Mayor Denis Coderre says he wants to wait for federal legislation before imposing a city-wide safety measure that could help prevent snow-removal dump trucks from hitting pedestrians.
The mayor’s comments came one month after a 50-year-old man was killed by a snow-removal truck in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. Coderre is facing pressure from Projet Montréal party to enact a bylaw that would force the trucks to install safety bars along their sides.
Projet Montréal leader Valérie Plante grilled the mayor during a city council meeting Monday, demanding he take action.
“Usually when you say something, you make it happen,” said Plante, referring to the mayor’s assertive political style. “Please, make this happen.”
To further her point, Plante invoked the memory of Jessica Holman-Price, the Westmount woman who was killed in 2005 while pulling her brother from the path of a snow-removal truck.
“(Your words) are not enough for the Holman-Price family,” she said. “Why wait for the (federal government) to act?”
Coderre said he sympathizes with the victim’s family, and that there’s already a pilot project in place to install additional side mirrors on snow-removal trucks. Ultimately, though, the mayor said action is needed at a federal level to trigger lasting and comprehensive changes in Montreal and across Canada.
The mayor added that he supports a private member’s bill by Montreal MP Alexandre Boulerice to impose new safety measures for snow-removal trucks.
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