Boyer imagines the city of tomorrow as “a network of dense and interconnected neighbourhoods”, which will promote walking and cycling, and whose human relations “give back a sense of community to urban centres”.

Taking advantage of his years of experience in politics, two terms as a municipal councillor, and currently the mayor of Laval, Boyer offers some possible solutions to prevent the expansion of large cities.

These are in an “era where the sense of community is eroding, where cities must meet a growing number of needs, and where climate change is forcing us to rethink the ways of doing things”, informs a press release.

Let’s note that in 2016, Stéphane Boyer won the contest of Personnalité de la relève municipale de l’Union des municipalités du Québec. (J.B./IJL)

translated by Alec Brideau

L’article Stéphane Boyer Publishes an Essay est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

The revitalization of the Old Penitentiary of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul and the extension of Saint-Martin Boulevard are at the centre of that agreement concluded on April 29 between the Mouvement lavallois, Équipe Stéphane Boyer and Action Laval.

“It’s a pleasure to work on realizing major projects in a spirit of collaboration,” Boyer said in a joint press release. “I’m sure that by speaking with one voice, those priority projects will progress more easily, and above all, more quickly.”

Re-elected last November under the banner of Action Laval, The municipal councillor of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, Paolo Galati, agrees. Galati had made the redevelopment of the Old Pen an electoral key point last fall. “By collaborating with the mayor, we are sending a strong message to the federal government to go forward with this project,” he said.

Working Committee

The Boyer administration and Action Laval agree on the importance of creating a technical working committee. Its mandate would be to establish a common vision and a work plan to ensure the preservation and enhancement of this federal establishment, abandoned since 1989. The idea was also discussed during the first tête-à-tête between Boyer and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, last April 13.

“However, it is a real heritage gem that would have the necessary potential to accommodate a mix of functions, and highlight Laval’s history,” Boyer and Galati agree. They’re also reminding that “this building has been deteriorating for several decades”. Ironically, the Vieux-Pen, built in 1873, was designated a national historic site of Canada the year after it closed in 1990.

If Boyer’s team has been dreaming for years of seeing an educational, cultural or touristic project set up there, Galati and Action Laval were instead suggesting, during the last election campaign, to group residential, commercial and industrial activities. Whatever the chosen project, the common objective is to give a second life to the establishment, while bringing new life into the sector.

Extension of Saint-Martin

The extension of Boulevard Saint-Martin also grabs the attention of this cross-party agreement.

Action Laval thus follows the Boyer administration, wishing to establish a new road link to the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul and Saint-François districts, two electoral districts represented on the municipal council by this opposition group led by Achille Cifelli, also a councillor in Val-des-Arbres. Together, they will combine their efforts to ask Quebec’s government to commit to funding “the establishment of a mode of transport [in common] structuring on this major highway for Lavalloises and Lavallois”.

This new management style illustrates well the comments made by Boyer the day following his election last November, he who had clearly signified his willing to reach out to the elected chiefs of the opposition and to establish “a better climate at the city council”.

An unusual practice to say the least, coming from an administration with a large majority at the council table, and which clashes with what municipal politics in Laval had accustomed us to.

translated by Alec Brideau

L’article Common Front to Revitalize the Vieux-Pen est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

“It’s a pleasure to work with him,” Legault said from the start of an interview with the Courrier Laval  last May.

While touring the regions, he was received at Laval’s City Hall by Boyer. It was a first official meeting, where the two men discussed on what they considered to be the priority files on the agenda of the municipal administration.

“On big issues, we get along perfectly; we’re at the same place,” Legault said, who “continues to work hand in hand” with the mayor of the third largest city in Quebec.

A feeling shared by Boyer, who said via press release that he had “great ambitions for Laval, and [is] happy to see the Prime Minister share [his] vision”.

“We’ll continue our great collaboration to work on important files for Laval residents, such as the development of structuring transportation, the fight against climate change, and accessibility to affordable housing,” Boyer said in the press release.

As for the expectations in order to stop the housing crisis, the Prime Minister said “there are more than a billion available since two years, but we can’t manage to build those housing”, which is a sign that Quebec, municipalities and the Société d’habitation du Québec need “to work better together”.

Environment

Marc Demers’s successor has committed to investing $100 million over four years for the acquisition, protection and enhancement of natural environments.

“We want to present a global plan to reduce GHGs [greenhouse gases], and I’d like the Government of Quebec to finance part of the plan like it did for Montreal,” Boyer declares while referring to the $117 million envelope paid earlier this spring to the Plante administration to enable it to execute its Climate Plan.

The Laval strategy would target, in part, the preservation of biodiversity and natural environments through acquisition and the continued electrification of the municipal vehicle fleet.

“The government has just issued a call for tenders in order to purchase 88 electric buses in Laval,” the Prime Minister didn’t fail to remind, for whom the environmental protection also involves public transport and the electrification of bus fleets.

Fight Against Gun Violence

In terms of public security, Boyer reiterated his full collaboration to Legault for the implementation of programs and new initiatives aimed at preventing violence in Laval.

“Everything we can do, we will,” he said, while pointing out at the twenty arrests and a series of searches that have taken place in Laval those past months. “We’ve doubled the size of the investigation team affected to organized crime and firearms [trafficking].

Thirteen new resources have been hired since last summer through allocated budgets from the two levels of government.

Culture

Although the case of the Grande bibliothèque and Centre de création artistique professionnelle hasn’t been discussed during the meeting, Legault confirms that the project is clearly registered in the Plan québécois des infrastructures (PQI).

In July 2020, during a virtual forum organized by Laval’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Minister of Finance, Éric Girard, mentioned the government’s interest in investing in this infrastructure project estimated at around $100 million.

“In April, we submitted the functional and technical plan; we’re asking the government to invest a considerable part in this cultural infrastructure project, involving 15 Laval organizations,” Boyer said.

Considering that Laval has always suffered from chronic underfunding compared to the province’s other regions, it could very well ask Quebec to pay half of the bill.

translated by Alec Brideau

L’article A Good First Meeting between François Legault and Stéphane Boyer est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.