Loyola councillor exits Projet Montréal, cites chronic underfunding of borough
A member of Projet Montréal resigned from the mayor's party Wednesday, saying he could no longer support the chronic underfunding of his borough.
In a speech at a special council meeting to vote in the 2021 budget on Wednesday, and in a missive published by the Montreal Gazette, Loyola councillor Christian Arseneault said his borough is being neglected by the central city.
Arseneault said the underfunding in the borough is illustrated in the long wait times for an answer with the city's 311 telephone service, the poor state of the parks, and the understaffing of the borough's engineering department. And since the borough's budget is not indexed to inflation, Arseneault said the budgetary imbalance is only going to get worse in the coming years.
“We don't have the money to be creative. We just have to keep the lights on and plug the potholes,” Arseneault said, adding that he intends to sit as an independent councillor until the next election.
Giuliana Fumagalli, the borough mayor of Villeray— St-michel— Parc-extension echoed Arseneault's concerns, saying the capital budgets of the boroughs have not been increased in recent years, and the budget plan calls for them to stay roughly the same for the next decade. Fumagalli has been sitting as an independent on council since she was ejected from Projet Montréal in 2018.
The 2021 budget holds the line on spending at roughly $6.17 billion. Residential taxpayers will see their bills go up by an average of 0.2 per cent, while the business tax rate will be frozen at the 2020 level.
To cut expenditures, the budget reduces cash payments for infrastructure projects to $394.6 million in 2021 from $631.6 million in 2020. The net debt will rise to $6.4 billion in 2021 from $6.25 billion in 2020.
The debate over the budget went well into the night Wednesday and a vote to approve it was pushed until Thursday morning.
The opposition charged that Mayor Valérie Plante's administration has lost control of spending, hiring more than 1,300 employees since it came into power and adding to the overall debt level.
“The debt is forecast to go to 120 per cent of revenue, and there is no sign that this growth of the debt will stop,” said St-laurent borough mayor Alan Desousa, who is the vice-chair of the city's finance commission.
He added that the budget is also being balanced with a one-time payment from the province, which means the next administration will start with a shortfall for the 2022 budget and have to make very difficult choices.
Other councillors took aim at the STM'S budget, which was also up for approval at the council meeting. The STM'S debt has risen sharply in recent years and contributes to the city's global debt level, and could ultimately affect the city's capacity to borrow funds.
The $1-billion investment in hybrid buses, which is a fulfilment of an election promise made by Plante, came under attack as the city had been expected to augment its fleet by 300 buses in 2025, but Plante moved that date up by five years.
That forced the STM to repair the roof of the St-denis garage, which was due to be put out of service in the coming years.
“That meant the city had to spend $20 million to repair a garage we're going to put out of service,” said councillor Aref Salem. “It's like taking that money and putting it in the garbage.”
While several councillors called on the city to delay the purchase of the 300 buses, especially in the face of plummeting ridership because of the pandemic, the Plante administration said it is sticking with the plan.
We don't have the money to be creative. We just have to keep the lights on and plug the potholes.