'Changes Nothing'
Trent also announced that both Libman and St. Laurent Mayor Bernard Paquet were removing themselves as committee advisers for at least the remainder of the month. Roxboro Mayor Ovide Baciu said later that he would withdraw, too.
Trent said another reason for withdrawal is that "the repeated requests of the transition committee on the staff seriously impede the normal course of operations of many cities and affect the quality of services offered to their citizens."
Besides Westmount, Cote St. Luc and St. Laurent, the other suburbs pulling their workers include Dorval, Pointe Claire, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Montreal West, Anjou, Baie d'Urfe, Beaconsfield, Hampstead, Kirkland, Town of Mount Royal and Senneville. Roxboro doesn't have any employees working for the transition committee.
Committee spokesman Isabelle Hudon said the loss of about 100 municipal employees "changes nothing for us" because there are about 400 others left who will just "double their efforts." And the departure of the three mayors still leaves five on the committee.
The first of two rallies planned this month is scheduled to begin in Lafontaine Park at 11 a.m. this Friday 11th May and wind its way to Premier Bernard Landry's office at Hydro-Quebec headquarters downtown by noon.
Another is to be staged in St. Laurent on May 27.
Thu 5/10/01 MERGED MONTREAL WILL SUFFER DEFICIT: DOCUMENT
The Quebec Liberal party has released a document it says proves the
island-wide city of Montreal could end up with a deficit.
full story
Thu 5/10/01 Rebel mayors pull out
On the eve of another anti-merger rally, three mayors and the staff of 16 island municipalities have withdrawn their participation from the Montreal Transition Committee.
"It is inappropriate to help the committee," Westmount Mayor Peter Trent told reporters. "It isn't logical to continue collaborating on something we're against."
Trent also announced that both Libman and St. Laurent Mayor Bernard Paquet were removing themselves as committee advisers for at least the remainder of the month. Roxboro Mayor Ovide Baciu said later that he would withdraw, too.
Trent said another reason for withdrawal is that "the repeated requests of the transition committee on the staff seriously impede the normal course of operations of many cities and affect the quality of services offered to their citizens."
Besides Westmount, Cote St. Luc and St. Laurent, the other suburbs pulling their workers include Dorval, Pointe Claire, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Montreal West, Anjou, Baie d'Urfe, Beaconsfield, Hampstead, Kirkland, Town of Mount Royal and Senneville. Roxboro doesn't have any employees working for the transition committee.
Committee spokesman Isabelle Hudon said the loss of about 100 municipal employees "changes nothing for us" because there are about 400 others left who will just "double their efforts." And the departure of the three mayors still leaves five on the committee.
The first of two rallies planned this month is scheduled to begin in Lafontaine Park at 11 a.m. this Friday 11th May and wind its way to Premier Bernard Landry's office at Hydro-Quebec headquarters downtown by noon.
Another is to be staged in St. Laurent on May 27.
Do see our New Montreal
pages.infinit.net/westweb/newMontreal.htm Archive page for more news and may city links
Thu 5/3/01 Banner message snubbed in Quebec
By: NICOLAS VAN PRAET and KEVIN DOUGHERTY The cbc
A single-engine plane buzzed the rooftops of the National Assembly for two hours yesterday, trailing a huge yellow anti-mergers banner in a glaring attempt to stir members of the provincial government below.
The government responded by digging in its heels in the mergers fight.
Thu 5/3/01 Points-for-power plan by Bourque
By: LINDA GYULAI The cbc
Candidates on Mayor Pierre Bourque's ticket are going to have to do better than merely win seats if they want a shot at a position on city council's powerful executive committee.
In a startling admission, Bourque said in an interview yesterday he's setting vote quotas for each of his megacity council candidates in the Nov. 4 election. They need to get extra votes to be considered for one of the 11 executive committee positions Bourque will get to nominate if he's elected mayor.
April 2001
30/Apr/2001 18:03 How people make a city
By: MONIQUE DYKSTRA
Montreal is a funky place to live - we hear it over and over again. In just the past few months, both Wallpaper magazine and Askmen.com magazine rated Montreal as one of the world's top-10 cities to live. These magazines called the city cosmopolitan and multi-cultural, and talked breathlessly about Montreal's beautiful women, hopping night life and diverse artistic and cultural scene.
But what really makes Montreal work? According to McGill University professor and architect Derek Drummond, much of Montreal's success is due to one simple fact - the streets are crowded with people, night and day.
