Author name: Brenda O'Farrell The 1019 Report

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The condo market in Vaudreuil-Soulanges is also seeing prices rise, the latest statistics from the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers show. Prices of these units, although lower compared with single-family homes, are increasing at a slightly faster rate.

The average price of a condominium in this region hit $389,000 last month. That is 8.8-per-cent more – or a $31,500 increase – compared with the average price recorded in January. Single-family homes in the region in the same period jumped 8 per cent

Since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, condo prices in Vaudrueil-Soulanges have climbed a jaw-dropping 58.8 per cent – a faster rate of increase witnessed on the island of Montreal and across the province as a whole.

Condo prices on the island of Montreal have seen hikes of 22.4 per cent since COVID, while the  provincial average jumped just over 45 per cent.

But the rising cost of condos in this region is not the only story. More units are being sold, pointing to an increase in the number of units being added to the market.

In the first four months of 2025, a total of 205 condos in the region were sold, according to the statistics released. That is 27 more than the total number sold in the same period last year.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The Town of St. Lazare is inviting the region to enjoy a unique and spectacular outdoor event this weekend as it continues to celebrate its 150^th anniversary – the largest display of giant kites in full flight ever assembled in Quebec.

Oh, and there will be hot-air balloons as well, including the opportunity to take a ride in one.

“These are all things we have never seen in St. Lazare,” said Paul Lavigne, president of the town’s 150^th anniversary committee.

The event is set for this coming Saturday, May 24, at St. Lazare Airport, a vast open-air field that will be closed to flights for the day.

Giant kite-flying enthusiasts from across Canada will be converging in St. Lazare for what organizers are calling La Fête des Vents. Lavigne said having access to an entire airport is a rare event for these kite flyers, so they are quite excited. Thousands of visitors are expected, he added.

Weather permitting, visitors will get the chance to take a short trip in a hot-air balloon that will be tethered to the ground. It will take riders to a height of about 50 feet.

An open-air brunch will be offered at the site.

Organizers noted that parking will be available at a number of locations throughout the town’s village core, with a shuttle bus services to the airport on Ste. Angélique Street provided.

The municipality is marking its 150^th year by organizing several festivities spanning the four seasons in 2025. Next month, a circus-themed party is planned at Saddlebrook Park, while in August, the town’s annual Festi Ouest will incorporate a show based on the municipality’s history that will be produced in collaboration with officials with the Cirque de Soleil and Just For Laughs.

In September, a parade celebrating the town, is planned, and organizers are expecting it to be the “largest parade ever seen in St. Lazare.”

All the events are free of charge. And everyone is welcome.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

As Vaudreuil-Dorion Mayor Guy Pilon has announced he will not seek re-election later this year, a candidate who was once part of his team, but has since sparred with the long-serving mayor has stepped forward to run for the top municipal job in the biggest municipality in the region.

Karine Lechasseurlaunched her campaign earlier this month under the banner of a new political party, Inspire Vaudreuil-Dorion. She is a real estate agent who is currently a member of council.

“We aspire to build a resilient and prosperous city whose harmonious development values the intelligence of its community, offering a sustainable and safe environment that prioritizes future generations, Lachasseur said in a statement issued before her party’s official launch.

Elected by acclamation as part of Pilon’s political party in 2021, Lachasseur, along with two other councillors – Jasmine Sharma and Diane Morin – split from that slate in 2023, when the mayor’s team voted to exclude them from committee groups. The three councillors have sat as independents ever since. Sharma is running as a candidate with the new party. She is seeking re-election to a third term in District 3. She was first elected in 2017, picking up more than 60-per-cent support. In 2021, she was acclaimed.

Four other candidates will be running as members of the new party in the November election. They include Maëlys Eouani, Noémie Huet Gagnon, Sheldon Burgoa and Benoît Giguère.

In the last municipal election in 2021 Pilon was acclaimed to his fifth term as mayor.

BRENDA O’FARRELL

The 1019 Report

For the first time ever, the average price of a single-family home sold in Vaudreuil-Soulanges has topped the $600,000 mark, as the cost of real estate in this region continues to accelerate upward faster than in most areas of the province – including the island of Montreal – according to the latest data released by the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers.

The average price of a single-family home in the 1019 region hit $629,750 last month, which represents an 8-per-cent hike compared with the same month in 2024.

This jump has pushed up the cost of a home in this region a staggering 57.4 per cent since the pandemic lockdowns in 2020, the second-largest rate of increase in the Greater Montreal area, and just below the provincial average.

The pace of increase in the cost of a single-family home in Vaudreuil-Soulanges ranked behind only the prices recorded in the North Shore of Montreal – an area that includes Mirabel, St. Jerome and the lower Laurentians – which saw prices catapult upward by 68.6 per cent since the COVID lockdowns. The average price for a single-family home across the province, gained 69.5 per cent since 2020, while on the island of Montreal, the prices in that five-year period jumped 34.7 per cent, statistics from the provincial real estate board show.

And price increases are not showing any sign of slowing in this region. In fact, the rate of increase is accelerating. In the first four months of 2025, the average price of a single-family home in Vaudreuil-Soulanges last month rose 9 per cent, or $52,250 more, compared to the $577,500 average price in January.

And that rate of increase is pushing upward faster here than in other regions. In comparison, the average house price on the island of Montreal jumped just over 1 per cent in the first four months of 2025, representing a $8,500 increase in the selling price. Province-wide, the average price of a single-family home shot up 7.4 per cent in the same timeframe, or $34,500.

But this is not a new trend. Prices have been increasing at a rapid pace in the post-pandemic period. To illustrate just how steeply prices have been heading north since COVID, the average selling price for a single-family home in Vaudreuil-Soulanges hit the $500,000 mark for the first time in April 2021. It hit $600,000 in February 2022 before dropping in 2023 to an average of $550,000. Last year, the average price was $575,000.

Another measure pointing to just how much the local real estate market is heating up so far this year is the jump in the number of units sold. A total of 549 homes exchanged owners in Vaudrueil-Soulanges in the first four months of 2025, a 23-per-cent increase from the 446 in the same four-month period in 2024.

And the trend is showing that they are selling faster compared with 2024, as houses have only lingering an average of 54 days on the market so far this year. Looking at all of last year, the average selling time was 61 days.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Voter turnout in the federal election on April 28 in the riding of Vaudreuil topped the national average, hitting 75 per cent, according to figures released by Elections Canada.

The participation rate across Canada was 68.7 per cent.

