Gatineau

Heritage College to make Indigenous education a priority

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By Trevor Greenway

Jenny Buckshot Tenasco was just six years old when she was taken from her family in Kitigan Zibi and placed in a residential school in Kenora, Ont., in 1958. 

The young Indigenous child spent three days on a train, travelling from Ottawa to Kenora, and said that after spending a year there, her culture had disappeared. 

“In that 12 months, my language was taken away,” said Tenasco during the signing of an Indigenous Education Protocol at Heritage College Sept. 19. “It was blocked. It’s still partially blocked. Some words are starting to come back that I remember hearing from my parents and my grandparents, but I’m glad to know that people are sharing the language now and making an effort to use it so the next generation can hear our language also.”

The English CEGEP has made a commitment through Colleges and Institutes Canada (CIC) to “recognize, value and honour the Indigenous Peoples and their cultures” at the school. Seventy-five post-secondary schools across Canada have now signed the Protocol. 

“This signing is more than a single symbolic act that represents our institution’s firm commitment to strengthening relationships with their Indigenous Peoples and to advancing truth, respect and equity in education,” said Heritage College executive director Lisa Peldjak. “The Protocol calls on us to recognize Indigenous Peoples and governance, to create welcoming and supportive learning environments, to integrate Indigenous knowledge and perspectives and to work in true partnership with Indigenous communities.”

Joelle Deschambault, the director of member services at CIC, told the Low Down that the Protocol is a commitment to “Indigenize and decolonize our institutions.” 

“In the Protocol, there are seven principles that colleges agree to live by, follow and put into action to not only help Indigenous education grow and get stronger and give more access, but also to foster environments that are inclusive, meaningful and respectful with Indigenous communities,” she said. “To really take into account their laws, their way of doing, their way of learning, their way of living, making sure that the students – the Indigenous learners – have the support they need and the commitment they need for higher-standard Indigenous education.”

Deschambault noted the growth of Indigenous communities in Canada and the need for an education strategy to ensure students are represented and have opportunities for post-secondary education. 

According to Stats Canada, the Indigenous population grew by 9.4 per cent, compared to 5.3 per cent for the non-indigenous population from 2016 to 2021. 

According to the CIC, the gap for post-secondary education between Indigenous and non-indigenous students is widening. Just 16 per cent of Indigenous Peoples hold a university degree compared to 36 per cent of the overall population. However, of the Indigenous students, 23 per cent have obtained a college credential and 11 per cent have completed apprenticeships – figures that surpass those of the general population. 

“[Indigenous communities] are the population that is growing the most quickly and they are the ones that need even more access to education,” added Deschambault. “And there’s definitely a discrepancy between the Indigenous population and the rest of the country.”

Among the seven principles are a commitment to making Indigenous education a priority, ensuring the college increases the number of Indigenous employees it hires and implementing the intellectual and cultural traditions of Indigenous peoples through the curriculum. 

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Local schools tackle cellphone ban

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By Madeline Kerr

The first day of school this year in Quebec also marked the first day of a province-wide ban on cellphones in school. 

Local schools like Hadley Junior & Philemon Wright High School and École de la Cité, both in Gatineau, have developed their own plan for implementing the ban, including clarifying where students can leave their phones during the day and consequences for those students who break the rules. 

At Hadley-Philemon, “students will not be permitted to be in possession of any electronic device between the school hours of 8:55 a.m and 3:30 p.m. This includes all cellphones, smart watches and tablets,” according to a memo that was sent home to families before the return to school on Aug. 26. 

Students can have their phones with them on the bus ride to school, the memo stated, but “phones must be secured in lockers during school hours. If students do not have access to their locker for any reason, they will need to store their phone in their school office.”  

The memo also stated that students may not carry phones in their pockets, backpacks or other personal belongings,” and may not be used during breaks, like lunch time, or when students are between classes. 

Exceptions for medical or emergency reasons are only permitted with a doctor’s note or if the student has an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that specifies the need for phone access. 

Staff are also expected to refrain from using their phones during instructional time, unless “using their cellphone to enhance the learning of their students.”

Consequences at Hadley-Philemon start with a verbal warning for a first offence. A subsequent offence can result in the student having their phone confiscated for the rest of the day, and after repeat offences, a parent or guardian will be required to pick up the phone from the school office.

At École de la Cité the rules look similar, although consequences start with confiscation of the device on a student’s first offence. For a second offence, the device will be confiscated and only the parent or guardian will be able to retrieve it from the school. For a third or subsequent offence, the student will be required to leave their device at the school office for the entire school day. 

According to the regional school service centre (CSSPO), at École de la Cité “all staff members will be involved in strictly enforcing the rule by deploying more supervisors in the school and taking systematic action,” during the first weeks of the ban. 

