Themes, tags, keywords and great projects

Projet Montréal pledges to implement a participatory budget, based on experiments both in Montreal and elsewhere in the world, so that the population can determine budgetary priorities and the corresponding allocation of the city's financial resources. Participatory budgeting will be applied at every level: borough councils, city council, and agglomeration council. It will cover the whole of the budget, namely both the operations budget and the investment budget.

Pressure the provincial and federal governments to get on with this much-delayed project and establish, as quickly as possible, a rail shuttle between downtown and the Montréal-Trudeau International Airport. In the meantime, provide an express public bus service to the airport.

Contribute to the realization of a very high speed train (TGV) service between Quebec City and Chicago (via Trois-Rivières, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Windsor and Detroit) and between Quebec City and Washington (via Trois-Rivières, Montreal, Boston, New York and Philadelphia). To this end, mobilize a coalition of mayors from these cities to plan the corridors as well as the train stations and put pressure on the regional and national governments to get this project underway as quickly as possible.

In the spirit of the Cadre d'aménagement 2001-2021, concentrate urban development around heavy (metro and commuter trains) and medium-heavy (New Tramway and other) modes of public transit. For example, Projet Montréal is against having a casino or other gaming facility on the site of the current Blue Bonnets raceway. As the site is served by the Namur metro station, it is an ideal site for a new residential neighbourhood and must not be wasted.

Quickly deliver on major projects around sites already served by public transit but which are still languishing at the initial planning stage, such as Griffintown, the postal sorting station, the CN workshops in Pointe-Saint-Charles, the Radio-Canada site, the du Havre sector, Viger station, Porte Sainte-Marie, and the Outremont yards. Prepare for the redevelopment of the Royal Victoria and Hôtel-Dieu hospitals. These projects have the combined capacity to accommodate 50,000 households, or between 100,000 and 125,000 inhabitants.

Those projects for which concrete proposals have already been made should be reviewed in order to reduce the number of parking spaces provided and to reinforce the relationship with active transit and public transit. Technical support and financial incentives will be offered to promoters to accelerate the realization of these projects in this spirit and to ensure that they are financially accessible, notably to families buying property for the first time.

Define and begin the Entrée maritime de Montréal project, affecting 2,500 metres of river shoreline in Montreal (from Bonsecours Street to Cuvillier Street, approximately), the eastern tip of Ile Sainte-Hélène, and the corresponding section of seaway in Longueuil. In total, there are 150 hectares of land for redevelopment. This project will maximize the population's access to the river, concurrently allowing for several thousand new houses, businesses and public facilities. The eastern tip of Ile Sainte- Hélène will be reserved for a prestigious structure, in the manner of the Sydney Opera House in Australia. This project will in no way hinder future development of the Port of Montreal.

Since the New Tramway will be the principle mode of transit service to this new Montreal neighbourhood, the Entrée maritime de Montreal project will put an end to attempts to transform Notre-Dame Street into an urban highway. In its place, Projet Montréal proposes a true urban boulevard.

Declare a moratorium on the construction of large scale retail outlets on the island of Montréal. In the short term, two projects in particular are targeted:

• The construction of a Wal-Mart and other similar outlets in the Saint-Michel quarry. Instead, priority will be given to commercial development along Saint- Michel Boulevard and Jarry Street.
• The commercial part of the project currently proposed for the Griffintown neighbourhood, which threatens the historical commercial character of Ste- Catherine Street.

For new projects, systematically create commercial space opening directly onto either a public square or a new commercial boulevard. Promote commercial arteries and shopping promenades as the favoured formula for retail sales in Montreal. Increase the City of Montreal subsidies for renovating and reinforcing the distinctive personality of historic commercial streets in Montreal. Assign a special status to Ste-Catherine Street and turn it over exclusively to pedestrian traffic.

In tourist areas, follow the example of other leading cities and allow businesses to remain open at all hours, on a voluntary basis.

Public markets give local producers access to customers and favour the consumption of local products. These markets can be permanent, or if temporary, can operate on a rotating basis in several neighbourhoods. Public markets breathe life into neighbourhoods, allowing local craftspeople to sell their wares on public holidays and in seasonal fairs (Christmas market, harvest market, etc).

Uphold the residential status that allows small tourist inns to thrive, on three conditions:

• The tourist inn must be recognized by the Ministère du Tourisme du Québec;
• The inn must include at least five units;
• The owner must physically occupy the premises (live-in owner).

Providing these three conditions are respected, the inns will be classified as residential buildings. This exception makes it possible for these small neighbourhood tourist lodgings to exist. They reinforce the friendly character of Montreal and add to the variety of lodging available. Inns in buildings that do not respect the above-mentioned criteria will be classified as commercial.

Maintain and develop the capacity to host international events.

