Canadian mall owner/developer RioCan REIT says that the Mega Centre Notre-Dame on the edge of Autoroute 13 in Sainte-Dorothée is one of its 18 Quebec properties that will become a management and leasing responsibility for Groupe Harden, in a third-party property management arrangement.
Toronto-based RioCan, the second-largest real estate investment trust in Canada, says that Harden’s knowledge of the Quebec retail sector made the company an excellent choice for an agreement.
Mega Centre Notre-Dame in Laval’s Sainte-Dorothée district is one of 18 Quebec mall properties that RioCan REIT has agreed will be managed by Groupe Harden.
“This is a first for Harden because we’re developers and owners of real estate and we’ve always basically built ourselves,” Harden co-chief executive officer Tyler Harden said.
RioCan recently agreed to sell a 50 per cent interest in Mega Centre Notre-Dame to Groupe Harden.
Headquartered in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Harden owns and operates commercial, residential and industrial properties in Quebec and Eastern Ontario.
The Council of Commissioners of the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board (SWLSB) issued a statement late last week saying it was appealing to the government of Quebec to allow refugee children who have a knowledge of the English language to attend English schools.
“The Charter of the French Language contains a humanitarian clause that allows for non-eligible children to be admitted in the English school system, under exceptional circumstances,” Paolo Galati, the SWLSB’s chairperson, said, while adding “there is no doubt that this humanitarian crisis qualifies as an exceptional circumstance.”
Quebec has already stated that the province would welcome Ukrainian refugee families with open arms and many school service centres and school boards have announced that they are willing to receive these children.
The SWLSB says it is prepared to take in additional students and teach them in both French and English, and it is willing to assist in the education of Ukrainian refugees.
“We ask that the government reconsider its decision and allow Ukrainian refugee children to attend English schools,” said Galati. “These families have been through enough trauma already. It would be unfortunate to deprive them of an English education if they already speak the language.”
A 48-year-old woman who was walking through the parking area of a strip mall at the corner of le Corbusier and le Carrefour boulevards on the morning of Friday April 8 died after being run over by a delivery truck.
The Laval Police responded to a 9-1-1 call about the accident around 8 am on Friday. The woman was found unconscious on the parking lot pavement by paramedical personnel who were also summoned.
She was declared dead on the scene. In the meantime, the driver of the truck was taken to hospital to be treated for shock. No charges have been made, although an accident scene investigation by the LPD is underway.
An investigation started by the Laval Police Dept. in August last year into the illegal trafficking of marijuana – including cannabis-infused candy – culminated in late March and early April with the arrest of several suspects, and search warrants executed at a home in Laval-Ouest and two dwellings in Chomedey.
In a statement issued on Friday April 8, the LPD said arrests and raids took place in Laval and in Montreal on March 26 and April 5.
Most of the contraband cannabis products were in the form of jujube candies infused with THC, the main intoxicating ingredient in marijuana.
Although cannabis and cannabis-related products are now legal across Canada when sold through licensed retailers, the products in question aren’t licensed for sale in Quebec.
According to the Société québécoise de cannabis (SQDC), the following cannabis edibles are currently unauthorized for sale here:
Candies
Desserts
Chocolate
All other sweet or savoury edible products deemed appealing to people under 21
The LPD said they were tipped off in August last year that there appeared to be connections between a number of different cannabis possession and trafficking files they had been working on, involving suspects living in Kanesatake and Laval.
The LPD emphasized that the seized cannabis products were considered illegal mostly because of improper labelling of THC content, as well as the fact that the colorful packaging was considered an inducement to children, who are especially vulnerable to THC and are not allowed to consume cannabis under federal and provincial laws.
The ensuing raids resulted in the seizure of large quantities of narcotics and related products, as well as a firearm and other materials considered to be instruments for committing crime. In all, five suspects were arrested.
The LPD noted that cannabis control regulations forbid the marketing of THC-containing candy products with more than 10 mg of the ingredient, while a sample of the seized products was found to contain 1,000 mgs of THC.
