026-04-14 Permalink

        One of many reasons I don’t drive, is that it’d be complicated for me to try to figure out all the rules around parking.

      • CE 16:15 on 2026-04-14 Permalink

        I had this problem once where week after week, cars were parked on the street during street sweeping times so the dirt and garbage were accumulating and getting really bad. They were never getting tickets so people must have thought there was no use moving their cars. I reported it through 311 and the next week, every car got a ticket which continued through the summer. Sure enough, the cars started moving.

      • Ian 11:20 on 2026-04-15 Permalink

        Jeez, on my street the ticket agents camp out until exactly the hour then roll down the street electronically ticketing everyone. LIke, not a minute to spare, off they go. Normally, anyhow. Nobody got tickets today.

    • Kate 16:24 on 2026-04-13 Permalink | Reply  

      CF Montreal has sacked head coach Marco Donadel after six losses in seven matches. Two assistant coaches have also been let go.

       

      • Kate 14:32 on 2026-04-13 Permalink | Reply  

        Soraya Martinez Ferrada is discovering the difference between political promises and reality, as she asks the public to have patience with the slow pace of pothole repairs.

         

        • DeWolf 14:44 on 2026-04-13 Permalink

          // Selon la mairesse, la situation actuelle « démontre qu’on a pendant des années mis énormément d’argent dans l’aménagement du territoire, mais pas dans le maintien ».

          « C’est exactement ce qui arrive en ce moment », a insisté la mairesse, dans une attaque à peine voilée contre l’ancienne administration de Valérie Plante, connue pour avoir investi en aménagement. //

          How many of the streets rebuilt in the past 10 years — not just by the Plante administration but also by Coderre — have recurring potholes? In my experience, none. Pine Avenue (2020–21) looks great. Saint-Hubert (2019–20) is still perfectly smooth. Saint-Denis (2015–16) is showing some wear and tear but is generally okay, even with the changes made for the REV that reopened parts of the street.

          The only way to really fix potholes is to rebuild streets. In other words, l’aménagement du territoire. But maybe Soraya is hoping that if she makes enough excuses, people will overlook the fact that she slashed the road maintenance budget while also postponing several major street reconstructions that were due to happen this year and next.

        • Ian 20:51 on 2026-04-13 Permalink

          Avenue du Parc between Mont Royal and Bernard wants a word

        • DeWolf 21:22 on 2026-04-13 Permalink

          Parc between Mont-Royal and Bernard was last rebuilt in the 1980s…

        • Ian 11:24 on 2026-04-15 Permalink

          The whole street yes – but it was dug up in massive sections in 2005 to redo the sewers then re-dug up at ech intersecion for various utilities, most notably at Fiarmount where they dug it up 3 timers.

          I’m kind of surprised you don’t remember, it was a very big deal at the time – in no small part because the only company big enough to handl the RFP was a mobbed up subsidiary company whose parent had been banned from bids on roadwork.

          Of course we’ve had this discussion before, like your claim that Saint Kitty being under constant construction for the last 20 years is untrue because it has been in sections.

        • Ian 11:53 on 2026-04-15 Permalink

          Ah found it – Louisburg was associated with Tony Accurso. It was under Tremblay.
          I may have my timelines confused as I distinctly remeber Louisburg machinery on the excavation projects when they dug up all of Parc (in sections).

          https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/mayor-defends-controversial-city-contracts/

          I know Rabouin wanted to dig up the more northern section of Parc and that the Pins-Parc interchange was rebuilt in 2006 but I’m talking about the actual sewer work that lasted a couple of years, that ran from Mont-Royal up to Bernard (in sections) that took over 2 years to complete.

          FWIW there is still a recurring sinkhole on Fairmount just east of Parc.

      • Kate 10:33 on 2026-04-13 Permalink | Reply  

        Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki scored his 100th season point on Sunday, joining a small list of four other Habs who have achieved this pinnacle.

         

        • Joey 11:37 on 2026-04-13 Permalink

          Only took him another 28 second to score his 101st.

      • Kate 09:32 on 2026-04-13 Permalink | Reply  

        The Port of Montreal, which dismissed its CEO last week, has now lost its chief financial officer too.

         

        • Kate 08:26 on 2026-04-13 Permalink | Reply  

          CBC looks at how Quebec’s parties stand as a new premier is chosen. Christine Fréchette will be sworn in soon.

          (Does anyone know whether the PQ and QS MNAs ever took the conventional oath?)

           

          • Kevin 10:10 on 2026-04-13 Permalink

            The Quebec Solidaire MNA’s took the oath in 2022. The National Assembly then passed a law (of dubious worth) allowing MNAs to instead take an oath to the Quebec People which is what PSPP and the rest of the PQ did.

            At issue is whether or not this was a valid law, since swearing an Oath to the Crown (which, legally and symbolically, IS the people of Canada) is a Constitutionally-required prerequisite for any politician wanting to pass laws or debate in parliamentary halls.

            I’m sure that at some point, some lawyers will challenge the validity of any law that was passed only because of the participation of those few PQ MNAs.

            Every politician knows that when people swear an oath to the Monarch, they’re aren’t swearing an oath to the *person,* they’re swearing an oath to democracy and our judicial institutions as physically manifested in a corporeal being. https://www.ourcommons.ca/procedure/procedure-and-practice-3/ch_04_6-e.html

          • Kate 11:05 on 2026-04-13 Permalink

            Thank you, Kevin.

          • Joey 11:41 on 2026-04-13 Permalink

            Weird that the CBC piece doesn’t consider the implications of Frechette’s victory over Drainville on the election (which, IMO, is very significant). It could have been written days before the CAQ leadership vote. I find CBC’s local coverage, which was always sort of ‘just the facts,’ has gotten even less analytical in recent years. Compared to the French-language coverage (which also has less of a structural barrier between news and analysis/opinion), it really feels incomplete, like the reporters don’t have real relationships with the principal political actors or credible commentators.

        • Kate 08:16 on 2026-04-13 Permalink | Reply  

          People have been noticing the old streetcar tracks rising from broken asphalt, here and there around the city. The last streetcars were retired in 1959.

           

          • PatrickC 09:20 on 2026-04-13 Permalink

            Is this a sign that the streets were never properly redone, or a message that we shouldn’t have retired the streetcars in the first place/?

          • Kate 10:30 on 2026-04-13 Permalink

            It’s both!

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