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CTV News
20 minutes ago
- CTV News
Quebec's travelling carnivals, a summer staple for generations, continue to captivate
People wander around the Fun Show Amusement, a travelling carnival, in Laval, Que., on Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (The Canadian Press/Christinne) Bright colourful rides, skill-testing games with a stuffed animal prize, and copious amounts of sticky cotton candy are all hallmarks of the travelling carnival circuit, and are deeply rooted in the imagination of Quebecers who've been able to experience them. The travelling midways, which temporarily set up shop in shopping centre parking lots or wherever else they can find space, have been part of the Quebec landscape for decades. The people who bring on the fun say they intend to be here for years to come. 'We never end up in the red, business is going well,' says Véronique Vallée, co-owner of Beauce Carnaval, the oldest of two such companies. Some seasons — like this year with a cold and rainy April and May — are more difficult than others, she said. 'We lost nine Saturdays at the beginning of the year,' she said. 'That hurts. 'But when people see that the weather will be nice on Friday or Sunday, they adjust.' She and her two brothers are the third generation to operate the ferris wheels of Beauce Carnaval, founded in 1953 by their grandfather, Florian. The company operates two units that travel each year from the Côte-Nord to Abitibi, Outaouais, Montérégie, Estrie, and the Lower St-Lawrence region — passing through their home base of the Beauce, south of Quebec City, and everywhere in between. The newer company, Fun Show, also has two units on the road, but does not venture as far. Still, it covers a vast territory that extends from the Laurentians to the Eastern Townships to the capital region, passing through Central Quebec. Founded 19 years ago, Fun Show is a financially demanding business, says Sylvie Larivière, sister and right-hand woman to founder Mario Larivière. 'People have no idea about the costs of operation, repairs, maintenance and moving,' she said. 'We are 100 per cent self-sufficient: we provide our own electricity with generators, and diesel is a fortune.' There are other expenses — renting a vast lot, paying employees, housing them and insurance. It requires a solid financial footing. The weather was a problem to begin the season, but the company has since recovered, she said. The company has only lost money in one year in its almost 20-year history. Mario Larivière built Fun Show from the ground up, his sister said. 'He bought a few used rides, an investor who was kind enough to help him financed him and he worked hard,' she said. 'He was already good at mechanics and construction (and) the old rides were mechanical. 'But today, there are a lot of electronics, and it's not the mechanics that break anymore; it's always the electronics.' Véronique Vallée and her two brothers essentially grew up at the fair. 'When we finished school, we would come and spend our summers at the carnival,' Vallée said. 'My two brothers and I all studied in other fields and all three of us returned to the family business.' Both Fun Show and Beauce Carnaval employ around 100 people, a figure that can increase, as can the number of rides at major agricultural fairs if customer activity becomes more intense. It's a tough but rewarding job, Vallée said. 'It's difficult to recruit because people are on the road for six months. They don't see their families, they don't stay at home, they don't have Saturdays and Sundays off to go to the beach,' Vallée said. 'That's what characterizes this job: to go away, to be a vagabond for six months.' Since 2018, Beauce Carnaval has employed 34 seasonal workers from Mexico who've helped recruit each other over time. 'They have a great mutual support between them. It's really a great team and when they're here, they spread that to others,' Vallée said. On the Fun Show side, unit manager René Caron said recruiting isn't too hard as veterans return year after year and bring their friends with them. What attracts them, he said, is the feeling of having found a family. 'Many don't have a family, many don't have a fixed home. So they come here for the summer and the family atmosphere,' Caron said. 'They leave in the fall, but sometimes they go and live together in pairs or threes. They come here to build bonds.' Workers say they are passionate about carnival living. In particular, all point to the excited, happy faces of youth getting to partake as a major plus. Robert Gobeil and Sylvain Roy met at the Beauce Carnaval site in Victoriaville, Que. 'We love everything in general,' said Gobeil about his job. 'We're here to entertain people, what's better than entertaining people? I chose this job because we wanted to be able to work all summer and be down south in the winter.' Gobeil heads south in his motorhome in October and returns in April. He briefly retired after the COVID-19 pandemic, but was drawn back to carnival life. Sylvain Roy, on the other hand, loves winter and snowmobiling during the off-season. He, too, left the showman's life in 2009, but soon came back. 'When it's in your blood, you come back,' Roy said. 'I love it: Beauce Carnival is a family. We're a family at home, but when we're here, we have a family here too.' By Pierre Saint-Arnaud This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 2, 2025.
