Last week’s heat wave didn’t cause a bump in water consumption, to the relief of the city administration.
Although we were told the emergency repairs on the Atwater main would take six weeks, and then eight – stretching to the end of July – this piece hints that they could take till the end of August.
The numbers say we each use 306 litres of water a day, compared to a Canadian average of 220 litres. Suddenly I’m thirsty.
The entrance to Place des Arts has been demolished as part of the renovation of the complex.
I noticed them doing that today and was surprised because I seem to remember it not being very long ago that that entrance was built!
I was thinking the same – that the entrance wasn’t so old – but I’ve reached an age where my sense of what’s recent can be unreliable. I’m glad you checked it out, CE.
Apparently there are structural problems caused by deterioration – I think corrosion?
Corrosion covers a lot of issues. Surely our architects and engineers should know how to put up a structure that will last more than 16 years?
It could be that “corrosion”, which affects anything and everything built with metal, is just an excuse.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, having a province-wide construction industry controlled by organized crime is basically fine insofar as everything costs more. It’s the terrible quality of the work that is so frustrating.
Sadly the law that contracts have to go to the lowest bidder soured the wine in that regard.
I still say that any anti-corruption law that is proposed should be vetted by a board of professional grifters to identify the weaknesses and loopholes in advance.
Actor Marc Messier, of Broue and La Petite Vie, has died at age 78.
The police memorial will take place Tuesday starting with a procession from police headquarters on St‑Urbain and going towards the Bell Centre. I imagine some streets will be closed. TVA adds that Air Force planes will be going over at 10:15 but given the uncertainty of recent flyover timings, that could change.
The Journal already has a photo of police gathering on St‑Urbain around 9.
Photos from CBC. The Gazette says the flyover was, or will have been, done by military helicopters.
Coworkers who go to the office at Phillips Square reported many road blocks and/or dressed police in the Metro.
I guess even the police can’t expect to park that many patrol cars around the Bell Centre.
I took a group of cyclists through downtown this morning and I was afraid it was going to be a nightmare with all the closures but it ended up being a cyclists’ and pedestrians’ dream. Not so much for the drivers.
Lots of police around directing traffic. Many were wearing their ceremonial uniforms.
Kate, I’m curious: why did you think this would not occur for Mohamed Benredouane?
Chris, I wrote this:
I saw one photo of the hundreds of police who marched in uniform into Notre‑Dame for L’Écuyer’s funeral. We’re not likely to see that for Mohamed Benredouane.
All I intended was that it was unlikely that Benredouane’s funeral would be held at Notre‑Dame. Not that no kind of memorial would be held at all!
Thanks for clarifying.
Some NDG residents are complaining about a Bixi station that’s been placed nearby, because of “noise and safety concerns” – yes, we all know how Bixi attracts the criminal element.
This is how you know that too many journalists live in NDG
“Jean Larouche, who lives less than five metres from the station, said she and her neighbours were surprised to see the docking station placed in a residential area.”
Like where do you even begin. Anyway, this is a temporary station to accommodate some construction around the corner.
To be fair, these people almost live in Westmount so…
I LOLed real loud at this.
The BIXI station across from my home has attracted groups of youth who steal the bikes and break the docks by shaking/slamming them till they break loose. It’s a bit disconcerting to see but I think “safety concern” is a bit overblown.
It’s also true that there is noise from customers slamming the bikes to dock them. I don’t really notice it any more.
As someone who is sensitive to that kind of noise I can understand the annoyance. But given that this is temporary it has “slow news day” written all over it. Also: the person wondering why a service intended for residents was installed in a “residential area” is just silly.
FYI the ‘safety’ thing has nothing to do with juvenile delinquents, it’s purported concern that motorists will be shocked to discover a Bixi stand and presumably run over multiple small children over and over, i.e., classic concern trolling.
If it’s a residential street drivers should be watching out anyways. The residents should be happy for the traffic calming.
“surprised to see the docking station placed in a residential area”, ie, directly across the street from a metro station, an office building, a train station and the superhospital.
I’ve used the racks on Victoria, Melville and Northcliffe (don’t know if that one’s still there). There used to be one right outside 5100 de maisonnueve, but I guess they moved it across the street to Grey. Nobody complained at those other racks.I guess these are too close to the residents, but the one on Northcliffe was right outside an apartment building and they didn’t say anything so what gives?
“prompting complaints from nearby residents who say they were not consulted about the project”
Imagine if Bixi had to consult residents every time it wanted to install or move a station…
While I welcome the Bixi racks on my street I have wondered exactly how giving up prime corners to a commercial enterprise is determined and remunerated. I suspect it might be kind of along the lines of cab stands, ie, a calculated loss to improve the network overall.
The cost of restoring Notre-Dame continues to climb, now estimated at $100 million – which means it will be twice that before it’s done.
Homelessness is on the rise, with the populations of camps growing.
An IRIS study shows that building more residential space, which the government tends to support as a remedy for homelessness, won’t fix it, because what’s missing is truly affordable housing.
Another recent IRIS report found, by infiltrating an online landlord forum, that landlords are opening files at the TAL tenant board as a way to create an informal tenant black list.
I’d love to see a landlord shit list. It would certainly save everyone a lot of time to know their landlord won’t do repairs, or is invasive, or renovicts people. It would save a lot of heartache in advance for tenants.
La Presse has a two-parter Tuesday on the economics of heat islands, comparing TMR and Park Ex, adjoining but far apart in terms of tree cover and temperature.
Joey 22:38 on 2026-07-07 Permalink
Looks like this explains the difference: Près du tiers de l’eau potable que Montréal produit ne se rend jamais dans les robinets des Montréalais, en raison du grand nombre de fuites qui gangrènent le réseau.
MarcG 07:35 on 2026-07-08 Permalink
A friend of mine is banned from washing dishes when he visits relatives in Ontario because they’re aghast at the amount of water he uses.
MarcG 09:01 on 2026-07-08 Permalink
And in turn he’s grossed out by how lightly they rinse the soap off the dishes. Financial cost influences behavior, no doubt.
Kate 09:07 on 2026-07-08 Permalink
Joey, at least the leaky pipes are good for the trees.
MarcG, it’s true, I always rinse every last trace of soap. Never thought of this as a cultural tendency before!
steph 16:55 on 2026-07-08 Permalink
I’ve heard Brits argue that leaving the soap on lets the water run off better, and you don’t get streaks. I’m not interested in testing that.
Kevin 12:55 on 2026-07-09 Permalink
The reason to use soap is that it dissolves dirt, bonds to oil, and then connects to water and enables the mess to be removed.
If you’re not rinsing, you’re not cleaning, you’re just smearing the mess around.