Dan Laxer

School bus fire not due to battery

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 25, 2025 / CSSDM elementary school, Dan Laxer, fire, SCHOOL BUS

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Several pictures of a school bus engulfed in flames were posted to social media on Tuesday, and dismissed by many as fake. But it was indeed real.

The bus was carrying five CSSDM elementary school students to school Tuesday morning. It was traveling east on Jean Talon when the bus driver smelled smoke coming from the vents. He quickly pulled over at the corner of Victoria and evacuated the children. Nobody was injured. And the children were kept safe in a nearby building, accompanied by two police officers, until a new bus could be dispatched to pick them up.

The bus was a LionC bus operated by Transco.

While the cause of the fire is as yet unknown, speculation is that it might have been components in the heating system. But Montreal Fire Department Operations Chief Martin Guilbeault assures The Suburban that, although the bus was indeed electric, the battery was not the cause of the fire. Guilbeault said that the fire department was on the scene in under five minutes, and were able to douse the flames before they got anywhere near the battery.

Had that been the case, it would have run the risk of a thermal runaway, which is what happens when fire erupts in a battery spreading from cell to cell. When that happens it’s a longer process of dousing the battery to cool it down while fighting the fire.

As it was the fire was extinguished in less than an hour.

As far as the cause is concerned, in an email to The Suburban, Loïc Philibert, spokesperson for Lion Electric, said “an analysis is being conducted to determine the circumstances of the event. There is no further comment as to what may have happened.”

A statement from Alain Perron, spokesperson for the CSSDM, said “In accordance with our contracts, the carrier’s vehicles are subject to strict mechanical inspection requirements, and they are recent. We remain in close communication with the carrier to determine the cause of the incident. Student safety is and remains our top priority.” n

School bus fire not due to battery Read More »

DDO family accuses police of racial profiling

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 25, 2025 / Cadillac, Dan Laxer, Dollard des Ormeaux, Jadon Squires

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

A 15-year-old boy in Dollard des Ormeaux was approached by police, told to put his hands out and drop what he was holding which, at the time, was his phone, his keys, and bag of birthday cards.å

It was his birthday.

According to a spokesperson from the SPVM, the officers stopped Jadon Squires because they believed his behaviour to be suspicious.

The boy’s father, Jason Squires, had just started his car in the driveway of his home when Jadon was walking home from just down the street.

Squires had walked away from his car for a moment, and returned to see the police interacting with his son. They asked him why he appeared to be running from the car. Jason insisted he’d done nothing wrong. His father told the officers that the car – a Cadillac – was his. He says they didn’t believe him, and ran the license plate to confirm ownership. Once they ascertained that Squires was telling the truth, they left the scene.

Both Squires and Fo Niemi of the Center for Reseach-Action on Race Relations wondered whether to what extent racial profiling played a role in the police officers’ actions. Racial profiling has been cited in the courts when a police intervention that started off as simple escalates. If racial profiling was an issue here, Niemi suggested, then police need to approach the family and make amends for any breach of trust that may have occurred as a result.

In Quebec, the court system, right up to the Quebec Court of Appeal, has ruled that racial profiling is a problem in the province, something that Premier Francois Legault refuses to accept.

As far as the Squires family is concerned, the experience has left them shaken, and they may yet decide to file a complaint with the police.

The SPVM says it is looking into the matter to ascertain what happened and why. n

DDO family accuses police of racial profiling Read More »

Second fire in nearly two weeks in CDN-NDG

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 25, 2025 / CDN-NDG, Dan Laxer, Elmhurst and Harley, Montreal Fire Department

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Firefighters were still on the scene of a fire that broke out the morning of Sunday, September 14. The fire was in an abandoned building on Elmhurst and Harley in the CDN-NDG borough, around the corner from the fire that displaced 16 households in a building at Westmore corner St. Jacques nearly two weeks ago.

The Montreal Fire Department was called to the scene just after 9 a.m. The fire started in an abandoned and boarded-up apartment building. Since it was abandoned, there was no electricity or gas hooked up to the building, although a truck from Energir was on the scene anyway. Police had the streets blocked off in the area. By about 11:30 there were more than 90 firefighters at the scene.

There were no injuries reported. And an adjacent building was evacuated.

Desirée McGraw, Liberal MNA for NDG, was also on the scene later in the day. She pointed out that building, which is owned by the Societe d’habitation du Québec (SHQ) has been abandoned since 2017. “For the three years, I have been working to restore three boarded-up social housing buildings, including this one.” She wrote that she has repeatedly tried to get the Quebec government to demolish the building and replace it with social housing. “The government’s inaction in this matter,” she wrote, “constitutes negligence, and this morning’s fire is the predictable consequence.”

And then she added “My thoughts also go to the neighbourhood residents, who had to endure the enormous cloud of smoke and the inconvenience caused by the work. It is clear that their fears about the risks this abandoned building poses to the neighbourhood have unfortunately been confirmed.”

The smoke from the fire could be seen rising into the sky from several points in the city. The smoke and fumes wafted into Montreal West.

Firefighters were on the scene for most of the day. n

Second fire in nearly two weeks in CDN-NDG Read More »

Attacker of Jewish father not criminally responsible

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 25, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Dickie Moore Park, Hasidic Jewish father

by Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Sergio Yanes Preciado, the man who beat up a Hasidic Jewish father in front of his three daughters, has been found not criminally responsible due a mental defect or illness.

The 23-year-old was arrested last month after video surfaced of him beating up the victim before walking away and tossing the victim’s kipah into a puddle. The victim’s three little girls, who witnessed the attack, can be heard screaming. The attack occurred in Dickie Moore Park in the Villeray-Saint-Michel-Parc-Extension borough.

Friday, September 12 should have been Preciado’s bail hearing. He had been held at the Philippe Pinel institute for a 30-day psychiatric evaluation. The report was supposed to have been presented in court on Friday so the judge could decide if the man is fit to stand trial.

But after a full day of hearings, the report was not presented.

At around 4:40 p.m., Crown Prosecutor Isabelle Major and Preciado’s defense lawyer Gracinda Fernandes let the judge know that they needed more time to go over the report, and asked that the case be held over to Monday.

Major told The Suburban at the time that she had spoken with the victim to bring him up to date with the new elements in the case and, given that the Pinel report is in French, made sure that she translated the details properly and that he fully understood. The victim, Major said, is her top priority.

Sources tell The Suburban that the police had recommended to the prosecutor that the attack be treated as a hate crime, which Major did say would be brought up before the court. But she also talked about the prospect of the Preciado’s mental illness, which the preliminary criminologist’s report and Preciado’s family alleged. Should the case go to trial, Major explained, it would be up to Preciado if he would want to use that as a defense.

On Monday the judge said that the psychiatric report shows Preciado was incapable of understanding what he did due to delusion and schizophrenia.

Zev Feldman, the victim’s brother-in-law, says the family’s reaction to the ruling is mixed; it is not known when the court will make a decision, or what that decision will be. Preciado has been remanded into custody at a mental health facility until the court can be updated on his status. However, that said, he has been ordered to stay away from the victim, and from the victim’s family. If that means that he could be released soon, it’s worrying. “You have to remember,” Feldman says, “the attacker and the victim don’t live that far from one another. In fact, he was arrested literally a few blocks away from where the victim lives. So, if he is released, and the kids see him, this can undo five months of therapy.”

The victim was actually at the courthouse, but did not enter the courtroom where the hearing was taking place. Facing his attacker would have been too hard. But he had written a victim impact statement which was read into the court record.

Feldman says there was a lot of contradictory testimony as to whether Preciado was under the influence of marijuana or not, and whether he knew that what he tossed into the water was a kipah.

Rabbi Saul Emanuel, the executive director of the Jewish Community Council of Montreal, said that the ruling “is a profound miscarriage of justice.”

“It is not punishment. It is not deterrence. It is a bureaucratic evasion dressed in clinical language, and it will do nothing to reassure a community already under siege from rising antisemitic violence.”

Attacker of Jewish father not criminally responsible Read More »

Westmount council adopts redevelopment plan

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 25, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Special Planning Program, Westmount

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

On September 18 a special council meeting was held in Westmount to announce that council had unanimously adopted the plan to redevelop the south sector of the town.

The Special Planning Program (PPU) referred to as Imagine Westmount has drawn a lot of ire from those who believe the town’s character is at stake, but also support from the many who believe, as Smith does, that the area is in dire need of the kind of change inherent in the plan.

Opening the meeting, Mayor Christina Smith said she knew that she was “not changing any minds here in this room tonight.” She said that council knew any decision made regarding the redevelopment of the area would be divisive. She acknowledged that there were many who had hoped for more time, who had hoped the issue would be deferred to the next council to be elected on November 2.

Delay, she said, has led to nothing being done for nearly a decade, “with further decline, more vacancies, and no investment.” Crime and homelessness have become big problems in the area, she said. “Delay has not solved these problems. Delay has made them worse.”

At one point Smith made an error, referring to the south side of the Dorchester instead of the north side, before she was corrected. She assured those present that she was not pulling a sneaky move and changing the plan, “even though I think that majority of you in the room think I would.”

In the end council voted to implement that plan that Smith said was “years in the making,” adding that it cannot be delayed again.

The councillors present each took a few minutes to speak, taking the opportunity to reiterate their arguments either for or against implementation or further delay. Matthew Aronsons went over some of the changes made to the plan prior to the vote, including what he referred to as “incentive zoning” to give the city more bargaining power with developers moving forward, and even reducing the proposed height of the some of the buildings in the plan. After suggesting that the plan is the best possible plan for the community and can’t be improved, councillor Kathleen Kez spoke, saying “the current plan is not ready, and needs more time to mature.” She listed several elements that she felt were missing from the plan, and called for it to be carried over to the next newly elected council.

“The Special Planning program should be a source of pride, and not a division for Westmounters,” she said. “I am not prepared to take a leap of faith and adopt the current plan as it stands. It needs to mature before we commit.” She was applauded after saying that if council chose, rather, to move forward, she would have no choice but to vote against it.

Mary Gallery, who is running for mayor in the upcoming elections, saying “This is not rushed; this was clearly designed from the start.”

“Let me be clear,” she added, “this is not a blank check for developers, this is a framework to attract serious, responsible investment.” By moving the plan forward, Gallery said, the next council will have something to work with, even if they make changes. “Adopt and adapt,” added councilor Conrad Peart.

Residents had their time to question or comment on the plan, with one, Dr. Caroline Reinhold, present a petition with more than 10,000 signatures, “ten times the number who attended each of the public consultations,” Reinhold said, “and three times the number who responded to the city’s online survey,” calling for a delay.

The adopted plan will now be in the hands of a new council to be elected on November 2. Smith announced some time ago that she is not seeking re-election. n

Westmount council adopts redevelopment plan Read More »

EMSB joins QESBA in challenge to education cuts

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 25, 2025 / Dan Laxer, EMSB Chair Joe Ortona, English Montreal School Board, investments

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

The English Montreal School Board voted unanimously to join the Quebec English School Boards Association’s legal challenge to the CAQ government’s budget constraints.

From last fall to late last spring the Quebec government slashed a combined $570 million from education. Then, in July, they announced $540 million in “investments” in education. But those investments came with conditions that EMSB Chair Joe Ortona says are not only not feasible, but put education in Quebec in jeopardy.

Ortona recalled the government-imposed measure to cut $10.6 million from the 2025-26 budget, along with a measure threatening $10.4 million in penalties “if we cannot meet an unrealistic staffing cap.” He added that schools are “barred from accessing $7.8 million of our accumulated surplus, funds that could protect vital programs.”

“The resolution before us mandates our board to join the QESBA’s legal challenge, led by (law firm) Power Law, to contest the Quebec government’s 2025-2026 budgetary rules and seek a stay of their application.”

The EMSB is inviting other boards, including French school service centres, to join the litigation, “despite Bill 40 constraints.”

“This fight extends beyond our board,” Ortona said. “French school service centres face similar barriers, and through the “Ensemble, unis pour l’école” coalition, we stand united.”

When asked why the board decided to join the QESBA’s lawsuit, Ortona said there was no other choice. Without a stay of application, he said, “we would have to make harmful cuts that would have a detrimental impact on the future of the students.”

The cuts that boards could be forced to make would affect any number of services and staffing. “I think of support services for special needs students. I think of music programs, arts programs, sports concentration programs, extracurricular activities, breakfast programs. All of these things,” Ortona emphasized, “are in jeopardy all throughout the province.” Families whose children would be affected by these cuts “are outraged,” Ortona told reporters, “and they have every right to be.”

He fully expects the government to fight back, which Ortona says would be shameful. “What the government should have done is just reverse the cuts that they tried to implement before.” n

EMSB joins QESBA in challenge to education cuts Read More »

“We need to restore order!” says Martinez Ferrada

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 25, 2025 / auditor general, Dan Laxer, Soraya Matinez Ferrada

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

A little over a week after the Auditor General blamed mismanagement and poor planning for the state of Montreal’s roads, Soraya Matinez Ferrada announced her party’s plan to get city’s roads and roadwork projects in order.

The Ensemble Montréal leader, and candidate for Montreal mayor, held a news conference in Carré Chaboillez at the corner of Peel and Ste. Catherine Streets, a part of the city that has been under construction for some time. She was joined by Saint Laurent Borough Mayor Alan DeSousa, and CDN-NDG candidate Alexandre Teodoresco, all of whom battled, at times, to be heard over the excavators and front-end loaders behind them.

“Montrealers are tired,” Martinez Ferrada said. “They’re tired of finding construction the day after, waking up not even knowing that the road was going to be closed.”

DeSousa said the purpose of the day’s announcement was to eliminate the orange cone as an international symbol of Montreal.

“We need to restore order,” Martinez Ferrada told reporters. “We need to restore coordination to all construction site management in Montreal.”

The measures announced include a complete inventory of all of the city’s worksites within the first 100 days of Martinez Ferrada’s mandate, should she be elected (as she does at other news conferences, she referred to herself as “the future mayor of Montreal”).

She also pledged to prohibit excavation on the same street segment more than once in five years, except in emergencies.

