Unionized employees at CHSLD Sainte-Dorothée held a memorial on Wednesday morning for the more than 100 residents at the long-term care home who have died of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic more than four months ago.
CHSLD Sainte-Dorothée has consistently been among the long-term care facilities in Quebec that recorded the highest number of infections and fatalities. With 101 fatalities up to July 14, CHSLD Sainte-Dorothée has had more COVID-19 deaths than any other CHSLD in the province.
In honor of the dead, 101 white flowers were laid on the ground by family, friends and health care workers. Many of the relatives and friends of the deceased never got the opportunity to say goodbye because of the COVID-19 distancing requirements that kept them apart.
The administration at CHSDL Sainte-Dorothée maintains they now have the outbreak under their roof controlled. While up to 200 residents were reported to be infected at the peak of the outbreak, the provincial health ministry said this week that there is only one active case of COVID-19 infection at the CHSLD now.
The City of Laval announced on Wednesday that it is starting an official inventory of historically significant items expected to be found during an archeological excavation being undertaken in Sainte-Rose around Sainte-Rose-de-Lima church and the nearby Berge des Baigneurs, both of which were once part of the centre of the Village of Sainte-Rose.
The excavation and inventory are taking place before the start of work on a new riverside park to be located behind the church in the middle of Vieux Sainte-Rose.
Sainte-Rose-de-Lima church in Vieux Sainte-Rose, behind which archeologists will be undertaking an excavation for historical artefacts soon.
As the work to create the new park would probably damage any historical artefacts lying beneath the ground, the archeological excavation is expected to help preserve them.
“Laval has a rich but little known history,” says city councillor for Sainte-Rose Virginie Dufour who sits on the executive-committee. “By carrying out this inventory, the City of Laval is being proactive in order to document, protect and preserve its heritage. This is an important step to be completed before redoing the Berge des Baigneurs, which is highly appreciated by people in Laval. But this is also an exceptional opportunity to deepen our historical knowledge of the sector.”
The archeological team is expected to sample the ground for a period of around 30 days in order to confirm whether there are significant samples of historically valuable materials and whether they are in a reasonably good state. The ultimate goal, according to the city, is to compile a history of the area’s past through artefacts left behind by First Nations peoples, followed by European settlers who came later.
With ridership rising every week during the ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Société de transport de Laval says it wants to remind transit users that complying with public health directives has become paramount – including the mandatory wearing of masks on buses.
For now, the STL, like all public transit authorities, is awaiting specific government directives while advocating for a province-wide application of the rule.
The Société de transport de Laval says it is advocating that all riders wear face masks while on the bus, but that an official ruling from Quebec is still eagerly expected.
“We are asking users to adhere to this requirement,” STL board president Éric Morasse said in a statement on Monday. “It’s about being civic-minded vis-à-vis your fellow transit users. It’s a public health issue, because social distancing is not always feasible on buses. Thus far, we’ve handed out nearly 25,000 reusable masks in Laval, and we will continue distributing more. We expect everyone to cooperate.”
Making sure buses are safe
“Maintaining a safe bus environment relies on teamwork between the STL and transit users,” added STL general director Guy Picard. “Bus occupancy is now at upwards of 50 per cent of our usual numbers, which is quite a jump when you consider ridership was at 14 per cent at the outset of the pandemic. Instituting good health practices and having everyone wear a mask on buses now matters more than ever.”
The STL says that its teams are working tirelessly on rolling out an array of measures that will be in line with transit users’ expectations as they increasingly restart taking the bus. The STL says it is firmly committing to:
Operating buses and bus terminals that are clean and disinfected;
Maintaining transit user awareness regarding the safe practices they need to adopt while commuting;
Providing information to facilitate the decision-making process so users feel they are riding safely.
The STL says it has already implemented numerous measures, including:
Stepping up the cleaning of buses and bus terminals;
Handing out masks;
Raising awareness about the new public transit etiquette rules;
Posting social distancing signs at bus terminals;
Equipping users with tools like one that estimates bus crowdedness;
Tailoring specific measures for paratransit services.