At Hadley-Philemon, vice-principal Jeremy Wouda explained that, “all educational staff in the building will be working together to help support the phone-free school policy – teachers, techs, admin, guidance staff and others – so we will be able to spread the responsibility around a little bit.”

He added that teachers at the school “are very relieved that this policy is in place,” telling the Low Down that they are “looking forward to not having to police phones in their classrooms anymore, and they know that all they need to do is refer the student to the office and [the administration] will take care of the rest.”

Wouda acknowledged that some parents have expressed concerns about how to reach their child during the school day, although he said that on the whole “parents have been very supportive” of the initiative. He said that students can use the phones located in teachers’ offices if they need to make a call home. 

Provincial Minister of Education Bernard Drainville announced in May that the ban on cellphones in all public and private elementary and secondary schools would come into effect for the 2025–26 school year. The ban follows the release of a special committee report that found that cellphones were distracting and infringing on students’ ability to learn.

So far, according to VP Wouda, students at Hadley-Philemon have been abiding by the new rules. 

He said that on Aug. 28, the school “welcomed our Grade 7 and Grade 9 students, and I’m not exaggerating when I say I didn’t see a single cellphone all day. It was actually really amazing to see.”

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Closed OR rooms…so he has to leave

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By Trevor Greenway

An anesthesiologist from Chelsea is being forced to find work elsewhere in the province because there aren’t enough functional operating rooms in the Outaouais. 

Staffing levels are so low at the CISSS de l’Outaouais (CISSSO) that just seven out of the region’s 19 operating rooms will be functional this summer, sending medical specialists like Dr. Trevor Hennessey hundreds of kilometres across Quebec and Ontario just to find work. 

“Our CISSS is dying,” said Dr. Hennessey. “Surgeons can’t operate in a hallway, and anesthetists can’t operate without the operating room team. The surgeons and anesthetists in the Outaouais are ready, willing and want to work. We’ve entered into the profession to help and care for the population, and the lack of access to the operating rooms is really a big impact.”

Hennessey, the head of anesthesiology at CISSSO, said that his department has absorbed 17 full weeks of “essentially forced time off” because there was not enough staff to open operating rooms in Hull or Gatineau. This week, Hennessey is doing replacement work at the Roberval Hospital in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region. 

He also had to travel as far as Estrie near Sherbrooke and also had to get certification in Ontario to work at the Montfort Hospital for six weeks last year in order to give some of his local immigrant colleagues the local work.

“We brought them from overseas. We brought them with their family. They’ve moved their entire lives here, and then we tell them to sit at home and don’t work and you can’t make any money? I don’t want to lose these colleagues. I don’t want them going back home either.”

He said he’s flexible and doesn’t have kids, so he has agreed to take remote jobs so his recruited workers can stay and work locally.

The problem, according to Hennessey and healthcare advocates in the region, comes down to money – specifically salaries for nurses in Quebec, when compared to Ontario. 

According to the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec, nurses in Quebec with a bachelor’s degree have the lowest starting salary in the country, at $53,000 a year. It’s a significant difference in Ontario, where starting salaries for nurses are $74,000 – a staggering 40 per cent more than their Quebec counterparts. This is sending nursing staff to Ontario in droves. And the lack of nurses in operating rooms in the Outaouais means more medical technicians are leaving, including the region’s only vascular surgeon, says Hennessey. 

“We’ve lost four out of six plastic surgeons. We’ve lost a general surgeon. We’ve lost gynecologists with operating room time and lack of equipment,” said Hennessey. “We’ve lost urologists, and – most recently and the big one – we’ll be losing our last and only vascular surgeon for the entire region.”

He continued: “That is a major, major impact for the care of the population. Very sick patients will have to go to Montreal, and emergency cases will have to be transferred further to Ottawa. But when you’ve got a rupture [abdominal aortic aneurysm], every single minute counts. People with major surgeries, such as brain cancers, are going to need to wait significant periods of time.”

Hennessey noted that CISSSO nurses are “phenomenal, but boy, they’re getting tired.”

Doctors facing ‘moral distress’

Hennessey wanted to be clear that surgeons are not leaving the area solely to find work and make money, but many have left the region over what he calls “moral distress,” as doctors feel they can’t follow their duty of care in the Outaouais. 

“They feel like they can’t provide the care to the patients that they need and this is causing such distress that they need to actually leave our area to go elsewhere,” he said. “Some people feel the surgeons are leaving because they want to make money. That’s not the sole reason. They are unable to provide care and are getting phone calls week after week from patients desperate for care and they can’t provide it to them.”

He said that occupancy levels in the region in 2014 and 2017 were at 93 per cent and 90 per cent, respectively. Within 10 years, those levels dropped below 50 per cent “due to a shortage of nurses and other staff.”

