Sunday, October 30, 2011

Queen's Park Velodrome 1899 - Map finally Discovered

Finally after 7 years of research and with the help of the city of Verdun (Amélie Soulard), a map showing the exact location of the Queen's Park velodrome has been discovered. As the map shows, it was situated in between the streets: Wellington, Rielle, Chemin Bas Lachine (LaSalle Blvd) and along the dike wich was situated between Willibrord and 1st avenue, faccing city hall today. Willibrord street stopped at Wellington in 1898 and 1st avenue was not yet built and was part of the E.X Brault land. According to the map, the seats where built above the dike and could contain up to 15,000 spectators, quite an accomplishment when you consider that Verdun had only about 2000 residents.This dyke was built to contain the rising water in the spring and the section along the river became the Boardwalk. The Ontario Wellington tramway came along Rielle street to unload its passengers and continued towards Lower Lachine Road, up Gordon and returned east towards Montreal.

The map was in the newspaper "Le Sport Illustré" dated the 22nd of July 1899 and was short lived having been printed only 6 issues and was found in the BANQ internet site.

I know I am repeating myself but Verdun was the host to the World's Meet International bicycle races from the 7th to the 12th of August 1899 and as far as I am concerned, was the largest sporting event ever held in Verdun, bar none. As an historical society (SHGV), it is our mission to inform the public of events such as these and to make sure that they are not forgotten.

Guy (SHGV)

Friday, October 28, 2011

Reflections of Canada (from a British Newspaper Writer)

I just recv'd this email,and since we are entering the Remembrance Day time of Year, ( the Poppy Drive has already started,) I thought I would repost this here to share with everyone. I read in the Gazette that again this year we have already had a couple of locations in Montreal who would not allow the Veterans from local legions to set up to sell their Poppy's------How nice of these low-life creeps who seem to Forget just what people gave up for them to run their shops..Oh they always relent (when exposed) & welcome the vets' with open arms..Lest They Have Their Names Printed too often........So maybe they should be made aware of just what these things mean to Canada & most Canadians ( sadly not all)

Subject: British newspaper salutes Canada

Also, I might add. Canada and Canadians are very well respected and loved by those of us that now live in the USA. God Bless us all. You can take the boy out of Canada, but you can't take Canada out of me. The love I have for Canada and the USA are far more than I could ever explain. Then again, no explanation may be necessary.

Thanks to the Brits, (and annually by the Dutch since the second world war), Canada’s extraordinary peacekeeping efforts are acknowledged.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

British newspaper salutes Canada . . . this is a good read. It is funny how it took someone in England to put it into words......
Salute to a brave and modest nation - Kevin Myers , 'The Sunday Telegraph' LONDON :

Until the deaths of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan , probably almost no one outside their home country had been aware that Canadian troops are deployed in the region.

And as always, Canada will bury its dead, just as the rest of the world, as always will forget its sacrifice, just as it always forgets nearly everything Canada ever does.. It seems that Canada 's historic mission is to come to the selfless aid both of its friends and of complete strangers, and then, once the crisis is over, to be well and truly ignored.

Canada is the perpetual wallflower that stands on the edge of the hall, waiting for someone to come and ask her for a dance. A fire breaks out, she risks life and limb to rescue her fellow dance-goers, and suffers serious injuries. But when the hall is repaired and the dancing resumes, there is Canada, the wallflower still, while those she once helped glamorously cavort across the floor, blithely neglecting her yet again.

That is the price Canada pays for sharing the North American continent with the United States , and for being a selfless friend of Britain in two global conflicts.

For much of the 20th century, Canada was torn in two different directions: It seemed to be a part of the old world, yet had an address in the new one, and that divided identity ensured that it never fully got the gratitude it deserved.

Yet it's purely voluntary contribution to the cause of freedom in two world wars was perhaps the greatest of any democracy. Almost 10% of Canada 's entire population of seven million people served in the armed forces during the First World War, and nearly 60,000 died. The great Allied victories of 1918 were spearheaded by Canadian troops, perhaps the most capable soldiers in the entire British order of battle.

