Martin C. Barry

As part of a long-term effort to beautify Laval’s bridge entrances, the City of Laval is holding public consultations on proposed changes to the Lachapelle Bridge entrance in Chomedey, des Laurentides Blvd. in Pont-Viau and Curé-Labelle Blvd. in Sainte-Rose.

Public consultations

The city held one of the first of a planned series of consultations on May 9, when around 200 residents of Pont-Viau and Laval-des-Rapides came out to École Léon-Guilbault for a presentation on a proposed reconfiguration of the intersection of Cartier and des Laurentides boulevards, a short distance from the Pont Viau bridge.

While the city wants to undertake a similar reconfiguration in Chomedey where Curé Labelle widens and leads towards the Lachapelle Bridge, the des Laurentides reconfiguration is more complex due to a large number of old and narrow streets that feed into the Cartier/des Laurentides intersection.

Former city hall demolition

While major work for the Cartier/des Laurentides project won’t get underway until 2021, the city is planning expropriations and demolitions in the area. Among other things, for example, the days are numbered for the landmark former Laval-des-Rapides city hall building, which is now being used as a municipal courthouse.

The city plans to rebuild a new municipal court building a little further to the south on Quimper St. by 2022. All the same, the city plans to carry this all out over a period of up to 20 years. The city also wants developers to become involved with proposals of their own.

Other changes coming

The city’s urban planners are also keeping in mind the historic character along side streets like St-Hubert, where houses which were part of the original village of Laval-des-Rapides still stand. And they want to eliminate some of the more unsightly aspects at the Pont-Viau/des Laurentides entrance, such as the steel barrier that runs up the middle of the street, which was initially installed to prevent pedestrians from crossing into the dangerous flow of high-speed traffic.

In an interview with the Laval News, Mayor Marc Demers said the city also has plans for Laval’s Lachapelle Bridge entrance along Chomedey Blvd. “It’s another goal of ours,” he said.

Careful approach, says mayor

“But we have so many challenges that we have to proceed while being careful about what we can accomplish. We decided that Pont-Viau was one of the priorities, Chomedey and Curé-Labelle Blvd. is another, and we are also working on projects in Saint-Rose and Vieux St-Vincent-de-Paul.”

Demers confirmed that one of the challenges the city faces is the fact that a number of private properties lie within the path where Laval wants to renew and redevelop. He said that in Pont-Viau alone, the city has served expropriation notices to some owners and is negotiating with others.

Will take money

“Obviously, money is necessary for all this,” he noted, while adding that the City of Laval is currently in the midst of another major renewal undertaking: the Val-Martin social housing project, for which the city received millions of dollars from Quebec City and Ottawa.

According to the mayor, a public consultation like the one held in Laval-des-Rapides/Pont-Viau will also be held in Chomedey for Lachapelle Bridge/Chomedey Blvd. recnofiguration project.

Martin C. Barry

F/LIST, an Austrian high-end business jet interior manufacturer, became one of the latest aerospace industry suppliers to choose the City of Laval as the location for a Canadian subsidiary when it officially inaugurated a new 59,000-square-foot production facility last Monday on des Rossignols Blvd in Laval’s industrial park.

Investing in Canada

“Investing in Canada is very important to our company’s future growth and success in aerospace,” said Katharina List-Nagl, the Austria-based CEO of the privately-held company during a ceremony held at the new facility.

“F/LIST has a long and successful history in Canada, working very closely with Bombardier and other partners in the region,” she added. “It made great business sense to set up our centre of Canadian operations here in Laval where we are so close to so many great aerospace businesses and opportunities.”

Aerospace industry growth

F/LIST is one of the most recent European suppliers of aerospace industry components and materials to choose Laval for expansion, while doing so with Bombardier specifically in mind. Last October, Liebherr, a diversified Swiss-based heavy equipment and engineering conglomerate, opened a sprawling new facility along Autoroute 13 in Chomedey where pre-manufactured landing gear for the CSeries medium-range passenger is being put together for delivery to a Bombardier final assembly site in Mirabel.

Mayor Marc Demers was visibly very pleased that F/LIST chose Laval to be the base for its Canadian operations. “One of our main goals is to see that our business people succeed here,” he said, noting that Marc Tremblay, the city’s director of economic development, “will work with you to make sure that we all have success.”

Interiors for Challenger

While Liebherr is betting on the CSeries, a Bombardier aircraft that hasn’t yet achieved its highest anticipated level of success, F/List Canada, on the other hand, will be providing its services for one of Bombardier’s greatest successes – the already well-established Challenger business jet, as well as some of Bombardier’s other planes.

