• Doug Ford backtracks on some cuts to Ontario francophone services

    TORONTO — After days of backlash over its cuts to institutions serving francophones, Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government says it’s making changes meant to recognize the “significant and ongoing” contributions of the Franco-Ontarian community.
    In a statement issued Friday evening, Premier Doug Ford says his government is creating the position of French-Language Services Commissioner within the provincial ombudsman’s office, and seeking to turn the off
  • No bail for eight men charged in West Island car thefts

    Eight men arrested as suspects in a luxury car theft ring that operated around Trudeau airport in Dorval will spend the weekend behind bars after the Crown objected to their release on Friday.
    During their brief appearance before a Quebec Court judge at the Montreal courthouse, the men learned that their cases would be carried over to Monday for a formality hearing merely to fix a future date for bail hearings. One of the men charged on Friday, Louis Bouchard, 59, of Longueuil, is already charge
  • STM taken to task over major order of hybrid buses

    Environmentalists and industry insiders are taking issue with the city’s decision to order nearly 1,000 hybrid buses, saying there there are cleaner and cheaper alternatives available.
    In June, the Société de transport de Montréal was the lead bidder in a nearly $3 billion purchase order for 2,355 hybrid buses on behalf itself and eight other transit agencies in the province. The STM will receive 830 of the buses, to be delivered between the years 2020 and 2024. The ne
  • Theatre review: Enough wit and female fury to fuel second Doll's House

    It’s generally agreed that when Nora Helmer slams the door on her sham marriage, it closes Ibsen’s 1879 classic A Doll’s House on a resounding note of finality. Playwright Lucas Hnath would beg to differ, and he’s done so not by having a quiet word, but by writing a mischievous sequel. Nora is back, and this time she’s … well, exactly why is she back?
    Keeping us guessing is part of the fun of A Doll’s House, Part 2 (playing at Segal to Dec. 9). Hnath&rs
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  • Brendan Kelly: Shania Twain hints at Shania-Céline dream team

    Shania and Céline.
    Makes perfect sense. My only question is this: How did it take so long for this dream team of Canuck music icons to come together? Haven’t we all dreamed for years of Céline Dion pounding her chest and belting out Man! I Feel Like a Woman?
    Shania Twain said this week that she’d love to write a song for fellow Canadian superstar Dion.
    “One of my dreams has always been that she would record one of my songs,” Twain said on Entertainment Tonig
  • 16 years for man who murdered Rwandan refugee over small drug debt

    When he was just six years old, Gilbert Nshimiyumukiza saw his parents executed in the Rwandan genocide.
    On Friday, Nshimiyumukiza’s own death — inside an apartment in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough, over a small drug debt — was also characterized as an execution.
    “It resembles an execution, a senseless drug slaying,” Justice Michel Pennou said at the Montreal courthouse while ordering that Jermaine Gero, 44 — who shot the unarmed Rwandan refugee at almost
  • What the Puck: As many predicted, Canadiens' defence hits speed bump

    Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin wants to have his cake and eat it, too.
    He wants — many of us would say “needs” — to rebuild the team he’s damaged so badly, but he doesn’t want to pay the price of a genuine rebuild. So what he’s trying to do is pull off a mini-rebuild, what he likes to call “a reset,” and still make it into the playoffs where, as he likes to boast, anything can happen.
    But it’s not a well thought through pl
  • Liveblog: Canadiens at Sabres in Buffalo

    TGIF is a good excuse to start Happy Hour early.
    But hockey at 4 p.m.?
    Seriously?
    It’s Thanksgiving weekend in the U.S., and the good citizens of Buffalo presumably want to spend their Friday evening doing something more festive than watching their surprising Sabres play the Canadiens.
    Back in Montreal, however, a late-afternoon puck drop is less than convenient for anyone who can’t manage an early escape from the office.
    But as every athlete playing every sport on the planet is wont
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  • Manon Massé will have right to vehicle and chauffeur

    Whether you’re on the left, in the centre or on the right of the political spectrum, the security needs are the same for everyone. The parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire, Manon Massé, will therefore have the right like anyone else to a vehicle with a driver and bodyguard.
    However her critics may feel about it, Massé confirmed this recommendation by the Public Safety Ministry.
    Like the interim leader of the Parti Québécois, Pascal Bérub&e
  • Minister orders investigation into Chambly mayor

