Family-oriented yoga event to take place Sunday, raising funds for homeless

By Isaac Olson
Lee-Ann Matthews, founder of Kids Space Yoga, is hosting a fundraising event at St. Thomas Church (6897 Somerled Ave. corner of Rosedale Ave.) on April 2 at 10 am.

All are welcome to participate, she said, kids in tow or not, but it will be a family-oriented, non-secular event with live guitar music, singing, yoga movements and plenty of fun for people of all ages. While she has kid-sized mats available, adults are encouraged to bring their own and refreshments will be served after the one-hour class which starts at 10 am, so get there at least 15 minutes early.

Donations, big or small, will be accepted with all proceeds going to Open Door ― a Westmount-based homeless shelter.

“It’s geared mostly for families,” said Matthews, noting all donations are accepted as people are welcome to give as much or as little as they can. “I teach yoga to children under 18, but sometimes people like to come anyway even if they don’t have a kid and that's okay as well.”

No preregistration is required, she said, as the space is large enough to host at least 40 people. This is not a religious activity, though Matthews does facilitate kids’ programming at the church. This activity, she notes, is to encourage kids at her church about social outreach and community work.

“I am super excited to do this,” said Matthews. “I love doing community family events. It’s my favourite thing to do. I just hope a lot of people of come out. Having a lot of participants creates a greater energy. We will have a better vibe.”

For more informaiton:
Lee-Ann Matthews
Phone: 514.262.4060
Email: kidsspaceyoga@gmail.com
Website: http://kidsspaceyoga.blogspot.ca/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kidsspaceyoga/

Residents continue to express range of frustrations over ongoing Turcot construction

The sound barrier along Prud'homme Ave. Photo: Malaka Ackaoui 

By Isaac Olson

Residents in eastern NDG are sick of the traffic, the construction and the sound barriers that are pressed against their homes, lining the Decarie Expressway’s trench while crews continue to peck away at the Turcot Interchange reconstruction project.

Frustrations flared during the March 27 meeting of the Turcot N.D.G-Westmount Neighbourhood Committee which was held in the St. Raymond Community Centre. These meetings are designed to update the public about ongoing work in the area while giving citizens an opportunity to raise concerns of their own.

One of the more prevalent concerns is that for pedestrians and cyclists, especially children, in eastern NDG as bottle-necking traffic continues to put pressure on the surrounding neighbourhoods. Parents have continually expressed worry that there aren't enough safety measures being implemented in the St. Raymond district as kids walk to and from the new school at the corner of Upper Lachine Rd. and Oxford Ave. Montreal representative James Byrns said the file is progressing, but his vague, detail-lacking response brought cries of dissatisfaction from the audience. NDGers want more to be done to calm traffic and keep children safe in St. Raymond.

Another big concern is the walls looming over the neighbourhood on both sides of Highway 15. The MTQ is looking to expand these walls along Addington St. and Prud'homme Ave. On Prud'homme, the concern is an expansion would block access to the green space along the highway's trench.

Malaka Ackaoui is a member of the committee and neighbourhood resident. During the meeting, Ackaoui and Jill Prescesky continued to question the intrusive sound barriers along Addington St. and Prud’homme Ave. The tall, plywood walls, stuffed with insulation, cast dark shadows on a community that never asked for the walls in the first place.

Citizens have continually asked the Quebec’s Minister of Transport (MTQ) “not to install this type of visual pollution,” states Ackaoui, but the MTQ persists. These walls are supported by by the city and the director of public health (DSP), she notes.

“We believe they are concentrating on noise, but ignoring other important and psychological health issued that are related to such a wall,” she stated, noting residents came together in October 2016 to demand the wall be removed along Addington St. due to its "ugliness and inefficiency."

“After distributing fliers asking residents to express their opinions on the installation of a temporary noise barrier, the majority expressed their concerns regarding the proposed walls. Seventy percent voted against it on Prud’homme and some 40 percent on Addington.  Despite these figures, they persist on ignoring our requests.  What a conception of democracy!”

The Prud'homme Ave. wall may extend north
to block this green space as it runs along the curb. Photo: Malaka Ackaoui 

Ackaoui provided Montreal Reporter with these bullet points about the proposed wall extension along Prud'homme Ave.

