The Honourable MaryAnn Mihychuk, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, announced the coming into force of a previously announced increase in the duration of the Employment Insurance (EI) compassionate care benefit, which will provide additional financial security to Canadian workers and their families in times of need.
The Minister also said that the Government will work towards providing more generous leave for caregivers in the future. The Government has committed to making the compassionate care benefit more flexible, easier to access and more inclusive, she said.
Compassionate care benefits provide temporary income support to eligible individuals who must be away from work to provide care for a gravely ill family member at risk of death.
Effective January 3, 2016, the enhanced benefit, announced in 2015, allows claimants to collect up to 26 weeks of benefits, up from the current 6 weeks. Further, the period during which benefits can be taken is expanded to 52 weeks (up from 26 weeks). Benefits can be shared between family members.
Eligibility for compassionate care benefits remains the same, including the requirement for a medical certificate signed by a doctor attesting to the family member’s condition.
Corresponding changes to the Canada Labour Code will come into force at the same time to ensure that the jobs of employees in federally regulated enterprises remain protected while they avail themselves of compassionate care benefits under the EI program.
Quick Facts
It is estimated that up to 6,900 claimants per year could benefit from the enhanced measure that will take effect in January 2016.
In 2013–14, program costs for the current compassionate care benefit amounted to $12 million. An additional $37 million is being added annually to extend the duration of the compassionate care benefit over and above the current program costs.
The measure will have a negligible impact on the EI premium rate.
Laval, December 11, 2015 – The Société de transport de Laval’s Board of Directors has adopted a new fare policy as a part of its 2016 budget. Our new budget is set at 136.6 million dollars which is a 4.2% increase over the 2015 budget. Despite these changes, the development of public transit and customer satisfaction remain our core priorities.
“Our Laval-based administration truly understands the importance of being dedicated to the promotion of public transit and 2016 will be no exception” said David De Cotis, President of the STL’s Board of Directors. “Municipal contributions to the STL will be increased by 7% while local rate increases are limited to 1.6% on average. This is our way of thanking the people of Laval for their ever-increasing loyalty to public transit.”
The results of the most recent Origin Destination (OD) Survey bear witness to the revitalizing effect of public transit in Laval. Between 2008 and 2013, Laval has seen a 28% increase in the use of public transit. In comparison, the entire metropolitan area only had a 10% growth rate. Over this same period, Laval has seen a marked population growth that expanded faster our fleet of buses. This is a unique situation for the entire Montreal region. The share of market played by public transit has increased by two points. From 18% in 2008, to the current 20%, this means that one out of every five Lavallers takes the bus every morning during rush hour.
We are predicting a 1% increase in ridership for 2016. Our service offer will be increased by 2% including the addition of a fifth accessible bus line for people with reduced mobility and people in wheelchairs.
STI Logo
The largest project yet
2016 will see the beginning of largest project the STL has ever taken on. “We will be implementing a series of preferential measures for buses (PMB) which will mean faster travel times for our clients” says Guy Picard, Director General of the STL. “In total, 227 intersections will be upgraded to smart traffic lights that will prioritize our vehicles when they are running behind schedule. Compared to driving, these measures will make the STL even more fluid, efficient and competitive.”
Guy Picard adds “This will send a clear message about the quality of our service and that the STL is re-affirming its vow to quality. This formal commitment will mean punctual service, cleanliness, the provision of meaningful information, the right to express opinions and be heard and most importantly, comfort. To pursue these goals, we will be continuing the acquisition and replacement of bus shelters which contributes to the sustainability of public furniture at bus stops and ensures the comfort of our clients. The STL will also be acquiring 28 new air-conditioned hybrid buses to make travelling more comfortable.”
2016 will also see the completion of our 20-million-dollar garage expansion project with will allow us to house an additional 60 buses. This three-year capital expenditure program will come to $165.5 million in total.
Sustaining the Horizon 65+ fare
The fare initiatives introduced in 2014 will remain in effect for 2016. The Horizon 65+ fare which has been a rousing success with 19,000 Lavallers to date is being maintained. The STL is the only transportation company in Canada to provide residents 65 years of age and older to travel for free using the Horizon 65+ fare which is valid throughout its service area with no restrictions.
