Martin C. Barry

After receiving the unanimous endorsement of his riding association last Sunday, certifying him as the Quebec Liberal Party’s candidate in the upcoming provincial election, incumbent Chomedey MNA Guy Ouellette said the Laval region’s voters will send ‘six of out six’ Liberal MNAs to Quebec City if the currently ruling Liberals form another majority government.

“If we are six in Laval we are in power in Quebec City,” Ouellette said in an acceptance speech he delivered to supporters who gathered under a tent in the rear yard at Centre du Sablon. He urged all Liberals to speak to their neighbours and family about the necessity of getting out to vote on Oct. 1.

Liberal dominance

Although Chomedey is a longtime PLQ stronghold, and Laval’s five other provincial ridings are currently also Liberal, the Liberals’ political dominance of the region is by no means a certainty.

While the Liberals have been able count on support from the voters in Fabre, Vimont and Mille-Îles for more than a decade, the same cannot be said of Sainte Rose, which voted PQ as recently as 2012, or Laval-des-Rapides, where the voters have been notorious for vacilating in support between the PQ and the Liberals in numerous elections.

“Normally when we are six out of six, we’re in power in Quebec City with a majority government,” Ouellette said in an interview with the Laval News afterwards.

‘We need to be six’

“In the old days when the Parti Québécois was in power, only Chomedey stayed Liberal and the rest were Parti Québécois. For us, it’s really important to defend the interests of the people of Laval. That’s why we need to be six and we will work hard to be six.”

As Ouellette recalled, a minority PQ government in 2012 resulted in two Laval seats going to the PQ and four to the Liberals. However, with the PQ performing so lamentably heading into this election, and the Coalition Avenir Québec’s popularity rising proportionally, the political scenario in Laval could be changing.

Is CAQ cause for concern?

Asked whether he is concerned about the CAQ’s surge of good fortune, while also taking into account that the CAQ has become predominant just north of Laval in the North Shore region, Ouellette responded: “I think it’s a matter for the voters to see who can serve them best. Those who will be voting will have to consider whether they will be better served by a Liberal candidate or they want to make a change.”

All the same, he stood by the incumbent Liberal government’s record. “We have started building a prosperous Quebec for our next generations,” said Ouellette. “Why break all this and restart insecurely? I think we will have to work hard and we need to convince every citizen that they get in their riding the best MNAs who are Liberal.”

A show of support

Among the guests at the gathering were former Chomedey Liberal MNA Lise Bacon, Quebec Consumer Protection Minister Lise Thériault, Mille-Îles Liberal MNA and Minister for Senior Citizens Francine Charbonneau, Fabre MNA Monique Sauvé, Laval-des-Rapides MNA Saul Polo, Sainte-Rose MNA Jean Habel and Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board chairwoman Jennifer Maccarone.

Delivering a testimonial to Ouellette’s effectiveness as an MNA, SWLSB Ward 8  commissioner for the Chomedey area Vicky Kaliotzakis said: “When the Anglophone community of Laval was looking for a champion to help them get equalized taxes and lower the taxes he was there.

SWLSB official grateful

“He was the only MNA to deposit a petition in the National Assembly and he spoke publicly about this issue and lobbied to make real change that would help our minority position,” she continued. “He did make it political, he made it personal. He worked for us as though he were a member of the minority Anglophone community and he didn’t let us down.”

According to Kaliotzakis, Ouellette also stood up for the English-speaking community two years ago when the National Assembly’s proposed Bill 86 threatened to shut down school boards. “Guy was also there,” she pointed out, “even though it couldn’t have been easy.” She said Ouellette helped them fight for their rights to keep locally-elected representatives on school boards.

Martin C. Barry

In her 2018 report on the City of Laval’s overall performance, auditor-general Véronique Boily says the absence of a specific policy to oversee the municipality’s inventory of goods, tools and equipment “is hindering the consistency of management, while periodic inventories “are not providing reliable information on the quantities held and their value.”

‘Mechanisms’ lacking

Also in the report, which was released last week, Boily added that “the mechanisms in place are not adequately protecting inventories, particularly in municipal garages where access controls are insufficient.”

