Montreal community action: Difference between revisions

Montreal (officially Montréal) is the largest city in Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and arguably the most cosmopolitan city in North America. ^[1] It is named after Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill in the heart of the city. The city is on the Island of Montreal, which took its name from the same source as the city, and a few much smaller peripheral islands, the largest of which is Île Bizard. It has a distinct four-season continental climate with warm to hot summers and cold snowy winters.

In 2016 the city had a population of 1,704,694. Montreal's metropolitan area had a population of 4,098,927 and a population of 1,942,044 in the urban agglomeration, with all of the municipalities on the Island of Montreal included. French is the city's official language and is the language spoken at home by 49.8% of the population of the city, followed by English at 22.8% and 18.3% other languages (in the 2016 census, not including multi-language responses). In the larger Montreal Census Metropolitan Area, 65.8% of the population speaks French at home, compared to 15.3% who speak English. The agglomeration Montreal is one of the most bilingual cities in Quebec and Canada with over 59% of the population able to speak both English and French. Montreal is the second-largest primarily French-speaking city in the world, after Paris. ^W

Initiatives by topic

Cycling activism

BIXI

If you ask a Montrealer if they're connected with the sharing economy — économie du partage or économie sociale in French — they may not know exactly what you mean. But ask them if they've used a Bixi, and they certainly will. Bixi bicycle parking zones are as omnipresent a feature of Montreal’s urban landscape as potholes and metro entrances. The bike-sharing program, established in 2009 and modelled on the successful Vélib scheme in Paris, is the oldest municipal bike-sharing scheme in North America. In 2014, the service was taken over by a city-backed nonprofit. The name, a combination of "bicycle" and "taxi," was chosen in a public contest, and the winner received a Bixi pass for life. Long-term users receive a key when they subscribe to the service, while tourists and other short-term users can buy 24-hour or 72-hour passes with a credit card at any Bixi zone. Over 230,000 people used the service in 2016, for a total of 4 million trips. Not ready to join quite yet? Keep your eyes open for free Bixi Sundays and take a test drive. ^[2]

Bixi Montreal, free Bixi Sundays

BQAM

If you choose to use your own bike (rather than taking the Bixi route) and it catches a wheel in one of the city's infamous potholes — or you just want to learn how to better maintain your two-wheeler — BQAM is the place to go. Located on the science campus of the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), this bike-repair co-op is open to anyone, student or not, who pays a $20 membership fee. Participants can buy used parts, attend bike repair training sessions, participate in planning and governance, and use the on-site bike repair workshop to fix up their own bikes. "I sometimes do half of a repair job and let the person do the rest," says student volunteer Pierre-Philippe. "We're very much into self-directed learning."

"Sometimes, with some of the problems we get, a bike shop will say repairs are not economical and tell you to buy a new bike," says René, another volunteer. "We'll work with you to see if we can fix the bike you have." BQAM is not the only collaborative bike workshop in the city — another cyclists' co-op, Right to Move, has mapped all of the shared workshops around town. ^[3]

Food activism

Le Fridge de la Petite-Patrie

This community food fridge, inspired by similar communal fridges in Germany, was established in 2015 by a small group of Montrealers frustrated with rising levels of food waste. Any food can be dropped off at Le Fridge de la Petite-Patrie, as long as it is unopened and labelled with an expiration date and the names of any potential allergens. The fridge is stocked by local shopkeepers, gardeners, and community members passing on food that would otherwise go to waste. Unlike many food banks, the fridge is open to anyone, regardless of place of residence or documentation. ^[4]

Free stuff

As-tu ça toi?

Are you looking for a sewing machine? How about a toaster? Are you trying to get rid of your kids' old toys or of that clunky shelving unit in your bedroom? Look no further than the Facebook group As-tu ça toi? ("Do you have that?"). Montrealer Marie-Neige Châtelain launched the group in 2011, and it now has over 46,000 members. It operates like any online classifieds group, except, as the organizers point out, "Any ads that mention $$$$ will be deleted without prior notice!" Everything is free, members organize pickups between themselves, and as long as it doesn’t involve live animals, illegal products or medical supplies, no request is too strange. The group has spawned "daughter groups" in nearly every region of Quebec. "These communities are based on the love of giving, be it donations of material goods or simple exchanges of services," Châtelain writes. "Give without expecting anything in return, and you'll get everything." ^[5]

Les Accorderies

Established in 2002 in Quebec City, the Accorderie network is used for free service exchanges. Are you looking for someone to tutor you in a second language or repair your computer? Can you spare an hour to teach a skill or help someone do home repairs? Give one hour of your time and add an hour to your own "time bank" to use for something completely different. The network has three branches in Montreal, as well as outposts in Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières, Shawinigan, and several rural North Coast communities.

