In Montreal, the burden of environmental health problems is unevenly distributed across the territory. For too long, neighborhoods with a higher degree of socioeconomic deprivation, as is the case for Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, have experienced a greater deficit of greenery and a higher rate of heat islands.
Let it be said clearly: this combination is deadly.
The Montreal Regional Public Health Department has demonstrated this in its analysis of the heat waves in the summer of 2018.1, and concluded that the place of residence could double the risk of heat-related death.
Reducing heat islands and protecting green spaces should therefore become a priority for all levels of government.
A recent expert report2 affiliated with the prestigious medical journal The Lancet recommends, among other things, recognizing that these climate adaptation measures can not only reduce public spending, but also save lives and improve human health.
It is in this perspective that we, doctors, nurses and health professionals working in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district, wish to express our support for the Mobilization 6600 Parc-Nature MHM in its fight against the installation of one of the largest goods transshipment platforms in North America and its desire to use this space to create a nature park that everyone can enjoy.
Every day, in our practice, we are faced with the negative impacts of the lack of greenery in the neighborhood and the burden linked to air pollution. We are greatly concerned about the negative consequences expected from the project, especially since it will be located near citizens in vulnerable situations and the elderly. We want the sector to be able to adopt a real development strategy which will encompass all the economic activities planned or envisaged and which will place citizens at its center.
We know that having access to quality green spaces, close to home, is a carrier of good physical and psychological health: reduction of stress, depression and anxiety; decrease in blood pressure; greater sense of social cohesion and well-being, and more. A nature park in the district, coupled with an urban agriculture site, is a project on a human scale, promising, which can help to vitalize the district, while being up to the environmental and social challenges facing the community – but also, the whole planet – has to cope.
HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT PHOTO, PRESS ARCHIVES
The field of Ray-Mont Logistiques in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
The industrial project led by Ray-Mont Logistiques requires a comprehensive environmental impact study, and not fragmented, before it is too late and the company confronts government players with the facts. Already, important (and noisy!) Paving works have started and green spaces are disappearing too quickly. Concerted involvement of all levels of government is essential.
Finally, we would like to remind you that any industrial project should pass the social acceptability test, otherwise there could be devastating impacts on the social fabric. The growing mobilization in the neighborhood leads us to believe that it is simply not there.
1. Consult the report of the Direction régionale de santé publique de Montréal 2. Consult the Lancet Countdown report for Canada
* Co-signatories: Iskra Pirija, family doctor at the GMF of the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve CLSC and the addiction medicine department of the CHUM; Alexandra Salazar-Fournier, family doctor at the GMF of the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve CLSC; Caroline Gaudreau-Ménard, family doctor at the GMF of the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve CLSC; Benoît Fournier, family doctor at the GMF of the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve CLSC; Lysiane Dallé, family doctor at the GMF of the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve CLSC and midwife at the CHUM; Christine Ouellette, family doctor at the GMF of the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve CLSC; Marie-Christine Laramée, nurse practitioner specializing in primary care at the GMF of the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve CLSC; Pier-Luc Turcotte, occupational therapist in home support and doctoral candidate in community health; Julie Bélanger, family doctor and medical co-chief of the GMF of the CLSC Hochelaga-Maisonneuve; Bruno Ollivry, occupational therapist, head of professional services at the GMF of the CLSC Hochelaga-Maisonneuve; Marie-Hélène Marchand, home family doctor at the GMF of the CLSC Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and palliative care at Maisonneuve Rosemont hospital, CCMF-palliative care (SP), candidate for a master’s degree in biomedical sciences, ethics section; Joannie Groulx, family doctor at the GMF at CLSC Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and midwife at HMR; Rachèle Fournier-Noël, family doctor and co-medical manager at the GMF of the CLSC Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and family doctor in HIV at the CHUM; Chloé Labelle, family doctor at GMF-U Maisonneuve-Rosemont and at the Dopamed community clinic; Pascale Breault, family doctor at the GMF of the CLSC Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and hospitalist at the Santa Cabrini Ospedale Hospital; Laurence Tanguay Beaudoin, family doctor at the GMF of the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve CLSC and hospitalist at the Drug Addiction and Urban Medicine Care Unit at Notre-Dame Hospital; Patrick Foucault, family doctor at the GMF of the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve CLSC; Stéphanie Olière, family doctor at the GMF of the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve CLSC; Louis-Christophe Juteau, family doctor at the Dopamed community clinic in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve; Catherine Laurin-Bérard, family doctor at the GMF of the CLSC Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and at the CRID of the Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital; Fannie Chau, family doctor at the Angus clinic, at the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve CLSC and at Notre-Dame hospital
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