Author name: The Quebec Chronicle Telegraph

City can’t yet say how much purple bags reduce burned garbage

Peter Black – Local Journalism initiative reporter
peterblack@qctonline.com

The purple plastic bag has become a familiar and ever-increasing presence on the streets of Quebec City on garbage day. But after more than a year of operation, city officials won’t or can’t say how much the household waste program has reduced the amount of garbage burned at the municipal incinerator.

The question became an issue last week following an effort by Le Soleil to get data on the impact of the purple bag program, whereby the bags are collected with the other usual refuse during the regular weekly city garbage collection.

The bags are separated out at the organic matter recovery centre, a complex adjacent to the incinerator, where con- tents are emptied from the bags and turned into a liquid pulp that is piped underground to the new biomethanization plant.

The overall goal of the program is to produce energy from biowaste and to reduce the amount of material burned in the incinerator. The city says some 75 per cent of residents are participating in the program.

A reporter from Le Soleil tasked the city for figures concerning tonnage of mate- rial incinerated since January 2022, before the purple bag program started operating, and the beginning of 2024 when it was in full swing.

After a few exchanges where the wrong numbers were provided, Le Soleil reported the city “refused to disclose these figures, citing an article of the Access to Information Act that deals with industrial and commercial secrecy, as well as two articles that exempt ‘advice and recommendations (made to a public body)’ from access to information.”

This stance provoked Limoilou Coun. Jackie Smith to issue a statement on July 31, saying, “Despite the protests of various environmental groups, the city built a $200-million biomethanization plant to reduce the amount of organic matter sent to the incinerator. We will not go back, but the city must at least have the decency to present the figures to its population.”

Smith, whose district contains both the incinerator and biomethanization plant, said, “It is always difficult to have clear data collected using appropriate methods when it comes to the incinerator. We look forward to the creation of an independent scientist position mandated to monitor environmental policies in Quebec City.”

Smith said, “We need to have a plan for the eventual closure of this incinerator that is polluting our air and to achieve this, the city absolutely must have a vision and a plan to reduce waste at the source.”

A city spokesperson, following up on the controversy, said in other media reports more information on the purple bag program will be available in the fall. Wendy Whittom said a scale is to be installed at the sorting centre and the purple bags will be weighed separately. She estimated the household waste accounts for about 10 per cent of garbage collected.

The biomethanization plant has a total capacity of 182,600 tons a year of food and residue from waste water treatment, according to city information. In a Radio-Canada report, Energir says it has already generated some 1.5 million cubic metres of natural gas from the facility. The city hopes to produce 10 million cubic metres annually.

SAAQ bans uncertified motorized vehicles from bike paths

Peter Black – Local Journalism initiative reporter
peterblack@qctonline.com

The provincial auto insurance board is putting the brakes on the proliferation of “non- compliant” vehicles rolling on bicycle paths and sidewalks. The Société d’Assurance Automobile de Québec (SAAQ) announced the ban in a July 30 news release.

The sudden change applies to “a multitude of vehicles that look like mopeds or motorcycles” but do not have a certification mark from Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. As of the announcement, the affected vehicles are banned from public roads.

The release says, “These vehicles pose a safety risk to vulnerable road users who use sidewalks and bike paths because of their heavy weight and the speed they can reach.

“Out of fairness to other owners of compliant motor- cycles and mopeds who must register their vehicles and hold the correct class of driver’s licence to be able to use the road network, it is important to take action.”

Quebec City Police Service spokesperson Sandra Dion, in a statement to the QCT, hinted at a period of grace before cracking down on violators. “We acknowledge this new decree which brings a change

to the regulations in force. Subsequently, it will be important to inform citizens that they are in violation, since they are probably not informed about this new law.”

City hall spokesman Jean- Pascal Lavoie told the QCT, “We have no specific comments to make at this time, but the city is still implementing the SAAQ regulations.”

A report in La Presse, quoting an SAAQ spokesman, said police or peace officers “will have to base their decision on the physical and visual characteristics of the vehicle to determine whether it is covered by the ministerial order.”

The most obvious characteristic would be the absence of the certification sticker.

According to details published in government documents, the affected vehicles are defined as: those equipped with footrests or a platform for the driver’s feet; equipped with a set of tires and wheels that have the appearance of that of a motorcycle or moped; equipped with a body that partially or completely covers their frame or some of their components and that are not equipped with a height- adjustable saddle; and, those equipped with a motor that can reach a speed of more than 32 km/h or that has a nominal power greater than 500 watts.

The SAAQ notes, “These vehicles are already prohibited from sale and importation in new condition in Quebec due to the lack of certification to the standards in force.”

Persons stopped while driving a prohibited vehicle on a public road face a fine between $300 and $600.

According to several media reports, delivery workers who use the uncertified vehicles to earn their living are upset with the sudden policy decision.

Parc Chauveau to get $11 million in improvements 

Peter Black

Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Quebec City’s largest park is getting a large makeover. Work is set to begin this summer on an $11-million slate of improvements to Parc Chauveau, located in the des Riviéres district in the northwest of the city.

Details of the project were unveiled in a July 19 joint news release from city and Quebec government officials.

Parc Chauveau, through which the St. Charles River runs, encompasses 130 hectares; for comparison, the Base de Plein Air de Sainte-Foy is 124 hectares and the Plains of Abraham 90 hectares.

The work to be done includes the creation of a four-season multi-purpose trail with a footbridge across the river, the creation of a main reception area and the reconfiguration of an existing bike path. 

In the release, Coun. Marie-Josée Asselin, vice-president of the executive committee responsible for natural environments, said the park is “a jewel in the heart of the city, a cherished place for Quebec City residents who gather there in their thousands, in all seasons. These new developments will make the experience of immersing users in nature even more interesting, while promoting active transportation.”

The project is the result of a consultation process that produced a master plan for the park in 2021. 

Some $2 million was spent last year on a series of improvements in the vicinity of the neighbouring Michel-Labadie Community Centre on Ave. Chauveau. These included “the first roller track in Quebec City, a skateboard area, a universally accessible biodiversity trail linking these recreational facilities and the St. Charles River.”

The centerpiece of the project is the new trail. The new two-kilometre universally accessible multifunctional path in the heart of the park “will take hikers, on foot, on wheels or on skis, from one end of the park to the other thanks to a new footbridge overlooking the river. This structural addition will make it possible to develop a network of recreational trails on both banks, in addition to connecting the riverside neighbourhoods by an active mode of transportation, in summer and winter.”

The accessibility aspect of the trail pleases Véronique Dallaire, the city councillor whose Les Saules – Les Méandres district includes much of the park. She is also the Opposition Quebec d’abord critic for accessibility. 

