Meadowbrook Golf Course

Premier Legault tees off at Meadowbrook Golf Course

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / August 16, 2024 / Dida Berku, François Legault, Meadowbrook Golf Course, Pascale Déry

By: Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

Premier François Legault has golfed at the Meadowbrook Golf Course — which straddles Côte St. Luc and Lachine, on at least three occasions and as recently as Friday Aug. 2, CSL councillor Mike Cohen revealed last week.

Cohen found out the intriguing news after partaking in the Côte Saint-Luc Golf Invitational,organized by the CSL council and the city’s Men’s Club.

“When I went to rent my electric cart, I learned that someone who is not known to show much fondness for the anglophone community has come to golf here on at least three occasions this summer, most recently the previous Friday — yes, I am talking about the Premier of Quebec, François Legault,” Cohen wrote on his blog Aug. 6.

The councillor mused as to whether Legault should “organize a golf foursome with Mayor Mitchell Brownstein, D’Arcy McGee Liberal MNA Elisabeth Prass and Mount Royal Liberal MP Anthony Housefather.

“I am shocked the Premier even knows where Côte St. Luc is, although his Repentigny MNA and Minister for Higher Education Pascale Déry lived in our community for many years before moving to Hampstead,” Cohen humorously added.

The councillor said he was told by Meadowbrook personnel that Legault was accompanied by his family and a security detail.

“At least one family member stated that the venue was chosen specifically because it was in an English area where they would not necessarily be recognized. Perhaps Meadowbrook should start asking for certificates of English eligibility to golf? All kidding aside, Mayor Brownstein was golfing with Councillor Dida Berku and former Mayor Robert Libman. They were all quite interested to hear the Premier came to CSL. Our Mayor will indeed formally invite him to come golf with him so they can discuss the Cavendish Boulevard extension and keeping Meadowbrook as green space for eternity.”

Contacted by The Suburban to confirm their willingness to golf with Legault, Brownstein replied, “for sure.”

Berku replied, “of course and we could take him to see Cavendish at the same time,” of course, relating to the long elusive extension that appears not to be a priority for Montreal.

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Court of Appeal rejects CSL bid to dismiss Meadowbrook case

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / March 23, 2024 / Côte St. Luc, Dida Berku, Judge Benoît Moore, Meadowbrook Golf Course

By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

Quebec Court of Appeal Judge Benoît Moore has upheld a December 2023 Quebec Superior Court decision to reject the City of Côte St. Luc’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit against them by the owners of the Meadowbrook Golf Course. CSL will, instead, have to argue the case on the merits.

Meadowbrook Groupe Pacifique and the site’s previous owner have wanted to develop the golf course, which is located in Côte St. Luc and the City of Montreal borough of Lachine, for housing for decades. Legal actions have been taken by Meadowbrook contesting Montreal’s refusal to enable the course to be developed. Legal action was also taken in 2002, against CSL’s rezoning in 2000 of its part of the land from residential to recreational, which Meadowbrook’s owner calls a “disguised expropriation.”

In 2022, as reported by The Suburban, Quebec Superior Court Judge Babak Barin rejected two June 2021 bids by Montreal and Côte St. Luc to dismiss then-new legal action against them by Meadowbrook Groupe Pacific. There were previous amendments to the original case by MGP.

Last November, Councillor Dida Berku introduced a resolution at council calling on the firm of Belanger Sauvé to file a motion to dismiss the case. She told The Suburban that “our attorney uncovered [a technical irregularity], that they declare one owner to be the owner of the Lachine side, and another owner to be the owner of the Côte St. Luc side.”

Berku provided an update at the Feb. 12 council meeting, saying the longstanding case is continuing.

“There’s no end to it,” she added. “It’s another motion in the saga of who is the real owner of the golf course. We will soon find out the result of that.”

Two days later, the Court of Appeal made its decision to uphold the Superior Court’s rejection of CSL’s motion to dismiss the golf course owner’s case.

Asked about the latest decision, Berku explained to The Suburban Feb. 22 that there is one plaintiff in the CSL case, and another in the case against Montreal.

The owner “says it’s the same company and our lawyer’s position was that you can’t have the owner on title suing in one case and then the owner who’s not on title, but who has a counter-letter, suing in the other case.

“Basically, the court said it’s a legal issue that can be debated at trial. So we will do that.” n

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