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.
Remains of the archeological excavation undertaken in the parking lot next to Sainte-Rose-de-Lima church are seen in this photo.
Excavation was the first commissioned by Laval in a half-century
An archaeological excavation conducted recently in the Saint-Rose district of Laval produced some interesting finds, as well as some potential treasures for safekeeping and posterity.
Incredibly enough, an area on Sainte-Rose Blvd. that is now the parking lot for Sainte-Rose-de-Lima Church served at one time for the foundations of an 18th century church.
Concealed cadavers
However, on the same site, nearly 7,000 bodies were found during the archeological dig commissioned by the City of Laval, with some lying just below the ground’s surface.
According to professional archaeologist Justine Tetreault, some of the remains came from the two cholera epidemics that swept through Laval in the 1830s. Across Montreal and other regions of Quebec, thousands of lives were lost.
The excavation was the first the City of Laval commissioned since the last one 50 years ago. The month-long search revealed many artifacts indicating a pattern in the growth of the former village of Sainte-Rose.
Longtime Honoré-Mercier MP touches base with Newsfirst Multimedia
Just about any way you measure it, there’s no denying that Pablo Rodriguez has come a long way in the 44 years since he first arrived in Canada.
The Liberal MP for Honoré-Mercier and current Leader of the Government in the House of Commons first came to Canada with his parents eight years after a key date in Canadian history.
Parents fled Argentina
Although Pablo was born in Argentina in 1967 – Canada’s “centennial year” – Rodriguez’s parents had to flee from that South American country to Canada in 1976 after the military junta ruling Argentina repeatedly jailed and tortured his father who had become active in Argentinian politics.
A graduate of the University of Sherbrooke where he obtained a degree in business administration, Pablo Rodriguez spent an earlier part of his career working in public affairs and the management of international development projects. During this time, he became especially focused on humanitarian causes. As such, he was vice-president of Oxfam Québec during the early 2000s.
His introduction to politics
Before entering federal politics, Rodriguez underwent an apprenticeship of sorts as an election organizer and political attaché to former Liberal MP for Papineau Pierre Pettigrew, who served from 1996 to 2006 in several of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien’s cabinets.
‘Politics is in my blood, it’s in my veins. You want to change the world,’ says Rodriguez
According to one anecdote, which Pablo Rodriguez confirms, his father cautioned him not to pursue politics as a career. “My father was running for governor, and he was also a lawyer so he was defending people who were accused of speaking against the government,” said Rodriguez.
“So he was thrown in jail. He was tortured. They bombed our house. That’s why, when we came to Canada, and we could barely survive at first, my dad said, ‘You know son, this is a country where there is freedom of opportunity and you can do whatever you want. But please no politics.’
Out to change the world
“But politics is in my blood, it’s in my veins,” Rodriguez continued. “You want to change the world. That’s why I worked for Oxfam in countries in Africa, South America and Asia: to help people. As for politics, as my father always said, there’s no perfect tool to change the world. But politics is the best thing for now. And so here I am.”
As Government House Leader in the Commons, Pablo Rodriguez is responsible for planning and managing the Liberal government’s legislative program. He described the current difficulties that the government is facing while dealing with issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
A key role in Liberal gov’t
“We’re facing this difficult situation in a minority government,” he said. “Whatever we do, we have to get the support of another party. As Leader of the Government, the leader is the chief negotiator with the other parties. And remember that right now, during the pandemic, you have to negotiate from your home, from your basement because you can’t go out.
“So you’re on the phone fifteen hours a day. This is how I negotiated CERB and other programs – sometimes getting the support of one party, sometimes two, sometimes all the parties. We put in place programs we think have been beneficial to Canadians. Not perfect, but they were necessary.”
An avid fan of soccer all his life, Rodriguez continues to play the sport in his spare time as part of a team of MPs from all parties who compete on the field in Ottawa. “Thomas Mulcair has played with us. Stéphane Dion,” he said. “Several ministers and MPs. We play together. We also have ambassadors playing sometimes. And sometimes also journalists.”
As for the future…
Finally, what does the future hold for Pablo Rodriguez? “I don’t know,” he replied with a laugh. “It’s a privilege just to be around the table as a cabinet minister – it’s an honour and a privilege – and I give my best and the people will decide. And I am very thankful to be there for the people of Honoré-Mercier and they will decide to keep me on or not.”
