In spite of threatening rain Sunday evening that eventually turned into a downpour, there was a good turnout at the Centre de la nature in Laval’s Duvernay district for the city’s Fête nationale du Québec concert show.
Representing the Legault government, Sainte-Rose CAQ MNA Christopher helped opened the show with some comments about the meaning of Quebec’s national holiday and its importance for reinforcing the culture and linguistic identity of Quebec.
Impending rain and the possibility of serious storm activity forced the cancellation of some of the Fête nationale du Québec events which had been planned to take place at the Centre de la nature earlier on Sunday.
The evening’s concert program included performances by Zachary Richard, Ariane Moffatt, Galaxie, Laurence Jalbert, Marie-Pierre Arthur, Fanny Bloom, Safia Nolin, Kanen Lumière, Ya Cetidon and Sensei H.
‘An organization with a truly extraordinary mission,’ says Councillor Sandra El-Helou
On May 30 at the Château Taillefer Lafon vineyard in Laval-Ouest, Le Pilier Foundation was pleased to welcome more than 100 guests to the third edition of its Urban BBQ.
All proceeds from the event will be donated to the foundation and will be invested in the services offered at the Centre Marcelle et Jean Coutu in Laval.
From the right, Pierre Bélanger, who recently retired as executive-director of Le Pilier after 30 years, is seen here with the new executive-director, Nassim Belaïd, during the Urban BBQ at the Château Taillefer Lafon vineyard. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Laval News)
Nearly four decades
For the past 39 years, Le Pilier Foundation has been dedicated to improving the quality of life for disabled individuals, both young and adult, living with intellectual disabilities, traumatic brain injuries, other physical disabilities, or autism spectrum disorders, while also helping their families.
The Centre Marcelle and Jean Coutu offers a range of adapted services to more than 250 disabled people, youths and adults, while also providing valuable respite for family members. The centre features a Snoezelen room for relaxation and sensory stimulation.
Outside the centre, a safe adapted courtyard offers a play structure, urban gardens and a summer farm. The dedicated team of caregivers deploys a program of adapted activities throughout the week, meeting the needs of people with disabilities, whether they are autonomous, semi-autonomous or not intellectually and/or physically autonomous.
‘A very important cause’
Among the guests at this year’s Urban BBQ was Laval city councillor for Souvenir-Labelle Sandra El-Helou. “Every year, Le Pilier brings us all back together to this very important cause which supports hundreds of families and parents who are living with disabled children as well as others,” she said in an interview with The Laval News.
Laval city councillor for Souvenir-Labelle Sandra El-Helou plays an interactive electronic tabletop game with Gabriel Lourenco, who receives services from Le Pilier, during the foundation’s Urban BBQ event. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Laval News)
“I think this is an organization with a truly extraordinary mission,” El-Helou added, noting that she has visited their facilities and attended events on several occasions as an associate member of the city’s executive-committee with responsibility for social services.
The Urban BBQ fundraising event was held under the honorary co-presidency of Dominique Raîche, general manager of Caisse Desjardins de Mercier-Est–Anjou and a mutual fund representative for Desjardins Financial Services.
Raîche’s 2nd year as co-president
“I am pleased to be the honorary co-chairwoman of this event for a second consecutive year,” she said. “The Centre Marcelle et Jean Coutu is a warm and safe place. Parents are happy and confident to entrust their children to the lovely caregivers, knowing they are in good hands. Thank you for supporting Le Pilier Foundation which makes a huge difference in their lives.”
Le Pilier has been dedicated for 39 years to improving life for the disabled
The evening brought together members of the Laval and greater Montreal metropolitan area’s business community, as well as many of Le Pilier Foundation’s partners. Guests were able to enjoy the Andy DaCoulis Quartet’s live music. They played a repertoire of classic jazz, while guests sampled hors-d’oeuvres from a delectable menu created by Robert Alexis Traiteur.
Pursuing a mission
“I would like to express my deep gratitude to all of our generous donors who mobilized to support our mission and help to pursue our goals,” said Johanne Desjardins, executive-director for philanthropy, development and communications at Le Pilier Foundation.
Supporters of the Le Pilier Foundation raised their glasses to the non-profit’s success providing services to the disabled during the third annual Urban BBQ held at the Château Taillefer Lafon vineyard in Laval-Ouest on May 30. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Laval News)
“I would also like to extend my warmest thanks to Dominique Raîche and her involvement,” she continued. “Thanks to her precious commitment, we are turning dreams into reality, offering residents and users a better quality of life and a brighter outlook for the future.”
