Latest from Montreal Gazette
Montreal Gazette
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Montreal Gazette
Organizer cancels Montreal's Canada Day Parade
The organizer of the Montreal Canada Day parade has cancelled the event for the second year in a row. While Nicholas Cowen, the organizer, blamed the cancellation on difficulties working with the city, a municipal spokesperson said he had not applied for a permit. The parade 'has become increasingly difficult to organize without disruptions in recent years,' the organization behind the event said in a statement Thursday. 'The working environment with the City of Montreal has deteriorated significantly,' it added. But Cohen didn't apply to the city to hold the event, 'even though the city invited him to do so several times,' spokesperson Nicky Cayer wrote in an email to The Gazette. The July 1 event has only taken place once since 2019. The parade was suspended during the pandemic and returned in 2023 before being cancelled in 2024, when Cowen issued similar critiques of the city. Other festivities marking Canada Day are going ahead as planned, including a federally funded celebration in the Old Port.
Montreal Gazette
2 hours ago
- Climate
- Montreal Gazette
Possible tornado hits Danville in the Eastern Townships
Environment Canada will investigate the damage after a possible tornado touched down Thursday in Danville, about 170 kilometres east of Montreal. Thunderstorms ripped through central Quebec Thursday, producing hail and wind gusts of up to 100 km/h, according to the federal meteorological agency. Damage was reported in various towns in the Montérégie, Beauce, Bois-Francs and Eastern Townships, an Environment Canada storm report says. The damage ranged from downed hydro poles to property damage to roofs ripped off buildings. Thunderstorm watches and warnings had been issued across much of southern and central Quebec. This story was originally published June 20, 2025 at 11:01 AM.
Montreal Gazette
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Montreal Gazette
Alouettes roll over Elks to remain undefeated
Montreal Alouettes EDMONTON — The Alouettes are off to their traditional strong start. Tyson Philpot reeled in a pair of touchdown passes as Montreal remained perfect on the year with a 38-28 victory over the Edmonton Elks on Thursday. The Als are 3-0 to start the season and 9-0 in June over the past three seasons. 'You want to win them all,' said Montreal head coach Jason Maas. 'I don't think we are conceding one. We prepare to win every week. The expectations are very high in our locker room. We are going to continue to grind and to work to get better and to make this start count. We've played three games and won them all and want to continue down that trend.' Quarterback Davis Alexander passed for 210 yards and three touchdowns before leaving the game in the third quarter with a hamstring injury. 'It's just something I've been dealing with for a little bit,' he said. 'It was kind of more cautionary to not go back into the game. We were up 24-6 going on a drive and we didn't necessarily need the risk there.' Edmonton is off to another poor start, dropping to 0-2. The Elks were 0-7 to start last season and 0-9 in 2023. However, they did manage to score 22 points in the final quarter to offer some hope going forward. 'We have fight on our football team,' said Elks head coach Mark Kilam. 'We just got in a hole early, too many explosions on defence. That's on the coaching staff, we've got to get that cleaned up. 'Our offence took a step tonight, which is a positive, but we're still looking for that complete team effort.' The Elks struck on their opening drive as Vincent Blanchard kicked a 42-yard field goal, welcome news after missing both attempts in Edmonton's first game. Montreal answered right back on its first possession as Alexander marched down the field before connecting with Philpot on a six-yard touchdown pass. The Alouettes added to their lead late in the first quarter as a 54-yard pass to Charleston Rambo set up a second strike to Philpot, this time a 13-yard TD reception. Edmonton got a second field goal from Blanchard, from 32 yards, six minutes into the second. Montreal almost had a third major after a long pass interference call against the Elks, but settled for an 11-yard Jose Maltos field goal. The Alouettes continued to dominate with a 38-yard bomb from Alexander to a wide-open Tyler Snead in the end zone with two minutes to play in the first half. The Elks looked poised to cut into the lead just before the end of the first half, but a long pass by starting quarterback Tre Ford into the end zone was intercepted by Kabion Ento to keep it 24-6. There was definite cause for concern midway through the third as Alexander clutched his thigh while running after delivering a ball and went down. He left the game and didn't return, with McLeod Bethel-Thompson coming in as his replacement. After a punt single, Montreal added a 26-yard Maltos field goal to close out the third. The Elks finally gave their crowd a reason to cheer to start the fourth as Ford took it in himself for an 18-yard rushing TD, adding a two-point convert pass to Justin Rankin. Maltos responded with his third field goal from 32 yards before Montreal added a 23-yard rushing major from Sean Thomas-Erlington. To its credit, Edmonton kept pushing as Ford found Kurleigh Gittens Jr. for a 33-yard touchdown with six minutes left and then went even deeper with a 51-yard TD bomb to Kaion Julien-Grant with 2:35 to play. Alexander improved to 7-0 as a starting QB, tying Jeff Garcia and Bo Levi Mitchell for the second-best starts in CFL history. Danny McManus holds the record, with an 8-0 record to launch his career. This story was originally published June 20, 2025 at 9:03 AM.