Canada was repaid for its enormous sacrifice by downright neglect, it's unique contribution to victory being absorbed into the popular memory as somehow or other the work of the 'British.'

The Second World War provided a re-run. The Canadian navy began the war with a half dozen vessels, and ended up policing nearly half of the Atlantic against U-boat attack. More than 120 Canadian warships participated in the Normandy landings, during which 15,000 Canadian soldiers went ashore on D-Day alone.

Canada finished the war with the third-largest navy and the fourth largest air force in the world. The world thanked Canada with the same sublime indifference as it had the previous time.

Canadian participation in the war was acknowledged in film only if it was necessary to give an American actor a part in a campaign in which the United States had clearly not participated - a touching scrupulousness which, of course, Hollywood has since abandoned, as it has any notion of a separate Canadian identity.

So it is a general rule that actors and filmmakers arriving in Hollywood keep their nationality - unless, that is, they are Canadian. Thus Mary Pickford, Walter Huston, Donald Sutherland, Michael J. Fox, William Shatner, Norman Jewison, David Cronenberg, Alex Trebek, Art Linkletter, Mike Weir and Dan Aykroyd have in the popular perception become American, and Christopher Plummer, British.

It is as if, in the very act of becoming famous, a Canadian ceases to be Canadian, unless she is Margaret Atwood, who is as unshakably Canadian as a moose, or Celine Dion, for whom Canada has proved quite unable to find any takers.

Moreover, Canada is every bit as querulously alert to the achievements of its sons and daughters as the rest of the world is completely unaware of them. The Canadians proudly say of themselves - and are unheard by anyone else - that 1% of the world's population has provided 10% of the world's peacekeeping forces.
Canadian soldiers in the past half century have been the greatest peacekeepers on Earth - in 39 missions on UN mandates, and six on non-UN peacekeeping duties, from Vietnam to East Timor, from Sinai to Bosnia.

Yet the only foreign engagement that has entered the popular non-Canadian imagination was the sorry affair in Somalia , in which out-of-control paratroopers murdered two Somali infiltrators. Their regiment was then disbanded in disgrace - a uniquely Canadian act of self-abasement for which, naturally, the Canadians received no international credit.

So who today in the United States knows about the stoic and selfless friendship its northern neighbour has given it in Afghanistan?

Rather like Cyrano de Bergerac , Canada repeatedly does honourable things for honourable motives, but instead of being thanked for it, it remains something of a figure of fun. It is the Canadian way, for which Canadians should be proud, yet such honour comes at a high cost. This past year more grieving Canadian families knew that cost all too tragically well.

Lest we forget.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

More About Kathy Dobson...authour of "With a Closed Fist"

Here is a little more information about Kathy Dobson,

Freelance journalist Kathy Dobson has written for every major newspaper and magazine in Canada, including the Globe and Mail, National Post, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Canadian Living, Chatelaine, More, Maclean’s

and Today’s Parent magazine. Her two blogs with the Globe and Mail, “A Parent’s View” and “A Family View,” examine the issues surrounding post-secondary education in Canada. A news stringer for the CBC in Ottawa for over six years, Kathy also produced numerous documentaries for CBC Radio, including one that featured hockey legend Bobby Orr that examined the violence in children’s minor hockey. She also followed a group of teenaged peacemakers for nearly two years in a public school in Ontario, sharing their struggles and triumphs in the fight against bullying. Kathy grew up in Pointe St. Charles, a neighbourhood then described by the National Film board as being the “toughest neighbourhood in Canada,” a factoid she never gets tired of bragging about.

("She sure sounds like a proud Montrealer to me, & she call 'em like she see's 'em " )JMHO.....I can't wait to read this gals book, afterall it's her story & We all have one....

