'Café lifestyle' contributes to stagnant economy, Aubin tells WMA

Aubin, a Victoria Avenue resident who was the guest speaker of the Westmount Municipal Association last Monday evening during its annual general meeting, said Montreal tends to have a "café lifestyle" that encourages an easy approach.

"Indeed, it is a very nice lifestyle," he said. "We can send our kids to $7-a-day daycare. When they get older, we can send them to the cheapest universities in North America. And then, of course, we're entitled to free medical care. But it can't last … In the slow lane it's unsustainable."

Aubin cited a number of reasons why Montreal is stuck in the slow lane and is likely to remain so in the forseeable future. He noted that the number of Quebec residents active in the work force will start shrinking within six to 10 years.

As a result, the tax base will be smaller, even though the aging population will need more tax revenue to be sustained. He predicted people will be reluctant to immigrate here because of the high taxes.

Universities, which are normally regarded as the engines of a regional economy, "are not firing on all cylinders" in Montreal largely because of underfinancing, Aubin said, adding that the province's tendency towards "strongman politics" produces a system which lacks checks and balances.

Although he described the regional Communauté Métropolitaine de Montréal as "ineffective," he said "it could be the saviour of the Montreal region. It could curb urban sprawl and curb pollution and do a lot of other things."

He noted, however, that the Montreal region already has more layers of local government than any other metropolitan area in North America. "This four-layer structure is inherently inefficient and remote from the population. People don't know to which level they should take their grievances."

Recalling a conversation he had with the former chief of economic development of the defunct Montreal Urban Community when he retired in the 1990s, Aubin said the functionary candidly blamed the slowness of Montreal's economy on interest groups in the business community.

"The board of trade has become more active in terms of speaking out on issues," he said. "But it's largely a pom-pom organization. It's a cheerleader of almost anything that comes out of city hall or of Quebec City. The board of trade will applaud and it doesn't analyze issues."

While acknowledging that he could not prove that "small units" as the basis for municipal government work, Aubin maintained nonetheless that "the last six-and-a-half years prove that big units certainly don't work."

Olders criticizes council

During the meeting, Henry Olders, who was re-elected the WMA's president after serving as interim president over the past year, was critical of Westmount city council in his summary of the WMA's activities in the past 12 months.

"I feel that the absence of public debate in city council meetings has brought into being the current situation regarding the artificial turf issue, where a group of citizens feels that their concerns are not being taken seriously by city council," said Olders, adding that standoffs between council and citizens "are evidence of an absence of good governance."

Besides Olders, the following residents were elected members of the WMA's executive council. Rosalind Davis, first vice-president, Wanda Potrykus, second vice-president, Patricia Dumais, corresponding secretary, Francie Montgomery, memberships secretary, and Helen Rainville, treasurer.