Need a Lawyer?

Need a Lawyer?

With the goal of promoting the better administration of justice and easier access to it, the Bar of Montreal, the Young Bar Association of Montreal, and Pro Bono Quebec, in collaboration with the Association des avocats de la défense de Montréal, the Direction des services judiciaires de la Métropole and the municipal court of Montreal has organized the following services for Montreal residents:

Referral service

This service, which covers all fields of law, is designed to provide the name of a lawyer willing to offer an initial half-hour consultation for a fixed fee. If additional legal services are needed, the client will have to agree with the lawyer on their scope and the fee to be paid for them.

(This service reserves the right to refuse a request made by someone who has already consulted a lawyer on the same issue.)

Pro Bono Quebec

This non-profit organization helps bring solutions to exceptional cases, matters of public interest or those in which irreparable harm could be done to a person or group of persons economically unable to assert their rights.

Requests accepted by the selection committee are referred to a lawyer who has contributed to the bank of free legal service hours.

Rue Sherbrooke in Montreal. Photo by Elena

Service in Preparation for a Hearing

This free service is intended to help people become acquainted with the procedures for a hearing held before the Small Claims Court, the Rental Board or the Labour Relations Commission and to prepare their case.

Available only by appointment and for parties who have already received a notice of hearing, the consultations take place weekdays from noon to 2 p.m. At the Montreal Courthouse.

Pro Bono Legal Information Service in Municipal Court of Montreal (LIS)

Offered as a pilot project only to persons who have bee referred by the Court, the LIS offers assistance to accused not represented by an attorney before the municipal court of Montreal in criminal matters, and penal matters having significant legal consequences (i.e. Failure to stop at the scene of an accident, excessive speeding offenses, pursuant the Quebec Highway Safety Act).

A briefing lasts a maximum of 30 minutes, limited to legal information provided by the attorney who is on duty at any step of the file before the Court after the initial appearance.

A person is entitled to not more than one information session involving the same Court case. If the services of a lawyer are further required, other arrangements will have to be secured by the individual, as those fully described in this text.

Legal Duty Counsel Service (LDCS)

LDCS only offers assistance to persons not represented by a lawyer who have been referred by the Court.

A briefing lasting a maximum of 30 minutes, limited to providing basic legal information, is given by the lawyer who is on duty. As part of this briefing, the lawyer cannot address the opposing party or the Court in the place of the person seeking help. Because use of LDCS is limited to a single briefing per case, if the services of a lawyer are further required, other resources will have to be sought, including those described in this text.

Available on Court referral only.

Limited scope services

Offered to those with limited financial means but not eligible for Legal Aid who wish to represent themselves, limited scope services offer access to a lawyer within the limits of their budget for one aspect of their case (review of documents already drafted, preparation of a motion, assistance in completing the appropriate forms, help in preparing a case or representation during the trial).

To find a lawyer willing to offer services of this kind, simply contact the Referral Service of the Bar of Montreal.

Toronto Islands

Toronto Islands

Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands, formerly known as Island of Hiawatha and as Menecing Islands are a chain of small islands in face of the city of Toronto, located just offshore from the city centre.

These islands provide shelter for Toronto Harbour and they are a popular recreational destination. The chain is also home to a small residential community and to the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. The Toronto islands comprise the largest urban car-free community in North America, though some service vehicles are permitted. Recreational bicyclists are accommodated on the ferries. Bicycles, quadracycles, and canoes can be rented on the islands as well.

The Toronto Islands are connected to the mainland by several ferry services and an underwater 800 feet (240 m) pedestrian tunnel which will connect the Toronto mainland at the foot of Eireann Quay to the airport terminal at the Billy Bishop Airport. The pedestrian tunnel has moving sidewalks and elevators at both ends. On the island side, an escalator has also been constructed.

The meandering channels between the sandy and tree-covered islands can clearly be seen. Photo: © Elena

The total area of the islands is about 230 hectares (570 acres). The largest island is called Centre Island. It is crescent-shaped and forms the shoreline of both the Eastern and Western Channels. Algonquin (Sunfish Island) and Olympic Island are two of the other major islands. The former is mostly a residential area and the latter home to the city’s Island Public Science School.

