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FILIA Association for Senior Citizens holds its first Walk A Thon in Laval

Martin C. Barry
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FILIA Association for Senior Citizens holds its first Walk A Thon in Laval

‘A lot of our members are now from here,’ says FILIA founder Johanna Tsoublekas

Although the year 2020 has been far from normal up to now because of COVID-19, it seemed only fitting that the FILIA Association for Senior Citizens would go with the flow and break with a longstanding tradition beginning this year.

So, while this marked the 14th year in a row FILIA was holding its annual Walk A Thon for senior citizens, this was also the first year the Park Extension-based organization held its health and awareness-raising event on a gorgeous autumn Saturday Sept. 19 at Saint Norbert Park in Laval’s Chomedey neighbourhood.

The impact of COVID

“We decided to do it in Laval because a lot of our members are now from here,” said Johanna Tsoublekas, founder of FILIA. “However, because of COVID-19 there are not as many people this year who have come out. But many of our members and supporters live in Laval.

From the left, Chomedey MNA Guy Ouellette, Souvenir-Labelle city councillor Sandra El-Helou, FILIA founder Johanna Tsoublekas, Laval-Les Îles MP Fayçal El-Khoury and Saint-Laurent MP Emmanuella Lambropoulos are seen in Saint Norbert Park on Sept. 19 before the start of the 14th annual FILIA Walk A Thon. Photo: Martin C. Barry

“But the thing is that with the COVID, many who are of a certain age are now afraid to come,” she continued. “All the same, we prepared carefully with face masks for those needing them. And we are, of course, keeping at a safe distance at the same time.”

FILIA offers services

The Walk A Thon is held in September every year as a fundraiser for the FILIA meals-on-wheels program. While FILIA’s initial mission was to provide assistance to Greek women of the Park Extension Hellenic community and later throughout Montreal, its mandate has since been broadened and people of every origin are now welcomed.

Some of the services FILIA provides are home housekeeping and supervision, volunteer training and a healthcare clinic for the feet. During this year’s Walk A Thon, rather than make their way around the streets of Park Extension, the walkers made their way along a circuit that went around Saint Norbert Park on Cartier Blvd. in eastern Chomedey.

Smaller event this year

Those who wished could later stop to rest and chat with longtime friends in Saint Norbert Park, while also enjoying the bagged lunch prepared by FILIA volunteers for everyone who took part in the walk. Although grilled souvlaki has traditionally been served at past FILIA Walk A Thons, the limiting conditions this year meant the organizers could only offer the bagged lunch.

FILIA founder Johanna Tsoublekas.

Among the special guests at the 2020 FILIA Walk A Thon were elected officials from Laval and other areas of the greater Montreal region. They included Chomedey MNA Guy Ouellette, Laval-Les Îles MP Fayçal El-Khoury, Laval city councillor for the district of Souvenir-Labelle Sandra El-Helou and Saint-Laurent MP Emmanuella Lambropoulos.

Officials among the guests

“I just want to thank everyone for being here today,” said El-Helou. “It’s not easy with the COVID situation. I would particularly like to thank Ms. Tsoublekas for everything she’s doing for people. And my thanks also to my colleagues for being here today. It is a pleasure to be among you.”

“I would like to thank the organizers, and in particular Johanna Tsoublekas, for organizing this event today,” said El-Khoury. “I am very happy to be here and to see the good work being done by FILIA for seniors here in Laval. I am working on their behalf in Ottawa and will continue to do so.”

Gathering in Laval at last

Ouellette noted that holding the FILIA Walk A Thon in Laval was the fulfillment of a longtime ambition for Tsoublekas. “Johanna has had this dream for so long,” he said, noting that Tsoublekas had spoken about it to him when FILIA held gatherings in recent years for supporters at the Château Royal in Chomedey.

“I am here to express my support for FILIA which does great work for the senior community on the island of Montreal and in Laval,” said Lambropoulos.