In response to these and other issues, the Laval auditor-general’s office made 10 recommendations, including that an inventory management policy supported by the use of a specialized software package and the training of employees be implemented.

Boily’s remarks come following a report in 2015 that the City of Laval wasn’t taking enough precautions in overseeing its motor vehicle fuel depot at the public works yards. Boily, who came into office only last year, said her knowledge of that issue is fairly limited, although she noted that the previous auditor-general made recommendations about the fuel depot that she presumed were taken seriously by the city.

Filling up on free gas

According to Michèle Galipeau, who preceded Boily as auditor-general, at least one official from the auditor general’s office was sent out to test whether it was possible to fill up at a municipal gas pump without hindrance – and, of course, without paying. According to Galipeau’s office, there was no security of any sort at the time and they were able to take gas at most of the refueling sites maintained by the municipality.

Boily’s criticisms of the City of Laval’s inventory systems weren’t all she had to say. Regarding the city’s methods for personnel hiring, she noted that in 2014 the City of Laval adopted what she called “a relatively clear staffing policy. However, it lacks precision in certain regards,” Boily added, “including when appointments without calling for applications can be justified.”

‘Careful attention’ needed

While maintaining that her analysis of a sampling of 20 files cannot be used to generalize on all the city’s hirings, Boily said “they deserve careful attention since they reveal discrepancies with the principles of the policy or with best practices, whether in terms of identifying needs, meeting eligibility requirements or procedures.

In addition, she pointed out, the computer system that supports staffing activities within the City of Laval administration “meets only part of user requirements.” With regards to these hiring issues, the auditor-general’s office consequently made 14 recommendations in response to these findings.

With regard to the City of Laval’s urban inspection services, Boily noted that the city has few working tools and references to define and simplify management and ensure a standardized documentation of files. As well, she continued, measures are not in place to inspect at appropriate times all permits and certificates issues.

Twelve recommendations

In this regard alone, the auditor-general made 12 recommendations, including one that tools and procedures (a methodological guide, working templates, structured file prioritization and performance indicators) be implemented to ensure inspection activities are conducted more efficiently.

For her 2017 report, Boily audited the city’s financial statements, as well as those of the Société de transport de Laval and the Office municipal d’habitation de Laval. As well, she conducted a compliance audit of the City of Laval’s overall real taxation rate. Boily issued generally favourable statements for each of these audits.

Recommendation compliance

A review of the auditor-general office’s recommendation follow-up process aims to ensure that the city’s various administrative units implement actions plans to address the recommendations made by the office within a maximum period of four years. According to Boily’s report, the office obtained action plans for all the recommendations made in the 2016 annual report.

Boily’s office also measured the rate of implementation of the recommendations after a period of four years. As of last Dec. 31, the rate was 86 per cent, compared to 96 per cent and 98 per cent for the four-year periods ending Dec. 31, 2016 and Dec. 31, 2015. Boily said the decrease was mainly due to the audit of the 3-1-1 call centre performed in 2013, for which only five out of 12 recommendations were implemented to the satisfaction of the auditor-general’s office.

Martin C. Barry

While it may seem a bit of a cliché, the fact is you couldn’t have asked for a weekend better – in terms of weather at least – than the three days when the City of Laval’s 13^th annual Firemen’s Festival took place.

On June 2 and 3, the Centropolis was the place to be for a range of activities – the most exciting of which was the arrival of nearly two dozen antique fire trucks on Saturday morning.

A three-day event

The festival actually started off on Friday June 1 at Laval’s Centre de la Nature where members of the firefighting team took part in a relay race.

At the Centropolis for the next two days, there were educational and information kiosks, fire safety activities and musical presentations. In all, thousands of people from Laval and from further away turned out.

“This is a nice day for all the families to gather here for the weekend,” said Vimy MP Eva Nassif who was on hand for the arrival of the trucks.

Mayor Demers absent

Notably absent for the arrival of the trucks was Mayor Marc Demers. According to Councillor Christiane Yoakim, the mayor was in Boston attending a conference on biotechnology.

