Plante, Coderre and Holness discuss how to better protect Mount Royal

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If there was one winner among the three mayoral candidates who participated in a very polite debate about Mount Royal’s future on Thursday night, perhaps it was the mountain itself and the Montrealeros who want it to be preserved.

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The debate, organized by the protection group Les Amis de la montagne, sparked commitments from Valérie Plante of Projet Montréal, Denis Coderre of Ensemble Montreal and Balarama Holness of Movement Montreal to protect the mountain from everything from cyclists to encroaching development, without mention the ravages of the weather. change. The three also vowed to work hard to push for Mount Royal’s application to be considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

While all three promised to protect the views to and from the mountain, both Holness and Plante reminded the audience that Coderre had embraced the idea of ​​changing an ordinance that currently prohibits buildings taller than Mount Royal. In the book he published to coincide with his return to municipal politics, Coderre suggested that downtown Montreal should be densified and skyscrapers taller than the mountain should be considered. He has since backed down on the idea, but his opponents suggested that he would capitulate to the developers’ wishes.

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“There should be no possibility of allowing some people to get the views because they have the means to live in a tower,” Plante said. “Some say that if we don’t build, we can’t have density and if we don’t have density we can’t make affordable and social housing. We have to be very careful with this line of reasoning that comes straight from the developers’ mouths. “

Holness and Plante suggested that Montréal’s cannot trust Coderre to deliver on his promise to restrict building heights.

While the current ordinance prohibits buildings taller than 232 meters, Holness proposes an ordinance that would prohibit new buildings greater than 100 meters within a 500-meter buffer zone around the mountain. If his party were elected, he said, they would pass a statute he refers to as the “Mount Royal Reflex.”

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“It means that for any project, the question will be asked, ‘Does it benefit Mount Royal’s ecological integrity?’ and if the answer is negative, the project will not advance. That reflection will be at the heart of our platform, so there will be no building, no construction, no activity on the mountain that does not benefit the ecological integrity of our beautiful mountain. “

The discussion about the redevelopment of the Royal Victoria Hospital site on the southern flank of the mountain dominated much of the debate and somehow helped differentiate the approaches of the three candidates.

Plante spoke of reclaiming for the mountain the parking lots behind the old hospital, which are on province-controlled land and are not part of McGill University’s project for the hospital building itself.

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Coderre promised to reopen the outdoor pool at the site and turn it into a municipal facility, a promise Plante had made in the last municipal election campaign.

While Coderre suggested that his party might favor the construction of student housing on the site, both Holness and Plante rejected that idea.

Coderre was the only debater who said that what Mount Royal needs is more police officers. He said the Montreal police force is 253 officers short of what is required.

“In Mount Royal, when there are no police officers, things can happen. We don’t have to expect the worst. There is gun violence here and there in Montreal. There is a public safety problem in Montreal and that affects Mount Royal. “

Marc-Antoine Desjardins, who had been invited to participate in Thursday’s debate as leader of the Ralliement pour Montréal party, withdrew after he announced Thursday morning that he and his candidates have joined Holness’s Mouvement Montreal.

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