The Suburban - Mike Cohen

With over two million monthly Canadian visitors, Notable.ca is the largest website for young professional adults (aka: YPs) in Canada. Launched in 2008, it curates a 360-degree approach to living the optimally balanced YP lifestyle. Notable.ca highlights young Canadians who are doing notable things, while also showcasing the places, products, and events YP’s need to know about to take their work-life and social-life to the next level.

Julian Brass

This year's Notable Awards will be held in Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto, with our edition set to take place on Wednesday, November 26 at the Centre de Science. I have met Notable founder and CEO Julian Brass and the man is a true mover and shaker.

"This story is a top-40-under-40-style crowd with plenty of cool, given the organization’s membership composed of the youngest of Canada's outstanding professionals," says Katia Piccolino, publicist for Notable and the PR boss at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. "It's the Oscar’s for the young professional world."

Kimberly Marx

Here are the categories.

Advertising & Marketing Professional

The recipient of this award is among the very best in the business when it comes to creatively and strategically getting products on the minds of potential customers. One of the nominees is Kimberly Marx, who has done a fantastic job since joining Interaction Asian Restaurants (P.F. Chang's Canada) last year.

Architecture and Real Estate

The recipient of this award develops or sells some of Canada’s most sought-after properties.

Arts & Culture

The recipient of this award uses their right side of the brain better than anyone in the industry, and can turn heads with their work everywhere people see it.

Best Bartender

The recipient of this award understands exactly how to guarantee you’ll be coming back for a second round – from what’s in the glass to exceptional service.

Best Blog

The recipient of this award has made their mark on the digital space with a significant, loyal following to match. They’re an expert within their niche and have an endearing offline personality too.

Best Chef

The recipient of this award leads a kitchen that’s the talk of the town; they create meals where you can’t help but Instagram every course.

Best DJ

The recipient of this award can move any dance floor, no matter the crowd or genre. Their name alone sells tickets to some of the city's hottest events and clubs.

Best Online Business

The recipient of this award is a master of the ecommerce game and understands what it takes to stand out from the crowd.

Best Personal Brand

The recipient of this award has done exceptional work in their industry by selling services, products or ideas under their own name.

Best Restaurant or Lounge

The recipient of this award has established a culinary gem in their city where anything less than consistent five-star ratings just doesn't happen.

Sugar Sammy

Celebrity

The recipient of this award really doesn’t need an introduction. They grace red carpets across the world on a regular basis and can usually be found in the VIP section. Sugar Sammy, comedian extraordinaire, is one of the nominees.

Digital or Media Agency

The receiving agency of this award is not only delivering immense value for its clients but also fosters a culture of growth and opportunity for its staff. The agency also foster an internal culture of supporting the community and charities around them.

(agency must verify that at least 50% of your Canadian employees are under the age of 45)

Education

The recipient of this award is teaching our next generation of thought-leaders through immersive, innovative and motivational strategies – they’re the mentor we all will one day want our children to have growing up.

Entertainment

Jessica Laventure

The recipient of this award is making waves on stage or screen through a combination of enviable charisma and technical skills. They're the reason you tune in – whatever it is. This is an interesting competition with the likes of Alexandre Despatie, Joanne Vrakas and Wilder Weir of City; Natasha Gargiulo, Freeway Frank and Andrea Collins from Virgin Radio; and Jessica Laventure from Global TV.

Entrepreneurship

The recipient of this award is an absolute game changer in Canada, having built an exceptional business that is innovative, profitable, sustainable and enhances people’s lives.

Environmental Sustainability

The recipient of this award is the greenest thinker in the room, making decisions with our planet's future's well-being always top of mind.

Event Planning

The recipient of this award plans celebrations, soirees, galas, fundraisers and getaways that are among the hottest tickets every single year. You compare every social outing to the last event they hosted to see how it stacks up. My old friend Lorne Levitt from Total Events is nominated.

Fashion

The recipient of this award is accelerating Canada's growing fashion scene and is one of the most recognized names in the industry, both at home and abroad. Sarrah Sheiner from Show and Tell Fashion is nominated. She will be in Toronto, where is a nominee for yet another very prestigious award.

Finance

The winner of this award is someone who is a force in all things finance-related.

Healthcare

The recipient of this award dedicates almost every waking hour to ensure others are living their most healthy lives possible and is the first person you want to call in a medical emergency.

Hospitality Management

The recipient of this award is the reason you give five stars for service and always tip above what's recommended. They’re the reason you keep coming back.

Journalism

The recipient of this award covers some of world’s most pressing issues and responsibly forms public opinion on matters both in Canada and abroad through the written word. It is nice to see Toula Drimonis nominated. She was the last editor of The Monitor Newspaper, before it supposedly switched to an online only publication but effectively folded. Toula is a great blogger.

Law

The recipient of this award makes the cast of Suits jealous with their expertise in the world of law. They’re the king or queen of the courtroom.

Not For Profit

The recipient of this award is as giving as they come, always with the intention of seeing their hard work pay off for those in need. Denburk Reid, director of community relations for the Montreal Alouettes and someone who undertakes many programs for community leaders, is a worthy nominee.

Public Relations and Communications

The recipient of this award has all the connections, strategies, and expertise to take your business or personal brand to the next level. They elevate the brands of some of Canada’s top companies and celebrities. I like Dan Delmar and Leeja Murphy in this category; Dan started his own PR firm a few years ago while Leeja handles media relations for Comic Con and a whole lot more.

Sales

The recipient of this award is someone who can successfully sell Leonardo DiCaprio that pen in Wolf of Wall Street. This person knows a thing or two about the perfect pitch.

Social Entrepreneurship

The recipient of this award understands the necessity of using business and innovation to solve social problems - their work often involves a goal towards the greater good.

Social Media

The recipient of this award lives and breathes in the online world, using dozens of platforms and multimedia to creatively and strategically present information to large followings.

Sports and Fitness

The recipient of this award is among the most active young professionals in Canada and often uses their skills to help others reach their personal fitness goals. Can anyone really beat the Habs' PK Subban in this category?

You can see all of the nominees here.

There is a new leadership group at the helm of the YM-YWHA Montreal Jewish Community Centres, with Andrea Rosenbloom assuming the role of president, Alvin Fagen as vice-president and Marla Gold as executive director.

Rosenbloom succeeds Joel Shalit. She has served in a lay leadership capacity at the Y in various roles, most recently as its vice-president. Fagen is a past president of theShaare Hashomayim Synagogue in Westmount.

An Executive Director Search Committee was convened under the leadership of board member Tina Apfeld Rosenthal. After a search that Rosenbloom describes as both “methodical and rigorous,” the committee presented Gold’s candidature, which was readily accepted. When asked how the first few days have gone, Rosenbloom stated, “Marla has keen insight into the Y because of her history here, and has transitioned seamlessly with her collaborative management style.”

Marla Gold

Gold previously served as Director of Health, Fitness, Membership and Recreational Services at the Y. Most recently, she was the vice-president, Quebec and Atlantic Region, for Health Systems Group, where she had significant oversight functions. She is intimately aware of where the Y has come from, and where its future lies: in renewal and growth, in offering the highest standard of services and relevant programming, engaging youth, and ensuring that the Y remains a central gathering place for our community.

Andrea Rosenbloom

Rosenbloom and Gold share a vision for the Y. They expect it to be run with fiscal responsibility, in a professional, efficient manner. “Everyone is part of this process,” stated Gold.

Gold effectively replaces Marlene Jennings, who was hired as executive director amid much hoopla following a lengthy term in office as the Liberal Member of Parliament for NDG- Lachine. Shalit's term ended on a challenging note, with the closure of the West Island Jewish Community Centre. Members there battled for the facility to remain open, but they were unsuccessful.

The Y still remains a hub for the Jewish community. With United Talmud Torah-Herzliah building a new campus as part of the same facility, this could breath new life into an organization which continually must battle the private health clubs in the city.

So what does this say about the economy?

