Peter Black

Guilbault: 23 companies interested in third link project

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Guilbault: 23 companies interested in third link project

Peter Black

peterblack@qctonline.com

Calling it “excellent news,” Transport Minister and Louis- Hébert MNA Geneviève Guilbault announced last week that 23 companies have responded to the “international call for interest” in the proposed project to build a third link between Quebec City and Lévis.

The minister convened a news conference on Nov. 27 to make the announcement, less than seven weeks after she had issued the call on Oct. 11. Companies had 30 days to submit a proposal to take part in the process.

Guilbault said 29 companies had requested the required documentation to prepare a proposal, and 23 of those officially threw their hats in the ring.

“Twenty-three companies is a lot,” Guilbault said. “When we look at this type of call for interest procedure, we don’t do it systematically in all projects, we do it occasion- ally in major projects … Of all the times we’ve made calls for interest, this is the time when the most companies have shown interest.”

The transport ministry has engaged consultants KPMG to “organize interviews between interested companies and representatives of the ministry. The results of these meetings will then be analyzed independently,” according to a news release.

Guilbault said that with the application process, “We were ultimately testing two things: interest in a project and inter- est in doing this project in a collaborative mode with the Quebec government, and the response was more than positive. I must tell you, obviously, when we launch these types of procedures, we do not know in advance what the result will be.”

Guilbault rejected talk of adapting the Quebec Bridge, recently repatriated by the federal government, as an op- tion for heavy vehicle traffic. “[D]espite everything I hear from the federal government … about the Quebec Bridge, the reality is that it is not an option for trucking, and we need a third link to ensure the security of freight transporta- tion in particular.”

The minister said she would report back on the results of the vetting process “in early 2025.”

Of the 23 interested companies, Guilbault said 65 per cent are engineering firms, 30 per cent contractors and the rest management firms. Some 13 of the companies are identified on the government’s publicly accessible tender website, although Guilbault only named two, Ingerop, a British-French firm, and Construction Demathieu & Bard, whose head office is in Saint-Jérôme.

If all goes according to plan, Guilbault hopes to see a contract to build the link signed in 2027, construction start the next year, and the structure open in 2034-2035. No budget has been set for the project.

Guilbault: 23 companies interested in third link project Read More »

Battle brewing against QSL terminal in Beauport

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Battle brewing against QSL terminal in Beauport

Battle brewing against QSL terminal in Beauport

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The plan for a large new container terminal in the Baie de Beauport is still on the drawing board, but opposition to the project is already mounting.

QSL, the Quebec City-based cargo-handling giant, is float- ing a plan to create the terminal on land on which it already has bulk-loading operations that would handle up to 250,000 containers annually.

The company announced the rough outline of the project in June, having submitted a request to the federal government last year to expand customs operations in the Port of Quebec.

“If this condition is met, QSL will then be able to finalize a detailed business plan that it will submit to senior governments,” a company prospectus says.

There is no indication of when the federal government might respond to the request. Once it does secure the necessary government approvals, QSL said it could have the new facility up and running within six months.

Last week, a spokesperson for Québec MP and federal minister of public services and procurement Jean-Yves Duclos told Radio-Canada, “We will be able to provide more details on the project once it has been submitted to the government of Canada and a thorough analysis has been carried out.”

Guillaume Bertrand said, “Air quality, the environment and the impacts on the residents of Lower Town Quebec remain major concerns for Minister Duclos and the entire government when assessing projects.”

Duclos was the recipient last week of a letter signed by 30 groups and individuals calling for Ottawa to reject the QSL project.

The new container terminal project comes three years after the federal government killed the Laurentia terminal plan in the same industrial area of Beauport because of the threat it posed to the environment. By comparison to the QSL plan, the Laurentia project envisioned handling 700,000 containers annually.

QSL is prepared to make an initial investment of some $30 million to transform bulk cargo handling space into a container facility.

In announcing the plan, QSL president Robert Bellisle vowed it would be “an exemplary project from an environmental point of view … and meeting the principles of acceptability for the surrounding communities.”

Still, QSL and project supporters such as Port of Quebec officials and some municipal leaders will have some persuading to do regarding the environmental impact of the terminal project.

The project has already gotten a thumbs-down from the Port Activities Monitoring Committee, the city-funded watchdog of potentially environmentally negative developments in the port.

According to a Radio-Canada report, at a Nov. 21 meeting of the committee, members approved a resolution opposing the new terminal. The wording of the motion has not been made public.

The two city councillors who are members of the committee were absent for the vote, Radio-Canada reported. Executive committee member Marie-Josée Asselin chairs the committee, and fellow executive committee member Mélissa Coulombe-Leduc is a voting member. The other absent voting member was the representative of the regional environmental council.

Representatives of six neighbourhood councils on the committee voted against the project. There are six other non-voting members of the committee, representing government agencies.

Mayor Bruno Marchand has been cautious in his endorsement of the QSL project. When it was announced in June, Marchand said he “welcomed the intentions” of the project. “The activities of the Port of Quebec are essential to the region’s economy and important for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It is normal that they adapt to the changing needs of supply chains.”

Last week Marchand reiterated his conditional support of the project. Speaking to reporters at an event Nov. 25, the mayor said, “The best way to kill the economy” is to op- pose economic development projects “without knowing all the details.”

Limoilou Coun. and Transition Québec Leader Jackie Smith took Marchand to task for his support of the project.

In a statement to the QCT, Smith said, “What I’m hearing is a mayor criticizing the position of neighbourhood councils, telling them to wait until the project is irreversible before opposing it. No, the future of our city does not depend on the growth of port activities. Our citizens have nothing to gain from a new container ter- minal that will increase heavy truck traffic and compromise Phase 4 of the Promenade Samuel-De Champlain.”

Isabelle Roy, city councillor for the Robert-Giffard district in which the QSL project is located, and a member of the official Opposition Québec d’abord party, told the QCT, “I am sensitive to the concerns raised by citizens, particularly the issue of trucking and its impacts on air quality. Currently, I do not have enough information to take a position for or against it. In order to learn more about the project, the official Opposition has requested a meeting with QSL.”

Battle brewing against QSL terminal in Beauport Read More »

Critics denounce government spending after Quebec economic update

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Critics denounce government spending after Quebec economic update

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Finance Minister Éric Girard has come up with $2.1 billion in new spending over five years while at the same time vowing to balance the province’s budget by 2029-30.

Girard made the commit- ments as part of a sweeping package of spending and tax measures in his economic update delivered on Nov. 21.

The increased spending is targeted at priority areas, including forestry, housing, public transit and public safety.

In presenting the update in the National Assembly, Girard said, “Since 2018, the strong performance of our economy has made it possible to narrow the gap in living standards with Ontario. This catch-up is supported by our government’s action to protect Quebecers’ purchasing power and support the growth of our strategic sectors.”

The largest single chunk of new spending, nearly $1.2 billion over five years, is earmarked for “supporting the transition of public transit bodies and contributing to the vitality of Montreal and the Capitale-Nationale [region].”

Some Quebecers will see some modest tax relief as of the new year. The government is indexing personal income tax parameters by 2.85 per cent, which amounts to a $5.2-billion tax cut overall over five years.

On the other hand, some older residents will be losing a tax benefit with the move to increase the age eligibility threshold for a tax credit for working seniors from 60 to 65. Quebec will save $877 million over five years and nearly 200,000 taxpayers will be hit with an average $973-per-year increase.

Families will see a modest benefit, with family allowance payments increasing to $3,006 a year, a boost of $83.

The economic statement drew harsh reaction from political opponents. The Quebec Liberal Party, for example, dismissed Girard’s optimistic forecast.

Opposition finance critic Frédéric Beauchemin said in a statement that Girard’s projection of a doubling of economic growth in the coming months is not realistic, “with significant tariff increases expected, an economic slowdown is more likely.”

Beauchemin said, “The minister inflates the government’s anticipated revenues beyond the private sector average to maintain his deficit, despite substantial cuts. This lacks credibility.”

Official Opposition Leader Marc Tanguay added, “[Premier] François Legault promised prosperity, but instead, he delivered the decline of Quebec’s financial capacity. With his economic update, the CAQ demonstrates its incompetence in managing public finances.”

The second Opposition, Québec Solidaire (QS), denounced the government for not keeping pace with spending increases for social services.

QS treasury board critic Vincent Marissal said in a statement, “There is only one person left in Quebec who still seems to believe that we are not in a period of austerity and that is Éric Girard. It is now crystal clear. The CAQ is cutting spending increases, which will necessarily affect services to citizens as a whole. Quebec has already played this scenario a few years ago and it leaves a bitter taste.”

The Parti Québécois attacked the government for excessive spending. Finance critic Pascal Paradis said in a news release, the CAQ government “has an easy time spending for electioneering: we have counted more than $5 billion in frivolous spending and decisions that have directly affected Quebec’s financial capacity. From $7 million to the Los Angeles Kings to $710 million in Northvolt, including millions in loans to insolvent or hard-to-justify companies, such as jewellers or airships. Wasting Quebecers’ money has a price!”

The Quebec Conservative Party, which does not have a seat in the legislature, went even further, calling for Girard to resign. Finance critic Adrien Pouliot said in a statement that Legault should “reshuffle his cabinet as quickly as possible in order to remove Éric Girard before he causes further damage to our public finances and to Quebec’s financial credibility.”

On a more local level, Quebec City Coun. Jackie Smith said in a release, “Despite the significant deficit it is forecasting, this government has not been able to invest where it was needed. We are experiencing a housing crisis, a homelessness crisis and a public transit crisis. We are disappointed that this spendthrift government is leaving only crumbs for our sectors in crisis.”

Critics denounce government spending after Quebec economic update Read More »

City to create safer traffic zones for seniors

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City to create safer traffic zones for seniors

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand has announced a plan to create zones to improve the safety of senior pedestrians, vowing to make Quebec City the first Canadian city to do so.

Consultations are to begin in early December to help determine the specifics of the plan, inspired, the mayor said, by a successful program of this type in New York City.

According to a city document, the measures would see targeted intersections and pedestrian crossings “designed to optimize safety. Extending the duration of traffic lights, automatically triggering these lights and adding street furniture to meet the need for breaks are examples of measures that can be implemented.”

Other ideas include the addition of traffic islands in the centre of an intersection to provide pedestrians with a place to wait safely if they do not have time to cross the entire intersection. The city says such a system has reduced pedestrian deaths among seniors by 25 per cent in New York City.

The first senior-friendly traffic zones could be introduced in 2026.

An online information session on the plan is scheduled for Dec. 4, with discussion workshops planned for Jan. 20 online and Jan. 22 at the Club Social Victoria in Limoilou.

City to create safer traffic zones for seniors Read More »

Dallaire and Michaud visit Ukraine to push mental health resources for military families

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Dallaire and Michaud visit Ukraine to push mental health resources for military families

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

It was a first-time visit to Ukraine for both retired lieutenant-general and senator Roméo Dallaire and his wife Marie-Claude Michaud, former head of the Valcartier Military Family Resource Centre.

The two-week tour across the country a month ago left them with concerns about the resources available for the mental health of military personnel and their families, but also ideas for a plan to address the situation.

In an interview with the QCT from the home she and Dallaire share in Saint-Roch- des-Aulnaies, about 90 minutes east of Quebec City, Michaud described the resources available for military families in Ukraine as “chaos.

“The needs are so urgent and the resources are not ready yet [because] they’re always in an emergency. So they offer counselling services for injured veterans, the ones that are deeply injured physically and their families,” Michaud said.

“But for the rest of the veterans and their families, there’s a lack of resources. They are trying things, but there’s no coordination between the resources. A lot of NGOs are in the field, trying to offer services and activities, but they compete with one another for resources.”

Michaud and Dallaire toured Ukraine at the request of the Global Initiative on Psychiatry and Toronto-based Fairfax Financial, an insurance company with operations in Ukraine.

Dallaire has turned his horrific experience as commander of the U.N. peacekeeping mission during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda into a personal crusade for causes ranging from better treatment for veterans living with trauma to a movement to rid the world of child soldiers. He has written several books inspired by his experience, including the most recent, titled The Peace.

Michaud’s experience dealing with military families at the Valcartier Family Centre, including stints in Afghanistan, led her to develop a different approach to leadership that she described in a 2021 book titled Leadership Without Armour: The Power of Vulnerability in Management.

Michaud said, “I spent 25 years supporting military families in Canada and I have to tell you that what they are going through there, all these spouses and children, it’s quite the same.”

One encounter Michaud found particularly moving was with a psychiatrist working at the Veteran Mental Health Centre of Excellence at Taras Shevchenko University in Kyiv, whose husband was on the front lines with the army.

“She hugged me and she told me this is the first time that I have someone who understands what I’m going through,” Michaud said.

At a meeting of Fairfax employees and families involved in the war, Michaud said, “When I talked to them, a lot of them started to cry because I was explaining to them what it was like to be a military spouse when you have a loved one fighting and being away from home.”

During the visit, travelling 1,800 kilometres by train and 2,000 by road, they visited the front lines, saw a mass grave and witnessed firsthand the destruction the Russian invasion has wrought.

“One of the cities, Borova, was bombarded just an hour before we arrived there and we had to leave quickly because the Russians were very, very close.” The city was evacuated the next day.

Armed with what they learned from the Ukraine visit, where they met with a variety of people, including government leaders, the Canadian ambassador and the staff and patients at a rehabilitation centre, Michaud and Dallaire will prepare a plan to present to a meeting in Toronto next week.

The pair hopes to have Fairfax employees in Ukraine affected by the war serve as participants in a pilot project on dealing with mental health issues for wider implementation.

She said they will be talking with Canadian government officials about bringing help for Ukrainians to deal with the mental health impact of war.

“Roméo and I think Canada can certainly make a difference with this country, because 35 years ago, there were no services in Canada for military families and the members and it’s quite the same for the vet- erans. Roméo was the one who opened the door.”

Michaud said the visit was a particularly moving one for Dallaire, harkening back to when he was a young soldier in the Canadian army, posted in Germany.

“It was kind of emotional when we crossed the border, just realizing that [it was] so many years after him being in Germany and being there because of the Cold War and watching over the Russians,” she said.

She said they also had to be “very cautious” while in Ukraine because Dallaire is on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s list of Canadians barred from entering the country.

As for how and when the war, now past 1,000 days of fierce fighting, might end, Michaud said, “Well, it’s going to end someday, but the damage is so deep it’s going to take generations and generations to get over this.”

Dallaire and Michaud visit Ukraine to push mental health resources for military families Read More »

Repair work to begin on Quebec Bridge this summer

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Repair work to begin on Quebec Bridge this summer

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

Now that the federal government officially owns the Quebec Bridge, work will begin next year on the long-term job of repairing and restoring the historic structure.

Minister of Public Services and Procurement and MP for Québec Jean-Yves Duclos convened a news conference on Nov. 12 to announce a deal had been signed that day between the federal government and Canadian National Railway (CN) for the “repatriation” of the bridge.

The federal government announced its intention to purchase the bridge for a symbolic dollar at a ceremony in May attended by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The bridge had been owned by CN since 1995.

Responsibility for the maintenance and repainting of the bridge had been in a stalemate for years before Ottawa, through the work of negotiator Yvon Charest, decided to return the structure to federal hands.

At the news conference, held at a pavilion on Promenade Samuel-De Champlain,

Duclos said, “By repatriating this essential link, we are ensuring that the bridge can continue to benefit not only our country’s economy but also the users and residents of the greater Quebec City region who have been using this bridge for their daily commute for over a century. Today, we’re giving the bridge back to Quebecers.”