The crime rate has increased significantly in Laval over the past year. Fewer murders have been committed, but several other types of violent crime are on the rise.
The number of crimes committed in Laval reached 18,688, an increase of 10% compared to 2022. The number of criminal incidents has jumped by 30% over the past four years in Laval. Here are the highlights of the Laval police force’s annual report released last Wednesday morning.
Fewer murders, more assaults
Nine people were murdered in 2023 in Laval, including two children who perished in the bus attack on a daycare. This is three fewer murders than in 2022, which was the deadliest year in the last five years. On the other hand, the number of assaults and acts of threats or violence jumped by 8.3% and 33% respectively.
Explosion in the number of arson attacks
With an increase of 53% compared to 2022, the number of arson attacks has risen sharply during 2023. The vast majority of these crimes were committed in the context of extortion. For several years now, Laval merchants have been approached by criminals who demand a sum of money in exchange for a protection service.
If they refuse, the criminals do not hesitate to set fire to their victims’ businesses. The owner of the Nuits de Beyrouth restaurant had to close his doors a few weeks ago after seeing his business set on fire four times by a criminal hand. No company was now willing to insure it.
Gun discharges in free fall
Police efforts to counter gun violence on its territory have paid off. As proof, half as many firearm discharge events took place in Laval in 2023, compared to 2022. This type of crime has increased from 43 in 2021, to 24 in 2022 and to 13 in 2023. Laval police officers have also seized 57 firearms in the past year.
Other types of crimes that increased significantly in Laval in 2023: fraud (+20%), sexual offences (+17%), theft under $5000 (+17%), drug possession (+45%) and domestic violence (+8%).
Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement warning that a heat wave affecting Laval and Montreal for close to a week could bring temperatures as high as 36 degrees Celsius.
According to the federal weather service, a warm air mass will start to affect southern Quebec beginning on Monday.
Maximum temperatures between 30 and 36 C are expected, followed by overnight lows above 20 C.
Humidex values are expected to exceed 40 C in the afternoon on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Heat and humidity should begin to ease on Friday, says the weather agency.
Environment Canada is advising all those in the affected areas to watch out for heat-related impacts, such as heat exhaustion and/or heat stroke.
Former Montreal mayor and ex-federal Liberal cabinet minister Denis Coderre, left, who is seen here with Chomedey PLQ MNA Sona Lakhoyan Olivier, is due to make an announcement in Quebec City on June 21 on whether he’ll be running to be leader of the Quebec Liberal Party. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Laval News)
All eyes were on Denis Coderre in Laval last week – despite low poll results
With former Montreal mayor Denis Coderre soon to announce whether he’ll be running for the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party, some prominent PLQers were tight-lipped during a social gathering in Laval last week, when they were asked which way they’re leaning at this early stage of the leadership race.
The cocktail fundraiser at the Château Royal in Chomedey, held for the PLQ’s six riding associations in the Laval region, drew 130 supporters.
PLQ’s last two Laval seats
The Quebec Liberals, who at one time held all six of Laval’s Quebec National Assembly seats, were decimated in the 2022 election by the Coalition Avenir Québec.
Only Virginie Dufour and Sona Lakhoyan Olivier managed to hold onto the ridings of Mille-Îles and Chomedey respectively for the Liberals. However, in spite of their record-low showings in recent political opinion polls, the Quebec Liberals are still the official opposition in the provincial parliament.
Poll favours Marc Tanguay
According to a Léger-TVA-Journal de Montréal poll that was released a few days after the Laval gathering, the frontrunner for the PLQ leadership is interim-leader Marc Tanguay – who has previously stated he doesn’t want the job.
From the left, former Mille-Îles Liberal MNA Francine Charbonneau, former PLQ interim-leader Pierre Arcand, former Vimont PLQ MNA Jean Rousselle, current PLQ Mille-Îles MNA Virginie Dufour, current PLQ interim-leader Marc Tanguay, current Chomedey PLQ MNA Sona Lakhoyan Olivier and public affairs consultant Antoine Dionne-Charest. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Laval News)
Ironically, Coderre, who was basking discreetly in the limelight for much of the evening, owing to his prominent profile as a former federal Liberal cabinet minister, suffered a precipitous drop in the poll. Coderre received just 12 per cent support, a staggering 18 points behind Tanguay.
