This fall, the Office de la langue français is going to make sure that French is spoken first in business downtown.
posted at 23:00

 
A Laval highway overpass collapsed at midday Saturday, injuring six people and possibly killing others. Highway 19 will be closed for a good while as the unstable rubble is excavated. Radio-Canada also has a list of similar incidents in recent years, the incident in 2000 being remembered by many.
posted at 22:41

 
It's an unclear story as yet, but the principal of F.A.C.E., where the children of so many of Montreal's arty bohemians go to school, has been suspended with pay, the reason remaining a mystery.
posted at 13:26

 
Street gangs are spreading throughout town, dividing up territories and seemingly preparing for a war.
posted at 13:04

 
A Vancouver writer unsurprisingly finds French and smoked meat when he comes to Montreal.
posted at 12:32

 
Biometric identification is to stand guard over safety at Trudeau International.
posted at 13:33

 
The Tremblay-Zampino city administration is cutting costs till the end of 2006, but it won't reduce 2007's tax increases.
posted at 13:30

 
This weekend is the Journées de la culture all over Quebec, with some of the events starting today. Official website has a search engine helping you find local things that interest you.

Coming next week is the Pop Montreal festival, which is diversifying into art and film offerings as well as music.
posted at 12:22

 
City cyclists are blamed for more than half the road accidents in which they're involved. It's being pointed out that if you don't drive, nobody formally teaches you the rules of the road.
posted at 11:58

 
A federal study is looking at adding two lanes to the Champlain bridge. Apparently it's the busiest bridge in the country.
posted at 11:55

 
Laval plans to keep buses running into Montreal even after the new metro stations open next year, saying it's more convenient for users.
posted at 11:07

 
The city's blue-collar workers are the grievance champs, with 13,000 cases waiting to be heard.
posted at 11:03

 
The Ritz-Carlton is to be half transformed into plush condos in a new scheme to keep the grande dame afloat. Nothing's said about dedicating any part of this project to affordable housing.
posted at 10:57

 
The major news today seems to be the Canadiens making their final cut before the regular season. Popular favourite Guillaume Latendresse has been kept, despite a slight contretemps. But at least Saku Koivu seems ready for the season opener, October 6 against Buffalo.
posted at 10:55

 
This city is still widely inaccessible to the handicapped despite promises and studies, but a provincial law is going to make changes obligatory.
posted at 10:27

 
The Alouettes want $24 million of public funds for work on Molson Stadium. It's unclear to me what benefit this would have for the city.
posted at 10:17

 
The old train yard near Vendôme metro that's been chosen as the site of the McGill superhospital is now a clean blank slate and construction is supposed to start next spring.
posted at 10:10

 
Seems the airport is like a sieve to the forces of organized crime. Organized crime, is there anything it can't do?
posted at 09:56

 
Three more of the Dawson shooting victims are discharged from hospital, leaving only two still under care.

The family of Anastasia De Sousa, killed at Dawson, don't want to meet with Kimveer Gill's mother, but the parents of one of the women killed at the Polytechnique 17 years ago are willing to have a meeting with Monique Lépine, whose son perpetrated that massacre, and who's only spoken publicly about her son's act since the Dawson incident.

And the Globe and Mail's editor-in-chief now says that comments about Quebec made by Jan Wong in her report on the Dawson shootings should've been edited out. In turn, she has called some of her critics racist and sexist.
posted at 10:58

 
Molson Stadium will be expanded after the city passes a new by-law with a few provisions to make things pleasanter for locals than they might have been.
posted at 10:43

 
Plateau shopkeepers are fighting food shoplifting by posting photos of known offenders.
posted at 10:37

 
A comparison between raising kids in the city versus the suburbs, slanted implicitly in terms that suggest the city kid grows up too fast, knowing too much.
posted at 10:22

 
Environment Canada is predicting a mild winter, temperatures being on the rise in every season here.
posted at 10:12

 
The mayor's party won a byelection Friday in Rosemont, acquiring its 81st councillor. Only 23% of eligible voters turned out, although apparently in the last general municipal election only 32% of us did.

