CMM: one seat for rural municipalities, Montreal’s influence reduced

The Quebec government wants to reserve a seat for rural municipalities within the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM). Mayors of small municipalities applaud the move, but in Montreal, which stands to lose a seat, the proposal has been met with a cool reception.

On Thursday, Municipal Affairs Minister Geneviève Guilbault tabled an amendment to this effect in a parliamentary committee as part of the analysis of Bill 104.

The reserved seat would better represent the reality of small municipalities with fewer than 25,000 inhabitants in the Greater Montreal area, the minister explained in an interview on the sidelines of the committee meeting.

“For a long time, representatives of rural communities have been telling us, ‘We would like to have a say, we would like our particular reality to be taken into account,’” the minister said.

The mayor of Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, Julie Boivin, welcomed the decision. “This is a wonderful recognition by the minister of the importance of rural municipalities within the CMM,” she said in an interview.

Not everyone who sits on the CMM is aware of the realities of citizens in the region’s smallest municipalities, she said. Having a seat will allow their views to be better heard.

She gave the example of the increase in vehicle registration tax, which rose from $59 to $150 in January to fund public transportation.

“We have municipalities that don’t even have a single bus on their territory, but every citizen has to pay the registration tax,” the mayor said. “So there is an inconsistency and an injustice in relation to the territorial reality.”

Montreal’s weight reduced

With the amendment, the number of seats on the CMM will remain at 28, rather than being reduced to 26 as initially proposed.

The weight of the City of Montreal within the CMM would still be reduced, as was the case in the bill tabled by Guilbault’s predecessor, Andrée Laforest.

The City of Montreal would thus have 13 seats out of 28 instead of 14, if the bill is passed. Its weight would thus decrease from 50 per cent of the votes to 46 per cent.

With 50 per cent of the votes, Montreal had too much influence within the CMM, according to the minister. “We need to rebalance,” Guilbault explained in an interview. “Is it normal to have a council where Montreal literally had a veto?”

Several CMM decisions must be made with at least two-thirds of the votes, including the approval of budgets. The City of Montreal therefore had no choice but to collaborate with the other cities.

The mayor of Delson, Christian Ouellette, views the proposed reduction in Montreal’s weight within the CMM favorably.

The balance of power between Montreal and the other municipalities would no longer be the same, according to Delson, who also serves as president of the table of prefects and elected officials of the South Shore. The metropolis will no longer be able to decide “as it pleases and have everyone follow.”

Ouellette acknowledges that some decisions unpopular in small municipalities could have been adopted even with fewer votes for the city of Montreal.

He cites the example of the registration tax, mentioned by his colleague Julie Boivin, which would probably have been adopted anyway with the support of other municipalities.

“Would it have changed anything in recent years? I don’t know, honestly.”

In Montreal, the office of outgoing mayor Valérie Plante reiterates that she still opposes the proposed changes to the CMM’s governance.

“The government should rely on facts and consult with all stakeholders rather than basing its decisions on arbitrary criteria,” said Catherine Cadotte, senior press secretary in the mayor of Montreal’s office, in a written statement.

“We deplore the fact that Quebec City considers the weight of voters in each municipality rather than the weight of the population in general. Overall, the provisions on CMM governance set a dangerous precedent and represent a worrying setback for municipal democracy in Quebec,” Cadotte added.

The opposition party, Ensemble Montréal, accuses the Plante administration of being responsible for the loss of influence of the metropolis.

“Once again, Montrealers will pay for the bad decisions of the Plante-Rabouin administration,” said the party’s press secretary, Guillaume Pelletier.

As in the mayor’s office, the method used to assess Montreal’s demographic weight raised eyebrows among Liberal MNA Marie-Claude Nichols in a parliamentary committee in Quebec City.

“Land use planning is based on the population we serve,” said the official opposition spokesperson on municipal affairs. “Land use planning is not based on the voters we serve.”

To illustrate her point, she gave the example of water parks, which are built for children, who are not voters but members of the population.

Nichols lamented the fact that the amendment was being introduced in the middle of a municipal election campaign. “At the very least, I find that doing it this way is disrespectful to the municipal community,” she said.

The minister defended herself in parliamentary committee against accusations of not having consulted the municipal community sufficiently, emphasizing that it was a long-standing commitment of her government to review the governance of the CMM.

She mentioned that municipal elected officials had the opportunity to be heard in committee, despite the approaching campaign.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews