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Dive into the Montreal stories you’re curious about and the issues you want to understand. From Laval to Longueuil and across the island, host Ainslie MacLellan explores the complexities of our colourful, vibrant and sometimes frustrating, but always interesting city. Every Thursday.
88 Episodes
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Throughout most of the 20th century, you could find downhill ski runs on and around Mount Royal, complete with tow ropes, T-bars and even a 100-ft long ski jump! More than 100 years ago, ski-jumping competitions in the city would draw crowds of thousands of people. In this episode from the archives, we hear why downhill skiing disappeared from the heart of Montreal, and why not everyone agrees over whether it should come back. This episode was first released March 6, 2025.
International students and immigrants on work visas are finding new allies in their fight to stay in Quebec and get permanent residency. Many have been calling for the province to reverse its decision to scrap the Quebec experience program, known as the PEQ, or at least to grant them exemptions to apply under the old rules, instead of new ones that penalize applicants from the Greater Montreal area. Now, the Mayor of Montreal and the opposition at city hall have come together to put pressure on the immigration minister too.
During a cold snap this winter, Hydro-Québec was twice forced to issue a rare alert and to tap into reserve power to meet "exceptional" demand. The utility has chalked it up to bad timing because some installations were undergoing maintenance and says it has enough capacity to keep the lights on for everyone, at least, right now. With demand increasing, and the province courting energy hungry-industries, the power utility is looking to double its network by 2050. We’ll hear what that means for Quebec residents and businesses.
Quebec Premier and Coalition Avenir Quebec leader François Legault has announced he is stepping down, just nine months before the next provincial election. We’ll talk about the issues that shaped his terms as premier and what his resignation means for voters who are headed to the polls next fall.
One Montrealer finds himself asking: What’s the deal with Westmount? How did this suburban enclave grow to become its own city, surrounded by a bigger city? The answer takes us through early French and British colonial history to the 2000s campaign to merge the whole island of Montreal, to the layers of municipal governance that we all live with today.
Gurbaj Singh Multani is just playing basketball when the ceremonial dagger that symbolizes his Sikh faith falls onto the playground of his Montreal school. The next thing the 11-year-old knows, his principal is giving him an ultimatum: hand over his kirpan, a symbol of his Sikh faith, or leave school. This week, This is Montreal shares this episode of the CBC podcast See You in Court. Host Falen Johnson and journalist Sonali Karnick take us through the case of Multani v Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys. It sparks a heated public debate over multiculturalism in post 9/11 Quebec, with grown-ups hurling slurs at the tween, and ends with a landmark ruling for religious freedoms in Canada. Check out more episodes of See You in Court
After weeks of turmoil, Quebec Liberal Party leader Pablo Rodriguez told his caucus he was resigning. It’s the latest twist in a tumultuous session at the National Assembly. So where does this leave the Liberals? Did other parties end the year (mostly) unscathed? Which issues made the biggest impact? CBC National Assembly reporter Cathy Senay dives into a big year in Quebec politics.
If you're stuck in traffic as a driver, you might start looking for another route. Maybe you already know a short cut down a side street, or maybe your GPS even suggests one. Most drivers wouldn’t think twice about cutting through a residential area to avoid traffic. But among transportation researchers, this is sometimes known as rat running. And a recent coroner’s report into the death of a 7-year-old girl is recommending that Quebec do more to discourage drivers from doing it.
Make the Season Kind is CBC’s yearly campaign focused on food insecurity. It’s also a celebration of community spirit, generosity, and kindness. But what does it mean to be truly kind? CBC’s Rebecca Ugolini explores this question with dedicated volunteers, a writer, and a psychologist to find out how we can be kinder to others and to ourselves.
The Quebec government is locked in a heated dispute with doctors over its new law that changes how doctors are paid and how they take on patients. The province says the goal is to improve access to care, but doctors say it will do the opposite. So how do we make sure people can see a doctor when they need one?
You might not know it if you take a stroll through Maisonneuve Park today, but 50 years ago it was something completely different: a championship golf course that hosted the likes of pro golfers Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. CBC’s Douglas Gelevan tells the story of how the course became a park, after a pitched battle that pitted an unusual coalition of golfers and nature lovers against a larger-than-life mayor with Olympic-sized ambitions.
STM maintenance workers have ended their strike, but some experts say Montreal’s transit system still has a difficult road ahead. We’ll hear more about the financial situation transit is facing, and why some say we need to rethink how we are paying for it.
Montreal’s mayor elect Soraya Martinez Ferrada is promising change on everything from housing and homelessness to transportation and construction. CBC journalists Sudha Krishnan and Ben Shingler break down what the new mayor is hoping to accomplish and some of the challenges her administration might face.
30 years ago the No side won a narrow victory in the 1995 Quebec referendum. While polls suggest most Quebecers don't want to go through another referendum, some young Quebec sovereignists are hoping they’ll get their chance to vote for independence. Reporter Aatefeh Padidar speaks with some young people in the sovereignty movement about how they’re trying to reframe the debate for a new generation.
Despite growing numbers of cyclists and rebounding transit ridership, most people in the greater Montreal area still commute by car. But the choices available to you depend a lot on where you live and where you’re going. Transportation researchers say we need to do a better job of offering everyone alternative ways to get around. We’ll look at what some municipal politicians are proposing, and what it will take for Montreal to make a mobility shift where no commuter is left behind.*Correction: A previous version of this episode referred to active commuting "by bike or by car" increasing 26 per cent. It's been corrected to "by bike or by foot" and 25 per cent.
1Montreal has long enjoyed a reputation as an affordable rent haven that has supported the artists that live, work, and make the city vibrant. But with rents skyrocketing and with most artists earning a lot less than the Montreal average, one listener asks: "How are artists affording to live in Montreal anymore?” We’ll also hear how parties in the municipal election are proposing to support local artists.
Candidates in Montreal’s mayoral race are making some ambitious promises to solve homelessness, including more social and transitional housing and new policies on encampments. But cities across Canada have struggled in recent years to respond to the growing number of people who find themselves living on the streets. So what will it take to change things? Reporters Kwabena Oduro and Ben Shingler spoke with people at one Montreal encampment and join host Ainslie MacLellan to talk about solutions.
MR. JEAN MARC RICHARD HAS WON A CASH PRIZE OF $833,337! In 1999, a letter with this claim from Time Magazine lands in a Montreal man’s mailbox. But according to the fine print, he's not actually a winner. Jean Marc Richard, feeling determined to get his promised payout, launches a court battle with one of North America’s biggest publishers. This week, This is Montreal shares an episode of the new CBC podcast See You in Court. Host Falen Johnson and journalist Craig Desson rip open the case of Richard v Time to uncover one man’s quest for an elusive cash prize that somehow escalates into a Supreme Court battle over misleading advertising, setting a standard for Canadian consumer rights that is still in use today. Check out More Episodes of See You in Court
The fatal police shooting of 15-year-old Nooran Rezayi in Longueuil has left a family and a community demanding answers. Reporter Matthew Lapierre explains what we know so far. We also hear why some worry an investigation by Quebec’s police oversight body the Bureau des Enquêtes Indépendantes (BEI) might not be enough to truly get to the bottom of what happened.
With Valérie Plante not running again, Montrealers will be choosing a new mayor when they go to the polls on November 2. On top of that, the city is dealing with some major issues: from housing and homelessness, to infrastructure and transportation. Journalists Ben Shingler and Sudha Krishnan look at how the campaign is shaping up, and why municipal politics may deserve more of our attention.
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