Civic Alert: Election of dissent

And in the mail were the inflated agglom tax bills of the center cities, deliberately stinging suburbanites.

The ground was being prepared for the big political change, which Mario Dumont has just orchestrated in the provincial election. The Charest government’s broken promises and some unpopular actions made it easier for Dumont. Most of all was the population’s fatigue with the “national question.”

Whatever shape the government becomes in the next weeks, the parliamentary ADQ will be handicapped by a host of newcomers without experience of public affairs.

Municipal issues could get buried. For instance, the clear-cut abolition of the agglom, promised by Dumont, contrasts with the Liberal wish to save face and merely reform it. How will that difference be resolved?

But, at least, both the government and the official opposition are now committed to some reform. That was not the case before Monday’s vote, Maria Tutino, the Baie d’Urfé mayor who was the catalyst for the defection of her colleagues to the ADQ, pointed out.



Secret mission



Frustrated by Liberal Municipal Affairs Minister Nathalie Normandeau’s pretence that the agglom did not need reforming, Tutino decided to find an alternative to the sovereignty issue.

In November, she persuaded Campbell Stuart, Mayor of Montreal West, and Gilles Larin, the Brossard demerger activist, to go with her as anonymous observers to the ADQ conference in Trois Rivières.

They were surprised to find that Mario Dumont and his party were ready to reject separatism and eventually decided to support him. Bill Tierney (Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue) and George McLeish (Senneville) joined them, but the other mayors stayed close to their Liberal tradition.

Most municipal attention during the election has centered on the West Island where three of the mayors supported the ADQ. They faced Liberals with huge support that they could only chip away at.

On Monday, the majority of Geoff Kelley, the sitting MP for Jacques Cartier, dropped by almost 10,000 votes. “That was a far bigger switch than in many ridings where seats actually changed hands,” Tutino observed.

Tracking Monday’s results, she highlighted two South Shore demerger ridings where the ADQ gained seats from the Liberals: Chambly, for which activist hotbed St. Bruno is the largest town, and Marguerite D’Youville, where Boucherville citizens are questioning their council’s support of the local agglom.

The agglom issue may also have been a determining factor in at least one Quebec City Liberal riding switching to the ADQ.

Tutino noted that other Liberals with Island ridings which remain centres of demerger discontent received substantially lower majorities. Jacques Chagnon (Westmount), Lawrence Bergman (Cote St. Luc, Hampstead), Yolande James (Pierrefonds, Kirkland), Francois Ouimet (Dorval) and newcomer Pierre Arcand (TMR) each dropped 5,000 or more votes.



Funding Montreal



The biggest problem for everyone on the Island remains funding. With both parties promising riches to the regions and virtually nothing to Montreal, it will be even more difficult for Gerald Tremblay and Frank Zampino to push their case.

As Quebec voted on Monday, a member of the Montreal executive committee confessed — although not for attribution — “A PQ win would be nice. They are the only ones who do anything to help Montreal.”





Green light for repeat run



At least one Westmount councillor’s entire family voted Green, although in this case the polling confidentiality was requested.

The success of the Greens in the three West End ridings — Westmount, NDG and D’Arcy McGee — has attracted much comment. They came in second with 13, 16 and 7 per cent, respectively.

Given the attention to environment issues and the desperate look for alternatives to the Liberals and PQ, perhaps 20 per cent was a feasible objective?

In Westmount, the Green Party has fielded candidates before — usually unknowns who showed up after the election had been called. After receiving a disappointing vote, they then disappeared.

This year’s candidate, Patrick Daoust, arrived the same way. But his winning manner was attractive to Westmounters and he became the talking point of the Meet the Candidate event.

Subsequently, Dr Henry Olders, the WMA president publicly supported him.

Daoust is “considering running again. People recognize me on the street,” he added. “I’m unused to strangers saying ‘Hi, Patrick!’”

Olders also hopes the Green Party can develop into an alternative to the traditional parties. “The ADQ was small 13 years ago,” he said. “Patrick was an attractive candidate. His appearance — what he had to say, the way he dressed and spoke — made it seem that he was ready for the job of representing us.”



Who runs Montreal?



The mayors’ boycott of the agglom may not last much longer. The new government may bring fresh opportunities that mean the value of staying away will disappear. New partnership initiatives could take over.

Mayors are trickling back. As the agglom council convened at Montreal City Hall last Thursday evening, Anthony Housefather (Côte St. Luc) and Campbell Stuart (Montreal West) were surprisingly at their desks.

Tremblay members stirred when Citizen Dida Berku was called to the question period microphone. The scenario became clear.

What could be done to save “the jewel of Côte St. Luc” — the volunteer Emergency Medical Service (EMS)? The Tremblayites were planning to endorse a deal with the fire fighters’ union that would eventually bring First Responders across the Island. The result would be the end of the EMS and poorer response times.

Berku was succeeded by a pair of councillor colleagues, Glenn Nashen and Ruth Kovacs, also exercising their right to be citizens of the agglomeration. They, in turn, were followed by two of the volunteers.

Then it was councillors’ question period and Housefather’s turn to probe the decision.

Later, support followed from Stuart and Bob Benedetti (Beaconsfield) tried his personal “oil on troubled waters” routine. All were rebuffed.

Once again it showed how dysfunctional the agglom really is. Tremblayites settled for less than the best First Responders for the Island. They will, simultaneously, destroy the finest and fastest service. The best excuse Mayor Tremblay’s could offer was: we had to give in to the fire union to get an agreement for everyone!

Who runs Montreal?



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.