Gracia Kasoki Katahwa

One-way Bourret by fall?

Local Journalism Initiative / / / ,

By Joel Ceausu
The Suburban

Some Snowdon residents can soon expect an invite to a borough information meeting about Bourret’s upcoming transformation into one-way west of Décarie, it’s just not sure when.

As reported in The Suburban, Côte des Neiges-Notre Dame de Grâce borough is making the road one-way eastbound between Clanranald and Décarie. This, a year after installing a two-way bike path and removal of all parking spaces on the north side.

While the borough maintains roadway dimensions are unchanged, maneuverability has been affected, as any resident or regular user of the road can attest. The Suburban learned that some STM employees told residents that bus drivers are frustrated when turning onto the street, which also causes many drivers to swerve towards the bike path or parked cars, or stop altogether when facing oncoming traffic. Last summer a pedestrian was killed after she was struck by a car that veered into the oncoming lane for no known reason, and then back into a parked car before hitting her as she walked in the road.

Snowdon councillor Sonny Moroz asked when the work will actually start. Mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa said “it was not possible to start the work this summer,” because of other work in the area, “and making a change of direction at the same time as doing all this work, was going to require a lot of adaptation from residents.”

She said residents will be invited to an information session where they can ask questions about the new configuration before moving forward. “With the end of the work, we can aim for the fall, or end of summer. It won’t be done in the middle of July.” She added it’s important to reach citizens “and it’s never a good time in the middle of summer so we’re going to come back to them there as soon as we can move forward with the end of work in surrounding streets.” That work, notably around Dupuis and Clanranald, has been underway for more than a month, and will last all summer says Moroz, noting it was a 4-month job.

Katahwa suggested that the work may be able to move forward “as the services continue to monitor and evaluate the progress of the work. My priority is that we can move forward at a time when we can talk to the citizens, that they are informed enough in advance to come and give us their comments… I would like it to be done this fall, but it depends on all these factors.” n

One-way Bourret by fall? Read More »

One-way Bourret by fall?

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

By Joel Ceausu
The Suburban

Some Snowdon residents can soon expect an invite to a borough information meeting about Bourret’s upcoming transformation into one-way west of Décarie, it’s just not sure when.

As reported in The Suburban, Côte des Neiges-Notre Dame de Grâce borough is making the road one-way eastbound between Clanranald and Décarie. This, a year after installing a two-way bike path and removal of all parking spaces on the north side.

While the borough maintains roadway dimensions are unchanged, maneuverability has been affected, as any resident or regular user of the road can attest. The Suburban learned that some STM employees told residents that bus drivers are frustrated when turning onto the street, which also causes many drivers to swerve towards the bike path or parked cars, or stop altogether when facing oncoming traffic. Last summer a pedestrian was killed after she was struck by a car that veered into the oncoming lane for no known reason, and then back into a parked car before hitting her as she walked in the road.

Snowdon councillor Sonny Moroz asked when the work will actually start. Mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa said “it was not possible to start the work this summer,” because of other work in the area, “and making a change of direction at the same time as doing all this work, was going to require a lot of adaptation from residents.”

She said residents will be invited to an information session where they can ask questions about the new configuration before moving forward. “With the end of the work, we can aim for the fall, or end of summer. It won’t be done in the middle of July.” She added it’s important to reach citizens “and it’s never a good time in the middle of summer so we’re going to come back to them there as soon as we can move forward with the end of work in surrounding streets.” That work, notably around Dupuis and Clanranald, has been underway for more than a month, and will last all summer says Moroz, noting it was a 4-month job.

Katahwa suggested that the work may be able to move forward “as the services continue to monitor and evaluate the progress of the work. My priority is that we can move forward at a time when we can talk to the citizens, that they are informed enough in advance to come and give us their comments… I would like it to be done this fall, but it depends on all these factors.” n

One-way Bourret by fall? Read More »

“Come clean my street” demand CDN/NDG residents

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

By Joel Ceausu
The Suburban

It’s an enduring issue across the borough. Whether it’s parks with inadequate garbage cans, city streets not cleaned, sewers blocked, or garbage overflowing sidewalks, CDN-NDG’s cleanliness problem is exacerbated come summer, especially around moving season.

West Hill resident Rhiannon Colley told council last week that it is frustrating her and her neighbours between Sherbrooke and De Maisonneuve. “I’ve had to stop one of the businesses (on Sherbrooke) from power-washing their oil hoods into the alley that comes down West Hill, so we have grease coming down the street. They also put out garbage, not in bins, so with the winds on the corner it’s coming down the street, and we’ve got that to deal with.”

