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The reputation of Westmount precedes it. Nestled around one of the summits of Mount Royal, it is an enclave with acres of flowerbeds, lawn bowling grounds and homes with turrets. It has gone out of its way to remain, by altitude and affluence, apart from the surrounding Montreal.

“Westmount was where the truly rich lived in stone mansions,” wrote Mordecai Richler in The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. “The higher you climbed up the splendid tree-lined streets the thicker the ivy, the more massive the mansion, and the more important the men inside.”

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Despite its status, this week, Westmount dealt with the bother of a boil water advisory. For nine days ending June 5, nearly 150 households in Westmount had to boil their water before consuming it. The city shares its water network with Montreal, and one part of its weekly water tests came back abnormal in late May, triggering provincial regulations that mandated a boil water advisory, says Westmount Mayor Christina Smith.