Laurentien-Grenet axis gets facelift

Housing, transport, integration, the environment, safety, improvement of community services and promotion of the local economy were all addressed by the Comité local de revitalisation, whose mandate is to improve quality of life for residents living in the Grenet/Laurentien neighbourhood, a neighbourhood whose socioeconomic profile is, generally, tenuous.

Ahuntsic/Cartierville mayor Marie-Andrée Beaudoin, also the Montreal executive committee member responsible for community and social development, was glowing Thursday when the first phase of the plan was unveiled.

"I'm confident the plan reflects the needs of that particular sector," she said.

@ST:It's all about the citizens

"We didn't want a plan that came from on high to impose things on the people," said Conseil local des intervenants communautaires (CLIC) director Natalie Fortin. "These recommendations came after a large-scale public consultation, where citizens were queried about life in their neighbourhood and how they felt it could be improved," she said in a telephone interview.

As for the total budget, that has yet to be determined.

"We don't have any formal engagement for long-term funding," Fortin admitted, adding she was confident the neighbourhood's different needs would prompt different levels of government to loosen the purse strings.

Bordeaux-Cartierville city councillor and city official opposition leader Noushig Eloyan blasted the project's lack of budget.

"Where is the budget? It's been years that we've been working on this problem, we should have a more detailed plan with a price tag for everything" she said.

While Beaudoin could not provide precise budget numbers, she also claimed to be confident in the project's long-term viability.

Observers can only hope some of the $11.5 million being put up by the city of Montreal for similar plans in eight other boroughs will be followed by more envelopes, which will in turn allow neighbourhood dreams to become reality



Translated by Marc Lalonde