montreal city weblog

Gesca-SRC deal: real problem, or paper tiger?

2008-05-09T08:01:00.001-04:00

Today the Journal has a story about an ongoing collaboration and "secret agreement" between Radio-Canada and Gesca, the parent company of La Presse. Union rights are invoked and the question of the public broadcaster relying on private industry is raised. Radio-Canada has already defended its practices. A legitimate problem, or is this only the Journal cooking up another scandal to sell papers, and get in a dig at its competition at the same time?

Notre-Dame plans rejigged again

2008-05-09T07:51:00.000-04:00

The plan to widen Notre-Dame East has been tinkered with again to add reserved bus lanes, although there will still be a section that's a sunken trench, Decarie-style.

Montreal's delicatessen history

2008-05-09T07:48:00.000-04:00

A woman's research into her family history turns up the first smoked meat deli on the Main a hundred years ago.

Public gardens: 22 are contaminated

2008-05-09T07:35:00.002-04:00

Of 98 public gardening sites in the city, 22 are found to be too contaminated – with old industrial wastes, hydrocarbons and metals, mostly – to safely grow food. Montreal has been praised for its garden plot system, but it's several years now that stories about contaminated soil have cropped up in the news, and my suspicious side is wondering if this is not the beginning of a softening-up process via which the city will quietly reclaim some of these plots, set aside in the 1980s when the local economy was stagnant, and now looking much more desirable for construction.

East end gets its pressure back

2008-05-08T13:10:00.002-04:00

East-end residents get their water pressure back after repairs on a major main are completed; there were fewer water main breaks last year even so, compared to a veritable festival the year before.

News on even bigger roadworks

2008-05-08T13:06:00.002-04:00

Work is to start on the contentious enlargement of Notre-Dame East in mid-October; not surprisingly, the Charest government is opting for one of its pet PPP projects to undertake the major rebuild of the Turcot interchange.

CHUM: wtf with the new building

2008-05-08T12:57:00.003-04:00

Lysiane Gagnon marvels at the CHUM's wasteful flipflopping on its construction plans. She doesn't say, but the CHUM's contortions are pretty much mirrored by its mirror institution, the MUHC, which has been zigzagging between starting construction at the Glen site and enlarging the Montreal General, in much the same way (with the additional twist that they have to deal with the Shriners issue as well).

Shows and exhibits on city life

2008-05-08T07:49:00.002-04:00

The CCA is opening an exhibit on city life in Tokyo and London with an accompanying website; there will be a 3D photo exhibit of Montreal scenes across six locations this summer – no damn use for those of us without stereo vision, so somebody's got to go and tell me what it's like.

Group slams night flights at Trudeau

2008-05-08T07:47:00.002-04:00

Citizens are banding together to protest growing numbers of night flights in and out of Trudeau airport, a demo being held this morning outside Aéroports de Montréal's annual meeting.

Incidentally, Mirabel is mentioned in passing as still being in operation for cargo flights. Whatever happened to the scheme announced in 2006 to turn the mostly disused airport into a giant interior fun fair "destination"?

STM to install tunnel tracking tech

2008-05-08T07:44:00.000-04:00

The STM is to spend a million federal anti-terrorism dollars on a system that will chiefly keep random loonies, daredevils and teenagers from wandering on foot into its metro tunnels.

Police help deliver baby

2008-05-08T07:42:00.000-04:00

Police helped deliver a baby in an SUV on Decarie this week.

City to embark on infrastructure blitz

2008-05-08T07:38:00.001-04:00

City administration to pour $400 million into infrastructure repairs this year, roads, water mains and sewers mostly. In the "you can't win" department, some journos are already kvetching about the inconvenience. La Presse has a PDF file listing all the upcoming work sites, although not with very specific dates, or you can check this section of the city site for details.

Kahnawake smokes cheap in price war

2008-05-07T08:17:00.000-04:00

Kahnawake's tobacco outlets are engaged in a price war bringing the cost of a carton of smokes down as low as $6.

Papineau's wishes rule CHUM's decision

2008-05-07T08:12:00.001-04:00

The CHUM is to respect the wishes of Louis-Joseph Papineau by not building its research centre on land he left for a public square, now Place Chénier. (Can't help noting that the city didn't think twice about burrowing under it for the Ville-Marie, though.) But this also means the new building will be built upwards rather than outwards, a trend that risks creating visual barriers et the edge of Old Montreal.

Market renovations halted by borough

2008-05-07T08:04:00.001-04:00

Work is stopped at the Marché Saint-Jacques on Ontario because they had no permit. The owner wants to boost the market into a mini Atwater, which might be viable on the edge of the Village, which will play host to 49 separate terrasses this summer as its section of Ste-Catherine goes pedestrian.

New roof could cost $75 million

2008-05-07T08:02:00.000-04:00

The new roof proposed by SNC-Lavalin for the Olympic Stadium could cost $75 million because it would involve reinforcing the building and mast at the same time.

Hockey: past and future

2008-05-07T07:54:00.000-04:00

Discussions on the Canadiens continue to percolate, including Bob Gainey's views on speed and thoughts about the future and future players; the Journal ponders the team's needs in tabular format – Carbonneau says he didn't realize how worn out Carey Price was; the head coach's famous loud tie is to be auctioned off for charity. He'll need a new one next season anyway.

Jazz fest unveils concert lineup

2008-05-07T07:42:00.000-04:00

The Jazz Festival unveiled its indoor concert lineup yesterday with lots of piano players to underline its dedication to the memory of Oscar Peterson. There will be more than 150 indoor shows this year, the festival's 29th.

SNC-Lavalin to devise roof for stadium

2008-05-06T07:29:00.000-04:00

Words to haunt a Montrealer's dreams: a new roof for the Olympic stadium with hopes of making the building usable again throughout the winter.

Season end grumbles into silence

2008-05-05T08:42:00.000-04:00

Jacques Demers gives his thoughts on the Canadiens' ended season and the evolution of the team; CH flags have vanished and bars are half empty around town; final postmortems are filed as the season ends in silence.

UQAM: 600 parking spots untouched

2008-05-05T08:09:00.000-04:00

UQÀM has 600 completed parking spots in the unfinished Îlot Voyageur building that could be rented out for ready money, but they're held up in some kind of legal limbo.

Murder and mayhem near Concordia

2008-05-05T08:02:00.000-04:00

The city's tenth murder of the year took place this weekend on Mackay, and another attempted killing happened nearby on Saint-Mathieu. Despite the proximity to Concordia the incidents don't seem to have any connection with the school, and cops don't know yet whether they have any connection with each other.

Snow depots polluting the soil

2008-05-05T07:39:00.000-04:00

Forced to use unplanned locations as snow dumps this winter, the city may have contaminated the soil in areas not prepared for that use.

Recycling misconceptions and tips

2008-05-05T07:34:00.001-04:00

Possibly useful list of recycling misconceptions and tips (although, as I understand it, not all boroughs need you to separate your stuff).