Thousands poured into the street after Friday evening’s Loco Locass show at the Francofolies to demonstrate, and tweets are currently tracking two major marches through downtown. The band invited the main student reps onstage for a performance of Libérez-nous des libéraux. Photo, credited to M’sieur Zen.
Updates from June, 2012 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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The city has a plan to add 300,000 more trees by 2021. Implicit in the description of the reasons for the plan is the acknowledgement of climate change.
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Chris
The City has lots of “plans”. $100 says this won’t happen.
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Ephraim
Well, the city used to be a lot cooler in the summer before we concreted everything and we had trees. I wonder if that means that the hole with dirt near my house that had been lacking a tree for at least 5 years actually has a chance to get one.
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Kate
It’ll be hard to verify. The city’s always planting some trees, replacing some and adding others.
What I found more interesting in a way was the acknowledgement of climate change. The government can deny climate change all it wants, but when it’s being taken as a given by all kinds of industries and services, how long can it hold out?
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Kate
Ephraim, have you emailed Luc Ferrandez and asked for one?
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Chris
They don’t say *where * there trees will go… it annoys me how new tree spots always take away sidewalk space, and never take away automobile space.
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Ephraim
@Kate No, you would have figured when they took away the previous tree that they would have had it marked for a new tree.
I’m still waiting for them to do something about the scaffolding at Pine and St-Denis. How long as that been up… four years or more? In some cities they bill you for putting scaffolding on the sidewalk, encouraging you to remove it by cost, not by begging.
I find it all falls on deaf ears.
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Kate
Scaffolding? I’m trying to picture where you mean – is it on that building on the southwest corner, that belongs to the school commission?
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Ephraim
Yes. The one that belongs to the school commission. This is what the building looked like, before the scaffolding. http://goo.gl/maps/aeTc
Honestly don’t even know why they need the building in such a prime location. The scaffolding has been up for so long. Maybe it’s not 4 years, but it’s a LONG LONG time. Long enough that we all forget how long it’s been around.
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Kate
I did check that corner earlier and all I know now is the building wasn’t scaffolded in 2009.
I imagine when they put that building up – if you go around via Drolet you can sometimes see into it via their garage entrances, and I think it’s basically just warehouse space for school furniture and hardware – the neighbourhood was not nearly so prime. But the mechanism for selling it off and moving all their junk probably grinds exceeding slow.
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Ephraim
Which is exactly the problem. A warehouse in Montreal North or St-Laurent would probably be a better choice today, simple because of proximity to the highway, never mind lower costs. That land can be sold for some good money. Heck, get a permit for a tall building, it has a wonderful view beyond the 4th story. As long as you don’t go OTP as they did for 333 Sherbrooke, which still has so many empty spots. Most of the buildings with normal prices around here sell out quite quickly. And that would be a great location. Set up shops facing St-Denis and have the residential entrance on Pine or Drolet. Preferably with underground parking via Pine. Heck, the school board can use the money to keep themselves balanced for a number of years.
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Andy Riga has put up a bunch of media about the new metro cars and cites questions and commentary from readers (first cite being @ant6n!).
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Tux
I have to agree with what many people said… we need air conditioning on transit in this city. They continue to raise fares and honestly my transit experience has not increased in quality. Crowded stuffy buses are still the norm, litter in the metro has increased, visual pollution is at an all-time high (the screens… they enrage me! The STM ads, they’re too much and completely unnecessary!) escalators are still broken for weeks on end with not a workman in sight, OPUS has changed nothing except made bus queues slower… and when faced with the big demand of the ridership (air conditioning, PLEASE) the STM makes excuses. Jesus get some fresh blood into management over there.
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ant6n
It’s wierd how many people are asking for air conditioning. I wonder, once they have regenerative breaking, which would remove one of the largest sources of heat in the system, whether it would be possible to keep the whole metro system at fair temperatures.
