BRENDA O’FARRELL

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

The rising price of groceries is still a burning issue for consumers, with many of them changing their habits to manage costs, according to the first Canadian Food Sentiment Index, a report issued in October by the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

Since 2019, food prices in Canada have increased by 27 per cent, the report states. This sharp hike has resulted in 84 per cent of consumers surveyed pointing to groceries as being the category of spending that has affected them the most, and almost half – 48.2 per cent – admitting that they now actively seek out sales and discount offers like coupons to manage their grocery bills.

According to the report, food spending has reached an average of $316.03 per Canadian per month, based on Statistics Canada data. For a family of four, this amounts to about $1,265 per month, or just over $15,000 a year.

The survey shows that 84 per cent of respondents say food expenses was the one spending category that increased the most for them in the last 12 months, more than household items and supplies, cited by 43 per cent of respondents; transportation, highlighted by 36.6 per cent of those surveyed; and utilities, flagged by 35.8 per cent.

Faced with food price inflation, consumers have made changes to the way and where they shop, with almost half of respondents, 48.2 per cent, saying they actively shop sales and seek bargains. Almost a third, 30.5 per cent, said they use more coupons, while almost a quarter, 24.9 per cent, shop at cheaper stores and 22 per cent purchased non-essential foods like ice cream less frequently.

The report shows a growing number of Canadians who claim to have dipped into their savings or borrowed money to buy food, with younger Canadians most affected by this trend.

“This pattern reflects the substantial economic pressures younger generations face, possibly due to escalating food costs, higher living expenses or unstable early-career employment,” the report states.

The statistics show 13 per cent of members of the so-called Great Generation, individuals born before 1946, have admitted to having to draw from their savings or borrow money to put food on the table, while 46 per cent of the Gen Z cohort, people born between 1997 and 2012, finding themselves in the same financial pinch.

The overall picture of what consumers value most when shopping also points to how price is a big factor, with 47.3 per cent of respondents admitting that affordability – more than nutrition, taste and environmental impact –  is a determining factor in what they buy at the grocery store.

Perhaps another measure, albeit a less quantitative one, is the finding that more than half of consumers surveyed believe that the hike in food prices is actually higher than what official government statistics claim, with 54.5 per cent believing government agencies are underreporting food prices.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

The controversial piece of federal legislation that had been touted to protect Canada’s supply-managed agricultural sectors from being further eroded by trade-deal negotiations looks like it could be returning to the House of Commons after it was amended by the Senate earlier this month.

Senators on the foreign affairs committee amended Bill C-282, by removing its effective ability to shelter the country’s supply-managed agricultural productions like dairy, poultry and eggs from being part of trade-deal talks.

In essence, the amendment removes the prohibitions on new concessions as they would apply to existing trade deals, like the new NAFTA agreement; upcoming expected reviews of current deals, like the planned renegotiation of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico deal in 2026; or any future deal that is already being negotiated, which would include ongoing talks with the United Kingdom, where greater access to Canada’s cheese market is being sought.

Now, if the full Senate accepts the foreign affairs committee’s changes and formally amends the bill, the legislation would be returned to the House of Commons to be reconsidered. This would happen without any firm timeline.

The legislation was first introduced as a private member’s bill by the Bloc Québécois last year, gaining approval by the House of Commons in June 2023.

Last month, it was the focus of broad national attention when Bloc leader François Blanchet added its passage in the Senate to his list of conditions to support the Trudeau Liberals in a future confidence vote. Giving the Liberals an ultimatum, Blanchet accused what he called the “illegitimate” upper chamber of “leading the prime minister around by the nose.”

But all of that has been pushed aside, with the focus now being pulled by the recent re-election of Donald Trump as president in the U.S. Fears of standing up for Canadian farmers during scheduled reviews of trade deals with the U.S. under a Trump administration is being viewed as holding greater risk of triggering an acrimonious trade conflict that could harm other sectors.

“It is not a bill about supply management, but rather about trade policy,” Senator Peter Harder told the committee as he put the amendment forward.

In response, Blanchet criticized the Senate committee, but expressed optimism that the wider Senate would reject the amendment.

“I’m quite confident that the amendment will be beaten and the original version of the bill will be adopted by the Senate and that will be the end of it — not for the sake of any political issue, but for the sake of people who need this feeling of safety for the businesses they manage on a daily basis,” Blanchet told reporters in Ottawa.

In addition to the amendment, the Senate committee added what is termed an observation to the bill, explaining that the change should not be viewed as a lack of support for farmers. Rather, it stated, it “has taken no view on supply management in Canada and has focused its decision on this legislation’s impact on Canada’s crucial trade relationships as an export-oriented nation reliant on trade.”

As concern over rising food prices continues to be an issue for consumers, Canadian farmers are viewed as the most trusted among the supply-chain stakeholders involved with putting food on their plates, with major grocery store chains ranked the least trusted.

This is one of the key findings of the first Canadian Food Sentiment Index, a comprehensive report issued in October by the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University in Halifax. The study quantifies and ranks Canadians’ perceptions and attitudes towards food-related issues, including affordability, food security and consumer trust.

The report, based on input from more than 3,000 respondents across the country, “provides a critical look at how Canadians feel about the rising costs of food and their evolving behaviours in response to economic pressures,” Dalhousie officials explained.

According to the study, Canadian farmers receive the highest trust score of 3.69, on a scale of 5, a score the study’s authors said indicates “that Canadians have strong confidence in farmers to act in their best interests regarding food.”

In contrast, independent grocers and major grocery chains received the lowest trust scores, 2.89 and 2.8, respectively. This suggests, the report claims, “that Canadians are less confident in retailers, particularly major grocery chains, to act in their best interest regarding food.

The authors attribute this poor perception to price increases, corporate practices or insufficient support for local food systems.

Other food-chain players ranked in the survey included two government agencies – Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The authors said this suggests the public view these government bodies play an “crucial role in  ensuring food safety and regulations.”

Food manufacturers ranked in the middle of the trust spectrum with a ranking of 3.26 on a scale of 5, indicating consumers view them with “skepticism, likely driven by concerns over food production practices or corporate motives.”

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

Considered a first in Canada, a new Telehealth Station was launched in Pierrefonds on Monday. It’s a clinic modelled after how the Canadian Space Agency remotely tracks the health of its astronauts.

“The project represents a new way of thinking about health care that is more adapted to our users’ needs,” said Dan Gabay, president and CEO of the CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, the regional health board that manages health-care services in the West Island.

At the heart of the clinic is a machine originally designed to monitor the basic health of astronauts while on a mission in space. This machine – known as the Baune Autonomous Care Unit, named after its developer, an Edmonton-based company focused on developing health-care systems for astronauts – allows patients to monitor their vital signs – like blood pressure, pulse and oxygen levels.

By combining technology and artificial intelligence, the Telehealth Station can make a basic determination of whether a person is sick or not. The unit even scans the user’s face to allow an algorithm to assess facial expressions for signs of mental distress. The information is then transmitted to a nurse in real time. Then, if needed, the patient can get an appointment with a doctor.

For people without family doctors

It’s “a pilot project that marks a turning point in the improving care for orphan clienteles,” Gabay said, referring to patients who do not have a family doctor.

“Our goal is to extend this initiative and implement it at other sites so that all of our users can benefit from it,” Gabay explained.

The head of the regional health agency told reporters Monday that the machine is not meant to replace a doctor, but merely provide a means to help alleviate the problems caused by the growing list of West Islanders without a family doctor gain access to health-care services.

In 2022-2023, about one in four Quebecers were without a family doctor, a statistic that translates to roughly 2.1 million Quebecers.

In the West Island, the number of people without a family doctor last year hit an all-time high – 19,726, a 17-per-cent increase from the 16,800 who were on a waiting list for a general practitioner in 2022, according to figures from the provincial Health Ministry.

Officials with the West Island health authority is still determining which patients will have access to the autonomous care unit, which is located in the CLSC Pierrefonds on Gouin Boulevard.

A similar machine is being tested at the Canadian Space Agency facility in Longueuil. It has the capacity to gather 40 health data points, substantially more than the unit set up in Pierrefonds, with Baune officials saying the more sophisticated features could eventually be incorporated in units designed for public use.

The national agency is helping to funding the pilot project in Pierrefonds.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

Renovations and construction of an addition took about 18 months to complete and surpassed its $6.7-million budget by a bit, but when Baie d’Urfé town hall reopens next week, it will be the prelude to a long-awaited event that is set for Dec. 10 – the return of council meetings at the historic building with a refurbished iconic front arch.

 “I can’t wait to invite our citizens back,” said Baie d’Urfé Mayor Heidi Ektvedt last week.

Although the building has always served as a town hall since it was donated to the municipality more than a century ago, in 1912, it has been almost two decades since town council meetings were held there. With much of the space in the charming former country home used for office space, there was not enough room to accommodate public meetings.

But all that is part of the building’s history, too, now. With a new section added to the rear of the original building, Baie d’Urfé’s refurbished town hall offers a modern and spacious public meeting room that overlooks Lake St. Louis.

“It flows very well from the old to the new,” said Ektvedt, referring to how the extension of the building blends in both style and scope with the original structure.

Although the extension was a major part of the project, a number of renovations were carried out to the historic building, including reconfiguring the existing space, restoration of original features, like the arch on the front façade of the building, new windows, improving the building’s insulation and the addition of an elevator to make the structure accessible to all.

Part of the $6.7-million price tag was covered by a $4.485-million provincial grant. The remainder was financed by the town’s accumulated surplus.

Referring to the project as a “coup de coeur,” Ektvedt said the renovation holds sentimental significance.

“This is what it was meant to be – a small town welcoming its citizens,” Ektvedt said, explaining that the building is one of the oldest town halls in Quebec that is still used in that capacity.

In fact, maintaining the building as a town hall was part of the conditions imposed by James Morgan, who donated the building to the town in the early years of the last century.

Although it has always maintained that vocation, the old building only housed offices, as it did not have enough room to accommodate a public meeting space. Given the limitations, for almost two decades council meetings were held in other community buildings, including the Whiteside Taylor Centre.

The new town hall will be officially inaugurated on Thursday, Dec. 5, at 3 p.m., with an open house set for Saturday, Dec. 7, from 1 to 4 p.m., where residents will be able to tour the building. The following Tuesday, Dec. 10, the town will hold its first council meeting in the space.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

The fight over the decision to stop fluoridating water in the West Island by the end of 2024 is not over, as Montreal’s top health official last week weighed into the debate, vowing to support suburban mayors looking to overturn the decision.

The move comes as the Montreal Agglomeration council last Thursday voted to ratify the decision to cease fluoridating water at both the Pointe Claire and Dorval water filtration plants, which supply drinking water to the towns of Pointe Claire, Beaconsfield, Kirkland, Baie d’Urfé, parts of Dollard des Ormeaux and Dorval.

“The (Montreal Regional Public Health authority) team remains available to provide support for possible steps in this matter,” said Montreal Public Health Director Mylène Drouin in a letter last week to Baie d’Urfé Mayor Heidi Ektvedt.

Drouin also reiterated her department’s stand on fluoridation: “The Montreal (Regional Public Health authority) specifically recommends continuing the application of the (Programme québécois de fluoration de l’eau potable) and evaluating the feasibility of expanding fluoridation throughout the Montreal region.”

At the moment, only the plants in Pointe Claire and Dorval fluoridate drinking water.

Drouin added that when her department had been asked to weigh in on the matter in the summer of 2022, after the City of Montreal had received a petition asking for an end to fluoridation at the two West Island plants, her office provided an opinion.

“This opinion recommends water fluoridation through the Programme québécois de fluoration de l’eau potable of the Quebec Health Ministry,” Drouin stated, explaining that the assessment was derived in consultation with the Quebec Health Ministry and the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec.

SEE FLUORIDATION, Page 4.

FLUORIDATION: Mayors call to suspend agglo decision

From Page 1

But it was an opinion that was ignored by the Montreal agglomeration, a move that has infuriating Ektvedt and other West Island mayors. In fact, several municipal councils, including the West Island towns that receive water from the Pointe Claire and Dorval plants, have passed motions denouncing the unilateral move to end fluoridation.

Last Thursday, the West Island mayors called on members of the Montreal agglomeration council to postpone ratifying the decision to cease fluoridation until West Islanders were properly consulted on the move.

Lending his voice to this effort, which was ultimately ignored, was former West Island MNA and MP Clifford Lincoln. A resident of Baie d’Urfé, Lincoln reminded members of the agglomeration council that the city of Montreal had signed an agreement when the agglomeration took over management of the Pointe Claire and Dorval water plants that all services were to be maintained until 2028.

“What is the urgency to end the fluoridation without any consultations with the citizens concerned?” Lincoln asked.

In response, Maja Vodanovic, the City of Montreal’s executive committee member responsible for water, said the reason was one of consistency: “The City of Montreal took this decision to be coherent. We do not put fluoride in our water (in Montreal), we don’t intend to put fluoride in our water. We have to be coherent, so we have decided to remove it.”

She said the change was sparked by the need to renovate the Pointe Claire plant, explaining the ceasing of fluoridation is part of that plan.

The decision has been condemned by the Association of Suburban Municipalities.

“Such important decisions should not be made unilaterally without prior consultation with the municipalities concerned,” said Senneville Mayor Julie Brisebois, who is co-chair of the suburban mayors’ coalition in a statement issued last Friday. “This situation reflects a fundamental imbalance in the governance of the Urban Agglomeration of Montreal, where linked cities and their citizens are too often presented with an accomplished fact.”

The Suburban Mayors are calling  for the agglomeration’s decision to be suspended and for an immediate moratorium on any move to end fluoridation of drinking water at the Pointe Claire and Dorval plants to allow for a review  of the decision-making process.

“It’s really not about fluoridation,” Ektvedt explained. “It about public process.”

Elected officials from the West Island were kept in the dark, she said, throughout the discussions to end fluoridation that have taken place in Montreal since 2020.

“In this whole four years nobody even thought to talk to the people who are affected,” Ektvedt said.

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

24%: The proportion of the Quebec population who will be 65 or older by 2051. The percentage of seniors on the island of Montreal is expected to be below that level, at 21 per cent.

