How Corrupt Will Montreal’s New Ruling Party Be?

Montreal's former mayor, partying in white gloves. via.

Union Montreal is now dead, its putrid corpse being danced over and pissed on by scandal-sick Montrealers. Goodbye and good riddance, you rotting whore of a party.

Under that party’s decade-plus reign, the city of Montreal’s rep sank under a constant barrage of sleaze, from bottom to almost the tippy-top itself. As a result, people have written off Montreal as a corrupt and fucked up city. Toronto may be hogging all the limeight right now with their potentially murderous mayor, but that kinda shit is nothing new to the citizen's of Canada's most European ville. Former mayor Gerald Tremblay was never directly implicated in any crime but continues to lamely claim he made the mistake of surrounding himself with people who betrayed him. People like his number two guy, Frank Zampino, who buddy-buddied with mob bosses in return for payoffs and home renos. Corruption-watchers are now getting 24-hour boners with the Charbonneau Commission, with its hit parade of city scumbags telling the world how they fucked over taxpayers.

With the city finally coming to grips with a corruption problem that’s seemingly part of its DNA, there’s no question it’s going to be the number one question come this November’s election. And with three big parties, locals have options. (The current mayor is Michael Applebaum, an anglo Jew who was elected by city council after Gerald stepped down. He says he isn’t running, and with zero chance of winning, who blames him?)

So how does each party stack up?

Projet Montréal

Strengths: Runs on a platform of sustainable urbanism, advocating improved and greener public transportation, slowing family exodus to the suburbs and better housing. Artsy left-wing types love them.

Weaknesses: Still not fully trusted by voters outside its strongholds like the Plateau and neighbouring Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie. Both ‘hoods are densely populated, gentrified or gentrifying and largely French-speaking. Many voters consider them hostile to car owners and businesses, including nightlife. While the party is making inroads into other boroughs, anglo suburbanites will need a lot of convincing.

Perceived likelihood of being corrupted: Low to medium. The people running for PM aren’t career politicians, and those closest to the party’s founding core have been working for low pay and little recognition for at least two election cycles. None of its elected officials have come close to scandal, but if they do win big, rot may find a way in. So far, they’re campaigning on having clean hands.

Vision Montreal

Strengths: A core loyal following in some neighbourhoods and an experienced party machine. With a lifetime spent in politics, former PQ cabinet minister and current opposition leader Louise Harel is well connected and knows the game, even if her party is currently ranked third in polls. Her party has been out of power for over a decade, so she has brought in new faces that aren’t linked to corruption.

Weaknesses: A few big ones. First, finances. The party’s over half-a-million dollars in debt, and there is speculation that the party won’t be able to overcome its financial hole. Second, the party’s perceived lack of, well, vision. Unlike PM, it doesn’t really have an identity outside of Louise Harel. Third, Louise Harel. Her long career with the PQ makes many people uncomfortable. Federalists and anglophones won’t vote for her on principle.

Perceived likelihood of corruption: Medium. Louise has been in the biz long enough to know where the stink is. And while she’s been outspoken about corruption in city hall as opposition leader, she’s offered no reason to believe that her party would be any different if they were running the show.

Équipe Denis Coderre

Strengths: Denis is certainly well connected. He’s been in Ottawa as a federal Liberal MP since 1997 and was for a time the Liberal lieutenant for Quebec, so he knows the city and its players well. As an outsider, he has no connection to the rotten construction industry. An avid Habs fan, tweets about them constantly.

Weaknesses: He was involved in the sponsorship scandal of a decade ago and while he wasn’t directly implicated by the Gomery Commission’s final report, he did attract some flak for being close to some of the names involved. He’s a federal Quebec Liberal, which is as akin to being dogshit to some francophones as Harel’s PQ past is to most anglophones. Plus, if, as the opposition parties suspect, he absorbs much of the party machinery and even some of the candidates left over from the Union Montreal heap, the opposition and the media will go berserk. In fact, the launch of his campaign was a fiasco, as housing protesters turned the event into a circus. But according to a recent poll, 33 percent of voters would choose him as mayor.

Perceived likelihood of corruption: Medium to high. Denis’ background with the federal Liberals and his cozying up to elements of Union Montreal isn’t generating a whole lot of faith that he’ll scourge the filth out of city hall. He’s got two badly tarnished brands to deal with here, and his opponents won’t let him forget it.

But no matter who wins, they’re still going to have a big ass problem on their hands. When bureaucrats, engineers and unions are considered strategic assets by colluding Mob-related interests, elected officials are always going to look bad. As they should.

The good news is, the Charbonneau Commission’s been given an 18-month extension, meaning the final report is due in April 2015. That means the shit parade isn’t going away and whoever’s in charge will be under a microscope.

Follow Patrick on Twitter: @patricklejtenyi

More on rotten Montreal:

Dr. Arthur T. Porter IV Got Very, Very Rich From Ripping Off Canadians

The Bloody Return of Vito Rizzuto: Canada’s Mob Boss

Quebec’s Mafia Corruption Is All Out In The Open