With files from Robert Frank
During the council meeting last night (January 12), Pierre Anthian, the municipal councillor of Laval-des-Rapides made a motion that Laval city councillors visit their counterparts in Montreal to learn about democracy.
We look exactly the same as we did in the days of Vaillancourt,” said Anthian. “I see what’s happening in Montreal and it’s dynamic and active and everyone is speaking.”
Anthian’s motion has six precursors. Four make his points that Laval councillors don’t speak while citizens and media are watching, that dynamism and transparency are missing and that the administration encourages real discussion to take place in caucus rather than during City Hall debates. Two are counterpoints about the openness and ready discussion that takes place in Montreal.
The motion itself reads:
Il est proposé que les conseillers de ce présent conseil assistent au conseil de la ville de Montréal pour faire une saine comparaison de son fonctionnement et inciter l’intérêt d’une participation active aux discussions publiques.“
Roughly, it reads “It is proposed that the councillors of this present council attend a City of Montreal council session to make a clear comparison with how it functions and to encourage interest in actively participating in public discussions.”
In a separate discussion David de Cotis made it clear that he doesn’t agree with the implications behind Anthian’s motion.
I don’t necessarily agree with the allegations that are made against Marc Demers’ party,” said de Cotis. “It’s a very democratic party. We always discuss every decision that we make in caucus. All our city council questions are being broadcast live on the web. Marc Demers decided to implement in 2014 that all contracts over $24,000 would be passed to city council for its approval. In the past just the executive committee had to approve these contracts before they would be given out, but now the executive committee must recommend them to city council which then gets to decide whether to vote for or against them. We’re going to great strides to show that we’re a transparent and democratic administration. We are consulting with Repensons Laval, the biggest consultation in the history of the city. Now we are embarking on the urban development plan consultation.”