In a statement to the QCT, Dallaire said, “The development of Parc Chauveau will help make our city even more accessible. The creation of a multi-purpose trail and a new main reception area represent a significant investment in the quality of life.”

The new reception area, to be located at the corner of Ave. Chauveau and Boul. Saint-Jacques, will improve access to the park and include a service pavilion and playground area. It will be done in two phases, starting with redoing the main entrance this summer, including reconfiguring the bike path at street level, building a section of sidewalk on Ave. Chauveau and planting 90 trees and numerous plants.

Jonatan Julien, the Quebec government minister for infrastructure and for the capital region, said in the news release: “The Government of Quebec is proud to contribute financially to the addition of several developments and facilities on the Parc Chauveau site, which is a delight for many hikers, cyclists and outdoor enthusiasts.”

Billy Idol bringing ‘Rebel Yell’ to Quebec City 

Peter Black

Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Though it’s hard to imagine Billy Idol wielding a hockey stick, there is a Canadian shinny connection to the legendary British rocker. 

Back in April, Idol opened the Saturday night edition of Hockey Night in Canada, which featured a montage of hockey action and hockey fans set to Idol’s hard-driving hit “Rebel Yell.” He was later interviewed live on the broadcast.

The appearance was also a promotion for his 13-date Canadian tour that began July 30 in Vancouver and rolls into Quebec City on Aug. 19 for a date at the Videotron Centre.

The tour is built around the reissue of Idol’s double-platinum Rebel Yell album that featured the title track and other hits including “Eyes Without a Face” and “Flesh for Fantasy.” He will be performing with his longtime guitarist and songwriting collaborator Steve Stevens.

Idol, born William Broad, first found fame with his 1982 self-titled debut album, which included such hits as “White Wedding” and “Dancing with Myself.” Prior to his solo career, he released three albums with Generation X, a British punk band.

Idol, now 68, produced a documentary, released last year, about performing a concert at the gigantic Hoover Dam in the United States, a gig he did partly to draw attention to one of his social causes, the future of water supply. 

Opening for Idol will be Canada’s definitive 1980s hair band, Platinum Blonde, who first toured with Idol and Bryan Adams in 1985. 

For more information and tickets, visit lecentrevideotron.ca/en/2024/04/08/billy-idol-at-the-videotron-centre.  

Five city staircases to get repairs over next three years

Peter Black

Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Five of Quebec City’s staircases between Upper and Lower Town are slated for major renovation over the next three years.

According to information obtained from the provincial call for tenders website, the five staircases are Escalier des Franciscains in Montcalm; Escalier du Faubourg, between Saint-Roch and Saint-Jean-Baptiste neighbourhoods; Escalier Frontenac, between Old Quebec and Côte de la Montagne; Escalier Lepine, between Saint-Roch and Saint-Jean Baptiste, behind the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul site; and Escalier de la Chapelle, between Côte d’Abraham and Rue Saint-Vallier Est.

The call for tenders stipulates work is to begin next year on two of the staircases, des Franciscains and du Faubourg. The Lepine and de la Chapelle structures are slated for 2026, and Frontenac in 2027.

City spokesperson Wendy Whittom told the QCT, “The objective of the call for tenders is to determine the work necessary to ensure the sustainability of the stairs, so for the moment, the nature of the work to be done has not been determined. It will be once the preliminary study has been carried out.”

She said, “While it carries out ongoing maintenance on these structures, the city prioritizes the restoration of its assets based on their level of obsolescence.”

While the city hopes to minimize the impact on pedestrian traffic during the work on the staircases, one of them is in a critical tourism zone. The Escalier Frontenac is a main passage between Old Quebec and Dufferin Terrace to the popular destinations of Rue du Petit-Champlain, Côte de la Montagne and Parc Montmorency. The staircase, with its 115 steps, was built in 1976, and is situated next to the funicular in the shadow of the Château Frontenac.

While perhaps in a less dense traffic zone, the Escalier du Faubourg, built in 1931, is a convenient way to go from the Saint-Jean-Baptiste neighbourhood to Saint-Roch. Access will be further complicated next year by the closure of the Faubourg elevator for 10 months in 2025 for major repairs.

The oldest staircase, Escalier Lépine, was built in 1883 to connect what was then a bustling village in Lower Town with the shops and attractions in Upper Town. Featuring ornate wrought-iron entrance arches, the staircase was designed by famed city architect Charles Baillairgé and named for Germain Lépine, founder of the Lepine-Cloutier funeral home located on Rue Saint-Vallier.

For many years the most frequently used staircase between Upper and Lower Town, Escalier Lépine has become less popular with development changes in Upper Town. It may get more attention in the coming years with the proposed housing project targeted for the now vacant site of the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul centre.

Lightbound to run again: ‘Everything in my power’ to beat Poilievre

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

With a federal election likely coming late next year, Louis-Hébert Liberal MP Joël Lightbound says he is planning to run for a fourth term in Parliament.

He said at a July 16 media event, when a reporter asked about his plans, “It’s clear that I intend to run.” (“C’est clair que j’ai l’intention de me représenter.”)

Lightbound first won the suburban Quebec City riding in the 2015 election, beating the New Democratic Party incumbent. He won the subsequent elections in 2019 and 2021 by comfortable margins. He is the first MP in modern times to win Louis-Hébert in two successive elections.

Lightbound said in a Jour- nal de Québec report, “One of my motivations is to do everything in my power so that Mr. [Pierre] Poilievre does not form the government and does not undo policies that are good for prosperity, but also for the environment.”

The MP was likely referring to the Conservative leader’s hard-line opposition to Quebec City’s tramway project, to which he said he would not contribute “one cent” of federal money should he become prime minister.

The Louis-Hébert riding contains key elements of the tramway plan, including a line to Université Laval and the Boul. Laurier shopping district. According to recent projections from the Canada338 polling website, the Conserva- tive Party has a lead in Louis- Hébert, with 80 per cent “odds of winning.” The Liberal Party is second with the Bloc Québécois close behind. The projections are based on national and provincial polling data and do not include the names of candidates or incumbents. Lightbound had expressed an interest last year in run- ning for the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party. He took himself out of contention in March, citing the impending birth of his first child with his spouse. Their son arrived in June.

The MP’s decision to run again comes in the context of his relationship with the Liberal parliamentary caucus. Lightbound spoke out against his government’s handling of the pandemic crisis in a February 2022 news conference.

Identified as a rising star since his first election at age 27, Lightbound has served as parliamentary secretary to the ministers of health, finance and public safety. His current main parliamentary role is chair of the standing committee on industry and technology.

Lightbound is a graduate of École secondaire de Rochebelle, CEGEP Champlain–St. Lawrence and McGill University law school.

