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City of Laval wants Quebec to set city council members’ salaries

Martin C. Barry
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City of Laval wants Quebec to set city council members’ salaries

Newly-elected mayor Boyer meets Municipal Affairs Minister Laforest a first time

Having recently announced his decision to take a salary cut along with four other Quebec mayors, newly-elected Laval mayor Stéphane Boyer is asking Quebec to pass a law setting the salaries paid to all elected municipal officials, rather than allowing them to decide what they are paid on their own.

A level playing field

A low-key meeting took place last week at Laval’s interim city hall on Saint Martin Blvd. between Mayor Boyer and Quebec Housing and Municipal Affairs Minister Andrée Laforest, ostensibly to allow them to “touch base” for the first time since the Nov. 7 municipal elections.

In the meantime, an illustrated booklet published by the city, concurrent with Laforest’s visit, outlined several dossiers the Boyer administration hoped to emphasize – including the remuneration of municipal elected officials.

Quebec Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs Andrée Laforest and newly-elected Laval mayor Stéphane Boyer met last week to “touch base” on a range of issues the municipality hopes Quebec will act on. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Newsfirst Multimedia)

Boyer announced during the election campaign and shortly after taking office that he would join three other Quebec mayors who agreed to reduce their salaries. According to the booklet, Laval is now asking Laforest’s ministry to standardize the salaries of all elected members of city councils across the province.

Quebec would set salaries

As things are now, the responsibility for determining the remuneration paid to mayors and city councillors belongs to the elected officials themselves in each municipality. The new Boyer administration wants the municipal affairs ministry to do what is necessary to level the playing field in all municipalities across the province, rather than allowing the process to take place on a piecemeal basis.

The booklet refers to the manner by which salaries are set now as “leading to sometimes significant salary inequalities between the elected officials in the various cities of the province. A revision is overdue to remedy the situation.

“It must be led by the government of Quebec for the municipalities altogether and according to clear markers that would allow the establishment of a more equitable method that takes into account the size of each city and the responsibilities assumed by the elected officials.”

Local housing problems

A second dossier Mayor Boyer brought up with Laforest concerns the housing element of her ministry. Mayor Boyer drew attention to the significant rent increases and house purchase price hikes that have hit Quebecers over the past year. He suggests the provincial housing ministry can play a positive role by finding the means to control construction costs so that they are not passed along to the public.

Thus, the cities of Laval and Longueuil are both asking the provincial housing ministry to hold a province-wide summit dealing just with the housing issue, and which would bring together several provincial ministries, the private sector, municipal officials and the population.

Boyer’s meeting with Minister Laforest took place a day before the city announced a $400,000 subsidy to boost food security in Laval, with assistance provided from Laforest’s ministry and a private foundation.

Food security subsidy

According to a press release issued by the city on Dec. 1, Laval is giving the subsidy to a community-based collective group which has been offering a vegetable distribution service in Laval for several years, using produce grown on farms located on Laval’s territory.

The six-figure subsidy made to the group, which is working in conjunction with a local meals-on-wheels organization, includes funding not only from the city and the province, but also from the Fondation Lucie et André Chagnon, and will help set up a door-to-door delivery service.

As stated in the priorities booklet, the new Boyer administration also wants to focus on the creation of a comprehensive nature sanctuary on the north shore of Île Jésus that would stretch along a vast area of the Rivière des Mille Îles.

Future nature sanctuary

Although some parts of the plan are already in place (the largest being the Parc de la Rivière des Mille Îles, for example), they are disconnected and the city wants to tie them together with a comprehensive strategy.

And while the Parc de la Rivière des Mille Îles currently consists of 26 hectares of territory, the Boyer administration wants to eventually expand that to up to 500 hectares, which would have a protected status as a nature sanctuary accorded by the province. Among other things, the city’s purchase of Île aux Vaches and Île Saint Pierre with financial help from Quebec will add 160 hectares to the goal. If Laval were to get some neighbouring municipalities to agree to provide additional territory, the park would become Quebec’s largest nature sanctuary in an urban environment.

