The deal concerns a piece of land which, two years ago, was leased to promoter George Syrovatka for a mere $1 by the federal government in order for him to build a Czech community centre on the site. With the new Montreal Casino about to move next door, the locale has taken on new value and Syrovatka has decided he would rather build a hotel. Locals aren't happy.

According to St-Cyr - the former Bloc Québécois candidate who nearly bounced Verdun MP and Canadian Heritage Minister Liza Frulla out of her seat - Raymond Lavigne was behind the hotel project from its very beginning. He was the Ottawa operator who flushed the piece of land out of Alfonso Gagliano's Public Works Department and into former minister Sheila Copp's Heritage Canada before it was signed over to Syrovatka, he says.

Now a senator, Lavigne is reported to have recently organized a top-level meeting for both Sud-Ouest borough councillors Line Hamel and Robert Bousquet with officials at Parks Canada to discuss the hotel project, which has been buried under accusations of Liberal patronage in the last weeks and faces dissolution. While Lavigne is known to have been at the meeting, borough Mayor Jacqueline Montpetit refused her invitation because she felt it was "inappropriate."

During last week's borough council meeting, Bousquet and Hamel voted to have the borough's decision about the hotel project put off until next month, stating "We want to have all the facts before making that kind of decision."

"What more do they need to know?" asked one borough activist. "This deal stinks, and if they can't smell it, [Bousquet and Hamel] would have to step into dog shit before either of them knew something's wrong."

When Bousquet tried to defend his choice to put off the decision about the hotel project, borough activist Marc Tremblay replied that both Hamel and Bousquet were putting their credibility on the line.

"The people won't forget this," he said. "Stop taking us for granted... stop trying to fool us!"

Previous to the evening's meeting, Montpetit said that she left Pierre Bourque's Vision party because she could no longer continue working with Hamel and Bousquet.

"Too many questions have been raised about this project, its dubious merits and the credibility of its promoter for any of us to have anything more to do with it," she said.

 
 

		Write your comment on this article!

