2 ? THE SUBURBAN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2010

Around the towns

SEASONAL FLU VACCINE

The Cavendish Health and Social Service Centre at the south entrance of Cavendish Mall in Côte St. Luc is providing vaccines for the seasonal flu, as well as for H1N1 and pneumococcal illness, for residents of Côte St. Luc, Hampstead, NDG, Montreal West and the western portion of Snowdon. The H1N1 vaccine is free. In terms of the seasonal flu vaccine, those who can get it free include people 60 and over, children six to 23 months old, anyone aged two to 59 with a chronic illness and anyone who comes into contact with those who meet the free vaccine criteria or with children aged up to 23 months. Those who do not meet the criteria are charged $10. For the pneumococcal vaccine, people 65 and older and those between two and 64 years old suffering from a chronic condition can get the shot for free, all are asked to bring their Medicare card. The hours are 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Jan. 13, 14, 18-21, 25-27, 29 and Feb. 1-4. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Jan. 16, 24 and 30 and Feb. 7.

CHRISTMAS TREE DISPOSAL IN CSL

For those who still haven?t disposed of your Christmas trees, Côte St. Luc?s website advises that ?residents in single-family houses and duplexes should put their Christmas trees at the curb on the day of their regular brown bin (organics) collection. Residents in multi-family dwellings (including townhouses) should put their Christmas trees at the curb on the day of the brown bin (organics) collection in their area? even if their building doesn?t yet have brown bin (organics) collection.?

MOWEST CHRISTMAS TREE DISPOSAL

Montreal West?s website has similar advice for its residents on Christmas tree disposal. ?Christmas trees should be placed out for pickup on Tuesday for regular garbage collection ? however, you may place your tree out on other days and the public works department will pick it up as soon as possible,? says the advisory. Fore more information, call the department at 514-485-8597. ? Joel Goldenberg

Citizens? forum on the economy

The Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union is sponsoring a discussion event taking place next week that will deal with the economic crisis and the decline of the middle class. Part of the Montreal Citizen Forum, the talk will feature Globe and Mail contributor Jim Stanford, an economist with the CAW and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and McGill University economics professor Kari Polyani-Levitt. The event, which will precede Stanford?s book launch for ?Economics for Everyone,? is on Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Atwater Library (1200 Atwater Ave.). The Montreal Citizen Forum can be reached at 514-844- 4076. The meeting is also being organized by Concordia University?s School of Community Studies and Public Affairs and the Montreal chapter of the Council of Canadians. ? DD

Meet your CDN-NDG councillors

The NDG Community Council will host a ?meet the councillors? evening for the general public on Wednesday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. at Wesley United Church?s Harvey Lee Hall (5964 Notre Dame de Grâce Ave.). Expected to attend are Côte des Neiges-NDG borough mayor Michael Applebaum, NDG district councillor Peter McQueen and Loyola district councillor Susan Clarke. According to an NDGCC statement, ?the discussion will include, among other subjects, housing conditions in NDG, the awarding of contracts, poverty alleviation in our borough and support for our community centres.? The council is also See TOWNS, page 7

PAGE TWO

Rum and Rhythm spiced the winter night

Gemma Raeburn-Baynes A capacity crowd of 200 attended the second annual Rum and Rhythm Caribbean Nite on Saturday at the Hampton Inn in Dorval. An offshoot of the popular Taste of the Caribbean food festival, the weekend event blended the sampling of exotic Caribbean rum and gourmet food with music provided by Montreal Rhythm Maker and DJ610, who had the Indian Tassa Dancers, Calypsonian, Cuban Dancers and guests on their feet from start to finish. Proceeds from the event help to support special community programs like Triumph Through Adversity which provides cooking scholarships to youth at risk. ? A. Bonaparte

