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Affichage des résultats pour les étiquettes 'june'.
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Another great upcoming restoration along Verdun's main street. As of September 2015: The Baptist Church had been there since 2002 and moved out on July 5th 2015. Bye bye silly blue panels. June 2015: Perhaps Uniprix can follow suit and restore their facade at 4470 Wellington. I think this used to be an arena of some kind, or a boxing gym?
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(Courtesy of The Montreal Gazette)
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Hydro-Québec - Nouveau siège social (1980)
un sujet a posté MARTY dans Projets oubliés et/ou en suspens
So way back on June 9th 1980 HQ was planning a new headquarters.....I wonder if it's still in the works????? http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19800609&id=IokxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=caQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1200,3642003 -
Merci à MTLskyline sur SSP Developer’s third design for riverside condo project up for approval http://westislandgazette.com/news/st...-for-approval/ Cheryl Cornacchia | From The Gazette | June 25, 2013 Other News Preliminary approval has been granted to a Montreal developer who wants to build a condominium complex in Pierrefonds-Roxboro alongside the Maison Joseph Théorêt and facing Rivière des Prairies. At a special borough council meeting June 19, council unanimously adopted a draft bylaw to rezone three lots on Gouin Blvd. at Aumais St. so that the Vered Group could build a 115-unit, six-story condominium alongside the heritage home recognized by Montreal’s Conseil de Patrimoine. The draft bylaw is now expected to come up for a second vote at another special borough council meeting, August 5, at which point, if passed, the bylaw would pave the way for the project could to go forward, at least, in theory. On Tuesday, André Giguere said he and other neighbours of the proposed project plan to request the borough open a register that could in effect tie up, if not halt, the condo project entirely, should sufficient number of neighbours sign it and signal their opposition to the project. Johanne Palladini, a borough spokesperson said on Tuesday once a register is opened, area residents would be given a specified day to sign it. If the project is opposed by a certain percentage of area residents, determined by the number of electoral voters, Palladini said, the borough would be forced to hold a costly, borough-wide referendum on the project. http://westislandgazette.com/news/story/2013/06/17/developers-third-design-for-riverside-condo-project-up-for-approval/
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World's 10 most loved cities - CNNGO 8. Montreal, Canada Montreal is a frontrunner in at least one “World’s Most Livable Cities” list, was named “Canada’s Cultural Capital” by Monocle Magazine and has recently been granted UNESCO “City of Design” status. Stuffy acknowledgements aside, what makes Canada’s original “sin city” such a draw not just for style mavens, 18-year-olds without fake ID and New Englanders seeking a quick, cheap Europe-ish fix, but for 7.5 million annual tourists of all stripes is the city’s certifiably festive attitude -- the kind that assures visitors they’re going to have more fun, stay up later and cure hangovers with tastier 4 a.m. poutine and smoked meat sandwiches here than wherever they’ve come from. Summer draws the biggest crowds to Montreal with its lineup of legendary festivals and street fairs, including its International Jazz Festival (June 28-July 7) and Just for Laughs (July 12-29), featuring one of the world’s largest congregations of comics. The real test: even when it’s 800 below zero in February, people still really dig this city. La list: 10. Barcelona, Spain 9. Cape Town, South Africa 8. Montreal, Canada 7. New York City, United States 6. Paris, France 5. Petra, Jordan 4. San Francisco, United States 3. Santiago, Chile 2. Shanghai, China 1. Tokyo, Japan http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/10-most-loved-cities-068149?page=0,1
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Montreal Forum adds a touch of Dawson College class Brenda Branswell Montreal Gazette August 9, 2010 MONTREAL - Some Dawson College students will have classes this year in a place they probably never expected to study - the old Montreal Forum. The downtown college is renting additional space in the Pepsi Forum because of an influx of 300 additional students. Dawson is creating nine classrooms in the building, including two computer labs for students who are studying social sciences, said Donna Varrica, a college spokesperson. Dawson is one of several colleges that is accepting more students for the coming school year. The decision to take in extra students came in June when the Quebec government announced it would inject more than $1 million to deal with the space problem at Montreal Island's crowded CEGEPs. Varrica said the top priority for Dawson was to find extra space that wasn't far from the college. Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/Forum+adds+touch+Dawson+class/3378079/story.html#ixzz0w9Kr4HzN