F/LIST’s Laval facility, which is the first manufacturing plant the company has opened outside of Austria, represents an investment of more than $20 million for F/LIST, including $10 million by the end of 2018. The company provides high-quality wood veneers for business and executive jet interiors, finishing and assembling of interior components, refurbishment of interiors, and product and customer support.

Service to North America

“We will be serving not only the thriving local market in Canada, but across North America with our quality workmanship and F/LIST spirit,” said Sean Johnson, CEO of F.LIST Canada Corp. “We are committed to building and growing our presence here, having already invested millions of dollars in specialized production equipment, and recruiting top local talent.”

F/LIST says it is currently hiring and the positions available include cabinetmakers and veneer specialists, production managers and quality assurance experts. The company received financial support of $1.2 million. from the government of Quebec and $1 million from Economic Development Canada for Quebec towards infrastructure and equipment for the project, totalling more than $8.5 million by the end of 2018.

‘Great news,’ said Robillard

“Today’s inauguration is great news for Canada,” Yves Robillard, Liberal MP for Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, said on behalf of Navdeep Bains, federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. “F/LIST’s decision to set up in the Greater Montréal area reaffirms the strategic positioning of Québec’s aerospace industry.

“It also demonstrates that Quebec and Canada have strategic assets to attract international companies, including a highly-qualified workforce and solid, structured business networks. I am proud to see F/LIST’s first plant outside of Austria open here in Laval. Its arrival will generate significant economic spinoffs that will benefit the citizens of the region.”

Vote of confidence, says Habel

“By setting up here in Laval, the Austrian manufacturer F/LIST is clearly demonstrating that Quebec is a good place for private investment,” said Jean Habel, the Quebec Liberal MNA for Sainte-Rose and parliamentary assistant to Quebec Minister of Economy, Science and Innovation Dominique Anglade.

“The recognized expertise of our aerospace industry has also played a major role in attracting this company,” Habel continued. “This new plant will generate significant spin-offs for Québec. With such initiatives, Québec will undoubtedly strengthen its position as the world leader in the aerospace industry,”

Martin C. Barry

Make no mistake about it, says Julia Garzon.

Despite her calling as a legal defender for medical patients who feel they’ve become victims within Quebec’s public health care system, she’s no “Erin Brockovitch.”

Defending system’s users

For their April 17 free lecture presentation, more than 70 supporters and members of the Comité des usagers du CSSS de Laval welcomed Me Garzon, a crusading young lawyer whose employer, Laval-based Ménard Martin, is well-known for its legal defence of users of Quebec’s public health care system.

While Me Jean-Pierre Ménard, who is the leading partner of the firm, was initially scheduled to make the presentation, a health problem forced him to cancel and Me Garzon made the presentation in his place.

She’s no Erin Brockovitch

Erin Brockovitch was a year 2000 movie starring Julia Roberts, telling the true story of a lawyer in the U.S. who became known for her legal activism pitting individuals against major corporate interests. But to hear Garzon talk about her work, it sounds more like it involves little glamour and a lot of very demanding legal research.

“I get a call,” said Garzon, recounting a fairly typical interaction with a potential new client. “She says to me ‘Are you like Erin Brockovitch? Can you do anything for me?’” But while Garzon makes clear that she and other lawyers at the firm always return calls within 24 – 48 hours and that initial contact is free of charge, she also eventually has to establish that building a medical malpractice lawsuit is costly and time-consuming and heroic scenarios are mostly in the movies.

Costs for legal procedures

For example, it costs $325 to meet with her just once for an initial consultation, with no obligation after that if that’s how the client feels. However, if the client decides to proceed further, the cost to analyze the dossier ranges from $2,500 to $5,000. After that, legal fees can grow, but only if the law firm and its expert consultants have determined that a complainant has grounds to justify pursuing the matter further legally.

However, as Garzon pointed out in her lengthy presentation, there are many channels in Quebec for obtaining redress whenever someone feels they’ve been treated improperly or unfairly in the province’s health care system.

Complaints committees

Apart from civil law procedures, there are also complaints committees set up within all Quebec health care establishments. But while Garzon’s legal firm pursues legal cases seeking monetary compensation for medical mistakes and oversights on an almost day-by-day basis, the complaints committees function primarily as a means of rectifying errors and problems inside the medical and social services systems, without offering users an option to seek compensation.

“What is important to note about the complaints to establishments is that the goal of the commissioner for complaints is to issue recommendations,” she said. “These recommendations are not mandatory and there is no legal force to oblige the adoption of these recommendations. Also with regard to complaints to establishments, there is no possibility of seeking financial compensation.”