Also attending the ceremony were Louis-Hébert MP Joël Lightbound, in whose riding the bridge is situated, and Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand.

The management and rehabilitation of the bridge have been assigned to a federal entity, Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated (JCCBI), which, as the title suggests, oversees major bridges in Montreal.

A release said, “JCCBI will work closely with the two other partners and users of the Quebec Bridge, CN, which remains responsible for the rail corridor, and the Quebec government, which remains responsible for the road corridor and bicycle path. A collaboration agreement between these three partners will be drawn up to optimize co-ordination and ensure the completion of all activities on the Quebec Bridge.”

JCCBI spokesperson Nathalie Lessard told the QCT that the first step in a long process will be “an inspection program that will include the assessment of the load-bearing capacity of the structure. All this technical information that we are going to gather over probably the next two years will enable us to prepare a rehabilitation plan for the Quebec Bridge.”

Lessard said a “mode of collaboration” needs to be established with CN and the Quebec Ministry of Transportation (MTQ). “We’re not alone on that structure. The MTQ owns and operates the road deck and the CN owns and operates the train deck.”

At the news conference, reporters asked about the capacity of the bridge to handle heavy vehicles such as transport trucks, a matter that is pertinent to the Quebec government’s plan to build a third link, most likely a bridge.

Premier François Legault has stated a new bridge is essential to the economic security of the province in the event the Pierre Laporte Bridge is closed for any reason.

Duclos reiterated his view, based on studies, that the Quebec Bridge could be adapted to accommodate heavy traffic.

Sandra Martel, the CEO of JCCBI, agreed it would be possible in terms of an engineering challenge, but it is up to Quebec transport officials to consider such an option.

Lessard said, “The bridge itself can handle quite a heavy load because trains already commute on that bridge, so the load-bearing capacity of the bridge is sufficient to handle that. What we don’t know on our side of things is all the technical details regarding the deck itself, that’s really the MTQ that has all of this information and we haven’t talked to them, so it’s really too early.”

As for the long-delayed paint job for the Quebec Bridge, Lessard compared it to how long it took to paint the Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal.

“The interesting thing is that the Jacques Cartier Bridge is about three kilometres long and the Quebec Bridge is about one kilometre long, but the amount of steel on the Quebec Bridge is pretty much equivalent to the Jacques Cartier Bridge. It’s pretty easy to compare in terms of the quantity of steel that will need to be taken care of, so it took about 15 years to cover the entire Jacques Cartier Bridge.”

The Quebec Bridge, opened in 1919, handles an average 33,000 vehicles per day, including 400 public transit buses carrying 6,000 passengers daily.

Repair work to begin on Quebec Bridge this summer Read More »

Cave-in on building site forces closure of Chemin Saint-Louis

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Cave-in on building site forces closure of Chemin Saint-Louis

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

A cave-in at a large construction site on Chemin Saint-Louis forced the closing of several blocks of the major artery for several days last week.

The cave-in, along the side- walk and about one-third the length of the excavation happened on Nov. 11 and was the result of a contractor’s miscalculation in the placement of posts supporting the retaining wall, according to media reports.

A city police spokesperson said debris from the collapsing wall fell on a mechanical shovel working on the excavation. A construction worker was given medical attention and a workplace safety investigation will take place.

The city announced at the end of the week one lane would be open in the affected section of Chemin Saint-Louis, allowing for the passage of alternating traffic.

The construction site, between Rue Villeray and Rue de la Forest, is for the first phase of the huge La Forest housing project, announced earlier this year. The plan calls for a 13-storey building comprising 350 residential units.

City spokesperson Karine Desbiens said the contractor has promised to do the work necessary to get the street fully opened by the beginning of December. In a statement, she said, “The city worked jointly with the contractor and leveraged its various areas of expertise to enable a safe re- opening as quickly as possible. Road users are advised to be careful and pay attention to the temporary signage in place. Access to businesses in the area is maintained at all times.”

The closure compounded the difficulties of Michelangelo, a popular local restaurant, situated immediately west of the construction site. Owner Nicola Cortina told the QCT the closure of Chemin Saint-Louis made it even more difficult for patrons to drive to his restaurant.

Because of a major project to reconfigure the approaches to the bridges, drivers are compelled to take detours around the area.

“It’s very complicated, it’s not easy,” Cortina said, noting he had only a handful of customers for lunch that day. “It’s a disaster.” He estimates he has already lost about a million dollars in business due to the bridge project.

Cortina said he is hoping for compensation for lost business but so far has not been informed of any potential payment.

The Ministry of Transport is conducting the bridge approach project and has not stated publicly whether affected merchants will be compensated for lost business.

Cave-in on building site forces closure of Chemin Saint-Louis Read More »

Flexibus service coming to Sillery and Montcalm

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Flexibus service coming to Sillery and Montcalm

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The city’s popular Flexibus on-demand mini-bus service is expanding to serve the Montcalm and Sillery districts.

Service in the new zone, the sixth created since Flexibus launched in 2021, started on Nov. 18, with boarding spaces on Rue Verger, Gignac and Maguire as well as on Ave. Cartier in Montcalm.

To take advantage of the service, users need to book a space online in the seven- passenger buses. The service has no fixed routes as itineraries are adapted to customer demand. Passengers can get on or off at regular stops on Réseau de Transport de la Capitale (RTC) bus routes.

Passes are the same price as for regular RTC buses.

The expansion of the service requires an investment of $700,000, according to city documents. The entire network is budgeted at $21.5 million into 2027.

RTC president Maude Mercier Larouche said, “The rapid adoption of Flexibus by customers clearly demonstrates how the service meets the needs of citizens in terms of local travel.”

According to a city survey, users are making more than 18,700 trips per month with the service, with students making up more than two-thirds of users. The main customer destinations are secondary schools, local businesses, shopping malls, community centres and transit hubs where riders can connect with regular RTC bus routes.

The other zones served are northeast (Wendake, Saint- Émile, Lac-Saint-Charles and Notre-Dame-des-Laurentides), the northwest (Val-Bélair and Loretteville), Beauport (Courville, Montmorency and Sainte- Thérèse-de-Lisieux), Saint- Augustin-de-Desmaures and L’Ancienne-Lorette.

Plans are in the works to next extend the service to Cap-Rouge, Orsainville, Lebourgneuf and a fourth zone to be determined.

Full information on using Flexibus is available on the city’s website.

Flexibus service coming to Sillery and Montcalm Read More »

Province seeks proposals for Soeurs de la Charité land

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Province seeks proposals for Soeurs de la Charité land

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

If all goes according to plan, the sprawling swath of land known as the Soeurs de la Charité farm will once again be growing food, among other agricultural activities.

Last week, the Quebec government launched a call for interested parties to submit applications for managing the 203-hectare site, as well as agricultural projects on allocated plots in what is referred to as l’Agro-parc.

The government hopes to have the project up and running for the 2025 growing season.

The call for interest comes more than two years after Quebec bought the land from the nuns who had run the farm, known as Ferme Saint-Michel-Archange, for 114 years.

The farm, located in the Beauport district, had provided the religious order with fresh food for the staff and patients at the mental institution they operated on the site, as well as offering the patients therapeutic work in the fields.

The city stepped in to acquire the property for $28.7 million amid public and political opposition to a developer’s plans to turn it into a housing subdivision.

A series of consultations on the future vocation of the property began in January 2023, which resulted in a concept proposal in the spring of this year. Further consultation on that concept is the basis for the current call for proposals.

André Lamontagne, the minister of agriculture, fisheries and food, made the announcement in one of the farm buildings on the site, alongside Jonatan Julien, minister for infrastructure and the capital region.

Lamontagne said, “From the moment we acquired these lands, we wanted this project to be as unifying as possible. The chosen representative will take charge of a project that will enhance the value of these high-quality lands, for the benefit of Quebec City and Quebec. I invite interested individuals and groups to come forward in large numbers.”

Mayor Bruno Marchand noted that “[m]ore than 46 per cent of residents practice one or more forms of urban agriculture in Quebec, so I am enthusiastic about the idea of seeing community initiatives emerge to cultivate our know- how and share it with as many people as possible.”

Prospective candidates interested in managing l’Agro- parc, either one organization or a group of organizations, are expected to “assume the governance and development of the Agro-parc in accordance with the future master plan. The site will remain the property of the government of Quebec, but the agent will be responsible for the development and management of the Agro-parc’s operations.”

The call is targeted at non- profit organizations. The dead- line for submitting an expression of interest is Jan. 10, 2025. The government hopes to sign a contract with the successful applicant in the summer.

The deadline is Dec. 13 for those interested in submitting a project for a 10-hectare plot. Proposals must, according to the concept criteria, allow “for the benefit of the population and the surrounding community. In addition, they must make agricultural products accessible with a view to food autonomy and security.”

Full details for applicants can be found online at quebec.ca/agriculture-environnement-et-ressources-naturelles/agriculture/industrie-agricole-au-quebec/protection-mise-en-valeur-territoire-agricole/projet-agro-parc.

Province seeks proposals for Soeurs de la Charité land Read More »

Ships in port in Quebec City will be able to plug into electric dock power by 2027

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Ships in port in Quebec City will be able to plug into electric dock power by 2027

Peter Black

peterblack@qctonline.com

Ships visiting the Port of Quebec will be able to plug into electrical systems on the docks, under a $55-million project announced last week.

With $22.5 million in funding from the federal government, electrical connection stations are to be installed on three cruise ship piers and two piers where merchant ships dock. The connections are expected to be in service as of 2027.

Federal Minister of Public Services and Procurement Jean-Yves Duclos and Port of Quebec CEO Mario Girard announced the dockside electrification project on Nov. 8.

The Port said it will continue negotiations with the Quebec government to secure the rest of the funding for the project. It’s a major initiative of the Port’s mission to reduce emissions from ships in the port territory by 40 per cent by 2035.

Emissions from ships in port account for more than 80 per cent of greenhouse gases generated by all activity in the port territory, according to the release.

The Port said it is adapting to a trend in the cruise ship industry whereby more than 80 per cent of passenger liners will soon be enabled to connect with electrical stations while docked in port.

In other Port of Quebec news, Girard, portmaster for the past 14 years, is heading for a new posting as delegate general for Quebec in Tokyo, Japan, as of February.

In a separate release, Girard said, “I feel a deep connection and admiration for the committed, dedicated and extremely competent people that made up the Port of Québec staff. I am proud of what we have accomplished.”

Ships in port in Quebec City will be able to plug into electric dock power by 2027 Read More »

With new owners, Medicago building to become life sciences hub

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With new owners, Medicago building to become life sciences hub

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Quebec City’s notorious “white elephant” of a building is getting a new lease on life.

The giant, brand-new Medicago plant in the Beauport sector has been sold and its new owners plan to transform it into a life sciences industry hub. Under a deal signed in early November, a partnership involving Hugues Harvey, president of real estate specialist HarveyCorp, and Marc Lebel, founder of Anapharm, bought the building for $17.5 million.

In an interview with the QCT, Harvey said the plan is to convert the 700,000 square-foot building into a laboratory space for various companies along the lines of several facilities in Montreal.

Harvey said when the Medicago building came up for sale, it was an obvious opportunity for his company. “When an asset like that comes on the market, most of the time we are the first company brokers are calling to offer the buildings.”

The building became avail- able last year in the wake of Medicago’s failure to capitalize on the race to develop and produce a COVID-19 vaccine.

The company, owned by Japanese pharmaceutical giant Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, managed to develop an effective plant-based vaccine and had a multi-million dollar supply contract with the Canadian government. The World Health Organization refused to approve the vaccine, however, because of the stake tobacco company Philip Morris had in the project.

Mitsubishi subsequently folded Medicago, a company founded by Quebec researchers, leaving questions about the fate of large government investments in vaccine research and manufacturing.

According to a news release from the new owners, the goal of the project is “to house private companies in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical technology fields, in addition to incubators and non-profit health organizations. Discussions are well underway with several companies that have expressed strong interest in establishing themselves in this new hub.”

Harvey said he can’t disclose which companies are interested but “they are all very happy” about the prospect of being involved in such a cluster of enterprises in the biomedical industry.

He said some parts of the building may already be suitable to welcome tenants, but an examination will be done with architects to determine what conversions for laboratories, cleanrooms and office and industrial spaces will be required.

According to the release, “redevelopment work will begin in early 2025, with the first tenants expected to move into the hub starting in 2026.” Harvey said he expects the creation of the life science hub to unfold over the next five to seven years and create the same kind of synergy as similar clusters in the Montreal area.

The price the partners paid is well below the $47-million current city evaluation of the property. The city had sold the land to Medicago in 2015 for $4.6 million. The cost of building the vaccine facility is estimated at $245 million. Construction started in 2018 and was nearing completion as the pandemic hit and the race was on to develop and produce vaccines.

Harvey said that while no level of government was involved in the purchase of the building, discussions are underway with the provincial and municipal governments about financial assistance.

On that score, Mayor Bruno Marchand issued a statement saying, “I am pleased that the efforts of recent years are bearing fruit. The city will actively support the investments needed to revive activities and stimulate this sector of the city.”

The city councillor for the area, Isabelle Roy, said in an email to the QCT, “This is exciting news! I am pleased by this acquisition by Quebec entrepreneurs, which will allow Quebec to position itself as a hub of excellence in biomedi- cal research and innovation – an asset we can be particularly proud of.”

Roy said she was going to meet with Harvey and Lebel this week “to learn more about their project and the development prospects for the sector. They can, of course, count on my full collaboration.”

Harvey’s company, according to the release, “has developed extensive expertise in building and converting properties into laboratory spaces dedicated to life sciences, with over 500,000 square feet of projects com- pleted since 2019 in this field, valued at over $200 million.”

Lebel founded Quebec City- based Anapharm, a contract scientific research and clinical trials company, in 1994. It has

1,200 employees and sales of $150 million with locations in Quebec City; Trois-Rivières; Montreal; Toronto; Princeton, New Jersey; and Barcelona, Spain.

The partners say the deal also involves other private investors, including François Laflamme, founder of OmegaChem in Lévis. The building is now being called the 2300 D’Estimauville Megacomplex.

With new owners, Medicago building to become life sciences hub Read More »

Quebec pays $2.2 million to help decontaminate Îlot Dorchester site

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

Quebec pays $2.2 million to help decontaminate Îlot Dorchester site

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The Quebec government is contributing more than $2.2 million to decontaminate Îlot Dorchester in Saint-Roch, in preparation for the presumed construction next year of a major residential and commercial development.

Jonatan Julien, the minis- ter for infrastructure and for the capital region, made the announcement Oct. 28, on be- half of Environment Minister Benoit Charette.

The contribution comes from the ClimatSol program fund, dedicated to decontaminating urban sites, particularly ones suitable for redevelopment.

Frédéric Fournier, a spokesperson for Charette, explained in an email to the QCT that the Quebec government’s contribution amounts to 25 per cent of the estimated cost of the decontamination of the site, owned by developers Groupe Trudel.

“Groupe Trudel pays all costs and ClimatSol reimburses a portion of them according to the terms of the program. The reimbursement by the program for rehabilitation is 25 per cent of the total costs, so Groupe Trudel assumes 75 per cent of the costs,” Fournier explained. Based on that calculation, the total cost of decontaminating the site, bordered by Boul. Dorchester, Rue Saint-Vallier, Rue Caron and Rue Sainte-Hélène, would run approximately $10 million.

