• Small earthquake rattles parts of the Laurentians

    A magnitude 3.4 earthquake occurred Wednesday afternoon in the Laurentians, the federal Department of Natural Resources said.
    According to the ministry, the earthquake occurred at 12:15 p.m. and at a depth of 18 kilometres. Its epicentre was located 18 kilometres west of St-Jérôme.
    The quake was strong enough to be felt in the region, especially in Ste-Adèle and St-Sauveur, but not enough to cause damage, said Allison Bent, a seismologist with Earthquakes Canada.
    According to
  • Quebec mosque shooting: Even murderers have rights, lawyer says

    QUEBEC — Murderers, even multiple murderers like Alexandre Bissonnette, have rights and can be rehabilitated, the Quebec City mosque killer’s lawyer argued Wednesday.
    And it would contravene the Charter of Rights — and Canadian values — to impose the legally allowed maximum sentence on Bissonnette, defence lawyer Charles-Olivier Gosselin said.
    That would be life in prison without the possibility of parole for 150 years (six consecutive 25-year sentences).
    Gossel
  • Kelly: Quebecers have to wait for English version of new Arcand film

    The latest film from Oscar-winning Montreal writer-director Denys Arcand will be launched en français only here in Quebec next week. La chute de l’empire américain (The Fall of the American Empire) will be given a major release across Quebec on Thursday, June 28.
    But in spite of the fact that Arcand is the Québécois filmmaker best known and most loved by anglo audiences ici, distributor Les Films Séville will not be opening a single copy with English subt
  • Fire department tries to rescue man on Mount Royal at risk of falling

    The Montreal fire department said they’re waiting for help from the police to remove an apparently intoxicated man who was wandering off trail on Mount Royal this afternoon.
    Bystanders called 911 when they saw the man wandering off trail and acting erratically on the steep terrain near the Belvedere lookout on the mountain.
    The man was not co-operating with authorities, and a fire department spokesperson said they’re concerned he might fall.
    The fire department asked pedestrians to a
  • Advertisement

  • Dunlevy: My pre-jazz fest bike ride with Mayor Valérie Plante

    I biked up Camillien-Houde Way for the first time, Wednesday morning. The occasion was a Montreal International Jazz Festival press conference in the presence of Mayor Valérie Plante.
    It seemed fitting, therefore, to forgo the jazz fest press shuttle and make my own way to the lookout over downtown by cycling up the route that has become one of the defining issues of Plante’s first year in office.
    Camillien-Houde was closed to through traffic at the beginning of June as part of a si
  • Dunlevy: How to stay alive as a cyclist in Montreal

    Yes, Montreal is an ever more bike-friendly city; but as demonstrated with heart-wrenching gravity by the recent death of Urgences Santé dispatcher Valérie Bertrand Desrochers on her way to work, city cycling can be dangerous.
    It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it, but it does mean we should put all the chances on our side.
    With that in mind, here are 11 city cycling safety tips that may save your life, from an avid, everyday, year-round commuting cyclist.Take the bik
  • Starlight Foundation's boat has been stolen

    A specially modified boat belonging to the Starlight Foundation that was used to take sick children out on the water has been stolen.
    The boat, a 26-foot Princeton pro craft pontoon valued at $75,000, was stolen from the foundation’s headquarters on the TransCanada Highway in Dorval last Thursday night.
    Workers from the organization arrived at headquarters early on Friday morning and found the storage gate open, the lock cut and the boat missing.
    Surveillance footage taken that night showe
  • Analyze This: More than ever, Canadiens need to re-sign Max Pacioretty

    For the third June in a row, Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin has pulled off a major trade involving one of the team’s top drafted players.
    This time around he sent Alex Galchenyuk, the third overall pick in the 2012 draft, to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for small, yet feisty, forward Max Domi. The move came after P.K. Subban (drafted No. 43 in 2007) and Mikhail Sergachev (No. 9 in 2016) were sent packing the last two years.
    At first glance, the Galchenyuk deal might seem like a
  • Advertisement

  • More action, fewer committees: CAQ promises $10B for transportation

    A Coalition Avenir Québec government could ignore any transportation plan currently being drafted by the region’s body governing transportation.
    If his party wins the Oct. 1 election, CAQ leader François Legault said he would put in place a $10-billion 10-year plan for such projects as completing a decades-delayed revamp of Notre-Dame St. in the East End, building a $1.8-billion tramway connecting Pointe-aux-Trembles to the downtown core, and extending the future Résea
  • Lyme disease becomes more common as Quebec climate warms up