Have Fun & Remember Verdun ................................

her book is available through Vehicule Press, Amazon.ca, & Chapters Indigo ,or you can check your local library for it too. I have recommended (or suggested ) it to be added to the local library system here in Victoria BC ,.so it's probably been added (or will be ) to a library near you.......

-From Véhicule Press

“In the Point St. Charles of Kathy’s childhood people move for one of two reasons: their apartment is on fire, or the rent is due. Starting in 1968, eight-year-old Kathy Dobson shares her early years growing up in Point St. Charles, an industrial slum in Montreal (now in the process of gentrification). She offers a glimpse into the culture of extreme poverty, giving an insider’s view into a neighbourhood then described as the ‘toughest in Canada.’

When student social workers and medical students from McGill University invade the Point, Kathy and her five sisters witness their mother transform from a defeated welfare recipient to an angry and confrontational community organizer who joins in the fight against a city that has turned a blind eye on some of its most vulnerable citizens. When her mother wins the right for Kathy and her two older sisters to attend schools in one of Montreal’s richest neighbourhoods, Kathy is thrown into a foreign world with a completely different set of rules, leading to disastrous results.”

Donations

I just had to post this. Looks like I will have to change my donation habits.

Guy

Donations - Where Does The Money Go ?

Donating - Interesting, ever wonder where that donation money goes?


Keep these facts in mind when "donating". As you open your pockets
for yet another natural disaster, keep the following facts in mind; we
have listed them from the highest (worse paid offender) to the lowest
(least paid offender).


The worst offender was yet again for the 11th year in a row is, UNICEF - CEO,
receives $1,200,000 per year, (plus use of a Rolls Royce for his exclusive
use where ever he goes, and an expense account that is rumored to be well
over $150,000.) Only pennies from the actual donations goes to the UNICEF
cause (less than $0.14 per dollar of income).


The second worst offender this year is Marsha J. Evans, President and CEO
of the American Red Cross... for her salary for the year ending in 2009 was
$651,957 plus expenses. Enjoys 6 weeks - fully paid holidays including
all related expenses during the holiday trip for her and her husband and
kids. including 100% fully paid health & dental plan for her and her family,
for life. This means out of every dollar they bring in, about $0.39 goes to
related charity causes.

The third worst offender was again for the 7th time was, Brian Gallagher,
President of the United Way receives a $375,000 base salary (U. S. funds),
plus so many numerous expense benefits it's hard to keep track as to what it
is all worth, including a fully paid lifetime membership for 2 golf courses
(1 in Canada, and 1 in the U. S. A.), 2 luxury vehicles, a yacht club membership,
3 major company gold credit cards for his personal expenses... and so on. This
equates to about $0.51 per dollar of income goes to charity causes.


Fourth worst offender who was also again in the fourth spot, for every year since
this information has been made available from the start 1998 is amazingly yet again,
World Vision President (Canada) receives $300,000 base salary, (plus supplied -
a home valued in the $700,000 - $800,000 dollar value range, completely furnished,
completely paid all housing expenses, including taxes, water/sewer, telephone/fax,
HD/high speed cable, weekly maid service and pool/yard maintenance, fully paid
private schooling for his children, upscale automobile and an $55,000 personal
expense account for clothing/food, with a $125,000 business expense account).
Get this, because it is a "religious based" charity, it pays, little to no taxes, can
receive government assistance and does not have to declare were the money goes.
Only about $0.52 of earned income per dollar is available for charity causes.

Of the sixty some odd "charities" we looked at, the lowest paid
(President/C. EO/Commissioner) was heading up a charity group
in Canada . We found, believe it or not, it was......

Ready for this..

I think you might be surprised...

It is, none other than...

The Salvation Army's Commissioner Todd Bassett receives a salary
of only $13,000 per year (plus housing) for managing this $2
Billion dollar organization. Which means about $0.93 per dollar earned,
is readily available and goes back out to local charity causes... truly amazing
.. and well done "Sally Anne"



No further comment is necessary..."Think Twice" before you give to your
Charity of choice as to which one really does the best for the most - or the
least for the most, for that matter. Remember charity starts at home. Look after the people of this country.