A consequence of chronic underfunding

SOS Outaouais president Jean Pigeon said the latest news about reduced operating rooms is just a consequence of the region’s chronic underfunding over the last 10 years. 

According to the Observatoire de développement de l’Outaouais, it has estimated that the Outaouais region faces a funding shortfall of $180 million compared to other regions in Quebec. 

Pigeon has the same argument as many doctors and health advocates: The situation won’t improve until there is an alignment of nurse and medical technicians’ pay with those of their Ontario counterparts. 

“This is just going to slowly hurt our region more and more because nothing’s being done about it, right?” he said. “We’re the region in Quebec that has the fewest nurses per capita because … most of them are tempted to go and work elsewhere, especially in Ottawa.” Staff retention has been a constant struggle in the Outaouais region. In 2022, the Outaouais had the lowest number of nurses per resident in the province, with less than five nurses caring for every 1,000 people.

Gatineau MNA Robert Bussière did not respond to the Low Down’s call for comment. 

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Health group worried about aging seniors in Hills

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By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

A health watchdog group in the Hills is concerned about the region’s aging population, as the MRC des Collines is already short 139 long-term care beds, saying the problem is only going to get worse. 

Vigi Santé spokesperson Marcel Chartrand told the Low Down that the province, nor the region, has a comprehensive plan to house seniors. With nearly 25 per cent of the region’s population over the age of 65, he said the need for a senior’s housing plan is long overdue. 

“How to adequately respond to seniors who wish to stay in their homes, rather than be forced to move to a long-term care facility?” Chartrand questioned. “First, do municipalities know how many of their seniors need home care? Do they know who they are, where they live? No. We need a comprehensive survey to identify them and their needs.”

According to Statistics Canada’s latest census profile, there are just over 50,000 residents in the MRC des Collines region. Of that population, nearly 15 per cent of residents are over the age of 65, while an additional 10 per cent are over 70. And with just 181 beds available, that leaves over 12,000 seniors with no option to grow old in the places they call home. 

“Les Collines’ population is aging fast,” said Chartrand.  

According to The Institut du Québec, projections show that in the next 20 years, the population growth of those aged 25–54 years will only be 128,000 people, while those 70-plus, which are larger users of the health system, will grow by 553,000 people. 

Quebec’s new health department, Santé Québec, has been slashing health budgets across the province in an effort to cut $1.5 billion from its budget. 

“Meanwhile, our hospitals in Wakefield and Gatineau are housing seniors waiting for long-term care beds,” said Chartrand. He added that long-term care patients are using at least 90 beds at the Gatineau Hospital and eight beds at the Wakefield Hospital.

“What facilities are in place to stimulate them, provide social activities?” said Chartrand. “Seniors from Les Collines, in long-term facilities, are displaced in CHSLDs in Gatineau mostly away from their families.”

Chartrand said that in 2024, 25 per cent of all emergency room visits were from residents aged 70 and up, and the cases are becoming “more complex, requiring more time and diagnostic equipment not available in Wakefield.”

“The need for home-care workers keeps growing, putting pressure on family members who are not trained to take care of parents, who require physical, psychological, mental, medical and basic home improvements,” he said. 

Santé Quebec responded to the Low Down after press time. 

Health group worried about aging seniors in Hills Read More »

Villa des Brises gets near failing grade on inspection

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By Trevor Greenway

An inspection by Quebec’s investigation department has found that Villa des Brises long-term care home, where Masham resident Aline Maisonneuve was found unconscious in her room and died two days later in April 2024, failed nearly half of its operational measures mandated by the province, including having a faulty call-for-help system for patients. 

According to the January 2024 inspection report by the Direction des Inspections et des Enquêtes, the Villa des Brises care home facility in Gatineau was non-compliant in 18 out of 37 categories. The report was obtained through an access-to-information request. 

Among the biggest infractions cited by the report were a faulty call-for-help system, which was connected to care staff’s cellphones rather than a central line in the home. Several patients of Villa des Brises the Low Down spoke with reported pulling the alarm systems for help, only for their pleas to go unanswered. 

Maisonneuve, a Masham senior, was a patient at the home in 2024. She died in the Hull Hospital on April 14, 2024, after fellow patients reported that her screams for help went unanswered throughout the night two days earlier at Villa des Brises. Doctors found bedsores on her back and torso and a coroner is now investigating her death. 

According to the inspection report, the home also got a failing grade for its fire safety plan, as its resident list was not up to date. The home also failed under the “risk of wandering” category, as it does not feature an alarm system to alert staff if patients wander out of the building. 

The inspection also revealed that staff regularly left hazardous products around the home unattended.

