{"id":2438,"date":"2020-12-22T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-22T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.ensemblemtl.org\/?p=2438"},"modified":"2024-01-29T10:12:18","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T15:12:18","slug":"looking-back-at-2020-even-at-the-height-of-the-pandemic-ensemble-montreal-never-stopped-working-for-montrealers-lionel-perez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ensemblemtl.org\/en\/actualites\/looking-back-at-2020-even-at-the-height-of-the-pandemic-ensemble-montreal-never-stopped-working-for-montrealers-lionel-perez\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking back at 2020 : \u201cEven at the height of the pandemic, Ensemble Montr\u00e9al never stopped working for Montrealers\u201d \u2013 Lionel Perez"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Montr\u00e9al, December 22, 2020<\/strong> \u2013 even though the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic shook up 2020, Ensemble Montr\u00e9al councillors never slacked off, but intensified their pressure on the Plante administration to better respond to the concerns of all Montrealers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course, faced with the COVID-19 threat, we had to quickly reorient our priorities. That\u2019s why, starting in April, we proposed a comprehensive economic assistance plan for merchants that went much further than the mayor\u2019s response to the crisis. I would also remind people of our tireless fight to impose the wearing of masks on public transit, right from the first weeks of isolation. We\u2019ve never stopped working for Montrealers\u201d declared Mr. Lionel Perez, leader of Ensemble Montr\u00e9al.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question of the mandatory wearing of masks is truly a stain on the record of the Plante administration. In early May, Ensemble Montr\u00e9al presented a motion asking the city to make the wearing of masks on public transit compulsory. The mayor rejected it, making all kinds of excuses, of which the worst was: Montr\u00e9al wants to avoid creating a police state\u201d (La Presse<\/em>, May 25, 2020).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou never know what\u2019s coming next: the same mayor who now encourages people to report their neighbours to the police during Christmas celebrations, didn\u2019t want to make masks mandatory seven months ago for fear of creating a police state. Projet Montr\u00e9al is overwhelmingly inconsistent and this administration just can\u2019t see its own contradictions,\u201d added Mr. Perez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mayor finally changed her mind on the mask requirement, some two months later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not the only time the Plante administration at first refused an Ensemble Montr\u00e9al proposal, then made a U-turn and presented the same proposal as if it was their idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the municipal council meeting of May 25, the Official Opposition, following the example of numerous Canadian cities, requested that the second instalment of municipal taxes be deferred to September 1 (it had already been postponed from June 1 to July 2 by the administration). The chairperson of the Executive Committee firmly opposed our request, alleging that the city could not afford to be so generous. And then, one week later, in another about face from the administration, they announced the second instalment was being deferred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn terms of finance, the pandemic has revealed a party in power incapable of the slightest transparency: for months, we kept asking for a clear portrait of the city\u2019s finances and the impacts of the public health crisis. We got nothing until this fall, when the administration presented another disastrous budget in terms of spending and debt,\u201d declared Mr. Alan DeSousa, mayor of Saint-Laurent and Official Opposition finance spokesperson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Constructive proposals<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still trying to help Montr\u00e9al merchants greatly affected by the crisis, Ensemble Montr\u00e9al proposed a series of measures to reduce their tax burden and encourage customers to visit stores more often. These included, in particular:<\/p>\n\n\n\n