A call to Lightbound’s constituency office had not been returned by press time.

FEQ boss Racine ‘can’t wait for next year’ after smash success

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

With crews briskly taking down the massive and sprawling infrastructure of the 56th Festival d’été (FEQ), president and director-general Nicolas Racine declared the 11-day event a smashing success.

“The weather was nice and that makes a difference, but it’s the people who create the event,” Racine said in an interview in the aftermath of the finale of the festival on July 14, with a show by rock veterans Mötley Crüe on the giant stage on the Plains of Abraham.

The people were there en masse, with all 125,000 passes to the festival sold within minutes back in March, and the July 12 show by superstar Post Malone drawing a beyond- capacity crowd.

Racine said he was particularly pleased that measures put in place for this year’s festival, his second at the controls, helped improve the comfort and safety of the huge crowds.

The area in front of the Bell stage on the Plains was moved back several feet, which made space for some 10,000 more fans. “Our goal was to create more comfort.”

He said, “We don’t want to change the business model that we have and we will try to accommodate as many as we can safely. Security is our first priority.” Officials reported a low incidence of medical interventions at this year’s event. Racine said the goal is for first responders to take a maximum of four minutes to get aid to someone in distress.

One of the crowd-pleasing innovations this year was the installation of gigantic panoramic screens on both sides of the Plains stage, a project done in collaboration with Montreal-based stage specialists Stageline.

The screens were nearly double the size of the previous ones and reduced by one week the time required to put up the enormous stage. The project was an example, Racine said, of FEQ’s mission to collaborate with Quebec businesses whenever it can. “The fans loved it, and the artists used [the screens] on many occasions” to complement their shows, he said.

Another element fans liked, Racine said, was the return of Place D’Youville as a festival venue for a program of free concerts. Long a popular site for FEQ shows, it was abandoned after the pandemic years of 2020-22 before being brought back. “It’s a great spot, with Le Diamant and the Porte Saint-Jean.”

This year also had a treat for performers, the “artists’ village,” located behind the Armoury building, where the talent could hang out, dip their toes in an inflatable pool, or, as Post Malone did according to reports, sample some delicious sushi.

Besides Post Malone and Mötley Crüe, other big name acts at this year’s FEQ included Nickelback, 50 Cent, the Zac Brown Band, the Jonas Broth- ers, The Offspring and an instrumental evening headed by Alexandra Stréliski. There was also, for the first time, a program of eclectic shows at the Grand Théâtre.

Taken together, Racine said, FEQ 2024 proved “that we need to keep investing in our prod- uct because FEQ is something really special that we have in Quebec City, one of the nicest cities in the world. We can’t take anything for granted.”

Racine also praised the city’s contribution to the festival, particularly for transportation. He said a friend of his from Montreal, not normally one to take public transit, took a city bus to the FEQ site and raved about the experience, especially the singing bus driver.

Even with teardown still in progress, Racine said work is well underway on next year’s edition. He said most contracts with artists and suppliers need to be signed by October; some acts have already been locked up for the 2025 edition, but FEQ maintains tight secrecy among a small group of staff until the lineup is revealed next year.

Racine applauded the work of the FEQ team in the “incredibly complicated” task of putting together the festival.

“The team that I have is really, really efficient and really engaged, passionate,” Racine said. As for running the show, “it’s a privilege. I love it and I can’t wait for next year because I already know where we’re going to improve.”

Prior to joining FEQ as president in November 2022, Racine owned and operated a tourism company in Quebec, as well as being involved in the administration of the Le Massif resort in the Charlevoix.

Post Malone draws monster crowd at FEQ for epic show

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

“Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.”

Post Malone, a global superstar of the highest order, appeared genuinely humbled and grateful in front of a monster Festival d’Été (FEQ) crowd on the closing Friday of the event.

Taking the stage about 15 minutes past the 9:30 p.m. target, Malone’s show instantly won the hearts of the boisterous and adoring throng with a riveting opening featuring an ethereal string quartet of four women who quickly burst – literally, with the first of many fireworks salvos – into a musical storm that roared through an epic set that finished with no less than three encore tunes.

Malone – he introduced him- self by his real name, Austin Richard Post – is by his own description, a musical chameleon, “genre-less,” whose success as a songwriter and performer resides in his ability to create a gripping tune by melding and experimenting with all variety of styles, from hip-hop to pop and even country.

Indeed, Malone begins a tour in the United States in September based on his first country album, F-1 Trillion.

When FEQ organizers announced the 2024 lineup in March, Post Malone was acknowledged as the event’s biggest “get,” given his limited touring schedule and the enormity of demand from a multitude of festivals.

Born on the fourth of July, Malone, now 29, spent his early childhood in Syracuse, N.Y., but moved with his family to Texas when he was nine. He picked up a guitar when he was 15 and played in several bands before he found his first success with “White Iverson” which had 10,000,000 sales or streams.

Since then he’s won multiple awards and set sales records, including his nine diamond-certified recordings. Chugging beers, smoking cigarettes, joking with the crowd, pacing the stage like an animal, flexing his tattoo- cluttered torso, cussing up a storm, Malone was what his Québécois fans would agree on as a “vraie bête de scène.” In fact, as is his tradition, Malone invited a fan on stage to show his appreciation. Félix Bergeron gushed “C’est une rêve” and played acoustic guitar to accompany Malone on his hit “Stay.”

As FEQ said in its promotion of Malone, many fans – Bergeron among them – dreamed of seeing Post Malone at the festival. Now it’s happened and few would disagree this was a performer who matched the scale and spectacle of FEQ. It was the largest crowd of the festival, with security officials closing the entrance gates at 8:40 p.m. The venue’s maximum capacity is 100,000 people.

Not that Malone needed any help to jack up the fans, but Jessie Murph, a poster girl for viral social media success, charmed and seduced the crowd with her blend of broken-hearted lover and defiant swagger.

The 19-year-old from Tennessee, as legend has it, literally Googled “how to become famous” and then began creating lip-sync videos and posting them online. She hit the jackpot with her composition “Always Been You,” released on TikTok in the fall of 2019, which drew tens of millions of streams.

With a sense of humour, a raspy wail of a voice and a world-class potty mouth, Murph wowed the mob and said it was the biggest crowd she’d ever played. “F**k, I love you Quebec,” she said midway through her 40-minute, 15- song set.

She finished her show with “Son of a Bitch” wielding a bejeweled Louisville Slugger baseball bat.

The opening act was Canadian perky-pop trio Valley, whose lead singer and guitarist, Rob Laska, told the crowd he felt like “family” since his girlfriend’s parents come from Quebec.

The veteran Toronto-based group paced through a string of catchy tunes, with energetic drumming from Karah James (wearing a Girls Rock T-shirt) and creative guitar work from Alex Dimauro.

