The Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) de Laval has announced the opening of a third COVID-19 testing facility. This one is at the Saint-François Arena in the district of Saint-François in Laval’s east end. The CISSS had previously announced the opening of testing centres at the Pierre Creamer Arena in Chomedey, and at the Cartier Arena in Pont-Viau.
According to the CISSS, persons with these characteristics are prioritized to be tested at these sites: those with symptoms of flu or COVID-19 (fever, worsening cough, difficulty breathing, loss of sense of smell); persons who have been in close contact with someone recently diagnosed positively with COVID-19; medical professionals whose work brings them into contact with COVID-19 patients.
The Saint-François Arena is located at 9449 De Tilly St. in Saint-François. Testing is available with or without an appointment from 8 am to 4 pm, seven days out of seven.
The City of Laval is forecasting a $60.4 million deficit at the end of the current year, after studying various financial scenarios arising from spending and expenses incurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Laval mayor Marc Demers, seen in this file photo, says the city is prepared to freeze taxes in the next budget to give Laval residents a badly needed financial break.
According to a statement issued by the city on May 21, the estimate takes into account operating expenses, loss of revenues because of fewer real-estate sales (hence a reduced number of “welcome tax” transfer fees to year’s end), and a $22.4 million deficit being forecast by the Société de transport de Laval (STL).
“The present situation is filled with uncertainty and is constantly evolving,” Mayor Marc Demers said.
“In as much as we could not commit right now to a tax freeze, that is our intention. We have shown that we could manage prudently and responsibly these last few years, which allows us to plan for a tax freeze to give relief to Laval residents who have been badly impacted during this very difficult time.”
While the Laval Fire Department’s No. 5 Saint-François district firehall has been open since November 2018, the City of Laval only recently learned that the building’s modernistic and environmentally-conscious design won a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification from the Canada Green Building Council.
The Laval Fire Department’s No. 5 firehall in Saint-François has won a LEED environmental certification from the Canada Green Building Council.
According to a press release issued by the city, the certification recognizes that the City of Laval made great efforts to erect a building to the highest environmental standards.
Firehall No. 5 is Laval’s fourth municipal building to win the distinction. The others are Firehall No. 2 on Souvenir Blvd. in Chomedey (October 2018), the Lausanne Park community centre (January 2020), and the theme pavilion building at Rivière des Mille Îles Park (March 2020).
Among other things, Firehall No. 5 is equipped with a geothermal heating and cooling system which draws energy from underground, a solar panel array to help preheat cool air during the winter before it enters through the frequently-opened garage doors, and low-water consumption plumbing.
The City of Laval, the municipality in Quebec that is the second-hardest hit from the COVID-19 pandemic, expects to receive up to 250,000 face masks from the provincial government for public distribution next Monday, municipal officials have announced.
According to some of the latest COVID-19 statistics, there are currently at least 4,894 cases of COVID-19 infection in Laval, and there have been 472 fatalities.
The 250,000 masks will be in addition to 60,000 which have been set aside for distribution throughout Laval’s public transit system.
On Wednesday this week, Mayor Marc Demers said he was not ruling out the possibility that wearing a face mask in public would be mandatory on Laval’s territory.
“We are evaluating it,” he said in a statement. “We are looking at the behavior of people and we are looking at where we will be going.”
Action Laval, the second-place opposition party at Laval city hall, lost two more sitting members on Wednesday this week with the announced resignations of Vimont city councillor Michel Poissant and Marigot city councillor Daniel Hébert from the party caucus.
In a statement the two issued, they said they were leaving Action Laval to pursue their mandates as independents. First elected with Mayor Marc Demers’ Mouvement lavallois in 2013 when Demers’ party first swept into office, Poissant and Hébert were part of a group of dissidents who broke away, citing a lack of transparency in the administration, then later decided to join Action Laval.
Vimont city councillor Michel Poissant has decided to leave Action Laval.
Marigot city councillor Daniel Hébert is abandoning Action Laval.
Despite the fact the Action Laval caucus had grown to six city councillors by March 2019, the departure of Poissant and Hébert leaves Action Laval more weakened than ever.
This past February, Action Laval councillors David De Cotis, Isabella Tassoni and Paolo Galati also resigned from the Action Laval caucus following leaked information suggesting they were in a potential conflict of interest involving real-estate transactions.
The sole remaining member of Action Laval on Laval city council now is Chomedey city councillor Aglaia Revelakis. The Official Opposition at Laval city hall is the Parti Laval, led by Marc-Aurèle-Fortin councillor Michel Trottier, with Fabreville councillor Claude Larochelle being the party’s second member sitting on council.
Laval mayor Marc Demers says a teleconference meeting on Tuesday, during which he and other city officials discussed re-starting Laval’s post-COVID-19 economy with Quebec Finance Finister Eric Girard and Economy and Innovation Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon, was a success and a sign the provincial government is taking the issue seriously.
