Journal articles on the topic 'Local transit – Quebec – Montreal'

Abstract Introduction/Background The Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) recently released the “Global climate change and health of Canadian Children” statement. As climate rapidly evolves from “change” to “crisis” there is an increasing pressure toward sustainable conferencing. Knowing the value of attending meetings, the growing body of literature evaluating travel-related carbon cost and convention sustainability can inform environmental harm minimization. Conferences can pressure venues to increase sustainability by choosing sites and venues wisely and communicating their requirements to rejected venues. They can also offer carbon offset purchase through credible companies (e.g. Gold Standard). Over the last 10 years the CPS has conducted its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at host cities that reflect Canada’s large geographic footprint. Venues included both hotel and standalone conference centers. There is no published evaluation of sustainable practices for CPS meetings. Objectives Evaluate the past 10 CPS Annual General Meetings (AGMs) for: Design/Methods Travel-related carbon cost was estimated with a round-trip calculator for economy seating the most direct available flights (https://co2.myclimate.org/en/offset_further_emissions). Cities of origin for attendee were the 11 CaRMS-matched pediatric residency training programs (https://www.carms.ca/match/psm/program-descriptions/). Venues were evaluated based on current publicly available self-reported information using conference sustainability criteria suggested through a literature review and public rating tools (Green Key, Quality Standards of the International Association of Convention Centres). Ground transportation from the airport was scored /3 by: public transport from airport (1), formal shared transport (1), fee deterrence for parking (1). Venue type was split by hotel-associated (H) and standalone convention centre (CC) meeting facilities. Sustainability of meeting facilities was divided into supports /2 (rentable supports, links to local vendors, catering and personnel) for exhibitors (1) and event planners (1), policies /3 by: sustainability, promotion of a green community (1), and waste management (1), and walkability from accommodation /1. Results The last 10 CPS AGMs were held in western (3; Vancouver 2010, Edmonton 2013, Vancouver 2017), eastern (1; Charlottetown 2016) and central (6; Quebec City 2011, London 2012, Montreal 2014, Toronto 2015, Quebec City 2018, Toronto 2019) provinces; in 2020 it is in Vancouver. Central Canada sites had the lowest air travel carbon cost per attendee. Average air travel-related carbon cost per attendee for different host cities ranged from 0.479 (London) to 0.919 (Vancouver) tonnes, with Ontario and Quebec sites averaging 0.518, Charlottetown 0.654 and Edmonton 0.756 tonnes. Ground transportation scores differed by city from Montreal (3/3 with public transit, formal transportation share and parking fees to dissuade driving) to London (0/3), with more favorable public transit options in larger cities. Venues differed when divided by hotel with meeting facilities (H) vs standalone conference center (CC), with CC outranking H for clearly posted sustainability plans (1.6 vs 1.2/2; 2=venue-specific, 1=company chain policy, 0=no plan), green and sustainable community building plans (1.6 vs 1.2/2; 2=greening local communities, 1=company chain policy, 0=no plan) and green waste management policies (1.2 vs 0/2; 2=venue-specific, 1=company chain policy, 0=no plan). Walkable accommodation was equal and present for all venues, with attached accommodation for all but one CC (Montreal), which had immediately adjacent hotels available. Conclusion As expected, the carbon cost of air transportation per attendee was lower in central provinces. Ground transportation from the airport was better in larger host cities. Standalone conference centres had more sustainable event support and locally focused policies regarding sustainability, environmentally friendly community building initiatives and waste management solutions, three major components of “greening” conferences. Based on the available resources across Canada, we recommend that the CPS considers these sustainability criteria in planning future events.

The growth rate of adults older than 65 in Canada is increasing more rapidly than the population as a whole. This increase is reflective of the aging baby boomer population. That population is known to have a strong attachment to automobiles, which might be reflected in their travel behavior as they move toward different stages in their older life. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the travel behavior, mainly public transit usage, of Canada’s older population relative to younger cohorts. A pseudocohort analysis was conducted in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, of residents who were 50 or older to follow changes in public transit use of similarly aged respondents from 1998 to 2013. The results revealed that older generations used public transit more than younger generations did at the same age. In addition, the most recent survey year showed a stagnation of transit use across all age groups. Differences in transit use between males and females were more pronounced in earlier cohorts, but the difference was decreasing in more recent years. These findings add to the growing body of work suggesting that the nature of transportation behavior in seniors is changing, and accordingly planners and engineers cannot expect the baby boomer generation to behave the same way as previous generations. Addressing the transportation needs of seniors around the world will be an important challenge for planners and engineers, as the population of seniors is growing more rapidly than the population as a whole in the majority of developed countries. This growth imposes new challenges on the transportation system because of differences in the travel behavior of today’s older adults compared with that of previous cohorts of seniors.

The nature of pollutants involved in smog episodes can vary significantly in various cities and contexts and will impact local populations differently due to actual exposure and pre-existing sensitivities for cardiovascular or respiratory diseases. While regulated standards and guidance remain important, it is relevant for cities to have local warning systems related to air pollution. The present paper proposes indicators and thresholds for an air pollution warning system in the metropolitan areas of Montreal and Quebec City (Canada). It takes into account past and current local health impacts to launch its public health warnings for short-term episodes. This warning system considers fine particulate matter (PM2.5) as well as the combined oxidant capacity of ozone and nitrogen dioxide (Ox) as environmental exposures. The methodology used to determine indicators and thresholds consists in identifying extreme excess mortality episodes in the data and then choosing the indicators and thresholds to optimize the detection of these episodes. The thresholds found for the summer were 31 μg/m3 for PM2.5 and 43 ppb for Ox in Montreal, and 32 μg/m3 and 23 ppb in Quebec City. In winter, thresholds found were 25 μg/m3 and 26 ppb in Montreal, and 33 μg/m3 and 21 ppb in Quebec City. These results are in line with different guidelines existing concerning air quality, but more adapted to the cities examined. In addition, a sensitivity analysis is conducted which suggests that Ox is more determinant than PM2.5 in detecting excess mortality episodes.

Many emerging technologies have been developed to supplement and contribute to conventional household travel surveys for transport-related data collection. A great deal of research has concentrated on the inference of information from global positioning system (GPS) data and data collected from mobile phones; methods for inferring transit itinerary have not received much attention. Automatic detection of transit itineraries from smartphone travel surveys could be used by planning agencies to predict transit demand and help in analysis of transit planning scenarios. This paper describes a proposed approach to infer transit itinerary smartphone travel survey and general transit feed specification data from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Transit trips from the 2013 household travel survey were recreated and recorded with the DataMobile smartphone travel survey from May to July 2016. Transit itineraries were then validated—that is, collected data were associated with transit routes for all parts of the trips. The proposed transit itinerary inference algorithm was then applied to these validated data. The approach relied on the notion of transit route ambiguity—that is, because transit routes can overlap, any attempt to associate GPS data with routes when routes do overlap will result in ambiguity in identifying which routes were actually used. The proportion of transit trips with associated transit routes that were ambiguous was calculated under different assumptions, rules, and eventually a simple algorithm. Findings indicate that, by using this approach, 94.2% of transit trip distance can be assigned to either one transit route or walking, and thus there is reduced ambiguity. This resulted in 87% correct prediction of transit routes.

It has become increasingly common to attribute part of the obesity epidemic to changes in the environment. Identification of a clear and obvious role for contextual risk factors has not yet been demonstrated. The objectives of this study were to explain differences in local overweight risk in two different urban settings and to explore sex-specific associations with estimated mobility patterns. Overweight was modeled within a multilevel framework using built environmental and socioeconomic contextual indicators and individual-level estimates of activity space exposure to fast-food restaurants (or exposure to visited places). Significant variations in local levels in overweight risk were observed. Physical and socioeconomic contexts explained more area-level differences in overweight among men than among women and among inhabitants of Montreal than among inhabitants of Quebec City. Estimated activity space exposure to fast-food outlets was significantly associated with overweight for men in Montreal. Local-level analyses are required to improve our understanding of contextual influences on obesity, including multiple influences in people's daily geographies.

Data from automated vehicle location (AVL) systems, automatic passenger counter (APC) systems, and fare box payments have been heavily used to generate dwell time models with the goal of recommending improvements in efficiency and reliability of bus transit systems. However, automatic data collection methods may result in a loss of detail with regard to the dynamics of passenger activity, which may bias the estimates associated with dwell or passenger activity time. The purpose of this study is to understand better any biases that might exist from using data from AVL–APC systems or fare box payments when estimating dwell time. Manually collected data from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, are used to estimate detailed dwell time models. This study compared those estimates to models generated by using data similar to what was reported by AVL–APC systems and fare boxes. The results reveal an overestimation in the passenger activity component of dwell time, which is mainly attributed to excess dwell time that AVL–APC data and fare box payments generally do not capture. While AVL–APC and fare box technologies provide transit agencies with rich data for analysis, adjustments to such data collection methods are warranted to reduce the overestimation of dwell time and to provide a more accurate picture of what is happening on the ground to generate better interventions that can reduce dwell times.

Advanced traveler information systems provide travelers with pre-trip and en route travel information necessary to improve the trip decision making process based on various criteria (e.g., avoiding the negative impacts of traffic congestion, selecting specific travel modes, etc.). This study investigates an adaptive routing methodology for multimodal transportation networks. To integrate transit networks, the model takes into account both the predefined timetables of public transportation services and the variability of travel times. A graph theory based methodology is proposed to capture travel behavior within a multimodal network. The study advances a routing algorithm based on Markov decision processes. Special network modeling elements were defined to allow the developed algorithm to select the most efficient transportation mode at each junction along a given route. The proposed methodology is applied to a small real-world network located in the central business district area of Montreal, Quebec. The network includes bus, subway, and bicycle transportation facilities. The simulations were run under the assumption that users do not use private vehicles to travel between arbitrary selected origin and destination points. The developed routing algorithm was applied to several simulation scenarios. The results identified what is the most efficient combination of transportation modes that the travelers have to use given certain traffic and transit service conditions. Larger and more complex networks of motorized and non-motorized modes with stochastic properties will be investigated in subsequent work.

