A Montreal snow plow contractor will be fined after it made a mess of a residential street in Point St. Charles, leaving dozens of garbage cans strewn about after the recent snowfall.

Residents on Congregation St. woke up Tuesday morning to find the trash spilled all over the road.

“It was right after the holidays,” said one resident. “Everyone had a lot of garbage. There was all kinds of stuff in there.”

The company responsible, Les Pavages d'Amour, is on the first of a five-year contract with the Southwest borough, and already has another mark on its record.

Just a few weeks ago the same company was caught destroying a bike chained to a poll in Griffintown.

City councillor Craig Sauve said the company’s actions are unacceptable.

“We’re not going to be tolerant with this kind of misbehaviour by the company,” he said. “They have to have to respect the rules. They have to respect public and private property and we’ve caught them many times not doing so.”

Les Pavages d'Amour was awarded the contract when council voted in June because it offered the lowest bid.

Some residents said they got what they paid for.

“In my opinion when you just go and look at the cheapest rate maybe you will get the cheapest answer,” said Yvon Savoie, who has lived in Point St. Charles his whole life.

He said he thinks the city should be the only one in charge of snow removal.

“I don’t know if another company would be better but I remember in my childhood it was done by the city and it was done properly,” he said.

The Southwest borough has been contracting out snow removal for decades, and said this year is the first time it's been a problem.

“Our blue collars who do the other district, they manage to take care of the snow removal very effectively. This company, it's their first year on the contract with us, have had problems already,” said Sauve, adding that there needs to be a balance between being effective and considerate.

“Obviously there is pressure to get things done quickly but things have to be done well and you know, knocking down trees and going through garbage heaps has never been a good practice in Montreal,” he said.

Les Pavages d’Amour isn’t commenting on the incidents, but has met with local officials.