Aylmer, Quebec news

• 650 investigations underway following illegal crane operator strike

  04-07-2018 23:32 via montrealgazette.com
  The number of investigations related to the illegal Quebec crane operators strike in June is continuing to rise drastically.
  The total number of files the Commission de la construction du Québec has launched against crane operators in relation to the walkout has increased from 150 to 650, with more on the horizon as investigations continue, CCQ spokesperson Mélanie Malenfant said Wednesday.
  She specified that the files are of a criminal nature, considering the illegality of the str
  
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• Heat wave in Montreal has claimed 12 lives, authorities say

  04-07-2018 23:18 via montrealgazette.com
  The number of deaths in the Montreal area linked to the ongoing heat wave climbed to 12 as of Wednesday afternoon.
  Urgences-santé is pleading with the public to call 911 only in case of a genuine emergency, and Mayor Valérie Plante called on Montrealers to look out for neighbours vulnerable to the effects of the record-breaking temperatures.
  Santé Montreal confirmed the Montreal death toll Wednesday afternoon, doubling the total of six from just a day before.
  Dr. Mylè
  
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• Dunlevy: Jazz fest cancels SLĀV, but questions remain

  04-07-2018 23:00 via montrealgazette.com
  You could almost feel it coming.
  After more than a week of heated controversy, the Montreal International Jazz Festival has cancelled the remaining performances of SLĀV, “a theatrical odyssey based on slave songs,” by director Robert Lepage, his company Ex Machina and singer Betty Bonifassi.
  The show has been accused of cultural appropriation and cultural insensitivity.
  A swiftly-organized protest on the first night of the run, Tuesday, June 26, set in motion a wave of reactions
  
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• Modified sentence allows sex abuser to be interviewed by Theo Fleury

  04-07-2018 22:46 via montrealgazette.com
  The Parole Board of Canada has modified one of the conditions imposed on former junior hockey coach Graham James to allow the players he sexually abused to communicate with him while he continues to serve his sentence in Montreal.
  The parole board recently made the decision while reviewing the conditions it set when James, 64, was released on full parole in September 2016 following a hearing at a federal penitentiary in Laval.
  His first sentence, a 42-month prison term, began in 1997 and expired
  
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• City urged to protect 'key piece' of Irish history

  04-07-2018 22:25 via montrealgazette.com
  A prominent Irish community leader says the HEC Montréal business school is not doing enough to preserve a key piece of local history as it plans a new downtown pavilion on the former site of a 19th-century home for the destitute.
  “From what I understand, they want to build on the entire site and put a little sign there saying this is the former location of St. Bridget’s Refuge,” Fergus Keyes said Wednesday.
  “Well, I don’t think that’s enough
  
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• Montreal police issue Canada-wide arrest warrant for alleged pimp

  04-07-2018 21:30 via montrealgazette.com
  Montreal police have issued a Canada-wide arrest warrant for an 18-year-old man who has been charged with pimping.
  Police say David Maignan, who is also known as Lingo, could be in Montreal or western Canada. They also suspect Maignan might have other victims.
  Maignan, who was charged with procurement of a person under the age of 18, advertising sexual services and receiving a material benefit derived from sexual services, would allegedly visit apartments put up for rent.
  He is bilingual, h
  
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• Hot jobs, cool job: What happens when you can't escape the weather?

  04-07-2018 21:22 via montrealgazette.com
  During a heat wave that’s breaking records for July temperatures, the Montreal Gazette talked with some Montrealers whose jobs give them no relief — and one that still requires a jacket and toque.
  Construction
  Jocelyn Boucher bores into concrete at his work site in Ahuntsic on Wednesday, July 4, 2018.
  Mike Lasorsa is installing ceramic walls and floors on the sixth floor of an apartment building. It’s so hot at work he changes his shirt three times a day.
  People who live in the
  
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• Quebec putting up $15 million to study Montreal transit priorities

  04-07-2018 20:59 via montrealgazette.com
  Quebec Transport Minister André Fortin announced Wednesday the government will invest nearly $15 million to study nine public transit projects that Montreal and regional mayors identified as the top priorities for the greater Montreal region.
  Among the projects being studied are:The proposal by Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante’s Projet Montréal party to create a new métro Pink Line running from the south-west to the north-east through the city
  Extending the Yellow
  
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• Pat Hickey: It's time for the Canadiens to re-sign Max Pacioretty

