Ask a Montreal Resident
 

Want to clear up any confusion regarding Canada/Quebec/Montreal, the French language, poutine, etc...? Ask here. I will provide answers to the best of my ability.

Why do the rest of us (provinces) hate you (Quebec) so much? (parentheses)

That would probably be due to the substantial portion of our population that views Quebec as its own nation. You know, the Separatists. I don't agree with those political views. However, I do think that a lot of people take this too far. To a lot of people I've met, French = Separatist = hatred. That's just not right. Also, not all supporters of the PQ agree with the Separatists within the province.

One last thing - not all people from other provinces hate us. Those that do often do not have a valid reason.

Well, coming from a Hamilton resident, I hate Quebec. Does this make me an insensitive person?

I don't think we, as in other provinces, hate Quebec so much as we hate Parti Québécois.


Edit: Also, Quebec won't stop bitching.

Montreal resident, uh?

What's the best area to look for a 3 1/2 apartment for someone who's going to McGill next term? From what I can see, close to campus is rather expensive, essentially being downtown montreal, but then again I'd like to avoid long commute too. A relatively crime free place is a plus too.

The question is not if you hate it or not, its WHY.

McGill is situated in the heart of "centre ville", so almost all of the apartments close to it are expensive. I have heard of people getting really good deals though. I have some friends living in the McGill Ghetto (the residential area to the east of campus, past rue de l'universite) that have pretty decent rent. Unfortunately, I live with the parents, so I've never gone apartment hunting. Generally, the further from downtown you are, the less expensive it will be. Places close to Metro stations are more expensive than those that are further away.

You really don't have to worry about a long commute if you leave in Montreal proper. The Metro and buses come extremely frequently in the city. Anyhow, avoid the area known as the Plateau. Your best bet is to look for good deals close to campus. If not, try to find a nice place close to a Metro station relatively close to the McGill station. I'll try to remember to ask some friends from out of town for apartment hunting advice and reply again.

Why exactly should I avoid the Plateau?

Anyway, thanks. I've been looking through the listings on the McGill website for a while, but I'm never exactly sure what's a good rent or if a place is too far away, or just not a good neighborhood.

The Plateau is expensive. It's one of those "trendy" places to live. Check out MLS.ca - I'm not sure if they have listings for apartments though... Also, check out STM.info and download their map of the island of Montreal complete with bus stops and metro lines. Use that in conjunction with Google Maps to figure out whether or not the apartment that you are looking at is close to a Metro station or bus stop or whatever.

oui ou non?

Depends on what question I'm answering.

:o

Oui ou Non. Referrendum.

Double Post:
(Sorry, just being a little silly)

That's what I thought that you were referring to. Isn't the answer obvious based on my previous reply?

NON.

Lol.. Down with the Francophone Quebecians! Hmm, what would you say is the most stark difference up there you can see compared to the U.S.

It's Quebecers...(pronounced "K-beck-errs).

Umm... I'm assuming that you mean other than the whole French thing. I can't give a good answer to that. The culture here is so different from that anywhere in the USA. Language, politics, food, education, proportion of hot women (;)), etc... they all have large differences compared to you guys down south.

How about asking something more specific?

Women. Give me pictures for comparison purposes, haha. Do the French ones shave, btw?

Montreal doesn't have the reputation of being one of the cities with the best looking women in the world for nothing you know. Friends of mine that have gone elsewhere for extended periods of time and returned have told me that one of the first things that they noticed was the relative lack of hot women compared to here.

Do they shave? Like everywhere else, it depends on the chick. I'm going to assume that most of the hot ones do keep it clean down there.

Oh my God... That is quite encouraging to hear. I wanna visit anything other than that damn waterfall when I go back there.

What waterfall? Niagara Falls? That's in another province...

Haha yeah.. How is the weather there? Is it nice to retire to?

Oh, and I gotta say. What you guys do to bacon up there is SACRILEGE!

I've been told you have a gay village, is this true?

That depends on what kind of whether you like. We have clearly defined seasons here. It's cold in the winter (-40 Celsius is not unusual during the winter), although we had a really mild one this past year. Spring is nice and cool, and wet. The summer can get to the high 30s (Celsius), but is often humid (i.e. uncomfortable). It quickly gets cold in the fall, but the trees look really nice when they change colour.

Double Post:
Yes. It's rather large and it has a lot of rainbows. I believe that it has a lot of gay bars, clubs and strip clubs. My knowledge of that part of town comes from what I've read in one of the McGill agenda's. In other words, that's about all I know about it.

Yeah theres a gay village here... I forget what its called, only been there once to get something at Tim Hortons with some friends. It's right out of a metro station too. (metro being subway guys..)


Question for Muck.. :p

5 great sightseeing locals on the island, what are they?

Oh, MY GOD... -40 degrees.

I just got over influenza and a respitory tract infection. Not gonna stick around for the winter :).