The Botanical Garden used to have a First People’s Nations Garden, now renamed to Indigenous People’s Garden. I had not realized that the Inuit are not considered First People Nations.
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Kate
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Kate
A pony (probably more likely a miniature horse) has been stationed outside the Palais de Justice this summer because it’s a defendant’s emotional support animal. The case has been postponed because the judge won’t allow it into the courtroom. This has raised questions about the policy the law should have about such animals (and, if the courthouse, an attitude likely to extend to other official entities).
Ephraim
Oddly enough, both dogs and horses are recognized as service animals in the US, but we don’t have a single standard law in Canada. In Quebec, miniature horse are not recognized. And Quebec doesn’t automatically give emotional support animals recognition. ESAs do not have a guaranteed right of entry, as far as I know. It’s a case-by-case thing and it’s based on a good faith evaluation… which means that you will need to show medical documents (and give away personal information) to why the animal is needed, and what the animal provides. But can be denied entry if the accommodation would cause undue hardship.
Basically, if you want to bring an ESA, you have to prove that you need it, it’s won’t cause a problem and if the answer is no, you can’t really appeal unless you can prove that they didn’t make a good faith effort to evaluate it to the best of their ability. And refusing to provide the medical documents allows them to simply refuse.
Service animals (dogs), you can’t deny access, they are counted as a medical apparatus/assistive device. But the fines for faking it run from $250 to $750 and if I remember, you can ask to see the animal’s training documents (which don’t violate your privacy as the animal doesn’t have a right to privacy.) You may not ask for the human’s medical documents, though.
steph
If he (Asif Ali Choudhry, a 43-year-old man who was scheduled to plead guilty to charges of break and enter) gets a prison sentence for the crime, will he be able to take his ESP with him? /s
dwgs
Disappointed that the defendant’s name isn’t Lyle Lovett.
Nicholas
Guide horses are a thing, but they are specifically trained similar to guide dogs as service animals, and in many ways are better than dogs. The photo from the La Presse story shows the horse with a vest like service dogs wear and it says service animal, though it’s described in the story as emotional support.
If this is a properly trained animal then it seems it should be allowed in (it’s possible he does not “need” one, but if as Ephraim says you can’t ask for medical proof of the human, then it shouldn’t matter what anyone else thinks…plus these animals are not easy to get, so probably not easy to get if not medically necessary). If it’s not a properly trained animal and it is just “emotional support”, then, well, sorry, you won’t be getting that in jail either, and if you can’t handle a few minutes standing in front of a judge without one maybe you need to go to Pinel until that is resolved.
Kate
Can you really stop horses from taking a leak or a dump when nature calls? They haven’t the inbuilt caution about these things that carnivores do.
MarcG
TIL vegans poop their pants
CE
Did he take his horse with him when he committed the break and enter?
Kate
steph, one of the points made in the article was that, if people bring support animals to court but are then taken into custody, the courthouse will then have to figure out what to do with the animals.
MarcG: OK, I should have written “predators” although some of the vegans I’ve known…
But seriously, horses and cows just go. Dogs you can train to be more disciplined about it, while cats naturally want to be tidy, so you just have to show them a litterbox. But animals that just hang around in a field, they don’t have the same instincts. That’s why, when we had calèches, there was always a bucket hanging off behind, so the driver could scoop up whatever the horse deposited on the road.
You can’t have a manure bucket in a courtroom.
MarcG
If any comedy sketch writers find this thread it’s full of absolute gold
Ephraim
What’s the old joke… how do you know if someone is a vegan?
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Kate
Radio-Canada highlights the Great Peace of Montreal, Pointe‑à‑Callière museum exhibiting the physical treaty till September to mark the 325th anniversary of the 1701 signing.
La Presse gets an Indigenous academic to sketch out the incidents that led up to the treaty.
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Kate
The city is making promises to tidy up Chinatown but the additional plan to create a “local alliance” is odd. I’m certain Chinatown already has a solidarity organization, although it may not be blessed by city hall (and may not carry on its business in French).
