Montreal election: Plante promises 15 new sports sites, Coderre promises revamped viaduct
Parks and spaces to play and were top of mind for Montreal’s municipal parties Thursday as they continued their election campaigns.
If re-elected, Valerie Plante's Projet Montreal says it plans to turn a minimum of 15 vacant lots into sports fields over the next four years.
The party said it will invest $3.3 million during its next mandate to transform underused spaces, mainly owned by the city, into playgrounds where hundreds of children, teens and adults can do physical activity.
"Sport is a powerful tool for inclusion and promotes physical and psychological health,” said Plante.
“These transitional facilities will improve the quality of life in the neighbourhoods where they will be built. They will also allow quickly provide Montrealers with places to exercise and meet each other.”
The lots will be developed into basketball courts, soccer fields and floor-hockey spaces, among others. Three sports sites will be built in the first year, followed by four in the following three years.
“Every time I go to doors, young families, they tell me that we don't have enough space for the youth to play basketball, soccer,” said Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce mayoral candidate Gracia Kasoki Katahwa.
“I hear that every day in the borough. So I'm going to be able to meet that demand.”
Ensemble Montreal plans for Notre-Dame Viaduct
Meanwhile, Ensemble Montreal leader Denis Coderre and his team presented a $10-million development plan for the Notre-Dame Viaduct on Thursday. The project would be completed by 2025, they promised.
The party is proposing to transform the structure into a linear park, calling it “a space for sharing where culture will coexist with innovation.”
The re-imagined greenspace from Berri to Montcalm Street would comprise half a kilometre with a view of downtown, the Old Port and the St. Lawrence River.
“The viaduct, which is currently a block of asphalt, will become an emblematic gateway to Old Montreal," said Coderre.
"This brand new linear park will highlight the history and beauty of the city, improve the urban fabric, provide better access to nature for citizens and open up the area."
The western portion of the viaduct would also include six new commercial spaces.
This is a developing story and will be updated. With files from CTV News Montreal's Iman Kassam.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
An Ontario senior thought he called Geek Squad for help with his printer. Instead, he got scammed out of $25,000
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.