CTV News: Côte Saint-Luc calls on federal government to protect land north of airport
Channel: City of Côte Saint-Luc
Date: 2022-07-19

A CTV Montreal news report about call from the City of Côte Saint-Luc to the Government of Canada to recognize and acknowledge the ecological value and biodiversity of federal land north of Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau International Airport, require the Aéroport de Montréal (ADM)—which leases the land—to halt all and any development, and conserve these lands for a National Urban Park in the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM) like the Rouge National Park in Ontario. The creation of these Urban National Parks was mandated by the Prime Minister of Canada in December 2021.

The municipal council of the City of Côte Saint-Luc adopted Resolution 220722 to this effect on Monday, July 11, 2022. The title of the resolution is: Resolution Requesting the Federal Government Collaborate with the Cities of Montreal and Dorval to Preserve and Protect Federal Lands North of Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau International Airport, in the Areas Known as the Technoparc and Golf Dorval. The full text of the resolution is available at www.CoteSaintLuc.org/resolutions. Watch the reading from the City Council meeting.

The area north of the Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau International Airport there is an invaluable integrated 215-hectare wetland ecosystem consisting of fields, forests, and marshes. The land is owned by the Government of Canada and leased to the Airport de Montreal (ADM). This integrated wetland ecosystem includes the ecologically important Monarch butterfly fields (Champ des monarques) used by the Monarchs to feed and reproduce during their migration to and from Montreal, a city that has been named a Monarch Gold metropolis. Unfortunately, in the last weeks, the ADM mowed the butterfly fields and damaged 19 hectares of habitat which is equivalent to 2 M square feet or 35 football fields. This further added to the threats of fragmentation and destruction of the whole 215-hectare ecosystem.

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La Ville de Côte Saint-Luc demande au gouvernement du Canada de reconnaître la valeur écologique et la biodiversité des terres appartenant au gouvernement fédéral au nord de l’Aéroport international Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau (ADM) –   qui est locataire des terres- et de cesser immédiatement tout développement et de conserver ces terres afin d’en faire un parc urbain national dans la Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM), tel le parc urbain national de la Rouge en Ontario