BRENDA O’FARRELL

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

A final decision on the fate of the proposed 214-unit Sandy Beach housing development in Hudson will be rendered in spring, as legal proceedings to hear an appeal contesting the Quebec Environment minister’s revocation of the permit to backfill part of the wetlands at the waterfront site are set to move forward in the coming weeks.

“The tribunal will render its decision within three months of the case being taken under advisement,” stated Julie Baril, the director of legal affairs with the Tribunal Administratif du Québec, in an email to The 1019 Report last week. The tribunal will hear the appeal.

According to documents obtained from the province’s administrative tribunal, Quebec Environment Ministry officials filed the required documents with the tribunal on Dec. 15 and Dec. 18 following an appearance by Justice Department officials on Nov. 23. But to date, “no jurisdictional activity has been held,” Baril said.

Nicanco Holdings, the owner of the waterfront site, and its partner in the proposed housing project, a numbered Quebec-based company, filed a notice of appeal with the tribunal on Oct. 18. On Nov. 15, the companies outlined the basis for its appeal with the tribunal.

The next step is expected to include a management conference, where the parties will receive an overview of the appeal process and deadlines set.

Tribunal officials said this meeting could lead to a conciliation session, which could also lead to

an agreement between the parties or a withdrawal of the appeal.

If there is no agreement or withdrawal, and the appeal proceeds to a hearing. The date for this process will be determined by the parties, the officials said. Once the appeal is heard, the tribunal would then have up to three months to render its decision. On Oct. 4, Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette revoked the certificate of authorization to backfill part of the wetlands along the waterfront in Hudson’s Sandy Beach area that had been issued in March 2014. The minister made the move, citing a provision of a new law that came into force in May 2022, the Loi sur certaines mesures permettant d’appliquer les lois en matière d’environement et de la sécurité des barrages. This law gives the provincial environment minister sweeping powers to ensure consistency in the application of environmental laws within an updated framework.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Despite not announcing anything new when she held a press conference last week, Quebec Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault’s statements about the construction timeline for a new Île aux Tourtes bridge glossed over key details – including the fact the completion of the full six lanes of the new span is still not scheduled before the end of 2027 – not 2026.

When speaking to reporters last week, Guilbault said: “We are going to have this bridge faster than it was expected because we accelerated it,” and promised to push the new span into service by the end of 2026, a quickened timeline that had previously been announced in April when Transport Quebec failed to deliver on its promise to reopen the structure to five lanes of traffic in the spring. Five lanes were eventually reinstated this past October, but within a month were cut back to three, when a crack was discovered. The capacity of the span was then trimmed again to only one lane in each direction a week later, on Dec. 1.

But the “end of 2026” target cited by Guilbault is for the completion of only one of two separate structures that are part of the design of the new bridge. According to the plans, this first structure includes the westbound lanes of the new bridge. A separate structure of equal width that will support the eastbound lanes is only scheduled to be completed by the end of 2027. Transport Quebec officials did not specify the date of the start of its construction.

The 1019 Report pushed transport officials for details on the construction timeline late last week.

“The new bridge will be put into service gradually in the following order,” Transport Quebec spokesperson Sarah Bensadoun responded.

See BRIDGE, Page 2.

Also see: REM plans, Page 2

Parking at train station, Page 4

Economic impact, Page 4

Page 1 cutline:

This is what it is like every day now, as traffic heading towards the Île aux Tourtes Bridge crawls along as vehicles prepare to merge into a single lane.

Page 1 credit:

Ian Grant, The 1019 Report

BRIDGE: Details of timeline pushes full completion to 2027

From Page 1

“End of 2026: The first structure will be put in service (five lanes available with dynamic traffic management to maintain three lanes in the direction of rush-hour traffic,” Bensadoun wrote in an email to The 1019 Report.

“End of 2027: Second structure will be put in service (six lanes available, three lanes on each of the two open structures).

“End of 2028: Finalization of the multi-purpose lane.

“2029: End of demolition of the existing bridge.”

Guilbault has come under intense pressure since work to maintain the existing span has encountered a series of emerging problems, including the discovery of worsening cracks in the structure necessitating the reduction in lanes and triggering massive traffic congestion that has added hours to motorists’ daily commutes and unleashing an outpouring of complaints from residents across the Vaudreuil-Soulanges area.

“There was nothing – nothing – new,” said Vaudreuil-Dorion Mayor Guy Pilon as he described what Guilbault had to say at her press conference last week. “It was a publicity move. We didn’t learn anything. I didn’t learn anything.”

Transport Quebec then moved to close the span completely last weekend to facilitate work, a measure that is expected to be repeated next weekend as well.

On Monday, the speed limit on the span was reduce to 60 kilometre per hour, a precaution Transport Quebec officials say was put in place to reduce the risk of accidents to further protect against temporary blockage of the span if an accident were to occur. In the lead up to the bridge, where there is more than one lane open, the speed limit remains at 70 km/hr, although motorists rarely move faster than a crawl, especially during rush-hour periods, due to heavy congestion as they make their way toward the span.

Photo radar traps have been installed along the approaches to the bridge on both ends to enforce the posted speed limits.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Transport Quebec officials reiterated its stand last week that it has no plans to redraw its design for the new Île aux Tourtes Bridge to include an extension of the Réseau express métropolitain light rail line to Vaudreuil-Dorion. But the department has what it calls a “corridor” reserved parallel to the new span to build an additional structure across the Lake of Two Mountains to support a rail line if it opts to do so in the future.

“Currently, there are no plans to extend the REM in the west (to Vaudreuil-Dorion),” said Transport Quebec spokesperson Sarah Bensadoun in an email to The 1019 Report. “This is why the ministry decided to plan a corridor, south of the future bridge, which could allow the establishment of a mode of public rail transport, such as the REM.”

Bensadoun explained the ministry’s analysis of the need for a commuter rail line to link the Vaurdreuil-Soulanges region to the island of Montreal does not support the extension at this time.

“The analysis carried out for the Île aux Tourtes Bridge reconstruction project concluded that the use of a wide shoulder for buses in both directions is the most relevant preferential measure for public transport,” Bensadoun stated.

In an interview last week, Vaudreuil-Dorion Mayor Guy Pilon said that in his view, any possibility of extending the REM rail line to the region would not happen before 2030.

The rail line, Pilon said, represents enormous costs, “and we will have to pay,” he said, explaining the it is not the construction costs, but the annual operating costs that municipalities in this region would have to shoulder. “The municipal (level) will have to absorb it,” he said.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

After years of planning, the proposal to build an 18-unit seniors’ residence in Hudson has been shelved, with the project’s board of directors and the mayor trading barbs as to who bares the blame.

According to a message sent to the town on Dec. 9, the board of directors of Villa Wyman, which had been planning to build a two-storey subsidized seniors’ residence on a lot next to the former Wyman Memorial United Church on Main Road, decided to abandon the project after Hudson municipal council earlier in the week rejected its request to modify the layout of a parking area proposed for the site. The modification had been requested after the board of directors discovered the initial plan for parking, which the town had approved, encroached on the former church lot and it could not reach an agreement with the new owners of that property to permit a right of way.

In a statement to the town, the Villa Wyman board of directors blamed the town for what it called “untenable” delays and revision to its plans.

“After eight years since the inception of this project we lack the confidence in the town of Hudson to facilitate the timely completion of this project,” the board wrote.

In a written response to the board, Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison said: “I am surprised by this sudden decision and disappointed that you are opting to place the blame on council for not completing the project.”

In rejecting the modification, council recommended a reduction in the number of parking spaces and that they be moved to the rear of the site, behind the proposed building.

“We did not sense that this ask would represent a risk to the project,” Hutchison told the board.

In an interview last week, Hutchison went further: “I didn’t feel the reason that was given to us is the real reason.” She speculated that the increased cost of construction of the project due to the current inflationary economic climate, could be a factor.

The town had only learned of the board of director’s failure to obtain a servitude to allow the originally proposed parking plan in September, she added, pointing to the fact that the town had approved that plan back in October 2022.

“They were in full control,” Hutchison said, explaining the board of directors could have obtained a servitude at the time of the sale of the church building, and then failed to negotiate a deal with the current owners.

“They are a bunch of amateurs,” Hutchison said, referring to the board of directors. “Put it in the hands of people who can get it done.”

In a statement to The 1019 Report yesterday, the board of Villa Wyman wrote: “We have faced one refusal after another, one change after another…. With each change, the project was delayed, added costs were incurred for the engineering and architects, while interest rates went up and materials skyrocketed.  And yet we persevered because we felt the project was important to Hudson and so did the federal and provincial government who backed our project.”

The church was sold in 2020. In June of that year, the town granted the proposed seniors’ residence a 10-year exemption on its municipal tax bill, a move that helped the board secure funding for the facility. In early 2022, the project received a $4.2-million grant from the federal government to help build the affordable housing complex.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

An estimated 1,000 members of the Union des producteurs agricoles took to the streets of Quebec City on Dec. 6 to draw attention to the increasing challenges farmers in the province are facing.

Under sunny skies, a light snow and minus-16 temperatures, the parade of agricultural producers from all regions of the province made its way to the National Assembly, where they demonstrated, calling attention to the growing concern about the financial viability of many farms and the need to encourage and support young people to invest in the sector.

“Producers participate every day in a very important social project, that of feeding their fellow citizens,” said UPA president Martin Caron in front of provincial legislature. “In return, they wish to be at the heart of discussions and decisions having an impact on their future as well as that of the next generation. This future is more fragile than ever and it is high time that lasting solutions are identified and implemented.

“What will be on the plates of Quebecers for the next 10, 20, 100 years that is at stake,” Caron said.

That’s the message
UPA sent legislators
in provincial capital

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

If the Quebec government says agriculture is a priority, it has to allocate more of its budget to the sector. And that means investing more than 0.98 per cent of its overall budget as it does now.

That was the clear message from the Union des producteurs agricole as it wrapped up its 99^th annual Congrès Général in Quebec City earlier this month.

“We don’t want pity,” UPA president Martin Caron told The Advocate in an interview as the three-day convention wrapped up. “We want equity.”

With about 700 delegates gathering for the convention in the provincial capital, the changing realities of farming was showcased. And it came with a clear, impassioned plea from the UPA , which represents the more than 42,000 farm families from across the province – the government has to put its money where its mouth is and support Quebec farmers now, as the  growing inflationary and climatic pressures are threatening their financial viability.

“We can’t keep going into deeper debt,” Caron said.

To underline its message, the UPA staged a march through the streets of Quebec City on Dec. 6, and held a rally outside the National Assembly, where Caron presented Quebec Agriculture Minister André Lamontagne with the organization’s newly drafted manifesto.

The demand to be part of the solution to help the province’s agricultural producers who face increased economic challenges was on clear display as about 1,000 members of the Union des producteurs agricoles demonstrated through the streets of Quebec City on Dec. 6 as they took their plea to the National Assembly.

“We, the agricultural and forestry producers of Quebec, call on a collective push from citizens and government for the viability and sustainability of agriculture and forestry,” the document declares.

“For more than 100 years, we have been committed to feeding the world with determination and passion, despite all the challenges we have encountered over time,” the message continues, referring to the fact that the UPA is set to mark its 100^th anniversary.

“Today, we are at a turning point in our history: more than ever, the sustainability of

our farms are being called into question. The unparalleled situation of economic challenges,

environmental, climatic and social factors expose the vulnerability of the future of agriculture and our ability to ensure Quebec’s food autonomy.”

The manifesto issues a direct call for the provincial government to act:

“Today, we, the 42,000 agricultural and forestry producers of Quebec, call on the government to prioritize our mission, which is so critical to Quebec, through a new, strong bio-food policy that is adapted to the new economic, environmental and social rules, and reflective of the challenging global context and realities of climate change.” “We, the women and men who feed the public, must be at the heart of a social plan that allows us to exercise our profession in an economically viable, effective framework that provides a safety net that supports environmental sustainability.”

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

The Marquis family of Ste. Croix – just north of Laurier Station, west of Lévis – was named the Farm Family of 2023 by La Fondation de la famille agricole during the Union des producteurs agricoles’ annual Congrès Général in Quebec City earlier this month.

The family, headed by Émilienne Dion and André Marquis, who married in 1962, had six children – Carl, Simon, Brigitte, Nicolas, Bernard and Marie-Andrée – and now count three generations who are active in farming.

Dion was raised on a farm, while Marquis followed in his father’s footsteps and was a butcher. Together, they had a modest beef farm, where they launched a small grocery store that featured a butcher’s shop that marketed beef they raised themselves.