99% of people won't have the guts to forward this.



I Just Did!

With a Closed Fist .by Kathy Dobson

Monday, October 24, 2011

Body Pulled from Acky near Woodland Bridge

MONTREAL - A body, apparently of a man, was found and recovered Sunday from the municipal aqueduct, bordering Ville Émard and Verdun.

Police would confirm only that a corpse had been recovered from "a body of water" in the area.

Constable Dany Richer added that he was unable to immediately supply any details.

However, a Verdun resident, who asked that her name not be published, said the corpse appeared to be male and under 40 years of age.

It was pulled about 2 p.m. Sunday from the water onto the shoreline at the base of the bridge where Woodland Ave. crosses the channel feeding the treatment plant, she said.

The site is on the Champlain Blvd. side of the canal.

The body, the witness added, was clad in a black coat, jeans and black running shoes.

She said a police officer nearby was holding a plastic bag containing a wallet and a cellular telephone.

The body was subsequently covered with a red blanket.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Bayard's Bike Rentals on Galt

Some of us kids from Verdun who didn't have a bike would choose to rent them from time to time,we'd save our nickels & dimes & go see Mr Bayard on Galt & rent a bike ( I forget the amount ,but obviously it wasn't too terrifying)

One of our members asked me about it , so I in turn asked Guy (our resident Verdun Expert) who was good enough to find for us the address of one Fern Bayard bike Repair Shop at 121d Galt Avenue. This place was a neat backyard operation , you entered it through a covered driveway to appear in a courtyard like backyard with several garages & storage sheds..............it was a cool spot, Mr Bayard was a neat character who was always working on a bike ,& always had time to allow you to pick out which bike you wanted for the day.....\

I have not been able to find an old photo of his shop, but I do have the Google Maps link which shows us the covered driveway entrance ,where his sign used to hang over the entrance......long gone (probably so with Mr Bayard himself....

Here are some of the conversation that Guy & I had in trying to find this old Verdun spot.........maybe some of you remember it too.........I know a few of you do,...and Thanks for the initial questionfrom ogibonjovi ,thanks Glen.

http://multiply.com/mail/message/lesf:pms:78

Sunday, October 9, 2011

October,Thanksgiving in Canada Only Since 1957............Aren't You Thankfull I Told You That...LOL

Thanksgiving Day in Canada

Quick Facts

Thanksgiving Day is a holiday to give thanks for the blessings in one's life, particularly the harvest. It is a day off work for many Canadians.

Local names

Name	Language
Thanksgiving Day	English
le Jour d'Action de grâce	French

Thanksgiving Day 2011

Monday, October 10, 2011

Thanksgiving Day 2012

Monday, October 8, 2012
List of dates for other years

Thanksgiving Day in Canada has been a holiday on the second Monday of October since 1957. It is a chance for people to give thanks for a good harvest and other fortunes in the past year.

Thanksgiving Day in Canada is linked to the European tradition of harvest festivals. ©iStockphoto.com/Olga Lyubkina

What do people do?

Many people have a day off work on the second Monday of October. They often use the three-day Thanksgiving weekend to visit family or friends who live far away, or to receive them in their own homes. Many people also prepare a special meal to eat at some point during the long weekend. Traditionally, this included roast turkey and seasonal produce, such as pumpkin, corn ears and pecan nuts. Now, the meal may consist of other foods, particularly if the family is of non-European descent.

The Thanksgiving weekend is also a popular time to take a short autumn vacation. This may be the last chance in a while for some people to use cottages or holiday homes before winter sets in. Other popular activities include: outdoor breaks to admire the spectacular colors of the Canadian autumn; hiking; and fishing. Fans of the teams in the Canadian Football League may spend part of the weekend watching the Thanksgiving Day Classic matches.

