Four powerful Quebec labour unions have formed a common front
Quebec public sector union workers who walked off the job earlier this week have announced three more strike days for Nov. 21 to 23, unless a deal can be reached before then with the provincial government.
Around 420,000 public sector employees were on strike last Monday as part of a one-day walkout to protest the Quebec government’s latest contract offer.
They disrupted schools, health-care facilities and social services. Union members, who are seeking better wages and improved working conditions, dismissed the government’s latest offer which was made on Oct. 28.
Common front formed
The workers from various unions (Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ), Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux (APTS) and Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ) have formed a common front.
“Everything in Quebec will be closed for three days,” CSN vice-president François Enault said earlier this week during a news conference regarding the upcoming strike days. An FTQ leader said the workers will walk off the job again unless the government returns to the negotiating table with better offers.
They rejected gov’t offer
The provincial government’s latest contract offer included an increase of 10.3 per cent over five years for base salaries, which was just over a percentage point higher than the previous offer. However, some jobs would get an extra 2.5 to three per cent increase from the government.
The common front is demanding an increase of up to 20 per cent over the next three years. The impact of the strike last Monday was felt at public schools throughout the province, where teachers picketed and classes could only start by late morning or by the afternoon.
The City of Laval is going all out this year to thanks its volunteers, with several events and other ways of showing gratitude planned.
On Oct. 25, the city kicked off a month-long celebration of homage to the volunteers, with a show held at the Salle André-Mathieu. More than 700 volunteers turned up to enjoy the entertainment and merriment.
The city plans to keep up the pace with an ongoing publicity campaign that will include ad spots in local newspapers as well as online social media. In addition, an exhibition of photos of volunteers will be making the rounds at City of Laval public library branches over the coming months.
During the same timeframe, the city will be holding special volunteer training days in conjunction with community organizations in Laval that are working closely with the municipality.
Volunteers will have the opportunity to learn about aspects of volunteer work involving financial and administrative responsibilities.
Festival NUM 2023: the place to be this month in Laval
The City of Laval’s public library branches are inviting families to come on out and have fun with art and digital technology at the fifth annual Festival NUM.
Until Nov. 12, it’s a chance to learn about the practical artistic applications of digital technology at nine library branches. A grand finale event will be held Nov. 11 and 12 and the Multicultural Library branch.
Virtual reality, creative music, coding, digital projections and robots are just some of the activities to be enjoyed by children six years old and up, as well as by teens and their parents.
“The universe of technologies and digital may seem rather complex and technical, but it is more important than ever to know how to use them, since more than ever they are part of our lives,” says Laval city councillor for Sainte-Rose Flavia Alexandra Novac, who is responsible for cultural dossiers on city council.
In all, more than 50 activities are planned. They include: virtual reality (using VR headsets) for 12-year-olds and older; electronically-lit sweater creation using electrical circuits; and techno-tinkering, where you can handmake all types of interesting devices, including mini-robots, magic bracelets, bike lights, etc.
The library has invited special guest presenters. They include franco-Montrealer Téo Leroux who will be unveiling his original digital work, La forêt fantastique. Presented in conjunction with MAPP MTL, this event will be a collaboration between Leroux and children from daycamps in Laval.
During the presentation, members of the public will be able to make their own contributions to the work from iPads, including animations projected in real-time on the outer façade of the Multicultural Library building.
Finally, during the entire month of November at the Gabrielle-Roy branch of the library network, artist Louis Bouvier will be presenting his exhibition, “La conjugaison des pensées complexes.”
The exhibit is made up of two sculpture-instruments producing sounds whenever they are approached by people. Children and parents may be interested in trying this concept out.
Thinks the minority Trudeau government will last to the scheduled 2025 election
Four years after first being elected as the Member of Parliament for the Laval riding of Vimy, Liberal MP Annie Koutrakis is recollecting on the two mandates she received, as well as some of the crises she found herself facing.