The following is an inventory of the products and materials seized by the LPD in their raids:
Narcotics: total value $388,527
60.2 kg of THC candy (packaged as though for children)
28.6 kg of dried cannabis
2.2 kg of cannabis resin
644 tablets of methamphetamine with the inscription « ICE »
The Laval Police Dept. says it is seeking the public’s help to identify a suspect believed to have been involved in an attempted kidnapping in early March in Chomedey.
According to the LPD, on March 1 around 1:45 pm, a woman in her 20s was waiting for a bus while standing in a bus shelter located in front of 4397 Saint-Martin Blvd. West. The suspect allegedly stood in the entrance to the bus shelter, preventing the woman from leaving.
Brandishing a knife, the suspect allegedly forced the woman to follow him and get into his vehicle. Instead, she succeeded in running off into a nearby business where she received help.
The suspect is described as follows:
White male, age approximately 25 to 45 years.
Spoke French.
Height: 5’ 11″, slim build.
Bright green eyes.
Was wearing blue jeans, a black overcoat and a pink woolen tuque.
Description of suspect’s vehicle:
Jeep Grand Cherokee, white, model year 2014 to 2017.
Chromed door handles.
Silver hub caps with spokes.
Anyone who believes they have information that could be useful to this investigation is asked to call the LPD’s confidential Info Line at 450 662-INFO (4636), or 911. The file number is LVL 220301-071.
Woman dies after residential fire in Laval
The Laval Fire Dept. says a woman died following a fire that broke out in a residential building in Laval’s Pont-Viau district on the afternoon of Friday March 25.
Firefighters were called to a two-storey building located at 534 Cousineau St. near the corner of de la Concorde Blvd. in Pont-Viau at 12:26 p.m., after receiving a call about smoke coming from the building.
Although the firefighters found the woman, around 25 to 30 years old, in her second-storey bedroom, she was pronounced dead at the scene.
While the woman’s body was brought outside, Urgences-Santé wasn’t called because it was already determined that she was deceased.
According to the LFD, 22 firefighters responded to the call. Apart from the one fatality, there were no other reported injuries, and damage to the building was mainly to the bedroom.
Although the firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, the cause was still under investigation earlier this week. The LFD said the Laval police are also investigating whether foul play was involved.
Vimont MNA Rousselle says he was victim of ‘gratuitous attack’
Vimont MNA Jean Rousselle says he was assaulted.
The Laval Police Dept. says it is investigating after Quebec Liberal MNA for Vimont Jean Rousselle said he was assaulted by two young men on the afternoon of Monday March 28 in the building where he has his constituency offices.
Using his Twitter account, Rousselle, a former Laval Police Dept. officer, said he suffered “blows to the face” during a “gratuitous attack” around 2 p.m. in an area of his office building where young people often gather to smoke cigarettes or marijuana.
Rousselle, who is the Quebec Liberal Party’s critic for public security, said the situation had been going on for several months, while adding that his political attaché had to confront some of the youths a few weeks back.
According to LPD spokesperson Stéphanie Bechara, on the day of the attack Rousselle had approached two young men who were using cannabis in the building, and warned them to leave the area because they were disturbing employees.
It was shortly after this that the young men allegedly struck Rousselle several times in the face and head, then fled.
Rousselle said he’d been asking Quebec Public Security Minister Geneviève Guilbault “for several weeks” to address rising violence issues across the province. The LPD said its investigators are looking at whether there were any security cameras active near the scene of the incident in the hopes of identifying the suspects.
Hellene of the year 2022 was Montreal physician Dr. George Tsoukas
Hundreds of patriotic Greek Montrealers converged on the Hellenic Community Centre in Montreal’s Côte des Neiges district on the evening of Friday March 25 to take part in the annual Greek Independence Day gala.
For Greeks around the world, March 25, 1821 marked the beginning of the revolutionary fight that ended 400 years of Ottoman rule. Following a protracted war in which Greek patriots received support from Russia, Britain and France, Greece finally received recognition from the world as an independent nation in 1832. Due to COVID-19 restrictions the last time the festivities took place was back in 2019.
