Vision Montreal

Vision Montreal Vision Montréal
Active municipal party
Leader	Louise Harel
President	Monsef Derraji
Founded	April 19, 1994 (1994-04-19)
Headquarters	3430, rue Saint-Denis, bureau 300 Montreal, Quebec H2X 3L3
Youth wing	Comité jeunesse de Vision Montréal
Ideology	progressivism, environmentalism, centralism and local government consolidation
Seats on council	16 / 65
Website
www.visionmtl.com/?lang=eng
Politics of Montreal Political parties

Vision Montreal (French: Vision Montréal or VM) is a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It has been in existence since 1994 and presently forms the Official opposition on Montreal City Council under leader Louise Harel.

Origins

The party was established in 1994 to promote the candidacy of Director of the Montreal Botanical Garden and then rising political star Pierre Bourque for Mayor of Montreal.

Accomplishments

Bourque was elected Mayor against incumbent Jean Doré in 1994. 39 of his candidates were elected to City Hall. In 1998, he and his team were re-elected for a second term.

The Bourque administration is credited with:

• the introduction of a balanced city budget, with the help of the provincial government in 1998;
• the revitalization of the Old Montreal Historic District;
• the implementation of neighborhood programs known as Éco-quartiers; such programs consist of:
  • recycling;
  • adding greenery on public property;
• the reopening of the Lachine Canal in 1997;
• the expansion of diplomatic and commercial relations between Montreal and Shanghai, China;
• a modest reversal of Montreal's suburbanization between 1996 and 2001;
• the merger of Montreal and 27 other surrounding municipalities into one city government that covers the entire island of Montreal in 2001-02 (an idea known as Une île, une ville or One island, one city in English).

Shortcomings and criticism

However, Vision Montreal's performance was not beyond reproach.

On the other hand Bourque was criticized for his perceived lack of flexibility. During his first term, he suffered a mutiny within his party. Fifteen of his councillors left his administration to sit as Independents. By August 1997, only a minority of the councilmembers (24 out of 51) were members of Vision Montreal.

Furthermore, the merger was met with so much resistance from residents and politicians of Montreal’s predominantly English-speaking West Island that by 2005 fifteen municipalities had demerged from the city center. After it had reached 1.8 million people, the population of Montreal was reduced to 1.6 million residents.

Also, Bourque was often ridiculed because his strong emphasis on environmental issues was sometimes dismissed as nothing more than a simple annoyance. He was soon known as Géranium I^er (Geranium the First) to the public. During a May 12, 2006 interview with then journalist Bernard Drainville though, Bourque claimed that he was not offended by the nickname, pointing at the fact that there is nothing shameful about "being a gardener".

Opposition

In 2001, Vision Montreal was voted out of office. 64% of the residents of pre-merger Montreal voted for Bourque and his team. But elsewhere, Vision Montreal met a very strong, well-disciplined and united opposition. Gérald Tremblay, who was backed by former members of the Montreal Citizens' Movement (RCM) as well as anti-merger activists, became mayor.

Bourque’s succession

In 2003, Bourque temporarily left his job as Leader of the Opposition, while he tried to become an ADQ Member of the provincial legislature in the district of Bourget. He lost and decided to resume his career at the municipal level. Councillor Ivon Le Duc slammed the door and made the decision to sit as an Independent, but the majority of the Vision Montreal members wanted Bourque back.

Bourque stayed for three more years.

However he decided to quit city politics in May 2006. Following his resignation, François Purcell (Councilmember for the district of Saint-Édouard) was selected as the party’s Acting Leader. Noushig Eloyan (Councilmember for the district of Bordeaux-Cartierville) has become the Acting Leader of the Opposition.

A leadership convention occurred in June 2009 where Louise Harel was unanimously chosen as the party leader and candidate for Mayor of Montreal for the 2009 municipal elections.

Standing Committee of Vision Montréal

Standing Committee of Vision Montréal
Members
Louise Harel
Monsef Derraji
Marc Vanier Vincent
André Cordeau
Gaëtan Primeau
Anie Samson
Guillaume Benoit-Gagné
Claude de Lanauze
Louise Gagné
Sarah Gagnon
Jean-François Parenteau
Jocelyn Roy
Rony Zéphir

Comité jeunesse de Vision Montréal

Comité jeunesse de Vision Montréal is the youth wing of the political party.

Mayoral candidates

	Election	Mayoral Candidate	Popular Vote for Mayor	Number of Councillors
	1994	Pierre Bourque	47%	39/51
	1998	Pierre Bourque	44%	39/51
	2001	Pierre Bourque	44%	31/73
	2005	Pierre Bourque	36.3%	15/64
	2009	Louise Harel	32.7%	16/64

Victories are indicated with bold fonts.

See also

• Vision Montreal Crisis, 1997

External links

• Official website