Aylmer, Quebec news

• Haitian-born Frantz Benjamin to run for Liberals in Viau

  01-08-2018 23:16 via montrealgazette.com
  A Haitian-born poet — who plans to keep his distance from controversies — will be a Quebec Liberal Party candidate in the Oct. 1 election.
  Frantz Benjamin, municipal councillor in Montreal’s St-Michel district since 2009, will be registered in the multicultural district of Viau, a Liberal fortress, on Thursday. He will try to succeed outgoing MNA David Heurtel.
  Benjamin describes himself as moderate, prudent, and looking for dialogue, consensus and “living together.&rdquo
  
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• TIFF: Xavier Dolan's John F. Donovan to finally have world première

  01-08-2018 22:53 via montrealgazette.com
  Xavier Dolan certainly has a flair for the dramatic.
  From his voluble, volatile films to his complaints about the Cannes sections they do or don’t appear in, the prizes they do or don’t get and his defiant stances against the harsh words of critics who don’t get his artistic flourishes, the Quebec director never fails to make himself heard. But he has certainly taken his time this time.
  Wednesday morning, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) announced the Canadian com
  
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• Inmate who died in prison linked to Rock Machine biker gang

  01-08-2018 22:08 via montrealgazette.com
  A federal penitentiary in Drummondville is under lockdown while authorities conduct a search following the death of an inmate who had past ties to the Rock Machine biker gang.
  Correctional Service Canada (CSC) announced late Tuesday night that a thorough search of the Drummond Institution, a medium-security penitentiary 100 kilometres northeast of Montreal, was underway following the death of Jonathan Payeur on Sunday. In a statement, it said the “lockdown has been put in place at the
  
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• Serge Losique saves film festival despite debt to Revenue Quebec

  01-08-2018 22:03 via montrealgazette.com
  The Festival des Films du monde (FFM) was given a reprieve from Revenue Quebec and will go ahead with its 42nd edition in three weeks.
  The festival’s founder, Serge Losique, has paid Revenue Quebec $32,800 — only part of the debt his festival owes in taxes. The agency wanted the money by Wednesday as security.
  According to Revenue Quebec, Losique’s festival owes almost $500,000 in unpaid taxes. The agency filed an injunction request against the FFM in July, requesting the festi
  
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• Last time July was this hot in Montreal, everything was black and white

  01-08-2018 21:15 via montrealgazette.com
  With an average temperature of 24.2 degrees Celsius, Montreal just completed its warmest July since 1921.
  While the heat wave of 2018 might harken back to that summer, a lot has changed in the intervening decades.
  Let’s revisit that summer, shall we?
  Last time a July was this hot in Montreal, Médric Martin was the city’s mayor.
  Last time a July was this hot in Montreal, the city had a population of 618,506.
  Last time a July was this hot in Montreal, red and white had stil
  
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• Montreal's Eugenie Bouchard tops wild-card entries for Rogers Cup

  01-08-2018 20:55 via montrealgazette.com
  Former Top-10 player Eugenie Bouchard of Montreal heads the list of those who have received wild-card entries into the Rogers Cup Canadian Open women’s tennis championships on Aug. 4-13 at the Jarry Tennis Centre.
  No Canadians qualified for direct entry into the 56-woman main draw and Bouchard, who is ranked No. 123, will be joined in the main draw by Carol Zhao of Richmond Hill, Ont., (No. 138) and Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga (No. 181).
  Outgoing Fed Cup captain Sylvain Bruneau and Lou
  
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• Martin Patriquin: Doug Ford, Montreal could use your help

  01-08-2018 20:11 via montrealgazette.com
  Neither blessed with flesh-pressing prowess nor cursed with dangerous addictions like his younger brother Rob, Doug Ford nonetheless has a similar gift for hyperbole. Last week, the newly ensconced Ontario premier slashed the size of Toronto’s city council nearly in half, to 25. He did so because Toronto was “the most dysfunctional political arena in the country.”
  Ford’s commute to Queen’s Park from his spread in the suburban sticks is about 25 kilometres. He would
  
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• Because nothing's sacred, here's the $448 'World's Richest Poutine'

  01-08-2018 19:50 via montrealgazette.com
  Poutine is rich.
  Anyone who has ever feasted on the combination of fries, squeaky cheese curds and brown sauce before falling into a well-earned food coma could have told you that much.
  But what if it is also rich in the monetary sense?
  That question, which was not begging to be moved out of the rhetorical category, is the premise for a promotional campaign for the film Crazy Rich Asians.While in Toronto, cast members Awkwafina, Ken Jeong and Nico Santos visited Smokes Poutinerie to make what is
  
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• Pat Hickey: What's up with the Habs' slush fund?