The Val-des-Brises autoroute interchange is now open

Martin C. Barry
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The Val-des-Brises autoroute interchange is now open

Officials from the City of Laval and from the provincial government were on hand at the edge of Autoroute 440 near Route 125 and Pie-IX Blvd. on Nov. 3 for the official opening of the new Val-des-Brises traffic interchange.

The new traffic link, located between the A-440 and Route 125, cost the City of Laval $25 million, although the construction work was done primarily by the provincial government, and the project was completed six months ahead of schedule. The interchange is expected to help relieve traffic congestion on several nearby streets.

In addition to the overpass structure spanning the autoroute, the project also included the reconfiguration of several adjacent streets, as well as several access ramps.

Northward, Robert-Bourassa Blvd. is now linked to Gaumont St. to the south by way of the new Michel-Ange Blvd. Landscaping work is expected to be completed in the spring of 2022.

From the left, project engineer Farid Rahli, Mayor Stéphane Boyer, François Nadaia (a City of Laval engineering project manager), Sainte-Rose MNA Christopher Skeete, and Carl Denis, a Transport Quebec engineering project manager.

“This link, now an essential one between the north and south of the island, will help calm transiting traffic on streets in the Val-des-Brises sector, while also improving the mobility of Laval residents, by offering better access to areas where there is employment and businesses,” said Mayor Stéphane Boyer.

“It will also be one physical barrier less for active mobility since infrastructure for bicycles and pedestrians have been included in the project,” he added.

“The new Val-des-Brises interchange is a project that was long awaited by the community,” said Sainte-Rose CAQ MNA Christopher Skeete, representing the government. This new link will help facilitate travel between industrial, residential and commercial areas near Autoroute 440.

“These infrastructures will fit in well with the active way of life of those using them thanks to the bicycle paths and sidewalks, which link with the municipal network,” he continued. “The quality of life of all Laval residents and regional economic development will be greatly improved.”

Some facts about the project:

  • Cost: $25 million;
  • 16 months of work;
  • Two lanes (3.5 metres each) in both directions;
  • One concrete sidewalk (1.5 metres) both directions;
  • Bicycle path (1.7 metres) in both directions, a multifunction path along Gaumont St., and extension of sidewalks along Robert-Bourassa Blvd. as they approach the interchange;
  • A central mall 1.5 metres wide;
  • Landscaping.

It’s a go for the 24th Défi OSEntreprendre entrepreneur contest

On Dec. 3, representatives of the City of Laval were on hand for the official launch of the 24th edition of the regional Défi OSEntreprendre entrepreneurs’ contest.

Each year, Défi OSEntreprendre allows thousands of entrepreneurial initiatives from across the province to be placed in competition with one another.

The contest includes segments for youths from grade school to university, for new entrepreneurs, for experienced entrepreneurs, as well as for advanced entrepreneurs whose acquired skills and methods can be learning tools for the less experienced.

“Entrepreneurialism is at the centre of our vision and our actions,” says Mayor Stéphane Boyer. The Défi OSEntreprendre is a window for shining light on the talent and creativity of Laval residents who commit themselves to participating in the vitality of their surroundings and the prosperity of our economy.

“So, I invite those from schools, as well as students who have an entrepreneurial project, including entrepreneurs who are about or who are launching a new business, to register in order to see their project become a reality.”

Participants in the Défi OSEntreprendre become eligible to receive bursaries while also having the opportunity to get media exposure for their entrepreneurial projects.

The deadline to register a project is March 15, 2022 at 4 pm. Information on the criteria for eligibility are available on the Défi OSEntreprendre website. The winners from Laval will be announced in April. A gala will be held in June to honour all the participants from across Quebec.

