WARNING!!! Montreal visitors will be harassed by daily protesters

[Urban trekker]

Things got a little wild in Seattle today.

 

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Windows-smashed-as-May-Day-protests-wind-through-Downtown-Seattle-149713705.html

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[sail7seas]

<snip>

 

 

We have the highest taxes in all of North America if we include ALL the taxes that we pay. As the owner of a B&B, I collect hotel tax, provincial sales tax and federal sales tax. I pay property tax on my home. I pay provincial income tax and federal income tax. I pay both provincial and federal sales taxes on what I buy. In Quebec I also have to put into a fund for family leave. If I don't have prescription coverage with an insurance company, I also have to pay into the provincial medicine insurance company. I pay a driver's licence fee that includes bodily harm insurance and I pay a car registration fee that includes bodily harm insurance. (I still have to have separate insurance for the car, the government insurance only covers bodily harm.) I even pay a small annual fee into the board that regulates that I get paid and treated properly at work. If I was a large corporation, I need to spend or pay 1% of my salaries out in education for my employees. I also have to contribute to unemployment (unless you aren't eligible, ie self-employed). Oh and we have a 9% tax on insurance, just for good measure. Interest is not tax deductible either. There is a reason for high prices in Canada!

 

 

Gasp....

 

Please, please, please

 

Remove this post before our U.S. politicians see it.

Don't give them anymore ideas on how to take more money from us. :eek:

 

 

 

[Ephraim]

Gasp....

 

Please, please, please

 

Remove this post before our U.S. politicians see it.

Don't give them anymore ideas on how to take more money from us.

 

The systems aren't that far apart on taxation, other than Quebec. You just pay them out in insurance and other costs. For example, you have to pay for health coverage and it's part of our taxes. But more of our money goes directly to pay for our medical system. Our medical coverage has an overhead of about 3%. Basically $34 per person in Canada and $212 in the US, so about 30% in the US.

 

And Quebec's Caisse which is our pension fund is supposed to be self-financing and cover our pensions. Our bodily harm insurance is self-financed with very low overhead. Worker's compensation, etc.

[martincath]

... and as expected my visit was not impacted by any protests. This is despite me being in the Intercontinental Hotel, which is next door to the World Trade Centre that had the morning 'chain the doors so nobody can get inside' protest - I slept on uninterrupted and would not have even been aware it had happened at all when I went out at 10am if I hadn't checked the news.

 

All four days I spent on foot, in touristy areas (Mont Royal, St-Denis, Old Port, Chinatown) but walked right by Place Emilie Gamelin where the students had been massing daily for their evening marches, passed through McGill U downtown campus.

 

If I had not been paying attention to the news I could have left Montreal without ever even knowing that there was any kind of protest.

 

So there you go - impartial tourist view of Montreal *right now* from someone who is not a local, doesn't own a business there, isn't involved in local politics, no family in town etc. Full disclosure - my wife's employer has a small Montreal office so I know half a dozen locals, but 'know' as in 'meet maybe once a year.'

 

PS: the roadworks on the other hand are worse than I've ever seen them - allow more time than usual getting to the airport if you're in Montreal this cruise season (our taxi drivers told us that there are major planned works extending right through 'til winter). I'd usually expect 30-45mins to Trudeau airport leaving when we did and it took just over an hour - and that was with a cabbie who drove outrageously even by Montreal taxi driver standards (flat fee to airport = huge encouragement for cabbies to minimise trip times!). If he'd driven courteously we'd probably have taken at least an extra 10 minutes. Colleagues of my wife have been reporting 2 hour trips during evening rush hour.

[Ephraim]

....the roadworks on the other hand are worse than I've ever seen them - allow more time than usual getting to the airport if you're in Montreal this cruise season (our taxi drivers told us that there are major planned works extending right through 'til winter). I'd usually expect 30-45mins to Trudeau airport leaving when we did and it took just over an hour - and that was with a cabbie who drove outrageously even by Montreal taxi driver standards (flat fee to airport = huge encouragement for cabbies to minimise trip times!). If he'd driven courteously we'd probably have taken at least an extra 10 minutes. Colleagues of my wife have been reporting 2 hour trips during evening rush hour.

