Mayor Mitchell Brownstein

CSL Mayor, longtime volunteers awarded King Charles III medal

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By: Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

Côte St. Luc Mayor Mitchell Brownstein and longtime volunteers Susie Berkson-Schwartz and Joy Rodgers were presented with the King Charles III Coronation medal during a ceremony at the Harold Greenspon Auditorium recently.

The award is given for outstanding achievement in public service to the community and to Canada.

The medals were presented by Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather. CSL council was on hand, as well as longtime councillor Glenn Nashen, the founder of volunteer Citizens On Patrol and Emergency Medical Services, and Brownstein’s wife Elaine.

Brownstein, who was first elected to CSL council in 1990 and became Mayor in 2016, was honoured for his achievements on council, including establishing the CSL Dramatic Society, co-chairing the CSL Demerger Committee, promoting Canadian unity through a Staying Canadian resolution just after the 1995 Quebec referendum, and introducing the Fun Card providing access to recreational facilities. His was also the first city to legislate that masks be worn in public places during the COVID pandemic in 2020. Brownstein has also called on Montreal to take strong action against anti-Israel agitators.

Brownstein said Elaine has always been there for him, whether for personal, health and business issues.

“If anybody needs an advocate, just call her,” the Mayor added, to loud applause.

Brownstein also thanked his parents for instilling in him the value of community and becoming involved at a young age.

“Whether it was with Federation CJA, or politics at the federal, provincial or municipal level, I was always inspired to do more….I always say ‘enjoy every moment of life.’ That’s all we can do and do the best we can by trying to make other people happy.”

Brownstein said the award also goes to the CSL council and city directors.

“I can’t be a good Mayor without the staff and the council behind me. I am really lucky because all the directors who were there are still with me nine years after I became Mayor.”

Berkson-Schwartz was honoured for being a part of the volunteer Citizens On Patrol since 2006. She is also at almost all CSL council meetings.

Housefather said that in her role with vCOP, “Susie has taken on many important tasks, including organizing the vCOP presence at major events such as the Winter Carnival, Ruth Kovac Blood Drive, Canada Day celebrations, and Remembrance Day activities. She also coordinates the vCOP representation at local events in places like Trudeau Park and Ashkelon Gardens. Susie works closely with city staff to make sure these events run smoothly and are enjoyable for the public, making her a key figure in the community.

“Susie’s exceptional service and commitment to her community make her a very deserving recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal.”

Rodgers was honoured for her 26 years at CSL’s Emergency Medical Services, having joined at the age of 18 after working at local pools.

“She’s always had service to her community in her blood,” Housefather said. At EMS, “she is an experienced medic, driver and instructor. She led the quality assurance team and was in charge of recruiting, all while continuing to dedicate hundreds of hours of volunteer service to help others. While not on shift at EMS, Joy is an active mom of two, a wife, an elementary school first aid coordinator, a CPR instructor and a cancer survivor and advocate.” n

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CSL meetings with CDN-NDG on traffic woes imminent

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By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

Staff from the City of Côte St. Luc are set to meet with their officials from Côte des Neiges-NDG very soon regarding traffic issues affecting the two jurisdictions, and then CSL Mayor Mitchell Brownstein will meet with CDN-NDG Mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa, Brownstein told The Suburban Monday.

Councillor Dida Berku told The Suburban the technical teams from CSL and CDN-NDG meet regularly.

Tensions have been building lately between Côte St. Luc, Hampstead and Côte des Neiges-NDG regarding the road work on Van Horne west of Décarie, which has exacerbated longstanding traffic issues in the three areas.

At the Jan. 20 CSL council meeting, Brownstein said he was unhappy that he had not yet received a reply from Katahwa asking for a meeting to discuss immediate traffic solutions, particularly on Vézina between Macdonald and Décarie, a notorious area for traffic tie-ups.

“If the CDN-NDG borough wants to see our master plan include a bike path and passageways for pedestrians on Clanranald, and potentially the widening of Vézina, they need to give us something,” the Mayor told the Jan. 20 meeting. “If they’re not going to respond, they’re not going to get. We have to be tough and let them know — you have to meet with us, you have to talk to us. We need to play hardball.”

Brownstein said CSL has been asking for no parking on Vézina approaching Décarie eastward, and he pointed out that the Décarie Square developers are willing to allow parking on the current mall site during rush hour.

“They can park there right now.”

The Suburban contacted the CDN-NDG Mayor’s office regarding a possible meeting with CSL. We were told that CSL was sent a letter by the Mayor on Jan. 17.

