The Chateauguay Valley 4-H club is now up and running and looking for new members from across the region who are interested in learning about 4-H and all it has to offer.
Organizers with the club include Vicky Tremblay, Mackenzie Peddie, Suzelle Barrington, and Billie Nussey-Rufh. They decided to launch a club that would be open to English- and French-speaking young people between the ages of 6 and 25 from across the Valley. The goal is to break down some of the perceived barriers to joining a 4-H club, especially the belief that members must come from a farming background.
“You don’t need to own a calf to be a 4-Her,” says Peddie, while highlighting the many other activities at the heart of the club, including social opportunities, gardening, outdoor activities, creative crafts, and much more. She notes there will be some focus on traditional 4-H activities, but an emphasis will also be placed on bringing in new ideas.
Tremblay says another important aspect of the new Chateauguay Valley Club will be a focus on giving back to the community.
Quebec 4-H provincial coordinator Gillian MacDougall says they are very excited about the new club. “One of our current goals for Quebec 4-H is growth, which includes increasing membership and the number of clubs,” she explains.
MacDougall says she is not concerned that there are already three active clubs in the area, including Howick, Huntingdon, and Ormstown. “One of the most wonderful things about multiple clubs in one area is the community. Just because a member belongs to one club does not stop them from connecting and bonding with other members in 4-H,” she says.
MacDougall points out that the Chateauguay Valley is the only area in Quebec with clubs so close together, with members going to the same schools. “I am excited to support the members taking on the venture of starting a new club and look forward to seeing what they accomplish over the next year.”
Monthly meetings of the Chateauguay Valley 4-H club will take place at the Georgetown Church in Très-Saint-Sacrément. They will run for about an hour and will be followed by a fun activity and snack.
More information on the new 4-H club and how to join is available on Facebook or by emailing chateauguayvalley4h@gmail.com.
The first Chateauguay Valley Dairy Day conference will take place at the Agri-Culture Centre at the fairgrounds in Ormstown on March 18.
The idea of holding a public day event for producers was brought forward by members of the Livestock Breeders Association’s (LBA) cattle and forage committee, who were looking for ways to help area farmers.
The event will be the first bilingual conference of its kind available to all producers. “It is in our best interest to educate everybody to be the most profitable and to do the best job on their farm,” says veterinarian and dairy producer Jodi Wallace, who is organizing the activity with Simon-Pierre Loiselle of the Uniag Cooperative.
“The theme for all of the conferences this year is profitability and trying to help farmers stay in business for years to come,” Wallace explains, noting all of the expert speakers are focused on ensuring producers remain on the farm despite challenging times.
The speakers include Nicholas Marquis of Sollio Agriculture, who will discuss breeding rates and the profitability of cow purchases. Loiselle says Marquis is a numbers specialist. “His presentation will help a lot of farmers to make choices on their farms,” says Loiselle.
Heather Dann of the Miner Institute will focus on management outlooks for 2025, while Chris Gwyn of JEFO Nutrition will share ten common practices for farm profitability. Alex Venne-Balchem will also talk about reducing heat stress in dairy cows.
“Everything is linked to cow health and cow welfare,” says Wallace. “Even if producers just pick one thing from each of the four speakers, they’ll go home and they’ll make improvements on their farms,” she adds.
Loiselle says the speakers will also focus on economics, as today’s farms are under extreme pressure to keep going. “We have to keep the farms here,” he says, noting the area is losing hundreds of kilograms of dairy quota per year as farms are sold or closed. “It is an underlying economic issue,” he explains, noting the quota being sold from local farms is leaving the area.
“We are really focusing on bringing positive news and to give little tricks that can help farmers to be more profitable,” says Loiselle.
This is the first time the LBA will host this type of event. “The LBA’s goal is to expand on conferences such as this one,” says LBA manager Sue Morison, while explaining that part of the role of the Agri-Culture Centre is to ensure local farmers can access informative conferences locally. The event is also being sponsored in part by the Réseau Agriconseils Montérégie network.
A silent auction will take place that day to raise funds for the LBA’s scholarship fund, which awards a $500 scholarship to a CVR graduate pursuing studies in agriculture.
Producers are asked to register for the event by March 14. More information is available on the LBA’s Facebook page.
The Centre de Services Scolaire de la Vallée-des-Tisserands (CSSVT) has opened a new adult general education service point in Huntingdon.
The Centre de Formation Générale des Adultes des Tisserands (CFGAT) added the new service point to offer educational services and programs to residents of the Haut-Saint-Laurent and surrounding areas who are over 16 years old. The new location responds to an objective set out by the CSSVT’s Commitment to Success Plan, which aimed to open a vocational training program in each of the sectors served by the service centre.
“As Beauharnois and Salaberry-de-Valleyfield already have their service points, it became a priority for the CFGAT to take steps to offer its services to the population of the Haut-Saint-Laurent,” said Stéphanie Leduc Joseph, a communications councillor with the CSSVT’s Services du Secretariat General et des Communications.
The expansion was made possible through a collaboration with the local Carrefour Jeunesse-Emploi (CJE)/PS Jeunesse, which offered a learning space for students at their Huntingdon location.
“Several sites were considered in recent years, but none met the needs of our organization. Our existing partnership with the Beauharnois-Salaberry CJE led us to consider the CJE in Huntingdon, which had available premises that met our criteria,” Leduc Joseph explained.
For the CJE/PS Jeunesse, the partnership made sense. “Our mission is to offer support and employability prospects to young adults,” said Gilles Tardif, who chairs the CJE/PS Jeunesse board of directors. The partnership opens new education opportunities in the region, he said, stating, “There is nothing more constructive for our community than to unite our efforts and our expertise to help young people move closer to their future.”
There are currently seven students registered at the Huntingdon service point. The CSSVT is expecting this to increase to around 50 registrations per year. The programs available in Huntingdon include French, mathematics, and English classes, as well as prior learning assessment and recognition testing.
“Our priority is to provide access to services for adults in the Haut-Saint-Laurent, making it easier for them to resume their studies without the challenge of travelling to our Beauharnois or Valleyfield service points,” said Leduc Joseph.
The CFGAT helps adults who wish to improve their career prospects, perfect their knowledge, or complete their high school diploma. For CSSVT director general Suzie Vranderick, the new service point represents “a significant step towards bringing education closer to the Haut-Saint-Laurent community.”
Along with the new service point, the CFGAT has also recently launched an improved website. The modernized information platform allows users to find more information about the CFGAT’s services and programs.
“This new tool was created with the needs of future students in mind, and to facilitate contact with the organization. Users are now able to apply online and access pertinent information for their individual journeys,” said CFGAT director Dominic Tremblay.
More information about the CFGAT’s new service point in Huntingdon is available online at cfgatisserands.ca.
The Quebec government is working to address the problem of bullying in schools. Education Minister Bernard Drainville has announced the first week of a plan to prevent violence and intimidation in schools will take place from March 17 to 21, in schools throughout the province.
As part of the Plan de Prévention de la Violence et de l’Intimidation à l’École (Plan to Prevent Violence and Intimidation in Schools), the week will include a series of activities aimed at students, staff, and parents. The theme for the week will focus on “Strengthening Respect and Good Citizenship in our Schools.”
“In all classes in Quebec, pupils will simultaneously put down their pencils and start a discussion with their teachers on how to prevent episodes of violence and intimidation that they have experienced (or are still experiencing) and to reinforce good citizenship and respect at school,” said Drainville, in a statement issued by the Ministère de l’Education.
The week will start with a province-wide moment of reflection and guided discussion following the broadcast of a video featuring Drainville, who will address students and staff in elementary cycle two and three classrooms as well as all secondary classes. Preschoolers and elementary cycle one students will also be expected to take part in the discussion, using a simplified activity adapted to their level.
Adult general education centres, vocational centres, and private educational institutions are also invited to participate in the initiative.
The government is providing a variety of activities for the remainder of the week as well, including classroom workshops, educational podcasts, and information sessions tailored to students in all grade levels, as well as parents and school staff.
“We have been assured that as many materials as possible will be available in English,” confirms the New Frontiers School Board’s assistant director general, Joyce Donohue. She says the NFSB reminded the education ministry that pedagogical materials needed to be provided in English for students and for parents as well.
Donohue says the board is expecting to receive the necessary information for the various activities at some point this week.
The Quebec government has also introduced a model plan for combatting violence and intimidation in schools. Use of the plan is expected to be mandatory in all schools for the start of the 2025-2026 school year.
“School is there for our children,” says Drainville, who notes that as a father and as minister of education, he is deeply concerned about the violence and intimidation suffered by Quebec students.
“Respect and good citizenship should not only be taught; they should also be experienced on a daily basis. This responsibility begins at home with the parents and continues at school,” he says, noting all those in the school community are invited to participate in this national week to root out bullying.
The New Frontiers School Board (NFSB) has been listening and learning more about the extent of bullying and violence within its schools and centres.
Nine members of the NFSB’s Task Force on the Prevention of Bullying and Violence were present at Chateauguay Valley Regional High School on February 27 for the second of two public consultations. A previous meeting took place at Howard S. Billings High School in Chateauguay earlier in the month.
The representatives for the task force, including school principals, school board administrators, special education technicians, teachers, caretakers, and the NFSB’s assistant director general, Joyce Donohue, gave a brief presentation before giving the floor to a small group of parents in attendance.
Questions about security and supervision were raised, with one parent suggesting that some children do not feel safe at school. “They should have a right to come to school and to feel safe and to graduate!” she exclaimed. “That is not where we are at,” she lamented.
“One thing that we want to do as a focus group is to protect everyone,” said one task force member. “As a school board and as a school, we have to find solutions,” they added.
Screens, exposure to social media, and peer pressure were also raised by those present as important topics to be addressed.
“At both consultations, we were able to have rich exchanges with members of our community, who generously provided their insights and feedback that we will be able to consider for our recommendations,” says Donohue, who is heading up the task force. She credits the expertise and passion exhibited by task force members for providing these opportunities to exchange with parents and the school community.
Following the public consultations, which have also included an interactive ThoughtExchange survey, the task force will prepare a report summarizing the various strategies, tools, measures, and resources brought forward to address the issue. The report is expected to be delivered by the end of this school year.
Along with those who attended the in-person consultations, there have been 122 participants in the ThoughtExchange survey. At least 114 thoughts were contributed, and these were rated at least 1,261 times. Key words have emerged from the process, including “communication,” “parents,” “resources,” and “safe.”
The public consultation in Ormstown was also attended by the chair of the NFSB council of commissioners, John Ryan, who says the fact this forum is in place represents a good step. “We wanted to get out there and do as much research and brainstorming for our own community, with our own realities, to see what we can come up with,” he explains. “It is extremely rich and rare to sit and talk about any one topic for that length of time. You never lose by doing that,” he adds.
Ryan also notes how rare it is for the public to hear what those being bullied are going through. “It’s a very personal thing, and people on the front lines hear a lot about it, because they are meeting people who come in and who talk with them; but we normally don’t get to hear this,” he says. “When you are exposed to these stories, your basic instinct or response is to say that we have to do something. We have to help.”
The municipal council in Saint-Anicet wants to develop the area known as “the beach” at Jules-Léger Park.
The municipality has been renting the waterfront property on Lake Saint-François from the Pilon family since 1980. Residents who took part in a public consultation during the fall of 2023 made it clear they were in favour of maintaining the site. The sentiment was echoed during a second consultation on February 22, which was attended by around 20 residents as well as five elected officials, and three municipal employees who explained the financial implications of maintaining the beach.
During its regular meeting in February, the municipal council adopted a resolution authorizing the municipality to enter negotiations with the Pilon family to purchase a 1,781-square-metre portion of the lot. On March 3, the council passed a loan bylaw to borrow $325,000 over ten years for the purchase the land. The average annual cost to property owners is estimated to be around $15.81 as part of their municipal taxes.
A referendum on the loan bylaw is now scheduled to take place on March 31, between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. at the town hall. At least 267 residents must sign the register for the bylaw to be reconsidered. If the number of signatures falls short of this figure, the loan bylaw will be sent to the Ministère des Affaires Municipals et de l’Habitation (MAMH) for final approval.
During the public consultation in February, the municipality detailed some of its development plans. Parking, or the lack thereof during the summer, was brought up as an issue. The municipality plans to discuss the parking situation with residents in the village to see about renting land to create more parking spaces. Signs were installed last year directing visitors to use the parking area at the town hall.
Work began in November to renovate the park, wharf, and swimming area. The municipality received two $100,000 grants as part of a revitalization agreement between the provincial government and the MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent. The remaining work in the beach area includes removing rocks from the water, the softening of the slope depending on erosion, and the expansion of the sand surface at the water’s edge.
Additional work will also be done in the park, including repairs to the stairs and cement platform along the wharf, the installation of handrails along the stairs, and the construction of a new building to house public washrooms.
As part of the $1.5 billion in budget cuts announced by Santé Québec, the Centre Intégré de Santé et des Services Sociaux de la Montérégie-Ouest (CISSSMO) is looking to reduce spending within the regional healthcare system by $140 million.
In a recent report by La Presse, the integrated health and social service centres were asked to submit plans for cutting costs; and for the first time, these plans could include measures that would more directly affect user services. The report identified programs such as local service points, and the network of Aire Ouverte locations was among those being targeted by budget compressions.
The CISSSMO does not offer a local service point in the Haut-Saint-Laurent region; however, locals make use of the services being offered at the Centre Valleyfield shopping centre location, which opened in 2021. Available services include vaccinations, blood work, and screening for colorectal cancer, pertussis, and streptococcus A.
Other nearby points of service operated by the CISSSMO are in Vaudreuil-Soulanges, Chateauguay, and Mercier. While there is no direct service point, a mobile team provides certain of these services in the Haut-Saint-Laurent.
A representative for the CISSSMO’s communications and public affairs department would not confirm whether these local points of service in operation would be affected by budget cuts.
“With regard to local points of service, our management committee is still analyzing this service in order to limit the impact on users,” they said. “With the need to return to a balanced budget, all services are being reviewed with a view to offering and quality services, at the lowest possible cost.”
Last year at least 24,568 vaccine doses were administered at the Valleyfield service point, while 741 individuals were screened for COVID-19 or influenza. A total of 474 screenings for colorectal cancer took place, as well as 642 tests for streptococcus A, and 196 tests for pertussis. The staff at the service point filled 15,376 appointments for blood work in the last year as well.
Aire Ouverte to remain
While the CISSSMO representative was less direct about the future of local service centres, they confirmed the regional health authority would be maintaining its Aire Ouverte activities “throughout the Suroît, Haut-Saint-Laurent, and Jardins Roussillon territories.” They noted, however, that in order to continue to ensure coverage of the entire region, service hours would be adjusted.
There is currently a permanent Aire Ouverte location in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, as well as satellite offices in partnership with the Carrefour Jeunesse Emploi locations in Huntingdon, Chateauguay, and Roussillon. Another satellite office is open in Beauharnois in partnership with the self-help centre Le Dahlia.
Each of these locations provide health services for 12- to 25-year-olds, including mental and sexual health, free of charge and without an appointment.
