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In this November photo, onlookers watch the first Airbus touch down at Trudeau airport. (Tim Snow for The Gazette)

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Residents want action on flight path

Lachine councillor wonders why he's hearing planes

Karen Seidman
The Gazette
Monday, February 25, 2008

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In this November photo, onlookers watch the first Airbus touch down at Trudeau airport. (Tim Snow for The Gazette)

Some Lachine residents are pushing borough officials to adopt a resolution as quickly as possible opposing night flights traveling over Lachine between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., while a Lachine borough councillor wonders why he’s already hearing planes from his home.

“I’ve been hearing planes early in the morning and late at night since the fall,” said councillor Bernard Blanchet, who lives on 12th Ave. “I’m not so sure they haven’t started their test yet.”

The proposed new flight path over Lachine - for commercial flights between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. and smaller planes throughout the night - has residents and borough officials up in arms and scrambling to come up with the right strategy to get it stopped.

“The airport is growing so if we open a new trail, after that we’ll be stuck,” said Blanchet, who raised the possibility that new flight paths are already being tested without Lachine’s consent.

“I’ve heard the same from some residents and we’ve asked for information on that,” Blanchet said in an interview this week. “Something is different than it used to be.”
Aéroports de Montréal has confirmed that the airport authority is studying a new flight path veering south over the railyards in Lachine. The rationale behind it is that it could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and alleviate noise for residents north of the airport, particularly in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough and on Île Paton in Laval.

The airport wants to test the new flight path for three months starting this spring, although airport officials stressed that the new route has not been finalized.
Lachine resident Paul Thibault believes a resolution is the first step in stopping the new flight path.
"It's very important this get done," said Thibault. "But Lachine adopting this is just a formality. The city of Montreal must also adopt it.”

Thibault said after meeting with Lachine Mayor Claude Dauphin on Saturday, he's getting the feeling that getting Montreal on board will be a lot tougher.
"I don't understand why, because Mr. Dauphin is on (Montreal Mayor Gérald) Tremblay's executive committee," said Thibault. "Frankly, if Montreal doesn't also adopt it, it's really not going to matter. If we don't pass both resolutions, we're going nowhere."

Blanchet didn’t agree, saying that for now it is a borough issue that must be handled at the borough level.
“We’re managing it as a borough now. We haven’t brought it to Montreal yet,” he said.

Monique Delisle, a spokesperson for Lachine, said the resolution opposing the flight path will be discussed early next week before deciding if it should be on the borough’s agenda at its Mar. 10 meeting.

Thibault is encouraging Lachine residents to get involved and let Dauphin know he has their support on this issue.
Last week, Dauphin said he would wage "the fight of his life" to stop the proposed new flight path from the Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.

Thibault said Lachine is known as a quiet community and would be hurt by the new flight path.

Blanchet agreed. “Everyone is very upset about this, including me,” said Blanchet. “We assure the citizens that we’re doing everything possible to fight this.”