BRENDA O’FARRELL

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

The funeral for Valerie Fortier, president of Les Agricultrices du Québec, has been set for Sept. 21 in Victoriaville following her sudden death last month in a plane crash in the Haute Mauricie region in the north central sector of the province.

Fortier, 42, the mother of three who operated a dairy farm with her father in St. Valère, just west of Victoriaville, was killed Aug. 31, when the small plane she was travelling in crashed in a remote area near La Tuque after taking off from a former military airport in Casey, a small village halfway between Saguenay and Rouyn-Noranda.

The crash happened just after 5 p.m. on Aug. 31. According to the Sûreté du Québec, the plane issued a distress call before it fell from the sky and caught fire. Both Fortier and the pilot, Jean-Pier Godin, 41, of St. Eulalie, were declared dead at the scene.

“Ms. Fortier was one of the pillars of our organization, passionately championing the cause of Quebec women farmers for several years now,” said a statement issued by Les Agricultrices. “Her sudden passing leaves an immense void that we still struggle to measure and understand.”

“She was a mother, an entrepreneur, a farmer and, above all, an exceptional woman with a contagious and inspiring passion,” the statement continued. “The board of directors of Les Agricultrices du Québec and all members extend their sincere condolences to her family and loved ones.”

The SQ is investigating the crash along with the Quebec Coroner’s office. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has also initiated a probe to determine the cause of the accident.

The SQ could not confirm if the flight was related to the AéroVenture 2025 event that was held at the Casey airbase that weekend, but the organizer of air show that welcomes pilots of small aircraft, Noar Cohen, posted a video on social media Sept. 1, confirming the accident, and saying he was one of two people who were first on the scene of the crash.

On Sept. 3, Cohen took to social media again saying authorities were looking for anyone who participated in the event that had video recordings related to the accident, including footage of the plane’s takeoff or of the craft as it stalled before the crash.

Fortier was named president of Les Agricultrices du Québec in 2023. In a statement Sept. 3, the group said several projects were carried out under her leadership, including a major awareness campaign about the mental load female farmers carry as they put in countless hours of what is commonly referred to as “invisible work,” which includes child care, meal preparation and maintaining the home, along with work to run the farm business.

Fortier — who was predeceased by her husband, Sebastien Nolet, who died in 2013 — leaves to mourn her three children — Marylune, Félix and Maya.

Cutline:

Valérie Fortier was named president of Les Agricultrices du Québec in 2023.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

The long-promised provincial cabinet shuffle that political pundits have suggested served merely to rearrange the deck chairs on Premier François Legault’s Titanic-fated CAQ government has produced a new agriculture minister.

Donald Martel, a back-bench MNA since 2012 representing the riding of Nicolet-Bécancour on the south shore of the St. Lawrence across from Trois-Rivières, took over the post Sept. 10, replacing André Lamontagne, who was informed the day before that he would be dropped from the cabinet ranks as part of a shake-up of a government plagued by scandal and plummeting in the polls.

“I will always be the biggest fan of those who feed Quebec,” Lamontagne said in a post on X Sept. 9 after being told he would be shuffled out of the minister’s job.

First elected in 2014 as the MNA for the riding of Johnson in the Centre-de-Québec region, Lamontagne was named to the agriculture portfolio in 2018, when the CAQ first formed government. He has held the post for almost seven years over two mandates.

Earlier this year Lamontagne, 65, said he would not run for re-election in next year’s province-wide vote.

Martel, 61, is a former secretary-treasurer of the MRC of Nicolet-Yamaska and served as an administrator with the local economic development centre. Previous to that he held the post of president of the Association des directeurs généreaux des MRC.

Prior to being elected as a member of the CAQ government, Martel ran unsuccessfully in the 2007 provincial election as a candidate for the Parti Québécois.

The Sept. 10 cabinet shuffle was Legault’s second cabinet reorganization. The first cabinet shake-up came at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here are a few fun facts that quantify a few realities of the farming sector.

U.S.$49.5 billion: The amount of the forecasted U.S. trade deficit for agricultural trade with Canada, which represents a $500-million increase from the forecast made last February. The jump in the trade deficit is largely attributed to Canadian consumers’ “buy Canadian” response to trade tariffs imposed by the U.S. on Canadian good.

3/5ths: That is the amount of all the soybeans traded on international markets imported by China.

And with China forecasted to need to import 100 million to 105 million tons this year, and its trade war with the U.S., this could leave American farmers facing losses.

Before U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war, China bought a quarter to a third of the U.S. soybean crop, which represented the largest export from the U.S. to China.

15-20%: That is how much John Deere said it expects 2025 sales of large agricultural machinery to fall. And it expects those drops to continue in 2026. Large agricultural machinery is the company’s source of most of its revenue.

The figures were released in early September after the Illinois-based company, one of the largest manufacturers in the U.S., laid off 238 employees in factories in Illinois and Iowa, in the wake of rising steel and aluminum costs as a result of U.S. tariffs on imports.

60%: That is amount the price of new tractors rose in the U.S. over the last eight years, with some models more than doubling in price, jumping US$250,000 or more than they used to.

5.5 million: The number of hectares of land in Canada that has burned in wildfires in 2025 by mid-July, which represents about double the 10-year average for this time of year.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

Any homeowner who has lived through a flooding incident caused by an intense weather event knows the sense of dread, stress and panic that comes when there is a prediction of heavy rains in the forecast.

The trauma of watching your basement fill with water in a storm, unfortunately, has become a shared experience for many in the West Island, with two major flooding events recorded in the last two years. In addition to the cost and disruption of repairing the damage, these incidents have also had a psychological effect that now triggers worry and concern whenever there are heavy downpours expected. But for a group of homeowners in Pointe Claire, the most recent flooding event during fierce rains in July has galvanized their resolve to push the city to act to ensure storm drains are clear.

“In our area there is an issue, and the city has acknowledged that,” said resident Katherine Baxter in an interview this week with The 1510 West. “Now, they have to take action.”

Baxter lives on Saddlewood Avenue, in an area just north of the railway tracks, south of Terra Cotta Park and west of the Pointe Claire’s public works building, which is being expanded. The city has acknowledged the flooding that occurred in that sector during a rainstorm July 13 was “an anomaly,” with Pointe Claire Mayor Tim Thomas explaining the city is looking into the situation.

One of the contributing factors to the situation in that area is maintenance of drain pipes that run under the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railway tracks, Thomas said. The city has requested the companies ensure the drains are clear.

Baxter pressed council for a timeline of when drain inspections will be carried out.

Inquiries made by The 1510 West to both rail companies for comment have gone unanswered.

CP has cleaned its drainage pipes, said Chloe Paiement, communications manager with the City of Pointe Claire said yesterday, adding the city is awaiting confirmation from CN.

“We are going to continue to push,” Baxter told council. “We are not going away. We are going to continue to advocate for ourselves.

“We watch the weather app and our children have panic attacks when there is rain in the forecast,” she added.

“I’ve got no more money left,” said Lorraine Chiasson, another resident of the area who suffered damage when her basement was flooded in August 2024 and again last month. “What am I supposed to do now? We need a timeline: When and what is going to be done?” she asked elected officials at the Aug. 12 council meeting. “How many more floods do we have to endure?”

During the most recent storm on July 13, according to residents, storm drains in the neighbourhood overflowed, sending what they described as “rivers” of runoff down their street and in to their basements.

Claudine Mercier was one of the storm’s victims. The backflow valve in her house on St. Louis Avenue “literally blew off from the pressure,” she told council. There was so much water, the French drain around her house failed.

“Once that overflowed, it came in from everywhere, and there was no way to get the water out,” she told council. “I had a river flowing on the side of my house,” she continued.

“We appreciate the sympathy,” Mercier said. “Beside the sympathy, we need to start taking action.”

Thomas said the city is looking at a number of ways to mitigate the pressure put on infrastructure from severe storms that send unprecedented amounts of rain in short periods of time into the drainage system, testing its capacity. These measures, he said, involve implement a number of so-called green infrastructure improvements to absorb and divert runoff.

He listed a number of measures already implemented, including creating open-air retention basins at Hermitage Park, upgrading underground pipes on Masson and Holiday, underground retention basins along two stretches of Hymus, new pipes on Cartier, adding retention basins in the parking lot at the public works building, adding drainage features as part of the redesign of Winthrop Avenue.

“You want to see action? There has been action,” Thomas said. “There has been action for over a decade. Do you want to see more action? You probably will see more action. We are doing our best with our resources.

“And to suggest that we are somehow culpable or at fault is, I think, a little harsh,” he added.

But that did not satisfy some of the residents at the meeting.

“I should not have a three-foot lake in front of my house every time it rains,” said resident Mike Nurse, who lives on St. Louis. “There is a problem with the manholes and it can be fixed.”

Nurse pressed the city to have all drainage systems inspected.

Pointe Claire director-general Karina Verdon said she has requested a report from the city’s public works department, which is expected by the end of the month. Verdon could not be reached for additional comment.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

Ryan Derrig’s plan to build a new home for his family in Pointe Claire has been long, expensive and frustrating — and he has not even broken ground yet.

But now, he is hopeful that too will happen soon, as earlier this month he was granted a permit to tear down the house that sits on his lot on Lakeshore Road, just east of St. Jean Boulevard.

Getting that permit has been an ordeal. It has taken him more than a year. The process has involved receiving approval of his plans for the new house, two applications for a demolition permit to tear down the old house, a committee decision, two appeals, a bylaw change, a court challenge, a decision by council and, on Aug. 12, a second vote by council that reversed its previous stand, granting him permission to tear down the bungalow across from the Stewart Hall parking lot.

“We’re very happy,” Derrig said in an interview with The 1510 West on Monday. “We’re still really annoyed it took so long because they mishandled my file. That is how I feel.”

In a split vote at its August meeting, Pointe Claire council granted Derrig his demolition permit. This move rejects the city’s demolition committee’s recommendation to deny permission to tear down the house that was built in 1963. It also reverses council’s own decision taken in January that initially backed the demolition committee’s recommendation following Derrig’s first application that suggested the house should be renovated instead of being torn down.

“It’s a frustrating process,” Derrig said.

It is a process that has also cost him. According to his calculations, he has spent roughly $60,000 in permit application fees, plans, reports and lawyer’s fees.

Derrig submitted his first request for a demolition permit in July 2024, at a cost of $6,000, which was accompanied by a full set of plans for the new house he would build on the 18,000-square-foot lot. In November, the request was denied by the demolition committee, which is composed of three members of Pointe Claire council. The decision was based on a report prepared by a real estate appraiser who relied on an inspection carried out by an architect. Both were contracted by the city.

The report by the appraiser states: “The floor of the master bedroom is not level as it slopes back and to the right. Access to the crawl space beneath much of the room was difficult. It’s possible that the floor was built this way, but it’s also possible that a structural problem is to blame. Call in a structural expert if necessary.”

The report concludes the estimated cost for renovations required would total $64,000, including taxes, yet adds: “estimated amount for the building renovation must be interpreted with reservations and confirmed by the expertise of specialized contractors.”

Derrig, who is a construction contractor by profession, criticized the report.

In fact, at the Aug. 12 council meeting, councillor Paul Bissonnette highlighted a number of issues of concern about the reliability of the report’s conclusions.

Bissonnette was one of four councillors who voted to oppose the demolition committee’s recommendation and issue a permit to tear down the structure. He is also one of two councillors who took the time to visit the property before deciding its fate, Derrig said.

Another issues that came into play, was the fact that Pointe Claire opted to update its demolition bylaw earlier this year. Under the old bylaw, the owner of a property had to have plans for a replacement building approved before requesting a demolition permit, which Derrig did. But when he was denied a permit, he appealed. Then, he filed a court action when the appeal was lost.

The city’s lawyer handling the case urged Derrig to reapply for a demo permit under the new bylaw. That application was submitted with additional reports — from a structural engineer and an independent general contractor. They estimated the cost of bringing the house up to today’s standard without expanding it, would be more than $500,000.

But the second application was subjected to a different set of standards outlined in the new bylaw, measures that are weighted to favour renovation over demolition.

Derrig’s second application for a demo permit was the first one considered under the city’s new bylaw.

Pointe Claire Mayor Tim Thomas abstained from voting on the request. In an interview on Monday he said the new bylaw needs refinement.

