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;
Although bars, public gyms and casinos remain closed for the time being, the province’s restaurants will be open for business again on Monday following the end of the latest lockdown for COVID-19.
The lifting of the pandemic restrictions means that restaurant dining rooms will be open for business beginning Monday, although at 50 per cent seating capacity for the time being.
However, there are still come conditions.
Customers will have to show vaccine passports, and per-table seating will be limited to four persons from a maximum of two different families.
The reopening is part of a gradual lifting of Covid sanitary restrictions announced by Premier François Legault last week.
Also beginning Monday, private indoor gatherings are being allowed, but with certain restrictions.
Sports and leisure activities for children and teens under 18, including extracurricular activities in schools, are also resuming, except for competitions and tournaments.
However, spectators are not allowed and groups are limited to 25 people.
The driver of a vehicle making its way along des Oiseaux Blvd. near the corner of rang de l’Équerre in Sainte-Rose has died of injuries suffered in a head-on crash with a snow removal vehicle around 1 pm on Friday.
According to reports, the driver of the smaller vehicle was ejected and thrown some distance by the force of the collision, after which he was taken to hospital in a then-unknown condition.
The Montreal daily Journal de Montréal reported on Saturday afternoon that the driver, a 52-year-old man, had died. The driver of the snow removal vehicle, a blue collar employee, was not injured.
An 80-year-old woman from Mimosa St. in Sainte-Dorothée is dead and her home has up to $40,000 in damages following a fire last Monday night.
Laval Fire Department firefighters found the woman alone and unconscious after entering the dwelling which was ablaze.
Although she was immediately transported to hospital, she was later declared dead by medical personnel.
The home on Mimosa St. in Sainte-Dorothée where an 80-year-old woman was found following a fire last Monday night. (Photo: Courtesy of TVA Nouvelles)
A lit but unattended cigarette is suspected to have been the source of the fire, said fire department officials, while noting that a smoke detector was installed in the home but wasn’t working.
Officers from the Laval Police Department arrested two young males on weapons charges last week after they allegedly tried to flee from the police.
The LPD said that officers stopped a vehicle Thursday Jan. 20 around 5 p.m., following which the driver gave a fake name and tried to flee. The officers proceeded to arrest the two suspects, 21 and 22 years old respectively, while seizing a 9 mm. firearm.
Police placed the 21-year-old under arrest for possessing a firearm, breaching conditions, and obstruction of justice. At the same time, the 22-year-old was arrested for obstruction of justice and possessing a firearm illegally.
Both were in custody, pending court appearances last Friday. The arrests were part of the province-wide Operation Centaure, an anti-gun trafficking and anti-violence program that the LPD is taking part in.
While announcing the arrests, the LPD noted that the City of Laval increased its budget to allow for the hiring of more staff on the Equinox Squadron as well, as in the force’s criminal investigation division, thus increasing police presence throughout Laval’s territory.
Anyone who believes they may have information about the arrested suspects is invited by the LPD to call their confidential Info-Line at 450 662-INFO (4636) or 911. The file number is LVL 220120-074.
Laval man arrested as York Regional Police recover 50 stolen vehicles
Investigators with the York Regional Police just north of Toronto say Ali El-hage, age 20, of the City of Laval was among the suspects arrested following the recovery of 50 stolen vehicles valued at around $3 million in an ongoing YRP probe called Project Extinction.
According to the YRP, in the past several years they received an increase in reports concerning thefts of vehicles from residential driveways. The majority of these occurred between midnight and 6 a.m.
Car thieves were using tools such as screwdrivers to gain access through the driver or passenger doors, while making certain not to set off alarms.
Once inside, an electronic device, typically used by mechanics to reprogram the factory setting, would be connected to a port below the dashboard in order to program the vehicle to accept a key the thieves brought with them. The vehicle was then driven away.
The entire process only takes between 10 to 20 minutes, according to the YRP, and the stolen vehicles are typically sent overseas in shipping containers.