“It’s important to promote the fact that we can still live in health while finding ways to protect ourselves from COVID-19, regardless of the fact this virus is going around. If we wear masks and keep our distances, there are ways to continue living normally while staying healthy.”

Laval City-Watch

Martin C. Barry
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Laval City-Watch

The implementation of new traffic lights at Saint Martin Blvd. and 100th Ave., an updated report on Laval’s economic situation during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and special drainage grooves in sidewalks were some of the items the City of Laval’s executive-committee approved during a meeting on Sept. 9.

The executive-committee’s members decided to award a contract for $55,188 (including taxes) to FNX-INNOV to prepare plans and specifications prior to installing a new system of traffic lights next year at the intersection of Saint-Martin Blvd. West and 100th Ave.

Traffic lights at 100th Ave.

According to the city, traffic in the area is currently being managed by a system consisting mostly of stop signs. Considering the growing volume of traffic in the area with more anticipated in the future, the city considers it to be important to improve the current system with traffic lights.

The City of Laval’s economic development department issued a new report on the city’s recent economic performance. The department issues reports several times a year consisting of the principal data compiled on Laval’s economic performance, to which is added a table summarizing yearly economic indicators for the previous five years.

The city says this data provides a picture of the economic health of Laval’s economy, while allowing anyone to follow the progress of the situation. In the current context of COVID-19, says the city, a special issue of the report was created in order to put the impact of the pandemic in context. As such, data from Laval, Quebec and Canada were included in order to provide a full perspective of the situation.

Sidewalks on Albert-Murphy

While dealing with a program for implementing new infrastructure for the management of rainwater, the City of Laval’s engineering department is proceeding with the preparation of plans and specifications for the creation of new drains with shrubs and greenery in sidewalks to be built soon.

The new sidewalks will be created on Albert-Murphy Ave., south of Le Carrefour Blvd., as well as on Berlier St., between Le Corbusier Blvd. and Industriel Blvd.

To do this, the executive-committee members decided to award a contract for $66,247,22 to Englobe Corp. to conduct an environmental condition and geotechnical preliminary study of the soils. This was deemed necessary before the preparation of plans and specifications for the project.

Executive-committee members

The City of Laval’s executive-committee meets each week to make decisions on a variety of issues. The executive-committee includes the following people: Mayor Marc Demers, vice-president Stéphane Boyer (also councillor for Duvernay–Pont-Viau) councillors Sandra Desmeules (Concorde–Bois-de-Boulogne), Ray Khalil (Sainte-Dorothée), Virginie Dufour (Sainte-Rose) and associate members Nicholas Borne (Laval-les-Îles) and Yannick Langlois (L’Orée-des-Bois).

Are the nasal pcr tests for Sars-2-cov too “sensitive”?

Dimitris Ilias
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Are the nasal pcr tests for Sars-2-cov too “sensitive”?

A lot of commotion in the news lately concerning tests. The good news is that newer and faster
tests are being developed with a saliva gargle test
on the verge of approval in BC.
At CNN though, there was a headline in
the ticker tape that turned heads and spread
like a virus (pardon the pun) in all sorts of
conspiracy web pages. “Health experts warn
Covid-19 tests aren’t just slow, they’re too
sensitive”. NSN reached out to Dr. Christos
Karatzios Assistant Professor of Paediatrics at
the Montréal Children’s Hospital for a muchneeded clarification.
The doctor started by saying that people
didn’t understand what they were reading and
of course they told him that positive tests are
“false positives”.

Dr. Christos Karatzios.