513: The number of turkey producers in Canada in 2024.

21.8: The number of megatonnes of wheat Canada shipped to a total of 65 countries in 2023-2024, with the top destinations being China, Indonesia, Japan, Bangladesh and the United States.

50%: That is the percentage drop in the number of dairy cows in Quebec in the last 40 years, with the provincial total hitting 353,000 head in 2022 compared to 710,000 in 1981.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Coteau du Lac: 10

Hudson: 6

Île Perrot: 21

Les Cèdres: 12

Les Coteaux: 10

Notre Dame Île Perrot: 17

Pincourt: 23

Pointe des Cascades: 2

Rigaud: 10

Rivière Beaudette: 4

St. Clet: 2

St. Lazare: 18

Ste. Marthe: 1

St. Polycarpe: 1

St. Zotique: 20

Terrasse Vaudreuil: 2

Très St. Redempteur: 1

Vaudreuil-Dorion: 105

Vaudreuil sur le Lac: 1

Total: 266

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Fissures of division and disagreement among elected officials are cracking the surface at the MRC Vaudreuil-Soulanges.

And the mayor of the largest municipality in the territory, Guy Pilon of Vaudrueil-Dorion, says he will pry them wider by asking tough questions in public beginning later this month. He is going to start with attempting to find out the salary paid to the MRC’s prefect, Patrick Bousez, for 2024-2025. It is a piece of information Pilon has requested, but has been told he would have to make an access-to-information request to obtain.

“It’s landed at that,” Pilon said in frustration during an interview Monday.

In 2021, The 1019 Report requested the salaries paid to all elected officials in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region. Bousez earned $156,843 as prefect of the regional council at that time, in addition to his $25,290 annual salary as mayor of Rivière Beaudette, earning him a total of 182,133 and the distinction as the top-paid elected official in the region. It is not known what, if any, annual increases he has been allotted.

Bousez was not available for an interview with The 1019 Report.

The splintering of consensus at the regional authority – which rarely offers any public debate or discussion of the issues – emerged Nov. 4 during a special meeting of the 23 mayors who sit on the council. In a split vote, the council opted to hire a new director-general, fill three top administrative roles, create a new post and abolish two others.

These moves come about four months after the MRC council suspended its former long-time director-general, Guy-Lin Beaudoin, and ordered an internal investigation into what multiple sources at that time described as a series of issues. Days later, the Quebec Ministry of Municipal Affairs announced it had assigned an official to act as an “observer” to review how the MRC manages its human resources. Then, days later, Beaudoin abruptly quit.

The MRC recently received notice that Municipal Affairs had completed its report, which has not yet been seen by elected officials, Pilon confirmed Monday.

Pilon, who voted against the motion to name Alexandre Lambert to the post of director-general, said his opposition stems from the council’s failure to conduct an open and competitive hiring process to fill the top administrator’s job.

“Would they do that in their own town?” Pilon said, referring to the mayors who supported the move.

“People don’t care at all,” he added, again referring to some of the mayors in the region.

Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison was one of seven mayors who voted against the hiring, a group of elected officials who represent 47 per cent of the MRC’s population. Her objection focused on the process to fill the position as well.

“It’s a big position,” Hutchison said, “why not look at who is available.”

Lambert, was first hired by the MRC in February of this year to the post of interim assistant director-general. He was named interim director-general in June, when Beaudoin was suspended.

During the Nov. 4 meeting, the MRC council also opted to abolish the positions of assistant director-general and director of human resources, while naming new people to the posts of director of the clerk’s office and clerk of the treasury; director of communications and social development; and director of finances and accounting, and assistant treasury clerk. It also created the new position – director of territorial planning. This position has not been filled.

St. Lazare Mayor Geneviève Lachance voted in favour of hiring Lambert.

“To me it was a clear and easy decision,” Lachance said in an interview Monday, explaining Lambert’s performance since first being hired by the MRC was proof he could meet the challenges of the position.

The MRC oversees land use plans for the region, waste management and civil protection services, as well as prepares valuation rolls for the towns and promotes regional economic development.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Water meters will begin to be required in all non-residential buildings in St. Lazare by next fall, according to a new bylaw set to be approved by council next month.

The move is the result of the municipality failing to meet water-usage targets set by the provincial government.

“It is being imposed on us to reduce consumption,” said St. Lazare Mayor Geneviève Lachance in an interview with The 1019 Report.

Eventually, all homes will have to be equipped with the devices to track their water use, she added. But for now, only 60 homes will be fitted with meters to provide municipal officials with a sampling of the level of individual household use in the residential sector. The selection of these homes will be on a voluntary basis, Lachance said.

In addition, according to the proposed bylaw, all new homes built after the bylaw is approved will have to be constructed “in anticipation of the installation of a meter,” the proposed bylaw states.

“The government requires this because we did not meet the objectives,” Lachance said, referring to the Rapport annuel sur la gestion de l’eau potable, which the provincial government issues outlining the levels of water usage within the town.

In 2022, the provincial report that looked at water consumption recorded in 2021 included a clear warning: “If the municipality exceeds one of the objectives in the 2021 balance sheet, the installation of water meters in all non-residential buildings (industries, shops and institutions), targeted mixed buildings, municipal buildings and on a sample of 60 residential buildings will be required progressively by Sept. 1, 2025,” the report stated.

Although measures to reduce water usage, like restricting the washing of driveways and banning car-wash fundraisers, and public awareness campaigns to encourage a reduction in usage have helped reduce the amount of water being consumed on a per-capita basis in the last few years, water use in the town remains above the provincial targets.

In the latest report available, issued in November 2023, water usage in 2022 in St. Lazare was estimated at 194 litres per person per day, 10 litres above the provincial target set at 184 litres.

In 2021, water use in the municipality was 211 litres per person per day, or 27 litres above the provincial target. That follows previous years of even higher water usage.

In 2020, water usage in St. Lazare was estimated at 224 litres per person per day. In 2019, it was 260 litres.

“We are using too much water,” Lachance said, explaining the issue is not strictly a function of water shortage, but of conservation.

Providing potable water is one of the most expensive services provided by the municipality, she said, adding provincial authorities are moving slowly toward imposing a “pay per use” model.

“We are pretty much going that way,” Lachance said, but stressed there is no estimated timeline for when water meters would be required in all homes.

St. Lazare is not the first municipality in Vaudreuil-Soulanges to impose water meters. Residents of Notre Dame de l’Île Perrot are required to submit their water meter readings to the municipality every summer.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

Fairview Forest, the subject that was once described by a Pointe Claire resident as having been placed under a “gag order,” could be the topic of public consultations as the city’s council last week, in a rare show of conciliation, adopted a motion to consider the future of privately owned green spaces.

The question of when those public consultations will be held and what form they would take are still not know, however. In fact, this lack of detail prompted one member of council, councillor Claude Cousineau, to vote against the motion.

The latest resolution calls to “re-establish a clear approach to consider the future of private green spaces through public participation in a consultation process.” It comes after a motion put forward by Pointe Claire Mayor Tim Thomas at a special meeting of council last month calling for public consultations on green spaces, including Fairview Forest, was soundly defeated.

Describing the support for the new motion as a “watershed moment,” Thomas said: “It shows a willingness to adapt and move forward.”

Proposed by councillor Eric Stork, the move mandates the city’s administration to draft a report for council that outlines how recent provincial legislation, including Bill 39, which gives municipalities new powers to protect green spaces, wetlands and natural habitats; and Bill 22, which provides municipal councils wider latitude to expropriate land, with new guidelines limiting costs. The report will also include details of housing densification requirements expected to be imposed on Pointe Claire by the pending update of the regional planning code, specifically in areas that are serviced by public transit lines like the new REM light rail line that borders the 43-acres Fairview Forest by the Fairview shopping mall.

This report is to be delivered to council by Feb. 1, 2025. With this information, council would then put together what the resolution calls “an action plan for public participation.” There is no timeline for when this public engagement would roll out.

Resident Geneviève Lussier, spokesperson for the Save Fairview Forest group, which has been advocating for the preservation of the woodland, asked council to also include details about how the regional planning code being put forward by the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal stipulates how municipalities should protect 30 per cent of their territories as green space.

Several other residents greeted the willingness to publicly discuss the future of Fairview Forest with approval.

“It looks like you’ve made yourselves an opportunity and responded with some leadership to finally sort this out in a way you know citizens want,” said resident Ralph Stocek, who has publicly chastised council in the past for failing to work together and fuelling a climate of discord.

Although Stocek described the motion as “a real step in leadership and compromise,” he expressed a reservation to council.

“It is our city’s role, our city’s administration, the city councillors role to determine our future, not a private corporation, even if they do own the land,” Stocek said, referring to Cadillac Fairview, which owns the Fairview Forest.

Last month, Thomas put forward a motion to hold two additional public consultation meetings – one on green spaces, including Fairview Forest, and one on the height of buildings in the parking lot area at the Fairview Pointe Claire shopping centre, which the owner of the property, Cadillac Fairview, has proposed to redevelop.

Thomas said the city’s consultation process to date has failed to broach the topic of what residents would like to see happen with the forest next to the shopping mall, the last large undeveloped tract of land in the city. It has also failed to allow citizens to have input on the height of residential buildings in the centre of the city, a topic that has created concern among residents since Cadillac Fairview unveiled its plans for what has been touted to be the “downtown of the West Island,” with the construction of a 20-storey seniors complex and two 25-storey apartment buildings between the mall and the new REM train line. The towers would be more than twice the height of any other building in the city.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

For the second time this year, the Town of Hudson has fired its treasurer.

On Monday, less than two months after hiring Christian Fincu as the director of finance, the town’s municipal council terminated his employment.

“This is not what we were hoping for,” said Mayor Chloe Hutchison in response to a resident’s question about the dismissal.

Fincu, who’s hiring was confirmed by council Sept. 3, was still in his probationary period when he was let go on Oct. 28, based on a recommendation made to council by the municipality’s acting director-general.

Hutchison said the town is currently seeking reimbursement for training expenses paid to Fincu.

Fincu’s hiring in September came following a nine-month search after his predecessor was abruptly fired in January.

Hudson council terminated its previous director of finance, Mario Miller, at a special meeting on Jan. 23. No reason was given for the action. However, in a short public statement in February, Hutchison said the move was “not related to fraud, embezzlement or mismanagement of funds.” Miller had worked for the town for about a year.

Hudson launched a call for candidates to fill the treasurer’s post yesterday. A consultant hired by the town to mentor Fincu will act as interim treasurer on a part-time basis, Hutchison said.

The town’s 2023 financial report, which was due to be filed with the province on June 30, has not yet been completed. Hutchison said it is expected next month.

In the meantime, the town’s director-general, Marie-Jacinthe Roberge, continues to be on medical leave until at least Nov. 20.

Roberge has been off the job since August, on what was originally a three-week leave that has since been extended twice. She was hired in May 2023 as assistant director-general and promoted to director-general earlier this year.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Rigaud town council ratified the suspension of a top administrator last week for an indetermined period without pay and launched what it termed “an administrative investigation” that will outline next steps.

The move was the subject of a special meeting of council Oct. 30, where, in an awkward attempt to refrain from naming the individual, elected officials voted unanimously to uphold the decision taken Oct. 18 by Mayor Marie-Claude Frigault to suspend the official. Although the individual was not identified, council then proceeded to approve a list of four motions to strip the town’s director-general, Maxime Boissonneault, of a list of responsibilities, naming his assistant, Julie Rivard, as the person who will replace him as he is on an indefinite leave. Rivard was also named assistant treasurer, a title held by Boissonneault up until last week.

The meeting lasted about 15 minutes, with Frigault refusing to answer questions afterward, telling The 1019 Report she did not have time. When pushed for a comment, she retorted she works many hours and would prefer to spend any free moments with her family.

Rigaud’s director of communications, Geneviève Hamel, Monday refused to confirm that Boissonneault was the employee suspended, and said Frigault would not comment.

It is not known what triggered Frigault to suspend the official earlier in the month.

Council has hired consulting firm Relais Expert Conseil, a Montreal-based firm specializing in labour law and human resources issues, to carry out its review of the situation. Hamel said Monday that process has started, but could not confirm how long it would last or if it had been completed.

Bossonneault has been working for the town as its top administrator since August 2022. His arrival was part of a series of new hires in the wake of a spree of resignations at Rigaud town hall earlier that year, months after a new council, including the election of Frigault, took over.

From February to May 2022, 16 civil servants resigned, including many of the town’s top administrators – the director-general, the treasurer, the director of urbanism, the director of recreation and the director of human resources.

• Reporter Joshua Allan contributed to this report.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Residents of Hudson advocating for the preservation of Sandy Beach as a natural space packed the town’s council chamber on Monday night to express their hope to save the waterfront site from development. The public show of support comes in the wake of the owner of a lot in the area submitting a request to the town last month for a building permit.

Although the request to build a home on the property that fronts on Royalview Street and extends to the shores of the Lake of Two Mountains, including part of the beach area, was refused by Hudson council, the event sparked residents to push council to acquire the property. Residents fear the permit request could be resubmitted at any time, addressing the issues that prompted council to refuse the initial development plan.

In an open letter circulated among the ad hoc coalition known as the Save Sandy Beach group before Monday’s meeting, residents were urged to express their desire to save all of the area surrounding the forested wetlands.

“If we all attend, our combined voices will make it clear that the Sandy Beach complex, including the undeveloped lot, is vital to Hudson and should be preserved,” the note stated.

Several at the meeting expressed their support for the town to attempt to purchase the property, and asked council questions about its support for that option, inquiring whether it has sought grants to offset the cost of acquiring the land and whether it would endorse fundraising efforts initiated by community members.

In response, Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison said council is looking at not just the possibility of preserving the lot on Royalview Street, which is currently listed for sale for $1.5 million, but all three lots in the forested wetland area around the beach. The other lots are owned by Nicanco Holdings Ltd., a company that has been stalled by the provincial Environment Ministry in its attempts to move forward with a development plan that would include about 200 housing units at the site.