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The New York Times July 15, 2008 Country, the City Version: By BINA VENKATARAMAN What if “eating local” in Shanghai or New York meant getting your fresh produce from five blocks away? And what if skyscrapers grew off the grid, as verdant, self-sustaining towers where city slickers cultivated their own food? Dickson Despommier, a professor of public health at Columbia University, hopes to make these zucchini-in-the-sky visions a reality. Dr. Despommier’s pet project is the “vertical farm,” a concept he created in 1999 with graduate students in his class on medical ecology, the study of how the environment and human health interact. The idea, which has captured the imagination of several architects in the United States and Europe in the past several years, just caught the eye of another big city dreamer: Scott M. Stringer, the Manhattan borough president. When Mr. Stringer heard about the concept in June, he said he immediately pictured a “food farm” addition to the New York City skyline. “Obviously we don’t have vast amounts of vacant land,” he said in a phone interview. “But the sky is the limit in Manhattan.” Mr. Stringer’s office is “sketching out what it would take to pilot a vertical farm,” and plans to pitch a feasibility study to the mayor’s office within the next couple of months, he said. “I think we can really do this,” he added. “We could get the funding.” Dr. Despommier estimates that it would cost $20 million to $30 million to make a prototype of a vertical farm, but hundreds of millions to build one of the 30-story towers that he suggests could feed 50,000 people. “I’m viewed as kind of an outlier because it’s kind of a crazy idea,” Dr. Despommier, 68, said with a chuckle. “You’d think these are mythological creatures.” Dr. Despommier, whose name in French means “of the apple trees,” has been spreading the seeds of his radical idea in lectures and through his Web site. He says his ideas are supported by hydroponic vegetable research done by NASA and are made more feasible by the potential to use sun, wind and wastewater as energy sources. Several observers have said Dr. Despommier’s sky-high dreams need to be brought down to earth. “Why does it have to be 30 stories?” said Jerry Kaufman, professor emeritus of urban and regional planning at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. “Why can’t it be six stories? There’s some exciting potential in the concept, but I think he overstates what can be done.” Armando Carbonell, chairman of the department of planning and urban form at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, Mass., called the idea “very provocative.” But it requires a rigorous economic analysis, he added. “Would a tomato in lower Manhattan be able to outbid an investment banker for space in a high-rise? My bet is that the investment banker will pay more.” Mr. Carbonell questions if a vertical farm could deliver the energy savings its supporters promise. “There’s embodied energy in the concrete and steel and in construction,” he said, adding that the price of land in the city would still outweigh any savings from not having to transport food from afar. “I believe that this general relationship is going to hold, even as transportation costs go up and carbon costs get incorporated into the economic system.” Some criticism is quite helpful. Stephen Colbert jokingly asserted that vertical farming was elitist when Dr. Despommier appeared in June on “The Colbert Report,” a visit that led to a jump in hits to the project’s Web site from an average of 400 daily to 400,000 the day after the show. Dr. Despommier agrees that more research is needed, and calls the energy calculations his students made for the farms, which would rely solely on alternative energy, “a little bit too optimistic.” He added, “I’m a biologist swimming in very deep water right now.” “If I were to set myself as a certifier of vertical farms, I would begin with security,” he said. “How do you keep insects and bacteria from invading your crops?” He says growing food in climate-controlled skyscrapers would also protect against hail and other weather-related hazards, ensuring a higher quality food supply for a city, without pesticides or chemical fertilizers. Architects’ renderings of vertical farms — hybrids of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and Biosphere 2 with SimCity appeal — seem to be stirring interest. “It also has to be stunning in terms of the architecture, because it needs to work in terms of social marketing,” Dr. Despommier said. “You want people to say, ‘I want that in my backyard.’ ” Augustin Rosenstiehl, a French architect who worked with Dr. Despommier to design a template “living tower,” said he thought that any vertical farm proposal needed to be adapted to a specific place. Mr. Rosenstiehl, principal architect for Atelier SOA in Paris, said: “We cannot do a project without knowing where and why and what we are going to cultivate. For example, in Paris, if you grow some wheat, it’s stupid because we have big fields all around the city and lots of wheat and it’s good wheat. There’s no reason to build towers that are very expensive.” Despite its potential problems, the idea of bringing food closer to the city is gaining traction among pragmatists and dreamers alike. A smaller-scale design of a vertical farm for downtown Seattle won a regional green building contest in 2007 and has piqued the interest of officials in Portland, Ore. The building, a Center for Urban Agriculture designed by architects at Mithun, would supply about a third of the food needed for the 400 people who would live there. In June at P.S.1 Contemporary Arts Center in Queens, a husband-wife architect team built a solar-powered outdoor farm out of stacked rows of cardboard tube planters — one that would not meet Dr. Despommier’s security requirements — with chicken coops for egg collection and an array of fruits and vegetables. For Dr. Despommier, the high-rise version is on the horizon. “It’s very idealistic and ivory tower and all of that,” he said. “But there’s a real desire to make this happen.” ---------------- Peut-être pour Dubai en premier? Et le silo no.5, un de ses jours?
