The driver of a Société de transport de Laval bus who is charged with the murder of two children killed in a crash at a Sainte-Rose daycare centre has been deemed fit to stand trial, while also being ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation again.
An aerial view of the incident on the morning of Wednesday Feb. 8. (Screenshot courtesy of Nouvelles TVA)
A lawyer for Pierre Ny-St-Amand, Julien Lespérance Hudon, told the judge during a hearing at the Palais de Justice de Laval on Friday that his client is lucid enough to follow court proceedings and to assist with his own defence.
However, the lawyer also asked the judge to order that St-Amand be made to undergo a second mental evaluation – this time to determine whether he was criminally responsible for the actions leading to the charges he now faces.
In addition to two counts of first-degree homicide, St-Amand is also charged with attempted homicide and assault related to the crash on the morning of Feb. 8.
A man was in hospital late last week after he was gunned down in a restaurant in Laval.
The Laval Police Dept. said the shooting occurred around 7 p.m. on Thursday evening last week at an establishment on Dagenais Blvd.
According to a police incident report, a suspect entered the restaurant, walked towards the victim and fired several times, after which the suspect fled.
The victim, a man in his 40s, was taken to hospital. Police said they didn’t fear for his life. There have been no arrests, but an investigation is underway.
LPD investigates after construction worker dies after six-storey plunge
The Laval Police Dept. is investigating after a 41-year-old man fell six-storeys to his death last week while working at a construction site in Fabreville.
A 9-1-1 call was received by the LPD reporting the fall from a condo building under construction at 3480 St-Elzéar Blvd. Ouest. When officers arrived, they attempted but were unable to revive the man and he was declared dead at the scene.
An LPD spokesperson said police were investigating to learn more about the circumstances leading up to the fall and to determine whether any criminal elements were involved. The Quebec coroner’s office and the CNESST have also been looking into the incident.
A work stoppage was ordered on both the sixth and seventh floors of the building for two days after the incident. The deceased worker was an employee of Cordero Construction and the building contractor is EMD Batimo.
Five-month-old baby found dead in Chomedey
Although criminal charges have been ruled out, a coroner’s inquest has been ordered after a baby just five months old was found unconscious in an apartment in Chomedey last week.
The Laval Police received a 9-1-1 call about the unconscious baby at a residence on Saint-Elzéar Blvd. West.
Although LPD officers immediately tried to revive the child themselves, the infant was transported by ambulance to hospital where its death was declared by medical personnel.
According to at least one media report, the death has been attributed to a medical issue and the child’s state of health. The parents were on the scene and followed the ambulance to hospital.
More than 130 guests partied the night away at the Château Royal in Chomedey
The Sir Wilfrid Laurier Foundation’s first annual Valentine’s Gala, which drew 135 guests to the Château Royal congress centre in Chomedey on Feb. 9, raised $15,000 for additional educational resources at schools operated by the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board.
The Masters of Ceremonies for the evening were SWLSB chairman Paolo Galati and SWLF president Archie Cifelli. The evening’s featured musical guest performers were the Soul Station Orchestra.
Great prizes!
There were also some great door prizes, and members of the SWLF board of directors and volunteers went around from table to table to sell tickets at three for $20 or an arm’s length for $50.
Sir Wilfrid Laurier Foundation president Archie Cifelli (left) and Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board chairman Paolo Galati were Masters of Ceremonies for the SWLF’s first annual Valentine’s Gala held at the Château Royal congress centre on the evening of Feb. 9.
The list of prizes included a gift certificate from Polar Bear’s SPA, an air fryer machine, restaurant gift certificates, jewelry, a DeWalt wet/dry vacuum, a portable car vacuum, solar walkway lights, a Cuisinart mixer, and a loge for six for the Laval Rocket courtesy of Groupe Montoni.
$1,000 shopping spree
In addition to these prizes, the grand prize was a $1,000 shopping spree at any of the Montreal-area Cadillac-Fairview (CF) malls. This was available only by buying “pink envelopes” for sale at $20 each. In other words, when they were sold out you were out of luck.
