Some forty mayors are calling on Quebec municipalities to commit to implementing some ten commitments in order to deal with three crises: climate change, the lack of an alternative to car transportation and the housing shortage.
The mayoress of Granby, Julie Bourdon, is the spokesperson for “The call for mayors and mayors in action”, launched on the occasion of the Rendez-vous of viable communities 2023, which brings together several actors from the community on Thursday in Montreal. municipal Quebec.
The mayoress of Montreal, Valérie Plante, the mayor of Quebec, Bruno Marchand, the mayoress of Sherbrooke, Évelyne Beaudin, and the mayor of Laval, Stéphane Boyer, are also among the signatories.
These elected officials argue that municipalities “are on the front line facing the effects of these crises, ranging from rising rents to the lack of alternatives to the car and the increase in extreme weather events”.
They urge municipalities to densify underused land, promote the construction of social housing and commit to adopting the principle of zero sprawl to “reduce distances, protect natural environments and avoid dezoning agricultural land”.
The signatory mayors stress that the current development model continues to aggravate crises.
“In our cities, sometimes we develop dense neighborhoods without bringing public transport or active mobility at first sight” and “we develop neighborhoods without even having a school or local shops, which aggravates the problems”, underlined the mayor of Granby, Julie Bourdon, in an interview with The Canadian Press.
The forty or so mayors are also asking other municipalities to make the development of urban and interurban public transit a priority in order to lighten the burden of transportation on household budgets, to make the streets safe for walking and cycling, to multiply natural infrastructure to increase climate resilience, protect natural environments and aim for carbon neutral buildings.
“We want people to follow us, we believe it’s the right way to develop our cities and make them more pleasant” and “leave something to future generations,” summed up the mayor of Granby.
The 2023 Viable Communities Meeting, organized by Vivre en ville, takes place at Bonsecours Market on Thursday. Mayor Valérie Plante will deliver the opening speech for the event.