“We are evaluating this option,” Hutchison said, referring to a proposal to acquire all three lots. “Can we afford the whole set?”

To that end, council is awaiting a cost-benefits analysis it commissioned earlier this year to inform its proposal, which Hutchison said would eventually be put to a referendum, providing all taxpayers a say. The analysis is expected to be completed by mid-November.

Both the owners of the lot on Royalview and Nicanco have expressed a willingness to sell their properties to the town. In the case of Nicanco, the discussions mark the first time in recent years the company would consider the option of selling its lots.

But Hutchison warned all in attendance, the cost of the waterfront properties will be substantial. She would not disclose a figure, however.

“We’d be doubling our debt load,” she said.

Opting to acquire the properties, if that is the eventual choice residents support would have ramifications, Hutchison said, including limiting the town to do other things, explaining how past decisions that have involved long-term borrowing, like investments in the town’s sewer system and the development of Jack Layton Park, are still being paid for by taxpayers.

Members of the Save Sandy Beach group said they are in the process of creating a registered non-profit group to launch a private fundraising campaign with the aim to help finance the acquisition.

Quebec leading most provinces as prices jump 5.4% in first half of 2024

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

Quebec has recorded the second highest increase in farmland values in the first six months of 2024, as prices jumped 5.4 per cent, according to figures released by Farm Credit Canada earlier this month.

It is the second year in a row that the 6-month increase in farmland prices in Quebec outpaced all provinces except Saskatchewan, where prices jumped 7.4 per cent in the first half of 2024, the data shows.

Ontario recorded the second lowest rate of increase, as prices there rose by 2.1 per, while cultivated land in Prince Edward Island edged up by only 1.7 per cent.

Rates of increase in New Brunswick, British Columbia and Alberta came in at 5.2, 5 and 4.6 per cent, respectively.

Overall, farmland prices saw a 5.5-per-cent average hike in Canada.

This small national deceleration in the growth of farmland values comes as interest rates have dropped, but at the same time farm revenues have been depressed as commodity prices have taken a hit, the FCC highlights.

“High input costs squeeze profit margins, possibly limiting farmers’ capacity to invest in new land and moderating farmland growth,” the FCC said in a statement issued Oct. 4.

Another factor that is a crucial driver of farmland values, the lending organization pointed to, is the limited availability of growing land for sale.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

Pressure is mounting on the Canadian Senate to provide its stamp of approval to Bill C-282, legislation that aims to protect the country’s supply-managed agricultural productions like dairy, poultry and eggs.

The bill, a private member’s bill first introduced by the Bloc Québécois last year, was approved by the House of Commons in June 2023. It, however, has been stalled in the upper chamber. And is now part of the political manoeuvring by the Bloc to leverage support for the minority Liberal government in Ottawa.

Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet has given the Liberals an ultimatum, and earlier this month accused what he called the “illegitimate” upper chamber of “leading the prime minister around by the nose.”

Blanchet added C-282 to his list of conditions to support the Trudeau Liberals in a future confidence vote.

Although Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would not interfere with the Senate’s deliberations, International Trade Minister Mary Ng has sent the chairman of the Senate’s foreign affairs and international trade committee, Peter Boehm, a letter in early October.

In addition, farming groups, including members of the Union des producteurs agricoles, were on Parliament Hill earlier this month to add their voices urging the Senate to approve the bill.

But Boehm stated publicly that hearings will continue until the end of October. That process will then be followed by a clause-by-clause study of the legislation.

Private member’s bills approved by the House of Commons are not prioritized on the Senate’s agenda, which, in part, explains why the process has been so slow.

Boehm has also been quoted as saying that he does not think it is in “Canada’s national interest” to pass the bill because it would impact future trade negotiations.

The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) is scheduled for renegotiation in 2026.

Dairy, poultry and egg producers continue to argue that supply management has been sacrificed in recent trade negation talks and any further erosion of the protections it offers would seriously harm their livelihoods.

Milestone tells the story of farming in Quebec

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

The history of Quebec has many chapters and spans several centuries, but it is the story of the province’s farms and its farmers that will be showcased later this year as the Union des producteurs agricoles celebrates its 100^th anniversary in Quebec City.

And that is where it all started.

It was on Oct. 2, 1924, in the provincial capital that the Union catholique des cultivateurs was formed. On that autumn day 100 years ago, this forerunner to today’s farmers’ union, the UPA, brought together about 2,500 farmers from across Quebec. The goal of joining forces in a union was to speak to government with one voice. And what they had to say charted a course that changed the rural landscape.

The UCC demanded that the electrical grid be expanded from the cities into the outlying regions. It also advocated for income protection and educational initiatives and information resources for agricultural producers.

But the organization’s success over the decades that followed stemmed from its duality – its ability to bring not only farmers from every region of the province together, but unite the different type of farmers – and their different types of specialties, like dairy, pork, beef.

“We protect all the models of agriculture,” said UPA president Martin Caron in a recent interview. “The greatest wealth we have in Quebec is all the diversity in relation to different productions and the models of agriculture, whether large or small farms.”

Creating local farmers’ group was always at the core of the organization’s approach.

The first of those groups was founded within the first week of the UCC’s founding. It was formed in St. Nazaire d’Acton in the Montérégie area, between Drummondville and Acton Vale. The second group was established in the parish of St. Edmond de Coaticook in the Eastern Townships. By 1925, there would be 255 local groups, that included more than 11,000 farmers, about 10 per cent of the province’s agricultural producers at that time.

Laurent Barré became the organization’s first president. He served in that capacity from 1924 to 1926.

Barré would then run for a provincial seat in the National Assembly as a member of the Quebec Conservative Party, winning a seat in 1931. In the 1935 election, we would run under the Union Nationale banner, winning again. He was defeated in 1939, but returned to be part of the Union Nationale government in 1944, when he was named Quebec’s minister of agriculture until 1960.

In 1972, the UCC rebranded itself, becoming the UPA and the only representative of farmers in Quebec through the adoption of the Farm Producers Act. Caron is the 14^th president of the UPA.

Throughout the 1970s and ’80s, the UPA was part of a number of campaigns championing the rights of the province’s farmers.

Everything from the fight against the expropriation by the federal government of vast tracts of farmland in Mirabel to build an international airport, to the creation of quota systems for the dairy, poultry and egg sectors were tackled.

In the 1990s, issues of environmental protection began to emerge, as well as global trade pacts.

In 1999, the UPA called for the creation of mechanisms to provide farmers with insurance and financing, leading to the creation of La Financière agricole du Québec in 2001.

Today, the UPA represents more than 42,000 farmers, and the organization is at the forefront of the movement to protect agricultural land from being dezoned for other uses.

As Caron has often cited, only 2 per cent of the land in Quebec is zoned for farming. That represents about a quarter of a hectare per resident, a ratio that is the lowest of all other jurisdictions in America outside of Canada.

Farming in Quebec has evolved from merely a way of life to a way of life that feeds a growing portion of the world. But it still faces a wide variety of challenges.

Those challenges will be the focus of the UPA’s next chapter.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

The recently released draft of the new Montreal regional flood map is raising alarm bells across the Greater Montreal area, but nowhere in the West Island are they sounding louder than in Pierrefonds-Roxboro.

The new map almost doubles the number of buildings identified as being in flood risk zones to just over 15,500 – this represents almost 20,000 households – potentially negatively affecting $9.9 billion in property values across the vast territory that is the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal. On the island of Montreal, Pierrefonds-Roxboro is subject to the biggest impact, says the borough’s mayor Jim Beis.

The borough has still to calculate the total value of the property affected, but Beis estimates it is easily in the billion-dollar range.

“It has a major impact on us,” said Beis in an interview with The 1510 West, describing the area in the borough that is now included in the risk zones to be 70-per-cent larger than in the previous delineation of flood lines.

The draft map, which was unveiled Sept. 30, includes a wide swath of properties along the various waterfronts in the CMM’s territory, which includes 82 municipalities on and around the island of Montreal. In Pierrefonds-Roxboro, it now includes areas that encompass not only houses, but schools, municipal buildings, a seniors’ home and areas that have never flooded before, Beis said.

The map is based on what the CMM refers to as the “new regulatory framework” that reflects the guidelines dictated by provincial authorities.

Since the draft was unveiled, Beis has held a meeting in the borough to answer questions from homeowners who are slated to possibly be included in zones of flood risk. Anyone who has a mortgage due for renewal is worried, Beis said. Homeowners also questioned how this will affect their insurance coverage.

Beis has joined the City of Montreal to send a memorandum to provincial authorities with a number of recommendations. Among the key request, he said, was a plea to hold off approving the draft map to allow time to fully analyze how the changes will impact homeowners, and discuss ways to allow municipal authorities to find ways to mitigate these impacts.

For example, Beis explained how his borough tested and invested in a number of modular mobile systems that can be deployed rapidly when spring flood threats are heightened that eliminate the need to sandbag areas, a process that is slow, costly and require many hours of labour. Whether the province will continue to cover such expenses under its Emergency Measures budget in future is not clear, he said.

Cutline:

The shaded areas of the draft regional flood map highlight the parts of Pierrefonds-Roxboro that are at risk of flooding.

Credit:

Commaunauté métropolitaine de Montréal

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

3%: The amount of the planet’s renewable freshwater reserves located in Quebec, with 40 per cent of that found in the St. Lawrence basin.

$555 million: The value of organic agricultural products exported by Canada in 2022, making the country the fifth largest organic exporter globally.

4 million: The number of acres in eastern Canada that grew oilseeds in 2023, with 70 per cent of the acreage growing soybeans.

240 million: The approximate number of animals on farms in Quebec currently.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

A deal spearheaded by the Nature Conservancy of Canada will protect a six-hectare tract of land made up of woodlands and wetlands from development in perpetuity in Notre Dame de l’Île Perrot, it was announced last week.

The forested natural space was acquired from private owners for $3.5 million.

Financed by a consortium of private agencies and three levels of government, the land will be part of the Boisé de la Pointe du Domaine nature park in the northeast corner of the island, which offers walking trails to the public.

“It’s a legacy for future generations,” said Notre Dame Mayor Danie Deschênes at a press conference last Friday. “It’s a big deal.”

“We are very proud to live in an area that is two-thirds woodland and farmland,” Deschênes added. “With the creation of the parc-nature and the acquisition of lots in Pointe du Domaine, we are continuing to promote access to nature for the whole of the Île Perrot community.”

The town is contributing only $150,000 toward the purchase, an amount Deschênes described as “pocket change” given the scope of the legacy that will be preserved, as the land will link a tract of parkland already owned by the town that will now stretch from the north to the south waterfronts of the Pointe de Domaine area.

The Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal, through its land acquisition fund, La Trame verte et bleue, kicked in $1.4 million, while the federal government pitched in $457,000; the provincial government added $299,000; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, under the guise of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, provided $256,000; and the private Age of Union Fund headed by environmental activist Dax Dasilva, who is also the CEO of Montreal-based Lightspeed, an e-commerce software provider, contributed $6,000.

The acquisition adds to five hectares previously acquired by the Nature Conservancy of Canada in the same area in 2022 for just over $1 million, which also included $537,000 from the provincial government through its Projet de partenariat pour les milieux naturels; $462,000 from the federal government, through its Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund, and funds from two private foundations – $41,000 from the Age of Union and $40,000 from Echo Foundation.

Vaudreuil-Soulanges MP Peter Schiefke who was on hand for the announcement last Friday said the purchase brings the federal government’s contribution to natural land acquisitions for preservation in Notre Dame to $920,000 in the last two years, and builds on its contributions towards natural space purchases in the area, which includes preserving more than 300 hectares on Mont Rigaud. Other acquisitions are also in the works for the region, he said. The federal government’s financing of green space acquisitions is a unique way the national government can help municipalities directly.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The recently released draft of the new Montreal regional flood map is raising alarm bells across the Greater Montreal area, but nowhere are they sounding louder than in Vaudreuil-Dorion.

The new map almost doubles the number of buildings identified as being in flood risk zones to just over 15,500 – this represents almost 20,000 households – potentially negatively affecting $9.9 billion in property values across the vast territory that is the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal. But about $2 billion worth of that property is located in Vaudreuil-Dorion, says the city’s mayor Guy Pilon.

“It’s major, major for us,” said Pilon in an interview last week with The 1019 Report.

The draft map, which was unveiled Sept. 30, includes a wide swath of properties along the various waterfronts in the CMM’s territory, which includes 82 municipalities on and around the island of Montreal.

In Vaudreuil-Dorion, it now includes areas that encompass not only houses, but schools, municipal water filtrations plants and the entire Cité des Jeunes campus along  St. Charles Avenue.

“Everyone is in a panic,” Pilon said, referring to owners of properties affected by the new flood zone.

The map is based on what that CMM refers to as the “new regulatory framework” that reflects the guidelines dictated by provincial authorities.

Pilon said the impact on his city – about $2 billion – just doesn’t make sense.

Since the draft was unveiled Pilon has been receiving phone calls from homeowners who are slated to possibly be included in zones of flood risk.

Anyone who has a mortgage due for renewal is worried, Pilon said, as he blasted both the CMM and provincial authorities for how the redrawing of the flood zones is being handled. Some homeowners want to know if their mortgages will be cancelled if they cannot get insurance, while others worry that they will be left holding mortgages that end up being much larger than what their properties will be worth.

Pilon said his city is preparing a memorandum to send to the regional authority, and has already spoken to Quebec Municipal Affairs Minister Andrée Laforest, explaining how not only homeowners will be affected but how any drop in property values will affect municipal taxation revenues.

“This is high-level stupidity,” Pilon said of how the redrawing of the map was done without consulting affected municipalities.

If the map is ratified and comes into force next spring, Pilon has suggested that the province establish a new insurance fund for homeowners, similar to its no-fault insurance program for drivers. In this way, owners of properties that will be added to the widening flood zone will be able to obtain insurance coverage in order to protect their assets and secure mortgage renewals and approvals.

The proposed draft of the map is based on guidelines set out by the province. In June public consultations were launched on the map, which includes four zones of flood risk – from low to moderate, to high and very high risk. In unveiling the map, the CMM also released a memo that calls on the provincial government to change its flood-management regulations, which outline what can or cannot be built in the various flood zones as well as what types of renovations property owners in those zones can undertake.

