Montreal: A Citizen's Guide to Politics

Agar Adamson is the author of Letters of Agar Adamson, 1914–19 and former chair of the Department of Political Science at Acadia University in Nova Scotia.

Montreal. The very name conjures up images of Jean Drapeau, the 1976
Olympics, the flight of English-speaking Canadians, the Royal Trust
evacuation caper, the lack of a decent sewage system, urban blight,
poverty, and even the sociologists’ “folk urban continuum.” Yet
Montreal has given us some of the most senior members of our national
political and business elites, not to mention Quebec’s elites. A city
of “beauty and the beast.”

Montreal is one of the few Canadian cities to produce a municipal party
system. Thus, its politics differ from those of other Canadian cities,
with the possible exception of Vancouver.

The contributors who come from varied backgrounds, discuss such issues
as the environment (including recycling but not sewage), and social
justice (including South Africa), power politics, political groups,
transportation, shelter, and the economy. Like any book of readings, not
all the essays are of equal quality nor of equal value. Readers will
have their own views on the issues discussed; for example, car drivers
may not take kindly to Claire Morisette’s paper on capping the
automobile, but bicyclists will probably enjoy it.

The work is intended as a “report card” on Mayor Jean Doré and the
Montreal Citizens Movement. As such, it is quite useful, though the mcm
may not like it, having obtained a barely passing grade. However, the
work should be interesting to a wider readership than the citizens of
Montreal, for all our urban centres suffer from many of the same
problems. We can all learn from Montreal’s problems and intended
solutions. For this opportunity we should be thankful to the editors.