That's pathetic.
posted at 09:58

 
The website vampirefreaks.com, now notorious as the site of Kimveer Gill's pages, is raising money for the Children's Hospital, a total currently over $4000 U.S.
posted at 09:53

 
Yesterday's big winds, up to 90 km/h, damaged trees and brought down a few power lines. (A gust of wind also knocked me off my bike yesterday, fortunately only in a park.)
posted at 09:46

 
Concordia is to start building another large new building on Guy Street, after the first design was rejected last April. Hard to imagine that it won't turn that part of Guy into something of a canyon, though.
posted at 09:44

 
What's now being called l'affaire Wong is not going away, with Harper and Charest both hanging in there demanding apologies from the Globe and Mail, and Le Devoir printing an editorial cartoon that would probably be deemed racist anywhere else in Canada.

Permit me to suspect, just for a moment, that this is being seen as a gift to drum up votes in Quebec for both these parties.

Are these leaders suggesting that the mere suggestion that giving one language legal precedent over all others could engender negative consequences ought never to be expressed, and that anyone who makes the suggestion should be silenced?
posted at 12:14

 
Car-Free Day is in effect downtown till 3:30.

In tangentially related news, the mayor has signed up 25 celebrities to speak against extending highway 25 into a bridge to Laval, something Quebec very much wants to do (all those voters in eastern Laval to cajole). Montreal would prefer to see the money spent on public transit, and not open another access to car commuters.

Even more tangentially: the Centre d'histoire de Montréal is doing events and a show on the urban horse, till Sunday.
posted at 11:59

 
The taking of offence is the current big news theme. The prime minister and Jean Charest have dogpiled on a Jan Wong piece in Saturday's Globe & Mail. Most of the piece is straight reportage, but in the middle she briefly entertains the notion that Quebec's language laws may cause alienation in some. Apology is being demanded; the Globe has defended itself in an editorial – a translated version is available –; there are columns and editorials about Wong's shocking, insulting suggestion, and here's one long discussion thread on a local community for comparison.

Meantime, the dicta of recent ex-CBC chairman Guy Fournier have outraged the local Lebanese community and he is being asked to apologize publicly. And these stories are taking place against the Pope managing handily to make both Muslims and Jews angry on the eve of their religious seasons, but (depending on whom you read) is either sorry or not sorry. Interestingly, there's a view that the real target of the Pope's argument is reason and science, because he wants theology to come first and God to be given a place in scientific debate; there's no news story about scientists being outraged and wanting an apology, however.
posted at 11:06

 
The tenth anniversary of the Journées de la culture (fun poster design) is coming up, with lots of free events and open houses; Montrealers should be aware that the Jewish High Holidays start this week (Rosh Hashanah is tomorrow, Yom Kippur on October 1) and Ramadan is due to start on September 24, and the autumn equinox is also pending; tomorrow is also car-free day downtown (properly en ville, sans ma voiture) and, additionally, cyclists will hold a Critical Mass ride September 29; here's a very cool building in Singapore designed by Moshe Safdie based on his design of our familiar Habitat 67.
posted at 10:12

 
Some of the victims in last month's crash of a New York-Montreal Greyhound bus are suing the company over negligence, even though officials said the driver did his best to minimize damage.
posted at 09:34

 
CBC chairman Guy Fournier quits his post after some poorly judged remarks. But the barely suppressed glee of the current federal government is not a pretty sight either. Some more moderate remarks here.
posted at 09:25

 
The sister of one of the Polytechnique victims says it's the right moment to make a movie about the incident, which took place 17 years ago.

And in unrelated film news, many rare World War I relics used for the TV film The Great War, filmed in Quebec this summer, have gone missing from the set.
posted at 09:22

 
Public consultations open tonight on the new subdivision to be built on Rosemont just east of the metro station, where the city's old shops have been demolished over the last year.

The construction of a soccer stadium near the Big O has been approved in principle by Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, but some are not happy about the attendant losses involved in the plans.

