During the mid-afternoon on Saturday, the Environment Canada weather service issued an advisory that a “flash freeze” warning is in effect, with temperatures dropping drastically over the coming hours, and puddles, wet snow and any additional precipitation expected to freeze over.
Surfaces such as highways, roads, walkways and parking lots may become icy and slippery, says the federal weather service, requiring heightened vigilance on the part of motorists on icy streets and highways, as well as by pedestrians on potentially treacherous sidewalks.
The affected freeze-over area stretches from just west of Laval and Montreal, to as far south as Sherbrooke and southeast to the Beauce, following a trajectory along the St. Lawrence River past Rimouski and into the Gaspé peninsula.
The Laval Police Department says it has arrested a third suspect believed to have been involved in a recent home invasion and kidnapping on Clémence St. in Fabreville.
Around 8:12 pm on Jan. 17, the police received a call through 9-1-1 about the home invasion and an altercation that broke out at the same time. After a gunshot was fired, a 26-year-old female resident of the home was kidnapped and taken aboard a waiting vehicle which fled the scene.
Twenty minutes later, the vehicle, with the woman and the suspects aboard, was located just north of Laval by the LPD with assistance from local police. Two suspects were arrested at that time, while the whereabouts of a third remained unknown.
Christopher Cajuste Chima was arrested by Ottawa Police and was returned to Laval after allegedly taking part in a home invasion and kidnapping in Fabreville on Jan. 17.
On Jan. 27, the third and final suspect, Christopher Cajuste Chima, age 27, was arrested in Ottawa for alleged kidnapping, illegal confinement, illegal firearms possession and breaking and entering. He was arraigned at the Palais de justice in Laval on Jan. 31 and was due back in court on Feb. 4 for additional court proceedings.
According to information released by the LPD, Christopher Cajuste Chima is a resident of Ottawa. While carrying out the arrest, the Ottawa Police seized a loaded firearm, an ammunition clip with a 30-round capacity, ammunition, three bulletproof vests, cocaine and other evidence.
Anyone who believes they may have information potentially useful to the LPD for this investigation can call their confidential Info-Line at 450 662-INFO (4636), or 9-1-1. The file number is LVL 220117-080.
Laval man arrested by Smiths Falls Police for alleged identity theft
A 58-year-old male resident of Laval was arrested on Tuesday Jan. 25 by police in Smiths Falls, Ont. after trying to buy a vehicle worth more than $100,000 at a car dealership while using identity documents which were not his own.
The Smiths Falls Police Service charged Ghislain Galipeau with fraud and identity theft.
They were alerted by staff at the car dealership after Galipeau had completed on online financing application on Monday Jan. 24, which he had filled in with information from the allegedly fraudulent I.D. documents.
Upon returning the following day, he was arrested by the police.
The charges against him include:
Being in possession of two fraudulent identity documents;
Identity fraud;
Identity theft;
Fraud over $5,000;
And obstructing a peace officer.
LPD thanked by RCMP in B.C. for arresting fugitive
RCMP officials in Burnaby B.C. recently thanked the Laval Police (Service du police de Laval) for the assistance they provided when arresting a suspect wanted in Burnaby in conjunction with a serious road accident causing bodily harm in which the driver left the scene.
Following his arrest in Laval, the suspect, 33-year-old Moussa Daoui, who was wanted following the rollover crash that seriously injured a female passenger, was transported back to B.C. on Jan. 27 to face charges.
On June 5, 2020 at 1 a.m., Burnaby RCMP responded to a report that a Dodge Durango had rolled over in Burnaby. It is alleged that Daoui left the scene, leaving the female passenger with severe injuries.
Burnaby RCMP Criminal Collision Investigation Team (CCIT) took over the investigation and several charges were approved in May 2021, although the suspect had left B.C. by then. As a result, a Canada-wide warrant was issued for Daoui’s arrest.
Moussa Daoui now faces the following charges in B.C.:
Failing to stop after an accident causing bodily harm;
Two counts of impaired operation causing bodily harm;
Criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
“Despite the suspect leaving the province while under investigation for this crash, our investigators never gave up on ensuring he would face these charges in a B.C. courtroom,” said Cpl. John Hargreaves with Burnaby RCMP’s Criminal Collision Investigation Team (CCIT). “We are also grateful to our partners at Laval Police (Service du police de Laval) for their assistance in this file,” he added.