She called for the use of quality materials adapted to the city’s climate to reduce the need to repeat work down the road, as it were, and for real-time updates for residents and business owners impacted by major work, with QR codes on all signage to identify contractors.

Teodoresco added that they plan to leverage university research centres and the business community to make Ville-Marie “a laboratory for innovative solutions to construction management challenges.”

“We have the greatest research centres in the world,” he added. “We have the godfather of AI, for God’s sake, Yoshua Bengio, living right here in our city. So, how come we are on that leadership position as a city, but at city hall we’re the worst in class?”

The announcement comes with several major project either slated to begin or already begun. It was the first day of school, and the first day of major repairs that will have the Décarie Expressway tied up at the Cote St. Luc Road overpass for over a year.

And it comes two weeks after the announcement of eight-year closures for the McTavish Reservoir repairs.

“How come it takes eight years,” Martinez Ferrada asked, responding to a question from The Suburban as to whether she will be able to speed up projects announced or started before the election. “We have to accelerate the work that we’re doing in Montreal. It’s not normal,” she said, “that we can build a bridge in 42 months and not a road in less than that.”

Echoing DeSousa’s words, Martinez Ferrada said “I want to turn the page of having the orange cone as a symbol of Montreal.” n

“We need to restore order!” says Martinez Ferrada Read More »

Hippodrome is a go. Cavendish is a no.

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 25, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Namur-Hippodrome project.

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Hippodrome yes. Cavendish no.

The Federal government and the City of Montreal made an announcement, Monday morning, of a joint investment of $320 million for the infrastructure necessary for the development of the first phase of the Namur-Hippodrome project.

However the mayors of Cote Saint Luc, Town of Mount Royal, and the St. Laurent Borough say the plan is incomplete without a Cavendish Boulevard Extension.

The total sum combines a federal government investment of $128.3 million with $192.5 million from the City of Montreal. The Namur-Hippodrome District is an ambitious plan to develop up to 20,000 new housing units, including 50% off -market housing, a complete neighborhood with shops, services, and 14 hectares of green space, public and active transport networks, plus schools, community, sports and cultural centers, a library. and health care centers.

However, a release signed by the mayors of The City of Cote Saint Luc, Town of Mount Royal, and the St. Laurent Borough says “it is our firm belief and conviction that in order for this project to be a success, the full north-south Cavendish extension must be included in the plan to redevelop the site. Failure to include the Cavendish extension would be an omission that would undermine the integrity, safety, and viability of the entire development.”

The leader of Ensemble Montreal, mayoral candidate Soraya Martinez Ferrada agrees, saying “Cavendish isn’t just a road, it’s the backbone for housing, transit, and sustainable growth in Montreal’s went end.”

The Suburban reported last month, quoting Montreal traffic consultant Rick Leckner, that, according to his sources at City Hall, a Cavendish extension is “off the table.” This despite the fact that Monreal Mayor Valerie Plante – whose mandate ends in just weeks — had once promised “we’re doing Cavendish for sure.”

At the press conference to announce the joint investment, held on the Namur-Hippodrome site, Plante said she is “extremely proud,” adding that the investment announcement marks “the start of construction” of the project.

The long-promised Cavendish extension is nowhere to be found the announcement.

Proponents of the extension have long argued for its importance to economic development, public security, and urban planning and political commitment.

“We call on all three levels of government to work together to ensure that the Cavendish extension is completed as part of the Namur-Hippodrome redevelopment project. And we call on the Provincial government to insist that City of Montreal honour all its obligations under the 2017 agreement through which the land was ceded by Quebec to Montreal.”

Côte St. Luc councillor Dida Berku told The Suburban Monday that it is interesting that the federal and provincial governments are investing in a major project with 20,000 housing units, but that the planned “water and sewer infrastructure usually takes a road plan, because you put that infrastructure under the roads.

“The City of Montreal hasn’t finalized that plan! They have Jean Talon [to Décarie), they have Devonshire [to Paré], but they don’t have the third link, which has to go west towards Côte St. Luc. They’ve given us all kinds of options (Clanranald into Côte St. Luc from Jean Talon, Mackle in CSL to Jean Talon), but the only option that is viable is the Cavendish connection. The three Mayors are insisting that they come up with a comprehensive road plan and that it be integrated with Cavendish.” n

Hippodrome is a go. Cavendish is a no. Read More »

First sentence in 2021 TMR killing

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 25, 2025 / Dan Laxer, killing, Stenley Guercin, TMR

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Stenley Guercin was just 18 years old when he was killed at a 2021 Christmas party at a home in TMR. Two men, Léonardo Joseph and Jonathan Guerly Estimé – both 22 – were convicted in Guercin’s killing.

One of the two, Joseph, was handed a nine-year sentence at the Palais du Justice on Friday.

The two men, who were 20 when they were arrested, were convicted at trial last July. Joseph was found guilty of manslaughter, and Estimé of second-degree murder.

The sentence was handed down by Quebec Superior Court Judge Alexandre Boucher.

The trial heard that several youths were seeking out Guercin, who allegedly owed a gambling debt. There had been words exchanged online on social media. Then, at around 1:40 a.m. on December 24, 2021 the gang had tracked down Guercin at the Christmas party in question. A woman who was at the party on Trenton Avenue and recognized Guercin reached out to the group via text message.

When they got to the party and found Guercin, Joseph and Estimé grabbed him. A scuffle ensued. Estimé drew a gun and shot Guercin twice.

The crown prosecutor had recommended a sentence of 14 years. Joseph’s defense lawyer asked for no more than five. Time served awaiting the results in the case means that Joseph will end up serving five years and seven months.

Joseph’s role in the killing was secondary, the judge ruled, saying “he was not the person who shot the victim.” But he is still criminally responsible as a “co-author.” The judge said that Joseph should have known the danger the victim was facing.

Estimé’s sentencing hearing is coming up in November.

He was already serving time for another crime at the time of the arrest. In April he had been arrested for possession of a loaded weapon. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced, at the time, to 912 days.

Another suspect, Bertina Desire, who was also 20 at the time of the killing, was charged with being an accessory after the fact. She is also scheduled to return to court in November. n

First sentence in 2021 TMR killing Read More »

Sixteen NDG households displaced by 5-alarm fire

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 25, 2025 / Dan Laxer, fire, Mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

A five-alarm fire has displaced families from a 16-unit apartment building in NDG.

The fire broke out around 9 a.m. last Friday morning on Westmore near St. Jacques, near the Montreal West train station. One hundred and fifty firefighters battled to get the fire under control, many working from the roof of the four-storey building.

CDN-NDG Borough Mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa was at the scene, and said that the Red Cross would be helping the displaced residents. Katahwa also confirmed that there were no serious injuries. One firefighter had been transported to hospital after suffering heatstroke.

Katahwa indicated to The Suburban that the borough, along with the Office Municipal d’Habitation de Montréal (OMHM) and the NDG Community Council would be helping the residents.

The cause of the fire is as yet unknown. It may have started in a dumpster in the back of the building, spreading quickly. But that had not been confirmed by deadline.

Damage is estimated to be several hundred thousand dollars.

NDG-Westmount MP Anna Gainey posted to her social media later in the day “My thoughts are with the 16 families affected by today’s fire at Saint-Jacques and Westmore in NDG. I want to thank the firefighters who acted quickly to contain the blaze and protect lives, as well as the community workers and neighbours who are already stepping up to support those displaced.”

“In moments like these,” she added, “the strength of our community shines through. My office will continue to follow the situation closely and offer help wherever possible.”

The firefighters union did not wax as positive. The Association des Pompiers de Montréal, said that though the situation at 2012 Westmore could have been a lot worse, it also could have been a lot better. Highlighting the Auditor General’s recent report on the inefficiencies plaguing the SIM, including problems with inventory tracking, lack of working gear, it said that normally firefighters would have been at the scene in 3.5 minutes. “But not today. The firetruck at Station 77 was parked out of service in the garage, with four firefighters waiting because they lacked certified and compliant PPE (personal protective gear) to respond.”

Station 77 is located on Westminster Avenue in Montreal West, between Nelson and Brock, slightly more than a kilometre away from the fire.

Montreal fire chief Richard Liebman said after the release of the Auditor General’s report that the SIM was aware of the problem, and that the city had already invested more than $6 million for more PPE and other equipment.

But the union pointed out that, as of Friday night, “25 fire trucks are out of service across the island of Montreal, 19 of them due to a lack of compliant PPE.” n

Sixteen NDG households displaced by 5-alarm fire Read More »

Montreal expands hate crime definition

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 25, 2025 / Dan Laxer, DEI and antiracism policy, Islamophobia, Montreal city council

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Montreal City Council has agreed to revise its new DEI and antiracism policy to include hate crimes, antisemitism, and Islamophobia.

Initially the policy had left them out, a glaring omission that echoed a similar exclusion of antisemitism from the city’s anti-racism report last year.

The Centre for Research-Actin on Race Relations (CRARR) had originally held a news conference last weekend to denounce the omission, and to call on the City of Montreal to revise the policy. CRARR was joined by four other organizations representing racialized communities: The Black Community Resource Center, the Chinese Association of Montreal, the Canadian Council of Muslim Women – Montreal Chapter, and the Filipino Family Service of Montreal.

CRARR Executive Director Fo Niemi underlined that hate crimes and extremism have become “major threats to community safety and public security in Montreal,” saying it needs to be acknowledged in the policy. Leaving it out would send “a deplorable message of disrespect and dismissiveness to individuals, families, and communities in Montreal who have been badly hurt by hate.”

The original policy was adopted on August 14 by the Executive Committee, and was supposed to have been ratified – as is – the following week by Montreal City Council. In its original form, Niemi says, the policy listed just about every form of discrimination except antisemitism and Islamophobia, which Niemi says was “rather shocking.” Niemi could only speculate that it may well have been an oversight, or a deliberate omission to avoid controversy. Either way, CRARR and the other groups were calling on the city to “be explicit about these challenges.”

Then, at last Monday’s council meeting, opposition councillor Sonny Moroz (Snowdon District, CDN-NDG Borough) tabled a motion to include antisemitism, Islamophobia, hate crimes, and hate incidents in the policy.

Council voted in favour. It’s a major development, Niemi says, because “in the past there has always been some sort of pushback on the issue of antisemitism,” likely because of the difficulty, Niemi suggests, in defining it.

The currently-accepted definition of antisemitism is the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition. The federal and provincial governments have both adopted the definition, as has the CDN-NDG borough. The City of Montreal has not.

Moroz is on the Commission sur le développement social et la diversité. He says that every time they looked at the policy as it was taking shape, he noticed the “lack of a plan to deal with the rise of hate crimes and hate incidents,” a lack that had not been amended by the time it got to the Executive Committee. So, in council he suggested what he says are very simple amendments: Islamophobia, antisemitism, and all forms of discrimination based on religion. The amendments also include hate crimes and hate incidents.

“I was very pleased that when it came to the negotiation table at City Hall, that the person responsible for racism and discrimination, the mayor of Côtes des Neiges-NDG (Gracia Kasoki Katahwa), for the first time saw it in her benefit to include antisemitism in her plan.”

“We get to build on that,” Moroz says. “And we get to say that the City Council of Montreal unanimously agreed to this, which is something that I think is fantastic.”

Niemi agrees, saying “people have to understand the magnitude of the inclusion and the explicit recognition of these things that were finally integrated in the policy. Now,” he says, “no one can deny that these things exist. No one can trivialize them.”

CRARR has since written to Maty Diop, the City of Montreal’s new Commissioner for Fighting Racism and Systemic Discrimination. He would like to arrange a meeting with several groups present, including the Jewish community, “to talk about the need to have a united approach to tackle hate,” particularly for English-speaking communities. At the time of this writing, CRARR had not yet received a reply. n

Montreal expands hate crime definition Read More »

DocTocToc: Montreal’s new mobile pediatric clinic

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 25, 2025 / Dan Laxer, DocTocToc, Dr. Rislaine Benkelfat

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

It took some time to get DocTocToc rolling. But since July the mobile pediatric clinic has been providing low-income families who have children up to five years old with primary pediatric care.

The name is a play on words with the French expression “toc toc toc,” which is, of course, “knock knock knock” in English, and calls to mind the days when doctors made house calls. It may also remind younger parents of the TV show Toc Toc Toc, which ran on Radio Canada and Télé-Québec.

The clinic is a bus-turned-clinic with an examination room, an office, a bathroom, and a seating area. It travels throughout three – soon-to-be-four – boroughs seeing patients of up to five years old who are not being served by health and social services.

The project started to take shape in 2017, the brainchild of Montreal Children’s Hospital pediatrician Dr. Rislaine Benkelfat and Jean-Philippe Couture, a financial analyst specialized in public funding for nonprofit organizations.

The bus was inaugurated last March, started operations with the first test clinics in April, and then the official launch of the clinics on a regular basis ramping up in July.

Benkelfat is a tertiary care pediatrician, which is specialized care, meaning she sees patients with more complex issues. But she and her colleagues would also see primary care patients who would show up at the emergency room because they didn’t know where else to go, or because they couldn’t get access to a healthcare professional.

She would often treat kids “who presented late for issues that could have been dealt with way earlier and with probably better outcomes had they been known ahead.”

The idea behind DocTocToc is to democratize healthcare for young children, to break down the barriers to healthcare.

Benkelfat explains that DocTocToc meets families in the community to answer their basic needs, and then refers them to the healthcare professionals who can best meet their needs.

There are no doctors onboard the DocTocToc bus. There are nurses who do clinical assessments on a walk-in basis for both medical and psycho-social issues, and then help orient families to the appropriate resources in the community. They then help them navigate the system, even giving them the tools they need, and empowering them to seek health services on their own down the road.

At some point they will even start to offer vaccinations.

And DocTocToc comes to the patients. For the time being they’ve been rolling into Montreal-Nord, St. Laurent, and Ahuntsic, and soon they’ll include Cartierville. They find the patients rather than the patients having to seek them out, relying on their partners in community organizations who work with families who are newcomers, for example. They may also participate in community events and activities to let communities know that they are there. And potential patients know that the DocTocToc bus will be at a specific spot on a specific day.

