The federal government is studying the environmental impact of reconstructing the 50 year-old Macdonald-Cartier Bridge, one of the main crossings over the Ottawa River into Ontario.  The aging structure, which accommodates 40% of inter-provincial traffic, will be completely rebuilt between 2013 and 2016.   The $1.8 million study is looking into how infrastructure work will affect [...]

Pontiac/Aylmer MNA Charlotte L’Ecuyer hosted a coffee chat with her constituents in the Galeries Aylmer, May 12, to have an opportunity to listen to their concerns and answer their questions.  Many raised health care and the tuition hikes that have caused demonstrations across the province, and even here in Aylmer when Grande-Rivière High School students [...]

Aylmer is facing a near crisis in health care, with an exploding population and a lack of doctors,  according to an official with the Aylmer Health Co-op.  “Our region is missing doctors.  We need our leaders to help solve the problem.  We need our elected officials—the mayor, the councilors—to step up to the plate.  MNA [...]

Photo : Janet Sauvé Janet Sauvé April was Autism Awareness Month in Quebec. The grade 10 and 11 Peer Mediators from D’Arcy McGee High School created a presentation for students at Symmes and D’Arcy to educate their peers about Autism Spectrum disorders. The group gave up their Wednesday afternoons, which are early dismissal days, and travelled [...]

Eco-neighbourhoods, ever-more popular, are a way to reduce our “footprint” on the earth. A Gatineau document notes that North America has the heaviest “footprint” because of its water and energy consumption. Eco-neighbourhood and LEED-certified buildings, however, help to “improve quality of life by managing buildings and neighbourhoods that respect the environment and create a diverse, self-sustaining [...]

Photo : Julie Murray Lukasz Bober, left, and fellow muralists Gabriel Côté and Marc-André Perron, with Councillor Stefan Psenak and Mayor Marc Bureau at the official unveiling of the mural at the Frank-Robinson Arena, May 3.  Councillor Psenak promised that next year, another mural would be put up on the other side of the building’s [...]

The heart-wrenching television commercials for the SPCA, showing images of crated animals with open wounds, matted fur and oozing eyes, all accompanied by the angelic voice of Sarah McLachlan, clearly show desperate creatures being abused by their owners.  But the signs that an animal is being abused aren’t always so obvious, according to Barbara at [...]

Rue Principale in Aylmer is about to get more fun and more Zen. Sérénithé, next to the Aux Deux Frères bakery will open its doors this summer. Veteran Aylmer business people Louise Blais and Normand Lacelle launched the idea six months ago. After losing their photo shop in the Glenwood fire seven years ago, they established [...]