Opening Comments by Mayor Peter J. Malouf - Regular Meeting of Tuesday, October 25, 2022

" Good evening everyone and welcome to this October Town Council Meeting. 

Thank you for joining us tonight, or for those who are following us live, thank you for spending part of your evening with us.

As has become the custom, I will give you a little up-date of the past month’s happenings in our Garden City and share some info with you.

A NEW MNA FOR MOUNT ROYAL / OUTREMONT

I would like to publicly congratulate Ms. Michelle Setlakwe who is our new MNA following her victory in the recent provincial election.

I will also take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank her predecessor, Mr. Pierre Arcand, also a resident of TMR and former MNA, who has served our riding honourably for the past 15 years.

With the many major projects we are working on at the moment, Ms. Setlawke and I have already had the opportunity to discuss and ensure that we work closely together to find ways to move forward on our issues that require the support of the provincial government.

FRENCH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

As you all know, the Elementary school file has been put on pause as the CSSMB has informed us that they are reviewing their future projections and needs. We are told that they will get back to us in the late spring / beginning of summer of 2023.

I do, however, want to share with you one additional piece of information we have had from CSSMB regarding the 1000 Lucerne site (ex Beth-El Synagogue), a site that comes up frequently from residents as an appropriate and desired site for a new school. According to a recent letter received, the CSSMB informs us that this site is not appropriate for a school and does not meet their needs.

QUARTIER SPORTIF ET COMMUNAUTAIRE

For the Quartier Sportif et Communautaire, we have had caucus meetings and have discussed various scenarios and proposals at significant length. Our discussions will continue in the coming days as part of our budget meetings. I am hopeful that we will have proposals to present to you in the coming weeks or months.

2023 BUDGET / PTI PLANNING

Regarding the 2023 operating budget and the 2023-2025 Capital Works Program (PTI in French), we will be in work meetings with the administration this week and next.

We have many hard decisions to make and choices to face and are continuing our work in order to present a balanced budget which meets residents’ expectations with respect to services and their capacity to pay. Adoption for both the operating budget and capital works program is set for December 13; the new tax rate will be made public at that time.

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE - GALA ALPHA

Last Thursday the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Saint-Laurent - Mont-Royal, held its annual Gala Alpha, an event to recognize and honor the business community of TMR and St-Laurent. Not only was the event very well attended (350 guests), but six TMR companies were recognized by the jury for their achievements and contributions. Especially to be remarked upon, is Ultra Electronics who received two prizes including the most prestigious title of the evening: “BUSINESS OF THE YEAR”. As a businessman myself I realize the hard work and energy and consistent enthusiasm required to achieve business success, I would like to congratulate all nominees and our TMR winners.

HOW TO BEST BENEFIT FROM OUR PUBLIC SECURITY

Our Public Security department offers many services to residents to help residents increase the safety of their homes and thus help reduce crime.

HOME WATCH

We offer a service for vacant home verification, including picking up the mail while the resident is away. We also upon request will give a personalized service to help evaluate the security of the home and give suggestions on how to improve it. For those residents with an alarm system, you can take part in our program whereby Public Security is the first contact for the alarm company to call in case of an alarm signal at the home.

BIKE ETCHING

To help reduce bike theft, we offer a free service to have bikes etched with an identification number.

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH

In 2018, a Neighborhood Watch program was launched and we are always pleased that more and more residents are joining us and being the eyes of their neighborhood for suspicious activity. For all of the above services, we suggest you contact our Community Relations Officer, Daniel Lepore at the Public Security.

110 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF TMR

On a more festive note, I wish to advise residents that as the Town is celebrating it’s 110^th anniversary this year, we will be holding winter fireworks on Saturday December 3, at Danyluk Park to mark this milestone.

These winter fireworks will be a first for the town and are planned to coincide with our Christmas activities: Santa's bus and lighting of the tree in front of the Town Hall. We hope the weather cooperates and we can all celebrate together the Town’s anniversary and kick off the holiday season.

I thank you for listening and for joining us tonight whether live or virtually."

Peter J. Malouf