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Four days after historic rains battered Montreal, leaving hundreds to deal with flooding in their homes, the city’s mayor defended her silence.
Valérie Plante spoke to reporters Tuesday in her first public remarks since Friday’s storm. The effects of the rain were still being felt in the city’s highway network, as Highway 13 remained closed in Dorval.
Plante defended a lack of public statements on her part, aside from a post on Twitter telling Montrealers to call 311 if they experienced flooding.
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“Ultimately, what I want to say to Montrealers is that I understand their anxiety, because it’s a personal drama that people lived,” Plante said to reporters after a news conference in Ahuntsic. “Also, we didn’t wait until today to take action, and we will continue to adapt the territory with different initiatives.”
Plante said she is committed to improving the city’s sewer and road infrastructure, and to building sponge parks, sponge sidewalks and other projects to prevent the storm sewer system from overflowing.
“If there are Montrealers who wanted me to be there, I’m sorry, but it doesn’t at all show a disinterest, because actions speak for themselves,” Plante added. “We’re repairing roads to improve the network. We’re also planting trees, protecting the parks, and we’re trying to protect an island that is more and more attacked by climate change, so that is where my heart is.”
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