Benkelfat says they may branch out into other boroughs, like CDN-NDG, one day. “Right now, we’re concentrating on consolidating what we’re doing in the northern part of Montreal,” she says, adding that at some point DocTocToc may branch out, or even inspire others to follow in the footsteps. Or their tire tracks.

Benkelfat says that the government has generally been supportive of DocTocToc as the model evolved. But that support, she says, has not been financial. n

DocTocToc: Montreal’s new mobile pediatric clinic Read More »

F.A.C.E. school’s new building lacks critical facilities

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 25, 2025 / Dan Laxer, F.A.C.E. Elementary School, Geneviève Gueritaud, renovations

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

The students of F.A.C.E. Elementary School, English and French sectors, started the year off in a new building at 4835 Christophe Colombe, with the French sector, overseen by the CSSDM, starting last week, and the English sector, overseen by the EMSB, this week.

In the spring the Quebec government decided that badly-needed renovations to the building that used to house the school — the old Montreal High School building on University Street — would prove too costly. The education ministry opted, instead, to separate the students, moving them to two different buildings (the high school students will actually stay in the building on University for the next few years until they move into the old Sun Youth/Baron Byng School building on St. Urbain).

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at about 9 a.m.

Parents of new students were excited to start the year. Some did have concerns about the tight one-way streets and the challenge of the morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up. For still others the morning and afternoon commute is longer and more difficult. But those whose children know the old building are somewhat disappointed, saying they’ll miss how the younger kids mixed with and learned from the older kids, and how well English and French blended in the old school. And there were kids who were excited to start school in the new building, but there were also those who expressed that they would miss the old building.

English Montreal School Board Chair Joe Ortona, who was on hand when the French sector started its year in the new building last week, spoke positively about the start to the year, but said he hopes the old building on University still has a future. In April Ortona and EMSB commissioner Maria Corsi had tabled a motion to save the school, calling on the CAQ government to honour its original commitment to the renovations.

At the time, Geneviève Gueritaud, a mom of F.A.C.E. students, told The Suburban that the new locations are inappropriate to the school’s arts-core education. They don’t have the facilities required, or the space, to accommodate its curriculum.

The new building also has no actual library. Instead, there are bookshelves in the corridor. There is also no cafeteria; students will be eating their lunch in the gym.

Proponents of the movement to save the old building on University say the movement is as strong as ever. They say it’s not just about saving the building, which has the facilities the school’s arts core curriculum requires, it’s also about preserving a community. n

F.A.C.E. school’s new building lacks critical facilities Read More »

Anti-semitic attacker sentenced to Pinel for 30 days

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 10, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Sergio Yanes Perciado

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Sergio Yanes Perciado appeared in court for the second time in two days, on Wednesday. The man who is accused of beating a Hassidic Jewish man in front of his three young daughters in Parc Extension last week, faced a charge of assault causing bodily harm.

His appearance at the Palais de Justice in courtroom 3.07 was by video link where Quebec Court Judge Martin Chalifour ordered him remanded to the Philippe-Pinel Institute for Forensic Psychiatry for a 30-day period.

He is due to appear in court again on September 12.

The accused was ordered to undergo a psychiatric assessment on Tuesday. However Judge Chalifour decided a full psychiatric evaluation was in order.

The victim’s brother-in-law, Zev Feldman, was also in court with several members of the victim’s friends, extended family, and community members. Feldman says they are satisfied with the ruling because it keeps the accused behind bars, and away from the victim and his family for now. “We hope that the judge will keep on sending messages that this is unacceptable.”

The psychiatric assessment is to see if Yanes Perciado is fit to stand trial. “He was fit enough to go to school, he was fit enough to be a soccer player, he should be fit enough,” Feldman said. “He was fit enough to attack a father in front of his three kids. He should be fit enough to stand trial.”

The family is not happy that, so far, there was no mention of the incident being deemed a hate crime, but they are still hoping the crown will upgrade the charges.

As is now well-known, Yanes Perciado attacked the victim in Dickie Moore Park in the Villeray-Saint-Michel-Parc-Extension borough. Police say he first threw water on the victim, and then pushed him to the ground, punched him several times, and kneed him, leaving him badly bruised with a broken nose.

His three daughters cried as they witnessed their father being beaten.

In a viral video of the incident, the attacker is then seen tossing what is believed to be the victim’s kippah into the water of a splash pad.

The victim’s name is still being kept private. In fact, Feldman refers to his brother-in-law as “the victim.” He is said to be doing better, physically, although emotionally he is still not himself.

The victim’s daughters are also said to be recovering. “But everybody can imagine what happens when a child sees it,” Feldman adds. “It’s going to take time.” n

Anti-semitic attacker sentenced to Pinel for 30 days Read More »

Blueberries thrive in Martin Luther King Park

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 10, 2025 / blueberry plants, CDN-NDG, Dan Laxer

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Residents of the Darlington district in the CDN-NDG borough may have noticed garden beds and planters, some containing blueberry plants, in Martin Luther King Park. In fact, when a reporter from The Suburban had gone to investigate reports of a homeless encampment in the park, there were workers from the borough installing the garden beds where blueberries and other produce were to be planted. There are several around the park’s baseball field, near the chalet, and in other locations.

And there are large pots also containing blueberries placed along the front face of the park’s chalet, where the homeless encampment was just a few weeks ago. As reported in The Suburban, the homeless people and their belongings had been moved after police and a social worker were called, and the pots were put in place shortly after.

The pots and garden beds are part of the borough’s Nourishing Community Development Plan, whose objective is to help fight food insecurity, “to facilitate access to healthy, local food, right in the communities where residents live,” foster food autonomy and socio-ecological resilience in the face of climate change, reduce the ecological footprint of the food system, and position the borough as proactive in promoting healthy lifestyles.

There are similar planters in other parts of the borough, such as Place Guillaume Couture, a parkette that was a point of contention for area residents when it was installed three years ago. Residents were upset about the short notice, and the loss of parking space and driving access to the streets on which they live.

Stephanie Valenzuela, Ensemble Montréal councillor for the Darlington district, is happy to see the planters in the park, but is also concerned about the homeless people that were there before. The pots being placed in front of the chalet, she says, is “clearly a measure that they put in place in order to remove the homeless encampment that had been there for quite some time.”

Valenzuela says that in the subsequent cleanup, city workers found old discarded syringes that had been tossed into the bushes. The homeless people that had been there before have not returned to the park. “But now they’re dispersed across the borough,” she says, “and we don’t have an idea of where they actually are.” Social workers are having a difficult time finding them. Valenzuela says she hasn’t heard complaints from her constituents of late because the cohabitation issue seems to have been taken care of. Until they actually find the homeless people that had taken up residence in the park, she says, she won’t know for sure if the problem has been solved in the way that she had hoped.

As for the blueberry plants, while they seem to be fine, at night, when there is no supervision, Valenzuela worries that there is no guarantee that they are safe from any kind of mischief. n

Blueberries thrive in Martin Luther King Park Read More »

Burgundy Lion gets rare apology from OQLF

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 10, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Pub Burgundy Lion, Toby Lyle

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

The Office québécois de la langue française has reversed its decision regarding the Pub Burgundy Lion, and has apologized, says co-owner Toby Lyle.

A breathless Lyle told The Suburban that he had just left the gym, where he did not have his phone, and found a flurry of emails, texts, and messages congratulating him. He got the good news last Thursday, two days after a language inspector had paid a visit to the pub.

Brigitte Hernando, the OQLF’s Director of Business Support and Partnerships, had emailed Lyle asking him to call her.

It has also put out a statement saying that the inspector who had visited the pub, telling Lyle that the word “Burgundy” was not French enough and would have to be changed had acted prematurely.

“This is a regrettable situation,” the OQLF said in an official statement, “and we are sensitive to the reactions it has generated, both from the company and the public.”

“The sign stays,” Lyle triumphantly told The Suburban. “Nothing changes.”

The OQLF statement affirms that the Pub Burgundy Lion sign “is compliant” after all. The inspector had also told him that certain whiskey designations would have to be changed. However, those, too, will be allowed to remain as they are.

“We will do everything possible,” the OQLF said, “to ensure that similar situations do not recur.”

Lyle tells The Suburban that whatever else had to be changed on the pub’s menu and website, which he had no problem with, were done immediately.

After the initial announcement that an OQLF inspector had been to the pub, ordering Lyle and his partners to change the name, a prankster had the pub listed as “Permanently Closed” on Google, which Lyle had remedied right away. He also said that some had posted one-star reviews in the aftermath of the OQLF visit. But it still has at least 4.4 stars at present.

The pub has been around just shy of eighteen years, “almost old enough to drink,” Lyle jokes. It is named for its neighbourhood – Little Burgundy, or Petite-Bourgogne. That would have been Lyle’s defense in the fight he promised to wage against the OQLF, the “Little Burgundy” is a place name used by residents for generations.

It was just the latest in a spate of business name changes in the wake of Bill 96 which saw businesses like Walmart and Canadian Tire spend tens of thousands to bring their outdoor signs to compliance.

“My issue with this case,” Lyle had written in a Facebook post after the language inspector’s visit, “is that it contributes to the increasing polarization of our city and our province.”

Earlier this week, the Coalition Avenir Quebec government suffered a serious setback when it lost the Arthabaska riding to the Parti Québécois in a byelection. Premier Francois Legault was scheduled to meet with his ministers on Thursday to discuss that apparent negative comments and feedback he and the party have gotten from people throughout the summer months. Before the scheduled meeting, Legault stepped out to meet citizens in Quebec City. n

Burgundy Lion gets rare apology from OQLF Read More »

Suspect arrested in Snowdon break-ins

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 10, 2025 / break-ins, Dan Laxer

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

The Suburban has reported on the recent rise in commercial break-ins in the CDN-NDG borough, particularly along Victoria Avenue, in the area between the Plamondon and Côte-Sainte-Catherine Métro stations. There were also break-ins reported in other parts of the borough, on Queen Mary Road and Décarie Blvd.Last week the police made an arrest.

A 44-year-old man – a resident of Montreal West – was picked up last Tuesday night around 11:30. He appeared in court the following day to answer several charges of break-and-enter, or in French, “effraction dans un endroit autre qu’une maison d’habitation.”

The addresses in each count correspond to Coco Café on Cote des Neiges and Mon Ami Express on Victoria Avenue. He was also charged with one count of attempted break-and-enter, and one count of breaking into a home on Décarie Blvd near Place Kenmore.

In each incident the accused committed or attempted to commit theft.

The crimes he is accused of all took place between July 25 and August 10.

SPVM spokesperson Melanie Bergeron told The Suburban that investigations into other break-ins are still underway, but she would not give specifics so as to not compromise investigations.

Police have stepped up patrols in the areas. Commandant Stéphane Rodrigue of SPVM Station 26 told The Suburban that the police are putting all their efforts into identifying and arresting suspects to “put an end to these break-ins.” n

Suspect arrested in Snowdon break-ins Read More »

Eight years of road closures for McTavish reservoir reconstruction

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 10, 2025 / Dan Laxer, McTavish reservoir, Parc Rutherford

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

The McTavish Reservoir and Pumping Station is in need of an upgrade. The good news is it’s getting that upgrade, starting this week. The bad news is that it could take eight years.

Some might joke that the reservoir surface – Parc Rutherford – looks like something out of Harry Potter book, a Quiddich field, perhaps. That’s because the reservoir, which holds 37 million gallons of water, is served by pump-houses that were built in a Châteauesque style, non unlike the Château Frontenac hotel in Quebec City, or the Château Laurier in Ottawa.

The pumping station was, according to the Ville de Montreal, built between 1928 and 1932. “Its aging equipment must be replaced to ensure the efficient distribution of drinking water.”

According to the city’s website, the work will include making the structure more earthquake resistant, and pumping equipment and water distribution pipes will be upgraded, along with the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. There will be some landscaping, architectural renovation – while preserving the station’s heritage character, and other work.

The work will require road closures in the area. In fact, the Ville-Marie borough announced last Friday that Docteur-Penfield Avenue is going to be closed from McTavish Street to Pine Avenue through to 2033. That is not a misprint. That’s eight years from now. There are signs, though.

One section of Pine Avenue West will have to accommodate two-way traffic between Docteur-Penfield and Peel. And there will be no parking on either street in the construction zone.

Pedestrians will still be able to access the McGill University campus, and McGill parking lots on McTavish will be accessible.

Work is scheduled from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, with some work to be done in the evenings and on weekends if necessary. n

Eight years of road closures for McTavish reservoir reconstruction Read More »

Futur Montreal has plan to fight hate-crime

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 10, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Futur Montréal, Joel DeBellefeuille, Sergio Yanes Preciado

by Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Two days after Sergio Yanes Preciado, the man accused of beating up a Hassidic Jewish man in Parc Extension, appeared in court to face charges of assault causing bodily harm, Montreal’s newest municipal party has pledged to do more to fight hate crimes and hate related incidents. Last Thursday the party announced a new AI-powered measure to target hate crimes.

Futur Montréal, which was founded by Joel DeBellefeuille and Matthew Kerr, and was granted official party status last month, recently unveiled Project Sentinel, which the party describes as “a comprehensive Anti-Hate Action Plan.”

DeBellefeuille says the party is the first in Montreal’s history to put such a plan forward. “This is bold, practical, and ready for immediate implementation,” he said. “It delivers real-time detection, instant action, and court-ready proof to tackle hate head-on.”

Project Sentinel will combine official SPVM definitions with rapid-response enforcement and AI-powered threat detection.

“If elected,” DeBellefeuille said, “Futur Montréal will launch Project Sentinel within our first 90 days in the boroughs hardest hit by hate. This is not a study,” he added, “or a promise for years down the road, it’s a detailed, action-ready plan to ensure hate has no safe space in our city.”

The idea is to dispatch Hate Crime Rapid Response Officers within minutes. The Hate Crime Rapid Response Officers would be equipped with secure municipal smartphones for encrypted photo, video, and audio capture. Evidence captured would be ready to be used in court.

