Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough works to clean up streets

If you've noticed the streets of Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve looking a bit cleaner than usual, that could be thanks to a new initiative asking citizens to clean up the streets of the borough.

Pierre Lessard-Blais, mayor of Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, says the goal of the project is meeting citizens halfway.

"We didn't want to blame people, telling them what they did wrong. We wanted, in a fun way, to bring them to have better habits," Lessard-Blais said.

The borough has dedicated resources to hiring more people to pick up garbage, but it's also hired more inspectors to enforce trash disposal rules.

Those rules are posted on signs throughout the neighbourhood — and the borough even made an ad, reminding people to keep the streets tidy.

"Any people were complaining about the state of the borough, so we wanted to make it better, better way of living in a neighbourhood," Lessard-Blais said. "It was something that citizens frequently asked, and we needed to add some love to the neighbourhood."

The project has been going on since the end of April, and some residents are beginning to notice.

"It's better," said Fabrice Baumann, who likes visiting Lalancette Park off Joliette Street with his dog, Wyatt. "It's an encouragement for people trying to do better and cleaning up after their dog."

The mayor says the administration has gotten good feedback from residents, and considers the project a success so far.