With nearly 50 people in attendance, Sauvons la Forêt Fairview / Save Fairview Forest (SFF) held its third Annual General Meeting (AGM) on March 26th at Cedar Park United Church.
Member-at-Large Sandra Maki presented SFF’s Annual Report, whose goal was stated to be to “Save Fairview Forest in its entirety,” a sentiment echoed by many in the audience. With the help of Geneviève Lussier, President of the Board of Directors, the presentation was made, beginning by highlighting the community outreach efforts of the group.
Sauvons la Forêt Fairview / Save Fairview Forest attracted new members during their events held at the Merging Waters United Church, Lakeshore Trinity United Church, and the West Island LGBTQ2+ Centre. Awareness for their cause was also brought to the attention of students at John Abbott College while speaking as part of the course offering “Tales From the Trees.”
Lussier and Maki reviewed a series of educational workshops that took place in 2024, including “Winter Tracking” with Steve Leckman and “Winter Tree ID” in Terra Cotta Park with Chris Robinson, both of which took place in February 2024. Activities continued into last spring with “Spring Birding” in April with Alison Hackney and “Exploring Vernal Ponds” with David Fletcher in May, both held in Parc-nature de l'Anse-à-l'Orme.
The group also engaged in Earth Day activities last April, paying visits to local companies such as Ericsson Canada and Galderma. SFF also participated in an Earth Day cleanup, clearing the area surrounding the currently fenced-off forest. The Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), Quebec’s second-largest trade union, also showed their support, bringing a busload of union members to Fairview Forest in a bid to encourage provincial and federal governments to work to protect urban forests and wetlands on a day of visits to three such natural spaces.
The grassroots efforts of SFF continued with a letter-writing campaign in September, with over 75 messages being sent to elected officials at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels, asking them to act to protect Fairview Forest. The group held their 200th weekly demonstration in mid-September, and their 250th protest is planned to be held this year on Sept. 30th, 2025.
Current efforts being made by SFF involve lobbying the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM), having submitted a “mémoire” in the context of the revision of the Plan métropolitain d'aménagement et de développement, or PMAD, the planning tool for the Greater Montreal area. This most recent endeavour resulted in over 150 comments of support.
The next steps for SFF require patience, waiting for the CMM to confirm if 50% of the forest is, in fact, protected. Another part is asking the City of Pointe-Claire to act on the recent amendments to Bill 39, notably section 245, which gives municipalities more powers to protect natural environments on their territory. The group is also seeking financial support from the provincial government, believing that the cost of any potential acquisition of the forest may be offset by a recent agreement to advance the protection and conservation of nature to meet the objectives of Quebec’s 2030 Nature Plan and Canada’s 2030 Nature Strategy.
Save Fairview Forest will be holding their Earth Day forest cleanup on April 26th from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. To learn more about what’s happening, please visit their website at https://sauvonslaforetfairview.org/ and see the most recent updates on their Facebook and Instagram pages.