“Presence of a bottle of odoriferating solution concentrated in the fifth floor residents’ bedroom. Cart containing several household products left unattended,” the report stated. At the time of the report, the home also had issues with its liability insurance and had no collaboration or cooperation agreements with intensive care units or prescription drug providers. 

A second inspection in June 2024 revealed the home was still non compliant in six categories, including the faulty call-for-help system, the home’s fire safety plan, as well as a risk of wandering. 

Maisonneuve’s son, Guy, and her daughter-in-law, Shelley Langlois, have been trying to get justice for their loved one for over a year and say the inspection shows just how bad things were at Villa des Brises while Maisonneuve stayed there.

“It puts into perspective just how bad things were at the Villa des Brises/CISSS de l’Outaouais residence,” said Langlois. “Many of the serious problems were documented as far back as January 2024 and yet patients kept being placed there.”

A coroner’s report into Maisonneuve’s death is expected to be released sometime this June. 

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New initiative saving turtles across Quebec

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By Kendall Knowlton

Screech! You just ran over a turtle or found one injured – now what? 

Don’t just leave it there. Call the Taxi Carapace. 

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) re-announced May 20 a program that helps injured turtles. It is encouraging the public to call when they find an injured turtle and/or become a volunteer.

The Taxi Carapace is a volunteer-based transportation service for turtles in Quebec that safely and quickly transports them to the Centre de réhabilitation des tortues du Québec (CRTQ), an organization that helps turtle conservation and has been around since 2018. It is located at the Centre d’exploration du Parc de la Rivière-des-Mille-Îles in Laval. 

Those who run over or find injured turtles are encouraged to call Taxi Carapace and stay with the creature until help arrives, according to Francisco Retamal Diaz, project manager at the NCC. Otherwise, the turtle might try to wander off or be taken by a predator. After providing Carapace with details, the program will send a volunteer to the location of the injured turtle and transport it to the rehabilitation centre.

He also said that there is a vet clinic closer to Gatineau that can stabilize turtles but is limited in its capacity.

The Taxi Carapace initiative began last June, and more than 50 volunteers have since signed up to transport the critters to the rehabilitation centre near Montreal. Without volunteers, it would not work as well, according to Retamal Diaz, adding that public involvement is essential to help the turtles recover. 

Retamal Diaz said that 93 turtles were helped and released last year. 

“Most of the time, the turtles that are found on the road are nesting females, so they have eggs in them. So even if the turtle is dead, they can still harvest the eggs and hatch them and then release the babies where they were found,” he explained. 

So, if you run over one of these creatures or find one lying injured on the side of the road, call: 450-622-1020 x286.

Retamal Diaz said that they are always looking for more volunteers. You can fill out the form to become one at natureconservancy.ca.

 The NCC runs the initiative, which complements Éco-Nature’s turtle conservation initiatives, according to the press release. 

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Masham senior was ‘victim of abuse’ at Gatineau care home

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By Trevor Greenway

Aline Maisonneuve wasn’t given a bath for over two weeks while under the care of nurses at the Villa des Brises long-term care home in Gatineau, a report by Quebec’s complaint commission suggests. 

Quebec’s Commissioner for Complaints and Quality of Services found that the Masham senior, who died April 14, 2024, two days after being found unresponsive in her long-term care room in Gatineau, was the victim of “physical and organizational abuse through negligence” by staff at the care home and the CISSS de l’Outaouais home support (SAD) clinical team. 

Before she was taken to the Hull Hospital, witnesses reported hearing her scream throughout the night – screams that went unanswered. She was then found unconscious and taken to hospital, where she later died two days later. Doctors at the Hull Hospital found bed sores on her back and torso. A coroner is now investigating the circumstances of her death. 

While the details around how her mother-in-law was treated at the home are devastating to read, Shelley Langlois told the Low Down that after waiting for answers for over a year, she and her husband, Guy, feel that someone is finally listening to their heartbreaking story. 

“We feel validated,” said Langlois, flipping through the commissioner’s report. “Validated that our concerns were warranted. None of this felt right from the beginning.”

In his report, Commissioner John Benoit noted that on the day Maisonneuve was found unconscious, paramedics discovered a “clean bandage” on her arm, indicating that she had recent bloodwork done. But medical records showed that she had only received bloodwork on March 27, 2024 – 16 days before she was found unresponsive in her care home room. 

“They asked the staff about this, and they had no record of [Aline] having had bloodwork. We can only deduce that the bandage is from bloodwork that would have been taken during a hospitalization at Hull Hospital on March 27, 16 days ago,” Benoit wrote in his report. “As the bandage was clean, it indicates that [Aline] had not likely been bathed in over two weeks. 