National Post
25 minutes ago
- National Post
SIMMONS SAYS: If the Blue Jays can play .500 the rest of the way, they should reach playoffs
Article content HEAR AND THERE Article content Last season, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner combined for 60 goals with the Maple Leafs. The number was rather low because of the 15 games Matthews missed, his mystery injury and the fact he had the lowest goal-scoring numbers of his career. If whoever plays right wing alongside Matthews and Matthew Knies scores something around 15 goals, they'll be above the 60 goal mark combined. The Leafs were still third in the East in scoring last season, 16 goals ahead of the Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers … The Leafs' largest challenge this coming season: Finding a way to replace the 47 primary assists Marner had last season. That's 20 more than anyone else had on the team. One reason for optimism: Max Domi had 19 primary assists while not playing much power-play time or not playing much on the first two Toronto lines … A weird stat: The Leafs were 26-1 last season in games in which Morgan Rielly had an assist … They were 21-2-1 in games William Nylander had two points … This is why Hockey Canada decided on just three goaltenders — the same three from the 4 Nations team — for its summer Olympic team gathering. General manager Doug Armstrong and staff looked at Washington's Logan Thompson, Edmonton's Stuart Skinner, Los Angeles' Darcy Kuemper and Mackenzie Blackwood of Colorado and considered them quite similar to their three named goaltenders. My understanding of this: Jordan Binnington is a sure thing for the Olympic team and, after that, two of Adin Hill, Sam Montembeault and the other four being looked at while being selected for the team in Milan … Montembeault is French Canadian, which helps his chances of being the third goalie … With rosters enlarged for the Olympics to 25 players, expect the 4 Nations forwards and defence to be much the same on the Olympic team, with the likely additions of Tom Wilson, Nick Suzuki and maybe Mark Scheifele up front and Evan Bouchard on defence. Still in tough to be named: Zach Hyman. A nice invite but with no chance of making it: Maple Leafs forward John Tavares. You can't pick Tavares over Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Brayden Point, Suzuki, Scheifele or Rob Thomas. He's not physical enough to play the wing or quick enough to be an effective forechecker. Article content SCENE AND HEARD Article content Elaine Tanner, once known as Mighty Mouse as Canada's greatest swimmer, predicted to me the other day that Summer McIntosh will soon be 'Canada's all-time greatest athlete ever.' So who wins Canada's athlete of the year this year? The MVP and NBA champion Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, or McIntosh, the multi gold-medal winning, record-breaking swimmer. A strong case could be made for both legends, and it's only August … SGA will be honoured in Hamilton on Thursday and presented with the first key to the city in 27 years … The NFL does Hall of Fame much better than Major League Baseball, the NBA or NHL. They do their inductions in the off-season, with no regular-season games playing opposite. Baseball and hockey have their induction ceremonies opposite league games being played. It means if you're a fan, you can't watch the Hall speeches and inductions and your favourite team play because it's happening at the same time. The NHL needs to find a way to honour its Hall of Famers properly on a night when no games are being played and the event could be televised nationally in both Canada and the United States … If you missed Ichiro Suzuki's Hall of Fame speech last Sunday, go find it. It's special and unique, just as he was as a player … Couldn't ESPN have waited another week before announcing it had fired Shannon Sharpe? His older brother Sterling Sharpe was being inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. There was no reason to put a damper on the weekend for the Sharpe family … I can see why Bryce Harper would be obstinate with baseball commissioner Rob Manfred when it comes to the possibility of having a salary cap in baseball. Harper, who will be paid $150 million over the next six seasons, ordered the commissioner to get the eff out of the Phillies clubhouse if he's talking salary cap. Article content AND ANOTHER THING Article content Terry Greer is the best Argonauts receiver I've ever seen. Mookie Mitchell and Darrell K. Smith not far behind him. Current Argo Damonte Coxie is among the best the team has ever had. And in less than half a season, with below-average quarterbacking, Coxie has 10 catches of more than 30 yards this season. Last season, no one in the CFL had more than that for an entire season … Former Argo Makai Polk, a key Grey Cup contributor last year as a rookie, was an early cut of the Atlanta Falcons. It's never good when you get let go before pre-season games begin. Might be good for the Argos if they can get him back … Yeah, it was eight years ago that John McEnroe predicted big things for the teenager, Denis Shapovalov. It's never quite happened the way McEnroe figured. Shapovalov is 26 years old now and just another guy on the men's