(NSN) More than 150 persons, including elected officials, parents friends and community group leaders, paid homage to Thérèse-De Blainville Liberal MP Ramez Ayoub during an event held May 31 at the Chalet des citoyens in Bois-des-Filion to celebrate Ayoub’s 20 years of involvement in politics.

Many supporters

Among those who attended were Liberal MP for Rivière-des-Mille-Îles Linda Lapointe, Laval-Les Îles Liberal MP Fayçal El-Khoury, Brossard-Saint-Lambert Liberal MP Alexandra Mendès, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin Liberal MP Yves Robillard.

Also present were Lorraine mayor Jean Comtois, Bois-des-Filion mayor Gilles Blanchette and many municipal councillors. Former Bois-des-Filion mayor Paul Larocque gave a warm testimonial about Ayoub.

Trudeau sends a letter

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent a letter in which he praised Ayoub for his dedication to public service.

Ramez Ayoub first became involved in public life as a baseball, hockey and soccer coach in the Town of Lorraine. At the same time, he was active in business, while president of the Chambre de commerce Bois-des-Filion/Lorraine in 1997 and 1998. He was first elected to the House of Commons in 2015.

Martin C. Barry

After a year-and-a-half of planning, Rosemère resident Normand Painchaud’s dream of having a community wood workshop came true with the official opening of the Atelier d’Ébinisterie Communautaire de Rosemère recently at the public works yard.

Located in part of the municipal garage that was freed up when Rosemère shut its fire department, ACER has actually been up and running for the last three months, Painchaud told a small crowd of supporters who gathered for the launch on May 30.

The smell of wood

The moment you step into the workshop, the scent of fresh cut wood is unmistakable and inviting. The location is provided by the Town of Rosemère without cost. Painchaud founded the workshop with the help of a $5,000 repayable subsidy provided by the town.

Following some criticism by a few residents last year about the appropriateness of the loan, Painchaud said during the town council meeting earlier this week that ACER has now managed to enlist enough members so as to be able to repay the loan.

Fully equipped

One of the tasks the members of the workshop are busy with now is the creation of large wooden boxes for the implementation of part of the town’s community gardens project at Val-des-Ormes school on Grande Côte Rd. The workshop is equipped with some very up-to-date woodworking gear as well as woodworking supplies.

“I would say that this modest initiative contributes among other things to strengthening the social fabric, to create a feeling of togetherness in the population in a small way,” Painchaud told the gathering. “Yet it’s the sum of these and other activities that contribute eventually to people feeling good and integrated in the community in all sorts of ways. And that is a very important aspect of this activity.”

Located in old firehall

An irony in all this is that although Painchaud was among the Rosemère residents who stridently opposed the closing of the firehall three and a half years ago, ACER now occupies the space that was freed up as a result. Mayor Eric Westram, who was elected in 2017 after serving for years as a member of council, had also objected to the closing of the fire department.

“I was one of the first to climb the barricades,” said Painchaud. “I sought an injunction to keep the fire department open, appeared in the media three or four times – Radio Canada, TVA, and others. We didn’t succeed in keeping our firefighters, but we are giving new life to the firehall.”

Other workshops

Rosemère isn’t the only community where a woodwork shop has been established successfully. A similar workshop has operated for years in Town of Mount Royal, also in a location provided by the municipality at the public works yard. Information on the Atelier d’Ébinisterie Communautaire de Rosemère can be found on the organization’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/acer.rosemere).

(NSN) On Saturday June 8, the Town of Rosemère, in collaboration with biologists and residents Michel Leboeuf and Réjean Dumas, the Société d’horticulture et d’écologie de Rosemère (SHER) and approximately 30 Rosemerites, planted more than 285 trees and shrubs to revitalize part of the wooded area around Externat Sacré-Coeur that belongs to Rosemère.

“For Rosemère, these new trees are a grassroots initiative that is both symbolic and sustainability-oriented,” said Rosemère Mayor Eric Westram.

