Large Grocery Stores Closed On Labor Day

Sunday might be a good time to stock up on groceries, as such opportunities will be limited on Labour Day Monday (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

Grocery Stores Among Establishments Closed On Labour Day -- CTV

MONTREAL — Bigger isn't always better when it comes to shopping.

According to provincial law, supermarkets and other stores of sized 375 square metres and more are required to remain closed on Monday on Labour Day.

Most offices will also stay shut, including financial institutions, and government offices.

Some municipal services will be offered. Garbage pickup and other roadside pickups vary according to municipality and borough, best check their websites (see below). In the case of the City of Montreal, residents can dial 311 to ask about services as the phone line service remains open for the day.

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My Comment: I just learned that right now.

What Is Open And Closed On Labor Day

Montreal's bus and métro system is operating on a reduced schedule for the Labour Day holiday. Photograph by: Dave Sidaway, Gazette files

Holiday Schedules In Effect For Labour Day -- Montreal Gazette

MONTREAL - Many Montreal-area businesses and government services are closed or operating under different schedules on Labour Day.

All banks and federal and provincial government offices will be closed.

City services, including Access Montréal offices and borough offices, will be closed.

Garbage, recycling and large-item pickup schedules will vary by borough. For details: ville.montreal.qc.ca.

Montreal Municipal Court will be closed.

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My Comment: At least some stores are open.

Famous Quebec Eatery (Le Madrid) To Close

Le Madrid, on Highway 20 midway between Montreal and Quebec City, is known for its dinosaurs -- massive fibreglass structures built by hand. (CBC)

Famous Quebec Eatery Set To Close -- CBC News

Rest stop known for dinosaurs and monster trucks on the verge of shutting its doors.

A landmark rest stop in Quebec that's best known for the dinosaurs and monster trucks that litter its grounds is on the verge of shutting its doors for good.

The family-owned Le Madrid has been a popular pit stop for travellers, attracting about 400,000 people a year.

But the red-roofed building, a staple on Highway 20 midway between Montreal and Quebec City, is to be torn down in early September.

Earlier this summer, the Arel family sold the popular institution in St-Leonard-d'Aston to a Quebec developer.

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My Comment: The last time that I ate there was about 10 years ago. Sighhh .... all good things always come to an end.

Construction Holidays Are Now Over

Many vacationers are on their way home now that the construction holiday is over. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty at Old Orchard Beach, Maine, May 2011)

Construction Holiday Winds Down; 21 Lives Claimed On Roads -- CTV

MONTREAL — Twenty-one people have died on Quebec roads during the two-week construction holiday which ends Sunday evening. It represents a big hike from the total of 14 recording one year earlier.

However the total is below that of 2009 when there were 23 deaths on Quebec roads.

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My Comment: Uneventful .... boring .... and hot. That about sums up my summer break.

Quebec Drug Rehab Centre Closes Abruptly

The centre closed suddenly Jan. 7, 2010.
ANDREW CHUNG/TORONTO STAR

From The National Post:

MONTREAL -- A private drug-and-alcohol rehab centre in the Laurentian town of Chertsey closed abruptly this month and left cocaine and heroin addicts to fend for themselves in Montreal.

The Clear Haven Centre, which advertised a "holistic approach to substance abuse treatment" amid "122 beautiful wilderness acres," shut its doors on Jan. 7. But as late as Dec. 31, staff members were still accepting new patients and demanding thousands of dollars in payment up front.

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Update #1: Rehab clinic dumps addicts at airport -- Toronto Star
Update #2: Dumped addicts' families eye lawsuit -- Toronto Star
Update #3: Quebec rehab center closes, kicks out 28 -- UPI

My Comment: It is always the vulnerable who get the shaft .... and drug addicts are one of the most vulnerable in society.

How Has Haiti's Earthquake Disaster Impacted Montrealers

Haitians set up impromtu tent cities thorough the capital after the earthquake.
Photo from The Daily Mail

First Group Of Haiti Evacuees To Arrive In Montreal -- CTV

Canada will begin evacuating Canadians from quake-ravaged Haiti aboard a Hercules aircraft on Thursday.

The first 100 Canadian evacuees, already in the neighbouring Dominican Republic, were to land at Trudeau airport at 11:30 p.m. Thursday evening. Evacuations will continue as long as needed, Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon told a news conference in Ottawa.