“We should not be knocking down houses willy-nilly,” Thomas said, but admitted more precise measures of how to judge where the tipping point is are needed. “The percentages and proportions need to be clear.”

He also said the professional assessment used in this particular case “was not confidence inspiring.

Here are a few fun facts that quantify a few realities of the farming sector.

U.S.$49.5 billion: The amount of the forecasted U.S. trade deficit for agricultural trade with Canada, which represents a $500-million increase from the forecast made last February. The jump in the trade deficit is largely attributed to Canadian consumers’ “buy Canadian” response to trade tariffs imposed by the U.S. on Canadian good.

$146 billion: That is the total debt held by Canadian farmers in 2023, a figure that grew by 5.1 per cent from the previous year.

46%: The percentage of young farmers who responded to a survey conducted by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and Farm Credit Canada who said they  have never been a member of an association related to agriculture and food.

$832.5 billion: The value of the Canadian agricultural sector as of Dec. 21, 2024, which represents a $38.9-billion increase, or 4.9 per cent jump, from the same date in 2023. From that date in 2022 to the corresponding date in 2023, Canadian farm assets saw a 8.5-per-cent rate in growth.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

Will Canada follow Australia’s lead and endorse a national soil health strategy?

That is the question raised after a director with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada said the federal government supports the idea at an international conference in Winnipeg last month.

While acknowledging the existence of challenges in developing a national strategy, Sophie Beecher, the director general at the federal agriculture ministry told attendees at the Soils for our Future conference that officials in Ottawa were willing to work with stakeholders in the sector to establish a framework.

There was no commitment of financial support from the government, however, according to media reports.

The push to create a national soil health strategy has been spearheaded by Canadian Senator Robert Black, who earlier this year introduced a bill to create a national soil policy. The legislation was proposed after Black, as chairman of the Senate’s agriculture committee, issued a report that made a series of 25 recommendations, including designating soil as a “strategic national asset.”

The report, which was compiled with input from farmers, ranchers, research scientists and government officials, recommended the federal government appoint a national soil advocate.

In response to Beecher’s comments at the conference on July 23, Black welcomed the support.

His bill, however, is far from being approved into law.

In Australia, a national strategy was endorsed in 2021 that outlines how the country will manage and improve soil over the next 20 years.

The Australian government has pledged $200 million to implement the strategy.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

Canadian farmers are facing a “generational now-or-never moment,” and to seize it, stakeholders in the agricultural sector have to embrace a digital revolution that will propel the country into becoming a food-producing powerhouse, according to a new report by The Agri-Food Policy Institute. Failing to do so could threaten the sector’s ability to compete on the global stage.

The Ottawa-based agricultural think-tank warns farmers face what it terms a “critical decade,” as many prepare to pass their operations to the next generation, a tech-ready cohort, while others are ready to embrace available technologies to improve their business practices, but they need support from policy-makers.

These two dynamics combine to create what the study’s authors call “a perfect window of opportunity.”

This is the stage from where the “now-or-never moment” will play out. But how it all turns out depends on the embrace of technology.

And that is where a size of an operation often plays a role.

According to the study, large operations “thrive by adopting new tools and technologies, but smaller farms struggle,” often missing the opportunity on technology’s ability to improve profitability and generate gains in sustainability.

The research report, entitled The Future is Digital: Digital Agriculture and Canadian Agriculture Policy, set out to understand why the adoption of tech within the sector is slow despite “clear potential for gains in productivity, competitiveness and sustainability.”

The authors, who include The Agri-Food Policy Institute’s managing director Tyler McCann, state farmers’ relationship with tech matters because the 2023-2028 Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, the country’s agricultural policy, does not include digital agriculture as a priority. And this, they claim, risks leaving Canadian farmers open to losing their competitive edge with respect to global competitors. This needs to be addressed, the authors claim.

“Digital agriculture offers powerful tools to address Canada’s pressing agricultural challenges, but the current approach isn’t delivering results. Despite the potential to increase yields by 20 per cent while reducing environmental impact, Canada captures just 3 per cent of global agtech venture capital investment compared to 55 per cent in the United States. If this trend continues, it will mean fewer leading global agtech companies will be built in Canada. Fewer innovations will be created and adapted by Canadian farmers,” the report states. “In this scenario, Canadian farmers in the future will have poorer access to the tools they need to be profitable and sustainable and will be less competitive compared to their peers in more digitally advanced nations. Eventually, this could represent an emerging threat to a $150-billion sector that employs 2.3 million Canadians and exports $99 billion annually to over 200 countries.”

According to estimates from Farm Credit Canada, “Canada’s agriculture sector could generate an additional $30 billion in net revenue over the next decade if it returns to annual productivity growth of 2 per cent — levels last seen from 1991 to 2010,” the report states. “However, without collaborative effort, productivity gains will likely remain stagnant at around 1 per cent until 2030.”

The notion of a digital transformation is not simply about adopting new technologies, the report states. Rather, it should be viewed as a process to reimagine the nature of farming.

“As external pressures, including trade uncertainties, climate volatility and rising production costs intensify, digital agriculture represents not merely an optional enhancement but a strategic necessity for maintaining competitiveness and resilience,” the report states.

The authors make an urgent plea to government policy-makers:

“There isn’t any time to lose. The 10-year sprint to complete the digital transformation of Canada’s agriculture sector must begin now. By 2035, digital tools on-farm should be the norm, woven into how all farms run, boosting productivity without the need for continued government funding. And, at the same time, further delays to digitizing Canadian farm operations will mean our agriculture sector will be stuck playing catch-up relative to international peers.”

The 27-page report makes five recommendations:

1. It calls to recognize digital agriculture as a national priority within the framework of the next Federal-Provincial-Territorial agreement, and establish a 10-year digital action plan for the Canadian agriculture sector.

2. It calls for the creation of digital agriculture hubs to connect farmers, technology developers, ecosystem organizations, and provincial and federal governments.

3. It urges the federal government to launch a coordinated program to support infrastructure, commercial-scale technology testing and to encourage early adopters.

4. The federal government should also help develop markets that leverage agriculture data to deliver tangible value to farmers.

5. The federal government must implement a comprehensive national data strategy making it easier for agtech tools to integrate with the broader digital economy.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The Quebec government’s announcement last week of the start of a $59-million project to improve traffic flow along Cité des Jeunes Boulevard in anticipation of the opening of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Hospital was given a lukewarm endorsement from St. Lazare Mayor Geneviève Lachance.

“It’s an improvement to what it is, but it’s not enough,” Lachance said in an interview with The 1019 Report. “It’s clearly not what we wanted to improve safety and traffic.”

The first phase of the work to be carried out in Vaudreuil-Dorion beginning in the coming days, will see the construction of two roundabouts on Harwood Boulevard — at the intersection with Henry-Ford Street and at the junction of the Highway 30 ramp and De la Gare Boulevard.

A pedestrian and cycle path will be extended to connect the roundabouts to an existing multi-purpose path.

In addition, two intersections in front of the hospital will be reconfigured — at the eastbound Highway 30 ramp and at De la Petite-Rivière Road.

Quebec will also repave the Cité des Jeunes from Ste. Angélique Road in St. Lazare to Henry Ford Road in Vaudreuil-Dorion.

“The widening work will alleviate current traffic issues and accommodate the new traffic resulting from the arrival of hospital services,” said Vaudreuil-Dorion Mayor Guy Pilon in a statement.

Requests from municipal officials to widen the stretch of Cité des Jeunes Boulevard that runs through St. Lazare leading to the hospital, however, have been ignored. Instead, the province will add a turning lane at three intersections along the artery that cuts through the municipality — at Ste. Angélique Road; at St. Louis Road; and at Montée Labossière, where a traffic light will be installed, Lachance said. That work, however, is only scheduled to be carried out in 2027 and 2028, after the hospital is expected to open.

“It’s underwhelming,” Lachance said. “Logically, you would want to address roads before the opening of the hospital, not after. It’s not enough and it’s not being proactive.”

Traffic around the new $2.6-billion hospital, now scheduled to open in the summer of 2027, is expected to increase dramatically. The facility will have just over 3,000 employees and attract thousands of patients and visitors on a daily basis. The opening of the hospital is also expected to spur development along the length of the artery, with the addition of housing and commercial outlets.

In contradiction to Lachance and in clear contrast to St. Lazare’s demand since 2021 to widen Cité des Jeunes into a four-lane artery to facilitate anticipated increased traffic flow on a road that already sees significant rush-hour congestion, Quebec Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault said:

“This highly structuring project is a concrete response to the current and future mobility needs of the population of Vaudreuil-Dorion and St. Lazare. Our commitment to providing Quebecers, wherever they are in our territory, with access to the best services is once again demonstrated here.”

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

St. Lazare council last week approved a resolution to permit municipal employees to continue using English in some circumstances.

With a deadline marking the expiration of a transition period that would limit how municipal officials can communicate with members of the public in English under the regulations outlined in Quebec’s Bill 96 fast approaching, St. Lazare council voted unanimously to adhere to exceptions provided in the law.

“Nothing will change in the way we operate now,” said St. Lazare Mayor Geneviève Lachance at the Aug. 12 council meeting before the directive was approved, adding that the town’s website will continue to provide some information in English.

Under the implementation guidelines of Bill 96, which updated the province’s French Language Charter, adopted by the provincial legislature in 2022, all municipalities have until Sept. 2 of this year to comply. But there are a few exceptions towns can avail themselves of if they adopt a specific directive.

The Town of Hudson approved a similar resolution earlier this month.

The directive, entitled Directive relative à l’utilisation d’une autre langue que le français, outlines a clear framework for town staff as to when and how they can use English.

Council’s approval of the directive is necessary. Without it, a municipality would not be able to provide a broader range of communication in English to residents after September, when the so-called transition period to the stricter language guidelines outlined in Bill 96 expires.

St. Lazare does not have official bilingual status. Only three municipalities in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region have bilingual status — Hudson, Pincourt and Île Cadieux.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The Town of Hudson has struck a deal to buy Sandy Beach.

Now, it will be up to residents of the municipality to ratify the agreement that would see the purchase of 35 acres of the wooded waterfront land for $8.75 million as council prepares to adopt a loan bylaw to finance the acquisition.

“Holy s—t! We’re here. All the 30 years on this Save Sandy Beach group and that Save Sandy Beach group have all been working toward this. And we are here,” said Hudson councillor Mark Gray in an interview with The 1019 Report on Monday after council unanimously approved an agreement in principle to purchase the land on the shores of the Lake of Two Mountains.

“It’s a smart deal,” Gray continued. “I think people will see it’s an intelligent approach.”

“The community has asked for it,” said Mayor Chloe Hutchison. “So it is in their hands.

“Here’s an opportunity,” Hutchison added.

In all, the town proposes to buy seven lots — six owned by Nicanco Holdings Inc. and one owned by a numbered company — conditional to public approval of a loan bylaw to finance the purchase.

On Monday, town officials presented a calendar of next steps, which includes a public information meeting on Aug. 27 that will outline the financing details. This will be followed by a special meeting of council on Sept. 11 to present a notice of motion of a loan bylaw, followed by another special meeting of council on Sept. 16 to vote on final approval of the loan bylaw, which will be financed over a 40-year span.

The loan bylaw would be subject to a public register, set for Sept. 24. This process would allow any eligible voters to indicate their opposition to the town borrowing money for the purchase by signing the register. If 491 signatures are collected on the register to block the bylaw, the issue will be put to a town-wide referendum, which would be held after the Nov. 2 municipal election. The outcome of referendum will determine whether the public supports the purchase.

If fewer than 491 signatures are collected on the register, the borrowing bylaw would be approved.

Council is proposing to take $2 million from the town’s accumulated surplus to reduce the amount of the loan bylaw, while an additional $2 million has been offered by the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal, the regional authority that placed a building freeze on the Sandy Beach area in 2022. But the CMM grant comes with certain requirements, including ensuring that if the green space is opened to the public, that it not be restricted only to Hudson residents.

“We’re ecstatic,” said William Dueck, a spokesman for the Save Sandy Beach group, which has been advocating to save the area from development for several years.

But Dueck admits the community will have to weigh in on whether it wants to accept the CMM grant.

“We have to be careful, I think, as a community to protect and preserve this place,” Dueck said in an interview yesterday. “We have to be careful how this space is managed.”