 

The roadwork is scheduled to continue through to 2018! There are major changes in Montreal's roadwork planned, including the changing of highways into urban boulevards and replacing a patchwork of elevated highways with unelevated highways. It's going to be a long one...

[gentlemancruiser]

Welcome to Canada, we have two seasons, winter and construction season.

 

I shouldn't complain, I live in TO and we don't have the huge problems you get in MTL with road repairs, but we do get alot of marathons almost every weekend.

[A Sixth?]

The daily unrest reaches a scary new low.

 

The entire Metro system is closed by smoke bomb attacks.

 

 

 

http://www.cjad.com/CJADLocalNews/entry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10381933

 

Glad your visit went without incident martincath.

 

My philology is informed is better than not warned.

 

Others obviously see nothing wrong with the daily and (more threatening) nightly riots and attacks.

 

It'll be interesting to see how the anarchistic deal with the upcoming Grand Prix

[Sailingpeace]

Students have been blocking streets, and being violent now for weeks and show no sign of stopping any time soon.

 

DO NOT go into down town unless prepared to get stranded away from your ship and possibly even attacked, tear gassed or worse.

 

This is no joke...

 

The DO NOT I would recommend is : DO NOT think this post is acurate !!! Yes there are students demonstrations ( some of them - not all- are on strike). Yes there have been some unaccaptable stupid rough moments and violent altercations , but for many days now it is night marches, in a very localised and small part of town and I am sure many tourists come to Montreal and if they don't watch the news , don't even know about it. I have never heard anything about a tourist beeing bothered! I find it very sad that you make Montreal look like a war zone. You are blowing things really out of proportion!! Business and activities are going on, and I worked in Montreal on the weeek-end ( two days ago!) , downtown and it was actually peaceful and beautiful. I walked all the way from the train station to the Chinatown, the weather was beautiful and it was very relaxing ! I would invite our visitors to look at more reliable sources and invite Montrealers to think before they write , about how misinformation can spirale into disinformation tarnishing our city ! Keep calm is a fitting message for all!

[A Sixth?]

The DO NOT I would recommend is : DO NOT think this post is acurate !!! Yes there are students demonstrations ( some of them - not all- are on strike). Yes there have been some unaccaptable stupid rough moments and violent altercations , but for many days now it is night marches, in a very localised and small part of town and I am sure many tourists come to Montreal and if they don't watch the news , don't even know about it. I have never heard anything about a tourist beeing bothered! I find it very sad that you make Montreal look like a war zone. You are blowing things really out of proportion!! Business and activities are going on, and I worked in Montreal on the weeek-end ( two days ago!) , downtown and it was actually peaceful and beautiful. I walked all the way from the train station to the Chinatown, the weather was beautiful and it was very relaxing ! I would invite our visitors to look at more reliable sources and invite Montrealers to think before they write , about how misinformation can spirale into disinformation tarnishing our city ! Keep calm is a fitting message for all!

 

Yes, you of course are correct, most of the city is unaffected, BUT where most reading this thread would choose to stay pre/post cruise (with no forewarning) is directly downtown and I will give them a "heads up".

 

I don't see your links to news items in the press of the present saying "things are fine" Share them.

 

Most of the island is fine, just stay safe and stay away from the thousands (yes thousand) of troublemakers and anarchists.

 

Interesting how many "Canadians" do not want to warn others of a real ongoing problem.... Grand Prix coming and the trouble makers are promising BIG things....

 

Major riots again last night.

 

http://www.cjad.com/CJADLocalNews/entry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10384200

 

Some of the terrorists who smoke bombed the metro were arrested (most are still free) and bail was delayed.

