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Year in review: 2008

Highlights of West Island news as reported by The Chronicle over the last 12 months

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Article online since December 31st 2008, 9:30
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Year in review: 2008
Sana Abuali holds a photo of Mohamed Kohail, who faces the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, during a protest held in March in Ottawa.
Year in review: 2008
Highlights of West Island news as reported by The Chronicle over the last 12 months
January
Senneville roadwork delayed
Senneville residents work up a storm over the lack of a road works project’s timely completion in the small village. With about half a section of Senneville Road dug into a deep trench since November, residents were told the project-an installation of pipes to allow local Charles River Laboratories to manage its waste water-would be completed in December. Town hall explains the delay as the result of a disagreement with the Quebec Ministry of Transport over plans to place a detour. Charles River claims the 2006 demerger of Senneville caused a delay in securing permits on time.
Mixed results in Beaconsfield poll
A $15,000 Léger Marketing poll conducted in Beaconsfield on behalf of town hall reveals citizens are generally satisfied with services, but decisions by council are not quite as popular. According to the results, services such as leisure and culture, public works, firefighting services and police services scored above Léger’s norm, but snow removal, overall public safety, and council’s decision-making were below average.
No-commission gallery opens
Artist and entrepreneur Helena Scheffer opens Galerie Ouest, a brand new art gallery in Ste. Anne de Bellevue. The restored 1875 building is a no-commission art space, the only such venue in the West Island.
Rescue squad resigns
Amidst much turmoil, the Beaconsfield Volunteer Rescue Squad resigns, stating the city’s annual allocation of $57,000 to the BVRS is tied up in too much bureaucracy. The group was formed in 2000 following the 1998 ice storm.
WIAIH celebrates 50th
The West Island Association for the Intellectually Handicapped celebrates its 50th anniversary with a series of keynote speakers, including Council of Canadians national chairperson Maude Barlow.
February
WI mayors upset with agglo
Pointe Claire, Dorval and Beaconsfield table resolutions demanding Montreal hand them their fair share of provincial government money to different municipalities based on their waste management performance in 2007. With the agglomeration council being handed a single cheque for all municipalities under its jurisdiction, the de-merged West Island towns fear they may not get what they deserve. The provincial Environment Ministry and Montreal remain silent on the issue.
Commuters miffed
West Island commuters remain unsatisfied when only “some” of 160 train cars promised to Montreal-area railways by the AMT for the next two years are earmarked for lines that touch the area, such as Deux Montagnes and Dorion/Rigaud. Meanwhile, parking problems continue at local stations of both those lines, even as plans are made for new spaces at Baie d’Urfé, Beaurepaire, Cedar Park and Sunnybrooke stations. The parking problem is particularly highlighted by the actions of an anonymous prankster who sticks flyers on parked cars in the Roxboro area telling citizens they are parked illegally and should move their vehicles to other spots.
Station 3 looking for new digs
Montreal police station 3, which covers Pierrefonds and Ile Bizard/Ste. Geneviève, closes one of its public locations on Sources Boulevard and Gouin Street in Pierrefonds/Roxboro, as officers there continue to look for a more central location to “merge” with its other outpost on Paiement in Ile Bizard.
Parent assaults John Rennie teacher
A parent of a student at Pointe Claire’s John Rennie High School walks into the building during lunchtime and assaults one of his child’s teachers, leaving him with a broken nose. He flees by the time other staff arrives to help out their injured co-workers, and turns himself over to the police on the following weekend.
March
Patry denies Scientology ties
Pierrefonds/Dollard Liberal MP Bernard Patry denies any knowledge of endorsed anti-drug organization Narconon Trois-Rivière’s alleged ties to the Church of Scientology after signing a promotional banner with the organization pledging him to a “life without drugs.” Patry does not rescind his endorsement, even as at least one other politician who also signed the banner, Montmorency MNA Hubert Benoît, does so. Narconon does not return multiple phone calls for comment, while Scientologists deny the allegations.
