Ville-Marie won’t have its own mayor
Although a majority of its residents would like to have a mayor and fully elected council like every other borough, Ville‑Marie is not going to get it, although there’s some handwavy stuff here about improving governance.
Ian 20:19 on 2024-04-19 Permalink
It’s a hard choice for governments to give up these kinds of powers once they are allowed.
Give ’em an inch … Sure it’s not democratic but PM can poiint to the fact that they inherited it. It’s going to be a long time until VM gets representatives like the other boroughs again, if ever.
Kate 09:16 on 2024-04-20 Permalink
I was thinking about this and wondering:
a) what proportion of VM’s residents are able to vote and
b) what proportion actually do get out to vote in municipal elections
I suspect there may be more non-voting expats in the downtown core compared to the eastern side of the borough, towards Hochelaga – but I’m just guessing here.
Also, would more people take an interest in voting in VM if they felt they had more democratic choice?
DeWolf 11:19 on 2024-04-20 Permalink
Disappointing. There’s something seriously wrong with the way Ville-Marie is governed and if it isn’t the model of governance, than what is it? All this nonsense about downtown being a special place that needs to be directly overseen by the mayor is belied by the fact that the mayor isn’t doing a very good job at getting things done downtown.
bob 12:04 on 2024-04-21 Permalink
I don’t think the problem is choice, but effectiveness. Voter turnout is directly related to how confident voters are that the election will have an effect on how the government operates. In the case of municipalities, turnout is low because the effect of the voting is low. It’s like ordering pizza. You have a choice of toppings, but no matter what you choose you’re still getting pizza.
The turnout for Ville Marie in 2021 was:
Peter McGill: 27%
Saint-Jacques: 36%
Sainte-Marie: 40%
Trunout for mayor was 38%.
James 13:51 on 2024-04-22 Permalink
The current governance of Ville-Marie essentially ensures that the Mayor will have majority control of the borough since 2 of the 5 councillors are appointed by the Mayor of the city. The Ville-Marie Borough mayor position was abolished in 2009 following a dispute between Benoit Labonté (Borough mayor of Ville-Marie who joined the opposition party) and Gérald Tremblay (mayor of the post-merger city). Since then, the city mayor is also the borough mayor.
Don’t see why Ville-Marie can’t have directly elected borough councillors like several other boroughs have.