Workers are busy trying to contain the new oil spill off Pointe‑aux‑Trembles. I hope they can figure out who’s responsible and fine them up the wazoo.
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Kate
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Kate
The city was going to buy a building in Ahuntsic‑Cartierville so’s to transfer 50 of the homeless people that have been living in a Verdun shelter, but it isn’t going to happen. The foundation that owns the Centre Bois‑de‑Boulogne won’t let it be used as a homeless shelter.
Meantime, the city was in the process of buying the old Sainte‑Bibiane church in Rosemont, but a nonprofit that helps people with AIDS was already in the process of getting set up in the presbytery. As in other neighbourhoods, its residents would prefer not to see a homeless shelter established there.
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Kate
The OQLF says it wasn’t inspecting Santa Cabrini hospital, it merely sent an advisor to discuss its francization progress.
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Kate
Weekend highlights from La Presse, CityCrunch, CultMTL, although I suspect the Olympics may swamp most other events for the next couple of weeks. CBC has notes on watching the opening ceremony on Friday starting at 1 pm.
Blork
I caught the last 40 minutes or so of the opening ceremony. Pretty mind-blowing light show centered around the Eiffel Tower. And Celine Dion showed up to belt out the closing song, perched half way up the Eiffel Tower. The whole thing is so over-the-top that it’s ridiculous, but still oddly captivating.
Blork
BTW, closing song from mid-tower by Celine Dion was l’hymne a l’amour (of course).
Subscribe for more Olympics play-by-play from Blork!
Tee Owe
Found it both captivating and moving – Celine Dion was an unexpected treat – what a show, all of it! Let the games begin – !
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Kate
I put the question about the reason for our many outdoor staircases to Gabriel Deschambault of the Plateau historical society. He didn’t quote chapter and verse, but he says this (my translation):
We must go back to the first residential subdivisions (for example on the Plateau), where the buildings were located on the lot line, at the edge of the sidewalk. This led to a rather poor outdoor space with uninteresting street views.
At some point, the City began to require that new constructions should have a setback, to offer a more open urban space and a small space for greenery in front of houses. Of course, this meant a reduction in the buildable surface area for housing, so developers quickly understood that by taking the staircase out of the area of the house, they gained more square footage inside.
This also meant that each dwelling had its own private entrance, which offered a certain standard of living. Everyone in their own home!
The church, too, was not very fond of common interior accesses that allowed for the sharing of neighbours’ problems, promiscuity, cooking odors, etc.
I remember someone telling me the church liked the outdoor stairs because you couldn’t get too kissy when saying good night to your date, but it seems to be considered an actual factor. So think about that when you’re clearing snow off your picturesque spiral stairs!
Ian
The church prudes and “to every man his own front door” were the versions I always heard. Developers skimping for tax purposes I didn’t know though, so thanks for that!
carswell
Thanks for the follow-up, Kate.
Blork
Deschambault’s description is one I’ve heard before and the one that always made sense to me, so I’m buying it. The various tax explanations offered don’t make any sense to me at all.
Fun fact(ish): a friend from Dublin told me that the reason why Guiness has a relatively low level of alcohol (4.2%, but apparently there used to be one at around 3% that was sold in pubs in Dublin). He said it was because of the tax on alcohol, which affected the price. The lower the alcohol, the lower the price at the pub. Truth? Who knows. I can’t find anything about that on the Google, but that doesn’t mean much.
thomas
I also read that external staircases were controversial at first and some people considered them an eyesore and by the 1940s they were banned for new construction. However, eventually they became iconic to the city and with this acceptance the ban on construction was lifted in the 1970s.
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Kate
Police arrested six more suspects this week in connection with two murders last year, although four of them were already behind bars on other charges.
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Kate
McGill has withdrawn its injunction request against the pro-Palestinian groups that created the protest encampment on its downtown campus starting in April, but it’s an empty gesture given that they sent in private security to dismantle the camp on July 10.
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Kate
A new oil slick has appeared in the river off Pointe‑aux‑Trembles. This time, the Canadian Coast Guard has identified a source, but saying it’s a storm drain isn’t really much of a clue. Who’s dumping oil has still to be determined.
It’s not trivial, either. The spill two weeks ago is estimated at 19,000 litres, and birds have been damaged in the area.
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Kate
Environment Canada has verified that a tornado ripped through parts of the suburbs, uprooted trees, knocked over a semi-trailer damaged infrastructure.
