What future for public participation in Montreal?

The issue of participatory democracy deserves to be addressed during this election campaign in Montreal following the adoption of Bill 122 last June recognizing that municipalities are local governments.

In the area of urban planning, the bill allows municipalities to evade referendum approval of zoning changes as long as they adopt alternatives that encourage public participation. Citizen participation is all the more important in this area because many interests revolve around urban projects — be they those of promoters, citizens or the entire community. In order for elected officials to mediate in an informed manner, all these interests must be heard and considered.

To be exempt from the referendum approval procedure, a municipality will have to adopt a public participation policy. The bill foresees that a ministerial regulation will frame the formulation of these policies, starting from a series of objectives stated in the bill, such as the transparency of the process, the consultation upstream, complete and comprehensible information, a real capacity of citizens to influence the outcome, the active presence of elected representatives, sufficient time, the expression of all the points of view, and the accountability of the process.

The municipal affairs minister set up a working group to guide his reflections in the preparation of his regulations. Its report clarifies the concepts, but remains vague about the guidelines, and seeks instead to give the municipalities as much room to manoeuvre as possible. Municipalities do vary considerably, and finding common denominators is not always simple. However, the report should have advocated mandatory minimum standards that would ensure the credibility, accessibility and impartiality of the process. It does not intend to impose, for example, an independent hearing for major projects, or a citizen’s right of initiative. Thus, citizens may have to rely mainly on municipalities to design their citizen participation policies.

The proposed Municipal Affairs ministry’s public participation bylaw should be firmer and less minimalist than the task force report recommends.

Meanwhile, the current election period is an opportunity for candidates to clarify their intentions and make formal commitments. All municipalities are called to define new ways of integrating public participation into their deliberations.

The public participation policy of the City of Montreal dates back to 2005. It should be reviewed in the light of new knowledge concerning, in particular, citizen collaboration, upstream consultation, new rigorous framework mechanisms for public consultation, and accountability.