Among the changes the CMM is calling for is a reassessment of the standards of how a residential building can be changed in order to provide greater flexibility, in particular in moderate- and high-risk zones. The regional authority is also calling for the creation of management plans for flood-prone areas.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

While hate mail sent to two Pointe Claire city councillors recently is being widely denounced as unacceptable, it is at the same time widening the polarized divide that has come to characterize the political climate in the municipality.

“This has to be development related,” said councillor Eric Stork, who along with colleague Kelly Thorstad-Cullen received the hand-written letters via Canada Post last week at city hall.

Although Stork admits he has no proof what prompted the anger-filled messages, which consisted of the identical five lines calling the elected officials names and, using profanity, telling them to “go to hell” and to “drop dead,” he is convinced they were prompted by council’s recent approval of a 367-unit apartment project. Although the two 13-storey project slated for the northwest corner of St. Jean Blvd. and Labrosse Ave. was approved unanimously by council in September, Stork believes he and Thorstad-Cullen were signalled out because they both sit on the city’s planning advisory committee.

Both Stork and Thorstad-Cullen also spoke publicly at the September council meeting supporting the project.

But in an interview with The 1510 West, Stork went one step farther, pointing to Pointe Claire Mayor Tim Thomas for “irresponsibly” making what he called “a false argument” in opposing the project.

“That creates fear-mongering,” Stork said, explaining that Thomas’s argument that triplexes on the site of the proposed project “is irresponsible.”

He offered similar comment to other media.

In response, Thomas issued the following statement: “As mayor, I join in condemning this and all threats, harassment and intimidation in our local politics and expressing my sympathy for the councillors and their families.”

Then added: “This kind of behaviour is, unfortunately, not new to Pointe Claire. Former councillor Erin Tedford was subjected to a long campaign of intimidation and harassment, which included trespassing and vandalism at her home.”

Although the harassment contributed to Tedford’s decision to resign her seat on council and she had reported the incidents to police, Thomas said, she opted to deal with it privately. This contrasts with Stork’s approach to make public statements linking the letters to his support for a development project, the mayor pointed out.

“Attempting to weaponize (the threats) for political gain is wrong and will only make a bad situation worse,” he said.

A complaint about the letters was filed with police, and Stock was interview by officers. The investigation is ongoing.

Thorstad-Cullen could not be reached for comment.

In June, the provincial government adopted a new law that allows fines of up to $1,500 to be slapped on anyone who intimidates or harasses a politician. The law also allows elected officials to seek a court injunction against a citizen who threatens, intimidates or harasses them.

The Coalition Avenir Québec government adopted the law in an attempt stem the rise in resignations of elected officials, particularly at the municipal level.

Since the last municipal election in 2021, at least 741 of Quebec’s 8,000 local politicians — almost 10 per cent — have quit.

In addition, a survey of mayors and city councillors in Quebec conducted by the Union des municipalités du Québec in the fall of 2023 found that 74 per cent reported experiencing harassment or intimidation.

The survey prompted Quebec Municipal Affairs Minister Andrée Laforest earlier this year to establish a telephone helpline to connect officials and members of their families with psychological aid.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

It could be argued that the steady and consistent campaign to save Fairview Forest – with its weekly small-scale protests along the edge of the wooded green space for the past four years – has finally struck what might be a motivational chord, as two members of Pointe Claire council are now promising action.

Mayor Tim Thomas earlier this week requested a special meeting of council to vote on a motion to expand the formal consultation process the city has engaged in as it prepares its new urban plan to include an additional consultation session focused on privately and publicly held green spaces, including Fairview Forest.

The meeting for council to vote on the measure could be held as early as next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, councillor Eric Stork is planning to put forward a separate motion at the November council meeting to mandate the city to prepare a formal evaluation of the forest located just west of the Fairview Pointe Claire shopping centre, which is currently included in development freezes imposed by both the city and the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal.

Both motions would require support of a majority of council to move forward.

“I would like to see an expression from the Pointe Claire community on green spaces,” Thomas said in an interview with The 1510 West.

The public consultation process designed to guide and inform updates of the city’s urban plan has side-stepped public discussion of the fate of the woodland, with Thomas calling that “a glaring omission.”

As for Stork, he said the first order of business should be to determine the value of the green space.

“I want a proper evaluation of the cost,” said Stork in an interview with The 1510 West. “What is it worth?”

Stork, who admittedly is skeptical of the financial viability of preserving the land from development as it is located at the doorstep of a REM light commuter rail station on the north side of Highway west of St. Jean Blvd., said it’s time for action. The evaluation, he said, should include an environmental assessment, the city’s legal options if it opts to expropriate, other options for financing and an assessment of opportunity costs of not developing the land.

Both moves by elected officials in Pointe Claire come weeks after members of the Save Fairview Forest group, a grassroots movement of residents from Pointe Claire and the surrounding area, launched an email campaign aimed at the city’s council urging them to pronounce themselves on whether they favour preserving the forest.

Geneviève Lussier, a spokesperson for the Save Fairview Forest Group, said she is pleased with the moves being announced, adding that the recent flurry of emails sent to elected officials were meant to remind them of the promise they had made to protect 30 per cent of the city’s territory as green space, a target set by all levels of government, including the CMM, provincial and federal.

Currently, only 9 per cent of Pointe Claire’s territory is protected green space. Preserving the 43-acre forest would still leave the city with a green space deficit, well short of the 30-per-cent target. In fact, Lussier said, if all the natural spaces left on the island of Montreal were saved, it would still fall short of the target.

“There is very little social acceptability to cutting down a forest in an urban setting, even half a forest, especially in a place that is going to see such an influx of people” Lussier said, referring to the proposed development for the parking lot area of Fairview mall.

“Downtown West Island needs a central park,” Lussier added. And there is no better place for it than Fairview Forest.”

Stork said he will present a resolution directing Pointe Claire’s administration to commission an evaluation of the land, as well as an environmental assessment of the woodland, an outline of the implications of expropriation and the related opportunity costs of not moving forward with development. As Stork put it: “an assessment of all the variables.”

He called the city’s inaction to date on this issue “Irresponsible,” pointing to Thomas’s support for preserving the forest, without taking any steps to determine the viability of the option.

“It’s irresponsible to say ‘I want to save it, I want to save it,’ and not do anything about it,” Stork said.

“We can’t just stick our head in the sand. I am coming clean on this issue,” he added. “We have to address this.”

Earlier in the week, councillor Bruno Tremblay expressed his views on how the discussions about the fate of the woodland always focus on the purely financial issues.

“I am disappointed with the narrow focus of the question, which is unilaterally economic,” Tremblay said during the Oct. 1 Pointe Claire council meeting.

“That perspective is an old one,” he explained, adding: “It’s the way we used to think about things. We used to think strictly about the economics of these matters.

“As the storms that are ravaging the east coast – from Florida up to us now – this is becoming a societal issue. It’s becoming a problem.

“The federal government has maintained that we are undergoing a climate emergency. You act when there is an emergency,” Tremblay continued.

“There are legal avenues that are taking shape in this province that allows cities to be able to protect some of the green heritage that they have. That has to be included in the discussion.”

Tremblay issued a call to action: “I think it’s time – here at this table and in the audience and in Pointe Claire generally – those of us who make up the social fabric of this particular city, that we get together and start thinking creatively about how we are going to have to be able to save these kinds of areas.”

Lussier said any evaluation of the forest should also include a briefing on how recent amendments to Quebec’s Bill 39, which gives municipalities greater powers to protect natural environments, can impact moves to save the forest.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The Nature Conservancy of Canada’s announcement last week of its $500,000 pledge to help acquire 28 acres of woodland in Vaudreuil sur le Lac is the latest grant in its growing list of financial aid to help preserve undeveloped spaces in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges area.

Next week, that list will get a little bit longer, as the organization is set to unveil another grant to acquire a woodland in the Pointe du Domaine area of Notre Dame de l’Île Perrot, located in the northeastern tip of the island of Île Perrot.

The details of the financial aid for the parcel of forested land in Notre Dame will be unveiled Oct. 11, including the size of the tract of land that will be acquired.

All that is known as of this week is that the deal includes a collection of partners, including the town of Notre Dame; the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal’s greenspace preservation fund, the Trame Verte et bleue; both the federal and provincial governments; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the auspices of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act; the Age of Union foundation, a conservation agency founded by Canadian tech entrepreneur Dax Dasilva; and the Echo Foundation, a private Montreal-based charity that provides environment grants to support the protection of natural spaces of ecological importance in eastern Canada.

Both recent grants for forested wetlands in Vaudreuil sur le Lac and Notre Dame de l’Île Perrot are perfect examples of preservation projects pushed forward by municipal councils that the Nature Conservancy is proud to support, said Joë Bonin, the vice-president of development for the Nature Conservancy in Quebec, in an interview with The 1019 Report last week.

The national preservation foundation is keenly aware of all the areas highlighted by the CMM in 2022 when the regional authority imposed a development freeze on several tracts of land. The Nature Conservancy, Bonin said, aims to protect as much land deemed to have ecological value, and is committed to preserving areas in and around the Lake of Two Mountains and the Ottawa River.

Since the early 2000s, the Nature Conservancy has signed about 50 grant agreements with groups and municipalities, including several in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges area. These grants include support for purchases of land on Île Claude, on Mont Rigaud, at the site of Le Nichoir bird sanctuary in Hudson and a private land trust in Hudson known as Creek 53, which preserved a 250-hectare ­territory – or more than 600 acres – of wetlands, field, meadows and woodlands in the west end of the municipality.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The town of Vaudreuil sur le Lac has struck a deal to buy more than half of a 50.5-acre forest residents have long been pushing to save from development, putting together a financing plan that will see grants cover two-thirds of the $2.8-million price tag for the land.

Before a packed house at town hall last Wednesday evening, the proposal was outlined to residents for the first time. The plan to purchase 28 acres of woodland owned by Planimax D.S.F. Inc. includes a $1.34-million subsidy from the Commaunauté métropolitaine de Montréal and a $500,000 grant from the Nature Conservancy of Canada, leaving less than $1 million for taxpayers to shoulder.

And without wasting any time, the town’s municipal council will tonight take the next step by adopting a loan bylaw for $961,500 to cover its share. The expenditure, according to municipal officials, represents an annual increase in taxes of $165 per year for the owners of an average house in the municipality, which is valued at $547,000. This estimate, based on a 30-year amortization period, is the worse-case scenario, according to town consultant Jean-François Vachon, as it has been calculated using a 5-per-cent interest rate. If interest rates continue to fall, the cost of the loan will drop as well, Vachon said.

Vaudreuil sur le Lac has only 1,361 residents and 494 private dwellings, according to the 2021 Census.

“It’s the best offer that can be presented to citizens,” said resident Geneviève Roy, a spokesperson for the Regroupement pour la protection du Boisé de Vaudreuil-sur-le-Lac, a grassroots group that has been lobbying for the preservation of the woodland.

Roy said she is optimistic taxpayers in the little town will support the deal.

“There is a value for citizens, not just of Vaudreuil sur le Lac, but for the Montérégie,” Roy added, pointing to the ecological value and the importance of preserving biodiversity in the region.

“This is a real opportunity,” said Mayor Mario Tremblay in an interview on Monday, pointing out that the woods will be preserved in perpetuity. “We are convinced this project is positive for everyone.”

The remaining portion of the forest – 22.5 acres – is currently owned by a family and is not under immediate threat of development, Tremblay said last Wednesday evening. But the long-range plan would be for the town to acquire that land as well, he said.

In an interview with The 1019 Report last weekend, Roy said her group continues to lobby for the protection of the remaining part of the forest, but explained that given the fact that much of that section of the forest is wetlands, the current owner cannot develop much of it.

Once council adopts the loan bylaw tonight, the town will hold a register, providing citizens who are against the expenditure to voice their opposition. If enough residents sign the register, the town would be forced to either withdraw the loan bylaw or hold a referendum on the issue. Although no exact date has been set as of yesterday, a register would be held some time this month, town officials said. Tremblay said it would take slightly more than 100 signatures on the register to force the issue to a town-wide vote.

Although the town is moving quickly after having struck a deal with one of the two owners of the forest, the fate of the woodland, one of the last undeveloped areas in the municipality, has been on the public’s radar for almost two decades.

According to the town’s last urban development plan adopted in 2007, the tract of land was slated for residential development, with zoning bylaws permitting it to be subdivided into about 45 lots for single-family homes.

In 2016, the town approved a conservation plan aimed at protecting wetlands within its territory. This plan identified part of the woodland as having a high ecological value as it contained wetlands and old-growth trees.

The following year, the council, which represented the previous administration, adopted a development freeze on the forest, putting on hold any subdivision and construction in the area.

In 2020, a group of citizens advocating for the preservation of the forest began lobbying to save the woodland, which has several walking trails that are enjoyed by many residents.

In October of 2021, the current council submitted a request for funding to the CMM’s greenspace preservation fund known as the Trame Verte et bleue to help finance the acquisition of the land.

Then, in April 2022, the CMM imposed its own interim control bylaw that put a stop to all construction projects on a vast tapestry of undeveloped spaces across its territory in the Greater Montreal region, including the forest in Vaudreuil sur le Lac and other areas in Vaudrueil-Soulanges, like the area surrounding Sandy Beach on the shores of the Lake of Two Mountains in Hudson.

In July 2022, Planimax D.S.F. filed a lawsuit against the CMM over the development freeze, naming the town as a party to the action. But the company agreed to put its legal action on hold in early 2023 pending negotiations with the town to see if a deal to sell the land could be struck.

In January 2024, Planimax offered to sell its holdings to the town. And in June a deal was agreed upon.

The fate of the deal now rests with the town’s taxpayers, who will decide if they support the plan put together to acquire the forest. If they support it, the deal is expected to be finalized in early 2025.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The town of Hudson has denied The 1019 Report’s access-to-information request seeking the amount the municipality has paid in legal fees related to its interactions with a resident at the centre of a 10-year fight over a fence.

