Commentaire 16 (Le 12 septembre 2022) – commentaires et rétroaction

Thomas Boushel

My wife, Lyna Gelinas Boushel and I are both senior citizens living at 1280 rue St. Marc, in the area commonly known as Shaughnessy Village in the Peter McGill District of the Ville-Marie Burrough. I was born in Montreal and have lived and worked in Montreal for most of my 75 years. My wife and I are retired business executives who have been on many Not-for-Profit boards over the past 38 years, including charitable and representative organizations. Our service has brought us into contact with thousands of citizens, many of whom reside in our riding. This experience leads us to believe that our opinions are germane and pertinent to this hearing and should be seriously considered.

Historical Facts about the two communities that are being separated from the VMLSOIDS riding:

1. The Golden Square Mile: The area between Cote-des-Neiges on the West, Mountain on the East, Sherbrooke on the South and Mount Royal on the North. This area contains the community that housed the industrialists who developed the industries that created the Country of Canada that we know today. It will be divided from the heart of its supporting community which has always been at the heart of Ville-Marie and more importantly has had no daily contact with Outremont over the past 170 years. Mount Royal, and its massive preponderant physical boundary, has effectively blocked most, if not all, interaction between these diverse and distinct communities.
2. Shaughnessy Village: The area between Atwater on the West and Guy on the East, Rene Levesque on the South and Sherbrooke on the North. This area created between 1850's and 1910, was originally the home to the engineers and other managers and executives who designed and built the railroads, bridges, canals and transit systems that made Montreal the industrial capital of Canada from the 1850's to the 1950's. This distinct community has always been attached to Ville Marie and the Golden Square Mile and never to Westmount.

Current Community Facts:

1. These two distinct communities are today home to a very diverse group of Quebecers whose attachments are now to Concordia and McGill Universities with their over 100,000 students, faculty and employees and with the myriad of corporations and professional firms which call Ville Marie their home.
2. It will split Concordia's main downtown campus into two different federal ridings.
3. These proposed divisions will cause many of our organizations to have to make any federal funding proposals through more than one riding office. This will cause long-term disruption.
4. This will divide Peter McGill District into three distinct federal ridings.
5. The loss of voting polls on the Concordia Campus will affect all voters, but especially seniors who may decide not to vote due to lack of accessibility.

Trying to communicate with community groups, such as Students, Seniors and Families is hard enough as it is, but now you will be splitting up many of our current community groups and institutions into two or three different federal ridings, making an already difficult job of communications almost impossible. This will cause many more difficulties with Seniors receiving federal programs and their relationship with their federal riding.

This will lead to even further divisions within our riding's existing community groups which have been in existence for many decades and in some cases for over 150 years.

We would suggest that you give the Old Montreal portion of our riding back to Laurier-Sainte-Marie Riding where it has historically belonged until the recent redistribution. This would leave the rest of our riding, including Ile-des-Soeurs, The Golden Square Mile and Shaughnessy Village where they belong with Ville Marie in the heart and hub of Montreal.

Thank you for your consideration of these facts and suggestions and for this opportunity to present.