The report referred to Maisonneuve’s treatment plan at the care home between Feb. 27 and March 31, 2024, and noted that, while she received personal hygiene assistance almost every day, “she never received a full bath in the bathtub/shower over the same period” according to her treatment plan. 

“I therefore find that there were shortcomings, not only in terms of assistance with hygiene care by VDB [Villa des Brises] staff, but also in terms of the clinical follow-up provided by the nurses of the home support clinical team working at VDB.”

The report went on to note that Aline was also “fully dressed” upon her arrival at the Hull Hospital, which Benoit wrote, “suggested to us that either she had slept in her clothing or someone dressed an unconscious woman prior to sending her by ambulance. Either scenario is deeply upsetting.” Benoit also noted that he has “doubts about the assistance offered” to Maisonneuve between April 1 and 12, 2024, as the care home has yet to submit her treatment plan for that timeframe, “despite several attempts to obtain it.” 

Staff failed to follow ‘rule of care’

Nurses at the care home noted in their file on April 9, 2024, a few days before Maisonneuve was transferred to hospital, that no pressure ulcers were found on her body, according to the report. However, the report referenced a “lack of detailed notes” on Maisonneuve’s file, especially in the days leading up to her admission to the hospital. Benoit wrote in his report that the discrepancies make it impossible to explain the bedsores found by doctors at the Hull Hospital. 

The report stated that notes from a triage nurse at the emergency room at the Hull Hospital did not indicate wounds found on Maisonneuve when she arrived on April 12, 2024. However, a complete physical examination was not performed in the emergency room. It wasn’t until 9:30 p.m. that night when a doctor and a charge nurse discovered bruises and a pressure sore on her tailbone and back. 

“I am concerned about the health condition observed by the nursing and medical team at the Hull Hospital when your mother was admitted on April 12,” wrote Benoit. “The incomplete record-keeping, the absence of the treatment plan for the period from April 1 to 12, the inadequate use of various documentation and follow-up tools, such as the assessment of the risk of falling and the risk of developing pressure ulcers, and the lack of follow-up on care protocols (e.g. post-falls) demonstrate major shortcomings in the care provided to your mother during her stay at the Résidence Villa des Brises.” The report also described four separate instances when Maisonneuve fell at the care home, and each time staff failed to follow the “rule of care,” which involves post-fall assessments and documentation. According to the report, these post-fall assessments were either “absent or incomplete” and documentation was “very limited.”

The report came with a lengthy list of recommendations and an action plan for Villa des Brises to follow. These include implementing assessment and follow-ups for users who have fallen, ensuring nursing staff are trained in delirium detection, ensuring that nurses include prevention-related clinical guidelines when the risk of pressure sores is identified and several other measures. According to the report, many of these recommendations have been implemented since last summer. 

‘We read it and were just bawling’

Langlois told the Low Down that she and her husband had felt abandoned by the system: nurses and staff at Villa des Brises; executives within the CISSS de l’Outaouais; and their own MNA, Robert Bussière, who has yet to contact the family personally. 

They said they’ve waited more than a year for any movement on their file. 

But now that their complaints have been validated, they said they feel confident that justice for their grandmama, mother and mother-in-law will eventually be served. 

Langlois said when she and Guy read in the report that Maisonneuve was “the victim of physical and organizational abuse through negligence on the part of the VDB and SAD care staff during her stay,” they began to weep.

“I highlighted it. We read it and were just bawling,” said Langlois. “What we were looking for was someone to say, ‘You’re not crazy. This place was a shithole.’ And then to follow up with the action plan.”

Langlois praised Quebec’s complaint commission and said that she hopes her and Guy’s story will give others the confidence to push for justice when they feel they or their family have been wronged. 

Guy said he still struggles with the fact that he couldn’t save his mother from neglect at the care home. 

“We knew something was wrong with that place, but we couldn’t do anything about it,” he said, fighting back tears. “We couldn’t save her.” 

MNA Bussière refused to comment on the case, citing that it was a confidential matter. 

A coroner’s report into Maisonneuve’s death is expected to be finalized in June.

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Relay for Life nets $60K for Cancer research

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By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

Teachers at Philemon Wright High School and Hadley Junior High had to deal with hundreds of “exhausted” students on Monday, May 12, who had been up all night on Friday, May 9.

But they weren’t partying. And they weren’t studying either. 

Instead, more than 280 students from both the high school and junior high walked all night at the school with their friends to raise money for cancer research, more than $59,000 worth of fundraising. 

Hadley and Philemon’s Relay for Life is an all-night cancer fundraiser, where students raise money, do endless laps around the school’s track, play games, eat snacks and stay up all night, from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m. Parents have to deal with tired teenagers Saturday morning – an exhaustion that persists with the students even to Monday morning, according to teachers. But for close to $60,000 in cancer funding, it’s all worth it. 