De Cotis, Cifelli suspect current $125 million budget won’t cover additional costs
Action Laval city councillors David De Cotis (Saint-Bruno) and Archie Cifelli (Val-des-Arbres) said last week that they would not be voting in favour of the contract for the Aquatic Complex because, according to their party, it “won’t be serving its original purpose” and “does not answer to the needs of the population.”
Budget skyrocketed
In addition, they said in a statement, supplementary costs could end up being added to the bill, even as the initial budget has skyrocketed, and certain elements in the original design, including a glass canopy, some parking spaces and an outdoor terrace, are not part of the new plan, they stated.
“In the end, what’s left is just a big interior swimming pool that will only serve a clientele living near the downtown along with elite swimmers from Laval,” said Action Laval party officials.
The foundations for Laval’s future Aquatic Complex are already in place on a site next to the Cosmodôme in central Laval. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Newsfirst Multimedia)
‘Humiliating,’ says Cifelli
“It was the coming of the Jeux du Québec that got this project started,” said Cifelli. “In addition to paying double for getting half as much, we will have to pay neighbouring municipalities to use their infrastructures during the next Jeux du Québec. I feel this is something humiliating for the people of Laval.”
The opposition party is suggesting, given the multiple delays in developing and bringing forward the project, and the postponement of the Jeux du Québec on two occasions, that the Aquatic Complex will be delivered late, while Laval residents in eastern and western district suffer from a lack of services, including indoor swimming in their own neighbourhoods.
The ‘two pool’ plan
“With two reasonably-priced projects, one in the east and one in the west, the citizens would have been well-served and the facilities could have served for the Jeux du Québec,” said De Cotis, referring to an alternate swimming facility plan Action Laval had suggested. “The mayor is really not listening to the needs of his population.”
‘In the end, what’s left is just a big interior swimming pool,’ Action Laval says of the Boyer administration’s revised Aquatic Complex plans
Action Laval also suspects that the current budget does not include additional costs that could come following a revision of the project. As well, the party noted that the concrete foundations, which were laid down more than three years ago, should have been reassessed before awarding the contract, and that any extra costs should there be any problems will only add to the overall budget.
Work set to begin this spring on site next to Laval’s Cosmodôme
A key moment in the drawn-out saga over the City of Laval’s Aquatic Complex was scheduled to take place on Tuesday evening this week when Laval city council was set to pass a resolution awarding a $108,444,700 contract for the project to the Montreal-based project engineering firm Pomerleau.
While a statement issued by the city’s executive-committee last week states the contract with the company is worth $108,444,700, the agenda for the special meeting of council, providing detailed information on the resolution to be passed, stated the amount as $124,684,293.83, which is in line with a cost estimate the city most recently provided.
Starts this spring
“The city succeeded in coming up with a project in which a balance between costs and quality has been respected,” the executive-committee said of the contract in its statement, while adding that the beginning of work is scheduled to take place this spring on the site next to the Cosmodôme and Autoroute 15.
Mayor Stéphane Boyer’s administration maintains that the Aquatic Complex will generate many types of benefits, including a better quality-of-life for residents as well as economic spinoffs.
“After the long road towards the realization of one of the most important infrastructure projects on our territory, we are arriving at the finish line,” Mayor Stéphane Boyer said. “More than ever, the aquatic complex is important for everyone in Laval who wants to have an active lifestyle.
City says it will pay off
“These facilities equipped with sports and games equipment that meet specifications for national competitions in a range of aquatic disciplines will be up to everyone’s needs to learn, have fun and to excel personally.”
The contract was awarded just a few weeks after the city announced it was adding $50 million to an earlier-estimated $75 million cost for the aquatic complex, raising the price tag to $125 million.
Despite the cost increase, the city maintains that the aquatic complex will have positive impacts on different levels, including lifting Laval’s status internationally, generating short- and longer-term economic benefits, and encouraging physical activity by Laval’s population.
$20 million in gov’t subsidies
The city also maintains that Laval’s property tax payers won’t be on the hook for the entire amount. While the federal government has agreed to provide $10 million through its cultural and recreational community infrastructure program, the provincial government is providing another $10 million through a similar program.
‘We are arriving at the finish line,’ says Mayor Stéphane Boyer
The City of Laval launched the architectural competition for the aquatic complex in 2016, after years of speculation on what Laval’s next big project would be after the construction of the Place Bell multipurpose arena.