Many notable guests
The 2022 Hellene of the Year was Dr. Lila Amiralli of the McGill University Department of Child Psychiatry, seen here with Hellenic Community of Greater Montreal president Andreas Crilis.
Among the dignitaries seated at the head table were Greek Consul General in Montreal Michalis Gavriilidis, Saint-Laurent Liberal MP Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Park Extension city councillor Mary Deros, Bordeaux-Cartierville city councillor Effie Giannou, Laval-Les Îles Liberal MP Fayçal El-Khoury and Vimy MP Annie Koutrakis. Also seated at the head table were Sainte-Rose MNA and parliamentary secretary Christopher Skeete, Laval city councillors Aglaia Revelakis and Vassilios Karydogiannis (representing Mayor Stephane Boyer), Saint-Laurent Borough Mayor Alan DeSousa and Hellenic Community of Greater Montreal president Andy Crilis.
2022 Hellene of the Year
The 2022 Hellene of the Year (chosen by a nominating committee that included Bishop Iakovos and Dr. Lila Amiralli of the McGill University Department of Child Psychiatry), was Hellenic Community Fundraiser committee president and well-known Montreal physician Dr. George Tsoukas.
President Andy Crilis speech
Better have an hour of free life than forty years of slavery and prison. -“I have sown a rich seed; The hour is coming when my country will reap its’ glorious fruits” !!, Dear friends…, Feraios did not live to witness Greece’s independence, but his words echoed…, reaching Greece with the hope and the optimism which the Greeks were about to live. We must be proud!, we must remain true!, first to ourselves!, then our faith and to our Greek roots, because surely if our forefathers managed to hold dear these sentiments for over 400 years!, we too can pass them along to future generations for many years to come.
Children’s poetry and singing A choir of children from Montreal-area Greek schools demonstrated their proficiency in the Greek language while performing Hellenic folk songs and reciting works of Greek poetry. The national anthems of Greece and Canada were sung by students from École Socrates-Démosthène.
A celebration of Hellenic freedom, and a brief respite from the pandemic
Elected officials from the federal, provincial and municipal levels of government gathered at the war cenotaph near Laval city hall on Saturday March 26 to pay respects alongside residents of Hellenic ancestry to the early 19th century Greeks who valiantly fought so that the modern-day Greek Republic would be independent.
Honoring the patriots
On March 25, 1821 in what was then Ottoman-dominated Greece, Bishop Germanos of the metropolis of Patras blessed a Greek flag and proclaimed an uprising by the Greeks against the occupying Ottomans. The event marked the beginning of the Greek Revolution, which continued until 1832 when the Republic of Greece was proclaimed and was recognized by the world’s major nations.
To honour those who gave their lives so that Greece would be free, Greeks from Laval and from all over the Montreal region go each year to the cenotaph outside Laval city hall to deposit commemorative wreaths and to spend a moment in silent contemplation. In the Montreal region, Laval has the highest concentration of residents of Greek heritage.
Dignitaries pay respects
Among those depositing commemorative wreaths this year were a representative from the Consulate General for Greece in Montreal, Liberal MPs Fayçal El-Khoury, Annie Koutrakis and Emmanuela Lambropoulos, Laval-area MNAs Guy Ouellette, Christopher Skeete and Saul Polo, Laval city councillors Aglaia Revelakis, Vasilios Karidogiannis and Ray Khalil, and Montreal city councillor for Park Extension Mary Deros.
As well, wreaths were left by Hellenic Community of Quebec president John Theodosopoulos, Hellenic Community of Greater Montreal president Andy Crilis and Greek Canadian armed forces veterans.