Public life

Thanksgiving Day is national public holiday in Canada. Many people have the day off work and all schools and post offices are closed. Many stores and other businesses and organizations are also closed. Public transport services may run to a reduced timetable or may not run at all.

Whilst Thanksgiving Day is holiday at a national level, it is not considered among the list of paid public holidays in New Brunswick under New Brunswick's Employment Standards Act.

Background

The native peoples of the Americas held ceremonies and festivals to celebrate the completion and bounty of the harvest long before European explorers and settlers arrived in what is now Canada. Early European thanksgivings were held to give thanks for some special fortune. An early example is the ceremony the explorer Martin Frobisher held in 1578 after he had survived the long journey in his quest to find a northern passage from Europe to Asia.

Many thanksgivings were held following noteworthy events during the 18th century. Refugees fleeing the civil war in the United States brought the custom of an annual thanksgiving festival to Canada. From 1879, Thanksgiving Day was held every year but the date varied and there was a special theme each year. The theme was the "Blessings of an abundant harvest" for many years. However, Queen Victoria's golden and diamond jubilees and King Edward VII's coronation formed the theme in later years.

From the end of the First World War until 1930, both Armistice Day and Thanksgiving Day were celebrated on the Monday closest to November 11, the anniversary of the official end of hostilities in World War I. In 1931, Armistice Day was renamed Remembrance Day and Thanksgiving Day was moved to a Monday in October. Since 1957, Thanksgiving Day has always been held on the second Monday in October.

Symbols

Thanksgiving Day in Canada is linked to the European tradition of harvest festivals. A common image seen at this time of year is a cornucopia, or horn, filled with seasonal fruit and vegetables. This represents the "Horn of Plenty", which was a symbol of bounty and plenty in ancient Greece. Turkeys, pumpkins, ears of corn and large displays of food are also used to symbolize Thanksgiving Day

..Hmmm, the Horn of Plenty is what Canada's uses to depict thanksgiving, sounds appropriate ,as we are a rich country..However I always equated a friggin BIG TURKEY and all the Trimmings as Thanksgiving ............How abut you (don't all answer at once .....it ties up the bandwith)...........LOL

I imagine now a days scenes like this are more common:

.. HAPPY THANKSGIVING to ALL of YOU.........Enjoy your dinner....HF&RV

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Dougie Patients Go Berserk Over UFO............................Oh Wait it's the Montreal Wanderers Rugby Team Using the Dougie's Grounds

Wow, 1/7th of Verdun is made up of the Douglas Hospital Grounds..........that's just crazy................I mean unbelievable MONTREAL - In 1890, the Protestant Hospital for the Insane, as it was then called, began to operate a farm. It allowed the hospital to be self-sufficient in terms of food, but also served another purpose – doing farm work was considered to be a healthier way for the patients to spend their time.

The farm officially closed in 1961, but the tradition of using the Douglas Hospital grounds to the benefit of its patients, and now the public, continues.

Marc Kenney, chief of installations and grounds maintenance, says the hospital took down the fences that used to surround the grounds, making it more accessible to the public, around 1991.

With 165 acres of land, the Douglas Hospital takes up one-seventh of the total area of Verdun, according to the borough’s website. More than half of those 165 acres is sprawling green space and, save for a few places, it is all open to the public.

Seven sports teams currently use the grounds officially for practices, games, or both. All the organizations that use the fields rent them from the hospital. They don’t pay to play there, but they are asked to make a donation to the hospital.

The Montreal Wanderers rugby team has been playing on the grounds since a strike of the city’s blue-collar workers in 1991 denied them access to city parks.

The team divides the grounds into two pitches, one for their practices and the other for their home games.

Kevin Thiruchelvam is the team’s field manager, and he sets up the fields on a weekly basis with a few volunteers from the team. He paints the lines, erects the posts, puts up ropes to separate the spectators from the field and, at the end of the game, he makes it look like they were never there.

