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Neighbours newsletter

June 2016

Neighbours ARC Opening Ceremony a Success!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank each and

every one of our members who took time out of their schedule to

celebrate ARC’s official opening with us! For those who could not

make it– Neighbours has expanded it’s offices next door– while

leaving the old space to create room for our new activity and resource

center (ARC.) Both sides have been renovated and updated to

improve staff function and better accommodate the needs of our

members !

Photos: (top left– new office space, top right– Richard Nolet,

Lori Marion, and Sharleen Sullivan cutting ribbon, bottom left– some

of our members at the opening ceremony, bottom right– ARC front

desk. )

NE I GHB OU RS NEW SLET TE R Page 2

A new thrift shop for children aged 0 to 10 years old has opened its doors and welcomes all families of Rouyn-Noranda.

Owner of the Ouistiti Family Entertainment Centre, Veronique Gauthier realized that the city had little available outlets for used children’s clothing. She then decided that she would add this new service to her already successful business Ouistiti. Veronique herself has 4 daughters which means she has accumulated a lot of children's clothes over the years. The price range of most of the clothes is between $1 and $3. Jeans and jumpsuits will cost up to $5– prices that Veronique has made very affordable. The owner encourages others to bring clothes they would like to donate or sell for a reasonable price.

Aside from used clothes, Veronique has also opened a section with brand new clothes for children. She is also planning to open up a maternity clothing section of which she would depend on women and families to donate.

Ouistiti, which was founded in 2010, offers playrooms with ball pits, a trampoline, tunnels, slides and more for children between the ages of 1 and 10. They also offer room reservations for birthday parties and inflatable games.

This thirft shop is located on the first floor of the Ouistiti Centre at the Old Sacre-Coeur church (561 Avenue Murdoch.)

Source: Le Citoyen R.N./Abit.Ouest

Every August, Osisko en lumière lights up the sky in Rouyn-Noranda. For three days, three fireworks shows are presented by professional fireworks teams as well as six outdoor concerts from international-caliber artists.

This year, the concert lineup will include: The Offspring, Coeur de Pirate, Louis-Jean Cormier, Nanochrome, Lubik, Galaxie, Dylan Perron, Kevin Bazinet, Karim Ouellet.

Tickets available for purchase from now online until August 4th at noon, and on sale from now at IGA until August 5th.

Source: http://osiskoenlumiere.com/

Owner of ‘Ouistiti’ Family Centre opens up Children's Thrift Shop

Page 3

Rouyn- Noranda celebrates La Fête des Voisins !

The City of Rouyn-Noranda is pleased to announce that it is participating in the next

edition of La Fête des Voisins , which will take place Saturday, June 11, 2016. They invite

citizens to join this event, which runs through all regions of Quebec and in forty countries

worldwide.

La Fête des Voisins is an initiative of the Quebec Network of Healthy Cities and

Villages who’s main objective is bringing people who live near each other together. The

role of municipalities is to promote the event in order to give people a taste of organizing a

party themselves with their immediate neighbours.

La Fête des Voisins was born in France in 1999 and quickly spread throughout

Europe. Under the leadership of the Quebec Network of Healthy Cities and Villages,

Quebec was the first region in North America to follow suit in 2006. Since then, the

success of the festival has grown , the number of participants, events and partners

increasing markedly from one edition to another.

Source:http://www.ville.rouyn-noranda.qc.ca/fr/article/rouyn-noranda-se-joint-a-la-fete-des-voisins/

The City of Rouyn-Noranda hoping to control the caterpillar population this year!

The City of Rouyn-Noranda has commissioned an exterminator to control the population of caterpillars in the city center during the summer 2016. For now, the contractor's activities will be limited to the Avenue Principale, Perreault Street, the Citizenship, as well as Tremoy Park. The extermination process involves letting the caterpillars assemble into colonies in order to apply the insecticide very locally. That being said, the caterpillars will make an appearance temporarily before the exterminator can intervene. The products and methods used are approved by and meet the standards of Health Canada. The treated areas will be marked with special signs that the population is encouraged to respect and to leave in place. City hall and Forest control would like to thank the population for its’ cooperation .

Page 4

Upcoming ARC Events

Join us for a movie afternoon of

timeless classics !

Figure Drawing classes have begun May 26th from 4-5 pm and will continue every Thursday at this time. If you are interested in joining, please let us know in advance so we can accommodate you. If you are unable to purchase the following supplies Neighbours can help you! Supplies to bring: Large drawing paper (can be purchased at Fontaine des Art or Walmart) Pencils and eraser (preferably HB 2-5) and Gum Eraser (photo right.)