Skeete skeptical of PQ surge in 2022, while defending CAQ’s brand of nationalism

Martin C. Barry
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Skeete skeptical of PQ surge in 2022, while defending CAQ’s brand of nationalism

Is Premier François Legault trying to outpace the PQ with his nationalistic proclamations?

Regardless of where the shifting political layout may go heading towards next year’s Quebec provincial election, Sainte-Rose MNA Christopher Skeete says he isn’t a bit worried about the Parti Québécois or the Liberals nipping at the heels of the CAQ.

Leastways, not with the Coalition Avenir Québec still riding high on the cresting wave of its popularity.

CAQ’s ongoing popularity

Although the Quebec Liberals are the official opposition, they remain buried in a deep valley of unpopularity among Quebec’s voters. The PLQ currently holds just 27 seats, compared to the governing CAQ’s 74 in the 125-seat National Assembly.

And while Québec Solidaire has made great strides in its 15-year history to achieve an all-time high 10-seat standing, they are still regarded in many people’s minds as not much more than a peripheral party that answers mostly to the needs of the province’s marginal classes.

“To say that the PQ is what we’re looking at I think is simplistic,” says Sainte-Rose CAQ MNA Christopher Skeete, the sole Anglophone in the François Legault government. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Newsfirst Multimedia)

In the meantime, the Parti Québécois, which last formed a government in 2012 – and a minority one at that – currently has just seven seats in the provincial parliament.

CAQ’s ‘economic nationalism’

Although the CAQ has largely succeeded in winning the hearts of a majority of French-speaking Quebecers through its own distinctive brand of Quebec “economic” nationalism, Skeete – the lone Anglophone in the CAQ government – distinguishes between his party’s nationalistic spin, and the sovereignty-centered approach favoured by the Parti Québécois.

Still, as political trends in recent years in the province have demonstrated (the election of the CAQ four years ago being a case in point), the political wind in Quebec can be unpredictable. So, the idea of the Parti Québécois surging back into an influential position, while riding an even greater surge of Quebec nationalism, can not be ruled out.

Bill 22 and surging nationalism

Another case in point. In 1976, two years after Robert Bourassa’s Liberals passed Bill 22 – Quebec’s first comprehensive language law, responding to a rising tide of nationalism among Francophone Quebecers – the Liberal government, although expecting a relatively easy win, was defeated by the Parti Québécois, largely, analysts later concluded, because Bill 22 didn’t go far enough as far as the French-speaking majority was concerned.

‘We need to replace maybe the PQ, but not become the PQ,’ Skeete says, comparing the CAQ with the sovereignist party

Today, looking back, it would almost seem that the CAQ government and its leader, Premier François Legault, are playing a similar game: Trying to keep pace or trying to outpace the latter-day Parti Québécois with his increasingly nationalistic proclamations that fall just short of the PQ’s sovereignist rhetoric. None of this worries Skeete a bit, though.

Comparing CAQ and PLQ

“We’ve shown that it’s possible to be a proud nationalist government and be strong in the economy,” he said in an interview with the Laval News at his Vieux Sainte-Rose office.

“As for the PQ, the only thing that’s left for the PQ then is sovereignty. And, well, that’s been tried and people said no. Twice. So, can the PQ really make a gain? Possibly. I think there will always be separatists in Quebec.”

However, Skeete dismisses the comparison between today’s political landscape and the scenario involving the Liberals and the PQ back in the mid-1970s. “I get the comparison, but history will tell us who’s right,” he said. “But for me, though, that argument underestimates where we are today versus where we were then.

Replacing the PQ, not becoming

“We’ve already tried the PQ. We’ve already tried the sovereignist movement in Quebec, and Quebecers have said no. My take is Quebecers have said, you know, we want a strong Quebec, but we don’t want to leave Canada. What they’re looking for is a way of being and assuring another 400 years of French in North America without leaving.