The Save Sandy Beach group is prepared to ramp up its fundraising effort to help lessen the financial burden on taxpayers, especially if there is a move to refuse the CMM grant and the conditions it comes with, he said.

Fundraising efforts just in the past weeks, he said, have been very positive. And he is optimistic the group’s campaign will help lower the cost of the purchase and/or provide funds to manage its administration and upkeep.

“There’s a huge appetite for this to move forward,” Dueck said. “There’s an appetite for Hudsonites to achieve this goal.

“We all stand to benefit,” he continued. “For everybody in Hudson there is a net gain in having this go through.”

“If citizens really want it, they will have it,” said Helen Kurgansky, a former town councillor who is a member of the board of the Save Sandy Beach group’s registered non-profit organization.

“This is our chance. It’s now or never. We have to grab it,” Kurgansky said. “There are so many reasons to save it. There are people who will help us make it happen.”

Hutchison said the town would look to rezone the area to ensure that it remain a natural space in perpetuity.

If the loan bylaw is approved, she said, the cost per household for the project would appear on municipal tax bills as a separate line item, with the cost, according to her calculations, hovering between $88 and $105 per year. The exact figures will be outlined at the upcoming information meeting and will depend on scenarios that include whether the CMM grant is accepted or rejected and if additional fund from the town’s surplus is put towards the purchase.

Hutchison added that as soon as the bylaw is approved — whether that is after register if fewer than 491 signatures are collected or after a referendum — Nicanco has agreed to open the walking trails and allow access to the beach. The beach has been closed since the spring of 2024, when 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

Vaudreuil-Dorion is among the Top 5 fastest-growing rental markets in Canada, according to the latest statistics released by Rentals.ca.

The largest municipality in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region saw 7.6-per-cent growth in its rental market, meaning it saw a jump in the number of units added to the market, according to the Rentals.ca’s August report. It came in behind Kingston, Ont., which saw the largest growth, at 12.3 per cent; Saskatoon, which posted a 9.7-per-cent uptick; Stratford, Ont., which experienced a 9-per-cent increase; and St. Albert, Alberta, which saw its rental market jump by 8.6 per cent.

According to the 2021 federal census, about 35 per cent of the 16,715 private homes in Vaudreuil-Dorion at that time were either condos or apartments.

Rental.ca compiles data from its national rental listings data base in collaboration with Urbanization, a Toronto-based real estate research firm.

In terms of the cost of rents, the report, released Aug. 8, pointed to a downward trend in the price of rentals currently on the market, with an overall slip of 3.6 per cent in July compared with this time last year, according to the report.

This trend did have a few outliers, with only two Quebec municipalities listed as seeing average rents going up — Westmount and Pointe Claire.

See RENTS, Page x.

RENTS: Pointe Claire has most expensive rentals

From Page 1

The average price of leasing an apartment or condo in Pointe Claire in July was $2,227, up slightly from $2,207 recorded in April, the report found. Westmount was the most expensive market in the province, where asking rents in July averaged $2,563 per month. The highest monthly rents were being sought in North Vancouver, where the average was $3,043. Neither Montreal, nor Vaudreuil-Dorion made the Top 25 list of municipalities with the highest rents.

The lowest average rent was recorded in Lloydminster, Alberta, at $1,203. The lowest in Quebec was found in Quebec City, where the average rent was pegged at $1,595.

The overall average rent for the Greater Montreal region in July was $1,971, which represents a 1.6-per-cent decline from the same time last year. The overall average rent for the Montreal region in July was $256 per month lower than in Pointe Claire, a difference of slightly under 13 per cent.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

With Bixi bike stations now operating in Pierrefonds-Roxboro, questions are being raised as to when the bicycle-sharing service could be expanded to other parts of the West Island.

The short answer: No time soon.

The reason is cost.

According to Ste. Anne de Bellevue Mayor Paola Hawa, the quote from Bixi to her town to provide bike-sharing stations in the village hovered around $250,000 for startup fees, plus about another $50,000 a year to maintain the service.

“We said, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ ” Hawa said in an interview with The 1510 West.

“It makes no sense,” Hawa continued. “At that price, I could afford to buy each and every resident of Ste. Anne a bike.”

Questions about the prospects of expanding the Bixi network to other areas of the West Island were put to several of the region’s mayors during a recent meeting of the Agglomeration of Montreal council.

In response to one question posed at the June agglo meeting, Hawa said the bike-sharing service might be available at the Anse à l’Orme REM commuter train station when that service goes into operation later this year.

In an interview, she admitted that would only really accommodate train users who would look to use the service if they were headed to the Grand Parc de l’Ouest, where a new Bixi station was installed earlier this summer as part of the network’s expansion into the borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro. It would not be practical for residents looking to get around in Ste. Anne because there would be no station to drop the bike off in the village core of the town.

For the same reason, it would not be practical for students headed to John Abbott College, she said.

Senneville Mayor Julie Brisebois also cited cost as a prohibited factor in extending the bike-sharing service into her town.

“There is a significant cost to adhere to Bixi,” Brisebois said, responding to a question during the agglomeration meeting in June. “Our small municipality has to study that very carefully.”

Hawa added that the permanent electrical infrastructure for a bike-sharing station has been installed in Place des Eau Vives, the new public greenspace on Ste. Anne Street that provides an additional access point to the waterfront boardwalk. But while the cost of extending the Bixi remains exorbitant, the town will install regular bike racks to give bicycle owners a place to park and lock their bikes.

Bixi is operated by a non-profit organization created by the City of Montreal in 2014. It took over the service after the original operator, which had introduce the service to the Montreal area filed for bankruptcy. Since that time, Bixi has expanded its network off the island, into Laval and Longueuil. It set up its first eight stations in Pierrefonds-Roxboro in June. The costs of that expansion were covered by Bixi, said Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough Mayor Jim Beis. It is not considered an agglomeration service.

It is not yet known how popular the bike-sharing service has been in Pierrefonds-Roxboro. In an interview Monday, Beis said statistics are not yet available.

“They are being used,” Beis said, referring to the rental bikes.

He explained that the borough, as part of the City of Montreal, does not incur cost for the user-pay service. But he questioned why it is not an agglomeration-wide offering.

“They have police. They have fire. They have buses. Why not?” he said, referencing all the shared services provided to demerged cities through the Agglomeration of Montreal.

“This is another example of (the central city) being short-sighted,” Beis said.

He is hoping that Bixi will add stations to the REM stations in Pierrefonds-Roxboro, but has not heard of any definitive plans to do so.

Inquiries to Bixi about possible expansion into demerged suburbs by The 1510 West have gone unanswered.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

While the overall trend in the price of renting an apartment or condo is going down across the country, the price of rental housing in Pointe Claire is going up slightly, according to the latest statistics released by Rentals.ca.

The average price of leasing an apartment or condo in Pointe Claire in July was $2,227, according to the Rentals.ca’s August report. That is up slightly from $2,207 recorded in April.

Rental.ca compiles data from its national rental listings data base in collaboration with Urbanization, a Toronto-based real estate research firm.

Although the average rent in Pointe Claire edged upward by less than 1 per cent, the trend was in the opposite direction of the national average, which saw rents drop by 3.6 per cent compared with this time last year, according to the report.

“Asking rents in Canada averaged $2,121 in July, down $4 from June and $80 from the same time last year, marking the 10th consecutive month of declining rents,” the report stated. “The 3.6-per-cent year-over-year rent decline in July is greater than the 2.7-per-cent decline recorded in June and suggests that rent declines are likely to continue compounding.”

The latest report, released last week, listed Pointe Claire in last spot among the Top 25 markets with the highest average asking rents for apartments and condominiums in the country, making it the second-highest most-expensive rental market in Quebec, according to Rentals.ca. Westmount was the highest ranked market in the province, where asking rents in July averaged $2,563 per month. The highest monthly rents in Canada were being sought in North Vancouver, where the average was $3,043. Montreal did not make the Top 25 list.

The lowest average rent was recorded in Lloydminster, Alberta, at $1,203. The lowest in Quebec was found in Quebec City, where the average rent was pegged at $1,595.

The overall average rent for the Greater Montreal region in July was $1,971, which represents a 1.6-per-cent decline from the same time last year. The overall average rent for the Montreal region in July was $256 per month lower than in Pointe Claire, a difference of slightly under 13 per cent.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

A total of 232 Hudson residents last month offered their two cents worth on how the town should improve its parks, indicating their preferences about what they would like to see added to the outdoor spaces, and including whether its main baseball diamond in the centre of the village should be relocated.

The input was solicited through an online survey, after the town hosted a public meeting that outlined options for its Parks and Green Spaces Master Plan 2025-2035. A range of possibilities were outlined to upgrade Hudson’s three main municipal parks and enhance its network of walking trails and natural parks.

The presentation was based on two main themes: to build and enhance the natural settings and respond to the recreational needs of diverse age groups.

For the parks, it presented a range of options, including building children’s splash pads to skate parks, ball hockey surfaces to pickleball courts. But the main question posed was where would residents like to see all these features located — at Thompson, Benson or St. Thomas parks.

The proposal floats the idea of creating a sports hub, that would bring a number of sports fields together. But the question to be determined is whether that should be centred at Benson Park, which already has a ball field. Or, move the ball field to Thompson Park in the west end of town.

The consultation also solicited feedback on how to enhance the town’s network of walking trails and other nature parks, including Jack Layton Park along the waterfront.

Consultants are now tabulating the input from residents. The input will serve to guide the final draft of the town’s parks plan, which council aims to adopt next month.

“What I would like to see come out of this is a committee for recreation,” said Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison at the public consultation.

Specific timelines, along with costs to implement the plan will still have to be determined.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The City of Vaudreuil-Dorion is one of three municipalities across the province that will be subjected to a performance audit by the Commission municipal du Québec, it was announced last month.

Specifically, the examination by the provincial administrative tribunal will focus on the practices involving municipal vehicle fleets, the commission stated, including how vehicle maintenance is planned, implemented and monitored as part of a municipality’s responsibilities to deliver services.

The other towns selected to undergo the review are Boisbriand, a town in the Laurentians with a population of roughly 28,300; and Sorel-Tracy, east of Montreal on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, which has just over 35,165 residents. Vaudreuil-Dorion has a population of 43,270, according to the 2021 census.

“The performance and availability of vehicles, machinery and equipment operated by municipalities are crucial for many citizen services, including snow removal, roadworks and the maintenance of infrastructure, buildings and parks, to name a few,” the commission outlined in a public statement. “Municipalities are, therefore, responsible for periodically maintaining their rolling stock to ensure its proper functioning throughout its lifespan, thus meeting the needs of their community.”

“Auditing the maintenance and availability of rolling stock means ensuring that municipalities have the necessary means to provide essential, reliable and continuous services to their population,” said Nancy Klein, interim president and vice-president of the municipal commission’s audit division.

The commission will conduct a detailed analysis of the procedures used in each municipality that has been selected for the audit. A report will then be prepared and made public. The process is expected to take a few months to complete.

The municipal commission routinely carries out a series of audits focused on a variety of issues involving municipalities every year.

The topics selected are based on risk analyses and other sources of information, including financial analyses, media monitoring, topics of interest, and concerns expressed by various stakeholders involved in the municipal sector, said commission spokesman David Dusseault in response to questions from The 1019 Report.

Hudson was part of 2023 audit

In 2023, the municipal commission conducted a financial audit of budgetary surpluses and reserves in towns with fewer than 10,000 residents that included Hudson and two other municipalities. It concluded that Hudson lacked the appropriate planning and supervision when it came to the management of its accumulated budget surpluses, according to the commission’s report issued in March 2024. It also made a series of recommendations.

According to the report, in 2021, Hudson had accumulated $9.9 million in allocated and unallocated surpluses. The total dropped to $9.8 million in 2022, which represents about 58 per cent of the town’s total budget for the current year. That figure has been whittled down since then, as the current council has used some funds to offset recent capital expenditures.

Earlier this year, Hudson council approved it annual financial report that showed it ended 2024 with a $2.2-million operating budget surplus, and an accumulated surplus standing at $5.2 million, up from $4.7 million at the end of 2023.

A request for comment from Vaudreuil-Dorion director-general Olivier Van Neste by The 1019 Report has gone unanswered.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The environmental mantra that urges people to “think globally, act locally” was reinforced Monday in Hudson as the town’s council adopted its long-awaited conservation plan that outlines what natural spaces should be protected.

