Acquisition of land, development of social housing, banning of firearms: the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, unsurprisingly calls for a series of measures from the Trudeau government, which is due to unveil its next budget on Thursday.
Posted at 10:26
“How do we protect our banks, how can we protect natural sponges, buy land, make large parks? This is an important element for us,” said Mr.me Plant Wednesday, after a meeting of the executive committee, hammering that the creation of “green infrastructure” will be a priority.
The elected official reacted at the same time to the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which warned on Monday that global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will have to stop increasing at most. late in 2025 and be halved by 2030, compared to their current level, so that the temperature increase does not exceed 1.5°C.
“It can sometimes be a little depressing or shocking, but these are figures that show us the urgency to act. For the City, it gives us even more energy to continue to take action. And there will be others in the coming weeks,” she said, repeating “needing the help of the upper levels” to reduce Montreal emissions by 55% by 2030, a goal that settled the City.
“Doing the job” in housing
The mayoress of Montreal also demands that Quebec, but especially Ottawa in the immediate future, “do their job and take their responsibilities” in the development of social housing. “We need to have funds to help us renovate existing housing, because it is their responsibility. We will continue to push in this direction. »
“There are great federal initiatives to create rapid housing for homeless and vulnerable people, and these projects are emerging. […] It’s a good example, but we have to go further, it’s obvious,” insisted M.me Plante, who wants to be able to “acquire, purchase and develop affordable housing options” anywhere on the island.
Mme Plante finally urges Ottawa once again to “legislate to ban firearms and stop trivializing this scourge”, again asking for “the sums necessary for intervention and prevention”. “We are asking governments to take the necessary steps to ensure that our future generations live in a world free from violence, as we have seen before,” she said.
At the end of the Montreal Forum for the fight against armed violence, which ended last Thursday, the City of Montreal has already invested 7.4 million for initiatives targeting young people and their families. Ottawa also paid 5 million for prevention among young people in Montreal in stride.
Tuesday, The Press reported that the federal government is on track to reap approximately $12 billion more in additional revenue this year than projected just six months ago, due to a strong economy, rising commodity prices and the high price of a barrel of oil. Inflation, which hit 5.7% in February, is also helping to boost Ottawa’s earnings. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is therefore expected to inject a considerable share of the additional revenue into her next budget, due Thursday.