The so called Ward’s Island is actually the eastern end of Centre Island and like Algonquin is a residential area. Confusingly, Centre Island Park is located on Middle Island, which is as a consequence often mistaken for Centre Island. Centre Island is sometimes referred to as Toronto Island (note the singular form) to prevent this type of confusion.

Access is restricted to private watercraft, public ferries or small plane transports that frequently land at the Billy Bishop airport that resides at the far western end of these islands. Photo: © Elena

Other smaller islands include Forestry Island which is heavily forested and has no fixed link to other islands; Snake Island is partially forest and beach facing Toronto Harbour (Snake Island Park) with an access from pedestrian bridge on south side to Centre Island; South Island is used for mooring and on-land storage of boats by the Royal Canadian Yacht Club; east end of island is cut off at Chippewa Avenue and covered by trees; a tennis courts located on west end of this island; RCYC Island, home of Royal Canadian Yacht Club with clubhouse, moorings and other club facilities, it has private pier for RCYC launches Kwasind and Hiawatha to mainland. Two unnamed islands occupy what was once Block House Bay: ringed island in Long Pond, located across from Mugg’s Island, its small sandbar allows boats to moor alongside and a small island in Lighthouse Pond sometimes called Hanlan’s Island.

The islands were originally a long peninsula or sand spit extending from the mainland, as these formations are composed of alluvial deposits from the erosion of the Scarborough Bluffs. The flow from the Niagara River to the south across Lake Ontario causes a counter-clockwise east-to-west current which has, over time, deposited sediments at the south end of the harbour to form a sand spit.

Toronto Islands offer tourist features such as the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse, Franklin Children’s Garden,  Centreville Amusement Park and Far Enough Farm. Photo: © Elena

In 1852, a storm flooded sand pits on the peninsula, creating a channel east of Ward’s. The so called Eastern Cap channel was widened and made permanent by another storm in 1858.

The peninsula to the west of the Eastern Gap became known as the Toronto Islands. To the east of the Gap, the area of today’s Cherry Beach was known as “Fisherman’s Island”.

Sediment deposition was halted in the 1960s when the Leslie Street Spit was extended beyond the southern edge of the islands. Left to nature, the islands would diminish over time, but this is limited due to hard shore lines built to limit erosion.

The Toronto Islands as seen from the lower observation deck of the CN Tower. Photo: © Elena

A series of waterways allow boat traffic to navigate the island: Allan Lamport Regatta Course – located between Centre Island and Middle Island from Long Pond to east end of Far Enough Farm; Block House Bay – located on east side of Hanlan’s Point; Lighthouse Pond – located next to Gibratar Point lighthouse; Long Pond – located between Allan Lamport Regatta Course and Block House Bay; Snake Pond – located between Snug Harbour and Algonquin Island; Snug Harbour – located between Snake Island and Olympic Island; Trout Pond – located west of Lighthouse Bay on the south end of Hanlan’s Point; Hanlan Bay was a water way that has since been buried under the Toronto Island Airport runways.

The Toronto Islands provide a great, refreshing escape from downtown with a beautiful view of Lake Ontario on one side, and the city skyline on the other. In Summer, the islands area is a great place to bask on blue flag beaches. Photo: © Elena

The Duke of Kent’s Secret Affair

The Duke of Kent’s Secret Affair

Rumours have persisted that the Queen Victoria, worried her rule would be weakened by the knowledge of an older half-brother in Canada, regularly shipped money to her colonial sibling to ensure his upkeep and silence.

He supposedly was raised by a Quebec City middle-class family. Prince Edward, later father to Queen Victoria had a romance with a gorgeous French baroness Alphonsine Therese Bernadine Julie de Montgenet, Baroness de Fortisson, Madame de Saint-Laurent. However some say she was a flirtatious middle-class girl from France.

According to McKenzie Porter, while in Geneva, Baron de Vincy introduced Prince Edward to de Fortissons. Soon after, baroness and Prince Edward became lovers. The irritable King George enrolled Edward in the army and had Edward posted at Gibraltar, but the brave prince made arrangements for her secret love to be smuggled there. King George found out about this and sent his son to head a regiment in Quebec City, where the young officer and the royal heir arrived on August 11, 1791 aboard the HMS Ulysses. He was accompanied by his “chatelaine”, introduced as Julie de St. Laurent and reputed to be a widow. McKenzie Porter says the couple had been married before arriving in Quebec City, possibly in Malta, Halifax or Martinique. It’s quite possible that the marriage occurred in Quebec City.