Neighbours is on the lookout for two summer student positions here at our office! The jobs would entail ‘activity coordinator’ and ‘tourism director.’ If you are enrolled in an educational institution, are between the ages of 16-30, and can speak English (French being a strong asset), please provide us with your CV by June 3rd. More information is available at our Facebook page, and of course please call us if you or someone you know fits these prerequisites!

Public Notice for Rouyn-Noranda: The City would like to inform it’s citizens that the intersection at Dufault Avenue and East Tardif Street, and Lauzon Street will be closed as of Tuesday May 24th for a period of approximately 8 weeks to allow for excavation work to be done.

Page 5 NE I GHB OU RS NEW SLET TE R

Neighbours is a proud partner of Celebrate Canada 2016!!! July 1st, 2016 in Vieux Noranda 11:30 Canada Day Parade 13:30 Opening Ceremonies 14:00 – 18:30 Various activities and

Tables to Visit 19:00 – 10:00 Various Bands (to be announced officially soon) 10:30 Fireworks 11:00 Final Band

Neighbours will be hosting free Pony rides! Come out and see us! The organizing committee is always looking for volunteers – so if you or someone you know is interested please call the office!

Canada celebrates its 149th this year which falls on a Friday— Hello long weekend!

Canada Day Challenge: What makes you proud to be Canadian?

Every year, the government of Canada asks youth from 8 to 18 years old across the

country to tell us what makes them proud to be Canadian by submitting their best, most dynamic

drawings, photos or pieces of creative writing.

For the 2016 Canada Day Challenge, the winners will receive great prizes, including all

expenses paid trip for two to Ottawa to celebrate Canada Day on Parliament Hill: go backstage,

meet some of Canada’s most inspiring people, visit the Sir Wilfrid Laurier National Historic Site,

tour museums, galleries, the iconic Parliament Buildings and be part of a special summer exhibit

at the Canadian Museum of History.

Winners will also receive the opportunity to work with the amazingly talented team of

education specialists from the National Film Board of Canada to create their very own short films

about their adventures in Ottawa.

More information at http://www.canada.pch.gc.ca/eng/1449088858795.

Page 6 NE I GHB OU RS NEW SLET TE R

15 Things You May Not Know About Canada That May Surprise You

1. Canada consumes more macaroni and cheese than any other nation in the world.

2. Canada is the world's most educated country by percentage: over half its

residents have college degrees.

3. Canada is the second largest country in the world, right after Russia.

4. Residents of Churchill, Manitoba leave their cars unlocked to offer escape for

pedestrians who might encounter polar bears.

5. Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world's lakes combined.

6. The first Canadian casualties of the Afghanistan war were from an American

pilot bombing training exercise.

7. Canada has the largest coastline in the world.

8. The Mall of America is owned by Canadians.

9. The US/Canada border is the longest international border in the world and it

lacks military defense.

10. Canada has no weapons of mass destruction since 1984 and has signed

treaties repudiating their possession.

11. After the attack on Pearl Harbor during WWII, Canada declared war on Japan before the

U.S. did.

12. Large parts of Canada have less gravity than the rest of Earth. The

phenomenon was discovered in the 1960s.

13. Americans have invaded Canada twice, in 1775 and 1812. They lost both times.

14. Canada has the third largest oil reserves of any country in the world after

Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.

15. In Canada, Mexico, India, Russia, and Israel, bank notes have Braille-like

markings on them for the blind.

Page 7 NE I GHB OU RS NEW SLET TE R

Not just decoration or for comfort!

A rear-end crash occurs every 17 seconds in the U.S (estimated every 39 seconds in Canada). The best defense against whiplash is your headrest! But only when positioned correctly! The top of the headrest should be aligned with the top of your head, while the headrest should be about 5 cm from your head.

However, the other use most of us don’t know about: The headrest of your car seat is deliberately kept detachable and sharp so that it could be used to break open the glass of your car window in case of fire or emergency.

Good Drivers of Quebec Quebec motorists will pay less for registrations and driving licenses for the next three years. Starting this year (2016) it will be $ 56 less for registration (plates) and $ 9 less for the renewal of driving licenses for a total savings of $ 65! But beware, these savings are only available to drivers who have no demerit points! Those of us with a little heavy foot will have to pay full price! The SAAQ believes this measure will save $1.2 billion for Good Quebec drivers over the next three years.

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Congratulations to our members Roxanne Martin and Richard Osborne for winning our FGMAT ticket draw!