·         The proposed wall is supposed to stay at least until 2020!  It is extremely ugly and not as efficient for noise reduction as MTQ pretends.

·         This proposed wall extension will hide all the greenery facing the homes on Prud’homme Ave.

·         A visually unpleasant environment makes it more difficult to sell homes or rent apartments

. 

·         Some landlords have already reduced the amount of monthly rent they expect for their apartments due to the Turcot construction problems.

·         The green space behind the wall will become a potential hiding place for mischief. 

                                                                                                      

·         The wall will prevent children from playing safely in the green space.

·         Dog owners will lose the walking space with their animals.

Dan Lambert speaks during the meeting on March 27. Photo: Isaac Olson

Five recent NDG-related stories by Isaac Olson in the Montreal Gazette

Alana Barrell's paintings can be found on her website. Photo: Eva Blue

All of the below blurbs and subsequent links lead to articles by me in the Montreal Gazette. 

Currently, I am producing about two a week for the newspaper, focusing on NDG-area coverage. If you hear about something interesting happening in the NDG area, let me know. If it's not fit for the Gazette, I will publish it here on my blog. 

1. Trinity Memorial: Published on March 18, this article explores the potential sale of Trinity Memorial Church on Sherbrooke St. and the fate of the NDG Food Depot which is still housed in the nearly 100-year-old building. NDG district councillor Peter McQueen will be bringing his church-preservation motion to the borough council on April 3. Click here for the full article.

2. Barrell paints: Part-time NDG resident Alana Barrell loves painting when her paranoid schizophrenia isn’t getting her down. Thanks to a non-profit initiative, she has been hosting her first solo art exhibition at 4865 St. Laurent Blvd. The article was published on March 21. Click here for the full article. 

3. Boundary dispute: As reported on March 21, west-end politicians are leading citizens to fight against provincial electoral boundary lines that, they say, will divide key voting groups. At issue are the Mont-Royal, Outremont and D’Arcy McGee ridings which will all be switched around just in time for the upcoming election on October 1, 2018.  Click here for the full article. 

4. Graffiti fight: Long-time NDG property owner Edward Kalil is looking to fight the CDN-NDG borough by-law that fines taxpayers for not keeping their buildings clean. Kalil is 82 years old and owns the property at the northeastern corner of Sherbrooke St. and Westmore Ave. Kalil has just signed his business tenant, Second Cup, on to another 10-year lease. Meanwhile, he’s going to court on April 28 to fight a $700 fine for allegedly not keeping his property clean. Click here for the full article that was published on March 24. 

5. On-ramp coming: MTQ officials have confirmed plans to build an on-ramp from the under-construction St. Jacques St. bridge to the Decarie Expressway northbound. As reported on March 27, this announcement comes after NDG district councillor Peter McQueen collected more than 300 signatures related to this issue. This new on-ramp will allow vehicles exiting the MUHC hospital faster access to Highway 15. As it is, all motorists are directed north on Decarie Blvd. to the Sherbrooke St. on-ramp, creating constant congestion. For the full article, click here. 

Porchfest NDG 2017 organizers put the call out for musicians

Porchfest NDG 2015. Photo: Isaac Olson

By Isaac Olson

Organizers are getting ready for the upcoming Porchfest NDG - a community musical event where musicians jam on porches, stoops and patios throughout the neighbourhood for two days. 

Online registration for musicians kicked off on March 19, 2017 for the third annual installment of Porchfest. This year’s event is slated to take place on May 20 and 21.

The Westhaven-Elmhurst Community Association will benefit from this year’s event. The association offers free programs, including music workshops and a recording studio, for teens and young adults in NDG. 

According to Porchfest NDG’s website, “All the donations collected during the 2017 edition of Porchfest NDG will go towards improving music education resources available to NDG youth through Westhaven’s inclusive and accessible music program.”

Musicians must first find a porch to perform on before registering through Porchfest NDG’s website. The musician schedules will vary as organizers work to disperse shows throughout NDG, but make it easy for people to hop from one porch-based performance to the next.

Click this sentence to reach Porchfest NDG’s website.