Cost has more than doubled
When first announced in January 2017, the cost of the aquatic complex was initially projected to be $61.1 million and the city hoped to complete it by 2020, although that changed as circumstances evolved. When completed, the project will include the following key elements:
Three swimming pools (one recreational, another of 50 metres and a diving basis with a 10-metre diving tower. There will also be a multifunctional training studio and a physical fitness workout room.
It is expected to host important national and provincial swim competitions.
It is also expected to accommodate 875 swimmers and 500 spectators.
The sports expected to be practiced at the Aquatic Complex will include swimming, synchronized swimming, water polo, diving, aquatic exercise, life-saving training and free swim events.
It is expected to contribute to the overall development of athletics in various sports in the Laval region.
The Quebec Arts and Letters Council and the City of Laval, working in conjunction with Culture Laval, have launched a call for bids to receive subsidies for performance projects to take place on Laval territory. The deadline date to submit plans and ideas is April 28.
Applications are being accepted by the city for two categories of projects:
Culture Laval is offering, on an appointment basis, individual accompaniment to professional performers and writers, as well as representatives of performance groups, who may wish to submit applications.
A virtual presentation will be taking place for performers and writers in order to furnish them with additional information on their possible admissibility to programs and how applications should be submitted.
Laval City Hall.
The session will be taking place on March 16 from 11:30 am to 1 pm. Interested individuals can contact Éric Dufresne-Arbique (e.dufresnearbique@culturelaval.ca) to make an appointment and to receive a link for the online information session.
The subsidies program is being offered as part of a triennial agreement (2021-2024) between the the Quebec Arts and Letters Council and the City of Laval, with Culture Laval, in which the partners have invested $600,000.
The program’s goals are as follows:
To encourage artistic creation and performance in Laval ;
To further the development of the talents of the performers and writers;
To encourage their presence in Laval;
To promote the emergence and use of digital technology;
To encourage professional performers’ organizations in Laval.
CCU should include all parties, says Action Laval councillor for Chomedey
Action Laval city councillor for Chomedey Aglaia Revelakis is accusing Mayor Stéphane Boyer and his administration of partisan practices because of the mayor’s seeming preference for appointing people from his own ranks to the Consultative Committee on Urban Planning (CCU).
Wants it to be non-partisan
In a statement by Revelakis released by Action Laval on the same day as the Feb. 1 meeting of city council, she noted that during that meeting, she had tabled a motion calling for the CCU to be non-partisan and made up of city councillors from each of the municipal parties.
“Based on what you find in Quebec and in Ottawa, the fundamental principle with committees is that all the political options are represented in proportion to the number of elected officials in the National Assembly or the House of Commons,” Revelakis said.
‘No respect,’ says Revelakis
“This is meant to ensure that the largest number of opinions are heard, and not only those of the party in power,” she added. “This evening, the message from the mayor and his party was clear. There is only the opinion of those who voted for them that counts. He shows no respect whatever for institutions and democracy.”
Chomedey city councillor Aglaia Revelakis.
Noting that just a little more than 28 per cent of eligible Laval residents voted in the municipal elections last Nov. 7, she maintained that fewer than 12 per cent of those on the voters’ list actually voted for Mayor Boyer and his team. “He doesn’t have a strong mandate from the population of Laval,” she insisted.
‘System democratic,’ she says
“The mayor cannot make decisions without taking into consideration the opinions expressed,” Revelakis continued. “Our system is democratic. The mayor cannot appoint only those who share his ideas on a committee of this importance, while ignoring the other political options.”
The City of Laval’s Consultative Committee on Urban Planning is composed of four city councillors and four non-elected residents of Laval. The four city council members are:
Yannick Langlois (L’Orée-des-bois)
President of the CCU
Ray Khalil (Sainte-Dorothée)
Elected member
Pierre Brabant (Vimont)
Elected member
Sandra El-Helou (Souvenir-Labelle)
Elected member
The four non-elected Laval residents who sit on the CCU are:
Johanne Couture
Resident
Omar Waedh
Resident
Serge Vaugeois
Resident
Wassila Djaziri
Resident
Without identifying anyone specifically, Revelakis noted that one of the non-elected resident members of the CCU was a candidate in the Nov. 7 elections for one of the municipal parties.
