The Laval Fire Department responded to two fires at residential addresses in Laval during the early hours Tuesday morning. One of the fires ended up destroying a house.
The LFD received a call around 3 am about a fire on Stella St. in the district of Saint-François, where the blaze appeared to have started on an outdoor terrace.
According to fire officials, it was under control by 4 am. Although no injuries were reported, a man and woman who lived at the address were evacuated. The LFD has declared the house a write-off as a result of damage caused by the fire.
The second fire was at a single-storey home on Jacques St. in Laval’s Fabreville district. The LFD responded around 6:15 am after someone called 9-1-1. The occupants had fled by the time the firefighters arrived.
It is important that Canadians can access online government services easily and securely, says Chief Information Officer of Canada
In early August, the Government of Canada took action to stop “credential stuffing” attacks mounted on the GCKey service and Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) accounts.
As reported previously, attackers used usernames and passwords stolen in previous hacks involving non-governmental third parties to log into some GCKey accounts. The GCKey service itself was not compromised. In response the government revoked 9,300 GCKey credentials and put in place measures to prevent further attempts to access its services with these compromised credentials. These measures blocked subsequent attacks.
As a result of ongoing forensic analysis of these cyber incidents, the CRA has identified suspicious activities occurring between early July and August 15 on approximately 48,500 of the more than 14 million CRA user accounts.
Safeguards have been placed on affected accounts and all valid emergency benefit payments will be issued. The CRA will work with individuals affected by identity theft or fraud to help ensure they are not held liable for fraudulent claims and payments made by fraudsters using their account. Individuals whose accounts have been compromised will be offered credit protection services free of charge.
Service Canada and CRA have taken additional safety measures to protect account holders, such as deactivating the compromised accounts, temporarily removing some online abilities, and adding additional security measures to the account sign-in process. These mitigation measures have proven to be effective.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigation is ongoing and affected departments are also conducting their own investigations. As well, affected departments have been in contact with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) to provide updates on instances where personal information has been compromised. Account holders are being notified in such instances.
In cases where users have experienced suspicious transactions or activity, the government will ensure they are not disadvantaged and, are offered ongoing credit protection and monitoring as needed.
All affected departments have been contacting users whose credentials were revoked to provide instructions on receiving a new GCKey credential. Canadians who received a message about the revocation of their GCKey credential, can re-register for a new one through any of the online services they use. Another option is to use the SecureKey Concierge service which lets users sign in to 269 different Government of Canada online services through sign-in partners, such as major banks.
While the government continues to take action to mitigate attacks and minimize threats, attackers are constantly adjusting their methods. Canadians need to remain vigilant in protecting account information. Users should always use a different password for each online account. Tools such as password managers can help create, store, and remember passwords.
Affected parties are encouraged to review information in all their accounts to make sure nothing has changed. If anything looks out of the ordinary, contact the service provider to let them know. Citizens who fear that they have been the victims of fraud can contact their local police or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. More information is available on Canada.ca. If you have immediate concerns, please call 1-800-O-Canada.
The Laval Police issued an advisory to motorists on Thursday afternoon to avoid Curé-Labelle Blvd. between Saint-Elzéar Blvd. and Simone-de-Beauvoir St. as well as Autoroute 440 in that area because of a serious motor vehicle accident that has snarled traffic.
According to initial reports by the Laval Police Department, the scene of the accident is on Curé-Labelle Blvd. near Fabreville. Curé-Labelle remained closed to traffic between Simone-de-Beauvoir and Saint-Elzéar by late afternoon on Thursday.
With an announcement Tuesday by Quebec that Laval is now on a “yellow” alert for COVID-19, the CISSS de Laval has issued a reminder of the special measures in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus during this heightened stage of the COVID-19 warning system.
Keep your distance, or run the risk of catching this.
According to the regional health agency, everyone is expected to keep abiding by the preventive measures already in place, including:
• Respecting two metres of social distancing between individuals. • Always wearing a protective face mask in public places, while also washing hands frequently. • Avoiding gatherings of 10 persons or more.
Earlier this month, Quebec created four color codes to represent stages of public alert during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic: Green (Vigilance), Yellow (Early Warning), Orange (Alert) and Red (Maximum Alert).
The Yellow status means there will be more police scrutiny on whether members of the public are following the regulations, while stricter controls are also imposed on gatherings and public activities.
