Outremont: Free off-street parking for a religious holiday

The majority of off-street municipal parking was free in the borough of Outremont, Montreal, between Tuesday, 4 pm, and Wednesday, 10 pm, on the occasion of the Jewish religious holiday Yom Kippur.

"The SPVM and the borough have received requests from citizens for Yom Kippur. The requests were not to apply the regulation prohibiting parking on the streets, which was refused, "explained the borough, which instead decided to" offer a tolerance on off-street parking. "

The borough is working on a regulatory update to mark the approval process for such requests.

The Traffic and Parking By-law "provides much larger permits for eight days associated with Christian holidays," it added.

The information has not been publicized. The borough justified this by claiming that the decision was made Tuesday, around noon, and that it therefore had a short delay.

Céline Forget, a resident of Outremont and a former independent city councilor, denounces the making of a decision "in secret", so as to avoid debate. In fact, the issue was not discussed at the borough council on Monday.

According to her, the administration of Mayor Philip Tomlinson offered a "pass-right" to a community. The by-law allows parking to be offered free of charge only in case of emergency and necessity, argued Ms. Forget, who believes that the Borough's decision "was not necessary."