The overall budget for Trudel’s Îlot Dorchester project is estimated at $300 million. Plans call for a 20-storey hotel and four other buildings with some 400 housing units and commercial space, including a large grocery store.

In a news release, Charette said, “Supporting contaminated land rehabilitation projects is an important lever for sustainable and economic development for our cities and municipalities. In addition to reducing risks to human health and the environment, soil treatment helps revitalize sectors.”

Mayor Bruno Marchand said, “The Dorchester block has extraordinary development potential. Located in the heart of Lower Town, this site, which currently houses an open-air parking lot, will allow us to increase the supply of residential housing, commercial proximity and services in the Saint-Roch district, in addition to participating in greening and tree planting efforts.”

Îlot Dorchester – Dorchester Block, in English – has had many uses over the years, from farms to shipbuilding manufacturers to shoe factories. The zone has been known for its leather tanning industry.

In the 1970s, according to a city history of the neighbour- hood, buildings were demolished to make way for a central bus station. Eventually, all the buildings on the site were removed and it has been a parking lot for many years, with periodic plans by owners to redevelop the 100,000-square- foot property.

Groupe Trudel had managed the parking lot for the consortium that owned the land until it purchased the site in 2022.

The company has been conducting an architectural dig of the site for the past several weeks. The project is a voluntary effort by the owners and not required by the city. Trudel spokesperson David Chabot told Radio-Canada that artifacts unearthed by the dig might be displayed in the future buildings on the site.

Chabot told the QCT in a previous interview decontamination work would begin in the new year and construction would start in the spring when the ground thaws.

Quebec pays $2.2 million to help decontaminate Îlot Dorchester site Read More »

TRAM TRACKER: Anti-tram mayor would be ‘catastrophe’: Duclos

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , , , ,

TRAM TRACKER

Anti-tram mayor would be ‘catastrophe’: Duclos

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

With the next municipal election still a year away, Jean-Yves Duclos, the MP for the downtown riding of Québec and minister of public services and procurement, is warning that an anti-tramway mayor for Quebec City would be a “catastrophe.”

Speaking with reporters at an event on Nov. 1 in Quebec City, Duclos said, “It would be a disaster for Quebec City to deprive itself of money from the Canadian government.”

Duclos was responding to questions about a recent Le Soleil poll that shows support for Mayor Bruno Marchand and the tramway project slumping. The survey found 40 per cent of the sample of 514 online respondents supported the tramway, a drop of five points since a similar poll in June.

Marchand’s approval rating similarly has dropped to 38 per cent, a decline of seven points.

Duclos, who is also the federal Liberals’ Quebec lieutenant, said, “We’ll see what people want to decide, but I think it would be a disaster for Quebec City to miss its chance. We’re already behind all the other comparable cities in Canada. We have the chance to catch up.”

The federal government has already committed $1.3 billion to the initial tramway project and has promised to chip in more with the added costs of the project as proposed in June by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec Infra.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said last week on social media if he becomes prime minister he would not invest in the tramway project but rather the “third link” across the St. Lawrence River the Quebec government is proposing.

Duclos said Poilievre “is misleading the people of Quebec City by making them believe that he could use the tramway money to invest in a third link.”

Marchand and his Québec Forte et Fière party took over the tramway project from the administration of Régis Labeaume when he won the 2021 election. Nineteen of the city’s 21 councillors are from parties that support the tramway, with the two-person Équipe priorité Québec caucus the only outliers. Former Quebec Liberal minister Sam Hamad, who is considering a mayoral bid, has said there are too many questions about the tramway for him to support it.

TRAM TRACKER: Anti-tram mayor would be ‘catastrophe’: Duclos Read More »

City to auction dozens of properties for unpaid taxes

Local Journalism Initiative / / / ,

City to auction dozens of properties for unpaid taxes

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The clock is ticking down for property owners who have not paid their municipal taxes to save their property from going on the auction block.

Last week, the city published a list of several hundred properties whose taxes have been in arrears since Jan. 1. Under the Cities and Towns Act, the properties will be put up for sale to reclaim the unpaid amounts.

An auction is scheduled for the morning of Nov. 27 at the Andrée-P.-Boucher building on Route de l’Église. Interested purchasers must sign up in person on the day of the auction.

Although the list is a lengthy one, city spokesperson Wendy Whittom said many owners pay up before the deadline. “It is worth noting that the treasurer’s list is becoming much shorter as the people concerned pay the taxes due. So, in September, the list has several hundred properties for sale, and there will only be a few dozen left on the day of the sale.”

The properties listed are in all parts of the city and all property types, from apartment buildings to vacant land. There are even a few on Grande Allée.

The list of properties destined for auction from the 2023 tax year published last week does not contain the amount of tax owed. However, the list from the previous year does list the amounts, which range from several hundred thousand dollars to smaller amounts under $500.

The failure to pay the “welcome tax” can also result in a property being put up for sale by the city. The same goes for school taxes.

Whittom said the volume of properties risking default this year is about the same as previous years. She said properties not sold at auction remain the property of the owner and the unpaid taxes remain due.

Several on the 2023 list have arrears dating back two or three years.

Whittom said the city “may take other steps provided for in the Cities and Towns Act to force payment of unpaid taxes.”

Successful bidders for properties must prove they have paid the taxes owing plus other taxes pending and then wait a year for a deed of sale.

City to auction dozens of properties for unpaid taxes Read More »

Targeted by tramway, elm tree ‘Raymond’ falls to disease

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

Targeted by tramway, elm tree ‘Raymond’ falls to disease

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

“Raymond,” a tree that became emblematic of the fight against Quebec City’s tramway project, was cut down last week, a victim of Dutch elm disease.

The tree, estimated to be at least 100 years old, stood at the northeast corner of the inter- section of Ave. de Bougainville and Boul. René-Lévesque until a forestry crew took him down, branch by branch.

The elm was named Ray- mond by local resident and tramway opponent Gaetan Nadeau, who in spring 2022 affixed a sign to the tree saying “Sauvons Raymond” as well as another sign saying “Tramway au milieu de René Lévesque? Super! Pourquoi donc me couper, tuer, moi?? 102 ans…” (Tramway in the middle of René-Lévesque? Super! Why cut me, kill me? 102 years…)

Nadeau had also erected on the corner a billboard with a photo of the tramway in Montpellier, France, where trees are allowed to grow less than two metres from the tram tracks.

Quebec City’s tramway plan, however, does call for the removal of a certain number of trees along Boul. René- Lévesque, and Raymond was indeed on the execution list.

City spokesperson Wendy Whittom told the QCT, “Unfortunately, that tree was meant to be cut one way or another.”

Raymond is one of 12 ash and elm trees the city has identified on Boul. René-Lévesque and Chemin des Quatre-Bourgeois to be taken down over the next few weeks. All were terminally afflicted with emerald ash borer infestations or Dutch elm disease. Pruning work is also being done on some ailing maple trees in the city.

Whittom said, “Fortunately, each tree will be replaced by another species that is more resilient in an urban context and more immune to insects and diseases.”

The city plans to plant some 130,000 new trees by 2029.

In announcing the program to cut the diseased trees, the city also notified residents who have trees affected by emerald ash borer infestations or Dutch elm disease “to plan now for the removal of their trees to avoid further decline.”

The city offers a grant of up to $2,000 or about half the cost of removing diseased ash or elm trees and disposing of the wood.

Targeted by tramway, elm tree ‘Raymond’ falls to disease Read More »

Duclos slams Tory MP who wanted English answer in Commons

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

Duclos slams Tory MP who wanted English answer in Commons

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Calling it “an insult to all francophone members of the House, including the Conservative members opposite,” Liberal MP for Québec and minister Jean-Yves Duclos demanded that a Tory MP apologize for asking him to answer a question in English.

The episode erupted during question period on Oct. 24, when Larry Brock, the MP for the Ontario riding of Brantford–Brant, asked Duclos, the minister of public services and procurement and Quebec political lieutenant, about contracts to a company he claimed were corrupt.

Duclos replied in French, saying, “I am going to say something in French that my colleague has already heard several times in English,” asserting that the auditor general and RCMP are independent and “doing their job” to investigate allegations about the contracts.

When Brock replied, saying, “My question is in English, but I digress,” there was an outburst in the House that Speaker Greg Fergus tried repeatedly to quell, reminding members, “It is a very important and basic fact here that questions can be asked in English or in French and that questions can be answered in English or in French.”

Conservative MP for Lévis–Lotbinière Jacques Gourde followed up Brock’s question with one in French, to which Duclos replied, “I want to congratulate my colleague on asking his question in French. He could have asked it in English because in the House we are free to speak either of the two official languages. I would like to invite his colleague [Brock] to apologize for asking me to answer his question in English.”

Afterwards, Duclos posted the video from the exchange on X, saying, “A francophone should never have to apologize for speaking French in Ottawa. I invite my opposition colleague to retract his statement, quickly.”

Fellow minister Pascale St-Onge reposted Duclos’ message, saying, “Bilingualism is a fundamental principle of our country. We have the right to express ourselves in the language of our choice. Disappointed, but not surprised that another Conservative MP has shown no regard for francophones.”

St-Onge was alluding to an incident in April when Tory MP Rachel Thomas asked the heritage minister to answer a question in English at a Parliamentary committee.

Brock issued an apology on X “for the comments I made dur- ing Question Period … Every member of Parliament has the right to express themselves in the official language of their choice and my comment was inappropriate.”

The Liberal Party of Canada followed up with its post on X: “Liberals will always de- fend bilingualism in Canada – whether the Conservatives like it or not.”

Duclos slams Tory MP who wanted English answer in Commons Read More »

Feds make three Old Port buildings available for housing

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

Feds make three Old Port buildings available for housing

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Three Canadian government buildings in the Old Port could be transformed into housing under a new federal program.

Last week, the buildings – 94, 104 and 112 Rue Dalhousie – were added to the federal government’s Canada Public Land Bank portfolio of properties being made available to be transformed into residential units.

Jean-Yves Duclos, minister of public services and procurement and MP for Québec, made the announcement in an Oct. 16 news release.

The three buildings are adjacent to each other and comprise an entire block of Rue Dalhousie. They were all built in 1983-84 by the federal government.

The René-Nicolas Levasseur Building at 94 Dalhousie is an L-shaped, three-storey structure with a stone exterior, 1,362 square metres in area, according to city records.

The Louis Pratt Building at 104 Dalhousie is the tallest of the three at six storeys, with a red brick exterior and an area of 1,264 square metres.

The John Munn Building at 112 Dalhousie is three storeys with an area of 1,630 square metres.

All three buildings have been deemed to have “potential for housing” under the federal government’s Canada’s Housing Plan, announced in this year’s budget, with an aim to build four million more homes in the country.

The release said, “Wherever possible, the government will turn these properties into housing through a long-term lease, not a one-time sale, to support affordable housing and ensure public land stays public.”

Public Services and Procurement Canada spokesperson Sonia Tengelsen provided information on the three buildings, all of which have windows at the rear facing the St. Lawrence River and the Port of Quebec cruise ship terminal.

The Rene-Nicolas Levasseur Building is one of three surplus buildings on Rue Dalhousie the federal government wants to see turned into housing.

The John Munn Building at 112 Rue Dalhousie is targeted to be transformed into housing.

Tengelsen said the John Munn Building “was declared surplus in 2018, with Depart- ment of National Defence personnel as the main occupants. They have been moved to other offices and the building has been vacant since autumn 2021.”

The Louis Pratt Building (104 Dalhousie) was declared surplus in January 2022 and houses employees of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The current occupants will be relocated to other offices.

The René-Nicolas Levasseur Building currently has three sets of occupants: the Canada School of Public Service, the Quebec Port Authority and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Tengelsen said, “The occupants have been notified of the decision to dispose of the building, and plans are under way to relocate them.”

These three Quebec City properties, as well as 11 others elsewhere in the country announced last week, bring the total of federal buildings now on offer for housing projects to 70, the equivalent of 2,500 hockey rinks, according to the release. The list can be viewed on the Canada Public Land Bank website.

There is progress on proper- ties put on offer in August with the launch of the federal hous- ing land bank. The release says evaluations are underway for proposals submitted for properties in Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa and Montreal.

Duclos said, “The launch of the Canada Public Land Bank in August 2024 laid the foundation for our efforts to unlock public lands for housing at a pace and scale not seen in generations.”

Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand also contributed a quote to the release, saying, “In recent years, Quebec City has played an important role in the housing issue … It’s great news to be able to count on concrete announcements from the federal government like the one today. The collective awareness of the housing issue now makes it a key issue for our economy and for the vitality of the Capitale-Nationale region.”

Feds make three Old Port buildings available for housing Read More »

Tramway delays help kill huge Humaniti project on Boul. Laurier

Local Journalism Initiative / / / ,

Tramway delays help kill huge Humaniti project on Boul. Laurier

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The massive Humaniti project slated to rise at a key intersection on Boul. Laurier is dead, the victim, according to the developer, of delays in the city’s tramway project, among other factors.

Radio-Canada broke the news last week that Cogir, the Montreal-based company behind the four-tower project, had let its offer to purchase the land from developer Michel Dallaire expire.

Dallaire, head of major developer Groupe Dallaire, now says the property at the intersection of Boul. Laurier and Ave. de Lavigerie is once again for sale.

Cogir president Mathieu Duguay told Radio-Canada the Humaniti project, comprising 1,500 housing units, a hotel, offices, a public square and retail shops, was predicated on the presence of a tramway line through the site.

“We needed the tramway interchange hub to justify the project,” Duguay explained. The uncertainty repeated delays and changes in the tramway plan caused, along with the rise in interest rates, inflation and construction costs, led to the decision to pull the plug, he said.

The Humaniti project replaced another ambitious plan called Le Phare, which had been proposed by Groupe Dallaire.

Coun. David Weiser, the city councillor for the Le Plateau district where the Humaniti site is located, told the QCT, “This is a clear demonstration of the negative impact that the delays caused by the provincial government concerning the tramway project have on both our city’s economic development and the housing crisis.”

Weiser, who also is the executive committee member responsible for economic development, said, despite the termination of Humaniti, “We are confident that a real estate developer will propose a new project on that exceptional property.”

That’s a sentiment echoed by Dallaire. “It’s the gateway to the city. I’m convinced that we won’t have any problem finding people to do a large- scale project.”

With the CAQ government recently giving the green light to planning and construction of Phase 1, which includes the route on Boul. Laurier, a clear decision could be forthcoming on the nature of the Ste-Foy exchange hub.

Tramway delays help kill huge Humaniti project on Boul. Laurier Read More »

No joke: Quebec City to get English ‘Just for Laughs’ show

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , ,

No joke: Quebec City to get English ‘Just for Laughs’ show

Peter Black

Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Quebec City-based entertainment company ComediHa! is becoming Just for Laughs (Juste Pour Rire) under a rebranding plan announced Oct. 17. ComediHa! bought the financially troubled Montreal company in June.

Company founder and CEO Sylvain Parent-Bédard said in a statement, “After careful thought and analysis, I decided that the Quebec City festival should bear the name of Quebec’s favourite comedy brand, Just For Laughs – the province’s favourite entertainment brand along with Cirque du Soleil.”

As of next August, the popular ComediHa! festival in Quebec City will be called Festival Juste Pour Rire – Québec. Parent-Bedard said, “The festival will also feature an impressive English-language lineup to welcome an increasingly diverse audience from around the world.”

The various ventures of former ComediHa! and Just for Laughs will be consolidated under a new umbrella company called Just for Entertainment Group/Groupe Juste pour divertir.

