The pop music scene column; a reader writes to tell me about an edible books event tomorrow at noon.
posted at 20:15

 
As has been hinted at, the University of Montreal has bought the Outremont train yards for eventual creation of a new campus.
posted at 18:54

 
Art collective Dare-Dare is profiled; they're holding a benefit tonight.
posted at 10:44

 
A completely private hospital is to be built at the corner of René-Lévesque and de la Montagne and open in two years' time.
posted at 10:35

 
Today's biggest news is a book on Quebec sovereignty produced by the Conseil de la souveraineté du Québec for distribution in schools – but it's unlikely to be published in English translation.
posted at 12:38

 
The Fringe festival and the city are at odds over recent events – in fact, the borough says the Fringe is spreading lies about its requests.
posted at 11:04

 
Even before the smoking law comes into effect this May 31, bars are asking for it to be weakened with exceptions made in their favour. Before people think how sucky the law is, remember that it's the bar staff who are constantly exposed to a level of carcinogen we wouldn't countenance in a factory.
posted at 10:42

 
The city wants to slow traffic down to 40 kmh all over town, and are planning to test photo-radar devices to track car speeds.
posted at 10:21

 
Seven more boroughs have emulated Côte-des-Neiges-NDG in adopting a rule that building owners are responsible for keeping their sidewalk frontage clean.
posted at 10:10

 
Another correction: I am reminded that the new symphony hall is not meant to be plunked right in the midst of Place des Arts as it stands now, but behind it.

It remains unclear to me why none of the PdA spaces is satisfactory, but I admit to not being versed in the details why some halls are good for classical concerts, and some not so good.
posted at 16:41

 
I've received email from Marc Snyder, an aide to Helen Fotopulos, saying that yesterday's news about the Fringe is not true. This is what he does say:


For the last few months, the City has been negociating with the Festival (we received the festival's most recent proposal last week) and there is an agreement on pretty much all points. There is one major disagreement: they want to sell booze till 10 PM. We want them to stop at 9PM. This is *not* a culture vs. condos issue. This is a business vs. residents issue. Nothing else.
posted at 16:27

 
Opposition parties are making noise about superhospital costs, although recalling how the Laval metro costs went out of control under the PQ, that party isn't exactly in a strong position to talk; the public supports the hospitals merging into one megaproject (although there's major institutional resistance to the idea); the private money hoped for by the Charest government isn't showing up in droves either.
posted at 09:46

 
Apparently the city has denied the Fringe Festival access to not only the Parc des Amériques, its home since 2000, but all parks in the Plateau.
posted at 22:31

 
Quebec still plans to build a new symphony hall, although it's not so much the money that concerns me but the plan to plunk it down on the Place des Arts esplanade. Admittedly the space isn't a huge success as a public square, but people do use it, especially during festivals. Shoehorning an additional building on there doesn't seem like the most inspired idea ever.
posted at 11:09

 
The Plateau wants the city to give its section of rue Saint-Denis a tourist zone classification, allowing stores to stay open longer, even 24/7.
posted at 09:54

 
The metro's blue line will get full-size trains all day during the week, a minor bit of good news but a benefit for riders accustomed to crushing into the line's customary short trains; the Gazette also has a locked piece about the petition to change Beaudry station to Beaudry-Village (which I still say sounds like something off a wine label); STM management knew about a conflict of interest within their security service three years ago, and did nothing about it.
posted at 09:46

 
Different spins on the same report on how immigrants fare in Quebec: do they wait a long time to find work or is it relatively smooth sailing for them?
posted at 09:38

 
More on the projected superhospital cost overruns and their proposed solution: throw yet more public money at them, and add PPP, partenariat public-privé, the Charest government's balm for all economic wounds.
posted at 08:50

 
The École de technologie supérieure says it won't set up a Muslim prayer space but will allow students to use otherwise unused spaces for the purpose, a solution that doesn't seem to be satisfactory. (I didn't know there was a mosque so close by the school – was it there even when the original complaint was made?)
posted at 22:39

 
Health minister Philippe Couillard says the CHUM budget will have to rise and he's now willing to countenance it.
posted at 22:29

 
Opéra de Montréal is doing The Turn of the Screw; Les Grands Ballets has already launched their 2006-2007 season; the textile museum in St.Lambert is changing names and hoping to move; review of a new photo exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts.
posted at 10:38

