By Dan Laxer
The Suburban
Montreal may soon join other major cities – like Copenhagen, London, Boston, Lyon, Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Helsinki, and even Toronto and Calgary – by allowing dogs to ride on STM buses.
As it stands, dogs are allowed on the Métro, and have been since a pilot project approved in August 2022, and launched two months later.
The original motion was tabled by the opposition Ensemble Montréal party. It started with an SPCA petition, as well as an STM poll that showed that most were in favour of allowing dogs – muzzled and leashed – on the Métro. As of last December, the pilot project having been deemed successful, dogs are allowed on the Métro with certain restrictions.
Now the opposition is asking that dogs be allowed to ride on buses, as well.
“The coexistence between users and their dogs is going wonderfully in the Métro,” said Official Opposition leader Aref Salem. “However, many Montrealers don’t have the good fortune to live near a station, or must take the bus to complete their journey. Our goal is to offer them the same flexibility and make public transportation more accessible and pleasant for everyone.”
The same rules would apply that now govern dogs on the metro.
The STM says it is not completely opposed to the idea, but it’s not completely on board, either. Dogs are actually allowed on buses with some conditions – they have to be in some kind of enclosed carrier. And of course guide dogs are permitted. But allowing dogs on buses comes with some risks and challenges that the organization is not prepared to entertain at present.
Salem says the STM should try it first before dismissing it out of hand.
The party will be presenting their motion at the next city council meeting on March 17 and 18. If it does not pass, Salem says, Ensemble Montréal will make it an election issue.
(Even though Soraya Martinez Ferrada was recently named leader of Ensemble Montreal, Salem is still considered Leader of the Opposition; Martinez Ferrada would need to be elected to occupy that post. Hence, Salem is still opposition leader until the municipal elections in November). n