From the left, Saint-Laurent MP Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Vimy MP Annie Koutrakis and Laval-Les Îles MP Fayçal El-Khoury prepare to deposit a commemorative wreath at the base of the City of Laval’s war cenotaph during a Greek Independence Day memorial in Laval on March 26. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Newsfirst Multimedia)
This year’s Greek Independence Day commemorations, including the Greek Independence Day parade in Park Extension, were spread out as usual over three days in Laval and in Montreal. They were of special significance this year since they were cancelled over the past two years because of sanitary restrictions made necessary by the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘Back to normal’
“It’s very good to be back,” said Dennis Marinos, president of the HCGM’s Laval regional chapter. “Thank God the pandemic is over, at least temporarily, and we’re able to attend events like these to celebrate our Independence Day, and to be able to have our parade as we usually do under normal circumstances. Back to normal.”
“There couldn’t be a better day to celebrate the freedom of Greece, while getting things back to normal,” said John Theodosopoulos. “Today, we can see that we are freer than every from this Covid prison than we have been for the past two years.”
From the left, Sainte-Rose MNA Christopher Skeete, Chomedey MNA Guy Ouellette and Laval-des-Rapides MNA Saul Polo were among the dignitaries who paid their respects during the March 26 Greek Independence Day ceremony near Laval city hall. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Newsfirst Multimedia)
Celebrating freedom
For Vimy MP Annie Koutrakis, it was the first time since first being elected in 2019 that she was able to celebrate in person with members of the community. “This really feels like a celebration of freedom,” said Koutrakis. “I think everybody is feeling very proud and happy to be able to this in person again.”
Chomedey MNA Guy Ouellette said Greek Independence Day has always been personally meaningful for him, because some of the celebrations were on the same date he was first elected 15 years ago. “My constituency is home to the largest Greek community in the province, so this has always been really important,” said Ouellette.
Sixth wave of pandemic runs rampant in National Assembly
A sixth wave of COVID-19 is running rampant in the National Assembly, as it is in the larger population.
Quebec City correspondent Raquel Fletcher has been struggling lately with Covid.
Both the premier and deputy premier tested positive last week, as well as eight other MNAs, National Assembly employees and even members of the press tribune like myself. I am writing this column with a fever and a runny nose. Despite being triple vaccinated, a rapid test confirmed I have also contracted the virus.
After managing to avoid getting COVID-19 for the last two years, learning to “live with the virus” has been a rough lesson. Not just for me. I know families who self-isolated during the holidays, only to be going through the whole process again as other members test positive now. Some people seem to pull through with minor symptoms, described as a “bad cold,” while people like me have been sick in bed for days. Other friends, still healthy, tell me their stress levels have spiked as they prepare for what now seems the inevitable, stocking up on Kleenex and chicken noodle soup. The economy may have re-opened, but the pandemic is still interrupting our lives.
Uptick in cases expected
The uptick in cases is in part, to be expected, after Quebec relaxed most of its public health restrictions earlier this month. The explosion of new cases has led to an increase in hospitalizations and admissions to intensive care, but nothing like what we have seen during past waves. For this reason, the health minister maintains that public health measures will not be reintroduced.
“It’s true we’re concerned about the increase in the cases and hospitalizations, but, at the same time, I’ll remind you that it was foreseen,” health minister Christian Dubé told reporters last Thursday. “What changes things a little bit – but again, I repeat, it was foreseen – is the rapid increase of the BA.2 variant in proportion to Omicron, which has in the last several days, exceeded 50 per cent.”
Dubé insisted he is not concerned about hospital capacity, even in the regions, where this latest variant seems to be hitting the hardest. What this wave does seem to threaten is what many reporters have pointed out this past week: the National Assembly’s ability to pass important legislation before the end of the session because committee work is being held up due to the absence of so many MNAs.
$8.9 billion health care overhaul
This includes several pieces of legislation concerning health care, as well as the minister’s $8.9 billion plan to overhaul the health care system. Last Tuesday, Dubé announced the highly anticipated action plan, which includes major investments in home care, limiting mandatory overtime for nurses, improving access to data and the introduction of a single portal that will allow patients who don’t have their own family doctor to book an appointment with a GP.
The 50-point plan, which is supposed to be in place by 2025, has been heavily criticized by health care professionals and opposition parties for not being costed, nor specific about targets.
“The fact is, they (the CAQ government) have not fulfilled their promise of 2018 and now they are trying, with a new slogan, with some new catchy lines, some marketing plan to make us believe that now, eureka! They have found the solution,” said Québec Solidaire MNA Vincent Marissal.
One million Quebecers do not have a family doctor, up from 400,000 before the pandemic. The Liberal opposition says the plan does not actually address this main issue.
“The plan should be about having one person able to take care of you,” said Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade. “That one person knows your file, knows your history… and they can ensure a follow-up. And for chronic problems, this is really fundamental.”
Quebecers deserve health care that works
Many Quebec commentators have pointed out that the population remains cynical about the province’s ability to deliver on its promise to rebuild the health care system. Maybe I am just talking as someone who has not left my bed in a week, but after all we’ve been through these last two years, I’d say we can’t give up now. Quebecers deserve a functional health care system that puts patients first. They need to demand the government make that happen. The pandemic tested all our limits. It claimed thousands of lives. It brought our health network to the brink of collapse. It brought our health providers to the brink of exhaustion. It will all have been for nothing if we don’t become stronger as a result.
Like many of you, I enjoy my espresso coffee, and it would be very difficult for me to switch to tea, as some of you are doing.
Newsfirst Multimedia political columnist Robert Vairo suggests the real rate of inflation in Canada is as high as 15%, and not 7.5% as authorities claim.
But on a recent shopping trip to my favourite Italian grocery store (or what use to be my favourite), the price of my espresso was jacked up. Are you sitting down? The same pack increased by 60%. I honestly believed it to be a mistake. I contacted management and yes indeed, the supplier had increased their price. This resulted in the store itself is experiencing escalating costs, and all these spiraling expenses were simply passed on to the consumer.
We are told inflation is up to 5.7%. Who actually believes that? From gas to coffee, I have not seen any item on any shelf in any store up by a mere 5.7%. Accountants deal with and are mostly buried in numbers, so I would have to consider them experts in this area. When a forensic accountant told me the real inflation in Canada is at least 15%, that seemed much more realistic. We are told the principal reason for this outrageous escalation in the price of goods is due to the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. Yes, partly. It’s true that 25% of world wheat exports and 16% of corn exports come from the two countries combined. At this time, the exports of those commodities have virtually come to a halt. There is no denying that. But also keep in mind the pandemic caused manufacturers to cut back on production and reduce, if not eliminate inventory. There is a shortage of people who want to work five days a week. A major factor lies in Ottawa and Washington’s blow to the oil and gas industry. Drillers and transporters were cut off at the knees in Canada and the US by shutting down proposed pipelines, and any potential infrastructure that would have eliminated today’s unrealistic ballistic price at the pumps. This was a colossal error committed by the green left movement, and we are paying for it.
In addition, there has recently been Canadian government spending the likes of which no generation has ever seen. So many were seeing their bank accounts swell by government deposits far exceeding what they normally earned. So all these factors have led to historically high prices. And then the needless Russian war happened. It reduced raw materials to the world, and disrupted oil and gas distribution in Europe, where they are now paying four times more to heat with natural gas. It is an understatement to say that these have not been the best three years of our lives.
These unconscionable increases in price are not only about supply chain factors, higher wages, and other pandemic related issues. These soaring prices are also about price gouging and corporate greed. The stock market is where the real numbers surface. No corporation is suffering. In fact, many are brazenly boasting to shareholders that they are increasing prices, simply because they can.
In Canada, only some media and Conservatives inside and outside the House of Commons are shining a light on these outrageous prices, with leadership contestants Poilievre, Charest, and interim leader Candice Bergen leading the charge. In the US, some Congressmen have introduced the COVID–19 Price Gouging Prevention Act. It would give the Federal Trade Commission the ability to “seek civil penalties from companies that raise prices to unconscionably excessive levels”. Although it’s uncertain as to who is listening, or what results these actions could bring, but at least there are some courageous politicians making the effort to bring awareness to this unaffordable consumer dilemma.