 

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/14/four-suspects-in-montreal-subway-smoke-bomb-case-will-remain-detained-for-more-than-a-week/

 

Australian press on the seperatist backing the "movement"

 

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/quebec-separatists-back-student-strikes/story-e6frgcjx-1226335956491

[ElsieToo]

Likely nothing to worry about... if the strike isn't over by then, their semester will have been cancelled and they won't have apartment leases anyway. The students usually clear out by the end of May and aren't back until September.

 

Wonderful - thanks so much! I have not shared the news about these protests with the other people I'm travelling with because they're complete worry-warts and I was hoping it would no longer be an issue at the time of our sailing. If it's still going on as we get closer, well, I'll be sure to say something. But I don't want to freak them out for no reason. :)

[Ephraim]

Wonderful - thanks so much! I have not shared the news about these protests with the other people I'm travelling with because they're complete worry-warts and I was hoping it would no longer be an issue at the time of our sailing. If it's still going on as we get closer, well, I'll be sure to say something. But I don't want to freak them out for no reason. :)

 

It's just protests. Stay away from the Latin Quarter and all is fine. They just run around like idiots. Walk the other direction. So far I have lived through 100 days of this and it's getting boring. I hear more of this in the news than I actually see it.

[jkrislc]

It's just protests. Stay away from the Latin Quarter and all is fine. They just run around like idiots. Walk the other direction. So far I have lived through 100 days of this and it's getting boring. I hear more of this in the news than I actually see it.

 

The only signs of the protests I've notices over the last two days while in Montreal precruise was in the complimentary newspaper left at my hotel room's door.

[Sailingpeace]

The only signs of the protests I've notices over the last two days while in Montreal precruise was in the complimentary newspaper left at my hotel room's door.

 

Thank you for confirming with a real experience what I posted about a few days ago. Really puts things in perspective. And by the way, weather in Montreal this morning is just perfect for walking in Old Montréal or having a nice brunch on a terrasse !

[A Sixth?]

Grand Prix weekend.

 

Students targeted Grand Prix and comedy festival events.

 

Facts people facts.

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/06/07/montreal-grand-prix-protests.html

[sebas030]

I haven't reed all the forum but living in Montreal I can tell you that :

 

*Students will target public transportation as 90% of Grand Prix public use the public transportation to get to the island it is held on.

 

*Just for laugh festival owner had a meeting with the students, and they agreed to stay calm and clear of the Quartier Latin it is held in.

 

*These protests are getting weaker and weaker

 

*For the past 2 weeks the protests have gone " familly friendly" as A LOT of the protesters are family with YOUNG children, even at night...so no tear gas no violence no nothing in the streets

 

* No protest have gone near the Old Port where the ship is docked

 

* SERIOUSLY NO WORRIES !!

 

Have fun !

[nomadicbacchus]

I agree with the above poster, Protesters (not rioters) have been peaceful except for when clashes with police happen, which are all warned of before hand. Basically, don't stay to watch and take pictures of the protests. Police will use noise grenades, tear gas, and rubber bullets after warning crowds to disperse, and sometimes end up in tens of thousands of people running for cover. This can be dangerous, but again, just don't go near the protesting. The old port has not been protested at all, but it has mainly been focused around UQAM and the downtown core.

 

Traffic is definitely affected though...The goal is to block traffic, not cause violence. Police have been very efficient at re routing traffic, so its never terrible...

[bobsfamily]

CBC news... I read it online and IF I was headed to Montreal I would reconsider it.... amazing that NOTHING is in US news.

[Ephraim]

Geez, talk about over reaction. The student block some traffic, but in the downtown core, where most people are taking the metro or walking. They are nothing but an annoyance. What happened during the Grand Prix has to do with students that have nothing better to do and anti-capitalists (who are more violent). Most of the city didn't see a thing. My guests didn't see a thing and there were here for the Grand Prix. Oh... they saw more cops than usual.