Guy Carbonneau is being coy about whether Price or Halak will be in nets tonight – the pundits are for Price and he seems keen to play; Viggo Mortenson, a big fan of the the team (what genius cropped the CH logo out of that photo?), has some thoughts on how they're playing; a man in Vancouver is calling the games on CBC in Mandarin. posted at 08:35

 
After recent transit disruptions in Toronto, it's amusing to read Toronto media praising a Quebec innovation – the Essential Services law. posted at 08:16

 
In a major breakthrough on human rights, gay bar Le Stud has been forced to pay compensation to a woman whom they asked to leave in a case that became a tempest in a teapot early last summer. posted at 07:54

 
The latest policy on protecting Mount Royal isn't even finalized, and the Montreal General wants to build on what ought to be protected terrain. posted at 07:39

 
As the CHUM project is given a push by Quebec, the need to cover up the Ville-Marie completely is brought up again, repairing damage done decades ago when the highway was built and creating more buildable space for the new hospital buildings. posted at 08:25

 
Last night, City Hall gave the green light to the Devimco plan for Griffintown, even the opposition Vision Montreal saying aye. Only a few dissenters voted against it. posted at 08:02

 
La Presse continues to build its picture of a dysfunctional culture among Montreal firefighters, describing the obstructive attitudes supported by the union and the difficulties faced by anyone in a management position. The union's now on the hook for half a million bucks, the city's bill for cleaning off all the Habs logos and slogans from 63 firehouses. posted at 07:43

 
A sort of exposé today on the intense lives and tough times lived in the pressure cooker of firehouse teams: if you're not accepted, your life can be hell. Also a brief sidebar in numbers. posted at 12:55

 
The Canadiens are in Philadelphia for game 3 of their series tonight, Guy Carbonneau still confident of his team, Francis Bouillon already hating the Flyers as incidents toward the end of Saturday's game heat up the teams' mutual antipathy – expect a few gloves and sticks to be thrown down tonight. posted at 08:07

 
The mausoleum of Pierre Trudeau, in his ancestral village south of Montreal, was defaced by scrawls over the weekend – poorly spelled ones, according to Radio-Canada – but neither of his sons have made any comment. I don't blame them for not dignifying this with any soundbites. posted at 07:50

 
CHUM megahospital plans turn out to involve demolishing a wing of Saint-Luc hospital, yet another difficulty. posted at 07:46

 
A march held as a funeral for Griffintown was held yesterday afternoon, from the Horse Palace to City Hall, where speeches were made in Place Vauquelin. And now Marvin Rotrand is saying the city should hold off from rubber-stamping the Devimco plan this evening, and give it more thought. Neath of Walking Turcot Yards points out some of the dodgy background stuff that gave Devimco a foothold in the first place. Great photos here by Ben Soo of the parade and speechmaking. posted at 07:43

 
The unexpected popularity of the Laval metro extension means the new MR-08 cars will be pressed into service on the orange line, rather than replacing the MR-63s that date back to the beginning of the system as originally planned. These new cars are only expected to be ready in 2012. Apparently Laval's stations are not close to being the busiest in the system despite recent news about overly crowded trains coming down from Laval during rush hours.

This may be a temporary problem for the STM, but it's clear proof that the popularity of public transit is not at all in decline, and that if you provide the service, it will be adopted by new riders. posted at 12:08

 
The firefighters' union is asking for the mayor's intervention in the reversal of the demotion of a captain at the Saint-Henri station for having painted decorations supporting the Canadiens on the station building. posted at 11:30

 
Volunteers filled 50 huge bags with trash yesterday in a cleanup corvée in Jarry Park. A bigger corvée will tackle Mount Royal on May 4: sign up between 8:45 and 9:30 a.m. at the lookout chalet. posted at 11:13

 
Riveting tale of a rescue from the river as the ice broke up in April 1885. posted at 11:05

 
Amusing Urbanphoto piece about the names of apartment buildings; here's a great Flickr set of gilt apartment name signs from all over town. posted at 13:01

 
A critical look at how neighbourhood merchant associations can turn bad. posted at 12:39

 
Some of the land the CHUM was hoping to build on was given to the city by Louis-Joseph Papineau for a park, and his descendants want to keep it that way.