Will announce on June 21
In spite of his usually gregarious nature, Coderre has managed to remain coy over whether he will actually run for the PLQ’s top position. Although Coderre told reporters recently that he has made up his mind, he will only reveal his decision after returning from a trip to Europe. He wasn’t any more forthcoming during the event in Laval, saying only that he’d be making a major statement on June 21.
From the left, for PLQ interim-leader Pierre Arcand, former Vimont PLQ MNA Jean Rousselle and public affairs consultant Antoine Dionne-Charest who presides the party’s central political committee, spent part of the gathering leading a discussion on the economic orientations of Quebec. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Laval News)
“This is a good start,” Chomedey Liberal MNA Sona Lakhoyan Olivier said in an interview with The Laval News, while maintaining the gathering was a sign of a resurgence in the PLQ’s fortunes. “I feel there’s this energy. We’re working very hard at the National Assembly and it’s showing results.” She predicted a Liberal win in the 2026 Quebec provincial elections.
Spotlight’s on Coderre
Regarding Coderre, she acknowledged he “does grab attention” because “he has no many years in politics,” so, “of course it’s only natural he would be interested” in the Quebec Liberal leadership.
Left, Chomedey PLQ MNA Sona Lakhoyan Olivier and Mille-Îles PLQ MNA Virginie Dufour spoke during the gathering. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Laval News)
But other than that, she wasn’t taking any position, noting there’s a long time to go before the formal leadership selection process begins.
Virginie Dufour said she too had almost nothing to say, at least for the time being, on potential PLQ leadership candidates. She said she wanted to see “the whole menu” before speaking. “Officially, nobody has announced their candidacy – not even Denis Coderre,” she said.
On June 23, the National Holiday show will be held at the Centre de la nature de Laval. The public will be able to attend a flamboyant show, directed by Ines Talbi, under the musical direction of Alex McMahon, and enhanced by the presence of Philippe Brach.
Starting at 7:15 p.m., Qualité Motel will make the plain dance until the start of the big show scheduled for 8:30 p.m. It will star Zachary Richard, Ariane Moffatt, Galaxie, Laurence Jalbert, Marie-Pierre Arthur, Fanny Bloom, Safia Nolin, Kanen, Lumière, Connaisseur Ticasso, Ya Cetidon and Sensei H.
The patriotic text will be written and performed by Kim Lévesque-Lizotte. This evening will end with a surprise performance, which will replace the fireworks at 11 p.m.
“I am very pleased to have the opportunity to share this unique and innovative evening with Laval residents so that everyone can unite and have fun during this grandiose and memorable annual concert,” said Stéphane Boyer, Mayor of Laval.
Opening of the site
The site will be accessible and animated from 6 p.m., while the big concert will be presented at 8:30 p.m. Several food trucks will be present to satisfy the appetites of young and old.
Free shuttle service
New this year: the public transit service will beimproved. To make the most of the celebrations, buses will drive and accompany the public free of charge by shuttling between the Montmorency terminus and the Centre de la nature (at the corner of Boulevard de la Concorde and Avenue du Parc).
Shuttles to the site will be available from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., every 30 minutes. The return shuttles to the Montmorency metro station will be available until the end of the evening.
A daylight party to celebrate
To continue the celebrations, a host of activities will be offered on the enchanting site of the Centre de la nature on June 24 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Animations, face painting, shows by Laval artists, inflatable games and food trucks will allow families to entertain themselves.
Improvement of block parties
The City is proud to celebrate Quebec culture and identity by granting $20,000 to the Société nationale du Québec à Laval this year to hold celebrations in Laval’s neighbourhoods on the occasion of the National Day.
Essential partners
The City of Laval would like to thank Hydro-Québec, the official presenter of the 2024 Fête nationale du Québec, as well as the SAQ, a major partner of the festivities.
She also thanks the Mouvement national des Québécoises et Québécois, the Government of Quebec, the Société nationale du Québec à Laval, Co-Motion, La QV, Lagabière, Rakatak, Pur Vodka and romeo’s gin for supporting this unifying event in Laval. For additional information, visit fetenationale. laval.ca.
Just as the CEO of Quebec’s largest home-grown telecommunications and media company has come to be known by the three initials of his name, the City of Laval’s Grande Fête des pompiers now stands abbreviated in many Laval residents’ minds simply as GFPL.