Employee safety
In addition to ensuring transit user safety, the STL says it has also been looking after providing its employees with a proper working environment. All office staff who are able to must continue to work from home. Employees who are required to work within two metres of each other are provided with protective equipment. Work schedules have been adapted to keep the simultaneous usage of common areas, like locker rooms, to a minimum.
The STL says it introduced rear-door boarding and a two-metre buffer zone between riders and the driver, and now the STL is also gradually installing a physical barrier on buses as added protection to shield drivers and riders. Some bus seats at the front will be blocked off to foster adequate distancing. These measures will make it possible to resume front-door boarding on August 1, and at the same time, begin validating fares again.
The Laval Police Department is hoping that anyone who may have witnessed a hit-and-run accident that took place in Pont-Viau around 10 pm on June 11, resulting in serious injury to a motorcyclist, will come forward to help with the investigation.
According to the LPD, a motorcyclist was driving north on des Laurentides Blvd. A grey Dodge Grand Caravan headed in the same direction decided to make a u-turn at the corner of Tourangeau St. and cut off the motorcyclist while doing so.
Although the motorcyclist tried to avoid the other vehicle, he was unable to and the two collided, resulting in serious injuries to the motorcyclist as well as considerable damage to the motorcycle.
According to the police, the driver of the Grand Caravan never stopped and continued south on des Laurentides.
Anyone who witnessed the accident or who has information that could be useful is encouraged to call the LPD’s Info-Line at 450-662-INFO (4636) or 9-1-1. The file number is LVL-200611-077.
‘We have a duty to fight against social exclusion,’ says Mayor Marc Demers
Following recent events in the U.S. involving police violence and widespread accusations of racism, the City of Laval has decided to revise its policies with regard to ethnic and intercultural relations – with emphasis on taking a serious second look at the actions of its police department.
Changing demographics
The City of Laval’s decision to move forward on this issue comes as its population from multicultural and ethnic origins is growing in leaps and bounds. According to some of the latest statistics, more than a quarter of Laval’s population (28.5 per cent) consists of persons from immigrant backgrounds.
Laval mayor Marc Demers, left, is seen here in this screenshot from the city’s webcast on its planned new intercultural and police relations policy with city manager Jacques Ulysse.
As well, when parents and grand-parents with immigration roots are taken into consideration, the percentage of the population with immigration-based origins rises to 35 per cent. From 2001 to 2011, the number of people in Laval who are immigrants rose an astounding 84 per cent. In recent years, Laval has become the second-ranking city in Quebec for the number of immigrants it welcomes.
Emphasis on inclusion
“Laval wishes to continue to be at the forefront with regards to the welcoming and the inclusion of citizens in all aspects of our activities,” Mayor Marc Demers said during a recent presentation of the new policy webcast for the media.
“We have a duty to fight against social exclusion while encouraging accessibility,” he continued. “We also have a responsibility to ensure a living environment that is secure and inclusive for our citizens, without distinguishing between their ethnic origins or social status.”
Demers said the goal of the new measures is to strengthen the bonds that citizens from immigrant backgrounds feel for their city from the standpoint of confidence and security. He said the strategy includes several aspects, as well as the implementation of key indicators to allow the achievement of the goals to be monitored.
A common objective
“We are aiming for a culture of integrated inclusion that is comprehensive, efficient and shared as much by the administration of the city as by the peace officers and the whole of the population,” said Jacques Ulysse, the City of Laval’s director-general.
The strategy will be taking place in three phases and in up to a dozen detailed measures. Here are some of the principal elements:
Phase One will involve surveying the City of Laval’s territory to acquire a better understanding of its ethnocultural diversity, its issues and the interventions that might be necessary. According to the city, new measures will be taken to gain a better understanding of the ethnocultural diversity, while establishing a strategy to improve relations with communities.
New training for police
As part of Phase One, the city will also put into place a program for the continuous training of police officers and other city staff in intercultural relations and diversity. The training of police in this respect will be mandatory and designed to assure the quality of relations by police with citizens.
Phase Two will include measures to see that the Laval Police Department implements a program to increase representation in its ranks by people from visible and ethnic minorities through dynamic recruitment strategies designed to retain employees. Working in conjunction with the human resources department, the police department will have goals to reach in terms of hiring of minorities.