Bureau en Gros has finally shuts its doors at the Quartier Cavendish, a real loss for the community and a shopping centre which has been doing reasonably well since it was sliced in half to make way for a large residential development.

Bureau En Gros Cavendish all shut down

This was no surprise. The head office made the announcement last June. Now the Quartier, still affectionately referred to as "the Mall" by many, has this massive space to fill. Bureau en Gros was in place there for more than a decade. Living close by, I so much appreciated the novelty of dashing over when I needed any type of office or computer supplies, not to mention a telephone or an electronic wire. It seemed to be doing well, but I guess the head honches felt otherwise. What could fit in this spot? A large restaurant? A second grocery store? Maybe Eaton can be revived?

Meanwhile, as reported on this blog on July 3, 2013, I guess we can now formally begin eulogizing Restaurant Antico Martini. The NDG Somerled Avenue institution actually shut its doors on June 22, 2013. Nonetheless, the owners refused to acknowledge that it would not reopen. Even last summer I got a call big boss Thomas who indicated a comeback was not impossible. Well, the tables have been left set for 20 months and finally this week I saw a big sign in the window signalling the end is indeed near.

Luc Vaillancourt of Pagex Real Estate is advertising the sale on his website. Not only is the restaurant property up for grab, so are 10 apartments on the top floors and another commercial unit which has been rented by dry cleaner for many years. As for Antico Martini, the ad acknowledges it "is now closed." All restaurant equipment is included in the selling price of $1.45 million.

The Antico Martini building is for sale

Sticking with Somerled, the future of two other restaurants seems to be in limbo. There are signs in the windows of both Restaurant Agostini and Olympic Agora that they will be "open soon." But why are they closed in the first place.

One restaurant where business continues to boom on Somerled is B&M. I was there Saturday night and we were lucky to get a table. Hats off to the management for being perhaps the only restaurant in the West End to make a full breakfast menu available throughout their opening hours. Sometimes I feel like having breakfast for supper, an option which was easy to fulfill in the days of Picasso on St. Jacques. I had high hopes for Eggspectation at Hotel Ruby Foo's when they stayed open until 11 p.m. But they now shut down at 4 p.m. There is a new spot called Il Figo, but sadly they have not maintained a breakfast menu.

Julian Brass

Kimberly Marx

Here are the categories.

Advertising & Marketing Professional

Architecture and Real Estate

The recipient of this award develops or sells some of Canada’s most sought-after properties.

Arts & Culture

The recipient of this award uses their right side of the brain better than anyone in the industry, and can turn heads with their work everywhere people see it.

Best Bartender

The recipient of this award understands exactly how to guarantee you’ll be coming back for a second round – from what’s in the glass to exceptional service.

Best Blog

Best Chef

The recipient of this award leads a kitchen that’s the talk of the town; they create meals where you can’t help but Instagram every course.

Best DJ

The recipient of this award can move any dance floor, no matter the crowd or genre. Their name alone sells tickets to some of the city's hottest events and clubs.

Best Online Business

The recipient of this award is a master of the ecommerce game and understands what it takes to stand out from the crowd.

Best Personal Brand

The recipient of this award has done exceptional work in their industry by selling services, products or ideas under their own name.

Best Restaurant or Lounge

The recipient of this award has established a culinary gem in their city where anything less than consistent five-star ratings just doesn't happen.

Sugar Sammy

Celebrity

Digital or Media Agency

(agency must verify that at least 50% of your Canadian employees are under the age of 45)

Education

Entertainment

Jessica Laventure

Entrepreneurship

The recipient of this award is an absolute game changer in Canada, having built an exceptional business that is innovative, profitable, sustainable and enhances people’s lives.

Environmental Sustainability

The recipient of this award is the greenest thinker in the room, making decisions with our planet's future's well-being always top of mind.

Event Planning

Fashion

Finance

The winner of this award is someone who is a force in all things finance-related.

Healthcare

The recipient of this award dedicates almost every waking hour to ensure others are living their most healthy lives possible and is the first person you want to call in a medical emergency.

Hospitality Management

The recipient of this award is the reason you give five stars for service and always tip above what's recommended. They’re the reason you keep coming back.

Journalism

Law

The recipient of this award makes the cast of Suits jealous with their expertise in the world of law. They’re the king or queen of the courtroom.

Not For Profit

Public Relations and Communications

Sales

The recipient of this award is someone who can successfully sell Leonardo DiCaprio that pen in Wolf of Wall Street. This person knows a thing or two about the perfect pitch.

Social Entrepreneurship

The recipient of this award understands the necessity of using business and innovation to solve social problems - their work often involves a goal towards the greater good.

Social Media

The recipient of this award lives and breathes in the online world, using dozens of platforms and multimedia to creatively and strategically present information to large followings.

Sports and Fitness

You can see all of the nominees here.

Marla Gold

Andrea Rosenbloom

Rosenbloom and Gold share a vision for the Y. They expect it to be run with fiscal responsibility, in a professional, efficient manner. “Everyone is part of this process,” stated Gold.

Readers should be well aware by now that one thing I love to do on the weekends is have breakfast for supper. A day does not go by that I do not miss Picasso Restaurant on St. Jacques Street. When it closed several years ago, property owner Peter Sergakis promised me he would revive it but the spot remains boarded up - with Les Amazones gentleman's club seemingly thriving in the basement.

Nick's on Greene Avenue used to stay open until 7 p.m. on Saturday nights and serve breakfast, but no more. Eggspectations opened a new locale at Hotel Ruby Foo's last May and offered breakfast until 11 p.m. But now they close at 4 p.m. B&M on Somerled will serve breakfast until closing, with an extra $2 tacked on to the bill.

Well I have discovered a new place - at least a new one for me. Universel Déjeuners et Grillades has two Montreal locations - one on Peel and the other on St. Denis below Pine. The latter locale will serve a full breakfast (with lots of choices) until 7 p.m. each night (the downtown spot only until 5 p.m.). Check out what they have to offer. We went there Saturday night after a movie and I was beyond impressed. I ordered one of the most delicious cheese omelets I have ever tasted. Service was excellent. We wanted our breakfast potatoes baked, not fried. The manager on duty came to our table and made it happen. Even the toast was perfectly prepared and nicely buttered. They even included some fresh fruit on the plate.

The rest of the menu has a variety of choices. Apparently this place has been around since 1995, originally on nearby Cherrier Street near Lafontaine Park and now in this warm spot consisting of comfortable booths and tables.
Hats off to owners Anna and Steve Manousakis for this excellent establishment. It is time to add a third franchise in the West End!

My first real exposure to professional soccer came in 1981 when the Montreal Manic arrived in this city, part of the then thriving North American Soccer League. I was very green 18 year old reporter for The Sunday Express Newspaper, part of the Quebecor empire, and given this beat as my very own. It was quite exciting. The names of many of the players - Tony Towers, Gordon Alec Hill, Thomas Usiyan, Andy Lynch, Carmine Marcantonio, Bob Rigby and others - still ring in my head to this day.

Le Manic caught the attention of Montreal sports fans and on September 2, 1981 they attracted 58,542 fans to the Olympic Stadium in a playoff match versus the Chicago Sting. By the end of the 1983 season interest had dissipated and Molson Brewery, the club owners, pulled the plug.

The Montreal Impact, of course, have had a long and successful journey in this city. In 2012 owner Joey Saputo moved them into Major League Soccer. While I still have an easier time remembering the names of Manic players, than those of the Impact, there is no doubt this is one fine oiled operation.

Moffat, Needham, Joey Alfieri and Jiancarlo Aimone in the booth.

I was in attendance at the Big Owe Wednesday night to watch an exciting 2-0 victory by the Impact over Alajuelense of Costa Rica in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League semifinal. There were 33,675 fans on hand and the place was indeed rocking, especially for the first 13 minutes as they team notched both of its tallies. TSN 690 play by play announcer Rick Moffat had to once again test his vocal chords with those endless goal calls of his. "I listened to a lot of English soccer play by play men," Moffat told me before the game. "I guess I am following their leads and others who broadcast soccer. It is not the same as a goal in hockey."