“It’s a sporting event, but you get a sort of Sunday afternoon barbecue vibe to it sometimes,” he explained. “People bring their kids and they have picnics and watch the games.”

The Montreal Ultimate Frisbee league has been there for roughly the same amount of time.

They split the grounds into 18 different fields three days a week for their games.

Lorne Beckman, who has been involved with the league since it began, said the central location and field space were key reasons why they chose to play their games at the Douglas in the league’s early years.

“We love the site. It’s a tremendous place. There are trees everywhere, gigantic, mature trees, so you get a lot of shade everywhere and because of that it’s not just one great big field space, so we aren’t cramped at all,” he said.

A soccer team, two cricket clubs, a mixed football league, a lacrosse team and a community garden round out the list of the grounds’ official tenants. In the past, it has also been home to events such as the Montreal Highland Games, which are now held in Pierrefonds.

The patients also have their own spaces on the grounds.

Among them is the sculpture garden, which opened 10 years ago. It boasts 20 sculptures donated by professional artists. The goal of the garden is to improve the patients’ quality of life by beautifying the grounds.

And a team of horticulturists is in charge of designing the hospital’s gardens and flower beds, some used for patient activities.

Though there are some people who are still nervous about holding events at a psychiatric hospital, Kenney said he tells them it’s no different than having an event in any other park.

“We encourage people to break that stigma of psychiatric hospitals. People coming here to play ultimate Frisbee, or rugby, or who knows what, are going to realize that it’s not what they imagined it would be.”

Friday, October 7, 2011

Dow Planetarium to Close October 10th ,2011

Canada's oldest planetarium closes its doors

05/10/2011 6:07:00 PM

Peter Rakobowchuk, The Canadian Press
MONTREAL - Pierre Chastenay paid his first visit to the Montreal Planetarium, Canada's oldest, when he was a teenager and he says that visit made a huge impact on him.

In fact, it may have changed his life.

"I remember that the show was very impressive and that made me think about the possibility of becoming a professional astronomer," he said Wednesday.

In the decades since that visit, Chastenay has stayed pretty close to the downtown facility with its trademark domed white roof; he's been the planetarium's astronomer for the past 23 years.

The operation is closing next week with more than six million star-struck visitors having passed through its doors since April 1, 1966, when it was officially inaugurated as the Dow planetarium.

Chastenay says there were regular crowds in those first few years.

People were instantly drawn to the images of the night sky, splashed onto the planetarium's dome by a huge projector.

"When we opened in 1966 there were more than 300,000 people coming in, so it was a huge success back then," said Chastenay, now 48.

"There were many people wanting to see the night sky in the planetarium for the first time."

Chastenay points out that in those days, public interest was spurred by the U.S.-Soviet space race.

"In the late '60s, early '70s, because of the space race which was all over the place, people were coming to the planetarium to hear about the newest discoveries and the newest in space exploration," he said.

Chastenay says he's had to answer some questions repeatedly over the years, like: What is a black hole? Are we alone in the universe? What is the origin of everything that surrounds us? What will be the fate of the universe?

But he looks forward to exciting times ahead in the field of astronomy and new questions that will need answers as more planets are now being discovered.

"We're beginning to wonder if life would be present on these planets and I would say that in the next 15-20 years we might be able to answer this very deep question," Chastenay said.

He admits attendance has been down at the old planetarium during the past few years and the technology there was simply outdated.

"We have slide projectors that we don't find pieces to repair (and) the film that we use is no being longer made," Chastenay said.

"So it's getting more and more difficult to operate the planetarium."

He and his team are now concentrating on the creation of the exhibits and shows which will be presented in a new planetarium.

The more modern, $46-million Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium, with its two "star theatres," is expected to open in Montreal's Olympic park in the spring of 2013.

Journalists were given a tour Wednesday of the old building, whose doors are closing Oct. 10.

They were also given a peek inside a time capsule that was placed inside the building's cornerstone when construction first began.

