Category: Bénévole de l’année (Volunteer of the Year) 

Prix Reconnaissance (Recognition award) 

Élizabeth Verge

Élizabeth Verge devotes her life to serving others, both in Saint-Pierre and throughout Lachine: involvement with young people, presiding over the Revitalisation St-Pierre organization, Board member of the CLSC, the hospital, the Groupe d’entraide de Lachine, the curling club and even churchwarden!

Her commitment has resulted in significant funding from Ville de Montréal for the Table de concertation, improving quality of life for the people of St-Pierre.

Prix Conseil jeunesse de Lachine  (Lachine youth council award)

Loïck Martin

Managing the student radio station and the technical team at Dalbé-Viau high school, Loïck stands out for his professionalism, his people skills and his initiative. He is also involved as an off-ice official for the Lachine Minor Hockey Association, where his diligence and attentiveness are recognized by the Association’s members.

Mérite civique (Civic merit) 

Jean-François Lefebvre

Jean-François Lefebvre is co-founder of GRAME, which manages the Lachine eco-neighbourhood program and of the Conseil régional de l’environnement de la Montérégie. With the Imagine Lachine-Est organization he founded, he fights climate change by promoting best urban practices and he has initiated two summits on the new Lachine Est sector. Through his knowledge, passion and initiatives, he is helping to bring the community together around an innovative concept in energy production, transportation and urban planning.

Category Community

Prix Michel-Ménard

Catherine Ménard

Born into a family devoted to the community, Catherine Ménard has been actively involved since 2006 with the Relais populaire de Lachine, an organization that delivers thousands of meals to the schools in the borough. A school commissioner from 2010 to 2014 and member of the boards of directors of Catherine-Soumillard school and Concert’Action Lachine, she is now pursuing her involvement in the community as executive director of Parados, a shelter for abused women and their children. A 2nd-stage housing project with 7 new units, a drop-in daycare centre and an outdoor courtyard is under way.

Prix Noël-Spinelli

Concert’Action Lachine

At the heart of community action, Concert’Action Lachine works with 32 organizations and is instrumental in efficiently running ten sectoral committees and tables. Recently, they have been involved in coordinating two major collaborative governance bodies with Ville de Montréal: L’Atelier Lachine-Est, cited as an example by the Council of Europe, and the Quartiers inclusifs et résilients (QIR) program, a pilot project guiding future investments in the Saint-Pierre sector. They have also launched a new participatory program to develop projects led by residents.

Prix Courage et détermination (Courage and determination award)

Dr. Paul Saba

For decades, Lachine resident Dr. Paul Saba has campaigned to maintain quality care at the Lachine Hospital. Faced with threats to close the hospital and change its role, he led a number of demonstrations with residents, doctors, nurses and other staff. Today, the Lachine Hospital has obtained funds for renovations and is affiliated with the McGill University Health Centre—great  victories for all those who stood up for this institution.

Prix Développement économique (Economic development award)

Gerry Tabak

A pioneer of rue Notre-Dame, Gerry Tabak manages Sam Tabak, a designer fashion and sportswear boutique, and owns several commercial spaces that contribute to the economic vitality of the sector. Sam Tabak is the story of three generations, from father to son, who have been putting a lot of effort into making rue Notre-Dame successful, adapting to market realities for decades. The first business, founded in 1942, sold suits worn by Dominion Bridge presidents and even Johnny Cash.

Category: Culture and Sports

Prix Artiste (Artist award)

Joseph Boonen

The start of a promising career: Joseph Boonen’s songs Bon garçon and Paysages are played on commercial radio stations. This young singer-songwriter-composer helped create a new anthem for Lachine as part of the Faire danser un village project. His lyrics inspire us and his melodies carry us away.

Prix Patrimoine (Heritage award)

André Théorêt

As a member of the folk dance troupe Les Éclusiers de Lachine, André Théorêt has given his time, talent and love of Québec culture and identity as a dancer first and then artistic director for the past 27 years. His contribution to the historical research of intangible heritage, which is used to create his choreographies and costumes, is an immense legacy for Lachine and all of Québec. His choreographies have gone on to enjoy international acclaim and he even helped organize the Festival folklorique internationale de Lachine, which attracted over 12,000 people at the time.

Prix Athlète de l’année (Athlete of the year award)

Chloé Fortin

The Fédération québécoise d’aviron has named Chloé Fortin its up-and-coming rowing athlete of the year. In 2023, she took part in more than six major competitions and won five medals, including two golds. She also received a medal of distinction from the Centre de services scolaires Marguerite-Bourgeoys for her perseverance and commitment to her academic career. In addition to being an outstanding athlete, she is involved in the community with Multisens and GRAME.

Prix Équipe de l’année (Team of the year award)

Rapides de Lachine M-11A

This hockey team ranked 2nd in their league with 15 wins, 2 losses and one tie. They participated in the semi-finals of the provincial atom tournament in Lachute and were finalists in their league’s playoffs as well as in the Lac Saint-Louis regional championships, which bring together the best teams from the three leagues in the Montérégie region and west end of Montréal.  Congratulations to all players and coaches.

Panthéon de la culture (Cultural hall of fame)

André Robichaud 

André Robichaud has been involved with the Société d’histoire de Lachine for over 30 years, helping people discover the history of our borough and spotlighting the rich heritage of our built, cultural, religious, educational, public and private heritage. 

With his knowledge and his educational approach, he has contributed to several projects highlighting Lachine’s identity: the historic murals on rue Notre-Dame and in the Saint-Pierre sector, exhibitions and the Musée de Lachine’s podcast Murmures du temps: chroniques de Lachine.

Panthéon des sports (Sports hall of fame)

Liam Mahoney 

Liam Mahoney grew up and lived in Lachine. His stint with the Vanier College and Concordia University football teams earned him a number of awards, including Canadian University Sports Rookie of the Year and Star of the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec. In 2011, he began his professional football career in the Canadian Football League with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Ottawa Redblacks. He is now pursuing a career in marketing communications.

Screened during the Gala, this video highlights Lachine volunteers. André Robichaud features in the video:

Gala Reconnaissance 2023

As a reminder, here are the winners of various awards presented at the Gala Reconnaissance de Lachine 2023.

Prix Reconnaissance (Recognition award) - Sports 

Raluca Maria Stănescu

Prix Reconnaissance (Recognition award) - Culture

Marie-Claude Prévost

Prix Reconnaissance(Recognition award) – special mention 

Lise Joly Dion (posthumously) and Michel Dion

Prix Michel-Ménard

Centre de pédiatrie sociale et communautaire de Lachine

Prix Conseil jeunesse de Lachine (Lachine Youth Council award)

Conseil jeunesse de Lachine

Mérite civique (Civic merit) 

André Monette, Agathe Lafrance and Gilles Dion

Prix Artiste professionnel ou amateur (Professional or amateur artist award)

Marianella Michaud

Prix Noël-Spinelli

Page par Page, Festival de littérature jeunesse de Montréal

Prix Athlète de l’année (Athlete of the year award)

Edward Ly 

Prix Équipe de l’année (Team of the year award)

C15 Juvénile homme of the Club de Canoë de Lachine

Prix Courage et détermination (Courage and détermination award)

Sean McLean

Panthéon de la culture(Cultural Hall of famer)

Sylvie Blanchet

Panthéon des sports (Sports Hall of famer)

Christine Robinson