Civic Alert: Dumont promises suburbs won’t subsidize Montreal

A former Liberal — like Dumont — Taillon’s career has been as an administrator of government or para-public bodies. For the past eight years he was head of the province's largest employers' association, the Conseil du Patronat.

The undertaking comes in the week of the January meeting of Agglom Council, which takes place this (Thursday) evening.

Meantime, the Dumont supporters are close to declaring their allegiance and even their candidacy — probably before the next Examiner appears.

But as Minister Nathalie Normandeau ignores pleas for reform from suburban mayors and MNAs, so the necessity for finding a third road increases.

Dumont promised to end the Aggloms — not just the councils — last summer. The question became what would he replace them with.

Taillon says that full details will not be revealed until the election is called. “We don’t want the other parties adopting our ideas,” he explained. Somehow, I doubt if the PQ or the Liberals will want to say much about municipal reform during the 2007 election campaign!

Nevertheless, Taillon gave me some details, including the promise that the Aggloms would be replaced by a supramunicipal structure, in which the core city would be a partner. The new body would be responsible for shared services, like police and public transit.

To clarify what the suburbs would be expected to pay, I asked Taillon if it would be for services alone, or if it would include subsidies as imposed both by the PQ and the Charest Liberals.

Services only? “Absolutely,” the party president replied.

Similar arrangements would be made to replace the present Aggloms in Quebec City and on the South Shore. There will be a regional emphasis to the ADQ plans. “We can create a strong superstructure with the CMM,” he added. “The South Shore is part of Greater Montreal, too.”

The ADQ president, in addition to finalizing the electoral program with Dumont, is working with him to find candidates. “We will contest all 125 ridings,” he said. “We’re sure we’ll be campaigning in March and will be ready in mid-February if necessary.

“The ADQ has to put up a strong fight, especially in the Montreal suburbs, if we are to take power.”



Can mayors support third party?



About a third of Island mayors are so far working towards one or more ADQ candidatures in the forthcoming election. Loyalties to their present MNAs are a strong factor in staying with the Liberals in some cases. But the forthcoming meeting with Jean Charest could be a determining factor.

“The Liberals did a lousy job on the municipal issues, but I am convinced Jacques Chagnon did what he could for Westmount,” said Mayor Marks. “It’s terrific though that the future of cities is part of the ADQ platform. We have met them several times and they have listened to our needs.

“It is necessary to encourage development and improvement, but it is not helped by giving absolute power to the Mayor of Montreal.”

Dorval’s Edgar Rouleau also spoke for his MNA, Francois Ouimet. “It not my place to tell people how to vote and I won’t do that,” he said. “But Ouimet helped the city on many things, not least backing our claim for funds to restore the fluoride treatment that Montreal tried to stop.”

It was no secret that the Agglom was dysfunctional, added Rouleau, who celebrates his 25th year in municipal office in November. “The Liberals promised and failed to deliver. I was at Fairview among the thousands of listeners as Jean Charest made his commitment.”



Continuing the boycott



Whether some or all of the suburban mayors should maintain their boycott was being debated on Tuesday afternoon, when the Island suburban mayors met. “Unless you sit at the table, you can’t complain about the quality of the food,” Bob Benedetti, Beaconsfield’s colourful mayor, told me.

Karin Marks, chair of the association, was a strong advocate of continuing the boycott. “Our problems registered for the first time,” she said. “I have a feeling the government is at last noticing there could be a problem.

TMR’s Vera Danylukwould prefer to go back and is critical of the way her colleagues voted against the Agglom budgets last month. In the end, she did not vote at all, although she supports solidarity within the association.

“I feel I should be representing my citizens by being there even though we are outvoted,” she explained. “Now that Premier Charest has agreed to meet all the mayors of the demerged cities in the near future, we should resume out seats at that council.”

The meeting with Charest is the first outcome of the combined operation which brought together the Island mayors and representatives of the South Shore and Quebec City. They met in Westmount last week.

Subsequently, St. Bruno and St. Lambert both decided to boycott their Agglom meetings to protest the undemocratic set-up.

Boycott or not, this evening will be another election-eve reminder of the “dysfunctional” administration the Charest government invented for Montreal Island.







Civic Studies



Pledge Promoted to captain in Westmount’s Public Safety Unit, John Everatt adapted President John Kennedy’s declaration by saying “Ask not what Westmount can do for me, ask what I can do for Westmount.” His promotion was lauded by the still-hospitalized Councillor John de Castell with words read for him by Tom Thompson.



Teaching civics Highlight for Mayor Karin Marks last week was speaking on public service to Roslyn’s grade 6 class. “It was a great pleasure to be reminded of the local part of my job,” the mayor said at Monday’s council meeting.



MUHC’s roads This evening’s Agglom meeting will approve a $60 million loan, repayable within 20 years, to cover Montreal’s infrastructure work for the megahospital. Spending of about $22 million is envisaged over the next three years. Included is the $1.7 million cost of a special supervisory project team. Most of the cost will be shared equally with the MUHC, but $4.5 million is being set aside for related city projects.



Adopted On Monday, Jacques Chagnon presented Anne Pacquet, a member of his riding’s board, who was adopted as Liberal candidate against the PQ’s Marie Malavoy in South Shore Taillon, Pauline Marois’ old base.



Skating Westmount’s outdoor rinks are now functioning, reported Councillor George Bowser, although there had been a delay in opening at King George Park.



Castro-like With tongue-in-cheek, Gerald Glass asked if Councillor de Castell’s long hospitalization was a “state secret like in Cuba?” The mayor got a bigger laugh when she responded that de Castell would be pleased to hear of being compared with President Castro!



Hudson Lots of new songs will be featured by Bowser and Blue during their eleventh annual appearance at Hudson Village Theatre from Thursday, February 8 -11.(suggest ending with this one, starting with the John Everatt one)



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