Citing a section of the Canadian Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms and three sections of the provincial Act respecting access to documents held by public bodies and the protection of personal information, the town refused a request for the amounts it has dispersed in legal fees between 2014 and August 2024 in the decade-old fight with resident Trevor Smith, who last month was refused a minor derogation to allow the six-foot wooden fence that runs the width of his property in front of his house on Côte St. Charles to stand. According to town bylaws, a fence along the front of a property cannot be more than four feet in height.

In a three-page letter sent to The 1019 Report last week, assistant town clerk Renée Huneault pointed to Section 9 of the charter of rights that claims “every person has a right to non-disclosure of confidential information.”

This despite the fact that every month, Hudson council approves a list of expenditures, including legal fees that are listed by specific amounts paid to a variety of legal firms with each payment broken down by file number.

The letter goes on to state, ironically: “The information contained in the list of payments approved by the council is the only information that we can disclose.”

In response, The 1019 Report filed a second request with the town last week asking for the list of payments made to legal firms for the same 10-year period, from January 2014 to Sept. 1, 2024, as presented at the monthly meetings on the “Liste de paiements,” which council approves, that includes a breakdown of the amounts for each firm identified by its file number.

The 1019 Report has also filed a request to have the town’s denial of its original request reviewed by the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec.

The town also denied the newspaper’s request to know how many fines Smith has been issued between 2014, when the fence was installed, and August 2024, and how much these fines totalled.

The battle over the fence dates back to 2014, when Smith install a six-foot-high wooden privacy fence across the front of his property after claiming snow-clearing operations and the excessive use of salt on the roads in winter damaged the 18-foot cedar hedge that acted as a visual barrier between his house and the street.

The situation has resulted in municipal fines issued to Smith, who, in turn, filed a lawsuit in Quebec Superior Court, which he lost and subsequently appealed to the Court of Appeals, which upheld the original judgment. Now, the battle appears poised to continue if not escalate, as the homeowner last week filed a complaint with the Commission Municipal du Québec and claims to be preparing to seek leave to have his case heard by the Supreme Court of Canada in the wake of being denied a minor derogation that would allow his fence to stay in place.

In the meantime, the town is weighing its option to proceed with a court-backed mandate to remove the fence.

Smith had previously filed two other complaints over the fence – one with the MRC Vaudreuil-Soulanges claiming discrimination and denial of his rights, and another separate complaint with the CMQ.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

A plan put forward earlier this year by the federal government to protect caribou herds in Quebec is going to come at a cost, according to the Montreal Economic Institute.

And that costs varies from region to region, but the overall price tag is $177.6 million and 1,990 jobs, according to the think tank’s estimates, which were included in a report issued Sept. 17.

“If the federal government goes ahead with this decree, it will cause the loss of a minimum of 1,990 jobs and with no guarantee that the caribou will be saved,” said Gabriel Giguère, a senior public policy analyst with the MEI.

In June, the federal minister of Environment and Climate Change issued an emergency order to take steps to address what it deemed are the “imminent threats” faced by three dwindling herds of boreal caribou in the province. These herds are considered at risk, with one herd including as few as nine animals.

These herds are located in Val d’Or, Charlevoix and Pipmuacan, which is located in the Saguenay-Lac St. Jean region.

Ottawa estimates that with nine members, the caribou herd in Val d’Or is at a level that “has already crossed the threshold of quasi-extinction,” officials claim. “The one in Charlevoix is very close to reaching it.” The Charlevoix herd has about 30 animals.

The herd in Pipmuacan is estimated at having fewer than 300 members, with federal officials believing it could become quasi-extinct in about 10 years.

The federal order to protect the animals has been put to public consultation in the regions involved, but has yet to be finalized. When approved, the measure would protect targeted areas of what is considered “best available habitat” on provincially owned lands.

According to the federal government, there are multiple threats to the herds’ recovery, including the increased scope of logging activities and industrial expansion. The order would stop those activities in defined areas.

And it is this possible restriction on logging activities that the MEI focuses on in its report.

More than half of the $177.6 million economic impact – or $93.3 million in annual economic activity – will be felt in the Pipmuacan region, where the MEI estimates the protection of 225 animals would result in the loss of at 1,041 jobs.

In the Charlevoix region, protecting the herd of fewer than 30 could cause the loss of at least 609 jobs and reduce economic activity by $54.3 million.

In Val d’Or, the measure would result in the loss of 38 jobs and $3.43 million in economic activity, the MEI claims.

“Preserving the woodland caribou is laudable,” said Giguère, “but the method adopted should not result in putting so many Quebecers out of work.”

In April the Quebec government announced a $59.5-million plan to safeguard boreal caribou in Charlevoix and mountain caribou in Gaspé, but critics say the protections included for the animals’ habitat arenot enough.

This lack of habitat protection is, in part, what sparked Ottawa’s emergency measure. But federal officials say if Quebec implements concrete protection measures, the federal Environment minister would withdraw the emergency order.

Quebec is home to about 15 per cent of Canada’s boreal caribou population. In 2023,

the Quebec government estimated the boreal caribou population to be between 6,162 and 7,445.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

In what may very well be a first in Quebec, the city of Laval is poised to impose a surtax – or royalty – beginning next year on farmland that is not used for agricultural purposes.

The message to land speculators is clear, according to Laval Mayor Stéphane Boyer: If you are holding on to farmland with the hope it will be rezoned and you will make a profit, it’s not going to happen.

“Land in an agricultural zone will remain in an agricultural zone,” Boyer told LaPresse last month. “So there’s no point in hanging on to your piece of land hoping to make money one day.”

According to the move approved by Laval council in August, a fee will be charged to non-farmers who own farm land that is not in agricultural production. The fee will not be imposed on farmers who farm their land.

This means that, for example, the owner of plot of farmland that is about 1.2 acres in area  – or 5,000 square metres – will have to pay an annual royalty of $1,250 in addition to the existing property tax and the current $200 annual farmland surtax. The royalty rate being applied is 10 cents per square metre.

Rate increases for smaller lots

Smaller lots will be subject to an even higher royalty fee rate, however, according to the city’s plan. Lots that are a quarter of an acre or smaller – 1,000 square metres or less –  will be slapped with a 50-cent-per-square-metre charge. So, for a lot that is 1,000 square metres – or a quarter of an acre – will be subject to a $500 royalty.

Laval estimates the move will raise $1.1 million in additional revenue in 2025. These revenues will be funnelled into a new fund the city will create that will be used to acquire farmland that is not in production with the aim to restore it into agricultural use.

“There is no point in protecting agricultural land if we are not able to cultivate it,” Boyer reportedly said. “So what can we do today with the powers we have in the law?”

“Once we become the owner again, the idea is to put it back into a large lot and resell this large lot to a farmer,” the mayor added. “It could be large farmers already present or small plots of land that we could rent to an up-and-coming farmer. We are going to be really flexible.”

About a third of island is farmland

Laval, which is the third largest city in Quebec, has 29 per cent of its territory – or about 17,420 acres – zoned agricultural, but only about half of that land is actively farmed today.

Much of the agriculturally zoned land that is not farmed is owned by non-farmers, Laval officials say.

The city claims that throughout the 1970s and ’80s much of this land was divided into what officials say are thousands of lots. The Commission de protection du territoire agricole only came into existence in 1978.

The result is that there are now thousands of small plots of land zoned for agricultural use that are lying fallow, with owners who are waiting for the day to develop these lots.

City officials predict this new taxing scheme will see about 2,700 acres of unused farmland put back into production.

In an interview with The Advocate, Martin Caron, president of the Union des producteurs agricoles, says he welcomes the new taxing plan put forward by Laval, explaining that it is not just about money.

Agricultural land left unused by speculators waiting to cash in with the hope of developing it for other purposes is a big problem, Caron said.

Quebec has the lowest ratio of cultivated land per resident in North America, Caron said, with only 0.24 hectares – or 0.59 acres – per resident.

“All tools are welcome,” he added. “We must protect these lands and ensure that they are cultivated.”

Cutline:

Much of the farmland in Laval – which accounts for almost a third of the island’s territory – is in the east end of the island.

Credit:

Google Maps

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

A study advocating for the dezoning of all remaining agricultural land in Laval to make way for 70,000 residential housing units put forward by the Montreal Economic Institute last month is being panned as “ridiculous,” “ill-considered” and “far-fetched,” and fails to grasp the pressures bearing down on agricultural producers and the basic tenants of sustainable development.

“It lacks understanding,” said Martin Caron, president of the Union des producteurs agricoles, in an interview during a conference in Trois-Rivières last month.

“Governments have 98 per cent of Quebec territory to resolve the housing crisis,” Caron said. “Why attack the 2 per cent dedicated to feeding us?”

The MEI put forward a “simple view” that fails to accurately reflect the issues at play when it comes to land management, food production and sustainable development, Caron added.

The MEI looked at land use in Laval, where 30 per cent of the territory of the island north of Montreal is zoned for agricultural use. This represents 70.5 square kilometres of land, or just over 17,420 acres.

“Laval is a case in point: Here we have a large area, close to our metropolis, that could accommodate tens of thousands of additional households if it were allowed to reach its full potential,” said study author Gabriel Giguère, a senior policy analyst at the MEI.

If the farmland in Laval is dezoned and the same population density is applied, the MEI says 70,000 new housing units could be built, “accommodating a total of 181,000 people,” a statement from the MEI claims. “That’s as much housing as exists in the entire city of Lévis, the seventh most populous municipality in Quebec,” the statement continues.

“It’s ridiculous,” said Colleen Thorpe, executive director of Équiterre, a Canadian non-profit that operates in Quebec that advocates for transitions toward an ecological and just society, including many issues involving agricultural production and consumer needs.

Urbanization needs to prioritize areas that Thorpe calls “under used,” where housing densification can be increased and stay away from vital agricultural land.

“The housing crisis is a pressing reality, but it’s dangerous to believe that the solution lies in destroying our agricultural lands,” said Audrey Lemaire, vice-president of the UPA’s Outaouais-Laurentides federation and a dairy farmer in St. Jérôme, north of Laval.

The federation labelled the study as simply being “far-fetched.”

“With the challenges we face in feeding future generations, it’s essential to recognize that our agricultural lands play a crucial role in preserving biodiversity,” said dairy farmer Stéphane Alary, president of the Outaouais-Laurentides federation.

The regional UPA federation said that in 2023, 60 applications to dezone farmland in Laval were filed with the Commission de protection du territoire agricole. The requests illustrate the “relentless pressure exerted by urban development in agricultural zones,” the federation claims. In the past decades Laval has seen tremendous population growth.

The federation calls on the MEI to rethink its proposals and focus on solutions that promote the densification of existing urban areas, while respecting and protecting what it refers to as “our precious agricultural heritage.”

“Building new housing at the expense of agricultural lands is a simplistic and short-sighted approach,” the federation stated. “Such a solution risks creating more problems than it solves, exacerbating our dependence on food imports and reducing our resilience in the face of future crises.”

Even a spokesperson for Vivre en ville, a Quebec-wide organization advocating for sustainable community development panned the MEI study.

“It makes no sense,” said Jeanne Robin, a spokesperson for the group, explaining that the general population needs to understand that agricultural land in Quebec is not limitless.

“The affordable housing crisis is a complex challenge that demands creative and sustainable solutions,” the Outaouais-Laurentides federation stated.

“The region’s agricultural land is among the most fertile in Quebec, offering optimal conditions for quality agriculture,” the federation’s statement continued. “Citizens benefit from peri-urban agriculture, which gives them access to fresh, top-quality produce sold directly by producers. Protecting these lands from urban expansion is crucial to our collective ability to feed future generations.”

The MEI study comes as the provincial Agriculture Ministry prepares to unveil the results of its year-long consultation in a lead up to its awaited overhaul of the laws that govern the protection of farmland in the province. In May, the ministry issued orientations for land management and development, which have been widely seen as being more flexible when it comes to agricultural zoning, while leaning toward giving MRCs more power when it comes to framing agricultural activities.

Meanwhile, at the federal level, a Senate report was published in June that many in the agricultural sector believe could have a long-lasting impact on the future of growing food in this country. It included a key landmark recommendation calling on government to designate soil as a “strategic national asset.”

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

For 201 Saturdays, Pointe Claire resident Geneviève Lussier and a group of supporters have convened on the sidewalk that traces the limit of Fairview Forest with one goal in their sights – save every inch of the treed area from development.

After all these weeks – just short of four years of protests – the question of whether the Save Fairview Forest group is closer to its goal all depends on how you measure the advancement.

“We are not celebrating,” Lussier said in an interview with The 1510 West, referring to the group’s 200^th milestone protest held Sept. 14. “The forest is not saved. But we’re celebrating our resiliency.”

The 43-acre woodland just west of the Fairview Pointe Claire shopping centre is owned by Cadillac Fairview, which still plans to develop a large multi-phased residential project in the area. But the land is currently under the protection of two temporary development freezes –  one by the city of Pointe Claire and another by the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal.

“We are going to keep pushing for this as long as we have to,” Lussier added, explaining that her group recognizes that persuading all stakeholders to get on board will take time.

The forest is the last unprotected wooded area in Pointe Claire, a city that only has 9 per cent of its territory designated as protected green space or parks, Lussier claims.

“Pointe Claire has a responsibility to do better,” she said.

The weekly protests since November 2022 have helped raise public awareness for the push to save the woods from development among residents, but it still has not translated into support from the city. Although, she acknowledges that Pointe Claire Mayor Tim Thomas and councillor Bruno Tremblay have publicly stated they endorse saving the entire forest.

Yet, calls to hold public consultations to gauge the level of public support for saving the forest among residents of Pointe Claire have so far gone unanswered.

In June, more than a year since the city launched its public consultation process following the adoption of a development freeze in key areas in the municipality, including the forest, to allow the public to weigh in on how development should take shape, Lussier put the question directly to elected officials. The answer she received was far from clear. And, three months later, no consultation touching on the fate of the forest – what many have come to recognize as one of the biggest development issues in the municipality – has yet been scheduled.