Neighbours is a proud supporter of FGMAT-the

Festival des Guitares du Monde en Abitibi–

Témiscamingue. This year we received four tickets to

give out to our members– two tickets to Steve Hill, and

Steve Vai. Those who submitted their names were

drawn at random and Roxanne and Richard were our

lucky winners!

Neighbours goal is the third, but often we settle for Equity!

Congratulations– enjoy the show!

Photo left: Neighbours Chairman Lori Marion (left)

presenting the Steve Vai ticket to Roxanne (right.)

NE I GH Page 10

Neighbours is hosting “Shakespeare in the Park: Romeo & Juliet—with a 1950’s twist’

On June 19th at the Amphitheatre located at the Osisko Presqu'île, a group of

talented performers will put on an English production known as ‘Shakespeare in the Park’

but are keeping the classic play interesting with a 50’s twist. This spectacle is brought to us

by ‘Save The LaSalle’, a non - profit corporation created to acquire, preserve, restore, and

operate the LaSalle Theatre, in Kirkland Lake Ontario. Note that this is the first time that

this production will be taking place in Rouyn-Noranda– so Neighbours would like to wel-

come them with a large sized audience!

A background: ‘Shakespeare in the Park’ is a term for outdoor festivals featuring

productions of William Shakespeare's plays. Shakespeare in the Park started as an idea to

make theatre available to people of all walks of life, so that it would be as readily available

as library books. That being said, the performances are more often than not free of

admission to the general public.

Admission: Free!!!

Date: June 19th, 2016

Time: 2pm

Location: Amphitheatre at the Osisko Presqu'île

Play: Romeo & Juliet

This event is suitable for the whole family— so bring the kids along too!!!

Page 11 NE I GHB OU RS NEW SLET TE R

Commissioner Releases Final Report

Graham Fraser, Canada’s Commissioner of Official Languages, released his

tenth and final annual report commenting that governments should do more to

protect the language rights of Canadians. We agreed wholeheartedly, noting

that governments, including the government of Quebec, must find better ways

to protect and support their linguistic minority communities. In his conclusion

Commissioner Fraser describes work in official languages as running up the

down escalator – a brilliant analogy – you have to keep moving forward or

you are quickly carried backwards. Neighbours have hardcopies or you can read the Annual Report

of the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages as well as his supplemental report entitled

Protecting Language Rights: Overview of the Commissioner’s Interventions in the Courts

2006-2016 online. In 2008, Commissioner Fraser recognized that Quebec’s English-speaking

community was one of the two official language minorities in Canada. However, governments have

not always met that challenge of making that a reality. Neighbours Executive Director Sharleen

Sullivan will get to hear more of Mr. Fraser’s wisdom at the QCGN Annual Meeting on June 3, in

Montreal; where English Community Representatives will be able to bid adieu to Commissioner

Fraser and thank him for a decade of yeoman’s service on behalf of our community.

Bill 86 scraped Education Minister Sebastien Proulx confirmed that the controversial Bill 86 (School Board

Reforms) will be dropped. He said the government would rather focus on bigger priorities, the

main one being student success rates. Proulx added a possible constitutional challenge over Bill

86 wouldn’t be worth the time and resources.

This means that school board elections are here to stay, at least for the time being. The

main goal now is to bring Quebec’s graduation rate near that of Ontario’s. That province

announced it hopes for graduation rate of 85 per cent. To make that goal a reality, a new bill will

be tabled. Proulx said he’s looking at compulsory schooling until the age of 18, increased

resources for special needs students and a professional order for teachers.

During hearings surrounding Bill 86 earlier this year, members of the Anglophone

community across Quebec (including Neighbours) expressed concern that the legislation would

infringe on minority English rights. For now, Bill 86 has been put to rest, but there is no saying

whether it will be revived somewhere down the road.

MISSION STATEMENT

Neighbours Regional Association of Rouyn-Noranda is a volunteer-

based organization who believe in a vital future for our community.

We serve the English-speaking population of the Rouyn Noranda area

through facilitating information sharing, defending the right of access to

service in English and organizing social and cultural events.

We are committed to strengthening networks within the English and

French speaking population as well as encouraging community

development initiatives .

Objectives:

To facilitate information sharing within the ESC of Rouyn Noranda area

To strengthen networks within English-speaking and French speaking

community

To defend the rights of our members to access services in English

To organize social and cultural events

To support community development initiatives

To encourage the development of leadership in the community

N E I G H B O U R S R E G I O N A L

Up-Coming Events

Mailing address: PO Box 2277 Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec

J9X 5A9 Location: 139 Murdoch Ave

Telephone: (819) 762-0882

neighbours@cablevision.qc.ca

In partnership with:

Please Refer to Calendar Inside!