Renewing the woods

“By planting these saplings, you are leaving your mark on these woods, considered to be a true ecological treasure, and doing something concrete to enhance our urban forest. This is a noble gesture on your part and one of which you can be very proud.”

On May 28, the town announced that 625 trees and shrubs would be planted between now and spring 2020 to revitalize the Sacré-Coeur woods, increasing its size by half and improving its biodiversity.

More trees in September

A second planting operation will take place in September, when Externat Sacré-Coeur students will “get their hands dirty.”

They will then be asked to keep close watch on how everything grows throughout the school year. Westram said it is an incomparable opportunity for youth to take part in a rewarding hands-on experience and help protect the natural environment.

(NSN) The board of the Sainte-Thérèse-based Fonds communautaire d’accès au micro-crédit (FCAMC) reported at their 2018-2019 annual general meeting on June 4 that they had a good year and that microcredit has become an indispensable tool for economic development in the Lower Laurentian region.

“Over the years, hundreds of businesses have been helped to get started thanks to the Fonds communautaire d’accès au micro-crédit,” said board president Ginette Demers. According to the annual report, the FCAMC made 28 loans, leading to the creation of 78 jobs. The FCAMC has $445,000 in capital to lend to qualifying entrepreneurs.

Very high success rate

In 2018-2019, the FCAMC also provided 1,436 hours of assistance to entrepreneurs. Despite the fact the fund’s clients are regarded as being in an elevated risk category, the FCAMC reports a 94 per cent rate of reimbursement on repayable loans.

In the coming year, the FCAMC plans to maintain current services, while increasing the size of the fund so as to be able to also raise the maximum amount payable per loan to fledgling businesses. The FCAMC has existed since 1999. It has a mandate to provide small-business loans to enterpreneurs who have limited access to mainstream financing methods.

Martin C. Barry

Some green spaces in Rosemère that have been informal play areas for generations of local children have been chosen as the future sites of community gardens as well as for a tree planting project undertaken by the town in conjunction with two schools.

A beautiful setting

Mayor Eric Westram and members of town council joined staff from the Externat Sacré-Cœur on May 27 on the grounds of the school for the launch of the community gardens project, a short distance from where the town will also be planting new trees.

The two projects are part of an agreement reached between the town and Externat Sacré-Cœur, as well as Val-des-Ormes School, to allow gardening enthusiasts to grow fruits and vegetables. A $30,000 investment is being split between the town and the schools. In addition to the areas at Externat Sacré-Cœur, ten raised planting beds in front of Val-des-Ormes School will give ten families the opportunity to experience gardening.

Brings back memories

For Westram, being at Externat Sacré-Cœur was a bit of journey back down memory lane. “It’s a school I know well because two of my daughters who are now grown up attended here, and I used to play soccer in the gym,” he told a gathering of officials from the town and the schools.

The community gardens’ planting beds, which will be made in the community woodworking workshop, will be accessible after school hours until June 23 and then all day long over the summer holidays. There will be 24 gardening spaces set up on municipal land behind Externat Sacré-Coeur that will be made available to the public. For each space, a Rosemère family will be paired with a student.

Intergenerational project

“These community gardens have come to life because of the partnership and wonderful collaboration that has been established between the town and both schools,” Westram added. “And because they are located on opposite sides of the town, they will be easy for residents to get to.”

Denyse Hébert, head of Externat Sacré-Coeur, was delighted by the news. “Not only will this project allow people to grow their own fruits and vegetables, the garden plot at our school is a compelling example of intergenerational cooperation, pairing our students with local families,” she said.

Rosemère residents who are interested in taking part in the community gardens initiative are encouraged to call the Recreation Department at 450-621-3500, extension 7380. However, only a limited number of applications will be accepted so don’t delay.

