Friday night will be the Tour la Nuit, and Sunday the Tour de l’Île. Notes on streets to be closed for the cycle events and for any other reasons.
Weekend notes from Le Devoir, CityCrunch, Journal de Montréal, CultMTL.
Updates from Kate Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
It isn’t a new story that a lot of social housing units are in disrepair, nor is it news that schools are in such poor condition that they can make kids sick.
One of the authors of the school report asserts that “the root cause of the education system’s crumbling infrastructure is that governments didn’t invest enough in maintaining schools over decades.” You think maybe?
jeather
“Education Minister Sonia Lebel believes the province is already investing enough in education.”
Which I assume is true because surely her kid(s) are in public schools, right?
Meezly
I’ve been waiting for an education-related topic to post this petition:
https://www.assnat.qc.ca/fr/exprimez-votre-opinion/petition/Petition-12243/index.htmlDeadline is June 4 and there’s only about 11K signatures so far.
Key notes:
Data indicates a marked decline in book purchases by schools and libraries in 2025, representing approximately 250,000 fewer children’s books;
in a context where we wish to strengthen literacy and graduation rates, protect the French language and Quebec culture, and mitigate the effects of overexposure of young people to screens, access to books in schools is essential…It’s shameful citizens have to beg the CAQ to invest in something as basic as book and basic infrastructure.
Please sign and share.
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Kate
Quebec is delaying funding for STM projects while bank charges pile up fruitlessly.
Nicholas
It’s weird the story keeps using “frais bancaires” when the quotes use “frais financiers” and “financement à court terme”. Bank fees read to me as overdraft, which obviously isn’t happening to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. They’re paying interest. And because these are short term loans by the STM, rather than long term loans issued by the province, the interest rate is surely higher. But at least they can make the budget deficit look artificially lower during an election year.
Hey what’s that school funding story just above about?
Joey
Buried at the bottom is the news that this kind of thing is no longer possible – basically projects were being approved at all levels but financing was held back for reasons… which meant that transit agencies had to borrow to finance the early stages until the full funding came through. Except that:
“De nouvelles normes de comptabilité dans le secteur public s’appliquent à la STM depuis avril 2024. Celles-ci n’autoriseraient plus le début des travaux avant les approbations officielles, comme c’est le cas du côté fédéral.”
In other words, rather than just allocate the money upfront with the other approvals, projects will be completely delayed until the mysterious budget-allocation process is complete.
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Kate
Claude Lemieux, who carried the ceremonial torch at the Bell Centre on Monday, has died. Lemieux was 60 and TMZ says he died by suicide: although mainstream media don’t mention it, this news is all over social media.
Ricardo
It’s amazing how as strong as he was, as tough as he was, as feared as he was, his mind ate him up from the inside. It’s so sad. gutted.
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Kate
This fall, Moment Factory will be doing a show in Notre‑Dame‑des‑Neiges cemetery.
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Kate
Hockey shock is the story of the day as the Canadiens are pushed to one game away from elimination. Journalists are already sketching out their columns on how this team has great potential for future seasons.
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Kate
City hall announced this week how it’s distributing $50 million over two years toward easing the homelessness crisis. This was money already promised in the budget.
Reading this piece, my cynicism kicks in. People will be hired and paid and every so often announcements will be made to the press, but two years from now, there will be more tents along Notre‑Dame East than there are today. Anyone want to bet against?
Annette
Hey, that’s not fair! You’re using past performance to predict future results!
Chris
Along Notre‑Dame East specifically? I’ll take that bet. Because usually they shoo the homeless from place to place, so I imagine there will be more generally in 2 years, but less on Notre‑Dame East specifically.