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Kate
The self-service Mamie Clafoutis on St‑Denis had its windows smashed last week, although for some reason it wasn’t reported till Monday.
Likewise, an incident at a mosque in Côte‑des‑Neiges Friday morning wasn’t reported till Sunday.
MarcG
The Mamie Clafoutis incident was reported by TVA the day after. In the interview I found the owner playing dumb about why they’re being targeted not very effective.
Chris
Hmm, I doubt most people in fact dislike this whole automated store concept. Online shopping is exactly that, and wildly popular. The only difference here is you’re walking there to pick it up, instead of them delivering it your door.
jeather
I know this is not the point here but I do not understand the love for Mamie Clafoutis, I went a few times and occasionally the food reached “it’s fine”. We have better bakeries everywhere in this city!
Ian
@Chris on-site automation basically means they have figured out how to take both the convenience and personality out of the whole transaction, what’s not to like /s
Uatu
Recently saw a yt vlog about bixis being vandalised especially the electric ones. There was all sorts of anarchist graffiti and the vlogger was wondering if it was modern Luddites who were against data collection and surveillance or just uninformed/ bored teenagers. This sounds like it might be related or motivated by the same anti technology vandals
Ephraim
And the more they do this… the more society looks to cameras and police surveillance. They sort of playing into the police agenda here.
Chris
Ian, I personally loathe it all, but I’m talking about everyone else, not me. Amazon trucks and boxes are absolutely everywhere I look. I don’t think people, especially young people, care for the `personality` in the transaction at all. And not sure what you mean including `convenience` in there, many would argue shopping on your phone and having to-door delivery is *more* convenient that moving your ass to a store then discovering they have a higher price and no inventory anyway.
Uatu, wow, if they think Bixis have invasive tracking, wait until they learn all new cars have to include a camera watching your face constantly!
mare
Yesterday I saw a group of around 10 teenagers hanging out in a park yesterday, surrounded by a bunch of electric Bixis lying on the ground. Since electric Bixis are charged by the minute, even if you have a subscription, that looked very suspect. Together they were basically racking up 10s of dollars in fees every few minutes, while not riding the Bixis, but just talking, drinking and smoking. There was a Bixi stand nearby where they could have parked them and saved a lot of money to buy more drinks or smokes.
I was walking a dog and didn’t have my phone on me, but otherwise I would have been tempted to unleash my inner Karen and call Bixi.Joey
Call Bixi for what? Kids being frivolous with their Bixi use?
Agreed that Mamie Clafoutis is generally fine but overrated, and I can’t say I had a memorable enough experience buying a croissant or a sandwich at one of their shops that would cause me to lament the loss of the personal transaction. I can think of a few stores whose customer experience would be greatly improved if they had automated/self-checkouts. Anyway, we tolerate vending machines, we can tolerate this.
Jim
I’m not a fan of these automated shopping things, but they have their advantages too. Things evolve, sometimes in ways we welcome and sometimes in ways we disagree with. We all have opinions, and there should be constructive ways to express them without damaging property or using violence to force others to listen. A world where people impose their beliefs and convictions on others is not the kind of world I want.
Kevin
Chris
New cars sold in Europe (as of July 7) have Driver Monitoring systems aka Advanced driver distraction warning, but there is no such requirement in North America—and no timeline to change that.Nicholas
Seems the revealed preference at grocery stores is to use self-checkout. It certainly depends; some stores limit it to 30 items, and I’m more likely to use it with a small order and with fewer items with a PLU. I’ve even seen a bread slicer that the customer uses, with a locked door to prevent injuries. If people want to go to a bakery, that now can open 24/7, then good for them.
Also fun fact is the self-checkout machine was invented by a doctor from Montreal. He hates what they’ve become. And when he installed the first one the cashier’s union protested until they saw how clunky it was on the first day and figured they had nothing to worry about.