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(Courtesy of Bloomberg) I can't stand this. :mad:
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(Courtesy of CNW)
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La Presse threatens union with closure By Mike King, The Gazette September 4, 2009 La Presse newspaper employees talk during preparations for a meeting for employees at the Palais des congrès in June 2009. La Presse newspaper employees talk during preparations for a meeting for employees at the Palais des congrès in June 2009. Photograph by: Phil Carpenter, Gazette file photo MONTREAL – La Presse, North America’s largest French-language broadsheet, will stop publication Dec. 1 if its 700 employees don’t give up $13 million in concessions between now and that date. Caroline Jamet, the 125-year-old newspaper’s vice-president of communications, confirmed publisher Guy Crevier sent the staff an email yesterday informing the workers they have three months to reach an agreement to avoid suspension of both the paper and its website, cyberpresse.ca. In acknowledging La Presse’s current business model “has no chance of surviving,” Crevier noted how management has cut its share of the $26 million needed to be reduced this year to continue operations and that contract negotiations must be sped up to get the other half from the 600 unionized workers. “We have to reduce our cost structure and the only missing link is the contribution of the employees,” Jamet told The Gazette. She said the main issue is the 32-hour, four-day work week that the company wants changed to 35 hours over five days because of the expense of extra staff for that fifth day. That move would likely result in the loss of about 100 jobs, but Jamet added retirements and voluntary departures could reduce the number of layoffs. Crevier, also president of Gesca Ltée – the Power Corp. of Canada subsidiary that owns and publishes La Presse and other French-language papers in the province and Ontario – listed what was done to cut $13 million: • Ceased publication of its Sunday paper June 28 • Reduced the size of the paper to reduce paper costs • Put a voluntary departure program in place • Concluded agreements with financial institutions for new financing, including to cover the “seriously underfunded” pension plan. He first announced to employees in June that, facing an anticipated $215 million deficit by 2013, the paper was seeking to cut costs by $26 million annually over the next five years. It was at that meeting the decision on the Sunday paper was made known. Union leader Hélène De Guise said the longer work week is one of the items being negotiated as well as the possibility of trimming employees’ vacation time. But she added the bargaining team wants to further analyze Crevier’s pronouncement before making any further comments. The last collective agreement expired Dec. 31. Crevier ended his missive stating: “The future of La Presse, your future, is in your hands. It’s up to you to decide.” Jamet, also spokesperson for Gesca, said the measures being taken at La Presse presently have no effect on the chain’s other dailies: Le Soleil in Quebec City, La Tribune in Sherbrooke, Le Nouvelliste in Trois-Rivières, La Voix de l’Est in Granby, Le Quotidien in Saguenay and Le Droit in Ottawa. It is up to the publishers at each of those papers to identify how to cut their costs, she added. In July, the Boston Globe’s union approved a package of $10 million in wage and benefits cuts after owner The New York Times had threatened earliler this year to close New England’s biggest paper unless major concessions were made. The same thing happened at the San Francisco Chronicle in March in order to avoid being closed by the Hearst Corp. mking@thegazette.canwest.com © Copyright © The Montreal Gazette
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CAE wins military training contracts The Gazette Published: 32 minutes ago Montreal flight simulator builder CAE Inc. said today it has won a series of military training contracts worth up to $106 million and including $71 million in firm orders. The contracts are with Canada's Department of National Defence, L-3 Communications of the U.S., the U.S. Navy, Eurofighter Simulation Systems and contractor C2 Technologies. CAE said it sees strong opportunities ahead in the global military market- normally more stable than the civil aviation sector. CAE also said earnings for the first quarter ended June 30 rose 19 per cent to $46.1 million or 18 cents a share from $38.7 million or 15 cents a share a year earlier, because of strong Asian and European civil aircraft training business and rising military orders. Revenue climbed 9.4 per cent to $392 million.