Something definitely tore down some of my hollyhocks, anyway.
Eventually it was determined that three tornadoes touched down in Quebec this week.
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Kate
The city is aware of a growing number of soi‑disant tour guides operating without permits, so it’s considering abandoning the requirement. People who have spent money and time acquiring permits are not happy about this.
Updating to add: we had quite a detailed discussion about this issue last year, with some good ideas including thoughts from a participant who has a permit.
jeather
Without getting back into the fight about whether permits should or shouldn’t be necessary for tour guides, taxi drivers just won a big lawsuit about this.
Ian
Oh noes, what if they tell a version of local history the SSJB doesn’t support? QMI will never get over it!
Chris
A strange concept that walking around and talking with people should require a permit.
Kate
One of the regular participants here does have a permit, and has defended it in the past. It’s not a bad idea to make sure the tour guides know actual history, geography, architecture and so forth, and are not walking around babbling received ideas and nonsense.
Josh
I mean, journalism doesn’t require any kind of permitting. Given that, the idea that tour guides should have permits is a difficult thing to defend.
Kate
Journalists – traditional ones, anyway – have editors, and they have feedback from their public, who live in the same area and are aware of local conditions. Whereas a tour guide is addressing a small group of people who don’t know the area, won’t pick up on any mistakes or exaggerations, and have no way to respond to any issues, since they’ve presumably already paid for the tour and will be leaving town before they figure out that Mount Royal is not a volcano.
Nicholas
By my reading of the by-law (it’s very short), this is no requirement that the guided visit be paid or commercial in nature, so not only do you need a permit if you do it for free, you need it if you take your friends around and show them things and talk about them.
I just had two friends visiting from DC, and one of them loves alleys. So I made up an alley tour in our area. I found some of the best alleys, with pretty landscaping and cool murals, and then I took them on this tour and talked about what we saw and the history of the city. They loved it (and Montreal), and when I mentioned it to some friends they all wanted to see the alleys too. So not only am I a criminal, I’ve started a criminal enterprise, even though I’m not taking any money from it and am just hanging out with my friends exploring my city.
Regardless of what you think of these permits (and I’ve already expressed my opinion on this), I think we can all admit that the law is too broad as written. Good on the city for looking to change this.
walkerp
Except obviously it isn’t since you were able to complete your tour without any issues.
Joey
Leaving aside the question of whether tour guides should or should not be licensed (as well as the question of whether in this transition license-holders should receive some compensation for the devaluation of their until-now mandatory license), it’s encouraging to see the city even consider abandoning a requirement that it refuses to/cannot enforce.
Stringent rules without enforcement or consequences for rule-breaking do nothing but upset people who follow them.
Josh
Kate: The scenario you paint of journalistic rigour is pretty much done. Not many editors left these days at most outlets, and fewer all the time. It seems a perfectly reasonable comp to me in the age of citizen journalism and one-person brands (like the guy who accosted the Prime Minister on vacation just this week) popping up everywhere.
Ephraim
Over the years, I have heard foreign guests who have taken tours tell me many different stories as to why Duplexes in Montreal have outdoor stairs. And still most of them seem to always miss the real reason… taxes.Even the Atlas Obscura history misses the fact that by putting them outside, they didn’t count as square footage of the house and lowered property taxes.
So, having them actually licenced means that they are tested on things like that… and don’t just make up history as they so fit. I mean, how many of them can actually tell you where Craig street was, what was the first skyscraper of Montreal and the two last skyscrapers before the great depression (hint, only one of them is in Old Montreal.) Nevermind things like where is the memorial to Kate McGarrigle or who was born at 1577 Van Horne or even where the Expos played in their first year.
Kate
Nicholas, would you be willing to share your alley map? If so, I’ll send you the one I like, which was made by another blogger a few years ago. Email me if you would.
Ephraim, I had to look up who was born at 1577 Van Horne!
Josh, people still get degrees in journalism. There are still standards.