Patronage and Back Door Deals     Let's see we've got the Quebec government who's eager to move the Casino de Montreal from Ile Notre-Dame to the Peel basin (near the Lachine Canal), and there's some federal land sitting nearby (near the location of the future site of the Casino) which no one wants until the Casino's move there is proposed. The federal land is leased for a buck by a guy who wanted to build a Czech community centre but will instead build a hotel 'cause instead of doing something to benefit the Czech community, he wants to pad his wallet. Now, we find out a former Bloc Quebecois MP (now Senator) was probably the one who was instrumental in this hotel project and the residents of the area are pissed. I don't know what's more surprising the fact that a former Bloc Quebecois MP is behind all of this or the fact that a Bloc Quebecois MP became a senator. It also seems that councillors who represent the Sud-Ouest are somewhat complicit in this matter. Ah, capitalism and crooked politicans...where have I heard this before (hey, does anyone remember the Quebec sponsorship scandal?). For the record, I hope that the residents who are protesting vs. this project win because it's blatantly obvious to anyone as to what's really going on.
Basil James	{41 votes}	August 12th, 2005
Senator Clear-Cut     Senator just seems to step in it wherever he goes. We have the distinction of being his neighbor on the Gatineau River, where he has broken environmental laws and local bylaws, cut down mature trees on a neighboring property and generally become a very popular guy. Check out this McLean's article about "Senator Clear-Cut" http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/politics/article.jsp?content=20051003_113092_113092
Selina Bishop		May 30th, 2006
Lavigne is a Liberal... of course     Let's correct Basil James comments : Raymond Lavigne, the senator behind all this is a liberal ! (Of course!) The BQ former candidate is in fact against this project. Read carefully again.
Maryse Tanguay	{9 votes}	August 16th, 2005
What a steal...just more proof that city hall is full of crooks!!     Wow! 1$.. When was the last time you walked into a dollar store and found a parcel of land big enough for a community center..or a hotel on sale for 1$..?? Where is this magical dollar store and do i need a membership to vuy land there, because i have had my eye on a peice of land in the downtown core... I bid 1.50$ for it..how about it? This story is so BS! I get the idea that the federal gov. wants to help out the Czech community, but i have never heard of this kind of thing previously for any other ethnic community... I mean if you are going to do it for the Czechs you gotta do it for the Italians, the Russians, the Haitians, the Chinese, the Iranian, the Polish, the Burmese, the Armenians, the Greeks...and let's not forget the Natives..oh wait they have there reserves..right?!! This deal smells to high hell!! And now the community center idea is scrapped and instead there is going to be a casino!! Wonderful!! (sarcastic emphasis)...because a community center will not make nearly as much money for the owner as a casino can... Somehow i think a community center was never their original intention..it was just a ploy, a kind of sob story, to get the land dirt cheap from the government for this casino... Because a casino in itself is not profitable enough i guess... you need to build it on ridiculously cheap land in order to really make a buck... The sad thing is, that after this scandal is over the federal government will be very reluctant to help build any other new community centers., even if they actually want to build a center, not a casino. Sometimes people make me sick! These jerks just ruined it for everybody else.
Shant Noubarian	{10 votes}	August 16th, 2005
Leave The Land As It Is     I have always liked the Lachine Canal because of its bike path and the pleasure craft that could use its waterway. We need more green spaces like this especially in poorer areas of the city. I would rather have the Czech Centre built near a Metro station like the Casa Italia on Jean-Talon which is also actually close to Little Italy and within walking distance to many who use its services. Building a hotel on the spot next to the Lachine Canal is an even worse idea as tourists like to be near the Montreal Convention Centre and close to fine downtown Montreal bars and restaurants. With Montreal's famous Underground they can easily get around without getting wet or covered in snow or sleet.
Stephen Talko	{7 votes}	August 16th, 2005
I Smell a Rat!!     Well obviously this one you could smell a mile away. Sure looks like someone wants to get rich in a hurry. As I live almost next to the Lachine Canal I say hands off this area. Who first of all wants a Casino built here and on top of it a hotel to house the tourists who habit this Casino. This area is mainly residential we don't want traffic tie-ups, loud noises from people on these nightly outings; we'd like to sleep in peace and quiet. Go build this Casino elsewhere as it certainly is not wanted or needed here. As I have said it time and time again, why can't family oriented districts be left alone, why can't they leave the Casino on Iles Notre Dames where it is as there are no buildings and families to be disrupted. Why do they have to move it to town; don't we have enough headaches without this? I'm ready to start a petition against this.
Maria Jankovics	{31 votes}	August 11th, 2005
_N£W$_2_N£W$_2_N£W$_     Now this is just a waste of time to get into a huff over. Was it wrong? was it illegal? Pretty much, yeah. People are getting pissed? I get that but for everyone that's pissed over it you have to imagine a good number of them are pissed because they wish they were the ones that pulled this scam off. I'm not saying everyone but a few of the people must feel that if anyone is going to profit it should be them. Maybe I'm taking a too negative a view of human nature but that's how I see some of the noise coming from this.
Vladimir Joseph	{27 votes}	August 11th, 2005
Public Consultations!     What is obviously needed here is a little transparency rather than continuing the back-room deals that have caused this proposal to be so controversial in the first place. Setting up a public consultation where locals would have a chance to voice their opinion after having been more fully informed about the deal beforehand seems like the only alternative for local officials. Afterall, this is publicly owned land. I for one, would be in attendance at such a consultation, as would many who are tired of these people approaching the Lachine Canal as if it were a clean slate for development with no impact on the surrounding neighbourhoods.
Giovanni Paquin	{25 votes}	August 11th, 2005

Write your comment! please follow these guidelines

Information requested in blue will remain confidential   [privacy policy] Please indicate your real first and last names.

First name :

Last name :

Your email :

Confirm your email :

Title of your comment (max. 150 characters)   Your comment (max. 2000 characters)  characters remaining       LIMIT PER PERSON : one comment per article per member. Thank you. Your comment will be read by our approval team and, if it is approved, will be posted on the website within 24 hours. It could also be published, along with your name, in the printed version of Xpress magazine and on any of our partner websites. In order to present the highest quality of comments, Xpress reserves the right to refuse certain submissions. Any plagiarism will entail the entire removal of the member’s profile. Xpress is not responsible for the opinions expressed by the members.