Moffat and his broadcast partner, former Impact star and Dollard des Ormeaux native Grant Needham, will be in Costa Rica for the second and final game of this series in just over two weeks. Hats off to these guys and TSN 690 for bringing us these games and for Simon Tsalikis and his excellent post-game show for really stirring up some excitement for this team. The Impact normally play next door at Saputo Stadium, an absolutely beautiful complex which is worth attending a game at even if you do not love soccer. They will return there when (and if ever) we get some warm weather in this city.

CONCACAF has no doubt created a buzz in this city. While it is hard to keep track of who exactly is on the Impact roster, on a night when 33,000 plus are cheering the hometown on what we are looking at is more of an "event" than a "game."

Patrice Bernier

There is no question that the Impact need to step up their efforts in community relations. Team captain and Montreal-raised Patrice Bernier is a true fan favorite. He was benched against Alajuelense. That was the decision of head coach Frank Klopas, who was suspended for this game. His assistant Mauro Biello, probably with the blessing of Klopas, did indeed send Bernier into the game near the end; the crowd erupted with a standing ovation. I must say I had goosebumps. It was just one of those moments - and a message to Klopas, Biello and owner Saputo that there is something to be said about a hometown hero. His benching has been the talk of local talk shows, English and French, for a week. That is not the kind of distraction a team that wants to draw consistent crowds for the regular season needs.

The Impact return to regular MLS play Saturday versus New England. But a win or tie in Costa Rica in April could move them towards international glory, something this city will definitely toast to.

r SSimon Tsalikis

This coming Saturday evening, March 21, The Musicians of the World Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Joseph Milo, will join soprano Brigitte O’Halloran for the St. Patrick Symphonic Concert of The Year at the Rialto Theatre.

Also on stage will be Kate-Bevan-Baker at the fiddle, Sean-Paul O'Brien with his warm tenor voice and the celebrated Celtic dancers from the Bernadette Short School of Irish Dance.

Brigitte O'Halloran

The program will include ballads such as Toora loora looral (Irish Lullaby), Danny Boy, Galway Bay, the magnificent Enya piece Smointe, the duet You Raise Me Up, famous drinking songs, the original string arrangement of Sunday Bloody Sunday, Symphonic movements from Riverdance and Lord of the Dance, all accompanied by Milo’s orchestra.

Has it really been 21 years since an outstanding Montreal Expos baseball team were robbed of what could have been their first and only World Series triumph? Yes, in 1994 they were indeed the best team in major league baseball and headed towards greatness. Boasting the best record through mid-August, everything came to a halt when the players went on strike and the season was ultimately wiped out.

The Expos left town for good in 2004, moving to Washington. In recent years a movement was established by former Expo Warren Cromartie and broadcaster Matthew Ross to build momentum and bring the team back via their MontrealBaseball Project and ExposNation groups respectively.

Four years ago I was part of the organizing committee of the Cummings Jewish Centrefor Seniors Foundation annual Sports Celebrity Breakfast which honoured the ’94 Expos. We had many of the greats on hand – Pedro Martinez, Marquis Grissom, John Wetteland, Felipe Alou, Cliff Floyd and Rondell White to name a few. Last year Cromartie brought them all back, in much bigger numbers, for a tribute dinner and a very memorable appearance at Olympic Stadium prior to a sold out exhibition game between the Toronto Blue Jays and The New York Mets.

Enter Sean Menard, a former producer for TSN who had decided the time was right for him to go out on his own. Only 29 at the time, he had grown up as a Blue Jays fan. He felt that the 1994 Expos’ brush with greatness was a story that needed to be told. The end result is a stunning 23 minute documentary called The Perfect Storm – The Story of the 1994 Montreal Expos.“Very naively I jumped into this project,” Menard explains. “I had to finance it myself and sell it to networks. I had no idea how hard it would be to get it approved by Major League Baseball for the licensing costs.”

Sean Menard

Menard eventually turned to Kickstarter, the world’s largest online funding program, and 312 people stepped forward with cold hard cash to enable him to complete the project. The film premiered at a special screening recently at TSN 690, organized by Matthew Ross of ExposNation. It will make its Canadian television debut prior to the Blue Jays –Cincinnati Reds two-game pre-season series April 3 and 4 at the Big Owe. Air times are as follows: March 30 (1 p.m. on TSN 5 and 11 p.m. on TSN4); March 31 (4:30 p.m. on TSN3 and 8:30 p.m. on TSN1) and April 2 (11:30 p.m. on TSN4)

I had the good fortune of getting an advance preview of the film, courtesy of Menard and Chomedey native Rich Lenkov. The latter is now a successful Chicago attorney who is presently producing a much anticipated documentary on the 1985 NFL Bears and recently made a connection with Menard. To say I was glued to the screen is an understatement. This is a work of art that had me very emotional as the closing credits appeared. I was a working member of the media back then, covering many of the Expos game for an all-sports network in Toronto called The Fan. I even took a brief holiday to South Florida and covered an Expos game versus the Marlins in Miami on the eve of the strike call. I got to know many of the players. Yet watching Menard’s film brought forward a wide array of anecdotes I was never aware of.

Felipe Alou

Menard had reached out to best-selling author Jonah Keri, a Montreal native noted for his exceptional; book Up, Up, and Away: The Kid, the Hawk, Rock, Vladi, Pedro, Le Grand Orange, Youppi!, the Crazy Business of Baseball, and the Ill-fated But Unforgettable Montreal Expos. Keri’s first piece of advice was to ensure that Menard made his way to Montreal for the Blue Jays 2014 exhibition series where many of the ’94 Expos would be in town. He did so and the end result is a series of fabulous interviews with former skipper Felipe Alou, outfielders Moises Alou, Larry Walker and Marquis Grissom, first baseman Cliff Floyd, catcher Darrin Fletcher, pitchers John Wetteland and Ken Hill, broadcaster Dave Van Horne, talk show host Mitch Melnick, former beat writer Jeff Blair and former president Claude Brochu. He went and met with former GM Dan Duquette in Baltimore and also travelled for a one-on-one with Pedro Martinez.

“I could not do this film without Pedro,” Menard says. “His agent told me I had 10 minutes; he gave me 45.”

Pedro Martinez

The documentary includes some terrific archived footage, dramatic background music and wonderful clips of the ’94 players on the bus towards Olympic Stadium and their emotional appearances on the field.

“This is truly one of the greatest teams in major league history and they were only going to get better,” Melnick said. “That is the sad part of this. We didn’t know how great they would have been.”

Moises Alou was part of the 1997 World Series champion Florida Marlins. He maintains the ’94 Expos were better. “We were like a family,” he says. “We saw in my dad a father figure.”

Moises Alou

Martinez, who went on to win a Cy Young Award with the Boston Red Sox, left no doubt that it was Felipe Alou’s guidance that placed him on the road to stardom.

Duquette recalled being panned by the media for trading fan favorite Delino Deshields to the LA Dodgers for Martinez. He had the last laugh. “I knew he could be a good starting pitcher,” commented Felipe. “LA did not believe that.”

Walker called himself, Alou and Grissom the best outfield in baseball. “It is too bad we did not play together for a decade,” he said.

Brochu said he still cannot believe the ’94 season was cancelled. At the time he felt the strike would be short lived and the season would continue. “It never crossed my mind that we would not play the season out and that the post season would be cancelled,” he said. “I never once thought that was a possibility.”

Wetteland perhaps put it best this way: “There is a vibe when we get together. It is almost as if we were champions.”

Menard's next task is to get the film broadcast on American television channels “to remind the rest of the baseball world just how good this ’94 team was, how big of a fan base there still is in Montreal and how great it would be to get a Major League Team back in the city.”

Menard’s current project is a documentary on anticipated number one NHL draft pick Connor McDavid.

