JOHN JANTAK
The 1019 Report

Vaudreuil-Dorion Mayor Guy Pilon and representatives of the grassroots environmental group Mères au Front were at the National Assembly in Quebec City yesterday to formally submit a petition calling on the provincial government to abandon its plan to build a 14-acre parking lot at the new Vaudreuil-Soulanges Hospital.

The petition, signed by 2,362 residents of the region, was initiated by Vaudreuil MNA Marie-Claude Nichols after provincial health officials announced it was shelving the initial plan to build an underground lot or a multi-level structure at the new hospital. The change, which would see a surface parking lot stretch over 14 acres, was announced earlier this year by Health Minister Christian Dubé in order to save $50 million on the $2.6-billion hospital project.

“This about-face is incomprehensible and unacceptable,” Pilon said in June when Quebec Health officials announced the change in plans. “The Quebec government’s decision to build a surface parking lot runs counter to municipal, regional and provincial environmental policies and objectives.”

In an open letter published in The 1019 Report earlier this month, Mères au Front said: “We demand that the ministry of health and Social Services plan the construction of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Hospital in accordance to sustainable development principles.”

Several municipalities in the region along with the MRC of Vaudreuil-Soulanges have condemned the new parking lot plan.

Despite widespread local opposition, Soulanges MNA Marilyne Picard, a member of the CAQ government, supports the surface parking lot plan.

The hospital, currently under construction, is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.