Chickens in Urban Montreal

On the eve of Expo 67, Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau passed a law that forbid the raising, breeding, slaughtering and butchering of poultry and game in the city. The law was passed without public consultation, one of Drapeau's many efforts to "clean up" Montreal in preparation for both the 1967 World Fair and the 1976 Olympics. While some people in Montreal were relieved to see the animals go, others "would denounce the loss to food autonomy, an interference in individual and collective freedoms and a blind generalization of the relationship between humans and animals in an urban setting." (Ma poule à Montréal)

Pilot project and urban chickens elsewhere in North America
Montreal could see the reintroduction of laying hens in 2011. The borough of Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie is in the process of studying the possibility of allowing citizens to raise laying hens in their gardens, and hopes to launch a pilot project for the spring of 2011. Other boroughs could soon follow their lead and also begin allowing citizens to raise chickens.

Laying hens are permitted in several American cities, such as Chicago, Seattle, New York and Los Angeles. Chickens are already welcome in the Canadian cities of Vancouver and Victoria. Ottawa, Gatineau and Toronto are also in the process of studying the possibility of allowing their citizens to raise laying hens.

CRAPAUD, a grassroots organization affiliated with the Université de Québec à Montréal (UQAM) is supporting public consultation on the question of urban chickens, and has established a petition already signed by close to 1,900 citizens. Such groups as Greenpeace Montreal, Santropol roulant, QPIRG, Option consommateurs, Regroupement des jardins collectifs du Québec, Écohabitation and les Urbainculteurs have also signed. Entities as diverse as PETA and Concertation Ville-Émard/Côte Saint-Paul have signed their support for laying hens in Montreal.

Filling city coffers and feeding the hungry
Public reaction to the possible return of laying hens to Montreal is sure to be mixed, and comments from city officials about increasing the number of health inspectors certainly bring to mind the Tremblay administration's infamous plans for greening Montreal - complete with increased city revenues generated by "garbage police." But the return of chickens to urban Montreal could also represent an opportunity for groups who are trying to feed the hungry. Community gardens could be equipped with hen houses, and individuals raising chickens at home could opt to donate eggs to their local food bank or soup kitchen.

Saving an endangered breed
The return of laying hens to Montreal is also a wonderful chance for citizens to contribute to the efforts to save the only Canadian breed of chicken. The Chantecler was developed at the Cistercian Abbey in Oka, just outside Montreal. Chantecler chickens were bred not only to survive the cold Canadian winters, but also to provide an abundant supply of eggs through the long winter months. Chantecler chickens were mistakenly declared extinct in the 1970s after a survey of commercial hatcheries failed to show any evidence of the breed. In actual fact, there are a number of smaller farms in Quebec and Ontario that still raise and breed the birds. Montreal citizens with a regained right to raise their own laying hens could contribute to the saving of the breed, which is still listed as critical by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.

Sources:
Stéphanie Bérubé, "Rosemont pourrait dire oui aux poules." La Presse

"Chantecler chicken." American Livestock Breeds Conservancy

"Ma poule à Montréal." CRAPAUD