The organization Mosaïcultures can breathe a sigh of relief, less than 10 days before the grand opening of its exhibition, when a change in the new regulations on the use of drinking water allows plants to be watered when necessary.
• Also read: The city and the organization in solution mode
Last May, the city announced a significant tightening of the drinking water use ordinance. This limited the organization to watering its six million plants between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. three days a week.
According to Lise Cormier, managing director and executive vice president of Mosaïcultures Internationales de Montréal, it was impossible to maintain the facilities with so many constraints.
This limitation arose from the fact that the Mosaï cultures were viewed as an event – a horticultural exhibition – and not as a horticultural production.
Ms Cormier had also denounced the situation in a text published by the Journal.
However, an amendment to the new statutes was made on June 8 before their final adoption. It now equates a major horticultural exhibition with a horticultural production that is not subject to regulation.
to pay compensation
This reversal of the situation may come as a surprise since Quebec Mayor Bruno Marchand mentioned two weeks ago that he did not want to create two categories of citizens by allowing limited use of water and unrestricted use for other.
However, the mayor defends that the change in the statutes is the result of the search for a solution that has been discussed since the announcement of the tightening of the guidelines for the use of drinking water.
“They are considered horticultural production […] We tax them, we charge them more money – which we don’t do to citizens – to compensate for the fact that they need more water,” argues Mr Marchand.
He also mentioned the Mosaïcultures organization’s electronic drip irrigation system, which is very efficient in terms of water saving.
“Nevertheless, we treat them like horticultural products, like some of our nurseries and other horticultural producers on the territory, and they have to pay compensation that the citizens don’t have,” adds the mayor.
This is a user-pay principle and an amount is charged according to their use for the duration of the exhibition.
For her part, Mrs Cormier was satisfied with the result.
“This is a solution that suits us perfectly. We’re just days away from opening, we’re in the final stages of preparation and we can’t wait to welcome people!” she said.
– With the collaboration of Taïeb Moalla
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