    Lyme disease is becoming more common in southern Quebec as the climate heats up, warned the public health department for the Montérégie on Wednesday.
    The number of confirmed cases doubled in the last year, increasing from 56 in 2016 to 102 in 2017.
    The disease is largely present in the Montérégie region — one-third of cases in Quebec are reported there — though some cases have been reported in Estrie, Outaouais and in the Centre-du-Québec area.
    For
  • Montreal, St-Lambert vow to work together on concert-noise complaints

    Montreal and St-Lambert promised Wednesday to work together to address long-standing complaints by South Shore residents over loud music coming from Parc Jean-Drapeau.
    “From now on, we will work hand in hand to manage noise related to summer concerts,” officials from the two municipalities and the Société du Parc Jean-Drapeau, which runs the island park, said in a joint statement.
    It added that residents’ quality of life is a top priority and vowed “to find
  • Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin needs to score big at upcoming draft

    To use a baseball analogy, the Canadiens head into this weekend’s NHL entry draft needing a home run, a couple of doubles and a stolen base.
    General manager Marc Bergevin has committed to a policy of building through the draft, but after six years of construction, the Canadiens look like a fixer-upper.
    This year’s draft offers a rare opportunity to fill some of the holes in the Canadiens’ roster, either through savvy drafting or by using their many picks to acquire established
  • Watch: Montreal's original métro cars take one last victory lap

    Farewell, MR-63, you served Montreal well.
    The last of the city’s original métro train cars are taking richly deserved victory laps this week. After Thursday’s rush hour, time will be up on their 52-year career.
    Maybe you never took the time to appreciate the MR-63, with its horizontal headlights and fragrant wooden brake pads, in all the rush hours before this week. That is not the relationship we enjoy with métro cars. We experience them one frantic commute at a time.
  • Montreal drug dealer who failed to report income will have property seized

    Revenue Quebec will seize possessions of Bruno Varin, a Montreal drug dealer who the agency found to have had $4 million in unreported income.
    In efforts to make back the money it is owed, the agency has begun taking steps to seize three cars and properties owned by Varin, it said in a statement issued Wednesday.
    It also said that it’s trying to have him declared owner of a building that is in his daughter’s name.
    Revenue Quebec collaborated with the proceeds of crime division of the
  • West Island man will be tried for manslaughter in 2019

    A jury trial date has been set for fall 2019 for a Kirkland resident who was charged with manslaughter last year after a 70-year-old man died following an altercation in a bar.
    During a hearing held at the Montreal courthouse on Tuesday, Superior Court Justice Pierre Labrie set aside more than two weeks, beginning on Sept. 3, 2019, for the trial of Glen Crossley, 48.
    Albert Arsenault, a 70 year old man who died in September 2016.
    Crossley was arrested in 2017 following a Montreal police investig
  • Watch: A World Cup without Italy at Montreal's Momesso

    Italians are hurting after their team failed to qualify for the World Cup.
    Among those feeling the pain is Paulo Momesso, owner of the famed Momesso’s cappuccino and submarine sandwich emporium in the heart of N.D.G.’s Little Italy.
    In World Cups gone by — including the 2006 event when the Italian squad took its fourth winning title — Momesso’s was packed, day and night, with jubilant fans knocking back cappuccinos, Sambucas and subs.
    “I remember having to ope
  • How a Mafia-linked drug smuggler ended up behind bars after 18 years on the lam

    Last summer, Norman Rosenblum returned to Canada after having been a fugitive for 18 years. He had skipped out on a sentence he was serving for having brokered, along with members of the Hells Angels and the Montreal Mafia, one of the biggest cocaine deals ever investigated in this country.
    He knew he was a wanted man and that Canadian authorities had been advised he would be arriving in June last year. He expected to be placed in shackles the second he crossed the border, but no one resembling
  • Quebec warns that growing cannabis at home will still be illegal

    QUEBEC — Growing pot at home in Quebec could land you with a ticket from police, a Quebec minister warned Wednesday, because the provincial cannabis law will prevail in Quebec.
    Further, Lucie Charlebois questioned why Quebecers would even bother cultivating at home when the federal legislation will make high-quality legal product available in a few months at a government run cannabis store around the corner.
    One day after the federal bill legalizing the purchase and consumption of rec
  • Mafia-linked fugitive drug smuggler settled unimpeded in Canada after deportation

    Last summer, Norman Rosenblum returned to Canada after having been a fugitive for 18 years. He had skipped out on a sentence he was serving for having brokered, along with members of the Hells Angels and the Montreal Mafia, one of the biggest cocaine deals ever investigated in this country.
    He knew he was a wanted man and that Canadian authorities had been advised he would be arriving in June last year. He expected to be placed in shackles the second he crossed the border but no one resembling a
  • Quebec mosque shooting: Bissonnette has rights, should be given hope — defence