    Quebec’s municipal commission has launched an investigation into Chambly mayor Denis Lavoie in the wake of a televised report where Lavoie is accused of abusing his authority.
    A spokesperson for Municipal Affairs Minister Andrée Laforest confirmed that the minister had made the request that the commission probe Lavoie, and that Laforest was “very concerned” by what she had heard during the episode of Enquête aired on Radio-Canada on Thursday evening.
    During the rep
  • Macpherson: At the Hockey Jersey Summit, different colours, same team

    In a familiar ritual as Canadian as drunken curlers, the premiers of Quebec and Ontario exchanged jerseys for the cameras before their first meeting in Toronto this week.
    From Quebec, the business-as-usual mood of the visuals looked surreal, considering that François Legault had been expected to deliver a stern message to Doug Ford.
    This province’s politico-media class was in an uproar over the Ford government’s cancellation of what would have been Ontario’s first all-Fr
  • Victoria Bridge impaired driving checks lead to three arrests

    Three people were arrested late Thursday and early Friday as police from Montreal and Longueuil deployed impaired driving spot check checkpoints at both ends of the Victoria Bridge.
    Between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. a total of 175 vehicles were checked. Two drivers were arrested for impaired driving under the influence of alcohol while a third was arrested for being under the influence of drugs.
    The roadblocks are part of an ongoing program launched by Quebec police forces on Oct. 17 — the day re
  • Mont Tremblant at 80: a milestone year for milestone resort

    Mont Tremblant made history 80 winters ago with the first chairlift in Canada, and since then has steadily and significantly changed the landscape of Quebec tourism.
    The evolution has continued this year thanks to Tremblant’s new owner, Alterra Mountain Company, which has invested $17 million in lifts, trails and restaurants in arguably the largest resort area in eastern Canada.
    The mountain’s natural magic is the constant: the snow, the steeps and the sweeping views of the Laurentia
  • Vanier Cup battle of undefeated as Rouge et Or host Mustangs

    QUEBEC — League officials are calling Saturday’s Vanier Cup rematch between the reigning champion Western Mustangs and the host Laval Rouge et Or a dream final for university football.
    “You could not ask for a better matchup,” said Lisette Johnson-Stapley, chief sports officer of U Sports, the organizing body for Canadian university sports.
    It’s only the fifth time in the 54-year history of the Vanier Cup that teams undefeated in the season will meet in the league f
  • 70 years after Refus global, Françoise Sullivan remains revolutionary

    It’s been 70 years since a group of young Québécois artists calling themselves Les Automatistes lit a torch in the Grande Noirceur of the Duplessis era with their collective manifesto Refus global. It was, it’s generally agreed, the spark that ignited not just Québécois but Canadian modern art.
    Among the writers and signatories was the group’s last surviving member, Françoise Sullivan, whose spectacular and multi-faceted career — dancer,
  • Buchignani: Formula One season enters last lap. So what's next?

    After eight months and 21 races, the checkered flag comes down on the Formula One season at this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
    Too bad the race means nothing, given that Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have already secured the drivers’ and constructors’ championships for a record-matching fifth straight time.
    If nothing else, the event gives diehards one final fix as F1 goes into hibernation for the winter before it re-emerges in Australia in March.
    Between now and then, team fac
  • Books: Louise Penny crafts a thorough crime scene

    Ask anyone who has tried: creating a character who can stay convincing and compelling for a whole novel is hard. Maintaining that achievement with the same character over the course of multiple novels is an altogether taller order. But that’s exactly what Louise Penny has been doing since 2005 with Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, head of the Sûreté du Québec and denizen of the fictional Eastern Townships hamlet of Three Pines. Kingdom of the Blind (Minotaur, 400 pages,
  • Concordia's Murphy 'everything you could possibly want in a teacher'

    Well before the term “fake news” became so much a part of our contemporary lexicon, Dennis Murphy taught thousands of students over the years to be wary of false prophets bombarding media with their twisted notions of truth. Among the many courses Murphy taught at Concordia University’s Department of Communication Studies over a 40-year period, his most popular were Media Ethics and Propaganda, and they helped shape the professional lives of countless students who went on to su
  • Opinion: Romaine lettuce alert shows limits of our power over microbes

    In the wake of the most recent romaine lettuce E. coli warning, you may have sworn off Caesar salads and bleached out all potential life forms in your fridge’s vegetable drawer. Next time, you may well do likewise.
    Yes, it’s a safe bet that there will be a next time.
    It’s wrong to believe that we can control microbial life, because microbes are both everywhere and invisible. When food scares strike, we are painfully reminded that food policies and public hea
  • NHL scouts on notice as Océanic teen Alexis Lafrenière lights up QMJHL