Chris
Kevin, not quite. The HALT Drunk Driving Act was passed by US Congress in 2021, and given what Europe has done, car manufacturers will likely do the same in USA next. It’s coming.
Bert
But understand that there are two basic self-checkout systems. In supermarkets, stores, etc. it’s the: scan the item, place the item on scale, place the item in the bag (another scale). Heaven forbid you buy alcohol. Go to Home Depot and you can line up all your items and just blast away with the barcode reader…. DONE!
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Kate
A second try at installing underwater turbines in the river – by the same man who went bust trying this idea 12 years ago – is awaiting various permits to proceed. Environmental issues are handwaved here.
I suspect that with Mark Carney being all gung‑ho to cut through regulatory obstacles to make things happen, and with right‑wing governments in Quebec and at city hall, we’ll see a lot more of this kind of thing.
Tim S.
I’m dubious that this will work, but out of all the ways we have of generating power it seems relatively low-impact. I think this guy should be encouraged rather than lumped in with an oil pipeline.
Kate
Well, the article doesn’t explain why the previous attempt failed and what they’ve done to improve the technology since that time.
If they do put in two turbines as a preliminary experiment, I hope they’ll keep the media posted on their results. The river and its ecology belong to all of us.
Nicholas
Well we do already have turbines generating electricity on the St Lawrence, which can power most of the homes on the island, and the way they’re placed causes much more ecological damage than this would, I presume. Doesn’t mean this will work or is better. Also fun fact that the construction of this dam led to a major political bribery scandal which then partially led electricity nationalization and the creation of Hydro Quebec.
bob
Disoriented fish! Just what we need.
Bert
Not to forget the Rivière des Prairies generating station – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivi%C3%A8re_des_Prairies_generating_station
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Kate
McDonald’s is going to build a drive‑thru in a residential area in Pointe‑aux‑Trembles and many residents are unhappy. It’s clear from how this CBC piece is written that the borough didn’t want to face being sued by the fast food behemoth if they tried to hold the line against them.
Joey
The property is already zoned for commercial use. As the photo makes clear, it’s a pretty desolate abandoned building and an empty parking lot. The borough’s own legal analysis made clear they have little chance of blocking development on the lot.
Also too, it’s absurd that these NIMBYs are arguing that a drive-thru will make the street unsafe for pedestrians when it ALREADY doesn’t have a sidewalk.
Anyway, if the borough were indeed exposed to legal risk, it wouldn’t be from McDonald’s, it would be from the local developer proceeding with the project – hardly a behemoth…
Nicholas
It appears to have been a Renaissance previously and an Enterprise car rental before that. Two doors down, also backing on to residences, is a gas station, and across the street is a car dealership.
It’s very reasonable to not want all this car-heavy business, but that’s the bargain when you live in a car-dominant area. Every home with a pool backing on to that business has a driveway with a car in it on Google satellite view. I’m very sympathetic with banning new drive-thrus island-wide and removing the curb cuts wherever possible, but you have to do that before they apply for a permit. But in the end, the only reason there is a drive-thru planned is because people who drive like them and so create demand for them. And that includes the people here, who also probably bought the home backing onto commercial property after it was already commercial property.
dhomas
Not mentioned in the article, but there is already a sizable McDonald’s literally a 5 minute drive from the proposed location:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/4YhELuBLgTASky3g9?g_st=acIt’s a big one, too, with a drive-through and a kid park. Presumably, everyone who wants to use a drive-through has a car, so a 5 minute drive is perfectly acceptable. Why do they need ANOTHER location so close? Unless they want to replace the (somewhat lively) current location with one of those bland, soulless McDonald’s we’re so used to seeing in recent years.
Kate
I didn’t realize McDonald’s locations varied so much. I haven’t been inside one in a long time, which I hope doesn’t sound snobbish. But I don’t have kids and so have never been required to fill children up with happy meals.