The CISSSMO notes that Aire Ouverte staff in Valleyfield will continue to welcome clients from across the CISSSMO territory. Teleconsultations are also available when required to ensure services are accessible for all those who need them.
The Centre Intégré de Santé et des Services Sociaux de la Montérégie Ouest (CISSSMO) is facing a delicate financial situation. Santé Québec has imposed a return to a balanced budget, forcing the regional health institution to cut over $140 million in spending.
According to the CISSSMO, a reduction in the use of agency staff, greater control over spending, the abolition of vacant positions, and the reorganization of certain departments allowed for a reduction in the anticipated budget deficit to $83 million. Still, reports have emerged that up to 160 jobs, including practical nurses, orderlies, and clinical nurses may be lost.
The CISSSMO has been working over the past several weeks to implement a plan that will minimize the impacts of budget cuts on public care and services while ensuring these remain accessible. The organization is also highlighting the significance of treating staff with kindness. As a result and to be more efficient, the CISSSMO is prioritizing the reduction of administrative functions and the reorganization of care.
A representative for the CISSSMO’s communications and public affairs department says that of the positions to be abolished, almost two-thirds are vacant positions that had not been filled. They explain that certain departments were created during the pandemic, and surplus team positions were filled to support the organization during the health crisis.
The CISSSMO representative confirms that a certain number of current positions will be eliminated but adds that this number is subject to change. At least one administrative position and two orderlies at the Barrie Memorial Hospital have been affected by these measures; however, the representative maintains these changes do not impact the emergency or professional sectors.
Most of the affected employees will be reassigned to clinical sectors such as the Maisons des Ainés et Alternatives, the Hôpital Anna-Laberge, and the Hôpital du Suroît. This will allow the CISSSMO to open additional beds, to better meet patient needs, and to further reduce its use of agency staff.
“Some units were overstaffed by up to 250 per cent on day shifts, whereas evening and night shifts were required,” The representative adds, noting that shifts have now returned to a pre-pandemic structure. “We are making sure we respect the nurse-patient ratios recommended by our CISSS nursing directorate, so there will be no impact on patient care.”
An election call in Canada is expected to be announced in the coming days, once Mark Carney is sworn in as the new leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and as prime minister.
The election will usher in many changes for the country. At the local level, candidates in the current Salaberry-Suroît riding will find themselves running to represent the constituents of Beauharnois-Salaberry-Soulanges-Huntingdon (BSSH). The Chateauguay-Lacolle riding will also change names, becoming Chateauguay-Les-Jardins-de-Napierville.
The new riding boundaries, which were announced following the 2022 redistribution of federal electoral districts, will see the Haut-Saint-Laurent split in two – where the Town of Huntingdon, as well as the municipalities of Elgin, Hinchinbrooke, Ormstown, Saint-Anicet, Sainte-Barbe, and the township municipalities of Dundee and Godmanchester, as well as Akwesasne, will be part of the BSSH riding.
The Chateauguay-Les Jardins-de-Napierville riding will include all the municipalities in the MRC des Jardins-de-Napierville, including Hemmingford Village and Hemmingford Township, as well as the municipalities of Franklin, Howick, and Saint-Chrysostome, and the parish municipality of Très-Saint-Sacrement.
Salaberry-Suroît MP and Bloc Québécois candidate Claude DeBellefeuille has already announced she will seek a fifth term in the next election. She says that while it is not ideal for an MRC to be divided between two federal ridings, the MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent was one of only a handful of MRCs that had not been split in some way prior to this election. “When there is a redistribution every ten years, and the demographic growth is happening outside of the Haut-Saint-Laurent, at a certain point the electoral commission has to create a boundary somewhere,” she explains.
DeBellefeuille says she would not be surprised, given the demographic growth predicted in Vaudreuil, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Beauharnois and Soulanges, if the Haut-Saint-Laurent were to be reunited in ten years following the next redistribution process, but towards the Chateauguay-Les-Jardins-de-Napierville riding.
The new BSSH riding will be the second most populous in Quebec after the new Vaudreuil riding. DeBellefeuille says she is more concerned about the upcoming election than the change in boundaries. “A quick election call is in everyone’s interest,” she insists, suggesting the government is not being taken seriously by the United States because parliament is not sitting.
“If we want to do our job properly, it is absolutely essential that the election be called quickly so a legitimate and democratically elected government is in place,” DeBellefeuille says, while pointing out that the U.S. administration is seeding uncertainty, which is not good for Quebecers. She says the next few weeks will be very interesting.
Tyler Jones, the newly acclaimed candidate in the BSSH riding for the federal New Democratic Party, agrees. “Everything is up in the air right now,” says the first-time candidate, who is growing his team of volunteers while introducing himself to the many communities in the riding.
Jones knows the Chateauguay Valley well, and says he is disappointed that the Haut-Saint-Laurent was separated between the two ridings. He says he would work to ensure common ground is found between the two ridings and that the area is properly represented as a whole, despite the boundary line.
He says he is also concerned about the upcoming election with so little time to prepare. “It is just a question of connecting with voters, and getting out and hearing their concerns and frustrations,” he adds, while acknowledging there is a lot of territory to cover and a lot of different issues at hand.
The official candidates for the federal Liberal and Conservative parties in the BSSH riding were not named as of press time. Kristian Solarik will run once again for the Green Party of Canada, while Martin Lévesque will run for the People’s Party of Canada.
None of the main federal parties have announced the names of their candidates in the Chateauguay-Jardins-de-Napierville riding.
“The people slogging through the woods in the middle of winter trying to reach Canada are not criminals,” says Wendy Ayotte of Bridges not Borders, a Hemmingford-based organization that assists asylum seekers. “It is not illegal to cross an international border irregularly to seek protection.”
Speaking on behalf of the organization, Ayotte says she is quite disturbed by how people are being increasingly criminalized by the language being used by the RCMP and other local authorities, including those who collaborated with the RCMP to produce a flyer last fall that associates asylum seekers with cross-border crime and suspicious individuals and activities.
“We understand that the RCMP are in some cases saving people’s lives, and we appreciate the work that they do,” says Ayotte, but “Saving lives and criminalizing people does not have to go hand in hand.
Ayotte says there has been a significant uptick in the numbers of visitors to the Bridges not Borders website, which contains information for asylum seekers looking to come to Canada including details on the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), which restricts refugee claimants coming from the United States from claiming status in this country.
Bridges not Borders is also a member of the Canada-US Border Network which has created a virtual legal clinic for people seeking safety at the border, called the Canada-US Border Rights Clinic. Ayotte says the clinic has also seen around double the number of people seeking legal advice. Often, the people reaching out are those who do not qualify under SCTA exceptions.
“It’s distressing,” she says, pointing out that those who are intercepted by the RCMP are brought to the Canada Border Services Agency, where their refugee claims are processed. “The high likelihood is they will be returned to the United States, as very few people will qualify under STCA rules – if any of them do,” she explains. Most will be detained in the U.S. and then possibly deported back to a place where they may not be safe.
Article 6 of the agreement does allow Canada and the United States the discretion to “examine any refugee status claim made to that Party where it determines that it is in its public interest to do so,” which means those who do not meet SCTA exceptions are not required by law to be returned to the United States.
Despite this clause, Bridges not Borders argues that the STCA is morally wrong and incompatible with international law. Under the agreement, Canada is required to regularly ensure that the United States meets international human rights standards. Ayotte questions how this can be the case, given the current U.S. administration’s radical position on migrants and immigration.
“Our overall position remains the same – that the STCA must be, at the very least, suspended,” she says.
A family of four seeking refugee status was found by RCMP officers in a wooded area in the municipality of Havelock in the early morning of March 7, after they became lost trying to cross the border.
The family had been walking in the woods for hours with their two young children when they called for help. Officers found the family huddled against a tree, suffering from extreme hypothermia and unable to move. They were transported to a hospital and are now in stable condition.
The family requested refugee status when they were found, and their case has been transferred to the Canada Border Services Agency.
This incident marked the eighth weekend in a row that RCMP officers have launched a search and rescue operation to find individuals who have crossed the Canada-U.S. border irregularly only to become lost in densely wooded areas between Hemmingford and Dundee.
Sergeant François Paquet of the RCMP’s Valleyfield detachment says that while there has been a “big drop” in southbound traffic, the number of migrants attempting to cross into Canada from the United States is steady.
“It fluctuates from week to week, temperature to temperature,” says Paquet, who suggests they have not seen a spike in “northbound” movement since the U.S. administration changed hands in January. He explains that the RCMP is prepared and will adapt if things change, but for now officers are focused on continuing their work along the border.
Search and rescue operations
Paquet admits this winter’s harsh temperatures and heavy snowfall has complicated some aspects of the job. He recently led a team of around 20 officers on a lengthy search and rescue operation in Hinchinbrooke on February 23. The United States Border Patrol (USBP) reported at least two people had been spotted heading towards the Canadian border between Powerscourt Road, Herdman Road, and the First Concession.
Officers first attempted to locate the individuals by tracking cell phone signals. When this did not work, they used a drone with thermal imaging technology. Blowing snow and poor weather conditions kept this option from working as well. They called in the air service for assistance and brought in an ARGO, or all-terrain off-road vehicle, to search the deforested area along the border called “the slash.” After spotting tracks in the snow, they abandoned the vehicle and entered the forest on foot. The Blackhawk helicopter was also called to join the search.
“It was a race against the clock,” says Paquet. “We know they are not well equipped for winter, and the safety of our officers and the migrants is very important,” he explains. “We want to find them before anyone gets hurt or dies of hypothermia,” he adds.
Eventually, officers found five individuals sitting against a tree about 100 metres from the First Concession. “They were tired. They were frozen. Some of them could not feel their feet,” says Paquet, noting there was a 14-year-old among the group. All five were arrested before being taken to the Hôpital du Suroît in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield for treatment for severe frostbite.
The RCMP quickly discovered that the group included two Canadian citizens and a family of three with no status in Canada. One of the Canadians is suspected of being an escort hired to bring the family through the woods, while the other was attempting to return to Canada after having illegally entered the United States. Officers also arrested the driver of a vehicle from Montreal who was found waiting for the family.
Officers seized over $11,000 from the family, which they determined would have been paid to the smugglers. The family, once rescued, requested refugee status.
‘We have had to adapt’
Paquet says it is not unusual that those found in the woods are transported to hospital. “We have seen people who were barefoot in the snow, and they had been walking for hours. No coats, in T-shirts. We have seen children barefoot, kids with aluminium foil on their feet,” he says, noting that migrants are now crossing in areas that are much more difficult to access, which hampers rescue efforts.
“Two or three years ago, we had people going to the police. They would cross the road and wait,” says Paquet, referring to Roxham Road. “Now we are in a situation where they don’t want us to arrest them or even find them,” he explains, adding that smugglers promise safe and easy passage across the border, which is “completely false.”
Paquet admits the RCMP has had to adapt its patrol and operational strategies due to the presence of smuggling networks. “In Valleyfield over the past year we have had more than 20 human smuggling cases that we have judicialized,” he says, noting they have made numerous arrests and seized vehicles, and large sums of money.
“We are in the process of developing experience and an expertise,” he insists, while pointing out this has meant working more closely with the local population. “We have done a lot of awareness-raising with people who reside near or along the border… We have passed out leaflets and business cards, and we will be posting signs with the RCMP’s telephone number,” he explains.
The federal police force is not able to share how often people call with information, but Paquet insists officers follow up on every tip. “We try to use a multitude of technologies at our disposal,” he says, noting they regularly patrol in marked and unmarked vehicles, and are now able to rely on air services including the Blackhawk helicopter.
Paquet says they have not been told whether the Blackhawk will continue to be used after the initial contract expires on March 31, but they are planning for the long term. “We have members who have trained for it and who have started patrolling,” he says, while suggesting locals should expect to keep seeing and hearing the utility helicopter overhead.
It is OK to help
Paquet says that in the event residents encounter someone they think could be a migrant, it is best to contact the RCMP as soon as possible, especially if medical attention is required. “Canadians have a duty to assist a person in danger,” he says, noting that depending on their level of comfort, locals can invite people into their homes while they wait for the RCMP, or provide warm clothing, blankets, and food.
“I can guarantee that every call will be taken seriously,” says Paquet. At the same time, he says officers are now familiar with the people in the area. He says they are aware of temporary foreign workers, of hunters in the woods, and increased activity in maple groves with the start of sugar season. “We adapt. We get to know our community. I think that’s the most important thing.”
The New Frontiers School Board director general, Mike Helm, says he can’t remember a time when schools were closed two days in a row because of a snowstorm.
Few will forget the ice storm of 1998 and the resulting school closures, but that was different. What fell between February 13 and 16 was just snow, but there was a lot of it, and when mixed with high winds, it quickly became dangerous.
The NFSB called three snow days in the aftermath of the back-to-back storms, which means three conditional pedagogical days scheduled for March 21, April 11, and May 20 will now become regular school days.
Students at Chateauguay Valley Regional High School missed an additional day on January 27 due to plumbing equipment failure, which, Helm admits, has made for a challenging start to the term.
“There will be some juggling with teachers, but for the most part things are OK within the system for having missed this many days,” Helm says. “Our staff are working with their curriculum throughout the course of the year, and built into that curriculum is opportunity for remediation and enrichment time. They may end up having to change some of those things right now.”
There were only three conditional ped days in the school calendar, which have now been used. Helm admits that if the schools are forced to close again for weather or other circumstances, “then every day becomes more challenging from this point on.”
Helm says interruptions caused by snow or freezing rain are sometimes called in advance, as was the case on February 16 when parents were informed the night before that schools would be closed. This happens when the NFSB has reliable information guaranteeing difficult conditions in the morning.
In cases such as February 17, the NFSB waited until the morning before cancelling classes, and this was done in communication with the transport companies.
“Severe winds and blowing snow had created white ice. There were road closures on our main highways, and in some of our rural areas we would not have been able to get to the student to bring them in,” he says, noting the transporters were uncomfortable with the conditions.
Helm says that in the aftermath of the storms, maintenance workers were asked to verify the rooftops of the different buildings and to check for drifting snow against structures to ensure there were no emergency situations. The greenhouse at Howard S. Billings High School in Chateauguay collapsed, but no other damage was reported.
Members of the Haut-Saint-Laurent syndicate of the Union des Producteurs Agricoles met on February 20 in Ormstown for the local union’s annual general assembly.
Around 30 producers participated in the meeting, which included a presentation on carbon market prospects for the Quebec agricultural sector, as well as an introduction to a new group insurance program that has recently been opened to farmers and their employees.
Catherine Turgeon, the UPA advisor for the Haut-Saint-Laurent syndicate, spoke about several files or areas in which the union has intervened locally over the past year, including issues relating to construction and roadwork, municipal bylaws, the proposed asphalt plant in Havelock, and waterway management.
The UPA collaborates with the Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité Durable when planned roadwork may impede the movement of agricultural machinery. The local union was involved in the complete closure of Route 209 in Franklin between the Chemin de l’Artifice and Rang des Lemieux to repair a culvert last October.
