Council Highlights - November & December 2025 By Deborah Ancel

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Presenting your 2025-2029 city council

The City of Pointe-Claire council chamber welcomed back both new and familiar faces to its council meeting on Nov. 18, 2025. Heading up the council is John Belvedere, who previously served as mayor from 2017 to 2021. He is joined by returning councillors Kelly Thorstad-Cullen (District 3), Cynthia Homan (District 5), Bruno Tremblay (District 6), and Eric Stork (District 7).

New members of city council are: Claudine Demers (District 1), Ludovic Matthews (District 2), Andrew Swidzinski (District 4), and Mike Potvin (District 8).

A revamped question period

New rules for the question period at council meetings were introduced at the November meeting. The new rules are intended to improve meeting decorum and maximize the opportunities for citizens to present their concerns.

Changes to the question period include providing updates on previous public-interest questions that remain unanswered and require follow-up, the enforcement of proper behaviour for the person at the microphone, and a requirement that only questions of public interest will be allowed — questions of private interest unrelated to city business will not be permitted.

An emphasis was made on the need for decorum and good conduct, and questions and statements found to be offensive, concerning matters pending before the courts or a quasi-judicial body, or the lengthy presentation of documents will not be allowed.

Dec. 9, 2025 council meeting

Mayor Belvedere invited residents to an information session on Dec. 15, 2025, to provide insights into the flooding events of August 2024 and July 2025 and will give an update on the inspections, the work the city has done to date, the scenarios that were looked at, and the potential long-term solutions.

The mayor also commended 15 city employees from the Finance and IT departments for volunteering at West Island Mission, spending 3-4 hours after work stocking shelves and packing up boxes, taking the initiative to help on their own personal time.

Councillor Tremblay addressed residents of the Hermitage area to warn them about a recent coyote sighting. Tremblay advised residents not to feed the coyotes, keep pets indoors, walk dogs close to you or pick them up, if necessary, and if you see a coyote, to maintain a safe distance and walk away calmly without turning away from the animal.

The question period covered an array of topics, with residents each provided with a brief time to pose their questions. The questions included concern about several trees cut down on Stillview Ave. near Hymus Blvd., a lack of proper sidewalks and lighting on Mason Ave., a timeline for repairs to a pipe on Saddlewood Ave., concerns about wood-burning fireplaces and the increasing costs to work on the Valois library, clarification about the inspection and future of a water pumping station at Brunswick and Saint-Jean Blvds., and a question about Pointe-Claire’s ability to help residents who are continuing to face a housing crisis.