Focus Montreal introduces Montrealers to people who are shaping our community and bringing their stories into focus.
It airs on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and on Sunday at 7:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and at midnight.
Take a look at who we’re meeting this week on Focus Montreal:
STM announces service improvements for 2017
There is good news for people who use public transit in Montreal.
The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) announced $23 million in new spending in it’s budget this week. The big news is there will be no fare increases in January.
The STM also announced more metro service during peak periods.
There are plans to add 18 more AZUR metro trains on the line to bring the total to 30.
As for buses, the STM announced 100,000 more hours of service.
There are also a number of green initiatives detailed in the budget, including 107 new, air-conditioned, hybrid buses.
Montreal city councillor and STM vice-president Marvin Rotrand, dropped by Focus Montreal studios to discuss the upcoming changes.
Attack of the Budworms
A group of journalism students at Concordia University can add The Walrus to their list of published works.
The students spent a year investigating a deal between forestry companies in northern Quebec and the provincial government that cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
Their findings were detailed in an article titled the Attack of the Budworms and published in The Walrus, a Canadian magazine.
The project was spearheaded by Concordia’s first journalist-in-residence and New York Times managing editor Patti Sonntag.
Her mandate was to help students build their investigative reporting skills and shape them into budding journalists.
Joe Arciresi and Casandra Demasi, two students who took part in the project, sat down with senior anchor Jamie Orchard to discuss the experience and the results of the investigation.
GreatMtler: Gabriel Bran Lopez
This week’s Great Montrealer is an innovator who came up with a brilliant idea to help Quebec kids stay in school.
Gabriel Bran Lopez founded and runs Youth Fusion – an award-winning charity that partners with top businesses in the province to help lower school dropout rates.
Bran Lopez joined senior anchor Jamie Orchard to share his experiences and explain how Youth Fusion got its start nine years ago.
There are so many Great Montrealers around us. If you know someone who should be profiled as part of Global News’ Greater Montreal campaign, don’t forget to nominate them!
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