Coderre’s party switchers all lost The day before voting day I said I’d be watching races involving people who switched parties since the last election. Of the 11 who switched to Coderre’s party (most from Projet but others from borough parties), all 11 lost their bid for re-election, either as a councillor or trying to […]
It’s election day tomorrow. That’s always fun for a newsroom. All hands on deck, breathlessly following the results well into the night, coordinating stories from dozens of journalists, not knowing what the big headline will be at the end. Free dinner, and often drinks among colleagues afterwards. I’ll be among many in the Montreal Gazette […]
When the PQ government made a big-splash announcement that the blue line of Montreal’s metro would be extended toward the east, plenty of anglophones took the opportunity to once again complain that there’s no extension toward the west. To them, the reason was simple: politics. The PQ is more interested in francophone voters in St-Léonard […]
On Friday, the STM finally gave details about its four new West Island express buses set to launch April 2, just over a week from now. They were designed partly as a way to mitigate the coming traffic disaster that is the Turcot Interchange rebuilding, and partly to convince more West Islanders to start using […]
The STM’s fall bus schedule starts next Monday (Labour Day). The Planibus schedules are on its website, as are various press releases touting improvements to service. But the biggest change to come out of this won’t take effect on Sept. 6. Instead, the STM is giving advance notice that 26 of its routes will be […]
UPDATED Aug. 31 with STM’s claims of increased West Island service STM’s “10 minutes max” network (click for PDF) The Société de transport de Montréal went all out announcing a new gimmick this week. It’s called “10 minutes max network” and it seeks to reassure transit users (and potential transit users) that buses within this network […]
Well, probably more like “candidates I’ll be watching tonight”. Here are some of the few recognizable names on the ballots. Voting closes at 8 p.m. UPDATE: Wins/losses below. Ahuntsic-Cartierville François Purcell (mayor, Union Montreal): Union Montreal won two of four seats in this borough, plus the borough mayor. Of them, only a single candidate stands […]
In the unlikely event that this bridge were to suddenly collapse, which Montreal-adjacent island’s residents would be cut off from the rest of society? UPDATE: Wow, got dozens of guesses on this one, most of which were right or almost right without giving the name of the island. It is, indeed, Île Verte, a tiny […]
Gazette reporter William Marsden, part of a dying breed of journalists who specialize in investigative reporting, has been nominated for a Press Freedom Award for an investigation into Pauline Marois’s Ile Bizard estate, which prompted the PQ leader to sue the paper for $2 million. Of course, he and others nominated are underdogs compared to […]
The STM moves to its spring schedule on Monday. Here’s some of what bus users can come to expect: Welcome to the Saint-Michel Express The biggest change comes to the 67 Saint-Michel, the STM’s single busiest line, which like its counterparts along Côte des Neiges, Parc and Pie-IX will get a little brother. The 467 […]
For the benefit of those of you who never read those borough newsletters which serve to waste so much of our tax money with pointless letters from elected officials, many Montreal boroughs are changing collection days and procedures for garbage and recycling as we cross into the new year. In most cases, the changes are […]
As part of its promise for vastly increased service for users (and in order to meet government-imposed quotas to get extra cash), the STM has announced sweeping improvements to bus service across the island, as well as better service on the Orange Line of the metro (which will now use renovated MR-73 trains exclusively), all […]
So the Ile Bizard 2004 demerger referendum vote has been annulled, because with the ridiculous requirements for the vote (i.e. that 35% of all those registered must vote yes, making everyone who doesn’t vote a de facto “no” vote), 400 people who were on the voter rolls but moved away or died before the vote […]
At 1.9 million, the most famous one is the first answer that would come to mind for most people in response to this question. But it’s actually third, behind one at 2.61 million and another at 2.01 million, near each end of the city. And with a project under way at 1.92 million, it’s about […]
(Bumped with new answery goodness) There is a single traffic light in the City of Montreal where it is permitted to turn right on red (after making a complete stop, of course, following the code routière). But 75% of the time, this issue is moot. Where is this traffic light, and why isn’t it an […]