Martin C. Barry

Senator Leo Housakos is taking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to task over some recent comments Trudeau made that compared the experience of Canadian immigrants to ISIS pro-Islamic militants returning to Canada after taking part abroad in terrorist activities.

Troubling response

Following an exchange on the matter in the Senate in Ottawa on Feb. 7, Senator Housakos said he felt “very troubled” by the response given by the Leader of the Government in the Upper Chamber, Senator Peter Harder.

Sen. Housakos said he thought it was his responsibility “on behalf of Canada’s Hellenic community, to ask Mr. Trudeau’s Government Leader in the Senate for clarification of the Prime Minister’s comparison.”

A curious comparison

“At a town hall meeting in Edmonton last week, Prime Minister Trudeau was asked a question from a member of the audience who raised concern about ISIS fighters returning to Canada and the long-term impact of their terrorist ideology on our country’s safety and security,” said Housakos.

“The Prime Minister responded by comparing returning ISIS fighters — responsible for beheadings, burning people alive, sexual slavery, throwing men over rooftop buildings because they are gay, just to name a few of their atrocities — with immigrants historically welcomed to Canada from countries such as Greece, Italy and Portugal.

The immigrant experience

“I come from a cradle of that community,” he continued. “My parents both immigrated to this country in the 1950s, and they were outraged to hear that from the Prime Minister. These are the individuals in the Greek, Italian and Portuguese community in Montreal that came here understanding they were coming to a Commonwealth country, to a great democracy, a country that respects human rights and the rule of law.

“They also understood — and I can tell you my parents always made it clear to me — that Canadian citizenship came with tremendous privileges, but it also has responsibilities. How does the Prime Minister possibly justify making this comparison, equating legal immigrants and those fleeing persecution with the return to Canada of individuals who are complicit in the horrific crimes perpetrated by our enemy, ISIS?”

Senator defended the PM

Sen. Harder responded: “Let me simply reiterate, and I do this as myself, the son of immigrant refugees to Canada, that I share and understand deeply the pride with which your parents inculcated the values of citizenship in you, as most immigrants have with their children and their children’s children. I didn’t see the interaction to which you refer, but I can only remind senators that this Prime Minister has consistently spoken well of Canada’s immigrant history and the accommodation and diversity of our immigration process that has allowed Canada to become the country it is today.

“At the same time, while individual immigrants and citizens have responsibilities, we collectively have a responsibility to our citizens, even those we would disagree with because of actions that they have taken with the rights they hold as citizens. We have to be vigilant in our programming to ensure that we do everything possible to protect the safety and security of Canada in the face of those who return to Canada after having indulged in the practices to which the honorable senator referred.”

Says PM’s ‘all over the map’

In an interview with Newsfirst Multimedia, Sen. Housakos described Prime Minister Trudeau lately as being “all over the map with some of his mis-speaks.” However, with regards to Trudeau’s comparison between immigrants and ISIS he said a few people in Montreal’s Greek community “expressed their complete hurt feelings on this issue to me – and legitimately so.

“When the Prime Minister is asked a question by a Canadian citizen at a town hall about repatriating Canadian citizens that have gone off and left the confines of this secure nation to go and support ISIS – our enemy – half way around the world, an organization that is extremist, and which has as its mandate to destroy our western democratic structure, and they’re hellbent on destroying and killing moderate Muslims in the Middle East and Christians driven out of places like Syria, they certainly don’t have respect for the pluralistic multicultural multi-faith society that we have here in Canada.”

Martin C. Barry

Three days of technology-driven competition took place at Laval Senior Academy on the weekend of Feb. 1 – 3, as Montreal-area high school and CEGEP students with carefully crafted robots faced-off during the 17^th annual CRC Robotics Competition.

Winners one and all

Hundreds of eager and ambitious students were called upon to use their imaginations and ingenuity to come up with the best robot as well as the best team for this year’s football-inspired game called Converto 2018. Although it was a competition by nature, the organizers emphasized that if you made it there with a working robot you were already a winner.

Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board president Jennifer Maccarone was on hand along with other board officials on the competition’s opening day to help get things rolling. “Every team member here today has experienced leadership, learned management and organization skills and perfected the art of presentation,” she said, while extending special thanks to LSA’s administrators and science teachers “who worked hard in making this event a success,” said Maccarone.

Girls’ participation rising

Laval Senior Academy and the SWLSB “have been a huge part of the CRC over the past 17 years,” said Jennifer Vaughan, LSA’s vice-principal. “LSA is very to proud to host the event this year,” she continued, noting that participation by girls has been increasing year by year in leaps and bounds.

