Park Ex residents call for borough to do more to curb trash overflow
It's a stinky situation in Montreal's Park Extension neighbourhood, where residents say the garbage problem has gotten out of control.
Roberto Reginato has lived in Park Ex for over 50 years. He said large piles of garbage on the curb are a common sight.
"We've got recycling here, we've got paint products that look like they were used 20 years ago, we got clothes," said Reginato, gesturing to a heap of trash while taking CTV News on a tour of the neighbourhood. "I don't even want to get close to it."
Reginato believes the borough isn't moving fast enough to clear the trash piles.
"This what I wake up to in the morning, this is what I see every day," he lamented.
LISTEN ON CJAD 800 RADIO: Parc-Ex stinks… literally
It's gotten worse since the borough changed garbage pickup to just one a week for buildings with under eight units in 2018, he explained.
These days, garbage piles are common on-and-off public property, say residents, which has led to another issue.
"There's rats. I don't know how many there are, but there are rats," said Reginato.
Resident Connie Buccheri said the garbage attracts all kinds of pests.
"There's rodents, there's skunks, there's racoons, but especially the rats and the mice all over the place," she said. "Garbage brings in rodents. So you get rid of the garbage, you get rid of the rodents."
"I feel Park Ex is being neglected," said Buccheri. "And that is unacceptable."
They want the borough to do more to clean up the streets by better-informing residents on waste management and more frequent garbage pickup.
LISTEN ON CJAD 800 RADIO: Picking up the trash in Park Extension
But the borough says now is the time to cut down on waste altogether.
"It's not true that if there is a problem here, we're just going to [add] more collection [days] and forget that we are in a climate crisis, and that we have to divert from the landfill," said Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension Mayor Laurence Lavigne Lalonde.
On Monday, the borough launched a neighbourhood cleanup "blitz" to get existing garbage pileup under control.
Information teams are also being dispatched to knock on doors and educate people on proper waste management, including how to seperate garbage from recycling and compost.
Signs reminding people to keep the area clean have gone up around the neighbourhood, and fines have been boosted to $4,000.
"I really do think that people here in Park Extension, they can understand how it works like every other borough," said Lavigne Lalonde.
"They are people that live here, participate in community activities; they are as brilliant as in other places, so we just have to make sure that information gets to people."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.