The city says it wants to improve the way Laval’s police officers do their work in several respects, including raising their awareness of ethnic and multicultural issues, while seeing that they’re better informed, better trained and made aware of things impacting under-represented minority groups.
Meeting the objectives
Phase Three concerns tools the city wants to put into place to attain the goals of its overall program. The City of Laval’s Ombudsman will be given a new mandate to oversee its effectiveness and will make a report every year in that regard. The city says detailed records and documentation will be kept to see that racial profiling doesn’t take place and that corrective measures are taken if and when it does happen.
Over the coming weeks and months, the Laval Police Department will be putting into place the groundwork to open a dialogue with Laval residents regarding measures they feel are necessary to improve security while being respectful towards minorities.
As Mayor Demers pointed out, the city already has two committees in place to deal with related issues: they are the Consultative Committee on Intercultural Relations and the Consultative Committee on Youth. Their current mandate is to provide counsel and advice to the executive-committee on intercultural and youth issues. The executive-committee has decided to give the following mandates to the two sub-committees:
Two key committees
The Consultative Committee on Youth will be asked to recommend to the administration what measures it believes should be taken to improve mutual understanding between the city and youths, while improving dialogue between the Laval Police Department and youths who live here.
The Consultative Committee on Intercultural Relations will be asked to produce an opinion on the phenomenon of racial profiling, its causes and its consequences for people in Laval perceived as being members of visible minorities or who are immigrants. In addition, the committee will be asked to produce an opinion on the measures that should be taken for the city to achieve its set goals for equal access in employment, and so that there is better overall sociodemographic representation.
Existing measures
A detailed breakdown of the population of Laval in terms of its immigrant residents can be seen on the city’s web site web site (www.laval.ca/). In addition to the city council committees, the City of Laval was also instrumental in helping to create the Table régionale en immigration, diversité culturelle et inclusion de Laval (TRIDIL), which looks at related issues from a regional perspective.
Irreconcilable differences. Canada China relations ruptured!
I am fed up with pandering to China. Truth be told, we do not have a relationship with China. A relationship implies “state of being connected”. We are connected with this authoritarian, autocratic, dictatorial super power by grief, anxiety, and bullying. What the hell kind of relationship is that!
Irreconcilable differences. Any couple in that kind of relation would be granted a divorce. Brian Mulroney agrees. It’s time for ““an immediate and urgent rethink of our relationship with China”. They interfere with our justice system. They kidnap our people. They steal our intellectual property. They buy our companies, with an agenda. They just purchased TMAC Resources in Nunavut. Just for the gold mine? Don’t kid yourself. They have just reinforced their foothold in Canada, in the Arctic. What’s in the Arctic? It’s a most desired, convenient, straight line Pacific connection to China, new trade routes with melting ice, and exploration for Arctic oil and gas. One estimate suggests the Arctic holds “nearly one-third of the world’s natural gas and 13% of global oil reserves”. Should Canada limit Chinese investment in Canada? Absolutely. Huawei is now openly spying in Canada under the guise of “lobbyists expanding AI research in Canada”. I can’t believe TELUS installed Huawei equipment for its 4G network. Huawei stole NORTEL data, once a Canadian world leader in wireless technology. It’s a spy network. Huawei is an arm of the communist Chinese military. They continue to steal our technology. How clear can I be!
If China doesn’t like something we do, they retaliate. They not only kidnap, but they cut off our canola seed exports because of the Huawei Meng arrest. And because of the latest extradition judgement, China has “found insects in our lumber”and charged the two Canadians they kidnapped. Now China wants a Covid waiver from Canadin lobster fishermen. I have two words for China!
China is also in a fight with Australia over the call for an independent investigation into the “origin and spread” of COVID-19. Good for Australia, and rightly so. This China originating virus (and now another swine flu) has ravaged the global economy, infected 11 million, and killed 525 thousand. These are not just numbers. They are human beings. China MUST be held accountable. China was predictable in its reaction. Threats of consumer boycott, and accusation that Australia is “a gum stuck on the sole of China’s shoes”. What disrespectful bullies!