No charges in BB gun incident
No charges are laid on a 10-year-old boy after he brings a BB gun to Thorndale Elementary, the Pierrefonds/Roxboro school he attends, and allegedly threatens a classmate. The school does not comment beyond stating the situation was taken seriously and dealt with immediately.
Heavy snowfall strains budgets, backs
Several West Island municipalities are forced to cough up more cash than originally budgeted for snow removal when the amount of powdery white stuff accumulated since December rises beyond anyone’s expectations. Pierrefonds/Roxboro borough pays its contractor an additional $197,000 for a total of $412,000, and Dollard des Ormeaux pays about $250,000 over their contractor’s budget. Beaconsfield says it will have to go between $20,000 to $30,000 over its own budget.
Looking for a match
Pierrefonds/Roxboro resident Emru Townsend, his family and friends begin an awareness campaign for Quebec’s bone marrow registry after the former is told he would need a bone marrow transplant in order to fight off advanced leukemia. Townsend, of Afro-Caribbean descent, has a hard time locating a match in the registry since members of minority groups, including Afro-Caribbeans, are registered in very low numbers.
Former DDO man sentenced to death by beheading
Former Dollard des Ormeaux resident Mohamed Kohail is sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia. As he attempts to launch an appeal, friends take up his cause in Canada, going so far as to mounti a protest on Parliament Hill on a cold Easter Sunday to demand more action from the Canadian government. Kohail was sentenced to death after he and his brother were involved in a schoolyard brawl in January 2007 in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, where the Kohails had temporarily moved, that saw a Syrian youth, Munzer Haraki, dead. Whereas the Kohails claim Mohamed and Sultan were nowhere near Haraki when a fence collapsed on him and killed him, friends of the family here say the courts barely listened to their side of the story. The younger brother is set out on bail while a friend of Mohamed is also charged with the death sentence during court proceedings.
April
RAMQ comes through for Ella
A Kirkland family turns to the community for help after it is revealed Ella Marchildon will need to raise between $60,000 to $200,000 for an operation at Sugarbaker Oncology Clinic in Washington, D.C. due to a relapse in Signet Ring Cell cancer. After an initial refusal to foot the bill with claims the necessary treatment is available in Quebec, the provincial Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec decides to pay after all.
Senneville golf course shut down
Canada Lands Company-a crown corporation that purchases land owned by the Canadian government the latter no longer needs-acquires the Senneville Lodge property from Veterans Affairs Canada. Some veterans of the area are concerned as the golf club on the property is shut down due to the unsafe nature of some of the buildings on the property. CLC promises to hold public consultations on what to do with the property.
Big upgrade for Pierrefonds/Roxboro H20
Pierrefonds/Roxboro’s water filtration plant gets set for a $53 million upgrade through the City of Montreal, with $13 million to enlarge its existing reservoir, $25 million to bring the plant up to date with provincial norms, and $15 million toward building a new reservoir at the plant. While Pierrefonds and Montreal officials claim parts of the enlarged reservoir could go toward servicing Ste. Anne de Bellevue, the latter says that this is unnecessary, since it gets all of its water from Pointe Claire, which has its own watering plant.
Batshaw builds in Beaconsfield
Batshaw Youth and Family Centres, funded by the provincial government’s Ministry of Health and Social Services, announces a $30 million project for a new building on Elm Street in Beaconsfield, and an expansion of its existing facility on the corner of Dorval and Dawson Avenues in Dawson. Mayors of both municipalities say they are happy with the deal, with Beaconsfield Mayor Bob Benedetti particularly enthused about a joint swimming pool project between the city and Batshaw.
Hakim gets off easy, parents of victim say
Dorval resident Edgar Hakim, 21, receives an 18-month jail sentence for striking down 29-year old psychology student Patricia Jolicoeur whilst speeding on a residential street in St. Lazare in November 2006. With the victim reduced to a nearly paralyzed state, her parents claim the punishment for Hakim is too light. The latter’s lawyer says the young man is suffering enough anguish for what he has done as it is.
