We believe that a mayor and a municipal government worthy of the title should take every opportunity to improve the quality of life and protect the health of their citizens.
You don’t need a referendum to do your job.
More than 30 other mayors, including that of Baie d’Urfé, Longueuil and others, have done so by signing agreements with the MTQ to build acoustic barriers.
On the other hand, despite all our arguments against a referendum on the construction of a noise barrier south of the highway to protect the health of a quarter of the citizens of Beaconsfield:
- If the mayor continues to call a consultative referendum,
- If the mayor takes the leadership of the group AGAINST protecting the health of a quarter of the citizens of Beaconsfield,
- If city councilors continue to silence their opinion, always implicitly supporting the opinion of the mayor, AGAINST protecting the health of a quarter of the citizens of Beaconsfield
So let’s have a real democratic debate.
It is essential to ensure that the views of both parties are also heard by the public. A referendum is preceded by a campaign. This campaign serves to inform citizens with the relevant FACTS.
73.1 Unfair advantage of elected officials
Current elected officials have an unfair advantage due to their public visibility and their access to city files. They have a monopoly on municipal communication tools and can therefore influence public opinion in the short term for those who would rely, for example, only on the speeches of elected officials.
For example, the mayor conveyed a misleading information “the cost of the noise barrier could very well amount to more than $ 40 million”. This information is misleading because the mayor “forgets” to mention that the city’s share is only 25% of the total.
Without any explanation, $ 40 Million sounds big to an ordinary citizen. On the other hand, $ 50 per year is more acceptable. The mayor even spoke of a theoretical tax increase. This can be interpreted as an attempt to scare citizens and influence them.
On the other hand, still in the absence of facts, we could say as a former councillor that the project to transfer the library to “Centennial Park” could cost $ 40 Million and increase taxes. Similarly, the reconstruction of the four outdoor swimming pools at 4 M$ each will increase taxes. As you can see, it’s easy to make unsubstantiated claims.
73.2 The opinion of supportive citizens must be heard
The reality of this question is much broader. We must talk about public health, investment priorities, in short, expose the whole situation.
Citizens in favor of protecting public health by building a noise barrier also have the right to be heard. They have the right to disseminate complete information representative of their point of view. They have the right to be provided with the means to transmit and share all relevant information in the broad and intense debate necessary for the electorate to decide on the FACTS in question.
73.3 For a fair democratic process
It is therefore necessary to provide to the proponents of YES with the democratic instruments and the substantial budgets to inform voters.
These budgets and the resulting expenses will be equal for both parties, and will be controlled in the same way as a municipal election budget, except that the money is likely to come from the city budget.
“The Chief Electoral Officer may provide all the assistance required by the clerk to exercise the functions assigned to him as the municipal official for the preparation and holding of the referendum. ».
If the city of Beaconsfield persists in holding such a consultative referendum without regard to the health of the citizens of the city, it must cease to behave as an accountant while interpreting democracy based on its sole short term interests and thus have an informed debate in the public arena.
Otherwise, we can only talk about an appearance of democracy.