“This is where the rubber meets the road,” said councillor Mark Gray, who is one of council’s advocates for natural space protection.

The plan is an important step, he said, to “enact legislation, bylaws, to protect biodiversity.”

The plan, which has been in the drafting stage for more than a year, identifies three main ecological corridors as “high priorities for conservation.”

These include the Viviry River corridor, which traces its way from Harwood north to the Sandy Beach area; the Black Creek corridor, in the Como district, which in turn links up with the Viviry; and what is known as the Alstonvale Escarpment corridor, in the western end of the municipality.

“I’m very proud that we’ve come this far with conservation and of the amazing team working on the town side as well as an amazing group of citizens on the environment committee,” Gray said.

“This is putting the international decrees into action,” Gray said, explaining how the plan provides a framework to fulfill accepted commitments to save 30 per cent of natural spaces. “And that is a big deal.”

The plan also aims to help restore degraded ecosystems through management, engage private landowners to be part of the conservation effort and improve sustainable access to nature.

An example of how to improve ecosystems, Gray said, is a pilot project that has recently been started that will see better forest management in the woods around Le Nichoir.

This is the first plan that includes the entire territory of the town, not just the municipality’s urban perimeter, Mayor Chloe Hutchison said. It also outlines what she called a “concerted approach” that not only includes the town, but private landowners, conservation groups and other stakeholders who can all contribute to preserving natural spaces.

The town, she explained, cannot aim to own 30 per cent of the land mass in its territory to ensure its protection, but it can collaboratively encourage it.

The town currently owns about 10 per cent of natural spaces in the municipality, Hutchison said.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The Town of Hudson is close to reaching a deal to purchase Sandy Beach, said Mayor Chloe Hutchison on Monday, adding she is hoping to schedule a public meeting in the next few weeks to outline the structure of a financing plan, including when a borrowing bylaw would be put to council.

“There could be a public information meeting before the end of the month if all goes well,” Hutchison said in an interview after Monday’s regular town council meeting, but cautioned negotiations are still ongoing with Nicanco Holdings, the owner of the forested land along the shores of the Lake of Two Mountains, and no final agreement has been reached.

The amount the town has put forward as a bid to purchase the land has not been made public.

Hutchison, however, is optimistic an agreement in principle could be reached in the coming days “if all goes well.”

Councillor Mark Gray echoed the sentiment.

“We’re optimistic,” Gray said Monday evening, referring to a possible deal in the coming days.

When asked to comment, councillor Reid Thompson said simply to watch the town’s website for an announcement of a public meeting.

Hutchison said the public meeting would “explain the numbers” of an agreement in principle, including the structure of how it would be financed, amounts that would be generated through a borrowing bylaw, sums attributed from the town’s accumulated surplus, capital pledged through a fundraising campaign and any possible grants to come from other sources.

Residents would then be given the opportunity to express their support or opposition through a register process that would be triggered when council approves a borrowing bylaw. If enough signatures are collected on the register to block the bylaw — a number Hutchison said would be approximately 10 per cent of eligible residents — the bylaw would be put to a town-wide referendum for approval.

The register could be held before the Nov. 2 municipal election, Hutchison said. But if enough opposition is expressed and the bylaw is put to a referendum, that step would have to be scheduled after the election.

That timeline would mean the ultimate decision to hold a referendum or drop the borrowing bylaw would be a left to a new council.

Members of the current council this week will be reviewing a report prepared by financial consultant Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton that provides an analysis of the impact a proposed deal would have on taxation.

Negotiations to buy the waterfront land surrounding Sandy Beach began in earnest in February, when Hudson council put an offer on the table to buy the tract of land that has been the focus of a growing grassroots campaign to preserve the natural space from development.

The offer came after the town commissioned two reports at a combined cost of $52,500 to determine the market value and a cost-benefit analysis of the proposed development plan for the site, which included potential infrastructure and service costs to the town.

The reports were ordered after Nicanco representatives asked the town if it 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.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

The Commission municipale du Québec held four days of hearings last week to listen to testimony from six witnesses called as it weighs the merits of a complaint filed against Pointe Claire Mayor Tim Thomas that alleges he misused his city-supplied car and credit card.

The hearings stretched from July 21 to July 24 in Montreal. Among the individuals questioned were former Pointe Claire director-general Robert Weemaes, who was the city’s top administrator from 2014 until August 2022; and current director-general Karina Verdon. Thomas was also questioned over two days.

“Based on what transpired, I feel the truth came out,” Thomas said yesterday in an interview.

“The biggest piece of truth that needed to come out was the instructions that were given to me,” Thomas added, referring to how and when to use the vehicle leased by the city and the credit card supplied by the municipality. “And we established how it was done in the past, what Pointe Claire’s practices were and the practices, were long-standing.”

No date is provided by the Commission municipal for when a decision in the case will be issued.

The complaint involving Thomas was registered with the quasi-judicial body that oversees municipal matters in March, about a month before the City of Pointe Claire’s administration opted not to continue to provide him with a car after the vehicle was damaged beyond repair when the mayor hit a deer in the Laurentians, where he was visiting his mother. At that time, the city’s director-general also asked Thomas to return the credit card that had been issued to him by the municipality.

In its ruling, the commission could find fault with Thomas and/or the City of Pointe Claire’s administration’s actions and practices.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

It was after 10 p.m. on Davignon Street in Dollard des Ormeaux on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. The sky was dark and temperatures were starting to cool after reaching a high of 27 degrees Celsius that day. That is when 54-year-old Houssam Abdallah and his then 18-year-old son Abdel Rahman, who were unloading their vehicle after having arrived home from a family camping trip, were confronted by a man wielding a gun demanding the keys to their vehicle.

The gunman was attempting to flee the area after a reported drug deal had gone wrong. Police were called, officers converged at the scene, and that is when the quiet suburban summer night erupted in gunfire.

By the time it was over, 40 shots rang out in the residential neighbourhood, Houssam Addallah, a father of four, was shot six times and Abdel Rahman Addallah was hit by a single bullet.

Before being rushed to hospital, the Addallahs were both handcuffed, as the rest of the family watched in horror, including a 9-year-old. The armed assailant was injured and arrested.

And that is when the questions began to swirl: How could that happen in Dollard?

***

Now, almost one year later, many of those questions surrounding that night still remain unanswered — including the questions Dollard Mayor Alex Bottausci is insisting the Quebec government and the provincial police watchdog now answer.

“You can’t come and tell me that was normal,” said Bottausci, referring to the volley of 40 bullets fired during the police intervention on Davignon Street that night.

According to Bottausci’s count, based on information he has picked up here and there from unofficial sources, the gunman fired two shots, which means police responded with 38 bullets. Six struck one victim, one struck his son. That left 31 rounds being fired into the residential setting. Some hit parked vehicles, others ricocheted off buildings. One pierced a window of a child’s bedroom on De Salaberry Blvd., near the corner of Davignon, he said.

In late June, Bottausci sent a letter to Quebec Public Security Minister François Bonnardel asking for a formal review of what happened on Davignon Street after the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, Quebec’s police watchdog, issued a statement on June 12 stating simply that the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales (DPCP) has opted not to charge the officers involved in the shooting.

Earlier this month, Bonnardel’s office responded. The minister simply said, according to Bottausci, that the government has full confidence in the BEI and the ministry does not interfere with the decisions of an independent body.

That response does not satisfy Bottausci.

“That was not what I was asking,” Bottausci said in an interview with The 1510 West.

“My concern is about public safety, and you need to put your nose in this,” he said, referring to Bonnardel, “because 40 shots should not be normal.”

“Don’t tell me everyone followed procedure and everything is hunky-dory,” he said. “You’re not going to tell me 40 shots are just going to be brushed under the rug.”

“If these are the procedures, these procedures need to be reviewed,” Bottausci continued.

Bottausci this week is now writing a letter directly to the BEI. He wants to know what exactly are the police procedures in place that outline the actions officers are instructed to take on a residential street in a situation like the one that unfolding on Davignon almost a year ago. He wants to know where it is described that launching a volley of 40 shots “is normal.”

The mayor said he remained calm over the more than 11 months as he wanted to respect the review process as the BEI investigated. The BEI reviews all cases where a person dies or is seriously injured in a police shooting.

The review was launched immediately after the shooting, with the BEI issuing its report in April. The three-paragraph report simply referred the case to the DPCP for further review without disclosing any details.

The report stated: “The report submitted to the DPCP by the BEI contains all the components of the investigation. It includes statements from witnesses and those involved, as well as the physical evidence collected and related expert opinions. These elements are sensitive given their nature and raise privacy issues. This report is privileged. Consequently, no additional information extracted from the investigation will be disclosed by the BEI.”

Bottausci, again, opted to waited for the formal review process as it progressed.

Then, on June 12, the BEI issued another statement, saying simply that the DCPC would not be charging the officers involved in the shooting.

That two-paragraph statement said: “Since charges have been filed against a civilian involved in the police action and the case is still before the courts, the BEI will not release further information at this time to ensure the fairness and integrity of the judicial process. The investigation report, following the usual procedure, will be published once these criminal proceedings are concluded.”

Now, Bottausci is losing his patience.

“If that is the protocol, we have a bigger problem,” he said.

“People don’t feel safe,” he added, explaining that he has had several conversations with residents of the area, one of the most densely populated sectors of the municipality that is made up mostly of rows of townhouses.

“The next time something goes down in that neighbourhood, no one is calling police,” he said.

“There’s got to be a proper review. There’s got to be a proper review of the BEI,” he continued.

***

In the last year, Bottausci has kept in contact with the Abdallah family. The father “is still not doing well,” he said, adding that he has undergone about 15 surgeries since the shooting.

Although it was first reported that Houssam Abdallah was hit by five bullets, he suffered six gunshot wounds, Bottausci said. His son was hit with one bullet in the back, within a quarter of an inch from his spine, the mayor said, adding: “This is not a laughing matter.”

The 1510 West reached out to the family, but did not get a response.

***

The man charged with attempting to steal the Abdallah family’s vehicle, Nackeal Hickey, 27, was also injured in the shooting. He faces 17 charges, including four counts of attempted murder and robbery. He remains in custody pending trial.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

It has been a little more than a year since that day when Daniel Gelinas felt the winds pick up violently around his house in Très St. Rédempteur. It was not normal. Then, he spotted a piece of tin fly through the air.

It was the last Monday in May 2024. With tree limbs cracking, debris swirling in a darkened sky, he grabbed his dog, opened the trap door in the floor of his old Canadiana-style farmhouse that gave access to the cellar, dropped the canine in and jumped down himself. By the time he hit the floor, the whole thing was over.

The winds calmed, almost immediately, but the dust-up caused by what was described as “30 seconds of mayhem” continue to swirl in the lives of Gelinas and his wife, Julie Asselstine.

The storm that blew through their lives made meteorological history. It was the first reported tornado to have touched down in this rural stretch of Vaudreuil-Soulanges. As reporters and camera crews found their way to this quiet little town of fewer than 1,000 residents near the Ontario border the next day to assess the damage, Gelinas and Asselstine collected their thoughts as they, too, took in the devastation that marked the twister’s path.

The roof of the old farmhouse they had bought as their retirement home was torn from its rafters. The two large willow trees that framed the old home that was built in 1868 were splintered. The gazebo behind their house was destroyed, with sections of it strewn across the street, while its lounge furniture was still visible, wedged high overhead in a nearby tree. The shed the couple had planned to take down was left half standing, tattered and twisted by the violent winds.  

A little over a year later, the scene is very different.

When asked what the last year has been like for the couple, they hesitate. They smile at each other, seemingly searching for where to begin.

“It was so intense — every day,” said Asselstine.

They faced a whirlwind of decisions. And it started with trying to figure out what to do, how to do it and where to start. And keep their wits about them. That is the year they have had.

Today, their house looks very different. The shape, the colour, the height, the style, the finishings — it’s all distinctly changed.

The damage forced the couple to basically rebuild it. As Gelinas explained, insurance covered the cost of replacing the roof and much of the upper storey of the old farmhouse, but a structural engineer told them the home’s original stone foundation had to be replaced. They had to find a budget for that.

A new foundation meant the house had to be raised. A new roof, meant the upper level had to be reconfigured. But the middle part of the original structure is still part of the new building.

