Guy Descary | The man who shaped the landscape of Lachine

This is the place, of all places in Montreal, to watch the day fade. A wide angle on the river, an endless horizon at sunset. But René-Lévesque Park, like the bike path that runs along the entire waterfront in Lachine, did not appear out of thin air. In these beautiful days when many people will take their little bike ride in this borough, a little page of history on Guy Descary, the man who shaped the landscape and transformed the daily lives of the generations that followed.

“The waterfront must be accessible to all citizens. We will make the waterfront a promenade.”

This is what was written in black and white in the electoral platform of Guy Descary, who became mayor of Lachine in 1973 and died in office in 1991.

“Lake Saint-Louis represents an inestimable wealth for our city, which was at the origin of its foundation,” the program also said. “All of its development must be based on this wealth.”

“My father saw this as a legacy for other generations,” his son, Benoit Descary, explained in an interview.

At the time, he notes, little attention was paid to the heritage and banks of bodies of water.

His father, for his part, already placed a lot of value on all of this. A pharmacist by trade, an urban planner at heart, and the host of a public affairs show for a few years, Guy Descary was a multifaceted man, “a man of action!” his son summed up.

“He was out in the field a lot. In the evenings, when I was a young teenager, he would take my sister and me around the streets of Lachine to make a list of things that needed to be repaired!”

Facing headwinds

When Guy Descary died – prematurely, at the age of 59 – the article by The Press who paid tribute to him recalled that when he took office, the old districts of Lachine “offered an image of desolation and abandonment. Its waterfront was invaded by bars and gambling dens. At the risk of losing his life, Guy Descary undertook to rebuild the city from top to bottom.”

Benoit Descary says that, in fact, his father had to face many headwinds, including from the municipal council which was very resistant to his ideas.

One of Guy Descary’s first tasks, his son recalls, was to tackle the small Lachine Canal, whose stone walls were falling into the water.

He also approved a few expropriations around the iconic Lachine lighthouse in order to create a linear park that would provide completely public access to the entire waterfront.

René-Lévesque Park

On the old jetty, which was then a maritime dump where dredging waste accumulated, he had the large René-Lévesque park built, this peninsula now crossed by an arboretum, punctuated with sculptures and surrounded by a cycle path.

It was a different time, as we can see once again when reading the article by The Press to his death. To transform the pier into an island of greenery, “Guy Descary made dozens of prisoners work for an entire summer.”

His son heard this story about prisoners – a legend or not? – but he says, just like André Robichaud, former president of the Lachine Historical Society, that the work was mainly done by unemployed people who had reached the end of their benefits.

Mr. Robichaud also recalls that Mr. Descary took office just before the Olympic Games, when cycling was just beginning to become popular. “Before, riding a bike was a child’s activity.”

Soon, bike paths will appear and become very popular, among others, 40 years later, by Rithya Caroline Ky and her family, who live in Lachine.

The waterfront cements the neighborhood. People cycle there, jog there, walk their dogs there, meet new people there, she explains, recalling for example this impromptu conversation “with a charming old lady walking her golden retriever” who, one sad morning, “made us laugh out loud with her hilarious anecdotes.”

François Guillotte, who also lives in Lachine, notes that citizens are lucky “to have had a mayor who, in the past, had vision and prioritized the well-being of the community.”

“It is often said that we don’t really feel that Montreal is an island. In Lachine, on the contrary, we are very close to the water.”

Guardian of the old stones, too

Guy Descary is also responsible for the preservation of some of Lachine’s most beautiful heritage buildings, notes André Robichaud, who was a long-time member of the Société d’histoire de Lachine. He recalls that the municipal council decided in 1974 to hand over the former Dawes brewery “to the demolition peak.”

Benoit Descary points out that “the municipal council at the time refused to let the city borrow to restore it.” To preserve the building dating from 1861 and made of fieldstone, Guy Descary “had it restored anyway by municipal employees!”

“That was a bit dictatorial!” Mr. Descary said with a laugh.

But the old brewery was saved.

The late mayor also had the Le Ber-Le Moyne house renovated, this stone house serving as a trading post and warehouse for goods to equip the coureurs des bois.

Rithya Caroline Ky expresses her gratitude to Guy Descary and others, no doubt, who have developed Lachine “so poetically”.

“Now it’s up to us to take care of it.”