One of these days I’m going to gather together a lot of my people and collectively sue McDonald’s for bringing the “Mc” prefix into disrepute.
dhomas
@Kate I don’t really go to McDonald’s all too often, especially since my family started avoiding American companies (A&W and Harvey’s are good, Canadian alternative when we “need” fast food). But I was mostly comparing McDonald’s in time rather than location. When I was a kid, McDonald’s shops were colourful with mascots inside and places for kids to play. Nowadays, they are mostly grey boxes of glass and brick with a splash of red and yellow outside and a nondescript interior that could easily be converted into a Starbucks by the landlord should McDonald’s move out.
The location I mentioned in PAT has been around since the 80s and still has a kid park in it, I assume because it has always had the physical footprint to allow it. My kids have attended friends’ birthday parties there (McDonald’s birthday parties are still a thing, I learned thanks to my kids). If they move to the new proposed location, it will likely drop the kid park and be just like all the other new McDonald’s shops.
As for the lawsuit, others have already successfully sued McDonald’s for naming rights, so you might have a shot!
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-friday-edition-1.4983770/david-vs-goliath-irish-burger-chain-beats-mcdonald-s-in-big-mac-trademark-case-1.4980448R T
The resident they interviewed says “vehicles leaving the drive-thu will exit onto her street, which is used by transit riders walking to and from nearby bus stops. High school students also use the street”, which she sees as reasons that the location is inappropriate for a fast food restaurant, but to a developer, a place with lots of transit riders and high school students sounds like a great place for a fast food restaurant.
Ian
Why it might even be a reason for the city to put in sidewalks, lol
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Kate
Eighteen road deaths were racked up during the construction holiday.
I looked for drowning deaths during the same period, but only found the sombre fact that Quebec has seen 43 drownings so far this year.
Later, TVA posted that there were nine drownings during the construction holiday.
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Kate
After the weekend’s hand-wringing, WestJet workers have reached a tentative agreement.
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Kate
I was looking up an old blog post when I reread this 2019 one about China buying the old Shriners hospital at 1529 Cedar for a consulate.
Looking on Google Maps the building is not labelled as a consulate, and looking up China consulate Montreal I find one address at Lasalle College on Ste‑Catherine, and another in 2100 University. Nothing on Cedar.
Wonder what the story is.
dhomas
According to Montreal tax records, it has been owned by “THE CONSULATE GENERAL OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA IN MONTREAL” since 2019. The owners’ address is 2100 Ste-Catherine O., which is the official address of China’s consulate in Montreal:
https://montreal.china-consulate.gov.cn/fra/zlgxx/The information from consulate-montreal.com must be outdated (especially since University street at that level no longer exists, having been renamed Robert-Bourassa about 10 years ago).
It looks like some urbex folk took some photos between 2 years ago and 10 months showing that the site is currently abandoned, inside and out. The photos can be seen in the Google Maps photos section of 1529 Cedar avenue.
The site is “patrimoine”:
https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=108860&type=bienSo, the Chinese Consulate might be playing the long game and allowing it to become a hazard so they can raze it, as we’ve seen so many other before. Then, they can build a new consulate on that site. The location is quite nice, even if the building is not suited to consular use.
Kate
I don’t know the actual terms, but the city does place limits on what you can build on Mount Royal. It may be futile to wait for the building to crumble so they can construct something new.
Thanks for finding out the facts, dhomas.
bob
I think it also faces some extra problems in renovations because beyond the heritage thing, they can’t just plaster, paint, and buy new furniture. It needs to be a secure building for all the sneaky spy stuff governments do. And even if it crumbles, building something there, because it is subject to these extra mountain things, might get the plans more scrutiny than they want. And also, China-Canada relations over the last 6 years have been pretty abysmal, and Montreal’s Chinese population is not huge, so they may not feel the need for such a large mission away from the capital.
According to TVA they bought it for $17.5 million in 2019, so it’s interesting that this dilapidated property’s municipal evaluation for tax purposes is currently $32.6 million. They’ve refused to pay those taxes, citing diplomatic immunity. I don’t know what the market value is, though I assume the encumbrances bring it down, but that’s about a year over year increase of 15%. So merely by acquiring and holding on to the property, they have fulfilled Chairman Mao’s famous dictum of “Don’t wait to buy real estate. Buy real estate and wait.”.