Mayor defends deficit for popular àVélo bike rental program

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Quebec City’s àVélo bike rental program may be wildly popular, but it’s also distinctly unprofitable.

According to data the Opposition Québec d’abord party (QCDAB) obtained through an access-to-information request, the program was in the red by $2.3 million in 2023, the third year of the service’s operation.

The party’s interest in the financing of the bike-sharing service follows the city administration’s recent unveiling of a massive expansion of the program over the next four years, to a total of 3,300 bikes and 330 stations throughout the city.

QCDAB Leader Coun. Claude Villeneuve released the figures before the July 2 city council meeting, showing àVélo had revenues of $1.07 million versus expenses of $3.36 million.

To finance this expansion, the city needs to borrow $24 million to buy the bikes and station infrastructure. The loan came up for a vote at the council meeting, with QCDAB members and the two Équipe Priorité Québec members voting against.

Villeneuve said the city needs to be more forthcoming about the financing of àVélo, which is managed by Capitale Mobilité, an agency of the Réseau du transport de la Capitale (RTC).

QCDAB Coun. Alicia Despins said in a statement to the QCT that her party “believes it is irresponsible to authorize over $24 million for the àVélo project without having access to the financial records of Capitale Mobilité. … We are very concerned by the lack of transparency from the Marchand administration regarding the funding.

“I’m a regular user of àVélo. So to be clear, Québec d’abord is not against the àVélo project, which was implemented by the [former mayor Régis] Labeaume administration,” Despins said. “We simply request factual elements to properly manage public funds.”

Mayor Bruno Marchand dismissed opposition concerns about the bike service deficit, saying no form of public transportation operates without a deficit.

“It’s surprising to see such a great success being brushed aside by the opposition. This is what they have been doing since the beginning,” the mayor said.

He said, “Each bicycle trip is a gain for the population since it saves other costs linked to the environment, in particular. We are approaching 500,000 trips. We will exceed a million this year. Now imagine when in four years we will have 3,300 bicycles spread across the city!”

Poilievre won’t fund tramway if he becomes PM

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Just as work is resuming on Quebec City’s tramway project following the green light from the recent Caisse de depôt et placement Infra (CDPQ-Infra), future financial support for the project from the federal government is in doubt.

Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) Leader Pierre Poilievre last week repeated his vow to not provide any funding for the project if he becomes prime minister. He had previously said he would not give the project “one cent.”

Poilievre, on a tour of Quebec in a recreational vehicle, met reporters while visiting Quebec City on June 24 as part of Fête Nationale activities. Encountered by a protester demanding a referendum on the tramway plan, the Conservative leader said, “You don’t want a tramway; well, I don’t either. My thinking remains the same, common sense thinking, to say yes to buses, yes to cars, yes to the third link.”

In 2019, the Liberal federal government of Justin Trudeau committed $2.1 billion to the project which was then – pre-pandemic, pre-inflation – budgeted at $3.3 billion. The Caisse report, released two weeks ago, pegged the cost of the revised first phase of the project at $5.3 billion. The full system, with two other routes to serve the suburbs and a tunnel between Quebec City and Lévis, is estimated at $15.5 billion.

Poilievre said the project would end up costing each household in the metropolitan region $28,000.

As for the “third link,” Poilievre said he supports the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s latest proposal to build a bridge between the eastern ends of Quebec City and Lévis. The government unveiled the plan on June 13 – with no cost or timeline – at the same time it committed to approve the first phase of the tramway project.

In making the surprise bridge announcement, Premier François Legault and Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault gave the compelling reason as “economic security” to avoid the “catastrophe” for commercial traffic if the Pierre Laporte Bridge should be closed for whatever reason.

A Journal de Québec investigation found the Laporte Bridge has never been closed completely for a structural reason, and has only had to close for a total of 22 hours over 54 years for other reasons, such as a suicide or regularly scheduled maintenance.

The Caisse report examined several scenarios for a “third link” but said it was not justified; it did recommend a tramway tunnel if there proved to be a necessity in the future.

Poilievre said the decision to build a bridge is “for the Quebec government, but what I’m saying is that a government led by common-sense Conservatives will make funding available to support a third link, for the future.”

The Conservative leader had by his side during a visit to the Port of Quebec two of his Quebec City-area MPs, Pierre Paul-Hus and Gérard Deltell.

Meanwhile, Éric Duhaime of the Conservative Party of Quebec released a poll con- ducted after the tramway- bridge announcement showing 58 per cent of people surveyed oppose the tramway project, while 34 per cent support it.

The poll, by Toronto-based Pallas Data based on 1,445 respondents, also found Duhaime’s party is neck and neck with the Parti Québécois in the Quebec City region, with about 30 per cent support; the CAQ is far behind with 18 per cent.

Denis Coderre enters Quebec Liberal leadership race in Bellechasse

Peter Black, Local Initiative Reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Vowing to run in the Bellechasse riding on the South Shore, former Montreal mayor and former federal Liberal minister Denis Coderre has entered the race for the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party.

Coderre, who turns 61 in July, made the announcement on June 21 in front of the National Assembly, with a group of supporters at his side, including former Liberal MNA Raymond Bernier.

Coderre had announced his interest in the leadership earlier in the year and said he would reflect on the decision during a pilgrimage to Compostela in Spain in May.

Coderre is the first candidate to officially declare for the leadership, which will be decided by a convention in June next year. The job became open when Dominique Anglade resigned following the party’s disappointing 21-seat showing in the 2022 election.

Coderre was elected mayor of Montreal in 2013, but narrowly lost to Valérie Plante in 2017; he lost by a larger margin in a comeback attempt in 2021.

In April of last year, Coderre suffered a mild stroke from which he has said he has made a nearly full recovery.

Prior to his run for Montreal City Hall, Coderre was the Liberal MP for the Montreal riding

of Bourassa, winning the seat in 1997 after three unsuccessful tries. He was named minister of immigration in 2002, but after the 2004 election, was not reappointed to cabinet by then-prime minister Paul Martin.

Coderre, who says he voted Yes in the 1980 referendum, has since become a staunch federalist. In 1990, he came a distant second to future Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe in a Montreal byelection.

Coderre said part of the reason he wants to be Quebec Liberal leader is to fight against the Parti Québécois, which, under leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, has vowed to hold a referendum on sovereignty if elected in 2026.

“I don’t need a new country. I’ve got one,” Coderre said. “The best way not to have a referendum is not to vote for them [the PQ].”

At the announcement press conference, Coderre said he chose the Bellechasse riding “because it is a federalist riding with a high French-speaking content and an agricultural and industrial character.”