  04-07-2018 20:13 via montrealgazette.com
  Why would the Canadiens think about trading a productive player in the prime of his career?
  At a time when free agents avoid Montreal as if it were ground zero for the plague — hello, John Tavares and bonjour, Paul Stastny — why would the Canadiens think about trading a player who wants to play here, one who has embraced the city and the pressure that accompanies playing hockey here?
  Why would the Canadiens think about trading a player who has invested his time and money in making th
  
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• Opinion: Teachers can play key role against hatred, radicalization

  04-07-2018 20:13 via montrealgazette.com
  “Why do Canadians hate Muslims?”
  Rima is a nine-year-old refugee from Iraq. She had overheard her parents talking about a young Muslim woman who was on public transit when a stranger asked, “Why are you wearing a hijab?” and then spat on her and told her to “go home.”
  Joseph then raises his hand and asks, “Why would that guy in Quebec City kill people in a mosque?”
  You are their Grade 4 teacher and you thought you would open up a discussion about f
  
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• Deborah Cox, Todrick Hall, Peaches to perform at Montréal Pride 2018

  04-07-2018 19:52 via montrealgazette.com
  Montréal Pride is bringing free outdoor shows to two stages next month in celebration of LGBTQ+ people and communities around the world.
  Performers include Deborah Cox, Todrick Hall, Calum Scott, Mia Martina, Samantha Fox, Peaches, Bianca Del Rio, Big Freedia, Ada Vox and Princess Nokia.
  The performances will take place at stages at the Parc des Faubourgs by the Jacques Cartier Bridge.
  Local performers include Milk & Bone, Laurence Nerbonne, Sylvie Desgroseill
  
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• Martin Patriquin: More measures needed to deter traffic on Mount Royal

  04-07-2018 18:58 via montrealgazette.com
  A visit to the park atop Mount Royal these days provides the usual delights. Families picnic, couples frolic, school buses disgorge eager, clueless elementary school students onto the trails. Cyclists sport a wee bit too much Spandex.
  All is normal save for one thing. Hardly a month after the Plante administration made the allegedly radical decision to ban through traffic over the mountain, a decidedly un-radical thing has happened: Mount Royal Park sounds like a park.
  No longer does the white n
  
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• St-Hubert restaurants to eliminate plastic straws in August

  04-07-2018 18:01 via montrealgazette.com
  The St-Hubert restaurant chain has joined a growing movement to eliminate the use of plastic drinking straws.
  The iconic Quebec restaurant chain made the announcement Wednesday, noting that other restaurant brands that belong to the RECIPE Unlimited Corporation (formerly Cara Operations) would adopt the same policy. Those restaurants include Harvey’s, The Keg, Swiss Chalet and East Side Mario’s.
  Single use plastic drinking draws and the inability of many centres to recycle
  
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• Beyond the Plate with Candide's fearless forager John Winter Russell

  04-07-2018 18:00 via montrealgazette.com
  This is the third instalment in the monthly series Beyond the Plate, looking at the motivations and passions of local chefs. This week: John Winter Russell of Candide.
  I am drawn to metaphors, specifically the juicy ones filled with valuable life lessons.
  Likening chef John Winter Russell’s life — toiling in hot and tempestuous kitchens — to Voltaire’s Candide might help explain Russell’s choice of name for his restaurant, Candide (551 St-Martin St. in Lit
  
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• Montreal heat wave has claimed 11 lives, authorities say

  04-07-2018 17:52 via montrealgazette.com
  The number of deaths attributable to Montreal’s ongoing heatwave climbed to 11 as of Wednesday morning, as Urgences-Santé pleaded with the public only to call 911 in case of a genuine emergency and Mayor Valerie Plante called upon Montrealers to look out for neighbours vulnerable to the effects of the record-breaking temperatures.
  Santé Montreal confirmed the death toll Wednesday morning, a total that stood at six just a day before.
  Dr. Mylène Drouin, head of the regio
  
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• Montreal International Jazz Festival cancels all remaining SLĀV shows

  04-07-2018 17:38 via montrealgazette.com
  After more than a week of protest and controversy, the Montreal International Jazz Festival has cancelled the remaining performances of SLĀV, “a theatrical odyssey based on slave songs,” by director Robert Lepage, his company Ex Machina and singer Betty Bonifassi.
  The show has been the subject of complaints of cultural appropriation and cultural insensitivity.
  “Since the beginning of SLĀV performances, the festival team has been shaken and strongly affected by all the
  
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• Update: Pink Line included in Quebec's $15M Montreal transit study: report