Among the assets of the company are Just for Laughs branded festivals in Bermuda, Toronto, Vancouver and Sydney, Australia. The company said, “Other major international cities will soon be announced as part of the brand’s new strategic plan.”

The statement says, “This new chapter for the festival is testament to Parent-Bédard’s strong commitment to the Quebec City community and underscores the city’s potential as a dynamic cultural hub ready to shine on the international stage.”

Parent-Bédard previously told the QCT he takes some personal satisfaction in taking over Just for Laughs because he started his company after the Montreal comedy outfit rejected his idea of mounting a festival in the Quebec capital.

The company says with the newly created Just For Entertainment company, which employs 200 permanent and 6,000 temporary workers, “our brands and products now captivate hundreds of millions of viewers around the world via our broadcast partners, festivals, social media and digital platforms, which are followed by over 70 million engaged fans and have accumulated over 100 billion views so far.”

No joke: Quebec City to get English ‘Just for Laughs’ show Read More »

TRAM TRACKER: CAQ mandates Caisse Infra to build tramway Phase 1; RTC to run it

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

TRAM TRACKER: CAQ mandates Caisse Infra to build tramway Phase 1; RTC to run it

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The Coalition Avenir Québec government, under political and time pressure, has given the green light to the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec Infra (CDPQ Infra) to kickstart Quebec City’s paused tramway project.

The decision came after a regular cabinet meeting on Oct. 9, communicated officially via a carefully worded CDPQ Infra news release, saying the pension plan agency “today accepted a new mandate from the government of Quebec to plan the first phase of the CITÉ plan and set up the organization required to ensure the proper development of the next stages of the tramway project.”

CITÉ stands for Circuit intégré de transport express, the name CDPQ Infra gave to the three-phase project it recommended in a study, released in June, of transportation needs in the Quebec City region the CAQ government ordered last fall.

The release notes: “CDPQ Infra will soon confirm the composition of the project team, which will include all the expertise needed for the mandate to move forward.”

The first phase would be a 15-kilometre tramway line linking Cap-Rouge and Boul. Laurier in the west with Saint- Roch and Charlesbourg in the east. An expansion of the South Shore (Lévis) bus service is also in the plan.

Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault told reporters after the cabinet meeting that CDPQ Infra is “being given the keys to planning Phase 1 of the tramway, so this is a very important step. This is confirmation that we are moving forward and taking the next step.”

While CDPQ Infra will be in charge of building the tram- way, its actual operation will be the responsibility of the Réseau de Transport de la Capitale (RTC), which manages the city’s existing transit network.

Coun. Maude Mercier Larouche, city executive committee member and RTC president, said in a statement, “We are pleased to see that the tramway project is progressing. … Our teams have all the experience and expertise needed to bring this crucial transportation project for Quebec City to life.”

The government mandate to CDPQ Infra contains a Dec. 15 deadline to file a final draft agreement containing more details on the roles of various players as well as the financial structure for the project.

Some political commentators see the deadline as hard to meet and a potential escape hatch for the CAQ government to delay and abandon the project with the prospect of a Conservative federal government on the horizon.

Québec Solidaire MNA Étienne Grandmont, who represents the Quebec City riding of Taschereau, said via an Oct. 9 news release, “Confirming partners is one thing, but I’m still waiting for the funding to be secured. The Dec. 15 deadline worries me; it’s the minister’s hand on the plug, and I fear she’s ready to pull the trigger.”

Limoilou Coun. and Transition Québec Leader Jackie Smith said, “We must immediately get the teams back to work by resuming the work that was interrupted a year ago. We want to see the funding promised for our city translate into new infrastructure as soon as possible.”

Nora Loreto, co-founder of Québec désire son tramway, told the QCT, “We’re very happy to see movement on the tramway file and look forward to this project being managed by the RTC.”

Mayor Bruno Marchand, whose revised higher budget for the tramway triggered the CAQ’s intervention, made a brief statement applauding the project restart. “I am delighted that the Quebec government is confirming with this gesture the implementation of the CITÉ plan. This is an essential project for the Quebec City region in the context of very strong population growth. We cannot wage an effective war on congestion without investing in the development of public transportation,” he said.

TRAM TRACKER: CAQ mandates Caisse Infra to build tramway Phase 1; RTC to run it Read More »

CAQ commits to ‘third link’ with call for ‘international interest’

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , ,

CAQ commits to ‘third link’ with call for ‘international interest’

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The Coalition Avenir Québec government is moving ahead with its off-again, on-again pledge to build a third link between Quebec City and the South Shore.

Transport Minister and Deputy Premier Geneviève Guilbault made the announcement on Oct. 11 of an “international call for interest” to parties to be considered as a partner in the development of the project.

Vowing that whatever option is decided will be “the best project at the best price,” Guilbault said if all goes according to plan a contract would be signed to build the link in early 2027.

Addressing a news conference in Complexe G following a technical briefing by transport ministry officials, Guilbault said the call for interest “marks an important step in the third link project, which will allow us to confirm the market’s interest in our project. I am convinced that we will arrive at the best solution to meet the fluidity needs of our citizens on both shores.”

The minister said the two principal objectives of the third link would be to ensure economic security for commercial transport in the event of the Pierre Laporte Bridge being closed and to reduce traffic congestion in the region.

Guilbault said the choice of which corridor the link would take would be decided by next summer, based on options identified in the report by the Caisse de depôt et placement Infra presented in June.

In a previous announcement of a third link proposal, the CAQ government had envisioned a bridge between the eastern ends of Lévis and Quebec City. A proposal prior to that envisioned a tunnel between the downtowns of the two cities.

Asked by the QCT how much influence politicians would have on the ultimate choice of a corridor, Guilbault said, “It’s too early to determine a specific corridor,” pending the submission of recommenda- tions from interested parties.

She also said having a bridge with enough clearance to allow for cruise ships to enter port in Quebec City or Lévis “would be taken into consideration.”

Transport officials and the minister did not exclude a tunnel as a preferred option, nor would they commit to the third link being used for public transit such as the tramway system.

Guilbault said in two years, after the next scheduled pro- vincial election, “we will be at a level of the evolution of the process [where] it will be irreversible.”

She said since all the op- position parties are opposed to the third link idea, the CAQ is the only one that is pursuing it. “People will realize we are actually doing it for real.”

Guilbault acknowledged the CAQ’s “credibility is at stake” with the third link project. “We have to demonstrate we are resolutely committed to the realization” of the project.

Opposition critics were quick to denounce this latest move by the CAQ. Liberal transport critic Monsef Derraji said in a statement, “It’s clear that this announcement is more about diverting attention from other issues than it is about genuinely advancing mobility in the greater Quebec City area. Should the CAQ lose power after 2026, this commitment could easily crumble. It all appears more like a campaign promise than a real solution.”

Québec Solidaire MNA for Jean-Lesage Sol Zanetti told reporters, “We will talk about it [the third link] for decades as the symbol of the promise of the electoral bauble that will never happen, that is irresponsible, that costs a lot, and that is useless.”

Parti Québécois MNA for Jean-Talon Pascal Paradis said, “There will be no project. It won’t happen. What we are being presented with today is a fabrication, a smokescreen.”

Guilbault would not commit to a price tag for the potential bridge or tunnel, saying it would be determined as the planning process proceeds. She highlighted the new collaborative approach the government is taking, saying, “[T]he government will work closely with the designer and the builder from the first stages of the project design.”

A series of calls for tenders will be launched in the spring “to obtain the professional services and support required throughout the project. A first call for tenders aimed at ob- taining consulting services in insurance and financial guarantees will be published in the coming weeks.”

The building of a third link was a CAQ promise in the 2018 election that brought the party to power. At the time, the party vowed that the project would be underway by the end of its first mandate.

CAQ commits to ‘third link’ with call for ‘international interest’ Read More »

From Colombia to Quebec: Huge sailboat ships coffee for Café William

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

From Colombia to Quebec: Huge sailboat ships coffee for Café William

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

For a city known for sailing ships, with even a ship as its symbol, it seems fitting the world’s largest modern cargo sailing ship should make its maiden voyage to Quebec City.

Such was the case last week when the Anemos – Greek for “wind” – docked in the Old Port with a cargo of green coffee beans from Santa Marta, Colombia, in its hold, the first shipment of many in the environmental ambitions of Café William, a Quebec-based coffee roaster and retailer.

The mission, according to Serge Picard, Café William’s co-founder and head of innovation and commercial operations, is to produce the “cleanest cup of coffee in the world, the most environmentally sustainable. Café William wants to one day transport 100 per cent of our coffee with zero emissions.”

The Anemos unloaded some 20 shipping containers of green coffee beans for Café William in Quebec City, which Picard says amounts to about 40 per cent of the company’s consumption. The beans, purchased from an Indigenous co-operative in Colombia, were to be transported to the company’s huge new all-electric roasting plant in Sherbrooke in a Volvo electric truck.

Picard said coffee is the second single largest commodity shipped around the world after oil, with some 90 per cent of production exported to other countries for processing.

The Anemos has a sister ship, the Artemus, which is currently sailing from a Vietnam shipyard to France. Picard said six more of the giant cargo sailing ships are in the works. The ships are the creation of a French company called TOWT (Trans-ocean Wind Transport), which has specialized in sail-powered marine cargo transport since 2011.

Guillaume Le Grand, president and one of the founders of TOWT, said the ship’s masts, towering at 64 metres high, “are probably the tallest in the world.”

The hulls of the ship were manufactured in Romania and then towed to Concarneau on the northwest coast of France, where the final assembly was completed.

It takes a maximum crew of eight to sail the 81-metre-long steel vessels, which are highly mechanized with many automatic or programmed functions. Le Grand said the average ocean speed is about 10 knots (nautical miles per hour) and it takes two weeks to cross the Atlantic. The ship has a backup engine to navigate harbours, but when under sail, the propellers can be reversed to generate electrical power for most of the ship’s systems.

Attending the ceremony to celebrate the ship’s inaugural voyage were representatives of Fairtrade Canada and of the Colombian coffee growers co-operative, known by its Spanish acronym ANEI.

The first voyage of the Anemos followed Café Wil- liam’s first experience with sail-powered shipping when it contracted with a German sail cargo company to ship five containers of beans from Co- lombia to Quebec. A company news release said, “This first voyage confirmed our vision: transporting coffee by sailboat is viable and possible.”

Picard said the company’s big dream is to have all its coffee beans shipped by sail, including from suppliers in Africa and Asia. He said the roasted coffee that travelled by sailing ship costs about 10 cents more per pound than Café William’s other coffees. “It’s minuscule compared to all the other costs that are tacked on when you’re importing raw coffee beans, so I guess you just have to be a tad crazy enough to want to disrupt the status quo and try something different.”

Café William coffee is available in most major grocery stores in Quebec, some U.S. outlets and online.

The “William” in Café William is for the Italian William Spartivento, who invented a rotary coffee roaster. Picard said, “Nobody could really pronounce Spartivento – which we could have kept [as a name] because it would have been cool. It means ‘split the winds’ in Italian.”

From Colombia to Quebec: Huge sailboat ships coffee for Café William Read More »

Opposition attacks CAQ for more tramway delays

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , , , ,

TRAM TRACKER

Opposition attacks CAQ for more tramway delays

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

Four months after the Coalition Avenir Québec government announced its approval of the first phase of Quebec City’s tramway project, a deal is yet to be signed to restart construction.

The prolonged delay has the Quebec Liberal Party transport critic and MNA for Nelligan Monsef Derraji wondering whether the CAQ government is stalling in the hopes a Conservative federal government under Pierre Poilievre will kill the project if it comes to power in the coming months.

Derraji and other opposition members grilled Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault for two hours in the National Assembly on Sept. 27 on the tramway project.

In an interview with the QCT, Derraji said the problem for the CAQ government is “they have no money.” He said the government has been cutting programs and now Guilbault “said she’s waiting for money to come in from the federal government” for the tramway project.

He said Premier François Legault had called on the Bloc Québécois to support a Conservative non-confidence motion to defeat Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government. The premier “wants as soon as possible an election on the federal level.”

Poilievre has said on several occasions “he would give nothing to the tramway project,” Derraji said. The way he sees it, Legault and Guilbault “are waiting for a federal election, and after that they will say we don’t have the money for this project.”

Derraji said Guilbault had promised in June to give a mandate to the Caisse de dépôt et placement infrastructure division (CDPQ Infra) to restart work on the first phase of the $5.1-billion project.

“Why is she waiting? Next year we’ll have Pierre Poilievre.” Derraji noted that while Poilievre opposes the tramway, he has said a Conservative federal government would help finance the CAQ’s plan for a “third link” bridge across the St. Lawrence River.

Besides Derraji, opposition MNAs Étienne Grandmont of Québec Solidaire — whose riding would be home to several tramway stations if the project goes ahead — and Joël Arseneau of the Parti Québécois questioned Guilbault.

For her part, Guilbault said sending a mandate letter to CDPQ Infra is not a simple matter. “They [the opposition] just talk about the letter, but I don’t know if they understand how it works, the preparation and design of a major project. There are several things happening at the same time.”

She said meetings have been taking place between government officials and CDPQ Infra since June, when the agency submitted a report the CAQ government had requested that recommended a sweep- ing urban transit project for Quebec City and Lévis, to be called Circuit intégré de transport express or Cité.

Guilbauilt said the project transition committee last met on Sept. 24. “It’s important for people to know that the project is moving forward,” the minister told the opposition members at the National Assembly session.

As for federal funding, Guilbault said there are “certain people in the current fed- eral Liberal government who claimed in the newspapers that they were on target. That’s their usual claim: ‘We’re on target.’ But what does that mean in real life? For me, a target is money … I negotiate with them, I make my requests and I wait for the cheque, and the cheque doesn’t arrive.”

Jean-Yves Duclos, the federal minister of public services and procurement and MP for Québec, denied Guilbault’s claim (see separate story).  

Opposition attacks CAQ for more tramway delays Read More »

Duclos to Guilbault: Tram money is ‘in the bank’

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , , ,

Duclos to Guilbault: Tram money is ‘in the bank’

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Federal minister and Liberal Quebec lieutenant Jean-Yves Duclos has sharply refuted Quebec Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault’s claim Ottawa has yet to “send a cheque” to help finance Quebec City’s tramway project.

Duclos responded to Guilbault’s comments at a media scrum on Oct. 4 following a Quebec City announcement about loans for small busi- nesses. The minister had taken the swipe at the federal govern- ment a week earlier in front of a National Assembly session focused on the tramway project. “I wait for the cheque and the cheque doesn’t arrive,” Guilbault said, in the context of answering questions from opposition MNAs about the CAQ government’s delay in mandating the resumption of construction of the first phase of the tramway project, as promised in June.

Duclos told reporters the federal government has put “$1.5 billion and more in a bank account for the Quebec [City] region for the tramway.”

As for Guilbault’s comments, “I say this with respect, but sometimes I need to say things more clearly … I explained to her again last week what she should have understood a long time ago. I told her several times. I don’t know why it’s not getting through.”

Duclos, who recently took over as Liberal lieutenant for Quebec in the wake of Pablo Rodriguez’s decision to seek the Quebec Liberal Party leadership, said, “To claim that there is no money from the Canadian government is false, and I think everyone should admit that, including Ms. Guilbault. We have to stop diverting attention and going back over old issues that have been clarified for a long time.”

Duclos said when Guilbault sends the bill for the tramway, “we’ll send her a cheque.”

