posting
05-13-2007, 06:35 PM
"Participatory democracy and Citizenship are at the core of an ecological development of our communities. The review of urban centres development challenges makes this statement even more accurate."
from the Urban Ecology Centre, Montreal
http://www.urbanecology.net
-- Kingston Electors
Summit seeks to empower Montrealers
Fourth annual event examines the role citizens play in shaping the city
LINDA GYULAI The Gazette, Montreal
May 12, 2007
Montrealers can address their local politicians at any number of public consultations, but university professor Anne Latendresse isn't convinced they are being heard.
When they do manage to organize opposition to a project - like when community groups helped sink a plan to move the Montreal Casino to the Peel Basin in 2006 - they're accused of blocking economic development, Latendresse said.
"Ever since the Casino project, you hear people openly questioning the legitimacy and pertinence of giving society a say on projects," Latendresse said yesterday.
Latendresse, who does research on local democracy at Universite du Quebec a Montreal, and a co-ordinating committee were putting the final touches on the program for the Fourth Citizens' Summit of Montreal.
The event, to be held June 1-3, has drawn the support of diverse groups like Heritage Montreal, UQAM's Service aux collectivites, labour unions and community and ecology groups.
"We're just happy to see an event that's interested in citizens' involvement shaping the city," Heritage Montreal program director Dinu Bumbaru said.
Like the three previous citizens' summits, which the Urban Ecology Centre of Montreal first staged in 2001, the discussion will be on urban planning, sustainable development and public participation.
The emphasis is on generating proposals, Latendresse said. For instance, the Citizens' Charter of Rights and Responsibilities, which Montreal city council approved in 2005 and which took effect last year, was conceived at the second summit in 2002.
This year's theme - the citizen's right to the city - is meaningful, Latendresse said.
Municipal authorities have announced some major projects without first consulting the public, she said, including Mayor Gerald Tremblay's announcement he wants to build a tramway network and plans to demolish and rebuild part of the Bonaventure Expressway.
More than 30 speakers are expected at the summit, including University of Chicago professor Saskia Sassen, who has studied the effects of globalization on cities, Latendresse said.
The summit's co-chairs are architect Phyllis Lambert and Bernard Vallee, director of educational programs for L'Autre Montreal, a non-profit group that raises awareness of Montreal's heritage and history by offering educational tours of city neighbourhoods.
The summit will feature 38 workshops including 17 in English, Latendresse said. They'll examine everything from the role of citizens in economic development to an assessment of whether the decentralization of municipal powers to Montreal boroughs has helped empower residents or turned the city into a confusing maze.
For more information, call 514-281-6406 or go to www.4sc.ecologieurbaine.net (http://www.4sc.ecologieurbaine.net)
lgyulai@thegazette.canwest.com
from the Urban Ecology Centre, Montreal
http://www.urbanecology.net
-- Kingston Electors
Summit seeks to empower Montrealers
Fourth annual event examines the role citizens play in shaping the city
LINDA GYULAI The Gazette, Montreal
May 12, 2007
Montrealers can address their local politicians at any number of public consultations, but university professor Anne Latendresse isn't convinced they are being heard.
When they do manage to organize opposition to a project - like when community groups helped sink a plan to move the Montreal Casino to the Peel Basin in 2006 - they're accused of blocking economic development, Latendresse said.
"Ever since the Casino project, you hear people openly questioning the legitimacy and pertinence of giving society a say on projects," Latendresse said yesterday.
Latendresse, who does research on local democracy at Universite du Quebec a Montreal, and a co-ordinating committee were putting the final touches on the program for the Fourth Citizens' Summit of Montreal.
The event, to be held June 1-3, has drawn the support of diverse groups like Heritage Montreal, UQAM's Service aux collectivites, labour unions and community and ecology groups.
"We're just happy to see an event that's interested in citizens' involvement shaping the city," Heritage Montreal program director Dinu Bumbaru said.
Like the three previous citizens' summits, which the Urban Ecology Centre of Montreal first staged in 2001, the discussion will be on urban planning, sustainable development and public participation.
The emphasis is on generating proposals, Latendresse said. For instance, the Citizens' Charter of Rights and Responsibilities, which Montreal city council approved in 2005 and which took effect last year, was conceived at the second summit in 2002.
This year's theme - the citizen's right to the city - is meaningful, Latendresse said.
Municipal authorities have announced some major projects without first consulting the public, she said, including Mayor Gerald Tremblay's announcement he wants to build a tramway network and plans to demolish and rebuild part of the Bonaventure Expressway.
More than 30 speakers are expected at the summit, including University of Chicago professor Saskia Sassen, who has studied the effects of globalization on cities, Latendresse said.
The summit's co-chairs are architect Phyllis Lambert and Bernard Vallee, director of educational programs for L'Autre Montreal, a non-profit group that raises awareness of Montreal's heritage and history by offering educational tours of city neighbourhoods.
The summit will feature 38 workshops including 17 in English, Latendresse said. They'll examine everything from the role of citizens in economic development to an assessment of whether the decentralization of municipal powers to Montreal boroughs has helped empower residents or turned the city into a confusing maze.
For more information, call 514-281-6406 or go to www.4sc.ecologieurbaine.net (http://www.4sc.ecologieurbaine.net)
lgyulai@thegazette.canwest.com