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Construction slowdown looms VIRGINIA GALT Globe and Mail Update August 7, 2008 at 6:22 PM EDT The head of construction powerhouse EllisDon said Thursday he is “very wary and very concerned” about where the Canadian economy is going. “I am worried right across the country that things are tightening up and that a year from now we are going to see a drop-off,” Geoff Smith, the company's president and chief executive officer said in an interview after Statistics Canada reported that the total value of building permits fell 5.3 per cent in June to $6.3-billion. Economists had projected a decline in the value of building permits issued in June, but not of the magnitude that Statistics Canada reported. The consensus had been for a 1 per cent drop Mr. Smith expressed concern for the construction industry as a whole Thursday, although EllisDon has not yet experienced a drop in demand for the heavy construction in which it specializes. “Over the short term, we [at EllisDon] are still seeing a reasonably healthy market. A lot of that is in public sector work and infrastructure rebuilding work,” he said. “But I certainly understand that once you get outside of that space, the big hospital and infrastructure spending, that things are quite tight in the industry,” Mr. Smith said. Statscan reported Thursday that the slowdown in the residential sector resulted in a month-to-month decline of 4.4 per cent to $3.6-billion in June. And in the non-residential sector, the value of permits decreased by 6.6 per cent to $2.8-billion, due to declines in industrial and commercial building intentions, Statscan reported. Mr. Smith said major commercial and industrial customers are being “more careful” about committing to new projects. However, the outlook is not nearly as bleak as in the 1990s, “where things just dried up very dramatically,” he said. The market is cooling, but new projects are still being planned, added Sandy McNair, president of Toronto-based Altus InSite, which conducts market research for governments, lenders, building managers and the heavy construction industry. “No-one's gone crazy and thinking they are going to start 30 new buildings tomorrow. But on the other hand, there is no sense that the sky is falling and our world is about to end either,” Mr. McNair said. Toronto-Dominion Bank economist Millan Mulraine said in a research note that the decline in the value of building permits was broad-based – and “on a city-by-city comparison, the report was fairly ugly.” The value of permits issued in Montreal was down 12.1 per cent, in Calgary down 15.2 per cent, in Vancouver down 13.4 per cent and in Saskatoon down 16.7 per cent, Mr. Mulraine wrote, adding that the overall value of building permits is now 9.1 per cent lower than in the corresponding period last year. Merrill Lynch economist David Wolf said in an economic report Thursday that Canada's housing market is entering a “sustained downturn” and he expects Canadian home builders to pull back “substantially” in response. Bank of Montreal economists had expected June building permits to decline 3.1 per cent, “as the housing market continues to cool and non-residential intentions retrace part of the prior month's massive gain,” the bank said in a research note. The steepest decline occurred in Ontario, where the value of building permits was down 7.9 per cent to $2.3-billion, due mainly to a 15.8 per cent decline in plans for non-residential buildings, Statscan said. The decline in Ontario's residential sector was 1.7 per cent. Alberta posted a 7.5 per cent decline, due to a 19.6 per cent drop in the residential sector. British Columbia and New Brunswick also experienced declines in both the residential and non-residential sectors, Statscan said. “In contrast, intentions rose 3.5 per cent in Quebec, with gains in both the residential and non-residential sectors.” Overall, there was a slight increase in the value of permits issued for single-family residences – up 1.8 per cent to $2.3-billion. But there was a sharp drop in the value of permits issued for multiple-family dwellings. “Municipalities issued $1.3-billion worth of permits for multi-family housing in June, down 13.8 per cent, a second consecutive monthly decrease. Most of these declines occurred in Ontario and Alberta,” Statscan said. “It is now becoming clear that the Canadian housing market is continuing to cool, as the level of activity moderates to more sustainable levels,” the TD Bank said in its research note. “And we expected this correction to continue at a measured and orderly pace.” Mr. McNair said the month-to-month data on non-residential building activity tends to be “lumpy” because these tend to be larger projects “and the decisions don't get made evenly spread out across the 12 months of the year.” There is “a reasonable level of activity going on across the country” right now, he said. “Edmonton has never had more construction activity in 20 years in terms of office building activity. Calgary is extremely active as well. Toronto has a healthy level of construction activity going on right now. Ottawa, even Montreal, have a healthy level of activity under way,” Mr. McNair said. “They have got their permits and they are building them out.” Mr. McNair said the residential sector appears to be stable as well, although construction activity is moderating from the rapid pace of the past few years. “It [residential] is moderating, but it's not going over a cliff the way it has in the United States,” he said. Comme si c`était surprenant que Montreal aille bien..... Globe and mail cr**