You can hear Menard’s interview with Melnick here.

Cromartie and company will be back in town for their annual gala on Wednesday, April 1 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel featuring the likes of Rusty Staub, Tim Raines, Andre Dawson and Andres Galarraga as special guests. All of the details are here.

When I interviewed actor Conrad Pla in January before this second season of BRAVO TV's edgy police drama 19-2 began to air he warned me that I would not believe where the storyline would take different characters. He could not have been more correct. Spoiler alert for those who did not yet see the season finale on March 23 or the series at all. Go to Crave TV and catch up and what you missed.

During the first season and the first eight episodes of season two Pla, as Sergeant Julien Houle, came across as a likeable and trustworthy character. He was the one keeping the officers in order, giving briefings and determining who teamed with whom. The series of courses focuses on squad car 19-2 of the Montreal Police and officers Nick Barron (Adrian Holmes) and Ben Chartier (Jared Keeso). From the get go Chartier arrived on the scene he was working undercover for the Quebec Provincial Police, trying to uncover a "mole" at the station. Barron was the prime suspect, up until episode eight when in a shocking turn of events Houle was fingered as the double crosser. Adding to the darkness of the plot, Houle was exposed as a pedophile who was clearly being blackmailed to rat on his fellow officers in order to keep his dirty little secret safe.

The season finale was not kind to the character of Brouillard (left) and Houle.

A credit to the producers. The "pedophile" sequences were all done in very good taste given the disturbing subject matter. When Houle goes to a hotel and has no more than 12 year old prostitute join him he refuses to touch her and flees the scene. At the conclusion of the finale he calls Barron and Chartier to a remote location, hoping they will shoot him.. "I am a cop!" he shouts, explaining why he could never face prison. Barron refuses to his dirty work and the last scene Pla turns the gun on himself.

As an actor, this may of been Pla's finest moment. I am sorry that the producers chose to make him the mole for we won't see him again on this fine drama. I spoke to Pla today about this challenging storyline.

"I knew from the French version of the 19-2 series that Houle was the mole and a pedophile," Pla said. "I asked the director if that would be the same for our series. They said maybe not. When we started shooting season two, they still had not decided. Then about six episodes in they gave me the news. I was reluctant and told myself 'No way I can do this.' They assured there would be nothing graphic. It was amazing for me to have a regular role in a Montreal shot program. That is over now. There is nothing I can do about it. I guess it is better to go out with a bang."

One of the messages Pla feels viewers can gain from his storyline is this: "A lot of times sexual molesters turn out to be the most unsuspecting persons."

Pla is the father of four, aged two, 13, 14 and 21. "I asked the three eldest not to watch the last two episodes," he says. "I told them there was some disturbing stuff and they respected that. As an actor it was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. On the show ReGenesis my character was gay and I had to have intimate scenes with another man. This was harder because there is nothing morally wrong with homosexuality."

Barron (left) and Holmes make a good team in squad car 19-2.

The season began with a violent school shooting in which Barron and Holmes became the heroes and brough down the perpetrator. It was an all too familiar scenario for Montrealers who have had to witness shootings at École Polytechnique, Concordia and Dawson. We then watched Barron hang out with his crooked cousin Kaz. The station 19 commander Marcel Gendron (Bruce Ramsay) dealt with his troubled daughter, whom we later learn was one of the victims of Houle. Officer J.M. Brouillard (Dan Petronijevic), shown as a wife abuser during the first season, seemed to have his act together. In the finale he beats his wife to a pulp and is later pounded into submission by Barron. We thought Officer Tyler Joseph (Benz Antoine) had his drinking problem under control. Clearly not we see in the season finale. Officer Beatrice Hamelin (Mylène Dinh-Robic) has some very torrid sex scenes with her ex-girlfiend on the steps near Place des Arts. Audrey Pouliot (Laurence Leboeuf) is still very much traumatized by being attacked last season.She loses her cool on the job often and this is picked up on YouTube. Rookie Vince Legare (Tyler Hynes) has sex in a washroom with a woman whose purse he has reclaimed. She becomes a fatal attraction and with Brouillard double crossing him ends up losing his job.

I am fortunate to have known Pla, a former professional kickboxer, for many years. On the eve of the season premiere I got to interview Holmes and Keeso, friends in real life. They reside in Vancouver and love our city. They are superb actors whom I had zero trouble seeing as real police officers.

A shout out to noted Montreal publicist Janis Kirshner, who had a small role in the season finale as the daughter of a senior citizen who fell on hard times.

What a season! I certainly hope that the people at Bell Media bring it back, complete with the replica Montreal Police uniforms and vehicles. I can tell from the people I meet who have followed my blogs and stories in The Suburban that they have followed the series religiously and become hooked, something which is pretty easy to do.

While the Segal Centre for Performing Arts has not yet completed its present season, Artistic and Executive Director Lisa Rubin opened the curtain for the media and the VIP crowd on March 25 for what’s in store in 2015-2016.

It has been a great year for the Segal so far on stage, highlighted by blockbusters Les Belles Soeurs and Forever Plaid. Still to come, of course, Mordecai Richler’s landmark coming of age novel The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz will be getting the all-star musical treatment in a world premiere musical adaptation from June 7 to 28. Duddy Kravitz has an original score by Alan Menken, the Tony- and Oscar-winning composer of Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid and The Little Shop of Horrors. The legendary composer is responsible for some of the most beloved songs and musical scores of our time. But here is our first look at next year and what a lineup it is, with no less than seven spectacular Montreal premieres .

Funny Girl, the poignant musical rags to riches story of Vaudeville sensation Fanny Brice made famous by Barbra Streisand in film, will kick off the new season (October 11 to November 1, 2015) in an 18-person song and dance spectacular under the direction of Peter Hinton. Multi-talented Canadian musical performer Gabi Epstein will hold down the titular role immortalized by Streisand in the classic 1968 movie.

“I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world,” Epstein actually sang out in a video message recorded from Toronto where she is performing for Mirvish Entertainment.

Next up (November 29 to December 20, 2015) will be British playwright Nina Raine’s internationally-acclaimed play Tribes, a powerful look at the meaning of language, love and what it means to be understood. Jack Volpe (Seeing Voices Montreal) makes his professional theatre debut as Billy, the only deaf member of an eccentric, intellectual family. Volpe, who works by day at the Mackay Centre School in NDG, is hearing impaired. He attended the press conference and delivered words of appreciation for getting the role via sign language interpreter.

Jack Volpe at the press conference

“When Jack completed his audition, the electricity in the building was palpable,” said Rubin. “This show will be done with American Sign Language. We are very excited to see how the deaf community can be involved and see what the story can bring to them.”

From January 31 to February 21, 2016, The Secret Annex will invite audiences to use their
imaginations of what life would have been like for beloved historical icon Anne Frank, had she survived the war. In what is being described as “a stirring and romantic new play out of Winnipeg by young playwright Alix Sobler and directed by Marcia Kash,” Sara Farb will take on the lead role. She will soon be starring in the Stratford Festival’s Diary of Anne Frank. In Montreal she will portray the same title character as a 25-year old coming of age in New York City. Farb expressed her joy with the role via a video message. “Doing the Secret Annex is something I am really excited about,” she said.

Gemini and Dora Award-winning performer Rick Miller (MacHomer, Venus in Fur) will explode on to the Segal stage (March 20 to April 10, 2016) with his newest one-man, tour-de-force Boom. This Kdoons & Wyrd production will be co-presented by Copa de Oro Productions, the folks behind Les Belles Soeurs and Forever Plaid. Part explosive performance, part riveting documentary, and part nostalgic trip, Boom is expected to capture the defining historical and musical moments of the baby-boom generation.