“It’s a glaring omission in our consultation process,” said Pointe Claire Mayor Tim Thomas in an interview yesterday, explaining the city’s administration shied away from the topic due to a lawsuit against the city filed by Cadillac Fairview.

Earlier in the spring, criticism of the consultation process in Pointe Claire flared when residents openly questioned why key issues, including the forest and the parking lot surrounding the Fairview Pointe Claire shopping centre where Cadillac Fairview has proposed building a 20-storey seniors complex and two 25-storey apartment buildings, have not been raised in the consultations to gauge residents’ views on these topics.

And last fall, several outraged citizens demanded to know who had imposed what they called a “gag order” on discussing the future of the forest during a consultation meeting that had been touted to deal with environmental issues.

“Green spaces and the height (of buildings) are two of the most important issues and, ironically, neither have been sufficiently broached,” Thomas said, referring to the consultations.

Lussier says despite the city of Pointe Claire’s development freeze, there is no clear indication what the city’s new development plan will included.

As for the CMM’s development freeze, it has allowed the regional authority time todraw up an urban plan. The preliminary draft of that plan identifies wetlands within the forest and proposes to impose a 30-metre buffer around them, restricting development in those zones. This would effectively leave about half the forest intact, Lussier said.

“This is just one layer of protection,” she explained.

Lussier also points to the provincial government’s Bill 39, which gives municipalities the ability to ensure the protection of natural environments without fear of being sued by owners for what has been labelled “disguised expropriation.”

“I am hopeful changes will be made,” Lussier said. “We know that it’s the right thing to do,” she added, referring to saving the forest.

Cutline:

Members of a the environmental group Mères au Front lent their support to Save Fairview Forest as the group marked its 200^th weekly demonstration Sept. 14.

Credit:

Courtesy Geneviève Lussier

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

100%: The U.S. has taken full advantage of additional tariff-free access for eggs and egg products (e.g., shell eggs, egg powder, etc.) since the implementation of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). In 2024, the negotiated limit of eggs and egg products has already been filled, meaning there will be no further tariff-free imports of egg and egg products from the U.S. and Mexico for the remainder of 2024.

43%: The rate of growth in agricultural production in Quebec between 2018 and today.

3: The number of grains – rice, corn, wheat – that make up about 60 per cent of the calories from plants consumed by humans across the globe.

17,433: The number of acres of land with agricultural zoning in Laval, the province’s third largest city.

The farm zone represents 29 per cent of the land mass of the island city.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The Île aux Tourtes Bridge will be closed in both directions again this coming weekend.

The span will close completely in both directions at midnight the night of Friday, Sept. 20, and reopen in the early morning hours of Monday, Sept. 23.

This is the second full-weekend closure of the bridge so far this month. The span was closed two weekends ago, from Friday, Sept. 6, to Monday, Sept. 9.

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

To accommodate this phase of the work, crews will be extending two jetties into the lake from the eastern shores in Senneville. These jetties have been serving as work areas, allowing workers to install piles. The new steel structures will eventually rest on the piles and provide additional support for the old bridge’s main beams.

Once the steel structures are in place, Transport Quebec said it may be able to open more lanes across the span. No timeline for that, however, has been put forward.

Earlier this summer, work to build the jetties forced Transport Quebec to bring in a team of biologists to relocated more than 33,000 freshwater mussels from the site. It is believed that this move is a first for a construction site in the province given its scope.

The mussels that inhabit the floor of the Lake of Two Mountains were deemed to be at risk of being crushed by the construction of the jetties.

The mussels, which can live up to 30 years, are considered an endangered species that mature slowly, thus making them slower to reproduce. If the mussels had not been moved, biologists believe it would have taken decades for the population in the lake to recover.

The mussels were moved to another areas in the lake, away from the construction zone.

Transport Quebec has committed that the mussels in the Lake of Two Mountains will be observed until 2026 to ensure their survival.

Since the beginning of 2024, the bridge has seen five complete closures in both directions, including the weekend shutdown two weeks ago.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

In its ongoing efforts to foster support for the merger of the towns on Île Perrot, representatives of the grassroots group Avenir Île Perrot – Becoming Île Perrot began meeting with elected officials on the island this week to gauge support for municipal fusion.

The members of the group met with the municipal council of Pincourt on Monday, the first of what the group’s representatives are hoping will be a series of sessions with the elected delegations in Notre Dame de l’Île Perrot, L’Île Perrot and Terrasse Vaudreuil. The goal is to outline the group’s objective and seek the support of the councillors and mayors of all four towns to request the provincial government conduct a feasibility study that will outline the pros and cons of merging.

The group has scheduled meetings with the councils of L’Île Perrot and Terrasse Vaudreuil and is awaiting confirmation from Notre Dame de l’Île Perrot.

“The goal of the meeting with the councils and mayors is to have them say it’s a good idea to do a study,” said Avenir Île Perrot – Becoming Île Perrot spokesman Gérard Farmer.

According to Farmer, the provincial Municipal Affairs Ministry would conduct the study at no cost to the towns. It would outline the economic impacts of consolidating the administrations of the four towns and well as the service implications, both in the short and long term, and the significance on cultural, sporting and leisure services that could be offered to residents into the future.

“There would be no loss of jobs,” Farmer said, explaining the framework of any eventual merger would not result in layoffs. Municipal workforces, he added, could be reorganized, with some personnel possibly reassigned.

The most important next step, Farmer said, is to conduct the feasibility study so that both elected officials and residents can make an informed decision.

Once the study would be completed, the findings would be shared publicly, he said.

The group is hoping that all four municipalities will come together to formally ask Quebec to conduct the study. The group cannot request the move without the support of the elected councils. The study does not commit the municipalities to an eventual merger, Farmer stressed. It is merely a diagnostic tool to see if enough benefit exists in the concept of municipal fusion. The study would take up to three months to complete, he added.

“If the towns do not ask for the study, we will not have a study,” Farmer continue, adding that it would be reckless to not take advantage of what the provincial government is offering.

“We can’t say we don’t want to know. That is not good management,” he said.

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

The new municipality would be better able to afford to build venues like arenas and cultural event spaces, the group contends, and give residents of the island more clout within the MRC of Vaudreuil-Soulanges, the larger Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal and with the provincial government, which provides a number of grants and subsidies for municipal projects, many of which are prioritized based, in part, on the number of residents these projects will benefit.

Avenir Île Perrot – Becoming Île Perrot was formed earlier this year, created by a group of residents who believe that the time has come to launch a public conversation about creating a shared vision of how the island should be development and provide a broad range of cultural and sports services to its growing population.

In 1854, the island of Île Perrot consisted of one municipality, the group points out. In the middle of the last century, from 1948 to 1958, it was divided into five municipalities. In 1984, that dropped to four with the merger of the towns of Pointe du Moulin with the parish of Notre Dame de l’Île Perrot.

The 1019 Report

After an almost nine-month search, the town of Hudson earlier this month hired a new treasurer. But as that key administrative post is finally filled, town hall continues to operate with a musical-chairs-type of approach to staffing as its director-general has extended her medical leave.

The hiring of Cristian Frincu as director of finance was confirmed by council Sept. 3. Among his first tasks will be to finalize the municipality’s finance report for 2023, which was due to be submitted to the provincial government by June 30. So far, no timeline has been offered as to when Hudson will file its financial report.

Frincu will be helped by what municipal officials are calling a coach, a consultant contracted last month to support his integration into the administration. The move was deemed necessary as Frincu lacks experience in the municipal field. His experience stems from a variety of posts in the private sector.

Meanwhile, Hudson’s director-general, Marie-Jacinthe Roberge, has extended her medical leave, and is not expected to return to work until the end of September.

Roberge’s sudden leave of absence last month, prompted council to name an interim director-general. Veteran municipal administrator Martin Houde, who was first contracted by Hudson in September 2022 on a temporary basis to serve as interim director-general, resumed the role in August, when Roberge took a three-week leave. That leave has now been extended to Sept. 27, Mayor Chloe Hutchison confirmed Monday.

Roberge was hired by the town in May 2023 as assistant director-general. Although she lacked experience as a top municipal administrator, Houde’s contract as interim-director-general was extended at that time to assist the transition. Earlier this year, Roberge was promoted to director-general, prompting Houde to take a step back. But council opted to extend him a new contract as special projects co-ordinator on a part-time basis.

Last month, when Houde was tapped to take on the role as interim director-general, he also assumed the role of interim treasurer. Although he now relinquished his responsibilities as interim treasurer, he will continue as interim director-general on a part-time basis.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The town of Hudsonhas extended the deadline to The 1019 Report’s access-to-information request submitted last month seeking the amount the municipality has spent in legal fees in its dispute with resident Trevor Smith since 2014, when the barrier was built.

On Monday, one day before the deadline for the town to respond to the access-to-information request, in a notice from assistant town clerk Renée Huneault, the town invoked its option to extend the deadline by an additional 10 days to provide the information.

The town has been involved in civil litigation for several years, as the case was brought to municipal court and made its way through the Superior Court of Quebec and the Court of Appeals, where judgments were issued in 2022, upholding the town’s stance that the fence contravened its bylaws. An order giving the town permission to remove the fence was issued as part of the judgments.

Smith has also filed complaints over the years with the Commission municipal du Québec and the MRC Vaudreuil-Soulanges. He filed a second complaint to the CMQ last week.

At a council meeting on Sept. 3, Smith stated that so far the dispute has cost him about $80,000. He then vowed to continue his court battles with the town.

Ironically, in a judgment in July 2022 that rejected Smith’s request for an exemption that would have allowed him to keep the fence, Superior Court Justice Christian J. Brossard cited references made by the plaintiff that he did not have the estimated $5,000 it would cost to replace the hedge that he claimed had been damaged by the town that led him to install the fence.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

In an unexpected and frustration-fuelled move, councillor Doug Smith abruptly walked out of the Sept. 3 Hudson council meeting claiming he had lost faith in the leadership of the town’s elected officials after casting the only dissenting vote against a resolution to deny a minor derogation to a resident seeking to maintain a six-foot fence along the front of his property on Côte St. Charles.

“I have lost faith in the leadership in this council,” Smith said as we walked out of the meeting immediately after the vote that denied the derogation request.

“I am beyond disappointed and I am beyond frustrated,” he explained.

In an interview with The 1019 Report this week, Smith elaborated: “It’s gone on too long. It’s cost too much money. At a certain point we need to say to our lawyers: ‘How do we end this?’”

Describing the situation involving the stand-off with homeowner Trevor Smith, who is not related to the councillor, as a “legal boondoggle,” Doug Smith expressed frustration that the current council is the third municipal administration that has been dealing with this situation, which first began in November 2014.

The saga was triggered when Trevor Smith opted to install a six-foot-high wooden privacy fence across the front of his property after claiming snow-clearing operations and the excessive use of salt on the roads in winter damaged the 18-foot cedar hedge that acted as a visual barrier between his house and the street. According to the town bylaws, a fence along the front of a property cannot be more than four feet high.

The situation has resulted in municipal fines issued to the Trevor Smith, who, in turn, filed a lawsuit in Quebec Superior Court, which he lost and subsequently appealed to the Court of Appeals, which upheld the original judgment. Now, the battle appears poised to continue if not escalate, as the homeowner last week filed a complaint with the Commission Municipal du Québec and claims to be preparing to seek leave to have his case heard by the Supreme Court of Canada in the wake of being a denied a minor derogation that would allow his fence to stay in place.

In the meantime, the town is weighing its option on if and when it will proceed with a court-backed mandate to remove the fence.

When asked on Sept. 3 if the town would remove his fence, Mayor Chloe Hutchison said: “It’s possible.”

“We will send him a letter and give him the options again that are available to him,” Hutchison explained. She refused to elaborate on what those options are when asked by a resident.

“I walked out (of the meeting) because the others in the room are content in continuing,” councillor Doug Smith said. “I think I stand alone to say this needs to stop.”

“Whatever the lawyer tells us to do, we’re going to do,” Doug Smith said, explaining how the municipality is handling the situation. “It’s not us telling the lawyer what to do.”

“How do we make this a win-win?” he continued. “But there doesn’t seem to be a willingness.”

Councillor Smith said part of the problem is that all councillors never get to debate the issues.

“The council as a whole never sits down as a whole to discuss this,” he said, explaining that the mayor has excluded him from attending caucus meetings, while other councillors are regularly absent.

He added: “How much has this actually cost the taxpayer? I am scared to know this. And we have to be accountable for that.”

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Like a bell that signals the start of a new round in a long, drawn-out grudge match, Hudson town council earlier this month set the scene for what all indications point to an escalation in a decade-old fight over a fence, with the homeowner at the centre of it this week vowing to seek leave to have his case heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.

“It’s going to the Supreme Court,” said homeowner Trevor Smith in an interview with The 1019 Report. “This is not over. It can’t be.”

Smith is digging in and vowing to continue a costly court battle against the town after Hudson council on Sept. 3 denied his request for a minor derogation to allow the six-foot wooden fence that runs the width of his property in front of his house on Côte St. Charles to stand. According to town bylaws, a fence along the front of a property cannot be more than four feet in height.

“This has not been an easy file for us,” said Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison just minutes before council voted to deny Smith’s derogation request.

“It’s unfortunate Mr. Smith did not bring this request for a six-foot fence as a minor derogation request before his fence was built,” Hutchison said, referring to 2014, when the privacy barrier was installed.

“It is clear Mr. Smith was in clear knowledge of the bylaws and the requirements of the bylaws before he built the fence,” Hutchinson said after the vote. “He knowingly knew he was crossing and not respecting the bylaw.”

Before council voted on the matter, several residents and no fewer than three former Hudson councillors – members of the past two administrations who had also dealt with this issue – urged the present council to grant the derogation and end the fight that has cost the town an unknown amount in legal fees.

With the standoff between the town and the homeowner described by some who spoke at the Sept. 3 meeting as  “silly,” “non-sensical” and “a comedy of errors,” the present council was urged to end the fight and let the fence stand.

“The town does accept all kinds of derogations,” said former councillor Helen Kurgansky. “We do it every single month practically. We give derogations for valid reasons. Trevor Smith had a valid reason to have that extra two feet of fence, except that they escalated – the laws, the lawyers, discussion, arguments – until it got out of control, and here we are 10 years later.”

