Board of Directors | STM has launched a public call to fill both positions

Bruno Bisson
Press

Applicants must be customers of STM networks and have specific relevant expertise in areas such as transportation, finance or town planning, for example, a difficult and uncertain budget context when the largest public carrier in Quebec is trying to protect all of its services. Promises to work hard.

The STM is governed by a board of directors consisting of 10 people, most of whom are elected as municipal officers. The board oversees key policy, hiring and funding decisions for the company, which manages $ 31 billion in assets. With more than 10,000 employees and an annual budget of over $ 1.5 billion, STM stands at 13.^E Headquartered in Quebec.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, its bus and metro networks made more than 1.4 million trips daily across the island of Montreal. With the epidemic, however, ridership melted away, fare revenues evaporated and all public transportation networks in the metropolitan area faced a $ 1 billion shortfall in three years. Tough decisions will have to be made in the coming months.

Repeat

“We are in the process of restarting the pandemic,” agreed Eric Alan Caldwell, city councilor and new chairman of STM’s board of directors. “Current ridership is 60% of what it was in 2019 before COVID-19. This is our main challenge: recovering traffic before the crisis. The consumer perspective is more relevant as we need to manage in the face of a drastic decline in revenue. We want to continue with the current services, but we know there is no money. ”

Lawrence Parent, STM’s new vice president, believes candidates must have “critical thinking, good analytical skills, and flexibility to work in a team.” Until last month, she represented paratransite customers on the council. His appointment as Vice President vacated his position, which was confirmed by the Montreal Community Council on December 2.

“But we wear the hat and are skilled,” she said, “but around the council table, we’re the first clients of Public Transit. When you sit as a customer representative, you are expected to deliver their word. However, I never felt that people were limited to their title on board. ”

For the first time in 12 years

This is the first time since 2009 that the STM president has not replaced STM’s general consumer representative. In fact, that year, Mayor Gerald Tremble candidate Michelle Labreck lost the municipal election. The administration appointed him as a consumer representative to sit on the board as he was not elected. This scene was repeated four years later during the election of Mayor Denis Coderre with his star candidate, former journalist Philippe Schnoeb. Appointed STM President in 2013 and was not elected, he sat on the board until last month as the “Public Transit Customer Representative”.

By appointing Municipal Councilor Eric Alan Caldwell as STM President, Valerie Plante’s administration is reviving the tradition of appointing an elected official for this important function. Mr. Caldwell has been responsible for transportation and planning on the Montreal City Executive Committee for the past four years.

The application form, terms and conditions for these two positions and the “Skills Profile Requested” will be posted on the STM website on Monday. Applications will be accepted until December 27 and will be evaluated by the STM Corporate Secretariat. STM’s Board of Directors makes its recommendations to the Montreal Agglomeration Council, which makes the final decision on these appointments. The announcement is likely to be made by the end of January 2022.