In the realm of the bungalow and the automobile, is the wind starting to turn when it comes to the environment? Or not ? Laval will have a new mayor or a new mayoress on November 7, and the candidates are competing hard to offer voters solutions to better protect green spaces threatened by frantic real estate development.
The fight promises to be close in Laval, where eight candidates are vying for the succession of Marc Demers, who has decided to step down after eight years as mayor. Engaged in a door-to-door marathon, the candidates are working hard to make themselves known and rally the undecided, who remain numerous, to their cause. According to a CROP poll conducted on behalf of Radio-Canada and published on October 21, Laval still has 56% undecided.
It must be said that in Laval the candidates suffer, to varying degrees, from a lack of notoriety and that the campaign is taking place in the shadow of that of Montreal. “I look at the visibility of Mr. Coderre and Mr.me Plant in Montreal. It’s in the media every day, ”points out Michel Trottier, leader of the Parti Laval. “In addition, there is an explosion of political parties in Laval. “
Three candidates stand out from the pack, according to the CROP poll. Stéphane Boyer, runner-up to Marc Demers at the head of the Laval Movement, has a slight lead in voting intentions with 14% of the support, against 11% for his opponents Michel Trottier, from the Laval Party, and Sophie Trottier, from Action Laval .
The other candidates in the race are Michel Poissant, from Laval citizens, Nicolas Lemire, independent, Pierre Anthian, from My city now, as well as Hélène Goupil and Redouane Yahmi, both independent.
This same survey revealed that 65% of respondents were satisfied with Mayor Demers, which confirms Stéphane Boyer. “I am less well known than Mr. Demers, […] but in the field, we feel that people are satisfied, and things are going well, ”he said.
His opponents do not share his opinion. Sophie Trottier does not have the same echoes on the ground. “People don’t feel heard. […] They tell me that the decisions are imposed on them, ”she says.
“Stéphane Boyer has worn off eight years in power”, for his part, supports Michel Trottier. According to him, Mr. Boyer is dragging several balls inherited from the Demers administration, including that of the aquatic complex whose construction was suspended due to the increase in the costs of the project.
Condo towers
The odors of corruption, which long floated above Laval under the Vaillancourt era, may have dissipated, but the real estate frenzy remains. In recent years, condo towers have continued to grow, and several tree cuts by developers have made headlines. In this context, the theme of the environment has emerged in the countryside.
The independent candidate for mayor Nicolas Lemire, 25, has also made it his hobbyhorse. Last April, he published a “manifesto” in favor of an ecological shift for Laval with 48 proposals. “What is in my program, I want it to happen, that I win or that I lose on November 7, because I believe in what is in there”, he said explained during a debate on the theme of the environment organized by the Regional Environmental Council (CRE) of Laval and by Laval in transition, on October 21.
The environment is also at the heart of the electoral commitments of the other candidates. Stéphane Boyer indicates that the Demers administration, of which he was part, has succeeded in reducing the area of protected territory from 3 to 12% and that, if elected, he will increase this rate to 17%. It also intends to invest $ 100 million in the acquisition and protection of natural environments. “In recent years, Laval has made giant strides in the environment. Greenhouse gas emissions in Laval have decreased by 12% compared to 1990, despite the increase in the population, ”he explains.
The former director general of CRE de Laval, Guy Garand, questions certain data put forward by the candidate of the Laval Movement. It is true that 12% of Laval’s territory is protected under municipal regulations, but it is not under the statutes of the governments of Quebec and Canada, he points out. In fact, only 0.82% of the surface area of Laval is listed in the Register of Protected Areas of Quebec and another administration in search of tax revenue could in the future dezone these lands to allow real estate development, recalls- he: “We do greenwashing. “
Mr. Garand has also decided to give his support to Michel Trottier who, he says, has the best platform in terms of the environment.
“It’s midnight to one for nature in Laval,” proclaims Michel Trottier, who has pledged to create a department for large parks in the city – which does not currently exist – and to protect 90% wetlands. He also promises to create a Laval Green Fund for the acquisition of natural environments and to devote 10% of the city’s annual surplus to it. “Laval was sold at the time of Vaillancourt. Everyone bought land and wanted zoning. What we have left, we must keep. “
His opponent of Action Laval, Sophie Trottier, for her part, proposes that, like Montreal, Laval acquire a right of pre-emption in order to facilitate the acquisition of land to be protected. “I am a mother of three children. So, for me, the environment is super important because I want to leave a beautiful planet to my children ”, she said, while specifying that the protection of the environment“ must coexist with the economic development of the City “.
It is one to midnight for nature in Laval.
During the debate on October 21, Michel Poissant, councilor since 2013 and mayoral candidate for Laval citizens, insisted on the need to tackle heat islands. “The city center is a desert. There are no trees. We can plant trees in Saint-François, but if we do not plant trees at Carrefour Laval, we will not solve the problem of air quality and quality of life for these people, ”he said. -he explains.
During this meeting, the candidate Pierre Anthian also pointed out that in terms of the environment, the parties should lead by example, pointing to the thousands of Coroplast signs printed by some of his opponents. “It will take 400 years for them to disappear into landfills. Four centuries! But it works because, according to the polls, those three have the best percentages. “
Regarding taxes, Stéphane Boyer has undertaken not to increase them beyond inflation. Michel Trottier proposes a freeze for 2022 and an increase of 1.33% for the following years. As for Sophie Trottier, she intends to freeze property taxes for four years, a proposal that her opponents consider unrealistic. “If I do not respect my commitment, I will resign,” said Mme Trottier.