“Our services have been in contact with Côte St. Luc teams since the start of the work,” the CDN-NDG Mayor’s office said. “In fact, we informed them several weeks ago that it was not possible to comply with their request to remove parking on Vézina/Décarie. It’s important to note that this request has been ongoing since well before this work began.”

Brownstein then confirmed to The Suburban on Jan. 22 that he did receive the letter after the CSL Jan. 20 council meeting, and that a meeting will indeed take place.

“I am very pleased [the Mayor] accepted our invitation to meet. There are many ways we can help each other to the benefit of all residents in the area.”

Still, we have heard there are underlying tensions between the two jurisdictions over the long-awaited Cavendish link, as well as Vézina.

As for Côte St. Luc and Hampstead, CSL councillor Mitch Kujavsky told The Suburban last week that he will propose to council possible retaliatory measures against Hampstead, regarding their not temporarily lifting the rush hour left-turn restrictions on eastbound Fleet Road during the work on Van Horne.

“Hampstead residents benefit a lot from being neighbours of CSL, for example, discounts on recreation services _ there are many ways we can consider or reconsider our partnerships with Hampstead,” Kujavsky told The Suburban, adding that he was speaking for himself.

Councillor Dida Berku recently said removing the left turn restrictions “would have been a perfect opportunity for Hampstead to show some good faith.”

Hampstead Mayor Jeremy Levi recently told The Suburban that lifting the left-turn restrictions temporarily “would be a disaster. The cars would be lined up bumper to bumper to Fleet. It would cripple our snow clearing operations on that side of Fleet. Garbage and recycling would not be able to be picked up either.”

Kujavsky countered that the Van Horne work will “hold up Côte St. Luc residents from leaving our city. People are going to go both ways, they’re not just going to go through Hampstead, they’ll go through NDG also.”

The CSL councillor added that being stuck in standstill traffic on Fleet and Van Horne is not acceptable, and will prompt more air pollution through idling.

Levi responded that what Kujavsky said was “nonsense” and that he did not really want to respond to a hypothetical.

“If he’s going to retaliate because we’re concerned about the safety and security of our streets, I think it would be a very silly thing on his part.” n

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CSL Mayor blames Plante for SPVM inaction on anti-Israel mobs

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By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

Côte St. Luc Mayor Mitchell Brownstein recorded a video message last week in the aftermath of numerous verbally and physically violent anti-Israel protests, calling on Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante to support the police in restoring order.

The SPVM has been criticized for the fact the McGill encampment remained up for months, and for not intervening when mobs rampaged at Concordia University during an anti-Israel student strike.

“We are at an inflection point in the history of Montreal,” he said. “The world is watching the streets of Montreal and is horrified by what they see. Is violence and intimidation the new normal, or can Mayor Valérie Plante turn this around and give the police her full support so that they restore order?”

The situation of antisemitism in Montreal has become so bad, writes professor Gad Saad in a recent New York Post opinion article, that he took an unpaid leave from Concordia University to teach at Northwood in Michigan. His article, “How Montreal became the antisemitism capital of North America,” shone a spotlight for the world on what is taking place in the city.

In his video, which includes footage of verbally and physically violent incidents, Brownstein said the protests are a test for the police.

“When the Jacques-Cartier Bridge was shut down, the SQ came in to clear the bridge. When Via Rail trains were delayed by pro-Palestinian protesters, the Longueuil police used their emergency intervention unit to clear the tracks. In Montreal, the tone at the top is wrong! Mayor Plante must start sending a message to change the policing strategy of enforcement.”

Brownstein said the police strategy is to avoid conflict “in the face of demonstrations.This police strategy is a choice — it has failed and it must change. The strategy tolerates certain illegal behaviours such as blocking the street or graffiti on cars and buildings, or occupying university areas. It even tolerates protesters who violate a court injunction requiring them to keep a distance away from Jewish institutions. The Montreal police are allowing for the normalization of antisemitism.” n

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CSL master plan process flawed say two councillors

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By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

Intense debates ensued during a three-and-a-half hour special Côte St. Luc council meeting to pass draft bylaws regarding Côte St. Luc’s master plan for the future of the city, including the potential redevelopment of the city’s three malls.

A detailed explanation of the bylaws was given at the meeting, and details of the master plan, which Mayor Mitchell Brownstein says is currently a vision with no specific redevelopment proposals presented to the city yet, can be seen at cotesaintluc.org/engage. A public consultation will be taking place 7 p.m. Jan. 13 at a location yet to be determined. Questions included concerns about the potential redevelopment of Décarie Square, an area with a great deal of traffic already.

