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The councillors say boroughs did not get sufficient assist from the mayor or central metropolis throughout the newest emergency.
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Montreal’s boroughs had been left to their very own gadgets, and the mayor was lacking in motion through the current spring flooding occasion, town’s opposition charged Monday.
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Beginning in April, town’s emergency groups deployed short-term dikes, and despatched out sandbags, because it went to intervention mode to forestall the worst of the spring thaw. A number of streets had been flooded, and a few houses had been broken when floodwaters overflowed rivers across the island. The three boroughs most affected had been Île-Bizard—Sainte-Geneviève, Ahuntsic—Cartierville and Pierrefonds—Roxboro.
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Many of the injury seems to have been restricted to the small island of Île Mercier, off Île Bizard, mentioned Stéphane Côté, the borough mayor of Île-Bizard—Sainte-Geneviève.
Côté, a member of opposition Ensemble Montréal, mentioned he felt he obtained minimal assist from the central metropolis, having to name police and the central metropolis quite a few occasions with a purpose to defend short-term dams in place. In a single case, he needed to wait two weeks earlier than safety brokers had been despatched to guard a brief wall holding again rising water on the finish of a avenue. He defined that leaving these partitions unguarded might enable folks to steal essential gear like pumps and hoses, and end in a catastrophe.
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The opposition councillors additionally decried an absence of planning from the central metropolis, and no obvious long-term plan to fight spring floods within the coming years.
“We discover ourselves in a scenario the place we’re virtually band-aiding, and that’s regarding to me after we know these sorts of occasions are going to occur extra typically,” mentioned Jim Beis, the borough mayor of Pierrefonds—Roxboro. “We want a recurring fund for everlasting measures.”
Beis, additionally an Ensemble Montréal member, decried the truth that Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante didn’t name the three boroughs threatened by floods to supply assist, nor did she go to these affected by flooding when the risk stage was at its highest.
He mentioned for the reason that historic floods of 2017, a laundry record of measures had been drawn up of the way town can act to forestall flooding earlier than the following catastrophe. Among the many measures: pump homes on a number of main streets have to be upgraded, dikes have to be shored up and a number of other streets will be raised.
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“Du Ruisseau Avenue in my borough in one of many streets that’s so low, that it may very well be raised just a little bit, and it will make an enormous distinction,” mentioned Effie Giannou, an Ahuntsic—Cartierville councillor.
Talking on the month-to-month metropolis council assembly, Beis mentioned his borough has borne the brunt of the bills of prevention measures over time, shelling out $600,000 of its personal cash since 2017.
He denounced the truth that prevention measures promised by town are meagre and can solely start in 2025, and at a charge of simply $2 million per yr over a interval of eight years. He additionally requested what turned of $100 million given by the federal and provincial authorities, and earmarked for flood preparedness.
In response, Émilie Thuillier, the borough mayor of Ahuntsic—Cartierville and a Projet Montréal govt committee member, mentioned she’s pleased with the prevention measures that had been introduced, including that different measures are additionally being deliberate, just like the elevating of some streets.
She didn’t reply to Beis’s query about how the $100 million was spent. Marikym Gauidreault, a spokesperson for Plante, additionally didn’t reply to a query from the Montreal Gazette asking for particulars on the how the cash was spent.
jmagder@postmedia.com
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