Pierrefonds daycare owner worried about safety

"What I would do is encourage you to call the police," said Christian Dubois, a Pierrefonds/Roxboro city councillor, who is in charge of road signs in the borough.

Borough mayor Monique Worth explained that the two recently inaugurated speed humps in Pierrefonds/Roxboro, which each cost $1,500, are "experimental," and that they would have to be studied for a year before a decision was made as to their effectiveness.

Dubois said that he had to fight a reluctant council and emergency services to get those two speed humps installed. Emergency services were opposed to them because they force emergency vehicles to slow down, Dubois said. Part of the compromise was that council would wait a year before deciding on more.

"How many tragedies will happen in the meantime?" Marin-Alvarez asked later, in the large, colourfully decorated basement that serves as her centre, as she entertained two of the six children she is in charge of.

Though understanding of the borough's concerns, she felt that something still needed to be done. "Maybe even just a sign that says 'watch out, there are children here,' " she suggested. She said she would attempt to present the borough a petition with signatures of her neighbours.

Dubois said that putting a sign up would not be a problem. "We put up tens of signs like that in Pierrefonds over the last year," he explained. All it would take is a written request with an explanation.

The centre is located on Cayou Street, which could be appealing for local youth to speed on due to its long, downward-slanting shape. It is also near St-Charles elementary school and at least two other daycare centres.

Marin-Alvarez has been running her home daycare centre for five years but said she became particularly concerned after a speeding car turned on Cayou and almost ran over her and her daughter two weeks ago. Last week's tragedy in Ile Perrot drove the point home even further. "I try to tell my kids not to run, but when they see their parents at the end of the day, they just do. They can't control it," she said.

Constable Bertrand of local police station 3 explained that officers could be encouraged to patrol a given area more often if a formal complaint was deposited with the station and the officers had their schedules freed up enough to do so.