In the YRP Auto/Cargo Theft Unit’s investigation, eight suspects were identified and seven were charged following search warrants executed at two residences and a commercial property. At the same time, police seized $80,000 in cash.
Police intervene when Laval man barricades against bailiffs
A major police standoff got underway in Laval on the afternoon of Tuesday Jan. 18 after a man reacted badly to being served some legal papers by bailiffs.
Two bailiffs arrived outside an apartment on Laurentides St., near Sand St. in Laval’s Auteuil sector of just before 1 p.m. Although police weren’t informed as to what kind of legal notice the bailiffs were serving the man, he reacted in a way that alarmed the bailiffs enough to call the police.
Although he didn’t make any threats, an LPD spokesperson said the bailiffs decided to walk a distance from the address to call for assistance to get their job done. When police finally arrived, according to police, the man barricaded himself in his dwelling and remained there past 6 p.m., alone apparently the whole time.
While no one was injured during the incident, no threats were made, and there was no clear evidence of the use or potential use of a weapon, as per the procedure used by police in such situations, they continued attempts to establish contact with him to ensure the situation was under control.
To that effect, there was a major response team set up on the street, with firefighters, mental health responders and others ready to intervene if necessary.
Man, 40, arrested after going behind walls at Cité de la Santé
A middle-age man was placed under arrest by the LPD last week at Laval’s Cité de la Santé general hospital after it was discovered he had entered a crawl space next to the emergency department while trying to get away.
After initially being spotted and seen as suspicious by hospital personnel, he is said to have fled to some washrooms, where he climbed up through the false ceiling and entered the crawl space area.
According to LPD spokesperson Chantal Moreau, it took around an hour for the police to locate him within the walls of the hospital.
He was placed under arrest and a file with information on the incident has been sent to the provincial Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales (DPCP) to follow up with formal charges. Cité de la Santé security personnel are said to be working on a strategy in the meantime to assure there are no such further incidents.
According to Laval’s latest three-year capital investments budget, the city plans to spend $1.38 billion over the next three years on 170 projects and programs, including 159 in 2022.
“The tabling of the PTI is a unique moment since it allows light to be shed on the priorities of our administration,” Mayor Stéphane Boyer said in a statement.
“To no one’s surprise, the projects we are prioritizing are those that will allow us to improve our services to families in the districts, to protect the environment and to assure the security of everyone in Laval.”
The city plans to spend the money each year like this:
$399.8 million in 2022;
$510.7 million in 2023;
$468.7 million in 2024.
The city says the following projects are being scheduled to be implemented over the next few years:
Infrastructures in neighborhoods
These works include major renovations at the Maison André-Benjamin-Papineau near Sainte-Dorothée; the creation of new sports infrastructures for tennis, basketball and the swimming complex; and the creation of new infrastructures in Berthiaume-du-Tremblay Park in Chomedey.
Allocations from the City of Laval’s latest PTI budget include sums to help restore the historic Maison André-Benjamin -Papineau in Sainte-Dorothée and western Chomedey.
Territorial security
The city will be building new infrastructure for police and fire services, including a new police station for western districts, a new fire station, and the modernization of computerized equipment used for security purposes.
As well, the city plans to implement new measures for traffic calming, and for flood control in areas where rising flood waters are an ongoing concern.
Environnent and ecological transition
The PTI budget also plans some significant measures for the environment and forward ecological transition, including: $58.9 million for the acquisition and improvement of natural spaces, including some near the Berges des Baigneurs, des Goélands and Quatre-Vents.
Sums are also allotted for the improvement and upgrading of Laval’s roadways and streets, and for the improvement of water infrastructure.
Action Laval reacts to city’s 2022 PTI budget
The Action Laval opposition party reacted swiftly last week to the Boyer administration’s 2022 first capital investments budget since coming into office in November last year.
“Being used to simple solutions, the incumbent team that took up the reins of the city last fall is repeating what it learned over the years: to fix a problem, just add money,” city councillors David De Cotis (Saint-Bruno) and Aglaia Revelakis (Chomedey) said in a statement.
