This debate, the first to be broadcast in French for this election, allowed candidates to contrast their ideas a month in advance of the municipal election, set to take place on November 3.

Among the issues debated, the proposed Quebec Charter of Values held a consensus among the candidates, as all four were strongly opposed to it.

“The Charter, as presented, tarnishes the image of Montreal as an international city,” said Côté. Bergeron agreed and emphasized the division that the Charter could create between Montreal and rural Quebec.

However, only Joly and Coderre explicitly raised the possibility of a legal battle against it.

Candidates talk infrastructure 

The question on public transit and infrastructure brought out the differences between the candidates and their approaches. Bergeron proposed the construction of 10 to 15 kilometres of tramways and wanted to speed up various construction sites by the Quebec government.

“130 kilometres of BRT [bus rapid transit] is 8 times cheaper than Mr. Bergeron’s proposal and 40 times cheaper than the same distance on trams. This is our great project to unify Western and Eastern remote areas,” replied Joly, who favors rapid transit buses.

BRT is a system that includes reserved traffic lanes and a high frequency of buses along the routes. Montreal offered one BRT line until 2002, when it was done away with.

Coderre suggested that the solution to public transit debates needed to be discussed with suburban cities such as Laval or Brossard. Côté addressed the reliability of existing infrastructure and called for realistic expectations concerning deadlines for existing projects.

‘Revival’ of Montreal also a major topic 

When questioned on how to revive Montreal, all the candidates’ responses – except for Bergeron’s – focused on ethics. Côté – who is running his campaign on targeting corruption at city hall – proposed a code of ethics and stronger promotion of integrity within the administration, as well as the nomination of someone to control public expenditures.

Joly challenged Coderre on the topic of transparency and ethics in municipal politics. She cited New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg as an example of enhancing transparency and asserted that there was “no need for an inspector general like Mr. Coderre proposes.”

In the past, Coderre has proposed the creation of the role of inspector general, an individual who would target corruption within the government, especially in light of the recent Charbonneau Commission. His proposal also favoured the expertise within the administration, rather than sub-contracting out the position.

“There is an inspector general in New York,” said Coderre in response to Joly’s comment.

Unlike the other three candidates, Bergeron’s top priority was to stop the family exodus toward the suburbs, an issue addressed later on in the debate. As an urbanist, Bergeron insisted on the careful planning of new developments “to avoid a repetition of what happened in Griffintown.” Côté and Bergeron agreed to improve existing programs subsidizing access to property for families.

Coderre specifically targeted programs that would help families purchase their first property on the basis that it can “apply to new constructions as well as existing households.” Joly proposed a Land Tax Transfer break for families and reiterated that the “BRT would allow the creation of new neighbourhoods dedicated to families.”

The candidates will face off once again in an English-language debate on October 22, which will also be hosted at McGill.

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In the mid 1980s, residents pooled their money together to transform a small alleyway – stretching from Hutchison to Parc, just north of Prince Arthur – into a green space. Residents brought flowers and potted plants, and landscaped the small park. It has been kept up by residents on a volunteer basis ever since. In recent years, condo developers have begun to sniff around the small space again, which, although tended to by residents, is privately owned by realtor Maurice Fattal.

In 2008, a zoning change made to the area after a request by Fattal left residents fuming. According to residents, Projet Montréal promised to lend a hand to the Milton-Park community. However, until now, they’ve been disappointed with absence of any help from the borough council.

“It’s inconceivable that such an eco-friendly administration could let [the destruction of Parc Oxygène] happen. This administration has done so much for the Mile-End, and [not much] for the Milton Park district,’’ said Alanna Dow, chairperson of the Milton Park Community.

Derek Drummond, emeritus professor of architecture at McGill, told The Daily that it would be “a crime to not even think of preserving” Parc Oxygène, and other small green spaces like it that were so valuable to neighbourhoods.

“These small parks in [neighbourhoods] are social gathering places. It’s like going to the coffee shop without having to pay ridiculous prices for a cup of coffee,” Drummond told The Daily. “It’s a place where people can go and meet their neighbours on mutual terms. And everyone’s equal in those places, there’s no hierarchy, and that’s what’s so valuable about them.”

Later in the meeting, City Councillor Alex Norris, from Projet Montréal, supported by his party leader, Richard Bergeron, presented a motion to ask the Heritage Council of Montreal to protect Parc Oxygène as a heritage site.

The council unanimously adopted the motion, which underlines the “historic and patrimonial interest of this site stemming from the community groups who fought to preserve it and their means of action.”

The plans presented by the architects of the real estate promoters were supposed to be examined by the Heritage Council on Wednesday; however, the Heritage Council will first examine Parc Oxygène as a potential heritage site.

Neither the Milton Park Community nor the borough administration could tell how long the process of evaluation will be.

Although the residents do not technically own the land of Parc Oxygène, they have an easement – a right to use the property without technically owning it. Luc Ferrandez, mayor of the Le Plateau-Mont-Royal borough, presented this easement as a way to hold the development project, and strongly encouraged the group to use this as leverage as soon as possible to stop the construction.

According to Ferrandez, in order to get this easement enforced, the Milton Park Community would have to spend around $6,000 in legal fees. Although they refused to discuss their legal strategy, the Milton Park Community asserted that his figure was an underestimate, and claimed that a legal battle would cost at least $10,000.

Either way, the money would be a significant amount for the group who, as a housing cooperative, have “already invested a lot given its non-profitable constitution,” according to Dow.

Ferrandez also pointed out that in the worst case scenario, his administration could buy Parc Oxygène altogether, therefore preventing any development now or in the future. At the end of the meeting, he invited the Milton Park Community to sit down with their borough councillor to discuss the details and follow up on any possible plans.

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