Nicholas
Ephraim, why do I need to know all that if I’m giving an alley tour in NDG, or a food tour of Pierrefonds, or a video game tour of Mile End and environs, or a bookstore tour of St Catherine? Tour guides who have spent $2,500 plus spent weeks of their time in a course do not know every fact there is to know about Montreal, and people taking the tour don’t expect that impossible standard. What is important and basic to you on your tour may be irrelevant to another’s tour; if a topic is not on the official curriculum of the one place that all tour guides have to go, the licensing does nothing to help ensure accuracy or knowledge. The current regulatory regime does not ensure that every licensed tour guide never says an incorrect piece of information, and I don’t think we want government-enforced fact checkers (especially since not everyone agrees on history, and those things are often much more interesting that basic facts). We saw recently on this blog a story about a very old home in TMR and people disagree even as to the year it was built, but I guess that is of no matter to tour guides there because TMR doesn’t have a regulatory regime to ensure tour guides don’t just make stuff up.
walkerp, I was able to complete my tour because no one caught me, but that doesn’t make it legal. The city says they have not given out a single fine in years, but just because something isn’t being enforced now doesn’t mean the law isn’t too broad as written. The tour guides and their association want the law enforced and fines doled out. They want the law strengthened, not weakened or repealed. They want to stop people walking around with their friends and talking about the history, culture and architecture of Montreal, which is currently the law; if they didn’t they would agree to at least that change, but they haven’t. I want that law changed, even if it’s not currently enforced, just like park curfews and Quebec’s pot regime. Do you?
carswell
@Ephraim Do you have a source for that claim? I’ve always understood that it was tax-related but had nothing to do with square-footage, rather with Montreal properties being taxed based on the length of the front property line. That, in turn, led to narrow lots and houses and staircases being placed outside so as not to make flats even narrower.
@Kate Why not share the secret? Just wasted minutes searching. Former or current residents include F. Jeanbart, D.C. West, Th. Thornton, N. Costa, E.M. Friedman (Freedman) and J. Shatner, none of which I recognize. The last could be Captain Kirk’s dad, except William was, per Wikipedia, born in NDG.
Ephraim
@Carswell – Houses were taxed on the gardens, which is why you have houses in the village that are built right ot the sidewalk. The thing was not only did the city like the garden space, but also the big fire jumped from street to street, so having the gardens also provided more of a break against fires. But the city changed it’s taxation system and went to square footage (which is still in place today. So a staircase outside was in the garden and didn’t count as interior square footage. There are two other reasons, one of which was heating, because of course, you didn’t need to heat it. The last related to the landlord being able to watch who went upstairs, especially if it was his kids, to make sure that no one “untoward” was going up (ie prevent cheating).
It’s the same reason they have small windows in the UK and cheap handles… they were taxed on the fixtures in the house.
carswell
Thanks. But I asked for a source, not another unsubstantiated claim.
jeather
There are all sorts of weird property tax histories — windows, fireplaces, building width, etc.
Kate
Also the stories about why so many duplex and triplex flats have a long room with an archway…
Blork
I tend to agree that requiring a license or permit just to tell tourists stories seems silly, both in terms of government overreach and a lack of enforceability. On the other hand, I see the value in having tour guides be trained and reliable.
If you ask me the solution is pretty simple. Make it known that licensed tour guides give better tours. The ol’ “ya get what ya pay for” thing. If this is well known (advertised around the touristy spots, on the Metro, etc.) then tourists might be inclined to pay a little more for a proper guide, or at least they might be mindful that the unlicensed tour guide is likely uninformed and unreliable.
And if a tourist doesn’t care for quality and gets a bullshit tour… so what? It’s not like there’s actual HARM if some dummy thinks that Jacques Cartier got here before Columbus, or if they think Montreal was the capital of America before the US Civil War. There is so much stupidity and misinformation out there in the world, absorbed and spread by hopelessly dumb people. If some of that is touristy info about Montreal, so what? It also means that people who actually care about quality information might be smart enough to seek out the licensed guide.
Ephraim
@carswell… been a long time… don’t remember which book had the whole discussion. I’ve read a heck of a lot of books on the city.
Chris
>So, having them actually licenced means that they are tested on things like that… and don’t just make up history as they so fit.
There is a middle ground between *forced* licensing and ‘making up history’.
>Josh, people still get degrees in journalism. There are still standards.
And people still get degrees in tourism. But even those people, unlike journalism grads, are *forced* to do this licensing.
Much of the historical knowledge that tour guides (or really anyone) have is ultimately from *unlicensed* journalists or authors of the past. The people writing those old books and newspapers didn’t need any licensing, but you need a license to regurgitate their old work? It’s nonsense.
>If you ask me the solution is pretty simple…
Yup, i.e. ‘let the market decide’. Provide/allow *optional* licensing and let those customers that want it pay some premium.