The project also calls for a zero-tolerance hate by-law which would ban public displays of hate symbols, graffiti, as well as public intimidation toward protected groups, and for AI-powered monitoring of public online spaces for Montreal-specific threats.

It should be noted that Preciado has not been charged with a hate crime despite the community’s belief that the victim was indeed targeted because he is Jewish. And there were complaints that police did not arrive until an hour after calls were made to 9-1-1.

The party says Project Sentinel would be rolled out in phases, starting with a targeted pilot, scaling citywide once proven, and as the AI gets better at tracking evolving slang, coded hate speech, and emerging online platforms.

Futur Montreal has plan to fight hate-crime Read More »

SPVM charges anti-Israel agitator at Pride parade

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 10, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Joel Goldenberg, Pride Parade

By Joel Goldenberg and Dan Laxer
The Suburban

SPVM officers moved quickly to intervene after anti-Israel protesters at Sunday’s Pride Parade attempted to block the Jewish Pride group Ga’ava from proceeding along René Lévesque East.

The agitators began raising their signs and chanting at the corner of Sanguinet. Numerous officers raced to the protesters and kept them moving, lightly pushing one resister with a baton. We later overheard that a balloon with urine had been thrown by an agitator. SPVM spokesperson Jeanne Drouin told The Suburban that a 35-year-old woman was arrested at 3 p.m., but she could not confirm if the object containing the liquid was a balloon or something else, or if the liquid was urine as of Monday. Drouin said there may not be a need to analyze the liquid, as a charge would be armed assault in any case.

Ga’ava participants as well as CIJA Quebec vice-president Eta Yudin stayed well back of the agitators and away from a lone protester at the end of the parade route yelling in a deranged fashion, “free Palestine!” Notably along the route, most observers cheered Ga’ava as they passed by.

We heard that Ga’ava members were informed by police on Sunday morning that they would be there for the group in great numbers, and their quick efforts during the attempted disruption were greatly appreciated.

Carlos Godoy, president of Ga’ava, told The Suburban “LGBTQ+ Jews belong in all LGBTQIA2+ spaces, we belong in Quebec, in Montreal, in Canada, and LGBTQ Jews today walked in the Pride parade like we’ve done for the past 20 years.

“Attempting to blockade the parade by force and violence is not inclusion and not diversity either,” he added.

Yudin pointed out that 2025 was not the first year anti-Israel protesters tried to disrupt the parade.

“Pride organizers were ready, the police were ready and we saw how swiftly those who tried to disrupt the parade were escorted out,” she added. “That’s the kind of action we expect in Quebec as we all come together to protect our values and fight against hate.”

Otherwise, the parade seemed to go off without a hitch with several groups and floats making their way eastward from Metcalfe with no disruptions.

The controversy that had organizers Fierté Montréal in the spotlight over the past few weeks took a backseat to celebration. The organization made the announcement, last week – along with an apology – that Ga’ava, the Jewish gay group, and CIJA, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Afffairs, would be welcome in the parade after all.

Fierté Montréal had originally banned Ga’ava, the largest gay Jewish group in the country, after one complaint about allegedly politically-charged language. It had also banned the Iranian Montreal Rainbow Association. But there was a small group of revellers marching in the parade carrying a banner that read “Freedom For Iran.”

The group and its supporters were further back in the parade, proudly waving rainbow Israeli flags, with all manner of rainbow-coloured Stars of David on banners and t-shirts. Also marching with them was Snowdon councillor Sonny Moroz.

In terms of political parties, new Quebec Liberal leader Pablo Rodriguez marched with party members. There was also a group marching behind a rainbow-coloured federal Liberal banner and another with a Parti Québécois banner. Projet Montréal party leader Luc Rabouin was spotted marching in the parade along with CDN-NDG borough mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa and party supporters.

Following the parade, The Suburban saw that even a Beatle was not spared from anti-Israel rhetoric. A poster not far from the parade route promoting Paul McCartney’s upcoming Bell Centre concert was vandalized with a Hitler moustache on McCartney and the blood libel message “stop genocide now”. n

SPVM charges anti-Israel agitator at Pride parade Read More »

Cop arrests woman having a stroke while driving

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 9, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Neslyne Meus

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

The first moments of a stroke are crucial. In fact, the first 60 minutes are referred to in the medical field as the “golden hour,” when quick reaction and treatment greatly improve a patient’s chances of recovery.

In that crucial time after Neslyne Meus, an auxiliary nurse, suffered a stroke at the wheel of her car, she was arrested and handcuffed, her car searched and then impounded. Meus was then detained at the local police station (PDQ 100/ Centre Opérationnel Est) and accused of driving under the influence of drugs.

Meus is a Black woman. She feels that she was put through “a situation marked by unimaginable racism.” She and her family are taking legal action against the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), with the help of the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR).

“When the officers saw a Black woman clearly in distress,” Meus said, “they immediately associated me with drugs and illegality, without even having the basic common sense to ask what had happened or if I was okay. To the officers involved, my Black skin was a badge of criminality, and nothing more.”

Their “sheer incompetence and gross negligence,” she added, “could have cost me my life.”

The incident occurred last July 24 around 5 p.m. Meus was driving on Highway 40 near Anjou when she suddenly felt ill and lost control of her car, hitting a concrete barrier, which resulted in a flat tire. She had the presence of mind to drive to the parking lot of a nearby shopping mall, where three young men, also Black, stopped to check on her, offering to help change her tire.

Before they had a chance to do anything to help, four police officers arrived on the scene. The three young men watched helplessly as Meus was handcuffed and pressed up against a police cruiser while officers searched her car and asked if she had drugs on her.

Meus struggled to speak, explaining that she is a nurse. She told the officers that she was not feeling well, and that the handcuffs were hurting her wrists.

At the police station she was subjected to tests – a coordination test, a urine test, and a breath alcohol test for which she was required to inflate a balloon. At the station she had difficulty raising her arms – a symptom of stroke – and was unable to blow into the balloon.

When Meus’ husband, also an auxiliary nurse, arrived to pick her up from the police station five hours later, he recognized her symptoms and rushed her to the hospital.

Why did the police not?

“It is unthinkable in 2025, and even unacceptable, that police officers could be incapable, for hours, of recognizing the symptoms of a stroke,” said CRARR Executive Director Fo Niemi. The incident further illustrates “the urgent need to review police training on racial profiling and intervention with individuals experiencing medical emergencies.”

CRARR will be filing complaints on Meus’ behalf with the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission, and with the Police Ethics Commissioner.

“The credibility of the SPVM regarding diversity and anti-discrimination is at stake,” said Meus’ daughter, Victoria, who is also a nurse. “These officers and their supervisor must be held accountable for these blunders because I could have lost my mother.” n

Cop arrests woman having a stroke while driving Read More »

West Island Blues Festival packs Pine Beach Park

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 9, 2025 / Dan Laxer, West Island Blues Festival

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

The second leg of this year’s West Island Blues Festival, now in its 23rd year, drew an audience that packed Pine Beach Park in Dorval last Saturday night. Organizers could not have asked for better weather, considering that last year the skies unleashed rains and floods worthy of Led Zeppelin’s When the Levee Breaks.

But last Saturday, Dorval en Fête, which began at 10 a.m., blended seamlessly with the West Island Blues Festival at 3 p.m., and Dorval Mayor Marc Doret could not have been happier, taking in the music with his family for most of the evening.

The Daylight Vampires warmed up the crowd at 3 p.m., with Rachel Dara taking the stage soon after. Those who have attended the last three editions of the festival have seen Dara grow as an artist. She used to strum tunes on her guitar between acts. But Saturday was the first time she played her own set backed by a band. And she’s been watching her dream come true. She recalls sitting in her room playing her songs. “And now there’s people who know my words, and that’s the most insane feeling.”

The main show began in earnest just after 6 p.m. when Jah Cutta and Determination Band took the stage. The “ambassador of Canadian Reggae” has been at it for about four decades, which makes him a veritable Montreal legend. He roused the crowd to their feet with a combination of original songs and classic reggae covers, including some of the most familiar Bob Marley songs. He even had Dara come up on stage to join him for a couple of songs, and at one point he tossed the mic to Johnson to join in.

Then came Sylvie Desgroseilliers. She and her band blew the roof off of Pine Beach Park (or they would have if the park had had a roof). One of this city’s strongest vocalists, she was backed by a fantastic band. Halfway through her set, she and her band had to contend with hundreds of shadflies, moths, and other insects that had found their way into the stage lights. Still, they had the crowd by the lapels with songs like Etta James’ At Last, Aretha Franklin’s Respect and Chain of Fools, Tracy Chapman’s Give Me One Reason, and even Jeff Beck’s version of People Get Ready.

The night’s headliners, Montreal’s own Justin Saladino Band, braved the insects to set the stage on fire with Saladino’s blistering blues-rock guitar. Saladino reminisced about playing the festival as a 10-year-old whose parents cajoled organizers into putting him on stage. And there he was, all these years later, with three full-length albums and another on the way.

Johnson and co-founder Jim Beis – who is also the mayor of the Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough – seemed to take it all in stride, enjoying the event as much as the crowd did. But Johnson admitted to The Suburban how amazed he is at what the West Island Blues Festival has become, drawing audiences from all over Montreal and beyond to the West Island.

The festival also raised money, as always, to support West Island causes like the West Island Women’s Shelter, the West Island Black Community Association (WIBCA), Accompagnement Bénévole de l’Ouest (ABOVAS), the West Island Mission, and Literacy Unlimited.

The third leg of this year’s festival will be in Pointe Claire on September 6, with Dawn Tyler Watson, Steve Rowe, The Sugar Darlings, and others. n

West Island Blues Festival packs Pine Beach Park Read More »

Task Force granted SCC intervener status in Bill 21 case

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 9, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Task Force on Linguistic Policy

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

The Task Force on Linguistic Policy has been granted intervener status in the case against Bill 21 at the Supreme Court of Canada, The Suburban has learned.

The organization announced that it will be permitted to plead in the Supreme Court of Canada, in the Bill 21 case involving the English Montreal School Board and the Quebec government. No date has been set in the case, yet. But Task Force president Andrew Caddell will be there, along with other interveners.

“This will be one of the most important, if not the most important, cases before the Supreme Court,” says Task Force lawyer Michael Bergman. “This case will determine the definition, scope and application of the Notwithstanding Clause.”

The Task Force applied for intervener status in May. Its focus will be on the use of Section 33 of the Constitution, the Notwithstanding Clause which, the Task Force says, nullifies key sections of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms dealing with legal rights, equality rights, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly.

“Our case will challenge Section 33 in a way other interveners will not,” says Caddell. “We argue that rights are rights are rights,” he says, echoing the famous words of former politician Clifford Lincoln, “and were not nullified with the introduction of the Charter of Rights in 1982.” Bergman adds that “the Charter codifies rights, but we insist it cannot take them away. If the Notwithstanding Clause can arbitrarily cancel fundamental rights, then what remains of the Charter is a mere skeleton.”

The Task Force will be an intervener because this case affects its own challenge to Bill 96, which was submitted to Quebec Superior Court on May 31, 2023. Its case focuses on the existence of rights prior to the drafting of the Charter in 1982. Andrew Caddell notes, “the Task Force is concerned the Supreme Court will allow Section 33 to run roughshod over those rights. Hence, we must be present in the Bill 21 case.” n

Task Force granted SCC intervener status in Bill 21 case Read More »

NDG Tennis Club closed due to asbestos concern

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 9, 2025 / Dan Laxer, NDG Tennis Club

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

The NDG Tennis Club is one of several in the city that have closed temporarily in the past week due to the possibility of asbestos in the court surface materials.

The worry began after the City of Saint Sauveur found traces of asbestos in samples of the clay used in tennis court surfaces. However, it is important to note that samples taken from the actual tennis court contained no asbestos.

The clay in question is made with materials from Har-Tru, a company based in Troy, Virginia. According to its website, Har-Tru is made from billion-year-old Pre-Cambrian metabasalt, which is not known to contain asbestos, although a 2015 safety data sheet put out by the company does show trace amounts of asbestiform in the product.

The NDG Tennis Club has been closed by order of the City of Montreal (the club received notice of closure Monday evening). Club President Ghislain Lessard tells The Suburban that he does not know how long the club will be closed for, or if the city will be doing any testing or analysis of the its courts.

The Côte St. Luc tennis club also uses Har-Tru clay in its court surfaces. However, that club has not closed, but club officials say “the city is taking steps to determine” if the club can stay open.

In an email to The Suburban, a Har-Tru spokesperson says the company has received the results of testing done at the facility in Saint-Sauveur. The testing was done by Lab’Eau-Air-Sol, a testing facility in Joliette. “We are evaluating to determine if different quantification techniques would yield different conclusions in the testing process,” the company says. “We are also reviewing test protocols and results with consideration of the nuanced word differences between U.S. and Canadian standards.” It is also conducting its own set of independent tests on samples from its Canadian distributors.

While Har-Tru says it will look into a temporary hold on the import, sale, and use of its materials in Canada, the company stands by its product. “Har-Tru does not have a basis for concluding that our material does not meet the standards we publish on our U.S. based safety data sheet.”

“We are hopeful new testing, re-testing, and a collaborative process across the U.S./Canadian border will make this a brief disruption.”

NDG Tennis Club closed due to asbestos concern Read More »

Police increase presence to combat rise in Snowdon break-ins

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 9, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Montreal police

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Montreal Police have confirmed to The Suburban that there has been a marked rise in commercial break-ins in the Côte-des-Neiges area in the past several weeks. Store owners along Victoria, as well as parts of Queen Mary near Décarie, have reported being burgled since early June.

Police can’t say why there has been an increase, but they do want to reassure area merchants and residents that they are investigating, and increasing police presence in the area. “We are putting all efforts” into investigating the crimes, says Commandant Stéphane Rodrigue of SPVM Station 26, “to identify and arrest the perpetrators and put an end to these break-ins.”

Rodrigue tells The Suburban that the break-ins had all occurred during the night, after the stores were closed. He highlighted that fact in a bid to reassure area merchants of their safety, pointing out that there would have been no one in the establishments at the time the crimes were committed.