  01-08-2018 19:34 via montrealgazette.com
  For a second consecutive season, the Montreal Canadiens could find themselves with more than $8 million in unused cap space on opening night.
  The cap situation is a flash point for disgruntled fans. It’s time to look at why money is burning a hole in Marc Bergevin’s pocket, and what it means to the Canadiens now — and in the future.
  Let’s start by dismissing the notion that the Canadiens have become a penny-pinching, bargain-basement team that doesn’t want to spend
  
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• Gabba Gabba Hé: Raymonds translate The Ramones into Québécois French

  01-08-2018 19:21 via montrealgazette.com
  Now this is the kind of cultural appropriation I can get 110 per cent behind.
  Les F—ing Raymonds take the classic punk songbook of The Ramones, a band I have suggested on occasion are the most influential group in the history of rock, and have translated their two-minute slices of comic punk rock into joual-flavoured Québécois French. So Pet Sematary, the tune the Ramones recorded as the theme song for the film of the same name, becomes Cimetière d’animal. I Don&
  
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• Give us a place to grieve, Fredy Villanueva supporters say

  01-08-2018 18:49 via montrealgazette.com
  The family of Fredy Villanueva, who was fatally shot by a police officer in Montreal North, wants the borough to discuss how he will be commemorated ahead of the 10th anniversary of his death.
  At a news conference hosted by the support committee for the Villanueva family, the group said that plans to bury a time capsule in Villanueva’s honour isn’t enough, they say, largely because the family wasn’t consulted about the project.
  Will Prosper, a member of the committee, repeatedl
  
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• Montreal reduced water consumption by more than three per cent in 2017

  01-08-2018 18:46 via montrealgazette.com
  Efforts to reduce water consumption on Montreal Island are paying off, the city says, with a 3.5 per cent reduction being recorded between 2016-2017.
  The production of 567 million cubic metres of drinking water in 2017 was a 3.5 per cent reduction compared with the previous year, and a 24 per cent drop since 2001, the city said in a statement on Wednesday.
  The city credits the reduction to improved infrastructure, the use of water meters and a public education program that has been providing tip
  
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• Céline Dion has taken to dancing on car rooftops, because why not?

  01-08-2018 17:17 via montrealgazette.com
  The world, as Shakespeare surely intended to say, is Céline Dion’s stage.
  It is therefore an entirely logical and reasonable that she dances on car rooftops. Actually.
  The Quebec icon took to Instagram this morning to post an image of herself doing just that, and it didn’t even seem that odd because she’s Céline Dion.
  “Love to dance….anytime, ANYWHERE! 💃🏻,” she wrote.Dion is in the midst of a summer tour across the Asia-Pacific r
  
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• Lightning strikes caused more than 100 Quebec forest fires in July

  01-08-2018 16:48 via montrealgazette.com
  The Quebec agency that monitors forest fires in the province says that lightning strikes sparked 125 forest fires over the course of July.
  The Société de protection des forêts contre le feu (SOPFEU) says those fires burned through 23,000 hectares of forest and compelled calls for reinforcements that saw 400 personnel brought in from the United States and other parts of Canada.
  SOPFEU is describing the summer of 2018 as one of the busiest in recent years but notes that the rec
  
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• Despite poutine, Montreal's the healthiest city in N. America: report

  01-08-2018 16:37 via montrealgazette.com
  Montreal may be the carbohydrate lover’s dream, but it is also the healthiest North American city to live in, according to a report by rental platform Spotahome.
  Montreal finished 21st out of the 89 cities worldwide ranked across 10 different health factors in the report, which suggests that North America may have some issues. The No. 1 city is Amsterdam; Casablanca is in last place.
  The stand-out category for Montreal involved the number of electric car charging points within five miles o
  