The STL will also be expanding its family fare policy by allowing families to travel without having to pay a fare for children on weeks when school is out to help improve social inclusion.
The STL will also be reducing its fares by 40% in July and August for youths between the ages of 12 and 16 and it will be maintaining the $1 smog day fare. Not other transportation company has gone so far to encourage its riders to use public transit.
Metropolitan governance
2016 will be a landmark year for public transit as the foundation of a new Metropolitan Governance is being established that will see the adoption of Bill 76 which is designed to improve the efficiency of public transit. The STL wholeheartedly believes in the guiding principles of this project and it intends to collaborate fully with the Transition Committee to improve this ambitious reform.
The STL will however continue to ensure that this new governance plan does not limit its ability to innovate through technological of fare policies. It will therefore remain attentive and ensure that seniors can continue to ride for free throughout Laval.
Rigour and continuous improvement
The STL has undertaken several actions over the past few years to improve its management practices and ensure Lavallers that the funds it has been allotted are managed with rigour and efficiency.
This care is equally true of its planning methods, heritage management projects and in the management of its preventative and curative maintenance programs. All sectors of the company are subject to continuous improvement activities.
These efforts were lauded by the 2015 Grands Prix québécois de la qualité where we were awarded the Grande Mention. This recognition is the highest distinction awarded annually by the Government of Quebec to private businesses and public organizations selected according to the quality of their management and their overall performance.
“We are particularly proud of this prize which recognizes the work done by all of our employees at the STL as it reflects more than fifteen years of hard work to continuously improve and innovate” says David De Cotis. “Our budget includes several measures dedicated to the improvement of our services but the people of Laval deserve more. They also rightly expect us to manage the funds we receive with irreproachable rigour and we can assure them that this is exactly what we are doing.”
(TLN) Laval-des-Rapides Liberal MNA Saul Polo was at the Centre de pédiatrie sociale de Laval recently to announce a $1,500 subsidy from the Liberal government to the organization.
“After making several visits to the Centre de pédiatrie sociale de Laval, I could see the efficiency of the services provided by its members, but also the different needs being met by these services,” said Polo who is also parliamentary assistant to the Minister for Economy, Innovation and Exports.
“That’s why I decided to offer the financial support of $1,500 so that the clients of the centre could continue to benefit from quality services,” he continued. “During this holiday season, the needs of our residents are at the heart of my priorities.”
The subsidy was made available through the Quebec government’s Soutien à l’action bénévole program. It was welcome news for Centre de pédiatrie sociale executive-director Mylène Du Bois. Polo also noted the financial support provided to the centre by Dynacare, a company specializing in health care solutions.
Laval’s four Liberal Members of Parliament gathered together recently to announce a federal program that will allow small businesses in Laval to obtain subsidies for the hiring of students 15 to 30 years of age this summer.
Jobs doubled
“We are currently working together to place the largest number of students in our four ridings,” Yves Robillard, the MP for Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, said during a press conference held by the four to announce the program.
“This isn’t just a question of repeating something that’s already been done in the past,” added Alfred-Pellan Liberal MP Angelo Iacono. “Our government, our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has decided to double the number of jobs and to show an even greater sense of openness towards young people who are our future.
Groups and businesses
“During the summer of 2016, more students and more organizations will be able to benefit,” he continued. “What is also great is that we will be helping businesses with fewer than 50 employees to get started at the same time. This is an initiative that will be helping a lot of people, many of whom are in Laval. That’s why our hat is off to our government.”
Iacono said the new Liberal government decided to double funding for the program taking into account the high level of unemployment among young people today. “If you look at the amount of unemployment among those 15 to 24 years today, which for 2015 is more than 13 per cent, it is more than double the rate for those 25 years of age and older,” he noted.
Gaining experience
According to Vimy Liberal MP Eva Nassif, those applying for the grants will have to meet criteria established by the federal agency handling the program: Service Canada. “These opportunities will give a chance to students to enter the workforce while gaining confidence in themselves and learning about work environments,” she said.