Several of the victims report similar stories – that the perpetrators had thrown a large rock through the front door or window of the establishments, breaking the glass, and entering.

Fiesta Filipino is one of several establishments that were broken into last week on Victoria Avenue. Owner Eduardo Vasquez tells The Suburban that thieves threw a rock through the glass of the front door, ran in, grabbed the cash register, and ran out. Usually, he says, they keep the cash drawer open as a deterrent, to show thieves that there is little cash to steal. But the speculation is that the thieves accidentally closed the drawer, and so stole the whole register. Vasquez says that according to security camera footage, the robbery took only a few seconds. Nothing else was stolen. And the only damage was the front door.

Vasquez says it’s scary that someone would do this. “We work so hard here. We are landed immigrants here. We are civilized people in this area.”

Ensemble Montreal borough councillors Stephanie Valenzuela (Darlington) and Sonny Moroz (Snowdon) had approached police with the concerns of their constituents who had reported break-ins. Rodrigue says he assured Valenzuela and Moroz that police presence would be increased in the area. There will be more officers on foot meeting and talking with merchants to answer their concerns, and to help them with prevention strategies, like making sure to install alarm systems and security cameras, and trying not to leave cash in the till overnight.

Officers from Station 26 also spoke with area merchants at a meeting organized with Rodrigue and with Valenzuela and Moroz.

Rodrigue acknowledges that there have been safety concerns among area residents going back to early spring. He says there had been a rise in what he refers to in French as “incivilités” around the area of the Côte-Sainte-Catherine metro station. By that he means people loitering, consuming cannabis, spray-painting graffiti. But there had been no reports of any crimes against the person, like muggings. Rodrigue says police had arrested several drug dealers in the area at the time, which, did lead to making the area safer. n

Police increase presence to combat rise in Snowdon break-ins Read More »

Jewish groups back in the Pride parade. Organizers apologize.

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 9, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Fierté Montréal, Pride parade.

by Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Fierté Montréal has reversed its decision excluding a Jewish LGBTQ+ group, along with the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) from this year’s Pride parade.

CIJA had met with organizers of the pride parade on Monday. In an email to The Suburban, CIJA said that Fierté Montréal “issued an apology to Jewish 2SLGBTQIA+ Quebecers and the broader Jewish community for a decision that was felt as a message of rejection. Following constructive dialogue,” CIJA said, “we accepted their apology.”

CIJA added that the original decision to exclude them and Ga’ava, Canada’s oldest and largest LGBTQ+ group, “should never have happened.”

Fierté Montréal made it clear in their conversation that it opposes antisemitism, and that it had no intention of excluding the Jewish community.

In its statement CIJA added, referring to the Israel-Gaza war, “While we hope for the safe return of the hostages and for peace, and while our hearts break with every civilian death, whether Israeli or Palestinian, the streets of Montréal must not become a stage for intimidation and we must reaffirm our shared commitment to defending 2SLGBTQIA+ rights and fight antisemitism in Quebec, in Canada, and around the world.”

Ga’ava President Carlos Godoy tells The Suburban that he is “extremely pleased that LFBTQ+ Jews can once again be their authentic selves in the Montreal Pride parade.”

The announcement came the day after Bernard Truong, the chair of the Pride Montreal board of directors, stepped down, allegedly for personal reasons, the organization said. It is alleged that several other board members had also stepped down because, Godoy speculates, “they could not tolerate the intolerable.”

“On Sunday, August 10, just like they have since 2007, the Jewish community and LGBTQ+ Jews will be walking in Montreal’s Pride parade. It will be doing it proudly as members of the Jewish community, as LGBTQ+ individuals, and we’re gonna make sure to bring our authentic selves with our cultural, historical, and spiritual selves to the beautiful parade,” Godoy said.

Jewish groups back in the Pride parade. Organizers apologize. Read More »

Premier Legault was not properly briefed says LaSalle College

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 9, 2025 / Claude Marchand, Dan Laxer, LaSalle College

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Claude Marchand says that “as ‘un p’tit gars de Laval,’” he absolutely feels betrayed by the Quebec government. The president and CEO of Lasalle College was born and raised in Ste. Dorothée. His father, Jacques, was the general manager before him. Marchand fils has been with the organization for the past sixteen years. The $30 million dollars in fines recently leveled at the college by the Coalition Avenir Quebec government falls on his shoulders.

Lasalle College received the notice from Pascale Déry’s Ministry of Higher Education, last week, about the total of the two fines it is now facing, stemming from what the government sees as a contravention of Law 14 (Bill 96).

The fines, Marchand says, constitute an existential threat to the college. “Which company or which institution could afford that?” Even when Bill 96 was in its infancy, Marchand tells The Suburban, the administration said the law would constitute a threat to the college.

“We told them they were killing us since day one.”

The law sets a cap on the number of students that can enroll in English programs in public CEGEPs and in institutions like Lasalle College, a subsidized private college.

In March of 2023, with enrollment for the school year already set, the government notified the college that they were going to be over the number of students allowed by the law by just over 700. Marchand said the college knew that, and had acknowledged as much “from the very beginning.” That garnered a fine of $8.78 million. Then, last October, enrollment was over by 1000, for which they were fined another $21.11 million.

Lasalle College does not have more students enrolled in English programs now than it did in 2019. But the law, as it stands, with its “mathematical formula,” Marchand says, puts that number over the limit.

The college had asked for a transition period so that they could reach full compliance. It took two years to readjust to the law, to get students already enrolled through to graduation, and then implement a moratorium on certain programs to ensure full compliance by next fall.

The government turned down that request.

Déry posted to her X account last Friday, responding to media reports about the situation. “LaSalle College is the only subsidized private institution that does not comply with the law and has defied the Charter of the French Language, despite close support and several warnings.”

French language minister Jean-Francois Roberge also took to X, echoing Déry’s post, saying “No one is above the law,” adding “We will stop at nothing to protect the French language.”

“Whatever Mme. Déry thinks we’re doing wrong,” Marchand says, “she’s missing the full point of our incredible contribution to (Quebec) society since 66 years.”

Lasalle College, Marchand says, is a success story that they have exported to the world. “We operate campuses in ten countries. So, we’re a true flagship for Quebec and Canada on five continents. And our biggest enemy,” he says, “is our Quebec government.”

Premier Francois Legault, Marchand says, “speaks a lot about external threats south of the border, but what’s the rationale by fining his own success story here in Quebec?” There’s no valid reason, he says. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

The Association des collèges privés du Québec (ACPQ) has since released a statement in support of Lasalle College. “During consultations surrounding Bill 96, the ACPQ had already recommended a gradual implementation of the new measures,” the statement says. “The penalty system as proposed is applied unfairly and excessively.” The organization has called on the Legault government to implement a more “reasonable, fair, and realistic solution to avoid irreversible consequences for LaSalle College and all of its students.”

The college had filed suit with Quebec superior court to fight the $8.78 million fine, but says it will add the second fine to the lawsuit.

“My best guess is that the prime minister Legault, as an entrepreneur, was not properly briefed” on the matter. And that is the college’s objective, Marchand says, to open a dialogue with the government in the hopes that “le gros bon sens,” common sense, prevails. n

Premier Legault was not properly briefed says LaSalle College Read More »

Gallery, Casgrain run for Westmount mayoralty

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 9, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Mary Gallery, Westmount

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Westmount City Councillor Mary Gallery (District 6) has announced that she will be running for mayor in the next municipal election to replace Christina Smith, who announced in January that she would not be seeking another term.

Gallery has been on Westmount City Council for two terms. She said she decided to run “because I care deeply about the future of Westmount. I want to continue the work of protecting, preserving, and improving our community. This city deserves thoughtful, civic-minded leadership — leadership grounded in experience, integrity, and a deep understanding of what makes Westmount so special.”

Her key platform priorities include: strategic budgeting that balances fiscal responsibility with high-quality services; programs that support families, youth, and seniors at every stage of life; infrastructure renewal and “smart city” technologies that improve quality of life and revitalization of the southeast sector, grounded in careful planning and open dialogue.

Gallery says her campaign will focus on responsive governance, responsible budgeting and inclusive, community engagement.

“Westmount is one of the most remarkable communities in Canada,” said Gallery. “We have a responsibility to protect what makes it exceptional — our people, heritage, and character — while planning wisely for the future. I’m committed to working with residents, city staff, and fellow councillors to ensure Westmount remains a vibrant, responsive, and resilient city for generations to come.”

Gallery is the daughter of the late Brian O’Neill Gallery, who served as Mayor from 1983 to 1987. She has been immersed in civic life for decades. Her full platform will be released in the coming weeks.

Also running is Lynne Casgrain, a lawyer and the former ombudsman of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). Casgrain says she has a number of concerns with decisions made by the current administration, including reducing garbage collection to once every two weeks.

And there is also the redevelopment plan for the city’s southeast sector. As reported in The Suburban recently, the City of Westmount is going to great lengths to show residents the merits of the redevelopment plan. For Casgrain the project misses the mark. What bothers her the most is what she sees as the lack of consultation on the project. She would want her administration, should she be elected, to be more inclusive of resident input. n

Gallery, Casgrain run for Westmount mayoralty Read More »

Darlington residents concerned about homeless encampment in MLK park

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 9, 2025 / Dan Laxer, homeless encampment, Martin Luther King Park

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Yet another complaint about a homeless encampment in Martin Luther King Park prompted a visit to the park by The Suburban, a visit which showed that the situation is much the same as it was two to three years ago.

Monday, July 7, Darlington district resident George Christianis brought his concerns, as he has done before, to the CDN-NDG borough council meeting. “There is once again a huge homeless encampment at the chalet at MLK Park,” Christianis said, addressing council. Christianis said he’d been making the same demand of the Projet Montréal administration since 2022 – to not allow homeless people in the park, something that borough mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa said they cannot do.

Image: Darlington residents still concerned about homeless encampment in MLK park

“This location at the park has become a dangerous environment,” Christianis said. “I’m afraid for the safety of the children who play there. Every time I bring the subject up to the mayor, she says that the homeless are human beings and they need a place to stay. I fully agree with her. But they should not be living at a park beside a children’s playground.”

The following Tuesday morning there were indeed three homeless people sitting outside the chalet amid their belongings – blankets and pillows, sleeping bags, stacked plastic chairs, mattresses, milk crates, clothing, shopping bags, and a shisha pipe.

There were two Montreal police officers at the scene who had ostensibly been called to the park by a city worker who was also onsite. The two constables, who asked that their names not be used, told The Suburban that homeless people have been squatting in Martin Luther King Park for years, at least since the pandemic.

Stephanie Valenzuela, the Ensemble Montréal councillor for Darlington, says that her constituents have routinely complained to her about the situation in Martin Luther King Park, not just about homeless encampments, but about garbage. A short distance away from the chalet is another structure behind which is strewn refuse – garbage bins, an old dresser, clothes, discarded food containers, and other trash piled behind one single metal barrier placed there, presumably, by the borough.

As Christianis pointed out, there is a splash pad, playground, and swimming pool adjacent to the chalet. The two SPVM constables said that having the homeless people in the park is a problem for the children who play there, echoing Christianis’ concerns.

Responding to Christianis, Kasoki Katahwa said she sympathizes, and agrees that the problem is a difficult one. “But, again, every year I need to share with you what we are doing – not only the borough, but the community organizations and the SPVM.”

“We have a certain type of cohabitation in the park,” Kasoki Katahwa added. “Because, again, I need to repeat that a park is a public space.” Authorities can’t simply go in and tell the homeless that they can’t be there, she said. The best they can do, she added, is to make sure they don’t leave their stuff lying around.

She mentioned the modular homes installed at the Hippodrome site, and the city’s year-round warming shelters as alternatives available to the homeless, but admitted that it’s not a perfect solution.

The officers said that there are places other than the park where homeless people can go. He indicated Multicaf, which is just across the street from the park on the Appleton side. In fact, while there last Tuesday morning the officers did indeed call Multicaf who sent over an external social worker. He had a quick word with the three people sitting outside the chalet, after which they began to pack up. Where they’d planned to go is not known.

On Wednesday a line of large flower pots had been placed where the encampment had been. n

Darlington residents concerned about homeless encampment in MLK park Read More »

Executive committee member says city’s noise bylaws need reform

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 9, 2025 / Dan Laxer, La Tulipe, Montreal, noise bylaws

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

La Tulipe, Le Divan Orange, Diving Bell Social Club, and Champs Sports Bar are just a few Montreal venues that have had to close, either permanently or temporarily, due to noise complaints. Le Divan Orange, in fact, closed in 2017. That was the same year that Mayor Valérie Plante had made a campaign promise to table a policy on the issue.

Now the city of Montreal says its noise regulations are due for an upgrade.

The Projet Montréal administration did put out a nightlife policy at the beginning of this year, as reported in The Suburban. The goal was to fund the work necessary for venues with less than 3,000 spaces to comply with noise regulations.

But Ericka Alneus, a Plateau Mont Royal borough councillor, and Executive Committee member responsible for culture, says the city’s noise regulations, which date back to 1977, are old and in need of an update.

The venues mentioned all happen to be in the Plateau Mont Royal borough. At last week’s borough council meeting a draft bylaw was tabled specifically dealing with noise regulations and how they affect venues in the area, as well as people who live in the borough. The bylaw is actually based on a pilot project conducted in the city last year, along with consultations with sound engineers, various departments of the borough, and business and residents who would be impacted by proposed changes.

The borough would be using a measurement protocol, recognized internationally for some time, called “spectral emergence,” which measures the ambient and residual noise levels of a particular venue as compared with the normal sound levels of an urban environment. The comparison takes into account the noise levels during a venue’s operating hours – 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., and non-operating hours – 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. It is a more accurate way to measure the actual impact of noise in a neighbourhood.

The regulations don’t only apply to show bars. They will also apply to other establishments, including reception rooms and dance halls, recreational gaming establishments, and community or socio-cultural activities. The rules prohibit noise of specific decibel levels in residential areas where it might affect bedrooms and other interior spaces, and even balconies and courtyards.

