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Why do we keep trying to jam square pegs into round holes?

A total of 371 people died on Quebec’s roads last year, according to the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec’s Bilan routiere 2025 released last month — with nine of these fatalities recorded in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region.

The small town of Terrasse Vaudreuil has been making headlines across Quebec, Canada and the globe this past month, following its novel move to recognize the rights of trees on its territory.

Renaming Sandy Beach is one of the issues the Town of Hudson is soliciting citizen input on as it develops a conservation plan for the waterfront space it acquired earlier this year.

Xavier Villeneuve, an 18-year-old standout hockey defencemen from Les Cèdres, experienced last month what most young players can only dream of — hearing his name called at the annual NHL Entry Draft.

Touting it as an example of cooperation between all three levels of government, while also framing the announcement in an election-campaign-style framework to showcase the CAQ’s focus on the housing crisis, Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette headlined the official unveiling of an affordable housing project in St. Lazare last week.

JOSHUA ALLANThe 1019 Report – Local Journalism Initiative After approving, and then postponing the funding to create much-needed additional space for municipal office workers in the small town of Pointe des Cascades, the provincial government recently announced it finally will be providing financial assistance leading the municipality to finally move forward with its plans. The Quebec government made good on its commitment to fund the lion’s share of...

Details are emerging of an undercover operation by Montreal Police that has landed an Île Perrot man in jail for selling two illegal weapons and luring a teenager to help him commit the crime.

A 31-year-old man from Vaudreuil sur le Lac was in a Montreal courtroom late last month where he pleaded not guilty to charges related to an impaired driving incident in April 2023. A date for his trial was set, but he remains in custody as he also faces charges related to another drunk-driving accident in October 2024 that left a Pointe Claire woman severely injured.

Last December, when municipal officials across the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region were approving budgets for 2026, many town officials aimed to keep tax increases roughly around the 3-per-cent-rate-of-inflation range, while the MRC council approved a budget that included a 10-per-cent spending hike. That increase by the regional authority translated into a 15.6-per-cent jump in the amounts billed to the 23 towns in the territory.

In real estate, “location, location, location,” is the saying used to list the three most important factors in determining a property’s value. This could be especially true with the much-anticipated opening of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges hospital next year, as proximity to the health-care hub appears to be already boosting property prices in the region, say veteran real estate brokers.

The 1019 Report’s Frederic Serre won a provincial community newspaper honour last weekend, winning the award for Best Editorial Cartoon.

Many questions remain a week after two young men perished in Coteau du Lac while fleeing Sûreté du Québec in a speeding BMW that slammed into a river near Highway 20. Because the deaths are related to a police intervention, the case is under investigation by the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI) and the Montreal Police Department.

As opposition to a proposed high-speed train line from Quebec City to Toronto mount in a number of rural towns in Quebec and Ontario, officials in Pointe Fortune and Rigaud are demanding officials with the Crown corporation that aims to build the rail line answer questions about how their territories will be affected.

Vaudreuil-Dorion’s annual Festival de cirque will mark its 20th edition later this month, celebrating acrobatics, dance, juggling, street art and many more features of circus-inspired performances.

Amid growing concerns about pedestrian safety in Rigaud’s village core, the town is planning to install overhead flashing lights at crosswalks later this summer, with more safety measures to potentially follow, said Mayor Charles Meunier.

The MRC of Vaudreuil-Soulanges is asking Quebec’s Health Ministry and Santé Québec to change how 911 calls are treated in this region — returning to allowing local fire department first-responders to be dispatched when a call for medical help is made.

Plans for a 45-unit affordable housing project in St. Lazare are in motion, with the city hopeful shovels will be in the ground later this year to start construction, according to the mayor.

The lawyer for a couple who recently won a $62,500 settlement against a landlord in Hudson for a so-called ‘reno-viction’ scheme says it’s the highest penalty she has ever seen handed out by a rental board judge in the 25 years that she’s been practising law.

