Other local mayors weigh in on ADQ support

BY ANDY BLATCHFORD

andy.blatchford@transcontinental.ca

Navigating Montreal’s agglomeration council has been a journey of frustration for mayors of West Island reconstituted cities.

Last week, mayors from Baie d’Urfé, Ste. Anne de Bellevue and Senneville announced their support for the Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ), a provincial party that says it’s committed to replacing the island council with a more democratic, independent body.

But the five remaining West Island mayors from de-merged municipalities refrained from joining their counterparts in publicly backing the ADQ last Friday.

“I’m still dissatisfied with the Liberals, they totally ignored the island of Montreal,” Beaconsfield Mayor Bob Benedetti said. “They’ve got to wake up and realize that the island of Montreal is important to them.”

However, Benedetti said he can’t bring himself to endorse the ADQ.

“I’m concerned about their ambiguity on federalism,” he said, referring to his interpretation of the party’s platform. “In the case of the ADQ, I’m not even sure what an autonomous Quebec in Canada means. Does that mean more constitution talk? - which is the last thing we need.”

ADQ leader Mario Dumont’s recent statements on diversity are another concern, he added.

“There’s a lot of things I’m uncomfortable with — and it’s not that federalism trumps all, but it’s the ace in the deck,” Benedetti said.

In Pointe Claire, Mayor Bill McMurchie said agglomeration has to be changed.

“I can understand the frustration of my colleagues,” he said. “We’ve been operating within the framework of the agglomeration council for a full year and it is pretty clear, to even an innocent bystander, that it doesn’t work.”

McMurchie believes Jacques Cartier Liberal MNA Geoffrey Kelley has been doing his best within the constraints of his party.

“I would assume that both Mr. Kelley and I interpret the best interests of the citizens of Pointe Claire in an identical fashion,” he told The Chronicle. “He works within a party system (and) I do not work within a party system, that’s the difference. I’m sure that he has done what he can within that structure, (but) that doesn’t mean it’s successful.”

Dorval Mayor Edgar Rouleau said all the de-merged mayors are in the same situation.

“We’re disappointed with the way the agglo’s working,” he said. “We have to get the provincial government to do something to change that.”

But despite the council’s setbacks, Rouleau will not support the ADQ, primarily because he pleased with the work of Marquette Liberal MNA François Ouimet.

“He’s come through for Dorval (on the recent fluoride dossier),” he said.