AI is everywhere, but can it really fix Montreal?

From city permits to urban planning, municipal leaders are betting on artificial intelligence to solve local problems. In this episode of Local 514, Kalden Dhatsenpa talks with tech critic Paris Marx about the hype, the limits, and the hidden social consequences of Montreal’s AI push.

From scandals in the Liberal Party of Québec to an increasingly domineering attitude from the Parti Québecois, to a massive projected crash from the governing Coalition Avenir Quebec this moment marks a tumultuous point in Québec politics where much is uncertain. Editor-in-chief of the Rover, Christopher Curtis joins Local 514 host Kalden Dhatsenpa to make sense of this political mess.

“We are one of the white races with fewest children!” - Lucien Bouchard

Today’s episode of Local 514 explores the renewed relevance of sovereignty in Quebec at the 1995 referendum’s 30th anniversary. How did that pivotal moment change Quebec and has the sovereignty movement changed as well? One expert suggests a fundamental issue within the movement, whiteness.

Tune in for the full discussion.

As Quebec approaches the 2026 provincial election, the government has introduced Bill 9, a legislation that would restrict public prayer in certain settings. Officials say the measure is meant to reinforce state secularism, while civil liberties groups argue it disproportionately affects Muslim communities. To better understand the legal implications and the broader context, Local 514 spoke with Stephen Brown from the National Council of Canadian Muslims. Here’s what Bill 9 proposes, why it’s generating debate, and how it fits into Quebec’s ongoing discussions around secularism.

Nashwa Lina Khan of Habibti Please joins Local 514 host Kalden Dhatsenpa to unpack the recent visit of the Swedish royal couple. They were not here to inaugurate a new Ikea but instead to lobby on behalf of the infamous Swedish defence giant Saab. Tune in to learn more about this shady company and how they want to set up base in Montreal.

Shi Tao Zhang joins host Kalden Dhatsenpa on Local 514 to talk about Chinatown community organizing in Montréal. The neighborhood has a long history of fighting gentrification and racism and unfortunately not much has changed. Shi Tao Zhang details the organizing done by the Resistance Chinatown Mobilization project and their multi-pronged campaign fighting for social justice in the last Chinatown in Quebec.

Local 514 host Kalden Dhatsenpa is joined by regular guest, Katia Lo Innes to help viewers and listeners familiarize themselves with the different options available to them at the ballot box for the 2025 Montréal municipal elections. With new parties, and new mayoral hopefuls what is there to know before casting a vote November 2nd? Tune in to learn more about the different parties vying for your vote!

Sergio Da Silva is one of  Transition Montréal’s star candidates this municipal election. Host Kalden Dhatsenpa sits down with the city councillor candidate for Saint-Jacques to discuss nightlight, expropriation, and some tweets of his that have bothered right-wingers. Listen now to hear the full conversation.

On this episode of Local 514, host Kalden Dhatsenpa speaks to Projet MTL ‘s candidate Logan Littlefield who is running to become borough councillor in the Champlain—L’Île-des-Soeurs district of Verdun. Logan Littlefield is a landscape architect with a vision for Verdun’s future. Can he defend the Projet administration? Tune in to find out.

In this episode of Local 514, host Kalden Dhatsenpa and filmmaker and professor Nicolas Renaud discusses the afterlives of Quebec’s Bill 97, a controversial forestry law prioritizing industrial access over conservation and Indigenous rights. Despite being removed off the table Dhatsenpa and Renaud reflect on land defenders, ecological collapse, and the colonial logic of “Crown land.” Renaud critiques how consultation processes exclude Indigenous authority, turning collaboration into performance while forests, waters, and caribou disappear. The bill exposes the human, cultural, and environmental costs of what Renaud calls “radical capitalism” in Québec.