More than 200 firefighters from the Laval Fire Dept. were on hand to greet the thousands of moms, dads and kids who turned out June 1-2 for the Grande Fête des pompiers de Laval at Collège Montmorency. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Laval News)
A neat collection of some of the vintage fire trucks that came in from many parts of Quebec, as well as from outside, for the city’s annual Fête des pompiers de Laval. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Laval News)
Exciting fire trucks
After being staged for many years at the Centropolis mall, the annual Firemen’s Festival took place for the second time on June 1-2 on the outdoor grounds at Collège Montmorency in Laval’s downtown sector.
The ever-popular parade of fire trucks, with sirens and warning signals screaming, took place Saturday morning. Starting around 9:30 am, they made their way from Laval’s industrial park, towards the rendez-vous point at the Centropolis by around 10:30.
A learning experience
Saturday and Sunday from 9:30 am to 4 pm, the festival site was filled with a range of activities, including educational kiosks on fire prevention and safety, a car accident simulation, firefighter museum artefacts, fire truck displays and more.
There were even demonstrations of cooking by some of the more kitchen-savvy firefighters, whose sense of haute-cuisine has become well-developed from years of preparing hearty meals in the firehouse kitchen while waiting for emergency calls to come in.
The 3rd edition of the Laval Firefighters’ Blood Drive will be held on June 18, organized by the Laval Fire Department and Héma-Québec.
The goal is to welcome a minimum of 600 donors at the 5 participating sites to contribute to the Quebec blood supply.
The donation experience will be enhanced by the pleasure of discovering your neighbourhood fire station and meeting firefighters and prevention inspectors on site.
“You too can be a hero”
The slogan of the campaign takes on its full meaning, when we know that a single blood donation can help save several lives.
Every day, 1,000 donations are needed to meet the needs of the Quebec population in blood products. This year again, William, a five-year-old Laval boy, is the representative of the campaign. Several blood transfusions saved his life, and he is now in remission from leukemia. William’s parents work for the Laval Fire Department.
“Volunteering your time to donate blood can have an invaluable impact on the lives of many people. On June 18, I invite Laval residents to join the firefighters and prevention inspectors of the Fire Department in large numbers to make a difference while discovering our local fire stations,” said Sandra Desmeules, member of the executive committee responsible for public safety and municipal councillor for Concorde–Bois-de-Boulogne.
Where and how to donate
To donate blood, go to one of the following locations according to the schedule below. From 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.:
• Fire Station 2 (Chomedey): 3000 du Souvenir Boulevard From 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.:
• Fire Station 5 (Saint-François): 7900 MarcelVilleneuve Avenue
• Fire Station 6 (Laval West): 5580 Dagenais Boulevard West
• Fire Station 8 (Sainte-Rose): 555 CuréLabelle Boulevard
• Régent-Martimbeau Community Centre (Vimont): 455 de Lausanne Street
It is recommended that you make an appointment online on the Héma-Québec website or by phone at 1-800-343-7264 and consult the qualification criteria beforehand. Note that it is also possible to show up on site at the time of your choice.
‘I believe that Quebec, and I believe that Canada, should be a bilingual country’
Alfred-Pellan Liberal MP Angelo Iacono. (Photo: Angelo Iacono, Facebook)
In a rare instance of unity, House of Commons MPs as well as National Assembly MNAs were outraged last week by comments by Alfred-Pellan backbench Liberal MP Angelo Iacono that Quebec would have a lot to gain from becoming officially bilingual, rather than having only French as an official language as is now the case.
Iacono made the comments during a meeting of the Commons’ Permanent Committee on Official Languages.
“I believe that Quebec, and I believe that Canada, should be a bilingual country, to be stronger and not just be a unilingual French-speaking province,” Iacono said.
Undoing some damage
This happened as the Liberals were trying to repair earlier damage after eastern Ontario Liberal MP Francis Drouin got into an ugly exchange in the same committee in early May with other MPs over official language status.
Among other things, Iacono related that he began his grade school education in English because, he contended, native French-speaking Quebecers felt threatened by Italians.
As well, he said that after studying political science at McGill University, he chose to study law at one of Quebec’s most identifiably French universities, Université du Québec à Montréal, where he succeeded in being integrated into Quebec’s francophone culture.
Liberals on language issues
Among those who reacted during question period in the House of Commons were Bloc MP for Manicouagan Marilène Gill. She, as well as other MPs, suggested there’s a problem within the Liberal Party when it comes to language issues.
Other MPs who also weighed in were Conservative Luc Berthold of Mégantic-L’Érable, and Marie-France Lalonde of Orléans who is a Liberal. She defended her party’s bilingualism policies in comparison to those espoused by the Conservatives.