His answers are all here:
Yes, the tests are sensitive. They HAVE to be.
They pick up genetic RNA material of SARS-2-
CoV in your nose.
No, the tests do not pick up false positive
results. The nasal PCR test for SARS-2-CoV
ONLY DETECTS SARS-2-CoV and nothing
else. So, it doesn’t pick up “other coronaviruses”.
The false positive rate is extremely low and
mostly has to do with lab error (i.e. contamination
with a positive sample in the lab). This is very rare.
The false negative rate is much higher due to
various factors (i.e. sampling error – not getting
the swab deep enough in the nasal passage, or
sample timing – too early in the disease or too
late).
The test is a “YES” or “NO” test for the presence of the virus. It tells you nothing about live
(growable and infectious virus), or dead remnant
pieces of the RNA (therefore not infectious virus).
Someone can remain positive for weeks as many
of my friends reading this have. Some have stayed
positive for 6 weeks. It does NOT mean they are
contagious all these weeks.
Immune suppressed people and people with
severe COVID-19 (in ICU on a ventilator etc),
may be contagious for 3-4 weeks.
For the rest of the healthy population (i.e. children in school) who got COVID-19, live infectious virus stops shedding after about 10 days.
Your test can still pick up genetic pieces after
this but the virus is dead.
A quick hint: do you have fever and a bad cough
and diarrhea? You’re contagious until all gone.
You were contagious 1-2 days before it all started.
A PCR is a test that checks for the genetic
material and, if present, enzymes in the test start
making copies of the genetic material until we
are able to detect it. The checking happens in
cycles. The less cycling needed to detect, the
more genetic material that exists in that swab
and so the Ct (cycle threshold) is LOW. The
less genetic material that exists in the swab, the
higher is the Ct.
This is NOT a viral load. It does not give you
a number of copies of the virus per mL of snot
or per nasal surface cells in your nose. This is
the major mistake many papers and scientists
are making.
A viral load has a curve – so therefore it rises

  • and it falls -. Scientists can only presume that
    with the current PCR test the Ct rises and falls
    too. But a viral load curve needs a denominator
    to be constant and that is the sample. In HIV
    we know the viral load of a patient because we
    sample a constant blood volume. For a respiratory virus like SARS-2-CoV, it depends on the
    sample and this isn’t constant as many of you
    who have had the test done know – you thrash
    about because it’s uncomfortable and there may
    be less cells in the nasal swab. Or the testing
    person samples the front of the nose where the
    virus doesn’t live well when compared to the back
    of the nose. There is no constant denominator
    unlike a blood test – and we don’t have those
    developed for this pandemic.
    Unlike flu (300 viral particles in droplets but
    3 if airborne), Shigella causing shigellosis and
    dysentery (1-10 bacteria), and Salmonella causing typhoid fever or other salmonellosis diarrheal
    illnesses (100-200 bacteria) we do NOT know
    the infective dose of the SARS-2-CoV.
    So, even if we knew the viral load of the test
    we would not know what it meant. Does it take
    1, 10, 10,000 viral particles to cause COVID19? What about black people who have higher
    numbers of ACE receptors for the virus, or kids
    and mild asthmatics who have less? How many
    viruses are needed to cause disease in them?
    We just don’t know and we will not know for
    a while. Remember we are learning as we live.
    We are building the boat as it is sailing during
    this pandemic.

Also, what if the viral load is low…can a child
return to school let’s say as was suggested by
CNN? How do you know if the viral load is on
the upswing (early in the disease and the patient
is asymptomatic and will have a big viral load
in a few hours when he/she becomes presymptomatic) or late in the disease as it has passed?
In conclusion, yes, the tests are sensitive but
they are specific for this virus only. If positive
we don’t know where you are on the disease
timeline unless you have symptoms. Isolation
and contact tracing are the only way to control
this disease apart from wearing masks, washing
hands, and keeping distances. Unfortunately, we
can’t predict who can go to school or who can’t.
If an outbreak happens based on positive tests,
a school may need to fully close. Unfortunately,
that’s the limits of our technology. Maybe in a
few months we will know more.