 
A synagogue in Côte-des-Neiges has been daubed with graffiti including swastikas and SS symbols and a reward has been offered for information about the culprits.
posted at 09:29

 
The big sewer excavation along Saint-Denis between de Maisonneuve and Sherbrooke is hurting businesses in the area, and won't be finished till June. (The dig makes the area less inviting, but if there are establishments you like in the area, this would be a good time to bring them business.)
posted at 09:24

 
Journal de Montréal has a series this weekend on pollution in Montreal, the health problems experienced by people living near oil refineries and factories, the unknown toll some toxins take on the human body and the 6000 deaths in Canada annually that can be blamed on it; the simple filth that's spewed out of some factories; the people who are leaving the more industrialized east end; at least Montreal has stricter air quality standards than the rest of Quebec, and Shell and Petro-Canada, the city's major polluters, are trying to cut back on emissions.
posted at 13:56

 
Montreal police have accidents parking patrol cars mostly because people learn to drive compact cars.
posted at 13:33

 
The city may be going to fine people who don't keep their property in good order, but disorder has a long history in this town.
posted at 13:19

 
Unabashed celebration of the gentrification of St-Henri.
posted at 10:41

 
Predictably, the PQ hates the latest Charest budget but Mayor Tremblay likes it.
posted at 09:19

 
Review of Toqué and the Club chasse et pêche is marred only by the writer's regional envy; what are the city's most desirable delicacies?
posted at 08:54

 
An aperçu of an event during Montreal Fashion Week, and Montreal as fashion quirk capital and details about current trends.

I don't think I noted in this blog the death of Iona Monahan, anglo Montreal's greatest fashion editor of the 20th century.
posted at 08:36

 
Michel Parent, head of the blue-collar union, has been re-elected after a vigorous campaign, and immediately accused the city of hassling its workers.
posted at 09:46

 
City cleanup crews will start work next week, although some neighbourhoods are worse off than others and the city is dirtier than the suburbs too. Not only that: citizens will have to pay fines if they don't clean things up on their own property, with more inspectors now on the lookout for problems.
posted at 09:43

 
A new film festival focuses on human rights and freedoms.
posted at 11:45

 
Municipal unions are united in outrage against the city's new policy against goofing off.
posted at 11:43

 
A sketch of several lives lived in gruesome apartments; the unexpected housing project in lower Westmount; landlords hasten to heap blame on their tenants.
posted at 11:39

 
Plans for the Montreal waterfront west of the Old Port (let's not call it Harbourfront, folks) are having to evolve quickly after the cancellation of the casino scheme and word from the Saputos that the soccer stadium might be built out by Pie-IX instead.

In other stadium news, plans to beef up Molson Stadium for the Alouettes have been brought to a halt by a report saying that the enlargement and destruction of trees would be very bad for Mount Royal.
posted at 10:50

 
Muslim students at the École de technologie supérieure are accorded the right to a prayer space by the Quebec Human Rights Commission.

At the same time, it is not always a party being Muslim in Quebec.
posted at 10:47

 
The city has decided to wave a finger at blue-collar workers who shirk their work.
posted at 13:39

 
Even though the Olympic debt will be paid off this spring, the special Olympic tax on smokes will be continued to help pay for the stadium's newest roof.
posted at 13:34

 
The Charest government is said to be going to get employers to buy bus passes for their workers; meantime, the city wants to slow vehicle traffic, especially on residential streets.
posted at 13:28

 
Business report says Montreal is the best big city to do business – at least the cheapest, in employer costs, real estate and taxes.
posted at 13:26

 
More on the east-end residents resisting plans to build 14 giant fuel reservoirs near their homes.
posted at 13:24

 
In the ongoing slums series, claims that the city has legal means but too seldom uses them against delinquent landlords; the usual seasonal moaning by landlords accompanies tenant resistance to unreasonable rent increases.
posted at 13:21

 
Portrait of a slumlord continues La Presse's series on slummy apartment buildings around town.
posted at 12:46

 
Another re-examination of the long, dysfunctional relationship between the city and its blue-collar workers. (Does anyone call them "the blues" except the Gazette? Do they think it's cool?)
posted at 12:37

 
Slightly fuzzy piece about Montreal consolidating its position as cultural metropolis. Seems to me $260,000 is not exactly a stellar sum to be getting on with. You hire a couple of extra people for the tourism office, and poof, it's gone.
posted at 12:29

