‘No more deaths’: Montrealers remember 7-year-old Ukrainian girl killed 2 years ago

Community leaders and residents gathered on Friday to commemorate the life of Mariia Legenkovska who was fatally struck by a car in Montreal two years ago. And call for road safety investigators in the province.

The seven-year-old Ukrainian girl was walking to school with her siblings when she was hit on Dec. 13, 2022.

The group walked to Legenkovska’s school and stopped at the intersection where she lost her life to pay their respects.

“I reflect on how she left from tragedy from a war-torn country and then came here and you know it was just the most tragic of deaths,” said Katherine Korakakis, the president of the English Parents’ Committee Association of Quebec.

“It’s very, very sad and really that was the catalyst for us to mobilize and say, ‘it’s enough, something has to be done’ and this is where we’re at two years later.”

The ‘Pas une mort de plus’ collective was created shortly after this incident took place. The organization wants the Quebec government to establish a Road Safety Ombudsman to help protect children walking to and from school.

“We’re here for two things. First thing we are here to remember the death of Mariia. The second thing is we are asking for an ombudsman for walking to school,” said Jean-François Gagné, an organizer with Pas une mort de plus.

Korakakis adding, “We have been presenting at the National Assembly. We wrote a brief. Bill 48 was one of the results of all our push and we’re here today because some of our recommendations were not followed. One in particular is having a road safety ombudsman that would ensure that when road safety issues arise or where citizens have complaints, they have somebody to take charge of them.”

According to the group, parents from all over Quebec denounced the road insecurity that children face after Legenkovska was killed.

“Enough is enough! It’s time for Quebec to implement a real mechanism to end preventable deaths on our roads. Let’s stand together and demand Pas une mort de plus!” wrote the group on social media.

CityNews Montreal reached out to Transports Quebec before 11 a.m. on Friday to see if they will consider the creation of an ombudsman for road safety, but have not received as response as of 4 p.m.

The driver who hit her was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for 12 months after pleading guilty for failing to stop after the accident.

“This is such a preventable death, right? If we had people in charge, if we had more measures in place, parents shouldn’t have to live this worst nightmare. And yes, you hear about children dying all the time, but you don’t hear about all the children that are hit, struck, that their lives are changed forever, right? Or other citizens as well. So these are preventable things that we should be able to address,” said Korakakis.

The City of Montreal has made changes to the flow of traffic on the streets in the area where Legenkovska was hit and has made improvements to the bike lanes to make the streets safer.

The organization also wants the CAQ government to use to similar workplace models like the CNESST, which is there to prevent accidents from happening by requiring safety and corrective measures.