Doris was known as playing Raymond’s mom on “Everyone loves Raymond”, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”, “Gramma’s Boy” and many other telephone shows. On Sunday Doris passed away at the ago of 90. She is survived by her son Michael.
A new shared taxi service for the Eastern Industrial Park and Lite boulevard
Laval, April 5, 2016 – David De Cotis, President of the STL’s Board of Directors; Guy Picard, Director General of the STL (Société de transport de Laval), and Chantal Provost, President and Director General of the Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de Laval, are pleased to announce the launch of a new on-call shared taxi service for the Eastern Industrial Park between boulevards Lite and Leman. The Omni Brokerage Group Ltd has also joined the process, representing the area’s businesses.
“The STL is working in close collaboration with local actors to find adapted solutions that meet the needs of clients” explains David De Cotis. “When the Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de Laval and Omni Brokerage Group Ltd contacted us, we listened to their needs and developed a tangible solution”.
The route, stops and schedule for the taxi service are all established in advance, allowing for transfers to and from the regular STL network. The service has over 80 departures seven days a week. Clients who would like to use the service must reserve a spot at one of the scheduled stops by calling Co-Op Taxi Laval at 450 688-8700.
Reservations must be made at least 30 minutes before the departure time. To use the service, clients must be at the stop location they requested and show the driver their OPUS chip card with a valid fare for public transportation on the STL network. Information about the on-call taxi service is available at stl.laval.qc.ca, under the schedules and routes tab.
The issue of access to the industrial park via public transportation was raised by Chantal Provost following discussions at the Chambre’s business members’ meetings held in the fall. This collaboration between the STL and the Chambre came about following reflections on adapted transportation solutions to reduce the costs associated with commuting by car and to encourage greater accessibility for workers.
Nancy Salloum, Human Resources Director for the Omni Brokerage Group Ltd adds that “the implementation of an on-call shared taxi service is a solution that suits us perfectly for the time being. This service provides our employees with the advantages of public transit and allows us to determine the popularity of this type of service by the project’s end in December 2016. “
Guy Picard concluded by stating that “our mission is offering quality service to all taxpayers in the City of Laval. We have a team that truly understands how to implement optimal solutions that are best adapted to the specific needs of our clients.”
26th Laval International indoor Soccer Cup
As of this year, with its 26th edition, the tournament was officially sanctioned International. The tournament held over a two weekend period offered players a challenging set of games. The boys played from April 1st to the 3rd and the girls from April 8 to the 10th.
A number of Laval teams walked away with silver and gold but all teams put in a great effort representing Laval the host city of this prestigious tournament.
Boys
Monteuil boys U14A played NDG for the win and the gold with a 2-1 final score
The boys u16 A from Centre Sud won silver, losing in the final game to Charlebourg.
Our Chomedey boys U12 A played at the U13 level in the final game which earned them the silver.
Monteuil boys U16AA went on to win gold with a score of 3-0 against LaSalle.
Our Delta Boys U10A D1 had to settle for silver, with their loss against Sainte-Julie.
Delta U11A d1 group A went the same way, on the podium for silver conceding gold to Terbonne.
Fabrose U11A d1 group C earned silver in the final match against Brossard.
On the other hand Fabrose u11A d1 in the C group went on to win gold scoring 1-0 against Repentigny
Girls
At the U08 level both our Laval girls teams Chomedey and Fabrose, won all three of their games.
The U-14 A final game opposed our Delta girls against St-Leonard, our girls earning gold with a 3– 0 win.
The Montreuil girls defeated the Val D’Or team at the U18A level which got them the gold.
U-09 A- D1 MONTEUIL girls got silver in their division.
The DELTA girls in the u10 A d1 group B defeated REPENTIGNY by a score of 2-0 to win gold.
Exceptional year for Laval Express Mistral Pee Wee B
The 2015-16 Season for the Pee Wee B Laval Express Mistral has been an exceptional year. The team played 49 games (in regular season and tournament) giving them a record of 36 wins, 9 loses and 4 ties and four banners under their name.
The Mistral team surpassed all expectations of the parents and coaches.
In December, the team played in the Laval Tournament where they were finalist in the Yvon Chartrand Tournament giving them their first banner.
In January, the team was selected to play at the Esso minor hockey Festival at the Bell Center where they played against Drummondville Voltigeurs and tied 1-1.The experience of playing at the Bell Center was phenomenal and one that the team and parents will never forget. At the end of January the team played in the Ste. Therese Tournament where the team played with heart and soul beating the Ambassadeur de CLL 4-3 to win the tournament. This gave them a second banner this time finishing as the champions of the tournament.
