The Devil's Hill Community Carolers on the front page of The Suburban

THE SUBURBAN DEC. 22, 2010

Our Response to the former Mayor of Montreal West

DRIVING HOME THE FACTS
In his op-ed piece on December 17th, former mayor of Montreal West Campbell Stuart presents a mishmash of misrepresentations and unsupported facts to divert readers from some basic truths. He also shamelessly frames the argument as a choice between cars and children. Mr. Stuart, nobody is against the children - we just believe streets are for cars. 

We also believe in being factually correct, something that doesn’t seem to factor into Mr. Stuart’s editorial.

READ MORE

Montreal West's former Mayor replies to our Dec. 14, 2010 Op Ed article in The Gazette

Montreal West's side of barrier dispute

BY CAMPBELL STUART, THE GAZETTE DECEMBER 17, 2010

♫ Take it down ♫ take it down ♫ take down the barricade ♫ Santa Claus can't make ♫ it up that 13% grade ♫

How was the Christmas carolling with a twist? Fantastic!

We gave out candy canes and contact information to many interested shoppers. A MoWest supporter stopped by with cookies for us. Mrs. Yoo, at the Fruit Bowl, was happy to let us carol in front of her store with our paper bollards & posters stuck in the vegetable bins! We had lively dialogue with those who were previously uninformed, those who reject the barricade and with even with those who support it! We were told that we made Montreal West feel more Christmassy.

In less than three hours of caroling, we got 80 Montreal West signatures on our petition! Some of those signatures were from the southwest sector where the barricade is located. 

Lachine Mayor Dauphin came out to support us and joined us in caroling for a good half an hour. He has a great singing voice!  Global News did a news story about our Christmas themed protest and it aired at 6 and 11 PM. We also got lots of our own great film footage for video #2 to be released this week.

Thank you to all those from our community who did such a terrific job and made the afternoon so much fun!

♫ We're all dreaming of a barricade-free Christmas ♫ just like the one we used to know ♫

Aislin Barricade Cartoon in the Montreal Gazette

A special Thank You is extended to Aislin from The Devil's Hill Community for permission to post this image.

The Gazette publishes an OP ED piece

Read the OP ED article published by The Montreal Gazette on Dec. 14, 2010.

Name the Barricade CONTEST WINNER!!! YAY!!!!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen the time has come to name the winner of our prestigious Name the Barricade Contest. There were several witty entries worthy of entering into the annals of The Devil's Hill Barricade Saga but only one that made this judge and jury Laugh out Loud and that is...    
"The Four Fingers" 
submitted by none other than...drum roll please... 
WINNER

Post Snowstorm Article in The Monitor

Devil's Hill turns hellish during first snowstorm of the season

CTV The National News is doing a story on The Barricade Issue

We're going national! Tune into the CTV local news at 6 PM today and the CTV National News at 11 PM tomorrow for two different news reports about the barricade situation.

Comedian Scott Falconbridge takes on the Barricade

Read Scott's seriously funny take on the Devil's Hill Barricade

Suzanne De Serres joins the Launch Party as co-host!

Artist, musician and author, Suzanne De Serres will be joining Scott Falconbridge on stage to co-host the Party!

The Devil's Hill Community is extremely pleased to have the gracious support of these two talented entertainers.

Andy Riga's Montreal Blog Wed. Nov. 24, 2010

the montreal west - ville st. pierre battle

The Geography of the Devil's Hill Barricade

CKUT Interview

CKUT Interview.mp3

More Mumbo-Jumbo from Mo' West Mayor Masella

Dear Editor:

Many people reading the October issue of The Informer are under the false impression that the fire department (SIM) and police department (SPVM) approved the traffic barrier that Montreal West constructed on Broughton Rd in early October. As confirmed by Mayor Masella at the October 25 council meeting, this is completely false.

Sylvain Arteau, division chief at the Montreal fire department explained to the Lachine council meeting on October 18 that his department recommended against the barrier for the following reasons:

1) the increased response time attending to emergencies in the Hillcrest/Mount Vernon and Rosewood area;

2) potential damage to emergency vehicles;

3) potential injuries to fire fighters driving over the sidewalk / barricade; and

4) security concerns for Hillcrest/Mont Vernon/Rosewood residents whose neighbourhood is now enclosed in an area having only one exit (a 13% hill), which may be closed for any reason (ice, traffic accident, evacuation).

The explanation as to why Montreal West was able to build the barrier over the protestations of the fire and police departments is that these departments sadly have no power of enforcement over municipalities concerning such recommendations. And I find it scandalous that this town council shows so little concern for the safety its close neighbours in Lachine.

Yours truly,

John Symon

111 Rosewood

A transcription of Mayor Masella's comments at the Council meeting are here:

Please refer to page 18 and continue through source.

THE INFORMER

CIMA Traffic Study Summary

This is a summary of the traffic study that was done by CIMA; a study that the Pro-Barricade faction has been misquoting or ignoring since the day it was published. In an effort to be as transparent as possible the full study will be made available on this blog if there is enough demand for it.