“He was very sorry he could not be here,” said Yoakim, noting that Mayor Demers always enjoys himself immensely at the festival during which he usually arrives with city councillors atop one of the fire trucks.

Chomedey-based Agape social services took a courageous leap forward last Monday in their ongoing determination to see that members of Laval’s English-speaking community are provided with adequate service in their own language.

Many services available

Agape, which has had its headquarters for decades at 3950 Notre Dame Blvd., held a grand opening for their new Laval English-speaking Seniors’ Wellness Center. It’s located on the third flood at 3860 Notre Dame just east of Curé Labelle Blvd.

With the new centre, Laval’s English-speaking seniors will be able to participate in presentations on health, learn about the resources available to seniors who prefer to be served in English, take part in special activities, or receive referrals for their social service needs.

Elevator access

The building has an elevator and there is a large parking lot on the side and behind the building. For those curious about what’s available and what there is to see, the Agape Seniors’ Wellness Center (Suite 305) is holding an open house from 9:30 am to 4 pm May 30-31 and June 1.

According to Agape executive-director Kevin McLeod, who played host to more than 40 people (including Quebec Liberal Minister for Senior Citizens Francine Charbonneau and Chomedey Liberal MNA Guy Ouellette), it’s been a little more than a year since Agape had the opportunity to meet Premier Philippe Couillard during a lunchtime gathering when the idea for the Wellness Center was brought up.

English seniors’ needs

According to McLeod, it was during that meeting that he first raised the issue of the specific needs of English-speaking seniors of Laval. The upshot is that the English-speaking Seniors’ Wellness Center ended up receiving $140,000 financing from Quebec’s Ami des Aînés program, in addition to guidance received from the Community Health and Social Services Network.

“The English population has needs and they need to come forward – not behind, not in front, but just beside the French community,” said Charbonneau, pointing out the extensive efforts that Agape made to apply for the provincial funding. “If anybody is to be applauded, it has to be you guys,” she said.

Congratulations from Ouellette

For his part, Ouellette noted that from the third floor at the intersection of Curé Labelle and Notre Dame boulevards, the bird’s eye view of Chomedey is spectacular. “I hope that you will have success for many years. You are answering a need. I think that we are going in the right direction.”

In an interview, McLeod acknowledged the help Agape received from the CHSSN. “A lot of what we are doing with this centre was inspired by the CHSSN, because they have experience with wellness centres in the past,”

he said.

Martin C. Barry

Some recent statistics showing growth in Laval’s English-speaking senior citizens’ community also suggest that the availability of health and social services for seniors may not be able to keep pace with an anticipated further increase in the number of seniors.

Local anglo numbers up

A report on the statistics, based on 2016 Canadian census information which is the most recent, was presented during a briefing at Cité de la Santé last week by the Chomedey-based Youth and Parents AGAPE Association.

The numbers, showing overall growth in the number of English-speaking people in Laval, were tabled as Agape is opening a new Wellness Center for English-speaking seniors in Laval this week.

“The point today of releasing these statistics was first of all to tell the Laval community about English-speaking seniors,” said Joanne Pocock, a research consultant who worked on compiling the information.

Different from the majority

“They are a group that has a profile that’s a little different from the majority group, and therefore their needs and demands, how to support them, will vary from the typical.”

Referring to some of the statistical findings that suggested a significant number of Laval’s English-speaking retirees are living on low incomes, Pocock said, “That fair portion of seniors that’s living on less than $20,000 annually speaks loudly when it comes to health and challenges for that group.”

Apart from the question of low income, Pocock also noted the growth in the number of English-speaking seniors that is forecast in the near future.

More English-speaking seniors

“Laval is a growing community which stands out, and the English-speaking community is growing which stands out in the province, because there are a number of English-speaking communities in decline in terms of numbers.”

The numbers tend to suggest that preparations might be needed to anticipate the rising need for English-speaking senior citizens’ services in Laval for this growing demographic segment. “That growing seniors group – that is a phenomenon that we don’t see elsewhere around the province,” said Pocock.

