{"id":1177,"date":"2011-11-28T16:22:47","date_gmt":"2011-11-28T21:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ombudsmandemontreal.com\/?page_id=1177"},"modified":"2011-11-28T16:22:47","modified_gmt":"2011-11-28T21:22:47","slug":"first-interim-recommendation-%e2%80%93-cutting-down-of-trees-2006","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ombudsmandemontreal.com\/en\/cases-handled\/examples-of-charter-files\/environment-and-sustainable-development\/first-interim-recommendation-%e2%80%93-cutting-down-of-trees-2006","title":{"rendered":"First interim Recommendation \u2013 Cutting down of trees (2006)"},"content":{"rendered":"

A citizen submitted a complaint to the Ombudsman de Montr\u00e9al<\/span> to prevent the cutting down of mature trees on her neighbour\u2019s property, behind her backyard. At the time of the request, the neighbour had already obtained a permit authorizing him to cut down these trees.<\/p>\n

The citizen contested the legality of this permit, under the municipal statutes, notably, the new Montr\u00e9al Charter of Rights and Responsibilities<\/em>. She was also seeking our opinion as to the reasonable or unreasonable character of the borough\u2019s decision to issue this permit.<\/p>\n

If we were to conclude that the permit should not have been granted, however, the trees would have already been cut down, by the time we reached our conclusion.<\/p>\n

Given these exceptional circumstances, the Ombudsman de Montr\u00e9al<\/span> issued, for the first time, an interim Recommendation asking Arrondissement de C\u00f4te-des-Neiges\u2013Notre-Dame-de-Gr\u00e2ce to temporarily suspend the permit which had been issued and to take appropriate measures to prevent the cutting down of these trees, while we were looking at the situation.<\/p>\n

Our office had committed to act very quickly in this file and we had even confirmed to the borough that, as soon as it would have forwarded to us the relevant information we asked, we would issue our final conclusions or recommendations in no later than one week\u2019s time.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the borough did not agree to follow through with our interim Recommendation because, in its opinion, it did not have the power to suspend a permit which had already been issued.<\/p>\n

Notwithstanding this negative first response, the Ombudsman de Montr\u00e9al<\/span> still believes that issuing interim Recommendations is a path she must continue to explore when circumstances are such that, if the borough or department waits until the end of her investigation before it takes any action, it may then be too late for her Recommendation to be useful.<\/p>\n

We must, however, make the municipal representatives more aware of the appropriateness of such interim Recommendations, in the best interest of citizens. We will also emphasize on how such an approach may also be beneficial to the City, by limiting the risks of having to later redress or compensate for a situation which could have been illegal or inappropriate.<\/p>\n

As to the merit of the case, i.e. the appropriateness of the permit to cut down these specific trees, our investigation revealed that:<\/p>\n