François William Croteau, Mayor of the Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie borough, will propose a motion, seconded by the Plateau-Mont-Royal Mayor, that aims to fight unsanitary housing in the City of Montreal. « At Projet Montréal, we firmly believe that in order to effectively fight unsanitary living conditions on a long term basis, we must put in place an ambitious plan that focuses on prevention. Again this year, the City of Montreal’s Ombudsman and the Auditor General cited the increase in the number of unsanitary housing complaints as worrisome. For Luc Ferrandez and myself, we found that, based on our own personal borough experiences, our administrations would be much more efficient in combatting unsanitary living conditions by instituting a prevention plan rather than relying solely on a punitive system”, said François William Croteau.
Section 18 a) of Montreal’s Charter of rights and responsibilities states that the Montreal is committed to: taking appropriate measures to ensure that housing meets public health and safety standards and to provide relocation services if a dwelling must be closed or vacated. “Our experience has shown in the last years, that punitive measures simply aren’t having an impact on housing units that do not live up to Montreal’s basic health standards. We must take a serious look at prevention. Large metropolitan areas that are the closest to Montreal, such as Toronto and Boston, have invested in preventative measures that have shown results”, said Luc Ferrandez. Even Montreal City’s 2007-2010 action plan to fight unsanitary housing provided for the setup of a team of inspectors whose mandate would be to systematically inspect housing units and buildings that were identified, with the help of boroughs, as unsanitary.
More recently, the City of Montreal’s 2010-2015 Sustainable Development Plan established, among other things, the pursuit of a higher quality of life for residents notably through municipal intervention in health standard regulations and action plans in housing that offer real tools to boroughs and central services to ensure hygiene, security and the good maintenance of apartments and residential buildings. « We must not wait for Montreal’s residents to be confronted with irreversible and emergency situations in which their livelihood, their health and their quality of life is threatened. We must find innovative and effective ways to prevent such situations before they happen. We’ve passed the point of analyzing the health of housing in Montreal. The problem does in fact exist. Let us reflect now on ways to eradicate it. This is what this motion, which will be proposed next week to City Council, is all about”, said François Willaim Croteau.
For details on Projet Montréal’s motion, click here.
For more information: Catherine Maurice, press attaché of the 2nd Opposition, 514 872 3153 / 514 601-5542