The riding – which includes the municipalities of Vaudreuil-Dorion, St. Lazare, Hudson, Rigaud, Vaudreuil sur le Lac, L’Île Cadieux and the four municipalities on Île Perrot – has a population of 120,653, with 95,303 registered voters. A total of 71,470 ballots were cast in the riding for the last election, including 652 that were rejected.

It was widely anticipated, according to polling data prior to the election, that participation rates in April 28 election would be high. And turnout in the advanced polls set records, with 7.3 million ballots cast across the country.

In Vaudreuil, advanced polls also set records, with 29,793 voterscasting ballots, earning the riding the distinction of having the highest number of people voting before election day in Quebec.

Although the national voter turnout rate on April 28 was high, it did not surpass the figures seen in 1993, when the participation rate hit 69.675 per cent.

The record for the highest participation in a federal election in Canada was set in 1958, when 79.4 per cent of eligible voters made it to the polls.

In Beauharnois—Salaberry—Soulanges—Huntingdon, voter turnout in last month’s election was 67.2. The newly redrawn riding – which includes the municipalities of Les Cèdres, Pointe des Cascades, Coteau du Lac, Les Coteaux, Rivière Beaudette, St. Clet, Ste. Justine de Newton, Ste. Marthe, St. Polycarpe, St. Télesphore, St. Zotique and Très St. Rédempteur in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region, along with a wide swath of towns in the Valleyfield area and south to the U.S. border – had a voter turnout of 67.2 per cent.

The riding has a population of 118,474, with 103,252 registered voters. A total of 69,347 ballots were cast in the riding for the 2025 election, including 1,033 that were rejected.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The Liberals and Bloc Québécois split the ridings in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region in last week’s federal election, with Liberal incumbent Peter Schiefke easily picking up his fourth mandate in the newly redrawn riding of Vaudreuil.

“We will defend our jobs in Vaudreuil, and our jobs across the country,” Schiefke told supporters at his campaign headquarters minutes after being declared the winner in the riding on election night.

Schiefke garnered just under 58 per cent of the votes cast on April 28, surpassing the 46-per-cent support he had earned in the 2021 election. He was first elected in 2015.

“We have a strong plan, a clear plan to protect Canada against Donald Trump and the threats against us,” he said to supporters.

Conservative candidate Thomas Barré came in second, collecting almost 23 per cent of the vote, followed by the Bloc’s Christopher Massé, who racked up just under 15 per cent of ballots cast.

The Vaudreuil riding, which was redrawn since the 2021 vote, lost some geographic territory. It now includes only Vaudreuil-Dorion, St. Lazare, Hudson, Rigaud, Vaudreuil sur le Lac, L’Île Cadieux and the four municipalities on Île Perrot. The municipalities of Les Cèdres and Pointe des Cascades were merged into the newly renamed neighouring riding of Beauharnois–Salaberry–Soulanges–Huntingdon.

In Beauharnois–Salaberry–Soulanges–Huntingdon, Bloc incumbent Claude DeBellefeuille held on to her seat, capturing just under 44 per cent of the vote, staving off what looked like a forceful challenge from Liberal candidate Miguel Perras, who held the lead early in the evening on election night as the first polls were being reported.

Perras would end up second in the vote count by the end of the night, collecting 32 per cent of the votes cast and shaving off support from the Bloc’s win in the previous election.

Conservative candidate Priska St-Pierre came in third in the riding, with 19.4 per cent support.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

In what could signal the conclusion of a more-than-10-year battle over a fence in the Town of Hudson, the homeowner at the centre of the standoff will be acquiescing to the municipality’s rules and reducing the height of the wooden fence at the front of his property on Côte St. Charles on Friday.

“I am not happy about it,” said homeowner Trevor Smith in an interview with The 1019 Report yesterday.

But one question remains: Will reducing the height of the fence be acceptable to the town?

As of yesterday afternoon, the answer to that question was still not clear.

In an interview yesterday morning, Smith said he notified the town by email that he will have two feet removed from the top of his six-foot wooden fence that runs the width of his property in front of his house on Côte St. Charles. He said he informed the town of his pending actions after being notified that his latest attempt to challenge a court order that allows the town to remove his fence because it contravenes the municipality’s bylaws had failed.

According to the town’s regulations, the height of a fence in front yards of residential properties cannot be more than four feet high.

Last September, council also denied a derogation request by Smith that would permit him to keep his six-foot fence.

But despite Smith’s claim that he notified the town by email of his intention to lower the height of his fence by email, Mayor Chloe Hutchison said yesterday that she was not aware of any correspondence from Smith.

Asked whether reducing the height of the structure would be acceptable to the town, Hutchison said yesterday afternoon that it would be up to municipal officials at town hall to determine. Attempts by The 1019 Report to contact officials with the municipality yesterday failed to solicit a response.

When asked if the move would be acceptable to her, Hutichson did not answer.

After Monday evening’s council meeting the mayor said Smith had been given until Friday to remove the fence.

“We have asked him to remove it,” Hutchison said, stating that the structure will be removed by Friday. “We would like Trevor Smith to remove it himself.”

A source familiar with the situation said the town had arranged to have a contractor remove the fence by the end of the week if necessary, and that the Sûreté du Québec would be on hand to ensure that the removal would be carried out peacefully.

Meanwhile, Smith said he plans to continue with a separate court action against the town to seek damages for what he called “discrimination and malicious intent.”

The ongoing battle, which began shortly after Smith erected the fence in 2014 without obtaining the proper permit and in contravention of the town’s regulations, has been the focus ongoing litigation before the courts and other quasi-judicial bodies, including a complaint filed with the Quebec Municipal Commission last year, in which Smith claimed that when the structure was installed, no permit was required by the town to build a fence.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

A plan in Hudson that many thought was simply a proposal to repave a quiet street in dire need of repair is turning into a vociferous debate over the character and style of the small town, as residents packed Monday evening’s council meeting to urge elected officials to delay approving a contract to rebuild Lakeview Street, a stretch of broken, bumpy and uneven pavement that is less than a kilometre long.

Before the meeting was over, and after a number of residents raised their concerns, council took a brief recess. When the meeting resumed, elected officials approved a motion to delay the vote on the contract until next month, putting on hold a $3.7-million plan to rebuild the street, a proposal that would widen the thoroughfare to include a multi-use path for cyclists and pedestrians separated from the street by a green strip designed to accommodate improved drainage.

“The idea is to try to get a win-win,” said Gilles Stratti, one of the residents who asked council to delay the contract approval to consider possible options to reduce the scope of the project that is set to expand the built width of the artery necessitating the removal of a number of trees and hedges along the street.

But Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison outlined the options.

“If we narrow the lane,” Hutchison said, referring to a suggestion to reduce the pedestrian-cycling path, “we say goodbye to the subsidy.”

The subsidy Hutchison referenced is a $2.04-million federal government contribution announced last July that will cover more than half the cost of the project to rebuild the street. The grant, provided by the Canadian government’s Active Transportation Fund, comes with two strings attached – the cycling-pedestrian path must be a minimum of 2.5 metres wide and the project has to be completed by March of next year.

See LAKEVIEW, Page 4.

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Residents voiced their concerns with plan to widen Lakeview Avenue with a separated bike and pedestrian lane at Monday evening’s council meeting.

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The 1019 Report

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LAKEVIEW: Grant
could be lost

From Page 1

Hutchison further cautioned that a move to reopen the project to include redesigning the drainage plan would necessitate obtaining a renewed approval from provincial authorities, and that would push the completion beyond the March 2024 deadline.

“We are feeling like we are being steamrolled,” said Lakeview resident David Smith, who said he bought a house on the street because he felt it was a safe, quiet place to raise his kids and where he has taught them to ride their bikes.

He said widening the street with the addition of a multi-use lane and installing benches and garbage cans in front of his house, as proposed in the current plan, would invite teenagers from nearby schools to hang out near his house.

The high school teacher says he hears students now as they walk by his home. “I don’t want to necessarily invite them to have a seat there,” he said.

“Is there any willingness to compromise?” he asked council, and questioned why the town scheduled a public consultation meeting after the project was set to be approved by council.

“This is a really great project, a really great grant for St. Laurent,” said another resident of the street. “This is destroying the character of Hudson.”

The homeowner urged the council to reconsider the plan.

“Surely there is a grant out there more appropriate for Hudson,” she said. “Take the time to do the project appropriately.”

Danica Lewington, another resident of the street, who raised eight children at her home, said she likes her quiet street, and described the plan simply: “That’s a boulevard.” And she expressed concern that the work could force the removal of a large oak tree on the edge of her property.

“Everyone here would be happy with a simple resurfacing,” said Rob McMaster, a resident of Oakland Street.

Residents are invited to a public consultation meeting on the project on May 27. Hutchison said she will ensure the presentation of the details of the project will include illustrations to clearly explain the impacts and benefits of the project. Council rescheduled the vote to approve the contract to carry out the work for June 2.

Contacted yesterday by The 1019 Report, Vaudreuil MP Peter Schiefke said a request for an extension to the deadline to complete the work to fulfill the requirements of the federal grant can be made. But these requests are considered on a case-by-case basis, he explained, and there are no guarantees of approval.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

About 18 months after the MRC of Vaudreuil-Soulanges abruptly halted its plans to build a multi-million-dollar compost treatment facility in the face of unrelenting opposition from residents, the regional authority has unveiled its Plan B – the same facility in a new location. But the project will come with a significantly higher price tag.

“It’s the right site for this type of project,” said Alexandre Lambert, director-general of the MRC, in an interview with The 1019 Report last week.

The 23-member MRC council last month voted to purchase an 11-acre tract of land in the industrial park in Coteau du Lac at a cost of about $12.5 million to build its open-air plant to process compostable waste collected in the region. The move pushes the cost of the overall project – the largest ever tackled by the regional authority – to an estimated $34 million – roughly $14 million more than the original proposal that was rejected in November 2023.

But it is not quite a done deal yet.

The site, near the soon-to-be-closed Amazon distribution centre west of Route 201 and just north of Highway 20, still must be subdivided and undergo a zoning change, Lambert said, explaining that although zoned for industrial use, the specific activity of processing compost is not permitted. He expects the change will be approved by October, and the purchase of the land will be finalized in November.

See COMPOST, Page 4.

COMPOST: New site responds
to concerns raised by residents

From Page 1

Yesterday evening, the MRC held a public information session to outline the details of the plan with residents. But last week, Lambert shared some of the specifics with The 1019 Report.

“We heard the concerns of the citizens and their recommendation of using an industrial site,” Lambert said. “But that can come at a cost, and it is costing us more.”

The MRC’s original plan was to build the open-air compost facility on a wooded site that was roughly 17 acres in size in St. Télésphore. But that land was zoned for agricultural use, and residents in the town and neighbouring municipalities feared the runoff from the open-air platform could contaminate ground water, potentially jeopardizing the wells that provide clean water for their homes and surrounding farms.

The opposition was intense. Described by one resident at the time as the “most significant citizen opposition” in close to a decade, opponents from towns in the west end of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region packed the MRC meetings. They urged MRC officials to find a more suitable location for the site.

Stephanie Côté, a spokesperson for the residents at that time, made it clear, the group was not against the construction of a facility, they merely opposed the proposed location in St. Télesphore.

But residents were not the only ones who were opposed to the original plan. Three municipal councils in the region – St. Polycarpe, Ste. Justine de Newton and Coteau du Lac – had adopted formal resolutions in October 2023 urging the MRC to reconsider its choice of locations for the plant.

Now, Lambert says, the choice of the new location responds to the concerns raised by residents. The new site in Coteau du Lac will be isolated, and all runoff from the platform will be collected and processed in a waste-water treatment plant already in service in the industrial park.

The MRC, like all MRCs in the province, have an obligation to treat composable waste. By operating its own facility instead of contracting a third party to provide the service, officials say the regional authority will be able to better manage costs over the long term.

The MRC currently collects about 14,000 tonnes of compostable material. The new facility, which is expected to be in operation by the spring of 2028, will have the capacity to process 24,000 tonnes per year, the projected need for the region when it begins collecting compostable waste from commercial and industrial operations in the region, including the new hospital in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Lambert said.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

In the world of architecture and design, every new project usually starts with a concept. But when it comes to rebuilding an historic stone church that dates back decades before Confederation, the first step is asking the question: How should the scope of the concept be redefine and modernized?

That is what a group dedicated to seeing St. James Anglican Church rebuilt has asked hundreds of people in a very organized and deliberate way. And now, one year after flames ripped through the roof of the stone structure on Main Road in Hudson and destroyed an adjacent hall, they are pulling all that feedback together to ensure that what comes next meets the needs of today and tomorrow, while preserving what has been a big part of Hudson’s past.

“We are very excited about this project and the potential for the Hudson community and beyond,” said Marcus Owen, a volunteer who is overseeing the reconstruction of the church’s roof and the plan to replace the adjacent Memorial Hall that was destroyed last April. “It takes a village, and that’s who we’re engaging in the process.”