Michail
I wonder how much it would cost to just pay the rent and give a UBI to each unhoused person for two years.
dhomas
@Michail: it most likely would be cost effective to house the homeless on the public dime. There have been studies that show as much. An interesting one with practical results from right here in Montreal can be seen here:
https://douglas.research.mcgill.ca/homechez-soi-project/
Basically, any cost incurred in housing the homeless and giving them proper support is nearly completely offset in other savings in public costs. Between $7.19 and $8.27 cost offsets for every 10$ invested in the program. Costs considered for this study were: hospitalization, shelters, and other types of housing. There might be further cost savings, for example: less costs in policing, mental health services, municipal cleaning, etc.
I’m pretty sure the reason it is not done at large scale is because there might be some public outcry that might sound something like “I pay for my house / rent. Why do these drug addicts get a free pass!” I have had similar conversations with people about food banks, so this kind of objection would most likely continue with housing.
DeWolf
Maybe this is a crazy idea, but if we really can’t provide house affordable housing for everyone who needs it, then maybe we should allow and regulate informal housing as a stopgap measure. In other words, allow people to build their own shelters in designated areas — ideally, partner with an NGO that can provide materials and supplies. Inspect the structures regularly for fire safety. And crucially, provide public facilities like toilets/showers (portable toilet trailers with running water rather than chemical toilets) and space for community gatherings (another set of portable trailers could do the job), with social workers around — the same ones who already visit encampments — to help residents.
This would essentially be a well-regulated shantytown. People could live there for years without endangering their health and safety. In the short term, it would probably cost the same as constantly dismantling encampments, chasing some people away and finding emergency housing for others.
And when governments finally get their act together to provide enough social housing for everyone who needs it, then these makeshift settlements can be phased out.
It would certainly require a change in mindset, but it would also be acknowledging a reality: we already have lots of shantytowns all around Montreal, we just call them encampments because they’re made up of nylon tents instead of wood or metal shacks. But in a way, that’s a lot worse than an actual shantytown where people have reliable shelter and an opportunity to focus on other things than just staying alive.
Kate
DeWolf, already it’s being discussed to provide encampments with toilets and showers, as well as garbage pickups.
The difference between this and shantytowns – so far – is I don’t think many people are having children in the encampments. It’s when a second generation begins to be born that you have a true shantytown.
Kevin
Dhomas
The counter argument is to point out that cops, judges, ER docs and other services are way more expensive.Joey
@Dhomas there’s a lot that’s logical and sensible about your proposal. But it does kind of feel like it embracing it would basically mean throwing in the towel on the homelessness crisis. If the homeless are ‘contained’ to designated areas and provided a minimum of services, will there be any political will to actually reduce the problem of homelessness? Or will the average Quebec voter figure that this is ‘good enough’?
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Kate
Three men have been arrested and will be charged with murder in the first degree in connection with a fatal shooting at a St‑Léonard car wash in April 2022. As reported at the time.
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Kate
Christopher Curtis looks into who raises money for Ensemble and his observations are a must‑read.
Taylor C. Noakes
Excellent work, as always. Canada’s COI laws are a joke to begin with, but at the municipal level it’s evident they wouldn’t even matter.
Kate
*conflict of interest
Tim S.
This is so frustrating. Municipal (and I believe provincial) donations are capped at 100$ which is a really nice way of limiting any given person’s influence. It’s one of those laws that makes me super happy to be a Quebecker. But if people can just get registered as solicitors and package donations together, getting credit for the whole amount, that just undoes the whole point of capping donations. Most aggravating thing I’ve learned today.
Nicholas
Tim, that’s just a natural consequence. We allow political party donations. We allow political parties to call up their supporters and ask them for donations. We allow people to volunteer for political parties. We allow political parties to count up how much money each volunteer brought in for the party. And we allow political parties to talk to whomever they choose based on any criteria they want to set. If you accept these five facts, which I think most people do, then this behaviour fits right in that.
Tim S.
There’s absolutely no need for the fourth point – keeping track of how much each volunteer brings in – to be formalized. It sets up an intermediary between donors and political parties, creating opportunities for opaque influencing, and allowing that to happen formally, not just based on guesswork, is a choice, and I support choosing to eliminate it.
