Save Saint Monica’s Church: Montrealers hold benefit concert in NDG

A bike path installed on Terrebonne Street in NDG has been sparking controversy for quite some time, causing disruption for residents, and for Saint Monica’s Church, it’s caused financial problems.

They say they’re facing a 30 per cent drop in attendance and donations, and it’s interfering with events.

With the future of the church in jeopardy, the community is fighting back by holding a benefit concert.

“This is really an overwhelming and humbling feeling that everyone, from all creeds and all cultural communities, has stepped up to show that they appreciate the role St. Monica’s Parish has played in the community in NDG,” said Paul Wong, who is a warden at the church.

A concert on Sunday featured performances by Freddie James, the Montreal Chan Lion Dance Club, Clare Keays, the Panday Tinig Chorale Ensemble, and other performers.

“I’m part of this parish. I’ve been coming here for three years, and it’s basically to raise awareness and to raise some funds to help because of the bike path that was installed by Mayor Plante. It’s really caused a lot of havoc, especially with not being allowed to park. It’s difficult even for funerals. So, it’s really been hard to keep the funds going for the church. I’m here volunteering for this fundraiser to help raise money for the church and keep it going,” said musician Clare Keays.

“Music can have a way of reaching out and touching you,” she added.

Other speakers were present including Chair of the English Montreal School Board, Joe Ortona.

“We want to make sure that whatever plan was put in place is something that works for everybody. We want children to be able to walk to school safely. We want children to be able to bike to school safely. But we also want children to be able to get off the bus safely. And we have a lot of kids, for example, from Mackay Centre School, who come from all across Quebec. They’re driven over an hour and a half away. Some of them have severe physical disabilities, and they need to be able to get from the car on the street to the school safely. So we have all of these concerns together, and then we’re hearing about the church that is having all of these difficulties. We need a plan that works for everybody in the community,” he said.

The EMSB is calling on the city to remove the bike path, or a portion of it for the winter. This comes after an accident involving a school bus and a parent’s vehicle, creating a safety concern.

It happened in front of St. Monica Elementary School. There were no injuries. The students who were on the bus couldn’t get out for 10 minutes, as the door was obstructed.

“The bike path was supposed to make the situation safer, right? And now we see that there’s been an accident. There was a major consultation with all of the major stakeholders back in 2020 through 2021, and they came up with a compromise that seemed to work for everybody. Perhaps it didn’t make everybody happy, but it was something that everyone could live with. And all of a sudden, that got scrapped, and we have what we have now. Something isn’t working, and we need to make sure that the community is consulted,” said Ortona.

The EMSB believes the accident was due to the Borough’s redesign of Terrebonne Avenue, which narrowed the roadway in order to put bike paths on both sides of the street.

“The fact of the matter is, we’re seeing that it’s a lot tighter; it’s a lot harder to get through. The school buses— I mean, we know that they’re big, right? So there’s a lot of difficulty there with space. That’s going to be even amplified during the winter months. So again, we just need everybody to come together. We need a real consultation so that everybody’s heard and we can come up with a solution that works for everybody,” said Ortona.

The bike bath was initially installed in 2020, but was removed shortly after, largely due to the impact on vehicle parking.

This past summer, a similar bike path project was implemented, turning the street into a one way.

Many say that safety and accessibility continues to be an issue.

“When I look outside, I see a war zone that didn’t have to be. It was slow, it was appropriate, and the street was well respected by motorists and cyclists,” said Michael Shafter, a resident of Côte-des-Neiges–NDG

“The first order of business is to get rid of one bike path. They don’t need two when the street has been configured one way,” he added.

“65 per cent of the parish are seniors with mobility issues. And the simple fact that they’re afraid to even stop in front of the church to drop people off for fear of getting a ticket—a lot of people are; they don’t want to take a chance, so they’re just not coming to the church,” said Wong.

Wong admits the church has had problems, but nothing quite like this.

“The church has always had a deficit, but it’s been what they call a manageable deficit. But it’s never been to the point where we’ve experienced almost double, like, over $10,000 in monthly losses since the bike path opened,” he said.

He feels that community members are a big part in helping the church.

“The spin-off, the good word, the fact that a lot of community, cultural communities, and a lot of other non-religious community groups have expressed interest in renting the basement to help us out,” said Wong.

Sonny Moroz, a City Councillor for Côte-des-Neiges–NDG with Ensemble Montréal was also present. He’s calling for change.

“The bike lane should be removed in the winter. It was not studied whether the impacts on parking, fluidity, and safety. We do not know how it will be this winter,” he said.

“Out of caution, I proposed a motion at the November Council to remove it in the winter, waiting to ensure that we get a year with this bike path in place and identify the adjustments that need to be made. We have a council meeting at the beginning of December, and I’m hoping they’re willing to consider the people in power. I hope they consider removing it between Madison and Cavendish, where the institutions are being impacted by the bike path. I’m really hoping that a dialogue is created from the kind of support we see for this church,” he added.

“Whether the bike path has positively or negatively impacted this institution, we want to see and understand, long term, what it means for this church. Today is just the start of the kind of attention that we want to bring to the problems of this community institution.”

CityNews reached out to the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough but did not hear back.

“The simple message is, if you’re upset or feel frustrated, just do that famous line: ‘Do something about it,’ and good things come to those people who are willing to push hard and get involved,” said Wong.

“May the success of Saint Monica be a success for the whole city,” added Shafter.