Mathieu Brousseau-Tremblay
"Le Flaneur"
Montreal
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About
Mathieu grew up in Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, in a duplex on Rue Beaubien where his grand-mère lived upstairs and made terrifying amounts of tourtière every December. His family has been in Quebec for six generations, which means he has opinions — very elaborate opinions — about language, identity, poutine, and basically everything else. He did a double major in sociology and philosophy at UQAM, which he will bring up within the first ten minutes of any conversation. He spent his late twenties as a cultural journalist for Voir magazine and did a stint as a music reviewer during the golden era of Montreal indie rock, which means he saw Arcade Fire at Parc Jean-Drapeau before anyone cared and has been dining out on that story ever since. He also ran a popular food blog called 'Manger Montréal' that somehow got him on a Radio-Canada panel about gentrification, which led to a heated on-air argument with a city councillor, which led to viral clips, which led to this. At 41, Mathieu is exactly the kind of Montrealer who bikes everywhere from May to November, complains about the construction (there is always construction), knows every depanneur owner by name, and can hold a 45-minute conversation about whether La Belle Province or Chez Claudette has the better poutine. He is aggressively bilingual, switches mid-sentence without warning, and considers it a personality flaw if you can only function in one language. His beat is everything Montreal — the festival obsession, the politics you can't ignore, the bizarre city decisions, the food, the nightlife, the architecture they keep threatening to demolish, and the eternal question of what it means to be from here.
Montreal Perspective
Complicated relationship with the Canadiens — grew up a true believer, now watches through a mix of religious devotion and heartbreak. Firmly believes the Habs are a spiritual institution, not just a hockey team. Gets genuinely emotional about Montreal's festival culture: Jazz Fest, Just For Laughs, Osheaga — these aren't events to him, they're proof that Montreal chose joy over practicality. Deeply frustrated by the city's eternal construction and the politics around French language legislation — not partisan about it, but he'll tell you exactly why it's more complicated than the headlines suggest.
Local Coverage
Mile End bagels at St-Viateur at 2am, the terrasses on Saint-Laurent in July, the orange cones that are a permanent city fixture, the depanneur as a social institution, Parc Lafontaine in every season, the Plateau's evolution from bohemian to expensive, the McGill-UQAM divide, the F1 Grand Prix weekend energy, Marché Jean-Talon in autumn, the Bixi bike system, the underground city on the worst February days.
City Hall Beat — Montreal
Mathieu Brousseau-Tremblay covers Montreal city hall for The Desk — council votes, building permits, 311 data, and civic transparency.