The current issue of the Laval News, volume 32-23, published on December 4th, 2024.
Covering Laval local news, politics, and sports.
(Click on the image to read the paper.)
Laval News Volume 32-23
Laval firefighters retrieve corpse from Rivière des Prairies near Hydro-Québec power dam
The Laval Police have confirmed that firefighters on Monday managed to recover the remains of a deceased person found in the waters of the Rivière des Prairies a short distance from Hydro-Québec’s electric power station on the southern edge of Duvernay in Laval.
According to a Hydro-Québec spokesperson contacted by TVA Nouvelles, the unidentified remains might have originated upstream, but were prevented from going any further after reaching the power dam.
According to TVA Nouvelles, Hydro-Québec temporarily shut down power production at the station Monday evening while major crimes investigators from the Laval Police were on the scene.
Update: Overnight accident leaves damaged Mercedes sprawled in middle of Notre Dame Blvd.
Accident investigators with the Laval Police on Saturday morning were trying to piece together the circumstances of a serious car accident overnight when the driver of a Mercedes SUV lost control while apparently travelling at high speed along Notre Dame Blvd. near 101st Ave. in Chomedey.
The accident, which left the Mercedes in the middle of Notre Dame toppled on its side, also left behind a field of debris, the result of striking several parked cars at high speed.
According to a resident who was on the scene several hours later, part of Notre Dame was closed Saturday morning and afternoon as investigators analyzed the situation before filing an accident report.
“One car was hit so badly that it was moved from its parking spot on the street and was shoved into the parking driveway of a private house,” said the resident.
The Laval News contacted the Laval Police for additional information. By Saturday evening, they provided the following account.
Around 2:15 am Saturday, according to the LPD, a luxury SUV with three people aboard was rolling westward on Notre Dame.
A little past 100th avenue, the driver lost control and collided with a parked vehicle.
This vehicle in turn was pushed by the force of the collision into a second parked vehicle.
In spite of this, the driver of the SUV continued along Notre Dame, but soon hit yet another parked vehicle, after which the SUV flipped onto its side and stopped.
According to the police report, a female passenger in the back seat of the SUV had to be taken to hospital to be treated for serious injuries, although they were not life-threatening.
The driver, a 22-year-old male, was placed under arrest for being impaired while at the wheel.
As well, according to the LPD, he was driving despite the fact his driver’s license was suspended.
Planned projects suggest a looming building boom in Laval
A flurry of major construction projects in Laval announced over the last few weeks suggests that a building boom – usually considered a significant positive economic indicator – may well be underway in the region.
Leading the list is a two-tower residential rental apartment project at the Carrefour Laval mall, announced on Nov. 18 by Toronto-based commercial real estate investor/operator Cadillac Fairview (CF).
A first phase of the development will feature 365 units across the two towers, featuring 20 and 11 floors respectively, sharing a six-storey podium housing the development’s common areas, including a swimming pool and other amenities.
In a statement issued by CF, they say their “foray into the residential rental sector is in line with the company’s diversification strategy within its existing land bank to address Canada’s critical housing shortage.”
“The exciting evolution of this property is a strong reflection of our ongoing commitment to the city of Laval.” said Brian Salpeter, executive vice-president for development at Cadillac Fairview.
Carrefour Laval, which first opened in 1974, celebrated its 50th anniversary last March.
The centre currently has 266 stores and is recognized as Quebec’s most productive retail destination, according to the International Council of Shopping Centres’ annual rankings in Canada.
Construction of the new residential project was set to commence before the end of November, with initial occupancy expected in summer 2027.
In commercial and industrial development, Monarch Specialties (a company that may be familiar to those who travel northward on the A-13 just past the link to the A-440) recently announced the start of construction on a major expansion of its warehouse, with Groupe Montoni carrying out principal work on the $50 million project.
In 2007, Montoni built Monarch’s very first building in Laval. Seven years later, in 2014, the two companies collaborated again on a first expansion of Monarch’s facilities to meet growing needs.
Monarch, widely regarded as a leader in the North American furniture and home decor industry, says the project will include three premises, including the warehouse to meet a growing demand for Monarch products as well as an ambition to expand home decor offerings.
