The following slide show was given by Malcolm McRae, 19 March 2021 on Zoom to the following Attendees.

Mary Gallery (Westmount City Councillor for Library, Culture, Sports and Recreation)
Julie-Anne Cardella (Westmount Public Library)
Daniel Miguez (Westmount Public Library)
Jane Hu (Cycling Without Age Canada)
Mathieu Forget (Velo Quebec)
Lisa Mintz (Parkinson's Canada)
Jim Fares (President, Westmount Rotary Club)
Susan Buscemi (VP, Westmount Rotary Club)
Susan Pinker
Martin Boodman
Ian Cochrane (MBC member)
Ron Gallant (MBC member)
Dave Kyba (MBC member)
Yvonne Kyba (MBC member)

Mary Gallery asked that we send her an email asking what the city could do to help in this initiative.


Dear Ms Gallery                                                                                                                20 March 2021
Westmount City Councillor for Library, Culture, Sports and Recreation

    Thank you for organizing the attendance of members of the Westmount Library staff for my Zoom slide show presentation entitled Cycling Without Age in Westmount.

    As mentioned in the slide show,  members of the Montreal Bicycle Club will begin fundraising to purchase a CWA trishaw for delivery this spring.  The cost of this machine is about $15,000 plus GST etc.   The intent of the club is to run a small scale CWA Chapter in Westmount this summer, hopefully just as the necessary restrictions due to Covid are lifted.  The reason I describe it as small scale is that compared to the expected demand within Westmount alone, what the MBC can be expected to accomodate is tiny.

   My expectation is the City of Westmount will be interested in how this pilot Westmount CWA chapter succeeds and ways by which they could assist its expansion.

   Steps that the city could undertake to be ready to assist in the expansion include:

 1. Investigate whether a Westmount CWA chapter could purchase liability insurance  as part of the overall Westmount insurance program.  Is it necessary that a Westmount   CWA program be owned and operated by the city or can it extend its insurance coverage to an outside organization?

2. Apply for grants to fund additional trishaws.  The Federal Government's New Horizons Program for Seniors has given grants for just such a purpose.

3. Appoint someone to monitor the results of the MBC pilot project and report back to council a recommendation on whether or not the city should expand the project.

4. Plan how the city would recruit, train and certify the volunteer pilots

5. Investigate  what type of agreements would be required between the city and Seniors organizations such as Contactivity and the various Seniors residences

6. Plan what routes and special events the city would approve

7. Plan to allocate storage space for the trishaws that would be accessible to volunteers

8. Plan how the trishaw maintenance, cleaning and battery charging will be done

9. Plan how the scheduling of volunteer pilots and passengers would best be accomplished.

  It is unlikely that the issues raised will be answered in time for this summer.  My hope is that the city will plan for an expanded Westmount CWA chapter to be in existence by the summer of 2022.

Regards
Malcolm McRae