"We want to fight poverty and exclusion, create links between neighbors and recreate a sense of community that has been kind of lost over the years," says Les Accorderies' director Huguette Lépine. ^[6]

Open spaces

Les Amis du Champ des Possibles

Wikipedia: List of parks in Montreal ^W

Saint-Michel Environnemental Complex

The city of Montreal acquired the Miron Quarry in 1988 to make a landfill waste site. Starting in 1995 under the direction of the city, the site was gradually altered in order to transform it into an urban green space, now comparable in size to Mount Royal Park. It is expected to become the largest urban park in the city within by 2020, with an estimated area of 192 hectares (470 acres).

Nearly 75 hectares (190 acres) are still used for waste disposal. The complex also includes the park, a recyclable materials recovery facility, a biogas powerplant, a composting site and a landfill.

The Centre d'expertise sur les matières résiduelles (CEMR), dedicated to the research and application of effective, environmentally friendly and sustainable waste management is located in the complex.

In recent years the Cité des Arts du cirque (TOHU), a non-profit organization, is installed on the site. With multiple vocations, it has a mission to make Montreal an international circus arts capital, contributing to the environmental rehabilitation of the landfill and to support community development of the St. Michel district. ^W

Montreal Archipelago Ecological Park

(French: Parc Écologique de l’Archipel de Montréal) is a project to create a new National park within an approximate radius of 50 kilometres (31.1 mi) around the Island of Montreal, in Quebec, Canada. This project was announced to the public at a press conference in Montreal on October 1, 2007. In September 2008, environmental groups renewed calls for the Government of Quebec to create the park. ^W

Sharing

La Remise

Livre-Service

When you least expect it, you'll walk past a tiny, colorful cabinet with a glass door, or a newspaper vending machine. Inside will be books. You never know what books — that's part of the fun. Leave a book, take a book, bring it back — or not. Twelve "Livre-Service" boxes (a play on livre, book, and libre-service, self-service) are scattered throughout the Côte des Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce area. There's no need to be affiliated with the official "Livre-Service" program to set up a little free library — many boxes have been set up across the city by community centers, neighborhood groups, or city residents. ^[7]

Towards sustainable economies

The cooperative movement in Quebec dates back to the late 19th century, with the founding of North America's oldest and most established credit union, the Caisse Desjardins. Since then, co-ops and social economy projects have entered every sphere of economic and cultural life in the city and the province. The rise of social networks and crowdfunding has vastly expanded the possibilities. A number of sharing economy projects have emerged as a conscious thumbs-down to consumer capitalism, while others are just simple neighborhood-based solutions to service gaps. The list within this article barely scratches the surface of the sharing economy in Montreal. ^[8]

News and comment

2017

15 Reasons (And Counting) Why Montreal is an Exemplary Sharing City, Oct 16 ^[9]

Meet Montréal’s New Wave of Activist Developers, May 30 ^[10]

2015

Montréal's Blooming Social Economy Confronts Fiscal Pruning, September 21 ^[11]

People power: the secret to Montreal's success as a bike-friendly city, June 17 ^[12]

Resources

Community resources

• Helios Makerspace, non-profit workshop
• LE SALON 1861

Les Jardineries

This co-op-run performance space is possibly Montreal's most innovative night spot. It was launched in 2016 by a social enterprise specializing in urban design, La Pépinière&Co, in an abandoned corner of the vast concrete Olympic Stadium complex. Abandoned for more than 30 years, the space is now open from May to mid-late October, hosting a beer garden, food stalls, a community garden with a chicken coop, and an outdoor game room (think croquet and mini golf) as well as a succession of thematic concerts, circus shows, and DJ nights. One recent Friday night was devoted to the joys of tacos, paletas (Mexican fruit popsicles), and multilingual hip-hop. ^[13] Les Jardineries

Funding

La Ruche

La Ruche — "The Hive" — is a Quebec-only crowdfunding platform run by a nonprofit. All projects are reviewed by a selection committee and only allowed to solicit funds if they will have a "positive social, economic, or cultural" impact on their community. At regional meetings, known as "cellules," participants get a chance to pitch their project to public figures who are well-known and well-connected in the fields of social justice, business, and the performing arts. Workshops, part of the La Ruche Académie program, help promoters refine their pitches. La Ruche stands out for its nonprofit structure, one-on-one assistance for participants, and regional outlook. Some current projects that are being funded by La Ruche Montréal include the production of choral music in Braille, subsidized self-defense courses for children, and an independent, zero-waste organic grocery startup. ^[14]

Interwiki links

Wikipedia: Montreal

External links

• Montréal Urban Ecology Centre

References