Montreal fires snow removal company

CTV Montreal: Snow contract cancelled Montreal will cancel the contract with Pavages d’Amour

The city of Montreal is cancelling a five-year contract for snow clearance and removal.

The move comes after numerous complaints and calls on the Executive Committee to cancel its contract with snow removal company Pavages d’Amour.

"I think citizens who are upset are rightfully upset. It's very frustrating. We want our sidewalks to be safe for people to walk on and we want people to be mobile at the end of the day," said Sauvé.

In the first year of a five-year snow removal contract with the Southwest borough, the company has come under fire for damaging a bicycle and leaving trash strewn all over a residential street.

Pavages D'Amour has already been fined about $150,000.

Now, the company is behind the slowest snow removal operations in the city.

Info-neige reports that as of 10:40 a.m. Thursday, only 24 per cent of streets in the Southwest borough were cleared compared to Saint-Leonard, which is 94 per cent clear.

The Executive Committee agreed Thursday afternoon to cancel the contract, but only at the end of this season.

"At this point there is a lack of confidence that this entrepreneur can change and we will recommend to the municipal council to cancel this contract,' said Pierre Desrochers, president of the Executive Committee.

The city of Montreal said it will take necessary measures to ensure snow is cleared quickly for the rest of the winter.

"We are really babying them now. We have people following them around in trucks to make sure they are doing their job," said Sauvé. "We're doing everything we can to be done."

Nobody at Pavages d'Amour responded to requests for comment from CTV News.