Earlier this week Montreal City Council met for the first time since the November 1st election. Notable decisions made include:
- – unanimous motion asking for a provincial public enquiry on allegations of corruption in municipal government and the construction industry
- – unanimous opposition to federal private member’s bill C-391, which would repeal the requirement to register non-restricted firearms
- – unanimous support for the cancellation of the water meter contract with Génieau
- – approval of the nomination of Louis Roquet as new general manager of the city
- – renaming of De La Gauchetière between Peel and de la Montagne “avenue des Canadiens-de-Montréal”
During question period both Vision Montréal and Projet Montréal councillors harshly criticised the new borough council structure of Ville-Marie, where the mayor of Montreal is ex-officio the borough mayor and also has the right to name two extra councillors. As a result, Ville-Marie will be controlled by Union Montréal despite having voted overwhelmingly for the opposition.
New dynamic
More interesting than any particular topic on the agenda of the meeting is the new dynamic that is developing on City Council. Before the elections mayor Tremblay controlled the overwhelming majority of seats with Vision Montréal headless and moribund for much of the session, and Projet Montréal with only a single seat. Now Tremblay returns with his credibility and Council majority severely weakened and up against two strong opposition parties.
Another new feature is the presence of opposition members on the all-powerful Executive Committee, in particular Richard Bergeron the leader of Projet Montréal. A casual viewer of the Council meeting may have confused Richard Bergeron for the mayor given the number of questions addressed to him. During question period Vision Montréal addressed two of their three allotted questions to Bergeron, trying as hard as possible to catch him up on controversial issues that his party and the mayor’s have different stances on. On no less than three different occasions during question period mayor Tremblay passed hot potato issues over to him, including questions regarding Marianopolis and the Outremont Rail Yard.
This week’s meeting highlights the possible difficulties with this arrangement. While many hailed the appointment of opposition members to the Executive Committee as a step toward a more collegial City Hall, it is a move that is also full of possible pitfalls. Some have seen it as a possible strategy to neutralize and co-opt the opposition and make them complicit in the decisions of the Tremblay administration. Moreover, while opposition members now have a certain amount of influence in Executive Committee decision making, at the end of the day the final say still remains with Tremblay. No explosive issues have come up yet, but given the dynamic at the first meeting of Council it will be fraught with conflict. It remains to be seen if this will really be a workable model.
Regardless of how this all plays out, the new council is surely an improvement over its predecessor. Multiple articulate opposition voices are present to keep Tremblay on his toes. He will not have free reign on the many important dossiers that will shape the City of Montreal and the quality of life of its residents. There is also a nascent possibility of greater collaboration between parties, but only time will tell if this is to be durable. It will be an interesting four years.
Rising stars on council
There are plenty of new faces on council with 25 first time councillors. Among the new crop there are a few who are already starting to distinguish themselves. Two promising councillors to keep an eye on are:
Alex Norris (Mile-End, Projet Montréal)
A former journalist with the Gazette, Norris started making waves even before he was elected. He received personal endorsements from NDP MP Thomas Mulcair as well as a number of editorialists with various newspapers. Since his election he has been named the Projet Montréal critic for the hot-button issue of Ethics and Governance, and is fast become the main Anglophone spokesperson for the party. He represents the latest standard bearer in the long tradition of strong, progressive Anglo representatives on Council.
Elsie Lefebvre (Villeray, Vision Montréal)
Lefebvre was the youngest woman ever elected to the National Assembly when she won the Laurier-Dorion (approximately Villeray and Parc-Ex) riding for the PQ in a 2004 by-election. She lost in the subsequent general election, but she’s back as a city councillor and promises to be outspoken. She has also been appointed deputy speaker of City Council, the first woman to hold the position. She made a strong debut during this week and seemed very much at home in the Council Chambers despite it being her first meeting.