Here are the top 10 stories for CTV News Montreal in 2024
Though not every reader gets to the bottom of every CTV News Montreal story, the most viewed stories of 2024 run the gamut. From fish bites, to travel headaches to warnings about medical procedures, the list highlights the diversity of storytelling at CTV News.
Click on the headline to read the complete story and see the report. Writer and video journalists' names are below the headline.
1. Quebec woman's death warns of dangers of cosmetic surgery abroad
Alice Martin, Maria Sarrouh
Florence McConnell’s trip to Morocco for a liposuction treatment ended tragically after her kidney and liver were perforated and she succumbed to her injuries and died.
Florence McConnell passed away on May 13, 2022 after liposuction complications. (Submitted)
2. Celine Dion at the Olympics: Quebec icon stages her comeback
The Canadian Press, Genevieve Beauchemin
Always a popular name in a headline, Celine Dion blew the crowd away at the Olympics opening ceremony, delivering a powerful performance from the Eiffel Tower. Word is a tour may be in the near future.
Canadian Singer Celine Dion performing at the Eiffel Tower during the opening ceremony for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Olympic Broadcasting Services via AP)
3. ‘Like being in prison’: Via Rail passenger says people stranded without food, water
The Canadian Press, Olivia O’Malley
Passengers were stuck on a three-hour Via Rail train from Montreal to Quebec City for 10 hours without food or water with limited access to a toilet. The train broke down twice.
Marcella Malt pictured with snacks Via Rail provided to her and other stranded passengers after the train broke down between Montreal and Quebec City. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO Chip Malt)
4. Second Cup takes back Montreal franchise over hateful incident
Marisela Amador, Angela MacKenzie
Second Cup took back two of its franchise locations in Montreal following allegations of hateful antisemitic remarks and gestures made by the franchisee in a video that was widely circulated online during a pro-Palestinian protest.
5. Fish bite? Boy injured at Montreal’s Jean Dore Beach
Daniel J. Rowe, Christine Long
An eight-year-old boy was pulled from the water at Jean-Dore Beach at Parc Jean Dreapeau after he was bit by something… A fish?
Eight-year-old Max Mandl was bit by something while swimming at Jean-Dore Beach in Montreal on June 26, 2024. (George Mandl)
6. Gilles Brassard: Accused gets prison after admitting to killing elderly wife
Joe Lofaro, Maria Sarrouh
Gilles Brassard, 81, received a life sentence for second-degree murder after he was found guilty of strangling his 79-year-old wife, Therese Brassard-Levesque, who was suffering with Alzheimer's disease.
Gilles Brassard, right, alongside his lawyer Elfriede Duclervil arrives for sentencing at the courthouse in Laval, Que., Friday, November 22, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
7. Montreal man died of aneurysm after waiting in the ER for six hours
Erika Morris, Maria Sarrouh
Adam Burgoyne, 39, decided to go home after spending six hours in an emergency room. He died the next day of an aneurysm.
Adam Burgoyne, 39, died of an aneurysm after a long wait in a Montreal emergency room. (Dignity Memorial)
8. Ex-Quebec junior hockey players jailed of 2021 sexual assault of teen
The Canadian Press
Two former Quebec junior hockey players were handed prison sentences for sexually assaulting a minor at a hotel in June 2021 in the aftermath of a Victoriaville Tigres championship celebration.
Former Victoriaville Tigres junior major hockey league players Nicolas Daigle, left, and Massimo Siciliano, and defence lawyer Michel Lebrun, right, leave the courtroom after pleading guilty on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)
9. 'Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!': Details emerge in Boeing 737 incident at Montreal airport
Joe Lofaro
New details suggest that there were communication issues between the pilots of a charter flight and the control tower at Montreal's Mirabel airport when a Boeing 737 made an emergency landing on Nov 27.
10. Air Canada overbooks flight, ruining Quebec family’s vacation
Olivia O’Malley
A mother from Terrebonne, Que. is outraged after her vacation plans fell through because Air Canada reportedly overbooked the flight.
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