NEWS & ANALYSIS
Activist accuses St. Laurent police of infringing Charter rights
By Joel Goldenberg The Suburban Activist Murray Levine says he was threatened with arrest last Wednesday while picketing against St. Laurent borough mayor Alan DeSousa. ?Considering the fact that I demonstrate in order to get politicians to do what is best in the interest of humanity, it is amusing when the police see the need to have a presence when someone such as myself exerts their democratic rights, as guaranteed by Canada?s Charter of Rights and Freedoms,? Levine says. At the February St. Laurent council meeting, the mayor criticized Levine, a longtime activist for having the Tour de L?Île cycling event have a charitable element, for a protest he held against DeSousa in St. Laurent months before for not putting pressure on Tour organizers. DeSousa said that while he can take criticism, the contents of the sign were not appropriate for a community like St. Laurent with young families. The sign took issue with DeSousa?s empathy and intelligence. DeSousa told The Suburban the sign also contained a swear words starting with ?f?, but Levine said this was not the case. Levine held a follow-up protest last Wednesday, with a similar sign except with the addition that DeSousa is a ?role model for all Canadians who wish to make a contribution to society.? The negative part of the sign referred to ?our mayor? and was all in Levine?s personal opinion. On his blog, Levine wrote that after rush hour last Wednesday, he proceeded to St. Laurent city hall after standing at St. Louis and Marcel Laurin and notified the receptionist to tell DeSousa?s secretary that she could see his sign outside. ?As I stood outside holding my signs I noticed a police car driving on the other side of the street,? he wrote on his blog. ?Its cherries lit up and it did a U-turnHampstead?s bus route challenge for safety?s sake: Steinberg
By Joel Goldenberg The Suburban Hampstead?s challenge to the STM to change a local bus route, which will soon land the town and the agency in court, is necessary, says Mayor William Steinberg. As recently reported, the STM is seeking a declaratory judgment relating to Hampstead?s call for a change in the 51 bus route. The change proposed would see the westbound 51 turn left from Queen Mary Road onto Stratford, right at Côte St. Luc Road and left at Fielding, thus bypassing the congested Ellerdale-Côte St. Luc Road intersection. Going the other way, the bus would turn right from Fielding onto eastbound Côte St. Luc Road, left at Stratford and right onto Queen Mary. Steinberg warned late last year that if the change did not take place by Jan. 11, the town would make its own changes in the area, such as removing ?the no-stopping zone on Queen Mary eastbound just east of the Queen Mary Road and Ellerdale intersection, and permit parking in the area; and [removing] the exclusion which allows buses to turn left at the Queen Mary and Ellerdale Road intersection.? At the February council meeting, council regular Gertie Shaffer said she was ?terribly concerned that the town is going to be using the taxpayers? money to engage in a legal confrontation to change the bus route for one block. You are not equally concerned about the additional traffic on Fleet Road and around the Wexford Park area. ?All the residents on that one block [around Ellerdale and Stratford] knew very well that there was a bus route as long as I can remember. Why this sudden urgency?? Steinberg said the issue goes back to 2006, when area residents complained of the danger of having a speeding bus go around a blind curve, and said their children were in danger. ?Since that time, I have been trying to get the STM to change the route ? it?s a very simple change, just one block. It makes a lot of sense, and moves the bus closer to those who actually use it. It?s a matter of safety.? Steinberg added that Hampstead is also working on the other traffic issues, especially increased traffic on quiet streets. ?We?re working on solutions for the traffic on Wexford, Holly, one block of Queen Mary, one block of Belize and so on. We?ll then take the next steps and hope, in due course, we will have a solution to that problem.? ? ? I laughed because we have soldiers dying in Afghanistan so that we will continue to have basic freedoms, like freedom of expression. ?As I stood there with the police, out came the by-law officer, a security guard and another person from borough hall. The by-law officer informed me that the wording on the sign broke a St. Laurent by-law. I asked to be ticketed and advised that I would fight the ticket. I was advised that there was no ticket and that I could be arrested. I then said ?So arrest me!? The police advised that if I did it again that I would be arrested.? Levine cited the part of the Charter which guarantees ?freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication.? Asked for a response, DeSousa said he was not at St. Laurent city hall at the time and not aware of Levine?s protest, and pointed out there was a blue collar protest at the same time and place as part of rotating strikes throughout Montreal, possibly prompting the police presence. ?I have no knowledge of what Murray is doing,? DeSousa said. The mayor took slight issue with the reference to ?our mayor? on Levine?s sign, pointing out that the activist lives in Dorval. ?Look, he can write whatever he wants on it,? 08C10 $5.25
DeSousa said. Asked if there is a St. Laurent bylaw prohibiting particular language on signs, DeSousa said, ?I?ll leave Murray to work out what he wants to work out... Look, we had the blue collar protest that morning, there were no arrests made, no tickets given. He was probably engulfedTHE BEST CHARCOAL BAR?B?Q CHICKEN
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THE SUBURBAN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2010 ? 9
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