“This is a time to have le gros bon sens – good judgment,” Kurgansky continued. “Let’s stop wasting our money, our energies.”

Last week, in the wake of the denial of the derogation, Smith filed a complaint with the Commission municipal du Québec, a quasi-judicial body that oversees municipal matters in the province.

The complaint focuses on the resolution adopted by Hudson council on Sept. 3 that denies his derogation request to permit his six-foot fence that was based on five criteria that was considered in reaching that decision. Specifically, Smith highlights the criteria that claims: “If the minor exemption request concerns work in progress or already carried out, a building permit must have been issued and the work must have been carried out in good faith.”

Smith’s complaint to the CMQ claims that in 2014 no building permit was required by the town to build a fence, and that in reference to good faith, “no judge ever decided that I had not acted in good faith – there was only a comment that it would be difficult for me to prove good faith.”

Smith had previously filed two other complaints over the fence – one with the MRC Vaudreuil-Soulanges, claiming discrimination and denial of his rights, and another separate complaint with the CMQ.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

Motorists travelling along Highway 40 last week caught the first glimpses of REM trains travelling along the elevated rails as the West Island branch of the new commuter line entered its initial testing phase.

But the beginning of the testing phase does not mean the launch of the rail service is near. In fact, the date when the commuter rail line will be put into service, which had originally been set for the end of 2024, has now been pushed to some time in 2025, said Francis Labbé, a spokesman for CDPQ Infra, the consortium building the rail network.

There is still no precise date as to when the first commuters will be welcomed aboard the trains, Labbé said in an interview with The 1510 West on Monday.

“These tests will dictate the next steps,” Labbé said.

The first phase of tests last week saw two-car trains sent along the tracks between the Anse a l’Orme station in Ste. Anne de Bellevue and the Des Sources Station in eastern Pointe Claire. Testing is also being conducted simultaneously on the Two Mountains line of the network, with trains being run along the tracks through Pierrefonds-Roxboro.

The test saw the trains travel at very slow speeds along the track. Officials are now reviewing the data. Trains will be returned to the tracks in two weeks, Labbé said. In this next phase of trials, the trains will travel at higher speeds, between 30 and 60 kilometres an hour. Conductors will man the trains, ensuring that all stopping mechanisms at the stations are performing with precision. Communications systems will also be tested, he said.

In October, a third phase of testing is scheduled, where the trains will travel along the tracks at what Labbé described as “commercial speeds” in their fully automated mode, meaning without conductors. These test will last several months.

Currently, there are 40 kilometres of rail line being tested, Labbé said, including the spur that leads to Two Mountains. Officials are also assessing the noise of the trains.

As the tests progress, CDPQ Infra will be able to announce when the train service will open for public use, some time in next year. The original 2024 launch date has been moved due to delays in completing work through the Mont Royal tunnel, Labbé said.

Cutline:

The REM train used to test the service runs along the elevated track by Parc des Benevoles in Kirkland.

Credit:

Courtesy CDPQ Infra

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

Like a hornet’s nest poked with a stick, the debate over the rate and breadth of development in Pointe Claire erupted into a swirl of barbs being exchanged among members of Pointe Claire council last week as elected officials gave final approval to the construction of two 13-storey apartment complexes to be built on St. Jean Blvd. north of Highway 40.

“There is no need to put 13 storeys on St. John’s,” said Pointe Claire Mayor Tim Thomas as he put forward his argument against allowing a proposal that would include 367 residential rental units in two towers on a lot on the northwest corner of the boulevard at Labrosse Avenue, just north of the Fairview shopping mall.

Pointe Claire has added more residential housing units in the last seven years “than all our neighbouring cities and boroughs put together,” Thomas said. “We have just been on steroids,” he added, referring to the rate of housing units added in the municipality compared with other cities in the West Island.

Thomas claims that more than half of all housing units built in the West Island in the last seven years – or 56 per cent –  have been in Pointe Claire. And in 2023 alone, despite a building freeze having been imposed on many parts of the municipality, 955 residential units were started and/or completed, with the mayor describing that figure as “more than all 14 demerged suburbs on the island of Montreal put together.”

Pointe Claire’s residential sector, he continued, has grown by 27 per cent since the 2016 census.

“Our poor city has been under deluge and has built like crazy,” he said as he read from a prepared statement. “Rents are not going down. We have not made more affordable housing. We do, however, have a lot more potholes, a lot more cars, a lot more housing, a lot more citizens, and a lot more stress on our infrastructure.

“Why isn’t anyone else on the West Island building like this?” he asked. “And why are we obliged to keep going at the rate we’re going at?”

In response, several councillors pushed back.

Councillor Brent Cowan highlighted how the project has already received approval for a grant from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp. guaranteeing the rental units will be offered at 10 to 20 per cent below the average market rate for the area and include 5½-room units for families.

“This particular project is balancing the issue of affordable housing,” Cowan said. “Yes. It is not going to be cheap,” he admitted, “but it is going to be cheaper than if we did nothing.”

“It may not be perfect for everyone,” councillor Kelly Thorstad-Cullen added. “It may be scary that we have change. But we must move forward, because it’s much better to move forward than sit and do nothing because it may not be perfect.”

Councillor Eric Stork also admitted the project is “not perfect,” but added it is the only project where the city has a signed deal with a private developer that guarantees lower rental rates.

“This deal is the best we are going to get,” Stork added.

But Thomas pressed his case, particularly against Cowan’s assertion that higher residential density rates will be imposed on Pointe Claire by the Commaunté métropolitaine de Montréal, the regional authority that sets development guidelines for 82 municipalities on and around the island of Montreal.

“A big myth about development,” Thomas said, “is that current development has all been pushed by higher levels of government and we have no choice but to accept it.”

The CMM’s density targets “don’t have the same legal weight as zoning bylaws,” the mayor asserted, before pointing out that the current residential density target for areas of Pointe Claire that are within one kilometre of the future REM light rail stations is 60 units per hectare, which is the minimum.

To put that in context, he went on to explain, the three-storey apartment buildings across the street from Pointe Claire city hall on St. Jean Blvd. at Douglas Shand Avenue include 258 units on 2.3 hectares of space, along with parking and green space. That represents a residential density of 112 units per hectare, nearly twice the minimum prescribed by the current CMM target.

Thomas conceded that new density targets that are currently being proposed and are undergoing consultations, where they are being met with fierce resistance, would set a new minimum of 200 units per hectare within a one-kilometre radius of the REM stations. That, he said, could be met with developments of no more than six storeys in height.

“The reality is that city council – not other levels of government – has chosen to develop Pointe Claire more than all our neighbours combined and with no overall plan,” Thomas said.

All members of council except Thomas voted to approve the project at St. Jean and Labrosse. In July, the council put forward a motion to remove the lot from the city’s ongoing development freeze. Last week’s vote ratified the move, effectively giving the developer a green light to build.

First imposed in February 2022, Pointe Claire’s development freeze – which is often referred to by its French name – Règlement de contrôle intérimaire, or RCI –  put a halt to building projects in several key areas of the city, including the parking lot area of the Fairview Pointe Claire shopping centre, where a massive development comprised of three high-rise towers has been proposed.

In April 2022, a majority of council voted to exclude the Fairview parking lot from the freeze only to reverse course a month later, and re-introduce it back into the development freeze.

RCIs are a relatively new tool provided to municipalities by the Quebec government to allow them to pause development in order to recast their planning bylaws to reflect the scope and scale of development within their territories. Pointe Claire’s development freeze had been slated to be lifted at the end of this summer, when it was scheduled to adopts its new planning bylaws. With that deadline now passed, there is still no firm date as to when the freeze will be lifted.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The Île aux Tourtes Bridge will be closed in both directions again this weekend, in what will be the first of two weekend closures of the span in September, Transport Quebec officials have confirmed.

The bridge will be closed in both directions as of midnight the night of Friday, Sept. 6, and reopen in the early morning hours of Monday, Sept. 9.

The span will close completely again at midnight the night of Friday, Sept. 20, and reopen in the early morning hours of Monday, Sept. 23.

These moves come following last weekend’s three-day closure of Exit 41 along the eastbound lanes of Highway 40, that leads to Des Anciens Combattants Blvd. in Ste. Anne de Bellevue. This closure was mandated to carry out work on the drainage capacity that is part of the construction of the new span.

In June, Transport Quebec officials announced it would start installing a steel structure under a portion of the east end of the bridge to provide additional support to the structure.

The work, which is planned to continue into the winter of 2024, is described by government officials as providing “increased security for the structure,” and deemed necessary to limit the risk of additional lane closures on the span.

The streel structures will remain in place until the old bridge is town down, Transport Quebec stated in a release in June.

The work would also include setting up two jetties by the old bridge near the eastern shore in Senneville that would serve as a work area, allowing workers to install piles. The new steel structure would then rest on the piles and provide additional support for the old bridge’s main beams.

“Work to reinforce the beams in the centre of the bridge continues,” Transport Quebec said in a statement.

Transport Quebec “continues to make every effort to open lanes on the current bridge by the end of the fall 2024,” officials said, adding to the current three open lanes on the span on most days, with two lanes in the direction of rush-hour traffic and one lane in the opposite direction.

No specific timeline on the opening of additional lanes is available.

Nine closures since January

Since the beginning of 2024, the bridge has seen four complete closures in both directions, including two overnight shutdowns in January and May, and two weekend shutdowns, in March and May, according to information The 1019 Report has obtained from Transport Quebec.

The span has also been subject to five additional partial closures since January, including three overnight closures of the eastbound lanes, at the end of January and twice in May; and two overnight shutdowns of the westbound lanes, in March and April.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The town of St. Lazare’s campaign to sensitize residents to respect rules and regulations launched earlier this year has attracted a limited online audience.

The campaign, which produced four 20- to 40-second videos, cost taxpayers more than $12,000. Three of them feature Québécois actor Richard Fréchette, who plays a fictional character known as “Monsieur Lazare.” The character is a “grumpy citizen,” according to the municipality’s own description, “an egotistical man in his 60s” who thinks he does not have to respect municipal regulations.

The short videos were produced by YouTube comedic filmmaker Thomas Bédard.

The videos have received only 348 to 454 views each on the town’s channel on the video platform. They are only in French.

City officials claim they created the Monsieur Lazare character and videos “to promote responsible behaviour for the collective good.”

The videos advocate for the responsible use of potable water by not cleaning your driveway by hosing it down, adhering to posted speed limits on the streets, treating personnel at detour points caused by roadwork with respect and reducing the use of pesticides on lawns.

“The short stories created with Monsieur Lazare are based on anecdotes experienced by Ville de St. Lazare employees,” the town claims in a statement.

Fréchette, who is more widely known in the French-speaking community having starred in the popular TV show La Petite Vie on Radio-Canada in the 1990s, billed the city $862 for his appearances, while Bédard charged just over $11,000 to produce the four videos, including $2,750 for other actors and $800 for a make-up artist, according to information obtained from the town by The 1019 Report.

Municipal officials have not announced whether more videos in the series will be produced.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

Every storm eventually runs out of rain, but dealing with the aftermath is not always pleasant.

That is what many individuals in various rural regions of Quebec were facing earlier this month after the remnants of Hurricane Debby swept across southern swaths of the province Aug. 11, dropping record-settings rainfalls that washed out roads and flooded fields.

In all, about 35 municipalities across Quebec were seriously affected by the storm. That included just over 1,500 homes that had been isolated due water washing out roads, while 344 people were evacuated from their homes, according to a statement posted by Quebec Public Security Minister François Bonnardel on the social media platform known as X the day after the deluge.

In addition, an unknown number of homes were flood, with many on the island of Montreal seeing their basements fill with water and sewage overflows.

As the damage reports were compiled, about 150 roads in the province suffered major and minor damage by the storm, while hundreds of homes were left without drinking water.

In the two-day period after the storm, provincial authorities reported 52 landslides had occurred, with many located in Laurentian communities, north of Montreal.

In all, according to Environment Canada, 157 millimetres of rain fell at Dorval airport during the storm, surpassing the previous record of 93.5 mm set in November of 1996, while a whopping 173 millimetres of rain was recorded in Ste. Anne de Bellevue, which not only set a new record, but ranked as the second-highest deluge recorded in the province during the storm.

The most intense rainfall in the province was recorded in the town of Lanoraie in the Lanaudière region, north of Montreal, where 221 mm of rain overwhelmed the tiny municipality of less than 5,000 residents.

Several municipalities declared states of emergency in a wide-range of regions. These included Chelsea in the Outaouais region; Roxton Pond, near Granby; Louiseville, west of Trois Rivières; and several towns in the Laurentians and Lanaudière area, like Rivière Rouge, La Macaza and St. Lin-Laurentides.

In towns like Yamachiche, on the north shore between Louiseville and Trois Rivières, flood waters left the centre of town under water, with vehicles unable to travel its streets.

Many growing areas in a number of regions were flooded days after the storm, with everything from fields of corn and soybeans being partially swamped, to strawberry and raspberry growers reporting losses

It could take weeks, possibly months, for the extent of all the damage is known.

Cutline:

Water in flooded fields came right up to the road in Les Cèdres in Montérégie.

Credit:

The Advocate

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

Higher interest rates in the past two years has had a negative impact on Quebec farms, with almost 20 per cent of producers seeking relief in the form of suspending repayment on capital, according to a survey by the Union des producteurs agricoles released earlier this spring.

Increasing costs, including higher interest rates compared with a few years ago, are pushing farming operations to the brink, making it more difficult to maintain financial viability, UPA officials explained as the results of its survey were unveiled.

A total of 3,552 farmers participated in the online survey, conducted by the provincial farmers’ union between March 25 and April 22.

Fifty-two per cent of respondents said they are at risk in 2024 of not meeting their financial obligations, an increase of 11 per cent compared with last year, when the UPA asked the same question.

Among the hardest hit, the survey shows, are operators of small farms and producers in more remote areas, transport represent higher costs.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

In an emergency move, Hudson council Monday voted to name an interim director-general to replace its recently confirmed top administrator who has taken a leave of absence.