The Mistral team finished the regular season in first place giving them a third banner as the season Champions.
The regional playoffs finals took place on April 3rd, at the Guimond arena where the Laval Express Mistral team beat Monteuil Blizzards 5-2 this gave them the title of regional champions.
Following the regional final the team gets some bad news before heading to the inter-regional game their regular goalie has a prescheduled trip out of town that cannot be cancelled and their back up goalie is not available to fill in. The team is in a dilemma because the hockey rules prevent a team from calling up another goalie that is not on their call up list. Therefore, the team has no choice but to use a player as a goalie. The next day Matias and Peter tell the coach that they want to be goalie. In the end, Peter becomes the team’s goalie. With two days to go before the tournament starts, the team rents the goalie equipment and schedules a practice for Tuesday and Wednesday.
With a two hour, practice under his belt our new goalie heads to Trois Riviere for his first game. On Thursday, the team faces the winner of Montreal division. Pumped with anticipation and nerves knowing that they have to protect their goalie the team plays with determination and they win 4-3 against the Montreal Pioneers. The next day with their confidence up, they face the winner of Outaouais. At the end of the first period, we are losing 1-0. The team comes back in the second period to tie the game. Finally, in the third period the team rallies together and they win the game 4-1 against the Patriotes. On Saturday, the team has to win in order to advance in the tournament. The Mistral find themselves playing against the Albatros from Mauricie, the hometown favourites. At the beginning of the game the Mistral come out strong and take a 2-1 lead at the end of the first period. In the second period the Albatros battle back and tie the game 2-2. In a fluke situation the Albatros score leading 3-2. Still fuelled with determination the Mistral battle back but time was not on their side and they lose 3-2.
The team that started the tournament with a goalie that had 2 hours of practice time and turns around and wins 2 out of 3 games is nothing short of showing what determination, team spirit and a love of the sport can do. Wow this really was a great year for this team.
This season the Mistral team won four banners for Laval Express Association. In the upcoming weeks, the banners will be hung up in the Cartier arena for a Fantastic season by a special team. Go Mistal Go!
Hockey Laval Single letter finals
The five Laval hockey clubs ended their regular season with the 7th edition of the Scotiabank Cup , this single letters competition was held from April 1st to the 3rd at the Guimond Sports Complex.
On April 1st, before the games, various awards were given out:
.Olivier Gervais was the recipient of the Pierre Desroches trophy for male athlete of the year.
.Lia Roussiaanos, the Serge Roussin Trophy winner for the female athlete of the year.
.Sylvie Bélanger winner of the Yvon Chartrand Trophy delivered to the Volunteer of the Year.
.Marc-Antoine Beaulieu recipient of the Michel Richer Trophy presented to the Laval referee of year.
.And finally, the Association L’Express de Laval winners of the Laurent Boulanger Trophy given to the association that has most distinguished itself during the last season. “We are very proud of this honour and want to thank all the volunteers for their dedication and hard work” stipulated the club on Facebook.
The regional champions are
| Division | Visiteur | Pts | Local | Pts |
| Novice A- | 2/Laval-Nord Huskies | 1 | 1/Laval-Nord Prédateurs | 3 |
| Midget A- | 2/Laval-Nord Remparts | 6 | 1/Monteuil Étoiles | 7 |
| Novice C- | 5/Delta Mighty Ducks | 0 | 4/Laval-Est Sieurs | 4 |
| Atome C- | 2/Laval-Nord Coyotes | 3 | 1/Laval-Nord Gryzzlys | 7 |
| Atome A- | 7/Laval-Est Voyageurs | 3 | 1/Monteuil Étoiles | 2 |
| Pee-Wee C- | 2/Delta Canucks | 2 | 1/Monteuil Typhons | 3 |
| Bantam A- | 3/Delta Lightning | 1 | 1/Express TGV | 4 |
| Midget B- | 7/Delta Panthères | 0 | 5/Laval-Nord Canadiens | 3 |
| Junior A- | 3/Laval-Nord Huskies | 1 | 1/Delta Pingouins | 3 |
| Senior-A- | 2/Laval-Est Rangers | 0 | 1/Monteuil Éclairs | 7 |
| Novice B- | 6/Monteuil Blizzards | 2 | 5/Express TGV | 1 |
| Atome B- | 11/Express Mistral | 0 | 4/Delta Red Wings | 2 |
| Pee-Wee B- | 6/Monteuil Blizzards | 2 | 1/Express Mistral | 5 |
| Pee-Wee A- | 2/Monteuil Étoiles | 3 | 1/Laval-Nord Prédateurs | 2 |
| Bantam B- | 3/Laval-Nord National | 3 | 1/Delta Panthères | 7 |
| Junior B- | 4/Delta Oilers | 3 | 1/Express Mistral | 6 |
| Midget B-F- | Féminin Mystiques | 7 | Féminin Avalanches | 0 |
Interregional playoff
Interregional playoffs, for the single letters, were held in the Mauricie region from April7th to the 10th.