Now read how the London (ON) Free Press crows over the Shriners hospital to be built as part of the new MUHC hospital, calling it a "humble facility". No doubt those grapes were sour too. posted at 12:23

 
Writings on the Kostitsyn brothers and on Greek Montrealers claiming Tom Kostopoulos as one of their own (he was born in Mississauga and doesn't speak Greek). Also some gloomy advice for fans with dicky hearts: perhaps safer to lie down quietly in a darkened room than to cheer the Habs tonight. And 31 arrests have been made in connection with last week's hockey riot, some based on images supplied by the public. posted at 11:22

 
Climbing prices are leading to thefts of diesel fuel from gas stations in town, with suspicions floated about a black market. Other climbing prices are worrying local wholesalers about the price and availability of their rice supply, and worrying consumers about the cost of food generally. posted at 09:26

 
The invasion of the common reed – stands of its tall dried stalks are a common sight along highways – is not so good for the local ecology. I admit I hadn't realized that Phragmites australis isn't native here, but according to that article it flourishes in all parts of the world now. posted at 09:22

 
The Centre d'histoire will be giving several educational tours about fires and floods that have afflicted this city in past years. posted at 09:16

 
Despite plans talked about in the media, Ville-Marie won't be turning rue Saint-Paul into a pedestrian-only street this summer. Apparently more discussions are necessary. posted at 09:13

 
UQÀM presents: four men on a quadricycle. posted at 08:27

 
Celebrations were peaceful last night under close police surveillance after the Canadiens snatched a win from the Flyers in overtime. posted at 08:30

 
Neath of Walking Turcot Yards commented yesterday on this news story about hearings on the future of Mount Royal.

It's indeed a strange and recurring story. In the six years I've done this blog, Mount Royal has been declared a protected area more than once, but then somehow the story slips and it's actually not so definite after all, and then it has to be discussed again, and exceptions are made, and then more talks are held. Neath is right: the city should simply have the balls to declare a certain zone protected forever, and you don't get to build there even if you cross your fingers and jump up and down three times on Camillien Houde's grave. posted at 08:24

 
The Mirror has a multiple feature this week on aspects of cycling in Montreal. It's also asking what will become of the sleaze of the lower Main once the renovators move in. posted at 08:13

 
The Mirror's Best of Montreal 2008 poll is still open, but the deadline is midnight tonight. Vote for Montreal City Weblog, which has been bringing you Montreal news in a nutshell for more than six years!

But remember: "You must fill out at least 25 categories for your ballot to count and to be eligible for prizes" so here's last year's results to suggest other items you might vote for.

Thank you! posted at 08:05

 
Griffintown developer Devimco has added various environmental bells and whistles to its plans; Dinu Bumbaru of Heritage Montreal is saying this is all just a PR exercise and that the wider impact of such a major project still needs to be studied by the city's public consultation office.

The main problem as I see it is that handing over an entire neighbourhood to a single developer is a dangerous idea, regardless of the details. There's a project on the lower Main, a condo development called Sleb: the developer demolished some run-down but functional buildings a couple of years ago, leaving a gaping hole near de Maisonneuve, and gutted a big old industrial building at the corner of Ontario. And there they ground to a halt.

A recent news story indicated that the developer ran out of funds. The gaping hole has been there for awhile. Weeds are growing on it. The building is boarded up. That's a whole city block, defaced, empty, lost to any residential or commercial use for years.

I need hardly also evoke the fate of Overdale, once a crowded and busy downtown enclave, now a parking lot after developers lost their nerve. This country is on the brink of an economic slowdown as stories of soaring oil prices and worldwide food shortages percolate through the media. Is this the time to confide a significant piece of the city on faith to a single developer?

