Vision Montreal Crisis, 1997
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.
Origins[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
The defectors were:
| Councilmember | District | Status following the 1998 Election | |
| Serge-Éric Bélanger | Sault-au-Récollet | Re-elected as a Vision Montreal candidate | |
| Philippe Bissonnette | Saint-Paul | Elected as a Nouveau Montréal candidate | |
| Daniel Boucher | Jean-Rivard | Defeated as an Independent candidate | |
| Vittorio Capparelli | François-Perrault | Defeated as an RCM candidate | |
| Jack Chadirdjian | Darlington | Defeated as a Nouveau Montréal candidate | |
| Jacques Charbonneau | Louis-Riel | Re-elected as a Vision Montreal candidate | |
| Hubert Deraspe | Louis-Hébert | Did not run for re-election | |
| Sammy Forcillo | Saint-Jacques | Elected as an Équipe Montréal candidate [3] | |
| Pierre Gagnier | Cartierville | Defeated as a Nouveau Montréal candidate | |
| Robert Gagnon | Émard | Defeated as an Independent candidate | |
| Pierre Goyer | Saint-Édouard | Defeated as an Équipe Montréal candidate | |
| Robert Laramée | Père-Marquette | Defeated as a Nouveau Montréal candidate [4] | |
| Marie Lebeau | Pointe-aux-Trembles | Defeated as a Nouveau Montréal candidate | |
| Martin Lemay | Sainte-Marie | Defeated as an Équipe Montréal candidate [5] | |
| Nathalie Malépart | Maisonneuve | Did not run for re-election | |
| Germain Prégent | Saint-Pierre | Elected as a Nouveau Montréal candidate |
Members of the executive committee are indicated with bold fonts.
References[edit]
- ^ Commission permanente de l'aménagement du territoire - Auditions et étude détaillée du projet de loi n° 216, Assemblée nationale du Québec, June 4, 1997
- ^ La politique municipale à Montréal dans les années 1990 : du « réformisme populaire » au « populisme gestionnaire », Serge Belley, Érudit
- ^ Sammy Forcillo briefly supported Jacques Duchesneau for Mayor and then changed his mind and announced that he would back Jean Doré's Équipe Montréal.
- ^ Robert Laramée ran again as a Vision Montreal candidate in 2001 and 2005.
- ^ Martin Lemay ran again as a Vision Montreal candidate in 2001 and 2005.