“And I think that’s the strength that the CAQ brings,” he added. “Which is why I think the PQ is off-base because I think they go too far. So, sure we feel pressure in the sense that we need to give Quebecers that comfort that the language and the culture will continue. But to say that the PQ is what we’re looking at I think is simplistic. We need to replace maybe the PQ, but not become the PQ.”

‘The proof is pretty shoddy’

Martin C. Barry
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‘The proof is pretty shoddy’

Collège Letendre ‘no stopping’ tickets denounced as a ‘scam’

Is it a scam or a legit way for the City of Laval to give out tickets and collect fines for ‘no parking’ and ‘no stopping’ infractions allegedly committed by parents waiting for their kids outside a school? You be the judge.

Will they stand legally?

While the Laval Police Department admits it has been working with the city’s parking tickets department to issue citations to car owners whose license plate numbers the ticket agents jot down, a legal expert consulted by the Laval News questions the validity of those tickets, suggesting they might not stand up if contested in court.

Whatever ambiguities there may be, there is no doubt in the mind of George Ziakas that the partnership between the parking agents and the LPD, as well as the method they are using, is no more than a con job.

In this photo also taken by George Ziakas in October, vehicles can be seen outside Collège Letendre parked and double-parked during one of the school’s two rush-hours.

The Saint-Martin district resident, whose children attend Collège Letendre on de l’Avenir Blvd. in downtown Laval, has been ticketed several times in recent months while dropping off or picking up his children before and after school.

Tickets came by mail

Problem is that each time he’s been given a ticket, it came by mail, instead of being issued to him personally by a parking agent or a police officer as is the normal procedure.

As is so often the case at schools in many neighbourhoods, Collège Letendre has had its share of problems managing the dozens of parents’ vehicles that stop and idle outside the school during the morning and afternoon rush hours – sometimes double or even triple-parked on one of Laval’s busiest arteries.

Street signage on de l’Avenir Blvd. outside the school states clearly that no stopping is allowed at any time. A small drop-off area a little further south but still in front of the school, with space for five or six cars, allows drivers 15 minutes of parking.

Parking problems at school

The school has apparently sent out e-mail notices to parents on numerous occasions, warning them of the hazard when drivers illegally stop, double-park or even triple-park on de l’Avenir Blvd.

In an e-mail to the Laval News, Ziakas described the actions of one parking agent who parked his vehicle for more than an hour on the grounds of the school, while jotting down the license plate numbers of cars on the street.

According to Ziakas, the agent may take down the numbers from more than three dozen license plates when he’s assigned to work outside Collège Letendre. “He writes up to 40 license plate numbers the days he is present without physically giving out any tickets,” he said.

In this photo taken in late October by George Ziakas, a City of Laval parking agent can be seen jotting down license plate numbers of vehicles parked on the street (left) while allegedly in violation of the posted parking and no stopping rules.

Ziakas suggests that this is a haphazard way of determining which car owners are actually guilty of illegally stopping or parking because it’s too easy to make errors.

Police issue the tickets

“He’s just making notes of whoever is parking or stopped there for maybe a second or five seconds,” he said. “The way they’re doing it, the guy is just taking notes of license plates, then he passes the information onto the police department, and then the police department sends out the tickets.”

Ziakas noted that over the past 15 years, Collège Letendre’s student population has grown from 700 students to around 1,700 now. “More students equals more cars,” he said.

Chantal Moreau of the Laval Police Department’s public affairs department told the Laval News that the LPD had been receiving complaints about the situation outside Collège Letendre for years and that they tried many different approaches before resorting to a more drastic strategy.

LPD confirms using strategy

“If the parking agent or the police officer were to take the time to verify and check with the people in each vehicle, then we will never be able to fix the problem,” she said, noting that there are simply too many vehicles breaking the no stopping and limited time parking rules to be dealt with effectively.

“Yes, someone is taking down the license plate numbers, they are taking down the most they can,” she confirmed, while adding, “The infraction citation is filled out by the parking agent and is sent out by mail.”