Wednesday 25 April 2001 Harel pressed to define $342 million in savings
by LINDA GYULAI
Municipal Affairs Minister Louise Harel used her Petit Larousse yesterday to defend her position that the creation of the Montreal megacity will lead to $342 million in savings through municipal labour force attrition.
Merger Alert/4 April 18, 2001
Because Toronto did it: latest
Front-line fighters against the Toronto mega-mergers came to Montreal's West Island to give a first-hand account of what has become a disaster. They provided devastating evidence on why Montreal should not follow, despite what minister Harel and mega-mayoral-candidate Bourque repeatedly claimed. Mike Colle, a former municipal councillor, is now a leading opposition member of the Ontario assembly. He was his party's critic as the merger was forced through the provincial parliament; he co-chaired mega-mayor Mel Lastman's two subsequent election campaigns. Here are some of the points he made:
2.1 Merger hoax: The promised savings had not happened. There was no academic evidence to substantiate forced mergers: services deteriorate, costs go up and citizens' rights diminish. It was a hoax without cost savings or democratic benefits. No mega-mergers worked. Let Quebec minister Harel put forward any studies to contradict what Professors Bish and Sancton had proved.
2.2 Attack on democracy: Municipal government represents decades of work. Cities were not created by accident. Infrastructure had to be built over the years, bylaws and regulations written and perfected. People had a right to determine how their community was governed.
2.3 Debt load: The pre-merged Toronto cities had little or no municipal debt. Now it was predicted to reach $2.5 billion in five years.
2.4 Remote council: Toronto citizens no longer went to the council. It was downtown and to get attention it was necessary to employ a lawyer. The load on councillors was such that they could not react to parking needs or dog management. Instead they concentrated on the grandiose schemes.
2.4 Tax rate:The new year's tax would rise at least 5%, but without service cuts and government "hush" money it would have been nearly 20%. Staff had been let go - expensively - but last year mega-Toronto spent $200 million on consultants.
2.5 International competition: It was not necessary to have an Oedipus complex to develop a great international city. Sydney, Australia, included about 60 municipalities. Who knows which city houses Silicon Valley?
2.6 Motives: The merger was a Trojan horse to download provincial responsibilities on to property tax. It was easier for the government to deal with one mayor; coping with 26 cities was messy - but democracy was messy. Now there was constant war between mega-Toronto and the provincial government. The mega-city does not work.
Two merger-fighters from Toronto came to Montreal's West Island to warn against allowing the same disaster to happen here. The meeting, organised by four local Liberal MNAs, included the opposition municipal affairs critic. The mayor of Kirkland, the host, also became involved over transition committee cooperation. Some of the points that emerged in the question period:
3.1 Promises: The audience repeatedly asked to be reassured that, when returned to power, a Liberal government would reverse the forced merger law. In return, the MNAs equally repeatedly promised that they would allow concerned citizens to request, by local referendums, such a reversal.
3.2 Not for citizens' benefit: Beware of transition committees; they were not there to represent citizens, but to deliver the government's agenda - guest speaker Mike Colle, a Toronto MLA and former councillor.
3.3 Devilish: The above comment was strongly supported by mega-councillor Michael Prue, former East York mayor: working with the transition team was like sleeping with the devil, he said.
3.4 Kirkland's position: The meeting was held in a packed Kirkland city hall and hosted by the mayor, John Meaney. In view of the strong views expressed by the Toronto guests, he was twice asked to re-examine his city's cooperation with the Montreal transition committee. The second time, under pressure from the large audience, he agreed to talk to his council about it.
Fri 4/20/01
No cap on how high tax-bill jump will leap
By: LINDA GYULAI
It's impossible at this time to pinpoint how high municipal tax-bill jumps could be after the Montreal megacity is created, the chairman of the committee overseeing the merger says.
Still, chairman Monique Lefebvre insisted in an interview yesterday that her transition team will produce a balanced budget for the Jan. 1 start-up of the megacity, as prescribed by Quebec's merger legislation, Bill 170.
Thu 4/19/01 Requests swamp Westmount
By: LINDA GYULAI The cbc
It would take more than 1,000 hours for Westmount civil servants to answer the more than two dozen requests for detailed information from the Montreal megacity transition team on what makes the municipality tick, Westmount Mayor Peter Trent says.
"We've been snowed under by the requests," Trent says of the minutiae details the transition team is seeking from all island municipalities.
Wed 4/4/01 COSTS OF OWNING CARS COULD CLIMB
Montreal transit officials are looking for more money and are suggesting
the Quebec government double the gas tax and vehicle registration fees.