There's a march this Sunday starting at 2 p.m. at 1220 Ottawa, outside the Griffintown Horse Palace, to make its way east to City Hall. posted at 07:55

 
It seems to be an all media news day: workers at the Journal de Montréal are worried that their working situation may go the same way as their colleagues' in Quebec City, who've just embarked on a second year of publishing their own paper because of a long lockout by the same employer, Quebecor. posted at 08:13

 
I don't do a lot of metablogging on media affairs, but it's news when a major media outlet announces its plans to close down its entire news department: TQS has to keep up a minimum schedule of news bulletins in order to satisfy CRTC requirements till the end of the summer, and then even that much will be gone. It's an opportunity for Quebec to make a bid for independence from CRTC controls, but it's also bad for people relying on TQS for regional news. posted at 07:44

 
Monday night's hockey riot has sparked interesting consequences: police requisitioned media images in their search for evidence to implicate specific individuals, media said no, police notched it up with a search warrant, and media came back at them with a petition to Superior Court that their images not be treated as evidence. Benoît Aubin makes a clear and stirring case for the independence of the media. Independent observers have in some cases turned their material over to police (although, as pointed out in the Aubin piece, media footage tends to be better quality than, say, a cell phone video).

Some of the rioters have already pleaded guilty, and police are gearing up to quash any future excesses, even calling on the SQ and the Mounties for backup. The Canadiens and the Flyers engage in their first playoff match at the Bell Centre this evening. posted at 07:33

 
The Philadelphia Flyers will be coming to town tomorrow to meet the Canadiens, after finishing off the Washington Capitals in a series that also went to seven games. It might've been fun to watch Alexander Ovechkin play, but I can't say I'm not relieved the Habs won't be up against him. Also, the Canadiens are glad to have Saku Koivu back and Vincent Damphousse goes so far as to say the Finn's poor French doesn't really matter, in the grand scheme of things.

But today's hockey news is more about Monday night's riots than about the game itself. Police, who were present and expecting some amount of trouble, were surprised at the scale of the violence unleashed after what was, after all, just a quarter-final victory. Mayor Tremblay says the predictable things and sociologists ponder the phenomenon. posted at 08:26

 
An account of Food & Wine magazine's list of Montreal establishments plus a translation of that recent New York Times piece on Montreal comfort food and some thoughts on how different cultures eat and grow fat – or don't. posted at 08:05

 
CEGEP du Vieux-Montréal was locked down yesterday after someone in the U.S. warned of threats made against it on a web forum. A 16-year-old was arrested later in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu; he's not a student at the school. posted at 07:55

 
The Sulpicians are still hoping to sell the old Marianopolis site or at least lease it long-term to developers, but the city wants dibs on the forested part of the property for a public park, and the main building can't be torn down. The order, once landlord of the entire island of Montreal, still owns significant other property in the city. posted at 07:48

 
Amusing piece about how UK tabloid style snooping fails to turn up anything much about Autumn Kelly, the West Island woman about to marry into the royal family. posted at 12:15

 
After last night's brilliant win against the Bruins, some fans went a little berserk, burning police cars and vandalizing stores. The riot cops were out and 16 people were arrested. Great photo essay on Citynoise. posted at 08:42

 
Just in time for Earth Day, Quebec announces the continued use and enlargement of the Lachenaie landfill outside Montreal, saying there aren't any other options for the moment. Montreal is lagging behind on composting, among other things.

There are various environmental items today: La Presse has suggestions and the Gazette once again reassures us that it's all very confusing and often the right answer is counterintuitive, no doubt leaving most of their readership feeling vindicated in muddling along as they are. posted at 08:17

 
The STM launched the Opus card yesterday; it will be implemented gradually from east to west across the island. posted at 08:00

 
Fans were hoping for a win, but even the most ardent fan couldn't've predicted the 5-0 shutout that's propelled the Canadiens into the semi-finals. posted at 22:10

 
Once again, hockey is the main story in town, with the 7th and deciding game in the series being played here tonight. posted at 08:45

 
Gasoline has never been so expensive in town, with a litre costing as much as $1.35 in some locations. posted at 08:27

