Southwest borough targets trash in civic-pride campaign

Montreal's Southwest borough has a bit of a garbage problem — namely, that it's everywhere.

Coun. Craig Sauvé said cleanliness is the number one complaint he and his fellow borough administrators receive. 

So the borough's administration came up with a project to help residents shame their not-so-clean neighbours: Bright pink signs and stickers drawing attention to sidewalk trash, garbage bags put out on a non-pickup day and the omnipresent discarded bags of dog poo littering tree squares.

Daybreak Montreal5:58Southwest borough targets garbage problem with new "cleanliness and civic pride" signs

The Southwest borough has created bright pink signs designed to expose residents who are violating garbage bylaws and not picking up dog poop. Daybreak spoke to city councillor Craig Sauvé about the campaign.

Sauvé said he doesn't see it as much as public shaming, as instilling in people a sense of civic pride.

"There are so many people who are really awesome and involved and take part in the community… but there are some who need a little extra nudging. So that's the audience we're really trying to go for," Sauvé, a city councillor for St-Henri–Little-Burgundy–Pointe-St-Charles, told CBC's Daybreak. 

Residents will be able to pick up stickers at the borough office on Belair Street to put on unsightly garbage they find around their neighbourhoods.

He said residents aren't alone in the fight against trash, either — the borough has doubled the number of street and park garbage cans and increased the frequency they are emptied to daily.

"They have to do their part and they have to be responsible," Sauvé said.