New developments in the Muslim cemetery dossier

Although the City of Vaudreuil-Dorion has not yet received a request for authorization for this use, there is every reason to believe that the Muslim cemetery project could become a reality, five years after it was first announced.

Indeed, the City of Vaudreuil-Dorion has adopted a first draft by-law authorizing a zoning change to allow a "cemetery" use for the residential zone located at the intersection of Chicoine Street and Saint-Antoine Road. 

Located just across from the Attakwa Mosque, where Le Sunny's restaurant once stood, the residential lot targeted by the zoning change was purchased by the Muslim community.

"On the other side of Chicoine Street is a large lot with a beautiful ancestral house, and the Muslim community bought it to make a cemetery. They will have to keep the heritage house, they won't be able to destroy it," confirmed Vaudreuil-Dorion mayor Guy Pilon.

In 2019, it was announced that a Muslim cemetery would be built on agricultural land adjacent to the Saint-Jean-Baptiste cemetery on Rang Saint-Antoine. However, the project required the authorization of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM), the Commission de la protection du territoire agricole du Québec (CPTAQ), the diocese of Valleyfield and the parish of Saint-Michel. 

Questioned by a local resident as to why the City had authorized such a zoning change, Mr. Pilon indicated that the cemetery use lent itself well to the area, considering the presence of not only the Mosque, but also a crematorium.

"The city made this decision because we felt it fit in well with the whole, that the use went well with the sector. It's also closer to the mosque," added the mayor.

A public consultation on the new bylaw will be held on April 2. Citizens will be able to learn more about the by-law.It should be noted that the by-law will be officially adopted on the same date under specific powers provided for in the Act respecting land use planning and development, and that the addition of a cemetery in a given zone is not subject to referendum approval.