Two elections in four years
“So many differences – the world is a different place from when I was first elected in 20109,” she said in an interview last week with the Laval News during a pause from one of her many engagements.
Although four years is the average length of a term in office for most politicians, Koutrakis is already in the midst of her second. First elected in the 2019 federal general election, she was re-elected in 2021 when the Trudeau government decided to hold a snap election.
She won the nomination from Vimy Liberal riding association members in early September 2019, with the election itself taking place on Oct 21. She was re-elected in the next general election which took place on Sept. 20 two years ago.
Vimy Liberal MP Annie Koutrakis is seen here with riding association volunteers and staff members following her swearing-in after the 2021 election.
Was promoted quickly
Prior to entering politics, Koutrakis, who is fluently trilingual (French, English and Greek), had been an investment councillor and business administrator. Shortly before being elected, she was elected president of the Hellenic Community of Greater Montreal (HCGM) – the first woman to hold that position.
For a neophyte politician, her rise within the Trudeau government has been noteworthy. She is currently Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec.
As well, she sits as a member on several parliamentary committees: the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying, the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities,
and the Standing Joint Committee on the Library of Parliament.
A learning experience
“It’s a real honour to have been entrusted with the portfolio that I have been,” said Koutrakis. “I have an amazing team of colleagues who are helping. We have an amazing staff.” She said several of the committee portfolios are interconnected.
Koutrakis acknowledged that she faced a steep learning curve after she was first elected. “There was a lot to learn, because this was the first time I stood for election,” she said. “I had to make sure that my constituency office was up and running and the right people were around me to help me.
“It was steep, but you know what – that’s how you grow,” she continued. “You move out of your comfort zone. And I’ve always been a very hard worker. Some people say I’m an overachiever. But I stood up to the challenge and I think I’m better for it and it’s very humbling.”
Vimy Liberal MP Annie Koutrakis is seen here in 2019 when she first ran for federal office. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Laval News)
An early election?
With two years left in the Trudeau government’s current mandate (an election could be held by late 2025 if the minority government manages to hold onto the support it receives from the NDP), Koutrakis speculated on the future political scenario.
“It’s a very, very tough political landscape,” she admitted. “We do have supply agreements in place with the NDP party. And as long as we have that agreement in place, we foresee the next elections to be 2025. But with any minority government, you never know. I mean, we agree on issues now.
Not before 2025, she says
“But it doesn’t mean that tomorrow,” she added. “Some people say that a day in politics is an eternity. I remain optimistic that we will go to the next elections of 2025. There’s no indication right now to say otherwise. People are going through a very difficult time right now with affordability and housing.
“We’re very much aware of that. Our government is trying to give as much help as we can, but focused help, not to everybody at large, but to families that really need it. So, I think that as long as we’ve got the backs of Canadians and we work hard, I’m hoping that we will see the next elections in 2025.”
The current issue of the Laval News, volume 31-21, published on November 8th, 2023. Covering Laval local news, politics, and sports. (Click on the image to read the paper.)
The Laval Police say they have arrested a person under the age of 18 in connection with a stabbing that took place recently near École secondaire Curé-Antoine-Labelle in Laval’s Sainte-Rose district.
École secondaire Curé-Antoine-Labelle in Sainte-Rose.
On the afternoon of Oct. 23, the LPD rushed to Roi-du-Nord Park, in front of the high school, where a brawl between several people saw a teenager get stabbed.
Although not life threatening, the victim’s wounds were serious.
On Nov. 2, the LPD said they arrested a suspect, described as a minor, who now faces charges of aggravated assault, simple assault and illegal possession of a weapon.
The LPD said that since the academic year resumed in September, one LPD officer has been assigned to visit the school twice a week as a measure to prevent violent incidents.
It is not the first time violence has been reported at the Centre de services scolaire de Laval (CSSL) high school.
In November 2021, as reported by The Laval News, two teenagers were beaten at the high school as they were leaving classes by a group of young people who fired a gunshot during the altercation, ultimately leading to a large police deployment and the arrest of one suspect.