“Throughout its 17 year history, CRC Robotics has always had success in attracting girls to participate. I believe all of the all-girls schools in Montreal have participated over the years. Co-ed schools like LSA have a history of huge involvement from girls as well.”

Around 600 students took part

According to Vaughan, 600 students from 26 teams were participating this year. They included 17 high schools, eight CEGEPs, one all-girls high school and an adult education centre. Half of the participating schools were Anglophone, while the other half were from the Francophone education sector.

Recently, Vaughan added, with the help of CRC Robotics’ first female coordinator Natasha Vitale, the competition was able to double-down on its efforts to empower women. She noted that prior to becoming a coordinator for CRC Robotics, Natasha participated in the competition as a student from Sacred Heart School and then from Marianopolis College. With Vitale’s leadership, CRC Robotics ran a conference in November 2017 entitled ‘For Girls, From Women’ to inspire girls to go into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

A passion for robotics

“Year after year, we see the participation of girls in this competition increase exponentially,” said Vitale. “As a former participant involved with CRC since 2007, it brings me such joy to know that we are reaching more girls as the years progress and that we are truly promoting women in STEM with every year that goes by. In such a world where gender equity is becoming increasingly prominent, it is important for us to inspire our girls to continue their studies in STEM fields, starting with encouraging their passion for robotics.”

The CRC Robotics Competition is considered to be unique as it’s the only robotics competition where all the work is done exclusively by students, with teachers, engineers and mentors being present for advice only.  Except for a motor and a control box each team receives, everything about the robot, the kiosk, the video and the website is conceived and built by the students.

OTTAWA, Jan. 29, 2018 /CNW/ – Pharmacists understand the needs of patients and desire of government to get fair value for drug prices to ensure that Canadians can afford their medications. Today, the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance (pCPA) and governments across Canada announced a new generic drug price framework that will reduce the price of generic drugs. This new agreement, which is going to generate considerable savings for governments but have a significant financial impact on the pharmacy industry, is an opportunity to increase the accessibility and quality of healthcare services for patients in communities.

Pharmacists continue to provide an increased level of care to Canadians – and have never been more accessible, vital contributors to patient and community health than we are today. In fact, every day, pharmacies are driving value in the healthcare system and providing efficient and high-quality services to patients in communities across Canada. But pharmacists could be doing even more.

“We believe that this new pricing framework is an opportunity for governments to invest a portion of the anticipated savings back into frontline services that pharmacies offer to enhance patient care,” stated Justin Bates, CEO of the Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada.  “There are more than 10,000 pharmacies well-positioned to increase their contributions by providing more harmonized services across the country such as increasing access to common ailments services as we continue to provide high quality, accessible, and cost-effective services to patients when and where they need it.”

Canada’s 42,000 pharmacists believe that through targeted and much needed investments, governments and patients could benefit from enhanced coverage of both medications and pharmacist provided care and services to ensure medicines are being used effectively.

“Pharmacies have never been more important to patient and community health,” stated Alistair Bursey, Chair of the Canadian Pharmacists Association. “From counselling patients on how to take their mediations safely, to giving flu shots, pharmacists are consistently providing the highest level of care to Canadians.”

Right now, across Canada, governments and pharmacists are working to tackle some of our most pressing health challenges from the urgency of the opioid crisis, to increasing access to home care, mental health services and vaccines.

While pCPA did not engage pharmacy in its decision, pharmacy and pharmacists look forward to an engaged dialogue on how to reinvest the money saved from lower drug prices to benefit patients through expanded community-based pharmacist services. By investing some of these savings into community-based care, governments can support pharmacists, deliver the quality of care patients have come to expect and allow for pharmacy to innovate and provide more comprehensive front-line services. This would aide governments and help patients by alleviating the burdens to access patients currently face in primary care settings.

About the Canadian Pharmacists Association

The Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA) is the uniting national voice of pharmacy and the pharmacist profession in Canada. As pharmacists undertake an enhanced role in the delivery of health care services, CPhA ensures that the profession is recognized as a national leader in health care, influencing the policies, programs, budgets and initiatives affecting the profession and the health of Canadians. More information is available at www.pharmacists.ca.

About the Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada:

Neighbourhood Pharmacies represents the delivery of care in pharmacies across the country and advocates for Canada’s leading pharmacy organizations who deliver high value, quality care in all patient care models including chain, banner, long-term care, and specialty pharmacies as well as grocery chains and mass merchandisers with pharmacies.