In what promises to be a comedic highlight of the season (May 1 to 22, 2016), Joshua Harmon’s breakout hit Bad Jew will ask the biting question: what do you choose to believe, when you’re chosen? It will focus on three cousins gathered in a cramped Manhattan apartment to mourn the death of their grandfather and fight over a precious family heirloom. Rubin herself will direct this critically-acclaimed exploration of faith, family and legacy that has had North America abuzz since its Off-Broadway premiere in 2013. “I always thought my directorial debut would have been a musical,” said Rubin, whose golden pipes blew away many an audience during her performing career.

Also co-produced with Copa de Oro, will be a new production of Tony Award-winner Joe DiPietro’s laugh-out-loud musical comedy I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (May 8 to 29, 2016), directed by Wade Lynch. Witty and whimsical, this incredibly popular Off-Broadway musical sensation deftly lampoons the stages and stumbling blocks of romantic relationships.

Lisa Rubin, Anisa Cameron, Aron Gonshor, Anthony Housefather, Mitchell Brownstein and myself.

The lights of Broadway will also shine brightly on the explosive final production of the season, the world Yiddish-language premiere of Mel Brooks’ record-breaking musical The Producers, winner of twelve Tony Awards. The hysterically-funny tale of scheming showbiz producers Bialystock and Bloom will be revived in Yiddish by the esteemed Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre (June 19 to July 10, 2016). The company is proud to be associated with the Côte Saint-Luc Dramatic Society and director Anisa Cameron for their most ambitious production to date. “Mel Brooks is on Twitter so we will all be harassing him to come to this show,” says Rubin.

A very proud Mitchell Brownstein, my colleague on Côte Saint-Luc City Council who created the Dramatic Society with Cameron from scratch only three years ago, was pinching himself. Ditto for Mayor Anthony Housefather, whom by the time this show hits the stage hopes to be the Liberal Member of Parliament for Mount Royal.

Beyond the stage the Segal will welcome Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre film series.
Audience Engagement plays a vital role in the Segal Centre’s mission. To complement the productions being presented on stage, the Segal offers the ever-popular Sunday @ The Segal pre-show lecture series, an opportunity to explore the history, themes and ideas behind each production, and Monday Night Talk backs a post-show chat with the creators of the play.

New next season, as part of the Segal’s Beyond the Stage programming, will be Shakespeare`s Globe on Screen film series, presenting critically-acclaimed performances from Shakespeare’s home, London’s World Famous Globe Theatre. Screenings will take place in the intimate 77-seat CinemaSpace and be preceded by a pre-show discussion hosted by Repercussion Theatre, Montreal’s home for Shakespeare in the Park. Official programming to be announced soon.

Finally, the Segal continues to be an artistic resource and hub for Montreal’s independent, emerging and community artists and organizations to play, explore and grow. Next year they will welcome back such diverse guest theatre companies as Teesri Duniya Theatre (State of Denial by Rahul Varma: October 8-25), Tableau D’Hôte Theatre (Angélique by Lorena Gale: November 30 – December 13), Youtheatre (Dreaming Now: January 11-15, 2016 & P@ndora: February 2-5, 2016) and Les Productions Pas de Panique (Le Visiteur by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, in French, March 20 – April 3, 2016).

Six-time Grammy nominated American jazz vocalist Tierney Sutton will launch the Segal’s Power Jazz music Series in October. The eighth season, always as rich and diverse, also features the Jason Rosenblatt Quartet, Laila Biali, Piano Chameleons (John Roney & Matt Herskowitz) and a concert in partnership with the Consulate General of Israel.

Also as part of the Segal’s additional programming: Broadway Café, an intimate open mic night for musical theatre aficionados to sing or simply enjoy their favourite showtunes; the Segal’s own performing arts Academy. with unique after-school courses for aspiring performers running from October to May, and many more guest events with such valued community partners as the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre, the Hebrew Theatre of the Jewish Public Library and The Communauté Sépharade Unifiée du Québec (CSUQ).

Segal subscribers enjoy world-class theatre plus many outstanding benefits, including free indoor parking, up to 30 percent off ticket prices, free ticket exchange and exclusive savings.

Log on to www.segalcentre.org.

You must hand it to CJAD program director Chris Bury. He continues to add unique and interesting programs to the weekend lineup. On the Record with Jason Rockman, where the host interviews noted personalities about their careers and then plays some of their favorite songs, is solid. Now comes Solo in the City with Montreal-based dating coach and event planner Cheryl Besner on Saturday evenings at 10 p.m.

Cheryl Besner

When I last interviewed Cheryl more than two years ago she was launching a high profile blog called 365 Days to Find Love, which chronicled her journey in the hopes of connecting, inspiring, and educating single women everywhere.Theonline journal of her then newly single life developed a nice following, focusing on women over 40 who were remerging in the dating scene. She shared advice from international matchmakers, explored various Internet dating services, and developed some of her own ways to discover serendipitous encounters at places like the gym or grocery store. She introduced readers to other searchers of love: the cynics, the starry-eyed and the star crossed, and the men she met. Although she only got involved in a committed relationship recently, her 365 day experience which started on Valentine’s Day in 2013 was a great experience.

“I learned a lot about myself,” Cheryl now admits. “I did have a few relationships, but because of what I was doing this became a bit of a catch 22 situation. A lot of the men were worried I would blog about them. I did, but I never mentioned names. I merely described the type of people they were.”

Cheryl, a mom of three, says the one thing that stood out from the experience was her desire to step up and assist all of the single people out there spending most of their time at home alone. “I realized that nobody was really putting this topic under one umbrella,” she notes. “I went to a conference in Los Angeles and from there I went to New York and got my coaching certification in dating.”

It was soon after that Cheryl coined the term Solo in the City. “I wanted to help people find a place to go,” she explained. “One of my messages to singles was that you are not going to meet someone by staying home. Go to a restaurant, an event or a library. Odds are you will meet someone and start a discussion. Everyone loved Solo in the City term because it is non-threatening and non-invasive.”

Enter the new CJAD show, which made its debut on March 21. It is her hope that the multiplatform show will actually get singles out from behind their computers and into the urban dating jungle with ease.

“Connecting people is something I have always done naturally throughout my career, so why not apply my skills to the most important connections of all?” Cheryl said. “I’ve finally found the networking niche I truly adore. What can be better than helping people find love connections?”

The show takes a multifaceted approach to meeting new friends and potential partners. She aims to take the pressure out of awkward blind dates or superficial online chatting by simply connecting Montrealers on a human level first, through events or designated meetup locations across the city. Encouraging singles to be, above all, sociable will maximize their chances of making new friends and eventually finding love.

“Very few people find love at first sight, or first swipe on Tinder,” added Cheryl, touted by her publicist as a fixture of Westmount’s social scene who has created exclusive events like The Angel Ball benefiting the Jewish General Hospital, thrown dinner parties for Dom Pérignon and hosted elite soirees for celebrities like Mia Farrow and Sir Richard Branson. “Let’s take the pressure down a notch and just get people talking! Maybe the person next to you at a Solo event won’t be the one, but knows a friend who could be. If you can’t be a little sociable and comfortable in your own skin, it will be that much harder to find love.”

Check out the all-new website, solointhecity.tv, featuring event listings, blogs and content geared toward Montrealers looking for love. A parallel Solo in the City dating site has also been launched with the theme: Coffee, tea and we - meet local singles at designated spots in town for a low-pressure cup of coffee!

If you cannot catch the show live, you can access the podcast anytime at solointhecity.tv.

I always like to begin my recaps of the annual Cummings Jewish Centre for Seniors Foundation Sports Celebrity Breakfast with a little bit of history. Twelve years ago former Côte Saint-Luc City Councillor Harold Greenspon approaches to me to help create such an event from scratch. A deal was reached when he agreed to back me in the next municipal election and endorse me to succeed him in District 2.

PK Subban and young Daniel Lebovits

The Sports Breakfast began as an event to bring some recognition to the Centre and raise a few dollars. I believe we netted $10,000 at the inaugural event. But when Greenspon recruited Michael Wagen, the Senior Vice-President of Delmar International, to succeed him the Breakfast took on a different image. Over the past 11 years we have raised well more than $1 million for senior in crisis. It is perhaps the only event of its kind in the city and regularly sells out. The 600 tickets for this year were gone weeks ago. See this report from CTV.

