Montreal: Relevant cities want to hear

As the municipal election campaign approaches in Montreal, cities on the island of Montreal are seeking more cooperation from the city center.

“We want candidates to know how [à la mairie de Montréal] See the connection between connected cities and city-centers. We share a lot of services together, but we think spending sharing is not right and needs to be revised, ”argued Benny Masella (AMB), president of the Suburban Municipalities Association, and Mayor of Montreal West.

There are 15 municipalities in the respective towns that have been born since the 2005 demise and are home to 250,000 residents. They share public services such as water management, police, firefighters and public transportation with the Montreal community.

Currently, they are contributing 40 440 million to the mobilization budget. According to AMB, citizens of these suburbs pay 62% more than Montreal depending on their population weight.

Connected cities are therefore asking for a new formula to share urban mobilization costs. Last year the Ministry of Municipal Affairs set up a working committee to negotiate an agreement.

However, Masella said talks had stalled as the August deadline approached. “We are minority partners, but we are all one partner. It takes someone who agrees to see us, ”he added.

However, he justifies himself by not interfering in the election campaign. “The current administration is likely to see daylight,” Masella said.

“We have always wanted to cooperate on this file. However, as the city concerned decided to file a lawsuit against Beaconsfield Montreal on this issue, it initially slowed and complicated the progress of negotiations as planned, ”explained Lawrence Houd-Roy, the city’s executive committee of the Press Attach Montreal.

Towards the official opposition, in Ensemble Montreal, Pierfunds-Rocksboro Mayor Jim Bees recalled that in 2016, an agreement was reached between the former Coder administration and related cities. It ended in December 2019.

“We feel that the Plante administration is not yet sitting with the cities concerned, that the Quebec government has gone to the extent of forcing the Montreal arm, so it is very tedious to start negotiations with them,” Mr Bees said.

In the office of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Andre Lafarge, it was suggested that they were aware of the exit from the AMB, but that under the current law municipalities must agree together on the distribution of urban mobilization costs.

“The ministry has created a working committee that will present its results this summer. In the meantime, it is imperative that the parties reach a consensus on the quota file,” Press Secretary Benedict Trotier Laoi stressed in an email to the minister.

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