Apology from St. Laurent

At the St. Laurent Council meeting held on November 7th, I asked Borough Mayor Alan DeSousa how he would be voting with regard to the Park Ave. name change. His response was the same as that he gave in 2003/2004, when asked whether he would support the demerger of St. Laurent. He said he would talk to citizens before deciding.

In fact, he actively promoted and voted in favor of retaining the forced merger, and, if not for the unprecedented obstacles put in place, St. Laurent would have demerged, because three times as many citizens voted to demerge, compared to those who voted to remain part of the mega city.

Now, despite the 41,000 signatures and the 1,000 (at last count) letters received in Mayor Tremblays's office against the name change, DeSousa obviously considered these insignificant, and voted in favor of the change.

As I did back then, I once again call into question DeSousa's 'consultation' techniques, and more importantly, his ability to relate to the citizens' needs and wishes.

Please folks, don't judge St. Laurent citizens too harshly. We are not all as insensitive and callous as DeSousa's actions would have you believe.

- Bob Smith, St Laurent