Quartier Cavendish

Quartier Cavendish taking action after complaint about locked door

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 4, 2025 / : Joel Goldenberg, Mandevco, Quartier Cavendish

By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

The Suburban has been told by Mandevco, owner of Quartier Cavendish, that it will make changes to its exit door near the IGA supermarket following a complaint that it was locked at night.

A text message was sent to CSL Mayor Mitchell Brownstein, by a visitor who had seen a movie at the CineStarz theatre. Brownstein says he and the city never received such a message, and that he was first hearing of this issue from The Suburban.

The texter not only says that the doors near IGA were locked, but did not have an “emergency exit push bar.” “Had there been a fire, we would have all perished,” the text says. “Very not cool.”

Despite there being some emergency exits on that side of the mall, They were not well identified and could be impossible to reach depending on the situation.

When The Suburban received a copy of the text, it contacted Mandevco.

Mandevco has now told The Suburban that it agreed to look into the issue after it was brought to its attention and has ordered parts to create a safety bar for the exit near the IGA, so that it could become an emergency exit. n

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Montreal police chief defends handling of Cavendish anti-Israel protest

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / August 13, 2025 / CineStarz, Fady Dagher, Joel Goldenberg, Quartier Cavendish

By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

Montreal police chief Fady Dagher responded to The Suburban about the SPVM’s handling of the April 7 anti-Israel protest at Quartier Cavendish in Côte St. Luc.

While the police moved the protesters away from the CineStarz theatre where a special showing of the documentary October 8, about the rise of antisemitism since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, took place, the agitators were allowed to stay in the mall for more than two hours.

Côte St. Luc Mayor Mitchell Brownstein and the mall ownership had called on the police to eject the protesters, citing Criminal Code provisions against intimidation, and Brownstein and Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather reinforced this point in a letter to the Plante administration. Police on the scene said they could not take this action unless the protesters committed a crime, and that they could stay in a public access on private property.

Dagher was asked about this by The Suburban following his April 25 visit with students at Gardenview Elementary School in St. Laurent.

“It all depends on the situation, every situation is different,” the police chief said. “We have lawyers who work with the police department and they let us know when it is the time to act. We have some events where the police act right away during those demonstrations and in the last year and a half, we made more than 120 arrests.”

Dagher said police actions depend on the timing and the rules officers follow — each situation is different, and sometimes non-intervention is appropriate.

“It’s always depending on the circumstances. The police department never wants to start something, we want to resolve the issues, so we have to find the right time.”

Housefather and Brownstein had also written to the Plante administration that the SPVM’s decision not to eject the anti-Israel protesters “stands in stark contrast to the police response in other jurisdictions where trespassing on private property has led to prompt enforcement. It also underscores a broader and deeply troubling inconsistency in how public safety is being ensured on the Island of Montreal.”

Dagher acknowledged to The Suburban that different cities in Canada have different policies emanating from the rules of their municipality.

“But for the Criminal Code, we always get assisted by our lawyers. The Criminal Code is for everyone in Canada, but again, we have to find exactly the right moment, the needs for what is happening and when we have the right tools — then we intervene. Sometimes it feels very frustrating for the people to see that the police are not acting, but it’s not because they don’t want to. They have to make sure they have the right legal argument to be able to advance.” n

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No agreement yet between CSL and Quartier Cavendish

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / August 4, 2025 / Côte St. Luc, Joel Goldenberg, Mandevco, Quartier Cavendish

By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

The City of Côte St. Luc and Mandevco, the developer of Quartier Cavendish, are not yet agreed on the city’s position regarding a potential redevelopment of the mall site in what the CSL master plan says would be part of a town centre on and around Cavendish Blvd.

The city’s vision for the area says “it is essential that shops and local services be retained in a redevelopment project, in addition to interior and exterior public spaces. A dense residential component with high quality architecture, coupled with a mobility hub, is essential to create a complete neighbourhood.”

During last week’s public meeting on CSL’s master plan and the town centre, Councillor Mike Cohen asked about future discussions with Quartier Cavendish about such issues as the amount of storeys of buildings in the area — he mentioned six to eight storeys, and 20 storeys.

Associate City Manager Tanya Abramovitch said Quartier Cavendish has higher numbers in mind.

“Every project has to come to council,” she said. “If a building doesn’t fit or is out of scale or doesn’t fit in, it won’t be accepted at the Planning Advisory Committee level, let alone council. Council ultimately decides.”

Cohen said council has not met with Mandevco officials for several years.

“I do believe, at the appropriate time, council needs to meet with staff in a large group with the Quartier Cavendish people, and before we adopt any master plan, there needs to be a meeting with the owners of Quartier Cavendish like we did many years ago when they talked [in a public meeting] about demolishing half the mall.”

The Suburban sought more details about the differences between the city and the owner of Quartier Cavendish. Councillor Dida Berku said the city has not yet fixed a time to meet with the owners.

Berku said the city wants to find out what the differences are.

Haven’t they expressed it, we asked.

“No,” she said. “They’ve told us in writing that they have issues with the maximum and minimum heights, setbacks, ground floor commercial use and parking requirements. We don’t have their final brief and they’ve told us they will send us one ‘with our comments and opinions on the draft bylaw.’”

Berku said that until the city receives that final brief with their issues and comments, “I don’t think we’re ready to address their issues, because there are questions they raise where there may just be a misunderstanding, or a misinterpretation.”

The councillor said the city envisions heights of buildings of six to eight storeys, and the owners may want much higher buildings.

“That could be a major difference. We’re not there yet.”

The Suburban contacted Mandevoco and awaits a reply. n

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