It’s not only businesses, says Colley, because Mother Nature also contributes her share. “We have beautiful mature trees, but they shed a lot of branches, leaves and what-not. This spring the cleaning wasn’t done properly and so all our sewers are clogged with gunk from these trees, plus garbage from the businesses.”

She says she’s called the city repeatedly: “I’ve asked, I’ve done, I’ve used the app a few times too, and it keeps saying my service request has been processed and it has been rectified, but I haven’t seen any change.” She told The Suburban: “It seems to fall on deaf ears.”

“I’m just asking if it’s possible,” she asked council, “to come clean our street? Please?”

Borough Mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa told her “we’re going to see what’s going on,” and recalled the borough’s recently launched cleanliness awareness campaign, adding, “It’s for each and everyone of us to take our responsibility regarding cleanliness, yes individuals, but also merchants.” She said the borough’s economic commissioners work with merchants on commercial streets to advise them of their responsibilities.

The campaign with catchy graphics and slogan was subject of another question about cost, and what concrete measures are in place to improve not only commercial and arterial streets but residential, especially given the number of overflowing garbage cans during the last two long weekends.

Katahwa said the $50,000 campaign is a tool, but added in recent weeks, “there is a lot more litter and so on because people move. We apply a kind of tolerance and then we also deploy more collections to go and clean certain sectors which are perhaps a little more difficult… Obviously it is our responsibility in the borough to ensure that trash is collected and that the district will remain clean, however it is important, and there are several asking us, to raise awareness among their fellow citizens about cleanliness.”

She says initiatives like hiring park wardens and exploring ways with building owners and residents to keep areas clean are part of the overall plan. Borough employees will go door-to-door in the coming months to discuss the issue, “although in certain neighbourhoods it’s more difficult to speak directly with citizens if they have questions on managing their waste,” adding that organizations like SOCENV help citizens better manage waste issues. n

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Pavilion to move to Hippodrome, eventually

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

By Joel Ceausu
The Suburban

The borough of CDN/NDG has announced that Montreal’s executive committee met in February and gave the go-ahead to move the stage in Parc Jean-Brilliant into storage until it can be installed somewhere in the Hippodrome at a later date. The pavilion designed by renowned architect Dan Hanganu “will be at the heart of the cultural life of a whole new district,” declared Borough Mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa.

Since the borough is redeveloping the park and surrounding roads, the park chalet will be expanded, so the pavilion will have to be relocated. It is already not used to its full potential, says the borough, due to neighbourhood nuisance issues stemming from sound reverberation when activities are held under the shelter. Since there is nothing at the 75-hectare Hippodrome site but some urban gardens, the borough is dismantling, packing up and storing the 12-year-old steel and glass pavilion.

The city and Quebec are betting on the emerging plan to begin building as early as next year, an eco-district in the heart of Montreal. n

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Motion to expedite Cavendish defeated by Projet Montreal

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

By Joel Ceausu
The Suburban

Opposition efforts to get the Cavendish extension back on the front burner of the Hippodrome development took a hard turn at city council last week. Saint-Laurent Mayor Alan DeSousa’s motion to prioritize the long-promised connection was defeated after meeting harsh pushback by CDN-NDG Mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa, who vaunted the Plante administration’s green vision to build 20,000 homes in Montreal’s most populous neighborhood, while criticizing Snowdon councillor Sonny Moroz for supporting the motion, suggesting his priorities lay outside his own district.

The motion speaks of a yet-to-be produced environmental impact study required for Quebec’s Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement to hold consultations, further delaying any action, and called for Cavendish to be included in Montreal’s 2025-2034 capital investment program. DeSousa said putting 20,000 units in Namur-Hippodrome in the short- and medium-term without transportation and mobility measures in place will create a “nightmare… Just look at what is happening in this sector: the development of Westbury, de la Savane; Décarie Square; Royalmount which opens this fall… then add Hippodrome to this mess? Congestion will be unbearable.”

Katahwa says Projet Montréal believes development begins with the Hippodrome and “then Cavendish to Cavendish,” the two not mutually exclusive and listed pressing housing needs of CDN residents, suggesting Snowdon residents should know Moroz supports saying “no, it’s not right, you shouldn’t have done it like that; you should have made sure we develop Cavendish to open up Côte-Saint-Luc before taking the opportunity to develop so many homes for Montrealers, for the people of Côte-des-Neiges.”