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• Starting now, speed limits reduced in Côte-de-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce

  01-08-2018 16:05 via montrealgazette.com
  Reduced speed limits went into effect Wednesday in the west-end borough of Côte-de-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.
  Main thoroughfares such as Saint-Jacques St., Côte-Saint-Luc Rd., the service roads of Décarie Blvd., Jean Talon St. and Côte-des-Neiges Rd. (south of Queen-Mary Rd.) will retain their 50 km/h speed limits. However city officials say they’ll assess whether to eventually reduce the speed limit on these roads to 40 km/h.
  Meanwhile the f
  
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• Update: Inmate who died in prison linked to Rock Machine biker gang

  01-08-2018 15:00 via montrealgazette.com
  A federal penitentiary in Drummondville is under lockdown while authorities conduct a search following the death of an inmate who had past ties to the Rock Machine biker gang.
  Correctional Service Canada (CSC) announced late Tuesday night that a thorough search of the Drummond Institution, a medium-security penitentiary 100 kilometres northeast of Montreal, was underway following the death of Jonathan Payeur on Sunday. In a statement, it said the “lockdown has been put in place at the
  
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• Mount Royal cemetery bike ban goes into effect Aug. 1

  01-08-2018 14:51 via montrealgazette.com
  A ban on bicycles within the confines of Mount Royal cemetery went into effect Aug. 1 in reaction to a series of complaints concerning cyclists who use the National Historic Site for high speed training.
  The cemetery has defended the ban saying that multiple warnings to cyclists about respecting the site’s 10 km/h speed limit and not riding in groups of more than four have been ignored.
  Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery, also located on Mount Royal, already has a ban on cyclists on its proper
  
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• West Island commuters drive home their need for parking at REM stations

  01-08-2018 14:27 via montrealgazette.com
  When the ground-breaking ceremony for the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) was held April 12 in Griffintown, West Island commuters could finally envision the future promise of putting their car keys in their pocket and taking a light-rail train downtown.
  But initial enthusiasm for the REM, a 26-station system that will link downtown Montreal to the suburbs, including the West Island, has since given way to concerns about accessibility. More to the point: Where will motorists park
  
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• 'So much magic': Street piano brings a little spontaneity to Dorval square

  01-08-2018 13:55 via montrealgazette.com
  Dorval now has its very own sound of music: an inviting street piano.
  The city has placed a piano in a public square behind Dorval Library in hopes that passersby will tickle the ivories and play a few songs.
  When someone does hit the keys, the resulting music is pure magic, says Andréanne Alain, a cultural officer for Dorval.
  “It’s great in so many ways and there is so much magic that happens around it,” said Alain, a pianist herself. “We believe it’s a grea
  
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• While you were sleeping: Identical twins double down, marry identical twins

  01-08-2018 13:51 via montrealgazette.com
  Here’s what happened while you were spending some quality time with a pillow.
  Quebec’s director of criminal prosecutions announced that no charges will be laid against Montreal police over a 2016 shooting that injured one person. In the early morning hours of Dec. 31, 2016, SPVM officers responded to a fight outside of a Ste-Catherine St. E. bar, according to details made public by Quebec’s independent bureau of investigations (BEI). Police arrived on the scene and we
  
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• Stars above: Perseid meteor shower peaks mid-August

  01-08-2018 13:40 via montrealgazette.com
  Skywatchers should get set for the best meteor shower of the year coming in August. The Perseids — is the cosmic old faithful — offering up a flurry of shooting stars across the late night skies. The shower’s peak performance is in the hours before dawn Aug. 13 but a trickle of meteors can be seen days before and after, even after nightfall.
  Because the peak occurs on a moonless night this year, as many as 30 shooting stars may be visible from dark locations around the West Isl
  
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• Dentists to fight Quebec decree keeping them in public health system

  01-08-2018 13:28 via montrealgazette.com
  Quebec dentists will go to court to fight a government decree forcing them to stay in the public health system, the Presse Canadienne has learned.
  Last Thursday, the paperwork to pull 2,000 of the province’s dentists out of the public system had been sent to the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) after negotiations between the dentists’ professional association and the provincial government over compensation stalled.
  But a few hours later Quebec Health
  
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• Third shootout in a week sees Montreal police hunting ERs for suspects

  01-08-2018 13:17 via montrealgazette.com
  Evidence of a shootout in Montreal North early Wednesday sent police to local emergency rooms in an effort to find suspects, victims or witnesses.
  But by Wednesday morning, all police had to work with was a collection of spent cartridge casings and several 911 calls as proof gunfire had broken out in the city for the third time in a week.
  The latest incident occurred at 1:30 a.m. at the corner of Pascal St. and Jubinville Ave.
  While police gathered evidence that a group of persons had been seen
  
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• REM parking spaces for Pointe-Claire, Kirkland stations TBD

  01-08-2018 13:00 via montrealgazette.com
  When the ground-breaking ceremony for the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) was held April 12 in Griffintown, West Island commuters could finally envision the future promise of putting their car keys in their pocket and taking a light-rail train downtown.
  But initial enthusiasm for the REM, a 26-station system that will link downtown Montreal to the suburbs, including the West Island, has since given way to concerns about accessibility. More to the point: Where will motorists park
  
  Read more

• Kramberger: Music for the masses at Hudson festival

  01-08-2018 12:30 via montrealgazette.com
  If you’re looking for a summer cultural excursion, consider the Hudson Music Festival (Aug. 3-12), which also overlaps with the Off-Island town’s annual street festival this weekend.
  The 12th edition of the music fest hosts 23 shows with performers from various genres over a 10-day period. The fest commences Friday at 6 p.m. with its youth music competition at the Mews concert stage (422 Main Rd., Hudson).
  “Twelve years means a lot. Every year is a whole new ball game (organizi
  
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• Street piano making sweet summer sounds in Dorval

  01-08-2018 12:11 via montrealgazette.com
  Dorval now has its very own sound of music: an inviting street piano.
  The city has placed a street piano in a public square behind Dorval Library in hopes that passersby will tickle the ivories and play a few songs.
  When someone does hit the keys, the resulting music is pure magic, says Andréanne Alain, a cultural officer for Dorval.
  “It’s great in so many ways and there is so much magic that happens around it,” said Alain, a pianist herself. “We believe it’s
  
  Read more

• Montreal weather: Raindrops on roses… and on everything else

  01-08-2018 12:00 via montrealgazette.com
  It’s all clouds today, with a 60 per cent chance of showers and winds from the south gusting up to 40 km/h in the morning.
  There will be a risk of thunderstorms in the afternoon, and Environment Canada is predicting a high of 28 Celsius (feeling like 35 C with the humidity). The UV index is 5 or moderate.
  Tonight: More showers and a risk of thunderstorms early in the evening. A low of 21 C.
  Don’t forget to submit your photos of Montreal via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram b
  
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• Gabba Gabba Hé: Raymonds translates The Ramones into Québécois French

  01-08-2018 12:00 via montrealgazette.com
  Now this is the kind of cultural appropriation I can get 110 per cent behind.
  Les F—ing Raymonds take the classic punk songbook of The Ramones, a band I have suggested on occasion are the most influential group in the history of rock, and have translated their two-minute slices of comic punk rock into joual-flavoured Québécois French. So Pet Sematary, the tune the Ramones recorded as the theme song of the film of the same name, becomes Cimetière d’animal. I Don&r
  
  Read more

• Despite growing pains, Montreal food trucks are “doing great”

  01-08-2018 12:00 via montrealgazette.com
  Montreal’s relatively young food truck scene has had its issues, but is growing up, says the co-founder of Quebec’s food truck association.
  “There is always room for improvement, of course,” said Gaëlle Cerf of the Association des restaurateurs de rue du Québec, “but the industry is doing well. The trucks are becoming adults.”
  The people behind the trucks “are more organized. They are making better decisions; they are getting more and mo
  
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• Stars Above: Get set for a shower of shooting stars

  01-08-2018 11:55 via montrealgazette.com
  Skywatchers should get set for the best meteor shower of the year coming in August. The Perseids — is the cosmic old faithful — offering up a flurry of shooting stars across the late night skies. The shower’s peak performance is in the hours before dawn Aug. 13 but a trickle of meteors can be seen days before and after, even after nightfall.
  Because the peak occurs on a moonless night this year, as many as 30 shooting stars may be visible from dark locations around the West Isl
  
  Read more

• CAQ leader courts Liberal voters in West Island

  01-08-2018 11:30 via montrealgazette.com
  François Legault moved away from the West Island decades ago, but he still considers it home.
  The leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec grew up in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue before launching a business career that saw him co-found Air Transat in 1986. He later jumped into provincial politics where he became a rising star in the Parti-Québécois. But a disillusioned Legault left the PQ in 2009, and two years later formed the CAQ, a right-centre political party that has f
  
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• Gas price watch: Less than the weekend, more than last week

  01-08-2018 04:32 via montrealgazette.com
  According to gas price tracking site essencemontreal.com, the average price of a litre of gas in Montreal was just over $1.35 on Tuesday night.
  Over the last week, the average price of a litre has increased by more than five cents.
  On Tuesday, reported prices varied from a low of $1.329 at a Costco in Anjou to a high of $1.429 at Shell stations on Jarry St. W. and Salaberry St.
  The price of a barrel of crude oil was US$68.36 at the end of the trading day on the NYMEX index, in New York
  
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• No charges to be laid against SPVM over 2016 police shooting

  01-08-2018 03:00 via montrealgazette.com
  No criminal charges will be laid against Montreal police over a 2016 shooting that injured one person, Quebec’s director of criminal prosecutions (DPCP) announced Tuesday.
  In the early morning hours of Dec. 31, 2016, SPVM officers responded to a fight outside of a Ste-Catherine St. E. bar, according to details made public by Quebec’s independent bureau of investigations (BEI).
  Police arrived on the scene and were pursuing a 24-year-old man when he drew a gun.
  The man was shot at leas
  
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• Clay season helped mould Montrealer Félix Auger-Aliassime's game

  01-08-2018 02:44 via montrealgazette.com
  Playing in the dirt has paid dividends for Montreal tennis player Félix Auger-Aliassime.
  The 17-year-old has spent the past four months in Europe playing on dusty red clay courts, and he came home this week with a career-high ranking of No. 134 on the ATP Tour.
  Auger-Aliassime will return to his favourite hard court surface next week when he pays in the Rogers Cup Canadian Open men’s tennis championships in Toronto, but he proved that his aggressive game can produce results on the s
  
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• Montreal gives McCord Museum three options for new home

  01-08-2018 02:24 via montrealgazette.com
  After announcing that the site where the McCord museum planned to build its $150-million home would instead be turned into a park, the city of Montreal has proposed three other potential locations.
  Each site fulfils the museum’s criteria, the city said in a statement released Tuesday, including that the building be downtown, near the Quartier des Spectacles and easily accessible by public transit.
  “The ball is now in the museum’s court to analyze these options,” the
  
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• Zurkowsky: Johnny Manziel storm is about to hit Montreal full force

  01-08-2018 02:19 via montrealgazette.com
  The circus first came to town more than a week ago, after the Alouettes announced they had traded for Johnny Manziel, the former Heisman Trophy winner and first-round draft choice of the National Football League’s Cleveland Browns.
  The hype began immediately and will only intensify after Tuesday’s announcement by head coach Mike Sherman that Manziel will start Friday’s home game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, his former team.
  On Tuesday there were four television cameras at A
  
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• Two arrested, two injured after hit-and-run in St-Léonard

  01-08-2018 00:19 via montrealgazette.com
  Two men are in custody and two women are in hospital after a hit-and-run involving a stolen car in St-Léonard on Tuesday.
  Montreal police said two women were struck while crossing the road at Jean-Talon St. and 24th Ave. at about 3:30 p.m. when a car ran a red light.
  The driver and his passenger abandoned the car and fled on foot. Police later learned that the car had been reported stolen.
  The women, ages 40 and 73, are in stable condition in a hospital.
  Police arrested a 17-year-old and
  
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