..tax on gas is now 1.5 cents a litre and there is a $30 per car fee for public transit.
full story
Tue 4/3/01 LIMPING LOONIE: DOLLAR CLOSES NEAR RECORD LOW
The loonie showed continued weakness Tuesday, trading as low as 63.21
cents US before rebounding to close at 63.32 cents US. The U.S.
greenback again showed its strength against virtually all of the world's
main currencies. cbc full story
Tue 4/3/01 CIBC RAISES MORTGAGE RATES
CIBC, often the first of the banks to bump mortgage rates up or down,
has raised its rates across-the-board because of sudden weakness in the
bond market. cbc full story
Tue 4/3/01 MAYOR ACCUSED OF FABRICATING SUPPORT FOR MEGA-CITY
The mayor of Montreal's petition in favour of an island-wide city is
being attacked again as a sham. Suburban mayors commissioned an official
count of the names on the petition. They say it proves Pierre Bourque
fell far short of his target.
cbc full story
Tue 4/3/01 Mayors' tone is troubling
It wasn't so long ago that the municipal-merger debate was neatly polarized, with the Quebec government and Mayor Pierre Bourque in the "pro" camp and the mayors of Montreal Island's 27 suburbs united against them. No more. The suburban alliance is split - and weaker.
For those opposed to the merger, including this newspaper, that's dismaying.
23/Jun/2001
HAREL REFUSES TO APOLOGIZE FOR COLONIALISM COMMENT
There was more outrage on Thursday over Municipal Affairs Minister
Louise Harel's comments about Westmount. cbc full story
27/Apr/2001 Forced mergers make no sense
By: PETER DETMOLD Freelance
What bothers me most about the forced municipal mergers is the message - loud and clear - that our democracy just is not working. True, on occasions, governments have to do things that are necessary but unpopular, like raising taxes. But far from the mergers being necessary, they have been shown, by Andrew Sancton in his book Merger Mania and by many others, to be positively harmful. Ask Mayor Mel Lastman of Toronto. Ask the C.D. Howe Institute, whose recent study reported the disastrous impact of mergers.
Citizens' opinions, expressed through the electoral registers of towns, such as Baie d'Urfe, affected by Bill 170, showed an overwhelming loathing of the idea. In response, a puerile name-listing, claiming 50,000 signatures, was shown, when audited, to have been grossly misrepresented by Montreal Mayor Pierre Bourque, the man who wishes to impose himself on our communities. The reaction from Quebec City? Indifference. From Ottawa? They are more interested in the golf course at Grand-Mere. We deserve better in Canada.
Tue 4/24/01 7:00 AM School taxes could jump 10 %
By: DAVID JOHNSTON
School taxes on Montreal Island will have to rise at least 10 per cent in July - and as much as 33 per cent in some areas - to give the island's five school boards the money they need to operate in the next academic year, a Montreal Island School Council official warns.
"To give the boards what they're asking for, taxes are going to have to go up to the maximum ceiling allowed by law," said Sylvie Dorion, director of finance for the council, which collects school taxes on the island.
Wed 4/18/01 7:30 AM Parties meet in bid to unseat Bourque
By: LINDA GYULAI The cbc
Negotiations to create a united alternative to Montreal Mayor Pierre Bourque resume today between mayoral hopeful Gerald Tremblay and the Montreal Citizens' Movement.
Still, Tremblay says a three-way race for the mayor's job in the Nov. 4 megacity election doesn't necessarily spell doom at the polls for his team.
Tue 4/17/01 8:00 PM Mega changes
By: LINDA GYULAI and DEBBIE PARKES
Montreal Island taxpayers could be kissing a 5-per-cent ceiling on annual city-tax increases goodbye.
The transition committee overseeing the creation of the Montreal megacity is urging the Quebec government to amend its merger law, Bill 170, to remove the guaranteed maximum annual increase for property- owners once the megacity is created on Jan. 1.
Tue 4/17/01 GIVING MONTREALERS MORE POWER
The committee overseeing the creation of "one island one city" in
Montreal says it wants to hand more power back to citizens.
cbc full story
March 2001
31/Mar/2001 14:31 Most mayors flying white flag on Bill 170: Trent
By Martin C. Barry
Bill 170 would have been defeated by now had most municipalities continued fighting against it, says Mayor Peter Trent.
31/Mar/2001 14:31 Trent responds to Bourque interview
In the wake of last week's Examiner interview with Montreal Mayor Pierre Bourque, Mayor Peter Trent has taken up his pen to rebut Mr. Bourque's comments in the form of the following open letter, copies of which were distributed to residents at last night's public information meeting at Victoria Hall.
