The City of Laval is inviting young playwrights as well as stage producers and directors between the ages of 18 – 35 to submit candidacies for a youth theatre public mentorship program by an April 15 deadline.
The finalist will receive mentorship and guidance in all of the steps necessary for a staged production of a theatrical work created by the winner.
The public will then have the opportunity to attend a staging of the completed production in the summer of 2023 at Laval’s Centre de la Nature, as well as during the summer of 2024 when the production tours parks around Laval.
“It is with great pride that the city has been supporting this program since 2010 and that it acts as a major partner in the promotion of emerging creative talents,” says Sainte-Rose city councillor Flavia Alexandra Novac, who is responsible for culture dossiers on city council.
Empowering artists
“Through this support, we are empowering artists on their way to becoming professionals to create a work for young members of the public, while they benefit from professional expertise and artistic support from a team of mentors. This is a helpful push forward for our future performing artist.”
As part of the program, the partner organization, Théâtre Harpagon, will be supervising the mentorship side, as well as the production and staging of the show, in conjunction with the city which will be providing support. The City of Laval also sponsors a mentorship program for creators of theatrical content for pre-school children (2 – 6 years). Some of the theatrical works produced as a result of that program will be touring Laval’s parks over the coming summer.
Laval residents are paying taxes again and again, claims Action Laval
In a statement issued on March 18, Action Laval city councillors Achille Cifelli (Val-des-Arbres) and David De Cotis (Saint-Bruno) said they felt deeply disappointed at Mayor Stéphane Boyer’s apparent determination to find new ways to make Laval’s taxpayers pay even more.
“During a presentation by the municipal administration, Action Laval’s municipal councillors learned to their surprise that the administration had undertaken a restructuring,” they said. “The announced goal was to free up $200 million to allow the city to invest in its infrastructures.”
According to the two councillors, the mayor revealed in a recent interview that he wants to find new sources to be able to come up with this $200 million.
“The taxes on business parking, taxes on new construction and taxes on other sources he may come up with, in the end who will be paying them?” Cifelli asked. “Regardless of the tax implemented, in the end it is the same people who pay them: the citizens. It’s really saying something about somebody’s naiveté to claim that businesses will be making up the cost of these taxes.”
Action Laval says the mayor is planning on increasing the budget 20 per cent in four years, without cutting services or the number of employees. They maintain that to this end, “he wants to use the power of taxation conferred on him by the law which aims to expand municipal autonomy. By following this logic, the conclusion is simple: The citizens will pay 20 per cent more in four years, on top of inflation.” “I think that the mayor and Laval’s residents are not living in the same reality,” said De Cotis. “Does he understand the meaning of what he had said? Is he capable of understanding what it means to find 20 per cent more in the pockets of the residents?”