“By investing in our cultural industries and the creative sector in order to create employment while reinforcing our rich Canadian identity, we can also build the strength of the summer employment program in these key sectors which are becoming increasingly important in the economy for young people,” said Nassif, while adding that the program will also be taking into account the 150th anniversary of Canadian confederation in 2017.
Money for studies
As part of the program, the federal government will be paying up to 100 per cent of the salaries of students employed by non-profit organizations and 50 per cent for those employed by businesses, said Laval-Les Îles Liberal MP Fayçal El-Khoury. “Youths sometimes have trouble saving money for their studies,” he said.
“This program should help them. We have two goals: helping more students to acquire work experience in their chosen field, while providing support to non-profit businesses and small businesses which need workers for the summer. We believe that this is one of the most beneficial programs around.”
How to apply
Applications for the program are being accepted from Jan. 4 to Feb. 26, with decisions from Service Canada expected to be announced by early May. Additional subsidies will also be paid to non-profit groups and businesses that hire students who are handicapped. Additional information and application forms can be viewed and downloaded from the Service Canada web site: https://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eec.
Contemplating the advances and changes made by his administration in the past two years to encourage real estate development in Laval, Mayor Marc Demers compares the city to an ice-clogged river in the springtime.
“Ice jams accumulate,” he said in an address at the Château Royal on Nov. 24 for the opening of a day-long real estate forum at which hundreds of developers and consultants were the guests. “In the case of the city, instead of ice let’s just say it was problems,” he added.
Left, Laval mayor Marc Demers and Pierre-Luc Girard, president of the Laval Chamber of Commerce and Industry which co-sponsored the real estate forum.
Rebuilding confidence
In Demers’ opinion, the biggest problem contributing to the jam was that “Laval lacked political leadership for many years.” While former mayor Gilles Vaillancourt and a host of accomplices now face long, drawn-out criminal trials on charges of corruption, the new mayor’s task is to rebuild a bond of confidence between the city and property developers.
“We need your help,” he told the developers. “The City of Laval will be built collectively by the people who are present in this room. Your success is our success. We are absolutely certain of this.”
The city is obviously aware of some of the key issues that developers are complaining about regarding their interaction with the municipality. The forum’s organizers placed cards on each of the tables where the developers were seated, calling to their attention such problems as “long delays in construction permits being issued.”
Streamling the system
That alone is one of the most frequently-heard complaints in almost any municipality – not just Laval. But it could easily be worse now in Laval, given various precautions and safeguards municipal administrators have had to put into place in the wake of the corruption scandal.
In his speech, Demers said the forum was being held largely to unveil to the developers the end result of a year of work and consultation by a city council committee mandated to find solutions to problems like the one just mentioned. “But this is just a first step,” he added.
“It’s not the end, not the conclusion, and we have to be in continuous movement to improve ourselves, to remain adept and to be a municipality that works with people who are building the city … Our goal, as I said, is that everyone in the room here can say at some point or another that things have become faster and more efficient to do business with the City of Laval. Because in business time is money.”
Left, Laval city councillor Raynald Adams, development consultant Robert Libman, Laval executive-committee vice-president David De Cotis, and Laval city councillor Paolo Galati shared thoughts during the real estate development forum held by the City of Laval on Nov. 24.
New procedures coming
In an interview with the Laval News, Demers said: “We’re going to have new procedures, new rules for the issuing of different permits, and this should allow us to react faster. When people want to have a permit to build something, we should be able to deliver that permit in a much faster time – in half the time it used to take.”
Demers said the city is also working to make the rules simpler than they were before. “Before when you wanted to build something, you had to get one permit at engineering, another permit at environment, another at urban planning.
“But now we will gather all of them in one permit,” he continued. “And if you have a big project, there will be somebody at the city who will take your case in charge and help you with all the procedures. Our main goal is to make it much easier and much faster to deal with the City of Laval than it was before.”
According to Laval executive-committee vice-president David De Cotis, the City of Laval now feels confident enough to offer developers a pledge that on average within 30 days of applying for a permit “there will be an official answer from the city,” he said. The policy came into effect on Dec. 1.
