DEMERGER DEBATE 2004

Borough Councilor Anthony Housefather and

Former Cote Saint Luc City Councilor Mitchell Brownstein

Debate

Borough Mayor Robert Libman and

Councilor Dida Berku

Debunking the Libman myths

Myth 1 We are not really getting our city back.

False. We are getting everything back other than fire, municipal court, arterial roads and waste disposal. All that is important to citizens we get back. “POWER OVER ALL LOCAL MATTERS.”

Myth 2 We have no say on regional services. It will all be run by Montreal.

False. The decisions on regional services are made by the agglomeration council. Similar to the old MUC, other than the suburbs not having a veto. If we demerge we are guaranteed representation through our Mayor. If we stay part of the mega-city and our elected councilor for the district, is in opposition we will have zero representation. The Mayor of Montreal is the one with the veto, not the Montreal council.

Myth 3 We will pay 75% of our taxes to the agglomeration council

First he said 75% in the Chronicle, then he said 70% at council meeting then he said 65% in the borough bulletin, next it will be 50%. He has no idea. The fact is we always paid the MUC for regional services and would now pay the agglomeration council. The fact is whether we are a city or a borough we will have a harmonized mill rate and will pay them exactly the same thing.

Myth 4 Demerger is a black hole.

We had Hampstead for 87 years, CSL for 99 years and Montreal West for 104 years before the mergers. They were well run communities that managed well and solved their own problems. Going back to what we knew and worked well is not a black hole; it is staying in the mega city, which is a black hole. Will Pierre Bourque be mayor next year? Will he roll back the decentralization plan as he said he would? Will we be in opposition with no seat at the agglomeration council? If not the next election than the election after that? What happens to us when Westmount, TMR, Baie d’Urfe, Beaconsfield, Pointe Claire, Dollard, Roxboro, Senneville, Saint Anne de Bellevue demerge? What if we are the only bilingual community still in the mega city? That is the true black hole. That is the true unknown. The forced mergers were like a grave, a black hole we were thrown into. Now we have one choice to demerge and see the white light.

OTHER POINTS TO NOTE:

City of Montreal employees were making well over 30% more than the rest of the public sector before the mergers. Now the mega unions have increased the cost of labor throughout the island.

Mergers across Canada have cost 1 billion (Halifax $40 mill, Toronto $275 mill, Ottawa $189 mill, Hamilton $49 mill and the e megacities in Quebec $305 mill) Instead of saving money they cost more to operate. Economies of scale are not created. For example the number of elected officials on the island was reduced from 290 to 105 yet the payroll is the same. You are getting less representation for the same money and in our borough we feel it more than most going from 21 elected reps to 3 and none from Mlt West.

To compete internationally we do not need a megacity. Boston has 282 cities in it and competes very well.

Merger is just a way to camouflage the management and debt problems of the former city of Montreal.

We operated without political parties. We voted on conscience not party line.

The mega city has impenetrable levels of bureaucrats and 2000 page council agendas. It is unworkable and far removed from the citizens it serves.

We chose to live in our independent cities based on what they have to offer. Now there is no choice of where to live. We are stuck in Montreal with it’s debt, poor management and diminished services.

LIBMAN AND BERKU ALLEGE ACHIEVEMENTS AS A RESULT OF THE MEGA CITY.

BERKU:

A master plan for greenspace.

A master plan for bicycle paths

A master plan for arterial roads

Some great achievements when you consider that they are but plans and compare this to what Hampstead, CSL, Mlt West achieved when they were independent cities: Arenas, pools, parks, libraries, well maintained local roadways etc…..And it was CSL that has been the real force behind saving Meadowbrooke by rezoning it golf course.

LIBMAN:

Hampstead Residents can use the CSL library.

We have gone from 9000 members to 24,000 without the proper increase in funding to provide the high quality of service our library was known for. It is fine to share services but where is the money to keep our infrastructures up. Service is slow. The library is a mess.