La Presse has a possibly useful list of summer festivals.
Updates from May, 2026 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
The West Island branch of the REM opens for a free preview Saturday and Sunday till 6 pm.
Agitation for a branch to the east end of the island is only bound to grow now.
Uatu
As someone who grew up in the South Shore, the idea of taking one train from Brossard to the West Island is pretty amazing
Kate
I think you do have to change trains at Bois-Franc, no?
LJ
No, you just need to board the right train from Brossard, so the A3 line rather than the A4. If you board the wrong line you can transfer at Bois-Franc. I have already taken the REM downtown and back from the Kirkland station twice, and it is fantastic (assuming it does not break down, I guess). Unlike taking the EXO commuter rail with its very limited schedule, we can now leave and return at any time from 5:30 AM to past 1 AM. A long-awaited game changer for those of us who prefer public transit to cars.
Kate
Excellent, LJ. Just as I had assumed you couldn’t take a single train all the way from Brossard to Deux‑Montagnes – I thought it meant changing at Central Station – I was mistaken here too. A3 to the West Island, A4 to Deux‑Montagnes, and – when completed – A2 to the airport.
Too bad I never need to go to these places, but I may have to take the REM as a jaunt this summer just to see it all.
LJ
Not much to see as the downtown portion runs underground and the rest is rather bland unless you like industrial rooftops. The stops from Sources to L’Anse a L’Orme are elevated so you can get an overview of that part of the island, but it is not exactly spectacular either. So useful transit but not very touristic. May be worthwhile to see a few stops once. At least it is quick, you can go from downtown to the end of A3 and back in about an hour.
Kate
I’ve only taken the REM for one stop – McGill to Édouard‑Montpetit. Basically a metro ride. But I do want to take it across the bridge sometime soon, since I have not been on the new Champlain yet. I’m also vaguely interested in walking around Île Bigras. So my idea was to take a day off this summer, buy an all-zones ticket, and just go have a look around.
As I’ve noted here before, if only from looking at the placing of stations and their surroundings, the majority are simply plunked down near a big parking lot, and not much else. They’re mostly not intended to be walked to and from, but rather driven. So – as you say – not very touristic, and no pressing reason to get off the train for a look around most of the stations.
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Kate
Linda Gyulai has a long, well considered piece about the decline of Milton Park. As she reports, “the entire neighbourhood makes up just six per cent of the area of the Plateau and a tenth of its population [but] accounts for 24 per cent of all crimes reported in the borough.”
DeWolf
“But at some point in the last year or two — no one can seem to peg exactly when — the individual dealers that prey on unhoused people in the area turned into conspicuous groups of criminals that roam the neighbourhood.”
That’s the big difference. You feel it even if you’re just passing through. The crowd at Milton/Park was always relatively chill and it was usually the same people you’d see day in, day out. Then at some point there was an influx of dealers — really nasty-looking types — followed by a lot of strung-out people from outside the neighbourhood.
Kate
Looking at the situation coldly, how much profit can drug dealers make off the homeless?
Chris
“Force” the addict to steal something expensive in exchange for their fix. There are lots of valuable things to steal, then you sell those for profit.
Ian
One guy I knew who became a crack addict but managed to get out of it put it this way – crack is appealing not only because it’s a fast, intense high, but because it’s super cheap. Only 5 b bucks. Everyone has 5 bucks. Until all you want is more crack and you used up all your 5 bucks. Then you need to boost something you can sell to a fence or trade to a dealer. A lot of people turn to prostitution because if you look ok you can make some money fast as long as no pimps come after you and eventually when you look not so great even homeless people that aren’t on crack can scrape up 5 bucks for a screw, so it doesn’t really matter if you’re homeless or in decent condition or not.
This is also why you see so much petty crime like stealing copper or breaking car windows for loose change (for instance) … you just need a few 5 bucks, like, NOW.
Joey
About nine years ago I had a chance to spend some time with a pharmacist operating in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, basically Canada’s skid row. His pharmacy served many addicts, given their location. We were talking about Naloxone, the overdose-reversal drug, and I asked him how often he had to administer it – he said at least several times per week, often multiple times a day (imagine what happens when a bad batch circulates). I suggested that a lot of his patients must be very grateful to him for saving their lives; he said they were more likely to be pissed that the Naloxone, which had literally saved their lives, had robbed them of their high. Feels bleak.
Kate
Jeez, Joey. The logical conclusion is they’d rather be high then dead, than sober and alive. That’s definitely bleak.
jaddle 13:27 on 2026-05-19 Permalink
Too bad none of the classical music festivals are mentioned. Off the top of my head, there’s the Chamber Music Festival, Classica, Montreal Baroque, Lanaudiere (a little far to be considered Montreal, but many make the trip), Virée Classique…