Legal expert questions validity of infraction statements because of ‘hearsay’ factor

Avi Levy, a former Montreal crown prosecutor who co-founded the legal firm Ticket911 specializing in driving and parking violations, questions the validity of the tickets issued using the two-step strategy. “It’s clear that the parking agent is not a peace officer or a police officer,” he said.

Calls agent’s report ‘hearsay’

“So, the parking agent’s report is going to be hearsay as far as the proof and the ticket. Which means the only time it will be valid is if the police counter-signs the report. And if the police counter-signs the report, then the agent will have to go to court and testify. And if he doesn’t, then the ticket will probably get thrown out.”

Overall, he described the tickets in question as “not the best tickets, it’s not the best proof. The proof is pretty shoddy. And I think that if we were to challenge them, we would probably have a high rate of success.”

The Laval News reached out to Collège Letendre for their take on the situation, but they had not responded to a voice mail we left on their phone system last week in time for our deadline.

Laval News Volume 29-43

Laval News Staff
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Laval News Volume 29-43

The current issue of the Laval News volume 29-43 published December 8th, 2021.
Covering Laval local news, politics, sports and our new section Mature Life.
(Click on the image to read the paper.)

Front page of the Laval News.
Front page of the Laval News, December 8TH, 2021 issue.

18 year old was shot last night while in Laval

Laval News Contributor
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18 year old was shot last night while in Laval

An 18-year-old was shot and wounded yesterday when a gunman opened fire through the window of a Laval municipal library in the middle of the evening. 

The impact of the bullet in the window was clearly visible

The shots rang out shortly after 7 p.m. at the Philippe-Panneton municipal library in the Laval-Ouest sector.

The assailant, who was outside, shot through the window, hitting an 18-year-old who was inside, said Stéphanie Beshara, a spokeswoman for the Laval Police Service.

The Philippe-Panneton Municipal Library is located in the Laval-West sector on Arthur-Sauvé Boulevard, near Sainte-Rose Boulevard.

Wounded in the lower body, he was taken to a hospital, but there is no fear for his life. The young victim is known to police circles, said Constable Beshara.

At that time, the library was still open. According to TVA Nouvelles, several employees and four other users were inside.

No one else was injured, said an attendant at the scene.

At least four shots, was clearly visible from the outside.

The gunman fled after unloading his weapon.

This new shooting adds to a long list of events involving firearms since the beginning of the year in the Greater Montreal area.

Last week, a 20-year-old man succumbed to his injuries after being shot in
the heart of a residential neighborhood in Montreal’s Anjou borough.

Hani Ouahdi, known by his rapper name El DZairy, became the 32nd homicide victim in Montreal in 2021.

Always younger

In the same event that night, a 17-year-old was also shot in the upper body, but his life is out of danger.

Since the beginning of the year, armed violence between young people has also claimed the lives of three teenagers, all aged 16 and under, in the metropolis.

Environment Canada updates warning about winter storm at beginning of the week

Martin C. Barry
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Environment Canada updates warning about winter storm at beginning of the week

Environment Canada issued an updated weather statement at 5:14 AM EST Saturday Dec. 4 about a winter storm expected to kick off the upcoming week.

You could be seeing more activity like this in the next few days, as winter 2021-2022’s first storm, bringing a mix and snow and rain, hits Laval and other areas of Quebec.

According to the federal weather service, a system from Colorado will move into Western Quebec late in the day on Sunday and reach eastern parts of the province on Monday morning.

Precipitation will begin as snow, especially over areas north of the St. Lawrence River, before changing over to rain.

There will be a risk of freezing rain during the transition.

As a result, the largest snowfall amounts are expected north of the St. Lawrence beginning Sunday night.

Snowfall amounts could exceed 25 centimetres over these areas. Strong winds and blowing snow are also possible with this storm.

Forecast precipitation types and amounts will become more certain as the event draws nearer and warnings will be issued as needed.

Travel could be significantly impacted.