As the renovations progressed, other issues had to be addressed — rot found behind the cladding in one wall, they always planned to add an extension as they needed more room, the list went on.

“We were forced to do a lot of stuff right away – what we were going to do over five and 10 years,” Gelinas said, explaining how he viewed their approach.

“We were hit with a tornado, so go big or go home,” is how Asselstine described it.

How they characterized the process of getting through it all, however, was similar: It was a life-changing ordeal that today they are surprisingly grateful for. Yet, they admit there were a few moments that brought them to tears and tested them to their core.

They are pleased with their new home, and point to the improvements made to the property they purchased in 2020 as they planned for their retirement — like the new building that replaced the old shed that was destroyed. It houses the gym Gelinas always wanted, complete with a cedar-lined sauna and office space for Asselstine on the second storey. They also point to parts of a willow tree destroyed by the wind that now sits by their front fence waiting to be picked up. They have engaged a furniture maker to transform it into a dining room table for their new home, a memento of sorts, of the storm’s damage.

The renovations continue, but the bulk of the work is done.

“It was a heck of a challenge,” Gelinas said, as he looked at Asselstine. They smile at each other, and their eyes scan their property, seemingly searching for how to describe it in more detail, but settle to let a brief silence sit.

Those “30 seconds of mayhem” on a Monday in May 2024: “We constantly say it was a gift, honestly,” Asselstine finally says.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

Repeated denials for a demolition permit has left a Pointe Claire homeowner frustrated and threatening legal action against the city.

“This whole process has been really frustrating,” said property owner Ryan Derrig in an interview with The 1510 West.

Derrig is looking to build a new home on a lot on Lakeshore Road, across from Stewart Hall, just east of St. Jean Boulevard. His plan to replace the bungalow, which was built in 1963, with a two-storey house, has already been approved by the city’s urban planning department, Derrig said. But so far, the municipality’s demolition committee will not allow the existing structure to be torn down.

“There’s a structural engineer that says my house has to come down, yet it is ignored,” Derrig  told council.

“If this was the Sources overpass and a structural engineer said this thing has to come down, the demolition committee decided no, we want to keep the heritage of the overpass, and then it fell down. Then, what happens? It’s the same thing,” he said to council without getting a response.

“You’re not reading all the proper information, and it’s getting really frustrating for us,” he added.

More than a year

Derrig submitted his first request for a demolition permit in July 2024, at a cost of $6,000, which was accompanied by a full set of plans for the new house he would build on the 18,000-square-foot lot. In November, the request was denied by the demolition committee, which is composed of three members of Pointe Claire council. The decision was based on a report prepared by a real estate appraiser who relied on an inspection carried out by an architect. Both were contracted by the city.

The report by the appraiser states: “The floor of the master bedroom is not level as it slopes back and to the right. Access to the crawl space beneath much of the room was difficult. It’s possible that the floor was built this way, but it’s also possible that a structural problem is to blame. Call in a structural expert if necessary.”

The report concludes the estimated cost for renovations required would total $64,000, including taxes, yet adds: “estimated amounts for the building renovation must be interpreted with reservations and confirmed by the expertise of specialized contractors.”

Derrig, who is a construction contractor by profession, scoffed at the estimate, saying homeowners could not renovate a kitchen for that amount.

He appealed the decision, supplying the city with a report from a structural engineer and an independent general contractor.

All members of council in January voted on the appeal, deciding to uphold the decision to refuse the demolition permit. According to one councillor, the appeal process does not allow for new information to be considered, including Derrig’s report from a structural engineer.

Derrig responded by filing a lawsuit against the city. Then, earlier this year, the homeowner said the city’s lawyer encouraged him to submit a new application for a permit to tear down the house. This prompted Derrig to pause his court action and submit a second application, this time including the reports from the structural engineer and independent contractor.

At a hearing in June, the demolition committee again refused to issue a permit to tear down the house.

But the second application was considered right after Pointe Claire council amended its demolition bylaw, which subjected Derrig’s application to a different set of standards, including measures, according to a public statement made by councillor Brent Cowan, who serves as chairman of the city’s demolition committee, that are “weighted to favour extension, enlargement, rebuilding, but leaving the basic bones of the building intact.”

According to information posted to Pointe Claire’s website, Derrig’s second application is the first case the city’s demolition committee considered under the amended bylaw. The website includes the real estate and architect’s reports, but does not post the homeowner’s reports by the structural engineer or independent general contractor.

Earlier this month, Derrig asked council why his reports were not included in the documents made public involving his application. He pleaded with council to consider all the information.

“I am hoping everybody sees the proper documents, make sure they are explained by people who can read them,” he told council.

“I’m trying to keep my family in Pointe Claire,” Derrig said, explaining that he wants nothing more than to have a safe home for his four children to grow up in.

Council is scheduled to consider his latest appeal on Aug. 12.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

The complete count of how many homes in the West Island were affected by flooding last weekend may not yet be known by municipal officials, but the overall consensus is that the sudden storm Sunday afternoon was not as bad as the water damage experienced in August of 2024.

“It’s bad, but not as bad as last year,” said Pointe Claire Mayor Tim Thomas on Monday.

Thomas spent much of Sunday afternoon surveying the water levels that had accumulated in a variety of areas in the city, including what looked like a lake in front of Pointe Claire’s public works building.

Pointe Claire city hall on St. Jean Blvd., the Olive Urquhart sports centre on Brunswick Blvd., and the city’s nautical centre on Lakeshore Road all experienced some flooding, Thomas said.

The intensity of the rainfall saw rivers of runoff flowing down a number of streets across the West Island, as the intense rain sent water spewing from manhole covers. The result was a number of homes across the region — including in Pointe Claire, Dorval, Beaconsfield and Dollard des Ormeaux — seeing flood waters infiltrate basements and garages.

And for many, the damage comes after completing repairs following a record-setting rainstorm on Aug. 9, 2024, left feet of water in thousands of basements across the Montreal area.

“To be flooded again is so disheartening … truly … just barely got everything back in order in my basement to now start again,” said Pointe Claire resident Debbie Doyle in a comment posted online.

According to Environment Canada, the Greater Montreal area received 70 to 80 millimetres of rains within a three-hour span last Sunday afternoon. In Pointe Claire, the recorded rainfall hit 81 millimetres, according to the city, while in Dorval, the amount of precipitation was measured at 70 millimetres, according to Dorval Mayor Marc Doret.

About 20 to 40 houses in Dorval were flooded, Doret estimated.

On Monday, Dorval council announced it will invest up to $3.5 million to double the capacity of water maintenance infrastructure in an area of the city that was the hardest hit by rainstorm flooding last August and again on the weekend.

“It’s very preliminary,” Doret said. “Normally we wait until we have signed deals, but we felt it was important to let the community know that we are taking steps. It’s maybe not as fast as they would wish, but these are major engineering projects and you’ve got to make sure that they’re done right.”

In Kirkland, only two to five homes were flooding, said Mayor Michel Gibson yesterday, while in Ste. Anne de Bellevue no reports of damage had been recorded at town hall on Monday.

The situation is far from the disastrous situation last Aug. 9, when 173 millimetres of rain was recorded in Ste. Anne, which not only set a record, but ranked as the second-highest deluge recorded in the province that day and left homeowners across the Montreal region with feet of water in their basements.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The Town of Hudson ended 2024 with a $2.2-million budget surplus, according to its annual financial report approved by council on Monday evening.

The surplus is slightly less than the reported surplus at the end of 2023, which was pegged at $2.8 million.

“The town is in sound financial health,” said Mayor Chloe Hutchison during the meeting.

Although the town’s budget surplus is shrinking year over year, Hutchison said, she would like to see it drop below the $1-million mark.

The auditors attributed the 2024 surplus, in part, to lower-than-expected salary expenses due to several job vacancies at town hall, along with higher-than-expected welcome tax revenues from a larger-than-anticipated volume of real estate transactions recorded in the year.

In 2023, Hudson was one of three municipalities across the province subjected to a financial audit by the Commission municipal du Québec that specifically focused on the municipalities’ budgetary surpluses and financial reserves.

In its report last year, the CMQ said Hudson lacked appropriate planning and supervision when it came to the management of its accumulated budget surpluses.

More specifically, the 35-page report issued by the provincial administrative tribunal in February 2024, which looked at the financial reserves of three small towns — St. Gabriel de Valcartier, a town in the Quebec City region with a population of roughly 3,770; St. Roch de l’Achigan, north of Montreal in the Lanaudière region, which has 5,725 residents; and Hudson, which has a population of 5,614 — pegged Hudson’s accumulated surplus at $9.9 million in 2021. It dropped to $9.8 million in 2022 and has since been reduced as council has used some funds to offset recent capital expenditures.

At the end of 2023, the accumulated surplus stood just under $4.7 million, according to the auditors, while at the end of last year, it was just under $5.2 million.

The town hired a financial consultant to determine the best way to manage the accumulated sums and has since implemented its plan.

The presentation of the 2024 financial report Monday brings Hudson up to date with its obligations to file its fiscal results with the provincial government. Its 2023 report was filed in February, months after it was due. It had been delayed due to a prolonged search for a new treasurer.

Hudson’s long-term debt at the end of 2024 stood at $22,475,330, slightly less than the $23,257,473 at the end of 2023. This puts the town’s debt ratio at $1.04 per $100 of property valuation, Hutchison said, below the level of $1.53 per $100 of valuation, which is the average of Quebec municipalities with comparable populations, and well below the $1.78 per $100 valuation of the province as a whole.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

The Commission municipale du Québec will formally assess accusations levelled against Pointe Claire Mayor Tim Thomas that allege he misused his city-supplied car and credit card next month, according to the scheduled published by the tribunal.

The hearing will be held July 21 at the commission’s headquarters in Montreal.

It is at this time that evidence will be presented. Details of the allegations will not be made public until then. The identity of the individual or individuals who filed the complaint are not revealed.

Thomas was notified of a complaint registered with the quasi-judicial body that oversees municipal matters in March, when he was issued an ethics citation, a two-page form letter that cites four allegations that he contravened the City of Pointe Claire’s ethics rules. The allegations include having used the car leased for him by the city for personal use; having used a city-issued credit card to purchase gas for the vehicle while using the car for personal use; and charging meal expenses while travelling to meetings of the Montreal Agglomeration council.

The citation was issued almost two months after Thomas was summoned by Commission municipale officials and questioned about the anonymous complaint lodged against him. He answered questions for about four hours.

According to the Commission municipale, a citation is issued when its municipal integrity investigations and prosecutions directorate “believes that the information in its possession is likely to demonstrate that a municipal elected official or office staff member has violated an ethics rule.”

In this instance, the commission could find fault with Thomas and/or the City of Pointe Claire’s administration’s actions.

If found in breach of an ethics violation, Thomas could face a penalty that ranges from a reprimand to being ordered to reimburse any benefit received, a suspension or fined a maximum of $4,000 for every breach upheld by the commission.

During a public council meeting in April, Thomas vehemently defended his actions with respect to his use of the city-leased vehicle and credit card, and compared his expense claims with those of former mayor John Belvedere.

Thomas claimed he spent $4,844 in gas, which was charged to his city credit card during a period of time that stretched from shortly after his election in late 2021 and when it was revoked by the city’s administration in 2024, a period of less than three years. The amount is comparable to the gas charges of $5,510 posted by Belvedere during his four-year term in office, from 2017 to 2021. Thomas said he obtained the figures through an access-to-information request.

Thomas also said he charged a total of $1,326 on his city credit card on meals, which represented working dinners with other mayors of demerged municipalities following meetings at the Montreal Agglomeration council. In comparison, he said, Belvedere accumulated $10,966 in meal charges during his term in what Thomas described as a variety of contexts, including meals in Pointe Claire with other members of council where he picked up their tab.

The City of Pointe Claire’s administration opted not to continue to provide Thomas with a car in  April 2024, after the vehicle was damaged beyond repair when the mayor hit a deer in the Laurentians, where he was visiting his mother. The city’s director-general at that time also asked Thomas to return the credit card that had been issued to him by the municipality.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

The Pointe Claire mayoral race has officially been triggered. But the only question now is: How many candidates will there be in what is anticipated to be the most hotly contested electoral battle in the West Island this fall?

So far there are two candidates in the race, as councillor Brent Cowan on June 10 declared his intention to run. He is seeking to unseat incumbent Mayor Tim Thomas, who earlier this spring said he will seek a second term.

