Hippodrome

Public urged to sign Cavendish-Hippodrome petition

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / August 16, 2024 / Cavendish, Côte St. Luc council, Dida Berku, Elisabeth Prass, Hippodrome, Rick Leckner

By: Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

Members of Côte St. Luc council and traffic expert Rick Leckner urged the public to sign — in the thousands — a National Assembly petition asking that “before there is any further government funding to develop the Hippodrome site, that the City of Montreal respect the schedule they set out in 2022 for the Cavendish [extension] project and put it back in their Capital works budget.”

The petition, sponsored by D’Arcy McGee MNA Elisabeth Prass, is on the National Assembly website this week, accessible via the link www.assnat.qc.ca/en/exprimez-votre-opinion/petition/Petition-10931/index.html. The deadline to sign the petition is October 12.

Prass recently told The Suburban that “we’re concerned the City of Montreal is not upholding the 2017 agreement it signed when the government of Quebec handed over Blue Bonnets to Montreal— the agreement stipulates the extension has to be done to develop Blue Bonnets, and we see Montreal is bypassing that.”

A message to residents of Montreal, obtained by The Suburban, says the government of Quebec should “take its responsibilities seriously and ensure that Montreal put Cavendish back on track.

“That agreement [with Quebec] is clear. The Quebec government gave the City of Montreal a property worth more than $50 million on condition that the City of Montreal proceed with the Cavendish extension project.”

“It’s time we did something,” Leckner told the August 12 CSL council meeting. “What’s been going on with the City of Montreal is shameful….It’s time for the public to get involved. We need thousands and thousands of signatures to demand no further government funding be allocated to the Hippodrome project until the City of Montreal puts Cavendish back on the Capital Works program. This affects all of us every day.”

Councillor Dida Berku also urged thousands to sign the petition. “Council will share that petition,” she added. “I think 60 days will be enough time to get support from the citizens.” n

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Info meet planned on ‘Hippodrome without Cavendish’

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / June 7, 2024 / Cavendish extension, Dida Berku, Hippodrome, Mitchell Brownstein

By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

An information meeting will be held in the next few weeks regarding the prospect of a Hippodrome development without the Cavendish extension, Côte St. Luc councillor Dida Berku told the May council meeting. Berku said she is hoping hundreds of people attend.

Berku told The Suburban that the date and location for the meeting still has to be worked out.”The three Mayors of Côte St. Luc, Town of Mount Royal and St. Laurent will host the information session,” she added. “Suddenly, the City of Montreal is on a fast track [regarding the Hippodrome], they’ve been dragging, dragging, dragging since they filed at the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement. They announce the development on April 19, they have an information session on May 15, you have to file briefs on June 21. Suddenly, we’re on a fast track without Cavendish.”

During the question period, CSL resident Sharon Freedman, who has questioned council often on the delayed Cavendish link, said the recent alliance between, CSL, TMR and St. Laurent and business leaders to demand the link be prioritized was a pretty good idea, “but nothing much will change.You are all being outplayed by Mayor Plante. How long will this council allow themselves to continue to be disrespected and blown off by her again? It’s really time to play hardball. They need to demand that the Quebec and federal governments take over this project. The feds need to withdraw any money going to Plante. We need to withhold our agglomeration taxes,” as proposed by Hampstead Mayor Jeremy Levi in terms of all demerged cities withholding their respective shares.

Mayor Mitchell Brownstein challenged Freedman to suggest what the city can do to play hardball, adding that withholding the agglomeration shares for police, fire and public transit services would lead to the municipalities being placed under trusteeship by the province.

“It’s time to sue them,” Freedman suggested.The Mayor replied that he agrees with legal action, but that according to legal opinions received by the city, municipalities “don’t necessarily have the right to sue.It would have to be you (residents) who would sue them,” he added. “The residents, in my opinion, have the right because they pay the taxes to the agglo, and you’re the ones who are not able to get in and out of the city. Maybe residents like you can all get together, or the business alliance.” n

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