Catégorie : Vision (Clarence-Rockland)

A self-proclaimed humanitarian, Landreville wanted to host a Syrian family during the height of the civil war in that country, but paperwork and red tape made it unfeasible. When the opportunity came up to take in displaced individuals from Ukraine, she jumped on it.

“I just couldn’t say no given the urgency and seriousness of the situation of what’s happening with the war,” said Landreville. “Imagine if we had neighbours that decided to bomb us and we had nowhere to go?”

The family is currently in Cyprus after fleeing the north-eastern city of Sumy, part of a region which saw heavy fighting during the initial days of the Russian invasion starting in February.

Come August 14, Landreville is giving up her two-bedroom condo to a mother, her two young daughters, and her younger brother. The husband and father of the two girls asked his brother-in-law to look after his family while he stayed behind to fight the Russian invasion.

“I don’t live in a big place, but it’s doable,” said Landreville.

The queen-size bed in the guestroom will be taken up by the two girls. There is a pull-out coach for the brother, and the mother is being offered Landreville’s own bed.

“She’s been under so much stress that I just want to offer her a comfortable place to stay,” said Landreville. “I’m sure she needs a good sleep.”

With every room in her house spoken for, Landreville will be staying with friends until her Ukrainian guests get back on their feet, popping in to answer any questions they might have, offering support, and also feeding her cats.

The response and support from the community is astounding, according to Landreville. For the past several weeks, she has been soliciting donations of clothing, food and other necessities for the family’s arrival.

“They should have everything they need. I think they have enough toothpaste for the next 10 years,” said Landreville. “Now I am concentrating on financial donations. Eventually they will need to rent their own place. They don’t have any furniture. They don’t have anything.”

A crowdfunding page is set up to ensure the new arrivals are able to rent a car, afford food and eventually pay first and last month’s rent for a place to live on their own.

Though the family’s plans for settling are yet unknown, Landreville hopes they decide to make Rockland their new home.

“I’ve encouraged them stay,” said Landreville. “I’ve been in this community for over 40 years and I know how warm the people can be. I would love them to stay.”

Landreville is not the only friendly face from the area welcoming Ukrainian families. Landreville heard of the family looking to settle in the Ottawa area from a Facebook post by Tom Smith who is already hosting a couple in Rockland and did not have the space to take on another.

Between January and July of 2022, special programs implemented by the Canadian government have provided temporary resident visas to more than 275,000 Ukrainian nationals and their family members according to statistics on the federal government website.

Amy’s Little Plant Shop opened during the height of the pandemic, selling her house plants out of her home. Starting off as a sideline activity while on leave from her 9-to-5 job, the success of her business soon required Bellfoy to set up shop at a storefront.

Now two years into running her business, Bellfoy is looking to give other small businesses, particularly women-run businesses, the exposure she would have liked when she started. On Sundays, Bellfoy is offering up table space to local businesses selling their products online and that want to try out a ‘pop-up shop’.

“If there was an established business that let me pop up it totally would have helped my growth,” said Bellfoy. “So I’m just trying to help out other small businesses and create a little community around my store.”

Bellfoy hopes she is able to support other women entrepreneurs, as she feels they often have so many other responsibilities on top of trying to run their own businesses.

“I really love supporting people who are putting themselves out there and making something different,” said Bellfoy. “It’s also nice to know that we don’t have to just shop on Amazon.”

As long as people are interested, Bellfoy hopes to keep highlighting small businesses in her store and wants to encourage to contact Amy’s Little Plant Shop to take part.

La Cité de Clarence-Rockland remplace actuellement plusieurs blocs de conduites principales d’eau entre les rues Giroux et Simoneau, et met à jour les raccordements latéraux aux lignes de propriété des résidences et des entreprises individuelles. Selon Richard Campeau, directeur des projets d’immobilisations à la Cité de Clarence-Rockland, les conduites principales actuelles sont d’origine et n’ont pas été entièrement remplacées depuis plus d’un demi-siècle.

Les mises à jour ont pour but d’améliorer la qualité globale de l’eau, de réduire l’entretien et d’offrir plus de volume pour les développements futurs.