 
A family of foxes have set up house in the Botanical Garden, and are being protected until they can be moved off-island to a more suitable habitat. Blogger Gilles en vrac has some cute photos of one of the young foxes. posted at 08:26

 
UQÀM has to cope with discarded syringes and the presence of street people, as do the Grande Bibliothèque and other downtown institutions. Ville-Marie is to hold a conference next month on the whole issue. But what do other cities do about it? posted at 08:16

 
Two white men from Ontario were swarmed and beaten on the weekend at Peel and Ste-Catherine after they allegedly shouted racist remarks at some black people. Here's the online video which documents the swarming but doesn't include the incident that provoked it. posted at 08:08

 
The Gazette is coy about the appropriate expletive to describe last night's loss to the Bruins. It has to be admitted that the Boston team are fighting hard, but I don't have to like it; the Journal finds a few psychologists to say that too much identification with the team's fortunes is not good for your mental health. posted at 12:28

 
The history of Joe Beef, one of the larger-than-life characters of 19th-century Montreal. He's buried in Mount Royal Cemetery, although I've only ever spotted his wife's grave, and he also gets a name-check in the minor British classic The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp by W.H. Davies. posted at 11:42

 
Piece about the recent ruling that a tenant can't smoke in her flat does a neat job of not quite saying that the smoker's case was paid for by a tobacco industry group, but leaving that strong impression nonetheless. posted at 11:33

 
Yesterday's labour march was not the only demo in town: another demonstration marched to support male victims of child sexual abuse. posted at 11:20

 
More stories of workers at Golden Brand, the needletrade company shutting down and putting 540 workers on the street. They demonstrated yesterday along Saint-Hubert. posted at 10:38

 
Although most of the infrastructure is already in place, the STM plans to introduce its electronic fare card system gradually, phasing out its longstanding tickets and passes system by the end of 2009. I think they're underestimating the public's ability to grasp new technology, but I also hope they'll have some staff that will be patient with older folks who may not be quite so quick to adapt. I'd also welcome an explanation of how the technology works to emulate transfers so we don't pay twice when we move between buses, or from metro to bus. posted at 10:30

 
The fabled Comédie-Française is to stage the Malade imaginaire here this summer as part of the Juste pour rire. They haven't been here since 1984. posted at 10:20

 
Although stats for pedestrian and motorist accidents are improving in Montreal, cycling accidents are not following the same downward trend. posted at 10:14

 
Will Saku Koivu take the ice this evening in Boston? The city holds its breath.

(But you must read this fabulous Foglia piece on hating the Canadiens.) posted at 15:28

 
The Journal continues to elaborate on its slumlord apartments file, with a peek at vermin-ridden Domaine La Renaissance in Saint-Léonard and its owner. posted at 15:21

 
The report of the public consultation on the development of Griffintown contains no recommendations but merely summarizes and categorizes the issues felt by the many citizens who came to speak at the sessions. The Gazette's Michelle Lalonde does a thought experiment and compares Devimco's plans to green developments elsewhere; there's also a sidebar on the area's history which fails to bring into focus how the abandonment of shipping on the Lachine Canal coincided fatally with the city's decision 40 years ago not to allow new residential development in the area.

Coincided? Nobody really wants to say this, but here goes: before Expo 67, Jean Drapeau was allowed to raze Goose Village (aka Victoriatown) and probably would have been happy to go on to raze Griffintown too, but knew that he could only get away with so much. However, choking it off by effectively denying it both residential and industrial use meant that it would die anyway. Now a new generation hopes to profit from this.

This said, though, the key issue has been spotted and speared by Phyllis Lambert. It is not too late to stop City Hall from making a very bad decision to leave the public consultation office out of such a major plan for a central part of the city. This affects all Montrealers, not just those living in or near Griffintown or with sentimental connections there. It's not just a borough issue.