Wagen has now been joined by Bram Naimer, president of Union Lighting, as co-chair. Morden "Cookie" Lazarus is the honourary chair, but really much more than that. Without his wealth of contacts we would not be able to recruit many of the marquee guests on our list.

Coordinator Susan Rozansky, Foundation boss Cathy Simons, and a dedicated committee make this is one well oiled machine.

Mahovlich, Lazarus, Fisher and Irvin,

This year's event at the Gelber Conference Centre featured a special tribute to Mitch Garber while former Montreal Canadiens star Peter Mahovlich was honoured as the Sports Personality of the Year.

Garber is the CEO of Caesars Acquisition Co., a public company (CACQ) on the NASDAQ which owns the World Series of Poker, Playtika, the second largest social and mobile games business in the world, Las Vegas strip casinos Planet Hollywood, Bally's, The Cromwell, The Linq, as well as Harrah's New Orleans and The Horseshoe Baltimore. For many years he hosted a popular sports talk show on Montreal radio and along with Breakfast Honourary Chair Morden “Cookie” Lazarus he was instrumental in bringing the Montreal Alouettes franchise back to town. He also a noted philanthropist, supporting many charities in Canada and Israel.

Melnick, Garber and Leonoff.

Mahovlich was a member of four Stanley Cup championship Montreal Canadiens teams. He enjoyed a breakout season in 1970–71, scoring 35 goals in the regular season and another 10 in the playoffs. His best year came in 1974–75, when he racked up 117 points. He hit the 100-point mark again the following year, finishing with 105.In his 16-year NHL career, he totalled 288 goals and 485 assists for 773 points in 884 games. Internationally, he was a member of the 1972 Summit Series.

Joel Leonoff and sports talk show host Mitch Melnick paid tribute to Garber. Leonoff is a friend and former business partner; Melnick a friend as well who has an interesting broadcast history with Garber. Leonoff shared a story that he and Garber had a chance to buy hotmail.com for $80 million. They laughed at the owner for asking that much, but giggled no more when Microsoft picked it up for $450 million. Garber, who like Leonoff, is a self-made millionaire and gigantic success story, is also a great public speaker and he hit all the right notes in his address.

Mahovlich was presented with his plaque by Lazarus and then interviewed on stage by legendary broadcaster Dick Irvin and equally legendary writer Red Fisher, who covered the Habs for 58 years. Fisher, at 88, is sharp as can be and had everyone roaring in the aisles with his anecdotes of years past.

Stubbs with Lafleur, Savard and Cournoyer.

A few of Mahovlich’s high profile former teammates were on hand: Guy Lafleur, Yvan Cournoyer and Serge Savard. Present-day superstar defenceman PK Subban was in the house as was Habs Chief Operating Officer Kevin Gilmore. Former Montreal Alouette star receiver Ben Cahoon flew in from Utah while current Als Jeff Perrett and Kyries Hebert were there. Former Montreal Expos pitcher Don Stanhouse, Montreal Impact technical director and Herzliah High School grad Adam Braz and Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre were among the others with us. Coderre was a real hit, with his heart very much into the return of the Expos to this city.

Stubbs, Zurkowsky, myself and my brother Chuck in honour of our late dad.

The event also honoured Montreal Gazette sports reporter Herb Zurkowsky with the Larry Fredericks Media Award. Larry (Lawrence Frederick Cohen) was my dad. He passed away two and a half years ago and served on the committee. As a sportswriter for more than 40 years he met Herb early on his career and the two became close. Here is a great story Herb wrote about the event.

Kyries Hebert

Other media on hand were Dave Stubbs from The Gazette, Rick Moffat from TSN 690 and CJAD, Mitch Melnick from TSN 690, Dave Kaufman from CJAD, Matthew Ross from TSN 690 and Randy Tieman from CTV.

Moffat brought two kids from the audience to try and replicate his signature "goal" call for Impact broadcasts. The key is to say goal!!!!! as long as possible without taking a breath. This turned out to be quite a hit.

I served as emcee with broadcaster Charles André Marchand.

Ben and Kim Cahoon.

The Cummings Centre is a leader in the provision of quality programs, professional social services and a wide range of volunteer opportunities to the 50+ community. The Cummings Jewish Centre for Seniors Foundation aims to meet the philanthropic challenges and needs of the 50 plus population. For more information visit cummingscentre.org.

CJAD 800 News is losing one of its promising young reporters in Michel Boyer, who will embark upon a new career in television. He has been hired by Global Television in Edmonton.

Michel Boyer

"It's been a while in the works," Boyer shared with me. " I'll be flying to Edmonton and starting work on the fifth of January. It was all very exciting."

Boyer did a little bit of everything in radio, starting off by doing traffic for CJAD, Virgin Radio and CHOM, He got a chance to anchor and was excellent in the field filing different reports. I had the pleasure of interacting with him often wearing my school board hat. He is a true professional and hopefully we will see him back here one day.

"I'm really looking forward to this opportunity," said Boyer.

Since Boyer was a full-time staffer, it looks like a permanent spot has opened up on the CJAD news team roster.

When I was growing up our two local TV stations, CFCF (now CTV Montreal) and CBC, could always be counted on for some good local programming. Some of my favorites included Travel Travel, McGowan’s World and Fighting Back with Terry DiMonte. From 1970 to 1975 the late Nick Auf de Maur and Les Nirenberg brought us Quelque Show, featuring on the street interviews and observations on a wide range of subjects, from religion to pornography. Essentially, it provided a voice for a number of well-known Montreal street people.

Well, we now have four local English TV stations. CBC has brought us Our Montreal, hosted by Sonali Karnick and essentially a compendium of news items which ran the previous week; City introduced a lifestyles show called Only In Montreal, only to cancel it after 30 episodes.; Global has Focus Montreal with Jamie Orchard, which runs three times each weekend and is quite good; CTV has nothing besides its highly rated newscasts. CBC's suppertime news will be chopped from 90 to 30 minutes next fall while Global's newscasts remain status quo.

Global and City, of course, run morning news programs which deserve more viewers. On Saturdays, you catch the best of the Global morning news highlights. City also has a weekly sports show which has to be the most poorly promoted program I have ever seen. We do live in the age of the Internet, which opens the door to new opportunities. Enter Paul Shore,who has created a reboot of Quelque Show online only at the moment and in both English and French.

Paul Shore

“It's my attempt to bridge the growing divide between everyday Montrealers and our political leaders, bringing back the speakers corner in a modern context,” explains Shore. “It's part soapbox and part oral history.”

According to Shore, only three out of 100 Montrealers approached by his show said they had ever been asked for their opinion by a politician or a journalist. He describes Quelque Show as a speaker’s corner for Montrealers, created in response to the growing divide between political leaders and the everyday citizen.

The show has been designed to be viewed in both French and English, first by audiences online, and eventually on television and in public spaces around Montreal. "Political apathy, rooted in a sense of helplessness, has led to the everyday citizen's deep frustration over their perception that they are voiceless,” says Shore, the show’s co-host and creator. “By providing an interactive and non-threatening platform for people to express themselves, we’re hoping to stimulate the building of local community, even social change opportunities, in an innovative and meaningful way.”

Shore, a veteran video-journalist and filmmaker is working alongside and co-host and former engineer, Rosalynn Nguyen. In each episode they swiftly disarm interviewees, encouraging them to speak freely about controversial, even taboo issues.

Themes explored in the first series of episodes include immigration, integration, love, death, and public art. Montrealers are speaking up about sex, politics, language, multiculturalism, stereotyping and about how technology is affecting our relationships.

The original Quelque Show provided an unfiltered platform for Montrealers to express themselves on a variety of issues from pornography to religion. This new version brings back the town hall in a modern context. By providing a space for the sharing of personal experiences in a spontaneous way, Quelque Show is hoping to create a greater sense of community in our world of seemingly increased isolation caused by technology and the web.