    TORONTO — Serge Beausoleil might be the head coach of the Rimouski Océanic, but even he can feel like a student when forward Alexis Lafrenière hits the ice.
    “Sometimes I have to shut my mouth, I don’t want to put him in a box,” Beausoleil said.
    “I want him to be creative. He’s always two steps ahead when he plays and he sees a lot of things most hockey guys cannot see, so we have to let him play.”
    Lafrenière didn’t take long to
  • Wine: Want to kick the sugar habit? Try grenache or merlot

    I run into lots of folks who are fans of red wines that have extra sugar in them. A “dry” red wine technically has under 4g/l, so if you are a fan of Liano (9g/l), Caymus (9.9g/l), Apothic (16g/l) or Ménage à Trois (13/l), then you are drinking extra sugar. Most had no idea that was the case. While some are fine with the extra sugar, many people I talk with would rather not be drinking those extra calories, or if they are diabetic, the extra fructose. So what do I sugge
  • Love reading? Check out the Holiday Pop-Up Book Fair and Expozine

    A week after the bold and brash Salon du livre, book lovers have two more intimate events this weekend for literary shopping and shmoozing. And both are free.
    The Holiday Pop-up Book Fair, being held for the first time at Concordia University downtown, features a wine and cheese reception with celebrated actor and author Ann-Marie MacDonald. The fair will take place in the atrium of the McConnell Building.
    MacDonald was the inaugural Writer in Residence at the Mordecai Richler Reading Room in 20
  • The Right Chemistry: Ammonia emissions can be dangerous

    Once you have sniffed ammonia, you are not likely to forget its penetrating odour. Just ask the paramedics who responded to an emergency call from a home in Virginia: they were almost overcome by the powerful smell of the gas. They quickly transported the occupant, who was in respiratory distress, to hospital and alerted the Sheriff’s Department about the overpowering odour. Deputies wearing protective suits and breathing equipment found 40 chickens, three dogs and a cat occupying the prem
  • Bill Zacharkiw's Wines of the Week: Nov. 24, 2018

    Every week, Bill Zacharkiw identifies his top wine picks available at the SAQ and offers ideas for food pairings.
    Under $15
    Douro 2016, Coroa d’Ouro, Pocas, Portugal red, $13.75, SAQ # 743252. Nicely restrained Douro that manages to keep the fruit fresh and not fall into that stewed-fruit note that makes so many Douros a touch heavy. Nicely textured with just a hint of spice and dried herbs on the finish. Classy wine for cheap. Grape varieties: tinta barroca, touriga franca, touriga nacion
  • Yo-Yo Ma in two places at once in Montreal Bach Festival

    Despite appearances, the fundamentals of space-time were in effect. Yo-Yo Ma did not sell out the Maison symphonique before the Montreal Bach Festival made tickets available, in February, to the cellist’s traversal of the Six Solo Suites on Dec. 7.
    But those tickets moved at something like the speed of light. Which led MBF artistic director Alexandra Scheibler to hatch the idea of outfitting St. James United Church with an HD screen and selling pew space (first come, first served) for a si
  • Social Notes: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Ball is forever in fashion

    Noties, it’s the height of the fall season, and breathtaking events are partout. One of the most socially note-able — the annual Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) Ball — recently unveiled its stunning 58th edition, proudly presented by RBC, under the co-presidency of Bio-K+ International CEO Isabèle Chevalier (attending with Christian Larose); Cirque du Soleil and Invest in Canada board chair Mitch Garber (with wife&nbs
  • Montreal vows public consultation for condo towers on Spectrum site

    A developer’s announcement of a $700-million project to build twin 50-plus storey residential towers in downtown Montreal caused a spectacle on Thursday, and not just because the proposed construction would fill the long vacant site of the former Spectrum concert hall in the Quartier des spectacles.
    Mayor Valérie Plante and her administration refused to offer an opinion on the proposal to the media and denied knowing anything about it because, they said, the developer hadn’t y
  • While you were sleeping: PQ, QS stay official; suspicious St-Laurent death