  04-07-2018 15:14 via montrealgazette.com
  The Couillard government has earmarked close to $15 million to study the expansion of the Montreal area’s transit network, Radio-Canada reported Wednesday, including Mayor Valérie Plante’s proposed “Pink Line” — a métro extension that would run in a southwest to northeast route across the existing subway system.
  The funds — $14.7 million — will also be spent on examining the possible expansion of the métro’s Yellow (Montreal-Lo
  
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• Ex-NHLer Theo Fleury can talk to Graham James while sex abuser serves sentence

  04-07-2018 14:24 via montrealgazette.com
  The Parole Board of Canada has modified one of the conditions imposed on former junior hockey coach Graham James to allow the players he sexually abused to communicate with him while he continues to serve his sentence in Montreal.
  The parole board recently made the decision while reviewing the conditions it set when James, 64, was released on full parole in September 2016 following a hearing at a federal penitentiary in Laval.
  His first sentence, a 42-month prison term, began in 1997 and expired
  
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• CannabisFest: 'There's an unbelievable opportunity in the cannabis sector'

  04-07-2018 14:00 via montrealgazette.com
  The only headaches Pamela Hadfield might experience these days come if her three young girls are talking incessantly simultaneously.
  Hadfield, 45, suffered from debilitating migraines for 25 years — that is until she spent six months taking non-psychoactive cannabis products to manage, and ultimately prevent, the pain. She hasn’t had a migraine since, and that was almost five years ago.
  “Even in progressive areas, people still have an enormous amount of stigma towards their own
  
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• Watch: The little-known saga of Jewish internees in Canada

  04-07-2018 13:18 via montrealgazette.com
  In a little known Canadian footnote to the Holocaust, 2,300 Jewish refugees were sent to internment camps in Canada, including six in Quebec – sometimes alongside the very perpetrators of the crimes against them.
  Video by Catherine Solyom, Montreal Gazette
  Related
  From refugees to enemy aliens — the little-known saga of Jewish internees in Canada
  
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• While you were sleeping: More migrants turned away at Italian port, Kevin Spacey investigation grows, ISIS says leader's son killed

  04-07-2018 13:15 via montrealgazette.com
  A rescue ship carrying 60 migrants arrived Wednesday in a Spanish port after being refused entry by Italy and Malta, the second time in a month that a humanitarian group has been forced to travel for days to unload people rescued in the central Mediterranean.
  The Italian government is blocking private rescue boats that it blames for encouraging human traffickers to launch unseaworthy boats loaded with migrants toward Europe. But the aid groups deny having any link to smugglers in Libya or elsewh
  
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• Quebec to spend $15M on Montreal transit study, but Pink Line not on the list: report

  04-07-2018 12:59 via montrealgazette.com
  The Couillard government has earmarked close to $15 million to study the expansion of the Montreal area’s transit network, Radio-Canada reported Wednesday. But Mayor Valérie Plante’s proposed “Pink Line” — a métro extension that would run in a southwest to northeast route across the existing subway system — isn’t on the list of projects under review.
  The funds — $14.7 million — will be spent on examining the possible expansion o
  
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• Beaconsfield council to vote to restrict the use of leaf blowers

  04-07-2018 12:13 via montrealgazette.com
  Beaconsfield council is expected to vote to restrict the use of electric and gas-powered leaf blowers. The vote will take place during the council meeting, July 9. The regulation, which comes into effect in 2019, will prohibit the use of leaf blowers between June 1 and Sept. 30. The time frame allows leaf blowers to be used during spring and fall cleanups, but not during the summer months.
  Mayor Georges Bourelle said health concerns and the impact on the environment helped shape the council&rsqu
  
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• Jazz fest picks for July 4: Einaudi brings epic compositions to the Bell Centre

  04-07-2018 12:05 via montrealgazette.com
  Indoors:
  Ludovico Einaudi (8 p.m, Bell Centre, $63.50 to $171.50) Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi is known the world over for his classical compositions that give every moment an emotional, epic sweep. Ever in demand as a soundtrack composer, he has contributed scores for the films Black Swan and Xavier Dolan’s Mommy, among others. After a sold-out performance at Place des Arts in November, he returns to a venue big enough to fit all his Montreal fans.Outdoors:
  Hannah Williams and the Aff
  
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• West Island Community Calendar for the week of July 4, 2018

  04-07-2018 12:00 via montrealgazette.com
  Galleries and exhibitions
  The Stewart Hall Art Gallery, 176 Lakeshore Rd. in Pointe-Claire, presents the exhibition Making a Stand. Revisited Pedestals — Part III starting Sunday with a vernissage at 2 p.m. Exhibition continues until Aug. 26. Call 514-630-1220.
  Greenwood Centre for Living History, 254 Main Rd. in Hudson, is open for guided tours and tea for the summer (until end of August). Wednesdays to Saturdays 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. ($12 per person); Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. ($15 per person
  