Among the guests was Laval city councillor for Laval-Les Îles Nicolas Borne who was representing Mayor Stéphane Boyer, along with several other members of Laval city council. Also supporting the cause were Fabre MNA Alice Abou-Khalil, and school centre colleagues from the Centre de service scolaire de Laval.
$1 million since 2004
Since its creation in 2004, over $1 million dollars has been raised for the SWLSB, of which more than $950,000 has been given to the schools, educational centres and students. This year, the monies raised will help SWLSB schools purchase sensory equipment for classrooms and for sensory rooms.
Sensory equipment is useful for students of all ages. This highly in-demand equipment enhances students’ learning experience by engaging multiple senses, providing alternative ways to access and engage with information, and supporting students’ strengths and needs. The use of sensory equipment in classrooms has been shown to improve student engagement, motivation, and their feelings of personal accomplishment.
Partners in success
“The Foundation could not be what it is without its important partners and without you,” said Galati. “Each and every one of you in this room contributes to the success of the Sir Wilfrid Laurier Foundation. The foundation is all about kids. Plain and simple. Students are our raison d’être.”
The Sir Wilfrid Laurier Foundation’s first annual Valentine’s Gala featured musical guest performers the Soul Station Orchestra.
Among the businesses which partnered with the SWLF to contribute to the fundraiser’s success were the Caisse Thérèse-de-Blainville, several federal MPs and provincial MNAs, as well as the foundation’s media partners: the Laval News and North Shore News. The SWLF paid homage to past president Christian Fréchette. “Christian, thank you for your vision and for steering the foundation towards that goal of $1 million dollars,” said Cifelli. “Christian has always been a strong advocate for the quality services offered in public English schools.”
The City of Laval is inviting families everywhere on its territory to take advantage of a multitude of special activities made just for children that the municipality will be offering from Feb. 27 to March 3 during the annual Spring Break from school.
As parents everywhere know all too well, Spring Break can be very challenging because of all the spare time their children have on their hands during this week-long break from school.
“We know just how demanding things can become for families during this challenging period of time,” says Renaud city councillor Seta Topouzian who is coordinating some efforts for this dossier.
“But we also know the extent that access to sports and culture are beneficial from the earliest age. This should not become a financial burden, especially in the context of the current economy. We are therefore very proud to ensure access to a diversified range of activities to young people all over Laval.”
The city is extending an open invitation to all Laval families to visit the municipality’s parks, woods, arenas and indoor pools to get physically active and have fun. In some cases, there are prizes to be won in certain parks where snow fort building contests will be taking place.
There will also be free-skate events and open hockey at several municipal arenas. As well, the city’s library branches will be offering more than 50 activities to youths to feed their imaginations, their creativity and their curiosity.
City appoints a new interim-director general
Members of the City of Laval’s executive-committee recently formalized the appointment of a new interim-director general to replace former director general Jacques Ulysse whose five-year term came to an end.
Ulysse’s temporary replacement, Babak Herischi, has been on the job since Feb. 11. Herischi was the City of Laval’s assistant-director general for infrastructures since 2019.
Regarded as a seasoned administrator and municipal services manager, Herischi has more than 30 years experience in the municipal domain. He has a Bachelor’s degree in business administration from the École des sciences de la gestion at UQAM and completed a number of key projects for the City of Laval.
“With an exceptional record of past experience in workplace administration with prioritization of strategy, he has all my trust to direct the administration during this crucial transition period,” Mayor Stéphane Boyer said in a statement.
According to the city, the process to recruit a new and permanent director general has already begun. The city says the successful candidate will be mandated to implement the strategic vision, Laval 2035, as well as the implementation of the wide range of services provided to the City of Laval’s residents.