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U.S. jobless rate climbs to 5.7% JEANNINE AVERSA The Associated Press August 1, 2008 at 12:19 PM EDT WASHINGTON — The U.S. unemployment rate climbed to a four-year high of 5.7 per cent in July as employers cut 51,000 jobs, dashing the hopes of an influx of young people looking for summer work. Payroll cuts weren't as deep as the 72,000 predicted by economists, however. And, job losses for both May and June were smaller than previously reported. July's reductions marked the seventh straight month where employers eliminated jobs. The economy has lost a total of 463,000 jobs so far this year. The latest snapshot, released by the Labour Department on Friday, showed a lack of credit has stunted employers' expansion plans and willingness to hire. Fallout from the housing slump and high energy prices also are weighing on employers. The increase in the unemployment rate to 5.7 per cent, from 5.5 per cent in June, in part came as many young people streamed into the labour market looking for summer jobs. This year, fewer of them were able to find work, the government said. The unemployment rate for teenagers jumped to 20.3 per cent, the highest since late 1992. The economy is the top concern of voters and will figure prominently in their choices for president and other elected officials come November. The faltering labour market is a source of anxiety not only for those looking for work but also for those worried about keeping their jobs during uncertain times. Job losses in July were the heaviest in industries hard hit by the housing, credit and financial debacles. Manufacturers cut 35,000 positions, construction companies got rid of 22,000 and retailers shed 17,000 jobs. Temporary help firms — also viewed as a barometer of demand for future hiring — eliminated 29,000 jobs. Those losses swamped job gains elsewhere, including in the government, education and health care. In May and June combined, the economy lost 98,000 jobs, according to revised figures. That wasn't as bad as the 124,000 reductions previously reported. GM, Chrysler LLC, Wachovia Corp., Cox Enterprises Inc. and Pfizer are among the companies that have announced job cuts in July. GM Friday reported the third-worst quarterly loss in its history in the second quarter as North American vehicle sales plummeted and the company faced expenses due to labour unrest and its massive restructuring plan. On July 15, GM announced a plan to raise $15-billion (U.S.) for its restructuring by laying off thousands of hourly and salaried workers, speeding the closure of truck and SUV plants, suspending its dividend and raising cash through borrowing and the sale of assets. GM also said it would reduce production by another 300,000 vehicles, and that could prompt another wave of blue-collar early retirement and buyout offers. Meanwhile, Bennigan's restaurants owned by privately held Metromedia Restaurant Group, are closing, driving more people to unemployment lines. All told, there were 8.8 million unemployed people in July, up from 7.1 million last year. The jobless rate last July stood at 4.7 per cent. More job cuts are expected in coming months. There's growing concern that many people will pull back on their spending later this year when the bracing effect of the tax rebates fades, dealing a dangerous blow to the fragile economy. These worries are fanning recession fears. Still, workers saw wage gains in July. Average hourly earnings rose to $18.06 in July, a 0.3 per cent increase from the previous month. That matched economists' expectations. Over the past year, wages have grown 3.4 per cent. Paycheques aren't stretching as far because of high food and energy prices. Other reports out Friday showed stresses as companies cope with a sluggish economy. Spending on construction projects around the country dropped 0.4 per cent in June as cutbacks in home building eclipsed gains in commercial construction, the Commerce Department reported. And, manufacturers' business was flat in July. The Institute for Supply Management's reading of activity from the country's producers of cars, airplanes, appliances and other manufactured goods hit 50, down from 50.2 in June. A reading above 50 signals growth. The news forced Wall Street to reassess its initial positive reaction to the jobs data. The Dow, which opened higher, slid about 80 points by midmorning. The Federal Reserve is expected to hold rates steady next week as it tries to grapple with duelling concerns — weak economic activity and inflation. In June, the Fed halted a nearly yearlong rate-cutting campaign to shore up the economy because lower rates would aggravate inflation. On the other hand, boosting rates too soon to fend off inflation could hurt the economy.
