Segacs's World I Know

Posts Tagged ‘bourque’

Pierre Bourque lost the election by a landslide… but he’s demanding a recount anyway:

Yesterday, the controversy surrounding the city’s electronic vote-counting system took a new twist when failed mayoral candidate Pierre Bourque claimed that 45,000 ballots “disappeared,” tabulating machines rejected too many ballots and election workers illegally ejected his volunteers from voting stations when polls closed on Sunday.

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Yesterday, Bourque demanded Quebec Municipal Affairs Minister Nathalie Normandeau order a full judicial recount – a new tallying of all the ballots cast, this time by hand and in front of a judge and party representatives.

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Bourque told reporters he doesn’t expect such a recount to reverse his massive loss, but said that in 20 to 25 districts, recounts could decide who becomes local councillor.

“I lost and I recognize that,” he said. “My intention is to shed light on the multiple deficiencies and irregularities. It’s sad for democracy, sad for Montreal.”

Almost as sad for Montreal as Bourque’s reign as mayor. Almost, but not quite.

Paul’s back. And blogging up a storm. Get thee over to his place, quick.

Update: Paul also wins my prize for quote of the day, with this insightful analysis about the Tremblay-versus-Bourque municipal election race:

Do any of you remember that episode of South Park where they’re selecting a new school mascot and are reduced to choosing either a giant douche or a turd sandwich? Life really does imitate art sometimes…

We missed ya, Paul! Sure good to have you back.

Once again, us Montrealers are faced with the choice between really really bad and… really really bad, as we head to the polls on November 6th.

My electoral card came in the mail today, and with it, the inevitable depression that always hits me during a particularly awful election.

See, the crux of the matter is this: If over 60% of Iraqis could face the threat of bombs, guns and terrorism to exercise their right to vote, then who the hell am I to sit at home during even a seemingly inconsequential election? What gives me the right to take my right to vote for granted and to treat it so lightly?

On the other hand, what would possess an otherwise sane person to go out and cast a ballot for someone like Gerald Tremblay, who promises to fix the roads but is really just fixing his coffers after breaking his promise to decentralize and fighting the demergers tooth and nail using every trick in the book?

Or Pierre Bourque, who fancied himself king of Montreal and helped spearhead the mergers in the first place, and is hoping that a few years of Tremblay’s reign will make us forget his autocratic, dictatorial style?

Then there’s third-candidate Richard Bergeron, who promises an all-out war on cars that makes me wonder if he’s secretly having long lunches with “Red Ken” Livingstone.

*Sigh*.

And best of all? The only protest party on the ticket is the ridiculous but ultra-leftist White Elephant Party.

Hmmmm… time for a write-in campaign?

Update: It’s not all boring. At least one guy has a sense of humour:

What is this guy, some kind of comedian? Rick Blue of the satirical duo Bowser and Blue is a council candidate in Beaconsfield. The official candidates list says he lives on “Dork Drive.”

Okay, Bowser and Blue are my first nominees for write-in candidacy.

The latest from the Pierre Bourque twisted logic file: stall tactics on the demerger issue:

Bourque announced his Vision Montreal party is asking the provincial Liberal government to delay demerger votes until the next Montreal municipal election, scheduled for November 2005, because it would be “anti-democratic” to start the demerger process before the city council can complete its term.

“It would invalidate the 2001 election. … It’s against our tradition to not respect the vote,” said Bourque, the opposition leader at city hall, as he unveiled a brief he will present at National Assembly hearings next month.

More like it would “invalidate” Bourque’s attempt to get back into power before the demerger would go through. Funny how he’s suddenly all up in arms about something being “anti-democratic”, isn’t it?

Yes, Je Me Souviens des fusions forcées. And I probably always will.

When Pierre Bourque first floated the megacity idea, everyone thought he was a megalomaniac who had gone off his rocker. But alas, the mergers were forced through, despite the opposition of everyone who claimed they would result in higher taxes, reduced services, and lower quality of life.

Back then, we said “Hands off my city!” and implored the provincial government to leave well enough alone. They didn’t listen. So now, instead of living in the city of D.D.O., I now have the dubious privilege of being a citizen of the borough of D.D.O./Roxboro.

And guess what happend? We now have higher taxes, reduced services, and lower quality of life. What a shocker!

Pierre Bourque was tossed out on his ass in the first megacity municipal election, widely despised in the suburbs for orchestrating this whole merger fiasco in the first place. I can’t say I think Gerard Tremblay has done a wonderful job as mayor, but at least he’s not Bourque. At least he’s advocating decentralization, and giving borough councillors as much power as possible.

So now we hear that Bourque (having returned as opposition leader after a disastrous stab at provincial politics, running for the ADQ), has a new idea: it wasn’t enough to merge the city, now he wants to merge the boroughs:

According to a report published Tuesday in La Presse, Vision Montreal’s proposal calls for the merger of the former municipalities of the predominantly anglophone West Island into one or two boroughs.

The proposal from former Montreal Mayor Pierre Bourque’s party would reduce the number of boroughs elsewhere in the city and eliminate the function of borough councillor.

This strategy seems fairly obvious. Consolidate as much power as possible under Montreal’s reign, and eliminate even the remnants of decentralization that have survived the merger. Get rid of the last vestiges of Anglo influence by reducing all of the West Island to a single borough with no say, councillors, or power. Destroy any hopes of ever demerging and getting our cities back.

People might think it’s a crazy idea, and it will never happen. But remember, they said that about the mergers too.

I have no great attachment to my borough, but having local representation has got to be better than feeding the Pierre Bourque power machine. So I call on suburbans to unite in one strong, unified voice. Let’s write letters. Let’s protest. Let’s make sure that people know damn well what will happen if they vote Vision Montreal next municipal election. Let’s tell them hands off my borough!