May
Bumpy road causes pain of all kinds
L’Anse à L’Orme Street, which crosses Senneville, Kirkland, Ste. Anne de Bellevue and Pierrefonds/Roxboro, remains in a state of disrepair as bike enthusiasts who would otherwise love to take it and citizens who live nearby complain of potholes and cracked pavement. Of the four municipalities, only Ste. Anne de Bellevue adopts a resolution to spend $300,000 on repairing its section of the street, while Pierrefonds/Roxboro claims it will check to see if there are sections on its own turf that need to be tended.
Ile Bizard wins de-merger appeal
In a landmark decision, the Quebec Superior Court rules the 2004 Ile Bizard/Ste. Geneviève demerger results are null and void. Former town mayor Normand Marinacci, who led the charge as an attorney for the five residents filing the case, demonstrated that 35 per cent of eligible voters in the town had shown up on referendum day, as the law had demanded, unlike what Montreal had claimed to the courts. Montreal later moves to appeal the Supreme Court’s decision.
Media, NHL stars go to bat for LGH
Local media such as The Chronicle, and several sports celebrities, like former NHL star Daniel Marois and Canadian women’s’ team Olympic gold medallist Kim St. Pierre lace up for the fifth annual Media Celebrity Hockey Marathon in support of the Lakeshore General Hospital Foundation at the Excellent Ice 3 on 3 rink in Kirkland.
The Chronicle wins top honours
At the annual Quebec Community Newspaper Association awards, The Chronicle distinguishes itself by earning the best overall newspaper award. The paper comes in second place in the best website category, and third in Best Special Section. It also wins a number of individual writing awards, including first place in the best education section.
Seniors concerned with transport, independence
The results of a study by private consulting firm Convercité on local seniors’ issues reveal their largest concerns centre around a lack of communication, adequate transport and independence.
June
Speth rides coast to coast
Ste. Anne de Bellevue resident and Pfizer employee Stephanie Speth is one of 50 cyclists who partake in a fundraiser for childrens’ cancer, riding her bike from Vancouver to Halifax in 19 days.
Parents protest lack of English textbooks
Concerned parents and teachers voice their displeasure over the Quebec government’s solution to the lack of adequate English textbook translations at a public meeting in Pointe Claire, with Liberal MNA Geoff Kelley making a note of their complaints and promising to present to the Ministry of Education. The solution would have been to have Grade 10 math textbooks ready in three parts for the 2008-2009 school year, with the first part shipped to schools in September. Meanwhile, history books would still not be ready.
Mosque targeted by vandals
Mukalah-al Mukattammah mosque in Pierrefonds/Roxboro outfits itself with 13 security cameras after it suffers a vandalism attack, the third of its kind since the beginning of the year. According to members of the mosque’s council, it was one of the glass panes of the main entrance’s door that was destroyed this time.
Crematorium causes controversy
Several Dorval residents remain firmly opposed to the ongoing construction of a crematorium as an expansion of the Lakeshore Cardinal Funeral Home on Lakeshore in Dorval. While residents raise health concerns, the home’s owner Jean-Charles Cardinal claims he has done his homework and the project will respect all health and environmental norms.
Cities sign Bill 22
Montreal’s agglomeration council and demerged municipalities sign an agreement on Bill 22, a provincial piece of legislation meant to revise the division of powers between the agglomeration and other municipalities. While Montreal hails the agreement as historic, West Island mayors call it a cautious first step, pointing out some key issues, such as double water taxation for some towns and a row over who should pay taxes for the downtown core, remain unresolved.
July
Dorval mosque vandalized
Dorval Mosque is alarmed after it finds itself the victim of graffiti spray paint. The paint, which reads “Coran: 9.5”, is a reference to the “Verse of the Sword,” a controversial verse in the Muslim Koran which is often misinterpreted as encouraging the killing of “infidels,” or non-Muslims.
