The Mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, took advantage of the provincial election campaign and her meetings with party leaders to once again demand better tax fairness for cities.
Posted at 10:18 a.m.
Too many responsibilities are on the shoulders of municipalities, when they do not have the financial means to deal with them, according to Ms.me Plante, who made an exit on this subject at the time of a meeting of its executive committee, Wednesday morning.
She gives the example of schools: henceforth, municipalities must donate land for the construction of schools or buy it, at their own expense, without compensation from Quebec.
“We want a government that pays its bills, hammered the mayor. It doesn’t make sense that cities and municipalities have to buy land, with money that we don’t have, and then give it to the Government of Quebec to build schools. »
“If the government does not take its financial responsibilities to help cities do their job, we will have to pass the bill on to citizens’ tax accounts. […] It’s not acceptable. The cities cannot increase their taxes while, on the Quebec side, taxes are lowered. The money all comes from the same pocket. »
Mme Plante said she was pleased with her talks with party leaders, and said she still has to meet with Liberal leader Dominique Anglade later this week.
The exchanges focused in particular on the issues of urban security, the housing crisis and the climate crisis, she revealed.
“It served as a reminder of how cities are at the forefront when difficult events occur, whether it’s the increase in armed violence in our streets, torrential rains which have a major impact on citizens or when they have problems getting around because there is not enough transport available. We are the ones who live with the consequences,” said the mayor.