“I want to organize a better partnership with organizations of Pointe Claire, the citizens of Pointe Claire and elected officials,” Cowan said in an interview last week with The 1510 West.

For his part, Thomas welcomed Cowan into the race.

“I encourage all adversaries who do not believe in responsible development to run,” Thomas said in an interview Monday.

“I am running to help protect the Pointe Claire we love and ensure we don’t overdevelop like in Griffintown or Mississauga.”

Thomas said he is encouraging a group of candidates who are in favour of reasonable development to run for council.

Meanwhile, former mayor John Belvedere, who has long been rumoured to be contemplating a rematch with Thomas, is not yet ready to declare his intentions. Thomas beat Belvedere in the 2021 election by a mere 61 votes. A request for a judicial recount of the slim win was rejected.

“I will be making a decision in a couple of weeks,” Belvedere said in an interview last week.

He will announce his decision by Aug. 2, he said, adding he will spend the coming weeks reflecting and talking to people. He would not elaborate on what issues he was reflecting on.

Tension among Pointe Claire’s elected officials have been on full display since the last election, often sparking vitriolic outbursts among members of council during public meetings, sniping on social media and reports of heated exchanges behind closed doors. The comportment has led to residents on several occasions making impassioned pleas for council members to quell the animosity and work collaboratively.

In January 2024, Cowan publicly called for Thomas to resign, accusing the mayor of failing to adhere to procedural rules during a public council meeting and what he termed the mayor’s “contempt of council and (his) refusal to accept the responsibility that accompanies the powers assigned (him) under the law.”

Thomas responded in kind, issuing his own public statement, saying he had hoped the differing views on council would lead to compromise.

“Instead,” Thomas stated, “the last two years have seen a scorched-earth approach at council meetings and pressure on new members of council to resign before the end of our four-year mandate.”

In January 2023, councillor Erin Tedford resigned her seat in the wake of being denounced by developers for her stance to slow development, creating a confrontational climate she deemed untenable. She also accused her council colleagues of posting lies and half-truths on social media, calling their actions “disappointing.”

Meanwhile, Cowan says his campaign will seek to “heal council, so that no matter who is elected, it will be able to deliberate in a collegial manner to arrive at sound decisions.”

If elected, he said, he will also seek to look at key areas in the city, like Pointe Claire Plaza, to plan redevelopment proposals.

When it comes to the proposed plan to build multi-unit housing on the site of the parking lot at the Fairview Pointe Claire shopping centre, Cowan said, development there “is inevitable,” without specifying what he would deem acceptable.

Thomas said plans for the Fairview parking lot have to be “reasonable,” and provide what he termed “the missing middle” — structures that are “not high, not low.”

“Everything is open to redevelopment,” Thomas said. “It’s the type of development that is at issue.” Adding: Fairview Forest will remain intact in its entirety. It makes no sense to develop Fairview Forest.”

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

There was less crime reported in the West Island last year than in 2023, according to the Montreal police service’s 2024 report released earlier this month.

But while the overall number of crimes in the West Island fell by about 3.2 per cent, the number of violent crimes against people jumped by 8.8 per cent. This included the number of reported assaults, which hit 1,271 in 2024, 69 more than the 1,202 reported in 2023 and 233 more cases than the 1,038 reported in 2022.

The number of assaults in the West Island last year accounted for just more than half — 54.7 per cent —of all crimes committed against an individual, according to the statistics revealed June 9 by the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal.

The rate of increase in the number of crimes against individuals increased at a faster rate in the West Island last year than across the across the entire Montreal territory as a whole,

Since 2017, the number of assaults reported in the West Island has increased by 87 per cent. Last year, almost three-quarters of all assaults were reported in areas covered by police stations 3 and 5 – Pierrefonds-Roxboro and Île Bizard, and Pointe Claire and Dorval.

A total of 238 robberies of people were reported in the West Island last year, up about 33 per cent from 2023, when 179 were recorded.

The number of sexual assaults reported in the West Island in 2024 hit 151, two fewer than the 153 reported in 2023.

There was one murder in the region last year, in Dollard des Ormeaux. In 2023, one murder was reported by police covering Pointe Claire and Dorval. In 2022, four murders were committed in the West Island, an annual record for the region.

The total number of crimes against property reported in the West Island last year hit 4,473, the largest category of crimes. This represents a 9.7-per-cent drop from the 4,955 incidents reported the previous year.

The most frequently reported crime in that category last year in the West Island was petty larceny, or small thefts, which accounted for 1,528 cases. This figure is down 112 from the 1,640 cases reported in 2023.

The second largest number of crimes against property was vehicle theft. And again, the total number of vehicles stolen in the West Island last year was 1,072, down 330, or 23.5 per cent, from the 1,402 reported in 2023.

The number of break-ins to homes in the region remained relatively the same, with 402 reported in 2024. In the previous year, 407 break-ins were reported across the West Island.

In contrast, while the number of overall crimes dropped in the West Island, the overall number of crimes on the entire island of Montreal increased by 2.7 per cent, pushing the total number of crimes in 2024 to 115,729, compared with 112,634 in 2023.

Across the island, crimes against individuals rose by 7.3 per cent last year compared with 2023, while property crimes remained relatively stable, increasing by 0.4 per cent.

Here are a few fun facts that quantify a few realities of the farming sector.

$150 million: The amount the Quebec government has provided in subsidies to greenhouse growers to help expand and modernize existing facilities, build new ones or in rebates on electricity consumption since 2020, spurring $875 million in investment.

330: The number of new greenhouses built in Quebec to grow produce since 2020 as a result of provincial subsidies totalling $150 million.

527: The number of Canadian farms affected by the avian flu since it first was detected in this country in 2021. The infections of the highly contagious disease has resulted in the death or euthanasia of more than 14.5 million birds.

So far, there has been one confirmed case of a human infection in Canada, a teenager in British Columbia who became critically ill in 2024, but has since recovered. There have been no cases of the disease infecting cows like in the U.S., where it has infected dairy herds, workers and shown up in unpasteurized milk sold in grocery stores. Raw milk is prohibited in Canada.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

Quebec MP Sophie Chatel has been appointed parliamentary secretary to Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Heath MacDonald.

Chatel, the member of Parliament for the riding of Pontiac–Kitigan Zibi, in the Pontiac region in West Quebec, was named parliamentary secretary on June 5, as Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled a roster of ministerial assistants for the members of his new cabinet.

“I’ll be a strong voice for farmers in Pontiac–Kitigan Zibi, Quebec, and across the country,” Chatel said in a brief statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on the day of her appointment.

“Canada’s new parliamentary secretary team will deliver on the government’s mandate for change, working collaboratively with all parties in Parliament to build the strongest economy in the G7, advance a new security and economic partnership with the United States and help Canadians get ahead,” Carney said in statement.

Chatel was first elected in 2021 and easily won re-election in the April 28 vote. A chartered accountant by profession, she has worked as a senior adviser with the Canada Revenue Agency prior to entering politics. She also has worked for the federal Department of Finance. In 2017, she was appointed head of the Tax Treaty Unit at the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, which is overseen by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, commonly known as the OECD, an international organization that works with governments and policy-makers to promote improving economic growth, living standards and addresses social and environmental challenges.

Nova Scotia MP Kody Blois was named parliamentary secretary to the prime minister. Before the April election, and just after Carney won the Liberal leadership and became prime minister, Blois was briefly named agriculture minister.

Twelve of the 39 parliamentary secretaries announced are from Quebec.

Another notable appointment was the naming of rookie Ontario MP Pauline Rochefort as the assistant to Secretary of State for rural development Buckley Belanger. Belanger, who also won his first election in April, is the only Liberal MP from Saskatchewan.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

Where does a community keep its history?

Some would argue it is pressed between the pages of books stored on dusty shelves. Some would venture it is heard in the echoes of architecture, between the cracks of well-worn floors in buildings first erected in what is now commonly referred to as “the centre of town.” While others would point to the well-mowed cemetery, where the engravings on the stones mark the names and dates of all those who came before.

But in some farming communities, history is found in its traditions. And there is no tradition in Quebec that has more history than the Lachute fair.

Of all the agricultural fairs in the province, the Lachute Expo holds a unique title: It’s the oldest. It also holds title to being the second oldest in Canada. And this year it is marking a milestone. For when the gates open next month, and the midway is fired up with all the lights and music, the Lachute fair will be celebrating its 200^th anniversary.

In fact, this fair dates back before Confederation to 1825, making it exactly the same age as the Lachine Canal, which lays claim to being the oldest canal in Canada and was the first link in a network of canals that made the St. Lawrence River a navigable trade route.

So for such a major anniversary, organizers have a lot in store this year.

“It’s an event to mark,” said Marcel Deschamps, secretary-treasurer of the Société d’Agriculture d’Argenteuil, which organizes the annual event, “but the standard format of the fair will not change.”

To accommodate all the attractions and the thousands of visitors expected, the agricultural society has opted to spread the celebration over two weekends this year.

The kick-off is set for Friday, July 4, with an outdoor country music concert featuring the Recklaws and Matt Lang.

Deschamps said the concert is expected to draw about 5,000 spectators to the fairground’s bandstand.

Then, on the following weekend – from Thursday, July 10, to Sunday, July 13 – the fair really gets going, with everything from midway rides, to a demolition derby, a monster truck show, an antique tractor pull, heavy horse competitions, light horse competitions and farm animal shows.

“There is something for everyone,” Deschamps said.

About 12,000 visitors are expected, he said.

And while the shows and derbies unfold, visitors of all ages will be able to take in the agricultural aspects of the fair. This includes seeing the animals in the barns.

Deschamps said the Producteurs de lait du Québec will be on site, offering children ice cream and explaining how the province’s farmers get milk to kitchen tables; officials with École-O-Champ, a Quebec-based non-profit dedicated to educating children about agriculture, will be on hand; while a farm-safety-themed treasure hunt will have kids and their parents visiting the barns on the fairgrounds to track down answers and win prizes.

And every evening, the fair offers a long list of musical acts to keep everyone entertained on a summer’s evening.

The Expo Lachute Fair runs from Thursday, July 10, until Sunday, July 13, at the fair grounds, 280-296 Gougeon St., Lachute. Admission fees range from $20 to $37, depending on when you buy your tickets and for what day. Four-day passes are also available. To consult a full roster of scheduled events, go to expolachutefair.com

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

Canadian farmers saw their net income drop by almost 26 per cent in 2024, according to the latest figures released by Statistics Canada at the end of May.

The decline – which amounted to $3.3 billion – represents the sharpest fall in net income in six years and resulted from a reduction in farm cash receipts coupled with “slightly higher operating expenses,” the Crown agency reported.

The drop in income among agricultural producers was seen in every province, including Quebec, where farmers experience a 25.4-per-cent drop in net returns, hitting $1.44 billion overall. In 2023, Quebec farmers recorded a net income of $1.93 billion, StatsCan reported.

Only Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia avoided drops in farm net income, while Saskatchewan posted the larges decline – $1.3 billion. The drop was mostly attributed to reduced crop revenues.

Overall, farm operating expenses in 2024 increased by 2.4 per cent, hitting $78.3 billion, compared with $76.4 billion in 2023.

For the second year in a row, interest expenses topped the list of expenses that gained the most, rising 28.6 per cent in 2024 compared with 2023. StatsCan noted that the Bank of Canada only began cutting interest rates midway through 2024 after hiking rates for two years.

While interest rates took a toll, farm debt in Canada in 2024 took a substantial uptick, rising 14.1 per cent, which represents the largest annual increase in more than 40 years.

The one bright spot was found in livestock receipts, which rose 6.9 per cent last year. This jump was seen in all provinces and across all livestock sectors except poultry.

Cattle and calves receipts saw 11.6-per-cent hikes, hitting $39.9 billion, in 2024, representing more than two-thirds of the increase recorded in livestock income. The high prices for cattle were attributed to the steady domestic and international demand for beef coupled with smaller herds in both Canada and the U.S. Average beef prices in 2024 hovered more than 50 per cent their usual 5- and 10-year averages, StatsCan said.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

After the protests and weeks of acrimonious debate on social media, after the ribbons were tied to trees and hedges to highlight which would be removed, after false accusations of purposely misleading information being put forward were flung, after arguments for and against the plan were outlined, and after more than 100 people showed up at Monday evening’s special meeting in Hudson, with one resident pleading with members of the town’s council to examine their conscience, Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison cast a tie-breaking vote and approved a $3.65-million contract to rebuild and widen Lakeview Street, a crumbling 900 metres of road, adding a cycling and pedestrian path along its length.

