Residents in Montreal's NDG neighbourhood launch class action over flooding response

Pooling water is shown on a street during heavy rain in Montreal, Saturday, October 7, 2023. Environment Canada has issued a rainfall warning for the province. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Foul odours, and moral, material, and psychological damage, in addition to paying premium insurance rates, have led residents in Montreal's Notre-Dame-de-Grace neighbourhood to take the city to court over its response to flooding in July and December.

On July 13, a powerful rainstorm dumped buckets of water (around 85 millimetres of rain) on the city, causing major flooding.

Then, on Dec. 17, another deluge of rain coupled with melting snow left many in the city with water in their basements.

Doran Smith and Ilana Grostern are leading the class action and detail extensive damage to their basements and properties due to flooding and the material and monetary losses to their property, in addition to the stress and anxiety the rain causes.

"On July 13, 2023, Mr. Smith watched with his family as water began to spew through a drain in the basement, pour from the toilet, and bubble up through the bath drain," the court document reads. "The water carried with it a black substance that he was able to identify as sand or dirt. The infiltration paused for a short period of time, but at 6 p.m. picked up again, leaving the entire basement and all contents submersed in at least six inches of water, dirt, and sewer bacteria."

The document goes on to describe the ongoing ordeal the Smiths and other residents encountered during and after the flooding.

The case applies to anyone affected within the area between Cote-Saint-Luc Road and Fielding Street and Coronation Street and Brock Avenue.

Anyone who owns or rents property in that area can join the class action. The court document claims that repeated flooding over several decades has caused residents to "express feelings of anger and sorrow that the Mayor and Borough of Notre-Dame-de-Grace has not taken any significant action to protect them from the flood problems caused by insufficient 'secondary water infrastructure' including storm drains, sewers and catchments in the area and ill-maintained systems."

"They and many of these members experience extreme anxiety every time there is a heavy rain in fear that it will lead to a flooding event," the document reads.

The plaintiffs argue that the city and borough, including borough mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa, displayed "willful blindness, gross negligence, failure to protect citizens’ fundamental rights and failure to inspect, provide and maintain proper drainage system infrastructure."

They accuse the borough of contravening parts of the Environment Quality Act due to the lagging infrastructure, including antiquated storm drains and an ineffective aqueduct.

The suit cites Katahwa's Facebook post in August where she said the "city departments are currently conducting analyses that will continue over the coming months to find solutions to the recurring flooding problems."

"Rather than replace infrastructure, defendants blame climate change, the victims, the Québec government for lack of financing, and making the outlandish claim that such flooding events are exceptional even though they occur every two years," the suit reads. "Defendants also take the position that excess urban development, or over-paving, which has over time dangerously reduced green space, is a cause of urban flooding."

The plaintiffs want necessary infrastructure upgrades within six months and pay owners $15,000 for the first instance of flooding, $30,000 for the second and $45,000 for the third, above and beyond what insurance and government support has paid.

Additional dollar figures are added for increased insurance ($7,000 to $22,000), loss of enjoyment of property ($10,000), and moral damages ($10,000). 

The allegations have not been proven in court and the city has not yet filed a defence.