“It was incredible to see so many students come out this year,” said Hadley phys-ed teacher Katie Campbell, who has volunteered at the Relay for Life since it launched six years ago. “We started this event back in 2019 and had under 200 participants that year. So this has been the most participants we’ve ever had by far, which was a lot to take on. But it ended up being a really great event.” 

Campbell told the Low Down that when the Relay for Life committee was organizing this year’s event, they had an ambitious goal of raising $50,000 for cancer research, which would have been the most money the event had raised to date. She admitted that it was an ambitious goal, but by Monday, money was still being tallied, and the total was already over $55,000. 

“It’s absolutely insane,” said Campbell. “And I was like, ‘All right, that’s a lot of money, I don’t know if we’re gonna be able to do that.’ And then we hit $50,000 before our event even started on Friday night.”

“I was exhausted, I slept for 14 hours when I got home,” said Grade 9 student Belle Harrison, who was part of the Mall Walkers team – a gaggle of teenage girls who donned 90s-style tracksuits, ankle weights and “old lady glasses” for the event. The Edelweiss teen has done the relay every year since she arrived at Hadley in Grade 7 and said she has family who experienced cancer in the past and wants to do her part to help more people fight the disease. 

“I do it because I have family that has either survived cancer or died from cancer,” said Harrison. “It’s meaningful, and also fun, staying up all night, raising money.”

Grade 9 student Capri Dolan said that the Relay committee did a good job with building in fun activities, like the giant inflatable obstacle course that kept kids running up and down, literally all night and into the wee hours of the morning. The La Pêche teen said she was the unofficial obstacle course champ. 

“My great grandma had cancer,” said Dolan, answering why she takes part in Relay for Life every year. “And also for the people who will get cancer and who are going through it now – I want to fundraise money for them.”

Campbell said school spirit was especially strong this year, with many teams dressing up in their own theme – everything from gorilla costumes to princesses, including a pig. She said the event blends both schools together seamlessly and creates a shared experience for older senior students as well as freshmen. 

“I think it’s just really incredible to see our students come together as a community because it really connects them from Grade 7 all the way through to Grade 11,” said Campbell. “So you get to see these students interacting with the older students and the younger ones, all coming together for a bigger cause. Cancer affects everyone here in our building in one way or another, with one in two Canadians being diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.”

Since its inception in 2019, Relay for Life at Philemon and Hadley has raised more than $170,000 for cancer research. 

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Ottawa measles outbreak may have spread to Gatineau

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By Trevor Greenway

The region’s health authority is warning residents to be vigilant about measles, as an outbreak that started in Ottawa may have spread to Gatineau two weekends ago. 

Although transmission of the virus is low in outdoor settings, CISSS de l’Outaouais (CISSSO), is warning residents who were at the Éco des champs farm, located at 482 Earley Rd. in Gatineau on the morning of April 20, to monitor for symptoms and to ensure they are protected from the virus.

“Since the start of the measles outbreak in Quebec and Ontario, no cases of measles have been confirmed in the Outaouais region,” wrote CISSSO in a recent press release. “We remind the public that, although the outbreak is over in Quebec, measles cases can occur, and it is important to ensure that you are protected.”

CISSSO said that the majority of people who were at the Gatineau eco farm have already been contacted, however for those who have not, the health agency is recommending they confirm vaccination records for their children and themselves. 

You are considered protected against measles if:

  • you have received two doses of the measles vaccine (first dose after one year of age and second dose at 18 months, or with four weeks between doses);
  • you were born before 1970.

If you are not protected against measles or are unsure:

  • make an appointment via clicsante.ca or by calling 819-776-2920 to verify your vaccination status or to receive the vaccine free of charge.

Whether you are vaccinated or not, watch for symptoms of measles until May 11: 

  • fever of at least 101 F (38.3 C) and a cough/runny nose or conjunctivitis (red, light-sensitive eyes) and a red rash that starts on the face and spreads to the entire body.

 If you develop the symptoms described above: 

  • stay home;
  • avoid contact with babies under 12 months of age, pregnant women and people with immune system disorders.

Last week, Ottawa Public Health reported that an adult and a child from Ottawa are believed to have contracted measles while travelling abroad. Their diagnosis is the first confirmed measles case in Ottawa, as an outbreak spreads across Ontario, with more than 1,200 people affected. For more information about measles or to consult a nurse, dial 811.