We are the voice and advocate for our members who:

• Are the Canadian business leaders and health professionals committed to running successful, sustainable neighbourhood pharmacies;
• Operate neighbourhood pharmacies across Canada and provide pharmacy services and other core healthcare products and services;
• Focus on wellness, treatment and prevention;
• Ensure fulfilment of almost 70% of Canadian prescriptions each year;

Guy Ouellette, the Liberal MNA whose arrest by the province’s anti-corruption unit (UPAC) stunned Quebecers last fall, says he never disclosed any information about UPAC’s work to the media.

The former high-profile provincial police officer was called to testify at a hearing into the stay of proceedings request by lawyers representing Nathalie Normandeau, former Liberal cabinet minister and party fundraiser Marc-Yvan Côté and their four co-accused.

Normandeau, the ex-Liberal deputy premier, is facing corruption-related charges, along with her former chief of staff, Bruno Lortie, two former Parti Québécois staffers, and Côté.

Ouellette was summoned by Côté’s defence lawyer, Jacques Larochelle, who is trying to have the charges thrown out, arguing UPAC documents leaked to reporters have robbed the accused of their right to a fair trial.

Questioned by Larochelle, Ouellette said he never directly or indirectly provided information that aired in a Radio-Canada report, called Mon Ami Sam, which linked Côté to former MNA Sam Hamad.

“I played no role in this,” he answered.

Lino Zambito testimony discredited

Ouellette denied several of the claims former construction boss Lino Zambito made in court yesterday.

Zambito testified that it was Ouellette who told him members of the Liberal caucus, including Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux, were displeased by the reappointment of the head of UPAC, Robert Lafrenière, only weeks after Normandeau’s arrest.

Zambito suggested Lafrenière wanted “a big catch” to ensure his position and precipitated Normandeau’s arrest, which coincided with the tabling of the Liberal government’s 2016 budget.

Zambito added Ouellette had told him the Liberals wanted to replace Lafrenière at the end of his 5-year mandate, and that Denis Gallant, a lawyer with the Charbonneau Commission, was “on the short list” to replace him.

Ouellette said he had not given out this information “directly or indirectly,” and that he only heard of such a list in a newspaper article.

Toxic workplace at UPAC

In the days following his arrest, Ouellette alleged UPAC was framing him and suggested it was trying to conceal “irregularities” which had come to his attention, as chair of the parliamentary committee responsible for overseeing UPAC’s work.

When asked in court if he thought Robert Lafrenière was “the right man for the job,” Ouellette said the workplace relations at UPAC could certainly be improved.

“To get optimal results, the work environment wasn’t ideal,” Ouellette answered.

Ouellette was never charged following his arrest and eventually returned to the Liberal caucus.

Sections of the search warrant against him, unsealed last month, show UPAC suspected him, as well as two alleged accomplices inside the anti-corruption unit, of leaking information to the media.

Reporters showed up at raids before police

UPAC investigators Stéphane Bonhomme and Richard Despaties were suspended on Oct. 25, 2017, the same day that Ouellette was arrested.

They were also called to testify Thursday.

Both vehemently denied having leaked any information to reporters, and both said the tense work environment could have led any employee to leak the information.

“I am totally innocent. One hundred per cent,” Bonhomme told Quebec court Judge André Perreault.

He said he knew there was a serious confidentiality problem within UPAC when he started seeing reporters arriving before police when UPAC carried out search warrants.

“We suspected there were people who were making phone calls,” he said.

Bonhomme said plenty of people at the office had access to reports which were stored in an unlocked cabinet in the main office.

“That means 75 people minimum,” he said, adding computers weren’t well accounted for either.

‘You’re pushed aside, suspended or paid to shut up.’- ex-UPAC investigator Stéphane Despaties

Despaties, who has filed a grievance against his former employer, testified that during his last two years with UPAC he was responsible for forwarding complaints to his superiors.

He said he was bothered by the fact that at least four or five files which he considered serious never led to a formal investigation.

“This went against my values,” he explained.

Despaties said the only time he spoke to journalists about UPAC was to talk about the psychological harassment he said he witnessed.

Despaties that the general level of workplace dissatisfaction could have led to employees leaking sensitive information.

He said several of his co-workers have either left or received compensation after filing grievances of their own.

“You’re pushed aside, suspended or paid to shut up,” he alleged.

