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Île Bizard is an island near the Island of Montreal in the Hochelaga Archipelago region.

It was formerly a separate municipality named Ville de L'Île-Bizard, but is now part of the city of Montreal, in the borough of L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève.

The Jacques Bizard Bridge connects it across the Rivière des Prairies with Sainte-Geneviève on the Island of Montreal. The seasonal Laval-sur-le-Lac Île-Bizard Ferry provides a connection to Laval-sur-le-Lac on Île Jésus (Laval). This ferry does not operate in the winter.

Bois-de-l'Île-Bizard Nature Park^[1] is a 201 hectare park which contains marsh lands and several kilometers of nature trails, accessible year round.^[1] There is also a small beach at Pointe-aux-Carrières that faces the Lac des Deux-Montagnes. The Royal Montreal Golf Club, the Golf Saint-Raphael and Elm Ridge Country Club are located on the island.

Historically named Île Bonaventure, by 1723 it had come to be named Île Bizard, after Jacques Bizard, to whom it was conceded as a fief (seigneurie) in 1678. See Seigneurial system of New France. The island was also used by the settlers of New France, as a way to get timber into Montreal from the river, see Timber rafting.

There are only a few restaurants on the island and various stores and businesses.

Land has been reserved on the island for the future extension of Autoroute 440 from Laval to connect with Autoroute 40 at Chemin Ste-Marie. This will avoid having to drive on the Autoroute 40 to get to Autoroute 13 and Autoroute 15 and provide another beltway around the city in addition to Autoroute 30 on the South Shore. Many people who live on the island are against it, as Île Bizard is a calm and serene country environment and they feel like it would cause more traffic and pollution to the fresh air.

However, the City of Montreal has purchased considerable amounts of land and protects them as natural parks, which include swamps, beaches, forest and other ecosystems; these are open to the public.

Sports[link]

The island has two notable sports complexes: 'Parc Eugène-Dostie' and 'Complexe Sportif Sainte-Raphaçl'. The PGA Golf Tour comes to l'île Bizard's Golf Saint-Raphaël every 108 weeks on the dot. It is also notable that Vincent Lecavalier, a current NHL player was born on the island in 1980.

Music[link]

The island is also hometown for the French punk-rock pop band Kamakazi the heavy metal band Frozen, the rock band Simple Plan and the French punk-rockers eXterio.

See also[link]

• List of bridges spanning the Rivière des Prairies
• List of crossings of the Rivière des Prairies

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official page on the Ville de Montréal website [2].

Coordinates: 45°29′N 73°54′W / 45.483°N 73.9°W / 45.483; -73.9

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Christopher James Hardman (born 26 August 1990, Lowestoft, England to parents Ian Hardman and Karen Elizibeth Clarke),^[1] more commonly known by his stage name Lil' Chris, is an English singer-songwriter, DJ and television personality.

[edit] Rock School

Chris rose to prominence in January 2006 at the age of 16 after appearing in series two of Channel 4's Rock School.^[1] The TV show saw Gene Simmons (from the band KISS) try to form a rock band out of a class of children attending Kirkley High School (now East Point Academy).^[2] In the series, Chris was immediately seen as a contender for the band after revealing that he could sing, play guitar, drum, and write songs. Eventually Chris was selected as frontman and lead singer in the line-up for the band (now named "Hoax UK"). In the final episode the band went on to open for Judas Priest, Rob Zombie, and Anthrax at a concert in Long Beach, California.^[3]

Solo career[link]

A week after the performance Chris was contacted by record producers Ray Hedges and Nigel Butler, who appeared in Rock School to help the class with songwriting. Chris went on to sign a record contract with RCA Records and released his debut single "Checkin' It Out" in September 2006 which reached no. 3 in the UK Singles Chart.^[3] After performing a cover of Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack" on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge, Chris then released his debut album Lil' Chris in January 2006. Chris continued to promote and release singles from his album throughout 2007, as well as performing as a supporting act for McFly on their 24 date Up Close and Personal tour throughout the UK. Chris also took part in BBC Three's Celebrity Scissorhands and made guest appearances in episodes of CBBC's SMart and TMi.

More television work followed in 2008, including appearances on The Weakest Link, Hider in the House, Dani's House and Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Chris also compered the 4Music stage of the T4 on the Beach music festival in July 2008. In October - November 2008 (after a successful pilot earlier in the year) Chris hosted Everybody Loves Lil' Chris on the T4 strand of Channel 4 on Saturday mornings. The show was a mixture of celebrity interviews, live music performances and various 'challenges' that Chris undertook.^[4] The airing of the show coincided with the release of Chris's second album Whats It All About in October 2008. He also supported pop band Alphabeat on their Wolfbaggin' tour, throughout the UK.

Throughout 2009, Chris made celebrity appearances as a DJ, visiting various venues around the UK. These included Zanzibar club in Leicester in May 2009, and Tramps Nightclub in Worcester in August 2009. In October 2009 Chris made a guest appearance in the BBC1 game show Hole In The Wall, and also featured in an episode of the second series of the CBBC comedy show Sorry, I've Got No Head. During December 2009 to January 2010, Chris presented the making of Remo Skilla's music video, Stoosh, which was posted on YouTube.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Lil' Chris (4 December 2006) #54 UK
• What's It All About (6 October 2008) #94 UK

Singles[link]

• "Checkin' It Out" (September 2006) #3 UK
• "Gettin' Enough??" (December 2006) #17 UK
• "Figure It Out" (February 2007) #57 UK
• "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off" (October 2007) #63 UK

TV appearances[link]

• "Rock School"
• "The Sharon Osbourne Show"
• "TMi: Festive Special 2"
• "Hider in the House"
• Everybody Loves Lil Chris
• T4 on the Beach 2008
• "Dani's House"
• "Never Mind the Buzzcocks"
• "Hole in the Wall"

"My super sweet sixteen" (UK)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Lil' Chris on Myspace
• Lil' Chris at the Internet Movie Database