Producers were informed of the urgent situation following an inspection that forced the closure of Route 209 during harvest season, and worked with the ministry and municipalities involved to ensure farmers could transport grain from their fields on roads where regular traffic was prohibited.
The UPA also consulted with the transport ministry on upcoming work to repair the bridge at Allan’s Corners in Très-Saint-Sacrement, which is expected to take place in 2026. Producers who farm on both sides of the Chateauguay River attended an information session last January organized by the Haut-Saint-Laurent and Beauharnois-Salaberry unions. The UPA is expecting answers to a request for producers to use the Brysonville railway bridge during the closure, as well as other questions raised by producers.
Turgeon says the UPA’s role in working with different levels of government is especially important to ensure new bylaws or regulations do not negatively impact agriculture. This past year, the UPA supported producers in Saint-Chrysostome by working with the municipality in April, after farmers raised questions about a proposed amendment to urban planning and zoning bylaws that would have required producers to obtain permits to cut trees in agricultural areas.
Turgeon highlighted the important role producers play in helping the UPA to know when new bylaws are introduced. “Keep up to date with what is happening, and do not hesitate to consult the UPA,” she said, noting it was much easier to intervene while bylaws are still in the planning stage and have not been adopted.
Another example of this is the UPA’s recent support of a protest held by Saint-Chrysostome producers after the municipality planned to raise the variable tax rate paid on agricultural land.
Regional issues
Jérémie Letellier, the president of the Fédération de l’UPA de la Montérégie, also spoke with producers on the different issues impacting agriculture at a more regional level, such as land-use planning and the loss of agricultural land.
“There is pressure from all sides,” he said, referring to the impacts of wind energy projects, hydro projects, road networks, and urban sprawl on the region’s agricultural land, noting there were around 360 files open with the Commission de Protection du Territoire Agricole. “There is an upward trend in requests concerning protection and access to natural environments,” he noted.
Letellier said that following public consultations, the Quebec government will soon introduce a bill to amend the Act respecting the preservation of agricultural land and agricultural activities. “Several of the proposed changes will weaken the protection regime and open the door to even wider non-agricultural uses,” he explained.
“We have the region where there is the most pressure from urbanization,” he added, while reiterating how important it is that agricultural land be protected.
Haut-Saint-Laurent UPA president Éric Leboeuf and vice-president Josiane Carrière then updated producers on the waterway management file and relations with the MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent. A resolution was passed last fall calling for better collaboration with the MRC to ensure work to clear waterways is carried out. They noted the situation was evolving and that information pertaining to requests for work on ditches and waterways would soon be made public.
At the end of the meeting, a resolution was proposed by members asking the UPA federation to pressure the Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation and the Quebec government to reform municipal taxation policies to prevent the MAPAQ budget from being used to finance municipalities through tax refunds. After a debate, the resolution was adopted, and the meeting was lifted.
Local food pantry La Bouffe Additionnelle held the first of a series of workshops led by a popular zero-waste expert, Florence-Léa Siry, on February 21 in Huntingdon.
Siry has been working to fight food waste since 2017 when she helped organize the first zero-waste festival in Montreal. She has since published six books on the subject and presents around one hundred conferences and workshops per year with different companies, institutions and organizations.
She is working with La Bouffe Additionnelle to provide its members with helpful tips and strategies to avoid wasting food while eating better. The workshops are being funded in part by the Table de Concertation en Sécurité Alimentaire du Haut-Saint-Laurent as well as by a donation from the Laure Gaudreault Foundation.
La Bouffe Additionnelle director Sylvie Racette explained that the workshops are part of a wider movement they are building within the pantry to respond to their members’ food security needs in new and innovative ways.
Currently, around 63 per cent of household food waste in Quebec could be avoided. “That is two out of three food items that we throw away when we could have done something with them,” said Siry. Of that amount, at least 30 per cent are vegetables and 15 per cent are fruit. “It’s incredible!” she exclaimed.
The aim of the workshop was to demonstrate that the fight against food waste is about much more than caring for the planet. “It is about taking care of your wallet and your mental load as well,” said Siry, who provided participants with a list of tips to extend the shelf life of food while saving time, money, and energy.
Siry said cleaning and organizing household fridges and freezers was the first step. “A messy fridge is a green light for waste,” she said, noting she cleans her fridge and freezer before doing her weekly grocery run. “That is where I ‘stock up’ on groceries before I go shopping,” she said, noting transparent containers make it easier to see what is available.
Another piece of advice included buying in bulk or family-sized packaging when possible and then separating out portions that can be frozen for future meals. She also proposed using base recipes for baking and quick meals that can be topped up with whatever is on hand.
Over ten people participated in the first conference, and each left with an information booklet that included several recipes and ideas for creative meal planning using food that is already available in the home.
The next workshop will likely take place in the community kitchen sometime in late spring. Participation is free for La Bouffe Additionnelle members and costs $5 for non-members.
More information on future workshops will be posted to the La Bouffe Additionnelle social media pages.
Most people want to stay in their home for as long as possible, but for those receiving palliative care, this is not always an option. A new program in the Haut-Saint-Laurent could change this.
The Centre Intégré de Santé et de Services Sociaux de la Montérégie-Ouest (CISSSMO) launched an innovative new service in December. A team of nurse practitioners can now take charge of palliative care patients who do not have access to a physician and provide follow-up care at home.
The service is based on a close collaboration between area nurse practitioners working with the family medicine groups (FMG) in Ormstown and Huntingdon and the home care nursing team at the Huntingdon CLSC. It was initiated by Mélanie Pinsonneault, a nurse practitioner with the Ormstown FMG, who felt some patients would greatly benefit from receiving palliative care and end-of-life services at home. She proposed the idea to the management team at the CISSSMO and six other nurse practitioners who readily agreed, and within three months, the program was up and running.
It is designed for patients who do not have a family doctor, or whose doctor is either unfamiliar with palliative care or located too far away. Patients may be referred by a doctor, but in most cases, it is the CLSC home care nursing team that flags patients that fit the program criteria. Pinsonneault then assigns the patient to one of the seven nurse practitioners, depending on their location and expertise.
While similar initiatives exist for doctors, the CISSSMO’s program is unique in Quebec as it is run solely by nurse practitioners. In fact, the CISSSMO points to the program as a good example of what can be done now that the provincial government has expanded the role of nurse practitioners to include palliative care services and medical assistance in dying.
“We provide comprehensive care and complete medical follow-up at home,” says Pinsonneault, who has been working as a nurse practitioner since 2019. She says the role has evolved significantly, from not being able to diagnose patients when she first started, to being completely independently responsible for a full patient load. The team of nurse practitioners associated with the project are all responsible for patients with varied medical needs within their FMG, but they also participate in various projects. The palliative care initiative fit well with their role and the therapeutic relationship they build with their patients
Despite the workload, Pinsonneault says palliative care is something she has always been drawn to, and she and the other nurse practitioners are happy to take on additional patients if it means those patients can remain at home. “We take care of everything, from the medical side to symptom management, prescribing medication, and monitoring,” she explains.
Palliative care provides support to patients, families, and caregivers. The goal is to optimize quality of life while mitigating or reducing suffering for those with serious, often terminal illnesses. “It can last a year, it can last two years,” says Pinsonneault, who suggests this is why the new program is so important.
“It is a complete care team,” she says, while explaining how the nurse practitioners work closely with CLSC nurses, practical nurses, and care professionals to provide patient care and follow-up on an on-call basis when needed.
“It leads to fewer emergency room visits,” says Pinsonneault, and ultimately, to happier patients, whose end-of-life care needs are respected.
The MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent wants to make waiting for the bus more comfortable across the region. It is installing eleven bus shelters in strategic locations along three public transportation bus routes that run through the Haut-Saint-Laurent, Sainte-Martine, and Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.
Public and adapted transport coordinator Michelle Beauchesne confirms all eleven shelters are expected to be installed by the end of March; however, winter conditions could lead to some delays.
The total cost to purchase and install the shelters is $171,268, of which 90 per cent is covered by the Société de Financement des Infrastructures Locales du Quebec’s public transportation capital assistance program and the Ministère des Transports du Québec.
Beauchesne sys the the MRC decided to invest in bus shelters to provide individuals with protection from adverse weather conditions while waiting at exposed or busy bus stops.
The MRC operates three bus routes on weekdays, which are available at no cost to Haut-Saint-Laurent residents. From January to November of last year, the bus was used at least 24,340 times, with local stops in Huntingdon, Ormstown, Godmanchester, Hinchinbrooke, Saint-Anicet, Sainte-Barbe, Howick, Très-Saint-Sacrement, and Franklin.
At least 9506 trips were provided by the MRC’s door-to-door adapted transport service in 2024.
The MRC announced in December that the Taxibus, an on-demand public transport service, would be suspended after calls for tender for a service provider went unanswered.
Beauchesne says a total of 33 individuals used that service in 2024, including six regular users who represent the vast majority of the 394 trips provided last year.
She confirms the service is still at a standstill, noting the MRC is considering different solutions including new service providers and carpooling. In the meantime, regular users have been redirected to the free bus service.
The Table Logement du Haut-Saint-Laurent has launched its second annual awareness campaign to mitigate the impact of the housing crisis in the region.
The campaign aims to remind tenants they have rights, and that in the current context, renters hoping to stay in the area should ideally have found a new home before telling landlords about plans to move.
Tenants must provide landlords with a notice of non-renewal at least three months before the end of a rental agreement when terminating a lease.
Anyze Goyette of the local housing table says it is important that tenants consider the rapid rise in housing costs between two moves, as well as the possibility of discrimination against tenants and the availability of clean, well-maintained and safe affordable housing options before deciding to move.
Another campaign objective is to remind those who will not be renewing their lease to start looking right away.
The Comité Logement de Beauharnois, which serves Beauharnois and its neighboring regions including the MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent, reported a vacancy rate of only 1.4 per cent in 2021.
According to a representative for the committee, there has been a dramatic increase in housing prices since then, where the average cost of housing has doubled and even tripled in some instances.
Data from the 2021 census shows just over 25 per cent of households are renting in the Haut-Saint-Laurent. Median rent was about $690 per month, and over 25 per cent of renters spent more than 30 per cent of their income on housing. More than 10 per cent reported urgent housing needs.
There is new housing, but escalating rental costs are unaffordable for most tenant households rooted in the region.
“This often leads to excessive increases or the threat of repossession by the landlord,” says the committee representative, noting the situation is stressful and will mean more families having to make difficult decisions to get by.
Municipal employees in Ormstown are moving office for a few weeks while important renovation work is carried out in the town hall.
Work began on February 26 to improve accessibility for individuals with reduced mobility and to address plumbing, ventilation, and electrical issues from the building’s initial construction.
The renovations are designed to meet health and safety standards including the installation of a lift that will allow access to the basement, and to ensure a healthy work environment for municipal staff.
“Many people are surprised that work needs to be done on City Hall, which was built less than ten years ago. And I understand them,” says Ormstown’s mayor, Christine McAleer.
“Currently, we have a large basement that is of little use because it is not accessible. The archive room is also located in the basement, and the ventilation is not optimized for the preservation of documents,” she adds, noting that once the work is completed, all citizens will be able to enjoy the town hall.
Ormstown director general Daniel Leduc confirms the renovations were included as part of the 2025-2027 three-year capital investment program, which was approved by the municipal council in December. He says the $550,000 budget represents less than four per cent of the total investments planned by the municipality over the next three years, which include significant road, sewer and drinking water expenditures.
“This year we are putting some money into the town hall and the recreation centre,” he says, noting the upgrades are not a luxury. “The objective is to make it a real community building … A town hall that is well-equipped and fully functional to meet the needs of the community, which it presently does not.”
The floor in the recreation centre is being refurbished at an estimated cost of around $60,000.
The municipality expects the renovation work to be completed by mid-April. In the meantime, municipal employees will be temporarily relocated to the fire station, while those who work in reception will move to the library so they remain accessible to the public.
Leduc says that he looked into having the work done after business hours to reduce the impact on municipal employees, but it was significantly more expensive.
Municipal council meetings will not be affected and will take place as scheduled on March 3 and April 7 at the town hall.
Huntingdon mayor André Brunette says the town’s development plans are back on track, after an interim control bylaw (ICB) prohibiting new construction within up to 300 metres of railroads was repealed during the January 22 meeting of the regional council of mayors.
If maintained, the temporary bylaw introduced by the MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent would have caused many of the town’s residential projects and future development initiatives to grind to a halt.
The MRC proposed the ICB in response to a series of nine provincial government guidelines for regional planning (OGAT) that came into force in December. These cover several aspects, including the quality of living environments, transportation, sustainable mobility, adaptation to climate change, water resource management, and the protection of natural and agricultural environments.
Within the guidelines are 22 objectives and six regulatory frameworks that the MRC is required to integrate into their land-use planning and development schema over the next three years. One of the frameworks, which is addressed by the MRC’s ICB, aims to mitigate the harmful effects and reduce the risks related to road, rail, and air transport, as well as fixed sources of noise, by prohibiting new residential and institutional development within 300 metres of railways.
The MRC’s ICB promoting the safety, property, and quality of life in the vicinity of a railroad was introduced by notice of motion on November 27. This resulted in an immediate temporary freeze on all new development within 30 metres of a railroad. The regulation was then presented to the council of mayors on December 18, where it was adopted by a slim majority after five mayors voted against the ICB.
The railroad line in question is a 35-kilometre stretch of the CSX Transportation Montreal Subdivision, which runs through the municipalities of Dundee and Godmanchester and the town of Huntingdon. The MRC resolution notes that in addition to the storage of cars in Huntingdon and a service point in Dundee, the rail line is used primarily to transport various goods and materials, including hazardous materials.
The resolution argues there is a risk of derailment and hazardous material spills within the urban perimeters of Dundee and Huntingdon, where other negative impacts such as vibrations or sounds are more present given the proximity of the population.
Significant impacts
Brunette says the council’s decision left him reeling.
He says the mayors debated the bylaw for two hours. During this time, the spectre of the fatal train derailment in Lac Mégantic was brought up. “When people talk like that, it creates fear, a danger, that there is going to be a derailment, that there are going to be explosions, and the town will go up in flames,” he says.
“The railroad tracks have been completely redone. They’re flat, parallel to the ground. There are no mountains. It’s not the same terrain,” he says, insisting this type of comparison is unfounded. Trains roll through Huntingdon two times per day, one in the morning and again in the evening, at a maximum speed of 16 kilometres per hour, he explains. He notes that the town has also surveyed with those living along the railway and while they do hear the train whistle, vibrations are not a problem.
As a result, the Huntingdon municipal council unanimously passed a resolution on January 13 asking the provincial government to postpone the implementation of its regulatory framework. A similar resolution was passed by the Fédération Québécoise des Municipalités in December, as well as the Table Régionale des Élu[e]s Municipaux du Bas-Saint-Laurent.
The town also requested that the government establish standards based on the type of railway line, traffic flow, and train speed and size, like those in place for roadways.