The Laval Police are seeking the public’s help to positively identify and locate a suspect they believe is involved with a series of grandparent frauds.
The LPD claims the suspect in question, one of two being investigated, impersonated a targeted victim’s grandson during a phone call.
One of the grandparent fraud suspects, according to the LPD who issued this photo.
Impersonating the grandson, the suspect is alleged to have claimed he was in custody because he had caused an accident in a vehicle while using a cell phone at the wheel, the SPL said in a statement that noted the suspect also told the elderly victim that he had injured a pregnant woman during the accident.
A second suspect allegedly posed as a lawyer named Mr. Bello, who joined the call and stressed how serious the situation was and that $5,000 bail was needed.
The Laval Police say they are looking for a white male, around 35 years old, who speaks French. He is around 5’10” with a shaved head and dark beard.
Anyone with information is asked to call the LPD’s info-crime hotline at 450-662-4636 or 911. The file number is LVL-230726-048.
Kevin Duroseau, 30, faces charges of illegal possession of a restricted weapon and a prohibited weapon and remains in custody with the Laval Police.
The Laval Police say a routine security check conducted at a bar in Laval’s Pont-Viau district more than a week ago led to the seizure of a restricted weapon as well as the arrest of a suspect wanted for uttering death threats.
The LPD says the security inspection, part of a detail now routinely carried out by the LPD with the Sûreté du Québec during a wide-ranging crackdown on violence and street gangs, led to the identification of Kevin Duroseau for whom an arrest warrant had previously been issued.
A search of Duroseau, age 30, by the combined squad members found he was wearing a bullet proof vest and was in possession of a switchblade knife, which is a prohibited weapon.
A subsequent search of Duroseau’s vehicle turned up a 9 mm Glock semi-automatic pistol.
He faces charges of illegal possession of a restricted weapon, as well as possession of a prohibited weapon, and remained in custody on Oct. 31 pending his next court appearance on Nov. 15.
Halloween is going to be celebrated in a unique way on one particular street in Laval-des-Rapides Tuesday evening.
Residents on Rue des Prés have agreed to set the street up in a way as to make Halloween especially enjoyable for children with autism.
Beginning at nightfall on Oct. 31, calming music will be heard on the street.
Residents are making efforts to decorate for Halloween this year with images and sounds which are soothing, rather than playing jarring sound effects or using flashing lights.
Households that have agreed to participate in the event will be hanging a small blue light out front.
It will indidate that when someone answers the door to trick-or-treaters, there will be no frightening surprises.
The special evening is being organized in conjunction with the Quebec Autism Federation.
Members and supporters of the Royal Canadian Legion’s Branch 251 (Chomedey) gathered at the veterans’ hall on Curé Labelle Blvd. last week to open the Legion’s annual poppy-selling campaign which will be taking place up to Remembrance Day on Nov. 11.
In keeping with an annual tradition, the first poppy was presented to a leader from the local community.
Left, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 251 president Dean McKay officially kicked off the annual Remembrance Day poppy campaign last week when he pinned the first poppy onto the lapel of Aaron Stafford, political attaché for Vimy MP Annie Koutrakis. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Laval News)
This year it was a representative from Vimy MP Annie Koutrakis’ office, political attaché Aaron Stafford, who accepted on her behalf.
Barbara Vezina, who is chairing the branch’s poppy campaign this year, said funds from the campaign will be going towards several good causes.
Royal Canadian Legion Branch 251 members and supporters gathered at the veterans’ hall last week to launch the annual poppy campaign. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Laval News)
They include La Maison du Père, the Old Brewery Mission, several palliative care facilities, Saint Anne’s Veterans’ Hospital, as well as shelters for women and children who are victims of domestic violence.
Branch 251 is extending an invitation to all who may wish to join them at Remembrance Day ceremonies being held in Laval at the Veterans’ Cenotaph on Souvenir Blvd. near City Hall beginning after 10:30 am on Saturday Nov. 11.