Eight regions in Quebec are now under Yellow alert: Montreal, Quebec City, Laval, the Eastern Townships, the Montérégie, Outaouais, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Chaudières-Apalaches.
Cavalia, the company that produced last year’s spectacular Illumi “dazzling world of lights” show on a site owned by the City of Laval next to Autoroute 15, has announced the show is returning this year, beginning in October and running through the Christmas season.
As guests at the show discovered last year, there are three ways to experience Illumi: while driving a car, while walking, or while aboard a mini-train.
Cavalia, which built its reputation with an equally-spectacular horse show that was staged for many seasons on the same site, says a newly configured route will offer nine new “universes” for a total of 17 amazing scenes in the Dazzling World of Lights.
A sampling of the Illumi “world of lights” from the opening season in 2019
As well, the show is said to be three times bigger than the original. Fifteen million LED bulbs will bring more than 300,000 light structures to life.
In October, visitors will be able to enjoy a special Halloween touch. The holiday season at Illumi will begin on Nov. 5, with several thousand light structures in winter colors.
Health Canada is again advising Canadians that the following hand sanitizers are being recalled because they may pose health risks. For more information, including what Canadians should do, you are invited to visit Health Canada’s online safety alert.
Health Canada maintains this 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 it regularly for updates.
Product
Reason for recall
Company
NPN or DIN
Lot Number(s)
Expiry Date
Date Added
Bath Springs
Missing risk statements; product not authorized to contain technical-grade ethanol
A suspect sought by the Laval Police Department since late last week for alleged fraud after three smartphones were picked up at a Laval Purolator courier branch by someone who hadn’t paid has been identified, the LPD announced on Monday.
According to the LPD, the victim of the alleged scam ordered the phones from a cellphone company in November last year.
A month later, he called the company to report that the phones had never been delivered.
However, when the cell phone company investigated, they discovered that someone had picked them up at a Purolator branch located on Dagenais Blvd. West near Laval’s Champfleury area.
Upon further investigation, Purolator found that the individual who picked up the smartphones had presented a printed delivery notice, although there is no mention of whether he was asked to show a piece of identification.
The suspect, seen in a widely circulated photo taken by a surveillance camera at Purolator, was described as being in his 20s, with black hair, eyeglasses and wearing a black coat.
The Laval Police were kept busy on Saturday night by reports that came in an hour apart from two different areas of the city where the sound of gunshots was heard by some residents.
Just before 6 pm Saturday, the LPD answered a call from 77th Ave. in Chomedey where they were met by a witness who was close at hand when several shots were fired nearby, although there were no injuries.
Nonetheless, the police officers found a few spent bullets on the ground and an investigation has been opened into the circumstances which led up to the incident.
A little more than an hour later, the LPD received a second call about gunshots, although this time it was from the other end of the island.
Upon arrival at the scene on Roxane St. in the district of Saint-François, officers came upon a man in his late 20s who was suffering from a serious and potentially life-threatening gunshot wound.
The LPD is treating this incident as an attempted murder and a command post was set up near the spot over the weekend to facilitate a thorough investigation.
Jocelyne Aubry of Fabreville was an organizer and participant this year
For the past 15 years, Canadian employees of the pharmaceutical company Novartis have conducted a cancer research fundraising bike ride from Toronto to Dorval called the Ride for Life.
Over that time they have raised more than $1.2 million for the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation. One of the organizers and regular participants for the past several years has been Jocelyne Aubry, who lives in the Laval district of Fabreville.
Reinventing themselves
This year’s Ride for Life took place from August 16 to 23. However, as with so many things, COVID-19 made the 2020 version of the event impossible in its traditional format. But Aubry and other Novartis employees were determined to develop a new format so they could meet their objectives while staying safely in their own communities.
Jocelyne Aubry of Fabreville in Laval and Julie Richard of Dorval in Montreal are seen here during one of the days they spent this summer going from Cornwall to Montreal logging kilometres on their bicycles for the 2020 Novartis Ride for Life.
They not only succeeded, but also attracted a record number of colleagues from across Canada to participate – 63 in all – including Christian Macher, the company president. The Novartis cyclists were out riding in their home communities to log 3 kms for every dollar they collected in cancer research donations from themselves, family and friends.
