Transition Montreal putting forward plan for ‘biggest municipal electoral reform in decades’

Montreal mayoral candidate Craig Sauvé says he’s putting forward the most ambitious municipal electoral reform in over 20 years.

His party, Transition Montréal, unveiled the plan Wednesday morning in front of City Hall. During the press conference, Sauvé said he is a true believer in electoral reform, something he says he’s been preaching about for a long time.

“We need to get it done. I think after 12 years of being elected, I’m ready and mature enough to accept that collaboration is a good thing. And when mayors or leaders lack the ability to collaborate and they impose their will, I believe it comes from a place of lack of confidence and lack of self-confidence in their team,” he said.

The proposal includes three major changes:

• Preferential ballots for the election of the mayor of Montreal and borough mayors, allowing voters to rank candidates in order of preference to ensure majority support;
• A proportional voting system – known as single transferable vote – for city and borough councils, to prevent one party from winning all the seats with only a fraction of the vote;
• Free votes for Transition Montréal elected officials, ending strict party discipline and allowing members to vote based on their convictions and constituents’ needs.

Sauvé says our current system is outdated and that more diversity needs to be added to our politics, across Canada, Quebec and Montreal.

“We’re talking about a British parliamentary system that you know is shown to be rather rigid and I think with new voices and forcing us to collaborate we’re gonna have a healthier democracy. We’re gonna have a better democracy,” he said.

The party is also promising to end what it calls a democratic injustice in Ville-Marie, where residents still don’t elect their own borough mayor.

Sauvé says the Montreal mayor automatically controls the borough, appointing two of its six councillors, leaving citizens without the same democratic rights as other Montrealers.

“The mayor of Montreal is automatically the mayor of Ville-Marie, which is really undemocratic because all the other boroughs get to select who they want as their borough mayor. We will put an end to that. The mayor of Ville-Marie will be elected, and all of its councillors will be chosen by residents. That’s something Ville-Marie has been asking for,” said Sauvé.

Sauvé says if Ottawa and Quebec won’t modernize their electoral systems, Montreal should lead the way.