Owen has spearheaded an ambitious community consultation process that has included interviewing 200 individuals from both Hudson and neighbouring municipalities to do a deep dive on what community stakeholders need.

The goal is to rebuild what Owen calls “a community hub,” a place where people will be able to come together for a wide range of reasons, not just for religious services.

“There is a need in the community for more community space,” Owen said in an interview with The 1019 Report.

“It’s a beautiful building that needs to be preserved,” Owen said, but when it comes to its functionality, the focused has to be put on how it can be used today and into the future.

And that is the challenge the committees organizing the rebuilding project are weighing.

In the past weeks, work crews have been putting the final touches on a new roof atop the church, a stone structure that was originally completed in 1842. The cemetery just outside its doors dates back even further, to 1819. The graveyard is the oldest in Hudson and is the resting place of dozens of Canadian soldiers from the first and second world wars, including those who died in battle and veterans who returned home after the wars.

To the rear of the church is a large reception hall, the footprint of where Memorial Hall once stood and, off to the side, a manse. The grounds include a vast 10 acres, a portion offering incredible views of the Lake of Two Mountains, while fields of space lie on the south side of Main Road.

How can all of this be put in service to the community? How will the inside of the church be completed? Will it have traditional pews? Or, a more flexible interior space that can accommodate concerts and other events?

All the ideas put forward during the consultations have been tabulated and categorized with the help of an artificial intelligence tool. The emerging themes and priorities are what architects are now working with to produce a series of designs for both the church and plans for how a new Memorial Hall can be re-imagined.

“We want to rebuild the church so that it is of service to the community,” Owen said as he provided a peek inside the historic structure last week.

As work crews on the roof could be heard, he highlighted some of the work that has been completed inside to ensure the integrity of the structure – repairs to a brick archway and the impressive stonework that had been covered for decades now fully exposed, punctuated by the distinctive lancet window frames.

“The days of church being a place that everyone showed up to on Sunday with all their friends and neighbours are gone,” said Reverend Sophie Rolland. “One thing Hudson has always had, however, is a great community spirit and we want to capitalize on that in ways that simply haven’t been done before. It’s tremendously exciting and will bring people together.”

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The Île aux Tourtes Bridge will be completely closed this coming weekend as work crews reconfigure the lanes to permit the reopening of a fourth lane on the span, marking the first time in more than three years that two lanes of traffic will be available in both directions.

The weekend closure will also mark the 10^th time since the beginning of 2024 that the span, which links the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region to the island of Montreal along Highway 40, will be completely closed to traffic to accommodate the ongoing work to repair the old span as work to build a new bridge continues. Several partial closures of the span that limited its use in only one direction have also been needed in the last 16 months.

The bridge is expected to be closed from midnight Friday until 5 a.m. on Monday, April 28, with traffic diverted from the St. Charles exit in Vaudreuil-Dorion in the eastbound direction, and from Anciens Combattants Blvd. in Ste. Anne de Bellevue in the westbound direction. Tolls on Highway 30 will be lifted during the closure.

According to Transport Quebec, putting a fifth lane into service on the six-lane span is the next objective. No projected date for that has been offered, however.

The weekend closure will permit the painting of new lines to delineate the new configuration of the lanes, make repairs to an area of the surface of the span that had been damaged during earlier repair works and to install two beams.

The reopening of the fourth lane comes as major re-enforcement work on the span has been completed, Transport Quebec said. This includes reconstruction of much of six supporting pillars.

When the fourth lane is reopened, trucks will be prohibited from using the right lanes in each direction on the span, while overloaded vehicles will continued to be barred from the route at all times.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Municipal elections are still a little more than six months away, but the race for mayor in Hudson has been triggered, as a challenger has stepped forward looking to unseat incumbent Chloe Hutchison.

“I know I could do much better to make Hudson the gem it should be,” said resident Chantal Perreault, a lawyer who has launched her campaign for the top job on the town’s municipal council.

“I’m not there to add a title to my CV,” Perreault said in an interview with The 1019 Report last Sunday. “I want to be there to get results, to accomplish things.”

A resident of Hudson since 2013, Perreault says she has gotten to know the community, has been involved with a number of groups and has watched how the current administration has failed to deal with a list of issues – from putting a solid administrative team together to handle the day-to-day operations at town hall, to Sandy Beach, to continuing to rack up budget surpluses, a sign, she says, that shows residents are being overtaxed for services they are not receiving.

“It’s not because you’re small,” she said, referring to the size of the town, “that you can’t accomplish great things.”

“It’s a lack of leadership and vision,” she added. “We have to put the car in drive. I feel we have been idling for four years.”

Hutchison yesterday confirmed she will seek re-election, but has yet to turn her attention to the election, which is schedule for early November.

Her focus at the moment is to put a new director-general in place, she said, ensure the treasury department is functioning at full capacity and continuing to focus on ongoing projects.

See HUDSON, Page 2.

HUDSON: Challenger seeks
top job on town council

From Page 1

Perreault, a 66-year-old mother of two who has two grandchildren, has a priority list of what she would like to tackle if elected.

Improving the town’s parks is at the top of that list.

“There is pretty much nothing” for young families when it comes to parks, Perrault said.

That will change within the first year, she pledges. Changes are also needed to how the vast trail network in Hudson is maintained, she said.

She also aims to settle the Sandy Beach issue.

“We need to find a solution to preserve Sandy Beach and guarantee access for the summer of 2026,” she said.

That solution includes striking what she described as a reasonable agreement with the current owners of the waterfront site and “exercising the power available by the law.”

“The cost of securing that land for public use has become lower than it has ever been,” she said. “We can make it an asset for our youth.”

Perreault also points to the need to put an end to what she called “the revolving door” at town hall, referring to the constant turnover of personnel in key positions.

In February, Hudson hired a new treasurer, its third in two years, and is currently looking to hire a new director-general after a deal was struck last month to part ways with the previous top administrator who had been on a leave that began only months after she was made permanent.

Other changes Perreault believes are needed include instilling a different approach to dealing with taxpayers. They need to be treated as clients, she said. And ask: “How can I serve? How can I help? It has to come from the top.”

Perreault also wants to tackle the issue of water, improving the quality and quantity of tap water available and extending the waste water network to where it can feasibly be done within the town’s core.

She also wants to put added emphasis on governance issues, including the way the town drafts its budgets and plans its priorities.

Perreault believes her experience as a lawyer, a former school commissioner, volunteer and administrative judge who dealt with issues of ethics and professional governance will lend itself to her role if elected. She wants to put her skills to work for her town, she said.