Also, the construction of the Highway 25 bridge is pitting the wishes of Montreal against the ideas of the Quebec government; we haven't heard the end of this.
posted at 09:17

 
The funerals of Anastasia De Sousa, who died during the Dawson rampage last week, and of her killer, Kimveer Gill, were both held yesterday.
posted at 09:11

 
Hundreds of students pay respects to Anastasia De Sousa, fallen in the Dawson rampage last week; memories of the Polytechnique massacre; the college begins to resume the autumn term after emotional scenes at the school entrance.
posted at 11:01

 
Millions of bucks will be spent on tarting up the Main from René-Lévesque to Mont-Royal.
posted at 10:03

 
Bike theft is a profitable occupation in this town, brags a man who claims he swipes 15 bicycles a day. If true, why aren't the cops busting bicycle fences? A guy like this is not selling his swag at garage sales.
posted at 10:04

 
Dawson prepares today to reopen for classes tomorrow, but the shooting has revived discussions on federal gun control.
posted at 09:50

 
CBC has a photo gallery of the city's response to the Dawson shootings; a look at some blog background to Kimveer Gill's actions; the war zone at the Montreal General on Wednesday; a dossier page from the Toronto Star; Gill's mother expresses her sorrow; book of condolences at city hall; a Guardian UK piece on how Wednesday's incident recalls others and, from the incomparable Toronto Sun, a redneck rant against Goths who want to demonstrate their good will to the public.
posted at 11:21

 
Admiration for Montreal's festival culture from another festival city.
posted at 12:42

 
Bicycle theft remains rampant here, with stories and advice on locks.
posted at 12:25

 
More and more eyewitness stories, admiration for Dawson's students, a glimpse of Kimveer Gill's family, and updates on the wounded as Dawson College patches itself up and prepares to resume the autumn term, but ongoing discussions on the origins of violence and on security and gun control will accompany the recovery.

The Wikipedia page has more links and information as do the dossiers I linked to yesterday.
posted at 12:18

 
Le Devoir gives Kimveer Gill's home address in the intro to a backgrounder on the Dawson shooter; Gill's guns were legal; details on Anastasia DeSousa, the student who died, and on her parents' anger at the police.

Dawson's profs go back to the school today to start preparations for resuming the fall term.

La Presse and the Journal de Montréal have entire dossiers on the Dawson incident and its consequences.
posted at 16:18

 
To change the subject a little, the Mirror has its fall arts preview and Hour has some irreverent items about life around the clock in Montreal, 24-hour food and coffee (although the implication that the Café Olimpico is open 24 hours is mistaken, because it isn't) and free stuff.
posted at 16:00

 
Red Fisher struggles to write a sports story on a day dominated by a bad news story.
posted at 10:58

 
Details are emerging about the shooter in yesterday's incident: he was Kimveer Gill, a goth. His profile on vampirefreaks.com has been locked, but for now his image gallery is still accessible, including poses with knives and guns and what one would've taken to be the evidence of a young man's harmless antisocial phase, except it wasn't.

Also more full reports of yesterday's incident, and the unanswered question: why this happens here.
posted at 09:49

 
Today's only news story is the Dawson shootings. Media far and wide are telling the story and recounting the experiences of those who were there; some were painfully reminded of the Polytechnique massacre and even of the Fabrikant killings at Concordia; although he is identified as a Canadian of Canadian origin we still don't know the shooter's identity; bloggers are recounting their experiences; the incident is bound to revive discussions about gun control and the gun registry.
posted at 04:40

 
Shots were fired at Dawson College around lunchtime, but reports are still varying about the number of gunmen and wounded.
posted at 14:24

 
Some background on how the city assesses properties for tax valuation.
posted at 10:18

 
There's to be a concert tonight to celebrate the re-emergence of St. James United on Ste-Catherine Street.

This isn't the first time the Gazette has called the row of buildings that stood in front of the church for so many years a "strip mall". While they hadn't much aesthetic claim on the street, they were pretty standard Ste-Catherine Street storefronts, unremarkable but unobjectionable, and certainly not a strip mall in any sense. I'm not sure why they're insisting on this misnomer.

(While I'm being contrarian, I'd also ask how many retail jobs were lost to the demolition, and whether there's even any purpose for another fancy church in a city already bogged down with more fancy churches than anybody needs. And also, what happened to St. James's neon sign? That was a landmark, if anything was.)
posted at 10:15

 
The Canadiens are to retire sweater numbers 18 and 29, which belonged to Serge Savard and Ken Dryden, respectively.
posted at 09:56

 
The city is to permit billboard trucks to circulate without hindrance. City lawyer says "If we allow buses to have advertising on them, how can we deny these trucks the right to circulate in the streets?" The little detail that bus advertising is secondary, whereas the billboard trucks are only generating visual and environmental pollution, is handwaved.
posted at 09:53

 
The pilot of the Cessna that landed on Park Avenue Sunday tells his tale.
posted at 10:38

 
The authorities at Trudeau say the airport is safe despite recent allegations of dodgy security by a Journal de Montréal writer.
posted at 10:27

 
The bus drivers' union says the city is short of buses as anyone who's tried to use them at off-peak hours could tell you. (Only two 55 buses per hour after 7 p.m. is ridiculous.)

