Vision Montreal Crisis, 1997

Last updated

The Vision Montreal Crisis of 1997 was a severe political crisis in Montreal, Canada. In January the mayor of Montreal, Pierre Bourque of the Vision Montreal Party, attempted to dismiss two fellow party members from the city's executive committee. This led several party members to defect, complicating governance and undermining party credibility for the remainder of Bourque's term.

Contents

Origins

In January 1997, Mayor Pierre Bourque tried to dismiss two members of Montreal's executive committee: Deputy Chairman Sammy Forcillo and Pierre Goyer. Yet, the city charter of 1921 clearly states that appointments to the executive committee are irrevocable. Forcillo and Goyer left Vision Montreal (Bourque's party) to sit as independents, but exercised their right to stay on the committee. Therefore, management by consensus became nearly impossible to reach for the remainder of Bourque's term. [1]

That incident as well as allegations of authoritarian tendencies led thirteen other Vision Montreal councillors to leave the party and sit as independents with their colleagues of the opposition.

Consequences

By August 1997, only a minority of the council members (24 out of 51) were members of Vision Montreal and the credibility of the Bourque administration was undermined. [2] Most of the defectors were supporters of Jacques Duchesneau's Nouveau Montréal party, but others backed Jean Doré's Équipe Montréal, the RCM or even came back to Vision Montreal briefly before the next election. The severity of the crisis was such that for a while it appeared to seriously affect Bourque's chances of re-election.

Nonetheless, Bourque was re-elected in 1998, as were a substantial majority of his candidates.

Defectors

The defectors were:

 CouncilmemberDistrictStatus following the 1998 Election
  Serge-Éric Bélanger Sault-au-RécolletRe-elected as a Vision Montreal candidate
  Philippe Bissonnette Saint-PaulElected as a Nouveau Montréal candidate
  Daniel Boucher Jean-RivardDefeated as an Independent candidate
  Vittorio Capparelli François-PerraultDefeated as an RCM candidate
  Jack Chadirdjian DarlingtonDefeated as a Nouveau Montréal candidate
  Jacques Charbonneau Louis-RielRe-elected as a Vision Montreal candidate
  Hubert Deraspe Louis-HébertDid not run for re-election
  Sammy Forcillo Saint-JacquesElected as an Équipe Montréal candidate [3]
  Pierre Gagnier CartiervilleDefeated as a Nouveau Montréal candidate
  Robert Gagnon ÉmardDefeated as an Independent candidate
  Pierre Goyer Saint-ÉdouardDefeated as an Équipe Montréal candidate
  Robert Laramée Père-MarquetteDefeated as a Nouveau Montréal candidate [4]
  Marie Lebeau Pointe-aux-TremblesDefeated as a Nouveau Montréal candidate
  Martin Lemay Sainte-MarieDefeated as an Équipe Montréal candidate [5]
  Nathalie Malépart MaisonneuveDid not run for re-election
  Germain Prégent Saint-PierreElected as a Nouveau Montréal candidate

Members of the executive committee are indicated with bold fonts.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vision Montreal</span> Political party in Canada

Vision Montreal was a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1994 and dissolved in April 2014. Between 2001 and 2013 it formed the official opposition on Montreal City Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacques Duchesneau</span> Canadian politician

Jacques Duchesneau, is a Canadian politician, civil servant, former chief of police, and former president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority. Duchesneau was a member of the Quebec National Assembly for the riding of Saint-Jérôme from 2012 to 2014, elected under the Coalition Avenir Québec banner.

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

Savino "Sammy" Forcillo is a retired Canadian politician and a former mayor of Ville-Marie borough in Montreal, Quebec.

Robert Laramée is a Canadian politician and was a city councillor in Montreal, Quebec.

Pierre Goyer is a Canadian politician and a city councillor in Montreal, Quebec.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond Blain</span> Canadian politician

Raymond Blain was a Canadian politician who served on the Montreal City Council from 1986 to 1992. He called himself the first openly gay politician elected to public office in Quebec, although he was later confirmed to have been preceded by at least one other figure — Bécancour mayor and MNA Maurice Richard — whose pioneering status was overlooked by media at the time.

The 1994 Montreal municipal election took place on November 6, 1994. Pierre Bourque was elected to his first term as mayor, defeating incumbent Jean Doré. Elections were also held in Montreal's suburban communities.

Louise Roy is a former politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She was a member of the Montreal city council from 1994 to 1998 and served as president of the Montreal Citizens' Movement (MCM) party. Since retiring from politics she has served in some managerial roles.

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.

Daniel Boucher is a politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He served on the Montreal city council from 1994 to 1998, originally as a member of Vision Montreal and later as an independent. Boucher has also sought election to the House of Commons of Canada and the National Assembly of Quebec.

Équipe Montréal was a municipal political party that existed from 1998 to 2001 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded by Jean Doré, a former leader of the Montreal Citizens' Movement (MCM) who served as mayor of Montreal from 1986 to 1994.

Nouveau Montréal was a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from 1998 to 2001. The party was led by Jacques Duchesneau, who was also its candidate for mayor in the 1998 municipal election.

Ivon Le Duc is a politician and entrepreneur in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He served on the Montreal city council from 1994 to 2005 and was a member of the Montreal executive committee in Pierre Bourque's administration from 1998 to 2001. Elected three times as a member of Bourque's Vision Montreal (VM) party, he later served with the Montreal Island Citizens Union (MICU) and as an independent.

Jacques Charbonneau is a former politician in the Canadian province of Quebec. He served on the Montreal city council from 1986 to 2001, originally as a member of the Montreal Citizens' Movement (MCM) and later as a member of Vision Montreal (VM).

Paolo V. Tamburello is a politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He served on the Montreal city council from 1994 to 2005 and was a member of the Montreal executive committee under Pierre Bourque.

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

Germain Prégent was a 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.

Claire St-Arnaud is a politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She served on the Montreal city council from 1994 to 2009, representing the east-end division of Longue-Pointe. St-Arnaud was a member of Vision Montreal until resigning to sit as an independent in 2008.

Kettly Beauregard is a politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She served on the Montreal city council from 1994 to 2001, representing Marie-Victorin as a member of Vision Montreal. She has also sought election to the House of Commons of Canada and the National Assembly of Quebec. Beauregard was the first black city councillor in Montreal's history.

References

  1. ↑ Commission permanente de l'aménagement du territoire - Auditions et étude détaillée du projet de loi n° 216, Assemblée nationale du Québec, June 4, 1997
  2. ↑ La politique municipale à Montréal dans les années 1990 : du « réformisme populaire » au « populisme gestionnaire », Serge Belley, Érudit
  3. ↑ Sammy Forcillo briefly supported Jacques Duchesneau for Mayor and then changed his mind and announced that he would back Jean Doré's Équipe Montréal.
  4. ↑ Robert Laramée ran again as a Vision Montreal candidate in 2001 and 2005.
  5. ↑ Martin Lemay ran again as a Vision Montreal candidate in 2001 and 2005.
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.