By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban
Côte St. Luc Mayor Mitchell Brownstein says he hopes Montreal has a different Mayor soon, particularly on the Cavendish extension and general traffic issue.
Brownstein, along with Councillor Dida Berku, was responding at the recent public meeting to council regular Dr. Norman Sabin, who was asking about possible legal action by CSL, TMR and St. Laurent to ensure the Cavendish link between CSL and St. Laurent is built and for Montreal to live up to its 2017 commitment to the Quebec government to build the link along with the Hippodrome housing development.
A National Assembly petition on this issue, sponsored by D’Arcy McGee MNA Elisabeth Prass, is at www.assnat.qc.ca/en/exprimez-votre-opinion/petition/Petition-10931/index.html. The deadline to sign the petition is Oct. 12. As of Sept. 29, 2,464 people have signed the petition.
“The extension is not even in the planning right now,” Sabin said. “What do you think the reaction would be if there was a court order against them?”
Brownstein said Montreal would have to respect a court order, and could appeal it.
“Are we there yet? Do we have a strong enough case against Madame Plante who speaks out of both sides of her mouth, saying she’s not going to do it, but she’s going to do it, not now but maybe sometime. I don’t know if we’re there yet, but it’s something to not be discounted.” The Mayor also said the Montreal-Quebec agreement does not specify exact timelines.
Sabin also asked if CSL would be able to not permit a tramway and bike path, with no roadway, to reach their territory, such as Cavendish Blvd.
“Do you have a legal right as a sovereign city to put up a fence or wall, and say ‘we’re not going to accept that without a roadway’?”
Brownstein said CSL would not want to construct such a blockage.
“Not that we don’t want the road. But we do want the rapid transit and the bike lane. We’re not going to cut off our nose to spite our face. As long as there’s the space to build the road, we’re going to push for the road.”
Brownstein added that Plante “clearly only wants bike paths and rapid transit everywhere, not just on Cavendish.
“Let’s hope that we have another Mayor soon in Montreal.”
“I agree with that,” Sabin said.
Berku said Sabin’s question had many hypotheticals.
“So I don’t think we should be speculating on what our legal position is.” In terms of legal action by the affected areas, she pointed out that St. Laurent is part of the City of Montreal.
“So that doesn’t work very well. We’re exploring all avenues.” n