Kate
Chris, there have been discussions about imposing journalism licences. Effectively, they’ve existed for years anyway. If I wanted to attend an official press conference, do you think they’d let me in, without press credentials? Not likely. Anyway, I wouldn’t be told such an event was happening, but if I found out and showed up and said I was from a blog, I’d be shown the door.
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Kate
A notebook found on a search of Ali Ngarukiye’s place showed that he had instructions on making explosives and may have been planning a bomb attack in Montreal in emulation of similar actions in London and Paris. Whether Ngarukiye had accomplices in this plan isn’t known.
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Kate
A man has been charged in the fatal shooting in February of the brother of a prominent mob boss.
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Kate
The orange line was down during afternoon rush hour for almost two hours because of a water main break between Lionel‑Groulx and Place Saint‑Henri.
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Kate
Two traffic signs were hacked Wednesday morning to display pro‑Palestinian slogans.
Chris
With 3 phrases, including “escalate now”.
The article tries hard to whitewash the phrases, but seems to give up explaining that one.
bob
Well, “intifada” could mean polite letters to the editor, not only “deadly suicide bombings on buses and at restaurants and hotels”. Assholes.
Ian
Kate, did you forget to lock down this thread to comments? I am politely refraining from responding out of deference to your moderation (literal moderation in this case).
Kate
I’m not locking down for the moment because, in general, the people who participate here are civilized. But it’s always an option if things get heated again.
Ian
Ok then.
@Bob if ww2 had gone the wrong way, the Resistance would be considered terrorists.
Anyhow no matter how you slice it the occupation is illegal and Israel is committing war crimes if not outright crimes against humanity. They have clearly stated that they see a two-state solution as an existential threat. What would you have Palestinians do?
Asymmetric warfare aside, the ICJ ruling clearly shows that Israel does not have the moral high ground.Chris
>They have clearly stated that they see a two-state solution as an existential threat.
Likewise the other side of the conflict (Hamas), who refuses to recognise Israel’s statehood.
walkerp
Pretty major distinction between Israel and the current Netanyahu government.
Ian
@Chris even taking your argument at face value, Hamas isn’t in the West Bank. Illegal settlers and the IDF are, though. Thoughts?
Kate
We’re not going to solve the Middle East on this blog.
jeather
Not if you keep shutting comments on the topic, that’s for sure.
dwgs
That’s a cheap shot jeather. Also, do you actually believe there is a chance that Kate’s commentariat is so brilliant that we can indeed hit upon a solution? If so I demand a raise in pay and better working conditions for all of us!
MarcG
jeather: That’s some top-tier sarcasm, thanks for the lol
Kate
jeather, as I think I explained before, the reason I’ve been shutting down comments on this topic is that I’ve wanted to take note of the pro‑Palestinian encampments, protest marches and other incidents which stem from the situation in Israel/Palestine, because they’re happening here, but since it’s not a Montreal story, debate and anger about the situation is fruitless on this platform. I still think so and will go back to shutting down comments if I need to.
jeather
It was a joke! I understand why you shut down comments and think it makes sense.
dwgs
Sorry, missed the sarcasm.
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Kate
Beaconsfield mayor Georges Bourelle is doubtful about the utility of a bike path to link Exo to the Kirkland REM station. Bourelle sees no point in putting in the path unless it can be shown that a significant number would cycle between the train and the REM, ignoring the possibility that some would use it to get around the traffic‑heavy suburbs safely with no other transit plans.
Ian
It really would be a nice parallel to the Lakeshore path.
Uatu
You’d think that the increasing use of e bikes would make this a no brainer
PO
How are these reports so light on information?
There’s already a path along the Angel woods there — just not paved. It’s used frequently enough that it even shows up on Google maps.
If there’s already a path carved out, why not hold the mayor to task when he makes stupid comments like “I only see 3 bikes on this bike rack”
What route would the total path take? Not even a mock-up?
What’s the total approximate distance?
No mention of how to cross A-40?
Do EXO trains allow bikes? Will the REM allow bikes?
No trip time estimates? On-foot time? Bike time?
What’s the projected completion date for the REM station?
Even if these are evident to a small fraction of the population, they all should be answered in an article like this. It blows my mind that we get news reports like this without even an ounce of effort. Maybe I’m in a mood, but this article was basically:
“Mayor questions whether a bike path connecting EXO to REM would be worth it. A local cyclist thinks it would. A McGill guy agrees. There isn’t much parking at the new station. The end.” That’s literally all that was provided.
