By Murray Sherriffs
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The Montreal Canadiens are preparing to take on the Carolina Hurricanes, following last night win over Buffalo, 3-2 in overtime. It has been 11 years since this happened. Alex Newhook scored the overtime winner. Phillip Danault and Zachary Bolduc also scored for the Habs and Jakub Dobeš turned aside several hard afforts by the Sabre, helping Montreal advance to the third round. Thousands of fans packed the Bell Centre for a massive watch party, after the game joining the many thousands who were watching on big screens outside. Game one against the Hurricanes goes Thursday at 8 p.m. Montreal police staged a heavy presence around the venue and say overall, the crowds were happy and peaceful, causing little trouble. Somebody did show up with a box of fireworks and the sight of some of them firing up the sides of surrounding buildings, provided interesting viewing. Police detained 2 people whose celebrations went offside. Near Peel and Sainte-Catherine, police used tear gas to deal with a small group who threw bottles and other debris at officers. At Mansfield Street and René-Lévesque, fireworks were aimed at Montreal police on horseback; no arrests.
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In Paris, Premier Fréchette has pitched Quebec as a “trusted partner” for France and Europe, telling a round table of French government and business leaders that Quebec’s “major assets” in critical minerals is to note.
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The owners of Jer’s Auto Service in Ladysmith, Quebec—near Shawville—are urging the Fréchette government to have a close look at Quebec’s language laws, following receipt of a warning from the language police that its English-only Facebook posts will not do and that fines of $20,000 are possible, if the law is ignored even though most social media platforms allow for instant translation at a click of a mouse. ”Not good enough’, says the l‘Office.
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The West Island REM is open; operating its regular schedule and fares.
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The annual Portuguese Santo Cristo procession took place last Sunday in Montreal’s Plateau, in the face of a refusal by the borough to issue a permit, fearful of contravening Quebec secularism law that forbids prayer in public spaces.
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A 17-year-old is recovering from a gunshot wound in St. Laurent, near Bourgoin and Hufford streets.
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Trudeau airport is back to near-normal at Canada Border Service Agency kiosks, following a system outage at a score of airports, which caused commercial and passengers delays that are still being experienced in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto Pearson and Billy Bishop, Hamilton, Ottawa, Québec City and Halifax.
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Israel’s navy has intercepted vessels from the Global Sumud Flotilla, off Cyprus, stopping its latest effort to challenge a blockade of Gaza. A Montrealler is one of 12 Canadians among the 50 people detained.
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Showers / 30º today
Showers / 23º tomorrow