Saddle up! This Saturday, St. Lazare will celebrate its fourth annual Horse Day — a celebration of the majestic animals that have long been part of the town’s identity.

A long-time resident of the densely forested Oakridge Road in St. Lazare is calling for a group of centuries-old white pines to be preserved as the private road is set to be municipalized as part of a development project.

A man from Vaudreuil sur le Lac facing criminal charges in a hit-and-run accident that seriously injured a Pointe Claire woman in 2024 remains behind bars as he awaits trial this month — not for this case but another crash in 2023, where he has been charged with impaired driving causing injury.

A resident of St. Zotique who worked as a firefighter in Vaudreuil-Dorion between 2018 and 2022, as well as in Coteau du Lac, is facing serious sex charges involving an underage victim, but will continue to be employed by the Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal until his case is decided by a court of law, according to a spokesperson with the City of Montreal.

It was the kindness and generosity of Hudson and St. Lazare residents that made Sophie d’Apollonia’s 106th birthday a happy one last week. Dozens of residents had reached out to daughter Silvia d’Apollonia the day prior, offering up bunches of flowers to gift to her mother for her special day.

The husband of a popular St. Lazare florist killed last November after she was run over by a car near her home now faces serious criminal charges after a lengthy Sûreté du Québec investigation led to his arrest at his St. Lazare residence early last Wednesday morning.

The top elected official of the MRC of Vaudreuil-Soulanges has been given a pay cut, a move that slashes his base salary by just over 21 per cent — or $32,405 — reigning in his annual remuneration to $119,595.

With a promise to make sure that the residents of the provincial riding of Soulanges will be seen and heard in the National Assembly, the Quebec Liberal party unveiled its candidate for the riding yesterday — Olivier Bertin-Mahieux.

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.

The small town of Vaudreuil sur le Lac has witnessed significant pushback by residents through the past few months over a proposed overhaul of its urban planning regulations, culminating with the town’s promise last month to pause the project and “return to the drawing board.”

A Les Cèdres woman who participated in the torture and killing of a young crypto influencer in 2024 by allowing the killers to use her basement for $3,000 is already a free woman, despite being sentenced last January to two years behind bars.

Like the Habs’ win on Sunday night, Hudson’s new town councillor Andrew Dumas is celebrating his win and looking forward to the next round.

Nearly six months after coming up short in her bid for mayor of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Karine Lechasseur announced that she is stepping down as head of the municipal party Inspire Vaudreuil-Dorion late last month.

Nearly two years after a female trucker was beaten unconscious during a shocking road rage incident on the Île aux Tourtes Bridge during long traffic delays due to work that limited the number of lanes open on the span, the victim will finally have her day in court when the case goes before a judge this summer as the suspect faces one count of assault causing bodily harm.

Nearly three weeks after his arrest, the Sûreté du Québec is urging potential victims of a Vaudreuil-Dorion massage therapist to come forward as police continue to build their case against him.

As Hudson council weighs its decision on whether to buy an additional lot in the Sandy Beach area, the owner of the land — who currently owes $1 million on the property — says the town should exercise its first right of refusal and purchase it for $1.3 million.

A dog in St. Lazare was been designated as “potentially dangerous” by the town council.

The team who publishes The 1019 Report  and The 1510 West hosted back-to-back food drives in recent weeks — one in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region and one in the West Island and — and collected about 700 kilograms of non-perishable items.

A noisy issue that has kept many residents up at night is being put to bed. Starting tomorrow, trains travelling through St. Lazare will no longer be required to blow their whistles at two level crossings adjacent to suburban neighbourhoods.

Starting next month, St. Lazare’s monthly town council meetings will include two question periods, providing an opportunity for residents to inquire about the resolutions raised at the meeting.

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.

What began with a raid on an Île Perrot construction company in early 2025 by the province’s anti-corruption unit ended last week with the company’s owner pleading guilty to ripping off the Town of Rigaud by signing a false affidavit in connection with a contract to conduct roadwork.