Griffintown


Book Description

This vibrant biography of Griffintown, an inner-city Montreal neighbourhood, brings to life the history of Irish identity in the legendary enclave. As Irish immigration dwindled by the late nineteenth century, Irish culture in the city became diasporic, reflecting an imagined homeland. Focusing on the power of memory to shape community, Matthew Barlow finds that, despite sociopolitical pressures and a declining population, the spirit of this ethnic quarter was nurtured by the men and women who grew up there. Today, as Griffintown attracts renewed interest from developers, this textured analysis reveals how public memory defines our urban centres.




The Man from Griffintown


Book Description

2022. Russia attacks Ukraine, bombards the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, taunts NATO and asks China for military aid. The prescient thriller by Markus (written in 2018) takes the reader up to 2036 and into the heart of a world reinventing itself faster and faster between singularity and transhumanism. Do you really want to know what our future will look like? That morning, Georges Delson had no idea his sudden discovery would bring an end to the world as we know it.







Top 50 Best Things to do in Montreal, Québec


Book Description

Get ready to embark on a thrilling adventure through the vibrant city of Montreal, where an array of captivating experiences await you. Begin your exploration in the historic heart of the city, Old Montreal, where you can marvel at the magnificent Notre-Dame Basilica and wander along the charming cobblestone streets. Continue your journey along the bustling Rue Sainte-Catherine, where you'll discover a shopper's paradise with its wide range of boutiques and department stores. Immerse yourself in Montreal's thriving arts and culture scene by visiting world-class museums such as the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Indulge your senses in the city's rich music heritage by attending the Montreal International Jazz Festival, where renowned artists from around the world grace the stages. For a dose of laughter, catch performances at the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, known for showcasing some of the best comedians in the industry. Nature lovers will find solace in Montreal's abundant green spaces. Ascend to the top of Mount Royal Park for a picturesque view of the city skyline or explore the tranquil paths of the Montreal Botanical Garden, home to an impressive collection of plants from around the globe. Take a leisurely bike ride along the scenic Lachine Canal or indulge in a picnic at Parc La Fontaine, where lush greenery and serene lakes create a peaceful oasis within the bustling city. Don't miss the opportunity to savor Montreal's culinary delights. From the vibrant Jean-Talon Market, offering an array of fresh produce and local delicacies, to the diverse dining options in neighborhoods like Plateau-Mont-Royal, Montreal is a haven for food enthusiasts. Indulge in the city's renowned bagels, poutine, and iconic smoked meat sandwiches, or venture into its multicultural neighborhoods to savor cuisines from around the world. Montreal beckons with its blend of history, culture, nature, and culinary delights. Whether you're exploring its charming streets, immersing yourself in its cultural institutions, basking in its natural beauty, or tantalizing your taste buds, this list of 50 things to do in Montreal will ensure that your visit to this captivating city is nothing short of extraordinary. So, prepare to be enchanted by the magic of Montreal and create memories that will last a lifetime.




Critical Practices in Architecture


Book Description

This book embraces the idea that in today’s complex world, multiple, emerging perspectives are critical to the design fields, the environment, and society. It also brings authors into conversation to focus on the built environment from the perspective of critical practice. The authors take as a starting point Jane Rendell’s ground-breaking work, which defines critical spatial practice as “self-reflective modes of thought that seek to change the world.” In opposition to conventional conceptions of architectural education and work, this book reflects how socially engaged architects, landscape architects, designers, urbanists, and artists take up critical spatial practice. Bridging ideas from multiple countries and approaches to design scholarship, each chapter seeks to find places of convergence for the multiple strands that form around themes of practice, equality, methods, theory, ethics, pedagogy, and representation. Rendell’s foreword and postscript provide context for these themes and suggest a way forward in today’s challenging, changing times.




Compulsory Property Acquisition for Urban Densification


Book Description

Densification has been a central method of achieving smart, sustainable cities across the world. This book explores international examples of the property rights tensions involved in attempting to develop denser, more sustainable cities through compulsory acquisition of property. The case studies from Europe, North America, eastern Asia and Australia show how well, or not, property rights have been recognised in each country. Chapters explore the significance of local legal frameworks and institutions in accommodating property rights in the densification process. In particular, the case studies address the following issues and more: Whether compulsory acquisition to increase densification is justified in practice and in theory The specific public benefits given for compulsory acquisition The role the development industry plays in facilitating, encouraging or promoting compulsory acquisition What compensation or offsets are offered for acquisition, and how are they funded? Is there a local or national history of compulsory property acquisition by government for a range of purposes? Is compulsory acquisition restricted to certain types or locations of densification? Where existing housing is acquired, are there obligations to provide alternative housing arrangements? The central aim of the book is to summarize international experiences of the extent to which property rights have or have not been protected in the use of compulsory property acquisition to achieve sustainable cities via urban densification. It is essential reading for all those interested in planning law, property rights, environmental law, urban studies, sustainable urban development and land use policy.