Tue 3/27/01 8:42 AM One island, one strike
The megacity scheme is now inevitably sinking into the syndical swamp that critics of mergers repeatedly warned of and that supporters never addressed: domination of Montreal Island municipal workers by union monopolies.
Two parallel monopolies are quietly shaping up: one for the 7,000 blue-collar workers now scattered in different bargaining units in Montreal's existing 28 municipalities and the other for 8,000 white-collar workers.
If you have someone you would like to nominate, write to the WMA with a detailed description of your nominee's contributions to life in Westmount. The deadline for submissions is Friday, March 30.
Send nominations to: The Westmount Municipal Association, PO Box 653, Suc. Victoria, Westmount, Qc. H3Z 2Y7.
More information can be obtained by contacting the WMA at 989-9752 or Susan Lord at 486-8472.
The Story
"The man behind the mayor"
By Jan Kaluza
And his March 13, 2001 Letter
to Fellow Citizen:
22/Mar/2001 Little would change in Westmount, Bourque promises
As Montreal Mayor Pierre Bourque visited Westmount last Friday, demonstrators opposing its forced merger with the City of Montreal met him on Ste. Catherine Street with placards and catcalls. Later that day, Bourque sat down with The Examiner for an interview. The following is a verbatim transcript of the conversation.
Fusions Forcées - Forced Mergers
As members of a democratic society, we the undersigned categorically reject the forced mergers of our
municipalities by the Government of Quebec, without consultation and over our objections.
Court merger fight postponed February 19, 2001
Mon 2/19/01 7:00 PM MONTREAL MERGER FIGHT MOVES AHEAD IN COURT
The fight against amalgamating 28 municipalities into one mega-sized
Montreal cleared a legal hurdle Monday.
cbc.ca/
12/Dec/2000 Finding a way to fight Sid T. Hawl
By: MIKE BOONE The Gazette
Me, I'm against forced municipal mergers. But many of my imaginary friends think that Bill 170 is a great idea and they've been busy signing Mayor Pierre Bourque's petition.
Through the magic of the Internet, you can show your support of one island, one city by going to www.ville.montreal.qc.ca, clicking on Nous sommes tous Montrealais and typing in your name.
Click to Petition page if above fails
March 2001
22/Mar/2001 Little would change in Westmount, Bourque promises
As Montreal Mayor Pierre Bourque visited Westmount last Friday, demonstrators opposing its forced merger with the City of Montreal met him on Ste. Catherine Street with placards and catcalls. Later that day, Bourque sat down with The Examiner for an interview. The following is a verbatim transcript of the conversation.
22/Mar/2001 WMA feels left out by MUHC planners
By Martin C. Barry The Westmount Municipal Association believes it has lost touch with the McGill University Health Centre's planners.
22/Mar/2001 The battle against annexation - 4th report
the full text of the letter Mayor Peter Trent sent to all Westmount residents earlier this week.
MayorTRENT-Letter
The following is the full text of the letter Mayor Peter Trent sent to all Westmount residents earlier this week.
Wed 3/21/01 10:02 AM Mergers are losing support
Until now, the business community has generally supported the Quebec government's one-island, one-city scheme. Yesterday, however, the C.D. Howe Institute, the Toronto-based think-tank that is funded by corporate Canada, published a study that sounded a sharp note of dissent.
"In the rapidly changing world of the 21st century," the report concludes, "flexible local governments are better able to provide services at less cost than monolithic amalgamations." In other words, metropolitan areas that consist of many small municipalities have a built-in advantage in the new economy of globalization and innovation.
Transition Committee in no hurry for city's cooperation
By Martin C. Barry
According to the chairman of the Montreal Transition Committee, Westmount isn't in any imminent danger of ending up in court for preventing the committee from obtaining information from City employees.
Fri 3/9/01 7:02 AM
Fast transition is good for democracy: Lefebvre
By: LINDA GYULAI
It would be undemocratic for the transition committee overseeing the creation of the Montreal megacity to ask for an extension to carry out its task, the committee's chairman says.
"I think it's not good at all for democracy to have a transition committee of non-elected people - we're non-partisan, but we're non-elected - to be there for 18 or 24 months," Monique Lefebvre said of her 12-member committee yesterday in an interview.
Thu 3/8/01 7:02 AM Merger's bad news for Jerri
In a move sure to be applauded by Pierre Bourque and Louise Harel, the Ogakor and Kucha tribes will be forced to merge into one megatribe on tonight's episode of Survivor: The Australian Outback.