The areas affected include Laval, Montreal, Châteauguay – La Prairie and Longueuil – Varennes.

LPD sets up neutral zone for e-commerce exchanges

Martin C. Barry
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LPD sets up neutral zone for e-commerce exchanges

In keeping with a growing trend among police forces to provide protection to citizens when they are completing purchase transactions initiated on the Internet, the Laval Police Department has decided to set up a “neutral space” to support the safe exchange of goods or for any other situation that requires a neutral meeting area.

The location, in the parking lot outside the LPD’s headquarters building (2911 Chomedey Blvd.), is under 24h video surveillance. The site, which can be used for free, is accessible at any time and does not require authorization.

Laval Police Department director Pierre Brochet, centre, is seen here with other LPD officials in the first neutral zone set up recently by the force to accommodate residents who want to complete transfers of property and payments in a safe environment following online transactions.

Police forces everywhere have seen it necessary to create such spaces given a growing number of reports of individuals being victimized by perpetrators of fraud or theft who take advantage of the relative anonymity provided by e-commerce transactions.

Some suggested uses

  • A seller and buyer who make a trade on an online site (Kijiji, Marketplace, etc.) can meet there to complete the exchange safely.
  • Separated parents can also transfer custody of their children peacefully in this location.

By next spring, the LPD is expected to set up two additional zones. Their openings will be announced by the force as soon as they are set up and become operational. These sites will also be monitored around the clock by security cameras.

Some tips for safe e-commerce transactions

  • Never give out personal information;
  • Take screenshots of the ad, the seller’s information and all communications between the parties;
  • Check the seller/buyer’s name in a search engine (Google etc.);
  • Only bring the amount of money required for the transaction;
  • Don’t give the money to the seller until you take possession of the item;
  • Take note of the buyer/seller’s licence plate number;

If you have any doubts or are not comfortable during the transaction, feel free to call off the deal if necessary.

Suspect in Laval daycare arson incidents finally arrested

A suspect who the Laval Police believe may have been involved in the attempted torching of a children’s daycare centre in Sainte-Dorothée was arrested on Nov. 20.

Jordan Picot Sudano, 24, was taken into custody by the LPD just two days after they had posted and distributed security camera images showing the act of arson allegedly being committed by him.

In all, three fires were set at CPEs in western Laval, including the Centre de la petite enfance (CPE) Les Soleils du monde, located on Lauzon St. The most recent was on Nov. 6 and was linked to the suspect.

In the security camera images released by the LPD, he was seen deftly approaching the CPE with an incendiary object in hand. He was seen placing the object at the base of the building, then leaving as fire began to spread.

The two previous arson incidents took place in October as well as in August. The suspect, who is a Laval resident, was not previously known to the LPD, they said, although he now faces charges of arson and possession of incendiary materials for criminal purposes.

He was released by the police with special conditions and is scheduled to go to court on March 9 next year. The suspect’s possible motives remain unknown

Laval-based prostitution pimp being sought by several police forces

Police from Laval and other areas of Quebec say they are seeking the public’s help to determine the whereabouts of a suspected pimp who is wanted in order to answer charges he was living off the avails of prostitution.

According to the police force, Blake Charbonneau, who has a long criminal record, is also being sought to face charges of sexual assault and armed assault over a period of several years.

The 35-year-old Laval resident is being sought by the inter-police Escouade intégrée de lutte contre le proxénétisme (EILP), which is made up of police from Montreal, Laval, Longueuil, Quebec City, Gatineau, the Sûreté du Québec and the RCMP.

Charbonneau is 5’7” tall, weighs 176 lbs., has black hair and blue eyes, and wears ear rings. Anyone with information or who thinks they’ve seen him is urged to call 9-1-1, or the SQ’s Centrale criminelle de la Sûreté du Québec, at 1 800 659-4264.

