Would merging the four municipalities on Île Perrot benefit all of them? Or is the current situation the best way to ensure the safety and well-being of the island's 40,000 residents? It's to get answers to these questions that the citizens' association Avenir Île Perrot is calling on elected municipal officials at the end of the year. 

Earlier, on Tuesday December 3, Néomédia spoke to Gérard Farmer, spokesman for the citizens' group, and Lise Chartier, administrator of Avenir Île Perrot, about the subject.  

“The objective of this public outing is to call on the municipalities of Île Perrot to agree to a study on the relevance of a grouping, to be carried out free of charge by the Ministère des Affaires municipales et de l'Habitation. This would provide concrete data on the subject, and could serve as a basis for localities or citizens to form a clear idea on the question. People have been talking about mergers since the 1990s. People have various opinions on the subject and speculate, but there is no reliable or confirmed data on this issue,” says the pair.  

For association president Francine St-Denis, citizens have many questions about municipal organization on Île Perrot, questions to which they have never received serious answers. “Over the past sixty years, the island's elected officials have on several occasions considered municipal consolidation, but no study has ever been carried out on the subject. A study by MAMH would be a first, and would finally provide credible answers to the many questions citizens have,” she says in a press release. 

In concrete terms, the MAMH analysis would provide municipal authorities with a framework for assessing the relevance of consolidating their municipalities. The objectives of this process are: to take into account the socio-cultural, economic, geographic and political context; to define the main issues of a merger; to examine the financial and fiscal impacts of a merger, particularly on taxpayers' tax burden; and to present the new municipality's budget forecasts (reference fiscal year).  

Using budget forecasts for the last year of operation, the study also includes a budget for FY1, enabling taxation to be characterized. 

Two municipalities open to this request 

In recent weeks, Avenir Île Perrot has met with the municipal councils of Pincourt and L'Île-Perrot to inform them of the possibility of obtaining a free MAMH study of their cluster. The association also expressly asked them to pass a resolution to this effect in order to obtain this free government study.

Requests for meetings with the Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot and Terrasse-Vaudreuil authorities have gone unanswered to date. “We've received negative responses from the mayors to our request. The e-mails are very similar. Honestly, we don't understand why they're refusing our request, especially since the study is free and doesn't commit them to anything. It would simply tell us whether or not a merger would be more advantageous for everyone,” they add. 

The e-mails, which Néomédia was able to consult, indicate that the majority of the council has decided not to hold a meeting on the subject of merging with Avenir Île Perrot. They indicate that the issue has already been discussed openly at a public meeting. 

In both cases, mayors Danie Deschênes and Michel Boudreau put forward the following arguments in their e-mail to Ms. Chartier: 

1) The organization is not recognized by the City of NDIP and the Municipality of Terrasse-Vaudreuil; 

2) The organization does not have a unifying mission for the entire community, despite Avenir Île Perrot's arguments to the contrary;

3) The information peddled on social media is inaccurate, with missing elements important to a proper understanding of the issues facing elected officials, the community, employees and organizations in the four municipalities;

 4) The data in the brochure is incomplete, even erroneous, and this, for elements crucial to the healthy reflection you could have initiated; 

5) The members representing the organization do not live in the NDIP and Terrasse-Vaudreuil territories; 

6) The subject of municipal mergers is not a priority for the Board, which spends a great deal of time and energy putting in place collaborative measures, which have an impact now, on the quality of life of the people living in the participating towns, and enable real economies of scale for the communities concerned. 

In the past, Danie Deschênes has told Néomédia that she believes a collaborative approach between municipalities is preferable to a merger. She also added that, to date, NDIP has collaborated with several neighbouring municipalities on various issues such as the skating rink, the arena and the fire department. In her opinion, this type of management is more profitable than amalgamation.

A good decision-making tool 

For Avenir Île Perrot, the completion of this study would provide elected officials with a good tool to guide any future decision on the future of municipal organization on the island.

Who is Avenir Île Perrot? ” Our group was launched last May. It is the result of meetings and discussions held over a period of about a year. These discussions focused on the added value of a possible merger of the four municipalities located on Île Perrot: Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot, Terrasse-Vaudreuil, L'Île-Perrot and Pincourt. Our Facebook page brings together some 700 people who are concerned about this issue,” says the pair. 

Avenir Île Perrot's board of directors is made up of Francine St-Denis as president, Véronique Poirier as treasurer, Philippe Nathan Crisafi as vice-president and Lise Chartier as director. In addition, Mr. Farmer acts as the group's official spokesperson. 

Despite the refusal of Terrasse-Vaudreuil and NDIP to meet with its representatives, Avenir Île Perrot intends to continue its efforts to pursue its mission and make itself the voice of citizens.