Actively promote Montreal's status as a capital of new media. With its Cité du Multimédia and a panoply of events relating to new media, Montreal is a major player in the virtual world. The City of Montreal will initiate a contest that creates a real-time link between some of the world's cultural metropolises, such as Barcelona, Paris, London, Venice, Berlin or New York.

Make Montreal the North American capital of open-source software (freeware) by capitalizing on the strength of its information technology industry, the diversity of its cultural communities, and the importance of the City of Montreal's investments in information technology. This industry is currently at a turning point — not a month goes by without a government or a public administration (United Kingdom, Brazil, Netherlands, Malaysia, India, etc.) announcing its decision to favour the use of open- source software. The steps to be taken are as follows:

• Favour open-source software and standards in municipal operations and activities;
• Promote the development of open-source software for municipalities. Follow the example of ADDULACT in France and create a web site dedicated to this type of software in partnership with interested municipalities in order to share development costs;
• Participate in important international events that promote open-source software.

Advertise and promote the New Environmental Branding of Montreal and its excellent quality of life to attract top-notch businesses from all over the world, as well as to strengthen its recreational tourism industry.

Implement Projet Montréal’s program without raising property taxes for Montreal taxpayers. Taxes will simply be adjusted for inflation.

The bulk of Projet Montréal’s urban development plans will be financed through a transfer from a car- and oil-based economy to a sustainable economy. The two main options for achieving this goal are the installation of tolls on Montreal’s bridges and taxing non-residential and off-street parking in and around Montreal. Only one of these two sources will be used. The choice between the two will be made following in-depth study, consultation with elected representatives of the metropolitan area and the public, and an agreement with the Quebec government.

Redistribute 5% of the current City of Montreal budget in accordance with new priorities, which, based on the current budget of $4 billion, amounts to $200 million. An annual saving of $15 to $20 million will be realized by abolishing the 19 borough mayoralties and their staff .

Projet Montréal’s more productive approach to spending tax dollars will result in a substantial increase in public and private investments, to the benefit Montreal. These investments, in turn, will provide income for development, conservatively estimated at $50 million per year.

Negotiate with the federal and provincial governments to give the City of Montreal regulatory and taxation powers allowing it to exercise full control in the development of its territory, and hold them to paying their fair share for equitable and sustainable urban projects.

This will involve an increase of government contributions to the areas that concern them directly, as is the case for social housing. As well, Projet Montréal would like the upper levels of government to invest in certain projects together with municipal authorities. For example, instead of investing at least $3 billion to increase the capacity of the southern highway corridor (Turcot, Ville-Marie, and Notre-Dame east), Projet Montréal will ask the government of Québec to invest less in road infrastructures and more in the development of sustainable transportation.

The new bidding system for City of Montréal contracts will favour businesses situated in and around Montréal. The powerful economic leverage of the City of Montreal and its boroughs will be used to invest in the local economy through contracts for the provision of goods and services.

Encourage competition and stimulate small- to medium-sized and not-for-profit businesses by splitting up calls for tenders. While this will entail some short-term increases to management expenses for the City, it will prevent the creation of monopolies that financially strangle small players. Make the City an exemplary business partner by respecting the normal payment deadlines of 30 or 60 days, as negotiated in the contracts.

In order to enhance St-Paul and Ste-Catherine streets and McGill College and Mont- Royal avenues as pedestrian arteries, develop an annual program of artistic and cultural activities in collaboration with both cultural representatives and neighbouring residents, and promote these walkways as crossroads of expression. These activities would extend Montreal’s touristic potential beyond the summer season.

Every year, one thousand cultural associations organize five thousand cultural events on the island of Montreal. Projet Montréal recognizes the dynamism of Montreal’s cultural associations, numbering three hundred folk-dance groups, one hundred traditional music and dance associations, over two thousand musicians, six ecomuseums and four hundred public-access festivals, and pledges the following:

• To support cultural associations in their endeavour to preserve and sustain our cultural heritage;
• To encourage access to intercultural activities as a means of building and humanizing our city and gearing it to the future;
• To improve accessibility for artists and craftspeople in the field of cultural expression to existing places of cultural diffusion, such as the Maisons de la culture;
• To acquire professional expertise in order to respond constructively to the needs of those who foster cultural expression in our city.

Establish a municipal corporation, the Montreal Development Corporation, to be put in charge of all Montreal urban development projects. The agency will use the services of City employees who are specialists in key fields, and who will work in close cooperation with one another so as to carry out the broad vision laid out by the administration and by city council. To ensure that each project is in keeping with this broad vision, and that projects are properly coordinated, every investment of $5 million or more proposed by the central city, a borough or a city-owned corporation will have to either be supervised or carried out by the agency.

The Montreal Development Corporation will be put under the direct responsibility of the mayor of Montreal. It will operate in a manner that respects the directives issued by city council and the mayor's office. It should be emphasized that the fact that these projects are carried out or supervised by the agency does not in any way change rules concerning public consultation.