Civic

Patrick Martin has asked his Council colleagues to change the proposed Westmount Urban Plan. At last week’s public consultation, he raised serious objections to key features, including the intention to use tax money to sponsor low-cost housing.

“It does not make sense and I expect it will be changed,” said the councillor.

Martin also questions one of the cornerstones of the report — the need to attract more young families.

Using statistics from the report, he points out that the percentage of children in the zones between Sherbrooke and St. Catherine had increased in two decades —from 6.7 in 1981 to 10 in 2001, when the last census was taken. The draft plan refers to it as “following a constant progression.”

Here are some of the other points he has been making, both publicly and privately:

“When you look at demographics, you must take trends into account, not only point numbers.

“There is more involved than just average ages. Consider that my grandmother was one of 14 children, my father was one of six, I am one of four, but now my wife and I have two.

“That is probably the pattern of Quebec as a whole and Westmount is not different.

“There are fewer children because people are having fewer children. Coupled with better food and health care, people are also living longer.

Old people stay

“In Westmount, we are fortunate because our old people stay here. As people get old in some places they want to move away from the city to retire elsewhere. Here, it is to the contrary, and that is wonderful.

“Perhaps that may be our bigger challenge — affordable accommodation for seniors who want to stay in the community.

“So the overall trend is people are getting older and having fewer kids. It is in line with the region and not Westmount specific. Besides, it is not a problem!

“On the other hand, I see evidence that we do not have the facilities for the kids that are here already.

“We have 14 schools. But the soccer programme overflows causing all sorts of other problems. The hockey programme is fully booked and the rink is packed. I don’t see any shortage of kids.

“So I wonder why we have this emphasis on bringing more families in. There is no evident lack of demand for Westmount housing.”

Tupper redevelopment

Martin was also very critical of one of the key parts of the plan — the suggestion that the Tupper site, around Gladstone, be developed for “affordable” housing. He explained:

“Providing affordable housing usually means that costs are kept low starting with the sale of land — below the market value. In return, there are controls on the selling price of the units.

“However you do it, this is a subsidy, paid by today’s citizens.

“The Tupper land has to be worth at least $100 per square foot. Suppose we let it go for $50, then the city has given up $20 million, based on the stated area of 425,000 square feet — enough for a new arena with change left over!

“Call it social engineering or whatever, I don’t think that the redistribution of wealth is the job of a municipal council.”

Tax burden

Martin questioned why so few people took part in the consultation. “The Urban Plan is a powerful document and I was disappointed that only 20 citizens — I counted them — turned out to discuss it. I’m wondering if it was sufficiently announced to the population.

“As an engineer, I am drawn to technical aspects, but as a councillor I look for other social issues, including the level of taxation involved.

“We want to be certain, as we develop important policies and guidelines for development, that this is the vision that the population really wants and that everyone gets to look at it and likes it.

That is why I brought it up in the public consultation. Something so important must be decided in the open and we need input by citizens.

“The document was an early draft for comment, so I took the meeting to mean that there could be changes before it is adopted.”

Welcoming young

The Plan follows Westmount's mission statement, which includes a reference to "welcoming young families.”

“I applaud this concept of Westmount being attractive to young families, but it must also be attractive to older families, singles, retired and all kinds of people.

“Being welcoming does not mean to the exclusion of others or at the cost of others. Retired people should not be taxed directly, or via a hidden subsidy, so that people who don’t now live in Westmount could move in.

“I’m really upset that this would be the outcome of the plan presented so far. I’m convinced that it will not be in the final version.

“Council should concentrate on welcoming families by providing facilities — especially for sports — that we are missing.

“And if the affordable housing idea is to go ahead, then a better case must be made than the one in the current document.

Present for the Mayor



It was a birthday she’d rather not have had. “It had a six in it but I would have preferred it to have been 16, or 26 or 36. It wasn’t,” joked Mayor Marks. She celebrated last month with a visit from Barbara “Babs” Shapiro, her best friend since they were neighbours on Grosvenor Ave. 57 years ago. When husband Brian Puddington asked what gift she would most like to mark her big birthday, she asked for the chance to see Shapiro, a Paris-based architect. Puddington arranged it!

No forced mergers



An historic turning point or futile dream? Bill Tierney, Mayor of St-Anne-de-Bellevue thinks the former. He was at the ADQ convention last weekend when the party added a Charter of Municipal Autonomy to its platform.

It would mean that a municipality has acquired rights, as is the case in many European countries. They could not be taken away by new attempts at forced mergers

Tierney, who is also active with the Union of Quebec Municipalités, has discovered a charter developed by the UMQ a decade ago. It was rejected by both official parties at the time.

He thinks it can be adapted for use by a future ADQ government.

In addition to Tierney, Montreal West Mayor Campbell Stuart and Kirkland Councillor Michel Gibson took part.

Stuart presented two resolutions, which were accepted by the party’s programme committee.

Pressuring Charest

The mayors’ participation complements the pressure being put on Jean Charest and the Liberal government for reform to the Agglom laws which unfairly favour Big Montreal.

Just before the National Assembly’s summer break, the Agglom dossier was taken from Nathalie Normandeau, Jean Charest’s Municipal Affairs minister, and handed to Raymond Bachand, the Outremont MNA who has the Montreal portfolio.

Suddenly there was progress, with Bachand publicly reprimanding Big Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay for excessively negative reaction.

A committee of MNA’s was expected to begin reviewing the proposals in August. But the Liberals have failed to schedule hearings or even to set an alternative date.

“We’ve not heard a word, and the delay means that we will probably have to have a third year with the Agglom budget unfairly decided by Montreal alone,” said Westmount Mayor Karin Marks, chair of the suburban mayors’ group.

The mayors’ brief is ready to be presented to the National Assembly when called for. Compiled over the summer by a team of mayors, it has been vetted by a lobbyist and legal specialist.

Community activist Don Wedge can be reached at calert@web.net. His columns are archived at www.westmountexaminer.com, go to Opinion.