“During the election campaign, candidate Marchand made a lot of commitments. Unfortunately, today, we are faced with a mayor who is no longer in the campaign, who no longer holds the same speech, ”regrets the municipal councilor of the opposition, Véronique Dallaire.
Elected in the district of Saules—Les Méandres, the elected official criticized the Marchand administration for not keeping its word for the Boisé des Châtels, located at the junction of her district and that of Loretteville—Les Châtels.
The owner of the land, Groupe Dallaire, announced in August its desire to regain control of it by prohibiting all passers-by from frequenting it, Le Soleil reported earlier this month. Over the years, the promoter had tolerated the presence and activities of citizens in the wooded area located in the Espace d’Innovation Chauveau, before reversing its decision. Recently closed, the natural environment is no longer accessible.
Then candidate for mayor, Bruno Marchand had nevertheless undertaken to protect him, underlined the official opposition, during the meeting of the municipal council on Tuesday. Citing comments from disappointed neighbors on social networks, city councilor Véronique Dallaire reports that the mayor had declared that he wanted to “protect that, that wooded area”.
Passing through the site in October 2021, Mr. Marchand had deplored that the Châtels wooded area was not among the wooded areas under the protection of the City of Quebec.
“We have a candidate in the campaign who made promises without checking if the land belonged to someone, without checking if there was not an important actor for the economic development of our region who was concerned by the commitments that ‘he was taking. It’s perfect to say that we are going to protect the wooded area, but it still has to be possible, ”she lashed out.
“It is unacceptable that, now mayor, he finds himself in front of the same citizens and that he says that his hands are tied. At the time he made the commitment, he couldn’t take it.”
— – Véronique Dallaire
Speaking of “mismanagement”, the elected official opposition held the mayor responsible for citizen discontent and “polarization”. “He didn’t keep his promises. It has created expectations among citizens and there, we find ourselves faced with a duality: between the citizens who use this wooded area and various important economic players for the city of Quebec.
“No development” allowed
These remarks made the municipal councilor of Loretteville—Les Châtels, Marie-Josée Asselin, jump. In defense of her boss, she appeared “flabbergasted” at the comments from the other side of the room.
“If we had not been elected, the Boisé des Châtels, as we speak, would no longer exist. The promise we made was to protect that sector. I would like Ms. Dallaire to tell us what has been built on the Espace Innovation Chauveau site since the election, how many trees have been cut and how many wetlands have been destroyed? The answer is no,” she replied.
While it is true that the City of Quebec cannot intervene to prevent a private owner from taking over the rights to his land, admits Ms. Asselin, the fact remains that the Marchand administration has not yet issued any permit to authorize a development in the forest.
“The fact of having fenced this sector does not give a zoning permit or a permit to fell trees or a permit to destroy wetlands,” she explains. Currently, there is absolutely nothing developed on that ground, so to say that we have not kept our promises and that we have boasted in the campaign on this ground by saying that we were going to protect it and that we did not do it, if there is a team that was able to protect it, it is ours, ”insists the elected official of the mayor’s team.
While saying that she has no intention of backing out of this promise, Ms. Asselin later acknowledged that it is “possible” for development to take place in the sector.
“But if there is anything that is being done, she swears, the promise we make is to keep citizens informed, to participate in public consultations and to get them involved. It is a sector that is magnificent, we are committed to preserving woods and wetlands and that is exactly what we are going to do.
2023-08-30 03:20:32
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