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Richard Bergeron joins Team Coderre - can you spell j-e-r-k?
November 19, 2014 - 9:25pm
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Never liked this character much, but what a way to plummet:
Bergeron, the founder and leader of Projet Montréal, says his “only wish is to develop Montreal”
I was still trying to give Bergeron the benefit of the doubt during last year's election. What choice did we have, anyway? There are lots of good people in Projet Montréal. They just didn't seem to be able to dump this guy for someone a little less, oh, I don't know, narcissistic, crackpottish, whatever. I never really guessed he'd sink this low.
I hope Projet can survive this. Projet was so much Bergeron's baby, and he does have some excellent ideas about urbanism. I agree with him about the need for modern trams, though personally I'd start with the big loop of Avenue du Parc and Côte-des-Neiges, as the Orange Line of the métro is saturated. But it is true that he is at once narcissistic and frankly a bit off the wall. There are excellent Projet mayors and council members.
Montréal does not need tramways. We need affordable housing.
We need both.
Edited to add: I'm an ecosocialist, and have long been a militant both in transpport - urban issues and in a tenants' association. A liveable city means a city where people - of all income levels - can live, and thus affordable, including social housing, of various types. But it also means a city freed from the death-grip of the car. That requires quality public transport that everyone will be happy to take. Modern trams are extraordinarily comfortable - you can read on them - and almost universally accessible. And yes, they work fine in snowy climes - there are plenty of you tubes and photos of trams in Nordic countries.
Priorities.
Montréal has had a housing crisis since the mid 90's. IMO,housing is far more important than tramways or anniversary celebrations.
I see homelessness and severe poverty all over the city.
What's the sense of a healthy ecology when socially you're terminally sick?
You could turn that on your head and say there is no point in building social housing if people are just going to be suffocated or squashed by speeding trucks.
(I'd disagree with either of those simplifications).
I'm not trivializing our ecologic concerns.
I just think that the priority should be tackling homelessness and poverty. THEN we can move on to tramways and everything else.
(BTW,I think Montréal already has a good public transit system)
So what do you think about Bergeron?
I said what I thought about him in my first response. I also think he has some weird reactionary tics for someone who was leading a globally progressive party, which has done a lot of good things. I didn't like what he said about homeless people at all, and his "joke" about smoking being heathful just fell flat. He just doesn't "get" certain things.
And I strongly disagree to the idea that ecological issues are some kind of luxury to be dealt with after homelessness and poverty. Often these issues are intertwined. Poor people are also those most exposed to pollution and to the dangers of traffic and traffic planning centred on private vehicles.
Thread drift but I'll msake it brief.
Homeless people wouldn't be exposed more to pollutants if they weren't sleeping on the street.
There is no excuse for people in a so-called 1st world country to live in 3rd world conditions. It's obscene and unacceptable.
I'm sure there are more than a few people who'd be happier with a roof over their head and some food on the table than having to inhale pollutants.
Hence,affordable housing,mental health care and a minimum income is a much bigger priority than a tramway.
Thank you.
As for Bergeron,I never liked him anyway and never viewed him as a 'progressive' so this news is no surprise to me.
It is important to fight for both these things. And no, it is not just homeless people among the poor who are exposed to more pollutants than more affluent people. Yes, by definition homeless people have horrific survival conditions - if they survive - one can't even speak of "living" conditions. There aren't a lot of homeless people in my area; there are a lot of badly housed people and people who pay far more rent than they can possibly afford. Look at the fence between Parc-Ex and VMR! We have a lot of workshops and mobilisations about mould, vermin and toxic pollutants from proximity to major streets, industry and a lack of greenery that absorbs those poisons.
The same forces that drive greater poverty also fuel carcentric, toxic society.
I'm dismayed by your lack of concern for environmental issues; and I've been involved in a tenants' association for over 30 years.
I'm no Bergeron fan either. But I think environmental issues are life and death issues, just as much as poverty issues are. I'm surprised by 21st-century "progressives" who think they can be left to some future generation.
Now that Bergeron is cashing cheques signed by Denis Coderre, will he be making child support payments to his ex-baby?
Here are his new ideas about urbanism:
Richard Bergeron turns towards automobiles
Oh yes... and when Projet Montréal tabled a motion to abandon the extension of Autoroute 19, Richard "Coderre" Bergeron voted "NO".
Can you spell asshole?
Last year this kind of talk would get you smeared as "more radical than thou".
Ah give him a break.
He just knows which side his bread is buttered on now.
He is scum. My criticism beforehand had to do with his odd and at times outright reactionary stances on social policy (including his strange notions about homeless people) but I thought he had excellent points about urbanism. He is a wilful and conscious sellout, like Alain Dubuc in the day.
Bergeron vendu!
Can some of you Montrealers tell us about the current state of municipal politics there?
If I remeber from the last election no party won a majority on council. Project Montreal came a strong second in terms of seats with two other opposition parties holding the balance. But neither of them elected their leaders.
Are the lines holding? Have there been any other defections besides Bergeron? Is Project Montreal able to consolidate the opposition forces behind it? How is Codere doing politically?
Here many people are pissed off at his insistence on a baseball diamond at the northeastern corner of Parc Jarry. There are already several diamonds, though around here futebol/calcio (soccer) and cricket are on the upswing. Les amis du Parc Jarry and neighbourhood associations want more greenery and picnic tables, where families and kids can run around and play spontaneously. The park has already be amputated by the tennis stadium and a police station and its parking lot. Nothing against tennis, the problem is that this park is a "lung" in the middle of neighbourhoods where people have little green space of their own.
Coderre wants to create a "buzz" for baseball. I'm not a fan of that sport but once again, have nothing against those who are - it is simply a matter of working-class people having to pay for it.
The cricket players are from the "other" side of the park, Parc-Extension; they are mostly people of South Asian descent (in other Mtl areas people from the former "British West Indies" islands are also keen cricketers).
Funny how the MSM reports "news" that babblers figured out two years ago...
Richard Bergeron, founder of Projet Montréal, joins Denis Coderre's team
Yes, it's still spelled a-s-s-h-o-l-e.
Yes, he's just made it official. Like weddings where the children are part of the party - as if anyone here cares about weddings anymore.
Those of you who understand French can watch the entire PM candidates' debate at Ricochet or at the Projet Montréal website. Valérie Plante strikes me as the most progressive candidate. Her attitude towards Bergeron was quite clear, though she expressed it diplomatically.
By the way, Ed Broadbent has endorsed Valérie Plante: http://valerieplante.org/index.php/2016/11/04/thank-you-ed-broadbent/
http://valerieplante.org/index.php/2016/11/04/thank-you-ed-broadbent/?la...
Also, these people from PM:
http://valerieplante.org/index.php/2016/10/14/new-endorsers-for-valerie-...
http://valerieplante.org/index.php/2016/10/14/new-endorsers-for-valerie-...
Any word on the Projet - Vrai Changment (Melanie Joly's party) merger talks reported last month by Ricochet?
I haven't heard anything.
I'm voting for Valérie Plante.