Millions of cars roll over it, and thousands more people pedal and walk. But another group is drawn to the bridge for a more macabre reason. An average of 45 people try to kill themselves by jumping off the Jacques Cartier Bridge each year, and about 10 succeed -- making the Montreal landmark the biggest suicide magnet in the world after San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.

That grisly distinction has sparked an emotional debate over federal authorities' refusal to install an antisuicide barrier to stop people from jumping to their deaths.

The Jacques Cartier Bridge moved up in the suicide rankings after Toronto erected its "luminous veil" on the Bloor Street Viaduct, knocking Toronto from the second suicide spot. Now Toronto has become the model to answer the conundrum: Do barriers deter or just divert would-be jumpers?

Last week, the Federal Bridge Corporation, which is responsible for the Jacques Cartier Bridge, refused to give barriers the go-ahead, and an official said Toronto's experience was a factor.

"It would be investing an enormous amount for something that risks moving the problem elsewhere," said André Girard, spokesman for the federal bridge authority, adding that the cost would reach about $13-million. "Toronto's experience is inconclusive."

Barrier proponents say the federal agency's position is costing lives. At 7:11 last Friday morning, two days after the federal agency said it wasn't moving ahead with barriers, a 29-year-old man clambered over the Jacques Cartier Bridge's relatively low railing and plunged to his death. The Quebec coroner's office says it was an impulsive act.

"If there had been a barrier, that person wouldn't be dead today," said Dr. Paul Dionne, a Quebec coroner who has called for antisuicide barriers.

"You have to be stupid not to realize that someone, in an impulsive gesture, can just jump over the railing into the void. This is stubbornness for the bridge authorities not to want to attack the problem."

The issue is particularly acute in Quebec, which has the highest suicide rate in Canada.

Between 1,400 and 1,500 people take their lives each year, twice the number of those killed in road accidents.

Among Quebec men aged 15 to 39, suicide is the leading cause of death.

"The bridge authority's position reflects the attitude we have in Quebec society -- suicide has become banal," Dr. Dionne said yesterday in an interview. "Imagine four Airbus planes a year crashing into the end of the runway at Pierre Elliot Trudeau airport," referring to the new name for Dorval International Airport in Montreal.

"After the first one, there would be a commission of inquiry. We have 1,500 deaths a year and we don't talk about it."

Experts say barriers have stopped people from killing themselves at suicide spots around the world, from the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State building to St. Peter's Basilica.

"Almost all the other dangerous places in the world have put up barriers," said Brian Mishara, a suicide authority at the University of Quebec at Montreal and vice-president of the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

Canada's federal bridge authorities "are going to extremes to ignore the reality of the situation, and not admitting what seems obvious. For them, it's a question of not wanting to spend the money to save the lives."

Part of the bridge's lure is simply its easy access. The 2.8-kilometre-long span, inaugurated by Prime Minister Mackenzie King in 1930, links Montreal with its bustling suburbs on the South Shore. Aside from keeping commuters stewing in traffic at rush hour, it also has a sidewalk used routinely by cyclists and pedestrians. On several nights each summer, it's closed to traffic and crowds turn it into a giant viewing stand to watch the city's fireworks festival.

Mr. Mishara said most people who attempt to jump off the Jacques Cartier are disturbed and anguished, and a barrier would give them time to reconsider their impulsive act.

"Controlling access to means doesn't get to at the root problems of suicides but it saves lives effectively by buying time for people to get help," he said. "Most people who are desperately suicidal find other solutions to their problems."

Canada's bridge officials have been spurred by public-health officials to study antisuicide barriers for years. The officials received a feasibility study this summer saying barriers would probably prevent suicides; they ordered another report, released last week, saying that it was impossible to prove "beyond a doubt" that barriers move the problem elsewhere.

Federal bridge officials said the latest report proved there is no agreement among experts. And they say Toronto may illustrate that the barrier won't deter a determined person at all. Last year, a 60-year-old taxi driver took the subway to get to the Bloor Street Viaduct but, finding work crews putting up the suicide barrier, took the bus to the nearby Leaside Bridge, and killed himself.

Dr. James Edwards, supervising coroner for Toronto East, said it will take time before officials can be sure the barriers work. "It certainly stopped some people from that bridge, but the question is whether people just went elsewhere," he said yesterday. "We don't know if it has cut the overall number of suicides. If it prevents 15 suicides it would be great, but it people are going elsewhere, the value would be more questionable."

© 2004 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved

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