Laval files three new legal claims for $9 million
Mayor Stéphane Boyer announced last week that Laval has filed new court claims on money the city alleges was skimmed by crooked contractors working for the municipality during the many years of the Vaillancourt administration.
Some of the claims, according to the mayor, involve questionable land sales, as well as the management of snow dumps. In all, up to six former contractors who had agreements with the City of Laval are being pursued for $9 million alleged to have been stolen from taxpayers.
Since 2013 when the Mouvement lavallois swept into power, replacing former mayor Gilles Vaillancourt’s Parti PRO des Lavallois as the dominant force at Laval city hall, the new administration, first under Mayor Marc Demers followed by Mayor Stéphane Boyer, has managed to claim back $57 million from contractors who were proven to have overcharged or skimmed the city
The city has used the money to establish the Fonds Place-du-Souvenir, a fund that helps provide support for children and teenaged residents from underprivileged families in Laval.
“Corruption and collusion have no place in our society,” said Boyer. “I wish to send this message clearly that our team is still at work. I will be maintaining the same level of pressure with the same sense of urgency to act against these unacceptable practices.”
“The administration of Laval is still actively at work in its ongoing struggle against corruption and states again its determination to be compensated by those persons who took advantage of the people of Lavsal,” added Me Simon Tremblay, head of the City of Laval’s legal affairs department.
‘We need more,’ but we’re building less, Mille-Îles PLQ MNA Dufour warns
Virginie Dufour calls it the “perfect storm.”
According to the Quebec Liberal Party’s critic for Municipal Affairs and Housing, inflation has driven the cost of construction so high, the province can no longer meet previous targets for new social and affordable housing.
But at the same time, there aren’t enough workers to do the job, while there remains a shortage of available properties.
Properties lacking
“The availability rate has never been so low,” the former Laval executive-committee member who now represents Mille-Îles in the National Assembly, said in an interview with the Laval News.
“And because we have an aging population with people who are getting older and cannot pay the rents that we are seeing right now, which are very high, some people simply can’t afford them,” she said.
The number of boarded-over HLMs is increasing because of a lack of investment in renovation, says the PLQ’s municipal affairs and housing critic, Virginie Dufour.
The PLQ, the official opposition in the National Assembly, is calling on the CAQ government to match a renewed commitment last year towards new affordable housing with a dollar-for-dollar commitment towards social housing in Laval and across Quebec in view of a deepening crisis.
Potential housing for 5,000
Dufour notes that currently across Quebec, more than 1,000 previously active low-income housing (HLM) sites have been boarded up or have been vacated.
“By renovating them, we could put a roof over the heads of nearly 5,000 Quebecers,” she said in a recent statement, while adding that certain sums that were set aside as part of a Canada-Quebec agreement on housing should be channeled towards modernizing and renovating currently abandoned HLMs as quickly as possible.
In early October 2020, the federal and provincial governments announced a $3.7 billion 10-year mutual agreement, expiring in March 2028, to “improve” conditions at existing social housing projects in Quebec. Despite this, Fournier maintains some of the fund has remained largely dormant since then.
By renovating low-income apartments, a roof could be put over the heads of nearly 5,000 Quebecers, insists Dufour.
Dollar-for-dollar
“If each dollar invested in the PHAQ [Programme d’habitation abordable Québec] was matched by a dollar from the Accès-Logis program which is currently completely abandoned by the CAQ, we could give an especially strong push to social housing in Quebec,” she said.
In order to provide relief to tenants as well as building owners, the Quebec Liberals have developed a six-point list of recommendations, which includes immediately releasing previously-announced funding so that the boarded-up HLMs can be renovated and made available to needy families.
Dufour noted that at the Val-Martin housing project alone, more than 200 units currently are unoccupied and abandoned. A similar situation prevails a short distance from there at Place Saint-Martin, where boarded-up apartment buildings sit vacant and have become an eyesore.