tennis tour. He lost in his first match at the National Bank Open, as did fellow Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, who also looks like he should be significantly better than his results … How much does NHL regular-season scoring matter? In their back-to-back Stanley Cup seasons, the Florida Panthers finished 13th and 11th in goal-scoring … Rafael Nadal won 63 tournaments in his career and lost only 51 matches in his entire career. The retiring Genie Bouchard's reaction to that nearly impossible statistic: 'This makes me want to throw up.' … With Aaron Judge out for some time and the rest of his season in question, does that put Cal Raleigh in the MVP chase, or is it simply Judge and nobody else in the American League race? … This is how bad a season Mookie Betts is having with the Dodgers: He ranks 63rd in the National League in batting, 55th in home runs, 47th in RBIs, 72nd in OPS, 63rd in on-base percentage … I don't suspect Connor Bedard or Macklin Celebrini have much chance of playing for Team Canada in Italy in February, but I do like the idea that both young stars have been included on the summer camp invite list. They both will be on the Olympic roster in 2030 in the French Alps … Happy birthday to Marv Levy (100), Tom Brady (48), Marcel Dionne (74), Jim Gott (66), Dominic Moore (45), Kristaps Porzingis (30), Evander Kane (34), Bombo Rivera (73), Troy Glaus (49), Sid Bream (65), and Tony Amonte (55) … And hey, whatever became of Devon Travis? Article content
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Sailing school allows beginners to learn the ropes this summer in Saskatchewan
Beginners are taking advantage of learning how to sail this summer in Saskatchewan, thanks to the Regina Sailing Club. After travelling to Tahiti with her husband, Victoria Oppenlander came across a couple of sailors. 'We ran into people sailing around the world. We chatted with them, gave them a ride to their next spot, and it kind of piqued our interests,' she shared. Upon returning to their home in Saskatchewan, the two felt the wind in their own sails to learn the ropes of the sport themselves. 'When we got home we checked it out, found out there was a learn-to-sail class in the province,' she explained. 'It worked out that we were able to sign up for classes this summer so that's what we're doing.' In late July, Oppenlander was one of many people participating in the water-based sport at Last Mountain Lake – joining a one-week sailing course organized by the Saskatchewan Sailing Club's Association's Mobile Sailing School. Expand Autoplay 1 of 12 Regina Sailing Club (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News) Regina Sailing Club (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News) Regina Sailing Club (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News) Regina Sailing Club (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News) Regina Sailing Club (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News) Regina Sailing Club (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News) Regina Sailing Club (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News) Regina Sailing Club (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News) Regina Sailing Club (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News) Regina Sailing Club (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News) Regina Sailing Club (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News) Regina Sailing Club (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News) The organization makes its way across the province visiting different sailing clubs with the goal of introducing the sport to more people. 'We get about 10 students every class,' shared head instructor Rhys Kelm. 'I really like teaching them how to sail right from the barebones beginning. As they get in the boat and they don't even know how the boat steers at all, then suddenly by the end of it, they're racing, right? It's super cool to see that progression from zero to hero almost.' Out on her first time with her father and brother, 12-year-old Hayley Mickelborough said the activity was her dad's idea, but she hopped on board as soon as arriving at shore. 'It's a little scary, it's fun, it's interesting. I like it,' she said smiling. 'I would recommend this because it's a big learning experience. It's just really fun overall.' Regina's local club said the initiative helps encourage people of all ages and skill levels to come out. 'These courses are very important to the growth of our sport. It's a not a very known sport in Saskatchewan,' explained Adam Fletcher, commodore of Regina Sailing Club. 'Anytime we have the opportunity to get new people involved, exposed, we will take it.' Fletcher added that people don't need to have much experience or own their own equipment to be able to join. 'If you're looking at becoming a member of the Regina Sailing Club, you do not have to own your own boats. We do have member boats available to you,' he explained. 'We do have some little dinghies that you can use if you're starting out from. We do have cruiser boats for those more experienced sailors.' People can find out more information on the club's website. - With files from Gareth Dillistone
