Claire Morissette (April 6, 1950 – July 20, 2007) was a Canadian cycling advocate who fought for equal cyclists' rights in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

since 1976. She was a member of the group Le Monde à Bicyclette. Notable were the stunts they organized to raise consciousness of automobile transportation's negative impact on cities and their inhabitants, such as bringing snow skis and

toboggan A toboggan is a simple sled traditionally used by children. It is also a traditional form of transport used by the Innu and Cree of northern Canada. In modern times, it is used on snow to carry one or more people (often children) down a hill ...

s on subways to protest the exclusion of bicycles and a

die-in A die-in, sometimes known as a lie-in, is a form of protest in which participants simulate being dead. Die-ins are actions that have been used by a variety of protest groups on topics such as animal rights, anti-war, against traffic violence, hum ...

on the corner of St. Catherine and University streets in which 100 people lay in the street adorned with fake blood and surrounded with wrecked bikes. Piste Claire-Morissette 01

She published a book in 1994, ''Deux roues, un avenir'' (''Two Wheels, One Future''), available only in French. The book promotes using bikes for urban transportation. In the same year, she also founded Communauto, a car-share company. In 1999, she founde
Cyclo Nord-Sud
an organization that gives used bikes to third world countries. They have shipped over 20,000 bikes to 13 countries. She died on July 20, 2007, aged 57, following a battle with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...

. In her honor, on June 16, 2008, Montreal's city council voted unanimously to name its

De Maisonneuve Boulevard De Maisonneuve Boulevard (officially in french: boulevard De Maisonneuve) is a major westbound boulevard located in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is named after the founder of Montreal, Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve. It is a one-way stre ...

bicycle path Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except whe ...

after Morissette.

Bibliography

* ''Deux roues, un avenir : le vélo en ville'' (Two Wheels, One Future)(1994), écosociété.

Awards

* 2007 - Prix Thérèse-Daviau (awarded posthumously) * 2017 - Honored in the exhibition "Place aux femmes" at City Hall as part of

's 375th anniversary

References

External links

Photos of "Die-in"

Claire Morissette on Treehugger.com

Obituary on Pedalmag.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morissette, Claire 2007 deaths Activists from Montreal Deaths from breast cancer in Canada Deaths from cancer in Quebec 1950 births Cycling advocates Canadian women activists