Lives & Legacy

Towns across Quebec are facing a crisis: They can’t afford to pay to maintain their deteriorating infrastructure. Where will the money come from?

Facing a water shortage that has triggered the imposition of water restrictions since earlier this year, the Town of Rigaud is now stepping up measures as the summer months approach to encourage residents to limit their water consumption, and has hired a private patrol service to enforce the control measures.

Officials in Vaudreuil-Dorion welcomed the decision by transit officials last week to continue operations for two popular bus lines until the end of the month, but say they will continue to push for the express service to continue for at least the next year.

Major repair work on the Daoust overpass at Highway 40 — one of the main entrances to the Town of St. Lazare — began this week, narrowing the access route and contributing to rush-hour traffic slowdowns that are expected to continue until September.

When a Sikh place of worship was abruptly closed in Vaudreuil-Dorion earlier this month, members of the religious community were rocked, and left scrambling. But with assistance from city officials, they are now making progress in finding a new, more suitable location.

Two residents — one from Notre Dame de l’Île Perrot and one from Vaudreuil-Dorion — were among seven individuals rounded up by the RCMP and the Sûreté du Québec earlier this month and who now face extradition to the United States for their alleged involvement in a so-called grandparent scam that netted a criminal organization of $21 million.

With the launch of the West Island branch of the REM light rail line less than two weeks away, the Exo public transit service unveiled its new bus network for the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region, which will include the creation of four lines that will bring commuters to and from the Anse-à-l’Orme REM station in Ste. Anne de Bellevue.

The mother of a three-year-old girl who was found not criminally responsible of abandoning the child on the side of an Ontario highway last June — a case that triggered a massive three-day search throughout the Vaudreuil-Soulanges area — has been released from a psychiatric hospital and now resides at a halfway house.

With all members of Hudson council in agreement last week, the town signalled it will expand its natural land holdings in the Sandy Beach area, and purchase a privately owned residential lot along the waterfront for $1.3 million.

As the weather warms up and plants begin to grow, residents in Vaudreuil-Dorion are taking issue with a recent city bylaw, banning them from using potable water to water their lawns.