In January 2024, we were advised by one of our members that work had been undertaken on the banks of the St. Pierre River. We learned that the work consisted of decontamination by the City of Montreal in compliance with a Superior Court order. Hoping to learn more, we made an access to information request to the ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs.

As a result, Les amis du parc Meadowbrook adopted a resolution to ensure the long-term survival of the river. Eight other environmental groups supported us in this initiative. We shared the resolution with the Lachine and CDN-NDG boroughs, as well as with the Cities of Côte Saint-Luc and Montreal as well as the Town of Montreal West, inviting them to support the resolution or to adopt one of their own.

To view the complete 12 page resolution document:

1. Hover your mouse on the bottom of the document posting. A shaded row will appear.
2. Click on the arrow that appears in the row to read the following pages.
3. Click on the – or + to change the font size.

While the St. Pierre River is a shadow of what it once was, it played a major role in our history.

To help us better assess the river’s importance, McGill University’s CRIEM  (Centre for interdisciplinary research in Montreal studies) launched a podcast at the end of February, called Le fleuve qui nous traverse in the series Montréalers and Islanders.

Four speakers participated in the podcast, all associated in one way or another with Les amis. They were Kregg Hetherington, associate professor at Concordia University, and Louise Legault, both Meadowbrook board members, as well as Danielle Plamondon of Les AmiEs de la Craig and Yenny Vega Cardenas, president of the Observatoire international des droits de la nature, who participated in the campaign to save the St. Pierre River and continues to promote recognition of the St. Lawrence River as a legal person. Pascale Rouillé, president of Les Ateliers Ublo, rounded out the panel.

The podcast arose from a June 2022 guided tour tracing the course of the old St. Pierre River to its mouth. The participants set off from Duquette Park, passing the Atwater filtration station on the way to Strathmore St. toward Grenier, Sutherland-Sackville-Bain and Arthur Therrien Parks. The tour continued to the  waterfront walk and followed it to the “Baie des Capotes” (that’s what Google actually indicates!) and Monseigneur Richard secondary school.

You can listen to the podcast which is in French HERE. Choose the second one in the series: Le fleuve qui nous traverse (55 min.) Feb.23, 2023.

Enjoy!

Les amis du parc Meadowbrook joined with ten other environmental groups* to create a new collective, the Collectif en connectivité du sud-ouest de Montréal.

The Collectif’s first action was to provide information booths at a variety of events in Montreal’s Southwest: the Cyclovia, on August 21, and the citizens’ inauguration of the green belt on September 17, and at Parc des Rapides on September 24.

Sauvons la falaise at the Bande Verte inauguration

Collectif en connectivité du sud-ouest de Montréal.

Les Amis du parc Meadowbrook at Parc des Rapides

They also submitted a brief and made an oral presentation to Montreal’s Office de consultation publique at the City’s Réflexion 2050 consultation, with the thought that proposals for the southwestern sector of the City are equally valid for the rest of Montreal.

The Collectif observed that existing connections are oriented east-west and that north-south connections are lacking, a statement that is also true for the rest of the territory. The Collectif called for the implementation of the Dalle Park over the Turcot Exchange to remedy this situation. It also identified many barriers to mobility, concluding that by 2050 twice as many natural spaces will be needed in the City to respond to the population’s needs for travel, and physical and mental health, as well as biodiversity loss and climate change. The City must promote green infrastructure and urban agriculture, as well as increase the percentage of protected green space beyond the 10% target, by including biodiversity and mobility in every plan for development and infrastructure and encouraging private landowners to make their properties greener.

* Collectif en connectivité du sud-ouest de Montréal : Amis des parcs, Demain Verdun, Éco-quartier Sud-Ouest, GRAME, Héritage laurentien, Les amis du corridor vert d’Hydro-Québec à Montréal-Ouest, Les amis du parc Angrignon, Maison de l’environnement de Verdun, Sauvons la falaise, UrbaNature Éducation, Les amis du parc Meadowbrook.

Related videos from Patrick Barnard    2022 and……2010

March 2010 – 12 years ago, the idea was alive!

Pimento Report / Le Piment #019 – Patrick Asch: The Montreal Greenway

Montreal Environmentalist describes Greenway concept…Strategic importance of Meadowbrook

September 2022

Pimento Report / Le Piment #160: L’Inauguration citoyenne de la bande verte!

La bande verte à la Dalle-Parc!    (Dan Boulerice : 3.09)