The town contended that the regulatory framework in its current form would hinder both current and future development, including residential projects involving loans and investments in water and sewer infrastructure that are already implemented within 300 meters of the railroad.
“The town is in full development. We have been working on these projects for years, and now we are getting somewhere. According to the proposed bylaw, we could not build anymore,” says Brunette. Plans to build a new elementary school would also be abandoned, as well as a possible daycare expansion, if the proposed bylaw had not been repealed, he adds.
Brunette says the freeze on construction, which lasted over 50 days including the holidays, also kept the town from issuing permits. This restriction was lifted when the ICB was repealed in January, after eleven of the thirteen mayors voted it down.
MRC director general Pierre Caza explains that adopting an interim control bylaw enables the MRC to promptly address issues related to land use planning and development. This measure helps prevent the escalation of certain problems while providing the MRC with the necessary time to properly develop, modify, or revise its planning tools.
He points out that these temporary bylaws maintain the effectiveness of planning efforts by preventing projects that might conflict with new planning and development frameworks or rules while they are being established.
In this case, the MRC needed more time to analyze and establish safe distances and perimeters [from railways] while prohibiting all new cadastral operations until a permanent solution is adopted that would address safety, public health, and well-being concerns arising from rail transport in residential areas or near services for vulnerable populations.
Caza confirms the MRC is now holding meetings with the municipalities directly concerned “to find the best solutions to promote people’s safety while minimizing, if possible, the impact on the municipalities.”
Following discussions with the relevant municipalities, Caza says the objective remains for the council of mayors to adopt an optimized ICB that ensures the safety of individuals and properties near railroads.
Members of the Association des Gens d’Affaires d’Ormstown et des Environs (AGAO+) gathered for a networking event on February 4. The topic was to have been the MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent’s new economic development and employment plan; however, echoes of the Trump administration’s tariff threat reverberated through the room.
“We certainly talked about it, and I think everyone is worried,” says AGAO+ president Philippe Besombes, who suggest that while there is concern, many of the association’s 80 members believe this uncertainty represents an opportunity to reposition local businesses.
In a post on social media, Besombes joined the many voices calling on consumers to prioritize products made in the Haut-Saint-Laurent, Quebec, or Canada while boycotting American-made goods. He suggests these practices will help to counter potentially volatile measures imposed by the U.S. government while promoting new internal markets within Canada.
“There is often a perception that buying local means more expensive products, but that is not true. More often, these are products that are not necessarily more expensive, and of better quality, made close to home, by local people,” Besombes explains. “We should be proud to buy these products,” he continues, suggesting that while there is a certain element of patriotism or pride to buying local, this practice is also about belonging and being part of a community.
There is also a clear ecological argument to be made for buying local. Consumers can significantly reduce their carbon footprint simply by increasing the amount of locally grown food they consume. Buying products that are made and sold nearby also encourages short shipping circuits, which eliminate the middleman and much of the transport costs. Besombes cites the Huntingdon County Farmer’s Market as a good example, as well as the many community-supported agriculture options for organic vegetables across the region. He says area grocery stores are also stocking more local products on their shelves.
Besombes says, “We all have a role to play” in determining how we ride out the next few years, which could be difficult. “On many levels, we’re going to be affected,” he surmises. “Which is why I think we should seize this as an opportunity to try to change certain things.”
The AGAO+ is also looking into how it can better support area businesses as they prepare to weather what feels like a coming storm. The association launched a workshop and training program last year for local entrpreneurs, which will continue this year with a focus on marketing, product positioning, and leveraging social networks. Networking opportunities and events are also organized throughout the year, which regularly draw over forty members.
“Our members really appreciate the opportunity to talk to each other,” says Besombes. “They feel less alone, less isolated,” he explains, while pointing out that the popularity of the networking activities is evidence that area entrepreneurs are looking for reasons to come together. This is important, he insists, because the ability to network and see what others are doing will help local businesses and entrepreneurs to better adapt within a difficult or changing economic climate.
Besombes says the association is always open to new members and is especially looking to recruit farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs from across the Haut-Saint-Laurent and neighbouring municipalities. More information is available online at agaoplus.com.
The Chateauguay Valley Career Education Centre (CVCEC) held a small graduation ceremony for the 2025 cohort of students who completed the Health, Assistance and Nursing program on February 7.
Decked out in the traditional caps and gowns, the group of twelve students received their attestations and posed for photos before enjoying a final lunch together with their teachers and then leaving the classroom for a final time. The ceremony represented both a huge achievement for students and a milestone for the career centre.
As little as five months ago, it was unclear whether these students would be the last to graduate from the program. The New Frontiers School Board program was granted permanent status just days before the start of the school year in late August, after years of being required to obtain government authorization before opening the course.
Danielle Boak, the health programs department head at CVCEC, spoke candidly at the time about the significance of the nursing program for students. “Taking programs away would have taken away a lot of education opportunity for people to better their lives,” she explained, noting how happy the teachers were to be welcoming a new cohort.
Now that the uncertainty surrounding the program has disappeared, Boak said she is looking forward to planning for next year. “I remember always putting my binder away after finishing a competency and going, ‘I may never open this again’,” she admitted. Now she acknowledges that the added stability allows the teachers more freedom to move the program forward and become more innovative.
Centre director Kara Woods said the success of the program stems from the teachers’ dedication, which is matched by the students’ commitment to their studies. “Our adult learners are sacrificing so much to take part in these programs,” she explained, noting many are juggling young families, long commutes, evening stages, and work commitments. “They keep waking up and showing up every day,” she said, adding she is not sure whether the students realize the extent to which the teachers, staff, and administrators recognize their sacrifices.
Boak says this cohort was especially cohesive, noting their ability to work together will serve them well, as being part of a multidisciplinary team will play a big part in their lives from now on. The teachers have also worked to ensure their students understand the important role they will play on these teams. “They should take tremendous pride in [being practical nurses]. They will need to strive to make their place as professionals,” she added.
Boak credits Carole Grant, the current president of the Ordre des Infirmiers et Infirmières Auxiliaires du Quebec (OIIAQ), with elevating the profession. “It shows, it really does show,” she noted, while explaining that the environment has shifted towards valuing practical nurses as part of the medical team.
Grant was in fact a special guest at the ceremony. She addressed the graduates as being part of a new generation of practical nurses who share the age-old values of thoroughness, commitment, humanity, respect, integrity, and collaboration with those who have been practicing for decades.
“The primary mission of a professional order is to protect the public. The very essence of the practical nursing profession is to provide quality care. Thanks to your perseverance and commitment, I see a promising future for our beautiful profession, which I’ve been practicing for over 45 years,” she said.
The earliest the graduating cohort will be able to write the OIIAQ exam is in June. Upon passing this, they will be eligible to join the order as licensed practical nurses.
The New Frontiers School Board (NFSB) takes bullying very seriously.
NFSB assistant director general Joyce Donohue is leading a task force initiated at the end of the last school year in response to mounting concerns over an increase in incidents of bullying and violence within NFSB schools and centres. The committee includes a cross section of around 13 individuals including staff members, teachers, caretakers, principals, and special education consultants.
Donohue says the sole role of the task force is to prepare a report summarizing the strategies, tools and resources that those sitting on the task force as well as community members bring forward to address the issue. The report, which will include recommendations on a set of concrete measures that could help reduce bullying and violence within the system, is to be delivered to NFSB director general Mike Helm at the end of this school year.
She says a lot of effort is being concentrated at the ministry level, but the NFSB wanted to create its own plan and strategies that would be made for and by the New Frontiers community. “We got ahead of the curve,” she says.
The task force has met several times for roundtable discussions and work sessions. Donohue says they are now looking to receive feedback from the broader school community. An interactive ThoughtExchange survey was launched last week that asks participants to recommend strategies, tools, or resources to prevent bullying and violence. As of February 10, at least 92 individuals contributed to the survey, which allows participants to rate different thoughts allowing key concerns and issues to emerge.
“We want the community to feel engaged in this and to help us find solutions because we don’t want to pretend that we have all the answers,” says Donohue.
The survey will remain open until after March break to allow parents and community members time to contribute their ideas. There will also be two public consultations including one at Chateauguay Valley Regional High School on February 13 at 7 p.m., and another at Howard S. Billings High School in Chateauguay on February 20.
“This is really us putting ourselves, putting ourselves out there to get something concrete written up so that we can really look at this issue strategically and move forward with it,” says Helm. “There has been a tremendous amount of work that has already been put into this. People are really engaged, and they want to make a difference and to help our students,” he adds.
“It is something that concerns everyone and we want to be able to have a response on behalf of everyone,” says Donohue. “We want to build something from the ground up. Just having these discussions builds awareness, and that alone is worthwhile,” she notes.
The ThoughtExchange survey can be accessed via the NFSB Facebook page, as well as online at: my.thoughtexchange.com/scroll/465409602.
Unionized daycare workers braved the cold and walked off the job for a second time on February 6, after contract negotiations with the provincial government remained stalled following the start of strike action a week earlier.
Workers with the Kaleidoscope early childcare centre (CPE) in Hinchinbrooke took to the streets along with around 12,000 other members of the CSN-affiliated Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux (FSSS) to demand respectable salaries, reasonable workloads, and more support for children with special needs.
Workers from 51 CPEs across the Montérégie took part in protests in six locations. Those from Hinchinbrooke joined workers from Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Vaudreuil-Soulanges, and the Haut-Saint-Laurent at a rally in Chateauguay.
The province is currently offering a 12.5-per cent salary increase over five years, despite having reached agreements for a higher rate with three other unions representing daycare workers. Talks have been ongoing for eight months. The union says that unless there is some movement at the table, the third of five possible strike days will take place on February 17.
Mélanie Bouchard, the regional vice-president of the FSSS, says that it is becoming increasingly challenging to recruit new workers under the present conditions. Sylvie Brunet, the union representative at Kaleidoscope, adds that recruitment and staffing issues are even more pressing in rural daycare centres.
Brunet says finding qualified workers is especially difficult as many are turning toward higher-paid positions within schools for employment. “We are the lowest-paid college diploma in Quebec,” she laments, while suggesting the starting salary at a CPE is not competitive.
“There are not many who come forward,” Brunet says, noting resumes are rare, and often those applying do not have any training. This adds to the workload, as new employees may need to be shadowed or mentored by more qualified staff.
“It is a great job, but right now, it is not working with the kids that is the hardest. It is everything around this, everything that is required, and all the paperwork,” Brunet explains.
The two sides are expected to meet for at least two negotiating days ahead of the February 17 strike. Brunet says she is hopeful that an agreement with the government will soon be reached. “From what I understand, they are just dragging their feet a bit.”
The town of Huntingdon is at risk of losing its first-responder service.
The municipality issued an urgent plea for new volunteers on January 30, referring to the need as immediate and great.
The town reports that at least 13 individuals have completed the required 60 hours of training in just under twenty years since the service was launched in May 2005. The number of first responders has now dwindled to a total of four volunteers.
Volunteer first responders are trained according to medical protocols to assess and stabilize patients in a variety of situations before an ambulance and emergency medical technicians arrive at the scene. Emergency interventions are often more efficient thanks to this collaboration of first responders.
In Huntingdon, first responders handle about 100 calls annually.
“We want to keep the service,” says Huntingdon’s mayor, André Brunette, though he admits recruitment has become more difficult. “Not everyone is suited to do this kind of work,” he acknowledges, while suggesting that the town is encouraging those with an interest in this type of community service to come forward.
Huntingdon director general Johanne Hébert points out that four people is simply not enough. “They are exhausted. They are on call 24 hours a day. We put certain measures in place, but it comes down to the fact these people are firefighters, they are first responders, but they also have jobs and families.”
As a result, Hébert says first responders presently only respond to calls where there is a high potential of cardiorespiratory arrest. There are four levels of first-responder services in Quebec, and this is the highest priority, but it means there is a greater reliance on emergency medical technicians to respond quickly to severe allergic reactions, severe trauma, and urgent medical calls.
“The population does not have to worry that there will be fewer services if the program were to close,” Hébert says, pointing out that Paraxion paramedics serve the town, and the fire department is part of the regional mutual aid network. “But it is always a plus. We have saved lives,” she says.
Huntingdon assistant director general Caroline Hébert-McKenzie confirms the town is doing everything it can to maintain the service. She says that since going public with their tenuous situation, at least three individuals including one new resident have come forward to volunteer. Several members of the Huntingdon fire department have also voiced an interest. “Things are moving in the right direction,” she affirms, noting the town is already in a better position to keep the service.
Accessing food relief can be difficult in rural areas for those without a vehicle or access to public transportation.
As part of a pilot project initiated by the La Bouffe Additionnelle food pantry, residents of Dundee and Saint-Anicet can now receive their food baskets delivered to their municipality for free.
Deliveries to the Dundee town hall started on February 10 and will continue on every second Monday of the month. Food baskets will also be delivered to the Cazaville community centre in Saint-Anicet on the fourth Mondays of the month.
La Bouffe Addittionnelle director Sylvie Racette explains that both Cazaville and the municipality of Dundee and are food deserts, with little to no access to public transit. She says the food pantry worked with the Huntingdon CLSC to determine which communities would most benefit from improved food security services.
Funding for the pilot project, which included the purchase of a new refrigerated truck, was provided in part by the MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent through the Fonds Régions et Ruralité (FRR) – volet 4: soutien à la vitalisation et à la coopération intermunicipale program, in partnership with the Ministère des Affaires Municipales et de l’Habitation.
The MRC contributed $73,514 towards the purchase of the new truck and the pilot project, which Racette says could eventually be extended to the municipalities of Havelock and Hinchinbrooke if successful.
Dundee’s mayor, Linda Gagnon, says citizens currently travel more than 30 kilometers each way for groceries. Over 51 per cent of Dundee residents are above the age of 60, and part of this population is low-income. “We know that as we age, getting around by car can become more dangerous and costly,” she explains, noting this service will allow citizens to have regular access to essential food relief while reducing their need to travel.
More than a delivery service
Racette says the municipalities of Dundee and Saint-Anicet were also selected as part of an effort to minimize transport expenses. La Bouffe Additionnelle employees already collect food contributions from the Marché Tradition in Saint-Anicet and the Harnois service station and corner store in Cazaville, so it made sense to coordinate deliveries with these routes.
La Bouffe Additionnelle will also partner with different community organizations to provide additional services, workshops, and information sessions for basket clients.
For more information on the pilot project contact La Bouffe Additionnelle at 450-264-2241.
The Moisson Sud-Ouest food bank is now able to store and distribute significantly more fresh food, thanks to major investments in refrigeration infrastructure at its new Salaberry-de-Valleyfield location.
During a press conference on February 5, the food bank announced that the region’s four Caisses Desjardins would be contributing $125,000 to help finance the installation of a refrigerated section in the organization’s warehouse. This is in addition to an earlier contribution of $125,000 by the Caisse Desjardins du Haut-Saint-Laurent, Valleyfield, Beauharnois, and Vaudreuil-Soulanges as part of Moisson Sud-Ouest’s “Take hunger off the table” campaign.