More Truthiness from Montreal West

Oct 29, 2010 - Letter to the Editor, Montreal Gazette

Nothing to do with class and elitism

Re: “ Lachine residents hope to sing down barrier” (Gazette, Oct. 25).

That’s a catchy headline. How about this one? “ Montreal West families rest easy on safer streets”. Not so catchy, eh? But true enough. Pat Schmidt and her followers can sing about being wronged and wrap themselves a warm, fuzzy blanket of protest with singing children. But none of that changes the truth here. And it has nothing to do with class, or emergency-vehicle safety, or elitism. It does have to do with the Montreal West residents who live on streets near Devil’s Hill area being able to live safely without having trucks and commuters cutting through their neighbourhood. This issue has been examined carefully over the years and it’s clear there was way too much truck traffic on these small streets and way too many cars using them as a shortcut to Highway 20.

As a Montreal Wester who lives north of the train tracks, I admit that for many years I used to cut through that neighbourhood to get to the 20, but since the road was closed, I have found other ways of reaching the highway, and as far as I can tell, they’re not more than a few seconds longer.

Montreal West did a consultation with all of the emergency services and it was deemed acceptable to create the raised sidewalk arrangement that we have now to deter casual traffic through this area.

Randi Weitzner

Our response...

A Letter to the Editor

Ashamed

THE GAZETTE NOVEMBER 1, 2010

Re. "Nothing to do with class and elitism" (Letters, Oct. 29).

As a lifelong Montreal West resident who has lived for the last 32 years beside Devil's Hill and has raised three children here, I am shocked by the town's decision that this area is unsafe without a barrier. There has always been some traffic on the hill during rush-hours, but nothing undue; and most of the time the streets have been so quiet that I could have set a proper table for 12 right in the middle of Easton Ave. without interruption.

I don't accept the presumption that a family cat should be able to sleep safely on Easton or that our children should be able to play road hockey at any time of day unimpeded. I don't accept that people buy a house on a long-standing thoroughfare and then insist on blocking it.

Whether or not the issue is one of class or elitism, the barrier certainly reflects an attitude of entitlement. And it certainly shows an insouciance to the safety of our neighbours.

I am embarrassed to belong to the Montreal West side of the barrier, to be associated with someone who said, "At least we let [them] walk on our sidewalks."

Barbara Baily Montreal West

© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

Draft Resolution sent to Montreal West

THAT the Ville de Montréal, per the Lachine Borough Council, require the Town of Montreal West to immediately remove this device (sidewalk) installed in the centre of Broughton Road and Des Érables Street contrary to the agreement reached between the municipalities as referred to in the November 12, 2009 decision by the Court of Appeal;

THAT the Ville de Montréal, per the Lachine Borough Council, ask the Town of Montreal West to respect this agreement and undertake to remove this device until such time as the emergency services concerned have agreed to the installation of a proper device that meets the road safety requirements for all users;

The Devil Made Me Do It

A Former Mo'West "Pro-Barricade" Councillor speaks out...against Pharmaprix secrecy.

Former Mo'West Town Councillor, Colleen Feeney, a vocal Pro-Barricader while in office, doesn't seem to like it when her Town Council does stuff behind closed doors now that she's on the other side. I don't know how this found it's way to my "in box" but I can't resist posting it. Enjoy...

Who Made Pharmaprix Decision in MoWest?

MoWest will soon be getting a large Pharmaprix although the Town Council is under some criticism for not being more transparent about the process. We wonder what role council member Dino Mazzone played in bringing in the pharmacy super store. According to an archived document from 2007 posted on the Pro bono Law Ontario website, "Dino Mazzone officially becomes part of the business law team at the Montreal office of McMillan Binch Mendelsohn LLP after more than three years as the in-house counsel for the Shoppers Drug Mart/Pharmaprix pharmacy chain."
www.pblo.org/news/article.175346-Pro_bono_hopes_for_new_year

Barricade Blocked by Truck Driver

OCT. 12, 2010

An 18-wheeler flatbed truck got stuck at the barricade from approx. 2:30--3:15 this afternoon. The driver was going up des Erables and was presumably surprised upon finding the barricade there. The Fire Dept. was called in and Firemen guided the truck down the hill. Needless to say, no other vehicles could have gone through the entire time. Given that Google and MapQuest still show Broughton/des Erable as an open road, more of the same can be expected.

A Plastic Olive Branch

Needless to say, we were all aghast when we received this notice from Mo'West Town Hall. After years of telling us that we're not welcome on their streets, this!!??

CBC Montreal News Report

Confused Ambulance Driver??

OCT. 1, 2010 At about 7:45 pm Michel Forest was driving up the hill. While taking the left turn for Hillcrest he was forced to pull over as far as possible to his right because a large ambulance was on it's way down. However, instead of going past him, the ambulance driver stopped, looked both ways and decided to pass in front of him towards MoWest. Obviously, he was forced to stop at the Barricade and after about 30 seconds he began to slowly reorient the ambulance back and forth until he was able to make a sharp right turn and proceed down the hill. "The ambulance was not going fast and did not have his sirens and flashing lights going. So, was he on a call or was he checking and testing the new road configuration with the ''Coussin berlinois'' ???"