Even though the Liberal candidate in the 2022 election got only four per cent of the vote in the riding, now held by Stéphanie Lachance of the Coalition Avenir Québec, Coderre has said he will run there even if he does not win the leadership.

Coderre said he is in favour of a “third link” between Quebec City and the South Shore, and would support whatever Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand thinks is best for the tramway plan.

Coderre said he invited “all the disappointed Liberals” to join him. “I think we need experienced men and women. I’ve always loved this party. I have deep roots in it, no mat- ter what anyone says. I think it’s important for us to come together again.”

Coderre said he plans to embark on a series of spaghetti dinners in all 125 ridings in the province to raise support for his campaign.

Other potential candidates, according to media reports, are Frédéric Beauchemin, MNA for Marguerite-Bourgeoys; Charles Milliard, former president of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec (FCCQ); and Antoine Tardif, the mayor of Victoriaville.

Court rejects parking garage on former church site on Grande Allée

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

Peterblack@qctonline.com

Those unaware of a prolonged legal battle between a developer and Quebec City Hall might be curious to know why there is a huge grassy vacant lot on Grande Allée kitty-corner from the Concorde Hotel.

Last week, the dispute between developer Louis Lessard and the city over a proposed nine-storey parking garage reached a new stage, with the Quebec Superior Court rejecting Lessard’s claim the city had acted in bad faith by making zoning changes that prohibited the project.

The decision, rendered June 13 by Judge Jean-Louis Lemay, is the latest chapter in a saga dating back to December 2010, when Lessard purchased the long-abandoned Église Saint- Coeur-de-Marie. Thus ensued a back-and-forth between the city and Lessard over his plans to redevelop the church site. After the city rejected a reported nine different proposals for a multi-storey residential building, some incorporating parts of the existing church, Lessard sued the city for $12 million in damages in 2017. (He later dropped the suit). Meanwhile the church, built in 1920, was deteriorating, with critical roof damage, to the point Lessard was granted a permit to demolish the structure.

In 2019, the building – with distinctive neo-Byzantine architecture but no heritage pro- tection – was levelled and the lot cleared in preparation for a building project. Lessard went back to the drawing board and proposed the parking garage, which, he contended in the suit against the city, conformed to existing zoning laws.

The city subsequently made zoning changes in 2022 and 2023 to close a loophole allowing “parking and taxi stands” in the area comprising Lessard’s lot.

Lessard claimed the city made the changes to deliberately block his application for a building permit for the parking garage project.

In his ruling, the judge concluded Lessard had not proved he had a prima facie right to a building permit and furthermore, had not fully complied with the application process, including failure to pay the full $57,600 fee to the city.

The court also affirmed the changes to the zoning plan to ban parking structures were within the city’s justified rights to correct an error or oversight. It noted the urban planning committee had made similar changes in many other zones in the city, so Lessard could not claim he was the “victim of discriminatory treatment.”

Though Mayor Bruno Marchand had described the parking garage project as “something good for the 1970s,” the judge ruled there was no element of “a plot” by elected officials or civil servants against Lessard.

City councillors Catherine Vallières-Roland and Mélissa Coulombe-Leduc had been called as witnesses in the case.

Contacted by the QCT, Loik Lessard, son of the developer and a company official, said in an email, “We are in reflexion and we are analyzing our options.”

CAQ approves Phase 1 of tramway, commits to build new bridge

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The Coalition Avenir Québec government of Premier François Legault did what it said it would do and approved the recommendations for a transit system contained in the report it commissioned.

It also did something contrary to the recommenda- tions in the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec Infra (CDPQ Infra) study. It made a commitment to build another bridge for motor vehicle traffic across the St. Lawrence River at the east end of the city, po- tentially at one of the widest and deepest points in the river.

At a June 13 news confer- ence the day after the Caisse released its report, Legault evoked “economic security” as the main reason for proceeding with a third link to back up the Pierre Laporte and Quebec bridges.

In April 2023, the CAQ government abruptly cancelled a plan to build a tunnel under the river, claiming the volume of traffic did not justify the multi-billion-dollar cost.

In the wake of a subsequent byelection defeat in the Jean-Talon riding in September, Legault said the government would revisit the third link question. It was included in the mandate of the Caisse study of the global transit needs of the Quebec City region.

The Caisse, however, examined six possible options for an intercity link and concluded none was justifiable. It did suggest a tramway tunnel if circumstances deemed it necessary.

Legault told reporters, “I think that when you look at the file and take a step back, even looking at the inconveniences, we are better off having this new road.”

The premier raised the spectre of the closing of the Pierre Laporte Bridge, the only span capable of handling heavy truck traffic east of Trois-Rivières, as an economic catastrophe for the region.

“As premier, the question I have to ask with my col- leagues is can we live with this economic risk?” Legault said.

Neither Legault nor Transport Minister Genèvieve Guilbault would commit to a timeline for construction of the bridge, which, presumably, would connect the Beauport Autoroute 40 interchange with Autoroute 20 on the South Shore.

Guilbault said the government could seek expertise from around the world about how to build a bridge across the river in an area that, according to experts consulted in media reports, poses many engineering challenges.

Regardless, Legault said the bridge project will move forward. “There will be no other economic or traffic studies. I think there have been enough now,” he said.

As for the Quebec City transit project the Caisse proposed, Legault was cautious about making a too-sweeping commitment. He said the government will give the green light to the first phase of the project, notably the tramway line between Le Gendre in the west and Charlesbourg in the north-west.

As for the subsequent phases, Legault said that would be a question of future discussions with Quebec City and Lévis.

Mayor Bruno Marchand applauded the government’s decision in a statement, saying he is “delighted the government immediately confirmed the implementation of the first phase of the CITÉ plan.”

Caisse proposes tramway in master plan for regional transit

Peter Black

peterblack@qctonline.com

Delivered within the six-month deadline, and containing many new elements from the previous plan, the Caisse de dépôt et placement de Québec Infra (CDPQ Infra) has laid out a sweeping master plan for transit in the greater Quebec City region.

Unveiled at a crowded news conference on June 12, the project, called the Circuit integré de transport express (CITE) plan, foresees a tramway, rapid bus service and potentially a mass transit tunnel between Quebec City and Lévis, built in three phases.

Phase 1 of the CITE project is similar in its key elements to the project the city had underway until the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government put it on pause in November over concerns about the escalating cost.

In the altered version the Caisse proposes, the central tramway line would run from Cap-Rouge in the west to Charlesbourg in the north-east, passing along Boul. Laurier and Boul. René- Lévesque, with a tunnel to Saint-Roch.

The previous plan had the eastern terminus on Rue D’Estimauville, a change that had been imposed by the CAQ government; the initial route the city proposed in 2018 when the plan was first unveiled included the Charlesbourg line.

