If Loyola city councillor Warren Allmand thought he was busy fighting crime as this country’s solicitor-general, wait until he starts dealing with the CDN-NDG borough’s traffic problems.

This will be the Borough’s second stab at a traffic commission. Former Loyola councillor Jeremy Searle headed the last one, but he didn’t feel the Borough was really listening to its recommendations. Now it’s Allmand’s turn behind the wheel.

Credit Allmand for standing up to the Borough this time around. He refused to chair a commission that sat in private, instead holding out for one that will hold public consultations. Hopefully, that will give his commission the type of credibility he will need in order to initiate some much-needed changes on our borough streets.

Allmand will be joined on the commission by five residents, and let’s hope the councillor is able to attract a wide cross-section of candidates. People from different parts of the borough, who have different life experiences, can only make the commission more relevant. And, for that matter, it would also be a wise move to have a resident who perhaps can express the driver’s point of view. Too often, we only hear from pedestrians, but both sides of the issue often helps one come up with a more just and lasting resolution to a problem.

It also wouldn’t be a bad idea for Allmand to talk with Searle, to find what the former head of the commission experienced during his tenure. Searle also has some very good ideas concerning traffic issues, including putting up signs with fines written on them.

Allmand seems to be on the right road when it comes to his new commission. Let’s hope the Borough takes the commission’s ideas seriously, and that traffic issues in our neighbourhoods see direct and positive results in the very near future.



Waiting for our rec centre dough



The CDN-NDG Borough has done its part, so now it’s time for the Province and the Feds to pony up the dough for the proposed Benny Farm recreation centre.

The centre was one of the selling points when Canada Lands moved the veterans into new buildings on the site. The project came one step closer to reality last week when Borough Mayor Michael Applebaum and his councillors tabled a $26 million financial plan for the complex.

The Borough is picking up $4.4 million of the total cost. Now it’s up to Quebec and Ottawa to jump on board. The public will also be involved with the project, with the first consultation meeting scheduled for last night.

Not everyone is jumping up and down over the idea of having to pay for the centre’s yearly costs, but Applebaum is sure the Borough will be able to handle it, even if it means adding a special surtax.

Credit former councillor Searle for

keeping the issue alive, and Applebaum for seeing it through. This is one promise which the local administration has kept to the

electorate. Now all we have to do is depend on more help from two other levels of

government — and with elections looming for both of them, those who support the centre have a reason to be optimistic.