“Quelque Show is indigenous to Montreal, but has been designed as a scaleable concept and platform, accessible to all other cities,” Shore says. "I am seeding the project now online, but i will be working on TV deals in English and French in the new year, as well as hopefully a partnership with an ad agency to do co-branded content with their local clients. It's a transmedia show, and is clip driven and non linear, so it has been designed to work on any platform imaginable such as 30 second instagram episodes, one minute Facebook episodes, seven minute Youtube episodes, 22 minute TV episodes, and my holy grail having the show on interactive monitors in public spaces around the city."

Here is one of the segments.

Check out their Facebook Page. Their main website is http://www.quelqueshow.com.

From today's print edition of The Suburban.

AM600, Montreal’s new English language radio station owned by industry veteran Paul Tietolman, will announce later today that both Andrew Carter and Aaron Rand have left CJAD and will headline a star studded lineup of notable personalities.

Aaron Rand

Tietolman has hired radio veteran Steve Kowch as general manager and program director and Wayne Bews, late of 925 The Beat FM, as sales manager. The interesting twist here is that Rand will host the morning show while Carter will do the drive home.

“I really missed mornings,” said Rand, who will bring back Paul “Tasso Patsikakis” Zakaib as his on air sidekick while Suzanne Desautels will also depart CJAD and handle weather and traffic.

“These last few years doing afternoons at CJAD have been just great. I have not caught up with my sleep and I am ready to rise again at 3:30 a.m. weekdays to go to work.

Carter, meanwhile, said that it was his idea to switch shifts. “I have been doing mornings for more than a decade and it really takes it toll on you,” he admitted. “I am looking forward to sleeping in and staying up late again.”

Tietolman confided to us that his mid-morning show will feature a tête-à-tête between former politicians Gilles Duceppe and Yolande James. “A separatist and a federalist debating the issues each day will be ‘must listen to’ radio,” Tietolman said.

Paul Tietolman

Early afternoons will be anchored by Dan Laxer, who lost his full-time gig at CJAD a few years ago. Following Carter, Suburban editor Beryl Wajsman’s Last Angry Man returns to Montreal radio from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Talks are reportedly underway between Tietolman’s team and TSN 690’s Conor McKenna to bring a provocative late night sports talk show back to the local radio scene. “Montrealers crave for the days of Ted Tevan,” Tietolman said of the late shock jock sports rap host. “We just know there is an audience for that.”

Overnights will belong to Peter Anthony Holder and Sol Boxenbaum, once fixtures on CJAD. Claude Beaulieu and Murray Sherriffs will head the news team.

Over at CJAD, it appears that Barry Morgan is in for a promotion to replace Carter in the mornings. Dave Kaufman will fill Morgan`s Noon to 3 p.m. shift while Dan Delmar will take over the drive home show. Jay Farrar will step in for McKenna if he moves to AM600.

Tietolman plans to launch AM 600 in June, along with French language talk and sports stations.

What is my reaction to all of this? Well folks, today is April 1. It has been a few years since The Suburban was published on this date, providing me with the perfect opportunity to say “April Fool’s” to all of my readers. Sorry, but I just could not resist.

THE REAL STORY: Tietolman does indeed plan to open three radio stations. He has Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approval to go on the air with an English language talk station at the AM 600 dial and two French language stations, one for talk and another for sports. When I reached him he preferred not to get into too many details. But he wants to make it clear that this radio trio will become a reality. When it does, perhaps some of my April Fool’s musings will actually occur. What do you think?

GLOBAL TV AND THE BEAT: Last fall I invited Jessica Laventure, Camille Ross and Richard Dagenais from The Global Morning News and Cat Spencer, Sarah Bartok and Natasha Hall The Beat 92.5 FM to the English Montreal School Board Career Fair. After doing an interview with them for The Suburban video section, I suggested that on April 1 they change places for the ultimate April Fool's joke. Well, today they do so in style and Camille even gave me some recognition on the air.

Here is the photo I took of Jessica, Richard, Camille, Cat and Sarah which inspired the April Fool's joke.

Here are Cat and Sarah on Global.

And Richard, Camille and Jessica on The Beat

Below are comments from the main players.

It's nice to see pros at work and that's exactly what the team at The Beat 92.5 are all about; seeing them at work, you realize Cat, Sarah, Natasha, Sammy and Paul are - Montreal's perfect mix!"

Richard Dagenais

"Any opportunity to spend time with the Team over at the beat is something to look forward to. They are a group of incredibly hilarious, charismatic and talented people."

Camille Ross

"It's easy to see why the Beat Breakfast with Cat and Sarah is Montreal's number one Morning radio show. I felt immediately comfortable with Cat, Sarah and Natasha. Nothing creepy, I just... smelled their hair and followed them home. You know, normal closeness."

Jessica Laventure

Thanks to the Global Morning News team for making us look good! Don't tell my boss but those 10 minutes on morning television made me realize how easy we have it in radio. No lights, no camera...(but plenty of action)!

Cat Spencer

Sometimes, things happen that make you scratch your head & wonder what just happened! That's exactly what we hoped to acheive with our little switch-a-roo. Thanks to the entire Global team for making this April Fools prank come to life...and for making me appreciate even more so how a full face of makeup is not required for morning radio. ;-)

Sarah Bartok

We tag teamed with Camille and Richard from Global to play a little April Fools joke on all our listeners..Cat and Sarah took over TV while Camille and Richard took over the radio:

Editor's Note: Due to technical difficulties The Jewel programming, including the debut of Tasso, has been delayed until April 9.l

You must hand it to the folks behind The Jewel RadioNetwork. Part of the Evanov Radio Group, there are presently eight Jewel stations across the country and the latest has landed at 106.7 FM and serving Hudson and St. Lazare. Now this is quite extraordinary for two small towns on the outskirts of Montreal’s West Island having their very own radio station.

Ted Silver, who once upon a time ran Q92 (now The Beat 92.5 FM), is the program director for this newest entity along with Jewel sister stations in Ottawa, Rockland and Hawkesbury and the man has clearly not lost his golden touch. Not only did he sign the

Ted Bird

legendary Ted Bird as morning show host (5:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.), but beginning April 8 Paul “Tasso Patsikakis” Zakaib makes his return to the airwaves as the host of his own 10 a.m. to Noon show. That is followed by the syndicated John Tesh Show. Bob Coley steps in from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. with a local drive home show. Then comes a program called The Lounge.

Silver notes that the Jewel features an adult contemporary variety format featuring the best of yesterday and today. He calls it easy listening, light and refreshing.” The target market is Hudson, St. Lazare, Vaudreuil and most of the West Island. Evanov operates two other licences in Quebec: CHRF-AM, Radio Fierté, the world's only French language commercial radio service dedicated to Montreal's large and diverse LGBT community; and CFMB AM, the city’s only multi-ethnic broadcaster.

I have already made a habit of tuning into Bird via my computer in the office weekday

mornings. One never gets tired of his great sense of humour. Now we can look forward to Tasso and his zany cast of characters, from Jacques Parizeau to Jean Chretien. Sure I’d

love to have him back on the air with Aaron Rand, but that is not in the cards for now. “We had talked to Tasso about doing our morning show,” Silver said. “In the end of course we went with Ted, but I am really happy to bring him aboard. We worked together at Q92. He will be entertaining. That is for sure.”

Ted Silver and Tasso

I reached Tasso and he is quite excited about the new venture.

"I'm going to try to do a little of the old and as much music as I can't play," he joked. "They are a top heavy music station, but I assume they brought me on to add a bit of colour. When I was at MIKE FM, I learned how to bring my characters on and talk to them as if they were in the studio. This should be an easier task at the Jewel. I won't do weather or anything without a twist if possible and I'll be doing some odd stories as well, hopefully with an interview or comment from persons involved. It's going to be something new for them and a new challenge for me."
Both Bird and Tasso reside on the West Island.