Five-year-long backlog
At the same time, though, De Cotis acknowledged that the city has a backlog of permit applications which in some cases stretch back as long as five years. “We’re promising that within the next six months the backlog will be reduced to 50 per cent and we’re hired additional employees for this purpose,” he said. “This is very promising and part of Mayor Demers’ vision for Laval to grow into one of the most prominent cities within Quebec.”
Perhaps because it’s still too early to see much improvement, one Montreal area real estate development consultant who attended the forum was sceptical of the city’s efforts. “It’s painful and tortuous, or at least it has been for the past few years,” said Robert Libman who has witnessed the issue from two angles. A former mayor of the City of Côte St. Luc, Libman also sat on the City of Montreal’s executive-committee with responsibility for urban planning, before Côte St. Luc demerged from Montreal a decade ago.
Former mayor now consultant
Libman, who now works in Montreal as an architectural and real estate development consultant, said he was “very hopeful and optimistic that this new process will start to streamline and improve the efficiency of project approval” in Laval.
All the same, according to Libman, his client is still waiting for approval for a 500-unit condo project on Souvenir Blvd. at the corner of Ampère in Pont-Viau after four years, as the city tries to decide whether to extend Souvenir Blvd.
During the forum, an example of the sort of development the city hopes will become more commonplace in Laval was unveiled. The project is the result of a partnership of financiers and developers that includes Claridge Investments, Montoni Development and the Quebec Federation of Labour’s Solidarity Fund.
‘Espace Montmorency’ project
Set to rise next to the 10,000-seat Place Bell in Laval des Rapides, Espace Montmorency, costing an estimated $420 million, will have 10 buildings as high as 20 storeys, with shops, offices, a hotel and entertainment facilities. It will be constructed on a 277,000-square-foot property near the Montmorency Métro to which it will also be connected.
“Espace Montmorency fits right in with our vision of a modern project that creates a genuine living environment and that has the potential for tremendous spinoffs,” said Pierre Boivin, president and CEO of Claridge. On the Montoni web site, the company says Espace Montmorency will be 20 minutes from downtown Montreal and “will help create a new downtown in Laval.”
The students at Giant Steps School in west end Montreal got a special treat just before Christmas last month: the Montreal Canadiens’ star forward Alex Galchenyuk dropped by on Dec. 16 to hand out gifts, pose for photos and autograph souvenir items.
A new experience
“I think this is a little bit different from being on the ice,” Galchenyuk told a small gathering of photographers and journalists who turned up for the event held at the Montreal region’s largest and best-known school for young people afflicted with autism spectrum disorders.
“But I think it gives me personally the exact same feeling as playing on the ice in front of 21,000 people,” he continued. “Whether you score a goal or not, you try to do the best you can and put a smile on the kids’ faces to make them happy and so that they enjoy their day.”
Making a difference
There are a lot of ways a professional athlete can make a contribution towards helping to make the world a better place, added Galchenyuk, “but by being here I can see these kids for myself and get a chance to talk to them.” Galchenyuk said he was impressed with the work accomplished at Giant Steps.
“What they do here is to try developing everyone’s full potential. I know that during my career there were a lot of people who pushed me on and helped make me who I am right now. My sister (Anna) has helped me to become involved in community events like this to get me to visit places like Giant Steps. That’s one of the reasons I’m here to help see that these kids get what they need to help fulfill their dreams in life.”
Raising awareness
School director Thomas Henderson said the students and staff were thrilled to have Galchenyuk as a guest. “It means a great deal to us when people like Alex get involved in the community,” he said. “It raises awareness of our school and of autism in general. We’re always involved in different kinds of projects in the community: we’re working with municipalities as well as other organizations to try to bring support to the larger autism community. We do everything we can.”
Giant Steps Foundation board member Nicholas Katalifos also expressed his gratitude for the visit by Galchenyuk. “As a school community, we were thrilled to welcome Alex Galchenyuk to Giant Steps and were very impressed with his heartfelt interaction with our students,” Katalifos said in an e-mailed response.
