Jack Cabot, a longtime resident of Côte St. Luc who helped launch the Save Meadowbrook movement and who was also a constant presence at city council, died after a short illness on March 26 in Florida where he was wintering.
According to a year-end local achiever profile published in 2006 in the West End Chronicle, Cabot, who was 85, claimed he began attending Côte St. Luc city council meetings before the current mayor, Anthony Housefather, 39, was born.
From the mid-1960s onward, he saw four mayors elected: Samuel Moskovitch, Bernard Lang, Robert Libman and Housefather.
In addition to his interest in municipal affairs, Cabot was also an outspoken advocate for the preservation of the Meadowbrook Golf Course as a public greenspace.
He was a founding member of Les Amis de Meadowbrook, a grassroots organization which lobbies for the land’s preservation, and a director in good standing of the Green Coalition, a citizens’ environmental advocacy group.
“We need our greenspaces” and “Meadowbrook is a buffer,” Cabot had said in the profile, noting the important function of the golf course as a natural shield for Côte St. Luc, Montreal West and NDG from pollution generated in the industrial sectors of Ville St. Pierre and Lachine.
"Jack Cabot was someone who always made his views known and believed very strongly in them," Housefather said after learning of Cabot’s death. "He contributed greatly to civic life in the City of Côte St. Luc and will be sorely missed."
“I am very saddened by Jack’s passing because Jack was one of the originals,” said Councillor Dida Berku, pointing out that Cabot was one of the first people to start pressuring Côte St. Luc to take action to save Meadowbrook when the golf course was threatened by residential rezoning.
“He really was a driving force. He had a lot of vision and a lot of courage and energy,” she added. “He was a great team player. We always worked well together and we’re going to miss him.”
"The conservation of Meadowbrook and freedom of expression were dear to his heart," said Avrom Shtern, who worked alongside Cabot for several environmental causes in Montreal for many years. "We had a kinship and were brothers in arms attempting to better past glories. I will miss him greatly."
Pro-Meadowbrook, CSL council regular Jack Cabot dies at 85
Pro-Meadowbrook, CSL council regular Jack Cabot dies at 85
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Published on
April 5, 2009
- Published on February 6, 2010
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Martin C.
The West Island Chronicle
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