As for the threat of a future Conservative government under Pierre Poilievre, who has said he would not fund the tramway project, Duclos said the Conservative leader “wants to steal money from the tramway bank account of people in the Quebec City region. We can’t imagine that he would want to do that, but knowing Pierre Poilievre, it’s pure Pierre Poilievre.”

Duclos to Guilbault: Tram money is ‘in the bank’ Read More »

New book offers detailed look at wartime Quebec Conferences

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

New book offers detailed look at wartime Quebec Conferences

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

According to a newly published book, the first step in the long fight to beat the Nazis and liberate Europe from their grip began in the Salon Rose of the Château Frontenac in August 1943.

The Quebec Conference, bringing together British prime minister Winston Churchill and United States president Franklin Roosevelt, committed the Allies to the invasion of Normandy the following spring, code name Overlord, which became known as D-Day.

The momentous Quebec City meeting is chronicled in fascinating detail in historian, retired naval officer and QCT contributing writer Charles André Nadeau’s new book, Churchill et Roosevelt à Québec: Grande et petite histoires des conférences de 1943 et de 1944. (It’s available only in French at the moment, pend- ing translation arrangements.)

The book launch on Sept. 12, naturally, took place in the Salon Rose, little changed from when the chiefs of staff of Great Britain and the United States met there to debate the grand strategy for the rest of the war in Europe 81 years ago. In attendance were Nadeau’s family and friends, his naval comrades, fellow historians and the man who initially proposed the book project, former Château Frontenac director general Robert Mercure, himself a history buff.

Nadeau said the book, initially imagined as a pamphlet, would help Mercure respond to one of the most-asked questions by visitors about the landmark hotel, namely what happened when Churchill and Roosevelt met in Quebec in August 1943 and again in September 1944.

Mercure, who wrote a foreword to the book, applauded Nadeau at the launch for “having succeeded in bringing alive” the events at the two conferences. He confessed to getting a “frisson” each time he enters the Salon Rose, knowing what took place there.

Nadeau said his background as a student of military strategy at the U.S. Naval War College provided the context for the book, which lays out in accessible detail how the president and prime minister approved the “grand strategy” for the reconquest of Europe.

Nadeau notes that by pure coincidence, the 1943 Quebec conference took place at a crucial turning point in the war in Europe, the Allied forces having captured Sicily on Aug. 17, with the Italian boot literally in view across the Strait of Messina.

Churchill, Nadeau said, “was a better politician than a military strategist,” preferring to launch an invasion of Europe through Italy rather than northern France from across the English Channel. Churchill’s reticence, Nadeau said, was partly due to his role as British naval minister in the disastrous and bloody invasion of Turkey in the First World War.

“He saw Normandy as a potential Gallipoli,” Nadeau said. Besides the fascinating account of the strategy for the next crucial stage of the war hammered out by military commanders in the Salon Rose, the Citadelle and other places in the city, Nadeau offers up countless colourful details of the eight-day gathering.

One that boggles the mind is that of British vice-admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, taking out his revolver in the Salon Rose and firing bullets at a block of ice and one made of a new material called pykrete, developed to clad an aircraft carrier, an experiment that got no further than a lake in Alberta.

The overall conclusion of the Quebec Conference, as Nadeau asserts in the book, is that henceforth the United States would be the dominant force in the selection of the strategy of the war in both Europe and the Pacific.

As Nadeau observes, “kilometre zero” in the long road to win the war in Europe was the Salon Rose in the Château Frontenac.

Churchill et Roosevelt à Québec is available in local bookstores and online.

New book offers detailed look at wartime Quebec Conferences Read More »

Quebec ready to inject money into Mont-Sainte-Anne upgrade

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

Quebec ready to inject money into Mont Sainte-Anne upgrade

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

With a nip in the air and the ski season in the offing, the Quebec government is reportedly negotiating a deal to help finance the revitalization of Mont Sainte-Anne (MSA).

A Sept. 25 report in the local publication Le Charlevoisien, citing an unnamed source, said the government would announce a deal with the ski centre owner, Calgary-based Resorts of the Canadian Rockies (RCR), at the end of October.

Le Soleil confirmed the report from a “reliable source.” The reports sparked a flurry of reaction the same day at the National Assembly, with Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) ministers dodging questions but not denying the reports.

The group advocating for new owners for the resort, Les Amis de Mont Sainte-Anne, told the QCT, through spokesperson Sabrina Martin, “For now, we will not comment; we have not seen the agreement and have nothing concrete to base it on.”

Quebec Infrastructure Minister and Minister for the Quebec Capital Region Jonatan Julien told reporters during a brief scrum, “We are working hard, and when we have announcements to make, we will do them with pleasure.”

Prior to his stepping down from cabinet, Pierre Fitzgibbon had handled the file as minister of economy, innovation and energy. Fitzgibbon had ruled out expropriating the resort from RCR, but said the Quebec government would be willing to invest in its upgrade.

His successor in the super- portfolio, Christine Fréchette, said, “Nothing has been signed,” and refused further comment.

There have been two offers to buy MSA from RCR recently. The owners of Le Massif de Charlevoix made a bid in 2022; earlier this year, French businessman Christian Mars, with the backing of local investors, made a pitch to RCR that was rejected.

RCR does not own the mountain, but thanks to a 100-year lease signed in 1994 with the Société des établissements de plein air du Québec (Sépaq), it holds the management rights.

Last year, RCR proposed a $500-million plan to upgrade the facility, which has been plagued in recent years with accidents on its lifts.

While reaction to the reports of a possible deal was positive in media reports, Québec Solidaire MNA Sol Zanetti said, “It is important not to put public money in the pockets of a company that does not deserve it. Enough with subsidies for billionaires.”

Mont Sainte-Anne is one of Canada’s oldest and best-known ski resorts, and the host of many international competitions. It also hosts mountain bike races on its network of trails.

Quebec ready to inject money into Mont-Sainte-Anne upgrade Read More »

Buyer wants to bring back Provisions Inc. as grocery

QCNA NEWS / / / , ,

Buyer wants to bring back Provisions Inc. as grocery

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Those longing for the return of the popular Provisions Inc. grocery store on Ave. Cartier may get their wish.

Although the deal is not yet signed and sealed, the would-be buyer of the building, rental property owner Jean-François Picard, is talking about his plans. He told the Journal de Québec, “We really want to revive what it was and everyone is converging towards the same thing.”

Picard said, “There were citizen surveys, merchant surveys. I did my homework and [decided] a grocery store will go there.”

Picard, who lives close to Ave. Cartier, said he was a frequent patron of the store. “It brought life; it brought a beautiful magic too because it was very family-oriented. That’s what we want to revive.”

The Drouin family ran the store until the fall of 2022, when cousins Vincent and Bruno Drouin sold it to a couple from France. Stéphanie Bouillon Guessas and Christophe Bouillon operated the store until January 2024 when it was suddenly closed. The building was put up for sale by the National Bank following the couple’s default on the mortgage. Meanwhile, the Drouins are suing the couple for some $450,000 still owing on the purchase.

The three-storey building has two apartments above the grocery. The equipment to operate the store, such as refrigerators, shelves and cashier counters, remains intact.

Picard said he is now looking for a partner to run the grocery. “It’s realistic to think that well before Christmas, we’ll be in operation,” he said. Picard also said he hopes to work with for- mer employees of the grocery to get it back up and running.

The website for his company, Picard Immobilier, describes the business as “proud to be a Quebec company that is 100 per cent manager and owner of its buildings” with “nearly 700 apartments of all styles in the Quebec region.”

Among the company’s holdings are several buildings in the Montcalm district.

The impending purchase of Provisions Inc. was raised at a meeting of the Montcalm neighbourhood council meeting last week. Attendee Paul Mackey told the QCT Picard “may attend the next neighbourhood council meeting at the end of October to discuss his plans, if the sale is formalized.”

Hugo Asselin, the real estate agent who handled the deal, said it might take a few weeks for the sale to be processed by a notary. The listed price for the building, zoned for a variety of uses, was $2 million.

The QCT was not able to contact Picard before press time.

Buyer wants to bring back Provisions Inc. as grocery Read More »

DND putting Sewell House and St. Louis barracks up for sale

Local Journalism Initiative / / / ,

DND putting Sewell House and St. Louis barracks up for sale

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

More than four years after the Department of National Defence (DND) declared it as “operationally surplus,” the future of the historic Sewell House on Rue St. Louis is still unknown. Also declared surplus is the St. Louis Barracks building behind Sewell House, on Rue D’Auteuil.

DND spokesperson Kened Sadiku told the QCT, “DND must complete Indigenous and local community consultations and complete the priority circulation with other levels of government and Indigenous groups before making a decision on the future of these properties.”

According to a DND document, the properties were declassified on Aug. 20, which triggered “the divestment process.”

The overall size of the property is 3,934 square feet, and according to the new city evaluation role, Sewell House is valued at $3.3 million.

Both buildings have federal heritage classification, which Sadiku said, means “the new owner[s] of the properties will be responsible for maintaining and preserving their heritage value.”

The St. Louis Barracks were built in 1856 as an armoury and artillery storage space, then expanded into stables and dormitories in 1887. They were used as the offices of the Royal Canadian Engineers until 1998, when the building became vacant. The building is protected because of its history as military infrastructure and its architectural importance. Sewell House has seen a lot of history since it was built in 1804 and occupied for several years by its namesake, Jonathan Sewell, chief justice of what was then Lower Canada. Parks Canada’s description of the house notes: “The original owner, Jonathan Sewell, may have been involved in the design, which placed the home within extensive grounds he owned through inheritance from his father-in-law, the former Chief Justice of Lower Canada William Smith.”

“In 1808, he became Chief Justice and Chairman of the Executive Council. In 1854, his estate sold the house to the Crown. The buildings were then inhabited by the officers of the Quebec Garrison Club, served as offices of the lieutenant governor and the Post Office Department and also as a school.”

The two-and-a-half storey building is still used as an officer’s residence. One former resident, QCT journalist Shirley Nadeau, lived in the lower half of the building for five years. She commented, “The rooms are enormous – the kitchen measured 26 feet long – and ceilings are 14 feet high on the first two floors.”

The house was of such dimensions, according to biographies of Sewell, to accommodate the large family he had with his wife Henrietta, which numbered 16 children.

The city’s inventory of architecture describes the building as “a fine example of the development of the Upper Town of Quebec City in the early 19th century under British rule. It evokes the establishment of the wealthy administrative class that chose the Upper Town during the boom and development of the area.”

Both the barracks and Sewell House are adjacent to the Quebec Garrison Club National Historic Site.

DND spokesperson Andrée- Anne Poulin told the QCT in an email: “Through pre- circulation, early expression of interest has come up from various groups from within the community.”

She added, “It’s important to note that the analysis required for divesting a property is intensive and thorough as described in the Treasury Board’s directive on the management of real property. These projects take an average of three to five years to complete. We take this deliberate, considered approach to ensure we consider the full value of these properties and make an informed decision.”

DND putting Sewell House and St. Louis barracks up for sale Read More »

Provisions Inc. building on Ave. Cartier sold

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

Provisions Inc. building on Ave. Cartier sold

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The “Vendu” sign is in the window, but people will have to wait a few weeks to know the identity of the new owner of the Provisions Inc. building on Ave. Cartier.

The “For Sale” sign went up in the three-storey building on Aug. 21, the result of a court decision to sell the building to resolve a legal roadblock. The building had become the property of the National Bank when the purchasers, a couple from France, defaulted on the mortgage after fleeing the country.

The pair, Christophe Bouillon and Stéphanie Bouillon Guessas, had acquired the grocery in 2022 from cousins Vincent and Bruno Drouin, whose family had operated the popular store since 1949.

The bailiff handling the sale mandated Remax agent Hugo Asselin to list the building, which, besides a fully equipped grocery store, has two apartments on the second and third floors.. The asking price was $2 million, and a one-week deadline was set for submission of offers.

Asselin told the QCT there were four interested purchasers and the winning bidder is currently going through the legal process with a notary to make the sale official.

When the QCT visited the building the day after the “Vendu” sign went up, two men and a woman were seen talking at the building doorway. Asked if they were the new owners, one said “possiblement” but had no further comment.

Provisions Inc. building on Ave. Cartier sold Read More »

Joan of Arc statue on Plains gets fix-up

Local Journalism Initiative / / / ,

Joan of Arc statue on Plains gets fix-up

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Joan of Arc is getting her armour burnished.

The famous statue of the French saint and warrior in the Plains of Abraham garden that bears her name has been barricaded with scaffolding, part of a repair and renovation plan staged over five to 10 years.

A spokesperson for the National Battlefields Commission that maintains the garden said specialists from the Centre de conservation du Québec have been working on the life-size statue and base for two weeks. The scaffolding was to be removed by Sept. 20.

The cost of the makeover is estimated at $30,000.

The statue was a donation from the American sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington and her husband, Archer M. Huntington, who were enamoured with Quebec City. It commemorates the soldiers who died in the Sept. 13, 1759, Battle of the Plains of Abraham.

The statue is an exact replica of the original one of Joan of Arc on her mount in Manhattan, New York City, erected in 1915. There are three other copies, in Los Angeles; Gloucester, Massachusetts; and Blois, France.

The Quebec City statue was inaugurated in 1938 along with the garden created to surround it.

There is one other statue of a mounted Joan of Arc in the city, located on the grounds of the former Soeurs de Sainte-Jeanne-d’Arc convent in Sillery, now a residential complex.

Joan of Arc statue on Plains gets fix-up Read More »

City to jack tax on vehicle fee by $60 to boost transit service

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

City to jack tax on vehicle fee by $60 to boost transit service

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Vehicle owners in Quebec City will be paying $60 more when they renew their registrations, a move by the city to raise money to expand urban transit service.

Mayor Bruno Marchand announced at a Sept. 11 news conference that the hike will take effect on Jan. 1, 2025, when the public transit contribution of vehicle registration will jump from $30 to $90, on top of the regular fee.

The $30 fee has been in effect since 1992; motorists in the Montreal region have been paying a special transit fee since 2011.

The measure, which the Quebec government made available to all municipalities in the province earlier this year, will affect some 300,000 vehicle owners in the Quebec City region. It is expected to raise $18.4 million in the first year, all of which, the mayor said, will be targeted to public transit improvements.

“We are waging a war on congestion,” Marchand said. “The longer we wait to develop the public transport network, the more congestion increases.”

Saying he was not happy to announce a fee increase, the mayor argued, “There is a cost associated with conges- tion. The family that has to buy a second or third car for their child who has to go to CEGEP represents an annual expense of thousands of dollars. The hours lost in traffic are time that people don’t have with their families and for themselves. Congestion has an economic cost and an impact on quality of life.”

The trade-off for the fee hike is an expansion of the Réseau de Transport de la Capitale (RTC) network with a plan rolled out over the next three years.

Each year, according to a press release, the RTC plans to add a new fast, high-frequency Metrobus-type route to serve the northern suburbs, a new peripheral sector served by Flexibus with local routes revised accordingly, extension of the àVélo bike-sharing network, and a new Parc-O- Bus lot.

Coun. Maude Mercier Larouche, RTC president and executive committee member, said, “Year after year, the same problem arises: the RTC wants to develop and improve its services, but the funding is not there. Today, we are taking steps to remedy this and are presenting you with an ambitious development plan that meets the needs of our citizens and users.”

Opposition councillors had a variety of reactions to the fee hike, a step dozens of other municipalities have already taken, with fees higher than Quebec City’s $60. Opposition Leader and Québec d’Abord Coun. Claude Villeneuve, whose party is the successor to former mayor Régis Labeaume’s Équipe Labeaume slate, convened a press conference to show plans for RTC network expansion that the Labeaume administration had drawn up – which he said were very similar to the plan Marchand unveiled.

