Reply to the Helen Fotopulos Letter

Dear Ms Bialek,

May I point out that as mayor of the Plateau-Mont-Royal I am elected to work on behalf of all its citizens, not just those who voted for me or my party. You, as a citizen, are encouraged to participate, contribute or dissent, actively or by ballot. The fundamentals of democracy presume an exchange of diverging opinions and the melding of participatory voices into a form of consensus. We all do our part honestly, diligently and respectfully. However, I submit that disdain, as you put it, has never been my attitude regarding the citizens of the Plateau. In fact I do not condone your aggressive campaign aimed at discrediting the many valuable initiatives that meet the aspirations of thousands on the Plateau. What you are implying is tantamount to throwing the proverbial baby out with the bathwater.

Allow me the indulgence of possibly showing you that instead of disdain I have been actively reaching out to and being reached by many concerned residents of the Plateau prior to the Park Avenue name change question. One only needs to go through the sizeable list of citizen initiatives that have become borough/city accomplishments under my stewardship of the Plateau. To mention just a few: the long overdue redesigning of the Park/Pine interchange, the traffic calming measures, the two permanent citizens¹ commissions on Urban planning and sustainable development as well as on Civic and public security, the massive participation in elaborating the borough¹s Master plan and finally the participatory budget process which involved thousands of Plateau residents. As for the Park Avenue name change question, I want to set the record straight and clarify where the ensuing breakdown of communication had truly occurred.

It all began on September 19, 2006, three months ago. The newspaper, La Presse announced that the name of the former premier of Quebec, Robert Bourassa, was to be bestowed upon either of two major Montreal streets, St Joseph or Park Avenue. Both of these streets were significant to honour his personal and political memory. Only one person reacted negatively at the mention of Park Ave. That was it, period. St Joseph was another story. The deluge of mail, telephones and response was decisive, while on Park Ave, not a boo... That same day, the two city councillors from Mile End were at a meeting with Park Ave merchants and what they reported was that, aside from some joking, no one took any particular notice, no alarm whatsoever.

One month later, October 18, the executive committee was presented with the proposed name changes. To avoid the already manifested controversy, St Joseph was dropped. Park Ave was left on the table. At the time, I had one lonely e-mail to support a dissenting vote, and the extensive silence on the part of the media. Moreover, I had not forgotten that The Gazette, in 1987 had suggested that Park Ave would be a safe choice for any forthcoming name changes. I raised some concerns regarding heritage around the mountain which was taken under advisement and the executive committee gave the green light for the proposal to be submitted to City Council for decision. At that moment, I thought that my decision reflected the mood of my constituents.

Then the ground moved. Testimonials, mostly heartfelt and personal began to pour in along with some hate mail, insults and threats. Monday October 23rd, in the company of Montreal¹s mayor we met the Greek Community leaders. Thursday October 26th we met with the merchants of Park Avenue and then, in the afternoon, with our caucus at the city. By Friday October 27th, all the Plateau councillors and I had decided to vote against the proposal at the city council. The mail kept coming. We spoke to our local party executive, the party president as well as some Plateau leaders to inform them of our intentions. On Monday October 30, I submitted my letter to the mayor, stating that I and the Plateau councillors were going to go public with our decision and that I would take responsibility for my mistake. On Tuesday, October 31st, we convened a meeting with various Plateau representatives and activists, after which I did a press announcement. Two of the activists, Mario Rizzi and Alison Lauder refused to attend.

Meanwhile, what was emerging alongside the opposition to the Park Ave name change was a campaign of personal attacks against me. Unsigned flyers circulated calling for my resignation while I was already on record against the name change. Clearly other agendas were at play. In two weeks I had found myself at the center of a controversy and the bearer of all the blame. I accepted my part in assuming mistakenly that controversy was indeed avoidable. Moreover, I still do not understand how the Anglophone and Allophone media, written and electronic, did not pick up on this issue before October 18th.

Wool-gathering and blame games are not relevant to the issue at hand. In the meantime, respectfully, I submit that the task of engendering citizen participation is still foremost of my daily concerns and I am actively and doggedly pushing forward, in spite of what you might think, for greater democracy on the Plateau. Disdain perhaps is your motivation for not contributing positively to democratic debate and instead, disdainfully, lobbing invective from a convenient distance at me and thereby besmirching the sizeable work already underway by so many who are dedicated to making the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough one of the finest anywhere. Furthermore, ³Civic Affairs Reporters² are not cheerleaders for politicians but are indeed professionals and, believe me, they don¹t sing or dance for anyone, not even me.

Helen Fotopulos
Mayor
Plateau Mont Royal Borough