Estimates have doubled
“Definitely those properties, those units, they should have been renovated a long time ago, but they’re not. It’s not moving because the money’s not there,” said Dufour. “The costs have risen. And so, what was worth maybe $50 million at the time is worth $100 million now. It has increased so much.”
According to Dufour, the impact of inflation on the cost of construction work has been far more severe than the toll it has taken on most other sectors of the economy.
At Place Saint-Martin along Le Corbusier Blvd. in central Laval, boarded-up social housing buildings sit vacant and have become an eyesore. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Newsfirst Multimedia)
“It’s not the same as general inflation,” she said. “It increased a lot more than that. We’re not talking about just eight per cent. And, as you may have noticed, the contracts awarded by the City of Laval has awarded in the last year are a lot more expensive than was estimated four years ago.”
Over the last four years, said Dufour, only 550 units per year of affordable and social housing were created in Quebec, compared to up to 2,000 units per year over the previous decade.
Renovations down
“So, you see, the perfect storm is that we need more, but at the same time we’re building less. And at the same time, our boarded-over HLMs are increasing because of a lack of investment in renovation.”
‘The perfect storm is that we need more, but at the same time we’re building less’
She said that the province’s total inventory of social and affordable housing consists of a percentage of buildings with units that are currently completely boarded over and shut, while others are simply in a deteriorating state although still inhabitable.
“But at some point of we don’t invest in those, they will become unliveable as well and will become barricaded units,” she said. “So, we need the government to put a lot of money. Otherwise, we’re going to end up worse off.”
Inflation’s toll
While Dufour praises the federal government for taking the initiative to commit funds along with Quebec that made new social and affordable housing projects such as the one now underway at Val-Martin possible, she insists they are no longer sufficient given the circumstances of the last three years.
“Here we are in year three, but all the money in the agreement would be insufficient by now for what has to be built or renovated,” she said, maintaining that the original cost estimates didn’t take into account the steep rate of inflation we face now.
Chomedey residents warn of lawsuit if snow removal not improved
A small but angry nucleus of residents on Chomedey’s Ridgewood and Korman avenues is threatening to launch a lawsuit against the City of Laval over what they claim are persistent problems with snow removal, which they blame partly on a new sidewalk and street width arrangement they claim is hampering snow equipment.
Seen here last weekend with Chomedey city councillor Aglaia Revelakis, Christofer Vourakis, Sevag Merdinian, Steve Kromidakis and Emmanuel Axais of Ridgewood and Korman avenues say they are fed up with Laval’s snow removal system. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Laval News)
Narrower streets
According to Christofer Vourakis, a homeowner on Ridgewood, the problems stem from a change the city has been gradually implementing in the width of Chomedey’s residential streets, which were previously nine metres wide with 128-centimetre-width sidewalks.
In many municipalities now, including Laval, when new sidewalks are built, they are often wider in deference to a growing awareness of increased pedestrian traffic as well as wheelchair access, while the streets grow correspondingly narrower, sometimes diminishing the amount of available parking space.
“They shrank our street by a metre and took half our parking away,” said Vourakis, noting that revised snow removal regulations now require cars to be parked on one side whenever snow removal operations have to get underway.
Another lawsuit?
Another Ridgewood homeowner, Sevag Merdinian, has four children and three vehicles. His main complaint: the city doesn’t respect its own snow removal rules, he claims, and doesn’t come to clear the snow at the posted hours, as they are supposed to.
He successfully sued the City of Laval in 2016 over a waterworks repair under the street that damaged his household, and says he is prepared to launch another lawsuit over the snow removal problem. He currently also has submitted a claim to the city for damage to his SUV’s windshield, which he alleges was caused by negligence by snow removal workers.
“I will sue them again, I will mortgage my house and sue them once more or anything that is owed to us,” he said. “I’m ready,” added Vourakis, saying he is willing to join the lawsuit as a co-claimant.
Unscheduled snow ops
They and other residents on Ridgewood maintain that even when the Public Works department places sandwich board signs advising of a snow removal op to take place between certain set hours, snow removal crews turn up unpredictably, demanding cars be moved – failing which they get towed.