 
A sketch of the new Olympic Stadium roof – your basic fixed steel industrial roof – and news that the Saputo soccer stadium may be built out near the Big O rather than down in the Technoparc as was originally planned.
posted at 12:27

 
Story of the man behind the Depotium self-storage business.
posted at 12:25

 
As usual, thousands of people gathered on Ste-Catherine yesterday to watch the St. Patrick's parade.
posted at 12:36

 
Today is the vernal equinox, one source predicting average temperatures, another saying the season will come slowly this year, with a cooler early spring than average.
posted at 12:21

 
The booksellers of Ste-Catherine West are mourning the death of Mr. George of the Argo bookshop, which has been there as long as I can remember.
posted at 12:00

 
The federal Liberals will hold their party convention in Montreal this December.
posted at 11:52

 
La Presse goes in search of the city's worst rental hellholes and finds them. Not a series to read over lunch.
posted at 11:42

 
Montreal's getting a charter of pedestrian rights, but I'd ask first why existing laws aren't respected: many motorists, for example, ignore the straight arrow lights and turn into intersections full of pedestrians anyway, and nobody tickets them.
posted at 14:38

 
Blue Metropolis fest will honour two Montreal greats (although, let's be honest, who actually thinks of Saul Bellow as a Montreal writer?); a little more on the old library and its architecture; amusing pop scene column spikes typical flubs made by over-enthusiastic journalists (she wants poutine? I finally got hold of a copy of Gourmet's March issue on Montreal – totally sold out here, I had a friend send it from the U.S. – the cover shouting MOST EUROPEAN CITY and AFFORDABLE MONTREAL (cringe), but the editor's claim that she saw French Canadians eating "heaps of poutine" in cafés here in the 1960s was the topper.)
posted at 14:25

 
It's anti-racism week in town.
posted at 12:44

 
More details today on the new train line to Mascouche and Repentigny that's been announced: an interesting look at the numbers – $60 million to build 12 km of new track! – and at the other options that were considered and discarded.
posted at 12:40

 
A strange sense of déjà voodoo pervades me as I note that the Olympic Stadium is going to have a new roof, which will mark its 30th anniversary.
posted at 12:31

 
Josh Freed waxes Dave Barryesque about the Montreal pothole.
posted at 12:18

 
An admiring survey of several fancy design boutiques in Old Montreal.
posted at 12:13

 
A second installment in the history of a certain house on Waverley Street.
posted at 12:09

 

Five organizations are to have their offices next year in the old library building on Sherbrooke East opposite Lafontaine Park. The photo's from the city archives, tinted by me for the heck of it.
posted at 11:43

 
They are pricing out the cost of a train shuttle out to the airport, but the price tag seems a bit inexact so far; Mayor Tremblay talks to federal transport minister about funding for projects and more money is asked of Quebec for – what else – transportation, which seems to be the dominant theme of the moment.
posted at 11:08

 
New York Times piece on the March 17, 1955 Richard riot.
posted at 10:56

 
Starting today makes it a full Irish weekend: The Irish in Quebec and the celebration of St. Patrick's Day; St. Patrick's legends; pub events and specials for Sunday; you can get into the spirit with this new web feature on the shamrock and the maple leaf.
posted at 10:20

 
Every March journalists discover that the city's a poubelle.
posted at 10:13

 
Details about the Blue Metropolis literary festival, to open early next month.
posted at 10:21

 
Jean Charest is about to announce a new east-end commuter train; people opposed to the extension of highway 25 over a new bridge into Laval are gathering to present their case; Mayor Tremblay is threatening to hold up the opening of the Laval metro extension unless Quebec comes across with more operating money for the whole system.
posted at 10:16

 
Mayors of three urban boroughs are asking the city for more financial support to keep things running.
posted at 09:58

 
33 people were arrested and a policewoman was badly injured in the face yesterday during a protest against police brutality held around Berri square.
posted at 09:41

 
The Journal de Montréal sounds a little disappointed that there will be no punishment meted out at McGill for the parties they "busted" last month.
posted at 10:44

 
Jean Charest's new plan includes transportation schemes for Montreal, including money for public transit, and for the Highway 25 bridge to Laval, something Montreal's been trying not to build. But, as pointed out, Charest's up for election in a year or so, and it's uncertain whether he'll get to play an encore.
posted at 10:15

 
Mayors of various rich, disgruntled suburbs threaten to withdraw support from Charest's Liberals over the division of taxes with Montreal.
posted at 11:19