Shared mobility services such as carsharing and bikesharing have gained significant traction in recent years. The services offer efficiency and flexibility to their members while providing benefits to society. In fall 2013, two origin–destination web surveys were carried out on carsharing and bikesharing members in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. These data were used to analyze the typical travel behaviors of members of one or both services. Service provider data were supplied to complement the analyses. The study controlled for factors such as age, gender, home location, and intensity of use of the service. Person and household characteristics showed that bikesharing users differed by being younger, more often male, and more connected (smartphones), and having a higher income. Carsharing users possessed more transit passes, had driving licenses in a higher proportion, and belonged to households with more children and fewer cars. Differences were also found when the intensity of the use of the service was accounted for. On travel behaviors, the study analyzed mode share when the bikesharing service was in operation and when the service ceased operations. On the former, both groups had high shares of public transit and walking, but bikesharing users were more car (driver)-oriented and carsharing members had a higher use of bikes. On the latter, carsharing users increased their use of walking, and bikesharing users increased their use of cars (driver). Finally, the study used a multinomial logit model to evaluate the performance of several variables on the odds of being a carsharing-only member, a bikesharing-only member, or a member of both services.

During the twenty years separating Gratien Gélinas's Tit-Coq in 1948, a play considered a foundation piece of Québécois (as opposed to French-Canadian) dramaturgy, and the 1968 creation of Michel Tremblay's Les Belles-Sœurs which opens the era of ‘new’ Québécois dramaturgy, Quebec society underwent a radical change. It was no longer traditional, religious and rural, but had become fully urbanized.A quarter of a century later, Michel Tremblay has published over twenty books—novels, plays and screenplays—composing an original body of work which reflects, sometimes almost clinically and through the use of joual (the idiomatic French spoken in the working-class district of East Montreal) the local Québécois reality. At the same time, it has a universal value: to a typically Montreal universe, Tremblay's creation integrates dramaturgical influences ranging from Greek tragedy to Tennessee Williams. The result is a unique and strong combination of a musical language, with powerful monologues and vivid dialogues, and of innovative dramatic structures reflecting (in a lucid and ironic manner) a society in quest of its identity, torn between traditional values centred on the family unit, and the liberating, dream world of the theatre.

After a literature review of space, urbanity, and religion, this article identifies some descriptive categories and analytical frameworks to theorize problems faced by religious minorities, especially Muslims, in obtaining space for their cemeteries and places of worship. A second section focuses on debates and an analysis related to these themes in the province of Quebec (Canada), especially in the City of Montreal, showing that while spatial dimensions rarely constitute an analytical category, this aspect is nevertheless a continual source of tension. The article illustrates how dysfunctional administrative processes have dominated the public scene in recent years. A case study shows how a few actors are exploiting provincial regulations in order to oppose public decisions that seek to accommodate the needs of Muslims, using a process for approving amendments to zoning bylaws by way of referendum. After a brief examination of the case related to a Muslim cemetery in a village near Quebec City, to shed light on the recent debates surrounding regulations, the article analyzes the decision-making process resulting in a failure to modify zoning regulations in order to welcome new places of worship in a borough of Montreal. While analyzing administrative and legal aspects, the article also exposes the complexity of the social and spatial dynamics at stake. Our conclusion is that any successful public policy on diversity must employ multilayered strategies, particularly to support space regulations with foundational intercultural and interreligious initiatives. It also brings attention to the perverse effect of some local participatory procedures, whereby a few actors maneuver to mobilize citizens, in order to resist the religious pluralization of space.

Rising transport emissions represent a significant challenge for policy makers. Two principal options exist to reduce emissions: make driving less polluting or reduce driving overall. Though cities have a role to play in both approaches, the levers that may influence the latter more squarely align with municipal competences concerning the urban form. This paper aims to refine our understanding of the relationship between urban form, public transport systems, and driving behavior by exploring whether accessibility—the ease of reaching desired destinations—exerts a different influence on people’s decision to drive on weekdays and total distance driven depending on travel purpose. We relied on disaggregate data from the 2013 Montreal Origin–Destination Survey and employed a two-step “hurdle” approach with multilevel logistic and linear models. We found both local and regional accessibility displayed statistically significant negative correlations with driving mode choice and vehicle distance driven by drivers. Concerning the decision to drive, regional accessibility, defined by transit-accessible jobs, appeared to possess a stronger relationship than local, as measured by Walk Score across all purposes. When considering total kilometers driven, however, the relative impact of both types of accessibility varied. Overall, and for work and school driving, regional accessibility correlated with the greatest declines in distance driven. For healthcare and discretionary travel, local accessibility correlated with a larger decline in total driving distance. Our findings also highlight the potentially profound impact of other explanatory factors, particularly car ownership, suggesting additional policy approaches for municipal decision makers to reduce vehicle kilometers traveled.

Over the past decade in Canada, infectious disease outbreaks have repeatedly been in the public spotlight. TheEscherichia colioutbreak in Walkerton, Ontario (1), the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in Toronto, Ontario (2) and theClostridium difficilehospital outbreak in Montreal, Quebec (3), have cost lives, grabbed headlines and stressed local health care systems. Each outbreak raised questions about our ability to prevent outbreaks, detect outbreaks early, and respond efficiently and effectively to infectious disease crises; these outbreaks also highlighted gaps in Canada's preparedness for managing major infectious disease problems when multiple jurisdictions are involved (4). Canada's poor track record of tuberculosis control in the north (5) raises the concern that this problem is not limited to crisis situations, but rather has deeper implications for the management of infectious diseases in Canada.

Abstract Volatile hydrocarbons (VHC’s) have been measured at many locations in the St. Lawrence River, Several concentrations of VHC’s were higher than those measured at other polluted Great Lakes sites, e.g. the St. Clair River. Tributaries to the St. Lawrence River were found to be significant sources of VHC’s. Cadmium in the St. Lawrence River is mostly found in dissolved (bioavailable) forms as compared to the Mississippi River where dissolved cadmium accounts for about 10% of the total cadmium. The major sources of cadmium appear to be in the Montreal area. Although the analytical results show local impairment in water quality, intensive sampling is required to pinpoint sources and/or quantify loadings, However, none of the VHC or cadmium concentrations exceed water quality guidelines or objectives. In fact there are no guidelines for most VHC’s. Nevertheless, the concentrations of VHC’s and cadmium found should have no toxic effect on aquatic organisms. The results of this study indicate that there are major sources of VHC’s and cadmium in Quebec. For example, inputs on the southwestern portion of Lac St.Louis may be a major source of perchloroethylene, and effluents in the vicinity of the Montreal STP may be a major source of cadmium. U.S. tributaries, e.g. the Grassy River, may also be a significant source of VHC’s.

In northern cities like Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the winters are long, and the construction season is condensed. In the mid-nineteenth century, knowing the St. Lawrence River’s seasonal variations and local construction customs helped railway and bridge builders save time and frustration during the very short working seasons. In this article, I investigate how technical and quasi-technical communications generated during the construction of the Victoria Bridge (1854–1860) are a rich source of urban knowledge. By examining visual and textual evidence in The Construction of the Great Victoria Bridge in Canada, I demonstrate how representations of the construction process are a tangible medium through which practical experience and a personal way of knowing the urban landscape are mediated. I argue that everyday experience and tacit knowledge move between social worlds and inform how audiences know and understand the colonial city.

"Strengthening Our Voices" was a fitting topic for the most recent CanadianCouncil of Muslim Women (CCMW) conference held on September 13-15,2002, at the Bank of Montreal Learning Institute, Markham, Ontario,Canada. This national organization, with chapters across Canada, wasfounded in 1982 when Muslim women from across Canada attended thefounding conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba. This year's conference celebrated20 years of leadership and "working towards equity, equality, andempowerment." Lila Falhman, a founding member and now 78 years old,was on hand to commemorate the event. Other founding members, currentCCMW president Barbara Siddiqui, and many local chapter leaders alsowere present. The Bank of Montreal Learning Institute in Markham was theperfect venue, for it allowed almost 300 people to hear the keynote speakers.Tables were set up for silent auction and sales of the latest books byFarid £sack, Sadia Zaman, and Khaled Abou El Fad!.The invited keynote speaker, Beverly Amina McCloud, professor at DePaul University, (Chicago, IL) unfortunately could not attend. Graciouslytaking her place, however, was Sheila McDonough, professor of religion atConcordia University (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) and author of therecently released The Muslim Veil in North America: Issues and Debates(University of Toronto Press: 2002.) She engaged the audience in a livelydiscussion of the philosophical question "Can a Muslim Woman Think?"She logically argued that genetics are evenly distributed to offspring, so thatwomen receive intellect from both parents; that children think as they learn;and that, in general, all homo sapiens are thinking creatures. She used severalQur'anic verses to demonstrate that God addresses women as a groupseparately from men and also stressed that everyone is responsible for hisor her own actions on the Day of Judgment ...

Migrants are at an increased risk of HIV acquisition. We aimed to use phylogenetics to characterize transmission clusters among newly-diagnosed asylum seekers and to understand the role of networks in local HIV transmission. Retrospective chart reviews of asylum seekers linked to HIV care between 1 June 2017 and 31 December 2018 at the McGill University Health Centre and the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal were performed. HIV-1 partial pol sequences were analyzed among study participants and individuals in the provincial genotyping database. Trees were reconstructed using MEGA10 neighbor-joining analysis. Clustering of linked viral sequences was based on a strong bootstrap support (>97%) and a short genetic distance (<0.01). Overall, 10,645 provincial sequences and 105 asylum seekers were included. A total of 13/105 participant sequences (12%; n = 7 males) formed part of eight clusters. Four clusters (two to three people) included only study participants (n = 9) and four clusters (two to three people) included four study participants clustered with six individuals from the provincial genotyping database. Six (75%) clusters were HIV subtype B. We identified the presence of HIV-1 phylogenetic clusters among asylum seekers and at a population-level. Our findings highlight the complementary role of cohort data and population-level genotypic surveillance to better characterize transmission clusters in Quebec.

A brief historical overview considers a number of factors that were not propitious for the development of a home-grown comics culture in Quebec (notwithstanding the popularity of a few noteworthy artists) including the impossibility of competing with cheaper American production, and the ambient conservatism that dominated much of the twentieth century. Beaulieu goes on to describe the shock and excitement of his discovery in the mid-1990s of an alternative comics scene (more active in Montreal than in Quebec City), and his own involvement in it from the beginning of the twenty-first century as an artist, publisher and teacher. He offers a firsthand account of the realities of negotiating the pressures of alternative comics publishing within the two structures that he set up: Mécanique Générale and the smaller and (still) more radical Colosse. There are pleasures: the ethos of collective work, the opportunity to support up-and-coming young authors and to ensure the survival of work by an illustrious predecessor, invitations to take part in productive exchanges on a local, national and international level, and the sheer obsessive pursuit of perfectionism. But there are also frustrations: the never-ending grind of getting manuscripts ready for the printer, wearying battles with publishers' reps, the constant need to manage the expectations of authors and the skewing of the market by competitors prepared to outsource printing to Asia. The author explains his decision finally to withdraw from his publishing commitments and to focus on his own work. His conclusion, about the future of comic production in Quebec, is, however, optimistic and devoid of cynicism.