In 1980, they expanded their operation, purchasing a forested area, where they launched a modest maple operation, tapping about 450 trees, collecting sap in buckets.

As their children grew, so did their family’s farming ambitions.

The couple’s oldest son, Carl, at the age of 19, married and with the financial aid of his parents,  purchased what was considered at the time a rather rundown farm. It is here, at what would become known as La Ferme Lorka, where the family builds dairy, forestry and maple operations.

This expansion also inspires Carl’s brothers to pursue their livelihoods in agriculture.

Brother Simon found employment with a dairy equipment company and became an entrepreneur specializing in farm building construction. He also bought Holsteins that were kept at La Ferme Lorka. He eventually bought his own farm in St. Charles de Bellechasse, where he raised beef cattle. In 1992, with his wife, they launched their own dairy operation, creating what they would christen La Ferme Sika.

The third brother Nicolas became a dairy consultant, and continues to work for Sollio Agriculture.

The fourth brother, Bernard, became an agronomist. Today, he is vice-president of strategic projects for Sollio Group Coopératif.

Now, as the family’s third generation grows into adulthood, the future of both La Ferme Lorka and La Ferme Sika are destined to be transferred to an all-female leadership.

Carl’s daughters Catherine and Justine both aspire to taking over their parents’ farm in Ste. Croix, while Simon’s daughter Laurence aims to take the reins of operations in St. Charles de Bellechasse.

Carl’s other children are also very active in the world of agriculture – Élaine is a veterinarian, while Guillaume has a 4,000-tap maple operation.

As for André Marquis and Émilienne Dion, they are enjoying their retirement as they continue to watch their children and grandchildren build and expand prosperous farming operations. They sewed the seed that has developed strong roots in a farming tradition that continue to grow.

Cutline: When the three generations of the Marquis-Dion family get together it is a large and boisterous gathering.

Credit: Photo courtesy of Union des producteurs agricoles

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

The provincial government earlier in December launched the third and final phase of its public consultation as it prepares to overhaul the laws that govern the protection of farmland in the province.

The focus of this phase of the consultation will be the ownership of agricultural land and who should have access to it. The aim of the exercise is to solicit opinions on the increasing value of farmland and the consequences that carries in terms of taxation and the ability of young producers’ to buy it, as well as the question of imposing limits on non-residents owning farmland.

This phase of the consultation is expected to last 45 days, wrapping up in the third week of January. Farmers are encouraged to share their views online at https://consultation.quebec.ca/

Click on “Consultations,” then scroll down to the third option, which outlines the process for the consultation on farmland use.

The consultation is open to the general public, as well as those involved in municipal development.

Once this phase of the consultation is completed, provincial officials will tour the regions hosting online webinars in late winter with those who have shared their opinions with the aim of getting more in-depth feedback.

A final day-long public consultation session will be held in March, before a final report is written summarizing the finding of the consultation process that began last June.

This process marks the biggest reform of the rules and regulations administered by the Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec since the agency was created in 1978.

“We must act to ensure that producers will be able to cultivate the land and feed the Quebec of tomorrow,” said Quebec Agriculture Minister André Lamontagne in officially launching this latest phase of the consultation.

But some critics worry that the reform of the law, which might strengthen the protection of some of the highest valued farmland, could make less valued agricultural land more vulnerable to dezoning.

In the last few years, municipal officials in a growing number of regions have been applying pressure on the Legault government to be more flexible when it comes to farmland zoning, as demand for housing and industrial expansions grow.

In an interview in May 2022, Premier François Legault commented on criticism levelled at the CPTAQ, claiming, in some instances, it was too lax in protecting agriculturally zoned land, while in other instances it was too rigid in its protection. The premier responded: “The priority for me is the economy and the acceptability of citizens, and not only the CPTAQ.”

And in recent months, hundreds of hectares of farmland have been earmarked for development for massive electric vehicle battery plants. And a recent report by Radio-Canada claimed that from April 1998 and March 2022, the Commission de protection du territoire agricole approved all 10 mining related requests on agricultural land it received, taking 1,780 hectares out of food production.

The Union des producteurs agricoles has been very clear, it is against any loosening of protections for all farmland, advocating for a zero-net loss policy across the board.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

New farm equipment sales are expected to slow in 2024, according to the latest analysis by Farm Credit Canada.

The predicted dip in sales is due to a combination of higher interest rates, elevated equipment prices and a drop in commodity prices, the FCC says.

Challenges in the livestock sector are fuelling the cautious purchasing decisions expected for 2024 due to drought in western Canada and what is being described as “tighter revenues” in the hog and dairy sectors in eastern Canada.

Strong equipment sales in 2023 were recorded, reflecting the resolution of supply-chain issues and record-high crop receipts in 2022 and the first half of 2023, the FCC reported.

The drop in demand for equipment will be seen most in the category of lower horsepower tractors.

Cutline:

Chart outlines the percentage growth and decline in sales of the different categories of farm equipment over recorded and expected in 2022-2024.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

Consumers will soon be seeing local beef products in grocery stores sporting a new stamp: “Boeuf du Québec.”

The certification is part of the Producteurs de bovins du Québec’s new marketing campaign to address the growing consumer demand for quality meat that is homegrown.

“With this certification, producers are responding to this demand,” said Jean-Thomas Maltais, president of the Producteurs de bovins. “Buying local beef at the grocery store means helping to increase the province’s food autonomy and contributes to the economic vitality of all our regions.”

The certification guarantees that the animals were raised on a farm in Quebec, and that 85 per cent of the animals on that farm were born in the province. Producers must produce proof of these criteria to qualify for the certification.

Qualifying products will be packaged with the distinctive “Boeuf du Québec” logo, in red, ivory and black, featuring the silhouette of a cow in a field. It will appear on products in all Sobeys grocery stores, which includes the IGA chain.

The Producteurs de bovins represents the more than 12,000 beef producers in Quebec. Beef production is the fourth largest livestock production group in Quebec, producing about $583 million in sales.

Cutline: This is the new logo that consumers will find in grocery stores on beef products from Quebec.

Credit: Courtesy of the Producteurs de bovins du Québec

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

“We’ve got to find a Plan B.” That is how Ste. Anne de Bellevue Mayor Paola Hawa summed up the crisis facing commuters who use the Île aux Tourtes Bridge after Transport Quebec last Friday announced the span will be reduced to one lane in each direction for up to three months.

And with the first major storm of the winter dumping about 30 centimetres of snow on the Montreal area on Monday, that crisis was thrown into full-throttle red alert as traffic to the West Island on both Highway 40 and Highway 20 was snarled in gridlock for hours and across distances that stretched for kilometres.

“At this point, I’m not sure what I am more afraid of – the traffic or the bridge collapsing,” said St. Lazare resident Monique Valada posting on social media.

The frustration, fear and shear bewilderment felt by residents of the region who travel to the island of Montreal every day for work and school is palpable. Their daily routines have been thrown into turmoil, with frustration levels and now even fear over the safety of the span hitting unprecedented levels. And all the emotion are tinged by the dread that the situation will push into the new year and possibly into next spring.

“It’s so frustrating,” said St. Lazare Mayor Geneviève Lachance responding to questions from The 1019 Report. “I really feel (Transport Quebec) is downplaying how it’s affecting our residents.”

“What is the plan if there are further closures?” Lachance asked. “What is the plan?”

“People are fearing the bridge will collapse,” she added. “People are saying they are afraid.”

The latest restrictions on the bridge are creating enormous costs to businesses as well as residents, said Vaudreuil-Dorion Mayor Guy Pilon.

A total of 46 per cent of employed people who live in Vaudreuil-Soulanges use the Île aux Tourtes Bridge to get to and from work on a daily basis, according to a study conducted for Développement Vaudreuil-Soulanges, the region’s economic development agency.

Pilon is frustrated that more is not being done by the Coalition Avenir Québec government to build the long-talked-about bypass route for Highway 20 through the old Dorion section of Vaudreuil-Dorion. Eliminating the traffic lights on that stretch of Highway 20 would help relieve some of the congestion in the region cause by the problems on the Île aux Tourtes.

When contacted last week, Marilyne Picard, the CAQ MNA for Soulanges, said studies to build the bypass route have been accelerated. But there is no timeline in place.

“When you don’t want to take action, you study it,” said Pilon, adding that the provincial government has been studying the bypass route that would see highway lanes built along a route north of Harwood Blvd. through Dorion for decades.

Pilon said prior to the 2012 election, François Legault campaigned in the region promising to solve the Highway 20 bypass issue.

“The plan is there,” Pilon said, explaining the bypass route has undergone three studies.

Properties have been expropriated to accommodate it, he added. “It doesn’t take (another) study.”

Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison did not respond to a request for an interview.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Faced with mounting and unrelenting opposition, the MRC of Vaudreuil-Soulanges last month made an abrupt turn-around, scrapping plans to build a multi-million-dollar compost treatment facility in St. Télesphore.

The move was immediately applauded by residents who vehemently opposed the choice of location for the open-air plant. It does not, however, mark the end of the MRC’s plan to build a compost treatment facility in the region. It simply halts plans to purchase the proposed seven-hectare wooded site in St. Télesphore.

In announcing the decision to not buy the land on Nov. 22, MRC officials cited a preliminary environmental assessment it received just hours before the decision was announced. That assessment claimed the chosen location for the facility presented certain environmental risks, a claim the residents who opposed the plan have been highlighting since the project was made public in September.

“The land does not meet the requirements for such a project, since it is considered a site of high vulnerability,” MRC prefet Patrick Boussez said while making the announcement.

The assessment was made by an environmental expert, Boussez said at the public meeting, but MRC officials refused to provide any other details of the report. When pressed  last week, one MRC official said the oral assessment provided before the meeting was confidential due to “legal reasons.” The official would not say what firm provided the opinion and that no written report was available.

Boussez was unavailable for comment. In a statement, however, he said: “We have a responsibility as a community to prioritize the sound management of our residual materials while respecting the major environmental challenges we face. This project is essential for us and future generations.”

St. Lazare Mayor Geneviève Lachance, one of three mayors on the 23-member MRC council who voted against the initial resolution in support of the regional authority’s bid to purchase the proposed site in St. Télesphore, said she did not have any more information about the environmental assessment that halted the plan.

Earlier in November, despite the pleas from residents concerned about the risk posed by an open-air facility contaminating the underground water network in the area, Boussez was adamant for the need to push the project forward, citing a Dec. 16 deadline to finalize the purchase of the site to avoid losing a provincial grant to help finance the project.

That changed on Nov. 22.

As the MRC council voted to halt the purchase of the site, Boussez asked the residents who opposed the project to throw their support behind the project and the effort to find a new site for the composting facility.

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

In addition to the risk of underground water contamination, residents opposed the open-air plan for the site in St. Télesphore because the plan called for the installation of a massive concrete platform over a vast territory in an location that serves as a natural recharge area for the water table, the destruction of a rich natural environment, the rezoning of agricultural land, the cutting of much of seven hectares of forest, and would create truck traffic in the westernmost area of the region to process waste generated mostly by the larger populated areas in the east end of the MRC, including the municipalities of Île Perrot, Vaudreuil-Dorion and St. Lazare.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

“Required reinforcement work,” is what has caused the latest closure of another lane on the Île aux Tourtes Bridge since last Friday, bringing the span down to only one lane in each direction, according to Transport Quebec.

“The removal of an additional traffic lane is necessary since greater deterioration of the central slab has been noted,” said Martin Girard in response to questions from The 1019 Report.

“The experts determined that the removal of an additional traffic lane was necessary to maintain the stability of the structure while the required reinforcement work is carried out,” Girard continued, explaining that the work would take an estimated two to three months.

The explanations are vague and the details few, yet the bottom is clear: a third lane on the bridge, which would provide two lanes of traffic in the direction of the rush-hour flow, will not reopen until February at the earliest.

The latest constriction of lanes on the two-kilometre span was determined to be necessary, according to the information from the provincial Transport Department, as the crack discovered in late October on the eastbound side of the bridge was more extensive than first detected.

With the “removal of layered concrete on the surface, more damage than anticipated was observed,” Girard stated.

Steel girders will now be installed to support the main surface of the bridge, he said.

These girders “will be positioned to support the roadbed,” Girard’s explanation continued. “Then, a concrete grout will join the roadbed and the steel support elements. Once this is completed, a traffic lane can be reopened.”

Girard was adamant that the span’s ability to shoulder the weight of traffic is not a factor. However, he highlighted that since Sept. 1, trucks that have obtained special permits to exceed accepted weight limits enforced on provincial arteries have been banned from the bridge.

