Poison ivy found in Côte Saint-Luc parks

Signs warning residents about poison ivy aren’t something most people are used to seeing when they’re visiting their local park.

But in Côte Saint-Luc, Nathan Shuster, Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Rembrandt parks all contain poison ivy, so the signs are needed.

“I didn’t see any signs when I first came and so that was upsetting to me,” she said. “So I had urged the city, ‘Please let the public know what poison ivy looks like so that they can be aware and so that they can protect their children.'”

Cohn said the city did eventually put up signs but she insists it took them way too long.

Fellow Côte Saint-Luc resident Lili Yesovitch agreed.

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She said even though there are signs up, she still isn’t comfortable letting her grandchild play in Nathan Shuster Park since the poison ivy is in the wooded area that surrounds the playground.

“Little kids wander, especially in a wooded area,” Yesovitch said. “It’s interesting –  it’s a lot more interesting than the swings.

“They go on adventures – they look for bugs, snakes, worms.”

The City of Côte Saint-Luc said they are treating the poisonous plants using a non-toxic weed killer.

They said people can still safely enjoy the parks as long as they stay on the marked paths and make sure their kids don’t wander off.

“If you’re at Trudeau Park and there’s a lake, make sure they don’t go near the lake,” said Côte Saint-Luc Mayor Mitchell Brownstein. “If there’s the possibility of poison ivy, make sure they don’t go near where the signs say there could be poison ivy.

So parents should always watch their kids, particularly in parks. They are fun places but they’re not 100 per cent safe. No place is.”

But some residents said they feel like it’s the city’s job to ensure their safety.

“I feel like it’s the city’s responsibility to take care of me,” Yesovitch said. “I’ve been paying very, very high taxes here for over 40 years and I feel like that’s a real cop-out.”

She argued the city should put up temporary fencing to better protect children from the poisonous plant and come this fall, she and others said the plant needs to be wiped out once and for all.