Update : terrible news ...

Hi everyone, We are writing this in English in order to get the message out as soon as possible. If someone has time to translate to French and Spanish please let us know. Dave Smith, Dave Homel and Marisa had a meeting with the City and the arrondissement (follow-up to the meeting we had last May). Present from the government were Cristina Romero (arrondissement du Plateau Mont-Royal), Alex Norris (elected city councillor, Plateau), Martin Mousseau (regional chef de division, sports et loisir), and another guy from division des grands parcs (of which Luc Ferrandez is the head) Very bad news. They say the north field will be abolished. Here is what they told us: • North field was never a legit field for adults to play on (in 2005 they did some work on it, but this work made it into a legit kids field – max. bantam). • Basically our field has played on it due to a blind eye from the City/the arrondissement. • The tourist who got injured in 2016 and submitted a complaint to the City made them have to carry out an investigation. (but neglected to include the fact that this woman willingly and ignorantly remained in a very dangerous place on the foul like close to 3B during a game despite being told to move multiple times). • The investigation showed that the North field is not safe. Even with a bigger backstop, it says that playing on the north puts pedestrians and motorists on Mont-Royal at risk, among others. (this argument is completely bogus and multiple parks around the city could be used as an example as "dangerous" to people and cars - this park would be as safe as others if it were invested in and upgraded to an adult field). • Once they embark on an investigation, they are then mandated to adhere to the conclusion of the study and follow its recommendations. (We plan on challenging this "investigation" given we were not included in the discussion - nor were we made aware that things would change after being given a promise in writing TWICE from the city). • As such, they plan to abolish the field. It would become simple green space. (we are also unsure we believe this) • Timeline: the study resulting from the investigation already existed last Spring, but all the results and recommendations had not come out yet. However it raises questions about when they became aware of this, and why Luc Ferrandez promised on TWO occasions (the latest was in late February) that we would have our field back. We don’t have exact dates for when the results came out. • We have submitted an access to information request to get the results of the study (we saw some of the graphics today at the meeting, but need to submit a request to access the entire study). A few additional points: • The City and the arrondissement bureaucrats se disent “très sensible” à la cause de notre communauté, et à l’importance de la pratique libre (improvised pick-up). • They propose that we find a way to make the south field meet the needs of both the pick-up community and the League. They are also willing to facilitate getting bookings at other nearby parks like Lafontaine, Jarry, Laurier for any League needs that can’t be met via the south field. They say there are currently lots of free slots at those parks. • They suggest we submit a proposal (I think it should be joint between community and league) of our needs and how the south field should be allocated to meet our needs. • There is an “atelier” on June 7 (I will post the invitation on this page) for people to go and participate in working groups on how ball sports can be integrated at JMP. Everyone is encouraged to go, but if there are big numbers we should let them know so they can ensure a big enough venue. We are currently working on our response but we need more exposure and outcry like we had last year. Please pass along the message, sign the petition, and get in touch if you can help!