Robert Vairo’s ‘That’s What I’m Thinking’

Robert Vairo
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Robert Vairo’s ‘That’s What I’m Thinking’

Speak Softly and Start Believing

Nothing personal but the language or languages you speak may influence
whether you become infected with the Covid virus. Different languages
spew more moisture than others. Do you speak softly, or loudly? Do
you project when you speak, like singers, teachers, and broadcasters?A
study in the journal Aerosol Science and Technology, says this all has
an effect on how the virus will impact you. For example when we speak
English, we aspirate a lot. We produce voiceless but plosive consonants
like p, t, and k. We pronounce those letters within a word with exhaling
breath. A researcher named Sakae Inouye from the University of Tokyo
observed that like English, the Chinese language actually has even more
aspirated letters. Inouye concluded that in Chinese, “the consonants p,
t, k, q, ch, and c, when placed in front of vowels, are pronounced with a
strong breath”. In fact when a Chinese, English and Japanese speaker were
compared, the tissue in front of their mouths fluttered in English and
Chinese but not in Japanese. That could be the reason Japan has only one
third the number of Covid cases of Canada, yet it has three times Canada’s
population. And if you speak French and most of us do, you will agree
that at least anecdotal evidence suggests the expressive French, Italian,
and Greek speakers have plenty of potential viral particles to pass onto
others! Now it can’t all be attributed to language because the Japanese
have a mask wearing culture, are disciplined in social distancing, and
respect their government’s suggestions of avoiding crowds. We are still
learning about this virus, but it’s worthy of note that different speech
sounds produce either more or less moisture according to the study
in the medical journal LANCET. And loud speakers clearly emit more
aerosolized particles than soft spoken speakers, in some cases ten times
as many! So whichever way you chose, try to reduce your air flow, and
keep your moisture to yourself.

Newsfirst columnist Robert Vairo..

No matter what language we speak we are all human beings and as
humans, we tend to lie, a lot. A recent study found fully one third of
the population lies about whether they have symptoms or have in fact
been infected. Psychology researchers at St Catharines Ontario’s Brock
University found “34% of those testing positive denied having symptoms”.
Women more than men were more honest, older but not younger adults
told the truth.

But what bothers me the most, is the recent on line Leger survey clearly
showing pandemic fatigue has set in, and fully half of Canadians think
our politicians are holding back information. Younger Canadians find
politicians and health officials exaggerate the severity of this deadly virus.
Why? Because we’ve been lied to, too often. Italians were told the virus was
created in a Chinese lab. The Chinese said the virus originated with the US
military. Donald Trump said the anti malaria drug hydroxychloroquine
was the cure. Ottawa Public Health said recovered patients of the virus
would not be reinfected for at least two years. Granting 14 day exemptions
to Uline U.S. billionaire Liz Uihlein and her gang’s private jet fly in for
their 36 hour visit to Milton Ontario. That severely undermines public
confidence. We were told masks were not effective. Yes they are. Health
Minister Patty Hajdu admitted “We knew very early about COVID-19, the
risk that it posed to human health”. This was in December 2019! Hajdu,
Justin Trudeau, Doug Ford, and no doubt other politicians that we don’t
know about have not followed their own rules. Teachers complain about
class sizes but it was an infected teacher (no mask) who forced the closure
of a Pembroke high school. And I am not alone wondering why 50 people
can gather in a strip club but only 10 are allowed at a house party. And
so one can perhaps understand why many no longer believe what they
hear and have dropped their guard. And what about a vaccine. Can it
be trusted now? All this despite a troubled Premier Legault saying “The
situation is critical…please think about others”, promising more powerful
screen ads but he hasn’t changed the rules, yet. Ontario’s Doug Ford
has, and is fed up, instituting a system of provincially enforced measures
that cary heavy fines. I read this recent powerful commentary from an
outraged Canadian, “Not realizing, or not caring about our overworked
medical staff, selfish, spoiled, disrespectful citizens are going to kill us”.
Most believe, some don’t. The sad reality is one infected can send 30
others to hospital, hopefully to recover, thanks to our dead tired doctors
and nurses. That’s what I’m thinking.

