Opposition supports Lachine boaters
City hall opposition is supporting boat owners who tie up in Lachine marina, forgetting that a lot of these folks live off-island and won’t even be voting here. Projet wants to turn the marina, which benefits only a relatively small number of people, into a waterside park for all.
Mr.Chinaski 08:30 on 2020-08-26 Permalink
it was clear when the Marina people bought a Lobbyist that they would transform this into a political battle. Lachine is one of those borough in 2017 that had a lot of candidates. It wasn’t just Plante vs Coderre, you also had Dauphin and VCM. So there is a political re-alignment that is starting for next year with such battles.
It’s also a generational situation, all those pro-Marina people, look at them, they are mostly out-of-towners middle-class families or upper-middle-class boomers. They do not represent the young people at all, just look at the age range and demographics of people using SUP’s and Kayaks…
Blork 09:07 on 2020-08-26 Permalink
I have no skin in this game and I don’t give AF about boats or marinas, but it must be noted that the marina is immediately next to an existing gigantic waterside park for all (Parc René-Lévesque). So right now both populations are being served, but if you remove the marina then only one population is being served.
I supposed it looks a bit like if you had a basketball court next to a botanical garden and some people wanted to turn the basketball court into another botanical garden because they don’t like people playing basketball. “But botanical gardens are for all!” (The only difference is the wealth angle, so call this what it is: pitchforks against the wealthy — something I’m not against when it comes to the very wealthy, but most of the boat owners I know are just middle class.)
Chris 09:21 on 2020-08-26 Permalink
Does Montreal even have any other marinas besides this one? We’re an island, it’s pretty normal that some people would have some boats. It’s not like we’re talking super yachts here, many boats are not *that* expensive.
walkerp 09:27 on 2020-08-26 Permalink
More like if you had a private basketball court that only a limited amount of members was allowed to use.
Mr.Chinaski 09:31 on 2020-08-26 Permalink
Blork, not all green space and parks are created for the same reasons. This is a transformation of an existing ramshackle site that is in the need of extensive rehabilitation (either as a Marina or a park). Parc René-Lévesque doesn’t serve the matter in which they want to transform the marina. Neither is the Promenade Pere Marquette.
It’s like saying we don’t need Parc Jeanne-Mance because gosh darnit, we have the Mont-Royal on the next street!
DeWolf 09:57 on 2020-08-26 Permalink
I really do wonder how this is going to play out for Ensemble Montréal. They may see some quick political gain here, but it could also backfire when people understand they’re basically lobbying for the city to pay millions of dollars to maintain and renovate a private club on public land. And it’s not like most of the boat owners can vote here anyway.
Then again, we’re living in 2020, when people’s heads explode in rage at the thought of the city building a new public park, children riding their bikes in protected lanes or the mayor drawing a comic book in her spare time. Maybe at this time next year we’ll see the rise of some kind of Rob Ford type candidate who will personally bulldoze all the bike lanes, kind of like how Denis Coderre took a sledgehammer to that mailbox.
Kate 11:29 on 2020-08-26 Permalink
Chris, there are a ton of marinas and yacht clubs all around the island. I got this map to auto-display on Google and I’m not sure this is all of them. Also, in addition, there are several slips in the West Island where you can park and put in a boat:
John B 13:01 on 2020-08-26 Permalink
Most of the marinas in that map are off-island, (although the old port isn’t on the map). I believe Verdun doesn’t take anything much bigger than a 14″ fishing boat. That leaves on-island boat owners pretty stuck, especially if they live in the eastern 60% of the island.
I feel like we should be working to make the river more accessible, and with the currents in the river part of that is motorboats. Restrict it to island residents, (or even better, Montreal residents), charge enough so it’s not a money pit, and call it a day.
Kate 14:03 on 2020-08-26 Permalink
John B, as I said, there may be more than shown on the map. I started digging and found two in Pointe-Claire, several in Beaconsfield and Baie-d’Urfé, at least one in tiny Senneville, and Ste-Anne’s waterfront seems to be made of marinas. I stopped listing them then and screenshotted a map.
Admittedly, the situation reflects the relative wealth of the West Island; the eastern end includes the working port and various industrial accesses like the piers around Lantic Sugar, it’s obviously not so leisured. It would be nice if more people could feel connected to the river, but it seems to me that riverside parks offer a little more connection to more people than a marina. I realize you don’t have to be fabulously wealthy to have a boat, but you do need to have some extra disposable – for buying it, storing it, keeping it in good repair and moving it around.
Ian 16:57 on 2020-08-26 Permalink
I looooove how people here are making out like having a boat is just for rich people so public land shouldn’t be used to support their hobby… while meanwhile lycra warriors on 12k bikes get entire roads closed off for their use. Some of those competitive bikes actually go for substantially more than an 18′ powerboat, go check out prices on kijiji like I just did if you don’t believe me.
At least nobody had to tell boaters to stay out of the cemeteries because they were being a nuisance, haha
Kate 19:48 on 2020-08-26 Permalink
Ian, how often do racing cyclists get roads closed off? There’s the Grand Prix Cycliste one day in summertime, but that was cancelled this year. Am I missing something?
Ian 21:14 on 2020-08-26 Permalink
I was referring to the road closure going up the mountain that all the PM bikes-first kerfuffle largely stemmed from – even now it is closed off on Sunday mornings until noon to cars.
I get the value of bike paths around town, lots of people commute or even ride for fun – but let’s be honest here, there is typically a very specific type of well-heeled, exquisitely equipped bicyclist that goes up the mountain. The same ones that got barred from the cemeteries.
My point here is that a very small handful of sport cyclists are being catered to with this kind of thing – I don’t see why boaters are being picked on as some kind of elite rich people hobbyists if we accept that the Tour de France wannabe lobby group with their $10, 000 ++ bikes is totally valid & we should reconfigure our roads to their needs.
Max 21:56 on 2020-08-26 Permalink
The Senneville Yacht Club’s notable for its clubhouse.
https://i2.wp.com/cvsyc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/capitainerie1-e1446163503870.jpg?fit=1267%2C486
Designed by Victor Prus, architect of metro Bonaventure, metro Mont-Royal, the first iteration of the Palais des Congres, and a Senneville resident at the time of his passing a couple of years back.
Kate 22:02 on 2020-08-26 Permalink
Wow, Max. Looks like a mini Expo 67 pavilion.
Max 22:19 on 2020-08-26 Permalink
I posted to reddit about him after he passed away, along with a list of his works and a gallery of metro Bonaventure construction pics I plucked out of the Archives de Montreal. Check it out. I thought his passing was a giant loss to the city that wasn’t properly appreciated at the time.
https://www.reddit.com/r/montreal/comments/5xxic2/metro_construction_bonaventure_16_pics_sad_news/