Rosemont-PP councillor quits Projet
Christine Gosselin, city councillor from Rosemont-PP, has quit Projet Montréal with some harsh things to say about the alleged autocratic style of Mayor Plante. Gosselin had already announced she would not be running again next November.
Update: On Facebook, but I think open to everyone: Christine Gosselin’s statement.
Ian 20:19 on 2020-12-17 Permalink
I recall not that long ago that I was accused of sounding like a “Russian bot” for making these same accusations.
This, in combination with the other PM defections and the Quebec Superior Court siding with Sue Montgomery is proving the points I was trying to make – PM has run through the massive goodwill that existed an they are very much at risk in the next election for this and many other reasons. t
They are clearly not much better in terms of honesty & transparency than previous administrations and very probably on the take or at least allowing corruption by trying to maintain status quo for political reasons.
I have been avoiding this site as I find myself arguing the same points and I know there is a rule against des idées fixes, but this story in particular paints such a clear picture that I can’t help but say YO ELEKTRA OVER HERE
Kate 22:02 on 2020-12-17 Permalink
Ian, I’m glad you’re back, even if it’s temporary. Did I accuse you of sounding like a Russian bot? (I don’t find the phrase anywhere on site.)
Kate 22:47 on 2020-12-17 Permalink
To add: I like what I know of Christine Gosselin – we’ve exchanged occasional general remarks on Facebook and so on. So I tend to credit her. Then I go back on Facebook and there are so many people calling Plante stupid, blaming her for all kinds of things that are not within her power to change or fix – things that are only within federal or provincial jurisdiction, or that are accidents of history, the most obvious being the pandemic, but also poverty and homelessness, inequality, differences among the city’s boroughs, the inconveniences caused by catching up with decades of neglected infrastructure, on and on.
And yet I still have to say that as a resident I still feel Projet is more attuned to how I want the city to be run than any other administration I’ve known. As a resident I don’t have to deal with the internal problems of city administration. So I find myself, even now, defending Plante at times, reflexively.
And to add again: I don’t recall people deriding Coderre, Tremblay, or any earlier mayors in quite such belittling terms. And yes, I think it’s because she’s a woman. (And women do it too – if anything, their wording is harsher and more vicious.)
J 07:53 on 2020-12-18 Permalink
Those with longer memories than I: are we experiencing a normal rate of attrition from a municipal party in power, or is the rate under Projet Montreal unusually high?
su 08:10 on 2020-12-18 Permalink
I wonder why Christine Gosselin was removed from the executive committee.
Tim S. 09:24 on 2020-12-18 Permalink
I haven’t run the numbers, but at the federal level it’s common to lose a few MPs at the end of a term, and it generally doesn’t seem to harm the governing party as much as the media coverage makes out (remember JWR, Jane Philpot and a couple of others whose name I forget at this time of the morning?)
I suspect PM has a problem because councillors have divided loyalties to the borough and central government in a way that doesn’t exist in any other form of politics, as far as I’m aware, and because they specifically attracted people who wanted and expected to make a difference – which probably wasn’t a big recruiting priority among Coderre’s team. People who care are a lot harder to manage than those who are happy to do what they’re told in exchange for a title and some perks.
But yeah, maybe I will grudgingly concede to Ian that Plante and her advisors aren’t handling these cases well. Disappointing. I would still be very surprised to find that they’re on the take, and I’m with Kate that they’re our best hope for a livable city.
Joey 10:26 on 2020-12-18 Permalink
IIRC, one of the main issues for PM in general and Valerie Plante in particular was allowing the boroughs to have more control of day-to-day management. In practice, it seems that, as always happens regardless of who’s in power, what their political orientation is or what level they’re at, the person at the top wants to exert as much control as possible. To the extent that a handul of councillors/borough mayors have tried to stand out or pursue their own agendas instead of the central Plante/PM line, they have been shut down with extreme prejudice. I think the disappoinment and frustration for Plante/PM supporters/voters is that this this party, explicitly, was supposed to be different. None of us would have been surprised if, say, Mayor Melanie Joly chose to run the city in this manner; PM was supposed to be different, specifically so that the “quality of life” issues could be best addressed at the hyper-local level. There seems to be a tendency among some of the core PM people to “eat their young” and shut down debate from other party members/wings who don’t drink all the kool-aid all the time. Par for the course for an ideologically-driven political entity, I assume, but it gets messy when you’re also into local democracy promotion, etc.
Hopefully some of the really positive achievements of this administration (REV, protecting island biodiversity, etc.) will last beyond what looks like will be one short term in power.
DeWolf 15:22 on 2020-12-18 Permalink
For me it comes down to alternatives. What other option is there but PM? Denis Coderre and Ensemble Montréal.
Coderre’s record is clear: he cut bus service with disastrous results, did not improve metro service, wasted most of his time and energy on boondoggles like the 375 anniversary, Formula E and paving over a huge chunk of St. Helen’s Island, and was even more of an autocrat than what Plante is being accused of. He literally had the police surveil a journalist who had been critical of him!
Then when he didn’t win a second term he quit politics in a huff, only to constantly insinuate that he will make a glorious comeback. Since his departure, the dregs of his old party have failed to propose any sort of vision for Montreal, but their political positions suggest they would not invest in social housing, would slash transit funding, rip out controversial bike infrastructure and generally lead a very pro-developer, pro-car, anti-tax kind of government. Make Montreal more like Toronto, in other words, except with all of the usual corruption and collusion we have here.
If disillusioned PM supporters would rather have a retrograde suburban party in power, just because they can’t hold their noses and vote for the lesser of two evils, I’m not sure what to say.
nau 15:59 on 2020-12-18 Permalink
Thank you DeWolf for making the case I wanted to, but better. Am I going to vote against PM for their internal human resources problems when I’m relatively happy with the progress they’ve made in my borough and city-wide to correct the imbalance that favours people who move around the city in their cars over everyone else? Hardly.
Brett 18:11 on 2020-12-18 Permalink
Projet is now down to 50 members. Forgive my ignorance but does this now mean they form a minority government in city hall?
Jack 10:51 on 2020-12-19 Permalink
She said the way Sue Montgomery was treated was part of her decision. The judge who decided in Montgomery ‘s favour confirmed something I already thought. “ À l’origine de toute cette affaire se trouvent les plaintes répétées d’Annalisa Harris concernant l’indifférence de Stéphane Plante lorsqu’elle lui demandait des documents ou de l’information. L’insistance de la directrice de cabinet a été perçue comme du harcèlement psychologique par le directeur de l’arrondissement. “ I have to say this pisses me off and shows how many of these entrenched bureaucracies have contempt for the elected, which in essence is us. I will also bet you that Stephane Plante lives in Blainville.
Kate 10:53 on 2020-12-19 Permalink
Jack, thanks for pointing that out.