A secret passage in Quebec city. Photo by Elena

If Mme de St. Laurent were a Protestant, her eldest son, supposedly named Robert Wood, would have been king, not Victoria. Chances are that Mme de St. Laurent was a Catholics. Therefore her union with Edward, under the terms of the Royal Marriage Act would have been invalid. Still, this supposed son would be a nuisance, as well as other children from Prince Edward and Madame de Saint-Laurent union.

According to Morgan Hennessey Prince Edward and Mme de Saint-Laurent may have had seven children in their ten years together in Canada, though that claim is based only on the legends of the various families claiming a royal connexion, as there is no proof of their existence. Birth certificates, church records and other documents related mysteriously disappeared during Victoria’s reign. A man named Robert Wood did exist. Though no records of his birth have ever been found, his son erected a memorial window to his father in the Holy Trinity Church in Quebec City indicating Robert Wood was born in the city on August 10, 1792.

In 1817, he married a Charlotte Gray. The couple had eleven children. Robert Wood died in Savannah, Georgia, US, on April 10, 1847, but he is buried in Quebec City. The parents of the boy felt it best to keep his existence a secret for rear of what could occur should the King know about this. They gave the boy to a foster family of a Robert Wood (Sr.), who had served in the royal navy. He was later given the post of door-keeper at the Legislative assembly of Lower Canada.

In 1794, on their way to Halifax, Julie gave birth to their second son, named Jean de Mestre. Edward married the German princess and new Duchess of Kent in 1818. Madame De St. Laurent removed herself to a convent in Paris, where she married a Russian-Italian nobleman and eventually settled back in the Quebec City area at Montmorency Manor, Duke of Kent’s old summer home.

Roundhouse Park

Roundhouse Park

Roundhouse Park is a 17 acre or 6.9 ha city owned park in Downtown Toronto in the former Railway Lands.

This National Historic Site of Canada features the John Street locomotive Roundhouse, built in 1929-1931, which is now home to the Toronto Railway Museum, Steam Whistle Brewing and Leon’s Furniture. In Toronto Roundhouse Park the turntable has been restored, made operational, and additional tracks have been built to display historic railway equipment and a collection of trains, the former Canadian Pacific Railway Don Station, and the Roundhouse Park Miniature Railway. The park is bounded by Bremner Boulevard, Lower Simcoe Street, Lake Shore Boulevard West/Gardiner Expressway and Rees Street.

This is the only remaining roundhouse in downtown Toronto, as the CNR Spadina Roundhouse was demolished to make way for construction of the SkyDome. After the railway activities had ceased in 1986, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company donated the roundhouse to the City of Toronto. The turntable and courtyard, Roundhouse Park with the restored wooden railway buildings has received a number of design awards.

Elena on the train.

The Toronto Railway Museum occupies Roundhouse Park since 1997. It occupies three stalls of the John St. Roundhouse.Photo by © Elena

Cabin D was moved to Roundhouse Park from the City’s collection of historic buildings and was repainted and repaired but remains in its original structural state. The Canadian Pacific Railway Don Station was built in 1896 by Canadian Pacific Railway and was originally located at the Don River and Queen Street along the western bank of the Don River. In 1969 it was moved to Todmorden Mills. Upon its relocation to the Roundhouse park, it was repainted and repaired and opened to the public to purchase tickets for the Roundhouse Park Miniature Railway.

Today, the Don Station serves as an initial contact point and reception area for visitors to the Toronto Railway Museum. The station contains a photographic and artifact display on the history of the station, a model showing the station in its original location, a recreation of the station operator’s desk and ticket sales area. A short video introducing visitors to the railway museum can be seen at the entrance.

The Toronto Railway Museum’s Miniature Railway opened in 2010 within Roundhouse Park provides rides to visitors to the museum in season.

