Press releases published by Projet Montréal

Richard Bergeron, leader of Projet Montréal and Executive Committee member in charge of Urban Planning at city hall, and his team are proud to nominate their candidate for borough councillor of the district of St. Genevieve in the upcoming byelection on Sunday, September 26th: Jean-Dominic Lévesque-René, a prominent figure in local and global activism in the fight to ban pesticides.

Having survived cancer himself at the age of 11 years, Jean-Dominic Lévesque-René dedicated his adolesence to fighting against the use of pesticides. Due to his ongoing efforts, Jean-Dominic was able to convince the city of Montreal to ban many pesticides on its territory and played an instrumental role in the adoption of the Pesticides Management Code of Quebec in 2003. Jean-Dominic was even able to persuade other municipal and provincial governments around Canada to follow in the footsteps of Montreal and Quebec.

“Not even having reached his thirtieth birthday, Jean-Dominic has already profoundly influenced our quality of life,” noted Richard Bergeron. “Jean-Dominic now wants to put his experience and tenacity at the service of his fellow citizens in St. Genevieve. I am convinced that the voters in the district will be persuaded by the energy of this young man of great achievement.”

The enormous efforts of Jean-Dominic Lévesque-René is his struggle to have pesticides banned were met with an impressive list of awards from the governments of Quebec and Canada. He is also named among the list of laureates of the prestigious Global 500 Forum of the United Nations Environment Programme, which acknowledges the 500 greatest worldwide environmental achievements.

“My battle wasn’t easy, but it allowed me to better understand my responsibility as a member of my community,” Jean-Dominic Lévesque-René remarked. “I’ve come to realize that everyone can make a difference.”

Distinctions awarded to Jean-Dominic Lévesque-René

• YTV Terry Fox award for environmental activism  (1995)
• Canadian Order of Youth (1995)
• Environment Canada Canadian Health Environment Award (1996)
• First Youth Laureate of Phoenix Environment awards of the Quebec government (1998)
• Personality of the week of the newspaper La Presse (June 2001) read the article
• UN Environment Programme Global 500 Youth Laureate (2001) read the UN's take on the results of Jean-Dominic's crusade

Projet Montréal : The Wind in its Sails

Renown for its integrity and its determination to clean-up city politics, Projet Montréal elected 14 councillors and never ceases to leave its mark on the development of Montréal. “Think for example about how our borough mayors in the Plateau and Ahuntsic–Cartierville were able to clean up the substantial deficits left by previous administrations,” Bergeron proudly emphasized. “Consider also how we were able to bring about an end to the secretive budget process, after a successful motion adopted unanimously and proposed by Projet Montréal. And don’t forget about the new first-time home-owners programme which offers greater benefits to families, as is stipulated by our party platform.”

“Projet Montréal has the wind in its sails, and Jean-Dominic will be a perfect addition to our team, which itself has already started to change the course of history for our city,” added Mr. Bergeron.