“This restriction,” Girard stated, “is an additional preventive measure aimed at preserving the integrity of the structure.”

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Legal wranglings that will likely decide the ultimate and twisted fate of the proposed 214-unit Sandy Beach housing development in Hudson now appear will push into next year, as officials with the province’s administrative tribunal have acknowledged receipt last month of a notice of appeal contesting the Quebec Environment minister’s revocation of the permit to backfill part of the wetlands at the waterfront site.

Although the provincial Environment Ministry has not been formally notified of the appeal, officials with the Tribunal Administratif du Québec have confirmed reception of what it calls an “introductory appeal” of the minister’s Oct. 4 decision to pull the permit.

The tribunal received notice of the appeal from site owner Nicanco Holdings on Oct. 18. But as of earlier this week, officials were still awaiting supporting documents that outline the basis for the appeal.

“To date, the tribunal has not held any jurisdictional proceedings, since it is awaiting reception of the administrative file,” communication officials stated in response to inquiries made by The 1019 Report.

See SANDY BEACH, Page 4.

SANDY BEACH: Next steps
still to be determined

From Page 1

Once the awaited documents are received, “the parties will be convened for a management conference,” the tribunal officials said, where the next steps in the appeal process will be outlined and deadlines set.

The meeting could lead to a conciliation session, the officials explained, which could also lead to

an agreement between the parties or a withdrawal of the appeal.

If there is no agreement or withdrawal, and the appeal proceeds to a hearing. The date for this process will be determined by the parties, the officials said. Once the appeal is heard, the tribunal would then have up to three months to render its decision.

News of the notice of appeal did not come as a surprise for residents who have opposed the housing development.

“This is their last kick at the can,” said Rob Horwood, a spokesman for Nature Hudson, a grassroots environmental group fighting the housing project, referring to Nicanco Holdings.

But he does not believe there is much hope the permit to backfill parts of the wetlands on the site will be reinstated.

“I remain optimistic that the order will be upheld,” Horwood said. “The facts of the case are compelling. The law now has specific protections for wetlands and bodies of water.”

Earlier this month, Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison said if there were no appeal and the Environment minister’s move to revoke Nicanco’s permit stands, the town would be willing to discuss options. What those options would be, however, remains unclear.

The landowner could submit plans for a scaled down development plan for the site or possibly sell the land. Hutchison said the town has already looked into the possibility of obtaining a grant to cover about 65 per cent of the purchase price for the site.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Work is set to begin to build a new Côte St. Charles United Church in St. Lazare now that the old building has been torn down.

A demolition crew removed most of the old building, which dates back to the early 1900s, last Friday, leaving just the stone façade of the entrance of the original building and the foundation.

“Basically, it’s going to look the same as before,” said John Pichovich, a church trustee and treasurer while he was visiting the site Monday to see how work was progressing. The new building will be slightly longer than the original, he added.

The church, which is now home to the congregation of the former Wyman Memorial United Church in Hudson, which was sold in the fall of 2020, opted to build a new structure after discovering a number of issues as it attempted to renovate the old building, Pichovich said.

The stone façade of the front entrance of the building will be incorporated into the design of the new church, as well as stained glass windows that were removed from the old structure and stored before the demolition crew moved in.

The 100-member congregation is expected to begin holding services in the new church next May, when work is scheduled to be completed, Pichovich said.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

Serious questions are being raised about the future of the farm at Macdonald Campus of McGill University in the wake of the provincial government’s plan to dramatically hike tuition for students from outside Quebec looking to attend English-language universities.

In an open letter Nov. 2, Deep Saini, the principal and vice-chancellor of McGill, singled out a short list of faculties and programs that could face the biggest impacts if the tuition increases are imposed for 2024, levelling a serious financial blow to the university. The letter has sent waves of concern about the long-term prospects of the operations at the university’s campus in Ste. Anne de Bellevue.

“The Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the Faculty of Education and the B.A. & Sc. Interfaculty programs will also be severely affected,” wrote Saini, outlining the hit McGill would suffer from the provincial government’s decision.

The Agricultural and Environmental Sciences faculty has about 2,000 students, according to Valerie Orsat, assistant dean of student affairs for the department. That includes roughly 1,300 undergraduates and 700 graduate students. In the last five years, about 20 per cent of them come from other provinces.

Another 20 to 25 per cent are foreign students. With Quebec also proposing changes in the funding model for international students, this could further reduce the revenue McGill retains from the tuition paid by these students.

“We can’t offer programs if we don’t have students,” Orsat said.

The immediate question looming over the faculty, Orsat said, was the university’s current student recruitment campaign, which is in full swing in November.

See MAC FARM, Page 4

MAC FARM: FMT already hit by drop in enrolment due to Bill 96

From Page 1

“It’s recruiting season right now,” she said. “Do we completely forget the rest of Canada?”

With tuition for students from outside Quebec set to jump from $8,992 to approximately $17,000, Orsat seriously questions how many students from the rest of Canada would opt for McGill.

Orsat says the faculty always attracts students from the western provinces, explaining they see McGill as an exciting option that offers them a “different experience before settling on the family farm.”

Adding to the uncertainty is the blow that the campus’s Farm Management and Technology program has already suffered this year with the changes it was forced to impose due to Bill 96, the province’s update to its Charter of the French Language.

The FMT program is a CEGEP-level offering that has seen its numbers drop in the past year because it must now abide by new regulations requiring all students to have certificates of eligibility to attend an English-language institution. Post-secondary students from other provinces do not qualify for an eligibility certificate.

“My numbers are already down,” said Pascal Theriault, head of the FMT program.

“I’m not sure what to think yet,” Theriault added. “There is still a big fog around it,” he added, referring to the uncertainty of what the future holds.

With the number of FMT students dropping and the number of students in the Faculty of Agriculture poised to take a dip due to the tuition hikes, the cost of maintaining the farm becomes more difficult, he said.

The capacity to continue to offer quality programs if the faculty loses a number of students in the undergrad level could be affected, he said, adding the FMT program would not be able to afford to keep the farm operating on its own. “We might lose a critical mass of students.”

Theriault said offering proper training for students in the field of agriculture is expensive, but in the era of growing climate change challenges it is even more crucial.

“If you want to train farmers in new technologies, you need that infrastructure,” he said.

Training agrologists and agricultural engineers is crucial now more than ever, Theriault said. “When I look at climate change, the financial stress, the need to have professionals working with (farmers) to feed Canadians – that is where my concern is,” he added.

Cutline:

The number of students at Macdonald Campus in Ste. Anne de Bellevue is expected to drop if measures outlined by the provincial government to dramatically raise tuition for students from out of province attending an English-language university are implemented.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

The average value of farmland sold in Quebec edged upward slightly in 2022, according to the latest figures in a new analysis issued by La Financière Agricole du Québec earlier this month.

The average value of a hectare of agriculturally zoned land sold last year was $16,695, just $68 more than the average price of $16,627 registered in 2021, according to the Transac-TERRES 2023 report released Nov. 13.

The value of agricultural zoned land in cultivation, however, dropped in the last year, the report states. Although the prices for this category of land is comparatively higher, the average selling price in 2022 dropped compared with the previous year. The average price of a hectare of cultivated farmland sold in 2022 was $27,419 – or $1,126 less than the $28,545 average recorded in 2021.

The report was compiled based on all sales of agricultural land in the province recorded on official land registries from 2019 to 2022.

Among other findings in the report was the wide range of land values seen in farmland from one region of the province to the other. These figures varied from a low of $1,100 per hectare in Abitibi-Témiscamingue to a high of $42,000 per hectare in the western end of the Montérégie region.

The majority of sales – 71 per cent – were concentrated in five regions – Chaudière-Appalaches, Montérégie, Estrie, the Bas-Saint-Laurent and the Centre du Québec.

La Fianancière stressed that a number of factors influence the price of farmland, including demand for land in a certain area, conditions of a particular sale and the quality of the soil.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

The Union des producteurs agricoles welcomed the news earlier this month that the Quebec National Assembly voted to approve Bill 28, which allows the farmers’ union to change its fees charged to agricultural producers.

“Premier François Legault and his government honoured their electoral promise by adopting legislative changes to adjust our funding formula to reflect today’s reality in the agricultural sector,” said UPA president Martin Caron.

The bill, which passed the last legislative hurdle Nov. 9, will now allow the UPA to review its financing structure and begin consultations with producers with the aim of adopting a new fee structure. This new structure would then have to be submitted to the Régie des Marchés Agricole et Alimentaires du Québec for approval. The Régie is an administrative tribunal tasked with overseeing the marketing of agricultural and forestry products.

What this will mean for individual producers is not yet clear. The UPA would only say the law will give it more flexibility, allowing it to fix mandatory fees charged to producers based on the legal status of the farming business, taking into account the number of owners and the size of the company.

“It will now be possible for us to count on a fairer formula, as producers have been demanding for several years,” Caron said in a statement.

Bill 28 will affect all 42,000 agricultural producers represented by the UPA.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

The Union des producteurs agricoles is planning a march next month in Quebec City, what the provincial farmers’ union is calling a public demonstration of solidarity with the next generation of farmers.

“The time has come to put in place solutions to ensure the sustainability of agricultural businesses, the vitality of our regions as well as the food future of Quebecers,” the UPA said in a statement.

The event at the provincial capital will be held Dec. 6, when the UPA will be hosting its annual Congrès Général.

“At the dawn of its 100^th anniversary, the UPA is calling on governments, partners and citizens to lay the foundation for an important project that would truly give Quebec the means to aim for greater food autonomy,” the organization stated.

The march will start at the Quebec City Convention Centre and make its way to the National Assembly. Agricultural producers attending the UPA’s Congès Général and their families are invited to join the procession.

The aim is to impress upon provincial lawmakers of the urgency to support agricultural and forestry producers in this time of growing erratic weather conditions and harsh inflationary pressures.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

Farmers have higher rates of stress, depression and anxiety compared with the general population, according to a new study published this fall.

In fact, the levels of stress and anxiety are becoming so pervasive among agricultural producers that it has been described as a mental-health crisis, according to the report published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

One of the reasons for the accelerations, say the study’s authors, is the fact that efforts to address the situation have focused on care rather than addressing the underlying causes of poor farmer mental health – financial uncertainty and the climate crisis.

“Key factors contributing to the economic precarity of farmers and farm workers include unfettered corporate concentration in the food sector, consolidation and financialization of farmland, climate change and trade liberalization,” the report states.

Based on these findings, this report makes the following six recommendations:

Recommendation 1: Implement policies that enhance economic stability for farmers and farm workers. Since economic instability is a key driver of poor mental health, implementing policies to enhance economic stability for farmers and farm workers is critical. These include policies that address key drivers of economic uncertainty,  like commodity volatility, corporate concentration and the climate crisis. Stronger competition policies also would foster a more equitable distribution of power within the food system.

Recommendation 2: Enhance supports to farmers transitioning to sustainable farming practices. Promoting the adoption of sustainable farming practices and agro-ecological approaches would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance crop productivity, soil fertility and biodiversity.

Recommendation 3: Include food sovereignty in the federal goals for agriculture. The Canadian government should be facilitating the growth of sustainable and local food systems. This includes prioritizes the health and well-being of farmers, farm workers, communities and the environment.

Recommendation 4: Rebuild rural infrastructure. To counter intensifying rural de-population in agricultural communities across Canada, governments at all levels need to revitalize and rebuild rural infrastructure, including schools, hospitals and transportation and communication systems.

Recommendation 5: Address on-going discrimination and violence in the farming sector. In order to make an inclusive farming environment, governments must take meaningful action against violence towards Indigenous, Black and racialized groups, as well as 2SLGBTQ+ individuals and women.

Recommendation 6: Expand access to mental health care for farmers and support existing farm organizations that are providing support, advocacy and research. Meaningful action is needed to improve the living and working conditions of Canadian farmers. A comprehensive approach that considers the upstream drivers of farmer mental health will help foster a more resilient and sustainable agricultural sector while improving the well-being of farmers across Canada.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

An animal rights group is challenging the Ontario government in court, claiming the province’s law that bans undercover investigations of animal cruelty on farms is unconstitutional.

The non-profit group Animal Justice says the law – the Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act – violates the federal Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The law, which was enacted in 2020, bans activists from going undercover to investigate animal cruelty at farms and slaughterhouses. They were in court late last month in Toronto.

