Jeremy Searle, a former Montreal city councillor noted as much for his activism as for his controversial comments and conduct, died Oct. 25 at the Lakeshore General Hospital. He was 72.

Searle was born in Bristol, England, and came to Montreal in 1982. He served on Montreal city council from 1994 to 2005 and from 2013 to 2017, representing the district of Loyola in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.

Searle first came to the public’s attention as a community activist in 1984, organizing petitions in opposition to a city development project at McGill College Ave. and de Maisonneuve Blvd. that would have blocked the view of Mount Royal. A year later, he played a role in opposing a plan by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts to expand onto Crescent St.

Searle’s work during his stint as a city councillor was

See Full Page