Villeneuve told reporters, “We clearly have a mayor who is waving this plan around with his left hand and who, with his right hand, is going into the pockets of families to get more money – money that will not deliver more mobility and fluidity.”

Transition Québec Leader and Limoilou Coun. Jackie Smith, meanwhile, while sup- portive of the increased fee, offered other suggestions. In a news release, she proposed “the city offer the Opus card [transit pass] free of charge to residents of the neighbourhoods on the northern out- skirts of Quebec City who will pay the registration tax.

“The city is presenting us with an interesting project for what it will do with the money collected for the development of the public transit network in Quebec City, but I’m increasingly wary of these plans that are being dangled before us. As long as the CAQ is in power, I’m afraid that all mobility projects in Quebec City will remain imaginary projects,” said Smith.

To encourage drivers to try RTC services, the city plans to offer eight free bus tickets, a $30 value, upon request as of Jan. 1.

City to jack tax on vehicle fee by $60 to boost transit service Read More »

City buys historic Saint-Jean-Baptiste church building

Local Journalism Initiative / / / ,

City buys historic Saint-Jean-Baptiste church building

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Nearly 140 years after it opened its doors to worshippers and nearly 10 years after those doors closed, Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste, one of Quebec City’s most distinctive religious landmarks, may reopen soon following the city’s purchase of the building on Rue Saint-Jean.

On Sept. 9, Mayor Bruno Marchand and executive committee member and local Coun. Mélissa Coulombe-Leduc announced the acquisition, for $175,000, of the monumental church, in the square in front of the building which is often used for cultural events. Marchand said Saint-Jean- Baptiste is one of eight religious structures the city is committed to preserving, following recommendations in a 2018 study led by former Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec (MNBAQ) head John Porter. He said saving the churches was among his party’s election promises.

The other churches are the Notre-Dame de Québec Basilica-Cathedral in Old Quebec; the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, also in Old Quebec; Église de La Nativité de Notre-Dame (Beauport); Église Saint-Charles-Borromée (Charlesbourg); Église Saint- Roch, Église Saint-Sauveur and Église Saint-Charles-de-Limoilou. Saint-Jean-Baptiste is the only one of the eight churches currently unoccupied.

Coulombe-Leduc said the city is awaiting the results of a study by consultants to evaluate the investments required to convert the structure for new functions, already identified as “community, touristic and cultural.” She said, “There is enough space for the three to exist together.”

The estimate of the overall cost to repair and maintain the structure is $34 million over 15 years, Coulombe-Leduc said. The city would be the owner of the building, but the provincial and federal governments would contribute to the project. She said she already has assurances from Québec MP Jean-Yves Duclos that the federal government would be involved.

Coulombe-Leduc said she wants there to be at least temporary activity in the building “as soon as possible” while the details of a development plan are settled. “It is not a good thing for a heritage building to be unoccupied,” she said.

She said the overall structure of the building “is very good” and the windows and roof are in good condition. The parish has managed to do renovations over the years since the church ceased to be a place of worship in 2015. The building has had a heritage designation since 1991.

No one from the Saint-Jean-Baptiste parish council, which still oversees the maintenance of the church, spoke at the press conference or was immediately available to comment.

City buys historic Saint-Jean-Baptiste church building Read More »

Student apartment project set for Jeffery Hale clinic site

Local Journalism Initiative / / / ,

Student apartment project set for Jeffery Hale clinic site

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Amajor student housing project is in the works that will transform an already busy sector of Saint- Sacrement.

Construction is expected to start in January on a 234-unit building on the site of the former Jeffery Hale Medical Centre on Chemin Ste-Foy. The structure is adjacent to the building that houses the offices of organizations serving the English-speaking community and the Jeffery Hale Hospital.

The as-yet-unnamed build- ing is a project of UTILE (l’Unité de travail pour l’implantation de logement étudiant), a Montreal-based non-profit organization that already has 13 projects built or in development in Montreal, Sherbrooke, Rimouski, Trois- Rivières and Quebec City.

The group’s first project in the capital is called L’Ardoise, a 205-unit building on Chemin Sainte-Foy across from the Université Laval campus. Completed in 2023, the facility was an instant success, according to Maxime Pelletier, UTILE’s assistant director of public affairs.

Rents in L’Ardoise range from $618 per month for a studio to $1,600 per month for a four-bedroom apartment. When units become available, the group said, there is a flood of applications.

Pelletier said UTILE chose the site on the Jeffery Hale property because of its access to transportation and other amenities in the Saint- Sacrement district, plus its proximity to Laval.

The group bought the land for $3.45 million from the owner, Sobeys, the food and real estate giant. Pelletier said construction will begin in the new year once zoning issues are resolved with the city and financing secured for the new project.

Regarding the zoning, Pelletier said, “The main exemptions required for our projects are regarding the height of the building, which is slightly higher than what is currently permitted, as well as the parking-to-units ratio (since many students do not own a car and we want to encourage active and public transit, we have fewer parking spots in our projects).”

Pelletier said he is confident discussions with “multiple levels of government” will secure the financing for the new building. Once construction begins, he said the building should be ready to accept tenants for the 2026 fall semester.

Pelletier said the goal of UTILE is “to provide afford- able housing to students be- cause increasingly housing is the main source of financial debt and stress for students and therefore we believe that providing students with an adequate place to study that is affordable will improve their well-being as well as their capacity to concentrate on their studies.”

The group got its start as a result of the 2012 university student strike, Pelletier said, when there was a movement for a student organization to take over a corporate housing project in the works in down- town Montreal. The takeover didn’t happen, but the move- ment created UTILE, which launched its first project in 2017 in Montreal.

Pelletier said UTILE pours some of the rental income from existing buildings back into new projects but is committed to keeping rents affordable.

As for which students will be granted a lease on an apartment, Pelletier said priority goes to students in the most financial need.

The soon-to-be-demolished Jeffery Hale Medical Centre building currently has only one tenant listed, a dental clinic. The building opened in 1964, a project of five doctors, according to city records: Samuel L. Pollack, John W. Kelly, Peter E. Kozak, Denis Gendron and Ian C. Wilson.

The city inventory of buildings describes the structure as of “little heritage interest … [that] corresponds to a time of multiplication of medical clinics linked to the demographic boom.”

Student apartment project set for Jeffery Hale clinic site Read More »

Faubourg elevator to close in spring for upgrade

Local Journalism Initiative / / / ,

Faubourg elevator to close in spring for upgrade

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

One of the city’s more distinctive features is about to undergo a major overhaul. As of Sept. 4, work began on the exterior of the Faubourg public elevator, connecting Rue Saint-Vallier Est in the Saint-Roch district with Rue Saint-Réal in the Saint-Jean-Baptiste neighbourhood in Upper Town.

The exterior work will continue into December; all the while both the elevator and the restaurant will continue to function.

Come spring, though, the iconic Art Deco tower will be closed for about 10 weeks to allow for the replacement of the elevator machinery.

In a Sept. 3 news release, the city said it planned the $1.975-million elevator makeover in two phases “to limit the impacts on citizens as much as possible, in particular by keeping this important mechanical link operational during the winter period.”

Some short-term closures may be necessary during the first phase, and the city has said it will give notice when they are about to occur. Dur- ing the long-term closure in the spring, “measures will be put in place to allow citizens to travel from Upper Town to Lower Town.”

The elevator has considerable historical as well as functional value, according to the city’s architectural directory. It was designed by prominent architect Wilfrid Lacroix, who designed the Gérard-Morisset Pavilion of the Musée national des Beaux-Arts du Québec and collaborated on the design of Collège des Jésuites and the Édifice André-Laurendeau on Parliament Hill.

The structure has undergone various renovations over its 80- year lifespan; the most recent, in 1997, gave the exterior its current look of beige brick.

The city said up to 400 people use the elevator each day.

Faubourg elevator to close in spring for upgrade Read More »

City doesn’t plan to cash in on rise in property evaluations

Local Journalism Initiative / / / ,

City doesn’t plan to cash in on rise in property evaluations

Peter Black

peter@qctonline.com

The city’s new property assessment roll for the years 2025-2027 features some major increases in the value of buildings and land. Taxpayers need not worry about a bigger tax bill, the city says, since increases in value will be offset by a decrease in the tax rate.

City officials unveiled the new roll at a media session at City Hall on Sept. 5. The highlights include an average increase of 27.4 per cent on residential properties, 25.3 per cent on multi-residential housing of six units or more, and 24.4 per cent on vacant but serviced land. The overall increase in property value is 23.5 per cent.

Mayor Bruno Marchand said at the news conference, “There is no reason to be afraid. There will be no tax shock.”

That said, given a range of cost pressures, the mayor said, “It is impossible for the city not to raise taxes next December,” although he vowed such a hike would be less than the rate of inflation, as it was in the last two budgets.

Marchand said, “Depending on the increases we are experiencing, depending on the costs that are rising – because we are also experiencing inflation – we are going to make a colossal effort this year to make difficult choices to ensure that we are below inflation in the growth of taxes.”

The new tax roll shows the average value for tax purposes of a single-family home rose from $296,205 on the previous roll to $378,964 on the new one. Buildings with up to five units rose from $382,897 to $489,082 on the new roll.

The category of buildings that saw the largest increase was non-residential (hotels, motels and tourist accommodations) which leaped by 38 per cent. The city lists 145 buildings in this category.

Office buildings, on the other hand, actually decreased in value on the city roll by 7.6 per cent.

The new roll is now available for viewing on the city’s website.

City doesn’t plan to cash in on rise in property evaluations Read More »

Samuel-De Champlain beach will stay open into October

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,


Samuel-De Champlain beach will stay open into October

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Samuel-De Champlain beach will stay open into October

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The Promenade Samuel-De Champlain beach area, in only its second year of operation, has proved so popular it will be staying open until October.

The Commission de la Capitale-Nationale last week announced the decision to extend the season beyond its originally planned end on Sept. 3, after the Labour Day weekend.

The beach now will be open on weekends until Oct. 6, depending on weather condi- tions, those being a tempera- ture above 18 C and a forecast without heavy rain or a full day of precipitation.

If the weather co-operates, that could mean a total of five bonus weekends at the beach, which features an unheated swimming pool, a “mirror pool” with water jets and access for a dip in the river.

While the pool will be open only on weekends, the mirror pool and water jets will be open to the public throughout the week.

The CCN is betting on a repeat of last September’s weather, where the average temperature was 21.8 C, 3.9 C above the 17.9 C average. That made for 20 days above 20 C, well above the average nine for the month.

According to weather watcher David Page, “The way things are going, September is likely to mirror recent months and temperatures will be above normal. Environment Canada’s outlook for September is above normal temperatures for al- most the entire country.”

Page said, “While the temperatures are definitely rising with climate change, it will take a while to affect the averages. But it’s probably a good bet to predict averages of one or two degrees above average.”

CCN spokesperson Jean- Philippe Guay told the QCT it takes a small team to keep the beach site open. That includes the site manager, beach attendants, housekeeping attendants and lifeguards, depending on traffic and time of day. The snack shop at the pavilion will be open on weekends from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Promenade Champlain beach is not the only city swimming area to have a prolonged schedule this September. The Gerard-Guay pool in Parc Saint-Charles-Garnier in Sillery will remain open until Sept. 22, depending on weather conditions.

The reason for the extension, according to the city, is the shortage of swimming pools, due to the temporary closure of most indoor pools in the city for regular maintenance. A quick survey shows the only non-institutional indoor city pool open is Bourg-Royal in Charlesbourg.

Information on opening hours for municipal indoor pools is available on the city’s website.

Samuel-De Champlain beach will stay open into October Read More »

Poilievre mum about fakes in ‘Our Home’ video on Quebec City visit

Local Journalism Initiative / / /

Poilievre mum about fakes in ‘Our Home’ video on Quebec City visit

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The images in news reports and on social media of Pierre Poilievre visiting a brewery and a factory in Quebec City last week are authentic; less so the images used in a video the Conservative Party of Canada posted last week called “Our Home.”

“Our Home” featured Poilievre giving a speech in a cowboy hat at the recent Calgary Stampede, interspersed with clips supposedly depicting typical Canadian scenes.

However, keen-eyed observers quickly noted many of the scenes were stock footage taken at various spots on the planet. For example, the fighter jets are Russian, the young student is at a university in Ukraine, the outdoor family dinner is in Tuscany and the “foothills of the Rockies” are in Indonesia.

Poilievre happened to be in Quebec City on Aug. 20 when the story broke about the images in the video. When re- porters asked him about it, his only response was, “The goal of the video was still to share my common sense plan, that is to say, cut taxes, build housing, fix the budget, stop crime; and there were mistakes, so it was removed.”

While in the Quebec capital, the Conservative leader, with Quebec lieutenant and Charlesbourg MP Pierre Paul-Hus and Portneuf MP Joël Grondin in tow, visited a brewery warehouse, a factory where worksite trailers are made and a distillery in Limoilou.

Poilievre reacted to the announcement that morning of the Coalition Avenir Québec’s plan to freeze temporary foreign worker entry in Montreal.

“The immigration system is out of control. Quebec is at a breaking point because of [Prime Minister] Justin Trudeau’s radical policies. The population is exploding, with- out housing, without jobs and without the means to care for the people who arrive,” he said.

He also directed attacks at the Bloc Québécois, with polls showing they are neck-and- neck with Conservatives for the lead in Quebec.

“Voting for the Bloc means helping Justin Trudeau implement a policy that is costing the people of Quebec dearly,” Poilievre said, denouncing what he called the Bloc-Liberal coalition.

In a Radio-Canada interview from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet dismissed Poilievre’s comments, saying he and his party have consistently voted against the Liberal government.

Prior to his Quebec City visit, Poilievre spent a day in Saguenay, where he took a stand against the federal government’s plan to protect a caribou herd at the risk of local forestry jobs.

Poilievre mum about fakes in ‘Our Home’ video on Quebec City visit Read More »

NEW_Story_Chronicle_Telegraph_111

Jackie Smith sends out appeal for Transition Québec candidates

Local Journalism Initiative / / /

Jackie Smith sends out appeal for Transition Québec candidates

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Saying she “can’t do it alone,” Transition Québec leader and Limoilou Coun. Jackie Smith is seeking to recruit candidates to run in the municipal election scheduled for Nov. 5 next year.

Smith, who ran for mayor but won her council seat as a colistier (running mate) in the 2021 election, said she is launching the recruitment campaign early “because we want to be really clear we have a process – we’re not just recruiting our friends.”

Smith said in an interview with the QCT, “When there’s an open process to become a candidate, there’s a lot more women that apply, a lot more people from minorities and a lot of people who are not necessarily from the political class.”

She said, “We are trying to make the process as familiar as possible, to let the population know that it’s open to everybody. You don’t have to be part of a political clique or a boys club to run for office.”

For those interested in applying, Smith said, “It’s like a job interview.” Applicants fill out an online form on the Transition Québec website, including a CV and explaining why they are interested in running and in what district.

“Some districts are coveted more than others,” Smith said, depending on more likely pockets of support for the party. Smith was the only Transition Québec candidate in the 21 districts to get elected, although the party came second in two and third in two others.

Smith said party officials will review an application, and if the applicant is deemed appropriate, an in-person interview will follow. There is also a detailed vetting document to fill out, and party officials will examine social media and an applicant’s engagement with community groups and the like.

Smith said the party has already received a few submissions since she put out the call on Aug. 19.

