By Canadian Press

Montreal caleche drivers seek injunction to try to save their industry

Dec 17, 2019 | 4:08 PM

MONTREAL — A group of Montreal carriage-horse owners and drivers are going to court in a last-ditch effort to save their industry weeks before a city-imposed ban is set to take effect.

The group filed a request for an injunction against the city on Monday in the hopes of overturning its plan to ban the popular horse-drawn tourist rides through Old Montreal on Dec. 31.

About a dozen drivers and owners were at the Montreal courthouse on Tuesday for a hearing, which was postponed until Thursday at the request of a lawyer for the city.

The lawyer representing the drivers, Audi Gozlan, said after the hearing that the drivers have a legal right to make a living, and there is no proof the horses in the industry are mistreated.

The injunction request asks the court to overturn the ban until a full hearing can be held on the merits.

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“These people have rights. They have families. They have bills to pay, and they need to survive,” Gozlan said. He added that concerns about the welfare of the horses were based on “false information.” He said the owners have never been sanctioned for infractions related to animal welfare.

In court filings, he argued the drivers would suffer serious financial harm due to loss of income and would have to go into debt to support themselves and their animals.

He also noted that a one-year moratorium on the industry introduced in 2016 by a previous Montreal mayor, Denis Coderre, was overturned.

Luc Desparois, who owns the city’s largest caleche stable, says that all the drivers want is to be allowed to make a living as they always have.

“We just want to work in peace and quiet,” he said following the hearing. “We want a reasonable regulation.”

A city councillor involved in the file said Monday that the city has confidence in the actions it has taken to phase out the industry. Sterling Downey noted the ban came about after several incidents, including horses collapsing, were caught on video.

He said the city gave the industry a full year to prepare for the transition and has offered to pay the owners $1,000 per horse to retire their animals.

“We’ve been more than respectful,” he said. “We’ve tried to do everything taking into consideration this has an impact on people’s lives and livelihoods.”

The Montreal SPCA, which has campaigned for years to end the carriage tours, said in a statement that it is “confident in the validity of the city’s bylaw.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2019.

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press