“This announcement makes perfect sense today, given the rise in food prices on the market,” said Gino Napoleoni, the general manager of the Caisse Desjardins de Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, who referred to the donation as a gesture of hope and solidarity.
Yan Ouellette, Moisson Sud-Ouest’s director of development and philanthropy, explained that the food bank’s relationship with Desjardins goes back a long way. “They were with us at the beginning, in 2021, when we began to dream about a new building,” he said. The food bank was then gripped by an exploding demand for food relief. “It was during COVID, there was a lot going on, and the needs were enormous. The government and the public were there to donate food, to give money, but we didn’t have the space to handle that crisis, that volume,” he recalled.
Moisson Sud-Ouest purchased a warehouse in Valleyfield in 2023 and launched a new appeal for donations to cover the cost of necessary renovations to bring the building to code for food distribution purposes. The $250,000 from Desjardins is in addition to $1,775,000 provided by the provincial government through the Programme d’Infrastructures des Banques Alimentaires du Québec, as well as numerous contributions from area businesses and the public.
Now up and running, the refrigerated section “holds a lot more food,” said Ouellette, which is key for the stocking and distribution of perishables.
The section allows Moisson Sud-Ouest to store up to 66 pallets of refrigerated foods, as well as an additional 66 pallets of frozen products, which amounts to 39,600 kilograms of food. The previous building had a maximum capacity of 12,600 kgs of perishable food items.
Ouellette explained that this translated concretely into an additional $310,500 worth of fresh or perishable food (the equivalent of 62,100 more meals) that is now available to the network of 80 food pantries and community organizations in the Haut-Saint-Laurent, Beauharnois-Salaberry, and Vaudreuil-Soulanges regions currently served by Moisson Sud-Ouest.
Sylvie Racette, the director of the La Bouffe Additionnelle food pantry based in Huntingdon, said there was little doubt that Moisson Sud-Ouest’s improved capacity will have an impact on the types of food that are offered locally. “Fresh foods, such as milk, eggs, and vegetables, are all harder to access,” she explained. “If they have the capacity to buy fresher food, that means we are going to receive food that we can keep longer.”
Racette added that having access to a potentially greater amount of food will also be of benefit. The need for food relief in the Haut-Saint-Laurent continues to grow. Just last month, the food pantry was providing up to 80 food baskets to individuals or families per week.
“There is not a week that goes by that we don’t have three or four new families signing up,” said Racette.
Valley residents living along the U.S. border are getting used to hearing the heavy thumping of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s new Black Hawk helicopter as it flies overhead.
The RCMP deployed the military helicopter on January 17 to shore up its surveillance and response capabilities along the border while clamping down on illegal migration and drug smuggling.
“We want to send a message to the Americans that we are taking this very seriously,” said Sgt. Charles Poirier during a January 30 press conference in Saint-Antoine-Abbé, which took place just kilometres from what he described as an illegal migration hotspot.
“We are very serious about our measures, that we are present, and that we intervene every day,” he added, noting the helicopter allows officers to respond more rapidly and with greater flexibility to any situation along the border.
The Black Hawk is one of two choppers on loan until the end of March at a cost of $5.3 million, from the Ontario-based company Helicopter Transport Services. A second helicopter is currently stationed in Manitoba.
Poirier said that officers in the field are already benefitting from the new measures. He explained that the Black Hawk allows the RCMP to respond more quickly and to transport teams from one location to another, given the sheer size of the territory. “Let’s say an intervention takes 30 minutes in a vehicle; we might be there in five minutes in a Black Hawk.”
The helicopter, which allows officers to rappel down or hoist individuals as needed, will also be used to assist ground patrols by identifying suspicious activity from the air.
Poirier said the new acquisition complements the RCMP’s existing fleet, which includes a smaller helicopter, several drones, patrol vehicles, all-terrain-vehicles, snowmobiles, and amphibious vehicles. “We also have an entire technological apparatus at the border, including cameras, sensors, and other detection mechanisms,” he noted.
‘We want to reassure people’
Along with communicating a message to the U.S. on border security, Poirier suggested the RCMP also wanted to inform locals about the presence of the helicopters. “They are imposing. They look like the military, and people who live along the border will see them on a regular basis. They also fly very low sometimes, and they make a lot of noise,” he acknowledged. “We want to reassure the people who live along the border to know that it is us and that there is nothing unusual going on.”
The Black Hawks flying overhead have been the topic of conversation between locals across the Valley, with many saying they were alarmed, or at best confused, by their presence.
“They went over my house three times, directly over the roof,” said a Hinchinbrooke resident. “It is loud and it’s invasive and it just seems like our peaceful little border has become something else just overnight,” she added, noting that the RCMP had already installed cameras at the end of her road. “I feel like I am being watched all the time,” she said.
“We understand that this can be an inconvenience,” Poirier said, noting that any issues relating to the helicopters and increased border patrols can be signaled to the RCMP, and efforts will be made to accommodate such concerns.
“One thing that needs to be clear is that we don’t randomly patrol the border. Every patrol we make is based on intelligence. It is focused,” said Poirier, noting that officers typically concentrate their efforts on a hot spot or problem area where they can work within the community.
“Local help is essential to our mandate,” he said. “We can’t be everywhere at once. We work very well with the public, and we recognize the inconvenience of having people crossing on their property,” he continued, noting that anything out of the ordinary, “whether it’s an individual, several individuals, a vehicle, even if it’s just a backpack on their property,” can be reported to the RCMP and an officer will be dispatched to investigate.
Situation is ‘under control’
According to Poirier, the helicopters will be used primarily to follow up on intelligence received, where officers can signal a location from the air to those on the ground so they can better concentrate their patrol. In the event an individual has crossed the border and has not been located within a certain amount of time, the helicopter may also be deployed for a “search-and-collect” operation.
A Hemmingford maple syrup producer says he regularly finds articles of clothing and tracks running through his sugar bush located along the border. He observed that since the helicopters began flying overhead, there has been very little evidence of people moving through the forest. He recalled feeling a bit nervous after the helicopter circled above him a few times while he was preparing his trees for the upcoming sugar season.
Poirier reiterated that the situation along the border is under control, noting both south- and north-bound movement across the line by migrants is relatively quiet at the moment. “The numbers are quite low,” he confirmed, while highlighting the RCMP’s focus on smuggling networks operating in the area.
Poirier also addressed American concerns over the trafficking of fentanyl across the border. “Less than one per cent of the fentanyl currently on U.S. streets comes from Canada. In the last 12 months, in Quebec alone, we haven’t seen any fentanyl destined for the American market,” he confirmed.
Poirier reiterated the importance of sending a strong message to the Americans that border security is being taken very seriously by the RCMP; but he noted it is also important to remember the facts.
With all signs pointing toward an election being called once parliament returns from prorogation in late March, the parties are already gearing up for a spring vote.
Salaberry-Suroît MP Claude DeBellefeuille has already thrown her hat into the ring, announcing on January 7 that she will seek a fifth term representing the region as a member of the Bloc Québécois in Ottawa.
DeBellefeuille’s first term in office stretched from 2006 to 2011. She ran in both the 2011 and 2015 elections, before regaining her seat in the House of Commons from 2019 to the present.
During this last year, DeBellefeuille said she continued to bring people together to find solutions to challenging issues. She specifically mentioned convening the Comité d’Action de Suivi pour la Voie Maritime, which she initiated in 2019, to mitigate the planned closure of the Larocque Bridge at the start of last year.
DeBellefeuille also highlighted efforts to bring the RCMP and border municipalities together over border control issues. The deputy was instrumental in the creation of a single telephone number that citizens could call to reach the RCMP, the circulation of an informative leaflet to border residents, and new aluminium panels to be installed with the phone number to reach the RCMP.
She also noted the Bloc Québécois’ support for seniors, and the party’s hard push to withdraw supply-managed products from trade negotiations with Bill C-282, which passed all stages in the House of Commons before stalling in the Senate.
Salaberry-Suroit MP Claude DeBellefeuille has announced she will run again in the next federal election, which is expected to be called sometime this spring. (PHOTO Facebook MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent)
DeBellefeuille said she is determined to continue this work in her riding. “I’m extremely happy in my role as MP; it’s a position that fills me with happiness,” she stated, noting it is an honour to serve the citizens of Salaberry-Suroît.
“My work in Ottawa isn’t over yet, and I’m determined to keep on making things happen,” she added.
Regarding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation on January 6, DeBellefeuille acknowledged his commitment to the public, before adding she believes he made the right decision to step down.
“Regardless of the leader, regardless of the circumstances, there must be an election in the spring of 2025!” she exclaimed.
Once called, this election will mark DeBellefeuille’s seventh campaign. If re-elected, she will take office for her third consecutive, and fifth term in 18 years.
Ormstown’s mayor, Christine McAleer, presented a balanced budget of $8,167,136 for the fourth year of her mandate during a special municipal council meeting on December 11. The figures for 2025 forecast an increase of $257,137, or five per cent, over the previous year’s budget. Over 84 per cent of this revenue is expected to come from property taxes.
McAleer explained that the council took several factors into consideration while formulating the budget, including the general tax rate. In Ormstown, the average tax rate for all property categories is not expected to exceed an average of 4.8 per cent, while the average tax bill will increase by an average of 2.89 per cent.
The mayor noted that every effort was made to curb increases while pointing out the municipality has a small number of commercial and industrial institutions that would allow for a more diversified source of income. She announced the municipality would be working on a new approach to its economic development.
“We want to develop the municipality in a way that respects taxpayers’ ability to pay, and with a view to sustainable development,” she said. “We are committed to maintaining a competitive tax system, and will continue to work towards this goal,” she added.
A second factor involved controlling the increase in operating expenses for municipal services, including the public works department, which accounts for around 25 per cent of the municipality’s expenses, as well as administrative services, human resources, communications, and public safety.
A third significant driver revolved around investments in infrastructure improvements. “We could not ignore the many difficult realities that required solutions and sums of money in the very short term,” McAleer said, noting the municipality had little to no choice but to invest in several capital projects.
Ormstown will invest nearly $14 million in various infrastructure in 2025 alone. The mayor confirmed that over a third of these expenditures will be financed by grants, the general fund, and the unrestricted surplus.
McAleer pointed out that despite narrow revenue margins that left little room to manoeuvre, the municipality has been able to innovate despite the need to rationalize spending in all departments.
The municipality’s three-year investment plan represents over $54 million in estimated expenses between 2025 and 2027. Major investments in 2025 will include $4.71 million for a wastewater overflow plan, with a total investment over three years of $15.4 million. At least $5.78 million is expected to be spent on the water and sewer network in 2025, with additional investments of $13.6 million by 2027.
Other significant investments for 2025 include over $1.35 million in road and sidewalk maintenance, over $325,000 in recreational infrastructure (splash-pad and skating rink), and over $1.6 million for municipal buildings, including the town hall, garage and ecocentre, and recreation centre.
The municipality will delay the financing of a drinking water treatment plant to 2026, when $15.4 million is expected to be invested over two years.
McAleer said she was proud of the budget, saying she and the council were confident they would make a success of the final year in their term.
The municipal council adopted the bylaw establishing the tax rates and payment terms for 2025 during a special meeting on December 16. The bylaw was approved by majority vote, after two of the five councillors present voted against plan.
Ormstown resident Philippe Besombes, who is also the president of the Association des Gens d’Affaires d’Ormstown et des Environs (AGAO+), was the only individual present to question the council during both meetings on December 11 and 16. He expressed concerns over the steep increase in tax revenue since 2021, and the impact this may have on residents.
“Tax revenue, or what we’ve been taking out of the pockets of the municipality’s residents, whether residential, commercial, or agricultural, has gone from $3.2 million to $6.7 million. That’s a lot of money,” said Besombes, who noted this cannot be attributed to new residents as development projects have been at a standstill for the past three years. He questioned whether some residents would be able to afford the increase, and asked whether the mayor would consider authorizing payments over four installments instead of three.
The town of Huntingdon inaugurated its new community kitchen on December 17, preparing the way for numerous delicious opportunities for local businesses and organizations working in the food security and preparation sectors.
Around 15 people attended the ceremony, including Huntingdon mayor André Brunette and several municipal councillors. Representatives from the town, the MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent, and local community organizations including the La Bouffe Additionnelle food pantry and the Popote Mobile meal delivery service also attended.
Also present at the inauguration were members of the Table de concertation en Sécurité Alimentaire du Haut-Saint-Laurent, including Marie-France Meloche of the Centre Integré de Santé et de Services Sociaux de la Montérégie-Ouest (CISSSMO), who explained that the partnership table will create a sub-committee to coordinate the new space.
Brunette confirmed the kitchen is free to use by the Haut-Saint-Laurent community. “It does not belong to the town. It belongs to everyone,” he explained, saying he hopes the kitchen will become a shared meeting place where different community groups, producers, or small business owners can come together to cook, organize workshops, and prepare healthy and appetizing meals or products.
Huntingdon mayor André Brunette officially opened the town’s new community kitchen on December 17 in the presence of several representatives from the municipality, the MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent, the Table de Concertation en Sécurité Alimentaire du Haut-Saint-Laurent, and several community organizations including the Popote Mobile and La Bouffe Additionnelle. (PHOTO Sarah Rennie)
The fully equipped kitchen, which includes large fridges, sinks and wash areas, commercial stoves, and stainless-steel counter spaces and work surfaces is approved by the Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation (MAPAQ). It is located at 4 Lorne Street, in the same complex as La Bouffe Additionnelle and the Little Green Library.
Huntingdon received $100,000 in funding for the project from the Ministère des Affaires Municipals et de l’Habitation through Volet 4 of the Fonds Régions et Ruralité: Soutien à la Vitalisation et à la Coopération Intermunicipale. The total cost for the kitchen was around $125,000. The town contributed the remaining $25,000 and will cover the operating and maintenance costs associated with the space.
“We made sure to set up a project that responds concretely to the needs of the community,” said Brunette. “We are very proud to offer community organizations and volunteers a space and professional equipment that will help them in their efforts to guarantee the right to healthy food for all,” he added, noting the town is especially committed to supporting those working in the field of food security.
In 2022, Huntingdon was instrumental in relocated La Bouffe Additionnelle to its current location, and in 2023, the town installed a cold room and freezer chamber in the suite next to the food pantry. Now that the community kitchen is open, the town has also announced it will provide the Popote Mobile with a suite next to the kitchen so they can offer their meal delivery service for seniors from the same building.
The mayor of Saint-Anicet, Gino Moretti, will be moving on from municipal politics after the end of his second mandate this fall.
Moretti announced he would not be seeking a third term just before the start of a special council meeting and budget presentation on December 16. “Tonight will be my last municipal budget,” he confirmed. “I have other opportunities in the future,” he added, without further explanation.
The mayor then turned the floor over to director general Denis Lévesque, who presented the details of the municipality’s annual financial exercise, which predicts a balanced budget of $6,418,064.
Lévesque explained that this year’s figures were influenced by several key factors, including the filing of a new municipal roll that saw a 54-per cent increase in the value of all properties. The average assessment for a single-family home jumped from $288,647 in 2024 to $431,032 in 2025, which represents an increase of over $142,000.