“I’m not running against anybody. I am running for Hudson. I am rooting for Hudson.”

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Stymied by elected officials in its bid to have the provincial government conduct a feasibility study on the possible merger of the four towns on Île Perrot, a grassroots group has launched a petition hoping public support will convince local politicians get the ball rolling.

“I am persuaded that citizens want this information,” said Lise Chartier, the communications director for Avenir Île Perrot – Becoming Île Perrot in an interview Monday.

The petition, urging elected officials in Pincourt, L’Île Perrot, Notre Dame de l’Île Perrot and Terrasse Vaudreuil to request the free study be conducted by Quebec’s Municipal Affairs department, was launched last week. As of yesterday, 314 people have signed the online roster on the group’s website. The group aims to collect 400 signatures, but that goal could be upgraded, Chartier said.

Avenir Île Perrot – Becoming Île Perrot was formed last May. Its purpose is to advocate for the fusion of the four towns on Île Perrot in an effort to better provide cultural and sports services, offer a long-term planning and development vision for the island, as well as reduce administrative costs.

So far, Notre Dame Mayor Danie Deschênes and Terrasse Vaudreuil Mayor Michel Boudreau have refused to meet with representatives of the group, while meetings with elected officials in Pincourt and L’Île Perrot were held last fall. But none have made the move to ask Quebec for the study.

Only municipal officials can request the study.

Chartier said a request for the free study is an important step in informing taxpayers of the pros and cons of a possible municipal merger. It is an issue that has been floated several times in the last few decades, she said. The group claims a merger would provide savings for taxpayers and allow for a better sharing of resources to promote buy-in to provide cultural and recreational infrastructure, like an arena and a performance space.

If the four towns on Île Perrot merged, the new entity would be the second largest municipality in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region, with a population of about 40,600, only slightly smaller than Vaudreuil-Dorion. The new town would be the 35^th largest municipality in Quebec and the fourth largest in the greater Suroît region, which includes Valleyfield, Châteauguay and Vaudreuil-Soulanges.

Avenir Île Perrot – Becoming Île Perrot will be hosting a second open-house information session at the Station des Sports, 336 Grand Blvd.  in L’Île Perrot on May 4 at 10 a.m.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

As negotiations between the Town of Hudson and the owners of Sandy Beach continue, access to the once-popular waterfront site along the shores of the Lake of Two Mountains is expected to remain closed this summer.

On Monday evening Hudson council voted to renew an agreement with Nicanco Holdings, the owner of the wooded area around the waterfront, to prohibit parking along the private stretches of Beech Road that trace the outline of the land the town is seeking to purchase.

“It is expected that Sandy Beach will remain closed this year,” said Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison during the meeting, adding that negotiations with Nicanco continue.

Last month, Hutchison confirmed the town had presented Nicanco with an offer to purchase the waterfront land. She, however, refused to discuss the response to the offer.

The waterfront property has been the focus of a growing grassroots campaign to preserve the natural space from development.

“There is nothing to report at this time,” Hutchison said during Monday’s meeting.

In February, Hudson council, armed with two reports commissioned last summer to help determine the value of the land in the Sandy Beach area, had agreed on an offer to buy the waterfront property. The amount of the offer was not disclosed.

In March, Hutchison said the purchase proposition had been presented. At that time, councillor Mark Gray described the bid as “a reasonable offer.”

On Monday evening, Hutchison declined any further comment, explaining the town and Nicanco officials had agreed not to make any public statements.

Environment Quebec officials are aware the town is attempting to negotiate a deal with the Nicanco. In October 2023, Environment Minister Benoit Charette revoked Nicanco’s permit to backfill part of the wetlands to allow it to move forward with a proposed 214-unit housing development. Nicanco subsequently challenged that decision, taking its arguments to a provincial tribunal. The Tribunal Administratif du Québec has yet to issue a ruling.

The town commissioned valuation reports on the property last July after Nicanco representatives asked municipal officials if they would be interested in discussing a possible deal, marking the first time in recent years it had considered the option of a sale to the municipality.

In March 2024, Nicanco had announced it would no longer tolerate residents and visitors trespassing on its property. The move sparked an emotional response from many residents who had for years enjoyed walking along the trails through the woods that provide access to the beach.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Residential property tax bills in Hudson will increase by 2 to 3.8 per cent next year, according to the municipality’s $17.7-million budget adopted Monday.

It is expected that the owner of a single-family home with water and sewer services valued at $871,966, which is the average value of a home, according to the new three-year valuation roll that comes into effect in 2025, will pay $5,585 in municipal taxes. The figure represents an increase of $138, or 2.53 per cent, compared with this year. The same house that is not on the sewer network will pay $5,189 in taxes next year, a 2-per-cent hike, or $102 more than in 2024.

The home of the same value in the Whitlock area will pay $6,487 in taxes next year, an increase of $240, or 3.8 per cent, compared with 2024.

The basic residential tax rate for 2025 has been set at 46.62 cents per $100 of property valuation, down from the 2024 rate of 64.20 cents. The drop in the mill rate is due to the more than 40-per-cent increase in property valuations reflected in the new three-year valuation roll.

“It’s a prudent budget,” said Mayor Chloe Hutchison. “We wanted it to be a budget about developing services.”

But not all members of council supported the fiscal plan presented, with two councillors – Benôit Blais and Douglas Smith – voting against the adoption of the budget and the town’s triennial infrastructure investment plan.

“We could do a lot better than we are,” said Blais in an interview yesterday, adding: “It’s our fourth year and it’s the fourth year without a vision.”

Blais pointed to the fact the town has increased spending by an average of 10 over the last four years.

“Considering those increases, I do not feel that this council fulfilled its responsibilities and due diligence for the citizens of Hudson, and that is why I’m voting no,” Blais said Monday.

The town’s overall spending will increase next year, to hit $17.7 million, a jump of 4.7 per cent over the $16.9 million in 2024. The largest spending increases next year are attributed to a hike in the amounts that will be spent on contractors, most of which are filling vacant positions; the municipal payroll; and an additional branch pickup that will be offered.

The town also adopted its three-year capital expenditures plan Monday. It outlined a total of $5.9 million in spending in 2025, $7.1 million in 2026 and $10.35 million in 2027. Included in the plan for next year is $3.245 million for roads, parks and green spaces; $640,000 for municipal building renovations; almost $625,000 for vehicle replacement, including the purchase of fire service vehicles that had previously been leased; and $567,000 on water service improvements.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Despite the promises – right up until earlier this month – a fourth lane on the Île aux Tourtes Bridge will not be opened by the end of the year, Transport Quebec last week confirmed, adding that the prospect of restoring a more fluid flow of traffic in both directions on the span at all times of the day has been postponed to some time “before the end of the winter.”

