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Election notebook
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Sign-stealing Point prepubescent profiteering and other megashockers
by KRISTIAN GRAVENOR
The sun is quickly setting on such long-in-the-tooth municipal heroes as Yves Ryan, Montreal North mayor since 1963, Peter Trent, Westmount mayor since '91 (hello provincial/federal politics!) and Germain "the mayor of St-Henri" Prégent, who has settled his bum snugly in council since 1978. But few races to replace a council vet are as heated as that taking place in the Point, where MCMer-turned-independent Marcel Sévigny is quitting after--well, his recent autobiog is called 30 ans de politique municipale. Potential Sévigny successors include lawyer Réné Labrosse, Tremblay's boy, who wants to reduce the local gulf between rich and poor while reducing B&Es and drugs in the 'hood. "Longtime residents are sick of having dealers stick their heads out the window to yell at passersby 'when you paying me my money?'" notes Labrosse. He accuses independent rival Richard Wafer of paying children a buck for every opposition poster they tear down. "One of the kids was my organizer's 10-year-old son. He came with his friends carrying lots of candy and money." Wafer angrily denies the charges. Meanwhile, Bourque candidate Jacqueline Montpetit was spotted mugging for cameras at the recent meeting about the biker bar blazes. She opposes arson.
At a lively debate hosted by housing agitators FRAPRU last week, Bourque sniffed at Tremblay's aggressive promises of social housing by pointing out that the suburban mayors, now on the Tremblay wagon, have long fought against low-cost housing in their areas. Bourque says 40 per cent of the province's subsidized housing is in the current city of Montreal. Tremblay scored back by forcing a squirming Bourque to answer: "Is there a housing crisis in Montreal or not?" Bourque also hit a minefield when he suggested that "new arrivals" need to be "educated on cleanliness." Tremblay later demonstrated unlikely commiseration with an unsightly hooker who complained that she had no street corner to stand around and offer blowjobs from.
Montreal municipal politics have always been an ethnic grabfest, and candidates have long tried to cajole the spicy immigrants, who turn out in much higher numbers than the rest of us. One ethnic hotspot is eastern Outremont, an area of 8,600 voters where the 1,000 Hutchison Hassids have been gaining critical mass in the neighbourhood, pissing off locals unhappy with their outlandish headgear and lack of sidewalk eye contact. Céline Forget, an independent candidate and current Outremont councillor, made her position known a few years ago when she launched legal action against a synagogue that opened next to her home (it was laughed out of court last week). Bourque's Jean-Sébastien Marineau, a passionate proponent of the mergers and fan of the proposed Parc Avenue tramway, wants to "build a bridge" to the Orthordox community.
If you were wondering why you keep hearing about the Equality Party--the provincial anglo rights group many assumed long dead--it's thanks to former Channel 9 TV standup comedian Jimmy Kalafatidis. Now an East-End souvlaki supply salesman and Equality prez, Kalafatidis has organized several meetings urging the federal cabinet to veto the mergers. Perhaps proving that angry anglo politics ain't political suicide, Kalafatidis says that he was anxiously courted by one of the two big parties but chose not to run for council. And he still wants the feds to disallow the merger. "Everybody says Charest is going to get in and undo the mergers," he says. "But if he doesn't, you can kiss your town goodbye. That's why we need the disallowance clause invoked now."
Tremblay should benefit from the Alouettes' recent skid, as his West Island turnout was thought to be vulnerable to the distraction of a football match November 4. Now that the Als have spent weeks playing like the pre-Keanu Replacements, lots more West Islanders, it is imagined, will voluntarily uproot themselves from their Laz-E-Boys to exercise their democratic option.
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