A strong majority (87%) of residents of the census metropolitan area (CMA) of Montreal believe that the Plante administration should consult merchants before adopting significant changes on the commercial street where their establishment is located.
At least that’s what a Léger survey reveals, conducted on behalf of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
“Unilateral decisions can have serious consequences for established businesses, including depriving them of potential customers, causing significant delivery problems and creating possible security issues,” CFIB said.
She believes that before making any decision to pedestrianize a street, the City of Montreal must “talk with the merchants who could be affected and obtain their support with a strong majority.”
The survey data, published Wednesday, shows that this opinion is shared by 81% of residents of the island of Montreal who think that the support of merchants “should be obligatory” to make significant changes on the commercial street where is located their establishment.
Moreover, for 65% of Montreal residents, the Plante administration should not adopt major changes related to commercial streets “before the next elections” which will be held in less than a year.
“In democracy, we must know how to listen to citizens and ensure the social acceptability of the projects put forward, especially among those who will experience the consequences. […] We must also avoid accelerating an agenda that no longer works and wait until after the elections […]. The constructions and the orange cones which are only multiplying in the streets of the metropolis are tensing up entrepreneurs and citizens,” declared François Vincent, vice-president for Quebec at the CFIB.
For more than half of the Montreal CMA residents surveyed (58%), the permanent pedestrianization of streets will not increase the frequency of their trips to the city center.
“For a metropolis to be alive, it must be attractive to those who live there and those who are nearby. […] Continuing what has been put in place on the new section of Sainte-Catherine Ouest, which relies on a concept distinguished by its wide sidewalks and calm traffic, may represent the way forward,” added Mr. Vincent, who believes that the The Plante administration “must go back to the drawing board.”
The survey was conducted among 501 residents of the census metropolitan area (CMA) of Montreal, from December 6 to 8, 2024.
