Joel Ceausu – The Suburban LJI Reporter
A group of NDG residents affected by the July 2023 floods are seeking class action status to sue the city of Montreal and CDN-NDG Borough Mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa for negligence, willful blindness and bad faith.
About 80 millimeters of rain fell on Montreal over a few hours on July 13; some neighborhoods hit much harder than others, including parts of Loyola district where many victims faced municipal responses highlighting the storm’s rarity, residents’ responsibilities, and climate change. “Climate change is no free pass,” says lawyer Charles O’Brien representing applicants, and faulting the city for “not doing their job. Instead, they blame the victims. It’s deceitful.”
Presumed class representative Ilana Grostern and other residents sent some 350 notices to the city within the 15-day claims window, and with few exceptions received rejection letters from Montreal’s Bureau des réclamations stating: “an atmospheric disturbance originating from the United States intensified, resulting in exceptional precipitation. These unpredictable weather conditions affected our operations.” Then it continued: “Please note that we will not be revising any decisions regarding the storm on July 13, 2023.”
Out of pocket some $20,000 and looking at $30,000 more, Grostern says when presented with evidence of infrastructure neglect, “the party line denialism on the part of elected officials and bureaucrats was so degrading and demeaning that I didn’t want anyone to feel as soiled as I did. So legal system it is.”
A trial could begin within a year, the action representing some 1,000 Loyola residents in the quadrilateral of Coronation, Côte Saint-Luc, Fielding, and Brock. The suit seeks tens of thousands of dollars for material damages, increased insurance costs and more for each member, as people’s health, financial security and home values continued to suffer, and peace of mind remains heavily affected: “When it starts to rain people fear leaving the house, they start sandbagging,” says O’Brien. “The stress is unbelievable.”
The suit will highlight a voluminous, 2012 city-commissioned engineering report recommending $270 million (2012 dollars) in major infrastructure upgrades to ensure city-approved developments like the MUHC super-hospital and others would not overload the system. It figures in a similar pending lawsuit representing some 500 residents against the city and Lachine borough Mayor Maja Vodanovic. “Given Defendants presumed knowledge of the Report” reads the Lachine claim, “these omissions must be considered intentional, justifying punitive and Charter damages.”
As the Plante administration’s point-person on water, Vodanovic told Grostern at August city council that homeowners must upgrade their properties and the city will help, including printing brochures to guide them. Vodanovic would not comment on the matter because it’s before the courts. Katahwa told The Suburban “since the July 13 flooding, we have been there for the affected citizens. We understand it was a difficult situation.” As the matter has now become a subject of legal proceedings, she said she will “not issue any comments pertaining to the lawsuit for the moment.”
O’Brien says the city and borough mayors know there is a massive amount of work to do. “They knew about it; they simply didn’t do it. They’re happy to get tax revenue from development but are not putting money into needed corrections for infrastructure — some of which dates from the 1890s.” He says the city’s repeated contention that no city could have handled such flooding is a “crazy, meaningless statement. It’s all propaganda, making up stories to not do what they are legally bound to do.”
Grostern agrees: “The gaslighting and straw-manning I’ve experienced both personally and at the few borough meetings I made the mistake of attending makes me wonder why anyone bothers to deal with these people. If politicking, personal image, and personal agendas are more important to the people we elect and hire, then let’s let a higher authority determine responsibility.”
As increasing numbers of residents lose insurance or insurance affordability, O’Brien says the city must pay. “If the insurer won’t insure, then it’s up to the state to pay, or put in place the system to ensure this doesn’t happen. The victim does NOT pay.” n