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Canada's inflation rate jumps to 3.1 per cent Canwest News Service Published: 1 hour ago OTTAWA - The annual rate of inflation in Canada jumped to 3.1 per cent in June, the biggest rise in almost three year years, fuelled by soaring gasoline prices, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. Most economists had expected an overall inflation rate last month of 2.9 per cent from a year early, compared with a year-on-year increase of 2.2 per cent in May. "Gasoline prices increased 26.9 per cent between June 2007 and June 2008, significantly higher than the 15 per cent advance posted in May," the federal agency said. "June's increase was the largest since the 34.7 per cent gain reported for September 2005, when hurricanes Katrina and Rita disrupted the oil market," it said. "June's increase reflected both recent increases in pump prices, as well as the fact that gasoline prices had been on the decline in June 2007." On a monthly basis, inflation rose 0.7 per cent in June from May. "In addition to gasoline prices, mortgage interest cost, bakery products and air transportation also exerted strong upward pressure on the consumer price index in June," Statistics Canada said. Prince Edward Island and Alberta posted the biggest gains in consumer prices, rises 4.7 per cent and 4.4 per cent, respectively. Meanwhile, the core rate - which strips out volatile items, such as energy and food, and is used by the Bank of Canada to gauge inflation - rose by 1.5 per cent in June, the same rate as the previous month. On Tuesday, Statistics Canada reported that retail sales rose by a less than expected 0.4 per cent in May, with virtually all of the increase due to higher prices, especially for gasoline. However, Canadian consumers - thanks to the strong Canadian dollar - have not been as hard hit by rising prices for food and fuel. As well, pump prices have fluctuated over the past few months from the $1.20 range upwards to nearly $1.50 a litre, driving down consumption. The Bank of Canada's target for inflation is between one and three per cent, although it expects the rate to peak at 4.3 per cent early in 2009. The central bank has held its key lending rate steady at three per cent for the past two months after a series of reductions in an effort to spur spending amid an economic slowdown. However, the bank has signalled it is now balancing the need to encourage growth without fuelling inflation. "The sting of the steep pick-up in headline inflation is lessened by the fact that the Bank of Canada was already so public in calling for an eventual peak of more than four per cent by the turn of the year," said BMO Capital Markets economist Douglas Porter. "A further correction in energy prices (on top of the $20 drop in crude oil in the past two weeks) would go a long way to further dampening concerns about lofty headline inflation readings," he said. "With core holding steady at 1.5 per cent in June, right around where the bank looks for it to average in Q3, there's really not much to chew on here from a monetary policy stance." The Canadian dollar trading around 99 cents US following the inflation report, little changed from its Tuesday close of 99.16 cents US. Percentage change (May to June / June 2007 to June 2008): All-items +0.7 / +3.1 Food +1 / +2.8 Shelter +0.6 /+4.7 Household operations and furnishings 0.0 / +1.3 Clothing and footwear -0.5 / -0.6 Transportation +1.8 / +5.5 Health and personal care +0.1 / +0.7 Recreation, education and reading 0.0 / +0.4 Alcoholic beverages and tobacco products +0.2 / +1.6 Goods +1.1 / +2.5 Services +0.3 / +3.7 All-items excluding food and energy 0.0 / +1.2 Energy +4.4 / +18 Source: Statistics Canada Percentage change (May to June / June 2007 to June 2008): Newfoundland and Labrador +0.8 / +3.1 Prince Edward Island +0.5 / +4.7 Nova Scotia +0.6 / +4.2 New Brunswick +0.5 / +2.1 Quebec +0.4 / +3.1 Ontario +0.5 / +2.8 Manitoba +0.8 / +2.4 Saskatchewan +0.7 / +3.4 Alberta +1.5 / +4.4 British Columbia +0.7 / +3 Whitehorse +0.9 / +4.5 Yellowknife +0.8 / +4.5 Iqaluit +0.6 / +2.3 Source: Statistics Canada http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/business/story.html?id=8187d0e4-0761-4d7e-a550-ad9f55369ca1