Sevag Merdinian, who successfully sued the City of Laval in 2016 over a waterworks repair under the street that damaged his household, has made a claim to the city for damage to his SUV’s windshield, which he alleges was caused by negligence by snow removal workers. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Laval News)
“They showed up on Feb. 10 at eight in the morning, horns blaring to evacuate the street,” said Vourakis, while claiming that on this particular occasion the crews didn’t even bother putting out sandwich boards.
According to new winter parking rules on Ridgewood, there is no parking on the south and west sides (even-number addresses) from Nov. 15 – Apr. 14 when snow removal ops are scheduled to take place. However, cars can be parked on the north and east sides (even address numbers) when snow removal is underway, but at no other time.
Poorly-cleared sidewalks
With a greater scarcity than before of street parking space, and occasionally arbitrary snow removal requirements that sometimes oblige residents to rise from bed in the middle of the night, he questions the City of Laval’s authority when their workers don’t even seem to respect the posted snow removal rules.
He maintains that the sidewalk snow removal on Ridgewood is so poor, he has no choice but to hire a private contractor to clear the public walkway in front of his home.
And indeed, while the sidewalk in front of his house was pristine last Saturday when the Laval News dropped by, the sidewalks elsewhere on Ridgewood looked like they hadn’t been cleared since a day or two before, following a snow and sleet weather event.
Gear’s got up to the job
The residents claim that the city’s existing sidewalk snow removal equipment has proven to be inadequate to meet the increased demand from the wider pedestrian walkways.
“They can’t push it because there’s so much snow and their wheels slip,” said Emanuel Axais,” a Korman Ave. homeowner. “The machine is too small and can’t clean the widened sidewalks,” added Merdinian.
Local city councillor Aglaia Revelakis maintains the situation would have been much different if the administration had only bothered to conduct consultations of residents locally, rather than implementing a one-size-fits-all plan.
“The citizens of every district, every street, should be consulted,” said Revelakis, who is a member of the Action Laval city council opposition. “Because these are the citizens that live here and know the problems on their streets.”
Warning lights coming
In an interview with the Laval News, Laval city councillor Ray Khalil, who is responsible for public works on the executive-committee, acknowledged that the city may not always get things right, but that “there’s always room for perfection.” He said one of the issues with Chomedey is that it’s a very high density area.
the city will soon start installing a new illuminated snow removal warning system
“In terms of population per kilometre, it’s one of our more dense neighbourhoods, and more dense means more cars. So, obviously the more there are cars, the more there will be times when people are respecting or not respecting the alternate parking when it’s needed, and this slows down things.”
Khalil said the city will soon start installing a new illuminated snow removal warning system, that will ultimately eliminate the need for sandwich board notices, and that it should improve efficiency.
“With the lights, we’re going to be able to be very flexible,” he said. “If we know that there’s a snow coming on Friday, then on Saturday we can turn on the lights and get the job done.”
Pierre Ny St-Amand is detained at the Philippe Pinel Institute in Montreal
Pierre Ny St-Amand, who is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder and six counts of assault in the deadly crash of a Société de transport de Laval bus into a daycare in Sainte-Rose, is in the custody of criminal insanity experts to determine if he is fit to stand trial.
The 51-year-old Laval resident made a short appearance before Quebec Court Judge Carol Richer last Friday at the Palais de Justice de Laval. His defence lawyer asked the judge to order the psychiatric evaluation following several conversations he had with St-Amand, raising questions about his sanity.
Fitness questioned
According to the defence lawyer, two criminologists who met with St-Amand also expressed doubts as to whether he is fit to stand trial and is capable of following a court proceeding while assisting his lawyer.
During an initial video arraignment hearing held the same day as the crash on Feb. 8 when he was arrested, St-Amand was charged from his hospital bed, but refused to answer any questions. He is currently being detained at the Philippe Pinel Institute on Henri Bourassa Blvd. East in Montreal.