The group’s case puts forward the argument that the fundamental freedom of expression protected by the charter includes what it calls the “expressive activity” that focuses on the treatment of animals in the farming industry.

The same freedom of expression should also include the actions of individuals who choose to gather outside slaughterhouses to “show compassion to animals in their last moments of life.”

The group’s lawyer, according to a report by the CBC, said the work to obtain so-called undercover video footage and its dissemination is an exercise of rights protected by the charter. The law infringes on the right of free expression, peaceful assembly and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.

The group argues there is a distinction between illegal occupations of farms, or violent raids, which are illegal, and undercover filming. A section of the law that is being challenged makes it illegal to obtain a job at a farm under false pretenses in order to videotape operations in a covert manner.

In a statement issued as the case opened, Ontario’s Attorney General simply said the law is constitutional.

The statement read: “The legislation does not impede expression by activists, journalists or anyone else, nor does it otherwise breach the charter.”

The law, which can fine trespassers to a maximum of $15,000 on the first offence, came about after livestock producers pressed the provincial government to take action against trespassers and people who demonstrate at processing plants.

The hearing wrapped up in early November. A ruling in the case is not expected until early 2024.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

The Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec has ordered four companies to cease excavation operations in the town of Mercier in the Montérégie area.

The companies – 9403–0749 Québec Inc., Les Entreprises Canbec Construction Inc., Excavations Bergevin & Laberge Inc. and Les productions maraîchères Bourget et frères Inc. – were ordered to stop backfilling parts of a former sand pit on land owned by Bourget et frères. Authorities claim contaminants were detected in the backfill material, citing its proximity to underground wells.

“The commission’s mission is to ensure the maintenance of the integrity of agricultural land throughout Quebec,” said Stéphane Labrie, president of the CPTAQ. “Individuals and companies not respecting the obligations of the law and the conditions of authorizations granted by the commission must be denounced and called upon to correct their deviations with regard to our agricultural land.”

The companies have until the end of November to submit proof they hold the proper authorization to carry out the backfilling. Failure could result in a second order being issued by the CPTAQ to rehabilitate the site, including removing all fill material transported to the location, as well as provide a rehabilitation plan.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

In what one protester is describing as the “most significant citizen opposition” in close to a decade, the members of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges MRC council are being urged by a growing chorus of residents to reconsider their choice of location for a $20-million compost treatment centre, the largest project ever tackled by the regional authority.

But, according to MRC prefect Patrick Bousez, the plan to acquire the seven-hectare site in St. Télésphore is moving ahead. In fact, Bousez says the deal to purchase the site, that is currently zoned for agricultural use, has to be completed by Dec. 16 or the offer to purchase will be voided. If that happens, the MRC will forfeit a $6.4-million grant pledged by the provincial government to subsidize the cost of the project, he said.

“If we are not owners of the site,” the subsidy will be lost, Bousez explained in an interview with The 1019 Report, adding, the funds “will permit us to conduct the studies needed.”

These studies, including hydrological assessments, will determine the project’s impact on everything from the area’s flora and fauna to the risk to underground water sources, he said. They will also help determine whether the provincial Environment Ministry gives the project the needed final go-ahead.

It’s that risk to underground water sources that is at the top of the list of reasons residents in the area are opposed to the project.

But it is not just residents who are opposed to the site for the open-air composting treatment facility. Three municipal councils in the region have adopted formal resolutions in the last month urging the MRC to reconsider its choice of locations for the plant.

The councils in St. Polycarpe, Ste. Justine de Newton and Coteau du Lac have formally requested the MRC to consider an industrial site for the facility.

But Bousez said putting the plant in an industrial zone would mean scrapping the plan for an open-air treatment plant in favour of a closed facility, a move that could triple the price of the project to about $60 million.

Bousez said the MRC, like all MRCs in the province, have an obligation to treat composable waste. It could, he explained, opt to contract this responsibility to a private firm. But doing that, he argues, would mean it would not be able to control costs or guarantee the quality of the compost produced, a product, he says, will help maintain and enhance the biodiversity of soils in the region.

He, however, acknowledges the concerns being expressed by residents in the immediate area – who, for the second time in two months, have packed the council chamber for the monthly MRC public meetings, including the session on Oct. 25. He reiterated that the MRC is at the beginning of the planning process. And he pledged that all standards to protect the environment will be adhered to.

But those promises were not enough for residents who voiced their concerns during last month’s public MRC meeting.

“What would happen if there is contamination?” asked St. Polycarpe resident Maxime Bissonnette, referring to the underground water source that traces its route through the area of the planned site. “Zero risk does not exist,” he said, explaining his home – like all in the area – draw their water from underground wells.

“So you have the impression this project is accepted by the population?” asked St. Télésphore resident Stephanie Côté.

Another resident at the meeting asked the MRC prefect point-blank: Will you reconsider the choice of the site?

Bousez responded: “Not at the moment.”

“How can you go forward with citizen opposition?” asked Marie-Louise Séguin, another St. Télésphore resident.

In an interview last week, Séguin outlined the list of citizens’ concerns. In addition to the risk to underground water contamination, she pointed to the fact the open-air facility calls for the installation of a massive concrete platform over a vast territory in an location that serves as a natural recharge area for the water table, the destruction of a rich natural environment, the rezoning of agricultural land, the cutting of much of seven hectares of forest, and creating truck traffic in the westernmost area of the region to process waste generated mostly by the larger populated areas, including the municipalities of Île Perrot, Vaudreuil-Dorion and St. Lazare, which are in the east end of the region.

“We need this (facility),” Séguin said, “but we need to find an appropriate and safe site for it.”

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

As of late yesterday afternoon, there was still no official word from Quebec Environment Ministry officials about whether they have received a request to appeal Environment Minister Benoit Charette’s move last month to revoke the permit to backfill part of the wetlands along the waterfront in the Sandy Beach area of Hudson – despite the fact that the deadline had passed.

If no appeal has been received, the minister’s decision marks the end of any chance the proposed 214-unit Sandy Beach housing development for the site moves forward.

In an email to The 1019 Report yesterday, Environment Ministry spokesperson Ghizlane Behdaoui said simply officials were still working on finalizing a response.

Once the ministry confirm this result of this question, the next question to be considered in this

saga is: What happens next?

Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison on Monday evening said if no appeal is requested, the town is ready to sit down with the landowners, Nicanco Holdings, to negotiate. What that negotiation will entail, however, is still not clear.

“We’re entering unchartered territory,” Hutchison said in an interview. “We’re willing and open to sitting down with them.”

Among the possibilities, Hutchison said, is Nicanco selling the property or presenting a new scaled-down housing plan. The town is prepared to discuss both options.

If the site goes up for sale, Hutchison said, the town has already investigated obtaining grants from the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal to subsidize the cost. But she cautioned that grants from the CMM’s Trame verte et bleu program will only cover about 65 per cent of the value of the land that would be purchased.

The other possibility is that Nicanco puts forward a new proposal for a housing development. Any such plan, Hutchison said, would be subject to the latest environmental laws and guidelines that have come into force in the last few years. This will dramatically reduce the scale and scope of the plan compared with the 214 units that was put forward in 2020.

Any such proposal would also have to adhere to the town’s new development bylaws, which will be unveiled next month. These new rules, which will allow the current building freeze on all undeveloped areas in the town to be lifted, could further limit where housing along the waterfront will be permitted.

“Will they want to go through that whole song and dance again?” Hutchison asked rhetorically, referring to the approval process for a new development. The answer will only be known as soon as Nicanco weighs its options.

If Nicanco opts to submit a new plan, she said, the focus will be on keeping “development right against the street,” along Royalview Avenue, preserving much of the wooded wetlands.

In that scenario, the town’s priority would be to maintain buffers along the Viviry Creek and the lakefront, and to ensure public access to the beach area.

But all of this could be stalled if it turns out an appeal of Charette’s decision has been requested.

All of this comes in the wake of last month’s dramatic move by Charette, who used new sweeping powers allotted to him in a law that came into force in May 2022 revoking Nicanco’s certificate of authorization to backfill part of the wetlands along the waterfront.

In a four-page letter issued Oct. 4, the minister’s analysis of the saga that traces back to when the permit was first issued in March 2014 was unequivocal, concluding:

“The minister is of the opinion that the residential development project for which the authorization was issued will result in the partial or total destruction of terrestrial environments of ecological interest on the lots targeted by the project and will harm permanently the ecological functions and characteristics of wetlands and terrestrial environments of ecological interest found on adjacent lots.”

The letter continued: “Considering that Nicanco has not started the activities referred to in the authorization within the two years from its issuance, the minister is entitled to revoke the authorization … issued to Nicanco on March 31, 2014, for the partial backfilling of a marsh and swamp as well as the complete filling of two swamps, all with a total area of 1.58 hectares, for the completion of the Sandy Beach residential project in Hudson.”

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Hudson council Monday evening hired a legal firm to serve official notice to the MRC of Vaudreuil-Soulanges that it does not intend to pay for policing services it claims it never received.

The move comes after the town received a bill in September for $159,000. The bill stems from a complex formula used to determine the amounts municipalities are charged for services provided by the Sûreté du Québec before a court ruling earlier this year forced the MRC to change the calculation method.

In outlining the town’s objection to the MRC’s charges, Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison explained the town is not only claiming the MRC’s latest bill for $159,000 that references charges dating back to 2020 has no merit, but it will be seeking to recuperate an additional $316,000, which represents the amount Hudson has paid to the MRC for similar charges in previous years.

“It’s a substantial amount of money,” Hutchison said, referring to the total of $475,000 she hopes the town will reclaim.

Hutchison argues the MRC’s practice of billing towns extra – over and above their share for policing services – is illegal. Towns should be charged only for services rendered, she argues.

“I was questioning the legitimacy of this,” Hutchison said, referring to the practice, adding the legal firm Hudson has hired has provided the town with a preliminary assessment of the MRC’s claim, saying the regional authority “does not have a leg to stand on.”

The issue is complicated. In broad strokes, the amount regions are charged for SQ services is apportioned based on property valuations, which provides for the so-called richest regions to pay more. As such, MRCs like Vaudreuil-Soulanges end up footing more of the provincial bill to reduce the financial burden of the SQ on other, less affluent regions.

As per the system, MRCs that pay the most receive a partial reimbursement. The distribution of these reimbursements up until 2021 had been determined through a complex formula that allowed some larger towns to recoup a significant sum, while smaller towns would receive less, or in some cases face additional charges.

In 2021, the MRC passed a resolution to change this calculation method. In response, four towns in the region – Vaudreuil-Dorion, Pincourt, St. Zotique and Les Coteaux – challenged this new approach. Earlier this year, the court upheld the new method.

But what the ruling did not do, Hutchison said Monday, was outline how the redistribution of the reimbursements be applied. And this is what Hudson is calling into question now.

The MRC, she says, has launched an internal review of its billing practices. She anticipates the issue will be settled without having to take the matter to court.

“There is quite a bit of discomfort at the regional level,” Hutchison admitted.

Contacted yesterday, a spokesperson for the MRC Vaudreuil-Soulanges said officials are working on the dossier.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Are you thinking of retiring? Do you have enough savings to retire? What if your spouse suddenly dies? Would you be able to access the bank accounts and pay next month’s bills?

Maybe you’re wondering: Can I afford to buy a house? Should I have a will? Do I need life insurance? Should I have life insurance?

If any of these questions have crossed your mind – or are on your mind now – you might want to drop by a special event in Hudson on Saturday, Nov. 18, aimed at offering you a few answers and a little peace of mind.

“It’s an opportunity to determine your financial literacy health,” said Cam Gentille, president of the Hudson Creative Hub, which will be hosting the free event.

Called Financial Literacy for All Ages, the event was created as a public service, Gentille said, a welcoming place where you can get a few answers to questions related to your financial affairs that are perhaps worrying you, or that you have been wondering about.

“It’s a service to the community, and there will be no pressure points,” he said.

The idea behind the event, Gentille said, is to gauge people’s needs and interest in practical financial information. Six tables will be set up, where experts will be on hand to answer questions. Each table will be focused on issues geared to different age groups, including individuals in their 30s and 40s, people approaching retirement, retirees, widowers and those who might be interested in learning more about budgeting.

Based on the level of interest and response, a Hub committee aims to provide a series of lectures in the new year that will offer more in-depth information on specific topics.

“We would like to reach different age groups,” said Brenda Rhodes, a Hub volunteer who has been involved in organizing the event.

“If you’re already retired and not sure if your money is going to last, you can find out,” Rhodes added. “I want widowers to come and ask questions.”