Chomedey MNA Guy Ouellette testified Thursday at a hearing into a stay of proceedings request by Nathalie Normandeau and her five co-accused. (Radio-Canada)

Martin C. Barry

Hundreds of families from all over the Montreal region converged on the Berge des Baigneurs in Laval’s Vieux Saint Rose neighbourhood on the afternoon of Sunday Jan. 28 for day three of Laval en Blanc, an enthusiastic celebration of winter, offering a seasonal counterpoint to the city’s popular Fête de la Famille during the summertime.

Who would have thought there was so much fun to be had during this dismal time of the year? For many parents, fun in the cold and snow was a discovery in itself – although they learned a lot from their children, because the kids knew it all the time.

Face off against ‘Rocket’

While there were literally dozens of activities to be enjoyed, one of the highlights of the afternoon was a trio of ball hockey matches played between children attending Laval en Blanc and three key players from the Laval Rocket: Yannick Veilleux, Jordan Boucher and Daniel Audette.

While there were snow sledding, ice skating and even some musical performances to be enjoyed in the warmth indoors, the Mendonca family of Montreal came all the way to Laval to take in the festivities having heard about it from friends who reside here. “We were determined to do some ice fishing this weekend, but there was nowhere else where it was being offered said the family’s father, Tony Mendonca.

(TLN) Laval mayor Marc Demers met last week with Quebec Minister of Transport and Electrification of Transit André Fortin and Laval Regional Minister Francine Charbonneau for discussions on a range of topics, including the financing of the Montreal region’s new transit agency.

Laval’s ARTM funding

During the discussions, Demers raised the issue of the City of Laval’s contention that it is being charged an excessive amount for the ARTM in proportion to other member municipalities. According to Demers, Laval’s contribution is expected to rise to $23 million by 2020 without the benefit of any additional service.

At the same time, the mayor brought up a few other transit dossiers which are a priority for Laval, including electrification of the STL’s fleet. The STL plans to operate at least one bus line that is entirely electric by the year 2020. Laval is hoping that support to meet this goal will be available from Quebec.

REM train to cross Laval

The mayor also raised the issue of the Réseau électrique métropolitain (REM), the region-wide high-speed electric train that will be crossing Laval’s territory. While Laval is in favor of the project, Demers told Fortin and Charbonneau that there remain certain problems to be worked out, including some security issues.

Regarding the ongoing and unresolved issue of the completion of Autoroute 19 in eastern Laval, Demers suggested to the two Quebec ministers that an additional highway traffic exchange would be necessary and would help accommodate the management of other forms of traffic such as pedestrians and cyclists.

Martin C. Barry

As a resident and taxpayer in the City of Laval, how angry are you about the efficiency of the city’s snow removal this winter? Be that as it may, if you were a retired couple living on Bennett St. in Laval’s Chomedey sector, you’d be fuming indeed during this winter of snow removal discontent.

Never as bad

“We’ve been living here for 28 years and we’ve never had a problem like this,” said Andreas Pantelis, who lives, along with his wife, Eleni, less than a block from Centre du Sablon and across the street from Sablon Park.

“We’re paying taxes and I think they should do better than this,” said Pantelis. “This year is much worse. Sometimes they come once in a blue moon and they just throw the snow on the side in the park when there’s too much snow and they can’t do anything else.”

Poor snow service

While in the past, according to Pantelis, the city’s snow removal crews cleaned away snow banks from one side of Bennett (which is a secondary street where snow removal is slower), so that residents might at least have room to park their cars, that’s not the case this winter, he insisted – and it’s taking a toll on him and his wife.

“She has problems, I have problems and it’s a mountain of snow,” he said, noting he suffers from a heart ailment, while Eleni has a problem with a joint in one of her legs. When a snow removal crew arrives – often in the early morning hours – everyone with a car parked on the street (and Pantelis owns three) has to move quickly. In addition to all this, there is often nowhere else to park.

Neglected side streets

“I see everywhere else, they clean one side of the street, then they put up no parking signs, they go the next day and they clean the other side,” Pantelis continued, while complaining that the city should carry out snow removal evenly on all streets, rather than neglecting side streets like Bennett. “I don’t think the way they do it is the right way.”

Pantelis told the Laval News that when he has called the City of Laval’s 3-1-1 hotline for public works, he was told by the operator to park in his driveway. He claimed that repeated calls to 3-1-1 failed to spur the city into action. But as he also pointed out, he’s unable to move the mountain of snow sitting on the street in front of his driveway because of his heart condition.

