PETER BLACK MERGER MANIA Rattling the cage of darn near every local Quebec official from Anjou to Vanier may not seem like the wisest thing to do for a government bent on seeking a mandate to reorganize the upper part of North America. But damn the torpedoes and politicos, the Bouchard government is charging full speed ahead with a vast and explosive operation to reduce the number of municipalities in Quebec from the current 1306 to a number yet to be determined. Municipal Affairs Minister Louis Harel has just issued the long-awaited battle plan for this ground assault on the hundreds of fiefdoms, burghs, hamlets, and towns in the province. The first phase will see the imposition of three expanded regional governments in the province, centred on Montreal, Quebec City, and Hull. These new governments will be called metropolitan communities and possess powers of planning, economic development, and public transit, among others. This part of the municipal reorganization plan is the least contentious in that it probably makes sense and offends few citizens to have an expanded regional authority, given that the original "urban communities" were established in 1970. The suburban growth in Montreal, QC and Hull in the ensuing three decades has been tremendous, and obviously warrants a restructuring of services that function best on a regional basis. Under Harel's breakneck pace for change, the new metro communities will be in place for the uncorking of the champagne on Jan. 1, 2001. It's the other aspect of the reorganization, the actual eradication of hundreds of municipalities, that may be a poisoned chalice for the Parti Quebecois government. Harel has already put in place committees charged with coming up with recommendations for the merging of municipalities. In both the Montreal and Quebec City regions, many mayors named to the advisory committees are boycotting them, sensing that the fix is already in for the elimination of some of their town halls. It's not that the dozens of mayors in Quebec can't think beyond their own town boundary when it comes to delivering services and assessing reasonable taxes. In fact many municipalities have already seen the light and, seduced by financial incentives offered by the mother government in Quebec City, have already undertaken mergers and lived to tell a happy tale. What has mayors and councillors vulnerable to merger really angry is the Bouchard government's vow to force mergers on reluctant municipalities. The Harel reform contains the legal hammer required to pound those municipalities into submission, over the will of the citizens. There has only been one forced municipal merger in Quebec history, creating the current city of Sept Iles, some twenty-five years ago. Old-timers recall a prolonged period of bitterness and animosity in the wake of the merger. The only other attempt at compulsory amalgamation is the subject of a current court case in which the town of Mont Tremblant has won a temporary injunction halting the government's attempt to ram through a merger with neighbouring towns via a special act of the National Assembly. While it is true the Quebec legislature is supreme with regards to matters like municipalities, there is an even more supreme force called public opinion. This is where the Bouchard government may have taken a baseball bat to a hornet's nest when what it really needs right now is a contented populace. The Harel reform has aroused the ire of elected representatives from a healthy majority of towns and cities in the province -- not to mention the citizens of these threatened municipalities. It has angered all three municipal associations and the various unions who would be affected by the new powers the reform would grant over contract negotiations. The opposition Liberals also see a golden opportunity to capitalize on a stance that appears to fly in the face of all the PQ government's noble talk of the sanctity of the democratic process. The government, however, does have its allies, the two main one's being Montreal Mayor Pierre Bourque and Quebec City Mayor Jean-Paul L'Allier. Unfortunately for the PQ, these two mayors are the most passionate advocates of turning their respective urban agglomerations into one big city.
Peter Black is a writer living in Quebec City, where he is the producer of Quebec A.M. -- CBC Radio's popular English-language morning show (91.7 FM, 6-9, Mon.-Fri).
Copyright © 2000 Peter Black/Log Cabin Chronicles/04.2000 |