NOTES
The Russians are not so far away. They are at our border in the Arctic. Canada had better prepare for incursion if not assimilation of our Arctic property. And they are just a few miles from Alaska, the US border. Russia has already planted its flag at the North Pole.
If Québec refuses to allow a Canadian gas pipeline through its territory, willing Manitoba, the center of Canada is perhaps a better alternative and quicker route to Europe and Indo-Asia. Churchill, Manitoba is the solution to export our energy. It sits on Hudson Bay and according to Conservative Peter McKay, has the “potential to be a gateway to world markets.” Unfortunately, it’s not going to happen with the NDP in power in Canada, and the likes of Enviro Minister Steven Guilbeault who “rather than unify and invest in Canada, spends time virtue signalling.”
How is it that while our allies are desperate, in fact rationing energy, the Canadian government is acting totally disconnected by using climate change to hobble if not destroy our number one industry, energy. It’s a gift to Russia, Venezuela and the rest of the oil producing dictatorial nations. And it also means that more countries will increase the burning of the real polluter, coal. Eliminating fossil fuels is not an automatic entry to the green world.
Leger survey says Canadians overwhelmingly want vandals to leave John A. McDonald statues alone. No one learns from history by cancelling it.
National think tank critical of taxation rates here and in Canada’s Atlantic provinces
According to findings in a new study conducted by the Fraser Institute, Quebec and eastern Canada have the highest personal income tax rates nationwide on individuals and households that earn $100,000 or more a year.
High earners in Western Canada
The report found that authorities in Western Canada, by contrast, tax high income earners at lower rates and have higher numbers of those earners.
“There is clearly an east-west divide in Canada, with Quebec and Atlantic Canada having the highest income tax rates on high-income earners, and the lowest share of high-income tax filers,” said Alex Whalen, policy analyst at the Vancouver-based think tank, who co-authored the report.
Few $100K earners here
The study found that couples with no children, couples with one child, and couples with two children in Quebec had higher personal income rates than anywhere else in Canada. Single people in Quebec who made more than $100,000 had the second highest personal income tax rate nationwide after Prince Edward Island.
Crucially, of the 10 Canadian provinces, Quebec had the seventh lowest percentage of tax filers who earned $100,000 or more a year in income, and again, the Atlantic provinces also were at the bottom of the pack for share of tax filers who earned more than $100,000.
Few high-income earners
“The situation in Quebec and the Atlantic provinces is clear – the jurisdictions in Canada with the highest personal income tax rates on high-income earners also have the lowest share of high-income earners nationwide,” said Whalen.
“Given that high income earners are often entrepreneurs, job creators, or other high performers, policymakers in Quebec and eastern Canada should consider personal income tax reform in order to make their tax regimes competitive with the rest of the country.”
Only Quebec was higher
Some patterns and themes emerged in the report. Among other things, Quebec applies the highest effective personal income-tax rates in Canada, closely followed by Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.
In the report, titled ‘High Tax Rates on Top Earners in Atlantic Canada and Quebec,’ the authors said that when looking at couples with one child and income over $100,000, Newfoundland & Labrador stood out as the Atlantic province with the highest rate, at 25.4 per cent. Only Quebec was higher at 26.5 per cent.
Atlantic Canada taxes
In their conclusion, the authors wrote, “The data presented show that the four Atlantic Canadian provinces generally impose higher effective personal income-tax rates than the Canadian average across various high-income thresholds and across various family types, including unattached individuals, couples with no children, couples with one child, and couples with two children.
‘There is clearly an east-west divide in Canada, with Quebec and Atlantic Canada having the highest income tax rates on high-income earners’
“In other words, Atlantic Canada’s personal income-tax burden is consistently above average for Canadians earning high incomes. The region also generally has, along with Quebec, the lowest share of Canadians earning above $100,000 compared to Central and, particularly, Western Canada.”