In a news release issued last June 1 by the Mouvement lavallois, then-mayoralty candidate Stéphane Boyer announced that Omar Waedh would be running for the party in the district of Chomedey.
Sat on CCU before elections
A biography of Waedh included in the same release describes him as having an extensive background in engineering, with experience at leading projects throughout the Montreal region worth more than $100 million.
‘The mayor cannot appoint only those who share his ideas on a committee of this importance’
“Currently employed by Devimco real estate as a project director, he has among other things worked for Mondev construction, for Réseau sélection in Laval, for Cree Construction & Development in James Bay whose head office is in Laval and for Home Dépôt,” states the Mouvement lavallois. The release goes on to note that Waedh has been very active in his community, serving on the board of a non-profit organization that offers affordable housing for single mothers, and that he sat as a non-elected resident member of the CCU before last November’s municipal elections.
Despite the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government’s repeated insistence that it will maintain the rights of English-speaking Quebecers, anglophones are struggling to see where they stand with this government.
Recent decisions and statements by the premier have only heightened concerns.
Take, for instance, the decision to cancel the Dawson College expansion, a project the government itself chose to accelerate just last fall when it included it in an important infrastructure bill. Last week, the province reversed course and said it was going to prioritize francophone students over anglophone students.
#NewsMatters: The National Assembly Report
Or take an incident during question period last Thursday when the Blue Room erupted in cacophony amid heated exchanges and loud arguments between MNAs.
The trigger of this eruption was a joke made off camera and off microphone, but still loud enough to be heard by MNAs and journalists. When Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade misspoke, calling Paradis “Mr. Québécois” instead of “Mr. Speaker,” Premier François Legault retorted, “Of course, he’s a caquiste.”
Liberal MNAs interpreted this to mean either the premier was saying only people who vote for the CAQ were “true” Quebecers or people who vote Liberal were not. Either way, they said the premier’s “joke” was unacceptable.
When Liberal MNAs questioned the government about Dawson and other issues, including bilingual judges, Legault mocked the opposition, pronouncing the word “Liberal” in French with an English accent. He appeared to be insinuating the Quebec Liberal Party was more interested in defending English minority rights than the French language.
Legault denied his government is trying to sow division and refused Anglade’s demand for an apology.
Deliberate election strategy?
Despite Question Period rules that forbid heckling, chaotic exchanges between the government and opposition Liberals have often made headlines.
Last June, Legault apologized for his tone and promised to try harder to “control his temper.” In December, recognizing he hadn’t made much improvement, he told journalists he would drink more herbal tea and reiterated the promise not to let opposition parties get under his skin.
However, just three days into the new session, the National Assembly once again veered out of control. This time, though, there is a notable difference. The premier has often blamed his outbursts on the opposition, saying he rises to the occasion when provoked.
But it’s now the premier who seems to be the one doing the provoking. Commentators have begun to ask if this is a deliberate electoral strategy to appeal to nationalist voters ahead of this fall’s election.
Dividing Quebecers
While the Liberal Party accuses the premier of deliberately trying to divide Quebecers, the premier seemed to suggest during a recent press conference that Quebecers were already divided, along linguistic lines, when it comes to which political parties they vote for. According to the most recent Leger poll, the Liberals only have the support of 12 per cent of Quebec francophones. Most Liberal support appears to be concentrated in English Montreal.
“Mrs. Anglade is in a tough position to defend French,” Legault said. “I think her predecessors like Jean Lesage or Robert Bourassa were nationalists. I think we can do both: defend the French language and be open to all communities.”
Last week’s debate drew numerous commentaries in the province’s French media, with one opinion columnist insisting the premier should say he’s sorry.
“He should offer an apology, say that it was a bad joke,” wrote Antoine Robitaille in Le Journal de Québec. “And remember that anglophones are obviously full Quebecers; they should be treated as such.”
Can voters expect a debate preceding the election about whether anglophones consider themselves or are considered by others as “true” Quebecers? Things could get messy.
Maybe that’s why Liberal MNA David Birnbaum tried to steer debate about Dawson College away from language altogether. Birnbaum has often raised concerns of the anglophone community in the house and has not shied away from asking his questions in English.
“A norm is a norm, is a norm. There is no language involved,” Birnbaum said. “The buck stops with the premier. He made the choice to axe the Dawson project. He threw the needs of these Quebec students under the bus.” With Bill 96 currently being studied by the National Assembly, the language debate will not be going away anytime soon. The question is whether debate can stay civil.