Councillor Oren Sebag, who represents the area that includes Décarie Square, voted against some of the bylaws. “As much as I believe in a strong vision for the city, I don’t think we’re ready to move forward with this plan,” he said. “We needed to have targeted district meetings before getting to tonight’s meeting. The plan has faced delay after delay. And instead of giving us time to properly review it or consult residents in a meaningful way, we’re rushing to the finish line.” Sebag also objected to the date of the consultation, saying many CSLers will be out of town.

Rebuttals included the fact some 10 percent of the CSL population was consulted in the last two years the master plan process has taken place.

Councillor Mike Cohen said two years ago was the last time the malls presented an idea of how they want to redevelop, and that he only received a briefing more than two weeks before the Nov. 20 meeting. “They’ve been the invisible malls since then,” he added. “My concern is the fact that we’re putting forward our ‘vision’ for the three malls, including Quartier Cavendish, and that vision will likely be 6-2 in favour of everything. The mall will have license to do whatever it wants, based on the parameters being put together in this plan. The plan is magnificent in terms of everything it entails, but I’m very big on consultation….I would have liked to consult on our vision for the mall going back to last summer.” He also objected to the Jan. 13 public consultation date, because of the snowbirds.

Councillor Lior Azerad said the plan isn’t being passed in its final form yet. “Yes, there were things that were rushed, but 1,600 pages weren’t rushed. There’s always little changes.” He added that the city needs revenue — earlier in the meeting, it was pointed out that the valuation of the malls has gone down, while the valuation of homes has shot up. As well, tens of millions of dollars are needed to fix the city’s infrastructure.

Near the end of the meeting, the debate got more intense between Councillor Dida Berku and Sebag. “From day one, Councillor Sebag, you’ve been telling us and me, in particular, ‘I’m voting no,’” Berku said. “You’ve been voting against this from the beginning! It’s not ‘we didn’t have consultations or ‘it’s being rushed.’ From Day 1, ‘I’m voting no!”

Sebag said he took offence to the comments. “I never said ‘from Day 1.’ I listened, I sat at every meeting. I contributed to this, and I told you specifically, in June, that there were delays after delays. I don’t want to get into personal issues here, because then we’ll stay all night. I haven’t been voting no for the sake of voting no. For you to say, in front of everybody here publicly, that I told you I’m voting No, you very well know what was happening, I told you the delays would cause issues.”

Sebag demanded an apology, and Berku retracted her comment. The Suburban then asked Berku if her retraction meant her comments were not true — she replied that she stands by them, and had retracted because Sebag was offended. n

CSL master plan process flawed say two councillors Read More »

CSL’s Brownstein hopes for new Montreal Mayor

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By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

Côte St. Luc Mayor Mitchell Brownstein says he hopes Montreal has a different Mayor soon, particularly on the Cavendish extension and general traffic issue.

Brownstein, along with Councillor Dida Berku, was responding at the recent public meeting to council regular Dr. Norman Sabin, who was asking about possible legal action by CSL, TMR and St. Laurent to ensure the Cavendish link between CSL and St. Laurent is built and for Montreal to live up to its 2017 commitment to the Quebec government to build the link along with the Hippodrome housing development.

A National Assembly petition on this issue, sponsored by D’Arcy McGee MNA Elisabeth Prass, is at www.assnat.qc.ca/en/exprimez-votre-opinion/petition/Petition-10931/index.html. The deadline to sign the petition is Oct. 12. As of Sept. 29, 2,464 people have signed the petition.

“The extension is not even in the planning right now,” Sabin said. “What do you think the reaction would be if there was a court order against them?”

Brownstein said Montreal would have to respect a court order, and could appeal it.

“Are we there yet? Do we have a strong enough case against Madame Plante who speaks out of both sides of her mouth, saying she’s not going to do it, but she’s going to do it, not now but maybe sometime. I don’t know if we’re there yet, but it’s something to not be discounted.” The Mayor also said the Montreal-Quebec agreement does not specify exact timelines.

Sabin also asked if CSL would be able to not permit a tramway and bike path, with no roadway, to reach their territory, such as Cavendish Blvd.

“Do you have a legal right as a sovereign city to put up a fence or wall, and say ‘we’re not going to accept that without a roadway’?”

Brownstein said CSL would not want to construct such a blockage.

“Not that we don’t want the road. But we do want the rapid transit and the bike lane. We’re not going to cut off our nose to spite our face. As long as there’s the space to build the road, we’re going to push for the road.”