The new line would run for 28 kilometres, compared to the 19 km of the D’Estimauville version.

Under the Caisse plan, the D’Estimauville extension would be built in Phase 2, and a line from Charlesbourg to the Lebourgneuf sector in the northwest in Phase 3. A spur to Jean Lesage International Airport is also in the long-term plan.

Supplementing the tramway would be two rapid bus (SRB) networks running on dedicated lanes serving suburban areas, as well as the downtown core of Lévis. The Quebec City SRB line would run along Boul. Charest, connecting to the tramway in Saint-Roch in the east and Boul. René-Lévesque in the west.

In Lévis, the SRB line would pass along Boul. Guillaume-Couture to the Desjardins complex, connecting in the west with the Sainte-Foy transit hub after crossing one of the two bridges.

Both SRB lines are included in the first phase of the project.

The Caisse plan hopes to trim the cost of the tramway and increase its “social acceptability” by several measures: reducing the size of the tram cars, making stations smaller, lowering the platform for the tram rails and using available battery technology to reduce the amount of overhead electrical lines.

The CITE plan, according to the CDPQ Infra release, “proposes new, interconnected transit solutions that will offer high service frequencies, with extended timetables, increased comfort and reliability and significant time savings, reducing travel time by up to half in some areas.”

The report says the plan “has the potential to significantly increase ridership on the [metropolitan Quebec City] public transit system, adding at least 40,000 people a day. This represents a minimum increase in public transit ridership of 30 per cent, generating a further reduction in GHG emissions.”

As for a “third link” between Quebec City and Lévis, the Caisse recom- mends a seven-km tunnel dedicated exclusively to a tramway line be built between the downtowns of the two cities, “in time and in accordance with demographic and densification conditions.”

The report, after studying six possible crossing sites, concluded “the traffic flow on any of the corridors studied would be relatively low, as would the reduction in the number of vehicles on existing bridges. The addition of an intercity road would move congestion points deeper into the Quebec City road network, forcing a reconfiguration of these corridors. As a result, the marginal gains in mobility for the [greater Quebec City metropolitan area] cannot, on their own, justify the construction of a new intercity road.”

The $15.5-billion estimated cost includes $7 billion for the tramway, $4.5 billion for SRB and express bus lanes, and, should it proceed, $4 billion for the tramway tunnel.

The city’s budget for the tramway line, updated in November, had been $8.4 billion.

TRAM TRACKER

Marchand embraces Caisse transit report: ‘It’s time to act’

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Scarcely containing his relief and satisfaction, Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand declared, “The time for hesitation is over; the time of division too; the time to take action is now.”

Marchand was responding to the Caisse de dêpot et placement du Québec Infra (CDPQ Infra) report giving a resounding thumbs-up to the essentials of the tramway project he has been piloting since his election in 2021, which was in the works for many years previously under former mayor Régis Labeaume.

The day before the June 12 release of CDPQ Infra’s much-anticipated Plan CITE (Circuit integré de transport express), the mayor was briefed on the massive report, which contained the conclusions of CDPQ Infra experts who examined some 1,000 studies and heard from 179 interested parties.

The mayor rejected suggestions by reporters that the Caisse report is a personal victory for him, after the CAQ government had put the tramway project on hold in November and called on the Caisse to study transit needs in the greater Quebec region.

Asked by the QCT how he felt personally when he first opened the report and saw it endorsed the tramway, Marchand said, “I don’t give a damn. My only goal is to build a city and it’s not personal … you have to think about 500,000 people and not about you.”

Marchand said, “The city agrees entirely with the report” saying the Caisse recognized “the immense needs” of the region and “could not be more clear” in its call for a multi-faceted approach to addressing those needs. The mayor said he was particularly pleased to see the Plan CITE address service for residents in all corners of the city.

He said it doesn’t do any good to regret whatever time was lost in the tramway construction schedule while the Caisse undertook its study. He said construction could resume quickly because so much preparatory work had already been done by the tramway project office.

He also said he had no issue with CDPQ Infra taking charge of the project, and had spoken already with Caisse head Charles Émond.

In other reaction, Opposition and Québec d’abord leader Coun. Claude Villeneuve, whose party has long supported the tramway, said, “Let’s stop fooling around and let’s do it quickly,” saying it’s time to end the “dithering” that’s wasted time and money.

Villeneuve noted the tramway route to Charlesbourg the Caisse proposed is the same as that advanced by the Labeaume administration in 2018.

“With the project presented in 2018, in two years (2026), we could have had a functional tram at the price before the pandemic when it was still possible to eat at a restaurant for less than $20,” Villeneuve said.

Transition Québec Leader and Limoilou Coun. Jackie Smith said in a statement, “While I do not agree with the mayor’s decisions or way of doing things … [i]n this matter I will remain an ally and I invite everyone to leave partisanship and petty politics aside, in the name of the best interests of our fellow citizens. We have wasted enough time.”

Nora Loreto, founder of the Québec désire son Tramway group, said, “The report is a slam dunk. It’s everything we wanted and more.” She was particularly pleased about the Lebourgneuf tramway extension in Phase 3.

As a political move, Loreto said, “Frankly, I’m shocked the CAQ put it to the Caisse without having an idea what it was going to suggest. This is the worst news for the CAQ. The delays cost billions. They’re going to wear this going into the next election.”

Meanwhile, Quebec Conservative Party Leader Éric Duhaime is calling for a referendum on the choice of a tramway system for the region.

In a news release, he said, “The Legault government cannot move forward with the largest investment in the history of the Quebec City region without democratic legitimacy. If there were elections today, [Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau, [Premier François] Legault and Marchand would lose power. All three of them are at the end of their regime and elections are planned for next year and the following year.”

JHSB job ‘such a great fit’ for Mélie de Champlain

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

(This is the second story in a two-part series. Part One appeared in the June 12 edition.)

One might call the circumstances that led Mélie de Champlain to become the new head of Jeffery Hale–Saint Brigid’s health and social services a bit ironic. The key factor was the COVID-19 pandemic.

De Champlain had decided to take a year off from her five-year stint as a top administrator with Vancouver Coastal Health on Vancouver Island. She and her husband decided to take a cross-Can- ada trip to her parents’ home in Matane. Along the way, they both contracted COVID.

During the two weeks they spent recuperating in Matane, she said she realized how much her parents missed her and how much she missed her parents and brother.

What’s more, she said, “I realized I was missing Quebec; I missed my culture. I had been immersed in English in British Columbia. A huge part of me was not being fulfilled.”

She reflected on her next career move on the trip back to the West Coast, and once back in Vancouver, she started checking out opportunities in her field in Quebec. She soon found herself on the phone with Jeffery Hale Community Partners head Richard Walling and senior health network official Patrick Duchesne.

