Supporting & Collaborating with Community Organizations

NDG and Montreal West have long been blessed with extraordinary individuals and organizations working hard to uplift our community. A big part of my role is understanding how I can serve and support these organizations, and have worked closely with the NDG Community Council in particular towards that end.

Taking on the Housing Crisis

Housing in NDG is becoming less and less affordable, a trend that is particularly harmful to those living within modest means. The answer is simple: we need more social housing. In collaboration with the NDG Community Council, our office launched three task forces in May 2023, each one dedicated to reopening one of the social housing projects (Project Chance, Habitations Walkley and the Elmhurst Co-op) that have remained dormant in our riding for years.

More Parks and Green Space

Green space is integral not only to protecting nature/biodiversity, but to the physical and mental health of any community. Yet per capita Montreal has the least of any major city in Canada. One of my key priorities is to protect and expand green space in NDG and Montreal West, with a particular focus on making the Dalle Parc project a reality. And connecting all this to environmental education in local schools – place-based learning that focuses on biodiversity, cultural and other forms of diversity in and around our community.

Sports and Recreation

As a former runner and fitness instructor, and now as a parent of three active boys, I have always believed in the transformative power of sport and recreation across generations. And so it’s no surprise that I was a strong advocate for the new sports and recreation center in Montreal West, and I am proud to have helped push the Yes campaign over the finish line – including by lobbying for and securing significant additional public funding from the Govt of Quebec. It is my expectation that the new facilities will serve not only the residents of Montreal West, but local schools, neighboring communities and groups with special needs. I will continue to be an advocate for greater access to sports and recreation facilities, with my focus now turning towards ensuring Jeunesse Loyola find a new permanent space for their programming as well ensuring Westhaven, Walkley and St. Raymond community centres also have the resources needed to keep local youth safe and engaged.

An attack on historic Quebec institutions

Fall 2023 kicked off with an announcement from the government saying they planned to double university tuition for all out-of-province students, a measure that specifically targets McGill, Concordia and Bishop's universities. Not only is this initiative blatantly unjust, it is also poor public policy that will weaken Quebec's reputation and economy.

Montreal West and NDG are directly impacted because we have more faculty, staff, alumni, students and their families than perhaps any other riding. I will continue to fight for our community.  Beyond petitions and protests, we will all need to do more to denounce and renounce these discriminatory measures. In the National Assembly we're using every tool of resistance at our disposal. There is still much more work to do to champion our community and defend these universities.

Public Sector Strikes

The end of 2023 was defined by public sector strikes across the province: from teachers and school staff to nurses and health-care workers - all demanding a better deal. I’m proud to have joined NDG parents and students rallying in support of FAE public-school teachers. It’s powerful that these families, who were directly impacted by the strikes, came out in such strong support of teachers. 

I'm also proud to have joined striking Benny Farm CLSC and MUHC health-care workers, whom François Legault once described as our "guardian angels" during the pandemic. Now he treats them with contempt.

Town Hall on Bill 15

In November 2023, I joined fellow MNA colleagues representing ridings in CIUSSS West-Central Montreal to host a public townhall on the CAQ's Bill 15 regarding health & social services. This was democracy at its best: a rich and informative discussion with citizens and experts alike, including fellow Liberal MNA André Fortin, the official opposition critic for health.

A key takeaway: Bill 15 will "dehumanize, bureaucratize and centralize" healthcare in Quebec without doing anything to address the real problems such as waiting lists for family doctors and wait times for surgeries or in Emergency Rooms.

Westhaven Town Hall

25% of NDG residents live below the poverty line, a fact often hidden by the relative affluence of our community. That's why in November 2023 I organized my first Town Hall in the Westhaven district: to connect directly with the residents of an historically neglected neighborhood.

A recurring theme was housing, and specifically how our lack of social and affordable housing creates all kinds of other issues like food insecurity and crime. I remain as resolved as ever to tackle the housing crisis in NDG, with a priority on reviving the three projects currently sitting dormant in our riding. I'm also committed to working alongside the Westhaven Elmhurst Community Recreation Association and other partners to create more opportunities for NDG youth through education, employment and recreation.

New Community-Focused Files

I’m proud to say that at the beginning of January 2024 I was named as the Official Opposition Critic for Social Economy, Social Solidarity and Community Action. 

My primary focus in this new role has been addressing the food insecurity crisis raging across Quebec. Our food banks are desperately struggling to meet the skyrocketing demand, though each and every one I've met with is finding creative ways to expand their services to meet this growing need, 

Community Leaders on the Front Lines

In preparing to question the Minister responsible for Social Solidarity and Community Action in the wake of the 2024 budget, I called a meeting of NDG's community leaders to see what questions they had for the minister. Many of them came with questions but also with stories, and it was these stories that I found most powerfully illustrated their dire need for more support. Here are a few examples: 

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• One of NDG's youth centres recently had to let go of a beloved staff member, lacking the core funding to ensure this their salary kept up with inflation.

• A  leader of a local women’s organization vocalized how much time she spends filling out form after form, navigating an ocean of red tape when a thousand other issues require her attention. 

• NDG's organization that welcomes newcomers shared how they've been asked by clients on multiple occasions whether there is another province they can go to, as in Quebec they feel it has become impossible to get by.

Our community organizations provide essential services to some of the most vulnerable in our society, and if we continue failing to support them it will tear at the social fabric of our society.