MONTREAL – A campaign to compel the city of Montreal to hold public
hearings on the state of urban agriculture is 2,000 signatures away from
making history.
A coalition of environmental, health and
food-security groups has been working since August to collect 15,000
signatures on a petition that would require city hall to hold public
hearings on the issue of growing food in the city.
As of
Thursday, the Groupe de travail en agriculture urbaine had collected
13,000 signatures. They have until Nov. 8 to get enough people to sign
their petition.
If they are successful, it would be the first time
a new bylaw allowing Montreal residents to choose a topic for public
consultation would be used. Currently, the city’s executive committee
chooses which projects or topics are the subject of public
consultations. But residents who can collect 15,000 signatures on a
paper petition within three months can choose consultation topics.
The
bylaw came into effect in January 2010, and only one other attempt has
been made to use it. A citizens group tried to use it to compel public
hearings on the future of the Lachine Rapids, but didn’t get enough
signatures.
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