While Quebec and the City of Laval seem to agree that Carré Laval is a win-win proposal, not everyone is happy with the project.
Action Laval, Laval city council’s number two opposition party, issued a statement within hours of the city’s announcement.
Critical of project
Among other things, they take the administration to task for partnering up with Société de Développement Angus, which “has never finished a project outside the City of Montreal,” Action Laval city councillors Achille Cifelli (Val-des-Arbres) and David De Cotis (Saint-Bruno) say in the statement.
They also were critical of Mayor Stéphane Boyer for being immediately unable to answer more detailed questions about the timeline or estimated total costs for the city taking on a project of this size.
“The project seems also to gloss over the exponential growth of the city’s indebtedness since the coming to power of the mayor,” added De Cotis and Cifelli, while also suggesting that Carré Laval has electoral overtones since municipal voters here will be going to the polls in 2025.
Transport failures
Although the city provided a bare outline but few specifics of its overall strategy for Carré Laval, Action Laval was critical of the project’s lack of planning for automobile traffic, that Carré Laval is located several kilometres from the nearest Metro station, and that there are no immediate plans for STL bus access.
And while the city is in fact organizing extensive public consultations, Action Laval maintained that the Boyer administration hadn’t yet consulted residents or businesses, that impact studies haven’t taken place, and that the project’s “financial improvisation leaves us in fear of a future white elephant” as housing needs demand quick action.
