Quebec student’s school-zone safety petition reaches national assembly

A nine-year-old’s class project pushing for safer school zones on Montreal’s off-island suburb of Pincourt has reached Quebec’s national assembly.

It has been a busy week for Grade 5 student Alexandre Masse, who has been balancing schoolwork while meeting Quebec elected officials.

For the past five months, Masse has had one goal in mind: “to make the roads safe in Quebec,” he said.

It all started with a class project.

After a close call crossing the street one morning on his way to school, Alexandre began documenting pickup and drop-off traffic outside École Notre-Dame-de-Lorette elementary school.

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The idea later grew into a petition calling for improved safety infrastructure.

“It started with a school project. I never thought this petition would make it to Parliament,” said his mother, Annie-Claude Desrosiers. “It has been an amazing experience.”

After collecting more than 1,000 signatures by going door to door, his efforts gained the support of local MNA Marie-Claude Nichols.

While the City of Pincourt says it already has a multi-layered approach to school-zone safety, the aspiring young politician hopes to see improvements around his school before he graduates next year.

“It’s not done. I’m not finished,” Masse said.

His mother says she often finds herself holding him back rather than pushing him.

“He wants to do more all the time,” Desrosiers said.

Following his successful campaign, Alexandre hopes to build on the momentum with his next challenge: advocating for improved road safety across Quebec.

“All the roads, not just school zones,” he said.