In search of fresh air and public access to water points, nearly a hundred Montrealers bathed in the Old Port on Friday morning, on the occasion of the 20e edition of the Big Splash.
Organized every year since 2003 by the Fondation Rivières, the event aims to claim better access to the shores of the metropolis. “We need to review our relationship with water,” says its director general, André Bélanger.
In 2017, in the midst of the election campaign, Mayor Valérie Plante pledged to inaugurate a port bath. A project at the end of the Quai de l’Horloge was finally abandoned in the summer of 2020, due to too strong a current. The election promise was however reiterated in the City’s Nature and Sports Plan in 2021.
The president of the Commission on water, the environment, sustainable development and large parks, Julie Roy, as well as the borough councilor of Ville-Marie and member of the Commission on water, Vicki Grondin, both wet the shirt.
“Giving access to water is not only good for social equality, but it’s also good for the environment,” declared Ms. Grondin, who is in her third participation, if we counts the Grand Splash that it organized in Lachine in 2021.
Unlike the Quai de l’Horloge, the Quai du Vieux-Port would be the perfect place to install a swimming area, believes Mr. Bélanger. “We are in an idyllic spot, glued to the city center. This is the only place where the water is calm. The only shadow on the board: the refusal of the Société du Vieux-Port, which, according to the organizers, favors “navigation”. They now want to “appeal to federal politicians”.
Contacted by The dutythe Société du Vieux-Port considers that this project is “simply not possible from a security point of view”, citing “strong maritime traffic as well as a current […] particularly powerful. The Old Port facilities are not designed for swimming. »
“Reclaiming” the river
The mobilization of the Fondation Rivières gained new momentum last year, with the creation of the first port bath in North America, the Louise Basin, in Quebec City. “An idea that dates back to 1991”, supported by the Société des Gens de Baignade.
The installation is a “success,” according to the company’s general manager, Louis-H. Campaigned. Every day, between 750 and 1,000 people come to enjoy the facilities. A “good blow for the quality of life and for the local economy”, he rejoices.
“We are on an island, in Montreal, and we need to reclaim our water a bit, our beautiful St. Lawrence River,” said Sasha Dyck, who is in her 12e participation. A need that is all the more concrete “with climate change”, he adds. “It takes us ways to cool off. »
clean water
Like all the participants met by The duty, the nurse is not worried about the quality of the water. He even brought his two daughters, aged seven and nine.
In Quebec, the Bassin Louise has “never been closed for a single day [pendant l’été] because of poor water quality,” says Mr. Campagna, indicating that “billions of dollars have been invested by the various governments to stop the pollution of our river.”
“I think there are myths to be deconstructed regarding the quality of the water in the St. Lawrence River,” adds Ms.me Gurnard. Marc-André Dumont, who dived for the first time on Friday, also believes that there are “stigmas” on the quality of the water.
“The quality of the water here is irreproachable,” reassures the elected official of the City. From 2003 to 2022, the water in the Jacques-Cartier basin met bathing standards “in more than 96% of samples taken during the summer period”, writes the Fondation Rivières in a press release.
An observation that seems to extend to the whole of the island, which has “57 accessible sites […] where the water is of good quality for swimming in dry weather and 106 for the practice of nautical activities” such as kayaking, we can read.
Montreal currently has three free public access points to water. “We want more”, launches Mme Grondin, ensuring that several projects “are in motion”.