Eco-activism in the 'hood

>> City hall says Snowdon's Éco-Quartier hasn't been up to snuff. Residents say it's the city's Éco-Quartier program that stinks

by DOMINIQUE RITTER

Snowdon is not the prettiest neighbourhood in Montreal. The west-end district is divided by the Décarie expressway and marked by empty storefronts and economic hard times. To put it plainly, the BMWs and Mercedes are just passing through and, for the most part, they travel at high speeds and pay little heed to crosswalks or stop signs. Traffic congestion, garbage and dogshit plague the area. Snowdon does not lack for refuse or exhaust fumes.

If there's a Montreal neighbourhood that needs some community ecological initiatives, it's Snowdon. Why, then, did the district's community ecological group--Snowdon's municipally funded Éco-Quartier--have its contract revoked by the city of Montreal at the end of last year?

According to the city of Montreal's public works department, the closing was a management decision. "I can't say that much about it," said Patrick Martel, an agent with the department. "An evaluation of its activities was done and it wasn't enough to satisfy the city." So until a public appeal for proposals is held sometime this spring, the district will have to wait to learn the fate of their Éco-Quartier.

Local activists, however, claim that the Éco-Quartier didn't do much good to begin with. "They don't address important ecological issues. They don't address air pollution, water pollution or soil contamination," said Jeremy Wallace of the Snowdon Ecological Action League (SEAL), a group of local activists who will be setting up their own organization on Queen Mary Road.

Wallace is echoing an increasingly common sentiment: residents and activists are wondering aloud whether the Éco-Quartier program is doing its job.

Bourque's eco-baby

The Éco-Quartier program was Mayor Pierre Bourque's brainchild back in 1995, and has been his claim to environmental correctness ever since. The program was designed to provide financial support for residents willing to get together on environmental and beautification projects in their neighbourhoods. By 1997, each of the city's 51 electoral districts had its own Éco-Quartier, and the total annual bill came to $2.5 million.

Éco-Quartier projects have, for the most part, undertaken tree planting, street and park cleaning, pet hygiene instruction (i.e. poop-scooping how-tos) and recycling promotion. But the mandate of the Éco-Quartier is vague at best.

"Generally, the mandate is to inform and sensitize the public to issues such as recycling, clean-ups and greening," says Martel, adding that, over the past two years, there has been "much more recycling."

But Snowdon's city councillor, veteran opposition rabble-rouser Marvin Rotrand, is critical of the entire program.

"The Éco-Quartier program has not been successful if it is judged by the percentage of waste going into recycling," Rotrand says. He estimates that the percentage of Toronto's recycled waste is roughly double that of Montreal's. His criticisms also include the contract Montreal has with the recyclable waste disposal company (in which the city does not benefit from jumps in the sale price of recyclable waste), as well as prior allegations of favouritism and corruption in the awarding of Éco-Quartier contracts.

Ultimately, laments Rotrand, "Éco-Quartier has done very little in terms of new, innovative projects. Some of them have accomplished quite a lot, like the NDG branch, but overall accomplishments have been very uneven."

Poop fumes and traffic fumes

In Snowdon, for instance, community outreach--arguably the most important function of the Éco-Quartier--was at a minimum. Stores located within feet of its office were unaware of its existence, and the group failed to ever galvanize real community support for ecological initiatives.

According to SEAL's Wallace, the Éco-Quartier mandate is wholly inadequate to deal with Snowdon's problems, which he says stem from the area's heavy traffic. "The police harass pet owners and get them to stoop and scoop. Sure it smells of shit come spring, but what about what we can't smell, like carbon monoxide?"

According to Wallace, SEAL will be more than just a stand-in for the Éco-Quartier. They plan to contact local businesses and encourage them to recycle. Come spring, they want to hold street and park clean-ups, and they will spearhead various lobby campaigns.

"Our role is that of a catalyst. We want to bring people together and let it steamroll from there," says Wallace. "If the city does set up a new storefront Éco-Quartier come spring, then we would like to perhaps be involved in it."

For Rotrand, such a partnership wouldn't be a bad idea. "The city would be better off supporting existing community groups to deal with ecological problems. But clearly Bourque's commitment to the environment has only taken the form of lip service."