Bien que M. Campeau soit convaincu que la mise à niveau de l’infrastructure, d’une valeur de 2,89 millions de dollars, respecte actuellement le budget, le début tardif du projet, en raison de conflits avec la disponibilité de l’entrepreneur, Robert Excavating, signifie que le délai d’achèvement pourrait se prolonger jusqu’en 2023.

« À l’origine, le projet devait être terminé cet été, mais l’entrepreneur avait d’autres engagements et a commencé les travaux un peu plus tard que prévu, a déclaré M. Campeau. Il est possible que le projet soit divisé en deux phases. »

Si la Ville n’est pas en mesure de terminer le projet d’ici l’hiver, la rue Laurier sera « complètement rétablie pour les mois d’hiver » et la construction se poursuivra au printemps, selon le fonctionnaire municipal.

While the administration noted an expected surplus in corporate revenue and expenses, city council and administrative costs (largely thanks to changes in operation due to factors owing to COVID-19), reduced daycare revenue, costs from the 2021 cyberattack, and the aftermath of the May windstorm will put the city into a deficit of $936,460.

Each quarter, the budget and finance department present to council a forecast of the city’s financials come the fiscal year-end of December 31. The report comparing the annual budget with actual spending up to June 30 was presented to city council on August 3.

“It is safe to say that we will not have additional money to reinvest in debt repayment next year, and no additional money for roads,” Councillor André Lalonde said during the meeting. “Unfortunately, this year there are circumstances we can’t control.”

The forecast of a deficit comes not long after the city reported a need for substantial investment in the municipal infrastructure, including roads, sewers and waterlines.

Frédéric Desnoyers, Director of Finance and Asset Management, noted the $750,000 deficit from the windstorm would be minimized should the city’s application to the provincial Municipal Disaster Recovery Assistance (MDRA) relief program be accepted. Desnoyers is confident that with the MDRA relief the cost of the storm recovery will be reduced to approximately $200,000, bringing the total forecasted deficit to around $400,000.

Ontario law prohibits municipalities from running budget deficits. Clarence-Rockland’s forecasted deficit would thus be funded using the Tax Stabilization Reserve or by increasing taxes the following year.

“If we have a deficit at year-end, we need to fund it,” said Desnoyers. “Right now, we have enough in the reserve fund to cover the deficit, and on September 1 we are starting a new year for the daycares. So, we’ll have a better estimate in our next report regarding daycare costs and revenue.”

Council approved the submission of the MDRA application during council’s August 3 committee of the whole meeting.

Over 110 golfers attended the 18-hole tournament and dinner on July 22, including the Ottawa Senators organization represented by former Senator Chris Neil.

The more than $20,000 raised will go to the recently established Mayor’s Fund, a pot of money to be distributed to non-profits working with the city’s youth. The first tranche of support went to the Rockland branch of Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario in the amount of $1,000 to support their LGBTQ programming, according to Mayor Zanth.

“I’m honoured to be the mayor in a city where I’m able to raise funds and give back to our community,” said Mayor Zanth in an email. “A city cannot operate without its non-profit organizations and volunteers.”

In past years, proceeds of the tournament were earmarked for youth scholarships in sports, arts and cultural activities as chosen by the Tournament. As of March 2022, city council approved a motion by Mayor Zanth to create the fund and allow youth organizations to apply for grants.

Drouin est un membre actif de l’APF depuis sept ans, une organisation qui réunit les gouvernements des pays francophones pour promouvoir la langue française à l’échelle internationale, renforcer les liens entre les parlements de la Francophonie et promouvoir la démocratie et l’État de droit au sein de la communauté francophone.

En tant que plus jeune président de l’APF, M. Drouin espère se concentrer sur le rétablissement de la confiance des jeunes dans les institutions démocratiques au sein de la Francophonie.

« Dans les 91 pays membres, les jeunes sont désillusionnés, principalement en raison de beaucoup de désinformation et d’informations erronées, a déclaré M. Drouin. Nous avons des jeunes qui soutiennent les coups d’état parce qu’ils perdent la foi dans les institutions démocratiques. »

Drouin a l’espoir de pouvoir rétablir la confiance dans ces institutions, en mettant en avant le Canada comme un exemple de transferts de pouvoir pacifiques. Pour M. Drouin, sa relative jeunesse lui permettra d’avoir une perspective sur la façon dont les jeunes interagissent avec leur monde – souvent par le biais d’une plateforme numérique ou virtuelle – et de mettre à jour les institutions afin qu’elles puissent mieux s’adapter et s’engager auprès des jeunes.