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ArcelorMittal To Shut Down Montreal Plant On June 30 March 26, 2008 12:21 p.m. EST Montreal, Canada (AHN) - The largest steel manufacturer will shut down its wire factory in Montreal on June 30. Around 100 Canadian workers employed by ArcelorMittal at the Lachine plant are expected to lose their jobs. ArcelorMittal said it had to close the Montreal facility because of high production cost, oversupply of products and the strong Canadian currency. The plant has 153 employees, but only 53 of the workers will be transferred to ArcelorMittal's steel wire mill at Saint Patrick. Alain Robitaille, general manager of ArcelorMittal's wire division, said demand for steel wire among carmakers had declined in the U.S. over the past six years. At the same time, the Canadian dollar had appreciated vis-a-vis the greenback, making it more expensive for American buyers to purchase their steel requirements from Canada. "ArcelorMittal cannot continue operating two wire mills in a context where it is more advisable to operate only one plant," Robitaille told the Associated Press. On March 14, the company petitioned an Ontario court to require its partners in Wabush Mines to sell to the firm their majority share in an iron ore joint venture in Labrador and Quebec. Prior to ArcelorMittal's court petition, U.S. Steel Canada and Cleveland-Cliffs withdrew from negotiations with ArcelorMittal to sell their combined 71 percent share, but did not explain why. http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7010446071
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(Courtesy of CanWest News Service)
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San Fransisco Chronicle: World vibe at Montreal jazz fest
un sujet a posté begratto dans L'actualité
World vibe at Montreal jazz fest David Rubien, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, June 21, 2007 "Jazz is a tree that has many leaves," says André Ménard, artistic director of the Montreal Jazz Festival -- a terse and apt summation of not only jazz but also his festival and the city of Montreal itself. The festival -- beginning its 28th annual edition June 28 and running through July 8 -- is the biggest of its kind in the world, an event that features more than 350 free outdoor concerts and 150 paid indoor shows. It is expected to draw more than 200,000 attendees, yet it manages to feel intimate. It's hard to imagine how a music festival that traffics in such numbers could be as sophisticated, smooth running, user friendly -- and inexpensive -- as Montreal's, but it is. Purists may raise eyebrows over the fact that two of the festival's headliners are Bob Dylan and Van Morrison (both shows are sold out), but this festival long ago got past distinctions of genre. In fact, in booking nonjazz acts, which Montreal started doing about 20 years ago, it pointed the way to survival for every major jazz festival, including San Francisco, whose fall lineup includes nonjazz acts Caetano Veloso and Ravi Shankar, and Monterey, where Los Lobos and DJ Logic will perform. "In 1986, when we last programmed Van Morrison, people questioned it, but he was on the cover of (jazz magazine) Down Beat three months later," Ménard says. "I wish every jazz album was as spiritually strong as Van Morrison's music. ... And as for Dylan, the way he redoes his songs -- that's a jazz attitude." Attitude is the right word. It's the thread that connects jazz acts the festival is producing this year, like Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, Wayne Shorter and Bill Frisell, with world music acts like Angélique Kidjo, Femi Kuti and Richard Bona, with rock acts like Garth Hudson, Rickie Lee Jones and the Cowboy Junkies. It's not a punk or grunge attitude, obviously, but a dedication to musicianship and exploration -- a willingness to stretch and take chances. A jazz attitude. The strong world music presence at the festival -- 30 countries are represented, from a Chinese jazz singer covering Patsy Cline, to French new-wave pop, to Italian barrel percussionists, to Malian kora, to Australian didgeridoo, to Garifuna singers -- is appropriate, given the diverse ethnic mix of Montreal, which, as home to 80 nationalities, is considered North America's gateway to Europe and beyond. That is true even though almost everyone younger than 60 speaks English fluently. Centrally located downtown at the complex of theaters, museums