Data on the long term evolution of urban forests are rare. Using pollen and macrofossil analyses of a sediment core collected in a swampy forest hollow on Île aux Chats, an island in Bois-de-Saraguay woodland park in Montreal (Quebec), the postglacial history of a maple forest was reconstructed at a local spatial scale for the last 8200 years. Results show that after Île aux Chats emerged from the waters of Lake Lampsilis, it was rapidly colonized by a maple forest that was already diversified 8000 years ago. More than half of the vascular species identified in the macrofossil assemblages are absent from the local plant community today, notably coniferous species (Pinus resinosa, Larix laricina, Picea mariana). Other plants have multiplied their populations over time (Tilia americana, Tsuga canadensis, Acer rubrum). The maple forest was probably sustained by a small-scale gap dynamic caused by windthrow, fires having apparently been very rare. Fagus grandifolia, never abundant locally in the past, is observed to be currently expanding, and could eventually compete with Acer saccharum. This study constitutes not only a rare plurimillenial study of an urban woodland in eastern North America, but also of a maple forest at a local spatial scale.

Urbanization is one of the major anthropogenic processes contributing to local habitat loss and extirpation of numerous species, including wild bees, the most widespread pollinators. Little is known about the mechanisms through which urbanization impacts wild bee communities, or the types of urban green spaces that best promote their conservation in cities. The main objective of this study was to describe and compare wild bee community diversity, structure, and dynamics in two Canadian cities, Montreal and Quebec City. A second objective was to compare functional trait diversity among three habitat types (cemeteries, community gardens and urban parks) within each city. Bees were collected using pan traps and netting on the same 46 sites, multiple times, over the active season in 2012 and 2013. A total of 32,237 specimens were identified, representing 200 species and 6 families, including two new continental records,Hylaeus communisNylander (1852) andAnthidium florentinum(Fabricius, 1775). Despite high community evenness, we found significant abundance of diverse species, including exotic ones. Spatio-temporal analysis showed higher stability in the most urbanized city (Montreal) but low nestedness of species assemblages among the three urban habitats in both cities. Our study demonstrates that cities are home to diverse communities of wild bees, but in turn affect bee community structure and dynamics. We also found that community gardens harbour high levels of functional trait diversity. Urban agriculture therefore contributes substantially to the provision of functionally diverse bee communities and possibly to urban pollination services.

Background Climate change, driven by human activity, is rapidly changing our environment and posing an increased risk to human health. Local governments must adapt their cities and prepare for increased periods of extreme heat and ensure that marginalized populations do not suffer detrimental health outcomes. Heat warnings traditionally rely on outdoor temperature data which may not reflect indoor temperatures experienced by individuals. Smart thermostats could be a novel and highly scalable data source for heat wave monitoring. Objective The objective of this study was to explore whether smart thermostats can be used to measure indoor temperature during a heat wave and identify houses experiencing indoor temperatures above 26°C. Methods We used secondary data—indoor temperature data recorded by ecobee smart thermostats during the Quebec heat waves of 2018 that claimed 66 lives, outdoor temperature data from Environment Canada weather stations, and indoor temperature data from 768 Quebec households. We performed descriptive statistical analyses to compare indoor temperatures differences between air conditioned and non–air conditioned houses in Montreal, Gatineau, and surrounding areas from June 1 to August 31, 2018. Results There were significant differences in indoor temperature between houses with and without air conditioning on both heat wave and non–heat wave days (P<.001). Households without air conditioning consistently recorded daily temperatures above common indoor temperature standards. High indoor temperatures persisted for an average of 4 hours per day in non–air conditioned houses. Conclusions Our findings were consistent with current literature on building warming and heat retention during heat waves, which contribute to increased risk of heat-related illnesses. Indoor temperatures can be captured continuously using smart thermostats across a large population. When integrated with local heat health action plans, these data could be used to strengthen existing heat alert response systems and enhance emergency medical service responses.

NOTE: THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED WITH THE INFORMING SCIENCE INSTITUTE. Aim/Purpose...................................................................................................................................................................................................... The African-Canadian Career Excellence (ACCE) initiative was developed to address the loss of highly-educated, English-speaking Black youth from the Greater Montreal Area (Quebec, Canada) facing issues of unemployment and underemployment. Background........................................................................................................................................................................................................ The ACCE initiative partners – African and Caribbean Synergic inter-organizational Network of Canada (ACSioN Network), Black Community Resource Center (BCRC) and Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation (CEDEC) – worked to mitigate the exodus of educated Black youth through building their professional capacities to attain meaningful, sustainable local employment; encouraging their contribution to Quebec’s vitality, and assisting employers to diversify their workforce. Methodology....................................................................................................................................................................................................... The Black undergraduate students of African descent who were surveyed were English-speaking youth from the Greater Montreal Area; these included Canadian citizens, landed immigrants and temporary and permanent residents. Survey respondents will be referred to as Black African undergraduate students for the remainder of this article. In the 2011-2012 academic year, Black African undergraduate students from five Montreal post-secondary institutions were surveyed. On-campus promotion and in-person solicitation resulted in a non-random convenience sample of 92 individuals. Data from the 34 categorical and open-ended questions in an English-language online survey were analysed using SurveyMonkey, Microsoft Excel and SPSS. Contribution........................................................................................................................................................................................................ Montreal's English-speaking Black African undergraduate students represent an under-documented demographic in migration studies, specifically in terms of career plans, workplace skills, career path, employment resource awareness and discrimination. This portrait highlights the experience and career expectations of Montreal Black African undergraduate youth and is relevant within the contexts of Black history, community development, skills and career development, education and employment. Findings.............................................................................................................................................................................................................. These results suggest that English-speaking Black African undergraduates expected to follow an appropriate career path in their desired field by attaining meaningful and sustainable local employment commensurate with their skills. Many of these youth were not able to access the same career opportunities as their peers, and therefore left before fully participating in Quebec’s economy. Recommendation for Practitioner................................................................................................................................................................... This article suggests that businesses seeking to diversify their workforce can collaborate with public institutions and civil society organizations to better prepare and integrate Montreal’s skilled Black African youth. It is suggested that career-advancement training focus on addressing job security and skills gap concerns, in addition to awareness of discrimination in the workplace and strategies for identifying and redressing the situation. Recommendation for Researcher.................................................................................................................................................................... Future research could be conducted within the same Montreal population to compare the findings a decade later. Subsequent outreach to targeted employers might reveal progress and additional recommendations in diversifying their workplace. Impact on Society.............................................................................................................................................................................................. Collaboration among public institutions, private businesses and civil society organizations can lead to increased integration of Black African youth into the labor market.

Welcome to the fourth issue of volume 42 of the IASSIST Quarterly (IQ 42:4, 2018). The IASSIST Quarterly presents in this issue three papers. When you know how, cycling is easy. However, data for cycling infrastructure appears to be a messiness of complications, stakeholders and data producers. The exemplary lesson is that whatever your research area there are often many views and types of data possible for your research. And the fuller view does not make your research easier, but it does make it better. The term geospatial data covers many different types of data, and as such presents problems for building access points or portals for these data. The second paper also brings experiences with complicated data, now with a focus on data management and curation. I would say that the third paper on software development in digital humanities is also about complicatedness, but this time the complicatedness was not overcome. Maybe here complexity is a better choice of word than complicatedness. In my book things are complex until we have solved how to deal with them; after that they are only complicated. The word failure is even among the keywords selected for this entry. Again: Read and learn. You might learn more from failure than from success. I find that Sir Winston Churchill is always at hand to keep up the good spirit: ‘Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm’. From Canada comes the paper ‘Cycling Infrastructure in the Ottawa-Gatineau Area: A Complex Assemblage of Data’ that some readers might have seen in the form of a poster at the IASSIST 2018 conference in Montreal. The authors are Sylvie Lafortune, Social Sciences Librarian at Carleton University in Ottawa, and Joël Rivard, Geography and GIS Librarian at the University of Ottawa. The article is a commendable example of how to encompass and illuminate an area of research not only though data but also by including the data producers and stakeholders, and the relationships between them. The article is based upon a study conducted in 2017-2018 that explored the data story behind the cycling infrastructure in Ottawa, Canada’s capital city; or to be precise, the infrastructure of the cycling network of over 1,000 km which spans both sides of the Ontario and Quebec provincial boundary known as the Ottawa-Gatineau National Capital Region. The municipalities invest in cycling infrastructure including expanded and improved bike lanes and paths, traffic calming measures, parking facilities, bike-transit integration, bike sharing and training programs to promote cycling and increased cycling safety. The research included many types of data among which were data from telephone interviews concerning ‘who, where, why, when, and how’ in an Origin-Destination survey, data generated by mobile apps tracking fitness activities, collision data, and bike counters placed in the area. The study shows how a narrow subject topic such as cycling infrastructure is embedded in complicated data and many relationships. Ningning Nicole Kong is the author of ‘One Store has All? – the Backend Story of Managing Geospatial Information Toward an Easy Discovery’. Many libraries are handling geographical information and my shortened version of the abstract from the article promises: GeoBlacklight and OpenGeoportal are two open-source projects that initiated from academic institutions, which have been adopted by many universities and libraries for geospatial data discovery. The paper provides a summary of geospatial data management strategies by reviewing related projects, and focuses on best management practices when curating geospatial data. The paper starts with a historical introduction to geospatial datasets in academic libraries in the United States and also presents the complicatedness involved in geospatial data. The paper mentions geoportals and related projects in both the United States and Europe with a focus on OpenGeoportal. Nicole Kong is an assistant professor and GIS specialist at Purdue University Libraries. Sophie 1.0 was an attempt to create a multimedia editing, reading, and publishing platform. Based at the University of Southern California with national and international collaboration, Sophie 2.0 was a project to rewrite Sophie 1.0 in the Java programming language. The author Jasmine S. Kirby gives the rationale for the article ‘How NOT to Create a Digital Media Scholarship Platform: The History of the Sophie 2.0 Project’ in the sentence: ‘Understanding what went wrong with Sophie 2.0 can help us understand how to create better digital media scholarship tools’. For the first time we now have failure among the keywords used for a paper in IQ. The Institute of the Future of the Book (IFB) was a central collaborator in the development of the Sophie versions. The IFB describes itself as a think-and-do tank and it is doing many projects. The Kirby paper gives us a brief insight into the future of reading, starting from basic e-books in the 1960s. When you read through the article you will note caveats like lack of focus on usability and changing of the underneath software language. The article ends with good questions for evaluating digital scholarship tools. Submissions of papers for the IASSIST Quarterly are always very welcome. We welcome input from IASSIST conferences or other conferences and workshops, from local presentations or papers especially written for the IQ. When you are preparing such a presentation, give a thought to turning your one-time presentation into a lasting contribution. Doing that after the event also gives you the opportunity of improving your work after feedback. We encourage you to login or create an author login to https://www.iassistquarterly.com (our Open Journal System application). We permit authors 'deep links' into the IQ as well as deposition of the paper in your local repository. Chairing a conference session with the purpose of aggregating and integrating papers for a special issue IQ is also much appreciated as the information reaches many more people than the limited number of session participants and will be readily available on the IASSIST Quarterly website at https://www.iassistquarterly.com. Authors are very welcome to take a look at the instructions and layout: https://www.iassistquarterly.com/index.php/iassist/about/submissions Authors can also contact me directly via e-mail: kbr@sam.sdu.dk. Should you be interested in compiling a special issue for the IQ as guest editor(s) I will also be delighted to hear from you. Karsten Boye Rasmussen - February 2019

