Metropolis designation grants greater power, autonomy to Montreal
Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre stopped just short of a fist pump when asked if a long-awaited bill giving Montreal more autonomy and powers could mean longer bar hours in the city.
“You bet,” Coderre told reporters. “There’s a wonderful word in politics called pilot project. We’ll pick it up there.”
In 2014, Coderre proposed just such a pilot project with the idea of letting the bars in peak areas like Crescent St. and St-Denis St. stay open until 5:30 a.m. The idea was quashed by Quebec’s alcohol and gaming board.
That all changed Thursday when the National Assembly adopted Bill 121. The vote, around lunchtime, was unanimous with politicians from all sides voting for it.
On a symbolic level, the bill is significant because it grants Montreal status as the province’s “metropolis.”
On a more concrete level, the city gets sweeping new powers, the kind the island’s politicians have craved for years. Besides control over bar and store hours, there’s more power to manage housing, health, the homeless and the integration of immigrants.
The city can crack down faster on the owners of crumbling or unsanitary buildings and directly compensate the owners of businesses who suffer revenue losses because of never-ending infrastructure projects.
Montreal now can launch a corporation to manage parking and set up a network of charging stations for electric cars, Municipal Affairs Minister Martin Coiteux said, describing the passing of the law as a “historic day for the city and Quebec.”
The government has already created special legislation tailored to fit the provincial capital and another for other cities in the province.
On the economic level, Montreal gets the power — under certain conditions — to grant direct subsidies and tax credits to companies that want to invest in the city. That power comes with a $50-milliona-year development fund the city can use as it sees fit.
And the law includes what is called a “Montreal reflex” clause that stipulates the provincial government must take into account Montreal’s particular characteristics when it adopts policies and regulations.
“Today, we delivered the goods,” Coderre said, noting he started fighting for more authority years ago. “We are giving ourselves the tools to meet our ambitions.”
Left languishing on the order paper last June when the legislature ran out of time to pass it, Coiteux insisted the fact it passed now should not be seen as some kind of pat on the back for Coderre, who faces an election in November.
“Nothing to do with it,” Coiteux said. “It’s got to do with the pace of parliamentary work, and I think you understand exactly how it works.”