Of the Laval teams that made it to these finals, only one got the Gold, the Laval-Nord Prédateurs
Novice A – Laval Nord PRÉDATEURS 5-4 CASTORS
Bantam B – Delta PANTHERS 0-2 ÉCLAIRS – RICH
Junior A – RIVERAINS – MAU3-2 Delta PINGOUINS
Midget A – JAGUARS – MONT 4-3 Monteuil ÉTOILES
Atome B – VOLTIGEURS 3 ESTR 6-0 Delta RED WINGS
Novice C – Laval East SIEURS 0-1 PRÉDATEURS – MAU
The regional championship Double letter Finals
After a season full of emotions the double letter finalists played their last matches from April 5th to the 10th, at the Guimond Sports Complex.
We now know which teams will be representing the Laval region at the Provincial Championships taking place in the Québec-Chaudière-Appalaches region from the 20th to the 24th of April 2016
The double letter champions are
| Division | Champoions | finalists |
| atom BB | Monteuil Lightning | Delta Ducs |
| Atome CC | Delta Ducs | Laval-North Vipers |
| Peewee BB | Monteuil Lightning | Laval-North Cobra |
| Peewee CC | Laval-North Vipers | Monteuil Lightning |
| Bantam BB | Laval East Rangers | Monteuil Lightning |
| Bantam CC | Delta Ducs | Rapido Express |
| Midget AA | Laval-North Cobra | Delta Ducs |
| Midget BB | Laval-North Vipers | Rapido Express |
| Junior AA | Delta Ducs | Laval-North Vipers |
Ouellette honoured by School board
At a recent Council of Commissioners meeting Chomedey MNA Guy Ouellette was honoured for his contribution in education. Mr. Ouellette received a mural created by various students.
The following note was on the Sir Wilfrid Laurier school board’s Facebook page:
“At this evening’s council meeting, the Chairperson as well as council honoured MNA Guy Ouellette for his implication and contribution to our schools! Mr. Ouellette is a proud supporter of our school board and for that we are very grateful! We had a mural with students drawing made for his office in Laval! Thank you Mr. Ouellette! ”
The mural has been placed -for all to see- as you enter Mr. Oullettes Chomedey riding office.
Mr. Dimitris Illias and Mrs. Maria Diamantis were also honored that night, along with the teachers involved in the Golden Touch project:
“Thank you to Dimitris Illias, Maria Diamantis, and the teachers involved in The Golden Touch musical production. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed! Your passion is contagious and your dedication admirable!”
Laval unveils revised Master Urban Plan
Martin C. Barry
Presenting the City of Laval’s revised Master Urban Plan earlier this week following years of preparation, Mayor Marc Demers said citizens will very shortly begin seeing the city’s central area blossoming into a true downtown core worthy of a major municipality.
A vision for the future
“Basically what this plan is saying is this is how we want to develop Laval for the next 25 years,” Demers said in an interview with the Laval News following a press conference for the unveiling at Collège Letendre in the heart of the city’s education district on de l’Avenir Blvd.
The Master Urban Plan is being updated after not being revised since 1990. It now goes to local public consultation, following which it will be examined by the Montreal Metropolitan Community and finally by the Quebec government. Beginning late next year, the plan will form the basis for further development in Laval over the next quarter-century through municipal zoning and by-laws.
Development downtown
According to the mayor, development in Laval’s downtown – which is beginning to fill up although there are still many bare patches – will start accelerating in 2017 when the plan is finally in place. “Within the next five years there’ll be over $1 billion invested in the centre-ville by private investors,” he told the Laval News.
“A strategic vision inspires the development of a city, while a master urban plan demonstrates more substantially the major orientations of planning, as well as the goals and the actions needed,” said city manager Serge Lamontagne. He said the major actions the city plans to make include concentrating on Laval’s agricultural areas, identifying the nature preserves which need to be conserved, the consolidation of transit Oriented Development (TOD), determining the crucial district poles and the downtown, and fixing maximal heights for buildings.
