The Year in Review for 2006

A personality who was particularly highlighted in 2006 was Stéphane Dion.

Saint-Laurent-Cartierville Member of Parliament (MP) Stéphane Dion started the year 2006 on the right foot. When the Liberal government lost power January 23, he was one of the MPs who maintained confidence from the electorate following the sponsorship scandal. He was easily re-elected in the district for the fifth time since 1996, with a comfortable majority of 19,220 ballots or 59.8% of votes.

On the municipal scene at the beginning of March residents denounced the giant format of new garbage containers (360 litres) chosen by the borough, the difficulties of transportation and storage and the general direction of robotized waste collection. The borough emphasized the advantages from an economic and environmental point of view.

The process to revitalize Decarie Boulevard became public in March. The month after the plan was proposed, some merchants became opposed. They expressed their concerns regarding the elimination of 60 parking spaces on Decarie. The city administration again explained the project to merchants in May and asked that they accept the voice of compromise.

Residents of Bois Franc learned in April that Bombardier intends to build houses in 2009 on the current site of the Challenger Golf Course which would no longer exist. To satisfy opponents, the borough requested that Bombardier include a park facing the projected residential project. A new plan was submitted in August. Council approved it in September while residents got used to the idea that the golf course would be gone in 2009.

Among other news subjects in 2006, residents complained about the recurring problem related to airplane traffic. In October, some citizens took part in a combined recourse against Aéroports de Montreal. The nuisances they complained about included noise, pollution and the increasing number of flights after midnight and early in the morning. To be continued in 2007.

The quality of water was also at the centre of debate during the last year. The public health authority revealed in January that 4,600 families consume water containing lead that exceeds acceptable standards. In Saint-Laurent, residents affected are located in the post-war housing sector, north of Poirier.

With diminishing financial resources, the St-Andrews-Norwood Church went up for sale. While several local groups wanted to be located under the same roof, they could not move into the church because they required twice the surface area.

At his trail for breach of trust, former Borough Director Robert Fortin was sentenced in March to 18 months of probation, 200 hours of community work and a fine in the form of a $7,000 contribution to a Crime Victims Assistance Centre. @R:Sleiman El-Merhebi, who fire bombed the United Talmud Torah school library in April 2004, was released last May after having served two thirds of his two-year sentence. The trial against his mother Rouba El-Merhebi-Fahd, planned for May 15, 2006, for complicity after the fact, was deferred.

The West Island job fair attracted 5,300 visitors in October at the Saint-Laurent High School, a symbol of the bond linking training and the job market. In March, 250 immigrants took part in the CARI job days.

In February, Saint-Laurent residents were less affected than expected when Montreal submitted its revised budget. The increase in taxes was on average 1% compared to three or four times more in Montreal. Saint-Laurent residents also underwent an increase in the evaluation role in September, but still lower than the rest of Montreal, that is between 35% and 47%, versus more than 47% on the island. In November, Saint-Laurent submitted its budget which included lower taxes for about half of its population.

In July, during the crisis in the Middle East, staff from the Saint-Laurent-Bordeaux-Cartierville Health and Social Services Centre welcomed 13,500 Lebanese at Trudeau Airport. The massive arrival of these families caused overcrowding in Saint-Laurent schools.

On February 1 the death of Senator Shirley Maheu, at 74 years of age due to complications of a cancer, was emotional for many Saint-Laurent residents, where she was City Councillor and Member of Parliament.