It’s time to lift Covid restrictions. Canadians are clearly fed up. We seem to have done everything asked of us and despite these efforts, variants will be with us, perhaps always. So, let’s do the best we can by first getting our shots, wearing masks in crowded indoor environments, and get on with our lives.
Because Covid-19 is so infectious and can not be eliminated entirely, more and more epidemiologists believe it’s best to treat it as a background endemic illness.
In British Columbia Dr. Bonnie Henry, a strong advocate of “aggressive lockdowns”, is now suggesting Covid-19 and its variants be treated more like the flu. The soft-spoken former naval officer, managed a respected take charge attitude that avoided the carnage that took place in senior homes in Quebec and Ontario. “We have to change our way of thinking, much like we manage other respiratory illnesses,” In other words, remain isolated until you feel better.
Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health Eileen de Villa said residents should be treating Covid more like influenza.
Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam has changed her thinking, telling a House of Commons Health Committee, “herd immunity may not be achievable because the virus undergoes constant evolution.”
Alberta’s Jason Kenney says “After two years of this, we simply cannot continue…” European countries like Spain, France, Germany, Ireland and England, according to the National Post, “have seen their public health establishments signal a shift into the endemic phase.”
Germany’s Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, an epidemiologist, uses the word “correct” for Germans to return to a normal life as soon as Omicron cases start to show a downward curve.
Newsfirst columnist Robert Vairo.
Denmark is lifting most of its Covid restrictions because they no longer consider it a “critical threat.” Hospitalization in that European country is still high, but the number in ICU is decreasing. And that is with 80% of the population fully vaccinated, about the same as Canada.
One of the drawbacks is the pharmaceuticals, Pfizer and Moderna. They are reportedly producing 350 million doses per month, but focusing on selling expensive vaccines to wealthy countries only. This is not helping to close the global gap. At this rate, former head of the Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Tom Friedman, estimates it would take another “three years to produce enough vaccines for everyone. Shameful.”
New variants will persist as long as the world is not vaccinated. Despite admitting this, the head of Pfizer says removing intellectual property is not the answer “Intellectual property is what created the thriving life sciences sector that was ready when the pandemic hit.”
There are alternatives. I mentioned one in a recent column.
“A patent free Covid vaccine at the Houston Children’s Hospital in conjunction with a local college. The hero is Dr. Peter Hotez whose team developed a vaccine to share with the world without personal profit…and 90% effective”.
And there is the US Army, working on a universal vaccine to end Covid pandemics and all new Covid-19 variants. Dr. Kayvon Modjarrad, a coordinator at the Walter Reid Army Institute of Research says they have completed phase one, human trials “testing against all the different variants, including Omicron.”
For the first time at the United Nations some are pressuring big pharma, operating like a privileged corporation, to make an “omnibus vaccine” against variants that would replace boosters.
The vaccine issue spread to truckers entering and leaving Canada to the U.S. So-called Freedom Convoy 2022, seemed on the right road, initially. It reflected Canadians’ elevated level of frustration. But then a hard-core group did not leave Ottawa after the first weekend. We did not need the Prime Minister’s divisive and inflammatory “fringe group” comments. Leadership was needed but again, was not there. And Ottawa police clearly require training on how to avoid occupations of their city.
The scene morphed into something politically far right, if not anarchy. According to one organizer their mission was to “compel the government to dissolve government.” This smacks of an attempt to import the Jan 6th extremism into Canada. This is not us. Even if a mere 32% popular vote elected this government, democracy still rules in this country.
Notes:
Conservative favourite, Pierre Poilievre will have the major task of kicking out the few extremists who manage to stamp a stain of disunity in the party.
The Olympics are supposed to celebrate “diversity and inclusion”. It mars watching when the country hosting the games is neither.
‘Daily Show’ Host Trevor Noah has a lesson for Spotify’s Joe Rogan: “Black people didn’t call themselves ‘Black.’ You understand that, right?”
Let’s privatize the CBC. It eats up $1.4 billion in taxpayer contributions with an Englishspeaking audience of less than 5%. With an extra $400 million promised, they just love the Prime Minister over there.
Premier Legault’s bigoted, anglicized “liberals”, showed his true colours.
Thank you to the convoy of truckers on the road, crossing the border to keep our food shelves stocked.