Introduction: Choosing Wisely Canada has reported rates of unnecessary head computed tomography (CT) scans for low-risk mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) patients in Ontario and Alberta ranging from 14% to 46%. Local data for Quebec is currently not available. We sought to estimate the overuse of CT scans among adults with mTBI in the emergency department (ED) of a single level II trauma center in Quebec. Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of adults who visited the ED of Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis from 04/01/2016 to 03/31/2017. Using an administrative database (Med-GPS, Montreal), we randomly sampled ED patients aged over 18 that had an initial Glasgow Coma Scale score of 13 to 15 and had suffered from a mTBI in the last 24 hours. We excluded patients with an unclear history of trauma, a bleeding disorder/anticoagulation, a history of seizure, any acute focal neurological deficit, a return visit for reassessment of the same injury, unstable vital signs, or a pregnancy. Data was extracted by two reviewers who analyzed separate charts. They used the Canadian CT Head Rule (CCHR) to determine relevance of CT scans. Overuse was determined if a patient without any high or medium risk CCHR criteria underwent a scan. A third reviewer verified a 10% random sample of the data extraction for each primary reviewer and inter-rater reliability was assessed using the kappa statistic. Results: From the 942 eligible mTBI patients, we randomly selected 418 patient charts to review, of which 217 met all inclusion and exclusion criteria (56% were men and the mean age was 48 years old (SD = 21)). Among included patients, 101 were determined as low risk. The overuse proportion was 26% (26/101), 95% CI [18-35]. Two CT scans were assessed as abnormal, but none revealed life-threatening injuries and only one was considered clinically significant with a subdural hematoma of 9 mm. Inter-rater reliability was substantial to perfect (kappa = 0.6 and 1.0) for each primary reviewer. Conclusion: We identified head CT scan overuse in this ED. This will support local quality improvement initiatives to reduce unnecessary head CT scans for adults with mTBI.

We evaluated the role of sewage as a resource for the littoral food web of the fluvial St. Lawrence River near Montreal, Quebec. Stable isotope analysis indicated that macroinvertebrate primary consumers were feeding on local epiphytic production at sites outside the sewage plume, but shifts in δ15N of primary and secondary consumers revealed a substantial uptake of sewage-derived resources within the plume, up to 10 km from the outfall. Daily secondary production of macroinvertebrates was 1.8- to 4.1-fold higher at sewage-enriched sites, and the fraction of this production attributable to larval Chironomidae increased from 46% (outside the plume) to 85% (at sewage-enriched sites). Sewage enrichment also stimulated increases in daily fish production based on algivory-detritivory (1.3- to 4.4-fold), invertivory (1.7- to 10-fold), and piscivory (11- to 73-fold). We estimate a daily flux of 13 tonnes of sewage-derived particulate matter, 184 kg of total nitrogen, and 13 kg of total phosphorus into the food web over 1.2 km2 of the littoral zone within 10 km of the outfall. These values represent no more than a few percent of the total daily discharge of sewage-derived resources but were sufficient to support an overall fivefold increase in secondary production relative to sites outside the plume.

This article proposes a contextualist approach to machine learning and aesthetics, using LANDR, an online platform that offers automated music mastering and that trumpets its use of supervised machine learning, branded as artificial intelligence (AI). Increasingly, machine learning will become an integral part of the processing of sounds and images, shaping the way our culture sounds, looks, and feels. Yet we cannot know exactly how much of a role or what role machine learning plays in LANDR. To parochialize the machine learning part of what LANDR does, this study spirals in from bigger contexts to smaller ones: LANDR’s place between the new media industry and the mastering industry; the music scene in their home city, Montreal, Quebec; LANDR use by DIY musicians and independent engineers; and, finally, the LANDR interface and the sound it produces in use. While LANDR claims to automate the work of mastering engineers, it appears to expand and morph the definition of mastering itself: it devalues people’s aesthetic labor as it establishes higher standards for recordings online. And unlike many other new media firms, LANDR’s connection to its local music scene has been essential to its development, growth, and authority, even as they have since moved on from that scene, and even as the relationship was never fully reciprocal.

Abstract In Quebec, as elsewhere in Canada, the depression of the 1930s highlighted the inadequacies of existing welfare arrangements and ultimately compelled a shift towards greater state intervention and rationalization of philanthropy. Historians have so far devoted little attention to the situation of children and the evolution of child welfare services during this crucial period. This paper seeks to examine the effects of the depression on the origins, the nature and the impact of aid policies in a particular urban school system. The analysis centres on the Montreal Catholic School Commis- sion (MCSC), the largest of Quebec's local public school boards, during the period 1929 to 1940. In 1930, the Commission s primary and secondary schools boasted an enrolment of nearly one hundred thousand students. These mainly French-speaking children of working-class origin were particularly hard hit by the economic crisis. The author argues that the severe physical want experienced by schoolchildren in the depression years constituted a formidable obstacle to regular school attendance and to learning. Faced with this situation, MCSC officials were obliged to abandon a conception enshrining education, health and welfare as separate categories. The economic crisis thus compelled the commission to assume an enlarged, systematized and diversified role in student welfare. School authorities rationalized and expanded the long-standing policy of free schooling for indigents and, in 1934, created a social service agency to provide free milk and clothing to needy children. To this end, they allied a continuing reliance on private charity with the adoption of modern social work practices. However, lacking sufficient funding, MCSC assistance programmes proved hopelessly unequal to the enormous student need. The MCSC s depression-era ini- tiatives were, despite their inadequacies, developments of long-term significance, providing the springboard for social work's entry into the school system.

BACKGROUND: Little attention has been devoted to the effects on children’s respiratory health of exposure to sulphur dioxide (SO2) in ambient air from local industrial emissions. Most studies on the effects of SO2have assessed its impact as part of the regional ambient air pollutant mix.OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between exposure to stack emissions of SO2from petroleum refineries located in Montreal’s (Quebec) east-end industrial complex and the prevalence of active asthma and poor asthma control among children living nearby.METHODS: The present cross-sectional study used data from a respiratory health survey of Montreal children six months to 12 years of age conducted in 2006. Of 7964 eligible households that completed the survey, 842 children between six months and 12 years of age lived in an area impacted by refinery emissions. Ambient SO2exposure levels were estimated using dispersion modelling. Log-binomial regression models were used to estimate crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% CIs for the association between yearly school and residential SO2exposure estimates and asthma outcomes. Adjustments were made for child’s age, sex, parental history of atopy and tobacco smoke exposure at home.RESULTS: The adjusted PR for the association between active asthma and SO2levels was 1.14 (95% CI 0.94 to 1.39) per interquartile range increase in modelled annual SO2. The effect on poor asthma control was greater (PR=1.39 per interquartile range increase in modelled SO2[95% CI 1.00 to 1.94]).CONCLUSIONS: Results of the present study suggest a relationship between exposure to refinery stack emissions of SO2and the prevalence of active and poor asthma control in children who live and attend school in proximity to refineries.

Physostegia virginiana Benth. (false dragon head) is a perennial plant from the family Lamiaceae cultivated as an ornamental in gardens and for cut-flower production. In 2000, stunting of plants and yellow-to-brown ringspots on leaves were observed in cut-flower production in the Alpes Maritimes Department (southeast France). These symptoms greatly decreased the commercial value of the stems. The disease was attributed to Alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) because extracts of infected plant tissues revealed typical bacilliform particles by electron microscopy, produced symptoms typical of AMV after inoculation of a range of previously described test plants (1), and reacted positively in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) with antibodies raised to a tomato strain of AMV (from G. Marchoux, INRA, France). After isolation from single local lesions on Vigna unguiculata, the AMV isolate was multiplied in cv. Xanthinc tobacco, where it induced local and systemic ringspot symptoms. Infected Xanthinc plants served as sources of inocula for subsequent mechanical- and aphid (Myzus persicae)-transmission tests to healthy seedlings of P. virginiana (seeds from the botanic garden of Nancy, France; 36 plants for each inoculation procedure). Chlorotic and necrotic local lesions were observed in 25% of mechanically inoculated plants. Three months after inoculation, uninoculated leaves of all mechanically inoculated plants and 30.5% of aphid-inoculated plants tested positive for AMV based on ELISA. During the first year after inoculation, less than 10% of infected plants showed typical systemic symptoms. This proportion reached 40% during the second year. Recently, we observed similar symptoms in P. virginiana plants cultivated in public gardens in Intercourse (Pennsylvania), Toronto (Ontario, Canada) and Montreal (Quebec, Canada). Using ELISA, AMV was detected in symptomatic plants from these three additional locations. Reference: (1) L. Cardin and B. Moury. Plant Dis. 84:594, 2000.

To provide information on geographic occurrence, rate of spread, and potential distribution of European Common Reed, Phragmites australis subsp. australis, in Canada, we measured 1740 herbarium specimens from 21 collections across Canada, entered the information into a database, and mapped and analyzed these records. The European subspecies australis was first documented in Canada 100 years before it was recognized as an alien invader. It was not until the invading plants had entered a phase of rapid local increase after 1990 that they attracted sufficient attention that a comparison of the invasive and non-invasive plants was made. By 2001, two different races had been distinguished, and soon after they were separated as different subspecies. The first Canadian collection of the alien subsp. australis was made in southwestern Nova Scotia in 1910. By the 1920s, it occurred in southern Nova Scotia, along the St. Lawrence River near Quebec City and at Montreal. The first southwestern Ontario specimen was collected in 1948. Thus by 1950 subsp. australis was known from only four relatively small areas of Canada based on 22 collections. At this same time, the native race, subsp. americanus, had a widespread distribution in Canada represented by 325 collections. This strongly supported the comparable and limited distribution of subsp. australis at the time. By 1970, subsp. australis had spread locally but was still found only in southwestern Nova Scotia, in the St. Lawrence River valley, and in southwestern Ontario. By 1990, subsp. australis had become much more frequent in the St. Lawrence River valley and in southwestern Ontario, and it had extended westward into eastern Ontario. By 2010, it had spread throughout much of southern Ontario and southern Quebec, and it had a more extensive distribution in Atlantic Canada, but the biggest change was its spread into western Canada. It appeared in northern Ontario, northwestern Ontario, southern Manitoba, and interior southern British Columbia. The rate of spread is increasing and within a decade or two, based on the extent of appropriate plant hardiness zones currently occupied, it is expected to become abundant in the prairie provinces and across most of southern Canada.

