The City of Laval received an award on April 20 in recognition of its proficiency in cultivating trees.
The award was presented by the Société internationale d’arboriculture du Québec (SIAQ) during an awards ceremony.
The Prix du Grand Mérite de la feuille d’or recognizes projects which have had a major impact within a community or region, while ensuring the well-being of trees in an urban forest or other settings.
“Arboriculture plays an important role in the preservation and the creation of healthy and inspiring green spaces, while also contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gases and combatting air pollution,” said Mayor Stéphane Boyer.
“The important transition by the City of Laval in forestry is well underway and will continue over the coming years,” he added. “I would like to point out the knowledge and dedication of our experts, who work diligently and guide us during this transition which allows us to protect and improve out forest heritage along with our natural spaces.”
Since 2014, the City of Laval has put into place a number of measures to protect its trees, while enlarging the tree canopy. Whereas the city’s team for this purpose numbered 20 or so employees nine years ago, that number has tripled since then.
The city has conducted an exhaustive inventory of its trees, finding that there are 120,000 “public” (city-owned) trees in Laval, not counting those in wooded areas. The city adopted an official tree policy in 2016. And in 2022 alone, the city planted 4,765 trees. In addition to all this, the City of Laval recently recognized an exceptional former employee in its tree maintenance department. Normand Venne, a forestry technician who retired in 2021, served for 22 years. He was awarded the Prix Alphonse-Guimond, recognizing excellence in the domain of arboriculture. Normand Venne was also known as a mentor who contributed to training several tree experts.
Laval to present major plan on security
The City of Laval has announced a series of actions on its territory aimed at improving shared space between pedestrians and motorists.
The planned interventions, approved by the executive-committee and tabled during the May 2 city council meeting, includes reducing speed limits across a large area of the city, the implementation of more than 1,000 traffic calming measures, improved security at intersections, and new policies to encourage active mobility.
City taking measures to empower metalurgy businesses
The city is making a $20,000 contribution to the Comité sectoriel de la main-d’œuvre du secteur de la fabrication métallique industrielle (CSMOFMI), which oversees worker standards in the metals business.
Around 130 businesses in Laval are involved in the metals sector, employing some 6,000 workers.
According to a statement from the city, the funding will be used to improve human resources, while helping with situations involving immigrants who are often hired on a temporary basis, as well as to improve training and skills development.