Neath of Walking Turcot Yards has more of this week's links on the issue and La Presse's Yves Boisvert goes contrarian with a rah-rah approach to the development (although his opening implication that nobody really knows the area is cheap stage-setting: lots of people do, and he's only exposing his own ignorance of the issues.) posted at 15:14

 
Two new metro stations are on the board for 2013: the blue line will be extended out to Pie-IX, and the orange line will go up to Bois-Francs in Saint-Laurent, where it will connect with the AMT commuter line. posted at 14:37

 
Quebec court has overruled the Régie du logement and ruled that a proprietor can bar a tenant from smoking on rental premises. posted at 13:53

 
The Centre d'histoire de Montréal on Youville Square is exhibiting the results of its photo contest on industrial Montreal all summer. posted at 13:27

 
We had a smog warning Thursday into yesterday, so the summery haze was no mirage. 748 city workers are out with street sweeping machines and other gadgets to clean winter's traces off the roads and spiff things up for summer. posted at 13:01

 
Fascinating look at the business and technology of gambling in Kahnawake. posted at 12:46

 
There was no risk of overexuberance in downtown streets last night after last night's collapse of the Canadiens after a slipup by Carey Price sent Boston ahead to a 5-1 victory. posted at 08:32

 
Port czar Patrice Pelletier has an ambitious scheme to massively ramp up throughput at the port of Montreal, which will bring financial benefits to the city but also environmental problems as more trucks and trains pass through town.

Pelletier should also commit to cleaning up the toxic spill of paraxylene that lingers in the port since an incident in 2003. As port activity grows, the city has to know that there are emergency measures in place to deal with mishaps and incidents that could endanger the populace. posted at 08:18

 
A second slumlord is raked over the coals as the city prepares to buy him out after inspectors logged 7000 problems with his buildings on Jarry and Christophe-Colomb where rats and cockroaches abound. Also insights into why anyone would live in these places.

I hope journalists follow up some of the tenants of these places and discover whether their lives are improved. If the buildings are demolished (as, I'm sure, they mostly should be), will the same people be welcomed back into new, affordable housing? And where will they live in the meantime? posted at 08:08

 
The city has a plan to begin organic recycling in a scheme that has other bits and pieces meant to encourage residents to cut down the amount of refuse that goes into landfill, while admitting it's lagging behind Quebec policy on these matters.

Also, various organizations have plans for Earth Day (April 22) and the Centre d'écologie urbaine is still promoting green roofs. And Rima Elkouri examines the containers being considered for household recycling: finding one that isn't too heavy yet won't blow away is a challenge. posted at 07:55

 
Pierre Foglia writes about job loss in the needle trade, coincidentally showing why he's the best columnist in the city. posted at 13:11

 
Temps will reach 20°C this afternoon: I've already seen several people wearing flip-flops around town. posted at 08:44

 
Police are quietly gearing up their presence as the Canadiens progress through the playoffs, aware of the potential for overexcitement if the team wins the current series tonight.

But we won't see Saku Koivu on the ice tonight as the team meets the Bruins in what could be the eliminatory game for the Boston team. posted at 08:41

 
The Shriners are said to be preparing to build an actual hospital at the Glen site behind Vendome metro where the MUHC has been imagining a vapourware megahospital now for several years.

(I still don't really understand the need for a charity hospital for kids to be built alongside the new version of the Montreal Children's.) posted at 08:27

 
More details on the slummy north-end buildings bought out by the city: it was the persistence of city inspectors that finally pushed the notorious Sagman family to the wall and convinced them to sell (that article also has some numbers: 21 buildings, 565 separate apartments, and 7000 problems logged by inspectors over two years).

It would be nice to think that the current tenants will all benefit from this change, but I wonder how that will pan out. Also, after the owners' repeated proofs of unwillingness to make the buildings habitable, shouldn't the city simply have repossessed the buildings flat out, instead of forking over $14.8 million for them? posted at 08:20

 
Mayor Tremblay wins the throw: Quebec is going to give him back control of downtown, wresting it from the hands of borough mayor Benoit Labonté, his political nemesis. This after Labonté had offered some sort of olive branch over the issue of redrawing Quebec's electoral map to reduce the existing disenfanchisement of Montreal voters.

