Parti municipal de Montréal

Last updated

The Parti municipal de Montréal (PMM) (English: Montreal Municipal Party) was a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1987 to 1994.

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.

Canada Country in North America

Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States, stretching some 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi), is the world's longest bi-national land border. Its capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra. Consequently, its population is highly urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, with 70% of citizens residing within 100 kilometres (62 mi) of the southern border. Canada's climate varies widely across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons.

Contents

Emergence (1987–90)

The Parti municipal de Montréal was created in October 1987, when ten people met at a downtown Montreal hotel for its inaugural meeting. Alain André was chosen as the party's leader and its official colours were designated as turquoise and grey. Two months later, the party was officially registered at city hall. [1]

Alain André a lawyer, a university and college law professor, a Canadian politician and a City Councillor in Montreal, Quebec.

The PMM was an obscure organization during its first year, having no official platform and very little money. It first came to the public's attention in April 1989, when André ran in a council by-election in the Sault-au-Recollet ward and finished only twenty-five votes behind the winning candidate, the attorney Serge Sauvageau, a newcomer in politics. [2] Two months later, PMM candidate Stavros Zagakos won an upset victory in a by-election in Parc-Extension, in Montreal's Greek neighbourhood. [3]

By-elections, also spelled bye-elections, are used to fill elected offices that have become vacant between general elections.

During this period, the Montreal Citizens' Movement (MCM), a party with social democratic origins, was the dominant municipal political force in Montreal. The MCM won a landslide victory in the 1986 election, taking the mayor's office and all but three of the fifty-eight seats on council. The formerly dominant Civic Party of Montreal of Jean Drapeau fell to only one seat; it later gained two more through by-elections and defections but subsequently fell victim to factional infighting. When the PMM emerged as a credible political force, some speculated that it would either merge with or replace the Civic Party to form a united conservative opposition. [4]

The Montreal Citizens' Movement was a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It existed from 1973 to 2001.

The Civic Party of Montreal was a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It existed from 1960 to 1994. Throughout its history the Civic Party was dominated by the personality of its leader Jean Drapeau.

The PMM's presence on council grew throughout 1989 and 1990. Civic Party councillors Nick Auf der Maur and Serge Sauvageau joined in November 1989, having become estranged from their former party's leadership. [5] Former MCM councillor Frank Venneri also joined in the same month, saying the governing party had "lost the common touch." [6] Another former MCM councillor, Pierre Bastien, joined in April 1990. The PMM became the official opposition party through these defections, and Auf der Maur served as the party's leader on council. [7]

Nick Auf der Maur was a journalist, politician and "man about town" boulevardier in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was also the father of rock musician Melissa Auf der Maur, through his marriage to Linda Gaboriau.

Frank Venneri is a politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He served on the Montreal city council from 1986 to 1990, was re-elected in 1998, and has been returned to council in every election since then. Venneri is an independent councillor.

The PMM and Civic Party held merger talks in 1990, which André broke off after concluding that unity between the parties was impossible. Shortly thereafter, he was formally chosen as the PMM's mayoral candidate for the 1990 municipal election. [8] The party held its first policy convention in August 1990, and supported such measures as tax increase deferrals for the elderly, a requirement for all new city employees to live in Montreal, and the creation of a special by-law enforcement unit. [9]

1990 election

In addition to André's mayoral bid, the PMM ran fifty-seven council candidates in 1990 election. One of its key election promises was to lift a moratorium on converting apartments to condominiums; an article in the Montreal Gazette described the party as being centered around former Civic Party stalwarts. [10]

The MCM won another landslide majority on election day, while the PMM fell to only three council seats: those of André, Auf der Maur, and newcomer Pierre Gagnier. André finished a distant third in the mayoral contest, and all of the party's other incumbents were defeated. [11] The party remained the official opposition on council after the election.

Decline (1990–94)

The PMM was destroyed by internal divisions after the 1990 election. Several members of the party's strategy committee resigned in May 1991, criticizing André's leadership. Later in the year, Auf der Maur left the PMM to rejoin the Civic Party, and Gagnier left to sit as an independent. André resigned as party leader on January 27, 1992, saying he was acting for the good of the party; he was replaced on an interim basis by Claude Lachapelle. [12]

The PMM announced plans to merge with the Civic Party in June 1992, and André indicated that he would join the Civic Party group on council. [13] The party merger was delayed, however, and André technically remained a PMM councillor until leaving to sit as an independent in January 1994. [14] The PMM ceased to exist after this time.

Related Research Articles

Raymond Blain Canadian politician

Raymond Blain was a Canadian politician, who served on Montreal City Council from 1986 to 1992. He has been credited by media as the first openly gay politician ever elected to public office in Canada, although he was later confirmed to have been preceded by at least two figures — Bécancour mayor and MNA Maurice Richard and British Columbia municipal councillor Jim Egan — whose pioneering status was overlooked by media at the time.

Ginette L'Heureux is an administrator and former politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She was a member of the Montreal city council from 1986 to 1994, serving as a member of the Montreal Citizens' Movement (MCM) party.

