La Presse looks into a legal, but sneaky means that landlords have of getting rid of tenants whom they feel are not paying enough rent: they’re forced to waive legal recourse in connection with their lease.
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Kate
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Kate
The Canadiens won their series in overtime but the Victoire will need to play a further match.
Adding some pieces on the rowdiness of fans after the game. A seismologist found that the fans’ ebullience registered as 0.5 on the Richter scale.
Tim S.
Lots of honking out here by the highway
MarcG
Some photos of the police keeping the peace afterwards
PatrickC
With the first two series extending to seven games, I started wishing there was only one more series to go.
jeather
Carolina’s been off for a week and a half, so I anticipate there is one more series to go for the Habs.
Uatu
Just be thankful that they didn’t rip apart downtown with a celebration riot
Kate
They’re saving that for the Cup.
Joey
@jeather apparently when teams that swept their series (and wind up with long rest periods) face off against teams that played a full seven games, the latter are much more likely to win the series…
jeather
Joey, really? My mother will be delighted to hear that.
steph
The last time they won the cup they came off a 4-2, 4-0, 4-0 to then win it 4-1. Rest did them good.
Joey
From Arpon Basu, who covers the Habs for the Athletic:
Since 2000, there have been eight series in the Stanley Cup playoffs where one team was coming off a Game 7 win and the other was coming off a four-game sweep. The team winning Game 7 won seven of those series, and in two instances, they even swept that opponent.
Joey
Steph, the third series against the Islanders was 4-1. They lost the first two against Quebec, won four straight to win the series, then swept Buffalo (all games were 4-3), and were up 3-0 against NY before dropping one. Eleven straight wins but lots of close games, 10 straight overtime wins that spring. What a run.
Nicholas
Someone noted if Carolina wanted to keep active some players could have flown to Switzerland and played some game in the world championships in between these series.
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Kate
Premier Fréchette gave Emmanuel Macron a Canadiens sweater in Paris on Monday. CTV’s headline says Macron nonetheless didn’t support Montreal for the defence bank HQ, but the text says nothing about this. La Presse, however, gives the details.
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Kate
A big march is planned for the Journée nationale des patriotes, not downtown, but cutting through Rosemont.
Later, reports from Radio‑Canada and CTV.
CE
I’m not sure if it was the same one but I saw a smallish march on Laurier earlier today with lots of Quebec and Patriote flags. It was mostly a younger crowd and had an odd, angry vibe.
A
It’s not the same one, the one on Laurier was a bunch of racists flying their flags
CE
Ok, that makes sense. They definitely gave off Brownshirts vibes.
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Kate
The Tailor of Alexandria sounds like a John le Carré title, but actually it’s a real man plying a traditional trade here in Montreal. Nice profile on Radio‑Canada.
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Kate
Top story on most platforms Monday is the day’s dual hockey tournaments – the Victoire one win from taking the Walter Cup, the ultimate prize in the Professional Women’s Hockey League, and the Canadiens one match from either winning the series against the Sabres, or hanging up their skates for the summer.
MarcG
Pretty funny quote in Patrick Déry’s latest newsletter about Habs fever: “Never have temporary immigrants and unilingual Anglophones been so popular in Quebec”
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Kate
The Portuguese religious procession went ahead Sunday in the Plateau as it has for many years, in silence – a fact that may have skirted the law against praying in public.
There was also a march against homophobia and transphobia Sunday downtown.
Nicholas
Gotta ban silent prayer by asking everyone what they’re thinking at all times.
PatrickC
The silent procession will be spun as proof that the law works. That the borough’s compliance may have been ironic will not have any shaming effect.
steph
Might be the best way to go about it -no permit but a wink and a nod.
What’s Quebec going to do – send in the SQ?Joey
It’s really a shame (unless I’ve missed something) that the city’s various religious organizations aren’t jointly encouraging their congregants to collectively advocate against this law – a lot of the reaction to the Portuguese procession understandably emphasizes how the community has been a pillar of the Plateau and city for decades. It does not, it seems, express a lot of solidarity with other religious Montrealers (especially the unstated target of this law, the Muslim community).
