'Ghost shoes' memorialize pedestrian struck and killed in Montreal

The group behind Montreal's numerous "Ghost Bike" memorials installed its first pair of "ghost shoes" Sunday in memory of Fabienne Houde-Bastien.

On May 21, 2023, 31-year-old Houde-Bastien was struck and killed by a driver who was allegedly impaired and speeding at the corner of Saint-Laurent Blvd. and Jean-Talon St.

On Sunday, with her family in attendance, the group Vélo fantôme placed a pair of white shoes there.

"No one should lose their life because they choose to walk home," said Jean-Francois Rheault, President and Director-General of Velo-Quebec.

Sunday's installation marks the 23rd memorial of its kind done by the group.

According to Vélo fantôme, 79 pedestrians were killed on Quebec roads last year, an increase of 44% from the year before.

"There has been such an explosion in pedestrian casualties in the last 10 years, not just in quebec but in the United States and Canada as well, as vehicles get wider and wider, and as people have less and less patience," said Murphy-Perron.

He wants the city to install traffic-calming measures at the intersection where Houde-Bastien was hit.

"St. Laurent and Jean-Talon are both super wide," he said. "That allows motorists to travel very fast."

The driver that hit Houde-Bastien allegedly had a blood-alcohol level three times higher than the legal limit.

"We're obviously calling for Quebec to meet the standards of the rest of Canada. Quebec is the only place in Canada where the threshold is .08, as opposed to .05."

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MNA Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois says that discrepancy should be open for discussion.

"Very important people in Québec recommend that we open that debate. It's sad that the Minister Guilbault has shut the door as quickly as she did," he said.

"Tragedies, like this one here, should not happen in Montreal in 2023."

"We have to work together when it comes to this issue, so things like this don't happen again," said Ensemble Montreal member Alba Zuniga Ramos.