Mayoral candidates spar over Blue Bonnets development and who can get it done
On the municipal campaign Tuesday, Projet Montreal was promising to finally get started on the development of the old Blue Bonnets racetrack.
It’s a project that has seen more than a decade of delays in the Cote-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grace borough.
The former Blue Bonnets site, known as Namur-Hippodrome, has been sitting empty for over a decade, waiting for a major redevelopment to get off the ground.
Incumbent mayoral candidate Valerie Plante says a large carbon-neutral community will be built there in the coming years if she's re-elected.
“What we're saying this morning is that now we're ready to move forward,” she said. “We will be able to say to developers by 2023, ‘Here's the land.”
If it sounds familiar, that's because the idea of a development been on the back burner or a very long time – and was first announced by Denis Coderre in 2017.
When Plante was elected, she launched public consultations and overhauled the project to make it carbon-neutral.
The new blueprint calls for 7,500 housing units, 2,000 of them subsidized and an additional 2,000 affordable units.
Like her main rival, Plante said she too would cover a portion of the Decarie Expressway around Jean-Talon Boulevard to improve access to Namur metro station.
She also promises that Cavendish Boulevard will now be connected between Cote St-Luc and the borough of St-Laurent, a project first announced in the early 1970s.
“The original project was not satisfying. It was not based on today's needs, which means leaving place for cars, leaving place for public transit,” she said. “It has to be very present and active.”
Coderre says Plante has done nothing to advance the project during her four years in power.
“They had the opportunity,” he said on the campaign trail Tuesday.
Coderre's candidate for mayor of the borough, Lionel Perez, said if Ensemble Montreal takes back city hall, the project will go ahead, but will just be less ambitious. The land would remain in city's hands.
“Projet Montreal has been negligent for the last four years and now they’re promising the world because it's an election year,” he said.
Either way, both parties are saying the project will go ahead, with the developers pitching their proposals for housing by 2023 at the latest.
The municipal election is on Nov. 7.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW From yearning for a change to cost of living, why some Canadians have left or may leave the country
For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
NEW Capital gains tax change 'shortsighted' and 'sows division' business groups tell Freeland
Forging ahead with increasing Canada's capital gains inclusion rate 'sows division,' and is a 'shortsighted' way to improve the deficit, business groups are warning Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Here are the ultraprocessed foods you most need to avoid, according to a 30-year study
Studies have shown that ultraprocessed foods can have a detrimental impact on health. But 30 years of research show they don’t all have the same impact.
Documents reveal Canada praised Haitian sanctioned over alleged gangland connections
A Canadian diplomat and an RCMP officer heaped praise and gratitude on a sanctioned Haitian businessman that Global Affairs accuses of gangland connections, after he allowed a helicopter airlift of Canadian citizens and police at his luxury golf course last month, emails provided by his lawyers suggest.
Blind Sask. boy heading to international braille competition hopes to increase accessibility for visually impaired
A Saskatchewan boy who qualified for an international braille competition in Los Angeles next month hopes he can inspire change in his home province.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Minister said 'hundreds' of Canadians might use Gaza visa. More than 7,500 applied.
An immigration lawyer in Toronto says new figures from the federal government show just how 'grudging' Ottawa's efforts have been to rescue Canadians' family members from the war in the Gaza Strip.
Canucks claw out 5-4 comeback win over Oilers in Game 1
Dakota Joshua had a goal and two assists and the Vancouver Canucks scored three third-period goals to claw out a 5-4 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Wednesday.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.