“They were testing my English,” she joked. “But I told them, ‘I want to come.’”

De Champlain officially started the job as head of Jeffery Hale–Saint Brigid’s (JHSB) combined health services in December 2023. As it turned out, her case of COVID had brought her to the management of two facilities particularly hard hit by the pandemic.

Now that she’s been on the job for a year and a half, she’s gotten to know the English- speaking community she serves. “It’s a community that has a strong philanthropic history and has a strong sense of belonging and doesn’t want anybody left behind,” she said.

That means, she said, finding “creative ways to provide them with services, involving Jeffery Hale Partners and [Voice of English-speaking Québec]. That is really the strength of the anglophone community.”

Asked what challenges she identified once she settled into the job, de Champlain immediately mentioned recruitment of qualified staff, particularly bilingual staff allowing JHSB to meet its commitment to a level of service in French and English, especially at Saint Brigid’s.

She said some 30 care aides have been hired in recent months and considers that critical situation resolved for now. However, the challenge of finding bilingual nurses remains.

Another challenge has been finding space in the hospital to adapt to changing needs. She gives the example of a new clinic for latent tuberculosis cases and a unit for evaluating asylum seekers.

“We tried to be creative and optimize space and were able to create those two clinics,” she said.

Another big task on de Champlain’s plate is the longstanding project to build a new care home to replace Saint Brigid’s which no longer suits the needs of a clientele requiring, for the most part, heavy care.

At the instigation of Walling and JHSB board chair Bryan O’Gallagher, Quebec Infrastructure Minister and Minister for the capital region Jonatan Julien recently visited Saint Brigid’s to observe the conditions.

De Champlain said she is “optimistic” plans for a new facility will be put on the government’s priority list.

Now with a firm grasp on the demands of the job and declaring “it’s been such a great fit” for her, de Champlain said her message to the community is that “the services of the Jeffery Hale are continuously changing and transforming according to the needs of the population.

“We’ve got community services that are providing care for all, we’ve got the minor emergencies clinic, we’re renovating the medical imaging unit right now. We’ve got lab tests …, ” and on and on.

When she’s not tending to the health needs of the community, de Champlain, the mother of a young adult son and daughter, relishes walking around her adoptive city. “It’s like visiting five different neighbourhoods on the same walk.”

For the adventurous nurse from Matane, after a lifetime of working around the world and in Canada, it’s like she’s found home.

Around the world and from Matane to Quebec City for new JHSB boss

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

(This is Part One of a two-part feature)

Strange as it may seem, combating leprosy in the Amazon jungle, treating flood victims in Mozambique, helping desperate Syrian refugees in Greece and providing health services in the Far North were experiences that Mélie de Champlain says prepared her for her new job as head of Jeffery Hale -Saint Brigid’s care services.

De Champlain was hired in December 2023, and now that she’s settled into the job, she was happy to speak to the QCT about the extraordinary background that led her to Quebec City’s English-language health service hub and the challenges and opportunities the job presents.

The interview took place in de Champlain’s office on the second floor of the Jeffery Hale pavilion, adjacent to the hospital of the same name. 

De Champlain’s official title is director of Jeffery Hale – Saint Brigid’s grouped institution of the Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux (CIUSSS) de la Capitale Nationale.

Her path to a job in the upper strata of the Quebec government health bureaucracy was an unorthodox one but somehow destined for an ambitious, care-driven and world-wise young woman from Matane in the Gaspé region. 

De Champlain said it was the influence of her father, the accountant at the Cégep de Matane, that opened her eyes to the world. “Dad was always talking to my brothers and sisters about the world. He’d always bring us newspapers and talk about the news of the world.” 

In the same vein, he insisted the children learn English. De Champlain said she spent summers at an English camp in Nova Scotia and joked her English has a Nova Scotia accent.

Upon graduation from the local Cégep’s nursing school, de Champlain’s first job was at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, an experience she describes as “a real bath in anglophone culture and international culture at the same time.”

She earned advanced degrees in nursing at Université de Montréal and Université Laval, getting her master’s specializing in heart disease and infectious diseases. 

She also did some volunteer work with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF – Doctors Without Borders) and attended a conference whose guest speaker was a humanitarian worker who had just returned from Angola. It was a fateful encounter.

The humanitarian was Vancouver native Michael Klobuchar; the two clicked, and in 1998 she headed off to join him in Brazil’s Amazon basin to work with a United Nations non-governmental agency combating leprosy.

Upon her return to Canada a year later, she found a public health job in another climatic extreme, in Puvirnituq, in Nunavik. After a few years working there, separated from Klobuchar, she decided to join him in working with MSF in hotspots around the world, including the war zone in Angola and epic flooding in Mozambique.

In 2001, pregnant with her first child, de Champlain and her husband returned to Canada, first to Vancouver, then moving to Toronto where she worked at the MSF office there. 

De Champlain then made the switch from globe-trotting humanitarian work to health care administration in regional Quebec, taking a job with the health network in Matane – where her second child was born – and then later in nearby Amqui in the Matapedia Valley. 

While in Amqui she completed a master’s degree in health management. She also discovered that “all this humanitarian work shaped me as a leader.”

The family then returned to Klobuchar’s home turf in B.C., where de Champlain, despite her doubts about getting a job in English, landed a major position with Vancouver Island emergency services.

“It was quite a leap,” she said, “being responsible for three major hospitals in Victoria and Nanaimo plus regional hospitals.”

In 2016, during the Syrian refugee crisis in the Mediterranean Sea, she used her Christmas vacation time to fly to Greece to join in the humanitarian effort. Inspired by another B.C. woman, she contacted an NGO on the ground, crowd-sourced the trip and raised more for the relief effort.

Upon her arrival she found herself managing health care for refugees arriving in boats. “I was working on the beach on the island of Lesbos. When families arrived we would triage them and treat hypothermia.” 

De Champlain said she has kept in touch with some of the refugees she cared for, and recently heard from one who had moved to Burlington, Ontario.

In 2018, de Champlain took a job with B.C. Coastal Health in Vancouver which lasted for five years – and then the COVID-19 pandemic struck. That set the stage for a fateful road trip that brought Mélie de Champlain to Quebec City and Jeffery Hale – Saint Brigid’s. 

That story next week.

Quebec City’s ComediHa! buys Just for Laughs

Quebec City’s ComediHa! buys Just For Laughs

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The QCT reported two weeks ago that ComediHa!, the Quebec City-based comedy and entertainment company, was planning to stage a comedy festival in Montreal this summer.

