By Murray Sherriffs
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Hydro Québec linemen continue their work to get power returns to thousands of residents of Montreal, most of them residing in Côte-St-Luc, but also Notre Dame de Grâce and Montreal West. The problem is an equipment failure at the Hampstead power substation and there’s word that success may come only later this morning. The emergency shelter put in place by the Canadian Red Cross at the Côte-des-Neiges community centre at 5347 Côte des Neiges Road remains open.
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Parti Québécois leader Paul St. Pierre Plamondon has told the party’s convention in St. Hyacinthe that the Quebec independence referendum campaign has already begun because Prime Minister Carney launched the federal ‘No’ campaign with recent comments. PQ leader Plamondon says that Quebec residents would be allowed to keep their Canadian passports in an independent Quebec, expecting that Ottawa would allow Quebecers to hold both Canadian and Quebec passports.
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Quebec Economy Minister Christine Fréchette has officially launched her campaign for the leadership of the Coalition pour l’avenir du Québec party, emphasizing nationalism and the economy as she stood in Trois Rivières with supporting ministers and members of parliament who feel that she is right for the job.
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The CAQ government has removed the British Crown from the province’s official coat of arms, in a move to “…reaffirm the province’s autonomy.”
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Montreal author and agitator Yves Engler has been judged guilty of harassing a Montreal police hate-crimes investigator, flooding her email box with messages from his followers.
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The Sûreté du Quebec says that the death of a 25-year-old man in Baie Comeau last week is the work of organized crime.
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Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada has followed through on a campaign promise to rewrite Valerie Plante’s housing bylaw, which required affordable and social housing to be included in new residential developments.
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Public consultations have begun for the proposed high-speed rail line linking Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City.
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Residents of an apartment building at Old Orchard and Monkland have been evacuated, in light of an engineering report saying it is unsafe.
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A coalition of civil rights and community groups is pressuring the city of Montreal to equip its police officers with body cameras, insisting that Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada show political leadership.
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A remote service has been launched in Quebec to help prevent drug overdoses, offering users access to counsellors by phone or video, as the province experiences alarming levels of overdose deaths—645 drug overdose deaths in 2024. Projections exceed 600 in 2025.
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It’s a heavy snow and it’s cold, so mind your health if you shovel: Slow and easy is the way to go and if your honey has a hot chocolate at the ready, you know that he loves you boku…
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Snow (5-10 cm) / -12º today
Flurries / -12º tomorrow