As such, they see the latest PTI budget as lacking imagination, although it raises expenses for services.
“The city continues to accumulate important surpluses year after year on the backs of citizens,” De Cotis said. “This is a practice that must stop. This administration should be managing the money of citizens in a responsible manner.”
Noting that the population of Laval has risen by 1.2 per cent since 2019, Action Laval added that during the same period the number of City of Laval employees has gone up by 15.1 per cent, mostly within the administration.
This year alone, staffing has risen by 6.5 per cent, they said. “When they have surpluses, they look for new ways to spend,” said Revelakis. “The application of sound principles of management in order to reduce the tax bills is not part of their wisdom.”
Boyer ‘would rather double the budget than admit failure,’ says Action Laval
Recent word that the cost of Laval’s planned aquatic complex will be at least $50 million higher than the initially-estimated $75 million cost has provided opposition members of Laval City Council with ammunition to accuse the Boyer administration of reckless spending and mismanagement.
Last week, the City of Laval’s executive-committee announced it is recommending that city council vote in favour of adding the $50 million.
‘Important project,’ says Boyer
“Through this, Laval is giving itself the means to bring forth one of the most important infrastructure projects on its territory, while approaching its goal of offering to all residents high-quality sports equipment for leisure, learning and excellence,” the city said in a statement.
“To be able to offer more sports infrastructures is a priority for our administration,” said Mayor Stéphane Boyer. “I am pleased to be finally be able to offer to the people of Laval these installations which will be completely accessible and recreational.
Despite the rising price tag, which is now at $125 million, the City of Laval says the aquatic complex project will pay off in economic spinoffs for the region and a better quality of life for residents.
More swimming time
“This project, anticipated for several years now, will increase considerably the availability of swimming hours and swimming lessons offered to the population, in addition to allowing our athletes from the region to train there.”
According to the city, the $50 million additional sum for the project will become official with the passing of a new by-law. The aquatic complex project will also be the subject of a public consultation by the city in the coming weeks.
Positive impacts, says city
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.
Despite the extra cost, 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.
Some basic facts on the Aquatic Complex project:
The project includes 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.
The Aquatic Complex is expected to host important national and provincial swim competitions.
It is expected to accommodate 875 swimmers and 500 spectators.
The sports expected to be practiced at the aquatic complex will include swimming, synchronized swimming, le 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.
It will be located near the Cosmodôme and Autoroute 15 for easy access.
Opposition reacts
At Action Laval, two members of the opposition party reacted strongly to the news of the Aquatic Complex’s added $50 million cost. “This has been a complete fiasco and a failure of management from the beginning,” Action Laval said in a statement, while adding, “Mayor Boyer would rather double the budget than admit failure.”
In addition, party leaders pointed out that the complex won’t be serving for the closing games of the upcoming Jeux du Québec, as had been planned in the beginning.
Action Laval is calling the Aquatic Complex project the “poisoned gift bequeathed by former Mayor Demers to the citizens of Laval,”
Disastrous waste, says Cifelli
« My colleagues and I are flabbergasted with the announcement,” said Val-des-Arbres city councillor Archie Cifelli. “At a time when Laval is lacking in sports and cultural infrastructures, this wastage is disastrous.”
Action Laval is calling the aquatic complex project the “poisoned gift bequeathed by former Mayor Demers to the citizens of Laval,” while maintaining that no original major project was delivered by the Demers team during the eight years they were in power.
No mega-budgets, says Piché
“If it had been us dealing with the money of taxpayers, we would have built at least two interior public pools, one in the east and another in the west,” said Saint-François city councillor Isabelle Piché. “Our citizens want services and infrastructures in their neighborhoods, not projects with mega-budgets that they will never use anyway.”
Noting that the City of Laval’s population will soon reach 450,000 inhabitants, Action Laval said the city is gaining a reputation that its sports facilities and other infrastructures are old, worn out and no longer up to the challenges of a large municipality.
