On Feb. 10, 2021, Villaggi had been notified by the Jean Coutu Group that the company would not renew neither the sublease agreement for the pharmacy premises, nor the franchise agreement.

If the franchisee wasn’t leaving the premises in time, which is by Oct. 31, 2022, the date set by Jean Coutu, a consequence was imposed: expulsion.

Even if, at the time, the owner wanted to leave the premises before the end of that month, and sell the pharmacy, we can conclude today that he had time to change his mind.

Heavy Legal Proceedings

In addition to the 2017 lawsuit, Villaggi also accused Jean Coutu in September 2021 of breaching the franchise agreement.

That contract describes the granting to Villaggi of an exclusive protected territory. That means no other Jean Coutu branch could establish itself in that location.

The territory was delimited by the René-Laennec Boulevard. However, another pharmacy is established there, but “on the other side of the street”.

Villaggi requested the disaffiliation of that other business, whose existence, according to him, contravened his contract, and which was in direct competition with him.

At the time, the judge called the request “inadmissible and abusive”, and therefore didn’t grant Villaggi’s request.

On Nov. 4, 2022, Villaggi appealed the decision in a final legal attempt to save his business, which has been active in Laval for more than 30 years.

The pharmacist pleaded a double argument, consisting of administrative objects related to the lease, but above all, the harm that the closure of the pharmacy would cause to patients.

The file was deemed incomplete, and the judgment, passed on Oct. 18, ordered the owner to respect the continued obligation to leave the premises.

About the Employees

Testifying under the anonymity, a former pharmacy employee testified that employees present on Nov. 8 were brutally escorted outside by ushers. No justification was received from Jean-Coutu that day.

Since then, the company has remained silent, and the human resources department refuses to answer questions from employees and provide them with a termination.

“The Jean Coutu Group should have taken care of the employees, and given psychological help if needed, especially because of the way we were treated,” said Andrea Villaggi, former pharmacy employee and daughter of the owner, on her Facebook account. “[They could have] relocated us elsewhere, apologized for the situation, but no, instead, no explanation was provided, only savage and unjustified treatment towards the employees.”

For its part, the Jean Coutu Group said, in an email to the Courrier Laval News, that it understands the difficult situation for Villaggi’s employees.

“Although we are not the employer, we continue to remain available to assist Villaggi if he wishes,” the Jean Coutu Group added. “We’re hoping, and doing everything to get the situation back to normal as soon as possible for patients and employees.”

translated by Alec Brideau

L’article Closure of Vimont’s Jean Coutu: Final Decision est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

A sheet stuck on the door awaited customers on Tuesday morning. The note, from the Ordre des pharmaciens du Québec, indicates that patient files of pharmacist Luigi Villaggi are now in the possession of pharmacists Émilie Larivière and Jean-Michel Dubeau.

Patients will now have go at the pharmacy located two kilometers further, on René-Laennec Boulevard.

Surprise

Although the files will be transferred to another pharmacy nearby, the decision will cause some problems for patients, especially for those who can’t drive to get there.

“We find it hard to understand the present situation,” said Dominique Palardy, a former customer of the pharmacy. “This is unheard of in the history of the company. At the same time, I greatly esteem Villaggi, who’s been there for me all my life as a patient. He’s an extraordinary pharmacist, and there for his customers.”

All customers met by Courrier Laval have a similar speech, as they don’t understand the current situation, but have only good, positive words for Villaggi.

Explanations

For its part, the Jean Coutu Group has confirmed the case has gone to court. Questions sent by the Courier Laval had yet to be answered when writing this piece.

The official reasons behind the closure therefore remain unknown for the moment. The pharmacy is no longer displayed on the company’s website, as if it had vanished overnight.

“After all those years of work, dedication and relentlessness, my father was kicked out of his pharmacy and all his employees were laid off,” said Andrea Villaggi, daughter of the pharmacist owner, through her Facebook profile. “In less than a few hours, more than 30 years of work were destroyed.”

Two security guards from the Maxi Security and Protection Agency have had the mandate to watch the front of the pharmacy since Thursday, Nov. 10. Apparently, there was a strike that day, which would justify the presence of increased surveillance.

Since the sudden closure of the business, the pharmacy taking over has been overwhelmed. In addition to having a smaller space, employees working there seem overwhelmed, drugs shelves are stripped, and the waiting lines are getting longer.

translated by Alec Brideau

L’article Sudden Closure of Vimont’s Jean Coutu est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

In the riding of Sainte-Rose, the victory of outgoing deputee Christopher Skeete was never in doubt. Re-elected with the strongest majority in the region, Skeete will team up for the next four years with Valérie Schmaltz (Vimont), Céline Haytayan (Laval-des-Rapides) and Alice Abou-Khalil (Fabre), all three elected for the first time in the National Assembly.

Laval’s two other ridings remain liberal, but will be represented by two new deputees in Virginie Dufour (Mille-Îles) and Sona Lakhoyan Olivier (Chomedey).

Laval-des-Rapides

In Laval-des-Rapides, after a hotly contested battle, Céline Haytayan finally got the better of the riding’s outgoing deputee, Saul Polo, who was seeking a third term.

Haytayan received 10,599 votes, winning by a majority of 1,053 votes over her liberal rival. She obtained 31.9 per cent of the votes, while Polo finished with 28.7 per cent.