Revitalizing the woods

At the same time, the town announced a partnership between biologists and residents Michel Leboeuf and Réjean Dumas, Externat Sacré-Coeur and the Société d’horticulture de Rosemère (SHER) to plant 625 trees and shrubs to revitalize the wooded area around Externat Sacré-Coeur. A video montage was also shown, demonstrating how forests on the North Shore have been steadily shrinking from urban development over the past decades.

“The Sacré-Coeur woods are a true ecological treasure,” said Michel Leboeuf. “They are home to a stand of bitternut hickory, a type of tree that is increasingly rare, accounting for only one per cent of the forest cover in Quebec. It is one of the most complex ecosystems in the province in terms of the variety of flora and fauna.”

The first round of planting is set to take place on June 8 with local residents and SHER members. When school starts back after the summer break, students will be given the opportunity to get their hands dirty and help with a final round. They will then be asked to keep close watch on how everything grows.

Proud of Rosemère’s trees

“We are very proud of our trees in Rosemère,” said Westram. “In fact, they’re one of the things we are known for. When Michel Leboeuf came to us with the idea to revitalize our urban forest, we did everything we could to make it happen. And all of our project partners shared our enthusiasm.”

“For the many students who will be involved in the initiative, it is a symbol of their commitment and their hope for the planet,” said Denyse Hébert. “Our school is thrilled to do our part for the environment.”

Residents who wish to plant trees on Saturday June 8, can sign up on the town’s website or call the Recreation Department at 450-621-3500, extension 7380. But, again, it is important to hurry, since places are limited to a maximum of 30.

Martin C. Barry

During a special sitting of Rosemère town council on May 21 to deal with some significant items between regular council meetings, council voted unanimously to approve a $20,000 expenditure to pay for the creation of new community gardens on land behind the Externat Sacré-Cœur and at Val-des-Ormes School.

While special council meetings are usually convened on such short notice that few residents ever attend, this particular meeting drew the interest of at least half a dozen residents with concerns about community gardens projects.

A surprising turnout

“This is a bit of a surprise. We weren’t expecting to see a crowd like this today,” Mayor Eric Westram said, somewhat astonished by the turnout.

In recent years, town officials with the current as well as past administrations tried unsuccessfully to launch a community garden project in Hamilton Park just west of Labelle Blvd., in spite of the objections of local residents of that area. The town had previously budgeted $30,000 for the deferred Hamilton Park project.

Some of them turned up at last week’s special council meeting. Among them was Wendy Gurd who wondered whether the latest development would impact her neighbourhood. As the mayor explained, the new community gardens are a “first phase” that will be taking place in conjunction with the schools.

Gardens and tree renewal

In addition to gardening spaces at the two schools that will be accessible for planting and growing by residents, the town also announced the planting of 600 trees in a wooded area behind Externat Sacré-Coeur that became the property of Rosemère some years back. The community gardens, which will be located on school property, will be run on a cooperative basis by students and teachers with residents from Rosemère.

“Following these arrangements and following the popularity, if these community gardens turn out to be popular we will see during a second phase the possibility of pursuing an idea we had at the start of  doing this elsewhere,” Westram told Gurd. “But for now, the first phase is to do this in these two locations. So, if your question was about Hamilton Park, there won’t be anything at Hamilton Park this year.”

Shared arrangements

Gurd asked whether the schools and the town have agreed firmly on the sharing arrangement for the community gardens. “And they’re okay with that? You’re taking up part of theirs,” she said. “It was they who approached us,” said Councillor Stépĥanie Nantel.

Questioned further on the possibility of Hamilton Park becoming the site of a future community garden, Westram replied, “If a decision is made to return to Hamilton Park, it will be done in consultation with the people in that area. We could go to Hamilton just as we could go elsewhere. We have no preconceived ideas: it’s one brick at a time. One project at a time. We’re putting community gardens in these two schools and we’ll see how that goes.”