If China really had nothing to hide, it would not be defensive and engage in smear campaigns. There’s more. The Chinese espionage machine is embedded in the Huawei 5G equipment for the wireless network they want in Canada. Why didn’t Justin Trudeau just say no, long ago? Is it because China contributes to the P.E.Trudeau Foundation? “Cash for access and favours” suggests Rona Ambrose. By the way, contributions to the P.E. Trudeau Foundation from foreign governments, including China, have increased since Justin became PM. Harper handled them well, stopping China from buying our natural resources. A great start, but it all unraveled with the Trudeau regime. Trudeau says “they don’t understand our system”. What? They HATE our system. They’d like to destroy it, like trampling on democratic Hong Kong with a police state in defiance of the 1997 deal with England. Trudeau says “everything is being done” to get the two Michaels back.
Not true. We can’t do this alone. Canada and western democracies must stand together against China. Suspending the Canada-Hong Kong extradition treaty is a small first step. But may I suggest granting Hong Kongers asylum, sanctions, recalling ambassadors, tariffs on Chinese imports, withdrawal from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Arrest, charge, or deport Chinese pressuring Canadians critical of China. Revoke the visas of 140 thousand Chinese studying in Canada. Less trade. Hurtful at first but consider this. We import 75% of trade dollars from China. Mainly junk. Electrical components that work temporarily or not at all, furniture that’s flimsy, often doesn’t fit properly, toys loaded with lead, fertilized crops full of chemicals, and let’s not talk about their car parts.
What do we export? Quality stuff my friends. Lobster, wood pulp, oil seeds and grains, ores, mineral fuels and oil. They stopped canola imports from Canada, wheat and pork from the US, soybeans from Australia. Sooner or later they have to come back to Canada because we have what they want. We want the two Michaels back and not a dubious relationship. Stand up Canada! Get respect from this lying, cheating, evil beast. Divorce!
City focuses on key industries and businesses in post-COVID-19 strategy
With a high wind of optimism blowing through its sails, the City of Laval is moving ahead this week with a sweeping new economic development strategy designed to give a badly needed boost to the city’s waning economy in the uncertain aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dubbed ‘Laval, capital of opportunities’ by the Demers administration, the primary focus of the campaign is to provide support to entrepreneurs and business owners during the economically-challenged post-pandemic period.
COVID-19 fallout
Despite setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic, officials wilth the City of Laval have tabled an optimistic plan for the region’s short and longer-term economic recovery.
In a statement issued by the City of Laval prior to Demers’ official presentation of the policy during the monthly city council meeting on Tuesday, city officials acknowledged that Laval has been as impacted by the fallout from COVID-19 as any other municipality in Quebec or around the world.
According to the city, six out of 10 businesses in Laval find themselves currently in “precarious” financial circumstances, ranging from moderate to severe, based on an evaluation conducted by E&B Data and numerical information provided by Statistics Canada for the Montreal Metropolitan Community (CMM).
Non-residential tax affected
“This precariousness generates a significant risk, notably with regard to non-residential property tax,” states an outline of the recovery strategy provided by the city. It further notes that Quebec is expected to be the most impacted province in the country, with a Gross Domestic Product falling by 8 per cent in 2020, compared to Ontario and Saskatchewan which are each expected to lose 7.5 per cent GDP.
More troubling, according to findings provided by the Institut de la statistique du Québec, is that unemployment in the City of Laval rose from 4.1 per cent – as measured this past February when COVID-19 hadn’t yet taken a hold in Canada – to 14.2 per cent in May when the pandemic was well underway.
Facing the consequences
“The government had to put the economy on pause in order to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus while trying to avoid over-burdening the health system,” Mayor Marc Demers says in the preface to a document outlining the recovery plan.
“With an equal amount of courage, we must now face the consequences of the confinement on our economic health. We are currently going through a crisis without precedent, with effects that are devastating on employment and the Gross Domestic Product of the whole region.
A two-phase recovery
“Our corporate citizens, our workers and enterprises are terribly in need of support to get through this difficult period, while adapting to new realities and becoming confidently and audaciously part of the economy of tomorrow,” adds Demers, noting that the new economic development strategy will be deployed by the city over the coming months and years.
The city is taking a two-phase approach to the recovery: first they want to stimulate Laval’s economy to generate immediate results and wealth; and second they want to develop more sustainable projects which would become the basis for long-term economic progress.