According to the company, two additional spaces will also be available for lease, allowing other companies to benefit from Monarch’s strategic location at an increasingly important crossroads, a short distance from Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.
Calling the move “a strategic investment in the future,” Monarch says the expansion will enable them to significantly increase inventory capacity and to improve its logistics processes.
They say the project is part of the company’s strategy to diversify and expand into new market segments, including upholstery and bedroom furniture, while adding that Monarch continues to strengthen its position in the North American market through strong partnerships with major companies that include Wal-Mart, Costco, Amazon and Wayfair.
Finally, the Canadian government had some good news recently for those who may have been wondering when a lasting resolution might be found for the country’s worsening housing crisis.
Laval was among nine Canadian cities where the federal government plans to release a dozen properties from its real estate portfolio to be added to the Canada Public Land Bank for redevelopment into affordable housing.
The properties in Laval include the former Laval Penitentiary (Le Vieux Pen) on Montée Saint-François in St. Vincent de Paul, and a tract of vacant land located next to a low-rise federal government administrative building at 1575 Chomedey Blvd.
“Wherever possible, the government will turn these properties into housing through a long-term lease, to support affordable housing and ensure public land stays public,” said a statement issued by Public Services and Procurement Canada.
Vimont children’s daycare workers face charges of assault
The Laval Police say they have arrested two workers at a daycare centre on des Laurentides Blvd. in Vimont, who face allegations that they assaulted children less than five years old.
The two accused, ages 54 and 60 respectively, were until recently employees at the Garderie Paradis des Laurentides.
They were arrested last Wednesday.
A summary of the accusations filed by the LPD maintains the assaults happened this past September and October.
The LPD said an arrest warrant was also issued for a third suspect to face similar charges.
Family of three from Laval perish in Highway 401 collision
Three Laval residents, including a baby, were reported dead, with a child seriously injured, following a Remembrance Day weekend collision on Ontario’s Highway 401 near Quinte West east of Belleville.
According to the Ontario Provincial Police, OPP officers, paramedics and firefighters responded to the scene of the crash in the westbound lanes of one of Canada’s busiest highways at approximately 1:15 p.m. on Saturday Nov. 10.
The OPP said a 25-year-old male and a 22-year-old female died on the scene, while an eight-month-old child was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
According to the police, a four-year-old child was evacuated by an air ambulance to a hospital in Toronto with serious injuries. The OPP said the crash happened when a minivan collided into the rear of a tractor trailer, whose driver wasn’t injured.
Although the police said all the victims were from Laval, they were not immediately identified, pending notification of next-of-kin. An accident investigation, led by the OPP and with the Office of Ontario’s Chief Coroner, has been launched.
70-year-old man arrested following attack on two women in Laval
A 70-year-old male suspect was arrested on Nov. 7 after he allegedly attacked two women residing at at a mobile home on Dagenais Blvd. in Laval.
The Laval Police said they received a call around 9 p.m. reporting a fight that had broken out between a man and two females at the home in the city’s Laval-Ouest district.
An LPD spokesperson said when the LPD arrived on the scene, they found two victims who had been stabbed and sustained minor injuries. However, neither of the two women needed to be taken to hospital.
The suspect, who is known to police, appeared in court the following morning and was charged with breaking and entering, armed assault and uttering threats. At the time, police did not reveal the connection between the three people.
Several media in Montreal later identified the suspect as Burt Laird Crawford, age 70. According to those reports, he faces 12 charges, including forced entry while armed with an axe. The media identified one of the women as his ex-spouse or partner.
The reports also stated that he had serious previous convictions, and was being sought by law enforcement officials to face charges in Ontario related to alleged disturbances and violence-related offences in September.
Arrests made in Laval for child exploitation and pornography
The Sûreté du Québec says four days of raids conducted in various areas of the province in recent weeks targeting the distribution and possession of child pornography resulted in 17 arrests – including some in Laval.
The SQ, in collaboration with the Laval Police Dept., as well as police in Montreal, Longueuil, Quebec City and Gatineau, executed more than 20 warrants from November 4 to 7 in an operation involving more than 200 police and civilian operatives.
