A commission of elected municipal officials will recommend that the Plante administration quickly ban the installation of natural gas stoves and fireplaces in residences and businesses in the city.
The Commission on water, the environment, sustainable development and large parks of the city council – composed mainly of elected officials from the mayor’s party – believes that the climate emergency requires strong actions on the part of the City of Montreal.
The installation of new indoor fixed appliances, including gas stoves, using fossil fuels should be “prohibited as soon as possible”, indicates their draft recommendations, “and promote the replacement of existing ones with zero-emission appliances with high energy performance in accordance with the highest standards of the day”.
The commission would also like to “prohibit, as soon as possible, that any new building on the territory of the City be connected to a natural gas distribution network”.
Elected officials have heard from many experts and environmental groups in recent weeks regarding the “roadmap to zero-emission buildings in Montreal by 2040” proposed by the administration.
“With the scale of the climate crisis, it is no longer the time for half measures,” said Marie-Andrée Mauger, the elected official in charge of the environment on Valérie Plante’s executive committee. She spoke in a written statement sent by the office of the mayor. “We must all together understand how we are going to orchestrate the exit from fossil fuels in each sector, and what is the role of each one so that it becomes an inspiring collective project. »
“We will take the time to analyze all the recommendations and we will follow up on them in the coming months,” she added.