Lennoxville Scouts to hold can and bottle drive
This coming Saturday, June 19, the 1st Lennoxville Scouts will be holding a can and bottle drive from 9 a.m. to noon in the Lennoxville Provigo parking lot.
Like other similar collections held by different groups over the course of the last year, the collection will take place in a drive-through format to limit the amount of contact between people and help follow ongoing social distancing guidelines. People with cans or bottles to donate are encouraged to load them into the car and drive through the parking lot of the gorcery store to the section nearest the curling club. There, volunteers from the Scout group will collect the cans and bottles for sorting and donation.
In addition to donations, the group is also looking for help with the sorting process and traffic direction from anyonw who has some time to spare. Anyone interested in volunteering can come directly to the parking lot on Saturday morning, with a mask, and ask for Marisa Hoy, who is coordinating the day’s activities.
Funds raised from the drive will go towards supporting the activities and projects of the 1st Lennoxville Scout group over the coming year.
Members of Scouts Canada, the 1st Lennoxville Scout group consists of three sections; Beavers, Cubs and Scouts, with programming that runs from mid-september until the beginning of June. Beavers is aimed at children fiver to seven years old and offers opportunities to start exploring the world of outdoor adventure. Cubs builds on that for children eight to ten years of age, and Scouts takes a further step into independence and leadership skills building for tose eleven to fourteen.
After running more than a year of programming online through the Zoom videoconferencing platform, all three local sections are looking forward to and planning for a return to in-person activities this coming fall. With that in mind, the group is on the lookout for children who might be interested in participating in the programs, but also in adults who might be able to volunteer their time as Scouters once things get up and going face-to-face once again.
For more information on the work of the 1st Lennoxville Scouts visit: https://1stlennoxville.wixsite. com/1stlennoxvillescouts
Les Fantastiques de Magog, an organization that works to improve the living conditions of adults living with an intellectual disability and/or an autism spectrum disorder, is a step closer to upgrades and improvements to its day centre thanks to a $30,000 donation from the Fondation Famille Lamarre.
The Fondation Constance Langlois, which supports Les Fantastiques de Magog, launched a campaign called“les 12 travaux Fantastiques” for improvements and upgrades to their facility.
With Famille Lamarre’s recent donation, the foundation has reached $271,000, over 75 per cent of the $350,000 fundraising objective.
The money raised will be used to increase the number of participants at the Magog day centre from 26 to 42 by 2026.
Other contributors to the campaign included the Caisse Desjardins du lac Memphrémagog, the Fondation D’amour, the Industrielle Alliance Financial Group, the City of Magog, the office of our Member of the Quebec National Assembly Gilles Bélanger, as well as many other private donors.
The Fondation Constance Langlois will have a new president at the helm as the fundraising campaign continues. André Girard will succeed Gilles Bédard who has served as President of the foundation for the past three years.
In yesterday’s About Townshippers column, we introduced our Outstanding Townshippers for 2021: Corey Morin of Sherbrooke, Gayl Rhicard of Stanbridge-east, and Spencer Wilson of Stanbridge-east. Today, we’d like to introduce you to our newest Young Townships Leader, Shanna Bernier, and our Excel in the Estrie contest winners, Madison Bradley and Lee Desormeaux.
Young Townships Leader: Shanna Bernier
Born and raised in the Townships, Shanna Bernier, has been actively involved in the region’s Englishspeaking community for many years. She participates regularly as a volunteer in her community, sitting on several local boards and committees, and is the sort of person who constantly asks, “how can I help?”.
Specifically in the past year, Shanna has been a light in the darkness for many through her work as a provincewide coordinator for projects and initiatives for children, youth, and young adults through the United Church of Canada. In 2020, Shanna found ways to reinvent her event-based work so that she could maintain connections with youth who were struggling through a global crisis for the first time, creating vital virtual links for young people who had been cut off from their usual social outlets, planning and executing care packages for youth, and creating a weekly Facebook church for children to help them connect through sharing and stories.
Shanna’s long list of community contributions paints a picture of a caring, reliable, and dedicated worker, volunteer, and community leader. According to her nominators, Shanna’s contributions also highlight the “excellent example of compassionate and affirming leadership” that she sets, and the great impact she has had on her community, her peers, and the people she leads.