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More News On the Haitian Earthquake And Montrealers Affected by this Disaster

Quebecers confirmed dead in Haitian quake -- CTV
Montreal couple among dead in Haiti earthquake -- CBC
Three Canadians killed in Haiti quake -- Montreal Gazette
UQÀM prof, wife among victims of Haiti quake -- Montreal Gazette
Expect more Canadian casualties in Haiti: Cannon -- CBC
Quebecers organize aid for Haiti -- CBC
Quebec announces Haitian aid effort -- CTV
Local Haitians offer relief, wait for news -- CTV
Canadian evacuees from Haiti to arrive in Montreal -- CBC
Montreal Haitians frantic for news of loved ones -- Montreal Gazette

A Dozen Montrealers Receive Order Of Canada

Team Canada captain Mario Lemieux wraps himself in the nation’s flag after his team won gold in men's hockey at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Canada defeated the United States 5-2 to take the gold for the first time in 50 years. The team is being inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame. Photograph by: Grant Black, CNS files

From The Montreal Gazette:

MONTREAL- Pittsburg Penguins owner Mario Lemieux is among a dozen Montrealers to be named to the Order of Canada, announced today by Governor General Michaëlle Jean.

Jean announced a total of 57 new appointments yesterday, including musicians Neil Young and Burton Cummings, former New Democratic Party leader Alexa McDonough, former Manitoba Premier Gary Filmon, former Nova Scotia Premier John F. Hamm and Running Room founder John Stanton.

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My Comment: Congrats to all from a proud Montrealer.

Mandatory Vehicle Inspections Coming

Those that don't meet emissions standards will have to be repaired or else destroyed.

From CTV News:

Quebec is prepared to junk any clunkers that don't meet tough new emissions standards for vehicles.

Beginning two years from now, people who own cars built before 1995 will be required to undergo mandatory inspections. Those whose cars don't meet the standard will have to get their cars repaired, or else the cars will be destroyed.

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Gray Rocks: The End Of An Era

For Sale: 102 Years Of Laurentians Heritage -- Montreal Gazette

From dishes to dressers, Gray Rocks Inn's contents on auction block this weekend.

They trickled in, some out of curiosity, some looking to buy, others seeking a bit of nostalgia in a place where they spent many fun times.

The entire contents of the venerable Gray Rocks Inn, inside and out, are for sale - everything from the bathroom fixtures to the siding on the exterior walls, the tiniest shot glasses to a school bus that took guests on outings.

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My Comment: This is sad .... but progress moves on.

Montrealers React To Obama's Nobel Prize

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about winning the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Friday, Oct. 9, 2009. (AP / Charles Dharapak)

From CTV:

Montrealers are divided about the news that U.S. president Barack Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the Middle East peace process.

From people on the street to political analysts, many thought it was premature.

"I thought it was almost like an April Fool's joke," said U.S. tax lawyer Chuck Murphy.

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My Comment: When I first heard the news I laughed .... I found it to be ridiculous to award such a prize to someone who has accomplished nothing. It also denigrates past Nobel Laureates and the work that they have done.

Haitian Man Deported Despite UN Ruling

From The CBC:

22-year-old Montrealer discovers he is not Canadian.

A Haitian-born man who was fighting deportation from Canada after serving a prison sentence for theft and assault was sent back to his native country this week.

This comes despite a UN ruling that said the expulsion would violate John Michael Dauphin's civil rights.

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My Comment: What a stupid idiot. He does not have any sympathy from me. Committing such a serious crime will have consequences .... but in his case it has "truly" ruined his life.

Prince Charles, Camilla To Visit City

Britain's Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, visit Canada next month.
Photograph by: Eddie Keogh, Reuters

From The Montreal Gazette:

First trip to Canada as married couple.

Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, will touch down in Montreal during their visit to Canada next month, the Prime Minister’s Office said Saturday.

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Is Road Rage A Problem In Montreal?

From The Montreal Gazette:

Three readers weigh in on why we can't seem to get along on the streets of Montreal.

MONTREAL – It's no secret that the motorists, cyclists and pedestrians who crowd the streets of Montreal don't always enjoy a harmonious relationship.

Navigating the urban jungle seems to bring out the worst in us; turning even the most zen-infused people into profanity-slinging, fist-waving maniacs in the time it takes to burn through a red light.

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My Comment: From my experience, Montreal drivers are no more better or worse than most cities in the world.

Black Widow Crawls Into Laval Home

A female black widow spider waits in her web. (AP / Alex Brandon)

From CTV:

A family tradition turned up a frightening surprise this fall when the Del Gaudio family made their annual batch of wine; a black widow spider was crawling among their grapes.