This isn’t a criticism of the Portuguese, who have the burden of being one of if not the first major community to be affected by this law, but emphasizing the uniqueness of the Portuguese (or Jewish or whatever) community concedes one of the also unstated ideas underlying this whole nonsense, which is that some communities are to be encouraged, some are to be tolerated, and some are to be, let’s say, discouraged.
azrhey
oh as Portuguese, the community reaction is really gross and one of the reasons I don’t hang there that often besides getting some groceries now and then. The racism and discrimination against the Muslim communities has been outrageous. Like there were people saying they didn’t think the law should apply to Catholics just to those foreign religions and what not.
I got into an argument with other Portuguese locals on a Facebook group and there were a few of us saying that we should show solidarity for all religions if we wanted our stuff to be accepted but we were definitely in the minority. Much shame.Kate
I’ve seen nothing about a concerted voice among the active religions here, but it’s quite the idea. A single voice to counter the Quebec law. But you know what would likely happen – they’d bicker more among themselves than unify to speak with one voice.
Kate
Some people are still fighting the Crusades, or trying to drive the Saracen out of Al‑Andalus.
Chris
Why would we expect a concerted voice from theists? Many of them think they are absolutely right, and the others are heathens, believing in the wrong god. They are not allies, they are enemies. (Not all of them, obviously; but enough of them that I would not expect any concerted action.)
Joey, regarding your last sentence, it’s not necessarily wrong to treat different communities differently. For an extreme example, if religious community X requires human sacrifice, and religious community Y requires pacifism, shall we treat them the same? Some religions are simply worse than others. I ask you honestly: would you rather a world of strictly interpreted Islam, or a world of strictly interpreted Jainism?
Kate
Chris, the rules of both Islam and Jainism, interpreted strictly, would be harsh if imposed on people, but you miss the subtlety that, here in Canada, nobody is obliged to practise a religion. In fact it’s practically a confessional genre for people to write about how they, as second generation immigrants, began to peel away from the beliefs of their family.
Anyway, that’s neither here nor there for the purpose of this thread.
I would love to see the Catholic Archibishop, the top local clerics from the Anglican and United churches, the most prominent imams and rabbis, whoever is in charge of the Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh temples, all sit together and craft a letter to this Quebec government tearing a piece off them for this repressive and stupid law. And I am a disbeliever myself, but you can no more impose rationalism on an unwilling population than you can religion.
jeather
Remember you are only supposed to say merry Christmas if you are thinking about Santa (who we pretend is not religious) and not Jesus.
And yes, we treat religious communities X and Y the same. Murder is against the law for people in either community; unusual food practices are allowed. Maybe we give both of them parking variances for their specific holidays, or let their children reschedule exams, even though the holidays are different days.
H. John
@Kate My guess is that it went ahead because the provisions in Bill 9 were only passed a little over a month ago, and municipalities are still figuring out how it applies.
Like most bills, provisions at its end set the date(s) that it comes into effect; and parts of the Bill only come into effect September 01.
Silence would not skirt the law. They didn’t forbid “praying”, they forbid “religious practice” (which obviously can include praying).
Here’s the definition they use for religious practice:
“Any action, except the wearing of a religious symbol, that may reasonably constitute, in fact or in appearance, the manifestation of a religious conviction or belief, is a religious practice within the meaning of this section and
section 10.2.”Joey
One of the minor injustices here is that it’s the municipalities, in this case the Plateau borough, that has to enforce this reactionary law. A lot of the criticism I’ve seen FB from the Portuguese community is directed at the borough, refusing to acknowledge that (a) the borough is bound by the provincial law, and (b) that the Plateau leadership is on the same side as the Portuguese community. A real poison pill from the CAQ…
Kate
Joey, you’re right about that. Cathy Wong was quoted saying she was fine with the procession but, as you say, the bureaucracy is bound to the word of the law.
H. John
My reading of Bill 9 is that a municipality can still authorize a religious procession such as Montreal’s annual Portuguese Catholic procession.
Bill 9 includes:
“RELIGIOUS NEUTRALITY IN THE PUBLIC SPACE
“2. No public road, within the meaning of the third paragraph of section 66
of the Municipal Powers Act (chapter C-47.1), or public park may be used for
the purposes of collective religious practice unless a municipality authorizes,
exceptionally and on a case-by-case basis, such a use in its public domain by
resolution of the municipal council.So the practical effect appears to be:
- spontaneous or unauthorized collective public prayer/processions may be prohibited;
- organized religious events can still occur if municipal authorization is obtained.
jeather
But what does “exceptionally” mean in this context? They need to look at them case by case and decide individually on what merits? If they approve too many would it no longer be exceptionally?