The borough is working with the SPVM on the best way to enforce compliance. But the police do indeed retain the power to intervene in the event of complaints of excessive noise. The city has said that it will provide funding “to support institutions in this transition” for things like soundproofing work. Non-compliance, however, could lead to the imposition of fines of up to $20,000.

LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK: A municipal election is just months away. If you were the mayor, either of the city or of a borough, and had to make a decision that would please all concerned, would you: 1 – Extend venues’ operating hours, the hours during which they can present live music, to midnight? 2 – Cut their operating hours to 10:00 p.m.? 3 – Have the venues and nearby residential buildings install noise-cancelling insulation in the walls of clubs and adjacent buildings at their expense? 4 – Compensate both for installing noise cancelling insulation? 5 – mandate maximum decibel levels? n

Executive committee member says city’s noise bylaws need reform Read More »

Bomb threats at Trudeau airport cause flight delays

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 9, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Trudeau Airport

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

A tense morning Thursday at Trudeau Airport saw a return to normal in a few hours after several bomb threats called into the control towers were investigated.

The threats affected Nav Canada facilities at other airports including Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, and Edmonton.

The Nav Canada Air Traffic Control tower at Trudeau was briefly evacuated around 6:45 Thursday morning, causing slight delays on some flights, and even some cancellations. But things returned to normal by around 8 a.m.

A statement posted to Nav Canada’s X account said “Early this morning, NAV CANADA was made aware of bomb threats affecting facilities in Ottawa, Montreal, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver. Employees at impacted locations are safe, and a temporary ground stop has been implemented at the affected airports.”

The Sûreté du Québec were called to the scene, and travellers were being urged to check flight information.

“Following this morning’s security threat at multiple NAV CANADA sites,” read Nav Canada’s official statement, posted to its X account just before 11 a.m., “all operations have now returned to normal. Travellers are encouraged to check directly with their airlines for the latest updates, as delays may still occur.”

Nav Canada would not confirm details about the bomb threats.

“In the interest of security protocols, we cannot disclose the specific nature of the threat. However, we will continue to work closely with authorities as the investigation progresses.” n

Bomb threats at Trudeau airport cause flight delays Read More »

Royal Vale gym teacher awarded King Charles III medal

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 9, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Norman Katz, Royal Vale School

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Royal Vale School gym teacher Norman Katz was awarded the King Charles III Medal for his implementation of the Jump Rope for Heart event benefitting the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

The foundation let him know last November that they wanted to nominate him. He learned soon after that he was going to be one of the recipients.

Katz has been a gym teacher for upwards of 25 years, with a short break, for a time, as a tennis coach at a private club. Even as a private tennis coach he taught after school tennis programs. “I never really wanted to let go of schooling.” He taught at Nesbitt School in the east end, at Carlyle Elementary in TMR, and at Merton School in Cote St. Luc. He brought the Jump Rope for Heart program to Royal Vale when he started there 22 years ago.

Katz says he’s very humbled by the medal. “It’s a beautiful way of acknowledging all the great things we do with the Heart and Stroke Foundation.”

He was born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and studied education at Dalhousie University. He always knew he was going to be a gym teacher because he has always led an active, healthy life himself. But whatever discipline one teaches, he says, is only one part of a kid’s education. “You’re a teacher first,” he says. He might talk with the kids in gym about politeness, or teach them about sharing and giving to others, and they might wonder what that has to do with physical education. You teach the whole child, he says, whether it’s math, science, or physical education. “Health and being active is my thing, but we also need to understand all the other things.”

Katz is very proud of the other activities he leads at Royal Vale to promote healthy, active living, like Bike for Fun Day, Swim to Survive, skating, tennis, and other activities. But he singles out activities like Jump Rope for Heart, and their Terry Fox Day activities as promoting a healthy lifestyle while learning that it’s important to help others, “teaching life through phys. ed.”

“I’m very proud to be honoured with this,” Katz says. “I’m quite humbled, very proud, proud for myself, proud for the school, proud of my family.

“When you work hard,” he adds, “sometimes good things happen.” n

Royal Vale gym teacher awarded King Charles III medal Read More »

City marks Canada Day with festive walk to Old Port

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 9, 2025 / Canada Day, Dan Laxer

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

There was no parade to be rained on, this year. As reported in The Suburban, for the second year in a row, the traditional Canada Day Parade was cancelled at the last minute. But the City of Montreal did indeed mark the day’s activities in the Old Port.

The threatened rain and thunder storms made no appearance. In fact, despite weather forecasts, Canada Day in Montreal turned out to be a hot, bright, sunny day with just a few clouds. Either way, the day was advertised as taking place “rain or shine.” And Montrealers showed up in droves.

City of Montreal celebrations were centred in the Old Port, but began with the first ever “Festive Walk.” The nearly one-and-a-half kilometre walk had hundreds of participants. It was led by the Urban Science Brass Band – from Place d’Armes across from the Notre Dame Basilica through the streets of Old Montreal, and on to the Quai de l’Horloge where three Canadian Armed Forces cannons performed a 21-gun salute; each cannon fired off individual rounds in turn, which took about 45 minutes to complete.

Activities were much the same as in communities all over the island, with face-painting, inflatables, and games, and the citizenship ceremony for new Canadians.

City marks Canada Day with festive walk to Old Port Read More »

Memories of the Peel Pub as it closes after 60 years

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 9, 2025 / Dan Laxer

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

The notice taped to the door of the Peel Pub, from Arthur Blumer and Associés Inc, Licensed Insolvency Trustees, read “In the matter of the bankruptcy of 9193-1634 Quebec Inc., “Peel Pub.” The classic beer hall style bar has been shut down after more than sixty years as a fixture of Montreal nightlife.

Citing Article 203 of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the notice warns anyone removing anything from the premises for thirty days could face fines of up to $5,000 or up to two years in jail, or both.

The notice was posted on June 20, taking clients and even staff by surprise. Many heard about the closure via a post from Erik Intrevado, who ran an open mic comedy night at the pub.

“While there were signs of the venue struggling over the last several years, we did not believe it would happen overnight like this.” The post cites “numerous setbacks” the pub apparently suffered recently.

Intrevado writes that his sister had been one of the servers at Peel Pub, and is now out of a job, like so many others. And, since the bankruptcy notice warns against entering the pub and removing anything from the premises, Intrevado is barred, for now, from retrieving the sound equipment he used for his comedy nights.

Sami Jmaiel’s LinkedIn page still lists him as the owner of the pub, but not much else is know about him. Some staffers suggest there had been issues with payment since Covid, with one saying she hadn’t been given her tips since last February.

Peel Pub had been a Montreal landmark since 1962. Locations other than the original on Peel and Ste. Catherine have come and gone. But Montrealers have been sharing memories, mostly of colleges days – and nights – spent at Peel Pub.

Ajay Pakgarkar remembers almost getting into a fight at the Peel Pub in his “early teens” when he and a friend, playing a game involving quarters and pitchers of beer, managed to trick two others into paying for the pitchers once too often.

Susan Alper tells The Suburban that Thursday nights were best. “The food at the action was always upbeat and the crowd was amazing. I know many people that met their match there, too.”

Wayne Larsen, who is a retired journalism professor, worked there in 1987 when things at Peel Pub were clearly better than they’d been of late. “The money was obscene,” he says. “At lunchtime, the lineup went up the stairs and onto the street. I would help Yves, the manager, serve glasses of free beer to those in line.” n

Memories of the Peel Pub as it closes after 60 years Read More »

Schwartz’s Deli enters the Michelin Guide

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 4, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Frank Silva, Michelin Guide, Schwartz’s

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Frank Silva, the soon-to-be 63-year-old general manager of Schwartz’s, let The Suburban know that he’ll soon be capping his 45-year career at the legendary deli. So the restaurant that he’s managed for nearly two decades being entered into the Michelin Guide “is a nice little souvenir for me.”

Silva started as a bus boy, moving up to waiter, then counter-man, and then eventually general manager. Mayor Valérie Plante was supposed to pop in to see Silva, and to present him with a plaque, last Friday after 5 p.m. But Silva said he wouldn’t be there. The man works Monday through Friday from around 5:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. “My days are long. Come Friday around 3 I’m outta here,” he told The Suburban. “Nobody’s gonna keep me here.”

Needless to say, Plante didn’t end up going to Schwartz’s. But someone from her office left the plaque with the assistant manager.

Did Montrealers really need for Schwartz’s to be listed in the Michelin Guide? Probably not. But it is nice to know that one of Montreal’s longest-standing culinary landmarks – a sacred spot that even Montrealers make regular pilgrimage to – is recognized as such by so august an institution as the Michelin Guide.

Last month it was announced that three Montreal gourmet eateries were given one star each by the new Quebec edition of the vaunted restaurant guide, Jérôme Ferrer– Europea, Mastard, and Sabayon.

But Schwartz’s Deli – officially Charcuterie Hebraique de Montréal Inc. – was put on a lengthy list of “selected restaurants,” a list of recommendations that includes worldclass gourmet spots like Au Pied du Cochon, Joe Beef, and Toqué!

Schwartz’s is only 28 years younger than the Michelin Guide as we know it. It started as a marketing gimmick by the 136-year-old tire company, a free booklet for drivers in France, listing things one might need on a road trip, like a mechanic, a hotel, or a gas station. They soon added versions for Belgium, Algeria, Tunisia, and others. By 1920 they started adding restaurants.

Eight years later Reuben Schwartz, a Romanian Montrealer who, according to legend, was a cantankerous, womanizing drinker, founded the deli. Not the oldest in the city, but certainly the most well-known.

The deli has changed hands several times in its 97 years. Current co-owners are the Nakis family and the Angélil-Dion family. Little else has changed about Schwartz’s, except, perhaps, the prices.

Silva can add this to the growing list of honours he and Schwartz’s have received over the years, being featured on TV shows Somebody Feed Phil, Anthony Bourdain’s The Layover, The Rachael Ray Show, the Garry Beitel film Chez Schwartz, Bowser & Blue’s Schwartz: The Musical, and Bill Brownstein’s book Schwartz’s Hebrew Delicatessen. “But this, I think, takes the cake,” he says.

Silva turns 63 later this year. He says he’ll see the restaurant through to its centenary, and then “maybe” retired after that. n

Schwartz’s Deli enters the Michelin Guide Read More »

Ministry report calls for stricter religious neutrality at Dawson and Vanier

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 4, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Dawson College, Vanier College

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Last Friday the Quebec government released its report following an investigation into tensions among Jewish and Muslim students in CEGEPs, specifically Dawson College and Vanier College, in the wake of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, and the subsequent war in Gaza.

The report says that among the problems causing tensions are prayer rooms and other “accommodations” that have no place in public institutions, according to Bill 21, the province’s laicity law. Dawson, the report points out, has had a prayer room for about 15 years, “used exclusively by Muslim students.” Last November Jewish students had asked that they, too, have access to a prayer room. The report says that a room is currently being renovated “to respect Jewish religious obligations.”

Vanier also has a room for Muslim prayer, where a sink was installed for ablutions, and a curtain to separate men and women, which Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry says is not considered normal in Quebec’s public institutions.

“Some institutions have tried to find ways to promote coexistence,” the report says. But “this only fuels a climate of radicalization, community withdrawal, and mutual mistrust within the CEGEP.” The report singles out “various clubs, including the Muslim Students Association (Dawson and Vanier) and the Ardouna Palestinian Association (Vanier).”

The report also notes the sale and use on campus of keffiyehs is solidarity with the Palestinian cause, some course content, articles published in the student newspaper The Plant, and references to genocide in Gaza – which the report puts in quotation marks – as contributing to the tensions on campus.

Déry says the CEGEPs have not properly dealt with the situation, and suggests that further action on the part of the government could become necessary.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) said in a statement that it will be going through the report in detail, but at first glance, it says, the report “confirms the fears we’ve been expressing over the past 20 months of a toxic climate of radicalization and destruction of living together as a result, among other things, of the hateful behaviour of student associations overstepping their constitutions and as a result of politically oriented courses going beyond departmental responsibilities.”

The report says “the institutions have neither the authority nor the leverage to intervene in problematic situations involving student associations or clubs and, where appropriate, to sanction or even ban them.” Hence, the recommendation in the report is that the government do more, perhaps reviewing laws governing academic freedom and those student clubs and associations.

CIJA notes that the investigation was “triggered following reports of multiple antisemitic and hateful behaviours,” and calls on the government to take swift action. “School authorities and the government have a duty to ensure that hatred and antisemitism are kept off campus. It’s in the best interests of young people and all Quebecers.”

Late Friday afternoon Dawson and Vanier released a joint statement. They expressed surprise that the report had been shared with the media before it had been sent to the institutions. But they were pleased that “it confirms that both our institutions identify and address problems in a timely and fair manner and that we offer various services to prevent, detect, and correct problematic situations when they arise.” The statement highlights the two schools’ “commitment to provide a safe environment where differences can be expressed freely, in a spirit of inclusion and dialogue.”

Two of the report’s four recommendations fall under the schools’ purview. Hence, “Dawson College will review the recommendation that a faculty member be included on the editorial board of The Plant newspaper. This practice had been previously discontinued at the request of the student association at the time.” And Vanier says it “welcomes the recommendation concerning procedures for selecting speakers and themes for events and is committed to its implementation.” n

Ministry report calls for stricter religious neutrality at Dawson and Vanier Read More »

Second drowning at Verdun Beach

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 4, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Quebec Coroner’s office, Verdun Beach

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

The Quebec Coroner’s office is now investigating after police found the body of a man who had gone missing at Verdun Beach. This is now the second death at Verdun Beach in just under a month.

Another man, 20 years old, went missing in the same area on June 7. The man found last week, whose identity has been withheld, was also said to be in his 20s.

“There is nothing sadder in my role as mayor than announcing a drowning,” Verdun Mayor Marie-Andrée Mauger said as she offered her condolences to the victim’s loved ones.

Both men were said to have been swimming outside the beach’s designated swimming area. Mauger urged beach users to exercise caution. “Verdun has 15 km of public shoreline; it will never be possible to control all the comings and goings.”