Going against the trend

According to the statistics, nearly 91,000 of Laval’s 410,850 residents are English-speaking individuals. Among the English-speaking, nearly 20,000 are seniors aged 55 years and over, while more than 9,800 are English-speaking seniors aged 65 or older.

“By comparison you’re a very substantial group here,” Pocock told the gathering, noting that in some other regions of Quebec, English-speakers number as few as 900 individuals amidst the general population.

Agape executive-director Kevin McLeod pointed out that the 2016 census recorded an increase of 10,000 English-speaking individuals in Laval since the 2011 census. “Laval is one of our growing English-speaking communities, because that’s not taking place all around the province,” Pocock added.

The coming ‘tsunami,’ says Pocock

She sees the larger number of individuals in Laval in the 55+ English-speaking seniors group as one of the main reasons demand for English-speaking services here is likely to increase. “You have the tsunami coming, as they say, where that is going to be a growing group,” she said.

Pocock suggested that as the English-speaking population of Laval ages, some might find they have more difficulty coping in instances where the availability of health care services isn’t adequately provided in English.

“Being a senior in itself can represent new challenges,” she said. “If you’re an English-speaking senior but you have been pretty much bilingual all your life, you may find in your older years that you don’t use your French language, your second language, as comfortably.

A vulnerable minority

“There is research that supports the idea that with aging, with acute stress, with illness, we lose our competence in our second language. We want to revert to our other tongue or to the tongue we’re most comfortable in.” And there could be other things for English-speakers, she continued.

“The fact you’re a minority, that there’s fewer of you, means that by and large, and it makes sense, the institutions that you are accessing are probably organized around the majority. The institution sees the majority at their door very often and they organize their services to respond to the demand. So just by virtue of being a minority it makes you a little more vulnerable.”

(TLN) During a press conference held at the Château Royal last Monday morning, Action Laval’s interim leader, Achille T. Cifelli, and Aglaia Revelakis, Councillor for Chomedey, took stock of the last election and the future of their party.

Action Laval was founded in 2013 on the eve of the elections the same year by Jean-Claude Gobé and some supporters in order to provide Laval with an administration meeting its aspirations. As Official Opposition, its members stood out with “their constructive and rigorous criticism of Mayor Marc Demers’ administration” and a defence of the interests of Laval citizens, Action Laval said in a statement.

Remains very present

“We have fewer resources than others, but we succeed through our determination and sense of service in being more visible,” said Revelakis. “Rare are the events where we are absent, whether they are official, or in the streets of Laval,” added the interim leader. “We are experienced, we are committed and above all, we are not alone. The vast majority of defeated candidates are giving time to their neighbourhoods and to help Aglaia in her City Councillor role.”

Cifelli was appointed interim leader following the retirement from political life of Action Laval’s founder, Jean-Claude Gobé. “Once I was appointed Interim Leader, I quickly sat down with those who wanted to continue, to plan the next steps. To make a plan and work together for our future,” said Cifelli.

A three-step plan

Action Laval says it is reorganizing based upon a three-step plan:

1. Re-structuring Action Laval, with clear, precise, open guidelines, approved by a general assembly. This new structure will be made up of dynamic forces, with citizens at heart and working with them, for them. An executive committee, accountable to the assembly, will be formed.
2. Elect a leader, during an open leadership race, which will require candidates to seek a broad minimum of support in all Laval districts. This leadership race will be the one to choose the new mayor of Laval.
3. Convince voters, rally all those who wish to make Laval a more prosperous, safer and pleasant city to live in. Action Laval says it will rally the opposition “and all those who are dissatisfied” with Mayor Marc Demers’ team. Councillors from other parties are also welcome to join the team.

Revelakis welcomes steps

For the Councillor for Chomedey, elected for the first time in 2013, the restructuring of the party is welcome and necessary. “Even though I was elected in 2013, I’ve worked in politics for a very long time,” she said. “Being in a party means working together to make ideas come true and realize our aspirations. This new structure will allow us to move forward, now that we have learned of the results of the last election.”

From June 1 to September 3, each time Environment Canada issues a smog warning, the Laval Transit Corporation (STL) will reduce its bus fare rate to $ 1 on its entire regular bus network. and collective taxis for the next day.