Last week, Kucha member Mike severely burned his hands in a fire, eliminating him from the contest when he had to be airlifted for medical treatment. That means the tribes are merging at even strength, with five members apiece.
Toronto warning: Trent was one of the organisers of a Canadian Club lunch speech by Professor Andrew Sancton, of Western Ontario University. Sancton showed that Toronto's financial problems ($305 mio shortfall, potential tax increase of 77 % in 5 years) were due to the forced merger four years ago; only $47 mio was due to the current downloading.
Mayors' roles: Although island mayors had many varying views, Trent or said he was trying to rally rather than divide them. Nevertheless, he felt it inappropriate that some mayors, while making a court challenge, were now serving with the transition committee and lining up behind mega-mayoral candidates.
February 2001
Thu 2/22/01 7:02 AM Tussle looms on air quality
By: MICHELLE LALONDE The Gazette
The quality of air in the whole Montreal region is at stake in a battle brewing over which level of government will take control of environmental protection when the Montreal Urban Community is disbanded next year.
The MUC - made up of mayors and councillors from the 29 municipalities on the island of Montreal - will cease to exist on Jan. 1, 2002. It has been a 30-year experiment in regional government and it has had its successes and failures. But few question the strides the MUC has made in regulating and controlling air pollution on the island.
20/Feb/2001 18:05 Mergers challenge fast-tracked
By: LINDA GYULAI The Gazette
No news is good news, representatives of as many as 20 municipalities are saying in the wake of a judge's decision yesterday to set a new date to hear their case to invalidate the Quebec government's megacity legislation.
The new hearing date is May 22.
Court merger fight postponed February 19, 2001
Mon 2/19/01 7:00 PM MONTREAL MERGER FIGHT MOVES AHEAD IN COURT
The fight against amalgamating 28 municipalities into one mega-sized
Montreal cleared a legal hurdle Monday.
cbc.ca/cgi-bin/view?/news/2001/02/19/amalgam_mtl010219
Mon 2/19/01 7:03 AM In merger's rough wake
By: ELIZABETH THOMPSON
Quebec's dwindling anglophone community has to retain control over its municipal institutions if it is to survive, one of Quebec's foremost demographers says.
"It seems obvious to me that if the anglophone community wants to maintain its traditions, its institutions, continue to exercise its influence on Montreal life, its members must first regroup and ? have at its disposal institutions (that) allow it to put to work the fruits of its particular genius, of its form of wisdom, of its talents," Jacques Henripin maintains.
Sat 2/17/01 8:03 AM 'Get out of the way, Auntie!'
By: LYNN MOORE The Gazette
Her three offspring have been to so many municipal-merger protests that Westmount resident Kathleen Duncan yesterday described them as "children of the revolution."
"Even the one-year-old has been all around the city with me booing Bourque," said Duncan, referring to Montreal Mayor Pierre Bourque.
Sat 2/17/01 8:03 AM If it's bad for T.O., is it good for us?
By: HUBERT BAUCH The Gazette
There was a time when news of anything going badly for Toronto "The Good" would be stuff to warm Montreal cockles, but not this disaster.
Not with Montreal poised to follow Toronto down the megacity amalgamation road, an experience that no less than mega-Toronto's founding mayor, Mel Lastman, declared a disaster three years into the venture when the news broke that the city is $300 million over budget and closing in on bankruptcy.
11/Feb/2001 We're ranked No. 1 By: The Gazette
For the second time in as many months, Montreal has been selected by a publication as one of the world's top 10 cities in which to live.
And this time, it's No. 1. AskMen.com, or
Oh, and for the record, the list examined the city's nightlife, standard of living, job sector, arts and culture, weather, state of affairs, and all of the other things that encompass daily life. ...Montréal is the most cosmopolitan and multicultural city, which explains why it has the most beautiful women, diverse restaurants and an amazing nightlife (ask any Formula One driver).
The economy is growing rapidly, the arts and culture are extremely diverse and rich, and it offers you all four seasons to the fullest. Although the language questions become mundane, we hear that they provide for good entertainment. To top it all off, Canada is systematically voted the Top Country by the United Nations.
11 February, 2001 GAZETTE EDITORIAL MUNICIPAL MERGERS:! by Mayor Peter F. Trent ..People who braved the cold to participate in the massive anti-merger rally held last Dec. 10 must be scratching their heads these days. The air then was thick with diatribes against the injustice of Bill 170, with declarations of war against its architects. As speaker after speaker split the ears of the crowd, the citizens in turn pledged their unconditional support for the mayors in carrying on with their battle against a forced merger of all the Montreal Island cities.