Last Monday and Tuesday were two of the season’s hottest, with many people taking to the beach to keep cool. The beach was closed while police were investigating.

“The weather is nice and warm, the beach is crowded,” she added, “but let’s remember that outside the supervised swimming area, the river is very dangerous and swimming conditions are very risky.”

Police searched for the latest victim for hours with the assistance of the Montreal fire department and the Canada Coast Guard. The man was found and pronounced dead at the scene.

Police say the death was accidental. But the coroner is investigating both deaths to try to determine the circumstances behind each. n

Second drowning at Verdun Beach Read More »

Suspect in CDN-NDG stabbing death arrested in Niagara Falls

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 4, 2025 / 16-year-old, Dan Laxer, Niagara Falls.

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

A stabbing death last April in CDN-NDG has led to an arrest in Niagara Falls.

As reported then in The Suburban, on the 15th of the month police received reports of an alleged stabbing at the corner of Barclay and Victoria in Côte-des-Neiges. When police arrived on the scene, they found a 16-year-old with severe injuries to his abdominal area. At the time he was conscious.

He was rushed to hospital, losing consciousness in the ambulance. He was pronounced dead the following morning, making it then the eighth homicide of the year in Montreal.

In May a Canada-wide arrested warrant was issued for the suspect who had fled the scene before police arrived. The SPVM Special Crimes Section conducted a search, which led to the Niagara Falls area.

The 17-year-old suspect was arrested with the help of the Niagara Regional Police Service’s homicide unit, and has beenbrought back to Montreal with the help of the RCMP.

The suspect will be tried on one count of manslaughter. n

Suspect in CDN-NDG stabbing death arrested in Niagara Falls Read More »

New Quebec education cuts are “unacceptable and reckless”

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 4, 2025 / Coalition Avenir Québec Education, Dan Laxer, Quebec English School Boards Association

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

The Quebec English School Boards Association is “astounded, outraged and deeply alarmed” by the latest Quebec government cuts to education.

Earlier this month the Coalition Avenir Québec Education Ministry announced another $570 million in cuts, which is in addition to the $200 million it had announced in the fall.

On top of that, school boards and service centres have been told that they are not permitted to use any existing surplus or run a deficit to cover costs.

“This government is expecting us to make these astronomical cuts on the backs of our students, which is completely unacceptable,” said QESBA President Joe Ortona. “These reckless decisions will have devastating and long-term consequences for an entire generation of students,” added Ortona, who is also the Chair of the English Montreal School Board. He describes the cuts, and the way in which the news had been imposed upon schools, as “a direct assault on the viability of our public education system.”

In a statement, the QESBA is,“…calling on all partners in education, parents, and community members to stand united against these cuts. The future of our children and the strength of our democratic institutions depend on a robust, equitable, and properly funded public education system.”

A statement by English Parents’ Committee Association president Katherine Korakakis echoes Ortona’s. Korakakis is asking the public to sign a petition calling on the CAQ government not to proceed with the budget cuts.

Ortona decries the lack of consultation and the negative impact the cuts are likely to have on students. Korakakis says the cuts will “fall hardest on students who rely on speech therapists, psychologists, or special education teachers to help them learn and thrive.” n

New Quebec education cuts are “unacceptable and reckless” Read More »

NDG incident highlights need for air conditioners in seniors residences

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 4, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Vigi Santé

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Last week’s heat wave broke daytime records. Yet for all the warnings issued by the government and medical professionals, particularly for senior citizens, reports surfaced about seniors’ residences that had no air conditioning, with many reaching indoor temperatures of 30 degrees, as was apparently the case with the CHSLD Vigi Reine-Elizabeth in NDG.

Vigi Santé is a family-owned business that administers 15 CHSLDs in Quebec, including the Reine-Elizabeth. The facility has already been the subject of complaints going back to an outbreak of Covid-19 in November 2021. The following year there were reports of inadequate care, prompting an external investigation launched by the Quebec government.

In an email to The Suburban, Vigi Santé spokesperson Hélène Beauséjour addressed the situation that occurred last June 24, saying all “authorized” air conditioners were functioning. However she did confirm that residents’ rooms are not connected to the central air-conditioning system, that the building on Northcliffe Ave, like many others in the network, is too old for that. Limited electrical capacity also does not allow for individual units to be installed “without major adaptations.”

Matt Del Vecchio is the owner of Lianas Transition Support and Premier Home Care. He tells The Suburban that when families are looking for residences for their aging parents, air conditioning is not necessarily top of mind. But the system here in Quebec doesn’t make the problem easy to solve. Quebec should be more like Ontario, Del Vecchio says, where air conditioning in seniors’ residence rooms is mandated by law. In fact, in Ontario just over 99 percent of seniors’ residences have air conditioning in the rooms. Conversely, in Quebec, as of 2023, only about 60 percent of seniors’ residence rooms are air conditioned.

That is not to say that in Quebec seniors can’t have air conditioning. Del Vecchio, who also writes the Seniors and Aging column for The Suburban, explains that if a CHSLD resident requests an air conditioner for their room, the facility has to provide and install one at no charge. However, echoing Beauséjour’s explanations, he says that some facilities are too old and might not have the electrical capability to accommodate individual air conditioners. And even if they do, residents and their families might not think about it until a heat wave kicks in.

Beauséjour confirmed that “all residents of the 15 Vigi CHSLDs who wished to have an air conditioning unit in their room were able to benefit from one: these units were all installed by our technical department,” she said, “as early as May. It is truly the personal choice of each resident that dictates the installation (or not) of air conditioning in each room.”

As for the sweltering heat on June 24, Beauséjour said that the temperature in the facility’s cooling islands ranged between 22 and 24 degrees. There was, she admits, a temporary outage of the central air conditioning system “causing a slight decrease in its efficiency.” But the situation, she says, was quickly resolved.

“We need to advocate for air conditioning in residents’ rooms,” Del Vecchio says, adding that it should be considered as important as sprinkler systems. It is indeed an expensive prospect. Del Vecchio speculates that the expense is what’s holding the government back. But with the climate change reality in Montreal, and the population aging, says Del Vecchio, this is a problem that needs investment. n

NDG incident highlights need for air conditioners in seniors residences Read More »

CDN-NDG council passes motion that Canada chair the IHRA

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 4, 2025 / Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough council, Dan Laxer, Sonny Moroz

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Sonny Moroz, the Ensemble Montréal councillor for the Snowdon district, put forth a motion at the recent Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough council meeting, calling on Canada to seek the presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). The motion was supported by Darlington councillor Stephanie Valenzuela. The motion passed unanimously with one noted absence.

As reported in The Suburban last March, United Against Hate Canada (UAH) addressed a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney. With the IHRA plenary session in Jerusalem coming up on June 23, the letter asks Carney “to mandate our delegation to alert the plenary of Canada’s desire to seek the Presidency of IHRA for 2027 or 2028.”

IHRA is an intergovernmental organization with 35 Member Countries, including Canada, and eight Observer Countries. Its mandate is to strengthen, advance and promote Holocaust education, remembrance, and research, based on the 2000 Stockholm Declaration.

Marvin Rotrand of UAH says that having the presidency will give Canada “access to information, scholarship, tools that are effective in educating civil servants, law enforcement, decision makers about what is antisemitism, and how we can fight it.” The United Kingdom held the presidency in 2024, and has said said that it helped in developing its national strategy on antisemitism.

“We strongly believe,” the UAH letter reads, “that having Canada act as Chair will aid stakeholders in our country to significantly advance Holocaust remembrance, combat Holocaust denial and distortion while building effective tools to blunt the unprecedented wave of hate targeting Jews in Canada.”

The UAH letter is signed by 135 elected officials, academics, spiritual and community leaders. There were also letters of support from Rabbi Alan Bright of the Shaare Zedek Congregation, Kyle Matthews of the Montreal Institute for Global Security, and the Jewish Community Council.

Cote des Neiges councillor Magda Popeanu was not present for the second portion of the meeting and so could not vote on any of the motions put forth. “It was not an abstention,” Loyola councillor Despina Sourias said to The Suburban, explaining that Popeanu was called away to see to her mother, who is ill.

However, Popeanu’s absence was noted because she had indeed abstained in 2021, when the borough voted on the motion to accept the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

That definition played a part in getting the motion passed, as council agreed to support the motion if it made clear that criticism of Israel does not constitute antisemitism. It was unclear why council wanted the addition, given that it is already part of the IHRA definition. Council insisted on the clarification, Sourias said, because the definition was part of the motion. For his part, Moroz was willing to make changes “to find at least common language that we’re willing to support as a council.”

The IHRA definition holds that while “the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived of as a Jewish collectivity” is indeed considered antisemitic, “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”

After indicating that the definition has been adopted by more than 1,000 entities worldwide, the motion highlights the rise in antisemitic incidents in the Montreal region, “particularly in the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough.”

The City of Montreal has refused to adopt the definition.

UAH is hoping that more municipalities and provinces adopt similar motions by the end of the month. There are already several municipalities that have. A request will also be sent to the Senate asking for its support. Rotrand says he is confident that Prime Minister Carney will be on board. n

CDN-NDG council passes motion that Canada chair the IHRA Read More »

Westmount council presents major development plan in public Town Hall

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 4, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Mayor Christina Smith

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

The proposed redevelopment of Westmount’s southeast sector continues to stir controversy for some of the city’s residents. Knowing that last week’s public consultation evening to inform residents of the latest version of the Southeast Special Planning Program would draw more people than council chambers could hold, council held the event at Victoria Hall.

Mayor Christina Smith and her Urban Planning team repeated several times throughout the meeting that the proposal is just that, a vision rather than a concrete plan.

“What we will present this evening is not a construction project,” Smith said, “it is not building applications. It’s a roadmap. It’s a planning tool that will help guide the future development of this area while respecting its architectural and heritage identity.”

The new version was prepared by Lemay Architects last month. It addressed concerns about density. The original proposal called for a 25-storey tower at the south-west corner of Ste. Catherine and Atwater, next to the Atwater Library. The new proposal now calls for just 20 storeys with three more towers further along Ste. Catherine.

The new proposal also calls for the use of podiums in the construction of new towers, which would mean the buildings could be set further back from the street.

“What can we do,” Smith asked, “to ensure that younger generations can continue living in our city? What solutions can we offer our growing number of seniors residents who want to continue living in our city in suitable accommodations?”

Jessica Winton, a recent graduate of Concordia University’s Urban Planning program, said she appreciates the new proposal’s improvements over the original, but expressed concern about affordable housing.

Westmount Urban Planning Director Frédéric Neault responded that the proposal will increase housing, adapt existing standards in terms of dwelling size from 700 square feet to 550 square feet – “the equivalent of a one-room apartment.”

The proposal is supposed to go to a vote on September 8. Former Westmount Mayor Karin Marks called on council to hold off on the vote until after the next election, asking that the vote not be rushed, but be handed over to the next council “to complete the project.”

Resident James Murphy supports the plan, referring to the area in question as “the blight in Southeast Westmount.” He praised the mayor for taking community feedback into account with the new version of the plan, saying “I think we’re at the point, now, we just need to move forward, do it as soon as possible so that we can start welcoming the new neighbours and the new businesses that can bring that area to life.” n

Westmount council presents major development plan in public Town Hall Read More »

Woman’s death after plastic surgery ruled “preventable”

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 4, 2025 / Bureau du coroner, Dan Laxer, Dr. Sandra McGill, Espace MD

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

The death of a woman who had gone into a private Westmount clinic for elective cosmetic surgery was “preventable,” says a Quebec coroner.

“Actions were performed by unauthorized personnel,” the coroner’s report said. “Some alarms were deactivated or not heard.”

The woman, whose identity is protected throughout the coroner’s report, was from Mirabel. She went into surgery on November 1, 2022. She died 12 days later of severe cerebral anoxia, meaning her brain had been deprived of oxygen. According to the Bureau du coroner, the procedure was supposed to have been done under local anesthesia with minimal sedation, but the woman was put into “deeper sedation.”

The surgeon, Dr. Sandra McGill, is also the owner of the clinic where the surgery took place, Espace MD. Her assisting team included a respiratory therapist and three nurses.

Coroner Karine Spénard noted in her report that sufentanil, a synthetic opioid seven to 10 times stronger than fentanyl, had been administered. “I questioned the protocol applicable to the cosmetic surgery clinic regarding the use of this substance,” Spénard wrote in her report. “According to the surgeon, she did not authorize the use of sufentanil and was not informed of it.”

The surgery – liposuction, fat transfer, and scar revision – began 5:10 p.m. on November 1. Half an hour later, toward the end of the procedure, the respiratory therapist told McGill he could not get a reading on the oximeter. The patient’s hands were pale and cold. McGill, noting that the patient’s heart rate had slowed, instructed that she be intubated and put on medication.

The clinic’s anesthesiologist, who had already left for the day, was called to come back around 6:30 p.m. He returned at 7:00 and was told that the patient had suffered “a hypoxic and bradycardic event while under local anesthesia and sedation.”

The patient was transferred to the Montreal General Hospital where she was admitted to intensive care where she was diagnosed with “bilateral and symmetrical cerebral edema, consistent with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.” Her condition deteriorated over the following days. Her family agreed that it was time to take her off life support. She died on November 13.

Spénard noted in her report that the respiratory therapist was not registered with the Ordre professionnel des inhalothérapeutes du Québec at the time. “A disciplinary hearing was held in 2024, at the end of which the respiratory therapist pleaded guilty to the offences with which she was charged.”

McGill pleaded guilty to two professional charges. The Collège des médecins du Québec is still investigating. n

Woman’s death after plastic surgery ruled “preventable” Read More »

Montreal’s Canada Day parade cancelled again

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 4, 2025 / Canada Day parade, Dan Laxer, Nicholas Cowen

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

For the second year in a row, Montreal will not have a Canada Day parade.

Organizer Nicholas Cowen announced that the parade is off, with just over ten days to go before July 1, “due to ongoing planning disruptions, strained relations with city departments, and unresolved challenges stemming from municipal worker strikes.”

City officials blame Cowen for the cancellation, saying that this is the second year in a row that Cowen allegedly did not submit a project application, even though the city had encouraged him to do so several times.

