Laval city council, September 6

Robert Carrier, former Bloc Québécois MP for the riding of Alfred-Pellan who was defeated in the federal election last May, nearly got a lesson in parliamentary procedure when he attended Laval city council’s monthly meeting on Sept. 6.

Carrier wanted to keep speaking and didn’t initially heed the council president’s order that he return to his seat.
 

Eastern train
Carrier, who was the Bloc’s official spokesperson for public transport issues, had come to promote the “Train de l’Est,” the AMT’s long-anticipated bid to extend its commuter rail network eastward from Montreal up to the North Shore communities of Repentigny, Terrebonne and Mascouche. Although a definite decision was never made to have the line travel eastward along Montreal Island, bypassing Laval, to this day AMT maps show a tentative Montreal route.
First to speak during council’s question period, Carrier claimed that the City of Laval never took part in Bureau d’Audiences Publiques hearings that examined the environmental impacts of the Train de l’Est, despite the attendance of most other cities in the region that are involved. After Carrier went on with a preamble for about two minutes, council president Francine Légaré interrupted Carrier, reminding him to ask his question.
“Now that the government has suspended the commuter train project that was underway following cost overruns that have risen from $300 million to $480 million, then to $665 million, will the mayor of Laval take advantage of this second look at this project to meet the minister responsible for the region of Laval who is also president of the treasury council to ask her formally to rectify the injustice caused to the population of Laval in 2006 when it was decided that the commuter train would avoid the east of Laval, thus depriving the population of Laval of a means of public transit that is quick and efficient?”

A-640 route
Continuing a while longer with some additional information about the route the AMT’s line would have taken along Autoroute 640, Carrier was finally interrupted by Légaré, who allowed him to finish his statement, then invited him to return to his seat. While acknowledging that Terrebonne and Mascouche were at one time Laval’s partners in the Train de l’Est project, the mayor said that the two North Shore municipalities changed their minds when Montreal mayor Gérald Tremblay persuaded them that a route through Montreal would serve them better, and they consequently switched allegiance from Laval to Montreal.
“We never changed our mind,” said Vaillancourt. “And contrary to what Mr. Carrier has just said, probably because of his faulty knowledge of the events, we were always on board. And even if I was not physically present at the public audience meetings, I sent the president of the commission from Laval” to get the city’s point across, he added. Vaillancourt said the minister responsible for the Laval region, Fabre MNA Michelle Courchesne, “knows our position very well. I spoke to her about it again around three or four weeks ago. We are still in favour of that train line.”
The mayor insisted Laval never changed anything in its Train de l’Est submission, and he invited Carrier to prepare himself with more accurate information the next time he chooses to raise the issue. Getting up from his seat and returning to the microphone, Carrier insisted on being allowed a rebuttal, although Légaré reminded him that “this isn’t a debate.” After going on a bit, Carrier then sat down for good.

Mont Laval
About a half-dozen people, each in turn, went to the mic with questions about the continuing Mont Laval project controversy. The former wooded park at the end of Saint-Martin Blvd. in Sainte-Dorothée is now the property of a developer and construction has been taking place there in the last few months, to the chagrin of nearby home owners. The mayor told one questioner that a permit from Laval is currently in effect for the work that’s being done.
“I tell you sincerely that we did everything possible – we have nothing to reproach ourselves for – to arrive at a project that would be the most acceptable for the people of Sainte-Dorothée,” he said. “But it was the people of Sainte-Dorothée themselves who were divided on this question.”