The return of effervescence in the Latin Quarter of Montreal is near, believes Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon, who says he is making the revival of the sector a “personal project”.
“I have a general comment on the Latin Quarter […]. I said to [la mairesse de Montréal] that I am going to make it a personal project”, affirmed Wednesday the minister responsible for the Metropolis, during the study of the budgetary appropriations.
He was then responding to Liberal MP Filomena Rotiroti who asked him what the government plans to do to revitalize the sector.
“I find it sad to see the entertainment district, where we have done extraordinary things, and there, oops: next door we would think of ourselves in a third world country. It’s not acceptable. It’s very sad,” Mr. Fitzgibbon added.
However, it is up to the City of Montreal to target the projects and make recommendations to the government to revitalize the sector, acknowledged the minister.
“Mme Plante is going to finish his study. She will disclose the stakes soon. But we’re talking about the whole Espace Saint-Denis, the relaunch of the Théâtre Saint-Denis, which was an icon at the time and which has gone… it’s a disaster to see that. We are talking about the renovation of the Saint-Sulpice library, we are talking about the national school of humor.
Pierre Fitzgibbon believes that this revival concerns several ministries. “We are talking about homelessness, we are talking about housing, we are talking about culture, we are talking about tourism, so there are a lot of people in there,” he remarked to highlight the need for a good coordination.
“The problem is that there are several initiatives that are not connected, and clearly it will take a leader. Am I the boss? At some point, we can’t do everything, but clearly it’s something that interests me, ”illustrated the Minister for Metropolitan France.
Dissatisfied with the minister’s response, MP Rotiroti then noted that “beyond goodwill, there is no plan yet”. “We are still at the stage of making observations, but no one wants to get too wet,” she lamented.
“If we are in the same place next year in the credit study, I will be a little embarrassed,” retorted Mr. Fitzgibbon, convinced of obtaining results quickly.
Decontamination
In another vein, Minister Fitzgibbon revealed that only 13 of the $100 million announced by the Legault government in 2019 to decontaminate land in Montreal’s east end was spent by the City, in response to a question from the solidarity deputy Vincent Marissal.
“We are putting pressure on. The faster we will decontaminate, the faster we will develop,” said Mr. Fitzggibon, stressing in passing that the City “has started to accelerate the effort”.
In this file, the government is the funder, but it is the city of Montreal that is responsible for the decontamination and reclamation of the land.
The Minister also pointed out that Montreal intends to request an additional $100 million soon, but that these sums will only be paid if the projects for which the first $100 million allocated materialize.