Whether this will be a beneficial change for the downtown core remains to be seen. Tremblay has already washed his hands of Griffintown, saying the "urgency" of the situation excused the bypassing of the public consultation office in favour of the bigtime developer. Mr. Mayor, Griffintown's been in decline for at least 40 years. It's not on fire. There's time to think.

Also the Conseil du patrimoine has issued a bulletin asking for a coherent vision of Ste-Catherine Street, saying fitful development is pulling the street this way and that and making no sense. Unfortunately, that could be said of more than just the one street.

Let's hope the mayor realizes that with his new power comes new responsibility and that, if he messes this up, he'll effectively be supporting Benoit Labonté's campaign to replace him. posted at 08:10

 
I'm posting this on behalf of a friend of who's recovering from surgery at home. She's looking for someone to "babysit" her for an undetermined time, at least a few weeks and possibly longer. The person could stay at her place (there's plenty of room) or could go to her place in southwestern N.D.G. roughly from noon till 6 every day.

She doesn't need medical help or unpleasant toilet type duties, just someone to do some light housework, make her a bit of lunch, make sure she gets up and moves around a bit, maybe pick up a few groceries if needed. The person would need to speak and understand English.

As my friend put it, there would probably be 15 minutes of work every hour, and the person could read or study some of the time.

There are a cat and a dog involved, so the person would have to not mind the company of animals or doing the things needed to look after them.

This position would be paid, but I'm not sure how much. If you're interested or know someone who might be, please email me. posted at 21:01

 
Carey Price notches his first playoff shutout as Patrice Brisebois grabs the only goal in a win that brings the Canadiens within one game of winning this series. And people went out and honked their horns in a parade of exuberance. posted at 08:28

 
A performance by Les Respectables opens the new hall on Saint-Denis that's rather tediously to be known as Théâtre Telus (although nothing could be as irremediably tedious as the Scotiabank cinema). posted at 08:22

 
Phyllis Lambert makes the case for rethinking Devimco's suburbotopia project for Griffintown, while the developer blandishes with hints of Cartier, Gucci, Versace and Prada for Griffintown's idealized shopping malls. posted at 08:12

 
As the weather warms this week, the risk of flooding around the island increases. posted at 08:08

 
The redistribution of the Quebec electoral map is perhaps not something that fuels a lot of passion, but this excellent piece explains how (and why) Montreal is already at a disadvantage in the current arrangement, with politicians of all parties unwilling to give the metropolis more of a voice in Quebec politics. posted at 07:57

 
The city declares its bike path network open and mostly clear of ice and snow. posted at 07:54

 
Michel Veillette, the Quebec man accused of killing his wife and four kids, killed himself in his Ohio jail cell yesterday. He had faced the death penalty. posted at 07:52

 
Tenants are happy that the city has bought Place de l'Acadie and Place Henri-Bourassa, two apartment complexes that have been described repeatedly by journalists as the worst slums in town. Word is that they're to be demolished and replaced by some combination of condos and social housing. posted at 07:45

 
Habs logo stuff is selling like hotcakes; Plekanec says he's been playing like a little girl; journalists line up to give advice to Guy Carbonneau, who seems confident enough of his team, while the fans nervously wonder when Saku Koivu will be back. posted at 08:29

 
The Journal re-tests STM bus drivers and finds that it's still easy to ride for free with old transfers, and finds that apparently drivers are told not to make a fuss when such things are noticed.

This is such a waste of ink and paper. For one thing, many riders buy a monthly pass, so the whole tickets-and-transfers business only affects a subset of the STM's clients, most of whom are honest most of the time. For another, do bus riders really want to wait while the driver closely examines every transfer of the dozens of people boarding a bus at a metro station at rush hour, getting into debates with those whose transfers don't look kosher?

Sadly enough, pragmatism means that in many cases the driver wants to get on with his or her job, because there have been incidents where angry passengers have attacked drivers for challenging their transfers. Nobody wants to see a driver hurt or killed over something so stupid.