Excel in the Estrie Award Winners
Townshippers’ Association’s annual Excel in the Estrie essay challenge celebrates the success of local high school seniors, while encouraging students to think about their future in the Eastern Townships. This contest is organized by Place aux Jeunes Eastern Townships and is supported by generous sponsors such as Global Excel Management, Cass, and Stanstead College. This year’s winners are Madison Bradley and Lee Desormeaux, both high school seniors at Alexander Galt Regional High School.
Madison Bradley wrote her essay about the great challenges that came with being a high-school student during a global pandemic. Although Madison already knew that high school would be a challenge, having to attend her classes virtually (from her room) during a global pandemic took that challenge to a whole new level, especially for someone who appreciates the structure of school and the familiarity of the school environment. Madison faced up to this challenge, however, and she believes that her experience of distance learning has helped her to become more appreciative of everything that matters to her – especially the things she would normally have taken for granted. She also believes that the
unexpected challenges of the past year have helped her to develop grit – a trait that will certainly serve her well as she continues her education in health sciences in the fall.
Lee Desormeaux is greatly inspired by the creativity and the platform of our predecessors here in the Townships and he wishes to do his part in the future to preserve and nurture our local cultural heritage. In his essay, Lee uses a growth mindset to examine the internal and external struggles he has experienced throughout his high school years, talking about how these struggles have led him to a place of self-discovery and personal growth. Lee feels that the challenges he has faced have helped him to discover his passion for writing, art, and music. He plans to attend Champlain College in the fall to finetune his artistic skills. In the future, Lee wants to use his skills to create art that will share the emotions and experiences he has lived through
with others who are marginalized or feel alienated from society so that they can feel supported and empowered.
To learn more about the Excel in the Estrie winners and read their essays, look for the next edition of our Townshippers magazine, coming out this fall.
This monthly column keeps you in touch with Townshippers’ Association’s activities and news. Other ways to keep in touch:
Online www.townshippers.org Facebook.com/townshippers
Twitter @Townshippers
In person
3355 College St., Sherbrooke 3-584 Knowlton Rd., Lac-brome
Small municipalities in Quebec struggling to obtain funds for the construction and renovation of sports and recreation facilities will be able to pitch projects with a budget of up to $100,000 to the provincial government until Aug. 20, 2021.
Education Minister Isabelle Charest announced the launch of the Programme de soutien aux infrastructures sportives et récréatives de petite envergure (PSISRPE) on Tuesday in Saint-denis-de-brompton. The program carries $10 million in government funds.
“This is the first time we do this one and we’ll see how people respond to it, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be popular,” said Charest, adding that only municipalities with fewer than 10,000 residents are eligible to submit a project proposal.
After touring Quebec, Charest noted that many small municipalities expressed a desire to renovate or develop sports and recreation facilities. However, town mayors and other elected officials felt overshadowed by larger municipalities when vying for the same funds.
This program allows small municipalities to compete without worrying about their larger neighbours taking away the spotlight. And it is mainly promoting the development of playground and outdoor training equipment, splash pads, and outdoor skating rinks.
“Of course, we’re dealing with public funds, so we want to make sure it’s a solid project and they do the demonstration of what they are going to do with the money, and it is put to good use,” said Charest.
However, they are not constrained to only those options. As long as a municipality presents a viable, and community-focused project, it could be approved for the program. It is similar to the Programme d’aide financière aux infrastructures récréatives et sportives (PAFIRS).
PAFIRS was a federal government project, though, and the call for projects ended in February 2020. The $294 million envelope, a mix of federal and provincial funds, was open to every municipality, regardless of its population size.
According to a press release, regional county municipalities, non-profit organizations, and cooperatives located in a municipality with fewer than 10,000 residents can also participate in the program. It won’t fund a hockey arena, she joked, but the program can go a long way.
“It’s really to be able to provide services that respond to the needs of your population, and we’ve seen like a great increase in popularity for pickleball, that’s something you could use, or if in your municipality they want an outdoor rink, well go ahead and do that,” Charest said.
She told The Record that the program is in response to growing numbers in Quebec’s regions. The government wants to attract people to these small municipalities and retain them. The problem is the services and facilities change there.
There has been a mass exodus to larger cities in the last couple of decades, but this past year has shown many Quebecers are eager to move back to small, quieter towns. Mariesoleil Maurice has noticed many are
surprised by the lack of services in the regions.
“They expect to find almost the same facilities and services that they will find in the biggest cities and for the moment they don’t always have that, so it is going to be a good way to have access to projects that will respond to some needs of these families,” she said.