It was a result that did not come as a surprise, prompting most of those in attendance to get up and leave, some uttering, “Shame.” And, “Shame on you,” as they walked out of the meeting.

“I am sorry that you are feeling such distress which, from my standpoint, seems to have been generated by several owners who do not seem to accept that they are occupying public property, and this for their private use and enjoyment,” Hutchison said at the start of the meeting as she acknowledged the residents who opposed her position in support of the project.

“I continue to feel that this is a valuable structuring infrastructure project that will bring added value to the town while making the most of a federal subsidy that enables the town to redo the foundations of this structuring infrastructure,” Hutchison explained before the vote.

Her comments were met with grumbles from the crowd.

Lakeview resident David Smith, one of many who took to the microphone during the meeting’s question period before the vote, describe the plan for Lakeview as a “path of destruction,” and pleaded with council.

“Before you vote tonight, take a step back with this,” Smith urged council members. “If you have any misgivings of whether this is the democratic will of the people,” he said, pleading councillors to reconsider.

In the end, three councillors – Douglas Smith, Benoit Blais and Reid Thompson – voted against the plan that will see the width of Lakeview double with the addition of a path and a required drainage strip to meet provincial norms. The plan would necessitate the removal of 18 trees and several hedges. It would also reduce the area between several houses and the edge of the built area of the street.

“It was a really hard one for me,” said Thompson in an interview after the meeting, as he explained why he voted against the project. “It did not have a majority buy-in,” he explained, adding it was not in keeping with what he described as the “look and feel” of Hudson.

“We could have explored a scaled-back option,” he said.

“This project does not belong here,” said Blais in an interview before the meeting as he explained his opposition to the plan.

 That sentiment was echoed by another resident who pleaded with council.

“It is not commensurate with the charm and esthetic of Hudson,” said Niki Paquin. “Can we not amend this so it’s more Hudson?”

“As announced,” Hutchison explained, “we are offering to work with each property owner along the length of the project to better personalize the integration of the project.”

This offer includes the town’s commitment to install 90 trees along the street once the roadwork is completed.

However, at least one resident said his attempts to have town officials explain how the plan will affect the driveway access to his property have left him in the dark.

“People are very angry,” said Lakeview resident Gilles Stratti in an interview yesterday morning.

In an email Stratti continued: “My wife and I are crushed this morning, and licking our wounds. It hurts because everything the new Lakeview Blvd. is, is what we chose not to live with in our lives. But the battle is not over.”

What the residents will do now is not clear, Stratti said. 

According to Iain Dalgarno, Hudson’s director of public works, excavation along Lakeview is expected to begin in three to four weeks, and last about 15 weeks.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

For seven terms as a member of the House of Commons for the riding of Lac-Saint-Louis, Francis Scarpaleggia has toiled on the back benches of Parliament, working on a variety of committees and – perhaps what he was best known for – attending a countless number of events in his West Island riding.

But since the opening of the new session of Parliament last month, he has taken on his highest-profile job as an elected official – Speaker of the House.

It’s a position that comes with national attention and a hefty $99,900 raise, bringing his annual salary to just under $310,000. It also comes with a huge responsibility: attempting to keep the level of political discourse in the country’s premier chamber of government above the level of a schoolyard brawl, complete with its unique brand of juvenile catcalls and made-for-social-media taunts.

“It’s a fine line between maintaining civility and allowing people to express themselves,” said Scarpaleggia in an interview with The 1510 West last week.

The veteran MP is counting on his knowledge of the workings of the House of Commons and his personal style to temper debate and engender a forum to facilitate a level of debate that meets the moment.

Scarpaleggia is looking forward to his new role.

“For me, it’s a new challenge and an opportunity to draw on my 20 years of experience and apply it in a new context,” he said.

But his duties during Question Period in the House is just part of his job as Speaker, he said.

“It’s really the tip of the iceberg,” he said, pointing the lesser known duties of taking over management of the Parliamentary precinct, the full scope of the workings of the parliamentary campus, including the security service, the administration of its budget as well as the Speaker’s diplomatic role in welcoming visitors and foreign dignitaries.

But what will all of this mean for his constituents in his riding?

“My role in assisting and supporting my constituents does not change at all,” he said.

His advocacy on behalf of the residents of Lac-Saint-Louis riding – which includes Pointe Claire, Beaconsfield, Baie d’Urfé, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Senneville, Kirkland and a small section of western Pierrefonds-Roxboro – will continue, explaining his riding office receives many inquiries for help with issues of immigration, interactions with the Canada Revenue Agency and registration with the new national dental benefits plan.

As for the perks of the new job, which include an official residence in the Capital Region, as of last week Scarpaleggia had not even gotten around to visiting the site known as The Farm, a 4.3-acre estate near the shores of Kingsmere Lake in Gatineau Park, across the river from Ottawa. The property became the residence of the Speaker of the House in 1955. It was at one time owned by former prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, who used it as a summer home. King left the property upon his death to the government and people of Canada.

Scarpaleggia said he is not sure whether he will use the residence.

“I’m not one for pomp and circumstance,” he said, explaining that when in Ottawa he usually stays in hotels when not commuting home to the West Island.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

Call it a glimmer of hope.

That is how the mayors of the 15 demerged suburbs on the island of Montreal view a recent deal struck by Quebec City and one of its demerged suburbs that will see a new cost-sharing scheme implemented – a move that is estimated to save the demerged suburb millions of dollars per year.

“Quebec’s process is about rewriting the rules of the game,” said Senneville Mayor Julie Brisebois, co-president of the Association of Suburban Municipalities, which represents the demerged towns in the Montreal area, including eight West Island cities. “It’s a responsible governance initiative that deserves recognition.”

The relationship between central cities and their demerged suburbs and how they share costs has been the focus of fierce debate in the 11 municipal agglomerations across the province over the past two decades. In some cases, it has even been the subject of lawsuits, as demerged suburbs fight for what they claim is a fairer economic pact.

On the island of  Montreal, elected officials in the suburbs have been drawing attention to what they call growing inequities in Montreal’s favour that has resulted with suburban tax dollars being siphoned off by the central city.

“There has to be a restructuring. There has to be a re-think. It can’t be left in the hands of one powerful interest,” said Ste. Anne de Bellevue Mayor Paola Hawa in an interview Monday.

According to the proposal put forward in the Quebec City area, the central city and one of its two demerged suburbs, L’Ancienne Lorette, have agreed to a new funding formula that includes a fixed annual amount that will be handed over to the central city, along with payments for the regional public transit service. Each year, the amount would be adjusted for inflation. The deal would see L’Ancienne Lorette’s agglomeration costs for 2025 drop by about $3 million to roughly $16 million, compared with the $19 million it would have to pay under the terms of the existing funding formula.

The deal was hatched as both municipalities saw legal costs mount as they were locked in a series of court actions as their dispute over funding dragged through the courts. Meanwhile, the mayor of the other Quebec City suburb, St. Augustin de Desmaures, which is not party to the deal, said that although the proposal includes improvements to the financing relationship between the municipalities, the initiative does not address all of his town’s concerns.

The situation in Quebec City has elected officials in agglomerations across the province openly questioning whether the status quo will hold for much longer.

“All the agglomerations need to be reviewed,” said Hawa, who has been a vocal critic of how the Montreal agglomeration is structured and managed. “One way or another this is going to explode.”

Earlier this year, the demerged municipalities launched a lawsuit against the City of Montreal over an issue that cuts to the heart of growing tensions between suburban mayors and Valerie Plante’s administration – increasing costs being imposed on suburban taxpayers.

The focus of the battle is a $20-million loan bylaw approved by the agglomeration council in January to, in part, finance the acquisition of land in the Hippodrome sector of Montreal just west of Décarie Blvd. to push forward a 20,000-unit housing development. The bylaw, which was approved despite the objections from all 15 mayors of the demerged suburbs on Jan. 23, puts the full financial burden of the loan on the agglomeration instead of on the shoulders of the City of Montreal, where it belongs by law, the suburban mayors say.

This lawsuit follows legal action taken by the City of Beaconsfield in 2020, claiming demerged municipalities are being overcharged by Montreal for the services they receive, which include public transit, water treatment, social housing and police and fire services.

In April, Beaconsfield won the right to question provincial officials as it continues to press its case.

Meanwhile, suburban mayors across the Montreal region continue in their campaign to vocally oppose every spending initiative put forward by Montreal that they claim abuses the central city’s dominance on the agglo council and forces taxpayers in the demerged suburbs to foot the bill.

It is across this backdrop of constant and growing tensions that the deal struck between Quebec City and one of its demerged suburbs that Montreal suburban officials see a glimmer of hope for change to come.

“Quebec’s case shows that opening up dialogue and exploring tailored solutions is indeed possible,” Dollard des Ormeaux Mayor Alex Bottausci said in a statement issued by the Association of Suburban Mayors last week. Bottausci is a co-president of the ASM.

It might still take a few years, Hawa said. But she is hoping that reform will come.

She pointed to a plan recently put forward by Montreal for a new splash pad in a park at the foot of Mount Royal, which the demerged cities are being forced to pay for as being just the latest example of the abuse by Montreal.

“Why am I paying for that?” Hawa asked. “It’s ridiculous. And we have no recourse.

“It’s ‘here’s the bill, shut up and pay.’ No matter what we do, it’s shut up and pay.”

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Hudson has hired a new director-general – its third in as many years.

Vanessa Roach, a former top administrator with the Town of Senneville for 17 years, has been working as an independent consultant since 2023. She will start her new job June 25.

“She is results oriented,” said Mayor Chloe Hutchison on Monday evening, adding that is exactly what Hudson needs.

Roach, who also served as treasurer for the Town of Huntingdon in the Châteauguay Valley, has been hired on a two-year contract, with a four-month probationary period. This will give the current council the opportunity to assess her progress before the November municipal election, Hutchison said, while extending further assessments to the next council and maintaining continuity for the town’s administration.

Roach replaces Marie-Jacinthe Roberge, who reached a settlement to end her employment as director-general in March, almost seven months after taking a leave of absence. She officially was named to the post in early 2024.

Roberge was first hired in 2023 as assistant director-general under the guidance and training of interim director-general Martin Houde, a veteran municipal administrator who was hired by Hudson under contract on a temporary basis in the fall of 2022. Houde originally had been engaged on a four-month contract after Hudson council reached a settlement to terminate the employment of its previous director-general, Philip Toone.

Toone reached a settlement deal in September 2022 to terminate his employment. At that time, Hutchison said Toone opted to leave “to take on new challenges.”

As for Houde, he has seen his temporary contract renewed several times over the last almost three years, deals that saw his title flip from interim director-general to special projects’ consultant, back to director-general and interim treasurer, to part-time interim director-general. Hutchison said Houde will continue with the town until about August as special projects co-ordinator. He is currently overseeing negotiations with the municipality’s unionized workers.

The new hire will also signal the end of a contract with veteran administrator Susan McKercher, who is currently acting as interim director-general. Her contract ends in August.

In the meantime, Hudson is now on the hunt for a new co-ordinator of human resources following the resignation last month of Kathy Laviolette, a 14-year veteran with Hudson.

All of this comes after Hudson finally hired a treasurer in February, its second in three years.

Karine McDonald started as treasurer on March 5, replacing Christian Fincu, who served as director of finance for less than two months when he was fired in November 2024. His hiring last September came following a nine-month search after his predecessor, Mario Miller, was abruptly dismissed in January 2024.

Like Roach, McDonald is a former administrator with the Town of Senneville.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Despite another delay in approving a contract to rebuild and widen a quiet secondary avenue in the heart of Hudson, hope of convincing the town’s elected officials of scrapping – or at least reducing – the plan is fading for residents who have mounted a groundswell of opposition to the project.

“It’s super-upsetting,” said resident Julia Schroeder, who spearheaded a movement to block the proposed plan for Lakeview Street, a $3.7-million project to widen the crumbling thoroughfare to include a multi-use path for cyclists and pedestrians separated from the street by a green strip designed to accommodate improved drainage. “I feel utterly unrepresented. It’s not fair. It’s not OK.”