In Quebec (Canada), the 2004 health system reform brought new challenges for organizations and professionals. To support the reform, the Regional Public Health Directorate of Montreal designed a professional development pilot program, the Health Promotion Laboratory, a strategy to develop and improve health promotion practices and competencies in local health and social services centers. This article reports the results of an analysis of two laboratory sites using a mixed-methods approach and a multiple case study design; the aim was to describe the creation of knowledge through the laboratory and its dissemination in the organization, as well as to identify influencing factors. In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted to collect data on the knowledge creation process and organizational context. Self-administered questionnaires were used four times over the course of each laboratory to measure active participation, commitment, psychological safety, innovation, and satisfaction. Our findings showed that knowledge acquired through participation in the laboratory was disseminated in the host organizations, both through externalization, combination, and, to a lesser extent, internalization. It is highly plausible that team processes and outcomes such as commitment, satisfaction, and innovation influenced this process, as well as contextual factors such as participant turnover, university affiliation, and internal team dynamics. These results show the potential of the laboratory for improving professional practices. They also suggest useful avenues for managers and decision makers interested in implementing such an initiative. Future work should consider the inclusion of other constructs derived from the literature on team effectiveness such as group learning, communication, and skill development.

Car ownership is linked to higher car use, which leads to important environmental, social and health consequences. As car ownership keeps increasing in most countries, it remains relevant to examine what factors and policies can help contain this growth. This paper uses an advanced spatial econometric modeling framework to investigate spatial dependences in household car ownership rates measured at fine geographical scales using administrative data of registered vehicles and census data of household counts for the Island of Montreal, Canada. The use of a finer level of spatial resolution allows for the use of more explanatory variables than previous aggregate models of car ownership. Theoretical considerations and formal testing suggested the choice of the Spatial Durbin Error Model (SDEM) as an appropriate modeling option. The final model specification includes sociodemographic and built environment variables supported by theory and achieves a Nagelkerke pseudo-R2 of 0.93. Despite the inclusion of those variables the spatial linear models with and without lagged explanatory variables still exhibit residual spatial dependence. This indicates the presence of unobserved autocorrelated factors influencing car ownership rates. Model results indicate that sociodemographic variables explain much of the variance, but that built environment characteristics, including transit level of service and local commercial accessibility (e.g., to grocery stores) are strongly and negatively associated with neighborhood car ownership rates. Comparison of estimates between the SDEM and a non-spatial model indicates that failing to control for spatial dependence leads to an overestimation of the strength of the direct influence of built environment variables.

IntroductionAccess to primary healthcare (PHC) has a fundamental influence on health outcomes, particularly for members of vulnerable populations. Innovative Models Promoting Access-to-Care Transformation (IMPACT) is a 5-year research programme built on community-academic partnerships. IMPACT aims to design, implement and evaluate organisational innovations to improve access to appropriate PHC for vulnerable populations. Six Local Innovation Partnerships (LIPs) in three Australian states (New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia) and three Canadian provinces (Ontario, Quebec and Alberta) used a common approach to implement six different interventions. This paper describes the protocol to evaluate the processes, outcomes and scalability of these organisational innovations.Methods and analysisThe evaluation will use a convergent mixed-methods design involving longitudinal (pre and post) analysis of the six interventions. Study participants include vulnerable populations, PHC practices, their clinicians and administrative staff, service providers in other health or social service organisations, intervention staff and members of the LIP teams. Data were collected prior to and 3–6 months after the interventions and included interviews with members of the LIPs, organisational process data, document analysis and tools collecting the cost of components of the intervention. Assessment of impacts on individuals and organisations will rely on surveys and semistructured interviews (and, in some settings, direct observation) of participating patients, providers and PHC practices.Ethics and disseminationThe IMPACT research programme received initial ethics approval from St Mary’s Hospital (Montreal) SMHC #13–30. The interventions received a range of other ethics approvals across the six jurisdictions. Dissemination of the findings should generate a deeper understanding of the ways in which system-level organisational innovations can improve access to PHC for vulnerable populations and new knowledge concerning improvements in PHC delivery in health service utilisation.

Abstract. The transformations of chemical constituents in subterranean estuaries (STEs) control the delivery of nutrient loads from coastal aquifers to the ocean. It is important to determine the processes and sources that alter nutrient concentrations at a local scale in order to estimate accurate regional and global nutrient fluxes via submarine groundwater discharge (SGD), particularly in boreal environments, where data are still very scarce. Here, the biogeochemical transformations of nitrogen (N) species were examined within the STE of a boreal microtidal sandy beach located in the Magdalen Islands (Quebec, Canada). This study revealed the vertical and horizontal distribution of nitrate (NO3−), nitrite (NO2−), ammonia (NH4+), dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) measured in beach groundwater during four spring seasons (June 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015) when aquifer recharge was maximal after snowmelt. Inland groundwater supplied high concentrations of NOx and DON to the STE, whereas inputs from seawater infiltration were very limited. Non-conservative behaviour was observed along the groundwater flow path, leading to low NOx and high NH4+ concentrations in the discharge zone. The long transit time of groundwater within the beach (∼ 166 days), coupled with oxygen-depleted conditions and high carbon concentrations, created a favourable environment for N transformations such as heterotrophic and autotrophic denitrification and ammonium production. Biogeochemical pathways led to a shift in nitrogen species along the flow path from NOx-rich to NOx-poor groundwater. An estimate of SGD fluxes of N was determined to account for biogeochemical transformations within the STE based on a N-species inventory and Darcy's flow. Fresh inland groundwater delivered 37 mol NOx yr−1 per metre of shoreline and 63 mol DON m−1 yr−1 to the STE, and NH4+ input was negligible. Near the discharge zone, the potential export of N species was estimated around 140, 1.5 and 33 mol yr−1 per metre of shoreline for NH4+, NOx and DON respectively. In contrast to the fresh inland groundwater, the N load of beach groundwater near the discharge zone was dominated by NH4+ and DON. Our study shows the importance of tidal sands in the biogeochemical transformation of the terrestrial N pool. This local export of bioavailable N probably supports benthic production and higher trophic levels leading to its rapid transformation in surface sediments and coastal waters.

Abstract Introduction: Nilotinib is a second-generation BCR-ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) widely used for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). ENESTnd, which compared two doses of nilotinib to imatinib for patients with newly diagnosed CML, demonstrated superior rates of major molecular responses (MMRs) at 12 months in patients treated with nilotinib. However, a relative increase in cardiovascular events (CVE) was observed, including ischemic heart disease, stroke, and/or peripheral artery disease among nilotinib-treated patients. Notably, at a median 5-year follow up, 7.5% of patients on nilotinib 300mg twice daily experienced a CVE (Hochaus, Leukemia, 2016) and by 10-years of follow up, approximately 20% of patients treated with nilotinib developed a CVE (Kantarjian, Leukemia, 2021). The baseline Framingham general cardiovascular risk scores and total dose exposure were predictive of patients' risk of developing CVE. In the province of Quebec, Canada, the GQR LMC-NMP (Groupe Québécois de recherche en leucémie myéloide chronique et néoplasie myéloproliférative) has maintained a registry of nearly all patients with CML since 2011. Using this 900+-patient registry, we examined molecular responses and the rate of CVE among patients receiving nilotinib as frontline therapy for CML, to determine if they were similar to those observed in ENESTnd. Methods: We identified all patients with chronic phase CML in the registry who were initiated on nilotinib for chronic phase CML. Baseline patient characteristics included were age, sex, Sokal index, baseline comorbidities, molecular response, cardiovascular complications, duration of exposure to nilotinib, dose adjustment, dose discontinuation and CVE on therapy. Results: In total, 94 patients received nilotinib as frontline treatment starting in 2008 (Table 1). The median age of the population was 58 years, 50.5% were male. The most common cardiovascular comorbidity prior to nilotinib treatment was hypertension (23.4%) followed by elevated cholesterol (21.3%), and prior CVE (12%). Seventeen patients had a low Sokal index, 26 intermediate and 24 high, 25 missing. Sixty-five patients received nilotinib at a total of 600 mg per day, 29 patients had a dose reduction at some point in their treatment and 18 patients were on either 300 or 400 mg daily. The median follow-up time was 67.0 months (range 0.5 to 159), and median nilotinib exposure time was 38.5 months (range 0.5 to 144). Forty-six patients (48.9%) discontinued nilotinib, 6 for a treatment free remission (TFR). While on nilotinib, 63 patients achieved MMR (72.4%) and 43 achieved MR 4.5 (49.6%) by 5 years of treatment, with 52 (55.3%) and 22 (23.4%) patients achieving MMR or MMR4.5 within a year, respectively. There was a total of 7 CVE in 6 patients: six myocardial infarctions and one ischemic stroke (Table 2). No patients developed peripheral artery disease. The mean time of exposure to nilotinib in these 6 patients was 28.6 months. Two patients had a high Sokal index, 3 intermediate and 1 low. One patient received dose-reduced nilotinib. These patients were co-morbid with diabetes (3), hypertension (3), elevated cholesterol (1) and one had a myocardial infarct prior to starting nilotinib, two patients did not have any risk factors. Only one of these patients has remained on nilotinib. All patients with a CVE were alive at the time of this report. Conclusion: We present real world data on the efficacy and safety of nilotinib in the frontline treatment of CML. Our data indicate that molecular responses and toxicities are similar to the ENESTnd trial. Of the 94 treated patients, the rate of MMR and CVE were 72% and 7.4% at 5.5 years of follow up, respectively, which is similar to that observed in ENESTnd, where 77% of patients experienced MMR and 7.5% CVE at this timepoint (Hochaus, Leukemia, 2016). All but one patient with a CVE in our study continued nilotinib, suggesting a reluctance among physicians to continue in the face of CVE. While there were 11 patients with prior CVE, only one of these developed a CVE on nilotinib. Current GQR-LMC CML management guidelines recommend estimation of Framingham score and management of cardiovascular risk factors for all patients with CML. Future follow up of these registry data may demonstrate a decrease in the rate of CVE among nilotinib treated patients, reflecting local adherence to these guidelines. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Busque: Novartis: Consultancy. Assouline: Eli Lilly: Research Funding; Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec: Current Employment; Novartis: Honoraria, Research Funding; Amgen: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Research Funding; Gilead: Speakers Bureau; Johnson&Johnson: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Roche/Genentech: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; BeiGene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Consultancy, Honoraria; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria.