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• Stars Above: Summer offers best views of Mars in 15 years

  04-07-2018 12:00 via montrealgazette.com
  With the nights shortest of the year, there are not too many hours left for stargazing, but they are filled with celestial happenings and seasonal stellar landmarks.
  Look up after 10 p.m. any night in July and the famous Summer Triangle pattern formed by the bright stars Deneb, Altair and Vega rides low in the southeastern sky while the iconic Big Dipper dominates the high northwest sky. Face the south around 10 p.m. on a clear night and the S-shaped constellation Scorpius stretches up from the
  
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• Pointe-Claire resident hoping to save Pioneer bar

  04-07-2018 12:00 via montrealgazette.com
  Paul Parfett has lived and worked around the corner from the Pioneer bar in the Pointe-Claire Village for some three decades.
  His one-man auto service shop, a converted old horse stable on Ste-Anne Ave., is a stone’s throw from the Pioneer.
  Parfett is opposed to a proposed project that will see the Pioneer demolished to make way for condos on Lakeshore Rd.
  He started a petition to save the iconic Pioneer, and is part of a group of concerned citizens who fear the condo project, if built, wi
  
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• Parishioner unhappy about the relocation of Pierrefonds church's English mass

  04-07-2018 12:00 via montrealgazette.com
  Lovie Rivard is incensed. She has been attending St. David Church in Pierrefonds since 1986 and a recent change to its mass schedule is not sitting well with her.
  “My daughter was baptized at St. David and my granddaughter was baptized at St. David,” Rivard said. “And now they are kicking us out.”
  Sunday’s English mass has been moved to Mary Queen of Peace Church nearby. St. David has been rented out to the growing Maronite congregation. (The Maronites are a Christi
  
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• Naqvi-Mohamed: Release butterflies to support palliative care

  04-07-2018 12:00 via montrealgazette.com
  Release a butterfly in the memory of or in honour of a loved one. That’s the theme of the open air Live Butterfly Release event happening Sunday for the first time on the West Island.
  End of life care is never an easy thing. With so much to consider and so many emotions, choosing the right place for your loved ones to spend their final days with dignity and comfort is an integral part of the process of letting go.
  The West Island Palliative Care Residence understands that and provides care
  
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• Montreal weather: Heat warning still in effect

  04-07-2018 12:00 via montrealgazette.com
  The sunny, warm and humid weather will persist through Thursday.
  Environment Canada predicts a high of 34 Celsius, a Humidex of 40 and a UV index of 9 or very high on Wednesday.
  Tonight: Clear with an expected overnight low of 24 C.
  Don’t forget to submit your photos of Montreal via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by tagging them with #ThisMtl. We’ll feature one per day right here in the morning file. Today’s photo was posted on Instagram by @remsdevoiron.
  Q
  
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• #MeToo: Number of Montreal children, youth reporting abuse is rising

  04-07-2018 12:00 via montrealgazette.com
  They did not speak out with the vociferousness of celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow or Jennifer Lawrence about having been targets of unwanted sexual advances. But no doubt bolstered by the #MeToo movement, twice as many Montreal-area children and adolescents as the previous year came forward with revelations of the sexual abuse they had experienced.
  Between October 2017 and March 2018, 164 requests for service were made to the Fondation Marie-Vincent, a Montreal social-service organization
  
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• Briana Tomkinson: Water views, country roads in Notre-Dâme-de-l’Île-Perrot

  04-07-2018 12:00 via montrealgazette.com
  With rolling fields, lush forests and stunning water views, Notre-Dâme-de-l’Île-Perrot feels far removed from the bustling noise of the city, yet the West Island is just minutes away.
  It’s a compelling package, sweetened by the steep savings buyers can find on upscale waterfront homes, compared to what they would pay just across the water in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue or Baie-d’Urfé.
  According to realtor Barbara Baudinet, N.D.I.P. is becoming an increasingly popula
  
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• Gas price watch: It will cost Montrealers more to fill up after July 3 bump

  04-07-2018 05:09 via montrealgazette.com
  Gas prices jumped late Tuesday at Montreal-area gas stations to hit a high of $1.479 a litre.
  Earlier in the day, prices varied from a low of $1.259 a litre at a Shell station on Côte-de-Liesse Rd., to a high late Tuesday of $1.479 at a Petro-Canada station in Montreal North, according to essencemontreal.com.
  The price of a barrel of crude oil was US$74.68 at the end of the trading day on the NYMEX index, in New York on Tuesday.
  