The director general was also careful to note a 5.5-per cent increase in shared expenses with the MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent, the impact of inflation on all municipal expenditures, and the need to invest in municipal infrastructure having an impact on the overall budget.
Lévesque then presented the details of the capital expenditures program, which estimates an investment of $11,358,000 over the next three years. The municipality expects to invest over $4.9 million in 2025 on the paving of several roads, equipment for the fire service, and several major infrastructure projects.
Saint-Anicet will spend $1.2 million over three years to renovate the town hall, which Lévesque explained was lacking space. Half of the investment will be made in 2025, while an additional $300,000 has been budgeted for 2026 and 2027.
An additional $1.2 million will be spent in 2025 for repairs to the Catholic Church and community centre. Lévesque explained that the roof is currently leaking, and the municipality hopes to stop this before the structure is damaged.
The municipality will be installing washrooms at Parc Jules-Léger at a cost of $150,000, while development plans for Parc Génier will incur annual investments of $350,000 over the next three years. An additional $50,000 will be invested in the park in Cazaville as well.
Investments in the fire service include the purchase of a new boat as well as a new auto-pump fire truck, which is expected in 2026 at a cost of around $1.2 million. An underground cistern is also being installed in Parc Génier at a cost of $138,000. This will allow the fire department to fill their tanks with water more quickly. Lévesque noted excavation work has already begun in the park and a concrete slab has been poured.
Around $4.2 million will be spent on road maintenance between now and 2027, including the repaving of the Chemin St-Charles Ouest, the Chemin Rivière La Guerre, sections of the Chemin des Prairies, as well as sidewalk maintenance within the town and work on the Montée Cazaville.
Lévesque noted that the municipality was required to bring its wastewater treatment facility to standard, requiring an investment of $1.2 million. The municipal garbage truck is also in need of replacing at an estimated cost of $500,000 in 2026.
The director general noted that much of the planned expenditures will be covered by different grants and subsidies as well as loan bylaws.
The council unanimously approved both the budget and the capital expenditures plan before a notice of motion was tabled presenting the tax rates, service taxes, and the terms and conditions set out for this year.
The tax rate in Saint-Anicet is set to decrease from $0.4686 per $100 evaluation in 2024 to $0.3049 in 2025.
The bylaw was on the agenda for approval during the regular council meeting on January 13.
Reduced service hours at the Herdman, Trout River, and Lacolle Route 223 ports of entry went into effect on January 6.
The hours of service at the Herdman crossing, which connects the municipality of Hinchinbrooke to Chateaugay, New York, as well as the Trout River crossing that links Elgin with Constable, New York, have now been reduced by half: from 24 hours to 12, between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
The hours at the Lacolle Route 223 border crossing at Rouses Point in New York have also been reduced from 24 hours to 12: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The joint decision to scale back the operating hours was announced in November by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), as part of a collaborative effort to coordinate the service hours at connecting ports of entry.
Despite an outcry from residents and local politicians on both sides of the border, as well as a concerted effort by Salaberry-Suroît MP Claude DeBellefeuille, the CBSA is intent on permanently maintaining the new hours.
In December, DeBellefeuille addressed a formal letter to Dominic Leblanc, then the minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Government Affairs, in which she asked for the CBSA’s decision to be reassessed while suggesting that a closing time of 10 p.m. would be more appropriate.
A formal response was received on January 2 from Andrew Lawrence, the director general of the CBSA’s Travellers’ Operational Guidance and Support Branch, on behalf of David McGuinty, the current minister of Public Safety.
Lawrence states that as a result of these changes, “Canada and the U.S. are able to resolve problems related to incompatible hours of operation at ports of entry.” These issues can include security risks posed by open barriers at ports of entry, coordination difficulties between the CBSA and CBP in the event of incidents, and delays in the removal of inadmissible travellers and goods to the other country.
Lawrence also refers to a study of operational pressures, peak periods, and related service requirements, which indicated that most of the affected entry points cleared – on average – no more than two cars or commercial vehicles per hour during the period in which they are now closed.
DeBellefeuille confirms that the Bloc Québécois requested a breakdown, by hour, of the number of crossings at both the Herdman and Trout River ports of entry from the CBSA; it showed numbers that were above the two vehicle-per-hour average.
The deputy says that since November, her team has received over 50 testimonials from local residents detailing how this decision will impact their daily lives. She has spoken out against the CBSA decision in the House of Commons and through the media, and shares that at least two municipalities, Elgin and the town of Huntingdon, have adopted resolutions similarly denouncing the reduction in operating hours.
DeBellefeuille says that despite her interventions, as well as the testimonials from locals and accurate traffic data, the CBSA has maintained its decision.
“Unfortunately, the response we received leaves no room for questioning this decision,” says DeBellefeuille. “Clearly, despite our best efforts, we have not succeeded in convincing the competent authorities.”
The New Frontiers School Board (NFSB) is among the school service centres and school boards to receive additional funding to restart francization courses that were shuttered in November after government funds ran dry.
The Quebec government announced in early December that $10 million would be allocated to school service centres and boards across the province based on the needs in different regions.
According to Louisa Benvenuti, the manager of administrative and communication services with the NFSB, the board has been given an allotment for 13 full-time equivalent student places for French-language courses expected to run between January and March. This will allow the NFSB to register approximately 50 part-time students at the NOVA Career Centre in Chateauguay.
Benvenuti says there is a possibility the NFSB will be able to offer another round of courses accommodating around the same number of students from April to June.
The students will be referred to the NFSB by Francisation Quebec, a government-mandated agency established through the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation, et de l’Integration to oversee French language courses offered for free to newcomers to the province.
Francisation Quebec will prioritize students who are currently on waiting lists; however, Benvenuti suggests that past students attending courses through the NFSB may not be referred back to the board.
The Centre de Services Scolaire de la Vallée-des-Tisserands was not included on the list of service centres and school boards to receive additional government funding to restart courses. As a result, the suspended francization courses being run through the Centre de Formation Générale des Adultes des Tisserands will remain closed for now.
Celebrations over a recent decision by the Commission de Protection des Terres Agricoles du Québec (CPTAQ) that rejected a request to operate an asphalt plant on Covey Hill may have been premature.
Groupe Chenail Inc., which is behind the installation of the asphalt factory at the Carrieres Ducharme quarry in Havelock, filed a motion to appeal the CPTAQ’s decision with the Tribunal Administratif du Quebec (TAQ) in mid-December.
The company is demanding that the TAQ reverse the CPTAQ’s decision and authorize the operation of the asphalt factory until July 19, 2039. If this proves impossible, the company is requesting the TAQ “reverse the decision and return the file to the commission for a decision by two new commissioners.”
According to the filed motion, the Saint-Rémi-based company is contesting the CPTAQ’s ruling on twelve grounds, arguing the commission erred significantly in its decision by “basing its analysis on assumptions and fears supported by no concrete, documented facts, most of which are not covered by the Act respecting the preservation of agricultural land and agricultural activities (LPTAA).”
Groupe Chenail states the CPTAQ’s assessment of the impact of an asphalt factory on existing agricultural activities, including tourism, was flawed, as was its consideration of environmental impacts over which they argue it has no jurisdiction.
The motion suggests the CPTAQ misinterpreted the LPTAA by refusing the factory on the grounds of its discharges, which Groupe Chenail Inc. insists would fall within environmental standards and thresholds. It argues that expert reports confirming the project’s compliance were disregarded.
Groupe Chenail inc. is also contesting the CPTAQ’s conclusion that the addition of an asphalt factory would constitute a new use and not an accessory use under the LPTAA.
The CPTAQ concluded that the asphalt factory, even as an accessory use, would impact existing agricultural activities and future development, and that this would also affect the homogeneity of the environment. The company argues against this, pointing out an accessory use by its very nature must have less impact than the primary use, in this case referring to the quarry.
Groupe Chenail Inc. also questions the CPTAQ’s interpretation of regional particularities as set out in section 12 of the LPTAA, arguing that it failed to consider zoning bylaws as well as decisions by both the Quebec Superior Court and Court of Appeal.
The CPTAQ issued its final decision on November 7. Over 20 individuals, groups, and organizations argued against the asphalt factory before the commission. The CPTAQ is now required to provide the TAQ with a copy of all files relating to the case by mid-January.
The board of directors and management at the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de la Montérégie-Ouest (CISSSMO) presented its final annual review during a public information session on November 27 in Vaudreuil.
The creation of Santé Québec, the province’s new public health agency that launched on December 1, effectively eliminated the regional health agency. As a result, the evening oscillated between cautious optimism and sentimentality as the CISSSMO’s deputy president and CEO Dominique Pilon spoke of the agency’s challenges, successes, and priorities for 2025.
Some of the highlights mentioned include improvements in access to care, such as the official inauguration of midwifery services in the region, which welcomed its first birth on March 25. At least five vaccination and screening centres became permanent points of service, to relieve overcrowding at CLSCs and hospitals and to help consolidate and optimize the use of space and human resources.
CISSSMO’s deputy president and CEO, Dominique Pilon, presented the regional health agency’s challenges, successes, and priorities for the coming year during the annual public information session, which took place on November 27 in Vaudreuil. (PHOTO Sarah Rennie)
The hours for daytime medical services were extended to evenings and weekends. According to Pilon, this will benefit those who need the technical facilities of a hospital. “Before, they had to stay in bed at the hospital, taking a bed just for tests, examinations, or to receive ward care. What we have done is improve the order of services, allowing for much earlier discharges and better hospital fluidity,” he explained.
Healthcare workers are also performing virtual follow-ups with patients in their homes for issues such as hypertension, diabetes, and even lung disease. Nurses can see data in real time and from there, adjustments can be made to medication or treatment plans, which prevents visits to emergency rooms.
Pilon also highlighted how primary care access points (GAP) have allowed those without a family doctor to be seen. Local teams are processing between 110 and 230 requests per day, and 80 per cent of the requests are fulfilled within 36 hours.
Following a law that required health agencies to eliminate the hiring of placement agency workers, the CISSSMO launched a massive recruitment campaign that resulted in 560 hires. “At this time last year, we had over 1,000 employees working for us from the independent workforce,” said Pilon. “One year on, fewer than 175 people come from the independent workforce. As of April 1, we will no longer have any,” he added.
Priorities for 2025
The main priorities for the upcoming year include budget management. The CISSSMO posted a consolidated deficit of $106 million in 2023-2024; however, Pilon insists the budget will be balanced for 2025. “Two months ago, we had a projected deficit of $142 million. Today, two-months later, the forecasted deficit for Montérégie-Ouest is $98 million,” said Pilon.
In terms of budget recovery, Pilon acknowledged that independent labour was a significant factor. Last year, agency workers represented $52 million of the CISSSMO’s budget. This number is expected to fall to around $16 million for this year.
“An exceptional job has been done by all the teams, not only by the finance teams, but also by all the departments that have worked hard to reduce expenses within the organization,” he noted, while suggesting he is confident the organization will continue to reduce its spending without impacting patient care.
Human resources and recruitment will also be prioritized. According to Pilon, 250 of the CISSSMO’s recent hires were all from the independent workforce. He noted the organization has also launched an international recruitment office and will soon welcome 20 new nurses to the Hôpital Anna Laberge in Chateaugay.
Pilon also emphasized the importance being placed on human resources. He mentioned that during the most recent exams for nursing assistants and nurses (LPN), the 34 LPN candidates posted a 94 per cent pass rate, while all 73 nurses who took the exam achieved a passing grade.
“This is the culture we want to establish, of being able to support those who want to come and work for us,” said Pilon, who heralded the success rate as proof the nurses and LPNs were well prepared, with the supervision they needed to succeed.
He finished by noting the organization is looking ahead to several major infrastructure projects, including the future Vaudreuil-Soulanges hospital, the opening of the new Maison des Aînés alternative long-term care residence in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, and improvements to the Suroît and Anna Laberge hospitals.
Shannon Thurston of Staveley Farms in Saint-Anicet says she is concerned for the longevity of her Boer goat herd.
A change in regulation surrounding the importation of male breeding animals by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has left Canadian breeders unable to import new breeding genetics from the United States. The CFIA suspended Option 2C for importing bucks and rams in 2022, which eliminated two of three options available to Canadian breeders looking to introduce new genetics to their herds.
Thurston says this change could have a devastating impact on Canadian goat herds, including her own. She explains that if she cannot introduce diversified genetics into her herd within a short period, she could begin to see higher levels of inbreeding, deformation, difficult kidding, low immunity, lowered performance, and several other issues.
Shannon Thurston says she is concerned for the genetic diversity in her Boer goat herd in Saint-Anicet. (PHOTO Shannon Thurston)
The CFIA implemented the change to protect against the spread of disease, including scrapie, a fatal prion disease that affects sheep and goats. Thurston insists, however, that there was no specific reason to suspend the policy, noting there have been no outbreaks linked to imported animals, and the science behind scrapie transmission has not changed.
To call attention to this issue, Thurston has launched a petition with the House of Commons in Ottawa to urge the CFIA to review its policy and its potential impact on goat farming across the country. Salaberry-Suroît MP Claude DeBellefeuille has sponsored the petition, which needs 500 signatures to move forward.
The petition calls on the CFIA to provide scientific evidence demonstrating an increased risk of scrapie transmission from imported male breeding animals to justify the removal of Option 2c.
Thurston is also requesting the government organization implement an industry-wide program for genetic-based scrapie resistance testing, and that the CFIA recognize scrapie-resistant genetics in goats.
“They have shut us right down and have not offered us any options,” says Thurston, who suggests that so little genetics have come into Canada for the Boer breed that it will soon be very problematic.
Thurston says she hopes people will support the petition. “Even in our own industry, it’s hard to make people understand the impact this will have,” she explains.
The petition can be accessed and signed online by searching for e-5199 (Animals) on the ourcommons.ca website.
Around 50 people attended an information session with Kruger Energy, the developer behind the Les Jardins wind farm project, at the recreation centre in Hemmingford on November 26.
Jean Robert Poulin, the project development director for Kruger Energy, provided an update on the project which includes 13 turbines in Saint-Patrice-de-Sherrington, three turbines in Saint-Michel, and five turbines in Saint-Édouard. Hemmingford is included in the project because all the electricity generated by the turbines will be transmitted by underground cables to converge at the substation located in Hemmingford Township.
The company is in the process of completing the environmental impact assessments and inventories on the different sites, as well as visual and noise simulations. Poulin confirmed that all the information gathered over the past months “has not had any impact on the project configuration.” A series of informative panels were set up in the room with the preliminary results of the different studies.
Poulin said the studies, which include an environmental impact assessment, including several sound studies and models, a shadow analysis, a landscape study including a visibility analysis and visual simulations, an archaeological assessment, and biological inventories will be finalized before the end of the year.
Once completed, these will be submitted to the government. Initial presentations will also be submitted to the Bureau d’Audiences Publique sur l’Environnement (BAPE) and the Commission de Protection du Territoire Agricole (CPTAQ). The ensuing approval and permitting process will take up much of 2026.