Helpful tips, like a checklist of things you need documented – passwords, bank accounts – will be provided, she added.

“I feel really strongly that this is a huge need” for this type of information, Rhodes said, adding one of the main goals will be to demystify some of the issues for people and provide them with information that will help them feel in control of their financial affairs.

Financial Affairs for All Ages: Open House is a free event open to all residents of Vaudreuil-Soulanges. It will be held at the Hudson Creative Hub, 273 Main Rd., on Nov. 18, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Hudson town council will unveil its long-awaited planning bylaws next month, a major step that will lead to the lifting of the building freeze that was imposed in the municipality, in part, since the end of 2021.

Drafts of the new planning bylaws will be presented at the council meeting on Nov. 6. These regulations will outline the changes the town proposes to make governing what can be developed, including where and how these developments will be permitted.

Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison said the new bylaws will contain provisions in four categories: preserving the existing tree canopy by imposing additional limitations to tree cutting; protecting natural areas; increasing the contribution towards parks, natural areas, play areas and green spaces; and minimizing the environmental impact of new developments on natural areas. 

“There seems to be strong support towards defining corridors for biodiversity through the town and support from the community to work with tighter rules and requirements to strengthen and preserve this biodiversity,” Hutchison said in a statement.

Once introduced, the town will host consultation meetings to explain the proposed changes in detail and solicit feedback from residents during the third week of November. Based on that feedback, council will then present a final version of the planning bylaws for formal adoption in December. This final version could include amendments that reflect the feedback council hears during the consultation process, Hutchison said.

Following final adoption in December, the bylaws will then be sent to the MRC for the regional authority to review and ensure that they conform to their guidelines. This process could take about 120 days, Hutchison said, explaining that the new bylaws would come into effect in spring of next year.

The new bylaws will replace the temporary building freeze imposed by the current administration.

But this will not be the end of how the town deals with development, Hutchison said, explaining that the provincial government continues to impose tighter environmental control and provide municipalities with new laws to frame how development projects can be rolled out.

“This is an ongoing process,” she said in a statement to The 1019 Report. “I expect that there will be successive waves of tightening regulations through the years, as legal tools and judicial support are provided by the higher levels of government to preserve and conserve natural areas without having to be repeatedly exposed to claims of disguised expropriation by promoters, developers and speculators looking to recuperate anticipated losses of profitability.”

Imposing the building freeze was one of the first moves the current administration made following the general election in November 2021. The first iteration of the freeze, official known by its French term –  a Réglement de controle interim, or RCI – slapped a complete moratorium on all new construction on a wide swath of territory that stretched across 37 per cent of the municipality’s land mass. The affected areas have previously been identified in studies to have the most ecologically value.

The initial 90-day freeze was replaced in February of 2022 by a new bylaw that imposed similar restrictions but with a list of exceptions that allow construction and some tree cutting under defined circumstances. It is this moratorium that will be replaced by the proposed planning bylaws that will be presented next month.

In a separate move in April 2022, the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal imposed a building freeze of its own on a vast tapestry of undeveloped spaces across its territory in the Greater Montreal region. In Hudson, the CMM freeze included much of the land already included in the municipal moratorium. That freeze will continue to be enforced.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Residents of Vaudreuil-Soulanges have been dealing with reduced lanes due to repair work on the Île aux Tourtes Bridge for years.

Traffic jams, accident delays, unexpected mishaps and speed traps are among the things motorists have to face – regularly. It has been a long road. And it is far from over. Work on the span will continue until the new bridge is opened – a date that at, according to the last pronouncement from Quebec Transport officials, is set for 2026.

Here is a rundown of the saga commuters in this region have had to contend with.

2016: Repair work on the Île aux Tourtes Bridge begins.

December 2018: Plan to build a new bridge to replace the aging span is announced. At this time it is estimated that planning will take about six years, while construction will unfold over four to five years, which will put the opening of a new span in 2028 or 2029.

2020: Work begins to repair and reinforce the supports under the roadbed. This will continue until the end of May 2021. Lampposts in the central island of the bridge are also replaced.

September 2020: The Coalition Avenir Québec government includes the bridge plan among a list of 181 infrastructure projects it proposes to fast-track in an effort to stimulate the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. No details, however, are released on how the timeline for the project will be accelerated.

January 2021: Transport Quebec wraps up an online consultation of the proposed architectural plans for the new bridge, which includes three lanes of traffic and a reserved bus lane in both directions, as well as a path for pedestrians and cyclists.

February 2021: Trucks and other heavy vehicles are again banned from the eastbound lanes of the span as two lanes are closed to allow ongoing work to continue to maintain the structure.

April 2021: The Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) holds a public online information session on the Quebec Transport Ministry’s plans to build a new bridge. The goal of the consultation session is to outline the project, including the scope of the proposed construction plan and design of the span.

May 19, 2021: Quebec Transport Minister François Bonnardel orders the immediate emergency closure of the bridge.

May 22, 2021: Vaudreuil-Dorion Mayor Guy Pilon sends Bonnardel a letter outlining his dissatisfaction with the provincial government’s failure to address the transportation needs of the region.

Said Pilon: “…the bridge has already required $110.4 million in maintenance work. The Quebec Ministry of Transport expects to have to inject $172.4 million into it by 2031 to keep it in service before construction of a new bridge.”

Pilon also calls on the provincial government to move on another long-ignore proposal – to build a highway bypass route for the seven-kilometre stretch of Highway 20 through Vaudreuil-Dorion and Île Perrot that is the longest section of an autoroute in Quebec that is controlled by traffic lights. “A commitment was made some 50 years ago by the government to upgrade Highway 20. We are still waiting.”

May 26, 2021: Quebec Transport Minister François Bonnardel says: “We will try to accelerate construction of this new bridge, adding work could begin in spring of 2023 with a completion date some time at the end of 2026 or beginning of 2027. The original timeline pegged for completion was in 2028 or 2029.

May 31, 2021: One lane in each direction on the span is reopened to traffic.

June 7, 2021: Two eastbound lanes and one westbound lane on the bridge is opened for morning rush hours, switching to two westbound lanes and one eastbound for the afternoon rush hours.

June 14, 2021: Two lanes in each direction of the span are reopened. The goal of having three lanes open in each direction is planned for June 21, but this never happens.

November 2021: Transport Quebec unveils latest designs of the proposed new bridge that are strikingly similar to the plans presented to the public earlier in the year. Three lanes and two shoulders in both directions are still planned for the new span. The bike and pedestrian lane on the westbound side of the bridge is still there too, although it is slightly wider in the new designs. The only difference is the timeline – the completion is now pegged for 2028 or 2029 at the earliest.

Another new item in the plans: a corridor adjacent to the new bridge is now reserved in the event Quebec’s executive council decides to proceed with a Réseau express métropolitain (REM) extension to Vaudreuil-Soulanges.

“We don’t know if the government is going to go ahead with bringing the REM to the area,” a Transport Quebec spokesperson says. “That’s not our call. All we can do is plan for the possibility that it happens.”

November 2021: Transport Quebec reveals it will spend more than $172 million by 2031 to ensure that the old bridge remains safe.

November 2021: Although precise cost estimates are not revealed, the price tag for the new span is confirmed simply as being “more than $100 million.”

Fall 2022: As part of its regular infrastructure monitoring process, Transport Quebec discovers the progression of certain existing cracks on a box beam located on the north side of the bridge in the westbound lanes.

December 2022: The number of lanes are reduced to two in each direction to accommodate ongoing work on the span, creating traffic delays and sparking complaints from commuters. Once this latest work, which includes the repair of cracks along the span, an additional lane will be reopened, officials promise. That additional lane was finally reopened earlier this month – about 10 months later.

Jan. 23, 2023: A Transport Quebec spokesperson admits the bridge will never reopen fully. Said the spokesperson: “Unfortunately, until we get that new bridge, we have to manage and work with what we have at the moment.”

Last week of January 2023: Vaudreuil-Dorion Mayor Guy Pilon describesa meeting between Quebec Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault and the 23 mayors in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges MRC to discuss the traffic hurdles caused by recent maintenance work on the bridge as “a lot of blah, blah, blah.” Pilon blasts the minister for not coming to the meeting prepared, as well as presenting mitigation solutions that are out of touch with the realities of the region.

Feb. 8, 2023: Commuters share their comments about ongoing traffic delays on the span with The 1019 Report:

• Richard Lamontagne of Rigaud: “It seems like nobody in the government gives a damn about what happens west of Montreal.”
• Paolo Quercia of Vaudreuil-Dorion: “Commuters have been living with problems on the bridge for years. But now, some people are finally at their breaking point.”
• Rachel Leider of Hudson: “These closures affect real people, their families and their mental health. The state of the bridge has gotten to the point of gross negligence and politicians are to blame for not taking care of their constituents.”

Feb. 14, 2023: The town of St. Lazare calls on Transport Quebec to treat the traffic woes caused by ongoing maintenance work on the Île aux Tourtes as a top priority. In a strongly worded resolution, the town demanded that the government “act urgently and ensure a better transit experience between Vaudreuil-Soulanges and the island of Montreal.”

Feb. 14, 2023: A spokesperson for the Transport Ministry confirms ongoing work on the bridge will cost the province an additional $234.6 million.

Feb. 14, 2023: Updating an earlier promise, Transport Quebec says it expects to open a third lane in the direction of rush-hour traffic in April. That lane remained closed until earlier this month.

February 2023: Trucking companies lament the traffic delays caused by work on the bridge, calling the situation a “nightmare scenario” that is costing them tens of thousands of dollars a week.

February 2023: According to the Transport Ministry, new bridge will not open until 2029.

Feb. 22, 2023: LaPresse reportsthe new bridge will come with a whopping $2-billion price tag, which represents a 45-per-cent increase from the previously estimated cost of $1.4 billion.

Feb. 23, 2023: Transport Quebec refuses to confirm figures reported by LaPresse.

March 6, 2023: Transport Quebec confirms that a consortium made up of Roxboro Excavations, Dragados Canada and Construction Demathieu & Bard will take on the construction of the new Île aux Tourtes Bridge. The group confirms the cost of the new bridge will be more than $2 billion.

March 2023: Crews begin preparatory work at the site of the long-awaited new bridge, including clearing trees, conducting geotechnical drilling operations and bringing

equipment to the site.

March 21, 2023: A petition is launched by Vaudreuil MNA Ma­rie-Claude Nichols at the National Assem­bly calling for the new span to include a structure that would extend the Ré­seau express metropolitain (REM) light-rail network to Vaudreuil-Sou­langes.

April 5, 2023: The 1019 report motorists caught by photo radar traps on the Île aux Tourtes Bridge in 2022 have been slapped with $7.7 million in speeding tickets. Almost 21,000 infractions were issued in 2022, including almost 12,000 tickets stemming from the trap in the eastbound lanes, which carried fines that totalled almost $3.6 million, and 8,962 infractions issued by the detector in the westbound lanes, which was set up in September 2022. These tickets carried fines that totalled roughly $4.1 million.

April 17, 2023: Quebec Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault reveals the total cost of the new bridge has ballooned to a whopping $2.3 billion – roughly 64-per-cent more than the $1.4 billion forecasted in 2022. The increase is blame don inflation and difficulties in securing labour.

April 17, 2023: Transport Quebec announces details about how the new bridge will be built in phases, pushing forward the opening of the span by 18 months to the end of 2026. A bike-pedestrian lane on the north side of the span will be completed in 2028. The old bridge will be demolished in 2029. And final landscaping touches will be added in 2030, marking the end of the project.

June 7, 2023: A petition calling on the provincial government to extend the Réseau express metropolitain (REM) light-rail network to Vaudreuil-Soulanges via the bridge amasses 3,363 signatures since it was launched on March 21.

October 2023: Transport Quebec reopens three lanes in the direction of rush-hour traffic across the span, while two lanes are maintained in the opposite direction.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Of the five biggest towns in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region, St. Lazare has the biggest income gap among its residents, according to a ranking of Canadian municipalities by the Local News Data Hub at Toronto Metropolitan University.

The ranking lists the 418 municipalities across the country with populations of 10,000 or more, focusing on the gap between the highest earning households and the households with the lowest incomes in each town.

St. Lazare, with a population of 22,350, ranked 279^th on the list, well within the lowest half of towns when measured by the discrepancy between the households that earn the most and those that earn the least within its boundaries.

The other four towns in Vaudreuil-Soulanges that made the list were Notre Dame de l’Île Perrot, which ranked 360^th; Île Perrot, which ranked 366^th; Vaudreuil-Dorion, which was 394^th; and Pincourt, which came in at 398^th.