In all, 17 men between the ages of 38 and 80 were placed under arrest and taken into custody. They appeared in court to face charges of possession, distribution and accessing child pornography. The public is urged to report any incident of sexual exploitation of children to cybertip.ca.
Recent Laval Fires:
The Association des pompiers de Laval (APL) reports that a fire in Chomedey on Nov. 12 that was apparently caused by an electric short left a family temporarily homeless.
The blaze in the two-storey multiplex broke out around 4:45 pm on 66th Ave. near Saint Norbert Park.
Fire department investigators later uncovered the source of the outbreak: wiring for a ceiling lighting unit.
Damages were estimated at $50,000 for the building, with a further $15,000 for interior furnishings.
New library/community centre opens in Saint-François – Duvernay-Est
$41 million ‘ECC’ to serve growing population in Laval’s eastern districts
The residents of Saint-François and Duvernay-Est, two of Laval’s largest and most isolated districts, will be able to boast from now that they have one of the city’s newest multi-purpose pieces of infrastructure.
The Espace citoyen des Confluents (ECC), which is located on a soon to be developed green patch in Laval’s sprawling but rapidly-expanding east-end, was officially opened by Mayor Stéphane Boyer last Friday evening, along with a few city councillors and members of the Quebec National Assembly.
The Marius-Barbeau branch of the City of Laval’s library network, as well as a community centre and offices for the Laval Police Dept.’s Azimut public safety unit, are now all located in the ECC building at 1000 Marie-Uguay St.
Fulfilling a need
The ECC is around four kilometres east of Autoroute 25 and nearly two kilometres south of Marcel-Villeneuve Ave. The city says the project was largely the result of a public consultation in which residents from the sectors said they needed a comprehensive point-of-service like this.
According to a press release issued by the city, the library branch now has three times more room with 1,800 square metres. The community centre has several multi-purpose rooms, and there are plans to eventually create a small auditorium with a 180-person seating capacity.
“Today is a big day for the population of the east end of Laval,” Mayor Boyer said before proceeding along with some of the leading figures in the project with a formal red ribbon cutting. He said Espace citoyen des Confluents was a project the city and its partners had been working on since 2017.
‘A major addition,’ says Boyer
“I am extremely proud of its realization,” he added. “With one of the largest libraries on the island and a multitude of close-by services, this is a major addition to our cultural and community offerings in the districts of Saint-François and Duvernay-Est. I invite the citizens of the sector to take full advantage and to make this new space their own.”
The $41 million cost was shared by the City of Laval and the provincial government. The Legault government was represented at the opening by Vimont CAQ MNA Valérie Schmaltz, with Mille-Îles Liberal MNA Virginie Dufour also among the guests.
In a statement issued by the city, they acknowledge that the eastern portion of Laval is undergoing a period of protracted growth. In addition to the other facilities, the ECC complex has games rooms, a kitchen, an outdoor community garden and terraces, and bicycle and skateboard locking racks, with options to carry out maintenance and repairs.
The city notes that with the additional space, the library branch has added to its book and documents collections, which now include 55,000 items. The branch also has new digital equipment, a video games section for teens, and three times as many self-service computer terminals.
LEED Gold for ECC
The city succeeded in obtaining a LEED Gold certification for the building, based on its construction according to internationally-recognized environmentally-sustainable standards. The city points out that it carefully chose the location of the ECC, taking into account that a grid of future nearby streets has already been laid out, along with cycling paths, public green spaces and other features.
The city commissioned Quebec-based sculptor Ludovic Boney to create a special work to hang over the entrance lobby of the ECC. Suspended from the ceiling, Système d’assemblage is a mix of sculpture and architecture, composed of 597 colorful, triangular plaques and modules symbolizing the ECC’s multidimensional purpose.
Ludovic Boney previously created more than 20 works of public art for organizations such as the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, as well as for the municipalities of Trois Rivières and Quebec City.
Action Laval activists gathered for annual policy congress
Opposition party leaders say they’re confident of winning next year
Action Laval’s interim-leader, Val-des-Arbres city councillor Achille Cifelli, thanked the opposition party’s many supporters who turned up at Collège Letendre on Saturday Nov. 9 for an annual policy congress, during which a platform for the next municipal elections was discussed openly.
