The launch of a petition by citizens and merchants to encourage the government to officially commit to the project to complete Highway 20 has been welcomed by regional politicians.

Early on Wednesday morning, the Alliance citoyenne Dorion/île Perrot, the committee behind the petition, held a press conference to officially announce the launch of the petition and highlight the citizens' initiative. The petition will be distributed to various businesses in the region, and the citizens' committee will be making presentations at various summer events to invite people to sign. 

“I'm extremely pleased. I've been saying for a long time that a town doesn't vote, but a citizen does. It's time to put more pressure on the government and finally get someone interested. If the petition manages to get 10,000 or 20,000 signatures, that's 10,000 or 20,000 potential votes. As long as there's no real political pressure - we know there's an election coming up in about two years - it's going to stay the way it is,” said Vaudreuil-Dorion mayor Guy Pilon, just after signing the petition.

“The highway should have been built 15-20 years ago, but I'm glad to see that citizens are getting involved. It's about time someone took a look at this. We've long been forgotten by certain political parties; now it's time for that to change,” he added.

For his part, L'Île-Perrot mayor Pierre Séguin's reaction was unequivocal: “Let's get down to business. Politically, we haven't made it.We're there now. I think that, as in the case of the hospital, it's the citizens who will make the difference.I think citizen action is something we don't use much in Quebec, but it works.It's a big plus, and it will be supported by politicians, that's for sure,” he told Néomédia. 

The first expropriations for the completion of Highway 20 date back to 1964.Mr. Séguin believes that the people of Vaudreuil-Soulange have waited long enough. “In Vaudreuil-Soulanges, we have exemplary patience.For years, we received little investment in the region, so don't tell me that because we took our $10, when we needed $20, we're going to have to wait any longer,” he added, referring to recent investments in the construction of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges hospital and the new Île-aux-Tourtes bridge.

“Completion is an overall project. It has to be done at Dorion and Île Perrot, not just one or the other, otherwise we'll never get there. If you do one without doing the other, it won't work. One of the two won't get done,” added Pierre Séguin.

For her part, Vaudreuil MNA Marie-Claude Nichols pledged her support for the citizens' committee. “I support the Citizens' Alliance.The group can count on my support.Our objective is the same: to make life easier for all our citizens,” she told Néomédia. 

In addition to the paper petition, which will be available from local merchants, an online petition has been launched by Vaudreuil-Dorion citizen Amandine Lengele.Supported by the MNA for Vaudreuil, it can be found on the National Assembly website.

“We're behind them 150%. We've been fighting for 20 years.It's all positive,” said Pincourt mayor Claude Comeau.

The business community behind the citizens

Deeply involved in the project, the Développement Vaudreuil-Soulanges team also applauded the mobilization of citizens. 

“We're very pleased with this citizen initiative. It meets the needs of entrepreneurs and businesses.For DEV, it's a continuation of our collaborative efforts with various partners to bring the project to fruition.Elected officials have taken several initiatives to meet with the MTQ, and the citizens' initiative supports the efforts of politicians and the MRC to accelerate the Quebec government's thinking on completing the highway. For us, this completes the circle of partners who will be working to bring the project to fruition,” says DEV General Manager Joanne Brunet.