    QUEBEC — Murderers, even multiple murderers like Alexandre Bissonnette, have rights and can be rehabilitated, the Quebec City mosque killer’s lawyer argued Wednesday morning.
    And, defence lawyer Charles-Olivier Gosselin said, it would contravene the Charter of Rights and Freedoms — and Canadian values — to impose the legally allowed maximum sentence on Bissonnette: life in prison without the possibility of parole for 150 years.
    Gosselin made the arguments as he contested
  • Montreal Jazz Festival expands beyond downtown starting in 2019

    The Montreal International Jazz Festival is expanding beyond downtown starting next year.
    In addition to downtown venues and the outdoor stages in the Quartier des Spectacles, the city will erect an outdoor stage in a different borough each year.
    The move happens in time for the festival’s 40th edition.
    Which borough will be home to a stage in 2019 has not yet been announced.
    The city says the move is a way to make the festival more accessible to all Montrealers.
    The 2018 edition of the fe
  • Most drownings happen in summer: Here's how to prevent them

    A 10-year-old boy drowned last Saturday in a small artificial lake a few feet deep at a friend’s house in the Lanaudière community of Ste-Julienne. The child, who was just learning to swim, according to media reports, was found unresponsive and promptly taken out of the water. First responders were unable to resuscitate him, and he was declared dead at Joliette Hospital.
    It was the 13th drowning death in the province this year.
    The previous Saturday, the 19-month-old daughter of Ame
  • June solstice: Montreal summer starts Thursday at 6:07 a.m.

    If you feel like Monday went on forever, just wait till Thursday — the actual longest day of the year.
    The June solstice is the true harbinger of summer and begins at 6:07 a.m. That’s high noon at the North Pole, which will be tilted directly at the sun. In Alert, Nunavut, which is the closest permanently inhabited place to the North Pole, it’ll be a moderately chilly 2 degrees Celsius. At the South Pole, it’ll be pitch black and minus-45C.
    Here in Montreal, we’ll h
  • U.S. child-detention policy could drive more asylum seekers to Canada

    The scenes from the southern U.S. border are heartbreaking: Inconsolable toddlers crying for their mamis and papis; mothers told their children are going to be bathed, only to realize they’ve been taken away indefinitely; parents deported without their sons and daughters.
    It seems a long way to the border of Mexico. But the new U.S. policy to separate children from their parents in immigration detention may soon be felt on the border with Canada as well, with greater numbers of asylum seek
  • Accident involving city bus slows Bonaventure Expressway

    The Bonaventure Expressway is congested following an accident involving an empty city bus Wednesday morning.
    The Sûreté du Québec said they received a call about the incident just after 9 a.m. The bus, which was initially identified as a school bus, collided with a car near the Victoria Bridge.
    The car had three children inside, but no one was injured. The accident was cleared around 10 a.m.
  • Quebec vows to fight Ottawa's pot bill in the courts

    QUEBEC – The Quebec government is ready to take Ottawa to court to defend its right to ban the home growth of cannabis, Premier Philippe Couillard said.
    Even before the last vote on Bill C-45 in the Senate Tuesday evening, Couillard said he was very disappointed the Commons didn’t agree with a proposal from the Senate to leave some flexibility in the plan so the provinces can decide about people growing marijuana at home.
    The federal bill adopted by the Senate Tuesday by a vote of 52
  • Pay should reflect the shifting responsibilities of elected officials

    Last week Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue town council approved a pay raise for elected officials. Beaconsfield’s council has not had a pay raise beyond the cost-of-living bump since 2015. The last time Baie-D’Urfé’s elected officials had a pay raise was 2013.
    Talking remuneration can be awkward. What job deserves what money?
    Municipal councils were prompted to study their pay situation following the adoption of a new pay grid by the Union des municipalités du Qué
  • Threatening incident at MUHC birthing centre renews security concerns

    A threatening incident involving an emotionally disturbed man in the birthing centre of the McGill University Health Centre on Sunday has renewed concerns about whether the MUHC’s security protocols are being followed properly.
    A 53-year-old man showed up in the birthing centre around 10:45 a.m. asking to see a member of his family. However, the man suddenly grew agitated in front of a nurse, claiming there were people trying to kill him, a Montreal police spokesperson told the Montreal Ga
  • Dorval mayor says 130-year-old home is not a heritage property

