HGREG Named a Finalist in Two Prestigious Mercuriades Awards Categories

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HGREG Named a Finalist in Two Prestigious Mercuriades Awards Categories

2025-03-17 22:07 Last Updated At：22:31

MONTRÉAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 17, 2025--

HGreg is among the finalists in the TELUS Technological Innovation and EDC International Market Development categories of the 2025 Mercuriades Awards, organized by the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec (FCCQ).

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The TELUS Technological Innovation Award recognizes a development initiative, or the integration of a digital platform aimed at improving a business process, service or product. The EDC International Market Development Award honours an export or foreign direct investment strategy that has led to the international expansion of a market.

“Being a finalist in these prestigious categories is a testament to our constant drive to innovate and step outside the boundaries, both in terms of technology and the development of new markets,” stated John Hairabedian, President of HGreg. “This recognition reflects the hard work of our teams and our commitment to delivering an unparalleled experience to our customers.”

Created in 1981 by the FCCQ, the Mercuriades Awards competition sheds light on Québec companies—both SMEs and large corporations—that distinguish themselves through innovation, growth and leadership.

In 2024, Québec-based automotive group HGreg was a finalist in the Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Entrepreneurship category in addition to taking top honours in the Investissement Québec Productivity Growth category in 2023.

Winners will be unveiled during the awards gala on May 5, 2025.

About the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec

Thanks to its vast network of 130 chambers of commerce and 1,100 corporate members, the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec (FCCQ) represents more than 50,000 businesses operating in all sectors of the economy throughout Québec. The FCCQ is the largest network of businesspeople and companies in Québec and is both a federation of chambers of commerce and a provincial chamber of commerce. Its members, whether chambers or companies, all pursue the same goal: to foster an innovative, competitive and sustainable business environment.

About HGreg

Established in 1993, HGreg is committed to simplifying the car-buying process through its core values of excellence in customer service, transparency, smart use of technology and a refreshing customer-focused philosophy. Supported by a passionate team of car enthusiasts, HGreg operates dealerships in Québec and the U.S., offering both new and pre-owned vehicles. For more information, visit www.hgregoire.com.

Israeli strikes across Gaza kill at least 235 Palestinians and shatter ceasefire with Hamas

2025-03-18 14:41 Last Updated At：14:51

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel launched airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing at least 235 Palestinians, including women and children, according to hospital officials. The surprise bombardment shattered a ceasefire in place since January and threatened to fully reignite the 17-month-old war.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the strikes after Hamas refused Israeli demands to change the ceasefire agreement. Officials said the operation was open-ended and was expected to expand. The White House said it had been consulted and voiced support for Israel's actions.

“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Netanyahu’s office said.

The attack shattered a period of relative calm during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and could resume a war that has already killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused widespread destruction across Gaza. It also raised questions about the fate of the roughly two dozen Israeli hostages held by Hamas who are believed to still be alive.

A senior Hamas official said Netanyahu’s decision to return to war amounts to a “death sentence” for the remaining hostages. Izzat al-Risheq accused Netanyahu of launching the strikes to try and save his far-right governing coalition and called on mediators to “reveal facts” on who broke the truce.

There were no reports of any attacks by Hamas several hours after the bombardment, indicating it still hoped to restore the truce.

The strikes came as Netanyahu comes under mounting domestic pressure, with mass protests planned over his handling of the hostage crisis and his decision to fire the head of Israel's internal security agency. His latest testimony in a long-running corruption trial was canceled after the strikes.

The main group representing families of the captives accused the government of backing out of the ceasefire, saying it “chose to give up on the hostages.”

“We are shocked, angry and terrified by the deliberate dismantling of the process to return our loved ones from the terrible captivity of Hamas,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.

A strike on a home in the southern city of Rafah killed 17 members of one family, including at least 12 women and children, according to the European Hospital, which received the bodies. The dead included five children, their parents, and another father and his three children.

In the southern city of Khan Younis, Associated Press reporters saw explosions and plumes of smoke. Ambulances brought wounded people to Nasser Hospital, where patients lay on the floor, some screaming. A young girl cried as her bloody arm was bandaged.

Many Palestinians said they had expected a return to war when talks over the second phase of the ceasefire did not begin as scheduled in early February. Israel instead embraced an alternative proposal and cut off all shipments of food, fuel and other aid to the territory's 2 million Palestinians to try to pressure Hamas to accept it.

“Nobody wants to fight,” Palestinian resident Nidal Alzaanin told the AP by phone from Gaza City. "Everyone is still suffering from the previous months,” he said.

At least 235 people were killed in the strikes overnight and into Tuesday, according to records from seven hospitals. The toll does not include bodies brought to other, smaller health centers, and rescuers were still searching for dead and wounded people.

The White House sought to blame Hamas for the renewed fighting. National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said the militant group "could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war.”

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the unfolding operation, said Israel was striking Hamas' military, leaders and infrastructure and planned to expand the operation beyond air attacks. The official accused Hamas of attempting to rebuild and plan new attacks. Hamas militants and security forces quickly returned to the streets in recent weeks after the ceasefire went into effect.

Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, said the “gates of hell will open in Gaza” if the hostages aren't released. “We will not stop fighting until all of our hostages are home and we have achieved all of the war goals,” he said.

The strikes came two months after a ceasefire was reached to pause the war. Over six weeks, Hamas released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight more in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in a first phase of the ceasefire.

But since that ceasefire ended two weeks ago, the sides have not been able to agree on a way forward with a second phase aimed at releasing the 59 remaining hostages, 35 of whom are believed to be dead, and ending the war altogether.

Hamas has demanded an end to the war and full withdrawal of Israeli troops in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages. Israel says it will not end the war until it destroys Hamas' governing and military capabilities and frees all hostages — two goals that could be incompatible.

Netanyahu's office on Tuesday said Hamas had “repeatedly refused to release our hostages and rejected all offers it received from the U.S. presidential envoy, Steve Witkoff, and from the mediators.”

Taher Nunu, a Hamas official, criticized the Israeli attacks. “The international community faces a moral test: either it allows the return of the crimes committed by the occupation army or it enforces a commitment to ending the aggression and war against innocent people in Gaza,” he said.

The war erupted when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Most have been released in ceasefires or other deals, with israeli forces rescuing only eight and recovering dozens of bodies.

Israel responded with a military offensive that killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and displaced an estimated 90% of Gaza's population. The territory's Health Ministry doesn't differentiate between civilians and militants, but says over half of the dead have been women and children.

The ceasefire had brought some relief to Gaza and allowed hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to resume to what remained of their homes.

The return to fighting could also worsen deep internal fissures inside Israel over the fate of the remaining hostages.

The released hostages, some of whom were emaciated, have repeatedly implored the government to press ahead with the ceasefire to return all remaining captives. Tens of thousands of Israelis have taken part in mass demonstrations calling for a ceasefire and return of all hostages.

Mass demonstrations are planned later Tuesday and Wednesday following Netanyahu's announcement this week that he wants to fire the head of Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency. Critics have lambasted the move as an attempt by Netanyahu to divert blame for his government's failures in the Oct. 7 attack and handling of the war.

Since the ceasefire in Gaza began in mid-January, Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinians who the military says approached its troops or entered unauthorized areas.

Still, the deal has tenuously held without an outbreak of wide violence. Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to mediate the next steps in the ceasefire.

Israel wants Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in return for a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. Hamas instead wants to follow the ceasefire deal reached by the two sides, which calls for negotiations to begin on the ceasefire’s more difficult second phase, in which the remaining hostages would be released and Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza.

Federman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Fatma Khaled and Samy Magdy in Cairo, and Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war