COVID-19 doesn’t dampen Saint-Lazare teacher’s spirit Carmen Marie Fabio
editor@yourlocaljournal.ca
It will take more than a pandemic to keep Dominique Fortier down – this
PHOTO COURTESY DOMINIQUE FORTIER
Saint-Lazare teacher Dominque Fortier tackled breast cancer like every other challenge in her life – head on with a positive attitude.
Letters
Continued from page 4 Certainly, the residents close to the forest will benefit from a better quality of life (tranquility, absence of neighbours, etc.) and will see an increase in the value of their property thanks to the preservation of the forest. On the other hand, I consider that the entire population of Pincourt will benefit much more. This is a green infrastructure whose important local and regional ecological value was demonstrated by the report we required from the firm WSP. As a reservoir of biodiversity, the Rousseau Forest also plays a major role in the fight against heat islands, as well as a bulwark against wind, pollution (think of air quality), water runoff into our sewer and wear and tear on our road network. Not to mention that the population could have access to it and would benefit from its effects on physical and mental health. The borrowing by-law adopted by the elected officials proposes three pools of taxation and Pool 1 and 2 must ultimately pay nine per cent of the by-law. Nine per cent% may seem reasonable. Nevertheless, it represents a considerable sum
positive and determined woman has already taken on fighting breast cancer and has emerged victorious with a renewed sense of appreciation for every day. “I was getting ready for my new class in August of 2017,” said the Grade 2 teacher at Saint-Lazare’s Forest Hill Elementary School, “and I got the official diagnosis on August 23.” Having lost her father to bone cancer at the young age of 66, Fortier said she was very conscious of the importance of early diagnosis and treatment. No Plan B Fortier found the lump through selfexamination and, following a biopsy, was initially told it would require a lumpectomy, a comparatively simple surgery that extracts the cancerous tissue leaving the breast intact. In the interim, she began the chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Despite months of telling the intern that she felt the lump was growing, her concerns were dismissed. “I never in my wildest dreams thought this would happen to me,” she recounted. “I told my kids, I don’t think
the cancer will kill me but the chemo might.” Following extensive treatment including scans and MRIs and delays from the hospital, Fortier was finally told the tumour was too close to the ribs for the surgical team to perform a lumpectomy. “I didn’t have a ‘Plan B’,” said Fortier. “I only had ‘Plan A,’ a lumpectomy.” When the doctor told her they’d have to do a mastectomy, she was ‘flabbergasted.’ With her right breast removed, Fortier was discharged the same day and recuperated at the home of a relative in Montreal. She described having to change her bandages daily with an understated, “C’est un gros affair.” Fortier only resumed teaching this past August, having to delay her return to the classroom when her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. “Physically and emotionally, I was not ready to go back to work.” Positive outlook The COVID-19 outbreak has not left a dent in Fortier’s spirit and though friends joked she picked a terrible time to return to work, she simply said it was time.
for two pools with a small number of citizens. The pandemic has already heavily affected our population. Not everyone has the capacity to pay this amount and even if the value of their property will benefit from it, as long as they don’t sell, the money will come out of their wallet and not the other way around. I don’t want those citizens to have to choose between financial stress and the sacrifice of a forest that we know will benefit our entire community. With a borrowing by-law based slightly more on the entire population, the difference would have been almost imperceptible for the citizen (a few dollars more annually) whereas it would have offered a sustainable increase for those in Pool 1 and Pool 2. In a nutshell, the by-law should aim for a fair distribution of the loan while respecting the citizens’ ability to pay and at the same time recognizing the fair value of the benefits received both collectively and individually. In my opinion, the adopted by-law does not meet these two principles and that is why I opposed it. Alexandre Wolford District 1 Councillor Pincourt
Puzzled Dear Editor, I was delighted to read the article ‘Reimagining society post-pandemic’ (The Journal, October 15) about a group of people who have come together to propose changes in social and environmental policies. All the topics they address (such as blocking the government’s project for a Liquified Natural Gas plant and pipeline in the Saguenay) are important. More detailed versions of the group’s proposals are available in the online edition of The Journal. It is evident that a great deal of work, (including careful research on legal and regulatory frameworks) has gone into the group’s proposals. Who are these people, and how do we support their ideas or engage them in discussion? Right now the Government of Quebec is holding BAPE hearings on its proposed LNG project in the Saguenay. The government proposes yet more giant and endless subsidies to the petroleum industry, an industry that must be phased out to avert an imminent climate catastrophe. This project also poses immediate threats to wildlife and the environment. Many people want to speak out against this iniquitous proposal, so why aren’t their voices being mobilized for the BAPE hearings? Donald Attwood Hudson Editor’s note – The Pour un Projet de société digne du 2e siècle spokesperson Katherine Massam can be reached at (514) 619-7635 or kathmassam@gmail. com
6
THE JOURNAL
Thursday, October 29, 2020
PHOTO COURTESY DOMINIQUE FORTIER
Even during chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and eventually losing her hair, Dominique kept on smiling.
“I’m a positive person; I can’t go back in time. It is what it is.” Fortier credits her doctors, support from her friends and family and, most of all, a sense of humour for getting her through the whole ordeal. She recounted only wearing a wig twice – once for her mother at Christmas and the other time to renew her driver’s license. “There was no way I would renew my picture looking like Charlie Brown or Caillou.” Continued on page 7
Thank you to our MP Dear Editor, When I recently requested a Canadian flag from the office of our Member of Parliament Peter Schiefke, I was surprised he delivered it personally and stayed for a socially-distanced chat. It was very much appreciated. Mr. Schiefke is a very nice person and will certainly get out votes in the next election. Richard Meades, Saint-Lazare
PHOTO COURTESY RICHARD MEADES
Saint-Lazare resident Richard Meades proudly flying his Canadian flag that was personally delivered by Vaudreuil-Soulanges MP Peter Schiefke.