Quebec Ombudswoman’s COVID-19 report points finger squarely at Legault government

Martin C. Barry
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Quebec Ombudswoman’s COVID-19 report points finger squarely at Legault government

Of the 5,634 Covid deaths reported up to June 30 last year, 69 per cent were in CHSLDs

In a special report tabled last week in the National Assembly on how the COVID-19 crisis was managed in CHSLDs during the first wave of the pandemic, Quebec Ombudswoman Marie Rinfret makes 27 recommendations, while allowing the facts to suggest negligence on the part of the CAQ government.

They ‘were the blind spot’

As they braced for COVID-19, Rinfret’s report states, government authorities were quick to make hospitals the focal point. Then, in order to free up hospital beds, many patients were transferred to CHSLDs. Of the 5,634 COVID-19 deaths reported up to June 30 last year, 3,894 (69 per cent) were in CHSLDs.

In a scathing new report on the provincial government’s performance last year during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Quebec Ombudswoman Marie Rinfret provides evidence that CAQ government officials made decisions which may have worsened the situation.

“CHSLDs were the blind spot in bracing for COVID-19,” said Rinfret. “The truth is that, above and beyond the CHSLDs, it was the residents who were cast aside when the attack against the virus was being mounted.”

CHSLDs ‘were doubly hit’

A progress report released by Rinfret’s office in December 2020 highlighted firsthand witness statements. The new report includes an analysis of accounts by experts and government authorities in key areas, including health institution management, geriatrics, crisis management, epidemiology, and infection control and prevention.

“Our investigation made it possible to dig deep and understand why CHSLDs were doubly hit – under siege during the pandemic, and unable to deal with the outbreaks and deaths,” Rinfret said in a statement. “Our report brings into sharp relief the frailty of services, structures and communication channels.”

Were already short-staffed

The Ombudswoman’s office said the CHSLDs “already short-staffed, did not have the resources needed to accommodate the sudden influx of people who were already fragile. As a result, decisions were made by authorities who did not have the wherewithal to adequately gauge the ability of CHSLDs to fulfil this unusual mission.”

According to Rinfret, other factors contributed to a decline in service and disorganization, including the authorities’ underestimating CHSLD residents’ vulnerability to the virus. The effects of staff absenteeism due to COVID-19 hadn’t been foreseen either. She said the complex nature of the jobs of the healthcare teams should have quickly sounded the alarm about why things went as they did and required an urgent solution.

Knowledge was lacking

Rinfret said that when planning for the pandemic, the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services hadn’t considered how serious it was that CHSLD staff knew very little about best practices in infection prevention and control during major outbreaks.

Given the circumstances, she added, the virus spread widely, exacerbated by a lack of personal protective equipment, as well as outdated facilities. Moreover, Rinfret continued, lack of managers in each CHSLD often slowed the response to a succession of ever-changing instructions from health authorities.

The recommendations

Given the extent of the crisis during the first wave and the dramatic repercussions on the province, the Ombudswoman’s office recommended that the Ministry of Health and Social Services put in place various mechanisms. Here are the principal ones:

  • A risk assessment and management policy concerning CHSLDs;
  • A detailed plan for strengthening the CHSLDs’ ability to apply infection prevention and control measures;
  • A personal protective equipment supply strategy;
  • A provincial plan for deploying emergency personnel within the health and social services network to make the most of back-up resources;
  • Protocols with professional orders, federations and associations, unions, and educational institutions for deploying extra staff in exceptional circumstances;
  • A Quebec strategy to combat staff shortages and to promote health and social services trades and professions;
  • An action plan to recognize the complexity of care and service provision in CHSLDs.

Memorials should be held

Rinfret said all the reforms should include the introduction of reliable and efficient information systems. The Ombudswoman’s office also recommended that the ministry organize annual services of commemoration for the COVID-19 victims in CHSLDs and for the people who worked with them directly or indirectly.