Veteran municipal administrator Martin Houde, who was first contracted by Hudson in September of 2022 on a temporary basis to serve as interim director-general, will resume the role as well as that of interim treasurer. No timeframe was given to the duration or nature of director-general Marie-Jacinthe Roberge’s absence.

Roberge was first hired in May 2023 as assistant director-general. Although she lacked experience as a top municipal administrator, Houde’s contract as interim-director-general was extended at that time to assist the transition. Earlier this year, Roberge was promoted to director-general, prompting Houde to take a step back. But council opted to extend him a new contract as special projects co-ordinator on a part-time basis. He continues to perform these duties and will remain working on a part-time basis.

The latest personnel re-assignment comes as Hudson has yet to hire a treasurer following the abrupt firing of its head of the finance department in January based on Roberge’s recommendation.

According to Houde, a replacement for the treasury position has been found. The individual is expected to start next week despite his candidature having not yet been ratified by council. Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison said council will confirm the hiring retroactively next month.

In the meantime, council earlier this month approved a $36,000 contract to hire a coach for the treasury candidate. The move was deemed necessary as the individual lacks experience in the municipal field and would require guidance and support. Despite the fact that the new treasurer is still not on the job, the coach began working for the town several weeks ago.

The town of Hudson is currently late in filing its 2023 financial reports with the province, which were due June 30.

According to a statement obtained by The 1019 Report last month from Sébastien Gariépy, a spokesman for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, a formal letter requesting the financial report was to have been sent to Hudson. A second letter will be sent if the report is not received by October or November, Gariépy added.

Continued delays in filing the 2023 financial report would eventually lead to a directive being issued by the Municipal Affairs minister that could result in provincial grants being withheld from the town.

In response to a question at Monday’s council meeting, Houde said he would be able to provide a timeline for when the town could produce a financial report some time next week.

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

$447,000: The average price of a single-family homes sold in Quebec in the first half of 2024. That price is  up 7.3 per cent higher than the $416,500 recorded at the end of 2023 and 51.5 per cent higher than the average price recorded of $295,000 recorded in 2020.

30,763: The number of single-family homes sold in Quebec in the first half of 2024.

173: The number of millimetres of rain that fell in Ste. Anne de Bellevue on Friday, Aug. 9, the recording was greater than in any other area of Quebec as the province was hit with the remnants of Hurricane Debby.

A total of 157 mm were recorded at Trudeau Airport in Dorval, marking the highest one-day rainfall ever recorded at this site. The previous one rainfall record is 87.6 mm, which was set in 1880.

221: The number of millimetres of rain that fell in Lanoraie, a town of about 4,750 residents in the Lanaudière region, on Friday, Aug. 9, as the remnants of Hurricane Debby swept across parts of Quebec. It is considered a heavy precipitation day when 10 mm of rain falls in a given location.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

In June, the Canadian Senate’s agricultural committee unveiled what many farming sector stakeholders describe as a crucial report that could have long-lasting impact on the future of growing food in this country.

Entitled “Critical Ground: Why Soil is Essential to Canada’s Economic, Environmental, Human and Social Health,” the 160-page report put forward 25 key recommendations, including the landmark proposition: Designating soil as a “strategic national asset.”

The recommendations in the study are based on a series of presentations made by researchers, farmers, ranchers during a two-year period.

It has been four decades since the Senate’s agricultural committee produced such a substantive report. The last one, unveiled in 1984, promoted key changes in agricultural practices – including the adoption of no-till planting – that has since become an industry aim.

This report builds on that ground-breaking work in the growing context of climate change.

As the report states in its Forward:

“As we stand on the dawn of a new era defined by environmental challenges and agricultural innovation, the importance of soil health in Canada has never been more profound. This report on the status of soil health in Canada is a testament to our continued commitment to understanding, preserving, and enhancing the very foundation of our country.

“Soil is, and always has been more than mere earth beneath our feet; it is the lifeblood of our nation’s growth, sustenance, and prosperity. From the vast prairies of the West to the resiliency of the North to the fertile valleys of the East, Canada’s soils have sustained generations of farmers, nurtured diverse ecosystems, and supported a thriving agricultural sector that is the envy of the world.

“Yet, the health of our soils is facing unprecedented challenges. Climate change, land degradation, and evolving agricultural practices necessitate a comprehensive understanding of soil dynamics, resilience, and management strategies.”

But in a country as vast as Canada, soil conditions, climate issues and food production challenges vary. What does the report say specifically about Quebec?

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

“What do I do?”

That was the single, simple question one Pierrefonds homeowner posed to a home-renovation expert Saturday morning on a popular radio phone-in show, explaining she had eight inches of water in her basement, and was at a loss as to how to deal with the disaster.

The homeowner has lived in her house for the past 38 years and never had any flooding issues. But that, of course, was before last Friday’s devastating storm, the remnants of Hurricane Debby that swept through the Montreal region dumping a record-setting amount of rain in just a few hours.

She spoke for a lot of West Islanders last weekend. Although there are no official statistics, The 1510 West interviewed several West Island mayors in the last few days, each estimating the number of homes damaged by flood and sewer water in each of their towns to be in the hundreds. Perhaps the hardest hit was Île Bizard, where borough Mayor Doug Hurley estimated about 1,200 homes in his town had been swamped.

“Streets had a foot-and-a-half, two feet, in some cases five feet (of water) in the middle of the road,” Hurley said on Monday. “Imagine what it was like in the houses.”

Navigating the streets in the north end of Ste. Anne de Bellevue was best done by kayak on Friday evening.

Some homes, Hurley said, had up to seven feet of water in their basements, extending the damage to the ground floor.

In all, according to Environment Canada, 157 millimetres of rain had fallen at Dorval airport last Friday, surpassing the previous record of 93.5 mm set in November of 1996, while a whopping 173 millimetres of rain was recorded in Ste. Anne de Bellevue, which not only set a new record, but ranked as the second-highest deluge recorded in the province during last Friday’s storm. The most intense rainfall in the province was recorded in the town of Lanoraie in the Lanaudière region, north of Montreal, where 221 mm of rain overwhelmed the tiny municipality of less than 5,000 residents.

“We used to be ready for some flooding, but this was – never did we expect this,” said Ste. Anne de Bellevue Mayor Paola Hawa in an interview Sunday.

“What’s scary about this is that we know it’s going to happen again. We don’t know when, but it’s going to happen again,” Hawa added. “This is not going to stop.”

Hawa was not spared from the hardship, explaining the basement of her home was flooded.

The north end of Ste. Anne was the most affected by the cascades of rain, she said, with some residents pulling out their kayaks to navigate the streets on Friday evening.

In Beaconsfield, few residents on Elm Street were spared damage as the flood waters rose, said Mayor Georges Bourelle.

“In 37 years, I’ve been living here, my sump pump has never gone on,” Bourelle said, explaining that his house was not spared either.

He could not say how many homes in Beaconsfield were affected, but said some suffered from sewage backup into basements, while others were inundated with runoff water. Damage was also suffered at Centennial Centre and the Beaconsfield Recreation Centre.

In Pointe Claire, homes throughout the municipality were impacted, with the areas around Westcliffe and Alstonvale particularly hard hit, said Mayor Tim Thomas.

The basement of Pointe Claire city hall took in water, with Thomas saying Monday that temporary space for the municipality’s archives and IT services will have to be found.

As the cleanup is ongoing, with homeowners removing soggy furniture, carpets and other household items, most West Island towns will be providing extra curbside garbage pickups this week and next to clear away debris and construction material.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

As the price of a home continues to march ever higher in just about every community across the country, a growing number of Canadians are facing a harsh housing affordability challenge. The economics are creating new trends in some markets, including Vaudreuil-Soulanges, where the demand for lower-price condos is seeing a slight uptick, while the pace of sales of single-family homes is slowing.

But given the predominance of single-family homes in Vaudreuil-Soulanges, the sale of this style of housing continues to be the leading indicator that characterizes the market trends in this region, according to the latest statistics released by the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers.

“Everyone is in a collective breath-hold waiting for rates to drop,” said Paul Laflamme, a broker with Royal LePage Village in Hudson.

According to the data, the average price of a single-family home in Vaudreuil-Soulanges increased 4 per cent in the first half of 2024, while condos in the region have jumped 10 per cent in the same period.

With prices rising, pushing home ownership out of the grasp for more and more people, this region is still considered a deal in comparison to other parts of the country and province.

“We’re still a bargain compared to Toronto and Vancouver,” Laflamme said, adding that buyers still get “more house and more land” for their dollar here compared to places like the West Island.

The average selling price of a single-family home in the 1019 region in June was $575,000, down from $600,000 seen in January. The latest prices, however, are still 5.5-per-cent above where they were at the end of the second quarter of 2023, when the average price was $545,000.

“The momentum of the first quarter continued in most Quebec regions with an increase in sales and prices in the second quarter,” Charles Brant, the director of market analysis for the brokers’ group, said in a statement issued last month.

“Although the peak spring season lived up to expectations in terms of sales, it may have disappointed many buyers who anticipated benefiting from both an increase in property inventory and the first drop in the key interest rate in four years,” Brant continued.

The condominium market in the region is still seeing prices climb even while the number of units on the market continues to increase.

The average selling price for a condo in Vaudreuil-Soulanges in June was $352,500, up from $320,000 in February. There are no figures for January, as the number of units sold that month was considered too low to produce reliable statistics, according to the report by the brokers’ association.

A total of 272 condos in the region were sold in the first half of 2024, according to the brokers’ association’s statistics. That is just 94 short of the total number sold in all of 2023.

Region 2^nd in Greater Montreal

Although the average selling price of a single-family home was up slightly in June – at $575,000 compared with the previous month, when it was $570,000 – the average selling price was down from the all-time high this year of $600,000, which was recorded in January.

The cost of a home in this region continues to rank as the second highest compared with other regions in the Greater Montreal area, trailing only behind the prices recorded on the island of Montreal, where the average selling price in June was $722,500.

Area above provincial average

The average selling price of a home in Vaudreuil-Soulanges in the first half of 2024 – $572,000 – is 28-per-cent higher than the provincial average, recorded at $447,000 in the first six months of the year.

Looking ahead, Laflamme said an additional drop in interest rates, which is widely anticipated, could stimulate buyers, but the biggest factor that could affect prices in this region is the opening of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Hospital. With the health-care centre adding more than 3,000 jobs to the area by the end of 2026, the demand for housing will increase.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

It is far from business as usual at MRC Vaudreuil-Soulanges headquarters.

Days after the regional authority’s elected council voted to suspend its top administrator pending an internal investigation, the Quebec Ministry of Municipal Affairs confirmed it has assigned an official to act as an “observer” to review how the MRC manages its human resources.

News of the province’s intervention, outlined in a letter July 9 on behalf of the deputy minister of Municipal Affairs was followed last week by the announcement that the MRC’s top administrator had quit his job.

MRC director-general Guy-Lin Beaudoin was suspended from duty at the end of June pending an investigation into what multiple sources with knowledge of the situation at that time described as a series of issues involving the regional authority. He resigned from his post July 30, effective immediately.

The head of the MRC’s elected council, prefect Patrick Bousez, declined to comment.

In a short statement issued by the MRC last week, the parting of ways with Beaudoin was described as “consensual.” The MRC’s interim assistant director-general, Alexandre Lambert, will act as the interim director-general, while the MRC’s interim clerk, Marie-Hélène Rivest, will serve as interim acting clerk and treasurer. No other details were released.

Beaudoin had been suspended from his duties with pay at a special meeting called by the MRC council in June.

At that time, a majority of the mayors who sit on the 23-member MRC council also voted to contract the services of a lawyer to conduct an independent probe into issues of concern which were raised by the elected members who sit on the agency’s human resources committee.

According to the letter from Municipal Affairs, the ministry has opted to name an observer in the wake of “various allegations reported to the ministry.”

“It seems important to understand the situation,” the letter continued. No reference was made to who brought the allegations forward.

The provincial representative has been mandated to file a report to the minister by Oct. 1.

“There are definitely important changes coming,” said one source with knowledge of the situation who spoke to The 1019 Report on Monday on the promise of anonymity.

Beaudoin has served as the MRC’s top administrator for about 16 years. In 2018, he was recognized for his years of service by the Association des directeurs généraux des MRC du Québec.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

A motion by the town of Hudson to invoke its right of first refusal on the sale of a vacant lot on Main Road that was once the planned site for the proposed Villa Wyman seniors’ residence failed to garner enough support from council Monday.

The move only received two votes against, but that was enough to block it at a public meeting where half the councillors were no-shows.

Councillors Benoît Blais and Douglas Smith voted against spending $575,000 to purchase the 37,000-square-foot lot as part of a plan that would see the town donate the property to Toit d’Abord, an independent non-profit that aims to build affordable housing in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region. Councillor Reid Thompson cast the only vote in favour of the proposal.

In introducing the motion, Mayor Chloe Hutchison outlined that part of the plan would see Hudson apply for a grant from the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal, which, if successful, would cover up to 20 per cent of the project’s value. The next move would then be to change the zoning of the site, from exclusively for a seniors’ care facility to be able to permit a multi-unit dwelling that would not provide care nor be restricted to seniors only.

During a suspension of the meeting, Hutchison said she was very disappointed the proposal was voted down.

“It’s unfortunate we did not have a full table,” she said, referring to the absence of three councillors.

Explaining his opposition, Blais said council did not have the time to get the needed details to make a fully informed decision on the plan.

“I’m voting the same way as if I was investing my own money,” Blais said, adding that as much as he would like to support the idea of creating affordable housing, too many details involving Hudson’s risk were not known.

In an interview yesterday, Smith echoed the sentiment, saying: “I don’t like 11^th-hour deals. Council never discussed this.

“How do you sign off on something when we don’t know what the final financial commitment for Hudson would be?” Smith added. The town faced a tight deadline to invoke its right to first refusal to buy the property, having received notice that the owners of the lot had secured an offer of purchase on June 6, triggering a 60-day period for the town to decide if it wished to apply its right of first refusal. That period expired Monday, the same day as the council meeting.