In total, it is expected the riders will have completed about 15,000 km, with some clocking 600 km during the week – the same distance they would have done from Toronto to Montreal.
Clocking kilometres
Jocelyne Aubry was clocking her mileage on different rides from her home during the week, but started early by riding with another colleague, Julie Richard of Dorval, to Cornwall in eastern Ontario, staying overnight and returning the following day. She was expecting to knock off about 250 km that way.
Every year, Ride for Life riders wear a distinctive cycling jersey to identify them while on the road. This year’s jersey highlighted that even in a pandemic, Novartis was still making their vital cancer research fundraising happen by sporting the slogan, “When distance tries to divide us, we make it unite us!”
New format for objectives
While the pandemic made the long-distance ride impossible in 2020, the need for cancer research funding hasn’t diminished. As such, everyone at Novartis was determined to meet their objectives while staying safely in their own communities.
“We committed to this very important cause many years ago and Novartis associates are determined to continue to help our communities in spite of the current situation,” said Christian Macher, Novartis Canada president, who has participated in past years and was among the virtual ride participants in 2020.
“While I will miss the camaraderie of the ride, I am very proud of the creative solution Ride for Life organizers came up with for the ride to take place,” he added. “Reimagining the way we do things to help patients is what defines us.”
A larger initiative
The Ride for Life was started by Novartis employees in 2005 to go beyond their work at the company helping to fight cancer. Each year, many of those riding have strong personal connections to breast cancer.
The Ride for Life is part of a bigger initiative that involves employees from across the country who are actively engaged in a broad range of fundraising events and awareness-raising activities throughout the year.
“We applaud the dedication of the Novartis team and are truly grateful they found an innovative way to continue to generate funds for our cancer research efforts, despite the pandemic,” said Karine-Iseult Ippersiel, CEO of the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation.
Efforts are appreciated
“The Ride for Life has been a significant contributor to our efforts for many years but this year, more than ever, we need and appreciate the support. It’s great to see Novartis employees rallying together to help the community.”
The Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation is the only philanthropic organization whose research investments in the fight against breast cancer are exclusively made in Quebec. Funds raised by the foundation are also invested to support innovation, awareness, and education. For more information, visit rubanrose.org.
More speed bumps than ever near Laval’s schools and parks
Taking into account the rising number of children and teens from Laval who are using “active” transportation, as well as the fact that school is back in session, Laval city council recently approved the installation of 700 new speed bumps around parks and schools to improve safety.
“The implementation of speed bumps is part of the traffic calming measures put into place in 2016,” said Sainte-Dorothée city councillor Ray Khalil, who has responsibility for engineering issues on the executive-committee.
“This measure is especially efficient for reducing traffic speed,” he adds. “At the same time, it encourages active mobility, because it makes pedestrians and cyclists feel more secure.”
The number of speed bumps installed on streets in Laval has grown greatly in recent years, with more to come, says the city.
From October 2017 to May 2018, according to the city, most of the elementary schools in Laval were visited by city officials with a goal in mind: to monitor behaviors and make contact with those in charge. The city says the consultations continue in order to keep adding to the growing number of speed bumps.
The city has been using a number of methods for several years to calm traffic. They include changing signage, to raising the pavement at street intersections, and of course speed bumps. The city also takes parks into consideration when planning traffic calming measures.
Over the coming years, the city intends to pursue its traffic calming efforts in order to create school zones (and eventually also school corridors), as well as inviting environments, always with the goal of facilitating secure transportation on Laval’s streets while encouraging active transportation.
You can now file an online police report
Have you been the victim of an act of mischief or theft under $5000 that occurred in Laval?
Did you know that for non-emergency situations, you can now file a police report online without having to visit a local police station?
Keep in mind, though, that an email address is required to submit a report.
Here are a few examples of some types of incident for which you may file a report:
Type of event
Examples
Mischief under $5000
Damage to a shed Damage to a vehicle Damage to any other item
Theft under $5000
Purse Lawnmower Bicycle
Theft from vehicle (excluding theft of entire vehicle) under $5000
GPS Glasses CD Sports equipment
While filing a complaint with the police is easier than ever, the Laval Police Department warns that making a false police report is a criminal offense (“public mischief” under Section 140 of the Criminal Code). They advise that for emergency situations requiring police, fire or ambulance, you should call 9-1-1.