Silver said that the feedback from The Jewel 106.7 is quite impressive for a station that has only been on the air for a month. “We have done some contests and our advertisers have really been surprised by the response,” he said. “People are listening. We have been air testing since November, so that has helped attract an audience.”

Sylvia Asche Bullard

With local news during the morning and afternoon drives with Tanya Armstrong and Sylvia Asche Bullard, Hudson and St. Lazare are getting some great exposure. As Silver points out, this is a growing area. The Suburban recognizes this which is why we have added this to our circulation area.

I shared with Silver my thoughts that a local sports talk show, perhaps airing late night, would be a great addition to the schedule. “Never say never,” he responded.

Right now the team from The Jewel 106.7 FM are working out of the Hawkesbury station – about a 20 minute drive. “We would like to establish a studio in Hudson or St. Lazare,” Silver said. “It is something we are working on.”

A few months ago I met noted Montreal playwright Vittorio Rossi for the first time when I invited him back to speak at his old high school, James Lyng in St. Henri. He is a wonderful role model and provided the present-day students with a lot of inspiration, so much so that a Grade 11 English class joined me at the Centaur Theatre for an April 8 matinee to see the new Rossi comedy-drama called The Envelope.

There were also students on hand from FACE School and a private French school. How would they relate to a play focused on the complex Canadian film industry? The Envelope is a fabulous piece of work and judging by their laughs and the standing ovation at the end, it is clear the students really appreciated it. Teachers I spoke to gave it a big thumbs up,

The storyline revolves around some excited actors and two producers gathered in a local Italian restaurant meant to clone Da Franco’s, which is located just around the corner from the Centaur in Old Montreal. Kudos to set and costume design boss Evita Karasek for creating a true replica of the real restaurant. From the bar to the tables and even the front door, it is bang on as lead characters Michael Moretti (Ron Lea) and Jake Henry Smith (David Gow) engage in a hard-nosed negotiation for the film rights to the former’s new play. Moretti finds himself torn between an L.A. indie filmmaker with little cash to spare and Smith dangling a tempting multi-million dollar “envelope” from the Canadian Federal Film Fund. Does he choose ambition over loyalty and money over art? One thing for sure – this play does not paint a flattering picture of the Canadian film industry.

The cast of The Envelope in a scene at Da Franco's (photo A. Lanthier)

During the audience talkback after the show I asked the performers if a movie version of The Envelope was possible. “That has already been put in motion,” said Lea.

Tony Calabretta is superb as Franco, the wise-cracking Italian restaurateur whose cousin the actor, Marcello, is played by actor/stand-up comedian, Guido Cocomello. Shawn Campbell plays Andrew, a character actor who has weathered many an opening night jitter, and no film story would be complete without an ingénue poised for her big break and Mélanie Sirois, as the bright-eyed Caroline, makes her Centaur debut. Leni Parker, 2014 META-winner for Best Actress plays Sarah, the Canadian National Movie Fund’s head of script development in the midst of a career crisis.

This small cast has excellent chemistry. While there is a fair amount of profanity in the script, it all falls out in a very realistic fashion. When anger sets in, I suppose there is no reason to pretend these people would be reciting niceties. None of the students seemed turned off by it, nor were the teachers particularly concerned.

Says the Moretti Character: “There are two things I detest in this country. […] One is winter.

The other is a Canadian film producer. I’ve learned to cope with winter but I will never trust a Canadian film producer.”

The Centaur’s Artistic and Executive Director, Roy Surette, had this to say:“Vittorio captures this city and its people so beautifully. Audiences will definitely recognize a theatre located in Old Montreal around the corner from a family-owned Italian restaurant and get a kick out of the behind-the-scenes take on getting a play to opening night … a font of entertaining material there! But the main attraction is the inside scoop at how Canadian films are produced. Ambition, back room deals, egos and eccentric characters abound amid the lure of big money versus creative integrity. Who could resist such tantalizing theatrical treats?”

Rossi, an advocate of ‘write what you know’, drew heavily from his own experiences for the script. “On five different occasions I was approached to either write a screenplay or adapt one of my own plays,” he says. “Each and every time the projects got lost in ‘development hell.’ With these producers, never once did I feel like I was working with a creative partner. But as a result of all this, I raised the money, shot my film in five days, and gained a whole new skill set. It was a great learning experience and immensely gratifying.”

The show runs through April 19 (Mondays are dark). If you are looking for some great entertainment and a refreshing piece of theatre then log on to http://www.centaurtheatre.com/theenvelope.php or call (514) 288-3161. Check out the video preview here.

Contrary to an original report on the website Eater.com, the P.F. Chang's China Bistro operation in Canada is not bankrupt. The two Montreal area locales - one on Rue des Jockeys off Decarie and another at Carrefour Laval - as well as the Toronto spot- are alive and well.

Director of Operations Cary Mausner and CEO Michael Aronovici.

"We filed a Notice of Intention to make a proposal to our creditors in order to obtain the courts` protection so we could gain time to find a strategic partner or a buyer," said Michael Aronovici, the CEO of Interaction Restaurants."We are firmly in control of our business and have already had several discussions with potential strategic partners or buyers in this vein. We will continue to operate our restaurants in the ordinary course of business while the process is underway. We expect things to be settled in the next six months or so."

Let me be frank. P.F. Chang's was always one of my favorite restaurants and a must visit eating experience whenever I was in the United States. I have been to all three Canadian locations. The food and services is impeccable and the entire experience second to none: won ton soup, the signature chicken lettuce wraps, Mongolian beef, crispy honey shrimp and double pan-fried noodles among my top choices.

"Even though our original expectations for the business have not been fulfilled, PF Chang’s has been well received in Quebec, as well as in Ontario," says Aronovici. "I truly hope that with the addition of a strategic partner, it will have the runway required to continue it growth."

The last time Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper stepped foot in the federal riding of Mount Royal for a major keynote address was on the eve of the May 2011 election when he spoke at a gathering at the Snowdon YM-YWHA. Last December he did in fact return to the riding for an appearance at a Federation CJA Gelber Centre Chanukah gathering, where 1,000 people attended and he and his wife stuck around for several hours.

Prime Minister Harper

Well, four years later and the next federal vote set for next October, he'll be the keynote speaker at a gala dinner on Thursday, May 21 which is honouring two prominent Mount Royal residents and actually taking place in the riding of St. Laurent - Cartierville, more specifically the Crowne Plaza on Cote de Liesse. Insiders tell me that Harper`s security detail settled on that locale specifically and with more than 1,000 people expected no local synagogue could handle such a crowd.

Based on an email chain many thought it was going to be held at the Congregation Chevra Kadisha B'nai Jacob Beit Hazikaron Beth Hillel in Snowdon. It will be hosted by the Jewish Community Council of Montreal and chaired by Silver Star Mercedes Benz owner Sam Eltes and his son Jonathan. The keynote address will be delivered by the president of the World Jewish Congress, Ambassador Ronald S. Lauder.

"As our Prime Minister continues to demonstrate unwavering support to Jewish communities throughout Canada and to our homeland Israel, let us gather to express our appreciation and support a true friend!" says Rabbi Asher Jacobson, spiritual leader of Chevra Kadish, who is getting the word out.

The cost per couple is $360, of which $260 is tax deductible. All proceeds will be going to the Lynn Eltes Memorial Ezrath Torah Fund, for the purpose of furthering Jewish education in the community.

Mount Royal Conservatives will choose their next candidate at a nominating convention on April 26 at the YM-YWHA. The winner between French language television personality Pascale Déry, veteran politician and architect Robert Libman or lawyer and longtime Conservative insider Neil Drabkin will face off against Côte Saint-Luc Mayor Anthony Housefather, who handily won the Liberal nomination last fall and has been in campaign mode for more than a year.

I am sure we should be hearing about Liberal leader Justin Trudeau visiting the riding before long. Over the years he has visited the park named after his late father in Côte Saint-Luc and Bialik High School.

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