See INCOME GAP, Page 2.

INCOME GAP: Richest households in St. Lazare make 3.1 times more than poorest

From Page 1

Income inequality has been recognized as a social measure that has a negative impact on health, happiness and community ties and can limit opportunities for financial stability, according to researchers.

According to the data, the most affluent households in St. Lazare make 3.1 times more than the least well off in the town.

The data shows that median after-tax income of a household in St. Lazare in 2021 was $100,000. Despite this apparent wealth, a total of 555 people, or 2.5 per cent of the population of 22,350, live in poverty.

In Notre Dame de l’Île Perrot, where the median after-tax household income in 2021 was $99,000, the most affluent households make three times more than the poorest households. According to the ranking, 230 people, or roughly 2 per cent of the population of 11,420, live in poverty.

In the town of Île Perrot, where the median after-tax household income in 2021 was $64,500, the most affluent households make 3.1 times more than the poorest households. According to the ranking, 560 people, or roughly 5 per cent of the population of 11,180, live in poverty.

In Vaudreuil-Dorion, where the median after-tax household income in 2021 was $76,000, the most affluent households make 2.8 times more than the poorest households. According to the ranking, 1,625 people, or roughly 4 per cent of the population of 42,190, live in poverty.

In Pincourt, where the median after-tax household income in 2021 was $81,000, the most affluent households make 2.8 times more than the poorest households. According to the ranking, 495 people, or 3.4 per cent of the population of 14,700, live in poverty.

The data shows that both the towns with the biggest and smallest gaps between rich and poor households were found in Quebec.

Westmount is where the biggest gap exists – with 10 per cent of households earning 10.9 times more than the lowest earning households in 2020. Meanwhile, in St. Amable, a municipality of just more than 13,000 residents north of Beloeil, the most affluent households make 2.6 times more than its least well off.

The Local News Data Hub also pointed to a recent Statistics Canada report that showed the wealthiest 20 per cent of households in Canada controlled two-thirds of the country’s net worth as of early 2023, while the bottom 40 per cent accounted for just 2.7 per cent.

The StatsCan report also noted the wealth gap between rich and poor in Canada widened at the fastest pace on record in the first quarter of this year. Compared with the wealthiest households, lower-income Canadians accumulated more debt, saw their savings shrink and received less investment income.

The Canadian median after-tax household income in 2020 was $73,000, according to the data.

To compare income inequality across Canada, the Local News Data Hub ranked the country’s 418 largest municipalities using Statistics Canada’s 2020 Gini index for adjusted after-tax household income. The Gini index is an internationally recognized tool statisticians use to measure how income is distributed across a society. it takes into account wages, pension income, investment earnings and government payments like social assistance.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

“Canada’s moonshot.” That is how the authors of a new report looking at the future of Canadian agriculture have described the opportunity the country has to become a global leader in food production – a sector that is gaining in importance as the world’s population continues to grow at an increasing rate.

But governments in Canada have to invest more in Canadian farms, farming practices and farmers themselves, they claim.

“Canada is uniquely placed to lead: Our assets are unparalleled, but we need to do more to maximize them,” states the report entitled A New Ag Deal: A 9-Point Plan For Climate-Smart Agriculture released Oct. 3 by Royal Bank of Canada, the BCG Centre for Canada’s Future and the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph.

“As a politically stable country, and a reliable supplier of safe, high-quality food, Canada has an opportunity to become the world’s sustainable breadbasket,” the 19-page report concludes as it lays out nine initiatives as a road map to this destination.

The ‘moonshot,’ if achieved, would see Canada produce 26 per cent more food by 2050 with few emissions. The increase in production is the an amount estimated to be enough to maintain the country’s contribution to feed the global population as it grows – while reducing

But the report also raises the alarm that if Canada fails to invest, the opportunity to be a global leader in food production will be taken by other countries, leaving Canada’s agricultural sector at a disadvantage as world demand for food grows.

See MOONSHOT, Page 4

MOONSHOT: Canadian governments have
to match other countries’ investments

From Page 1

“Canada is already falling behind,” the report states. “The agriculture sectors in the U.S., EU, Australia and China get roughly three times the climate funding that Canada provides to its industry. Yet, the expectations placed on our farmers are growing: to produce more (in increasingly adverse weather conditions), to cut emissions and to help boost global food security.”

The report continues: “The world’s top food producers are on the move. Making sustainable agriculture a strategic priority, Canada’s peers are laying the foundations for formidable climate-smart food supply chains backed by sizeable funding and bold policy measures.

“The sector risks falling behind if Canadian governments don’t match their competitors in supporting producers with the funding and policy tools to grow more food with fewer emissions.”

The authors urge governments to act – and quickly.

“Ottawa and the provinces will need to transform their approach to agriculture policy to protect a sector that accounts for 7 per cent of national GDP — with huge potential for further growth.”

Currently, Canada lags behind other countries in funding for the agricultural sector. For example, the report points out, the U.S. provides US$19.5 billion in incentives and tax credits to support ag-tech and other measures to the farming sector through its recently adopted Inflation Reduction Act. And the pending US $1.5 trillion Farm Bill could catapult the United States’ advantage in the economic sphere.

At the same time, China is investing US$7 billion to revitalize its farmland, while the European Union has earmarked US$224 billion for what it has identified as “climate-relevant initiatives” that will be rolled out between now and 2027.

The report highlights Canada’s strengths in the sector, too.

“Canada is already a vital contributor to global food security and has a head start in climate-smart farming. Canada is already a top food exporter, with a food system ranking among the highest in sustainability, according to the Food Sustainability Index.”

It also points to how more than 65 per cent of Canadian farmers have adopted at least one practice to improve their farms’ resiliency to soil, water and biodiversity challenges.

“Now is the time for Canadian governments to build on our farmers’ successes,” the report concludes. “Canadian governments have an opportunity to step up their commitments and create a robust policy environment that recognizes the sector’s economic potential, its global role as a reliable food exporter and as a climate-smart leader. This is Canada’s moment.”

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

Following last month’s announcement of the $2.7-billion investment by the federal and provincial governments to help build a massive electric vehicle plant near St. Basile le Grand and McMasterville, a recent report by Radio-Canada claims concerns have been raised at how Quebec’s push to attract battery tech plants could eat up valuable farmland.

According to a document obtained by the French-language media outlet, everything from graphite mines to battery factories represent what is described as just the beginning of a trend that will erode farmland, pushing it to be put to other uses, officials with the provincial Agriculture Ministry are warning.

And these concerns are being raised as the provincial government continues its year-long consultation as it prepares to overhaul the laws that govern the protection of farmland in the province.

In September, Swedish battery manufacturing giant Northvolt announced it would build a factory in St. Basile and McMasterville. It is its first battery mega-factory outside of Europe. The first phase of the project, pegged at $7 billion, was characterized as the largest private investment in Quebec’s history. It will be located on 170 hectares.

When in operation, the facility is projected to produce batteries for 1 million electric vehicles and contribute up to $1.6 billion to the economy.

Mining requests OK’d

When it comes to mining, the provincial Agriculture Ministry is raising a warning, pointing to recent alarming statistics. According to Radio-Canada: “In Quebec, when a mining project wants to encroach on agricultural land to explore or exploit, it gets the green light every time.”

The report claims that between April 1998 and March 2022, the Commission de protection du territoire agricole approved all 10 mining related requests on agricultural land it received. This put 1,780 hectares out of food production.

The CPTAQ has also approved 97 per cent of all infrastructure projects linked to transportation and hydroelectric production, representing another 2,826 hectares of farmland lost.

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

A report released earlier this month that looked at the prospects for Canada’s agricultural sector outlined nine policy initiatives to increase Canada’s food production while reducing the industry’s carbon emissions.

The report, entitled A New Ag Deal: A 9-Point Plan For Climate-Smart Agriculture and produced by the Royal Bank of Canada, the BCG Centre for Canada’s Future and the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph, described this challenge as “Canada’s moonshot,” which would put the country on a trajectory to being a world leader.

Here is an overview of the nine policy recommendations that focus on five area: soil, methane, fertilizers, talent and technology, and consumers.

Soil as an asset class

As thousands of farmers across the country saw the opportunity to increase their revenues by capturing carbon in their land, their enthusiasm about the prospects of the carbon market has waned. As the report states, pilot projects have been unsuccessful and guidelines to access are unclear.

1. Build Standards To Support Carbon Markets

The authors cite measures that say farmland in Canada can sequester between 35 to 38 mega-tonnes of carbon by 2050, an amount equivalent to about 40-45 per cent of the current emissions from  of the oilsands. With a carbon market estimated to be valued at $4 billion by that time, farmers could see their slice of it ranging from tens of thousands of dollars for some operators to more than a $1 million for larger operations. But it all needs to be measured.

To do this, the authors suggest:

• Create A Climate-Smart Database To Help Farmers

An extensive data pool is the key to measuring the progress of climate practices, the authors state, adding that many soil maps have not been updated since the 1950s.

A government-funded database would provide real-time economic information for producers, experts and decision-makers.

• Develop A Fair System That Ensures Market Equity

The study stresses that although it is important to incentivize farmers’ future behaviour, farmers who have been the earlier adopters of climate-smart practices should also benefit and be rewarded. Failing to do so could bring unintended consequences.

The study suggests farmers who have been the first to implement regenerative practices that were perhaps not adequately measured could benefit from expanding capital gains exemptions for qualifying farmland. Methods exist to “back cast” to estimate past changes in soil-bound carbon over several years.

Methane as a growth opportunity

Agriculture is responsible for an estimated 31 per cent of the methane emission in Canada, with 86 per cent of that stemming from ruminant animals digestive process and the remaining 14 per cent  from manure. But manure can also be a source of renewable natural gas, the report’s authors claim.

4. Promote Ways To Make Methane Cuts Profitable

Technology and tools to deal with methane exist, the report points out. The focus now needs to shift to how to make the process of mitigating its effects profitable. One way is to “incentivize utilities to purchase renewable natural gas from digesters” and support the construction of digesters.

Fertilizer supply chains as strategic drivers

5. Strengthen Canada’s Domestic Fertilizer Portfolio

Beyond focusing on revenues, farmers need to ensure the supply of fertilizers and agriculture solutions are affordable and accessible.

While Canada is the largest producer of potash, it is dependent on other countries for nitrogen and phosphorus.

Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Canadian farmers sourced 85 per cent of nitrogen fertilizer from Russia. Tariffs imposed following the outbreak of war has dramatically increased the price of that commodity.

Building in-Canada agricultural value chains by promoting the use of biological products can be one solution. By blending them with traditional fertilizers, they can help build healthier soils.

“Canada is in a unique position to lead in this space,” the report stated, “given the raw resources required to create these solutions are found in rural regions.”

Technology and Talent As Competitive Advantages

The labour shortage on farms extends further than merely needing workers during harvest periods. Farmers need access to experts and advisers. They need to collect data and integrate new technologies.

• Nurture an innovation-driven ag sector

The report’s authors call for support of tech-savvy Canadian agricultural companies. Research and development dollars for “a thriving carbon market and growth of big data analytics.” It is an area that Canada finds itself falling behind compared with other global peers.

The report claims in 2021, more than US$6.9 billion in venture capital funding went to American ag-tech companies, while only US$270 million found its way to Canadian ag-tech firms.

• Revive Canada’s knowledge-sharing network

A once active network of agriculture experts associated with universities across the country that in years past provided farmers with guidance and advice has frayed, in many instances, due to a rollback in funding. This same types of networks in the United States, according to the report, have been bolstered.

This is an area where provincial involvement would benefit, where experts can provide on-farm demonstrations to encourage the adoption of new management practices and innovations.

• Boost investment in post-secondary education

Research shows that Canada’s agricultural sector is on the threshold of its biggest labour and leadership shifts. “Current immigration policies that fast-track skilled farmers and on-farm labourers should continue to expand to meet this challenge,” the report states.

To meet this goal, agricultural colleges and universities should continue creating programs that welcome students from different educational backgrounds and faculties to create programs that increase students’ exposure to agriculture.

These institutions should create carbon management programs and invite students from different faculties “to understand how greenhouse gas emissions are tracked, ways to create corporate objectives to decrease emissions and effective methods to monitor progress.”

In addition, to bridge labour gaps, governments should eliminate barriers to foreign credentials for professionals like veterinarians.

Consumers As Drivers Of Market Change

• Influence purchasing patterns through procurement:

The federal government must lead by example. That means it should align its procurement policies with climate-smart farming practices to achieve its net zero emission commitments.