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JaneyB
Yes, the escalators…. How is it possible that it takes a full calendar year to fix the escalator (Plamondon metro)? It probably took less time to mine the minerals and smelt them. I think we’re gonna have to put webcams nearby because I just do not believe work is taking place…
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Marc
On the issue of A/C in buses, last I heard the STM needs another year to “study” the issue. Today’s AC’s are highly efficient and nothing like they were 20-25 years ago. The bus drivers union has been asking for it for ages. But hey, never miss an opportunity to try and re-invent the wheel, I suppose… I went to see the model of the new metro car. It’s nice. I like the LED lighting and the doors are very wide. Time will tell if the new braking system keeps the heat level down.
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Faiz Imam
I think the STM video does a great job explaining why A/C cannot work in our metro system, yet people still remain insistent.
The Metro is a closed system, which means every litre of air has to be mechanically pumped in our out. Other systems that have AC are NOT closed systems, simple as that.
Whats the point in having cool cars if all the stations are sweltering.
The only way to have AC in our system is to tear down and re-build almost all of the stations and greatly enhance the in-tunnel ventilation infrastructure at a cost of many billions.
Personally I think the current method works: the new cars produce 30% less heat, and they are gradually(but significantly) improving the ventilation systems. Put the rest of the money where it can really do some good.
BTW: The new cars don’t have localized fans that blow air only in front of the doors, they have 2 linear vents that go end to end, which makes them MUCH more comfortable for everyone.
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SN86
Although I completely agree with the views of the Metro engineers regarding heat but I believe we should just buy the metro cars with AC so it pleases all these folks who want AC. Look, we’re spending all this money on new cars might as well spend a bit more for AC to make people happy and comfortable. Its not like it’s going to cost a billion more and if the stations feel hot we can turn off the AC. We have wasted money before on potentially useless things lets do it again and see if the engineers are right We waste lots of public money daily but at least this time the majority of users will be in agreement when we spend it.
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Tux
@Faiz: The metro already contains many air conditioners – they’re attached to practically every office and ticket booth in the place. Also, if these engineers were worth their salt they would know there’s more than one way to dissipate heat – it doesn’t have to go into the air. Also, the metro is by no means a “closed system” I don’t think those words mean what you think they do.
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Anto
@Tux: I’m curious, how can the heat not eventually go into the air?
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Faiz Imam
I know exactly what a closed system means.
granted thermo-dynamically its not exactly a “closed system” but in the HVAC context it is.
The AC’s attached to the various booths are minuscule, i would guess that everyone of them combined would not be more than 5% as much as full AC’s in 300+ metro cars.
hypothetically, if you put AC units in the cars all the heat they would produce gets pumped out into the tunnels and stations. 99% of this heat is removed by the ventilation system( hence closed system) The ventilation infrastructure is not designed to exhaust that volume of hot air, as a result the stations and tunnels will simply get hotter, which has a secondary impact of making all those AC’s less efficient.
Almost every system in the world that has AC in the cars is partially outdoors, this makes it very easy to ventilate.
The only fully indoor metro system in the world with AC (to my knowledge) is Hong Kong and they only have it in the stations, which they accomplish by fully isolating the tunnels/cars from the station with Platform screen doors.
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Chris
There are lots of engineers in Montreal, has the STM released their data and calculations regarding heating/cooling? Can you use Access To Information on the STM?
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TransportJames
Faiz is exactly right.
If A/C was installed in the cars, the station platforms would be hotter. People would then start demanding that A/C be installed in the stations as well. The only way to do that would be to isolate the platforms with platform screen doors. We are talking about Mega$$ for all that.Personally, I would rather see that money be invested in expanding the network instead.
People love to complain and point to the exceptional days when it is quite hot in the stations/metro. The reality is that most days the temperature is acceptable. Putting in A/C just for a few days of the year is a waste of money that could be used for something else.
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Thurday night’s demo was peaceful and followed the tattooing of red squares at Berri square.
The SPVM wants at least $10 million extra to cover overtime costs for its force – so far – for policing student demonstrations.
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Bert
If we look to cover the costs in a user-pay system, we should charge (financially) the protesters for the overtime they are causing.
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Ian
Good luck identifying the (legal) protesters, Bert. This is a cost incurred by the government, not the citizenry who is democratically expressing their right to protest.
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This week’s story about the forcible removal of a 12-year-old girl from an STM bus is not going away. The STM is investigating.
