Parti Montréal 2000

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The Parti Montréal 2000 (English: Montreal 2000 Party) was a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It fielded a mayoral candidate and candidates for city council in the 1998 Montreal municipal election. The party's founder, leader, and mayoral candidate was Michel Bédard.

Montreal City in Quebec, Canada

Montreal is the most populous municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec and the second-most populous municipality in Canada. Originally called Ville-Marie, or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill in the heart of the city. The city is centred on the Island of Montreal, which took its name from the same source as the city, and a few much smaller peripheral islands, the largest of which is Île Bizard. It has a distinct four-season continental climate with warm to hot summers and cold, snowy winters.

Quebec Province of Canada

Quebec is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is bordered to the west by the province of Ontario and the bodies of water James Bay and Hudson Bay; to the north by Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay; to the east by the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador; and to the south by the province of New Brunswick and the U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. It also shares maritime borders with Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. Quebec is Canada's largest province by area and its second-largest administrative division; only the territory of Nunavut is larger. It is historically and politically considered to be part of Central Canada.

History

Montreal 2000 was founded in 1998 as a successor party to the Parti éléphant blanc de Montréal (English: White Elephant Party), a novelty party that Bédard had established in 1989. The White Elephant Party was similar in some respects to the Rhinoceros Party of Canada, though it often used its humorous campaigns to draw attention to serious issues. The Montreal Gazette newspaper described Montreal 2000 as "a joke party of the past reincarnated as a semi-serious fringe group." [1]

The Parti éléphant blanc de Montréal (PÉBM) was a fringe political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, that existed for most of the period from 1989 to 2009.

<i>Montreal Gazette</i> English-language newspaper in Montreal, Canada

The Montreal Gazette, formerly titled The Gazette, is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, after three other daily English newspapers shut down at various times during the second half of the 20th century. It is one of the French-speaking province's last two English-language dailies; the other is the Sherbrooke Record, which serves the anglophone community in the Eastern Townships southeast of Montreal.

In launching his campaign, Bédard described Montreal 2000 as "the only party whose sole commitment is to the entire Montreal population and not to private interests." He proposed free public transportation for welfare recipients and the unemployed, and promised to create a new arts centre in place of a run-down factory at the corner of Rene Levesque Blvd. and de Lorimier Ave. [2] Later in the campaign, he promised an emergency municipal fund to attack poverty and said he would petition the provincial government to end the practice of reimbursing half the election expenses of candidates who receive twenty per cent support or higher from the electorate. [3]

The Government of Quebec refers to the provincial government of the province of Quebec. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867.

Bédard polled at 2.2% and 3.6% in two September 1998 mayoral polls. [4] On election day, he finished a distant fifth with 0.96% support.

The party ran twenty candidates for city council. [5] One candidate, Sofoklis Rasoulis, was a former council member, and Bédard acknowledged that Rasoulis represented the party's best hope of winning a seat on council and hence receiving a municipally funded research budget. [6] Ultimately, none of the party's candidates was elected.

Bédard changed Montreal 2000's name back to the White Elephant Party to contest the 2001 municipal election.

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References

  1. ↑ Doug Sweet, "Montreal delivers dose of deja vu: Once again, Bourque's team wins a strong majority and faces a fragmented opposition," Montreal Gazette, 2 November 1998, A17.
  2. ↑ Uyen Vu, "No joke this time: Latest mayoral candidate ran as a lark in 1994 but says he's serious now," Montreal Gazette, 18 July 1998, A4.
  3. ↑ Linda Gyulai, "Ex-Elephant gets serious: 3-time mayoral candidate Bedard has plan to attack poverty in city," Montreal Gazette, 21 October 1998, A6.
  4. ↑ Aaron Derfel, "Bourque bounces back: poll: All but written off a year ago, mayor is in a tight race with Duchesneau and Dore," Montreal Gazette, 10 September 1998, A1; Linda Gyulai, "Poll flip heats up race for mayor: Bourque passes Duchesneau," Montreal Gazette, 27 September 1998, A1.
  5. ↑ Eric Siblin, "They're off and running for mayor: Montreal contenders' list jumps to 8 - with 254 seeking council seats - as nominations close for Nov. 1 vote," Montreal Gazette, 10 October 1998, A3.
  6. ↑ Linda Gyulai, "Ex-Elephant gets serious: 3-time mayoral candidate Bedard has plan to attack poverty in city," Montreal Gazette, 21 October 1998, A6.
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