As Mayor Karin Marks said, it is rare that anyone gave the time and care to the community that Jim and Nancy Wright have done. In a place where so many give enormously to the community in so many ways, the mayor’s tribute speaks very loudly. How he managed his law career or Nancy raised a family as well as so many outside commitments always amazed. They were involved in so many things.
Of course, Jim was not just the former councillor, not just the former president of the WMA, not just the former secretary of the demerger fight trust fund. He was all these things and many more.
He was ready to help with any aspect of Westmount — or McGill, his other community — with his dry, witty approach to problems. I personally appreciated his help when launching the e-mail version of Civic Alert.
Among the most memorable, though, was when Mayor Peter Trent decreed that Council would debate in a public session only the proposed extensions of tobacco smoking controls.
Most contributions to the ensuing debate were rather mild. Councillor Wright, on the other hand, recalled that he had been in Toronto on business where there were already many workplace smoking bans.
He convinced his colleagues and, that evening, Westmount became the first municipality in Quebec to exclude smoking from the workplace.
Bowser reflects on his To-Do List
Like other Westmount councillors, George Bowser has found himself involved in many issues on the To-Do Lists that have been discussed here in recent weeks. Though as serious as his colleagues when resolving municipal issues, his other life is half of the Bowser and Blue musical comedy team. They began their fall programme with four sell-outs at Theâtre Lac Brome last weekend. Between writing and rehearsing a lot of new material, he shared his thoughts on his municipal half-life:
“You have a pretty solid grip on the way the multiple tasks facing this council are shaking out. We began as a largely new council with a lot of novices – certainly me. There was a lot to do and still is.
“You know the one about it being hard to remember you were supposed to drain the swamp when you are up to your hips in alligators! That is how is seems a lot of the time, so I just get on with it.
“I only want to leave the place better than I found it. I’m very happy being responsible for Public Works because a lot of things begin there.
“It is really rather similar to how I think of my house — safe, clean and tidy! You take out the garbage, tidy your room and balance the books.
“Public Works is similar, but there is a lot more of it! Most people would be pleased if you left it that, plus providing a nice park to play in.
“There is a long To-Do List at City Hall. I don’t think we can deal with it all, as we do not have enough money, among other reasons.
Arena compromise
“We cannot afford to build tomorrow an Arena that will please everybody. The other extreme would be to do nothing, but I anticipate that something in between is what we will end up with.
“Consultation is definitely called for, but I’d like it to be more civil than the one over the artificial turf. Council was not to blame for that, by the way. As (Cllr.) Patrick Martin said, we do not have a fortress mentality, and it is unfortunate some people think of it that way.
“While leaving visions to others, I think listening to people is my job. I like simple, practical things.
“Laurel Bossen, the Victoria Village reader who wrote to you about pedestrians’ misuse of the bicycle path through the Park, made a sensible observation about asphalt or cinders being more pleasant to walk on than concrete.
“Of course, she is right, except on the hot days, when asphalt can get squishy!
“Pedestrians walking on that path are a problem. I understand why they do: it is the straight line from A to B and the view can be more interesting when there is activity on the playing fields. Anyway, there seems no way to stop it.
Small and practical
“Besides big projects, the little things really interest me — like the 30 new bike racks we will be installing later this month.
“I’m pleased about that, as people have been agitating for them for ages. Now they are here!
“One of the first things I learned about city life when elected two years ago was that, although things seem to take forever, they do happen.
“I’m intrigued by garbage, including recycling and composting and all the things we do in that area.
“We need new blue boxes and probably should be switching to wheeled bins, but how do you do it in a city built on steep slopes? Those hillside houses bring a new range of everyday problems.
“I want people to feel comfortable and so I concentrate on what is practical; I like things at that level.
“There are cries of “Why don’t we have compostable doggie bags?” But once we have put the dog poo into the compostable bags, what do we do with them?
“It’s wonderful that we are extending the water management by taking over more of the direct responsibility for maintaining the pipes. Isn’t that the way to go?
Merely $500,000
The Big City’s crude and thoughtless management of Agglom affairs showed again at last week’s meeting, even though it was for a minor — in Montreal terms — matter of $500,000.
The council was expected to approve this further spending for surfacing the new bike path being built on De Maisonneuve Blvd westwards from Berri to link with Westmount.
Why this expense was not included in the original estimates for the job remains a mystery, but such things pass through the Big City easily.
Mayor Karin Marks was more concerned at what arrangements were being made to finance the expense of the future work on the Westmount part of the link, east of Greene. It was accepted to be part of the Agglom.
So, for once, Montreal will be subsidizing our construction costs, although we are going to lose parking places and revenues but, perhaps, suffer a little less car pollution.
Montreal, it will be recalled, went ahead with the link plan without consulting Westmount.
Costly over-runs
Cost overruns are so routine in Montreal that they are presented with straight faces and no apologies. They are only megacity dollars, after all, even if Montreal is no longer quite a megacity.
Montreal city council had pre-approved a 20 per cent increase for costs — a mere $111,000 — on the Pavillon du Lac-aux-Castors in Mount Royal Park.
A 21 per cent increase in work on the new traffic round-about where Notre Dame joins Sherbrooke in the East End means an increase of $1.8 million over the original contract.
For another part of the same construction project, an increase of $520,000 represented no less than a 94 per cent boost to the original cost.
Garbage help
The Agglom approved one Westmount issue. Montreal garbage managers, who have become responsible for eliminating garbage under the demerger law, agreed to let Westmount take up options it has with present contractors for another 16 months, until the end of January, 2009.
Montreal will also refund Westmount for the disposal part of the costs, which are met from Agglom tax bills.
The present Westmount deals, which cover the collection, transport and elimination of garbage, could have expired at the end of the month.
Eventually Montreal wants to make Island-wide contracts for the elimination, which will involve our garbage being trucked to Longueuil, where it will be transferred to other trucks bound for the giant Lachenaie landfill.
Why not straight to Lachenaie? It would mean less trucking. But we face mega-decision makers.
• Community activist Don Wedge can be reached at calert@web.net. His columns are archived at
www.westmountexaminer.com, go to Opinion.
Weather: Montreal, July 9th 2008 / 23°C
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/ Wind: 22 Km/h / Humidity: 83 % 
Steven Guilbeault - 