The backstory on Laval’s Aquatics Complex project
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. When finally announced in January 2017, the cost of the aquatic complex was pegged at $61.1 million and the city hoped to complete it by 2020.
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)
Postponed after high bids
However, in 2018 the city’s executive-committee announced that a call for tenders for the construction of the superstructure, building envelope and other aspects of the building were cancelled because the lowest of three bids came in 46 per cent higher than the city budgeted.
At that time, measures were taken to protect the foundations which were already in place in view of the approaching winter season. Laval city council spent more than $710,000 to pay for the application of a waterproofing membrane on the concrete. The city said this waterproofing work would have been necessary anyway as part of the regular construction process.
Another delay last year
By February 2020 when it had long become apparent the aquatics complex project was still far from getting underway, the city announced yet another delay: the cancellation of the contract with the architectural firm that was mandated to produce the initial plans. The recently-announced cost increase is the latest development in this ongoing saga.
Premier calls for patience as pressure grows to reopen economy
Raquel Fletcher
The journalist was skillful to disguise any hint of desperation in her voice, but the question spoke for itself. “If we did everything right, why are we still in this so deeply?” she asked Premier François Legault at his press conference last Thursday.
Quebec had just announced that it would not be relaxing current health measures in the immediate future because people are still dying.
“It is my duty is to be responsible, to protect the lives of Quebecers, so let’s be careful, let’s be patient. Think of the staff in our hospitals. We will eventually get out of this together,” Legault said.
Why are things so dire?
The premier said he knows how fed-up people are and praised Quebecers for their solidarity. Hence, the burning question: if Quebecers have done everything that has been asked of them over two years of this global health crisis, why then are things still so dire?
Quebec City correspondent for Global Raquel Fletcher.
The restrictive measures currently in place are imperative to protect Quebec hospitals from breaking apart at the seams as they continue to be over capacity, especially in ICUs.
“I cannot compare really with what’s happening in other provinces and states, but we know that right now the situation (in Quebec) is really tight,” the premier said. “We want to be able to continue to treat everybody and not delay important and urgent treatments.”
The premier acknowledged, however, the pressure he was under to reopen certain parts of the economy.
Opposition cites “devastating impact”
Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade called for the province to allow children and teens to participate in sports again, citing the “devastating impact” the current situation is having on the mental health of young Quebecers. This plea was echoed again Friday by Quebec Solidaire’s Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois during a meeting between the premier and some opposition leaders. Anglade opted out of the meeting after declaring earlier in the week that the CAQ government had lost control of the pandemic.
Quebec is also hearing from bar and restaurant owners who remain closed with no timeline for reopening. To add insult to injury, neighbouring Ontario announced it would allow these establishments to reopen at 50 per cent capacity at the end of the month.
“Please help us!” was how one Montreal bar owner summed up his desperation Friday.
Martin Guimond, the owner of Le Saint-Bock in downtown Montreal said he is only $25,000 away from bankruptcy and still has rent and municipal taxes to pay.
Morale at a low
Quebecers’ morale is at a low, but the premier tried to remain optimistic, declaring that Quebec has now reached the peak of the fifth wave in terms of the number of hospitalizations and things should be improving soon. Twelve thousand health care workers are still missing from the system, mostly due to being sick with COVID-19 themselves, but Legault hopes many of them will return to work this week.
“So Plan B to reduce services will not be necessary,” Legault said, referring to a contingency plan made public earlier in the week in the event hospitalizations continued to rise. “It was responsible to have a Plan B, but I want to be very clear, this Plan B has never been applied.”
The province also announced a plan to reach out to the 565,000 unvaccinated adults in the province.
Junior health minister Lionel Carmant will be announcing the details this week. The government is particularly concerned about vulnerable populations, including immigrants who do not speak either French or English, who may have fallen through the cracks.
“We are making an extra effort to give the maximum number of chances to those who did not receive the information,” said health minister Christian Dubé.
It’s also a last effort to give another chance to the health network to handle this latest wave that can only be fought by once again putting the economy on pause.