Joey
What happens when one group is consistently granted exceptional approval and another is not? My sense is that bureaucrats will always err on the side of extreme caution, so they would likely refuse to make exceptions as much as possible.
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Kate
A recent survey shows that Quebecers are still turning their backs on the U.S.A. and vacationing closer to home.
The Journal lists Montreal’s seven major attractions, the seven treasures of Quebec City, some curious places to stay and some quaint Quebec villages, although the huge banner promoting Air Canada flights to Japan is undermining the effect somewhat.
Monday, La Presse looked into who’s still visiting the U.S. and why.
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Kate
Two groups of people who became overebullient Saturday night – and not because of hockey – were suppressed by police after fireworks were set off. Nobody has been arrested.
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Kate
Premier Fréchette is said to be trying to round up Emmanuel Macron in an effort to get that defense bank headquarters for Montreal. Le Devoir, on the other hand, was not sanguine about Fréchette’s visit to France.
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Kate
Sunday, May 17, this city marks 384 years as a European‑style settlement established on the island of Montreal. Happy anniversary!
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Kate
Quebec politics always offers possibilities, Côté poking fun at Québec solidaire, while both Ygreck and Chapleau spoof PSPP’s paranoia. Côté’s and Ygreck’s nervous fonctionnaires watch the launch of the digital health record, Côté’s horrified patient reading his chart.Québec solidaire proposed a tax on the ultra rich, but the response of François Lambert was the thing that activated the cartoonists. Côté has a dry comment on the wiliness of the wealthy.
Trump in China was an inevitable target as he tried to eat a burger and open a fortune cookie. He also tried to part the Strait of Hormuz.
As Mark Carney approves pipelines, Steven Guilbeault sees the mask come off.
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Kate
Rents in Montreal have risen by 70% over ten years. The Gazette blames “population growth, gentrification and a game of catch-up with other markets” in the deck to this piece, the first of a two‑parter, but it doesn’t note the utter failure of the TAL to keep rents reasonable.
Joey
Feels like they are setting up the next instalment in the series to deal with the public policy failure here (which includes, but is not limited, to the TAL’s conduct).
Kate
I find the mention of “markets” also tone deaf. If you live in Montreal it doesn’t help you if the “market” in some other city is “more competitive” or whatever. You work here, you live here, the rental situation is what it is, it isn’t a “market”. You can’t easily pick and choose between global cities like buying veg in the market. Must everything be seen in the language of business college?
steph
At least the Montreal market comes with higher salaries…. right? right??
Nicholas
Yes, disposable income is higher in the Montreal area than it is in the rest of the province. Urban area agglomeration effects make this a standard pattern worldwide that big cities (and suburbs) have higher incomes than small cities and rural areas. Whether it’s enough to counteract higher housing costs varies, but it absolutely did not surprise me that incomes are higher here before actually checking.
Kate
Higher than the rest of Quebec maybe, but seen from a global point of view, not so much.
Chris
Wait, what? Montreal/Quebec/Canada absolutely have higher wages, income, wealth, and disposable income than the global average (or median). Surely I’ve misunderstood what you’re saying?
Kate
Context, Chris. Do you really think the Gazette was comparing Montreal’s market with Port‑au‑Prince or Lagos? If you look at our income levels compared to London, Paris, New York – even Toronto or Vancouver – they’re lagging, while our rents catch up to these bigger and more prosperous cities.
Chris
Kate, I see. But still, you can’t just exclude the places around the globe that are poorer, and point to the remaining and say ‘see, they’re all richer’.
Kate
If we’re “playing catch-up with other markets” – the direct quote I plucked from the Gazette – that isn’t going to mean poorer cities, is it. By implication it means places where things are more expensive.
qatzelok
Most commercial media is tethered to the landlord classes so they are likely to suggest that there is no alternative to what we have now.
It’s working out great for the people who fund commercial media.
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Kate
A police car was set on fire downtown early Sunday, and the Canadiens hadn’t even won a game. Nobody got hurt in the blaze.
There were a lot of people downtown Saturday night, and there will be a lot of people for the watch party at the Bell Centre on Monday.
Chris
“hadn’t even won” is quite the understatement. 🙂
JP
I was walking to the McGill REM around 9 pm…It was soooo quiet outside walking down McGill College. If you didn’t know it was a hockey game night…you would have thought there was nobody downtown….
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Kate
La Presse has a possibly useful list of summer festivals.
jaddle
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…
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