BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West

Call it a glimmer of hope.

That is how the mayors of the 15 demerged suburbs on the island of Montreal view a recent deal struck by Quebec City and one of its demerged suburbs that will see a new cost-sharing scheme implemented – a move that is estimated to save the demerged suburb millions of dollars per year.

“Quebec’s process is about rewriting the rules of the game,” said Senneville Mayor Julie Brisebois, co-president of the Association of Suburban Municipalities, which represents the demerged towns in the Montreal area, including eight West Island cities. “It’s a responsible governance initiative that deserves recognition.”

The relationship between central cities and their demerged suburbs and how they share costs has been the focus of fierce debate in the 11 municipal agglomerations across the province over the past two decades. In some cases, it has even been the subject of lawsuits, as demerged suburbs fight for what they claim is a fairer economic pact.

On the island of  Montreal, elected officials in the suburbs have been drawing attention to what they call growing inequities in Montreal’s favour that has resulted with suburban tax dollars being siphoned off by the central city.

“There has to be a restructuring. There has to be a re-think. It can’t be left in the hands of one powerful interest,” said Ste. Anne de Bellevue Mayor Paola Hawa in an interview Monday.

According to the proposal put forward in the Quebec City area, the central city and one of its two demerged suburbs, L’Ancienne Lorette, have agreed to a new funding formula that includes a fixed annual amount that will be handed over to the central city, along with payments for the regional public transit service. Each year, the amount would be adjusted for inflation. The deal would see L’Ancienne Lorette’s agglomeration costs for 2025 drop by about $3 million to roughly $16 million, compared with the $19 million it would have to pay under the terms of the existing funding formula.

The deal was hatched as both municipalities saw legal costs mount as they were locked in a series of court actions as their dispute over funding dragged through the courts. Meanwhile, the mayor of the other Quebec City suburb, St. Augustin de Desmaures, which is not party to the deal, said that although the proposal includes improvements to the financing relationship between the municipalities, the initiative does not address all of his town’s concerns.

The situation in Quebec City has elected officials in agglomerations across the province openly questioning whether the status quo will hold for much longer.

“All the agglomerations need to be reviewed,” said Hawa, who has been a vocal critic of how the Montreal agglomeration is structured and managed. “One way or another this is going to explode.”

Earlier this year, the demerged municipalities launched a lawsuit against the City of Montreal over an issue that cuts to the heart of growing tensions between suburban mayors and Valerie Plante’s administration – increasing costs being imposed on suburban taxpayers.

The focus of the battle is a $20-million loan bylaw approved by the agglomeration council in January to, in part, finance the acquisition of land in the Hippodrome sector of Montreal just west of Décarie Blvd. to push forward a 20,000-unit housing development. The bylaw, which was approved despite the objections from all 15 mayors of the demerged suburbs on Jan. 23, puts the full financial burden of the loan on the agglomeration instead of on the shoulders of the City of Montreal, where it belongs by law, the suburban mayors say.

This lawsuit follows legal action taken by the City of Beaconsfield in 2020, claiming demerged municipalities are being overcharged by Montreal for the services they receive, which include public transit, water treatment, social housing and police and fire services.

In April, Beaconsfield won the right to question provincial officials as it continues to press its case.

Meanwhile, suburban mayors across the Montreal region continue in their campaign to vocally oppose every spending initiative put forward by Montreal that they claim abuses the central city’s dominance on the agglo council and forces taxpayers in the demerged suburbs to foot the bill.

It is across this backdrop of constant and growing tensions that the deal struck between Quebec City and one of its demerged suburbs that Montreal suburban officials see a glimmer of hope for change to come.

“Quebec’s case shows that opening up dialogue and exploring tailored solutions is indeed possible,” Dollard des Ormeaux Mayor Alex Bottausci said in a statement issued by the Association of Suburban Mayors last week. Bottausci is a co-president of the ASM.

It might still take a few years, Hawa said. But she is hoping that reform will come.

She pointed to a plan recently put forward by Montreal for a new splash pad in a park at the foot of Mount Royal, which the demerged cities are being forced to pay for as being just the latest example of the abuse by Montreal.

“Why am I paying for that?” Hawa asked. “It’s ridiculous. And we have no recourse.

“It’s ‘here’s the bill, shut up and pay.’ No matter what we do, it’s shut up and pay.”