The capsule contained 10 English- and French-language newspapers, a letter from then-mayor Jean Drapeau as well as an audio tape from a local Montreal English radio station.

The aircheck included two ads for Dow brewery, which the planetarium was originally named after and which was located just across the street.

One front-page headline in the Montreal Star newspaper of July 16, 1965 read, "Beatniks kidnap QPP officer." The English-language newspaper ceased to exist in September 1979.

Dorval @ 70 (aka: Trudeau)

Français

Montréal-Trudeau has grown from its modest beginnings as a military base during the Second World War into a world-class gateway for North America and Europe.

Seventy years ago, the Nazis were multiplying air strikes against Great Britain. The Royal Air Force was desperate for aircraft after losing hundreds of planes in air battles over Europe. Its essential supply of US aircraft, sent on ship convoys, was being sunk in the icy Atlantic by relentless German U-boat attacks. The only, and daunting, alternative was to fly the planes across the Atlantic, even though transatlantic flight was still in its infancy.

President's message

A proud heritage and a bright future

Montréal-Trudeau Airport is celebrating its 70^th birthday this year!

Enter the Royal Air Force Ferry Command, established to deliver US-made warplanes to Great Britain. Its main base of operations: a new airport built by the Canadian government on the site of the former Dorval Race Track on the outskirts of Montréal. Officially inaugurated on September 1, 1941, Montréal Airport (Dorval) would go on to help ferry 10,000 aircraft, playing an instrumental role in the Allied victory and paving the way for mass postwar transatlantic air travel.

Today, the airport, renamed Montréal-Trudeau, is Canada's third largest, welcoming about 13 million passengers this year and served by some 30 airlines offering nonstop service to more than 130 destinations in Canada, the US and internationally.

Rapid ascent

Montréal Airport grew rapidly when it switched to civil transportation after the end of the Second World War. In 1945, it was already served by four airlines offering 22 scheduled flights and handling 500 passengers a day. A year later, BOAC (now British Airways) established the first transatlantic passenger service between Montréal and the UK and passenger traffic jumped to 250,000 a year.

By 1952, Dorval was serving 590,000 passengers a year and many other airlines started using the airport, including KLM and Air France. Two of its three runways were lengthened to meet demand. In 1955, it became Canada's biggest airport, with 1 million passengers.

About Aéroports de Montréal

Montréal-Trudeau Airport is operated by Aéroports de Montréal, a not-for-profit corporation that serves the community.

Two years later, construction began on Canada's first cargo terminal, at Dorval, allowing it to become the main Canadian entry point for cargo from Europe. In November 1960, the airport was renamed Aéroport international Dorval de Montréal/Montréal-Dorval International Airport and a month later Canada's Minister of Transport inaugurated a new $30 million terminal. It was the largest terminal in Canada and one of the biggest in the world. The original terminal was demolished.

1938
The Dorval Race Track land was chosen as the site for construction of the new airport.

1941
Airport site during the Royal Air Force Ferry Command. National Archives of Canada

1950
The original terminal at Dorval during the 1950's. National Archives of Canada

1956
A Transport Department weather officer gives a pre-flight briefing to two pilots.

1970
A Royal Canadian Mounted Police dog master. Aircraft: Air Canada

Boom times

In the 1960s, Montréal experienced a tremendous economic boom. Massive construction projects, such as the Montréal Metro, coupled with the hosting of Expo 67, brought the city international status. More and more visitors were arriving to the city, especially by air: the federal government required that European airlines make Montréal their port of entry into Canada. This resulted in annual growth of 15-20% in passenger traffic at Dorval. By 1968, the airport was handling 4.5 million passengers.

The Canadian government predicted that Dorval would be completely saturated in less than 20 years and decided to build a new airport that would be more than able to absorb increasing passenger traffic well into the 21st century. However, by the time Mirabel Airport opened in 1975, Toronto had become Canada's number one gateway and passenger volume fell well below forecasts. Mirabel's development was therefore halted and only the first phase of six projects was completed.