Kate
I think you got a bum copy of the Little Red Book, bob.
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Kate
It’s on most of our media that WestJet flights are cancelled because the flight attendants are on strike. Note bias in CTV headline “leaving thousands of travellers stranded.” Also beware, CTV has started autoplaying video with ads again.
Ephraim
It’s Westjet, it’s Montreal… that’s what, 3 to 5 flights a day, 2 or 3 to YYC and 1 or 2 to YYZ. They don’t really fly that many flights from Montreal anymore. I think Delta, Air Inuit, PAL and Air Creebec might actually be bigger airlines here than WestJet. Maybe in the winter when they have the old “Sunjet” flights”
R T
WestJet operates Sunwing flights as well now.
Kate
In any case, La Presse is putting it on the front page.
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Kate
Typical editorial cartoon topics were thin on the ground this week. World politics came up a few times, Chapleau dancing Trump and Netanyahu and Godin commenting on Hamas’s latest response while artificial intelligence inspired Côté (still in reruns) and Godin.As usual, Canada’s powerlessness vs the American behemoth gets a couple of japes while Chapleau makes a pointed comment about climate change (this is the photo Chapleau credits).
Godin takes his turn at asking where Charles Milliard is, although given that the government isn’t sitting and it was the middle of the construction holiday, where should he be?
Côté’s social observation cartoons are usually worth a look, even in reruns.
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Kate
I’m only posting this banal piece about restaurateur Martin Picard having his laptop stolen because it leaves two questions unanswered:
“Un individu est entré par effraction dans un local adjacent au restaurant montréalais Au Pied de Cochon, samedi, et a volé l’ordinateur du propriétaire…”. How did getting into an adjacent space give the thief access to Picard’s laptop?
“Il y avait des données dans cet ordi-là que j’ai besoin…” – Nobody had helped the renowned chef set up an automated backup? I guess they will now.
MarcG
I would guess that the restaurant has rented out the space next door and use it as an office or similar.
Kate
I was thinking about that heist on the Main in 2020 when someone got into a vacant store space then broke through an adjoining wall to a jewelry store. But it seems unlikely someone would do that to a restaurant, no matter how good their secret recipes.
Meezly
Usually people start backing up their precious data once they’ve inadvertently lost it. If this is the first time Picard lost his laptop (he’s what, in his late 50s?), he’s been pretty fortunate – up until now.
Kate
As a Picard, he should be looking after his Data better.
dwgs
*rimshot*
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Kate
Radio-Canada talks to a man who was bitten by a tick in Lafontaine Park. The item goes on to discuss Lyme disease – not the only illness that can be caught from these pests – and the lengthy list of things you must do to avoid ticks or deal with them, because you shouldn’t cower in fear at home but should still go out and blunder around in the underbrush.
Among other things, afterwards, you need to have someone else help you inspect your entire body “comme le dos, l’arrière des oreilles et le creux des genoux”; there’s no explanation how to proceed if you do not have someone handy to do this.
The doctor suggests calling 811 if you find a tick. You may have a long wait, as 811 wait times have become much longer in our enshittified times.
Shoe drop: Lafontaine Park doesn’t even have any wild areas with underbrush, does it?
MarcG
Not super enthused about this development – Chronic Lyme is really debilitating and falls into the same ‘poorly understood and not really treatable besides symptom management’ category as Long Covid, ME/CFS, and Fibromyalgia.
The article doesn’t mention it but there are also mosquito and tick repellent products that use lemon eucalyptus oil rather than DEET or picaridin which have the added benefit of smelling very nice.
Kate
As with mosquitoes, I’m curious to know whether we could eradicate ticks without causing an unintended ecological crisis. Wouldn’t the world be a better place without those two creatures? Does any delightful species rely on them for food or obscurer needs?
