Look to Technoparc for red flags on green spaces
Where do the candidates stand on destruction of key urban wetlands?
As Montrealers get set to vote in this municipal election on Nov. 6 and 7, the Montreal Gazette explores hot-button issues important to voters. In this instalment, Michelle Lalonde looks at the preservation of green spaces.
Katherine Collin stands on a log over the mudflats of Heron Marsh in Montreal's Technoparc, a few metres from a recently filled-in sinkhole caused by the boring of an REM transit tunnel under the marsh.
As she describes the devastating ecological impacts of planned development in this, the last significant intact wetlands on the island, a murmuration of European starlings swirls and dances over our heads. Collin points out a Cooper's hawk which is circling too, trying to pick off a young straggler.
The starlings roost in one of the nearby marshes, says Collin, an avid birder and spokesperson for the conservation group Technoparcoiseaux.
“At night over in the Marais des sources, they come in by the hundreds. So if you're standing there, you can actually feel the rush of wind as these birds come in. It's magnificent to watch. It's really breathtaking. I've seen it several times but it still gets me all choked up.”
This 218-hectare stretch of wetlands, woods and meadows near the Trudeau International Airport happens to be the best birding site on the island and fifth in the province, with 209 different species observed here so far this year alone.
But preserving urban wetlands and green spaces, Collin says, “is not just about saving the birds.”
As if on cue, a Great Egret perched on the other side of the marsh suddenly spreads its white wings and takes flight.
It is also about reducing flooding, countering the urban heat island effect, and providing humans with a chance to commune with nature, something the pandemic has taught us to value, she says.
If climate change is the single biggest threat to life on this planet, then the preservation of urban green spaces is arguably the most significant action municipal politicians can take to mitigate it.
Yet so far in this municipal campaign, none of the three leading mayoralty candidates have made a clear promise to halt all development in the Technoparc lands.
A recent mayoral debate focused on the future of Mount Royal, but the natural ecosystem in and around the Technoparc is just as precious, says Collin. “It is the size of Mount Royal, constituting one of the last unprotected, sweeping green spaces on the Island of Montreal. It's a very important space that we hope candidates will step up and commit to preserving.”
Environmental groups say preserving the Technoparc lands is a bellwether issue and any mayoral candidate who would allow the destruction of urban wetlands in 2021 does not deserve your vote.
“Montreal has one of the lowest amounts of natural spaces preserved per capita among Canadian cities,” writes the Green Coalition's Patrick Barnard in a newly published book called Montréal: A Citizen's Guide to City Politics.
“For thirty years — until the city's most recent administration — municipal officials have facilitated the destruction of their own natural patrimony. During this time, Canada as a whole lost 90 per cent of its urban wetlands. Montreal is no exception to this despoliation; the attack upon nature in this supposedly `green city' has been merciless.”
He points to a 2019 report that puts Montreal near the bottom of the list of Canadian cities with respect to area of parkland per capita, with only 2.4 hectares per 1,000 people.
The federal government controls about 70 per cent of the land in question. It has leased 158 undeveloped hectares to the Aéroports de Montréal (ADM). In 2019, the ADM committed to preserving 19 of its hectares, but the federal government has made no move to formalize that designation.
The other third, the 60-hectare Technoparc, is under municipal control and zoned for development. According to a 2016 plan, the city wants “green-tech” companies to establish themselves here, with just 10 hectares preserved as the Parc-nature des Sources.
TECHNOPARC LANDS
Collin says this idea of preserving little slices of this “wetland mosaic” of marshes, meadows and forests, and calling that conservation, is outdated. Ecosystems like this cannot thrive when surrounded by buildings and parking lots.
“Cutting into any one section is to diminish the whole. It's death by a thousand paper cuts.”
Asked about the issue at a recent debate, Projet Montréal's Valerie Plante said she has been in negotiations with the federal government about the land it controls. Her party is dedicated to “doing everything we can to save every single piece of land that is important.” When asked if that means she would protect all the lands the city controls if re-elected, she said, “Yes, we do own a few pieces there. That's the goal, working with the federal government. That's what we want to do.”
Coderre quipped that Plante hadn't answered the question, but when his turn came, he was far less committal.
“There is a reality of the Technoparc and the REM. There is a situation where some of the lands belong to the agglo (agglomeration) and some to the federal level. We need to discuss about that.” He went on to say that during the federal election campaign, he asked federal candidates to protect a field on the federal lands, a feeding ground for Monarch butterflies.
Movement Montreal's Balarama Holness acknowledged the value of the Technoparc lands. “We want to maintain the ecological integrity of what is there,” he said. “That is the second green lung of the city of Montreal (after Mount Royal) and it is critical to reversing climate change.” But his party's platform says nothing concrete about protecting the Technoparc — only a general promise to “invest in green spaces ... especially in underprivileged neighbourhoods.”
Only Projet Montréal's platform mentions the Technoparc lands by name, promising to “protect the biodiversity in the Technoparc sector by expanding the Parc-nature des Sources and by demanding that the federal government protect the Monarch Fields.” It provides no details about how much land they would protect.
Plante does have a proven track record on green space preservation. In 2019, she announced the Grand parc de l'ouest, a plan to preserve more than 3,000 hectares in the western end of Montreal Island. It will be the largest municipal park in Canada. And recently, she announced plans to create another “Grand Parc” in the east, enlarge Bois d'anjou Nature Park, preserve a golf course in Anjou and create a green corridor in Mercier—hochelaga-maisonneuve.
Plante has also been recognized nationally for her leadership on climate change, with an ambitious climate plan unveiled last year and concrete steps to reduce carbon emissions — from buying electric buses to opening pedestrian streets to improving the city's bike path network.
Coderre's Ensemble Montreal lists only two items in its platform under the section titled A Durable and Green City: “No more streets without trees in Montreal” and “to continue to work on the recognition of Mount Royal as a World Heritage Site.” He also recently promised a new taxing scheme to encourage greener parking lots.
In contrast to Plante's Parc de l'est idea, Ensemble Montreal wants to make Montreal's east end “Quebec's green Silicon Valley.” The platform promises to “make the east a hub of ecological businesses, green startups and eco-responsible homes, based on social and circular economy.”
Barnard notes that over Coderre's four years as mayor, the city conserved only 61 hectares of land. By creating the Parc de l'ouest alone, the Plante administration committed to 1,600 newly protected hectares.
Meanwhile, Collin hopes Montrealers will push whomever wins on Nov. 7 to stop development on the Technoparc lands. While the REM station is a done deal, she would like to see further development restricted to observation towers, some trails and perhaps an interpretation centre.
“How great would it be to get out at a REM stop and be able to go on a nature walk?” she says.