Martin C. Barry

The Sir Wilfrid Laurier Foundation’s 2017 Lobster Fest, which took place at the Château Royal in Laval on June 14, raised $32,268 for educational equipment and materials for students at SWLSB learning centres and schools in the coming year.

Several hundred supporters of the foundation look forward each year to the Lobster Fest, which provides an opportunity to feast on lobster while supporting the cause of public education. For many, the Lobster Fest also brings the school year to a close on a festive note as one of the foundation’s two main annual fundraisers.

Many supporters and guests

Among the guests at this year’s Lobster Fest were Laval deputy-mayor and city councillor for St-Bruno David De Cotis, l’orée des bois city councillor Yannick Langlois (representing Mayor Marc Demers), Commission scolaire des samares president Michel Forget, and SWLSB interim director-general Fréderic Greschner.

“The Sir Wilfrid Foundation is an important partner of the school board and we are proud to contribute in the achievement of its mission,” SWLF president Christian Fréchette said in the opening address. “Over the past 14 years, the foundation has contributed to a wide variety of projects that benefit students directly.

$1 million target close

“Since its creation, close to $800,000 has been given to the schools and centres of the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board. We are getting very close to our goal of $1 million. We have given $785,000 to the schools and centres.”

For 2018-2019, according to Fréchette, the foundation’s goal is to make possible the acquisition of more multi-sensory classroom equipment, which he said is highly in demand in all schools and will be used by students of all ages.

“The education of our youth and school perseverance are at the heart of the foundation’s actions and decisions,” he said. “It is our responsibility to invest in our young people and support them in their education so that they can become accomplished citizens.

Funding tools and equipment

At the same time, he announced that in 2019 the foundation will again fund tools and sensory equipment for all the school board’s schools and centres.

“This equipment was a success in 2018, but the need is so great that we will give more next year,” he said. “Of course, the foundation will continue to award citizenship scholarships to graduating students and will carry on holding the Laurier Gala in May of each year.”

The president of the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board, Jennifer Maccarone, took the opportunity to thank the members of the foundation’s board of directors for their efforts and the time they devote to the school board’s students.

SWLSB ranked one of the best

“You are valuable partners and we are grateful for the difference you make in the school board,” she said. Maccarone also informed the guests that the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board was ranked among the best in the province.

The many guests at this year’s Lobster Fest had a wonderful evening which was lively and energetic, and they were able to enjoy the all-you-can-eat lobsters. Since its creation in 2014, the Sir Wilfrid Laurier Foundation has annually awarded hundreds of citizenship grants to graduates of the youth and adult sectors. Since 2014, these amounts have been distributed as follows:

The foundation’s mid-winter fundraising gala will be held on January 24, 2019. Details will be released in the fall. Created in 2004, the Foundation’s mission is to promote educational, cultural, recreational, technological and sports programs for the SWLSB’s students.  For more information, visit the website of the Sir Wilfrid Laurier Foundation at www.fondationlaurier.com.

Martin C. Barry

The searing heat wave that descended on the Montreal region during Canada Day weekend wasn’t enough to keep thousands of people with Greek roots from all over Quebec from returning to their cultural origins when the Laval Greek Orthodox community held its Hellenic Summer Festival at Holy Cross Church in Chomedey.

The Laval Hellenic Summer Festival is one of the biggest Greek cultural events that takes place in Quebec each year. People arrive from many areas of eastern Canada, eager to meet and greet old friends and members of their extended families. In Laval there are an estimated 40,000 Greek residents.

Dignitaries cut the cake

Proceeds from each year’s festival support local Greek educational needs, as well as charitable causes in the Greek community. A highlight each year on July 1 is the Canada Day celebration with a large Canadian flag cake. This year, there were also stirring performances of traditional Greek dancing, as well as a demonstration of Chinese kung fu by students of a Laval martial arts school.

Among the many dignitaries who turned up were Laval city councillor Yannick Langlois (representing Mayor Marc Demers), Deputy Mayor David De Cotis, Laval-area Liberal MPs Fayçal El-Khoury and Eva Nassif, Quebec Liberal MNAs from Laval Guy Ouellette and Monique Sauvé, and Laval city councillors Aglaia Revelakis, Vasilios Karidogiannis, Aline Dib, Paolo Galati and Aram Elagoz.

A little rain on the party

“Last night we had rain, but it didn’t stop the party,” noted Dennis Marinos, Laval regional president of the Hellenic Community of Greater Montreal (HCGM) who was overseeing the multi-day event. “People continued dancing. The singer simply went under the tent to continue. Of course, we had to stop a little early because of thunder storms. But everything went well other than that.”

Chomedey MNA Guy Ouellette said that attending the Laval Greek Festival was a fitting way for him to cap Canada Day. “I couldn’t ask for a better way to conclude Canada Day than being with the Greek community this evening,” he said.

A proud Canadian

“Today is a day when we are proud to be Canadian, when we should announce our national pride to the entire world,” said El-Khoury. “I want the entire world to hear that we are Canadian and leading the world in humanitarian relief. I am proud to be here to participate in the Greek Festival as I do every year.”

“This is a very hot Canada Day,” said Nassif, noting that earlier in the day she attended a citizenship swearing-in ceremony at Laval’s Centre de la Nature, where 25 new Canadian citizens took an oath to become full-fledged citizens of the country.

Celebration of traditions

“More than 40,000 Greek people now live in Laval, and I am happy to be here every year with the Greek community,” said De Cotis. “When they are celebrating the Greek festival, they are celebrating their traditions, their heritage and their culture. It’s important that these traditions remain here in the City of Laval for the next generation.”