Black as night with a red hourglass stamp on its belly, the venomous arachnid likely made its way into the Laval home after grapes in California were packed into a refrigerated truck, where the creature went into mini-hibernation, awakening once the crates were opened in Quebec.

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My Comment: As an amateur wine maker .... I now have one more worry to think about.

Walk The Mile In Montreal

Photo: Bilboquet, an artisanal ice-cream parlour, makes some of the best ice creams, ice-cream cakes and sorbets in the city. Photograph by: Marcos Townsend, The Montreal Gazette, The Ottawa Citizen

From The Canada.com:

Stroll and shop on the city's hippest street.

Where did you go?

My wife, Rita, and I did some credit card damage on Rue Bernard Ouest, a strip of independent boutiques and popular restaurants in Montreal's Mile End. The neighbourhood is a multicultural, largely anglophone, hipster enclave at the northwest end of the Plateau Mont-Royal. West of Rue Hutchison, in the mixed francophone and Hasidic Jewish area of the posh Outremont borough, Rue Bernard Ouest becomes Avenue Bernard.

Why here?

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Military Helicopters In Downtown Exercise

A Canadian Forces griffon helcopter hovers over the building at 1000 de la Gauchetiere in a 2006 exercise. Photograph by: Phil Carpenter, Gazette file photo

From The Montreal Gazette:

Don’t be alarmed if you see military helicopters flying over downtown Montreal. Two Canadian Forces CH-146 Griffon helicopters from the 427th Special Operations Aviation Squadron have begun three evenings of training manoeuvres, from Wednesday to Friday night. Flying from the St. Hubert airport, the choppers will approach Complexe Desjardins (at Ste. Catherine and Bleury Sts.) from various directions and hover over the building for brief periods between 6 p.m. and midnight to practise night approaches to high-rise buildings.

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Questions And Answers On Montreal Taxis

Montreal taxi drivers aren't allowed to park next to taxi stands that are full.
Photograph by: John Mahoney, Gazette file photo

Taxis, Taxis Everywhere And No Space To Park -- Montreal Gazette

Cabbies leave their personal vehicles in residential areas while they work.

Q: I have noticed that some taxi companies use residential streets to park their taxis during off hours. In streets which have taxi stands, this can mean that a large proportion of street parking is taken up by the taxi stand, the off-duty taxis and the taxi drivers' private cars. Shouldn't the taxi companies be housing their taxis in their garages?

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Peel St. Runaround

Debris is seen on the sidewalk outside Mikasa Sushi Bar on Peel St. in Montreal, where a concrete slab crashed through the glass atrium roof of the restaurant, killing Léa Guilbeault and injuring her husband, on July 16, 2009. Photograph by: Dario Ayala, The Gazette

From The Montreal Gazette:

NEW YORK – Nine West 57th St. is a noteworthy building in Midtown Manhattan (it doesn't seem fit to write "famous" in this pincushion of architectural legends). Called the Solow Building, the 50-storey skyscraper just off 5th Ave. is notorious for its gleaming, sloping concave "curtain wall" facade, and the cartoonish red "9" sculpture near its entrance.

It is noteworthy to Montrealers, too, because the 39th floor is home to Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, a hedge fund with billions of dollars in holdings, including (through OZRE Montreal) the Marriott Residence Inn on Peel St.

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My Comment: If the City is smart .... just do the independent engineering/safety survey yourself, and then bill the landlord. Why wait?

Mont Laurier Tornado Bill Exceeds $6 Million: Report

Anick Langellier and her husband Nick Langellier help clean up the damage a day after a tornado stormed through Mont-Laurier, QC. Photograph by: Jean Levac, Ottawa Citizen

From The Montreal Gazette:

MONTREAL – Insurers expect to pay out more than $6 million to clients for repairs to homes, cars and businesses damaged during the tornado that tore through the town of Mont Laurier on Aug. 4, the Insurance Bureau of Canada reports.

Environment Canada said the Mont Laurier tornado measured F2 on the the Fujita scale, which goes from F0 to F5, making it a strong tornado

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My Comment: This weather disaster could have been far worse.

Quebec Man Targets Yellow Pages Drop-Off

From The CBC:

A Montreal man fed up with the thick Yellow Pages brick delivered to his house every year has launched an online campaign to organize a mass return of the book.

Frederic Bohbot, a film producer, believes the voluminous business telephone directory is not only useless to most wired city dwellers but also environmentally irresponsible.

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