Montréal, March 8, 2018. The Citizen Committee Les Pollués de Montreal-Trudeau (LPDMT) requests the support from all Members of the National Assembly of the Island of Montreal for an epidemiological study by the Montreal Public Health Department (DSPM), concerning the health impacts of low-flying airplanes over Montreal.
Last month, more than 70 citizens sent a letter to the director of the DSPM, Dr. Richard Massé, requesting this study. The President of the Citizen Committee, Pierre Lachapelle, sent a similar letter to each member of the National Assembly for the Island of Montreal. In his letter, he mentionned: “In order to hold a fact-based discussion about a public health problem, we have to rely on science. That is why we ask you to show your support, so that the DSPM carries out this year an epidemiological study on the impacts of pollution generated by aircraft on the health of Montrealers. ”
Convinced of the importance of such a study and the problems to be examined, LPDMT also addressed their request to Ms. Lucie Charlebois, Minister of Public Health, Dr. Gaétan Barrette, Minister of Health, and Mr. Philippe Couillard, Premier of Quebec. As stated by Pierre Lachapelle, “We want to make sure that, when they visit Montreal, the ministers and the Premier, are not surprised to learn about the existence of noise and air pollution caused by flights at Montreal-Trudeau Airport. To clarify the nature of the study we are asking for, epidemiology means: “the study of the factors influencing the health and diseases of populations. This is a discipline that relates to the distribution, frequency, and severity of disease states”.