A friend of mine who is not familiar with the stock market, much less what the acronyms stand for, like DOW, S&P 500, TSX etc., asked me “what is going on with the markets?” He was aware of something not being right but couldn’t quite figure it out. I don’t know that much more about it, but was able to sight the usual symptoms of what market investors call a “correction”.
I told him, there seems to be a number of reasons. Nothing is wrong with the companies that lost billions in value last week. In many cases these corporations were overpriced. In other words, the value of their stock did not reflect the company’s worth, or capitalization. Another reason is the fear of inflation, now real at nearly 5% and the anxiety it will bring, higher interest rates, expected shortly. And investors, institutional and retail, who increased stock value by the billions during the pandemic, are now selling, cashing in. An example is Netflix down 20%, Amazon down 10%, Peloton down 24% (likely because it’s reported it would pause production of its hot selling exercise machines). SHOPIFY, Canada’s great e-commerce enterprise was valued at more than the Royal Bank earlier this month. It lost its title as Canada’s biggest publicly traded company plunging from a high of $2189.32 a share a month ago, to a low of approximately $1100.00 at the TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange) close last Friday. That’s a drop of nearly 50%. Will it come back to its glorious highs, like other stocks that have dropped? Likely, in time, because Shopify and other companies that have lost value this month, are doing nothing wrong.
Newsfirst columnist Robert Vairo.
It’s the nature of the market, but a very scary event, especially for seniors who use to rely on high pay outs from Canada Savings bonds and GIC’s. In the glory days of the 1990’s with mortgage rates at 15%, these savings instruments paid out a handsome 16% to 20% interest, with no risk attached. But today, with returns on savings at less than 1%, the stock market is where to invest to stay ahead, if not afloat. So are cryptocurrencies, that are also taking a dive. If they are not into real estate, and revenue properties, to supplement their income (renting and dealing with tenants is not for everyone) then they are left with little choice but to pay a financial advisor to buy them mutual funds. They have often chosen to invest themselves, without the added expense of ‘the middle man’, through self-directed investment accounts, and other online brokerage and self-management firms, that charge little or no trade commissions or management fees. No matter who or what investment method is used, last week especially, everyone suffered.
The crash of 2008 took four years to recover. In 2015, it took over a year. So as history has taught us, we will resurface, and see company valuations slowly but surely regain prominence, only sometimes in another economic sector, and in varying periods. After suffering losses, for some it’s the end, and never again will they invest in the stock market. Others see it as just another “buying opportunity”.
I read something unusual recently. New Zealand criticized Canada and sided with the United States. In fact, the headline in the Financial Post read “New Zealand cheers Canada’s loss in the dairy dispute”. I did too. Not our loss, but our win. Canada’s overly protected dairy farmers, with the “supply management system that has historically used high tariffs on imports to shield the domestic dairy producers from competition” from the U.S. and Europe, results in Canadians paying much, much more for milk, cheese and all other dairy products. Canada circumvented the North American free trade agreement by passing on the quotas to Canadian dairy companies who have little interest in rivalry, at our expense. And our Prime Minister is just fine with that, always in support of the Quebec vote and the powerful Quebec dairy lobby. Finding Canada in the wrong will hopefully lead to more competitive prices for milk and dairy products and help in lowering our atrociously inflated grocery bills.
While the Trudeau liberals say they are “protecting Canadians with more stringent gun laws”, that same government is eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for criminals who use guns in the commission of an offence. That makes so much sense, doesn’t it? Meanwhile Canada’s homicide rate is up 7% from a year ago. (Statistics Canada).
Why are politicians and especially our health officials failing to mention that a strong immune system is also a great fighter against COVID? In Britain, they are giving out vitamin D, free! Seniors are receiving a fourmonth supply of the vitamin that health officials agree, “optimizing the immune response to mitigate clinical illness for any given viral load”. If only our leading medical teams had the wisdom to help out our seniors stuck indoors, with no sunlight, in March of 2020. Stay healthy. Walk, eat well, keep smiling.