    Some Dorval residents are upset the city has granted a demolition permit to tear down one of the city’s oldest homes.
    The Maison LaFrance at 18 Martin St., just up the street from city hall, was built in 1888 by Joseph LaFrance, a blacksmith.
    The home was awarded a prize in 2002 by Patrimoine Architectural de Montréal for its preservation, but has since fallen into disrepair, according to Dorval Mayor Edgar Rouleau.
    Rouleau personally visited the home in May, along with other town o
  • Young suburbanites head to Montreal, but families are taking their place: CMHC

    Young families are leaving the city of Montreal for cheaper suburbs, but downtown condos are attracting young suburbanites without kids, according to a new report by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
    The report, which uses 2016 census data on primary home purchases, found that about 80 per cent of property buyers in the city of Montreal lived in the city the year before. About 10 per cent were living in other parts of the region.
    Some neighbourhoods were particularly attractive
  • While you were sleeping: Officer who stopped slow driver becomes folk hero

    Here’s what happened while you were getting some refreshing shut-eye.
    Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard said Donald Trump is a “direct threat” to the province’s economy. Emerging from a crisis meeting with the province’s top business and union leaders, Couillard announced Quebec will launch a fresh offensive in the United States to sell Quebec business interests directly to American decision-makers and detour the Trump administration. “I know a
  • Pointe-Claire Deli and others fined by food inspection agency

    The Pointe-Claire Deli has been a mainstay in the Valois Village of Pointe-Claire for over 50 years.
    But the venerable deli has been fined several times by the Montreal Food Inspection department in recent years, most recently in April when the restaurant was hit with a $1,000 fine.
    The fine came after an inspection of the restaurant, located at 51 Donegani Ave., on Nov. 8, 2016.
    A $1,000 fine was levied April 26 for the following infraction:
    “Premises, vehicles, equipment, materials and u
  • Hudson becomes first town in Quebec to raise Métis flag

    On Saturday, Hudson became the first town east of Ontario to raise the Métis flag in recognition of the presence and contributions made by the children of European settlers and Indigenous peoples in Canada.
    The flag was raised in a small ceremony timed to coincide with National Aboriginal Day, with the ceremony happening a few days prior to the June 21 event. Archie Martin, deputy chief on the Council of the First Métis People of Canada, was invited to attend the ceremony
  • Driver in critical condition after somehow falling out of his own car

    A motorist is in critical condition Wednesday morning after being involved in a mysterious accident in the Rosemont borough.
    The 31-year-old man fell out of his car at the corner of Bourbonnière Ave. and Saint-Joseph Blvd. around 10:45 p.m on Tuesday.
    First responders who arrived on scene initially thought the man had been struck by a car before realizing that he had fallen from his own car, which continued to roll into parked vehicles a short distance away.
    Police say that no one else is
  • Electric cars are increasingly attractive for both cost and comfort

    Electric and hybrid vehicles of various shapes and sizes were lined up in the Marriott Montreal Airport Hotel parking lot last week as part of the Rendez-vous branché au travail organized by Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) with Équiterre and the West Island of Montreal Chamber of Commerce.
    The idea was to let people know about the latest advances in electric vehicles. West Island car dealerships and Montréal Auto Prix supplied 10 models to try.
    This reporter took a
  • Baie-D'Urfé soccer dome closing after four tough years

    After only four years of operation, the sports dome in Baie-D’Urfé is closing at the end of June.
    The Scitech Sports Dome on Morgan Road, near the entrance of Baie-D’Urfé’s industrial park, opened in May of 2014 aiming to fill a need for Montreal’s booming soccer market.
    But the dome’s owner and operator Philipp Schumacher said the indoor sports facility simply wasn’t viable 12 months a year.
    “The dome operates (fine) for seven or eights mo
  • Val Kilmer to appear at Montreal Comiccon

    Val Kilmer of Top Gun fame will be making an appearance at the Montreal Comiccon in July.
    The film star, also known for his roles in The Doors and Batman Forever, will be taking photos and signing autographs with fans at the convention, which will be held at Palais des congrès from July 6 to 8.
    More details about Kilmer’s appearance will be released as Comiccon approaches.
  • Partial leaf-blower ban in Beaconsfield provokes cheers and jeers

    Beaconsfield has moved one step closer to banning the use of leaf blowers during the summer months. The move is a polarizing one and triggered a ruckus during the council meeting Monday.
    Mayor Georges Bourelle said the ban is not just a question of noise pollution. He said research has shown that the tiny particulates released into the air during the leaf-blowing process stay afloat for long periods and have proven to cause very serious health issues. And he said the gas-powered leaf blower also
  • Migration within the Montreal region fuels suburban growth: CMHC study