Abstract Introduction In relapsed or refractory aggressive lymphoma, LY.12 study demonstrated the noninferiority of GDP, in comparison with DHAP, regarding response rate and overall survival with less toxicity. Because GDP ± Rituximab (R) can be easily given in an outpatient setting, this protocol has become the standard of treatment in many centers. However, no data has been published on the method to mobilize stem cells after GDP. The primary objective of the study was to describe the optimal method for a peripheral blood stem cell mobilization following GDP ± R and compare GDP ± R with intermediate-dose cyclophosphamide (ID-CY) as a secondary objective. Method We performed a retrospective observational multicenter study in a cohort of patients treated in one of the three centers located in Montreal and Quebec (CHUM, HMR, HEJ). The study was approved by each local IRB. The inclusion criteria were patients ≥ 18 years with a relapsed of refractory lymphoma who received GDP ± R as a salvage regimen before an autologous stem cells transplantation (ASCT) and who were mobilized on either GDP ± R or ID-CY without the use of plerixafor from January 1st 2014 to April 30th 2017. The GDP regimen consisted of gemcitabine 1000 mg/m2 IV on days 1 and 8, cisplatin 75 mg/m2 on day 1 and dexamethasone 40 mg once daily on day 1 to 4. Data were collected through the patient electronic health records in each hospital. The primary outcome was to define the percentage of patients achieving ≥ 2 x 106 CD34+/kg, the median CD34 yield, the number of days of apheresis and the initial day of apheresis following GDP ± R plus granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF). For the secondary outcome, the same parameters were compared with ID-CY. Continuous and nominal variables were compared using Student's t-test and chi-square test respectively. Results A total of 27 patients with a median age of 54 years received GDP ± R as a salvage therapy for DLBCL (41%), HL (44%) or follicular lymphoma (15%). G-CSF was started at a daily dose of 5 mcg/kg (52%) or 10 mcg/kg (48%) generally at day 9 or 10 and after 2 (67%) or 3 cycles (26%) of GDP ± R. At the first attempt, all patients (100%) achieved the target of ≥ 2 x 106 CD34+/kg with a median of 7.4 x 106 CD34+/kg (2.5-54.1). The median days of apheresis was 2 (1-5) started after a median of 6 days (± 2) following the beginning of G-CSF. In one of the centers (CHUM) a second day of apheresis was automatically planned because the dosage of CD34 in the collected bags was obtained only the next day. Only 1 patient (4%) consulted to the emergency for a slight bleeding at the jugular catheter in a context of thrombocytopenia in the 21 days following the mobilization. A total of 26 patients have proceeded to an ASCT and they had a neutrophils recovery after a median of 11 days (± 4). In the CHUM, 8 and 12 patients were collected following ID-CY and GDP ± R respectively. They were no difference between ID-CY and GDP ± R regarding the target ≥ 2 x 106 CD34+/kg (100 vs 100%, p=NS) but the mean number of CD34+ collected were significantly higher with GDP ± R (23.2 vs 9.6, p=0.02) in less time (2 vs 3 days, p=0.63). There is a trend toward less consultation to emergency and hospitalization within 21 days of mobilization in favor of GDP ± R (8.3% vs 25%, p=0.33). In the ID-CY group, 2 patients were hospitalized for a short follow-up after the removal of the jugular catheter in a context of thrombocytopenia and febrile neutropenia respectively. Conclusion This study demonstrated the feasibility of performing a peripheral blood stem cell mobilization at day 15 following GDP ± R with G-CSF given at day 9 of the second or third cycle. It highly effective and represents a better option due to its simplicity of administration, low rate of hospitalization and low cost. Disclosures Adam: Apobiologix: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria; TEVA: Consultancy. Emond:Roche: Honoraria; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria; Genzyme: Consultancy; Lundbeck: Consultancy, Honoraria; Gilead: Consultancy; Jassen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Nycomed: Consultancy; Sanofi-Aventis: Consultancy. Leblanc:Sanofi Aventis: Consultancy. Doucet:Roche: Consultancy; Seattle Genetic: Consultancy; Abbvie: Consultancy; Merck: Consultancy; Jannsen: Consultancy; Lundbeck: Consultancy.

From the 1994 CAIS Conference: The Information Industry in Transition McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. May 25 - 27, 1994.This paper describes the application of the optical technology for developing a local journal article database for electronic paperless document delivery service. The system provides instant access to requested articles. Includes price lists of hardware and software needed for the database. Copyright issues related to document delivery will be touched upon.

In Quebec (Canada), the plural religious landscape has strengthened a rhetoric that structures time, space, and morality dichotomously. In local Pentecostal congregations, identity narratives echo this national discourse as they frame religious trajectories within a paradigm of discontinuity that distinguish before and after being Christian, sin and grace, perdition and salvation. By examining Pentecostal migrants’ narratives that have been collected in ethnographic fieldworks among churches located in Montreal (Quebec, Canada), I question the construction of such a binary view in local migratory landscape and propose that we think of the various mobilities of Christian believers and ideology in terms of continuity, fluidity, and dividuality. Drawing on the concept of gendered dividuality, I understand Pentecostals’ charismatic experiences with the Holy Spirit as exchanges that constitute their personhood at the intersection with Quebecois collective debates focused on gender and migration issues. I argue that Pentecostalism’s ontological fluidity is part of a hermeneutics of the dividual self that features religious actors in a postmodern setting.

From the 1994 CAIS Conference: The Information Industry in Transition McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. May 25 - 27, 1994.We are entering the 2nd era of the information age in which enabling technology will allow information to be delivered as a seamless, borderless service to be used immediately by local or remote customers. This paper looks at why the library and information science profession must reengineer to take its rightful place in the new age. The discussions emphasize the requirements of a corporate library in this new age.

Abstract This article is an open-ended discussion of a selection of five events from the LASER series hosted at Hexagram in Montreal, Quebec, Canada between 2014 and 2021. LASERs at Hexagram interweave the research-creations of its members in dialogue with local and international guests. Emerging from the audio to text transcriptions of previous documentation of these LASERs, the word “movement” becomes a novel lens of analysis for this text, according to a “diffractive” approach. Thoughts and actions afforded by this word produces a surprisingly gentle yet compelling interdisciplinary weave, to inspire future editions.

Abstract This study documents the frequency and intensity of precipitation at Montreal, Canada from 1979–2018 as it relates to four quadrants of a 500-hPa wave, identified by the position of troughs, ridges, and inflection points. These quadrants provide a simplified conceptualization of the contributions from the temperature and vorticity advection forcing terms in the quasigeostrophic (QG) omega equation. Precipitation is found to be significantly more intense in every season except summer in the quadrant immediately upstream of the 500-hPa ridge, where differential cyclonic vorticity advection (DCVA) and a local maximum in horizontal warm-air advection (WAA) tend to promote unambiguous QG ascent. In summer, the average precipitation is still most intense in the DCVA-WAA quadrant, but not significantly more than in the quadrant immediately downstream of the 500-hPa trough, where DCVA and a local maximum in horizontal cold-air advection (CAA) are expected to compete, resulting in ambiguous QG vertical motion. Precipitation in the DCVA-CAA quadrant is more intense in every season than in the expected differential anticyclonic vorticity advection (DAVA) quadrants, with significantly higher intensities in spring and fall. Furthermore, the DCVA quadrants exhibit significantly stronger ascent compared to the DAVA quadrants and the DCVA-WAA quadrant features significantly warmer 850-hPa equivalent potential temperatures compared to the three other quadrants in every season. Odds ratios indicate a statistically significant association between heavy precipitation episodes and the DCVA-WAA quadrant. Heavy precipitation episodes in the DCVA-CAA quadrant are associated with a negatively tilted 500-hPa geopotential height pattern in winter and fall.

From the 1994 CAIS Conference: The Information Industry in Transition McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. May 25 - 27, 1994.The increased use of CD-ROM databases in academic libraries comes at a time when dwindling budgets have put pressure on university libraries to justify all expenditures, and particularly the large expenditures associated with these databases. This has hastened the need for better management information about network use of these databases to substantiate hardware and software requirements, remote access desirability, technical support needs, and to reduce their associated costs. This paper examines research being conducted at McGill University to develop a software tool to measure CD-ROM use across a multiple segment local area network with a target user population in excess of 2,000 students and faculty members. The rationale for the project is discussed, details are provided about programming considerations, and examples are given of how the information can be used.

From the 1994 CAIS Conference: The Information Industry in Transition McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. May 25 - 27, 1994.While institutional members of an information network may share the use of a common thesaurus, most institutions will need to make additions or changes to the thesaurus based on their particular requirements. Automated thesaurus management systems have not usually taken into account the needs for such local adaptations. While the requirements for networked thesaurus management are complex, it is possible, even in a simple microcomputer-based environment, to meet a significant number of those requirements with a few simple functions. This paper describes basic requirements for managing thesauri in networks, and the means by which these requirements are supported in a specific microcomputer-based multilingual thesaurus system.

Abstract At the local scale, seismic risk is often poorly estimated when considering equal hazard values across any given community. Indeed, past damaging earthquakes have shown that site conditions, which may amplify or deamplify ground shaking, have an influence on the spatial distribution of damage in urban areas. In eastern Canada, Leda clay deposits from the old Champlain Sea are of particular concern for strong site effects in many parts of Quebec and Ontario. To capture the variability in seismic site response, microzonation maps characterizing average shear wave velocity for the upper 30 m of soil, and predominant resonance frequency have been developed for Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City. The maps derived from seismic and borehole measurements have been used to develop shake map scenarios but have not been validated, because there have not been any significantly large, close earthquakes in recent years, and because the seismograph network coverage is not adequate to provide a detailed picture of variations in shaking across a city. Nevertheless, all the three cities are in or near active seismic zones, and felt reports, although less accurate than instrumental data, are numerous and provide a dense dataset showing relative shaking levels across a region. Using intensity data for several moderate earthquakes collected largely via the Canadian internet “Did You Feel It?” page, we systematically compare reported shaking levels to soil conditions indicated by the microzonation maps. This study shows a clear correlation between high-reported intensities and soft soils for Montreal where the number of observations is the largest. The results suggest that intensity data collected via the internet and social media could provide a viable method for validating microzonation maps and shaking scenarios.