“The return to service of a fourth traffic lane was planned before the end of 2024, but certain beams on the bridge continue to deteriorate in the Senneville sector,” Transport Quebec said in a statement. “Therefore, before reopening another lane safely, the shoring under way since last summer must be sufficiently advanced. In short, we must first complete the interventions on either side of one of the two piles under construction.”

With this ongoing work continuing throughout the winter, Transport officials said, occasional weekend closures of the span will be scheduled in the new year.

Transport Quebec officials did not provide specifics about the work that had not been completed, despite assurances two weeks ago it would provide details of the “remaining steps” required for a fourth lane to reopen.

Work to repair the Île aux Tourtes began in 2016.

When plans to build a new bridge were announced in 2018, the completion date set at that time was for 2028 or 2029. But the rate of deterioration of the old span forced Transport Quebec to shorten the timeline. It is now expected that construction of the new bridge, which began in the summer of 2023, will be completed by the end of 2026.

Two lanes of traffic in both directions of the old bridge have not been available since June 14, 2021, when it had been restored for a few days, as Transport Quebec soon reduced traffic to three lanes, opening two lanes in the direction of rush-hour traffic. This was all following the dramatic complete shutdown of the span on May 14, 2021, that banned all traffic on the bridge for 12 days.

It was also in mid-June of 2021, that Transport officials said they were aiming to have three lanes open in each direction by June 21, 2021, but that never happened.

When it was in full use, the span supported three lanes of traffic in each direction.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The owners of an average single-family home in St. Lazare will see their property taxes increase by 1.8 per cent next year, according to the town’s $46.2-million budget adopted last week.

With a new three-year property valuation roll taking effect for the 2025 taxation year, the average single-family home in the municipality saw a whopping 50-per-cent increase in value. This means the average house in the town is now valued at $702,694, up from $467,600.

This huge hike has forced the town to lower its taxation rate. The owners of this property will see a tax bill of $3,738 in 2025, which represents an increase of $65 compared with 2024. This year, the taxes on that same home jumped $156, or 4.45 per cent and the previous year there was a $141 hike, or a 4.19-per-cent increase, bringing the overall increases in taxes on that property since the end of 2022 to $362, or 15 per cent.

The residential property tax rate for 2025 has been set at $0.4246 per $100 of valuation, down from the 2024 rate of $0.6262.

Included in the calculation of each tax bill is a $280 annual water tax, up from $275 this year; a $185 garbage tax, up from $180 this year; a $165 sewer treatment charge, which is the same since 2023; and a $50 potable water treatment plant fee, which is also the same as this year.

The property tax increase in 2025 averages out to about $5.40 per month for the average single-family home.

There are other itemized charges that are assessed based on specific tax rates per $100 of valuation, meaning those properties with higher valuations will pay more, while owners of lesser valued properties will pay less. For the average valued home of $702,694, they include a $25.30 charge for the construction of municipal buildings, which is down 42 cents from last year; a $14 fee for the construction of the new fire hall, which is the same as this year; a $13 fee for the extension of the bicycle path network, again, about the same as this year; a $10.54 charge for the reconstruction of Ste. Elizabeth Street; a $7 charge for the expansion of the La Pinière nature park and a $4.92 contribution to the building of the synthetic playing field next to Westwood High School’s junior campus.

Spending is up

Overall, the city will be spending about $3.1 million more next year compared with 2024. Among the biggest increases are services the municipality has no direct control over. Among those charges is the town’s share of the cost for the Sûreté du Québec, which is up 10.34 per cent in 2025, which represents a total of $5.34 million, marking the first time policing costs have topped the $5-million mark for the municipality. The contribution to the MRC of Vaudreuil-Soulanges jumps 6.38 per cent in 2025 compared with 2024.

Other increases assessed to the town are charges from the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal, which will jump 5.54 per cent next year compared with this year; and fees for the regional transit authority, or Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain, which will increases by 6.94 per cent from 2024.

These charges represent about 20 per cent of St. Lazare’s overall spending, or about $9.2 million. The biggest slice of the town’s budget – 36 per cent, or about $16.6 million – goes to salaries.

3-year capital program

The city also adopted its three-year capital expenditure program on Dec. 11. It includes $50.6 million in projects in 2025, $14.27 million in spending in 2026 and $20.9 million in plans for 2027, for a total of $85.785 million.

Among the projects planned for 2025 are about $19.6 million to improve and extend potable water services; $23.5 million in recreational upgrades, including establishing a new youth centre. Another $7 million will be spent on road improvements.

Part of this spending in 2025 will be financed by about $15 million in provincial government grants, the town’s treasurer said.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Real estate prices across the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region have been on a steady march upward since the COVID-19 pandemic, with sale prices of individual homes seeing substantial jumps in the last four years. But the overall increases in property values are coming into sharper focus as municipalities reveal the numbers contained in the new three-year valuation rolls being used to calculate tax bills for 2025.

The property value increases in municipalities across the region are hovering around 40 per cent, with St. Lazare seeing one of the largest, at 50 per cent. The result is adding billions of dollars to the region’s asset balance sheet.

The overall value of properties in St. Lazare, the second largest municipality in the region by population, has hit $5.7 billion, according to the new 2025-2027 valuation roll. That figure represents a $1.9-billion increase in the collective value of all properties in the town since 2020, when the last three-year roll that covered 2022-2024 was drafted, a jump of 50 per cent.

In Vaudreuil-Dorion, the largest municipality by population in the area, the overall value of properties now stands at $11.38 billion, according to the new roll. That is up 38.9 per cent from the $8.19 billion as outlined on the 2022-2024 roll.

In Hudson, the overall value of all properties in the town is now pegged at $2.2 billion, a 40.1-per-cent increase over the $1.58 billion in the 2022-2024 roll.

In all three municipalities, the rate of increase in residential properties compared with other categories, including vacant lots, commercial assets and agricultural holdings, saw the largest rate of increase.

The valuation rolls serve as one of the key tools in calculating municipal and school tax bills.

But a significant jump in a property’s value does not directly translate into an increase in taxes. Municipalities compensate for the increase by reducing their mill rate, the figure charged per $100 of valuation.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The growing burden of the increasing costs of Sûreté du Québec services on municipal budgets is not the only issue that has local municipal officials reeling. The fact that the number of officers assigned to the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region continues to drop while these costs are rising is an added rub.