This seems like a repeat of last year’s cancellation, also announced with less than ten days to go in June of 2024. Cowen complained, at the time, that dealing with the city proved too difficult, even the year before. City officials had the same response last year as they did this week, that Cowen did not put in a request for a permit.

The Montreal Canada Parade is less than 50 years old. The first was organized in 1978 by Dr. Roopnarine Singh, who died in 2022 at the age of 86. Singh, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago was said to have been appalled that there was no formal recognition of Canada’s birthday. Although his parade had humble beginnings, his efforts to get an annual parade running earned him the nickname Mr. Canada.

Cowen cites “disruptions” including “municipal worker strikes.Disruptions have increased over time, particularly after the reopening of large-scale events following the COVID-19 pandemic. These interruptions have only grown more unpredictable and difficult to navigate. While the Mayor’s Office had previously assured the organizers that these issues would be resolved, no meaningful or lasting solution has been implemented. With its cancellation not only does the city lose a major tourism draw, but Canadian culture itself takes a hit on one of the most important national holidays.”

The parade had also been cancelled in 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and, according to what Cowen said that time, insufficient sponsorship. n

Montreal’s Canada Day parade cancelled again Read More »

Montreal appoints director of its Bureau de la langue française

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 4, 2025 / Aurélie Arnaud, Bureau de la langue française, City of Montreal, Dan Laxer

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

The City of Montreal has appointed a director of its newly-created Bureau de la langue française. The bureau was created last February on a recommendation by the city’s French Language Committee, under the leadership of Louise Harel, former interim PQ leader.

The new director Aurélie Arnaud has held key positions within the City of Montreal since 2016, including Indigenous reconciliation, ecological transition, transportation, and of course the promotion of the French language. She has been involved in the linguistic file since 2017, drafting the very first Action Plan for the Promotion of the French Language, successfully obtaining francization certificates in all boroughs.

Arnaud’s appointment “marks an important step in fulfilling our commitment to making French a living, inclusive language that is fully anchored in Montreal life,” says Caroline Bourgeois, Executive Committee member responsible for the French language. “As a Francophone metropolis of the Americas, we have a responsibility to be exemplary and promote our language in all spheres of municipal life. This Office will play a central role in supporting our services and strengthening our collective action in favor of the French language.”

Arnaud’s role will be to support municipal services in the implementation of actions aimed at promoting, enhancing, and protecting the French language throughout Montreal.

The Bureau’s mission, according to the City, “is to strengthen the use of French in the City’s services and activities, in line with the recommendations of the French Language Committee, in addition to accelerating the City’s transition to exemplary behavior and the implementation of the new provisions of the Charter since the adoption of the Act respecting the official and common language of Quebec, French. It also manages funding agreements with the Ministry of the French Language, particularly through the Program for the Promotion and Valorization of the French Language.

Arnaud will oversee the implementation of the City’s next Action Plan for the Promotion of the French Language, mobilize municipal departments around common objectives, monitor commitments made, and lead concrete initiatives to support the presence and vitality of French in communications, services, and administrative practices. She will also play a key role in establishing strategic partnerships, ensuring accountability, and promoting the City’s actions to the public and partner institutions.

Her appointment, the press release reads, is part of the city’s desire to make French a lever for social cohesion, inclusion, and collective pride, while affirming its role as a French-speaking metropolis of the Americas.

The creation of the bureau has its critics, those who question its need, given that the provincial language laws already apply to the city. As Andrew Cadell of the Task Force on Linguistic Policy told The Suburban in February, it will come down to how the new Bureau applies that law. The hope, he said, is that the office will offer the non-Francophone community some flexibility. n

Montreal appoints director of its Bureau de la langue française Read More »

Montrealers mark Philippine Independence Day

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 4, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Filipino Independence Day

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Sunday marked the 127th Filipino Independence Day. The Montreal community celebrated in Mackenzie King Park in the CDN-NDG borough on what turned out to be one of the nicest days of spring.

The day began with a parade through the borough, and a procession through the park. The main field was festooned with kiosks selling Filipino crafts, clothing, and food, with dancers and singers providing entertainment throughout the day.

Dario Boco, President of the Council of Canada Filipino Associations of Quebec (CCFAQ) opened festivities, recalling how the federal parliament passed a motion declaring June Filipino Heritage Month in 2018. Independence Day, he said, marks “the biggest battle fought by the Filipino people, the battle for sovereignty and self-determination.”

The Philippines declared independence from Spain on June 12, 1898 becoming the first democratic republic in Asia.

“Here in Canada,” Boco said, “we also give special recognition to all Filipino Canadians who have shared their skills and talents with their adopted homeland.”

Darlington district councillor Stephanie Valenzuela addressed the crowd in both Tagalog and in English. “It’s such an honour, such a privilege to be with you all as your local representative, and also as a member of our Filipino community,” she said. “Growing up here in Cote des Neiges-NDG, Independence Day weekend was always something I looked forward to. It was always something that brought me closer to my roots as a Filipina growing up in Montreal, in Quebec, and Canada. And I’m so happy to see that twenty years later the CCFAQ is continuing this longstanding tradition of keeping the generations close to their heritage, to the pride of being Filipino.”

Mackenzie King Park is in the Snowdown district, which Valenzuela called the heart of the Filipino community in Montreal. Sonny Moroz represents the district. He tells The Suburban that he’s been a staunch supporter of the Filipino community since he started in council, and that the annual Independence Day celebration highlights “what makes Filipino culture in Montreal special.”

Ensemble Montreal leader and Montreal mayoral candidate Soraya Martinez Ferrada was called up on stage, as well. “We are proud to be who we are, where we come from,” she said. “We’re proud to be Montrealers, and that’s what makes this city so great.”

St. Laurent city councillor Aref Salem, former interim leader of Ensemble Montreal, spoke briefly, highlighting the executive and volunteers of the CCFAQ for building bridges with other communities. “The world lives in Cotes des Neiges,” he added.

CDN-NDG Mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa thanked the community for sharing its culture. “We have the most important Filipino community here in Montreal. It’s here in Cotes des Neiges, and I’m really proud to be your representative. I also want to thank you for your strength,” she added. “We know it was a difficult year for the Filipino community all over Canada, and I want to commend your strength, your sense of community to be able to pass through those difficult times.” It was just weeks ago that the community gathered in the same park to remember the eleven victims of the attack at a Lapu Lapu Day Festival in Vancouver.

Liberal MP for Mount Royal Anthony Housefather was the Grand Marshall of the parade. He paid homage to the CDN-NDG borough, the first in Montreal to mark Filipino Heritage Month, where “the diversity and plurality of Montreal is always respected.” n

Montrealers mark Philippine Independence Day Read More »

Walmart Decarie store is fine despite sign confusion

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 4, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Steeve Azoulay, Walmart Canada

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Walmart is not closing, just Francizing, Steeve Azoulay of Walmart Canada has confirmed to The Suburban.

In an emailed statement, Walmart said “Walmart Canada has been proud to operate in Québec for more than 30 years. We remain dedicated to being a responsible and respectful partner in every community where we operate, including our commitment to respecting the French language.”

Calls started coming into The Suburban office last week from people wondering what was happening at the Walmart Supercentre on Decarie Boulevard. The sign on the big blue awning that said “Supercentre Walmart” is gone, which had people wondering whether the store is set to close.

There had even been reports on social media, complete with pictures, of empty store shelves further raising concern in the community that the store was packing up and moving on. The Suburban’s Mike Cohen had gone to the Decarie location to investigate. Sources suggested that the rumour of empty store shelves was actually a falsehood; the pictures were apparently of the store shelves at the Toys r Us store next door (earlier this year several Toys r Us stores closed across the country).

Last Wednesday the parking lot at the Decarie location and the store itself were both busy, and the shelves inside abundant. The signs at the Dorval and Pointe Claire locations are also gone. But those stores are also busy with fully-stocked shelves.

Staffers inside the Decarie location did not seem particularly informed. Some told Cohen that the sign was simply being repaired, that it hadn’t been lighting up properly. Others said that the sign was being changed to comply with sign and packaging regulations under Bill 96. However the sign does appear to have already been compliant with the law in terms of the French – and Canadian – spelling of “Supercentre,” and the word itself placed on top of the name “Walmart”.

One assistant manager, who asked that her name not be used, said that at first, she hadn’t noticed that the sign had been removed, but did say, although would not officially confirm, that it was being changed to comply with Bill 96.

“We take our legal and regulatory responsibilities seriously,” the statement said, “and will continue to comply with all applicable laws and regulations in Québec. We’re collaborating closely with local authorities, including several municipalities across Québec, to secure the necessary approvals needed to make the required adjustments to our exterior signage.”

Walmart Decarie store is fine despite sign confusion Read More »

Arnold Bennett’s Housing Hotline needs help

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 4, 2025 / Arnold Bennett, Dan Laxer, GoFundMe

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Arnold Bennett says he will continue to work for tenants’ rights “until they carry me out on a stretcher,” but he is going to need help from the community to keep his Housing Hotline open.

The long-time social activist recently launched a GoFundMe campaign. Until now he had for the most part been funding the hotline himself. He did have some government funding at the beginning, but he says government money comes with conditions and limitations. His work as a professional translator, writer, and consultant afforded him enough steady income to do that. But competition from AI, he says, is starting to eat away at that revenue.

The actual hotline, a phone number that people could call for advice on tenants’ rights, was launched in 1980. Soon after, Bennett was running two in-person legal clinics a week with a staff of paralegals, access to lawyers, and other experts, in NDG, and then downtown, right up until the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Covid did a number of things,” Bennett says. “Whatever staff I had I either had to lay them off, or people retired.” Since then it’s just been the phone line. He still has lawyers he can refer people to, and an assistant. “It’s not like the old days where I would have people doing three shifts a day.”

The Arnold Bennett Housing Hotline had its beginnings about fifty-five years ago, when Bennett was at McGill University studying toward a BA, and then an MA, specializing in community and labour history. He wrote an article for the McGill Daily about the fight, spearheaded by late housing activist Lucia Kowaluk, to save the McGill-Parc area from development. He was 18 at the time. After that, he wrote a full-page article on the Quebec government’s rental board reform, detailing “all the new rights that people had, and suddenly I was the expert.”

His activism led, a few years later, to his being elected to city council in NDG with the fledgling Montreal Citizens’ Movement. It wasn’t his intention to seek office. But after suggesting to the party that they run a candidate in the neighbourhood, the party convinced Bennett that he should be the guy.

By the time Bennett spoke with The Suburban the GoFundMe campaign had been up for less than a week, but had garnered twice the amount he had asked for. “I knew we had some support out there,” he said, “I didn’t realize people were going to be so generous.” Which speaks to what the Housing Hotline has come to mean to the community over the years.

Bennett had originally hoped to raise $5,000. At the time of this writing donations totalled $10,429. He’s upped the goal to $15,000.

“Look, it’s a necessity,” says Bennett, now 73. “There are plenty of tenant groups around, even some good ones now operating in English which, when I started, we didn’t have. But there’s a certain type of advice you can give people that goes beyond what they can find on the (Tribunal administratif du logement) website, even with the jurisprudence that’s on there.”

“Every day or so,” he adds, “somebody calls me with something that’s really outrageous, and it really motivates me to keep going and do what I gotta do.” n

Arnold Bennett’s Housing Hotline needs help Read More »

Pablo Rodriguez elected Quebec Liberal Party leader

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 4, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Liberal Party., Quebec Liberal Party

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Pablo Rodriguez has been elected leader of the Quebec Liberal Party.

Until last September Rodriguez was the Minister of Transport for the Trudeau Liberals. He resigned from his post, and from federal politics, to seek the provincial Liberal leadership.

His goal, he has said, is to unify the party, which has suffered setbacks, losing to the CAQ in 2018 and 2022.

He was elected with just over 52 percent of the vote, beating out Charles Millard and Karl Blackburn who came second and third respectively.

The party has been under the leadership of Marc Tanguay, who took over the party when Dominique Anglade stepped down in 2022.

Rodriguez was first elected to the House of Commons in 2004 in the Honoré-Mercier riding. Prior to transport, he was minister of Canadian Heritage, and had been the chief government whip.

Winning the leadership, he said, is the honour of a lifetime.

He received congratulations via X from both Premier Francois Legault and Parti Québécois leader Paul St. Pierre Plamondon. n

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Judge stays proceedings against Robert Miller

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 4, 2025 / Dan Laxer, Isabella Teolis, Robert Miller

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Robert Miller appeared in court, Monday, via video link, too sick and too frail with Parkinson’s and heart disease.

In Quebec Superior Court, Miller’s lawyer, Isabella Teolis, argued before Justice Lyne Décarie calling for a stay of proceedings in the criminal cases Miller is facing, citing the disgraced billionnaire’s health issues.

His deteriorating health was attested to by six physicians, including a court-appointed neurologist.

Crown prosecutor Delphine Mauger agreed with the defense.

Justice Décarie has agreed to the request.

A stay of proceedings is not an acquittal, the judge explained.

As is now well known, Miller is facing several sex charges stemming from allegations that he recruited and paid underage girls for sex. Those encounters took place in hotels, and in Miller’s Westmount home.

“Sexual exploitation crime concerns itself with human dignity,” Mauger said in court, particularly the human dignity of the minor victims. She pointed out that the eleven victims in the cases were between 14 and 18 years of age. Some younger than 14. “Their human dignity deserves to be honoured and respected,” Mauger said.

She then acknowledged that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees “rights to life, security, and human dignity,” even that of the accused.

“Mr. Miller is gravely ill with no change of recovery,” she said, accepting that he is too sick and frail to make it through a trial. “We agree that there is no other remedy than a stay of proceedings.”

The judge acknowledged that Miller’s health will not improve, so a postponement of the trial would not be in order. However, the stay of proceedings does not apply to all the cases in which Miller is named as the defendant. There is a case that was filed last spring but that only made it to court last week. In that case the stay does not apply.

As of last May 2024 Miller faced 18 charges including sexual assault. He faced similar charges brought up in December. n

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