Maurice works for the Place aux jeunes Eastern Townships (PAJ ET), which “encourages the migration of qualified young English-speaking professionals into the region.” She said the new program is a great opportunity for smaller municipalities to improve their services.
“There are a lot of municipalities that have new neighbourhoods, so in these neighbourhoods often there are no parks, and no facilities for them, so for them it is really a good thing,” said Maurice
She added that people living in municipalities with outdated facilities and a lack of services will often travel to other municipalities to have access to certain activities. The goal is to eliminate the need for people to bounce from town to town seeking services.
When asked about the process to fill out a proposal and submit it to the government, Charest said it is fairly simple, but if people need help, they can always reach out to their local MNAS office. This program, she added, is one of several ways Quebec plans to improve its regions.
“Well, that’s one of many answers and of course, with people who are there we want them to have resources and means to be active and have healthy habits and that’s my goal, to have everybody moving and being active,” said Charest.
Oil giant Exxonmobil’s leaders have a long history of doing everything to keep the world from addressing climate change. They’ve buried company research showing the link between burning fossil fuels and a dangerously heating planet. They’ve sowed distrust and spread misinformation. They’ve lobbied politicians, set up and joined fake grassroots organizations, funded deniers and commissioned dubious reports, all to downplay or deny the risks to the climate — and humanity — of using their company’s products.
Exxon’s not the only company to have behaved in such an incomprehensibly destructive manner, putting shortterm profits over the long-term health of natural systems that make human and other life possible. But it’s one of the largest.
Now there’s a sign that even oil companies and their shareholders are facing the reality of an overheating planet. This spring, Engine No. 1 — a small “activist investment firm” with a tiny stake in Exxon — managed to get three of its four nominees elected to the company’s 12-person board, despite efforts to defeat them.
“What the Board needs are directors with experience in successful and profitable energy industry transformations who can help turn aspirations of addressing the risks of climate change into a long-term business plan, not talking points,” an Engine No. 1 statement said.
The new board members, two with oil industry backgrounds, are expected to champion the need for Exxon to diversify its investments as the world moves on from fossil fuels.
Exxon isn’t the only oil giant getting a wake-up call. Shareholders recently went against Chevron’s board, voting 61 per cent in favour of a proposal from Dutch advocacy group Follow This to force that company to cut carbon emissions from use of its products.
And a Dutch court ruled in favour of a lawsuit by seven groups including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth Netherlands to get Shell to significantly deepen its planned greenhouse gas emission cuts.
The court ordered Royal Dutch Shell to reduce emissions for the Shell group and its suppliers and customers by 45 per cent by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. The company had planned to cut emissions 20 per cent by 2030, 45 per cent by 2035 and 100 per cent by 2050 from 2016 levels — but with conditions the court found unacceptable.
With a growing divestment movement steering money away from coal, oil and gas, and a recent report by the normally conservative International Energy Agency saying there’s no place in a rapidly heating world for new fossil fuel development, these events signal the tide is turning. It’s about time!
It’s taken an unrelenting catastrophe to make the industry (and governments and society) reluctantly start to face reality. This is tragic. We’d be much further along in the necessary energy transition, with far less economic and societal disruption, had companies like Exxon not worked so tirelessly to downplay and deny climate change risks and block progress. We’ve had more than four decades with enough scientific certainty about climate science to know we should have been doing more about it.
It’s not for a lack of solutions that we continue to waste valuable resources, burning in minutes concentrated energy stores that took millions of years to form. It’s lack of awareness and political will, fuelled by a multimillion-dollar industry campaign to confuse. But awareness is growing, which pushes political action.
Recent events surrounding the oil industry show the importance of getting involved. The perseverance and commitment of people who care have spurred industry, governments and society to finally start waking up to reality.
Hundreds of thousands of young people taking to the streets sends a message. Shareholder revolts and board shakeups send a message. Divesting from fossil fuels sends a message. Numerous court challenges send a message.
The message, as 350.org founder Bill Mckibben says, is that we can’t negotiate with physics and chemistry. Adding massive amounts of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane to the atmosphere by burning coal, oil and gas, and destroying the natural systems that absorb and store carbon, like wetlands, grasslands and forests, puts the health and survival of humans and other life at great risk.
The fossil fuel era is ending. It’s time to find ways to shift fairly and equitably to better ways of living and powering our societies.
David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. Written with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation Senior Writer and Editor Ian Hanington.