    Young families are leaving the city of Montreal for cheaper suburbs, but downtown condos are attracting young suburbanites without kids, according to a new report by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
    The report, which uses 2016 census data on primary home purchases, found that about 80 per cent of property buyers in the city of Montreal lived in the city the year before. About 10 per cent were living in other parts of the region.
    Some neighbourhoods were particularly attractive
  • La chute de l’empire américain: un film jubilatoire

    La chute de l’empire américain: un film jubilatoire
    Que feriez-vous si vous trouviez des sacs remplis de billets de banque? Garderiez-vous ces millions? Appelleriez-vous la police? Autant de questionnements que pose Denys Arcand dans son nouveau film.
  • Il se blesse grièvement en tombant de sa voiture en marche

    Il se blesse grièvement en tombant de sa voiture en marche
    Un accident insolite a mystifié les enquêteurs de la police de Montréal, tard mardi soir, alors qu'un homme est tombé de sa voiture en marche, se blessant grièvement à la tête.
  • Concert review: Sam Smith embraces the thrill of it all at Bell Centre

    “You might think I’m lying …”
    Sam Smith has a showman’s smile, but it’s an honest smile. So when the English pop/soul powerhouse told his Bell Centre audience Tuesday that his 2015 performance at the venue was “the best show I’ve ever done in my life,” you were inclined to believe him even before his pre-emptive protest. This is someone who can exclaim “this room is f—ing huge” with believable wonderment even when his itine
  • Kim Jong Un loue «l'unité» avec la Chine lors de sa nouvelle visite

    Kim Jong Un loue «l'unité» avec la Chine lors de sa nouvelle visite
    Kim Jong Un a célébré son «unité» inébranlable avec la Chine lors de sa troisième visite en trois mois chez son grand voisin, soucieux de ses velléités de rapprochement avec l'Amérique de Donald Trump après le sommet historique de Singapour.
  • Gaza: Israël frappe 25 objectifs en riposte à des tirs de roquettes

    Gaza: Israël frappe 25 objectifs en riposte à des tirs de roquettes
    L'armée israélienne a frappé environ 25 cibles dans la bande de Gaza en riposte à des tirs de roquettes en provenance du territoire palestinien sur fond de tensions avivées depuis plusieurs semaines dans cette région.
  • Une acquisition du Cirque du Soleil qui inquiète les analystes

    Une acquisition du Cirque du Soleil qui inquiète les analystes
    Un an après avoir mis la main sur le Blue Man Group, le Cirque du Soleil s’apprête à acheter un autre producteur américain : VStar Entertainment, qui compte notamment dans son écurie les spectacles pour enfants Paw Patrol (Pat’ Patrouille) et Cirque Dreams. La transaction, qui n’a pas encore été annoncée officiellement, a toutefois été mal accueill
  • Un mystérieux financier lié à la firme de pot que préside Martin Cauchon

    Un mystérieux financier lié à la firme de pot que préside Martin Cauchon
    Un richissime et énigmatique financier installé dans des paradis fiscaux détient pour au moins 8 M$ dans une firme de cannabis administrée par le propriétaire de journaux et ex-ministre libéral Martin Cauchon et par le chroniqueur à La Presse Alain Dubuc.
  • Ses cendres trouvées 23 ans après sa mort

    Ses cendres trouvées 23 ans après sa mort
    Deux femmes ont eu la chair de poule en découvrant une urne abandonnée dans un garde-robe de leur appartement du Centre-du-Québec et recherchent la famille du défunt pour lui remettre les cendres.
  • Poursuite de 1,9 M$ contre la succession d’un assassin

    Poursuite de 1,9 M$ contre la succession d’un assassin
    La famille d’un avocat assassiné il y a trois ans, à Terrebonne, poursuit pour 1,9 M$ la succession de son meurtrier, qui avait mis fin à ses jours après avoir commis son crime.
  • L’Ordre des pharmaciens veut se débarrasser de la malbouffe

    L’Ordre des pharmaciens veut se débarrasser de la malbouffe
    Alors que les pharmacies ressemblent de plus en plus à des supermarchés, l’Ordre des pharmaciens du Québec lance un pavé dans la mare en invitant ses membres à cesser la vente de malbouffe dans leurs commerces.
  • Les revenus libres d’impôt pour les contribuables

    Les revenus libres d’impôt pour les contribuables
    Il y a peu de contestation à l’affirmation qui prétend que les revenus des Québécois sont parmi les plus imposés en Amérique. Mais qu’est-ce qui échappe encore au fisc ? Peut-on encore espérer voir une partie de ses gains être exonérée d’impôt ?

Follow @AylmerQuebecnws on Twitter!