 
La Presse says the city is hiding a report on the shortcomings of the L'Acadie Circle from curious journalistic eyes; plans to redesign the Dorval Circle are sent back to square one. I think I will continue to walk.
posted at 11:14

 
Brief piece which reads like a sidebar to a larger feature says Montreal is distinct in that immigrants here move right into town, rather than into the suburbs.
posted at 11:07

 
Quebec film C.R.A.Z.Y. sweeps the Genie awards taking ten of the prizes.
posted at 11:03

 
People living in an east-end cooperative are fighting the construction of new oil reservoirs right next to their houses.
posted at 10:53

 
Radio-Canada's feature on the seven marvels of Montreal has some interesting lists and photos; the Metrobloggers proposed their own lists; a time-lapse animation of the webcam on Place Jacques-Cartier shows passages of time of day in recent months.
posted at 10:29

 
Delays in starting construction mean inflation has already driven the MUHC superhospital over budget. Both the MUHC and its mirror image the CHUM project have been appointed an overseer by the Quebec government; La Presse puts a slightly different spin on the story, focusing on how the MUHC is looking for private partners to help develop its technopôle.
posted at 10:16

 
Two guys who posed as Hydro-Quebec workers and got into older folks' home on this pretext were nabbed last week. They'd have done better to work for the utility, which gets into everyone's house and removes money, perfectly legally.
posted at 10:12

 
A new Canadian archive site documents the history of the Irish diaspora to Canada, with a reminder that this Sunday is the St. Patrick's Day Parade.
posted at 19:12

 
Sainte-Justine kids' hospital embarks on major modernization, adding a cancer specialization department and other improvements all costing $400 million.
posted at 19:02

 
A CBS writer focuses on Boom Boom Geoffrion's status with the Canadiens, always rated behind Maurice Richard or Jean Béliveau.
posted at 18:33

 
The Parti Québécois is accusing the Charest Liberals of neglecting Montreal. This seems like a twist to me, as the PQ's tendency has always been to minimize the importance of the metropolis in favour of the Vielle Capitale and the rest of Quebec; the demerger debacle was inevitable after the city merger was badly managed to begin with under the heavy hands of the PQ. I suspect this is not really a new enthusiasm of the PQ for Montreal so much as an inspired bit of political haymaking.
posted at 10:19

 
The alleys of Montreal have inspired a book and various events.
posted at 10:02

 
More on the experience of Muslim women living in Montreal.
posted at 09:42

 
The no. 5 jersey number of Boom Boom Geoffrion joins the team's immortals in the rafters of the Bell Centre.
posted at 23:35

 
Red Fisher's lengthy, almost weepy paean to the old Forum takes in the history of the Canadiens, the 1972 Russia-Canada series and other high points of its history.
posted at 23:04

 
Faces of two poorer neighbourhoods in Montreal and families living below the line; the city prepares to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the local Greek community; a look at the experience of Muslim women in Montreal; despite all this, Montrealers show more resistance to cultural diversity.
posted at 13:44

 
Interesting background on the history of one house on Waverly in Mile End.
posted at 13:03

 
A bit more detail about Loto-Quebec's abandonment of the casino project.
posted at 12:50

 
Old-time Montreal Canadiens hero Bernie Geoffrion has died on the day the team planned to honour him by retiring his number. The ceremony's going to take place anyway this evening.

(In the death-makes-strange-bedfellows department, it's strange to read of Geoffrion's death and that of Slobodan Milosevic on the same page.)
posted at 12:19

 
The plan to move the Casino to the Peel Basin is off – at least for the moment...
posted at 16:08

 
Various medical groups are pleased with Quebec's bird flu plans – this second link is to the government health ministry so you can appreciate the IL N'Y A PAS DE PANDÉMIE D'INFLUENZA AU QUÉBEC notice, and download PDF files of the actual plan if you want.
posted at 12:59

 
Report-writer Guy Coulombe picks some holes in the Casino plan, says it's too soon to move the Casino and that Loto-Quebec has more homework to do. And a Le Devoir editorialist asks who the planners are kidding about attracting foreign players to a fancier casino, when the existing establishment has failed to do so and Vegas is only a few hours away by plane.

I would also add: this plan, like the tarted-up Palais des congrès and vanishing hopes for a film industry, all rely on the loonie being much weaker against the greenback than it currently is. Ironically, having a stronger currency means we've got to work harder for a living, rather than loaf around waiting for American largesse to drop into our caps.
posted at 11:55

 
This bit on Quebec's planning for a flu pandemic puzzles me on a couple of counts:

Quebec would have to hire thousands of volunteers to replace stricken health-care workers, Couillard said. Hire? Volunteers?