North American Gaels


Book Description

A mere 150 years ago Scottish Gaelic was the third most widely spoken language in Canada, and Irish was spoken by hundreds of thousands of people in the United States. A new awareness of the large North American Gaelic diaspora, long overlooked by historians, folklorists, and literary scholars, has emerged in recent decades. North American Gaels, representing the first tandem exploration of these related migrant ethnic groups, examines the myriad ways Gaelic-speaking immigrants from marginalized societies have negotiated cultural spaces for themselves in their new homeland. In the macaronic verses of a Newfoundland fisherman, the pointed addresses of an Ontario essayist, the compositions of a Montana miner, and lively exchanges in newspapers from Cape Breton to Boston to New York, these groups proclaim their presence in vibrant traditional modes fluently adapted to suit North American climes. Through careful investigations of this diasporic Gaelic narrative and its context, from the mid-eighteenth century to the twenty-first, the book treats such overarching themes as the sociolinguistics of minority languages, connection with one's former home, and the tension between the desire for modernity and the enduring influence of tradition. Staking a claim for Gaelic studies on this continent, North American Gaels shines new light on the ways Irish and Scottish Gaels have left an enduring mark through speech, story, and song.




Minto & Mann


Book Description

Even the most passionate lacrosse fans probably do not remember the Orillia Terriers, Montreal Shamrocks or even Vancouver Carlings, but in their times these teams were famous across Canada and even farther afield, always in the thick of the hunt for Minto or Mann Cup glory, winning national championships at least three times in ten-year periods. They were almost unbeatable and in Minto & Mann: The Untold Stories of Lacrosse’s Dynastic Teams, their stories are told for the first time by lacrosse historian and Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame board member W.B. MacDonald, the bestselling author of Salmonbellies vs. The World: The Most Famous Team in Lacrosse & Their Greatest Rivals.




The Green Apple Tree


Book Description

It’s the summer of 1963, and three teenage boys are busy destroying their innocence, provoking the local law, and sitting in silence as grizzled elders dispense the local lore. Just the usual stuff if you’re a kid growing up in the Texas Hill Country. But for one of them, that summer would never end. Forward to 1986, and Thomas Kessler is waiting in a bar for the arrival of his old friend Pete, now an attorney who has long been obsessed with a pair of murders that coincided with the disappearance of Bennett, the third member of their youthful tribe. Thomas has long held knowledge that could unlock the case, and has chosen Pete to be his confessor. But the beer is cold and Pete’s arrival is still an hour or two away, so there’s plenty of time for one more trip back to ‘63 and the secluded stone house strewn with old Colts and fables; to the dingy Gulf station awash in profanity-laced burlesque that offered enlightenment in its darkest corners; to the towering palisade that revealed the town beyond the river without divulging secrets of its own. And Thomas takes us with him.




Montreal's Irish Mafia


Book Description

Their names resonate with organized crime in Montreal: the Matticks, MacAllisters, Johnstons and Griffins, and Peter Dunie Ryan. They are the Irish equivalent of the infamous Rizzuto and Cotroni families, and the "Mom" Bouchers and Walter Stadnicks of the Hells Angels. Award-winning producer, journalist and author D’Arcy O’Connor narrates the genesis and rise to power of one of Montreal’s most powerful, violent and colorful criminal organizations. It is the West End Gang, whose members controlled the docks and fought the Hells Angels and Mafia for their share of the city’s prostitution, gambling, loan sharking and drug dealing. At times, they did not disdain forging alliances with rival gangs when huge profits were at stake, or when a killing needed to be carried out. The West End Gang—the Irish Mafia of Montreal—is a legendary beast. They sprang out of the impoverished southwest of the city, some looking for ways to earn enough just to survive, some wanting more than a job in an abattoir or on a construction site. In that sense, they were no different from other immigrants from Italy and other European countries. A shortcut to wealth was their common goal. And Montreal, with its burgeoning post-WWII population, was ripe for the picking. The Irish Mob made headlines with a spectacular Brinks robbery in 1976, using the money to broker a major heroin and cocaine trafficking ring. It took over the Port of Montreal, controlling the flow of drugs into the city, drugs which the Mafia funnelled to New York. The West End Gang had connections to the cocaine cartel in Colombia; hashish brokers in Morocco and France; and marijuana growers in Mexico. The gang imported drugs on an enormous scale. One bust that took place off the coast of Angola in 2006 involved 22.5 tonnes of hashish, destined for Montreal. The West End Gang is a ripping tale that unveils yet another chapter in Montreal’s colorful criminal underworld.