Jeanne Mance declared co-founder of the city
Mayor Tremblay declared Jeanne Mance an official co-founder of Montreal on the city’s 370th birthday Thursday. She now shares the accolade with Maisonneuve.
Now, it was mentioned last year that Tremblay was planning to make this declaration in 2017 at the city’s 375th anniversary party. Might this be a clue that Tremblay’s not expecting to still be in power by then?
Spock 20:18 on 2012/05/17 Permalink
We are going to have a mayor who speaks perfect English and is either of the Jewish or Muslim faith by 2017.
Hahahahaha… Who am I kidding, shame on me for forgetting that this is Montreal in the province of Quebec.
My bad!
Jack 21:23 on 2012/05/17 Permalink
A mayor who speaks perfect English like that Ford fella in T.O. thats what we want ,right Spock.
Martin 21:51 on 2012/05/17 Permalink
Good for Jeanne Mance. Too bad the beautiful monument on Des Pins dedicated to her is in the middle of a parking lot. Only in Montreal.
ant6n 00:52 on 2012/05/18 Permalink
@Jack
+1
mdblog 06:44 on 2012/05/18 Permalink
Spock, I’m with you 100%. Special thanks to Jack and ant6n for showing us just how much they want White-Franco power to remain entrenched in Quebec, despite all of the obvious mismanagement caused by that group.
Now, I’m not saying that they mismanaged things BECAUSE they’re White-Francos. I’m saying that when you choose people for important positions in society based on language and ethnicity, and not on their merit, as we do in Quebec, you tend to get less competent people is all.
I’d be glad to have some competent management, no matter what language he or she spoke. Would also be nice to have a mayor who would stand up to the bullies in Quebec City and from les regions who seem to dictate terms to la Metropole.
Kate 09:30 on 2012/05/18 Permalink
I’m not sure you’re reading sarcasm very well today, mdblog.
We’re likely to have white francophone mayors because the majority of the electorate here are white francophones. City hall pretty much represents us – mostly white francophones, with a sprinkling of Jewish and Italian and generic anglo Montrealers for variation. If the city’s demographics change, the makeup of city council will follow it, but I don’t foresee radical changes there over the next couple of administrations.
mdblog 09:56 on 2012/05/18 Permalink
Kate, Francophones represent 70% of the population of Montreal. Whites represent 25% of the population. I cant find a list of the etho-linguisitic makeup of the council, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t match up with these statistics. It would be even more weighted towards white Francos if we looked at unelected folks such as those in the civil service. Come on…
Kate 10:04 on 2012/05/18 Permalink
Whites represent 25% of the population of Montreal? Not sure what island you’re living on.
ant6n 10:16 on 2012/05/18 Permalink
I’ll take Nenshi or Bergeron any day over Ford or Tremblay. Now of those four, who’s more white, who’s muslim, etc. etc.?
Kate 10:53 on 2012/05/18 Permalink
I admit it would be interesting to have a mayor that wasn’t your typical white male francophone de souche type, but I’d be delighted to see Richard Bergeron win the title even though he’s all that, and I’m not in a hurry to see Louise Harel in the role because although it would be satisfying in some ways to see a woman land the job, I don’t think Harel is really a woman of ideas – if she is, she hasn’t succeeded in expressing them through her politics, which comes to the same thing.
The person’s ideas and politics is what matters.
MB 11:00 on 2012/05/18 Permalink
mdblog, let me google that for you. Statistics Canada sez:
Some 26% of the population of Montreal and 16.5% that of Greater Montreal, are members of a visible minority (non-white) group, up from 5.2% in 1981. The most numerous minorities are Blacks (4.7%), Arabs (2.8%), Latin Americans (2.1%), South Asians (2%), and Chinese (2%).
mdblog 12:08 on 2012/05/18 Permalink
My bad everyone. My dyslexia made me put down 25% when I was thinking 75%. I think you’re all smart enough to see the point I was trying to make though – whether or not you agree with it.
SMD 17:30 on 2012/05/19 Permalink
Jeanne-Mance’s statue is in a parking lot, it is true, but of the first hospital in the New World (which she founded).
Ian 16:12 on 2012/11/24 Permalink
In the French New World – the Spanish bult a hospital in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in 1503. Hotel-Dieu do Montreal only came in 1645.
Ian 16:15 on 2012/11/24 Permalink
Forgot a link for fact-checking – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital#Colonial_America
Apparently Hotel-Dieu is the first hospital in the New World north of Mexico, and wikipedia cites it at being started in 1639, not 1645.