WATCH: On Tuesday morning, a bus load of advocates headed to Ottawa to present a petition in support of saving the Dorval Municipal Golf Course. Billy Shields has details.
OTTAWA — About 90 Dorval residents crammed into buses to picket Parliament Hill, the latest effort to save the Dorval Municipal Golf course.
“Mr. Speaker, here is a petition launched by residents of Dorval and signed by over 12,000 citizens, calling on the Minister of Transport to intervene and save the Dorval Municipal Golf Course,” said NDP MP Isabelle Morin, who represents NDG-Lachine.
Organizers like Bruce Orr, the golf club’s vice president, characterized the petition drive as “an environmental issue.”
“All across the West Island, we are losing green space.”
Perhaps most galling to course supporters was the response to the petition offered on the House floor by Transport Minister Lisa Raitt.
“The Aeroports du Montreal is actually an arm’s length agency that is in charge under lease,” she said.
“It is their [the airport’s] decision and it is they who the residents should be speaking with.”
In January, the ADM told city officials in Dorval it was ending its lease at the end of 2015, and planned to use the land to build security facilities.
Golfers and residents who lived near the large green area immediately reacted with outrage to the news. The petition is the latest effort to save it.
Organizers like Orr said, from the steps of Parliament Hill, they were still optimistic.
“I’m extremely positive until the last day that they tell us we’re no longer part of the environment.”
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