Scheduled international passenger flights, which had been transferred to Mirabel in 1975, were repatriated to Dorval in September 1997 and the last passenger charters followed in October 2004. Mirabel now specializes in cargo operations and is also an important industrial site for such aerospace companies as Bombardier Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney Canada, L3 MAS, Avianor Group and others.

In the meantime, responsibility for the operation and development of Montréal's airports had been passed, under the terms of a lease, from Transport Canada to a new local airport authority called Aéroports de Montréal (ADM), which started operations in 1992. The transfer was part of the Government of Canada's new national policy of divesting itself of the country's major airports.

1970
A view of the terminal building interior, showing check-in counters in the U.S. departures area as it looked in the 1970's.

Modernization Milestones

2001 to 2009

Renewed growth

ADM faced many challenges when it was established. The sharing of Montréal's air traffic between two distant airports was adversely affecting the industry's development and complicating connections between the international sector and the domestic and transborder sectors. Moreover, Dorval's airport facilities were suffering from many years of under-investment.

1975
A nighttime view of the terminal airside, with an Air Canada DC-8 in the foreground.

1980
The façade of the terminal building during the 1980's.

2010
The new transborder departures area and Marriott Hotel, both inaugurated in 2009.

With the consolidation of passenger traffic back at Dorval, ADM began planning a major redevelopment of the airport's aging terminal complex. Between 2000 and 2005, it built a new jetty for flights to the US, a new international jetty, an international arrivals complex featuring a new Canadian customs hall and baggage claim area, and expanded parking lots. Additionally, sections of the domestic area were renovated and expanded, with more space available for commercial services. In the midst of the expansion, on January 1, 2004, Dorval Airport was renamed in honour of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

Between 2006 and 2009, Montréal-Trudeau saw the construction of a new four-star Marriott hotel and a modernized and user-friendly transborder departures sector. It includes a US pre-Customs clearance centre and one of the world's most advanced outbound baggage systems, which significantly increases handling capacity and speed.

The expansion and modernization program has also leveraged high-tech solutions to facilitate the processing of passengers and their luggage while meeting stringent safety requirements imposed since 9/11. Today, Montréal-Trudeau is a world leader in airport self-serve technologies, such as self-serve check-in. Moreover, in keeping with a firm commitment to sustainable development, ADM took advantage of the program to incorporate new technologies to boost energy efficiency and reduce the airport's environmental footprint.

By the end of 2010, more than $1.6 billion had been spent to upgrade Montréal-Trudeau—on time and on budget without any government grants—to the point where it can now serve more than 15 million passengers a year. Thanks to Montréal-Trudeau's major modernization and expansion program, the airport is well positioned for continued growth, to serve the community, and to write new chapters in aviation history.

Did you know?

Montréal's first airport opened in St. Hubert on the South Shore in 1927, just two years after Canada's first airport was established in Long Branch, Toronto. St. Hubert was used mainly for postal services and passenger flights operated by Canadian Colonial Airlines and Trans Canada Airlines (later Air Canada), as well as to accommodate dirigibles (airships), a popular mode of transportation at the time.

When Montréal-Trudeau Airport's terminal opened at the end of 1941, the airport had more employees than Dorval had residents.

CN Rail's Tea Wing Restaurant at Dorval became Canada's first airport restaurant, in 1941.

Murray Hill began offering the first airport limo service in 1941.

Tilden Drive Yourself became the first airport car rental service in 1951.

In November 1960, the airport was renamed Aéroport international Dorval de Montréal/Montréal-Dorval International Airport and a month later Canada's Minister of Transport inaugurated a new $30 million terminal. It was the largest terminal in Canada and one of the biggest in the world. The original terminal was demolished.

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Montréal-Trudeau has grown from its modest beginnings as a military base during the Second World War into a world-class gateway for North America and Europe.

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