Height restrictions coming
“We’re finally going to be dealing with heights,” said Councillor Paolo Galati who represents the eastern Laval district of St-Vincent-de-Paul. “Right now there’s no regulation as to how high you can go. But soon each territory will have a limit. And the only place that won’t have a limit is the downtown area which is very particular. We’re really focusing on rebuilding the city and giving it a distinct image and a new vision for the next 15 to 25 years.”
Planning the future layout of the City of Laval is taking place in conjunction with a specific principle the Demers administration adopted shortly after being elected in 2013. It foresees all future development occurring while taking into account Laval’s basic rural, urban and industrial components. The stance was taken to ensure that development takes place in a balanced manner, laying the ground for a city truly in step with 21st century values.
Preserving historic legacy
The Master Urban Plan will also be taking into account the historic legacy present in many buildings throughout the city. Vasilios Karidogiannis, the councillor for the district of Abord-à-Plouffe, sees this as a valuable tool for the preservation of tradition not only in his area but across Laval. “I’m very proud that this is going to be the legacy of the administration from 2013 to 2017,” he said of the plan.
Information about the revised Master Urban Plan, including a complete version with details and facts, can be seen at the web site www.repensonslaval.ca. As well, the city will be holding public information sessions on May 16, 18, 24 and 25 at 7 pm, during which the plan will be explained in detail and questions can be asked.
City Watch April 16, 2016
Request for financial aid from Quebec
With the abolition of the Regional Conference of Elected Representatives of Laval (CRE) by the provincial government the city administration has inherited new obligations like social and environmental development which traditionally have been responsibilities under provincial jurisdiction. With the added responsibility come added financial obligations therefore Laval’s Executive Committee has authorized its Department of Culture, Recreation and Sport and Social Development (SCLSDS) to file applications for financial assistance from several ministries and ministerial programs.
The Executive Committee authorized the Department of Culture, Recreation and Sport and Social Development (SCLSDS) to file an application for financial assistance from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Land Occupancy under the (FIRM) initiative which supports the development of a comprehensive strategic plan for urban revitalization. The amount of financial assistance that is requested from this budget is $ 475,000. These FIRM funds will enable Laval to support studies for an integrated urban revitalization effort already underway and would provide the catalyst to draw up a comprehensive renewal plan of action adapted to the most disadvantaged areas in Laval, Saint-François and Laval West.
The Executive Committee also mandated its responsible service to request interim funding of approximately $ 200,000 from the Department of Immigration, Diversity and Inclusion (MIDI) under the Mobilization Program addressing Diversity. This temporary funding will cover the period from April 1st 2016 till March 31st 2017allowing the city to increase its involvement and leadership in social development. The MIDI funds will be used to enable the city of Laval services to cultivate and promote a welcoming and inclusive protocol to help immigrants establish roots as residence and citizens of Laval.
Also in the course of delegating the responsibility concerning the sustainable management program of Forestry by the Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Parks the executive committee has signed an agreement in which the ministry will provide it a grant of $ 90,000 over three years covering the period from April 1st 2015 to March 31st 2018. The projects that can be funded under this grant must facilitate the awareness, education and extension of the development of wood as a renewable resource.
Support for the organization ALPABEM
A grant of $ 5,000 was given to the Laval Association of Parents and Friends for Mental well-being (ALPABEM) for support in realizing the project “Have you my number?” This project targets youth 12 to 17 years of age. This project hopes to consult teens and solicit their inputs in order to design, host and promote a website dedicated to providing teens with pertinent information and support. The material will address health, social and community issues that affect teens and the services available to them in Laval. This project is an integral element in the municipal action plan 2015-2017 to develop the mission of Municipalities, the friend of children directive.
Sports Exposition Laval Youth event
Following the recommendation of Laval’s community services (SCLSDS), members of the executive committee approved a grant of $ 1 500 for the Saint-Gilles school which hosted a sports exposition of Laval’s youth. The thirds annual edition of this event, Salon sports et loisirs Jeunesse Laval, which took place on Saturday 19th March was organized by Sports Laval in partnership with local organizations.
Combatting Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) tree pest outbreak
Satisfied with the service offered by the company Greenspace Services for the treatment of EAB with TreeAzin, a botanical insecticide, the Executive Committee has approved a first renewal of the contract in the amount of $ 127,090 (before taxes) for 2016 . This amount will treat approximately 1,000 ash trees. In order to help retard the spread of this pest the administration of Laval offers citizens the opportunity to also treat their ash trees with TreeAzin at a special rate negotiated by the City. The company Greenspace services can be contacted at 1 800 565-5296 from June 1st to August 31st 2016.
Agrilus planipennis, commonly known as the emerald ash borer, is a green jewel beetle native to eastern Asia that feeds on ash species. In its native range, it is typically found at low densities and is not considered a significant pest. Outside its native range, it is an invasive species and is highly destructive to ash trees native to northwest Europe and North America.
