When the city wanted to remove a stop sign on Décarie Boulevard in Saint-Laurent, an electrical engineer named Olivier Labrèche—who'd been organizing around active mobility issues in his neighbourhood for years—thought this was backwards. The sign protected a pedestrian crossing, but the borough had decided it was unnecessary.
So he started a petition, and citizens mobilized. The borough didn't back down on the stop sign—they removed it—but they did compromise and install a raised trottoir traversant crossing to slow traffic and protect pedestrians. It was a small win, but for Labrèche, the lesson was bigger than the outcome.
By summer 2024, Labrèche had a realization: if a handful of residents with a petition could force the city to respond, what could a full political party do?
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