and hotels called Place des Arts, the Montreal Jazz Festival packs all the action into a relatively compact space. Free outdoor shows are on nine small -- and one whopper -- stages, and 12 indoor venues feature the paid nighttime shows. The festival doesn't only stick the little-knowns on the outdoor stages, either. This year, a Brazilian carnival bash with Carlinhos Brown gets things going June 28; last year, it was the Neville Brothers. With more than 50 performances a day, it's clearly too much to take in, so it's a good thing adventure beckons outside the Place des Arts from any direction you choose. Heading south toward the St. Lawrence River, you'll hit Old Montreal, where you can easily spend an afternoon investigating the cobblestone streets, some with buildings dating to the 17th and 18th centuries. Stop at any of the many bistros offering mussels and pomme frites, usually with a good selection of French and Belgian beers and, of course, wine. Continue south to the river and at 27 De La Commune, you'll find Boutique Ça Roule, where you can rent bicycles -- a great way to see the city. But if dodging traffic sounds daunting, there's a leisurely ride to be had along the tree-lined Canal de Lachine, where heading west you can stop at the Marché Express, Montreal's equivalent of the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, only it's open every day. Less than a mile northeast of the festival grounds are enticing residential neighborhoods of many ethnic flavors along Boulevard St.-Laurent and Rue St.-Denis -- including the Latin Quarter, where last summer a spontaneous parade broke out, clogging streets, when Portugal defeated England in the World Cup soccer quarterfinals. Keep heading north along St. Laurent and you'll hit the Jewish neighborhood that gave the world, believe it or not, William Shatner. Now we can settle for old-school deli sandwiches and soda-fountain drinks at Wilensky's Light Lunch, or superb bagels at La Maison du Bagel or St. Viateur Bagel. Heading back south to the festival, consider having dinner at what many call the most authentic French bistro in the city, L'Express. There's nothing pretentious about this spot. It's all business, packed with locals who seem ecstatic to be there, digging into bowls of bouillabaisse or scarfing pate foie gras or bone marrow, and tossing back wine that practically dances in the glass. There's so much more to do: great museums, galleries, beautiful parks, a 20-mile underground city where people spend much of their time in the frigid winter, day trips to the Laurentian mountains. Once you've spent a day exploring the city, the music back at the festival -- be it danceable, cerebral or both -- offers a way to relax and synthesize your experiences, processing them through the sensual to the aesthetic to the spiritual and back. That's jazz, and that's Montreal. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you go All locations are in Montreal. Prices are in Canadian dollars. Getting there From San Francisco, Air Canada flies nonstop to Montreal. A number of airlines offer one-stop connecting flights. Where to stay Hyatt Regency Montreal: Online rates for doubles from $244 (about $229 U.S.). 605 modern rooms and suites across from the Place des Arts. 1255 Jeanne-Mance. (514) 982-1234, montreal.hyatt.com. Hotel Place des Arts: Eight air-conditioned rooms, studios and suites in a renovated Victorian building downtown. $40-$80 ($37.55-$75.10 U.S.). 270 Rue Sherbrooke W. (514) 995-7515, http://www.hotelplacedesarts.com. Where to eat L'Express: Bustling traditional French bistro. Entrees $12-$22 ($11.27-$20.65 U.S.). 3927 Rue St.-Denis. (514) 845-5333. Wilensky's Light Lunch: Tiny shop serving classic deli fare 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. Entrees less than $10 ($9.39 U.S.). 34 Fairmount St. W. (514) 271-0247. What to do Montreal Jazz Festival: June 28-July 8. Various venues across the city. $12.50-$87.50 ($11.73-$82.14 U.S.); many free performances. (888) 515-0515, http://www.montrealjazzfest.com. For more information Tourisme Montréal: (877) 266-5687, http://www.tourisme-montreal.org. E-mail David Rubien at drubien@sfchronicle.com. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/21/DDG4MQI4M71.DTL This article appeared on page E - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle
