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The three candidates vying for the open seat on Hudson council in the May 3 by-election all say the municipality’s small-town sense of community is at the base of why they want to be part of running the town, but each are focusing on very different issues as they make their pitch to voters living in the central village core.
Cité des Jeunes Boulevard will be getting a major overhaul beginning this week, including the construction of two major round-abouts to accommodate easier traffic flow in anticipation of the opening of the new Vaudreuil-Soulanges Hospital.
We have all heard the question: If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
Less than a month after taking formal title to seven lots in the Sandy Beach area, the Town of Hudson is considering expanding its waterfront holdings by purchasing an adjacent residential lot that is poised to be sold privately.
The population of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region has increased by 6.2 per cent in the last five years, with the largest city in the area, Vaudreuil-Dorion, seeing the biggest jump in the number of residents, according to the latest numbers released by the provincial government.
When times are tough, when rising prices add to the financial pressures people struggle with, neighbours help neighbours. It is with that thought in mind that team who publishes The 1019 Report and The 1510 West have decided to host a food drive. In fact, we — along with our sponsors — are hosting two food drives. The first will be on Saturday, March 28, in the West Island to benefit West Island Mission. Please drop by McKibbin’s in Pointe Claire, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., to drop off any non-perishable food items or toiletries. Then, we turn our attention to helping Le Pont Bridging in Hudson and La Source d’Entraide in St. Lazare. On April 11, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., the newspapers’ representatives will be at Cardinal Brewing in Hudson, McKibbins’ Vaudreuil and Duke & Divines in Vaudreuil-Dorion to collect food items. Hope you can join us. Let’s generate a few positive headlines together. You are unauthorized to view this page.
Editorial This fall, this region needs to elect effective advocates In less than seven months, Quebecers will be voting in a provincial election. And the movers and shakers in this region are asleep at the switch. Do you want to dispute that assessment? Go ahead. But answer this question: Who are the candidates who will be vying for your support? The only declared runners are the incumbents — Marilyne Picard for the Coalition Avenir Québec in Soulanges and Marie-Claude Nicholls for the Liberals in Vaudreuil. There is no race with only one candidate per riding. Sure, there is an argument to be made that it’s too early to be out campaigning. That is not off base. But before there is a campaign, you still need a candidate. And given the poor pool of prospects who were put forward during the last provincial election, party organizers need to do better this time around. Vaudreuil-Soulanges is one of the fastest-growing regions of the province. It is also a booming economic regional force. It is strategically located between Montreal and Ontario, a vital trade corridor. The population increase here, according to the last census, showed a growth rate that outpaced both the provincial and national averages. In fact, Statistics Canada showed the Vaudreuil-Soulanges area even surpassed the growth rate of the Montérégie region, which includes 14 MRC districts that stretch from the Ontario border along the South Shore of Montreal to Brome-Missisquoi, and northeast to the Sorel area. That was the 2021 census. Since that time, this expansion has accelerated. So let’s not dwell on the past. Let’s look to the future. Every current indicator — housing demand, development plans, the opening of the new hospital and all the spinoffs it will trigger, job openings — point to a region maintaining a trajectory of growth. That is the big picture. Now, let’s drill down on the demographic data. Looking at the subcategories — in terms of age, education, income — Vaudreuil-Soulanges is young, educated, highly employed with strong household incomes and able to fully function in both French and English. Every way you cut it, this region deserve proper representation. It needs effective advocacy, as all this growth needs to be accommodated. Municipal officials are managing thegrowth, but it is the higher levels of government that will fuel the support to build the infrastructure: both the physical infrastructure — the roads and schools — and the structural infrastructure — the services, funding support and policy initiatives that will help towns and community groups manage the growing needs. With all the polls showing the likelihood that the CAQ will be booted out of government, the Liberal party has an opportunity. But it needs to recognize the region’s full potential and importance and not simply view it as a place to parachute someone into. This region needs a boots-on-the-ground advocate that brings a full-range of understanding, talents and experience to the conversation, someone who also possesses the basic courtesy and ability to at least say a few words in English in public. This takes nothing away from functioning fully in French. The polls reflect a strong sentiment for change. Parties need to recognize that, including that doing things the same old way won’t cut it. Political arrogance has fallen out of fashion. Respectful, informed competence is in. The times demand it. And it is time that Vaudreuil-Soulanges be given the opportunity to earn its place at the big table. But it has to have the right advocates to fight for it, to make its case, to frame its vision, to formulate and articulate a plan. And in doing so, reflect its future of possibility. This is not an arena where a well-connected party insider from somewhere else, or an aspiring hopeful who has not accomplished anything should be allowed to pretend. There is too much on the line, too much that needs to accomplished. And time is running short. All parties will be running candidates in the next election. They always do. But in this region, they have to do better than what they have shown in the past. Look at the mess this province is in. We can’t afford to waste the chance to be better. Brenda O’FarrellEditor-in-chief You are unauthorized to view this page.
BRENDA O’FARRELLThe 1019 Report A demand issued last month by local political and business leaders to Santé Québec to outline its recruitment strategy to staff the new Vaudreuil-Soulanges Hospital has so far been met with silence, says the president of the region’s economic development agency. “It’s essential to get an answer from Santé Québec,” said Danie Deschênes, president of DEV Vaudreuil-Soulanges in an interview with The 1019 Report last week. “We still want to see the plan,” Deschênes continued, adding: “Is there a plan?” That question sums up the ever-growing worry the new hospital will fall short of its stated goal of filling 3,500 jobs and recruiting 200 doctors between now and when the facility opens in the spring of 2028. Deschênes, who is also the mayor of Notre Dame de l’Île Perrot, said she did not expect health officials to jump when DEV formally — and very publicly — issued the request to be brought into the loop on the hiring plan on Feb. 11, explaining regional stakeholders are willing to be patient. But they are not going to wait indefinitely, she said. A meeting with DEV officials and local members of the National Assembly —Soulanges CAQ MNA Marilyne Picard and Vaudreuil Liberal MNA Marie-Claude Nicholls — is set for this week, Deschênes said. But no details of a hiring strategy is expected to be shared. And so far there has been no word from Santé Québec officials or representatives of the CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest, the regional health authority overseeing the hiring for the new hospital. STAFFING: Regional officials warn of workforce crisis The request for more information from provincial health officials was one of five demands the region’s economic development board made last month as it issued an unprecedented and urgent call for a territorial exemption from both the provincial and federal governments for changes to immigration policies to ensure against the loss of temporary foreign workers employed in the region. Sounding the warning of a pending workforce crisis, DEV officials were joined by a number of employers in the region last month to showcase just how dire the potential loss of foreign workers is being felt. The changes to the programs that affect foreign workers, including those who had been recruited to this region through the Programme de l’expérience québécoise (PEQ) that provided selected and qualified workers with a path to residency status, is real, and threatens the area’s economic growth, the business leaders said. The Vaudreuil-Soulanges area is in a unique position, Joanne Brunet, the director-general of DEV, said last month, as she pointed to the what was described as a perfect storm that is threatening businesses in the region. Brunet said the region’s proximity to Ontario, which is prepared to welcome temporary foreign workers currently employed in this region who now face an uncertain future as they grapple with the prospect of not being allowed to renew their work permits in this province; the approximately 1,000 job vacancies that currently exist here; and the hospital’s hiring needs is putting “significant pressure” on a labour market already struggling to keep up with demand. Last week, the CISSS Montérégie-Ouest released a video that featured an animated 3D simulation of what the main entrance of the hospital will look like. The online presentation included a link to the agency’s hiring portal. A request to the CISSS for comment from The 1019 Report has gone unanswered. Since construction of the hospital began in 2022, Quebec has twice pushed back the opening of the hospital. Originally planned to welcome its first patient in December 2026, health officials last January pushed back the opening of the facility to the summer of 2027. Then, last July, officials revised the date again, setting the opening now for spring 2028. The delays, in part, have been attributed to difficulties in filling the more than 3,500 new positions the new facility will require. Local Journalism Initiative You are unauthorized to view this page.