Opponents had petitioned

Some of those attending the meeting had previously gathered and submitted a petition signed by residents around Hamilton Park opposing a community garden in their area. (At the time, Westram had also questioned the methods used by the petition gatherers, while suggesting the petition wasn’t truly representative.)

“I won’t be launching into a debate today because this is not the place for it and we’re not there yet,” he said last week. “If we reach a point where there’s a possibility, we will make sure that the population of the area is in favour.” According to Mayor Westram, the agreement between the town and the schools was only finalized on the same day of the special council meeting, which was why there was so little public notice given.

Recently Linda Lapointe, MP for Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, on behalf of the Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, announced that KWI Polymers has been granted $150,000 under the Canadian Plastics Innovation Challenge, funded by the Innovative Solutions Canada program, to develop a possible solution for recycling fiberglass. The end result could potentially turn transformed materials into street furniture, railings, sidewalks and decking.

The funding announced, complements the department’s commitment to advancing vessel recycling and environmentally responsible vessel design.
The Government of Canada is dedicated to protecting Canada’s land and waterways from plastic waste and marine litter. We know that Canadians value their natural environment, and we have a responsibility to prevent plastic pollution now and into the future.

It is a know fact that plastic pollution is a growing problem in Canada and around the world. Canada has committed to global leadership in government operations that are low-carbon, resilient and green.

Options

There are few options for recycling and disposing of boats made of glass fiber-reinforced plastic, commonly referred to as fiberglass. Most of these boats end up in a landfill, or worse, abandoned on land or in the water. To address this issue, Transport Canada issued a challenge to Canadian small and medium-sized businesses to develop innovative solutions for recycling or reusing fiberglass in an energy-efficient way which recovers as much material as possible.

“I am proud that our Government is supporting innovation and research on the recycling and reuse of plastics. Local businesses that receive this funding, like KWI Polymers, will be able to battle the pollution caused by plastics across the country”, mentionned Ms Lapointe.

The Canadian Plastics Innovation Challenge is a $12.85-million initiative supporting research projects that aim to address plastic pollution through new and innovative technologies. This initiative is funded by federal departments and agencies, through the Innovative Solutions Canada program, and invites Canadian small and medium-sized businesses to develop innovative solutions in response to specific challenges related to plastic waste.

(NSN) Rosemère mayor Eric Westram recently announced the conversion of the town’s public lighting systems to light-emitting diode (LED) technology. This project to modernize 1,072 lighting fixtures is part of a sound energy management approach and represents a considerable initiative in terms of sustainable development.

Less loss to sky

From an environmental standpoint, directional LED lighting prevents light from being lost to the sky. In addition, the equipment installed is dark-sky certified and reduces to a minimum the light pollution emitted by street lighting. Better practices lessen the impact of lighting on living environments.

“With its 5 times longer life than original bulbs, LED technology offers invaluable environmental, social and economic benefits: It is an environmentally-friendly solution that efficiently addresses road safety issues, while reducing light pollution through its directional lighting,” said Westram.

Cutting consumption

The conversion of lighting fixtures to LED technology will have a significant impact on energy consumption. Through this initiative, the Town will achieve energy and maintenance savings of approximately $42,460 and $26,800 respectively annually.

In addition to standardizing the Town’s lighting, the new LED lighting fixtures increase residents’ safety and comfort by providing better visibility of the roadway. In fact, LED lighting makes it possible to better perceive colours and shapes.

Now underway

Rosemère officials says this work project started in mid-May and will be completed in October 2019. More information on LED technology may be found online at https://lumieresurlequebec.ca, where the progress of the work involved may be followed in real time.

In February 2018, the Fédération québécoise des municipalités (FQM), in partnership with the energy services company Énergère, launched a program offering Québec cities and towns a consolidated feeding tariff to modernize public lighting systems. The Town of Rosemère is one of the first municipalities in Québec to take part in this program.

