{"id":386,"date":"2007-12-17T23:28:58","date_gmt":"2007-12-18T03:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingmontreal.ca\/?p=386"},"modified":"2013-01-21T11:25:59","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T16:25:59","slug":"tarnished-by-corruption-apparently-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2007\/12\/17\/tarnished-by-corruption-apparently-not\/","title":{"rendered":"Tarnished by corruption? Apparently not"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

G\u00e9rald Tremblay’s Union Montreal maintained control of Outremont<\/a> in yesterday’s by-election, despite last fall’s booze-and-financial- irregularities scandal<\/a> that forced the resignation of the borough’s mayor, St\u00e9phane Harbour. Marie Cinq-Mars, the interim mayor appointed after Harbour’s departure, will get to keep her position until at least 2009, when the next city-wide elections are scheduled to occur. <\/p>\n

The real story here is not that Union Montreal won but that Projet Montr\u00e9al<\/a>, the grassroots party with a strong focus on sustainable planning, public transport and the environment, finished a strong second. In the race for borough mayor, Union Montreal’s Cinq-Mars won with 47.07% of the vote, followed by Projet Montr\u00e9al’s Jean-Claude Marsan (an architect and urban planner) with 37.46%. Vision Montreal’s candidate, Christine Hernandez, trailed with just 14.96% of the vote. The voter turnout was just 28.77%, unsurprising considering yesterday’s weather.<\/p>\n

Even though I live near the corner of Park and Bernard, just a block from Outremont, I have to admit that I didn’t follow the election campaign in the least. Beyond the obvious, the most pressing issue in the campaign was the fate of the Outremont railyards, which are slated to become a new Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al campus in the near future. Outremont Autrement<\/a>, Annie Ch\u00e9lin’s fiesty local-issues blog, is one of the best resources for anyone who wants to look at Outremont in detail.<\/p>\n

As for why Union Montreal managed to win in Outremont, despite its reputation being severely tarnished by the recent scandal, Projet Montr\u00e9al insider Craig Sauv\u00e9 has some interesting (though undeniably partisan) observations<\/a>:<\/p>\n

After having cast shame on Outremont borough city hall with a mismanagement of funds scandal, the Union Montr\u00e9al party managed to hold onto power, being a very competitive Projet Montr\u00e9al campaign. How on Earth, why on earth? <\/p>\n

Well, you gotta admire the strategy (albeit sneaky) of Union Montr\u00e9al: they would 1) set the election date at a time that would discourage high participation , in this case, December 16th; right in the middle of the pre-christmas rush; 2) they would set-up transport to the polls at the old-folks residences, including visits by the candidates minutes before the buses leave and 3) galvanize their pre-existing relationship with the large Hasidic community. In other words, they stacked the deck, starting off with a significant lead.<\/p>\n

The third point is something worth reflecting on a little more. The Hasidic community of Outremont, which represents approximately 15% of the borough population, is a powerful political force. Despite the numerous factions that exist within the community, they are capable of voting in a massive bloc. Their political machine outclasses anything I have ever seen from any other political party or interest group. These people always go vote; they understand very well that, in order for them to ensure their survival and put their interests forward, they must form political quid pro quo affiliations.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In a city with such little voter interest in municipal politics, it’s good to see that at least some people are paying attention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

G\u00e9rald Tremblay’s Union Montreal maintained control of Outremont in yesterday’s by-election, despite last fall’s booze-and-financial- irregularities scandal that forced the resignation of the borough’s mayor, St\u00e9phane Harbour. Marie Cinq-Mars, the interim mayor appointed after Harbour’s departure, will get to keep her position until at least 2009, when the next city-wide elections are scheduled to occur.Continue reading “Tarnished by corruption? Apparently not”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7839,7840],"tags":[1456,1464,723,763,1457,516,8,1460,1461,1463,1459,1458,346,125,1465,62,730,1462],"class_list":["post-386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-neighbourhoods","category-politics","tag-annie-chelin","tag-architect-and-urban-planner","tag-borough-mayor","tag-candidate","tag-christine-hernandez","tag-christmas","tag-city-hall","tag-craig-sauve","tag-gerald-tremblays-union-montreal","tag-interim-mayor","tag-jean-claude-marsan","tag-marie-cinq-mars","tag-mayor","tag-montreal","tag-montreal-campus","tag-outremont","tag-stephane-harbour","tag-union-montreal-party"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTarnished by corruption? 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