Another school year is beginning, undermined by the same eternal problems: teacher shortages, schools in disrepair, declining academic results in French. Routine, in short. To put schools back at the center of Quebec society’s concerns, well-intentioned reforms will not be enough—this is an area where we already excel, with the disappointing results we know about. The creation of new-generation schools, supposed to guarantee academic success, will not achieve this either. It is in our collective state of mind that schools must regain their central place.
To build a just and equitable society, it is essential to start by taking care of the most vulnerable, especially our children. The start of the school year is, above all, their time. As adults, our role is to support, guide and encourage them. We must help them develop their autonomy so that they can face the hazards of life. A task that is far from always easy.
Take my 7-year-old son, who for the past year has been asking me to walk to school alone. That’s when all my contradictions hit me in the face. As borough mayor, I’ve done everything I can to make the schools in Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie safer. Logically, I should have no fear in letting my son walk those 280 metres alone. Yet, the prospect terrifies me.
Once again this year, the same tragedies are resurfacing: children are losing their lives crossing the street to go to or from school. How, as a society, can we still accept that our children risk dying on their way to school? I have already raised this subject several times, particularly after the tragic death of young Mariia Legenkovska on 13 December 2022. This tragedy sparked a strong movement – “Let’s put an end to road insecurity on the way to school” – to say “never again!”
Unfortunately, as always, the news cycle erases our past outrages and routine resumes its course. This year, there was no major demonstration for the safety of students at the start of the school year, despite the absence of concrete changes to secure the areas surrounding schools. Certainly, some initiatives have seen the light of day, but nothing significant to really change dangerous behaviors. It is as if fatality has become the norm, the road naturally belonging to motorists leading to slogans as absurd as “My car, my choice”.
The issue goes beyond the changes to the Highway Safety Code (HSC). Our inaction reflects a deeply rooted road culture that fuels our recklessness on the road. This culture is expressed at every intersection and at every moment when there is a tense cohabitation between different road users. It must be recognized that the fault is not solely that of motorists, far from it.
Sometimes pedestrians put themselves in unnecessary danger, just like some cyclists. The latter are not always exemplary on the road. In reality, their behavior reflects that of all road users: some are courteous, while others are unconsciously reckless, or even downright dangerous.
The culture of impunity on the road affects motorists, truck and bus drivers as well as many cyclists. Recently, school crossing guard unions have rightly denounced the reckless behavior of some of them. Even if these comments may please those who criticize cycling on a daily basis, it is in no way a question of putting the dangerous behavior of motor vehicle drivers and cyclists on an equal footing.
The reason is simple: the impact of a collision between a pedestrian and a cyclist is incomparably less serious than that of a collision between the same pedestrian and a motorist or truck driver. However, the mindset of those who act irresponsibly on the road, thus endangering the safety of pedestrians and people with reduced mobility, remains fundamentally the same.
This mindset is at the root of all conflicts between motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, each blaming the other for the dangers incurred. There is truth and falsehood in this rhetoric that lacks substance. What should guide our thinking is the absolute protection of those who are made vulnerable on the road due to inadequate facilities and a CSR that is unsuitable for their reality.
Awareness campaigns, road markings, traffic signs, all of this has shown its limits. We cannot post a police officer on every street corner, but we can design spaces that better control the most delinquent on the road through undeniable physical constraints.
If we really want to put school back at the center of our lives, it is time to stop seeing road insecurity as inevitable. Let’s demand radical changes, let’s design environments where every child can walk to school without it becoming a lottery of life. The real revolution starts here: by creating a future where school is no longer synonymous with danger, but with promise.