Martin C. Barry

In a spontaneous outpouring of emotion rarely seen at Deux-Montagnes city hall, a small but enthusiastic crowd of residents gave the mayor and council a standing ovation at the beginning of the May 16 city council meeting, acknowledging the city’s recent success in keeping Deux-Montagnes safe from the spring of 2019’s floods.

It was a stark contrast to the scene in Deux-Montagnes in the spring two years ago when the city was among the hardest-hit Quebec communities for flooding. The waters overwhelmed dozens of Deux-Montagnes’ streets along the waterfront, resulting in widespread flood damage that seriously impacted hundreds of families’ lives.

City council thanked

Referring to the mayor and council members as “stars,” longtime Deux-Montagnes resident Monique Dorion of 28^th Ave., one of the most stridently vocal critics of several administrations, said, “Thanks infinitely for all the exceptional work that you’ve done. Thank you for the good decisions you made as precautions. Thanks for keeping up the work. What you’re doing is gigantic. Don’t give up. We appreciate it enormously.”

Since the 2017 floods, the mayor and council of Deux-Mountagnes worked ceaselessly on measures to minimize the chances of flooding taking place again – even though no one could be certain until they were tested.

The measures included building up an inventory of concrete barriers to be used along with rubber liners to create temporary anti-flood dikes in strategic locations along Deux-Montagnes’ waterfront. At the same time, city officials lobbied the Quebec Environment Ministry to allow a permanent dike to be built.

No floods in Deux-Montagnes

Although the permanent dike hadn’t been built by the time this year’s floods struck, the temporary measures held firmly and Deux-Montagnes had virtually no flooding this spring, in comparison to the neighbouring community of Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac where a section of dike broke, resulting in some of the worst flooding in Quebec.

Visibly moved by the tribute, Mayor Martin said regarding the crisis, “In my life it was something memorable. But that wasn’t the point. The point was that it was something that needed to be done.” A man in the audience shouted out, “It takes a leader,” following which there was another round of applause and the council meeting went on.

Sainte-Marthe’s lot

While what happened in Deux-Montagnes certainly was good news, what happened in Sainte-Marthe certainly was not. And it would seem at this point that some of the impact from the neighbouring municipality’s troubles could conceivably end up spilling over into Deux-Montagnes’ camp.

During question period, Monique Dorion again got up to grill the mayor and council on the implications of Sainte-Marthe’s fate. “We had a close call with the construction of the pool in Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac,” she said, referring to the indoor pool project Deux-Montagnes signed onto with Sainte-Marthe. It had originally been slated to be built in an area that got flooded.

Class-action lawsuits

However, the more serious issue may be Sainte-Marthe’s post-flood financial stability, depending on whether the town is deemed liable in pending class-action lawsuits. As it is, up to one-third of Sainte-Marthe’s territory was flooded. Dorion asked the mayor point blank, “Do we suspend the interior swimming pool project with Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac taking into account their current finances and the state of their territory?”

Mayor Martin responded that since the new location chosen for the pool project (near Sainte-Marthe town hall and the Giant Tiger store) isn’t within a flood zone, he didn’t see any reason why the project shouldn’t go ahead. He said that with a government subsidy Deux-Montagnes obtained with Sainte-Marthe, the project should proceed, “or else we are risking losing the subsidy.”

‘Not concerned,’ says Mayor Martin

In a post-council interview with the North Shore News, the mayor said that even though the flood zone map in Sainte-Marthe is going to be changing, the pool still won’t be within a flood zone. “The project has no change, the property has no change, so the property where we’re going will not be a problem,” he said.

As for Sainte-Marthe’s future financially, he acknowledged, “There are many lawsuits pending. We can understand that people had 15 days to signify what they wanted to do. So now a judge will verify to see if the city is responsible or not. There’s also compensation from the government for many of those homes.”

Asked whether he was concerned about the future of any agreements with Sainte-Marthe taking the recent events into account, he replied, “No, I’m not concerned at all.”