Approval of the contract for the work, which includes rebuilding the road’s foundation, was withdrawn from the agenda for Monday evening’s council meeting because, as Mayor Chloe Hutchison explained, the council is split, and one councillor was absent.

A special meeting will be held Monday, June 16, where the contract will be put to a vote. Based on council’s deliberations, Hutchison expects the vote will be tied. But she made it clear, she will cast the deciding vote in favour of proceeding with the plan.

“This has not been an easy file for us,” Hutchison said before explaining her intention to approve the original proposal.

For several weeks, amidst a clamorous and unrelenting campaign on social media, residents of Lakeview, a 900-metre stretch of broken, bumpy and uneven pavement, have been requesting changes to the plan that would see the width of the space for the street double with the addition of a path and drainage strip. The plan would necessitate a total of 18 trees be removed along the street, along with several hedges. It would also reduce the area between several houses and the edge of the built area of the street.

All residents are in agreement that the street needs to be repaved, but many are adamantly opposed to the scope of the proposed plan. At a special meeting to explain the plan in early May, several suggestions were put forward by residents, including eliminating the pedestrian and cycling path and reducing the road to a one-way to narrow the width of the artery.

Hutchison said she rejects both suggestions.

If the path is eliminated, the town would lose 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, including its foundation and drainage features. 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.

Adding to the complication of changing the scope of the project, Hutchison explained at the information session, is if the drainage plan is redesigned that would force the town to reapply for provincial approval, and that would push the completion of the project beyond the March 2024 deadline.

“We have sufficient support to move forward,” Hutchison said Monday evening in response to one resident’s question, referring to a majority of the entire council. She also pointed to support coming from residents who live in other areas of the town who support taking advantage of the federal grant.

Hutchison also confirmed the town is not looking at the option to turn the street into a one-way route.

In a letter to the editor of The 1019 Report, councillor Mark Gray, who did not attend Monday’s council meeting, said: “I agree that it is hard to imagine how Lakeview will look after the work is done, but I’m not convinced it will look like a boulevard.”

“The Lakeview project includes adding 91 trees after construction,” he added.

But a handful of residents on Monday continued to press their case for the project to be reconsidered.

“We have an opportunity to redo it – redo it properly,” said Oakland Street resident Rob McMaster, as he took to the microphone during Monday’s council meeting.

Council did approve a motion Monday to seek a possible extension from the federal government to complete the work without jeopardizing the grant, but Hutchison admitted in an interview an extension will not be necessary.

As for Schroeder, she has not yet given up all hope.

“People can always change their mind,” she said in an interview yesterday morning. “We just need one more vote.”

“It’s never too late,” she added. “We have to take a breath. There is an alternative. It’s way too big. It’s not a major artery.”

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

Newly re-elected West Island MP Francis Scarpaleggia played to the crowd in the House of Commons on Monday as he was mockingly dragged to the Speaker’s chair by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative interim leader Andrew Scheer after being elected the 40^th Speaker of the House.

The new job puts the MP for the riding of Lac-Saint-Louis in charge of managing the lower house, including ensuring order and decorum are maintained during Question Period.

Scarpaleggia performed his first formal duty yesterday as he led members of the House into the Senate for the reading of the Speech from the Throne by King Charles.

Scarpaleggia, who was first elected to the House of Commons in 2004, was re-elected last month marking the beginning of his eighth term in Parliament. Receiving 67.4 per cent of the votes cast in the April 28 vote in the riding – which includes Pointe Claire, Beaconsfield, Baie d’Urfé, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Senneville, Kirkland and a small section of western Pierrefonds-Roxboro – he recorded his highest level of support. He is now longest-serving Liberal in Quebec.

The duties of Speaker also gives Scarpaleggia a $99,900 annual pay raise, bringing his base salary of an MP of $208,800 to $309,700. He will now also be provided with an official residence in Gatineau Park, across the river from Ottawa, known as The Farm. A small apartment in the House of Commons will also be at his disposal.

The speaker is chosen by MPs by secret ballot. He beat five other Liberal candidates, including the former speaker, fellow Liberal MP Greg Fergus, who represents the Quebec riding of Hull-Alymer. Just hours before the vote two Conservative candidates for the post – Chris d’Entremont of Nova Scotia and John Nater of Ontario – pulled their names from the race.

“I would like to remind colleagues that we are at the beginning of a mandate, in the selfish hope that you will afford me a little grace period,” Scarpaleggia said in his first words to the chamber on Monday, displaying an upbeat tone as the new Parliament sets to begin what is expected to be a busy first few weeks.

Scarpallegia was not available for further comment yesterday.

Although the position allows Scarpaleggia to maintain his status as a Liberal MP, the role carries an expectation that its duties are carried out impartially. They do not get to vote on legislation, except in the event of a tie.

Here are a few fun facts that quantify a few realities of the farming sector.

$32.4 billion: The amount of U.S. food and agricultural exports that were shipped to Canada in 2024, making this country the top importer of agricultural products from the United States.

Meanwhile, U.S. food and ag exports to Mexico continue to rise, hitting $31.4 billion last year. American food and agricultural products sold to Mexico have increased 65 per cent in the last four years

91%: The percentage of all U.S. canola imports that came from Canada in 2024. This share represented a whopping 3,343 million metric tonnes of canola oil that made its way from Canada to the U.S., with more than half going to industrial use.

$69.9 billion: That is the amount of Canada’s overall exports in the month of March. That figure is down from the $70.04 billion recorded in February, and marked the second month in a row that exports fell.

But when March exports this year are compared with the same month last year, the figure represents a 10.2-per-cent increase.

4^th: Quebec was the fourth most dependent province on the U.S. in 2021, with 6.1 per cent of jobs attributed to direct exports to the Canada’s southern neighbour and an additional 4.9 per cent of jobs attributed to indirect exports, totalling 11 per cent employment linked to trade with the U.S.

The provinces with the most jobs dependent on trade with the U.S. were Alberta, followed by Ontario and New Brunswick.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

It’s not a new request, but in the wake of the federal government’s scrapping of the consumer carbon tax last month, the Union des producteurs agricoles is renewing its call for the provincial government to exclude fuels used on farms from Quebec’s carbon market.

Quebec’s approach to reducing carbon emissions is not working, said Jérémie Letellier, president of the UPA’s Montérégie federation, to a gathering of producers in St. Jean sur Richelieu earlier this month. And he called on provincial authorities to give the agricultural sector needed relief.

“If we really want to undergo an energy transformation, we need an approach that is realistic, while being just and coherent with the specifics of each economic sector,” Letellier said.

He took specific aim at Quebec’s cap-and-trade system used to measure and limit greenhouse gas emissions. Known as the Système de plafonnement et d’échange de droits d’émission de gaz à effet de serre  – or SPEDE – the approach sets a cap on the amount of emissions allowed and then allows companies to trade emissions permits, with exchanges linked directly to a similar system in California.

In the agricultural sector, Quebec farmers do not have to account for the amount of greenhouse gases that are emitted from animals or manure, but must pay a surtax on diesel used by farm machinery, and propane and natural gas used for drying grains or heating barns.

“The SPEDE model does not work,” Letellier said.

“The economic impacts of the SPEDE on Quebec agriculture is substantial,” he explained.

The UPA estimates agricultural producers in Quebec have contributed $480 million to the Electrification Climate Change Fund in the last decade through surtaxes on fuel and gas products.

“It’s a colossal amount, especially in a context where producers see very slim profit margins and, in some cases, where they suffer losses given the economic situation,” Letellier said.

Farmers pay approximately 10 cents a litre on fuel, under the SPEDE structure.

UPA president Martin Caron called Quebec’s ongoing cap-and-trade approach to encourage a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions presents an injustice to the province’s farmers.

“We are told to remain competitive, but the products that arrive here do not have to pay that,” Caron said, referring to the fuel surtaxes Quebec farmers must shoulder that inflates their costs of production.

David Phaneuf, a chicken and turkey producer from St. Liboire, east of St. Hyacinthe in the Montérégie region, said the carbon taxes his farm pays is about $25,000 a year. That is the amount of the surcharges applied to the fuel and gases his operation buys to facilitate his operation.

“That’s money that is not available to reduce our company’s carbon footprint or to improve our financial situation,” Phaneuf explained at the press conference.

In his sector overall, the fuel charges work out to 0.2 cents per egg produced. It is a fee that seems small, but given the sector produces 250 million eggs a year, costs mount.

According to his figures, the surcharges cost the egg sector $500,000 a year.

Letellier said the federation is aiming that, given Ottawa’s move to eliminate the carbon tax that was in use in most other provinces before the launch of the recent federal election campaign, Quebec farmers will be able to convince the provincial government to launch an immediate review of the SPEDE mechanism it uses to cap carbon emissions, and suspend its application to the agricultural sector until a more viable alternative is found. 

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 Advocate

The only confirmed case of avian flu in Quebec has been successfully eliminated, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

The virus was detected at a commercial poultry operation in the MRC of Matawinie, in the Lanaudière region, on Jan. 31. The spread of the infection has been contained and any threat deemed eliminated, according to a statement released by the food inspection agency in late March. It was the only active case in the province. No other details were released.

At the beginning of May there were 10 active cases of bird flu in Canada, including three in Ontario, two in Saskatchewan, two in Nova Scotia and single cases in Manitoba, British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador. A third possible case in Saskatchewan as of May 5 was under investigation.

At the end of January, there were 37 active cases reported across the country.

Previously in Quebec, the agency has recorded a total of 58 cases of the infectious disease which have affected a total of about 1.46 million birds. Across Canada there have been 496 cases, with British Columbia being the hardest hit, with more than 8.7 million birds in that province affected.

Although the virus has been detected in a dairy herd in the U.S., no such inter-species transfer has occurred in Canada, a statement issued by the food inspection agency has claimed. Only poultry operations have been infected in this country.

The active cases in Ontario are located in the Township of St. Clair, south of Sarnia; the Township of Enniskillen, just southeast of Sarnia; and in the municipality of Middlesex Centre, near London.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

The Town of Ste. Anne de Bellevue issued an apology last week after failing to distribute an English version of its municipal bulletin. The move was prompted after complaints piled up on social media in the wake of the municipality’s pledge earlier this spring that it would continue to maintain some communication in English despite having to adhere to stricter controls on languages other than French as provision of Quebec’s latest language law come into force.

Ste. Anne Mayor Paola Hawa said complainants were “raking” her “over the coals” after the monthly bulletin was distributed door to door in French only.

In March, Ste. Anne municipal council adopted a directive aimed at maintaining as much English communication as possible in the small town despite being the only West Island demerged suburb that does not have bilingual status.

The directive outlines a clear framework for town staff as to when and how they can use English and lists specific instances when the town can disseminate information in English, as permitted under Bill 96. These instances includes emergencies, situations involving public safety, fire prevention, crime prevention, extreme weather events, to ensure bylaws are accurately interpreted, issues touching on tourism and communication to residents directly from the mayor.

The mayor’s communication in the latest monthly bulletin was available in English, Hawa said, but was not included in the dispatch that was distributed door to door. That was a mistake due to “a logistical error and goes against our commitment to ensure a simultaneous dissemination of municipal council communications,” the apology stated.

“Our good intentions blew up in our face,” said Hawa in an interview earlier this week, referring to the error attributed to a town employee.

“The next one will go out in both languages – absolutely,” Hawa added.

Under the implementation guidelines of Bill 96, adopted by the provincial legislature in 2023 that aims to strengthened Quebec’s French Language Charter, all unilingual municipalities have until September of this year to comply. But there are a few exceptions unilingual towns can avail themselves of by adopting a specific directive like Ste. Anne council did in March.

“According to the law …. municipal councils may in some cases address their citizens in both languages,” the town stated in its apology. “Recognizing the historical contribution of the English-speaking community to the development of our city, Ste. Anne de Bellevue has always been committed to respecting this provision and reflecting the unique linguistic character of the community,” it continued in explaining its intention to communicate with residents in both languages where permitted.

The language flap is a twist to previous examples of how language complaints have flared in Ste. Anne. As recently as last December, an anonymous complainant filed a grievance with the Office québécoise de la langue française after the town used the words “food bank” in a public notice announcing when a campaign to collect food donations would be launched.

Hawa said the town apologized after receiving a reprimand from the OQLF.

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

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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

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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.