Characterizing Ensemble Montreal as a “pale representation” of Projet Montréal, she prompted Montreal North councillor Chantal Rossi to tell council president Martine Musau Muele “the councillor (Katahwa) is not responding to the motion and directly attacking a fellow councillor.”

“I’m not a councillor,” Katahwa replied from across the chamber, “I’m a mayor.” Rossi responded: “Here, you’re a councillor.” Katahwa apologized to Rossi then denied insulting Moroz, saying she “just pointed out” his priorities, prompting Muele to ask all to “stay on order and avoid attacks.”

Moroz replied, speaking of broken promises, monies not earmarked, and new plans every few years. “They continuously promise every election to the west end that they’re going to build this necessary infrastructure link. You keep promising it. Why bother promising it to people if you’re never going to build it? if you’re going to keep changing the name of the project, keep pushing issues down the road?” He also rejected accusations “of not caring about Snowdon residents, when I get up every day and think about how I can serve them. I don’t think anyone can take that away from me and accuse me of not caring about this project.”

He replied to Katahwa’s housing comments, saying “the last time I checked, there are 2,800 people in CDN-NDG waiting for social and affordable housing and there’s 121 units down the street from Blue Bonnets that has yet to get prioritized by this administration. There’s another 50-something down on Bates, so those are two projects in the largest borough that we have in our great city of Montreal that have yet to be put on the priority list, and yet we’re promising 10,000 ‘off-market’ units.”

DeSousa insisted including the extension plan for transport to open up the area as quickly as possible, reminding council that Montreal would never have acquired the Hippodrome without Cavendish being part of it. “This is a requirement. It’s not a choice.” n

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City renews and extends Walkley Centre lease

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

By Joel Ceausu
The Suburban

The city is renewing and extending its lease on the Walkley Community Centre in NDG.

The borough of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre–Dame-de-Grâce has approved a new draft agreement that covers a period of five years starting October 1, 2023, for the building at 6650 Côte-Saint-Luc Road, which the city has rented since 1999. The total expenditure is $1,287,165.36, taxes included.

The city rents the 9,358-sq.-ft.-space to offer year-round activities for citizens and particularly youth in Loyola district. This lease expired on September 30, 2023, but negotiations between the parties took longer than expected, resulting in the delay presenting the file to the borough council for approval. The new agreement expires in October 2028 and provides for one two-year renewal option as well as an option to terminate as of October 1, 2026.

The city will pay gross rent of $22.44/ sq. ft. as well as all energy and maintenance costs. The landlord will carry out some work on the premises, at a cost of $79,965.11, paid for by the borough from its operating surplus.

Borough Mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa said it was “an extremely important contract,” adding, “we were able to ask for improvements with the renewal of the lease… This kind of investment allows us to take better care of our population, in their entirety, according to the different needs.” n

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CDN/NDG Mayor appointed to Montreal executive committee

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

By Joel Ceausu

Côte des Neiges—Notre Dame de Grâce Borough Mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa says her latest position at the city is a boon for the borough. “I want to tell you, the people of CDN-NDG, my appointment to the executive committee is excellent news for the borough” Katahwa told council this month. “Since I took office, I’ve always told you that you’re the first winners from good co-operation between the city centre and our borough. My appointment is a continuation of this vision,” she said, thanking Mayor Valérie Plante and executive committee chair and Plateau Mont-Royal Mayor Luc Rabouin for their trust.

  • Cited in the announcement of her inclusion to the city’s 19-member executive committee as a “rising figure” in the Plante administration, the new member responsible for systemic racism and discrimination, human resources and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, Katawha began the February meeting by noting “January 7 (sic)was Holocaust Remembrance Day, a dark chapter in our global history. On January 29,” she continued, “we commemorated another dark moment that marked our society, the attack on Quebec City’s Grand Mosque, which occurred seven years ago. There is also Black History Month which began at the beginning of February.”

By highlighting “these three moments in history, it is crucial to recognize and fight one of the roots of the deepest and most destructive of tragedies experienced by Jewish, Muslim, and Black communities and so many others,” she said. “That is, toxic ideology that claims the existence of a hierarchy between humans and that continues to threaten our communities. This manifests itself in the form of hate speech, acts of violence and systemic structures of inequality.”

Katahwa, who also sits on the STM board of directors, joins her Projet Montréal borough colleagues, Côte des Neiges councillor Magda Popeanu (Organizational performance, Citizen Participation and Democracy) and Loyola councillor Despina Sourias (Housing, Cleanliness and Protection of Rental Housing) on the executive committee.

  • Editors Note: International Holocaust Remembrance Day is commemorated on January 27.

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