Price hikes in Quebec outpacing national average

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

Despite higher interest rates, the price of farmland in Canada continued to rise in the first half of 2023, with prices in Quebec outpacing the national average.

In fact, the value of agricultural land in Quebec outpaced all areas of the country except Saskatechewan, according to figures released by Farm Credit Canada in early October.

Prices in Quebec increased by 10.6 per cent from January to June this year, while they jumped 11.4 per cent in Saskatchewan, FCC figures show.

The national average was 7.7 per cent.

Increases were lower in Ontario and Manitoba, where values jumped by 6.9 and 6.4 per cent, respectively.

Limited availability of land is said to be the main factor that continued to push prices higher, according to the FCC, even in a higher interest rate environment.

These latest increase continues the trend of ever-increasing farmland prices across the country. Last year, farmland values in Quebec jumped 11 per cent, slightly below the national average hike of 12.8 per cent.

The value of agricultural land has seen consistent year-over-year increases for the last 37 years, with the most pronounced hikes were recorded from 2011 to 2015.

Larger farmers more likely to buy

A survey of Canadian farmers conducted by RealAgristudies in July showed that 17 per cent of farmers in the country said they had or were intending to buy land in the current year. Some 59 per cent they had no intention of buying land, while 25 per cent said they were undecided.

The survey results also found that younger farmers or those who operated larger farms were the ones more likely to purchase land. According to the results, 44 per cent of the largest farms expressed an intent to buy land, while only 6 per cent of the smallest farm operators said purchases were likely.

RealAgristudies, however, did not disclose how many farmers participated in the survey.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

The threat of paving what some describe as a little piece of paradise to put up a REM parking lot is looming large in Pointe Claire.

As the clock ticks down to the opening of the light rail station by the Fairview Pointe Claire shopping centre and no plan yet in place for West Island commuters to leave their vehicles, concern is growing about where CDPQ-Infra, the contractor behind the rail project, will put a lot.

For Geneviève Lussier, a spokesperson for the grassroots group Save Fairview Forest, the concern is that the parking lot will be located in what is now a wooded area west of the mall, just north of the rail line.

“Can we say we don’t think the parking lot should go there?” Lussier asked the members of Pointe Claire council earlier this month, referring to the forested land.

Going one step further, the greenspace activist whose group recently held its 150th weekly demonstration at the wooded area in an effort to save it from development, encouraged Pointe Claire administrators and elected officials to get involved in the decisions of the parking plan before a solution is announced and imposed.

“If there are discussions going on right now, maybe we should be part of those discussions,” Lussier said, urging the city to inquire where the talks on the parking situation are at.

Previously, CDPQ-Infra has said discussions to come up with a solution to the parking needs for the train station were ongoing with Cadillac Fairview, the owner of the shopping centre. Rather than build a new parking lot, the contractor’s goal had been to use some of the existing spots within the centre’s parking lot for the REM.

But Cadillac Fairview has made it clear the shopping centre’s parking spots are off-limits, and that CDPQ-Infra will need to find another place for commuters to leave their cars before boarding the electric train.

Officials with Cadillac Fairview could not be reached for comment.

“Would it be possible for the citizens and the city to work together and speak to the CPDQ and have a united voice about making sure we don’t pave one of the last green spaces in that area – actually, the only last green space in that area – and keep the parking lot on something that is already paved?” Lussier asked council.

“If there is a way to unite our voices on that, that would be amazing,” she added.

In response, Pointe Claire Mayor Tim Thomas said: “There wouldn’t be any harm in renewing discussion with the CPDQ.”

Thomas admitted, however, that the consortium building the rail line holds authority over the project, including where parking will be located.

“There are a lot of residents who would help you have that greater voice if you wanted it,” Lussier said, explaining how residents in the east end of Montreal had effectively lobbied the rail project managers to take local concerns into consideration when planning facets of the project in that part of the island.

The forest is currently subject to two separate development freezes – one imposed by the city of Pointe Claire and another by the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal. The moratoriums prevent any plan to build on the land to move forward. Shortly after the city imposed its freeze in early 2022, Cadillac Fairview filed a lawsuit against the city. The company is seeking to maintain its right to develop the land.

In 2016, when the REM project was first unveiled, CDPQ-Infra had promised there would be 4,500 parking spots spread across the four stations that make up the 14-kilometre stretch of the West Island line.

That number has since been cut to 900, with 500 spots at the Des Sources station; 200 at the Anse à l’Orme station in Ste. Anne de Bellevue; and 200 at the Kirkland station reserved only for Kirkland residents. A parking plan for the station next to Fairview has not been announced.

Officials at CDPQ-Infra were unavailable to comment.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

Of the five biggest de-merged municipalities in the West Island, Beaconsfield has the biggest income gap among its residents, according to a ranking of Canadian municipalities by the Local News Data Hub at Toronto Metropolitan University.

The ranking lists the 418 municipalities across the country with populations of 10,000 or more, focusing on the gap between the highest earning households and the households with the lowest incomes in each town.

Beaconsfield, with a population of 19,040, ranked 17^th on the list, placing it among the top towns in the country when measured by the discrepancy between the households that earn the most and those that earn the least within its boundaries.

The other four West Island municipalities in the West Island that made the list were Kirkland, which ranked 40^th; Dorval, which ranked 45^th; Pointe Claire, which was 64^th; and Dollard des Ormeaux, which came in at 75^th.

See INCOME GAP, Page 2.

INCOME GAP: Richest households in Beaconsfield make 4.2 times more than poorest

From Page 1

Income inequality has been recognized as a social measure that has a negative impact on health, happiness and community ties and can limit opportunities for financial stability, according to researchers.

According to the data, the most affluent households in Beaconsfield make 4.2 times more than the least well off in the town.

The data shows that median after-tax income of a household in Beaconsfield in 2021 was $110,000. Despite this apparent wealth, a total of 655 people, or roughly 3.4 per cent of the population of 19,040, live in poverty.

In Kirkland, where the median after-tax household income in 2021 was $104,000, the most affluent households make four times more than the poorest households. According to the ranking, 805 people, or roughly 4.2 per cent of the population of 19,240, live in poverty.

In the city of Dorval, where the median after-tax household income in 2021 was $66,000, the most affluent households make 3.6 times more than the poorest households. According to the ranking, 1,165 people, or roughly 6 per cent of the population of 19,115, live in poverty.

In Pointe Claire, where the median after-tax household income in 2021 was $78,000, the most affluent households make 3.5 times more than the poorest households. According to the ranking, 1,380 people, or 4.4 per cent of the population of 31,560, live in poverty.

In Dollard, where the median after-tax household income in 2021 was $82,000, the most affluent households make 3.5 times more than the poorest households. According to the ranking, 2,435 people, or roughly 5 per cent of the population of 47,925, live in poverty.

The data shows that both the towns with the biggest and smallest gaps between rich and poor households were found in Quebec.

Westmount is where the biggest gap exists – with 10 per cent of households earning 10.9 times more than the lowest earning households in 2020. Meanwhile, in St. Amable, a municipality of just more than 13,000 residents north of Beloeil, the most affluent households make 2.6 times more than its least well off.

The Local News Data Hub also pointed to a recent Statistics Canada report that showed the wealthiest 20 per cent of households in Canada controlled two-thirds of the country’s net worth as of early 2023, while the bottom 40 per cent accounted for just 2.7 per cent.

The StatsCan report also noted the wealth gap between rich and poor in Canada widened at the fastest pace on record in the first quarter of this year. Compared with the wealthiest households, lower-income Canadians accumulated more debt, saw their savings shrink and received less investment income.

The Canadian median after-tax household income in 2020 was $73,000, according to the data.

To compare income inequality across Canada, the Local News Data Hub ranked the country’s 418 largest municipalities using Statistics Canada’s 2020 Gini index for adjusted after-tax household income. The Gini index is an internationally recognized tool statisticians use to measure how income is distributed across a society. It takes into account wages, pension income, investment earnings and government payments like social assistance.

Parks Canada offers 100+ spots – 19 in Quebec, but only 1 in the West Island

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

What is it about a tranquil waterfront view? It makes you stop. Look out. And look some more.

Now, if that view is of a uniquely-Canadian sight and comes with a fall wind and a comfortable Adirondack chair in which to sit while contemplating the surroundings, well, let’s just say that as you huddle your arms together and feel the weather at this time of year, the combination unlocks a moment that is worth your while.

That is what is on offer at 106 locations in Canada, including 19 in Quebec and just one in the West Island. A red Adirondack chair is waiting for you at each of these spots.

The chairs are provided by Parks Canada, which just over a decade ago launched an initiative that was simple in concept, yet grand in scope. It aims to provide Canadians with a comfortable chair to take in a fabulous view. The spots are among the best of the best of the country’s public spaces, providing a glimpse of Canada’s picturesque landscapes that combine iconic rugged beauty with, in some instances, a sense of natural serenity, while in others, a backdrop of historical significance. All you have to do is sit back and take it all in.

The chairs in West Island can be found at the Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Canal National Historic Site.

There are actually two sets of chairs at the park, one just off Ste. Anne Street, where pedestrians can access the site. They offer a front-row seat to view the old locks. The other set is at the far end of the concrete pier that is known as Lookout Point at the western tip of Ste. Anne Canal, where the St. Lawrence River’s Lake St. Louis melds into the Ottawa River’s Lake of Two Mountains.

Take in the surroundings

The red chairs near the locks themselves, two identical Adirondacks with wide armrests and comfortable backrests, standout in Canada’s flagship colour. They offer a vantage point that allows you to see the workings of the locks. They also allow you to take in all the comings and goings of people who are drawn to the park. It can be a busy place depending on the weather. Behind you, the spire of the Ste. Anne de Bellevue Catholic Church rises, framing the treed front yard that looks out on the waterway.

The chairs out at Lookout Point offer an entirely different experience, and worth the walk to find them. Set up in the middle of the concrete quay, they offer an expansive view of the rapids, Île Perrot, Île Bellevue and the smaller non-inhabited island in the area. In the distance, vehicles can be seen as they make their way across the Île aux Tourtes Bridge. The view is wide and conjures a sense of isolation, especially as the temperatures at this time of year keep you company.

Look back at history

The Ste. Anne locks are part of network of canals that permit boats to bypass rapids, acting as a gateway to the Ottawa River.

The locks at this site date back to before Confederation. Merchants who would travel from Kingston to Montreal had petitioned the government of Lower Canada to build it to provide save public access to the route that, up until then, had been controlled by private companies that operated a canal off Vaudreuil.

Construction began in 1840, and the locks opened on Nov. 14, 1843, an event that is credited, in part, to enabling the settlement of Upper Canada, what is known today as Ontario.

Accessing the locks was not an easy navigational feat, however. And in 1870, the Canals Commission recommended new locks be built, running parallel to the old locks. These new locks were completed in 1882. At the same time, a channel was dredged in the middle of Lake St. Louis, allowing larger ships to make their way across the waterway.

The use of the second locks at Ste. Anne by commercial ships was healthy up until the first two decades of the 1900s, when the transition to rail transport took hold.

But the Ste. Anne locks continued to function, and today are widely used by reacreational and pleasure boaters who make their way from Lake St. Louis to the Lake of Two Mountains and beyond.

Finding a part of the past

In October of 2020, Parks Canada officials pulled an old lock gate from the waters of Lake St. Louis. The large wooden panel fitted with steel fixtures weighed more than 36 tonnes. It was determined that the gate was one of the emergency doors that had been sunk to the bottom of the waterway to be used in case of needed repairs.

Parks Canada analyzed the large flat panel, opting not to return it to its underwater holding spot nor putting it on display after finding it contained toxic chemicals.

Commemorating site’s significance

The canal was officially recognized as being of national historic significance in 1987. In August of 2007, the federal government unveiled a plaque at the canal site commemorating this designation, recognizing it as an integral part of a network of inland waterways that played a big role in the growth and development of Canada. As Senator Claude Nolin said when the plaque was installed: The canal “played a major role in the transportation of lumber and the transit of immigrants toward the country’s interior during the 19^th century.”

So if you have a moment to reflect, head to Ste. Anne, find the chairs, take in the view and cast your mind back to the past.

Cutline: These red Adirondack chairs are waiting for you at the Saint-Anne-de-Bellevue Canal National Historic Site. They provide a beautiful view of the locks near the junction of Lake St. Louis and the Lake of Two Mountains.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

It happened 10 years ago. The scene of the crime is an address on a quiet cul-de-sac in Beaconsfield. Inside the home, the bodies of a couple in their mid-60s were found. Both had been shot.