A show of enthusiasm
In all, according to a statement issued by the party, 30 resolutions were brought forward and adopted over the course of the day. “I am pleased to see the enthusiasm shown by our activists a year from the elections,” said Cifelli.
“Action Laval is a party which plans to consult the population even more,” he continued. “Therefore it is only normal for our team to allow its members to openly express their views on our platform in view of the next elections.”
A focus on local
Among other things, party members voted for motions to have the city reinvest in infrastructures in Laval’s districts, rather than in the downtown core. They also voted to increase and diversify services offered by public transit, and to increase a subsidy for the support at home of persons age 65 and over.
“I am very proud of the work and the serious attitude of our activists, who, like myself, have in their hearts to be able to offer the citizens of Laval a city that respects their priorities,” said Cifelli.
Confident of winning
Action Laval’s leadership says they feel confident of being able to win the mayoralty race next year (although a candidate hasn’t yet been chosen), with a correspondingly high number of city council seats when municipal voters go to the polls on Nov. 2, 2025. The party’s two main platform issues for the time being are fiscal responsibility and consulting residents so as to accurately represent their interests.
Canada Post strike creates uncertainty for small business before holidays, CFIB says
Nearly 80% of small enterprises rely on Canada Post to do business, according to federation
More than a week into the Canada Post strike, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) says it is disappointed by the work stoppage’s impact on small businesses and it is urging Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) to quickly come to an agreement to avoid further disruption as the country heads into the holiday shopping season.
According to CFIB spokesperson Dariya Baiguzhiyeva, three quarters of Canada’s small firms say they stand to be negatively affected by the work stoppage, particularly with challenges to cash flow due to delayed invoices and cheques and higher cost delivery alternatives.
Small business suffering
The CFIB is urging Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) to quickly come to an agreement.
“While many Canadians may not depend on Canada Post as much as they once did, small businesses often rely on the postal system to ship goods, send marketing materials to consumers, send invoices and receive payments from suppliers and business customers,” the CFIB said in a statement.
“With the critical holiday shopping season around the corner and limited alternatives in many parts of Canada, avoiding a postal disruption is important,” the federation said.
They depend on Canada Post
According to a recent CFIB Flash Survey (Impact of Work Stoppages), a strong majority (79%) of small businesses rely on Canada Post services to do business.
Three quarters (75%) of small firms said they will be negatively affected by a work stoppage, particularly with challenges to cash flow due to delayed invoices and cheques and higher cost delivery alternatives.
The federation points out that small firms depend on a reliable postal service, and they need mail and parcel delivery service provided by Canada Post to remain fully operational.
“We’re asking both parties to negotiate in good faith and reach a quick resolution for the sake of Canadian small businesses and consumers,” the CFIB statement continued.
Back-to-work legislation
“And as the federal government has ignored almost every attempt by Canada Post to deal with its unwieldy cost structures, CFIB will call on government to use all its powers (including binding arbitration or back-to-work legislation) to keep the postal system working if negotiations are unsuccessful.”
In the online survey, which has been active since November 13, the number of respondents was 1,461. The CFIB says that for comparison purposes, a probability sample with the same number of respondents would have a margin of error of at most +/- 2.6%, 19 times out of 20.
Con U’s Stingers pitch in for breast cancer research with ‘Pink in the Rink’
A growing army of supporters for Pink in the City’s fundraising efforts on behalf of women’s breast cancer research now includes hockey enthusiasts at Montreal’s Concordia University.
Pink in the City partnered with the Concordia Stingers women’s and men’s hockey teams last weekend for a “Pink in the Rink” campaign event to support Pink in the City’s breast cancer fundraising journey.
The Stingers are now a valued part of the Pink in the City family, says Pink in the City co-founder Denise Vourtzoumis, a longtime Chomedey resident and business owner.
A common cause
“The collaboration highlights the importance of giving back and promoting community involvement, something that both Pink in the City and the Stingers are deeply passionate about,” she said in a social media post prior to the Pink in the Rink event.
She said that together with a shared love for sport and commitment to making a difference, “we aim to raise awareness and funds to benefit the wellness program at the breast clinic of the Royal Victoria Hospital.”