Some buildings erected after 1985 had non-conforming chimney firewalls
When Shiva Ashtari and her family moved into a condominium on Charles Best St. in Chomedey eleven years ago, they weren’t aware that the fireplace which had been installed when the eight-unit building was completed in 1986 didn’t meet construction and fire code requirements.
A fire code issue
After deciding a little more than five years ago to go ahead and buy their unit, they found out that condos in Laval with fireplaces like the one in their home, which are mostly decorative but still useable for burning wood, had to be upgraded or removed in order to conform to the code.
“We have been told by the service incendie de Laval that all condos with fireplaces like ours (the fancy ones, that are mostly for entertainment, not generating heat), need to be removed completely from the building construction,” Ashtari said in an e-mail to the Laval News.
Some owners of condos in Laval with fireplaces like these face a choice: upgrade the installation with firewalls, or remove them altogether.
Not conforming to code
The reasoning, according to the LFD and the municipal fire code, is that some of the building’s firewalls aren’t separated between the condos, and if a fire breaks out in a condo unit, it can spread to others. Although constructed in 1986, the design of the building’s fireplace and chimney emplacements didn’t conform to new fire code regulations which came into effect in 1985.
“We have given our consent that we’re not using the fireplaces, but it’s not enough as even not using the fireplace,” added Ashtari, noting that an initial estimate for removing the fireplaces and resolving the problem has been estimated at a cost of around $4,000 for each of affected condo apartments.
High cost of removal
This diagram from a Régie du Bâtiment du Québec document on multi-unit building fireplace and chimney installation illustrates the problem.
“This is understandable as our safety is very important. However, the cost of completely removing the system is very high.” Ashtari said that she and virtually all the other condo owners find this outrageously costly and are seeking a less expensive way of resolving the problem.
In the meantime, she said the Laval Fire Department has continued to press the residents to carry out the fireplace and chimney removals as instructed and that she received a formal notice from a city lawyer advising her family to start the fireplace/chimney removal process.
Unanswered questions
“I understand that it’s the firecode and everything,” Ashtari said in an interview with the Laval News. “But my concern is: why isn’t there another solution but for removing these things completely? It’s been there been there for years. What happened to the fire code before?”
‘This is a situation that a number of condo owners in multi-unit buildings with fireplaces in Laval are going through now,’ says Laval Fire Department spokesperson Véronique Maheu
Reached at the Laval Fire Department, LFD spokesperson Véronique Maheu explained to the Laval News that Régie du Bâtiment du Québec regulations governing the installation of fireplaces and chimneys with firewalls in multi-unit dwellings weren’t followed when a number of residential projects took place in Laval more than 30 years ago.
RBQ rules not respected
“On each floor where there is an apartment and a technical space where the chimney is located, there should have been firewall separations,” she said. “This has to be there so that if there is a fire in an apartment, the fire cannot make get through the technical space and make its way to the other floors of the building.”
While acknowledging that in more recent years, contractors started installing gas-operated fireplaces in newer condos, she said the vast majority of earlier builders “did not respect the requirements of the RBQ – the Régie du Bâtiment du Québec. And this is a situation that is generalized on our territory in this type of building.”
According to LFD spokesperson Véronique Maheu, condo apartment buildings built in Laval during the mid-1980s often didn’t conform to RBQ regulations requiring firewalls for fireplaces and chimneys.
Owners have two options
According to Maheu, the condo owners are given two options. Firstly, they can hire a consulting engineer who will supervise and oversee that their fireplace/chimney installation is brought up to the conforming specifications for safe operation.
On the other hand, should some condo owners find the required upgrade work as too expensive, the fireplace and chimney can be removed, although the firewalls must be installed in the technical space to meet the current fire code specifications.
“This is a situation that a number of condo owners in multi-unit buildings with fireplaces in Laval are going through now,” said Maheu, adding that the Laval Fire Department has been enforcing the rule for nearly a decade now.