Click this sentence to reach its Facebook page. 

This sentence leads you to a video from 2015.

Here are two more photos I took of Porchfest NDG in 2015:

Porchfest NDG 2015. Photo: Isaac Olson

Porchfest NDG 2015. Photo: Isaac Olson

Benrobi to star in upcoming performance of ‘Closer’

By Isaac Olson

Izak Benrobi, an NDG resident and co-founder of Acts to Grind Theatre, is starring in the company’s upcoming “melodramedy” by Patrick Marber called “Closer.”

While Acts to Grind Theatre did a performance back in January, Benrobi said this upcoming play is the company’s first big show.

Izak Benrobi

“Our first show was almost like a trial run,” said Benrobi in a phone interview on March 28. He said this upcoming show is “really our first big launch.”

Looking ahead, he added, “I’m feeling good. I have one week off now to really work on my character.”

Benrobi will be playing Larry, a dermatologist. Wikipedia provides plenty of plot spoilers if you like plot spoilers.  The play was adapted into a 2004 film as well.

According to the press release, the play won the 1998 Olivier Award for best play and it won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for best foreign play in 1999.

“Four lives intertwine over the course of four and a half years in this stinging look at modern love and betrayal,” states the press release, noting the story is set in London in the year 1997. 

The four main characters, including an obituary writer, a dermatologist, an American stripper and a photographer, end up in “a series of pass-the-lover scenes in which this quartet struggle to find intimacy, but, despite shared truths and kindness, can't seem to get any closer.”

The play will be performed seven times between April 4 and April 9 at the MainLine Theatre (3997 St. Laurent Blvd., just south of Duluth Ave.). It is a limited-seating, intimate venue and it is recommended that you book in advance here.

The schedule is as follows:

• April 4 to 9: 8 pm
• April 9 matinee: 2 pm 

Click here for a promotional video clip. 

Acts to Grind's Facebook page is here. 

Students studying or living in D'Arcy-McGee riding invited to participate in video contest

D'Arcy-McGee MNA David Birnbaum is organizing a riding-wide student video competition to commemorate and celebrate Canada's 150th anniversary, according to a press release available on the Côte St. Luc city website. 

The contest is called, “Canada at 150: My story, your story.”

Students living or studying in the riding are invited to produce a video, no longer than two minutes, where they  interview grandparents, a neighbour or a relative “about their thoughts on coming to or living in Canada, and/or the students’ own reflections on the occasion of Canada’s 150th.”

Two iPad mini prizes will be handed out for winning videos, one to an elementary school student and the other to a secondary school student. The winners will be announced and their videos presented at Côte Saint-Luc’s Canada Day celebrations on July 1.

The deadline for the video entries is June 2, 2017 at 4 pm. Entries should be submitted to darcymcgeeqc@gmail.com

The three-member jury to choose the winners includes CTV Montreal News Anchor Mutsumi Takahashi, former Canadian Justice Minister and Mount Royal MP Irwin Cotler and Citizenship Judge Barbara Seal.

Click this sentence to watch a video about the contest. 

MNA David Birnbaum (right) after winning the 2014 election. Photo: Isaac Olson

NDGers come together to support firebombed restaurant

Isaac Olson on the beat (left) interviewing N.D.G resident Rachel Berger  while a CBC reporter shows the camera which window was broken by vandals. Photo: Romney Copeman

The new Boustan Restaurant, just a few months old in NDG, was firebombed on March 7 at around 1:20 a.m. and the two suspects were arrested soon after.

By the end of the week, the broken window was fixed and the fire damage cleaned up. Romney Copeman, a lifelong NDGer, organized an eat-in of sorts to show the restaurant owners and workers that they are welcome in NDG. The event was organized via Facebook and interest grew quickly.

This was the tightest deadline on a story that I have had since since my early days as a beat reporter in St. Johnsbury, Vermont working for the Caledonian Record back in 2003/2004. The event started at 5:30 pm and I was expected to have the story in by 9:30 pm at the very latest. I borrowed my father-in-law's laptop so I could write it in the nearby Shaika Cafe while sipping herbal tea.

The article, which I turned it at 7:37 pm can be read in full here.