    Here’s what you missed while you were camping out for Black Friday sales.
    The Parti Québécois and Québec solidaire won’t lose their official party status in the National Assembly. A tentative agreement was reached Thursday night that will give the PQ and QS the status of parliamentary groups. Neither party received the 12 seats — or 20 per cent of the votes — required for such status, so their fate rested in the hands of the other parties. But Th
  • Canada Goose takes on Chinese market, where knockoff parkas rule

    Canada Goose Holdings Inc. is pushing ahead with its China expansion, betting its strategy of selling premium coats directly to customers will help overcome a proliferation of knockoffs and the nation’s consumption slowdown.
    The Toronto-based company dealt with counterfeits soon after it started selling globally two decades ago, CEO Dani Reiss said in an interview in Beijing on Friday. “We’re used to it,” he said. “It’s very important for us to protect our bra
  • Fiera Capital's $3-billion real estate unit has global ambitions

    Fiera Capital Corp.’s property unit wants to go global.
    Quebec’s biggest publicly traded asset manager is looking to make its first real-estate foray outside Canada by the start of the next decade to diversify its holdings, according to Pierre Pelletier, a senior vice-president at the company. All of Fiera Properties’ assets under management, which are valued at about $3 billion, are in Canada.
    “Our intention is to proceed with an orderly expansion outside Canada, for ins
  • Arsonists target delivery service store in Westmount

    A pair of arsonists targeted a delivery service store on Ste-Catherine St. with a crude firebomb early Friday.
    The incident occurred at 2:30 a.m. near the corner of Greene Ave., when several witnesses called 911 to say they saw two persons throw a rock through the store’s window, followed by a Molotov cocktail.
    The two suspects then fled west on Ste-Catherine St. Police were able to douse the fire with the extinguisher in their squad car. Damage to the store was slight.
    The investigation h
  • Charred human remains found in torched car in St-Laurent

    A human body found inside the charred shell of an automobile parked in an industrial park in St-Laurent was not the result of a suicide and is being treated as a suspicious death, Montreal police said Friday morning.
    Police say certain elements found by arson investigators at the scene — a laneway between two buildings near Halpern St. — suggest the death is suspicious.
    The body found inside the vehicle is so badly burned identification had yet to be made by Friday morning. Meanwhile
  • Montreal real estate: Buying — in this economy? Millennials must compromise

    The growing popularity of condos in Montreal and other urban centres has led some to declare that younger generations are simply not interested in suburban living. The cool kids want to raise their kids in condos, within walking distance of the métro — preferably around the corner from some place serving locally roasted pour-over coffees and avocado toast. Right?
    As an “elder Millennial” myself, I’ve always thought that idea was a bit of a sham. Have you ever tried
  • Montreal weather: Bright and a little warmer

    It will be a little warmer today.
    Environment Canada is calling for sunny skies with a high of minus 6. But there is still a bitter wind chill to deal with: it will feel like minus 21 in the morning and minus 12 in the afternoon.
    Tonight: Clear with a low of minus 8.
    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 Inst
  • Montreal company brings artificial intelligence to medical system

    After acquiring a local startup that has developed an artificial intelligence system for medical triage, Montreal-based telemedicine company Dialogue is now preparing to use that technology in one of the city’s largest hospital networks.
    Starting in a few weeks, Dialogue’s artificial intelligence triage program will start being used at the CHUM emergency room as part of pilot project.
    That technology was developed by Montreal-based DXA Technologies, a startup founded b
  • Gazette Christmas Fund: Single mom finds new start after abuse

    Melissa is in a period of transition.
    She and her 2-year-old daughter are moving an hour away from the Montreal suburb in which she grew up, away from everything they’ve known, after recently ending a long-term abusive relationship.
    “It’s a new start for all of us,” she said.
    Her focus is now on her daughter’s wellbeing. Though she is only two years old, Melissa said her daughter is wise beyond her years. When her mother died last spring, she said her daughter was f
  • Brownstein: Book on Canadian Jews reveals Quebec mobsters' distinctness

    It was almost a Montreal equivalent to The French Connection: The year was 1934. Mobsters Harry Ship (né Chaskel Lazarovitch), “Pinky” Brecher and “Fat” Charlie Feigenbaum were set to smuggle a cache of drugs from Paris into the Port of Montreal. But the RCMP got wise to the operation and managed to convince Fat Charlie to sing like a canary in return for a reduced sentence.
    Alas, Fat Charlie paid the price stoolies often pay, and met his maker after being shot six
  • CP Holiday Train makes its annual ho-ho stop in Beaconsfield Nov. 27