A year-end treat
“Needless to say, the kids were very excited about meeting a local sports hero and the Canadiens organization has much to be proud of,” he added. “This was a wonderful way for us to end off an active and successful 2015 and we look forward to a new year that will include a major conference, continuation of our municipal project and annual auction.”
Laval city councillor for Souvenir-Labelle Jean Coupal, who was elected with the victorious Mouvement Lavallois in the 2013 municipal election, has decided to leave the governing party.
Coupal joins the ranks of a growing number of disaffected city councillors who prefer sitting as independents rather than with the council majority or the official opposition, which is perceived by some former members and critics as ineffective.
Critical of ML
In a statement Coupal issued last Monday, he said he has been sitting as an independent since December. He said he did this “in order to better represent the interests of the residents” of his district, as well as the interests of all Laval residents, and “not just from behind the closed doors of the Mouvement Lavallois caucus.”
Coupal said what ultimately made him decide to leave the ML was Laval city council’s recent awarding of a sole bidder computer services contract to an IT consultant who will be receiving nearly $3,000 a day for a total of more than $400,000 for 1,000 hours of work.
History repeating?
“In the beginning, the Mouvement Lavallois was created to oust Mayor Vaillancourt’s PRO des Lavallois,” Coupal said, referring to the former mayor’s defunct municipal party. “This was carried off with brilliance in November 2013.
“Since then, unfortunately, the Mouvement Lavallois has been determined to repeat the era of one-party rule in council,” he added, “by means of money which allows it to eliminate all opposition and to manage public funds without having to worry about the capacity of taxpayers to pay and the equity between them and public servants.”
With Canada’s marijuana laws seemingly about to be relaxed and sales of the currently illicit substance possibly also about to go mainstream, a Laval Police constable told a public gathering of Chomedey residents last week that law enforcement professionals like him have almost given up the war on drugs.
Chomedey to Pont-Viau…
“Drugs, honestly – let’s talk realistically – it’s a war that we’re not going to win,” Laval police constable Jimmy Mourelatos told a meeting on Feb. 24 of around 20 residents who were invited to Centre du Sablon by Councillor Aglaia Revelakis to talk about neighbourhood security issues.
“Even when you focus on one group or in one sector, Chomedey,” continued Mourelatos, “all it does is it does is it switches – it’s going to go from Chomedey to Pont-Viau. And when you put concentration in Pont-Viau, it’s going to go to Duvernay. That’s all it does.
Seen here with Chomedey city councillor Aglaia Revelakis (far left) Laval Police Lieutenant Jean-François Girard and Cst. Jimmy Mourelatos provided residents with information on security in their neighbourhood during a meeting at Centre du Sablon on Feb. 20.
“Drugs is something that’s so big anywhere you go, whether it’s Laval or Montreal, it’s so big I mean trying to legalize it, that even the government itself sometimes must realize that it’s so out of control they’re trying to get a piece of the pie as well,” Mourelatos added during an interview with the Laval News following the meeting.
Only displacing the problem
“For us, we try to control it in our area, in Laval. In most cases what happens is it displaces. That’s all it does. And even with small, minor possession charges, we don’t want them: we want the big fish. So for us even when we catch the small ones, it’s more to start an investigation that leads us to the big one.”
This was on the same day that Liberal MP and former Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair stated in Ottawa that Criminal Code provisions on marijuana must be upheld and enforced even as the government considers legalizing marijuana. Blair has been appointed by the Trudeau government to lead a federal-provincial task force to create a plan for the legalization of cannabis across the country.
“The laws that currently exist, exist in this country and we are a … nation of laws,” Blair said. “Quite frankly, until those laws are repealed by Parliament through the appropriate processes, they should be upheld, they should be obeyed.”
His views, not police force’s
Mourelatos admitted that the views he expressed were his personally and not a reflection of the Laval Police Department’s overall drug enforcement strategy. “We’re never going to give up,” he said. “Even if it’s a war that we think we’re not going to win, we’ll never give up. Ever. We’re always going to be there.”
Mourelatos was responding to comments and complaints from some at the meeting that the Laval Police don’t always seem to respond to calls from residents reporting unusual activity in their neighbourhood. Mourelatos, who was at the meeting along with the Laval Police’s Lieutenant Jean-François Girard, insisted that all calls are in fact taken seriously.