Josée Chevalier of Québec solidaire (QS) finished third with 16.7 per cent of the votes, followed by Parti québécois (PQ) candidate Andréanne Fiola at 12.9 per cent, Conservative Party (CP) representative Nicolas Lussier-Clément with 8.6 per cent, and Green Party (GP) candidate Zied Damergi 1.2 per cent.

The electoral turnout in Laval-des-Rapides reached 61.5 per cent, down two tenths of a percentage point compared to the 2018 election.

Vimont

Vimont also had a close race until the end, this time between Valérie Schmaltz (CAQ) and Anabela Monteiro (LP).

At the end of the evening, Schmaltz finally won by 1,415 votes over the one who had headed the riding’s office for 10 years, then represented by the deputy Jean Rousselle. This win for the CAQ thus put an end to a sequence of seven consecutive Liberal electoral victories in Vimont.

Stefano Piscitelli (CP) finished third with 12.9 per cent of the votes, in front of Josée Bélanger (QS) at 11.5 per cent, Nathalie Lavigne (PQ) with 10.6 per cent, and Rita Lo Cicero (GP) at 0.9 per cent of the votes in Vimont.

The riding, that counts 46,081 voters, had a turnout of 70 per cent, up 0.8 percentage point from 2018.

Fabre

Alice Abou-Khalil (CAQ) won in what was another tight battle in her riding, against Sonia Baudelot (LP). That puts an end to a 19-year-long liberal reign in Fabre. Abou-Khalil won with a majority of 302 votes.

Abou-Khalil and Baudelot totaled 21,522 of the 34,328 validated ballots.

The other votes went to Stéphane Turmel (CP) with 5,216, Jessy Léger (QS) with 3,822, Catherine Dansereau-Redhead (PQ) with 3,348, and Lynn Buchanan (GP) with the last 420.

The electoral turnout in Fabre was 62.6 per cent, which is up 1.4 percentage point compared to 2018.

Sainte-Rose

Re-elected in Sainte-Rose, Skeete registered the strongest majority of the six candidates elected last night in Laval, ahead of Michel Trottier (LP) by 5276 votes.

Skeete’s 14,082 votes earned him 38.5 per cent of the 36,567 votes counted in Sainte-Rose.

Trottier concluded the evening with 24.2 per cent of the votes, followed by Karine Cliche (QS) at 14.3 per cent, Lyne Jubinville (PQ) at 12.3 per cent, Stéphanie Beauchamp (CP) with 9.4 per cent, and Pierrette Kamning Nguendjong (GP) with the remaining 0.8 per cent.

The electoral turnout in the riding has fallen by 2.5 percentage points in four years, from 70 to 67.5 per cent.

Chomedey

Unsurprisingly, Chomedey remained liberal.

Succeeding Guy Ouellette, the new deputee Sona Lakhoyan Olivier earned the trust of 36.5 per cent of voters, which translated into a comfortable majority of 3,198 votes.

That said, support for the LP in this liberal fortress continues to crumble, as the overwhelming majority of some 26,000 votes obtained in 2014 had already been reduced to 7,968 votes in 2018.

Last night, George Platanitis (CAQ) received 8,691 votes, which is 26.7 per cent of the ballots.

Following behind, we have CP Me Konstantinos Merakos (6,464 votes; 19.9 per cent), QS Zachary Robert (2,576 votes; 7.9 per cent), PQ Rachid Bandou (2,338 votes; 7.2 per cent), GP Sahbi Nablia (311 votes; 0.96 per cent), and Federica Gangai of Bloc Montreal – Team Balarama Holness (290 votes; 0.89 per cent).

As for the participation rate of 54.5 per cent, it’s about the same as that observed four years ago, up by half a percentage point.

The Liberals have dominated in Chomedey since the creation of this riding, in 1980.

Mille-Îles

Finally, in Mille-Îles, Virginie Dufour has managed to keep the riding in the hands of the LP for an eighth consecutive election, resisting to the push of the CAQ that began four years ago.

Trailing all evening, the former municipal councillor of Sainte-Rose made an impressive an comeback and took the lead for the first time shortly after 10 p.m., when more than 85 per cent of ballot boxes had been counted.

Once ahead, Dufour kept up the pace to overtake Julie Séide (CAQ) by 425 votes, ending the evening with 32.4 per cent and 9,522 votes.

Séide obtained 30.9 per cent of the votes, far ahead of QS Guillaume Lajoie (12.9 per cent), PQ Michel Lachance (12.1 per cent), CP Ange Claude Bigilimana (10.6 per cent), and GP Bianca Jitaru (1.2 per cent).

In Mille-Îles, 67 per cent of the 44,401 legal voters went to the polling stations, up by half a percentage point compared to 2018.

translated by Alec Brideau

L’article The CAQ Wins Four of the Six Ridings in Laval est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

It was approximately 10:35 a.m. when the fatal event occurred at the corner of rue de Genève and Boulevard des Laurentides.

A young 17-year-old driver was driving on rue de Genève and would never have seen the pedestrian when entering Boulevard des Laurentides, by crossing the two lanes at this point.

At that moment, the 70-year-old woman remained alive, but in critical condition. However, his death was sadly noted when arriving at the hospital.

The Boulevard des Laurentides was closed in both directions for many hours in order to let investigators from the Service de police de Laval (SPL) try to elucidate the circumstances of this fatal accident.

translated by Alec Brideau

L’article Pedestrian Fatally Hit in Vimont est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.