Montreal Hellenic community group strongly supports Dr. Lucy Gilbert’s cancer research
More than 100 guests gathered on Oct. 17 in the Elspeth McConnell Atrium at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre to celebrate the Lyceum of Greek Women of Montreal’s many generous donations to the MUHC Foundation since 2019.
The Montreal-based Hellenic community group’s members have established themselves as strong supporters of women’s health while championing the work of gynecologic oncologist Dr. Lucy Gilbert, whose first-of-its-kind DOvEEgene test can detect ovarian and endometrial cancers early.
‘Melina’s Room’
In recognition of their efforts, a plaque unveiling took place to name a room in the MUHC’s surgical oncology unit. And to recognize the strength of Greek women in Montreal and around the world, the Lyceum members chose to adorn the plaque with the words “Melina’s Room.”
From the left, MUHC Foundation President and CEO Marie-Hélène Laramée, Lyceum of Greek Women of Montreal president Justine Frangouli-Argyris and Dr. Lucy Gilbert are seen here outside the MUHC surgical oncology unit room where a plaque (above them) has been placed in recognition of the Lyceum of Greek Women of Montreal’s fundraising efforts. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Newsfirst Multimedia)
The event was attended by Lyceum members as well as dignitaries with Greek roots, including Lyceum of Greek Women of Montreal president Justine Frangouli-Argyris, Consul General of Greece in Montreal Katerina Varvarigou, Vimy MP Annie Koutrakis, Saint-Laurent MP Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Montreal city councillor Mary Deros, and Laval city councillors Aglaia Revelakis and Vasilios Karidogiannis.
Two Melinas honored
The tribute recognized two strong Greek women. Melina Mercouri (1920–1994) was the Minister of Culture and Sport of Greece and a widely-revered actress who lost her life to lung cancer. Closer to home, Melina Tsagaropoulos, a member of the Lyceum of Greek Women of Montreal, is a young mother who is currently fighting ovarian cancer while receiving treatment at the MUHC.
Speeches were given by Consul General Varvarigou, MUHC Foundation President and CEO Marie-Hélène Laramée, Lyceum of Greek Women of Montreal president Justine Frangouli-Argyris and Dr. Gilbert.
Finding cancer early
“I cannot put into words how much this effort by the Lyceum of Greek Women and their supporters means to the DOvEE Project,” said Dr. Gilbert. “It not only gives us the funds that we need to work, but the inspiration and the feeling that we are supported by women, to help women. It means so much to us.”
Among those attending last week’s plaque unveiling at the MUHC were Montreal city councillor Mary Deros, Laval city councillors Aglaia Revelakis and Vasilios Karidogiannis, MUHC Foundation President and CEO Marie-Hélène Laramée, Vimy MP Annie Koutrakis, Lyceum of Greek Women of Montreal president Justine Frangouli-Argyris and Saint-Laurent MP Emmanuella Lambropoulos. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Newsfirst Multimedia)
DOvEEgene is a pap smear-like test that uses a specially designed brush to collect cells from the uterus. The sample undergoes genetic testing, allowing the DOvEE team to detect the presence of ovarian cancer in its earliest stages.
Finding the cancer early is critically important because once it has spread, it is essentially a death sentence. Worse, ovarian and endometrial cancers do not present symptoms until they are advanced, meaning the majority of women who develop the disease die from it.
Final clinical trial
The DOvEEgene test must go through several important steps before it can be made available to women across Canada and around the world. It is currently undergoing a final clinical trial for effectiveness. Over 4,000 women have been tested as part of the trial, and the Greek community is proud that over 1,000 of its members have taken part.
Already, the test is saving lives. According to officials at the MUHC, it has helped Dr. Gilbert and her team identify cancer and pre-cancer in numerous trial participants. With the generous and ongoing support of the Lyceum of Greek Women of Montreal, Dr. Gilbert and her team will be able to continue on the path to making the DOvEEgene test a standard part of women’s health care.