Nicholas
If we didn’t formalize it then the parties or volunteers would keep track of it anyway, so they would know, but the public wouldn’t. Seems worse.
Joey
The word “volunteer” maybe doesn’t apply so much (at least in the way we might reflexively think of it, like someone who sets up chairs at a meeting), especially when “bag man” is right there…
Tim S.
But the way it’s set up now, it would be hard for the parties to keep track. When I make a donation, there’s a drop-down asking for the name of the sollicitor. Up to today, I haven’t had a problem with that because it’s the candidate themselves who asked me. But take away the drop-down, parties would see the donor but not know why they donated without another round of outreach. Even if they did that, following up with someone a few weeks later and getting them to say, out loud, I only donated because person X told me to, significantly loosens the influence operation
I’m pretty sure we can get rid of this layer and improve democracy.
Kate
Getting rid of that layer strikes me as akin to abandoning first‑past‑the‑post elections, in that they’re both changes that bring no benefit to a party in power, so are very difficult to put in place.
Nicholas
Joey, I meant volunteer in the sense that they aren’t getting paid (directly by the party or the donor; yes they feel they’re getting a benefit). Bundler is another term, as they bundle donations.
Tim, I knew some people worked in politics where there were bundlers, not in Quebec. Nothing they did was reported to the public, but let me tell you, everyone who mattered knew, and no one else did. Reporters could find out some things using their contacts, but it was a boring story, so why spend time on it? Occasionally you’ll get it as flavour in a story — “John Smith, a VP for [company] and a big-time bundler for Obama, is up for a possible ambassadorship if the candidate wins,” — but Obama’s people know exactly how much he brought it, while we just have these anecdotes. The bundler will claim the payments internally even if you don’t declare them; they’ll send a list of the people they talked to and cajoled. It may not be as accurate, but it’ll be good enough for their purposes.
I still think we should have pretty strict limits on donations and spending, but I think the best way to do it regardless is make as much public as you can. If done properly it makes it much easier for journalists and the public to track everything. Sunshine really is just better than anything else.
Joey
The only thing better than sunshine is to get as much private money out of politics as possible. As you say, everybody knows who attracts money to the big political parties – at worst these are open secrets. Does enabling the rich to have outsized influence lead to better political outcomes? Well, in the thread above we are discussing building shantytowns in the east end, so maybe not…
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Kate
A woman pedestrian was hit by a car in Longue‑Pointe on May 20 and died two days later. It was only reported on Tuesday.
Another fatal accident occurred in Mercier on Wednesday morning when two cars collided, leaving someone dead in one of the vehicles.
Later, TVA says the man who died in this second item had just stolen the car. Doesn’t sound like it was a police chase, though.
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Kate
Steven Guilbeault is to announce that he will be leaving politics this summer, having parted ways ethically with the Carney government over plans to build a new oil pipeline.
Guilbeault has been MP for Laurier–Sainte‑Marie since 2019.
Taylor C. Noakes
I’ll always remember him as the heritage minister who decided it wasn’t a good idea to list the names of suspected Nazi war criminals and collaborators on Ottawa’s Victims of Communism monument, after Canadian Heritage decided to go ahead with the plan despite the historians they hired not having fully vetted the list.
bob
The “Victims of Communism” monument is an indulgence to the right wing extremists, under cover. If they had their way great humanitarians would have statues there, heroes like Franco, Pinochet, Suharto, and Syngman Rhee.
The NDP has a shot at his seat (polls were favourable before the last election), but with the Carney honeymoon extending toward summer it’s a long shot.
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Kate
As noted below in a comment by DeWolf, St‑Denis won’t be pedestrianized in the Quartier Latin as usual this summer, although there will be a couple of temporary street events. Some merchants are not happy, because they’ve benefited from the vibe of a strolling street.
It won’t be pedestrianized next summer either.
Taylor C. Noakes
There’s a fun twist: merchants unhappy because their streets aren’t being pedestrianized?