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Ian
Given how often poor Ian Lafrenière has to cover for patently obvious police overreaction, I wonder how his health is, and how he sleeps at night. What a thankless task, trying to make the SPVM look like a decent, respectful group every time an aggro cop does something stupid.
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qatzelok
I just read the story and saw the pic of mom and daughter. I assume they’re both horrible and abusive and that the bus driver did the best he could.
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qatzelok
@ article: ““They messed with the wrong person this time,” Bassey said. ”
If she had said “The wrong bitch,” it would have been even clearer. But she used “person” to make it all about human rights, instead of being about human decency which neither of these rude “victim” types probably has.
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ant6n
I don’t know whether you are being sarcastic. You have to be, because otherwise the attitude of “I saw the pic, and based on that I’ll side against the kid” doesn’t make sense.
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Kate
@qatzelok, you’re on watch. One more racist crack out of you, and it’ll be stop, banhammer time.
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Hundreds of people gathered Thursday evening in Dorchester Square for a candlelight vigil to remember Jun Lin. Video from La Presse.
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The beach at the clock tower opened on Thursday evening. It’s free this weekend, after which it’ll be $6 to get in.
Ephraim 06:16 on 2012/06/16 Permalink
Now that parliament session is over and everyone is on vacation… do these protests actually fall on anything but deaf ears?
ant6n 11:11 on 2012/06/16 Permalink
Did they not fall on deaf ears before?
Ian 14:30 on 2012/06/16 Permalink
tell it to Argenteuil. I will be very surprised if Marois doesn’t get an easy majority in the next election.
Jack 13:23 on 2012/06/17 Permalink
Loco Locass are the poster boys of hypocrisy.They come of as left wing progressive nationalists when in fact they are watered and fed by PKP and Quebecor, a zenophobic right wing media union busting conglomerate. They are so wedded to Quebecor that one of the members,BIZ has PKP’s wife Julie Snyder as his kids godparent.I often wonder if their position politically is just a cool way to market their music. They once tried to play a show in St.Michel to a largely Haitian audience and were booed of the stage.
Kate 13:34 on 2012/06/17 Permalink
@Jack, that’s interesting. I did not know that.
Michel 12:33 on 2012/06/18 Permalink
Not familiar with LL’s music and not a fan of Quebecor or Pierre-Karl, but just because Julie Snyder is godparent to Biz’s kid does not mean they share the same values or opinions. Nor does is mean that Loco Locas are in cahoots with PKP’s politics.
Jack 16:37 on 2012/06/18 Permalink
@Michel Let me provide you with some of Quebecor’s lift vis a vis Loco Locass and their career.They have anchored “Star Academie”, that parody of culture and Quebec’s most viewed show for the last two years.They preformed their song “Hymme du Quebec” on that other spell binder Quebec-Montreal, thats TVA’s TV lift ,along with their saught after expertise on LCN.The film ,”Dédé, à travers les brumes” starring Batlam ,distributed by TVA Films. One of them,Biz, wrote an 84 page book about how depressed he got when his wife gave birth, it was short listed for the Archambault( Quebecor ) Prize in 2011. One of the authors also honoured,Gil Courtemanche a real progressive, refused to attend because of Quebecor’s union busting, not our Biz. PKP is a Quebec nationalist, which I think is cool, but he is also a right wing union busting xenophobe, his wife ,Julie Snyder, has also show an antipathy towards english speaking Quebeckers ( see Don McPherson). I could go on…..
I get a little heated talking about these guys and its for one reason.The most troubling part of the Federalist-Sovreignist divide is the idea of “bon bord”, the fact that Loco Locass see’s Quebecor as supporting the nationalist movement means that they are “bon bord”. It doesn’t matter that they own Sun News, spewing right wing Quebec bashing venom.That PKP has busted three unions,that Bernard Landry bought Videotron for them with our Caisse Depot money,and lost a two billion dollars in the process.It doesn’t matter that Quebecor spawned the accommodation raisonnables constructed crisis.It doesn’t matter that we have to buy PKP an arena for 400 million dollars, what matters is that he is,”bon bord”. For this I find Loco Locass pathetic…