A plan to open four plazas on Ste-Catherine St. can’t go ahead without approval from the general public, the opposition insists.
Projet Montréal on Monday defeated an opposition motion asking for any new project to pedestrianize Ste-Catherine St. be conditional on the approval of local citizens and merchants.
Alarmed about the plan, opposition Ensemble Montréal submitted a motion at Monday’s council meeting asking the city administration to consult before going ahead with a plan. The motion was supported by Serge Sasseville, the independent councillor for the Ville-Maire borough.
“We want merchants, institutional partners, residents and the city at large to have a say on the future of the most important commercial artery in the country,” Julien Hénault-Ratelle, the opposition spokesperson for economic matters, said Monday night.
Plante rejected the idea.
“We are already consulting; we’re speaking with everyone,” Plante said. “We have been doing this over the last two years.”
Plante said the city is in the process of redesigning Ste-Catherine St. “not just for the next election, but for the next 50 years.
“We’re going to come up with a scenario, but there won’t be a referendum,” Plante said. “When I was chosen for a second time with a majority, people knew I would go forward on pedestrianizing many roads. That’s what I was elected for.”
Speaking for the administration, Robert Beaudry replied that the city can’t act alone on homelessness and needs the support of the provincial government as well as more funds to deal with the crisis.