    The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train will soon be coming through the West Island to spread some Christmas cheer.
    The train is scheduled to stop at Beaconsfield train station on Tuesday, Nov. 27.
    The train will be stopped in Beaconsfield, at 104 Elm Ave., from 8:30 to 9 p.m. while musical performers Terri Clark, Sierra Noble and Kelly Prescott entertain the crowd outside.
    The train which will once again be brightly lit up with festive Christmas lights.
    Also on Nov. 27, The Valois Village Holid
  • PQ and QS to get official party status in National Assembly

    By virtue of a tentative agreement reached Thursday night, the Parti Québécois and Québec solidaire will be given the status of parliamentary groups at the National Assembly.
    In the last election, neither the PQ nor QS managed to get the 12 seats or 20 per cent of the votes in order to be recognized as a parliamentary group. They have 10 MNAs each. Their fate in the National Assembly therefore rested in the hands of the other parties.
    The Action démocratique
  • City vows public consultation for condo towers on Spectrum site

    A developer’s announcement of a $700-million project to build twin 50-plus storey residential towers in downtown Montreal caused a spectacle on Thursday, and not just because the proposed construction would fill the long vacant site of the former Spectrum concert hall in the Quartier des spectacles.
    Mayor Valérie Plante and her administration refused to offer an opinion on the proposal to the media and denied knowing anything about it because, they said, the developer hadn’t y
  • #ICYMI: Public transit, Ouellette sues, more news

    In Case You Missed It (#ICYMI) is a daily feature highlighting news in and around Montreal.
    An aging fleet of buses, limited work shifts in which to repair them and improperly set gauges on its new hybrid models are among the reasons Montreal’s bus system has been plagued with maintenance issues and seen a 10-fold increase in the number that run out of gas en route.
    René Bruemmer files this report: Aging fleet, gauge error to blame for bus breakdowns, says STM boss
    ***
    Som
  • MNA Guy Ouellette suing attorney general over UPAC arrest

    The MNA for Chomedey, Guy Ouellette, believes his reputation has been severely damaged and is suing the attorney general of Quebec for $550,000.
    He is asking for $250,000 for the loss of his reputation, $200,000 for moral damages and $100,000 for financial losses.
    In a statement of claim filed in Quebec Superior Court by his lawyer, Jacques Larochelle, Ouellette explains how he was lured by Quebec’s anti-corruption squad (UPAC). He says he was victimized by having his private communic
  • MNA Guy Ouellette suing attorney general of Quebec for $550,000

    The MNA for Chomedey, Guy Ouellette, believes his reputation has been severely damaged and is suing the attorney general of Quebec for $550,000.
    He is asking for $250,000 for the loss of his reputation, $200,000 for moral damages and $100,000 for financial losses.
    In a statement of claim filed in Quebec Superior Court by his lawyer, Jacques Larochelle, Ouellette explains how he was lured by Quebec’s anti-corruption squad (UPAC). He says he was victimized by having his private communic
  • Canadiens target Hurricanes for return of captain Shea Weber

    BUFFALO — The highlight of the Canadiens’ practice at KeyBank Area Thursday was a routine power-play drill.
    Jesperi Kotkaniemi, the precocious rookie, established position in front of the net and, as he waited for the shot from the point, a hand grabbed him from behind and tossed him aside.
    Jesperi Kotkaniemi meet Shea Weber.
    The confrontation was the latest evidence that Weber is close to returning to the Montreal lineup after nearly of year of inactivity because of foot and knee in
  • Interim head of human resources appointed at MUHC

    The head of the McGill University Health Centre announced on Thursday that he has appointed an interim director of human resources, communications and legal affairs.
    In an internal statement, Dr. Pierre Gfeller said Michèle Gauthier will assume her duties immediately “and will remain in position throughout the staffing process of this important leadership position, which is already underway.”
    Gauthier replaces Richard Fahey, who left the MUHC last week. Gauthier had previously
  • Alerts for adapted transit users, end-of-month payments in STM future

    Some users of Montreal’s increasingly popular public transit system may soon get alerts on their phones telling when their lifts are about to arrive, and others could be able to pay at the end of the month based on how often they’ve travelled.
    But popularity can also have its downside. That growth in métro usage, which went up 5.5 per cent since the beginning of 2018, is causing issues on the city’s overcrowded Orange Line, the chairman of the Société de tr

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