And finally, the problem has already been solved with the upcoming smart card system. So there isn't even really a story. Already for years we've known you can't trick the metro turnstiles with old transfers; soon an equally implacable technology will be in place in the buses. And then the Journal will have to find something else to carp about. posted at 08:10

 
The city presented the new transit plan for Old Montreal to citizens last night: trying to do something for everybody, it predictably failed to truly please anyone. posted at 07:54

 
Gazette journo tries to galvanize opposition to the Tour de l'Île but nothing new is being said – yes, the tour blocks off a few streets to motorists for half a day, but somehow the city manages to soldier on. posted at 07:50

 
Journal journos go by and find out that Marcel Tremblay's N.D.G. street is in a terrible post-winter mess, but an attempt to get a rise out of him apparently falls flat. posted at 07:48

 
Nice piece about the history of Stanley Cup rings among the Canadiens, although photos would've made it more interesting. posted at 21:26

 
The extreme popularity of the Laval metro has led to a bumper crop of complaints to the STM about overcrowding on the orange line, so the STM is scrambling to find ways of running more trains between Montmorency and downtown before the delivery of new wagons in 2011. posted at 21:22

 
Game 3 was a loss but by no means a walkover. The teams meet again tomorrow night again in Boston. posted at 08:08

 
A couple of incidents in the environs of McGill seem to have been blown out of proportion on a Facebook group into a spectre that's haunting the university ghetto. But police say there's no evidence of a predator in the area. posted at 07:55

 
Several hundred people demonstrated yesterday against plans to turn Notre-Dame East into a Decarie-style trench highway. posted at 07:42

 
The Mirror's Best of Montreal 2008 poll is open and once again they have a Best Blog category under "Film, Arts, etc." (I still think it belongs in "Media" but then I also think they should have a Best Podcast category, which they don't.)

Regular readers of this blog are urged to vote for Montreal City Weblog. But remember: "You must fill out at least 25 categories for your ballot to count and to be eligible for prizes" so here's last year's results to suggest other items you might vote for. Deadline for participation is April 25.

In previous years I've put up a blurb top right on this page to remind my readers to vote, but this year I think the Emru box is more important. I'll take my chances. posted at 18:24

 
Game 2 was rescued in overtime last night by Alex Kovalev atoning for a penalty he took mid-game; Game 3 is tonight, after which the players get to loaf for a day before Tuesday's match. posted at 12:25

 
Activists in Point St. Charles have their eye on the old CN railyards, lately managed then abandoned by Alstom: they've devised plans for an entire new neighbourhood complete with services, social housing, a museum and views on the river, in a spirit entirely opposed to the "parachuted" Devimco plans for Griffintown. posted at 12:12

 
The fast thaw of a vast quantity of snow, plus recent rains, have made Montreal-area rivers likely to rise, although this weekend's cooler temperatures have calmed them for the moment. posted at 11:49

 
The Roman Catholic diocese is on its knees asking for more financial support, while the Quebec government continues to shell out heritage money to keep older church buildings from deteriorating from lack of general public interest.

Here's an idea. There should be several centrally located churches where services can be held in French, English, Italian, Spanish or whatever the demand is, and be supported by practising Christians of whatever stripe. Other church buildings worth keeping will need to serve other public purposes. It may not yet be time for the churches to accept removing the explicitly religious symbols and declaring a church building a social temple, and it may be another generation before people stop feeling the oppression of churches and come to appreciate church buildings purely on aesthetic grounds, but I think that time must come.

There's no question that walking into a large, quiet building has a soothing effect, and studies show that chilling out and meditating for a half hour a day is very good for people. Use some of the church buildings for this purpose and support them so they can remain open and not fall down from neglect, and let's see if the idea is not picked up elsewhere as a great idea for the future.