“Even if it’s nothing, they’re going to come and identify them,” he said of the importance of reporting any suspicious occurrences so that the police can at least develop a portrait of activity in an area and build a data base of information containing the names, descriptions and addresses of potential suspects. “That’s how it works – you are there for us. We have to work together. We need you to call us.”
Youths loitering in cars
Another complaint came from longtime Chomedey resident Constantine ‘Gus’ Milonopoulos who said he noticed a lot of drivers lately who drive right through stop signs on thoroughfares like 100th Ave. as well as Souvenir, Normandie and Elisabeth boulevards. He said he also noticed a good number of people lately who spend hours parked while inside their cars near his home.
Mourelatos explained the latter phenomenon as “kids who are looking for places to park” when the municipal parks are closed for the winter “and they want to be together.” Still, he acknowledged, “you always have to be vigilant, right. You never know. But personally I can tell you from experience it’s just kids looking for a quiet street for them to park and have a cigarette or even have a joint.”
RevelakisMeeting1: Drugs “it’s a war that we’re not going to win,” says Laval Police constable Jimmy Mourelatos.
RevelakisMeeting2: Seen here with Chomedey city councillor Aglaia Revelakis (far left) Laval Police Lieutenant Jean-François Girard and Cst. Jimmy Mourelatos provided residents with information on security in their neighbourhood during a meeting at Centre du Sablon on Feb. 20.
Within 200 feet of the corner of Guénette and l’Écuyer in Laval’s Saint-Martin district early one Thursday afternoon recently, the street was littered with bits of trash here and there and hastily discarded garbage pails – the aftermath of a snow removal crew’s visit just a few minutes earlier.
Two for one
But what the Laval News just missed witnessing first-hand by a few seconds, according to nearby resident Natale Polito, was how the snow crew went about combining their usual job blowing the white stuff from the street curb into trucks with a second not so usual task – taking away the garbage – which is a job normally handled by the trash collectors.
Polito agreed that if the City of Laval has decided to save money by doing two things at once, this would certainly seem to be an original if rather odd example of it. “Two in in one,” he said, laughing. “Welcome to Laval: where the snow gets picked up along with the garbage.” Nonetheless, Polito recorded the scene from beginning to end with his smartphone.
Trash blown into trucks
While according to Polito the snow crew left the garbage pails behind, they damaged them. But he insisted that entire bags of garbage, which had been put out for collection by the trash crew, were blown, along with snow, into the rear bins of snow removal trucks to be transported (presumably) to a snow dump.
While noting that some of the bags were pushed to the curb by a snow crew member, “most of them were going inside the dump trucks to be brought to wherever they dump the snow, around Daniel-Johnson and Saint-Martin (boulevards),” added Polito.
Not the norm, says resident
But then, recycling bins were another matter. Referring to another employee, he said “that poor guy had to come out of the truck and place them – because they were all over the place.” Polito said it’s the first time he’s seen anything comparable happen, even taking into account that garbage collection and snow removal operations were taking place around the same time.
“Usually when there is snow removal the day of garbage collection, when it’s on either side, the crew usually comes before they plow the snow and they push the bags and the garbage pails into the centre or on the sides so that the plows don’t touch the garbage.”
Local councillor’s reaction
Laval city councillor Aline Dib, who represents Saint-Martin district, said she wanted to view Polito’s still photos and video footage before deciding along with public works officials just what happened. “We will do what we have to do and check what is wrong and what is going on in this situation,” she said.
Polito agreed that if the City of Laval has decided to save money by doing two things at once, this would certainly seem to be an original if rather odd example of it. “Two in in one,” he said, laughing. “Welcome to Laval: where the snow gets picked up along with the garbage.” Nonetheless, Polito recorded the scene from beginning to end with his smartphone.
While noting that some of the bags were pushed to the curb by a snow crew member, “most of them were going inside the dump trucks to be brought to wherever they dump the snow, around Daniel-Johnson and Saint-Martin (boulevards),” added Polito.
