November 28, 1996

Naturally, I have been following the reports of Pierre Bourque's troubles with his campaign financing with more than just a passing interest. It's a bit like watching the scene of an accident: the sudden wave of nausea, the sad evidence of human fragility. And, like witnessing an accident, I can't be of help, and, boy, aren't I glad I'm not involved. Of course, I didn't cause it either.

I empathize with a fellow mayor, but I also worry about the repercussions of these accusations swarming all over the mayor's party. It is not good. And while so much time and energy is expended on such - undoubtedly necessary - stuff, who's running the city?

Over the last two years, I have spent hundreds of hours working with Bourque. He is not an easy man to know, but I have never seen a scrap of evidence of dishonesty. And the man is just not motivated by money. But his centralized management style means he doesn't have much control of his people. I can believe that the strange campaign of Vision Montreal, a campaign that was born out of nothing, could have thrown up a welter of irregularities. But I have trouble believing Bourque was directly involved. He has to accept responsibility, though, and there's the rub.

When Jean Doré was elected mayor, his party had already been in opposition and was well structured and disciplined. Whenever a new party springs up from nowhere, especially one created around one person, it does not hit the ground running. In fact, it trips over itself, staggers around, and spends a great deal of energy in sorting itself out.

One of the reasons for Montreal's political lability is the middle-class flight to the suburbs. Poor people have other things to worry about than local politics. 38% of Montreal households make less than $20,000. The average income in 1991 was $34,144, compared with $49,362 for the Island suburbs. 74% of dwellings are rented, compared with 56% for the suburbs. Tenant turnout at elections is low, partially because Montreal tenant turnover is high.

The problem of Montreal not having a dependable and knowledgable political tradition means that ad hockery prevails. Parties rise and fall. We see the repeated problem of getting good mayors to run for office. Also, Montrealers seem to like their mayors larger-than-life (a fitting adjective for Camilien Houde). Suburban cities tend to like their mayors without too much flash, possibly even a bit avuncular. But all rightly insist their mayors be above reproach in their decision-making.

As I watched Bourque trying to retain his dignity last week when journalists started asking for all his personal bank accounts, I winced. Since Bourque brought a lot of this on himself, the journalists, once having drawn blood, were naturally merciless for more. Perhaps when this whole sorry spectacle is over, nobody will want to be mayor of Montreal.

SAYS LANDRY: WATCH MY SNIPS, NO NEW TAXES Dec 5

I am moved to offer you this homily after watching the PQ government in action recently. In order to achieve their goal of sovereignty, they see the need to clean up Quebec's financial mess. But they are capable of going about it almost dishonestly. Just take the "watch my lips, no new taxes" claim that puts the PQ in the Bush league. Sure, they're not raising income taxes. But they are sure as hell raising other taxes. And I'm not just talking about the non-voluntary "contribution" of $250 million.

School taxes are going up. Ditto electricity rates and payroll deductions. But the most insidious fiscal sleight of hand is the PQ's downloading of over $200 million to cities over the last year. Cutting transfer payments to municipalities is a great way to slough off both costs and blame. When you get a tax bill from Westmount that reflects only part of this cowardly buck-passing, many of you will be blaming it on Council, not on Landry.

In French, this downloading is called délestage. It means to jettison ballast. You get the image of a balloon - a hot-air balloon, of course - throwing overboard all kinds of weights to make it go higher. Or a ship of state going faster, once freed of deadweight in its hold.

But did you know that the provincial government doesn't even pay their own taxes? Did you know that Quebec pays only 25% of property taxes on schools? Ah, but they - again - don't call them taxes. They pay what it pleases them to call "in-lieu-of-taxes"!

The PQ government today is not the same beast we saw in the early 80s. Then, in spite of their fixation on having their own country, the PQ governed fairly well. There was a certain competence and honesty that is now lacking. The temperament of today's governing party leans more towards improvisation and panicky decisions.

Two years ago, Guy Chevrette and, later, Premier Bouchard promised that there would be no cuts in transfer payments without equivalent revenues. They have broken their word. And it's clear they have little more than contempt for our level of government. They would do well to remember that we enjoy the confidence of 56% of the population, compared with 34% for either the provincial or the federal level.

Bouchard recently took a courageous stand and defended what was, after all, a Liberal bill on language - Bill 86. At the PQ convention, he stood firm against howls from the PQ hard-liners and most French editorialists. Why can't he show the same moral leadership in fiscal matters?

A SEASONAL RAMBLE THROUGH TWO WESTMOUNTS

Yet at the Summit, snow covered everything except the wet black roads. The traditional Scottish masonry of many of the houses made the scene even more countrified. I went from city to country by walking upwards.

I notice more and more Christmas lights are cobwebbing houses or their trees. Maybe next year, I'll light up our house a bit. But that means installing an outdoor plug next summer when Xmas lights are as far from one's thoughts as de-icing salt.

The one existential question the Trents ask each other at Christmas: shall we put up a tree this year? If we got a tree and no one saw it, would it really exist? Is it worth the candle, so to speak? You see, in the 28 years I've lived in the Montreal area, I've never had any blood relatives living in town. I had to import them. Either that, or we would go to England for Xmas. Then my parents' generation started dropping away, thereby reducing the familial critical mass. When they were alive, they tended to drop off during the festivities anyway. So Christmas becomes crowded with the memories of those who are absent - owing to distance or death.

Actually, as all our families get smaller, friends become more important. And Xmas becomes a time of reflection, of slowing down. One person I get re-acquainted with is myself. It's not always a pleasant experience.

My wife says I'm a difficult person to buy presents for: either it's because I don't really want very much, or if I did want something, I'd have got it myself.

How about a present to all of us language-war-weary Quebecers: that we will start to turn the corner, realizing that there are many more things that French and English have in common than things that divide us. That the Quebec whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Division in Quebec is now found in the PQ cabinet, where internal bickering between the doctrinaire and pragmatic wings is starting to bubble up to the surface. But too many of them regard the actual running of a government as something of a banality: the real fun is to put into practice their pseudo-socialist ideas.

The stage is set for some new players, for whom linguistic pillow fights hold no attraction. Dare we hope for this in the New Year?

Across Canada the only irreconcilable differences should be climatic. Just like upper and lower Westmount. Back to Back to Menu Best to use your Browser's 'BACK' key

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