The City of Laval says it received more than 330 suggestions from residents during an initial phase last fall in the preparation of the municipality’s first budget, for which workshops will be taking place on March 17 and 31.
In a statement last week, city officials said the idea-gathering phase was a great success, since the number of suggestions that came in exceeded their expectations. Registration for the workshops, which will continue the consultative process, can be done online at repensonslaval.ca.
A detailed account of the 330 ideas can be viewed at repensonslaval.ca/budget-participatif. However, the city cautions that not all the ideas were considered practical, and so the list provides information on which ones met the criteria for acceptability. According to the city, just 81 of the 332 suggestions received were retained for further consideration.
On Thursday March 17, Laval residents will be able to discuss among themselves and with city officials the priorities and needs in six sectors. It’s an opportunity to influence the decision-making process. By March 31, the list of accepted suggestions will be reduced to priorities to be developed into potential projects, to be further analyzed in depth by the city.
The idea for doing a participatory budget announced as a pilot project in August last year, and subsequently $600,000 was set aside by the city to develop and implement it. This summer, a list of projects under serious consideration will be submitted to Laval residents to vote on. The implementation of the chosen projects will then take place over the next two years.
Council of Laval Women tables its recommendations for equality and inclusion
On International Women’s Day last week, the Council of Laval Women issued its first report on the eventual adoption by the city of a new policy for the promotion of equality between women and men in Laval.
The notice includes a summary of the current state of women’s rights in Laval, while listing 38 recommendations towards making Laval a city that offers more equality and inclusion.
The report comes following a mandate granted in 2020 by Laval city council’s executive-committee to the members of the consultative council.
“The City of Laval is showing true leadership in matters of equality in the municipal world,” said Laval city councillor for Souvenir-Labelle Sandra El-Helou, who is responsible for women’s equality issues on the executive-committee.
“For the first time, the population of Laval elected a municipal council with parity, which led in turn to an executive-committee also with parity. In 2020, the city also adopted an action plan that included 32 corrective measures in order to have greater diversity and inclusion in employment.
“Of coure, there remain numerous challenges to be met, whether that is on the political, professional or citizen levels. We are overjoyed with the dynamic participation of women in Laval’s municipal politics, and this will be helping us to further pursue the implementation of real initiatives within the values we believe in, those being equality, equity, freedom and respect.”
Some of the main recommendations:
- Updating of gendered statistics and the implementation of a triennial action plan dedicated to equality;
- Efforts to counter poverty, along with initiatives aimed at food security, with an emphasis on how it impacts women;
- Efforts to counter violence done to women;
- New measures to conciliate the family/work relationship;
- More efforts to achieve male/female parity on City of Laval committees;
- Better support for elected officials, particularly to counter intimidation harassment, as well as to encourage mentorship.