LANDLORD

Cont?d from page 1 amounted to monthly spikes of about $75 and $175, when no major improvements to the units had been made. Worse yet, Landon and at least one other tenant say there have been unauthorized entries into their apartments by someone possessing keys to the front doors of their homes. Both Landon and Stacey Berman, a tenant at 4309-4311 Beaconsfield since 2001, contacted police after the incidents in 2007. They were told by SPVM officers to change their locks and not give copies to Barchichat or any of his associates who do work in the building. Barchichat, who again did not respond to The Suburban?s request for an interview, was also behind on his taxes, leading tenants to pay rent at times last year directly to the receiver general. ?I?ve taken him to the rental board several times,? said Berman, who also won a rental board judgment against Barchichat for an unjustified rent increase. ?He?s very proper ? when he?s in front of a judge.? ?When we need apartment repairs, I always go through the proper channels and he never gets back to me,? Berman Publisher: Michael Sochaczevski Associate Publisher: Sari Medicoff VP Business Development & Marketing: David Solomon Sales Manager: David Broadman Production Manager: Karen L. Cross Classified Manager: Charmaine Worrell Credit Manager: Carol Balinsky 7575 Trans-Canada Highway, Suite 105, St. Laurent, QC H4T 1V6 (514) 484-1107 (Fax) 484-9616 suburban@thesuburban.com www.thesuburban.com Some images and graphics Copyright 2009 Michael Publishing and its licensors. All rights reserved. Editor-in-chief: Beryl Wajsman (editor@thesuburban.com) Associate Editor: Anthony Bonaparte (anthony@thesuburban.com) Sports Editor: Mark Lidbetter (sports@thesuburban.com) Editorial Staff: Joel Ceausu, Dan Delmar, Julia Gerke, Joel Goldenberg, Walter J. Lyng, P.A. Sévigny, Samantha St. Jules, Kevin Woodhouse Editorial Contributors: Maria I. Anelli, Akil Alleyne, Sam Bick, Mike Cohen, Alex Di Pietro, Mitch Gallo, Ian Howarth, David Lisbona, Bernard Mendelman, Daniel W.K. Rafuse, Lisa K. Savage, Linda Zlatkin Photographers: Andrew Soong, Rob Taussig, Mico Smiljanic CONTACT US via email: Letters: editor@thesuburban.com | Entertainment: entertainment@thesuburban.com | Features: anthony@thesuburban.com | Sports: sports@thesuburban.com | Community Events: calendar@thesuburban.com | Advertising material: production@thesuburban.com ANDREW SOONG/THE SUBURBAN added. ?My kitchen floor has been peeling and rotting for years. He?s neglecting the building.? Another tenant, who asked not to be identified for fear relations with Barchichat would further deteriorate, also told The Suburban that there has been little maintenance work done since he took over the building. The woman has warned him about mould forming inside the windowsill and a cracked window which she doesn?t expect to ever be repaired. ?It takes a lot to get him to fix anything,? the woman said. ?Garbage is left here a long time?he tried to raise the rent by a lot.? ?It?s disgusting,? added the woman?s daughter, who complained of a squirrel or some kind of rodent scurrying in between the walls. Andrew Baldwin, a 10year resident who moved out six months ago, said garbage would also be dumped in the laneway and left there for months. ?It was very hard. I had taps that did not work properly ?it would go nine months without being repaired,? explained Baldwin, who said he spent months dumping bucketfuls of water, multiple times per day, because of the leak. ?It was very hard. And sure enough, the people who moved in (to his old unit) had trouble too.? Privacy is also an issue in the building: The daughter also said she saw a man (not Barchichat) tampering with the building?s mailboxes. Landon and Berman also suspect someone may have read their mail. Landon believes her mailbox lock was picked and envelopes steam-opened. Both say they?ve received mail with outdated postmarks and haven?t been able to get an explanation from Canada Post. Landon, who spends her own money to replace burned-out light bulbs in the hallway, is concerned that conditions could eventually become unbearable, forcing her out; a situation similar to that faced by the former 2290 Girouard tenants, who all left their homes after heating was cut off and maintenance became nonexistent. ?It?s absolutely incredible and unfortunate. Montreal needs to get some teeth when it comes to bad landlords,? Baldwin said. If you have a West End housing story, contact us at 514-484-1107 or editor@thesuburban.com. Publisher?s liability for error: The publisher shall not be liable for slight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an advertisement. The publisher?s liability for other errors or omissions in connection with any advertisement is strictly limited to publication of the advertisement in any subsequent issue or the refund of any monies paid for the advertisement. Entire Contents Copyright Michael Publishing Co. Inc., Wednesday, January 13, 2010

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