Montreal

Montreal or Montréal1 (pronounced in Canadian English, in standard French, and {{IPA |/mɒM1;ɾeal/}} in Quebecois French) is the second largest city in Canada. According to the most recent Canadian census (2001), the city itself has 1,812,723 inhabitants while 3,426,350 people live in the Greater Montreal Area (Statistics Canada, 2001). {{ref|populationestimate}}{{ref|gma}} It is the largest city and primary economic centre of the province of Quebec, of which it constitutes an administrative region.

City government

The head of the city government in Montreal is the mayor, who is first among equals in the City Council. The current mayor is Gérald Tremblay, who is a member of the Montreal Island Citizens Union (l?Union des citoyens et des citoyennes de l?île de Montréal). The city council is a democratically elected institution and is the primary decision-making authority in the city. It consists of 73 members from all boroughs of the city.

Related Topics:
Mayor - First among equals - City Council - Gérald Tremblay

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The council has jurisdiction over many matters, including public security, agreements with other governments, subsidy programs, the environment, urban planning, and a three-year capital expenditure program. The city council is also required to supervise, standardise or approve certain decisions made by the borough councils.

Related Topics:
Public security - Environment - Urban planning

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Reporting directly to the city council, the executive committee exercises the decision-making powers appropriate to it and is responsible for preparing various documents including budgets and by-laws, submitted by the city council for approval.

Related Topics:
Budget - By-law

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The decision-making powers of the executive committee cover, in particular, the awarding of contracts or grants, the management of human and financial resources, supplies and buildings. It may also be assigned further powers by the city council.

Related Topics:
Contract - Grant - Human - Financial

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Standing committees are the council's instruments for public consultations. They are responsible for the public study of pending matters and for making the appropriate recommendations to the council. They also review the annual budget forecasts for departments under their jurisdiction. A public notice of meeting is published in both French and English daily newspapers at least seven days before each meeting. All meetings include a public question period.

Related Topics:
French - English - Newspaper

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The current standing committees, of which there are seven, have terms lasting two years. In addition, the city council may decide to create special committees at any time. Each standing committee is made up of seven to nine members, including a chairman and a vice-chairman. The members are all elected municipal officers, with the exception of a representative of the government of Quebec on the public security committee.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Island of Montreal is only one component of the Metropolitan Community of Montreal (Communauté Métropolitaine de Montréal), also known as the Greater Montreal Area, in charge of planning, coordinating, and financing economic development, public transportation, garbage collection, etc., across the metropolitan area of Montreal. The Metropolitan Community of Montreal covers 3,839 km² (1,482 sq. miles), with 3,431,551 inhabitants living inside its borders in 2002; it is thus larger in area and population than the city of Toronto (even after its 1998 merger). However, the city of Toronto is larger than the city of Montreal proper, and the Greater Toronto Area is larger than the Metropolitan Community of Montreal, with 7,000km² of area and over 5.2 million people, whereas the Metropolitan Community of Montreal has a population of 3.6 million people (as of 2004). The president of the Metropolitan Community of Montreal is the mayor of Montreal.

Related Topics:
Metropolitan Community of Montreal - Greater Toronto Area

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Montreal was merged with the 27 surrounding communities on the Island of Montreal on 1 January 2002. The merger created a unified city of Montreal which covered the entire Island of Montreal. This move proved to be unpopular, and several towns voted to leave the newly unified city in seperate referendums which took place on 20 June 2004. The demerger will take place on 1 January 2006, after which there will be 16 municipalities on the Island of Montreal (the city of Montreal proper plus 15 independent municipalities).

Related Topics:
Merged - 1 January - 2002 - Referendum - 20 June - 2004 - 2006

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~