By Chelsey St-Pierre
The Suburban
A non-profit organization entitled Becoming Île-Perrot is advocating for the merging of Pincourt, Île-Perrot, Terrasse-Vaudreuil and Notre-Dame de L’Île Perrot.
The four municipalities have 40,573 residents combined and merger would bring it in line with neighbouring municipalities such as Vaudreuil-Dorion and Salaberry-de-Valleyfield which have between 40-45,000 residents each.
The organization stated that merging the four municipalities will result in a savings of over $500,000 with the reduction in elected officials alone. Currently there are four mayors and 24 city councillors paid to manage communities of approximately 10,000 residents each. It estimates that hundreds of thousands will also be saved on cost-sharing of municipal services, sports and leisure sharing through collective planning and other administrative costs.
One of the organizations members, Gerald Plummer, who is a local entrepreneur serving the area since 1981 and the former president of the Île-Perrot Merchants Association, told The Suburban that the biggest hurdle in convincing the municipalities to merge is the fact that the majority of its elected officials would soon be out of a job.
Plummer is concerned for the fate of merchants who often have to jump through “four hoops instead of one” to get permits and establish businesses under a single set of regulations. “This also affects the services to which residents have access to locally. As it stands, the larger municipalities surrounding us are more attractive to successful businesses. Even if they start here, once they grow — they go.”
“Our concern is functionality and that the citizens benefit from the best services possible,” Becoming Île-Perrot founder Francine St-Denis told The Suburban. “We understand the challenges related to a merge but it is essential to create the best possible services to constituents and local merchants.”
St-Denis says that with an increased number of constituents, the “One Island, One City” will benefit from having a stronger advocacy power when dealing with the Ministry of Transport as well as other elements of the provincial government and the Montreal Agglomeration. “The geopolitical weight needs to be increased in order for us to be able to advocate for our collective needs in terms of the highway, the bridge and transportation in general,” Plummer explained.
The organization is aiming to reach all residents via public consultations, social media and presentations at city council meetings before the next election. “We have a vision and we believe this is the best course of action, but this is a democracy and the people will decide. We just want to do our due diligence and let them know,” St-Denis told The Suburban. n