Different ways of proceeding

Garzon pointed out that once a health care service user has officially deposited a complaint, “this does not prevent him from also seeking recourse legally.” She also maintained that once a complaint has been formally deposited, the clock doesn’t stop. This differs from the situation with malpractice lawsuits in which there are time limitations.

According to Pierre Lynch, president of the Comité des usagers du CSSS de Laval, the committee holds free lecture presentations each month, always dealing with issues concerning the rights of public health service users. “We deal with different aspects of the rights issues in health,” he said. The Comité des usagers du CSSS de Laval holds its monthly gatherings at Place des aînés in Chomedey.

Martin C. Barry

A Forum on Mobility and Public Transport, which was held on April 23 by the City of Laval, concluded with an agreement between 19 participating municipalities that they will work together to develop an integrated public transit system in the Laval/North Shore area to reduce traffic and improve the quality of life for the region’s approximately one-million residents.

The 19 towns and cities, including Rosemère, Saint-Eustache, Deux-Montagnes, Sainte-Thérèse, Sainte-Jérôme and Terrebonne, agreed on four priorities for which they expect the provincial and federal governments to provide financial support.

Rapid transit for Chomedey

The first would be the introduction of an expanded network of dedicated and reserved public transit lanes on autoroutes 13, 15, 19 and 25, as well as on certain sections of autoroutes 440 and 640.

A second measure would be the implementation of a new rapid transit link within the densely-populated Laval district of Chomedey, whether through the addition of new Métro stations or the prolongation of the REM system now under development.

New transit agency

Thirdly, Autoroute 19 which extends northward in eastern Laval would be lengthened to reach Autoroute 640 on the North Shore. As well, Autoroute 13 would be extended northward to Autoroute 50, with dedicated lanes for public transit.

In addition to these measures, the mayors of the 19 municipalities have agreed to establish a project office for the creation of a new integrated public transit agency to serve the Laval/North Shore/Lower Laurentian areas. This office is supposed to be created by Sept. 1 this year.

Action needed quickly

“Our movement has no precedent,” Mayor Marc Demers said in his opening remarks. “We now have a need very quickly for the implementation of a project office financed by the State to pursue the work, most notably to establish the priorities and figure out the various aspects involved.”

Blainville mayor and MRC Thérèse-De Blainville chief administrator Richard Perreault said that what the mayors wished to make clear “is the urgency for the governments to consider as a whole the issue of road congestion in Laval and in the Lower Laurentians – and to act rapidly. We’re talking about one million people who are caught up in this jigsaw puzzle for numerous years, and who will remain that way in the years to come if nothing is done.”

Traffic increases forecast

According to the results of Laval/North/Shore/Lower Laurentian road traffic surveys released during the forum, traffic delays increased 46 per cent from 2014-2017, while they are projected to increase 37 per cent from now to 2021 if action isn’t taken.

The studies also found that time lost by motorists stuck in traffic jams on major roadways in the area will have risen by 100 per cent by 2021 compared to 2014. As well, the traffic jams are expected to grow larger and to continue beyond the peak hours for traffic jams we know today.

Longer waits in traffic

To put that in perspective, it is estimated that a car trip today from west end Montreal, near the southern starting point of Autoroute 13, to a municipality on the North Shore, such as Rosemère or Deux-Montagnes at the A-13’s northern terminus – which normally should take around 40 minutes – can be expected to take as long as an hour-and-a-half just a few years from now if measures aren’t enacted to deal with the growing traffic.

The surveys also found that the average motorist today who is regularly commuting from the Laval/North Shore/Lower Laurentian areas to Montreal, is spending the equivalent of two weeks per year stuck in traffic.

REM stations in Laval

Laval city councillor Gilbert Dumas, who is president of the Société de transport de Laval, said in an interview with the Laval News that the City of Laval is looking for a solution that could involve expanding the nascent REM electric train system with additional stations in strategic locations in Laval.

“We would like it to branch off into parts of Laval like along Notre Dame Blvd., Curé Labelle and other places,” he said. “I know we have to wait until the REM’s first phase is done, and then after that we’ll look to see if what we need can be done with more Métro stations or with the REM.”

The big picture on traffic

Chomedey Liberal MNA Guy Ouellette, who was one of the many provincial and federal elected officials attending the forum, noted that Premier Philippe Couillard has been making pointed suggestions lately that, following the start of work in the REM, the provincial government is willing to invest billions more in public transit infrastructure.

“It has to be part of a big plan, and not just to decongest Laval, but the North Shore also,” said Ouellette. “We have to look at this globally. The North Shore is the area where is the fastest expansion in terms of population. Since there are more and more cars we are losing more and more time. If something comes from today’s summit, it will be a global solution that takes into account areas like the Laurentians and Lanaudiére.”