Residents give Verdun Borough a good grade

Mayor Trudel was delighted with the residents’ increased satisfaction rate, considering that in past surveys conducted in 2002 and 2003 on the same subject, the satisfaction rate was 69% and 78% respectively. It is to be noted however that the 2002 survey did not poll only residents, but also developers and local organisations.

Aside from the satisfaction rate of residents, this year’s survey also dealt with several issues. Telephone interviews covered the bridge project and results obtained for this question are published in a separate article in this week’s issue. Telephone interviews were held between the 8th and 14th May 2008 and 900 respondents were called, equally divided between the three borough districts. The margin of maximum error was ± 3.3 % on the basis of 19 times out of 20.

Several questions covered the provision of new facilities. Among others, residents were asked about their support for the construction of an aquatic centre, a Maison des Jeunes (youth hostel) and a recreational centre for senior citizens in L’Île-des-Sœurs.

Without revealing details which Le Magazine will discuss in a future issue, it was confirmed that these three projects are massively supported by residents. It was therefore observed that 81% of residents would give the green light for the construction of an aquatic centre and a little over 70% of them would be prepared to approve the construction of a Maison des Jeunes as well as a recreational centre for seniors living in L’Île-des-Sœurs.

Less positive results however were gathered when respondents were asked their opinion on tax increases for these different facilities; these results will be covered in a separate article.

The survey revealed as well that residents who live far from a metro station were more dissatisfied with public transportation services. If 77 % of Wellington-De L’Église residents were satisfied with the services, only 50% of L’Île-des-Sœurs residents shared the same opinion. The frequency of busses was the main source of this dissatisfaction. Mayor Claude Trudel, who is also president of the Société de transport de Montréal, took note of this point: “We will continue to deploy all efforts to improve bus service as long as it is possible for us to do so”, he stated.

More detailed information on the different parts of the survey will be featured in the next issue of Magazine. No doubt they will fuel discussions in the next few weeks.

Moreover, as mentioned earlier in this article, the survey also covered the rate of support by residents for a bridge between the island and the Verdun mainland, the results of which are discussed in another article.