Golf Dorval still kicking
The City of Dorval launches a media awareness campaign to let golfers know its municipally run golf club, Golf Dorval, is far from down and out despite being reduced to half the size of what it used to be. The club’s terrain, on lease to Dorval for years by Aéroports de Montréal, was partly reclaimed last year for construction projects regarding the expansion of Pierre-Elliot Trudeau International Airport. Several green groups continue to oppose the expansion, claiming the airport is encroaching on valuable green space. The airport says its own ecological surveys have determined the area is not green space.
ADM changes flight paths
Aéroports de Montréal announces flights will once more cross over a small residential area in Dorval and Lake St. Louis from Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport. Whereas the airport authority insists this means only a temporary suspension of its test flight paths over Highway 13 and the Lachine sector, the decision causes some frustration. It comes on the heels of a resolution by Pointe Claire asking for no more night flights over its territory than it already has, another resolution by Lachine asking for a total ban on night flights, and a petition by Dorval demanding the same.
Teens injured in fall
Harpell Park pool in Ste. Anne de Bellevue is the scene of a small tragedy when two local youths break into the public swimming area by night, climb to the top of a chalet, and attempt to dive into the water, missing the pool by a few inches and landing on cement instead. They are hospitalized for severe injuries, but the incident does not prompt a revision of security measures at local pools after dark.
Citizens upset over stop-sign removal
Some Beaconsfield residents take issue with proposed traffic control measures announced by city hall. At particular issue is the proposed removal of stop signs on the intersections of Creswell and Berwick and Beacon Hill and Andover. Installing a sidewalk on Creswell between St. Charles Boulevard and Epping Road is also considered problematic for some. Mayor Bob Benedetti welcomes public feedback and says the decisions are not final.
August
New funding for field
The Quebec government agrees to provide Kirkland with $928,000 in financial assistance toward the installation of a proposed synthetic soccer/football field. Kirkland is to foot the rest of the bill, roughly the same amount.
Beaconsfield unveils historic sculpture
Beaconsfield unveils a piece of public art outside of any municipal buildings for the first time in its history. Sisterhood, a Zimbabwean Shona stone sculpture, is a gift to the town from ZimArt, an annual Zimbabwean sculpture exhibition held in Beaconsfield held in conjunction with Rice Lake Gallery in Bailieboro, Ontario.
Stinky landfill to stink no more, owners say
Les Entreprises Environnementales Pierrefonds announces a landfill centre infamous for creating odour problems near the residential it is located at will turn over a new leaf once it is reborn as a sorting centre next spring, though some residents remain sceptical. Pierrefonds/Roxboro officials assure the plan is environmentally friendly and should stop the odour problems.
Textbooks ready for students, sort of
Minor improvements are announced to the timetable of English textbooks for Grade 10 English public school students. A first full math textbook will be available fully bound and coloured in September, and students will receive at least some translated history book “facsimiles” by September 15.
Hall, Heymans bring home Olympic hardware, glory
Local athletes distinguish themselves at the Beijing summer Olympics. Emilie Heymans of the Pointe Claire Diving Club earns a silver medal in diving, while Pointe Claire native Tom Hall finishes with a bronze medal at the C-1 100-metre canoeing event.
September
Harper calls election
A federal election is called as Prime Minister Stephen Harper dissolves Parliament. In the West Island ridings of Lac St. Louis and Pierrefonds/Dollard, Liberal incumbents Francis Scarpaleggia and Bernard Patry are challenged by Conservatives Andrea Paine and Pierre-Olivier Brunelle, NDP candidates Dan Quinn and Shameem Siddiqui , Greens Ryan Young and Peter Graham, and Bloc Québecois candidates Maxime Clément and Reny Gagnon. In Vaudreuil-Soulanges, Bloc MP Meili Faille faces Liberal candidate Brigitte Legault and Conservative Minister Michael Fortier.
Lester B. launches laptop project
An agreement with Hewlett Packard allows Lester B. Pearson to distribute 100 laptops to its expanding pre-kindergarten program at Orchard, Thorndale and Mount Pleasant elementary schools and the International Language Centre. While the board argues the laptops will make it easier for children to learn the basics of shapes and colour, the move is also sharply criticized by a local pre-school as well as a University of Toronto academic as detrimental to child development.