Opposition blames ‘powerful executive-committee’ for environmental laxity
Just three months after the City of Laval’s municipal elections, can it be the honeymoon on city council is already over?
A week after election day last Nov. 7, newly-elected mayor Stéphane Boyer pledged during an address, following the swearing-in of the new council, that he would work pro-actively with all the city’s elected officials – regardless of their political affiliation.
Relations between the governing Mouvement lavallois majority and the nine opposition councillors have been remarkably amicable since the election for the most part.
Harmony for now
And indeed, in a display of collegiality not seen in years on Laval city council, Action Laval city councillor David De Cotis recently sang praises to Boyer following the mayor’s decision (in line with a recommendation by De Cotis) that the due dates for 2022 property tax payments would be postponed in order to give residents a needed break during the ongoing Covid pandemic.
Mayor Stéphane Boyer, right, seen here with alternate council speaker Yannick Langlois, left, during the Feb. 1 Laval city council meeting.
However, the ground shifted noticeably during the Feb. 1 city council meeting webcast, after Alexandre Warnet, the councillor for Laval-des-Rapides and an associate executive-committee member responsible for environmental issues, spoke regarding the city’s acquisition of more than 400 lots of land for the expansion of the future Rivière-des-Mille-Îles nature reserve.
Backhanded remarks
Warnet, a highly respected environmentalist, referred to the acquisition – which includes several islands in the back river – as “historic” event. Fabreville councillor Claude Larochelle of the official opposition Parti Laval, praised the current administration for its actions, while later taking a moment to lament, if somewhat ambiguously, that past administrations did far too little to save Laval’s natural spaces from development.
“This is great news,” he said, noting that Éco-Nature, the organization mandated to oversee the project, had been working on the file since 2009. “I take my hat off to them,” he said. It was not long after listing some of the many protections that now safeguard the zone from development, that Larochelle fired off remarks which ended up offending at least one council member’s ears, when he added:
Attacks executive-committee
“Basically, the only element these lots weren’t protected against, I would say – and that’s what the recognition as a nature refuge by the government of Quebec is going to do – is that those lots weren’t protected from the City of Laval and its powerful executive-committee.
‘Be more respectful in your tone towards the executive-committee,’ Desmeules shot back at Larochelle
“For forty years, it was the City of Laval and its powerful executive-committee that mistreated our river banks, leading to the destruction of our natural areas,” Larochelle added. “Even in the case of the administration in which Mr. Boyer was a member for two terms, woodlands, like the Boisée Notre-Dame, were swapped for parking lots. They tried to sell a woodland, the Trait-Carré, to develop high-rises to pay our debt for Place Bell. And so, honestly, there was some protection missing: Protection against our very own executive-committee.”
Desmeules demands respect
With that said, Councillor Sandra Desmeules (Concorde-Bois-de-Boulogne), a senior member of the executive-committee, objected to Larochelle’s remarks in a point of order.
“It’s alright to have an opinion, I have no problem with that, but to come and attack the work of the executive-committee and the current administration,” she said. “I would maybe invite you to keep your comments and to be more respectful in your tone towards the executive-committee.”
Although alternate council speaker Yannick Langlois asked Larochelle whether he wanted to strike his comments from the record, Larochelle stood by his words, saying Desmeules hadn’t taken offence at anything specific he had said. Larochelle insisted he was referring primarily to Laval city councils over the past 40-50 years, and not necessarily to any specific administration.
Black History Month
In his opening remarks during the meeting, Mayor Boyer noted the importance of marking Black History Month in order to underscore the contributions of people from Laval who are from the Black community.
“This is an important occasion not only for pointing out the contributions of members of the community in our history, who often opened doors over time, and who achieved extraordinary things, but who also were leaders and models for our youths to follow towards the future.”
Boyer extended an invitation to all residents of Laval to take part in some of the special presentations the city is holding throughout February to mark Black History Month.
He’s worked for Rolls Royce, Velan and others over the past 45 years
From the time he lived in Beirut until arriving in Canada in 1966, Jack Awakim had begun to think carefully about what he wanted to do with his life.
Would he turn professional as a boxer, remain a presser at a Montreal suit manufacturer, or become a skilled toolmaker and machinist for Montreal’s burgeoning engineering and aerospace industries?