Construction on access roads, the distribution network, foundations, and the substation is expected to start in 2027. The wind farm should be operational by December 2028 following work to upgrade existing roads, the installation of wind turbines, and site remediation.
More details on the wind farm can be found online at projeteolienlesjardins.com.
The first floor of the Centre d’Hébergement du Comté de Huntingdon (CHSLD) has been transformed into a village as part of a collective project to create a warm and comforting environment for the 30 residents who call the floor home.
The My Village, My Community mural project was officially inaugurated on November 29, with representatives from all the partner organizations, including Les Aidants du Haut-Saint-Laurent and the Alzheimer Society Suroît, the Comité de Concertation des Ainés du Haut-Saint-Laurent, the Huntingdon County CHSLD, and École Secondaire Arthur-Pigeon.
The My Village, My Community project was inaugurated at the Huntingdon CHSLD on November 29. (PHOTO Sarah Rennie)
The murals depict familiar landscapes and landmarks in the Haut-Saint-Laurent, such as an orchard, the Powerscourt covered bridge, and the clock at the central intersection in Huntingdon. Other sections were painted to look like a market, a barber shop, and streetscapes with houses. They were painted between September 18-20 by 45 students from Arthur-Pigeon, who worked with artists and community volunteers to bring the village to life.
“The Haut-Saint-Laurent region is renowned for the commitment of its community, and this project demonstrates once again that when many partners join forces, great things can be achieved,” said Bernard Cyr, the assistant general manager of General and Specialized Physical Health with the Centre Intégré de Santé et de Services Sociaux de la Montérégie-Ouest.
Cyr congratulated those involved, saying they had not only succeeded in creating a warm and welcoming environment for the clientele and their loved ones, but a stimulating and innovative workplace for the unit’s staff as well.
Frédéric Roiné, the manager responsible for the living environment, noted that the painted walls have beneficial effects for the residents, including the creation of visual landmarks and distinctive elements that will enable them to more easily find their way around the floor.
“The project on paper was to paint the walls, to make a beautiful mural. But it was more than that, it was also about developing links with the community, with the different age groups who took part in the project, and links with the seniors,” said Arthur-Pigeon students Zachary Laroche and William Pineault, who noted the project helped them to realize the significance of their community.
As of December 1, the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de la Montérégie-Ouest (CISSSMO) ceased to exist. Local health services will now be provided by Santé Québec Montérégie-Ouest (SQMO), which is part of a provincial network of health-care agencies organized under the newly created crown corporation.
Claude Jolin, who chairs the CISSSMO’s board of directors, referred to the change in governance as an important milestone and major transformation, during the organization’s annual general meeting and public information session on November 27. “We have begun to prepare ourselves to ensure a smooth transition and to continue to offer excellent care,” he confirmed.
Representatives from the CISSSMO talked about the transition to Santé Québec on November 27 during the organization’s annual general meeting and public information session. (PHOTO Sarah Rennie)
CISSSMO’s deputy president and CEO, Dominique Pilon, explained that while there will be a significant adjustment period, he considers the changes to be positive. “This is not the end. It is the beginning of a great adventure for the entire network,” he said.
Johanne Fleurant, the assistant director of social programs, rehabilitation, and public health at the CISSSMO, then presented the details relating to this change and what it will mean for the local health network.
She pointed out that sweeping healthcare reforms tend to happen in Quebec around every nine or ten years. The last major upheaval was in 2015, when the integrated health and social services centres (CISSS) were first introduced.
The main change this time around is that Santé Québec is a crown corporation that will become the single employer for healthcare workers in the Quebec’s public sector. “We don’t yet know the full extent of the changes this will bring,” admitted Fleurant. Santé Québec will be responsible for coordinating all health and social service resources, as well as strategic planning. It will then be up to health-care establishments to put these plans into operation based on the resources and healthcare needs of the population.
The current board of directors for the CISSSMO will remain in place until June 2025 to ensure the transition to the new governance structure goes smoothly. The board will then become an institutional board of directors with an advisory role, made up of users, representatives from the research community, healthcare facilities, human resources management, the business community, and the various hospital and support foundations.
There will also be certain criteria for the composition of boards, including a requirement that two-thirds of all members be independent, and 40 per cent of seats must be filled by women. Boards will also be required to reflect Quebec’s diversity while taking the socio-cultural, ethno-cultural, and linguistic composition of the territory into account.
Fleurant explained that the transition will allow the SQMO to access best practices from across the network and export them to the Montérégie-Ouest. She noted the change will also allow for resources to be pooled across the province, while allowing for greater staff mobility across different sites at the more local level.
Beyond returning to a balanced budget, Fleurant said that over the next several months the SQMO will be rolling out a new integrated plan to improve access by March 2025, coordinate services, and support the major transformations currently underway.
The MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent is hoping that work on the first murals to be painted on silos as part of a regional network will start over the coming summer.
At least 18 producers and individuals interested in the project, including members of the local UPA syndicate and representatives from the MRC and local municipalities, were present during a December 5 meeting where the project was formally introduced to the farm community.
While large-scale mural projects are not necessarily rare, this is first and only project that involves painting silos in Quebec. In an optimal scenario, the MRC is planning on creating three loops in strategic areas throughout the territory. The goal is to complete seven murals in 2025 and a further seven in 2026 to complete the network.
Nancy Brunelle, the cultural coordinator for the MRC, said the meeting was a good start. “We are quite pleased. For a first meeting, this is a success for us,” she commented.
After a brief presentation outlining the project, Brunelle introduced Robert Lalande of the Ferme Robert et Louise Lalande in Alfred, Ontario, which became part of the Popsilos project in 2020. He provided pertinent information and context for the MRC’s initiative.
Following this, two representatives from the Montreal-based social design firm Ohisse, which has been mandated to manage the project with the MRC, ran a brief workshop where interested property owners could locate their farms on a map.
“I put my name in as soon as I saw it,” said producer Bill Anderson, who added his Très-Saint-Sacrement farm to the map. “I just find it nice for the Haut-Saint-Laurent,” he added, suggesting he really liked the uniqueness of the project.
The endeavour has the support of the Ministère des Affaires Municipales et de l’Habitation. The MRC has budgeted $614,000 for the project in 2025 using Fonds Régions et Ruralité component-three funds dedicated to signature innovations.
The MRC expects it will cost from $50,000 to over $100,000 per silo. Brunelle said the MRC is also hoping to involve local artists in the project, during both the design and production stages.
Interested producers have until January 10 to complete and submit a participation questionnaire identifying the type of structure available, as well as the material and state of the surface to be painted. The form is available online at mrchsl.com/silos.
The Maison des Jeunes in Huntingdon will be without a home come July, if a solution is not found quickly to relocate the vibrant youth centre that is currently housed at École Arthur-Pigeon high school.
Around 30 individuals, including several area young people as well as representatives from the Maison des Jeunes, parents, and supporters of the community organization, attended the regular council meeting in Huntingdon on December 2. Students unfurled a banner signed by well over one hundred kids who rely on the youth centre’s services, and several rose to speak during question period to request the town’s support.
Representatives from the Maison des Jeunes in Huntingdon attended the monthly council meeting on December 2. The youth centre has been asked to leave the local high school by July and is now looking for a new location. (PHOTO Sarah Rennie)
Maison des Jeunes coordinator Nathalie Collin confirmed during the meeting that the Centre de services scolaire de la Vallée-des-Tisserands (CSSVT) has now asked the youth centre to move. She pointed out that with little more than six months remaining, the situation facing the youth centre is dire.
“Here we are at a minute to midnight. We need a town hall, and elected officials who will sit down with us and work with us,” she said, while addressing the council.
A representative for the young people in the room presented mayor André Brunette and the town’s councilors with a formal invitation to visit the youth centre. Collin then asked whether the mayor would be willing to sit on a committee dedicated to finding a solution for the Maison des Jeunes.
Brunette readily agreed to be part of a committee, along with at least one other councilor. He noted,, however that the future of the youth centre has been the subject of meetings and discussions for over two years.
The town had at one point offered the Maison des Jeunes an opportunity to build on a piece of land along François Cleyn Street. This was determined to be less than ideal, as the youth centre would be located closer to elementary schools, near both the railroad and a cemetery. There were also concerns about young people walking along this busy section of François-Cleyn, as there are presently no sidewalks.
The Maison des Jeunes has also looked at different locations within the town, including a property on Chateauguay Street, as well as lots both in front and behind the high school. None of the potential scenarios played out in favour of relocating the centre. “There is no more land in Huntingdon that is affordable,” Collin lamented, while pointing out how difficult it is to develop concrete plans without a confirmed location.
For Collin, an optimal solution would be to integrate the youth centre into plans to enlarge the high school; but, she says, this possibility has not been brought to her attention by the CSSVT. She said she planned on asking the school service centre and governing board for more time.
She explained that earlier that day, there were over 170 students at the youth centre during lunch hour. Noting the Maison des Jeunes’ 40-year history, and its significant role within the community, she asked that the town take on a greater role in finding a solution.
In an interview following the meeting, Collin said she believes they will find a way to keep the Maison des Jeunes from closing. “We are asking for a place to build a 3,000 square-foot building. We don’t want a gym, or a climbing wall like you see in other youth centres. We just want a floor, walls, and a roof,” she explained.
“We can’t do it on our own, we need a partnership to make it happen.”
The 85 members of Valleyfield local 460 of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) have been waving flags and handmade signs during daily demonstrations outside the Canada Post depot on Victoria Street in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.
The local represents Valley postal workers from Hemmingford to Dundee as well as the city of Valleyfield. Its members, along with the 55,000 other postal workers across Canada, walked off the job as part of a nationwide general strike on November 15.
Negotiations with a government-imposed mediator have been taking place since November 19 with both the urban and the rural and suburban mail carriers (RSMC) bargaining units. The CUPW has rejected a proposed 11.5 per cent wage increase over four years, asking instead for 22 per cent over the same period.
Talks between the RSMC union representative and management have focused on issues such as pay stability, validation, hourly rates, and maintaining hours. The urban units have focused on issues such as salary, minimum hours for part-time workers, and weekend delivery demands aimed at competing with “gig-economy” platforms that deliver parcels as cheaply as possible. The union is concerned this could impact full-time carrier routes on weekdays.
Postal workers with Local 460 in Valleyfield have been demonstrating in front of the Canada Post depot on Victoria Street in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield since the general strike was called on November 15. (PHOTO Sarah Rennie)
According to daily negotiations updates posted by the CUPW there has been some progress, with sides exchanging proposals; however, a lot of ground remains.
The federal government ended past work stoppages in 2011 and 2018 by legislating postal workers back to their routes. Jonathan Theoret, the president of Local 460, said he hopes the government will let the employees fight this one out. “We had a 98.5 [per cent] strike vote. That’s really strong,” he said, noting this is the first general strike since 2011.
“We have had special legislation every four years for 20 years,” he explained, noting that the workers signed a contract extension without negotiation two years ago during the pandemic. “Now is the time to ask for what we want,” he continued, noting that salary-wise, employees want to return to the same purchasing power they had in 2020.
Theoret said that so far, support from the public seems strong. “I understand that the market has changed in the past six years. I think the public likes Canada Post, and it is here to stay. It is a service we offer to everyone, even in the North,” he commented. “I understand there are financial challenges, but we all have to face this together,” he added, suggesting Canada Post needs to change as well.
No pickup or delivery
The work stoppage has shut down Canada Post operations entirely. The Crown corporation has said that mail and parcels will not be processed or delivered during the strike, and some post offices will be closed. No mail will be accepted, and service guarantees for items already in the network will be affected.
According to Canada Post, items will be delivered as quickly as possible once operations resume on a first-in, first-out basis, though it cautions that processing and delivery may take some time to return to normal.
The uncertainty around Canada Post’s ability to deliver the sizeable backlog of mail in a timely matter once the strike ends has some consumers holding off on purchases. Christina Fasoula, the owner of the Tricot Laines Studio yarn store and gift shop in Huntingdon, relies on Canada Post to receive and ship her products and has already lost sales due to the strike.
“It is not like we are in Montreal where there are other options. There are multiple companies that you can use to ship without Canada Post, but they are in larger towns. For us, it is not an option,” she explained, noting those options can also be expensive.
Fasoula says that while the strike is causing some complications for small businesses, she is hopeful that locals will consider doing their holiday shopping closer to home, where they can skip the stress of waiting for delivery.
Students attending French classes through the government’s francization program at area school service centres and school boards are looking for alternatives to learn French.
The courses are provided for free to immigrants through Francisation Quebec, a government-mandated agency run through the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation, et de l’Integration, on a full- or part-time basis.
As government funding for the program ran dry, the classes offered by the New Frontiers School Board (NFSB) at the NOVA Career Centre in Chateauguay were closed as of November 8. The courses being run by the Centre de services scolaire de la Vallée-des-Tisserands through the Centre de formation générale des adultes des Tisserands (CFGAT) will also end, effective November 29.
This will affect 33 full-time students and 63 part-time students at the NFSB, as well as more than 150 students currently studying at the CFGAT.
“We have maintained the francization program for as long as possible to meet the demand,” said François Robichaud, the assistant director general for success at the CSSVT. “This difficult decision is based on the budgetary framework and the terms and conditions for using the funds,” he explained.
In past years, the government based its program financing on demand reported in the previous two years. New budgetary rules determining the financing for the 2024-2025 fiscal year are based on numbers pegged to 2020-2021 demand, when numbers were lower due to the pandemic. This was also the year during which the francization program was integrated with the CFGAT.
The Syndicat de Champlain confirmed to the Journal Saint-François that all five francization teachers on contract in the Vallée-des-Tisserands’ territory have been let go.
According to NFSB director general Mike Helm, the continuing education team worked extremely hard in terms of redirecting staff to ensure no jobs were lost.
“For us, it was about trying to support the community and its needs in terms of francization and the improvement of the French language,” said Helm. The NFSB did not offer any francization courses in 2020-2021, so is no longer able to offer the courses.
“It is really unfortunate that due to budgeting parameters, we are not able to provide this service,” he added, before suggesting that if the rules were to change, the NFSB would be open to restarting its program.
Travellers who frequently use the Trout River or Herdman border crossings to enter the United States are in for a shock.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) announced on Monday that it would be adjusting the service hours at 35 land ports of entry across the country as of January 6, 2025. This is being done in collaboration with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which is adjusting its service hours at 38 ports of entry.
In the Haut-Saint-Laurent, the hours of service at the Trout River crossing, which connects the municipality of Elgin to Constable, New York, will permanently be reduced by half – from the current 24 hours to 12, between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. The Herdman crossing, which links the municipality of Hinchinbrooke with Chateauguay, New York, will also be limited to between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
The Lacolle Route 223 border crossing at Rouses Point in New York will similarly see its hours reduced, from 24 hours to 12: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The Trout River border crossing in Elgin is one of three area crossings that will see its operating hours reduced by half, following a collaborative agreement between the Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The reduced hours at the Trout River, Herdman, and Lacolle Route 223 (Rouses Point) ports of entry will start on January 6, 2025. (PHOTO Sarah Rennie)
In a statement, the CBSA said the changes will enhance overall security for both countries. “It will allow the CBSA to use its resources more efficiently by deploying officers at busier ports of entry. This will support the CBSA’s ability to process travellers and goods as well as to manage enforcement activities.”
