Grieving mother joins Projet Montréal in pressing for safer snow removal
The mother of a 21-year-old woman who lost her life in a snow removal accident more than a decade ago is still pressing for increased safety measures on all vehicles doing work for the city of Montreal.
Jeanette Holman-Price's daughter, Jessica, died after she slid under the wheels of a snow removal truck in Westmount while saving her younger brother in 2005.
Now Holman-Price has teamed up with the Official Opposition at city hall, Projet Montréal, to lobby for increased safety measures on all snow-removal trucks subcontracted out by the city.
Projet Montréal Leader Valérie Plante said that while all city snow-removal trucks have side guards, there are contracted companies whose trucks don't have the guards.
"We have the capacity, the ability to make a change," Plante told reporters Sunday morning.
She said her party will table a motion on Monday asking the city to implement mandatory safety measures for private subcontractors by next winter.
Plante added the city needs to follow Westmount's example, which had the "boldness" to force subcontractors to use side guards following the 2005 accident.
'Life has been destroyed'
Holman-Price says she's proud to be part of the global Zero Vision initiative, whose slogan states "no loss of life is acceptable" on the roadways.
She told reporters that it's time for Montreal to crack down on unsafe vehicles and snow clearing practices by mandating side guards, mirrors and cameras on all trucks.
"This city here, they better not ignore me anymore." Holman-Price said.
She says her "life has been destroyed" by the aftermath of the accident, including fighting to get compensation for herself and her son from the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ).
Holman-Price said she's "bankrupt" from medical and legal fees and plans to launch another suit against the SAAQ at the Montreal courthouse Monday, this one seeking $8 million in damages.
"This beautiful coat of mine, this watch, my car, everything is going on auction to pay for this," she said.
City 'working on an overall vision'
Aref Salem, member of the city's executive committee and responsible for transportation issues, told CBC that the city has been in talks about side guards with federal Transportation Minister Marc Garneau.
But Salem also said it isn't the city's intention to "close the market" to subcontractors by forcing them to adhere to increased safety measures.
The city has already taken steps to increase security by adopting side guards on all municipally owned snow-clearing vehicles, he said, adding that further changes should come from the federal government.
"What we want is to have legislation that touches the whole of Canada, not just one truck in one place."
Death of Dereck Husband renews calls for safety measures
Projet Montréal's call for more side guards comes not long after another fatal snow clearing accident, when a truck fatally struck 50-year-old Dereck Husband last month in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.
"The windows were clean, the truck has good visibility, we think the person must have slipped," said the driver's wife, Nancy Boisier, not long after the accident. "The side guards would not have made a difference."
The company, Transport E Racine based out of Laval, was clearing highway ramps on contract with Quebec's Transport Ministry.
Police say Husband was hit by a snow-removal truck and dragged several metres before he died.
Husband's mother, Elaine, told CBC shortly before Christmas: "His death was tragic. And he doesn't deserve [a] tragic death."
Following the incident, provincial Transport Minister Laurent Lessard said he would discuss the issue of added safety measures for private subcontractors during public consultations in January.