‘CHSLDs were the blind spot in bracing for COVID-19,’ said Rinfret

“It is important to remember what these people went through so that their experiences are the catalyst for sustainable action and change,” said the ombudswoman’s office. Rinfet also asked the minister to provide a progress report about the implementation of the recommendations by March 1 next year and that a follow-up schedule be agreed upon.

Premier Legault’s reaction

In Quebec City, Premier François Legault reacted to Rinfret’s 66-page report, saying it was relatively easy for an onlooker to second-guess the situation, but that the provincial government did its best to manage given the extreme circumstances.

“With the information I had, I did the best I was able to do at the time,” he told journalists last week. “It’s tough to take decisions when you don’t have all the information.

“And the information we had was that we would have problems in our hospital ERs and not in our long-term care facilities. So, it’s easy Monday morning to say you should have done things differently. But I think with the information we had we did the best we were able to do.”

‘No real action taken’

Despite the government’s claim it warned CHSLDs to prepare for the pandemic as early as January 2020, the report states that no real action was taken until April, when devastating Covid outbreaks in Montreal and at Laval’s CHSLD Sainte-Dorothée led to hundreds of Covid deaths.

Rinfret’s report described a disconnect between Quebec’s Ministry of Health and Social Services and the regional health authorities overseeing the CHSLDs. Staff absenteeism worsened the problems.

The report states that between March 1 and June 14 last year, 13,581 health-care workers contracted COVID-19, representing 25 per cent of all reported cases in the first wave. While eleven health-care workers died, many others were left psychologically and emotionally scarred by the death and suffering they witnessed first-hand.

Marquise Condominiums Laval shines at 2021 Habitat Design Awards

Renata Isopo
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Marquise Condominiums Laval shines at 2021 Habitat Design Awards

Les Prix Habitat Design’s annual competition which aims its spotlight at the housing industry and rewards the best-equipped model units and sales offices, has awarded the Marquise Condominiums Laval the 2021 People’s Choice prize in the category of Furnished Model Unit Component.

The awards are part of the much-appreciated and much anticipated contest that focuses on promoting better design for living. In the The People’s Choice competition, Marquise Condominiums Laval scored top marks for attractive design and functionality. Better design for living Marquise, with their creative architect, translates unique tastes and aspirations into forever homes with visions of hassle-free design, offering unique and elegant lifestyles which cater to many tastes, supported by outstanding recreational amenities, esteemed scholarly and health facilities, transport, and shopping, benchmarks of exclusive community living, winning designs which reflect modern luxury, warmth, and effortless elegance.

Award winning Marquise’s approach to luxury is about craftsmanship, curation, and a sense of authenticity, a more ethereal quality to the design of the buildings, telling the essence of this city that is about a sense of lightness, the sense of transparency.

“Buyers love the more and more varied proposals that are presented to them,” say the Habitat Design Awards organizers. “For builders, the buyers visits, this translates into beautiful, finely decorated model units, (and) buyers can thus fill up with ideas of a future new home.” Multidisciplinary adjudication For the Furnished Model Unit Component, the jury was made up of interior designers who are all members of APDIQ (Professional Association of Interior Designers of Québec) – Michèle Lalumière, Jean de Lessard, Lucie Roy, and Mélodie Violet.

“The promotion of the design professions, all disciplines combined – architecture, landscape, interior design, graphic design – is an avenue that we must clearly support to ensure a better design of our living environments. The Habitat Design Awards challenges us in this regard. An important and highly relevant initiative, these awards demonstrate the soundness of interprofessional collaboration,” notes renowned industrial designer Michel Dallaire, who sat on the multidisciplinary committee that adjudicated the Habitat Design Grand Prize in the category of Jury’s Choice.

The sponsors and partners of the 2021 Habitat Design Awards are the Professional A s s o c i a t i o n o f Interior Designers of Quebec (APDIQ), the Association of Landscape Architects of Quebec (AAPQ), t h e S o c i e t y o f Graphic Designers of Quebec, duProprio, Électroménagers GE, Rinox, as well as FORMES magazine.

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