Montreal Gazette
5 hours ago
- Montreal Gazette
Small-town Ontario neighbours say they never saw the missing LaSalle girl nearby
The three-year-old girl who vanished from Montreal on Sunday was found alive near a highway in rural Ontario, beside land owned by a local farming family. But they had no idea she was there. 'We saw it on the news. The camera turned and we said, 'Hey, that's our place,'' said Louis Racine, who farms near Casselman. 'It's strange. You'd expect something like this to happen in Montreal or Ottawa, not here.' The girl was found next to the Racines' cornfield, which runs along Highway 417. Their house and barn are on the other side of the highway, but they can see the field and road from their front window. Still, Racine said police never came to speak with them. 'We only found out from the media,' he said. The child was located shortly after 2 p.m. Wednesday by an Ontario Provincial Police drone, nearly 72 hours after she was reported missing. She was alone but conscious, and was taken to hospital for assessment. No drinkable water nearby The Racines said they plant corn in May and do not return to the field until September to harvest. The land is left undisturbed during the summer. 'We don't go in that field much,' said Racine's son, Étienne, the seventh generation on the farm. 'But if someone's lying in the middle of it, you'd expect to see that.' Much of the grass along the highway is about two feet high. Étienne Racine said that if the child was lying low in a ditch beside the road, she might have been difficult to spot from their side. He added that there is no drinkable water nearby, only a shallow runoff creek. Neighbours along the same stretch of highway said they were equally surprised, though most declined to speak on the record. 'I would've thought someone might have seen her,' said one man. 'It's a small community. We all talk to each other.' A gas station and motel are down the road. Daniel Lepage, who was staying at the motel, said he could not believe how close the girl had been. 'I remember seeing a woman with a little girl on Sunday,' he said. 'But I don't know if it was her.' He said he was surprised police found her alive but that many unanswered questions remain. At a joint press conference Wednesday evening, Quebec and Ontario police described the discovery as the best possible scenario in a case that had captured national attention. Police credited public tips with helping narrow the search zone. The girl's father later posted a brief message online, thanking the public for their support and asking for privacy. Her mother, a 34-year-old woman from Montreal, has been charged with child abandonment. Police have not explained how the child ended up in Ontario. The investigation is ongoing.
Montreal Gazette
6 hours ago
- Climate
- Montreal Gazette
Montreal weather: Friday is going to be the longest day of the year
How about that spring, eh? What a doozy. Environment Canada swore it wasn't colder or wetter than average, it's just that the rain kept building up for the weekends. Maybe that trend will continue now that it's officially summer — Friday and Sunday look to be pretty damp — or maybe we're in for a long hot summer. Friday's showers should end by morning. Expect a high of 22 C with a humidex of 25 C and a UV index of 8, or very high. At night, a low of 14 C. The summer solstice is truly the longest day of the year, with a sunrise at 5:05 and sunset at 8:46.
