April 12
April 12
The William Weintraub's play based on his own novel, depicting the life of Anglos in Québec twenty years after separation was enjoyable.
The evening opened with a brief discussion of the recent school board
elections. Hard positions were taken on the sources of funding
of primary and secondary education. One faction favoured
centralization, arguing that the affluence of the community
should not be a determining factor in the quality of education.
The proponents of decentralization wanted to maintain local
autonomy. Both sides yielded to the obvious optimum solution,
namely the centralization of financing and decentralization of
spending.
On Kosovo, it was reiterated that though ugly, this is not a war,
but a low-intensity conflict. Milosevic is using a very heavy
hand and an old trick, conceding something, but not
enough. Everyone is trying to save face while the Albanians are
suffering. The Serbs are to be blamed for using a heavy hand,
but any solution will prove impossible without involving the
Albanians. Should the United States decide to intervene, it will
face an impossible task unless it stops both sides from fighting
and treats both with an equal hand.
What about the new stadium for the Expos? We have heard both that "it is a
done deal" and that "it is dead in the water". Which is it?
The City of Montreal has already invested fifty million dollars in the Expos,
and must now place its efforts elsewhere. If society wants to keep the team here,
it will have to contribute to that effort. For that reason, the Expos will be
asked to delay the decision on their future location for another
year, while the city of Montréal concentrates on incentives
related to the revival of Ste-Catherine Street.
Nick left a document entitled "Report on Planning Activities
Related to the Creation of a New Facility", dated April 3rd '98.
Please call the Nicholsons if you wish to consult it.
Mr. Bourque defended decisions made by Montréal which have
frequently been criticized in the press. He stated that the decision to sell
the casino to Québec has paid off. The city could never afford
the renovation costs of the two casino pavilions. In addition to
the price paid, Québec pays for the maintenance of such
infrastructure as bridges.
The sale of Blue Bonnets was a fabulous deal for Montréal, he continued,
involving a more than fair payment for the facility as well as
assured development of the area. If agreement cannot be reached
on the proposed Cavendish extension, it will be extended by
decree. [
Montréal has gone beyond its previous problems with Québec and
there is now support and harmony between the two. The budget
problems of Montréal have been overcome thanks to the fifty-two
million dollars coming from Québec and seventy-one million
contributed by labour.
The Mayor pointed with pride to the fact that the budget for the City
is at the 1992 level. At least one economist in the room questioned
whether it is a good idea to reduce the budget at a time of expansion
in business and economic activity.
Mayor Bourque was congratulated on the amount of movie-making business
that has been attracted to Montreal. This inevitably led to criticism
of Westmount for not providing sufficiently easy access
to film production. In response,it was pointed out that while inconvenience
is suffered by the residents of the neighbourhood, the
financial gain accrues to Québec.
This led to discussion of the need to establish a methodology to ensure revenues
to compensate Montréal for the costs of promooting, preparing the city to host
these events and maintaining it. The City of Montréal, like others, depends
on revenues from property taxes but does not share in the tax revenues
generated by the commercial activity surrounding the festivals, conventions,
film-making, etc. which it hosts.
The closing note at eleven-thirty p.m. was a gracious thank you addressed
to Mayor Bourque by Mayor Peter Trent on behalf of all. The magic of the evening
continued however, until after midnight, with the guests milling
around, exchanging thoughts and ideas, finally reluctantly
leaving for their respective homes.
Monday, 1999
A Window on Westmount Ville Marie
Monday, 1999
gao
Westmount
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Turning to the principal guest of the evening, Mayor Bourque was warmly
welcomed and reminded that his last appearance at the table had been on Wednesday Night #700. He then underlined his conviction that the key to the recovery of Montréal lay in the renewal of the city core, mentioning
his delight in this week's announcement of the Cité of Multimedia which is
supported by the Québec government's undertaking to subsidize job creation
in this field to the tune of $25 000 for each new job created inside the
designated geographic area. There was some reaction from multi-media
representatives in the room who wondered how their companies would compete
if they are not located in the designated area.
Pierre Bourque
Nick Steinmetz was invited to elaborate on the McGill
University Health Centre project to be completed in
2004. This project will see the construction downtown of a new
facility costing between nine hundred and fifty million and one
billion dollars. In addition to the capital campaign,
Québec has been asked to contribute two hundred
and fifty million and the federal government, two hundred million
for the construction of the largest research facility in Canada.
The remaining two hundred million will be financed by a mortgage,
to be paid back from savings. The costs have been calculated
conservatively. Because the resale value of the existing
buildings is not certain, it has not been factored into the
equation. The construction of the new centre will create jobs
and have a multiplier effect on the city core. The expertise
developed can be marketed in the United States, South America and
elsewhere. It will be a showcase of technologies developed here.
It will favour new residential construction in an area sadly
lacking in residential construction in recent years. Demographic
studies indicate that immediately following the construction
period (2004 to 2005), the demographics of Montréal will be such
as to favour the return of suburbanites to the city, presumably
to the redeveloped area surrounding the new health centre.
Nicolas Steinmetz
Monday 1 June 1998
Blue Bonnets blues In officially handing over the Blue Bonnets racetrack to the
Quebec horse industry last week, the Bourque
administration brings to an end a shabby tale of real-estate
amateurism that made headlines for over a year and
severely damaged the administration's credibility.
29 May 1998
Bourque snubs council, inks deal
Bourque - a scapegoat? value readWEDNESDAY, 17 June, #850 at 8:00 p.m. Mayor Pierre Bourque Night Some other friends who were with us:-Me Alan Mass
Peter F. Trent  Mayor of WestmountVilleneuve likes our Westmount Mayor Peter Trent
 Me Julius Grey
 'Yugoslavia - Could it happen here?'Dr. Mihailo Crnobrnja 
Jacques Clément Astri Reusch |
Carl Beigie
Glass Artist
Sunday 7 June 1998
Dreaming of the future
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