My Vision for Our City
Pointe-Claire: My Home, My Commitment
Pointe-Claire is the city I have loved and called home for almost 40 years. As your city councillor, I would work to keep the best of what we have and ensure that changes to our city are positive changes. ‘Sustainable development’ is the concept that development should be good for both the environment and the economy. I will work to see that changes to our city will be those that make it a better place to live. We need to protect our greenspaces, which add to our health and quality of life. We need affordable housing for seniors, for renters and for first-time home buyers. We need to maintain services and control spending.
Pointe-Claire has much to offer its citizens, and District 2 is particularly blessed. It has almost 4 kilometres of Lake-Saint-Louis shoreline on its southern border and our district includes the Stewart Hall Cultural Centre, the Valois Bay Nautical Centre, the Canoe Kayak Club, and Ovide Park with its Chalet and Lakeside Pool. I will work to maintain and improve these facilities and the services they provide.
The City of Pointe-Claire has been collaborating with the Ministère de l'Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs (MELCCFP) on a shoreline stabilization and naturalization project, to protect and restore the ecological health of our Lake-Saint-Louis shoreline. I think the city should extend this project to privately owned shoreline as well, providing help when owners need to do work on or near their shorelines and want to follow best practices. District 2 citizens want to ensure that public access to the shoreline for recreational activities is maintained and enhanced, and that views of the lake are not obstructed.
While many use their cars, public transportation is important to residents of District 2, including the STM buses, the Navette Or taxis for seniors, and the EXO train. When the Pointe-Claire REM stations finally open, the REM has the power to change bus routes so that Pointe-Claire residents can more easily access the REM stations. However, for many in District 2 the EXO train service is especially valuable, and the REM should only complement it, not replace it. I will work with all levels of government to stress the importance of maintaining the EXO train for Pointe-Claire and the West Island.
We need to control speeding in our district and improve safety for all - pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers. We need to ensure that signage is clear and traffic-calming measures installed where needed.
I will re-visit the issue of installing a sound barrier along much of the District 2 border with Autoroute 20. This is an old issue which I will approach with fresh ideas, taking into account the varied terrain, the space available and the type of structures adjacent to the autoroute, along with newer designs of barriers available. Science has shown that excessive noise levels are detrimental to our health and hearing. And sound barriers also offer some protection against dust and pollution from the roadway.
There are two dog parks in District 2 but the Ovide Dog Park is small, and the Valois Bay Dog Park has no parking for dog owners and nothing to stop dogs from accessing the lake. I would welcome ideas to improve and/or expand the existing facilities and possibilities for creating a new dog park.
Major construction on both of District 2’s main east-west arteries has been disruptive and inconvenient, and work on Bord-du-Lac-Lakeshore is still ongoing. With any major construction, I would work to make sure residents are kept informed and their access to their properties is impeded as little as possible and for as short a time as possible.
With the new expansion of the Dorval Airport, the changing runway configurations and increasing number of flights are causing unacceptable noise levels in some areas of our city. I would engage with citizen groups formed to find solutions to the increasing noise problem. It’s a thorny issue involving various levels of government, but everyone must recognize that the constant stress of noise is damaging to human health and aircraft emissions release harmful ultrafine particles that damage lungs and breathing passages. I support a pause in the expansion plans to have time to evaluate and perhaps make changes beneficial to us all.
Right now, Pointe-Claire is about to enact a new city Planning Program characterizing our neighbourhoods and defining our spaces, including parks, commercial zones and greenspaces, and determining what kind of structures we permit and where they should be. I have attended almost all the consultation sessions and have heard the views of citizens from all parts of the city. I have heard what people want in their own neighbourhoods and I will work to shape a plan that respects their wishes and will serve us all well in the coming years.
I will be available to citizens and respond as quickly as possible to your concerns and to answer questions.
Voting Day is November 2nd, and every vote counts!
Linda De Witt
Email: linda@dewitt.ca
Cell: 514-863-1986