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Masham family ‘abandoned’ after care home death

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , ,

by Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative
It’s been more than five months since Aline Besner died while under the care of an elder home in Gatineau, and her Masham family still has no answers about the circumstances surrounding her death.
Besner’s son, Guy Maisonneuve, and his wife, Shelley, have been anxiously awaiting a coroner’s report and said they’ve been left in the dark about how their mother and mother-in-law died. The Masham couple have a running clock for how long they’ve been waiting for answers. It was 144 days when the Low Down visited their Masham home on Sept. 12.
“We feel just utterly abandoned,” said Guy. “We haven’t heard from anybody,” added Shelley, explaining that they have now filed a complaint with the ombudsman because of the multiple delays in their file.
Besner died on April 14 after her cries for help three days earlier were ignored by staff at the Résidence Villa des Brises care home, according to several other patients who were staying at the facility.
Doctors at the Hull Hospital later discovered bed sores all over Besner’s torso, neck and back and immediately filed a complaint against the care home, which triggered a coroner’s investigation.
Following Besner’s death, the Maisonneuves have been trying to wade through mounds of government red tape and said that over the past five months, nobody from the Centre intégré de santé et des services sociaux de l’Outaouais (CISSSO), the health minister’s office, their own MNA Robert Bussière or even the care home itself, has attempted to reach out to the grieving family. They have sent multiple letters and emails to the ministry and to Bussière’s office, but said their pleas for answers have been ignored.
“It’s excruciating,” added Shelley. “But I get the funny feeling that everybody’s under a gag order – ‘Don’t talk to the families because you could say something,’” she suggested. “It is mentally and physically exhausting to have to chase this down,” she added about getting answers to her family’s inquiries.
The Maisonneuves said they’re also shocked and appalled that nobody from the ministry, the CISSSO or MNA Bussière have reached out to them following Besner’s death – no sympathy calls, no apologies and no commitments from political leaders to bring about change.
Their heartbreaking letter sent Aug. 21 to Bussière, Minister Dubé and Premier François Legault details the grief the family has endured since Besner’s death.
“Not only am I now faced with the grief of losing my mother, but I also have the added stress of dealing with a coroner examining the cause and circumstances of my mother’s death,” wrote Guy. “My mother has now been dead for 130 days, and we still haven’t received a response to our complaint from the Office of the Service Quality and Complaints Commissioner, the first step in the complaint process that your office directed us to.”
This was the second letter the family has sent since March 17 – the first one was sent before Besner died asking for help to get her out of the care home. That first letter coldly referred them to a complicated, multi-step complaints process, and the latest one was ignored.
The Maisonneuves have a thick binder on a table full of documents, witness statements and other information they’ve compiled for their case. And despite sometimes feeling overwhelmed or deflated, Guy said he won’t give up until he gets the answers he and his family need to fully grieve their 95-year-old “Grandmama.”
“It feels intentional; it feels like they’re trying to wear us down,” said Guy. When asked if it was working, he replied, “there’s no goddamn way.”
“The memory is so, so fresh, and I’m constantly reminded of it,” he added, referring to the horror he and his family endured when discovering the state of his mother’s body – and after learning that her screams three nights earlier went ignored. “I just have to conjure my mother. And that’s my motivation.”
Care home routinely ignoring patients
Low resident Steve Connolly was another patient at the home and documented the daily neglect he and other patients witnessed at Villa des Brises. His 44-page diary shown to the Low Down describes orderlies at the home routinely ignoring patient alarms, neglecting patient needs and one instance where Besner’s calls for help were ignored, and Connolly found her lying on the floor alone, helpless.
According to CISSSO, which jointly manages Villa des Brises’s second floor as a post-acute and overflow ward for those needing rehab or a transfer to a long-term care home, an “improvement plan” has been initiated at the care home since Besner’s death. CISSSO spokesperson Camille Brochu-Lafrance told the Low Down in June that the health organization has a full-time manager at the home to “report discrepancies” if any are found.
“The CISSS de l’Outaouais takes each of these events seriously, and they were investigated with the support of the Nursing Directorate (DSI) and the Quality, Performance Evaluation and Ethics Directorate (DQEPE),” wrote Brochu-Lafrance. “In accordance with our anti-abuse policy, as soon as there is suspicion of neglect or abuse, a report is made and safety nets are immediately established in collaboration with the residence. A complete analysis of each situation is then made with a view to correction or improvement.”
Health Minister Dubé and MNA Bussière did not respond to the Low Down’s queries regarding Besner’s death. CAQ spokesperson Léa Fortin told the Low Down that, because Villa des Brises is in the Hull sector, it is under the responsibility of Hull MNA Suzanne Tremblay. However it’s important to note that Guy and Shelley Maisonneuve both live in Masham and are constituents of Bussière.
Following our interviews with the family, Bussière’s office finally responded to the Maisonneuve’s on Sept. 16. Pascale Labelle, Bussiere’s political attaché emailed to “offer you and your family my deepest sympathies following the death of your mother.”
“Once again, Mr. Maisonneuve, I would like to apologize for the situation. Mr. Bussière has immense respect for the citizens of the riding he represents. It is very important to him that citizens who contact the office are satisfied, receive the necessary support, are directed to the right resources, are accompanied if necessary, etc. Regardless of age, social status, culture or other, all citizens are important and deserve respect.”
However, the family still has not received a call, email or letter from Bussière himself.