She said the concept of an open call for candidates is inspired by some American groups seeking to encourage more candidates for political office from the working classes.

Smith said, “Part of the objective of doing this announcement is to sort of call everybody home. I can’t run this by myself. We need to get our [activists] back in the loop.”

As for her own candidacy, Smith, the mother of two young children, said, “I’m thinking about it.

“It’s a lot of work and I love it. I still have the passion and vision for it. Can my body keep up, is the question. Like I say, we’ll see.”

Transition Québec, an unabashedly left-wing and environmentalist party, was founded in 2020 as a renamed version of Option Capitale- Nationale – a creation of the provincial Option Nationale party, which merged with Québec Solidaire in 2017.

Jackie Smith sends out appeal for Transition Québec candidates Read More »

Parc des Braves monument restoration could take 18 months

Local Journalism Initiative / / /

Parc des Braves monument restoration could take 18 months

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

A massive monument conspicuously missing from Parc des Braves on Chemin Sainte-Foy won’t be back in its prominent spot for at least a year.

The towering column topped with a statue of Bellona, the Roman goddess of war, was removed from its base back in December. Erected in 1863, the statue commemorates the Battle of Sainte-Foy in April 1760 in which French forces defeated the British army, getting revenge for the decisive battle on the Plains of Abraham the previous September.

The initial motivation for the monument, and subsequently for the national park on which it stands, was the discovery in the 1850s of the bones of both French and English soldiers, exposed by years of erosion and landslides on the site.

Those remains were collected and placed in a casket that is encased in the monument’s base.

Although details are not available on the condition of the statue and other components of the monument, National Battlefields Commission spokesperson Katherine Laflamme told the QCT, “The ornamental elements – the statue, cannons and plaques – are currently being restored by the Centre de conservation du Québec.”

The other components, notably the sections of the cast iron column, are being stored, pending the “granting of mandates.”

The cost of the restoration has not been determined, Laflamme said. “Analyses are underway. An initial assessment two years ago estimated the work at between $500,000 and $1,000,000, but we do not yet have all the analyses.”

She said the work is expected to be completed and the monument returned “in 12 to 18 months.”

This is not the first time the massive monument, designed by famed architect and engineer Charles Baillairgé, has been dismantled. The widening of Chemin Sainte-Foy in 1970 required the column to be moved back from the road to its current location.

Parc des Braves monument restoration could take 18 months Read More »

Provisions Inc. building to be sold by order of bailiff

Local Journalism Initiative / / /

Provisions Inc. building to be sold by order of bailiff

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The iconic Provisions Inc. building on Ave. Cartier could have a new owner within weeks, the result of a court-ordered bailiff’s sale.

Signs for a real estate agent went up in the windows of the once-popular family-run grocery store on Aug. 21, ac- companied by another sign saying “vente sous contrôle de justice.”

The building, with two apartments above the grocery, has been in limbo for months since the would-be new owners, a couple from France, fled town back in January. In the fall of 2022, Christophe Bouillon and Stéphanie Bouillon Guessas had acquired the grocery from cousins Vincent and Bruno Drouin, whose family had operated the store since 1949.

In July, according to the Journal de Québec, the National Bank of Canada won control of the property through the courts after the Bouillon couple defaulted on a $2.5-million mortgage. The couple had put the building up for sale for $4 million before taking flight back to France.

According to Remax agent Hugo Asselin, who is acting on behalf of a bailiff, several interested buyers have already submitted offers. The deadline for offers was one week from the notice of sale.

The listing says the “grocery store that currently occupies the ground floor could be put back into operation very quickly since the equipment can be included in the transaction.”

It also says, “Sale without legal warranty of quality, at the buyer’s risk.”

The apartments are described as recently renovated with bright rooms and high ceilings.

City zoning permits a variety of uses for the building, including restaurant, retail and “general tourist accommodation.”

According to media reports, the proceeds from the sale will first be used to repay the municipal and school taxes unpaid by the Bouillons, then the bank, as well as the former owners of the grocery store, who are suing the couple for $446,250.

Provisions Inc. building to be sold by order of bailiff Read More »

Anglo numbers increase in QC area, slump in some regions

Local Journalism Initiative / / /

Anglo numbers increase in QC area, slump in some regions

Peter Black

peterblack@qctonline.com

The English-speaking population of Quebec City has increased by nearly 40 per cent over 20 years, according to a new study by a research group on anglophone issues.

The Quebec English-speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN), centred at Montreal’s Concordia University, analyzing census data, found the “urban agglomeration of Quebec City” saw an increase in the proportion of English speakers from 1.79 per cent in 2001 to 2.53 per cent in 2021, the year of the most recent national census.

The same trend also applies to the city of Lévis, researcher Patrick Donovan said in an email to the QCT.

Donovan said, “Both the proportion and numbers of English speakers have gone up since 2001. As of the 2021 census, there were 14,715 English-speakers (first official language spoken)” in the Quebec City census region. That region encompasses areas outside Quebec City’s municipal jurisdiction, including L’Ancienne-Lorette and Saint- Augustin-de-Desmaures.

“The only part of the Capitale-Nationale region with a (small) proportional decline is the RCM (regional county municipality) of La Jacques- Cartier, which includes Shan- non,” Donovan said, “but that’s probably due to growing francophone suburbs rather than English speakers moving out of Shannon, since the population of that RCM grew consider- ably in the past 20 years, and there’s no numerical decrease of English speakers (only proportional).”

Numbers of English speakers are also growing in Montreal and Gatineau.

Voice of English-speaking Québec (VEQ) executive director Brigitte Wellens said the uptick in anglos in the capital region, a figure she puts at 3,170 people, has had a tangible impact.

“I can say that the increase was felt by the [VEQ] team, particularly in terms of services and activities for newcomers,” Wellens said. “While we have programs and activities for all, it’s a common misconception that we only serve new arrivals.”

Wellens said, “It’s easy to think that because new arrivals represent one quarter of our community, every five years, 20 to 25 per cent of the region’s English-speaking community is renewed by newcomers. In 2021, they represented 24 per cent: 8.2 per cent from interprovincial [arrivals] and 15.8 per cent from all over the planet.”

While the picture is relatively rosy for the anglo population in larger population centres, it’s less so in other regions of Quebec.

The QUESCREN analysis found “a more complex portrait emerges when examining other parts of Quebec and longer time periods. The 20th century was marked by a decline in the proportion of English speakers in most Quebec regions. The trend has shifted in the past 20 years, yet a notable decline continues in parts of coastal Quebec, the Eastern Town- ships and Rouyn-Noranda.”

The most drastic dip in anglo numbers was in the census division of Minganie–Le-Golfe- du-Saint-Laurent, which con- tains a string of mostly English-speaking coastal villages known as the Lower North Shore. The drop was 20 per cent between 2001 and 2021

Other areas with significant losses in the same time period were the Avignon RCM on the south shore of the Gaspé Peninsula (-18.9 per cent); Rocher- Percé RCM, which includes Chandler and Percé (-7 per cent); and La Cote-de-Gaspé, including the town of Gaspé (-7.2 per cent). The Magdalen Islands lost 6.7 per cent.

QUESCREN notes that “the French-speaking populations in the Gaspé and parts of the Lower North Shore also declined in broadly comparable percentages, but not in the Magdalen Islands.”

The study made an overall conclusion about the changes in Quebec’s anglo population. “The 1970s saw a noticeable exodus of English speakers from the province as a whole, propelled by economic shifts favouring Toronto, as well as political changes in Quebec.

“Language laws promoting French as the common public language of Quebec prompted many English speakers to leave. A total of 198,274 mother tongue English speakers left between 1971 and 1986. Those who stayed were more likely to be bilingual and to participate in francophone Quebec culture.”

The study noted, “The English-speaking population in Quebec is no longer facing the sharp declines it faced in the century before the 1980s. Indeed, recent years have seen the number of English speakers grow overall in the province, particularly in Montreal.

“That said,” the report concludes, “English-speaking population numbers have declined in several once thriving communities of the province. Many face aging populations, high unemployment, low income and a lack of job opportunities, all of which are determining factors when considering the health of a society.”

Anglo numbers increase in QC area, slump in some regions Read More »

Divers pull pile of garbage from Louise Basin

Local Journalism Initiative / / /

Divers pull pile of garbage from Louise Basin

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Though hampered by murky waters, some 30 scuba divers pulled 768 pounds of junk and garbage from Louise Basin in the Old Port in the space of about two hours on Aug. 15.

A bicycle frame and a plastic chair encrusted with barnacles, a pile of cigarette butts and dozens of plastic and glass bottles were among the items fished from the artificial bay at the mouth of the Saint-Charles River that houses a marina, several tourist sites and an urban swimming area called L’Oasis.

The mission was part of an awareness campaign called the Éxpédition Saint-Laurent, an initiative of Stratégies Saint- Laurent and the international Mission 1000 Tonnes environ- mental organization. Divers from the Quebec Aquarium participated in the clean-up.

Éxpedition Saint-Laurent is a two-week campaign whose mission, according to the group’s website, is to engage “ecological restorers, scien- tists, artists, divers and young people to protect, restore and enhance the St. Lawrence River.”

Prior to the Quebec City event, the team had conducted similar operations in Montreal, Matane, Cacouna, Montmagny, Rimouski and Sorel-Tracy. Following the Quebec City stop, the team moved on to Les Escoumins, Baie-Comeau, Sept- Îles and Havre Saint-Pierre on the North Shore.

The harvest of debris from Louise Basin would likely have been more abundant were it not for the heavy rains in the previous days. Lead diver Manuel Ado told Radio-Canada, “We were really unlucky. All the water from the rivers flows into the [Saint-Charles] river and brings a lot of particles. Instead of being able to see several feet away, we had trouble seeing our hands.”

More information on the clean-up program is available on the Éxpédition Saint- Laurent website.

Divers pull pile of garbage from Louise Basin Read More »

Former Liberal minister, Louis-Hébert MNA Sam Hamad mulls mayoral bid

Local Journalism Initiative / / /

Former Liberal minister, Louis-Hébert MNA Sam Hamad mulls mayoral bid

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Speculation is mounting about a possible mayoral bid by former Liberal minister and MNA for Louis-Hébert Sam Hamad.

Hamad’s former cabinet colleague Nathalie Normandeau said recently on the radio show she hosts that he had privately made the decision to run against incumbent Bruno Marchand; Hamad himself, however, said he is still weighing the pros and cons of the move.

In an interview with the QCT, Hamad, 66, said with the municipal election campaign more than a year away, he is taking the time to consult with people and examine his options.

“I’m still thinking about it,” he said. “I’ve been [approached] by many people, but it’s too early to make a decision.”

Hamad, who was elected five consecutive times as MNA for Louis-Hébert, starting in 2003, said he is enjoying a happy private life. He left politics in 2017 following his resignation from cabinet the previous year in the wake of allegations of inappropriate dealings with a party fundraiser. Quebec’s ethics commissioner did not sanction Hamad in the affair.

Prior to his resignation, Hamad, a former head of the Quebec Order of Engineers, served in several senior portfolios, including transport and Treasury Board. He was also minister responsible for the capital region and claims some credit for pushing ahead with the Promenade Samuel-De Champlain project.

Hamad wouldn’t say whether he intends to run for mayor as leader of an existing party at City Hall. According to several media reports, Hamad has had informal talks with members of opposition parties.

A spokesperson for Équipe Priorité Québec, which has two councillors and an unelected leader, told Le Devoir Hamad met with party representatives last October at their request. Since then, according to the report, “Discussions have continued in a ‘jovial and friendly manner.’”

As for Québec d’Abord, the official Opposition party at City Hall and the successor to for- mer mayor Régis Labeaume’s party, leader Claude Villeneuve has made it known he may decline to run for mayor next year, for family reasons.

Québec D’Abord Coun. Alicia Despins, while not offering specifics, said, “We’re still working on offering a viable option to our citizens in November 2025.” The party has seven councillors, following several defections to the ruling Québec Forte et Fière party.

Hamad said what is motivating him to consider a run for mayor “is what he sees as the lack of leadership” and vision at City Hall and the state of the city. “My heart is saying business is not going well, the economy is not going well. There’s a bad atmosphere between the government and municipalities. These factors push me to go for it.”

As for the city’s biggest- ever infrastructure project, the tramway system, Hamad declined to say whether he supports the most recent configuration proposed by the Caisse de dépôt et placement Infra and approved by the Quebec government.

“There is a lot of missing data, so I can’t judge it. How much is it going to cost citizens? Nobody knows that.”

In the event he does run, Hamad says he’d bring a new style. “We should come back to the basics of managing the city for the good of the citizens. Citizens pay a lot of taxes, and when the economy is going badly, the impact on citizens is very significant.”

Earlier this year, when rumours circulated that Hamad was interested in the mayoralty, Marchand said, “I hope Sam Hamad will run. You can’t have a better demonstration of what the city was and what the city can be between two politicians. So, let him come. We’ll have a great campaign.”

Municipal elections take place across Quebec on Nov. 2, 2025.

Former Liberal minister, Louis-Hébert MNA Sam Hamad mulls mayoral bid Read More »

TRAM TRACKER: Demolition set for two former gas stations on tramway route

Local Journalism Initiative / / /

TRAM TRACKER: Demolition set for two former gas stations on tramway route

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Two former gas stations the city acquired to make way for the tramway project are slated for demolition in the coming days.

According to several media reports citing city hall sources, the former Petro-Canada station on Boul. René-Lévesque and Ave. Belvédère, and the former Ultramar on Boul. Laurier near Route de l’Église, will be levelled and the sites temporarily landscaped in anticipation of the construction of the tramway line.

According to the tramway plan, the Boul. Laurier site will accommodate track for the future Sainte-Foy interchange hub. The Boul. René-Lévesque site will be transformed into a surface station for a tramway stop, with the surrounding grounds becoming park space.

A third former (Shell) gas station acquired for the tramway, on Boul. René-Lévesque at Ave. Cartier, was demolished last year and the site decontaminated and cleared by the former owner as the condition of the property’s sale to the city for $2.4 million.

Other properties to be demolished in the coming weeks include two houses on Rue Landry, near Route de l’Église. The property is to become a green space on the surface, with underground parking to be built to compensate for spaces lost due to the tramway lines.

The restart of tramway construction comes after a delay the Quebec government imposed in the fall in the wake of the escalating price of the project due to delays and rising construction costs.

The government mandated the Caisse de Depôt et Placement du Québec (CDPQ) infrastructure division to study public transportation needs for the greater Quebec City-Lévis region and submit recommendations.

In June, the Caisse delivered a report, recommending, among other things, the essentials of the existing tramway plan, but with a change in the eastern route, from Beauport to Charlesbourg. The new master plan is called CITÉ, for Circuit intégré de transport express.

Since then, players in the project – the city, the provincial government and the CDPQ Infra – have regrouped under the leadership of the Caisse to kickstart work on the multi- year scheme.

One of the largest and most disruptive elements of the tramway plan, the preparation of the Boul. Laurier corridor, is expected to proceed full blast in August of next year. It will involve the reconfiguration of the major artery from the entrance to Université Laval to Route de l’Église where the tramway line heads north and west towards Cap-Rouge.

The work will add further complications to traffic in the area already disrupted by a massive project to improve ac- cess to the Pierre Laporte and Quebec bridges.

The city has issued a call for tenders for the Boul. Laurier tramway route, which includes relocating all the underground networks so that they do not cross tramway lines. That component of the project is budgeted at $70 million.