DRAW (Data Rescue: Archives & Weather) is a citizen science project that asks the Canadian public to take part in transcribing millions of meteorological observations recorded between 1871 and 1963 at McGill University’s Observatory in Montreal, Quebec, which was demolished in 1963. We examine how classroom-based curricula can integrate citizen science so youth can learn more about their community via engagement with the local history of weather conditions and impacts. Conducted in March 2018, this research examined knowledge translation during a three-week course module through written reflections, classroom video footage, exit interviews, and a final group research assignment. We worked with 21 students—16- to 20-year-olds enrolled in a social science research methods course at Dawson College, a two-year collège d'enseignement général et professionnel (college of general and vocational education) that attracts local students and is a funded part of education in the province of Quebec. We found knowledge translation was facilitated by student engagement with their community’s history and appreciation for aiding credible scientific research. Knowledge translation suffered from attempts to include archival records that could be difficult to find, access, and read. Our work showed that citizen science, as a vehicle for community engagement and scientific literacy, requires considerable contextualization, for example, the use of frequently asked questions, tutorials, and blogs for context, and historical context to ensure knowledge translation takes place.

After a long period of decline, urban farmers’ markets are playing a revitalized role in food distribution in North America as interest in local food increases. Such markets can reveal underlying geographies of cuisine and culture in the surrounding neighbourhoods. Marché Atwater in Montreal, Quebec, was observed over several years in different seasons to study how the space interacted with the surrounding community. Marché Atwater was found to reflect and influence the sense of seasonality in the surrounding neighbourhood of Saint-Henri. The space served as a critical gathering point in a changing urban area and acted as a point of distribution for interesting food practices. A Pecha Kucha photographic presentation is presented to capture elements of the market throughout the year; and Pecha Kucha as a geographic technique is also explored.

Resumo Antigo berço da industrialização canadense, Pointe-Saint-Charles é um bairro localizado próximo ao centro da cidade de Montreal, Quebec, em confronto com um acelerado processo de revitalização urbana a partir dos anos 1990. Diante desse processo recente, organizações populares locais têm empreendido diversificadas lutas, como as Operações Populares de Planejamento (OPAs), cuja primeira experiência ocorreu em 2004. Busca-se conhecer em que medida essas práticas são capazes de influenciar o poder decisório que atua sobre a trama territorial local. Desse modo, o objetivo deste artigo é compreender de que modo as OPAs em Pointe-Saint-Charles se constituem em práticas de um planejamento insurgente, nos termos definidos por Miraftab (2009; 2016) e Purcell (2009). A metodologia utilizada envolveu a revisão do conceito de planejamento insurgente, além da coleta de dados primários, como depoimentos, consulta a documentos comunitários e visitas técnicas ao referido bairro montrealês. Conclui-se que as OPAs em Pointe-Saint-Charles se constituem em importantes espaços de contrapoder em relação ao planejamento urbano institucional, capazes de obter ganhos materiais e simbólicos do ponto de vista dos moradores locais. Essas práticas reúnem elementos que apontam para um campo aberto de possibilidades em relação a uma necessária mudança no planejamento urbano contemporâneo.

Despite the desired transition toward sustainable and multimodal mobility, few tools have been developed either to quantify mode use diversity or to assess the effects of transportation system enhancements on multimodal travel behaviors. This paper attempts to fill this gap by proposing a methodology to appraise the causal impact of transport supply improvement on the evolution of multimodality levels between 2013 and 2018 in Montreal (Quebec, Canada). First, the participants of two household travel surveys were clustered into types of people (PeTys) to overcome the cross-sectional nature of the data. This allowed changes in travel behavior per type over a five-year period to be evaluated. A variant of the Dalton index was then applied on a series of aggregated (weighted) intensities of use of several modes to measure multimodality. Various sensitivity analyses were carried out to determine the parameters of this indicator (sensitivity to the least used modes, intensity metric, and mode independency). Finally, a difference-in-differences causal inference approach was explored to model the influence of the improvement of three alternative transport services (transit, bikesharing, and station-based carsharing) on the evolution of modal variability by type of people. The results revealed that, after controlling for different socio-demographic and spatial attributes, increasing transport supply had a significant and positive impact on multimodality. This outcome is therefore good news for the mobility of the future as alternative modes of transport emerge.

Abstract In the context of a highly contagious virus and a global pandemic, the key to slowing the spread of COVID-19 and successfully transitioning through the phases of the pandemic and into ‘life after COVID', is public adherence to the unprecedented and rapidly evolving behaviour-based government policies. From social distancing and mask wearing to greater vaccine uptake, the successful implementation of public health interventions around the world revolves around effective community engagement and health communication initiatives that are essential for encouraging informed decision making, enabling positive behaviour change, and maintaining trust among the public. The current global crisis has placed behavioural science at the forefront of multidisciplinary pandemic responses and crisis management initiatives on both local and global level. This workshop will build upon the findings from the global research initiative (The International Assessment of COVID-19-related Attitudes, Concerns, Responses and Impacts in Relation to Public Health Policies (iCARE) study), and the authors and panellists will provide insights on how government communication initiatives can be leveraged to incorporate concepts from behavioural sciences in order to improve adherence to preventive behaviours. The structure of the workshop will include two presentations, followed by a panel discussion. In particular, the authors will highlight successful examples and stress the enormous potential of behavioural sciences to improve adherence to public health and government policies at reduced costs. They will aim to increase audience's understanding on theories of behaviour change and complex systems that influence human behaviour, including individual factors, close environment, social, and systems influences. Moreover, they will discuss feasible solutions for strategic use of behaviour change communication in government interventions, including the application of tailored approaches and targeted messaging across a variety of settings to promote the adoption of healthy behaviours and reduce risk taking at the population level. Lastly, the panellists will reflect upon some feasibility issues in a time-sensitive emergency scenario, such as the need for continuous assessment of the drivers of population behaviours and monitoring of communication impacts. Speakers/Panelists Elena Altieri Lead - Behavioural Insights at WHO, Geneva, Switzerland Tanja Kuchenmuller Unit Head Evidence to Policy and Impact, WHO Evidence-informed Policy Network, Geneva, Switzerland Simon L. Bacon Concordia University, MBMC, CIUSSS NIM, Montreal, Canada Kim L. Lavoie University of Quebec at Montreal, MBMC, CIUSSS-NIM, Montreal, Canada Key messages In the context of a global pandemic, application of behavioural science principles into public health communication activities is critical for optimal publics’ adherence to preventive behaviours. Understanding the motivators of engaging in COVID-19 mitigation, within the context of well-defined behavioural theories has had a direct positive impact on several government approaches.