In the end, the decision wasn’t difficult for the long-time Chomedey resident, now semi-retired at age 77 from a sometimes challenging but frequently interesting machining and toolmaking career.
As Jack related in an interview with the Laval News, his brother had come to Canada three years earlier to work as an aircraft mechanic and invited Jack, who was then 21, to join him. As early as age nine in Lebanon, Jack had developed an interest in boxing.
Choice of a career
So, by the time he arrived in Montreal, he was appearing as a contestant in amateur boxing tournaments at the Paul Sauvé Arena, on the same bill as local boxing stars like Donato Paduano, who competed in the men’s welterweight event at the 1968 Summer Olympics.
One of Jack’s first jobs in Montreal was as a suit presser at Peerless Clothing, the largest manufacturer of men’s and boys’ tailored clothing in North America.
However, by the mid-1970s, an acquaintance he’d met through his boxing connections saw that Jack seemed to have potential to do more meaningful work. So, he invited him to drop over for a job interview at J & R Weir, a shipbuilding company located at that time along the docks in Montreal’s east end.
Rolls Royce, Velan and Nordair
Although he initially started out as a cleaner, that became Jack’s first introduction to die-making and parts machining. For the next five years, he studied at a Montreal technical skills institute, finally becoming certified. He went on eventually to work for companies that included Velan Engineering, Rolls Royce Canada, Eastern Airlines and Nordair, although also as a freelancer out of his own office and workshop.
Tool and die makers are traditionally regarded as skilled artisans or craftspeople. They work from technical drawings provided by engineers or technologists, then cut and shape metal materials using a range of manually, or, more often today, computer-controlled machines than include lathes, jigs, grinders and drill presses.
However, precision in this particular trade is so acutely important that the sensitive measuring tools number in the dozens. To illustrate the point, Jack refers to what has become a textbook case among engineers for structural failure caused by minutely imprecise measurements.
One of the pieces that Jack Awakim is most proud of is this example of a tow bar head he produced for an air transport company with a fleet of Boeing 747, Boeing 727 and Fokker 100 airliners. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Newsfirst Multimedia)
Lessons from Shuttle Challenger
The explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger happened in January 1986 because of the failure of two O-ring seals in a joint in the spacecraft’s solid rocket boosters. “Half a thou is something you cannot see just with your eyes,” Jack said, referring to a portion of a thousandth of an inch discrepancy that was discovered afterwards in the fitting of the O-rings.
As a result, and also because of record-low temperatures on the day of the launch, fluids and gases made their way through the tiny breach, igniting an external fuel tank on the Challenger.
Among the more interesting pieces Jack has made is a series of tow bar heads produced for an air transport company with fleets of Boeing 747, Boeing 727 and Fokker 100 airliners. When on the ground, aircraft sometimes need to be towed to maintenance or into position. But as aircraft usually have their own proprietary tow bar mechanism, Jack’s was relatively unique in that it could be used on the three airliners.
Well-rounded training
Mind you, the business has changed enormously since Jack began more than four decades ago. With the advent of computing in the manufacturing fields, tool and die makers have had to increasingly add skills in computer numerical control (CNC), computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) to their range of knowledge. However, today’s tool and die makers are generally also required to know the traditional skills in order to be well-rounded.
The business has changed enormously since Jack began more than four decades ago
Mathematics is an integral part of being a machinist. As such, students also learn the basic concepts of equations, formulas and trigonometry as applied to machining problems. As technical drawings and blueprints form the basis from which a machinist works to manufacture simple and complex parts, students also learn how to interpret industry-standard drawings and accurately identify various critical features and specifications.
Many job opportunities
Those who decide to follow this calling can become qualified for a range of job descriptions, including Lathe Operator, Reamer Machine Set-Up Operator, Machine Shop Layout Worker, Precision Grinder, Drill Press Set-Up Operator, Set-Up Operator, Milling Machine Operator and Machine Shop Maintenance.
Jack Awakim with several examples of pieces he machined for clients, many of whom were airline companies, over a career in tool and diemaking spanning more than 40 years. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Newsfirst Multimedia)
While Jack says the business has been good for him, allowing him to live and raise a family in Chomedey, his advice to aspiring future die makers and machinists is that a good amount of the skill and craftsmanship will often be acquired only after you’re on the job and gaining experience. “They teach you the basics in school, but there are still many other things they don’t teach you,” he said.
