Rick Leckner

Martinez Ferrada says Cavendish link is “super-important”

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / September 25, 2025 / Joel Goldenberg, Rick Leckner, Soraya Martinez Ferrada

By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

A Cavendish Boulevard link between Côte St. Luc and St. Laurent is “super important”, Ensemble Montréal mayoral candidate Soraya Martinez Ferrada told The Suburban following a press conference in St. Laurent Monday.

We asked the candidate if she would commit to the link along with the Hippodrome project in CDN-NDG, as promised by Montreal when the Hippodrome was transferred to Montreal from the Quebec government. Traffic expert Rick Leckner recently told a CSL district meeting hosted by councillors Mike Cohen and Dida Berku that he has heard from Montreal sources that the extension is “off the table” as of now.

“Cavendish is super important,” Martinez Ferrada told The Suburban. ”If we want to develop all of the sector, we need to find a way to open Cavendish and that’s something I’ve said many, many times and I’m committed to looking at it and making sure that everything we do in Blue Bonnets, we have to work to open Cavendish.”

We pointed out that the current plan from the Plante administration is not to connect the Hippodrome development to Cavendish save for a proposed Jean Talon to Mackle Road link, which Berku says is impractical.

“You have a Mayor in St. Laurent (Alan DeSousa) that’s been very vocal about that, I’ve been vocal about that and I’ll be committed to looking at that for sure,” the Ensemble Montréal mayoral candidate reiterated.

During the Sept. 8 CSL council meeting, Cohen said local elected candidates need to meet with candidates from Ensemble Montréal and Projet Montréal, to get their position on the long-awaited Cavendish extension.

“What the Plante administration has done over the last number of years is just completely inappropriate, not making any movies towards it,” the District 2 councillor added. “Many of us say we may never live to see the Cavendish extension, I hope that’s not true.”

In light of Cohen’s comments and following the CSL meeting, we played our recording of Martinez Ferrada’s comments to Cohen and Berku.

“I think it’s very positive!” Berku told The Suburban. “I’m looking forward to further collaboration between the City of Côte St. Luc and Montreal after the election so we can move the Cavendish file.” n

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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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