Decisions, decisions…

Published by Karim | Filed under Uncategorized

This weekend the Tremblay administration promised $21 M a year over the next four years for park improvement, protection and wireless internet service. I won’t get into how ironic I find it that this promise was also made in 2005, only to be “revised” after the election (actually, funding to parks was cut by $100 M over the past 4 years)……but I digress.

Parks enhance the quality of life in a neighbourhood; people like to have a place to congregate, and the green agora is an ideal place for people to play and mingle. They are among the factors that attract and help retain families in a particular area. If we want to attract people and their families live in one of our Peter-McGill neighbourhoods, then we need to increase the number and quality of our public parks.

Percy-Walters Park is one of the few parks in Peter-McGill. Budget cuts have resulted in little maintenance and even less improvement to this beautiful green space. For years, it had been used, primarily, as an open green space where dog owners brought their four-legged friends to run free and get some exercise.

Two important points to mention at this time:
1- Montreal by-law requires dogs to be on a leash at all times in public places (parks included), unless they are in a designated dog-run.
2- In recent years, and to their credit, many of the dog owners banded together to create an association (Les Amis du Parc Percy-Walters) that would ensure the cleanliness and upkeep of the park.

At the beginning of my first term, I was approached by a number of individuals, living in close proximity to the park, asking for “more access to the park”. They wanted the park divided into “dog-free” and “dog-friendly” zones so as to ensure a quiet area free of dogs running all around.

After some research I discovered that Mr. Percy Walters had donated the land, which was once his estate, to the City of Montreal so that it may be used for “children and their companions”. I also discovered that many people had laid claim to this park in previous years and had asked my political predecessors to resolve the “whose park is this?” issue. Unfortunately, one councillor after another passed this hot potato to his or her successor; I was not about to do the same.

My objective was to find a win-win solution for all who love and frequent the park. I wanted to find a way to ensure everyone had better access to the 70,000 sq. ft. piece of land on Dr. Penfield.

To ensure safety, I wanted an enclosed play area for children that would also include a shaded picnic area for families. I also wanted to convert part of the park into an official dog run, allowing dog owners the opportunity to run their dogs free, all year round.

I was quite confident that my plan for the park would be met with enthusiasm by both groups of users. I was wrong. In fact, at the outset, neither group was particularly thrilled at all with my plan. Dog owners felt that they were losing space that they used to occupy and parents felt that they didn’t have enough space for their children. On some level, both groups were right, but I believed that this resistance was more about adapting to change than about the “me-myself-and-I factor”.

Months of discussion ensued and thanks to the respectful and patient approach of Ville-Marie’s Assistant Director, Michel Pinard, who championed the administrative aspects of this pilot project, new plans for the park began to take shape.

Convinced that we were going in the right direction, I asked for the park to be divided into two sections; the first, a traditional park for children complete with sandbox and a small play structure (dogs would still have access, as long as they were on a leash), and I pushed to change the status of the second part of the park to a legitimate public dog run.

I don’t regret my decision to not pass the buck to my potential successor, I don’t regret giving children and families a new place to congregate and I certainly don’t regret the decision to legitimize dogs running off leash in a large section of the park.

In my next term, I want to finish the work that was started; the park needs a nicer fence, French drains need to be installed to handle the run-off every spring, community message boards need to be installed, garbage cans and benches need to be replaced with newer models, and the list goes on.

Ironically, many people have told me openly that they will not vote for me in the upcoming election simply because of this decision - and that’s ok.

What I have learned is that some people would rather not make a decision so as to avoid ever making a bad decision.

I would rather be criticized for my actions than praised for my inaction.

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