Projet Montréal promises to protect part of the Technoparc wetlands

The park would eventually expand to 175 hectares, a territory almost as large as Mount Royal.

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If incumbent mayor Valérie Plante is re-elected, her administration would triple the size of Des Sources Ecological Park near Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, the party announced in a statement Sunday.

The park would eventually expand to 175 hectares, a territory almost as large as Mount Royal, he said, incorporating land owned by the federal government and the city.

At the same time, the party said it is also committed to making Technoparc the largest innovation center in Canada, with 4,000 jobs.

Development would be concentrated outside of sensitive and protected areas, he said.

In April, Montreal airports inaugurated the 19-hectare park north of the airport runways.

With 192 different species observed so far this year, the 60-hectare Technoparc contains the last major intact wetlands on the island of Montreal. Environmentalists have called for the protection of the entire area, saying that ecosystems cannot survive when surrounded by development.