La sécurité alimentaire étant une préoccupation majeure du l’APF, M. Drouin considère les prouesses agricoles de sa circonscription comme une source importante de connaissances et d’exportations. En retour, le potentiel de nouvelles possibilités d’exportation est dans un coin de sa tête alors qu’il se réjouit de son nouveau poste.

En août 2016, l’unité de la criminalité de la PPO du comté de Russell et l’unité des crimes économiques et de la corruption d’Ottawa ont commencé à enquêter sur plusieurs allégations de malversations financières de la part de M. Langlois, qui exploitait un cabinet d’avocats à Rockland. La police a été mise au courant après que les collègues de M. Langlois, chez Charon Langlois LLP, aient déposé des plaintes auprès du Barreau de l’Ontario.

Langlois est accusé de fraude de plus de 5 000 $ (12 chefs d’accusation), possession de biens produits de la criminalité, abus de confiance criminel (15 chefs d’accusation), détournement de fonds (15 chefs d’accusation), vol frauduleux (15 chefs d’accusation), vol par une personne tenue de rendre des comptes (15 chefs d’accusation), fraude de moins de 5 000 $ (sept chefs d’accusation), faux semblant (deux chefs d’accusation), falsification (10 chefs d’accusation), et émission d’un document contrefait (huit chefs d’accusation).

Le Barreau de l’Ontario a radié M. Langlois en 2016, à la suite de sa propre enquête qui avait révélé qu’il avait détourné 3,2 millions de dollars de l’argent de ses clients. À l’époque, M. Langlois n’avait pas été accusé au criminel.

Langlois doit comparaître le 8 septembre 2022 devant la Cour supérieure de l’Ontario à Ottawa.

Toute personne ayant des renseignements supplémentaires concernant cette enquête est priée de communiquer avec la ligne non urgente de la Police provinciale de l’Ontario au 1-888-310-1122. Si vous souhaitez conserver l’anonymat, appelez Échec au crime au 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) ou soumettez un indice en ligne à ontariocrimestoppers.ca/submit-a-tip/submit-a-tip.

TJ Stevens was shopping at Bulk Barn across the street from the Walmart on Richelieu Street when another customer alerted him to a plume of heavy black smoke rising from the parking lot around 2:30 p.m.

“I initially thought it was a car smoking right beside mine,” said Stevens. “But when I got out of the store it was obviously mine.”

Stevens rushed to where he parked his 10-year-old Toyota Sienna mini-van to find the engine block engulfed in flames. With the fire department already called, Stevens attempted to open the trunk and remove some of his belongings, including the car-seats and booster-seats for his five young children.

“Luckily it was just me,” said Stevens. “What if I had left the car on and left the kids behind?”

Driving in from Wendover for groceries, Stevens did not note anything strange about the vehicle’s operation. According to him the vehicle was not overheating, did not smell of smoke and the air conditioning was working normally. Stevens stated the van had just been serviced in recent months.

Working as a headmaster at a private catholic school in Ottawa, Stevens not only needs the family vehicle for his daily commute but to take his five kids to their various activities.

Police and the Clarence-Rockland Fire Department responded to the incident around 3:00 p.m. Firefighters extinguished the blaze, but not until after several of the windows blew out, tires popped and airbags were set off. Police stated they had no reason to believe anything suspicious took place.

Due to the intensity of the fire the cause could not be determined, a common outcome of car fire investigations, according to Clarence-Rockland Fire Chief Mario Villeneuve. The Clarence-Rockland Fire Department responds to an average of 10 to 15 car fires annually.

“Car fires are not more common at any particular time of year,” said Chief Villeneuve, noting cars set on fire for any number of reasons including mechanical issues or being plugged in over the winter.

The fire department advises residents to not leave people or pets unattended in a vehicle and to ensure they have a functioning ABC fire extinguisher and first-aid kit on hand.