Councillor Stéphane Boyer, vice-president of the City of Laval’s executive-committee who is also responsible for economic development dossiers, suggests that significant support for businesses must be prioritized if there is to be an economic recovery.
Business a priority
“The City of Laval is working relentlessly to provide aid directly to those most affected by the current situation,” he said in a statement. “While new paradigms are emerging, such as social distancing, ecological transition, food and medical security and automation, we must take a second in-depth look at ways of thinking in order to seize all the opportunities when they become available.”
According to the strategy outline, the Canadian and Quebec economies are only expected to begin improving sometime in 2021, with relaxation of confinement rules this year contributing to a rise in economic performance in the second half of 2020. But at the same time, it is expected that governments will gradually decrease their interventions.
Unemployment high
The city’s outline notes that the federal deficit, which stood at $24.9 billion in 2019-2020, will stand at $252.1 billion by fiscal year 2020-2021. As well, it points out that the fallout from unemployment will be even more severe than it was during the three most recent economic crises in 1981-82, 1990-92 and 2008-2009.
Between February and May this year, unemployment in Laval rose from 4.1 per cent to 14.2 per cent. The City of Laval recently revealed that it anticipates an eventual $60 million post-COVID-19 deficit. Officials at the City of Laval’s economic development department analyzed the municipality’s commercial and industrial sectors and came up with a list of sectors where growth or economic shrinkage are predicted.
Focusing on some sectors
On the positive side, computer software design, scientific research and food production and distribution emerge as areas where gains are already being made. However, retailing, tourism, entertainment and aerospace have lost a lot, although two of the three were on the decline already.
Other areas of Laval’s industrial sector seen as potentially productive going forward include pharmaceuticals, plastics (used in face mask and shield manufacturing), as well as engineering and architecture.
The City of Laval says it is budgeting up to $20 million for the recovery plan, only around $6.3 million of which will come out of the city’s own coffers. The remainder would come from federal and provincial programs and subsidies. The strategy would be deployed over a period of 18 to 24 months.
City to use ‘virtual currency’
A particularly fascinating aspect of the recovery plan is the city’s decision to begin using a type of “virtual currency” – similar to Bitcoin and other emerging digital moneys – as a tool to promote local buying.
Whereas perks and points programs have been used in the past by credit card companies and retailers to encourage client support, a digital currency exists through computer “blockchain” technology, which allows them to operate independently from national currencies like the Canada or U.S. dollar or the EU Euro.
Health Canada is advising Canadians that the following hand sanitizers made with industrial-grade ethanol, which is not authorized for use in hand sanitizers, may pose health risks. For more information, including what Canadians should do, visit the online safety alert.
Health Canada maintains a list of hand sanitizers that may pose health risks, so that Canadians can easily identify products they may have purchased and take appropriate action. Canadians are encouraged to check the list regularly for updates.
The City of Laval is holding an online public consultation from July 10 to Aug. 10 on the location that residents feel would be best for a central branch of the public library system to be located.
The new central library is slated to be located somewhere in downtown Laval. The city is holding the consultation through an interactive platform at the web address repensonslaval.ca, where residents can post suggestions for the new central library on a “virtual wall.”
“I invite all our citizens to share their dreams and their ideas on this big central library project via the interactive reponsonslaval.ca interactive platform,” said Renaud city councillor Aram Elagoz, noting that the platform also features videos with information about the project.
By the end of July, the City of Laval expects to have 26 new electric vehicle charging stations in various locations across its territory thanks to an implementation program being conducted in conjunction with Hydro Québec.
The new stations are being added at these locations:
Cartier Arema (2);
Émile-Nelligan (2), Philippe-Panneton (2) and Gabrielle-Roy libraries (2);
Firehall no 4 (2);
Auteuil (2) and Montrougeau community centres (2);
Cosmodôme (2);
Pavillon du Bois-Papineau (2);
Laval Police Department headquarters (2);
Public parking at berge des Baigneurs (Centre d’interprétation de l’eau) (4);
Public parking at Chomedey drinking water facility (2).
The addition of the new units will bring the total number of charging stations in Laval to 71. The program is part of the City of Laval’s overall efforts to combat global warming, which is caused partly by exhaust from conventional internal combustion car and truck engines.
