NEWS

Bigger is not better 

by Linda De Witt    Candidate for Councillor in District 2 (Lakeside)

          Over the past hundred years of development, Pointe-Claire has been fortunate to have some visionary leaders and town planners who worked diligently in the best interests of its citizens and to have thousands of citizen volunteers involved in community organizations and working for the betterment of all. We must not rush to get bigger. Bigger is not necessarily better.

     This present administration says the city is required by higher levels of government to densify, but this is only policy, not a law. And, even were it to be a law, Pointe-Claire has already ‘densified’ in terms of percentage of the population more than most or even more than all municipalities on the Island of Montreal.

     We can afford to take a break and reassess our strategies.

     The thousands of new condominium units in Pointe-Claire have brought new revenues, but somehow these are never enough to offset the costs incurred by the city: our property taxes are not going down and the city’s long-term debt is escalating by as much as 20-million dollars per year. This is not sustainable over the long run, and we must have a more sensible approach to development unless we want to have cuts in services and large property tax increases.

     While this administration has acted decisively and boldly when it comes to rezoning and changing by-laws to allow more condos it has failed to act boldly enough to protect our environment and green spaces.

     This administration has concentrated the majority of its zoning and by-law changes to allow bigger, taller buildings while paying only lip service to environmental concerns. Not including diseased ash trees, the loss of which is a city-wide tragedy, this administration has allowed thousands of mature trees to be felled and replaced by saplings or concrete.

     Citizens have been asking the mayor for a commitment to save both Fairview Forest on Brunswick and Ponner Woods on Des Sources. While we see mayors in neighbouring municipalities moving swiftly to protect the remaining green spaces within their borders, our mayor (JB) merely bleats that all decisions are in the hands of the provincial government and all he can do is wait.

     All of Pointe-Claire’s citizens should have a say in how our city evolves.  Change will happen, of course, but let’s make it "Change for the Better"!

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Journal • November 3, 2021