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Pontiac farmers protest, ‘fed up’ with lack of provincial support

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

Sophie Kuijper Dickson, LJI Reporter

A group of Pontiac farmers took to the streets of downtown Gatineau in their tractors and trucks on Wednesday morning, joining over 50 agricultural producers from across the Outaouais region in a protest demanding greater financial support from the Quebec government.
The Pontiac contingent of about a dozen farmers gathered at Ferme Stépido on Alary Road in Luskville early that morning to line up their tractors and await the police cars that would escort their convoy all the way to their destination for the day – Casino du Lac-Leamy.
The protest was one of many organized by the Quebec farmers union, the Union des Producteurs Agricole (UPA), across the province since the 2024-2025 budget was tabled in March.
“We’re fed up,” said Stéphane Alary, president of the UPA’s Outaouais-Laurentides branch and owner of Ferme Stépido.
“We’re as essential as the health ministry and the education ministry. You need to eat before you can learn or work,” he said. “Everybody says farmers are essential, but where’s the money?”
Just under one per cent of the provincial budget is destined for the agricultural industry, “peanuts” according to Alary’s son Justin, the fifth generation to work on the family’s dairy and grain farm.
Of the $380 million marked for the agricultural sector over the next five years, $50 million will be used to create a new investment fund to help the next generation of farmers buy land. Another $50 million will be used to help farmers make sustainable agricultural investments.
The bulk of the remaining funds, about $240 million, will be used to continue the province’s farm property tax credit program.
Farmers gathered in Luskville pointed to the high cost of farming inputs like fertilizer and fuel, growing debt loads and high interest rates, and the vulnerability that comes with a changing climate as the biggest stressors in their field.

Justin Alary said he is frustrated with the lack of financial support and increased regulations for farmers, who he said are increasingly pinched between pressures from all directions.
“We often talk to our governments and they don’t really listen. They don’t really see all the impacts of all the new regulations and the standards,” Alary said, adding he found the support offered in the budget to be inadequate, and out of touch with the reality of running a farming business.
“You can no longer just work on a farm. It takes someone who can do all the paperwork, do the follow-ups, apply for programs,” Alary said. “You have to always be perfect, but sometimes it’s not our fault. We lived through a hail storm. We lived through the derecho.”
He said taking care of his cows alone takes 10 hours a day, leaving very little time for him to spend with his family, let alone do all the other work needed to keep the business afloat.
For Blake Draper, a cow calf producer in the Municipality of Pontiac, these funding programs are appreciated, but not nearly enough.
“The government has cut so many programs over the years that were essential to the farmers,” said Draper, who has been in the business for 50 some years.
“They’ve added so many environmental regulations that we have to adhere to but they don’t want to help us with any money to make these changes, like leaving land empty for frogs, birds, and things like that.”
Stéphane Alary said he too would like to see greater financial support for the climate-friendly transitions the province is encouraging across the agricultural sector.
“We’re there to be part of the solution but they need to put a lot more retribution for the farmers because the cost of the asset is so much. If you want me to put land for biodiversity, I can’t just give it away.”
THE EQUITY requested clarity from the province’s ministry of agriculture (MAPAQ) regarding funding programs available to farmers, but did not receive a response before publication deadline.
Quebec farming income
on the decline
Alary said the slice of the provincial budget dedicated to the agricultural sector has not changed over the past 10 years.
Meanwhile, the agricultural sector across the province is suffering.
In a February press release, the UPA cited data from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) that predicted Quebec’s net farm income would drop 49.2 per cent in 2023 and 86.5 per cent in 2024, this despite net farm incomes reaching record highs in Canada for those same two years.
“However, the reality varies greatly from province to province, as shown by the results for Quebec,” the press release reads. “AAFC forecasts that net farm income in Quebec will fall from $959 million in 2022 to $487.1 million in 2023 (-49.2 per cent) and $66 million in 2024 (-86.5 per cent), the lowest levels in 86 years.”
For Stéphane Alary, it’s more than just a business that’s lost when a farmer decides to leave the industry, it’s a culture and a way of life.
“We’re losing knowledge of farming when we lose a farmer. You can spend a lot of money on a museum, but if you lose a farm that’s like losing a museum too. And the rural areas are getting poorer and poorer.”

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