Let’s protect the St- Jacques escarpment

Environmental destruction is taking place right before our eyes, Lisa Mintz says.

Montreal is facing an important moral question: do we live up to our own stated environmental goals, or do we fail to do that and break our word?

I am a citizen and a member of the Sauvons la falaise and the non- partisan Green Coalition, two of this city’s groups working to protect the environment. I have a story about Montreal’s aspirations, and the environmental destruction that is taking place right before our eyes.

On Monday, the Montreal Metropolitan Community held its third Agora, or umbrella meeting, as part the Plan métropolitain d’aménagement et développement ( the PMAD), drawing together citizens and officials from the 82 municipalities in this area. That session heard our politicians insist on two things:

Montreal must finally have its own greenbelt of protected natural spaces.

In order to defend the environment, citizens must be active.

Meanwhile, in the real world, we are destroying the Montreal greenspaces that we say we want to defend. Here is a case in point.

The Saint- Jacques Escarpment is wooded area stretching 4 kilometres behind the businesses that run east- west at the southern edge of N. D. G. on St- Jacques St. Covering more than 20 hectares, it’s home to 65 species of birds and is part of an important migratory route. It is also one of Montreal’s ecoterritories, natural spaces “slated for priority protection and enhancement,” according to Montreal’s own Policy on the Protection and Enhancement of Natural Habitats.

In August, bulldozers from Quebec’s Ministry of Transport ( MTQ) completely levelled 10 per cent of the escarpment. Gone are the trees; in their place, bare dirt.

This spoliation is completely against the PMAD, Montreal policy, and Quebec government goals for the environment, especially since a renewed escarpment has always been meant to be part of a true Montreal greenbelt.

In August, bulldozers from Quebec’s Ministry of Transport completely levelled 10 per cent of the escarpment.

Here is what happened: Last April. I was birdwatching on the escarpment and was surprised to see a line of orange survey ties on the trees marking off the western edge next to the Montreal West Interchange.

At that time, I asked about these survey ties at a meeting of the Turcot Comité de bon voisinage N. D. G./ Westmount.

I was told that they were a preservation measure for the endangered brown snakes in the area, and was assured that there would be no destruction of the escarpment.

A couple of months later, the area was clearcut. At another meeting on Sept. 21, the same official said there had been a misunderstanding about which area I had been talking about in April, and assured me that the Quebec Ministry of Transportation would plant trees in the bulldozed area and also promised that they would not touch any other part of the escarpment.

I asked to see a plan, but was told that there is no specific plan. I offered to be a part of the process as an observer, and was told that I was free to meet, but could not participate in any other way.

It’s amazing that there is no specific plan for a huge construction project in an ecologically sensitive area.

Avrom Shtern, the transportation specialist of the Green Coalition spoke to me about his view: “This action speaks volumes where we are in Quebec. The environment is not a priority.”

No plan, no citizen involvement while the MTQ disregards Montreal’s own policy for the escarpment.

The MTQ needs to know that someone is watching the St. Jacques Escarpment Ecoterritory, that someone cares, and that they can’t just destroy natural spaces.

We need a plan for the escarpment and a true public consultation.