TRAM TRACKER: Demolition set for two former gas stations on tramway route Read More »

Resident dies in Saint Brigid’s Home fire

Local Journalism Initiative / / / ,

Resident dies in Saint Brigid’s Home fire

QCT Staff

A resident of Saint Brigid’s Home in his 70s has died after a fire in a fourth-floor smoking room, the QCT learned Monday morning. The man’s name had not been released by press time.

No other injuries were reported and no other residents witnessed the fire, Mariane Lajoie, a spokesperson for the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale, told the QCT. Residents living on the fourth floor were moved to other rooms.

The fire broke out early Sunday evening, Aug. 11, and firefighters and police intervened just after 6 p.m.

“The initial call was received at the 911 centre to the effect that there was a fire on one of the occupants in a smoking area on the fourth floor. Emergency services quickly went to the scene. When they arrived, the fire had been extinguished by one of the employees. Unfortunately, the death of a septuagenarian was confirmed on site. Fire investigators, investigators from the Service de police de la Ville de Québec (SPVQ) and the Forensic Identification Unit are on site to determine the causes and circumstances that led to this death,” Alexandre Lajoie, a media and prevention officer in the public safety division of the Service de prévention contre l’incendie de Québec (SPCIQ; Quebec City fire department) said in a statement.

Richard Walling, president of the Jeffery Hale – Saint Brigid’s Advisory Committee, said he could not comment on the incident. He referred a request for comment to the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale. According to a report in Le Soleil, the city fire commission found that the fire was caused by a “smokers’ article.”

“A psychosocial support team was quickly deployed to the scene to assess and address the various needs of staff and users. All families of residents of the CHSLD Saint Brigid’s Home have been notified of the situation. In addition, additional staff has been requested as reinforcements, among other things, to co-ordinate continuity plans and ensure the safety of the site. Repair work on the damaged premises is upcoming,” Mariane Lajoie, the CIUSSS spokesperson, said. “The SPVQ investigation will determine the causes and circumstances that led to this death. At the same time, work is underway at the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale to conduct an in-depth analysis of the event and determine what corrective action to take, if required.”

An autopsy is expected to reveal the victim’s exact cause of death.

With files from Peter Black and Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporters

Resident dies in Saint Brigid’s Home fire Read More »

City can’t yet say how much purple bags reduce burned garbage

Local Journalism Initiative / / /

City can’t yet say how much purple bags reduce burned garbage

Peter Black – Local Journalism initiative reporter
peterblack@qctonline.com

The purple plastic bag has become a familiar and ever-increasing presence on the streets of Quebec City on garbage day. But after more than a year of operation, city officials won’t or can’t say how much the household waste program has reduced the amount of garbage burned at the municipal incinerator.

The question became an issue last week following an effort by Le Soleil to get data on the impact of the purple bag program, whereby the bags are collected with the other usual refuse during the regular weekly city garbage collection.

The bags are separated out at the organic matter recovery centre, a complex adjacent to the incinerator, where con- tents are emptied from the bags and turned into a liquid pulp that is piped underground to the new biomethanization plant.

The city’s incinerator burns garbage from household collection. (Image from Ville de Quebec)

The overall goal of the program is to produce energy from biowaste and to reduce the amount of material burned in the incinerator. The city says some 75 per cent of residents are participating in the program.

A reporter from Le Soleil tasked the city for figures concerning tonnage of mate- rial incinerated since January 2022, before the purple bag program started operating, and the beginning of 2024 when it was in full swing.

After a few exchanges where the wrong numbers were provided, Le Soleil reported the city “refused to disclose these figures, citing an article of the Access to Information Act that deals with industrial and commercial secrecy, as well as two articles that exempt ‘advice and recommendations (made to a public body)’ from access to information.”

This stance provoked Limoilou Coun. Jackie Smith to issue a statement on July 31, saying, “Despite the protests of various environmental groups, the city built a $200-million biomethanization plant to reduce the amount of organic matter sent to the incinerator. We will not go back, but the city must at least have the decency to present the figures to its population.”

Smith, whose district contains both the incinerator and biomethanization plant, said, “It is always difficult to have clear data collected using appropriate methods when it comes to the incinerator. We look forward to the creation of an independent scientist position mandated to monitor environmental policies in Quebec City.”

Smith said, “We need to have a plan for the eventual closure of this incinerator that is polluting our air and to achieve this, the city absolutely must have a vision and a plan to reduce waste at the source.”

A city spokesperson, following up on the controversy, said in other media reports more information on the purple bag program will be available in the fall. Wendy Whittom said a scale is to be installed at the sorting centre and the purple bags will be weighed separately. She estimated the household waste accounts for about 10 per cent of garbage collected.

The biomethanization plant has a total capacity of 182,600 tons a year of food and residue from waste water treatment, according to city information. In a Radio-Canada report, Energir says it has already generated some 1.5 million cubic metres of natural gas from the facility. The city hopes to produce 10 million cubic metres annually.

City can’t yet say how much purple bags reduce burned garbage Read More »

SAAQ bans uncertified motorized vehicles from bike paths

Local Journalism Initiative / / /

SAAQ bans uncertified motorized vehicles from bike paths

Peter Black – Local Journalism initiative reporter
peterblack@qctonline.com

Mopeds that resemble motorcycles have been banned from public paths and roads in Quebec. (Photo from Radio-Canada/Daniel Thomas)

The provincial auto insurance board is putting the brakes on the proliferation of “non- compliant” vehicles rolling on bicycle paths and sidewalks. The Société d’Assurance Automobile de Québec (SAAQ) announced the ban in a July 30 news release.

The sudden change applies to “a multitude of vehicles that look like mopeds or motorcycles” but do not have a certification mark from Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. As of the announcement, the affected vehicles are banned from public roads.

The release says, “These vehicles pose a safety risk to vulnerable road users who use sidewalks and bike paths because of their heavy weight and the speed they can reach.

“Out of fairness to other owners of compliant motor- cycles and mopeds who must register their vehicles and hold the correct class of driver’s licence to be able to use the road network, it is important to take action.”

Quebec City Police Service spokesperson Sandra Dion, in a statement to the QCT, hinted at a period of grace before cracking down on violators. “We acknowledge this new decree which brings a change

to the regulations in force. Subsequently, it will be important to inform citizens that they are in violation, since they are probably not informed about this new law.”

City hall spokesman Jean- Pascal Lavoie told the QCT, “We have no specific comments to make at this time, but the city is still implementing the SAAQ regulations.”

A report in La Presse, quoting an SAAQ spokesman, said police or peace officers “will have to base their decision on the physical and visual characteristics of the vehicle to determine whether it is covered by the ministerial order.”

The most obvious characteristic would be the absence of the certification sticker.

According to details published in government documents, the affected vehicles are defined as: those equipped with footrests or a platform for the driver’s feet; equipped with a set of tires and wheels that have the appearance of that of a motorcycle or moped; equipped with a body that partially or completely covers their frame or some of their components and that are not equipped with a height- adjustable saddle; and, those equipped with a motor that can reach a speed of more than 32 km/h or that has a nominal power greater than 500 watts.

The SAAQ notes, “These vehicles are already prohibited from sale and importation in new condition in Quebec due to the lack of certification to the standards in force.”

Persons stopped while driving a prohibited vehicle on a public road face a fine between $300 and $600.

According to several media reports, delivery workers who use the uncertified vehicles to earn their living are upset with the sudden policy decision.

SAAQ bans uncertified motorized vehicles from bike paths Read More »

Quebec polling firm Léger tracking the trends in U.S. election

Local Journalism Initiative / / /

Quebec polling firm Léger tracking the trends in U.S. election

Peter Black – Local Journalism initiative reporter
peterblack@qctonline.com

Former prime minister John Diefenbaker, who died 45 years ago this month, is remembered (by those who remember) for his Prairie renegade style of politics, for winning the largest majority government ever in 1958, for pissing off president John F. Kennedy by refusing nuclear missiles on Canadian soil, and for his erratic and ultimately rela- tively brief run as PM.

He also contributed one of the best quotes in Canadian politics. Asked what he thought of polls showing his Progressive Conservative Party trailing the incumbent Liberals in the 1957 election, Dief the Chief quipped: “I was always fond of dogs as they are the one animal that knows the proper treatment to give to polls.”

The point of the comment was not so much that Dief was a dog-lover, but that political polls are not to be taken as fact. Diefenbaker, how- ever, turned out to be doggone wrong about the poll but won the election nevertheless, taking more seats than the Liberals but losing the popular vote by 125,000 votes or so.

We bring up polls, not be- cause they seem to be proliferating, which they are, but because this recent story in Newsweek caught our eye: “Ka- mala Harris is leading Donald Trump by her biggest margin yet according to a new poll. The poll, conducted by polling com- pany Léger between July 26 and July 28, shows that when third party candidates are included, Harris leads Trump by seven points, with the pre- sumptive Democratic nominee at 48 per cent compared to the former president’s 41 percent.”

We don’t know what to make of the poll, but we certainly know who the pollster is, with no margin of error. Léger is the Montreal-based market re- search and analytics company, the largest Canadian-owned firm of its kind in the country. It used to be known as Léger Marketing and before that, Léger and Léger.

The two Légers were Marcel Léger, a former Parti Québecois minister, and his son

Jean-Marc, an economist by training. Père et fils created the company in 1985, follow- ing the elder Léger’s defeat as a PQ MNA in the election of that year, losing for the first time the Montreal riding he had held since 1970.

Before his retreat from politics, Léger had been a leading proponent for creating a federal wing of the PQ, the inspiration being, as described by Graham Fraser in his definitive history of the early years of the party, “the apparent contradiction that Quebec ridings that voted PQ provincially voted Liberal federally.”

One of Léger’s cabinet col- leagues ordered a poll (!) which showed about 45 per cent of voters would vote for a PQ candidate federally and deliver as many as 40 seats. At the urging of leader René Lévesque, the party’s national council meeting in 1982 rejected the idea.

Léger was undaunted. While still a PQ MNA, he founded and served as leader of the Parti Nationaliste du Québec which won 2.5 per cent of the Quebec vote in the 1984 federal election.

Less than 10 years and several constitutional crises later, the Bloc Québecois under Lucien Bouchard won 54 seats in Quebec and became the Official Opposition in the House of Commons.

Alas, Marcel Léger did not live to see his prophecy come true; he died at age 63 in February 1993, seven months before the federal election that year.

But we digress. Back to polling. Under the leadership of Jean-Marc Léger, who has become a much-sought after commentator and advisor, the Léger company has grown exponentially from the little shop once known as the PQ’s pollster.

Much like papa envisioned expansion into a larger and different political market, the son has embarked on an aggressive conquest of polling opportunities in the United States. After making some 11 acquisitions of Canadian firms in the polling business since 2000, Léger bought its first American company in 2022, New Jersey-based 360 Market Research.

Léger said in a La Presse interview at the time, “I developed this company through acquisitions, but my dream has always been to go to the United States. I have been preparing this expansion for 20 years.”

With Newsweek now as a client, Léger would seem to be well on his way to seeing his American polling dream come true – proving that while dogs might pee on poles, humans are eager to embrace them.

Quebec polling firm Léger tracking the trends in U.S. election Read More »

Parc Chauveau to get $11 million in improvements

Local Journalism Initiative / / /

Parc Chauveau to get $11 million in improvements 

Peter Black

Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Quebec City’s largest park is getting a large makeover. Work is set to begin this summer on an $11-million slate of improvements to Parc Chauveau, located in the des Riviéres district in the northwest of the city.

Details of the project were unveiled in a July 19 joint news release from city and Quebec government officials.

Parc Chauveau, through which the St. Charles River runs, encompasses 130 hectares; for comparison, the Base de Plein Air de Sainte-Foy is 124 hectares and the Plains of Abraham 90 hectares.

The work to be done includes the creation of a four-season multi-purpose trail with a footbridge across the river, the creation of a main reception area and the reconfiguration of an existing bike path. 

In the release, Coun. Marie-Josée Asselin, vice-president of the executive committee responsible for natural environments, said the park is “a jewel in the heart of the city, a cherished place for Quebec City residents who gather there in their thousands, in all seasons. These new developments will make the experience of immersing users in nature even more interesting, while promoting active transportation.”

The project is the result of a consultation process that produced a master plan for the park in 2021. 

Some $2 million was spent last year on a series of improvements in the vicinity of the neighbouring Michel-Labadie Community Centre on Ave. Chauveau. These included “the first roller track in Quebec City, a skateboard area, a universally accessible biodiversity trail linking these recreational facilities and the St. Charles River.”

The centerpiece of the project is the new trail. The new two-kilometre universally accessible multifunctional path in the heart of the park “will take hikers, on foot, on wheels or on skis, from one end of the park to the other thanks to a new footbridge overlooking the river. This structural addition will make it possible to develop a network of recreational trails on both banks, in addition to connecting the riverside neighbourhoods by an active mode of transportation, in summer and winter.”

The accessibility aspect of the trail pleases Véronique Dallaire, the city councillor whose Les Saules – Les Méandres district includes much of the park. She is also the Opposition Quebec d’abord critic for accessibility. 

In a statement to the QCT, Dallaire said, “The development of Parc Chauveau will help make our city even more accessible. The creation of a multi-purpose trail and a new main reception area represent a significant investment in the quality of life.”

The new reception area, to be located at the corner of Ave. Chauveau and Boul. Saint-Jacques, will improve access to the park and include a service pavilion and playground area. It will be done in two phases, starting with redoing the main entrance this summer, including reconfiguring the bike path at street level, building a section of sidewalk on Ave. Chauveau and planting 90 trees and numerous plants.

Jonatan Julien, the Quebec government minister for infrastructure and for the capital region, said in the news release: “The Government of Quebec is proud to contribute financially to the addition of several developments and facilities on the Parc Chauveau site, which is a delight for many hikers, cyclists and outdoor enthusiasts.”

Parc Chauveau to get $11 million in improvements Read More »

Billy Idol bringing ‘Rebel Yell’ to Quebec City

Local Journalism Initiative / / /

Billy Idol bringing ‘Rebel Yell’ to Quebec City 

Peter Black

Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Though it’s hard to imagine Billy Idol wielding a hockey stick, there is a Canadian shinny connection to the legendary British rocker. 

Back in April, Idol opened the Saturday night edition of Hockey Night in Canada, which featured a montage of hockey action and hockey fans set to Idol’s hard-driving hit “Rebel Yell.” He was later interviewed live on the broadcast.

The appearance was also a promotion for his 13-date Canadian tour that began July 30 in Vancouver and rolls into Quebec City on Aug. 19 for a date at the Videotron Centre.

The tour is built around the reissue of Idol’s double-platinum Rebel Yell album that featured the title track and other hits including “Eyes Without a Face” and “Flesh for Fantasy.” He will be performing with his longtime guitarist and songwriting collaborator Steve Stevens.

Idol, born William Broad, first found fame with his 1982 self-titled debut album, which included such hits as “White Wedding” and “Dancing with Myself.” Prior to his solo career, he released three albums with Generation X, a British punk band.

Idol, now 68, produced a documentary, released last year, about performing a concert at the gigantic Hoover Dam in the United States, a gig he did partly to draw attention to one of his social causes, the future of water supply. 

Opening for Idol will be Canada’s definitive 1980s hair band, Platinum Blonde, who first toured with Idol and Bryan Adams in 1985. 

For more information and tickets, visit lecentrevideotron.ca/en/2024/04/08/billy-idol-at-the-videotron-centre.  

Billy Idol bringing ‘Rebel Yell’ to Quebec City Read More »

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