Libman weighed in
In Montreal, Robert Libman, founder of the defunct provincial Equality Party, who writes a well-read weekly political column in The Gazette, was among the few wags to take sides with Iacono, calling a unanimous National Assembly move to censure Iacono “appalling and predictable.”
“Bilingualism can be a dirty word, only in Quebec,” he said, adding that “it is politically incorrect to dare suggest Quebec society could benefit from being anything other than an officially unilingual French society.”
Challenging the orthodoxy
As Libman noted, a motion tabled by Quebec’s French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge was supported by all party members in the assembly. They unanimously voted to “vigorously reject statements that Quebec would be stronger if it were an officially bilingual state.”
Libman contended that “it is dynamite in Quebec to challenge the political orthodoxy the province must be French only. Quebec intellectuals will argue personal bilingualism may be an asset, but when it comes to the state, French must be the only official language as a means to preserve and protect it against the tentacles of English.”
To be politically incorrect
“Putting aside the substance of that argument, it is the circling of the wagons by all parties in the National Assembly — the outrage, the demonizing of those who question the orthodoxy — that I often find troubling,” he continued, while noting that Iacono was expressing “a personal, but politically incorrect opinion.”
Libman pointed out that St-Laurent Liberal MP Emmanuella Lambropoulos “was similarly pilloried recently, even from within her own party, when she — very carefully and timidly — phrased a question seeking proof of the decline of French in Quebec.”
The Liberals started off 2024 well behind the Conservatives in money raised
Although Canadians aren’t expected to head to the polls until October next year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave a preview in Laval recently of some of the rhetoric that might be expected before then.
He was at the Château Royal in Chomedey on May 29 as the featured speaker of a Liberal Party of Canada fundraiser organized by Laval-Les Îles MP Fayçal El-Khoury.
Left, Laval-Les Îles Liberal MP Fayçal El-Khoury welcomed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the Château Royal in Chomedey on May 29. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Newsfirst Multimedia)
According to a CTV News Ottawa bureau report in January, the Liberals were starting off the year well behind the Conservative Party of Canada in terms of fundraising.
Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives had a record-setting fundraising year in 2023 – raising $35.2 million, according to the network – while the Liberals raised $15.6 million in donations during the same period.
Political style consistent
While Trudeau’s popularity with Quebecers and Canadians has dropped considerably since 2015 when he first became prime minister, his campaigning style has changed surprisingly little since then.
As always, he projects a generally unflustered disposition that manages to deflect even the harshest criticism, while continuing to bask in a somewhat diminished aura of stardom on the country’s central political stage.
Trudeau’s longstanding penchant for being photographed with admirers was again on display.
Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke at the Château Royal in Chomedey. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Newsfirst Multimedia)
Those attending the Château Royal event were invited after he had spoken to mount the stage in order to have their picture taken with the PM by a professional photographer. Cell phone selfies were specifically ruled out.
Parity and diversity
Introducing the prime minister to a predominantly male audience dressed in business suits, El-Khoury, who has won three elections in Laval-Les Îles since 2015 with very comfortable results, described Trudeau as a leader who supports gender parity and cultural diversity.
“We care about every single Canadian,” he said, referring to the Liberals. “We don’t care about the colour of his skin, or the country he comes from, or the faith he believes.”
Trudeau reacted to Conservative leader Poilièvre’s assertions that the Liberals have overspent
He described Trudeau as a leader who embraces the view that “a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian” and as someone who seeks to “make Canada the best place in the world, the best place to live.”
Brushes off Poilièvre remarks
Trudeau reacted directly to Conservative leader Poilièvre’s frequent assertions that the Liberal government has overspent during the nine years it has been in office and that the Conservatives would implement more austerity.
“We have the lowest deficit in the G7,” he maintained, while noting that Canada is rated by international bankers as having one of the strongest-performing economies in the world.
Trudeau addressed a predominantly male audience dressed in business suits. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Newsfirst Multimedia)
He alluded to reactionary regimes in various countries, “where people are quick to amplify, to increase divisions and frustration, to highlight differences in the hopes of getting a little more political advantage.”
Social media dangers
Trudeau called this kind of situation “particularly dangerous in a country like Canada where our differences have always been a source of strength.”
Commenting on the negative effects of social media, he suggested that people have stopped listening to each other and learning from each other largely because of social media’s impact. “And that’s something that’s dangerous, not just for Canada and for this extraordinary diverse and rich society we’ve built, but it’s dangerous for democracy,” said Trudeau.
