Pierre-Luc Lachance, vice-president of the city’s executive committee, must be the only one in town who has not noticed the extent to which the Saint-Roch district, revitalized at great expense and the legacy of Mayor Jean-Paul L’ Allier is going through a serious crisis.
Municipal councilor of Saint-Roch–Saint-Sauveur, Mr. Lachance was stung by a column that I wrote last week, where I reported in particular the cry from the heart of a long-time shopkeeper on rue Saint -Joseph.
Saddened, the latter, owner of Champagne Chocolatier, wants a change of direction and hopes, with good reason, for more rapid action. The subject came up again at the municipal council on Tuesday. The oppositions called for solutions to be put in place and echoed my call for mobilization.
I have also received numerous reactions to this paper, where concerned citizens also want more effective solutions.
Small politics
However, instead of agreeing on the urgency of the situation and informing the population of the solutions envisaged, the mayor’s right-hand man Bruno Marchand decided to respond by preferring to play petty politics.
“I don’t care at all about Karine Gagnon’s opinion,” said Pierre-Luc Lachance in a reaction that was as childish as it was unworthy of his duties. He was thus responding to a citizen during a neighborhood council, which was reported by the media Monsaintroch.
The citizen was also worried about the state of Saint-Roch, and had to bring Mr. Lachance back to order. Because the latter, you see, chose to put on his rose-colored glasses. He did it again at the municipal council, calling for beauty to be seen in the neighborhood.
-Afterwards, we should not be surprised that this Saint-Roch, which we love and which we should take much more care of, is literally dying.
Insufficient efforts
I applaud the efforts of the Marchand administration in the fight against homelessness, a phenomenon which affects the Saint-Roch district and which causes enormous suffering.
In the 2025 budget, the mayor announced on Wednesday a budget of $4.7 million, double the previous year. We could also hope that Quebec would obtain more from the Quebec government, but failing to achieve this, the City is doubling down.
However, it will take much more than this effort to get downtown Quebec back on track.
The Marchand administration may well emphasize its efforts, but it must also take note that they are clearly insufficient. You only need to walk around the area for a few minutes to see it. But to see reality head on, Mr. Lachance would first have to take off his rose-colored glasses.
And also that he shows a little compassion for the traders and residents who are suffering from the desperate situation we are seeing there.