It turns out that was only the opening act for a much bigger show. Last week, the 25-year-old company got court approval to acquire most of the assets of the venerable, but bankrupt Juste pour rire/ Just for Laughs company.

In March, Just for Laughs announced it was folding due to financial issues. ComediHa! quickly stepped in to take over the production of the musical Waitress. Then, in May, it announced the staging of a multi-venue comedy festival in Montreal from July 18 to 28, to partly fill the vacuum the demise of Just For Laughs left.

The assets now in the ComediHa! fold include the brands Juste pour rire, Just For Laughs, ZooFest, ComedyPro and Just For Laughs Gags, and the audiovisual catalogue.

ComediHa! founder and CEO Sylvain Parent-Bédard said in a June 4 release, “This asset acquisition will enable us to offer even more diverse entertainment experiences to our Quebec, Canadian and global audiences while supporting the growth and development of our artists and content around the world. We are also becoming a strategic player for international artists who want to perform in Quebec and Canada.”

No sale price has been disclosed for the transaction. Parent-Bedard said in media interviews following the approval of the deal by a judge of the Quebec Superior Court that no decision has been made to change the branding of the well-established Just for Laughs assets.

He said in a Radio-Canada interview, “I have always said that we owe a lot to Just for Laughs, to its leaders, to everything they have opened up and pioneered internationally for Quebec and made Quebec a hub for humour, both in French as well as English with stand-up, but also with Gags, which have been distributed in more than 125 countries. It’s something extraordinary.”

All employees of the Montreal operation still on the job are expected to stay in place under the company’s new owner.

Simons to open stores in two landmark malls

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Quebec City’s little dry goods store that could is taking two more huge steps into the retail big time.

La Maison Simons an- nounced last week it plans to open new stores next year in two of the country’s landmark shopping malls in Toronto – the Yorkdale Shopping Centre in north-central Toronto and CF Toronto Eaton Centre in the downtown district. (CF stands for Cadillac-Fairview, the mall’s owner).

The stores will be the com- pany’s third in the Toronto area, adding to its space in Mississauga’s Square One, and the 18th and 19th in its nationwide network of stores.

Company president and CEO Bernard Leblanc said in a June 6 release, “We believe in the vitality and competitiveness of the Canadian re- tail landscape and are excited about the future here and about growing here.”

Leblanc said, “Despite cur- rent economic challenges in the retail landscape, our sales growth in Mississauga has steadily increased since opening and is up by more than three per cent over the last fiscal year.”

Leblanc is the first non- family member to head Simons, founded in Quebec City in 1840, since taking over from Peter Simons two years ago. Peter Simons continues to be involved in the role of “chief merchant.” Brother Richard Simons is also a key executive in what remains a family-owned enterprise.

The Simons store in the Yorkdale mall will span two floors with over 118,000 square feet of shopping space; the Eaton Centre store will be three storeys and have over 110,000 square feet.

Both new stores will be designed by Quebec’s Lemay- Michaud Architecture, with interior design by Toronto-based Gensler Design. The design “will be inspired by natural elements, with the sun serving as a beacon of light,” the release said.

With the store at the Eaton Centre, Simons will be making a statement of sorts about the evolution of the retail fashion industry. Eaton’s was for generations one of Canada’s leading retail chains, until it succumbed in 1999 to competition and changing trends.

Simons opened its most eastern store earlier this year in Halifax, and two years ago added to its Quebec presence with a store at the Fairview Mall in Pointe Claire.

Retail analyst Liza Amiani said in a CBC News story in the wake of the latest Simons foray, the company is likely to succeed in the endeavour because “it has the trifecta down – the trifecta being product, customers and marketing. And what they’re doing is they are connecting all the dots.”

Indigenous art to be installed on Cap Diamant

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Work is underway at the scenic Cap Diamant lookout on the Plains of Abraham to prepare the site for the installation of two major works by Indigenous artists.

The National Battlefields Commission (NBC) that manages the sprawling park announced the project in a May 30 news release under the title, “An encounter between Indigenous art from east and west on the Plains of Abraham.”

The project began two years ago with the promise of a gift of West Coast Native art from the philanthropist and art aficionado Michael Audain. The entrepreneur is also one of the major funders of the huge new pavilion project to showcase the works of Jean Paul Riopelle soon to begin construction on the site of the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, also on the Plains.

NBC board chair Jean Robert told the QCT he met Audain two years ago at his Vancouver office, shortly after Audain visited Quebec City for the Riopelle announcement in February 2022.

The topic of a possible gift to the Plains came up in the conversation, Robert said, and Audain mentioned he had been working on a commissioned work, called The Three Watchmen, with Haida artist and hereditary chief James Hart.

In Hart’s words, the 20-foot- high bronze statue depicts “three men sitting back to back looking out for danger approaching. If spotted, they then climb down to come and warn you of this.”

Hart’s totems and sculptures “are featured at many locations across North America and into Europe,” according to the release.

Robert said it soon became apparent that the installation of a West Coast Indigenous work of art on the Plains would be problematic for the Huron-Wendat nation, who lay ancestral claim to the Quebec City territory.

Robert said, “We needed to have an agreement with the Huron-Wendats,” so a proposal was negotiated to have a Wendat artist provide “a monument of equal value” to Hart’s work.

The artist selected is Ludovic Boney, whose work titled Remembering Through Beads consists of a series of large rings symbolizing wampum beads. Boney’s large-scale pieces are displayed at many public art spaces, including the Musée National des Beaux-Arts and the Musée de la Civilisation.

Boney said of Remembering Through Beads, “Placed on the lawn, the wampum beads tell us a story – the immense and persistent memory of our ancestors.”

Robert said Hart’s large work is already in storage in the city, delivered in the fall from the New York City foundry where it was cast.

What remains to be done now, Robert said, is to prepare the site on Cap Diamant where the two works will be installed in preparation for an anticipated official inauguration at the end of September.

He said plants of particular significance to Indigenous peoples will be planted on the site for next year.

Robert said Audain and his family plan to attend, as well as Hart and traditional Haida dancers.

The two pieces, he said, are the first major works of art to be installed on the Plains since the 1938 gift of the Jeanne d’Arc statue in the garden of the same name.

As far as the significance of the works of art for the Plains’ relationship with Indigenous peoples, Robert said it’s been overdue for a “recognition that this was their home. There’s been little mention.” He said it’s fitting the art should be installed at “maybe the nicest part of the Plains with the view of the river.”

He estimates the overall cost of the project at more than $2.5 million, including transport of the Hart piece and landscaping the site. He said the NBC has put aside money for major projects, and he is looking for donations and sponsorships to help defray the cost.

Robert said Audain’s gift “may mark the beginning of more effort into philanthropy. We know there are some Quebecers who would be happy to get involved.”