Martin C. Barry

Elected officials from the City of Laval brought the annual Laval Earth Week to a fitting conclusion last week by overseeing the planting of more than 50 trees symbolizing the municipality’s commitment to environmental values.

Tree planting challenge

Mayor Marc Demers and Laval executive-committee member and city councillor for Sainte-Rose Virginie Dufour were assisted in the planting of the trees on a plot of land near the corner of Autoroute 440 and Daniel Johnson Boul. by representatives of several local environmental organizations. Over the following days, a total of 54 trees were planted in the area.

The area chosen, next to the heavily-travelled autoroute, is considered to be a challenging place to grow trees since it’s fully exposed to extremes of weather, including wind, as well as air pollution from vehicle acceleration and salt residue from the highway during the winter. For these reasons the trees planted were carefully selected from species considered to be especially hardy.

New ‘green’ committee

In other news occurring around Earth Day, the city announced that on the initiative of the Canadian Conference on Urban Forestry, which is holding a conference in Laval this autumn, a new municipal greening committee has been created. In fact, last week’s tree planting was one of the committee’s first activities.

Made up of representatives of the City of Laval as well as from organizations dedicated to the preservation of Laval’s wooded areas, the committee will be bringing forward other proposals for consideration. According to the city, their first goal will be to green up the area near the Carrefour Laval, thus reducing the impact of heat islands.

Businesses invited

“To meet the challenges that await us with regards to the greening of Laval, it will be essential to double up our efforts,” the mayor said last week. “In this regard, I invite the Laval business community to express their interest and to become actively involved in the future actions of the committee.”

“Following today’s tree planting, our greening committee will be submitting a series of new recommendations,” added Sainte-Rose councillor Dufour. “The members will also be identifying potential partnerships with an eye to offering our citizens an environment for living that is greener than ever and healthier.”

(TLN)

On April 26, Laval-des-Rapides Liberal MNA Saul Polo welcomed Maxime Lebel, a student and president of the student parliament at Mont-de-LaSalle secondary school in his riding. Lebel was a special guest at the National Assembly as part of the Young Explorers for a day program.

Lebel spent the day learning about the National Assembly while taking part in various activities with Polo. During the day, he also got to meet Premier Philippe Couillard as well as other members of the National Assembly, including the speaker of the assembly Jacques Chagnon, and the government leader in the assembly Jean-Marc Fournier and others.

Enjoyed the day

“I really enjoyed my day as an intern at the National Assembly with Mr. Polo,” said Lebel. “Politics fascinates me. It is interesting to see Quebec politics from within and to see all the work it requires. All youths should have the chance to do this.”

For his part, Saul Polo said he felt it is important to demystify politics for young people, while doing away with certain stereotypes. Polo received a delegation of some 50 students at the National Assembly around a month before.

“Maxime Lebel is a young and brilliant student who is involved in his community, and he quickly picked up on the major social and political issues affecting our society,” said Polo. “I can see that more and more youths feel called to politics, which is hopeful for Quebec.”

(TLN)

Les Rangements Idées-Range, a Laval-based leader in the field of personal storage systems, has reached a milestone in its development with the opening of new 3,000 square foot showroom and the enlargement of its workshop space from 3,000 to 5,000 square feet.

Founded in 1992 by Harold Leclerc and Stéphane Martel, the company’s reputation is well established in its domain. A leader in closet organization in the Greater Montreal region, Rangements Idées-Range is proud to count among its clients many builders and prestigious residential projects.

Much more to offer

Located on des Laurentides Blvd., the company is currently diversifying its offerings in the domain of smart living. These include wall beds as well as wall units for the living room. “We are proud to have completed this new phase in the development of our business which will soon be celebrating 25 years of existence,” said Leclerc and Martel.

“The showroom was inevitable because appreciated having a place that could inspire them and offer examples of the various options for interior and exterior management.”

(TLN)

On Thurs. April 21, the Montmorency College Foundation raised $70,160 for the college through a gourmet food tasting evening co-sponsored by the Caisses Desjardins de Laval. More than 250 patrons experienced a gastronomical treat prepared by four chefs and a sommelier.

