Deros and Lavoie promise a new dog park in Parc-Extension
The borough team for Ensemble Montréal announced on Tuesday that if elected they would build two more dog parks in the borough, one in Saint-Michel and the other in Parc-Extension.
The announcement was made from the south end of Howard Park, by borough mayoral candidate Guillaume Lavoie, Parc-Extension City Councillor Mary Deros and Saint-Michel City Councilor Josué Corvil.
“Under our administration, we will build two new dog parks,” said Lavoie, adding that they would be built both “here around Howard Park and one in Saint-Michel around George-Vernot Park.” They also promise to upgrade those already in Jarry and Villeray park.
Lavoie said this was meant to accommodate the large number of dogs and dog owners in the north of Parc-Extension. Currently, the only place in the area with a dog park is at the south end of Jarry Park on Gary-Carter.
“In the whole city of Montreal, we have more than 50 dog parks, but here, we are doing poorly with only two locations,”
Updated facilities
“In the whole city of Montreal, we have more than 50 dog parks, but here, we are doing poorly with only two locations,” added Lavoie. They said the new parks would be built according to best practices in the industry.
This would include separate sections for small and large dogs and the installation of shaded areas, berms and drinking troughs. The borough would also encourage the establishment of a volunteer committee at each dog park and provide professional dog training every year.
“For me to have a dog park and Parc-Ex is a very welcome project. We have a lot of dogs in the area,” added City Councilor Mary Deros, explaining that numbers had ballooned since the start of the pandemic as many had bought or adopted dogs for companionship.
“We want citizens to have dog parks that are enjoyable for both owners and dogs,” added Parc-Extension City Councillor candidate Mary Deros.
Jarry park refurbishment plan
Although the plan also promises to update and upgrade existing dog parks, the Plan d’aménagement du parc Jarry already outlined that the dog park there would be moved and upgraded.
After several months of consultation with citizens through the city’s Réalisons Montréal online platform, the plan outlined that the dog park would be moved to the north end of the park, as many residents on Gary-Carter had been complaining about the noise. There is still no indication as to when this change will be put forward.
Both Lavoie and Deros said that the consultation process on Jarry Parc had not properly taken into account the needs of citizens and tried to “shortcut or circumvent proper consultation,” said Lavoie.
The plan for Jarry Park and the moving of the dog park was nonetheless produced after the public consultation process involving citizens in multiple public consultations, surveys, round tables and information sessions throughout the summer. Some people still feel that the process was not participative enough.
“With COVID and the pandemic pets have been a very good way to keeping good mental health for a lot of our citizens,” added Lavoie, explaining that “we need proper infrastructure as we as well as parks for people to exercise and we need dog parks in order to have better cohabitation.”