Also, a story of a woman bus driver attacked and stabbed as she took a break at the end of her route at Frontenac metro.
posted at 10:08

 
Following a trend from abroad, Montreal is getting its first totally dark restaurant this week.
posted at 10:17

 
Background and a list (interesting, but incomplete) of merchants to be found at and around Jean-Talon Market.
posted at 10:14

 
More details on yesterday's landing of a Cessna on Park Avenue.
posted at 10:05

 
The CBC is to make a miniseries out of St. Urbain's Horsemen, with rue Garnier standing in for the busier street.
posted at 09:53

 
This isn't the first time I've heard about a rumoured cat sadist at work in town, but I think I read of him previously only on a notice at the pet food store. If something like this is going on, it'll be difficult to trace, and the police are notoriously unwilling to exert themselves when there's little the law can do about animal cruelty.
posted at 09:48

 
17,000 people participated in yesterday's marathon and related events. The race itself was won by a Toronto runner.
posted at 09:44

 
Journalists find that getting access to the airport's working areas isn't difficult. Other related pieces are listed on this dossier page.
posted at 09:41

 
A Cessna made an emergency landing on Park Avenue today right near the tam-tams. Nobody was hurt. Great photos here on flickr from someone who was near the action: 1 2 3 4.
posted at 00:54

 
Los Angeles writer praises Montreal street life; I hadn't known that streets like Prince Arthur are part of a movement called woonerfern.
posted at 12:22

 
Canada's oldest woman – and now the third oldest person in the world – lives in a Montreal old folks' home. She'll be 115 next week.
posted at 12:17

 
Cycle ambulances, with defibrillators and first aid equipment on board, have turned out to be a good idea for festivals and major public events in the summertime.
posted at 12:09

 
The marathon and associated events are being run right now, with various streets closed to traffic.
posted at 11:58

 
Property tax increases are distributed unevenly around town, following the uneven surge in real estate prices. More details about how the city assigns a value to residential property.
posted at 11:51

 
Montreal is third worldwide in the use of car-sharing services, mostly thanks to Communauto.
posted at 11:45

 
Thoughtful Nathalie Petrowski piece on the René Lévesque miniseries on Radio-Canada.
posted at 15:43

 
Richard Bergeron of Projet Montréal has big ideas for his small party, which is contesting a municipal byelection September 24.
posted at 15:42

 
Fall must be here: the Magie des lanternes has opened at the Botanical Garden.
posted at 12:49

 
The issue of Concordia barring a writer from doing a reading is making the international media.
posted at 13:51

 
The Jewish school firebombed earlier this week has been breaking education law by mostly giving religious instruction and leaving out subjects like history, biology and French. The Parti Québécois is dead set against this.

(It's an ethical conundrum whether we should allow a vandal's actions to call public attention to this, or whether the issue of kids getting a nonstandard education is serious enough for us to handwave how it came to light. Chances are the vandal didn't know or care about the educational issue at all.)
posted at 12:43

 
A good summary of the past and future of the Farine Five Roses sign, from Maisonneuve magazine.
posted at 14:07

 
Another study is begun into what kind of subway cars to build to replace the old MR-63s, the original model that still operates on the green line.
posted at 12:49

 
Kent Nagano's debut at the podium of the MSO is called a major triumph if not the dawning of a new era by everybody, but raises questions about what else the orchestra needs now.
posted at 11:19

 
The new CHUM project gets to the consultation stage for its buildings and their impact on the downtown area.
posted at 11:18

 
A policeman who also runs a business helping people contest their traffic tickets is being investigated for conflict of interest.
posted at 10:40

 
The state of Saku Koivu's injured eye is looming over the Canadiens season while fans contemplate the new team lineup and its chances.
posted at 10:31

