'We get the crumbs': Montréal-Nord community upset after promised sports centre put on hold
CBC
Montréal-Nord residents are speaking out after a promised sports and recreation centre in the borough was placed on the back burner indefinitely after being left out of the city's budget.
"In the community, a lot of people are tired of [waiting] because it was promised," said Montréal-Nord community activist Sacha-Wilky Merazil.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, the leader of Projet Montréal, vowed to make the construction of a sports facility in the borough a top priority during the 2021 fall election campaign, but no funds were allocated for the project in the city's 2022 budget or its 10-year capital expenditure program (PDI).
Jude-Alain Mathieu, a community group director, says the postponement of the project tells the youth of Montréal-Nord that they are not important.
"It's as if we get the crumbs, we can't be a priority," said the director and co-founder of Nos Jeunes à Cœur, a youth organization in the borough.
Mathieu says the sports centre is a long-term solution for youth who face negative temptations in the borough, particularly amid the spike in gun violence.
He says the longer the project takes, the more youth are put at risk.
"This lack of infrastructure, it really doesn't allow us to create the relationship that we want with the kids," Mathieu said.
The city's budget was adopted during a special city council meeting Thursday, during which Montréal-Nord Mayor Christine Black, a member of the official opposition Ensemble Montréal, pleaded her case for the importance of the facility.
"It's really a symbol for our community that's crying out for help," said Black. Montréal-Nord is one of the poorest and most racially-diverse boroughs on the island of Montreal. Black says its residents are more susceptible to health issues, criminality and dropping out of school.
"Installations like the sports centre are at the heart of the solution," she said.
A CBC data analysis from October 2021 revealed a lack of access to sports and recreational facilities in low-income neighbourhoods in Montreal.
Currently, Montréal-Nord, Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles, Saint-Léonard and Anjou all share one sports centre despite having a combined population of more than 300,000.
Black proposed an amendment to the PDI, which would see $75 million allocated to the construction of the project over the next five years. The Plante administration, which holds the majority of the voting power on city council, rejected the amendment.