Pierre Lorange is a former politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was a member of the Montreal city council from 1966 to 1986 and was a prominent figure in mayor Jean Drapeau's administration.

John Gardiner is a former politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was a member of the Montreal city council from 1974 to 1978 and again from 1982 to 1994 as a member of the Montreal Citizens' Movement (MCM) and was a prominent figure in Jean Doré's municipal administration.

Montréal Écologique (MÉ) was a municipal political party that existed from 1990 to 1994 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The party's ideas were influenced by political theorist Murray Bookchin's idea of libertarian municipalism.

The Municipal Action Group was a municipal political party that existed from 1978 to 1985 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Vittorio Capparelli is a politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He served on the Montreal city council from 1986 to 1998 and was a member of the Montreal executive committee from 1994 to 1996.

The Parti des Montréalais was a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It existed from 1993 to 1995 and won two council seats in the 1994 municipal election.

Coalition Démocratique–Montréal Écologique was a municipal political party that existed from 1994 to 1998 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The party was initially led by Yolande Cohen, who was also its candidate for mayor in the 1994 municipal election.

Serge Bélanger is a former politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was a member of the Montreal city council from 1975 to 1986 and served on the Montreal executive committee in the 1980s. Bélanger was a member of mayor Jean Drapeau's Civic Party of Montreal.

Action Montreal was a short-lived municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, that existed from February to April 1994 under the leadership of entrepreneur Claude Beauchamp.

Fiorino Bianco is a politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He served on the Montreal city council from 1990 to 1994, initially as a member of mayor Jean Doré's Montreal Citizens' Movement (MCM) and later for other parties.

Pasqaule Compierchio is a former politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He served on the Montreal city council from 1990 to 1994.

The Coalition démocratique de Montréal was a left-of-centre municipal political party that existed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1989 to 2001.

Nicole Boudreau is a former politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She served on the Montreal city council from 1986 to 1994, representing Longue-Pointe as a member of the governing Montreal Citizens' Movement (MCM).

Germain Prégent is a retired politician and entrepreneur in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He represented the Saint-Henri neighbourhood on the Montreal city council from 1978 to 2001 and served on the Montreal executive committee during Pierre Bourque's administration.

Réal Charest is a politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He served on the Montreal city council from 1986 to 1994 as a member of the Montreal Citizens' Movement (MCM).

References

  1. ↑ Lewis Harris, "Upstarts at city hall; Municipal Party wins votes without money or platform," Montreal Gazette, 3 June 1989, B6.
  2. ↑ Gretta Chambers, "Rudderless city hall lets Montreal," Montreal Gazette, 20 April 1989, B3.
  3. ↑ Lewis Harris, "Upstarts at city hall; Municipal Party wins votes without money or platform," Montreal Gazette, 3 June 1989, B6.
  4. ↑ Lewis Harris, "Upstarts at city hall; Municipal Party wins votes without money or platform," Montreal Gazette, 3 June 1989, B6. At least one political observer speculated that the PMM only existed to give Drapeau's former lieutenant Yvon Lamarre a second option for a political vehicle if he failed to gain control of the Civic Party.
  5. ↑ "Auf der Maur, Sauvageau join Municipal Party," Montreal Gazette, 18 November 1989, A5.
  6. ↑ "MCM loses two councillors from its ranks," Montreal Gazette, 1 December 1989, A3. The other former MCM councillor mentioned in the title became an independent.
  7. ↑ "Montrealers' `everyday concerns' prompted party switch: Bastien," Montreal Gazette, 6 April 1990, A3; David Johnston, "Former Quebec diplomat urged to challenge Dore in race for mayor's seat," Montreal Gazette, 26 April 1990, A3.
  8. ↑ Lewis Harris, "Municipal party chief Andre will be candidate for mayor," Montreal Gazette, 12 May 1990, A3.
  9. ↑ Lewis Harris, "Municipal Party gears up to talk policy; Delegates hammer out platform at convention today," Montreal Gazette, 26 August 1990, A3.
  10. ↑ Irwin Block, "Why is this man smiling?; Looks like Jean Dore's MCM will hold on to power while opposition parties fight it out," Montreal Gazette, 13 October 1990, B6; Irwin Block, "Campaign '90 has been short on promises," Montreal Gazette, 3 November 1990, A8.
  11. ↑ Lewis Harris and Ingrid Peritz, "Easy MCM win; Dore cruises to his second mandate," Montreal Gazette, 5 November 1990, A1. Candidates could run for both mayor and council.
  12. ↑ "Andre quits as Municipal Party leader," Montreal Gazette, 28 January 1992, B6.
  13. ↑ Mike King, "Civic Party absorbs Municipal Party," Montreal Gazette, 15 July 1992, A3.
  14. ↑ Elizabeth Thompson, "Last Municipal Party councillor jumps ship; Andre gives no reasons for his decision to sit as independent at city hall," Montreal Gazette, 5 January 1994, A4.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.