IntroductionI have been studying the creation of Metro style train travel in Sydney for over a decade. My focus has been on the impact that media has had on the process (see Richardson, “Curatorial”; “Upheaval”; “Making”). Through extensive expert, public, and media research, I have investigated the coalitions and alliances that have formed (and disintegrated) between political, bureaucratic, news media, and public actors and the influences at work within these actor-networks. As part of this project, I visited an underground Métro turning fifty in Montreal, Canada. After many years studying the development of a train that wasn’t yet tangible, I wanted to ask a functional train the simple ethnomethodological/Latourian style question, “what do you do for a city and its people?” (de Vries). Therefore, in addition to research conducted in Montreal, I spent ten days wandering through many of the entrances, tunnels, staircases, escalators, mezzanines, platforms, doorways, and carriages of which the Métro system consists. The purpose was to observe the train in situ in order to broaden potential conceptualisations of what a train does for a city such as Montreal, with a view of improving the ideas and messages that would be used to “sell” future rapid rail projects in other cities such as Sydney. This article outlines a selection of the pathways wandered, not only to illustrate the power of social research based on physical wandering, but also the potential power the metaphorical and conceptual wandering an Actor-Network Theory (ANT) assemblage affords social research for media communications.Context, Purpose, and ApproachANT is a hybrid theory/method for studying an arena of the social, such as the significance of a train to a city like Montreal. This type of study is undertaken by following the actors (Latour, Reassembling 12). In ANT, actors do something, as the term suggests. These actions have affects and effects. These might be contrived and deliberate influences or completely circumstantial and accidental impacts. Actors can be people as we are most commonly used to understanding them, and they can also be texts, technological devices, software programs, natural phenomena, or random occurrences. Most significantly though, actors are their “relations” (Harman 17). This means that they are only present if they are relating to others. These relations and the resulting influences and impacts are called networks. A network in the ANT sense is not as simple as the lines that connect train stations on a rail map. Without actions, relations, influences, and impacts, there are no actors. Hence the hyphen in actor-network; the actor and the network are symbiotic. The network, rendered visible through actor associations, consists of the tenuous connections that “shuttle back and forth” between actors even in spite of the fact their areas of knowledge and reality may be completely separate (Latour Modern 3). ANT, therefore, may be considered an empirical practice of tracing the actors and the network of influences and impacts that they both help to shape and are themselves shaped by. To do this, central ANT theorist Bruno Latour employs a simple research question: “what do you do?” This is because in the process of doing, somebody or something is observed to be affecting other people or things and an actor-network becomes identifiable. Latour later learned that his approach shared many parallels with ethnomethodology. This was a discovery that more concretely set the trajectory of his work away from a social science that sought explanations “about why something happens, to ontological ones, that is, questions about what is going on” (de Vries). So, in order to make sense of people’s actions and relations, the focus of research became asking the deceptively simple question while refraining as much as possible “from offering descriptions and explanations of actions in terms of schemes taught in social theory classes” (14).In answering this central ANT question, studies typically wander in a metaphorical sense through an array or assemblage (Law) of research methods such as formal and informal interviews, ethnographic style observation, as well as the content analysis of primary and secondary texts (see Latour, Aramis). These were the methods adopted for my Montreal research—in addition to fifteen in-depth expert and public interviews conducted in October 2017, ten days were spent physically wandering and observing the train in action. I hoped that in understanding what the train does for the city and its people, the actor-network within which the train is situated would be revealed. Of course, “what do you do?” is a very broad question. It requires context. In following the influence of news media in the circuitous development of rapid rail transit in Sydney, I have been struck by the limited tropes through which the potential for rapid rail is discussed. These tropes focus on technological, functional, and/or operational aspects (see Budd; Faruqi; Hasham), costs, funding and return on investment (see Martin and O’Sullivan; Saulwick), and the potential to alleviate peak hour congestion (see Clennell; West). As an expert respondent in my Sydney research, a leading Australian architect and planner, states, “How boring and unexciting […] I mean in Singapore it is the most exciting […] the trains are fantastic […] that wasn’t sold to the [Sydney] public.” So, the purpose of the Montreal research is to expand conceptualisations of the potential for rapid rail infrastructure to influence a city and improve communications used to sell projects in the future, as well as to test the role of both physical and metaphorical ANT style wanderings in doing so. Montreal was chosen for three reasons. First, the Métro had recently turned fifty, which made the comparison between the fledgling and mature systems topical. Second, the Métro was preceded by decades of media discussion (Gilbert and Poitras), which parallels the development of rapid transit in Sydney. Finally, a different architect designed each station and most stations feature art installations (Magder). Therefore, the Métro appeared to have transcended the aforementioned functional and numerically focused tropes used to justify the Sydney system. Could such a train be considered a long-term success?Wandering and PathwaysIn ten days I rode the Montreal Métro from end to end. I stopped at all the stations. I wandered around. I treated wandering not just as a physical research activity, but also as an illustrative metaphor for an assemblage of research practices. This assemblage culminates in testimony, anecdotes, stories, and descriptions through which an actor-network may be glimpsed. Of course, it is incomplete—what I have outlined below represents only a few pathways. However, to think that an actor-network can ever be traversed in its entirety is to miss the point. Completion is a fallacy. Wandering doesn’t end at a finish line. There are always pathways left untrodden. I have attempted not to overanalyse. I have left contradictions unresolved. I have avoided the temptation to link paths through tenuous byways. Some might consider that I have meandered, but an actor-network is never linear. I can only hope that my wanderings, as curtailed as they may be, prove nuanced, colourful, and rich—if not compelling. ANT encourages us to rethink social research (Latour, Reassembling). Central to this is acknowledging (and becoming comfortable with) our own role as researcher in the illumination of the actor-network itself.Here are some of the Montreal pathways wandered:First Impressions I arrive at Montreal airport late afternoon. The apartment I have rented is conveniently located between two Métro stations—Mont Royal and Sherbrooke. I use my phone and seek directions by public transport. To my surprise, the only option is the bus. Too tired to work out connections, I decide instead to follow the signs to the taxi rank. Here, I queue. We are underway twenty minutes later. Travelling around peak traffic, we move from one traffic jam to the next. The trip is slow. Finally ensconced in the apartment, I reflect on how different the trip into Montreal had been, from what I had envisaged. The Métro I had travelled to visit was conspicuous in its total absence.FloatingIt is a feeling of floating that first strikes me when riding the Métro. It runs on rubber tyres. The explanation for the choice of this technology differs. There are reports that it was the brainchild of strong-willed mayor, Jean Drapeau, who believed the new technology would showcase Montreal as a modern world-scale metropolis (Gilbert and Poitras). However, John Martins-Manteiga provides a less romantic account, stating that the decision was made because tyres were cheaper (47). I assume the rubber tyres create the floating sensation. Add to this the famous warmth of the system (Magder; Hazan, Hot) and it has a thoroughly calming, even lulling, effect.Originally, I am planning to spend two whole days riding the Métro in its entirety. I make handwritten notes. On the first day, at mid-morning, nausea develops. I am suffering motion sickness. This is a surprise. I have always been fine to read and write on trains, unlike in a car or bus. It causes a moment of realisation. I am effectively riding a bus. This is an unexpected side-effect. My research program changes—I ride for a maximum of two hours at a time and my note taking becomes more circumspect. The train as actor is influencing the research program and the data being recorded in unexpected ways. ArtThe stained-glass collage at Berri-Uquam, by Pierre Gaboriau and Pierre Osterrath, is grand in scale, intricately detailed and beautiful. It sits above the tunnel from which the trains enter and leave the platform. It somehow seems wholly connected to the train as a result—it frames and announces arrivals and departures. Other striking pieces include the colourful, tiled circles from the mezzanine above the platform at station Peel and the beautiful stained-glass panels on the escalator at station Charlevoix. As a public respondent visiting from Chicago contends, “I just got a sense of exploration—that I wanted to have a look around”.Urban FormAn urban planner asserts that the Métro is responsible for the identity and diversity of urban culture that Montreal is famous for. As everyone cannot live right above a Métro station, there are streets around stations where people walk to the train. As there is less need for cars, these streets are made friendlier for walkers, precipitating a cycle. Furthermore, pedestrian-friendly streets promote local village style commerce such as shops, cafes, bars, and restaurants. So, there is not only more access on foot, but also more incentive to access. The walking that the Métro induces improves the dynamism and social aspects of neighbourhoods, a by-product of which is a distinct urban form and culture for different pockets of the city. The actor-network broadens. In following the actors, I now have to wander beyond the physical limits of the system itself. The streets I walk around station Mont Royal are shopping and restaurant strips, rich with foot traffic at all times of day; it is a vibrant and enticing place to wander.Find DiningThe popular MTL blog published a map of the best restaurants the Métro provides access to (Hazan, Restaurant).ArchitectureStation De La Savane resembles a retro medieval dungeon. It evokes thoughts of the television series Game of Thrones. Art and architecture work in perfect harmony. The sculpture in the foyer by Maurice Lemieux resembles a deconstructed metal mace hanging on a brutalist concrete wall. It towers above a grand staircase and abuts a fence that might ring a medieval keep. Up close I realise it is polished, precisely cut cylindrical steel. A modern fence referencing another time and place. Descending to the platform, craggy concrete walls are pitted with holes. I get the sense of peering through these into the hidden chambers of a crypt. Overlaying all of this is a strikingly modern series of regular and irregular, bold vertical striations cut deeply into the concrete. They run from floor to ceiling to add to a cathedral-like sense of scale. It’s warming to think that such a whimsical train station exists anywhere in the world. Time WarpA public respondent describes the Métro:It’s a little bit like a time machine. It’s a piece of the past and piece of history […] still alive now. I think that it brings art or form or beauty into everyday life. […] You’re going from one place to the next, but because of the history and the story of it you could stop and breathe and take it in a little bit more.Hold ups and HostagesA frustrated General Manager of a transport advocacy group states in an interview:Two minutes of stopping in the Métro is like Armageddon in Montreal—you see it on every media, on every smartphone [...] We are so captive in the Métro [there is a] loss of control.Further, a transport modelling expert asserts:You’re a hostage when you’re in transportation. If the Métro goes out, then you really are stuck. Unfortunately, it does go out often enough. If you lose faith in a mode of transportation, it’s going to be very hard to get you back.CommutingIt took me a good week before I started to notice how tired some of the Métro stations had grown. I felt my enthusiasm dip when I saw the estimated arrival time lengthen on the electronic noticeboard. Anger rose as a young man pushed past me from behind to get out of a train before I had a chance to exit. These tendrils of the actor-network were not evident to me in the first few days. Most interview respondents state that after a period of time passengers take less notice of the interesting and artistic aspects of the Métro. They become commuters. Timeliness and consistency become the most important aspects of the system.FinaleI deliberately visit station Champ-de-Mars last. Photos convince me that I am going to end my Métro exploration with an experience to savour. The station entry and gallery is iconic. Martins-Manteiga writes, “The stained-glass artwork by Marcelle Ferron is almost a religious experience; it floods in and splashes down below” (306). My timing is off though. On this day, the soaring stained-glass windows are mostly hidden behind protective wadding. The station is undergoing restoration. Travelling for the last time back towards station Mont Royal, my mood lightens. Although I had been anticipating this station for some time, in many respects this is a revealing conclusion to my Métro wanderings.What Do You Do?When asked what the train does, many respondents took a while to answer or began with common tropes around moving people. As a transport project manager asserts, “in the world of public transport, the perfect trip is the one you don’t notice”. A journalist gives the most considered and interesting answer. He contends:I think it would say, “I hold the city together culturally, economically, physically, logistically—that’s what I do […] I’m the connective tissue of this city”. […] How else do you describe infrastructure that connects poor neighbourhoods to rich neighbourhoods, downtown to outlying areas, that supports all sorts of businesses both inside it and immediately adjacent to it and has created these axes around the city that pull in almost everybody [...] And of course, everyone takes it for granted […] We get pissed off when it’s late.ConclusionNo matter how real a transportation system may be, it can always be made a little less real. Today, for example, the Paris metro is on strike for the third week in a row. Millions of Parisians are learning to get along without it, by taking their cars or walking […] You see? These enormous hundred-year-old technological monsters are no more real than the four-year-old Aramis is unreal: They all need allies, friends […] There’s no inertia, no irreversibility; there’s no autonomy to keep them alive. (Latour, Aramis 86)Through ANT-based physical and metaphorical wanderings, we find many pathways that illuminate what a train does. We learn from various actors in the actor-network through which the train exists. We seek out its “allies” and “friends”. We wander, piecing together as much of the network as we can. The Métro does lots of things. It has many influences and it influences many. It is undeniably an actor in an actor-network. Transport planners would like it to appear seamless—commuters entering and leaving without really noticing the in-between. And sometimes it appears this way. However, when the commuter is delayed, this appearance is shattered. If a signal fails or an engine falters, the Métro, through a process mediated by word of mouth and/or social and mainstream media, is suddenly rendered tired and obsolete. Or is it historic and quaint? Is the train a technical problem for the city of Montreal or is it characterful and integral to the city’s identity? It is all these things and many more. The actor-network is illusive and elusive. Pathways are extensive. The train floats. The train is late. The train makes us walk. The train has seeded many unique villages, much loved. The train is broken. The train is healthy for its age. The train is all that is right with Montreal. The train is all that is wrong with Montreal. The artwork and architecture mean nothing. The artwork and architecture mean everything. Is the train overly limited by the tyres that keep it underground? Of course, it is. Of course, it isn’t. Does 50 years of history matter? Of course, it does. Of course, it doesn’t. It thrives. It’s tired. It connects. It divides. It’s functional. It’s dirty. It’s beautiful. It’s something to be proud of. It’s embarrassing. A train offers many complex and fascinating pathways. It is never simply an object; it lives and breathes in the network because we live and breathe around it. It stops being effective. It starts becoming affective. Sydney must learn from this. My wanderings demonstrate that the Métro cannot be extricated from what Montreal has become over the last half century. In May 2019, Sydney finally opened its first Metro rail link. And yet, this link and other ongoing metro projects continue to be discussed through statistics and practicalities (Sydney Metro). This offers no affective sense of the pathways that are, and will one day be, created. By selecting and appropriating relevant pathways from cities such as Montreal, and through our own wanderings and imaginings, we can make projections of what a train will do for a city like Sydney. We can project a rich and vibrant actor-network through the media in more emotive and powerful ways. Or, can we not at least supplement the economic, functional, or technocratic accounts with other wanderings? Of course, we can’t. Of course, we can. 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