The Railway Heritage Discovery Trail links over two dozen sites of significance to Toronto’s railway history. The SkyWalk retains a connection from the Roundhouse Park, to Union Station.

Address of the Roundhouse Park:

255 Bremner Blvd

Toronto, ON M5V 3M9

The Toronto Railway Museum features an indoor display, an indoor restoration facility, a full size diesel cab simulator, an outdoor miniature railway, numerous railway engines and rolling stock as well as a fully restored railway village which includes Don Station, Signal Cabin D (with toolshed), a Watchman’s shanty, a Water Tower and a coaling tower. The John Street Roundhouse was built for the Canadian Pacific Railway by Anglin-Norcross to replace the earlier John Street roundhouse built in 1897. Photo by © Elena

In the past, John Street Roundhouse could maintain 32 locomotives at a time. 32 bay doors make up the inner rounded facade of the building and face the 120 foot turntable which was the largest used by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. It was conceived and constructed by the Canadian Bridge Company. Photo by © Elena

The John Street Roundhouse was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1990. Photo by © Elena

The Toronto Railway Museum operates year round. Photo by © Elena

Benches in front of the brewery on the site of the Roundhouse Park. Photo by © Elena

Roundhouse Park contains 4 full sized locomotives, 3 freight cars, and 2 passenger cars: Canadian National Railway No. 6213 U-2-G 4-8-4 MLW 1942; CP Rail 7020 (Class DS10-B, Alco S-2 1944; Canadian National Railway No. 4803 GMD GP7 1953; Canadian Locomotive Company 50 Ton Whitcomb Centre Cab Switcher 1950; Canadian Pacific “Jackman” sleeper 1931; Canadian Pacific “Cape Race” Buffet-compartment-solarium-observation-sleeper, 1929; Dominion Atlantic Railway “San Pariel” (now “Nova Scotia”) Pullman dining car built in 1896; Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railway Caboose #70 steel sheathed, 1921; Canadian Pacific Railway 188625 – “Fowler” steel frame boxcar, built 1917; Reinhart Vinegars RVLX 101 – wooden vinegar tank car, built 1938; Toronto Terminal Railway (TTR) – Pyke Self-Propelled Crane. Photo by © Elena

Toronto Railway Heritage Centre #1.

Platform.

Non-Conventional Forms of Energy

Non-Conventional Forms of Energy

In the world, biomass is the only form of non-conventional energy that is widely used. The biomass encompasses organic matter produced by plant growth or animal or human activity. Wood and forest residues make up forest biomass waste resulting from human activity in the cities makes up urban biomass.

The Canadian government has committed itself to energy efficiency, and in Quebec, through its policy L’énergie au service du Québec (Energy for Québec’s needs), the ministry of Natural resources, fauna and parks (Ministère des Ressources naturelles, de la Faune et des Parcs) engages in a wide array of initiatives at all the levels to assure more efficient use of energy and its sources.

Indeed, Quebec, with its large landmass and diversified geography, has substantial renewable resources that can be used to produce energy. At the same time, a wide range of energy-producing technologies and equipment have been developed to take advantage of these natural resources. As a result, usable energy can be produced in the form of electricity, industrial heat, thermal energy for space and water conditioning, and transportation fuels.

Victoria Park, Toronto. Photo by Elena

Several types of biomass are used to produce energy. The most commonly used type of biomass is wood, either round wood or wood waste from industrial activities.

Historically, the use of wood has been important in Quebec for space and water heating, as well as for cooking. It is still important today, as almost 10% of households use wood as a primary or secondary source for space heating.

Other than biomass, the kinetic energy of wind can be converted into useful forms of energy such as mechanical energy or electricity. Wind energy has been harnessed for centuries to propel sailing vessels and turn grist mills and water pumps.

Today in Quebec wind is used increasingly to generate electricity. Turbines with large propellers are erected in strategic areas that have good wind regimes and that are in proximity to existing electrical grids.

Quebec has large areas with excellent wind resources and therefore a significant potential for the expansion of wind-generated power. There are high quality areas inland at different locations across the province, including the North of Quebec and along the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Note than in Canada the provincial leaders in wind power capacity are Alberta, Ontario and Quebec.

Biosphere in Montreal. Photo by Elena