Exactly two months later, some of these same leaders have shucked off their battledress. They're in a party mood; or, more precisely, they want a party of the political variety.
9/Feb/2001 ONTARIO PREMIER SAYS HE WON'T FORCE MUNICIPAL MERGERS AGAIN
Mayors in communities surrounding the mega-city of Toronto say they're
breathing a sigh of relief now that the province confirms it won't force
mergers on any unwilling municipalities.
montreal.cbc full story
9/Feb/2001 Exodus from the island
Despite the frequent statements over the years by most of Montreal Island's mayors that sprawl must be stopped, the exodus of island residents to off-island areas remains dismayingly strong. A new study by the Institut de la Statistique du Quebec shows between 1996 and 2000 there were 10,422 more residents of the island who moved elsewhere in Quebec than there were people from other parts of the province who moved to the island. The vast majority of those who departed moved to off-island suburbs, particularly those on the North Shore.
The island's mayors are right to express alarm over the relentless trend. Since 1971, when it was home to almost 2 million people, the island has lost 195,000 residents, about a 10th of its population. One of the main reasons people leave is that property taxes are too high, yet the fact that so many people depart, most of them stalwart middle-class taxpayers, only serves to drive up taxes for those who remain, since there are fewer left to share the fiscal load. And that impels more people to leave, as the vicious circle continues.
8/Feb/2001 Westmount sets up 'red tape' to slow Transition Committee
By Martin C. Barry In its ongoing bid to thwart forced mergers, Westmount is taking one of the most elaborate steps yet: bureaucratic 'red tape' that hopefully will slow down Quebec's municipal Transition Committee.
5/Feb/2001 BUSINESS TAXES DOUBLE FOR SOME PLATEAU MERCHANTS
Many merchants on Montreal's Plateau Mont Royal say they're in shock
after receiving business tax bills from the city that, in some cases,
have more than doubled over last year's.
2/Feb/2001 The No. 2 dilemma
As the fate of Westmount's unused Fire Station No. 2 inches closer to being decided, it is becoming increasingly evident that the matter will not be settled to everyone's satisfaction.
3/Feb/2001 MONTREAL SHOULD LEARN FROM TORONTO'S MEGA-DEBT: EXPERT
It's only been three years since Toronto was turned into a mega city and
it's already having serious financial problems.
3/Feb/2001 Still time to retreat
From the very start of its campaign to create a mega-Montreal, the Quebec government's chief argumentation for that merger can be summed up in three words: "Toronto's doing it." For Municipal Affairs Minister Louise Harel and Mayor Pierre Bourque, the Ontario government's creation of a mega-Toronto in 1998 was a shining example that cried out for imitation here.
Now, six weeks after Quebec adopted a law to make Montreal Island a single municipality next Jan. 1, the staggering truth about the great role model is emerging: Toronto's finances are a mega-fiasco.
Feb 1 2001 MAYOR TO GET POLICE ESCORT
It looks as if Mayor Bourque will be accompanied by police for the rest
of his campaign to win support on the Island of Montreal.
cbc full story
On Monday, January 29, DémocraCité will join forces with the Municipal Protection Committees of Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Île-Bizard and Ste-Geneviève. A press conference will be held at the Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue Town Hall, 109 Ste-Anne Street, at 10:30AM. 
29/Jan/2001 Spotlight on Cinema V By: DARREN BECKER
Montreal Mayor Pierre Bourque is playing favourites by fast-tracking funding for renovations to the Cinema V while ignoring the city's established cultural institutions, says opposition councillor Helen Fotopulos.
"The mayor is prepared to put money into his own pet projects and is creating a double standard by ignoring the essential elements of our cultural fabric," Fotopulos said.
25/Jan/2001 WMA seeks island-wide merger-fighters
WMA president Kathleen Duncan this week challenged Westmounters to recruit their friends across the island to help ensure that the campaign to thwart the forced merger law is successful.
26/Jan/2001 Two-thirds of MUC cities behind Bill 170 challenge
By Martin C. Barry
The list of Montreal Island municipalities supporting a legal challenge of Bill 170, Quebec's forced mergers legislation, has grown to over two-thirds of the membership of the Montreal Urban Community.