Brownstein added that Plante “clearly only wants bike paths and rapid transit everywhere, not just on Cavendish.

“Let’s hope that we have another Mayor soon in Montreal.”

“I agree with that,” Sabin said.

Berku said Sabin’s question had many hypotheticals.

“So I don’t think we should be speculating on what our legal position is.” In terms of legal action by the affected areas, she pointed out that St. Laurent is part of the City of Montreal.

“So that doesn’t work very well. We’re exploring all avenues.” n

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CSL’s Berku urges participation in Living Lab project

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By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

Côte St. Luc councillor Dida Berku made an appeal for vulnerable and isolated older adults to take part in the The Living Lab of the City of Côte Saint-Luc,” a Smart Homes program done in collaboration with the CIUSS West-Central Montreal healthcare network.

“This project is to try to help seniors living alone to monitor their daily pattern and see if they’re okay, and to, with technology, let people know — family, friends, our organizations — if something seems amiss, the right people can come to help them, not only for medical purposes but to improve their quality of life on a daily basis,” CSL Mayor Mitchell Brownstein explained at the project’s 2022 launch. Berku pointed out that this is the last year of the subsidized project.

“I’m addressing this to everyone out there and any person who knows someone who can benefit from this,” she said. “If you live alone and have your routine, if you’re willing to try something new, the Living Lab project may be for you. Over the next six months, we’ll be installing smart sensors inside the homes and apartments of seniors. You can install it on your front door, on your stove or wherever you choose.”

The councillor said the motion sensors will detect when there is a break in the resident’s daily routine, and that they are not cameras.

“If you don’t open the fridge in 24 hours or leave your bedroom or apartment over a period of days, the sensors will send out an alert to the person of your choice — it could be a family member living near or far, a neighbour or even your doctor or pharmacist.”

Berku said people are being signed up now to participate.

“If you or your family are interested, please contact me at dberku@cotesaintluc.org or call city hall and leave a message for me. We’re looking for all types of candidates.”

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CSL working to help evicted King David seniors

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By Joel Goldenberg

Côte St. Luc council regular Norman Sabin called on the city to speak out regarding the recently announced Sept. 30 closure of the Le King David seniors residence. “You have to feel sorry for these residents,” Sabin said. “They’re going to have to go somewhere else, maybe pay more for their lodging. It’s always a hardship for them and their families.”

He also pointed out that the Quebec government has a five-year program to help such residences remain open, and that perhaps this could help the King David remain operational.”I think, at a minimum, council should make a statement on the King David. These are 77 residents of CSL. We have a certain degree of responsibility towards them.”

Mayor Mitchell Brownstein replied that the city has been in close contact with the King David. Councillor Steven Erdelyi, whose district includes the King David, said he has been speaking to the King David, the Waldorf and B’nai Brith House. He also said he has heard the amount of residents at King David is in the low 60s. “Really, since the pandemic, things have not been going well financially for the King David, they’ve been honest with me, I spoke to them a few times over the past few years. I tried to promote them, they were our Merchant of the Month in the fall of 2022. I tried to help them as much as I could. They haven’t been full for a long time. It was in December 2023 when they told me financially, it wasn’t sustainable.”

Erdelyi said his goal was to help residents find a new home at a comparable cost, and that the Waldorf agreed to have them live at that residence at the same rent they were paying at the King David, “with just an increase based on inflation.

”Many of the residents have gone to the Waldorf, and others have gone to the [west-central] CIUSSS. B’nai Brith House took a few, but they are more independent living. I’m not happy about this but, on the financial side, the city doesn’t have the means to support a private residence, or a public residence.”

Regarding the provincial government program to help residences, “I think, at that point for them, it was too late.”

Erdelyi also said he spoke to the owners of the King David about keeping it open longer.

“They said, it’s a dilemma because the staff are aware the King David is closing, and their first instinct would be to look for alternative jobs, so it’s tough for them to maintain services for the existing residents. For me, the goal is to have the residents placed and their moving costs are being covered.”

On Feb. 22, King David employee Leonora Longdon told The Suburban that, to her knowledge, not one King David employee has found a new job yet.

“Plus, they’re not giving us severance pay and they still owe us $4 an hour bonus that the government said they have to give us. They haven’t paid us that for months.”

The latter point was recently brought up by Daniel Lévesque of the Syndicat québécois des employées et employés de service.

Longdon added that the employees do not know exactly when or why the King David is closing, although the official announcement says the end of September.

“They have brought in two organizations to help us look for jobs. These are unilingual [English] employees who have worked for them for 30 years, and the way we are being treated is not very nice.”

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