City, greens butt heads over marshland
Members of the eco-group Green Coalition and Montreal butt heads over a city decision to cut off part of its Bertrand Stream eco-territory from its green status and sell it to an unnamed company. However, Montreal later earns praise from the same group for saving about 180 hectares of wetland in the Pierrefonds sector of L’Anse à L’Orme from development with the help of conservation group Ducks Unlimited Canada.
Chamber fair a giant success
The West Island Chamber of Commerce inaugurates its jobs and business fair, holding it at the Holiday Inn Pointe Claire. Over 30 exhibitors present visitors with an opportunity to both look for employment and network with peers.
Dad campaigns for son, daughter-in-law
St. Lazare resident Antonio Insogna attempts to appeal to Prime Minister Stephen Harper when the latter visits Vaudreuil-Soulanges for an election rally, but his call for help is unheard. Insogna, whose son Vittorio has a mild intellectual handicap, has been trying to reverse a decision by Immigration Canada that has refused an immigration visa to Canada to Vittorio’s wife Arlene, leaving her in the Philippines. Vittorio has also stayed there, refusing to leave her side. Whereas Insogna’s attempts to get various politicians to act are met with failure, he would wind up winning an appeal to the decision at the end of November.
October
Protestor abandons post
Deborah Hughes ends her month-long one-person protest in front of Marian Hall, a privately run seniors’ residence on Elm Street in Beaconsfield. Hughes, who claims to have been abused at the hall as a child when it was a correctional centre for wayward girls in the seventies, stood in front of the centre with makeshift banners and clotheslines depicting her story since September. Though she claimed the residence is owned by the same off-shoot of the Catholic Church that owned it in its heyday as a youth centre, nobody at the hall confirms this. Her reports of abuse, however, match with old media clippings as well as a report commissioned for the provincial ministry in the seventies on the performance of various youth centres in Quebec.
Libs take WI, Tories win minority
To not much surprise, Liberals Francis Scarpaleggia and Bernard Patry handily retake their Parliament seats for the ridings of Lac St. Louis and Pierrefonds/Dollard, respectively. Meili Faille of the Bloc wins with equal ease in Vaudreuil-Soulanges. Local election campaign highlights included a visit by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Vaudreuil-Soulanges, one by his wife Laureen Harper in Lac St. Louis, and a visit by Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon in Pierrefonds/Dollard. NDP candidates all substantially boost their percentage of the popular vote locally, and Conservative Pierrefonds/Dollard candidate Pierre-Olivier Brunelle, though losing his bid to unseat Patry, finishes with the second highest percentage of the popular vote among all Conservatives on the island of Montreal.
Springate sworn in
Long-time Pierrefonds/Roxboro resident George Springate, well-known in Montreal sports, political, educational and philanthropic circles, is sworn in as Canada’s top citizenship judge.
Pearson challenges study results
Lester B. Pearson fares poorly in the results of two different studies by the Fraser Institute and Montreal Economic Institute (MEI). In the former, the school board ranks 42nd out of 70 for overall performance, while the latter’s report card on high schools ranks various Pearson schools on the West Island from a range of 92nd to as 412th on a total of 477 Quebec schools. Pearson chairperson Marcus Tabachnik argues the Fraser study does not reflect the board’s full capability to send students off to a higher education.
Rae
Lester B. Pearson school board by-elections end with Don Rae winning a seat as commission for Division 15 in Beaconsfield North, and Susan Williams, a long-time teacher, winning in Division 12 in Pierrefonds-Ile Bizard.
November
Parent, school board come to agreement
After much arguing, local parent Stanley Schulman and the Lester B. Pearson school board reach an agreement to send Schulman’s adopted son, David, to a local school of the parents’ choosing rather than continue to keep him at Beechwood Elementary, where Schulman claims David’s special needs were not met. Diagnosed with a rare toxin called Toxin-Chernobyl nuclear disaster radiation, David exhibits symptoms similar to advanced autism. Schulman had gotten him special treatment in the United States. However, doctors there urged him to move his son to a school that offers better care.
