Author Archives: Richard Shearmur

Over the last week details of Québec’s multi-billion dollar subsidy to battery-maker Nothvolt have been made public. In a nutshell, the Québec and Federal governments are putting about $5.6 billion dollars (maybe more) into attracting the battery maker Northvolt to Québec. As part of this sweet deal, the battery maker is not being subjected toContinue reading “Québec’s economic development policy: a game of craps”

The reimbursement process in at least one Canadian university has become veritably Kafkaesque, a reflection of society-wide issues of over-auditing, accounting platforms and datafication. More time is spent splitting minute audit hairs (rendered all the more inflexible by virtue of their embeddedness in vast IT systems) than in simply verifying that expenses are justified (whichContinue reading “How universities (and other organizations) squander time, money and goodwill”

There has been much discussion about inflation, especially the rapid rise in the price of groceries. Many people suspect that grocery stores in Canada are using inflation as an excuse to price gouge. However, the Bank of Canada found, in early August, that food inflation has not been driven by grocery stores’ profit gouging: theContinue reading “Why grocery store profits are rising fast despite margins remaining constant”

In April 2021, after modifying its initial proposal, Montreal introduced an inclusionary zoning bylaw, the Règlement pour une métropole mixte. This week, the CBC reported that not a single developer has opted to build affordable or social housing under the bylaw – all have opted for financial contribution, which, across the 7100 units permitted sinceContinue reading “Inclusionary zoning (IZ) in Montreal: can it work?”

In April 2021, after modifying its initial proposal, Montreal introduced an inclusionary zoning bylaw, the Règlement pour une métropole mixte. This week, the CBC reported that not a single developer has opted to build affordable or social housing under the bylaw – all have opted for financial contribution, which, across the 7100 units permitted sinceContinue reading “Inclusionary zoning in Montreal: can it work?”

Hier, j’ai rendu compte des expériences que j’aie eues en parcourant la ville avec une personne à mobilité réduite. Entre autres, j’ai mentionné les temps de passage trop courts aux traversées piétonnes. Il est toutefois important de reconnaître que les urbanistes, à eux seul(e)s, n’ont pas nécessairement tous les moyens pour améliorer l’accessibilité urbaine pourContinue reading “Urbanisme et transport: des normes biaisées”

Mobilité urbaine … certes, pour les jeunes en bonne santé! Il est souvent question, dans les articles et commentaires au sujet de questions urbaines, de mobilité douce: marcher, prendre le métro, faire du vélo. Ces modes présupposent un bon état de santé, c’est à dire la capacité de marcher facilement sur 1km, de pousser lesContinue reading “Mobilité urbaine: les détails comptent”

Montréal est de plus en plus souvent classée parmi les bonnes – voire les meilleures – villes où faire du vélo. Ceci est fort dommage. Cela signifie soit que les conditions sont vraiment exécrables ailleurs, soit que les classements ne valent pas grand chose. Pourquoi cette évaluation négative? Et bien une petite balade à véloContinue reading “Montréal ville cyclable? Qu’est ce que ce doit être ailleurs!!!”

Municipal pools are important for equity, health (and fun)… Death by drowning is the number 1 killer of young children, particularly amongst poorer people and racialised minorities, as a New York Times article of July 2023 reminds us. Access to pools and to swimming lessons are thus important, especially for those with fewer means andContinue reading “Not In My Pool: pricing the riff-raff out of municipal pools”

Tomorrow is the 1st of July, moving-day in the province of Québec: most apartments are rented on one-year leases, running from 1st July to 30th June, so everyone moves on the same day. This system has many flaws. Insufficient housing, rising rents, homelessness and overcrowding However, the biggest problem is that there are simply notContinue reading “Québec’s housing crisis – good politics?”