Dr. Karl Weiss [...] advises people to stock up on food, water, and medicine in case they need to spend several weeks without leaving the house.

Water? Are we to expect the water supply to be tainted?

And what kind of medicine? Not many products are expected to work against H5N1 flu, and they won't be on sale at the corner dep. What there is will be guarded jealously for VIPs.

If a flu pandemic means things could be in as much disarray as this short piece suggests, we'd probably better have alternative heating and lighting sources too, and survivalist-minded people will probably consider items like high-tech water filters, hand-cranked radios – and guns.
posted at 01:08

 
More details on the art film festival running till March 19; details on the Festival de cinéma des 3 Amériques which starts at the end of the month.
posted at 10:34

 
The mayor gives up on a Park Avenue tram line with an eye on a new commuter train line to run northeast towards Mascouche, Terrebonne and Repentigny. More provincial money and automobile taxes are being asked for.
posted at 10:24

 
Another situational on the recent history of major film festivals in Montreal; Quebec government appoints an old PQ culture minister to examine why Spectra, which had never run a film festival before, was picked to start the new (and now defunct) Montreal FilmFest; other people want answers too.
posted at 10:17

 
Onetime saviour goalie Jose Theodore has left the Canadiens in a trade for the Colorado Avalanche's David Aebischer.
posted at 10:07

 
Piece featuring the highlights of the Festival international du film sur l'art, opening tomorrow.
posted at 10:26

 
Citizens' group wants a peek at Guy Coulombe's casino report, which has not yet been made public.
posted at 10:20

 
A metro agent has been charged with being a pimp; a city cop has been issued a suspension for punching a cleaning man (five years ago). It's that kind of news day.
posted at 10:12

 
A major American movie shoot has gone south after a union squabble deterred producers from working here.
posted at 10:47

 
It's brief, but it might be helpful to note that Pine Avenue (avenue des Pins) is being closed for construction while they work on the new interchange.
posted at 10:46

 
Review of Montreal writer's book on forbidden food; review of new Centaur play.
posted at 10:41

 
Interesting bit on a rare trilingual business program at Montreal's Hautes Études Commerciales.
posted at 10:34

 
Another report adds more questions and conditions to the Peel basin casino plan.
posted at 10:31

 
Sikh truck drivers around the Port of Montreal are refusing to wear mandatory hard hats, saying they can't remove their turbans nor wear anything over them; now that the kirpans-in-school issue is settled, another religious garb issue comes to the fore.
posted at 10:14

 
Tourisme Montreal says business will pick up at the Palais des congrès, although they expect two more slow years first.
posted at 10:00

 
The Palais des Congrès was expanded, but is not doing as much business as it did back when the Canadian dollar was lower.
posted at 13:19

 
The mirror image of Indian summer, a foretaste of spring is in the air.
posted at 12:19

 
The tax scuffle between Montreal and its suburbs is an ongoing fallout from the merger-demerger debacle.
posted at 14:14

 
Notes on another up and coming local band and on a locally born model being called the new Kate Moss.
posted at 13:58

 
I'm a little nettled to note that Montreal is in favour of the casino project idea although with a long list of concerns.
posted at 13:51

 
It may be last week's meme now, but remixed metro maps can be funny, and Matthew Hollett's Le Untrod Map is a good one – especially the commuter train destinations. Here's the original map for comparison.
posted at 13:42

 
I'm told that this month's Gourmet magazine is focusing on Montreal. I don't know how much of it is put up on the web, but there's a piece about Quincaillerie Dante for starters.
posted at 13:00

 
Six Flags, owner of La Ronde, wants to push the popularity of the park by giving it a Walt Disney cachet. Ew.
posted at 12:43

 
Apologies to all my readers for the last few days' unscheduled downtime. Had a problem with a disk crash, and due to limitations on the blogging software I may not be able to put my archives back online again.

Annoyingly, I was just a few entries away from my 6000th post, which I was going to make note of. Now I'm back to post #3.
posted at 16:33

 
Interesting survey of four ethnic coffee methods available around town. They're all good.
posted at 16:20

 
Icy schoolyards are being blamed for a surge of injuries among schoolkids. (Is there really a move to make kids wear helmets at all times when they play?)
posted at 14:40