Two children killed
Two children, Maëva David and Jacob Gauthier, who were enrolled at the daycare on Terrasse Dufferin in Sainte-Rose, were killed in the crash, while another six children were injured, when St-Amand allegedly drove deliberately into the Garderie Éducative Ste-Rose, demolishing a corner of the building.
Four-year-old Jacob Gauthier, whose funeral was held last Friday at Ste-Rose-de-Lima church in Sainte-Rose, was identified as one of the deceased victims. The second child was identified as five-year-old Maëva David, whose parents are Jessica Therrien and Nicolas David.
Parents in mourning
According to a funeral home notice posted online, Jacob Gauthier was four and a half years old and is survived by his mother, father, sister as well as grandparents and other extended family. The parents of Maëva David released an open letter, which was published in several Montreal-area media, expressing their feelings about the tragedy.
Quebec Premier François Legault and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were both in Sainte-Rose last week to pay their respects at impromptu memorials which have been erected by many parents and others outside the church, as well as next to the site of the incident, in sympathy and solidarity with the families of the victims.
The current issue of the Laval News, volume 31-04, published on February 22nd, 2023. Covering Laval local news, politics, and sports. (Click on the image to read the paper.)
Front page of the Laval News, February 22nd, 2023 issue.
A Chomedey mother who was originally charged with criminal negligence causing the death of her 7-year-old daughter more than two years ago pleaded guilty at the Palais de Justice de Laval on Thursday to the lesser charge of failing to provide the necessities of life when the girl was suffering from a serious injury.
Investigators at the home on Le Boutillier St. in Chomedey in January 2020. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Newsfirst Multimedia)
According to a report presented by a pathologist during the case against the woman who cannot be identified because of a publication ban, the girl, who was widely reported to have suffered from extensive burns, had inflicted them on herself.
The woman, of Afghani origin, admitted she failed to provide the necessities of life over five days, from Dec. 30, 2020 to Jan. 3, 2021, at their home on Boutillier St. in Chomedey.
According to a jointly-agreed statement of facts between the prosecution and the defence, in the months before the girl died, she was diagnosed with a series of mental-health problems, including Tourette’s syndrome.
She stopped attending school in 2020 and became more anxious. She also began banging her head against walls inside the family’s home.
The girl began assaulting a younger sister and the mother became overwhelmed by her daughter’s aggressive behavior.
The mother called 9-1-1 on Jan. 4, 2020 to report that her 7-year-old daughter had stopped breathing.
Taken to hospital, emergency room staff found the girl had suffered burns to a large area of her body. The pathologist concluded the burns had been inflicted by the girl on herself.
The guilty plea means the mother will not have to be subjected to a trial, which would have taken place in March.
A crowd of mourners is expected to be on hand at Ste-Rose-de-Lima church in Laval’s Sainte-Rose district at 11 am Thursday morning when the funeral of one of the two children who died last week in the crash of an STL bus at a Sainte-Rose daycare takes place.
Four-year-old Jacob Gauthier was identified as one of the deceased victims. The second child was identified as five-year-old Maëva David, whose parents are Jessica Therrien and Nicolas David.
According to a funeral home notice posted online, Jacob was four and a half years old and is survived by his mother, father, sister as well as grandparents and other extended family.
Mourners have created a memorial next to the driveway of the Garderie Éducative Sainte-Rose. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Newsfirst Multimedia)
Ste-Rose-de-Lima church, as well as the driveway entrance to the daycare on Terrase Dufferin in Sainte-Rose, have become gathering places for many in Laval and elsewhere seeking comfort and wishing to express their sympathy after last week’s attack.
Pierre Ny St-Amand, 51, a driver with the STL, was arrested at the scene and has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder as well as seven other charges, including attempted murder and aggravated assault.
Further court proceedings are expected to be taking place this Friday at the Palais de Justice de Laval.
