• Community
• Dorval

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Letter: Do you want a crematorium in Dorval?

posted by BOFarrell at 18h53

by Jean Clement

As many may know, the Lakeshore Cardinal Funeral Home,
operating for decades in the old village of Dorval by the Cardinal
family, is being renovated. The permit requested and obtained from
the city states: "expansion and construction of chapel -
columbarium" (translation from French).

 

To my great surprise, a crematorium is included in these
renovations! A crematorium in the funeral home is clearly not in the
public's best interest and will cause irreparable and lasting damage
to the residents of Dorval and the image of the "Old Village."

Dorval has been promoting the village under the "Main Streets"
banner - where you purchase food from an open-air market during the
summer, dine in restaurants on a terrace or simply enjoy an ice
cream cone. The Lakeshore also offers specialized boutiques and
cafés. Many parents depend on the services of a daycare on Lakeshore
Drive. All of these make up the village, along with condominiums,
apartment buildings, residences and, let's not forget, Dorval's own
water filtration plant.

And now we add a crematorium in the middle of this. It is clearly
to the benefit of the Cardinal family, but certainly not to the
residents of Dorval.

Many residents have expressed their displeasure at the last three
council meetings, raising concerns over the loss of property values,
mercury vapour, dioxins and other emissions and the effect of the
crematorium on the people residing in the area and simply visiting
"Main Street" Lakeshore.

There has been concern expressed about the effects that it could
have, especially on children, pregnant women, flora, pets and water
sources, as Bouchard Creek, Lake St. Louis and the water filtration
plant are all in the immediate area of the crematorium site.

I hope that residents of Dorval will let their city councillors
know how they feel. I invite them to attend the next council meeting
Wednesday, June 18, 8 p.m. at city hall, 60 Martin Ave.

At the very least, the city should stop the construction of the
crematorium or move it to the industrial park.