Robert Vairo. robert@newsfirst.ca

Quebec aims for food autonomy, with major greenhouse farming project

Martin C. Barry
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Quebec aims for food autonomy, with major greenhouse farming project

Legault criticizes China, while pitching closer ties to Ontario and Alberta

Concerned that Quebec might one day be unable to import essential foods like fruits and vegetables during a crisis like the current COVID-19 pandemic, Premier François Legault said during an online CAQ policy discussion last weekend that the government hopes to launch a major greenhouse farming project, with power provided by Quebec’s vast hydro electric network.

Keven Brasseur, president of the Commission de la Relève de la Coalition Avenir Québec.

Alluding to the CAQ’s policy convention in May last year which focused on environmental issues, Legault noted that a key conclusion during that first CAQ gathering since the October 2018 election was that Quebec’s hydro electric grid should play a key role in helping re-empower the province’s economy.

Ensuring food security

And while acknowledging that public and private modes of transportation as well as industry are already being retooled for this “greener” way of doing things, Legault suggested that environmentally-sustainable methods could also be implemented to assure food security.

“For me, one the great fears I had as I was trying to reassure everyone last March was that we would not be able to import fruits and vegetables during the crisis,” he said, alluding to the start of the COVID-19 crisis, in a keynote address delivered during last weekend’s online event.

The focus on local

“I was truly afraid of that. And it sort of accelerated the necessity of going towards food autonomy.” Out of all the food products consumed in the province, Legault noted that only around half actually are produced in Quebec.

For example, only about two per cent of the wine consumed in Quebec is made here, he said. As well, he pointed out that beef is largely imported from western Canada, although Quebec has the means to raise and process cattle on its own territory.

“There are a lot of areas of production that could be given a second look, and this is an area, agriculture, that young people could look into,” Legault told the mostly young caquistes who took part in last weekend’s gathering.

Criticizes Chinese tactics

In addition to his comments on a greener approach for reviving the province as it recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, Legault said certain questionable business practices being used by the People’s Republic of China are undermining Quebec’s plans for resuscitating its own economy.

“We are exporting for $3 billion worth to China, but we are importing $12 billion in products from the Chinese every year, for a commercial deficit of $3 billion,” he said. “This has consequences on our economy.

“And I think we will just say things they way they are,” added Legault. “The Chinese often don’t make calls for bids, they play with their exchange rates. And also the Chinese don’t always protect the patents of North American companies. So what I would like is that we are competitive, that we are aggressive, [although] we will not be able to replace all Chinese products.”

Large commercial deficit

Legault said he and Quebec Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade Pierre Fitzgibbon had recently worked on identifying products which could be produced in Quebec, and they talked about working collaboratively with provinces such as Alberta and Ontario and their respective Premiers, Jason Kenney and Doug Ford.

‘One the great fears I had as I was trying to reassure everyone last March was that we would not be able to import fruits and vegetables during the crisis,’ said Legault

“We need to work together, because all of Canada has a large commercial deficit with China,” he said. “If we put our Canadian weight together, and we could think at the same time of working with the Americans, then we could maybe be competive for certain products.”

Carbon-neutrality goal

In other developments during the webcast, the CAQ membership decided that before the United Nations holds its COP 26 climate change conference after the COVID-19 pandemic, the provincial government should take measures to set carbon-neutrality as a goal for Quebec to achieve by the year 2050.

“The current pandemic offers us a unique opportunity unique to get ahead of things with regards to future generations,” said Keven Brasseur, president of the Commission de la Relève de la Coalition Avenir Québec, which organized last weekend’s webcast event.

The CRCAQ is also asking the CAQ government to promote the idea of the province’s work force being able to alternate between working from home and the workplace. “It is important that during this time of pandemic, young people should be able to maintain a balance between work and family and studies,” the CRCAQ said in a statement.

Laval News Volume 28-18

Costa Hovris
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Laval News Volume 28-18

The current issue of the Laval News volume 28-18 published September 23rd, 2020.
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, September 23rd, 2020 issue.