Laval mayor Marc Demers is seen here on Tuesday May 19 in his office at city hall during a teleconference call with Quebec cabinet ministers to discuss re-launching the Laval economy.
“This virtual meeting allowed everyone to talk about the many challenges that await us following the pandemic,” the mayor said in a statement. “Our business people were badly impacted by this crisis and we see it as our duty to implement measures that will be adopted to meet the reality.
“We are pleased to see that the government of Quebec has serious intentions about re-starting the economy and is listening to the concerns of our business community,” added Demers. “I thank ministers Fitzgibbon and Girard for their valuable cooperation.”
Laval city councillor Stéphane Boyer, vice-president of the executive-committee and responsible for economic development dossiers, said the city has already begun the arduous task of rebuilding Laval’s post-COVID-19 economy.
“Our teams at the city, including the economic development service, is already on the job to work out, in conjunction with the business community, a plan to re-launch our economy,” said Boyer. “The meeting allowed everybody to express their preoccupations, while also suggesting opportunities, as well as paths towards solutions to be explored.”
After formally announcing last Friday that everything was in place to begin taking in the first of an eventual 50 recovering COVID-19 patients at Place Bell, the CISSS de Laval still hasn’t opened the site because of a lack employees to staff the temporary facility, CBC Montreal is reporting.
The CISSS de Laval still hasn’t opened a temporary ward for COVID-19 patients at Place Bell, after announcing that it had.
“We expect to be able to open very soon,” Judith Goudreau, a CISSS de Laval spokesperson, told the broadcaster on Friday. According to the CBC, a new date has been set for Place Bell to start receiving patients.
The regional health authority announced in a press release that May 15 would be the first day that patients recovering from COVID-19 would start to be taken into the temporary hospital ward set up on one of the ice rinks at Place Bell.
The patients are from Cité de la Santé, where there is an overflow, as well as from retirement residences in Laval that are currently besieged by COVID-19.
The CISSS de Laval reports that as of mid-day on Saturday May 16, 448 persons in Laval had died of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, while there were 4,596 confirmed cases of infection, 130 persons in hospital, 27 people in intensive care, and 2,160 persons who recovered.
The CISSS also updated a sectorial map, showing that Sector 1 (Saint-François/Duvernay/Saint-Vincent-de-Paul) continues to have the highest number of infections (1,085 persons) per 100,000 inhabitants. Sector 3 (Chomedey) now has the lowest infection count (544 per 100,000 inhabitants).
The Canada Revenue Agency has announced that free tax clinics, which in past years have allowed a growing number of eligible Canadians to file their annual income tax return at no charge, will continue despite the covid-19 pandemic – but with special protective safeguards in place this year.
Due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, many community organizations had to close, postpone, or scale back on the free tax clinics they normally offer, the federal tax collection agency noted in a press release issued on May 12.
The CRA says penalties and interest will not be charged if tax payments are made by this year’s extended deadline of Sept. 1.
However, the CRA says the free tax clinics will continue to be offered by local organizations, in partnership with its Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP) and the joint CRA and Revenu Québec Income Tax Assistance – Volunteer Program.
It is the CRA’s hope that by going virtual, community organizations will have the opportunity to host clinics before the June 1, 2020 filing deadline and beyond.
“By filing a tax return, Canadians can get benefits and credits that can significantly improve their quality of life,” said Diane Lebouthillier, federal Minister of National Revenue. “I am reassured to see that tax clinics will now be able to provide virtual services to continue supporting vulnerable Canadians.”
“The Income Tax Assistance – Volunteer Program has a major impact on the lives of thousands of low-income individuals in Quebec,” added Quebec Minister of Finance Eric Girard. “The measures announced today will make it possible to help taxpayers through online and telephone tax clinics.”
The tax filing season has been extended from April 30 to June 1, 2020 as part of the measures introduced to deal with the various hardships created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CRA says that penalties and interest will not be charged if tax payments are made by the extended deadline of September 1, 2020.
According to a poll conducted by the agency responsible for promoting tourism in the Laval region, there has been a 33 per cent rate of cancellation for events scheduled in Laval since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, while 40 per cent have been postponed until next year, and 27 per cent will be taking place online to minimize risks of COVID-19 infection.
“For several weeks now, COVID-19 has been transforming our reality,” says Tourisme Laval president and general director Geneviève Roy. “Our partners and our clients are facing incredible challenges. Despite the uncertainty, sharing the findings of this survey is encouraging reflection towards a gradual return to normal. I am confident that our industry will be able to meet the challenges and will turn a new page. Creativity is our strength.”
The survey was conducted last week among more than 100 event organizers in Laval on the challenges they felt lay ahead. Other findings in the survey found that 91 per cent of organizers have been considering alternate ways for holding events, including videoconferencing (45 per cent), and smaller scale events (18 per cent).
Up to 50 per cent of survey participants said they were anticipating losing half their budget for holding events, while 13 per cent thought they could lose up to 75 per cent of budget for events. Twenty-six per cent did not anticipate any drop in their budget.
