The Montreal Gazette:
It's time for towns to celebrate
Demerger kicks in; Flag-raisings, levees will mark return to city status
ANN CARROLL, The Gazette
Published: Saturday, December 31, 2005
Pour the bubbly and pass the cucumber sandwiches.
With flags flying and some low-key celebrations, residents in 15 Montreal suburbs tomorrow mark the new year and the return of their old city status.
"It's finally here, after four years of battling," Baie d'Urfe Mayor Maria Tutino said yesterday. "This is a great moment."
Tutino and her council will greet residents tomorrow afternoon at the annual New Year's Day levee at Fritz Farm.
"We kept up the tradition of the levee through the merger years to nourish our spirits," Tutino said. "But Day 1 of Baie d'Urfe will be special."
In Westmount, residents are invited to sign the city's Golden Book and attend a flag-raising outside city hall. The ceremony is to be followed by a bonfire in Westmount Park and high tea in Victoria Hall.
"There has been a real effort by citizens, going back six years, to fight the mergers," Mayor Karin Marks said. "It made sense to mark this day in a special way."
Once the party is over, the work begins on paying down the city's hefty debt and repairing strained relations with the city of Montreal, Marks said. "Somehow we have to find a way to work with Montreal that is less acrimonious. We need to find a way for them to see us as partners."
It's an unequal partnership at best.
The demerged suburbs have 13 per cent of the vote on the island council that oversees Montreal Island-wide services like water treatment, policing and fire prevention. Montreal holds the other 87 per cent.
"Thirteen per cent is not much weight on the agglomeration council, but it can be effective if we all work together," Dorval Mayor Edgar Rouleau said.
Dorval council is still hammering out its budget for 2006 and has made no plans for New Year's Day. "Our city flag has always been up, and we never took down our signs," Rouleau noted.
Cote St. Luc residents have been celebrating demerger for more than a year and have no special plans for tomorrow, Mayor Anthony Housefather said.
"Our main celebration was the night of June 20, 2004, when we won demerger," the mayor said.
His own New Year's wish: "To make sure the services are running well."
Beaconsfield Mayor Bob Benedetti said he is counting on restored city status and a mostly novice council to spark residents' curiosity in the new year.
"We hope a lot of people will come to our council meetings."
Council members are to meet in January to work on a "collective vision" for Beaconsfield that doesn't entail more big tax hikes, Benedetti said. Residential taxes are going up by 15 to 20 per cent in 2006, he noted.
Benedetti said there will be no special flag-raising in Beaconsfield tomorrow. "It's too cold."
acarroll@thegazette.canwest.com
- - -
Some key dates in demerger battle
Baie d'Urfe, Beaconsfield, Cote St. Luc, Dollard des Ormeaux, Dorval, Dorval Island, Hampstead, Kirkland, Town of Mount Royal, Montreal East, Montreal West, Pointe Claire, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Senneville and Westmount regain municipal status tomorrow.
Dec. 20, 2000: Parti Quebecois government adopts Bill 170, the law governing municipal mergers on Montreal Island.
Nov. 4, 2001: Montreal Island Citizens Union leader Gerald Tremblay beats Pierre Bourque to become first mayor of the merged city of Montreal.
Jan. 1, 2002: The 28 municipalities on the island of Montreal merge into the new megacity.
Dec. 17, 2003: Liberal government adopts Bill 9, allowing suburbs to hold referendums on demerger.
June 20, 2004: Residents in 15 suburbs vote to demerge from Montreal.
Nov. 6, 2005: Residents in the 15 demerging suburbs and the downsized city of Montreal elect new mayors and city councils.
Jan. 1, 2006: The 15 suburbs regain official status and become minority partners on island council.