That is the setting of the newly released novel, My Brother’s Keeper, by Pointe Claire author Sheila Kindellan-Sheehan, published by Véhicule Press. It is her 12th book, and her 11^th work of fiction.

It is Kindellan-Sheehan’s first mystery entirely set in the West Island. It is a story that follows the reopening of a police investigation to find the truth behind the deaths of Stu and Carol Tibbetts, described as an ordinary couple living in a house that some wondered how they could afford. It spins a tale of life in the suburbs that, on the surface, looks typical, but encompasses yet-to-be-discovered truths forged by complicated family ties, sibling relationships and secrets that began to be kept long before a 911 call set a homicide investigation into motion.

As Kindellan-Sheehan sets up the story in the opening chapter: “The tragedy was either a murder/suicide or a premeditated cold-blooded murder, committed by their children, or someone who hated them enough to want them dead.”

And just like life, this fictional tale about death is complicated – and sprinkled with familiar geographic references that all West Islanders will immediately recognize and appreciate.

Kindellan-Sheehan uses her West Island roots to build the story of the Tibbetts family, creating a believable back history that fits into its setting.

Although the story centres around a double homicide, Kindellan-Sheehan is quick to admit that the depth of the tale is what she hopes will resonate with readers.

“You don’t write about crime. You write about people,” the author said in an interview, explaining that crimes are usually committed by ordinary people.

Kindellan-Sheehan enjoyed the process of building the back story of her characters all the while weaving in current references, including a mention of the West Island’s latest news source, The 1510 West.

But it is creating a character’s history “is what makes it interesting,” she said.

“The past is never the past, as Faulkner believed,” Kindellan-Sheehan said, referencing the well-known American novelist. “The past is just what you’re carrying on your shoulders. No one escapes it. It’s just like injuries – when you turn 40, you find out that nothing completely heals.”

A retired teacher who taught at St. Thomas High School in Pointe Claire for many years, Kindellan-Sheehan began writing in 1998 following the death of her husband. Her first book, published in 2003, was a memoir, Sheila’s Take, which became a best-seller. She then turned to fiction, writing 11 mysteries, including five since 2013 featuring the recurring characters of Sûreté du Québec investigators Toni Damiano and Pierre Matte.

“I never wrote for money. I never wrote for acclaim,” she admitted. “Writing was like a companion, and I had the best companion for 22 years.”

Kindellan-Sheehan’s latest novel, My Brother’s Keeper, as well as her earlier books are available at Indigo in Pointe Claire and online, and can be ordered on Amazon.

Cutline: Kindellan-Sheehan marked the official launch of My Brother’s Keeper at the Indigo outlet in Pointe Claire last Saturday.

Credit: The 1510 West

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette has revoked the certificate of authorization to backfill part of the wetlands along the waterfront in Hudson’s Sandy Beach area, a move that effectively scraps plans for the proposed 214-unit housing development on the site.

In a detailed four-page letter issued last Wednesday, the minister’s analysis of the saga that traces back to when the permit was first issued in March 2014 was unequivocal, concluding:

“The minister is of the opinion that the residential development project for which the authorization was issued will result in the partial or total destruction of terrestrial environments of ecological interest on the lots targeted by the project and will harm permanently the ecological functions and characteristics of wetlands and terrestrial environments of ecological interest found on adjacent lots.”

The statement continues, referring directly to the owners of the land, Nicanco Holdings, which had proposed the development project:

“Considering that Nicanco has not started the activities referred to in the authorization within the two years from its issuance, the minister is entitled to revoke the authorization … issued to Nicanco on March 31, 2014, for the partial backfilling of a marsh and swamp as well as the complete filling of two swamps, all with a total area of 1.58 hectares, for the completion of the Sandy Beach residential project in Hudson.”

Nicanco and its partner in the now-shelved project, a numbered Quebec-based company, have 30 days to request an administrative tribunal to review the minister’s decision. Officials with Nicanco did not respond to a request for comment.

News of the minister’s decision to revoke the permit was greeted with elation by residents who have been lobbying for the preservation of the wetlands at the site by the shores of the Lake of Two Mountains.

“We’re very thrilled,” said Rob Horwood, a spokesman for Nature Hudson, a grassroots environmental group fighting the housing project. “It’s a game-changer. It puts things back to Square One.”

Horwood cautioned, however, that this does not mean the land adjacent to the public beach area will be preserved. Nicanco can still submit a new request for a permit to build on some part of the land.

“But the new certificate would be evaluated under the laws of today, which are very different,” Horwood said, adding that the land owners would also have to determine whether a smaller development plan would be financially viable.

The minister’s decision, he said, “changes the way everyone is going to think about this.”

The question of whether the town could or should buy the land has been a topic of sweeping debate in Hudson for years.

In August, the town council took a step that could result in the acquisition of the undeveloped land surrounding Sandy Beach by taking advantage of a new provincial law that allows municipalities to register a right of first refusal on properties that are put up for sale.

The area owned by Nicanco around Sandy Beach were part of the 22 lots the town has selected to file a right of first refusal with the land registry, which would give the municipality the option of buying the land if title of the property is ever set to be transferred.

According to a new provincial law that came into effect in April, municipal councils can claim a first right of refusal on any property they would like to acquire for public use, including land for parks.

Once a right on a property is registered by a municipality, if the owner opts to sell it and a buyer strikes a deal to purchase it for an agreed price, the municipality has 60 days to step forward and match the pending sale price. The municipality could also opt not to buy the property if  it is unable or unwilling to match the offer put forward by a potential buyer.

Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison could not be reached for comment on this subject earlier this week.

Residents that have been pushing to ensure the land in the Sandy Beach area is preserved are now cautiously optimistic in the wake of the Environment minister’s move.

“This opens the door,” said resident Helen Kurgansky, a former town councillor who was the only member of the previous administration who voted against approving the subdivision plan submitted to the municipality by Nicanco in 2020 that carved the area into lots for the housing development.

“The next steps will have to take some thinking, some doing,” Kurgansky said. “We just have to knock on the right doors and find the right formula. It’s still not a clear-cut win because Nicanco will want to do something with that land.”

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The town of Hudson and the local branch of the Canadian Legion have struck a deal that brings to an end a long-standing dispute and two court cases.

“The agreement sets the path for a long and mutually supportive relationship for both parties, the members of the Legion and the Hudson community – past, present and future,” said Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison in response to questions from The 1019 Report.

The deal includes a 100-year lease, approved by Hudson council last week, that will see Legion Branch 115 pay a monthly rent to the town of $761 to occupy the space it currently operates out of – part of the community centre complex on Main Road. The rent will be increased by 2 per cent per year from 2024 to 2026, and be adjusted according to the Consumer Price Index in subsequent years.

“We are happy with it,” Legion branch president Jon Bazar said last week, adding the organization has agreed to also pay three years of back-taxes the town claims it owed.

The agreement also sees the court cases involving the two parties dropped. The litigations stem from a dispute over issues involving the deed of sale agreed to by the town in 1994, when the Legion opted to sell its building to the municipality for $1. The move gave way to the town building its community centre on the Legion site. In 2019, it was discovered that the terms of the sale were “not in accordance” with the provincial Cities and Towns Act, Bazar said.

In March 2022, the Legion sued the town of Hudson for annulling the sale of the property. That same month, according to Hudson assistant director-general Marie-Jacinthe Roberge, the town sued the Legion for unpaid taxes.

The lawsuits have cost the town about $85,000 up until June of this year, Hutchison said.

The new lease agreement approved by council last week was not approved unanimously, however. Councillors Doug Smith and Benoit Blais voted against the motion.

In an interview last week, Blais said his objection did not arise from opposition to the spirit or scope of the lease agreement, but because he felt some clauses needed to be clarified.

Blais explained he had submitted a list of questions to town officials seeking clarification, but did not receive adequate answers, adding that when signing a 100-year agreement, the time should have been taken to clarify the points he raised, including having a complete and detailed list of  the Legion’s assets.

“Finally we were able to put aside the differences between the town and the Legion,” Blais said, adding: “It’s just sad we didn’t take the extra hours to do it properly.”

In response to the criticism, Hutchison said: “I appreciate the great care taken by councillors in their review of the town’s technical documents. The request for added precision to be included in the documents had been carefully reviewed by the town’s legal staff and external lawyer. I was satisfied with the level of assiduity and quality of response by the town. It was time to move forward.

“I trust that we have a strong and clear set of documents in hand that best represent the nature of the relationship between the town and the Legion and that this will serve as a sound tool for both parties moving forward.”

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Science has debunked the fiction that lightning never strikes twice. But can science and fiction create it? Lightning, that is?

The answer to that question could be discovered Sunday in Hudson as the ever-impressive literary festival known as Storyfest sets to light up our imaginations with the launch of its 22^nd edition by welcoming New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs.

Reichs, earlier this year, published her 22^nd mystery thriller featuring her recurring central character, forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. The series, based loosely on Reichs’s own career as one of about a dozen forensic anthropologists in North America, catapulted to broad-based recognition 26 years ago with her first novel Déja Dead. It hit bestsellers lists across North America and the United Kingdom, a trend that has continued with each subsequent instalment. It also spun off the television series Bones in 2005, which ran for 12 seasons, becoming the longest running drama produced by the Fox network in the United States.

Reflecting on her career as a writer, Reichs is hard-pressed to explain her success.

“It took off so quickly and so hard,” she said in an interview with The 1019 Report recently, adding that her first book was so successful, “it certainly changed my career trajectory.”

Reichs’ latest book, The Bone Hacker, published by Simon & Schuster, is a “ripped from the headlines” story based on the islands of Turks and Caicos. But it opens with a scene of the main character heading out on a boat in the St. Lawrence River to watch one of the Montreal’s international fireworks shows when the skies open up and a meteorological microburst throws the small watercraft crashing about in the dark waves.

The scene is one of many in Reichs’s books over the years that are set in Montreal, a city she has a fond attachment to. And one of the reasons she is looking forward to her visit to Hudson.

“I always love coming to Canada,” she said.

For many years, Reichs commuted to Montreal, where she kept an apartment. After completing her PhD at Northwestern University in Illinois, she began to teach at the University of North Carolina. From there, she took part in a faculty exchange program, that launched here relationship with Montreal, where she taught at Concordia and McGill universities and began to consult on cases with the Quebec Laboratoire de sciences judiciaires et de médecines légales.

She has also worked around the world, consulting on cases from genocide in Rwanda, to the World Trade Centre site in New York City, to cases in the Canadian north.

She has used many of the cases she has worked on as the starting points for her fiction.

Reichs has retired from teaching and consulting, spending most of her time now writing. She has another book in the works set to be released next year.

Kathy Reichs will be at Storyfest on Sunday, Oct. 15, at 2 p.m. at the Stephen F. Shaar Community Centre, 394 Main Rd., Hudson. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online at greenwoodstoryfest.com, and as cash purchases only at Que de Bonnes Choses, 484-B, Main Rd. in Hudson. 

Other Storyfest events to watch for:

• Montreal’s Anita Anand will discuss her novel, A Convergence of Solitudes, which looks at  the lives of two families across Partition-era India, Vietnam’s Operation Babylift and two Quebec referendums. She will be at the Hudson Creative Hub on Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m. 

• Former CBC journalist Waubgeshig Rice will discuss his second novel Moon of the Turning Leaves, the continues the story a tight-knit Anishinaabe community more than a decade after a major blackout compels them to return to their ancestral ways. He will be at the Hudson Creative Hub on Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m. 

• Montreal food writer and former Montreal Gazette restaurant critic Lesley Chesterman will share her insights from her recently published book Make Every Day Delicious at the Stephen F. Shaar Community Centre on Oct. 29 at 2 p.m.

• Former Hudson High student and McGill University alumna, Dr. Maureen Mayhew will talk about her memoir Hand on My Heart that draws focuses on her experience working Doctors Without Borders in Afghanistan at the Hudson Creative Hub on Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m. 

• Canadian actor R.H. Thomson will share his thoughts on his new memoir, By the Ghost Light, that looks at how the stories of our past shape our future at the Hudson Village Theatre on Nov. 27 at 7:30 p.m.

Cutlines:

New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs opens another edition of Storyfest in Hudson on Sunday.

Her latest novel launched earlier this year is her 22^nd in a series of works featuring her loosely autobiographical character, forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. It opening scene is set in Montreal.

Credit:

Courtesy of Simon & Schuster