CISSS decrees more urgent measures as COVID alert goes ‘Orange’

Martin C. Barry
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CISSS decrees more urgent measures as COVID alert goes ‘Orange’
Remember to wear a face mask on all outings, and to carefully wash your hands upon return each time.

Laval’s regional health authority, CISSS de Laval, issued a statement on Tuesday clarifying some new measures coming into place as the COVID-19 alert system rises from Yellow status to Orange.

Officials with the CISSS said the decision to raise the alarm level was taken following a careful analysis of the situation, while also noting that an upward trend in the number of confirmed cases was detected, and that outbreaks recently occurred in several Laval-area care facilities, work places, schools and daycare centres.

The change of status to Orange means the following rules now apply:

  • Private gatherings are now limited to 6 persons;
  • The number of persons now allowed at one time in a single public place drops to 25 (from the previous 250);
  • Inspections by health and public safety authorities will now become more frequent.

Laval goes to ‘Orange’ for COVID-19 transmission risk

Martin C. Barry
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Laval goes to ‘Orange’ for COVID-19 transmission risk

After the City of Laval was declared an Orange zone (moderate risk) for COVID-19 transmission on Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Marc Demers issued the following statement on Twitter.

“The increase in the number of cases continues and it is more important than ever to take the necessary means to get back to the Green zone,” he said, after Laval’s status was upgraded from Yellow.

“I am therefore asking you to respect at all times the sanitary guidelines from the provincial office for public health while avoiding gatherings in private residences,” Demers continued.

Mayor Marc Demers’ Tuesday afternoon Tweet.

“Let us all do our part for those near us, our senior citizens and our business owners who have already suffered a great deal. I have confidence in you. Together, let us limit the spread of this invisible virus.”

In addition to Laval, Quebec’s Outaouais region was also placed on Orange alert on Tuesday afternoon. Several outbreaks of COVID-19 have been reported in Laval, including one at Cité de la Santé hospital, and at a private seniors’ retirement residence.

Rules within the Orange zone include:

  • No more than six people at a time are allowed at private gatherings, be it indoors or outdoors. However, if the gathering consists of two different families, it can exceed the six person limit.
  • Bars and restaurants must stop serving alcoholic beverages at 11 p.m. and must observe a maximum of six persons per table.
  •  A maximum of 25 persons are allowed to be present in public places, including places of worship, wedding halls and rented facilities.

Laval Police visited more than 200 restaurants and bars to enforce COVID-19 rules

Martin C. Barry
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Laval Police visited more than 200 restaurants and bars to enforce COVID-19 rules

Dozens of officers from the Laval Police Department took part in an operation last weekend during which they visited more than 200 restaurants and bars across the region as part of the province-wide Operation Oscar, whose goal was to see that COVID-19 sanitary regulations were being obeyed.

“For the last six months, our police officers have actively been participating in efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the community,” Mayor Marc Demers said in a statement.

“They saw, in the majority of cases, that there was a lot of cooperation by citizens and business owners. I would like to thank the citizens, the business people and the police for their efforts.

“It is the responsibility of each of us to be vigilant and to respect the public health requirements,” added Mayor Demers. “We all have an important role to play in the fight against the coronavirus.”

Over the weekend, more than 2,200 commercial establishments across Quebec were visited during Operation Oscar.

According to the current rules for COVID-19, it is forbidden for bars, restaurants and microbreweries to serve alcoholic beverages after midnight, whether a customer has purchased a meal or not.

Latest COVID-19 update from Quebec

Laval News Contributor
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Latest COVID-19 update from Quebec

The most recent data on the evolution of COVID-19 in Quebec on Sept. 22 shows 489 new cases, bringing the total number of people infected to 68,617.

No new deaths occurred in the last 24 hours, but one death which occurred between September 15 and September 20 was added, for a total of 5,805.

The number of hospitalizations increased by 20 compared to the previous day, for a cumulative total of 168.

Among these, the number of people in intensive care decreased by 2, for a total of 28. The samples conducted on September 20 amount to 25,025 for a total of 2,115,208.

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