But Montreal also has some very bad church architecture, mostly dating from after World War II. Treating these buildings as equivalent to Notre-Dame (or any of Montreal's roster of older, beautiful, elaborately decorated parish churches) is just sentiment or superstition, and they should be scrapped and the land used for other public purposes. posted at 11:44

 
The city is reducing speeds on residential streets from 50 kmh to 40 kmh by this autumn, and 30 kmh near schools and parks. posted at 11:24

 
Appreciative but slightly wistful Toronto piece on Montreal's new restaurants and the attention they get from Americans; okay piece about tea dealers Camellia Sinensis; I've been seeing this two-day spree in Montreal article turn up over and over again in different papers, obviously a convenient space filler, but editors should be more alert because the lines "If you go before June 24, don't miss the Once Upon a Time Walt Disney exhibition" refer to a show that closed last year. posted at 10:00

 
Tonight is the Canadiens' second playoff game against Boston, at the Bell Centre. There, that's all you really need to know. But there's a piece on brother acts in Habs history, a brief bit of meta-journalism on the Gazette's Red Fisher, still reporting regularly on the team at age 81, a piece about unloved players coming to the fore in the playoffs, Henri Richard's impressions.

(Yesterday I was in the Aveda shop on Ste-Catherine at McGill College, buying shampoo, and one of the products had a little CH logo affixed to the price. "As used by the Canadiens" it said.) posted at 12:23

 
A brief glimpse of gang dealings in Saint-Michel, via an ongoing trial. posted at 12:09

 
Parking meters are doing well, sucking down a cool $50 million for city coffers in 2007, a 50% increase over the previous year. Shopkeepers are not so thrilled, saying the higher parking prices are bad for their businesses.

It seems reasonable at a glance to discourage more people from driving downtown where streets are narrow, parking is scarce, and congestion never ceases to grow. However, pushing them away encourages them to shop at faceless suburban malls beckoning them with vast acres of parking, thus diverting business away from the more interesting and varied downtown retailers.

Watching people agonize and fume over parking is quite enough to demonstrate that it's far easier to negotiate a city without having to take responsibility for a couple of tons of metal that you happen to have with you. Also, if you walk, you won't lard up so quickly as you get older. It's win-win – but how do you sell this as a package?

Le Devoir today is looking at the fraught issue whether we can save the planet via democratic methods, as people will almost always vote for those who make things individually comfortable and convenient. It's a good question and may serve as a large hint that we begin to make these changes before they're forced on us. Meanwhile, La Presse reports on a giant auto dealer mart being planned for the old Technoparc. posted at 11:35

 
Hockey fever is here: yesterday I had a conversation with a bus driver of Haitian origin, who scoffed at the Bruins and said he's waiting for the Habs to engage in a struggle worthy of them. Montrealers are losing their heads and singing O Canada with fervour, police are hanging out the Habs flag while the mayor rebukes firefighters for showing the CH, and the Senate mocked the "minister for Montreal" when he persisted in saying the Rangers will take the cup: with a cheerleader like that, who needs enemies? posted at 08:47

 
A selection of local notables have come out for public transit solutions and against the Notre-Dame East autoroute; a grand tintamarre is planned for Sunday afternoon to drive the point home. But in news that runs counter to this, the new head of the Port of Montreal has plans to crank up the throughput of the already busy port, which is certainly the major entity putting traffic on that section of Notre-Dame. posted at 08:18

 
The English Montreal school board is considering creating specialized schools to attract more students; the article doesn't mention FACE but that's clearly been a successful venture in that mode already; the French board is going to allow individual commercial sponsorship of schools.

But the big story on this angle today is the provincial task force that says Quebecers don't pay enough for electricity, water, tuition and other services, and we should be screwed harder for all these things. The theory is that we'd pay less generalized tax but more specific user fees, but does anyone believe Quebec would ratchet down its tax rates in compensation? posted at 07:58

 
There's other news in town today, but there's only one real story: the opening game in the first round of the playoffs for the Canadiens. Guy Carbonneau is prepared for the long haul, cautions are made against overconfidence, and Patrick Lagacé provides a deadpan hockey for dummies. People are excited and politicians are making hay, and firefighters are told to remove the CH logo from their fire station windows. It's spring in Montreal. posted at 08:37