2005 Annual Report: Office de consultation publique de Montréal Wishes to Receive Mandates From all Agglomeration Governing Bodies

Montréal, March 23, 2006 – This morning, Office de consultation publique de Montréal President Jean-François Viau released the annual report of the Office for 2005.

Since it began operations in 2002, the Office has held 240 consultation sessions on 55 projects, allowing over 15,000 Montrealers to gather information and express their opinions on a great variety of local and metropolitan files. The year 2005, like the previous year, was dominated by metropolitan projects, such as the consultations on the Cultural Development Policy, the Heritage Policy, and the McGill University Health Centre and Shriners Hospital.

This state of affairs is due to the adoption, in December 2003, of Bill 33, transferring from the OCPM to the boroughs the responsibility for consultations on amendments to the Urban Plan. On that subject, the Office maintains the recommendation it made last year that any amendment to the planning instrument that constitutes the Urban Plan may be initiated in the boroughs but should be subject to the OCPM’s public consultation process. This would ensure uniform application of the Policy on Public Consultation and Participation policy recently established by city council.

Moreover, the Office is extremely pleased with the recent Québec government decree providing that the Agglomeration Council will have the power to evoke section 89 of the City Charter for the realization of projects related to the exercise of its jurisdiction, and therefore to entrust to the OCPM consultation mandates for those projects. In the same vein, the Office believes that it should play a statutory role in the management of projects affecting more than one borough or reconstituted city, or emblematic, protected or strategic areas such as Old Montréal, downtown, and Mount Royal.

Public consultation in cities is constantly evolving, and 2005 saw the adoption by city council of a public consultation policy. Montréal is one of the first cities to adopt such a policy. The OCPM was closely associated with the work leading to this text, and urges the boroughs to apply it in their respective fields of jurisdiction.

“The Office reiterates its desire to collaborate closely with the boroughs and other city and agglomeration governing bodies to consolidate the place of Montrealers in the decision-making processes of the metropolis. We believe that Montréal’s democratic life, both representative and participatory, is essential to ensuring the harmonious development of our quality of life,” says Mr. Viau. The OCPM also invites the legislator to adopt provisions allowing it to receive consultation mandates from all agglomeration governing bodies on matters under their jurisdictions.

The OCPM is willing to be involved in all steps leading to the improvement and strengthening of public participation mechanisms. The citizens’ right of initiative figures prominently among those future means. The OCPM is extremely pleased that this right is enshrined in the Montréal Charter of Rights and Responsibilities, and hopes that the future by-law that will define and set out guidelines for this right will also be submitted for public consultation.

The Office de consultation publique plans to continue its work to allow Montrealers to benefit from effective, credible and transparent public consultation mechanisms.

The mission of the OCPM, created by the Charter of Ville de Montréal, is to carry out public consultation mandates pertaining to the various jurisdictions of the City of Montréal, notably on urban and land-use planning projects, and on any projects designated by the city council or executive committee. The consultation are led by commissioners, appointed by city council, who are neither elected officials nor officers.

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Luc Doray
Tel.: (514) 872-3568
Cell.: (514) 977-8365