The service hours at the three connecting U.S. ports of entry will now align with the Canadian hours of operation. The CBSA said this “will allow both countries to return inadmissible travellers and goods to the other country, which is more difficult when one side of the border is closed while the other remains open.”
The CBSA maintains the change is based on an “analysis of operational pressures, peak periods, and services required at the ports of entry, to minimize the impacts on border communities.”
According to the CBSA, the ports of entry process an average of two or less vehicles or commercial trucks per hour during the period they will no longer be in operation. The CBSA notes that alternative border crossing options exist within a 100-kilometre radius, notably at the Dundee-Fort Covington and the Hemmingford-Mooers ports of entry.
‘A misguided decision’
The Customs and Immigration Union (CIU), which represents CBSA officers and personnel, is demanding the agency reverse its decision. Union president Mark Weber referred to the move as an “incredibly misguided decision.” In a statement, the CIU said the decision was made without consulting frontline officers working at the affected ports, or the border communities in which the crossings are located.
A CBSA employee, who spoke with The Gleaner on condition of anonymity, confirmed that employees at the affected border crossings were given no advance warning of the reduction in hours. They said that officers were told they would not lose their jobs, but that some would be relocated to larger ports. “Our personal and family lives will be sacrificed because of this,” they added, noting the long commute that may be imposed on border service agency officers.
“Most locals think this is temporary, but it’s not. It’s permanent,” they pointed out, noting that while the custom offices will be closed at 6 p.m., travellers should not expect to cross up to the last minute. “It will be more like 5:30 or 5:45 p.m.”
The officer is concerned that security along the border will be impacted as well. “We are actually stopping people from coming in, criminals, drugs, and guns,” they said, while questioning how leaving a nearly 80-kilometre stretch of the border less secure overnight improves security.
Impact on families and the economy
Elgin director general Guylaine Carrière said the CBSA contacted her about the reduced hours. She says members of the council expressed their disappointment with the decision when she relayed the news, noting it will be a discussed during the regular meeting in December.
“I find it very, very early,” said Carrière of the 6 p.m. closing. “It will have a major impact on a lot of the families here in Elgin,” she added, while suggesting there will no doubt be consequences for the local economy as well. She was also taken aback by how soon the changes will come into force, noting the timeframe does not give people and businesses much time to adapt.
Carrière said she spoke with the CBSA about the fire-rescue mutual aid agreements that exist on both sides of the border, and was told a procedure would be put in place to allow first responders to cross at all hours in the event of an emergency. She admitted that while this is positive news, there were delays in response times when the border was closed during the pandemic.
The reduced hours are problematic for those who live on one side of the border but who work on the other, or who cross regularly for work. For Rick and Kenny Van Winden, who own land and farm in Chateauguay and Burke, New York, the new hours will be particularly challenging.
“They have been combining there for the last couple of weeks, and they are not home until 11 or 12 at night,” said Natalie Wattie, who is married to Kenny. “It is going to cause some problems, because while some springs and falls are ok, some are not. If you are planting and missing that window because you can’t cross, then you can’t get your crops in on time,” she explained.
“There is never a time when they are done at 5:30 p.m.,” Wattie added, noting the detour to Hemmingford or Dundee on a tractor would be “insane.”
Politicians express concern
New York State senator Dan Stec issued a statement on November 21 blasting the decision. “You can’t have a part-time border!” he exclaimed; while highlighting the disruption this will cause to the unique relationship that exists between communities, referring specifically to the mutual-aid pacts in place. The senator also pointed to the “turmoil” created in the region by irregular immigration, to suggest the move will impact the safety of those living along the border.
New York governor Kathy Hochul has publicly stated her opposition to reducing operating hours at the border, calling on the CBP to reverse its decision.
On the Canadian side, Salaberry-Suroît MP Claude DeBellefeuille has also come out against the CBSA’s decision. “I cannot support a reduction in service that will have an impact not only on citizens, but also on businesses in our region,” she said, while decrying the lengthy detours this will entail. “I am already getting calls from businesses expressing their dissatisfaction,” she added.
“We know that there are major issues at the border,” said DeBellefeuille. “It strikes me as an odd time for the Border Services Agency to cut their services.”
The MP is now asking citizens and businesses who are affected by this announcement to contact her team so they can document the impact of the CBSA’s decision in the region.
Those interested in sharing their story can contact DeBellefeuille’s office by email at: claude.debellefeuille@parl.gc.ca.
The Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable closed the Walker Bridge in Huntingdon on October 29 immediately following an accident involving a cube truck.
The century-old structure, which spans the Chateauguay River, was closed as a precaution after a cube truck collided with the clearance gauge as it approached the bridge.
The Walker Bridge in Huntingdon has been closed since October 29 following a collision between a cube truck and a clearance gauge. (PHOTO Sarah Rennie)
The clearance structure was damaged due to the collision. Marie-Michelle Pilon, the communications advisor and regional spokesperson for Montérégie, says the gauge needs to be repaired, particularly the bases and anchors that support the structure.
Pilon confirms the work will take place “over the next few weeks,” and that this will allow the bridge to be safely reopened.
An investigation by the Direction des Enquêtes et des Pursuits en Intégrité Municipale (DEPIM) of the Commission Municipale du Québec has concluded the town of Huntingdon committed wrongdoings in its allocation of tax credits and financial assistance to businesses.
The report, issued by the commission’s municipal integrity investigations and prosecutions branch on October 31, reveals that the town granted a tax credit over ten years to Greenvest Enterprises Inc., the developer behind the restoration of the O’Connor Building, without having first passed a bylaw authorizing it to do so. The report also alleges that financial assistance offered to businesses exceeded the limits imposed by the Municipal Aid Prohibition Act and required citizens’ approval.
Huntingdon’s director general, Johanne Hebert, acknowledges that the town committed an error regarding the awarding of a tax credit to those restoring the O’Connor Building.
The Commission Municipale du Québec has concluded that the town of Huntingdon committed a procedural error in the awarding of tax credits to the developers behind the restoration of the O’Connor Building. (PHOTO Sarah Rennie)
Hébert concurs that the resolution authorizing an agreement between Greenvest Enterprises Inc. and the town was passed by the municipal council on March 13, and that during the same meeting a notice of motion for bylaw 973-2024 was presented. The bylaw established a financial assistance program for the restoration of buildings of special or historic interest in the downtown sector. “The bylaw did not come into force until publication of the public notice to that effect on April 19,” she says. As such, the resolution to authorize the agreement should only have been passed once the bylaw was in force.
“There was no ill intent on our part,” says Hebert. “I think we were just so happy to have succeeded in saving the O’Connor Building,” she adds.
Huntingdon mayor André Brunette agrees, noting it was important to the council that the town’s historical landmarks be saved. The bylaw, regardless of the procedural error, allows the town to offer financial assistance to those willing to help revitalize the town and its older buildings.
Hebert confirms the DEPIM’s report will be deposited during the regular council meeting on December 2, at which time the town will move to repeal the March 13 resolution before passing a new resolution authorizing the agreement with Greenvest Enterprises Inc. in compliance with bylaw 973-2024. This will meet two of the three recommendations issued by the DEPIM as part of its report.
Investigation to be reopened
Hebert says that while she concurs with the DEPIM’s findings concerning the O’Connor Building, she believes the investigators interpretation of article 92.1 of the Municipal Powers Act concerning the town’s financial assistance to businesses is flawed. She disagrees with the report’s conclusions and says she wrote to the investigators with her concerns before the report was published.
Both Hebert and Brunette say they are disappointed that the results of the investigation were made public before discussions could take place to address the town’s concerns. The mayor says the council is now considering hiring a lawyer to respond to the municipal commission and the contents of its report.
Hebert confirms she has been in contact with both the Ministère des Affaires Municipales et de l’Habitation and the commission. She says the investigation will be reopened and that a meeting with the DEPIM’s investigators is already scheduled and will take place shortly.
Little Bean is a new web-based prenatal resource for expectant mothers looking for unbiased information on a range of subjects as they prepare to meet their baby.
The support service, which includes online prenatal classes, was recently launched by nurse clinicians Sabina Finnie and Agathe Lapointe to help women approach their delivery experience from a knowledgeable, prepared, and confident perspective.
Finnie has roots in the Valley, and she says she was thinking especially about rural areas and the somewhat limited availability of prenatal services. She says the number of families that come to the maternity ward unprepared has always surprised her. “A lot people did not know the minimum about what was happening to both them and their baby while they were delivering,” she says, noting new parents are often also not aware of the different interventions that might happen during the process. “This is in part because families will put their full trust in the hands of the medical staff, and while the medical team is there for expectant parents, they do not know what they want, and this may be different from what they think is best.”
Lapointe works in a more high-risk environment at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, but says that even some women who are facing complicated pregnancies and deliveries arrive unprepared.
“I think there is a belief out there that birth is a rite of passage, and you just have to tolerate it to get to the good part of having your child,” says Finnie. “Birth will change you. It’s a monumental moment, and I feel that being informed and prepared will help women make choices and avoid feeling like they did not have any control over their birth,” she exclaims, noting that a positive birth experience can influence everything that follows.
Finnie and Lapointe began talking about their observations in February 2023, when they decided to work together to produce a resource to empower women to advocate for more informed birth experiences. Later that year, both women became pregnant and began to learn first-hand about navigating the health care system while expecting.
More services planned
“Our prenatal courses are really in-depth. They touch on 10 different topics and are very extensive,” says Finnie. The classes, which are currently presented in English, cover everything from what to include in a hospital bag to possible emergency scenarios and rare medical complications.
Finnie says they are working on a postpartum program and plan to eventually offer in-person services, including prenatal classes, workshops, and yoga instruction. “Birth is super important, but setting yourself up for a good postpartum is crucial,” she explains, while noting how difficult it can be to survive on little sleep or attempt to get anywhere on time while healing from delivering a baby.
Finnie also plans to integrate infant massage workshops into their list of services. She is completing a course on the subject and is partnering with Une Affaire de Famille in Ormstown to offer five free courses to parents with children under one year of age. The courses will take place on Wednesdays in November and early December. Families can register by contacting her directly at sabinafinnie@gmail.com.
More information on the prenatal courses currently available through the Little Bean web platform can be found online at little-bean.ca.
The Barrie Memorial Hospital was at the forefront of medical imagery in 2010, when a new CT scanner was installed at the Ormstown-based facility. Though still useful, that CT scanner is becoming obsolete.
“The replacement of the CT scanner is scheduled for the near future,” confirms a representative for the Communications and Public Affairs Department at the Center intégré de santé et de services sociaux de la Montérégie-Ouest (CISSSMO). She says that while the decision has been made to provide a new scanner, the regional health authority is not yet able to provide a precise timeline for its arrival.
The current CT scanner and the associated expenses to renovate the medical imaging department in 2010 cost $1.94 million. At least $350,000 was contributed by the Agence de la Santé et des services sociaux de la Montérégie, which eventually became the CISSSMO, as well as $150,000 from the Québec Foundation for the Barrie Memorial Hospital. As was previously reported, the bulk of the funds necessary to secure the purchase of the scan came from the Barrie Memorial Hospital Foundation (BMHF), which contributed $1.44 million to the project.
The CISSSMO considers the foundation to be an essential partner when it comes to developing the hospital. “Its ongoing commitment and interest in supporting projects enables us to enhance the quality of care and services offered at the hospital for the benefit of patients and employees alike,” says the representative.
“The foundation’s work, as well as that of the Women’s Auxiliary, with whom we also work very closely, is of great value to the community, as they actively and dynamically contribute to improving our care environment,” she added.
Philippe Besombes, the vice-president of the BMHF, says the organization will soon begin fundraising to cover the costs associated with accommodating the new technology. He estimates the costs for this part of the project will be around $250,000.
The New Frontiers School Board was among the five English-language school boards to hold elections across the province on November 3.
Anne-Marie Yelle was elected as the commissioner of ward number 6, which includes the territories of Beauharnois, Saint-Étienne-de-Beauharnois, and Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. The ten other positions, including nine commissioners and the chair, were all elected by acclamation.
All members of the council of commissioners will be sworn in during a special meeting on Tuesday, November 19, at Howard S. Billings Regional High School in Chateauguay. The council now includes John Ryan, who will serve a second term as chair, as well as Raymond Ledoux, Karin Van Droffelaar, Lina Chouinard, Kenneth Crockett, Cristian Espinosa-Fuentes, Dianne Eastwood, Peter Stuckey, Barbara Ednie, and Connor Stacey.
Following the release of the annual Bilan Faim report by the Banques Alimentaires du Québec on October 28, the Moisson Sud-Ouest food bank says it continues to see a considerable increase in demand for food aid.
In the last three years, the number of requests for food aid in the Haut-Saint-Laurent, Beauharnois-Salaberry, Vaudreuil-Soulanges, and Roussillon regions has grown by 30,206.
The statistics suggest the number of individuals and families in need is similarly growing across the country. Food Banks Canada says that a six-per cent increase in visits to food banks was registered nationally compared with last year – representing a 90-per cent increase since 2019. Organizations partnering with the network of food banks across Quebec are now responding to 2.9 million food aid requests per month – an increase of 13 per cent over last year’s numbers.
Over 35 per cent of those benefiting from food aid through one of the 80 food pantries and organizations served by Moisson Sud-Ouest are children. In addition to the food aid being distributed to homes with children, over 35,000 snacks are distributed each month. The organization reports that over 1,000 food baskets per month are distributed to employed individuals, and over 10 per cent of those relying on food baskets own their home.
In a press release, Moisson Sud-Ouest points out that the $30 million granted by the government in the last budget allowed the network of food banks to purchase more food to meet the demand. It notes that while the government’s recently released action plan to fight poverty and social exclusion is a step in the right direction, even stronger public policy is needed to fight poverty and hunger before the most vulnerable in society will see any concrete impacts.
“For the first time, the issue of food security has been recognized in the government’s action plan to combat poverty. However, we need to do more to reduce the enormous pressure exerted by the growing need for food aid,” says Yan Ouellette, the director of communications and philanthropy at Moisson Sud-Ouest. He suggests the government must act now to help those facing food insecurity by attacking the root causes of poverty. “We have recognized the state of emergency; now we must act to help the most vulnerable and reverse the trend we are facing,” he notes.
According to the Bilan Faim, 72 per cent of the organizations served by Quebec food banks faced shortages, and 54 per cent were forced to purchase food to meet the demand.
“Our organization is doing all it can to meet the demand, notably by setting up initiatives in collaboration with several partners in the region to increase the volume of foodstuffs we distribute, or by holding recurring fund-raising campaigns, but that’s not enough,” says Moisson Sud-Ouest director Stéphane Spisak. “We will continue to do all we can to support those in need, but alone, we cannot solve the problem at the source.”
The annual Guignolée des medias du Suroît fundraiser for Moisson Sud-Ouest will run from November 22 to December 31.
