Marc Doret

By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

The City of Montreal, the borough of St. Laurent and the City of Dorval are asking the federal parties vying for election to commit to preserving the green space north of Trudeau Airport.

Mayors Alan DeSousa (St. Laurent), Marc Doret (Dorval), Montreal executive committee member responsible for large parks Alex Norris and Clifford Lincoln, former Quebec environment minister and MP, held a press conference recently at Golf Dorval to present a united stand.

As previously reported by The Suburban, a brief presented by Aéroports de Montréal last December indicates plans to exclude 155 hectares, equivalent to four lots, from the Sources Nature Park and to develop an area of over 100 hectares that would include Monarch Fields, a habitat for the endangered monarch butterfly. The ADM has also said it is preserving 25 hectares of land, and that having part of a nature park and its wildlife located so close to the airport and its runways would create a danger, such as birds flying close to or into planes.

DeSousa told The Suburban that the groups want the lands owned by the federal government north of the 85-year-old airport to be preserved “for generations to come.

“These are green spaces that total about 170 hectares and would be the nexus of a great way to preserve biodiversity in the greater Montreal regions. It has the potential of being one of the largest parks on the island of Montreal. It protects biodiversity, endangered species and it’s easily accessible from the new REM — Montrealers would definitely see the benefits.”

The group also says that “the areas zoned as ‘green spaces’ include lots 3, 4 and 5 on the St. Laurent side, as well as lot 20 attached to Dorval, which is under federal control and leased to ADM. This 121-hectare area, corresponding to the former Dorval golf course, remains open to commercial development, and ADM plans to set up a decarbonation plant on that location.”

Doret said that “protecting biodiversity is an issue that we deeply care about, and the destruction of such a precious environmental area would be disastrous. We invite federal representatives to recognize the richness of this ecological gem in our backyard.”

Lincoln pointed out that the federal government “committed to creating a National Urban Parks (NUP) program as early as 2020, a project that received a $130 million contribution following a 2021 meeting between Parks Canada and the mayors of the country’s major cities.

“Unfortunately, Montreal is not on Parks Canada’s list of projected NUPs. This is an omission that must be urgently corrected.”

Norris said that the natural environments involved are “among the most biodiverse on the Island of Montreal.

“Our position is clear — these federal lands must be protected. By working together, we are convinced that we can reconcile the needs of ADM, an important economic partner, while ensuring the protection of this green lung.”

David Fletcher of the Green Coalition told The Suburban that he was pleased with the case made by the group.

“The motivating factor, we think, for the ADM is the profitability of leasing out these lands to companies, and these don’t have anything to do with airport operations. That hasn’t been expressed by the ADM, but we have to ask the questions. The issue of bird strikes and the security of passengers, the record worldwide shows there is not a great probability of those incidents happening.” n