 
The Montreal Marathon is run this Sunday with several elite international runners joining a predicted crowd of 7500. Other sporting events accompany the marathon. (I did the cycle section a couple of summers ago, but my bicycle was stolen recently so I won't be in it this year.)
posted at 10:17

 
Five existing metro stations will be retrofitted with elevators to make the system more accessible for the disabled. The new stations in Laval included elevators as part of their basic design.
posted at 10:12

 
The debut MSO concert under Kent Nagano is sold out but screens and speakers will be placed outside for the public.
posted at 19:40

 
The fire department is operating with aging vehicles that are constantly being patched up, and the union's not thrilled about it.
posted at 19:38

 
The city has decided to protect the Lafontaine house from demolition or sale while decisions are made about its future. It's the only thing left standing on Overdale since the entire neighbourhood was razed around it years ago.
posted at 19:34

 
The city's designated "eco-territories" are not protected from development, as this story shows.
posted at 10:12

 
A Hasidic man praying before takeoff was escorted off an Air Canada flight to New York because he was presumably freaking somebody out.

Apparently Canadians are worried about the terrorist threat but possibly less so about the threat to personal privacy and freedom posed by constantly escalating "security" measures. In any case, it's clear we're at the mercy of American concerns in this matter.
posted at 09:52

 
The 30th World Film Fest closed yesterday, and although successful it may be the last if government funding bodies can find a way to snuff it out. Two films shared the Grand Prix des Amériques.
posted at 09:45

 
Observation shows that Montreal drivers are far too casual about red lights, busting through them with no legal consequences. Also, the fierce traffic jams of the September rentrée are no figment – it takes time for drivers to adjust to the heavier traffic of the busy season. But are there ways of relieving it?
posted at 09:40

 
La Presse has a dossier with some images from the World Press Photo show.
posted at 14:33

 
A reward has been offered in the firebombing of a Jewish school in Outremont on Friday. The police are not treating it as a hate crime.
posted at 14:31

 
Very nice obit for Stanley Lewis, whose workshop was over Berson's Monuments on the Main.
posted at 14:19

 
A frenetic musical tour of the other francophone capital.
posted at 14:12

 
A Jewish school in Outremont was firebombed this weekend but no major damage was done. ("Ritzy anglophone Outremont"?)
posted at 11:12

 
An admiring review of the Flora show; Montrealer Kyle MacDonald, famous for his paperclip gimmick, has a housewarming party for his house in Saskatchewan; the Habs are commissioning a documentary-fiction film to mark their centenary in 2009; looking for cheap gas? Check Essence Montréal.
posted at 10:37

 
The Mirror's student survival guide remains a valuable listing of information and resources for living in Montreal on the cheap.
posted at 12:30

 
The travelling World Press Photo show is back in town till September 24, although the content of the show makes the comedy museum a rather odd venue.

A Canadian photographer has won first prize this year.
posted at 12:28

 
Homeless man charged with killing a cyclist on August 23 has had many assault charges against him. Also a sordid tale of a messed-up woman who killed a friend after a tiff.
posted at 12:21

 
The city is trying to decide how to replace the green recycling box which, being open, can create a big mess on windy days so is clearly not ideal for our winters.
posted at 12:14

 
Interview with a woman who has spent 20 years answering 911 calls. She retires this year.
posted at 11:51

 
Brief piece on the new law against outdoor sleeping in Ville-Marie reveals the law's origins in passing: new condo owners near boulevard Saint-Laurent were being disturbed by noise.

Who in their right mind buys a condo within earshot of the Main expecting peace and quiet? We have suburbs for people like that – let them go there.
posted at 11:46

 
The new law banning smoking on school property is a big pain for high school students, who must dash out beyond a perimeter now for a legal smoke.
posted at 11:39

 

Aqueduct gate

The city is to make its aqueduct site in Verdun more secure after several journalists strolled in unchallenged at various times.

posted at 10:50

 
Climate changes are making hay fever more rampant here, but people are learning to put up with it.
posted at 10:16

 
The Montreal school board wants a loan from the city to renovate its buildings; meanwhile the English Montreal school board is planning to close more schools due to falling numbers.
posted at 10:12

 
The city is full of unsafe road repair sites, say Vélo-Québec and others.
posted at 10:09

 
The city's oldest photo store is closing up shop, the elderly owners not having come to terms with the digital era.
posted at 09:45