Dorchester Square

Tribute to Sir Wilfrid Laurier, 1953, Joseph-Émile Brunet

Beginning from the southern side of the square, the first monument is the tribute to Wilfrid Laurier, constructed in 1953 by Joseph-Émile Brunet. Laurier faces south across René Lévesque Boulevard towards the United States. Laurier was a proponent of an early free-trade agreement with the United States and wanted to develop a more continental economic orientation. Also, as Canada's first French-Canadian prime minister, he faces off against the tribute to John A. Macdonald, across the street in what is now Place du Canada. Macdonald is enshrined in a stone baldachin emblazoned with copper reliefs of the various agricultural and industrial trades. Laurier stands with the shelter of the massive trees which characterize the square, a granite relief of the provinces created and united under his administrations opposite a bas-relief of man and woman sharing the harvest. Laurier also stands with his back facing the back of the Boer War Memorial—Laurier had been against the war.

Close-up of the only equestrian statue in the City of Montreal

The Boer War Memorial faces north, towards the cross atop Mount Royal, which would have been visible from the square up until 1929. It is the only equestrian statue in Montreal, and atypically, is not mounted, but restrained. The Boer War was widely unpopular in Quebec society, viewed as an imperial war. Prime Minister Laurier opposed the war, but ultimately compromised with the proposal for militia and volunteers en lieu of conscription. The war was disastrous for most of its first half, and the losses significant enough to anticipate the losses of middle and upper-class men during the First World War. Around the base of the statue, there are copper reliefs and the names of each battle. The memorial is in the centre of the square and forms the central point in the cross arrangement of the monuments.

Close-up of the Robert Burns statue, dedicated to the Scottish poet

The Robert Burns Statue forms the western point in the cross and is placed at the western entrance to the square. Facing west, Burns is a tribute to the industrialists and financiers of Montreal's Scottish community. Burns represents the socially conscious and refined romantic ideal of the community during the High Victorian Era. Additionally, Burns looks out towards the infinite expanse of Western Canada, opened up by the rail and finance managed by the elites of the community.

Functionally speaking, Dorchester Square and Place du Canada are traffic diffusers, diffusing not only traffic within a mode, but creating an 'environmental lobby' from which traffic may change modes in addition to orientation. With this in mind, consider that the area is accessed by the city's two principal train stations, (Windsor Station and Central Station), as well as by four metro stations and is accessed by the three densest portions of Underground City, Montreal. In addition, the area is adjacent to both the Ville-Marie Expressway and the Bonaventure Expressway, which allows a diffusion of automobile traffic in multiple routes towards the square and plaza. Finally, within the next few years, a direct rail link to Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport will be established, delivering airport traffic directly into this hub.

The second element of this traffic-diffusion component is the ability to easily and effectively transfer between transit nodes. The high concentration of automobile parking spaces in the downtown core is focused on the square (which has a parking garage under it, accessed by Peel, Metcalfe and Dominion Square streets) and provides immediate access—via the square and plaza—to the variety of public transit modes arranged around the area. To the east is the Place Ville Marie corridor of the Underground City, which carries pedestrian traffic from the Roddick Gates at McGill University on Sherbrooke Street all the way south to Place Bonaventure. At Place Bonaventure, pedestrian traffic is diverted both further east, to Square Victoria, the Quartier international de Montréal, Tour de la Bourse, Old Montreal, Place d'Armes and the Palais des congrès de Montréal. Traffic diffused through this corridor to the west can be connected to the Terminus Centre-Ville (AMT) at 1000 de la Gauchetière or further along to the Chateau Champlain, the Place du Canada Building, Windsor Station, 1250 René-Lévesque, Bell Centre and Lucien-L'Allier (Montreal Metro).

Pedestrian traffic diffused from this corridor to the north and northwest can bring pedestrian as far as Drummond and Sherbrooke at rush-hours, but mostly serves the interconnected malls and department stores near McGill College Avenue, such as the Centre Eaton, Place Montreal Trust, 1501 McGill College, Les Cours Mont-Royal, Place de la Cathédrale, Complexe Les Ailes (Montreal), and several other connected shopping malls. As such, via the north of the square, both Peel and McGill metro stations are accessible to the square.

The function of the square and plaza as environmental and inter-modal lobby is enhanced by what is not connected to the Underground City and the various modes of transit which circle the square. The Sun Life Building's principal vault lies below street level at the very centre of the building's foundation, therefore requiring underground traffic pass around the square or come outside to cross it. The same situation is repeated by the cluster of skyscrapers and prominent buildings near the intersection of Peel and René Lévesque Boulevard. The Peel Cluster includes several prominent buildings, including the Tour CIBC, Place Laurentienne, the Windsor Hotel and the Centre Sheraton. In addition, the Dominion Square Building is best accessed via the square and is similarly unconnected.

The idea of the square being a type of traffic shortcut (best understood by seasoned Montrealers) in addition to the presence of vital, yet unconnected buildings directly on the square induces social traffic through the square and plaza. Particularly in good weather, the area is a massive generator of social inter-traffic. Its presence and position allows for exceptional use by every social and cultural group within the city. Moreover, as both the square and plaza are legally defined as being open to the public at all times, even in adverse weather conditions, the area is always being used in its intended function.

The social inter-traffic component is best witnessed in summer months, when all sorts of Montrealers combine with the tourist element. The central Quebec Tourism bureau for Montreal is located at the Dominion Square Building, and the square is specifically designed to handle specialty vehicles such as limousines, sightseeing buses and motor coaches. Throughout the day, tourists and office workers mingle with students and artists. The kiosk located at the northern end of the square, locally referred to as a Camillienne—in reference to Montreal mayor Camillien Houde, who ordered their construction as Depression Era make-work projects—is a snack bar and café open primarily in the summer. Additionally, the northwestern portion of the square, on Peel north of Cypress, is dominated by a variety of restaurants, bars, clubs, bistros and taverns. It should not be surprising that the square and plaza are filled by thousands of people around noontime, enjoying their lunch break in an area where sunshine and shade balance each other quite well. Those sunning themselves on the lawn are usually mere feet away from a patch of cool and humid temperate broadleaf and mixed forest.

The meeting of excellent transit access and the social centrality of the area make it an ideal location for protests to orient. It is large enough to hold an impressive mass of people; the area plays host to nearly all visitors; and it has become the protected courtyard of the city's collection of showcase architecture and prestige addresses. It is the most visible section of the urban environment and is encouraged to be used for this purpose by the municipal government's permit department.

As far as protest marching or political rallies are concerned, Montreal has seen a wide variety since the beginning of the Quiet Revolution, and many of the better known have had an interaction with the square and plaza. Dorchester Square is a preferred site, since the area's prominence provides a degree of placation for the crowd—it quickly becomes obvious that you are highly visible and the message is loud and clear, as office-workers gather by the many windows looking down into it. Moreover, police can observe from a fair distance and generally remain unobtrusive.

Generally protests, rallies and demonstrations in Montreal are non-violent, small and calm. In the last few years a weekly protest of little more than a dozen people has convened at the southwest corner of Dorchester Square every Friday during the summer months. The noontime demonstration is against a variety of offences committed by the Government of Israel, whose Consulate General is located across the street in the Tour CIBC.