With this program, the STL wants to promote eco-responsible habits in order to reduce the number of cars in circulation, which are largely responsible for air pollution.

“We are pleased to re-launch Smog Alert for the tenth year in a row. This initiative, unique in Canada, encourages the use of public transportation in Laval on days when poor air quality can have adverse effects on the health of Laval residents, “says Eric Morasse, vice President of the STL’s Board of Directors.

STL’s regular cash rate is $ 3.25. The special $ 1 fare awarded on smog days is a reduction of nearly 70%.

Watch for smog alerts!

The STL distributes a special bulletin on its website, on social media, on electronic signs in the city of Laval, on variable message signs from the Ministry of Transport, Sustainable Mobility and Transportation Electrification (MTMDET ), which are located along the main highways of the region in addition to communicating information to the various media.

Martin C. Barry

With a provincial election scheduled for this fall and a federal election also set for the end of next year, there’s no better time than now it would seem for elected officials from Quebec City and Ottawa to make good on past pledges to inject more money into environmentally-sustainable public transit projects.

Buses and electrification

Leaders from the federal and provincial governments were at Société de transport de Laval administrative headquarters on May 11 to announce a combined investment of $26.8 million for the realization of 14 transit-related projects by the STL. The purchase of new buses being will be the main expenditure, although the STL also plans to use some of the funding to launch its first all-electric bus line.

Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of National Revenue in the Trudeau Liberal government, and Saul Polo, MNA for Laval-des-Rapides with the Quebec Liberals, were joined by other federal, provincial and municipal officials to announce the funding, which was being made under the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund.

Ottawa, Quebec, STL

The federal government will be providing more than $14.9 million for the projects, while Quebec will contribute over $11.9 million. The STL will provide the remaining funding. In addition to the electrified bus line and the new buses, the money will also be used to add new technologies to streamline boarding for passengers.

Once completed, according to the STL and the two governments, the STL’s performance, efficiency and reliability will be improved, public transit in Laval will be more inclusive and allow the STL to meet the community’s immediate needs while preparing for anticipated future increases in ridership.

Boosting the economy

“The governments of Canada and Quebec recognize that investing in public transit infrastructure is crucial to economic growth, reducing air pollution, and creating inclusive communities where everyone has access to public services and job opportunities,” the two governments said in a joint statement.

“Modern efficient public transit infrastructure plays an important role in the development of sustainable communities and the growth of the middle class,” said Lebouthillier, speaking on behalf of Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Amarjeet Sohi.

“By investing in projects such as these in Laval, the Government of Canada is helping communities across Quebec improve residents’ mobility, meet increasing demand and provide key amenities to encourage economic development,” she added.

Public transit’s importance

“I am particularly pleased to see that governments at the federal and provincial levels have taken the importance of transportation in the Laval region to heart,” said Polo, speaking on behalf of André Fortin, Minister of Transport, Sustainable Mobility and Transport Electrification in the Quebec Liberal cabinet.

“These investments will support a clean-growth economy that will benefit Laval residents for generations,” said Vimy Liberal MP Eva Nassif.

“The City of Laval is pleased with the funding provided by the Canadian and Quebec governments for the STL to carry out innovative projects, the primary objective of which is to make public transport more attractive to Laval residents,” said Mayor Marc Demers.

‘Right direction,’ says Demers

“This series of projects, made possible through the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund (PTIF), is an integral part of our efforts to promote active and public transportation while decreasing our greenhouse gas emissions,” Demers added. “This is definitely a step in the right direction.”

“The STL is very grateful for this new show of confidence from the Canadian and Quebec governments,” said Laval city councillor Gilbert Dumas, who is president of the STL. “We are particularly excited about this new set of projects, many of which will mark the history of the STL, notably in terms of electrification.”

Dumas said the 14 approved projects “will allow the STL not only to modernize its equipment, but also to maintain its status as a leader in providing passengers with real-time information and in embracing all forms of innovation, with the goal to provide service that is always more efficient and viable than solo driving.”