“Wherever they live, Canada is very important to everybody, to people who have immigrated to Canada and Laval,” said Revelakis. “It’s nice to see that people who come here to make a life for themselves believe in this country.” For his part, Karidogiannis said that Canada Day in Laval brings out the best that every community has to offer. “This is what Canada is about,” he said. “Bringing everybody together for a good and peaceful time with safety and prosperity.”

A little more than 3,000 Laval households will be able to benefit from a municipal service for the emptying of their septic installations. This new by-law, passed in the municipal council on June 5, 2018, makes the City of Laval responsible for the emptying of all septic installations on its territory. The City ensures that all septic tanks located in Laval are flushed every two years, in accordance with the provincial regulation on the evacuation and wastewater treatment of isolated dwellings (Q-2, r.22). It also ensures that the sludge is disposed and properly treated by delivering it to the municipal wastewater treatment plant La Pinière.

This new service is now mandatory for residents of Laval whose residence is not connected to a municipal or private sewer system. For half of the residents, the first oil change will take place in 2018 and all subsequent even years. For the other half, the first oil change will take place in 2019 and all subsequent odd years.

Martin C. Barry

Following a non-confidence vote last month in which Mayor Marc Demers received just 57 per cent support from the Mouvement Lavallois membership, there was more bad news for the mayor less than a week into June when he was confronted by an unparalleled revolt by city councillors that reduced his party to minority status for the first time since coming to power with a majority in 2013.

The June 5 city council meeting was nothing less than a meltdown for Demers and the Mouvement Lavallois. In a manifestation of what seemingly was building for months, deputy mayor and executive-committee vice-president David De Cotis – who was the number two man on council, in addition to the fact he founded the Mouvement Lavallois – emerged as the leader of a dissident ML councillors’ faction.

The dissenting vote

Specifically, De Cotis and the other dissenters decided to support a motion brought forth by the opposition calling for a revision of some recent committee appointments. Although ML councillor Stéphane Boyer questioned the legality of the move, the matter was voted on, but was also referred to the city’s lawyers, who may end up deciding if it is legally binding.

The dissenters are De Cotis (who represents the district of Saint-Bruno), as well as councillors Vasilios Karidogiannis (L’Abord-à-Plouffe), Aline Dib (Saint-Martin), Paolo Galati (Saint-Vincent-de-Paul), Sandra El-Hélou (Souvenir-Labelle), Isabella Tassoni (Laval-des-Rapides), Michel Poissant (Vimont), Jocelyne Frédéric-Gauthier (Auteuil) and Daniel Hébert (Marigot).

Opposition now has majority

With the nine ML defectors, opposition councillors Aglaia Revelakis (Chomedey) of Action Laval and Claude Larochelle (Fabreville) of the Parti Laval bring the total number of opposing council members to 11, leaving the Mouvement Lavallois with a maximum of 10 seats on the 21-member council (not including the mayor who has a tie-breaking vote).

When the June 5 council meeting timed out at 11 pm with business on the agenda still not finished, the session was adjourned, on a motion by Councillor Paolo Galati, to 5 pm the following day. However, before then, on the morning of June 6, the mayor fired De Cotis from the executive-committee.

By late afternoon when media and a core following of Laval residents were gathering at city hall for the continuation of the council meeting, word was spreading that a “quorum” of councillors legally necessary to convene the meeting couldn’t be available, owing to the absence of the remaining ML council members.

Just before 5:30 pm on Wednesday, political staffers from the mayor’s office informed media waiting in the city council chamber that Demers would be holding an impromptu press conference in the executive-committee board room during which he would make a statement. Demers said the following:

Mayor Demers’ statement

“There was no quorum at this evening’s city council and the result of this is that the council session that was started yesterday is adjourned to June 7 at 8 am. This decision was not taken lightly. It grants us time to dialogue with all the municipal councillors of our caucus, which seems to me is fundamental at this stage.

“Important talks must take place and it seems to us that it would be wise to hold them when we feel rested, in a calm and serene climate,” Demers continued. “We wish to listen to them, to exchange views with them, with respect and openness. In the current situation, the worst thing to do is to act with rashness. I will take yesterday’s example as proof of this, when a resolution was adopted in non-conformity with the rules that were in force.

Mayor states his openness

“In conclusion, I reiterate my openness and my desire to discuss with the elected officials in order to clear the way towards solutions that would be satisfactory for all. The ultimate goal at all times remains to defend as best possible the interests of Laval’s population.” The mayor declined to say anything further.

Almost immediately following this, in the city council chamber, De Cotis, surrounded by the nine dissident councillors, issued the following statement: “This morning, Mayor Demers unilaterally decided to relieve me of my duties as vice-chair of the executive committee.

De Cotis makes statement

“I was motivated to enter politics 10 years ago and was elected in 2013 because I believed Lavallois deserved to be served by an open and democratic administration that strives to respond effectively to meet their needs. This objective continues to be the driving force behind my participation in public life. Although I am indeed disappointed with the mayor’s actions, I will continue to work in the best interest of my fellow citizens.”

Reacting to journalists who noted that the mayor maintains the June 5 vote wasn’t legal, De Cotis responded, “The mayor isn’t a lawyer. We researched the matter with our team and our lawyers, and yesterday’s vote was one hundred per cent legal.”

‘We have the majority now’

However, when asked whether he or other councillors had any overall objections to how the mayor does things, De Cotis replied, “We work very well with Mayor Demers. There can be differences of opinion, but we work very well with him. We want to continue to work with him. But he has to understand that we have the majority now and we should be working together for democracy and for Laval residents.”

While noting that he appreciated being deputy mayor and vice-president of the executive-committee, De Cotis refused nonetheless to say what specifically led to the rift between himself, the other dissident ML councillors and the mayor. “Soon we will reveal what he did that we didn’t like,” De Cotis said.