Of course we never do know. Whatever poison we set out for ticks could turn out to devastate other species. It’s always Murphy’s Law with biology.
I remember reading that during Expo 67, the whole site was fogged with pesticides to keep the endemic shadflies away, as a result of which a lot of river fish died of starvation. It was probably DDT in those days, too.
dhomas
I was bitten by a tick a little under 2 weeks ago. I’m not sure why the article says to call 811. My doctor told me to go see a pharmacist. The pharmacist was fully prepared with an online form to fill out for diagnostic and reporting purposes. They even inspected the tick itself (I saved it after removal) and the bite site to see if I was at risk of disease. The pharmacist was able to directly prescribe antibiotics, too. My tick bite seemed to occur within about 6 hours of discovery, so I was likely not at risk (though for other medical reasons, they still prescribed the antibiotics as a preventative measure). The procedure was very quick and effective. I’d definitely recommend going to see the pharmacist.
Also, use icaridin spray to prevent tick and mosquito bites.
Kate
Glad you were able to get medical care so effectively, dhomas.
MarcG
This tick biologist in NB says that ticks are absolutely useless
Ian
All the more reason to celebrate that opossums are in town – they can eat their body weight in ticks each year and are completely unaffected by them.
Kate
How do we encourage opossums to hang around our parks and gardens, then?
Meezly
Opossums were regarded as dirty pests but the perception is gradually changing now as they’re getting their due recognition as a valuable species. They’re also resistant to ticks and rabies. It seems more opossums are being spotted in more suburban areas. Unfortunately, they are also frequent victims of vehicle collisions as their defence mechanism is to freeze.
jeather
Surprisingly, faking dead (“playing possum”) is an entirely different defence mechanism from freezing (which I do not believe they do though I am not sure). They’re the only extant North American marsupial, current evidence has marsupials originating in South America.
Janet
In these parlous times, apparently little kids are being taught the helpful rhyme:
Check your pits, check your bits
Check your back, check your crackI’ve had a possible tick bite twice. Both times I went to a pharmacy and both times they refused to prescribe antibiotics because I didn’t have the tick with me and the rash was already there.
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Kate
A figure was seen running away after starting the fire that consumed the Nöam restaurant on Decarie overnight. The building owner thinks it was a hate crime.
Ian
Is antisemiitism or extortion more likely under the rule of Occam’s Razor? I guess it depends who you ask, but of course the owner would never say they are being extorted…
Kate
It would be interesting to know whether the owners of Nöam had previously received any threats, and of what kind.
Ian
Having known business owners that got firebombed they usually deny any kind of extortion. I guess for a restaurant or bar people might be worried that their clients might get scared off if they knew.
qatzelok
When an Italian bakery or eatery gets hit, we all assume “mafia settling of accounts”
and not “hatred of Italians” as a possible cause.Organized Crime is NOT an Italian exclusive by any means.
Daisy 17:06 on 2026-08-04 Permalink
It was the First Nations Garden, not First People’s. I don’t know about the term First People, but no, Inuit aren’t considered First Nations, that’s why you often hear the phrase “First Nations, Inuit and Métis.”
Kate 17:32 on 2026-08-04 Permalink
Is there a definition of “first” that makes the reasoning clear?
MarcG 17:51 on 2026-08-04 Permalink
It doesn’t directly answer your question Kate but you might be interested in this chapter from Chelsea Vowel’s Indigenous writes : A guide to first nations, métis, and inuit issues in canada..
Blork 18:09 on 2026-08-04 Permalink
Actually, the Inuit ARE considered “first PEOPLES” but not “first NATIONS.” I don’t exactly know why, but it probably has something to do with the Inuit historically being nomadic and therefore not tied to any treaties from the old days, or something like that.
It’s all pretty convoluted, but this Wikipedia article does a decent job of explaining it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Nations_in_Canada
Kate 18:37 on 2026-08-04 Permalink
Thanks to all of you. I clearly need to read up.