The uphill climb facing the Montreal Canadiens just got a little steeper. The only Canadian team with a shot at the Stanley Cup gave up a 4-1 loss Monday in their first of a best-of-seven semifinal battle against the top-seeded Vegas Golden Knights.
It was Montreal’s first game outside of Canada in 2021, and it came before a boisterous crowd of 17,884, a far cry from what COVID-19 restrictions have allowed north of the border all season.
It was also against an imposing and powerful team, one the Habs haven’t played all year, thanks to the one-timeonly North Division, again, a product of the pandemic, that kept all their regular-season games against Canadian rivals.
“It’s the situation that we’re in this year, for everyone right now, at this stage, you’re playing a team that you haven’t played all year,” said interim head coach Dominique Ducharme.
The Habs appeared to be keeping pace with the Knights throughout the first period Monday, but a sudden flurry of penalties in the second, including a fluke delay of game in the opening seconds, seemed to sap their strength.
“They have their strengths for sure, but we have ours also,” Ducharme said. “I really liked the way we started, but the penalties really killed our momentum and our rhythm.”
Shea Theodore opened the scoring with a fearsome one-timer that beat a sliding Montreal netminder Carey Price stick side 9:15 into the game.
It was the Vegas defenceman’s first goal of the playoffs.
The Knights made it 2-0 early in the second when Theodore faked a shot then shovelled the puck over to Alec Martinez, whose faceoff-circle blast on a near-empty net left Price diving across the crease in vain.
Defencemen were responsible for 18 of the home side’s shots on goal.
“They got some solid D-men over there,” Price said after the game. “They were finding lanes and getting pucks through and jumping into the rush. That’s what good (defenders) do, and we’ll just have to find a way to mitigate that.”
Price stopped 26-of-30 shots for the Canadiens, with one of his best of the night coming midway through the second when Max Pacioretty fed Mark Stone on a sudden two-on-one rush, only to be robbed by a spectacular glove save.
Marc-andre Fleury turned in a 28save performance for Vegas.
Montreal spoiled Fleury’s shutout hopes with the man advantage at the 12:05 mark of the second frame when rookie Cole Caufield buried a juicy rebound off a Tyler Toffoli shot for his first goal of the playoffs.
But the momentum was shortlived: less than a minute later, Mattias Janmark made it 3-1 from the edge of the crease by tipping a drifting shot from Alex Tuch past Price’s outstretched pad.
Knights defender Nick Holden made it 4-1 midway through the third and Reilly Smith registered his second assist of the night on the play.
Price headed to the bench shortly after Holden’s goal, creating a fourminute stretch of six-on-five hockey that gave Fleury a chance to show off for the fans.
The series promises to be a chippy one, nearly every scoring rush during the first 20 minutes ended in a scrum behind or beside the net, frequently with frustrated Habs forward Brendan Gallagher at the centre of it.
Even so, the first frame produced only one power play per side, Montreal failed to capitalize on an early high-sticking call against Vegas centre Jonathan Marchesseault, then fought off the man advantage after Phillip Daneault hauled down Alex Pietrangelo deep in Montreal territory.
The penalty situation changed quickly in the second, which was only seven seconds old when Habs defender Ben Chiarot’s blooper clearing attempt caught the netting above the glass behind Fleury, a delay-of-game call.
It seemed a turning point, triggering a series of penalties that the Canadiens never seemed to recover from.
“We liked our start, but after the penalties we were a little less dangerous, and not as good with the puck,” Ducharme said. “That’s something we will adjust _ it’s something we know we can do, and we know how to do it.”
Montreal was 1-for-3 with the man advantage and Vegas went 0-for-4.
The top-ranked Golden Knights won an Nhl-best 40 games in the shortened 56-game regular season and tied Colorado for the highest point total in the league, 23 points more than Montreal in the standings.
But the Canadiens have been the underdogs twice already this postseason.
They were not expected to beat the division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs in the opening round, nor were they favoured to overcome the third-place Winnipeg Jets in the second round. The team silenced critics in both cases and came into Vegas riding a seven-game win streak that included a sweep of the Jets.
It’s not all familiar territory for the Habs, though.
The Montreal-vegas series is the first cross-border matchup in the NHL this season, made possible by a federal exemption allowing teams to bypass 14day quarantine requirements.
Monday’s capacity crowd was a stark contrast from the empty Canadian arenas during the regular season and even the 2,500 fans permitted inside Montreal’s Bell Centre during the playoffs.