Collection, transport and composting of organic materials
The City of Laval announced in the 2016 budget the addition of 10,000 doors in the collection of organic waste which is compostable material as part of its waste management services. In 2016 this will mean local composting sites will collect and manage about 4500 tons of organic compost material. This volume is expected to rise to 6500 tons in 2017 and to 14 000 tons in 2018. The current capacity of Laval’s composting site is not large enough to handle this volume of compostable materials.
This has prompted the executive committee of Laval to tender a public offer of service in order to procure the services of a supplier capable of providing not only the organic material collection but to also transport these materials to an external site for composting.
Civil Security Policy
Quebec’s minister of Public Security published a new strategy to address growing concerns of public security in Quebec. The report tabled in February of 2014 described the changing elements essential for insuring the continued security of citizens. Considering Laval’s demographics and crime profiles reflect the Quebec reality the Police department has asked the administration permission to develop a plan of action to evolve the resources of its service to better meet the growing challenges of the public safety. A regional plan of action to develop crime preventive strategies and the coordination of public security measures has been drawn up. The police department has asked the executive to table its protocol for approval by the city council and to approve its disseminations to the municipal services implicated in its application.
NPI questions choice of non-Laval resident to CISSS board
Martin C. Barry
With the Quebec Liberal government still implementing a massive restructuring of the province’s health and social services sector, questions are being raised by some English-speaking Laval social services providers about the government’s seeming decision to appoint a non-Laval resident as an English-speaking member of the new board at CISSS de Laval.
New CISSS structure
The issue arose during a meeting at North Star Academy on March 31 of the Agape – Networking Partners Initiative, which groups together more than a dozen health and social services organizations which have a stake in assisting Laval’s English-speaking community.
Gary Stoopler, who was until two years ago the executive-director of the Jewish Rehabilitation Hospital, is now director of intellectual disabilities at the Laval CISSS. As well, Stoopler is senior manager responsible for access to English language services in the CISSs. He gave a presentation describing the new structure of the CISSS and access to its English services.
According to Stoopler, the new 17-member board of the CISSS has only been in place since last October. Among those on the board are some appointed by the provincial health ministry. Stoopler said that prior to the dissolution of a previous regional access committee that was chaired by Agape’s Elizabeth McLeod, the ministry consulted a list of names submitted to it and selected an individual named Jean Laliberté to be the board member representing Laval’s English-language community.
‘Ill at ease’ with choice
“They placed someone who didn’t have a clue about what’s going on in Laval,” said Elizabeth McLeod, who was among the more than a dozen community social services reps present at the NPI meeting, while adding that the former committee protested the decision.
“We said that we would be ill at ease to accept someone who is not from the area, who has not lived these years with the access committee. Yes I am frustrated with this, because we worked 20 years on the access committee and you guys have been with us all these years trying to get things done and all of a sudden there’s no English representation per se. Mr. Laliberté, in all respect, I have nothing against this man, I don’t know him, but he’s not from Laval.”
Regarding the list of names submitted to the ministry, Agape Daycare director Kevin McLeod, who coordinates the NPI, said, “Betty was on there, I was on there, I had submitted my candidacy. I know that [SWLSB chairwoman] Jennifer Maccarone also submitted. We were not selected.”
Commenting on the selection process, Stoopler said “it was a very stringent process. There were interview processes. There were skill sets that you had to acquire. And a multitude of conflict-of-interest clauses, so it was very, very difficult to get in there.”
NPI wants to meet him
Kevin McLeod added, “I think it’s imperative that we need as an NPI to have Mr. Laliberté at our meetings. We need to speak with him sooner than later. We will take charge and try to get an appointment before our next meeting and also include him in the next meeting. I’ll revolve my NPI meeting around his schedule if need be. I think he does need to be here. In his defence we haven’t met him yet. So we have to meet him, we have to introduce ourselves, who we are and what not. That’s something we have to do.”
Michael Campolieto, who attended the NPI meeting as an Agape board member as well as on behalf of the St. Paul’s Charitable Foundation, said in an interview with the Laval News that he agreed something was amiss in the government’s selection.
“First of all, he’s not a resident of Laval,” he said. “Secondly, we submitted some English-speaking people to represent the community and the government appointed this gentleman. I’ve nothing against him. Absolutely not. But why are they saying they want English-speaking people on the board? This is an issue that the person should be from the community, their mother tongue should be English and they should come from Laval so that we have a voice as English-speaking Quebecers.”