Waiting, nearly a week later

On Thursday last week, six days after the snowfall, residents on Bennett St. were still waiting for snow on both sides of the street to be cleared away. “When I called, they told me that by the end of the week probably,” said Pantelis, while adding that another heavy snowfall was expected.

With the new snow, he continued, the city crews would begin another cleanup, starting with the main streets, but leaving the unfinished snow cleanup on the side-streets to be continued along with the newly-fallen snow.

Rather than treat side-streets as low-priority for snow removal, Pantelis reasons the city should take into account that streets like Bennett, which are next to large green spaces like Sablon Park, should be given a higher priority when they are near schools and are more likely to be used by children and parents.

What 3-1-1 said

During the Laval News’ interview with Mr. and Mrs. Pantelis, we asked them to call the City of Laval’s 3-1-1 public works hotline so we might get some idea of the response to their complaint about poor snow removal service. What follows is a slightly shortened transcript of the exchange.

Pantelis: Good morning, my name is Pantelis and I called you a couple of days ago about the snow we have in the street. We can’t walk, we can’t park. You told me that you were going to take care of it, but nobody has showed up.

3-1-1: That’s for sure we will take care of it. But we don’t know exactly what day they will do it because the residential is the last thing we take care of. And we received a lot of snow so this also doubles the time. In two days we received many centimetres of snow. It’s a big quantity and we have a lot of streets to take care of, so you have to be a bit patient.

Pantelis: You say it’s going be the last day when it’s going to be cleaned?

3-1-1: It’s always the last we do, sir. It’s always been like this, sir.

Pantelis: No, no. It’s not always like this. I live here for 28 years.

3-1-1: Sir, I am working here for more than that, so I know this is always the way they treat all the streets. We have your request, sir, you have to be patient and we have a lot to do.

Pantelis: But this is a one-way street.

3-1-1: Yes sir, I know that street. I live in Chomedey sector, too.

Pantelis: Okay, there is a school behind my house, there are people passing by to go to Centre du Sablon, and it’s a main street to me.

3-1-1: It’s not a main street. We have a by-law from Gouvernement du Québec so that we have to do big streets before small residential streets.

Pantelis: I went yesterday everywhere in Chomedey and I see you cleaning a lot of streets.

3-1-1: Just be patient. We received a lot of snow. We are doing our best, sir.

Pantelis: Yes, I understand, but at least clean one side so that we can park.

3-1-1: We will do, sir. Just be a bit patient.

Pantelis: We had the snow fall on Friday and tomorrow is Friday. You’ve had a week already.

3-1-1: We’ve got to work all the weekend, sir, don’t worry.

Pantelis: Well I hope you will try your best, because it’s frustrating.

3-1-1: We try, sir. As I told you, we have a lot of snow to take off so just be patient.

Pantelis: I know that. But at least to me one side should be clean so we could park.

3-1-1: I can understand that, sir, but you have driveways on that street.

Pantelis: I have a driveway, yeah, but it takes only one car. I have three cars already.

3-1-1: Yes, but it’s not the city’s fault that you bought three cars.

Pantelis: No, it’s not the city’s fault, but where am I going to park?

3-1-1: Sir, I’ve just told you the request time. Be patient. We cannot do more than that. If we could stop nature from sending snow it would be what we would want for us and for you. But we can do nothing about that.

Martin C. Barry

With Action Laval no longer the official opposition at Laval city hall since last November’s municipal elections, the party’s lone member on city council, Chomedey councillor Aglaia Revelakis, was asked by the Laval News about the future of the party as well as her own plans.

What the future holds

“We are looking forward to a great year are continuing to do the great work that we were elected for at city hall,” Revelakis said in an interview with the Laval News during a break at the first city council meeting for 2018 on Jan. 16.

Regarding her own future, she said, “Right now I’m with Action Laval. I got elected under the banner of Action Laval. Right now I’m here at city hall. I got elected by the citizens of Laval, and for now this is the plan. For the future, it’s hard to say anything else, but right now I’m here. And if anything else happens we are sure to let you know.”

A reversal of roles

In the meantime, Action Laval and its former rival for official opposition status, the Parti Laval, have switched office spaces on the ground floor at Laval city hall. Revelakis, who is regarded as an independent on city council, is currently the only elected councillor occupying her office space which was set aside for any independent members.

The Parti Laval – which is led by former Fabreville councillor Michel Trottier, who is biding his time on the sidelines after failing in his bid for the mayoralty in the November election – now occupies a small suite of offices used by Claude Larochelle, the only city councillor elected under the Parti Laval’s banner.