 With PETER BLACK Montrealers to the polls
Montrealers go to the polls on Nov. 1 to elect a mayor from among four serious, maybe a bit too serious, contenders: incumbent Pierre Bourque, a retired gardener, Jean Doré, the two-term mayor whom Bourque took to the cleaners four years ago, Jacques Duscheneau, the retired police chief, and Michel Prescott, the leader of the leftist party founded by the aforementioned Doré. Recent polls show that all but Prescott have a realistic chance of winning.
Besides the top four candidates, all of whom have the backing of a party and slates of candidates, there are four other mayoral hopefuls blessed with varying degrees of credibility. All told there are 261 candidates for the 51 seats on Montreal's inexplicably populous city council. (Contrast that to Megacity Toronto, which has a council of 57 for a population of 2.4 million, more than twice Montreal's).
Having been to la grande métropole just last weekend and gazed in awe at the riotous festooning of every pole and blank wall with campaign posters and the like, it is to pity the poor Montreal voter hoping to make sense of the dizzying array of electoral offerings. What average voter could possibly winnow the subtle policy distinctions between Duchesneau's New Montreal party, Doré's Team Montreal and Bourque's Team Bourque Vision Montreal.
This embarrassment of electoral riches makes it easy to forget that it was only 12 years ago that the reign came to an end of that most mighty Ramses of mayors, Jean Drapeau. His departure in June, 1986, hastened by a mild stroke, put an end to a term at city hall that spanned 29 years and nine Quebec premiers. Drapeau, still with it at 82, was probably the last of the flamboyant, big dreamer mayors Montreal, or any other Canadian city for that matter, is likely to see. And, of course, he was able to pull off his monumental feats - Expo '67, 1976 Olympics, deluxe subway system, etc. - largely because he was almost without opposition at city hall for most of those years.
That "almost," by the way, includes another figure who defined a more exciting era of Montreal politics and society - the late and lamented Nick Auf der Maur. The legendary journalist, raconteur and boulevardier was one of only two opposition councillors during Drapeau's last term, ending in 1986. It was Auf der Maur who dogged Drapeau incessantly for the incredible overspending on the Olympic stadium. Drapeau always promised Nick a full explanation of his role in the building of the giant white elephant. Alas for Auf der Maur, Drapeau outlived him and, one supposes, is now off the hook.
Bourque, the current mayor, having been weaned on the excesses and grandiosity of the Drapeau regime - his father was one Drapeau's lieutenants - was thought to have enough of the old man's magic to bring a badly needed jolt of vitality to a city mutating into a French-speaking version of Baltimore or Buffalo. Instead, the city was treated to a comedy of defections, in-fighting, accusations of election corruption, autocratic leadership and union turmoil throughout Bourque's term. Despite it all, the incumbent has rebounded in the polls and may squeak back into office.
Maybe it's best that they don't make 'em like they used to, like Jean Drapeau. And it's probably best that his weakened health spared him a resounding humiliation in a final election. But faced with the current crop of cautious contenders for the mayor's job, one almost longs for a bit of a dreamer like Drapeau.
Copyright © 1998 Peter Black/Log Cabin Chronicles/10.98 |