25/Jan/2001 MUNICIPALITIES WARMING UP TO MERGER PLAN
The president of the transition committee for the island of Montreal
says she's confident all the municipalities on the island will cooperate
with her. full story
20/Jan/2001 Salary blame shifted
By: LINDA GYULAI The Gazette The Gazette
Louise Harel doesn't set the salaries.
That was the Quebec municipal-affairs minister's response yesterday when asked about widespread reaction to news this week that members of the transition committee overseeing the creation of the Montreal megacity are earning up to $800 a day.
Big payday for megacity committee
By: LINDA GYULAI The Gazette
Not many people earn $1,000 a day, but that's what the chairman of the newly named transition committee to oversee the creation of the Montreal megacity will draw in 2001.
And nearly all other members of the 10-member Montreal transition team will earn $800 a day, $208,800 this year. a spokesman for Quebec Municipal Affairs Minister Louise Harel confirmed yesterday. ...around $2 million - is part of the expected $5.5-million operating budget of the Montreal committee
16/Jan/2001 On the wrong track
By: The Gazette
Having successfully revived former mayor Jean Drapeau's dream of one-island, one-city, Mayor Pierre Bourque is now reactivating another of his predecessor's visions, a high-speed rail line between Montreal and New York City. The mayor has told La Presse that, by boosting Montreal's access to the northeastern United States, the line would do wonders for the local economy.
Before the mayor spends money on new studies, however, he would be wise to take a glance at an old one. Prepared 16 years ago at the behest of the Drapeau administration, the Quebec government and the states of New York and Vermont, the study contains troubling facts that time cannot erase.
Going it alone
Wayne Larsen"
With a monetary war chest running into seven figures and a 'never say die' attitude rivaling that of Great Britain during the darkest days of the London Blitz, Westmount has fired off the first artillery round against the provincial government in the form of a legal case scheduled to be heard in Superior Court on Monday.
13/Jan/2001 SUBURBAN MAYORS FORM PARTY
Many suburban mayors on the island of Montreal have decided to form a
new political party. Georges Bossé, the president of the union of
suburban mayors says the new political party is needed to defeat
Montreal mayor Pierre Bourque. full story
11/Jan/2001 Bouchard to step down as premier, PQ leader
Parti Quebecois faithful were in shock last night after Lucien Bouchard (62) broke the news to his inner circle that he will announce today he is stepping down as premier of Quebec and head of the party.
While many reasons likely contributed to the decision, top PQ officials said last night the Michaud affair and a full-page ad supporting party hard-liner Yves Michaud in Le Devoir yesterday were the last straws for Bouchard. See: Yves Michaud Notes
11/Jan/2001 Welcome to our nightmare, suburbanites.
By: DAVID SHERMAN Freelance
We've just merged with Montreal. Sort of. We bought a house in Mile End. And
if those at the wrong end of the barrel in the shotgun marriage between the
city and the burbs are worried, well, relax. It's going to be great.
Let me tell you about the unabashed warmth shown by the city since we cashed
out our savings from this life and the next to purchase our little nest on
Esplanade Ave.
9/Jan/2001 Toward a new megacity party
By: WILLIAM STEINBERG Freelance
The Gazette's editorial of Jan. 6 headed "Build from the grass roots" makes the case that the new Montreal megacity needs a municipal party that will preserve what we now have in the suburbs while still attracting support from residents of the current city of Montreal. It also argued the new party should be built from the grass roots. Here is a plan for just such a new party.
The new party could be called the Democracy Party of Montreal because it should be a model of democracy, in contrast to Pierre Bourque's Vision Montreal which is notorious for its lack of resident consultation. The establishment of the party and the development of its basic platform could be done by a group of residents who will commit to not running for any municipal public office. Current or former Montreal Island mayors and councilors who have no interest in serving on the new megacity council would be most welcome to serve on this initial committee as would members of DemocraCite, the umbrella organization for all the residents' groups opposed to Bill 170. These people would have no hidden agenda and so they would be able to set up an unbiased structure and platform. [DTN saved]
10/Jan/2001 Montreal almost out of the blue
By: SUE MONTGOMERY The Gazette
Vodka would be an alternative.
A bit pricey, mind you, but if Montreal's shortage of windshield-washer fluid continues, desperate drivers might be raiding their liquor cabinets just to see clearly.
9/Jan/2001 Bourque wants mega job
By: MICHAEL MAINVILLE The Gazette
Fresh from realizing his one-island, one- city dream, Montreal Mayor Pierre Bourque is to announce today that he will run for mayor of the new megacity in November's election.