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• Jazz fest free blowout review: Jessie Reyez brings heat to the streets

  04-07-2018 05:00 via montrealgazette.com
  Jessie Reyez brought rising-star power and Latin heat to the Montreal streets in the headlining slot for the Montreal International Jazz Festival’s midway free outdoor blowout on Tuesday night.
  Last year, the jazz fest knocked it out of the park with their event-closing free show, a crowd-rousing performance by American singer-rapper Anderson .Paak.
  On Tuesday night, the fest picked up where it left off. Like Paak last year, Reyez brought an urban music mash-up to the stage. She’s a
  
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• Beaconsfield council votes to restrict the use of leaf blowers

  04-07-2018 04:09 via montrealgazette.com
  Beaconsfield council has voted to restrict the use of electric and gas-powered leaf blowers. The regulation, which comes into effect in 2019, will prohibit the use of leaf blowers between June 1 and Sept. 30. The time frame allows leaf blowers to be used during spring and fall cleanups, but not during the summer months.
  Mayor Georges Bourelle said health concerns and the impact on the environment helped shape the council’s decision. He said the research was unequivocal.
  “We were take
  
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• As Montreal heat wave continues, emergency teams going door to door

  04-07-2018 01:39 via montrealgazette.com
  Six Montrealers have died of causes related to this week’s heat wave, public health authorities said Tuesday as Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante announced stepped-up measures to help vulnerable residents like seniors and people with chronic diseases.
  Plante said firefighters and police have started going door to door to visit at-risk Montrealers to ensure they are taking such precautions as drinking plenty of water and accessing the services they need during the extreme weather.
  Dr. My
  
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• Appealing to vanity: Quebec finally approves personalized licence plates

  04-07-2018 01:17 via montrealgazette.com
  After years of waiting, Quebecers will finally be able to advertise their name, passions or interests for all to see on the licence plate of their vehicles.
  The Quebec government announced Tuesday that personalized plates will be available for purchase online as of July 27.
  Transport Minister André Fortin told a news conference in Quebec City the message on the plates — a combination of numbers and letters ranging between two and seven characters — will have to be respectful a
  
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• Man questioned in connection with death in St-Hyacinthe

  04-07-2018 01:11 via montrealgazette.com
  A man was questioned in connection with the death of a pedestrian in St-Hyacinthe Tuesday afternoon.
  The Sûreté du Québec says they received multiple calls around noon on Tuesday about a 60-year-old man who was seriously injured at a pedestrian crosswalk in the town about 60 kilometres east of Montreal. He was declared dead after being taken to a hospital.
  About three hours later, a man in his 30s suspected of being involved in the man’s death was interrogated by police
  
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• Program helps Indigenous women start off on the right foot in Montreal

  04-07-2018 00:57 via montrealgazette.com
  “Alice” had only been in Montreal for a few hours before she wound up sleeping on the streets.
  After fleeing an abusive relationship in Val-d’Or six years ago, she got on a bus to Montreal in hopes of starting over. But when she stepped out of the terminal on Berri St., Alice had nowhere to go.
  She wound up sleeping under an overpass that night and has been homeless ever since.
  “Once you get out here, once you know you’re tough enough to survive out here, it becomes
  
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• World Cup: England fans sweat it out together at Mile End pub

  04-07-2018 00:46 via montrealgazette.com
  It was an emotional roller-coaster ride for England fans Tuesday afternoon at the Bishop & Bagg Pub on St. Viateur St. in Mile End.
  After 95 minutes of soccer, John Jarvis, a 70-year-old British expat watching this unbelievably exciting England-Colombia knockout match, summed up the mood in this pub that is the go-to place for England fans in the ‘hood.
  “It’s the same old, same old,” Jarvis said.
  What he meant is that England once again crumbled late in the game, gave
  
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• Streets in Ahuntsic reopened after two-alarm apartment-building fire

  04-07-2018 00:45 via montrealgazette.com
  A two-alarm fire at an apartment building in Ahuntsic forced the closure of Lajeunesse St. northbound from de Louvain St. E. Tuesday afternoon.
  Montreal police spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant said the fire, which occurred at the intersection of Sauvé and Lajeunesse Sts., began around 2:50 p.m. While the Montreal fire department announced on Twitter that the incident was under control at 4 p.m., the streets were closed for an additional two hours.
  Two people were treated for smoke in
  
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