Voters, rivals take aim at Liberal record during debate

BY ANDY BLATCHFORD

andy.blatchford@transcontinental.ca



Candidates and residents took turns firing shots at Jacques Cartier Liberal incumbent Geoff Kelley over municipal de-mergers, as last night's debate illuminated local election issues.

More than 100 citizens attended the three-hour event, which featured all six of the West Island riding's candidates on stage, sitting side by side, in the Beaconsfield High School auditorium.

Engaged audience members grilled each hopeful on the environment, health, education and the future of Quebec. But the evening's climax came when citizens were invited to ask questions about Montreal's agglomeration council.

"We would like to know, if the Liberals aren't able to rectify this situation, who do you recommend that we speak to or vote for?" Beaconsfield resident Wayne Markell asked Kelley from the microphone. Markell's question on agglomeration drew a loud applause from the crowd.

The agglomeration council was formed following reconstitution of 15 Montreal suburbs — eight of which are in the West Island.

The Liberal government mandated agglomeration to manage regional services on the island of Montreal.

But its structure has left mayors of de-merged cities with little voting power, and they say Montreal has taken advantage of the situation by unloading its burdens on their taxpayers.

Last year, Beaconsfield residents were hit with property-tax increases above 30 per cent.

Three West Island mayors (and a fourth from Montreal West) are backing Mario Dumont's Action démocratique du Québec because of the lack of changes instituted by the Liberals to agglomeration.

Baie d'Urfé's Maria Tutino, Ste. Anne de Bellevue's Bill Tierney and Senneville's George McLeish publicly voiced their support for the ADQ in February.

"The agglomeration council is a disaster," Jacques Cartier ADQ candidate Walter Rulli said last night. "Don't let them get away with it."

Rulli said the ADQ would abolish the agglomeration council and replace it with a regional body similar to the former Montreal Urban Community (MUC).

The Pointe Claire resident said Quebec's long-time two-party system featuring the Liberals and Parti Québécois has allowed the merger/de-merger issue to drag on.

Green Party of Quebec candidate Ryan Young recalled Liberal Leader Jean Charest's promise to give West Islanders their cities back before the 2003 election — a year after the mergers, forced by the former PQ government, took effect.

"The Liberal leader's silence on this issue speaks volumes," said Young, who answered questions on almost every topic brought up by citizens throughout the evening. "He's shied away from visiting the West Island."

The Ste. Anne resident and John Abbott College professor described agglomeration as "unworkable."

Kelley defended his party's efforts to fix the council.

"(The agglomeration) has not lived up to our expectations, but if you remember, it is 14 months old," Kelley said. "We have to come up with a better definition of what is a regional service."

He said the government is working to develop an equitable formula to distribute the cost of the island's public transit, fire and police services.

"What's happened is too many things have been put onto the agglomeration council," Kelley said. "I'm very aware that we have not achieved the right balance."

Kelley, himself a Beaconsfield resident, said arguments over regional service responsibilities predate the forced mergers.

Later in the evening, Ghislain Bergeron of Beaconsfield blasted Kelley for broken Liberal promises.

"I hear promises I heard in 2003," he told Kelley. "I don't believe in the Liberal promises anymore. I pay money and I don't have a voice. It's completely ridiculous."

But Kelley wasn't the only candidate questioned about mergers and agglomeration.

Pointe Claire's Robert Harding Hamilton asked PQ candidate Sophia Caporicci if her party, which originally forced the mergers, would compensate West Islanders if they are re-elected.

"In Pointe Claire we suffered terribly," he said.

Harding Hamilton said the mergers fused the unions of local municipal workers with those in Montreal, driving costs up.

Caporicci agreed that "things didn't go right" with the mergers, however, she said she didn't have the authority to promise any compensation.

Residents questioned the candidates on an array of issues, including public transit, the family doctor shortage, and education.

Québec solidaire's Jill Hanley, a professor at McGill University, said the province should cut back on assisting private schools and boost spending in Quebec's public system.

In public transit, Hanley said the local system needs improvement. "People also need to get around in the West Island," she said, adding the current bus network is geared to ship commuters to and from downtown Montreal.

In his closing statement, independent candidate Andy Srougi surprised audience members by telling them to vote ADQ, instead of himself. He said he would fight if elected as an independent, but believes the ADQ would have a better chance of bringing about change across the province.

"If we want to change something, we need to send the Liberals a message," said the Kirkland resident, who accused the Liberals of corruption on several occasions. "Inexperience is better than incompetence."

Srougi's comments, aimed directly at the Liberal Party all night, repeatedly drew applause from the crowd.

Beaconsfield resident Rick Blatter was pleased with debate.

"We should have this in every community," he said after the event. "This is democracy in action."