Valérie Plante defended her administration’s record on road safety on Tuesday, after tabling a public health report on falls by seniors on sidewalks and parking lots in Montreal.
The document, made public the day before, concluded that in the metropolis, “elderly people are more at risk of falling” outdoors and that paramedics had to intervene in nearly 14,000 falls in five years (2016-2020) .
The Ville-Marie borough, which covers the city center, is the one in Montreal where the most falls occur outdoors, the short study also indicated. The Montreal Public Health Department (DRSP) recommended that the City of Montreal clear more snow and ice from its sidewalks and “include falls in the Vision Zero approach.”
Questioned by the opposition in the municipal council, the mayor argued that the City was already doing a lot to make its spaces as safe as possible, particularly in winter.
“Our administration has always made the most vulnerable on the road a priority,” she said, without commenting directly on the recommendations of Public Health. “What we want is for the City to ensure that public spaces are safe. »
Mme Plante listed several policies, action plans and programs that affect public spaces. She also qualified the results of the study, emphasizing that “a large number of falls – this is not to minimize them – happen in private spaces”.
His explanations did not seem to convince the opposition leader at city hall, Aref Salem. The Plante administration must act this winter to reduce the number of Montrealers who fall on its sidewalks and must “take an interest in their fate,” he argued.