Kevin
I know this area very well and have wondered for decades why, when they eliminated the golf course, they didn’t extend Woodland to Highway 40.
While there’s been a lot of talk about putting in a bus route north of highway 40 and rerouting buses elsewhere to head to the REM, there should also be a direct route from the 20 to the 40 without going to St. Charles or Ste. Anne’s.
Taylor
This is really infuriating short-sightedness:
1. It’s hard to estimate how many people will drive on a road before the road gets built, much like it would be for a bike path.
2. This would encourage more cycling between transit stations
3. That in turn would reduce roadway congestion
The problem here is that these old farts think bikes are toys for kids (or a small niche of adults who use them principally for leisure or exercise), and have no concept of the fact that they’re efficient means of conveyance that reduce congestion, free up parking spots, improve the health of the citizenry (both cyclists and drivers alike due to increased exercise and decreased air pollution), and are exactly what we need to be encouraging in the era of climate change.
Their myopia condemns future generations. Total failure.
Blork
I’m not defending the short-sighted view of the Beaconsfield mayor, but what I see here (based on maps and whatnot, not direct experience with the area) is that the proposal of paving the 400 meter path that already exists along the forested area seems like a no-brainer at first. But on closer examination it only really creates a sort of hermetically sealed run between two train stations, which is not all that useful. It’s “hermetically sealed” in that it’s hemmed in on both sides by autoroutes, so it is not easy to get to, and there is very little need to simply cycle between train stations.
That said, if I were the King of the West Island, I would propose that this new path also be extended to cross the 20 to the south and to run along Woodland down to Lakeshore. On the north side, I’d propose some kind of passerelle be build that would cross over the 40 into Kirkland.
This would create a much-needed bicycle connection between the north of the West Island and the South. If done right it would be safe and I’m sure it would be very popular.
Unfortunately it would also be very expensive. On the south side there is already an overpass over the 20, but the bike path would have to cross two service roads and a regular street in close proximity. It’s already a somewhat chaotic exchange. Figuring out how to add a bike lane and making it safe would not be easy.
On the north side they’d need to build something grand, on the scale of the Passerelle Normandie in Longueuil (which is the finest passerelle in the land if you ask me; picture: https://flic.kr/p/QidW4u ) That is a huge and expensive project.
As King of West Island I’d pay for all of it without hesitation. But the problem here, I think, is that we have a conflict between creating a cheap but not very useful bike path, and an expensive but very useful bike path. So wot’s a king to do?
Nicholas
I hate the framing as between the REM and Exo stations, as if people will bike between them, when they run parallel. More like people will bike from the adjoining neighbourhoods to one of the two stations, or to Lakeshore, or another path. If there’s actually a reasonable way to cross the highways then people will likely cycle a few kms and then hop on another vehicle, bringing or locking their bike. The bike to train model works very well, if you make it safe and easy.
As for parking spots at the REM station, am I confused or is there not a giant set of parking lots just to the north of the station? Are we going to pay for an expensive deck when most of those spots sit unused? Just make a deal with the mall/cinema operator to allow REM users to park there, or in some of the spots, that’s gotta be cheaper than building some decks. Or maybe reroute some buses and people will bus there rather than drive.
Jaye
A similar path/overpass is being proposed from Stillview (near Lakeshore Hospital) to Fairview. It would cost 2 million dollars for the study and 20 million dollars to build.
Apparently the agglomeration requested that Montreal pitch in, but they see our bike paths as not their issue, while we pay for paths in the city, mini putt courses, and baseball diamonds in theirs.
yasymbologist
one of my impressions with the beautiful Beaconsfield town is that they are on the verge of cancelling that thin pedestrian sidewalk in the neighbourhood.
Ian
@Jaye I sympathise with the WI independent towns’ complaint that they bear an unfair tax burden in the balance, but mini putt courses? I live downtown, I don’t know about these mini putt courses. Where are tehy? That sounds fun.
Jaye
@ian https://montreal.ca/en/places/jardins-du-petit-laurier
I heard something about the original intent being housing, but can’t confirm…Ian
Transitional space usually means a tax break for the owner as opposed to outright purchase but yeah, your tax dollars at work. It’s a wonder there aren’t clowns.
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