Forcing taxpayers to continuously pay more for less is outrageous, Vaudreuil-Dorion Mayor Guy Pilon says.

Despite overall SQ costs rising by in the Vaudrueil-Soulanges region, there will be five fewer officers assigned to the area in 2025 compared with 2024, according to Pilon.

This new drop in staffing is in addition to the 10 officers who were transferred out of the region last year.

“The level of service does not correspond to what we pay,” Pilon said.

And adding to the frustration for Pilon is that fact that elected officials cannot find out how many officers are on duty in the territory at any given time.

“We don’t know how many officers we have (on patrol),” Pilon said.

This information is denied, he says, with the SQ claiming disclosing that number would compromise public security.

“We never know how many officers are on the territory,” he reiterated, explaining that of all the officers assigned, it is not known how many are on vacation, sick leave, maternity or paternity leave, or otherwise unavailable.

The number of officers scheduled during various days of the week or for the various shifts during any given 24-hour period is also not known, Pilon said.

According to an analysis of the SQ costs put together by St. Lazare Mayor Geneviève Lachance, 131 officers were assigned to the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region in 2023. That number was cut to 121 in 2024. Now, it is expected to drop again by five to hit 116.

There were 3,369 officers on the SQ force across the province in 2024, according to Lachance’s analysis. With the total cost of the provincial force this year set at $814.13 million, the cost per officer is $241,653.

In the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region in 2024, the overall cost of policing hit $34.3 million, up from $31.99 million in 2023. This represents a 6.49-per-cent increase.

Based on the number of officers assigned to the region in Lachance’s analysis, the cost per officer in 2024 is $281,513, 16.5-per-cent higher than the provincial average.

It is expected that with the increased costs and lower staffing levels for the coming year that the cost per officer in 2025 will substantially top those levels.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

With only 27 days left in 2024 and despite a promise from Transport Quebec that a fourth lane will be reopened on the Île aux Tourtes Bridge before the end of the year, there is still no date when another lane will be put into service across the span allowing two lanes of traffic in both directions.

“The reopening of additional lanes depends on the progress of the work, which is complex, as well as weather conditions,” Transport officials confirmed in a statement issued last week. “The number of lanes on the bridge will increase as soon as it is safe to do so and an update will be provided over the coming days on the remaining steps to get there.”

That is the latest update from the Transport Ministry last week as they announced the bridge will be closed completely again next weekend.

Marking the eighth time the span will be shut to all traffic this year, the Île aux Tourtes will be blocked to all vehicles from midnight on Friday, Dec. 6, until 5 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 9.

The upcoming closure is to allow the reconfiguration of the lanes of Highway 40 on the approach to the bridge “in anticipation of the winter period,” Transport Quebec said in a statement issued last week.

At the end of October, Transport Quebec officials said an additional lane was to reopen before the end of 2024. That announcement was made as the ministry announced another weekend closure of the span, which occurred from Nov. 1-4. At that time, the closure was said to be necessary “to carry out marking work and to modify the configuration of the lanes in anticipation of the reopening of a fourth traffic lane. This is planned for the end of the year, when work to strengthen the current bridge will be sufficiently advanced. The ministry wishes to carry out these interventions now in order to take advantage of more favourable weather conditions for the durability of the marking.”

In September, the span was closed for two full weekends, once at the beginning of the month and then again towards the end of the month.

Those closures were deemed necessary to accommodate work in the installation of steel structures under a portion of the east end of the bridge. These structures are designed to provide additional support to the span.

Throughout last summer and into the fall crews extended two jetties into the lake from the eastern shores in Senneville. These jetties have served as work areas, allowing workers to install piles. The aim is to install steel structures on the piles, providing additional support to the old bridge’s main beams.

It is once these steel structures are in place that Transport Quebec said it would be able to open more lanes across the span.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Hudson town council on Monday took the first step towards establishing an affordable housing project in its village centre by approving a motion to proceed with the purchase of land on Main Road, next to the former Wyman Church. But not all elected officials are onboard.

The plan, as briefly outlined by Mayor Chloe Hutchison, would see the lot eventually transferred to a non-profit organization that would, in turn, oversee the construction and eventually manage the project.

“This would offer affordable housing in the core” of the town, Hutchison said during the public meeting.

No details about the size or the number of units the project would include were provided.

But not all councillors supported the move.

“I’m pro development of this kind,” said councillor Benoit Blais in an interview with The 1019 Report yesterday. “But I’ve never seen in my career a project of a few million (dollars) where you can’t see the legal documents.”

“The money,” Blais continued, “will it be repaid in a year, two years, three years?”

He reiterated that he is not against the idea of the town backing an affordable housing development project. But, he said, there are too many unanswered questions about this particular proposal at this time.

Hutchison, however, was adamant that the project will not cost Hudson taxpayers.

“There is no potential dollar loss on this project,” she said in response to questions about the proposal.

“There is zero cost to the town,” she later added.

According to the resolution adopted by the majority of councillors, the town will seek to negotiate the purchase of the lot, a 37,000-square-foot tract of land off Main Road, which had once been the planned site of the proposed Villa Wyman seniors’ residence, which was abandoned after its plans failed to get approval from the town.

Now, if the town buys the land, it would then transfer the lot to Toit d’Abord, a non-profit specializing in affordable housing in Vaudreuil-Soulanges.

The non-profit would then seek a series of grants – from the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal and the provincial government’s Société d’habitation du Québec ­– which would then reimburse Hudson for its investment.

Toit d’Abord would be the eventual owners of the project and manage the property.

“They will run the place. They will handle its upkeep, all the leases and all the subsidies from the provincial government,” Hutchison said.

Councillor Douglas Smith was the other councillor who voted against the move.

“As stewards of our town, we shouldn’t be gambling with taxpayers’ money,” Smith said in an interview yesterday. “And I see this as a gamble. We haven’t seen enough proof that this is something we can’t lose on.”

Earlier this year, the board of directors of Villa Wyman had put the property up for sale, with an asking price of $650,000. In June, an offer to purchase the lot for an undisclosed sum was accepted. But that deal fell through. The purchase offer, however, put the possibility of the town acquiring the land on the council’s radar, as the municipality had registered a right of first refusal on the property.

In August 2023, Hudson council voted to formally register a right of first refusal on 22 lots within the town’s territory, including all the lots in the waterfront area surrounding Sandy Beach; all the churches in the town, along with the parking areas surrounding them; the Sikh temple on Main Road; the Como golf course; and the Manoir Cavagnal seniors’ residence. The move was made after the provincial government passed a law that allows municipalities to register a right of first refusal on properties that are put up for sale.

