Décarie Blvd.

Preventing escape attempt police collide with vehicle in Snowdon

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / May 18, 2024 / collision, Décarie Blvd., Jean-Pierre Brabant, vehicle

By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

Officers in an SPVM car on Friday purposely collided with a vehicle on northbound Décarie Blvd. between Queen Mary and Isabella, to prevent the occupants’ escape, SPVM spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant told The Suburban,

The incident took place at around 2:35 p.m. and the area was blocked to traffic from around that time to 8:10 p.m. that evening. The Suburban saw a police car and a regular car being towed away at the end of the operation. There were no injuries as it was a minor collision.

Brabant said officers saw a vehicle without a license plate and attempted to pull the car over.

“The vehicle was stuck in traffic and later on, an officer went to the car and saw that the driver didn’t want to open the door or the window. From there, the officer went back to the police vehicle and had reason to believe the vehicle was about to leave because the light was about to turn green. The officer decided to collide with the vehicle to make sure it would not go anywhere.”

Brabant said the two male occupants of the vehicle ran off on foot, and thus were not arrested.

“A perimeter was then established, because of the collision done by the police. We closed the sector for a long time because we had the accident squad from our unit that went to do the investigation because it was a collision involving a police officer and we tried to locate the occupants of the vehicle.”

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St. Laurent YMCA sold to social service collective

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / April 27, 2024 / Collectif 1745, Décarie Blvd., Stéphane Vaillancourt, YMCAs of Quebec

By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

The YMCAs of Quebec announced last week that its facility in St. Laurent, a mainstay on Décarie Blvd. near Poirier in the Norgate area since the 1970s, was sold for $3.4 million March 25 to Collectif 1745, which includes several St. Laurent organizations dedicated to helping people in the low-income Norgate neighbourhood.

The Suburban has covered many events at that Y, including then-future mayor Alan DeSousa’s tenant gatherings with tenants rights advocate Arnold Bennett, where tips were offered to locals. The YMCAs of Quebec says the site will maintain its purpose as a multi-service community centre, and the Y will still offer programs for teens. The sale was approved unanimously by voting members of the YMCAs of Quebec at a Special General Meeting (SGM) this past Feb. 20 and proceeds from the sale “will go to the YMCAs of Quebec’s mission-driven Investment fund.”

The YMCA will now be a tenant in the building. In the meantime, Collectif 1745 will create a “multi-service community centre from which several community organizations will operate.The objective of this project is to maintain the site’s social purpose and ensure continuity of services to the community — two aspects that are important to the YMCAs of Quebec,” says YMCAs of Quebec president and CEO Stéphane Vaillancourt. “The YMCAs of Quebec have been in the Norgate neighbourhood for nearly 50 years and we are happy to continue supporting the development of its residents in collaboration with Collectif 1745.”

Vaillancourt added that local stakeholders became involved after the YMCAs of Quebec launched an appeal for partnerships, “which led to the idea of creating a multi-service community centre.”

Christine Durocher, president of the year-old Collectif 1745, said the new project “will help keep community services available in Norgate, foster the autonomy of the organizations present by pooling certain costs, and strengthen the community fabric by creating a synergy of mutual support among field workers.” She explained that Collectif 1745’s purpose is to “strengthen our social fabric by making affordable, inclusive and sustainable housing and spaces available to people in vulnerable situations and non-profit organizations serving the community.”

To purchase the building and plan its new project, Collectif 1745 received support from the technical resource group (TRG), Atelier Habitation Montréal, which specializes in developing and preserving housing and community real estate.

The Y will maintain its TeenZone program providing a safe living space for youths aged 12–17; C-Vert/C-Vert+, which is urban ecology and leadership development program for 14- to 16-year-olds and Alternative Suspension, which provides support to teens suspended from school. n

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