Sources close to the mayor said yesterday that Bourque will make the announcement at a press conference scheduled for this morning by his political party, Team Bourque/Vision Montreal.
9/Jan/2001 More answers wanted at city hall
By: LINDA GYULAI The Gazette
Councillor Marvin Rotrand is frustrated with the stonewalling he says he gets from politicians in power at Montreal city hall whenever he wants information about city spending and other matters.
So Rotrand said that he has had to turn increasingly to Quebec's Access to Information law to force answers out of the city during the six years that Mayor Pierre Bourque has been in power.
6/Jan/2001 Build from the grass roots
One of the key things in mega-Montreal's first election, to be held in November, is the math. The new council will have 72 seats, 39 of which are in the current city of Montreal. The other 33 would represent the existing suburbs. At this point, then, the suburbs stand to be the clear underdogs in terms of political power.
This initial election will be an extremely important one. One big issue will likely be the need to decentralize power and give as much responsibility over services to boroughs as is legally possible, so as to safeguard the services' quality and maintain community identity. Another major issue will be democracy - the need for the council to consult conscientiously with citizens.
Return WILLIAM STEINBERG
5/Jan/2001 Bring 'em all on
By: L. IAN MACDONALD Freelance
Jean Drapeau used to say that three-way races for the mayoralty favoured the incumbent and, accordingly, he encouraged all comers.
Pierre Bourque undoubtedly shares that view as he considers the prospect of a widely contested race for the mayoralty of the new island-wide city of Montreal. The more the merrier.
...Georges Bossy, mayor of Verdun, head of the surburban mayors' union... business community have been circulating the name of Pierre Marc Johnson ...floated by McGill's Jack Jedwab, of a municipal Liberal Party, another brand name, and one with enough brand equity on the island that any mayoral candidate under such a banner would be a serious contender. Like Francis Fox, the former federal ...[ and our Mayor Peter F. Trent has a lot to offer. DTN]
4/Jan/2001 MERGERS MAY IMPROVE CITY'S CREDIT RATING
The president of Montreal's executive committee, Jean Fortier, says
amalgamation may lead to a better credit rating for the city. {???? DTN]
Tue 1/2/01 6:55 AM One city, one island of urbanity
By: ALAN HUSTAK
Montreal has been chosen one of the top places in the world to call home by the trendy GenX lifestyles magazine Wallpaper.
Montreal is fourth on a 10-city list topped by Antwerp in Belgium, Barcelona in Spain and Copenhagen in Denmark.
..."It is cosmopolitan, it is nice to look at, it's more fun than Toronto and it is serious about its food. It has become a leader in the transport sector, thanks to Bombardier and its status as the home of IATA (the International Air Transport Association).
"And it is full of cute students." [why not cute GIRLs]
29/Dec/1999 From our files no change!
12/Dec/2000 Finding a way to fight Sid T. Hawl
By: MIKE BOONE The Gazette
Me, I'm against forced municipal mergers. But many of my imaginary friends think that Bill 170 is a great idea and they've been busy signing Mayor Pierre Bourque's petition.
Through the magic of the Internet, you can show your support of one island, one city by going to www.ville.montreal.qc.ca, clicking on Nous sommes tous Montrealais and typing in your name.
Click to Petition page if above fails
notes for December 2000
click here for December Notes or
November Notes archives
23/Dec/2000 See you in court, Westmount says
By: JANE DAVENPORT, MIKE KING of The Gazette
Before the last referendum, Westmount Mayor Peter Trent decided that if Quebec became independent, he would continue to make his home here.
"One of the beautiful things about Quebec is how small municipalities with anglophone roots can flourish in a francophone province - it's a sort of tacit compromise," Trent, speaking in French, said yesterday. "It never occurred to me at the time there was any danger of losing my town."
8/Dec/2000 Both ´Phones Take Megaphone Against a Megacity
By JAMES BROOKE 
Nationalists believe they are on the verge of exacting revenge on the
anglophone enclave of Westmount, Quebec. The provincial assembly
plans to approve a bill that would forcibly merge Westmount into a
Montreal megacity. Ny Times www.nytimes.com
December 2000
click here for December Notes archives
November 2000
click here for November Notes archives
938 February 23 issues of Amalgamation with Westmount Mayor Peter F. Trent on Quebec's nefarious Down-loading & mega-city debate Yvette Biondi "One Island One City" ..Healthcare and Clarity Bill ..David Casgrain 'heritage' Victoria Avenue home by Wayne Larsen
MergerNotesDec.htm
MergerNotes.htm
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