By filing the right with the land registry, the law gives municipalities the opportunity to match, or even increase offers, in order to purchase land and buildings that are up for sale once an offer on a registered property is accepted by the current owner.

It was while the town was considering its option on whether to avail itself of its option to purchase the Wyman lot, that the offer by a private owner was withdrawn.

“My intent is to go through an acceptability process with the neighbours” to integrate the project, Hutchison said, explaining that there is a growing demand for affordable housing in the region.

She said there is a need for approximately 2,500 units to meet the housing demand in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region, according to current estimates. This project would be a small contribution to filling that need with affordable residences in the area, she said.

Affordable housing is defined as housing that costs less than 30 per cent of a household’s pre-tax income. Applicants would have to meet criteria set by the provincial government to qualify to rent a unit in the project.

Last month, a proposed plan to build a three-storey, 18-unit affordable housing project in Vaudreuil-Dorion through Toit d’Abord was withdrawn after residents raised a series of objections. Criticisms included the fact the building would be built, in part, on land that currently is part of a park and is included in a newly identified flood zone, would obstructed the view of the Baie de Vaudreuil, and the city had not conducted public consultations before selecting the location.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Rising costs for the Sûreté du Québec have local elected officials voicing outrage and calling on the Quebec government to make changes.

“It’s indecent,” said Vaudreuil-Dorion Mayor Guy Pilon last Wednesday after the MRC approved its $40.1-million budget for 2025.

The exact cost of the provincial police force in 2025 is not yet publicly known, as each municipality receives a separate bill for the service. But the two largest towns in the region – Vaudreuil-Dorion and St. Lazare – are reporting hikes of just over 10 per cent, pushing costs for policing services to record highs.

What is worse, Pilon argues, is the amounts the 23 municipalities in the MRC Vaudreuil-Soulanges pay for policing has increased faster compared with other regions of the province, while the number of officers assigned to this area is set to drop again in 2025, for the second year in a row.

“We should not accept it,” Pilon told his colleagues during the MRC meeting. “We should reject it.”

As the largest municipality in the MRC, the City of Vaudreuil-Dorion pays the biggest share of the MRC’s policing bill in the region. In 2025, that figure is expected to hit $10.9 million, up 10.1 per cent from the $9.9 million paid in 2024, said city treasurer Marco Pilon in an interview with The 1019 Report last week. The city’s council is set to formally adopt its budget for the coming year on Dec. 9.

In St. Lazare, the second largest municipality in the region by population, the bill for SQ services is set to top the $5-million mark for the first time, hitting $5.34 million in 2025, representing a 10.6-per-cent increase over the 2024 bill of $4.82 million, according to Mayor Geneviève Lachance.

St. Lazare council will formally be denouncing the hikes for policing costs at its next public meeting on Dec. 10, Lachance said. The municipality will also issue a call to the provincial government to change how it bills municipalities for policing, including setting maximum limits.

How SQ costs are assessed is determined by the provincial Public Security Ministry. It is calculated using a complex formula largely based on property valuations within each MRC, which provides for the so-called richest regions of the province – those with the highest property values – to pay more. As such, municipalities in MRCs like Vaudreuil-Soulanges end up footing more of the provincial bill to reduce the financial burden of the SQ on other, less affluent regions.

But that formula is being abused, Pilon claims. Instead of towns within the MRC Vaudreuil-Soulanges sharing its policing bill with the provincial government – as was promised when municipalities were forced to disband their local policing services in favour of SQ services in 2003 – it is now one of three regional counties in the province that pays more than 100 per cent of the assessed costs to offset the burden on other regions. This shifting of the financial burden is completely out of whack, he says, with the municipalities in the MRC Vaudreuil-Soulanges now assuming just over 117 per cent of the actual costs of the police force.

“There is a word for that,” said an incensed Pilon in an interview with The 1019 Report last week. “It’s ‘fraud.’ It may not be illegal, but it’s immoral en maudit.”

“The MRC has to settle this issue,” Pilon added. “It’s a nail they should be hammering all the time.”

For her part, Lachance has put together an analysis of the growing costs to bolster the message her council will be sending to the Quebec government, arguing that since municipalities have no input on the SQ’s costs and given that the provincial officials are the only ones to negotiate these costs, the provincial government should assume a larger share of the bill.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

A total of 266 vehicles were stolen in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region in the last 13 months, with just about 40 per cent snatched by thieves in Vaudreuil-Dorion, according to an analysis conducted by the Journal de Montréal’s Bureau d’enquête and published earlier this month.

A total of 105 vehicles were reported stolen in Vaudreuil-Dorion between Sept. 1, 2023, and Oct. 21 of this year, the report claims.

The information was compiled based on information obtained from the Sûreté du Québec through access-to-information requests.

A total of 23 vehicles were reported stolen in Pincourt in the same period, earning the town the distinction of having the second highest number of vehicle thefts in the region. At least one vehicle theft was reported in 19 of the 23 municipalities of Vaudrueil-Soulanges in the last 13 months.

The Fairview Pointe Claire shopping centre in the West Island, according to the report, was the one area in the province with the highest frequency of car thefts, with 185 vehicles reported stolen from the mall’s parking lot in the last year. That represents a rate of theft of about one vehicle stolen every two days, surpassing Pierre Trudeau Airport in Dorval, where 126 vehicles were stolen in the last year.

But despite what appears to be high numbers of vehicle thefts, a report issued earlier this year by Équité Association, a national non-profit organization that focuses on insurance crime and fraud prevention, points to a 17-per-cent drop in the number of vehicle thefts in Canada in the first six months of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023. Last year was a peak year for car thefts, the association says.

In Quebec, which saw the most significant drop in auto thefts from January to June 2024 compared with all other provinces, Équité Association claims, the number of vehicle thefts were down 36 per cent.

Here are the total number of cars stolen in the region by municipality from Sept. 1, 2023, and Oct. 21, 2024, according to the Journal de Montréal’s analysis:

Coteau du Lac: 10

Hudson: 6

Île Perrot: 21

Les Cèdres: 12

Les Coteaux: 10

Notre Dame Île Perrot: 17

Pincourt: 23

Pointe des Cascades: 2

Rigaud: 10

Rivière Beaudette: 4

St. Clet: 2

St. Lazare: 18

Ste. Marthe: 1

St. Polycarpe: 1

St. Zotique: 20

Terrasse Vaudreuil: 2

Très St. Redempteur: 1

Vaudreuil-Dorion: 105

Vaudreuil sur le Lac: 1

Total: 266