Meezly
I’ll bet my left arm a number of merchants voted against Project Montreal, who played a key role in the summer pedestrianization of Quartier Latin. The city had partnered with the SDC Quartier Latin and local merchants to launch an economic recovery plan that included seasonal pedestrian-only zones. Hope they’re crying tears of regret.
DavidH
The merchants on that stretch had one of of heir own running with Craig Sauve (Sergio da Silva, operator of Turbo Haus and Le café Big Trouble, not your typical ‘merchant’ to say the least). Probably the only SDC where votes against Project were steering further left.
DeWolf
This part of St-Denis desperately needs a revamp, so hopefully these two years without pedestrianization can get the conversation started on what needs to change in the future. A St-Paul style revamp would be perfect here. Permanent pedestrianization would make a lot of sense for the blocks between Ontario and Ste-Catherine.
(The block between de Maisonneuve and Ste-Catherine has already been attractively revamped. Just do the same thing for the rest of the street.)
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Kate
CF Montreal had hopes of being able to play winter matches in the refurbished Olympic stadium, but when and whether this will ever be possible is still uncertain.
Joey
On the one hand, the new MLS schedule means the CF needs an indoor stadium (way more winter games). On the other hand, Quebecers should be fully on the hook to enable the Saputos to have a leisure project.
Nicholas
I’ve been on the pitch for soccer matches below freezing. Not too fun, but I wasn’t being paid what these guys are making. The Als can do it in November, the NFL does it in January, maybe they can handle a game or two in November (and, as they said, go on the road a bit). Baseball rains out, they can figure it out if we get a blizzard.
GC
Did you mean “should NOT be”, Joey?
Kate
I thought he was being satirical…
Joey
LOL let’s say you’re both right
Anyway, MLS is moving its calendar because, presumably, it will generate more profit for the league and its teams. So let them pick up at least part of the tab…
Josh Cuppage
Nicholas: I think the concern is more for the fans than the players.
Joey: MLS is moving its calendar to be in sync with the global soccer calendar. As it stands, MLS plays through several international breaks where all of the other significant leagues shut down to release players to their national teams. (A side effect of having run on a different calendar than all the other leagues for all these years is that it’s been a contributing factor to many elite players taking a pass on MLS.)
And MLS is not going to pick up part of the tab here. They are an American-based league who just so happen to have a handful of Canadian teams in it. I think they’d be just as happy if Montreal and Vancouver were replaced with Detroit and Las Vegas. (It’s a problem generally for Canadian sport that our top level teams in most sports are mixed up with these American concerns.)
Joey
Yeah, I understand the rationale behind the calendar change (which makes sense IMO), but it’s undeniable that MLS wouldn’t be making this move if it didn’t think it could make more money as a result – as you point out, they would trade off Mtl and Vancouver for US-based teams if they could make more money. But the way CF Mtl is positioning this is that the MLS is doing some altruistic schedule change to appease more important leagues and don’t-ya-know they just don’t have the money to support their franchises who are not set up for a winter season. Granted, it’s ridiculous to spend what $800M+ to renovate the stadium and *not* have it be able to host the local soccer franchise, but it can’t just be a permanent, recurring handout to the Saputos (net worth estimated at $7.59 billion by Maclean’s).
Nicholas
Josh, the CFL playoffs are mostly all outdoors, and sometimes it’s actively snowing and the stands seem pretty full. The Bills have had a few games with two feet of snow in the last few years, one which resulted in a one-day delay. If Montreal fans can’t handle being outside for two hours in November weather we may as well just pack the team in now.
Joey
The CFL playoffs end in November. Nobody is going to watch soccer outdoors in Montreal in February. No MLS team is going to agree to play soccer outdoors in Montreal in February.
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Kate
A pro-Palestine rally on the weekend is being investigated over mock hangings apparently of Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir.
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Kate
There are now 95 tents along the Notre‑Dame East park strip, a record number.
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