A gourmet event

Major partners in the event include Alimentation Couche Tard and Compass Québec. In addition to food supplied by the chefs, a dozen businesses also contributed gourmet food items. Each service was complemented with a carefully selected wine provided by the SAQ.

A silent auction featured a range of items of up to $10,000 in value. A travel package, “Bordeaux and its vineyards,” worth $4,000, was offered by Voyages CAA Quebec and Transat, but ended up being auctioned off for $5,000.

Encouraging education

Foundation president Sylvie Laflamme noted the importance of the occasion in terms of education. “We know to what point education and training of people is the vault key to be able to progress and prosper as a society,” she said. “It heartwarming to be able to encourage youths to pursue their studies, to make full use of their creativity and to develop their social consciences. Your presence at fundraising evenings like this is important.”

During the evening, Daniel Rousseau, president of the sponsorship committee and the donations from Caisses Desjardins de Laval, talked about the involvement of Desjardins. “In my role as representative of my colleagues at Caisses Desjardins de Laval, I can assure you that they didn’t hesitate to add their financial support regarding this evening which we hope will be beneficial and lucrative.”

(TLN)

Laval’s regional health authority has decided to cancel the certification of the Manoir Chomedey senior citizens’ residence because of non-conformity to fire safety regulations. According to the CISSS de Laval, it is the first time every in Quebec that a social services institution’s operating permit has been revoked for reasons of fire safety.

“Unfortuntately, there are still some negligent owners who have learned nothing of the lessons from the Îsle-Verte fire,” André St-Hilaire, head of fire prevention with the Laval Fire Department, told Radio-Canada earlier this week, referring to the fire that killed more than 30 people two years ago.

Security not a priority

According to Radio-Canada, the fire department and local CISSS authorities have been trying to get the Manoir Chomedey’s owner, a Toronto businessman, to improve fire safety for several years at the seniors’ residence where 150 elderly with reduced autonomy and mobility now live.

“You might say that the owner doesn’t put fire security up front in his priorities and has not chosen to make the necessary investments to improve the safety of his residents,” St-Hilaire added.

Residents being relocated

While the owner is said to have promised to improve fire security systems and the training of staff, the Laval fire department maintains he didn’t follow through on the pledges. As such, CISSS de Laval has decided to take action and will be relocating 36 residents who are considered most vulnerable to another retirement residence because the risks at Manoir Chomedey are considered too high.

According to Radio-Canada, fire drills haven’t taken place at the seniors’ residence in four years, nor does the building have a fire security strategy that is regarded by the fire department as satisfactory. Over the past two years when the fire department paid visits, they concluded the staff was ill-prepared to deal with a fire emergency.

Code infractions cited

The fire department maintains that a minor fire that broke out at Manoir Chomedey last year exposed the residence’s fire safety weaknesses. During an inspection last fall, the department recorded 18 pages of fire code infractions. Among them, smoke detectors were found to be missing, not working or out of date, and fire breaks between areas weren’t up to code.

Although some improvements have apparently been made by the owner, they are said to be insufficient to satisfy the fire authorities. Revoking Manoir Chomedey’s accreditation is regarded as a drastic step which it is hoped will lead to vast improvement at the seniors’ residence.

(TLN)

The Laval public library’s Émile-Nelligan branch in Laval-des-Rapides reopened on April 19, following an eight-month-long beauty treatment.

The upgrade at the branch included a complete restructuring of the library users’ areas. There are now more work tables and comfortable chairs to sit in while consulting library materials. A separate room is now available for the use of groups as well as for cultural activities.

As well, a space to exhibit art installations has been set up on the first floor with professional-quality equipment from which to hang spotlight systems. The branch’s entrance has been reconfigured and floor coverings (ceramic, carpet and linoleum) have been replaced in order to embellish the premises while making them more secure. The washrooms have also undergone a renewal.

Library users will also be pleased to know that the branch’s usual schedule of programming will be resuming in May. A brochure will be available at all the Laval public library system’s branches beginning on May 2. There’s also something else new at all the Laval public library branches this year: registration can now be done online.