A good start, but agglo questions linger

By all accounts, it’s a good start. Since the Charest government took power in 2003, partly on a mandate to reverse the forced mergers that formed the Montreal mega-city in January 2002, they have consistently bungled what appears was an easy dossier to handle.

But finally, Municipal Affairs Minister Nathalie Normandeau - with extensive input from Charest, inevitably - announced last Thursday her plan for the Montreal agglomeration structure, which would see the council expanded to include all 64 Montreal councillors, all the mayors of reconstituted cities and one extra representative from Dollard des Ormeaux, whose population justifies the extra vote. In addition, the government will create a secretariat of agglomeration, an administrative body that will disseminate information and make decisions on agglo issues before they are presented to council.

Dorval Mayor Edgar Rouleau and Pointe Claire Mayor Bill McMurchie were both guardedly optimistic about the idea.

McMurchie said the creation of a body that focuses solely on regional governance is a positive move.

“That body will be able to express the view of agglomeration and it won’t be tied to Montreal’s point of view. With (Montreal mayor) Gerald Tremblay in charge, solving problems was done in Montreal’s interest and not necessarily agglomeration’s interest,” he told The Chronicle.

Montreal will maintain its 87-per-cent voting stake, based on population statistics.

Rouleau stressed that giving all cities a louder voice will lead to less acrimony and that Montreal’s new taxation powers should help the city offset some of the extra costs the agglomeration secretariat will require.

“If we want, or need information on agglomeration, there will be somebody who can answer those questions. This should lead to more efficiency and will give everybody on the island a voice in island issues,” he said.

The provincial government will open the issue to public hearings in the fall and a final decision is expected before the end of the year. The notion of more fairness and a more balanced agglomeration structure - which will prevent the mayor of Montreal from downloading costs onto the suburbs and give West Islanders in de-merged municipalities a sense of ownership - are ideas we can get on board with, but questions about the structure of the agglomeration secretariat still remain. Who will be included in the secretariat? Will it be open and transparent or secretive, with meetings held behind closed doors? These are questions that must be answered before any law can be passed, and the sooner they are answered, the better.i