Tower goin' down, sucka!
Senneville Tower, a structure in the village that is over a century old, is slated to be demolished after the owner of the property on which it is situated applied for a demolition permit. Though many members of the public argued the building had historical significance and should be preserved, Senneville’s town council, as well as the owner, claimed the site was not safe, as it is frequently visited by teenagers up to no good by night.
Charest seeks majority mandate
Quebec Premier Jean Charest dissolves the National Assembly and calls for an election in a bid to reclaim majority status in the government. Local Liberal MNAs Pierre Marsan, Geoff Kelley and Yolande James are challenged by Parti Québecois candidates Alexandre Pagé-Chassé, Olivier Gendreau and Anaïs Valiquette-L’Heureux, Green candidates Maryse Goulet, Ryan Young and Jonathan Théorêt, as well as ADQ candidates Alexandra Lauzon, Marie-Hélène Trudel, and François Savard.
Townsend passes away
Pierrefonds/Roxboro resident Emru Townsend passes on after a very public battle with leukemia during which he, his family and friends began an awareness campaign for Quebec’s bone marrow registry. Townsend, of Afro-Caribbean descent, had a difficult time finding a match for a bone marrow transplant due to the rarity of registered Afro-Caribbeans. Though he had found a match in the end, it had been too little, too late. His sister Tamu Townsend vows to continue the fight for better awareness of the bone marrow registry.
Kohail appeal rejected
While Mohamed Kohail’s friends maintain his appeal was rejected and his last possible recourse is a strong intervention by the Canadian government, the latter says it is already doing all it can and Kohail’s appeal in fact has yet to be denied. Meanwhile, Mohamed’s brother Sultan is set to be retried as an adult, which means he could possibly face the death penalty himself.
December
Local Liberals sweep . . .again
Provincial Liberal MNAs all reclaim their seats in local ridings. Green and PQ candidates generally fare better than last year, while the ADQ fails to crack the top three in all but one local riding, Marquette.
Body found in Pierrefonds
The 21st homicide of the year on the island of Montreal takes place in Pierrefonds/Roxboro. The body of a 20-year-old man is found dumped on a construction site off of Gouin Boulevard with stab marks.
Montreal steals from 'burbs, mayors say
As Montreal announces its agglomeration budget, demerged municipalities are unhappy, stating about $25 million that should have been divided between them to alleviate the burden of new responsibilities such as maintenance of arterial roads have instead gone to Montreal. The latter claims the money is necessary for improvements to island-wide services such as public transit. Demerged towns begin to find ways around the money they had been expecting. Pointe Claire announces a minor tax hike in its budget, while Kirkland announces a slightly smaller budget than last year.
Green space set aside
The City of Montreal purchases a piece of land near L’Anse à L’Orme from developer Grilli for $5.2 million for conservation purposes. Whereas the move is met with applause by the Green Coalition, Ste. Anne de Bellevue Mayor Bill Tierney voices his protest, stating that scrapping the potential development projects will cost Ste. Anne a lot of tax revenue over the years.
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Fredric L. Rice

Comment online since January 1st 2009
That's insane. The notoriously criminal Scientology corporation's fake "drug treatment" fraud they call "NarCONon" not only does not work, the freakishly bizarre quack medical frauds the insane kooks use that were dreamed up by their drug-addled conman messiah L. Ron Hubbard can be DEADLY.

Scientology's "NarCONon" fraud uses L. Ron Hubbard's freakish "Purification Rundown" noti0ons which include toxic levels of niacine and insane flying saucer kook reading, all of which is very debilitative and leaves drug and alcohol addicts not only still addicted but something near $20,000 in debt to the criminal enterprise.

http://www.crackpots.org/

Anyone stupid enough to give these insane criminals their money still does not deserve to have Scientology rook and swindle them with their "NarCONon" fraud.

But don't take my work for the criminal enterprise's word for anything. Do your own homework and look at the miracle claims made by the Scientology crooks, then look at what medical doctors and legitimate drug treatment organizations have to say.

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