“We must agitate to have the federal government preserve the entire 175 hectares for the planned Des Sources Nature Park”
Kudos to the city of Montreal and Hypertec for the deal to preserve 11 hectares of environmentally sensitive land in St-Laurent’s Technoparc area.
This is of international importance as the area contains wetlands that attract migratory birds, some endangered.
Yet the federal government controls some 70 per cent of the adjoining land, including 175 hectares north of Trudeau airport.
One cannot agree more with former federal MP Clifford Lincoln when he says we must agitate to have the federal government preserve the entire 175 hectares for the planned Des Sources Nature Park.
Shloime Perel, Côte-St-Luc
Influence resides with PMO, not MPs
I respectfully disagree with the premise behind the endorsement of MP Anthony Housefather by a number of anglophone-community leaders.
While I do not at all deny Housefather’s outspokenness on issues that are of the utmost importance to his constituents, his personal stance on language and on Mideast policy has seemingly failed to sway Liberal government policy, as evidenced by his demotion last year after having voted against amendments to the Official Languages Act.
For better or for worse — and I would argue, for worse — our parliamentary system has morphed into a practice whereby all power seems to be centralized within the Prime Minister’s Office and cabinet, and where individual members of Parliament have little or no impact.
If Housefather’s influence has been severely curtailed even as an MP, and with the Liberals looking like they will almost certainly lose the next federal election, of what influence can he possibly be as an opposition backbencher?
Ian B. Copnick, Côte-St-Luc
Mount Royal more than just T.M.R.
I read with interest the letter endorsing MP Anthony Housefather. However, the headline in the print edition was misleading, as his electoral district of Mount Royal does not cover just T.M.R., but also the municipalities of Côte-St-Luc and Hampstead and part of the borough of Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.
Lorraine Bick, Côte-St-Luc
Empathy lacking toward newcomers
Premier François Legault’s heavy-handed handling of the immigration file looks embarrassingly empty of empathy for newcomers to Quebec.
Notably, his defence that most Quebecers favour the forced relocation of 80,000 asylum seekers seems rooted in a conceit that majority authority trumps moral authority when it comes to minorities.
The alarming message this risks sending is that Quebec is a two-tiered society where newcomers are classified as second-class citizens.
Moving forward, for the sake of the future coexistence of all Quebecers, let’s hope Legault finds the courage to make a compassionate course correction concerning the welcoming of immigrants to Quebec.
George McArthur, Montreal
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