Latest news with #Victoriaville
CBC
2 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Victoriaville mall demolition to start in July
A south-side Thunder Bay landmark is coming down this summer. Demolition of Victoriaville mall — which opened in 1980 — will begin in July, the city said at a media event on Thursday. The work is part of the Reimagine Victoriaville project, which will see Victoria Avenue reopened to vehicular traffic between Brodie and Archibald streets. "You'll start to see the contractor mobilizing to the area next week," Aaron Ward, manager of the city's engineering section, said at a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of the project on Thursday. "The first thing they're going to be doing is putting up their construction fencing and their staging areas off of Archibald Street, as well as off of Justice Avenue." Following that, temporary access to area businesses will be set up, Ward said, with the demolition beginning in mid-July. "They're expecting the entire mall structure will be down in two months, or two months and a week," Ward said. "Come end of summer, the entire area will be open to the air again." Ward said traffic will once again be able to drive along that section of Victoria Avenue by October 2026, and the overall project, including streetscaping and landscaping, should be done by June 2027. "It's invigorating," Thunder Bay Mayor Ken Boshcoff said. "I think this, also, is part of the community spirit." "People can feel the the uplift of all these types of projects that are going on as they all come together," he said. "You can see the community strengthening in the new prosperity." McKellar Ward Coun. Brian Hamilton — Victoriaville is located in the McKellar Ward — said revitalization of the city's downtown areas is a priority for city council. "This is a big component of the south side revitalization," he said. "This is like six years in the making." ""As long as I've been on council, this has been a big and important project for me, but not just for me, for actually the residents and the adjacent neighbourhoods."
CTV News
3 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Arthabaska: Denis Coderre urges Liberals to vote for Éric Duhaime
Former Montreal mayor Denis Coderre (left) appears alongside Éric Duhaime, leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) and candidate in the Arthabaska by-election, in Victoriaville on Thursday, May 29, 2025. (The Canadian Press/Thomas Laberge) In a political twist in Arthabaska, Denis Coderre has thrown his support behind Éric Duhaime, calling on Liberals and federalists in the riding to vote for the Conservative leader. 'A party leader, no matter who it is — if it had been someone else, I would've done the same darn thing — has the right to sit in the National Assembly,' the former mayor of Montreal said Thursday at a press conference in Victoriaville, standing alongside Duhaime. Coderre said the Conservative leader's ideas deserve to be heard at the National Assembly. 'The interests of Quebecers include, among other things, scrapping the carbon tax, and the only one who's been clear, straightforward and transparent about that is Éric Duhaime,' he said. The former federal minister urged the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) not to run a candidate in the riding, both to facilitate Duhaime's election and to 'save money.' 'If the PLQ runs someone, they won't even get 10 per cent,' he argued. Sitting beside him, the Conservative leader welcomed the endorsement, describing Coderre as a politician who puts democracy first. 'It sends the message that people of all stripes — no matter your position on the Constitution, no matter where you fall on the left-right spectrum — you're welcome in the Quebec Conservative Party. I want to bring people in Arthabaska together,' Duhaime said. After the press conference, the two went to shake hands with seniors at a nearby retirement residence. Tax troubles Until recently, Coderre had wanted to run for the PLQ leadership. But his ongoing tax troubles led the Liberals to reject his candidacy in February. At the time, he said he was 'disgusted' by the party's decision. On Thursday, the former mayor insisted his support for the Conservatives isn't about getting back at the Liberals. Coderre's tax issues remain unresolved. La Presse reported in recent days that he still owes taxes at both the provincial and federal levels. Back in October 2024, he said his situation would be resolved by January. At Thursday's press conference in Victoriaville, he repeated that 'all funds are secured.' 'The rest of this sounds more like smearing, harassment and intimidation,' he said. Asked whether he might run with the Conservatives in 2026, he replied simply: 'I'll deal with my stuff first.' Despite everything, the former federal minister says he still holds a PLQ membership card. When asked whether paying taxes is important, Duhaime sidestepped the question, saying that 'unfortunately,' in politics, old stories always resurface. 'Today's real news is that someone is standing up to say that democracy has its place in Quebec,' he added. Coderre was mayor of Montreal from 2013 to 2017. Before that, he was a federal Liberal MP from 1997 to 2013 in the Montreal riding of Bourassa. Three-way race According to poll aggregator Qc125, the Arthabaska by-election is shaping up to be a three-way race between the Quebec Conservative Party (PCQ), the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), and the Parti Québécois (PQ). Former Radio-Canada journalist Alex Boissonneault is running for the PQ. Voters in Arthabaska haven't elected a PQ MNA in over 25 years. Québec solidaire is running Pascale Fortin in the by-election. So far, neither the CAQ nor the Liberals have named a candidate. The riding has been held by the CAQ since 2012. In the 2022 provincial election, Conservative candidate Tarek Henoud placed second in Arthabaska with 25 per cent of the vote. The government has until September to call the by-election. This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 29, 2025. By Thomas Laberge, The Canadian Press
CBC
30-04-2025
- CBC
Junior hockey player who pleaded guilty to assault wants Supreme Court to hear appeal
Former Quebec junior hockey player Massimo Siciliano wants the Supreme Court to intervene, a month after the Court of Appeal upheld his sentence for sexually assaulting a teenage girl in 2021. Both Siciliano and his teammate Nicolas Daigle pleaded guilty to the sexual assault and were sentenced to 30 and 32 months in prison, respectively. At the time of the assault, Siciliano and Daigle were members of the Victoriaville team in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, and the club was celebrating on June 5, 2021, after winning the championship trophy. The victim, a 17-year-old girl, said she was assaulted by the players that night in a Quebec City-area hotel, and that Daigle also filmed her without her knowledge. The lawyers for the former Victoriaville Tigres tried to convince the Court of Appeal that they were eligible to serve sentences in the community, in part because of their ages. But the court rejected this argument and ordered the two young men to be taken into custody last month. Daigle does not want to take his case further, his lawyer confirmed to Radio-Canada. The young man will serve his sentence of 32 months. But Siciliano's lawyer, Charles Levasseur, is arguing for his client to be released until the Supreme Court processes his request. Levasseur argued in his authorisation request to the Supreme Court that the judge anchored the young man's sentence in a "desire to denounce a social phenomenon, rather than individualizing the penalty according to the offender's actual profile." Levasseur is hoping to convince the court of the necessity of establishing sentencing guidelines for young adult offenders. In his request to the Supreme Court, he mentioned how Canadian law explicitly recognizes the "special situation of teenagers and Indigenous people. However, it remains silent with regard to young adults between the ages of 18 and 25." He says it's not about "invoking youth as an excuse" but about applying justice that is individualized. But last month, the prosecutor said the defence would likely not be able to convince the Supreme Court to take up the case. "We consider the Court of Appeal's judgment to be very well drafted," said Michel Bérubé, representative of the director of criminal and penal prosecutions.
