Agglomeration Council | Longueuil accepts its defeat in the Court of Appeal

Longueuil has just lost in the Court of Appeal a case opposing it to Brossard and Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville. This defeat means that Longueuil is now the only city in Quebec unable to appoint its own general manager or make routine decisions, such as launching an image campaign.

Suzanne Colpron
The Press

For these acts, as for dozens of others, it must obtain the approval of other municipalities in the agglomeration, of which it is the central city.

The City of Longueuil could have appealed the decision of the Court of Appeal or turned to Quebec to request a legislative amendment. But the mayoress, Catherine Fournier, decided instead to give the collaboration a chance after 20 years of conflicts with the linked cities.

“My philosophy is to say: if we reach out, if we establish a climate of trust, there will be long-term effects, explains the mayor, in an interview with The Press. We’re trying it out and we can revise our position if things don’t go as planned. But I think we have a great opportunity to do things right, and it is for the benefit of the citizens that we all represent. »

She warns, however: “If we find ourselves in a scenario where the situation paralyzes us, I will have the responsibility to review the position of the City of Longueuil, it is obvious. »

A unique case

To understand what is happening on the South Shore, we have to go back a long way, to the time of a referendum that allowed cities to say no to municipal mergers in 2005. The municipalities of Saint-Lambert, Saint- Bruno-de-Montarville, Boucherville and Brossard then regained their city status. Following these demergers, on the South Shore and elsewhere in Quebec, the government set up urban agglomeration councils to ensure the pooling of municipal services.

In small agglomerations, the municipal councils of the central towns have the power to take decisions on mixed acts, that is to say on activities or services which affect both the central town and the other municipalities of the city. ‘agglomeration. Except for three cities, Montreal, Quebec and Longueuil, where these mixed acts must be approved by the urban agglomeration council with two-thirds of the votes.

This obligation does not pose a problem for the cities of Montreal and Quebec, which have a strong majority within their agglomeration councils.

But this is not the case of Longueuil which, facing Brossard or Boucherville, for example, does not have the demographic weight to obtain two-thirds of the votes on the agglomeration council.

This is what makes it a unique case. And it is for this reason that the Longueuil agglomeration council adopted, in 2007, a resolution giving its municipal council the power to make decisions on acts that fall under both the exercise of competence of proximity to the city center and the exercise of agglomeration competence.

“It’s over, the bickering”

Brossard, Saint-Lambert and Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville have been contesting the legality of this resolution since 2014.

The Superior Court agreed with Longueuil in 2019. But the Court of Appeal overturned this decision on August 22. Result: for decisions relating to mixed acts, such as the hiring of the director general and the clerk of the central city or the awarding of contracts for the maintenance of the city hall, Longueuil must have the agreement of the urban agglomeration council where, to achieve two-thirds support, it must obtain that of at least one related city.

Brossard Mayor Doreen Assaad is pleased with the Court of Appeal’s decision, which she says will allow “beautiful, transparent conversations” and an opportunity to debate and vote on the expenses for which her city pays part of the bill. The share of Brossard’s budget that goes to the agglomeration is 50%.

M^me Assaad also notes that the climate has changed radically since Catherine Fournier came to power. “The dynamic is much better,” she says. It’s over, the baffles, we have to move on to another stage. »